Specific Descriptions of the Heirs, Part 1

Introduction: The Sobering Reality of Eternal Destiny

0:04 This sermon was preached on Sunday evening, August 28, 1983, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. In the name of the words of James, one through whom you gave us even a portion of your infallible and written word, in many things we all offend. O Lord, we must stand before the clear white light of your holy law and confess that we are sinners yet, in need of the cleansing of the blood of your own dear Son. And how we thank you for your promise that if we confess our sins, you are faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Holy Father, as we have been sobered in the portion of the word of God read in our hearing, as our hearts have run out to you as we were led in prayer that your Spirit would come with power, as we have been reminded of the great realities of the coming day of judgment, so now, Holy Father, as we turn to your word, come to us, we pray, that the one who attempts to open your heart for us, that the one who attempts to open your heart for us,

1:32 word may do so in the consciousness of your presence and grace upon his mind and spirit and with his mouth and that everyone who listens may be conscious of the same influence of the holy spirit upon the inner ear of the heart oh lord meet us this night that we may in this place taste of the powers of the world to come for jesus sake we plead these mercies from your hand amen we have come tonight in our study of the word of god to the sixth message in this sunday evening series that i've been engaged in off and on throughout the summer months focusing upon the biblical doctrines of heaven and of hell you it should be a sobering thing to every one of us to face the very simple fact that a hundred years from now every one of us will be in a state and a condition

2:48 in which our eternal destiny will be forever fixed either with respect to the unspeakable the indescribable glory of heaven and the presence of christ or the unspeakable form of perfection toute in all that is the idea of life we going in the encry="propora that means if we were children coming into our adult downloads the destiny of our ego in order to 이후 the cé'z-c'estl�e heures as picketing days community sort predi sot and before the judgment, though the Bible addresses itself to that issue, but rather the major focus of Scripture is the major focus of our study, namely the eternal state after that great day of which we have sung, the day of resurrection and judgment. And then I sought to underscore

Review of Hell's Nature and the Question of Who Goes There

4:01 from Scripture the proper attitude that we must have in approaching the subjects of heaven and of hell. And then for several weeks we have occupied ourselves with the question, what is hell? And with very little illustrative material, with very little imagination and description, bare, simple exposition, we have answered the question, what is hell? With our Bible, we have answered the question, what is hell? And with very little imagination and description, we have opened before us, and our answer has had five parts to it. We have seen from the Scriptures that hell is a place and a condition of unspeakable misery, torment, and woe. And the two major figures in Scripture by which the misery and woe are underscored are the unquenchable fire on the other. We have seen, secondly, that hell is a place and a condition

5:08 where soul and body shall suffer unspeakable misery, torment, and woe. Thirdly, that hell is a place and a condition where there will be degrees of punishment for sin. Fourthly, that hell is a place of unending misery. And finally, that hell is a place and a condition where men will receive the just punishment of God for their sins. Hell is not remedial. Hell is not didactic, therapeutic, or sanctifying.

5:51 Hell is the place for the outpouring of the righteous vengeance of Almighty God. And then in our final study, we will see that hell is a place and a condition where men will receive the just punishment of God for their sins. And finally, we began to address ourselves to the next major question that ought to press itself upon our minds, namely, who, who will be sent to hell? In the light of this awesome teaching on what hell is, then surely the question ought to be pressed in upon all of our hearts. Does the Bible give us clear light as to who will and will not be sent to this awful place of unquenchable misery? And finally, we began to address ourselves to the next major question that ought to press itself upon our minds, namely, who will and will not be sent to this awful place and this frightening condition? And I suggested to you in that study that the biblical materials can be ranged under two major headings, general descriptions of those who will be sent to hell, such descriptions as 2 Thessalonians 1.8, Matthew 13, 41, 49, and 50, and other texts that we examined. And now tonight we come to the second major

7:00 category. Of biblical descriptions concerning those who will be sent to hell, and it's what I'm calling the specific description of those who will be sent to hell. The descriptions of such texts as 2 Thessalonians 1.8 are general. Christ will come in flaming fire to take vengeance on all those who know not God and obey not the gospel. That is a general description. But tonight we turn to a text in which we have not a general description, but a very specific description of the various categories of human character that are the earmark of those who will be sent to hell. Now as we turn to the text that will form the focal point of our meditation this evening, Revelation 21 and verse 8,

The Time-Bomb Analogy: Approaching God's Specific Descriptions

8:01 let me seek to secure a careful hearing by the use of a very simple analogy or illustration. What would you do if next week there came from your local town hall what appeared to have all the marks of an official announcement from the mayor of your town or city that some man had placed time-bombs in the homes of 100 people. To be a correct interpretation, we really need this text. Let's read it.

8:34 Revelation 21 and verse 8. in your community, and that this madman had not given to the town officials the names and addresses of those in whose homes the bombs had been placed, but rather he had left a description of the character of those in whose homes these bombs had been placed. This letter from your mayor and town officials bore all the marks of seriousness of sobriety, of honesty, and carried with it the weight of conviction that they weren't fooling, that in a hundred homes in your community there was even now planted a time bomb, and we didn't know the homes in which it was planted, but the madman had left a description of the characters, a very detailed description of the characters of those in whose homes the bombs were placed. The notice from the town officials said that they had this list, and they were enclosing it with the letter. Now, if you were convinced that the letter was not a ruse, some kind of a sick joke,

9:56 what would you do with the enclosed letter that contained not the names of the families in whose homes the bomb had been deposited,

10:09 but a careful description of the character of those who were the heads of such homes? Would you not take that enclosure and very carefully and with judgment, a honesty seek to ascertain whether or not the description in the letter in any way matched what you were and are?

10:36 Now, that's precisely what God has done in his word.

10:42 God, who in no way is able to tell us what we are, but who is able to tell us what we are, is not able to tell us what we are. God is not able to tell us what we are. God is not able to tell us what we are, but he knows what we are, and he knows what we are. is to be found in an analogous relationship to a madman, but who is the thrice holy sovereign judge of the universe, this God has declared that certain people shall perish in this awful place called hell.

11:06 And he has not given us a role on which their names are presently inscribed. There is no place in the universe where you can go and find a roll call of the future inhabitants of hell.

11:25 God has given us in this book a very clear, a very specific, a very penetrating description of the character traits of those who will perish in hell. And if you take the doctrine of hell, hell seriously, then you will come to such descriptions with all the earnestness and sobriety of the last day upon your soul, saying, oh God, do I in any way fit that description? If I do, Lord, help me here and now to begin in earnest to flee from the wrath to come. As I looked out upon you as a congregation, singing that hymn, great God, what do I see and hear? I saw something that convinced me that at least one person believes that God means what he said. I saw one of our members overcome and break into tears in the midst of that hymn, probably with the burden of an unconverted, lost loved one upon her heart.

12:44 My friend, do you believe that there is a place, a place called outer darkness, the lake of fire, where soul and body shall suffer the torments of the damned forever? And you and I dare not give ourselves the luxury of a careless passing encounter with those specific descriptions of those who will be sent to hell. We must come to such descriptions with the earnest prayer, Lord, is it I? If so, O God, help me here and now to do what I must do, to be taken out of that description and into the description of the blessed, who shall enter the presence of God and of the Lamb with joy.

Context and Crucial Qualifications for Revelation 21:8

13:45 Turn now to Revelation 21 and verse 8. The setting is obvious. The chapter begins the first seven verses with this breathtaking description of the glories of heaven, the new heavens and the new earth, the imagery of the holy city, New Jerusalem, which is nothing other than the perfected church as we understand from parallel passages. And then the glory of heaven, verse 3, the presence of God with his people. Verse 4, the absence of everything that causes grief and pain, a passage God willing we'll examine in some detail when we come to answer the question, what is heaven? But after this glorious and breathtaking description of heaven, the promise of the blessedness of this to all the overcomers,

14:50 notice in verse 7, notice then the contrast, but, verse 8, for the fearful and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and fornicators and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part shall be in the lake that burneth with fire. Fire and brimstone, which is the second death. And here the God who has given us some specific revelation of the glories of heaven is the God who has given us a specific description of those who will be sent into the lake that burns with fire and with brimstone, that which is called the second death. And as we come to answer this question, we'll examine the first seven verses of Revelation 21 and verse 8. And as we come to look at these eight specific character traits that are set before us, listen carefully as I make two qualifications at the outset.

16:04 First of all, this passage is not saying that anyone who at any time has committed any one, two, three, or all eight of these sins at any point in his life can never be a candidate for heaven. Amen. This passage is not teaching that if a person has ever once lied or lied twice or a trillion times, he must of necessity perish in hell. This passage is not teaching that if one has murdered once, twice, or a thousand times, he cannot possibly escape hell.

16:42 This passage is not teaching that which would contradict the entire teaching of the Bible, that Christ Jesus came, that Jesus came into the world to save sinners, all kinds of sinners who've committed all kinds of sins any number of times. And many such sinners sit here in this building tonight, forgiven, cleansed, and pardoned by the grace of God. So when we look at these specific descriptions of those who will be sent to hell, we must not read the passages, though this says, If there has been a lie or many, a murder or many murders, an act of fornication or many, there is no hope. The passage teaches no such thing, nor does it teach, follow carefully now, that one who does name the name of Christ, who may fall into one or another of these sins, cannot have any further hope that he is indeed a child of God. Amen. Amen.

17:50 Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

17:51 Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

17:51 Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

17:51 Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

17:51 Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

17:51 Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

17:53 Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

17:53 Amen. Amen. Amen. As I studied these words in their usage in scripture, with but one exception, all of these sins are either attributed to a child of God in a moment of weakness or the people of God are warned against falling into them.

18:12 So this passage does not say that if you have named the name of Christ and given evidence of having been transformed by his grace. and your feet have been planted in the way of obedience and holiness that in surprisal or in a moment of declension and backsliding you should fall into any one or more of these sins, that automatically means there is no hope for you. That is not the teaching of the passage. Now I know as carefully as I make that disclaimer, the way some of you will wiggle out of the pressure of the passage is to say that I was teaching that if you ever fall into any one of these sins, there's no hope, and if you profess to be a Christian and ever fall into one of these sins, you've fallen from grace. I am saying no such thing, because that would be a contradiction of the entire overarching teaching of the Word of God. What we have in this list of eight specific categories of sin and sinners is a description of a faith, a fixed pattern of life. Notice the text, but the fearful, in other words, fearfulness or cowardice are the fixed, settled principle of the person's life.

19:34 It is not a matter of a true disciple overcome with fear in a moment. Jesus came to his own and said, be not fearful, but believing, acknowledging, that in a moment of weakness the child of God can be saved. The child of God can be guilty of cowardice, and likewise the child of God can fall into any sin of the flesh or of the spirit. But these are descriptions of a way of life, the features of an unsanctified character and untransformed practice.

The First Category: The Fearful (Cowardly)

20:08 And with respect to those things, the Bible says all who are locked into a lifestyle characterized by any sin, any one or a combination of these eight things, notice the text, their part shall be in the lake of fire. Now I've qualified, I've excluded what the text does not mean, what we must not make it mean. But having done that, let me say if you find yourself in any one of these eight categories as the basic pattern of your life, as the, the unchallenged, untransformed lifestyle in which you are locked, mark it friend, unless you are forgiven by the blood of Christ and transformed by the spirit of Christ, as sure as you stand hearing the word of Christ preached, your part shall be in the lake which burneth with fire and with brimstone. Notice then the list. But, for the fearful, and perhaps a better translation would be the cowardly. Here is a description of the first category

21:33 whose part shall be in the lake of fire. They are described as the cowardly, the fearful. They hear the word of the gospel. They hear the call to discipleship.

21:48 They hear the Lord Jesus saying, count the cost. I must have the place of supreme affection in your life. You must be prepared to be ostracized if necessary from your peers. You must be prepared if necessary to be ostracized from your own mother, father, son, or daughter.

22:14 Matthew 10 and Luke 14. And when such people hear the call of Jesus Christ, there is something that they are not afraid of. There is something in them that says, Oh, I would long to know the forgiveness, the pardon, the release that is in Christ. But my peers, I can't stand the thought of being mocked out.

22:36 I can't stand the thought of being cut off from social relationships. I can't stand the thought of being labeled the oddball in my school, in my place of work. The thought of being cut off from social intimacies, and social acceptance. I can't hack it.

22:55 Or perhaps they are fearful not with regard so much to people, but to possessions. They see that Jesus Christ says, coming to me, you must renounce all that you have. That is, you must come in the posture that from here on in, everything that you are and have, you willingly, joyfully give up to me, to be held loosely in my service, to be a steward of everything that you possess, and if you do not renounce all that you have, not knowing what I will do with it, you cannot be my disciple. And Jesus Christ has not rescinded that word to 20th century affluent America. It is still the word of Christ. You may name him, but he does not own you if you have not renounced all that you possess. You can be a steward of everything that you possess, and if you do not renounce all that you possess, you cannot be a steward of everything that you possess.

23:54 And people see that and they are fearful. They say, well, if I do that, will the Lord demand of me, as he did of the rich young ruler, to relinquish title to all of it? Or will he allow me, like Zacchaeus, to exercise on discretion, with respect to it, the half of my goods I give to feed the poor? If I take him wrongfully, I restore fourfold.

24:08 Will he allow me to go on, in the sanctified use of some of what I possess? Or will he demand of me, the actual relinquishment of all that I possess? Or will he allow me to go on, in the sanctified use of some of what I possess? Or will he demand of me, the actual relinquishment of it?

24:24 And you don't know that coming to Christ. And that's why he says, without exception, Whosoever he be, that renounces not all that he hath, cannot be my disciple. And before such demands, there is this cowardice that says, I dare not put myself in that place. And with that, so there is the fear of people the fear of possessions for some this was peculiarly relevant when the book of the revelation was written the fear of pain remember John wrote from the isle of Patmos and he wrote to the seven churches and how did he identify himself he said I John your companion in tribulation the churches were undergoing a baptism of physical suffering and persecution and as was true then it's true now when religion rides in her fair clothes lots of people follow in its train but when it begins to cost and may bring physical harm and pain when identification with Christ might mean going to the Colosseum when it might mean deprivation deprivation deprivation deprivation of possessions

25:51 and actual physical pain then the cowardice draws back multitudes from identification with Christ my friend listen to the word of God sitting here tonight aware of the claims of Christ aware of the provisions of the gospel if you are a fearful one a coward who will not come to Christ on his terms because of the fear of man the fear of God the fear of what he may do with your possessions the fear of pain listen to the word of God the fearful shall have their part in the lake of fire if that cowardice is not purged from your heart so that you come to Christ on his terms made strong by his grace to bear whatever his yoke brings upon you this book says that the cowardly shall have their part in the lake of fire I didn't say it and surely reading that passage in first kings has put fresh fear in my heart I dare not go back from the word of God God has said the fearful shall have their part in the lake of fire I speak to some of you young people tonight you know the gospel is true

27:20 you've seen its power in your mind in mom and dad and in many around you and not only are you convinced the gospel is true you're convinced it is in your own best interest to become a Christian you see the wrecks of humanity all around you in your neighborhood in your school in your place of business you see the wholesome healing power of the gospel in your family maybe the only family on the block where there's real love real cohesion real respect where people actually love one another and you not only believe the truth of the gospel you see the winsomeness of Christ what keeps you back isn't it this fear cowardice afraid of being cut off from your peers perhaps afraid of being cut off by your own sons and daughters cut off by mom and dad cut off from friends listen to the word of God the fearful the fearful the fearful shall have their part oh my friend take your fears and go and bring them to the foot of the cross and behold him who was not afraid to be cut off from all his peers

The Second Category: The Unbelieving

28:48 mocked by his own half brothers and sisters cast out by the religious leaders impaled upon a Roman gibbet stripped of his clothes stripped of his clothes stripped of his clothes stripped of his clothes stripped of his clothes stripped of his clothes stripped of his clothes stripped of all of his clothes and there in stark nakedness he hangs the apostle Paul could say God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by which the world its smiles its frowns its possessions its threats the world is crucified to me and I unto the world it is in the saving sight of Christ of Christ crucified that all of your cowardice will be swallowed up and you will be prepared in loving identification with Christ to bear all for his sake but then notice the second category the unbelieving the unbelieving now again this is a word used to Christians, believers in John 20-27 be not unbelieving be not unbelieving it is possible for a true Christian to be overcome with unbelief Lord I believe help thou my unbelief

30:16 but when the word is used as a description of fixed character it means one who has not radically irreversibly entrusted himself to Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord Luke chapter 12 in verse 2 verse 46 speaks of one whose portion shall be with the unbelievers it is not speaking of the spirit of unbelief that lurks in the heart of the most believing child of God but it is speaking of that cursed spirit that fills the heart of the impenitent in which they will not entrust themselves to Jesus Christ to Jesus Christ and to the salvation so freely offered even to them in the gospel do you believe this my friend is this a description of your character notice it doesn't say the unbelieving who curse God the unbelieving who mock Christ the unbelieving who cast aspersions upon the word of God you can be an unbeliever who speaks highly of God of God of Christ of his gospel of his church of his people of his ways

31:44 but if you're still an unbeliever your part will be in the lake of fire you will not go to heaven because you speak well of God you speak well of Christ you speak well of the gospel you speak well of his people my friend you will only go to heaven if you are united to Christ so that his righteousness becomes yours and in union with him the Holy Spirit is given to you to give you power to live a believing righteous life and you cannot be united to Christ apart from faith and our text says that the unbelieving yes the unbelieving who in their unbelief mock God there may be such here tonight who mock the gospel who mock holiness who mock the gospel who mock the law of God who mock the people of God there may be such and surely you fit this category but I'm concerned for those of you who have enough quote belief in the truths of the word of God that you're here tonight on a Sunday night listening to the word of God giving attention riveting your eyes upon mine and as far as I know giving your ears to what I'm saying but my friend if you leave an unbeliever still you leave

The Third Category: The Abominable (Vile)

33:12 under the sentence of death he that believeth not the wrath of God abides upon him you must believe but you say Pastor Martin I've been well taught enough from the catechism and in my Sunday school and in my home to know that true faith is not something that I can just engender on my own that's true believe you must you say what can I do when you're convinced you must with that conviction is joined the conviction you can't you'll go to Christ as a desperate needy sinner and ask him to do for you what you cannot do for yourself but then notice the third category translated in our 1901 version as the abominable I believe the NIV translates it vile it's a difficult one it's a word to translate out of the original perhaps the best way to think of it is in these terms such as have been made a moral stench in the nostrils of God the root word here is the same one used in Luke 16 15 that which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God it is a stench in the presence of God very interestingly

34:41 it is this word that is used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament Hebrew scriptures in that section particularly Leviticus 18 where all of the vile sins of perversion of the Canaanitish nations are described and the people of God are forbidden from having anything to do with them bestiality homosexuality the life of a transvestite all of these abominable perversions all of these abominable perversions all of these abominable perversions not merely the lawless indulgence of God given sexual appetite but the total perversion of that appetite into every form of that which God calls abomination and that's the word that is used to translate the Hebrew word into Greek in the Septuagint abomination and oh if any word is needed for our generation it is this all forms of perversion all forms of perversion that are a peculiar stench in the nostrils of God those who take their placards and march down the avenues of our city for their so called gay rights in other words they want approval for abominations that take them and their nation into hell

36:07 I'm speaking to any man any woman any boy or girl in this place who is even flirting with God abominations that take them and their nation into hell I'm speaking to any man any woman any boy or girl in this place who is even flirting with God flirting with, let alone abandon to a life of perversion. God calls it abomination, moral stench, and all of the vile stench have their part in the lake of fire. And no amount of respectability gained by legislation from a perverted national government will count what this book says. Perversion is perversion and leads to hell. Who will not repent, who refuse to repent, who will not flee to Christ to have the chains of their foul lust broken by his almighty power, they shall know the reality of this text fulfilled in themselves. And notice the fourth category, murderers. Murderers.

The Fourth Category: Murderers

37:21 Those who wantonly, willfully destroy human life without divine authorization. Not all destruction of human life is murder. It is destruction of human life without divine authorization. Romans 13 says that God has given to the human government the power to bear the sword of his vengeance against evildoers. But when men wantonly, willfully destroy human life to honour the powers of God, for which he has despised his judgement and imposed his extraordinary circumstances upon us, this word of a murderer is decapitated out of the destroy human life without divine authorization. That's the biblical definition of murder. And add to that all who inwardly entertain the Spirit, which if led to its ultimate expression would wantonly, willfully, without authorization, shed human blood. Matthew 5, verses 21 and 22, whoso has hatred in his heart, Jesus said, is guilty of murder. Are you a murderer?

38:28 It's perfectly possible that there may be someone sitting here who knows in his heart of heart that you willfully, deliberately contributed to the snuffing out of human life, whether out of the womb or in the womb. It is murder still. And if you sit here in the character of a murderer, have you? Having wantonly, willfully destroyed human life without divine warrant, then this text says, living and dying in that condition of a murderer, your part shall be in the lake of fire. And if you sit here, not with your hands actually stained with human blood, but entertaining that Spirit, which would naturally result in such destruction of human life if it had its way, even Jesus. Said, to abuse its speech, he who says, Thou who, shall be in danger of the hell of fire. And if that Spirit is the substructure of your soul, bitterness, rank, animosity, ill-will,

The Fifth Category: Fornicators

39:47 or a murderer, living and dying in that character state, you will have your part in the lake of fire. But then notice the next category, fornicate. And here the word in its context obviously is not broad enough to include all forms of perversion, though sometimes it means that, for God has already spoken of the abominable, the vile, that which causes a stench, the perverse and the perverted.

40:23 But it speaks here of sexual behavior that is illicit, though carried out within the framework of the divinely ordained pattern of male and female conjugal intimacy, it is carried out apart from the sanctity and the sanctuary of the marriage bond. God says fornicators and whoremongers and adulterers, he will judge. Hebrews 13 and verse 4, in the old authorized version, this word is translated again and again as a whoremonger. In other words, the person who has adopted and lives by the playboy and the playgirl philosophy. My body is my own to do with it what I will. And God and society and nobody is going to tell me what to do. God's not interested in what goes on in my bedroom.

41:26 If there is a God, he's got bigger concerns. My friend, I stand here to inform you what you do in your bedroom may land you. In the anteroom of hell itself, fornicators, fornicators, those who indulge in illicit sexual dalliance, who have the spirit, my body is my own. And here I must say a word that's not pleasant for me to say.

41:56 Fornication, perhaps more than anything else, is the sin that is being made respectable by the mass media.

42:06 Woven through the fabric of almost any TV program for entertainment is the theme of respectable fornication.

42:19 To relax my mind for a few minutes yesterday, I thought I'd turn on the program that was supposedly going to give us information about people preparing for the Olympics in 84. I thought that'd be innocent enough. And no sooner had I turned on the program. When the camera zeroed in on a woman, an Australian woman, who was a discus thrower, and I happened to turn in at the point where she talked before national TV audience and allowed herself to be photographed in a home with a man who is not her lawful husband and could say, I enjoy living with my boyfriend, so and so, and no sense of shame while the camera panned their life together.

43:13 Fornication is respectable. It's acceptable.

43:20 You young people, listen. Almighty God has given you your body, and he's given you all the parts of that body, and he's given you desires that as you get older are going to awaken in you. You're going to want to have a wife someday, like Daddy does, because if Daddy didn't have a wife, you wouldn't have a mommy, and if mommy didn't have a husband, you wouldn't have a daddy. And all those desires as they awaken in you are wholesome and good and pure.

43:51 But listen, Almighty God has told you how those desires are to find an expression. And Almighty God has said only within the sacred commitment of your life to another life and that for life is it proper that you should give full and joyful vent to those God-given appetites. Appetites. Rejoice in the wife of thy youth, God says.

44:20 Let her breasts satisfy thee at all times. Be thou ravished with her love. We're not proofs. That's the Bible.

44:28 And I'll quote that as freely as I quote John 3.16. But the same Bible says, Whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. And fornicators have their part in the lake of fire.

44:44 What difference does it make? If I do a little dallying, if I do a little playing around, if I do a little fooling around, I'll tell you the difference it makes. It's the difference of heaven and hell.

The Sixth Category: Sorcerers (Magic Arts)

44:59 And then quickly notice the next category. It's translated as sorcerers. The best translation in modern English would be this. Those who practice magic arts.

45:14 It refers to the occult. Sound contemporary? Listen to the comments of Jeffrey Wilson in his helpful little commentary on the book of Galatians, where this same word is used in Galatians 5 and verse 20. Idolatry and sorcery.

45:36 There's the same word. Here's his comment. False religion. Man in his rebellion against his creator remains incurably religious.

45:46 And he seeks to satisfy this instinct. Making his own deities. He much prefers these lifeless puppets to the one true living God. Because these lifeless puppets allow him to pull the strings.

46:04 In the same way, magic is man's unlawful attempt to manipulate unseen spiritual forces to his own advantage. Now, we're not talking about a man who's an illusionist and says, I have no magical powers. Everything I do has an explanation. Everything I do has an explanation.

46:21 And so he tells you that. And then you see him pull a rabbit out of the hat. I'm not talking about the innocent world of the illusionist. Now, I know some people would charge me with compromise.

46:32 Go ahead and charge me if you will. If that's sin, then I sin with many of the kids in the church when I play a little sleight of hand game with them with a nickel. And they think I'm picking it off the ceiling when in reality I'm just putting it up on the ceiling. But anyway, this is not talking about that.

46:48 It is talking about dabble. Dabbling in the occult and the spirit world, the demons and the devil. And Wilson goes on to say, In an age which is not ostensibly religious, there's been a remarkable proliferation of false gods and a terrifying revival of the occult arts and practices. There are stores in Willowbrook, a few miles from here, where you can buy your books and paraphernalia to dabble with the devil.

47:21 The occult, besides the parasitic growth of many new cults, the secular gods of communism, scientism, humanism, are worshipped with a fervor approaching religious ecstasy. While the increasing popularity of witchcraft, spiritism, alias spiritualism, clairvoyance, astrology, and horoscopes heralds a relapse into the dark ages.

47:48 Have you called the weather number in New Jersey recently? 936-1212. When you're done with your weather report, it says, So much for the weather. Now for your horoscope today, dial such and such.

48:02 That's right. You don't believe me? Go home and dial it. I've never dialed a number.

48:08 I would not so much as dabble, even with curiosity, to hear a horoscope. It is abomination.

The Seventh Category: Idolaters

48:19 And if I'm speaking to someone whose life is sucked in to a so-called relationship to the stars in your horoscope, your horoscope is your Bible, and has become your God, and you dabble in the spiritual and the occult, the illicit spiritual, God says, unless that fundamental trait of character is radically revolutionized by the power of the gospel, you'll have your part in the lake of fire. And then he speaks of idolaters, all who worship false gods, whether those gods are made of wood and stone, whether those gods are called Saint Christopher, Saint Mary, or Saint Joseph. Any material representation that is made an object of veneration and worship is in the determination of God an idol. It's an idol. And all who worship idols. But the Bible says idolatry is not only found in the worship of visible representations of God and the gods and other human beings.

49:26 But Colossians 3.5 and Ephesians 5.5 say that covetousness is idolatry. And a covetous man is an idolater.

49:35 Idolatry is the worship, the service, the abandonment of affection to any other being or thing but the living and true God. And any person in whose soul the substructure is the worship of anyone other than the living and the true God, such a person is an idolater and will have his part in the lake of fire. And then finally notice the last description. And I want you children to look carefully at your Bibles.

The Eighth Category: All Liars

50:06 You will notice there's something different about this last character description. It says not and liars. All the others have been joined together with an and. Do you see it?

50:20 For the fearful and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and fornicators and sorcerers and idolaters and liars? No. A word is added and it's only with this category that it's added. All liars.

50:41 All. What is a liar? A liar is anyone who willfully, knowingly misrepresents reality or anyone who knowingly and willfully will not perceive reality. Let me illustrate.

51:04 Ananias and Sapphira were guilty of lying to the Holy Ghost when they attempted to lie to Peter. What was reality? Reality was they got a certain amount of money for the land they sold. Now they tried to misrepresent reality.

51:20 They had kept back some of that money for themselves. But when they came to Peter and the apostles, they tried to represent as though they were bringing the whole amount. They were willfully, knowingly misrepresenting reality. That was lying.

51:34 But the Bible also teaches that the willful, deliberate misinterpretation or refusal to perceive reality is lying. Who is a liar? But he that denieth that Jesus is Christ. Reality is Jesus is the Christ.

51:57 If I will not so conceive him in terms of that reality, God says I'm a liar. Who is a liar? But he that denieth. He that denieth that Jesus is the Christ.

52:09 Now our text says all liars. And why? I've got a sneaking suspicion. I wouldn't give my life for this interpretation of why, but I think it's sound.

52:22 God knows that one of the most subtle forms of unrenewed character is found in the area of lying. Deception is so shameful that few of us will own up to it. So God has to put a hook in our consciences and say, all liars. Now you children, let me ask you something.

52:45 How many of you can tie your own shoes? Let me see your hands. You can tie your own shoes. All the kids can tie your own shoes.

52:53 Okay. All right. Now, how many of you learned how to tie your shoes without any help from mom and dad? You learned all by yourself.

53:00 Mom and dad never helped you. Well, we've got one who says she did. Now, I don't know whether she's lying or not. I'll have to check with her mommy and daddy.

53:08 But she says she did. All right. How many of you had to have mommy and daddy teach you how to make the loops and pull them through? How many of you had that mommy and daddy teach you?

53:19 All right. Good. Now, how many of you, you know you've told a lie? I'm not going to ask you what it is, but you know you've told a lie sometime.

53:30 How many of you have told a lie? Hmm? How many of you kids under 12, you've told a lie? Now, let me ask you, did mommy and daddy have to teach you how to lie?

53:39 How many of you had to have mommy and daddy sit you down, and say, now, son, now, honey, I want to teach you how to lie? How many of you had to have mommy and daddy teach you how to lie? Not a one of you. How come?

53:52 You know why? You've got a built-in teacher. And you know what that built-in teacher is? Your own bad heart.

54:02 And one of the first signs of the sinful nature of a child is its ability to lie with such convincingness that only God can sort out truth from the lie. All of us who are parents have faced that frustration. You've looked the kid straight in the eye. You've reminded him that God knows his heart.

54:25 You've reminded him of everything that ought to sober him. And he'll look you straight in the eye, and you find out three weeks later, he was lying hands down, case dismissed, verdict guilty. And we become so clever at lying. And added to that inbuilt disposition, the Scripture says they go astray from the womb doing what?

54:48 Not cursing, not thieving, but speaking lies. They go astray from the womb speaking lies. Now add to that, add to that, the aggravated situation of this generation that has produced such pressure to the lie as the blanket for the double life. Along with all dalliance in drugs for any kid who's still at home in a home that stands for him, any kind of decency, is learning to lie at the slightest impulse.

55:23 Lying and deception are the handmaidens of the drug culture whenever it has to be carried on under the canopy of a decent home. And I may be speaking to some of you teenagers that are dabbling in pot, you've popped your pills, you're fooling around with other dope, and you're lying to mom and dad after a week, month after month. You listen to the word of God, teenager. All liars have their part in the lake of fire.

55:59 Maybe your lies are not to cover your use of dope. Maybe your lies are to cover some of the fooling around you're doing with fellas and girls. You look mom and dad straight in the eye and say, oh no, we just were out, didn't do a thing, didn't do this, didn't do that, and you know what you're doing in that seat of the car. You know what's going on!

56:19 And you dare to face that holy mom and dad and lie? Breathe out lies. My dear teenager, you listen. God says all liars, those who lie to cover up their fooling around in the backseat of a car, those who lie to cover up their dabbling in dope and booze, those who lie to cover up whatever they are doing that they know would bring the frown and perhaps the discipline of their parents.

56:48 You children, listen. Listen. All liars. It doesn't say all 20-year-old liars, all 40-year-old liars.

56:59 It says all liars have their part in the lake of fire. Do you believe that? If so, you better repent of your lies. Your lies of deliberately, willfully misrepresenting reality to mom and dad and others.

57:18 Your lie of being willfully and deliberately set against God's perceiving reality. Reality is God did not make you to live for yourself. God has claims over you and Jesus Christ has rights upon you. And it is a lie to act as though He doesn't.

57:39 And unless you repent of your lies, your part shall be in the lake of fire. Dear friends, I've only sought to be faithful to eight character descriptions in the Word of God. I didn't write them. But like that prophet who was under solemn obligation to stick by what God has said, I am a man under authority.

The Only Escape and Call to Repentance

58:08 I must stick by what God has said and He has said against the backdrop of the glories of heaven in the first seven verses of Revelation 21. But the fearful, the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, those who dabble in witchcraft, fornicators, liars, idolaters, murderers, shall all have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone. This is the second death, the final death, the death of deaths, eternal outer darkness, unquenchable fire. My friend, there is but one way to escape. You must get out of any one or combination of these character descriptions and you have no power to do it on your own. And even if you did, what would you do with all the offenses against God caused by your past sins?

59:15 Who would rub them out? No, the answer is not in personal reformation. The answer is in coming to Jesus Christ, the one who took for sinners the pangs of hell upon the cross, who felt in His own breast the fury and the wrath of Almighty God. Flee to Him, and in His blood find cleansing and forgiveness from all of your sins, and in the gift of His Spirit find the power to know the transformation of your character from an idolater into a worshipper of God, from a liar to a speaker of truth, from a murderer to a lover of life, from a vile, abominable person to one who has a living sacrifice as a sweet odor unto God. The opposite of every one of these character descriptions is the fruit and the power of the Gospel. Oh, may you know that power in your life. And for those of us who do, may we take seriously what we read.

60:23 Don't let the press and the TV erode the edge on your conscience. Could you sit and watch the unashamed admission of a fornicating relationship with no sense of horror? Then the world has squeezed you into its mold. We need to cry to God that the edge will be put back on our consciences.

60:50 Maybe that's why you have so little burden for your neighbors. You really don't believe the lifestyle described in this passage and exemplified in them is going to take them to hell. You never would say you believe in purgatory, but you have a de facto belief that maybe there's some middle ground. There is no middle ground.

61:11 May God grant that we shall believe what we say we believe. And with tears and compassion pray and plead and witness and preach and sigh and cry and groan that we may yet see loved ones and neighbors rescued from the pit of everlasting birth. Let us pray. Our Father, we are sobered by Your Holy Word.

61:49 You have given us this eight-fold character description of those who shall be cast into hell. And as we seek honestly to hold our lives up before it, many of us have felt the pain and the sting of the remembrance of what we once were, but our hearts have thrilled again. Amen. We thank You that what You in grace have made us.

62:19 And though we confess with shame that too often the grave cloths of our past life still cling to us, we thank You that we can say with all of our hearts that we are not now what we once were. Oh, may that be the testimony of some who came into this gathering tonight in one or more of these categories. Lord, come and meet them by Your transforming power, that they may leave washed, cleansed, and sanctified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Holy Spirit. Oh, God, do that mighty work.

63:00 We pray especially for the young ones and the children and the teenagers, for some who are fearful, for others who are liars, for others who may be fornicators. Oh, God, have mercy. Arrest them. Turn them.

63:16 Draw them to Yourself. Oh, God, do not let Your word fall to the ground unheeded. We cry to You. Hear our cry.

63:26 Oh, God of heaven, the cry that together we brought into Your presence in our hymn tonight. Oh, rend the heavens and come down and make a thousand hearts Your own. Hear our cry. Seal the word to our hearts.

63:44 And to Your name be praise and honor and glory through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.