Lunatic, Liar, or Lord?

In studying to preach every week in my personal preparations, it's not uncommon for me to read a number of commentaries on a particular passage or even listen to a few sermons from other pastors to try to get an idea of the best way to communicate the truth of a particular text.

And this week, regarding this section of verses, everyone that I read, everyone that I listened to, in some way referred to C.S. Lewis' famous statement about Jesus either being a liar, a lunatic, or the Lord.

When Lewis wrote that, if I remember correctly, it was in Mere Christianity.

When he wrote that, he was frustrated by the all-too-common notion that people would take that said that Jesus was really nothing more than a good moral teacher.

But he thought that an honest, thoughtful reading of the New Testament would make such a conclusion intellectually incoherent.

It just doesn't make sense if you were to read through that and really give your mind to what is happening in Jesus' life and what he's doing and what he's saying.

It doesn't make any kind of intellectual, coherent argument to say that he was just a good moral teacher.

C.S. Lewis determined that only three possibilities exist for us.

When we're considering Jesus, only three possibilities can be at play.

One, Jesus is a liar.

And as a liar, he has constructed the most successful deception that the world has ever known.

Secondly, he said that Jesus is a lunatic.

Lewis said that the third option is that he's actually the Lord of all, to whom everyone will give an account at the end of her life.

Those are really the only three options that are on the table for us when we consider who Jesus is.

Now, it's difficult to read through these ten verses, or maybe even you could go all the way down to verse 35,

and not think that it was the content of this passage that inspired Lewis' words.

When we get to this particular text, Mark is using a sandwich technique in writing about these events.

He starts by relaying an event that was taking place in regards to Jesus' family.

And then he pauses momentarily and fits a story within the story.

And it's the story about the scribes and what assessment they had made about Jesus and his miracles.

And then when we come to verses 31 to 35, Mark circles back around to the story that he started in verse 20.

And he deals again with Jesus' family.

But more than just being a creative way to tell a story, Mark's placement of these two events together speaks to a common theme.

And here's the theme.

Both groups made a wrong assessment of Jesus.

Both of them.

One group loved Jesus.

The other group hated Jesus.

But they both ultimately rejected his true identity and purpose.

As we go through this text, the text reveals these three possible conclusions that C.S. Lewis made famous.

And then it tells us here at the end that the assessment that we make of Jesus has eternal consequences.

And so let's look at what these assessments are.

First, we see his family's assessment.

We see his family's assessment.

Look with me at verse 20.

Then Jesus went home and the crowd gathered again so that they could not even eat.

Now remember, crowds are not presented favorably in Mark's gospel.

And in this instance, the crowds are preventing Jesus and his disciples from even having a moment to eat a meal.

And as frustrating as this must have been for Jesus, he never shows anything but compassion for these people.

Everywhere he goes, these massive crowds come.

He's got to have a boat on the side of the seashore because he's in so much danger.

He's got to have an escape plan.

Now he's just maybe snuck back into Capernaum.

He's in Peter's house and somebody hears a whole crowd's there.

He can't even have a meal.

Yet Jesus never, he never rebukes people for coming to him.

He always shows compassion no matter how much inconvenience comes as a result.

He persistently suffered inconvenience for the sake of others.

This wasn't because Jesus was a good guy that had difficulty telling people no.

His heart was for sinners.

His whole purpose in coming was to save sinners.

And his toleration of inconveniences and difficult circumstances was the overflow of what we sang last week

to be his magnificent, marvelous, matchless love.

Christians demonstrate the heart of Christ best when they live their lives for others rather than themselves.

Look at verse 21.

When his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, he is out of his mind.

Now word had gotten back to Jesus' family and friends in Nazareth of the things that had taken place in his ministry.

And what we see happening here is they set out from Nazareth to actually stop him.

The word here in verse 21, seize or laid hold on it, literally means to arrest.

It implies a physical altercation to where his family had set out to go and find Jesus and then physically restrain him in order to stop him from what he was doing.

They had concluded that Jesus had lost his mind.

Now, why would they want to stop him?

Their fundamental motive here is a motivation of love.

Before we give them too hard of a time, they're only coming to help Jesus or what they thought would be a help to Jesus because they cared about Jesus.

No doubt they had become aware of the dangerous mobs that he had become subject to.

Perhaps they had heard about the murderous plots of the Pharisees to destroy him and the Herodians.

Maybe somebody had told him about he's pinned down in Peter's house again in Capernaum.

We can't even get any bread and wine to him at this point.

He can't even have a meal because the people are pressing against him.

And like any loving family, Jesus' family was concerned about the physical well-being of their brother and son.

The problem, though, is that their love was coupled with unbelief.

They agreed with the crowds that there was something significant and special about who Jesus was.

But for them, he had become just too radical.

It was one thing for him to say that he had the power of God.

It was one thing.

There was no denying that he had some type of significant power.

It was one thing for him to say that.

It's a completely other thing for him to say that he was one with God.

That he himself was God.

For him to refer to himself as being the fulfillment of all these Old Testament prophecies.

That's what Jesus was preaching.

That's what he was teaching.

And his family had come to the conclusion that he's just gone too far.

He's just become too radical.

They assessed that he had lost his mind.

And they thought they needed to stop him before he got himself killed.

Now, some people have always considered Christianity to be insane.

And it continued on through the New Testament.

Remember in Acts 26, Paul was in Caesarea.

He was arrested in Jerusalem.

He was taken to Caesarea.

And this would begin his four-year stint in prison.

In the process of being in Caesarea, the procurator of Judea changed.

And it became a man named Festus.

And he brought in Paul to preach the gospel, to have a hearing.

And so Paul preached the gospel.

And after preaching the gospel, the death and the resurrection of Jesus,

Festus looks at Paul in Acts 26, 24.

And here's what he says.

He says, Paul, you are out of your mind.

Your great learning is driving you out of your mind.

You're just too radical, Paul.

This is crazy.

To the Corinthians, Paul wrote,

The Jews demand signs and the Greeks seek wisdom.

But we preach Christ crucified,

which is a stumbling block to the Jews and its foolishness to the Gentiles.

But to those of us who are called,

it is Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

For the foolishness of God, he writes, is wiser than men.

And the weakness of God is stronger than men.

There will always be people that consider Christianity to be insane.

Perhaps you have family and friends that think you've just taken this too far.

It's one thing for you to be religious.

It's one thing for you to want to follow some of the moral teachings of Jesus.

But to go so far as to say that he rose from the dead, really?

That's crazy.

Kent Hughes said this,

If Christ is who he says he is,

then the sanest thing in the world is to follow him.

If Christ's call to us is total commitment,

anything else is crazy.

And then he said,

Christianity needs more of Christ's madness.

His family's assessment reminds us that closeness to Jesus

is no substitute for allegiance to Jesus in faith and following.

It's not unusual for us to give lip service to the lordship of Christ,

but how many of us actually are following Jesus as Lord?

His family loved him.

They recognized the power in his life.

They recognized even that he was from God,

but they just thought he'd gone too far.

So his family that loved him and appreciated him were lost.

You can be close to Jesus today.

Even love and admire him.

Yet you may not actually be following him.

Appreciation is not the same as belief.

I don't ask you.

Is it that you appreciate Christ?

Is that you even maybe love the dynamic of his life

and some of his teachings?

Or are you actually,

is he lord in your life?

Because there's a difference.

That's his family's assessment.

Secondly,

we see the scribes assessment.

Look with me at verse 22.

And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying,

he is possessed by Beelzebul.

And by the prince of demons,

he cast out demons.

Now we've seen the scribes oppose Jesus several times already in the gospel of Mark.

Jewish society had no natural division of church and state.

And the scribes were the experts on the law.

The scribes' goal was to persuade the people that were following Jesus

or were being influenced by Jesus.

They weren't questioning him directly.

And there were two dynamics.

There was a two-fold assessment that they made.

The first thing was this.

They said that Jesus was possessed by Satan.

Beelzebul here is a synonym for Satan.

It means master of the house.

Or potentially, based on its Old Testament translation,

it means the house of Beel the prince.

Beel being an Old Testament Canaanite god.

And so master of the house or Beel the prince, his abode.

So they said Jesus is actually possessed by Satan himself.

That was the first part of their statement.

The second part was connected to it,

but they said that it was demonic power that Jesus used to cast out demons.

Now, Matthew 12 and Luke 11 both say that it was Jesus casting out a demon

that prompted this statement from the scribes.

These men were essentially claiming that Jesus was using sorcery or witchcraft to perform his works.

So while his family thought that he was a lunatic,

the scribes actually thought that he was a liar from hell.

Interestingly enough,

neither Jesus' family nor the scribes ever denied the reality of his miraculous power.

Have you noticed that?

Nobody ever says that Jesus didn't really do the things.

Nobody ever says or denies the power.

It wasn't a part of anybody's argument.

There was no denying it.

His family said,

Yeah, this power comes from God.

They just wouldn't accept that he himself was God,

that he was Messiah.

The scribes, on the other hand,

credited his mighty works and his mighty deeds to satanic forces.

And that brings us to an interesting point.

There is a mistaken notion

that if we could witness the miracles of Jesus ourselves,

we would believe and follow him.

Maybe you've heard somebody say that before.

Maybe you've thought that yourself.

You know, my faith would be so much stronger.

My doubt would be so much more minimalized.

If I could have actually been there,

if I could have just seen him do these things with my eyes,

if I could have witnessed it myself,

then I would be stronger.

Maybe you've witnessed to someone

and they've said,

Yeah, I just, you know,

I don't know that I can trust the Bible.

You know, maybe if I had actually seen it myself,

I would believe.

But seeing doesn't automatically equate to saving faith.

The scribes were eyewitnesses of his power,

but they did not believe.

When Jesus told the story of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16,

he said that people will even witness the resurrection of the dead

and still not believe.

Luke 16, 31.

He said to him,

If they do not hear Moses and the prophets,

that is the Old Testament,

if they do not listen to the Old Testament,

neither will they be convinced

if someone should rise from the dead.

But what if Jesus raises himself from the dead?

Maybe that would make a difference.

But it didn't.

Because in Matthew 28,

we're told that when the guards who were guarding the tomb

came and told the religious leaders in Jerusalem

that Jesus had risen,

they concocted a lie

so that people wouldn't believe it.

They knew it was true.

But they rejected it.

Here's what it says.

Matthew 28, verse 11.

Matthew 28:11

While they were going,

behold, some of the guard went into the city

and told the chief priest all that had taken place.

And when they had assembled with the elders

and taken counsel,

they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers

and said,

Tell people,

His disciples came by night

and stole him away while we were asleep.

And if this comes to the governor's ears,

we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.

They knew the resurrection was real.

But they didn't believe it.

In the end times,

many, many people

will see magnificent demonstrations of God's power.

And yet they will still reject him.

They will acknowledge his existence.

They will acknowledge his sovereignty.

They will acknowledge his power.

They will acknowledge his truth of the gospel.

But they will still reject him.

Seeing is not believing.

Both Jesus' family and scribes saw,

but they didn't believe.

Faith is not a matter of witnessing the spectacular.

It is a matter of believing the word of God.

And if you will not believe the Bible,

you certainly won't believe due to witnessing a miracle either.

The refusal to repent

and the corresponding refusal

to believe the gospel

is not due to a lack of evidence.

It's due to a hardened heart.

If you struggle with doubt today,

it's not because the evidence is not there.

It's not because you can't see it in the words

and in the pages of scripture.

It's because your heart is hardened

to the truth of the gospel.

And we read in Psalm 95

at the beginning of our service,

it's quoted in Hebrews chapter four and verse seven.

Today, if you will hear his voice,

do not harden your heart.

The evidence is there.

There's no denying it.

You hear his voice today?

You recognize the evidence of the scripture today?

Is the Holy Spirit convicting your heart today?

Do not harden your heart.

Look at verse 23.

This is Jesus's response.

And he called them to him

and said to them in parables,

how can Satan cast out Satan?

If a kingdom is divided against itself,

that kingdom cannot stand.

And if a house is divided against itself,

that house will not be able to stand.

And if Satan has risen up against himself

and is divided,

he cannot stand,

but is coming to an end.

I think it's fascinating here

that Jesus called the scribes to him

and initiated this confrontation.

Did you pick up on that as you read?

These scribes weren't addressing Jesus.

That's not what they were doing.

They didn't see him cast out a demon

and then go and confront him

and say, you're doing that

through the power of Satan.

No, they went around to everybody else.

It was all the people

that were being influenced

and impacted by what Jesus was doing.

They started going to them

and they were saying,

this is Satan's power.

This is sorcery.

This is witchcraft.

Don't follow this guy.

He's bad news.

He's casting demons out of people,

but he's bad news.

He's healing people with leprosy,

but he's bad news.

It's all Satan's work.

Don't follow him.

He said, what does Jesus do?

He calls them to him.

Hey, fellas, come here.

Let me ask you something.

He never shied away from confronting error, did he?

Especially when it regarded as gospel purpose.

Now, this was true of the Old Testament prophets.

It was true of the New Testament apostles as well.

Christians are often too quickly silent

in a culture that preaches tolerance.

Sometimes we think that confronting error is unkind.

We get this idea that we just gotta let people do their thing.

We just gotta let people live how they're gonna live.

I'll do my thing.

They can do their thing.

We'll try to be at peace with everybody.

And it would be unkind for me to confront error

in someone else.

But in reality,

there's not actually anything more loving

than sharing the gospel with someone.

The least kind thing that we can do for somebody

is let them remain in their sin.

Is to let them continue in unbelief.

Nothing about this exchange between Jesus and the scribes

indicates at all that Jesus was angry

or that he was sarcastic

or that he was insulting to them.

It was his love for the scribes

and those underneath their influence

that led him to confronting their error.

And we need to follow that example.

We need to love people enough

to tell them the truth.

If people are offended,

let it be an offense against the gospel,

not an offense against the way

that we present the gospel.

Jesus didn't insult these men.

He wasn't angry with them.

He loved them.

He's trying to help them.

We really need to be careful

that we don't fall into this dynamic

of Facebook-based evangelism

that doesn't actually care enough about people

to lovingly share the truth,

but it just desires to be insulting

and angry and belligerent

under the guise of truth.

We offend people all the time,

but it's not because of the message that we preach.

It's because of the way that we carry the message.

Jesus didn't do that.

If people are going to be offended at us,

let it be because of the gospel,

not because we've treated them insultingly

or because we've been hateful

or actually unkind,

but let us develop a love for people

in our hearts so much

that we will actually be willing

to confront them with the gospel,

to actually share with them the truth,

to actually warn them

of the judgment that is to come,

to actually invite them to our homes

to study the Bible together,

to actually invest in their lives.

Let's love people enough to do that,

but in doing that,

let's do it in a way

that is godly and Christ-honoring

and follows his example.

Jesus gave two parables

that confronted the illogical nature

of these men's argument.

First, he said,

a nation cannot survive

if its people fight against one another.

Secondly, he says,

a family cannot survive

if its members are constantly fighting

with each other.

In the same way,

Satan's purposes would be hindered

if he fought against himself.

It just doesn't make sense.

Why would Satan fight against himself?

Why would he do this

against his own purposes?

And furthermore,

Satan doesn't heal.

Satan doesn't help.

He doesn't love people.

He doesn't teach with authority.

All the things that Jesus were doing,

those are not things

that Satan would ever do.

It was illogical

what they were saying.

These are the experts.

They're the experts.

Nobody knew the Old Testament

like they knew it.

Honestly.

They were the experts in the law.

They were the ones

that helped teach people the law.

And yet they still had an argument

that was so foolish.

And again, Paul tells us

this is what happens

when we harden our hearts.

For the word of the cross,

he said,

is foolishness to those who are dying.

But to those of us

who are being saved,

it is the power of God.

For it is written,

I will destroy the wisdom of the wise

and the discernment

of the discerning

I will thwart.

Where is the one

who is wise,

Paul said?

Where's the scribe?

Where's the debater of this age?

Has not God made foolish

the wisdom of the world?

For since in the wisdom of God,

the world did not know God

through wisdom,

it pleased God

through the foolishness

of what we preach

to save those who believe.

Just because somebody's

got a bunch of credentials

doesn't mean that

every argument they have

is logical.

In fact,

the more that their hearts

are hardened toward Christ,

the more illogical

their arguments are going to become.

Trust the word.

So there's the family's assessment,

there's the scribe's assessment.

Thirdly,

there's a true assessment.

Look at verse 27.

No one can enter

a strong man's house

and plunder his goods

unless he first binds

the strong man,

then indeed he may

plunder his house.

Now remember,

C.S. Lewis gave three options

when assessing

who Jesus really is.

Jesus' family had concluded

that he was a lunatic.

The scribes had concluded

that he was a liar.

But the only logical conclusion

is that he's actually

the Lord.

Jesus uses this third parable

in verse 27

to set the record straight.

In this parable,

Satan is represented

by the strong man

and his house

is this fallen world,

the realm over which

he currently rules.

2 Corinthians chapter 4.

2 Corinthians 4 · chapter mention

Paul says,

in their case,

that is in unbelievers' case,

the God of this world,

that's a reference to Satan,

has blinded the minds

of unbelievers

to keep them from seeing

the light of the gospel

of the glory of Christ

who is the image of God.

And then he says

in Ephesians chapter 2,

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

you who were dead

in trespasses and sins

in which you once walked,

following the course

of this world,

that is the house,

the world system

that Jesus is referring to,

following the prince

of the power of the air,

the spirit that is now at work

in the sons of disobedience.

The Bible says

that Satan is the ruler

of this world,

not insofar

as he is greater than God,

but he rules this world.

This is his domain.

What's Jesus saying?

I'm not of Satan.

I have come to bind Satan.

And I have come to bind Satan

in order that I might set free

the captives of Satan

to spoil his house,

to plunder his house,

Jesus says.

Well, there's only one being

that can do that.

And it has to be one

that's greater than Satan.

And there's only one being

greater than Satan.

Who is that?

God himself.

Jesus is setting

the record straight.

Casting out demons

was a shadow

of how he would ultimately

defeat Satan

through his death

and resurrection.

Would you turn just quickly

with me to Luke chapter 4?

Luke 4 · chapter mention

I just want to show you

one other place.

I don't want to just read

this one to you.

Luke chapter 4.

Luke 4 · chapter mention

And would you look with me

at verse 17?

Jesus is in Nazareth.

He'd gone back to his hometown.

He was in the synagogue.

And he was asked to speak.

And here's what Jesus did.

Pay attention to this.

Luke chapter 4.

Luke 4 · chapter mention

Verse 17.

And there was given to him

the book of the prophet Isaiah.

And when he had opened the book,

he found the place

where this is written.

The Spirit of the Lord

is upon me.

He hath anointed me

to preach the gospel

to the poor.

He hath sent me

to heal the brokenhearted.

He has preached

deliverance to the captives

and recovering sight

to the blind

and to set at liberty

those who are bruised

to preach the acceptable

year of the Lord.

And he closed the book

and gave it again

to the minister

and sat down.

And the eyes of all of them

that were in the synagogue

were fastened on him.

Now watch verse 21.

And he began to say unto them,

Today, this scripture

is fulfilled

in your ears.

What is Jesus saying?

You are captives to sin.

You are captives

to Satan,

the prince of this world.

But the Bible said

that there would

one day come one

who will set

those captives free.

One day there will come one

that will restore sight

to the blind.

And that's not just

about physical sight,

even though that was

a part of it.

That's spiritual sight.

There is one that will come

that will make all things right.

And then Jesus sits down

and he says,

I am that one.

I am that one.

It's the only logical conclusion

that we could come to.

It's a true assessment

of who Jesus is.

Finally,

fourth,

what is your assessment?

What is your assessment?

His family said

he was a lunatic.

The scribes said

he was a liar.

Jesus set the record straight.

But now Jesus,

in verses 28 to 30,

puts the decision

to you.

In his final statement,

he made it clear

that our assessment of him

has eternal consequences.

Look with me at verse 28.

Truly I say to you,

all sins will be forgiven

the children of man.

Praise the Lord

for that statement.

We're going to come back to it.

Whatsoever blasphemies

they utter,

but whosoever

blasphemes against

the Holy Spirit

never has forgiveness,

but is guilty

of an eternal sin,

for they were saying

he has an unclean spirit.

Do you see the weight

of Jesus' words here?

What you decide about Jesus

affects your eternity.

If you come to the right conclusion,

Jesus said,

all your sins will be forgiven.

If you reject him as Lord,

none of your sins

will be forgiven.

An eternal sin

is one which God judges

for all eternity.

Jesus said that this sin

is blaspheming the Holy Spirit.

But what does that mean?

What does that mean?

Is there a chance

that you have committed

this sin?

And if you have,

does it really mean

that God will refuse

to forgive you?

There's just three simple notes

I want to make

that bring some clarity

to what Jesus is teaching here,

okay?

First,

blaspheming the Holy Spirit

is rejecting

what he has clearly revealed.

That's what it means

to blaspheme the Holy Spirit.

It's to reject

what he has clearly revealed.

Now,

the role of the Holy Spirit,

one of the roles,

is to testify

of the truth of Jesus.

Jesus said as much

in John 15,

he said,

when the helper comes,

whom I will send to you

from the Father,

the Spirit of truth,

he will bear witness

about me.

He will bear witness

about,

that's his role.

The Holy Spirit's role

is not to draw attention

to himself.

The Holy Spirit's role

is to draw attention

to Jesus,

to bear witness

of Jesus

and the truth

of the gospel.

He does this

by convicting our hearts.

He enlightens our minds

to the truth of the word.

We see the examples

of his spectacular work

in the scriptures as well.

To blaspheme

the Holy Spirit

is to willfully

reject

what he has made clear

in your conscience

through the word.

It's unbelief.

It's I see the truth,

I have heard the truth,

I reject that truth.

It's willful unbelief.

And Jesus said

in verse 30

that it was the fact

that the scribes

attributed to Satan

what was the work of God

that equated

to blaspheming

the Holy Spirit.

In other words,

they knew their argument

was illogical.

They knew this.

They knew who Jesus was.

They knew better

than anybody

who Jesus was.

They just wouldn't

accept it.

The Holy Spirit

made it clear

and they willfully

rejected

the truth of Jesus.

So blaspheming

the Holy Spirit

is rejecting

what he's clearly revealed.

Number two,

blaspheming the Holy Spirit

is not a single sin

that eternally disqualifies you

from forgiveness.

It's not something

you do in one moment

and then that's it forever.

That's not what Jesus

is communicating here.

He was referring

to the continual rejection

of the gospel,

not a single occurrence of it.

Now Kent Hughes

is helpful here.

I want to just read you

what he wrote

because he framed it better

than what I thought

that I could.

Very simply,

it is the ongoing

continual rejection

of the witness

of the Holy Spirit

to the divinity

and the saviorhood

of Christ.

It is the perversion

in the heart

that chooses

to call light

darkness

and darkness

light.

It is continuing

rejection

of the witness

of the Holy Spirit

whether that witness

be a quiet witness

of the conscience,

the rational witness

of the word,

or even miracles

and wonders.

And there are many people,

I think,

many believers

who have become anxious

about whether or not

they have committed

an unpardonable sin

that has disqualified

them from God.

But this is not about

a one-time sin.

This is the continual

hardening of the heart,

rejection willfully

of the gospel

of Jesus.

A person who has done

this is completely

indifferent to the fact

that they have done it.

So if you're anxious

today,

well maybe I've done

something that

disqualifies me

in this way,

maybe,

but you desire Christ.

Okay,

a person that has

blasphemed the Holy Spirit

or is blaspheming

the Holy Spirit

is indifferent to that.

They don't believe

that that's even the case.

Okay?

It's just not a single sin

that disqualifies you forever.

It's the continual

rejection of unbelief.

Third,

no one

has ever

sought forgiveness

from God

and been denied.

No one.

Ever.

Not one time

in the scripture

has anyone come

to God

seeking forgiveness

and God said,

nope.

You see this

in verse 28.

Look at it again.

All sins

shall be forgiven

unto the sons of men

and blasphemies

wherewithsoever

they shall blaspheme.

Not only

is forgiveness

available,

but God

delights himself

in it.

He delights

himself in it.

The warning

is about a danger

in not coming

to Christ

before you die

or Jesus returns.

It's not about

blackballing you

for the rest

of your life

saying that

even if you come

asking for forgiveness

he won't give it.

That's not what

Jesus is saying.

The opposite

is actually true.

Jesus is saying

anyone that will

come to me

I will forgive them.

If you will come

to Christ

in faith

and repentance

and follow him

as Lord

he will forgive

your sin.

the danger

is in continuing

in rejection

of Christ

until it's too late

to do anything else.

You say

I've got plenty

of time then.

No you don't.

Your life

is but a vapor.

It appears

for a moment

and then it

vanishes away.

Furthermore

Jesus has promised

that his return

is imminent.

He could come back

at any moment.

You may have

otherwise lived

for another 50 years

but if he comes

this afternoon

what good is that

for you?

You don't have time.

Today is the day

of salvation.

Can I encourage you

with a few verses here?

Acts chapter 3

Acts 3 · chapter mention

and verse 19.

Repent therefore

and turn back

that your sins

may be blotted out.

Ephesians 1

7

In Christ

we have redemption

through his blood

the forgiveness

of our sins

according to the riches

of his grace.

Colossians chapter 1

Colossians 1 · chapter mention

and verse 14

In Christ

we have redemption

the forgiveness

of sins.

1 Corinthians

15 3

I deliver to you

as of first importance

what I also receive

that Christ

died for our sins

according to the scripture.

He was buried

and he rose from the dead

on the third day

in accordance

with the scriptures.

Galatians 1

4

Jesus gave himself

for our sins

to deliver us

from this present

evil age

according to the will

of God

and Father.

1 Peter 3

18

For Christ

also suffered

once for sins

the righteous

for the unrighteous

that he might

bring us to God

being put to death

in the flesh

but made alive

in the spirit.

1 John 1

9

If we confess

our sins

he is faithful

and just

to forgive our sins

and to cleanse us

from all unrighteousness.

1 John 2

2

He is the propitiation

for our sins

and not for ours only

but the sins

of the whole world.

You know what the Bible

is about?

It's not just

a book of judgment.

Greater than that

it's a book of mercy.

It's a book of salvation.

And over and over

and over

God promises

if you will turn to me

if you will follow me

if you will follow Christ

your sins

will be forgiven.

But if you will not

turn to me

your sin

will not be forgiven.

You will be guilty

of an eternal sin.

rejecting

the gospel

that he has come

to provide for you

and know

you don't have time

to make the decision later.

Everyone makes

an assessment of Jesus

whether they realize it

or not.

C.S. Lewis

was right.

Seeing Jesus

as a good moral teacher

is not an option

to us.

That's a cop out.

Some think

he's a lunatic.

Others think

he's an imposter.

But what you decide

about him

has eternal consequences.

If Jesus

is Lord

then you will have

to answer to him

at the end of your life.

How do you think

that's going to go?

Today

if you hear

his voice

do not harden

your heart.

Well done.

Well done.

Well done.

Well done.

Well done.

Well done.

Well done.

Well done.

Well done.

Well done.

Well done.