The Certainty of Judgment
by Dr. Paul Chappell
“So they cast him out of the vineyard, and killed him. What therefore shall the lord of the vineyard do unto them? He shall come and destroy these husbandmen, and shall give the vineyard to others. And when they heard it, they said, God forbid.”
Luke 20:15–16
The most famous sermon ever preached in America is undoubtedly Jonathan Edwards’ “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” Edwards had preached the sermon in his own church with little effect, but on July 8, 1741, he delivered the message again at a church in nearby Enfield, Connecticut. The impact was immediate. Though Edwards read his message in a nearly monotone voice, the audience was gripped by such intense conviction that people began to openly weep and cry out to God for salvation even as Edwards preached.
He said, “Your wickedness makes you as it were heavy as lead, and to tend downwards with great weight and pressure towards Hell; and if God should let you go, you would immediately sink and swiftly descend and plunge into the bottomless gulf, and your healthy constitution, and your own care and prudence, and best contrivance, and all your righteousness, would have no more influence to uphold you and keep you out of Hell, than a spider’s web would have to stop a falling rock.”
God’s people in our day need another awakening to the reality and awfulness of the place called Hell. This truth is not popular in our day, but in reality it never has been. Lost and dying men do not want to be confronted with the fact that they will give an account to the God who created them. This certain coming judgment should motivate us to diligently work to reach the lost. “Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences” (2 Corinthians 5:11).
Luke 20:15–16
The most famous sermon ever preached in America is undoubtedly Jonathan Edwards’ “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” Edwards had preached the sermon in his own church with little effect, but on July 8, 1741, he delivered the message again at a church in nearby Enfield, Connecticut. The impact was immediate. Though Edwards read his message in a nearly monotone voice, the audience was gripped by such intense conviction that people began to openly weep and cry out to God for salvation even as Edwards preached.
He said, “Your wickedness makes you as it were heavy as lead, and to tend downwards with great weight and pressure towards Hell; and if God should let you go, you would immediately sink and swiftly descend and plunge into the bottomless gulf, and your healthy constitution, and your own care and prudence, and best contrivance, and all your righteousness, would have no more influence to uphold you and keep you out of Hell, than a spider’s web would have to stop a falling rock.”
God’s people in our day need another awakening to the reality and awfulness of the place called Hell. This truth is not popular in our day, but in reality it never has been. Lost and dying men do not want to be confronted with the fact that they will give an account to the God who created them. This certain coming judgment should motivate us to diligently work to reach the lost. “Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences” (2 Corinthians 5:11).
Today’s Growth Principle:
Take time today to warn someone of the eternal judgment that faces all those who reject Jesus Christ.
Alert and Active
by Joyce Meyer - posted September 13, 2016Then said the Lord to me, you have seen well, for I am alert and active, watching over my word to perform it.
- Jeremiah 1:12
Today's Goal: Get Going
God describes Himself as alert and active, and since we are created in His image (see Genesis 1:27) and told to imitate Him (see Ephesians 5:1), it is reasonable to assume that we can also be alert and active.
Activity is the exact opposite of passivity. Passivity is non-action or non-resistance. The passive person is led by feelings more than they are by following the leading of the Holy Spirit. They have free will, or the power of choice, but they don’t use it, and their passivity leads to problems.
Jesus is our model, and He was far from passive. He actively sought and lived out the will of God and resisted any temptation or pressure to do otherwise. The descriptive words we attribute to God even reveal Him as active–He saves, He redeems, He heals, He provides, He helps.
God has planned a wonderful life for each of us, and we can make choices according to His will in order to enjoy it. Why not make a decision that you are going to pursue the best life you can possibly have, and then actively go for it! Just wanting a good life won’t produce one. We have to do what it takes to get what we want. Every effect has a cause behind it.
Don’t sit idly by and allow life to happen to you. Choose to live life on purpose!
Pray: Lord, please help me to actively pursue Your plans and purposes for my life. I ask for Your grace to resist laziness and passivity and truly become a person of action. Amen.
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