Sermon: "Yes, There Is A Judgment Day"
This week and next week we are going to be looking at two subjects that Christians don’t talk about very much – God’s judgment and God’s wrath.
We realize these are not popular subjects to study and that many people, including many Christians consider them to be unpleasant topics.
Some people become afraid when these topics are discussed. Others only want to hear about the love of God and the glories of Heaven.
I admit that there are things about the judgment and wrath of God that can be frightening, but if you will ask the Holy Spirit to open your eyes of understanding, I believe these two lessons will fill your heart with praise and thanksgiving for the God who is our Creator, Savior and Judge.
Yes, God is our Judge and each of us must face his judgment. Our scripture lesson says …
HEBREWS 9:27-28 - 27Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
As you accept the reality of a coming judgment it causes you to call on the one who will judge you to be your Savior and it affects how you live each day of your life.
We often talk about God as being our Creator, our Father, our Provider, our Friend, our Refuge, and our Savior. We seldom speak of him as our Judge, yet …
I. THE BIBLE REFERS TO GOD AS “JUDGE”
In the book of Genesis, Abraham called him …
A. THE JUDGE OF ALL THE EARTH
God had told Abraham that he was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah because their sin was so grievous. Listen to Abraham’s response …
GENESIS 18:23-25 – 23Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? 25Far be it from you to do such a thing – to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?”
Abraham clearly understood and accepted the truth that God is the Judge of all the earth.
Asaph who wrote many of the psalms said …
B. IT IS GOD WHO JUDGES
Listen to what Asaph wrote …
PSALM 75:4-7 – 4To the arrogant I say, “Boast no more,” and to the wicked, “Do not lift up your horns. 5Do not lift your horns against heaven; do not speak with outstretched neck.” 6No one from the east or the west or from the desert can exalt a man. 7But it is God who judges: He brings one down, he exalts another.
Strong words from a man who wrote many beautiful psalms that speak of the love, goodness and mercy of God. Asaph was willing to look at all aspects of God.
At one point in the history of the nation of Israel they were ruled by men appointed by God called judges. One of those judges was a man called Jephthah. He called God …
C. THE LORD, THE JUDGE
When God’s people entered the Promised Land God gave them the land where the Amorites had been living. Later the Ammonites attacked Israel because they said that the land really belonged to them. Here is what Jephthah told them.
JUDGES 11:23. 27 – 23Now since the Lord, the God of Israel, has driven the Amorites out before his people Israel, what right have you to take it over.
27I have not wronged you, but you are doing me wrong by waging war against me. Let the Lord, the Judge, decide the dispute this day between the Israelites and the Ammonites.
Here is what happened.
JUDGES 11:28, 32 – 28The king of Ammon, however, paid no attention to the message Jephthah sent him.
32Then Jephthah went over to fight the Ammonites, and the Lord gave them into his hands.
God is, indeed, the judge.
Let’s just take a few moments and look at some …
II. EXAMPLES OF GOD’S JUDGMENT
Of course it begins with ….
A. ADAM AND EVE
Adam and Eve choose to disobey God and God judged them. He expelled them from the Garden of Eden and pronounced curses on their future earthly life. Today we are living with the results of those curses.
Another example of God’s judgment was …
B. THE FLOOD
In Genesis we read …
GENESIS 6:5-7 – 5The Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. 6The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. 7So the Lord said, “I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth – men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air – for I am grieved that I have made them.”
There is no doubt that the flood was a curse of God upon the earth. Listen to what he said after the flood.
GENESIS 8:21b – “Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.”
Earlier we referred to another example of God’s judgment when we spoke about.
C. SODOM AND GOMORRAH
We know that a good deal of their grievous sin was the homosexuality that was running wild in those cities. Here is what God’s judgment brought upon those cities.
GENESIS 19:24-25 – 24Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah – from the Lord out of the heavens. 25Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, including all those living in the cities – and also the vegetation in the land.
Another very vivid example of God’s judgment can be seen in …
D. THE TEN PLAGUES
God had called Moses to lead his people out of Egypt. The Pharaoh of Egypt was not happy about losing his slaves and refused to allow them to leave. As a result Pharaoh and the Egyptian people experienced a little of God’s judgment. Listen to just some of the results.
EXODUS 7:20b-21 – 20bAll the water was changed into blood. 21The fish in the Nile died, and the river smelled so bad that the Egyptians could not drink its water. Blood was everywhere in Egypt.
EXODUS 8:17 – When Aaron stretched out his hand with the staff and struck the dust of the ground, gnats came upon men and animals. All the dust throughout the land of Egypt became gnats.
EXODUS 8:24 – Dense swarms of flies poured into Pharaoh’s palace and into the houses of his officials, and throughout Egypt the land was ruined by the flies.
EXODUS 9:10 – So they took soot from a furnace and stood before Pharaoh. Moses tossed it into the air, and festering boils broke out on men and animals.
So far we have seen that the Bible refers to God as “Judge” and we have seen the devastating effects of his judgment. Now we are going to start moving away from history and start moving closer to each of us as individuals. We will take the first step in this direction by looking at …
III. FOUR TRUTHS CONCERNING GOD AS YOUR JUDGE
The first truth concerning God being your judge is …
A. HE HAS THE AUTHORITY
God is your Creator. As your Creator he has a right to deal with you as he pleases. He has the right and the power to make laws for you and to reward or punish you according to whether or not you obey them.
The next two truths can bring great comfort to you if you love God and strive to obey him. However, if you choose to live your life to please yourself they should cause you to be distressed. The first truth is …
B. HE KNOWS RIGHT FROM WRONG
Many people are very good at coming up with reasons to justify their actions. They can tell you that it was okay for them to steal, to gossip, to commit adultery or to be selfish, because their situation was different. Often they can get many people to agree with them. That won’t work with God. He knows right from wrong. But even more importantly …
C. HE CAN DISCERN THE TRUTH
I would not make a very good judge because people can fool me. I have had people sit in my office and tell me things which I believed and then later found out they were lying. They have lied to me about being faithful to their spouse, about the amount of credit card debt they had and about things they did or did not do or say. I believed them but later the facts revealed they had deceived me.
That won’t happen with God. He is the searcher of hearts. Nothing can escape him. You may fool people but you cannot fool God. He knows you and will judge you as you really are.
The last truth we are going to look at concerning God being your judge is that …
D. HE HAS THE POWER TO EXECUTE THE SENTENCE
In our country the judge pronounces the sentence and then someone else takes over from there. In many cases the sentence will be appealed and may even be overturned.
That won’t happen when God judges you. He has the power to do with you what he determines is the proper thing to be done.
This morning we began by looking at how God has been a judge down through history, including some examples of his judgment. Then God’s judgment became more personal as we looked at four truths concerning God being your judge.
We are now going to allow it to become even more personal as we look at …
IV. THE PURPOSE OF JUDGMENT … RETRIBUTION
Normally, when we hear the word “retribution” we think of punishment, but it really means …
RETRIBUTION – Deserved punishment for evil or reward for good.
One purpose of God’s judgment is …
A. TO REWARD GOOD WITH GOOD AND EVIL WITH EVIL
Jesus said …
MATTHEW 16:27 – For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done.
The Apostle Paul gives us more detail concerning this statement of Jesus.
ROMANS 2:6-11 – 6God “will give to each person according to what he has done.” 7To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. 8But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. 9There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; 10but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 11For God does not show favoritism.
Paul makes it very clear that …
B. EVERYONE WILL BE JUDGED ACCORDING TO THEIR WORKS
But Paul was not the only person who taught this truth. Listen to what King David wrote …
PSALM 62:11-12 – 11One thing God has spoken, two things have I heard: that you, O God, are strong, 12and that you, O Lord, are loving. Surely you will reward each person according to what he had done.
And God himself said through the Prophet Jeremiah …
JEREMIAH 17:10 – I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve.
That certainly makes God’s judgment about as personal as it can get.
Some of you might have thought that as a Christian you would not be subject to God’s judgment, but that is not the case.
C. NON-CHRISTIANS AND CHRISTIANS WILL BE JUDGED
In Romans, Paul wrote …
ROMANS 2:6 – God “will give to each person according to what he has done.”
He makes it even more clear that Christians will also be judged in his second letter to the Corinthians.
II CORINTHIANS 5:10 - 10For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
Another purpose of God’s judgment is that …
D. ALL WRONGS WILL BE MADE RIGHT
Many things happen in this life that are not right. Often evil people prosper while godly people suffer. Many times those who are more powerful or more intelligent take advantage of others.
That will all be made right on Judgment Day.
Here is what will happen to those who have done wrong.
PSALM 73:18-19, 27 – 18Surely you place them on slippery ground; you cast them down to ruin. 19How suddenly are they destroyed, completely swept away by terrors!
27Those who are far from you will perish; you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.
Here is what will happen to those who loved and obeyed God.
PSALM 73:24 – But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge, I will tell of all your deeds.
Are you starting to see that thinking about a coming Judgment Day can be a good thing?
E. THE REALITY OF A FINAL JUDGMENT SHOULD AFFECT HOW YOU LIVE
If you know that retributive judgment faces you at the end of your life, you would be foolish to live like it wasn’t going to occur. Remember, judgment is not meant to frighten you into an outward form of righteousness, but to reveal to you the character of God.
Here is what Leon Morris wrote about this in his book, The Biblical Doctrine of Judgment.
Judgment protects the idea of the triumph of God and of good. It is unthinkable that the present conflict between good and evil should last throughout eternity. Judgment means that evil will be disposed of authoritatively, decisively, finally. Judgment means that in the end God’s will will be perfectly done.
CONCLUSION
As we close this lesson on a coming Judgment Day, let’s deal with the question – How can a Believer in Jesus who has had his sins forgiven appear before the judgment seat of Christ and receive what is due for the things he has done? In other words, how does justification by faith square up with judgment according to works?
The answer seems to be as follows:
- Justification certainly protects Believers from being condemned and banished from God’s presence.
- Justification does not protect Believers from being judged and forfeiting good which others may get to enjoy.
So what do you take with you from this lesson as you leave here this morning?
If you are a Believer you need to thank God for your salvation and live each day with the knowledge that one day you will stand before the judgment seat of Christ where you will be rewarded for your service. That should encourage you to give yourself fully to serving the Lord.
If you have never received Jesus as your Lord you need to remember that you also will one day be judged by one who knows all your secrets. On Judgment Day your entire life will be reviewed. You know that you are not fit to face him. What should you do? This morning ask the One who will one day be your Judge to be your present Savior.
Turn your back on him now and one day you will meet him as your Judge and you will have no hope. Ask him into your life this morning and then you can look forward to meeting him as your Judge. A Judge who will reward you for serving him.