{"id":18577,"date":"2021-04-11T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-04-11T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/genesis-031-the-security-of-the-believer\/"},"modified":"2024-03-12T12:38:49","modified_gmt":"2024-03-12T17:38:49","slug":"genesis-031-the-security-of-the-believer","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/genesis-031-the-security-of-the-believer\/","title":{"rendered":"Genesis 031 – The Security of the Believer"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[12],"series_event":[511],"sermon_service_type":[472],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-18577","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-genesis","series_event-genesis","sermon_service_type-main-service","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"Genesis 031 - The Security of the Believer","sermon_date":"20210411","sermon_month":"04","sermon_year":"2021","sermon_notes":8956,"sermon_slides":8957,"sermon_mp3":9115,"sermon_id":"411211239566199","series_or_event":511,"service_type":[472],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":12,"chapter_and_verse":"7:13-24","sermon_transcript":"

Genesis #031 - The Security of the Believer<\/strong><\/h4>\r\n

Genesis 7:13-24<\/strong><\/h4>\r\n

Dr. Andrew Woods <\/strong><\/h4>\r\n

April 11, 2021<\/h4>\r\n \r\n\r\nWell, good morning, everybody. \u00a0If we could take our Bibles this morning and open them to the book of Genesis 7:13<\/strong>.\r\n\r\nThe title of our message this morning is The Believer's Security<\/em>, The Security of the Believer. \u00a0Does anybody in here need to feel secure in something? \u00a0I do.\u00a0 We're going to be talking about how we can find our security in Christ Jesus that is not based on our performance<\/em> but on the promises<\/em> that He has made us. \u00a0I hope you're living your life as a Christian based on promises, not on your performance because if you're always looking to your performance for security, you're going to be a very distraught person. \u00a0We live our lives based on His promises.\r\n\r\nGod cannot lie, and we live for Him based on what He's given us. \u00a0I don't perform and live for Him because it's some kind of conditional agreement where God says, \u2018You do X, and I'll do Y; if you don't do X, I'm going to rip the carpet out from under you.\u2019<\/em>\u00a0 So many Christians live that way, and they're living beneath their privileges, as we'll see.\u00a0 This is all going to come up in the book of Genesis 1-11<\/strong>, the first part of the book. We're gradually making our way through it. \u00a0It's the beginning of the human race.\u00a0 It has four events:\r\n
    \r\n \t
  1. Creation<\/strong> (Genesis 1-2<\/strong>). What the world was like before sin entered the picture, and then...<\/li>\r\n \t
  2. The Fall <\/strong>(Genesis 3-5<\/strong>). What went wrong? \u00a0I hope we also understand that the world we're living in now is not God's original design. \u00a0Something went terribly wrong in Eden with the Fall of man and yet God, in Genesis 3-5<\/strong>, after describing that, also says in Genesis 3:15<\/strong>, that there's hope because there's coming a Redeemer. \u00a0We know Him today as the LORD Jesus Christ, but for the first time, He is promised in Genesis 3:15<\/strong>, to restore everything to its rightful order.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\nSo, the first event is Creation (Genesis 1-2)<\/strong>, the second event is The<\/strong> Fall (Genesis 3-5)<\/strong>.\r\n
      \r\n \t
    1. The<\/strong> Flood <\/strong>(Genesis 6-9)<\/strong> is what we've been looking at of late as the third event in part one of the book of Genesis<\/u><\/strong>. We have events before The<\/strong> Flood<\/strong>, we completed those, and now we're moving into The<\/strong> Flood<\/strong> itself\u2014the actual breaking forth of the floodwaters where God intervened in His creation and brought terrible judgment.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\nWe've seen God's instructions in Genesis 7:1-4<\/strong> for Noah and his family to enter the ark. \u00a0They do the smart thing. \u00a0They obey God. \u00a0Wouldn't you say obeying God is a smart thing to do? \u00a0They did that in 7:5-12<\/strong>.\r\n\r\nNow we pick up with God<\/strong> Seals the Ark<\/strong> (Genesis<\/strong> 7:13-16<\/strong>) and notice, if you will 7:13<\/strong>: \u00a0On the very same day Noah and Shem and Ham and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark<\/em>, ... So, this is one of those scriptures you can use to demonstrate that there were only eight saved souls in the ark. Peter is going to bring up these eight persons in his description of the ark in 1 Peter 3:20<\/strong>. It says, \u201c...eight persons, were brought safely through the water.\u201d <\/em>And 2 Peter 2:5<\/strong> mentions Noah in the ark with seven others. \u00a0These are the eight total:\u00a0 Noah and Mrs. Noah, Ham, Shem and Japheth, and their respective wives.\r\n\r\nNotice, if you will, 7:14-15<\/strong> it says, \u201c...and every beast after its kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, and all sorts of birds. So, they <\/em>[7:15], went into the ark to Noah, by twos of all flesh in which was the breath of life.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 Notice there in 7:14<\/strong>, I think it's used probably 3 or 4 times\u2014the reference to \u2018each went in after its own kind<\/em>.\u2019 \u00a0I bring this up because skeptics like to say, \u2018Well, it's so ridiculous. You don't believe these Bible things, do you?\u00a0 How could Noah have fit all of the animals into the ark<\/em>?\u2019 \u00a0And in fact, the Bible never says that.\r\n\r\nHe never put into the ark every kind of dog that existed\u2014the poodle, the Chihuahua, the Doberman Pinscher. It's just a dog. Mr. and Mrs. Dog. And from Mr. and Mrs. Dog, there was genetic information already inside of them to replicate the dog species after the flood subsided. \u00a0He didn't put every kind of bear into the ark. \u00a0\u2018Shoot, we're missing a polar bear. \u00a0Somebody look around here. Let's get a polar bear. \u00a0Mr. and Mrs. Polar Bear, we need you in here.\u2019 \u00a0No, it's just a bear, and from Mr. and Mrs. Bear came forth all of these different varieties. \u00a0I bring these things up because skeptics like to constantly attack the Bible to make it sound ridiculous.\u00a0 We believe this. \u00a0How could Noah have put all of the animals in the ark? \u00a0It never says that. \u00a0It says, \u2018different species or kinds of their species were placed into the ark.\u2019<\/em>\r\n\r\nThe ark, as we have talked about, was 450 ft long, 75 ft wide, 45 ft high, capable of holding 125,000 animals, according to John Woodmurape\u2019s study, \u201cThe Feasibility of Noah's Ark<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 According to his study, there were only conceivably 16,000 animals in an ark capable of holding 125,000 animals. \u00a0So, there is no problem related to so-called science of the ridiculousness that Noah put all of the animals in the ark.\u00a0 Hopefully some of that is review, because we've gone over that previously.\r\n\r\nBut what I want to draw your attention to is Genesis 7:16<\/strong>. That's why I've entitled this message, \u201cThe Believer's Security.\u201d<\/em>\r\n\r\nIt's interesting that Peter, in his two letters, particularly 1 Peter<\/strong>, will use the ark as a type of our salvation. \u00a0The ark made of wood saved Noah and his family. \u00a0Now, obviously they weren't saved in the sense of going to heaven because they built an ark and went into it. \u00a0They were saved in the sense that they were protected from the flood waters. \u00a0So, metaphorically<\/em>, we are going to, on planet earth, experience floodwaters coming in judgment. \u00a0These are coming upon the human race, and humanity is protected from those floodwaters when we are in our<\/em> ark that is also made of wood\u2014the Cross of Jesus Christ.<\/strong> \u00a0We're not going to be protected from water as was Noah and his descendants, but we are going to be protected from the judgment to come.\r\n\r\nGod does something very interesting there in 7:16<\/strong>, after everyone is in the ark: \u00a0the different kinds of animals and the eight human beings, and I want you to see this as a lot of people miss it, but it's so important. It says, \u201cThose that entered [the ark], male and female of all flesh, entered as God had commanded him; ... <\/em>[Now look at this] ...and the LORD closed it [<\/em>the door, there is only one door in] behind him<\/em><\/strong>.\u201d \u00a0God closed the door. \u00a0God didn't say, \u2018Okay, everybody get in there and pull that door shut.\u2019 \u00a0<\/em>The LORD Himself closed the door. \u00a0How did God close the door? I don't know, it doesn\u2019t say. Was it some kind of miracle? \u00a0Something obviously supernatural happened, I'm not sure exactly what or how, but the Bible is very clear that it was God who shut the door, indicating that from God's perspective, the Day of Decision had passed.\r\n\r\nYou see that Noah, per 2 Peter 2:5,<\/strong> was a preacher of righteousness. \u00a0And according to Genesis 6:3<\/strong>, God's Spirit, prior to God closing the door, was striving with man for one-hundred and twenty years. Genesis 6:3<\/strong> says, Then the Lord said, \u2018My Spirit shall not strive with man forever<\/strong>,<\/em> ... [And we're seeing that here because now the Day of Decision is over] ...because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.\u2019 <\/em><\/strong>\r\n\r\nYou get a one hundred and twenty-year grace period, but don't assume that God's grace continues forever. \u00a0Eventually it stops, and the judgment of God comes. \u00a0This is not just true for those in the days of Noah. \u00a0It is true for our generation as well. \u00a0We are so comfortable in the grace of God, in which it is good to be comfortable because if we didn't have His grace, we would have nothing. \u00a0But we are so accustomed to His grace, and so well-studied up on His grace; we are so used to God's grace, that the deception arises in our minds that this age of grace will never come to an end. \u00a0It will come to an end as it came to an end in the days of Noah.\r\n\r\nThis is why the Bible is very clear about the foolishness of presuming on tomorrow. \u00a0The Bible calls that the sin of presumption. \u00a0It says \u2018Don't boast in tomorrow. \u00a0For you don't know what a day will bring forth.\u2019<\/em> \u00a0The error in our thinking is to assume that yesterday is just like today, and that today is going to be just like tomorrow. \u00a0That is a wrong way of looking at both life and the world. \u00a0Countless people, even in our congregation in the ten years I've been here, thought they were going to wake up but passed on, and we've held memorial services for many of them.\u00a0 In 2 Corinthians 6:2<\/strong> it says, \u201c\u2026behold, now is the day of salvation...<\/em><\/strong>\u201d<\/em> You know the foolishness of saying, \u2018Well, I'm going to postpone receiving Christ by way of faith as my Savior because I've got tomorrow to do it.\u2019 \u00a0<\/em>That's the sin of presumption\u2014assuming that tomorrow is going to be just like today. \u00a0It may be. \u00a0It may not be.\r\n\r\nHere we are in April of 2021. \u00a0Do we not see how different our world is today than it was a year ago in January of 2020? \u00a0The whole world is different. Everything has changed. The mandates, the vaccine, the lockdown, global events are all shaking our planet. \u00a0And if I had stood up somehow under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and predicted all of those things in the year 2020, people would have thought I was crazy. \u00a0They're committing the sin of presumption assuming that tomorrow is just like today. And today is just like it was yesterday. \u00a0Maybe it is, maybe it's not. \u00a0But don't bank your eternity on it. \u00a0\u2018Oh, the floodwaters, they'll never come.<\/em>\u2019 \u00a0Why not? \u00a0\u2018Because they haven't come today. \u00a0They haven't even come for one hundred and twenty years.\u2019 \u00a0<\/em>But they did come. \u00a0The door was shut. \u00a0You reach a point where the Day of Decision is now a thing of the past. \u00a0This is why Psalm 95:7 <\/strong>says, \u201cToday<\/em>, ... [It's interesting how the Bible puts such an emphasis on today<\/em><\/strong>] ... if you would hear His voice, do not harden your hearts...\u201d <\/em>by thinking, \u2018Oh, I can not listen to God today because I'll always have tomorrow.\u2019<\/em> \u00a0The sin of presumption.\r\n\r\nWe\u2018re studying the book of James<\/u><\/strong> Wednesday nights, and eventually we're going to come to this passage here in James 4:13-17<\/strong>, Come now, you who say, \u201cToday or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.<\/em>\u201d Yet you do not even know what your life will be like tomorrow. \u00a0You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. \u00a0Instead, you ought to say, \u201cIf the Lord wills, we will live and also do this, or also do that.\u201d \u00a0But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil. \u00a0Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.<\/em>\r\n\r\nThe folly from the human viewpoint of saying, \u2018Well, I've got next year or next month or next decade to make a decision for the Lord Jesus Christ by way of faith.\u2019 \u00a0<\/em>The foolishness of that. \u00a0You're assuming a lot of things that may not be a reality that you can't even see, because you're finite. \u00a0But God sees them and that's why He keeps emphasizing, \u2018Today<\/em><\/strong> is the day of salvation<\/em>.\u2019\r\n\r\nI think we need to start upping our games as Christians in the sense that we need to start acting as if all of these things that we're talking about are urgent. \u00a0This is urgent stuff. \u00a0Noah, as he was making those preparations for one hundred and twenty years and being mocked by the antediluvian world, was in a state of urgency.\u00a0 No one believed. \u00a0But Noah believed what God said would happen, and he was not wasting any time. \u00a0He was not letting the grass grow under his feet because the grass and the earth and the animals and everything therein were going to be destroyed. \u00a0He acted as if God knew what He was talking about, and he was urgent.\r\n\r\nIt's not just Noah being given these commands; we are given them as well, and we need to act as if these things are going to happen. \u00a0We need to be actively sharing the gospel, not pretending as if tomorrow is going to be just like today, committing the sin of presumption because we can reach a point where it's too late. \u00a0Remember [in Luke 16]<\/strong>, the rich man who died and went into Hades; his tongue was in anguish, and he wanted Lazarus to come over to him and cool his tongue, but it was not within the realm of possibility. The response from Abraham was, \u2018That can't happen.\u2019 <\/em>Besides, Abraham said to the rich man, \u201c\u2018...And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and that none may cross from over from there to us.\u2019\u201d<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0 You see, what's happened is that you've crossed over by way of death into the eternal realm.\u00a0 The opportunity you had when you were alive is gone. \u00a0\u2018Well, at least send Lazarus back to warn my brothers, who are on the same course of unbelief that I'm on.<\/em>\u2019 And the response again was, \u2018They have Moses and the prophets. They have the Word of God. They won't believe the Word of God so it wouldn't matter if somebody came back from the dead to warn them.<\/em>\u2019 \u00a0It's interesting how urgent this man became in the next life. \u00a0You wonder how much good he could have done had that same urgency transferred while he was in this life. \u00a0Because now it was just too late.\r\n\r\nHebrews 9:27 <\/em>says, And<\/em> inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes the judgment.<\/em>\u00a0 Is God loving? \u00a0Of course He is. \u00a0Is God gracious? \u00a0Of course He is. \u00a0Is God longsuffering? \u00a0Of course He is. \u00a0Is God patient? \u00a0Of course He is. \u00a0All of those attributes of God were manifested prior to The<\/strong> Flood<\/strong>, but the door shut. \u00a0The grace of God; the forbearance of God reached a point where it was no longer accessible. \u00a0It was no longer available. \u00a0And this is why the Bible keeps emphasizing \u2018today<\/em><\/strong>.\u2019 \u2018Today<\/em><\/strong>, if you hear His voice, today is the day of salvation<\/em>.\u2019 Don't be foolish and commit the sin of presumption and think that tomorrow will be just like today.\r\n\r\nSo, they were put safely and securely in the ark.\u00a0 The Day of Decision ended\u2014probably when that door closed. \u00a0It was probably a tremendous sign to the believing remnant, the eight in the ark, of God's protective care for them. \u00a0After seeing no action and receiving nothing but ridicule for over one hundred and twenty years, they probably needed the extra evidence from God that they were on the right side of history because they were in the ark going against majority opinion. \u00a0By the way, there are a lot of people who think the majority is right, and that's why they're always quoting these opinion polls. \u00a0\u2018Polling data suggests<\/em>\u2019 as if man's opinion can somehow collectively outvote God.\u00a0 Eventually you have to reach a point where you forget all of these polls, opinions and editorials, because at the end of the day, God is going to be right. \u00a0It doesn't matter if the majority is on His side or not. \u00a0In fact, the majority was not on God's side here. \u00a0The minority was vindicated.\u00a0 \u00a0Jesus was very clear in Matthew 7<\/strong>: \u2018Broad is the road that leads to destruction. \u00a0Many there are that go that way, but narrow is the road that leads to life, and few are they which find it.\u2019<\/em>\r\n\r\nSo, it was a sign, I think, of protection to this believing remnant that they were in God's will. \u00a0Now look very carefully there at Genesis 7:16<\/strong> where it says, \u2018...and the Lord closed it [the door] behind him.\u2019<\/em>\r\n\r\nGod never said to Noah, \u2018Okay, here's how it's going to work. \u00a0I'm going to close the door. \u00a0I'm going to do My part on the outside. \u00a0But there's a handle on the inside. \u00a0And you better hang on to that handle and keep that door shut. \u00a0Because if you don't keep that door shut, the waters are going to get into the ark<\/em>.\u2018 \u00a0God never said that. \u00a0What God said is, \u2018I will shut the door. \u00a0You go inside the ark. \u00a0I will close the door behind you<\/em>.\u2018 \u00a0\u2019Well, Lord, what if I'm not hanging on to the handle?\u2019 \u00a0\u2018Doesn't matter. \u00a0I shut the door.\u2019\u00a0 <\/em>Well, what if Noah got into the ark and then he was somehow unfaithful to God? \u00a0Doesn't matter. \u00a0God shut the door.\u00a0 \u00a0Now, I hope you can see a type of our salvation in this. \u00a0Galatians 1:4<\/strong> says of our salvation, ...who gave Himself for our sins that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, ...<\/em>\r\n\r\nThe ark and the floodwaters are a type of the salvation that we now have in Jesus Christ. \u00a0And I want you to understand that as you stand today in Christ by way of faith, your ability to stay in Christ is not based on your<\/em> ability to stay in Christ. \u00a0It is completely and totally based on or built around what God has promised to do for you.\u00a0 God never says, \u2018I'll save you, but you better not mess things up or the carpet is going to be ripped out from under you.<\/em>\u2019 \u00a0God never says that to us any more than He would say to Noah, \u2018Okay, I'm going to close the door, but you better make sure you're pulling on your end when the floodwaters hit because this whole thing could open up.\u2019<\/em>\r\n\r\nJohn 10:27-29<\/strong> talks about our Door. \u00a0In fact, it's in this chapter that Jesus calls Himself the Door. \u00a0It says in John 10:27-29<\/strong>, \u201cMy sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; I give eternal life to them, ... <\/em>[Who's doing the action? \u00a0God is] ...and they will never perish and no one will snatch them<\/strong> out of My hand. \u00a0<\/em>29<\/sup><\/strong> My Father, who has given them to Me is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them<\/strong> out of the Father's hand<\/em>.\u201d [ou m\u0113; ai\u014dnia<\/em><\/strong>]\r\n\r\nI wish everyone could read Greek because the English translations, in my opinion, don't do the job. They don't mistranslate it, but they don't bring out what the Greek says about our security. \u00a0When Jesus says, \u2018I give to them eternal life and they will never perish<\/em>,\u2019 notice in brackets the Greek word [ou m\u0113; ai\u014dnia<\/em><\/strong>]. \u00a0It's two negatives back-to-back. \u00a0In the Greek language, when you have two negatives back-to-back, it's like saying \u2018there's no possible way that you could perish.\u2019<\/em>\u00a0 It's a \u2018no<\/em>!<\/strong>\u2019 with the strongest exclamation point after it. \u00a0Imagine that the exclamation point would just go on and on and on forever, based on how this is written in the Greek language, so it's an absolute impossibility that once you receive Christ as your Savior that you could ever perish. \u00a0It's impossible. \u00a0It can't happen. \u00a0It will never happen. \u00a0Spanish version: \u2018No way, Jose<\/em>.\u2019 \u00a0You will never, absolutely never, perish once you have trusted in Christ as your Savior.<\/strong> You are completely and totally secure just as Noah was completely and totally secure inside the ark once God shut the door.\u00a0 Nothing could open that door until God was ready to bring them out into the new world. \u00a0The floodwaters can come, they could be torrential, and they were as we'll study, but they were completely safe and secure in the ark. \u00a0It didn't even matter if Noah and his family became a bunch of carnal God-haters in the ark. \u00a0Now, fortunately, they didn't. \u00a0But God never conditioned His promise on that. He conditioned His promise on His Word, which cannot lie.\r\n\r\nIn Greek, not only is there a dual negation here, and for the life of me, I don't understand why our English translations don't bring this out, but it's a double negation, and right next to it is the word \u2018ai\u014dnia<\/em>,\u2019 which means \u2018forever<\/em>.\u2019 \u00a0It's the same word used to describe God Himself, the eternal God in Romans 16:26. <\/strong>\u00a0It is saying that once you are in Christ by way of faith, once the single condition of salvation has been satisfied, you will never, never, ever, ever perish!!!!\u2026<\/strong> with countless exclamation points after it. \u00a0\u00a0And that's true forever<\/em><\/strong> because it's something that God promised.\r\n\r\nSo, you are in the hand of Jesus Christ, and nothing can take you out of His hand. \u00a0Now, I've argued with people for years who deny eternal security, \u2019Well, what if Satan takes us out of God's hand?\u2018 \u00a0\u2019Well, is Satan not covered here by \u2018no one\u2019? \u00a0\u2018Well, what if I become wicked or I mess this up or that up? \u00a0Can't I take myself out of God's hand?\u2019 \u00a0\u2018Is \u2018ourselves\u2019 not covered here by \u2018no one\u2018? \u00a0<\/em>Nothing or no one can take you out. \u00a0Now, you're not just in the hand of Jesus Christ. \u00a0If you look at this very carefully, in John 10:27-29, <\/strong>you're also in the Father's hand. \u00a0So, two members of the Trinity have you in a tight grip. \u00a0I mean, one member of the Trinity would be enough, right? \u00a0God the Son. \u00a0But God the Father says, \u2018Let's do a double grip here.\u2019 <\/em>\u00a0I like to call this the double grip of grace. \u00a0You are in the double grip of grace as a saved person, and there is absolutely nothing\u2014not Satan or yourself...there's nothing you or he can do to reverse it. \u00a0Now, the reason we teach this, and the reason we believe this is because it says, in John 10:28<\/strong>, \u201c...I give eternal life to them<\/em>.\u201d\r\n\r\nThere is nothing here about a reciprocal promise. \u00a0If the promise says, \u2018I give<\/em> if you do that<\/em>,\u2019 which it doesn't, then there would be reason to panic because we do mess things up. \u00a0Amen? \u00a0Maybe not you guys. You guys look very spiritual out there with your Bibles dressed up for church. \u00a0But I mess things up. \u00a0I mess things up as a Christian. \u00a0I mess things up even as a spiritual leader.\u00a0 But God never says, \u2018Okay Andy, you've got eternal life, but you know you better mind your P's and Q's because you might go too far and take yourself out of My hands<\/em>.\u2019 \u00a0That would be to rewrite the Bible to make it say something it doesn't.\r\n\r\nIf you are living Christian life looking at yourself<\/em>, first of all, that's a very depressing subject. Secondly, you're looking at the wrong source. \u00a0You're looking at yourself to keep yourself. \u00a0And Jesus says, \u2018Look at Me, I can't lie. \u00a0I've got you in the grip of God's grace, the Father's got you in the grip of God's grace. \u00a0There is absolutely nothing you can do to take yourself out of God's grace.\u2019<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 \u2018Well, gee, Pastor, you better not teach this doctrine too aggressively because people are going to live like the devil Monday through Saturday, if you teach them something like this on Sunday. \u00a0How are you going to keep people under control? \u00a0How are you going to keep the offering filled with money by talking about things like this? \u00a0How are you going to get people to serve in the church?\u2019<\/em>\r\n\r\nHere's the great secret, folks. \u00a0The doctrine of grace, if you understand it, will not quench your service unto the Lord. \u00a0It will unleash it like never before for the simple reason that your motive for service and for giving has just changed. \u00a0You're no longer doing it because, \u2018Oh, gosh, I'm living in fear, and the carpet's going to get ripped out from under me.<\/em>\u2019 \u00a0You're now serving the Lord\u2014not out of fear but out of worship; out of gratitude. \u00a0You're serving the Lord because you just can't believe the gift<\/strong>. \u00a0The only way I can describe this is that it's a gift that you've been given. \u00a0I frankly don't know of anybody that can look at this gift and rationally understand it, and say, \u2018Okay, I'm safe so I'm going to just live like the devil.\u2019 <\/em>To me, it has the exact opposite effect on people. \u00a0You will completely and totally consecrate yourself unto the Lord because it's the greatest thing you\u2019ve ever heard and have ever been given. \u00a0In fact, no amount of religiosity and good works are somehow going to pay God back for what He's given to you.\u00a0 You start to understand that and say, \u2018Wow, the Lord, and I don't know why, but He really loves me for some reason to give me something like this.\u2019<\/em>\r\n\r\nThis is why you don't have to threaten people week after week with insecurity to get them to live for Jesus. \u00a0I hope you understand that in so many churches, the name of the game is threatening people. And they're threatened with their security as a means of controlling the masses. \u00a0And yet, what does the Apostle Paul say in Romans 12:1-2?<\/strong> \u00a0Therefore<\/em> I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, ...<\/em> [What mercies of God? \u2014what we're talking about here] ... to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship<\/em>. \u00a0Some translations say, \u2018which is your reasonable service of worship\u2019<\/em> that it's reasonable to serve God, understanding what you have in Christ. \u00a0It's logical. \u00a0It makes sense. \u00a0And what you've just done through the doctrine of grace, which is not our invention, but what the Bible teaches, is that you changed peoples\u2019 motive for service, and unleashed in them a life of sanctification, a life of worship, a life of holiness, which, quite frankly, cannot be achieved in people by threatening them over and over again. \u00a0Their motive for living for God is now different on account of what God has done for them.\r\n\r\n\u2018Well, I don't know, Pastor. \u00a0These are tough times we're living in. \u00a0I mean, we've got lockdowns and masks and mandatory vaccinations. \u00a0And, you know, I don't know, America is falling apart. \u00a0We can't enforce our borders, they're coming after our guns, terrorists are crossing the border. \u00a0I just don't know if my Christianity is going to work in that kind of climate.\u2019<\/em>\r\n\r\nI just want to remind you of what the Apostle Peter said in 1 Peter 1:5<\/strong>, by the way,<\/em> to a group of people suffering under Nero's persecution. \u00a0You think our sufferings in the United States are bad? Gosh, you should see what Nero did to people\u2014how he would finance the Coliseum for the purpose of seeing Christians devoured, literally, by beasts before jeering crowds. \u00a0That Nero would burn Rome and blame it on Christians; he used Christians to illuminate his garden parties by lighting them on fire. \u00a0That's who Peter is talking to in 1 Peter 1:5<\/strong>\u2014to this audience \u201cwho are protected by the power of God.\u201d <\/em>\u00a0Your life in that double grip of grace is being protected by \u201cthe power of God.\u201d<\/em> There is absolutely nothing that can happen to you without the permissive will of God. \u00a0And, you know, in fact, should circumstances change for the worst in the United States, and should we move into a model where Christians are being persecuted physically and visibly and actually killed, that may not even be the worst thing that could ever happen to you.\u00a0 Because \u2018absent from the body is present with the Lord.\u2019<\/em>\r\n\r\nThis promise doesn't say it applies as long as you have a Republican in the White House. \u00a0It says that it's a promise from God that you are kept in the double grip of grace \u201cby His power.\u201d<\/em>\r\n\r\nThat's what it meant when Noah went into the ark. \u00a0He didn't close the door himself. \u00a0God never even told him, \u2019Make sure you hold on tight, because we have to make sure the door stays shut.<\/em>\u2019 \u00a0No, God, just shut the door. \u00a0What a model that is for our salvation. \u00a0\u2018Yeah, but what if we blow it? \u00a0What if I make a mistake? What if I go back into sin<\/em>?\u2018\u2013 2 Timothy 2:11-13<\/strong> puts it this way: \u201cIt is a trustworthy statement..<\/em>.. [Do you want a trustworthy statement? \u00a0Anybody here want someone to tell you the truth?\u00a0 Here's the truth: \u00a0this you can trust; this one you can take to the bank] ... For if we died with Him,<\/em> ... [That already happened, by the way, when we trusted Christ] ...we will also live with Him; <\/em>12<\/sup><\/strong> If we endure, we will also reign with Him<\/em>,\u201d ... [Now, there, endurance is not<\/strong> attached to salvation but to authority\u2014 differing degrees of it \u2014 that will be wielded in the Kingdom.\u00a0 To reiterate], \u201c...If we endure, we will also reign with Him; if we deny Him, He also will deny us; \u2026<\/em> Look at the context. \u00a0He will deny us heaven.\u00a0 That's not what it says. \u00a0He will deny us salvation.\u00a0 That's not what it says. \u00a0He will deny us reigning, rewards, or authority in the Kingdom. \u00a0What is sort of up in the air right now is if we are we going to continue to walk with the Lord in difficult times. \u00a0Whether we are or aren't, salvation is not altered one iota.\u00a0 How could it be altered when we're in the double grip of grace? \u00a0And here, he uses the strongest negation to communicate the point, and throws in the word, ai\u014dnios<\/em>. \u00a0\u00a0What is<\/em> up in the air is the degree of authority or rewards that we will receive once in heaven. \u00a0That's an issue, but not your salvation.\r\n\r\n\u2018Well, what if I turn my back on Jesus Christ as the Apostle Peter did three times?\u00a0 What if I do that? \u00a0I mean, what if, when it gets tough, I deny Christ? \u00a0What then?\u2018 \u00a0<\/em>Look at 2 Timothy 2:13<\/strong>, If we are faithless<\/em><\/strong>, ... <\/em>[Now do you know what that word \u2018faithless\u2019<\/em> is? \u00a0That's alpha privative, which is an \u201ca<\/em>\u201d in front of a word that negates the word. \u00a0So, \u2018faithless\u2019<\/em> is basically saying \u2018without faith<\/em>.\u2019 \u00a0It's like saying atheist<\/em>\u2014without God.\u00a0 Agnostic<\/em> is without knowledge<\/em>. \u00a0That's what he means here when he says faithless<\/em>, that even if we are faithless<\/em><\/strong>, unbelieving, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself<\/strong>. \u00a0If He were to push you out of the double grip of grace based on your lack of performance, then He would be denying Himself. \u00a0What does that mean? \u00a0He would be denying what He said in John 10<\/strong>, which is an impossibility because God can't say something on Monday and reverse Himself on Tuesday.\r\n\r\nI'm not trying to argue that unfaithfulness in the life of the Christian is inconsequential. It is consequential because it determines [future] authority and reigning\u2014those types of issues. \u00a0But it doesn't determine salvation because you never got your foot in the door through your works anyway. \u00a0So, if your good works never got you through the front door, why start thinking that our good works keep<\/em> us in the door? \u00a0I mean, our good works don't keep us in the door any more than Noah pulling on the other side of the door could have helped his circumstances. \u00a0\u2018Go ahead, Noah. \u00a0Why don't you tie a great big rope around that handle and just keep yanking it, and make sure you do it for 40 days and 40 nights? Frankly, you need to do it for 150 days, for five months, because that's how long you're going to be in here until the floodwaters subside.\u2018<\/em> \u00a0If Noah had sweated and gritted and pulled and strained, it wouldn't have changed anything. \u00a0And if Noah had done nothing, it wouldn't have changed that door either because it was God who shut the door.\r\n\r\nYou want something to rejoice about today? \u00a0Rejoice about that. \u00a0Leave here not beaten and trodden down and worm theology; \u2018I-wonder-if-God-loves-me<\/em>\u2018-kind of thinking. \u00a0Walk out of here exuberant because of the promises of God that are made to you unilaterally. \u00a0And whenever you get down on yourself, get your eyes off of yourself and start looking at these promises.<\/strong> \u00a0These promises are yours whether you're faithful or faithless, and for it to be any other thing would be for God to be denying Himself.\r\n\r\nYou know, if I thought that my ultimate arrival in heaven had something to do with my performance as a Christian, I would be an emotional yoyo because somedays things are going great. \u00a0Other days, it looks like things are falling apart. \u00a0And God is so good; and He knows we're going to have ups and downs and victories and defeats, so aren't you glad that He hasn't attached your glorification to those ups and downs? \u00a0They're completely attached to Jesus. \u00a0So, they are sealed now in the ark, and The Flood<\/strong>, for the first time, is now described in Genesis 7:17-18<\/strong>. \u00a0Then the Flood came upon the earth for forty days\u2026.<\/em> [Why did it come upon the earth? \u00a0Because that's what God said would happen.] \u2026 And the water increased and lifted up the ark so that it rose above the earth. <\/em>\u00a0Genesis 7:18<\/strong> says, The<\/em> water prevailed and increased greatly upon the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water. \u00a0<\/em>To me this looks like a global event because of the size of the ark. \u00a0I mean, this water has to be strong enough to lift up this ark. \u00a0This is no raft we're dealing with here. \u00a0This is not a Boy Scout sailing project. \u00a0This was a a 450 ft long, 75 ft wide, 45 ft high structure, capable of holding 125,000 animals. \u00a0And the Flood came, and it was lifted.<\/em>\r\n\r\nArnold Fruchtenbaum, in his book of Genesis<\/u><\/strong> commentary on these verses says, \u201cNot only was the ark lifted up off the ground, it also floated on the face of the waters. It sailed only in the sense that it was driven by whatever wind there was; so it began to float on the face of the waters away from its original position. \u00a0In fact, it began in the area of Mesopotamia, <\/em>[modern-day, Iraq, it is generally believed] and floated all the way to the area of Mount Ararat, which could be anywhere in the current countries of Southern Russia, Turkey, or Armenia.\u201d<\/em> The Bible never says the ark landed on the mountain<\/em> of Ararat; it says it landed on the mountains<\/em>. \u00a0And as much as everybody thinks they know where that is, nobody knows.\r\n\r\nProbably the gentleman that's gotten closest to finding it is someone that we had come speak here, one of my friends, Dr. Randall Price. \u00a0You can find his conference that he did here in our archives. \u00a0He claims that where he was, there was something massive underneath the surface. \u00a0I think by radar detection, he could figure it out. \u00a0He claims that there is a man who actually went into the ark. \u00a0Now he's an old man, but he claims he went into it as a young boy. \u00a0There's just a lot of stuff out there on this. \u00a0But the truth of the matter is that nobody knows where the ark is. \u00a0In fact, I'm not even sure God wants us to know. \u00a0Because to whom much is given, much is is required.<\/em>\r\n\r\nThe more light people have and the more they reject it, the more it ups their accountability on the day of judgment. \u00a0This world is already moving into a very severe judgment based on rejection of the revelation that God has given. \u00a0Could you imagine the accountability on the day of judgment if Noah's Ark was discovered? \u00a0They would find some reason to explain it away because that's how unbelief works. \u00a0Unbelief is not neutral. \u00a0Unbelief is a God-hating heart that denies God.\u00a0 Well, how could they explain away Noah's Ark? \u00a0Look at what they're doing with Creation. \u00a0They won't even acknowledge God is the Creator. \u00a0Now, how can you get that one wrong? \u00a0Given the fact that there are roughly 8 billion people on planet earth and that no two fingerprints are alike, no two snowflakes, when examined under a microscope are alike, that the earth revolves around the sun yet we're not so close to the sun that we burn to death, nor are we so far away from the sun that we freeze to death.\u00a0 We're orbiting, we're moving, even as I speak, around the sun at exactly the right length to sustain life. \u00a0And you're going to tell me God doesn't exist?\u00a0 \u00a0That's like looking at a card house in your house that your kids or grandkids put together, and coming in and saying, \u2018Well, isn't it interesting how the wind and everything came in here and assembled this card house?\u2018 \u00a0<\/em>It's ridiculous\u2014you would be certifiable to say something like that. \u00a0Yet that's what the unbelieving mind does with Creation<\/strong> all the time. \u00a0Why do they do that? \u00a0Because they hate God. \u00a0And the reason they hate God is because if they acknowledge God's existence, then suddenly they're not God anymore. \u00a0And that involves submission to His authority and to His moral will. \u00a0If they're going to write off Creation<\/strong>, my goodness, what would they do with Noah's Ark?\u00a0 Maybe God will allow Noah's Ark to be discovered. \u00a0Maybe He won't. \u00a0If I had to bet, I would say the reason no one has discovered it is because God doesn't want it discovered, as the only thing that would do in an unbelieving heart is to increase their accountability on the day of judgment, and they've a lot more things to answer for already.\r\n\r\nSo apparently it moved and went to the mountains of Ararat, a great distance away from Iraq, Southern Russia, Turkey or Armenia. \u00a0Look here at Genesis 7:19<\/strong>: The water prevailed more and more upon the earth, so that..<\/em>. [What's the next word? \u2018all\u2019<\/u><\/strong>\u2014underline that] ... all<\/u><\/em><\/strong> the high mountains everywhere under the heavens were covered.<\/em>\r\n\r\nYou'll notice that there's an \u2018all<\/em><\/strong>,\u2019 and an \u2018everywhere<\/em><\/strong>.\u2019 And that is what we call a \u2018double<\/em> all<\/em>.\u2019 In Hebrew, it's a double \u2018kol\u2019<\/em> used twice. \u00a0Why bring this up? \u00a0Because there are a lot of people out there telling you that Noah's Flood never covered the globe; that it was just a local event. \u00a0Their argument is that \u2018all\u2019<\/em> doesn't always mean \u2018all\u2019<\/em> in the Bible. \u00a0After all, Exodus 9:24<\/strong> says, \u201c...It was the worst storm in all the land of Egypt...\u201d<\/em> And they say, \u2018Aha, there, all doesn't refer to the whole world; it just refers to the land of Egypt.<\/em> \u00a0Well, there, \u2019all\u2019<\/em> doesn't mean \u2018all\u2019<\/em> because it's controlled by the noun, Egypt. \u00a0There is nothing here in 7:19<\/strong> to shrink the meaning of the word \u2018all<\/em>.\u2019 What it says is that the floodwaters prevailed and covered \u2019everywhere\u2019<\/em> all<\/u><\/em><\/strong> the high mountains.<\/em>\u00a0 There is a double \u2018all\u2019<\/em>; there's not one \u2019all\u2019<\/em> here; there are two.\r\n\r\nHC Leupold, in his commentary on Genesis<\/u><\/strong>, comments on this verse, \u201d...all<\/em><\/strong> the high mountains under all<\/strong> the heavens.\u2019 <\/em>[Double \u2018all<\/em>.\u2019]\u00a0 He says, \u201dOne of these expressions alone would almost necessitate the impression that the author intends to convey the idea of absolute universality of the Flood...Yet since \u2018all\u2019 is known to be used in a relative sense,<\/em> [that's what Exodus 9:24 is doing...it's using \u2018all\u2019<\/em> in a smaller sense] ...the writer<\/em> [Moses] removes all ambiguity by adding the phrase \u2018under all the heavens.\u2018 A double \u2018all\u2018 (kol<\/em>) [is what he's saying] cannot allow for so relative a sense. \u00a0It almost constitutes a Hebrew superlative. <\/em>[Now what is a superlative? \u00a0Quoting that great theologian Magic Johnson, it's the ultimate<\/strong>, is how he said it, it's the highest<\/strong>. \u00a0It's the ultimate<\/strong>. \u00a0And I remember that because I was a Lakers fan, and they had won back-to-back titles. \u00a0They put the microphone up to him, \u2018And how do you feel, Magic?\u2019 <\/em>He says, \u2018It's the ultimate.<\/em>\u2018 \u00a0So that's what a superlative is. \u00a0It's the ultimate.\r\n\r\nIt's like saying the \u2018Holy of Holies.<\/em>\u2019 \u00a0When the Bible calls something like the Temple<\/strong> the Holy of Holies, it's not saying that this is a holy place, it's saying this is the ultimate<\/em> Holy Place<\/strong>.\u00a0 When Jesus is called the King of Kings and the LORD of lords<\/strong>, it's not saying He's just another king, he's just another lord. \u00a0He is the ultimate<\/em> King and LORD.<\/strong>\r\n\r\nSo, this is a superlative with the double \u2018all<\/em>.\u2019 \u00a0In English, you may not pick this up, but it becomes very clear in Hebrew. \u00a0So, there is no way, shape or form that you can shrink the word \u2018all<\/em>.\u2019] \u2026\r\n\r\n\u201c...So, we believe<\/em>, [Leupold says], that the text disposes of the question of the universality of the flood. By way of objection to this interpretation, those who believe in a limited flood...urge the fact that \u2018kol\u2018 is used in a relative sense, as is clearly the case in other passages such as <\/em>... [Exodus 9:24<\/strong>] ... However, we still insist that this fact could overthrow a single \u2018kol\u2019, <\/em>[all] never a double \u2018kol\u2019<\/em> [all], as our verse has it.\u201c<\/em>\r\n\r\nNow, I'm from California and moved to Texas over two decades ago. \u00a0I got to the Promised Land just as fast as I could. \u00a0I wish somebody had come up with a dictionary to help change my vocabulary from Californian to Texan, because in Texas, there's a difference between \u2018y'all\u2019<\/em> and \u2018all y'all<\/em>.\u2018\u00a0 Did you know that?\u00a0 I was confused on this for a long time because \u2018y'all\u2019<\/em> could mean a smaller group. Like when I look at this group here, I could just say \u2018y'all<\/em>.\u2019 But when I say \u2018all y'all\u2018<\/em>, I'm talking everybody, right? \u00a0So, there's a difference between \u2018y'all<\/em>\u2018 and \u2019all y'all.\u2018<\/em> \u00a0Now, no one ever explains this.\u00a0 So, what I'm trying to say here is if we come out with a Texan translation of Genesis 7:19<\/strong>, it's not just saying, \u2018y'all\u2019<\/em>. \u00a0It's saying, \u2019all y'all.\u2019<\/em> \u00a0Hopefully, that helps a little bit.\r\n\r\nSo, there there is a double \u2018all\u2019<\/em> here in Hebrew, which clearly communicates that this entire earth at one point was under water. \u00a0It becomes very clear in 7:20<\/strong> when it says, \u201cthe water prevailed.<\/em>\u201d \u00a0Look at this: \u201cThe water prevailed 15 cubits higher, and the mountains were covered.\u201d<\/em>\r\n\r\nHenry Morris, in his commentary on the book of Genesis<\/u><\/strong>, says, \u201cThe water rise was quickly sufficient to \u2018bear up the ark,\u2019<\/em> [this is a massive structure] ... indicating a depth of at least twenty feet in the earliest stages of the Flood, since the ark was at least forty-four feet high and heavily loaded.\u201d <\/em>\u00a0I mean, this is not a situation where part<\/em> of it rose first. \u00a0You know, \u2018the stern rose first, let's wait for the bow to rise.<\/em>\u2019 \u00a0I mean, the whole thing came up. \u00a0And he talks here about a depth of twenty feet just right off the bat. \u00a0That's how fast judgment hit this antediluvian world. \u00a0And then notice, if you will, 7:21-22<\/strong> where it says, All\u00a0 flesh that moved on the earth perished, birds and cattle and beasts, and every swarming thing that swarms upon the earth, and all mankind;.<\/em>.. 22<\/sup><\/strong>of all that was on the dry land, all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, died<\/em>.\u00a0 \u2018All\u2019<\/em>; \u2019every\u2019\u2014<\/em> says it over and over again.\r\n\r\nAnd it's so tempting to look at this and say, \u2018Yeah, it was bad back then, sure was.\u2018<\/em>\u00a0 Until you read in the New Testament<\/u><\/strong> that the same thing is going to happen. \u00a0This time not with the floodwaters but with the events of the Tribulation.\u00a0 Where, in Matthew 24:21-22,<\/strong> Jesus says of the coming Tribulation, \u201c21<\/sup><\/strong>For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. \u00a022<\/sup> Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.\u201c<\/em>\r\n\r\nNow, there's a lot to talk about there which we won't get into. \u00a0But I want you to see is that we're living in a time period where we're looking backward at a judgment that hit called The Flood<\/strong>. \u00a0And we're looking forward to a judgment yet to come. \u00a0And just as that past judgment was serious and severe and required urgency in the lives of people, that's the message that God has for His church today. \u00a0Look at Genesis 7:23<\/strong>, Thus He<\/em> [God<\/strong>] blotted out every living thing that was upon the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky, and <\/em>[look at this] they were blotted out from the earth; ...\u201d<\/em>\r\n\r\nArnold Fruchtenbaum, in his commentary on the book of Genesis<\/u><\/strong> on that particular verse, says, \u201cGenesis 7:21-23a describes the universality of destruction... The emphasis is clearly on the destruction of all living things on dry land with the breath of life, again, excluding all fish life..., The Hebrew word means \u2018erased.\u2018 \u00a0They were blotted out.\u201c \u00a0<\/em>\r\n\r\nWe might put it this way: \u00a0They were canceled. \u00a0Because no doubt in Genesis 6<\/strong>, prior to The Flood<\/strong>, they had quite a cancel culture going, didn't they? \u00a0I mean, \u2018Let's push God out of everything, right down to sexuality, because we want to have sex with fallen angels.\u2019<\/em> \u00a0How much more perverse can you get than that where violence swept the whole earth? \u00a0If they had had social media in those days, they would be canceling every preacher and teacher that contradicted the new mor\u00e9s, or the new morality or whatever it is they were calling it in that time period, and they thought they were canceling God. And in the end, it was God who canceled them.\r\n\r\nSee, the cancel culture movement of today may think they're so smart, tricky and wise, but they are getting away with nothing. \u00a0And the fact of the matter is the only thing that keeps those people alive is the grace of God because He loves them, too, and wants to see them come to a knowledge of His Son. \u00a0May God help us to understand this. \u00a0It says at the end of 7:23<\/strong>, \u201c...and only Noah was left, together with those that were with him in the ark.\u201d<\/em>\r\n\r\nAgain, notice the universal language here: \u2019every\u2019<\/em> human being was destroyed. \u00a0And so, all of us owe our heritage to Adam. \u00a0It says in Acts 17:26<\/strong>,\u201d \u2026and He made from one man, every nation...<\/em>\u201d And Adam's line went to Noah. \u00a0And Noah had three sons, and the pre-flood world was destroyed, and the world was repopulated through Noah's three sons, Ham, Shem and Japheth. \u00a0All of us on planet earth today owe our lineage to one of those three sons and to their wives, ultimately coming from Noah, who was connected back to Adam.\r\n\r\nGenesis 7:19-23<\/strong>, and we will stop with this; just by way of summation, says, \u201cThey rose greatly on the earth, and all the high mountains under the entire heaven were covered... Every living thing that moved on the earth perished\u2014birds, livestock, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth and all mankind. Everything on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils died. \u00a0<\/em>23<\/sup><\/strong>Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; men and animals and the creatures that move along the ground, and the birds of the air were wiped out from the earth. \u00a0Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 If this passage doesn't communicate the universality of the flood, I don't know how God could have communicated it. \u00a0I mean, if this language doesn't satisfy you, what language ever would? \u00a0God means what He says and says what He means.\r\n\r\nGenesis 7:24<\/strong>, \u201cThe water prevailed upon the earth one hundred and fifty days.<\/em>\u201d \u00a0This is different than the 40 days and 40 nights of rain, the floodwaters subsisting for five months.\r\n\r\nSo, the next time we are together, we'll be having a few concluding remarks to make about The Flood<\/strong>. \u00a0And as severe as it is to talk about The Flood<\/strong>, here's the other side of it. \u00a0Yes, God judged the world in the days of Noah. \u00a0Yes, God is going to judge this world in the future by fire. \u00a0But here's the best part of it. \u00a0The sins of the world were already judged in Jesus Christ. \u00a0<\/strong>Every sin that this world has ever mustered up against God was paid for by Jesus two thousand years ago through His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension. \u00a0And He says that the coming judgment is real. \u00a0\u2018But I took your judgment in your place. \u00a0And all you have to do to avoid future judgment is to receive, as a free gift, the sting and the penalty I took for you.\u2019<\/em> \u00a0That's the gospel. \u00a0That's why it's good news. \u00a0He stepped into the line of fire. \u00a0He stepped out of eternity into time, into the line of fire to absorb the wrath of a holy God in our place. \u00a0And as the Spirit places you under conviction, even as I'm speaking, you can trust, which is another word of saying \u2018believing<\/em>.\u2019 \u00a0Believe<\/strong> in what Jesus did for you, no longer trusting in yourself or your religiosity, but trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ.\r\n\r\nIf you've done that, then there is no condemnation for those that are in Christ Jesus<\/em>. \u00a0Isn't that good news?\u00a0 Amen. \u00a0So even as I'm speaking [or you are reading this], if you are under conviction, maybe uure listening to or reading this online. Maybe you are going to read or listen to this five years down the road. \u00a0Whatever your circumstance, you can trust in Christ now for salvation.\r\n\r\nAnd that's our exhortation to people here at Sugar Land Bible Church. \u00a0It's not something you raise a hand to do, walk an aisle to do, join a church to do, give money to do. \u00a0It's a matter of privacy between you and the LORD, or if the LORD places you under conviction and you trust in His provision. It's not just an intellectual understanding of truth, it's your resting in it by way of confidence. \u00a0That, and only that is what will save a lost sinner. \u00a0That's the gospel.\r\n\r\nIf it's something you need more explanation on, I'm available after the service to talk. \u00a0Shall we pray?\r\n\r\nFather, we're grateful for the past, the record you've preserved for us, in terms of prior judgment. \u00a0But it also makes us mindful of a future judgment coming. \u00a0Help us to live with the eternal understanding of that great truth. \u00a0Help us to order our lives accordingly. \u00a0We'll be careful to give you all the praise and the glory. \u00a0We ask these things in Jesus\u2019 name, and God's people said, AMEN!<\/em>","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t