Well, as I said, here we are
the first day of the year 2012. It's just hard for me to get
my mind around that. But with that said, each day
that the Lord gives us inches us closer and closer to eternity. Death and eternal judgment may
yet come for some today. And with that said, it saddens
my soul deeply to think that There are some, possibly even
here today, that may yet be without Christ. To be without Christ,
the scripture says, is to be without hope, to be without God. And eternity will not be a pleasant
place for any who do not know Him as their Lord and Savior. Now this past year, Many of you
have had loved ones, either family or friends, that have gone out
to meet a holy God and judge. And when a sinner dies, they
either meet God perfectly righteous, and holy in Christ so they meet
Him with filthy rags of iniquity in their own right. You see,
there are only two kinds of people in this world when you narrow
it all down. There's lost sinners and there's
saved sinners who are all of sin and come short of the glory
of God. There are only two states in
which men and women will go out to meet God in judgment. They'll
either stand before Him perfectly righteous, holy, perfect, and
innocent, or completely sinful, depraved, and guilty. Only two
states of being. Only two ways to stand innocent,
holy and righteous before a thrice holy God. First, it's either
by keeping God's holy and just law perfectly yourself, or by
resting completely by substitution in the only one who did. And
none can keep God's law, so really, there's only one way. If a man
could keep God's law perfectly, God's law would have no claim
on him, but no man can. None can keep God's law. Now
there are many that somehow think God enjoys and is glad to show
and exercise his severity and judgment upon the unbelieving.
That couldn't be further from the truth. The God of the universe,
dear friends, delights to show mercy. And that's exactly what
this book teaches. Paul wrote in Ephesians 2, he
said, But God who is what? Rich. He's rich in mercy for
His great love wherewith He loved us. Our Lord's rich in mercy. To be rich simply means to have
plenty. to have plenty. Where mercy is
concerned, friends, God has plenty. First turn with me to Psalm chapter
86. Look at verse 5. For thou, Lord,
art good and ready to forgive. God's ready to forgive. He's
plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon Thee, call upon
Him. Look down at verse 15. But Thou,
O Lord, art a God full of what? Compassion, and gracious, long-suffering,
and plenteous in mercy and in truth. Turn over to Psalm 103. Look at verse 8. Psalm 103, verse 8. The Lord is merciful and gracious. He's slow to anger, plenteous
in mercy. He will not always chide. That
word means strive, contend, or quarrel. Neither will He keep
His anger forever. He has not dealt with us after
our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the
heaven is high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward
them that fear Him. And as far as the east is from
the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us."
Now the pages of Divine Inspiration, this book that you hold this
morning, declares clearly simply, plainly, that God will have mercy
on whom He will have mercy, and He will have compassion on whom
He will have compassion. We read that in Romans 9. However, the problem with lost
and fallen men and women is just this. They hate the fact that
His mercy and compassion are at His discretion. That's the
problem. They hate it so much that they
don't even consider the wonderful truth that He will have mercy. and that he will have compassion
on some. God says plainly, I will
have mercy. He says clearly, I will have
compassion. But natural, unbelieving men
and women do not want God to have the say as to whom His mercy
is given. And instead of rejoicing in the
fact that He does have mercy and that He does have compassion
on whom He will, they say that is somehow unfair. And He must
enjoy sending folks to hell. Now it's my intention this morning,
by the grace of God, to prove that thinking completely wrong.
So if you'll turn with me to Ezekiel 18. I want to read verse
23 in Ezekiel 18. Now this is God speaking. And God asks two questions here
in this one verse, verse 23. The first question is, have I
any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? That's the
first question. As you can see, he says, sayeth
the Lord God. And secondly, and not that he
should return from his ways and live. Does the Lord God find
any pleasure at all that the wicked should perish and die?
Look over at chapter 33 of Ezekiel. God's gonna answer the very question
that he asked. Ezekiel chapter 33, look at verse
11. God again says in verse 11, say
unto them, as I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure
in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his
way and live. Turn ye, turn ye from your evil
ways, for why will you die, O Israel?" That's a good question. Why will
you die? And God answers this question
so that there's no doubt to the answer. God himself lives the
verse says he has no pleasure in the death of the wicked and
God not only Answers this question most certainly But he asked another
question that all lost men and women should seriously consider
He asked the question why will you die? Why will you die? There is life in the look to
the Savior. God has given His own dear Son
as the sacrificial Lamb, and all that look to Him and Him
alone may have life. Now let me ask you, why would
God ask the wicked, why will you die if he found pleasure
in them perishing? That's a reasonable question.
He's God. He doesn't have to give an account
to what He does. He just sent them to hell. But
God says, why will you die? I have three things I want you
to consider from this amazing verse of Scripture. And I pray,
oh, how I pray that the Holy Spirit enable me to preach it
and enable you to hear it and give you and I both the grace
of faith to believe it. You know, this message is not
only for the lost. This message is for believers. I was saved, I'm being saved,
and I need to continue to be saved. I must endure till the
end. Those that endure till the end
shall be saved. God finds no pleasure in the
perishing of the wicked. The first thing I would have
you to consider, my first concern in prayer, is that our fears
be awakened. May God enable us to say within
ourselves, This text tells me that sinners must either turn
or die. A sinner must turn with full
purpose of heart in another direction or else they shall surely die. To repent means to turn. It means
to change. Change, first of all, your opinion
of yourselves and your self-sufficiency. It's got to turn, friends. It's
got to change. We're not self-sufficient. We're
totally dependent upon the grace and mercy of God Almighty. Tell you what else must turn
and must change? Your opinion of God, the only
God in potentate. It's got to change. Paul said
in Ephesians 1, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance
being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh
all things after the counsel of His own will. Men and women
by nature have way too high an opinion of themselves and way
too low an opinion of God Almighty. And if God is not in control
of all things, then He's not God at all. Your next breath,
your next heartbeat, is at His dispensing. That's right. That's exactly right. Every trial,
trouble comes from His hand. Every one. This is how He works
all things together for the good of them that love Him. They're
His to work. How could God work all things
for His people's good if He were not in control of all things?
That's not hard to understand, is it? Anything less than that
true statement is unreasonable. How could God work all things
for His people's good if He were not Himself in control of all
things? And if that be so, and it is,
then we must bow also to the divine truth that salvation is
of Him and by Him alone. That's included in all things. The salvation of His people. The salvation of lost, sinful,
depraved men and women. And at the same time, men are
responsible. If you are eternally condemned
to hell forever, it will be by your own doing. It will be by
your own doing. Why will you die? Why? Why will you die? Now the Apostle Paul made it
quite clear in Romans chapter 6 verse 23 that the wages of
sin is death. But thank God he didn't stop
right there. He said, but the gift of God
His eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Now this sentence
of death that the scriptures speak of, it's a deserved sentence. It's deserved. And every one
of us deserves it. It's a capital sentence. And
it's passed against all that will not bow and submit to the
Lord Jesus Christ as God's only way of redemption. Only one way. The sentence is not that you'll
be imprisoned. The sentence is death. The wages of our sin is death. And it's not talking about physical
death. This is talking about spiritual
and eternal death. We're all going to die one day
physically. But Ezekiel 18.20 says, the soul
that's in it, it shall die. The Lord told Adam and his wife
Eve, the day you eat of that fruit, you'll surely die. And
yet they lived for hundreds of years. He wasn't talking about
physical death. He was talking about spiritual
death. And all men, with Adam as their
federal head, are born dead in trespasses and sin. The most terrible sentence of
the law of God is death, eternal death, to those who do not perfectly
keep God's law. And death will come upon you,
dear friends, unless you turn, unless you repent. And may that
word die come like the point of a dagger to slay our soul's
false peace. Man has a lot of false peace.
But one thing I think that rattles men to their core is death. Death. But to a child of God,
death is but a promotion. It's on to better things. I tell you, friends, I look around
me and I don't see much concern among folks for their souls.
People are concerned, it seems, a lot about earthly and material
things that the Scripture says will one day rust and burn. People
seem to be concerned about temporal things that will soon come to
an end, myself included. Men and women are concerned about
their well-being and financial things. retirement, even their
health. We're concerned about those things.
But what about eternal things? What good is it to gain the whole
world and lose your own soul? Where's the concern of men and
women for their souls? That's something that God's got
to give a man and a woman. Oh, may God awaken your soul,
that's my prayer, with the fear of eternal death and judgment. May God cause us to be concerned
for our sin, which is what brings about this awful condemnation. If the lost heart is properly
affected by this text that we've read, He'll say, I'm not ready to meet Him. The lost soul will
say, I'm not ready to meet Him. I'm not ready to stand before
God in judgment. I'm not ready to hear the cry,
come to judgment! For you see, it's appointed unto
man once to die, and after this, the judgment, Hebrews 9.27. Who
does the appointing? It's appointed unto man who wants
to die. Who does that appointing? The very God who says, why will
you die? Who is the judge before whom
we stand? The very God that says, why will
you die? Perish the thought that God will
find pleasure in sending you to eternal death and everlasting
torment, because He commands you by the preaching of the Gospel
to turn Turn you, turn you from your evil ways and live, and
live. And here's the worst of it. This
death that I speak of is forever. It's not just for a moment and
then it's over. No, it's eternal death. And if this fear had never come
to my heart, dear friends, I confess to you, I would have never hated
my sin. I never would have fled to Christ,
and you won't either, unless God shakes you to your core. Oh, how I pray that your fear
be awakened in your soul this day. The second thing is I pray
that your heart be moved, turned. Turn, turn. Three times God says
turn. Turn from your evil ways, the
text says. Three different times. Oh, how
our hearts must be turned away from our former lust and turned
towards God. And let me add this. This is
no mere invitation. It's not an invitation to accept
or to reject. This is a command from the authority
of God. Turn. Turn, turn from your evil
ways and live. Isaiah 55, 7 says, Let the wicked
forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him
return unto the Lord, for he will have mercy upon him. And
to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. Oh, to pardon us, it
has to be abundant pardon, doesn't it? So I ask, why will you die? This turning is much more than
just turning outwardly, too. You know, that's one of the biggest
misconceptions that are spoken from the pulpit today. There
are men that... I know men, and so do you, that
have given up vices and bad habits, and they've become moral men
and women. That's not salvation. Redemption
is an inward turn. It's an inward change. Many can
turn and give up bad things for the sake of self-righteousness.
And most of the time, that's exactly what it leads to. I don't
commit adultery. Do you look at a woman in lust?
I've never committed murder. Do you hate in your heart? It's an inward thing. Friends,
if we're ever to be turned from inward wicked thoughts, lust,
and our evil nature, I'm going to tell you something. It will
have to be by something more than your own strength. You're
going to need to look at a stronger arm and mightier power than a
mere mortal can provide. Turn to Christ. He can do for you what you cannot
do for yourself. You cannot resist your sins in
your own power. You cannot change your sinful
nature and renew it in some type of purity and holiness. There
is but one who can do that for you. Only one. God Himself has
provided the substitute and the sacrifice for you. And it's Himself. You see? But at the same time,
may we be made aware of the words of the Apostle Paul, Philippians
3, verses 18 and 19. He said these words, of whom I have told you often,
and now tell you even weeping, that they're enemies. They're
enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose
God is their belly, whose glory is their shame, who mine earthly
things." The words of God could easily change from turn, turn
to tempt me no longer, provoke me no more. My anger has been
held in. I've restrained myself. I sent
my son to you and I bid you to trust him and to love him and
you've turned your back. I've told you to kiss my son
lest he be angry and you've turned your head the other way. I've
called you by My servants. I bid you to turn, but you've
not repented. But let me tell you, friends,
today, today, right now, can still be the day of salvation.
It can be the day of salvation for you. And I stand this morning
by the authority of God Himself and charge you once again by
God's eternal mercy to turn. You're still breathing. Your heart's still beating. It's
not too late. It's not too late. If God gives
you ears to hear His Word, and you hear God Almighty say, turn,
turn from your evil ways and live, for why will you die? Why? Why will you die? Let me close with my third and
final point. I pray that this text will cause
our understanding to be enlightened. You see, when a lost sinner's
understanding begins to be enlightened, and those of you whom God has
shown mercy and grace know this to be so, you'll begin to ask
yourself, why should I die? You'll begin to understand just
how terrible eternal death is, and you'll see that this death
is terrible, and you'll ask yourself, why must I suffer this? When
the Holy Spirit awakens your dead, lost soul, you'll run out
of answers to these questions. for the just and holy judge is
the very one who commands you to turn and he asks you directly
and plainly, why will you die? God himself has asked you why
you will die and he wouldn't ask you that if he had not made
a way of escape for you. Hebrews 12.25 says these words,
see that you refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escape
not who refuse Him that spake on earth, much more shall not
we escape if we turn away from Him that speaketh from heaven."
Hebrews 12, 25. Read it yourself. He who speaks
from heaven has spoken. He's commanded you to turn. And He will turn you. Now look at Ezekiel 33, 11 again. God says, As I live, saith the
Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but
that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn ye, turn ye
from your evil ways, for why will you die? Why will you die? God will make a way for the wicked
to turn from His way and live. And I leave you with these words.
I can say, turn, but only God can turn. I can tell you of this
horrible death. I can describe it with adjectives,
most horrible, but only He can enable you to feel its terrible
power. I can tell you of the love and
the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ, but only He can make you to pant
and to thirst after His righteousness. Oh, always remember this. If
you want these things, you can have them. You can have them.
God has never refused a sinner who begged for mercy and grace.
Never one time. Never once. If you desire Christ,
you can have Him. God finds no pleasure in the
perishing of the wicked. If you want Christ, you can have
Him. Oh, if there's a sinner here
that would desire to be saved, let him flee to Christ. And you
can, dear friends, sit Him right where you are. Look to Christ
with the eyes of faith and see Him on that cross. And let me
tell you, when you see Him by the eyes of faith hanging on
that cross and something else you see, you see that that should
be you. That should be you hanging there.
Only God can show you that. Him as He hangs upon the cross
and you rest your soul upon Him. You'll live. You'll live. Your sin, as black as it is,
can trust Him to cleanse it. And it's black. Come, let us
reason together. Though your sins be as scarlet,
they shall be white as snow. Though you're altogether ruined,
altogether undone, if you can believe, all things are possible
to him that believes. That's what God's Word says.
Never did a soul, never, never, ever, ever has a soul rest on
Christ and found Him to fail. Never. Perish the thought. Come to Him. Come to Him. Turn. Turn. Why will you die? Why would you
die? Come to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Those that believeth on Him shall be saved. He that hath the Son
hath life, and he that hath not the Son hath not life.