Judgment Day: The King is Coming to Judge
Hopson Boutot
Matthew: The King and His Kingdom • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Transcript
Lead Vocalist (Joel)
Welcome & Announcements (Bubba)
Good morning family!
Ask guests to fill out connect card
3 announcements:
1) Lunch after service today!
Please stay after the service and join us!
We will need some help setting up tables once the service ends
2) Baptism Sunday, October 15
Please talk to an elder or contact the church office on or before October 8 if you’re interested
3) Introduce Angela York from Thrive
Special Announcement (Angela York from Thrive)
Call to Worship (Psalm 94:1-11)
Prayer of Praise (Bibi Laborte)
Better Is One Day
Hymn of Heaven
Prayer of Confession (Jim Lewis), Failure to love one another
Assurance of Pardon (Ephesians 2:4-5)
Almost Home
How Great Thou Art
Scripture Reading (Matthew 25:31-46)
Page 988 in the black Bibles
Pastoral Prayer (Bubba)
SERMON
START TIMER!!!
Long, long ago, in a forest far, far away, lived a legendary hero named Robin Hood.
In those days, King Richard the Lionheart was the noble and just king of England.
But while he was away fighting the Crusades, he left his greedy brother Prince John to govern the kingdom.
During Prince John’s reign, Robin Hood was unjustly condemned as an outlaw and hunted by the government.
Robin Hood used his superior skill as an archer to resist the prince’s evil rule. He took money from the rich and gave it back to those in need.
But despite his best efforts to care for the people of Nottingham, Robin Hood was ultimately unable to undo all the evil that Prince John had done.
Robin Hood and his Merry Men remained outlawed. Some of them were unjustly imprisoned. Others were killed.
Meanwhile, Prince John and his evil associate the Sheriff of Nottingham lived in luxury, despite their greed, oppression, and abusive authority.
And even though Robin Hood could do some good, nothing he could do would ever turn his world right side up.
As long as the king was away their was no lasting justice. Not in Nottingham.
In some ways our lives in this world are the same.
Often those who strive to live rightly suffer for it.
Meanwhile the wicked seem to thrive. They laugh and play and dance and party. And it seems no matter what they do, they get away with it!
Sure, you and I can do some good in this world, but nothing we can do will ever turn our world right side up.
As long as the King is away there will be no lasting justice.
Imagine the day the news spread throughout Nottingham that King Richard was returning.
Yes, there was likely fear and trembling in Nottingham Castle as Prince John and the Sheriff surely knew their day of reckoning was coming.
But surely in Sherwood Forest there was great rejoicing. The king would vanquish their enemies! The king would vindicate them and their friends!
You can almost imagine someone sharing the news and saying, “rejoice because your king is coming to judge.”
That’s the way I want you to feel as we consider our text this morning...
Turn to Matthew 25:31
It’s Tuesday night, just a few days before Jesus’ crucifixion.
Jesus recently just told His disciples the temple is going to be destroyed.
Their response to that startling prediction led to this fifth and final teaching discourse in Matthew’s gospel.
In it Jesus teaches us many important truths about His return.
As we’ve studied these chapters together, I hope on more than one occasion you have been encouraged and comforted.
I told you a few weeks ago that when the Bible wants to encourage Christians it often talks about the return of Christ.
And this morning’s text should be no different.
As we come to the conclusion of the Olivet Discourse, I want you to rejoice because your King is coming to judge.
That’s the Big Idea I hope to communicate from our text this morning: Rejoice because your King is coming to judge.
It is true that rejoicing and judgment do not often go together in our minds. In fact, Christians are sometimes embarrassed or ashamed when we think about what the Bible teaches about the final judgment. But we don’t need to be.
If you’re not a Christian, I hope you’ll turn to Christ today so that the Final Judgment will NOT be a terrifying day for you.
And if you are a Christian, I hope to show you today that the Final Judgment is both glorious and good.
To do that, we need to ask and answer 6 Questions About the Final Judgment as we study our text together.
1) WHEN is the Judgment?
1) WHEN is the Judgment?
With each of these questions I’ll give you the answer to our question, then defend that answer from the text.
So when is the judgment? It’s immediately after the return of Christ.
Matthew 25:31—“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.”
Now some Bible teachers believe that this passage isn’t referring to the Final Judgment at all.
They believe there are actually three future judgments:
They believe this passage teaches about a judgment to determine who gets to enter a future millennial reign of Christ on earth.
They believe 2 Corinthians 5:10 teaches about a judgment of believer’s works which determines our rewards in heaven.
And they believe Revelation 20:11-15 teaches about a final judgment at the end of the millennium.
I think a better way to understand the Bible’s teaching on the coming judgment is that those three passages are all talking about the same event with slightly different emphases.
Our passage this morning says nothing about entering a future millennium!
In fact, our text concludes with the sheep and goats entering into an eternal destination, not a temporary one.
So it seems best to conclude that immediately after His return Jesus will judge the world.
When Jesus returns in glory with all His angels, then He will sit on His glorious throne from which He will judge.
The Apostle John describes it this way in...
Revelation 20:11-12—Then I saw a great white throne and Him who was seated on it. From His presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.
Here’s what this means practically: If the final judgment happens immediately after the return of Jesus, there’s no time to clean up your act then. There are no second chances, no do-overs, no extra warnings, no grace period. That means that you and I need to prepare for Judgment Day TODAY!
But perhaps you’re hoping that you can escape on some technicality.
If so, we need to ask and answer a second question...
2) WHO is at the Judgment?
2) WHO is at the Judgment?
There are two answers to this question: Jesus the Judge will be at the judgment, and Everyone Who Ever Lived will be there.
First, let’s look at how...
A) Jesus is the Judge
A) Jesus is the Judge
Matthew 25:31—“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.”
“Son of Man” is one of Jesus’ favorite nicknames for Himself, so He’s saying “when I come in glory, I will sit on my throne to judge.”
For those of us who have grown up in the church, that may not seem like a significant point. But what Jesus is saying is massive!
The idea of a final judgment was not foreign to the Jewish people. Throughout the Old Testament Scriptures we repeatedly read that God will come to judge His people.
Isaiah 2:4—He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.
So what is significant about what Jesus is saying here in Matthew 25?
In Isaiah 2, the context is clear that the One who will judge the nations is Yahweh Himself. The Covenant God of Israel, the Creator of all things. The holy, holy, holy, God who is worthy of all our worship.
Jesus is claiming to be God!
Here’s what this means practically:
If you’re not a Christian, I plead with you to examine carefully what Jesus says about Himself. If you need help doing that, would you let me or another pastor know? We’d love to schedule a time for you to walk through a little course called Christianity Explained where you can learn the truth about Jesus. But if He is who He said He is, He deserves your worship! Would you turn from your sins and trust in Him today?
If you’re a Christian, you can rejoice knowing that the God who is coming to judge you is the same God who died on the cross for you!
Jesus is a glorious Judge, but a judge with an empty courtroom isn’t very impressive. So notice also who is going to be judged...
B) Everyone Who Ever Lived Will Be Judged
B) Everyone Who Ever Lived Will Be Judged
Matthew 25:32-33—“Before [Jesus] will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.”
By saying “all the nations” will be judged, Jesus doesn’t mean that He is coming to pronounce judgment on nation-states.
“Alright, USA you get a B-, Canada gets a C+, North Korea gets a F”
“All the nations” refers to all the people in every nation. It’s the same phrase used in the Great Commission where we’re told to make disciples of “all nations.”
Jesus is coming to judge every person in every nation everywhere from every era of history past, present and future!
The truth that everyone who ever lived will be judged is repeated throughout the New Testament...
Hebrews 9:27—… It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.
Our judgment does not occur immediately after we die, but when Jesus returns at the end of the world. At that point everyone who has ever died will be resurrected for the final judgment.
Revelation 20:13—And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done.
Here’s what this means practically:
If you’re a Christian, are you living in light of the Final Judgment? The fact that you put your faith in Jesus doesn’t mean you won’t face Him as your judge. EVERYBODY will!
Romans 14:10-12—Why do 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 I live, 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.
If you’re not a Christian, the fact that you don’t worship Jesus will not exempt you from judgment day.
Depending on where you live, there are certain judges that do not have any jurisdiction over you. Perhaps you’re tempted to think, “I don’t recognize Jesus, so He doesn’t have any jurisdiction over me!”
But Jesus has jurisdiction over everywhere and everyone, whether you believe in Him or not!
So what verdict will you hear on Judgment Day?
In our courtrooms today there are only two possible verdicts: you’re either found guilty or not guilty.
Notice in verse 33, on Judgment Day there are only two possible verdicts: you’ll either be found to be a sheep or a goat.
Now there’s nothing particularly bad about goats or good about sheep.
Both animals are created by God. Both were clean animals, quite common throughout Israel.
Most shepherds would allow both goats and sheep to mingle together during the day.
But at night, they were often separated so goats could huddle together for warmth.
And Jesus uses the commonplace separation of sheep and goats to illustrate the separation between two types of people on Judgment Day.
Some people will be welcomed into an eternal reward, and others will be cast into eternal punishment.
Which means, there is nothing more important in your life than knowing what it takes to be a sheep or a goat.
So we need to ask and answer a third question...
3) WHAT Determines the Judge’s Verdict?
3) WHAT Determines the Judge’s Verdict?
This is where the Final Judgment starts to get scary for some of us.
If we’re honest, many of us wonder if we’ve done enough to be welcomed into heaven.
Thoughts like that are one reason we need to read our Bibles very carefully!
If you look carefully you’ll notice that what determines the judge’s verdict is grace alone!
Matthew 25:34—Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”
Before any evidence is brought before the King, He renders His verdict.
And notice carefully what the verdict says:
You have been blessed by the Father.
That blessing includes an inheritance.
Having an inheritance means you are an heir, which means you’re a child.
That inheritance was prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
Those four themes—blessing, inheritance, adoption, and the foundation of the world—are all mentioned by the Apostle Paul when he describes our salvation in...
Ephesians 1:3-5, 11—Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us for adoption to Himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will. . . . In Him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will.
Here’s what this means practically:
You will not pass the test on Judgment Day based on your performance. If you leave here thinking that you’ll make it into heaven by trying harder you’ve completely missed the point.
Here’s the question: are you a child of God? Were you adopted into His family? Have you been chosen before the foundation of the world? Have you repented of your sins and put your faith in the cross of Jesus? Have you come to God by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone? Are you one of His elect, His chosen ones?
Some of you may be thinking “This isn’t helpful!” How can I know if I’m one of the elect?
Charles Spurgeon—“Many persons want to know their election before they look to Christ, but that is not possible; it is only to be discovered by "looking to Jesus". Do you feel yourself to be a lost, guilty sinner? Go straight to the cross of Christ. . . . Look to Jesus and believe on Him, and you shall make proof of your election directly, for as surely as you believe, you are elect. If you will give yourself wholly up to Christ and trust Him, then you are one of God's chosen ones; but if you stop and say, "I want to know first whether I am elect", you do not know what you are asking. Go to Jesus, just as you are, in all your guilt. Leave all curious inquiry about election alone. Go straight to Christ, and hide in His wounds, and you shall know your election. . . . Go and put your trust in Him, and His answer will be, "I have loved you with an everlasting love" . . . . There will be no doubt about His having chosen you when you have chosen Him.” [1]
Friend, rather than trying to figure out if you’ve been chosen by God just look to Jesus! Turn from your sins and trust in Him today!
It certainly is comforting to know that we receive eternal life by grace alone.
But many of you may still be thinking, okay that’s great and all but is there any way to really know I’m a sheep?
According to Jesus, it’s possible for someone to think they’re a sheep but really be a goat!
So we need to ask and answer a fourth question...
4) HOW Can I Have Assurance Before Judgment Day?
4) HOW Can I Have Assurance Before Judgment Day?
Here’s another way to ask that question: how can I know I’m a sheep?
Here’s the answer: We know we belong to the Shepherd by how we treat His sheep.
After rendering the verdict, Jesus the Judge presents the evidence:
Matthew 25:35-36—“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’
Often we don’t read this text carefully enough, and we misunderstand the evidence Jesus is presenting.
The misunderstanding usually goes something like this: the evidence that you’re a real Christian is how you treat the outcasts, the hungry, the poor, the stranger, and the imprisoned.
Then we encourage Christians to get serious about some form of social justice to demonstrate our salvation.
Now it’s certainly not wrong to feed the hungry, help the poor, and visit the sick and the prisoner. All those things are great!
But Jesus is not talking about how we treat all people generally. He’s talking about how Christians treat each other.
In verses 37-39, the sheep are surprised, because they don’t remember ever serving Jesus in the ways He described. Notice how Jesus responds in...
Matthew 25:40—And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’”
Some people misunderstand again and imagine Jesus is talking about how we treat His ethnic brothers, the Jewish people.
But Jesus clearly tells us earlier in Matthew’s gospel who He’s talking about when He talks about His brothers...
Matthew 12:50—“… whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.”
The way we know we belong to the Shepherd is how we treat His sheep.
I hope this encourages many Christians in this room.
I have watched through the years as many of you have done exactly what Jesus is talking about in your relationships with one another.
You’ve given each other rides. You’ve cooked meals for each other. You’ve visited one another in the hospital or at home. You’ve written cards and notes and encouraging emails. You’ve shared cars and clothes. You’ve prepared meals for funerals. You’ve taken time off work to grieve with each other. You’ve spent time with each other. You listen to each other and ask good questions so you can help each other when you’re hurting. You pray.
And sometimes you feel like all that work, all that money, all that time, all that effort doesn’t amount to much. Don’t believe the Accuser! Jesus says the simplest act of love done to the lowliest Christian is evidence that you belong to Him!
Great example: Mary Curlee’s funeral!
Would you press on Christian? Don’t give up. Don’t stop these simple acts of love towards one another. God uses these things to bless others. And He also uses them to help you know that you belong to Him.
Jesus puts it this way in...
John 13:35—“By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Dearly beloved, I have great confidence in many of you because I see so much evidence of this in your lives. So don’t lose heart!
However, I do believe some of you need to receive a warning from this passage.
We’ve already established that the way to know you you’re a sheep is how you treat Jesus’ people.
But how do you know if you’re a goat?
In verses 41-45, Jesus brings the same evidence to convict the goats.
But here’s what’s interesting: Jesus doesn’t say you’re a goat if you starve His sheep, or expel them, or strip them, or infect them, or imprison them.
You prove you’re a goat by failing to feed, failing to welcome, failing to clothe, failing to visit.
In other words, it doesn’t take active mistreatment to prove you’re a goat. Just passive neglect.
That makes me shudder when I think about some of you, even some members of Poquoson Baptist Church. I do not see everything you do and I cannot see your heart. But for some of you I fear greatly because I see little sheepiness in you.
Are you going out of your way to care for Jesus’ people? Do you even know each other’s names? Do you know each other’s needs? Are you so detached from the body that you really have no idea how you could help? Do you skip out on Members’ Meetings, one of the main places where we share important needs in the body? Are you blissfully unsubscribed from every opportunity to hear prayer requests or important needs within the body?
If you failed in one or more of those questions, I wonder why. Is it because you’re too busy? Or too tired? Or you’re just not interested?
Dear friend, none of those excuses will work on Judgment Day. I plead with you, if the Lord is convicting you right now about your failure to love His people, will you please repent before it’s too late?
For all who are looking to grow in this area, let me suggest two simple ways:
First, stay for lunch today (we’ve got plenty of food!) and sit with someone you don’t know well and try to get to know them.
Second, read this little book called How To Serve My Church by Matthew Emadi and implement one or two ideas from the book.
But let me give one final warning before we move on:
Do not attempt to love your Christian brothers and sisters in order to somehow earn heaven.
You won’t be able to do it! You’ll burn out! This can only be the natural overflow of a changed heart!
So has your heart been changed friend? If it hasn’t, look to Jesus today!
Perhaps you’re still feeling a bit indifferent. Does any of this really matter that much?
If that’s you, please pay attention as we ask and answer a fifth question...
5) WHERE Will the Judged Be Sent?
5) WHERE Will the Judged Be Sent?
There are two answers to this question: The Forgiven Enter Eternal Life and The Unforgiven Enter Eternal Punishment
We see the contrast between those two destinations clearly stated in...
Matthew 25:46—“And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
But let’s dig a little bit deeper into what this means, starting with the sheep...
A) The Forgiven Enter Eternal Life
A) The Forgiven Enter Eternal Life
When verse 46 says “the righteous” enter eternal life it is not saying that we earn heaven by our own righteousness. Remember, Jesus rendered His verdict before any evidence was presented.
The righteousness this verse is talking about is the gift righteousness we receive when we turn from our sins and trusted in Jesus.
It’s not our righteousness, but Jesus’ righteousness that earns our eternal life.
What will eternal life be like?
Our seven-year-old, Ella, has been very interested in heaven lately. She’s been asking a lot of questions. The other day she asked “how old will I be in heaven?” I told her, she would be however old she wanted to be. She asked, “Oh so I can pick?” I said, “No, but you’ll only want to be the age that God wants you to be!”
There’s much we don’t understand about heaven, but we do know this: all the righteous desires of God’s people will be met!
1 Corinthians 2:9—But as it is written, What no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no human heart has conceived— God has prepared these things for those who love him.
Christian: Whatever heaven will be like, it’s better than we can imagine. Jesus is there, and that’s enough.
If you’re not a Christian, notice that...
B) The Unforgiven Enter Eternal Punishment
B) The Unforgiven Enter Eternal Punishment
I realize many of us get squeamish when we hear about eternal punishment. We’re okay with some punishment, but must it really be eternal?
In verse 41 Jesus threatens “eternal fire” and in verse 46 He threatens “eternal punishment.”
And those are just two of dozens of instances in the gospels where Jesus teaches us about the eternality of hell.
If you have a problem with hell, your problem isn’t first and foremost with me. Or with Baptists. Or with Christians. It’s with Jesus.
Perhaps you think, “Why does God have to punish unbelievers eternally when most people only rebel against him for at most 70 or 80 years.”
Is a few decades of sin worth trillions of decades of punishment?
It’s interesting that nobody applies that same logic to heaven, do they?
I’ve never heard anybody say, “I only followed Jesus for 20 years, so I should only get 20 years of heaven!”
So why does God give us eternal life? And why does the sinner receive eternal punishment? Because God is eternal!
It’s not the perceived greatness of the sin that determines the punishment. It’s the greatness of the One sinned against that determines the punishment!
Unbeliever: Repent and believe today! Trust in Christ, who died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin so that we don’t have to be cast into hell.
If all of this is still a struggle for you, we need to ask and answer one final question...
6) WHY Should the Final Judgment Bring Joy?
6) WHY Should the Final Judgment Bring Joy?
I told you when we began this morning that I wanted you to Rejoice because your King is coming to judge.
But perhaps you feel like you can’t have any joy when you think about this doctrine.
I want to show you 3 reasons why this doctrine can and should bring you joy...
And I want to do so by considering the hellish story of Larry Nassar.
For 18 years Nassar was the team doctor of the U.S. Women’s National Gymnastics Team.
But unbeknownst to many, Nassar was using his position of power to exploit and abuse hundreds of young female athletes under the guise of medical treatment.
So how does this story help us to see why the Final Judgment can bring joy?
A) The Final Judgment Satisfies Our Longing for Justice.
A) The Final Judgment Satisfies Our Longing for Justice.
No sane person can hear the stories of those poor girls without longing for justice.
Thankfully Larry Nassar was brought to justice and sentenced to between 100-235 years in prison.
But if you think about it, that’s “Robin Hood” justice. It was incomplete. It wasn’t even close to what he deserved.
Why? One of Nassar’s victims, a former US Olympian named Ally Raisman, said it was not enough because when you add it up, that’s less than 1 year per victim.
If there is no Final Judgment, then people like Larry Nassar get away with it in the end.
But the fact that Jesus is coming to judge means that nobody gets away with it.
Every sin ever committed will be fully judged in one of two places: on the cross, or in hell.
And when you truly understand that, the Final Judgment can bring us joy because...
B) It Enables us to Forgive Freely.
B) It Enables us to Forgive Freely.
Rachael Denhollander was the first woman to publicly accuse Larry Nassar of sexual assault. Rachel bravely confronted her abuser (who walked into the courtroom carrying a Bible) and said these powerful words:
The Bible you carry speaks of a final judgment where all of God's wrath and his eternal terror is poured out on men like you. Should you ever reach the point of truly facing what you have done, the guilt will be crushing. And that is what makes the gospel of Christ so sweet. Because it extends grace and hope and mercy where none should be found. And it will be there for you.
I pray you experience the soul-crushing weight of guilt, so that you may someday experience true repentance and true forgiveness from God, which you need far more than forgiveness from me though I extend that to you as well.
Why was Rachel able to extend forgiveness to a perverted, sadistic, abusive, evil man?
Because she believed in the Final Judgment. She believed that nobody really gets away with it in the end.
And so can you, brothers and sisters. This doctrine, sobering as it is, can help you to forgive freely!
But there’s another reason why Rachel was able to extend forgiveness...
She didn’t only believe in the eternal terror of the Final Judgment on unbelievers.
She believed in the sweet mercy of the gospel.
Which leads us to the final reason the Final Judgment can bring us joy...
C) It Highlights the Glory of the Cross.
C) It Highlights the Glory of the Cross.
The Final Judgment paints a gritty picture about our sin.
But it also paints a glorious picture of the cross.
That’s what Jesus did on the cross. He was enduring hell for His people!
He was dying as our substitute!
Dear friend, you do not have to pay the penalty for your sin. You can run to Jesus and be saved today. You can trust in His blood today. You can repent and believe in Him today!
Prayer of Thanksgiving
Crown Him With Many Crowns
Benediction (Romans 11:33,36)