The Last Judgement

Good evening.

Tonight we're on lesson number five in our study of eschatology. We're looking at the last judgment.

Lesson number three, we looked at the second coming of Christ. Lesson number four, last week, taught us about the resurrection. And tonight we study the last judgment. And the reason why we do it in that order, all three of these events are cotemporaneous. These happen and they're part and parcel of one another. A good example that may help you conceptualize this is if you think about an old American tradition that goes all the way back to actually ancient English courts, the judge enters the room. And what does the bailiff say? All rise, right? And then judgment begins. When Christ returns, He returns as judge. The dead are raised and He judges the quick and the dead, the living and the dead. And that's what we'll be looking at tonight. Let's look at Bible point number one.

At the second coming of Christ, all, all is the first blank. All people, both the living and the dead, will be gathered for judgment. The dead will be resurrected for judgment. So the dead are resurrected. Those who are living are judged as well. Likewise, fallen angels, angels is a second blank,

will be judged on that last day. Way back three years ago when we did the person and work of God, what we call theology proper, we looked at angels, right? And there are fallen angels, which we call demons. And then there are holy angels, which of course serve the Lord continuously. Well, those fallen angels have a day of reckoning and it takes place right alongside the judgment of all men.

Likewise, fallen angels will be judged at that last day. The last judgment is the final and complete vindication of God's righteousness. It is God maintaining His righteousness and if He does not maintain His righteousness, He is not holy, right? He must punish sin and He must uphold righteousness. The character of all will be made known. Known is the third blank.

The character of all will be made known to the universe. Everything will be displayed at that point.

And they will be awarded their corresponding destinies. Destinies is the fourth blank. All their words and deeds will be laid bare before the judgment seat of Christ. And based upon if they're in Christ or not, their destinies will be determined at that point.

Look at 2 Corinthians 5.10.

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that each one may receive the things done in the body according to what He has done, whether good or bad. We're all judged according to our works, right? We all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. The righteous will receive reward. The unrighteous will receive their corresponding destiny.

Application for number one, is it possible to avoid, avoid is the blank, to avoid the judgment seat of Christ?

No, He's got a long arm. There's nowhere you can run that He can't reach you. We mentioned before that Judgment Day, Old English for Judgment Day is Dom's Day, the day of judgment, the day of reckoning. You may have heard people use that term to refer to tough times and they'll call themselves a doomsday prepper, right? And they will store up food or maybe have an escape plan, right? Well, there's no escaping the final judgment. There is no prepping against that when Christ calls you to the bar, all will bow.

But point number two,

while scripture ascribes all earthly punishment of the wicked as a type of judgment,

it also intimates that these are partial, imperfect and incomplete. In other words, wicked deeds are self detecting and self punishing, are they not? If you take drugs, you're probably gonna pay the price in your body, right? If you steal, you very well may get caught, you very well may have yourself shot at by a homeowner, right? So there are consequences in this life for those sins and those are a type of judgment, but they're only partial, they're incomplete.

In this life, evil doers sometimes persist without, without is the second blank, without apparent punishment. Sometimes the evil doers get away with it. They get away with murder. They would actually say crime pays. They rob a bank and they make off with the money, right? So in their mind, they're all right. They've escaped judgment, right?

The wicked think God delights in evil deeds and they boldly cry out, quote, "Where is the God of justice?" That's a quote from Malachi 2.17, where they think and they say God delights in evil deeds, where's the God of justice? They're not afraid of facing the judge because they think they're getting away with it because things have been easy thus far in their life.

In this life, the saints are not always openly rewarded. You read through Proverbs and it talks about how the righteous will prosper, but the righteous don't always prosper in this life, right? Jesus said that if you are my disciple, should you not expect to be persecuted?

Should you not expect to be maltreated if they treated the savior that way? How should we expect any different?

In disillusionment and despair, they, the righteous, sometimes errantly cry out, quote, "It is useless to serve God. What prophet is that we have kept his ordinance?" And that's a quote from Malachi 3.14, where the people of Israel are saying, hey, the wicked are prospering, they're getting away with things. What I'm doing is useless to obey God. It's not helping me. It's not getting me ahead. I'm not being benefited or rewarded in this life.

Asap wrestled with such thoughts in Psalm 73, such a beautiful Psalm. If you never read that, I encourage you to read that. I'm gonna read to you a little bit of it here.

Asap writes, "But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled. My steps had nearly slipped,

and their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other men, nor are they plagued like other men. Therefore pride serves as their necklace. Violence covers them like a garment. Their eyes bulge with abundance. They have more than heart could wish. They scoff and speak wickedly concerning oppression. They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongues walk through the earth. Therefore his people return here, and the waters of a full cup are drained by them. And they say, how does God know? And is there knowledge in the Most High? Behold, these are the ungodly who are always at ease. They increase in riches. Surely I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocence. For all day long I have been plagued, and chastened every morning.

If I had said I will speak thus, behold, I would have been untrue to the generation of your children. You wouldn't have built up faith. You'd have discouraged people. When I thought how to understand this, it was too painful for me. Until I went to the sanctuary of God, then I understood their end. And when to the sanctuary of God, you realize that God is holy, and a holy God must punish sin. And those evildoers who are covering themselves with pride like a necklace, or covering themselves with violence like a garment, who are oppressing the righteous, they will have their comeuppance.

They think right now that they are scot-free. That's why they boast, that's why they brag. But once he went into the household of God, and he saw God lifted up, his heart was eased, right?

Scripture points us to the last judgment as the answer to all such apparent, apparent is the third, or the second blank, apparent, apparent discrepancies of this life. In other words, yeah, they look like they're getting away with it, but they're not really. Their deeds are being written down.

God will universally vindicate, vindicate is the fourth blank. His justice in a definite public, public is the fourth blank, public, and visible day of judgment for all men. That means that the judgment will be definite. It is certain. It is public. All deeds will be laid bare, and it will be visible for all the world to see, that all the world may glorify the righteous judge.

Acts 1730, this is where Paul is on Mars Hill, and he's reasoning with the philosophers. Truly, these times of ignorance, God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent. He was laying it on them, saying, you must 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.

Johnny Cash had a good old song, "When the Man Comes Around," right? Talking about the day of judgment, he based it on this verse here, that we will be judged by the righteous character of the Lord Jesus Christ at that last day. Therefore, we must repent now, because then it'll be too late.

Flip over on the back.

Revelation 6, 9 through 11,

speaks of the souls of the martyred who are in heaven, who are crying out for justice, crying out for the day of judgment.

"When he opened the fistio, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. And they cried out with a loud voice saying, how long, O Lord, holy and true, until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth. Then a white robe was given to each of them. And it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who would be killed as they were was completed.

Letting them know that there's still to be more martyrs, right, but on the last day, God will vindicate the righteous, he will vindicate his people. Flip back over on the front.

The application for number two, do you ever pray? Do you ever pray, praise the blank, like the saints do in heaven? Do you ever pray for God's justice to be done? That is a good prayer to pray. When you read through the Psalms, you see that modeled over and over and over again. Sometimes it's referred to as imprecatory prayers. And what they're simply doing is they're calling on God to uphold the judgments of the law, right? When you read through Deuteronomy 28, you'll see there's blessings in keeping the law. Christ merited every one of those by keeping the law perfectly for us. But then following that, about two thirds of that chapter is a curse as we're breaking the law. And everyone who's not in Christ will receive those curses, right? And so when we pray for judgment to come, it's not that we're being vindictive or hateful or spiteful, but what we're doing, we're praying for the widow not to be oppressed. We're praying for the fatherless to be protected. We're praying for the poor not to be run over. We're praying for the single moms not to be taken advantage of, right? We're praying for God's goodness to be upheld in society and for the wicked one to be punished.

But point number three,

scripture always speaks of the last judgment as a single, single is a blank, a single event. It is not a period or process occurring over multiple timeframes. Believers are to look forward to the day, not days, but the day of judgment. Day is a first blank or a second blank.

When Christ the judge returns, returns is a third blank in glory. Second Thessalonians 1, 6 through 10 describes this. Raises all the dead. John 5, 28 through 29 describes this. And purifies all things in the renewing of the heavens and the earth and righteousness. We find that in 2 Peter chapter three.

The last judgment is inseparable. Inseparable is a fourth blank. From Christ's coming, his parousia, his revealing his apocalypsy and his appearing his epiphanaea and his day. We discussed all these back in lesson three when we discussed the return of Christ.

Second Timothy four verse one and verse eight. Look what Paul tells Timothy. I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ who will judge the living and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom. So he raises the dead and he judges them all the living. Finally verse eight, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge will give to me on that day. It's universal both the wicked and the righteous are judging the same day. He receives a crown of righteousness. And not to me only, but to all who have loved his appearing. That is something to look forward to on that day. That crown is not something that you deserve, but it's something that is graciously given to you. It's a glittering crown of Christ shared with his bride.

Flip over on the back.

Look at reference point number three on the back. There's three different verses that we just referenced. But I wanna read them to you where you can see his judgment and resurrection and his second coming all coinciding. Since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels and flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power. When he comes in that day to be glorified in the saints and to be admired among all those who believe because our testimony among you was believed. It'll be a glorious day, right? The Christ who is ascended and right now reigns in glory will be manifested on that day. John five, 26 through 29. Here again, this is all linked together. As the father has life in himself, so he's given the son to have life in himself. In other words, God the father and God, the sons share the same underived life. They have life in and of themselves. They're God and only God has that. Verse 27, "And has given his authority "to execute judgment also "because he is the son of man."

Christ has been given all authority to judge. He has taken on humanity in his incarnation. When he rose to sit at God's right hand, he was already endowed with that authority from the beginning of the world. But now he's risen as the God-man, the perfect righteous man, the man that we all will be judged by occupies the throne of heaven. And it's because of that, he's the son of man, that all judgment has been committed to him. It says, "Do not marvel at this, "for the hour's coming in which all who are in the grave "will hear his voice." Christ, it's not the balith, it's Christ, we'll say, arise. "And come forth those who have done good "to the resurrection of life "and those who have done evil "to the resurrection of condemnation."

Then look at 2 Peter, chapter three, four through seven and 10 through 13.

And saying, this is those who are trying to discredit their faith, those who are naysayers, "Where is the promise of his coming? "For since the fathers fell asleep, "all things continue as they were "from the beginning of creation. "For this they willfully forget "that by the word of God, the heavens were of old, "the earth standing out of water and in the water, "by which the world then existed perished, "being flooded with water." Saying, God spoke this world into existence, he calls the ground to come up out of water, and he calls the water overflow the land in the flood.

Verse seven, "But the heaven and earth, "which are now preserved by the same word," remember in the Noahic covenant, "God said, never again will I destroy the earth with the flood. "And he gave us the sign of the rainbow, "so it's kept, now it's preserved. "It will never flood again." It's preserved from his judgment from the water by the word of God. "By the same word are reserved for fire "until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men." The same word that God upholds this world, keeps it from being flooded, he's gonna send fire when he returns, right?

Verse 10, "But the day of the Lord "will come as a thief in the night, "in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, "and the elements will melt with fervent heat, "both the earth and the works that are in it "will be burned up. "All of creation has been corrupted by mankind's sin. "So when the Holy Christ returns in judgment, "it will all dissipate. "Therefore, since these things will be dissolved, "what manner of persons ought you to be "in holy conduct and godliness? "What are you gonna leave behind? "How are you gonna live your life? "Are you living your life to leave a stone house to somebody?" That stone house will be gone at the day of judgment, right? What will be left behind are deeds of righteousness, right?

Looking for the hastening and the coming of the day of the Lord. Not only should we live in godliness, but we should be looking and hastening the day of the Lord, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat. Nevertheless, we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. When he destroys the old heavens and the earth, what happens? He creates new heavens and new earth, that righteousness dwells, that the curse is no longer operative, right? Where the thorn no longer pushes against the skin, where we no longer sweat in our labor, in our brow. We no longer have all the curses that came through the sin of Adam and Eve. They're gone in this new creation. Righteousness will dwell. Look back over on the front.

Application for number three.

How is, and this is a quote from the next to last verse in the Bible, how is it even so come Lord Jesus, a plea for judgment? Judgment is a blank for number three. How is even so come Lord Jesus, a plea for judgment?

It's imprecatory, is it not? We're praying that God's will be done on earth as it is in heaven. We're praying for righteousness to fill the earth when we say even so come Lord Jesus.

Bible point number four.

Scripture always speaks of the last judgment as a singular and universal, universal is a blank.

Reckoning for all, all is a blank, all men.

It's a single and universal reckoning for all men. It means the dead will raise, the living will be judged as well. Everyone will be judged whether you're Jew, whether you're Gentile, whether you're rich, whether you're poor, whether you're slick English speaking Westerner, or whether you're from an Aboriginal tribe with not much of a written language. No matter who you are, God is no respecter of persons, right? There's no impartiality with God.

It does not consist of a segregated judgments. One singular judgment. Scripture abundantly testifies that the righteous and the wicked appear in judgment together, together is a third blank.

Before final separation, separation is a fourth blank. We all appear together, but then Christ separates the sheep from the goats. He separates the wheat from the chaff, the wheat from the tares.

You see these references in Matthew 7.21,

Matthew 25, Romans 2, 5 through 7, Revelation 11.18 and Revelation 20, 11 through 15. Let's look here on the front here, Romans 2, 5 through 11.

But in accordance with your hardness in your impenitent heart, you are treasuring up for yourselves wrath and the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. It's warning them, those who are stiff-necked, those who are impenitent, that they're treasuring up judgment against themselves and the day of wrath.

Six, who will quote, "Render each one according to his deeds, eternal life to those who by patient continuance and doing good, seek for glory, honor and immortality, but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish on every soul of man who does evil of the Jew first and also of the Greek, one judgment of all men. But glory, honor and peace to everyone who works what is good to the Jew first and also to the Greek, for there is no impartiality with God."

Flip over on the back.

Let's look at these other references where it speaks of a singular judgment, universal judgment, Matthew 7, 21 through 23.

Jesus said, "Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but who does the will of my Father in heaven? Many will say to me in that day, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name and done many wonders in your name? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you, depart from me, you who practice lawlessness." So he's doing a separation there,

gathering the righteous to himself, casting out the wicked. Matthew 25, 31 through 33.

"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him." This is his judgment seat being pictured. "And he will separate them one from another." He gathers all the nations, all peoples, and he separates them one from another. "As a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats, and he will sit the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left hand."

Revelations 11, 15 through 18.

"Then the seventh angel sounded, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, the kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever." Amen. And the 24 elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying, "We give you thanks, O Lord God Almighty, the one who is and who was and is to come, because you have taken your great power and reigned. The nations were angry and your wrath has come. But the time and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and you should reward your servants, the prophets and the saints, and those who fear your name, small and great, and should destroy those who destroy the earth." All right? So when he comes, all will be judged, universal judgment. Revelation 20, 11 through 15. "Then I saw a great white throne and him who sat on it, from whom whose face the earth and heavens fled away." Rings right there with 2 Peter 3 that we were reading earlier, right?

"And there was found no place for them. 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." Everything we do is gonna be written in that book, right? The sea gave up its dead and those who were in it, the death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them, the graves. "And they were judged each according to his works. Then death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire." Say, "There will be no more death for the righteous at that point." This is the second death. "And anyone not found in the, written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."

Back over on the front. The application for number four.

"Are you dead in Adam or alive in Christ?"

Those are the only two distinctions that matter. You get no special place in the judgment because you're Jewish or of Abrahamic descent. You get no special place if you're a Westerner. You get no special place if your grandfather was a preacher. And so was your father. You get no special place if you've been to church every single Sunday for the last 20 years and never missed one, not even in the hurricane. No special treatment. We all must appear before his judgment seat of Christ and all that matters are, are you dead in Adam or are you alive in Christ Jesus?

By point number five, the object of the final judgment is not the ascertainment. Assertainment means the investigation or the determining. It's not the ascertainment, but the manifestation, the manifestation is a first blank of one's character

and the assignment of the outward conditions corresponding to it.

To the out omniscient judge, the condition of all moral creatures is already and fully known. Think about that. God knows the very words on your lips before they even leave them.

He knows the thoughts in your hearts. There's no place you can go out of his sight. As David said in Psalm 139, you can descend to hell, right? And to the grave, even there you are with us, right? I can take you into the wings of the morning, get to the highest place you can imagine. And even there, God is there, right? So the point of judgment isn't God's benefit. It's not like he needs to ascertain and figure out if you've been naughty or nice like Santa Claus looking on his list. Not at all. God already knows that because he's the omniscient judge. He knows everything. But it's the manifestation of your deeds, thoughts, attitudes to the whole world laid bare. So all will say, God is just, right? He judges righteously. As Abraham said, "Well, not the judge of the earth do what is right." He always judges truly.

To the omniscient judge, the condition of all moral creatures is already and fully known. The last day will be but, quote, "The revelation of the righteous judgment of God." Romans 2, 5 through 6, and also 1st Timothy 5, 24 through 25.

"All men are inwardly," inwardly is the second blank, "inwardly judged in their life through the consequences of sin." When he sinned and robbed you of peace with God, right? It estranges you from God the sinner who is unrepentant, who's not in Christ, is not reconciled to him, right? So they are apart from the life and goodness of God. So all men are equally or inwardly judged in their life through the consequence of sin and also in their death as they enter the intermediate state. Their very death shows that they're guilty, right? Because the Bible says, "The soul that sins shall surely die." Exactly right. "All men are outwardly," outwardly is the third blank, "judged at that last day. Their works follow them." Revelation 14, 13. "Every idle word will be counted." Matthew 12, 36.

That's profound when you think of what Jesus says there, "Every idle word." How many times have I said foolish, empty, stupid things, right, that weren't edifying, that weren't building up, that weren't true? How many times did I just, in sin, am I just, right? We will give account for those things. "Every thought, word and deed, will be exposed," exposed is a fourth blank, "and brought into the light."

Flip over on the back.

Look at 1 Timothy 5, 24 through 25.

Some men sins are clearly evident, right? They are kind of like, what was the character's name on Peanut who carried the dirty blanket,

was a Linus or was it Pigpen? Pigpen, right? They always had a cloud of dirt wherever he went. Some men and women, their lives, it's evident. They are filthy sinners and they don't even try to hide it, right? And that's what he's saying here. Some men sins are clearly evident, preceding them to judgment. But those of some men follow later. Some people are very, very clever to have a veneer about themselves. Where they appear righteous, like the Pharisees, right? Who Jesus says you're like a whitewashed sepulcher. You're painted bright white on the outside, but on the inside you're full of dead men's bones. Likewise, verse 25, the good works of some are clearly evident and those that are otherwise cannot be hidden. Likewise, there are righteous people that you just know they're righteous. It's like they're dropping breadcrumbs wherever they go of grace, right? Because their lives are so filled with the Spirit of God, everything they say and everything they do,

the aroma, the fragrance of Christ, right? They're being salt and light in a dying world, in a dark world. Put that girl on the front.

Look at Luke 12, two through three. For there's nothing covered that will not be revealed nor hidden that will not be known. Therefore, whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light. And what you have spoken in the year, in the inner rooms, which you've whispered, will be proclaimed on the housetops.

Application is this. You can hide from your sins from men. But not, but not from God.

Another Johnny Cash song was, sooner or later God's gonna cut you down. That was one of his popular songs later in life, saying you can run on for a long time. You can think you're getting away with it. But your deeds will be exposed and you will be held into account.

By point number six, the judge of the final judgment, judge is the first blank. The judge of the final judgment is Jesus Christ. All judgment has been committed to the son. We read that a little bit earlier.

You can look at these references for other verses that are talk about Christ being the judge. The honor of judgment was given to Christ in his exaltation to the glory of God the Father. And we find that in Philippians 2, nine through 11, Christ deemed himself to be,

basically to make himself as if he had emptied himself of all this glory. He didn't see any problem making himself a servant and taking on servant form. And he lived a perfect life for us, fully fulfilling all the law, perfectly obeying God. So he could die for us as our perfect substitute, as our sacrifice in our place. But this same Christ who was crucified, dead and buried, what does that tell us in Philippians that God raised him from the dead and seated him at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty, that's his exaltation, right? That every knee should bow and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

All authority was given to him in heaven and earth. See that Matthew 28, 18, you know that from the Great Commission, right? Is the ascended Christ, the risen Christ right before his ascension says, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Christ now literally, literally is the second blank, rules over all the earth. Revelations 1.5 says this.

I like to say literally rules because there are some who say, Christ rules spiritually through his church and through the word and through the spirit. No, that is not what the word of God says. He does reign through his church, yes. He does reign through his word and he does reign through his spirit, but he sits on the very throne of David right now in the heavenlies. And it says that he rules over all the kingdom of man. Revelation 1.5.

Every throne is Christ.

We may think that President Trump is one of the most powerful men in the universe. Who put him there?

It's Isaiah say, Isaiah 40, that he raises kings and he cast them down.

He is far above all principality, power, might and dominion. Ephesians 1.23, 23, he's been exalted high above any authority, visible and invisible. When Christ returns in the last judgment, it will be the high point of his exaltation. Exaltation is a third blank. As those who suffered at the hands of, as he who suffered at the hands of men will return to judge them.

All those united to him will sit with him on his throne and participate, participate is a fourth blank, in his judgment. This blows my mind when you think about it. I encourage you to look up these references that the righteous will even be judging angels, it says, at his judgment.

He would deem us worthy to do so. It's not because we are worthy, it's because we're one with Christ. We're united to him and he allows us to share in his reign and rule. What does Ephesians say that even now we sit with him in the heavenly places, right? We've been blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus. 1 Corinthians 15 53 says, for this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality. Flip over on the back.

Revelation 1, 4 through 5. Kyle, John the Apostle, begins the book of Revelation. He says, "John, to the seven churches which are in Asia, grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the first born from the dead and the ruler over the kings of the earth." It's not a ruler over the kings of the earth, he's not figuratively ruling over the kings of the earth, he's the one who's been given all authority in both heaven and on earth. 1 Corinthians 6, 2 through 3. "Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge one another in the smallest matters?" Paul is correcting the Corinthian church because they were taking things to courts of law outside the church and he says, "Don't you know you're gonna be judging angels and you can't handle these own matters in between yourself, they can't have unity among yourselves?"

And he says, "Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more things that pertain to this life?"

Well, it was my mind, we have no idea what that's gonna look like, but we know it's God graciously in Christ Jesus

sharing his throne is what the scripture says with the saints.

Put that cover on the front. (Sighs) Application for number six, "Seeing that you will reign and judge with him, be holy." Be holy.

He is the judge, he is the standard by which we will be judged, right? And so we wanna live a holy life, right?

By point number seven,

the first ground of the last judgment is the law, law is the first blank, is the law of God, Romans 2, 12 through 13.

God's law is a transcript, transcript is the second blank of his holy character. Some of you students will be going to college one day and you will have to get your transcripts together showing that you've done your work, right? Well, the law is a record, it's a transcript of God's holy character. It's perfect embodiment, the laws, perfect embodiment and fulfillment is found only, only in Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ is therefore both the judge and the word. Word is the fourth blank by which he judges. He is the word of God made flesh. You wanna see what perfect humanity looks like, you look to Christ, you wanna see what holiness looks like, you look to Christ, you wanna see what perfect love looks like, you look to Christ, you wanna see what perfect obedience looks like, what perfect love to your neighbor looks like, you look to Christ. So the judge is also the law by which we are judged by. John 12, 48, Jesus says, "He who rejects me and does not receive my words has that which judges him." The word that I have spoken will judge him in that day. He reject the testimony of Christ, that he is the holy one of God made flesh, and he will reject you at that last day.

Flip over on the back.

Romans 2, 12 through 16, "For as many as have sinned without the law, will also perish without the law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law." In other words, the Jews will be judged by the law, Paul's writing, but he's saying those who don't even have the law, like the Gentiles who had never heard the law of Moses, they're also gonna be judged, right?

"For not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified. For when the Gentiles do not have the law, by nature do the things of the law, these though not having the law, are law unto themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts. Their conscience also bearing witness and between themselves their thoughts, accusing or excusing them. And the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel." Saying that within every person, because they're made in the image of God, they have God's moral fingerprints written on their heart where they have an innate sense of what is right, an innate sense of what is wrong. It's why in cultures all around the world, you can't explain morals by mores, social mores, in other words, sociologists often say, "Well, there's no such thing as universal absolute morality."

Society frowns on killing people in all cultures because they missed their loved ones, so that's why it's wrong. No, it's wrong because they're made in the image of God and their blood cries out for justice, right? There's absolute morals and God puts that in every man's heart. That's why when you're witnessing to someone and they start to throw up all kinds of intellectual objections, and at the very minute, you bring up moral culpability that they must repent.

Don't bite, go straight for their heart. Continue to speak to their conscience. What do you do with your guilt? How can you cleanse your hands? How can you stand before a holy God? Because the Holy Spirit is He who convicts them of sin, of righteousness and judgment. He works within their heart and in their conscience to prick their conscience, right? To make their conscience alive and hopefully to quicken them, right? That's what we pray when we are witnessing with others. Flip back over the front.

Application for number seven, look to Christ and not to the world for your perfect standard. Standard, look to Christ, not to the world for your perfect standard. Don't try to say, "Well, I wanna be as good as whoever." Bill Gates or Michael Dell or whatever sign of business you think is a good guy, or some movie star or some television preacher. Don't use them as your moral standard. They will let you down. How many times have you seen a well-known past or fall, right?

Don't put people on pedestals. Only put Christ on the pedestal, right? He's there. But point number eight, the second ground of the last judgment is the grace. Grace is the first blank. The grace of Christ, Romans 3, 20 through 21. By God's infinite grace, he gives even the righteousness. Righteousness is the second blank. The righteousness of God through faith. Faith is a third blank in Jesus Christ for all those who believe. That's Romans 3, 22. By his grace, he gives us the very righteousness of Christ, his perfect merit through faith in Christ Jesus. By grace alone, we are saved. Saved is the fourth blank, Ephesians 2, 8 through 9. None of us can measure up to the character of Christ. The judge judges us by his word, judges by himself, right? None of us can measure up. So we'd all fail that test, but graciously,

Christ says, "Whosoever believes in me will not perish, but have everlasting life," right? He offers us grace through faith in the finished work of Christ Jesus.

Flip over on the back.

Romans 3, 20 through 22.

Therefore, by the deeds of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight. You can keep on working and doing good deeds, walking old ladies across the street, giving money to the poor. It's not gonna get you to heaven.

For by the law is a knowledge of sin. The law shows that you're a sinner, and that you can't measure up. If you're breaking the law at one point, you've broken all of it.

But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the law and the prophets. And who is that? Christ, right? He's the righteous apart from the law. He's been witnessed to by the law and the prophets. Even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe, for there is no difference. What a blessing that is, that you are counted as righteous when you trust in the righteous one. And the law giver will say, "Come on to me." Right?

By application four, number eight.

"He who believes in him is not, not condemned." That's from John 3, 18 through 21. You know how that verse goes, "He who believes in him has eternal life, "but he who does not believe is condemned," what? Already, you don't believe, right? She forsaken the law giver.

But by point number nine, "At the last judgment, the books opened, "are books of condemnation." Because what do they record? Every deed we've done, right?

"And which are written the names of those "who stand in their sins. "They are unrepentant and unforgiven rebels." Just because they have died doesn't mean they cease to be who they are. Remember, we're not sinners because we sin. We sin because we are sinners. Sin is not just an action, but it's a state. It's a condition. Being a rebel against God of rejecting him and those in hell reject him, right? To their own detriment.

"The book of life is the book of justification," that's the third blank, "and which is written every name "that is graciously united to Christ the Lord. "The last judgment will be unmixed," that's the fourth blank, "unmixed blessing for believers."

Unmixed blessings. Some people have, I've heard postulated from the pulpits before, that the last judgment, all your deeds are gonna be done, you're gonna be weeping and crying, and not for the righteous. It's gonna be unmitigated joy. You're gonna be transformed totally into his image at his return, right? You're gonna be glorified in a moment in twinkling the eye, "We shall be changed," right? And we're gonna be with him, and it's gonna be all glory in his presence. "We will rejoice and be glad and give thanks "and give God glory," Revelation 9.17. "We will be made clean and bright "and commune with him forever," Revelation 9.8.

Revelation 20.12.

"And I saw the dead, small and great, "standing before the Lord, and the books were open, "and another book was open, 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 application for number nine. Rejoice and be glad and give Christ glory. Day of judgment is not a day of dread for the Christian, but it's unmitigated joy and reunion and seeing the face of our loved ones and seeing the face of Christ.