Sign #7: The World's Bloodiest Conflict

There is a story about a boy who was reading a novel in the living room. His mother called to him and said, “Johnny, come do the dishes.” But he said, “No, Mama, I can’t because right now, I’m in chapter 6 and the villain has the hero down, and he’s about to kill him, and I have to see how it turns out.”

Well, as most mothers do, she persisted and she said, “Johnny, I said you are to come to do the dishes.” Knowing that he had to go, he flipped to the last page of the book and read it. That day when he went into the kitchen, he said, “You know the villain is doing fine in chapter 6, but is he ever in for a shock when he gets to the last page” [laughter].

Today we are talking about the last page. Today we are talking about the Battle of Armageddon, and the glorious return of Jesus Christ to this very, very sinful planet. We’re talking about finally the villain getting his just desserts. We’re talking about righteousness. We’re talking about a time when the whole world will no longer wonder at the beast, as we talked about, but glorify, and honor, and worship Jesus Christ. What a day that is going to be.

If you’ve been with us, you know this is the last in a series of messages, Seven Signs of Christ’s Return. We’ve talked about the return of Israel, the unification of Europe, the rise of Antichrist, the one-world religion, the rebuilding the temple. Last time we spoke about a war that originates in the north and comes into Israel. God protects His people and wipes out those armies. But today we come to Armageddon which culminates in the return of Jesus Christ.

The very word, Armageddon, I am sure evokes many emotions within us. I think it was Disney that used the word to refer to the video that was done when an asteroid hit the earth, and it was called Armageddon. The Wall Street Journal talks about Armageddon in a context of reviewing a book about a final battle. That word, Armageddon, has a long history in our own thought, we think finally of the time when all the armies of the earth will be gathered together, concentrated in the Middle East.

Let me say that Antichrist, you will remember if our scenario is correct, will have signed a peace covenant with Israel guaranteeing its security. In this series we didn’t go into detail, but that is based on Daniel 9. Having done that, Israel lives securely thinking at last it will be at peace. But three and a half years after the covenant is signed Antichrist goes into Jerusalem. He then goes into the temple, which some of us believe will have been built at that time, and he declares himself to be God. He harasses the Jews and turns against them, but the whole world worships this beast. He has his false prophet, and he has also a third member of that trinity so that together the beast and the Antichrist, the beast of course being the Antichrist, but being together now suddenly try to rival the worship of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is in that context that all the armies of the earth basically gather toward Jerusalem.

It says, for example, in Revelation 9 there are some angels at the Euphrates River. Those angels allow the river to be dried up so that an army of two hundred million come from the east. We think, for example, of China, and Japan, and India. And we think of those armies all converging at Jerusalem, as we shall see in a moment.

What can we say about this battle and the circumstances that will take place after it has been ended? How we can describe it? Well, let me give to you what I believe to be five facts that will help us to put all of this into some perspective.

First of all, this battle which is called Armageddon will be fought in Israel. Now, take your Bibles and turn to the only passage in all the Scripture that mentions Armageddon. You might be surprised to discover that the word “Armageddon” occurs only once in the Bible. Now we think that there are many references to this battle, but it’s Revelation 16 that actually uses the word Armageddon.

I’m going to begin at Revelation 16:13–16: “And I saw, coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet.” There you have it—the dragon representing Satan, the beast representing Antichrist, the false prophet representing the Holy Spirit in that unholy trinity. And you’ll notice it says, [continuing Revelation 16:13–16] “Three unclean spirits like frogs. For they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty. (‘Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!’) And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.”

Two words really. The word har means mountain. Now we say ar with an a—Armageddon, but you have to understand that the “h” sound was very soft, and so the text here says Harmageddon but we say Armageddon. But it is the mountain of Megiddo.

Now if you’ve been to Israel, you’ve been to Megiddo because all tour groups go to Megiddo. It is there that Solomon had his stables. It was one of the large cities of the ancient world. But when you are at Megiddo, that is the town of Megiddo, the city, and you go through ancient ruins, you look out and you see the plain of Megiddo, 20 miles long and 15 miles wide.

By the way, if you ever go to Israel with Pastor Schwartz and you are standing at Megiddo, ask the tour guide to show you the city of Nazareth because Nazareth is across the plain, maybe 15 miles or perhaps nearer than that. But nevertheless, it is there on the edge of the rift that goes into the plain of Jezreel, as it is also called, or the plain of Megiddo. I mention that only because it dawned on me that Jesus, being brought up in Nazareth, I can imagine as a little boy He’d often run to the edge of the cliff and look over. Little boys do that, and I wonder if at that time He contemplated even then that this would be the place that the battle would be begin that would be earth’s final serious conflict.

So, it is fought in Israel, but please do not think that it is somehow limited to that plain. As a matter of fact, it may begin there, but the real focal point is Jerusalem. The Bible says in the book of Zechariah, God says, “All the nations of the earth will be gathered again to Jerusalem.” We’ll read a similar passage in just a moment. So here you’re going to have a battle that will spill throughout all the land, encompassing at least 200 miles, as I shall point out in a second or two. And it will be fought in Israel. The Middle East will be the focal point of that battle.

Secondly, it will be the world’s bloodiest conflict. I base that on Matthew 24:21, where Jesus is talking about the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. He says, “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world.” And that actually is a picture of the coming tribulation because a few verses later He says immediately after those days the tribulation takes place. “For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man” (Matthew 24:27). So, the destruction of Jerusalem is a little cameo. It is a little picture of the battle that is still to come, and it is the greatest tribulation. Great tribulation such as has not been seen since creation.

In Revelation 14:20 it speaks of a battle, and I take it to be the same, where it says, “And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as a horse’s bridle, for 1,600 stadia (200 miles).” Now, of course, blood cannot flow as high as the bridles of horses. There’s not been any human blood upon all of Planet Earth put together that means that there is a river of blood like that. Maybe it means that the blood was splattered up unto the bridles of the horses. But at any rate, even if there is some symbolism here, the simple fact is that this is a terribly, terribly bloody time, and a time of great conflict of great heartache. It will be awful.

We think today of World War I. We think of World War II. We think also of what is happening in Kosovo or Bosnia. We think to ourselves of all of the atrocities and the evil things that are done. I take it that the Battle of Armageddon means that at last all the wickedness of men comes to the surface in this gigantic battle, which is basically a battle of east and west.

I mentioned that Antichrist exalts himself, and there’s a whole eastern confederacy that says to itself, “It is time that we unseat this world ruler who demands that we worship him.” And so, the conflict gathers there, centering in Jerusalem.

Thirdly, it is interrupted by the return of Jesus Christ. Now there are two passages I want to read. One is found in Zechariah 14. Because this passage is so important I would appreciate very much if you’d turn to it in your Bibles, because I want you to see the text to make sure that your pastor is not making this up. Actually, if this wasn’t in God’s word, not a one of us would dare to make this kind of stuff up.

But notice Zechariah 14:1–4: “Behold, a day is coming for the Lord, when the spoil taken from you will be divided in your midst. For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken and the houses plundered and the women raped. Half of the city shall go out into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations as when He fights on a day of battle. On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward.”

If you’ve seen pictures of the Mount of Olives, you know that today already it comes in two halves. Tourists who go there look at the mount from Jerusalem saying, “Now which one is the Mount of Olives? Is it this or is this part of the mountain over here?” The answer is both are. And geologists tell us that there is a fault line that runs from the Mount of Olives all the way to the Dead Sea.

Now, notice what the text says. It says that it will be split from east to west. That means that the Mount of Olives will be split in two, and you have one part that moves toward the south and you have the other part that moves toward the north when Jesus comes. And the whole topography of the area there is severely and significantly rearranged.

Now the Bible says in Revelation that “every eye shall see Him.” How can that happen? You have somebody coming to the Mount of Olives. The world is round. We can’t see Him. Well, some people have said, “Oh, thank God for television.” ABC will be there [laughter]. NBC will be there. Maybe even CNN will be there. And therefore every eye will see Him. Well, that’s a possibility, but I have a better scenario I think.

Imagine this. Here is Jesus. He is coming out of heaven. And He comes slowly. In fact, it may take Him a couple of days to descend in all of His glory. So here is Christ. You begin to see Him. It is the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And people begin to say, “What is that?” and “Who is that?” And as the earth rotates on its axis the entire world gets to see Him. And maybe over a couple of one or two days or more, Jesus is descending. And each time the earth revolves He is a little closer. And then, of course, the juxtaposition of events is such that His feet stand upon the Mount of Olives, which lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount splits because God has come. And all the nations, the Bible says, have gathered together to fight in Jerusalem. And they all are going to say, “You know, He is our real enemy,” and they will set aside their differences, and the Scripture says they will fight against Him now because He is coming to take over planet Earth, and they are saying, “Not a chance.” But He says to them, “Not a chance.”

Let’s look at the passage of Scripture in the book of Revelation now that discusses this. And this you have to turn to. Revelation 19. I feel so sorry for some of you who don’t bring your Bibles and open them. I don’t know how God is going to judge you [laughter]. I don’t know, you know, how you’re going to explain all this to Him because He’s going to ask you about it and all that. And I’ll just leave all that with you and with Him [laughter].

But notice it says in Revelation 19:11–16: “Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.”

Now, you’ve heard me say this before if you attend Moody Church, and probably you’re going to hear me say it sometime in the future. But I have to say it again. I have to ask you the question. Who are the armies “arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses?” (Revelation 19:14). Who are those armies? Well, listen, the Bible doesn’t leave us any doubt. It says in Revelation 19:7–8, speaking of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb: “‘Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure’—for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.”

I’ve explained before that you need two kinds of clothes to get into the wedding feast. You need the righteousness of Christ to get you into heaven, and you need righteous acts so that you have something to wear, something to put on for the wedding feast. But we are those people that are with Jesus Christ, because we will already have glorified bodies. We will have been raptured. Our bodies will have been transformed, and we shall be like Him for we shall see Him as He is. And we shall come—this is incredible. If I am interpreting this right, that means that, the Bible says He is going to come with His saints. This is the coming with His saints. We are going to be a part of that descent that I told you about. His armies, the righteous people who have accepted Christ and who belong to Him, are returning with Him.

See, that’s why I told you that you don’t have to be too concerned if you don’t get to go with Roy Schwartz to Israel. You be a believer in Jesus and you’re going to get the grand tour, Christ coming to the Mount of Olives and His people coming with Him to fight and to rule.

Now, very quickly I want you to notice what happens in this context of Revelation 19 and 20. It says in Revelation 19:20—I love to read these verses: “And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.”

Who is winning this battle, by the way? Is there any doubt in the mind of anyone? And then a thousand years elapses, as I’ll mention in a moment, but let’s pick it up in Revelation 20:10, “and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”

One summer I read Dante. I thought it was time to stretch my cultural quotient. He’s got a lot of interesting things to say, a great writer, but he was wrong about his conception of hell. You know, this idea that demons are going to be running around with pitch forks tormenting people, and they are going to be the tormentors. No, no, my friend, in hell Satan is not the one who is going to do the tormenting. He is not the tormentor; he is the tormented. If it is true that the devil said, as Milton believed, that he decided that he would rather be a king in hell than a servant in heaven, I’ll tell you he was incredibly mistaken because—listen to me carefully—there are no kings in hell. He is tormented along with the beast and the false prophet day and night into the ages of the ages for ever and ever.

Is there any doubt as to who the winner in this conflict is? Jesus is the winner, and the Battle of Armageddon is interrupted by His glorious return.

Let’s continue on now. We’re not finished yet. Number four, many individual Jews during this period of time, recognize Christ to be the Messiah. We were telling you all throughout this series that the Bible says in Romans 11, the Apostle Paul says, “So all this world shall be saved.” He doesn’t mean every individual Israelite. But what he does mean is that there is going to be a whole generation of Jews that are going to look upon Jesus Christ and recognize Him as their Messiah, and they will be saved. And they are the ones that are going to populate now the Millennial Kingdom still in their earthly bodies. They are the ones over which Jesus Christ shall rule, as we shall see in a moment.

It says in Zechariah 12:10: “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.” So, the Jews, many of them at that time living, will believe in Jesus and accept Him as their Messiah and their king.

Number five, Christ will establish His kingdom here on earth, centered in Jerusalem. Now at this time some of you are saying, “You know, this is unbelievable.” I can’t imagine if you are a visitor here today and you are not acquainted with the Scriptures you say, “What planet did that guy come from?” That’s what you’re thinking. But we actually—I say we [laughter]. A friend of mine said that one time when he made a theological statement. He said, “We believe—” and some student challenged him and said, “Who is we?” And he said, “God and I” [laughter]. So maybe I’d better change that. I believe that Christ is going to rule yet from this earth.

Now listen. This is the time now for you to just kick back and hear my words. This is what Isaiah the prophet said. The day will come, he says, when many will say, “‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob (onto Zion, Jerusalem), that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.’ For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore” (Isaiah 2:3–4).

Now you answer the question. Has that happened yet? Has the time come when there’s no need for weapons because people have forgotten how to fight and they do not learn war any more? No, all that you need to do is to pick up the newspapers and know that those verses were never fulfilled.

One day there was a young woman by the name of Mary, and the angel came to her and said, “You’re going to bear a son.” Now listen to what the angel said. “He shall be great. He shall be called the son of the Highest, and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father, David, and he shall rule over the house of Jacob forever. And of his kingdom there shall be no end.”

How do you think Mary understood that? Would she not have understood that the child that she was going to bear was going to fulfill all those Old Testament prophecies when God said to David, “You’re going to have a child who is going to rule over the kingdoms forever?” Would she not think that this meant that He would rule, and the territory over which David ruled and the area that David ruled, and even the city from which he ruled? I believe that that’s the way she’d interpret it.

Now you say, “But Pastor Lutzer, what does that mean for us? I mean where are we going to be?” Well, again we’re going to have earthly bodies, and we are going to be given assignments. This is not yet the eternal kingdom, but even in the kingdom here on earth we will be given responsibilities to rule with Christ.

You say, “Yeah, but how can you have people who have earthly bodies, such as those Jews that you talked about a moment ago who are going to go into the Millennial Kingdom with earthly bodies, and they shall live a long time, but they will die.” The Bible says the lion and the lamb shall lie down together, as I’ve mentioned before. Today, if you notice when the lion and the lamb lie down, when the lion gets up the lamb is missing. You don’t have that happen today.

How can people with glorified bodies intermingle with those who still have earthly physical bodies? Well, Jesus did. You remember after His resurrection and His glorification, He even ate meat and fish with the disciples on the shores of Galilee. And we are going to be like Him for we shall see Him as He is. But that does not mean that we are not going to have those spatial physical characteristics because we will. I do not know how that interaction will happen. All that I know is this, that is says in Revelation 5:9–10 regarding Christ, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.” That settles it for me. I don’t have all of the details. I don’t understand it all, but I am just simply saying that the saints shall rule with Christ on the earth.

Now let’s look at Revelation 20. After the Lord Jesus Christ comes back and the beast and the false prophet are thrown into the lake of fire—and this gets a little bit complicated, but you’re still with me today. I don’t want to be like the politician who left a political rally in Chicago the other day and whispered to one of his aids, “I hope that in the excitement I didn’t happen to make myself clear about anything” [laughter]. I’d like to be clear if possible. But in Revelation 20 Satan is bound for 1,000 years, and the martyrs who die during the tribulation period, and there are many of them, they are raised to reign with Jesus Christ for 1,000 years, and I take it that we will be reigning with them for 1,000 years. That’s what you discover if you read these next verses.

And then it says in Revelation 20:5, “The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.” That’s actually a reference to the unsaved dead. Now this gets a little technical but when it says, “This is the first resurrection,” in Revelation 20:5 it’s really referring back to Revelation 20:4. And the rest of the dead who do not come to life until after the thousand years are completed, that’s the dead of unbelievers that we shall look at in just a moment. But the simple fact is that these people are raised with Jesus Christ, the martyrs, they rule with Christ. We rule with Christ, and then at the end of that period the kingdom is changed and it turns out to be heaven.

But listen to what the text says. It now gives us a glimpse into two different eternities at that point. The millennial kingdom now ends. The thousand-year reign is over, and now we look at the final judgment. And this is the final judgment now of all the dead who lived from the beginning who did not come under the protection of God’s forgiveness, His grace and His Beloved Son. Of course, in the Old Testament times they could not believe in Jesus as we do, but they could believe in the God of Jehovah as the Jewish people did, and they too would be saved, whether they were Jew or Gentile because the Bible says that God was willing to overlook those sins, knowing that Christ would come and therefore He also took away the sins of David, of Abraham, and so forth.

But now let’s look at the judgment. Revelation 20:11–15, “Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”

Remember now we’re talking about the rest of the dead, that is the unsaved of all the ages. They are standing before God. Is this not perhaps the most dramatic scene that one could ever possibly contemplate? I want you to look at this crowd and see, first of all, its diversity. The small and the great, I don’t take that to be physically, but it has to do with their stature in the world. This is the place where the millionaire stands with the pauper. This is the place where the attorney stands next to the shopkeeper. This is the place where the person who owns a million-dollar mansion, or even more whatever stands with those who grew up in the ghetto. They are all alike here. They all stand together. They are diverse in terms of their economics. They are also diverse in terms of their geography—geographically diverse.

We think, for example, of the millions in Asia. We think of the millions in Russia. We think of the millions in the rest of Europe. We think of the millions in South America, in Africa, in North America, in Canada, and the United States. Our minds cannot take in the vastness of this crowd, and they are all gathered together there before God.

They are also diverse religiously. We think, for example, of the Buddhists. We think of the Hindus. We think of the Mormons. We think of the Catholics. We think of the Protestants. We think of those who were nurtured in the Christian tradition. We think of those who thought that meditation would somehow save them. They too show up and they are there. Wow.

They are also diverse in terms of their lifestyles. I can imagine a person who spent his entire life giving to charity and working and being a good, honest, loving person, and promoting love and good deeds, standing right next to Hitler and to Stalin because they are there, too. Wow.

You say, “Well, if that’s their diversity, what holds them together? What’s their common thread?” because no matter who they are they are not good enough to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, and the Bible says that their names are not therefore recorded in the Book of Life. Even the best of the best must be damned. So, this thing, this judgment is to see the extent of their condemnation. That’s right there. Of course, Hitler will get something quite different from the people who did righteousness because God is just. But the problem is they lack something, and that is the righteousness of God. That’s their problem.

The people who are in the Book of Life, it’s not as if they are such better people. God knows they were born with the same sinful nature, the same tendency to wander into sin. But there’s something different about them, and that is they knew they could not get into heaven as a result of their righteousness. Therefore, the only righteousness which God accepts is the righteousness of Christ, and therefore they trusted that righteousness. And in the Old Testament they believed in Jehovah because they believed that a redeemer would someday come and take away sin, and therefore their faith and their trust is in the only one who can redeem them. And that’s why they are in the Book of Life.

And so, it always ends because anyone whose name was not found written in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire because your works and your deeds and your religion cannot save you. It cannot save you.

Well, that’s one look into eternity. There’s another one, and that’s Revelation 21. What a different picture. “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.’ And he who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’ Also he said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.’ And he said to me, ‘It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment’” (Revelation 21:1–6).

Why the difference? The difference is this. Some people saw themselves as sinners and therefore accepted God’s way of forgiveness and pardon through Christ. And others thought that they could stand before God on the basis of their meditation, their crystals, their good works, and that every religion is equal. And they shall be damned. God only accepts His own righteousness, the righteousness of Christ, and if you die without it, you too shall be in the lake of fire.

Why should we study prophesy? First of all, it’s a reminder of the fact that God reigns. He really does. Don’t ever try to outsmart Him. Don’t ever play games with Him. Don’t ever pretend that somehow you have a better way because in the end He’s going to win. If you were wise for yourself even, just totally selfish, you’d submit totally to God and say, “Hey, I’m giving up the weapons of a rebel. I’m finished. Here I am.” God reigns.

Secondly, we live in the light of eternity. All this stuff is going to happen. I mean this is unbelievable. And I think C. S. Lewis was right when he said, “The people who did the most in this life were the ones who believed in a life to come.” There is an eternity to come to set to rest the injustices of the world because it’s all going to come out in these judgments—every little bit. That’s how come we’re going to sing forever, “Just and true are thy ways, thou king of saints.” We’ll say that the judge of all the earth did right. And even the people in hell will say that, as we know.

And finally, the whole purpose of prophecy is to remind us that there’s a future coming and we don’t know when it is. And even if we don’t live to see all these events, we will die and so we are going to participate with them somehow and in them. But we must flee to Christ because if not, God is a God of wrath.

I’m working on a series of messages on God. And one of the lies I am dealing with is this idea that God is more lenient than He used to be. Some people think, “Well you know, in the Old Testament the stoned people, and in the New Testament we don’t.” When you read this do you get any impression that God is less of a just God in the New Testament than the Old? I don’t get that impression at all. We’ll talk about that in another context except to say, “This is unbelievable, the justice and the wrath and the anger against God against sin.” It is unbelievable.

I like to tell that story of a prairie fire, and a man and his daughter saw in the distance that this fire was coming toward them slowly, and they wondered what they should do. They could have run, but maybe they couldn’t outrun it, so they decided to begin a fire right where they were, and they burned many, many patches. They burned as much as they possibly could the story goes. And then as the fire came closer hours later, they stood where the fire had already been, and it went past them, because the fire will not come where it’s been.

I want you to know today that when you come to Christ and you come to the cross you are standing where the wrath of God was already unleashed.

Death and the curse were in thy cup,

Oh Christ, was full for thee,

But thou has drained the last dark drop

Tis empty now for me.

Jehovah lifted up His rod,

Oh Christ, it wokens thee.

They open bosom was its ward,

It braved the storm for me.

If you do not come under the protection of Jesus Christ through repentance and trusting Him, you shall be in the lake of fire forever, and ever, and ever.

Let us pray.

Father, we know that your goodness leads us to repentance. Your grace does. Sometimes your judgment does too. And therefore, Father, we pray that this message may not have been more harsh than necessary, but help us to plead with men and women and to say, “Look at the facts,” that they may come to Christ that they might be saved.

Today, do you know Christ as your Savior? If not, you’d better believe on Him right now. Don’t worry about tomorrow. Right now say, “Jesus, I am a sinner. Save me.”

Father, may many come to know you, to trust you, to believe in you. And we ask that those of us who know you, who have done that, that we might live lies that are worthy until we see you face-to-face, one-on-one, we ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Editor’s Note: In this transcript, the verbatim intelligent transcription process simplifies and enhances spoken content by eliminating redundant words, unnecessary sounds, fixing grammar errors, and clarifying meaning while preserving the author's original intent. All Scripture quotes are according to the biblical text, not as they were originally spoken.