The Fear of the Shepherds

Luke 2:8 and 9: "And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shown round about them: and they were sore afraid."


There is an unholy trend today in which God is disrespected. The ungodly think nothing of taking His Name in vain, bandying it about as though it is nothing. He is blasphemously called the "man upstairs" and many other foolish names. This nation's motto may be "In God we trust," but as a nation, we have done everything we can to keep our Creator at a distance.


We sing "God Bless America," but America does not bless God. In the public schools, Christmas carols are not to be sung. School valedictorians and salutatorians who are Christians and have earned the right to give the commencement address, are told they are not allowed to mention the Name of Jesus Christ. What about their First Amendment right to free speech? The judges who made these outrageous and foolish rulings will someday pay for their hypocrisy when they face the Supreme Judge, Who is Jesus Christ, not John Gordon Roberts!


For some, it is not all right to use the name "Jesus Christ" reverently (They get "offended" at that), but it is fine with them if His Name is used as a cuss word. This is extremely disrespectful to the Lord, and is probably the clearest violation of the Third Commandment there is. Exodus 20:7 says, "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain." In fact Christians should take offense when they hear this kind of language spoken by the ungodly. "Jesus Christ" is not a cuss word, and those who use His name in vain should be taken to task for it. Jesus Christ is our Lord, whether you or anyone else likes it or not. His name is to be spoken with reverence, not carelessly used as though it were nothing. (By the way, this is the precise meaning of the Hebrew for "in vain.")


Jesus Christ is not a nothing. He is the Creator and Lord of the universe. He is God Who came in the flesh to redeem us from our sin. He is, according to the Nicene Creed, "one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by Whom all things were made. Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was made in the likeness of men. He was born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried, and on the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father, from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead, Whose kingdom shall have no end."



Proverbs 9:10 says, "The fear of the lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the holy is understanding." Throughout the Scriptures, fear is the first thing experienced when there is an appearance of God or His glory.



I state this in no uncertain terms: Jesus Christ is no one to mess around with. Even as a new born baby, His birth inspired fear and respect. He was God Himself come in human flesh! Our text says that He was born, the angel of the Lord appeared to some shepherds watching their sheep. Not only that, but the glory of the Lord shone all around them. When they saw this, they did not jump up and down and shout for joy or have a fit of "holy laughter," nor did they get "drunk in the Spirit." They were wiser than most people in this world are today: They had a healthy fear o God! Proverbs 9:10 bears repeating: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the holy is understanding."



This fear is consistent with other appearances of the Lord and His glory in Scripture. We will show this by examining three important incidents recorded therein; the giving of the Ten Commandments, the call of Isaiah to his prophetic ministry, and the birth of the church at Pentecost.



I. We speak first of the giving of the Ten Commandments.God was speaking, according to Exodus 20:18-21, "And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off. And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we shall hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die. And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not. And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the black cloud where God was."




When the Ten Commandments were given, the people who were there did not shout "Glory to God" or use pious language to spout out phony praise. They were scared to death! They saw how serious God was about them keeping His law. Their fear was so great, that even after Moses assured them they would not die, they still drew back when Moses drew near to where God was. Would to God this kind of fear of God would show itself in today's church. A fear of sinning against God would bring revival to the church, and great blessing to the world.


II. Isaiah the Prophet also had this same fear when God appeared to him and called him to be His Prophet. He tells us in Isaiah 6:1-5, "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a Throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet; and with twain he did fly. And one cried to another, and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, Woe is me, For I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts."


Isaiah saw angels, and he saw the Lord in all His glory on His throne. His mouth did not peal out in laughter, holy or otherwise. he was terrified, because he saw himself as a sinner, as a man of unclean lips. Perhaps before this vision, he had joked about God or laughed at some frivolity or dirty joke, thus approving the sins of others. Maybe he heard someone take the Name of the Lord in vain, and said nothing in protest, thus tacitly agreeing to it.


When he saw the Lord, that changed. He was terrified, not only for himself, but also for his nation. He became concerned for those he lived with, knowing they had also sinned and disrespected the Lord. Psalm 15:1 asks this question: "Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell in thy holy hill?" Part of the answer to this question relates to what we are talking about now. In verse 4, David says, the person who dwells with the Lord is one "In whose eyes a vile person is condemned; but he honoreth them that fear the Lord." When Isaiah saw the Lord, he learned the fear of the Lord, and it made him the great Prophet of God that he was.


III. The final incident which shows the fear of men faced with manifestations of God is found in the book of Acts chapter 2. Ten days after Jesus ascended into heaven, came Pentecost, the birthday of the church, one of the important events in the history of the world. One hundred twenty of His disciples met in an upper room in Jerusalem.


There was also a multitude there who were completely unaware they were about to see history in the making. The Holy Spirit came upon that group of disciples, and they spoke in other tongues. Sixteen groups are listed which heard the gospel spoken in their own languages. Jews and proselytes heard the gospel in their own speech. In themselves the language were not all that important. What is important is that the gospel was preached and 3000 souls were saved.


Certain verses in this chapter will reveal the gospel Peter preached. We will first go to 21-24: "And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it." Peter was telling them they were the very people that had taken Jesus, a man approved of God, and wickedly had Him crucified and killed. But God raised him from the dead.

Now we go to verses 32-37: "This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we are all witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, Until I make thine enemies thy footstool. Therefore let all Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and unto the rest of them, Men and brethren, what shall we do?"

Fear prompted the question, "What shall we do?" Less than two months before this, they had crucified the Messiah. Now God had raised Him from the dead. Now He could come back and punish them. The natural question was, What could they do now to reconcile with God?



Peter's reply is in verses 38-40: "Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord shall call. And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation."



Three thousand people believed the message, were baptized for the remission of sins, and were saved. Verse 43 is very important here, "and fear came upon every soul." The fear of God does not end with salvation. Reverence for God should keep the Christian from wanting to do anything that would offend Him. After all He is worthy of our respect.



In closing, let us return to the shepherds in Luke 2:8 and 9. Let us not leave them "sore afraid." Let us rather rejoice with them as we read verses 10-14, And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you tidings of great joy which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will towards men." Shepherds


After fear comes joy. The shepherds journeyed to the manger and saw the Prince of Peace wrapped in swaddling clothes, not in royal robes. They saw their Saviour in a cow stall by a rude inn, not in a stately bed in an earthly king's palace. Just the same, they believed in Him. This same Jesus, that the shepherds saw in the manger, is the same Christ Who died on the cross for our sins and three days later, rose from the dead. He is the same King of kings and Lord of Lords we must reverence, and not take His name in vain, for He is coming to earth again to judge the living and the dead.

He took your sins on the cross, and died, sacrificing Himself for you. Come and trust Him. As we saw in Acts 2:21: "And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved."


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Fallow Ground

Hosea 10:12b: "Break up your fallow ground."

Jeremiah 4:3b: "Break up your fallow ground."

In the Scriptures, when God repeats a command, it is very important. In the instance of our texts, two prophets of God at two different times in Israel's history gave the command, "Break up your fallow ground." The first time was when Hosea was given the message before the Assyrians invaded Israel and took the Northern tribes captive in 722 B.C. The Prophet was telling the ten tribes to repent of their sin and return to God or He would send the Assyrians to invade their land. About 130 years later, He said he same thing to the Kingdom of Judah through the Prophet Jeremiah when the Southern kingdom turned away from God to worship idols. God warned them He would send Babylon to invade them. Neither would return to God, so in both cases, The Lord followed through with His threat.

Today we also have a responsibility to "break up our fallow ground." Maybe your heart is as hard as the ground during a Michigan winter, and you need God's springtime to soften it. Turning to Him in repentance and faith is the only way to achieve this. Fallow ground is simply ground so hard, nothing can grow in it. What we are talking about is breaking up the hard ground in your heart so God can save you, or if you are already saved, grow more of the fruit of the Holy Spirit in your heart and life. Now we will turn to Hosea 10: 9-15 and Jeremiah 4:1-4 and examine this matter of breaking up your fallow ground.


I. First, turn to Hosea 10:9-15.

A. The ground is fallow, so the Lord's kindness is abused by ungrateful people.

Verses 9-11a say, "O Israel, thou hast sinned since the day of Gibea: there they stood: the battle in Gibea against the children of iniquity did not overtake them. It is my desire that I should chastise them; and the people shall be gathered against them, when they shall bind themselves in their two farrows. And Ephraim is as an heifer that is taught, and loveth to tread out the corn."

In Judges 19 and 20, the tribe of Benjamin sinned in tolerating the same sin the Sodomites committed. In 19:22, wicked men surrounded a man's house and demanded that the owner, "Bring forth the man that came into thine house, that we may know him." I don't believe I need to say in what sense these evil men wanted to "know" the house guest. It is of the nature of what the apostle Paul wrote about in Ephesians 5: 11 and 12: "And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret."

In Judges 20: 11-13, we read how the other tribes reacted to the sin: "So the men of Israel were gathered against he city, knit together as one man. And the tribes sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, What wickedness is this that is done among you? Now therefore deliver us the men, the children of Belial, which are in Gibea, that we may put them to death, and put away evil from Israel." In other words, the other tribes were not going to look the other way at this kind of gross sin. They wanted to "put away evil" from the nation.

In verse 14, we have Benjamin's response: "But the children of Benjamin would not hearken to the voice of their brethren the children of Israel: But the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together out of the unto Gibea, to go and do battle against the children of Israel."The tribe of Benjamin not only tolerated Gibea's sin, but defended it! They were willing to go to war to defend sinners against a righteous cause.

In Hosea's time, Israel was doing what Benjamin did in Gibea. Their tolerance of sin was in direct defiance of the Word of God. So His desire to chastise the nation was not because He hated them. He hated their sin. He wanted them to clean up their act. As Proverbs 14:34 says, "Righteousness exalteth a nation; but sin is a reproach to any people." He was going to chastise them to get them to give up their self-destructive ways.

They were still free. There was no yoke around Israel's neck. There was still time to turn things around. God was still acting in grace,sending Hosea the prophet to warn them. The nature of the warning was, "If you don't break up the fallow ground of your hearts, I will send the nation of Assyria to take you, and you will be their slaves."

B. The ground is fallow, so the people must reap what they sowed.

Verses 11b and 13-15 say, "But I passed over upon her fair neck...Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity; ye have eaten the fruit of lies: because thou didst trust in thy way, in the multitude of thy mighty men. Therefore shall a tumult arise among thy people, and all thy fortresses shall be spoiled, as Shalmaan spoiled Betharbal in the day of battle: the mother was dashed in pieces upon her children. So shall Bethel do unto you because of your great wickedness: in a morning shall the king of Israel utterly be cut off."

One question: How can a nation or an individual plow wickedness and expect to have decency as a crop? That would be like plowing wheat into the ground and expecting a harvest of corn! That is not going to happen. The more a nation's might is trusted instead of God, the more people will believe lies. It happened in Israel. It is happening in America today. Freedom to serve God is a good thing. Abuse of the freedom God gives to serve your own selfish agenda is not a good thing, but an evil. In God's economy, there is no freedom to sin, no matter what the United States Supreme court says. God's judgment is the ultimate authority in matters of morality. If you want the crop of decency, you must sow decency.

C. The ground is fallow, so the people must break it up and repent.

Verse 12 is the crux of the matter: Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness upon you. God says to Israel, "Break up your fallow ground." He says to you and me, "Break up your fallow ground." The might of nations could end in a day, and no one but God knows what will happen from one day to the next. America is not guaranteed survival even though it is the most powerful nation in the world, and unless it once again breaks up its fallow ground and returns to the godly principles on which it was founded, there is no Biblical reason to assume that God will continue to bless our nation. Once again, I repeat Proverbs 14:34: "Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people."

As it is with nations, so it is with each of us individually. You and I are not guaranteed another day of life on earth, not even another minute. Therefore, repent! Turn away from your sinful ways and turn toward God. Reap goodness and kind deeds instead of violence. Truly put your faith and trust where it belongs- in the Lord Jesus Christ. Seek the Lord and He will be found.


II. Now, turn to Jeremiah 4:1-4.

A. The ground is fallow, so the people must return to the Lord.

Verses 1 and 2 say, "If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the Lord, return unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of thy sight, then thou shalt not remove."

The question to be asked is, "Why does Israel need to return to the Lord?" If we go back into chapters 2 and 3, we will see a whole catalogue of sins and wickedness the nation was involved in. In 2:7 and 8, we read that after God had delivered Israel from slavery in Egypt and placed the people in the land that flowed with milk and honey, they defiled the land and made God's heritage an abomination. They did not conquer the entire land, and after the death of Joshua worshipped the gods of the people they did defeat. In verses 12 and 13, Israel forsook God and went their own way. They wanted to live independently of the Lord, and instead of following Him, and do everything their own way. In chapter 3:1, they were committing spiritual adultery. There is no difference between someone cheating on his or her spouse and that same person worshipping an idol. Judah was, in effect, cheating on God Himself! In verses 6-10, Judah ignores the example of what happened to the other tribes that sinned and continued on their same wicked course. They refused to learn from history and continued to make the same mistakes they had been making for 700 years. In their treacherous and hypocritical way in verse 23, they sought deliverance from their idols. No wonder, in 2:26 and 27, the Lord told them to seek deliverance from the stocks and stones they were worshipping.


B. The ground is fallow, so the people must repent of their sin.

Verses 3-4a teach, "For thus saith the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns. Circumsise yourselves to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem."

What this basically means is "Give your heart to God." This is clearly the teaching of Romans 2:28 and 29, "For he is not a Jew which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter, whose praise is not of men, but of God." We see in the Jeremiah passage that the Jews of his day understood that God viewed the hearts of His people as far more important than their bloody foreskins! Sacrifice means nothing to God unless the heart is willing. "Break up your fallow ground" simply means repent of the hardness of your heart and turn to God for salvation or get back into fellowship with Him.

C. The ground is fallow, so the people must repent of their sin - OR ELSE!

In the last part of verse 4, Jeremiah tells the people of Judah and us what will happen if they don't repent of their sin. Here is God's ultimatum: "Lest my fury come forth like fire and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings."

What this basically meant to the people of Judah was if they didn't repent and return to the God of their fathers, their land would be set on fire by the Babylonians and they would be enslaved. It had already happened to the ten-tribe kingdom off Israel in 722 B. C. because their ground remained fallow, and they were conquered ans enslaved by the Assyrians. In 586 B.C. Judah was burned and enslaved by the Babylonians, thus fulfilling this prophecy. Both nations reaped what they sowed. Israel and Judah saw their lands burn and their people enslaved because they did not seek the Lord and repent.


There is something else here. Unless sinners get their hearts right with God while they are alive on the earth, nothing but judgment and hell await them. The Lord Jesus said in Mark 9:43-48 that the punishment and torment of hell are so severe it would be better to lose a hand, a foot or an eye than to go there: "And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to hell, into the fire that is never quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than to have two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched: where their worm dieth no, and the fire is not quenched. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." Hebrews 10:31 says, "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."


When Jesus died on the cross, God met His responsibility for your salvation. He laid His life down so you might be saved. Maybe you think you have a heart that has been seared with a hot iron, and it is too hard. It remains your responsibility to repent and turn to God. Trust in Him. He has the power to soften your heart and make you clean. Break up your fallow ground. It does not matter how bad or good you think you are or have been. Unless you repent, you will perish eternally in hell.


Break up your fallow ground and you will be changed. Christian, break up your fallow ground and turn back your life to your Lord. Leave your backsliding behind. Make it thing of the past. Be filled with the Holy Spirit and serve your Lord Who loves you. Those here who do not yet trust in Christ: Listen to me! Repent and turn to God accept your responsibility for your sin and place your trust in Jesus Christ for your salvation. Break up your fallow ground, and and you shall receive a new and eternal life. As Acts 16:31 says, Believe on the lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." This is your responsibility.


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Treasures of Wickedness

Today we will go on a treasure hunt. I want you to see that there are treasures men seek after that may look valuable now, but in the long run will profit them nothing. These "treasures" are earthly possessions, pleasure and power. Of course, the acquisition of any or all of these can be perfectly legitimate and, rightly used, can be a blessing to the world. But sought without God, the Scripture calls them "treasures of wickedness." Today I will show you why you should be God's treasure of eternal life and his will for yours instead of earth's temporary trash.

Our text is Proverbs 1o:2,

"Treasures of wickedness profit nothing:
But righteousness delivereth from death."


Two more verses to keep in mind both say the same thing; Matthew 6:21 and Luke 12:34,

"For where your treasure is,
there will your heart be also."


I. First, I want you to see three varieties of treasures of wickedness.

A. The first of the treasures of wickedness is possessions gained by wickedness. These are things gained through unethical activity, such as cheating and fraud, bribery, income tax fraud, in fact, any shenanigans of unfair gain.


B. The second of the treasures of wickedness is pleasure gained through evil companionship. These are gained through wrongful use of influence or power.

C. Power gained through deception, whether of self or others, or any other form of wickedness, such as mamipulation of other people.


II. Secondly, I want you to see are why treasures of wickedness are unprofitable.

A. Treasures of wickedness are temporary. They don't last. The Apostle James, in chapter 5, verses 1-3 tells us, 'Go to, now, ye rich men, and howl, for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted and your garments are motheaten. Your gold and silver are cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days."


James was talking to wealthy Christians here. He is not saying the having wealth is necessarily unchristian or wrong. I believe that what he is talking about here is wealth-seeking motivated
by selfishness. I know of very wealthy Christians who give 90% and perhaps more of their money to the spread of the Gospel. Giving motivated by love for Jesus Christ will have a great reward in heaven no matter what the percentage. However, giving to show off, or to achieve one-upmanship, saying you are better than others, this is corrupt in motive, and God will not reward that kind of showboating in eternity. The use of fire in this passage reminds me of one in I Corinthians. In chapter 3:9-15, the Apostle Paul says, "For we are laborers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building. According to the grace of God which is given unto me as a wise master-builder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide, which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire." Straying off the foundation of Jesus Christ for the sake of gaining wealth or anything else is not good for a Christian to do. In the end, your works will be put through the fires of judgment.


As a wise poet once wrote:

"Only one life, 'twill soon be past,
Only what's done for Christ will last."

It is only important that your needs, and not necessarily your wants, are met. Sometimes, you should be thankful God doesn't give you everything you want. In Matthew 6:33, Jesus said, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." In the context, "these things" are the basic needs of food and clothing. Seek God first, and your needs will be taken care of. Seek treasures of wickedness, and you might wind up in the hog pen like the prodigal son.

In several passages of Ecclesiastes, King Solomon, one of the wisest people that ever lived, had these things to say about the treasures of wickedness:

Of possessions, he said in 5:10, "He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity."

Of pleasure, he said in 2:1, "I said in my heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and behold, this also is vanity."

Of power he said in 2:9-11, "So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me. And whatsoever my eyes desired I kept not from them. I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labor: and this was the portion of my labor. Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and the labor that I had labored to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun."

Solomon was the wisest of human beings, yet in the end, he found all these things of little or no value. Meditate on these passages and keep in mind that the Hebrew word translated "vanity" means nothing. The value of possessions, pleasure and power is infinitely exceeded by the value of a righteous life.

B. Treasures of wickedness take the heart away from that which is more permanently profitable, such this as eternal life. The Gospel of Mark 8:35-37 has this to say: For whosoever shall save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" What good is it going to be in relation to eternity to have vast possessions that at death, you are not going to be able to take with you? Those things could never equal the value of your eternal soul.

To look at the same thing another way, turn to Romans 8:18 and II Corinthians 4: 17 and 18. First, Romans 8:18, "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us. Now to II Corinthians 4:17 and 18, "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." If you are not a Christian, these verses do not apply to you. These are our hope that, no matter how much pain we must endure in our earthly lives, God has glories in store for us that will make it all worthwhile. You who are not saved, if you don't come to Christ by faith, and trust Him for your salvation, all you will have will be the treasures of wickedness, and hell to look forward to.

C. This brings me to the beginning of the Gospel: your sinfulness. Treasures of wickedness cause the sin in the heart to be revealed. Chasing after the treasures of wickedness; possessions, pleasure, and power, only puts delusions in the mind.

1. The lust for possessions gives one the delusion of Materialism. This philosophy can be summed up in the maxim, "He who dies with the most toys wins." The delusion is that apart form God, they can gain anything lasting. Many deceive themselves into believing they are helping others, but are doing it from selfish motives. Some of these motives might be to feel good about yourself, getting a tax deduction, bettering your reputation, or putting others under obligation to you.

But the reality is that he who dies with the biggest toys is as dead as he who dies with nothing. His "toys" profit him nothing at the end of his earthly life. Unless that man is saved, the only reward he can look forward to is an eternity in hell with Lazarus' rich man, as told in Luke 16. The real question is, as we have seen, found in Mark 8:37, " What shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"

2. Another delusion is the lust for pleasure, commonly called Hedonism. This is exemplified in the an old beer ad slogan: "Grab all the gusto you can." People who do this live apart from God, wanting little more out of life than wine, women and song. Pleasure is all the Hedonist lives for. They think they are not hurting other people, but by living for pleasure apart from God, they are depriving the world of their own contributions.

The Bible has much to say about deriving improper pleasure from wine, women and song: Of wine, Proverbs 20:1 says, "Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whoever is deceived thereby is not wise."

Men must be especially careful of pleasure with women. Proverbs 23: 27 and 28 says, "For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit. She lieth in wait as or a prey, and increaseth the transgressors among men." A further warning about this woman is found in Proverbs 7:26 and 27, "For she hath cast down many wounded: many strong men have been slain by her. Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chamber of death." In other words the consequences of adultery will be devastating.

As far as songs and music goes, there are far more Scriptural references to good music than bad. But in Ecclesiastes 7: 4 and 5, we have these words: "The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth. It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools. Songs of fools might be pleasant to hear, but they do no real good.

Pleasure in proper doses is a good thing, but grabbing all the gusto or pleasure you can get is crazy! Misuse of wine, women and song produces drunkenness, disease, and deafness!

3. A final delusion is the lust for power, or pragmatism. This is exemplified in Machiavelli's maxim, "The end justifies the means." People under this delusion live to gain position and control of everything in their world, and don't care who gets hurt when they to manipulate God and others. There are many political leaders who are delusional enough to think they are doing good by following a particular agenda, and destroying anyone that gets in their way. The Apostle Paul, in I Timothy 1:8 says, "But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully." We see from this that there is a use of the law that is wrong. The law is perverted all the time by those who wish to manipulate in order to gain power.

The reality is that that end does not justify the means when there is manipulation of people or attempted manipulation of God. Power, pleasure and possessions must all be gained through morally legitimate avenues, or you might have some temporary gain, but in the long run, you will lose. Paul, in II Timothy 2:5, wrote, "And if a man also strive for masteries, yet he is not crowned, except he strive lawfully."

The message should be abundantly clear: No one can manipulate God's moral universe to suit his own ends. The lord is bigger, stronger, and smarter than any man that has ever lived. This alone makes the pursuit of the treasures of wickedness a foolish endeavor.

II. Now we come to the second part of our text: "But righteousness delivereth from death."

A. As we have seen, there is no profit in chasing after treasures of wickedness. In I Timothy 6:10, Paul says, "For the love of money is the root of all evil, which while some have coveted after, they have erred form the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." Back in verse 6 he says, "But godliness with contentment is great gain."

B. It is righteousness that delivers from death. If you wish to have a profitable life, you must turn from your own sin,, which leads to death, and accept God's gift of His own righteousness. Romans 6:23 says, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Eternal life is a far greater treasure than anything gained through sin and wickedness. It is the gift of God: It cannot be earned.

This gift is of grace. It is the very righteousness of Christ Himself imputed to us. Paul also said in Romans 5:21, "That as sin reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord." Apart from God, we cannot help but sin. It is only through God's grace that righteousness will reign in us.

Jesus Christ was our substitute, giving His life on the cross for us, taking our sin upon Himself, and giving us His righteousness. Paul said in I Corinthians 5:21, "Fort he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." Christ was our totally pure and sinless substitute for our sin. His sacrifice paid the price for our sin.

So, the conclusion is simple: Repent and trust in Christ to impute His righteousness to you. Give up chasing the treasures of wickedness. In the end, you will not be able to keep them anyway. In eternity, earthly possessions, pleasure and power will be absolutely meaningless. In hell, they will no longer be yours. There is something better: By trusting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, the treasures of heaven will be yours forever.

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Are You Good Enough to Go to Hell?

Philippians 4:4-6-"Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness that is in the law, blameless."

A couple of years ago, I preached a sermon called, Are You Bad Enough to Get Saved? Today, I am going to ask the same question in a different way: "Are you good enough to go to Hell?" If you think you are good enough to go to heaven without being saved by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, you are good enough to go to hell. The Bible says in Romans 3:23, "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." In Romans 6:23, the Apostle Paul wrote, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Are you good enough to go to hell? If you are relying on your own good works, or your practice of religion to get you to heaven, you are. You cannot see yourself as the sinner God sees. In Matthew 5:20, Jesus said, "For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven."

In our text, the Apostle Paul writes of the time before he was saved. He trusted in his own righteousness to get him to heaven. This is what he meant when he wrote about having "confidence in the flesh." But he was only good enough to go to hell, because he was putting his trust in his own righteousness, and not that of Jesus Christ. In the text, Paul gives five reasons he believed he was righteous before God before he was saved. All of these reasons are still used by Satan to cause people to believe they are going to heaven when in fact they are not. Actually, they are reasons people are only good enough to go to hell. The reasons are: i) he went through a ritual (circumcision), ii) he came from a good family, iii) he kept the law, iv) he was zealous for his faith, and v) he really believed he was a righteous man.

Of course, in the verses that follow this passage, Paul told the Philippians he regarded those reasons as "loss" and "dung" now that he was trusting Christ. He knew he was bad enough to be saved. But let us look at what he reveals about himself when he was good enough to go to hell. We will examine the five reasons Paul thought he was righteous before God, and show all of them are totally inadequate to get anyone to heaven.


I. The first reason from our text Paul was good enough to go to hell was that he went through a religious ritual. Our text says he was "circumcised the eighth day." A Jewish baby boy was circumcised eight says after he was born. He was part of the covenant between Abraham and God. If a baby boy was not circumcised, he was not under the covenant (Genesis 17:13-14). Paul was good enough to go to hell because he was circumcised and therefore believed he was part of the covenant. Some churches also have a ritual for babies that they say regenerates their souls and places them under a church covenant. They call it baptism. But this is not what the Bible calls baptism. If those churches think that sprinkling a little water on a baby, and then declaring he is now a "child of God" is going to get rid of original sin and save the baby, I would suggest that baby has a great start on becoming good enough to go to hell.

The word baptize in the Greek is baptizo, which means to immerse. It is not sprinkle. In a proper baptism, someone is put completely under water.

Neither circumcision nor baptism were intended to save the soul. Only a saved person should be baptized, because the reason someone is baptized is it is a testimony of his salvation. Baptismal water does not regenerate the soul, does not wash away sin, does not result in the new birth. It is symbolic that salvation has already occurred. Paul taught this in Romans6:3-5: "Know ye not, that so many of us that were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into his death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, so also we should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall also be in the likeness of his resurrection."

Going under the water symbolizes Christ's death and burial as our death to sin. Coming out of the water is symbolic of Christ's resurrection as our resurrection to life. Baptism is symbolic of the new birth, and as Dr. Lee Roberson used to say when he baptized people, "Praise the Lord in the newness of life in Christ Jesus." If you want to make someone good enough to go to hell, make him believe he is righteous before God because he was baptized.


II. A second reason Paul was good enough to go to hell was he came from a good family. Or text said he was "Of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews" (verse 5b). It does not matter what family someone is born into: Unless he believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, he will only be good enough to go to hell.

This is clearly stated by John the Baptist in Matthew 3:7-9: "But when he (John) saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance. And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham."

In the eyes of God, it does not matter what family someone is from. John 3:18 says of the Son of God, "He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already," and it does not matter whether he is from a good, bad or indifferent family. You are good enough to go to hell if you think you have "always been a Christian" because you were brought up in a Christian family.


III. A third reason Paul was good enough to go to hell before he was saved is he thought he was righteous because he kept the law. But the law can only condemn. It can never save. the purpose of the law is to show us our sin so we will accept the grace of Christ. Paul shows this in Romans 3:19-20, "Now we know that what things soever the law sayeth, it sayeth to them that are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin."

The law cannot save anyone because no one can keep the law perfectly. This is precisely why Jesus came. As John 1:12 says, "For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." In Galatians 2:21, Paul writes, "I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain." In other words, if you believe you can get to heaven by keeping the law, you are only good enough to go to hell.


IV. A fourth reason Paul was good enough to go to hell was he was zealous for his faith. In verse 6 of our text, Paul wrote he was "Concerning zeal, persecuting the church." Paul had Christians put in prison before he was saved (Acts 8:3), and he was the ringleader at the stoning of Stephen (Acts 8:1).

Today we have people who think they are going to get to heaven by killing others and themselves. Hardly a day goes by when suicide bombers don't kill and die. They are zealous for their religion. They are like the Jews Paul writes of in Romans 10:1-4: "Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer for Israel is, that they might be saved. For I bear them record, that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth." They are only good enough to go to hell because they are breaking God's law against murder, but believe they are doing right. Many are young children who need our prayers and compassion. A prayer for their salvation, a prayer that God will send workers into that harvest of souls, a prayer that the Holy Spirit will touch the hearts of these people, is more powerful than all the car bombs in the world, combined. As Paul said in Romans 1:16, For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation, to the Jew first, but also to the Greek. God wants to save the terrorist, just as he wants to save anyone else.


V. The final, and ultimate reason Paul was good enough to go to hell before he was saved was that he truly believed he was a righteous man. The rest of our text says he was "touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless." He was sincere, but he was sincerely wrong. Blamelessness is not the same as sinlessness. No one could point a finger of blame at Paul with regard to the law. To all appearances, he kept the law. Only God could see the sin in his heart.

At the end of his life Paul wrote these words about himself found in I Timothy 1:13-15: "Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ came into the world to save sinners, f whom I am chief."

Friend, how about you? Are you like the old Paul, good enough to go to hell, or are you like the new, born-again Paul, knowing you are a sinner and trusting in Christ to save you? Do trust Him. His death was good enough to take away your sins, and His resurrection proves you can have a new and eternal life in Him.


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Are You Bad Enough to Get Saved?

Luke 18:9-14: And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others. Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee and he other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week. I give tithes of all I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift so much as his eyes toward heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for everyone that exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

Today I am here to ask you a question: "Are you bad enough to get saved?"

I mean, you have to know you are a filthy, wicked sinner in order to get saved. If you think you deserve to go to heaven, you do not understand your sinful nature. If you think you are holy enough to get into heaven by your own merits, or if you think you can get saved by doing good, you do not know God's standard of righteousness. If you think you will get to heaven if your good outweighs your evil on some mythical judgment scale, you are wrong. Your sins must be paid for.

Our text is a parable about two men praying in the temple at Jerusalem; a Pharisee, and a publican, a Jew who collected taxes for the Roman government. The one would have been thought to be a good man; the other, the worst of sinners. Yet Jesus said the Pharisee went down to his house as lost as he was before he went to the temple, and the publican returned to his home justified. This is a legal term meaning he was declared innocent. The word means God saw him "just as if he had never sinned." The "good man" was still on his way to hell, but the bad man was on his way to heaven. As we compare the two men, ask yourself the question, "Am I bad enough to go to heaven?"


I. First, let us consider the Pharisee. I want you to put away any misconceptions you may have about the Pharisees. They were the most religious of the Jewish sects. More than anyone else in Judaism, they desired to keep the law of God. They were what we call good men who were trying to do the right thing.

The Pharisee in the parable was like this: I see no reason to doubt that he was telling the truth according to his understanding of the Word of God.

But in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 23, we see Jesus that delivered the most searing indictment He ever spoke against any group of people, and it was against the scribes and Pharisees. In the blistering sermon, He called the Pharisees hypocrites (vs 13, 14 15, 23, 25, 27 and 29), blind guides (vs. 16 and 24), fools and blind (vs. 17, 19 and 26), and serpents and a generation of vipers (vs. 33). In verses 25-28, He said they were clean on the outside, but on the inside they were full of extortion and excess; full of hypocrisy and iniquity.


The Pharisee praying in the Temple claimed he was not an extortioner. But in verse 14, Jesus said, "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye devour widow's houses, and for a pretense make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation." Pharisees used their religion and law to extort property from widows, and then pretended their long prayers put them above the love of money. They were not only scheming hypocrites, but also sanctimonious bullies. So this claim was bogus.

The Pharisee in this parable claimed he was not unjust. But in verse 23, Jesus said, "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ye ought to have done, and not to leave the other undone." The tithe of the Pharisees masked neglect of the more important matters of judgment (or justice), mercy, and faith. The man's claim that he was not unjust was false.


The Pharisee bragged he was not an adulterer. But in verse 28, Jesus said, "Even so yo also outwardly appear to be righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity."

One shade of iniquity in his heart could have been adultery. "Relations" with a person other than one's spouse is not required for adultery to take place. Jesus said in Matthew 5:27 and 28, "Ye have heard it has been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery. But I say unto you, that whoso looketh upon a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." The Pharisee was not as pure in his heart as his boast.


As the Apostle Paul said in Romans 2:23, "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." The Pharisee did not realize how much he was like the publican. By "devouring widows' houses," the Pharisee betrayed the most helpless people in the nation while enriching themselves at their expense. He was no better than the publican. His contempt for the tax collector was misplaced: If he was looking for a sinner, all he had to do was peer inside his own heart. He would have seen more wickedness than he could have handled.



II. Now let us turn to look at the publican. He, unlike the Pharisee, was bad enough to go to heaven. This man knew he was a sinner. Unlike the Pharisee, who proudly boasted to God that he was better than other people, the tax collector would not even lft up his eyes toward heaven as he prayed for mercy. "Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner" is, after all, the first prayer God will assuredly answer for anyone.

The publicans did not receive a set salary for collecting taxes. They collected the taxes the Roman government wanted, and then took anything they wanted for themselves above that. As long as the Romans got their cut, they didn't care what the publicans took beyond that. Under this system, abuse of power was rampant: As the ordinary Jews became poorer, the tax collectors became richer. It is no wonder the publicans were hated and despised as the worst of sinners.

Luke 19 tells the story of Jesus' encounter with a publican named Zacchaeus. This little man was the head tax collector for the city of Jericho. One day a crowd gathered as Jesus walked through the streets of that city. Zacchaeis wanted to see Jesus, but was too small to get through the crowd. So instead of fighting the crowd, verse 4 says, "He climbed up into a sycomore tree."

Jesus saw the little man when He passed by the tree. In verse 5, He said to him, "Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down, for today I must abide at thy house." According to verse 6, the tax collector instantly "came down, and received him joyfully," and Jesus was a welcome guest at his house.

Zacchaeus knew he was bad enough to get saved. "And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord: Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give unto the poor; and if I have taken from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold" (verse 8). Here was a sinner who knew he needed mercy, and gave to the poor. The thief returned the goods to the owners, multiplied by four, thus proving he repented of his sins.

In verse 9 we read, And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forasmuch as he is also a son of Abraham. For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." In Matthew 9:13, Jesus said it this way, "I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."

The Pharisee could not meet God's standard to get into heaven. In the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5:20, the Lord said, "For I say unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven." The standard God requires is absolute perfection, and there has only been One Who has ever lived a life of perfect holiness, and He died on the cross for our sins. Jesus Christ has provided the perfection needed to save every sinner who has ever lived.

Jesus Christ paid the same price to save the Pharisee as He did to redeem the publican. It costed Christ just as much to provide salvation for you and me as it did for any other sinner. The price He paid was His life. It does not matter what you have done You can be justified, and God would view you as He did the publican; just as if you had never sinned.

Are you bad enough to get saved? Then the publican's prayer, "God be merciful to me, a sinner, is the prayer for you to pray. It is a prayer the Lord will surely answer.


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Condemned Already

John 3:18: He that believeth on him is not condemned: But he that beliveth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God.

On July 8th, 1741, Jonathan Edwards preached one of the most powerful sermons ever preached: Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. The text was one phrase in Deuteronomy 32:35: "Their feet shall slide in due time." In that congregation in Enfield, Connecticut, people hung on to pews and pillars of the church to keep from sliding into hell.

This text implies, Edwards said, among other things, " That they (sinners) were always exposed to sudden unexpected destruction. As he that walks in slippery places is every moment liable to fall, he cannot foresee one moment whether he will stand or fall the next; and when he does fall, he falls at once without warning: which is expressed in Psalm 73:18 and 19: Surely thou didst set them in slippery places; thou castedst them down to destruction: How are they brought into desolation as in a moment."

If you get nothing else from this message, remember this observation made by Edwards: "There is nothing that keeps wicked men at any moment out of hell, but the mere pleasure of God." This is so because, as our text, John 3: 18 says, unbelievers are "condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God." As there is no one who is not a sinner, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, everyone who does not believe in Christ is condemned already.

Three points will be made in this discourse: First, there is a way out of the condemnation of God. That way is to put your trust in Jesus, the only-begotten Son of God. Secondly, If you don't believe on the Son, you are already sentenced to hell. There is nothing you have to do to go there, because you are condemned already. Finally, it will be shown from Scripture that sinners are condemned already because their deeds are evil, and they will not come to God's light.


I. The first thing we will see is that there is a way out of the condemnation of God. You don't have to go to hell. The text says, "He that believeth on him is not condemned." The Lord Jesus Himself is speaking here, teaching a man named Nicodemus how to be saved. He tells him, in verses 3-7, "Ye must be born again."

He tells them in verses 14 and 15, "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Jesus tells him He will be lifted up on the cross, crucified for their sins, and yours and mine. He will take upon Himself the curse of sin, and be made a curse for us. He will do this so that those who rely on Him will escape the condemnation of hell, and live with Him forever. As verse 16 says, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life." This eternal life is a gift from God that is accepted by trusting the One Who gave it. The next verse says, "For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.

Again, the first part of our text says, "He that believeth is not condemned." They who trust Him have gone from being "condemned already" to "not condemned." It is a complete change in destiny; a change from being an unforgiven sinner on his way to a devil's hell, to a forgiven sinner who has a home with God in heaven.

A word of warning: If you really believe something, you will act in accordance to that belief. Trusting Christ as your Savior will change your life. James 1:22 says, "Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves." There are many who play "Church." They say they believe in Christ, but are they really only deceiving themselves? They go to church on Sunday and live without even a thought for God for the rest of the week. Trusting in Christ is having a relationship with God Himself, not merely assenting to the doctrines of Christianity. It is to put your total reliance on Christ for salvation, and to live your life as a "doer of the word."

Being born again means you are trusting Him to do a work inside you. II Corinthians 5:17 says, "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away: behold, all things are become new." If you truly believe Jesus died for your sins, you are not going to dishonor Him by doing those things that put Him on the cross. If you believe Christ was resurrected from the dead, you will live by relying on the power of that resurrection. If you believe the Lord is coming again, you will live like you are expecting Him at any moment.

You are a hypocrite if you say you believe in Christ and live the same way you always have. If you come to a service like this and act like a Christian , and then go out and disobey every commandment God gave, you are a child of the devil, no matter how loudly you may protest otherwise. You say you believe, but do you really believe? James 2:19 speaks to this: "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble." Professions of faith are only as good as the life backing them up. Because you are "condemned already," your hypocrisy is only going to make your condemnation that much worse. You must repent, and turn to Christ, and depend on His power to enable you to live His way. Don't dare say you believe in Christ if you are not willing to back it up with your manner of living. As John the Baptist said in John 3:36, "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him."


II. A second thing we see from this text is this: If you don't believe in Jesus Christ, you don't have to do a thing to go to hell. You are condemned already to go there. As our text says, "He that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God."

Jonathan Edwards said of unbelievers, "They are already under a sentence of condemnation to Hell. They do not only justly deserve to be cast down thither, but the sentence of the law of God, that eternal and immutable rule of righteousness that God has fixed between him and mankind, is gone out against them, and stands against them, so that they are bound over already to Hell."

You don't have to get drunk one more time to go to hell. You are condemned already. You don't have to stick one more needle in your arm and blow away your mind with whatever drug is in it. You are condemned already. You don't have to go into that "adult" bookstore one more time and purchase one more magazine or video. You are condemned already. If you don''t place your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, your sin has already put you under sentence to hell.

You don't have to cheat on your taxes one more time to go to hell. You are condemned already. You don't have to load one more pornographic DVD into that player, or look at one more member of the opposite sex (or the same sex) with lust in your heart, to go to hell. You are condemned already. You don't have to keep up the pretense of being a believer through one more church service, knowing what a hypocrite you really are, to go to hell. You are condemned already.

As John the Baptist said in verse 36, "He that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him." You who do not believe on the Son of God are condemned already. The wrath of God already abides on you! To paraphrase Edwards, "There is nothing that keeps you at any moment out of hell, but the mere pleasure of God."


III. A final thing seen from our text is, the reason men are condemned already is because their deeds are evil and they will not come to God's light.

A. Men are condemned already because their deeds are evil. Jesus said in verse 19, "And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil."

The Humanist believes that man is basically good. The vast majority of Americans, whether they admit it or not, if they are not Humanists, are influenced by this philosophy. A lot of churches in this post-Christian world do not even preach a semblance of the true Gospel, but do try to change society. This, in many cases, is well-intentioned, and churches should try to change what is wrong. But in the long run, apart from Biblical truth, doing so will only have a minimal effect on society or in eternity.God did not leave His people on earth to change society. He left His people here to teach His Gospel and make disciples of those of those who will come to Him. God's strategy is to change society by changing one person at a time. It is only the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ that save, because it is His truth that is eternal. As the Apostle Paul said in Romans 1:16, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek."

Herein lies the error of Humanism, which teaches that mankind is basically good: The truth is that mankind is basically evil. This is what the bible teaches, and this is what is borne out by the facts. As every parent knows, children do not have to be taught to get into mischief and cause trouble. They do that quite naturally on their own. They have to be taught to do right. Doing wrong is what comes natural.

The Scriptures also make it abundantly clear that men are basically evil:

Jeremiah 17:9 says, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?"

King David, after committing adultery with Bathsheba and having her husband, Uriah the Hittite murdered, wrote in Psalm 51:5, "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me."

There are many passages in the New Testament which point to the same truth, that "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23), and all are under sin: Romans 3:9 reads, "What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they all are under sin."

Romans 1:32 reads, "For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

In Galatians 3:22, Paul wrote, "But the Scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise of faith by Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe."

Many popular "gospel" presentations open by teaching that God loves man. That is certainly true, but it is not the Biblical place to begin a presentation of the Gospel. Man's inclination to sin is the first theme of Paul's Epistle to the Romans. Paul did not mention God's love until the fifth chapter. The first three chapters deal with sin and judgment, topics that are avoided in churches that compromise the truth. Yet these topics are at the very heart of the true Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Some verses from chapters 1-3 will substantiate these statements:

Romans 1:18 says, "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness.

We read in Romans 2:12, "For as many as have sinned without the law shall also perish without the law: and as many as have the law shall be judged by the law.

And Romans 3: 19 and 20 read, Now we know that whatsoever things the law saith, it saith to them that are under the law: that every mouth be stopped: and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin."

Here is an excerpt from Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God about the sinful nature of man: "Sin is the ruin and misery of the soul; it is destructive in its nature; and if God should leave it without restraint, there would need nothing else to make the soul perfectly miserable. The corruption of the heart of man is immoderate and boundless in its fury, and while wicked men live here, it is like fire pent up by God's restraints, whereas, if it were let loose, it would set on fire the course of nature, and as the heart is now a sink of sin, so if sin is not restrained, it would immediately turn the soul onto fiery oven, or a furnace of fire and brimstone."

The reason a man is condemned already is because his deeds are evil, and the reason his deeds are evil is because his heart is evil. The Lord Jesus, in Matthew 15:10 and 11, said, "Hear and understand: Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man." In verses 18-20, He gives His reasons for this statement: "Those things which proceedeth out of the mouth come forth from the heart, and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornication, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile the man. Only through trusting Christ can one be changed from being condemned already to being saved. Only through the true Gospel message can this change take place.

B. Not only are men condemned already because their deeds are evil and are sinners by nature, but they are condemned already because they refuse to come into God's light. John 3:20 reads, "For everyone that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds be reproved.

Like cockroaches scurrying for cover when someone turns on a light switch, so do sinners run from the light of Christ and His Word. Even if they are not committing sins that can be seen by others, they are sinning in their desperately wicked hearts. Conscience will bear witness to this fact even if a man does not know a word of Scripture. It is not hard to silence the conscience, but do not find it so easy when faced with God's Word. This Word is described in Hebrews 4:12 as "quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. This Word knows all and will judge not only actions, but also a man's very intentions. The scope of the judgment is shown in the next verse: Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do." In other words, the Word knows everything you do and think, as well as the intentions behind your thoughts and actions.


Sinners do not want any part of the Light. They hate Him, but they need him. Jesus Christ is the true Light, which, as John 1:9 says, "lighteth every man that cometh into the world." The sad part is that there is no need to run from the Light, but people run from Him all the time. By running from the Light, sinners run from salvation. They choose not to repent of their sins. Like roaches, they would rather keep on living in the filth of their sin, and continue to scurry away form the Light. Unlike the roaches, the consequences for not coming to the Light are more horrible than can be imagined. Sinner, it is better to have your sins reproved while you still have an opportunity for salvation than to is to face the condemnation of Hell, to which you are condemned already. God is under no obligation whatsoever to give you even one more chance to get saved than you have already had.

In II Corinthians 6:2 Paul wrote, " Behold, now is the accepted time; behold today is the day of salvation." Edwards warned, "This acceptable year of the Lord, a day of such favor to some, will doubtless be a day of as remarkable vengeance to others. Men's hearts harden, and their guilt increases apace at such a day as this, if they neglect their souls; and never was so great danger of such persons being given up to hardness of heart and bitterness of mind."

Sinner, if you continue to reject the salvation Christ offers you, God will give you up to hardness of heart. If you continue to scurry from the Light, He will give you over to spiritual blindness. If you continue to suppress and deny the knowledge of God that you do have, He will, according to Romans 1:28, "give you over to a reprobate mind," that is, one that is incapable of having His approval, or in other words, a mind that can't think in a godly way. Remember what Jonathan Edwards said, "There is nothing that keeps wicked men at any moment out of hell, but the mere pleasure of God."

If you are not trusting Christ, you are "condemned already." But that does not have to be your end. Come away from the slippery places and plant your feet on the solid Rock. Rely on God and His promise in Acts 16:31: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved."



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Stained Glass Windows in the Dark

Exodus 10:21-23: "And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch forth thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness that may be felt. And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven,; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days: They saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days: but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings."


I have been in many churches, and have seen many beautiful stained-glass windows adorn the buildings. From simple patterns, and sometimes no discernible pattern at all, to the beauty of Biblical scenes elaborately depicted in glass, I have seen it all. When the sun is shining on a stained-glass window, it lights up the entire sanctuary with its beauty.

In my home town, there is a church that has the most beautiful sanctuary I have ever seen, and one of its loveliest features is its stained-glass windows. Adorning the walls of the building, they surround the worshipper in light. They are beautiful depictions of events in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ, from the Annunciation of his birth to His Second Coming. They depict beautifully that Light that has come into the world to dispel the darkness wrought by the Fall of man. As the light of the sun streams through the window to tell their story, so the Son has come as the light of the world to pierce the darkness of men's souls. And the light shineth in the darkness," as John 1:5 says, "And the darkness comprehended it not." But has the light pierced the darkness of your soul?

It has been said that, "Without faith, we are like stained-glass windows in the dark." Without light a stained-glass window has no function. Go into a church sanctuary at night, and you will not see the beauty of the window, because there will be no light to capture it. There will be nothing there to see. Furthermore, the darkness will remain in the sanctuary because no light is streaming through it.

So a man needs the light faith provides in his soul to dispel the darkness. If you are without faith in Jesus Christ, you are like a stained-glass window in the dark, and this "dark night of the soul" will extend to an eternity in the darkness of hell if the Sun of righteousness does not shine in your soul.

Just any faith will not do. This light of faith must come through a specific person-the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the light that must come streaming through, firstly, to shine in your soul and guide you to God, and secondly, to reflect that light outwardly to the world through you, to lead others to faith in that Light.

Jesus said in John 8:12, "I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." Jesus said this. Not Mohammad. Not Buddha. Not Joseph Smith. If anyone else had said it, he would either be a lunatic or a liar. Jesus is the Way, our guide out of the darkness. He is the Truth that shines in the soul from the moment He comes into the life. He is the Life Who gives light and spiritual life to everyone who accepts His gift.

Jesus said to His disciples in Matthew 5:14-16, "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel (basket), but on a candlestick, and it giveth light unto all that are in the house." Jesus is the Sun of righteousness. Christians are like the moon reflecting the light of His glory so others may come to receive the Light.

One clear example of the conflict between light and darkness in Scripture is found in our text. For 430 years, the Israelites lived in Egypt, much of it in slavery. According to Exodus 1:14, the Egyptians "made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in mortar, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigor."When Moses was about 40 years old, Pharaoh (the King of Egypt) died, and we see in Exodus 2:23 and 25 that "the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage...And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them."

The next thing we know is that God called Moses to lead His people out of Egypt. But before He lead them out, He would bring ten plagues on Egypt to force Pharaoh to let His people go. It is the ninth of these plagues, that of darkness, where our text is found; three straight days of intense darkness, darkness that could be felt.


We will see,

• Firstly, that like stained-glass windows in the dark, disobedient Egypt, being in spiritual bondage as well as physical darkness, could not function in either sphere, and,





• Secondly, that the children of Israel, like stained-glass windows with the light shining through, were busy working in the light to leave the bondage of Egypt for the physical and spiritual freedom of the Promised Land.

I. First, let us take a glimpse at the Egyptians in these three days, and try to imagine turmoil this kind of darkness would cause. John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church and Bible Commentator, made some observations about the physical, mental, and emotional effects of the plague:

As to the physical effects, it was a total darkness that could be felt. The darkness was so severe that according to verse 23, "They saw not one another, neither arose any from his place for three days." No source of light was available to the Egyptians. No sun. No fires or candles. No light at all. For three days the Egyptians were blind in the darkness. We can only imagine the pain and headaches caused by the strain to see anything at all.

The effects on the minds of the Egyptians must have been "very frightful and amazing." Citing Psalm 78:49, "He cast among them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, by sending evil angels among them." Wesley said, "The tradition of the Jews is, that in this darkness they were terrified by the apparition of evil spirits, or rather by dreadful sounds and mummers they made...He (God) poured upon them the fierceness of his anger,by sending evil spirits among them; for those to whom the devil has been a deceiver, he will at length be a terror to."

The emotional effects are compounded by the mental ones. Fear. Abject terror. Their mightiest God, Ra, the sun-god, could not help them. Wesley said, "It continued three days; six nights in one." That does not begin to cover the fear and anguish the Egyptians felt. This supernatural darkness was extraordinary and deep. Horror confined everyone to his home, every bit as paralysed as though he was in a wheelchair. They did not dare move out of their places. They were TERRIFIED!!!

Their eyes were useless. They might as well have been blind. But those who are not born again really are spiritually blind. As Matthew Henry, commenting on these verses said, "Spiritual darkness is spiritual bondage; while Satan blinds men's eyes that they see not, he binds their hands and their feet, that they work not for God, nor move toward heaven. They sit in darkness."

The New Testament speaks of this spiritual blindness in II Corinthians 4:3 and 4, "But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them."

In his confrontation with Moses, Pharaoh, as the pawn of Satan, refused to allow the Light to shine into his life or the lives of his people. He believed he was the offspring of the Egyptian "god" Amon-Ra, the sun god. All ten plagues were judgments on the false gods of Egypt by Yahweh, the true God. Ra could do nothing against the true God, the Creator of light and darkness. The plague of darkness demonstrated Ra was completely powerless to give the light of the sun to the Egyptians. This was a judgment on him and his worshippers, showing he, like the other idols of Egypt, were false and useless "gods," - nothings. But the people of Egypt, like stained-glass windows in the dark, manifested the darkness of their unbelief. Pharaoh was obstinate in refusing to let the Israelites go, and most of Egypt followed him. Now they are like stained-glass windows forever in the dark, and the "dark night" of their souls continues to this day and will never end.

II. Secondly, we see that the children of Israel were not in turmoil. They "had light in their dwellings."

While the Egyptians could do nothing, the children of Israel were busy preparing to leave Egypt and slavery behind. They were gathering their flocks and herds together, along with gathering for the Passover to be eaten when the time came.

The three days of darkness was the ninth plague. The deadliest one, the deaths of all the first born in the land of Egypt, would come after it. There was a short period of time before the deaths when things became relatively normal. In this time, the Lord was giving the Egyptians space to repent. In the 11th chapter a result of the plague of darkness is revealed.

Verses 1-3 say, " And the Lord said unto Moses, Yet will I bring one more plague upon Pharaoh, and upon Egypt; Afterward he will let thee go hence: when he shall let you go, he shall surely thrust you out altogether. Speak now in the ears of the people, and let every man borrow of his neighbor, and every woman of her neighbor, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold. And the Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover, the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh's servants, and in the sight of the people."

Imagine the scene. The Egyptians had been subjected to a horror of darkness for three days. Yet in the land of Goshen, where the Israelites lived, those houses had light. When it said God gave favor to the children of Israel in the sight of the Egyptians, it could mean that the Egyptians were afraid of what would happen if they crossed them again. It seems that everyone but Pharaoh got the message that Moses was no one to mess with, so God had to teach him one more tragic lesson. The final plague was the deaths of the first born, from the oldest child of Pharaoh to the most impoverished Egyptian maidservant. Moses said in Exodus 11:4-6, "Thus saith the Lord, About midnight I will go out into the midst of Egypt: And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth on the throne, even unto the maiden that is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of beasts. And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it any more." After this, Pharaoh would finally let the people of Israel go. They would at last be free of the Egyptian bondage.

But we are not concerned with the end of the story, although that should be kept in the back of our minds. What we are now looking at is the fact that the children of Israel had light in their dwellings. As this was true then, so it is now true that Christians have the light of God in their hearts.

Let us now return to II Corinthians 4, and read verses 5 and 6: "For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord: and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."

As the light of the sun shines through stained-glass windows, streaming light that brings out the beauty of the church, so the Light of the Son should shine in the Christian's heart, showing forth the beauty of holiness and giving glory to the One Who is the Light. This is the key - living by the faith of Christ, since without that faith we are like stained-glass windows in the dark. With faith in Jesus, the Light shines through His Holy Spirit and reflects into the world "the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." It is only by grace that we are saved, and it is only through faith that our light may shine, that through that reflected light, salvation might dispel the darkness in others.

The conclusion of the matter is this: It has truthfully been said that "without faith, we are like stained-glass windows in the dark." People like Pharaoh, who obstinately turn from God's light, and set their faces against it, will in the end have their places in the darkness of hell forever. Be warned - Matthew Henry was right when he wrote, "When men drive God's Word from them, He justly gives them up to their own delusions." Today, this is happening in many churches. You might have the most beautiful building and sanctuary in the world, but unless the Bible truth is preached there, the light streaming through the windows will mean nothing. The hearts of the people will still be full of darkness, and that church might as well not exist. I would rather be in a tiny store-front church with an out-of-tune piano for the song service listening to a man preach the light of God's Word, than in a cathedral with a perfect organ, listening to the most eloquent modernist preacher put on display the darkness in his own heart. That man might as well be speaking to a pitch-black night when the moon and stars are hidden. The windows would be worthless.

If the three-day plague of darkness that befell Egypt was terrible, that does not begin to compare with an eternity in the darkness of hell.

By faith, come and be like a stained-glass window in the Light. The Lord Jesus Christ offers you light, hope and a new life. II Corinthians 5:17 says, "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away: behold all things are become new." By faith, take Him as you Savior and Lord. As he has promised in the Gospel of John 8:12, "I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." Do not scurry away in the darkness because your deeds are evil. Repent. Give up your evil ways. Be reconciled to God. Follow Jesus into a joyful eternity. He will keep His promise. As the children of Israel had light in their dwellings," so your mansion in heaven will be full of light forever.

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