The Danger of Decisional Salvation: A Critical Review

• Divine Judgment [00:00:00 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor introduces judgment as an unpopular but inevitable reality, correcting the misconception that 'judge not' means we should never call out sin, clarifying that God is the ultimate judge.
• Stewardship of Gifts [00:03:48 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that Christians are saved by grace but must 'work out' what God has worked in, facing accountability for how they use their unique aptitudes and abilities.
• The Rapture [00:09:53 ▶️ 📄]
  > Described as the 'instantaneous snatching away' of believers, occurring before the first judgment (Judgment A), illustrated through a physical demonstration with collar stays and magnets.
• End Times Signs [00:13:43 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor points to global political corruption and cultural shifts (wokeism, Marxism) as evidence that the world is 'rolling toward the end,' urging believers to keep 'one eye on eternity and one eye right here on this earth.'
• The Judgment Seat of Christ [00:16:17 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains that this judgment is for believers who must give an account for their service and works, using the analogy of Greek games where judges reward performance.
• Rewards and Loss [00:18:49 ▶️ 📄]
  > He discusses how believers' works will be tested by fire; works done for God (gold, silver) remain, while works done for self (wood, hay, stubble) are burned, resulting in loss but salvation.
• Accountability in Service and Evangelism [00:24:02 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor challenges believers to evaluate how they used their abilities, specifically focusing on serving the church and sharing the gospel, warning against the regret of missed opportunities.
• The Great White Throne Judgment [00:28:48 ▶️ 📄]
  > He introduces the second judgment for unbelievers after the millennium, where they are judged by their works against God's perfect standard and found wanting.
• Final Judgment and Eternal Destiny [00:31:11 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor discusses Revelation 20, the lake of fire, and the final judgment of all thoughts, words, and actions against God's perfect standard, emphasizing that no one can be saved by works.
• Salvation by Grace vs. Works [00:31:43 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor asserts that no one can make it into heaven based on works because all are sinners, contrasting this with the security of having one's name in the Lamb's book of life.
• Spiritual Perspective and Access [00:33:56 ▶️ 📄]
  > Using an analogy of stadium access, the pastor contrasts the limited view of the general public with the 'all access' privilege of those whose names are in the Lamb's book of life, allowing them to glorify God.

• Sermon Illustration [00:05:02 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses a watercolor painting analogy to explain the permanence of actions: unlike acrylics or oils where mistakes can be painted over, watercolor is unforgiving ('once you throw that paint on the canvas... you can't take it back'), illustrating the seriousness of accountability.
• Sermon Illustration [00:10:32 ▶️ 📄]
  > He demonstrates the Rapture using a shirt collar with hidden magnets and collar stays. He explains that just as a magnet attracts to its nature, believers (who have the 'nature of Christ') will be 'snatched' to heaven, while those without the 'collar stay' (faith) will remain.
• Sermon Illustration [00:09:12 ▶️ 📄]
  > He references the children's character Blippi to illustrate the concept of being 'mesmerizing' and fully engaged, using it as a humorous transition to discuss how believers should be fully engaged in their spiritual walk.
• Sermon Illustration [00:14:47 ▶️ 📄]
  > He uses a basketball analogy (March Madness) to describe the Christian life: great players keep one eye on the clock (eternity/end times) and one eye on the game (earthly responsibilities), urging believers to balance eternal perspective with present action.
• Sermon Illustration [00:19:31 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about receiving a trophy in third-grade peewee football despite being a poor player, illustrating the universal human desire for recognition and trophies.
• Sermon Illustration [00:30:11 ▶️ 📄]
  > He tells a story about smoking a cigar by the pool and getting stung by a wasp, using the resulting burn on his eye as a physical prop to illustrate the concept of fire and judgment.
• Sermon Illustration [00:31:46 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts being invited to an owner's box at a professional football game, describing the high security and luxury to contrast earthly privilege with eternal realities.
• Sermon Illustration [00:31:55 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts being invited to an owner's box at a professional football game, describing the rigorous security, the luxury of the box (thick carpet, oil paintings, VIPs), and contrasting this exclusive access with the cramped, expensive experience of the general fans in the nosebleed section to illustrate the difference in perspective between those outside and inside the Lamb's book of life.

• Pastoral Charge [00:09:36 ▶️ 📄]
  > Search for the children's entertainer Blippi online.
• Pastoral Charge [00:27:52 ▶️ 📄]
  > To take personal inventory of their spiritual life and actions.

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:00:00] Judgment is not a sexy topic. It's not going to sell books. It's not going to be on coffee mugs or t-shirts.
[00:00:06] We're not going to have, you know, a bunch of merch in our bookstore that says, judgment is coming. I'm going to be judged. No, no, no, no. That's not popular.
[00:00:14] You won't hear very many worship songs about God is going to judge me. I can't wait for the judgment. No, you're not going to have that. We are though. We are going to be judged.
[00:00:29] Do you ever hear this? Hey, don't judge me. Do you ever say that? I have before I'll confess.
[00:00:39] Hey, don't judge me, man. I always put a man after it because I'm feeling convicted, basically.
[00:00:49] I'm feeling like, wow, you're calling me out. So I'll just go, hey, don't judge me.
[00:00:55] When I say don't judge me, or when you say that, that's a statement of judgment.
[00:00:59] don't judge me. I would say, don't judge me or thou shalt not judge or other phrases like this would probably be one of the most misquoted, misunderstood, miscalculated sayings of Jesus ever. Because when Jesus said, don't judge, he wasn't saying that we shouldn't call out
[00:01:27] sin or we shouldn't say that is an immoral behavior. He wasn't saying that. What he was saying was that he is the ultimate judge. Over 600 times, 600 times in the Bible, the Bible talks
[00:01:46] about judgment, judgment. I think about the different judgments in the Bible. Think about Adam and Eve, they were judged. Noah, the judgment of the flood. Tower of Babel, another judgment act of God. Then we think about Egypt, the Egyptians, they were judged. And obviously
[00:02:08] the ultimate was when Jesus took the judgment, get ready to clap, for our sins on that cross.
[00:02:17] he was buried and because he was holy and righteous, death couldn't hold him down. He rose again. And now we're facing some more judgments. I didn't mean to say that to depress you.
[00:02:34] I want this series and Jimmy and I both want this series to encourage you to, to, to put wind in your sails. There will be several more judgments and two of the big ones I want to talk about.
[00:02:48] you can call the first one judgment A and the first one judgment B. Everyone, everyone, everyone hearing my voice, everyone on planet earth, everyone who has ever lived will be judged.
[00:03:03] Everybody will be judged. Now, judgment is not a sexy topic. It's not going to sell books. It's not going to be on coffee mugs or t-shirts. We're not going to have, you know, a bunch of merch in
[00:03:15] our bookstore that says judgment is coming. I'm going to be judged. No, no, no, no. That's not popular. You won't hear very many worship songs about God is going to judge me. I can't wait for
[00:03:28] the judgment. No, you're not going to have that. We are though. We are going to be judged. Judgment.
[00:03:38] There will be a time of accounting. There will be a time where we have to, to show the Lord Jesus.
[00:03:48] I'm talking to Christians and reveal to him what we did with all of these aptitudes and abilities and gifts and opportunities that he's given us. I think for too many Christians, we're like, okay, I'm a Christian. I've got that get out of hell card. And that's fine with me. Well,
[00:04:10] it should be much more than that. Obviously we're saved by grace through faith.
[00:04:15] We then have to work out what the Lord has worked in. God does not zap us to heaven the moment we're saved. The moment we're rescued. We're here for a reason. We should have that, that thought,
[00:04:33] that awareness, that responsibility that one day we're going to be held accountable for everything, everything we've ever done. Now that's like, whoa, you know, some of us say, amen. Others say, oh me, you know, these message maps, I designed these for you.
[00:05:02] I painted this watercolor you can see of a levee breaking behind it I sometimes when I'm studying not all the time I'll study for a while then I'll just do a quick watercolor I don't always do
[00:05:15] watercolor I'm just into watercolor recently watercolor is tricky it's tough you know it's not easy once you throw that paint on the canvas I mean that's it you know you can't take it back other types talk about art for a second other mediums you know you can if you're painting
[00:05:34] with acrylics or oils. Oh man, I messed up. Paint over it. Not watercolor. Wow. When that levy breaks, you're in trouble. The Bible says though, and I'm going to run through these, one task of the Holy Spirit of God. God, the Father, God, the Son, God, the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit is
[00:05:56] inside of our lives. He works from the inside out to help us become the kind of people that the Lord Jesus desires. One of the roles of the Holy Spirit is to convict the world
[00:06:12] of the upcoming judgment. So your first blank is the word convict. Convict. We should be convicted.
[00:06:24] Like, I don't mean just guilt or shame. I don't mean feeling down or dark. Just convicted. Okay, I'm gonna have to give an account one day for everything God has given me.
[00:06:42] Now, the cool thing about that is we all have unique gifts.
[00:06:46] You have gifts I don't have.
[00:06:47] I have gifts that you don't have.
[00:06:49] And you've been gifted by the God of the universe.
[00:06:52] I don't care what people say about you.
[00:06:54] I don't care what your parents said about you.
[00:06:55] I don't care what your coach said about you.
[00:06:57] I don't care what your boss says about you.
[00:06:59] You, my friend, are gifted by the God of the universe.
[00:07:04] that's positive man that's like man that's that's really some heavy stuff so I should take those gifts and use those gifts as an act of worship then I'm going to be judged by how I used the
[00:07:23] gifts God's given me for example I have the gift of speaking I'm not necessarily the best speaker out there, but I know I have this gift. It was affirmed by people. And I believe God called me.
[00:07:39] I've never heard his voice, but I believe he spoke to me in a powerful way, not audibly, but he spoke to me in a powerful way to begin speaking. I had this gift. Okay. It's not better
[00:07:51] than your gift. I'm just saying it's a gift I have. And I'll use myself as an example because I'm on the stage. One day I'm going to be held accountable at the judgment regarding how I
[00:08:07] stewarded this gift. Did I preach? Did I teach the entire Bible? Or did I go, you know, I'll just teach the fun parts, you know, the positive parts. I'll just, I'll just try to have this Christian
[00:08:22] pep rally and that'll kind of be it. But as far as the difficult stuff like pride and anger and lust, I'm just going to kind of stay away from that. I mean, the judgment of God, I'm not really
[00:08:34] going to hit that. I'll be judged regarding how I used the gifts. Did I teach truth? Did I rightly divide the word of God? All right. Think about your gift. You might have the gift of
[00:08:52] leadership. You might have the gift of making money. You might have the gift of singing. You might have the gift of organization. Who knows the kind of gifts? You might have the gift of sharing your faith. You'll be judged based on the abilities that God has given you.
[00:09:12] So when I think about that, I should go, whoa, you know what that sounded like? Blippi. You ever watch Blippi? Whoa, didn't it? I've been watching with my grandkids. Google Blippi. Man, this guy is incredible. How many people have ever heard of Blippi before? Oh, he's amazing. He's mesmerizing.
[00:09:36] Whoa. I'm starting to talk like Blippi. I'm losing it. The Bible says in John 16, 8 through 11, when he comes, that's Jesus. When will this first judgment take place? Judgment A. It'll take place
[00:09:53] after the rapture.
[00:09:55] What's the rapture?
[00:09:56] The instantaneous snatching away of those here who are believers.
[00:10:03] It'll be invisible.
[00:10:06] Conversations will end in mid-sentence.
[00:10:08] Quarterback will go back to pass.
[00:10:11] He'll throw this beautiful tight spiral.
[00:10:13] There'll be no receiver there.
[00:10:17] A bank president will walk into the boardroom and half the people are gone.
[00:10:23] A mom will look to her teenage daughter to say something.
[00:10:27] She'll be gone.
[00:10:29] The rapture.
[00:10:32] How do you like, I like this shirt.
[00:10:34] Do you like this?
[00:10:35] I do, it's one of my favorites.
[00:10:37] Sometimes people ask me, how do you get your collar to stand like this?
[00:10:43] Well, it's not because this is some great shirt.
[00:10:46] It's because of these, are you ready for this?
[00:10:48] I've told you this before, but let me tell you again about this little secret.
[00:10:53] I have these little magnets.
[00:10:55] See these magnets?
[00:10:55] See it?
[00:10:57] I'm seeking.
[00:10:57] you see them? Well, I have a collar stay. Now guys, a collar stay, here, I'll take that out too if I can find it. Yeah. A collar stay helps keep your collars right. If not, guys,
[00:11:21] you'll be like a pterodactyl. You'll just fly away. And before I discovered collar stays, you know, I levitated several times. It just, whoa. This works because a magnet is attracted to something like its nature. That's how the rapture, in a way, will take place.
[00:11:54] We have the nature of Christ. We have the righteousness of Christ inside of our lives.
[00:11:59] when the rapture happens, that's what will happen. Well, one does not have the collar stay and one does, but because see, I've had that train on this side. Look now, now, now it looks pretty
[00:12:20] good, doesn't it? Okay. Okay. Okay. When he comes, John 16, eight, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin. This is Jesus and righteousness and judgment. Now, now don't judge us about
[00:12:38] spelling judgment. There are two ways to spell judgment with the E or without the E. I can

[00:12:45] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:12:45] already tell some of you smart people were like, oh, he misspelled judgment, honey. Well, you're

[00:12:50] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:12:50] judging me. When he comes, he'll prove to the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment about sin, about sin.
[00:13:10] In other words, what this text is driving at, and that's all I'll read out of John 16.
[00:13:15] This text is driving at time.
[00:13:20] God's sense of time is totally different than yours and mine.
[00:13:24] I'm gonna put up like a timeline in a little while of the things that will happen as we move toward the end, as the credits roll, as the curtains are closed, as they clean up the theater.
[00:13:39] We can tell, can't we?
[00:13:40] Everything is moving toward the end.
[00:13:43] Think about what's happening right now with Russia and Putin and Ukraine and everyone going insane and China and Pelosi and Biden and congressmen and the corrupt FBI and CIA, the corrupt IRS.
[00:14:01] and here we're going to investigate people for corruption.
[00:14:05] It's the corrupt investigating the corrupt about who's investigating the corrupt and let's have more corruption and more corruption and more corruption and more corruption.
[00:14:15] Everything is corrupt.
[00:14:18] And our country has become more and more corrupt because we have people who are self-centered sinners running the show.
[00:14:25] And when you have a bunch of self-centered sinners running the show, you're going to have a lot of self-centered sinning going on. We see this movement, don't we? Wokeism, critical race theory, Marxism, post-modernism. We see us rolling toward the end. Most of us will watch March Madness, right? March
[00:14:47] Madness, basketball, everybody? Okay. That's it? Come on. Participate with me. There we go. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, if you're a great player, which I was not, if you're a great player, you're going to have one eye on the clock.
[00:15:00] It could be the shot clock or the game clock and you'll have the other eye on your team and you'll have the other eye hopefully on the hoop, you know?
[00:15:11] So great players do that.
[00:15:14] Players who aren't that good they so focus on the clock that they forget to play or they play so much they don't think about the clock.
[00:15:23] We have to have one eye on eternity and one eye right here on this earth, this sin stained earth. And I don't mean at all to, to, to try to, to try to make you feel bad, but you know, it's going to get a lot worse
[00:15:42] before it gets better. And as I've said about the end times, this should encourage us because we win. However, it's easy to see sort of where we're going. So let's talk about judgment A, the first judgment, the judgment of you and me, I'm talking about Christians. So if you're a
[00:15:58] Christian, listen. If you're a believer, listen. If you've been born again, listen. If you're not, I mean, you can count ceiling tiles, okay? But I would still encourage you to listen, but this is for those of us who are Christians. Two separate judgments. The first one is after
[00:16:17] the rapture, after the magnet hits the collar stay, after this supernatural snatching, here's what's going to happen. The judgment seat of Christ, the judgment seat of Christ, you see that is for believers, those who've received Jesus Christ. We've made that faith reception. It's
[00:16:46] for believers who must give an account for their lives in service to Christ. That's heavy.
[00:16:59] Second Corinthians chapter five, verse 10, for we must all, there it is again. I have a friend of mine and his mom always says, we all, when there's kind of a family conflict, she goes,
[00:17:13] we all have problems. Well, I'm going to say this to all of you. We all, I'm talking about Christians. We all, I'm talking about believers, will face judgment. So the Bible says, verse 10, second Corinthians chapter five, for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.
[00:17:33] The picture here in the original language is of the Greek games. The guy that would call the shots for the Greek games would sit up in this elevated box and he would look and judge and reward and
[00:17:48] give crowns out, wreaths out to those who perform the best with their abilities. And, and next time Jimmy is going to unpack this more and more. So, so, so that's the picture here. That's Jesus,
[00:18:02] the judge. So for all must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due to him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
[00:18:18] Again, the rapture has taken place. Boom. We move into the judgment. I'm talking about believers.
[00:18:28] We must give an account and we will give an account of everything. This judgment will be so specific. It'll make the IRS seem like they're the biggest generalists ever. That's how, that's how serious this is going to be. It's going to be about trophies and rewards on one hand.
[00:18:49] So there's going to be triumph. Yeah. Hallelujahs. But also, again, this is not popular.
[00:19:01] There's going to be tears from those of us, I'm talking about believers, who fumbled the ball, who took their eye off the shot clock, who didn't take this life seriously, who just said, you know what?
[00:19:21] I've got a get out of hell card and everything's cool with me.
[00:19:27] And that's a scary, scary thing.
[00:19:31] I remember talking about rewards.
[00:19:33] The first trophy I ever received, it was so embarrassing.
[00:19:36] I was in the third grade, played peewee football, went to this banquet and they gave every kid a trophy.
[00:19:44] I didn't deserve a trophy.
[00:19:46] I was horrible.
[00:19:47] But I was so excited to get that trophy.
[00:19:52] Old Coach Holden came up.
[00:19:54] He was giving these trophies to all the kids.

[00:19:57] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:19:57] This next player was named Little Ed Young.

[00:20:02] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:20:02] And I almost ran up on the stage and people were laughing.
[00:20:05] I didn't know why they were laughing.
[00:20:06] They were laughing at me because I was so eager to get a trophy.
[00:20:10] And when he held the trophy out to shake my hand, I just grabbed the trophy from him.
[00:20:13] and all the parents.
[00:20:17] Why do we like trophies?
[00:20:22] Hate to confess this, but I fish in fishing tournaments and I want to win trophies there.
[00:20:27] And I'm an adult.
[00:20:30] And we have these banquets.
[00:20:31] They're like adult peewee football banquets.
[00:20:35] It's not about money.
[00:20:36] It's just trophies.
[00:20:38] Why am I that way?
[00:20:40] It's sad.
[00:20:42] We all are though.
[00:20:43] The Golden Globes.
[00:20:48] The Oscars.
[00:20:50] Look at that thing falling from the sky.
[00:20:52] A Heisman trophy.
[00:20:57] we all, we were in the trophies, aren't we? I believe that's, that's a desire given to us by God. Just like we had this judgment chip in our lives. We had this trophy chip as well.
[00:21:11] What kind of trophies are you going to receive? I don't know. First Corinthians 3, 11 through 15, really breaks it down. It says for no one, the Bible says, no one can lay any foundation other
[00:21:27] than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.
[00:21:32] If anyone builds this foundation using gold, silver, and costly stones, wood, hay, or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, here we go, because the day will bring it to light, but now it gets scary, it will be revealed
[00:21:57] filled with fire. You can tell how old I am. And the fire will test the quality of each person's work. Now check this out. Here we go. We're, we're, we're standing there. I'm standing there.
[00:22:14] You're standing there. Every believer, every single believer is standing there. You can turn the page now. And many of us will just have a little pile, some, a big pile of wood, hay, and stubble. It's just going to be in our feet. And the King of Kings and Lord of Lords will come
[00:22:34] with this flame, gone. Wood, hay, or stubble. The superfluous, superfluous activity. See it under wood, hay, and stubble? With no spiritual value. What are you chasing? What are you doing?
[00:23:01] What am I chasing? What am I doing? That's basically just wood, hay, and stubble. How we glorified self and built our kingdom that's going to go up in flames versus gold silver and precious stones how we glorified god and built his church and that's the only thing that's going to last
[00:23:34] let me say it again how we glorified god what does it mean to glorify god it means to reflect his attributes and everything we do say touch and feel as an act of worship the only
[00:23:46] thing Jesus ever built was a local church. Well, what and how will we be judged? Serving. Did we serve? I mean, it's not about me. I'm my biggest issue. You're your biggest issue. Serving. We'll
[00:24:02] be judged based on that. Serving. Are you serving others? Are you serving within the context of the church? Are you using your abilities and aptitudes here in this house? Sharing. Are you sharing the good news of Jesus with others?
[00:24:20] Are you sharing your faith?
[00:24:23] When God gives you opportunity, are you inviting?
[00:24:26] Are you engaging?
[00:24:28] When God gives you an opportunity, after you pray those high-risk prayers for others, are you articulating your faith?
[00:24:39] Because many of us, I believe in judgment B, let me skip to judgment B just for a second.
[00:24:46] Many of us will see our coworkers, our neighbors, our family members go to hell and we will go, man, I had such an opportunity.
[00:25:04] I was a part of a church that prayed and thought and planned so much about people far away from God. Yet I didn't leverage it. I didn't invite them. I didn't engage them.
[00:25:24] I didn't pray for them.
[00:25:27] How heavy is that?
[00:25:30] Some of us here, God has given some of us an ability to make a lot of money.
[00:25:36] Why?
[00:25:39] Are you here just to recreate, procreate, do deals and die?
[00:25:42] That's it?
[00:25:46] Great.
[00:25:47] You know how to make money.
[00:25:48] That's awesome.
[00:25:48] Enjoy the fruits of your labor.
[00:25:50] You're blessed, good.
[00:25:54] How though are we leveraging that for eternity?
[00:25:59] How are we leveraging that when it comes to the bride?
[00:26:05] The bride. All right. Husbands, what if you, what if you like hung out with your wife, your bride, maybe, I don't know, once every six weeks. You didn't see her. You're like, no, no, I'm too busy. I've got, I've got to go on this hunting trip, this fishing trip. I've
[00:26:21] got to go on this golfing outing. I've got to go on this business trip. I'll just see you.
[00:26:26] Maybe, I don't know, Christmas and Easter. Well, go ahead and call the divorce lawyers up because that's just not going to happen, is it? I meet people all the time, especially in my line of work, who tell me, oh yeah, I'm a Christian. Oh, great, great. We'll talk a little
[00:26:51] bit. Where do you go to church? Oh, a little name of church. Okay. And tell me the pastor's name.
[00:26:58] what's the pastor's name yeah so I'm not I'm not the ultimate judge but if you're not regularly showing your love and support and attendance and church if you're not loving and honoring the bride I really have to doubt if you're a Christian I mean I'm just just from my
[00:27:31] theological study, my background, I would put a big question mark whether or not you're truly born again. Now, I'm not judging you. I'm just challenging you to take inventory of your life. We're going to be judged on this stuff. You're going to be judged
[00:27:52] on how you used, again, your different abilities, whether you sing, dance, whatever you do, whatever creativity, whatever you do. And that is for those of us who are believers.
[00:28:10] Now you're going to go to heaven, but you're not going to, you're not going to get and hit the levels because there there's levels in heaven that God desires. And instead of triumph during that judgment, there's going to be a lot of tears. Let me go to judgment B. I've got to be fast with
[00:28:34] this. I've got to do this in like two minutes. I can do it. I can do it. B is that that's, that's the judgment for those who don't know Christ personally. That's on the second page.
[00:28:48] Turn the page, the judgment of the great white throne. So the first is the judgment seat of Jesus. Judgment A, judgment B. This is after the 1000 year millennium, after the devil has been slam dunked into the lake of fire, you have the great white throne judgment. The judgment of the
[00:29:11] great white throne is for unbelievers who must give an account for their works. Whoa, man. I mean, it's going to happen. It is happening. We're moving toward this and you can see the corresponding scriptures, Revelation 20 verse 11. Then I saw a great white throne and him who was
[00:29:33] seated on it. It talks about the books were open, the Lamb's book of life. You're either in the book or you're not. And if you're not, and all these people are going to be unbelievers,
[00:29:46] you'll spend eternity in hell. Well, I cannot stand a God who would slam dunk someone to hell.
[00:29:54] Well, sorry, no cigar. And I like to smoke cigar some. That's why I have this burn right here on my eye right up here. I don't smoke that many cigars. So don't, don't DM me or email me.
[00:30:11] But the other day I've been speaking a lot. I thought no one's at home. I'm going to smoke a cigar. So I'm sitting out there by our pool, just making a burnt offering. Now kids don't do
[00:30:25] this. I didn't, I didn't start smoking cigars until I was like 40 something. Cause this is okay.
[00:30:30] So I'm smoking a cigar and all of a sudden, boom, I get stung by the mother of all wasps.
[00:30:41] And I take the cigar and go, ah, ah, burn.
[00:30:44] See, look, see this burn?
[00:30:46] I put some makeup on it.
[00:30:47] You can see it right there.
[00:30:48] I mean, it's like, it was wicked.
[00:30:55] How does that make sense?
[00:30:56] Well, heaven will be a place of burning, of fire.
[00:31:01] But the last part of Revelation 20 says, then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire.
[00:31:11] And fire is the second death.
[00:31:15] Born once, die twice.
[00:31:17] Born twice, you die once.
[00:31:21] And we'll be judged, those who don't know Christ, by thoughts, every thought, every word, every action, it'll be judged against God's perfect standard.
[00:31:38] No one can make it in based on works.
[00:31:43] No one.
[00:31:46] Because we're all sinners.
[00:31:47] A couple of years ago, I got invited to sit in an owner's box to watch a professional football game.
[00:31:55] No, it was not Jerry Jones.
[00:31:57] It wasn't him.
[00:31:59] It was another owner.
[00:32:03] I got this badge, and my name was on the badge.
[00:32:08] And we had to go through all of these levels of security to get into the owner's box.
[00:32:17] And the security was old school.
[00:32:18] I mean, they had like a clipboard at every station.
[00:32:23] Young, yeah.
[00:32:25] Oh, okay, Ed Young, yes.
[00:32:27] You can go ahead.
[00:32:29] Escalators and elevators and this and that and walking through metal detectors.
[00:32:32] Finally, we walk into this box. The carpet was so thick, I think it sucked the shoes off of my feet. Priceless oil paintings. A former president was there, secretary of state, hall of famers that I'm not going to mention, all these people. I'm thinking,
[00:32:52] whoa, this is sweet. Caviar and the best of the best, anything you wanted. The perspective, Oh my goodness. It was just, it was awesome. It was, as we would say, it was stupid.
[00:33:14] And I thought, as I'm looking at the other commenters down below, I was thinking, you know, how many times have I gone to a game? I'm not thinking about the owner's box. Maybe I'm sitting
[00:33:33] in the nosebleed section, paying way too much money for overpriced junk food. Just sitting there, cramped in these little seats. But wow, if your name is on the list, you can have access to the
[00:33:56] owner's box. So I just want to ask you this one question. Is your name, your name in the Lamb's book of life? Is it? Because if it is, you have perspective. You have an all access opportunity
[00:34:21] to glorify the King of Kings and Lord of Lords here and forever.
[00:34:32] Father, in the name of Jesus, I thank you for this time.
[00:34:36] Holy Spirit, thank you for convicting us and I pray for a greater conviction amongst those here at Fellowship about the judgment. If you're here and you've never ever made a decision to give your life to Christ,
[00:34:53] just simply say, Jesus, that's right just say Jesus I admit to you that I'm a sinner I turn from my sins and I turn to you I ask you Jesus Christ to come into my life I give you everything Lord if you said that
[00:35:08] in a few moments we're going to tell you what to do next others here other believers it's a time of inventory it's a time where we think about those that God has placed around us it's a time we think
[00:35:20] about our gifts and abilities, God, we want to use everything, our talents, our treasures, and our time for you. We ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.