The Final Judgment - Part 2

Florida understand that you have taken the wrath it we deserved money we so deeply appreciate that that allows would be filled with good works and father.

Those good works are about the glorification of our great God. We pray heavenly father that are lies would truly count for Christ guide and direct us to this passage.

May Jesus be uplifted and glorified. May this congregation be edified.

Jesus precious and holy name we pray. Amen. Last week we saw that there will be a judgment of believers and unbelievers that will take place at the end of history.

They will take place almost simultaneously. Now, the judgment of the believers will be a judgment of works that these works do not in any way merit salvation, but they are works that prove that we are genuinely saved last week when he took a parallel passage to this second Corinthians chapter 5 verse 10 we read that once again we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. Last week we looked at three truths concerning the believers judgment number one, we will be judge fairly number two we will be judged thoroughly. Number three. We will be judged impartially only get two more today. Number four is we will be judged individually individually. Let's think for a minute about the amount of time.

This judgment will take. This is going to be a judgment of every person who ever lived on the face of the earth from the time of Adam and Eve all the way down to the time that of that last person that is born on this earth before Christ returns. This will be a judgment not only of deeds but it will be a judgment of default motive and intention of the heart, my goodness, how long will that take were talking billions and billions of people where we need to remember were talking about God's eternity here and time is not an impediment to God.

When God created the sun, the moon and the stars. How long did it taking it took aim and instant he spoke the word and they were created just like that. So this judgment might be a whole lot quicker than we think. But rest assured of this. If it is quicker than we might think it will be a judgment that is absolutely thorough. Consider how much information a computer can disseminate in just a few seconds and then think of the difference in the intelligence level of the Lord God Almighty compared to a human built computer, then you will understand that a full comprehensive individual all-inclusive judgment could take place in a time that would seem to us extremely short here when we think of judgments.

We have a picture in our mind judgment in a court like we would see today in the in the United States. And so you got witnesses, not given one testimony after another and then you got a law year who is trying to manipulate the case and then you got a judge to might be ethical and fair, maybe not. And you got jurors who may not have a clue as to what they are doing brothers and sisters. It won't be like that in heaven. In heaven we will be judged by a holy God holy God who is perfectly impartial. He will judge every deed, every thought, every motive in every intention of the heart and that could take place in a matter of minutes if he wanted it to, and were not sure that that's how it's going to happen if it does happen that way. Rest assured of this, it will be totally comprehensive. Nothing will be left out. I Romans chapter 14 verses 10 to 12 says this policy is while you pass judgment on your brother or you, why do you despise your brother, for we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.

For it is written as Ali of sales, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me and every tongue shall confess to God. So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. God will judge us not corporately but individually he will not say okay here Grace Church or here pick regrowth or here Christ covenant know it is an individual judgment. We will not give an account for anyone except our sales there will be no comparisons to others and no one to cover for us. I don't know about you, but as I think about it. I think the thing that probably gets to me as much is anything about this judgment is to know that I'm to be judge before you and that you will be able to see what my heart was like that you will be able to say a bad thought that I had that you will be able to see a horrible thing that I did. That bothers me, or would looser help me with this. He said the fact of the matter is we are all going to have much to be ashamed of, and the one we should be concerned about is Christ, not people. Is that not true, but we don't think that way do with this is, how we think, will Jesus is God and Jesus knows our whole lot of people and a whole lot worse than I am. And so when all this judgment takes place will be so many people. Maybe it just won't really matter that much. So we really more concerned about our friends than we are about what our Savior thinks about it.

Let me tell you something. One look.

One look at Jesus Christ on his throne is going to make us realize that who's really important is Christ. One look at Christ, and we won't care what our friends think, but will care much what Jesus things fitfully.

We will be judged graciously is a huge mistake to think that our sins and failures to do not matter for eternity. It is just a huge just as much a huge mistake to think that God is going to judge the believer in order that he might fit his pent-up anger against our carnality and our selfishness know that anger is been absorbed is been absorbed for us by Christ.

When he died on the cross. He bore our punishment and he took God's wrath upon himself the issue at the judgment seat of Christ, for believers is not payment for sins, nor God's desire to to even the score. This judgment will determine our place in the kingdom. It is not a judgment of gloom is an assessment of worth. Listen to this. Imagine a father.

He promises his son arrived, his personal airplane. If only the lad will mow the lawn six weeks in a row. Six weeks later the boys record is one of failure.

He mow the lawn only three times. Skip two weeks and the last time only partially completed the job the test period is over, the father tells the boy what he should already know his dream of taking a flight above the town will not come to pass. The father's not angry, but saddened by the boys, lack of faithfulness. He does not formally punish his son for his negligence. He does however reprimand the sun and the boy must live with consequences of his unfaithfulness.

He must stand by while another boy in the neighborhood response to the same challenge and is rewarded with the Saturday morning flight.

What hurts most, however, is a look on his father's face all that is punishment enough. But in the midst of failure. There will be grace several years ago finest evangelist was being interviewed by Diane Sawyer and Diane Sawyer said to him, serve what do we have a how do you want to be remembered and he said I want to hear Jesus say these words well done my good and faithful servant and then he said, but I don't think I will wow here's a man who spent his life serving the Lord in and going out and taking the gospel to a lost world, and yet he thinks it won't go really well for him at the judgment seat of Christ. Will that that evangelist was probably been modest, but his message was poignant. Our awards are not based on the results. They're not based on ministerial success.

They are not based on our reputation. This evangelist is new. His heart and he knew his heart he knew that if there's anything good in him at all is just Jesus and brothers and sisters. If there's anything good in us. Rest assured of this.

It's just Jesus it's just Jesus.

He knows he knows that certain don't leave here today feeling disappointed leave here today. Understanding that God wants you to love him with all your heart, mind, soul and strength. But there's nothing that you can do this, change a past sin in your life as a believer is nothing that you can do this can ascetic it can change a past failure, but having said that, you can make this day a day of new beginning, a day of new beginning and at the judgment seat of Christ, the Lord will point out to you that on this day you begin really treasuring Jesus Christ at this day.

Grace Church your life really begin the count for Christ sake you begin to live in the light of the judgment seat of Christ. You started watching your tongue. You started, but guarding your eyes. You started looking for opportunities to show others the love of Christ. On this day your life started counting for Christ sake will what you say about that. This is what we want to hear. Just like the desire that evangelist. What we want to hear. Is this well done my good and faithful servant only share with you an email that I sent to Scott Starcher six years ago. I say the email because what Scott had had to say to me was extremely important and relevant my own life in my own ministry and just wanted to read you the email.

Hi Scott, yesterday our accountability group you shared about how important it is to not dwell on our sins, but to confess it is sin except God's forgiveness put it behind you and move on, refused to let forgiven sin drag you down.

I needed to hear that and would like to share it in Sunday night sermon. May I do that.

Scott gave me his okay and I often return to that because how much we need to remember that in our sins are forgiven and that we need just to move onto to be what the Lord wants us to be today and not let our past sins drag us down and bring destruction into our lives. With that said, this look at another passage. First Corinthians chapter 3 verse 10 315 according to the grace of God given to me like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation in someone else's building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it, for no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay or stubble.

Each one's work will become manifest for the day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire and the fire will test what sort of work each one is done if the work that anyone is built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss that he himself will be saved, but only as to the fire. The Paul lays out his introduction to the sermon here on the works of the Christian are works important.

Do they really matter if we been saved by grace. Should we just be satisfied to slip into heaven with a leisure attitude or if we've been genuinely saved by grace, then it shouldn't entrance into the pearly gates should not be enough. Why worry about the hassles of good words, why worry about the burden of lost souls. Why worry about training our children up in the way they should go. Why worry about discipling young Christians if heaven is our goal.

Why don't we just enjoy it and relax and just coast and the rest of this chapter, Paul explains that and he could've said it this way, only one life will soon be passed in only what's done for Christ will last. Now verse 11, he tells us about the foundation of God's blessing. Verse 11 says, if for no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

In Paul's day there were two groups of up people who claim to be Christians who were building on the faulty foundation and who were those two groups. They were the Judaizers and the Gnostics and the Judaizers. The Gnostics believed that Jesus Christ was not a strong enough foundation so you had to add something to Jesus to have us really solid foundation.

What is the Judaizers I had Judaizers said we we need to add along with believing in Jesus we need to add some more things. Some things like circumcision and things like keeping the Sabbath day, the Gnostics, if we don't believe that Jesus is truly human. And so just believe that Jesus is God and then you have to add on to that something very important and that is personal wisdom and you need all that to be saved. Is there parallel to this in our day in town.

We have people that are doing this. Absolutely we do. People that believe in baptismal regeneration are adding something to to Jesus for salvation went when they say you have to be water baptized in order to be saved. That's adding something to Jesus all people would say well we are baptizing our infant so that assures the infinite salvation he saved right at that time that is adding something to Jesus and folks, that's not just a an era that's a heretical era. The key to this whole issue is what is the basis of justification. Scripture teaches us that we are saved or justified by grace through faith plus nothing if we had any work to that, whether it be circumcision or baptism or Sabbath keeping or prayer or Bible study anything. You are creating a faulty foundation. The foundation is not Jesus plus the foundation is Jesus. Jesus.

There are some who teaches you can't be saved without full knowledge and total comprehension of the doctrines of grace such that's an attack on justification that that's building a faulty foundation. So let me ask you this, should we be baptized.

Absolutely because of Scripture commands us to do it. Should we read the Scripture absolutely the Scripture commands us to do it should should we keep of the Lord's day holy and 12, the church, absolutely we should, but do any of those things add to the foundation of Jesus and the answer that is no Jesus said I am the way the truth and the life.

No one comes to the father but by me.

It was Peter who said there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved with the name of Jesus.

Second Timothy 19 says he has saved us and called us and ate with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own mercy and grace, which is given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. Ephesians 28 through 10 sister by grace are ye saved through faith and that not of yourselves is a gift of God not of works lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works that you think that God's people would glory in this truth of justification by grace through faith alone, and we we look back on history when we say Paul was set free by that doctrine. Martin Luther was set free by that doctrine, the Protestant Reformation is built on that doctrine.

It is tremendously important and yet invariably there will be these horrendous attacks on the doctrine of justification, resident sisters. If we love the gospel we must fight those attacks heartlessly to the foundation itself.

Number one, it's a predetermined foundation.

Isaiah 2816 society I lay in Zion, a tested stone in a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation and Psalm hundred 18 verse 22 through 23 says the stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes, even the original story is a prophecy of what Jesus would be when he would come and what was the original story well back in Solomon's day. The he was getting ready to build the Solomonic temple and it was good to be built by these huge stones, but there was all a law if there could be no sale to the hammer or the chisel lay on the temple site so so they went to the stone quarry and they cut out the stones.

They are in and they will to haul them back to the temple and put them together piece by piece. When the first stones that they built are the type cut out was a huge massive stone called cornerstone.

It was the foundation stone. It was massive and so it was so big that it can't get in the way and the workers got tired of walking around it so they said let's just push it down the hill and I pushed it down the hill. Finally I got all the stones cut out and they put them on wagons and started taking them back to put the temple together and when I started to put the temple together, they realized wears a cornerstone what happened what happened to it in the workers. All of a sudden it hit him while we push the stone down the heel we rejected the cornerstone in first Peter chapter 2 Peter explains what Isaiah and what the psalmist David were prophesying if they were prophesying this Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone is the cornerstone. He is the foundation and he alone is the foundation. Hebrews 13 eight says Jesus Christ is the same yesterday today and forever, Peter said the following, for you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things like silver and gold you were redeemed with the precious blood of Jesus. Secondly, it is a precise foundation.

Galatians chapter 1 wanted to. Paul said that he received this revelation from Christ himself. In other words he was saying this is not something that I just deduced from my study and this is the conclusion that I came up with none I know Paul said Jesus flat out told me this to give to you that he and he alone is the foundation and then he went further and a week we go to John and you remember what John said in first John chapter 1 verses one into AAA said that which we have heard with her ear that which we have seen with our eyes, that which our hands have handled, now we proclaim to you.

In other words, this was not something that John just followed up this was something that Jesus gave him in order that we might know it was true.

Thirdly, it's a permanent foundation in Jude 3, Jude said. Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. I've been to hungry Czechoslovakia, Romania, Belize, Ireland, Canada. Mullally Kenya, South Africa, Germany, Austria, Jordan and Israel, and in each one of those places. What I found is this. When the gospel is preached and people receive the gospel and they come to Christ. There is great joy in the gospel in all those countries is always the same. There's one foundation and that foundation is Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ align folks. Our works don't save us, but our works will honor God and they will assure us of rewards that will that will bless us for all of eternity John Erickson.

Todd is one of my favorites. She made a very powerful statement concerning suffering as a Christian, but it has to do with war. Don't you listen this carefully is not merely that heaven will be wonderful in spite of our anguish, it will be wonderful because of it. Suffering services, a faithful response to affliction accrues a weight of glory. A bounteous reward, the more faithful to God, we are in the midst of our pain.

The more I reward enjoy whatever suffering you are going through this minute. Your reaction to it affects the eternity you will enjoy heaven will be more heavily to the degree that you have followed Christ on earth. Romans 818 says I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us prescription for Sprint.

In chapter 3 verse 12 through 13 says this nap anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones would hire stubble each one's work will become manifest for the day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done on reaches this from the pen of her when loser someone sent him this letter he said on know someone who has appeared in several X-rated films since the issues become a Christian but she worries that since these films are irretrievable and have been distributed all over the world. The harm that they are doing will continue even after she dies. Will this interfere with her salvation. In other words, how will she be able to share in the joy of heaven. While as a direct result of what she did on earth. Others continue to sin. She feels that she is leaving a legacy of the evil.

Can you offer any consolation, he says yes, thanks to the promises of Scripture. I believe I can offer some consolation first or past life will not interfere with her salvation. Christ died for sinners, even terrible sinners. Yes, even pornographers and criminals. Yes, this lady can look forward to joy in heaven. For the judgment seat of Christ. You will only be judged for what she did since she was saved, not what she has done in her pre-conversion days, having been forgiven much she can indeed love much and therefore be rewarded much in fact, this woman will get to see it alongside of Christ in rule with him forever. Is that not glorious on a close this message with a quick look at the description of the works of the believers.

He says that some works like gold, silver, precious stones, some works are like wood hay and stubble. RT Kendall describes these works with five different words, they all start with the animal to share these with you. The first is viability something is viable. According to its survival of probability. Paul says that our works will be tested with fire. When you take gold silver and precious stones and you put them in the fire. The drawl's is burned out, but the rest is purified, it didn't burn up is still there even after it's been tested by fire you take wood hay and stubble on the other hand, and you place them in a fire and what happens they burn up their ashes in just a matter of minutes in their zone will question we should ask is this will our work stand the test before God will our work stand the test before God scrutiny hot the next V is the. The word virtue. Paul is telling us that God is seeking virtue or excellence excellence goal, silver and precious stones represent goodness, genuineness, and in moral excellence while wood hay and stubble represent shallowness, superficiality and worthlessness. The third V is variety. The list that Paul gives us does not just name one particular type of stone that he says, precious stones, plural, and so there are many many different type of stones. This means that every person has different gifts, different personalities and different talents. Each believer makes his own contribution. The variety makes the true church a an absolute thing of beauty. Fourthly, the fourth of the is visibility in Matthew 516 Jesus said, let your light so shine that men may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

What is that mean does that mean were to be showy, you may look it may look at me absolutely not bring that same sermon in Matthew chapter 6 verse one Jesus said this, take heed that you do not your charitable deeds before men to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your father in heaven. Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. So give and don't tail minister to people and minister to people not to get a pat on the back because it glorifies Christ is the key. This is what we need to do do everything for the approval of Christ, not the approval of people I have people come to me every once in a while they give me money and the said Douglas. Some people in our church that are hurting. Would you give this to them and don't tell them where it came from.don't tell him that it came from a don't tell anybody that came from a just give the money and and help meet that need.

You know Thaddeus, that's a gold silver and precious stone, work at it and I love doing that because I get to go to these people. I get. Given this money and this awareness come from Jesus came from Jesus. That's where it came from an untruth, truthful, and telling them that I didn't fit the fifth the is value, gold, silver and precious stones have great value wood hay and stubble have no value. Let me let me close with this one way to test your works to see if they are truly a value is to ask yourself this question are the works that I'm doing glorifying God or the works that I am attempting to do. Glorifying God is my main objective glorifying God. If it is you'll have works there, gold, silver and precious stones is probably heavenly father we thank you and praise you for your goodness and grace. We thank you heavenly father that our sins have been washed away at front from us for all of eternity removed from us as far as the east is from the west. We thank you Lord that there will not be payment that we have to make for our sins because Jesus has absorbed it all. He's taken the wrath that we deserved and we will stand before him guiltless, and yet Lord, there are works and things in our life that we are going to have to give an account for not that we are to be punished for these things.

They will determine whether we have reward whether we lose reward heavenly father may ask it, may we get serious about this truth.

May we be serious about glorifying you in all that we do and it is in the precious holy name of Jesus that we pray.

Amen