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If you went to Luke chapter 13, we'll get back to Proverbs chapter 1, but go to Luke chapter number 13, third book in the New Testament. Now at the end of Proverbs there, we saw kind of a dire warning at the end talking about people for whom it was just too late. People who hated knowledge, they hated the truth, they rejected God, they rejected his wisdom and his word, and it came to a point where they were in great calamity and great trouble, and they were calling unto God, and they said, I tamed my mind, but it was too late. And God would not answer them, and God said, No, you are going to reap what you've sown and you will be destroyed. Kind of a dire warning there at the end of Proverbs chapter 1. Right at the beginning of a book that's giving truth and wisdom, he's warning those who will reject God's word of the consequences of their actions. Look at Luke chapter 13, and Luke chapter 13, this is Jesus Christ talking, and he's asked a very, really a good question that's asked by one of his disciples. It says in verse 22, And he went through the cities and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem, then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? That's a pretty good question, isn't it? I mean, you know, that's what I want, you know. So what percentage, if people ask me, what percentage of people are saved? Are there few that saved? Are most people saved? How many people are saved? It says, he said unto them, verse 24, Strive to enter in at the straight gate. Straight means narrow in that spelling. For many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in and shall not be able, when once the master of the house has risen up and has shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us, and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not when she are. Then shall ye begin to say, We've eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not when she are. Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out. And they shall come from the east and from the west, and from the north and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God. And behold, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last. What is the answer to the question? Are there few that be saved? He said, enter the straight gate, the narrow way. He said in Matthew 7, in a parallel passage to this, he said, broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in their act, because straight is the gate, and narrow is the way which leadeth unto light, and few there be that find it. But here again, we see a warning in Luke chapter 13, about people for whom it will be too late to be saved. Too late for them. Now, when is it too late? He said, hey, when the master of the house, he's using a parable, he's using an illustration in verse 25 here, when once the master of the house is risen up and is shut to the door, he said, at that point it's too late. He said, there are many who will try to enter in, but they won't be able to once the door is shut, it's too late. Now, this is just like Noah's ark. If you remember, Noah built the ark, he preached the truth for over a hundred years, and he preached the gospel, he preached the word of God, he preached the warning of the coming judgment, and once God shut the door and it began to rain, it was too late for anyone to get on that boat. Once God shut him in, once God sealed the door, it was too late, and you can only picture people as the rains descended, and as the waters rose, you know, the Bible doesn't tell us, but you could probably picture somebody saying, hey, wait a minute, is it too late? Can we still get in on that boat, Noah? Can we still get on? But it was too late. You see, there comes a time when God's patience runs out and it just becomes too late. Now, when is it too late? Well, turn, if you would, to Revelation chapter 20. I'm going to talk about a few different times when it is too late. You see, being saved is really easy. It's not difficult to be saved. Jesus did the hard part. I mean, he died on the cross, he died for all our sins, he was buried, he rose again, and the Bible just says, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved in thy house. I mean, it's not hard to be saved. It's just faith. He said just the faith of a little child will save you. He said it's similar to drinking a glass of water. He told the woman at the well, you know, just drink of the water that I give you and you'll have everlasting life. You know, he that believeth on me, as the scriptures have said, out of his bellies shall flow rivers of living water. You see, being saved is really easy. You just have to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Just believe God's word. You don't have to jump through a bunch of hoops and crawl on your knees through broken glass or join a church or change your whole life around. But let me tell you something, it's really easy, but once the door shuts, it's shut. And then it's too late. And then it becomes impossible. So, it's really easy while the door is wide open. Hey, you just, I mean, how hard is it, right? Just to walk through a door. Pretty easy, right? Pretty easy for me to just, okay, Jesus saves. Believe on Christ. Okay, great. Walk through the door. But you know what? I'm going to shut this door and lock it. And I want to see if somebody can get through that door while it's locked. Try getting through this steel door. Try getting through. You can bring a hammer. You can, I mean, it's going to be pretty tough to get through that door. And when Jesus shuts the door, He said, I am he that openeth and no man shutteth and shutteth and no man openeth. Once God shuts the door, the door is shut. So that's why it's so easy, but people miss their chance to be saved. When do they miss it? Well, number one, if they die without being saved, they've missed their chance. It's too late. Go to Revelation chapter 20. And in Revelation chapter 20, this is talking about the great day of judgment that's coming, the great white throne of judgment. Now, of course, we know that the believers are resurrected in what's called the first resurrection, like people that are alive today, like myself and yourself. They're already resurrected in what's called the first resurrection when the trumpet sounds, you know, and we're changed in a moment and twinkling with eye. And the Bible explains that in verse 4 of chapter 20, it says, 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 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 and reigned with Christ a thousand years. Of course, earlier in the book, we saw a great multitude resurrected of all nations, kindreds, no man could number, that had all just been believers and saints of the Lord that were resurrected. But it says in verse 5, But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection. On such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with them a thousand years. Go to verse 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. And that's the worst part about hell is that it goes on forever. It's a torment that's day and night, forever and ever. And it says, 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. 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. Now, are these people dead or alive? They're dead? Did they come back to life? No, he just says they're the dead. The dead are coming and staying before God. It says in verse 13, And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them, and they were judged every man according to their works. So these are the dead. These are the unsaved. The dead, they've not been resurrected. They're not brought back to life. They're standing before him dead, and they are judged according to the things that are written in the books according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. Now, when he says this is the second death, he's referring to the lake of fire because in chapter 21 verse 8, it says in the latter part of the verse there, All liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. So the lake of fire is the second death. And he said that anyone whose name is not found written in the book of life is going to be cast into the lake of fire. He said those dead souls will be brought up out of hell, brought up out of the place known as death, and stood before God and his might and his power. The books are going to be opened. They're going to be judged for the works that they've done in their life, and they're going to be cast into the lake of fire if their name is not found in the book of life. And let me tell you something. It's too late at that point to change your mind. I mean, wouldn't you think that somebody who's already been in hell, and now they're standing before God, and by the way, the Bible tells us that every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. I mean, no atheist is just going to be standing there saying, No, you know, I want to be in hell where all my friends are. After they've already been there for a thousand years or a few hundred years, they're not saying that. They're a little more humble now. And think about it. The most hardened atheists, the most hardened Satanists, the Bible says that they're going to be in there for at least a thousand years before this point, because the whole millennium is going to go by. And then they're going to be brought up out of hell to stand before God. And let me tell you something. They are going to drop to their knees and beg to be saved. Hallelujah. I'm sorry, God. I'm sorry. I was wrong. I was an idiot. Please, show me some mercy here. But it's too late. He opens the book. And your name's not there. You're getting cast into the lake of fire. You're done. So look, I think everybody would agree today that there comes a time for people when it's too late to get saved. You know, and you know, right now I'm going to diverge from where most Baptists would agree with me and most independent Baptists would agree with me. But hey, I'm not diverging from the Bible because I've got tons of Bibles this morning to preach what I'm going to preach. But the bottom line is any Baptist will agree that if you die without believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, you have sealed your fate. It's too late for you. This day is coming. And there's no second chance with that. You know, your opportunity is over when you die. But let me tell you something. And this is where a lot of people disagree with me. Hey, it's not my fault if they haven't studied to show themselves approved in the Scriptures. The Bible is clear, my friend. You can come to a point even before you die. And I'm talking about unsaved people now. Where it becomes too late for you to get saved. Look at Revelation 22. I'll prove it to you. I've got a ton of Scripture. Revelation 22 is the first place I want to take you to show you that even there are people who are walking and breathing and living on this earth. It's too late for them. They can never be saved. And that flies in the face of people's opinion. They say, oh man, as long as somebody's alive, there's still hope. Well, that's not Scriptural. It can become too late. And this is a warning today that ought to thunder out from pulpits all over America today instead of the lie that says, well, as long as you're alive, you can always change your mind. You can always go back and get saved later. And there's a lot of young people today down at ASU and down at other places around here who are heathens and they're being taught atheist doctrine and they're being taught humanism and evolution and all this stuff. And a lot of them, you preach the gospel to them and they think, you know, well, that might be true. But you know what? I'm going to think about it for a while. Or maybe down the road, I'll think more about it. Right now, I'm just partying and having fun. I'm a young person. I don't need to worry too much about that. I'll deal with that later. Well, you know what? Later, it might be too late. That's why the Bible says the old now is the accepted time. Now is the day of salvation. That's why the Bible says that you need to seek the Lord while He may be found. Now first of all, you never know when you're going to die. You know, someone can die tonight. They can die tomorrow. I mean, those people in Japan didn't expect that earthquake to hit and many died. You know, we don't know how many. But just in a snap of his fingers, God can send that kind of a situation of an earthquake and a tidal wave that just destroyed and demolished people's lives that did not even see that coming. And people think they always have later, they always have tomorrow, they always have next year, but you don't. You come a point where it's too late when you die. But not only that, you can come to a point where it's too late even before you die. And of course, we're only talking about the unsaved. Once you're saved, you're saved. I mean, the Bible says you have eternal life. You have everlasting life. Jesus said, I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. Once you're saved, it's impossible to lose your salvation. That's clear. But we're talking about people who are not saved, who may be put off getting saved. They put off thinking about it. They just want to push it out of their mind. I'm only 20, I'm only 25. That's not what I'm thinking about right now. You know, I'm going to live to be 75 years old. When I'm an old man, I'll think about those type of things and seek after God. No, you better seek after God now because it can be too late. Here's one place where the Bible is just so clear that you can lose your chance to be saved even before you die. Look at Revelation 22. God spells it out in verse 18. He says, for I testify. Let's get it in the context actually because, you know, that word for at the beginning of verse 18, that's a conjunction, okay? That's meaning because. And it ties in with what's said in verse 17. Verse 17 is pleading for people to be saved. He says, the Spirit and the bride say come and let him that heareth say come and let him that is a thirst come and whosoever will let him take the water of life freely. So there are salvation's available. The invitation is out there. It's free. Walk through that door, piece of cake. But then he starts to explain how some people could lose an opportunity to ever get saved. It says in verse 18, for I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, if any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book, and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life and out of the holy city and from the things which are written in this book. According to verse 19, what are the consequences of someone who would remove from God's Word? What's the consequence? He says, you are damned and there's nothing you can do about it. He says, I will take away... And look, we're talking about a living person, a person who's alive, and they decide, you know what, for the love of money, for the love of merchandise, I'm going to go ahead and sell a new Bible version that takes things out. I'm going to take out every time the Bible uses words that are offensive, like sodomite or, you know, effeminate or whatever. You know, I'm going to take that out and like these new modern Bibles that remove 16 whole verses and all the different things. You know, I'm going to do a Bible where I take out the word hell, you know, make it a little more palatable. He said, you tamper with my word and you have just sealed your fate because I will take away your part out of the book of life, the part where your name even can be. It's not even there anymore. I'll take away your part out of the book of life. I'll take away your part out of the holy city. You know, Jesus Christ said to his disciples, in my Father's house are many mansions. I go to prepare a place for you. But he said, you know what, you tamper with my word, I'm not preparing a place for you. Your part in the holy city where you could have been is gone. The plagues that are in this book, the horrible hellish vision throughout the book of Revelation will be applied unto you if you add to or take from this word. Now, how can anyone say and how can anyone walk away from this clear scripture and say, well, as long as you're alive, you still have a chance. It's never too late. Wrong. Here it says, if you tamper with God's word, it is too late for you right there. So it is possible to lose your opportunity to get saved before you die. You say, well, is that the only way to lose your opportunity? No, it's not. Go to Matthew chapter 12. Matthew chapter 12. Matthew chapter number 12. The Bible tells us in Matthew chapter 12 another thing that people could do is seal their fate for all eternity. Actually, I'm sorry. You know, I had you turn to Matthew 12, but I wasn't done in Revelation. You can put your finger in Matthew 12. That's where we're going next. I want to show you Revelation 14. And while you're turning there, let me just talk about it for a moment here. In Revelation 14, we have discussed what's called the mark of the beast. You know, who's heard of the mark of the beast before? I mean, pretty much everybody's heard of the mark of the beast. It's pretty clear. And yet the Bible teaches that one day in the future, we don't know when this is going to take place, but, you know, before Jesus Christ comes back, before he returns and before the first resurrection takes place, as described in 1 Thessalonians 4 and elsewhere, before Jesus Christ returns, there's going to be an antichrist who's like basically a counterfeit. He's going to show up and say basically that he's the second coming of Jesus Christ. You know, and the Jews are going to receive him as their messiah because they're still looking for a messiah. They reject Jesus. They're going to receive him and the Muslims will accept him as the fifth imam. You know, they're going to say, well, we had Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Mohammed, and now this is the fifth and final teacher. And they, you know, they're prophesying that today. I just heard Muslims talking about that a month or two ago. And, you know, they're waiting for their fifth teacher, their fifth imam. The phony false Christianity will accept the antichrist and be deceived by him and think that he is the second coming of Jesus Christ. That's what he's going to be pretending to be. And then, you know, they'll just say that he's the new Dalai Lama over in, you know, Eastern Mississippi. He's going to bring all religions together. He's going to preside over a one-world government, literally. This is what the Bible teaches in Revelation 13 and so forth. He's going to have a one-world government, one-world religion, okay? And the Bible says in Revelation 13 that he will cause all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand or in their forehead. And by the way, modern Bibles try to change this to on the right hand or on the forehead. But the Bible actually says they'll receive it in their right hand or in their forehead. And it says that no man might bide nor sell, save he that had the mark or the name of the beast or the number of his name. And it says that'll be received in the right hand and the forehead. And you will not be able to buy or sell without it. Now, people in the past hundreds of years ago reading the Bible might have thought that was a little far-fetched. Like, how could you implement that? How could you really stop people from just transacting business? And, you know, is everybody going to participate in that to where you can't buy or sell? But hold it now. Today, we can see this clearly, how some kind of a barcode or some kind of a chip in your hand or your forehead, you just walk up to the grocery store, and boom, it's just deducted from your account. You know, and they'll pitch it to us probably too as, you know, we'll get rid of identity theft or whatever. But here's the catch. It's not going to be as simple as just go down to DMV and just, you know, get this thing. In order to get the mark of the beast when this system is fully put in place, the Bible's clear. You have to worship the antichrist. You actually have to worship. It doesn't get real specific on what that means. But it says you have to worship the antichrist in order to receive that mark. And, you know, basically, once you receive that mark, the Bible tells you that it's too late for you to ever be saved. Now, this isn't a thing of, you know, you lose your salvation because I don't really fully understand this, but I'll put it this way. As we get closer to these things, we understand them more. A couple hundred years ago, people probably didn't understand this at all. We today can kind of think, okay, I can kind of see how this could be implemented with the technology of a one-world currency and a one-world, just scan your barcode or whatever. But somehow, no Christian is going to... No real saved person is going to take the mark of the beast. The Bible says that no believer will be deceived by him. It says he'll be so tricky that he would almost be able to deceive the elect if it were possible. But it's not possible. Those who are saved and have the Holy Spirit inside them will know that this is not real, that this is a fraud, okay? But a lot of people who go to churches, but they're not saved, but they just go to church, a lot of them will be deceived, okay? And so there's going to be a lot of people that are just going to take this mark of the beast and worship the beast. Now, you say, well, wait a minute, what if a Christian takes the mark? And a lot of people have asked that question. But I'll give you the answer that I firmly believe. It's not going to be possible for a Christian to take the mark of the beast because we don't know what this act of worship is. But I have two possible theories on this. Either it's going to be something so repugnant or repulsive to someone who's saved, they just wouldn't be able to bring themselves to do it. You know, they're going to have to just worship Satan in such a weird way. But you know what? With today's technology, there could be... You know, don't think that I'm a weirdo for saying this or something. But, you know, things are changed so fast. It could be some kind of a lie detector. You know, because if you think about it, lie detectors have been around for a long time. They're not that accurate. Well, today, they're coming out with stuff that can scan your brain waves. And, you know, it might be a thing where when you go down to get the mark of the beast, you know, you have to swear some kind of allegiance and it can tell if you're lying. That's not far-fetched at all. That used to be far-fetched. Today, in 2011, that's not far-fetched at all. That you'd have to go in and do your worship for the beast or swear some kind of an oath to the beast and they'll know, hey, you're lying. You know, you don't believe in this. You know, you're not really doing this. You're a Christian, you know. And the Bible says he'll cause that whoever will not receive that mark of the beast will be killed, okay? So people are going to be heading for the hills and whatever. And you say, man, all Christians are going to be killed. Well, that's... but this is going to be cut short by the rapture. The Bible says, except those days should be shortened, no flesh should be shaken. But for the elect's sake, those days will be shortened. Jesus Christ will come in the clouds and save the day. But there will be a period where Christians are going to be martyred and in serious danger and not able to buy or sell. The Bible says that we should not fear these things. He said, fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer. Be thou faithful unto death and I'll give thee a crown of life. And so we don't live in fear. But in Revelation 14, you know, I didn't want to go into all that, but I have to give you the background so you'll understand the verse here. Revelation 14, 9 says this, And the third angel followed 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. So you see this? If somebody worships the beast and receives the mark, because that's how you... you have to worship it to get the mark, it's always that way in scripture. He says, 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, and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever, and they have no rest day nor night who worship the beast and his image and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Now, there's a warning in the Bible here that says anyone who takes the mark is damned. I mean, it's too late for them. They will drink of the wine of the wrath of God. Turn to chapter 16, verse number 1. This is when God begins to pour out his wrath after the rapture has taken place. And it says in verse 1, And I heard a great voice out in the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth. And the first went and poured out his vial upon the earth, and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast and upon them which had worshipped his image. So not everyone has worshipped it. First of all, believers will not worship it and receive the mark, but then there are going to be other people who just don't receive it for whatever reason. There are a lot of people who just be scared of stuff like that or, you know, they're conspiracy people, you know, they don't want to mess with that, you know. And hey, they're right, by the way. The conspiracy people are right, you know. There is a one-world government coming. And if you say that they're not right, then you're kind of denying scripture which says there's going to be a one-world government. But anyway, you know, there's going to be some conspiracy people and even people that are not conspiracy who are just going to say, I'm not getting implanted with chips and I'm not doing this barcode thing, whatever. But the bottom line is, those who receive that mark, they are making their final decision right there. They have sealed their fate. They're done. And he says, you're done. And then even when he begins to pour out his wrath, there's a special judgment on them where they receive these sores all over their body, you know, those who've received them. And they're all going to die, okay? And they're all going to be destroyed and it's too late for them. So there are things that you could do before you die, like tampering with God's word or in the future receiving the mark of the beast when that takes place, where you have lost your opportunity to get saved. But look, you say, well, that's just end time stuff. No, go back to Matthew 12 where I had you turn. This was in Jesus' day. He was warning people who had gone too far and lost their opportunity to be saved even in his day. Look at Matthew chapter 12. And it says in verse number 31, Wherefore I say unto you, Matthew 12 31, all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men. He's saying there are all kinds, all types of sins that are forgiven, right? I mean, God forgives murder, adultery. He forgives stealing and blasphemy. He says, but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. You see that? And whosoever speaketh the word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him. But whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. Hey, it can get to a point where it's too late for people. And he's talking to the Pharisees here. They had blasphemed the Holy Ghost. Go to Mark 3, Mark chapter 3. And you say, well, what does it mean to blaspheme the Holy Ghost? Well, it tells us in Mark 3 what that means. It says in verse number 28, Mark 3 28, Barely I say unto you, all sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men and blasphemies, wherewithsoever they shall blaspheme. But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation, because they said he hath an unclean spirit. This is where the Pharisees said unto Jesus, you know, he casts out devils by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. They called Jesus Beelzebub and said that Jesus Christ was casting out devils by the spirit of devils himself. And Jesus told him, you know what, you're done. Go to John 12. He said, you have no forgiveness in this world, neither in the world to come. You are in danger of eternal damnation. You will never be forgiven for what you've done or you've crossed the line. Now, a lot of people try to use this to say, well, you can lose your salvation if you blaspheme the Holy Ghost. No, the Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 12, 3 that I would have you to know, brethren, that no man speaking by the spirit of God calleth Jesus Christ a curse, and that no man can confess that Jesus is Lord but by the Holy Ghost. And so what we see here is that a saved person is not going to say that Jesus is filled with Satan and the Holy Ghost is the spirit of Satan or whatever. So we're not talking about saved people. We're talking about unsaved people losing their opportunity to ever get saved. The Pharisees were the actual people in question, the scribes and Pharisees. Look at John 12, and we'll see this further emphasized. It says in verse 37, But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him, that the saying of his eyes the prophet might be fulfilled which he spake. Lord, who hath believed our report, and to whom at the arm of the Lord been revealed? Now look at verse 39. This is the key. Because you say, wait a minute, somebody can believe on Jesus and not be saved because it's too late? Oh, no. Whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Here's the problem in verse 39. Therefore they could not believe. Do you see that? These are the same people, the Pharisees, who had earlier been told by Jesus, you have no forgiveness. You blaspheme the Holy Ghost. You've gone too far. It's too late for you. He tells these same people, you know, they could not believe because that Isaiah said again, he had blinded their eyes. Who's the he? God. He had blinded their eyes and hardened their heart that they should not see with their eyes nor understand with their heart and be converted and I should heal them. Now it's not that God didn't want them to get saved. Jesus Christ earlier in the book of John is begging them to get saved. He showed them all kinds of miracles. He preached the Word of God to them. He begged them to be saved and they rejected him and they rejected him. They rejected him and finally God just blinded their eyes and hardened their heart and they could not believe. It was too late for them. Same thing happened with Pharaoh back in the Old Testament. Moses comes to Pharaoh and says, Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews, Let my people go. And Pharaoh says, Who is the Lord? I will not let your people go. And we see that Pharaoh, the Bible says, hardened his heart. It says Pharaoh hardened his heart. That was his own choice. Moses preached to him. Moses preached to him again. Moses preached to him a third time. Moses preached to him a fourth time. And you'll notice a change in Exodus where it starts saying, God hardened Pharaoh's heart. Because it got to a point, my friend, where there were so many plagues on Egypt. There was so much carnage and destruction that God was putting upon Egypt that even Pharaoh's advisors were telling him, What are you doing? Let these people go. Knowest thou not that all Egypt is destroyed? Let them go, for crying out loud. And you read the story sometimes in your life. Is Pharaoh just insane? Why is Pharaoh just not letting them go? But the reason why is because God actually hardened his heart because God wanted to. It says in Romans 9, God wanted to destroy him. Because he rejected him too many times. God became angry with that and hardened his heart. See, Pharaoh had the chance the first time to say yes. To obey the truth. He did it. The second time he had a chance, you know. And eventually, it just got to a point where God said, That's it. Sick of it. And Pharaoh lost his chance. It's not that God foreordained people to go to hell. The Bible says God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. And what does repentance mean there? Changing your mind. You know, he says, I wish every atheist would change their mind about that belief on Christ. I wish every agnostic would believe on Christ. He doesn't want people to reject Jesus Christ and go to hell. Why? If he wanted that, why did he even die for him? He died for the sins of the whole world. He wants everybody to be saved. But there comes a time when someone just gets so hardened or they commit one of these unpardonable sins and they just reject him and reject him and finally says, You reject me. I'll reject you. You want to harden your heart? Let me harden it for you so hard that you'll never believe no matter what you see. No matter how many plagues I sent on Egypt, you'll never let those people go and you'll be destroyed. That's exactly what happened to Pharaoh. It's a chilling message today and I'll tell you something. This is a message that has been forgotten today and people don't believe in it because they'd rather go with a little hallmark slogan from a greeting card that says, Hey, it's never too late for anybody. You've always got another chance and as long as you're breathing air, there's still hope. No, there isn't. You better realize that it becomes too late for people. And you know, that's why I want to give people the gospel today. That's why my unsaved loved one, I'd rather give them the gospel now. I'd rather give them the gospel right away than to say, Oh, I'll wait, I'll wait, I'll wait. First of all, you don't know when your unsaved loved one will pass on and be gone and die without the Lord Jesus Christ. You don't know. But not only that, you don't know when your loved one could follow a chain of events where they could become hardened to the gospel where they'll never get saved. That's why it's important that we reach the lost now. We go out and preach the gospel. We knock doors. We run into people sometimes. It's just too late for them. You know, we don't know who they are, right? We can't have a spiritual glasses to always know who it is. Now, sometimes it's obvious. You know, with the Pharisees and the Sadducees here, it was clear and Jesus is pointing it out to everybody. It's too late for these people. And there are a lot of other ways that we can identify that it's too late for people. But the bottom line is, when we're out soul-witting, we don't know. You know, we preach the gospel to every creature. We don't know who it's too late for. But a lot of people in this space, it's just too late for them, unfortunately. But you know what? That's why we should have went to that door before it was too late, you know? And that's the failure of the previous generation, maybe, to reach that person with the gospel. And plus, you know, sometimes people have been reached with the gospel, but they just rejected it and rejected it. It's their own choice and there's nothing you can do for them. But let me tell you something. This is a powerful message from the Bible here. And we need to preach this. And we as Baptists need to get back to the Word on this and not twist the Word here. It says that it could be too late like it was for the Pharisees, where they couldn't believe. You see, it's interesting because I was talking about this with a group of unsaved people not too long ago. And I believe there were some saved people and a lot of unsaved people. And it was like a college group. And I was discussing this subject and they were asking me about this and we were talking about this and I was preaching this from the Bible to them. This is just a couple weeks ago. And it's amazing how some of the people who were atheist or, you know, agnostic or whatever they want to call themselves, people who deny or do not believe in the existence of God, they don't believe the Bible, they don't believe in Jesus. You know, it's amazing when I started talking about this doctrine, you could see that a couple people, it really put the fear of God into them. You know, there's a lot of people there, it just means nothing to them. But I noticed a couple of people, it made a big impact on them because they had this attitude like, well, I'm still searching, I'm still looking around. And when they began to hear these doctrines and I was turning these scriptures and reading them, it had a noticeable effect where you could tell that this doctrine scared them. That it could be too late for me someday, that I can't, you know, that I'll lose my chance, that I'll become hearted, that I will never be able to be saved, that it will be too late. And as I preached this doctrine, it made a noticeable impact on people. But you know, we've watered this doctrine down today. And hide it. And then people just think, oh, there's always another... No, there's not another chance. It could be too late. It's a sad truth, it's not something maybe you want to dwell on, but it is the truth nonetheless. But there's more scripture. I mean, we've already seen a lot of scripture. Look at Hebrews 6. There's a lot of scripture on this. Hebrews chapter 6 is another scripture that teaches this doctrine. It says in Hebrews chapter number 6, in verse 4, Hebrews 6-4, For it is impossible. And by the way, before I get into this, back to the blasphemy of the Holy Ghost, you know, there are literally websites and people, who's never heard of this, the blasphemy challenge, you know, where atheists put on these websites where they challenge young people and teens to blaspheme the Holy Ghost on video and upload their video to YouTube to be a part of their club. It's called like the blasphemy challenge. And you know what, you say, oh, they're just playing around. You know what, I believe it's too late for those teens. Those teens who join that site and get on the screen and literally seek to blaspheme the Holy Ghost and they say, I right now blaspheme the Holy Ghost and Jesus Christ has the spirit of Satan. And they just try to do it the best they know how and explain it. Let me tell you something, those kids are going to hell. And you can sit there and say, well, that doesn't matter, they'll rethink that, they'll change their mind. No, God wasn't playing around when he said that. You know, and even young people, even teenagers are taking that decision and 20-year-olds and 25-year-olds, their whole life ahead of them, are damning their souls to hell by making that blasphemy of the Holy Ghost when God said there's no forgiveness. And they're saying, well, let's just approve how much I believe that God doesn't exist, I'm willing to do this. You're a fool. God exists, God created this whole world. This whole earth is filled with fire and brimstone. Look at a map, look at a cross-section of the earth. It's called the mantle, it's called the core, and it's called hell. And they think it's not real, they think it's fake. It's real, my friend. And they're just flippantly blaspheming the Holy Ghost and doing it on video. I believe that they're damned. It's too late, that's what the Bible teaches. But he says in Hebrews 6, for it is impossible for those who were once enlightened. Now what does it mean to be enlightened? Have you ever seen on cartoons when somebody's kind of thinking really hard and all of a sudden a little light bulb comes on? Ah, I've got an idea. That's enlightenment. It's when you don't understand something, right? And then all of a sudden you understand it, right? Oh, I get it. The word that people use today is epiphany. You know, they have an epiphany. Where just all of a sudden, wow, I get it. Now, I remember when I took calculus in high school, the first few weeks I was just completely lost. And I wasn't used to that because I was usually really good in math, really good in school, but I was just lost, I just wasn't getting it. And I remember just one day it just clicked. Oh, I get it. And then from there on out the class was a piece of cake. But that was enlightenment. Something that was just totally foreign to me. I had no, and I'm just sitting in a classroom, why don't I get this, what's wrong with me? But then it was just like, bam, the light bulb came on. That is what enlightenment is, my friend. And that's what the Bible is teaching us here. He says it's impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift. What is that heavenly gift? The gift of God's eternal life. He says they've tasted of the heavenly gift and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the world to come. This is the one who hears the Gospel and they fully understand it. And I remember I talked to my wife and I'd given the Gospel to my wife 20 times before she got saved. And I was persistent with that. But this is before we were married. We were just friends. But I gave her the Gospel over and over and over again. But if you talk to her, she'll tell you, she said, I really didn't understand it until just right before I got saved. She said, you know, I kept hearing it. I kept hearing it. And it just goes over people's heads sometimes and it's just so contrary to what they believe or what they think. And you run into this when you're out souling. You just tell them. People just don't understand the Gospel. And a lot of people don't understand. And the Bible tells us a lot about that in the parable of the sower. People who just don't comprehend it. They just don't get it. And so this is when a person totally understands it. It totally makes sense to them. The light bulb comes on and they've tasted it. They've heard God's word. They've tasted it. But it says this. If they shall fall away to renew them again unto repentance, seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh and put him to an open shame. Now that's a long sentence. But the beginning of the sentence was back in verse 4. So it's saying, it is impossible. See the beginning of verse 4. It is impossible, jump down to verse 6, to renew them again unto repentance. There's a lot of little clauses and phrases in there. But he's saying it is impossible for these people to change their mind. Once they come to that point where they totally understand it, they fully enlighten. The Holy Ghost is there convicting them. Not convicted of their sins, but convicting them of their unbelief as it says in John chapter, what chapter is that? John 14, 16? Where he talks about he'll reprove the world of sin, of righteous good, of sin because they believe not on me. When they come to that point where the Holy Ghost is reproving them of their unbelief in that instant and they just finally just make a final rejection, it's too late for that person, unfortunately. Now there are a lot of people who hear the gospel and they're just kind of not sure. And they're going to put it off and put it off. That's not what we're talking about. You know, eventually it can be too late for them too. But we're talking about somebody who fully comprehends it, fully understands it and just makes a final decision right there and just says, you know what? No. No. I do not believe on Jesus Christ. I reject him. And he said, why would anybody reject Jesus Christ? You know, why do people reject him? The Bible teaches that Jesus gave a parable like this. He said it's like a man who went into a far country and he left his servants with different talents and he said, occupy till I come. And it says that when he had left on his far journey, the inhabitants of the city sent a message after him saying, we will not have this man to rule over us. You know, they just don't want Jesus. They just don't want him to rule over them. They don't like him. They reject him. They hate him. I mean, if you ask people, I mean, I saw this atheist, Richard Dawkins, you know, the big famous atheist. He was asked, you know, why he doesn't believe in God or could there be a God? He said, there's no way. And he's like, well, why not? Because, you know, how do you know? Do you know for sure that there's no God? Do you know for sure that this all just came from nothing? And he said he didn't know for sure. But he said, the chance of God is just so minute, you know, it's just so minute of a chance that God's real. Well, isn't there a chance that the God of the Bible could be true? And here's what Richard Dawkins said. No, there's no way. Because he said the God of the Old Testament, and by the way, here's a news flash, the God of the Old Testament is also the God of the New Testament. Can we just get that set? You know, I mean, do we believe in two gods or one today? There's only one. Oh, that was the Old Testament. It's one God. It's the same person. I mean, how can you sit there and say, well, the God of the Old Testament but the God of the New Testament, what did he transform or something? It's the same person. And nobody's meaner than the God of Revelation. Were you not reading that with us? I guess he just had a little soft patch there for just a little while, and then he just got real mad. What was I thinking? And he starts raining fire and brimstone again in Revelation. No, it's the same God just because you don't understand him. He's the same all the way through. He's a loving God in Genesis. He's a loving God all the way through. And he's also a wrathful, vengeful God all the way through. He's just not this one-dimensional person that people think he is. He's more complex than any of us, and if you want to know him, get to know the Bible. You'll get to know God. Very clear, very consistent character of God. But he said, well, the God of the Old Testament is homophobic, racist, misogonistic, whatever that means. What is it? Misogynistic. Misogynistic. He's misogynistic and homophobic. Yeah, I'm sure God's up in heaven just scared of homos. Oh, they're scared of him, okay? They ought to be. And so, you know, he's homophobic and racist, and he's just vindictive, he's jealous. So that means he doesn't exist. Well, what if I'm homophobic, misogynistic, vindictive, and jealous? Do I not exist? Think about how I've done that. Do I not exist? Am I a real person? Yes. Okay, thank you. Hey, I exist today. So to say, well, God doesn't exist because I don't like him. I don't like the fact that he has these attributes that I don't agree with. Well, maybe you're wrong, and maybe those are actually good attributes. You know, I mean, obviously, he's twisting God's character, but, you know, he's right about part of it. A lot of what he's saying is right. Yeah, God is jealous. He said, my name is jealous. He said, jealous is my name, with a capital J, by the way. He said, that's who I am. That's my name. I'm a jealous God. I mean, over and over, you'll find the word jealousy in the Bible, never negative, always positive, okay? Really, it's a positive attribute, jealousy. And again, don't mix up jealousy with envy. Envy is something different when I covet what someone else has. Jealousy means, hey, you're not taking my wife out to lunch today, young man. You know, it's my wife, okay? Get your hands off her. That's jealousy. That's good. People say, well, I'm just not a jealous husband. I just let my wife, you know, hang out with other guy. Well, you know what? You're not very Christ-like. That's his name. And no, I don't just have, you know, my wife. Yeah, my wife could have all kinds of male friends that she hangs on the phone to and hangs out with. No, of course not, because I'm a jealous guy. Therefore, I do not exist. You right now are listening to a figment of your imagination. This church isn't even real. You're in, you know, the twilight zone. You're about to wake up and hit the snooze button, right? Okay. But why does Richard Dawkins not believe in God? Because he hates God. It's that simple. He hates God. He hates the Bible. He reads the Bible. And I've heard people literally say, well, I tried reading the Bible, and they said, you know, and I'll just make it a little milder what they said. They said, you know what? I just started reading it. It was just total dung. You know, I'll just tone it down a little bit what they said. They just said it was just total dung. Well, you know what? I don't read it and think that it's dung. This is the greatest book. I mean, it's unbelievable. But yeah, it's just dung to them. It's just trash to them. They don't like it. They don't like it. That's why, because it rebukes their lifestyle. That's right, man. Because it makes them look bad. That's why they don't like it. That's why they don't want it. And they just say, well, you know, if that's what God's like, then I don't even want to be around God. I don't even want to go to heaven. I've heard people literally say that. If that's how God is, I don't even want to go to heaven. I'd rather go to hell. I mean, I've heard people say that. If God is really so misogynistic and homophobic and, you know, I don't even want to, I mean, I don't want to have anything to do with God. And God says, you know what, if you don't want to have anything to do with me, then I don't want to have anything to do with you either. Because you know what, I was doing this for you as a gift. I was trying to show you my love. I was trying to reach out my hand to you and extend to you salvation. But if you don't want it, then see ya. And that's the truth, my friend. That's what the Bible teaches clearly. That's found in Hebrews 6 right there. Go to Proverbs 1, where we started. We'll end where we started. Proverbs chapter 1. And while you're turning there, I'll read from Romans 1. In Romans chapter 1, the Bible says this. In Romans 1, you're turning to Proverbs 1. It says, because that when they knew God, they glorified him not as God. Now, wait a minute. These are people that knew God. So, isn't this like they were enlightened? You know, they had an understanding of who God is. It's not saying they're safe. I mean, if I said, I know Garrett, that doesn't make Garrett my savior. Right? Does that mean, if I say, yeah, I know Matt. Does that mean that I trust him with the keys to my car? Just because I know him? I've seen him drive. No, he actually has driven my car. I was asleep in the backseat when we were on the way back from that trip. And I woke up and we were going like 95 miles an hour down the grapevine. You know, it's like, oh, there's a cop. I'm like, you know, I think I'll drive the rest of the way home. But anyway, I'm exaggerating a little bit. Bottom line is, just because I know him, that doesn't even mean I'm going to trust him with my car, let alone trust him with my eternal soul, my destiny for all eternity. So, just because I know who Jesus is, that doesn't mean that he's my savior and I'm trusting him alone to save me and take me to heaven. So, it says, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God. So, basically, they rejected him as God. I mean, they knew who he was and they said, well, if that's how he is, then I don't want him to be my God. So, it says they knew God, but they glorified him not as God. Neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. And what's someone who professes? A professed professor. Yes, there's a lot of professors that are like this. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like the corruptible man into birds and four-footed beasts and creeping things, wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts to dishonor their own bodies between themselves, who changed the truth of God into a lie and worshipped and served a creature more than the creator who is blessed forever. Amen. It already said he gave them up. Then it says in verse 26, for this cause God gave them up. It says it again, unto vile affections. Vile means disgusting. For even their women did change the natural use unto that which is against nature, and likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another, men with men, working that which is unseemly and receiving in themselves the recompense of their error which was meet. And here's the key right here. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient. He said just like they don't even want to think about God, they wish they could just push him out of their mind. He says God gave them over to a reprobate mind. Reprobate means rejected. And I accidentally jumped away from Hebrews 6 too fast. In Hebrews 6, where he says it's impossible to renew them to repentance, right after that he says that they are rejected and their end is to be burned. So read Hebrews 6, he goes on to say he has rejected them and they're going to go to hell. In Romans 1 we see the same type of a term, reprobate, rejected. They're done. Because why? They knew the truth, they rejected it, they rejected it, and you know they went down this downward spiral. It didn't happen overnight. It lists this big long downward spiral that they go down. And then they become, once they've finally rejected them and become reprobate, then they become perverted. And basically the result is man with man, women with women, disgusting perversion today because of the fact that people are reprobated and have rejected Jesus Christ and rejected God. The result is perversion. I mean look, you say well how old, somebody asked me, well how old can this take place at? You know, there's not a set age. It's not like well until you're 30 you're good to go. Like I said, there are teens on the internet blaspheming the Holy Ghost and uploading the video. When you see today in the news a 13 year old doing atrocities, I mean who's seen stuff like that in the news before? 11, 12, 13 year olds doing these disgusting atrocities that no normal person would do. Literally just raping and killing in horrible ways at the age of 12. That tells you right there, there's something wrong there. I mean that's someone who is perverse and not normal. It's not a normal human being made in the image of God. It's actually a man who's been given the heart of a beast because he has rejected the Lord Jesus Christ. That could take place at a young age, my friend. If you don't believe it, pick up the newspaper and see the reprobate monsters even at a young age many times in junior high schools that will abuse and do perverted, sick, unmentionable things that I wouldn't even begin to touch upon. I don't even want to touch upon. I don't even want to read that article. It's too weird. But it's out there. Go to Proverbs 1. This is the last place we'll turn. So yeah, there could definitely be evidence that somebody is reprobate, that they've lost their chance. When you see that they've tampered with the word of God, when you see them blaspheming the Holy Ghost, when you see them with a mark of the beast on their forehead when that time comes, or when you see them just totally perverted and twisted and demented and not normal at all and doing men with men or women with women or all the other sick things that the Bible lists, it doesn't stop there. You know, the Bible, read Leviticus. I mean, it lists all kinds of disgusting things. That's the evidence right there of somebody who's come to this place in their life. You say, how'd they get there? Well, they either blasphemed the Holy Ghost, rejected the Lord Jesus Christ too many times and were enlightened and just rejected it, tampered with God's word. There's a few different routes to get there that we see in the Bible. But look at Proverbs 1. We'll close with this. It says in verse number 22, How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity, and scorn, and delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge, turn ye at my reproof. Behold, I will pour out my Spirit unto you. I will make known my words unto you. So this is God's word here. That's where faith comes from. Faith comes by hearing, hearing by the word of God. He says, Because I called and ye refused, I have stretched out my hand in no man regard. So this is God reaching out to man, calling to man, saying, Be saved. Believe on Jesus Christ. I love you. I die for you. I want you to be saved. But man refusing that. He says, No man regarded, but ye have said it not, all my counsel. I mean, you took the Bible and said it's trash. It's dumb. Just said it. It's worthless. All God's knowledge is worthless. All his counsel worthless. And would none of my reproof. You didn't want me telling you that you were wrong. That's what it means, reproof. You wouldn't take my reproof. I also will laugh at your calamity. That doesn't sound very nice, does it? I mean, calamity is horrible destruction and tragedy. He says, I'll laugh at it, because I begged you and gave you every chance to be saved. He says, I will mock when your fear cometh. When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you, then shall they call upon me, God save us! Help us! But I will not answer. Why? Because it's too late. And he says, They shall seek me early, but they shall not find me, for that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord. They would none of my counsel. They despised all my reproof. Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way and be filled with their own devices. Hey, that's another side of God, isn't it? Yes, God is love. God's a loving God. But you know what? When the doors open, God's love. Come on in. Come on in. But you know what? There comes a time when God gets sick of puny little man spitting in his face all the time. He gets sick of it. He gets sick of the little peon Richard Dawkins and his little perverted little atheist weirdos walking around. And by the way, they're perverts. And they want to live a perverted life. And so they hate God. And finally God just gets sick of them. It's like, you know, you get sick of ants infesting your house or something. You just start stepping on them. I'm going to give them another chance to leave. I made a little sugar trail. He needs to go out that front door. He's just not doing it. I'm going to keep waiting. I'm going to sleep in bed with ants in my bed. No, God finally just says, you know what, you little perverted, disgusting little animal? See ya. Too late for you. And you know, other people that aren't as disgusting as some of these weirdos I'm talking about, you know, just stop and think about it. What if you, what if you sacrifice the life of your child to save someone? Right? And then they just said, I don't even care. That's just a piece of dung to me. That's just garbage. That's worthless to me. You know, God's love rejected. I mean, because God's love is so fervent toward us, when we just reject it and blow it off and make light of the suffering that he endured, you know, on the cross, okay? And just blow all that off, the sacrifice and the death and burial and resurrection, we just blow that off. You know what? It's going to make him mad. And look, he sounds pretty mad in Proverbs one. He's making fun of people that are being destroyed, you know, and that's a lot of anger. And that's another side of God that people need to be exposed to. You know, let's not try to hide who God is. Maybe if we showed this world the real God, you know, maybe they'd be saved, instead of just showing them a very one-dimensional, one-sided, let's just only show people the really positive stuff and then maybe they'll like it and then maybe they'll get saved. You know, we've got to show them all. He said, if some have compassion, making a difference, others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garments spotted by the flesh. Some people respond to God's love, but other people just need to respond to the fact that there's God's wrath is there. You know, we need to preach the whole book, preach the whole thing, so that people can get a real idea of who God is. Look, I have attributes to my personality, right? Who's ever seen me get angry before? What? What are you talking about? Okay, but hold on a second. Would you just say that that's just all I am? I'm just anger. Pastor Anderson is anger personified. No, because I have all these other attributes. You know, who's ever seen me do something nice for someone? Okay, okay, what? No answer. Does that mean that that's just all I do? I just go around just doing nice things? You know, I have all different facets, right? Well, God's even more complex than I am. God's more advanced than I am, so if I have all these different facets, you can't just put me in a box and say, well, this is what Pastor Anderson is. He's just a fire alarm guy. That's it. Or he's just a father. That's it. He's just a husband. That's it. He's just a pastor. He's just mad. He's just a gospel preacher. He just prays. That's all he does. He just prays. All he does is memorize the Bible all day. That's all he does. Those are all things I do. But you know what? It's a big picture, you see? Well, God is even a lot greater and more complex than I can even think of being, right? So don't just put him in a little box here. This is the box you eat. This is the box. Put him in this box. This is the box that God is in right here. This book I'm holding in my hand. But don't just put him in a little box that says, well, he's just love. Well, he created health. You know, that wasn't a very loving thing to do. But it's real. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you for the chance to be in your house, dear God, and I just pray that this message would sink down into our ears. And God, I just pray that the unsaved, the only reason I'm preaching this message is because I love the unsaved, dear God, and I want them to hear this message before it's too late. And I wish that the Christians in this room would get this message in their heart so that they could preach the truth to those who need to be saved, dear God. Help us, because of love, to go out and preach the gospel to every creature, knock the doors, talk to our friends and co-workers and relatives, dear God. Help us to share the gospel of Jesus Christ that they might be saved before it's too late. And in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.