The Eternal Gospel

You have your Bibles with you this morning. Turn with if you would the revelation chapter 14 really look at verses six through 12. Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth every nation and tribe and language and people he saves a loud voice, fear God and giving glory, because the hour of his judgment is common. Worship him who made heaven and earth to see in the springs of water.

Another angel, a second followed San Fallin, fallen is Babylon the great, she was made all nations drink the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality. Another angel, 1/3 followed them Saints. A loud voice. If anyone worships the beast and its image, and receives a mark on his four head or on his hand.

He also will drink the wine of God's wrath poured full strength into the cup of his anger. He will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels, the presence of the Lamb. The smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest day or night.

These worshipers of the beast and its image. Whoever receives the mark of its name.

Here is a call for the endurance of the saints. Those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.

A spray heavenly father, we thank you for your precious word that gives us direction, comfort that gives us hope. Heavenly father as we look at this passage. It's a a passage Lord that explains to us what the everlasting gospel is all about explains to us the good news and also the bad knees for those who reject Christ they will be without hope.

Heavenly father guide and direct us through this passage today.

We pray for Eugene and and for Bruce as they are in Kenya and we pray father that their work this week will be glorifying to you will be productive for those students Lord that they'll be teaching will you pray father that you would just anoint them with your spirit.

Give them the power Lord to be able to relate to those of another land and help them Lord that Christ might be exalted in everything they do and then bring them safely back home to us father again. We do pray for Linda my Catherine as she is so very very sick and asked heavenly father that you have mercy on her and we just pray Lord that you preserve your life. Heavenly father. Just be with me now keep my lips from era and will be very careful to give you praise and honor and glory for what you divorce this morning. It's in Jesus name we pray. Amen. You may be seated. James was the pastor of the first church in Jerusalem.

He was also the brother of the Lord Jesus Christ that can you imagine that being a little kid and living in the same house where Jesus was growing up as whale at Jesus was sinless. He was also sinless when he was a child.

He perfectly obeyed his parents. He never got in fights. He didn't pull his sisters hair. He didn't steal toys from his brother. He was perfectly sinless, and James grew up singing in this on a day by day basis.

Jesus was James's brother, but when Jesus died in and then rose from the dead, he became more than his brother. He became his Lord and his Savior, God told James to preach the priest at that first church in Jerusalem and not only did he preach, but he also wrote a letter that we have in our Scripture called the book of James and James chapter 1 and verse 12.

A great verse says blessed is the man who remained steadfast under trial for when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life which God's promise to all those who love him.

That's the message of Revelation chapter 14 abandon the deceitfulness of the temporary in order that you might abide in the joy of the eternal three points I want to share with you today. In this passage. Number one is the gospel proclaimed sick again at verse six and seven that I saw another angel flying directly overhead with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth every nation and tribe and language and people and he said with a loud voice, fear God and giving glory, because the hour of his judgment is come and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.

I was a Clemson football game years ago and at half time.

There was a little playing that that came over and had a banner flowing from behind it and all that banner with these words. Susan, will you marry me and then I had the they got these big video screens and all of a sudden the video screens came on and all of a sudden they had the camera right there at Susan and 81,000 fans were there watching this and Susan's eyes are is just as big as saucers and her husband to be got down on one knee, and said that message is for you, and took a ring and put the ring on her finger and said will you marry me. Tears were flowing down Susan's cheeks, and she says yes yes a million times, yes, and he stands up and he embraces her in and gets a big TS 91,000 fans are clapping for Susan and her husband to be. That was kind of fun and what's going on here in this passage is kind of like that a little bit, but the message that the angel flying through the air is bringing is a much greater message is the message of the ever lasting gospel nephew came from a premillennial dispensational church, then you were probably taught that this gospel is called the tribulation gospel that it's a different gospel than the gospel that we have now week. They say are living in the in the age of grace, so that we have the gospel of grace but during the seven year period of tribulation after the rapture, that they will have a tribulation gospel and and they'll be another gospel that will be given at at when Christ sets up 1000 year literal millennial kingdom that gospel will be called the gospel of the kingdom. If that is what you learned run from it rejected such that is not true. There is only one gospel and that gospel will never be changed. Jesus said I'm the way the truth and the life no man shall come to the father but by me. How are we saved we are saved by grace through faith plus nothing. How serious is this. This is what Paul said in Galatians 1628. I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace it in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel. Not that there is another one.

But there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.

But even if we are an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. In Matthew chapter 24 verse 14 Jesus said this gospel is to be proclaimed until the end is the everlasting unchanging written in heaven sealed in blood gospel. Now when Paul share the gospel. First Corinthians 15 versus 334 he laid out the facts of the gospel. He said this fraud delivered to you as of first importance that which I also received that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures when I'm sharing the gospel with someone. The first thing that I want them to understand is that they are a sinner and that that sin separates them from a holy God, and that there is only one solution to that problem and that solution is Christ that Jesus Christ went to the cross of Calvary to bear our sins, he took our sins and became a substitutionary atonement for us, he took our sins, he gave us his righteousness. He took our hail and he gave us his heaven. Then Jesus died on the cross and three days later he rose and the dead when he rose from the dead. He broke the power of death, so that not only would we be forgiven of our sins, but that would would have eternal life.

Never angel here does not rehearse all those gospel facts, but instead what does the angel do the angel tells us what the response of the hearers of the gospel should be. Have you truly believed had he rightly responded to the gospel. I was talking to a man this past week. Not a man from this church. Thus, talking to him and he shared with me that his brother his brother's wife was leaving and I said why he says he's been in countless extramarital affairs and that still going on in his life. And I said it sounds like your brother needs to hear the gospel and he said oh he already knows the Lord and I said shook my head and I said wait a minute a sit are you telling me that a practicing unrepentant adulterer is saying that is in right relationship with Christ reasonably believes that Jesus died and rose again. I said, Satan believes that Jesus died and rose again. I said that's not all of it.

I said, but the Scripture teaches us that if if you're Christian you become a new creation. Old things are passed away. All things are become new. That doesn't mean that were perfect. We still stumble into sin.

And when we do love the Lord deals with our hearts about that. We feel sorrow and deep sadness over it. And there's a desire to repent, and if were not repeating as we should. The Lord chastens us.

Hebrews chapter 12 says that whom the Lord loves he chastens and scourges every son whom he receives. And if he be without chastisement, then, are you pastors and not sons. I took in the first Corinthians chapter 6 and we looked at verses nine through 10 it says this or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God. Do not be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards or revolvers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God and such were some of you but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God is a does that make sense to you and he said yes.

He said my brother thinks that belief is just knowing the facts of the gospel, but belief is more than that. It is the submission to the Lordship of Christ. Verse seven of Revelation 14 says it this way if you know the Lord then three things should be true, you will fear the Lord, you will glorify the Lord and you will worship the Lord. What is it mean to fear God, to fear God doesn't mean to be afraid of God want to run from God to fear God is like a good son who has a good father and that good father he wants to please and he knows that his father always has his best interest in mind.

He knows that his father greatly lessening as we doesn't want to displease his father. He wants to honor his father and if he does something to displease his father.

It brings him great great sadness, a Christian high school girl was dating a young man and they had several couples that were together and as they were out there that begin to talk about the about where they wanted to go and one of the girls in the groups at the start of this nightclub. Let's go to this nightclub will have these great wild parties and the Christian girl looked at her date and she said you know I think it's time for you to take me home and one of the girls started laughing at her and said why do you have to go home.

Are you afraid you can hurt your daddy and I and that your daddy's gonna hurt you. Excuse me and she said no I'm afraid that I'm going to hurt him.

I'm afraid that I'm going to hurt him. One of the most important books that I've ever read Jerry Bridges book the joy of fear in the Lord. I would encourage you it's in one of my top five best books of all time that I've ever read it. As I was reading that book I was meditating on certain Scriptures Scriptures like Psalm 147 verse 11 the Lord delights in those who fear him who put their hope in his unfailing love. Isaiah 813 let God be your fear. Let God be your dread and he will be to you a sanctuary.

Isaiah 33 verse six the fear the Lord is your treasure. Proverbs 1427 the fear of the Lord is a life giving fountain. So in Revelation 14 seven. The angel said fear God and give glory to him and worship him three marks of grace. You want to know if you're really a Christian and ask yourself those questions. First of all, do you fear God, John Brown said this to fear God means the fear of offending God and for those who fear the Lord. It matters little to them that the world frowns on them if he smiles and it matters little to them that the world smiles if he frowns. Such fears rooted in the conviction that God is and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. God means submitting to him to Jesus Christ and to his will for your life and all things is this both your desire in your drive in life. Whom do you fear the Lamb on Mount Zion or the beastly Satan, inhale the second question is do you glorify God. The first question in the Westminster shorter catechism is what is the chief end of May and the answer is to glorify God into enjoying forever. The word glory in the Hebrew means to attribute value or to attribute worth to something when we glorify God we are attributing value to him. We are attributing worth the him when when Stephen was stoned to death were not backing away from the preaching of the gospel. He was saying Jesus you are worth more to me than life itself. You think that brought glory to God, you better believe it did when people want to tell gossip to hurt someone, and you refuse to listen to it that glorifies God, what, when a young man is walking down the road a scantily clad girl starts walking toward him and he looks the other way that glorifies God. When we as parents sacrifice time to spend with our children that glorifies God. When you as a husband go somewhere with your wife when you'd rather go somewhere else that glorifies God. Philippians 24. Paul said let each of you look not only to his own interests, but to the interest of others. Joy will be quesadillas. Do you glorify God.

Do you live for him.

You yearn to use every gift that God is given you to glorify him.

You can do that by confessing your sins to God and flee in the cries for forgiveness. You can do it by praising worshiping and delighting in the triune God as Creator provider and Redeemer. You can do it by trusting God and surrendering all things into his hands.

You could do it by walking humbly.

Thankfully and cheerfully before God as you become increasingly conformed to the image of his son. In short, you glorify him by trusting in him and doing his will with a ready mind and heart. The last question is are you worshiping him worship his heartfelt delight in the Lord's expression of joy and adoration with reverence and all of God.

So if you're not certain about your salvation.

Ask yourself three questions. Do I fear God doing glorify God. Do I worship God by point number two is the gospel ignored. Look at verse eight. Another angel, a second followed, saying Fallin fallen is Babylon the great GU made all nations drink the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality. What is babbling their theologians and say that it is the Roman Catholic Church. There are others who say that it is a rock that once used to be babbling those answers come way short babbling is more than a person is more than a place more than the institution more than a movement babbling is serious opposition against God is the secular world state. The first mention of babbling is found in Genesis chapter 11. The Tower of Babel. For we get our name babbling Babb bull Babylon and after the flood. God gave commands to the survivors if they were to be fruitful and multiply to spread out over the earth but with the people didn't listen to God. Instead, they huddle together and they said let's don't do that list stay here and build a city and build a great name for our sales but let's build a tower that would reach to the stars that count as towers called a cigarette to stargazing tower for the study of astrology is it were not going to trust God anymore. We can trust astrology winners to use the stars to guide us and direct us instead. So that's good the way they decided to go now.

What happened you remember the story, God confused the languages God confused the languages they did separate finally and spread out to the four corners of the earth, but folks that tower that tower was a symbol of man's rebellion against God and we see it all the way through Scripture. Later we see King Nebuchadnezzar who was from where babbling. He built this huge statute at any court, force the people to babbling to come and bow down before that statue in worship and give him homage. Shadrach me shack and Abednego said no we cannot do that, we worship only Jehovah and when that happened, they were thrown into a fiery furnace and you know the story, the Lord protected them and save them from that fire that is babbling and saw the hundred 37 versus 134 what we have a Psalm, a very sad song of the people that want to worship God, but they are living in babbling and they find it difficult Psalm 137 verse 20 forces the us by the waters of Babel and there we sat down and wept when we remembered Zion.

On the will is there we hung up our lives for their our captors required us of songs in our tormentors mercy and sing is one of those songs of Zion. How shall we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land jewel. Vicki made some powerful commentary on babbling and it's seductive powers over us said we are still being seduced by babbling. If you watch or listen to ads on various forms of media your being tempted by babbling for babbling is the world with all its suggestive and seductive powers as the angel tells us here babbling makes all the nations of the earth drink the wine of the wrath of her fornication.

We read all through Scripture, the seductive intoxicating power of the world. Francis James warns against this power you adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that friendship with the world is enmity with God. Whoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. James is not speaking specifically about adultery here, but about the sin of worldliness. He is saying that worldliness is spiritual adultery for compromises our fidelity to Christ. Some of us can't sing the songs of Zion because our ears are ringing with the songs the babbling. Some of us can't truly worship with God's people because we don't feel like we belong, that is often because we have been in the world too much. How can we sing the songs of Zion. If our minds and our desires have been marinated in steeped in the world.

Some of us love the attractions of the world so much that it is no wonder we find it hard to concentrate on worshiping God in his house. The message of this angel as a warning for those were being seduced by this world for babbling, however great she may be nail will soon fall into ruins and be destroyed forever. Revelation chapter 14 verse eight is taken from Isaiah 21 nine Babel and his fallen, is fallen, the word of God is telling us that the seductive material world system is going to crumple the end of babbling is an absolute certainty what a warning to us as Christians don't buy into its lies. It's not in the last remember in the book Pilgrim's progress when Christian and faithful get to the town call Vanity Fair. They go into Vanity Fair and all of a sudden they see attractions and temptations and allurements and things like they've never seen before and they realize that they gotta keep their eyes straight forward. They gotta keep their eyes on the Lord in their trying to do that with the officials in the city are doing everything they can to make them turn to their temptations. In fact, they take faithful and they put him to death because he kept his eyes on the Lord this week beta will report stated that if these elected president that he would encourage Congress to remove tax-exempt status on Christians and churches and and scholastic institutions that do not promote gay marriage brothers and sisters that's Vanity Fair brothers and sisters that is babbling. That's what John is referring to. Right here, let me ask you something. Are you living as if babbling's fall is certain what excites you most searching the Scriptures are searching the Internet. What excites you most the conversation about movies and sports and passion or conversation about Christ. Who are your best friends are your best friends, those who love the world or you best friends, those who love the Lord. There is far too much of this world and every single one of us. We need to flee from babbling. If you ignore the everlasting gospel you will believe the seductive lies of babbling .3 is the consequences of gospel rejection. Look at verses 9 to 11 and another angel third followed them, saying with a loud voice. If anyone worships the beast and its image, and receives a mark on his four head on his hands.

The also will drink the wine of God's wrath poured full strength into the cup of his anger. He will be tormented with fire with sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb and the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest day or night. These worship of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name books. There is no neutral when it comes to eternity. There's two kingdoms is a kingdom of light in the kingdom of darkness is not a kingdom of dimness. It's in the middle that that's not there none of people. It will not puffed himself up and say I don't serve God. I don't serve Satan I serve meat. I'm the one that's calling the shots in my lifelong sorry, but that's deception. There's only two kingdoms the kingdom of light in the kingdom of darkness.

And if you are not in the kingdom of light. You are in the kingdom of darkness. No matter where you think you are. If you have not received heaven, you are going to receive hail. You don't call the shots you God's creation and if you reject God's plan of salvation through Jesus Christ and your chosen a destination of eternal damnation. What will he'll be like for those who reject Christ will be a place of physical torment will be a place of absolute darkness. It will be a place where there's no conscious presence of God.

We are place for there's no fellowship. It will be a place of constant memory. You will remember every sermon you've ever heard. You will remember every gospel tract you've ever read. You will remember every testimony that you ever listen to.

But most of all, you remember the face of Jesus that you saw in that final judgment, as Jesus was seated at the great white throne and his he said do you depart from the workers of iniquity. I never knew you. One of the things about hail. That's not often mentioned is the fact that our sin nature will not be changed in hail it if you had a materialistic nature here on earth where you couldn't couldn't stand it if you want help buying new things that nature will still be with you in hail and in the fulfillment will never be there. If you are a person that was still a self-pity on earth that gnawing self-pity will still be with you in hail. If you were a person who was filled with lust, then that lust will continue to be with you in hail and never be fulfilled if you hated Jesus Christ on earth that hatred for Christ will still burn with you forever in hail Hill is also everlasting. The wicked will have no relief nor inner mission from God's wrath. Revelation 1411 says the smoke of their torment ascends up forever and ever, and they have no rest day or night now. In recent years some theologians that stated that hail is not eternal. It's not everlasting that there will be annihilation in hail at the personal be judge God will annihilate them, they will cease to exist that that you will be like you would be a before you were born to ceasing to exist. Not knowing anything in and it'll just all be over with will. That's not what Jesus said Jesus spoke twice as much about hail in the Scriptures. He did about heaven and Jesus said that hail was eternal. Jesus said in that last day that she would beat his right hands.

A goat would be in his left.

The sheep are those who know and love the Lord. The goats are those who rejected Christ.

Jesus said the SDs the goats will go away into eternal punishment, and the sheep will go into eternal life.

The word for eternal and eternal punishment in the word for eternal and eternal life are the very same words, if heaven is everlasting hail is everlasting as well. I'll close with a quote from Richard Phillips when people complained against the supposed immorality of the Bible's teaching of unending punishment in hail, Christians can give to answers from this passage. First, we should remind them that the warning of God's judgment calls for us to fear God, not to argue with the holy God will inflict is just wrath on sin.

Whether or not we giving permission. The first angel urges us to regarding giving glory, because the hour of his judgment is come. The second answer points out that the first angel carried an eternal gospel. We interpreted that statement largely is good news to God, suffering people about the defeat of their evil tormentors. But the fact that God has warned us of judgment in advance shows that he offers salvation to those who repent and believe. Even as the angel warns of our judgment. John 316, still call centers to be saved. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life there is hope. If you were here today, and you don't know Jesus Christ.

My encouragement would be run to Jesus. Jesus said he who comes to me I will in no wise cast out a man the spray heavenly father, we thank you and praise you today for your precious goodness, we thank you Lord for the warnings that you give us in your precious word warnings to run to Christ that Christ is the only solution for our sin problem and that Christ is our only hope for eternity.

I pray Lord if they are those here today that don't know you that today might be the day that they run the Christ turning from sin and turning to you and and embracing you in faith heavenly father. We love you today.

We thank you for loving us.

We thank you Lord for the was a great joy that you have before us helpless heavenly father that we might fear God and glorify God and worship God in a way that would be honoring to you at some Jesus precious and holy name we pray. Amen