[0:00] Second book of the New Testament, Matthew, Mark, chapter 9, verse 38. This is the word of God. Teacher, said John, we saw a man driving out demons in your name, and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.
[0:21] Do not stop him, Jesus said. No one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me. For whoever is not against us is for us.
[0:32] I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward. And if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck.
[0:51] If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out.
[1:02] And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out.
[1:14] It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched. Everyone will be salted with fire.
[1:28] Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves and be at peace with each other. Amen. Amen.
[1:40] Well, aren't we thankful for the four gospel accounts that record for us the very thoughts and words of the eternal Son of God?
[1:54] He speaks to us. He's come from heaven. He's revealed the Father to us. He's revealed the way of salvation. I am that way, he says.
[2:04] Well, in our text this morning, the Lord Jesus is warning his hearers and us of two serious dangers. One is causing others to sin.
[2:18] The other is causing ourselves to sin. In both cases, sin is the cause and Christ is himself the cure.
[2:30] So let's hear the word of Christ on both of these dangers. The first is causing others to sin. You see it there in verse 42 of Mark 9.
[2:41] And if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck.
[2:52] I want to dissect this verse into three parts. And the first is, who are these little ones who believe in me? These little ones.
[3:04] You remember earlier in verse 36, Jesus had taken a little child and set them before the apostles and given them a lesson about humility and serving the least and the lowest.
[3:19] So it is possible that he's speaking of a little child who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's possible, children, that you as a little child can believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and belong to him.
[3:38] But Jesus also called the twelve little children. It's an endearing term that he has for his own.
[3:51] So more likely, he's talking here about any believer, whatever their age. Yes, including the little ones, the lowest, the least, but also including other believers, such as the disciples, whom he refers to as my little children in John 13, 3.
[4:12] So he's talking about a true believer. That much is clear. Secondly, what does it mean to cause them to sin? Maybe your translation has caused them to stumble.
[4:25] It's the word in the Greek, skandalizomai. And you hear the idea of scandalizing someone. It means to entrap, to ensnare, to cause to stumble.
[4:37] In the noun form, it stands for a bait stick that caused a trap to snap and to catch its prey. And so there's the raccoon, and he's walking along, and he's hungry, and he sees some food.
[4:52] And so he starts nibbling on it until that bait stick snaps, and the gate shuts, and he's now caught.
[5:04] It's something that catches another in sin, ensnares another. To scandalize another is to put any stumbling block in the way that causes them to stumble and fall into sin.
[5:19] To tempt them to sin, to have a hand in their fall. Matthew Henry says it refers to those who in any way hinder the salvation of others.
[5:35] And this can be done by intentional temptation or just by bad example. So we've seen who these little ones who believe are.
[5:47] We've seen what it means to cause them to sin. Now thirdly, notice that our Lord takes this as no small sin. No small thing.
[6:00] He says in verse 42 something of the seriousness of the offense. He says, if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck.
[6:19] Well, there are many ways to die, and this has to be one of the more horrific ways to die. Certainly not the way I would want to go. Perhaps you've heard it rumored, as I have, of the mafia doing something similar to eliminate an enemy.
[6:36] That they would hold a man's feet in huge buckets of quick-set cement. And once the cement had hardened around their feet, they would take him out and throw him off the bridge of a deep river to drown.
[6:54] Well, what Jesus is describing here is just as gruesome as that. To be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck.
[7:08] Not the millstone of a small hand-cranked grinder that a woman might use. It is literally a donkey-drawn millstone. This is one of those huge millstones that a miller might have.
[7:22] That top stone that would be grinding against another stone, and there would be a hole in the top of it in which grain would be dropped down, and it would crush the grain and bring forth flour.
[7:35] It was a donkey-drawn millstone. A very large one. A heavy one indeed. And to tie that around your neck, and to be thrown into the sea means that you would soon find your neck and everything attached to it on the bottom of the sea.
[7:53] And not even the strongest swimmers would be able to pull themselves up to the top. It meant certain death in a horrific way. And as horrific as this death is, Jesus says it would be better to have this happen to you than for you to cause one of Jesus' followers to fall into sin.
[8:14] It would be better for you to die in this tragic way than to live and be the source of pulling others to fall away from Christ.
[8:24] Because that would leave you guilty of a terrible sin and of a greater punishment to come.
[8:36] Yes, a punishment to come that would be even worse than what he has described here. So this word better, it would be better. It's like a balancing scales that is being set before us.
[8:50] On the one side is causing a believer to fall. Okay, how heavy is that? Well, what do we put on the other side? On the other side, we put this horrific death of drowning with a millstone tied around your neck.
[9:07] Okay, now which way does the scale go? Which is better? Better to die with a millstone tied around your neck and thrown into the sea than to cause one of Christ's disciples to fall.
[9:25] Well, if you're a Christian this morning, this is not only a warning to us, but it is meant to comfort you. It's to comfort you. And it's a warning to those who would oppose you.
[9:36] Jesus is saying to those who believe in him, whoever touches you touches the apple of my eye. He's saying to the enemies of God's people, you mess with my beloved little children and you're messing with me and you'll have me to answer to.
[9:54] Better for you to drown with a millstone tied around your neck than to cause one of these children of mine to fall. Think of false teachers today teaching a gospel that is no gospel at all and all the little ones that they are drawing aside to a gospel that will not save.
[10:24] Think of ministers using their influence to seduce children and ladies in the congregation into sin. Sadly, all too common. But notice it's not just a word to ministers and teachers.
[10:39] If anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better to go swimming with a millstone tied around your neck.
[10:53] Because of what? Because of the punishment that's coming that is even worse than that. Now, we saw last week that when we receive a negative command, it infers a positive duty as well.
[11:09] And so here's the negative. Don't be the cause of drawing others away from Christ and into sin. Don't be a hindrance to the people of God.
[11:20] Well, what's the positive that's implied by that command? Well, rather than being a source of temptation to take them away from Christ, we need to be a source of encouragement to draw them closer to Christ.
[11:36] We're to humbly serve the well-being of the least disciples of Jesus, positively urging our fellow believers to follow hard after Christ. Don't give up.
[11:47] Don't lag behind. Don't give up. Encouraging them to see him, to see Christ more clearly, to love him more dearly, and to follow him more nearly, day by day.
[12:00] That's the positive that's being laid upon us. Don't be a hindrance. Be a helper unto Christ, as the scriptures say in Hebrews 10, 24 and 25.
[12:11] Let us consider. Let's think about this. How we may spur one another on to love and good deeds. And let's not give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another and all the more as you see the day, the day of judgment approaching.
[12:30] So we can do this both by our words and by our example. We can encourage the people of Christ to press on closer to him. So let's ask ourselves from this first warning, what effect is my life having on the followers of Jesus, on other followers of Jesus.
[12:52] Let's seek to encourage them Christward, pointing them, drawing them to him with our words and examples. So that's the first of the serious dangers causing others to sin.
[13:06] But now he also addresses the danger of causing ourselves to sin. Hear the words of Christ in verses 43 to 48. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off.
[13:19] It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell where the fire never goes out. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off.
[13:30] It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.
[13:55] So here again, the warning is not against you causing someone else to sin, but is rather something causing you to sin and fall away from Christ.
[14:07] So first let's talk about the members of our body since Jesus does. He speaks of the hand, the foot, the eye, causing you to sin, becoming a stumbling block to you, an ensnare, a snare to you.
[14:26] Not at all meaning that these members of the body are the source themselves enticing you away from Christ and into sin. In other words, your hand is not self-directed.
[14:40] It's not just out there doing whatever it wants, is it? If it is, you need to see a doctor as soon as possible because the hand receives instruction from the mind and it does what we tell it to.
[14:55] That's the way it's supposed to work. Same thing with your feet. If your feet just take off and go where they want, you've got a problem. And so with your eyes. No, we control these members of the body.
[15:09] They're not self-directing, causing you to sin. So sin is not in the hand. It's not in the foot. It's not in the eye itself. Our Lord has already taught us back in chapter 7 that sin comes from within.
[15:29] Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance, and folly.
[15:43] All these evils come from inside and make us unclean, defiled in God's sight. So they come from the control center inside, our soul, that center of our personality that tells the hand and uses the hand to do what it wants and tells the feet and the eyes to do what they see.
[16:09] So the members of our bodies then are just instruments that sin would use to enslave us and to ruin us. And James 1, 15 tells us, make no mistake as to sin's ultimate aim, that sin, when it is finished, brings forth death.
[16:27] Sin is out to damn you. It will take you further than you wanted to go and it will make you stay longer than you wanted to stay. For the wages of sin is death, including the second death of the lake of fire.
[16:43] So by speaking of the hand, the foot, the eye, our Lord is teaching us that indwelling sin in the heart would use these parts of our body to entice us to sin and fall away from Him.
[16:59] These physical members of the body are often found to be the instruments of sin, aren't they? Just think of yourself. Your sins this week, how many of them made use of the members of your body?
[17:15] Sin would use your hand to steal, to take what is not yours, to hit, to harm, to kill another, to text a lie on your phone, to click on filthy pictures, to do what God forbids, to take forbidden fruit.
[17:31] The hand, you see, it's become the instrument of wickedness. Sin would have you use your feet to take you places you ought not to go, to walk in ways of wickedness, displeasing to the Lord, to follow the world in sin.
[17:47] Your feet would often be an instrument of wickedness. Sin would use your eye as an instrument to read things you ought not to read, to look where you ought not to look, to lust, to covet what you don't have, to waste away hours on your phone or your computer.
[18:04] You see, sin, indwelling sin, would make use of these body parts that would cause us to sin. So it is with our tongue, that little member of the body, to speak unkind, harsh words, with malice, to get revenge, to lie, to deny, and so on.
[18:25] And so Romans 6, 12 to 13 say, therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. It wants to reign.
[18:36] Sin wants to reign in your body and control your hands and feet and eyes. Don't let it to reign, Paul says. Don't offer the parts of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness.
[18:49] Don't say to sin, here's my eyes, use them today. Don't say to your hand, here's my hand, use it for your purposes today. No, rather, we are to offer ourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life and to offer the parts of your body to Him as instruments of righteousness.
[19:10] Here, Lord Jesus, take this hand and make it to move at the impulse of your love. Here, Lord Jesus, are my eyes, wonderful, vision, blessing it is, use it today for your glory.
[19:23] Here's my feet. Take me where I ought to go and help me avoid those places I ought to not go by. We're to present our bodies, as Pastor Colin has been showing us from Romans chapter 12, to present our bodies and all that our bodies entail unto the Lord as a living sacrifice to serve Him and do what He wants.
[19:46] And so the seriousness of this matter, then, is further seen by the call to radical amputation and by its alternative, the eternal torments of hell.
[19:59] How serious is Jesus when He tells us to cut it off, pluck it out? Well, it's serious amputation and the alternative is hell.
[20:11] So let's look at those two reasons. First of all, we see the seriousness of the danger by this call to radical amputation. So if your hand, eye, foot, any other member of the body is causing you to sin, dragging you away from Christ and obeying His commands, cut it off, pluck it out.
[20:32] Now, Jesus is not talking about self-mutilation. We're not to take His words literally, and I think I need to say that because a man once heard Martin Lloyd-Jones preaching on this text, and he went home and he plucked out his eye.
[20:50] That's not the meaning of the text. It's not a literal thing, but he's using that to wake us up to the serious surgery that needs to be done. We don't just let this go on.
[21:02] We must use radical surgery to get rid of anything that would pull me down to sin. Cut it out of your life.
[21:14] Anything that's tempting you and snaring you, pulling you away from Christ and His commandments, even things as dear to you as your right hand, your right eye, your right foot, even things that are okay in the right place, but for you, they've become an idol.
[21:30] Cut them out of your life. Anything that hinders you from following Jesus, running hard after Him, get rid of it.
[21:41] The dearest idol I have known, whatever that idol be, help me to tear it from Thy throne and worship only Thee. Tear it out. Cut it off.
[21:52] Pluck it out, is Jesus' words. Make the costly sacrifice, whatever it is. In this next chapter 10, we'll see Jesus meeting a rich young ruler, and the thing that was hindering Him was His love of money, His grasp of money, His covetousness, and Jesus says, you have to give it all away.
[22:11] You see, a costly sacrifice was being made of Him because it was an idol in His life. It was keeping Him from Jesus. With you, excuse me, with you, it may be your phone.
[22:29] Maybe your computer, whatever is giving you access to entangling sins, forbidden fruit. Oh, but I can't live without my phone.
[22:44] Really? When hell is the alternative? Really? Some of us remember living without phone. It can be done.
[22:54] But consider the alternative. There are apps to track and share your phone use with another to help you.
[23:05] Get serious, Jesus says. It may be a relationship that's pulling you away from Christ, not helping you on to Christ. End it. Might be a destructive habit, an addiction that has its grip on you, pulling you away from Christ.
[23:21] places you go that cause you to fall. You must deal ruthlessly with the occasions to sin. You know, the Proverbs say to the young men, don't even go by the sinful woman's house.
[23:36] Don't even go by, find a different route home. You see, it's the avoidance of the temptation. If you're serious, you cut it off. You just negate it from your life.
[23:48] Jesus is calling for radical amputation if it's hindering you from following Him. And to do so at once, Hendrickson comments, dilly-dallying is deadly, for while you dally and debate and delay, sin is strengthening its grip upon you, pulling you further and further and further from communion with Christ.
[24:09] It will never be easier to cut that thing out of your life than it is right now, because as you wait, it strengthens it. And so David says, I have considered my ways and I have turned my steps to your statutes.
[24:24] I will hasten and not delay to obey your commands, Psalm 119, 59 to 60, to hurry in this radical amputation of sin and temptation from our lives.
[24:38] Now, I do believe these words of Jesus are especially important in our day when the popular Christianity that's being preached is avoiding like the plague the demand for repentance to turn from our sins.
[24:53] Salvation is being offered to all without any need to turn away from their sins, to renounce them. And so now, all you need to do is come to Jesus and just carry on as usual.
[25:12] Oh, if you fall, just confess it and go right on with your life. Jesus didn't say that. Jesus said, I don't condemn you to the adulterous woman, now go and sin no more.
[25:26] You see? Where there's saving faith, there's always saving repentance. And that's the only deal heaven has offered to sinful men. Turn from your wicked ways and live.
[25:38] Turn from your way, trust in Christ to save you. Whether the old or the new, we find the same message. Proverbs 28, 13, He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.
[25:56] You want mercy? You must confess and renounce your way and cast yourself upon the mercy of God in Christ. You will receive it. Isaiah 55, 7, let the wicked forsake his way.
[26:09] I've been living this way, my way, always what's in it for me, ignoring Jesus Christ. He's not a part of my life. You must forsake your way. Let him forsake his way.
[26:20] And let the evil man forsake his thoughts. I've been thinking all wrong about life. And what's promised to such a one? He will have mercy on him.
[26:32] He will abundantly pardon. Same in the New Testament. Luke 13, 3. Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.
[26:42] Repentance is absolutely essential to salvation. Colossians 3, 5 to 8. Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature, sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry.
[26:57] Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways in the life you once lived, but now you must rid yourselves of all of these. Anger, rage, malice, slander, filthy language from your lips.
[27:12] Don't lie to each other and so on. Romans 8, 13. If you live according to the flesh, you will die. But if through the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.
[27:27] Matthew 7, 21. Jesus says, Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. You see, in coming to Jesus to save us, what are we asking him to save us from?
[27:43] Hell, yes, but sin. Right? His name will be called Jesus because he will save his people from their sin. And so we come to Jesus and we say, Oh Jesus, I've been living for myself.
[27:57] I've been living for sin. Come and save me from that. That's faith in Jesus. That's saving faith. That's saving repentance. And that's the only salvation that God has offered to sinful men.
[28:12] That's why Owen says, Be killing sin or sin will be killing you. Perhaps some of you have read murder mysteries.
[28:26] I think it's like a whole new genre of literature, isn't it? And you know that in these murder mysteries, the murderer will go to extreme lengths to plot and plan exactly how he's going to carry out his grisly deed.
[28:44] Will you go from here and lay plans to murder your sin? Or will you just keep letting it live? Jesus said, Cut it off.
[29:01] Jesus says, Murder it. Kill it. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh. Don't buy groceries for the flesh. Don't throw it a bone. Don't throw anything to it.
[29:11] Starve it to death. You want it dead. Hands, feet, eyes. Valuable members of the body. But over and over in this text, Jesus says, It were better for you to go through life maimed and impaired and crippled and to enter eternal life that way than it would be for you to have two hands, two feet, and two eyes and to enter hell where the fire never goes out.
[29:35] Once again, the better for you acts like this balancing scales to compare which is better. To live now with one hand, one foot, one eye and to enter into heaven or to have two of each and to go into hell.
[29:54] It were better for you to have just one and go to heaven than to have two and go to hell. You see, hell put in the balance makes anything better.
[30:06] That's what Jesus is saying. Better for you, better for you, better for you three times. Nothing, nothing that you might suffer, nothing of the difficulty, the pain of getting rid of sin in your life, nothing of it could compare to the suffering in hell forever.
[30:28] So with hell in the balance, there's nothing worth that on the other side causing J.C. Ryle to write, to neglect these words of Jesus is the sure path to hell.
[30:41] These words are here for us, folks, and they're here to keep us from hell. They're a kind word from our Savior. Now, hell is not much mentioned in churches today.
[30:53] It's not thought it's not thought to be seeker friendly. It's not thought to create good feelings in the visitors and folks that you want to stay. But you see here three times in this short passage, Jesus warns us about hell.
[31:06] I say warns us, yes, disciples of Jesus, you who have not yet followed Jesus, we're all in this group here that Jesus is talking to and he's warning us about hell.
[31:17] It's the big difference maker in the passage. The motivation that Jesus is holding before us because the only alternative to radical amputation in our lives is the fire of hell.
[31:33] So that tips the scales. He threatens hell precisely to motivate us to amputate sin from our lives. So we can infer from that it's not wrong to kill sin in our lives out of the fear of hell.
[31:52] No, that's right. It's proper for you. It would be terrible for you not to do it for that reason. Now, there ought to be more reasons than that, but surely that is a proper reason if Jesus is using it to motivate us to do the hard right of amputation of sin in our life.
[32:14] Followers of Jesus need these threats of hell because they're not empty threats. you know, no man ever recorded in the scripture ever spoke more plainly and clearly and as often about hell than the loving Lord Jesus Christ sent from heaven on a saving mission.
[32:34] Now, if there was no such place as hell, that would be a cruel, manipulative lie to say that there was such a place. but if there is such a place as a real hell, then it's the most loving thing to do to warn us to not end up there.
[32:58] It's the most hateful thing to not warn us, to poke fun at it, or to lessen its severity. So now, let's consider what Jesus says about hell here and in other passages.
[33:11] And the first thing we see is that hell is a real place. It's as real as heaven. Here and elsewhere, there are only two destinies handed out on the last day of judgment. You enter life in the kingdom of God or you're thrown into hell.
[33:30] It's a real place. There are people there today just as there are people in heaven today. Souls of lost people who died in their sins are in hell today.
[33:43] The souls of those who trusted in Christ are with Jesus in heaven today. There's a real place. Secondly, hell is punishment. It's not remedial.
[33:56] It's not made to make the sinner better. That's not why there's a hell. It is punitive. It's judicial. It's... In other words, the sinner in hell after a billion years will not be improved one bit.
[34:11] He will go on sinning. That's what he is. He's a sinner. He will sin in hell. Hell is not just the loss of heaven but the positive punishment for sin.
[34:28] It's the penalty for sin. It's the wages that sin pays. It's the proper, just payment of what we owe God because of the offense of our sins against him.
[34:40] Did you know that one of the reasons God gives as to why we are not to get revenge upon people that sin against us is because God will punish them.
[34:51] Remember how he says it in Romans 12, 19? We're not to take revenge against those who sin against us because we're to leave room for God's wrath for it is written vengeance is mine.
[35:05] I will repay says the Lord. That's his role to pay back for sin and he will do it. He's put his name, his signature on it.
[35:19] I will repay says the Lord. Hell is the repayment for our sin against God. It's punishment. 2 Thessalonians 1, God is just, he's fair, he's right and he will pay back trouble to those who trouble you.
[35:36] He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power.
[35:50] Punishment. Hell is punishment for sin. Third, hell is eternal torment. Eternal torment of body and soul and that's why it outweighs anything of suffering in this life because it only lasts a lifetime but hell is forever and therefore we are to forsake our sins.
[36:13] Better to be thrown into the sea with a great millstone tied around our neck. Better to live our whole lives with one eye, one foot, one hand.
[36:25] You see, the punishment is infinite because the God we've sinned against is infinite. That makes our sin of infinite size and so we could suffer in hell for 10 billion years and we would still never have paid the infinite debt of our sins that we owe to this infinitely good and gracious and righteous and just God.
[36:47] Jesus speaks of hell in verse 43 as hell where the fire never goes out and verse 48 hell where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched and Jesus says in Revelation that the lake of fire is the second death if anyone's name was not found in the book of life he was thrown where?
[37:14] Into the lake of fire 2015 and unbelievers and liars will have their place in the lake of fire with other sinners this is the second death it's called the second death because you can't call it life it is ruinous life it is painful tormenting life but this second death is not their extinction it's not the end of their suffering rather Revelation 20 and verse 10 says that those who are thrown into the lake of fire will be tormented day and night forever and ever and the smoke of their torment rises forever and ever there is no rest day or night for them furthermore since sinners never stop sinning in hell you can see why sin's punishment will be never ending as well as they're receiving the just punishment for their sins so Jesus the one that we've been reading of for nine chapters in Mark's gospel
[38:15] Jesus of Nazareth he's the one who's going to be at that final judgment determining the eternal destinies of men and this is what he says they the wicked will go away unto everlasting punishment but the righteous to eternal life the wicked will go away to eternal punishments and the righteous to eternal life as long as the righteous enjoy life in the new heavens and the new earth just as long will the wicked be suffering the torments that their sins deserve in hell the duration is the same for the one as the other it is eternal it is the fire that never goes out now some people say well fire is just a symbol and that's true in the Bible often fire is a symbol even if that is the case with the fire of hell and I'm not saying it is but let's posit that that might be true okay even if fire is a symbol of hell and not literal fire in the Bible symbols are never less than the thing the realities that they symbolize the reality is so great that they've got to use a symbol to talk about it and so if the symbol of fire is such a horrible torment what must the reality be this is no way out of the torments of hell and whatever the literal form of punishment the Bible is clear in describing the suffering caused by that punishment here's how Jesus describes it it's torments forever and ever it's agony it's unsatisfied thirst it's weeping or wailing and gnashing of teeth he says six times in the scripture it's a gnawing worm perhaps speaking of that guilty conscience ever charging them as guilty filling them with remorse filling them with all the remembrances remember remember you you had Christ offered to you and you you didn't receive him you're here because you've rejected him revelation even speaks of people wanting to die but not being able you see
[40:36] God is able to sustain the sinner in hell forever and all of this shows us just how little this world really understands how serious sin is the seriousness the sinfulness of sin we can learn something of its seriousness by reading the eternal punishment for it and we can learn something even more important about the sinfulness of sin if we go to the middle cross at Calvary and there see the kind of torment that the son of God made man bore as he stepped in our place and took the wrath of God in our place let the cross of Christ show us the seriousness of sin even as hell itself does you know we read nothing of Jesus crying out under the physical torments inflicted by men their beatings they hit him in the face and pulled out his beard such that you couldn't even recognize him
[41:44] Isaiah says they put a crown of thorns and pounded it into his head with a staff they pounded nails through his hands and feet and in all of that we never hear we never read of the Savior crying out but when God Almighty poured out upon him the wrath due to sinners for our sin when God made him to be sin for us he cried out with a loud voice my God my God why have you abandoned me there was torment of soul as well as body that fell upon our Lord that would have fallen upon every one of us had he not made a way of salvation for us it was agonizing torments bearing our everlasting shame and disgrace bearing the wrath that would have been ours for eternity as he stepped in and bore the blow himself in our place substitutionary curse bearing that's the gospel and can you see then my friends why the gospel is good news because we've all come short of the glory of God we've all sinned against
[43:12] God we've all turned our backs on him and we've gone our own way and we're guilty and we deserve to go to this punishment of hell forever and ever and if that's all the bible taught us we would have no reason for hope for joy for for peace with God but the good news of the gospel is that God even though we were such wicked rebels that didn't want God in our life that God so loved this world of rebels that he sent his one and only son into the world that he might die in the place of sinners so that whoever believes on him might not perish but have everlasting life that he went to the hellish cross and suffered the wrath of God in the place of his people who are his people they're those who turn from their sin and throw themselves upon the mercy of God in Christ they're those who trust in Jesus perfect life and in his death on the cross it was their sins that were placed upon him and he bore them to the tree and there he suffered once for all what we would have suffered for infinite eternal ages you see that's good news that's the gospel that the sins of his people were laid on him that he was wounded for our transgressions that he was crushed for our iniquities and the punishment yes the punishment that brought us peace was on him the punishment of hell on that middle cross the father forsaking him and pouring out his wrath upon him the punishment that brought us peace was on him and by his wounds we're healed we're made right with
[45:04] God through faith in Jesus Christ that's not that's not a benefit that everyone in the world receives it's only those who turn from their sin and trust in the Savior have you oh I urge you if you don't turn away from your sin you don't trust in Jesus then you're left to suffer the eternal punishment yourself but why would you when God has sent his son as a substitute for sinners for all who will take him if you come to him he will never turn you away he's a willing and an able Savior in Dr.
[45:54] Martin Lowy Jones is a beloved minister of the gospel that's gone on to be with the Lord but in his last interview with Christianity today he was asked what would be your final word to this generation and he said flee the coming wrath that's to the point isn't it and I suppose he said that that would be his final word to this generation because not very many people are saying that anymore John the Baptist was the Lord Jesus was and that's my last word he says flee the coming wrath now you'll never flee the wrath of God by running away from Jesus you can't hide you can run but you can't hide he will find you be sure your sin will find you out no you must stop running that's your problem you're running from him and you must turn and run into his arms of love you must turn and trust in him and renounce the old way of sin and embrace
[46:55] Jesus to save you from your sin and he turns none away Paul was commending the believers in Thessalonica for doing this very thing you turned to God from your idols to serve to live for the one true God and to wait for his son from heaven whom he raised from the dead even Jesus who rescues us from the coming wrath there's the one way to be to flee the coming wrath it's coming it's coming for everyone who's outside of Christ so what you do is you stop running and you run to Jesus who rescues us from the coming wrath to be found in Christ is to be enter into eternal life because he who has this life is in his son and he who has the son has life and he who has not the son of God has not life so come come to Jesus that's his invite and he turns none away who comes his justice will smile and ask no more he's just that good taste and see that the
[48:07] Lord is gracious let's pray father we must thank you that Jesus did not shy away from speaking of realities that are not pleasant to hear and so we thank you for the love in his heart that rather than surprise us at the end of our life with a hell we knew nothing about and to wake up in hell realizing we live for the wrong world our whole life was one big long mistake we thank you Jesus for telling us of hell for warning us for threatening us and that it was your love your love that not only threatened the coming hell but it was your love that went to the cross and bore that hell for all who trust in you so thank you make us then to be willing to plan and plot the murder of our sins and temptations and make us to do it yes because we don't want to go to hell but we but because we also want to thank you
[49:14] Lord Jesus and love you for having stood in and taken that hell for us and we pray in Jesus name amen