The Future: Judgment

Good morning!  We’re closing in on the end of our long running series on Sound Doctrine.  In fact, there is just one more message next week about the New Heavens and New Earth.  Today, we are going to talk about the Final Judgment.

We’ll look at the Scriptural evidence of this coming event, its timing, who will be judged and how, and we’ll talk about why judgement is necessary and God’s justice.  We’ll look at the application of these truths in our lives today.  And we will briefly talk about hell, the doctrine of eternal punishment.

So, what does the Bible say?  Revelation 20 describes not only the millennium we talked about last week, but also the release of Satan and the great battle leading to the defeat of Satan forever.  At this point we read about the judgment:

Then I saw a great white throne and Him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from His presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.  --Revelation 20:11-15

Regarding timing, it’s clear when it will happen.  It will come after the thousand year reign of Christ and the Final Battle.  Of course, I cannot tell you when that will happen.  Scripture does not tell us that.

It is clear from this passage, though, who will be judged.  It says in verse 13 that both the living and dead, every one of them will be judged.

How will all peoples from all-time be judged?  This passage says according to our deeds.  If you’ve heard the gospel, you know the message is that we must believe in Jesus to be saved at the final judgment.  This also comes across in the message of Revelation 20.  There are books and books filled with deeds we have all done, but there is a special book:  the Book of Life.

Verse 15 gives the ultimatum.  Anyone whose name is not written in the book of life will be thrown into the lake of fire.  How then, do you get your name in the book of life?

If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.  --Romans 10:9-10

When we trust in Jesus, we are saved.  Our names are written in the book of life.

What about this idea of judgment of all people at one time and place?

Other passages give the view that when we die, we are immediately present before God or immediately sent to a place of punishment.  There is the story of Lazarus and the rich man in Luke 16:19-31.  This story is told such that we see Lazarus in heaven and the rich man in hell while the rich man’s brothers are still living.  This is a parable of Jesus, but it does appear that the judgment for these two men in the parable was given at once upon their deaths.  Additionally, Hebrews 9:27 states, “Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.”

Why is it necessary for there to be a final judgment of all?  God is all-knowing.  Surely, He doesn’t need to read through the books of our deeds to make His judgment.  This final judgment appears to serve a public purpose.  It is a wider display of the truth from Philippians 2:10-11, “… at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”  At the final judgment, every creature will see at once God’s holiness and righteousness and His grace and mercy.  This will be seen at once for all peoples from all time.  This final judgment serves a bigger purpose than just us as individuals.

What about the justice of God’s final judgment?

This idea of judgment sometimes makes us nervous.  I think in part it is because our own judgments are flawed, or more likely because we see others’ judgments toward us as flawed.  So, we fear too that God might make a mistake in His judgments. 

Just this week at work, I landed in a situation where someone implied that my judgment was harsh or unfair.  In fact, it wasn’t even my judgment.  It was someone else’s judgment.  I just happened to be the person who was explaining a decision by a third party.  I described that judgment impartially as though it was settled and could not be changed, but my colleague thought this judgment was unethical and the right action was to fight against it to try to overturn it.  This kind of thing happens.

But with God, there won’t be complaints on that last day.  In fact, in the parable about Lazarus and the rich man, the rich man doesn’t ask Lazarus to get him out of hell.  The rich man accepts the judgment of God.  God “judges each one impartially according to his deeds” (I Peter 1:17).  “God shows no partiality.” (Romans 2:11).  “Every mouth [will] be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.” (Romans 3:19)  The multitudes of heaven will rejoice in God’s final judgment as seen in Revelation 19:1-2:

After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting: “Hallelujah!  Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for true and just are His judgments.”  Revelation 19:1-2

God’s final judgment is (and will be) just.

Throughout our series, we’ve used the book Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem as a source.  The following points regarding application of these truths in our lives today come from his writings.

1.  The doctrine of Final Judgment satisfies our inward sense of need for justice in the world.

2.  The doctrine of Final Judgment enables us to forgive others freely.

3.  The doctrine of Final Judgment provides a motive for righteous living.

4.  The doctrine of Final Judgment provides a great motive for evangelism.

We know and see that all things are not fair or just in this world.  My colleague was frustrated by a perceived injustice at work.  We are unsatisfied with real situations like the ongoing persecution of believers.  And yet, God is in control, and He sees.  He will settle all accounts.  All will be made right in the final judgment.

It is not up to us to take revenge.  God has reserved that right for Himself as it says in Romans 12:19 which is on the front of your programs.  If we have been wronged, we can give this up to God knowing that it will be paid for in one of two ways.  Either it will have been paid for by Christ in His death on the cross (if the wrongdoer is or becomes a Christian), or it will be paid for at the final judgment (if the wrongdoer did not trust Jesus for salvation).

Knowledge of the final judgment restrains sin.  For those unbelievers who have no knowledge of a coming judgment, “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Romans 3:18), and they will live as such.  For believers, the final judgment can be an incentive to faithfulness and good works.  This is not so that we might earn forgiveness of sins.  Instead, we can look at Jesus’ admonition in Matthew 6:20 where He said, “store up for yourselves treasures in heaven.” 

When we grasp the reality that the decisions people make in this life will determine their eternal destiny, we are energized to communicate the good news that they can turn away from their sins and come to Jesus.  Jesus preached “Repent!”  He did not preach, “Repent for the final judgment is near!”  He preached, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”  This is the good news.  Jesus has made a way for us to come to heaven for eternity.  Let’s work diligently to increase the number of names in the book of life.

We’ve talked through the main points about the final judgment.  It seems necessary to speak about the result of the judgment against those who do not choose Jesus.

Revelation 20:15 says their destiny is the lake of fire.  This is a place of eternal punishment.  Satan, the beast and the false prophet were thrown into it. Of them, Revelation 20:10 says, “They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”

This terrible place is repeatedly mentioned in Scripture as a place of conscious, knowing punishment.  (Matthew 25:30, 41, 46, Revelation 14:9-11)  Jesus calls it “the unquenchable fire” in Mark 9:43.  Some would propose that people would be punished only for a time and then cease to exist.  And yet, Scripture does not give this as a possible interpretation. 

From a logic standpoint, if a person could be punished for a time and then have paid for their own sins, it would seem logical at that point they would be able to go to heaven.  We tend think about sin as a “zero sum” game.  As if, we could make up for our sin by spending an appropriate amount of time in punishment.  There is something more going on with sin.  Sin ultimately is a rejection of God as God.  Sin is a perpetual lie unless it is repented of.  There seems only to be a time for repentance before death.  After that, it appears we are no longer able to change our position.  As Revelation 22:11 says, “Let him who does wrong continue to do wrong; let him who is vile continue to be vile; let him who does right continue to do right; and let him who is holy continue to be holy.”  Perhaps this continues on for eternity among those who have rejected God.

What are we to think of this doctrine?  It is hard.  We should be moved to sorrow.  If it does not move us to sorrow, then we are emotionally and spiritually deficient.  Paul himself said about his fellow Jews who did not accept Christ, “I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.” (Romans 9:2) God Himself says that He has “no pleasure in the death of the wicked.” (Ezekiel 33:11) Jesus expressed with anguish His desire to gather everyone to Himself in Matthew 23:37-38  (also Luke 19:41-42) saying, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate.”

Though this doctrine may cause us distress or even agony, we have to realize that what God has taught in Scripture is right.  We may not like it, but we should not hate it.  We should not rebel against the truth.

And so, it is not time for us to celebrate the final judgment.  It has not yet arrived.  As we talked about before, our hearts and minds should be turned to increasing the number of names which are found in the book of life.

Then those who feared the LORD talked with each other, and the LORD listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in His presence concerning those who feared the LORD and honored His name.

 “They will be mine,” says the LORD Almighty, “in the day when I make up my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as in compassion a man spares his son who serves him. And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.

 “Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire,” says the LORD Almighty. “Not a root or a branch will be left to them. But for you who revere My name, the Sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall.”   --Malachi 3:16-4:2

Jesus preached, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” not “Repent for the lake of fire is coming.”  Let our focus be the blessed Son of righteousness.  Let’s tell others about Him with joy, full of life.  Amen.