Men of Messiah Sunday Radio Broadcast 6.08.14

And good morning, ladies and gentlemen, this eternal perspective.

On a beautiful Sunday morning here in the Coachella Valley. It's great to be with you today here on Newstalk 920k psi. This is the eternal perspective every Sunday morning from 7 to 8 and sponsored by the men of Messiah and hosted by our own dear brother, Chuck debau.

Good morning, Chuck. Good morning, Richard.

How are you there, my friend?

I'm doing well, thank you.

What a glorious Sunday morning.

What a glorious way to begin listening to.

Isn't that lovely? The soulful sweet spot Spirit Dulce tones of Robin Mark. I stand alone, I stand in awe in the presence of the Nazarene of Jesus. The Nazarene.

And that's what the Messiah is committed to and that's exalting the name and the power and the glory of the Nazarene Jesus. Yeshua Hamashiach.

Yeah, we, I highly recommend Robin Mark. This show we have put on here on a terrestrial radio station. We're also broadcasting by video live on metamassiah.com or.org and so feel free to tune us in by way of the Internet to watch us and by radio.

To listen to us.

We'll be here every Sunday at 7 o'.

Clock.

And let me just say as we start today that we of course, welcome everyone to listen. We know that many of you will be on your way to church on Sunday morning and we're thankful for that.

On their way to a church service.

On their way to a church service. Okay, well said. And also for those of you who.

Are just wondering about, you know, you read the newspaper, you see what's going on in the world, and if you feel lost.

If you are, if you are a young person, for example, who is fatherless, we want to tell you that Jesus is the father to the fatherless. If you're a person who is suffering in sickness, we want to tell you that Jesus is the binder of wounds. If you're a person whose heart is broken this morning and listening to us, we want to tell you and assure you that Jesus is the healer of hearts. And so we're honored to be here and just thrilled to be with you, Chuck, as we begin this ministry. This is our second week.

Yeah, Rich, we're eternal friends. Talk about the eternal perspective in Christ. We're going to be spending eternity together, not in these corrupt old bodies and cocoons that we live in, thank goodness, but in glorified, immortal resurrection.

The arthritis in my foot, it's gone. It's gone forever.

But more importantly, we'll Be able to love with a capacity and a quality that we're striving to.

Share now in these new bodies. So we have a great future in front of us. Let's begin with the word of persons we're praying for this time? Yes, sir, we can pray. Anybody out there that's comfortable enough.

Joining me in prayer? I invite you to do so. I'm going to pray what is traditionally called the lord's prayer, but more appropriately, it's the disciples prayer, because this was the model prayer given to his disciples. Those who believed in him were following him and wanted to know how to pray.

Set this up a little bit. Here we have these disciples. And they ask him, well, they watch.

Him, see, he's praying. He's off praying and saying, wow, he's doing something that is different than going to the temple and engaging in traditional judaistic practices. And they want to know what's going on.

So they ask him, and they ask him, did they not say, teach us.

Teach us, Teach us, Teach us to pray.

And he was moved by that.

Very much so. Very much so. So he gave them a prayer that is not to be wrote or inanimate or cold or stodgy, but to be alive and dynamic. And its lyrics are beautiful. And it's the model prayer. And I'd like to pray that this morning with us rich as we begin to show committed to the nazarene Jesus, our heavenly father, hallowed be your name and hallowed be the name of the one who sits right now at your right hand, Our Jesus, our Christ, our wonderful, glorious high priest. We praise you both through your spirit. We pray that your kingdom will come. You ask us to do that. So we pray your kingdom, your eternal kingdom will come soon. And the king sitting at your right hand would be ushered in and would acquire, possess and rule over his inheritance forever and forever. We pray, father, that you provide for us what we need to get through the day. And you've been so faithful to us in doing so up to this point. We pray that you forgive us, put away our trespasses and sins, our transgressions, and that we would use that forgiveness as a model to forgive those who come against us. And probably most importantly for me, father, as you well know, lead us to stay away from peiras mas. Trouble, trial, temptation, struggle and preserve us and deliver us into an experience of peace, contentment, joy and love. I'm your son. Deliver us from evil, both within and without. For to you is the kingdom, the king, his power and glory forever and forever. We Ask this according to your will and in the name of Jesus Christ.

Amen. Chuck, is the building still standing? I believe it is. I believe the building is still standing.

You know, it's interesting because.

We'Ve. We.

Had to begin a process of putting this show on the radio, and we put it on this normal station as opposed, I mean, a secular station. Thank you. You know, and it's, it is an experiment, and I'm very excited about it, you know, because it's not, you know, we appreciate Christian radio. I think for the most part, you and I do. But it's, it's, it is exciting for us to be able to bring this show to you right here on kpsi. Very great. I'm very grateful to the management and ownership, particular at kpsi, for allowing us this opportunity.

Well, this is a unique feature of this radio station.

I would say it's a unique feature, you know, in the nation. I don't think it happens very often.

I love it.

That's our Lord now, you know, we titled the show Eternal Perspective, Chuck. And because I think perspective, how we view things so important, obviously. And I find from listening to you and your teachings over the past couple of years that when you have, you know, when your perspective is that you are an eternal creature without question, without a smidgen of doubt, it does change the way that you view everything. And doesn't.

It does for me. Let me just throw a few passages into the net of this discussion from the word of God, and in particular the New Testament.

Feel free to dust off that book up there on the top shelf, the one you know, that's gilded in gold and filigree and all the things. Pull that off the top shelf, dust it off and open it up.

Yours has diamonds on it.

Just a couple for those who are interested in listening to examine more fully on their own. But let me suggest you read Colossians 3, 1 4. If then we've been raised with Christ. He's talking to Christians who resided in the ancient city of Colossae. Then you've been raised with Christ. Keep seeking those things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father. And then in the next verse, he says, set your mind. Or the old King James says, set your affections on the things above and not the things of this earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with God in Christ. And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed, you also will be revealed with him in glory. There's a future perspective that Paul captures under the title of What I call the ascended life. If we're really living the Christian life out having come to faith in Christ for eternal life and salvation, if we're living in light of eternity, we're setting our mind on the things above. We keep seeking those things above. And where do we find the substance of those things above, but in the Word of God? So the Word of God fills that in another text would be 2nd Corinthians 4, 16, 18. Therefore, we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, our inward man is being renewed day by day. For we know that this momentary light affliction, or this light affliction which is for a moment, is producing in us an eternal weight of glory, while we look not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are not seen. For the things that are seen are temporary, but the things that are not seen are eternal. And one of my favorite is.

Titus, chapter 2, verses 11 through 15. He says, for the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously and godly in the present age. Here's how. Looking, looking, looking for the blessed hope and glorious epiphany or appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ. Eternal perspective. Those are just a few texts that come to mind. There are many, many others. But if the Christian life is to be lived out successfully, victoriously, honestly, with integrity, rich, it has to be lived out with this eternal perspective, which in the weeks ahead, Lord willing, we will fill in with strong, clear, succinct biblical data and help motivate us to live in this fashion.

And if it's any help.

It'S a work that Jesus is doing in our lives. We ask him to continue the work.

In me.

Let me say something about that, if I may. He is working to transform us to conform to his character images. You've heard me say many, many times, that's the genius of Christian life, becoming more like Jesus than word. Indeed. For what purpose? So that we will be as prepared, because of this process in this life, to share with him in his eternal kingdom in our Lord's Prayer, or the disciples pray, we pray, Thy kingdom come. Why do we want this kingdom to come? Because the king is going to come. He's going to have a government of his government there is no end. He will rule politically over this planet for a thousand years and then on into what the Bible calls a new heaven and a new earth. And he is preparing you and me, Rich, to the degree. We will let him to share in that kingship in various offices. You and I love politics. We both have a political background.

But I want to serve a government that won't come to an end. I'll tell you what I want to serve a purpose in life that requires legislation and oversight and that sort of thing that has as a supreme monarch, one who's never going to be voted out and who is righteous and true and pure as they come. So he's preparing us for that, you and me, to the degree that we will allow him to do that. That's the process of what we call in men of Messiah ministry, becoming prepared to share a joint heirship with Jesus Christ throughout the eternal ages to come. This is like a basic training boot camp. Earth. Earth, yes. This is a training period for what? Graduation day. Into the kingdom. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. In other words, when the king and the kingdom are ushered in, and he only knows the time when that will happen, his will will be perfectly done on earth as it is in heaven. Now we move toward that. Whereas you said last week, I think so beautifully, becoming a Christian is an event. Becoming regenerate, born again, receiving eternal life, getting eternal life.

That's an event. It happens in a second, in a heartbeat.

And it was a great articulation and distinction you made last week. And then the process begins. What process? Christian life and experience. For what purpose? Eternity. Getting ready, prepared to meet and greet the king and share in his eternal life.

And that eternal. That eternal. That decision, that moment of decision is binding and is and can never be taken from it.

Let's talk about that. That's a perfect segue into what we ought to emphasize here for a little bit. And that is, when you talk about the event of getting saved or receiving eternal life, what are we really talking about?

Let me be clear, Rich. This is so very vital. Jesus preached about a lot of truths. The kingdom of God, Israel, her future, her present status. He preached about.

Various other subjects that are very, very important. He did a lot of preaching and a lot of teaching, but his core message was eternal life. His core message was eternal life. A message that is so clearly articulated in the Gospel of John. It's amazing to me that sincere evangelicals in leadership and outside of leadership miss the point. Eternal life is the core message. How do I get eternal life? What is it and how do I get it? That's what he preached in the Gospel of John. Let me throw a few passages out here for those of you who might be taking notes or may interested. Is this broadcast recorded?

John 3:15 through 18 John 4:14, John 5, 24, John 6:27, 40, 47, 54, John 10, 28, John 17, 2 and 3, to name a few.

Eternal life. Eternal life.

The Gospel of John focuses on the core issue, eternal life. In other words, I can't begin the process of living life until I first get it. This is true in physical life, is it not? How do you live a life until you're born? Well, that's why God chose the concept of regeneration. You get born again, now you start living. So when I possess, when I. When that event happens, and I come into possession of eternal life through faith and faith alone in Jesus Christ, I begin the process of getting ready for eternity.

Become a new man.

I become a new man inside, not on the outsider, on the new side. Jesus preached eternal life more than any other truth. He wanted his listeners to know that they could receive eternal life, which is his life, by the way, which is divine life. It's a higher life form than just spiritual life lived out by a normal person through regeneration, come into contact, come into possession of that life, and then begin to live it out. He says this in John 10:10. I have come that you might have life and you might have it more abundantly. More abundantly, get life and live it up.

You know, that's a great. If you could just get your.

Reading on that phrase. Because that phrase there, life more abundantly, sadly, in my view, has led more people astray through television ministries and whatnot, because they focus on the phrase more abundantly, as if it means you'll be living up in Bighorn.

You know, explain who Bighorn, what Bighorn is to us.

People, have some dough. You got to have some dough to live a Bighorn. And so that phrase more abundantly has been hammered at people through False Gospel Television Ministries, in my view, for 30, 40, 50 years. And the view is, if you're not rich, if you're not getting a million dollars in the mail, if you're not.

Perfectly physically healthy, you're not saved or praying enough.

Well, based upon that premise, I'm not saved.

Right.

And neither are you. You're a more unsafe.

I know. I got a heart that could give out any second.

Yeah, you got a little more dough to me, you and everybody else in town. So the phrase more abundantly. Give us that in the Greek and so we'll understand.

Great. Just in the English language, in the context. I mean, he's talking about eternal life. He's Talking about the life that he wants to share and impart to those who will receive it by faith in him. I mean, that's the core message again of the Gospel of John. The abundant life is the experience of the eternal life, which is the life of God that is imparted through new birth, through regeneration, at the moment a person comes to faith in Christ. So we're talking about an emphasis when we talk about the nature of this life, on character, on integrity, on moral qualities that exemplify and manifest the same moral qualities that the Lord Jesus Christ had. I think ultimately there is a futuristic slant here or nuance to this phrase. It's not only the spiritual abundant life now, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness and love shared with Jesus first and foremost and with people. That's the abundant life on this planet. But ultimately, in the future, when he returns, those who will experience the abundance of the eternal kingdom of God that it offers will be those who he allowed the Savior to prepare him for that experience, to let them be groomed and trained for that experience. So the abundant life phrase is about as far as the east is from the west or the north from the south in terms of reflecting any kind of material, ultimately material financial life or blessing. Those who use it that way are going to have a lot to answer for before God Almighty because they have significantly abused the text and they've read their theology in it. In other words, they conceive this theology and say, well, that phrase sounds like it fits my theology rather than letting the Scripture speak for itself. So Jesus preached the message of eternal life. This was the core truth and essence of his earthly preaching ministry. Not salvation, even though he talks about salvation, but eternal life. Paul preached this. Paul picked it up, and his ministry was committed as the core truth that he expounded as he traveled throughout the Mediterranean basin to preach eternal life. Now, let me at this point interject. When someone receives eternal life, God's life, the life of Christ, by faith and nothing else in the Savior, he also gets saved at that moment from eternal hell. Right. So when.

When this is not. This is not a popular teaching in the culture.

It is for me.

I know, but in the culture, I'm saying, you know, that.

The notion that a loving God would even have a place of eternal damnation.

It'S certainly in the scripture. And hell is a place.

Well, I think we forget that our God, our Father is not only loving and kind, but he's just and holy and requires truth.

To be looked at, examined and embraced. If you're going to have A relationship with him. So let's not discard or jettison certain qualities of our Creator because they may reflect some type of sober, harsh nuance.

For the more appealing qualities of our Father or our God. Love, grace, mercy, kindness. And those are justice and holiness and righteousness. So, you know, let me put it this way, let me put it in context. The love of God's life, the love of our Father's life, His son, he commissioned to become a man in order to pay the price, the judicial righteous price that he required for the issue of sin and evil.

I mean, he became the Lamb of God.

Yes.

And in context, of course, that is for a thousand years, you know, when you wanted your sins to be atoned.

For, you brought a lamb sacrifice and blood was the issue there.

Yes. I think sometimes the cultures looks at this, he's the Lamb of God, like, oh, he's just this soft, gentle lamb, but you know, the, well, he became.

This is my point. He became the Lamb of God voluntarily.

It's a sacrifice.

It is. For what? For the sin of man to satisfy God's righteousness and holiness. This is my point. Our Father, my Father is not only someone that loves me and is gracious and I can have fun with and enjoy, but it requires honesty and truth.

Moral integrity.

My good friend Jim Westford coined the phrase God is never in the lie. He's never in the lie. Why? Because he's righteous and holy. So he's going to hold man accountable. As we looked at last Friday morning, that text from Ecclesiastes, every work and every deed and every attitude, even the secret things are going to be brought into a courtroom of justice in the final analysis. Why? Because God is just. God is only.

We just say this is the eternal Perspective with Chuck Devoe brought to you by men of Messiah here on Newstalk 920KPSI. And you can join us any Friday morning at, at 7:00 o', clock, 7:00am.

At Desert Island Country Club on Frank Sinatra, just west of Buffalo.

Yeah. We invite everybody, all men, all men to join us.

We also stream live.

We stream live on Friday mornings.

Yeah. Through our website, www.minimasign.com.

So let's get back to, to this eternal.

Salvation from hell.

Tell us about that eternal salvation because.

That, because you know what I mean? I want that. I mean a lot of people, there's a lot of people out there listening right now, you know, who are, who are, you know, hear about heaven. I mean, give it to us. Come on, give it to.

Hey, every person on this planet that's alive today is gonna die some sometime. And by some means we got this actor that was just.

Terrible. Yeah.

And it can happen like that. As a guy's had three heart attacks, you could be walking around enjoying your life and then boom.

The inevitability of death, the reality of death ought to at least cause us to say, is there anything afterwards? And if so, what? Well, from a biblical perspective, and because I'm a biblicist, the Bible says there are two destinies.

Eternal life and eternal existence and salvation as a participant in the kingdom of God. Not heaven, but the kingdom of God on the new earth or hell, a place referred to as the lake, which burns with fire and brimstone.

There's no biblical middle ground.

There is no purgatory. There's no, you know, there's no county jail where you go in case, you know, there's an appeal made to your sentence. I mean, the final analysis, there's two destinies, two spheres of existence, and the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal son of God, became man so that man could have an opportunity to spend eternity equipped with the right body and spirit and everything in his presence rather than in hell.

If we could just go to that moment.

Which moment?

The moment when you're getting your room allocation at this throne.

Full of questions. Gilgal, Think about it.

But think about the amazing sadness and fear of people who are realizing at this moment that they are not going where they are.

Yeah, let me unpackage the text. I think, or at least share the text that is probably more compelling in substantiating this truth and drawing us into it emotionally than any other text in the Bible. Is Revelation, the last book in the New Testament. The Bible, chapter 20, verses 11 through 15, where the Revelator John, the apostle John, is given a picture and a description of the Great White Throne judgment. This is the final assessment and the final judgment of all people whose names are not written in the book of life. In other words, they do not possess eternal life. And God has a record of every life that's ever lived whose name is not written in the book of life, of their deeds, their words and their motivation. Every person, this is how just he is in this judgment, which is future.

Every person standing there will have an honest adjudication by an honest, forthright judge. There's no graph there. Nobody's paying them off under the table. Everything's going to be out in the open and that life is going to be examined. Now, everybody who appears in this judgment because they don't have life no matter how good they live their lives. And some people live morally better lives than others, etc. Etc. There's a whole range and variety of the quality of different lives. But everyone who's in this judgment rich.

Is bound for eternal damnation. The lake which burns with fire and the storm, not because of their sin, not because of their lack of good works, because they do not possess eternal life. That's the escape clause. That's the exit strategy. You've got to come in. That's why I come back to John. Jesus preached eternal life. Paul preached eternal life. And guess what? Men of Messiah preaches eternal life received by faith and nothing else in the Savior. Avoid that great judgment. But for those who are listening, they would like to look at a biblical presentation of this future judgment that's inevitable, unavoidable. Look at Revelation 20, verses 11 through 15. In fact, I wrote a little booklet and I'd be glad to send that to anybody that would like one. Or you can pull it up on our website in PDF format called is your name written in the book of life? Just go to the booklet section, pull it up and you can read it.

I'm always drawn to the rich man.

And the Lazarus story. When I think about those. That moment where.

Luke 16, where the rich man goes and looks across the great gulf fixed and is saying, please.

Give me one drop of water and can't get the drop. And then he says, well, at least let me go back and tell my children, my family, my family so that they won't make the same mistakes I did. It's an interesting. It's too late, he says, because between us is a great gulf fix.

Well, he also says, you know, they're not going to listen to you.

Even if someone were to come back.

From the dead, they said, because he said, they have enough information from those that are alive who are preaching the truth that they can avoid your destiny. You don't need to go back and tell them.

He says, please send somebody back from the dead to tell them. And he says, even if someone came back from the dead, which by the way, someone did. Yeah, you know, and they still don't believe. You know, it's really, it's.

It's substantiates rich the callousness and the hardness of the human heart when it comes to spiritual things, God must break through this. He must break through that veil of darkness and blindness that exists over man's heart and expose the glorious gospel in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ to these people. So eternal Hell, what we call eternal hell. And there's a lot more that can and should be said about this destiny. What is it going to be like? Where's it going to be? We're going to do a study, Lord willing, of this in the Fall. Who's going to be there? What are they going to be doing if they're not in the presence of the Lord? What? All these questions. But that destiny is confined to those who do not possess eternal life. And thus they are not safe from that destiny. When you and me, Rich, when we came into the lovely, lovely possession of the free gift of eternal life, God saved us from that destiny permanently. So there's nothing we can do or say, no matter how stupid we are, foolish, sinful though, that'll put us back into that position. He also justified us by that faith. He declared us righteous. He imputed the righteousness of Christ to our lives permanently. He regenerated us. The spirit of God came to live all this bundle and he doesn't remember our sin? Well, sure he does.

He say I won't remember?

No, he says, I won't hold it again against you. Okay, that's there. I remember, but I won't hold it. Yeah, I'd be sure he remembers. He's a little bit brighter than you and me.

I know that. Thank goodness.

And you and I remember a lot of stuff, but it's not going to impact because of what his son did and how we have benefited from that, our relationship with him. I mean.

Richard, I can't prove this, but I'm going to speculate a little bit, reading between the theological lines and clear biblical teaching. When we're with our Lord, we're not going to be encumbered by this physical body that is dead because of sin. We're going to have clarity of thought. We'll remember everything in our life, both good and evil, that we did, both saved and unsaved, both Christian and non Christian. What I think this is going to do for us is help us appreciate the grace and love of Jesus Christ. How he saw us through these things, his importunity, his perseverance, his patience, his kindness, his mercy. How he put up with us through all of these repeated mistakes and falling. And we're just going to follow this feat of worship with joy, inexpressible. It's not going to be a burden to remember these things. Well, if I'm going to remember those things, I mean, our Father remembers. I don't try to pull anything over on Him. And we shouldn't like. Well, he forgets it. He removes it as far as the east is from the West. Judicially?

Yeah, judicially.

Judicially, okay. Not experientially.

That's why we're here. That's why we're here, brother. That's why we got you here, bro.

That's why I got my Irish brother, you know?

That's why we got you, to.

Straighten us out. Well, what is the biblical requirement, Chuck, for a person receiving both eternal life and eternal salvation?

Excellent. And I've alluded to it already in my discourse up to this point, but it's. It's faith in Christ and Him alone. There is no requirement.

On a human level.

For anything other than faith in Christ as the guarantee of your eternal destiny and the giver of eternal life in order to receive that life and get saved. Faith in him. Believe the importation rich of provisos like you must repent, confess your sins, get baptized, go to church, pay your tithes. Those are all provisos that are extraneous to the core nature of saving faith. Faith is faith in Christ. When he says again, passage we alluded to last week, most assuredly, I say to you, my audience, he who believes in me has everlasting life. And he goes on to explain, you get saved from hell at the same time. Faith in him and him alone.

I like to define faith apistus or pistuo, as an inner conviction or persuasion that something or someone is true. So when Jesus Christ says, most assuredly rich, I give you eternal life by believing in me and me alone, and you say, yes, you do, you receive it. Are you saying, no, you don't. You don't receive it? Or you say, hey, I'm going to think about this a little further. I'll get back to you.

Yeah, let me.

Those are three. Either believe it, you don't believe it, don't believe it, you think about it. Yeah, more think about it. It's very simple. But if you ask him, well, do I have to do anything else other than believe or be persuaded that what you're saying is true? He'll say, no, I paid it all. And in fact, you don't need to be a theological giant. You don't need to understand all the ramifications of the Incarnation, the Trinity, the cross, the atoning work of Christ. I mean, do you really understand the impact of the atoning work of Christ on the cross? I don't. I try to conjure it up emotionally, but I really don't. But I'm learning. That's the process but you're talking about the event. How do I get eternal life and get eternal salvation? By grace, through faith in him and him alone. Once that happens, it's a done deal, it's over. I believe it. I don't believe it. Or I'm going to check it out and I'll get back to you later. Lord, nothing else in the scripture is required. Rich, you don't have to and you don't have. This is the back door kind of approach of Phariseeism, legalism. They say, well, that's fine, I agree with you, Chuck. But if that has really happened, that is, have you. If you really believe in Jesus for.

Eternal life, then you will show that in your.

And they imply that you can live. Live a sinless, perfect moral life, which no one. Guess what? Guess what?

Yeah, it doesn't say that. You'll never.

Stumble or sin. You'll never miss the mark.

Who is one of the prime examples of that in all of scripture? King David. Sure, King David. Beautiful, handsome guy.

King of Israel, anointed king of Israel.

And according to Samuel.

And the prophet Nathan, a man after God's own heart. You share with me in scripture where that said about any other human being, it's not. And yet he's up on his palace one night when he should be out.

To war, looking out the window.

He just got up from a good night's sleep. He's, you know, he's full of himself. He looks out the window and sees.

This beautiful babe taking a bath.

And he says, gosh, Lord, what a beautiful product you've made. I'm going to pray for her. That's what he says, right? She's got a husband. I'm going to pray for their marriage. I don't want to break that marriage up. This is a saved regenerate man. This is the king of Israel. You and I aren't kings. We're just disciples. No, his impulses get the best of him. His sexual drive calls her.

Orders her up. You know what happens?

Schmenagle is a way to get the husband out of the.

But he doesn't stop there. He's on a roll. This is a saved regenerate man who was the moment he believed in the coming Christ was guaranteed eternal life. He didn't lose his salvation or his eternal life because he was engaged in his sin. What he lost was fellowship with God, quality of time with him, eternal reward, etc. But he doesn't stop there, Rich. He says, I'm going to take care of her husband because He's a big. I'm starting to like this woman. All my other wives are not good enough. Yeah, you know, Abigail, beautiful woman. Good enough. I need this one.

So he has Uriah killed. He commits adultery and murder, both offenses according to the Torah, right? Punishable by death, Trapple punishment, crimes. God spares him because of his contrite spirit. Read Psalm 51, Psalm 32. I mean, he is. He's on his face, man as a redeemed, regenerate man in possession of eternal life and eternal salvation. I mean, that story is so instructive. How many sermons have you heard about. Heard about this man's life? But unfortunately.

Those who preach and preach it well, they slip back into this gutter of theological error and debris, and they say to their population, to their parishioners, I should know you.

You need to live a godly life in order to assure that you're saved. And that's not what it is.

And really, that is what is so exciting about your ministry. Okay, because our ministry, Rich, our ministry, but through you and through Jesus, of course, is the. Is the. The notion that. Listen, you know, you're a human being, you know, and. But there is an eternal perspective. We keep getting back to that title because, you know, the world looks a lot different when you have an understanding of your eternal life.

One of the greatest deterrents, this is part of that. For me to not commit adultery, believe me, I'm tempted just like anybody else, is the loss of vitality and fellowship with Jesus Christ in that moment. And the offense. The offense that it would cause to my precious wife.

Who is of immense value.

And the damage it will do to my inheritance package, not my salvation, not my eternal life.

And it's not a surprise, Chuck, to know that just because you mentioned adultery, that's a big issue, that it's rampant in our society, you know, in this world today. It is rampant. It is so painful. It is just. It destroys people's lives. And it's not a surprise. It's not a surprise that that is one of the biggest issues that as a culture we face. You know, I mean, it's. It's. You know, it's really. Where the rubber. Again, I keep saying, where the rubber.

Meets the road, you know, and to say that if you commit adultery, you engage this lifestyle, that you're not a Christian, you're not saved, you don't possess eternal life, is biblically wrong. It's anachronistic. It doesn't. It doesn't apply to Scripture. One of the things that David did have to do, though. He paid a dear price for his sin. He didn't lose his salvation. He didn't lose eternal life. He didn't lose his kingship. Although his son Absalom came after him, he lost it. He killed his own son. And then he loses his firstborn with Bathsheba, the woman he had the adulterous affair with. He dies. So there's some consequences to sin in the life of the believer, in the life of the person who saved and has eternal life.

One of those consequences, all is not lost.

Well, eternal life is not lost. Salvation and you can get restored. Let me just inject a principle here that is very important to this discussion.

Forgiveness of sin does not guarantee the reversal of consequences associated with that sin.

Exactly.

I can get forgiven, restored to fellowship with God. I can even get restored to fellowship with my wife after I've committed adultery or offended her. But there's still an edge there. There's still a consequence.

Justice will be served.

Well, it's not. It's the emotional impact. I mean, David paid heavily. He was forgiven. Psalm 51. But the consequences of sin are not a guaranteed concomitant with forgiveness of sin. You understand what I'm saying?

Say that one more time.

The reversal of the consequences of sin is not a concomitant with forgiveness. In other words, I can get forgiven, but God will choose not to reverse the consequences. Let's say I engage in sexual immorality with a prostitute. She's got aids.

Yeah, there's a consequence.

There is, but I can get forgiven. Now, God may heal me of that aid or aids, or he may lessen it. That's his prerogative as my Father. But what I'm saying in Scripture is that whenever you talk about forgiveness of sin, that doctrine, don't mix it up and infuse the idea that now the consequences are going to go away of the sin.

Chuck DeVoe with us here today on Men of Messiah's radio program, the Eternal Perspective. I think we're all right. I think we're doing good.

We're doing good.

Chuck DeVoe and Rich Gilgalan, your hosts here today. Chuck is explaining the. What is eternal life? We talked about that. Eternal salvation from hell. We talked about that. And the biblical requirement for a person receiving both eternal life and eternal salvation.

From hell and justification and an inheritance and a new immortal, glorified body. When after this one is done and an end. And I can point out, well, Lewisbury Chafer, the founder of the seminary, that I had the blessing of attending listed 33 benefits that accrue to the person the moment he or she believes in Christ for eternal life that are immutable. I think there are more than 33, but 33 will do for a start.

33, right off the top, immutable.

All because of the love and grace of God poured out on us in His Son.

Well, I don't know if there's any news that's more exciting than that.

It is an amazing supernatural storm. You know, people keep looking for supernatural answers and, you know, we have, you know, sort of almost a crazy culture of looking into the supernatural, this supernatural that. When really this is the most supernatural thing that can possibly happen to a human being.

It is on the positive side of the supernatural ledger. But we're Biblicists. Yes. And we need to remind our listening audience that we're coming at you with this passionate.

Exposition and oration of what we consider to be truth. You may not agree with us, and that's fine, but our standard.

That determines truth from error, right from wrong, even from good is the word of God in scripture or the Bible. So we're coming at it from a biblical perspective, and that needs to be kept in mind. Let me throw another passage into the net of our discussions that I think is. And you might want to look at this in your Bible with me. Titus 3, 4, 7. Titus, chapter 3, 4, 7. Very germane to our discussion.

But when the kindness and the love of God, our Savior toward men appeared, not by works of righteousness, which we have done any work, but according to his mercy, he saved us through. Through.

The washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through our Lord Jesus Christ, that having been justified by his grace, we should become heirs according to the anticipation of eternal life. Now, I chose this text because Paul mentions salvation. He. He mentions regeneration, he mentions justification, and he mentions eternal life. And he combines them all into a package that is received by the one who believes in Christ, not by works of righteousness that we've done, but according to his kindness and mercy. He saved us into a time warner has nothing over on this text. You need to bundle these truths, baby. Put them together. Permanent, spiritual, eternal.

Commodities that become ours. Permanent spiritual commodities become our possession because we have believed in Jesus Christ for the gift of eternal life. This is a tremendous passage. Not by works, just that phrase alone. And that goes very well with Ephesians 2, 8, 9, a popular text for by grace you can save through faith. Through faith. This not of yourselves it is a gift of God, not of works, not of works of righteousness.

So that no man will boast.

So that no man has a ground for boasting for his salvation. If salvation depended upon faith plus works, we can say, oh, man, look at my works. But no, it all depends on the cross. That's the price that was paid.

Well, you know, obviously no one knows human mind more than Jesus. And so just by the reason why that's there, talk to us about Chuck. I mean, so that no man will boast. Because obviously he knows that if, you know, and we can see it in our life today, in our culture today, if there's a chance for a human being to boast and put himself above others, we do it naturally.

We do rich all the time. And you see this in every area and sphere of life. My answer to that question is that.

And this is really a gift from God, what I'm about to say, in my opinion, is that he wants us to know that we had nothing to do with what he required in order to satisfy his justice and holiness. He did it all through his son, so that we can appreciate who he is and fall more in love with him. If we consider, even for a moment, I bring anything to the table of merit and worth in this experience other than faith and his son, that interrupts, that drives a wedge right deep into the heart of my experience with God, whereby I worship and serve him exclusively. Man does have this natural tendency to boast. I remember my dear friend and mentor Zane, when I. One of my counseling sessions with him is that he says, chuck, he says, you get out in the ministry as a Christian, you get out in the ministry and God blesses you. Somehow to some extent, he says, your tendency is going to be to think it's of you. You're going to boast. That's going to be your inclination in the flesh. And sure enough, I've experienced that at different times. There's been surges of maybe success or popularity or whatever. And those words come back to me. They're biblically sound.

Well, isn't that.

Something particularly for those in the pastoral world.

To watch very closely? Because we've seen it happen. We've seen, you know, a lot of pastors and evangelists, what have you, they get a little carried away a lot.

That it's about that it's entertainment. And some of these guys have got funny and entertaining personalities, and they get too caught up and carried away, take themselves far too seriously. And that's a form of boasting. And the Lord says you have no room for that in the initial salvation experience. Nor, Chuck, do you have any room for that type of dynamic, a type of psychological mindset in Christian life and experience and as a leader and as a pastor.

Well, I think the verses that attracted me as a politician back in my young days was, was when you come into the room, don't sit at the head of the table, sit. Because sit back here. Now, if they ask you to come up, you're going to look. You're going to look great. But if you're at the head of the table and somebody has to come and tap you on the shoulder and say you have to go, sit, you're supposed to be sitting over here in the back of the room. Now you feel stupid, you know, you would know what verse that.

Well, that's a passage that he goes on, talks about the marriage feast along the gamask, the future experience.

So a humble heart.

Is so important.

Is it natural God opposes the proud? He resists the proud proactively. How that manifests itself varies, but he does. But he grants grace, Karas, the Hebrew term chain. He grants grace to the humble. Therefore humble yourself under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you in proper time. And I think he's doing that with minima sign ministry, because I think we're making him a little bit proud because we love him, we love his son, and we can cast all our cares upon him because he cares for us.

What a great truth that impacts my heart. Humility. Humility is the antidote to spiritual depression, to psychological disorders.

I think people fail in the culture today, for whatever reason, because of the failure, I think, of.

Ministers. I think people view. Have a tendency to view Christians as people who think they're better than everybody else. And really it's exactly the opposite, isn't it?

Anytime I think I'm better, I think I'm better, or I think I bring a better package to the table of life and experience, I'm in deep duty. Seriously. Seriously.

And they think, you know, you're not allowed to have a sense of humor.

As a Christian, Chuck.

And thankfully that's not the case, Rich.

Because otherwise you're a shining example.

The fact that we in the body of Christ have guys like yourself who are blessing, who can make us laugh and lighten the moment.

And just in that regard, you know, I listen to your show pretty regularly during the week, and I love you, brother. And you mentioned the Lord Jesus Christ in his name the other day, and that was a tremendous risk. On your part, but you did it, and I think he's proud of that. But.

You make the show comfortable because of your humor. You've got a comedic vein running through that body, and I love it.

Well, if you can't laugh, you're on East Coast Irish. I mean, if you can't laugh, it's what happened. It's what's happened to me. You can't laugh.

You see?

I mean, you're either going to laugh or you're going to sob. I mean, you have two choices. You want to talk about two choices.

You see what the Lord does. He's brought the insane from the east coast and married it with the rational from the West Coast. But we have a wonderful barrier.

I don't know about rational. I'm not sure about the word rational.

But by the way, menname Messiah meets every Friday, every Friday morning at 7 o' clock at Desert island on Frank sinatra. Our website, rich menamesiah.comour.org, by the way, this very show that we're doing right now will be available shortly after we're off the air. And we do solicit people to join us. This is a men's ministry.

On Friday mornings.

On Friday mornings. And we solicit guys to come that are serious, are even that are curious about the word of God.

You know, serious or curious? Serious. Curious.

And so we would love to have you. We have a great group of guys and we're always looking for new guys to join us because all it takes sometimes in a community, as you know, Chuck, is one guy. You know, if one guy.

And we've seen that happen. We've seen in the early ministry, after the death of Jesus, we've seen one guy in a household bring his whole household to Jesus.

Yes.

Beautiful. I might just mention how much time we've got.

About two minutes. We got one minute, actually.

What I'd like to discuss with you and with our listening and viewing audience next week is the biblical concept of marriage. So those of you like to do a little homework and prepare for that discussion. I think it'll be a good one, a lively one. I would encourage you to read the most central passage on marriage in the New Testament, Ephesians 5, 22, 33. You can also put 1st Peter 3, 1:7 in there if you like. And.

We'Ll take a little bit different next week and just talk about that particular song. How's that sound?

That sounds great. I mean, it's a subject, certainly. I could use some help.

Well, there's an eternal perspective there. Believe me, there is an eternal perspective.

And so join us, if you will, on Friday morning. And join us next week right here. See what we got going here. Go ahead, Chuck, say a few syllables.

In closing us out here. Okay? Lord Jesus, we thank you so much, much for your kindness, your grace, your presence. And we pray that we do right by you.

Amen. We'll be back next Sunday at 7 o'.

Clock.

Thank you for tuning in to the Eternal Perspective.