A POIGNANT QUESTION 6-22-08am   by Pastor Thomas
Text: I Pet 4:17, For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?"
Intro.: Poignant means: that which evokes a keen sense of sadness or regret. This has two applications.
I. THE FIRST PART OF THIS VERSE CAUTIONS CHRISTIANS ABOUT GOD’S JUDGMENTS UPON THEM.
Here Christians are called the house of God, meaning the individual members, of each local church. WE need to be engaged in self judgments in order to maintain church fellowship with each other and to please God so that He doesn’t need to send divine judgement upon us because of church errors or unfaithfulness to Him as the body of Christ on earth.
Paul told young Timothy, his son in the faith, how important Scriptural conduct was in church life, 1Ti 3:15 “But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.” Are we there yet?
As members of this church we are to judge ourselves and make corrections if they are needed, amend our ways so that we are well pleasing to God. Church members... straighten UP and fly right! If we don’t, He might just clip our wings somehow.
If we stray, we’ll wish we hadn’t. If we refuse to with in faith, he is able to abase us, (Dan 4:37). If we don’t, walk the line of truth and faith according to this Bible, there may be consequences to pay, 1Co 11:31 “For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. 32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.” The church at Corinth failed in this self judgment and as a result divine judgment took over to chasten them, 1Co 11:30 “For this cause many [are] weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.”
However, this verse was not given to ask or to answer the question about what is the end or consequences for believers with regards to their failure of self judgment. It only states that if judgment is meant to begin with us, and we are to judge our actions as Christians , then there is also a counterpart judgment applicable having to do with people who have not obeyed the gospel.
As Peter wrote his first epistle, foremost in his mind was a desire to encourage the believers to stand firm in the face of suffering and trial. On four occasions he used the term, "the end," focusing his reader's attention on the final resolution of all things.
This first use followed an explanation of the nature and benefits of the various trials in a believer's life. The result would be a pure, effective faith now, as well as "receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls" (1:9), which is the final ultimate deliverance of our whole person.
Meanwhile, "gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ" (1:13). Our minds should be completely ("to the end") ready for action, sober and expectant, focused on the ultimate resolution of all trials when we go to be with Jesus or when He comes in the rapture.
This ultimate resolution could come at any time: he tells us that, "the end of all things is at hand" (4:7). Our response should be to "be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer." To be sober is to be of sound judgment, making careful decisions based on the Bible, not based on our emotion; especially watchful as we pray, and each step we take should be with eternity in mind and how our decisions will be judged by Him who’s judgment is fair, all seeing and perfect.
“The end of all things is at hand.” But there have been 20 centuries which have passed but the end has not yet come. Explain that!
The context doesn’t tell us exactly what Peter meant by this expression. The phrase could refer to:
1. the end of their Jewish National State, which happened in 70 AD, or
2. The end of the world, (that hasn’t happened) or
3. the end of ones life and his affairs in this world. If it was believed that the end of the world was near, it must consequently be believed that the termination of the earthly life of each person also drew near to a close.
BUT, The end of all things most likely referred to the Jewish state and order, their city, their temple, and worship, was at hand. The immanent destruction of Jerusalem was very near; therefore, they were told “be ye sober” and temperate in all things; watch, that that day not overtake you unawares, and that you be not shocked or surprised by it when it comes.
Jesus forewarned the Jews about the coming destruction of their city and lands. Lu 21:20 “And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. 21 Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto. 22 For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. 23 But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. 24 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”
Peter is evidently hoping to support and encourage them in their trials, and to excite them to lead a holy life, by the assurance that the end of all trials and persecutions which they presently were enduring and suffering was drawing nigh. God was about to judge Israel for its rejection of her Messiah and for her many years of following the traditions of men. This judgment was prophesied by the O.T. prophets and Jesus during his earthly ministry.

II. THE SECOND PART IS A WARNING TO THE UNSAVED.
Those who have not accepted, meaning they haven’t obeyed, the gospel of Jesus Christ. They have not been born anew, no birth from above, no regeneration, no conversion, no salvation; therefore, they are said to be lost, unsaved, condemned headed for an eternal hell immediately upon their death. Example, Lu 16:23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments....”
Jesus asked this poignant question of the unbelieving scribes and Pharisees, Mt 23:33 “[Ye] serpents, [ye] generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?” The answer is plain, they could not escape it so long as they refused to believe in Him as their Savior and the only one who could be condemned in their stead, as their substitute so that they might receive His grace and come to faith and thereby escape the damnation of hell fire.
Oh, listen to Jesus dear precious lost soul, Mr 9:45 “And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:” Jesus is using a comparative example here, which is worse to lose a foot in this life, or to be cast into hell where the fire is unquenchable?
JESUS IS THE ONLY WAY of deliverance from the wrath to come. 1Th 1:10 “..... Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.” Ro 8:1 “[There is] therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus....”
But, what is the end of them that obey NOT the gospel? Compare it to the horrors of the Jews who awaited extermination in the German death camps of WWII. Millions were jammed into confinement camps to wait for room in the gas chambers to be made for them. They marched unto death with no hope of escape. 5 Million Jews died in the holocaust.
What is the end of them that obey not the gospel? Their end is utter hopelessness. Their doom is sealed. However, there is hope in this life that changes things.
Ro 10:12 “For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? 17 So then faith [cometh] by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. 18 But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world. 19 But I say, Did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by [them that are] no people, [and] by a foolish nation I will anger you. 20 But Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me. 21 But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.”
The most regrettable decision a person can make is to “obey not the gospel of God.” Presented with the opportunity to be told the gospel story and being invited to receive the gospel of Christ they answer, “I have no interest in salvation. I will not believe, I do not need a Savior because I am a good person, better than many Christians. I don’t believe in hell, I do not believe in life after death, I’ll take my chances alone.”
The statement of the text asks: What shall be the end of them? What is their future? What are the consequences of their neglect of the gospel? Such questions should strike the fear God in them for having denied the most urgent need every person has in this life and have failed to ask themselves this question: Where will I spend eternity? Some will claim they do not believe there is a hereafter. The bible says yes, there is!
Many people have answered this question of where they will spend eternity. Paul tells of them in, Ro 6:17 “But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. 18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.”
Paul writes to the church at Rome praising God that those Christians had obeyed the gospel preached unto them and that it freed them from the consequences of being a sinner which is eternal death and separation from God in hell, from dying with sins intact then to face the judgment of God due every lost soul, every soul that follows after sin, every soul still in the grips of a fallen depraved nature, who sought not after God, who served sin, who were blinded to their need of salvation by the devil. The people are victims, 2Co 4:4 “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”
These are those who loved this present world to the exclusion of what was best for their soul both in this present life and in the future existence to come.
Peter guided them and us in our thinking concerning earthly trials in 1 Pe 4:12 “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:” Which I think the immediate application refers to the soon destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD. But it also has meaning for us too.
Then Peter asks another poignant question in 1 Pe 4:18, “And if the righteous scarcely (with difficulty thru trials) be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?” The idea is that if sufferings and judgments (chastenings) also come upon Christian people, most notably in the destruction of Jerusalem, then what hope is there for the wicked to survive it? None! How shall they hope to escape in safety from that dreadful judgment ready to come on the Jewish nation? There was no hope for the wicked, the unsaved!
The severity with which God disciplines his children, is a solemn warning to the wicked of the awful destruction which awaits them who know not God and who have NOT obeyed the gospel.
This passage serves as a warning to all generations to come of the certain judgments of God on a wicked society of sinners who run from God every day of their lives. They may run, but they cannot hide. Such who try to hide, will be exposed. When judgment day comes, they will call to, Re 6:16 “...the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:”
The end of those who obey not the gospel is not a pretty picture. The warnings of this cannot be overemphasized. People tend to be numb in their hearts and brains so as to not take this seriously.
Every unconverted sinner NEEDS to KNOW THIS. Each one needs to wake up and ask themselves this question, “what if this is all true, and I refuse to obey the gospel?” Then what?
When you die, do you really want your soul to go into a place of everlasting punished called hell? Do you really want to deny yourself the forgiveness of all your sins and a place in God’s paradise of heaven? Is the love of sin, and the gratification of your fleshly lusts in this life better than the embrace of a loving compassionate Savior in the next world who has prepared for you an everlasting home in heaven? Would you rather burn in hell for eternity, or be blessed with the beauty of the Father’s house filled with many mansions?
Here is another warning to those who obey not the gospel. Heb 10:26 “For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, 27 But a CERTAIN fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.”
The time of final judgment upon sinners looms near. His judgment on those outside "the house of God" will be severe, with no opportunity for reconciliation. This warning should motivate the unsaved.
If you are not saved, HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

1. You need to repent of your sins so that they may be forgiven. Lu 24:47 “And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” Repentance is a change of our minds about sin. Instead of loving it, we now hate it and are sorry for our sins.
Remission of our sins happens upon our repentance. Jesus commanded this, Mr 1:15 “... repent ye, and believe the gospel.”

2. You need to believe and to obey the gospel which you do when you receive Christ as your Savior. The gospel is the good news that Jesus Christ died for our sins, was buried and rose again according to the scriptures. Ro 10:9 “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. 12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
These first two things are essential to your personal salvation. The third thing is not.

3. You need to be baptized and to join a good Baptist church like this one. This will not save you, but it will put you in place to shine as a light for Jesus and to be taught how to serve him.
Your baptism is your outward identification with Christ. It is the way to put on symbolically the uniform of a Christian soldier. It is a way to tell publicly that you have died to your old life of sin, and you now walk in the newness of life. It is a way of saying publically without the use of speech, “Here I stand, a born again, scripturally baptized believer in Jesus Christ who is not ashamed to tell the world that I am a Christian, a soldier of the cross for the rest of my earthly life. When I get to Heaven, I will be a retired earthly veteran of the cross, but still active serving my Commander-in-Chief for all eternity. This is my position received by grace through faith, herein I stand. I can do no other but bow in submission to Him whose name is above every name, and whose dominion is over all.
I will gladly be part of that heavenly company about whom it is written: “... [As] I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” (Rom 14.11)
Php 2:9 “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of [things] in heaven, and [things] in earth, and [things] under the earth; 11 And [that] every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ [is] Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
ARE WE THERE YET?
CONC.: The invitation time at church is our way of asking people to make up their minds about God’s will for them right now. People usually know what that is, but they need a nudge to do something about it. I’ve had my time to talk, now it is your time to consider God’s will for you and to respond to His call.