Pillars of Faith

The Gift of Eternal Life

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Donnie Shelton

Home

Series Code: POF

Program Code: POF000028A


00:24 And we welcome you once again to, Pillars of Our Faith;
00:29 a word for today in today's world.
00:33 We've been having a wonderful time as we've listened
00:36 to the messages by Pastor Donnie Shelton,
00:38 he of Touching Hearts Ministries.
00:41 He's been taking us through a sermonic Bible study of sorts.
00:45 We've looked at, Faith Equals Knowledge Times Light;
00:50 which I really like that title, that thought, that idea.
00:54 My Grace is Sufficient for Thee.
00:56 And today's message is entitled, The Gift of Eternal Life.
01:00 And that's what it's all about.
01:02 The gift of eternal life that God has for each one of us
01:05 if we follow Him, if we are faithful to Him,
01:09 as we are saved for eternity.
01:11 What a wonderful prospect to contemplate,
01:14 that there is an eternal gift for us.
01:17 And that eternal gift is indeed eternal life.
01:21 And so we're thankful that Donnie has gone into the Word.
01:24 And we know that God has a word for our souls today
01:27 as the man of God lifts up the name of Jesus
01:30 and he talks about the gift of eternal life.
01:33 The overall theme for these meetings has been
01:36 faith leading to a closer walk with God.
01:39 And certainly we each want, we each need and desire,
01:43 a closer walk with our Lord and Savior.
01:45 And so these messages have been designed
01:48 to increase faith, to spur on your walk with the Lord.
01:53 They've been practical, positive messages
01:55 preached with energy and with zeal,
01:57 and with an obvious love for the Lord.
01:59 And so we expect a fine message today
02:02 as God uses His servant to talk to us
02:05 and to talk to our souls.
02:06 I'm going to ask you now to join with me in a word of prayer.
02:09 And after we shall have prayed, the next voice that you'll hear
02:13 will be that of Pastor Donnie Shelton
02:14 of Touching Hearts Ministries.
02:16 Preaching on the subject, The Gift of Eternal Life.
02:20 Shall we pray.
02:22 Gracious Father, we do thank You and praise You,
02:24 for You are truly a wonderful God.
02:27 We thank You for Your Word,
02:28 we thank You for the power of that Word.
02:30 We thank Thee that through the foolishness of preaching
02:34 You have determined to save men and women.
02:38 So now speak to Your servant,
02:40 and then speak through Your servant.
02:42 Speak to us, give us open and receptive ears and hearts,
02:47 that we may do the will of Him who has called us from
02:50 darkness to light, from error to truth.
02:54 And we thank You, Father, for this day
02:56 and this message that is coming.
02:58 In Jesus name, amen and amen.
03:08 Thank you, Pastor Murray, so much.
03:09 It's always exciting for me to be able to preach
03:15 the unsearchable riches of Jesus Christ.
03:19 Now my cousin Danny has a saying, and I love it.
03:22 Taking the truth to the world, the undiluted truth.
03:27 In other words, a truth that is not filled with error.
03:32 A truth that is one-hundred percent based upon the Bible
03:37 and what the Bible says.
03:40 The doctrines of the Bible, the prophecies,
03:42 and the golden nuggets of faith and power that
03:47 can be derived from studying God's Word.
03:51 So I'm excited today.
03:53 The message today, The Gift of Eternal Life.
03:58 I've come to find out through the study of the Word of God
04:01 that faith is a gift, grace is a gift,
04:06 and eternal life is a gift.
04:08 All that God asks you to do is fall on your knees before Him
04:11 and say, "Oh heavenly Father,
04:14 I have imperfections, I have faults.
04:17 I need Your help. I've sinned.
04:20 So Lord, please, in Your mercy and grace,
04:24 wash me clean with the blood of Christ.
04:27 Accept me."
04:28 And the Lord says, "Come unto Me all ye that labor,
04:32 all that have sinned, and come to Me.
04:35 Let me remold your life."
04:38 2 Corinthians 5:17, I use that scripture a lot,
04:41 "Therefore if any man be in Christ,
04:43 he's a brand new creature."
04:44 God is wanting to place His Holy Spirit into your life
04:49 to guide you and direct you into all truths.
04:53 3ABN ministries, their truths are based upon the Word of God.
05:02 Not philosophies, not based on science,
05:05 but based upon what the Word of God says.
05:09 So today, I want to encourage you that there is
05:14 a gift of eternal life.
05:17 And we're going to talk about that.
05:18 Let's go to the Scriptures now.
05:20 And I want you to get your Bibles out.
05:21 And as I always say, grab a pencil, a pad,
05:25 and write these scriptures down.
05:28 After the sermon, open the Bible and study these
05:31 scriptures for yourself.
05:33 Now, we're going to go to Matthew 25:34 first.
05:39 Matthew 25:34
05:41 And I want you to read this scripture together with me,
05:44 my brothers and sister.
05:45 Let's read.
05:46 "Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand,
05:50 'Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared
05:56 for you from the foundation of the world.'"
05:59 Now let's break this down.
06:00 When Jesus said, "Come, and inherit the kingdom
06:05 of heaven that was prepared for you," it was a kingdom
06:09 that was designed for the wants, and the dreams,
06:13 and the hopes, and the desires of His children.
06:17 Heaven, that New Jerusalem that we're going to talk about
06:22 very shortly, that city of God that we're going to live
06:26 and dwell in, was designed for us to enjoy
06:31 forever and ever and ever.
06:34 Now, from the moment that Jesus spoke this planet
06:38 into existence, His paramount desire
06:43 of My Creator was that everyone on this planet
06:49 would accept His invitation to spend eternity with Him.
06:54 But few, oh so few that accept this invitation.
07:00 And we're going to find out why today.
07:03 Again, if you want to be in the kingdom with Jesus,
07:06 here's what He asks you to do in 1 John 1:9.
07:09 Listen, "If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just
07:18 to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us
07:21 from all unrighteousness.
07:23 And I say this probably in pretty well all of my sermons.
07:26 I like to include this:
07:27 That Jesus Christ goes out into the world
07:32 and He finds you, He found me.
07:35 He picks us up out of the muck and the mire,
07:39 and the sin of this world, and He washes us clean
07:43 with His own blood.
07:45 And then He takes His robe, Jesus takes His robe
07:50 of righteousness and wraps it around us.
07:53 And then He fills us with the power of the Holy Spirit.
07:56 And then He says, "Go to the Word and study
07:59 to find yourself proved.
08:01 And if you remain persistent and consistent in your walk,
08:07 and you remain faithful, you will have eternal life."
08:12 And I praise God for that.
08:13 You know, when I first went into the ministry
08:17 oh 14 or 15 years ago, my cousin Danny said,
08:21 "What I want you to do, don't try to be anyone else.
08:26 You just be yourself."
08:27 Now I don't have eloquent speech.
08:30 Sometimes my words get a little twisted.
08:32 Sometimes at our church if I'm speaking, someone will say,
08:35 "Now what did he say?"
08:36 But I can tell you this.
08:38 I love preaching the gospel of Christ.
08:41 I love opening the eyes of folks out there, that God
08:45 and His Son Jesus are intensely in love with you.
08:50 And they want to share eternal life with you.
08:53 Let's go a bit further here.
08:55 Now, there's a movement out there.
08:58 That's why I love 3ABN.
09:00 Their facts and their truths are based upon the Bible.
09:05 There is a movement out there.
09:07 And this movement began over a hundred years ago.
09:10 And here's what they teach.
09:12 That everyone that has ever been born,
09:15 whether they're righteous or ungodly or saved or unsaved,
09:19 however you want to put it, that every one that's
09:22 ever been born will be in heaven.
09:25 Let's go on.
09:27 That salvation is given to every man regardless
09:32 of their lifestyle or their character.
09:35 They teach that God is a God of love.
09:37 Now He is the God of love.
09:39 John says, "God is love."
09:41 They teach that God is a God of love
09:43 and would never create anyone that He would send to hell.
09:49 Now you're going to find out today what hell is.
09:52 Hell is referred to as the grave.
09:55 Hell is referred to as forever and ever separation from God.
10:01 Hell is not a place...
10:04 Let me say this again. This is a Bible truth.
10:07 It is not a place where the unrighteous burn
10:10 forever and ever and ever.
10:13 And we're going to talk about that in just a few moments.
10:15 I can tell you this.
10:17 Being separated from God in eternal death,
10:20 that's bad enough.
10:21 But let's go a bit further here.
10:22 Now a book called, Early Writings, one of my favorite
10:26 writers, Ellen G. White, chapter 52, here's what it says.
10:31 "It is a marvel to me," she said, "that Satan
10:36 could succeed so well in making men believe
10:40 that the words of God, 'The soul that sinneth, it shall die,'
10:48 means that the soul will live forever."
10:51 She said, "I don't understand that.
10:53 How did the devil do that?"
10:54 "The soul that sinneth, it shall die,"
10:57 that it really means that the soul that sinneth
11:00 shall not die.
11:01 She says those that are unrighteous, that were
11:05 unwilling to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior,
11:08 that they have lived an ungodly life,
11:10 and that they have lived for the world,
11:12 they will not be in the kingdom.
11:15 They will suffer what we call, eternal death.
11:19 They will not receive eternal life.
11:22 They made the decision, "I am not going to serve God.
11:26 I'm going to serve my wants and my needs."
11:29 Let's go a bit further here.
11:31 And Ellen G. White went on to say this,
11:33 "Satan has led men to adopt..."
11:39 "It was a marvel to me that Satan could succeed so well
11:44 in making men believe that the words of God that say,
11:47 'The soul that sinneth, it shall die,'
11:50 mean that the soul that sinneth, it shall not die..."
11:55 Can you imagine, she said, they want men to believe
11:59 that God says, "The soul that sinneth, it shall die,"
12:03 means this, that the soul that sinneth shall not die.
12:07 She went on to say, this group of men are teaching
12:13 that we need to overlook our sin, our unrighteousness,
12:18 and look at the justice of God and the
12:20 threatenings of His Word.
12:22 They say that God is all mercy, and that no one will perish.
12:27 Yet listen carefully what the Bible says,
12:31 not what men think, how they feel, emotions.
12:35 But what does the Bible say?
12:37 Yet the Bible explicitly and clearly teaches
12:42 in many different parables, examples, and clearly defined
12:47 statements that not all will be in the kingdom.
12:51 Our loving God gave every one of us a choice,
12:57 to make our own decision whether we want to
13:00 remain a goat or sheep.
13:03 Let's study what I just said.
13:05 Matthew the 25th chapter.
13:07 Let's get those Bibles out.
13:08 Matthew the 25th chapter.
13:10 Let's read together verses 32, 33, and 34.
13:16 Listen very carefully again what the Bible says.
13:20 "And before him shall be gathered all nations:
13:24 and he shall separate them one from another,
13:28 as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats.
13:32 And he shall set his sheep on his right hand..."
13:36 The sheep are referring to the righteous.
13:40 But the goats, the ones that have sinned,
13:44 that have not asked for forgiveness,
13:46 the goats He puts on the left.
13:48 "Then shall say the King," listen, "to them on his
13:52 right hand," this is what God and Jesus says,
13:55 "Come, ye blessed of my Father, and inherit the kingdom
14:01 prepared for you from the foundation of the world."
14:05 Praise God.
14:06 Ah verse 41.
14:08 Listen very carefully now.
14:09 "Then he shall say also unto them on his left,
14:12 'Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire,
14:18 prepared for the devil and his angels.'"
14:21 You say, "Donnie, He said everlasting fire."
14:25 Everlasting means, in its effect it's everlasting.
14:30 And we're going to talk about that in just a few moments here.
14:32 So, we see those men and women that will inherit the kingdom.
14:40 And those who will not inherit eternal life; because why?
14:45 Of their unbelief.
14:46 They chose to die.
14:49 Let's go a bit further here.
14:51 Here's what it says in Malachi 4:1.
14:53 Now you talk about the everlasting fire,
14:55 it's everlasting in its effect.
14:58 Here's what Malachi 4:1 says.
15:01 Read this with me now.
15:02 "For, behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven;
15:09 and all the proud, yes, and all that do wickedly,
15:14 shall be stubble.
15:16 And the day that cometh shall burn them up..."
15:20 Let me say it again.
15:22 "...they shall be burned up, saith the LORD of hosts,
15:27 that it shall leave them neither root nor branch."
15:31 They are burned up forever.
15:35 The unrighteous, the Bible says, shall be no more.
15:41 Hell to them is eternal death.
15:45 They will not be in a fire burning forever and ever.
15:48 Malachi says they shall be burned up.
15:50 They are gone forever and ever and ever.
15:55 Again, let's read 2 Peter 3:10.
15:59 Give you time to get your Bibles.
16:01 Let's read this together.
16:02 "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night;
16:08 in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise,
16:12 and the elements shall melt with a fervent heat.
16:17 The earth," listen, "the earth also and the works
16:21 that are in shall be burned up."
16:25 They shall never more be.
16:27 They are gone forever and ever and ever.
16:31 So, we find then that everlasting fire means
16:35 all those that have rejected Christ's invitation
16:41 and have decided to live an ungodly life shall...
16:45 Their reward. Let's say it together.
16:49 Their reward shall be everlasting death.
16:54 And the earth and the ungodly shall be consumed
16:58 when God comes.
17:00 Everything in the earth and around the earth
17:03 shall be burned up.
17:05 And that includes the unrighteous.
17:08 Those that decided to serve the world and themselves
17:12 and rejected God.
17:14 God will never ever force anyone to serve Him.
17:20 When we come to God, it has to be with humbleness
17:25 and sorrowfulness, and want to repent
17:29 and change our lives.
17:30 Not to live for the world, but to live for God.
17:34 So, now I hope we've cleared that up.
17:36 Let's go a bit further here.
17:38 Let's listen to Revelation 22:11-13.
17:44 "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still:
17:49 and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still:
17:53 and he that is righteous..."
17:54 Oh folks, talking to us now.
17:57 When we accept Christ, let's walk the journey
18:02 of this life in faith and in confidence in God
18:08 and live for God.
18:09 Testify of God, praise God.
18:12 All of these different avenues will encourage your faith,
18:16 and renew your faith, and solidify your faith.
18:20 "...let him be righteous still:
18:23 and he that is holy, let him be holy still."
18:27 That's what the Bible says.
18:29 Verse 12. Now listen carefully now.
18:31 "And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me,
18:38 to give," now listen to this, "to give every man
18:43 according to his work shall be."
18:48 The righteous will inherit eternal life.
18:52 The unrighteous will inherit eternal death.
19:02 "Blessed are they," the Bible says...
19:04 I love it.
19:06 "Blessed are they," the Bible says,
19:07 "that do, that keep His commandments;
19:10 that they may have the right to the tree of life
19:15 and may enter in through the gates of the city."
19:18 "Donnie, are you saying, and are you still saying,
19:22 that the ten commandment law is still in effect?"
19:24 Oh yes.
19:26 We've already studied that the finger of God
19:29 etched the ten commandment law into those stones.
19:32 And no one has the right to change what God has etched
19:36 into that stone.
19:38 They are still in effect.
19:39 We said in a couple of sermons ago that the only thing
19:43 that I came up with that was nailed, and what the Bible says,
19:49 that was nailed to the cross was the sacrificial system.
19:55 We don't need to sacrifice animals anymore.
19:58 Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God.
20:00 He's been sacrificed.
20:01 But the ten commandment law, it's alive, it's real.
20:05 And God says right here in verse 12,
20:08 those that keep His commandments...
20:10 The commandment to love? Yes.
20:12 But also those ten commandments.
20:14 Those are the righteous, those are the just.
20:17 Those are the ones that will be in the kingdom.
20:21 So, let's break these scriptures down together.
20:25 We find here that on that great day of judgment,
20:29 at the appearing of God, and His Son, and the Holy Spirit,
20:35 and all the angels of heaven, that there will be a
20:40 separation take place.
20:43 The goats, the unrighteous, on His left,
20:46 the righteous, washed in the blood of Christ,
20:49 wrapped in His righteousness, the sheep, will be on His right.
20:54 The unjust, the ungodly, the unrighteous, the goats,
21:00 will remain on the left.
21:02 There will be no second chances when God comes.
21:07 Today is the day of salvation.
21:10 Today.
21:12 It's not like, "When He comes, I tell you what,
21:14 when God comes, then I'll ask Him for forgiveness."
21:16 Today is the day of salvation.
21:18 There will be no second chances, there will be no reprieves.
21:22 The Book of Life was sealed when Jesus left the Sanctuary.
21:27 If your name is found written in the Book of Life,
21:30 you will be in the kingdom.
21:33 You will receive eternal life.
21:35 Praise the Lord.
21:37 And I went on to say this.
21:38 I wanted to write this down because I didn't want to forget.
21:40 If your name was not found in the Book of Life
21:43 when the book was sealed, then it will never be written there.
21:47 Once God comes, your name cannot be
21:49 written into that book.
21:51 Only the righteous that serve God with faith and works
21:57 will be in the Book of Life; so that when Jesus Christ comes,
22:02 their names are written there.
22:03 They will inherit eternal life, through the promises of God.
22:08 Praise the Lord.
22:09 Now, that being said, not all will be in the kingdom.
22:15 Emotions...
22:17 Now I want you to get this. Listen carefully.
22:19 Emotions, traditions, theories, and philosophies,
22:24 self-proclaimed ideals will not change the justice
22:29 of the holy God.
22:31 The Bible says, let the righteous, those that have
22:36 accepted Jesus' invitation, rejoice that they have remained
22:42 faithful unto the end.
22:45 If we remain faithful to the end, our names are sealed
22:49 in the Book of Life.
22:51 Praise the Lord.
22:52 "Now, Donnie, you're talking about giving
22:55 yourself to Jesus Christ.
22:57 What does all that mean?
22:58 You say, fall before Him in a humble, and meek,
23:01 and sorrowful attitude.
23:02 What are you trying to say?"
23:03 Well let's break that down.
23:05 We're going to break it down with scriptures,
23:08 the truth from the Bible.
23:10 Now, number one I put here, this is a tough one:
23:15 deny self.
23:17 Matthew 10:32
23:21 Here's what the Bible says.
23:23 "Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men,
23:29 him will I confess before my Father which is in heaven."
23:33 We need to praise God.
23:35 We need to testify.
23:36 We need to preach.
23:38 We need to teach.
23:39 But most of all, we need to live the life of Jesus Christ.
23:43 Ask Christ to come into your heart, mind, and soul
23:47 that you might be transformed into His character.
23:50 Now, "But whosoever shall deny me before men,
23:55 him will I also deny before my Father in heaven."
23:59 If you deny Christ, your name cannot be written
24:02 in the Book of Life.
24:04 What does confess mean?
24:06 Confess means to, "Confess in Me."
24:09 Because of our oneness with Christ,
24:12 it is when we abide in Him, listen, when we abide in Him
24:20 He abides in us, that our confession of faith in Him
24:24 will bear much fruit.
24:27 Once Christ comes into your life, there will be changes
24:32 in your life.
24:33 Where you go, what you say, what you do, even how you feel,
24:41 how you react to different situations, will all change
24:46 when Jesus Christ comes into your life.
24:49 The old things, that old carnal nature, starts to die
24:52 and the new spiritual nature, through the power
24:56 of the Holy Spirit, you become transformed.
24:59 Oh praise God.
25:00 Let's go on here now.
25:02 Let's go back to what the Bibles says.
25:04 Matthew 16:24-27
25:08 There are so many Bible truths.
25:11 If we'll spend time in His Word we'll discover these truths.
25:15 "Well how do I do that?"
25:16 You need to ask the Holy Spirit every time you sit down
25:19 and you open this Book, say, "Oh Holy Spirit,
25:22 would you guide me and direct me, and help me to interpret
25:25 these scriptures?"
25:27 Now, let's go a little bit further here now.
25:30 "For what does it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world
25:37 and lose his soul?
25:39 Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"
25:42 Now, when Jesus comes back, if your name is not written
25:47 in the Book of Life, no matter how powerful
25:51 you were known as on this earth or how much money you had,
25:55 you can't buy your way into heaven.
25:57 Eternal life is a gift.
26:00 Praise God.
26:02 It's a gift.
26:03 We're unworthy, we all fall short.
26:05 But because of God's amazing grace,
26:10 His unmerited favor, we will receive heaven.
26:13 And He promises that.
26:14 And I believe in the promises of God.
26:17 Let's go a little bit further here.
26:18 Deny himself means, to submit yourself to God.
26:23 Deny yourself means, to submit your will to God.
26:28 And henceforth, to live for Christ rather than self.
26:34 You've got to let self go.
26:36 All those self wants and desires; self, self, self.
26:39 That, "all about me," complex that most of us possess.
26:42 I've been guilty myself.
26:43 We've got to let that go.
26:44 Now, Jesus said, "Take up the cross."
26:48 "What does that mean, Donnie, take up the cross?"
26:51 That is, to assume the responsibilities
26:56 that accompany discipleship.
26:59 Once you accept Christ...
27:02 Say you find out about Jesus Christ and you're in a church
27:05 and you're sitting on the pew, you hear this message,
27:08 "Come unto Me if you labor.
27:11 Come unto Me if you want to give your life to Me,
27:13 and let Me change your life."
27:15 What that means is, once you accept Jesus Christ
27:18 as your personal Savior, there is no stopping point.
27:21 Once you accept Christ, you need to stand up off that pew
27:25 and say, "Oh God, now what would You have me do?
27:28 I know I've got some responsibilities.
27:30 What would You have me do?"
27:32 And God will give you, He'll give you a ministry.
27:36 We've talked about it before.
27:37 It might be a prayer ministry, it might be a phone ministry,
27:40 you might be one that will go visit folks
27:42 in nursing homes and hospitals.
27:44 God's got a plan for everybody.
27:45 Let's go a bit further here.
27:47 Now, to save one's life means, to seek first the things
27:54 of this present life.
27:56 If we want to continue just to save our lives,
27:59 we need to lose our lives; give our lives to Christ.
28:02 Devote our lives to speaking truth
28:05 through what the Bible says, and then living the truth.
28:09 Let's go a bit further.
28:10 Take for instance, let me give you a perfect example here,
28:14 that once you accept Christ, get up off that pew
28:16 and get to work for Jesus Christ.
28:18 Listen, take for instance the young man...
28:21 And let's read this together.
28:22 You'll find that in Matthew 19:16, 17, 20-22.
28:29 Read these words with me, would you please.
28:32 "And, behold, one man came to him and said,
28:35 'Good Master, what good thing shall I do,
28:40 that I may inherit eternal life?'
28:45 And Jesus said unto him, 'Why do you call me good?
28:48 There is none good but God.
28:51 But if thou wilt enter into life...'"
28:53 What did He say?
28:55 "...keep the commandments."
28:56 Here's what the young man said.
28:59 "'All these things have I kept from my youth.
29:03 What do I lack?'
29:05 Jesus said, 'If you want to be perfect, go and sell
29:10 all that you have, give to the poor;
29:13 and thou shalt have treasure in heaven.'"
29:15 And then He went on to say, "Come and follow me."
29:20 "But when the young man heard that saying,
29:23 he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions."
29:29 The fact of the matter, his interest was in worldly things,
29:33 and in wealthy, and in power.
29:35 When God asks you to give those up,
29:38 what did I say a while ago?
29:39 This young man with all these riches and wealth,
29:42 he could not buy his way into heaven.
29:44 You can't work your way into heaven.
29:46 You can't work your way to receive eternal life.
29:49 Remember what I said a while ago.
29:51 Eternal life is a gift.
29:53 We can't work our way in, buy our way in.
29:56 We have to follow Jesus, live for Him, and in Him,
30:01 and through Him.
30:03 Now I put this little note here at the bottom of the page.
30:07 Jesus knew full well that the young man was rich.
30:12 He knew he had great possessions.
30:14 But the young man loved the temporal life here
30:19 more than he desired eternal life.
30:24 How about you?
30:26 Let's go a little bit further again.
30:27 And again, the Bible makes it clear that sin
30:30 leads to eternal death.
30:32 Sin does not lead, if you continue in sin,
30:37 does not lead to eternal life.
30:39 But I've got some good news for you today.
30:42 Let's read Romans 6:23 together.
30:45 Romans 6:23
30:47 "For the wages of sin is death..."
30:52 Wow, if it ended there, I'm in trouble.
30:55 But here's what it says.
30:56 "...but the gift of God is eternal life
31:02 through Jesus Christ..."
31:04 The wages of sin is certain eternal death.
31:08 But once we confess our sins, God said,
31:11 "The gift of God is eternal life..."
31:13 Through who? Jesus Christ.
31:15 That's a promise.
31:17 I believe in the promises of God.
31:18 Here's what Acts 4:12 says.
31:20 "Neither is there salvation in any other."
31:27 Remember what we said in a couple of sermons ago?
31:31 I am not saved by keeping the ten commandment law.
31:35 But because I love Jesus, because I'm following Jesus,
31:40 I want to keep the ten commandment law.
31:45 I'm saved through Jesus.
31:48 And this puts the desire in me to please my Lord
31:52 and keep those ten commandments.
31:53 Listen, "Neither is there salvation in any other:
31:57 for there is none other name," the Bible says,
32:01 "under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."
32:06 It is through Jesus Christ.
32:09 Here's what 1 John 2:1-2 says.
32:14 Turn in your Bibles. Give you just a second here.
32:16 1 John 2:1-2
32:19 Here's what the Bible says. Listen carefully.
32:22 "My little children, these things write I unto you,
32:26 that ye sin not.
32:28 And if any man sin..."
32:30 Praise God. Let me throw that in there.
32:32 "...we have an Advocate with the Father."
32:35 And who is that Advocate? Who's my Lawyer?
32:38 Who's the High Priest? Who's the Sacrifice?
32:40 "...we have an Advocate with the Father;
32:43 Jesus Christ the righteous."
32:48 If the righteous scarcely make it, the Bible says,
32:51 where are the ungodly going to be?
32:55 Eternal death.
32:57 Only through the grace of God, through Jesus Christ
33:02 His Son, and through the power of the Holy Spirit.
33:07 Being washed in the blood will I be in the kingdom.
33:11 And only through the name of Jesus, the sacrificial Lamb.
33:17 Now, Christ is the propitiation for our sins.
33:21 And not ours only, but also for the sins of the world.
33:27 For the remission of sin, the Bible says...
33:30 Love to go back to that Bible.
33:33 Listen, for the remission of sins, blood must be shed.
33:39 And the blood to be shed to cleanse all men
33:43 from all sin is the blood of Jesus, the Son of God.
33:49 It's all through Jesus.
33:51 Not just for cleansing of our sins, but for the whole world.
33:56 Jesus died for the whole world.
34:00 He is no respecter of persons.
34:02 Jesus Christ, let me put it this way,
34:05 when He looks down on this world, He sees babies.
34:11 He sees His children.
34:14 He sees that through Him they can be His brothers and sisters.
34:19 We find that through Jesus, He is our Best Friend,
34:24 He is our Creator, He is our Savior,
34:28 He is our Redeemer.
34:29 And it goes on and on and on.
34:32 Everything is done through Jesus Christ.
34:35 Eternal life... I thought this was interesting.
34:39 Eternal life is a gift, but so few accept and want the gift.
34:48 So few. So few.
34:50 But here's what the Bibles says on that matter, by the way.
34:53 Matthew 7:13
34:55 I always love to go back to what the Bible says.
34:58 Listen carefully.
34:59 "Enter in ye at the strait gate:
35:03 for wide is the gate and broad is the way
35:08 that leadeth to destruction,
35:11 and many there be which go in after it."
35:16 Jesus says, "Broad is the way that leadeth to destruction."
35:21 Why does it need to be broad?
35:23 There's a lot of people on that road to destruction.
35:26 It's broad.
35:28 "Because strait," Jesus said, "is the gate
35:32 and narrow is the way which leadeth unto eternal life:
35:36 and few there be that find it."
35:42 Isn't that amazing?
35:45 We have the privilege and the honor of accepting
35:51 the free gift of eternal life, and we refuse it.
35:56 And yet we will fight and scratch to stay alive
36:02 in the temporal life.
36:04 Doesn't make sense, does it?
36:07 Listen. Go back to the Bible.
36:09 Just go back to the Bible with me here.
36:11 John 3:16. Now listen carefully.
36:13 "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son,"
36:20 Jesus, "that whosoever," I love this promise,
36:25 "that whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
36:29 but have everlasting life."
36:32 Why do we choose the temporary life when we could choose
36:37 eternal life through Jesus Christ?
36:40 Not by our merits, again.
36:42 It's by the grace of God, through the power and the
36:46 forgiving spirit of Jesus, that we will be in the kingdom.
36:51 Now verse 17 says...
36:53 Listen very carefully.
36:55 Without Jesus we are condemned. Why?
37:00 Because of unbelief.
37:02 Unbelief.
37:04 Unbelief in what?
37:05 In the Son of God.
37:08 We are condemned to eternal death
37:12 because we love the world more than we love the Light.
37:16 Who is the Light? Jesus.
37:19 We love the worldly things and the things that are in it,
37:24 and this temporal life, and we throw away eternal life.
37:29 Eternal life and eternal bliss, and joy and happiness.
37:33 We throw all that away.
37:36 The only reason that God has tarried...
37:40 "What are you talking about, Donnie?"
37:42 Well turn to 2 Peter 3:9 with me, please.
37:45 2 Peter 3:9
37:48 "The Lord is not slack concerning his promises..."
37:53 They will happen.
37:55 "...as some men count slackness; but God is long-suffering,
38:01 not willing that any should perish, but that all
38:06 should come to repentance."
38:09 Why does He want everybody to come to repentance?
38:12 Because He loves you.
38:14 He loves you in your shortcomings, in your faults.
38:18 He loves you anyway.
38:19 He even loves you in your sin.
38:21 He doesn't condone sin, but He loves you.
38:24 Let's go a little bit further here.
38:25 The only reason that God has tarried
38:28 in His triumphant return...
38:30 Isn't God wonderful?
38:32 Isn't God lovely?
38:35 The only reason that God has tarried in His triumphant return
38:38 is that He is giving men every opportunity to accept Him.
38:46 Our God truly loves each one of us.
38:51 But God, on the other hand, is a God of justice,
38:55 and I love it, a God of truth.
38:59 On judgment day there will be those who will receive
39:04 the reward of eternal life and those that will receive
39:08 the reward of eternal death.
39:12 Not writhing in a place called hell forever and ever and ever.
39:18 But they will be forever, ever, never ever,
39:22 in the presence of God.
39:23 They will be dead forever and ever and ever.
39:26 So we call that eternal death.
39:29 I don't want you to think today that someone that's passed on
39:32 is writhing in agony.
39:34 They are in the grave waiting for that judgment day.
39:37 And maybe we'll get to that here in just a few minutes as well.
39:40 Now, Ezekiel 34:16.
39:43 Here's what the Bible says.
39:45 "I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that
39:50 which was driven away, and bind up that which was broken,
39:54 and strengthen that which was sick:
39:57 but I will destroy the fat and the strong;
40:00 and I will feed them with judgment."
40:03 Fatness in this scripture is symbolic of people
40:06 living in prosperity.
40:08 And prosperity many times often leads to forgetfulness of God.
40:15 Forgetting Him, throwing Him aside.
40:18 They're thinking, "Why do we need God?
40:19 I have all that I need here."
40:22 The unfaithful shepherds have waxed cold and fat
40:27 by robbing the flock.
40:29 Someday they will have to face judgment.
40:34 Now, I've got a few questions for you here.
40:38 If all would be saved, like the movement we talked about
40:42 earlier in our sermon, if all will be saved,
40:45 then there are some questions that need to be answered.
40:48 Why, if everyone's going to be saved and in the kingdom
40:52 regardless of whether they're righteous or unrighteous,
40:54 why do I need God's grace, His unmerited favor?
40:57 Why do I need God's mercy?
41:00 Why would any sacrifice have to die, my Savior Jesus?
41:07 Sorry.
41:08 Why would He have to die if everyone is going to
41:13 be in the kingdom anyway?
41:14 You know, sometimes I almost lose it
41:17 when I'm preaching the gospel.
41:19 I just want to break down and cry sometimes.
41:21 And every now and then I'll say I'm sorry or apologize.
41:24 Well Mollie Steenson, Pastor Hal's wife, told me,
41:26 "Don't you ever apologize for having feelings
41:31 for Jesus Christ."
41:32 So I'm not going to apologize.
41:33 I said, "I'm sorry," but I take that back.
41:35 It's okay to love Jesus.
41:38 It's okay to be excited about Jesus.
41:42 It's okay to show our feelings and our emotions
41:46 on how we feel and love Jesus Christ.
41:50 It's okay.
41:52 If I can get excited about a major league baseball team
41:55 winning the world series, I can get excited
41:58 when Jesus said, "Donnie, if you will remain faithful,
42:00 you have eternal life," I can get excited and I can say amen.
42:03 Praise the Lord.
42:05 Let's go on from there.
42:07 1 Peter 4:17-18
42:11 Now listen what the Bible says.
42:13 "For the time is come that judgment must begin
42:17 at the house of God.
42:19 And if it begins with us first, what shall the end be
42:23 of them that obey not the gospel of God?
42:26 And if the righteous scarcely be saved,
42:30 where shall the ungodly and the sinner be?"
42:33 They will be dead forever and ever and ever.
42:37 I hope we've made that point perfectly clear today.
42:39 Revelation 22:11-12
42:42 Listen to what the Bible says.
42:44 When Christ comes, and God, when He comes
42:48 the second coming, "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still:
42:54 he which is filthy, let him be filthy still:
42:57 he that is righteous, let him be righteous still:
43:01 and he that is holy," who is wrapped in the righteous
43:05 robes of Christ, "let him be holy still."
43:08 And God went on to say, listen, "I come quickly."
43:12 "Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me,
43:16 to give every man according as his work shall be."
43:20 Now, on the positive side.
43:24 There's a lot of positive things when Jesus Christ comes.
43:27 But there's more.
43:29 And I want to talk about that just for a little bit.
43:31 I call this title, The First Million Years.
43:36 Here's what it says in Revelation 21:1-2.
43:40 Read these scriptures with me, please, brothers and sisters.
43:43 Listen, "And I saw..." Now this is John talking.
43:48 "I saw a new heaven, I saw a new earth.
43:52 For the first heaven and the first earth were passed away;
43:57 and there was no more sea."
43:58 And oh listen to this verse.
44:02 Oh I love this one.
44:04 "And I John saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem,
44:11 coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride
44:15 adorned for her husband."
44:18 Jesus is looking forward to this day.
44:22 As a groom does for the day that he gets married
44:25 and he can look down the aisle and he sees his beautiful wife
44:28 coming down the aisle dressed in white and purity.
44:32 That is the greatest day of his life.
44:36 Jesus is saying, "I'm looking so forward to this event.
44:42 I'm going to compare it with a marriage."
44:46 The church, Jesus said, those that are born again,
44:50 washed in the blood, wrapped in His righteousness,
44:54 filled with the Holy Spirit, the church is His bride.
44:57 And Jesus is looking forward to that day.
45:02 Praise God.
45:03 Praise the Lord.
45:05 Through the eyes of John... I put a little not here.
45:07 Through the eyes of John on the island of Patmos,
45:10 we are enabled to see that New Jerusalem,
45:14 that holy city of God.
45:17 The city, I threw this in, that houses the worship center
45:23 of the universe is coming down out of heaven
45:27 and seating itself on the new earth.
45:30 What a scene that John beheld!
45:35 What a sight that must have been.
45:38 The New Jerusalem was created to last for an eternity.
45:44 It's beauty is beyond description.
45:48 1 Corinthians 2:9
45:50 Read that with me. Here's what the Bible says.
45:52 "For as it is written, 'Eye hath not seen, nor ear hath heard,
45:58 neither have entered into the heart of man,'"
46:01 the most awesome, the most beautiful things,
46:05 "that God hath prepared for them that love him."
46:09 That believe in Him, that trust in Him,
46:14 that have placed their faith in Him.
46:17 And that's why we need to study the Scriptures.
46:21 What John saw there, it encourages me,
46:24 it solidifies my faith.
46:26 I believe in the promises of God.
46:29 I love reading scriptures such as 1 Corinthians 2:9.
46:33 Now, John recorded to the best that a human could comprehend,
46:39 by observing the arrival of God's city, the description,
46:43 the magnificence, the utter awe of that city.
46:48 Now as I've traveled across America, done a lot of
46:51 flying at night, I flew over some beautiful cities.
46:55 And they're all lit up at night as you fly over them,
46:58 and they look beautiful.
46:59 But the city of God, the New Jerusalem, doesn't need any
47:04 type of electrical lights.
47:07 God and His Son and the Holy Spirit light up all of heaven
47:13 with their purity and their holiness.
47:16 We don't need a sun up there either.
47:18 We have light. We have Jesus Christ.
47:21 2 Peter 3:10 and 13 says, oh, "But the day of the Lord
47:26 will come as a thief in the night..."
47:28 Now listen.
47:29 "...in the which the heavens shall pass away with a
47:31 great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat;
47:34 the earth also and the works that are in shall be burned up."
47:39 "Nevertheless," he said, "we," God's people,
47:44 "in accordance to his promises, we look for new heavens
47:50 and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness."
47:54 Put a little another note here.
47:56 The new earth, God creating, God cleansing this earth
48:00 from all the scars of sin.
48:04 Burning up all unrighteousness, and all sin, and all blasphemy.
48:08 And, praise God, burning up Satan as well.
48:12 He will be gone forever and ever and ever.
48:16 Praise the Lord.
48:18 Our brother in Christ, John, what sight.
48:24 He saw the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven
48:27 and finding its resting place on the new earth.
48:31 We're going to call it holy ground.
48:33 There's no unrighteousness then.
48:35 The beginning of a world without end was taking place
48:40 right before the eyes of John.
48:44 It was the beginning of eternity.
48:48 Time without end, without interruption, had arrived.
48:53 And it's going to arrive.
48:55 Because God said so.
48:57 Because God's promises are true.
48:59 Eternal life is just a breath away.
49:03 Eternal life is just a heartbeat away.
49:09 We don't know how much time we have left here.
49:11 But if I should pass on today or tonight,
49:16 if I should pass on, I have confidence in God that
49:21 when He comes, as He promised in 1 Thessalonians the 4th chapter,
49:26 that when He comes, if Donnie Shelton is in the grave,
49:30 God promises He will raise me up out of that grave
49:34 and that I will spend eternity with Him.
49:39 Praise God.
49:41 Listen, it says here that there will be no more sea.
49:44 Now on this present earth the sea divides us here.
49:48 We have different countries.
49:49 We have friends, and brothers and sisters,
49:51 in other countries, and the sea divides us.
49:54 But the Bible says there's no sea there.
49:57 There's no division.
49:58 Everyone is in total harmony and unity there.
50:02 We will all be together. Praise God.
50:06 The new world, let's say it again,
50:08 will be bathed in the light from heaven.
50:12 The years will move on, one year after another.
50:17 First, a million years.
50:20 And then that million years leads to another million years,
50:24 and then another million years, to a world without end.
50:30 In this life, it's temporary.
50:32 Things begin and end.
50:34 But praise God, the New Jerusalem in heaven
50:37 will be here forever and ever and ever and ever.
50:41 You know, the Adventist Bible Commentary...
50:44 If you don't have one, you need to get some commentary,
50:47 the Adventist Commentary, Bible and books.
50:50 They state that this earth is the place of preparation
50:55 for heaven.
50:56 The time here is the Christian's winter.
51:00 And the chilly winds of affliction blow upon us.
51:03 But in the near future when Christ comes,
51:09 sorrows and sighings will be forever ended.
51:13 Aren't you looking forward to that time?
51:16 Here's what it says in Revelation 21:3-5.
51:20 Read it with me.
51:22 "And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying,
51:27 'Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men,
51:31 and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people,
51:37 and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
51:42 And God shall wipe away all the tears from their eyes;
51:46 and there shall be no more death,'" praise God,
51:50 "no sorrow, no crying, neither shall there be any more pain:
51:56 for the former things are passed away."
51:59 How long? Forever and ever and ever.
52:04 No more death, no more pain, no more crying, no more sorrow.
52:10 We will live in eternal bliss with God, and His Son,
52:15 and the Holy Spirit, and the angels
52:18 forever and ever and ever.
52:22 "I will make things new."
52:24 No more death, no more sickness,
52:30 no more hospitals, no more nursing homes,
52:35 no more cancer clinics, don't need any more doctors,
52:39 no more wheelchairs, no crying.
52:43 These bodies that we will inherit in eternal life,
52:47 they are designed by our Creator, and they will never
52:52 ever age, or change, or weaken, or become ill.
52:58 They will never experience any kind of mental,
53:02 or emotional, or physical pain.
53:06 Listen, for God Himself shall be in our presence.
53:10 And that evil one, man's worst enemy,
53:14 is gone forever and ever and ever.
53:18 Praise the Lord. Let's go on here.
53:20 Christ has promised us eternal life.
53:23 He has promised us to live in eternity;
53:28 a time without end.
53:31 Listen to this.
53:33 A permanent life without interruption.
53:36 No death, just eternal bliss in heaven.
53:42 All will be healthy, all will be happy.
53:47 I try to put it in a way that I can understand it.
53:51 If I enter heaven, we'll say, in a 25 year old body,
53:56 a perfect 25 year old body, perfect, designed by God
54:03 to last forever and ever and ever and ever,
54:05 if I enter heaven with this 25 year old body,
54:10 one-hundred million years after I've been in heaven
54:15 it will still be a 25 year old body,
54:18 perfect and without blemish.
54:20 Praise the Lord.
54:22 Perfectly healthy.
54:23 It will never change forever and ever and ever.
54:28 All things in this life are temporary
54:32 and are for a short time.
54:35 Eternity, let's say it again, it is without interruption.
54:40 No timeouts.
54:42 No stopping.
54:46 Praise the Lord.
54:47 Eternity is mentioned in the Bible.
54:50 And here's what it says about eternity in Isaiah 57:15.
54:55 "For thus saith the high and lofty One,"
54:58 God we're talking about,
55:01 "the one that inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy,
55:06 He says, 'I dwell with thee on high in the holy place,
55:11 inhabit eternity, and I will dwell with you
55:14 forever and ever.'"
55:16 This lofty One is quoted as being the eternal One.
55:20 We're talking about God.
55:22 The high and holy place signifies the highest
55:26 place in heaven.
55:29 God dwells there, and we will dwell with Him
55:33 in perfect harmony and health forever and ever and ever.
55:38 Praise God.
55:39 Now, a comforting thought here, that one so great as the
55:47 high and lofty One, God, that He actually
55:50 cares about me.
55:53 He cares about you.
55:56 And He desires that you live with Him forever and ever.
56:02 By faith.
56:04 Pillars of Faith.
56:06 By faith.
56:09 Again, I love 3ABN's message.
56:13 Taking the truth, undiluted; not with the errors of man
56:18 and their thoughts, and philosophies, and science.
56:21 But 3ABN is based upon what the Word of God says.
56:28 So I'm going to say again, they have been grace given,
56:32 they are faith driven.
56:36 They are driven by faith to preach
56:39 the unsearchable truths of God.
56:41 Today we are talking about a promise.
56:44 We are talking about a truth.
56:46 We are talking about eternal life today.
56:51 Jeremiah 31:3, a scripture that I quote
56:54 in many, many, many of my sermons.
56:57 Jesus, and God, and the Holy Spirit are saying here
57:01 in Jeremiah 31:3, "I have loved you, I will love you,
57:08 throughout eternity with an everlasting love."
57:14 Folks, we're all sinners.
57:18 But God says in His Word that if we bow down before Him
57:24 and confess Him before men, and then live for Him,
57:31 and trust and rely on Him, and place our faith in Him,
57:38 He promises that a day will come, no matter how sinful
57:43 we were in the past, it's what we do with our life
57:47 after we accept Christ.
57:49 I always put it this way:
57:51 You can't unscramble eggs.
57:53 You can't unscramble the past.
57:55 But today is the day of salvation.
57:59 God is asking and pleading with you today,
58:02 "Come unto Me, I want to save you.
58:07 I want to have a relationship with you.
58:10 I want to give you eternal life, that you and I can spend
58:15 eternity with each other walking hand in hand
58:19 up and down the golden streets of the New Jerusalem."
58:23 Remember again, folks,
58:24 you don't have to earn eternal life.
58:27 It's a gift. You can't buy it.
58:29 It's a gift from the heavenly Father,
58:33 again, who is intensely in love with you.


Home

Revised 2017-05-08