Voice of the Nazarene 5-17-26

Voice of the Nazarene 5-17-26

Transcript

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Coming to you from North Central Ohio, we share with you the Voice of the Nazarene, a week-by-week venture into the Word of God sponsored by the Bucyrus Ohio Church of the Nazarene. We join our pastor, Reverend Ray Lassau, and the Voice of the Nazarene.

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Or whoever thinks they're an adult. And we had the most from our church, of any church there. We beat uh Sandusky by one. And it was such a delight. I happened to be the speaker this year and delighted to have so many of our people. The guy had uh gone to Jamaica for vacation. Got all checked in at the motel, and his wife was on a business trip, was supposed to join him the next day. He thought maybe he ought to send her a quick email. But he wasn't sure he remembered her email address, but he thought he did. But he missed it by one letter. And his little message to his wife was I'm all checked in. They're prepared for your arrival tomorrow. Your loving husband. P.S. It's really hot down here. And it went to a retired pastor's wife who had buried her husband the day before. And she didn't know anything about Jamaica. She thought it was from somewhere else. Little boy. A little girl told her mother, said, I I'm gonna have to break up with Johnny. She said, why? Said he's of a different religion. Said he doesn't believe in hell. She said, go ahead and marry him. Said within a year or two, he certainly will. Why don't you preach about the meek and lowly Jesus? And Vance Haviner said to him, Said, He's the one that taught me to preach on hell. The Bible said there was a certain rich man, it's chapter 16 of Luke, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, fared sumptuously every day. And there was a certain Lazarus, or a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate full of sores, and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores, and it came to pass that the beggar died and was carried by angels into Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried and in hell. Lift up his eyes, being in torment, seeeth Abraham far off, and Lazarus in his bosom. I know that we don't hear this subject much anymore, and I approach it very reluctantly today. Yet the Bible speaks about it a hundred sixty-two times. I like what Billy Graham said. He said if we had more hell in the pulpit, we'd have a lot less hell in society. And so if he thought there ought to be an emphasis on it, then what kind of a pastor would you have if he never said anything about it whatsoever? 87% of Americans say they believe in God. 74% of Americans say they believe in heaven. 59% say they believe in hell. And yet it all comes from the same book. Jesus talked about it here in Mark chapter 9, verse 43. If thy hand offend thee, cut it off. It is better for thee to enter into life maimed than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched. Then in Matthew 13, 50, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire, and there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. And then Jesus in his preaching, Matthew 8, 12, but the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness, and there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Let me make three quick statements, then I'll get into a very simplified message today. And those statements are these three facts about hell. It's not God's will for people to go to hell. Not one person. Because 2 Peter 3:9, the Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness, but is long-suffering to us were not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. It's not God's will, sir, for you to go to hell. And ma'am, as your pastor, I want to say it's not God's will for any of you to go to hell. Jesus died for all people. He didn't die for the elect. There is no elect. Jesus died for all people, people just like you and just like me. And it's not God's will for any one person to go to hell. Let me say something, hell else. Hell was prepared or not prepared for people. Let me tell you who it was prepared for. Matthew 25, 41, then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, you cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. Prepared for the devil and his angels. Not you, not me. And I've got good news. Hell wasn't prepared for you, but heaven was. And uh here's the third thing I want to say quickly. God does not send people to hell. He hasn't sent one soul to hell. My wonderful, loving God has never sent a soul to hell. And if a person goes to hell, they'll go there as that intruder. God hadn't sent anybody there. And I want you to know you'll have to disregard some things. You'll have to step over the top of some things, you'll have to reject and neglect some things if you're lost. And number one is the will of God. You'll have to step over the very will of God, for God wills that none should perish. None should perish. I despise the teaching of John Calvin and the crazy concepts that he kept coming up with, that uh God just overrides you and you can't help but be saved because he's got an irresistibility about him. And so there's some he just don't think they ought to be saved. They're predestined to be lost. God didn't predestine anybody to be lost. And the thing that Calvin leaves out is choice. He takes away choice from man that man doesn't have a choice, but man was given a choice. He's a sovereign being. God made you and I with the ability to choose. We can choose whether to serve God or not. And here's a second thing if we neglect. It's this thing called the sacrifice of Jesus. He died on the cross for my sins and for your sins. And thirdly, the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Because John 16, 8 says he will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. And you may be listening to me today, whether it's by telecast, whether it's by live stream, whether it'll be on one of the radio stations, or whether it's this gathering right here. And you may feel uncomfortable. And you say, Well, Pastor, why am I feeling uncomfortable when you speak on this subject? Because it's the Holy Spirit that's dealing with our heart. How important for the Holy Spirit to deal. And let me tell you something. You'll step over the will of God, you'll step over the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and you'll step over the conviction of the Holy Spirit if you go there. And may I also add, you'll step over prayers and the love of others if you decide to go to hell. See, as Lewis said it best, he said there are only two kinds of people in the end. And those who say, God, thy will be done, are God saying to them, Your will be done. Well, I want God's will more than anything else. But I want you to know there are some good things about hell. And I'm going to share them with you this morning, okay? Just kind of a reversal message. Some good things about hell. Number one, good people will be in hell. Look at that Bible verse again, Luke 16, 19. A certain rich man clothed in purple, maybe you didn't know this, but they wore purple when they went to the synagogue. So this was a church-going individual. When they wore linen, they were part of the administrative part of the synagogue. And so he had a position in the church. He was a good person. And I want you to understand something. If you go to hell, you'll not go to hell because you're rich. You go to hell because you're lost. You don't even go to hell because you're good. If you go to heaven because you're good, just how good do you have to be? You go to hell because you're lost. And it's not what you possess, it's what possesses you. It's not what you own, it's what owns you. Now it says a certain rich man was clothed in purple, finely and fared subtuously every day, and a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate full of sores. The Bible said there was a beggar, a poor man. How poor was he? I don't know. If he laid there just to get the scraps off the table, I don't know if he's looking for oatmeal or corn mill or missile mill, but he was poor. He didn't have anything. He was sickly. And the rich man had this beggar laid outside his gate. And as I've read that many times, I would have thought he would have called the law enforcement agency to get rid of this beggar. I mean, it's a bad visual having him always laying out there covered in sores and dogs coming to lick his sores. And I would have thought he would have said, I don't want him around, but apparently it was okay. He didn't try to shove him away. He let him be there, he let him stay there. And that tells me in all likelihood he was a kind, good man. But let me tell you something: being good isn't good enough. It's not the password. And uh if being good is all you have to do, then how good, I ask again, do you have to be? And it's when we acknowledge that we're lowly a sinner and my sin sent Jesus to a cross, and it's accepting Christ. When we realize in Ephesians 8, 9, for by grace are you saved through faith, not of yourself, it's the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Let me tell you what is good in hell. It's a good man. A man that was a good husband, a good father, a good provider, a good worker. But he never got around to accepting Jesus Christ as his personal savior. You can be the head of the civic club, be a good person in the community. But if you don't get around to accepting Christ as your savior, a good person will be in hell. Some good things, good moral people. Let me tell you the second good thing, a good vision. A couple years ago, I had gone to Dr. Collier and I was having some eye problems. Fact of the matter was everything was kind of shaded like. I don't know if you've ever gone through this. And it was like looking through a smeary glass. And after he checked me and everything seemed to be okay, I said, Well, I'll be real honest. I'm having a problem with this one eye, and I'm just not seeing well. He said, Well, let's try another machine. So I scooted over to another seat, and he hooked me all up and took a shot of the eye, and he got kind of uh serious looking. He said, I'm gonna send you to a specialist. We got a problem. And as I recall, he sent me to Findlay. And uh man, I was glad to get out of there. They was poking needles into people's eyes, giving them shots and everything else. I I nearly got prayed up, let me tell you. And uh when he got through, he said, You've got a problem, you're gonna have to have some surgery. And uh I can see a whole lot better now. I can see you folk in the back. I I can see you when you're leaning over talking to somebody. I can see you when you're texting, I can see you when you're sleeping. Some of you ought to pray before you go to bed. And I I can see you when you slip in and out of the service. Of course, maybe maybe we're all supposed to evacuate. Is there a fire or something? But I I can see better. I've got a little bit of vision. And listen to the people in hell, they have good vision. It came to pass the beggar died, was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died, was buried, and in hell, lift up his eyes, being in torment, and seeth. He was able to see. What are you saying, Pastor? Apparently, people in hell can see their loved ones in heaven. Wouldn't that be an awful thing? To be a daddy in hell that never got around to accepting Christ, and you had a wife that went to church and you occasionally showed up, and to see your kids there and you missed it? You say, Well, can they see from heaven into hell? I think not. And let me tell you why. There in Revelation 21, verse 4, and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. There'd be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain. Because if you could see into hell, there'd be crying and there'd be tears. But I want to tell you something else that's good, that's found in hell, and it's memory. You don't cease to have memory when you leave this world and go out into eternity. Look at what verse 25 said. But Abraham said, Son, remember, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivest thy good things, and likewise Lazareth evil things, memories. That young man that goes to hell, remember a mom and a dad that urged him, go to church with us this morning. That man that would go to hell and his little boy said, Daddy, why don't you go to church with mommy and us and you never got around to it? Or that remembrance of a preacher that invited us to an altar. Wouldn't it be something to be in hell and see an altar and think, well, I've got a chance I can pray. There's an altar up there, and I hear him singing just as I am without one plea. But that thy blood was shed for me. And to start to run down the aisle and run toward that altar with that music and that singer singing. You can see a pastor by the name of LaSalle urging you to come and get almost to the altar and lunge for it and it disappears. Why? It's only a figment of memory. He said, son, remember. Anyone that goes to hell will remember every time they silence the voice of conviction and squander their time away, and God didn't matter, and church didn't matter, memory. And then what about good evangelism? What do you mean, preacher? If you and I went to hell for five minutes, I'll guarantee you one thing. We'd be telling everybody, you better get right with Jesus Christ. You just spend five minutes in hell, all of us would get pretty evangelistic. He said in verse 24, Father, have mercy on me, send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I'm tormented in this flame. Now the rich man knew the beggar was covered with sores. He watched the dogs come and licked him. He knew the beggar would take his hand and scratch those sores. And he said, It doesn't matter. I want him to take that same hand that he scratched the sores with and dip it in water and put a touch of water on my tongue, for I'm tormented. It's worse here than I thought. And then he said, I pray thee, therefore, Father, thou would send him to my father's house, for I have five brethren, that he may testify unto them lest they also come into this place of torment. He didn't want his brothers to be lost. Can I just say there won't be a party in hell? You don't go to heaven for the climate, and certainly hell for the company. Then the last thing I want to mention: a good theology. Look at what verse 30 says. Father Abraham, if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. He didn't ask that his brothers join any church. He didn't ask that his brothers be baptized. Or his brothers rub against a communion rail. Or his brothers shake a preacher's hand. He had one thing on his mind, and that was repentance. He was saying, I understand why I'm here. I'm here because I didn't repent. It's because I didn't acknowledge my sins. I didn't confess my sins to him. May I say something to strike your mind for a moment? I don't believe there will be any unbelievers in hell. I believe everybody will be a believer. For he said they will repent. You don't go to hell over what you do, you'll go to hell for what you didn't do. They didn't repent. Anybody remember President Eisenhower? Remember him? He had a cardiologist that was his doctor by the name of Maurice Rawlings. I don't know if you remember that or not. He was probably one of the top cardiologists in the entire world, not just in America. He practiced his medicine down in Chattanooga, Tennessee. One thing about Maurice Rollins, the doctor, he was a total atheist. A total atheist. He was working on one of his friends, a mailman, and the guy was 47 years of age, and he had him on a treadmill and doing an EKG, and the man dropped dead right there on the machine, slid backwards. The nurses quickly realizing what had happened, one hooked up an IV bag and another put on one of these uh breathing bags. And somebody started some uh compressions on his chest. And Dr. Rollins knew how desperate it was. He cut him open and tried to put a pacemaker down through the collarbone area. Blood squirting in all directions. And as they worked on it, the man revived for a moment. He began to scream I'm in hell. I'm in hell. And those two nurses looked at each other. Dr. Rollins said, Quit this talking about this business about hell. I don't believe in it. And furthermore, I'm trying to save your life. And the man, through his eyes, looked up at Dr. Rollins and he said, Sir, I'm in pain and I'm in hell. Please pray for me. And the two nurses turned to Dr. Rollins and said, Sir, the least you can do is pray for him. And Rollins stopped everything and he said, Jesus, would you save him? Jesus, would you save him? And he said that day that man not only became a believer, but he said, I did too. Too busy to read the Bible. Too busy to wait and pray. Too busy to speak out kindly to someone by the way. Too busy to care and struggle, to think of life to come. Too busy building our mansions to plan for our heavenly home. Too busy to help a brother who faces the winter blast. Too busy to share their burdens when self in the balance is cast. Too busy for all that is holy on earth beneath the sky. Too busy to serve the master, but not a one of us. Too busy to die. Don't ever walk out and say, Your pastor didn't talk to you about hell. I don't want you to go there. When I look out at a crowd like this, I know without a question, I'm looking into some faces that'll have 20, 26 on their headstone. And what's frightening to me as a preacher, I know that I'm probably looking into some eyes that'll be lifted up from hell. You never got around to accepting Christ as your Savior. I'm simply saying, let's not put it off any longer. Father, just for a moment. Would you gently whisper to our hearts? Would you help some folk to realize it's time to think about our soul, about where we're going to spend eternity? Would you take the message preached under quite a bit of difficulty throat wise? But you laid it on our heart more than two weeks ago. It may be some are here that have never heard any kind of a message that alludes to hell. And yet, if we travel down a road and there's 162 signs warning us about the danger ahead and we don't pay any attention, how foolish. And your word is warning us to turn around, to repent, to accept Christ, to get our lives changed. And how many didn't listen? And I wonder, Lord, just for a moment, to whom you might be speaking. There may be somebody watching my live stream. It's not where they ought to be with God. I pray, God, go across the miles, step into that scene and whisper like they've never heard. And right here in this building, right now, if somebody doesn't know you and they come to church and they like church and they like the music and they like to see their friends, but they're not spiritually where they ought to be. Would you allow a service like this this morning as an avenue that we can come to you? Now I wonder while our heads are bowed, just for a moment, give your neighbors some privacy. How many would show by an upraised hand, Pastor? I'm not where I ought to be. And I'd like to be remembered in prayer. I don't want to miss heaven. Would you slip a hand up? I'll not go back to you, I'll not embarrass you. Preacher, I'm not where I ought to be. Remember me in prayer. While we'll wait just a moment. Andy, why don't you sing just a verse?

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Thanks for being a part of the Voice of the Nazarene. Visit us every Sunday at 9 a.m. with BNC's Pastor Ray LaSalle. For more information regarding BNC, visit UsirisNazarine.org.