INTRO: In 1981, a Minnesota radio station reported a story about a stolen car in California. Police were staging an intense search for the vehicle and the driver, even to the point of placing announcements on local radio stations to contact the thief. On the front seat of the stolen car sat a box of crackers that, unknown to the thief, were laced with poison. The car owner had intended to use the crackers as rat bait. Now the police and the owner of the VW Bug were more interested in apprehending the thief to save his life than to recover the car. So often when we run from God, we feel it is to escape his punishment. But what we are actually doing is eluding his rescue.
TRANSITION: Those that live in the world see their lifestyle of running a way from God, but the real reason God is chasing is to save them. Personally, I am glad that he saved me and that day of my life will remain the single greatest day of my entire existence.
WILL YOU LET GOD RESCUE YOU?
LEADERS: As of press time, I am not sure if I will or will not share my testimony here, but I would like you to share your testimony of how Christ called you to him. More than likely I will go over these next points in order to be exactly clear 100%.
1. YOU ARE GOING TO DIE
A. I know this is shocking, and I don’t mean to scare anyone whatsoever. Just because today you are one day closer to your death than you ever have in your life does not mean that you should be frightened by that fact.
B. One of the oddest stories about death I have ever heard is the story of Aeschylus. According to legend, Aeschylus was an Athenian veteran of the Battle of the Marathon and at the Battle of the Salamis who helped the Greeks fend of the Persians. He was a leader of the great Greek navy. He was a great orator and was giving a speech. While speaking, an eagle dropped a turtle on his bald head thinking it was a rock and killed him instantly.
I mean I know it’s cliché to say, “hey you could die in a car accident on the way home here,” but to have a little more ease with the issue I guess I’ll say that “you could die from a falling turtle on the way home from here” in order to soften the blow.
C. BIBLE VERSE: Psalm 139:16
Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
This verse tells us that as clear as we have a birth date, we also have a death date. Our days our numbered and our end is as clearly predestined by God as our beginning.
2. YOU ARE GOING TO FACE JUDGEMENT
Which one will you face?
What Tom, there are two judgments…that is crazy! Because I have been told my entire life that we stand before God and he either sees me and my sin or he sees someone who is as white as snow. What in the world are you talking about?
Okay, let’s back track and look at a bible verse here.
BIBLE VERSE: Hebrews 9:27
And, as it is appointed onto men once to die, but after this the judgment.
Yes, we are going to be judged. But it won’t exactly be standing in a court room, our guilt or innocence will already be determined upon our death.
For the unbeliever:
They will be told “away from me for I never knew you (Matthew 7:23).” Then years later after being in hell for a long time, they face the Great White Throne Judgment as described below.
A. THE BEMA SEAT JUDGEMENT
The Bema Seat Judgment (otherwise known as the Judgment Seat of Christ) is referred to in 2 Corinthians 5:10. Though I don’t want to speculate incorrectly or go into too much detail and risk being Biblically wrong…the Bema Seat Judgment is the 2nd judgment of the believer. This takes place after admission into heaven. In basic terms, it is God’s evaluation for how you lived your life AFTER you received heaven as your eternal reward. The scriptures don’t imply this to be scary, but, if a person accepts Christ at age 18 and spends 50 years of their life on earth never witnessing and never attending fellowships, well I can imagine this judgment could be uncomfortable.
B. THE GREAT WHITE THRONE JUDGMENT
The Great White Throne Judgment is the 2nd judgment of the non-believer who is already in hell. Revelation 20:11-15 explains that this is the judgment that sends a person’s soul from hell (which is already a horribly awful place) into the Lake of Fire (which is evidently much worse). Satan himself will be thrown into this as the scriptures clearly state.
3. YOU WILL BE EITHER GUILTY OR NOT GUILTY
Back in 1830 George Wilson was convicted of robbing the U.S. Mail and was sentenced to be hanged. President Andrew Jackson issued a pardon for Wilson, but he refused to accept it. The matter went to Chief Justice Marshall, who concluded that Wilson would have to be executed. "A pardon is a slip of paper," wrote Marshall, "the value of which is determined by the acceptance of the person to be pardoned. If it is refused, it is no pardon. George Wilson must be hanged."
For some, the pardon comes too late. For others, the pardon is not accepted. Will you accept God’s pardon on your life?
REMEMBER: DEFINITION OF A PARDON IS ACCEPTING THE RESPONSIBILITY OF AN ACTION WITHOUT RECEVING THE PUNISHMENT
Three things I don’t understand in life:
A. Why anyone if given the choice would choose chicken and not steak.
B. Why anyone if given the choice would choose caramel and not hot fudge.
C. Why anyone if given the choice would choose guilty over not guilty.
But the sad thing is people choose it every day of their life.
4. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE CHOOSE TO BE NOT GUILTY
(Leaders this is where I will bring up the issue of sin and talk about a couple. In my experience if a person does not adequately understand the grievousness of sin, then they can’t have a complete understanding of what it means to be not guilty and to have his or her sin paid for in full).
For those who have ever listened to the Way of the Master, this is what I am talking about.
5. THERE’S A LOT MORE GUILTY THAN WE CAN POSSIBLY COMPREHEND
BIBLE VERSE: Matthew 7:13-14
Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.
Now I don’t know what percent is MANY and what percent is FEW, but that’s what the Bible states and the Bible is never wrong.
CLOSE:
The devil and his cohorts were devising plans to get people to reject the Gospel. "Let's go to them and say there is no God," proposed one. Silence prevailed. Every devil knew that most people believe in a supreme being. "Let's tell them there is no hell, no future punishment for the wicked," offered another. That was turned down, because men obviously have consciences which tell them that sin must be punished. The concave was going to end in failure when there came a voice from the rear: "Tell them there is a God, there is a hell and that the Bible is the Word of God. But tell them there is plenty of time to decide the question. Let them 'neglect' the Gospel, until it is too late." All hell erupted with ghoulish glee, for they knew that if a person procrastinated on Christ, they usually never accept Him.
Sources:
Gotquestions.org. Question: Do we have an appointed time of death?
Sermonillustrations.com. Keyword: salvation.
Walking Through the Bible.
Appendix:
Question: "Do we have an appointed time of death?"
Answer: The Bible tells us that “all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be” (Psalm 139:16). So, yes, God knows exactly when, where, and how we will die. God knows absolutely everything about us (Psalm 139:1-6). So does this mean our fate is sealed? Does this mean we have absolutely no control over when we will die? The answer is both yes and no, depending on the perspective.
The answer is "yes" from God’s perspective because God is omniscient—He knows everything and knows exactly when, where and how we will die. Nothing we can do will change what God already knows will happen. The answer is "no" from our perspective because we do have an impact on when, where, and how we die. Obviously, a person who commits suicide causes his own death. A person who commits suicide would have lived longer had he not committed suicide. Similarly, a person who dies because of a foolish decision (e.g., drug use) “expedites” his own death. A person who dies of lung cancer from smoking would not have died in the same way or at the same time if he had not smoked. A person who dies of a heart attack due to a lifetime of extremely unhealthy eating and little exercise would not have died in the same way or at the same time if he had eaten healthier foods and exercised more. Yes, our own decisions have an undeniable impact on the manner, timing, and place of our death.
How does this affect our lives practically? We are to live each day for God.James 4:13-15teaches us, “Now listen, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.' Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, 'If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that.'” We are to make wise decisions about how we live our lives and how we take care of ourselves. And ultimately, we trust God that He is sovereign and in control of all things.
Definition of Bema:
Bema (judgment seat) in secular usage had four meanings:
1. One's stride, or manner of walking (which reveals character).
2. A platform for a public official (cf. Acts 25:6, 10, 17).
3. A "rewards platform" in sporting contests. Because of this meaning, some claim, the "bema" is only a place for rewards--not judgment. But in secular legal contexts it also denotes
4. the place where litigants stood for trial. Paul repeatedly stressed this meaning; Acts 25:10, Romans 14:12.