Another Side of the Gospel Revealed by the Feast of Trumpets

This sermon is sort of a continuation of what I covered last week. As I worked on what I wanted to cover last week, I realized for the Feast of Trumpets, I actually wanted to take it a step farther. So we will be covering a few things that we covered last week as a way to bring this together. But I want to talk about another aspect of what I did last week, but in terms of what this day means and what it predicts for the future. Now, when we talk about the gospel, we talk about it as a message of hope. Two sermons ago, I talked about how the Holy Days give us a message of hope. Really, the last three sermons are tied together in a number of ways. Through the gospel, we learned that God loves us even though we have been separated from Him. He loves humanity. We understand sin and repentance and salvation, and that God's creating a family. The gospel is good news. But there's another side of the gospel that I want to talk about that this day tells us something about. Let's go to Acts 24, because it is a message of hope, and I want to talk about that today. That this should be something that focuses us in on what God is doing in our lives in a very positive way. But there's another side to it. Acts 24.

Acts 24.

Paul here is talking to Felix, who is a governor, and he says to him, verse 24, And after some days when Felix came with his wife, Dersilla, who was Jewish, he sent for Paul and heard him concerning the faith in Christ. Now, Felix had some understanding of what the Jews taught because of his wife. Now, he, Paul, reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come. And Felix was afraid and answered, Go away for now, for I have a convenient time, and I will call for you. He also said he was hoping that Paul would give him some money to let him free. Everything in the Roman Empire was oiled by money. Sort of like the role we live in. Everything is oiled by money. But it's interesting. Paul is giving him the gospel. Paul has the opportunity to present the gospel to a very important person, and he talks about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come. God's judgment is actually part of the gospel. The good news has an issue of judgment.

Sometimes we have to be careful that we don't buy into sort of a false concept that, well, the Old Testament is about God's judgment, but the New Testament is all about God's love. If you read through the Old Testament, there's an awful lot in the Old Testament about the love of God. And if you read the New Testament, you find there's a lot in the New Testament about the judgment of God. There's really no difference between the two. One, God's dealing with a physical nation for much of the Old Testament. He's dealing with a physical nation. So it's different than how he treats the church because they were a people without God's Spirit. I mean, some had God's Spirit, but the majority of the Israelites never had God's Spirit. The church is a group of people with the indwelling of God's Spirit. We are already the children of God. And since we are already the children of God, he deals with us differently than he did with a group of physical people. But there is a message of judgment.

In fact, let's go to Matthew 3.

You know, Jesus talks a lot about the love of God, but if you read, especially in the book of John, he talks about being the judge of the world. He talks about he has come to judge sin. So in his first coming, there is an element of judgment as there is in his second coming. And I'm going to talk specifically today about not just him coming back and destroying the nations that have gathered against him. I mean, that's a judgment, right? I'm not going to talk about that. We usually talk about that maybe in this afternoon. It'll be mentioned in a little bit. I want to talk about the concept of judgment and salvation in relationship to this day. Judgment and salvation. Matthew 3 here, this is John the Baptist, and he's talking about the coming Messiah. Let's start in verse 5.

Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him, and were baptized by him and the Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, Brute of Vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come. So he looks at the religious leaders, the Jewish religious, and he says, haven't you been warned to flee from the wrath to come?

Now, the wrath to come is a statement which is generally tied into the Messiah. God's wrath was going to come upon humanity, and the Messiah was going to come. Therefore, bear fruits of repentance, and do not think to say to yourselves, We have Abraham as our Father. For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. It's an interesting statement. They took great pride in the fact that they were the children of Abraham. And, you know, there are promises made to the direct physical descendants of Abraham. How they were going to be the representatives of God on earth. They knew that they had been brought back out of Babylonian captivity hundreds of years before, because God promised them he would.

You know, the book of Daniel talks about that. Jeremiah talks about that. How he told them, I'm going to bring you back out of captivity, and I'm going to put you back in the land. Of course, when you look at the Messianic prophecies, he was going to do that so the Messiah would come. So I understand there, but we're the children of Abraham. And his statement is, you know, that alone doesn't give you salvation. Don't you know there's a judgment? And simply being a physical child of Abraham doesn't save you. Now, there's promises in the future when the Christ returns to the physical descendants of Abraham.

How they're going to be gathered together from around the world, converted, and they're actually going to live there in the land around Jerusalem. But they have to be converted. In other words, salvation is still something they're going to have to learn. He says, and even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

Boy, he's telling them, you're not bearing good fruit and you're going to be cut down and thrown into the fire. He's telling them about judgment. So here he is teaching about baptism, but he's also telling them, you need to be baptized. Now, they didn't think they needed to be baptized. They were already the children of God. Why do I have to be baptized?

I was born a child of God. I was circumcised on the eighth day. I am a child of God. And he's saying, no, you're not. You have physical blessings to you, but you don't have salvation yet. And of course, he goes on to say the messenger of salvation was coming.

He says, I indeed baptized you with water unto repentance. But he was coming after me as mightier than I, whose sandals I'm not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. So when John baptized somebody with water, it was for repentance. When Jesus came and the Holy Spirit was poured out on the church, from that point on throughout the New Testament, when someone received water baptism, they also received the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

So he said, I'm just baptizing with water. That's just one step. When the Messiah comes, he's going to baptize you with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is actually going to be given to you to be put inside your mind and heart. But he also says, I will baptize you or he will baptize you with fire. Now, it's interesting how in the Pentecostal world, that fire, they tie this in Acts 2 and they come to the conclusion that speaking in tongues.

So if you don't speak in tongues, you have not truly been saved. But what did he really mean here? Now he's telling out the coming of the Messiah and the greatness of the fact that God's Holy Spirit was going to be poured out on people who repent and receive the water baptism. He says, his winnowing fan is in his hand and he will thoroughly clean out his threshing floor and gather his weed into the barn and he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

Unquenchable fire is used to talk about the final judgment on the incorrigibly wicked, those who will not repent. It is a fire that no person puts out. It is a fire that God ignites and it burns until there's nothing left to burn. That's a statement of judgment. In fact, that is the ultimate judgment. The ultimate judgment. So he gives his prophecy. There's one coming and he's going to come and he's going to pour out the Holy Spirit.

And we know that after Christ's resurrection, that's exactly what happened. We know that then John, where we have the words of Jesus he gave before his disciples on the day that he was going to be taken out or the night before he's going to be taken out and crucified, he said, I must go. And he says, God will send you a helper and the Holy Spirit shall be given to you. And he fulfilled that on Pentecost. So see how all the Holy Days are connected together. But here he talks about this judgment of unquenchable fire. Now, we know from the Holy Days, specifically the eighth day or the last grade day, we know that all humanity has a time of salvation.

That means, for that to make sense, that most of humanity has not been called by God throughout history. And the ancient Mongolians are going to be resurrected. Even the modern Mongolians who have never heard of Jesus Christ are going to be many of them have going to be resurrected and given an opportunity to know Christ and then through him the Father.

That's a very unique doctrine. We don't believe in universalism. There is a lake of fire. But we believe everybody gets a chance and not everybody's been given a chance today. Or you have to come down with Calvinistic predestination and God just picked some people good and bad to be in his family. He takes other people good and bad and he tortures them forever to show how good he is.

And that's what the Calvinists believe. And some of the old mainline Protestant churches are Calvinists. Now, if we understand that last grade day and we look at the Scriptures and put them together, then everybody gets a chance. So not, this isn't what that means is, this isn't the day of salvation for everyone. This isn't the day of salvation for everyone. But it is the day of salvation. The day of salvation always leads to a judgment. There are three days of salvation mentioned in the Scripture. Three days of salvation that we understand through the fall Holy Days. Okay? And we're going to go through all three of those.

Let's go to 1 Peter and let's look at the first day of salvation that we're going to look at.

1 Peter 4.

Remember, every day of salvation, when someone is called into salvation, there's a point that they are judged to be saved or not saved. Salvation is given as a gift. That's what we talked about last time. Salvation is given as a gift, but some people give back the gift. Right? They give it back. They don't want it. So the gift of God, He gives, and it's going to happen. Remember, I said last week that your name is already written in the book of life. In fact, my wife said when I give that sermon next week, or this week here in Murfreesboro, she says, I'd like you to... I said, well, there's two or three scriptures that say that. She says, read all those. All those scriptures were already written in the book of life, but we can be removed because we don't want it. But that's how God sees things. Oh, I've written you down. You're here. That's how God sees things, but He doesn't take away our free will. That's why David said, please don't block me out of the book of life. Please don't take me out of your book. So there is a judgment now. Let's look at 1 Peter 4 verse 12. He says, Beloved, do not think of strange concerning the fiery trial, which is the triu, as though something strange has happened to you. You know, it's... My wife and I were talking about this the other day, and she said, I don't know. This is the worst time in my life in terms of, you know, just what we see in the world around us. And she says, I keep thinking, this is the worst it's ever been. I said, really? I remember talking to people who went through World War One and the Spanish flu.

It was worse. Our people went through the Depression and World War Two. It was worse. It was actually worse. The entire world of comedy collapsed. Now, it's going to get worse in the future. I hate to tell you that, but... That's what the Bible says. But the state of the world in 1935, where they thought the entire world was going to collapse into chaos. Nazism's on the rise. Communism's on the rise. Why? Because every economy in the world has collapsed.

And they didn't think the United States was going to survive. And you have the Dust Bowl, where in Washington, D.C., a huge cloud of dirt swept across Washington, D.C., and it was Oklahoma and Kansas. Feet and feet of the topsoil of those areas were swept up across the United States and into the ocean. So, it's bad. I'm not sure it's as bad as 55 million people dying in World War Two. No, not yet. So, we have to look at what's happening. And we have to say, okay, a fiery trial is going to come upon us. And it is in the future. We're already in the midst of a fiery trial. He's talking about persecution, though. But he says, don't think this is strange.

He says, but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rest upon you. It's an amazing set of things that he says. He goes on and talks about... Well, let me go ahead and finish this, because this section is really interesting. I'm going to get to the main verse I want to read. He says, on their party is blasphemed, but on your party is glorified. So he says, you know, the church went through at this point a persecution we haven't had yet. He'll come, but we haven't had it yet. He says, but let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, as a busybody in other people's matters. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter. And here's why. He says, face the persecution or the trials or the problems that happen, for the time has come for judgment to begin on the house of God. And if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? The judgment has already begun on the house of God. I mean, it was Abraham's time of judgment. The final judgment will come at the resurrection, the final reward. But it was his time of judgment. Abraham had no place to go except follow God to return back to Ur and to paganism, but it meant to lose his salvation. You and I in a time of judgment. Now, see, we always think judgment is a bad thing, right? Judgment is always punishment. The judgment for Christians is the great resurrection at Christ's first coming. That's our judgment. God said, that's the judgment I'm going to give you. Now, if you go back to Ur, if we go back to paganism, we go back to secularism, and we go back to our selfishness in evil ways, we may end up with a different judgment. But God has already told us what our judgment's going to be, and that's what this day is about. Jesus Christ comes out back and pours out a judgment on the armies that are gathered to fight him. What does he do? He kills them by the millions. But what is the judgment on us if we have been faithful and held on to his promises and held on to God, held on to Christ? Then our judgment, he has already told us, is your judgment will be the resurrection. But the judgment is now. We can't go back. We go back to our old ways, and a different judgment can be upon us. But God has already told us, we stay where we're supposed to be, and the judgment will be resurrection. The judgment will be changed. The judgment will be not punishment, but God's judgment will be reward. Eternal life, no longer suffering, no longer having mental issues, no longer sinning. Oh, that's gone. That's what God has already judged for you. We talked about that, see, last week in all different terms. He's already said, this is what I'm going to do. Just go there. This day is to give us that vision. It's already predicted to happen if we'll go there.

And that's the positive aspect of the gospel. But there's always a warning that says, but remember, you can change the judgment.

You know, you go before a judge, and he says, you know, I'm going to let you go this time. I had to go before a judge one time. And another time I was supposed to, but he didn't call on me. But as a counselor for someone, this person had wasn't, he was drunk driving. And, you know, he was very merciful. He said, yeah, he says, you're making progress. You're doing fine. He said, you know, I'm not going to give you a sentence. He said, but I don't want to ever see you in my court again. Not for this, for anything. But he says, I don't want to ever see you in my court again. Because I will not give leniency the next time. It's too dangerous. Somebody could die. Isn't that interesting? That's what God does. Look, I've already forgiven you. Okay? You've already appeared before the court at baptism, and I forgave you. You go back. I don't want you to appear before my court again. Now that doesn't mean we all slip and fall in sin. We all struggle in this life. That's what we're talking about. We're talking about our total return to what we were. He said, don't appear before my court again. You don't want to. It's a different judgment. Our judgment right now is mercy. Our judgment is eternal life. Our judgment is the kingdom of God. That's His judgment, if we want it. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5. Let's go to 2 Corinthians chapter 5. So if you took notes last week, you'll go back and see there's some connections between what we talked about last week. Paul says here, it's a very interesting way he puts this. Typical Pauline thought. He likes to use analogies and allegories, and he likes to put things together in very interesting ways. He says, for we know that if our earthly house, this tent is destroyed, we have a building from God. A house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. He says, we know we have a promise of a new body. He talks about it in 1 Corinthians 15, where he talks about we get this new body at the resurrection. So God already has a plan. He's already made a judgment. He already gave you grace. And he says, as long as we're in this tent, we realize, you know what? We'd like a better tent. And he says, we get a better tent. I mean, there's nothing wrong with this body. I like mine.

But you know, they don't last forever, right? And he says, for this, in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation, which is from heaven. If indeed, having been clothed, we shall be found naked. For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed. That mortality shall be swallowed up in life. In other words, what he's saying is, it's not like we hate our bodies. He's not teaching asceticism here. Just hate your body as a Christian. He's saying, no, but we also want something better.

This day pictures God's judgment on those armies, on the world, for Christ to become king of kings. But it also is the judgment of those who receive this new body, who receive eternal life, whether we're dead or alive. I talked about that last time. Now, he who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. He says, He's preparing us for this. What He's doing right now is preparing for those events to happen. He's already predicted them. They're going to happen. And He says, because He wants us to be there, He's already given us His Spirit. Because without His Spirit, we can't be there. He's already given us that. So we are always confident. Now, there's sometimes we lack confidence, don't we? Paul did from time to time. There's times we fall down. There's times we get discouraged. There's times we have no idea what God's doing. We can't figure it out. There's times we ask why. There's times we say this isn't fair. Yes. But God always brings us back to a stability and a confidence if we submit to Him because we have His Spirit. So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in this body, okay, this is a nice home, but we are absent from the Lord. But we're still not... we struggle with this relation with God. We want to be in the presence of God. And sometimes we feel the presence of God, but we want to actually be with God. We actually want to be with Jesus Christ. For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, yes, well-pleased, rather to be absent from the body and be present with the Lord. Paul says, you know what? There are times in my life where I think, yeah, death is not a bad thing. To give up this body and receive eternal life is not a bad thing. And I've seen people who have been very sick for a long time or have just reached an age where they're so incapacitated and say, you know what? I'm ready for a new body. And they mean it. Paul had reached that point. He's not like his body, but I really would like to be Spirit. Therefore, verse 9, we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to him, like was brought out in the sermonette. We do these things because we love God. We want to please him. We find joy in pleasing God, just like children do with adults. As he gave that sermonette, I couldn't help but think about my son. His cooking stage is now. He loves to cook now as an adult. He didn't as a kid. My daughters, of course, I had lots of tea parties and stuff, and then they got into they were going to make real food. I did not know you could make a biscuit that hard. And they had figured out that tea and coffee was hot, so I had to eat it with hot water right out of the tap. Very hot water. And they're all like, what do you think? You know, and you're trying to get you can't use a butter knife, because if you do, you have to press so hard that the biscuit explodes. And I still remember eating that biscuit and just thanking them so much and worried and worrying whether I was going to keep my teeth or not. But we are pleasing to him. That's what we want. Verse 10, for he must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in this body according to what he has done, whether good or bad. He says, remember, we all have to in this life appear before Christ, but what did he say before he said that? Look what God is doing to get you there.

We zero know what God is doing to get us there, and this day will be a reality, an absolute reality when it happens and when it comes. Now, so the Feast of Trumpets not only talks, not only is about God's judgment on the world, which I think every sermon I've given practically since I've been here has covered some aspect on this day of God's judgment on the world. There's another judgment here. It is the house of God. It is the house of God being changed. It'll be frightening to somehow miss out on that. The second time of judgment is during the millennium. You know, during the millennium, you have all these people that have survived the tribulation. You know, the majority of people have died through the tribulation, but there will be millions and millions and millions of people, and they're going to have to be brought to the knowledge of who Jesus Christ is, who's reigning on earth in Jerusalem, and who God the Father is, and they're going to have to be converted. Look at Micah. We're just going to look at Micah chapter 4. Just one Messianic prophecy about the millennium, about his reign on earth, where it's all summarized right here. So this will be the second day of judgment. Those people in their bodies will have the opportunity to receive God's Spirit, the opportunity to be converted, the opportunity to become the children of God. If they refuse that, then they'll just be like people, whether in the older New Testament, that had God's Spirit, that refused it. They give the gift back. They will be in that same place. So they will be having a time period that will end in their judgment. Micah 4 verse 1. Now shall come the past in the latter days, that the mountain of the Lord's house, the kingdom of God, shall be established on the top of the kingdoms, or of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and people shall flow to it. Many nations shall come and say, Come, let us go to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us his ways. And we shall walk in his paths, for out of Zion the law shall go forth, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between many peoples, and rebuke strong nations afar off, and shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks, and nations shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn any more. You'll hear this read sometime during the Feast of Tabernacles, as we celebrate this time of salvation that's yet in the future, for all those who have come out of, and presumably will be born, during the millennium. And we will keep that Feast of Tabernacles looking towards this day of judgment when, I assume, the great, great majority of people, their judgment will be to become children of God. That will be their judgment. Some won't. And then we have the third day of salvation, and this is brought out in the Great White Throne Judgment. Revelation chapter 20. Once again, you're going to hear all of Revelation 20 read, at some time, going to the Feast and the Last Great Day. Revelation 20.

We know that Christ reigns on earth for a thousand years in this chapter. We know that at the end, of that thousand years, Satan is released for a little bit, actually deceives people who are part of that second time of judgment. He deceives them to actually trying to fight a war against Jesus Christ. There's a harsh judgment on those people. And then we have when the great majority of human beings are resurrected. Now we know from Ezekiel 37 that this day is a day of a physical resurrection. Because when you read Ezekiel 37, there's no way to understand it, except as a physical resurrection. I mean, the bones come together, the flesh comes on it, God breathes into them, and all these human beings are alive, right? Well, when did that happen? When is it going to happen? Without the understanding we do of this second resurrection, it's interesting how so many evangelicals look at Ezekiel 37 and they say, oh, that's an allegory of 1948 when the state of Israel was reestablished. But you see, God's Spirit wasn't poured out upon them. Ezekiel 37 says God's Spirit will be poured out upon them. So it can't be. It can't be. And so what we have here, let's start in verse 11. John writes, And I saw a great white throne, and him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. There's found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God. And the books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The books would be the Scripture. In other words, how are we judged today? How are people judged to the millennium? By the Scripture. How are the people in the Old Testament judged? By the Scripture. But the other book is the book of life. How do you get written in the book of life? You go through a judgment. Now, the idea that this is simply, I resurrect you. You are a pretty good person. I'm going to go ahead and put you, make you a spirit being. Or you're a bad person, so you're going to go to hell or the lake fire. And that's how most people look at this. But there are places, there are Scriptures, that won't let us come to that conclusion. Ezekiel 37 is one. One is another. We'll come back to here in just a minute. But in Matthew 11, and there's a couple places where Jesus actually talks about this. But we'll just read the one here. Matthew chapter 11. And I'm going through a lot of material hoping that most of you have enough to fill in the gaps. I mean, we're covering a lot of material today. But if you don't, then this is something we need to study. You need to study during the Holy days. Matthew 11 verse 20. Then he, Jesus, began to rebuke the cities in which most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent. Woe to you, Cherizan. Woe to you, Vithsidia. For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which were destroyed by God, they would have repented long ago and sackcloth and ashes. But I say to you, it would be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say for you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you. Well, if everybody goes to the lake of fire, how could it be more tolerable?

The point is, is that that great white throne judgment, there is a judgment. It's a period of judgment. It is a period where God gives humanity the opportunity to choose. The books are opened, and then the book of life, people start to get into the book of life. At the end of that period, we know there are people who will not repent. Let's go back to Revelation 20 now.

Because at the end of this—I'm going to skip a couple verses here—because all the data are resurrected, all the data are judged. At the end of that judgment, you have two things. Jeremiah 31 talks about how God told Israel, I will bring you back to the land and I will pour out my spirit upon you. There are other places to talk about the resurrection. The resurrection not only of life, but the resurrection of condemnation. At the end of the great white throne judgment, there is a condemnation on the incorrigibly wicked. There are people who will not turn to God, whether in this time—because if we turn against God, and it's our time of judgment, then we won't receive the judgment of the first resurrection. We'll receive the judgment of this resurrection to be cast into the lake of fire. That will be our judgment.

During the millennium, people who receive God's Spirit and are prepared will be changed, and their judgment will be to be the children of God. Those who refuse their judgment will be this. During the great white throne judgment, those who repent, their judgment will be to become the children of God, because God's Spirit will be available. Those who do not, this is their judgment.

Everybody eventually receives one or two judgments—to become a child of God or to be put in a lake of fire. That's the two judgments. Verse 14, then death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the second death. And anyone not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

Jesus even talks about this in Matthew 10. I won't go there.

When he talks about, don't fear men who can destroy the body, the physical tent.

Fear God who can destroy both your body and your soul. Annihilation. The lake of fire isn't forever being tortured. It is the total cessation of life, the total destruction of that human being forever, which is actually kind. That seems so harsh.

To be a spirit being and to be evil is to be insane forever. I've been in some mental institutions visiting people. One of the most scary was an institution for the criminally insane, a prison. They're not happy people. To spend eternity in something like that, I would prefer to die and spend eternity in that. So it's actually an act of mercy by God. So what we have are three times of judgment, and we see all three of them in the fall holidays. The time now on the church, and our name is already written, it's just which judgment do we want? And when Christ returns on the Feast of Trumpets, or what the Feast of Trumpets pictures, our judgment will be to be changed. That's what He said. That's what I want for you. That's what I'm judging for you. I forgive you. Don't appear before my court again.

Not in that state. We still appear before Him as sinners, but not in a total sinless state, rejecting Him. The second time of judgment will be on humanity that are living during the time of the millennium, when Jesus Christ rules on earth and God's Spirit is poured out. Now there's many scriptures—I didn't have time to go through all the prophecies—about the pouring out of the Spirit when Christ is on the earth. People have access to God, access to God's Spirit, so it is a time of judgment. And then the third time of judgment is for the majority of humanity, that great white throne judgment. At the end of all these judgments, there's only two judgments. Now we should be encouraged by all the promises, and we should be very, very cautious about taking that for granted, because there is no second chance for us. Do you understand that? This is it. There is no second chance for the people of God now. Nobody gets two chances of salvation. Everybody gets one. And this is ours. Judgment is now upon the house of God. And your judgment is, I called you to be there. I've written you in the book.

But if you don't want to be there, I won't make you go. Let's finish by going to 2 Peter chapter 3.

Peter, once again, is encouraged by this concept of judgment, but he's also made cautious because of it. Chapter 3 of 2 Peter, verse 7.

He says, That's the lake of fire. He said, But beloved, do not forget this one thing, that what the Lord one day is of a thousand years, and a thousand years is one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise. He is the positiveness. Like Paul talked about the fiery trial. Sometimes we think, God, how long will you hold this back? He says, no, just have patience, because He has promised us, as some count slackness, but His long suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but all should come to repentance. He says, no, God takes a long time to do this, because He doesn't want us to perish. He wants us to be prepared. He wants us to be there. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night. Now, the day of the Lord, I gave a sermon on this a while back. There's different days of the Lord. No, the Feast of Trumpets is the day of the Lord. Actually, the very end of the eighth day is the day of the Lord, because there's a type of judgment. All types of judgment is called the day of the Lord. We generally think of the sort of the focal point of the day of the Lord is usually the Feast of Trumpets, but it's not the only day of the Lord that's in the Bible. Here, Peter uses it as the events of the end, when the earth is destroyed by fire, the final judgment, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise and the elements will melt with fervent heat. Both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. See, that doesn't happen at Christ's return that day of the Lord. It happens at the very end. Therefore, since all so he brings it back to us today, right now, therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness? Realizing this is temporary focuses us in on, yeah, I like this tent. Yes, we're to enjoy the life God has given to us. Yes, we're to be happy and we're not to be despondent and, you know, we're not to be unhappy people, but we're also to realize this is temporary. And in that, looking forward to what God is doing, in that we conduct ourselves with godliness, holy conduct, and godliness. Looking forward, hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat. Nevertheless, we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

He says in verse 14, Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace without spot and blameless, and consider that the long suffering of our Lord is salvation.

Our judgment now, the judgment God has given you, is salvation.

He's given it to you. It's the gift.

Only you and I can change that judgment, because He's already given it. So as we keep this day, let's think about the judgment God's going to give on the earth when Christ comes back and destroys the armies. Let's think about the judgment He's already made on us, and let's make sure that we never appear in His court again.