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Meadow Vista SDA Church

Nelson Ernst

Out on a Limb

Okay, well, our Sabbath school this morning, at the end, we were discussing and bemoaning the fact that we don't hear sermons about the investigative judgment so much.

So, although that would be a great theme to start off the new year with, the investigative judgment, I have a sermon on a different topic, but I will say this.

When is the first example in the Bible of the investigative judgment?

How about any guesses as to earlier than that for an investigative judgment?

Well, you can't go much earlier than that.

How about when God came to earth after Adam and Eve sinned?

He asked questions, and once he found out the information from those questions, then he meted out the executive judgment.

That's just a miniature example of an investigative judgment that precedes an executive judgment.

Another example that goes right after that, you guys will like this.

Turn with me, literally, in your Bibles, go to Genesis 6.

I want you guys to see this with your own eyeballs.

Genesis chapter 6 and look at verse 10, I'm sorry, 11 and 12.

This is another example of an investigative judgment by God.

I want you to catch the words here, okay?

Because it's only 2 verses and the words are super important.

We're gonna like, just, this is not even the sermon yet, so.

Is that a sentence that's a question sentence?

Remember there's declarative, imperative, and interrogative sentences.

In other words, sentences where you tell people to do something is imperative.

Sentences where you ask people something is interrogative.

And the sentences where you're just saying something is declarative, like you're declaring.

It's just saying simply this is how it is, but then look at the next verse.

He looked upon the earth and indeed indeed it was corrupt.

That verbiage there indicates that God, even though he knew it was corrupt and it was a fact that it was corrupt, He went out of his way to investigate, to look, and then to verify.

I mean, you and I can look at this world and see it's corrupt, can't we?

We would just mete out the judgment like that, but God doesn't do that.

He goes out of his way to investigate and then to verify the facts before the judgment comes.

You guys know the more popular 1 of the Tower of Babel.

There's an investigative judgment there before God comes and knocks that tower down and changes people's languages.

It says that God came down to see what they were doing.

In fact, that portion where it says that God came down, and this is the last thing I'm gonna say on this, then we'll get into the sermon.

I just gotta say, that portion where it says God came down to look, that is the apex of a chiastic structure.

Now for those of you who don't understand what I just said, We can have another sermon some other time, but many of you understand what I just said.

So it's a point of importance in the Bible.

All right, let's get into our sermon today.

Turn with me in your Bibles to John chapter 14.

John chapter 14, and we're going to look at a place where the Bible looks like it contradicts itself.

That's his way of saying that the Old Testament doesn't contradict itself.

Now, I apologize in advance if the beginning elements of this sermon, if some of you have maybe heard something like this before, this is the problem when you preach in 1 church multiple times, which I don't, I mean my home church is the only 1 I do that at, but sometimes you just forget what you've preached before and then different elements of sermons sometimes make their way in.

But I guarantee you there's plenty of new material here.

Look, if I can't remember it and I preached it, I find it highly unlikely that you'll remember either.

We're not going to pray because we already prayed.

If inside of that house are separate mansions.

In my father's house are many mansions God must have a big house if inside of that house are separate mansions In my father's house are many mansions Does that sound like a real physical thing to you that you can touch those mansions yes right I think so if it were not so I would have told you I go to prepare a place for you no wait a minute do you see the problem there so which 1 is it Are there physical buildings available for us, the redeemed?

Or does God, does Jesus have to go and build those?

Vasili, you work with houses all the time.

Maybe he has a better insight on this 1 than the rest of us.

When I read this a while ago, it really stood out to me and it made me wonder what's going on here because It seems like God is saying that there's mansions in heaven.

Now, who do you think lives in those mansions?

Obviously, we're gonna live there, but I would just submit to you that there are empty mansions there, physical places of dwelling, and they're empty because of what?

Did some people used to live there and they don't live there anymore?

You know we're gonna take the place of those fallen angels, right?

So maybe, now I'm not gonna put a lot of theological weight on that.

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Out on a Limb

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