What Good Will It Do You Then? - Pastor Stacey Shiflett
What Good Will It Do You Then?
Hebrews 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
Intro:
A. The Appointment – “…it is appointed…”
This is not an appointment that you can cancel, postpone, call to confirm or reschedule.
· James 4:14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
· Psalm 144:4 Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away.
B. The After – “…but after this…”
Job asked the age-old question: If a man die, shall he live again? (Job 14:14)
Not many people want to think about the “after.”
C. The Accounting – “…the judgment.”
In a day and age when being judged is the only thing most men agree is a sin, judgment day is coming!
Every person will stand before God one day, and give account of what they did with Jesus Christ.
The believers will open their eyes in Heaven; the unbelievers will lift up their eyes being in torments.
I. What Good Will Your Religion Do You Then?
Hell is filled with religious people.
As a matter of fact, the vast majority of religions were started by unsaved people that didn’t even know God.
Hell will be filled with people that devoted their entire life to following their religious upbringing.
People that lived their whole life – learning and practicing the requirements for their religion.
Pharaoh
Pharoah and his entire army were destroyed after refusing to believe in the God of Israel.
Did all the gods of Israel do anything for them while they were drowning in the Red Sea?
Were the wise men and sorcerers and enchanters of Egypt able to help them when it came time to die?
They could turn their rods into serpents; they could turn water into blood.
But when it came Pharaoh’s time to die, his religion could not help him. It could not save him.
Jezebel
Ahab and Jezebel were some of the most religious people in the Bible.
The Bible says that Jezebel had hundreds of the prophets of Baal and the grove that ate at her table.
· 1 Kings 18:19 Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, which eat at Jezebel’s table.
Imagine having that many priests and prophets on speed-dial, and not one around when you need them!
2 Kings 9
· 30 And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her face, and tired her head, and looked out at a window.
· 31 And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, Had Zimri peace, who slew his master?
· 32 And he lifted up his face to the window, and said, Who is on my side? who? And there looked out to him two or three eunuchs.
· 33 And he said, Throw her down. So they threw her down: and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses: and he trode her under foot.
· 34 And when he was come in, he did eat and drink, and said, Go, see now this cursed woman, and bury her: for she is a king’s daughter.
· 35 And they went to bury her: but they found no more of her than the skull, and the feet, and the palms of her hands.
· 36 Wherefore they came again, and told him. And he said, This is the word of the LORD, which he spake by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, In the portion of Jezreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel:
· 37 And the carcase of Jezebel shall be as dung upon the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel; so that they shall not say, This is Jezebel.
A woman that the entire nation feared was totally helpless when it came time to die.
Her religion; her prophets; her loyalty to Baal did nothing for her.
The Scribes and Pharisees
The Pharisees of Jesus’ day were highly religious; but they were unsaved.
They were considered the elite of their day; the upper echelons of society.
Yet Jesus confronted them for their religious zeal and called them children of the devil.
In John 8:33 They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed…
Jesus responded in John 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do.
Cornelius
In Acts 10, we find a highly religious man.
The Bible says:
· 1 There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band,
· 2 A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway.
He was religious; devout; gave a lot and prayed a lot - but he was lost.
It was only after he tossed his religion aside and turned to Christ that He got born again!
II. What Good Will Your Rebellion Do You Then?
A life of rebellion; stubbornness, hard-headed defiance won’t help you when you’re dying!
Cain
Cain – the first man that embraced false religion - brought an offering that God did not respect. Genesis 4:3–5
Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice by faith. Hebrews 11:4
Cain's works were evil, while Abel’s was righteous. 1 John 3:12
Korah - Numbers 16
Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and 250 princes rebelled against Moses and Aaron. vs. 1–3
The earth opened and swallowed Korah's company alive. vs. 31–33
Fire from the LORD consumed the 250 men who offered incense. vs. 35
Absalom
Absalom organized a conspiracy against King David. 2 Samuel 15:10–12
Absalom's head was caught in the branches of a great oak, leaving him hanging. 2 Samuel 18:9
Joab and his ten armourbearers killed Absalom while he was caught in the tree. 2 Samuel 18:14–15
Ahab - 1 Kings 22
Micaiah prophesied Ahab's defeat and death. vs. 17–23
Ahab rejected Micaiah's warning and imprisoned him. vs. 27–28
A man drew a bow at a venture, and the arrow struck Ahab in the ribs vs. 34–35
Ahab died, fulfilling the prophetic warning. vs. 37–38
III. What Good Will Your Regret Do You Then?
A lot of people die with regret.
The regret is not enough.
Feeling bad over bad choices won’t get you into Heaven.
Crying over a wasted life won’t be enough when you’re dying.
Esau
Esau wept with regret for selling his birthright for a bowl of pottage.
Hebrews 12
· 16 Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.
· 17 For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.
Achan
Achan disobeyed God and brought the accursed things of the heathen into his tent.
Joshua 7
· 24 And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and they brought them unto the valley of Achor.
· 25 And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the LORD shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones.
Everything he disobeyed for and lusted for died with him that day.
As they marched him, his wife, his children and all his flocks to be stoned, I’m sure he had regrets.
Judas Iscariot
Judas was handpicked by Jesus Christ to be one of the twelve disciples.
He was never convinced that Jesus was the Messiah.
His heart was filled with greed and covetousness.
He conspired with the scribes and chief priest and sold Jesus for thirty pieces of silver.
Afterwards, he was filled with guilt and remorse.
He went back to them and tried to undo his sin.
Matthew 27
· 3 Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,
· 4 Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that.
· 5 And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.
There is a big difference in remorse and godly repentance! Remorse will not save you!
· 2 Corinthians 7:10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.
Conclusion: The only thing that will do you any good when you’re dying is godly repentance and faith toward God.
