THE SADDEST WORDS
2023 has come in like a lion. The weather has been crazy. Covid and the flu are spreading. The Republicans are making spectacles of themselves trying to elect a Speaker of the House, and the Democrats are enjoying every minute of it. None of those things compare to the saddest words you will ever hear. The saddest words ever spoken and that will ever be spoken came from the lips of Jesus Christ.
Matthew 7: 21-23
21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
Undoubtedly, those are the saddest word that a person could ever hear, but you will hear those words if you do not confess Jesus Christ as Lord. Dear friend, above all else, God is a just God, and we would all be in trouble if we faced the just God, but I do not rely on God’s justice; I rely on His mercy and grace. AMEN!!!!
Did you know there is a difference between justice, mercy, and grace? I heard the other day that Marty went to Colin to have a portrait painted. Colin looked at Marty in the way that an artist looks at something, and he took a picture and made a few lines on a piece of paper. It took Colin a few days, but when he finished the portrait, it looked just like Marty.
So, Colin called Marty, and Marty came and picked up the portrait, and I am telling you the painting looked just like Marty, but when Marty got the portrait home, the more he looked at it, the angrier he got, so Marty brought the portrait back to Colin. Angrily, Marty looked at Colin and said, “This painting does not do me justice.” Colin took the painting, he looked at it, and then he stared at Marty. Then he looked back at the painting, and then he looked back at Marty. Finally, after several minutes of looking, Colin turned to Marty and said this:
“Marty, you don’t need justice. What you need is mercy.”
Praise God for mercy and grace. We all need God’s mercy, and I, for one, am glad that I am not going to face Him in judgement of my sin. Today, what I have to share is not a pleasant message, and it is a message missing from the church today, and it is a message for the lost and the saved. Dear friend, eternity only has two destinations, heaven, or hell. It is an absolute reality. The Bible tells us of that reality.
2 Corinthians 5: 9-11
9 Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. 11 Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences.
Knowing the terror of the Lord, according to Paul, ought to motivate us to persuade men to follow Jesus Christ. Dear friend, the church needs to be shocked out of its laziness. People are dying and going to hell, and dear friend, demographically, our area has changed and will continue to change. Twenty years ago, you could mention Jesus Christ and whoever you were mentioning Him too would have some idea as to who Jesus is, but not today, and dear friend, those people are going to die and go to hell unless they turn to Jesus. Our world is going to hell in a hand basket. Our streets are filled with hell, and the reason our streets are filled with hell is because there is no hell in the pulpit. The pulpits in America have been turned into props for the prosperity pundits, but I want you to know hell is a reality, and your prosperity could be a myth from the pits of that reality. God never promised to make you rich, healthy, and prosperous. God just promised to provide for your needs, and the number one need He has filled is providing for your salvation, and that salvation is found in Jesus Christ. If you reject Jesus Christ, if you reject what God has to offer, you are going to spend an eternity in hell. If I can, I want to share with you the reality of hell, and I want to share the reality of those who will be there including you if you continue in rejection of Jesus Christ.
I. THE REALITY OF HELL
Hell is real. It is a real place. Can I share some verses about hell?
Revelation 21: 8
But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
Revelation 14: 11
And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.”
Hell is real, and it is going to be your eternal destination if you reject Jesus. At some point in the future, you are going to face Jesus Christ as the Judge.
John 5: 21-22
21 For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will. 22 For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son,
Jesus Christ has been given the authority to judge you by God the Father, and no one can escape that judgement.
Hebrews 9: 27
And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,
At some point, you are going to face Jesus as judge, and He is either going to judge you in your sin, or He is going to judge you for what you did in His name after turning your life over to him. Why is Jesus the Judge? Jesus is the Judge because it was He that endured God’s judgement for the sins of the world.
Romans 8: 32
He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?
God did not spare any of His wrath on sin even though that wrath was being poured out on His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus submitted to the Father and took all the judgement God had for the sins of the world, and because of that, Jesus can judge. The reality of Him being judge was sealed in Resurrection. The Bible says this.
Titus 2: 13
looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,
Jesus Christ is the Christian’s blessed hope because He was Resurrected, but that Resurrection gives Him the authority to judge you if you are lost because He was victorious over the death and the grave. Look at this verse.
Revelation 20: 13
The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works.
A lost person counts on the grave being final, but dear friend, Jesus Christ is alive, and because He is alive, death and the grave cannot protect you from His summons to appear at His eternal court. It is a reality. You are going to meet the Judge, and He has the authority to cast you into hell. Listen. Only Jesus Christ knows the judgement He endured for you, and only He can render that judgement in kind. You might not think of it in these terms, but Jesus Christ experienced, withstood, hell for you on Calvary and in that tomb, and only He has the right to deliver you to hell if you reject Him as the Way to avoid that judgement. It is better to call a spade a spade. Rejecting Jesus Christ is without a doubt the dumbest thing you can do. The Bible calls you a fool for doing that. Jesus Christ bore your judgement, but if you reject what Christ did for you, the Bible has some dire warnings for you. Let’s look at some of hell’s residents.
II. THE RESIDENTS OF HELL
A. THE DEVIL AND HIS FALLEN ANGELS
Matthew 25: 41
“Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:
Hell is being prepared for the devil and his fallen angels. God did not intend for you to be there. He did all that He could do to keep you from going there.
John 3: 16
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
2 Peter 3: 8-9
8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
God has extended His mercy to keep you from going to the place He is preparing for the devil and those created beings that followed after him. Two thousand years seems as two days on God’s calendar because He is not willing that you should perish in the eternal destination prepared for the devil. God did all He could to keep hell’s residency as small as possible.
Ephesians 1: 3-6
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.
Before the world was ever created, you were chosen for Jesus Christ. God never intended for you to go where the devil will be, but if you reject the Way to heaven, you will hear Jesus say, “Depart from Me, I never knew you!” How sad those words are!!! When He says depart, you will be going to the place He prepared for the evil one, and that will be your home until east catches west.
B. THE RELIGIOUS
The religious will be there.
John 14: 6
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
To avoid hell, you must follow the Way paved and led by Jesus Christ, and dear friend, not a way led by a fake Jesus either, but the Way led by the Jesus Christ of the Bible. That Jesus Christ is the Way, and the Bible was written, according to John, so that you could believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God. Muslims, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Southern Baptists, United Methodists, Hypocrites, and Apostates of all sizes, shapes, and ages will be in hell because they will have rejected the Way. Dear friend, it matters what you believe, and Muhammad cannot keep you out of hell and neither can the Southern Baptist Convention. Many people say, “I do not want to go to that church because of the hypocrites.” Well, dear friend, if you reject Jesus, you won’t just spend two hours on a Sunday with them. You will spend eternity with them. Jesus Christ is not a way to heaven. Jesus Christ is not the best way to heaven. Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven, and you, no matter your upbringing, are without an excuse.
Romans 1: 20
For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,
You might be sitting here thinking that you are going to get by because you were raised in a church. You might think that you are safe because your parents and grandparents are members of a church like that gives you some kind of special privilege, but dear friend, granddaddy is not the way to heaven. You might think that being an American will get you to heaven, but dear friend, America is not the way to heaven either. God does not wave Ole Glory and look through Star-Spangled eyes. Jesus is the Way to heaven, and if you rely on your association with this church or an association with anything other than Jesus to get you to heaven, you are going to hear the saddest words ever. DEPART! I never knew you!
Religion and being religious will only send you to hell. Christianity is not a religion. Christianity is a person, and that person is Jesus Christ, and only He can keep you out of hell.
C. THE DO-GOODERS
Matthew 7: 21-23
21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
The Do-Gooders will be in hell. The Do-Gooders are those that think they are too good to be damned because they do so many good deeds. Oh, they do so many good things. They fill Christmas boxes, they feed nurses and police officers, they do trunk or treat, they rake leaves for widows, they save the planet, they are against abortion, they vote Republican, and they give to and participate in Relay for Life but dear friend, without Jesus, those things just make the world a better place for you to go to hell from. Dear friend, Jesus Christ is the Way, and substituting anything for Him will result in you hearing, “DEPART FROM ME!”
Ephesians 2: 8-9
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.
Seriously, I believe some people, and hopefully you are not one, think they are too good to go to hell, but dear friend, you cannot possibly do enough good works to get to heaven. “Well, Jimmy, that is an awful thing to say!” You bet it is. Look at these two passages.
Psalm 51: 5
Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.
Revelation 20: 12
And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.
Now, here we go. I want you to know God is sovereign, and I believe His sovereignty became real to me on December 27, 2022, at 12: 35 PM as I was typing this message. Do you see God’s sovereignty in those two passages? Listen. To God, the past, present, and future have already happened. Nothing happens without God already knowing it was going to happen. How does that tie to these two passages?
The Bible tells us that all of us that were born with a human father were brought forth in iniquity. In other words, when you and I came into this world, we were sin. We were not innocent. We were sin. In heaven, God has a book with your name on it, and in that book is recorded all the deeds you will ever do, and I believe that book on you was written before you were ever conceived. Dear friend, God is sovereign, and He absolutely, undeniably, knows what you have done, are doing, and are going to do. It has been recorded. He does not make you do it; He gave you free will, and those things recorded are things you have chosen to do, are doing, or will do. Every thought, word, or deed that you will ever do in your entire life was written in your book before you were born. To deny that is to deny God.
Think about it. Do you think God gets caught off guard by anything you do? Absolutely not!!! If you think that, you are saying that God is not sovereign, and in His sovereignty, God knows everything about you, and He knew it before you were born, and what He knew you would do was written in your book in glory. Everything you did when you thought no one was looking God had written in your book. Every time you went one mile over the speed limit, God had written down in your book before an automobile was ever invented. Did you know that driving one mile over the speed limit was a sin?
Matthew 22: 20-21
20 And He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” 21 They said to Him, “Caesar’s.” And He said to them, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” 22 When they had heard these words, they marveled, and left Him and went their way.
Romans 13: 1-3
1Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same.
Your sins and my sins stack up to heaven, and each one of your sins and my sins was recorded in our books that God keeps on us even before you and I were born. Think of all that might be recorded in your book, and that it is a miniscule amount of what is actually recorded in your book. What is written in your book was enough for God to hurl down unimagined wrath on His Son on Calvary’s Cruel Cross. How many good works would you have to do to erase even going one mile over the speed limit? Dear friend, you cannot erase sin by doing good works, and it does not matter how many good works you do. Your good works as a Do-Gooder will only serve to cement you as a leading resident of hell. You are without hope, or are you?
III. THE HOPE IN JESUS CHRIST
It sounds hopeless does it not? Dear friend, that is the point. You cannot save yourself, but Jesus can save you. As a matter of fact, He died for everything that was written in your book.
Colossians 2: 13-15
13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, 14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.
AMEN!!! AND HALLELUJAH!!!!!
Take the universality out of it for a minute. Think of all the things that are written in your book, in your book! Not in my book. Not in Adolf Hitler’s book, but in your book! Those things written in your book are hanging over your head like a death sentence. There is nothing you can do about them, but those things written in your book have already been judged. Those things were judged on the Cross, and God’s judgement was poured out on His Son on your behalf. I am not talking about anyone but you. When everything in your book was judged and punished by God, Jesus said this.
John 19: 30
So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.
When Jesus said it is finished, the charges brought against you in your book had been completely judged. Your sentence was finished. Your account was paid in full if you will only do this.
Romans 10: 9-10
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Jesus Christ hung there receiving God’s wrath for what was written in your book, and if you repent, confess Him as Lord, and believe that God has raised Him from the dead, He will write on your book in blood-red letters, “IT IS FINISHED!!!” And because you have been pardoned by the blood of Jesus, those things written in your book will never be brought to your charge, even through eternity, but if you reject Christ, you will, forever, experience the judgement Christ endured for you on Calvary, except that judgement you receive will be worse than what Christ experienced, worse than the Cross. The Bible tells us that.
Romans 2: 5-6
5 But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, 6 who “will render to each one according to his deeds”:
If you continue rejecting Christ, you are storing up wrath against the day of wrath. What is the day of wrath? The day of wrath is when you face Christ as judge. What wrath is being stored? The wrath that was poured out on Jesus by God the Father on Calvary. Why will you receive that wrath? For your deeds. What deeds? Those written in your book, and dear friend, it is an urgent issue of timing. You see. You are going to eventually bow to Jesus. Philippians 2 says that every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess Jesus, but the question is this.
Will you do that today, or will you do it when you are appearing before the Judge? If you do it today, your sentence will be finished, but if you wait until you appear before the Judge, it will be too late. You are going to confess Him; it is just a matter of precious time. You see, God’s Holy Word is both amazing and fearful. God is not going to wait on you forever. I am going to close with this, and I am not trying to scare anyone, but God is sovereign. In His sovereignty, God gave us some serious warnings about time in His Word.
2 Corinthians 6: 2
For He says: “In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
Today is the day of your salvation. You are not promised another breath.
Proverbs 27: 1
Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.
There have been many, many people who have died with the charges written in their book hanging over their heads because they thought they would get saved tomorrow, but tomorrow never came. Do not boast about tomorrow.
Job 14: 5
Since his days are determined, the number of his months is with You; You have appointed his limits, so that he cannot pass.
If you look at Job 14 literally, and I believe you interpret the Bible as literally as possible, all of your days have been recorded, as indicated in Revelation 20, and your date with destiny has been determined, and you do not know when that date with destiny is, but God does, and He has told you that today is the day of salvation, and if you refuse today to repent, confess, and believe, the Bible calls you a fool, and if you do not call on the Lord today, tomorrow your soul could be delivered to hell awaiting final judgement and your appearance before the Judge. God does not want that for you.
2 Peter 3: 9
The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
John 3: 16
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Will you answer the Holy Spirit’s call and turn to Jesus and follow Him on His Way? You do not know what tomorrow holds. Come to Jesus today.