Glen Bond July 26, 2009 Picayune MS Thursday Night - April 26, 2007 Baton Rouge, La Subject : The Lord is good to all. You are only alive now because of the goodness of God. because all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23 The Lord never says "I think that I will execute judgment on this person and send him to Hell" He never says that. We have all sinned, so we all deserve Hell, ...and those that are not saved are condemned (to Hell) already. (john 3:18) So execution of the judgment is all that is required. So it would be quite easy for God to execute judgment on a lost sinner. Are you a lost sinner? Can you see the dangerous position you are in? Can't you see that you need a pardon? The word "pardon" impl'y that you are guilty and sentence has been passed. It imply's that you are condemned. You can't give a pardon to someone who has not been to trial and found guilty. every person outside of Christ is condemned already. ...execution of the judgment is all that is required. Therefore, if you are alive, it is because of Gods goodness. That is why we sometimes say "I am doing better than I deserve." Because I know that I surely deserve Hell. The Lord never says "I will now send this person to Hell" He never says that. But he does say "I think I will save this person". "I will shoe mercy to this one" The Lord saves those whom he chooses, and executes judgment on the rest. The Lord never says "I will now send this person to Hell" He doesn't want to send anyone to Hell. Are you a lost sinner? Here is hope for you. Look at - Ezekiel 33:11 Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel? You that will not come to Christ, The Lord has no pleasure in your death. He doesn't want to send you to Hell. But if you will not accept the salvation that he has provided for you, then you leave him no choice. and you must expect to die sooner or later. It is appointed unto men once to die and then the judgment. Hebrews 9:27 Now I know that some of you think in your heart - "God wants to destroy me" before the Lord saved me, I had that feeling, deep down in my heart. I was afraid to come into his presence. When I would pray, I think that I prayed from a distance because I was afraid that, if I came close, God would grab me and destroy me.. These feelings could not be farther from the truth. Why? ...I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; death here means the death of the body and soul in Hell. God doesn't want to destroy you, he wants to save you. John 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. The Lord is angry with you, but he doesn,t want to destroy you. Psalms 7:11 God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day. He is angry because you continue to reject Christ, his only begotten son. You have rejected the one in whom God " is well pleased". The Father is well pleased with the Son, and you won't have him. You have said "I won't have this man to rule over me". Is there any wonder that God is angry with you? When I was seeking the Lord, I didn't know what to do. But you MUST, you MUST .... I want to tell you one thing that you must do to be saved. you MUST come and reason with the Lord. You can't do that while you are thinking about who is going to win the ball game. You can't do that while you are thinking about going fishing. You can't do that while you are thinking about having a good time. The world today is caught up in partying. There are stores that only sell party supplies. The world wants to keep on making merry. If you want salvation, you will stop making merry. As long as you are happy-go-lucky you will never have any reason to seek the Lord. Psalms 34:18 The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. Are you happy? Are you content with your life? If you are, you are in trouble. When things go good, then we begin to get proud. Proverbs 16:5 Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD: If you are proud, then you are not humble If you are happy, then you are not broken hearted, nor of a contrite spirit. Can you make yourself sad? Can you make yourself humble? No, I can't. This brings us back to this, Jonah 2:9 Salvation is of the Lord. To humble yourself is to submit to the Lord, and believe the Lord. 2 chron. 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. To do one of these things and not the others is to do none of them. humble themselves pray seek my face turn from wickedness These things must all go together. Do you want to be saved? If yes, then God has already began to work in your heart. Don't turn away. Now is when you need to : humble yourselves pray seek his face turn from wickedness come and reason with the Lord You MUST come and reason with the Lord. He delighteth in mercy. That means that God has great pleasure in giving mercy. He loves to show mercy on a lost sinner. But God will never show mercy to an un-repentant sinner But God will never show mercy to a proud sinner But God will never show mercy to some one who doesn't want his mercy. Thats why he says: The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. The broken heart and the contrite spirit is what God is looking for. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I sat under this ministry a long time, and I heard message after message, and time after time, I kept throwing the message over my shoulder. I kept thinking that I knew what message I wanted. I knew How the Lord saves sinners. and I was just waiting for him to come with that one special message (that I was waiting for) and when I would hear it I would be saved. I would just sit and wish that God would reach down and save me. I wanted to sit and do nothing, and all the while, say that I wanted to be saved. Is this what you are doing? Are you coming here out of your do-nothingness and just waiting for the Lord to save you? If you are, you are going to have a long wait!! Now I don't want you to think that I am just railing on you. I'm not. But I do want you to stop and think. Are you making any kind of effort to come to Christ? --------------------------------------------------------------------------- I want to speak to the children also. You young children, do you want to be saved? You children, have you sat here and said to yourself, "He's not talking to me, he's talking to some of the grownups". I'm talking to you tonight. Do you want to be saved? Do you want to go to a hell that will last forever? You children, listen to me, there is going to be a lot of children in hell. Do you want to be one of them? Do you want to spend all of eternity in Hell? No, you don't want to spend eternity in Hell, but you don't want to come to Christ either. But unless you come to Christ for salvation, you will. Don't think that because you are a child, you will be exempt from Hell, and you won't have to go there? Is that what you think? Are you willing to wait until you die to find out if you are wrong? You children, you older ones that have been sitting here year after year, If you keep putting off and putting off, if you never find time to seek the Lord, you will die and wake up in Hell. I never wanted to seek the Lord, I had plenty of things that I wanted to do. but one day I came to a place where I HAD to seek the Lord. I didn't want to, but I came to see that I MUST. You must forsake all that you have. Luke 14:33 So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple. Romans 2:4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? Mark 10:18 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God. James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Psalms 52:1 Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man? the goodness of God endureth continually. Psalms 53:1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good. Psalms 25:8 Good and upright is the LORD: therefore will he teach sinners in the way.