I want to remind you of Vacation
Bible School this week, and pray that the Lord will bless that
to these young people, and we will not be having a midweek
service this week. I've entitled this message, The
Last Days. Now, I'm not real sure that I've
ever brought a message quite like this. I can't remember bringing
one, but it's a very sobering message. Now Jacob's life is drawing to
a close as we've already seen. He's going to die after he brings
this message. And he knows it. And in this
chapter, he gives a prophecy regarding each of his 12 sons. And we will consider those prophecies
in the weeks to come. But I want to confine ourselves
to these first two verses. When I read these, I want you
to think about how this can very well seem like the preaching
of the gospel. And Jacob called unto his sons
and said, gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which
shall befall you in the last days. That's where I got the
title to this message, the last days. Gather yourselves together
and hear ye sons of Jacob and hearken unto Israel your father. Now, I just want to spend a couple
of minutes on this. But I believe that this gives
us some idea of what true gospel preaching is. Gather yourselves together. That's
what we're doing right now, isn't it? Gather yourselves together. That I may tell you, that I may
declare unto you is the word, the word actually has the meaning
of a summons in it, a call by God. Twice we read, gather yourselves
together. And the content of the message
is that I may tell you what's going to happen in the last days
to you. Now how did Jacob know? This
was a prophetic word. God told him what was going to
happen to his sons in their last days. And that's why he can speak. And in the preaching of the gospel,
if it's gospel preaching, it's God's word. It's not the preacher's
opinion. And one of the things that I
love about preaching the gospel, I never tell anybody, believe
this because I say it, If I don't have the word to back me up,
there's no light with it. And I wouldn't trust anyone who
said, trust me. No, take me to the scriptures
and show me why you're saying what you're saying. And that's
what Jacob does at this time, bringing this prophetic word,
what God had made known to him. And I think that this is always
involved in preaching. And Jacob called his sons and
said, gather yourselves together that I may tell you that which
shall befall you in the last days. Here's what's going to
take place with you. Here's what's going to happen to you. And isn't
that said of the Holy Spirit? He shall show you things to come. That's what's going on in preaching.
I'm declaring from the word of God what will happen to you and
I. You can just write that down.
The last days. Now, I love this statement. Let me die the death of the righteous
and let my last end be like his. Isn't that your desire? Let me
die the death of the righteous and let my last end be like his. Now, I can tell you what's going
to take place in the last days. First of all, death. Death. That's something sure for all
of us. Now, I hate using the word theologian. I just don't
like that word. But theologians call this, I
don't like this word either, but I'm gonna give it to you
anyway, eschatology. Eschatology. The study of death,
judgment, and the final state of the soul. That's what that
means. The study of death, judgment, and the final state of the soul. What does the Bible tell us about
this? last end, the latter days. Now, this is something we all
should be interested in. What's going to happen to me?
What is death? Why is there death? Is there life after death? What
is our life leading to? What is my destiny? What is gonna happen to this
world? Are things just gonna continue as they are? Those are
questions we all ought to be asking. Where am I headed? And a man would be a fool, a
woman would be a fool to not give this some careful consideration.
What is death? Why is there death? Why am I
going to die? Is there life after death? What's
gonna happen to this world? What is the end? Now, there are a lot of things
in our life that we may or may not experience, but one thing
we will experience for sure, unless the Lord comes back first
while we're still alive, we will experience death. What is death? Now, if you would ask the average
person, they'd say, well, it's the cessation of life. It's a
part of the journey of life. You're born, you live, you die. It's the end of a process. The
journey of life ends in death. And then when people have funerals,
quite often they say it's a celebration of life. Don't ever say that about my
funeral. And don't ask me to do that.
I mean, that takes away from the solemnity of death and facing
this thing of death. And most people don't give it
much more thought than that. Nobody wants to die, but it's
the end of the journey. It's over. Another phase. You're born, you live, and you
die. Now, according to the scripture, death is the separation of the
body and the soul. The soul goes on living. The Lord said in Luke chapter
12, verses 4 and 5, fear not them that kill the body. And
after that, they have no more that they can do. But I will
forewarn you whom you shall fear, Fear him which after he hath
killed hath power to cast into hell. Yea, I say unto you, fear
him. If you can kill my body and that's
all you can do, I've got nothing to fear. But oh, if you have
the power to cast my soul into hell, what fear there is. Now you know the story of the
rich man and Lazarus? It wasn't a parable. There was a certain rich man
and a man named Lazarus. After the death of both of them,
they both had conscious existence. One being tormented in flames
and the other in Abraham's bosom. Now that tells us that death
is the separation of the soul and the body. The body is put
in the grave, there's no life in it, but the soul goes on living. Now why is there death? Why is
there death? It's reality, we know that. You
know, if you went to the doctor this week and said, you're gonna
die, you'd be taken back, scared to death. Well, the Bible already
tells us that. You're going to die. Why is there
death? I remember one time I was preaching
a funeral from somebody here. And I can't remember who it was,
but I made this statement. Why did they die? Because they're
a sinner. And the funeral director said,
I've been doing this for 40 years and I've never heard a preacher
say that. You're saying they were sinners, that's why they
died? I've never heard that before. Well, you didn't really hear
what I was saying. Yes, I said that, but you didn't
understand why I said it. Listen to this scripture. Romans
chapter five, verse 12, by one man, sin entered the world and
death by sin. So death passed upon all men
in that all have sinned. Death is the punishment for sin. I can't say it any easier than
that. I'm gonna die and there's a reason. Sin. Death is the punishment of sin. The wages of sin, the scripture
says, is death. And the gift of God is eternal
life through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Now, thinking about death. Jesus Christ died. That's one of the most mysterious
things to me. He's the God-man. He's like no
other man. He's the God-man, fully God.
Fully man. Just as much God as if he were
not man at all. Just as much man as if he were
not God at all. The God-man. He died. How could he die? There's one
reason. There's one reason for death.
Sin. That's why he died. Sin. The scripture says he bare our
sins in his own body on the tree. And he died because he was guilty. Now you know that that sin was
not properly his. He never committed a sin, but
he voluntarily took my sin in his own body on the tree. And that's why he died. He owned
my sin as his own sin. He said, my sins are great. In Psalm 40, they're more than
the hairs of my head. Therefore, my heart faileth me. That's the Lord talking when
he was made sin. They truly became his sin. And
that is why he died. Now, I would never, I've heard
people say, are you saying Christ became a sinner? No, I'm not
saying that at all. Worse, he became sin. Can I grasp that
intellectually? No, but I know God can do this. Christ can do this. God can take
my sin off of me and place it on Christ. Only God can do that.
And he can take the righteousness of his son and give it to me.
Only God can do that, but God can do that, because with God,
nothing should be impossible. Somebody says, how can he do that? I don't
know, but he did. How could Christ die? I don't know, but he did.
And his one reason for dying He wasn't a martyr. He wasn't
setting an example for us. He died because of sin. That's the only reason for death,
sin. What is after the end of life? Eternal existence in heaven or
hell. Now, I can't stand what is called
hellfire and brimstone preaching. When preachers try to scare people
to death, you're going to hell if you keep this up and if you
keep that up, and I just hate that kind of preaching. That
doesn't take away from the reality of the fact there is a place
called hell that people will spend eternity in. You remember how the rich man
said, my soul is tormented in this flame. Is that talking about
literal flames? I don't know. It may be. But
I know it's worse than any of us can ever have any imagination
of. There is a place called hell.
And the Lord Jesus Christ warned of hell. Much more than anybody
else did. Do you know the Apostle Paul
never even used the word? In all of his writings, he never
even used the word. Like it was almost too terrible
to even think about. He used the word condemnation,
certainly, and talked about the wrath of God, but just the word
hell. You know, it's used as a curse word and taken away from
the reality and the solemnity of this place. There is a place
called hell, and there is a place called heaven, and we are going
to spend eternity in the state we die. Turn to Revelation 22. We looked at this last Wednesday
night, but let me look at it again. Revelation 22. Verse 11. He that is unjust in an unjustified
state, let him be unjust still. That man will spend eternity
being unjust still. There will no longer be time. He'll be unjust still. He which
is filthy, let him be filthy still. He will continue in eternity
with all of his lusts unable to fulfill them. And he that's
righteous, let him be righteous still. If I die as a righteous
man, I'm gonna spend eternity righteous. And he that's holy,
let him be holy still. Now, if I'm a righteous man,
that means I have the righteousness of Jesus Christ. I'll always
have that. I've been given a holy nature
in the new birth. Do you know in heaven, and I
know that we don't understand this, we just believe it and
don't understand it, but in heaven, I'll be no more holy than I am
right now. You see, you can't become holier.
Somebody read sometime today in Isaiah, the only time you
read holier is when people talk about, stay away from me, I'm
holier than thou. And God says, these are a smoke
in my nostrils. They're not degrees of holiness.
You don't become more holy and less sinful, but if you die righteous
and holy, righteous, having the very righteousness of Christ
as your own righteousness, being given a new nature, a holy nature,
in the new birth, let him be righteous and holy still throughout
eternity. I will spend eternity with Christ
in heaven, or I will spend eternity in hell. Now, somebody says,
how can one be righteous and holy when I've sinned? I mean,
I've sinned, and I'm not talking about once when I was a little
boy. I'm talking about every breath I take. That's my experience. I've sinned. You know when people
say, he's living in sin, and you're not? I mean, all you gotta
do is breathe and sin if you're the one that did it. I mean,
that's what the scripture teaches. There's none righteous, no not
one. We're all together sinful in and of ourself. How can I
be righteous and holy when the fact of the matter is I'm sinful? Well, that question is answered
with this statement, 2 Corinthians 5, 21, for he hath made him to
be sin. For us, who knew no sin, that
we might be made, what? The righteousness of God in him. Yes, my sin is very real and
I understand what David meant when he said, my sin is ever
before me. But this scripture is absolutely
true. That's how I can go to heaven
in righteousness and holiness because of what he has done for
me. And it's not just a certificate
saying I'm that way. I really am the righteousness
of God. I really am holy. David said, I am holy. Every
believer can say, I am holy. That's not a denial of your old
man, but it's true. Every believer can say, I am
holy. Well, what about this world?
Are things going to just continue? No, according to the scripture,
this world will be destroyed and there will be a new heaven
and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. David said in
Psalm 715, 1715, as for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness. I want you to think about that,
being able to look upon the face of the Lord Jesus Christ in absolute
righteousness, with not a shade of guilt, with not a shade of
sin. I'll behold thy face in righteousness. I'll be satisfied when I awake
in thy likeness. Let me show you a couple of scriptures. Turn to Revelation 21. And I saw, John says, a new heaven. This is right after that passage
I read in Revelation 20. I saw a new heaven and new earth
for the first heaven And the first earth were passed away
and there was no more sea. There's no more separation. That's
what that means. You know, you look across the sea and you think
of people on the other side of that sea, you can't see them,
but you know, there's a great expanse separating you from those
people. But you know, in heaven, there
will be no separation, no sea. And I, John, saw the holy city,
New Jerusalem, coming down from God, out of heaven, prepared
as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out
of heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God, which is the
Lord Jesus Christ, is with men, and He will dwell with them,
and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with
them, and be their God, and God shall wipe away all tears from
their eyes. And there shall be no more death,
neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain.
For the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the
throne said, behold, I make all things new. You know what that
means? I'm gonna have a new history.
And it's gonna be a history of perfect obedience, perfect love. No sin. God can do that through
the Lord Jesus Christ. Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, write for
these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me, it's done.
It's already done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning
and the end. I will give unto him that's a
thirst of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit
all things, and I'll be his God. He shall be my people, my son,
but the fearful and unbelieving and the abominable and murderers
and whoremongers and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars shall
have their part in the lake which burneth with fire, and brimstone,
which is the second death. Turn to Isaiah chapter 11. Here's
a description that is so beautiful. Isaiah chapter 11. This is the
new heaven and the new earth. Verse one. And there shall come
forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow
out of his roots, And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. and shall
make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord. And
he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove
after the hearing of his ears, but with righteousness shall
he judge the poor and reprove with equity for the meek of the
earth and shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth. And
with the breath of his lips, shall he slay the wicked and
righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins and faithfulness,
the girdle of his reins. Now look at this. The wolf also
shall dwell with the lamb. And the leopard shall lie down
with the kid. And the calf and the young lion
and the fatling together. And a little child shall lead
them. And the cow and the bear shall
feed their young ones. For their young ones shall lie
down together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and the
sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned
child shall put his hand on the cockatrice den. They shall not
hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, for the earth shall
be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the
sea." Isn't that beautiful? That's what every believer, that's
the life every believer has awaiting them. But what happens right
after death? Endless existence, I say again. Endless existence, immortality. Now, there are many who have
thought right after death, there is a sleep of the soul, until
the resurrection. Have you ever heard that? Soul
sleep until the resurrection? Well, what did the Lord say to
the thief on the cross today? Thou shalt be with me in paradise. Now you're going to go through
some transitionary period of sleep. What about when Moses
and Elijah were speaking with the Lord on the Mount of Transfiguration?
They weren't asleep, were they? Remember when the Lord said,
God, the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, is not the God of
the dead, but the God of the living, for all live unto him. There will not be some kind of
transitional sleep of the soul until we reach heaven. Well, somebody says, well, what
happens before the resurrection? I don't know. I don't know. That's the only way I know how
to answer that. I know that Lazarus was in a place called Abraham's
bosom before the resurrection, and the rich man was in eternal
flames. The Lord called it hell before
the resurrection. They don't have their bodies
yet. The bodies don't come into the resurrection, but there's
some kind of constant existence all the way to the end. Then there will be the second
coming of Christ and the resurrection. Now what happens in this state
before the resurrection after somebody dies, I don't know.
I don't need to know. I'm fine with things the way
they are, the Lord knows, and I am secure in Him. He'll take
care of me. He'll take care of me during
this time. But then comes the second coming of Christ and the
resurrection. Remember, we're talking about
the end. I'm going to tell you, Jacob said, what's going to happen
at the end? Well, at the end, we're going
to have the second coming of Christ. The Old Testament. Somebody's coming. The gospels. He's here. The epistles. He's coming again. The Lord Jesus Christ is coming. We just sang that song, when
he shall come with trumpet sound. And he's going to come with trumpet
sound. Everybody's going to know who he is then. As the light
shines from the east to the west, the lightning bolt in the midnight
sky. Everybody's going to know who
he is. Now I read Revelation 20 where we read of
the millennium, those thousand years. It's mentioned five or
six times, the thousand year reign, and they're different. The only time that's mentioned
is in Revelation 20, yet people make such, and it is important,
it's mentioned there, but people make full, out of your position
on the millennium. There's what's called pre-millennial,
post-millennial, and all-millennial. Pre-millennial means that before
the final resurrection, there's going to be some kind of thousand
years where everything's going to be good. Government's going
to be good. It's not going to be as good as heaven, but it's
going to be good. And the post-millennialists believe before Christ comes,
there's going to be this mighty revival that's going to take
place. And the all-millennialists believe
that we're in the thousand-year reign right now, and Satan is
bound, and when Christ comes back again, he'll be loosed. I prefer pan-millennialists. It'll all pan out in the end.
There are problems in every one of those views. And I just know
I'm not so much concerned about the mechanics of it. He's coming
back. That's what I rejoice in. That's what I rest in. That's
what I glory in. He's coming back. And I look forward to his return. Now, he will return. And when he does, all will know
him. Turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter
four. Verse 13. But I would not have you to be
ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that you
sorrow not even in others which have no hope. For if we believe
that Jesus died and rose again, even so, them which also sleep
in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you
by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain
under the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which
are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with
a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump
of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which
are alive and remain shall be caught up together with him in
the clouds to meet the Lord in the air when he comes back. So
shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore, comfort one another
with these words." Now, upon the return of the Lord, we're
going to have the resurrection of the dead. The hour is coming. These are
the words of the Lord. The hour is coming in which all
that are in their graves shall hear his voice. Everybody that's
ever died, they're going to be raised from the dead at the command
of his voice. And the Lord says, they that
have done good to the resurrection of life, and they that have done
evil to the resurrection of damnation, And listen to me, this is how
real the work of Christ is for every believer. I'm gonna be
one of those people, and so is every other believer, that are
described as they that have done good. That's the reality of His salvation. I've done good. Not they who
have Christ's righteousness imputed to them, although they do. But
here's the result of that. Because His righteousness is
imputed to me, I have done good. Remember that passage of Scripture
in 2 Corinthians 5.10? Turn with me there. Hold your
finger there and turn with me to 2 Corinthians 5.10. For we must all, 2 Corinthians
15, for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ,
that everyone may receive the things done in his body according
to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. Now, there's
been a whole doctrine pulled out of that verse called the
judgment of the believer. It's called the Bema judgment. This is after the first judgment. which is foolishness. There's
only one judgment. We just read about it in Revelation 20, the
great white throne judgment. And this is what's going on in
the great white throne judgment. I'm going to receive the things
done in my body and they're all good. That's how real salvation
is. Thus it becometh us to fulfill
all righteousness." Now if that means you're going to receive
and be rewarded for what you've done in your body, where's that
going to put you? You know, that whole thing, you know, that's
just against the gospel. I'm going to be judged for what I've
done in my body. Well, that means if you've done
anything bad in your body, you're in trouble. You're going to receive
the things done in your body, whether they be good or bad.
Now, this is what this means. Everything done by every believer
is good because they have the righteousness and merits of Christ
and everything everybody else does is bad. That verse of scripture
could not mean anything else other than that. Now, they that
have done evil, the Lord said, and they that have done good,
the evil will be raised to the resurrection of damnation and
the good will be raised to the resurrection of life. There will be a final judgment. Let's look back at Revelation
20 once again. This is what the Lord speaks
of in Matthew chapter 25, when He says, when the Son of Man
shall come into all of His glory with the holy angels, and He'll
divide the sheep from the goats. This is the same thing being
spoken of in Revelation 20. Let's begin once again in verse
11. And 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. Obviously we don't
understand this, we don't understand eternity, but do you know every
sin every unbeliever has ever committed is recorded in this
book? And there's no higher court to appeal to. You can't say,
well, I disagree with that. This is God's testimony. Well,
how can it all be brought out? I don't know, but it's an eternity
at this time. There will be no more time. And
every sin, every unbeliever has ever even thought is recorded
in this book. I saw the dead, small and great,
stand before God and the books were opened. And another book
was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead, the dead
in sins were judged out of those things which were written in
the books, plural, according to their works. I will get exactly
what I deserve if I go to hell. Now, I don't wanna say this harshly. If I go to hell, or if you go
to hell, guess whose fault it is? It's your fault. It's my fault. But let me also
say this. I don't care how much fault is
yours, the door of mercy is always open to anybody who will come
pleading Christ alone. I wouldn't want to leave anybody
without hope. I don't care who you are, the door of mercy is
always open. Him that cometh to me, I will
in no wise cast out. So when you hear these horrible
things, if you want to call them that, about hell and judgment,
remember this, the door of mercy is open. You can't say, well,
I can't be saved because God didn't elect me or Christ didn't
die. You can never say that. If you come to Christ, you'll
be received. You will find mercy. God delights in mercy. Now, after
death, there will be no second chances. The Catholic Church has the doctrine
of purgatory, that you'll go to purgatory and you might be
there for thousands of years, millions of years, just depends
on how much time it takes to pay off all the sins you've committed.
But at some point, you'll get out. No, you won't. There's no
such thing. And then there's what I think
Donnie Bell called it, Baptist purgatory. It's where you have
that seven year tribulation, you get another chance. Nothing
like that in the Bible. There will be no second chances.
But while there is life, the door of mercy is open to any
sinner in the world who will come pleading Christ alone. And I never want to present that
any other way than that. Our God delights in mercy. Now, who will be in hell? Everybody who did not believe
the gospel. Simple as that. Are there degrees
of punishment in hell? It seems like there is. He talked
about being beaten with many stripes and being beaten with
few stripes. And somebody says, well, how
could that be? Because hell's according to your works. Well, how come
there are not degrees of glory in heaven then? Because heaven's
by grace. Heaven's by Christ. And so who will be in hell? Everybody that does not believe
the gospel. Who will be in heaven? All God
elected, all Christ died for, all the Holy Spirit gives life
to, all who believe and continue believing all the way to the
end. Every one of those people will be in glory. Those who by
His grace persevere to the end. Now, Paul said, I long to depart and be with Christ, which is
far better. Blessed are the dead that die
in the Lord. From henceforth, saith the Spirit,
they may have rest from their labors. You know, I used to look
at that passage of scripture, and I thought, does that mean
rest from, you're working for the Lord, and you're doing all
this stuff for the Lord, and now you don't have to do it anymore?
It doesn't have anything to do with what it means. Rest from that fight
with sin, that continual struggle with sin. They're gonna have
rest from their labors, and their works do follow them. Precious
in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. Now, if I go to heaven, It's
all God's fault. Amen? If I go to hell, who do
I have to blame? Nobody but myself. Gather yourselves. Jacob said to his sons that I
may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days. You're gonna die. You're gonna
have endless existence. Your soul and your body will
be separated. When we're resurrected, the body will return, a perfect
body in heaven. And I'm struggling to say anything
of this the way it ought to be said, but I hope this has been
in some measure a blessing. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for the promise of perfect likeness to Christ in a place where there's no tears,
no pain, no sorrow. nothing but endless joy and bliss
in the presence of him at whose right hand are pleasures evermore. And Lord, we confess that this
glorious place that your people will most certainly inherit is
all 100% because of what thy son has done for them. And Lord, we're amazed that he
was pleased to bear our sins and bear the full equivalent
of hell and all that means. And Lord, we know he's the only
one who's ever done that, that we might not have to, but that
we might be accepted in the beloved. Bless this word for your glory
and our good. And Lord, let us consider our
last days, let us consider the reality of death, and let us
look at life in light of the sureness of our death, and cause
us, every one of us, Lord, by your grace, cause us to look
to Christ only. In his name we pray, amen.