Open your Bibles and turn to Romans 6. I figured that we could just read through this entire chapter of Romans 6. We read in Romans 6:1-23:
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Most of us know that the Bible is a Law Book. The Bible is a Law Book. It is the Word of God and it is also the Law. God usually refers to His Word as “commandments,” as He makes commands of us in the Bible. He also refers to His Word as “judgments,” as God’s Word judges us.
Every time we sin, God’s Word is judging us and we are going to be found guilty. We are sinners and God tells us many things about this in His Word. As we read this Law Book, it is God who is speaking to each and every one of us.
God’s Law demands payment for sin, as He says here in Romans 6:23. I have been looking at this verse. What does this verse mean? This is a very familiar verse to all of us. God says here in Romans 6:23:
For the wages of sin is death…
Payment for sin, as we are now learning from the Bible, not only involves physical death, but also being destroyed forever; you are annihilated. This is a heavy price.
God tells us in Proverbs of how unsaved man looks at sin. Sin is not a thing that we should take lightly. Look at the payment for sin. Sin is not an incidental thing. God says in Proverbs 14:8-9:
The wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way: but the folly of fools is deceit. Fools make a mock at sin…
The unsaved mock sin; they think that sin is funny. Sin is never funny. Look at the price of sin. God is going to destroy us. Sin causes all sorts of problems in our lives. Sin destroys families. It destroys nations. It destroys everything that it comes into contact with.
We need to take sin seriously, whether it be a little white lie or evil thinking or lustful thoughts or murder; you name it. Sin is sin and we should not take it lightly. Sin is terrible!
Look at our own lives and what sin has done to many of our lives. It destroys marriages. It causes all sorts of problems in our lives. Sin is never good; and yet we know, on the other hand, that we would not commit sin if it did not bring pleasure to us. Sin brings certain pleasures to the flesh. We love our sin and we do not want to give it up, but look at what the end result of it is.
God is speaking to us in terms of “payment.” When you work, you earn wages and you get a paycheck; and God says that the “payment” for our sin is death. We have begun to understand now that this is not only talking about physical death.
Beginning on May 21, 2011, which is Judgment Day when all of the true believers are caught up to be with Christ, all those who remain on this earth and who have been left behind will be the unsaved. Everyone who will be left behind on that first day of judgment will not be saved. God will then begin to pour out His wrath upon those who are left behind because they were never saved; their sins were never paid for. He is going to destroy them forevermore during those 153 days. At the end, on October 21st, they will be annihilated forevermore.
Let us go back to the book of Genesis where this all began. Remember that the Bible is a Law Book. It is the Law of God for all mankind. It says in Genesis 2:15-17:
And JEHOVAH God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And JEHOVAH God commanded the man…
Remember that God’s Word is His commandments, His judgments, His Law. It continues:
And JEHOVAH God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
This is God’s command. We are beginning to understand what this dying is. Yes, man dies physically. We know that when the unsaved die, in body and in soul, he is dead and he is put into the grave. He is dead, dead, dead. On that day of judgment, he is going to be cast out; then he will be destroyed forevermore. But remember, “For the wages of sin is death.” This is God’s Law here. He ties this right into Romans 6.
Turn to Genesis 3. We read in Genesis 3:4-11:
And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
Do you see the lie of Satan? God said, “Thou shalt surely die.” We continue on to read:
For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice of JEHOVAH God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of JEHOVAH God amongst the trees of the garden. And JEHOVAH God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice…
They did not see God; they heard His voice. So Adam says:
…I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
And then God goes on. As we read through the rest of this chapter, we see that God put a curse upon man due to his disobedience for breaking the Law of God.
Here in Romans 6:23, which picks up from Genesis 2, God clearly tells us:
For the wages of sin is death…
We are now beginning to understand this payment for sin in our day. It is not only physical death but a total destruction on the day of judgment. The unsaved will be destroyed forever and ever and will no longer exist anymore. So sin is not an incidental thing. No, sin is deadly serious.
We are living in a world that we see is increasingly becoming more wicked. There is more wickedness. God has taken His hand of restraint off of man, as I saw recently while listening to the news. In the country of Argentina, homosexuality is now the law of the land. In this entire country, they are free to marry whomever they want.
How sad this is. This is the sin that God tells us is one of the sins, among many, that He has highlighted. During this time, this sin of homosexuality would be out there. A few years ago, it was in the closet; but now, something has happened.
You see, God is preparing man for judgment, for Judgment Day. This is going to happen soon. In a few more months, the day of judgment will be here. This is going to affect all of us. This is going to affect me, you, everyone. Whether you are alive or dead, this is going to affect every one of us. You are either going to be caught up to be with Christ or you are going to remain here to face the wrath of God.
We cannot even begin to understand the wrath of God. We cannot understand this. We know that it will be terrible, but we cannot draw a picture of this. No one can describe it to us. All I know is that I do not want to be here. You should also not want to be left behind here on the day of judgment, because this is going to be the most horrible thing that this world has ever seen. Remember that the door of salvation will be shut. There will be no more mercy, no more forgiveness of sins for anyone.
For these mockers of sin, the day of salvation for them will have ended. It will be closed. It will be over. God’s salvation program will have come to an end. It will have come to an end because God will not be saving anyone during the time of the day of judgment, when Judgment Day comes.
So, you see, it is very, very, very, very, very important to cry out to God while today is still the day of salvation, is it not? I cannot emphasize this enough. The day will come when God will no longer be forgiving anyone of their sins. Today, the door of salvation, as we know, is still wide open.
Can a two-year-old child pray to God for mercy? Yes; it has nothing to do with age or with intellect. What about those who were born with some kind of mental disability? Is there no hope for them? Anyone can be saved.
God tells us in Psalm 103, “The LORD is merciful and gracious.” He is full of compassion. All of His attributes are wide open today for anyone. We must cry to Him for mercy.
The problem is that we love our sin. We love our sin and we do not want to give it up, even though God plainly tells us:
For the wages of sin is death…
It is death. I am not teaching free will, but which one would you prefer? I am not trying to teach free will here, but this is the way it is. God is going to destroy the unsaved on the day of judgment because of their rebellion and because of their sin.
Let us look at Revelation 13:8-9. It says:
And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If any man have an ear, let him hear.
Those whom God had planned to save, He paid for their sin. Their sin was paid for by Christ from the foundation of the world. Christ was their substitute.
Remember that there had to be payment for sin. God cannot just simply look the other way and declare that someone has become saved. Payment for sin had to be made. For the unsaved, they will do this on their own during the 153 days. Here, Christ tells us that the sins of His people were paid for from the foundation of the world, as we are learning now in our day.
We see this same great truth in Hebrews 4. We read in Hebrews 4:1-3:
Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
What works were finished? It was the work of Christ saving His people by going to the cross from the foundation of the world. We are learning now that what Christ did on the cross was simply showing us what He had already done.
So the true believers, those who were elected from the foundation of the world, their sins were paid for by Christ from the foundation of the world. This is a great, great blessing for us.
There are those who recoil at election, but election is a beautiful thing in the Bible. If God had not elected a people for Himself, no one would become saved.
If we look at Hebrews 9, we also see this same great truth here. We read in Hebrews 9:23-26:
It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
All of these physical things were just showing what God had already done. The burnt offerings, the sacrifices, Christ going to the cross, these were just demonstrations of what Christ had already done. It is wonderful how God has opened our eyes to this great truth in the Bible of what He has already done for His people.
We see this same thing in 1 Peter 1:19-21:
But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.
Christ has already done all of the work. He has already paid for the sins of His people from the foundation of the world.
Sin has to be paid for. There is no other way of entering into Heaven without having your sins paid for. You have to have been elected of God and He has to have already paid for your sins from the foundation of the world.
When we become saved, sin now becomes an offense to the true child of God. If we name the name of Christ and we say that we are a child of God, how can we continue in sin? How can anyone say that they are truly saved if they are still living a sinful life and still continuing on in sin? Their conscience never bothers them. How can they live their lives like this?
One thing that happens to the true believer when we become saved is that we become very sensitive to sin, very sensitive. When we do fall into a sin, we will react like King David. This will be our reaction to sin. This will be the reaction of a true believer, because we do not take sin lightly. Sin becomes less and less in a true believer’s life, but we have this body that has not been saved as yet.
All true believers should be looking forward to the day of judgment when we will finally be 100% saved, because God is going to give us a brand new body that is “like unto his glorious body.” Whatever this is, we will not be bothered by sin any longer. We will now be with Christ in the new heaven and the new earth in our new bodies. We will be 100% saved and we will not have to deal with sin any longer.
If you remember, the Apostle Paul said under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” In death, Paul knew that he would be gaining something. Paul also said, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”
He saves us, but then we have to drag these bodies around with us. Because of this, there is always a potential to fall into sin. We can fall into sin, but we will not remain there. We will not remain in our sin like the unsaved. Unsaved man is numb to sin, so to speak. He can just lie and lie. He can cheat. He can steal. Yes, his conscience may bother him for awhile, but he will continue on.
For example, two people can live together in sin. After awhile, this just does not bother them any longer. They can continue living in this situation. They want all of the privileges of being a man and a wife, but they will not get married.
I have known people who have been involved in common-law partnerships for over ten to fifteen years. What has happened to them? Their consciences are now seared; and we are now living in the day when God is giving people up to sin. He is giving man up to his own lusts.
God also brought this situation upon the nation of Israel. He gave them up. They did not want Jehovah to be their King. They always murmured and complained about something. I remember an instance in the Bible when they wanted meat to eat, and so God gave them the lusts of their heart; then He turned around and destroyed them.
This is as it will be in our day. God is giving man up to the lusts of his own heart. For example, we are living in an age where we have the Internet; it is so convenient. The true believers are going to use these mediums to get the Gospel out; but here is unsaved man seeking all of the sin and filthiness that he can easily find on the Internet.
Unsaved man uses all of these things to multiply sin as he shakes his fist at God and continues on his own way. But for the true believers, this is not our heart’s desire. Our heart’s desire is that we want to be with Christ.
There are those who are not looking forward to this day when they will no longer have to struggle with sin. God will create a new heaven and a new earth in just a few months, but many are hoping that May 21st is wrong. Many are hoping that May 21st of 2011 is wrong, because they want to continue in this life. They want to continue in their sin and in their rebellion against God.
For the true believers, this is not our desire. Our desire is, “O Lord, I want to be with You forever!” We will no longer have to live in a sinful world where we see man’s rebellion all over the place. We will no longer have to witness how the unsaved mock God.
But, for now, we share the Gospel. We just continue to share the Gospel with our fellowman, as God has commanded us to do. God will save His elect. He will quicken that person and turn them around if it be His will; and we know that God is saving a “great multitude” of people in our day.
God’s Word is true. God’s Word is absolutely true. Whatever God has said in the Bible, He has the ability and the power to bring it to pass. There is no question about this. He created the universe. Do you think that He cannot destroy it? Yes, He can.
God is almighty and He ought to be feared. For the unsaved, as they continue in their sin, God is not going to change His mind, so to speak, just so they can continue accommodating their sin.
God has told us:
For the wages of sin is death…
God absolutely means what He says: the payment for sin is death.
Look at Daniel 6 where God gives us a picture of His Law. If you remember, in Daniel 6 we read where the people tricked Darius to establish a decree. They tricked him into signing a decree into law. They had wanted to set a trap for Daniel because he served Jehovah God of the Bible. They had him sign a decree that anyone worshipping a god other than the king would be destroyed. If found out, they would be thrown into the lions’ den. So we read in Daniel 6:8:
Now, O king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it be not changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not.
When a law of the Medes and the Persians of that day was signed, it could not be changed. This was a picture of the Law of God that cannot be changed.
God tells us:
For the wages of sin is death…
God is not going to change this, whether we like it or not. “The soul that sinneth,” God tells us, “it shall die.” He is not going to change it. The Law of God “altereth not.” He does not change it. God is the same: “yesterday, and to day, and for ever.”
Sin is terrible. One thing that I have learned in my life is to never take sin lightly. Do not monkey around with sin. Whenever you start moving in a sinful direction, watch out.
There are those who are starting to compromise the Bible in our day. When you see someone start moving in this sinful path, watch out! They start having an alternative explanation for this verse and for that verse. They start compromising verses that they previously understood.
For instance, in relation to divorce and remarriage; they might have been against this. Then all of a sudden, they start to change. They might do this due to trying to satisfy their own lust. Maybe they want to get remarried, or something like this.
But, no; whenever you start moving in a sinful direction, no matter what the sin is, especially when you know what the Bible says, watch out. You start to think, “Well, I had thought that this verse meant that, but now I am looking at it this way.” Stop right there because, before you know it, God could give you over.
My point is that God’s Word does not change. It “altereth not.” There is a day of judgment coming. Is He going to change this because you or I do not believe this? May 21st is almost here.
The scoffers are out there. There are very few who really believe this. The masses do not believe this. Is God going to change this because man does not believe May 21, 2011? No; He is not going to change this.
He is also not going to change it because you are just a kid who has not had the chance to become an adult and do grown-up things. Is God going to change His Law to accommodate you because you have not had a chance to do these things yet?
Where is your heart if you are thinking this way? Your world is going to end come May 21, 2011, whether you are ten or fifteen years old, but it is far better to be with Christ than to live in this world. It is far better, even though Heaven is beyond our human comprehension. We cannot understand Heaven. We have no idea. We cannot understand this.
You live in this world for the time being, but you are not missing anything by not being given the chance to grow up to be an adult. You are not. Salvation is everything; and if you were truly saved as a child, wow! The most fantastic blessing ever is the gift of salvation; so you are not missing anything.
What are you going to miss? You will miss the headache of bills and responsibilities; you name it. You are not missing anything. Salvation is the most important thing. Yes, you will never have the chance to get married. You are not going to graduate high school. You are not going to have the chance to go to college. So what? If God has saved you, you have everything! You are going to be an inheritor of the new heaven and the new earth, are you not? What more could you want?
But the Law of God does not change. It stands forever, especially for the unsaved. If you are not saved, your sin has not been paid for. In the day of judgment, you will be left here. It makes no difference who you are. You could be a two-year-old or a three-year-old or a ten-year-old. Whatever age you are, when Christ comes on May 21, 2011, this will happen. If you are left here, you will have to pay for your own sin.
Maybe you will make it through the first day or maybe you will go all the way up until the end; but just think about this. This time next year, this world is going to be in a horrible condition. This day next year will come. It will come, but the horrors of hell will be on planet earth.
Where will you be? Is this not the question for all of us? Are you going to be remaining here? Are you going to be here this time next year or are you going to be with Christ?
Many people think that if we are talking to their children about these issues that we are scaring them too much. They ought to be scared! They ought to be frightened out of their skin over the possibility of God destroying them forever. They should be scared; but as we know, mankind has no real fear of God. The Bible tells us, “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” How sad it is that people just go on casually living out their lives.
Do you remember the people of Jericho? They believed that they were safe and secure in their city that was built with high walls. However, were they? They felt pretty safe, and the people of our day believe the same thing. They feel pretty safe, and yet May 21 is almost here. The day came when God went into the city of Jericho and destroyed that city; and it is sad to say that many people will be left here to face the wrath of God.
Let us turn over to a very familiar passage in John 3:15. Wonderfully, by God’s mercy, He tells us in John 3:15-16:
That whosoever believeth in him…
Believing is a gift; faith is a gift.
That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
We have now begun to understand what it means to perish. Mankind will be annihilated. He will be annihilated on October 21, 2011. But it continues:
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
If you look up this word “perish” in a concordance, you will find that in many places this is #622. This word that has been translated as “perish” many places in the Bible has also been translated as “destroy.” To perish or to be destroyed is basically saying the same thing. They go hand-in-glove. We know that unsaved mankind will perish forever. He will be destroyed forevermore, forever and ever.
This same word is used in Mark 1. “The wages of sin is death.” Mankind, on October 21, will be annihilated; unsaved man will perish forever. We read in Mark 1:23-27:
And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us?…
This man was indwelt by Satan himself, and Satan knows that he is going to perish. He knows that he is going to be destroyed, but he is self-deceived. It continues:
…art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God. And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when the unclean spirit had torn him, and cried with a loud voice, he came out of him. And they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying, What thing is this? what new doctrine is this? for with authority commandeth he even the unclean spirits, and they do obey him.
Christ is in complete control of all of them because Christ is God; and here, Satan asks in Mark 1:24:
…art thou come to destroy us?…
Therefore, in the judgment, Satan and these evil spirits are also going to be destroyed. They are going to be wiped out on October 21st of 2011.
Let us look also at another verse. Turn to Jude, that little book that is right before the book of Revelation. We know that the city of Sodom is no longer burning, and yet God said that He destroyed them with “eternal fire.” But if you were to go where this city had been located, you would not see it still burning. We read in Jude 1:4-7:
For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.
They were destroyed. It continues:
And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example…
Sodom and Gomorrha were set forth as an example:
…suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
This says: “eternal fire.” Are Sodom and Gomorrha still burning today? No, and yet God uses the phrase: “eternal fire.”
Mankind, too, is going to be eternally cut off and destroyed forever. He will never come back into existence again. It is not like man is going to be in a lake burning, blaspheming and cursing God throughout all eternity. No; he is going to be annihilated forevermore.
Look at Psalm 37 where God tells even more about this. God uses many, many verses to tell us that “the wages of sin is death.” We now know that this “death” means that they are annihilated and cut off forevermore. On the 21st of October in 2011, they will be cut off forevermore. We read in Psalm 37:27-28:
Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell for evermore. For JEHOVAH loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever…
The true believers are His saints and they are “preserved for ever” because God has given them eternal life. It continues:
…but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off.
They are cut off forever and cease to exist forevermore.
Then it goes on to say in verse 29, Psalm 37:29:
The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein for ever.
The true believers are going to inherit the new heaven and the new earth forevermore, but the wicked are going to be cut off forevermore.
We also read in Psalm 101:6:
Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land…
The “faithful of the land” are the true believers. This is referring to God’s people. It continues:
…that they may dwell with me…
The true believers are going to dwell with God. It continues:
…he that walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve me.
We know that Christ is “the way.” He is the “perfect way.”
But then Psalm 101:7 goes on to say:
He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house: he that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight.
We all know what lies are, do we not?
Then He goes on to tell us in verse 8, Psalm 101:8:
I will early destroy all the wicked of the land…
All of the wicked will be destroyed:
…that I may cut off all wicked doers from the city of JEHOVAH.
“From the city of Jehovah,” they are going to be cut off forevermore on that day. When May 21st comes, all of the unsaved will be there. They are going to be left behind. Then they are going to have to face God, the Judge.
Look at Proverbs 2, where we see this same idea. We read in Proverbs 2:21-22:
For the upright shall dwell in the land…
This is talking about the “upright,” but we are not upright of ourselves. God is the One who has made us righteous through Christ. It continues:
For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it.
Spiritually, when we become saved, we are perfect in God’s sight because of what Christ has done. It continues on to say:
But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth…
They will be cut off forever. It continues:
…and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.
They are rooted out. They will no longer exist. God is going to destroy the wicked forevermore. They are going to be annihilated on October 21st in 2011.
Let us read Romans 6:23 again. God tells us:
For the wages of sin is death…
We now know that mankind is going to be annihilated on October 21st in 2011. They will go through a period of suffering for five months, and then they will be destroyed.
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God…
“The gift of God” is what? It is salvation.
…but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Now go to Ephesians 2. This is another familiar passage that many of us have memorized. God tells us in Ephesians 2:8-9:
For by grace are ye saved through faith…
We know that this faith is the “faith of Christ.” This is not our faith.
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves…
We cannot save ourselves. We cannot. God has to save us if it be His will.
…it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast [glory].
This word “boast” is also the word “glory.” Salvation is a gift, and this gift of God is eternal life. Eternal life and salvation are one and the same thing.
Look at Romans 5:8-13. We read there:
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
We are saved from the wrath of God through Christ. It goes on:
For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
Now go to verse 15, Romans 5:15:
But not as the offence, so also is the free gift…
As we read through these verses, God emphasizes that salvation is a free gift. It describes this gift in Romans 5:15 as:
…the gift by grace…
It is a free gift that God has given to His elect. Wonderfully in our day, this free gift by God’s mercy is still possible. The door of salvation is not closed as yet. It is not closed as yet.
Remember what we read in Isaiah 55:6? It says:
Seek ye JEHOVAH while he may be found…
What is this telling us? He can be found now. The day comes when He will no longer be found because the door of salvation will be shut. It says:
Seek ye JEHOVAH while he may be found, call ye upon him…
Beseech Him, as the Ninevites did.
…call ye upon him while he is near:
God is near still because the day of judgment has not yet arrived.
We are still living. The blood is still warm in our veins. We hear the warning of Judgment Day. Take this seriously, if you are not. This should be the most important thing in our lives. It should not be what we have yet to do or something that we have yet to attain.
This is not the issue. The issue is that in a little less than ten months, Judgment Day will be here. It makes no difference what you have or have not accomplished or did not get the chance to do. These things are not important. The important thing is your relationship with God and whether or not your sins are forgiven.
Is this not true? Time is passing, is it not? Before we know it, December will be here. Christmas will soon be here. After Christmas, all we will have left on this earth is January, February, March, April, and then May.
Time is quickly passing, children. I know that children have a different concept of time. Ten months is not a long time. Please do not waste it playing video games and watching television, etc.
No; time is of the essence! Is this not true? Time is running out! Could it be that God in His mercy might have mercy upon all of us if it be His will.
Let us stop here.