The Choice is Yours
Notes
Transcript
Intro:
Tonight we are continuing with part seven of my end of days sermon series entitled the choice is yours.
To provide a quick recap of the series week one was on the literal accuracy of end times prophecy and I used Daniel chapter 9 as an example. Week two my messaged entitled Caught Up examined the rapture of the church and how not only is it biblically accurate but something that should comfort every Christian alive today. Week three in my message Heavenly Rewards I spoke about the Bhema seat of Christ and how we live our life today as Christians does in fact bless us with treasures in heaven. Week four was about the Battle of Gog and Magog as described in Ezekiel chapter 38. On week five we examined the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. And last week I spoke on the Millennial Reign of Christ.
If you missed any of these messages I they are on our Facebook page.
This brings us to tonight’s message which is part seven of my sermon series entitled the choice is yours where we will take a brief look at the events immediately following the Millennial Reign of Christ which include the devil deceiving the nations, the final judgment on evil and the great white throne judgement.
Anchor Verse
7 When the thousand years come to an end, Satan will be let out of his prison.
8 He will go out to deceive the nations—called Gog and Magog—in every corner of the earth. He will gather them together for battle—a mighty army, as numberless as sand along the seashore.
9 And I saw them as they went up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded God’s people and the beloved city. But fire from heaven came down on the attacking armies and consumed them.
10 Then the devil, who had deceived them, was thrown into the fiery lake of burning sulfur, joining the beast and the false prophet. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
11 And I saw a great white throne and the one sitting on it. The earth and sky fled from his presence, but they found no place to hide.
12 I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books.
13 The sea gave up its dead, and death and the grave gave up their dead. And all were judged according to their deeds.
14 Then death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire. This lake of fire is the second death.
15 And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.
Satan Deceives the People Against God
Satan Deceives the People Against God
Verse seven begins with the devil being briefly released from prison at the end of the 1,000 year Millennial Reign of Christ. The first thing he does is to attempt one final attack against the world and the people of the God.
The devil knows that he cannot defeat the Lord so instead he attacks the Lord’s people because we are made in the image of God. Furthermore, as followers of Christ we are now new creations in Christ and The Holy Spirit makes us more Christlike. And because we worship God and God alone and the devil is full of pride and seeks worship for himself he hates us and wants to destroy us. This is why he attacks God’s people today and in the final battle.
Deception is the strategy the enemy uses to turn people away from the Lord and convince them to attack the people of God. The word deceit is an action word that means to misrepresent or conceal the truth from someone. So the devil misrepresents truth to people and makes them believe a lie is truth so that they will rebel against the Lord while thinking they are doing what is right in their own minds or in the ways that evil influence tells them is right.
Many people today perhaps some in this very room may be following a path that is far from the path that God tells us to follow.
Other people may believe in Jesus but are struggling to live holy lives.
Different people may have a strong walk with the Lord but when it comes down to making the Lord the top priority in your life or choosing to rearrange your schedules around the things of the Lord such as praying, worshipping, reading your Bibles, serving others, or going to church you have the mindset that activities, vacations, sports or career come first which is not at all what the Bible tells us to do.
Whatever your condition today I implore you to have eyes to see and ears to hear that anything you put as a priority before the Lord is not from God but rather is a distraction from the enemy who wants to distance you from Jesus so that you will be more likely to listen to the voice of others instead of the voice of God.
Please hear me today trust the Lord, lean not on your own understanding, submit to Him as the Lord and Savior of your life and have the guarantee of heaven as your home and a life on earth filled with the peace and love that only comes with a right relationship with Jesus Christ.
The Devil is Defeated
The Devil is Defeated
In verse eight we can see that the armies of the earth from Gog and Magog and all four corners of the earth are gathered against God’s people and the beloved city. It is important to clarify that this is not the Gog from the land of Magog from Ezekiel 38. Rather Gog is referring to evil political leaders from Magog which is a country or land in rebellion against God. Said simply satan deceives some of mankind to rebel against the Lamb’s rule and they gather an army of great size.
Verse 9 describes fire from heaven which comes down and consumes the attacking armies. Once again the power of God is on display how in just a moment of time the Lord can completely defeat an army as numerous as the sands of the seashore.
Also, the devil is thrown into hell which is a fiery lake of burning sulfur joining the beast and the false prophet to be tormented day and night forever
It may seem at times that the temptations and struggles that the devil puts before us are so overwhelming that we could not possible be strong enough to defeat him.
But I have some good Gospel news for you which that when I wasn’t strong enough Jesus died for me.
When you were not strong enough Jesus died for you.
And if there is anyone here today or watching this video that does not know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior then all you have to do is ask Him to be Lord of your life, invite Him into your heart, turn from your sins and heaven can be your home. Not because you are good enough but because God loves you and wants you to have a personal relationship with you. Jesus has already paid the price for your sins and His grace will cover any mistakes you make along the way so don’t let anything or anyone distance you from God but rather make a commitment to know Him and grow in Him so that you can have the assurance of heaven as your home and the peace and love that only comes from the Lord.
Everyone is Held Accountable
Everyone is Held Accountable
You see my friends everyone is held accountable for what they did with the gift of life the Lord blessed them with. For Christians since we are saved by our faith in Jesus Christ and His atoning blood washes us clean from sin our judgement is not for salvation but is for rewards at the Bhema Seat of Christ as I discussed previously in this sermon series. Said simply our names are already written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
But for anyone who is not a Christian they will have to face the great white throne judgment and give an account for the lives they lived.
11 And I saw a great white throne and the one sitting on it. The earth and sky fled from his presence, but they found no place to hide.
12 I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books.
13 The sea gave up its dead, and death and the grave gave up their dead. And all were judged according to their deeds.
14 Then death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire. This lake of fire is the second death.
15 And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.
Verse 12 tells us that all the dead must stand before the throne and books of the Lambs book of life will be opened.
All unsaved people will stand before the Lord as He is the only one who can rightly judge. Each person will be judged according to what they had done.
At this point death will no longer be needed and will be cast into the lake of fire.
The lake of fire is the 2nd death and anyone’s name not written in the book of life was thrown into the fire as well as the devil, the beast and the false prophet.
Again, it is important here to know that the dead who are raised and judged are not Christians. This may seem like a strange teaching to some but you must realize that the church is already raptured with Christ before the Tribulation and is the bride of Christ which comes back with Jesus at the Second Coming. And the martyrs or the people who were saved during the tribulation were already raptured and joined Christ and His bride which is the church to rule and reign for the 1,000 year Millennial Reign. Therefore our names are already written in the Lamb’s book of life.
Closing
In closing, I know that people don’t preach on hell a lot anymore but hell is in fact a real place and God does not send anyone to hell rather people choose to go there based on the rejection of His Son Jesus Christ and by living sinful lives.
One look at the world around us and we can see that things cannot continue as they are.
Hear me today Jesus loves you and sent me here today to tell you to come home. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you have done if you ask Him to forgive you and be the your God He will forgive you, clean you up from the inside out and prepare a place for you in paradise with Himself and a loving family of fellow Christians.
There are not tears or death or pain in heaven but pure love, peace and joy.
This why I came today because Jesus wants me to tell you today if you don’t know Him it’s time to come home.
If you knew Him before and have backslidden it’s time to come home.
If you are a believer but your are struggling with sin it’s time to repent, leave it at the altar and rededicate your live to Jesus Christ.
If you know Jesus as Lord of your life than I want to tell you to be encourage and do not grow weary doing good. Keep the faith and share the hope of the gospel with as many people as possible while there is still time.
Please don’t leave here today without knowing that you are in a right relationship with Jesus. It is literally the most important decision you will make in your entire life.
If you are ready to make that decision today to either know Jesus as your Lord and Savior or to rededicate your live to Him or publicly proclaim Him as your Lord then I am going to ask you to pray with me. Whether you are in the sanctuary today, watching this video live or watching it at a later date if you have the faith to believe that Jesus died for your sins and wants you to know Him or know Him deeper than pray with me and by the assurance of God’s word you will either be saved or we grow deeper in your relationship with Him.
Please take this moment to recognize that Jesus loves you and He is calling you to know Him in a deeper way.
Prayer
Jesus I have sinned in the past. And while you would be right to judge me instead I ask for mercy and grace. I believe you paid the price for my sins and mistakes. Jesus your are my Lord and my savior. I want to know you in a deeper way than ever before and I ask you to grow my heart and my knowledge of you. I ask you to heal me, bless me and help me to bless others. In Jesus name I pray