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["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] Would grab a hymnal and turn to him number 131 Christ is all I need, hymn number 131 Go ahead and sing there right on the first Christ is all I need Christ is all I need All I need Christ is all I need Christ is all I need He was crucified for me That's why He loves me so Good singing will open with a word of prayer Dear Father, thank you for this opportunity to gather together as a church this evening Lord I pray that you would bless the remainder of this service and Give us ears to hear the message that you've laid on brother Dylan's heart in Jesus name. I pray amen For our next hymn if you would turn in your hymnals to hymn number 27 the old rugged cross Hymn number 27 Hymn number 27, we'll go ahead and start there right on the first on a hill far away stood an old rugged cross the emblem of suffering and shame And I love an old cross where the dearest and best for a world of lost sinners was slain So I'll cherish the old rugged cross Till my trophies at last I lay down I will claim to the old rugged cross And exchange it some day for a crown Oh that old rugged cross So despised by the world as a wondrous attraction for me For the dear lamb of God left his glory To bear into dark Calvary So I'll cherish the old rugged cross Till my trophies at last I lay down I will claim to the old rugged cross And exchange it some day for a crown In the old rugged cross Saved with what so divine A wondrous beauty I see For it was all an old cross A solid old cross Jesus suffered and died To pardon and sanctify me So I'll cherish the old rugged cross Till my trophies at last I lay down I will claim to the old rugged cross And exchange it some day for a crown To the old rugged cross I will never be true If shame and reproach gladly bear Then he'll call me some day To my home far away Where his glory forever I'll share So I'll cherish the old rugged cross Till my trophies at last I lay down I will claim to the old rugged cross And exchange it some day for a crown Good singing, everyone. Good evening. Welcome to Steadfast Baptist Church. At this time we'll go ahead and go through our announcements. If you don't have a bulletin, raise your hand. Brother Cameron will bring you one. On the front there we have our Bible memory verse of the week, which we're starting a new chapter here, Hebrews chapter 6. I highly encourage everyone to give it all you got this chapter and memorize with us throughout the weeks. And I do actually have the prizes for those who completed the last challenge. So if you finished the last Bible memory passage, go ahead and come up at this time and claim your prize. Go ahead and just come up right here and grab it off the pulpit. No worries. Don't be shy. Come and get your prize. Everyone stare at them awkwardly. No, just kidding. Good job, guys. Alright, while they're grabbing those, I'll start going through the announcements here. On the left-hand side in our bulletin, we have our service times. 1030 a.m. Sunday morning, Sunday evening. This is going to be the last Sunday that we have our evening service at 530 p.m. Next week that is being moved up to 430 p.m. So looking forward to that change. Do remember that for next week. Wednesday evening at 7 o'clock p.m. This upcoming Wednesday is our first Wednesday service. So no longer is there going to be a Thursday midweek service. That's going to be on Wednesday like a regular church now. So that's great, right? 7 o'clock p.m. on Wednesday. Sowing times are listed there. All those meet here at the church building. If you have any questions, you can contact the respective leaders there that are listed. Speaking of contact information, this morning, I didn't go over this. In this pulpit copy right here of the bulletin, I wrote down my phone number and my wife's phone number. If you would, after service, and I'll put this in the bulletin next week or possibly even Wednesday. But after service, you can just come up here and make sure that you get our contact information. If you're a man, please send me a text with your name and even a picture of your family would be great so I can learn everyone's names. If you're a lady, please do the same for my wife. I listed both of our phone numbers there. So I just want to make sure that we can get ahold of everyone and everyone can get ahold of us if you ever need anything. We have our nursing home ministry schedule listed there. That's Sundays at 2 o'clock p.m. We do have our soul winning stats listed there and baptisms on September 1st. That's going to be the next 5th Sunday fellowship and the theme for that is family favorite dishes. So definitely looking forward to seeing what you guys got in the cooking department here. It's going to be great for sure. Upcoming events, like I mentioned, this Wednesday is going to be our evening Bible study. The men's conference is this Thursday, August 15th. And like I had mentioned this morning, Evangelist Fur will send out a message regarding logistics for planning rides and carpooling and stuff like that. So be on the lookout for that if you did sign up for the conference. And on Saturday, August 24th, there is a ladies fellowship event. And I was told before the service there is a sign up sheet for that in the back by Brother Hall. So ladies, if you want to go to that, please do sign up. October 4th through the 6th is the Heritage of the Lord conference down at Steadfast Baptist Church in Cedar Hill. Definitely if you can make it to that, that would be great. And once the schedule comes out for that, that kind of might give you an idea of where you want to stay. Because here's the thing you've got to realize about DFWs. When they do events down there, sometimes church could be in Cedar Hill, the softball game could be in Hurst, the ice skating could be in Arlington. So depending on the schedule and the events that Pastor Shelley decides, that might give you an idea of where you want to stay. Sometimes it might be better to stay more central to DFW than right by the church. Because yeah, you're right by the church, but then you've got to drive 45 minutes to Hurst. So that's up to you to decide, but just be on the lookout for announcements from him as far as where the different events are going to be had. I think that'll help you guys make an informed decision on that. That's all we have for announcements this evening. We'll go ahead and go to our next song. Alright, for our next song if you would, take a hymnal and turn to hymn number 39. How beautiful heaven must be, hymn number 39. Hymn number 39, we'll go ahead and sing that right on the first. We read of a place that's called heaven. It's made for the pure and the free. These truths in God's word he hath given. How beautiful heaven must be. How beautiful heaven must be. Sweet home of the happy and free. Fair haven of rest for the weary. How beautiful heaven must be. In heaven no drooping nor pining. No wishing for elsewhere to be. God's light is forever there shining. How beautiful heaven must be. How beautiful heaven must be. Sweet home of the happy and free. Fair haven of rest for the weary. How beautiful heaven must be. Pure waters of life there are flowing. And all who will drink may be free. Rare jewels of splendor are glowing. How beautiful heaven must be. How beautiful heaven must be. Sweet home of the happy and free. Fair haven of rest for the weary. How beautiful heaven must be. The angels so sweetly are singing. Up there by the beautiful sea. Sweet chords from their cold hearts are ringing. How beautiful heaven must be. How beautiful heaven must be. Sweet home of the happy and free. Fair haven of rest for the weary. How beautiful heaven must be. Amen. Good singing as the offering plates are being passed around. Turn in your Bibles to Romans chapter number six. Romans chapter number six. Good evening. Romans chapter number six tonight. Romans six. The Bible reads, What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid, how shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein? Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore, we are buried with him in baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection, knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, and henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him, knowing that Christ being raised from the dead, dieth no more, death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died into sin once, but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise, reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not therefore reign in your mortal body that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof, neither yield your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, as those that are alive from the dead, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for ye are not under the law but undergraced. What then shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? God forbid. Know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey his servants, or to whom ye obey rather of sin or of death or of obedience or righteousness, but God be thanked that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you, being then made free from sin ye became the servants of righteousness. I speak after a manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh, for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity and to iniquity, even so now yield your members as to righteousness and to holiness, for when ye were the servants of sin ye were free from righteousness. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed, for the end of those things is death. But now being made free from sin and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto the holiness and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Heavenly Father, Lord, we just thank you so much for today, and Lord we just pray that you would bless Brother Oz and just give him the words to speak. I pray you be with this congregation and help us to focus on what you have for us. In Jesus' precious name we pray, Amen. Amen. Alright, well we are in Romans chapter number 6, and let's read verse 23. It says, For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. This evening I want to preach a sermon about one of the aspects of the afterlife, and the title of my sermon is The Second Death. You know there's a lot of weird beliefs regarding hell and the second death, and the afterlife in our country today and in churches today, and just so you know I'm a guy that kind of likes statistics, so I like bringing in different surveys and statistics into my sermon, but I found this Pew research poll, and it was about Americans' views on the afterlife. Let me just give you some context of like where people are at today in America, and what people believe about the afterlife, and if you're a soul winner you know a lot of this you already know, but if not let me just give you some perspective here. Of all U.S. adults, 73% believe in a heaven. Of all U.S. adults, 62% believe in hell, and if you go out soul winning there's often times people where they believe in a heaven, but they don't believe in a hell, or they definitely don't believe in a biblical hell. I've even heard this all the time. We're in hell right now, and you know I'm soul winning around Cedar Hill, and I'm like yeah I know it's hot in Texas, but we're not in hell okay, or I've even said this I've said well those are some beautiful children you have. I don't think you'd have that in hell, and I'm like yeah we're not in hell right now regardless of how bad your life is. By the way, out soul winning you should always ask someone if they believe in hell, because as you can see a lot of people don't believe in hell, so what I do when I go soul winning is I present the fact that we're all sinners, that we're all deserving of hell, and I ask them do you believe that hell is real, and then that's when they'll either tell me oh we're in hell right now, or sometimes they may say yes, and this is always what I do. I always say how would you describe hell, and tell me if they truly believe in a biblical hell or not, because if they say well hell is just separation from God, or well we're in hell right now or anything like that, then I know that okay this person doesn't actually truly understand hell, and if someone is going to recognize the fact that they need to get saved, they need to understand what they're being saved from, so I ask them that question so that then I could show them really quick what the Bible says about hell, then move on in my presentation, but if you look at these statistics you definitely should be asking that question. Of all Protestants polled in America, 93% believe in heaven, 79% believe in hell, so even of Protestants less than 80% believe in hell. Historically black churches, 93% believe in heaven, 89% believe in hell, so more of them believe in hell. Catholics, 90% believe in heaven, 74% believe in hell. Republicans, 85% believe in heaven, 75% believe in hell. Democrats, 64% believe in heaven, only 52% believe in hell. I'm shocked that it's even that high, that 52% of Democrats believe in hell. I don't know if that's right. One in six Americans believe in no afterlife at all, that just you die, you close your eyes, it's over, you cease to exist. That's what a lot of people believe. When asked if people who do not believe in God can go to heaven, 4 out of 10 Americans said yes. So 40% of Americans say even if you don't believe in God, you still go to heaven when you die. 58% of Americans identifying as Christians said that non-Christians can go to heaven. And man, can't you see the result of preachers like Billy Graham, where he was saying that he believes as long as people just follow the light that they have in their life, that they'll go to heaven, to where now 58% of Americans that claim to be Christians say that you don't have to be a Christian to get to heaven. It just goes to show the level of confusion that's on this topic and just the lack of Bible reading that's happening regarding this subject. And so tonight we're just going to look at a lot of Bible and we're going to try to get a general nature of what the second death is like. So we're here in Romans, chapter number six. Number one, let's talk about the nature of the second death. Now, what you have to realize about the second death is that there's actually a physical aspect to the second death and there's a spiritual aspect to the second death. Let's read Romans 6 23. It says, For the wages of sin is death. Now, just about everybody uses this verse out soul winning, but oftentimes what I hear people say is they'll say, Well, for the wages of sin is death. Now, the first death is physical and the second death is spiritual. And I understand what people are meaning by that, and I used to say that myself out soul winning, but technically that is not correct. It is not correct to say that the first death is physical and that the second death is spiritual. Now, I'm going to show that to you. Go to Romans, chapter number seven, flip the page. What you have to understand about the word death in the Bible, that death could have actually a lot of different meanings in the Bible. It could be talking about authority. It could be talking about a spiritual state. It could be talking about the shedding of your physical body, dying in the sense that we use it. Let's look at Romans, chapter number seven, verse one. It says, Know ye not, brethren, for I speak to them that know the law, how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth. For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth. But if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. So, what context does dead mean here? It means the shedding of your physical body. And as a result of that, the woman is no longer under the authority of that man because he's dead. So then if while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress. But if her husband be dead, she is free from that law so that she is no adulteress though she be married to another man. Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead that we should bring forth fruit unto God. So the Bible's saying, it's using this analogy of a woman that's married to a man who dies. He's dead. And so because of that, she's no longer under the dominion or the authority of that husband because he's dead. And she's now able to be married to another. Just like because Jesus has come, because Jesus has died on the cross, because we put our faith in Jesus Christ, we've now become dead to the law, meaning that it just has no authority over us. Jesus Christ has died for all of our sins and even though we break the law, it's not able to subjugate us anymore. It's not able to keep us in bondage anymore because otherwise if salvation wasn't by faith, it would still be keeping us down in bondage because we would never be good enough to keep the law perfectly. So that's kind of the analogy that the Bible's using there, but let's keep reading in verse five. It says, for when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins which were by the law should work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death, but now we are delivered from the law that being dead wherein we were held that we should serve in newness of spirit and not in the oldness of the letter. What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin but by the law, for I had not known lust, except the law had said thou shalt not covet. But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence, for without the law, sin was dead. Now, here's the important verse I want you to focus on, verse nine. It says, for I was alive without the law at once, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. When people out somebody say, you know, the first death is physical, the second death is spiritual, it's actually not true. The first death is spiritual because according to the Bible, we were alive once before we sinned. We were spiritually alive. We were spiritually alive on the eve and before they sinned, they were in the same state. But just like God said, if you eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you will die. And what kind of death was it talking about? It was talking about a spiritual death. And in the very same day that they ate of that fruit, they did die spiritually. Just like the first time that we ever sin against God, we die in a sense. Our spirit dies in a sense and we are now dead. Now, here's the thing. When a person is unsaved, they are in a state of death. They are dead. That's what the Bible is saying here. Paul is saying, when the law came, when I understood what the Bible says and I sinned, I actually died. So death actually, the first death, is spiritual. Verse 10, in the commandment which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. For sin taking occasion by the commandment deceived me and by it slew me. I mean, listen to the language here like the Bible didn't get up and just strangle him to death, physically speaking, no. He broke the law of God and because of his own lust, because of his own sinful nature and because of that, Paul became dead. Same thing for all of us. The first time that we ever sinned, we became dead. And here's what you have to understand about death. Death is simply a state of being. Its location can vary. And I'll talk about this later on the sermon, but you could be dead spiritually and be in hell, the center of the earth. You could be twice dead and be walking on this earth and be without hope of salvation ever. And you could be dead and be located in the lake of fire. So what you have to understand about that word death is it's simply a state of being. Really, when you think about the second death, the first death is spiritual and the second death that's talked about in Revelation actually has a physical aspect to it. Let's go to Luke chapter number 16. Luke chapter number 16. Let's talk more just a little bit about the afterlife here. Luke chapter number 16. Verse number 19. There was a certain rich man which was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. He was a really rich guy. Verse 20. And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus which was laid at his gate full of sores and desiring to be fed with the crumbs of the devil. Moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores and it came to pass that the beggar died and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. What kind of death is that talking about? That's talking about a physical death. Well, we know it's not spiritual because he's carried up to Abraham's bosom. Sorry, dispensationalist. That's just talking about going to heaven because that's where Abraham is and he was brought to his chest. Okay, that's another sermon for another time. But let's keep reading. Now the rich man is not saved. He had already died once spiritually the first time he ever sinned. This one's talking about the shedding of his body. But notice what happens at the same time. It says, and in hell he lift up his eyes being in torments and seeth Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom. So notice an unsaved person, if someone dies being in that state, that spiritual state of being dead, immediately they lift up their eyes in hell in torments. You know, that's the shocking reason for the reality of the afterlife that people need to learn in America today. There's no such thing as purgatory. Well, if you die and you're unsaved, there's no hope for you. You're forever in torments and anguish in flames for all of eternity. And yeah, they go to hell and eventually that's relocated to the second death. We'll talk about that later. But they will be in that state of death for all of eternity. They were when they sinned. They stay in that state of death for all of eternity. The location may change, but they are dead people forever and ever. And that whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. What is that talking about? That's talking about spiritually, right? Because once we're born again, we're a new creature. Our spirit is revived. Our spirit is new. And that spirit will never ever die because we have eternal life. We're saved for forever. But the same cannot be said of the unsaved. Verse 24 says, and he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip in the flame. So notice death, like I said, is a state of being. Hell is one of its locations. And here what this is talking about is hell. Verse 23 says, and in hell, he lift up his eyes. What is hell described as? Well, it's someone there that's being in torment. It's someone that's crying out in pain. It's someone that's begging for a drop of water to cool their tongue. It's someone that's being tormented in flames. You know, and I think the reason why a lot of people don't want to believe what the Bible says about hell or about the second death is because it's just an awful, awful truth to think about. You know what? Just because we don't like something doesn't mean it's not real. You know, there's a lot of things in this world that you may not necessarily like, but you don't get to just change reality because you like something or you don't. The wise person, yeah, they may think, well, I don't like the idea of hell, but you should be wise enough to believe on Jesus Christ so that you don't go there because a lot of people are hesitant to believe in Jesus Christ because they may realize that a loved one died being unsaved and that they're in hell right now and they don't want to accept that truth and face that truth and so they themselves sometimes don't want to believe in Jesus Christ. Who's heard something like that out so many? It happens, but man, just read the Bible, read Luke 16 and realize you should never want to go to this place. You go to this place, there's no hope for you ever in all of eternity. Let's learn some details about hell. Matthew chapter number 12. Let's look at verse 40. Jesus said this, for as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. So according to the Bible, where is hell located? It's located in the center of the earth and even secular people acknowledge that what's at the center of the earth? Fire, magma, fire. How you would describe hell is how it is, but here's the thing about hell. Hell, yes, it's located in the center of the earth, but it is a spiritual place. It is a spiritual realm. I don't believe that if somehow we were able to tunnel down all the way to the center of the earth and we were able to tunnel into the center of the earth, I don't believe you would see people down there screaming. I don't think you would be able to hear the screams. Why? Because it is a spiritual realm. It is very real. Oh, it exists. People are there. They're really feeling the pain. They will for all of eternity. They're really in the bottomless pit, but I'm just saying in our human flesh, in our carnal eyes, us alive, I don't think that we'd be able to see that. It does take faith to believe the promises of the Bible, but I do believe with all my heart that that's where it is. You can stay there. I'll read for you Acts 231. That's a really easy verse to understand. The Bible says very clearly that Jesus' soul was not left in hell, meaning that it was there at one point. A lot of Christians don't like this, and even a lot of Bible versions will change the word hell to Hades here because they want to confuse the reader. Hell is a very easily understood word. When I say hell, everyone knows what I'm talking about. When you show someone from the Bible, it's very clear, but Hades is not as clear. People are like, what is that? That's not Greek mythology. It makes me think of Greek mythology, but no, Jesus was actually in hell. Go to Psalm chapter number 16. Psalm 16. Many people deny this today, but I'll show you that the Bible is very clear about it. Psalm 16 verse 9, the Bible says, Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth. My flesh also shall rest in hope, for thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer, thine holy one, to see corruption. Notice Jesus here saying that his flesh is going to rest in hope. Why would he need to have hope? Well, because he's experiencing hell. I don't need hope if I'm going through something that's really pleasant and enjoyable. No, you need hope when you're going through something that's really hard, and you have hope that you're going through something that's really hard. He's saying here that he had hope because, why? Because he was in hell. Let me read for you. You can go to Jude. While you're going to Jude, I'll read for you Hebrews 2, 9. It says this, But we see Jesus, who is made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that he, by the grace of God, should taste death for every man. We're talking about death here. We're talking about the death of his physical body, because here the Bible is saying that Jesus tasted death for every man. Tasting is when you are experiencing something for a very short amount of time. Look, Jesus didn't just barely experience a physical death. He actually had a full-on physical death. He didn't just taste of death in that sense. He actually fully died. He was fully killed. But when it comes to hell, Jesus was only there for three days and three nights. He tasted death for every man. So, he experienced the physical death, but what death is this talking about? That's talking about actually being in hell. So, you could be dead on earth. You could be dead in hell. You could be dead in the lake of fire. You could be twice dead while walking this earth too. Jude, I'm going to talk a little bit about people that are twice dead. Speaking of false prophets, look at verse 11, it says, For they have gone in the way of Cain and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of the dead. So, we're talking about false prophets here. It says, These are spots in your feasts of charity when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear, clouds they are without water, carried about of winds, trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, notice this, twice dead, plucked up by the roots. You know, Jesus talks about being born again because we're born physically of our mother and once we believe in Jesus Christ, we're born again spiritually. So, in a sense, we're like twice birthed. But there's people on this earth that are twice dead, meaning that they sinned once and because of that they're in a spiritual state of being dead and then they can get to a point where they've rejected God so many times, they've rejected the Bible so many times where God actually turns them over to a reprobate mind, he rejects them and they're now twice dead. Meaning there's no more hope for them, there's no way that they could believe the gospel and be saved, they've rejected them too many times. And think about it, everyone that is in the lake of fire is twice dead. That's literally called the second death and God is saying here, look, you can get to a point even on this earth, even while you're still alive in your physical body, where your eternity is already sealed just like the people that are in the lake of fire. Just like the people that will experience the second death someday in the biblical context of Revelation 20, the same thing could happen to someone while they're alive where they're twice dead. Now go to Revelation chapter number 20, Revelation chapter number 20. So I would say the first death is spiritual and the second death, all capitals, the second death proper that I'm talking about in Revelation, is spiritual. Revelation 20 verse 1, it says this, And I saw an angel come down from heaven having the keys of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. So what's the bottomless pit? That's hell. Verse 2. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand years and cast him into the bottomless pit. So someday the devil himself is actually going to be bound in hell in the center of the earth for a thousand years. It says, And shut him up and set a seal upon him that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years should be fulfilled. And after that he must be loosed a little season. When it's talking about the thousand years there, it's talking about the millennial reign of Christ. During that time, the devil's actually bound up, he's in hell, he's in the center of the earth and he's not going about deceiving and healing and reigning on this earth and his law is prospering, the word of God is prospering, the devil isn't there to deceive the nations. He's not there with his weapons of mass distraction during this time. The devil's bound up. Verse 4, it says, And I saw thrones and they sat upon them and judgment was given unto them. And I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, this is about saved people, and for the word of God, and which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads or in their hands, and they lived not again until Christ, a thousand years. But the rest of the dead, keep this in mind, lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Now in this context, what's the dead referring to? It's talking about saved believers that are just sleeping in Christ, saying, yeah, they've experienced physical death, but it says they're dead, they live not again until, meaning they will live again, right? And that's the good news, it says, Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection of Christ, a thousand years. But the rest of the dead, keep this in mind, until the second resurrection. On such, the second death hath no power. But they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. So what is this talking about? Well, we're going to have the rapture happen, the catching up of God's saints. God's going to come back with his saved in the air, and then the dead in Christ obviously rise first, then they which are alive and remain come with him, and then he establishes the one thousand millennial saints, and then the dead in Christ obviously rise first, then they which are alive and remain come with him, and then they will reign of Christ, which I already mentioned. But look at verse number 7, it says, And when the thousand years are expired, so after his reign, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison. So he gets out of hell. Verse 8, And shall go out, again, he's going out and deceiving the nations, and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city, and fire came down from God heaven, and devoured them. And the devil that deceived them, notice this, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone. So this is a place that we haven't talked about yet. He was in the bottomless pit, which was described as prison. Once he gets out of that, the battle of Gog and Magog happens, and he's brought somewhere else. What is it? The lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night forever. And I saw a great white throne. You've probably heard about the great white throne judgment. This is the part of the Bible that talks about it. And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. Notice this, and I saw the dead. So we already talked about people that are dead. That's a description of a lot of different things. One of the descriptions is people that are in hell. They could be described as the dead. And here it says, and I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God, and the books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works. By the way, people that believe works-based salvation, someday you're going to get to be judged by your works, and it's not going to go well for you. You know, I thank God that I never have to be judged according to my works, because I will fall short every single time. I am just a complete sinner and saved by the grace of Jesus Christ, and I get to be judged by Jesus's works, because I get his imputed righteousness by putting my faith in him. Thank God I don't have to stand at this white, great throne judgment and be judged by my works. It would be a bad, bad day. It says in verse 13, and the sea gave up the dead which were in it. So what's happening? The dead bodies that were literally in the ocean are appearing at this judgment, and think about it. Heaven and earth just dissolved away. He said that they were rolled back as a scroll that was found no more place for them. So all these bodies are here. This is a really graphic description that's being given here. It says, and the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them. So all the people that were in hell or the prison or the bottomless pit are now standing before God at the great white throne judgment, and they were judged every man, same thing, according to their works. Notice this, and death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. So notice when it comes to the second death, there's a physical aspect of this. Their physical body is coming up from the ocean or coming up from wherever they died or coming up from hell, and they're being cast into the lake of fire. That is the second death. They already died once when they sinned. They're in the state of death when they sinned. They changed locations when they shed their physical body of fire. What's the second death? Well, they're resurrected out of hell. They're standing before God at the great white throne judgment. They're judged according to their works. All of them fall short because none of them are saved, obviously, and then they're cast physically into the lake of fire. That's what the second death is. Go to, if you would, Isaiah chapter number 65, Isaiah 65. So what you have to understand is that when people die right now, they go to hell. But ultimately, hell is not their eternal destination. Technically speaking, their eternal destination is the lake of fire. Now, I wouldn't say it's important to get too worked up about what technical term you use because hell is cast into the lake of fire. So I think it's totally accurate to tell people about soul winning that the unsaved spend eternity in hell. Don't feel like you have to explain this to someone at the door. This is a little more advanced. But just so that you understand, just as God's people die, if they die right now, physically speaking, they go to hell. At the great white throne judgment, hell itself is cast into the lake of fire. To talk about the nature of the second death, let's talk a little bit about the location of the second death. Now, I've thought about this in the past and I was not dogmatic about it. I've heard other people say this too. I was postulating, could it be possible that the second death and lake of fire is maybe the sun or some sort of celestial being? I don't think that's the case. I don't think that's possible and here's why. Isaiah 65 or 17 says this. It says, for behold, I create new heavens and a new earth and the former shall not be remembered nor come into mind. Look, at this stage in the game, there is no sun. There is no celestial bodies. Revelation 20 said that literally heaven and earth gets rolled up like a scroll. There's no more place for them. What does that mean? I don't know. But earth is gone. Heaven is gone. The sun is gone. All of the people who have ever lived, where are we? We're in the spiritual realm where God dwells at this point. We're in some sort of spiritual realm so it's not like the lake of fire or some physical location that NASA is going to discover someday or SpaceX is going to discover someday. This is kind of like hell where I said if we were to go into the center of the earth, I don't think you would see people burning there. I don't think we would find out where this place is. But it is in a spiritual realm. Look at 2 Peter chapter number 3. 2 Peter chapter number 3. What does the Bible teach is going to happen to heaven and earth someday? It says in 2 Peter 3 verse 7, But the heavens and the earth which are now, so our solar system, our moon, our earth, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. You know it's kind of incredible to fathom this statement but someday literally the earth, Jupiter, Saturn, Venus, Mars, all the moons, all the galaxies that you could possibly think of, every single star that's ever been photographed by these satellites, it'll all burn someday. That's pretty incredible just think about how powerful God is that all of that is going to be burned and destroyed. Verse 8, But the earth, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness, but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in the which, notice, the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. The earth also and the works that are therein shall be dissolved. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in all holy conversation and godliness? He's saying, Hey man, you should get the right perspective on your life, realizing that everything on this earth is going to be burned someday, your business, your house, all your possessions, in fact the entire universe is just going to be destroyed someday. That should make you circumspect, that should make you careful and prudent about how you live your life in all holy conversation and godliness. Why? Verse 12, Looking for, and hasting unto the coming of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. Nevertheless, we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. You know, all the unsaved and all the people that spent their whole life chasing carnality, chasing lust and just the pleasures of this life, you know, when all this happens, they're not going to care about any of those things. They're just going to be in torture and torments and just wishing that they had believed in Jesus Christ. They're just going to be in torture and torments and just wishing that they had believed in Jesus Christ, but it'll be too late. But, you know, we look for a new heaven and a new earth. You know, that's, that's encouraging that someday we're going to live in a perfect earth, a perfect heaven, and we, we don't know all the details of what that's going to look like. We can't fully understand what the eternal state is going to be looking like, but it's going to be amazing. I know that it's going to be glorious and to be able to be dwelling with the Lord Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father in the holy city of God is going to be amazing. Go to Revelation chapter number 14, Revelation chapter number 14. So the reason I'm bringing this up is to say, basically, we don't know exactly where the lake of fire is. Other than that, it's going to exist in a spiritual realm because the heavens and the earth are going to be dissolved someday. So it's got to be in some sort of spiritual realm. Revelation 14, 9, it says, and the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, if any man were to follow them, they would be following them, saying with a loud voice, if any man worship the beast and his image and receive his mark in his forehead or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation, and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. This is partly why I believe strongly that the lake of fire will be existing in a spiritual realm because it's saying that he's literally, this is happening in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. So wherever this spiritual realm is, where God dwells, where the Lamb dwells, where these holy angels dwell, in that same realm is where these people are going to be burning for all of eternity. And I doubt that we're going to be able to see this or anything like that, but obviously God can see all things and he's controlling this. He's the one that stokes the flames of the lake of fire. You know, some people think that the devil is reigning in hell and that there's demons, but no, really the people that are there, they're in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of Jesus Christ. And man, that's got to be very intimidating and scary for them to see the face of the Lamb of God who they rejected, who they despised, who they didn't believe in, and he's the one that's going to be burning them for all of eternity. Revelation chapter 20, by the way, that's a good verse. I told you that when you go out soul wanting, ask them, hey, do you believe in hell? What do you think hell is like? How would you describe hell? They give you a bad answer, I usually just go to Revelation 14 and I just start reading where it says, and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone, and I explain that to them and then usually they'll agree with me and say, okay, yeah, that is what the Bible says, but just some advice on that. Revelation 20 verse 11 says, so let's kind of wrap up this point here. Revelation 2011 says, and I saw a great white throne, there was no place on it, notice this, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away and there was found no place for them. So that is the verse why I believe that the lake of fire, it's in a spiritual realm, it's not something you can physically find. Why? Because heaven and earth isn't going to be existing during the great white throne judgment, we're just going to be in a spiritual realm where God dwells. Let's talk about also the timeline of the second death. Go to Matthew chapter number 24, Matthew chapter 24, we talked about the nature of the second death, talked about the location of the second death, let's talk about the timeline of the second death. Let's give you quickly just a big picture overview of what the end times is. You know, the first major event that kicks off the end times is something called the abomination of desolation. Matthew 24 15 says, we need therefore shall see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, whoso readeth, let him understand, then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains. If you read second Thessalonians chapter number two talks about how the antichrist is going to stand up and that he's going to declare himself God and he said that it's going to be happening in the temple of God. Well here it says in the holy place, you know, just like the antichrist isn't really God, but he's calling himself God, this holy place will be called the holy place, but it's not really the holy place. You know, I do personally believe that a third temple will be rebuilt and Jerusalem where the antichrist will stand and declare himself God. There's some people who think that maybe he'll do it like some G2 summit, some world leader summit and I'm not completely closed off to that possibility, but when I read the Bible and I see the holy place, the temple of God, to me it really sounds like there's going to be that temple built in Jerusalem and that is what the Jews desire. If you know anything about them they want that third temple built. So the abomination of desolation, the antichrist stands up, he declares himself God, that kicks off what's called the great tribulation. Go to Matthew chapter number 24. After the great tribulation is the rapture, what we refer to as the rapture. Matthew 24 verse 29 it says, immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened and the moon shall not give her light and the stars shall fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken and then shall appear the sign of the son of man in heaven and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn and they shall see the son of man coming in the clouds of heaven in the glory and he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other. So this is just a very, very clear passage of scripture describing the fact that the rapture, the catching up of the believers happens after the tribulation. And it's crazy to me that so many churches today still haven't changed their view on this and that they're still pre-trib, they still believe that we could just be raptured at any moment, Jesus can come back at any moment, just completely ignoring 2nd Thessalonians 2, that the Antichrist has to come and declare himself God first, completely ignoring the first part of Matthew chapter 24 and this part of chapter 24 where it says immediately after the tribulation of those days, look this is why it's so important to read the Bible for yourself, not just trust that whatever some preacher is telling you it's true because he's the preacher, no you need to actually review the Bible yourself and believe what Jesus said over any man. After the rapture is what kicks off the wrath of God, this is what Revelation 8 and 9 is about if you want to read about the wrath of God, then Revelation 19 goes into the battle of Armageddon, that's right before the 1,000 year reign of Christ, so that's the millennial reign of Christ where Jesus physically has come from heaven to earth to rule and to reign on this earth for a thousand years and he's going to be giving the faithful saints positions of authority and basically your life now is going to determine how many people are going to have in that millennial reign of Christ. After that you have the battle of Gog and Magog, the devil's loosed out of prison for one basically final showdown between Jesus and the wicked and of course Jesus destroys them all, wipes them all out, completely has the victory and right after that is when you have the great white throne judgment, this is where the heaven and the earth flee away and all that's going to happen is when you have the great white throne judgment and you have the great white throne judgment, this is where the heaven and the earth flee away and all that's gone, all the events that just took place on earth are pretty much vain compared to what they're experiencing right now where they're all going to be standing before God, they'll be judged by their works and then what's going to happen, the second death where they're cast physically into the lake of fire. After that, God creates a new heaven and a new earth and us as God's people, we live in all of eternity on the new heaven and new earth with God. That's kind of like the big picture overview of the end point of the end. That's kind of like the big picture overview of the end times. So when I'm talking about the second death, that's like right at the end basically of all these events, that's when the second death happens. Now, lastly, let's talk about this. Go to Revelation 20. Let's talk about the horror of the second death, the horror of the second death and it's not a pleasant thing to talk about but it's in the Bible and it's there for a reason. Try to put yourself in your shoes here. Revelation 20.11 says, and I saw a great white throne and him that sat on it. First of all, wow, you're going to be seeing God Almighty. Think about just the gravity of that alone. Nothing else mentioned in this chapter but just imagine you're going to see God Almighty on his great white throne. That alone is going to be terrifying for these unsaved people. I mean, the people who live their whole life mocking him or saying, oh, he's not real or calling him a sky daddy, you're going to be standing before him when he's on his throne and you're not going to be laughing then, you're not going to be mocking then, you're not going to be scorning then, you're going to be shaking in fear because of what's about to happen to you. Think about how terrifying this would be. It says, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away and there was found no place for them. I mean, us as human beings, we're so small, we're so insignificant, we're so weak and all of a sudden, you're going to be standing before the Almighty God and his throne and you're going to see heaven and earth dissolve away before your eyes. This is a serious event right here. This is a crazy event that these people are going to be going through and what's going to happen? Verse 12, and I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God and the books were opened and another book was opened which is the book of life and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works. I mean, we're going to see every saved person who's ever lived get judged by God according to their works and I mean, there's no more concept of time apparently because I have no idea how much time this would take humanly speaking and just to think about all the wicked people throughout history and to think about all the people that die every single day in Oklahoma City and about all the people that die every single day in America or, you know, there's a war in Ukraine right now, all those just thousands, tens of thousands of soldiers that are unsaved, that die in combat, we're going to literally see all these people resurrected from hell or their dead bodies brought up from the oceans, from the sea, wherever they were at, stand before God. You're going to see Adolf Hitler get judged. You're going to see Mao Tse Tung get judged. You're going to see Joseph Stalin be judged by God. You're going to see all of these sodomite protesters from Steadfast Baptist Church be judged by God. I'm looking forward to that one, I have to admit. You know, it breaks my heart for some people that are dead, but, you know, once you've rejected God, God is just to punish you in hell because he made salvation so free to you. And so every single person that goes to hell, they do deserve to be there. You know why? Because I deserve to be there because every single person in this room deserves to be there, and he just offered us salvation as a free gift. All we had to do is just call upon the name of the Lord. All we had to do was just believe in Jesus Christ. So if you're too stupid or too wicked to do that, yeah, you do deserve to burn in hell for all of eternity. But look, there's some people that are much happier that are going to be experiencing the second death than others. I'll be very happy when every single child molester stands before the throne of God and is cast alive into the lake of fire. Man, I can't wait for that. Praise God for that. You know, there's a lot of times in this world where there is no justice on this earth for victims of crime. There's a lot of crimes that are never even solved. There's a lot of murders that are never even solved. A lot of times, people just murder someone in cold blood, and they're just like, I'm going to die. I'm going to die. I'm going to die. I'm going to die. But someday, they will stand before God, who knows every single thing that took place throughout all of eternity. They'll be judged according to their works, and they'll be cast into the lake of fire. It says in verse 12, and I saw the dead small and great. You know, the unsaved grandma and the greatest dictator to ever live will both be there. Stand before God, and the books were opened, and another book was opened, and another book was opened, and another book was opened, and stand before God, and the books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life. You know, praise God, our name is in that book. So we don't have to be judged like these people, and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works. It's a very grave, it's a very serious topic that the Bible's talking about here. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it. That's got to be a gross sight to see. Just dead bodies that have been in the ocean for who knows how many hundreds or thousands of years. And death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them. I mean, this sounds like something out of a horror film, but this is the Bible. This is the word of God. This is reality that's going to happen. They were judged, every man according to their works. I mean, imagine being in hell. Imagine if you died on this earth 2,000 years ago. You died on this earth 4,000 years ago. And you've been in hell for all those thousands and thousands of years, and you get out of hell, and you get out of hell, and you die on this earth 4,000 years ago. And you get out of hell, and it's not good. It's not like things are going to get better for you. No, you're actually just going to stand in front of almighty God, be judged by your works, and then cast into the lake of fire for all of eternity. Nothing good happens to them. Verse 15, whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. Revelation chapter 20, we'll go to Revelation chapter number 20, verse 10. Yeah, let's go back a few verses. Revelation 20, 10 it says, And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever, forever and ever. So notice, the people in lake of fire, it's not annihilation. It's not them just being burnt up real quick, and then their being is gone. It's not soul sleep, like the Seventh-day Adventists teach. It's not just separation from God. What is it? It's fire. It's brimstone. It's pain. It's agony. It's pain. It's screaming. It's begging for water. It's standing before the face of God and being judged by your works. It's despair. It's suffering. It's anguish. It's eternity. That is what the second death is, and that is what we need to wake people up into believing today, not like these sad poll statistics where people don't have a clue what's actually facing them someday. And a lot of people say, Oh, it's so hateful to preach about hell. It's so hateful to talk about hell. It's so hateful to preach about hell. It's so hateful to talk about the second death. It's like, if this is the reality that someone's going to face, how is it hateful to warn them about that? I mean, if you're driving a car at the edge of the Grand Canyon and you're the passenger, don't you think the loving thing to do is be like, Hey, stop. There's a cliff right here. You're going to drive off the edge and die. It's like, Oh, that's so negative. That's such a negative message, though. It's like, Yeah, it is a negative message. You better believe it's a negative message. It's the most negative message you can imagine. In fact, you can't think, if you tried, you can't think of anything worse than hell. You try to do it after service. Think of a worse punishment than hell. It's impossible. It is the worst punishment that exists. You know the loving person would do? They would warn people about that. It's an ugly reality. Because it's an ugly reality, people don't want to talk about it. Go to Revelation chapter number 21. Let's talk about our immunity from the second death, our immunity from the second death. Revelation 21, verse 1, And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea. And I, John, saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them and be the face of God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away. You know, thank God that God is going to bring down a new heaven and a new earth, a new city for us to dwell in, that we're going to dwell with the Lord Jesus Christ for all of eternity, that we're going to be able to see the face of God. You know, thank God he's going to wipe away the tears from our eyes, because man, is this an ugly event that we're going to see. And man, is it going to suck when I have to see my grandfather someday, cast into the lake of fire. Man, is it going to suck when you have to see your unsaved loved one cast into the lake of fire. You know what there's going to be? Tears. Tears. Because it's a negative message. That's the point. But it's reality. It's what's going to happen. So thank God, hey, he'll wipe away all tears from our eyes. And when he does that, there'll be no more death. What are we talking about? The second death. There's no more death. There's no more sin. There's no more dying spiritually. There's no more hell. It's already been cast in the lake of fire. There's no more second death. It's just eternity with God. No sorrow. No crying. No pain. You know, that is awesome. Praise God for that. And we just got it as a free gift. How crazy is that? I mean, just, you have, you have God who is just offering us just eternal riches and goodness and mercy and glory for free to people that don't even deserve it. And yet people have the audacity to blaspheme a God that, that, that is that good to people. And they have the audacity to complain about hell and to complain about the lake of fire. Well, it's like, look at the opposite that he offered us. All you had to do was take the free gift. Just take the free gift. Go to 1 John 5. Revelation 2 11. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death. Hey, if you overcome, you'll never be hurt of the second death. What does it mean to overcome? Look at 1 John 5 4. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world. And this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Hey, take that work salvationist heretics. What is it that overcomes the second death? What is it that overcomes eternal damnation? Believing in Jesus Christ. Trusting in Christ. Having faith. Verse 5. Who is he that overcometh the world? But he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God. Thank God salvation is that easy. Believing, trusting that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. I'll read for you Revelation 26. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection. On such the second death hath no power. Thank God for that. So we talked about, you know, the nature of the second death, the location, the timeline, the horror, our immunity. You know, what's the application for us? Well, you know, it's a very obvious application, and it's that we need to preach about hell. We as a church need to preach about hell, and this world is getting all confused about it. There's so many false prophets out there that don't want to tell you the truth about hell or about the second death or about the lake of fire. Why? Because they're of their father, the devil, and you know where the devil wants people to go? Right where he's going, the lake of fire. So he wants to confuse people on that. So what do we need to do? We need to continue to preach the truth about this subject, even though it's a negative message. It's not a fun sermon to talk about. I'm not, it's not like I was studying for this sermon. I was like, oh, I feel so encouraged, you know. It's hard to preach about because a lot of times you're reading the Bible, and you're not really putting yourself into the story. You know, and that's a really good thing to do when you're reading the Bible, is like really slow down and visualize this. Like, oh yeah, they stood before a great white throne, a hymn that sat on the throne. It's like, that's insane when you actually think about it. God Almighty in front of them. You know, another thing, of course, we need to go out and preach the gospel to the lost, because this is the place that real people with real souls are going to spend eternity if they don't believe in Jesus Christ. And if you don't warn them about it, no one else will. Don't think that if Steadfast Baptist Church doesn't take our job seriously, preaching the gospel in Oklahoma City, that just everyone else is going to pick up the slack for us. That's not going to happen. That's a fantasy world. No, there's very few soul winners in this world, and we need to do what Jesus said and pray for more laborers, because there's so few people in this world that are going to believe in Jesus Christ and pray for more laborers. Because there's so few people doing this, we need to pray for more laborers. Go to 2 Corinthians 5. This will be the last place we go to this evening. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 18 says, And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation. Verse 19, To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. You know, don't believe the Calvinist that God's just going to save whoever he wants to save. God's just going to choose the special chosen elect, and they're going to automatically go to heaven. The Bible says that God has given to us the ministry of reconciliation. It is our job to get people saved. Jesus is not going to come down and preach people the gospel. That's our job. Verse 20, Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us. We pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. You know, the Bible is describing here, God is sending human beings as ambassadors for him, standing in the place of him, begging people to be reconciled to God. You know, when a church sends out a source of soul winner, you know what that is? That is God sending a soul winner. When someone gets a knock on their door from a Christian with a King James Bible that's ready to preach them the gospel, you know who sent them there? God, Almighty God, sent them there. That is what the Bible says. And so don't ever disparage soul winning. Don't ever think it doesn't work. The Bible is saying here that we're ambassadors for Jesus Christ. We are in Christ's stead, in the place of Jesus Christ, he's not going to come here knocking on people's doors. He told us to do that. Verse 21. Why? Why did he have us do this? For he hath made him to be sin for us. See, we get the easy job of knocking on people's door and offering up the gospel, but you know what Jesus had to do? He had to become sin for us. Which one's harder? Jesus is the one that had to go to hell. For he hath made him to be sin for us who know sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. You know, praise God for him being so just and so righteous and so merciful that he would actually give his only begotten son, who never knew sin, and actually allow him to become sin for us, to become accursed of God, to die on the cross in a slow, agonizing, painful death, to descend to hell for three days and three nights, to have the punishment that we deserve to give us everlasting life for free as a free gift by putting our faith in him. What a great deal that is for us. And you know what he just asks us to do? Nothing in the context of salvation. You know what Jesus wants us to do? Just help other people get that free gift. You know, he would say to us, he's like, look, you got the free gift. I gave it to you for free. Can you just help other people get that free gift? That's it. You know, what this message should inspire you to do is realize, wow, the Lake of Fire is terrible. See, this would be the bad attitude. Wow, the Lake of Fire is terrible. Good thing I never have to go there. Let me live the rest of my life. No, the right attitude is, wow, this is terrible. This is a real place, and I'm going to spend the rest of my life as a soul winner for Jesus Christ. Let us have that attitude tonight. And yes, thank God that we don't have to go to the Lake of Fire. Thank God that the second death has no power on us. You know what? Let's let that motivate us to work hard so that we don't have to go to that Lake of Fire. Let's pray. Lord, thank you for this church. Thank you for your son, Jesus Christ, and for the sacrifice that he made for us. Let's pray that we would realize that anything that we do is nowhere near as hard as anything that Jesus did for us. Let's pray that you'd help us to endure hardness in our lives as good soldiers of Jesus Christ, and that we would do the difficult thing of going out and being a soul winner, not just today while we're inspired, but every single day and every single week for the rest of our lives. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. We'll start there right on the first, hymn number 24. And can it be that I should be an interest in the Savior's blood? Die before me, my Savior. Die before me, my Savior. Die before me, my Savior. Die before me, my Savior. Die before me, my Savior. Die before me, my Savior. Die before me, my Savior. Die before me, my Savior. Die before me, my Savior. Die before me, my Savior. Die before me, my Savior. Die before me, my Savior. Die before me, my Savior. Die before me, my Savior. Die before me, my Savior. Die before me, my Savior. Die before me, my Savior. Die before me, my Savior. Die before me, my Savior. Die before me, my Savior. Die before me, my Savior. For me, amazing love, how can it be That thou, my God, shouldst die for me? He left his Father's throne above, So free, so infinite, his grace Empty himself of all but love, And bled for Adam's helpless praise. Tis mercy all, immense and free, For, O my God, it found out me, Amazing love, how can it be That thou, my God, shouldst die for me? Long my risen Spirit lay, Fast bound in sin and nature's night. Thine eye did fears afflict me great, I woke, the dungeon flaked with light. My chains fell off, my heart was free, I suppose went forth and followed thee. Amazing love, how can it be That thou, my God, shouldst die for me?