************ Sermon on Belgic Confession Article 37j ************
Doctrine: Eschatology; The Final Judgment
By: Rev. Adrian Dieleman
This sermon was preached on November 28, 1999
B.C. 37j
Revelation 20:7-15
"The Final Judgment"
Introduction
There are three judgments, three judgments of God, that every person goes through. First, there is the judgment that every person goes through already on this earth and in this life. Jesus speaks of this judgment in His midnight talk with Nicodemus. He says:
(Jn 3:18) Whoever believes in [Christ] is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.
Already now, in other words, there is a divine judgment upon those who refuse to believe in Christ. This judgment has to do with our relationship to and with Christ.
Second, there is the judgment that every person goes through when they die and appear before the throne. The author of Hebrews speaks to this:
(Heb 9:27) ... man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment ...
Upon death God either takes us unto Christ or sends us to hell's fire. This judgment, like the first judgment, has to do with our relationship to and with Christ.
Third, there is the Final Judgment, the judgment that takes place at the end of the age after the return of Christ. Unlike the previous two judgments, this is a judgment of works – of works as evidence of faith. If faith is real, the works will be there. If faith is not real, the works will not be there. Furthermore, whereas the other two judgments are personal and private, this one is public and corporate.
I The Necessity of the Final Judgment
A In looking at the Final Judgment we begin by asking about its necessity. Is it really necessary? What is its purpose?
"Of course it is necessary," you might say, "because God has to decide where we will spend eternity." To say this is to deny the doctrine of election. We know that God knows and foreknows all things – including our eternal destiny – well before the time of the Final Judgment:
(Eph 1:4) For he chose us in [Christ] before the creation of the world ...
The Final Judgment is not to be seen as a trial that includes testimony and a decision about where we spend eternity; rather, it is to be seen as an event in which the all-knowing and all-seeing God reveals all!
B What, then, will be the purpose of the Final Judgment? Scripture suggests three purposes. First, the outstanding purpose of the Final Judgment will be to display the glory and sovereignty of God. It displays the glory and sovereignty of God in revealing the destiny of His elect. It is God's grace that is magnified in the salvation of His people – what a great and wondrous salvation it is for people who are miserable, undeserving, and unworthy. It also displays the glory and sovereignty of God in revealing the destiny of the reprobate. It is God's justice that is acclaimed in the condemnation of His enemies – how holy and righteous is the God Who forever banishes all sin and evil from His presence. Whether it be salvation or condemnation, it is God – His grace, His justice, His glory, His praise – that is the focus in the Final Judgment.
A second purpose of the Final Judgment is to reveal the degree of reward and the degree of punishment which each person shall receive. This, of course, is intimately related to the kind of lives people have lived.
A third purpose is to execute God's judgment on each person. God will now assign each person to the place where he or she will spend eternity: either the new heaven and new earth or everlasting hell fire.
II The Circumstances of the Final Judgment
A Who will be the Judge at the Final Judgment? A number of Bible passages indicate that God the Father will be Judge. Peter speaks of the Father "who judges each man's work impartially" (1 Pt 1:17). The Apostle Paul mentions the judgment seat of God (Rom 14:10).
The distinctive and more common teaching of the New Testament is that Christ will be Judge:
(Jn 5:22) Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son ...
(Acts 17:31) For [the Father] has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.
(2Cor 5:10) For 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.
It is most appropriate, fitting, and just that Christ should be Judge in the Final Judgment. This way those who believe in the Lord are given their inheritance in the kingdom by the Lord they believe in. And, those who have rejected the Lord are sent to hell by the Lord they have rejected. Furthermore, while on earth Christ was condemned by earthly rulers; now He will sit in judgment over all earthly authorities.
The Bible indicates to us that Christ will be assisted in His work of judging by angels:
(Mt 13:41-43) The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. (42) They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (43) Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.
Even the saints in their glorified state will play a part in the work of judging. I think first of the words of Jesus to His disciples:
(Lk 22:29-30) And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me, (30) so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
When Paul rebukes the Corinthian Christians for going to earthly judges to settle disputes, he says:
(1Cor 6:2-3) Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? (3) Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!
B Who will be judged? The passage just quoted indicates that angels will be judged. This is supported by the words of Peter and Jude:
(2Pt 2:4) ... God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment ...
(Jude 6) And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home--these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.
The Scriptures further teach that all human beings who ever lived will have to appear before the judgment seat. Thus our Scripture reading shows all the dead, great and small, standing before the throne (cf Mt 25:32; Rom 2:5-6). Even believers are included (2 Cor 5:10; Heb 10:30; Rom 14:10). However, believers have nothing to fear in the Final Judgment for "There is now no condemnation," says Paul, "for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Rom 8:1). In fact, believers can even look forward to the Day of Judgment (cf Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 37; Q & A 52 of the Heidelberg Catechism).
Those who know Jesus don't have to fear the Final Judgment. Why? We saw Him when He was lowered to the straw, a human like us. We saw Him walk into Pilate's court. We saw Him, though found innocent by the court, executed for crimes that we committed. And when we stand in the Final Judgment and look up toward the judge's seat – we see Him again. We have nothing to fear. For Jesus, our Jesus, has gone from the defendant's chair to the judge's bench. He has already declared us "not guilty" on every single charge laid against us.
C What will be judged? Quite simply: everything! Everything, that is, that we have done, said, or even thought – whether it be good or bad. We will be held accountable for everything bad that we have done, said or thought. We will even be held accountable for everything good that we have failed to do, say, or think (cf 2 Cor 5:10; Mt 25:35ff; Rev 20:12; Mt 12:36; 1 Cor 4:5).
Imagine that a video camera is focused upon you every minute of every day, recording everything about you. Worse, imagine that someday the tape of your life will be publicly aired for all to see all your awkward moments, silly mistakes, and secret sins. In our Scripture reading we are told that in the Final Judgment the "books were opened." In these books are recorded your life history, your total life history, your every deed and word and thought. In other words, the eye of God is upon you. God knows everything about you. Nothing ever escapes His notice, and He forgets nothing. Everything about you is recorded in His book. And someday you will stand before Him and God will open the book for everyone else to see everything about you.
Many people don't find this a pleasant thought. It's bad enough when people see the dumb and sinful things I do in public; it is even worse for them to see the dumb and sinful things I do in private (cf Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 37).
On the Judgment Day O. J. Simpson won't be judged by a jury of his peers who have no way of know who is lying and who is telling the truth. Instead, he and you and me will be judged by the God Who knows exactly what we have done and said and thought. It won't be one person's word against another's then; there won't be any need for witnesses or cross examination. God already knows the truth, and on the Judgment Day it will be brought into the open for all to see.
My brothers and sisters, this vision of the Judgment Day in our Scripture reading is not make-believe. When Jesus Christ returns in all His glory, every person who has ever lived will stand before His judgment throne. You'll be there, and so will I. It's a moment none of us can avoid. In that moment we'll find that God has been keeping a complete and accurate record of every moment of our lives. He has stored it all in the books of His perfect memory, and on the Judgment Day these books will be opened, and all the facts will be there. Not one item will be missing.
Does this scare you? Should it scare you? Not if you have been washed in the blood and renewed by the Spirit of Christ. Because if you have been washed and renewed, all of your sins and shortcomings will be revealed in the Final Judgment as forgiven sins and shortcomings. God will read off the list of your sins and my sins – lies, impure thoughts, gossip, theft, adultery, greed – and over each and every sin He will write FORGIVEN, FORGIVEN, FORGIVEN! Therefore, the Final Judgment is nothing to fear if you are a believer. At the same time, however, the realization that every sin will be displayed and every word accounted for should spur you to do your best in fighting against sin and living for God.
D What will be the standard whereby men will be judged? The standard will be the revealed will of God, but this will not be the same for all. Some have received a fuller revelation of the will of God than have others. In other words, those who have received the full revelation of God's will in both the Old and New Testaments will be judged by their response to the entire Bible. Those who had only the Old Testament revelation will be judged by their response to the Old Testament. And those who had only creation revelation will be judged by their response to that revelation. However, it needs to be remembered that Paul tells us creation revelation is enough to leave us without excuse before the judgment throne of God. Men will be judged on the basis of the light they had, and not on the basis of a revelation they did not receive. I think here of the words of Jesus:
(Lk 12:47-48) "That servant who knows his master's will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows. (48) But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked."
More is required of those who had much light than those who had little light. A minister who spent much time with the Word, a covenant youth who grew up in a Christian home and was educated at a Christian school, a church member who faithfully attended worship services and Bible studies, have to answer for more than a pagan in Africa or an unbeliever from a broken and unbelieving home here in Visalia.
E What is the reward or the difference in reward that comes from the Final Judgment? Let me make it perfectly clear that we are not speaking of salvation here for salvation is completely and only by grace. Yet, the New Testament indicates there will be a difference in the rewards received by God's people on the Judgment Day.
I think first of Jesus' Parable of the Ten Minas (Lk 19:12-17). When a nobleman went to a distant country he gave ten of his servants a mina each, telling them to put his money to work. When the nobleman returned, the first servant said, "Sir, your mina has earned ten more" (vs 16). And the nobleman said to him, "Well done, my good servant! Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities" (vs 17). The second servant reported he made a fivefold profit. To this servant the nobleman said, "You take charge of five cities" (vs 19). But the servant who did nothing with the master's money except bury it was admonished and even condemned and his mina was taken from him.
The other major passage dealing with rewards is found in Paul's first letter to Corinth (1 Cor 3:10-15). There Paul talks about building upon the foundation of Jesus Christ. Some build with gold, silver, or precious stones; and others build with wood, hay, or straw (vs 13). The passage then goes on to speak about a fire which will test what sort of work each person has built upon Christ's foundation:
(1Cor 3:14-15) If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. (15) If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.
Both kinds of builders are saved by grace. But the builder who has built well upon the foundation of Christ will receive a reward. This reward, however, is not earned; like salvation, it too is a gift of grace. On the other hand, the man whose work fails to pass the test of fire will suffer loss; this man will not receive a reward.
What is the reward that we get from God? We notice that in the case of the Parable of the Ten Minas, the reward is a matter of increased responsibility rather than increased joy: being in charge of ten cities rather than five or one.
Someone may argue, "I thought heaven was a perfect place. How, then, can some be rewarded less fully or more fully than others?" An old preacher explained it to me this way:
Think of the rewards of heaven as a glass of wine. Everyone receives a glass of wine when they come to heaven. Some are given a large glass; other are given a small glass. Yet, everyone is given a full glass of wine. That's the way it is in heaven. Everyone's joy is full and complete.
Conclusion
What should we think about the Final Judgment? Says the Catechism,
In all my distress and persecution
I turn my eyes to the heavens
and confidently await as judge the very One
who has already stood trial in my place before God