1 00:00:04,008 --> 00:00:07,388 Speaker: All right, well, for those of you who might not know me, my name's Lewis. 2 00:00:07,408 --> 00:00:12,378 I'm the student ministry director at North Texas, and I'm excited to be here. 3 00:00:12,437 --> 00:00:17,287 We are gonna be in everyone's favorite book, the Book of Revelation. 4 00:00:17,307 --> 00:00:17,778 All right? 5 00:00:17,788 --> 00:00:20,537 So buckle up, 'cause we're, we're going there. 6 00:00:20,557 --> 00:00:26,997 So we are going to be in Revelation chapter 20. 7 00:00:28,828 --> 00:00:33,888 And so maybe this week when you've been thinking about revival, right, maybe 8 00:00:33,888 --> 00:00:38,597 you're thinking, "Oh, it makes sense to, to do a revival on God created 9 00:00:38,817 --> 00:00:41,427 because creation is such a big deal, and 10 00:00:43,477 --> 00:00:43,997 creation and evolution, all that stuff." 11 00:00:43,997 --> 00:00:45,738 And maybe you think holiness, because that's who God is, and 12 00:00:48,028 --> 00:00:48,258 that's super important. 13 00:00:48,258 --> 00:00:49,007 But, but why justice, right? 14 00:00:49,007 --> 00:00:54,448 Well, maybe, just maybe, justice might be the most important 15 00:00:54,457 --> 00:00:56,257 thing you need to worry about 16 00:00:58,711 --> 00:01:05,911 Justice might be the most important thing, the most relevant thing about God to you. 17 00:01:06,732 --> 00:01:10,142 And the reason I might say that is because every single one of 18 00:01:10,142 --> 00:01:13,281 us will experience God's justice. 19 00:01:14,862 --> 00:01:20,591 God's justice will matter to you and to me forever, because God's justice 20 00:01:20,591 --> 00:01:23,131 is gonna determine our forever. 21 00:01:24,011 --> 00:01:27,581 It's gonna determine where you go forever, where you spend 22 00:01:27,581 --> 00:01:30,211 the rest of your existence. 23 00:01:31,301 --> 00:01:34,382 It's gonna determine where I spend the rest of my existence. 24 00:01:34,390 --> 00:01:39,941 So this morning's sermon, uh, it's not much of a good morning 25 00:01:39,952 --> 00:01:41,121 and welcome to camp sermon. 26 00:01:41,211 --> 00:01:43,321 This is, this is a big deal sermon. 27 00:01:43,362 --> 00:01:46,182 You can probably tell by, by the title on the screen behind me. 28 00:01:46,331 --> 00:01:47,071 This is a big deal. 29 00:01:47,481 --> 00:01:50,471 We're gonna be talking about the end of the world, okay? 30 00:01:50,472 --> 00:01:55,301 So Revelation 20:11-15. 31 00:01:55,711 --> 00:01:56,482 All right? 32 00:01:57,051 --> 00:02:01,032 I'm just gonna read it for us a- and set the scene of, of what, what's happening. 33 00:02:01,032 --> 00:02:03,492 I've got it on the screen if you don't have a Bible, but I'd prefer if you 34 00:02:03,492 --> 00:02:07,491 looked at your own Bible a- and, and put your eyes on it in Scripture. 35 00:02:07,492 --> 00:02:07,851 All right? 36 00:02:08,110 --> 00:02:13,551 Verse 11, "Then I saw," I is John, the, the apostle, and he's having a vision. 37 00:02:13,551 --> 00:02:18,622 "I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. 38 00:02:19,562 --> 00:02:25,311 From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. 39 00:02:25,641 --> 00:02:28,251 And I saw the dead, great and small," right? 40 00:02:28,251 --> 00:02:29,761 That's not large and short. 41 00:02:29,791 --> 00:02:31,381 That's important and unimportant. 42 00:02:32,821 --> 00:02:36,241 "Standing before the throne, and books were opened. 43 00:02:37,251 --> 00:02:40,680 And another book was opened, which is the book of life. 44 00:02:41,071 --> 00:02:43,441 And the dead were judged by what was written in the books 45 00:02:43,441 --> 00:02:45,741 according to what they had done. 46 00:02:46,721 --> 00:02:49,122 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it. 47 00:02:49,132 --> 00:02:53,212 Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one 48 00:02:53,212 --> 00:02:56,051 of them, according to what they had done. 49 00:02:57,501 --> 00:03:00,601 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. 50 00:03:00,921 --> 00:03:04,761 This is the second death, the lake of fire. 51 00:03:05,291 --> 00:03:08,591 And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he 52 00:03:08,591 --> 00:03:12,391 was thrown into the lake of fire." 53 00:03:13,401 --> 00:03:14,261 This is a scary scene. 54 00:03:14,291 --> 00:03:17,042 And so to help us digest it, let's, let's pray together one more time, 55 00:03:17,562 --> 00:03:19,681 and then we'll, we'll explain more about what that looks like. 56 00:03:19,741 --> 00:03:20,281 So join me. 57 00:03:20,301 --> 00:03:22,912 We'll talk to God, and we'll, we'll get ready to unpack this. 58 00:03:22,912 --> 00:03:23,241 All right? 59 00:03:25,486 --> 00:03:28,326 Father, you will judge everyone. 60 00:03:28,525 --> 00:03:33,506 You, you said that all of us are gonna die and face judgment. 61 00:03:33,506 --> 00:03:35,055 And so I- 62 00:03:39,224 --> 00:03:42,564 Whether we believe it's true or not, whether we like it or not, whether we 63 00:03:42,724 --> 00:03:45,344 want to be with you or not, we will. 64 00:03:46,174 --> 00:03:49,134 We'll either be with you enjoying your presence 65 00:03:51,420 --> 00:03:54,230 So I pray right now that you help us to open our hearts 66 00:03:54,329 --> 00:03:56,410 to be ready to hear from you 67 00:04:22,702 --> 00:04:27,492 So in this scene, what's happening here in Revelation chapter 20 is 68 00:04:28,462 --> 00:04:30,452 there, there's a scary moment, right? 69 00:04:30,452 --> 00:04:33,762 And John, he sees a big white throne, right? 70 00:04:33,762 --> 00:04:36,862 Great, important, powerful, mighty, majestic, right? 71 00:04:36,862 --> 00:04:38,341 This is a big deal. 72 00:04:38,362 --> 00:04:41,372 This is, in fact, the biggest deal in the whole world. 73 00:04:42,852 --> 00:04:45,482 In fact, such a big deal, I don't know if you saw that at the very beginning in 74 00:04:45,482 --> 00:04:50,002 verse 11, it's from His presence, earth and sky, right, earth and heaven, they 75 00:04:50,002 --> 00:04:52,731 run away because this is God, right? 76 00:04:52,782 --> 00:04:54,031 I don't know if you remember you were here last year. 77 00:04:54,032 --> 00:04:55,171 We talked about God is holy. 78 00:04:55,321 --> 00:04:56,072 This is God. 79 00:04:56,992 --> 00:05:03,871 The very fabric of creation is ripping apart because God is here in this moment. 80 00:05:05,281 --> 00:05:10,271 He is there to, to recreate the world, to, to get rid of the old creation broken 81 00:05:10,272 --> 00:05:12,861 by sin and bring about the new creation. 82 00:05:12,861 --> 00:05:15,521 The next chapter of Revelation says, "Then I saw a new heaven," right? 83 00:05:15,522 --> 00:05:16,801 "A new sky and a new earth." 84 00:05:16,801 --> 00:05:16,981 Right? 85 00:05:16,981 --> 00:05:17,671 This one's gone. 86 00:05:18,211 --> 00:05:19,741 The new one is coming. 87 00:05:20,522 --> 00:05:22,671 And then John, he sees the dead in verse 12. 88 00:05:22,711 --> 00:05:23,751 The, the important ones, right? 89 00:05:23,751 --> 00:05:27,102 The billionaires, the kings, the emperors, the explorers, the people you 90 00:05:27,102 --> 00:05:30,542 read about in your history textbook, and the regular people, right? 91 00:05:30,542 --> 00:05:34,361 Me and you, people that you've forgotten about, all the billions of people that 92 00:05:34,371 --> 00:05:39,131 have thought the same thoughts as you and, and done the same things as you. 93 00:05:39,882 --> 00:05:42,951 Doesn't matter who you are, they're all equal before the throne of God. 94 00:05:44,032 --> 00:05:46,432 No one has any extra credit before God. 95 00:05:46,621 --> 00:05:48,282 Everyone's on the same playing field. 96 00:05:48,422 --> 00:05:50,971 Everyone is judged by the same books, right? 97 00:05:50,971 --> 00:05:53,682 There's books, and they're judged by what they have done. 98 00:05:54,901 --> 00:05:56,601 And there's no hiding from this judgment day, right? 99 00:05:56,602 --> 00:05:59,661 Verse 13, the sea, if you think about it, I don't know if you've ever been 100 00:05:59,661 --> 00:06:01,201 in an airplane flying over the ocean. 101 00:06:01,961 --> 00:06:05,751 You ever wondered how many-- This is maybe a scary thought or maybe a morbid thought, 102 00:06:05,761 --> 00:06:08,711 but have you ever wondered how many dead people are at the bottom of the ocean? 103 00:06:09,491 --> 00:06:10,741 Have you ever thought about that? 104 00:06:10,751 --> 00:06:13,841 I remember I flew to Japan one time, and I looked down, and I-- 105 00:06:13,882 --> 00:06:15,911 it is miles of, of black ocean. 106 00:06:15,922 --> 00:06:19,082 And I thought about all the explorers, all the people from, from all the 107 00:06:19,082 --> 00:06:21,981 centuries, all the Pacific Islanders that decided to, to, you know, be 108 00:06:21,981 --> 00:06:25,761 like Moana and go out and see, you know, the, the, the sea, it calls me. 109 00:06:25,761 --> 00:06:27,291 I just gotta go see what's over there, right? 110 00:06:28,441 --> 00:06:31,342 All the people that no one knows, they just disappeared, right? 111 00:06:31,342 --> 00:06:33,941 They didn't have Apple Map, they didn't have Find My Friends, they're gone. 112 00:06:34,491 --> 00:06:38,192 Well, those people don't escape God's judgment either, right? 113 00:06:38,192 --> 00:06:41,182 And, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in de-- Uh, there's 114 00:06:41,191 --> 00:06:43,872 no one that escapes this judgment. 115 00:06:45,621 --> 00:06:50,982 And then if dying once wasn't hard enough, there's a second death, right? 116 00:06:50,991 --> 00:06:52,761 The lake of fire. 117 00:06:53,011 --> 00:06:56,121 This is a scary scene, and, and that's our first point this morning. 118 00:06:56,142 --> 00:06:59,251 I want you to see that God's judgment is scary. 119 00:07:00,392 --> 00:07:01,141 God's judgment is scary. 120 00:07:03,598 --> 00:07:04,668 This isn't just a dream. 121 00:07:05,178 --> 00:07:06,758 This isn't just a movie. 122 00:07:07,048 --> 00:07:11,978 This isn't just something that, that people try to freak you out with because 123 00:07:11,978 --> 00:07:13,138 they, they want you to listen to them. 124 00:07:13,138 --> 00:07:17,028 This is real, and this is a big moment. 125 00:07:17,078 --> 00:07:19,598 This is the biggest moment, a big deal. 126 00:07:21,137 --> 00:07:24,008 And I want us to all feel the right way about this. 127 00:07:24,008 --> 00:07:25,908 It's easy, you know, we're, we're at camp, we're dressed up like 128 00:07:25,908 --> 00:07:28,748 superheroes, we're running around collecting glow sticks, we're having 129 00:07:28,748 --> 00:07:35,078 fun, but there's, there's a real sense in which your eternity, the rest of 130 00:07:35,078 --> 00:07:36,838 your existence hangs in the balance. 131 00:07:38,717 --> 00:07:41,767 A, a once for all moment that's gonna decide, are you gonna 132 00:07:41,987 --> 00:07:45,478 be in the lake of fire, or are you gonna be not with the Lord? 133 00:07:49,806 --> 00:07:52,906 Some of you probably aren't scared enough. 134 00:07:53,476 --> 00:07:54,726 Some of you, this isn't real. 135 00:07:55,296 --> 00:07:56,085 This is just there. 136 00:07:56,085 --> 00:07:57,596 This is something your parents told you about. 137 00:07:57,606 --> 00:08:00,426 This is just something that, that maybe you think is in an old 138 00:08:00,426 --> 00:08:01,476 book that doesn't really matter 139 00:08:04,120 --> 00:08:06,150 We all need to feel the right way about this, right? 140 00:08:06,150 --> 00:08:08,280 When John is having this vision, he's not like, "Oh, that's cool. 141 00:08:08,420 --> 00:08:11,210 I'll just write about it and see if I can write a bestseller," right? 142 00:08:11,210 --> 00:08:13,800 Or, "I'll see if I can produce it and, and make some money off it." 143 00:08:13,800 --> 00:08:16,980 No, when John sees this, he is on his face. 144 00:08:16,990 --> 00:08:19,670 When he sees Jesus in Revelation chapter 1, he falls on his 145 00:08:19,670 --> 00:08:20,949 face as though he's dead. 146 00:08:22,340 --> 00:08:22,679 God is a big 147 00:08:27,214 --> 00:08:30,214 And maybe you're thinking, "Well, I, you know, I can't wait till, till, 148 00:08:30,474 --> 00:08:33,004 uh, we get to the, the good part of the sermon and the encouraging part. 149 00:08:33,004 --> 00:08:36,602 We sing all these songs about how, uh, uh, going, you know, I, I'm saved 150 00:08:36,614 --> 00:08:39,874 and all-sufficient merit, and it covers my sin, and His mercy is more. 151 00:08:39,884 --> 00:08:40,724 Praise the Lord." 152 00:08:41,994 --> 00:08:45,043 I don't want you to move on too quickly from the 153 00:08:45,154 --> 00:08:47,853 uncomfortability of God's judgment. 154 00:08:49,284 --> 00:08:55,033 I want you to, to sit there in, in a moment and, and think about what if that- 155 00:08:57,702 --> 00:08:59,112 That's people, real people. 156 00:08:59,332 --> 00:09:00,562 This isn't just people in a story. 157 00:09:00,892 --> 00:09:04,572 These are real people that will go into the lake of fire. 158 00:09:05,122 --> 00:09:06,692 Some of them might be in this room. 159 00:09:06,722 --> 00:09:11,841 Some of you on this day might hear, "Depart from me, I never knew you." 160 00:09:14,606 --> 00:09:15,806 This is a real moment. 161 00:09:16,746 --> 00:09:20,276 And so before you, you apply your, well, God is good and his mercy is 162 00:09:20,276 --> 00:09:23,996 more, I want you to realize that God doesn't show mercy to everyone 163 00:09:26,702 --> 00:09:31,442 You don't just qualify for God's mercy because you showed up at church tonight, 164 00:09:31,442 --> 00:09:34,752 or because you sang a worship song, or because your parents go to church, or 165 00:09:34,752 --> 00:09:37,062 because you believe that God is real 166 00:09:42,254 --> 00:09:47,814 But maybe your question is, "I, I don't know how a, how a good God could do this. 167 00:09:47,814 --> 00:09:53,084 I, I don't know how a good God could, could send someone to hell." 168 00:09:54,013 --> 00:09:54,283 Right? 169 00:09:54,284 --> 00:09:55,164 It's a lake of fire. 170 00:09:55,164 --> 00:09:55,844 It's forever. 171 00:09:56,094 --> 00:09:58,973 How could we say God is love and God is good all the time, 172 00:09:58,973 --> 00:09:59,914 and all the time God is good? 173 00:10:00,264 --> 00:10:02,164 Well, that's not-- That seems like a totally different person 174 00:10:02,293 --> 00:10:04,803 than the person you're talking about with us in Revelation 20 175 00:10:07,254 --> 00:10:11,324 Well, the great news about God's justice is because He's good 176 00:10:11,334 --> 00:10:13,614 that He punishes sin, right? 177 00:10:13,624 --> 00:10:18,704 The reason God does this, the reason God sends people to hell is He's a good God. 178 00:10:18,704 --> 00:10:21,383 God gets rid of all the bad stuff because He's good. 179 00:10:22,334 --> 00:10:25,244 If you think about it, we all know there's things wrong with the world. 180 00:10:26,333 --> 00:10:28,824 Actually, when I-- I, I remember one time I was sharing the gospel with one 181 00:10:28,824 --> 00:10:31,253 of my coworkers, and this is actually where I started, which is usually 182 00:10:31,253 --> 00:10:32,214 where they don't tell you to start. 183 00:10:32,243 --> 00:10:35,073 They don't tell you, you know, they don't start with, like, the problem of 184 00:10:35,073 --> 00:10:36,099 evil when you're sharing the gospel. 185 00:10:36,099 --> 00:10:36,624 This is what I did. 186 00:10:36,903 --> 00:10:40,493 And it actually was really helpful because everyone knows the world is messed up. 187 00:10:41,054 --> 00:10:41,514 Everyone… 188 00:10:41,543 --> 00:10:44,163 You just watch the news for two minutes. 189 00:10:45,263 --> 00:10:48,593 There is a ton of bad things happening, and we say, "God, do something about it." 190 00:10:49,214 --> 00:10:49,404 Right? 191 00:10:49,404 --> 00:10:53,323 We want God to stop all the murderers and, and all the people doing bad things 192 00:10:53,324 --> 00:10:54,853 to kids and all the natural disasters. 193 00:10:54,853 --> 00:10:56,893 We wanna stop God doing all those things. 194 00:10:57,563 --> 00:10:59,153 But where do you want God to stop? 195 00:10:59,214 --> 00:11:02,743 If, if you want the good God to get rid of those bad things and those bad people, 196 00:11:02,863 --> 00:11:04,463 what about the bad people who are selfish? 197 00:11:05,383 --> 00:11:06,723 What about the bad people who are lying? 198 00:11:06,763 --> 00:11:08,943 What about the bad people who are gossiping? 199 00:11:08,944 --> 00:11:13,233 What about the bad people who are like us? 200 00:11:15,660 --> 00:11:17,630 Where do you want God to stop getting rid of bad things? 201 00:11:18,140 --> 00:11:20,670 When do you want the good God to get rid of the evil in the world? 202 00:11:20,670 --> 00:11:23,120 Do you want him to get rid of some of the evil or other people's evil? 203 00:11:23,120 --> 00:11:23,490 What about 204 00:11:28,238 --> 00:11:31,298 So if we want the good God to get rid of all the bad things in the world, 205 00:11:31,298 --> 00:11:32,218 guess who he's gonna get rid of? 206 00:11:33,248 --> 00:11:34,408 Me and you. 207 00:11:36,297 --> 00:11:38,438 So God's justice is because He's good. 208 00:11:38,438 --> 00:11:40,197 We want a God who hates sin, right? 209 00:11:40,308 --> 00:11:44,018 If, if you didn't have a God who hated sin and, and someone came to your 210 00:11:44,018 --> 00:11:46,698 house and stole all your stuff, and God was like, "Well, you know what? 211 00:11:46,957 --> 00:11:49,087 Uh, I'm good, so I'm just gonna forgive him and let him go." 212 00:11:52,004 --> 00:11:52,514 I don't want that God. 213 00:11:52,534 --> 00:11:53,404 You don't want that God. 214 00:11:54,324 --> 00:11:55,494 We want a, a good judge. 215 00:11:55,494 --> 00:11:59,504 We want a God who hates sin, who it matters to Him when bad things happen. 216 00:12:00,174 --> 00:12:02,614 And so if you say, "How can a good God send people to hell?" 217 00:12:02,614 --> 00:12:05,134 Well, a good God would send people to hell. 218 00:12:05,964 --> 00:12:08,543 The problem is, is we don't realize that we're the ones who are bad 219 00:12:10,968 --> 00:12:12,568 God's the hero of the story. 220 00:12:12,588 --> 00:12:13,108 Where, where does it go? 221 00:12:15,790 --> 00:12:19,469 So the reason God sends people to hell is because He is good. 222 00:12:19,500 --> 00:12:22,110 If you are good, you are going to hate evil, right? 223 00:12:22,589 --> 00:12:24,089 Just like all of our superheroes here. 224 00:12:24,130 --> 00:12:27,140 They, they hate evil because they are good 225 00:12:30,709 --> 00:12:35,250 Now, I have to say this because there's, there's popular people that, that 226 00:12:35,250 --> 00:12:38,180 disagree with this, but hell is forever. 227 00:12:39,390 --> 00:12:42,280 Hell is not temporary, right? 228 00:12:42,280 --> 00:12:45,010 There's, there's some people who claim to be Christians, and, and 229 00:12:45,010 --> 00:12:48,540 maybe they are, maybe they aren't, but they, they say that God destroys 230 00:12:48,540 --> 00:12:49,939 people in hell, and then they're done. 231 00:12:49,969 --> 00:12:50,629 They stop existing. 232 00:12:52,189 --> 00:12:54,069 And I don't think that's what the Bible teaches, and I don't 233 00:12:54,069 --> 00:12:55,059 want you to think that either. 234 00:12:55,250 --> 00:12:58,310 If you look at Matthew twenty-five, I think it's fairly straightforward. 235 00:12:58,310 --> 00:13:01,449 Matthew twenty-five verses forty-one and forty-six. 236 00:13:02,299 --> 00:13:03,699 This is Jesus talking. 237 00:13:03,699 --> 00:13:07,800 He says, "Then he," the judge, right, Jesus, "will say to those on his left, 238 00:13:08,019 --> 00:13:12,979 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal,'" right, eternal, not 239 00:13:12,979 --> 00:13:18,599 the limited amount of time, "'fire prepared for the devil and his angels.'" 240 00:13:18,789 --> 00:13:19,829 Lasts forever, right? 241 00:13:19,829 --> 00:13:22,559 Eternal conscious torment. 242 00:13:24,409 --> 00:13:28,359 And then verse forty-six, "And these will go away into eternal punishment, but 243 00:13:28,359 --> 00:13:30,099 the righteous into eternal life," right? 244 00:13:30,099 --> 00:13:31,529 So you see the, the parallel there? 245 00:13:31,529 --> 00:13:33,659 Eternal punishment, eternal life. 246 00:13:33,740 --> 00:13:34,939 Eternal life lasts forever. 247 00:13:35,059 --> 00:13:36,580 Eternal punishment lasts forever. 248 00:13:37,399 --> 00:13:40,039 So if anyone ever tells you, "Well, hell's not gonna be that bad 'cause 249 00:13:40,039 --> 00:13:41,930 it's gonna be over," not true. 250 00:13:42,769 --> 00:13:44,839 Or maybe, "Hell's gonna be a big party with my friends." 251 00:13:44,849 --> 00:13:46,060 You ever heard anyone say that before? 252 00:13:46,679 --> 00:13:47,599 Not true, right? 253 00:13:47,599 --> 00:13:49,679 There's no partying in hell. 254 00:13:51,490 --> 00:13:53,819 So hell is forever, and, and there… 255 00:13:53,839 --> 00:13:58,960 If you think that's too big of a deal, then I think you don't 256 00:13:58,969 --> 00:14:00,050 think God is as big a deal 257 00:14:02,190 --> 00:14:06,320 If you think hell is overkill for sin, then I don't think you think 258 00:14:06,320 --> 00:14:07,670 God is who he really says he is. 259 00:14:08,020 --> 00:14:13,140 If God is really so good, so amazing, so worth- worthy of living 260 00:14:13,140 --> 00:14:17,939 for, of course, sinning against him deserves eternal punishment 261 00:14:18,870 --> 00:14:21,340 because he's eternally incredible. 262 00:14:22,889 --> 00:14:27,969 And so, uh, a sin against an eternal God deserves eternal punishment. 263 00:14:29,159 --> 00:14:33,190 So maybe you're uncomfortable with the idea of hell, and, 264 00:14:33,190 --> 00:14:34,560 and that's okay in a sense. 265 00:14:34,560 --> 00:14:38,409 I, I understand why you'd be uncomfortable because we don't wanna 266 00:14:38,409 --> 00:14:40,579 say, "Well, I'm better than you," right? 267 00:14:40,579 --> 00:14:42,320 But it's not about, it's not about us being better than 268 00:14:42,320 --> 00:14:43,429 someone when we talk about hell. 269 00:14:43,480 --> 00:14:46,559 It's about God and His honor and His glory. 270 00:14:46,559 --> 00:14:51,339 And God's glory is so great that when we sin against Him, it 271 00:14:51,339 --> 00:14:55,429 demands, uh, an equal response 272 00:14:57,650 --> 00:15:01,199 If you think about it, like let's say you, um, let's say 273 00:15:01,800 --> 00:15:04,020 you slapped your sibling, right? 274 00:15:04,040 --> 00:15:05,079 You get, you get in trouble. 275 00:15:05,079 --> 00:15:06,329 You get punished for that, right? 276 00:15:07,569 --> 00:15:10,359 But then let's say you slapped your parents, right? 277 00:15:10,359 --> 00:15:14,109 That's a bigger, bigger punishment for that same crime, same hand 278 00:15:14,109 --> 00:15:15,629 motion, bigger punishment. 279 00:15:15,829 --> 00:15:18,290 Let's say you slapped the president, right? 280 00:15:18,290 --> 00:15:22,849 You might, you might get shot, right, before you even slap the president, right? 281 00:15:24,189 --> 00:15:28,029 See how the same crime against a different person has a bigger punishment? 282 00:15:29,709 --> 00:15:33,180 So what if you slapped God, right? 283 00:15:33,759 --> 00:15:35,329 That's what we're talking about here. 284 00:15:35,910 --> 00:15:39,059 Same crime, bigger punishment because of a different person 285 00:15:39,289 --> 00:15:39,890 you're committing it against 286 00:15:45,518 --> 00:15:50,428 So some of you in the room, if, if you're someone who says, "I 287 00:15:50,428 --> 00:15:53,988 don't think God exists," or, "I'm not a Christian," or, "I'm not a 288 00:15:53,988 --> 00:16:00,657 Christian yet," I, I do want you to sit in this, that judgment is scary. 289 00:16:02,047 --> 00:16:02,708 It's a big deal. 290 00:16:04,258 --> 00:16:06,108 And, and don't just say, "Oh, well, it's okay. 291 00:16:06,108 --> 00:16:08,617 I'll, I'll do it when I'm older, or I'll forget about it," or, or 292 00:16:08,678 --> 00:16:11,987 just start scrolling on your phone and-- which you don't have, and, 293 00:16:12,067 --> 00:16:13,257 you know, and, and just distract 294 00:16:16,565 --> 00:16:21,526 We don't just move on from this reality that people, maybe 295 00:16:21,526 --> 00:16:23,656 you, are really going to go 296 00:16:25,908 --> 00:16:28,828 Real people that you know, that you talk with at school, that you've 297 00:16:28,908 --> 00:16:33,828 had lunch with, that you've been in science class with, are gonna 298 00:16:33,838 --> 00:16:37,957 be eternally under God's wrath. 299 00:16:39,597 --> 00:16:42,277 And you should feel something about that. 300 00:16:42,278 --> 00:16:43,377 You shouldn't just be like, "Oh yeah, whatever. 301 00:16:43,377 --> 00:16:43,808 It's okay. 302 00:16:44,647 --> 00:16:45,177 No big deal." 303 00:16:45,527 --> 00:16:46,687 You should feel something. 304 00:16:47,027 --> 00:16:49,507 There's a, there's a heaviness about that 305 00:16:52,846 --> 00:16:54,656 But maybe you're in the room and you're saying, "I'm a Christian. 306 00:16:54,806 --> 00:16:57,846 I'm, I'm-- I sang His mercy is more and I meant it 'cause I know it. 307 00:16:58,156 --> 00:16:58,726 I'm forgiven. 308 00:16:59,276 --> 00:17:02,776 Should I still be scared of God's judgment?" 309 00:17:03,735 --> 00:17:05,675 Well, yes and no, right? 310 00:17:05,796 --> 00:17:06,656 Let's look at Matthew ten. 311 00:17:06,665 --> 00:17:09,816 Here's what Jesus says in Matthew ten: "Don't fear those who kill the body." 312 00:17:09,816 --> 00:17:11,155 He's talking to the disciples, right? 313 00:17:11,224 --> 00:17:13,425 "Don't fear those who kill the body," so don't be afraid of 314 00:17:13,425 --> 00:17:16,105 people, "but cannot kill the soul. 315 00:17:16,224 --> 00:17:18,265 Rather, fear Him." 316 00:17:19,256 --> 00:17:23,875 So even if you are a Christian, there is a sense in which you should fear God 317 00:17:26,894 --> 00:17:29,964 You should fear God, not the same way an unbeliever fears God. 318 00:17:30,434 --> 00:17:33,674 You, but you should fear God in, in a, in some sense. 319 00:17:33,684 --> 00:17:34,564 But what does that look like? 320 00:17:35,453 --> 00:17:38,744 Well, one of the ways that has helped me think about it is thinking 321 00:17:38,744 --> 00:17:40,554 about, um, thinking about my dad. 322 00:17:40,613 --> 00:17:46,123 So my dad, um, is-- he grew up in Japan, and he is a black belt 323 00:17:46,343 --> 00:17:47,514 in three different martial arts. 324 00:17:48,423 --> 00:17:52,123 And, um, he, uh, he sent me a picture of his master, his, 325 00:17:52,123 --> 00:17:53,883 you know, at his dojo in Japan. 326 00:17:53,883 --> 00:17:56,123 His master has, like, a knife scar going through his eye. 327 00:17:56,743 --> 00:17:59,463 And I was like, "You learned martial arts from the right person." 328 00:17:59,524 --> 00:18:03,104 Well, hope-- I, I don't know what the other guy looks like, so maybe this, 329 00:18:03,124 --> 00:18:05,723 maybe his master's actually a loser and got beat up by dude with a knife. 330 00:18:05,783 --> 00:18:08,793 But I'm assuming my dad is legit. 331 00:18:08,833 --> 00:18:09,733 I've seen my dad… 332 00:18:10,453 --> 00:18:11,073 Like, so there's this… 333 00:18:11,074 --> 00:18:12,283 My dad teaches a martial arts class. 334 00:18:12,583 --> 00:18:15,603 There was this college guy who did wrestling in high school for, you know, 335 00:18:15,603 --> 00:18:18,703 four years, whatever, and he was like, "Oh, I think I could, I could take you." 336 00:18:19,124 --> 00:18:22,383 And so my dad and him, they, they did a, like a judo, you 337 00:18:22,383 --> 00:18:26,113 know, wrestle session, and my dad totally, like, headlocked the guy. 338 00:18:26,214 --> 00:18:27,514 And I was like, "You're legit. 339 00:18:27,563 --> 00:18:28,274 You know what you're doing." 340 00:18:30,144 --> 00:18:33,604 Whenever I'm with my dad, like we went, uh, w- one time we were on 341 00:18:33,604 --> 00:18:37,844 a trip in a different country, and when I was with my dad, I felt safe 342 00:18:39,353 --> 00:18:41,963 because my dad is scary, right? 343 00:18:43,044 --> 00:18:44,643 Whenever I'm on the playground, you know, I was in elementary 344 00:18:44,644 --> 00:18:47,804 school, I was like, "Yeah, my dad can for sure beat up your dad. 345 00:18:48,324 --> 00:18:51,713 I am one hundred twenty percent sure my dad could beat up your dad." 346 00:18:53,333 --> 00:18:53,563 Right? 347 00:18:53,563 --> 00:18:56,524 So my dad was, was a little scary, right? 348 00:18:56,524 --> 00:18:59,954 I remember one time, um, our neighbor's dog jumped over the fence, and I was 349 00:18:59,954 --> 00:19:02,854 little, and it was a big dog, and he started, you know, barking at me. 350 00:19:02,854 --> 00:19:03,924 I don't know if they were happy or not. 351 00:19:04,163 --> 00:19:05,753 My dad comes out with a hammer. 352 00:19:06,303 --> 00:19:08,313 I was like, "Oh my goodness." 353 00:19:09,693 --> 00:19:11,474 And the dog ran away. 354 00:19:11,474 --> 00:19:11,514 Dog, dog was smart. 355 00:19:11,514 --> 00:19:11,743 Dog ran away, right? 356 00:19:12,923 --> 00:19:14,434 But my dad is scary. 357 00:19:15,504 --> 00:19:17,023 Am I afraid of my dad? 358 00:19:19,674 --> 00:19:20,334 Well, what do you mean? 359 00:19:20,774 --> 00:19:22,644 Am I afraid that he's gonna take out a hammer and then 360 00:19:22,654 --> 00:19:23,784 bash me over the head with it? 361 00:19:23,834 --> 00:19:24,084 No. 362 00:19:24,544 --> 00:19:24,764 Right? 363 00:19:24,764 --> 00:19:26,624 Am I afraid that he's, he's gonna beat me up? 364 00:19:26,694 --> 00:19:27,034 No. 365 00:19:28,314 --> 00:19:31,034 But I know he could, and I know 366 00:19:34,084 --> 00:19:34,144 Me? 367 00:19:35,303 --> 00:19:35,684 He will 368 00:19:38,158 --> 00:19:41,997 So there's a sense in which I'm not gonna mess with my dad, right? 369 00:19:42,197 --> 00:19:45,118 I, I'm not gonna, gonna provoke my dad. 370 00:19:45,517 --> 00:19:49,387 I'm not, I'm not scared that he's gonna do it to me necessarily, 371 00:19:49,818 --> 00:19:51,408 but I know he could, right? 372 00:19:51,408 --> 00:19:53,817 And there's a sense in which, you know, if you're, you're hiking, 373 00:19:53,828 --> 00:19:56,977 you look over the cliff and remind yourself, "Oh yeah, that could be 374 00:19:56,987 --> 00:20:00,808 me if I fall over the edge," right? 375 00:20:01,677 --> 00:20:04,247 So I'm not ter-- I talk to my dad, I hug my dad, I love my dad. 376 00:20:05,037 --> 00:20:08,777 But there is a sense in which, yeah, he's, he's a big deal 377 00:20:09,297 --> 00:20:10,178 and he knows what he's doing 378 00:20:12,302 --> 00:20:15,381 So in a, in a sense, yes, you, if you're, even if you're a Christian, 379 00:20:15,381 --> 00:20:18,062 you, you shouldn't be like, "Oh, yeah, God's judgment's so great. 380 00:20:18,062 --> 00:20:19,371 I love it," all the time. 381 00:20:19,452 --> 00:20:22,411 You shouldn't be, you know, slapstick and, and happy about it all the time. 382 00:20:22,472 --> 00:20:27,421 You should have a sense of heaviness and weightiness of, of what your Father can do 383 00:20:30,062 --> 00:20:33,141 But also Christians are accountable for their works. 384 00:20:34,262 --> 00:20:37,572 I don't know if you've, you've thought about this before, but Christians are 385 00:20:37,572 --> 00:20:39,161 held accountable for what they do. 386 00:20:39,442 --> 00:20:42,982 Even if you're a Christian, even if your sins are paid for, you will 387 00:20:42,982 --> 00:20:45,752 stand before God, and He will hold you accountable for what you've done. 388 00:20:45,752 --> 00:20:47,211 It's on the back of your Revival shirt, right? 389 00:20:47,222 --> 00:20:50,541 2 Corinthians five ten: We will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ and 390 00:20:50,552 --> 00:20:54,511 give an account of what we've done in the body, whether good or evil, right? 391 00:20:54,511 --> 00:20:57,691 And that's Paul writing to the church in Corinth, to Christians. 392 00:20:59,701 --> 00:21:01,841 Pastor Caleb mentioned this verse yesterday, and you're 393 00:21:01,841 --> 00:21:03,241 memorizing this second verse here. 394 00:21:03,492 --> 00:21:07,601 Ecclesiastes twelve fourteen: God will bring every deed, every deed 395 00:21:08,301 --> 00:21:11,931 into judgment with every secret thing, whether good or evil. 396 00:21:13,512 --> 00:21:17,962 Whether you trust in Jesus or not, you will be accountable for your works. 397 00:21:18,121 --> 00:21:19,881 And then Romans fourteen twelve, which you should have 398 00:21:19,881 --> 00:21:21,111 memorized by tomorrow at dinner. 399 00:21:21,742 --> 00:21:25,621 Each one of us-- Paul's writing to the church in Rome. 400 00:21:25,891 --> 00:21:30,121 Each of us will give an account of himself to God. 401 00:21:31,351 --> 00:21:33,792 So even if you're a Christian, you will stand before God. 402 00:21:34,771 --> 00:21:37,961 You will stand before God a-and have to answer for how you spent your 403 00:21:37,962 --> 00:21:42,521 time, how you used your car, how you did your homework, how you talked 404 00:21:42,521 --> 00:21:48,291 to your parents, what college you decided to go to, how you played 405 00:21:48,291 --> 00:21:49,751 your sport, how you spent your money. 406 00:21:51,142 --> 00:21:54,982 You will have to answer to God for the things He gave you, right? 407 00:21:54,982 --> 00:21:56,171 We see Jesus tell parables about it. 408 00:21:56,352 --> 00:22:00,231 He, He gives His servants money, and He says, "Do something with it." 409 00:22:01,422 --> 00:22:02,541 And He holds them accountable. 410 00:22:03,422 --> 00:22:07,022 Now, the reason He holds them accountable is to reward them, right? 411 00:22:07,081 --> 00:22:08,561 He's still for them. 412 00:22:09,431 --> 00:22:12,821 But there is a sense in which you should feel that, "Oh, my Father 413 00:22:12,922 --> 00:22:15,872 expects me to do something with the resources He's given me. 414 00:22:17,282 --> 00:22:17,981 He wants me to. 415 00:22:18,371 --> 00:22:19,561 He's given me time. 416 00:22:19,591 --> 00:22:20,351 He's given me energy. 417 00:22:20,371 --> 00:22:22,072 He's given me Bible knowledge. 418 00:22:22,141 --> 00:22:23,692 He's given me friendships. 419 00:22:23,731 --> 00:22:29,071 He's given me relationships at school, or at home, or in the church 420 00:22:29,831 --> 00:22:32,601 for a purpose, and He's gonna hold me accountable for those things." 421 00:22:34,471 --> 00:22:37,951 He's gonna say, "How did you invest the resources that I gave you?" 422 00:22:40,430 --> 00:22:43,520 So all of us are going to stand before the Lord. 423 00:22:43,530 --> 00:22:44,940 We're all gonna stand before His throne 424 00:22:48,152 --> 00:22:51,252 And that's really part of the reason that it's scary, right? 425 00:22:51,252 --> 00:22:53,832 Is the second reason is that God's judgment is inevitable 426 00:22:57,390 --> 00:23:00,370 If your brain's on superheroes like mine is, I know what you're 427 00:23:00,370 --> 00:23:01,760 thinking when I say inevitable 428 00:23:04,950 --> 00:23:05,250 Right? 429 00:23:06,770 --> 00:23:09,250 God's judgment is inevitable 430 00:23:11,566 --> 00:23:13,816 You can't escape God's judgment 431 00:23:16,270 --> 00:23:19,300 Believing God doesn't exist doesn't mean you escape God's judgment. 432 00:23:21,139 --> 00:23:24,350 Growing up in the church doesn't mean you escape God's judgment. 433 00:23:24,879 --> 00:23:27,470 Being a good kid doesn't mean you escape God's judgment. 434 00:23:28,110 --> 00:23:31,690 Knowing a lot about the Bible doesn't mean you escape God's judgment 435 00:23:33,944 --> 00:23:36,414 God's judgment is inevitable. 436 00:23:36,624 --> 00:23:38,814 There's different ways we try to avoid God's judgment, right? 437 00:23:38,814 --> 00:23:42,364 Maybe it's just not that we're thinking, "Oh, you know, one day I won't have 438 00:23:42,364 --> 00:23:46,404 to," but in the moment, we don't wanna think about God's judgment, right? 439 00:23:47,634 --> 00:23:49,983 Maybe we try to hide like Adam and Eve did. 440 00:23:50,004 --> 00:23:53,844 We hide and, and we say, "Well, I- I'm just gonna not tell anyone about my sin," 441 00:23:54,194 --> 00:23:55,894 and we pretend like God doesn't see it. 442 00:23:57,123 --> 00:24:00,314 We say, "Well, if I don't say anything about my sin, then, well, 443 00:24:00,314 --> 00:24:04,004 no one's ever gonna find out, and I, I guess I'll worry about it later." 444 00:24:05,393 --> 00:24:05,593 Right? 445 00:24:05,643 --> 00:24:10,134 Keeping sin in the dark is actually just gonna enslave you to it further. 446 00:24:10,743 --> 00:24:14,983 If you hide your sin, that doesn't help you at all. 447 00:24:14,993 --> 00:24:16,003 It actually makes it worse. 448 00:24:17,283 --> 00:24:21,383 It, it makes you more afraid of God's judgment. 449 00:24:22,963 --> 00:24:29,483 So hiding your sin does not help you escape God's judgment, neither does 450 00:24:29,483 --> 00:24:31,863 forgetting about it or trying to move on. 451 00:24:32,233 --> 00:24:33,373 I don't know if you've ever done that before. 452 00:24:33,373 --> 00:24:33,944 I know I have. 453 00:24:34,204 --> 00:24:36,624 You sin, and then you just say, "Oh," you feel horrible about it for 454 00:24:36,624 --> 00:24:37,673 a bit, and you just try to move on. 455 00:24:37,704 --> 00:24:40,513 You try to just do the next thing on your calendar, the next thing in your day. 456 00:24:40,514 --> 00:24:41,104 You forget about it. 457 00:24:41,123 --> 00:24:43,654 You hear a convicting sermon at camp, and you're like, "Well, I'll 458 00:24:43,654 --> 00:24:44,684 just make it through small groups. 459 00:24:44,684 --> 00:24:45,203 I'll go to lunch. 460 00:24:45,203 --> 00:24:46,543 I'll play some kickball, and I'll forget about it. 461 00:24:46,544 --> 00:24:47,564 I don't need to worry about it anymore." 462 00:24:50,958 --> 00:24:53,058 Time doesn't forgive your sin 463 00:24:55,310 --> 00:24:59,300 Your t-- the, the amount of time, let's say you, you sinned really bad two 464 00:24:59,300 --> 00:25:00,629 weeks ago and you forgot all about it. 465 00:25:02,080 --> 00:25:06,090 Two weeks later, if you haven't taken that sin to God, you're still just as guilty. 466 00:25:06,819 --> 00:25:09,969 You're not less guilty because it's been two weeks or two 467 00:25:09,970 --> 00:25:13,000 months or two years or 10 years. 468 00:25:14,629 --> 00:25:16,929 Time does not take away your guilt before God 469 00:25:20,590 --> 00:25:26,770 Hosea 7:2 says, he's talking about Israel, he says, "They do not consider 470 00:25:26,770 --> 00:25:30,459 that I remember all their evil." 471 00:25:34,178 --> 00:25:35,997 I don't know if you, you've ever thought about this, but if you're 472 00:25:35,997 --> 00:25:38,997 not a Christian, God knows every single sin you've ever done. 473 00:25:40,368 --> 00:25:40,707 All of it. 474 00:25:42,138 --> 00:25:43,227 He's not forgetting about it. 475 00:25:44,538 --> 00:25:48,608 Every time you've been selfish, every time you've been prideful, every time 476 00:25:48,608 --> 00:25:53,558 you've gossiped, every time you've had impure thoughts, every time that, that 477 00:25:53,568 --> 00:25:59,437 you've looked down on God, every time that you've been lazy, every time you 478 00:25:59,467 --> 00:26:04,477 disrespected your parents, e- all, all of the, the sins are before the Lord. 479 00:26:06,948 --> 00:26:08,648 And He will judge you 480 00:26:12,782 --> 00:26:15,442 And that's what Hosea 17, their deeds surround them. 481 00:26:16,831 --> 00:26:16,861 Right? 482 00:26:16,871 --> 00:26:22,432 If, if you have not put your trust in Jesus, it's, it's almost like your, your 483 00:26:22,432 --> 00:26:24,532 sinful deeds are-- They're just all… 484 00:26:24,532 --> 00:26:26,651 They're just like you're wearing them like a backpack, and it's getting 485 00:26:26,662 --> 00:26:28,131 bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger. 486 00:26:28,131 --> 00:26:31,121 Or maybe it's hanging over you like a cloud, and it's just 487 00:26:31,141 --> 00:26:32,462 growing and growing and growing. 488 00:26:32,462 --> 00:26:34,932 And if you don't do anything with your sin, if you just try to forget 489 00:26:34,932 --> 00:26:39,662 about it and move on, God sees all of it, and He remembers it 490 00:26:42,990 --> 00:26:44,530 And that's what makes the gospel such good news, right? 491 00:26:44,530 --> 00:26:46,560 Is because Jesus can take away from it. 492 00:26:46,850 --> 00:26:48,080 He can take all of it away. 493 00:26:48,150 --> 00:26:48,700 It's gone. 494 00:26:49,270 --> 00:26:49,730 No more. 495 00:26:50,370 --> 00:26:53,010 But if you haven't trusted Jesus, it's still there. 496 00:26:53,820 --> 00:26:58,030 Doesn't matter if it was 10 years ago or 10 minutes ago, it's all there. 497 00:26:59,640 --> 00:27:02,320 Maybe we try to avoid judgment by making excuses, right? 498 00:27:02,320 --> 00:27:03,019 I know I do that. 499 00:27:03,299 --> 00:27:07,350 "Oh, but God, you don't know what my siblings are really like," right? 500 00:27:07,779 --> 00:27:11,489 Uh, y- if I just, you know, if, if the Bible was easier to understand, 501 00:27:11,490 --> 00:27:13,170 I, I, I would, I would love you more. 502 00:27:14,320 --> 00:27:15,609 Or, uh, if, if I- I'm just… 503 00:27:15,760 --> 00:27:20,050 The people at school and all, all of that, just I, I really like that or, or, 504 00:27:20,050 --> 00:27:22,009 "Oh, but you just made me this way, God. 505 00:27:22,010 --> 00:27:23,179 I have to do this. 506 00:27:23,440 --> 00:27:26,830 I'm just an angry person," or, "I'm just a, I'm, I'm just, uh, this 507 00:27:26,830 --> 00:27:28,419 type of, of, of way, and I just… 508 00:27:28,429 --> 00:27:29,850 I'm more prone to this type of sin." 509 00:27:29,869 --> 00:27:34,089 We make excuses, or maybe we say, "You don't understand what it's like 510 00:27:34,089 --> 00:27:37,459 to, to live in, in this time period, in this place with these people." 511 00:27:38,619 --> 00:27:42,630 And God's standard is the standard for all people at all times, and God 512 00:27:42,630 --> 00:27:44,439 knows exactly what your life is like. 513 00:27:46,010 --> 00:27:49,239 But God will still judge you, even no matter how much 514 00:27:49,240 --> 00:27:51,119 you try to shift the blame. 515 00:27:52,129 --> 00:27:54,189 Maybe you compare to avoid God's judgment. 516 00:27:54,199 --> 00:27:54,899 You, you don't wanna… 517 00:27:55,049 --> 00:27:58,009 You try to minimize God's judgment by saying, "Well, everyone else is doing it. 518 00:27:59,109 --> 00:27:59,869 Well, I, I don't do. 519 00:27:59,869 --> 00:28:01,169 I'm not as bad as that person." 520 00:28:01,859 --> 00:28:05,200 And we try to say, "God, your judgment shouldn't be as harsh on me." 521 00:28:06,490 --> 00:28:06,570 Right? 522 00:28:06,570 --> 00:28:10,659 It's like when you're driving and everyone else is speeding, so you're 523 00:28:10,659 --> 00:28:12,549 speeding, and you're the one that gets pulled over, and you're like, 524 00:28:12,549 --> 00:28:13,919 "Well, they were all speeding." 525 00:28:13,919 --> 00:28:15,290 Like, well, you were still breaking the law, right? 526 00:28:22,680 --> 00:28:25,750 Maybe we try to make up for our sin to avoid God's judgment. 527 00:28:26,890 --> 00:28:29,300 Maybe we try to, try to say, "Well, I sinned really bad, but I, 528 00:28:29,310 --> 00:28:31,650 this, I'm gonna make sure I read my Bible every day this week." 529 00:28:32,250 --> 00:28:35,100 Or, "I, I, I, I, you know, I have all this sin in my life, but I'm gonna try to 530 00:28:35,110 --> 00:28:36,770 be really kind to, to people at church." 531 00:28:37,160 --> 00:28:38,320 That doesn't take away your sin either. 532 00:28:38,330 --> 00:28:40,060 You can't make up for your sin. 533 00:28:40,070 --> 00:28:43,519 You can't work your sin out of your life and, and try really 534 00:28:43,520 --> 00:28:44,500 hard to get it to go away. 535 00:28:44,500 --> 00:28:47,149 That doesn't help you escape God's judgment. 536 00:28:47,660 --> 00:28:48,820 We talked about this last year, right? 537 00:28:48,820 --> 00:28:52,509 You, you don't clean yourself up and then come to God, and then He accepts you. 538 00:28:53,420 --> 00:28:54,800 God has to take away your sin. 539 00:28:56,749 --> 00:28:57,689 You can't do it 540 00:29:00,290 --> 00:29:04,450 Or maybe you're thinking it's not hurting anyone, or it's only one time. 541 00:29:04,930 --> 00:29:06,210 Those are the lies we tell ourselves. 542 00:29:06,210 --> 00:29:07,450 It's not that big of a deal. 543 00:29:08,270 --> 00:29:14,280 All that to say is that this is-- y- you are not gonna escape God's judgment. 544 00:29:14,720 --> 00:29:15,660 It's going to happen. 545 00:29:16,620 --> 00:29:18,789 Whether you like it or not, whether you think it's fair or 546 00:29:18,790 --> 00:29:20,639 not, really, that doesn't matter. 547 00:29:22,020 --> 00:29:26,129 You can think whatever you want about God, about His Word. 548 00:29:26,709 --> 00:29:28,409 You are going to stand before the Lord 549 00:29:31,246 --> 00:29:32,126 It's inevitable. 550 00:29:32,136 --> 00:29:34,826 There's no avoiding it, there's no minimizing it, there's no, there's no 551 00:29:34,826 --> 00:29:36,496 getting extra credit and making up for it. 552 00:29:36,516 --> 00:29:37,226 There's, there's nothing 553 00:29:39,758 --> 00:29:42,118 But even for a Christian, I want you to think, "Will, will I be 554 00:29:42,118 --> 00:29:45,458 ready to stand before the Lord and give an account of my life?" 555 00:29:45,718 --> 00:29:45,748 Right? 556 00:29:45,758 --> 00:29:47,388 You're not scared of God's wrath anymore. 557 00:29:47,388 --> 00:29:48,358 You know I've trusted Jesus. 558 00:29:48,358 --> 00:29:49,628 He's taken away God's wrath. 559 00:29:49,668 --> 00:29:50,718 He's given me His righteousness. 560 00:29:50,718 --> 00:29:53,887 I come before the Lord in Jesus' name, on His righteousness, not 561 00:29:53,908 --> 00:29:55,208 my own, all sufficient merit. 562 00:29:55,218 --> 00:29:55,988 We just sang about it. 563 00:29:56,988 --> 00:30:00,008 But I still want you to think, God will judge the world. 564 00:30:01,168 --> 00:30:02,678 I will stand before the Lord. 565 00:30:02,678 --> 00:30:03,487 Will I be ready? 566 00:30:03,488 --> 00:30:07,587 Am I living like I will give an account of myself to God? 567 00:30:09,537 --> 00:30:13,997 We don't have time to go there, but 2 Peter 3:8-13 is 568 00:30:13,997 --> 00:30:15,358 a great place for you to look. 569 00:30:15,438 --> 00:30:16,327 Peter's writing to the church. 570 00:30:16,337 --> 00:30:18,957 He's writing to Christians, and he wants them to think about the end of the world. 571 00:30:19,317 --> 00:30:22,267 And he says, after he describes that God's gonna come and judge the 572 00:30:22,267 --> 00:30:25,267 world, His patience is gonna run out, and then he says, "What sort of 573 00:30:25,278 --> 00:30:31,027 people should you, Christian, be in light of, of what's gonna happen?" 574 00:30:31,797 --> 00:30:35,457 You should be living thinking about God's judgment. 575 00:30:36,747 --> 00:30:39,077 So even for a Christian, this isn't just, "Well, I don't have to 576 00:30:39,078 --> 00:30:40,157 worry about God's judgment anymore. 577 00:30:40,278 --> 00:30:41,167 Jesus took away my sin." 578 00:30:41,927 --> 00:30:45,337 I want you to think about what sort of people sh- what-- how should I live? 579 00:30:46,197 --> 00:30:48,598 Would I do this if I knew Jesus was coming back? 580 00:30:50,127 --> 00:30:54,277 Would I be okay watching this show if Jesus came back and saw me doing it? 581 00:30:54,688 --> 00:30:58,327 Would I be okay hanging out with these people, having this conversation, if I 582 00:30:58,357 --> 00:31:00,167 knew Jesus was gonna come back tomorrow? 583 00:31:00,967 --> 00:31:04,057 Would I be this lazy about my relationship with God if Jesus was 584 00:31:04,057 --> 00:31:05,377 gonna come back at the end of this week? 585 00:31:08,288 --> 00:31:13,298 I want you to think about, am I living like Jesus is really going to come back? 586 00:31:18,136 --> 00:31:19,936 I realize my third point's up here, so I spoiled it. 587 00:31:19,936 --> 00:31:22,266 But God's judgment is final. 588 00:31:22,336 --> 00:31:22,745 There you go. 589 00:31:22,796 --> 00:31:24,506 God's judgment is final. 590 00:31:24,506 --> 00:31:26,945 That's the third thing I want you to know about, about standing before the Lord 591 00:31:29,775 --> 00:31:29,896 There's no do-over 592 00:31:32,174 --> 00:31:35,264 You don't get to say, "God, can I, can I have 30 more minutes 593 00:31:35,264 --> 00:31:36,033 and, and fix everything?" 594 00:31:39,554 --> 00:31:42,434 Every, uh, is, what is it, July 22nd today? 595 00:31:42,434 --> 00:31:44,514 This is your last July 22nd 596 00:31:48,718 --> 00:31:53,218 You have one shot at living July 2nd, 2026 for the Lord. 597 00:31:53,908 --> 00:31:54,418 That's it. 598 00:31:54,798 --> 00:31:55,748 You don't get to do it again. 599 00:31:57,248 --> 00:31:58,798 After today's over, it's the next day. 600 00:31:59,388 --> 00:32:03,728 You have one of these days, one of each day to live for 601 00:32:03,728 --> 00:32:05,497 the Lord, and then it's done. 602 00:32:05,597 --> 00:32:06,298 You can't fix it. 603 00:32:06,327 --> 00:32:10,168 You can't, you can't go back in time and, and, you know, do the, the Avengers: 604 00:32:10,168 --> 00:32:11,717 Endgame thing and do it over, right? 605 00:32:13,058 --> 00:32:13,647 You can't do it. 606 00:32:15,038 --> 00:32:15,857 You get one shot 607 00:32:20,494 --> 00:32:27,164 In Hebrews 12, it says something really scary about God's judgment, and I 608 00:32:27,164 --> 00:32:28,714 want you to see it here in Hebrews 12. 609 00:32:29,974 --> 00:32:32,013 So he's warning his, his audience. 610 00:32:32,014 --> 00:32:33,624 He's, he's talking about Esau. 611 00:32:33,624 --> 00:32:34,404 You know Esau, right? 612 00:32:34,404 --> 00:32:35,543 Esau, Jacob's brother. 613 00:32:35,994 --> 00:32:40,003 And so what happened was, um, Esau sold his birthright, right? 614 00:32:40,073 --> 00:32:41,003 You see that in verse 16. 615 00:32:41,183 --> 00:32:46,613 So Esau was the, the firstborn, um, and he was like, "Well, I'm really hungry, so 616 00:32:46,613 --> 00:32:48,013 I don't wanna be the firstborn anymore. 617 00:32:48,303 --> 00:32:50,934 Here, Jacob, I'll give you some, some red stuff. 618 00:32:51,093 --> 00:32:54,733 Um, well, actually, I need the red stuff you're making, and I'm gonna 619 00:32:54,733 --> 00:32:56,303 trade you my birthright for it," right? 620 00:32:56,303 --> 00:32:59,503 And so what Esau did, essentially, is he gave up on the promises of God, right? 621 00:32:59,503 --> 00:33:02,853 Esau knew God's promise that through the first, you know, through the, 622 00:33:03,053 --> 00:33:06,813 the birthright of my parents, God is going to make a great nation, right? 623 00:33:06,854 --> 00:33:09,593 Promise to Abraham, all that stuff. 624 00:33:09,593 --> 00:33:11,383 And Esau said, "No, I'd rather have soup. 625 00:33:12,483 --> 00:33:14,274 I like soup more than I like God's promises." 626 00:33:15,133 --> 00:33:16,333 Which sounds really dumb, right? 627 00:33:16,453 --> 00:33:17,123 But he did that. 628 00:33:18,193 --> 00:33:20,153 But then what we don't see is this part. 629 00:33:20,373 --> 00:33:24,473 You know that afterward, Esau, he desired to inherit the blessing. 630 00:33:24,474 --> 00:33:25,593 He said, "I messed up. 631 00:33:26,773 --> 00:33:27,843 I shouldn't have done that. 632 00:33:28,763 --> 00:33:32,274 I shouldn't have traded the soup, or the inheritance for the soup. 633 00:33:32,424 --> 00:33:33,894 I should have trusted God's promises. 634 00:33:33,964 --> 00:33:35,724 I should have relied on the Lord." 635 00:33:36,574 --> 00:33:37,554 He said, "I shouldn't have done that." 636 00:33:37,703 --> 00:33:40,323 He desired to inherit the blessing. 637 00:33:40,343 --> 00:33:42,123 He was rejected. 638 00:33:43,034 --> 00:33:45,833 He didn't get a chance to make, make up for it and do it over again. 639 00:33:45,943 --> 00:33:50,253 He found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears 640 00:33:52,300 --> 00:33:55,710 God's mercy is a temporary offer, student. 641 00:33:57,270 --> 00:33:57,760 Temporary 642 00:34:00,366 --> 00:34:04,156 This might be your last chance to turn from your sin and trust Jesus 643 00:34:06,296 --> 00:34:10,196 And maybe you didn't expect to hear this on a Wednesday morning at 11:00 AM. 644 00:34:10,206 --> 00:34:12,286 You maybe expected this after worship night when you're 645 00:34:12,286 --> 00:34:13,396 crying and, and all that. 646 00:34:14,005 --> 00:34:17,196 But you don't need to wait until there's a fog machine to trust Jesus 647 00:34:19,694 --> 00:34:21,643 You might not make it to Thursday night. 648 00:34:23,543 --> 00:34:24,634 You understand that, right? 649 00:34:25,683 --> 00:34:28,674 Or your heart might be too hard by Thursday night. 650 00:34:29,543 --> 00:34:33,114 You might have rejected the gospel too many times to trust Jesus 651 00:34:35,704 --> 00:34:42,384 I don't want any of you to be like Esau and say, "I wish I trusted Jesus. 652 00:34:43,413 --> 00:34:44,764 I wish I turned from my sin." 653 00:34:48,024 --> 00:34:52,013 There's gonna be a day where, it, it might be this week 654 00:34:54,806 --> 00:34:56,596 A long time from now that you don't know. 655 00:34:56,936 --> 00:34:59,266 There's gonna be a day when you don't have a chance to, to respond 656 00:35:02,078 --> 00:35:04,538 You're gonna stand before the Lord, and you're either going to have 657 00:35:04,538 --> 00:35:05,988 responded and trusted Jesus or not. 658 00:35:07,328 --> 00:35:07,908 And it's over. 659 00:35:09,388 --> 00:35:09,768 It's done 660 00:35:14,203 --> 00:35:14,734 Our judgment is fucked 661 00:35:18,360 --> 00:35:22,710 I remember one of my teachers, um, I needed-- I had a eighty-nine 662 00:35:22,720 --> 00:35:24,799 point, I think, four in the class. 663 00:35:25,830 --> 00:35:28,520 And I was like, "Please, is there any… 664 00:35:28,569 --> 00:35:29,589 Can you round it up? 665 00:35:29,909 --> 00:35:31,960 Is there any extra credit I can do? 666 00:35:31,980 --> 00:35:33,350 Can I vacuum your classroom? 667 00:35:33,350 --> 00:35:37,100 Is there anything I could do to get up to, to a eighty-nine point 668 00:35:37,100 --> 00:35:38,409 five so you can round me up? 669 00:35:38,440 --> 00:35:39,160 Is there anything? 670 00:35:39,160 --> 00:35:42,259 I just need point one of a percent, please." 671 00:35:42,270 --> 00:35:42,420 It's… 672 00:35:44,449 --> 00:35:46,849 And he was a teacher who didn't believe in extra credit 673 00:35:49,036 --> 00:35:52,316 He said, "I gave you all the chances you needed to earn all the 674 00:35:52,316 --> 00:35:54,185 points, and you didn't take them" 675 00:35:57,114 --> 00:36:00,744 You should have thought about this when you got an 80 on that last test 676 00:36:03,672 --> 00:36:06,172 You should have thought about this when you forgot to turn in that worksheet. 677 00:36:06,302 --> 00:36:11,622 You should have thought about this before the last day 678 00:36:15,822 --> 00:36:17,552 Student, don't let God say that to you. 679 00:36:17,562 --> 00:36:23,412 If you're standing before God, you're saying, "God, please let me, let me go 680 00:36:27,660 --> 00:36:29,950 He has given you all the chances you need. 681 00:36:30,580 --> 00:36:34,370 You, you have all, all the, all the instructions that you need. 682 00:36:34,370 --> 00:36:35,720 You, you know the gospel 683 00:36:40,790 --> 00:36:43,460 God's judgment is final. 684 00:36:44,910 --> 00:36:50,950 There's gonna be a day when, when you have nothing left to add, and the 685 00:36:50,950 --> 00:36:53,410 books will be closed, and that's it 686 00:36:55,772 --> 00:36:56,401 And it's real 687 00:37:02,744 --> 00:37:06,174 What's great about God's judgment being final though, is it's 688 00:37:06,174 --> 00:37:07,264 also final for Christians. 689 00:37:09,034 --> 00:37:12,473 God's judgment is final for Christians, too. 690 00:37:12,473 --> 00:37:16,924 Hebrews 7:27 says that Jesus has no need like those other high priests, right? 691 00:37:16,933 --> 00:37:19,383 Think about Old Testament tabernacle high priests. 692 00:37:19,384 --> 00:37:20,803 They go in, they, they cut the animal. 693 00:37:20,804 --> 00:37:24,993 They offer the sacrifice to atone for sin, to offer sacrifices daily, first for 694 00:37:24,994 --> 00:37:29,693 his own sins, and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all. 695 00:37:31,314 --> 00:37:35,083 Right, we don't go to mass, we don't go to temple because we don't need to offer 696 00:37:35,083 --> 00:37:36,593 sacrifices anymore if you're a Christian. 697 00:37:36,594 --> 00:37:44,354 If you're a Christian, Jesus once for all satisfied God's wrath. 698 00:37:44,984 --> 00:37:47,533 All the sins you've done, all the homework you didn't do, right, 699 00:37:47,773 --> 00:37:49,113 all the points you missed out on 700 00:37:51,374 --> 00:37:52,683 Jesus says, "Here's my 100%. 701 00:37:54,624 --> 00:37:56,944 I'll take your 29%" 702 00:37:59,342 --> 00:38:01,162 Probably a lot lower than that, to be honest, right? 703 00:38:07,359 --> 00:38:07,460 It's once for all. 704 00:38:07,460 --> 00:38:09,419 When you trust Jesus, you are declared righteous forever. 705 00:38:10,480 --> 00:38:12,299 You can't take anything away from that. 706 00:38:13,279 --> 00:38:15,059 You can't edit your perfect score. 707 00:38:15,060 --> 00:38:18,399 That would be like my teacher coming back to me from, let's say I-- let's say I 708 00:38:18,399 --> 00:38:21,669 got 100% on a test, and teacher, uh, two years later is like, "Hey, actually, I'm 709 00:38:21,669 --> 00:38:23,009 here to take points off from your test." 710 00:38:23,399 --> 00:38:24,399 Not gonna happen, right? 711 00:38:24,399 --> 00:38:24,769 I'm done. 712 00:38:24,770 --> 00:38:25,679 I, I graduated. 713 00:38:25,770 --> 00:38:26,740 See you later, right? 714 00:38:28,069 --> 00:38:32,830 When you trust Jesus, His righteousness i-is, is finished. 715 00:38:32,830 --> 00:38:33,359 It's final. 716 00:38:33,399 --> 00:38:34,270 You don't add to it. 717 00:38:34,270 --> 00:38:35,180 You don't take away from it. 718 00:38:35,620 --> 00:38:38,619 Y-you-- If you're a Christian, on your worst day, when you 719 00:38:38,629 --> 00:38:40,470 totally blow it, guess what? 720 00:38:41,209 --> 00:38:44,939 God's judgment through Jesus is also final. 721 00:38:45,650 --> 00:38:46,859 You are declared righteous forever. 722 00:38:47,020 --> 00:38:51,319 You are just as righteous after your worst sin after-- than you are after your best 723 00:38:51,319 --> 00:38:57,599 day because your righteousness has nothing to do with, with how you did that week. 724 00:38:57,869 --> 00:39:01,099 It has everything to do with Jesus and His righteousness, and that lasts forever. 725 00:39:02,209 --> 00:39:06,559 You don't have to be afraid of w-w-what if, what if I, what if I don't? 726 00:39:07,159 --> 00:39:07,739 What if I'm not good enough? 727 00:39:08,060 --> 00:39:08,639 Well, you're not. 728 00:39:08,649 --> 00:39:09,850 That's why you trust Jesus. 729 00:39:11,219 --> 00:39:13,339 I know you're out there, you're saying, "I'm not sure if I'm a Christian. 730 00:39:13,339 --> 00:39:15,200 I don't know 'cause I'm not sure if I'm living like it." 731 00:39:16,280 --> 00:39:17,549 Trust Jesus. 732 00:39:19,249 --> 00:39:20,029 That's the whole point. 733 00:39:20,109 --> 00:39:23,429 The whole point is you're not gonna live like it all the time, and 734 00:39:23,429 --> 00:39:26,810 so if you're not sure if you're a Christian, you just come back to Jesus. 735 00:39:26,810 --> 00:39:27,539 You say, "I trust you. 736 00:39:27,539 --> 00:39:28,239 I need you. 737 00:39:28,600 --> 00:39:29,369 Save me. 738 00:39:29,879 --> 00:39:30,830 Keep me safe." 739 00:39:34,798 --> 00:39:41,488 So God's judgment is final So I want you to think about what will 740 00:39:41,488 --> 00:39:44,098 be the final verdict on my life? 741 00:39:45,317 --> 00:39:47,087 What will God say when I stand before this throne? 742 00:39:50,176 --> 00:39:53,546 And I'm not gonna be able to add anything to it or take away from it. 743 00:39:54,386 --> 00:39:55,396 What will he say? 744 00:39:59,064 --> 00:40:01,514 Well, the last thing I want you to notice about God's judgment 745 00:40:01,514 --> 00:40:04,334 here is that it's unquestionable. 746 00:40:05,744 --> 00:40:06,474 Unquestionable 747 00:40:12,812 --> 00:40:17,572 One time when I was at a camp called Revival, uh, we had to make 748 00:40:17,582 --> 00:40:19,172 team videos for spirit points. 749 00:40:20,312 --> 00:40:25,231 And, uh, we, you know, tried to, tried to make a cool video and have some fun. 750 00:40:25,352 --> 00:40:28,292 I don't think we're doing that this year, but the games crew, 751 00:40:28,341 --> 00:40:30,062 the referees, made a video. 752 00:40:30,862 --> 00:40:35,801 And the theme of their video was Games Crew Always Wins. 753 00:40:36,901 --> 00:40:39,212 And so their whole video was basically just the games crew, like 754 00:40:39,532 --> 00:40:40,912 all the refs just bullying people. 755 00:40:41,012 --> 00:40:43,081 Like they would just push people into the pool and be like, 756 00:40:43,081 --> 00:40:44,242 "You're out, it doesn't matter." 757 00:40:44,272 --> 00:40:46,082 Or, you know, they'd be eating and be like, "Get up, my 758 00:40:46,082 --> 00:40:47,012 spot," and they'd take it. 759 00:40:47,421 --> 00:40:50,791 And the whole point is at Revival, when the referee tells you something, 760 00:40:50,892 --> 00:40:54,311 right, there's no VAR, there's no AVS, there's no challenge flags. 761 00:40:54,381 --> 00:40:55,681 It's done, right? 762 00:40:55,831 --> 00:40:58,401 If the referee at Revival makes a call, it's done. 763 00:40:58,911 --> 00:40:59,882 No, no argument. 764 00:41:00,392 --> 00:41:00,902 It's over. 765 00:41:01,831 --> 00:41:01,951 All right? 766 00:41:01,951 --> 00:41:04,171 Games crew always wins. 767 00:41:05,341 --> 00:41:07,691 And yeah, peop- they're imperfect, but the whole point is that 768 00:41:07,782 --> 00:41:08,911 you can't argue with the ref. 769 00:41:09,741 --> 00:41:11,351 There's, there's nothing you can do about it, right? 770 00:41:11,581 --> 00:41:13,591 Now with soccer, there's the VAR in the World Cup. 771 00:41:13,891 --> 00:41:17,111 I liked it better when there was no VAR, and it was just like, well, ref said it, 772 00:41:17,462 --> 00:41:18,741 didn't see it, nothing happened, right? 773 00:41:18,901 --> 00:41:20,351 If the ref didn't see it, it didn't happen. 774 00:41:20,371 --> 00:41:21,521 That's how it used to be in soccer. 775 00:41:21,521 --> 00:41:23,831 Now it's like, well, we're gonna take twenty minutes and review 776 00:41:23,831 --> 00:41:26,401 this call and sponsored by Powerade and whatever, you know? 777 00:41:31,470 --> 00:41:37,299 Student, you have no right to question God's judgment. 778 00:41:38,209 --> 00:41:38,709 No right 779 00:41:40,952 --> 00:41:42,212 None whatsoever. 780 00:41:43,592 --> 00:41:50,041 If God says something is good, if God says something is bad, who am I to tell 781 00:41:50,041 --> 00:41:53,022 God, "Actually, I think you're wrong"? 782 00:41:55,658 --> 00:41:56,368 Not a chance 783 00:41:58,582 --> 00:42:01,252 God's judgment is unquestionable 784 00:42:06,198 --> 00:42:11,357 We have no right to object to what God calls good and what God calls bad. 785 00:42:13,258 --> 00:42:15,428 Think about what we just read in Revelation 20. 786 00:42:16,558 --> 00:42:18,918 Was there anyone talking except God? 787 00:42:20,488 --> 00:42:24,337 In that whole vision, no one says that-- There's-- None of the people whose names 788 00:42:24,357 --> 00:42:28,678 aren't in the Book of Life are like, "God, actually, have you seen my life?" 789 00:42:29,117 --> 00:42:30,607 Or, "Oh, maybe there's a mistake. 790 00:42:30,617 --> 00:42:31,988 Surely not. 791 00:42:31,988 --> 00:42:33,427 Surely, I've been a good Christian." 792 00:42:33,457 --> 00:42:34,367 There's no one talking. 793 00:42:34,418 --> 00:42:34,957 It's over. 794 00:42:34,957 --> 00:42:35,538 It's done. 795 00:42:36,027 --> 00:42:38,638 No questions, no do-overs, no arguing. 796 00:42:38,788 --> 00:42:39,448 It's over. 797 00:42:41,077 --> 00:42:44,078 God's judgment is unquestionable 798 00:42:49,678 --> 00:42:55,038 In the Book of Daniel, everyone's favorite pagan king, King Nebuchadnezzar, 799 00:42:55,877 --> 00:43:01,067 says something quite just, uh, I love this pass-- This is one of 800 00:43:01,067 --> 00:43:02,157 my favorite passages in the Bible. 801 00:43:02,337 --> 00:43:07,088 So King Nebuchadnezzar, he's been thinking about how great he is, right? 802 00:43:07,088 --> 00:43:08,087 I'll just read this for you. 803 00:43:08,587 --> 00:43:11,337 At, at the end of 12 months, he was walking on the roof of the royal 804 00:43:11,337 --> 00:43:14,508 palace of Babylon, and the king answered and said, "Is this not great 805 00:43:14,518 --> 00:43:18,317 Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence 806 00:43:18,518 --> 00:43:20,917 and for the glory of my majesty?" 807 00:43:21,137 --> 00:43:21,267 Right? 808 00:43:21,268 --> 00:43:22,567 He's like, "I'm so great. 809 00:43:22,698 --> 00:43:23,428 I'm the best. 810 00:43:23,538 --> 00:43:24,067 Look at me." 811 00:43:25,908 --> 00:43:29,967 And then what God does is God drives him insane, and he 812 00:43:29,968 --> 00:43:31,137 says, "You think you're great? 813 00:43:32,847 --> 00:43:33,528 Watch this." 814 00:43:34,477 --> 00:43:37,748 And he basically makes him live in the wilderness like an animal for, 815 00:43:38,158 --> 00:43:39,378 let's see how long, a long time. 816 00:43:40,487 --> 00:43:41,537 I don't even know if it says how long. 817 00:43:42,748 --> 00:43:43,587 You can figure that out later. 818 00:43:43,587 --> 00:43:44,257 Go to Daniel 4. 819 00:43:44,698 --> 00:43:49,287 But at the end of this, at the end of days, "I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes 820 00:43:49,287 --> 00:43:54,048 to heaven and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High and praised 821 00:43:54,048 --> 00:43:55,508 and honored him who lives forever." 822 00:43:55,887 --> 00:43:57,047 He learned his lesson, right? 823 00:43:57,047 --> 00:43:58,258 He learned, "I'm not God. 824 00:43:58,457 --> 00:43:59,138 God is God. 825 00:43:59,367 --> 00:44:00,297 He gets the glory. 826 00:44:00,457 --> 00:44:00,838 I don't." 827 00:44:02,498 --> 00:44:03,288 And here's what he says. 828 00:44:03,288 --> 00:44:04,427 I-- Here's why he praises. 829 00:44:04,457 --> 00:44:07,247 "For his dominion is an everlasting dominion." 830 00:44:07,248 --> 00:44:07,428 Right? 831 00:44:07,428 --> 00:44:08,818 God's kingdom lasts forever. 832 00:44:09,297 --> 00:44:10,827 Amazon's not gonna last forever. 833 00:44:11,017 --> 00:44:12,607 America's not gonna last forever. 834 00:44:12,697 --> 00:44:14,517 God's kingdom lasts forever. 835 00:44:15,877 --> 00:44:19,267 Verse 35: "All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, 836 00:44:19,857 --> 00:44:22,097 and he does according to his will." 837 00:44:23,547 --> 00:44:25,287 One of the Psalms says, "Our God is in the heavens. 838 00:44:25,297 --> 00:44:26,627 He does whatever he pleases." 839 00:44:28,218 --> 00:44:29,797 God has the right to do whatever he wants. 840 00:44:31,777 --> 00:44:33,667 You don't have the right to tell God- 841 00:44:37,166 --> 00:44:37,746 And here's what he says. 842 00:44:37,746 --> 00:44:43,086 He says, the last thing he says in verse 35, "And none can say, can stay His hand 843 00:44:43,186 --> 00:44:46,345 or say to Him, 'What have you done?'" 844 00:44:48,492 --> 00:44:51,202 No one can say, "God, why'd you do that? 845 00:44:51,962 --> 00:44:52,722 That doesn't make sense. 846 00:44:52,922 --> 00:44:54,212 I don't agree with that." 847 00:44:56,092 --> 00:44:56,172 Right? 848 00:44:56,202 --> 00:44:59,511 No one's tapping their head and saying, "We need, we need that call reviewed 849 00:45:05,038 --> 00:45:07,498 So one day, student, you are gonna stand before God 850 00:45:11,174 --> 00:45:13,574 Like Matthew twenty-five says, he's gonna separate the sheep and 851 00:45:13,574 --> 00:45:17,694 the goats to the left or to the right, and there's no middle ground. 852 00:45:17,904 --> 00:45:18,834 There's one side or the other. 853 00:45:20,153 --> 00:45:24,554 And the good news, you probably heard of John three sixteen, but in John 854 00:45:24,554 --> 00:45:31,323 three seventeen, Jesus says that the first time he came, he didn't come to 855 00:45:31,574 --> 00:45:34,114 condemn the world, but to save the world. 856 00:45:35,134 --> 00:45:36,823 All this stuff we talked about is future. 857 00:45:37,894 --> 00:45:40,213 You are in between. 858 00:45:40,224 --> 00:45:46,133 You have this moment, which might be your last, but you have it to 859 00:45:46,133 --> 00:45:48,004 turn from your sin, to trust Jesus 860 00:45:50,614 --> 00:45:51,724 And he will save you. 861 00:45:51,734 --> 00:45:54,614 He will show mercy, and we'll talk about that more tonight. 862 00:45:54,654 --> 00:45:59,604 But you can trust him, and your-- the judgment over your life is not, 863 00:45:59,834 --> 00:46:01,774 "I'm not good enough," but "Jesus 864 00:46:04,032 --> 00:46:09,862 And if you are a Christian, I want you to, to just think about how am I going 865 00:46:09,862 --> 00:46:11,532 to give an account of myself to God? 866 00:46:11,752 --> 00:46:13,042 I'm gonna stand before the Lord. 867 00:46:13,852 --> 00:46:15,132 My friends will stand before the Lord. 868 00:46:15,182 --> 00:46:19,521 My family will stand before the Lord, and I will answer for everything I've done. 869 00:46:19,522 --> 00:46:23,711 And in that moment, how's that gonna go for you? 870 00:46:26,190 --> 00:46:27,900 So I'm gonna pray for us, then we're gonna go up 871 00:46:34,798 --> 00:46:39,828 Father in heaven, you are God. 872 00:46:41,118 --> 00:46:42,017 You are the Lord 873 00:46:44,408 --> 00:46:45,128 We're just people. 874 00:46:45,448 --> 00:46:46,168 You made us. 875 00:46:46,218 --> 00:46:46,948 You own us. 876 00:46:47,958 --> 00:46:49,768 You are sovereign over us. 877 00:46:51,088 --> 00:46:54,198 And one day we will stand before you, and you will judge the world. 878 00:46:56,068 --> 00:46:57,418 There's no escape from that moment. 879 00:46:57,918 --> 00:46:58,837 There's no getting out of it. 880 00:46:58,848 --> 00:47:00,407 There's no making it easier on us. 881 00:47:00,408 --> 00:47:02,727 There's no lowering your standard or arguing with you. 882 00:47:04,687 --> 00:47:09,437 But we are so glad that you sent Jesus to live up to your perfect standard. 883 00:47:10,267 --> 00:47:15,488 And so I pray for anyone here who's trying to escape your judgment, that 884 00:47:15,488 --> 00:47:23,827 they would trust Jesus to satisfy your demand for perfect righteousness and to 885 00:47:23,828 --> 00:47:26,427 satisfy your wrath against their sin. 886 00:47:28,067 --> 00:47:31,168 And I pray for those of us who've already done that, that we would 887 00:47:31,177 --> 00:47:35,587 keep trusting Jesus, that we wouldn't try to add to Jesus' work to make 888 00:47:35,587 --> 00:47:37,467 ourselves feel more acceptable to you. 889 00:47:37,977 --> 00:47:39,087 We wouldn't try to 890 00:47:41,166 --> 00:47:45,406 To question what you've already said about our lives, but I pray that you 891 00:47:45,406 --> 00:47:48,996 help us to trust you and to agree with you, to agree with what you say 892 00:47:48,996 --> 00:47:50,825 is good and what you say is evil. 893 00:47:51,765 --> 00:47:56,266 So please help us to, to be serious, to be honest, and to have the 894 00:47:56,266 --> 00:47:57,566 conversations we need to have. 895 00:47:58,406 --> 00:47:59,746 We pray this in Jesus' name. 896 00:48:00,035 --> 00:48:00,385 Amen.