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May 15, 2025 · 58 min · The Greatest
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Pastor Jeff Schwarzentraub serves as president of Pastor Jeff Ministries, a national and global ministry designed to equip believers and challenge them to take
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The Urgency of the Gospel 0:00 We give you all the glory and honor and praise for who you are. We thank you father for the gift of your son and the gift of your holy spirit. We thank you that we can gather in a place like this today. We thank you for0:10 your living and active word that every time it is faithfully and accurately proclaimed that you speak. So Lord, our prayer is speak Lord for, we are ready to hear. And now for all of God's people gathered, who desire to0:22 hear the word of the Lord, who will believe what God says and who will by faith put into practice, what the Lord shows you. Will you agree with me very loudly this morning by saying the word, amen.0:34 Amen. May I have your attention, please? Have you ever heard that before? I mean, oftentimes it's usually by a teacher or a coach when you know, people aren't really paying attention and they say,0:46 may I have your attention, please? Sometimes it's on the back of a medicine bottle attention, please. You know, the use of this product causes harm in this way, or don't give this to to your children0:58 if they're under the age of 12 without the consultation of a physician. Say, may I have your attention please? The challenge with that statement is that oftentimes we go to sleep when we hear it. If you've ever flown on1:09 an airline, I've flown on them hundreds of times. They usually start by saying, may I have your attention please? And then they go into the same rote routine about how to fasten a seatbelt. I mean, literally, is there1:19 anybody here that doesn't know how to fasten a seatbelt on an airplane? Yet they're going through all that. And when they start going through that and ask you to read the card, many times we're snoozing or we're falling1:28 asleep because we say, I've heard this before. And if you sit in an exit row or you've seen someone sit in an exit row, they'll want to get all your attention and then they'll ask you this question. In the event of an1:38 emergency, would you be willing to assist by opening the door? And I think to myself, okay, if this plane that was once going 500 miles an hour had to come to a screeching halt and land on the water, would1:50 you, amidst all the chaos and turmoil, be willing to open the door and assist everybody else? And all you have to do is say yes, and they're fine with that. And I've seen some of the people that sit in exit row and2:02 I'm like, I don't know that I trust them. But isn't it true that when somebody says, may I have your attention please? Especially if it's something we're familiar with, we begin to go to sleep. We begin to think, I2:13 already know this 1. Today I'm going to talk to you about the gospel. We've been talking about Jesus Christ in the book of Hebrews and how he is the king of Kings and the Lord of Lord. He's superior to any other being2:24 that has ever been. He's the only 1 that wasn't created. He is God of all gods. He is king of all Kings. He is Lord of all Lords. And we took a look last week, how he's superior even to the angels.2:37 And now we get in like any good preacher or gospel writer to the, so what? How are you going to respond to this great message? How are you going to respond to the gospel? And I, I'm going to give you2:49 some heads up at the beginning because most of you have heard the gospel before. There's going to be a tendency to fall asleep, but I'm asking, may I have your attention, please? I almost titled this sermon. The number 13:00 reason why a majority of Americans will go to hell. Another way I could have titled this message is for those of you who don't know Christ, who will end up in hell. When you're surprised in hell,3:12 here's why. And in case you're thinking, I wish somebody, I wish I would have brought my friend today. I wish they could have heard this. I'm not talking to them. I'm talking to you. God wants you to hear the gospel and3:23 be familiar with the gospel and know the gospel in such a way that you know, that you know, that you know, without reservation, what the gospel is and how you're called to respond. And so this message is an admonition.3:34 It's a strong message. It's a hard message from the word of God to challenge us whether we're a believer or not a believer as to, do I really believe this? And if so, what is my response to the message3:46 of Jesus Christ being all that he is? And as the word of God admonishes us in 4 different ways today, I'm going to talk to you about why we need to hear it. Because I believe that the biggest reason3:57 why a majority of Americans won't get into heaven is because of apostasy. Apostasy means a falling away. It means to walk away from the faith. It means I no longer believe, and some of us have friends.4:09 We've walked with the Lord long enough. We've seen people we know that at 1 time were serving in the church. Maybe they were even on a staff in the church that have gotten to a place that say, I'm done with that4:18 Christian thing. I don't know that I believe that stuff anymore. And they're not just departing and finding another church, they're departing the faith altogether. And as I taught the book of Revelation, we see there's4:28 gonna be a great apostasy that's coming. And people are apostates not because they once believed, it's because they were really close to believing, but never truly believed. It's4:40 almost like they say, it's close, but no cigar. You can be real, really near Jesus, but if you're 1 centimeter away from being tethered to him, you may as well be 500000000 miles away.4:53 And I believe the sin in our culture is the sin of apostasy. The sin of thinking that we're Christian because we get around a lot of other Christians without truly being Christian. So as you're hearing this5:04 today, hear it for yourself afresh. Hear it for what God wants to say. Now, for some of you, you take shock value at most of Americans going to hell. Yeah. Jesus said that. Jesus said, for5:16 broad is the gate and wide is the road that leads to destruction and many find it, but narrow is the gate and small is the road that leads to life and very few find it. In every generation, in every culture, there's few5:28 people who truly know the gospel, and find salvation. That's Jesus's words, not mine. So it would not only be true of America, it'd be true of every place in the world. So if that's really true, then wouldn't we want to5:37 know what the gospel is? Wouldn't we really want to understand it at the depth of who we are? So we can say, I know that I know that I know that I know that I'm in the faith. If you're interested in hearing that today, I5:48 believe God has a word for you. If you open your bibles up to Hebrews chapter 2. Hebrews chapter 2, we're gonna look at verses 1 through 8, and then we'll unpack them together, taking a look at 4 admonitions from5:58 scripture of what not to do to be an apostate. He says this after talking about the greatness of Jesus Christ and his superiority to angels. He says, for this reason, we must pay much closer attention to6:10 what we have heard so that we will not drift away from it. For if the words spoken through angels proved unalterable and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, how will we escape if6:22 we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard. God also testifying with them both by signs and wonders and6:34 by various miracles and by the gifts of the Holy Spirit according to his own will. For he did not subject to angels the world to come concerning which we are speaking, but 1 has testified somewhere6:46 saying, what is man that you remember him? Or the son of man that you are concerned about him? You have made him for a little while lower than the angels. You have crowned him with glory and honor. You have appointed him6:57 over the works of your hands. You have put all things in subjection under his feet. For in subjecting all things to him, he left nothing that is not subject to him, but now we do not yet7:09 see all the things subject to him. And here in those short 8 verses, the author of Hebrews gives us a warning. This is the first of several warning passages in the book of Hebrews. And the reason for that is when7:20 we hear the word, we need to respond to the word. When I pray before I preach every message, I pray that we would hear the word of the Lord and then we by faith put into practice what he shows us. The application of7:32 God's word is paramount to what the word of God is about. And so really this author highlights 4 ways that he wants to get our attention. And the first is this.7:47 Veracity of God's word. It means this. Don't drift away from the truth of God's word. Notice what he says, for this reason. What what reason are we talking about? The reason that Jesus Christ is the King of Kings and7:57 Lord of Lords. For the reason that he's the greatest. For the reason that he's the only God of the universe. For the reason that there's no 1 else above him. He says, we must pay much closer attention8:09 to what we have heard so that we do not drift away from it. Paying attention is not just listening. Paying attention biblically in the way this word describes it, is both listening and doing. And that's nothing new for8:20 the writers of the new testament or the Bible in general. I mean, think about how this is spelled out in James chapter 1 and verse 22. But prove yourself doers of the word and not merely hearers8:32 who delude themselves. You hear that? Don't just be a hearer, be a hearer and a doer. Don't be 1 that deludes yourself. Don't be 1 that falsely thinks8:44 because you read your Bible, or you go to church, or you hear a sermon, and you think to yourself, I heard it. That's good. That that's enough. No. It's people who hear it and practice it. People who hear the8:56 word and put it into practice. That's what God's looking for. That's why I love preaching. Preaching is different than giving a, an address or a speech. You know why? Because when the word of God is faithfully9:07 proclaimed, the holy spirit does a work in the life of the hearers. He brings conviction of sin, righteousness, and judgment. He shows people exactly what you need to hear. That's why from this 1 passage, as I preach,9:18 God can specifically show you what you specifically need to apply. I mean, that's why when I preach every now and again, I'll hear from somebody 2 or 3 weeks later and say, Hey, that message you preached on forgiveness.9:29 I just needed to hear that. And I think, I didn't just preach on forgiveness. That was the Holy Spirit speaking to you about forgiveness. Or Pastor Jeff, you've been talking about tithing all the time. That's all I've9:39 been hearing. And I think, I haven't done 1 message on tithing this year. But that's what you're hearing. And you know how the holy spirit moves in your heart to show you what you need to hear. That's what it does.9:49 That's what he does. He says, don't drift from the truth or the veracity of God's word because he says, when we do, he gives us an example of what that's like. He says in James 1 23, for if anyone is a10:01 hearer of the word and not a doer, he's like a man who looks at his face in the mirror for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. People that hear and don't10:13 do are people like this. They hear a message like this, or they read their Bible and they, they hear a word from the Lord, and then they do absolutely nothing with it. It's people that gather for church, and by the time10:23 you make it to your car and somebody asks you, what did God tell you today? You say, it was good. I I don't quite remember, but it was good. That's not what God wants to do. God wants us to hear His word, and10:35 then apply His word. Here's what He's speaking directly to you, and sometimes we don't like that. Because sometimes when God convicts us of what we need to do, we begin to argue with him and we say, how come they don't10:45 have to do that? How come I see nobody else doing that? Why are you talking to me? Here's why, because God loves you. He loves you enough to speak to you about what he wants you to do. And if you wanna grow in the10:57 fullness of God, do not do not drift away from the truth or veracity of his word. Now, what does it mean to drift away? Drift away means to pass by or to float by. It's the11:09 idea of giving up on a belief. It's the idea of a ship missing the harbor. It's somebody that comes alongside and thinks that because they're close, because they're close to God, because they go to church,11:21 or they're kind of close to people that love Jesus, they'll be fine. But this group of people, they're not anchored to Christ. They're just kind of cruising with Christ. And when push comes to shove, they're gonna drift11:31 all the way on by. Friends, I'm here to tell you on the authority of God's word, if you're not anchored to Christ now, you will not make it home to be with Him. Jesus Christ wants you to be anchored to him and be11:43 anchored to him now. Now, this is why I said, may I have your attention please? Because sometimes for many of us, we don't like being instructed in this way. We don't like being admonished and we don't like being11:53 challenged, but the Bible really doesn't care how we feel. Have you ever noticed that? I find that the Bible challenges me. There have been times in my life, especially when I was a younger believer and I would read it.12:03 I didn't know that God's conviction was his love for me. I thought his conviction was him telling me he didn't like me. So it was hard to read the Bible because I always felt I was doing everything wrong. I didn't12:12 realize God was showing me there was just a better way to live. That's what he continues to do in our life. So he says, don't drift away. People that drift, they haven't been anchored in the first place. Now this12:23 shouldn't come as a surprise to us because all throughout the Bible, we have, we have people who are walking with God that want God to challenge them. In the old Testament, we see David in Psalm 139 verses 23 and 24. He12:33 says this, search me and try me. Oh Lord. See if there's any offensive way in me and lead me into the way everlasting. What was he saying? Hey Lord, just show me me. Show me about myself. I need to make12:45 sure that I'm aligned with what you want because I want what you want. So whatever you want to show me, I'm willing to not only hear, but I'm willing to obey. That was the heart of David, the man after God's own heart.12:57 You know, sometimes I think we think church is the only a place for instruction and certainly teaching the word is a place for instruction that results in love for God and love for 1 another. And there's truth to that,13:07 but it's not just teaching. I went to a seminary that taught all 66 books of the Bible. And before I went to seminary, I remember falsely thinking this. I'm going to go to seminary. I'm going to learn everything there is13:17 to know about every book in the Bible, and then I spend the rest of my life teaching it, and it'll be great. And from day 1, I got to seminary. Yeah. I learned a lot about the bible and learned how much I didn't know13:26 about the bible, but here's what happened to me when I got under the teaching of the word of God. From day 1, all God did was convict me of all the things he wanted to change in me, and that's never ever stopped. How13:37 many of you know that never stops? How many of you know there's never gonna be a time in your life as a believer in Christ, where God's gonna pat you on the head on this side of heaven and say, you made it, you're13:45 perfect. Hey, good job. Just go correct everybody else that's not like you. Never gonna happen. God is constantly working in our lives, not just to teach us, but to grow us, to admonish us,13:57 so don't drift from the truth of God's word. Be in a place that teaches the truth of God's word. If that was true of David, it was also true of Jesus' disciples. Remember on the night that Jesus Christ was betrayed, he14:08 shared a meal with his disciples. And at the meal he made a startling comment. He said, 1 of you will betray me. Jesus knew it was Judas Iscariot. Judas Iscariot knew it was Judas Iscariot. Yet, what are the other 1114:20 disciples respond? They don't say, I know it's not me because once saved, I'm always saved. That's not what they say. They say, Lord, it's not me, is it? It's not me, is14:32 it? I don't want it to be me. Lord, is it me? Is it me? Now, if the disciples who spent 3 years with Jesus, who were used of him mightily to proclaim the gospel, to cast out demons and to heal14:44 people, and they did all of that under the authority of Jesus. For them to be sitting around him at the end of their life asking that question, it's pretty telling to me. And yet if David14:56 was asking the Lord, Lord search me and try me, and the disciples were saying, Lord search me and try me. Shouldn't we be the same way today? And yet for many places in our culture today, if we were to say,15:08 Hey, may I have your attention please? Could we talk about the gospel? Most people would say, Well, it can't be me because I know I'm saved no matter what. It doesn't matter how I live. It doesn't matter how I speak. It15:18 doesn't matter how I act. My pastor told me if I prayed this prayer, I go to heaven, and they're wrong. There is not a shred of biblical evidence in the Bible that somebody that just believes in a15:29 concept about Jesus is going to heaven. Let me give you an example. I believe Abraham Lincoln was our sixteenth president of the United States. I believe George Washington was our first president of the United15:41 States. I've never met them. Perhaps there's a couple of in you in here who have, I have not, but I believe it based upon history. I believe it based upon what I've read. I believe it based upon15:53 the credibility of those who wrote that Abraham Lincoln was our sixteenth president. I believe that he wrote the emancipation proclamation. I believe those things, but when I say I believe that I'm just saying, yeah, I16:03 think that happened. What I'm not saying is I believe that Abraham Lincoln is still alive, that I believe he's the Lord of the universe, that he lives inside of me, that he speaks to me16:15 every day. And I obey everything that Abraham Lincoln says, because if I said that you'd go get the men in the white coats and lock me up. When I talk about believing on the Lord, Jesus Christ, I'm not16:26 talking about only believing in historical facts. I'm talking about repenting from my sin and believing that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God. The father, I believe that I'm a new creation, that the old things16:38 have passed away and behold, all things have been made new. I believe that I'm indwelled by the spirit of God at that very given time. I'm not talking about just a cognitive belief, I'm talking about a change of heart.16:48 Now why do we need to talk about this? Because truth is not something to be nodded at, it's something to be obeyed. Truth is not something that we hear and say, Pastor, good sir, I like that 1. Okay. Glad you did. What'd17:00 you do with it? How did it impact your singleness? How did it impact your marriage? How does it impact your job? How does it impact the way you raise your kids? How does it impact your finances? How does it impact the17:11 way you interact with neighbors? How does it interact who you are when you're at the store? I mean, how does it impact every aspect of your life? And here's the truth. We don't like to talk about the lordship17:23 of Jesus nor do we like to talk about repentance, and yet that seems to be all that the writers of the bible ever wanna talk about. Repentance. It's interesting for me when you study the Bible, you see that John the17:34 Baptist first message in Matthew chapter 3 verse 2 was, Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Jesus Christ first message in Matthew 4 verse 17 was Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand. Peter's first17:46 message that he preached at Pentecost was rep What should we do Peter? He goes, Repent, be baptized and you will receive the Holy Spirit. And even the apostle Paul later in the book of acts,17:58 in acts chapter 17 verse 30, he says this, therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent. We18:10 should repent. Now, why is that important? It's important because we need to understand what repentance is. Repentance is not you feeling sorrow. It's not even an emotion. It's not you getting worked up about all your18:22 past sins. It's not you making promises about what you're going to do different in the future. All of us have prayed prayers like that. Lord, if you get me through this, I promise I'll never ever do this again. Have you18:33 ever prayed a prayer like that? That's not repentance. Repentance by definition, literally means change of mind. Repentance is a change of mind that produces a18:44 changed life. That's what repentance is. Repentance is a change of mind that produces a changed life. If there's no changed life, there is no repentance. A husband who's an adulterer says, I repent, we18:56 know he's repenting if he never does it again, and comes under the authority of God's word and does whatever God wants him to do from that moment on. Saying you repent is not repentance. Turning from your19:08 sin is repentance. That's why Jesus said, continue to bear fruit in keeping with repentance. So how do I repent? The Bible says it's a gift of the Lord. It's a19:20 gift of the Lord. Think about second Corinthians chapter 7 and verse 10. It says, for the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret19:32 leading to salvation. So repentance precedes salvation. How do you get saved? Well, there's got to be a place of repentance in that process. Why? But the sorrow of the world produces death.19:44 There's a difference between saying, Oh, I was wrong. I shouldn't have done that. That's not repentance. Repentance is a gift from the Lord where he shows you your sin and shows you you're not going to make it and shows19:55 you that you're not anchored to him and shows you, you don't believe in the Lord and shows you that your sin is more important than submitting your life to Christ. That's his grace. Romans 2, 4 said is20:07 the kindness of the Lord that leads us to repentance. Repentance is a gift that begins with God. For those of you that are believers, you know this. Because there was a time20:19 in your life where God showed you your sin, and therefore showed you a need for the Lord in your life to save you. Because if you don't ever see your sin, like what do you need a savior for? Well, I just20:31 kinda wanted to get saved. Why? Because I wanted to go to heaven. Everybody wants to go to heaven. The gospel is not, how can you add Jesus to your sinful life so you can go to heaven? The gospel20:42 is not, how can you add Jesus to your sinful life so you can experience blessing on this side of heaven? That's not the gospel. The gospel is the kindness of the Lord that shows you that you are steeped in sin,20:55 and by his grace shows you the glory of Christ, who died on the cross for your sins, who shed his blood for you, who rose from the dead, who through repenting and wanting to turn from your sin and turning to Christ, you21:06 can be totally saved. You can be totally free from the penalty of sin. You can be totally free from the power of sin, but repentance is part of it. Repentance and faith are like 2 sides of the same coin.21:18 Repentance is God's grace showing you your sin that you need to turn from, and faith is showing you the Lord Jesus Christ for who you should turn to. Repentance and faith, they go hand in hand. It's21:30 all about his kindness. If Jesus told people to repent, if John the Baptist told people to repent, if all the prophets told people to repent, I don't know why we don't have people telling people to repent. Well,21:42 repentance is for those that really want to get serious about God. You know, I believe Jesus is my savior. 1 day I'll make him my Lord. Friends, I've been studying the Bible for 30 years and I challenge you and you can21:52 show me anywhere you want. Show me somewhere in the Bible where somebody that is not walking with Christ, who is not bearing fruit, who doesn't want anything to do with Christ, is accepted by Christ in heaven. You won't22:03 see it. The doctrine of eternal security is for those who are truly saved. And how do you know if you're truly saved? Because you're walking in the fullness of the spirit and you want the things that God wants. And if22:14 you're saved, no 1 can snatch you out of God's hand. The doctrine of eternal security is a doctrine for believers, not unbelievers. The doctrine of eternal security is not, well I prayed a prayer. I believe my pastor22:25 told me I'm going to heaven, so I guess I have to go to heaven. No. For many will say to me on that day in Matthew 7, for many will say, but Lord, did we not cast out demons? Lord, did22:37 we not heal people? Lord, did we not attend brave church? On staff? Then I will say depart from me, you worker of iniquity, for I never knew you. What did they never turn from? They never turn from their iniquity. They22:49 never turn from their sin. They wanted their sin more than they wanted Christ. When you want your sin more than you want Christ, that's not salvation. Salvation is a turning from sin to say, I want Christ.23:01 It doesn't mean that the moment you get Christ, you'll never sin again. But because you have the Holy Spirit in your life, he's gonna continue to grow you and challenge you to continue to walk in holiness, righteousness,23:11 and truth. That's who our God is. Friends, I got online this week. I haven't done this in a long, long time. Just to watch preachers preach the gospel. And I can tell you, there's some people out23:23 there that love the word of God that are doing it for the Lord. I love that. But it was amazing to me the scores of them that never opened the bible, and never said a word. Friends, I think the reality of23:34 heaven and hell are as real as anything that you'll ever know. Some of us have this idea that, you know, when we die, there's this like waiting period, there's like a waiting room, and then for those of us who are23:45 Christian, we get wheeled off to the pearly gates, and those of us that aren't, we kind of think through, and maybe there's this season that God's gonna be gracious to us. No. No. The moment that you die, you will either23:56 be brought into the presence of Jesus Christ immediately in all of his glory, or you will be cast into hell forever and there's no coming back. I mean, that's the reality of this. So why does anybody talk about24:08 this? Because here's the truth, the devil doesn't want you to believe this. Some of you are mad at me because I'm preaching this morning. I just want you to know in the authority of God's word, you ain't mad at me.24:19 You're mad at what God's saying, because I'm not telling you anything that's not in your Bible. And for those of you who say, I'm never coming back to this church, I'm here to tell you the Holy Spirit is powerful. He'll24:30 follow you down and chase you until you believe it. This is the truth. God loves you enough. He says, don't drift. Don't drift. Don't drift. It's his kindness that's showing you your sin. I didn't believe24:41 this. When I was growing up, I thought I was going to heaven because I was a good person. At least in my own mind compared to all my friends. Isn't it amazing how we can trick ourselves to believe we're better than24:52 others? I thought because I went to church nearly every Sunday, I thought because I went to a Lutheran grade school because I had memorized part of Luther's small catechism that counted for something.25:04 Camp when I was 18 where this was explained to me that I realized, wait a second. If this is true, I'm totally lost. And I'm on the same playing field as anybody who's ever lived on the planet. And I was so25:16 angered by that. But by God's grace, that's what God used to show me. I needed the Lord to save my life. Amen? That's what I'm telling you. And the toughest group of people to reach are25:27 religious people that attend church, who think they're already saved, but aren't saved. You say, well, none of those go to brave church. I hope you're right. I hope you're right, but I beg to differ.25:40 What makes us unique? You don't become a Christian because you walk into this building and sense the presence of the holy spirit. You don't become a Christian because the word of God is preached and you say, I like that.25:49 There has to be a time in your life where you've turned from sin and turned to Christ. And my question is, when did that happen? Pastor Jeff, I I prayed that prayer like 30 some times. I Every church goer has prayed the26:00 prayer. Praying a sinner's prayer doesn't take you to heaven. A desire to turn from your sin and turn to Christ does. Do you recognize who you are? Don't drift26:12 away from the veracity of the word. Second is this, don't neglect the generosity of salvation. Don't neglect the generosity of salvation. You know that God so loved the world26:23 so much that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him would not perish but have eternal life. The greatest gift ever been given to this world is Jesus Christ. God of God, who put on flesh the God man,26:35 who lived the perfect life, who fulfilled the law that you couldn't, who took the wrath of his dad on the cross, who shed his blood and died, who rose from the dead, who ascended into heaven. He's still the king of Kings26:44 and Lord of Lords, and he offers life to all who will turn from their sin and turn to him. That's the greatest gift ever. Don't neglect the generosity of salvation. He says this, for if the words spoken26:56 through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? The reason he's talking about this is because he's27:08 gotten done talking about angels. And if you have time this week, you can look these passages up in Deuteronomy chapter 33 and verse 2 or acts 7 52 or Galatians 3 19. You'll see27:20 that when God brought the law to his people, he used an angel or a group of angels to bring the law to Moses, to God's people. And when Jesus showed up on the scene, just to show you how binding the law was, he said, I27:31 did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. Not 1 jot or tittle of this law will change. The law was binding. If people send apart from the law, they were punished apart from the law. People send under the law,27:42 there was punishment under the law. We see Israel's history in disobeying the law and God's just punishment for them and then asking them return, repent, repent, get right. He27:53 says, if the law was binding and God was just in punishing those who broke the law, how much more binding is it when God sends his only son to tell us the28:05 truth about the gospel, if we neglect so great a salvation? Now, if drifting is for those that aren't tethered to Christ, here's what neglect is. Neglect is an outright rebellion. Neglect is a28:17 man, I hate Christians. I hate the church. I hate Christianity. I don't like pastor Jeff. That's not neglect. Neglect is this, it's disregard or being unconcerned.28:29 It's I know it's true. I I've heard it from the time I was a little girl. I I heard it from the time I was a young boy. I've, you know, I've been in church services. I've experienced Christ. I've felt his28:41 presence. I've worshiped. I mean, I call myself a Christian because I've prayed a prayer, and I've gone through all the religious routine, and rituals, and hoops, and I've done all that, but deep down, I mean, I'm just28:53 not that into it. I'm not that concerned about it. It's not primary in my life. Jesus is not primary in my life. I I just kinda do this, but if push came to shove, I really don't mind so much.29:05 Neglect. Neglect is 1 of the biggest sins in our culture. It's not people that are outright rejecting Jesus, it's the people that say they love Jesus, but are just neglecting him29:17 in their obedience to him. Yeah, I I don't I don't really care. Not that important to me. I know I should be I know I should be more aligned with what Jesus wants. I know I probably should get right with the29:29 Lord. My day will come That's neglect. Neglect is, I know God has more for my life. I feel it when pastor Jeff preaches. I hear it. I sense it. The Holy Spirit is talking to me. I, you know, I'm not29:41 against them. I'm just not ready for that yet. That's neglect. And how will you escape if you neglect so great a salvation? Now what's escape mean? Escape means to avoid, means to29:53 flee, it means to run away. It means to be acquitted. If God punished people under the law, even those that weren't under the law, that didn't obey the law. How much more will he punish those who aren't obedient30:05 to what he says? How much more? How will you escape? Here's what the author is saying. You won't, You will not escape. You may think everything you're doing in private is cool. You may say, Well,30:17 I don't really worry about it. I think my good outweighs my bad. God sees it all, and the only thing He's looking for is have you turned from your sin and turned to Christ? And you can't escape that. And how you respond30:27 to that will determine your entire eternity. And it's not just this 1 passage in the Bible. This should not be shocking to us. It is all over the Bible, specifically in the new testament. Friends, you30:39 won't escape. Let me just assure you, when you die, there's not a holding place. There is no such thing as purgatory. There's no place you go and work off your sins. Jesus took care of them all on the cross. And you've30:50 either welcomed all of him, or you haven't. If you die apart from Christ, there is no mercy. And friends, there is no end. Eternal hell and punishment is just as long as eternal life31:02 is. Now, you can read authors that will tell you, no, it's not what happens. You just get destroyed or you don't get to be with God and it's not as fun. No. No. No. Eternal hell is just as31:13 long as eternal life is. He says those will be the the righteous will go into eternal life and the wicked will go into an eternal hell. It's real. That's why if you feel like I'm31:25 passionate this morning, I am. Because I think 1 of the biggest tragedies is not just people dying. I think the biggest tragedy is to die apart from Christ and an even bigger tragedy is to go to a church that presents31:36 the gospel and you neglect it. You say, yeah, I kind of agree with that. I'm not gonna do anything with it. And I think I'm just going to heaven because I'm a good person and I agree with pastor Jeff and I haven't caused31:45 any problems. No. If you don't repent of your sin and trust Christ, you will go to hell. I promise you. And you will go there immediately when you'd breathe your last breath. And Jesus Christ loved you so much, he came31:55 so you'd never have to experience that. He came to tell you that he was the Lord. So where do they preach the lordship of Jesus Christ in the Bible? Well, all over the place. But I'll give you 1 verse32:07 in second Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 5, the apostle Paul said this, for we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord.32:20 Christ Jesus is Lord and ourselves as your bond servants for Jesus Christ sake. Friends, Jesus Christ is Lord. We have false teaching in our culture and say, Yeah, Jesus Christ is my savior.32:32 I just don't know that I'm ready to make him Lord yet. You know what that says? Yeah, I kinda want heaven and I kinda wanna bless life, but I don't want Jesus. Jesus is the Lord. If he's not the Lord in your life, then32:44 he's not your savior either. And by Lord, I'm not saying you're perfect. By Lord. I'm saying you've submitted your life to the Lordship of Christ. You believe he's the Lord. You believe he's the only way you believe he32:56 died for you. You believe he rose from you and you no longer want to champion your sin. You want to be set free by clinging onto Christ. That's the gospel. That's the gospel of the Bible. There is no33:07 other. There is no other. And how tragic it's gonna be for some on judgement day, who think in this life they're a Christian, because they attend worship services and they're quote, good people and33:19 they're well liked and they've done different things, but they've never in their heart turned from their sin and turned to Christ. You miss that. You miss everything. How will you escape? I mean, we see this all33:30 throughout the Bible. I don't have time to go into all of it today, but if you have time this week, read the parable of the soils in Mark chapter 4. In Mark chapter 4, Jesus talked about the parable of the soils. He33:39 talked about a farmer that went out to sow or a sower that went out to sow The way they sowed seed in that day was just they reached in their bag and threw a bunch of seed out. And he talked about 4 different kinds of33:48 soil. Some was hard soil. And when the seed landed on the hard soil, the birds came and took it away. Some landed among rocky places, fast, but because it had no root34:00 system. It withered away and died. Very similar to the first soil. Third soil was a weedy soil. And as that plant grew up, the weeds choked it out. So it was on fruit. Those first 3 soils, no34:12 fruit, no yield, no nothing. But then there's another kind of soil. It's called good soil. And when the word of God got in the good soil, it produced a harvest of 30, 60, or even a hundred fold. Then Jesus says this, he34:23 who has ears, let him hear. You know what he's saying? May I have your attention, please? That's what he was saying. Here's what he was saying. There's nothing wrong with my word. I am34:35 the word. The problem is the heart of man. If you have a hard heart, that is Satan that comes and takes away the word. If you have a Rocky soiled heart,34:47 you might spring up, be super excited for a while, but when tribulation comes, you're gonna fall away. You might have a heart that is starting to grow, but the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of wealth, and34:59 the desire for other things choke it out, making it unfruitful. Friends, those first 3 soils aren't Christians. You say, well, Pastor Jeff, sometimes I go through a season. Yeah. I get it. There are seasons. We're35:10 talking about a quality of soil that's producing permanently. Yeah. We have times in our life where we have a little rocky this, and we gotta turn back, and yeah. We have times in our life where we have a desire for35:19 other things. I'm talking about, what's your life known by? Is it known by your hard heartedness? Is it known by your joy with no root? Is it known by that you won't take any tribulation? Or is it known by35:31 choking out your care about the things of the world? Or is it known by your good soil? Because when the word of God gets in good soil, so that's repented and turned to Christ, there's a there's a harvest of 30, 60, or35:41 even a hundred fold. What's it mean? Christians produce fruit. Christians produce fruit. No fruit over time. Examine35:52 yourself, make sure you're in the faith. How has your life changed since you quote unquote trusted Christ? I said I was a Christian for a long time. Nothing changed. My love for sports group,36:04 my love for myself got better. But after becoming a Christian, I started watching God give me a love for him and for other people I didn't have. I still see God changing me. There's fruit, and God doesn't show us all36:16 of our fruit. He just wants us to know that that's what he does. John 15 tells us the same thing. I am the vine, you are a branch. You are the branches. He who abides in me will bear much36:28 fruit. But apart from me, you can do nothing. Nada, if you're Hispanic. Nothing. Getting ready for Iglesia Brave.36:41 1 day friends, I'm gonna preach there. Listen. It's true. Jesus said in Matthew 10 28, do not fear those who can kill the body, but are unable to kill the soul, but rather fear him who is able36:53 to destroy both soul and body in hell. Right? Don't worry about dying. Dying is not the worst thing that could happen to you. Dying apart from Christ is the worst thing that could ever happen37:05 to you. No matter what you experience in this life, if you have Christ, even if you die, that's not as big of a deal. He who has ears, let him hear. Listen up. May I have your attention please?37:17 Why? Because if you go to a place that teaches a false gospel, what happens is you get inoculated, And then you get angry when a true gospel like this comes forth and you get mad. And the reason you're mad is because37:29 you've been inoculated with a false gospel and you kinda like the idea that, hey, I just wanna live my same sinful life. And this pastor told me if I live my same sinful life and never turn from it, I can still go to37:38 heaven as long as I pray this prayer at the church. And he's wrong. He's wrong. I mean, here's the truth. When we don't preach the fullness of the gospel, and we don't tell people about what sin is, andShow more In this video 0:00 The Urgency of the Gospel
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