The Crowd gathers

2:22pm - Welcome to the last day of Harvest 2000 live from Wollongong, Australia. It is a very bautiful, clear, and cold day here. The Entertainment Centre is about 1/2 full.

2:25pm - The Harvest 2000 Praise Band just took the stage.

Sing Praises to the Lord!

2:30pm - The Harvest 2000 Praise Band just sang "All Hail The Power", "Lord, I Lit Your Name On High", & "My Redeemer Lives".

2:38pm - Bruce Clarke & Ricky Ryan welcome the audience. Pastor Bill Beard from Lighthouse Christian Centre opens in prayer. Bruce Clarke introduces Jennifer Knapp.

2:44pm - Jennifer Knapp sings "A Little More" and "Hold Me Now".

2:45pm - The audience is singing along with Jennifer Knapp.

2:49pm - Ricky Ryan is on stage introducing Wollongong's own Steve Grace.

2:50pm - Steve Grace is singing "How Great", as everyone claps along.

2:57pm - Bruce Clarke introduces Rod Irvine who is the senior pastor of Figtree Anglican Church. Pastor Rod Irvine leads the people in a word of prayer before receiving the offering.

3:00pm - Steve is now singing "We Need God In This Town".

3:03pm - Bruce Clarke has Greg & Cathe Laurie and John Collins come up to the podium to receieve a beautiful painting of yesterday's baptism which took place in Belmore Basin in Wollongong. This painting is to be put up at Harvest Christian fellowship in honor of the wonderful event.

3:05pm - Crystal Lewis takes the stage. She sings: "One Man", "Lord I Believe", and "People Get Ready".

3:18pm - Ricky Ryan tells the audience to get prepared for Greg's message. Crystal Lewis sings one more song - "Lord, I Believe".

The Gospel is preached

3:30pm - Pastor Greg is thanking everyone for being so hospitable in Wollongong.

The message title is "What Happens After I Die?"

Tonight we will talk about a subject many of us would like to avoid; Death. Death isn't a respector of persons. It doesn't matter if you are a billionaire or the poorest of the poor, an old person or a very young person, a President, King Queen, Prime Minister, Movie star, or a Rock star. EVERYONE eventually dies! Only those who are prepared to die are really prepared to live. Somehow in our minds, we feel entiled to a long life, but there are NO guarantees of this. In fact, we don't know when Death is coming. But it is. For the Bible says "There is a time to be born, and a time to die..."

How long WILL I LIVE? There is really no answer. Though it has been predetermined, we don't really know when that is. God appoints the day of our birth, He has also already appointed the hour of our death. Job 14:5 says, "You have decided the length of our lives. You know how many months we will live, and we are not given a minute longer." The Bible says "It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgement". That is why we always want to heed the Biblical admonition to "Prepare to meet your God!"

Knowing that there is an appointed day can take a lot of stress out of life. What if this were your last day on earth? Are you involved in things you would be ashamed of when you stood before God? Then make the necessary changes, because God is giving you another day.

In a few minutes I will give you an opportunity to "Prepare To Meet Your God". Don't let it pass by. You may never have another like it again! Eccl. 3:1-3 says, "To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; A time to plant and a time to pluck what is planted; A time to kill and a time to heal; A time to break down and a time to build up.

But the question is "Where do we go?" That is entirely up to you. according to the Bible, there are only 2 options: Heaven and Hell. You etermine if you will go to Heaven or Hell depending on what you do with Jesus Christ. He died on the cross for you because you were separated from God by your continual sin. If you refuse His free gift, you have chartered your course. Where do you want to spend eternity? Heaven or Hell?

Everyone will stand before God one day. The teaching of a finaljudgement is clearly taught through Scripture. Acts 17:30 says, "Truely these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, 'because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead."

2 Peter 2: "The Lord knows how to rescue Godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgement, while continuing their punishment. This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the sinful nature and despise authority."

Jesus said, "But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the DAY OF JUDGEMENT." The fact that there is a future judgement assures us that ultimately God is fair. This teaching of future judgement should satisify our inward sense of a need for Justice in the world. The Bible also tells us "for the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality."

Listen! Every wrong in the universe will ultimately be paid for! Either it will turn out to have been paid for by Jesus Christ when He died on the cross (if the offender repents of their sins and put their faith in Him). Or it will be paid for at the final judgement (by those who do not trust in Jesus for salvation). ONLY non-believers will be at the Great White Throne Judgement. John 3:18 says, "He who believes in Me is not condemned but he who does not believe in Me is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Begotten Son." If the unbeliever is already condemned, then what is the purpose of the last judgement? The purpose of this final confrontation between God & man is to clearly demonstrate to the non-believer WHY he is already condemned.

Anyone who has been exposed to the truth of God's Law is held responsible. For those who might say "I lived by the 10 Commandments". It would clearly be shown they did not. We all fell short of God's standard for us: Absolute Perfection. The Bible says, "If you offend in one point of the Law you are guilty of all of it."

"Every idle word a man speaks, he'll give account of on the day of Judgement," the Bible tells us. Ecc.12:14 says, "For God will judge us for everything we do, including every hidden thing, good or bad."

People instinctively know right from wrong. They demonstrate that God's Law is written within them, for their own consciences either accuse them or tell them they are doing what is right. The day will surely come when God, by Jesus Christ, will judge everyone's secret life.

Some people will say, "I have my own Religion, my own beliefs! I'll live by those." The fact of the matter is you don't even live up to your own standards you have set for yourself, much less God's!

Remember, you are responsible for every time you hear the Gospel and don't respond to it. KNOWLEDGE BRINGS RESPONSIBILITY! The Bible tells that "anyone not found in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire." This is the 2nd death. "Born once, die twice. Born twice, die once. There are no 2nd chances at the 2nd death. God took radical measures to keep us out of Hell. Being just and holy, the sin issue had to be settled. The Bible tells us that "the soul that sins shall surely die. The wages of sin is death."

God wants you in Heaven! Jesus prayed, "I desire that they may be with us and behold my glory." When you're in love with someone, you want them with you. So God poured out His wrath on His own dear Son so we wouldn't have to face it!

Let's say you were driving on the freeway and were on your way to cross a large bridge over a raging river. Suddenly, you saw a large sign, "Warning! Bridge out, use other exit!" But you were determined so you sped up toward that bridge. As you got closer, you saw more signs "Do not enter" "Danger" "Bridge out". Still you sped on. As you got really close you saw police cars with lits flashing, and officers waving and yelling for you to turn back, yet you sped on until you broke through those barriers and went off the top of that bridge to a watery grave.

Now, whose fault was it that you drowned? The construction crew? The police officers? NO, it was your own fault! You ignored the warnings. In the same way, anyone who ends up in Hell in that final day will have no one to blame but themselves. God has clearly placed the warning signs. He has told us "The wages of sin is death".

As I said, in that final day there will be no one in either Heaven or Hell by accident. EVERYONE OF US HAS SINNED and will face Hell if we do not TURN TO JESUS CHRIST.

Don't put it off.

The road to Hell is paved with excuses.

Yes, Death is coming. We determined where we will spend eternity by our decision to follow or not follow Jesus Christ.

The work of the Holy Spirit