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Three Things You Need to Know About Eternity | August 3, 2025 AM

Sermon Podcast—LBC Easton

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  1. Welcome to the Liberty Baptist Sermon Archives.

  2. The message you're about to hear was preached at Liberty Baptist

  3. Church in Easton, MA. You can find out more about us

  4. or contact us at my libertybaptist.org or just look

  5. us up on Facebook. And now we hope that this

  6. message from God's Word will be a blessing to you.

  7. You know, it's a lot of times we say something last in.

  8. Eternity. But it's really hyperbole, isn't

  9. it? There's an eternity.

  10. You know. You're sitting there at the

  11. restaurant. You're.

  12. Waiting for them to deliver your food, Like, man, there's an

  13. eternity. And it's really, well, not an

  14. eternity. It's just a long time, you know,

  15. to go to Walmart. They got that two checkout lanes

  16. open although they have 50 out there it still.

  17. Bugs me, I can't get over it. You know they they put every

  18. one. Of them with all those checkout.

  19. Lines. There's only two available.

  20. You're waiting. It's like this is taking the

  21. eternity. You want.

  22. Someone to call we probably. Somebody with some good news,

  23. you know, they, they, they, they're going.

  24. To tell you something that you need to hear.

  25. And you're waiting. To call and the waiting.

  26. Can take maybe all day. And maybe days turn to weeks.

  27. Who knows how long it is for that call to be able to come.

  28. And what do we say this is taking an eternity waiting for a

  29. sermon to finish? Oh, that would.

  30. Hit the mark all right. Is this ever going to end?

  31. He's preaching for an eternity. No, I am not preaching for an

  32. eternity. No, the waiter.

  33. Is not taking an eternity. To come.

  34. Nor is Walmart. Causing you to wait an eternity

  35. in the. Checkout line.

  36. Those all are very long. Things.

  37. Yes, including the sermon. Very long things, I understand

  38. it. But we.

  39. Use that term eternity so loosely, don't we, about things

  40. that really don't last for eternity?

  41. Do you know what's in eternity? Are you ready?

  42. Eternity, That which never ends, that which goes on in

  43. perpetuity. And I want to remind you this

  44. morning that eternity is not just a very long time.

  45. Eternity is literally forever. And this morning in our text,

  46. Peter gives us several things that you need to know.

  47. When it comes to the issue of eternity.

  48. Not about a very long. Time.

  49. But about where you will. Spend forever after this life is

  50. over and the end result of what Peter is going to tell us this

  51. morning. Is this?

  52. You'll either be born again or experienced the second death.

  53. The Bible says there are only two choices.

  54. Either you will be born again or you will experience the second

  55. death. We stand pleased for the reading

  56. of the word. Of God and.

  57. We covered 8 verses. Last week, today.

  58. Just one. All right, just one.

  59. Second Peter chapter 3 verse. #9.

    2 Peter 3 chapter mention

  60. And it says this, the Lord is not slack concerning his

  61. promise, as some man count slackness, but His

  62. long-suffering toward us. Word.

  63. Not willing that any should perish.

  64. But that all. Should come to repentance.

  65. Feels like almost a crime to make you be seated after such a

  66. short verse like that. So.

  67. Let's read it again. Shall we?

  68. The Lord is not. Slack concerning his promise.

  69. As some men count slackness. But as long-suffering to us word

  70. not willing that any. Should perish, but it all should

  71. come to repentance. Heavenly Father I.

  72. Prayed you'll be with us this morning as we look at this

  73. short, pithy, powerful verse that tells us what we need to

  74. know about eternity. So.

  75. I pray that you would. Help us with these issues today

  76. and I pray. From the bottom of my heart.

  77. That if there's someone here that doesn't know where they

  78. will spend eternity, that they realize these two options, these

  79. only two realities and they would choose life or thank you

  80. for what we've seen here this morning and be with us as we

  81. continue. We ask in Jesus name, Amen.

  82. You may be seated. Remember we said last week that

  83. when someone gives their final words, it's often an indicator?

  84. Of their heart. And we looked at Moses

  85. recounting the law. We looked at Joshua Choose you

  86. this day. Whom you will serve we.

  87. Looked at Jesus, the Great Commission and Paul with preach

  88. the word be instant in season, out of season.

  89. And then we saw last week these this conversation.

  90. That. Paul starts here, rather Peter

  91. starts in the very last chapter and he talks about issues of the

  92. end times and we talked about that last week.

  93. But here I believe he gives the very central idea of what his.

  94. Life had become after. He had met Jesus Christ.

  95. The central idea, the central theme of Peter's life after

  96. meeting Christ was this the gospel?

  97. Why? Because the gospel message

  98. changes lives. Peter knew what the gospel did

  99. his own life. And so as he's giving the final

  100. words, this, this final chapter inspired by the Holy Spirit, the

  101. last words that he's giving of his life that we have recorded

  102. today, he wants everyone to make sure they understand.

  103. There are some realities that people need to know about

  104. eternity. In fact, the title of my message

  105. this morning is this, 3 Things You Need to Know About Eternity.

  106. There's three things that everyone, whether they realize

  107. it or not, they need to understand about eternity.

  108. Because what you believe about the Gospel is the one and only

  109. determining factor. Of where you spend eternity.

  110. What you believe about the gospel is the one and only

  111. determining factor about where you.

  112. Spend eternity. So what are those 3 facts that

  113. we read in this very short verse here?

  114. Verse #9. Well, the first fact is this.

  115. God is truthful. God is truthful.

  116. He, He isn't just the truth, or rather He isn't just telling the

  117. truth. He literally is the embodiment

  118. of truth. Everything about God is true,

  119. for He is true. Well, where do we see that in

  120. verse #9 Well, it may not be as readily apparent as you think,

  121. but look at verse number. 9 the beginning it.

  122. Says the Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some

  123. men count slackness. Now, the word slack here doesn't

  124. actually mean. Truthful.

  125. If you're kind of wondering, that's where we're going with

  126. this. The word slack means this to

  127. Terry, to slow or to loiter. Now, we don't often use this

  128. word this way anymore, but we do use it on occasion to maybe help

  129. us understand what is being said here at the beginning of verse

  130. #9 if someone's lagging behind and we're trying to go

  131. somewhere, what would be something that we'd often say

  132. you need to pick up the slack? No, not pace, all right?

  133. Slack. We're talking about Slack

  134. people, all right? Come on.

  135. Right. You woke up.

  136. All right, That's good. That's great.

  137. You need to pick up the slack. Am I the only one that says

  138. that? Pick up the slack?

  139. Yeah. Hey, what if somebody's not

  140. doing? What do we call them sometimes?

  141. A slacker, you know? Hey, they're.

  142. Sitting around, they're standing around, they're not doing

  143. anything. They're being a slacker if

  144. you're pulling a rope and it's got some slack.

  145. What does that mean? Well.

  146. You need to have some greater urgency to be able to pull in a

  147. greater way. You know, this idea of slack

  148. means to tarry, to slow, to loiter, to pick up the pace.

  149. No, that's not in there. Nevermind.

  150. But I'm trying to make you feel better.

  151. All right, listen. But but that phrase that God is

  152. not slack, meaning this God is not slow.

  153. God is not. Waiting.

  154. God is not tarrying in the way that mankind is slow or waiting

  155. or tarrying. Now, why would Peter be talking

  156. about this? We'll go back to verse #8 So

  157. let's look at verse #8 It says this.

  158. But beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is

  159. with the Lord as 1000 years and 1000 years as one day.

  160. Remember we saw last week that God's timetable is not your

  161. timetable, that the way God works, the way God moves, the

  162. way that God has his designs upon this world is not upon our

  163. timetable. It is upon his timetable and his

  164. alone. And He's not Privy to let us

  165. know what his timetable. Is and so the next.

  166. Verse says this, in case you're wondering.

  167. Listen, God's not a slacker. God is not slow just because you

  168. don't see things happening the way you think they should be.

  169. Happening. As some men count slackness

  170. because we see things not happening in the.

  171. World, what do we say? Well, man's not working fast

  172. enough. They're not doing what they

  173. ought to do. They're not pulling their

  174. weight, whatever we might say, but when we look at God and

  175. things may not be going in this. World.

  176. The way that we think that they ought to be going in this world.

  177. Listen, God is not slack in the way man is psyched.

  178. If he said he's going to do something, listen, this is where

  179. it comes in. If God said He's going to do

  180. something, He is truthful that He will do it.

  181. Just because you don't see it in the moment doesn't mean it's not

  182. going to happen. Mankind is slack concerning His

  183. promises, but God is never slack.

  184. People can be loose with the promises they make.

  185. God is never loose with one promise He's ever made from

  186. eternity past into eternity future.

  187. Why? Because God is truthful.

  188. And this is an important. Point because you may look at

  189. the world and not see a God who's in control.

  190. Now, I know we're many here this morning have made a profession

  191. that they know Jesus Christ their Savior.

  192. But even those of us who are saved, we look at the world and

  193. sometimes it looks like it's spinning off its axis.

  194. It feels like things are out of control.

  195. And so sometimes people look at human suffering and they wonder

  196. if there is a God, that he must be slacking.

  197. So this is what the world would say.

  198. If there's a God, where is he? Do you ever hear people say

  199. something like that? They look at warfare, they look

  200. at cancer, they look at natural disasters, they look at

  201. political unrest, they look at geopolitical warfare.

  202. They look at all of these different things that take place

  203. and they say, well, if there's a God, where is he?

  204. Why is he showing up? Why is he allowing these things

  205. to happen? It's like they believe that the

  206. world other than it's like they believe that God, if he even

  207. exists, is slack. He's not showing up.

  208. He's not keeping his promises. Yet I would.

  209. Submit to you here this. Morning that God has promised

  210. that there will be a time when all things will become new, and

  211. just because that hasn't happened yet doesn't mean that

  212. he is untruthful, because there is a time when all things will

  213. become new. Revelation 21 verse one and two.

  214. I saw a new heaven and a new earth.

  215. For the 1st heaven and the first earth were passed away, and

  216. there was no more sea. And I, John, saw the holy city,

  217. New Jerusalem, coming down from God.

  218. Out of heaven. Prepared as a bride adorned for

  219. her husband. Verse 5.

  220. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things

  221. new. And he said unto me, Listen

  222. right, for these words are true and faithful.

  223. Listen, will there be a time when there is no more suffering?

  224. Yes. No more pain?

  225. Yes. No more sickness, no more

  226. doctors. I mean no offense to the

  227. doctors. They can get saved.

  228. But they won't need to. Practice their trade anymore.

  229. Why? Because there will be a time

  230. when all things are become new, say, well, I don't.

  231. See it? Well, that doesn't mean God's

  232. not. Truthful.

  233. He's not slack concerning his promise.

  234. Understand this, that our God is a God of truth.

  235. And today maybe you're looking for answers in religion.

  236. You just don't understand why the world is going the way the

  237. world is going. You don't understand.

  238. Why you see the? Things that you see you don't

  239. understand. Why it seems like everything?

  240. Is just completely and totally mad.

  241. But I want to submit to you that God's not asleep, God's not

  242. unaware. God's in control.

  243. He's on his own timetable and in his time, Satan's puppet Kingdom

  244. that is today, and I say it is a puppet Kingdom, but his puppet

  245. Kingdom of today in God's timing will be exposed and it will be

  246. eradicated. Why?

  247. Because God is truthful. He's not slack concerning His

  248. promises. The bottom.

  249. Line is that God is not. Delayed in keeping his promises.

  250. His delay listen to this is. Actually his design and you can

  251. trust him that he'll keep his word.

  252. He's never not. Kept his word he's.

  253. Patient with his promises. The problem is we're not

  254. patient. We live in a microwave society

  255. today where everything has to be done.

  256. It has to be done right now. You've ever seen advertising?

  257. From somewhere around 100 years ago where they have

  258. advertisements for those newfangled washing machines.

  259. I'm not talking about the washing machines.

  260. We have today, I'm talking about the kind that they would have

  261. had back in the days and and they advertise them to women.

  262. Not going there, but my wife's out of town so I'm not going to.

  263. Anything I say is not going to be held against me anyway.

  264. But well, you may hold it against me.

  265. They say this now your wash day has become simpler and think of

  266. all that extra time. You will save and a.

  267. Lot of the advertisements of those times, even going into the

  268. 50s were about you'll save so much time with these automatic

  269. appliances and. I don't know about you, but the

  270. appliances. Keep getting faster.

  271. And we keep moving faster and we have become very, very

  272. impatient. It used to be that you could

  273. have a meal in a few hours, then you could have ATV meal that

  274. could be made in the oven 30 minutes, and then you could have

  275. a meal that could be microwaved in 3 minutes.

  276. And now we're like, can I just get an IV and just put it right

  277. in? And not stop.

  278. Actually now we just drink protein drinks and it's like,

  279. well I don't even know if this tastes good or not, but at least

  280. I'm not hungry anymore. In fact, it kind of tastes like

  281. sawdust mixed with. Chocolate, but that's all right.

  282. Why? Because we want what we want

  283. now. But listen, God operates in the

  284. now because He always is in operation, but His timetable is

  285. not our timetable that. Doesn't mean he's not truthful.

  286. He has never broken one of his promises.

  287. We're going to put your trust if you don't put it in Jesus

  288. Christ. Put it in man, how many promises

  289. is mankind broke? The Bible says that we come

  290. forth out of the womb. Uttering lies, you know.

  291. Don't put your trust in man, trust in God because he is

  292. truthful. 3 Things you know about eternity #1 God is

  293. truthful #2 Understand this. God is a long-suffering.

  294. He's long-suffering. Again, verse 9.

  295. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count

  296. slackness, but is long. Suffering to us Word.

  297. Aren't you glad that God is patient?

  298. And aren't you glad God is patient with His promises that

  299. God operates? In his time.

  300. And that he cannot be hurried. He can.

  301. Be slowed. That God will work at the exact

  302. appropriate time in which He needs to work.

  303. Why? Because he's patient.

  304. But really? I think sometimes we take the

  305. word long-suffering and patient and we just.

  306. Put them together and make them interchangeable with one

  307. another. But.

  308. I would say to you this morning that while there are great

  309. similarities. Between the word patients and

  310. long-suffering. They are different.

  311. Concepts. The 1828 dictionary.

  312. Says this that long-suffering is bearing injuries or provocation

  313. for a long. Time patient, not easily

  314. provoked and the way that we. Know that long-suffering is

  315. different from patients is in the very word in fact, the word

  316. defines it. It's suffering long listen, you

  317. can be patient without necessarily.

  318. Suffering patience is a friend. Saying, hey, someday I'm going

  319. to. Call you and.

  320. We're going to go have. Coffee together and you wait

  321. patiently that in and of. Itself Is patience

  322. long-suffering? Is a friend saying hey, let's go

  323. meet for coffee? Next week at this location and

  324. at this time and you go to the location, you wait.

  325. They don't. Show up you pay for.

  326. Your coffee, you go home, you do it next week, you drive the

  327. location because they promised you they'd be there.

  328. You wait patiently, you buy coffee, you go home alone, and

  329. you do it over. And over and over again.

  330. Could you imagine somebody doing that to you?

  331. And you, the whole time you have, your time has been wasted,

  332. your money has been wasted, the emotional investment, it's all

  333. been wasted and and you've had to eat that yourself.

  334. And the question is what? Fool would put up with

  335. something. Like that?

  336. What fool would put up with someone else?

  337. Say I'll meet you next week. I'll be there, you know, this

  338. week I'll really be there, you know, I know I didn't tell the

  339. truth the last couple. Weeks, but this week.

  340. I'm really going to be there. We're going to have coffee.

  341. We'll have 3 cups of coffee to make up for the other two weeks

  342. that I wasn't there. Like, listen, I'm going to you

  343. say what fool at some point would say, listen, I'm not

  344. putting up with that anymore. Who would do that?

  345. Listen, I'm not talking about a sucker.

  346. This morning, who is long? Suffering I'm.

  347. Talking about your savior because what we have done to him

  348. is nothing but empty and broken promises where God is true.

  349. The Bible says let God be true and every man a liar.

  350. God, I'll do it. Then we don't do it.

  351. God, I won't do it. Then we'll do it.

  352. Remember, Paul talked about that.

  353. By the way, if you feel too bad about yourself, Paul talks about

  354. the book of Roman. He says, oh, wretched man that I

  355. am, the things I don't want to do, I end up doing, and the

  356. things I want to do I end up not doing.

  357. Listen, the apostle Paul struggle with that.

  358. You think you're not going to struggle with that?

  359. And over and over, we test the very patience of God.

  360. And it's not just that we test his patience is that we, if you

  361. could put it this way, injure him in the process.

  362. Now listen, we can't hurt God you.

  363. Understand what I'm saying? What I'm saying is this is that

  364. we do wrong against him and yet he is long-suffering.

  365. It's easy to be patient when nobody hurts you.

  366. It's a lot harder to be patient when someone is actively hurt

  367. you and we have actively hurt the Heavenly Father who sent his

  368. Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross.

  369. And yet he is what? long-suffering with us.

  370. And I know I've said it here before, but it's like the old

  371. preacher says that he's not just long-suffering, he's

  372. long-suffering with us because he puts up with a lot.

  373. Say, how is he long? Suffering.

  374. How is Jesus? How did Jesus patiently?

  375. Endure. The harm and provocation.

  376. Of mankind. Or we could start by saying

  377. this, He was long-suffering on the cross.

  378. Hebrews 12, verses 2 and three, looking unto Jesus, the Author

    Hebrews 12:2

  379. and the finisher of our faith. Who, for the joy that was set

  380. before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set

  381. down at the right? Hand of the throne of God, for

  382. consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against

  383. himself. Thus you'd be wearied and faint

  384. within your own minds that he put up with our contradiction,

  385. our contradictory way of living. By the way, He knew how wretched

  386. we would be before the foundation of the earth.

  387. Because he was his foreknowledge, He understood.

  388. Listen your. Way of living didn't take.

  389. Jesus by surprise. The way you lived before you got

  390. saved didn't take Jesus by surprise.

  391. He knows all things knowing how wretched you are.

  392. And don't worry how wretched I am.

  393. Jesus Christ. Willingly went to the cross he

  394. didn't go eyes wide shut. He went eyes wide open.

  395. What? And he said he endured the cross

  396. despising the same shame. But it says I'm sorry the says

  397. for the joy that was set before him knowing that all those

  398. things would take place it was a joy.

  399. And as I've said before, it wasn't a joy.

  400. The physical, the physicality that took place on his body,

  401. that was not a joy. The Bible says he was

  402. unrecognizable as a man. We can't even comprehend the

  403. suffering of his humanity, but yet he joyfully went to the

  404. cross. Why?

  405. So we could be reconciled to God.

  406. What an amazing thing that is. But it's not just that Jesus was

  407. long-suffering on the cross. He's long-suffering with you and

  408. I, not just before we got saved, but after we got saved too.

  409. David said in Psalm 86, verses 15 and 16.

    Psalms 86:15

  410. But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, gracious,

  411. long-suffering, plenteous in mercy and truth.

  412. Turn unto me, have mercy upon me, and give me strength.

  413. I'm sorry. Give thy strength unto thy

  414. servant, and save the Son of thine handmaid.

  415. Every sin we commit, every time we've slandered His name by

  416. using it in vain. Every hateful word, every

  417. hateful. Thought every prideful, boast

  418. every selfish. Claim every time we reject or

  419. neglect His word, His house. Those were all weights that were

  420. added to him on the cross. But yeah, he's long-suffering

  421. toward us. Look at verse number. 15 it says

  422. in the. Account that the long-suffering

  423. of our. Lord is what salvation?

  424. The long-suffering of our Lord is salvation, meaning this what

  425. is the end result of the long-suffering of God.

  426. If you go down the road of the long-suffering of God, you see

  427. at the end it ultimately exists. Our salvation, the fact that we

  428. are able to be redeemed. So if you were to understand

  429. something about eternity this morning, it would be this.

  430. God is truthful then #2 that God is long-suffering.

  431. But #3 and most importantly for you this morning is this is that

  432. God wants you to be saved. God desires.

  433. It says it right here in verse 15, an account that the

  434. long-suffering of our Lord is salvation.

  435. God desires you to be saved. What does it say in verse #9 It

  436. says not willing that any should.

  437. Perish that all should come to repentance, this verse shows.

  438. That there are two choices and two choices only repent or

  439. perish. That's not my words.

  440. It's not the conjecture of some wild eyed crazy independent

  441. Baptist preacher. It just says here there are two

  442. choices, you repent or you perish.

  443. Now what does repent mean? That means a change of mind

  444. which leads to a change of action, a change of mind that.

  445. Leads to a change of action. No, no, it's not works.

  446. The Bible says we are not saved by our works.

  447. We're just learning at 10:00 this morning about Islam and

  448. that Islam salvation, quote UN quote, is this.

  449. Your good deeds and your bad deeds are matched up.

  450. And whatever weighs itself more on the cosmic scales, good

  451. deeds, heaven, bad deeds, hell. And you can never know what the

  452. scales will be until the time comes.

  453. There's no peace in that. There's no hope in that.

  454. There's no salvation in that. The Bible says this.

  455. Repentance means this. It's not a work.

  456. It's a change of mind that leads to a change of direction.

  457. It's turning from one way and going the right way.

  458. I'm thinking of Peter. No, I'm not.

  459. I'm thinking. Of Paul.

  460. I'm thinking of Paul. If you only knew what goes up

  461. and goes on in my mind while I'm up here.

  462. It's incredible. I'm really thinking of Paul.

  463. On the road to Damascus and he was running hard in One

  464. Direction. What was that?

  465. Kill in prison, do whatever he could to believers.

  466. This was his desire, whether he killed them personally or not.

  467. We know that, for instance, Stephen, he was consenting unto

  468. his death. His desire was that this way was

  469. eradicated. But then what happened?

  470. He met Jesus. You know I.

  471. Don't say that he met. Jesus on the road to.

  472. Damascus and he repented. How do I know that?

  473. Because he was running hard. This way.

  474. And he turned around. And once he met Jesus, he was

  475. running just as hard the opposite direction.

  476. Now the zeal in which he had. To.

  477. Persecute Christians was the very same zeal now put into the

  478. direction of I have to serve my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

  479. It's a sign of fruit, of repentance.

  480. Isaiah 50. 5 verses 6:00 and 7:00.

  481. Seek ye the Lord, while He may be found.

  482. Call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way,

  483. the unrighteous man his thoughts, Let him return unto

  484. the. Lord.

  485. And he will have mercy. Upon him and to our.

  486. God, for He will abundantly pardon.

  487. That's repentance. The wicked forsaking their way,

  488. the unrighteous man his thoughts, and returning unto the

  489. Lord. It's making that change of mind

  490. which turns into a change of direction.

  491. This means that when you. Repent, you are turning towards

  492. God, which also means this you're turning away from your.

  493. Sin because you're. Turning away from your former

  494. master, which was Satan, and from.

  495. His devices, which are sin. God calls upon all to make this

  496. decision. God calls upon all.

  497. To come to repentance. But it also says this, that if

  498. you do not, the Bible says you perish.

  499. And the Bible calls this perishing, the second death.

  500. Now this phrase, second death is used four times in the Word of

  501. God, all in the Book of Revelation.

  502. What is the second death? Well, it says in Revelation 21,

  503. eight. But the fearful and unbelieving,

  504. the abominable murderers, whoremongers, sorcerers,

  505. idolaters and all. Liars shall have part.

  506. In the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the

  507. second death? The Bible says this.

  508. There are only two choices. You'll either be born again or

  509. experienced the second death. Do you see the difference

  510. between life and death? The good news is this, that God

  511. desires that no man perish, but that all come to repentance.

  512. It's the desire of God that you trust Jesus Christ as your

  513. Savior today and that you trust Him.

  514. What of the Bible way, not your own way?

  515. God's long-suffering for a reason.

  516. He's not just long-suffering because he wants to take

  517. punishment. He's long-suffering because he.

  518. Wants that long-suffering to lead to your repentance and your

  519. salvation. Luke 532 I came not call the

  520. righteous, but sinners to repentance.

  521. Luke 1910 For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that

  522. which was lost. First Timothy one verse 15.

  523. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that

  524. Christ Jesus came in the world to save sinners.

  525. And Paul said this, of whom I am chief, what is this?

  526. Jesus wants you to be saved. The question is this, you turn

  527. from death, will you turn from sin and turn towards the living

  528. God? There's three things you need to

  529. know about eternity. God is truthful.

  530. You can trust Him. He's not slack concerning His

  531. promises, you know. He's not behind schedule.

  532. He's not running late. He knows what time it is, and

  533. his time is the right time because He's truthful.

  534. We also know this, that God is long-suffering.

  535. He puts up with you. Yeah, I said it.

  536. But he puts up with me, which is just as bad.

  537. He puts up with us. He's long-suffering with us to

  538. bring us to repentance. And then after we get.

  539. Saved I. Don't know about you, but I

  540. still. Sit once in a while after get

  541. saved. How about you?

  542. Now if you didn't agree. You just send right now.

  543. All right, so we got you covered too.

  544. All right, so the people. Who agreed?

  545. The people who don't want to say anything that are lying.

  546. We're all sinners and even after we get saved, aren't you glad

  547. he's so long-suffering with you? But God wants you to be saved.

  548. Listen, there's no salvation in any other.

  549. There's no salvation in Islam. There's no salvation in Jehovah

  550. Witness. There's no salvation in the

  551. Mormons. There's no salvation in

  552. Buddhism. There's no salvation in any

  553. other worldly thought process. There's no salvation in

  554. humanism, there's no salvation in secularism.

  555. There's no salvation. In any other ISM.

  556. And there's no salvation by human enlightenment.

  557. I'm just going to become a good person and eventually I'll reach

  558. my own plateau. I'll reach my own place of no

  559. friend. Every single one of those roads

  560. made to have a different signpost on it, but they all

  561. lead to the same destination. Death, judgment, the great white

  562. throne. But there is one Rd. that leads

  563. to life, and that's Jesus Christ.

  564. And you know what he's doing today?

  565. I believe he's actively in front of the road telling you come,

  566. come find. Rest for your souls.

  567. Find rest not just in this life, but in eternity and at the same

  568. time. In front of those other.

  569. Roads. He's putting roadblocks, saying

  570. no, don't go this way. This is not the way of which you

  571. should go. And his word.

  572. Warns us of these things because there is life in only Jesus

  573. Christ. Voltaire, who you may have heard

  574. from the 1800s in France. Voltaire was not merely

  575. skeptical of Christianity, he was one of its fiercest critics

  576. during the Enlightenment, he famously wrote Frederick the.

  577. 2nd of Prussia, that Christianity.

  578. Was the most ridiculous, the most absurd, the most bloody

  579. religion which has ever infected this world.

  580. His campaign against religious dogma was so aggressive that he

  581. adopted the motto he Cretesse. That's in French.

  582. I can't do it. All right, this is in English.

  583. Crush. The infamous thing referring to

  584. the church through works like. Kennedy and his Philosophy.

  585. Philosophical Dictionary. Voltaire.

  586. Ridiculed Christian doctrines, Clergy.

  587. And the violence he saw perpetuated.

  588. In the name of faith, he viewed religion.

  589. As a tool of oppression and superstition, often blaming it

  590. for wars, persecution and ignorance.

  591. His satire wasn't just literary. It was.

  592. Personal, political and relentless.

  593. But now consider. This Despite his intellectual

  594. bravado, Voltaire's deathbed paints a sober in contrast.

  595. According to multiple accounts, including his nurse and

  596. physician, Voltaire died in torment, he reportedly.

  597. Cried out for forgiveness and begged for more time.

  598. Saying to his doctor, listen, I will give you half of what I'm

  599. worth if you give me 6 months let to live.

  600. When told that was impossible, he exclaimed, then I shall die

  601. and go to hell. Some of his final words included

  602. this. I am abandoned by God and man.

  603. His nurse later said, for all the money in Europe, I wouldn't

  604. want to see another unbeliever die.

  605. The man who spent. His life.

  606. Mocking Eternity ended up leaving that life with dread.

  607. I will tell you this, God will wait.

  608. He's long-suffering. God will wait, but eternity

  609. waits for no man. There will be a time where you

  610. have to answer this question. Why should you come into this

  611. heaven? At the Great White Throne

  612. Judgment, every single person, billions upon billions will be

  613. asked that question, and they will have to answer that it's

  614. not by Jesus Christ that it'll be by their own way.

  615. And as we said this morning in Revelation chapter #20 the books

  616. will be open, the books of your life.

  617. And if you have sinned even one time, you will be found a

  618. Sinner. And the Bible said that all of

  619. sin and come short of the glory of God.

  620. What does that mean? That you will spend an eternity

  621. in the lake of fire? But that's not God's desire.

  622. Now I know that one our text tells us that to Jesus life

  623. shows us that because he came to this world for 33 years he

  624. lived, he taught, he healed and ultimately went to the cross,

  625. died, was buried, resurrected, ascended into heaven.

  626. Why? With 1 mission and 1 mission

  627. only so that you could be saved. That's John 316 that that's what

  628. it's all about. So I want to encourage you

  629. today, if you don't know Jesus Christ your Savior, you don't

  630. know where you'll spend eternity.

  631. Listen, eternity is not found in the institutional church.

  632. So what do you mean salvation is not found in the Catholic

  633. Church? So Hester, you really can't say

  634. something that on the nose. Well, I'll tell you this,

  635. Salvation is not found in the Lutheran Church.

  636. You know why? I was a Lutheran for 16 years.

  637. Salvation is not found in the Presbyterian Church.

  638. Salvation is not found in any denomination.

  639. I'm going to tell you a secret. Are you ready for this?

  640. Let's go and get this close. Salvation is not found in the

  641. Baptist Church. What do you mean?

  642. I'm saying this. Becoming a Baptist doesn't make

  643. you saved. You're not supposed to say that

  644. as a Baptist. Well, I mean, I'm not supposed

  645. to preach the truth. No.

  646. No Baptist Church ought to be preaching salvation.

  647. But salvation is not found in the Baptist Church.

  648. Salvation is found in one and one alone.

  649. It's Jesus Christ. And if you think your good works

  650. will get you to heaven. If you think coming every Sunday

  651. morning will get you to heaven. If you think giving in the

  652. offering plate will get you to heaven.

  653. If you think that making sure that you do good works and work

  654. for community groups during the week will get you to heaven.

  655. If you think being a nice guy will get you to heaven.

  656. If you think being morally pure will get you to heaven.

  657. Really. If you think anything.

  658. Will get you to heaven other than Jesus Christ.

  659. You will find out that there is a second death.

  660. And you know what my heart, with every fiber of my being is, is

  661. that I can't even imagine that there would be someone that

  662. would sit under the ministry here at Liberty Baptist Church

  663. for a Sunday or for months or even years that heard the gospel

  664. message over and over again and ended up spending an eternity in

  665. hell. That thought haunts me.

  666. It makes me want to go down to the seats and just grab everyone

  667. by the shoulders and saying. Are you sure you're saved now?

  668. I won't do that because. We wouldn't be at church very

  669. much longer. That's not the way you do

  670. things. But it's that important that you

  671. hear the message and heed the message.

  672. It's not of the pastor of the Word of God.

  673. All must be saved through Jesus Christ.

  674. Why? Because he's truthful.

  675. He's long. Suffering and he wants you to be

  676. saved if you're not saved, listen, don't leave this

  677. building today without coming up to me, without coming to someone

  678. else and saying this. What do I need to do to know to

  679. go to heaven? What do I need?

  680. To do and the answer. Is this it's not what you?

  681. Need to do because. This Christ didn't receive

  682. gospel. The gift of the Gospel.

  683. That's already been provided for you.

  684. You just have to accept it to repent of your sin.

  685. They call upon Jesus Christ to save you.

  686. Now I will say this and I'll be done.

  687. You say, pastor, that's a great message.

  688. I'm already saved. So that didn't really do

  689. anything for me today. I got something for you too.

  690. Don't worry. First of all.

  691. I think it's good for all of us to remember how good the gospel

  692. is of which we received. Like we need a reminder of that

  693. sometimes anyway. What did we learn last week?

  694. Or rather, what did we? Learn on Wednesday night, I

  695. guess That was last week that we're to have the mind of.

  696. Does anyone remember the mind of Christ?

  697. Remember that? Well, if the mind of Christ is

  698. long-suffering, then what does that mean?

  699. That Christians are supposed to be long-suffering?

  700. If we're not careful, we are some of the most impatient,

  701. grumpy and grouchy people you will ever meet.

  702. Yeah, that didn't go over very well.

  703. So I'm going. To turn back here and say if

  704. I'm, you know, if we're not careful, I'm.

  705. Going to talk to. This guy over here, you know, if

  706. we're not careful, we as Christians are some of the

  707. bumpiest, the grouchiest people you'll ever be.

  708. I could see you agree with me right now and you know the.

  709. Thing is. Is that if we were billboards

  710. for Christianity, we would probably be one of the worst

  711. billboards possible. When we do not.

  712. Have the long. Suffering nature of Jesus

  713. Christ. I mean, do you agree?

  714. Yeah, this guy listens. The mind of Christ.

  715. Means that we need to have the qualities of God within our

  716. life. One being truthful, but two I

  717. just want to focus on are you long-suffering?

  718. Will they hurt me? That's the very nature of

  719. long-suffering bearing the hurt and still being patient.

  720. Now, again, I know that there are consequences for sin and I

  721. know there's some difficulties and, and I understand that, you

  722. know, if someone's listen as someone robbed from you, you

  723. know, you probably aren't going to, you know, give them a loan

  724. the next week. Boundaries are necessary, aren't

  725. they? But forgiveness is still real.

  726. long-suffering is still real. And Christian friend, are you

  727. willing to be patient for the sake of the gospel?

  728. Well, they hurt me. That's why it's not just

  729. patience. It's long-suffering, and God is

  730. long-suffering with us. Our.

  731. Version of long-suffering is. I'm sorry.

  732. Get it over with. As quickly as possible.

  733. That's at the mind of. Christ so this week.

  734. As we add to our. Faith, let's have a greater.

  735. Appreciation for the long-suffering nature of God for

  736. the unsaved, may it call you to repentance.

  737. For the saved, may it be a quality of which we live our

  738. lives so we can show people Jesus Christ through our

  739. long-suffering nature. Thank you for listening to the

  740. sermon from the pulpit of Liberty Baptist Church.

  741. If this message was a blessing to you, or if there's any way we

  742. can serve you, please let us know by contacting us at

  743. [email protected]. Or you can visit us this Sunday

  744. at 800 Washington St. in Easton, MA.

  745. May the Lord bless you as you grow in His Word.