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Amen, all right. Well, we're in Luke chapter 16, and we're gonna get there, but we're gonna have you turn to Ecclesiastes 3 19 And we'll get back to Luke chapter 16. This is kind of a topical sermon in Reality so we're not gonna so much just focus on one passage of the Bible I have three points this morning, and hopefully I can get to that third point if I can't I guess it'll just be two but Anyway the title of the sermon this morning is threats to Christianity And this is part four in a series that I've been preaching and this is the final sermon And it's called threats from below so the first summer we looked at threats from within the church People that would rise up on the inside of the church and just try to destroy it We also have our flesh that's inside of us and even though Even though you're saved you can still have problems with your flesh if you're letting your flesh control your spirit instead of Walking in the spirit and walking in the new man and the threat from without was mainly talking about false prophets and People from outside the church and the world itself the influences from without that will come in and try it And we'll just you know cause threats to Christianity and our into our our walking right before the Lord And the threats from above I addressed last week And I talked about how if we're doing wrong Then God will punish us on earth for the things that we do but obviously he would never send us to hell for any reason But just like a good father Chasing his children so the Lord will chase in his children in like manner, and I also talked about how the devil he goes before the throne of God and accuses us day and night before the father and Sometimes he's right about those accusations And so that's when God would take action against us because you know if we sin in this present world Then God will punish us he will judge the Bible says it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God and the Lord shall judge his people the Bible says his people so and then So this morning is the threat from below threats from below and The first point I have this morning is the threat from the unsaved the threat from the unsaved now What do I mean by that? Well, it's gonna be a little bit different of a sermon in this series, but What do I mean by that? Well, some people refuse to get saved because they don't see their pet in heaven I have some some sub points in this first point. This is gonna be my first point It's gonna be the longest point of the sermon So if it gets to be like a half hour or 45 minutes where this is just one point Well, I'll try to hurry through the other points, but or just skip the last point altogether, but I feel like this is a really important Point the threat from the unsaved now some people refuse to get saved because they might not necessarily See their pet in heaven and as you know in this world, it's become a very animal worshiping type of place I mean we couldn't even go to a place for a couple hours yesterday without everybody bringing their dogs to the corn maze, it's just like It's just bizarre, okay, you can't leave your dog at home for two hours while you go do something They have to be with you at all times I mean people walk around in shopping carts with their little dog bundled up and you know They they take their dogs that are not service dogs and you know, they pretend like they're service dogs But unless it has that like service dog little thing on its back then it's not a service dog folks That's just your pet that you just want to take everywhere you go and you know, it's it's gotten weird, but you know and This is gonna be Something that people don't want to hear like if someone asks you at the door a lot of this is gonna be geared toward soul winning and situations that we run into out soul winning and you know, let's just look at chapter 3 verse 19 in Ecclesiastes it says for that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts Even one thing befalleth them as the one dieth so dieth the other Yea, they have all one breath so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast for all his vanity And so it's not saying that Animals are equal with human beings. It's saying that we all have You know the breath of life in us But We all all animals die too. Just like all humans die. That's the point that's making it's not saying, you know We're equal with the animals This is what people think but it's not true and and there's a there's a way you can go too far to say Animals are nothing stomp them out kick them abuse them That's weird And then it's also weird to be what I'm talking about where people just worship their own animals and they do do that It's you know, they might not bow down to them I mean they kind of stoop down when they clean up their poop in the park, don't they and you know They're just feet They're like they treat sometimes people treat animals better than they treat their own kids Which is really sad and and that should tell you a little bit about how far Society has slid in but anyway verse 20 says all go on to one place All are of the dust and all turn to dust again So, you know, this is usually like a famous verse at funerals to you know We go back to the dust of the earth where God created us from so what's it saying that every every creature that dies We go back to the earth, right? It says who know with the spirit of man that goeth upward. So when When a human dies that spirit goes back to the father that gave it to him, right? And it says and the spirit of the beast that go with the downward to the earth So, you know if someone asks you Is my dog going to heaven? I mean, this is what people will point out and and it's true. They don't go to heaven folks now That's not to say that animals won't be in heaven I believe that they probably will be in heaven and definitely in the millennial reign all things are gonna change, you know And and I'll get into that later But it says wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his own works For that is his portion for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him So, I mean the point that he's making is that You know, we're every animal dies human beings die But it does say that the spirit of the animal goes down where I'm not saying, you know that that animals in hell Because that's not what it says Okay, but you know, you shouldn't be at a door with someone and someone asks you that question. You're like, hey You know where your dog's gonna be, you know, we're dogs that it's in hell I mean that shouldn't be something that we say to people at the door We're there to try to convince people for salvation and as a matter of fact, I would probably avoid this question. Yeah, I mean Avoid foolish questions, but sometimes people genuinely want to know and if you are put in a position where you have to answer this You know, I mean that might be a threat to them being saved, but I'm not saying we shouldn't preach the truth We should preach the truth But what are we there to do? We're there to preach the gospel not to convince them that we believe that dogs aren't in heaven Your dog's not going to heaven or whatever and you know, some people will will say, you know well, if my doggy isn't gonna be there then I don't want to be there either which is bizarre, but For us we don't want to try to we don't have to be so right that we stop them from getting saved This is my point. So but some people won't get saved because they know that their pet isn't going to be in heaven So and and that goes for human beings too, but look at Isaiah chapter 11 verse 6 So if they ask a question about their whether their favorite pets gonna die, you know It's not really needed to go to this scripture. Tell them your dog's in hell or anything weird like that But we can say well right now we live in a world that's fallen and animals die humans die But there's gonna there's a silver lining for the animals, you know, where our spirits grown To for the redemption of the adoption of sons, but the creatures of the earth are also living in a cycle of death They don't sin because you know, it's not really sin for them, but animals eat each other, you know That's kind of the way things go I mean we can that we have cute little runny bunny rabbits that kind of come into our yard and then we'll find parts of Them, you know strewn about the yard sometimes because the neighborhood cat got a hold of them It's just that you know, this world is fallen, but one day it's gonna be better And it's gonna be better for the animals to look at Isaiah 11 6 it says the wolf also shall dwell with the lamb and the leopard shall lie down with the kid So the goat the baby goat and the calf, you know, which is a young Cow or cattle and the young lion and the fatling together and a little child shall lead them So there's gonna be a time coming and I believe this is talking about the millennial reign of Christ Where a little child can lead about a young lion Wolves and lambs don't usually hang out together, you know So are there gonna be dogs that live in this perfect world for a while? Yeah, it says wolves, right? Wolves will be with lambs leopards with kids You know, it's and it's not talking about little kids It's talking about like goats, right and it says in the cow and the bear shall feed their young ones Shall lie down together and the and the lion shall eat straw like the ox So there's coming a day where lions aren't gonna eat meat anymore They have to live on meat now But there's coming a time where God's gonna make it like it was in the beginning where everything was vegetarian And so the lions didn't eat other other Animals when God created the world because then it wouldn't everything wouldn't be good, right? And it says in the suckling child shall play on the whole of the asp and the weaned child Shall put his hand on the cockatrice den So these are talking about poisonous snakes the little children will be able to play with and hang around there where they live They shall not hurt or destroy in all my mountain my holy mountain For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea So don't just give them a reason to not get saved Give them a reason to look forward to being saved where there's no more death The Bible says there's coming a time when there won't be any death. There won't be any tears when we're in heaven There's not going to be tears There's not going to be weeping because the former things are passed away and God is gonna make all things new And so he's gonna make the animal kingdom new too, so I would just say to steer him Maybe in a direction where things are gonna get better later for animals but to try to just be you know, I'm not saying anybody does this but because you know sometimes people's animals are a threat to them being saved and you just think about people that have dogs that are uncontrollable when you knock on the door and They're just bad. I'm sorry. I can't I have the dog And then they close the door right I mean this happens probably weekly Probably every day you go so many this happens at least at one door. The Bible says beware of dogs You know and it's that's where they got the sign from I'm sure But dogs we're not talking about just the dogs that you know The other dogs we're talking about like literal dogs will stop people from getting saved and it happens probably every single day That anybody goes out sowing and so You know pets are a detriment to people getting saved. It's a threat to Christianity because it takes New people to be reached in a new generation for Christianity to move on now The Bible says the gates of hell will not prevail against the church. Okay, so I believe there's always gonna be a righteous remnant but the more people we get saved in the next generation the more they'll be in that next generation and then more people able to Serve God because look not all churches go sowing not all people go sowing Sometimes people just you know, they just stop going they just stop doing it or they never did do it But you know, it's we're gonna have better numbers so winning if we reach that next generation and then a whole nother generation rises up that does know the Lord as Opposed to kind of what we see the trend being like right now Here's another thing that they'll say they'll say well I want to go to hell where all my friends are and we can all party together Who's heard that before? Well, I don't want to go to heaven because if God is like this then you know I don't want to go there. I'd rather party with my friends and Because that's all they think about now is partying with their friends But you know There's a lot more to life than partying and getting drunk and puking in a toilet at the end of every night There's more to life than just having fun all the time and it's like I have fun as a Christian, you know I think Christianity is fun, but people look at it like oh this boring listen to preaching. It's boring, you know, you know, what's boring Dying alone and and headed for a devil's hell at the end of your life. That's boring Sitting there with nobody that loves you anymore I'm not saying this happens to every people all people that are unsaved but there are people that are so bitter and hateful towards God In the end, they're just alone with their own demons that they have created in their life And you know, they're just they're miserable people think that they'd be there. They're not they wouldn't be happy in church But they're not happy right now They're not happy unsaved. They just don't realize it There's a song that Billy Joel sang. I think it's from the 80s or something, but it's a really blasphemous song But here's one of the things he says in it in one of the verses it says and they say there's a heaven for those Who will wait? Some say it's better, but I say it ain't I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the Saints. The sinners are much more fun You know and anybody that's ever heard that song before You know that it's it's really it's talking about how he wants to get with some Catholic girl that's refusing him, basically But that verse right there as that that song lyric has always upset me If I ever hear that song it makes me mad and and the title of that song is called only the good die young See, that's what the world wants us to believe only the good die young It's boring to wait for heaven have you know church is boring being the Christians boring and he says I'd rather laugh at the sinners And cry with the Saints. Yeah, but you're not gonna be laughing when God casts you into hell You're not gonna be laughing with sinners down in hell having a good old time playing your little piano Billy Joel You're gonna be dying for ever. It's eternal damnation Look what the Bible says about let's turn to Psalm chapter 55 verse 23 What does the Bible say? so Billy Joel says He'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the Saints because sinners are much more fun and this you know I just sometimes I wonder I'm sure that this mentality has been around for a long time but You know, I wonder sometimes if these types of songs make people think that because when we go to people's doors, they're programmed with the same CAD answers that other people have regurgitated throughout time and We have to be aware of these things and and when we're so wanting kind of have some discernment on how we deal with these types of issues But Psalm chapter 55 verse 23 says but thou O God Bring or shall bring them down into the pit of destruction The pit of destruction is hell folks and it says bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days But I will trust in thee So what is what is David saying? Well those people that you think are so fun God's gonna bring them to hell. He's gonna they're going to hell So laugh it up while you have the chance now But you're not gonna be laughing when God cast them in hell And so if someone dies young, you know only the good die young know the bad die young the wicked die young That's what the Bible actually teaches. It's not the good the good die young You know it, you know, sometimes it does happen But if you're good It's only because God made you good because God made you righteous by the blood of Jesus Christ It's not because you're some good person or something So what does hell really like? Because it's not hanging out with your friends It's not having fun with the sinners and laughing with them and all this other stuff. Look at Mark chapter 9 verse 43 Mark chapter 9 verse 43 The Bible says And if thy hand offend thee, this is Jesus Christ talking by the way who yes He did preach about hell It says if I hand offend thee cut it off It is better for thee to enter into life maimed than having two hands to go into hell Into the fire. What's hell the fire that shall that never shall be quenched Is it ever gonna be quenched? It never shall be quenched. It's fire it's lasting forever and it says where the worm their worm dieth not and The fire is not quenched. I mean he's gonna be real redundant here, but I think he's trying to inform us on something That's really important to know and if I foot off in thee cut it off. It is better for thee to enter into Halt into life than having two feet to be cast into hell into the fire That never shall be quenched. So People are going to be cast into hell isn't that what the Bible saying here and When they do it's into fire and it also shall never be quenched. Okay, you said it again now verse 46 where their worm Dieth not and the fire is not quenched. They're saying it again. So that's three times He said it right and if thine eye offend thee pluck it out for is better For thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire Fire what is hell? It's fire. It's torment. It's suffering It's not any place that anybody wants to go and hang out with their friends They're gonna re instantly regret that when they wake up after saying that stupid saying for their whole lives And anytime anybody tries to talk to about Christianity, that's their stupid answer I'd rather you know, I'd rather hang up my friends in hell. You don't get to hang out with them in hell It's loneliness. It's fire. It's torment and the Bible calls it outer darkness So, can you see people in darkness? No, you can't you're by yourself and you're just being punished for the sins that you Are being punished for because God is gonna judge us a court He's gonna judge them according to their works and if their works are evil, then they're gonna be cast into hell Our works are evil too as Christians, you know, but here's the thing That God forgives us and he forgives us of all of our sin past present and future And so Jesus Christ is the only reason why we're righteous because he had to come and die You know He had to live the perfect life die get buried resurrect from the dead from hell in three days three nights And he is going to give us a glorified body one day where we won't sin, but our life on this earth is a struggle It's a struggle to fight with the flesh it's a struggle because of sin It's a struggle because of the things without and all these other things But look at verse 48 says were there worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched. This is probably the most descriptive part of Passage in hell and Jesus just flat-out saying people are going there and people can get mad about that all they want And they can blame God all they want but he warned them he's warning people today don't go to this place Whatever's stopping you from getting saved Get saved Because you don't want to go to this place of fire and torment and destruction Hell is not a party with your friends. It is being alone in Agonizing pain on fire for all eternity There's no water for you And it's forever and ever and ever and ever and ever it doesn't end It's just like eternal life never ends neither does hell That's why it's important for us to get out there and preach the gospel And Sometimes people refuse to get saved because they realize that they're dead friends or family or loved ones are not saved They kind of come to this realization. Oh You know, I'm sure when we're given the gospel to people people understand this They realize granny's in hell because she was a witch or whatever You know because there's a lot of different there's some there was some odd ducks out yesterday. I wasn't there Our world is getting stranger and even in appearance. It's getting stranger And it just some of the outfits people were wearing yesterday. It's just bizarre, but People will not get saved because they think my if my granny's in hell Then I don't want to go to heaven if my best friend went to hell Then I don't want to go to heaven and that's a stupid mentality for the unsaved to have but debt you know and then you know dead love loved ones that They think are saved but when they realize the truth they will draw back and they will refuse to get saved Because the stone-cold reality is if they didn't believe on Christ They're not in heaven and where are they they're in hell And so this is a threat to Christianity because it's a threat that someone won't get saved because of some dead lost loved one that they thought was saved or they thought was a great person and They're not so What would your relative or friend that is in hell say to their loved ones that are rejecting Christ and rejecting the gospel? If they could speak to them today, which they can't but if they could what would they say? You know people pay good money for psychics and mediums to reach out to their dead loved ones that are departed It's a big thing. You know every time I drive past one of these psychic shops. You know what I do I pray that God destroys that place. I pray that God just destroys the people that are running in Obviously if they can get saved because witches can't get saved these people can't get saved You know doesn't I'm not saying they can't but what they're doing is evil and wicked and they're causing other people to not get saved because They're telling them through their demonic familiar spirits That you know so-and-so is thinking about you and remember the ring that was under your toilet You know the ring that you lost it's if you just unscrew the drain. It's right there or whatever And it's like how would they know that well they're familiar spirits tell tell the mediums and psychics This you think that the devil's aren't real they are real and they have their people that the devil uses in this earth They're called sons of Belial. They're called the children of pride. They're just you know people that work for the devil You know we we work for God there's people that work for the devil and their job is to stop people from getting saved and If they're gonna go and let these from you know Saul of Tarsus are not Saul of Tarsus Saul King Saul went to a witch who was someone that commune with familiar spirits and Well, what does that mean familiar spirits? Well, they're familiar with people because they walk the earth to and fro just like Satan does he has them in his Prime locations that he wants them in and they have been around for thousands of years Going to and fro through the earth, so do you think they know things about people? Do you think they know things about the people that they you know kind of oppress and all these things of course they do they know things that nobody could know and You know and then when people hear these things and they hear some kind of truth and a lot of them are charlatans but some of them aren't and People just keep going and giving money so they can hear from their dead relative Well, if they're dead relative could speak to them to the unsaved what would it what would it be? What would they say? Well, you know, we don't have to wonder what they would do or what they would say Let's turn to Luke 16 where we started our Bible reading this morning And look at verse number 19 It says famous story about the rich man and Lazarus Verse 19 the Bible says there was a certain rich man Which was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day and just take a mental note right here It just says a certain rich man doesn't say what his name is does it? Doesn't say what his name but this guy lived sumptuously Had all the things he wanted in life and it says and there was a certain beggar named Lazarus So notice that the beggar is named and the rich man is not And you know why that is because it really doesn't matter what his name is because he's gonna end up in hell It says which was laid at his gate full of sores this man Lazarus and Desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table 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 The rich man also died and was buried now Abraham's bosom is not hell folks. Abraham's bosom is a body part from a person named Abraham and Abraham You know, he what what what is this telling you that that beggar died and he was comforted immediately Come let me give you a hug Welcome to heaven And it says and he lived excuse me in the and then and then the rich man also died and Was buried and in hell he lived up his eyes. So where did he wake up? Lazarus woke up Abraham hugged angels guiding him to heaven and then where did the rich man? Dot he died. He was buried and he lived up his eyes being in torments. He's immediately in hell when he wakes up Okay, when his eyes open he's in hell and seeth Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom so he sees Lazarus getting a hug and Being comforted and he's in torment immediately this happens right when he dies right and it says and he cried and said father Abraham have mercy on me and Send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger and water and cool my tongue for I'm tormented in this flame Do you think that he had some regrets? Instantly, you know those videos that say so-and-so did this and instantly regretted it Well, there's gonna be a lot of people that are in hell they're gonna instantly regret every stupid thing that they said about God and the fact that they just said always the magic sky date sky Daddy spaghetti monster and it's not real. I'm gonna worship pagan gods instead and all this other garbage or I believe in science You know you go ahead and believe in science and you know, what's gonna happen you're gonna die and go to hell Because a lot of the science that we get is false science. It's not really legit I'm not saying I don't believe in science. I do believe in science I believe in legitimate science though, not you know, it rained on the rocks for billions of years and then you know Here we are. I don't believe that garbage I'll get to that at the end of sermon But anyway, so he says dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue for I'm tormented in this flame He's instantly in torments. He's instantly in flames What did Jesus say in Mark chapter 9? What were they were gonna go a fire that shall never be quenched Right a torment. They're gonna be tormented. They're gonna be in hell. Hell is filled with flames But Abraham said son remember thou and not in thy lifetime receive us thy good thy good things and likewise Lazarus evil things but now he is comforted and thou art tormented and beside all this Between us and you there is a great goal fixed so that they would that would come though Excuse me, they would pass from hints to you cannot neither. Can they pass to us? That would come from them. So basically he's saying once people die you're stuck in that spot. You're not getting out You can't just go to heaven whenever you feel like it The people from heaven can't go to hell the people from heaven that went to heaven Aren't coming back on their own to go just do your Soul winning that you should have done when you got saved or you know to go reach your family members The Bible says it's a point on the man wants to die and after this the judgment we don't have Second chances in a place called purgatory. That's not what the Bible teaches. What does the Bible teach? It teaches heaven in hell You wake up in hell or you wake up in Abraham's bosom But and and then he takes you to heaven, right? So and and so it says in verse 27, then he said I pray thee therefore Father that thou would have sent him to my father's house If the dead could speak that are in hell right now What would they say they say send somebody to my father's house send somebody to my dead to my relatives are still alive Send somebody to tell them to avoid this place But it says I have five brethren that he might testify Unto them lest they also come into this place of torment But if the dead could speak they would say Get saved. They wouldn't say oh well, my family's in hell my family members in hell So I'm gonna go to hell with them because I don't want to be you know saved by some God that would send people to hell But the reality is folks that people are in hell and those people that are are in hell They want their family members to not go there because it's a place of torment It's a place where even a drop of water is just something like a would be a big deal to them. Just a drop And it says I have five brethren that he may testify unto them lest they also come into this place of torment Abraham saith unto him they have Moses and the prophets let them hear them and That's that's saying that It takes the Bible to be saved. It takes what God has put forth To be saved. That's what's going to impact those people Let them hear Moses and the prophets and he said nay father Abraham But if one went unto them from the dead they will repent But is this true? No, it's not And he's and he said unto them unto him if they hear not Moses and the prophets neither will they be Persuaded though one rose from the dead So Jesus is telling the story he's saying what Abraham said and Abraham is the father of the faithful he's you know, he's the one that God gave the promises to that it would be by faith and that the heathen would be justified by faith and that God would you know save people from all nations because of Abraham's seed which is Jesus Christ so What did the rich man want? He realized, you know, Abraham's kind of blocking him at every pass and then the last thing he realizes that Even if someone rose from the dead, it's not going to convince them. Jesus Christ rose from the dead. Is everybody convinced? No, not everybody's convinced So what did he want not for his five brothers to end up in hell in a place of torment? Where he was so this is something you could probably point out to someone say look Even if you're fit, I'm not saying that they are I don't know them I you know we because we really don't know now if they said this person was you know, some false prophet or whatever That's a different story, but you still don't have to say that necessarily Point them to the positive things the truthful things and look when people get saved. They're gonna realize those things themselves When they start reading the Bible when they start hearing Bible preaching, they're gonna realize those things themselves We don't have to convince them of these things at the door Our job is to guide them to meet with God and be saved and be reconciled with God That is our job as ambassadors of Christ to reach those people with the gospel not to say well Yeah, your grandma's probably in hell. But anyway, you know, I mean that's That's not necessary. It's not necessary to do that. And so What I would say to them is that hey even if they are in hell Like, you know, the rich man wanted his family members to get saved because it's such a bad place It's it's like the worst place you could ever be and this should be a lesson to everyone that when an unsaved person dies they wake up in hell and You know We should have that realization because sometimes we come across older people and it might be the last time anybody ever knocks that door Those are the doors Unless they're just so rude I've had people top be talking and answering a question of mine and close the door at the same time It just happened to me like last a couple weeks ago You know, what can you do about that? Don't put your foot in the door, you know They they you know, you went there you tried to reach them, you know But I always say this don't just knock every door Like it's just a chore knock every door with the with the thought that I want to you know Impress upon them how important it is that they get saved I want to impress upon them that I actually do care for them and that's why I'm here You know if you're just like Eeyore when you walk to the door You know believe in Jesus, you know just have some you know have it You're not it's not a prison sentence to go soloing, okay They're In the prison sentence, so we're trying to let the captives out We're trying to unlock the door and trying to stop them from being blinded by Satan so that they'll be saved So and then when a saved person dies We're immediately comforted by the angels and welcomed by Abraham But that will be the end of our soul winning that is the end That's the last chance you have and you're not gonna be able to go soloing anymore So if you're not sewing right now, then you're not right with God Because the Bible commands us to go out and preach the gospel and you know people like oh I've heard this so many times all you guys talk about is sewing That's not all I talk about but I do talk about it because it's really important Yeah And I'm trying to motivate people that have quit or maybe you're just not as passionate about it because we all lose our passion From time to time we all get worn out and tired and don't feel like doing it But you know if you real if you realize that the soul winning time that you missed that week You could have affected somebody else's eternity, and they're not gonna wake up in hell Screaming and torment asking for a drop of water on their tongue. You're like well. You're trying to guilt me into it Yeah, I am because you should feel guilty about it because you should go soul winning. It's period right and So that'll be the end of our soul winning And you know I don't really care if me telling you that about that you're not right with God hurts your little feelers and Hair lips you and upsets you look That's my job is to exhort you to do good works my job as a pastor is to encourage you to do What's right and to avoid doing what that which is wrong, so you're like pastor Thompson? how are these things a threat to Christianity because In Order for Christianity to get to the next level to the next generation Then we have to go out and we have to understand that there that the threat is legit the threat of people Maybe having their pets not be saved the threat of people You know when they they think that their family members aren't saved you know and and they they might think that that family member is Down there waiting for them to party But we show them things like this and that will probably change their mind and sober them up really quick and point out the fact That Jesus is the one saying it It's not just you know because some people unless it's Christ saying that they don't want to you know They don't want to accept it. Well that was Paul saying that this is Christ saying that stuff so now the devil and his minions also don't want you to be a soul winner and and So You know and why because he wants to continue deceiving the world Because that's what he does go ahead and turn to 2nd Timothy chapter 2, and I'm going to read Revelation chapter 12 9 revelation 12 9 says and the great dragon was cast out that old serpent called the devil and Satan Which deceiveth the whole world who's he deceiving the whole world and unless you get saved You're deceived with them What you're like well, I don't believe this, but you believe something else that's wrong And that's really what repentance unto salvation is is that you stop believing whatever was going to take you to hell You know whether that's your good works save you or you have to be a good person the good has to outweigh the bad You know you have to you know believe in Buddha or believe in Shiva or believe in whatever God It is you you change your mind from that and you put your faith in Christ That's what repentance is that is true repentance, but the devil doesn't want that to happen He deceives the whole world and he doesn't like when his little pets get undecieved Look at 2nd Timothy chapter 2 verse 24 says and the servant of the Lord must not strive But be gentle unto all men apt to teach patience so when you're at the door soul winning This is something you should think about we're not there to fight with people We're not there to tell him their dogs in hell. We're not there to tell him their grandmas in hell We're there to be gentle and to an apt to teach and patient Don't just get frustrated and mad because they're not getting it They're deceived the devil has deceived them and sometimes it takes God's Word to Deprogram them enough to where they actually will get saved look what it says in verse 25 and meekness Instructing those that oppose themselves see they oppose themselves, and they don't even realize that they're their own worst enemy And I like to bring this up with that meme with the Chinese kid and he has the boot on his neck and it looks like someone's just stepping on his throat But then the next the next slide is that his arm is in his own boot, and he's like doing it himself That's kind of what it's talking about here those that opposed themselves if God paired venture will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth What's the truth that the only way to get saved is by Jesus Christ and once he saves you it's everlasting life That's the truth and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil When you're trapped and you recover yourself, it's because you put faith in Jesus, and he takes you out of that snare He takes you out of that blindness. He takes you out of that trap It says who are taken captive by him at his will that's why the Bible calls the devil the god of this world small G because he has a huge influence over the Larger percentage of the population Some people are his children The mass majority are people that are up for grabs, and then you have to save people So we're trying to fight the devil for those people That's who we want to get and we have a small number of people but you know God has always been able to do great things with small amounts of people and You know by By much or by few or by little or by few whatever God has always used a small number of people to do great works for us so and you know what do we ultimately want to do we want to put the Spirit of God into them and Not allow the devil to have that blindness over them anymore in 1st John 4 for it says you're of God little children and have overcome them Because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world Satan is in the world the spirit of Devils are in the world But God is greater than them much greater And so when we have the Spirit of God the influence of the devil can still be in our lives, but it can never We can never be possessed by Devils as a saved person. It just is impossible because God's not gonna let them He's not gonna cohabitate with a devil So we need to help people to get God inside them And so that they're no longer blinded by the devil in his devices so Point number two this morning. I was 45 minutes. I was right there point number two is that There's a threat from hell. You're like well. You kind of already talked about that But this is a little bit different so the threat from the unsaved You know a lot of them are you know that the unsaved are ultimately gonna go to hell, but the threat of hell itself Some people are so upset about the concept of hell itself that they won't get saved Some people are so offended that God would create hell that they refuse to get saved so you know, but the Bible says that You know we there's some people that are gonna go to heaven some people are gonna go to hell but if we convince them of the logic of this because sometimes people You know you're like well. It's heaven or hell. You know if you don't believe that then I can't help you But we can help them we can try to help them right so look at Matthew chapter 25 verse 40 Matthew chapter 25 verse 40 So we have the threat of the unsaved Because if they think that there are family members in hell Then they might not get saved or their dog or whatever But what were the people in hell say to those people they'd say get saved Avoid this place avoid this torment But the threat of hell is that God actually made hell and that he's sending people there and that highly offends people You mean to tell me that God's gonna send people to hell forever and ever and ever and torment them And he's like they're like what kind of loving God would do that well, maybe God isn't You know what you think he is Maybe the God of the Bible is different than what you've been raised at these clown churches to believe That God is only love and that everything is puppy dogs and flowers and rainbows and unicorns And they're nothing God wouldn't do anything to upset anybody But I'll just submit this to you if God sent someone to hell. He stopped loving them that day didn't he? He Stopped loving them and it could have been that he stopped loving them well before that Because God does have thresholds that he's not gonna put up with there's things in Scripture that say After you do this You cannot be saved once you put your mind here once you blasting the Holy Ghost once you add or remove from the scriptures once you take the mark of the beast when you do those things you're done and God will give you over to a reprobate mind so that you are someone that's just a dead man walking or dead woman walking And you're twice dead the Bible says plucked up by the roots clouds without water You know and it says that the everlasting destruction is what's waiting for them So there is that threat and people don't like that Really people are offended by hell. I have more people send back our invites. I just had some sent back last week You know return to sender or whatever I didn't send it to them so they obviously just I don't know how they generated that label But you know I I guess I just don't know how to mail letters correctly But I didn't know you could return to sender when nobody sent it to you Like I didn't put a stamp on it and mail it in the mail or something But there was a sticker. I think it's right over there by my seat, but it says return to sender They just want to know they want me to know That they're not gonna call me or come to the church and chew me out Or send me an email They're just gonna return the card and to show that they rejected what we had to say And a lot of times when it's when they what they'll complain about is they'll say Well, you shouldn't tell people they're going to hell I'm not telling people they're going to hell. I'm saying that if you don't get saved. That's where you're gonna go I'm not gonna send you there. God's gonna send you there And they can't handle that so look at Matthew chapter 25 verse 40 says and the king shall answer and saying to them Verily I say unto you and as much as you have done it unto One of the least of these my brethren you have done it unto me talking about visiting Christ and you know You know just visiting brothers and sisters You know doing good works or whatever, but it says then shall he stand to them on the left hand apart from me cursed into everlasting fire Prepared for what to say there the devil and his angels did God make hell for humans Now the Bible says from the mouth of Christ here that people are going to go to hell. They're cursed That means they're there God's cursed them They're not going to be able to go to heaven into everlasting fire that means a fire that never ends Prepared for the devil and his angels God made hell for the devil and his angels He didn't make it for us And so this is something you could tell people to say you know and maybe this will convince them And maybe it won't some of these things I'm suggesting might be helps But still people are gonna reject the message Whether we are really good at convincing them of these things or not people will still reject it So don't don't get upset about that either you tried you tried the best you could and you and you try to convince them Because that's really ultimately what we're supposed to be doing But it says prepared for the devil and his angels you know hell was not created for mankind and You know this is a good explanation to help people with the doctrine of hell Most of the people that are angry about hell are quick to throw us in it have you ever noticed that no You're gonna go to hell Because you preach against the homos or you you know you're telling people they're going to hell therefore You're going to hell even though I don't believe in hell It's like Okay, whatever but You know they'll say this kind of stuff because of our stances on things And I've been told I've been cursed to hell by many unsaved people and false prophets over the years Many many people know you're the ones going to you go to hell all your people are going to hell You guys are the cult, and you know just all this stuff, but think about this You know and this is what I like to tell people is that God is a judge, and he's good And he has to judge rightly he has to judge by the truth. He has to judge based upon what's right and what's wrong and You know he's not going to just just Excuse people sin, and I like to bring up Adolf Hitler, and I say well Adolf Hitler escaped human punishment Didn't he I mean to my knowledge. He never did a day in prison. He wasn't executed by any government You know supposedly he killed himself Even though when they tested the DNA of the skull in Russia. It was a woman's DNA, but anyway I'm not going into that right now, but Regardless of whether he did or not. He still never got punished So do you think that'd be right? For him to never get punished for anything After all the things that he did or Stalin or Mao or just any wicked evil person in this world that escaped human justice God will judge them God will pay them back in This life sometimes, but definitely in the life to come, but they won't have life It'll be if the Bible calls it the second death when everybody that's unsaved gets judged for the last time It's called the second death, and that is the death of the soul and the body in hell forever You're like this is a pretty negative sermon pastor well I'm not trying to be negative. I'm do you know this is This is the Bible yeah, and this is the threats from below There are legitimate threats from below even though we might not have any impact or or or be able to change anything But what we can do is change how we approach people about this stuff and if someone says well Do you think the Adolf Hitler deserves to be punished most people will say yes, and then say well if there is no God then he's not getting punished so God if God you know and you could just add whoever you want and So if God is righteous And he must judge sin then he must judge those people that have escaped human justice, and where's he gonna judge him? He's not he doesn't have to let people in his house He's not required to let Adolf Hitler in heaven. He's God. We're men. He's in heaven We are on the earth let thy words be few Who are you to reply against God God's the one that made this world? He's the one that made up the rules He's the one that says what sin is and what it isn't and God is good, and he's incapable of doing evil Not evil, but he's incapable evil means harm, but he's incapable of doing wrong. He's incapable of sin He's incapable of lying So that's one way that you can you know maybe help with this situation where someone just believes That hell is just nobody deserves to go to hell, but some people will still stick to that gun. I'm just like if someone came to your house and killed all your family members your children and And just killed them, and then you know would you forgive that person and some stupid people would say yes? but you know what I wouldn't forgive them and I'm not going to forgive them. I'm not gonna show up at their court and go I forgive you It's like they killed your family dude like why would you do that? That's just doesn't make sense And you know you can do that if you want, but it's just weird But look at verse 46 it says and these shall go away into everlasting punishment But the righteous into life eternal see he's making the contrast here. What is hell? It's everlasting punishment. What is heaven well the righteous enter into life eternal That means you live forever There's only two choices folks there's only two types of people those that are saved and those that are unsaved You can put all your little subcategories and racist stuff all in there if you want But there's only two categories of people and it doesn't matter what color your skin is doesn't matter What country you're from doesn't matter whether you're male or female? You know what matters is whether you believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what matters Turn to Psalm chapter 139 We can't flee these things and you know people can want to escape hell by some other reason But all those that came before Jesus were thieves and robbers There's no religion It's not like all religions get us to heaven and we should all hold hands across the America With the Hari Krishna's and the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Mormons that's not true. That's garbage folks. It's just not Possible because Jesus said I'm the way the truth in the life no man cometh unto the Father, but by me He's the only way he's the only truth. He's the only way to get everlasting life and You know it says in Psalm 139 verse 7 it says shall I go? From my spirit or whether shall I flee or whether shall I go from my spirit? Whether shall I flee from my presence if I ascend up into heaven thou art there if I make my bed in hell behold thou art there So what this is saying is that it doesn't matter where you go to try to hide from God and his presence and his judgment He's gonna be there You can't hide from it's like Jonah's like I'm gonna take this boat and go someplace else It's like like what are you thinking that you could actually escape from God's presence? I mean you know did you forget he's the all-powerful all-knowing all-present God and This is you know another thing people just say I just rather go to hell I'm not gonna believe in a God that would send people to hell, but guess what? Whether you believe that or not when you're in hell He's gonna be there with you anyway So the God that you actually hate the God that you actually want to avoid the God whose presence that you want to just be away from these Reprobates to die and go to hell and anybody that dies and goes to hell is a reprobate at that point by the way The God that they didn't want to be around I'd rather go to hell than go to heaven Guess what God's gonna be in hell too with you His presence he stokes the fires of hell so it's like you know it's kind of like that lady when Trump won you know the if you could call it a lady and It had the short hair and like got on season one. Yeah Like sometimes they have the rock music behind it it's pretty funny, but But like that's this is what I picture happening when a person that hates God so bad that they would rather go to hell than go to heaven and They and they wake up in hell, and it's like God's presence is there and they're like I Mean it's it's true like why not get saved and enjoy the rest of eternal life Instead of you know hating God and rejecting them and still having to be in his presence anyway And on fire for all eternity like that's just That's what I mean people oppose themselves and the God that they hate is gonna be with them anyway But you know all these churches teach well hell is just separation from God. That's not true That's not what the Bible teaches the Bible says you know that it's hell And he will be there with you. He's stoking the flames And so it's like when the flames get hotter. It's like And God's right there. They have to be in his presence I don't know to what extent or how what that looks like you know maybe they just know maybe they just can feel that he's there I don't know Punishing them for what they've done now look at first or Isaiah chapter 5 verse 14. I'm almost done Don't don't be alarmed. I only got a couple more places to go All right Isaiah 5 14 Says therefore hell hath enlarged herself every time you know the population increases More people go to hell and when the population you know it's up at what an 8 billion now I'm not sure if it's 9 yet, but the last time I checked it was like 8 billion And there's people dying every single day On earth so when the population gets bigger more people die on a daily basis more people are going to hell Bible says therefore hell hath enlarged herself and opened her mouth without measure and their glory and their multitude and their pomp and he that rejoiceth shall descend into it so what's it saying no matter what their glory was and what their status was on this earth and You know their multitude however many people this is their pomp. That's like when people are just like Celebrated you know they have people they have an entourage They're very important people and he that rejoiceth People are happy now, and they had a great life now like the rich man It says shall descend into it shall descend into what hell Doesn't matter who you are doesn't matter if you're President Trump or President Biden, or you know the Pope or whoever It doesn't matter what your status is on this earth if you're not saved you're going to hell And then where's all your stuff going to be then where's all your riches going to be then? Where's all your smart and and great comebacks to God's stuff then? It says in verse 15 and the mean man, which is basically like the common or unknown person There's a lot of people that we've never even heard of that died in some distant land that we'll never know Because it doesn't really matter what their name is anymore because they're dead in hell Says the in the mean man shall be brought down and the mighty man shall be humbled and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled So it doesn't matter who you are whether you're common or uncommon Popular or not popular rich or poor every person that's not saved is going to go to hell The last point I have is going to be quick so turn to Jeremiah chapter 2 verse 27 I Wish I did have more time to kind of expand on some of this stuff But the other threat from below is the threats of the earth itself And I'm talking about the climate change weirdos the animal worshipers again the tree huggers the dirt worshipers the heathen religions that worship death and gods of the earth and gods of nature This is a threat because it's a it's something that's growing larger. I'm who's who's knocked on a door, and they're like I'm pagan see Everybody's pretty much raising their hands. They've run into these people because they want anything But God and so they'll resurrect these old gods that are just a myth. That's why it's called Norse mythology You know Roman but these pantheons of gods that are you know it's interesting how all around the world you have These pantheons of gods that all kind of match It's like how did that happen well the devil has a big deception program? And how many people are deceived it the whole world? So this is just one way of deceiving people and that we have to get closer to nature And you know we have to believe that the earth is what controls everything mother earth Listen God made the earth God made it the way he made it don't give some inanimate object You know the the glory for what happens in this place. It's not the earth that's doing it It's God that made that earth and if God makes this earth, and he made us Fearfully and wonderfully made then that's who you should be given the glory to not some a lump of dirt Not some brook of water not some tree or ocean or beautiful place God made that beautiful place And it used to be a lot more beautiful before the flood We're looking at a world that's fallen, and we're like wow this is really pretty, but you know it when when Christ comes back He's gonna make the world as pretty as it was before that's what I believe so There's a rise of paganism coming our way and obviously like I said Christianity will never be destroyed And why do I know that because God said it was not gonna happen Christ said it wasn't gonna happen Now it doesn't mean that things can't get bleak doesn't mean things can't get ugly doesn't mean things can't be very small But there's always gonna be a righteous remnant, but I noticed that there's even like in the native cultures of the world You know they say the indigenous people look everybody was indigenous to nose arc We all come from Turkey all right, that's the reality of it We all set for you know the Landed in the mountains of Ararat, and there was three sons that repopulated the whole earth. There's no such thing as indigenous people Unless you want to we all can claim know you know the mountains of Ararat and Turkey Turkey's our homeland all right So quit just making it about well. Who is there first you don't even know You don't even know who was there first. You're like why no I know for sure People came to the Americas much later than then they say oh, it's been 20,000 years the world is even 20,000 years old So I saw this video was like these people footprints that were uncovered in New Mexico It's like now they believe that it's 23,000 years ago. It's like you can believe all that you believe that all you want But that's what I'm talking about science falsely so-called You know they're gonna sit there and tell us that we came from chimpanzees, and you know ultimately from Iraq Look at Jeremiah 20 or 227. It says saying to a stock thou art my father. What's a stock? It's a lump of it's like a chop of wood that they used to make idols with right thou art my father And to a stone thou hast brought me forth. This is what the ultimately what the evolutionist believes That we came from a rock Millions or billions and billions of years ago because that's what they teach that nothing exploded and created all these things and then It rained on the rocks for billions of years And then magically these toads came out or whatever these amoebas. You know people just always just saying stupid stuff Whatever you think came out of the primordial soup That one was male and one was female and then they made some everything else that you see here including bananas trees Rocks I mean you ultimately believe a rock is your creator you believe rain Combined with rocks made everything on this earth. I mean who really believes the fairytale folks You know you're taking away just basic Truth and knowledge if you look at this world and see the buildings that are built around And there's some pretty cool buildings here go to England sometime and look at how people used to build things Buildings that are a thousand years old. They're still look great today and Say, I think that just happened it rained on England for Thousands of years and then now you see all these cool buildings like that's just it's idiotic You're like I believe in science. No you don't you'll even believe in two genders You believe there's 53 genders. You don't believe in so that's not scientific It real this says For they have turned their backs unto me and not their face, but in the time of their trouble They will say arise and save us You know everybody of all the atheists and foxholes are believers when the bombs start coming aren't they? This is but where are thy gods that thou hast made thee? Let them arise if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble for according to the number of the cities are thy gods Oh, Judah. He's saying all these gods that they believe in they're not going to help you because they're not real Or they're devils and God's just not going to allow them to help you Just like the prophets of Baal. They're cutting themselves and crying to Baal and all this stuff and God did not allow Satan to Allow them to burn up that sacrifice But then Eliza's just like dumping you know kajillion gallons of water all over everything and then he calls on God She just Scorches it all and takes away all the moisture You know I mean it takes a while for moisture like that to just get licked up by water But it licked it all up, and here's the thing God is real and all this other stuff is pagan Idiotic just you know these climate change people that think that look look. There's a huge agenda This is a really big problem in our country today That people are trying to impose on our way of life Because they think that you know if you eat meat you're causing cows to fart and and destroy the world It's what they believe they're trying to get us to eat bugs They're trying to look I've seen Indiana Jones in the Temple of Doom, and I don't want to eat bugs like that That like cured me of ever wanting to eat bugs Those are real bugs by the way, I think when they I'm not trying to get you to watch that movie I'm just saying that I'm not eating bugs like every option on the airplane is basically you get one little slice of meat Maybe one thing that has meat in it everything else is vegan or whatever They're trying to make us do this because they're sold out crazy people and the powers that be are You know and just imposing their will with all these carbon taxes You know why your your gas cost five dollars a gallon in Washington because of these carbon taxes that they're putting in Because of all these weirdos that get into office and put all their weird policies in place They're talking about trying to have no gas cars in California like I don't I don't know what the date is now I think they keep pushing it up because they know it's just not possible You can't even get a Tesla to drive like 300 miles without having to recharge it You know we just go to the gas pump go done. I'm ready to go again It's funny when these people try to you know do these experiments where they're you know trying to sell these electric cars and They have to like have people go before them with generators and gas to charge them up with the charger from the generator and All these lithium batteries are coming from literal slaves in Africa that are down their little children are down there mining this stuff and You know you're like. Oh, this is just making the world so great California has rolling blackouts all the time because they don't have the energy to do anything What do you think it's gonna be like when they have all these electric cars? That's the only way you can get around Look it's gotten insane folks, and it is a threat to our Christianity because what would how would that change our way of life? You know I mean This is but this is kind of that what they're selling us right now all this carbon tax And you know just like as soon as Biden got in that's what he did He just changed everything back to the way. It was already going got us back into it the treaty About the carbon credits and all that stuff you think China's doing that China's just let roll in the coal they're just blasting the coal and Then we're afraid of nuclear energy which could just be the answer to it all but anyway There's a legitimate threat from these types of people in this mindset because they think that they're saving the world by recycling their plastic milk jug They they're they become the saviors, so how do you save people that have become their own saviors? Because they put glass bottles in a different canister and send it out for the dumps for the Let me just tell you something folks all that goes to the same place I've met people that are garbage men, and they say it all just goes to the same place you Like that's not true Okay, the garbage man's line, and you're right All they do is put it on the curb and separate it and put you know important. They have to compost all their food Chicken bones putty tups all that stuff they put it in a in a compost can and put it out to the curb in the dead heat of summer Portland stinks bad enough with all the other stuff That's going on there But it stinks even worse When the compost because the compost place if you ever like have been through like a drought in the summertime going to Portland back and forth When you first cross the bridge you smell that weird that gross smell you know what that is all that compost You know just rotting in some nasty pile It's disgusting But this is what the climate change crazies are doing and you know look There's a rise in in paganism we got to get these people saved We got to get these people saved so last verse. I'm just gonna read it last verses Jude 122 says and if some have compassion making a difference and Others save with fear pulling them out of the fire Hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. Hey, we got to have some compassion Folks we have to make a difference out there because you know what there's not a lot of people doing it and It's falling on us It's falling on us, and I wish that there was a lot more Baptist churches that were doing it But they're just you know it's it's getting sparse out there But others save with fear pulling them out of the fire what I've been talking about hell a lot today We got to pull those people out of the fire and sometimes I'm not saying that we have to force them to get saved But we have to reach with our compassion and and just do whatever we can do what you can Don't be a detriment to their salvation Do what you can make a difference and you got to hate that garment sparrowed by the flesh and get them saved anyway Don't worry about what they're into if God will save them Then he'll he's gonna save them and we should be the ambassadors to make that happen Sometimes we need to reason with them Paul reasoned with people from the scriptures Sometimes we need to plead with them And you know what sometimes we just need to get on our hands and knees and beg someone to get saved Yeah, and you're like well, I don't know if I could do that well sometimes it might be necessary and maybe they will But sometimes we just got to beg people to get saved and you know if someone's you know when people are so close to Salvation and there's just like you just can't do anything else Again, then some maybe that's the time to beg. I don't know but one thing I do know is that we got to get people saved So The first sermon that was the threat or I mean the first point was the threats from the unsaved the second Threat was from hell and the third threat was from the earth and that is the end of the series Let's pray or we thank you so much For all these great scriptures Lord that help us to get people saved. I pray that Lord We would have a fire in our heart and compassion in our hearts Lord to save those people that are nearest the flames Lord And let's pray that you would help us to have compassion and And not just necessarily always need to be right in our conversations in order to just win it win the debate Lord We're not there to bait Pray you'd help us to just be there to want people to be saved and and not for our own glory not for our own Knowledge but for your glory and for the glory of the kingdom of heaven in Jesus name we pray. Amen