Burning Relevance of These Doctrines

Introduction: Dependence on God and the Burning Relevance of Heaven and Hell

0:03 This sermon was preached on Sunday evening, November 27th, 1983, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey.

0:16 Every time any true servant of Christ stands before a gathering of God's people to open the word, he ought to have some conscious, some felt awareness of his dependence upon God and the ministry of the Spirit. But perhaps never does a servant of Christ feel it more profoundly than when attempting to deal with those great realities of the unseen world to come, because in one's own spirit there is the weight of the guilt that the very one who attempts to speak of these things to others and seriously to impress them upon their minds is very conscious that he feels sorry. So little of the weight and the pressure of those truths upon his own heart. So as we pray together, pray not only that God will enable you to taste and feel the powers of the world to come, but that as I attempt to speak of these things, my own mind and heart and spirit will also feel their pressure to an unusual degree. Let us pray.

1:33 Our Father, we can only take our posture before... ...for you, overwhelmed with the sense of the dullness and the moral madness which sin has produced in your creatures, that we who are destined to spend an eternity in a place of indescribable woe and horror and pain and agony, or in a place of indescribable glory and bliss, should live... ...so many of the hours of so many of our days,

2:22 utterly insensitive to the great realities of the world to come. We confess the sin of our moral madness. We confess the sin of our dullness. And we pray that you would send your Holy Spirit upon us in such copious measures that in this room, at least for a few minutes tonight, O God, our Father, we may feel and taste the powers of the world to come.

2:59 O speak to us, saint and sinner alike, and may we in grace be enabled to respond to your voice, speaking to us through the Scriptures. We ask through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. For a number of Lord's Day evenings, we have occupied our minds with a serious consideration of the biblical teaching relative to the doctrines of heaven and of hell.

3:43 Our method, in conjunction with this study, has been to open our Bibles and to attempt to collate or gather together in groups some of the major witness of the Word of God to these doctrines, as we've addressed the Scriptures with these questions. What is hell? Who is going there? What is heaven?

4:11 And who is going there? Now tonight, in this, our final study in this present series, I wish to underscore more fully and explicitly the burning relevance of these biblical doctrines of heaven and of hell. Throughout this entire series, I've sought to bring application, but tonight, in a sense, the entire message is application. And as we stand on the threshold of opening up this subject of the practical relevance, the burning relevance of the biblical doctrines of heaven and hell, I want, by way of introduction, to make two simple but fundamental assertions. Everything that is expounded tonight, every exhortation given, every admonition given, assumes these two fundamental biblical perspectives, and I want to assert them, highlight them for a moment, so that they'll be in the back of our minds throughout the entire exposition and application of the Word of God tonight. First of all, we must understand that salvation, in all of its aspects, is entirely the gracious work of God on behalf of hell-deserving sinners.

Two Fundamental Assertions for Understanding Salvation

5:38 Salvation, in all of its aspects, is entirely the gracious work of God on behalf of hell-deserving sinners. The Bible is clear, consistent. It is consistent and emphatic in its teaching that deliverance from sin and its consequences, unto all of its privileges and blessings of redeeming mercy, is all of God and all of grace. From the simple statement given by the angel at the conception of our Lord, Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people.

6:22 To those more profound, theological statements found in the epistles, such as Ephesians 2.8, For by grace you have been saved. It is the clear, consistent, emphatic teaching of the Bible that salvation, in all of its aspects, is entirely a gracious work of God on behalf of hell-deserving sinners. A summation of the whole witness of Scripture.

6:54 Is to be found in the simple statement, The doctrine of salvation in the Bible is simply this, that God saves sinners. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, saves. He does everything that pertains to the deliverance from sin and its consequences, unto the blessings of sovereign mercy. And He does this for sinners.

7:22 People who in themselves deliver. Deserve nothing of this salvation. Who deserve nothing but wrath. Therefore, within such a system of salvation, any terminology of reward, any profit motive, any incentive to reward, must always be viewed in the larger context of a salvation of grace.

7:51 And it's important that we understand that. And that, as we come to consider tonight, the practical implications of the doctrines of heaven and hell. For we shall see, in passage after passage, the idea of gaining heaven as the reward of perseverance, the reward of overcoming, the reward of consistency in mortification. These are biblical teachings.

8:19 But they must be understood in that larger context. That they are the reward of grace. And in no way are we to think in terms of a salvation that is earned by something performed by the sinner. And then the second assertion that we must make is this.

8:41 Salvation in all its aspects is entirely the gracious work of God for men, in men, and as men. This grace. Gracious salvation provided for men, worked in men, is always provided and worked with reference to men as men.

9:08 Depraved sinners, yes. But never sinners who are regarded as sticks and stones and blocks of wood. So that in the outworking of that salvation, God always deals with us as men. As women.

9:26 As boys. As boys and girls. And in the mystery of what makes us men and women and boys and girls. With the ability to be motivated and drawn in a given direction.

9:38 With the hope of reward. With the fear of punishment. The incentive of reward. All of those things pertain to us as men and women.

9:49 Simply because we are what we are as men and women. And God's salvation does not negate those rewards. But it works in the midst of them. We might even reverently say it builds upon them.

Relevance in Getting Unconverted Sinners into the Way: The Whip and the Magnet

10:05 And we must understand that as we come to our subject tonight. Now, with those two introductory assertions before us, I purpose to demonstrate from the word of God. That in this great salvation, which is all of God and all of grace. Designed and applied for men.

10:26 As men. That the doctrines of heaven and hell do indeed have a pressing, a burning and a multi-faceted relevance. And as I've sought to organize the biblical materials into the simplest framework that I can presently conceive of. I've used the imagery of getting us into the way.

10:50 And then of keeping us upon the way. For if anyone gets to heaven. In the usage of. Biblical language.

10:57 It will be because a sinner has been brought into the way. He has been converted. He has been brought to repentance and faith. He has been given a new heart.

11:11 He has been constituted a new creature. And I want to demonstrate that in getting unconverted sinners into the way. The doctrines of heaven and hell have a profound. A major.

11:26 Relevance and then secondly I want to demonstrate that in keeping converted sinners upon the way the doctrines of heaven and hell also have a profound and multi-faceted relevance so that's the organizing principle the relevance of the doctrines of heaven and hell first of all in getting unconverted sinners into the way. And then secondly in keeping converted sinners upon the way all right first of all then what relevance to the doctrines of heaven and hell have in getting unconverted sinners into the way well as we look at the scriptures we will come to the conclusion that these doctrines are on the one hand particularly now the doctrine of hell like a whip.

12:25 In the hand of the Holy Ghost to drive sinners away from their love and attachment to sin in the direction of Christ and heaven and the cross and repentance and faith and on the other hand particularly the doctrine of heaven is like a magnet that pulls them into that way and so these doctrines are like a whip to scourge a sinner away from his sin. And a magnet to draw him into the way of life and of righteousness and of necessity we must be selective but let's look at several passages in which the whip and the magnet are clearly seen with reference to getting sinners into the way in Matthew's gospel the seventh chapter very familiar passage to most of us our Lord is bringing to a conclusion what we commonly call the sermon.

Biblical Examples of the Whip and Magnet for Conversion

13:27 In this particular discourse or collection of discourses our Lord has been describing the character traits of the subjects of his kingdom of grace he's been setting forth the righteous standards of that kingdom he has given practical counsels to the members of that kingdom as they relate to the world of things food and clothing and shelter and all of these matters and then in the seventh chapter as a whole. Wise preacher our Lord now begins to press upon the consciences of his hearers the necessity of entering this kingdom he's not content simply to give an accurate exposition of the character traits of the subjects of the kingdom the righteous standards which operate within that kingdom the practical concerns of the members of that kingdom he's not content simply to teach he is concerned to earn.

14:29 upon men to enter into that kingdom and he does so under the imagery of a gate and away in verses 13 and 14 speaking in the imperative our Lord in all of the plenitude of regal authority and grace says enter in by the narrow gate. Wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction. And. Many are they that enter in there by for narrow is the gate and straightened or compressed the way that leads unto life and few are they that find it.

15:13 You see what our Lord does in seeking to urge upon men the necessity of conversion the duty of being converted for he speaks in the imperative he commands to enter. To enter that narrow gate of true biblical conversion. That gate which turns on the hinges of repentance and faith and as our Lord is seeking to get unconverted sinners into the way by what realities does he bring pressure to bear upon their consciences to use the language already used tonight what are the levers of motivation. By which he seeks to pry them loose from their attachment to sin. By which he seeks to pry them loose from their attachment to the world.

16:12 Well the passage answers very clearly. It is the motives of hell on the one hand and heaven on the other. Enter in by the narrow gate of salvation number one for wide is the gate and broad is the way and it leads. To.

16:34 Destruction.

16:36 It's as though our Lord looks out and sees a look of carelessness upon the faces when he issues his regal command of grace. Enter in by the narrow gate. Why bother. And our Lord brings as it were upon the conscience this shockwave of terminology.

16:58 The only other alternative is destruction. Regard this matter of the necessity. Of entering the narrow gate with indifference and the price you will pay is destruction. Bound up in the use of that word destruction in the language of our Lord and in Holy Scripture is all the horrible reality of the doctrine of hell.

17:25 All of the realities our Lord is previously expounded in this very sermon where he speaks of a place of unquenchable fire. Where he speaks of the. Gehenna of fire where he speaks of that awful place that we sought to describe in previous messages and so our Lord in seeking to get unconverted sinners into the way is not at all ashamed to bring to bear upon them this whip this whip of the doctrine of hell by which he would seek to drive them from their sins and into the way of righteousness and life. But then you will notice he closes the passage.

18:05 Passage by saying narrow is the gate and compress the way which leads on to life and he sets before men the glorious reality of life life not only in its immediate dimensions of communion and fellowship with God in the present order of things but life in its consummate glory in the heaven being prepared for all things. All who know him and for all who love him and so our Lord at the conclusion of his own sermon presses upon men the necessity of being converted by bringing into sharp focus the doctrines of heaven and of hell turned to Romans chapter six for a clear example of this in the writing of the Apostle Paul Romans six is the chapter in which there is.

19:06 An extended analogy of spiritual experience under the imagery of a dual slavery it's the picture of slaves of sin or slaves of God and of righteousness all men by nature being of course the slaves of sin some men by grace have been made the slaves of God and of righteousness and as he's bringing this chapter to a conclusion. He distills the whole essence of what he has been teaching into verse twenty three for the wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord the great summary statement of this entire chapter is the way of death and the way of life are set before us if someone.

20:06 Can come through the chapter and say all right so I'm a slave of sin so I pay day and when the payment is made the wages sin and interpreting that word death biblically it is not the cessation of existence it is the conscious separation of the soul from God and that for all eternity in the language of Romans chapter two it is tribulation wrath and anguish. Upon every soul of him who does evil then he sets in stark contrast the free gift of God is eternal life whatever is available for sinners in Jesus Christ in all of its ramifications this is the heart this is the essence of what is held out for us in Christ eternal life there are the alternatives death or life or heaven those.

21:17 Those are the great issues at stake as we contemplate whether we are the slaves of sin or the slaves of God and of righteousness then when we turn to the scriptures and see our Lord dealing one on one with people we see him as the great soul winner the great personal worker bringing to bear upon men's consciences the great issues of heaven and hell perhaps you've already thought. Of the one that I'm going to refer to Matthew 19 the rich young ruler may I say it reverently here our Lord is seeking to convert this man our Lord has looked upon him and loved him and our Lord in love is seeking to bring this young man into the way he has come to him saying good master what shall I do to inherit eternal life and the Lord begins to probe his conscience and.

22:21 Deal with him and then to strike a blow to his own naive opinion of himself the Lord Jesus says in Matthew 19 and in verse 21 Jesus said unto him if you would be perfect to go sell that which you have give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven and come follow me. When the young man. Heard the saying he went away sorrowful for he was one that had great possessions I'll notice what our Lord did our Lord did not say if you go on in this present state of idolatrous attachment to your possessions you'll burn in hell with all the other covetousness covetous people that would have been true that's asserted elsewhere a covetous man who is an idolater have no inheritance in the kingdom of God.

23:24 But you see our Lord does not seek in this passage to whip the man away from his idol of money by the terrors of damnation but he seeks to draw him by the attractiveness of riches that will never fade give up these riches that will fade and in exchange for them you will have treasures unfading wealth. The sad thing is he refuses he goes away sad unfulfilled unconverted but the point that I'm making for our study tonight is this that you see the doctrine of heaven was in the hands of our Lord. A powerful tool in seeking to bring an unconverted sinner into the way he holds out before him the realities of heaven and says these are yours.

24:29 On my terms but they are yours nonetheless on my terms come and follow me on the other hand there are situations in which the Lord Jesus brings the terrors of hell to bear upon the consciences of people again seeking to impress upon them the necessity of a deep and thorough spiritual transformation Luke chapter 13 there were two incidents known to the people of that day. One in which people were apparently brutally murdered in the midst of their worship others a natural calamity a tower fell upon them and Jesus says to the people who are thinking about this and relating it to themselves verse 2 of Luke 13 do you think that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans because they suffered these things I tell you no but except you remember.

25:30 Repent you shall in all like manner perish or those 18 upon whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them do you think that they were offenders above all the men that dwell in Jerusalem I tell you no but except you repent you shall in all you shall all likewise perish and on over into Luke chapter 16 when dealing with the Pharisees who were lovers of money. Verse 14 and the Pharisees who were lovers of money heard all these things they scoffed at him and then the Lord begins to speak to them and it's in that very context that he gives the parable the story of the rich man and Lazarus and the most graphic instruction in all of the gospel records as far as an extended description of the agonies of the damned comes from the lips of the Lord Jesus in the presence of these covetous.

26:30 And he's taking the doctrine of hell and using it as it were as a holy whip by which to seek to pry them loose and drive them from their idolatrous attachment to things so for any to say that it is sub Christian to hold out to men on the one hand the hope of escaping hell and the hope of gaining heaven as a motive to conversion is sheerly. Nonsense Christ himself did it again and again and again and again we find it in the apostolic epistles though for the most part they are not a record of their actual preaching we see this same emphasis coming through in some of the recorded sermons act 17 for instance God commands all men everywhere to repent why because he's appointed a day of judgment in which you'll stand before God.

27:31 And give an account of the deeds done in the body and so in seeking to get on converted sinners into the way the doctrines of heaven and hell have a primary place in holy scripture and they must always have a primary place in our own witnessing in our own preaching in our thinking in the instruction of our children. Now I did not say they must have. An exclusive place the Bible holds for other motives to conversion the Bible holds for the motive of getting rid of the terrible burden of empty religion Matthew 11 it holds for the tremendous possibility of the deepest thirst things of the soul being satisfied if any man thirst let him come unto me and drink there are many motives held forth in the word of God. I'm a.

28:31 That a primary motive set forth again and again and again is the biblical doctrine of heaven and the biblical doctrine of hell now it's important for us to understand that because in our Lord's day all of the social ills that we know in our day were at least in principle present slavery was in existence terrible inequity the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. There. There were all kinds of injustices and inequities but our Lord never adjusted the gospel to become primarily a this only gospel it was essentially and primarily and other worldly gospel he said to the poor of his day come to me not for social righteousness but to miss hell and to gain heaven we must not allow we must not allow.

29:36 We must not allow ourselves to be bullied by the so-called reawakened social consciousness of evangelicalism to move us from the emphases of holy scripture one of those major emphases is that in seeking to get unconverted sinners into the way we must do all within our power to entice them to become Christians by the glories of heaven. And drive them from their sins by the terrors of hell now I fully know that neither one will be effective without the blessing of the Holy Ghost I'm very conscious of that a man can preach faithfully the biblical doctrine of hell as one preacher of this past generation said until you can veritably smell the fire and the brimstone. And people.

30:39 People will go rocking along in their armchairs of indifference until they sink into hell unless God the Holy Ghost opens their eyes I know that we can speak of the glories of heaven until our own tongues are paralyzed with the effort to describe its glories and we will be but as madmen and fools I'm fully aware of we must nonetheless seek to do what our Lord and the apostles did namely. Amen. To use those great truths independence upon the spirit of God. And plead with God that he would make them effectual.

Moses: A Paradigm of Heavenly Motivation for Conversion

31:21 To bring men to the place where the spirit of God. Brought Moses and I want us to look at that as the final text under this first heading. In Hebrews chapter 11. You children.

31:34 Most of you have had at least a little acquaintance with Moses the great man of God whose life begins.

31:42 Floating around. In a little cradle. All daubed with pitch in the river. And you remember the story how Pharaoh's daughter comes and sees him.

31:55 And she is brought into the court of Pharaoh and. There he is given. An education. Surrounded with all of the wealth and the finery of that court.

32:05 And then the time came when he was able to make a choice. And the choice was shall I become the officially. Adopted son of Pharaoh's daughter. And secular historians tell us that perhaps he would have been top man in line.

32:22 For the very throne in Egypt. But be that as it may he would have had a tremendous place of influence and importance. If he had only consented to become the officially adopted son of Pharaoh's daughter. Or he could cast in his lot.

32:40 With his fellow slaves. The Hebrews. Who are in oppression. And under the heel.

32:46 Of Egyptian rule. Well Hebrews chapter 11 tells us a very interesting thing. About Moses when he came to the place. When he was able to make that decision.

32:59 On his own. Hebrews chapter 11. And I begin reading. With verse 24.

33:07 By faith Moses. When he was grown up. When he was. Come to years.

33:15 When he reached a place of maturation. Refused. To be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. Choosing.

33:24 Rather to share ill treatment with the people of God. Than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. Accounting the reproach of Christ. Greater riches than the treasures of Egypt.

33:40 For. Now notice. This is commercial language. He looked.

33:45 Unto the recompense. Of reward.

33:49 What was it that enabled Moses. Not in the impulse of unstable youth. For remember the mark of youth is what. Be no more children.

34:00 Tossed. To. And fro. And carried about.

34:06 Under impulse. In the unstable. Unformed character of the adolescent. One day.

34:13 He sure. He's going to be a bank president. And the next day he's going to be a truck driver. And three days later he's going to be a world traveler and join someone on the moon.

34:26 And the day later he wants to retreat into the wilderness and do nothing but live off the land and be a high class hippie. Instability. Toss to and fro. No.

34:38 Settled commitment and perspective. No. Settled goals. That's the mark.

34:43 Of youth. In that period. But now when Moses was come to years this was no decision made on a youthful impulse this was not a decision that had its roots in all of the changes that go on in adolescence not a change that goes on when the mind has not been able to perceive things in proper relationship here he was a mature man with that trained mind and under the discipline of the spirit of God he calmly faced the options. Pharaoh's son.

35:17 Or son of Pharaoh's daughter the treasures of Egypt. The influence he might even reasoned great influence even to help God's poor.

35:28 On the other hand it was the people of God suffering reproach with them which was nothing less than the reproach of Messiah and it says he chose this and he refused that and he never went back on that choice the people again and again were saying let's go back to Egypt. Let's go back to Egypt. Let's go. back to Egypt. Never once is it recorded that Moses ever so much as looked back over his shoulder. There are times when he cried out under the burden of leadership, oh God, this people is more than I can bear. But there is no record that he ever looked back and said, oh, that I had never refused to be the son of Pharaoh's daughter. When he refused and he chose, it was a settled, resolute decision. And according to this passage, he made that

36:23 decision because his eye was fixed on what? Look at the text. For he had respect unto the recompense of the reward. He looked unto the recompense of reward. In other words, looking squarely at the ultimate end of that road and the ultimate end of that road. And that one led to hell and that one led to heaven. And that's exactly where you and I must stand. In weighing the appeal of this world and the pleasures of sin for a season and Moses was old enough to know what those pleasures could mean to him. Consciousness

37:18 of the great realities of heaven and of hell. Well, let me hasten on and I can only be spotty in underscoring these things. What about heaven and hell in keeping converted sinners upon the way? What place are these doctrines to have? Well, once we are brought into the way, we are given a set of motives we never knew before. The Bible describes them in this language. The love of Christ holds me in its grip. Second Corinthians five and verse 14. Something we never knew before we got into the way. We know what it is to be held in the grip of Christ. And that's Christ's love to us and it constrains us to a life of obedience. If he loved me, he will keep my commandments. Obedience is our delight. We're held in the grip of the motive

38:14 of recognizing we're not our own. We've been bought with a price and therefore we're under solemn obligations to glorify God in our bodies, which are his. First Corinthians six and verse 19 and 20. And once we are placed upon the way, the Holy Spirit who has given us a new heart, who has come to take up his residence within us, suffuses through the soul many motives that draw direct reference or have direct reference to the cross and to the work of Christ on our behalf. And I am not minimizing any of those motives, but what I'm asserting is this. The Bible teaches that the whip and the magnet that were instrumental to some degree to get us into the way. Do not lose their power upon the way.

Relevance in Keeping Converted Sinners Upon the Way: Enduring Power of the Whip and Magnet

39:08 The same whip and magnet that got us into the way are operative to keep us on the way.

Heaven and Hell as Motives for Mortification of Sin

39:17 The Bible makes it abundantly clear. Let me draw out a few of the specific lines of thought. First of all, the doctrines of heaven and hell are to act powerfully as motives to serious mortification of sin. One of the duties from the moment you enter the narrow gate and are set upon the narrow way that leads to life, and that duty will be with you until you cross the river into the celestial city, is the putting to death of the deeds of the body, the mortification of sin.

39:53 Now, do heaven and hell enter into the motivational complex to take mortification seriously? You bet your boots they do. In Matthew chapter 5, the Lord Jesus underscores this as he's calling the subjects of his kingdom to a life of constant mortification. He does so under the vivid imagery of amputation and discarding Matthew chapter 5, verse 29.

40:25 If thy right eye causes you to stumble as a subject of my kingdom, committed to a righteous life. One in which your thoughts will reflect obedience to the seventh commandment, knowing that my Father's righteous law that says thou shalt not commit adultery touches even the fantasies and the activities of the mind known only to you and God as a subject of my kingdom, committed to a life of righteousness in terms of the seventh commandment. If your right eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out, cast it from you for it's profitable for you that one of your members should perish and not your whole body be cast into hell. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off, cast it from you. It's profitable for you that one of your members should perish and not that your whole body go into hell. In taking seriously the matter of mortification, the doctrine of hell is brought forward in a very graphic way by our Lord.

41:39 But the Apostle Paul, the great exponent of grace, gives the same emphasis in Romans chapter 8. Therefore, brethren, having asserted that we have been delivered out of the realm of the flesh and into the realm of the Spirit in the dynamics of grace, therefore, brethren, Romans 8, 12, we are debtors. We have come under solemn obligations because of the dynamics of grace. That grace that has gotten us out of the way of flesh and into the way of the Spirit.

42:16 We are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if you live after the flesh, you must...

42:25 I'm not talking about physical death. The most holy men and women died physically. If you live after the flesh, you must die. But if by the Spirit, you put to death the deeds of the body, you shall live life and death are at stake in the matter of serious mortification.

42:49 And this is in the very chapter in which he says, I am persuaded that neither life nor death nor height nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate me from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. And yet that same apostle says, if you live after the flesh, you'll die. Why? If by the Spirit you mortify the deeds of the flesh, you'll live.

43:12 And he was not only preaching that to others, he believed it for himself. 1 Corinthians 9. He believed it for himself. In the chapter in which he is speaking of the liberties that he has willingly relinquished for the sake of the gospel, and then moves on into the imagery of a runner determined to win the race, the apostle says, verse 25, and every man who strives in the games exercises self-preservation, control in all things, they do it for what purpose?

43:42 To receive a corruptible crown at the end of the race. But we, an incorruptible, I therefore so run not as uncertainly, so fight I as not beating the air, but I buffet my body and bring it into bondage lest by any means after I have preached to others I myself should be adakimos.

44:05 Adakimos! And it's standard, meaning in the New Testament is reprobate.

44:23 To stay of vacation, he said, I fear, lest by giving rain to my bodily appetites. Didn't Paul believe in the perseverance of the saints? The preservation of the saints? Yes, he did.

44:43 That's precisely why he wrote as he did. For he did not have in his mind this false contradiction between the certainty of the saints' preservation and the necessity of the saints' perseverance. And he knew of no perseverance but in the way of serious mortification of sin. My friend, the next time sin proposes itself, remember, the issues at stake are heaven and hell.

45:14 Heaven and hell!

45:17 Heaven and hell. And no one will go far in the work of mortification who regards the issues as anything less than that. Convince yourself it's only a matter of a bigger or smaller bag of yo-yos, and you'll end up living like the devil.

45:35 All the while saying you're going to heaven. Only you'll have a smaller bag of yo-yos and lose a few rewards.

45:43 You lay the rain upon the neck of your lusts and become one who is entangled in sins and those sins become a pattern of life. The word of God says certain patterns of life are utterly inconsistent with being in a state of grace. And let God be true and every man alive. That's why we need continually to keep before us the recompense of the reward.

46:12 Is it worth it to go on fighting with that sin that seems to be so impregned from our very genetic structure? It seemed that we were conceived with a tendency to that irritability, to that overpowering angry spirit, to that passionate temperament, whatever.

46:34 It seems as though the battle at times is so wearisome and will never be over. never end. And we wonder, is it worse? What other alternative do you have but to give up fighting and go to hell? You want heaven? Then fight on. For if you by the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live. You want heaven bad enough to fight until you get there? If not, you don't want it bad enough. It is for those who want it bad enough all the while trusting not in their sword and in their arm, but in Christ alone. You

Heaven and Hell as Motives for Overcoming and Faithfulness in Service

47:22 see, that's all a bunch of contradictory nonsense. Well, my friend, if you call it that, it's because your eyes have never been opened to understand one of the most precious mysteries of the gospel and how it works in the heart of the sinner. But then furthermore, the Bible teaches us that for those upon the way, the doctrines of heaven and hell are to act powerfully as motives to be overcomers. That is, to be conquerors. We saw last week that heaven is reserved for the overcomers. But it's interesting, in the promises to the overcomers, and we'll only look at two of them as specimens, on the one hand, overcomers are promised heaven as the reward, and then they're promised the escape of hell as the reward. And you see both strands coming through in Revelation chapter 2. Revelation chapter 2 and verse 7. He that has an ear, let him

48:20 hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches. To him that overcomes, to him will I give to eat of the tree of life. To him that overcomes, to him will I give to eat of the tree of life. Which is in the paradise of God. Do you want to eat of the tree of life in the paradise of God? Overcome! There the glory of heaven is held before you as a magnet to entice you, to draw you, to hold you in the way of overcoming. But then we read in verse 11, He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He that overcomes shall not be hurt of the second coming. He that overcomes shall not be hurt of the second coming. In what is the second death? Revelation 20 verse 15 tells us. It's the lake of fire.

49:04 Now you see how the twin motivation comes to bear in the matter of overcoming? Would you know the positive joy of all the privileges of the new heavens and the new earth? Then be an overcomer! Would you escape the horrors of the second death, weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth? Then be an overcomer! But the motivation is to act with the spirit of power in our pursuit of the life of overcomers. Thirdly, heaven and hell are to act powerfully as motives to faithfulness in service. We could look at the parable in Matthew 25, 14 and following when the Lord returns and reckons with His servants. The thing that is underscored in that passage and we looked at in another light in a previous message is to hear from the lips of the returning

49:58 Lord. Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of thy Lord. Entering into the joy of the Lord is the reward of faithfulness in service and stewardship.

50:16 We see it beautifully illustrated in the Apostle Paul and I want us to look at two verses. In Acts chapter 20 and verse 24. Acts chapter 20 and verse 24.

50:35 If when you read the book of Acts you sense at times that Paul was a bit reckless with his life, if you've read the book of Acts correctly, there was an element of recklessness. Why? He tells us, verse 24, I do not hold my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may accomplish my course and the ministry which I receive from the Lord Jesus to testify the gospel of the grace of God. He said, for me the important thing is not preserving my life, but expending my life in completing the course of service marked out for me by my Lord. I want to accomplish my course and the ministry I receive from the Lord Jesus. But now, as that was his goal and with it came this element of sanctified recklessness, what did he keep in his eye that held him to that course? Well, he tells us, in 2 Timothy chapter 4, because he's coming down near the end of the course, he's making the final turn coming into the last straightaway, he sees the tape ahead, and this is what he says,

51:49 2 Timothy chapter 4,

51:53 verse 7, back up to verse 6, I'm already being offered, the time of my departure is come. He knew that in a short time, he would be taken in death. I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course.

52:13 I have kept the faith. Henceforth, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give to me at that day, and not to me only, but also to all them that have loved his appearing. He tells us as he comes down the home stretch, that it was the crown that he had in his eye, the reward that would await him at the end of the race, and now he seizes it by his eye, and as it were, draws it near by faith. You see, the whole concept of reward was very precious to the apostle.

Heaven and Hell as Motives for Zealous Witness

52:56 The great exponent of grace found no contradiction in being motivated by that reward called in this passage, the crown of righteousness. And then I want to touch briefly on this fourth way in which it motivates the people of God along the way. We are to be powerfully motivated by the doctrines of heaven and hell in seeking to be zealous in our witness to the unconverted. The apostle said in 2 Corinthians 5, 10, and 11, we must all be made manifest before the judgment seat of Christ, that each may receive the things done in the body, whether good or bad, knowing therefore the fear of the Lord. We persuade men. What fear? The fear couched in the context of the day of reckoning.

53:57 It was the realization that that day would usher men into the glories of heaven or the horrors of hell. And he said the realization of that, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade, we persuade men. We're dead in earnest as we seek to constrain men to consider the claims of the Lord Jesus. You find the same emphasis in James 5.

54:24 Here someone in the community of the believers begins to dabble in error and turn aside from the way of truth.

54:36 What is our attitude and perspective to be? James 5, verse 19. My brethren, if any among you err from the truth and one convert him, one is instrumental in turning him away from that error back into the way of truth. Let him know.

54:54 Let this be a consciousness that he who converts a sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death and shall cover a multitude of sins. Now we know that ultimately only God converts. Only God saves the soul from death. Only the blood of Christ covers a multitude of sins.

55:20 But here the emphasis falls upon the human instrumentality and with it human motivation. Let him know. If we see a brother or a sister beginning to turn aside and we wonder, well, I don't know how tactfully to approach it. Is this the time?

55:36 And we're all tied up with the technicalities. Let him know. We're instrumental to turn him. From that error you save a soul from death.

55:47 Do you believe that apostasy leads to death and to judgment and to hell? If so, that motivation will influence us in our dealings with one another. The book of Jude, verse 23. A similar emphasis.

56:07 And on some have mercy who are in doubt and some save snatching them out of the fire. What a picture. Some save. Snatching them out of the fire.

56:20 Picture of rescuing brands from the burning. But then there's the other side. In Revelation 22, 17. The spirit and the bride say come.

56:32 Let him that is a thirst come and let him take the water of life freely. There it's not the terrors and the horrors of hell from which we seek to rescue men. But it's the glories and the privileges now. And in the world to come to us in the gospel and the bride.

56:53 The church of Christ is to say come. Not only is the church to say flee, but to come. But come to the fountain of living waters. Come to the privileges of the grace and salvation offered in Christ that will ultimately issue in the glories of the new heaven and the new earth.

Are You in the Way? A Call to the Unconverted

57:16 Well, I've said these are but a few. There are many other passages that bring into focus other categories. But surely these should suffice to convince you if your mind is at all receptive to biblical truth that the doctrines of heaven and hell are to be powerfully motivating doctrines both in seeking to get sinners into the way and in keeping converted sinners upon the way. Let me ask you.

57:48 Then as we close our study tonight, are you in the way? The way that leads to life. Older man, older woman, young man, young woman, teenager, boy or girl. Are you in the way that leads to life?

58:05 If you're not in the way, how can I say it more simply than to set before you the truth that heaven and hell are before you? And I would seek to plead with you, to entreat you, to warn you. to do everything within my power to use that holy whip of the doctrine of hell and say to you, young or old alike, flee from the wrath to come. Hell is real, and your place in it will be real unless you get into the way.

58:42 And if I could somehow speak of the glories of the world to come, what it will be to be in the society of those whose hearts are nothing but love, whose lives are nothing but righteousness, reflecting perfectly the gentleness, the glory of Christ, as they are perfected into that likeness, I would say by all that's beautiful and lovely and peaceful and harmonious and glorious in the world to come, flee from your sins, run from the sins that will damn you and destroy you and land you in the company of hateful demons and the devil himself and men and women of the vileest sort,

59:29 plead with you by the horrors of hell and the glories of heaven to flee from your sins and run to Christ. Run to Christ, who loves to welcome sinners, who has, as recorded in Scripture, received the vilest of sinners, who has promised in His Word Him that comes to me, I will in no wise cast out. And for you who are upon the way, I know from my pastoral interaction with some of you, things are rough. You're in a state right now where perhaps things have never been more bleak in terms of your present prospects.

For Those Upon the Way: Heavenly Mindedness Amidst Trials

60:10 Could it be that one of the reasons God has brought all of these dark providences upon you is He wants to get your eyes more firmly riveted on another place? Things were going so well that you really, really began to get pretty earthbound. Things and relationships down here began to subtly turn your heart away from single-hearted devotion to Christ. So God's put a worm in the gourd of some of your most precious earthly relationships.

60:50 God's put a worm in the gourd of your material success. God's put a worm in the gourd of your physical health. God's put a worm in every gourd that was your resting place. And like Jonah, you're complaining about your withered gourd on every hand.

61:10 Could it be that what God is saying is look up,

61:15 set your mind on things above and the things upon the earth? For you died and your life is hid with Christ in God when Christ who is our life shall appear. Then, then shall you be manifested with him in glory. And child of God, the scripture says in a way that I cannot explain or fully comprehend that there's going to be a direct proportion to the glory shared with Christ then and the sufferings shared with Christ now.

61:53 Could it be I wouldn't dare take the role of a prophet and say thus saith the Lord it is. But could it be that this is the word that some distressed, saint needs this very night? What's the purpose of God in all of this? You're saying with all Jacob, all these things are against my friend.

62:14 They're for you to get your eye actions and the concentration of your soul upon that place to which your blessed Lord is committed to bring you. And who knows, but once everything is riveted afresh where it ought to be, God may do for you as he did, for Job when all of that affliction had accomplished its purpose. The Lord turned again the captivity of Job. I'm not saying he will, but he may.

62:45 But in either case, your safety is in your heavenly mindedness. The apostle said these light afflictions are but for a moment and they work a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory while we look not on the things that are seen, but on the things that are not seen. Oh, may God help us to look away from the present circumstances that have so distressed us, not in a kind of irresponsible escapism, but in the kind of perspective that is biblical where we draw our consolation according to the words of Jesus. Great is your reward in heaven. See, if we believed as some people do, that God's going to give Christians the upper hand yet and the world will basically be a saved world and Christians will be in the ascendancy, what would the Lord have said? He wouldn't have said, great is your reward in heaven. He'd say, hang around long enough and you Christians will take the upper hand and then you'll be able to give it to those sinners.

63:54 That isn't the consolation that's ever given to us in the gospel. If you wait around long enough, this world will become a friend of grace and of righteousness and truth and the people of God. No, Jesus said, in the world, ye shall have tribulation. And as long as this world exists in this present order of things, the people of God are going to be the abused, the despised minority more or less.

64:20 And it's one of the ways God disciplines to keep their affections, disciplines them to keep their affections where they belong. Oh, may God make us a heavenly minded people and the people who carry about always the awful, awful conviction that those, apart from the Savior are lost and will be sent to that awful place. Some of you wonder why there's very little humor in this Pope, but that's one reason why. Heaven and hell hang in the balance and you don't tickle people into serious thoughts about hell.

Conclusion: The Gravity of Heaven and Hell in Ministry

64:58 No one ever wept about hell on the heels of a joke. Perhaps the best thing that could happen to some of you is to go through one day without laughter, to take seriously where you're going, unless you're a sinner. Unless you repent and believe the gospel. Now I'm not calling for a mournful, doleful, joyless Christianity.

65:23 Those of you who know me personally know that I think for the most part, I'm a pretty happy man. I can't say I'm the happiest old man in the place. Someone could say this past Wednesday, Pastor Clark, in a most gracious way, made that boast and I believe it was an accurate boast. But oh dear people, when we in this place are seeking to open up the perspectives of this book, heaven and hell are always as it were looking over our shoulder.

65:52 May God grant that those realities will be with us in ever increasing degrees until we're brought home safely at last and behold our blessed savior. Let us pray. Our father, we do ask that your holy spirit will take the word of God read, the word of God expounded and applied to our consciences and make it to be the word of God. a saver of life unto life. Holy Father make us a heavenly minded people. We pray for those that are yet wedded to their sins and strangers to grace. That you Lord will convince them that everything your word says about the horrors of hell is but a poor and faint expression of the awful reality. May they flee from the wrath to come.

66:57 May they flee to your beloved son who died for sinners and lives to receive and welcome all who will come to him. O Lord may the last day reveal that your word was not preached in vain. Make it effectual to the accomplishment of your own sovereign purposes. Be with us as a people for those who are presently in the crucible of intense trial. O God may they find instruction from the word this night. That will enable them by your grace to fix their eyes upon their eternal inheritance and not to grow weary in well doing knowing in due season they with us shall reap if we faint not. Hear our cry and answer our prayer for the sake of your beloved son. Amen.