Five Important Questions to Be Considered

Q: What does the Bible say about life after death?

The Bible confirms that believers will be resurrected and live again after death, as seen in passages like John 6:40. The Scriptures provide clear assurance that there is life after death for believers. In John 6:40, Jesus states, 'This is the will of Him who sent me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.' This promise indicates not only the resurrection of our bodies but the assurance of eternal life with Christ. Furthermore, Job expressed this hope in Job 19:25-27, affirming that he will see his Redeemer face to face. We understand from such passages that God's plan includes resurrection and life beyond our earthly existence.

Q: How do we know Jesus is our Redeemer?

Scripture testifies to Jesus's role as our Redeemer through His sacrificial death and resurrection, fulfilling God's promise in Isaiah 53. We know Jesus is our Redeemer through explicit scriptural testimony affirming His redemptive work. Isaiah 53 prophesied the suffering of the Messiah, indicating that through His wounds, we are healed. Moreover, the New Testament reinforces this truth, particularly in passages like 1 Peter 1:18-19, where it affirms we were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish. His physical death and subsequent resurrection not only validate His identity as our Redeemer but also secure our access to God's grace and forgiveness, highlighting the immense love God has towards us.

Q: Why is understanding judgment important for Christians?

Understanding judgment is vital for Christians as it shapes our accountability before God and reinforces our dependence on Christ for salvation. The concept of judgment is of utmost importance for Christians as it highlights the seriousness of our relationship with God and the consequences of sin. In Hebrews 9:27, it states, 'It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.' This sobering truth reminds us that we will all stand before God, making it essential to reflect on our lives and actions. Moreover, awareness of judgment compels us to appreciate the savior's work; without Christ, our standing before God would be hopeless. However, as Romans 8:1 assures us, 'There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,' showcasing the grace provided through faith in Him, which ultimately liberates us from judgment.

Q: What is eternal life according to the Bible?

Eternal life in the Bible refers to a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, beginning now and continuing forever. Eternal life, as defined in Scripture, transcends mere duration and encompasses an intimate relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ. In John 17:3, Jesus states, 'This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.' This relationship is not only a promise for the future but begins in the present as believers experience God's presence and guidance in their lives. Furthermore, eternal life assures us that our fellowship with God, initiated by grace through faith, will continue beyond physical death, reflecting the fullness of life that He intended for His creation.

I really don't have a text this
morning, but I do have a subject. The title of the message is Five
Important Questions We Need to Consider. Five Important Questions
We Need to Consider. It used to be the custom not
so much anymore as it used to be. But people were very careful
to write certain inscriptions on tombstones. A dear loved one, husband or
wife or son or daughter or friend passed away and went to be with
the Lord and They would chisel out on the tombstone the name
and the date of birth and the date of death, and then there
was almost always some special choice inscription. I kind of
wish they'd do that now. I've always enjoyed walking through
old, old, we call them graveyards down south. walking through old
cemeteries and graveyards and reading these epitaphs. One of the most enjoyable visits
I had to that old cemetery in Williamsburg, Virginia, was walking
around in that cemetery and reading what they'd written on the tombstones. Several years ago I visited Charles
Spurgeon's a tomb, a place where he's buried in England, I thought
it was very appropriate what they had inscribed on his tombstone. It was the third or fourth verse
of the song, There is a Fountain, and it certainly was appropriate.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon, pastor of Metropolitan Tabernacle for
38 years. And down below, these ever since
by faith, I saw the stream, thy flowing wounds supply, redeeming
love has been my thing, and shall be till I die." Isn't that good? I saw a marker one time in a cemetery,
had a man's name, year of birth and And three words, that's all. But it just spoke volumes to
me. And I suppose to many others
who passed through that. Just three words, in quotation. Till he comes. I'm here, my brother,
till he comes. And then I'm coming out. It's
just a message. There was an old preacher down
in Mississippi T.T. Martin's dad, he pastored and
preached before the Civil War and after the Civil War, when
times were so difficult down there. He was instrumental in
keeping a Baptist college afloat during those troublesome, terrible
times. He spent his whole ministry after
the war just keeping that place for young people to be educated,
besides preaching the gospel. And he would travel around and
raise money for that college and preach the gospel of Christ.
He was a man who gave his life to the gospel, to the preaching
of the gospel. And they buried him down near
Shaw, Mississippi. And they wrote these words on
his tombstone, M.T. Martin. None of the things he had done
or accomplishments or so-called glory or recognition, but these
words, a servant of Jesus Christ. A servant of Jesus Christ. Highest
calling, highest calling to which a man could possibly attain or
strive to be a servant of Jesus Christ. Job wanted this. Turn to Job
chapter 19. I believe this is what Job wanted
on his tombstone, in Job chapter 19. I believe that's what he's
saying here in Job 19. Listen to it. Job 19, verse 23. Job 19, 23. I believe that we're getting,
under divine inspiration, a request from Job Verse 23 of Job 19,
he says, Oh, that my words were now written. Oh, that they were
printed in a book. There are Jobs, and they're printed
in a book. God has preserved them. Verse
25. Oh, verse 24. That they were
graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock forever, in my tombstone. Put this with an iron pen and
with lead. on my rock, on my headstone forever,
forever. Never, it won't change. I know,
verse 25, that my Redeemer liveth, and that he hath stand at the
latter day on this earth. And though after my skin worms
destroy this body, and they will, yet in my flesh shall I see God. whom I shall see for myself,
and mine eyes shall behold, and not another, not a stranger,
not a stranger, though my rage be consumed within me, put it
in a book, and put it on my tombstone. I know my Redeemer liveth, and
he'll stand on this earth." And he did, and redeemed us by his
perfect life and by his substitutionary death. And by faith in him, through
confidence in him, though worms destroy this old flesh, yet I'm
going to see my God, whom I shall see for myself, not another,
see for myself. I read one time about a devastating
flood that took place somewhere in Europe. A flood destroyed
a whole village. And many people died. And they
found the body of a little boy. Evidently his family had been
destroyed too. They found the body of this little
boy and no one could identify him. No one knew who he was. And they put him in a little
box and buried him. And someone erected a little
monument over his grave, no name, no identification, with two words,
God knows. God knows. And he does. He does. He presides over the death of
his saints. He calls it precious. He calls
their death precious. Precious in the sight of the
Lord is the death of his people. Nowhere in this word do the prophets
or the apostles make a joke of death. They never do. They never do. They handle with
solemnity. They handle with seriousness
the matters concerning death and judgment and eternity. You
see, death is real. Death is certain. Death is sure.
for all people, supported unto men once to die. You and I are
going to die. And after that, the judgment,
and after that an eternity. And the apostles and the prophets
and men of God never joked about these matters. They never did. They took them seriously, and
they dealt with their people seriously in these matters regarding
death. Job said this, there's no hope
of any of us avoiding death. Job said this in Job 16.22, when
a few years are come, and we could say days, couldn't
we? When a few years or days have come, then I'll go the way
whence I shall not return. My friends, there's no bridge
across the river of death, we've got to go through it. We've got
to pass through it. Some die young, some die in middle
age, some die old, some die lingering death, some die suddenly. Brother Ron Traybant's father
got up yesterday morning. Some of you read about it in
the paper today and heard about it yesterday. Ron's father got
up yesterday morning feeling some indigestion, he thought. and came in and sat down at the
dining room table and sat up straight, it would help his indigestion.
His daughter was in another room and the moment she heard a thud,
wasn't that the way it was, and she came in and he was gone.
He was gone. And some die lingering death,
some die suddenly, but all men die. Do you understand that?
All men die. And the man who ignores death
or makes lies of death is a fool. And the man who, a woman who
never gives thoughts to this matter of death, Christ called
him a fool. He talked about that young man
that was very wealthy and his crops were doing so well, He
was just expanding his farm, his crops were growing, he was
filling his barns, and he lay on his bed one night and he said,
I'm going to have to tear down my barns and build bigger barns.
Things are going so well, I'm being prosperous. He might have
said, the Lord's blessing you, I don't know. But he said, I've
got to tear down these barns and build some bigger barns in
which to store my goods. And then I'll, after I do that,
I'll just kind of lay back and retire and I'll say, eat, drink
and be merry, you know, and live my life. And God said that night,
thy fool, this night shall thy soul be required of thee. And
then who shall all these things be that you require? All men
die. Believers die. Unbelievers die,
young people die, old people die. There's no difference in
the death of a believer or an unbeliever. That's right, they
both die. A person's relationship with
God cannot be determined by when he dies or how he dies. Or I say, I'll add this to it,
or even how he faces death. I tell you, in this hour of death,
much depends on age or state of health or mental ability or
several things of that nature. I do know this. I know who appoints
the day of death. I know in whose hands my life
and my death rests. Turn to Job, if you will, again,
Job chapter 14. It's in the hands of my God. in the hands of my God. In Job
chapter 14, verse 1, listen to this. Man that is born of a woman
is a few days and full of trouble. In this world you have tribulation
and trouble and trial. He comes forth like a flower
and is cut down. He fleeth as a shadow and continueth
not. And dost thou open thine eyes,
O God, upon such a one, and bringest me into judgment with thee? Who
can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one, but seeing,
my days are determined." Put that personal pronoun in there.
Seeing my days are determined, the number of my months are with
thee, thou hast appointed my bounds, I cannot pass." You believe
that? Well, I know that's true. I not
only believe it, I know that's true. I'm as confident of that
as I'm standing before you today. God kills, and God makes alive.
God wounds, and God heals. And God makes rich, and God makes
poor. I, the Lord, do all these things.
None can stay my hand, or say unto me, What doest thou? God
gives life. God takes life. And so it remains a mystery to
me. It's something that has always
troubled me. It's troubling me now, and it
always will trouble me, as long as God leaves me to preach the
gospel. But it remains a mystery to me.
Knowing these things to be true. It boasts not thyself of tomorrow.
Thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. We think about Ron's dad here. What, 71? Ron, 72? Yes. Like that. My brother was 48.
Same thing. Indigestion, heart attack, dead
within seconds. Well, I know, Prince, that happened
to them. It's going to happen to you, too. That's what I'm
trying to say. And to me too, maybe today, maybe
tomorrow, maybe next week. But in a few days, God's going
to call. We're going to leave here. Do you understand what I'm saying?
We're going to leave here. Death is certain, it's sure,
it cannot be avoided. It's going to come. It's appointed.
The date's set, the bounds are determined, the number of months
are with God, the instrument of death is already prepared.
The way you're going to die is already written down. The day
you're going to die is written down. How long you're going to
suffer is written down. When you're going to close your
eyes in death, it's written down. God's written it. It won't be
changed. You're not going to change it. Our Lord said, which of you,
by taking thought, can add one minute or hour to your life? That's exactly what he says.
Which of you, by taking care or anxious thought or whatever,
can add one second to your life? God set the bounds. The instrument
of death is already prepared. It may already be in your veins.
It's just not They already be there. So this is what remains
a mystery to me. Why people, why folks today,
avoid giving some thought and study to this important event? Now if they were going on a trip
two months from now, they'd be making preparation right And
if they were going to move to another city, to another job,
and they weren't coming back here, they were going to live
somewhere, they would be taking great preparation to get ready
to leave here, to go there, to live there. But folks are approaching
this important event called death without any study or preparation or inquiry
into it. Maybe we think if we ignore it,
it'll go away. Is that what we think? If I just ignore it, it'll
go away. It won't go away. It won't go
away. It's standing just outside the
door. Just outside the door. It's appointed
unto me and wants to die. After that projection. Now, here
are my questions. And what I'm saying is I don't
understand why that we're not We're not trying to find the
answers. Why are we not trying to find
the answers? Why do we leave this monumental thing with someone else? Why
aren't we really getting into this thing, finding out the answer?
Here's the question. What is life? What is life? Secondly, if a man dies, shall
he live again? Thirdly, man dies, then where
is he then? Where is he then? Fourthly, what
is this judgment that the Apostle talks about, man dies and then
the judgment? What is this judgment? How shall
I fare in that judgment? And fifthly, if there is a resurrection, how are men raised? And with
what body do they come? Well, let's look at those questions.
Just let me talk to you. Just pull up your chair there.
I've given my life to these questions. That's what my preaching is all
about. That's what my ministry is all about, is trying to teach
men what God has to say about that which is most important.
What is your life? What is life? What is life? Well, I know this, it's a frail,
frail thing. James said this, what is your
life? It's a vapor. It appears for
a little time and then it vanishes away. Like a puff of steam. Like a breath when you step out
of the house on a cold morning and you walk right out into the
air and blow your breath into the air and that vapor goes out
and it's gone. And really when you consider
eternity to eternity, The little short span that I
live here is just a breath of vapor. It vanisheth away. Job said this. Job said what I read a while
ago, man born of woman cometh forth like a flower. He's cut
down. Fleeth as a shadow. And he's
not. Solomon said man spends his day
as a shadow. Isaiah said, My life on earth
is like a shepherd's tent. You know what a shepherd's tent
is? A shepherd is taking his sheep around, grazing them in
different fields and so forth, and when he finds a good place
to graze them for a little while, to protect himself from the sun
and the rain or whatever, he puts a little lean to against
the hillside. What is a shepherd's tent? It's
not a stone building or a brick building or a wooden building.
It's just a little piece of canvas that's stretched out from the
hillside, held up by two posts, and he gets under there and sits
for a little while. Then he tears it down and moves on. That's
my life, just a shepherd's tent. Isaiah said, All flesh is grass,
and the glory of man as the flower of the field. The grass flourisheth,
and then it's cut down. The flower of the field flourisheth,
And then it fades away, and it's gone. And then David in the Psalms,
this is impressive. He says, my life is but a tale
that's told. You sit down with a book, maybe
somebody's biography, and you sit there and you read the book
all the way through, the life story. And then you finish it
and close it and you put away, put the book away and it's over. And that's true of all of us.
Our lives are but a tale that's told. Your father's life is over. You can talk at the funeral service
about when he was born and how he grew up as a lad and where
he got his job, worked at Armco as a crane operator and had his
son, daughter and raised them. They grew up, he lived here,
and the book's closed now, Ronnie. You're talking about somebody
else's life now. And that's, whether you really like that
or not, your memory's not going to linger. The place I have will
know it no more. There's a new book, Bedrick.
There's new books and new lives coming along. You're gone. It's
a tale that's told. So, what is your life? Men think
that they build these big monuments and their memories and names
are going to live on, but they're not going to. Your life is a
tale that's told. It's a shadow that's passing
under the sun. It's a flower that grows today,
and it's gone, and the new flowers take the place. We had a tulip bed in our front
yard last year. It was beautiful. We enjoyed
it. We got new tulips there now. And this building sitting here
in a few years, maybe God will preserve it, maybe God will keep
the gospel going here, but there's going to be somebody else standing
here, and there's going to be somebody else sitting where you're
sitting. And they're not going to talk
about us either. We're gone. Well, that's our second question.
All right, if a man dies, if this life ends, if it's over
here, Shall he live again? Shall he live again? Well, Job
asked that. Job asked that question, and he preceded the question
with this thought, with this thought. He said, Job said this,
there's hope for a tree, if there's a tree out here and you cut it
down, and the tree falls. Well, there's hope for that tree
if the sun shines and the rain falls. It may sprout again. I've seen that in Mexico. They'll
cut down fence posts and they'll go stick them in the ground.
The ground is so rich and there's so much water down there and
so much rain that a tree will grow out of that fence post.
There will be a whole line of fence posts with a fence nail
on it and all of them trees now. You've seen that growing along
the highway. There's hope for a tree. But then he adds this,
but man, he says, listen, man dies. and wasteth away. He decays. He goes back to the
dust. Dust thou art, to dust thou shalt
return. When I was in Mexico years ago,
I went into a cemetery and they were digging up a grave. And there was a woman buried
in that grave. Been there two years, that's all. And they dug it up
to put their bones and all in some other container. And I stood
there and watched that operation, and there was a skull with black
hair on it, and there were some other bones. And that was all. They took the entire person and
put it in a sack, about this big. And it's two years. And that's what he's saying.
Man dies. He's like water spilled on the ground. Can't gather it
up. You can gather it up, spill this
out there. You can save the glass, but that's
gone. You can't gather it up. And here that's where he asks
the question, then, if man dies, shall he live again? Well, the
answer's in the book, in God's Word. Where are you going if
I answer that question? You tell me. Answer that question. If a man dies, and you put his
body in a casket, and in two or three years it's nothing,
is he going to live again? There's only one place to find
the answer, and that's here. Daniel said, they that sleep
in the dust shall rise again. Isaiah said, the dead shall live
again with my dead body. They make it so plain, my dead
body shall rise. Hosea said, God will raise me
up and I'll live again in his sight. Turn to John 6, and let's
see what the Lord Jesus said. I'm telling you, this is the
only place you can find any answers to these questions. This, I think,
and he said, and I read, is a waste of time. The matters of life
and death are only answered by God, and only answered by the
Word of God. In John 6, verse 38, verse 37,
our Lord said this. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out. For I came down from heaven,
not to do my will, but the will of him that sent me. And this
is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he
hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again
at the last day." I'll raise him up. Verse 40, This is the
will of him that sent me, that everyone who sees the Son, and
believes on him, may have everlasting life. And I will raise him up
at the last day. I will raise him up, that's the
promise. Look at verse 45. Verse 44, No
man can come to me except the Father which sent me draw him,
and I will raise him up at the last day. God said, I'll raise your body. He had the power to raise our
bodies and make them like his own. There is a resurrection.
Christ said, marvel not at this, the hours come in which all that
are in the grave shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and
they that hear shall live again. And we have proof of that resurrection
in that our Lord arose from the grave. Christ actually died on
the cross. He was dead. They came to the
three men on the cross, the two thieves and Christ, and the custom
in that day, when a man was crucified, was to come and break his legs. And that would hasten death.
They'd break their legs, and of course, you know what would
happen. And that would hasten death. And they broke their legs,
the two thieves, and they came to Christ. They saw he was already
dead, and they didn't break his legs. And that's the fulfillment
of the scriptures which said, not a bone of him shall be broken. Isn't that right? And so then
they took a spear and rammed it into his side, and out of
his side came blood and water. And that's descriptive of our
redemption, blood to justify us and water to sanctify us,
to cleanse us, to wash us, because it never breaks his leg. But
he died. They put him in a grave. And
to make more authentic his resurrection, he lay there three days in that
grave. And then they went to visit the
grave to dark the body and put spices and so forth, and he was
gone. He arose. And he appeared to
his disciples. And they thought they'd seen
a ghost. And he said, It is I, be not afraid. Reach hither your
hands and touch my hand. Behold the marks of the nails.
and reach hither your hand, and feel my sight, and be not faithless,
but believe." A spirit, he said, does not have flesh and bones,
as you see me have. He arose. And further evidence,
he said, do you have anything to eat here? And they had some
fish and some bread, and he took it and ate it right there in
front of them. And he appeared for forty days. Parable, he said, if this earthly
tabernacle in which we live be dissolved, and it will. And he
calls it a tabernacle, a tent, if this tent be dissolved, and
it will. We have a building, a house not
made with hands, eternal in the heaven. And when a man dies, say, I would
have died in this pulpit this morning, and my body's dead,
where am I? Well, the body's still lying
here, the old house, the dwelling place. a tabernacle. And you
dress it up and put it in a, I hope, a pretty nice looking
casket and take it out and bury it. But it would be the same
body, same eyes, but they don't see anymore. Same ears, but they
don't hear. The same heart would be sitting
there. In fact, they can take that heart out and put it in
somebody else. And start her up again. It's like putting a
new motor in a car. Just take it out and put it in
somebody else and start her going again, you know. But, uh, I'm
gone. I'm gone. Where am I gone? Where
am I? Man, Doc, where is he? Come on,
where is he? Well, some people say preach
soul sleep. Soul doesn't sleep. If it did,
you'd never wake up. Soul doesn't sleep. It says here
in Philippians 1, listen, Verse 21, For me to live is Christ,
and to die is gain. For if I live in the flesh, this
is the fruit of my labor. Yet what I shall choose I know
not. But I am in a straight betwixt
the two. I have a desire to depart and
be with Christ, which is far better. Oh, when a man dies,
his body goes back to the dust, his soul to God who gave it. to be absent from their bodies
to be present with the Lord. When our Lord hung on that cross,
and when he decided a thief, and one of them blasphemed and
cursed, and the other one asked for mercy, he said to that other
thief, he said, don't you fear God seeing you in the same condemnation,
we indeed justly, we getting what we deserve? And he turned
to the Lord and he said, Lord, You're coming into a kingdom.
Remember me when you come into your kingdom." And the Lord said,
what did he say? Today. That man's going to die
today. Today. That man's body's going
to the grave today. Today. That man's body's going
to start decaying. Today, you will be with me in
paradise. Where's paradise? The third heaven.
Paul was caught up into paradise, into the presence of God. you're
going to be with me today. So what I'm saying to you is
this, when a person dies, if that person's a believer, he doesn't need to be afraid. That individual goes immediately
to glory, to the presence of God. You say, what kind of covering
do we have? Are we a bodiless spirit floating
around, or a ghost, or spirit, or something like that, I can't
answer that. Nobody else can answer that. I do know that it
says, turn to 2 Corinthians 5. Let's see what's in 2 Corinthians
5. Listen to this. This is the only
answer I can find on that question. I know that God's going to raise
this body here. It's going to join my soul. will
be a new body, new heaven, new earth. But here between then
and now, between now and then, listen, 2 Corinthians 5. But
we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved,
we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal
in the heaven. For in this tabernacle we groan,
earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is
in heaven. If so be that being clothed,
we shall not be found naked." Now, that's the only scripture
on that subject. But it says here that we're clothed,
we're clothed with our house which is from heaven, and it
says we're not naked, but we're clothed, we're with him, we're
in Christ, and we're in the presence of God. But you know, that brings
me to the fourth question, which is a serious and a very, very
important question. The Scripture says, it's appointed
to me and wants to die, and after that, the judgment. After that's the judgment. What
is this judgment? What's the scripture talking
about here? A man dies, and then where does he go? To God, to
stand before God. Stand before God. Now, this presents
me a problem. I don't know about you. I do know about you, too. This
presents us a problem. God is holy. I'm a sinner. God is truth, and we're all men
are liars. God is righteous. And in ourselves
we're unrighteous. And David said this, Lord don't
bring me into judgment with thee. He didn't want to stand before
God. For he asked this question, who's going to stand in the hill
of the Lord? Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? Who
shall stand in his holy presence? He that hath clean hands and
a pure heart, who's never lifted up his soul to vanity, who's
never sworn deceitfully. That's not me, that's not you.
So we got troubles, hadn't we? We got a problem. We better just
stay down here and not go to his presence, hadn't we? If there's not some adjustment
or some way made for us to stand before God, and be accepted,
and be received, instead of being cast out. Separated from the
presence of God. How can man be just with God?
Job, how can he be clean that's born of a woman? Behold the moon,
it shineth not. The stars are not pure in God's
sight. How much more abundant and filth is man that drinks
the liquid like the water? What are we going to do? I tell you, if knowing the holiness
of God, knowing my sin, I don't want to die. I don't want to stand before
God. If God said, Mark and Nick, who would stand? Who could stand? But now wait a minute, next verse
said, but there's mercy with thee. Now listen, my friend,
that's why Christ Jesus came into this world. Do you understand
what I'm saying? That's why he came. He said this,
I am come that they might have life. I am the way, the truth,
and the life. No man comes to the Father but
by me. There's none other name unto
heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. In other words,
now we come to God by a new and living way through the veil,
that is to say, his flesh. Christ came down here as a man. God, the God-man. God, the second
person of the blessed Trinity. Cold-clothed himself in human
flesh. He was made of a woman, like
I was, made under the law. He walked this earth in the flesh,
in Adam's flesh, in man's flesh. And as a man, he met the law
of God, he met the holiness of God, and he kept it, he obeyed
it, he loved it, he was submissive to it. He was perfectly holy. That's why he came. Why is he
doing this? For himself? He doesn't need
any holiness. He's holiness personified. For whom does he do it? For you
and me. That's why he's here. You see, to stand before God
and be accepted, I've got to have a righteousness. I've got
to have a holiness. The law can't have anything against
me. The books up there are going to be opened and there can't
be anything recorded against me because God will have to cast
me out. And then he went to the cross.
Why did he go to the cross? such an ignominious, horrible
death. Why did Christ endure that for
himself? No, to prove a point. No, to
set an example. No, to reform the world. It hasn't been reformed, has
it? He did that to satisfy God's justice for these folks who believe
on him, who are one day going to die and stand before God.
You see, turn to Revelation a minute. Let me show you something. Revelation
chapter 20. Revelation 20, verse 11. It says, I saw a great white
throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and
the heavens fled away. They found no place for them.
And 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 were judged out of those
things written in the books according to their works. How do you reckon
you and I are going to fare in that little place? I don't want anything to do with
it. I don't want a thing to do with
that. But I tell you now, if I have a substitute If I have
a Redeemer, one Job talked about, if I have a perfect Redeemer
who came down here and took my name, and my responsibility,
and my place, and my judgment, and he lived in this flesh, tipted
in all points as I am, yet without sin, if he did all that, and
he went to the cross and died, Then if he did that, when I do
get there, there's not going to be anything in that book. Nothing. He said our sins are
all put away. There's not going to be to open
the book and here is Gerald Kuhn. Gerald has nothing on there.
Some good things, because Christ went about doing good. And they
look over here and say, well, what's the law got against him?
Not anything. Well, what's any judgment against him? No, there's
not a thing there. Well, enter ye, blessed, into
the kingdom prepared for you before the foundation of the
world. I'm telling you, that's the way
it is. You see, there is therefore now no judgment to them who are
in Christ. Why? He took the judgment. How do you make that clear? Well,
you just say it, preacher. I've said it forty years. And people stare and say, well,
you've got to be baptized to be saved, you've got to keep the
law to be saved, you've got to tie up to be saved, you've got to
do good works to be saved, you've got to, I hope with a little
luck I make it before God. It's Christ. I stand before God
someday when I, if I die at this moment, I tell you my only hope,
my only plea is not the sermons I've preached or the work I've
done or the, it's nothing. It's Christ. that I have a perfect
righteousness before God because he gave it to me as a man. And he didn't give it to me,
you know, as something he picked out of the blue. He worked it
out. He actually did it so that when
I do stand there, there won't be any loopholes. So when I actually do stand there,
this man did obey God. And when I do stand there, justice
has no charge because this man has already died. How are you
going to punish a man twice for the same thing? So Christ died for my sins, and
I don't have any sins to face. That's the way it is. First John
5 says this. This is the record. God has given
us eternal life just like any son. And he that hath the Son
of God hath life. And it's not a Catholic matter
or a Jewish matter or a Protestant matter or a Baptist matter or
a Presbyterian matter or a Nazarene matter. That's all stuff we've
invented out of greed and covetousness and foolishness and ignorance.
That's just so. It's a Christ matter. It's a Christ matter. Christ
died for my sins. Christ obeyed the law. So then
there is no judgment. Oh, that's the last question.
And you know, our Lord told that, turn to 1 Corinthians 15. The
Lord told that to Martha. Martha came to him and she said,
Lord, if you'd been here, my brother wouldn't have died. And
he said, your brother will rise again. She said, I know he will
in the great resurrection. He said, Martha, I'm the resurrection. I'm the resurrection. I'm the
life. He that liveth and believeth on me will never die. Never die. First Corinthians 15, verse 36,
35. Somebody is going to say, ìHigher
the dead raised up, and with what body do they come?î Iím
going a little long, do you have just a minute more? Let me deal
with this a second. ìHigher the dead raised, and with what body
do they come?î He says in verse 36, ìThou fool, that which thou
sowest is not quickened except it die.î Now, hereís the first
thing laid down here. You men are going to start planting
some corn in the next few days. You're not going to have any
corn unless you plant it. You can hold the seed in your
hand, there it is, there's that little seed. And in it, potential
and possibility of a great garden, good food, but it's got to be
better. It's got to be planted. It's
got to germinate. So turn it loose and put it in
the ground. Or secondly, verse 37, and that
which thou sowest, thou sowest not the body that shall be, but
you sow bare grain, whether it be wheat or some other grain.
Second thing he said, see that grain of corn? Swiveled, wrinkled,
old, not even good. Oh, who wants to eat that stuff?
No juice, no moisture. Seemingly no life, but there's
life there. You don't take a stalk of corn this long with a bunch
of ears on it and dig a trench and bury it. You don't, you plant
this little grain right here, this one little grain right here.
It's nothing. You put it in the ground. And
then when God Almighty, verse 38, and God gives it a body as
it pleases him, and to every seed its own body, you plant
that one little grain, and God sends his rain, his power, his
sunshine, And that little grain of corn goes back to the dust,
it just germinates, dies, becomes, but out of it comes a little
tender plant and it grows and grows and grows. That's why it's
about six feet tall, got about six or eight ears of corn on
it, all of them juicy, beautiful. You hold that little grain, look
at it and look at that. Did that come out of this? Yeah.
Well let me tell you something. And this is not being carnal
or fleshly, this is being truthful. Beloved, now we are the sons
of God, but it doth not yet appear what we shall be. But we know
we shall see him and be like him. You know something? Someday this old body keeps getting
weaker and weaker and more wrinkled and old and someday may be ravaged
by disease. I may not weigh a hundred pounds.
line of casket, and they keep it closed to keep people from
looking at me. And they're putting the ground. But I want to tell
you something, when God raises these bodies, He wants you to
look at me then. They can open that casket then,
yeah, I'm going to look like Him. You are too, going to be
raised in the image of Christ. So you know, don't get all alarmed
about getting old and wrinkled. Boy, that's just the prelude
to glory. Don't get all alarmed about dying. You can't be like him until you
die. It's got to go in the ground.
And then he's going to raise it. And let me tell you something.
Let me tell you something. I wish I could tell you what
we shall be. No more pain, no more sorrow,
no more death, no more tears, no more sin. We're going to be like Christ.
And that's the reason Paul said, to die is gain. You don't, like
Charlie Payne said, and he stood right here, don't weep for me,
weep for yourselves. Because you've got to stay here,
I'm going home. That's right, I'm going home. God's going to give it a body
like the body of Christ Jesus. We're going to, His glorified
body. And we ought to be a little anxious
for that day. And you say, Perch, that kind
of encourages me. Well, that's why it was written, to comfort
one another with these words. That's the reason I said, why
don't we get into these things? Why do men talk about death? I want to. I'm pretty close to
it. Don't talk about judgment. I must. Preachers don't bring
up religion. That's my life. That's my life. to be with him, to be like him. Isn't that good news? And the good news of it is, in
Christ there is no judgment.

Five Important Questions to Be Considered

What does the Bible say about life after death?

How do we know Jesus is our Redeemer?

Why is understanding judgment important for Christians?

What is eternal life according to the Bible?

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Five Important Questions to Be Considered

What does the Bible say about life after death?

How do we know Jesus is our Redeemer?

Why is understanding judgment important for Christians?

What is eternal life according to the Bible?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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