It is a fearful thing to fall
into the hands of the living God. And soon you will. It is a fearful thing to fall
into the hands of the living God. contemplated that fact. He said, knowing therefore the
terror of the Lord. What a strong word. Knowing therefore
the terror of the Lord. We persuade men. Knowing the terror of God, that
awaits the damned. I want, by God's grace, by God's
spirit, to persuade you now to believe on the Son of God. Some of you here are running headlong into hell. deliberately, willfully, shoving out of your way every
word of admonition and instruction that you've heard all your life,
sticking your fingers in your ears, refusing to hear. It is my prayer that God Almighty,
made by His grace, by the power of his spirit this very day,
stop you in your mad rush to hell, give you life in Jesus
Christ, compel you to believe on his side. The fact is God Almighty will
judge sin. And I want to talk to you this
morning about the judgment of God. The judgment of God. The title of my message is The
Conviction of Judgment. Judgment. Soon you must die. Prepare to meet thy God. Soon you must die. Death is sure. And after death, the judgment,
strict, just, unbending, unwavering judgment. Judgment that will
consider no weakness, no circumstance, no age, no extenuations. Judgment without respect of persons. Judgment that will not be lenient
on the poor or the rich. Judgment that will consider nothing
except righteousness and evil. Nothing else. Holiness and sin. Nothing else. Perfection and
iniquity. Nothing else. Judgment that gives
no consideration except that which is right and just and true. We will not consider the fact
that you have had this or that thing in your family. We will
not consider the fact that you were raised by a faithful mom
and dad or raised by ungodly, reprobate mom and dad. We'll
not give any consideration to the fact that you've been slightly
abused or misused in society or that you've been greatly pampered
and spoiled. We'll give no consideration to
anything except righteousness and truth. Judgment is sure and
eternity is long. You're going to spend eternity
somewhere. Either in the bliss of heavenly
glory and perfect righteousness or in the torments of the damned.
Nothing in between. Either in everlasting happiness
or everlasting woe. Either in everlasting holiness
are everlasting and ever-increasing abomination and wickedness. I wonder what will it be for
you. Turn with me, if you will, to
John chapter 16. John chapter 16. Hear now the words of the Lord
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who is about to go back to glory. He tells His disciples, it's
expedient for you that I go away. If I go not away, the Holy Spirit
will not come. But if I go away, I'll pray the
Father and He'll send Him to you. Verse 8, John 16. And when
He has come, when He, the Spirit of God, has come, He will reprove
The word is convince or convict. He will convict the world of
sin and of righteousness and of judgment. I've been praying that God will
send His Spirit to you today. If He does, He will convince
you of your sin. of God's righteousness in Christ
and of judgment. Of sin, because they believe
not on me. He'll cause you to understand
for the first time in your life, you don't believe God. You don't believe God. And of
righteousness, of righteousness Fully established of righteousness
such as God himself demands. Because I go to my Father and
you see me no more. I came to bring in everlasting
righteousness. God the Holy Spirit comes to
you today. He'll convince you that Christ
did it. And of judgment. Of judgment
because the prince of this world is judged. Looking here, looking here, on my own heart, I am convinced
of sin. Not just reading the catalog
of evil described in Romans 1, Romans 3, Not just describing
the horrible black listing of evil that comes forth from the
heart given by our Redeemer. Not just reading about evil that
men do in the world and rape and murder and theft and terrorism
and all those things. No. Looking right here. Right here.
I'm convinced of my sin. That's all that I am. See it. I can't think anything but see
it. I can't do anything but see it. I never have. I'm convinced. Are you? I'm convinced. Looking yonder, to that man seated
on the right hand of God, who died at Calvary, having lived
in perfect obedience to his Father as the representative of sinful
men, I'm convinced of righteousness. I am just as thoroughly convinced
of righteousness as I am of my sin. Convinced, Merle, of my
righteousness in Jesus Christ. He bore my sin to the full satisfaction
of justice, having himself brought in everlasting righteousness
as my substitute, looking to him, trusting him. I'm convinced
that God Almighty says I'm righteous. And I reckon myself righteous. I can't tell you, I can't begin
to tell you how wonderful that is. Only God the Spirit can convince
you of that. And looking at our Lord Jesus
Christ in his conquest over Satan by his death, upon the cursed
tree. I'm thoroughly convinced of judgment. Convinced that judgment is finished
for me. Convinced that God will never
again judge me or in any way hold me accountable for any transgression
past, present, or future. Blessed. Oh, blessed is the man
to whom the Lord will not impute sin. Please hear me now. Please hear
me. If right now you believe on the
son of God. God help you to look away to
the Savior. If right now you believe on the
Son of God, if right now you trust the Lord Jesus Christ,
I'm not talking about yesterday, I'm talking about right now.
I'm not talking about tomorrow, I'm talking about right now.
If right now you believe on the Son of God, God Almighty will
never lay any sin to your charge. He will never punish you for
any sin. He will never treat you any the
less graciously because of your sin. This is called forgiveness. Real, absolute, unconditional,
Never varying, immutable, free forgiveness. When God forgives
sin, he blots it out, he takes it away, and he says, I will
not remember thy transgressions. I will not remember thy sins. That's what God says. That's
what God says. I'm convinced that judgment is
done. God will judge all sin. There's no question about that.
As the Lord God judged Satan for sin, casting him out of heaven,
binding him by the cross of the Lord Jesus, and sentencing him
to everlasting destruction in hell. So he will judge the sins
of all men and women in the last day. None shall escape the wrath
and justice of Almighty God. The soul that sinneth, it shall
die. No exceptions. God's judgment
of men. God's judgment for sin is right. It's just. It's right that God
should send you to hell. It's right that God should send
me to hell. It's right that God should send
your children to hell. It's right that God should send
your parents to hell. I wouldn't think about believing
on a God who would send men to hell. You won't believe another. Turn to Psalm 11. Let's see if
I'm telling you the truth. Say, how can a good God send
men to hell? A good God has to. A good God
has to. Psalm 11. Look at verse 4. The Lord is in his holy temple.
The Lord's throne is in heaven. His eyes behold, his eyelids
try the children of men. The Lord trieth the righteous
but the wicked, and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.
Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire, and brimstone,
and a horrible tempest. This shall be the portion of
their cup. Now look at the next line. Here's the reason. For the righteous Lord loveth
righteousness. I'm like Job, I tremble for my
children as you do for yours. They're in Arizona right now.
Got a call when they got there to leave that they're safe and
sound. If God sent them to hell before I finish preaching, he's
right. That dear lady right there. I
love her with all my heart. If God should send her to hell,
he's right. How can you say that? Because
I know something about what sin is. If God should send you to
hell, he's right. We won't charge God with folly.
We won't do it. God's right. God's right. He must and shall punish all
sin. Either in a substitute or in
you. Either in a substitute or in
you. But blessed be God. Oh, blessed
be His name. For His elect, judgment is over. You see, the Lord God Almighty
has judged the sins of His elect In his son, the Lord Jesus, he
made his dear son sin for us and punished us for sin in the
full satisfaction of his holy justice when his darling son
died in our stead. Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter
5. 2 Corinthians chapter 5. Verse 18, all things are of God, who hath
reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us
the ministry, the word of reconciliation, to wit. That is to say, this
is it, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself. You see, this reconciliation
is not something to be done. It's something that has been
done. God comes in his mercy and reconciles you to him. But
he reconciled his elect, the world of his elect, to himself
when Jesus Christ finished his work on this earth and cried,
it is finished. And this is how he did it. Not
imputing their trespasses unto them. He didn't impute our trespasses
to us. And it's committed to us the
word of reconciliation. Now, then we're ambassadors for
Christ, as though God did beseech you by us. We pray you in Christ
dead. Be you reconciled to God? Quit
fighting God. Quit fighting God. For he had
made him sin for us. who knew no sin, that we might
be made the righteousness of God in him. In him who his own
self bear our sin in his own body on the tree, being that
we being dead to sin should live into righteousness by whose stripes
ye were healed. For Christ also has suffered
for sins the just for the unjust that he might bring us to God
being put to death in the flesh but quickened in the spirit.
Now do you see what the scriptures are declaring? The proof that
judgment is over is seated right yonder on the mercy seat on the
throne of grace in the glory of heaven. He who was put to
death is quickened by the Spirit, raised from the dead, and thereby
God declares sin is gone. Justice is satisfied. Behold
the risen Christ. Trust the Son of God and know
that judgment is over. If you believe on the Lord Jesus,
you have nothing to fear from God's law. Nothing to fear from
God's holiness Nothing to fear from God's justice Your sins
are forever forgiven. You've been made perfectly righteous
before God You're complete in him and judgment is over Because
he died there is forgiveness with thee the psalmist said that
thou mayest be feared Because Christ is risen from the dead
and seated in heaven, we're assured that he obtained eternal redemption
for us. Believing on him, we're assured
that that redemption and that forgiveness is ours. O Spirit
of God, will you give faith to these who yet believe not, assuring
them of full forgiveness, assuring them that judgment is over. Let
me show you two or three passages of scripture to demonstrate this.
When He, the Spirit of Truth, has come, He will convince the
world of God's elect. That is, He will convince God's
elect, wherever they're found in the world, when He comes,
He'll convince you of sin, because you believe not on me, of righteousness,
because I go to my Father and you see me no more, of judgment,
because the Prince of this world is judged. Turn to Revelation
chapter 20. Revelation chapter 20. The Lord God promised our parents
that he would send the woman seed and the woman seed would
crush the serpent's head. We're assured that all believers
shall finally at last in resurrection glory trample Satan beneath their
feet in the experience of the final consummation of God's salvation. All that because Christ has already
conquered Satan. He led captivity captive and
received gifts for men. Yea, for the rebellious also
that the Lord God may dwell among them. Here in Revelation 20,
we have a description of this captivity of Satan. And I saw
an angel come down from heaven. An angel. You can capitalize
the A there. This angel is Jesus Christ, the
angel of the covenant. I saw an angel come down from
heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit. The one who has
the key is the one who opens and the one who shuts. The one
who has the key is the one who has authority. The one who has
the key is the one who puts people in and shuts them in. That's
Jesus Christ, God's covenant angel. And he had a great chain
in his hand. Now, some folks say, well, we
got to interpret the Bible literally. It's going to be hard to bind
the spirit with a literal chain. This is talking about power,
power. He has great power in his hands. And he laid hold on the dragon,
that old serpent, which is the devil, the accuser, and Satan,
and bound him a thousand years. This is not talking about some
future millennial age, it's talking about this present gospel age.
Our Lord Jesus said, now is the prince of this world cast out.
And this thousand years is speaking of this gospel age, a definite
number given for an indefinite. He's talking about this period
of time between the first coming of our Redeemer and the second
coming of our Savior. He bound him a thousand years.
for this purpose, that the old serpent, which is the devil and
Satan, bound a thousand years, cast him in a bottomless pit
and shut him up and set a seal on him, that he should deceive
the nations no more. the nations of the world, all
the Gentile world, kept in darkness under the delusion of a false
religion and idolatry, the religion of their own making all these
years. But now God takes the gospel
from the Jews and sends it into all the world. And Satan has
no power over the minds of the world anymore to deceive the
nations with false religion. But you don't. That is, you deceive
the nations no more till the thousand years be fulfilled.
After that, he must be loosed for a little season. Paul describes
it in 2 Thessalonians 2. We see it in our day, this loosing
of Satan, loosed to deceive the nations. If you would care to
read a little bit of history, just a little, you wouldn't have
to read much, you'd find out that the whole religious world
today is running as fast as possible right back to the paganism of
the Gentile world in which the gospel was first preached. And
those things that are commonly practiced among the Gentiles
today are the very things that were practiced among the Gentiles
in the days of the Romans when the Romans ruled the world. fornication,
adultery, homosexuality, bestiality, abortion, all those things just
the result of will worship and the deception of Satan among
men. All of them. Not only practiced,
but Bobby, practiced by folks who claim to believe God. And
will get upset with you if you tell them that's wrong. If you're
upset, how dare you say anything about that? Of course God does,
that's how it is. Your religion's a delusion, the
deception of Satan. He's loose for a little season.
And then John returns to the subject he's talking about in
verse 6. Blessed and holy is he that hath
part in the first resurrection. The first resurrection. What's
that talking about? That's talking about the new
birth. This is the first resurrection. Dave Coburn, we've been raised
from the dead. We've been raised from the dead. The new birth
is not walking down an aisle and saying, I believe in Jesus.
The new birth is not some preacher twisting your arm until you just
feel like you just must make a profession of faith. The new
birth doesn't come as a result of a religious massage of your
brain and psychologically maneuvering you so that you're just somehow
compelled with strong emotions to say, Oh, I want to be saved.
I don't want to go to hell. Oh, no. The new birth takes something
else. It takes the power of God. It's
a resurrection from the dead. Blessed and holy are they who
are born of God. Watch this. Own such. judgment has no power. The second
death has no power. Well, how do you know that's
talking about the judgment? Because at the end of this chapter he
says so. On such the second death hath no power. But they shall
be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand
years. Reign with him forever. Come
back to Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8. There is therefore now no condemnation. Guess what the word is? I saw Lindsay say it. Judgment.
That's it. That's it. No judgment. There's
therefore no judgment to them which are in Christ Jesus. Who
walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. And that's
not talking about folks who get, uh, they get saved and then they
start jabbering in tongues. That's talking about folks who
are saved. To walk not after the flesh but after the spirit,
Larry, is to believe the Son of God. We live by faith as we
live in the Spirit. We live in the Spirit as we live
by faith. Walk not after the flesh but
after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ
Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For
what the law could not do in that it was weak through the
flesh, God sending his own son in the lightness of sinful flesh
and for sin, that is because of sin, condemned, judged sin
in the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled
in us who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit.
Look down at verse 33. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? Lots of folks would like to. Satan does it all the time. He raises up your sins and raises
up the body of Moses against you and would condemn you. Paul
says, who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect?
No one can. Nothing can. Satan cannot he's
defeated the world cannot it's condemned the law cannot it's
honored justice cannot it's been satisfied It is God that justifies
Now notice the word here. It's in the present linear tense
It means Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect
it is God who? continually justifies But he
doesn't continually justify. Justification was accomplished
at Calvary. We were justified when the work was finished. Well,
what does this mean then? In our experience, it is a continual
experience. We confess our sin. David said,
I kept silence, my bones waxed old within me because of my roaring. when I kept silent, when I refused
to confess my sin. And then he said, I acknowledge
my transgression. And thou forgavest the iniquity
of my sin. If we confess our sin, he's faithful
and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
How often do you find it so in your experience when ungodliness
raises its ugly head in your soul. Maybe in your conduct,
maybe not. But raises its ugly head in your
soul and horrible evil condemns you. And you're tormented. And you toss on your bed. And
you're fearful and fretting. And at last, you confess your
sin. Oh God, Here I am again. And the blood of Jesus Christ,
God's Son, what does it do? It cleanseth. Present, continual,
linear tense. Cleanseth us from all sin. Where? The blood constantly applied,
the blood affectionately applied by God's Spirit constantly declares
us forgiven and constantly cleanses us from all sin before our God. Look down in verse 34. Who is he that condemneth? Who
is he that judgeth? It's impossible. that one of
Christ's sheep should ever be judged or condemned, because
Christ died in our place. It is Christ that died. Yea,
rather, that is risen again. He was raised again to declare
our justification, who is even at the right hand of God. He
sat down as our forerunner on the right hand of God, who also
maketh intercession for us. Our advocate ever stands in our
stead before the thrice holy God and spreads his hands and
his feet and points to his side and pleads for us. Satisfaction and righteousness. And God says righteous. God says
forgiven. It's Christ that died, yea rather,
that's risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who
also maketh intercession for us. My little children, these
things write I unto you, John said, that you sin not. And if any man sin, we have an
advocate with the Father. Jesus Christ, Jesus, Jehovah,
who saves Christ, the anointed one, the righteous. And he is
the propitiation for our sins. The Lord God Almighty, through
the sacrifice of his darling son, forgives us of all sin. Therefore, Paul cries in verse
thirty nine, who shall separate us from the love of Christ. Nothing and nobody. Nothing in earth, nothing in
heaven, nothing in hell. Nothing in me, nothing in you,
nothing in time, nothing in eternity. But Brother Don, what about future
judgment? Turn back to Revelation chapter 20. What about future judgment? Isn't
there a future judgment for believers? What about our sins after we
believe? These are questions that perplex
many and probably perplex some of you simply because we are
constantly bombarded with free will, works, religion. family
and friends and foe and preachers everywhere, constantly lamb blast
us with the notion that somehow God's going to get you. God's
going to get you. God's going to get you. I recall
years ago, I was just a young pastor in West Virginia. I had
a fellow preaching for me who ought to have known better, ought
to have known, had a reputation for knowing better. He wouldn't
have been there. And he stood in the pulpit and said, You're
going to spend eternity weeping over every sin. Oh, you'll be in heaven, but
weeping over every transgression. If I'd have been sitting behind
him on the pulpit, I believe I'd have, on the platform, I
believe I'd have shoved him in the rear end with my foot. What,
what stupidity? What insanity? How totally contrary
to this book! What kind of heaven is that?
Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord will not impute sin. And if He won't impute it, He
can't punish it. He won't impute it because He
imputed our sins to Him who was made sin for us and punished
Him for our sins. But what about the judgment seat
of Christ. 2 Corinthians chapter 5, we must
all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. Everyone give
account that these done in the flesh. So Paul continues with
that and says, knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord. Now, your friends and your family
who got one of those Bibles has been messed with because Schofield
on the front of it are some of the others, lots of the others.
They tell you now, We're going to stand as the believers are
before the Bima judgment, before the judgment seat of Christ.
And we won't be judged for our past sin, but we will be judged
for our sin since we believed in. And there'll be crowns passed
out in at the Bima judgment, according to how good you've
been, how well you serve God and all that nonsense. Some of
you will have a big diamond studded Duncan five. Yo, yo, the rest
of you going to do Walgreens. Yo, yo. That's blasphemy. That's nothing
on this earth but the Roman doctrine of purgatory, by which preachers
try to get people to act spiritual when they know they're not. By
which preachers try to scare folks into doing things they're
not willing to do. God's people are not so motivated. Not believers. Believers serve
God because they want to. They do what they do with a willing
heart. You've been reading. I hope you
have in Leviticus last few weeks. Every sacrifice God required
every time I've been marking my Bible at your will, at your
will, at your will, at your will. God required him. He said, you
got to be willing. God required you bring the sacrifice. He said,
you got to be willing. In other words, bringing the
sacrifice without a will to do so is nothing but spitting in
God's face. He won't have it. God's people
serve him willingly, not because they're afraid of losing something
or want to get something. They serve him willingly. Look
here in Revelation chapter 20. You've all had the idea that
God's going to lay a judgment, get out a great big camera and
he's going to show the whole world everything you ever did.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Nothing could be further
from the truth. Revelation 20 verse 11, I saw
a great white throne and him that sat on it from whose face
the earth and the heaven fled away and there was found no place
for them. And I saw the dead small and
great stand before God and the books were opened. Oh. The book of creation. The book of providence. the book
of the law, the book of God's gospel, the book of your conscience
opened. Because God's going to show you
everything is just, right, equitable at his judgment bar. And another book was opened.
Thank God for that book, which is the book of life. And the
dead were judged out of those things written in the books. The wicked, the spiritually dead,
judged out of those things written in all those other books. God
will in that day at last give you what you can't imagine having
now. Hear me. Oh, God, help you to hear me.
You think your screaming, tormenting conscience bothers you now? Wait
until you really have a fully awakened, guilty conscience. And God will make manifest to
you everything you are and everything you've done. And you'll scream
and pray to the rocks and the mountains and the hills. FOLLOW
ME! Hide me! Oh, hide me from he
who sits on the throne. And there'll be no mercy and
no pity, not from God, not from God's people, not even from your
fellow damned, wicked, unbelieving rebels. Just everlasting torment. And the sea gave up her dead.
And death and hell were delivered up the dead which read them.
And they were judged every man according to their works. And
death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. That's the
second death. For you who believe not, the wrath of God abides on you. Lord willing, next Monday, I
told you about my nephews. Aorta valve replaced. He's 41
years old. I talked to him a couple of weeks ago. He started to cry. He said, I'm scared. I said,
you have reason to be. And I've been putting off writing
to him, and I've decided I'm not going to try to treat him like
an ambulance-chasing preacher, get him to make a profession
of faith because he's scared. I'm going to wait until this is over and
hope God will give me an opportunity to speak to him plainly concerning
the gospel of his grace. Will you hear me? You have reason
to be scared to death of God Almighty. You have reason to
be outside Christ. But in Christ? In Christ, no reason to fear
at all. And whosoever was not found written
in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire. But nobody
whose name is written in that book, that book written before
the world began, called the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world, that book sealed before the world
was ever made. Whose name is written in that
book? Everyone who believes on the
Son of God. And I'll tell you what I'd challenge
you to do. Challenge you to do it. You go home and go through
this book again. Go through it with a fine-toothed
comb. Find me anyone anywhere in this book who believed God,
who looked upon judgment with fear. Find me anyone. Find me anyone
who believed God, who dreaded death. Find me anyone who believed
God, who trembled as they thought of the prospect of meeting God
in judgment. Find it for me. You find it and
I'll resign tomorrow as your pastor. I'll quit this business
of preaching. I promise you. It's not there. Oh, no, not God's
people. For God's people, this is a blessed
day. of glorious anticipation. Bob Duff, do you know what God's
going to do with you in the Day of Judgment? He's going to show
the universe, angels and demons, Satan in hell, all the reprobate
and all his elect, why you're worthy to enter into His glory. See Him! He's washed in the blood
of the Lamb. See Him! His garments are white,
spotless. Here stands one undefiled. See what my grace has done. That's
the conviction of judgment. Amen.