[0:00] Good morning. Welcome to the worship service. We've been blessed already with what's been happening so far, and we want to finish the service with a direct message from the Word of God.
[0:22] And so this morning, wanting to continue in the series in Revelations, on eschatology. And as in last week, we talked about the resurrections, the first resurrection and the second one.
[0:43] And blessed is he who has part in the first one, a reference to believers being resurrected out of the graves and to be with our Lord in new bodies.
[0:56] And we looked at that happening over stages. And with Jesus Christ being the first fruits out of the grave, on Easter morning we looked at people coming out of the grave, and there's different stages where it will happen.
[1:17] The rapture will be for the church and so on. And then the second resurrection is that of the dead that are not in Christ, and they will be resurrected unto condemnation.
[1:33] So this morning we want to do the flip side, the different judgments that God has with the end times associated. And so we want to look at the same way.
[1:48] There's different stages of judgment as well. And so maybe, again, we've been taught that there will be judgment of everyone in one day, but yet Scripture teaches us there will be different judgments to different groups and so on.
[2:08] So again, I have a question. How many people die in the world every day? How many people in the world die daily?
[2:35] I heard a million somewhere. Was that a guess or was that accurate? Anyone else?
[2:52] 140? Are you, do you know? Okay. I don't know for a fact, but to, a while back I did look it up on Google, and I think it was closer to 300,000.
[3:11] And out of 7, 8 billion people, and you divide that out, 80 years of life, 360 days, it comes out to a third of a million every day.
[3:27] That is Grand Prairie times five. The city of Grand Prairie times five die daily in the world.
[3:44] That's staggering. And what's, what's each one of them facing when they die? God. God. And judgment.
[4:08] The eternal future is before every soul that passes on. And so, this is, this is very critical.
[4:25] First of all, that we ourselves are confident of what lies before me when my time will come.
[4:36] secondly, it, it puts emphasis on the importance of sharing the gospel.
[4:48] Of bringing people to a point of decision that they can choose. To equip them to choose.
[5:02] To surrender to God or not. and, and just like we all have to choose, so do they. And so, that's, that's the brevity, the seriousness of death.
[5:19] And, as Hebrews 9, 27 says, we have been appointed, it's been appointed for men to die once, but after this, the judgment.
[5:33] And so, why why is there a judgment needed? Why, why can't God not just pull back and relax about this?
[5:54] He's just. He can't. His very being can't. Because he is holy and just and everything sinful has to be accounted for, accounted for and judged.
[6:14] And so, sin, all sin, transgression against our Father has to be judged. and it affects every human being.
[6:31] Every soul will give account. And so, when it comes to judgment, perhaps a question, how confident am I to meet God?
[6:51] How confident am I? that's a question that affects everyone in this room.
[7:15] And if we're old enough to understand death, then we're old enough to deal with this question. Even for children, we start to process and to think about these eternal values.
[7:38] When we are judged here on earth, like in a court of law or in whatever situation, when we're judged, what's that judgment based on?
[7:53] The law violation, another word would be performance based. I violated the law of the land.
[8:12] And you get one of these yellow things. Or whatever, right? it's performance based.
[8:25] I didn't measure up. I violated. I'm guilty. Pay. And it's God ordained the law of the land to keep order.
[8:38] But we're talking standing before God almighty. That performance based mentality will get us where?
[8:51] Into hellfire. Let no one deceive you. If we think that God has a set of scales and performance, I've been a good person.
[9:12] surely, surely the goodness of God will let me in. We are deceived. And so naturally, what we experience here on earth and from our flesh, it's all about performance.
[9:38] And yet when we stand before God, it will not be based on performance for the believer. It's going to be about the grace of God.
[9:51] Are our sins covered by the blood of Jesus Christ? You know, as a child of God, how much favor can you gain with God by serving Him?
[10:10] How many brownie points? zero? Zero. Zero. Is that programmed in our mind?
[10:26] We are commanded to serve God, to do good works, but it does not gain us access or favor with the Lord. It's the fruit of having Him living inside.
[10:40] God and out of a thankful heart, we serve because we have the heart of God in us, but not to gain favor.
[10:55] And so when we think of judgments, again, we're going to divide into two camps, the judgment of the believer and of the unbeliever. God's grace.
[11:07] And Elliot, thank you for choosing that song on the grace of God. Grace greater than sin. And the longer I go in ministry, the more I realize how shallow my understanding of grace is, God's grace.
[11:36] It's like I'm starting to get a little finger on it. The depths of God's grace, which is undeserved merit or favor.
[11:56] Did you know that grace is opposed to flesh? It's the opposite. And so we struggle to understand properly the grace of God.
[12:23] When we stand before God, how many sins can we carry in our back pocket that are undealt with? Zero.
[12:37] Zero. If there's even one sin not covered by the blood of Jesus, you will be denied access to the kingdom.
[12:48] them. And I'm not preaching a works-based gospel here, but either our sins are covered by our Lord Jesus or they're not.
[13:11] That is the bottom line. sin. And so I want to start this morning with the believer's judgment. And we did look at the judgment seed of Christ earlier in this series.
[13:29] We're going to revisit that a bit. But in the judgments, the judgment of the believer is the first aspect, our sin has to be judged.
[13:49] And Jesus Christ died for that purpose and like 2 Corinthians 5, 21 tells us, He became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
[14:10] Jesus became sin for you and for me. And it's on that basis of my acknowledgement and surrendering to God, it's on that basis where the Lord, the Father gives us the Holy Spirit to identify us as belonging to Him that we can stand before God boldly knowing my sin is taken care of.
[14:52] So this is the judgment of our sin. And it is very crucial that we understand that. John 5, 24, I'm going to turn there and read that verse.
[15:07] John 5, 24. You want to turn with me? You want to turn with me? most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes in him who sent me has everlasting life and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.
[15:51] Let's read it again. He who hears my word and believes in him who sent me has everlasting life and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
[16:10] Eternal life has started when you put your faith in the finished work of our Lord Jesus. And we shall not come into judgment.
[16:29] Does that contradict Hebrews 9? For it has been appointed to men to die once, but after that the judgment? the Bible does not have contradictions.
[16:48] And so here we're told the believer will not be judged, and yet we are told about the judgment seat of Christ where the believer will be judged, but for a different purpose.
[17:02] And I'll get there in a few moments. So with that our sin, every sin, has to be accounted for. And it's been done by Jesus Christ as we apply His sacrifice to us.
[17:21] The second aspect in the judgment of the believer is self-judgment. And it pertains to my life here and now.
[17:33] and it's not in regard to my eternal destination, but in regards to my relationship with, my fellowship with the Father.
[17:46] And so we are commanded in Scripture to examine ourselves continually, to self-judge, and to confess our sins, to clean up as we become aware of them.
[18:03] As 1 John 1.9 would tell us, we are to confess our sins, and God is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us. 1 Corinthians chapter 11, and I want us to turn there, 1 Corinthians 11, it talks about this self-examination, and I want to touch into this a bit, to see how we understand this.
[18:38] 1 Corinthians 11, and we'll start in verse 27, chapter 11, therefore, whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
[18:57] But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.
[19:12] For this reason, many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.
[19:30] God's hand of chastening or judging upon us in this life is real. When we refuse to judge our own behavior, our own actions, as was in the Corinthian church, they were having communion services unworthily. Their characters did not match God's. There was greed, selfishness, not looking after one another.
[20:16] And as a result, we have this teaching, we are to judge one another, or not one another, judge ourselves. Sometimes we so easily judge one another, but we are not to. We are to judge self.
[20:34] When we refuse to respond to God's love, He allows things in our life.
[20:48] And here it talks about weakness, sickness, and death. And God says He allows this to chasten us, to discipline us, to bring us back to Him.
[21:07] Now, I'm not a fear mongerer. I don't believe that every time you have the sniffles, that we start pointing fingers, there is sin in your life.
[21:25] We cannot do that. And I know of people that are programmed that way. And you know what? It puts you on a performance rollercoaster life.
[21:39] I've got a cough or sore throat. What have I done wrong? We can't live in fear like that. Yet, do we acknowledge that God allows weaknesses, sicknesses, because we're not judging ourselves?
[22:01] Is there an aspect of this Scripture that applies today? Can God take out a believer early?
[22:14] Because He's not refusing to judge Himself? According to this, yes. Ananias and Sapphira in Acts chapter 5.
[22:29] And the fear of the Lord fell over the church. We are mistaken if we think God does not do this today.
[22:42] There are those aspects. We need to acknowledge and recognize that. And yet, we are not to go around looking at the next guy.
[22:53] Oh, he's sick. Or he has cancer. Oh, God's wrath is upon him. That is not my business. But you know what?
[23:04] In my life, when I'm not feeling well, you know what happens? I'm talking to God. I'm examining myself.
[23:20] Always. And maybe it's because God has slowed me down to get me to focus with that illness. Whatever it be.
[23:32] And so it's a self-examination. And it's a process that perhaps the church does not understand well. And so we need to be aware of these things.
[23:46] That as a believer, as a child of God, we are to judge, to examine ourselves according to the Word of God. And if things don't line up, we are to repent and to come right with Him.
[24:04] And to walk in fellowship with Him. Very, very important. Very, very important. The third part of the Christian's judgment is the last one.
[24:27] And that is the judgment seat of Christ. And so our sin is judged already. As a believer, it's taken care of.
[24:43] Jesus died and took all sin upon Himself. And for every soul that turns to God, application is made.
[24:58] Past, present, future. The depth of God's grace is in that equation. You know, when you became a believer, God knew every sin, sinful thought you would have.
[25:22] Every action that you would take until you died. And He declared you righteous. This is grace.
[25:34] There's no performance base here. It's grace. It makes God so big.
[25:50] And me so small. And you know, to understand this does not give me a license or desire to live fleshly.
[26:02] The very opposite. As I understand the grace of God. That I'm covered by His blood. In gratitude. To live for Him.
[26:17] So this is, this is the believer. The judgment seat of Christ is where we will meet God. Our Jesus Christ. And we will be judged according to our works.
[26:30] And we went through this at the beginning of the course. And so, 1 Corinthians 3 outlines it.
[26:41] We'll be judged for what we have done since we became a believer. And our works will either stand the test or fail.
[26:54] And if they fail, they'll be burnt up. And if they stand, we will have reward. And so, the judgment seat of Christ, where we will stand before Jesus Christ, give account of my life as a believer.
[27:08] And be rewarded for eternity accordingly. It's not about heaven or hell. It's about our eternal state.
[27:22] And the rewards that will be associated with us. So this is the judgment seat of Christ. And that is the last judgment that will happen to the believer.
[27:35] And from that on, from then on, we will be perfected. I'll turn to Romans 14 and just read a few verses there.
[27:48] Romans 14. Verse 10 through 12.
[28:03] Romans 14. But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
[28:15] For it is written, As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess God, to God.
[28:25] So then each of us shall give account of himself to God. The judgment seat of Christ. So in the church, we are not to condemn or judge one another.
[28:41] The Bible judges sin. And God uses us to sharpen one another up with that. But we are not to cast down judgment on one another.
[28:53] When we don't understand what they're doing. Each one of us will stand before Jesus and give account. And that looks us back in the face.
[29:07] So that's the judgment seat of Christ. So the believer then will also be judged on works in the end, but not for salvation. It's for our eternal reward.
[29:18] And so just so we have that very, very clear. So your eternal destiny is determined here on earth.
[29:28] And so when we pass on, when we take our last breath, whether I will stand before the judgment seat of Christ, or I will stand before the great white throne, which we'll cover at the end here, the judgment of the unbelievers, is determined here and now.
[29:49] Have I, in faith, turned to God? Okay?
[30:02] It removes all works. And so we have to, we have to mentally recalculate how we're programmed to think.
[30:15] All right, let's look at some other judgments. And we're going to kind of just skip through them quite fast. Has Satan already been judged? So I'm now switching to the unbelieving side.
[30:28] Has Satan been judged already? Silence. Not yet? Not yet? I believe he has.
[30:51] I believe he has been judged on the cross after the resurrection. Satan was defeated and judged as guilty.
[31:06] His power lay in death. And his power was broken. Satan is still out there. He's awaiting sentencing.
[31:21] His jail term. But he already knows he's judged. He knows he's condemned. And the time is coming as we, as we, as our brother read for us that Satan was cast into the lake of fire in, in Revelations 20.
[31:46] And so, so there's the aspect of Satan as, as the leader of evil has been judged already. And, and then, how about Israel?
[32:01] Has Israel been judged? That is yet to come.
[32:14] In fact, all the other judgments are yet future. And so, Israel, Bible is very clear, Israel not being part of the church, unless they're a believing Jew today.
[32:28] But, Israel, Old Testament, and Israel, non-believing today, they are facing a judgment. Every human being on a personal level faces God and judgment.
[32:45] And, and so, with Israel, it sounds like there will be a, in a sense, a corporate judgment, but also a personal one.
[32:55] and, and I'm going to read a few verses in that. Zechariah, chapter 13, the book of Zechariah.
[33:12] If you're unsure where it is, but three books before Matthew, Matthew, or two.
[33:23] Zechariah 13, and I'll read in verse 7 through 9.
[33:36] Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, against the man who is my companion, says the Lord of hosts. Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.
[33:50] Then I will turn my hand against the little ones. It shall, excuse me, it shall come to pass in all the land, says the Lord, that two-thirds in it shall be cut off and die, but one-third shall be left in it.
[34:06] I will bring one-third through the fire, will refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested. Then they will call on my name, and I will answer them, and I will say, this is my people, and each one will say, the Lord is my God.
[34:26] And so the context here in Zechariah is against, regarding Israel, Israel, and there is a judgment coming to the nation of Israel, not just the nation, but Jews everywhere, and God is saying here that in the tribulation period, I will refine them, and two-thirds will not survive.
[34:52] two-thirds of the Jewish population will be, will die under God's judgment.
[35:04] And he says, one-third will be saved. They will endure. And in Romans 11, it says, all Israel will be saved, and it's a reference to the return of Christ.
[35:20] all that have survived the tribulation period will turn to the Lord. They will acknowledge Him as Savior. They will grieve and mourn when they see the prince on his hands and on his feet.
[35:37] And they realize we were wrong. And so God has a judgment for them. Have they been judged already? Absolutely.
[35:50] absolutely they have been. And the Jews have been through much judgment already. But there is a completion that is yet to come.
[36:03] And so, and it's a result of them rejecting the Messiah. The next judgment that Scripture talks about is that of the Gentiles.
[36:13] It's also at the return of Christ. And it's regarding the sheep and goat judgment. And let's turn to Matthew 25.
[36:25] Matthew 25. And verse 31 and onward.
[36:46] When the Son of Man comes in His glory and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.
[36:59] All the nations will be gathered before Him and He will separate one from another as a shepherd divides His sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand but the goats on His left.
[37:15] And remember last message out of Daniel 12 we learned about a time period of first 30 days and then 75 days past the return of Christ and blessed is He who lives past that.
[37:34] Well it's in reference to judgments like this. So here we have all the Gentile nations of the world gathered before the Lord.
[37:47] So all that aren't killed in the battle of Armageddon all people it's going to be a grand restart on the population of the earth as God gathers all Gentile nations and divides them sheep and goats.
[38:09] The goats the unbelieving it says will be going to hellfire and the sheep will enter the kingdom the thousand year reign.
[38:25] Just like God did a restart with the flood with Noah it's happening again. for the millennium for Jesus' reign and so the start will be like Noah with just believers just believers and as we finish that message probably the next time I speak we'll learn that they don't all stay believers or their offspring won't necessarily be believers believers.
[39:03] So that's the sheep and goat judgment where the living will be judged. It's not the dead it's the living a physical living dead spiritually on the goats and alive spiritually on the sheep but they will be divided and so this passage and I'll let you read it for yourself has often been a little bit maybe misused to turn it into a works gospel it talks about dressing the naked and feeding the hungry and so on but it's not a works but the works is the evidence of their faith and that's what's intended here so that's the judgment on the Gentiles as God will do that so the believers are judged the church
[40:04] Israel is judged at the return of Christ and the unbelievers are now judged our passage in in chapter 20 in revelations it talks about those that were beheaded beheaded for for their witness during the tribulation period they they will be resurrected and and it doesn't say judged but they too will likely go through something like the judgment seat of Christ it says they will reign with him they will be rewarded so we're not given details on their resurrection but the the the next in line is the the sentencing of Satan and as we as we continue in chapter 20 it says when the thousand years have expired one millennium
[41:11] Satan will be released and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth Gog and Magog to gather them together to battle whose number is as the sand of the sea then they went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city and fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them so what's the picture here Jesus starts a thousand years with a reset at the end of a thousand years Satan is released for a short season and he goes in deception and gathers and gathers the unbelievers against the city the camp of the saints Jerusalem you know that teaches me something that under the righteous reign of
[42:16] Christ where there will be peace every individual will have to choose God surrender to God and the saying that God has no grandchildren is verified he only has children everyone has a decision to make we blame Satan and he misled humanity but he is in jail for a thousand years he's in the bottomless pit it's sealed he has no voice and and with that all the evil demons are there with him there is no influence the realization that my human heart is guilty and God is going to bring that out and so
[43:37] Satan is going to go deceive and many will follow and gather against the Lord Jesus and the saints in that city and you know what it says God will send fire down from heaven and devour them and it's kind of you know it's almost like another Armageddon but this time it will be complete the end the end of evil as Satan is then in verse 10 the devil who deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever and so that is that is the fate of Satan that's his sentence and all the demons will join him there and the false prophet and the antichrist will have a thousand years of experience in hell by this time and they'll be joined by their leader and then comes the great white throne judgment after this last battle and where all unbelievers from all ages will be will be resurrected to stand before
[45:09] God and it says the books will be opened and the books will reveal that there's no faith we've rejected God it'll be works based our works will reveal that we did not put faith in God and what happens to them verse 12 and I saw the dead small and great standing before God and books were opened and another book was opened which is the book of life and the dead were judged according to their works by the things which were written in the books the sea gave up the dead who were in it and death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them and they were judged each one according to his works and then the next statement and then death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire this is the second death so all all of death will have its final destination hell fire today a place of torment which is temporal temporary says
[46:35] Hades will be placed into the lake of fire so the temporal state of torment will be gathered for the eternal state and dumped in with Satan and so all unbelievers will then join what God designed for Satan and the demonic world will will go there it was never God's intent that any any person created in his image go there that was not God's design but our choice so we need to know the heart of God here and so but because he is just he will follow through there will be no turning back there will be no unfair compassion or mercy like we humans often show
[47:48] God will be just and I am so so thankful for that if God allowed even a few sins into heaven then what would we have gained just think about that we want it to be pure and so God knows what he's doing so that is the great white throne judgment and it's the last event before we have the eternal state of the new heavens and the new earth and the new city and so that is the judgments I realize that's very briefly we could dig into a lot more but that's maybe a challenge to you to read your scriptures and Lord willing
[48:49] I'm going to do one more message on life in the millennium as Old Testament scripture has much to say on the conditions of that thousand year reign so I'll do one message just kind of overviewing that and then my plan is to do a couple more on the eternal state on heaven and to be with the Lord forever and so with that I want to I want to close as we think about judgment as as I wrestle with that am I bold to come before his throne can I die in confidence like Paul said to die is gain you know
[49:53] Hebrews 10 says come boldly before the throne of grace are we able to do that now because if not how could we boldly face him in judgment if my relationship isn't here ready here on earth that I'm that I'm bold with my father then how will I stand before him on judgment day and so that's that's something to ask are we hesitant or are we fearful we need to face reality and deal with it and so whether you're you're a child here this morning or a youth or a young adult or an adult or an aged adult the question is before us and for younger ones if this is making you think talk to your parents talk to your parents about this they can help you to settle this question let's pray father you are gracious and merciful but also just you are perfectly balanced and holy in all your ways we praise you for that father as we recognize that we see more clearly our fallenness our sinfulness and as our sinfulness grows the grace of
[51:56] God grows as well as we realize what you've done for us Lord I pray for each individual in this room this morning that are listening perhaps out there that we would come to a point of having that confidence of knowing I am your child knowing that I have the Holy Spirit knowing that Jesus took my judgment upon himself may you lead and draw convict as you see fit father in Jesus name amen