Series A - Second to Last Sunday of the Church Year

TEXT: Jeremiah 25:30-38 & Matthew 25:31-46
THEME: God solemnly warns all who would not take Him seriously, that their only hope of escaping His wrath is faith in His Son, Jesus the Christ.
TITLE: "No Escape, But Jesus"

Series A
2nd Last Sun. in the Ch. Yr.
Our Savior Lutheran Church
Pagosa Springs, Colorado
November 17, 1996

INTRODUCTION

JEREMIAH ISSUES A WARNING TO ALL WHO DO NOT TAKE GOD SERIOUSLY.
1. Warning: To those who deny His existence.
  1. Perception does not create reality.
    1. Those who insist that if they don't see God, then He doesn't exist,
    2. ILLUS: Woman who wrote letter to Time Magazine...
    3. Man has always practiced "selective" vision.
  2. Opinion doesn't change reality.
    1. It will do no good to "vote" whether or not God is real.
    2. If absolutely no one believes that God exists, that doesn't make it so.
  3. Denial, won't work before the judgment throne of the Almighty God.
    1. All eyes will be opened to see the reality of an angry God.
    2. Alas, the clarity with which their own foolishness of denial will be seen.
2. Warning: To those who deny sin as a reality.
  1. No one likes to hear that they are a sinner.
    1. But such hearing is the first step to a relationship with God.
    2. A need for salvation must be seen.
    3. The truth is not necessarily pleasant.
  2. To those who claim that sin is not serious because it is so common:
    1. You do not understand the holiness of God.
    2. You do not understand that God is just and will not look the other way.
    3. Yes, sin is common and so too will be the wrath of God against those who deny sin and its result, eternal death.
  3. Don't listen to the voices trying in vain to justify sin:
    1. We try in vain to justify the deaths of 1.5 million unborn children each year in this nation alone.
    2. We argue without basis that they may ignore sexual purity.
    3. They use empty words to dismiss the estate of holy marriage as just another social convention.
    4. We destroy our society and ourselves by abandoning morality and godly virtue.
JEREMIAH ISSUES A WARNING TO THOSE WHO THINK THAT ESCAPE IS POSSIBLE.
1. Warning: To those who's escape is the behavior of others.
  1. The Lord will not play comparison games between people to establish comparative guilt.
    1. He who sins is worthy of death.
    2. He who thinks himself better than another is doomed by his own sin and the sin of thinking himself better than others.
  2. ILLUS: Canary Harris sued God and won...
2. Warning: To those who have faith that there will be no accountability for sin.
  1. Our tendency is to think that every day will be like today.
    1. History has a beginning and it has an end.
    2. The thunder of His voice will bring the world to a screeching halt!
  2. Even if we believe in the existence of God, we're convinced He won't notice my sin.
    1. Since we've rationalized it away, we figure that God has too.
    2. Since it's so hard to stand up against the tide of public opinion, we think God will let us off the hook.
  3. ILLUS: Congressman explaining his unpopular vote...outside pressure!... Where are your inside braces?
    1. Without the Gospel of Christ as our inside braces, there would be no hope...crushed like a wooden hulled vessel in the Arctic ice.
    2. God will not be listening to excuses on the Day of Judgment!
GOD'S ACT OF JUDGMENT WILL BRING FORTH THE TRUTH.
1. The truth that the standard for salvation is holiness.
  1. Everyone relying on false notions that God does not exist or that sin isn't real or that God won't hold people accountable for their sin are DEAD WRONG!
    1. There is no sin about which God is not fully knowledgeable.
    2. Thank God that He knows!!!
  2. Thank God because if He know of them all, He can forgive them all.
    1. Not with some declaration of innocence, but by demanding full, complete payment for each and every sin!
    2. His holy and innocent Son has given Himself for our sin.
  3. Jesus, the Holy One of God has died for the unholy.
    1. Our only hope is that in Christ our sins are fully forgiven.
    2. Our only hope is that God, in His mercy has washed us clean.
  4. Our only hope is the holiness of Christ, given to sinners.
    1. In truth, we have been set free from sin!
    2. In truth, we have life eternal, not death eternal!
2. The verdict for those whose trust is in Christ is, "Not Guilty!"
  1. That verdict will be issued on the Day of Judgment.
    1. Both those who are consigned to hell and those receiving the gift of heaven will hear the word of God's final and perfect judgment.
    2. No More excuses will be heard:
      1. "A loving God could never send someone who tried to do good to hell."
      2. "People, like animals, simply cease to exist...No eternal punishment."
      3. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
  2. How do you feel about the impending judgment of God?
    1. Is there terror in your heart at the prospect?
    2. Are you at peace, knowing that you are in Christ?

CONCLUSION

ILLUS: Boy named Jimmy...shot the family pet duck..."I have told my father and he has forgiven me. We don't have to talk about it any more, I'm free!