What He Will Do with the Wicked, Part 1

Introduction: The Final Day and Christ's Judgment

0:01 The following sermon was delivered on Sunday morning, August 12, 2001, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. Now I would ask you to follow in your Bibles as I read two portions of the Word of God. I will not be spending time expounding these portions, but they are, as it were, an echo chamber of the many texts we will be looking at this morning, and we ought to hear the exposition of the passages we will be looking at explicitly against the backdrop of the very graphic description of the same events

0:42 as recorded, first of all, in Revelation chapter 6, and then another portion from Revelation 19. The scene in this paragraph, beginning in verse 12, takes us down to the final day. These cosmic disruptions described in the passage point us to the day of our Lord's return in glory and power and the setting up of his throne of judgment. Revelation 6, verse 12, to the end of the chapter.

1:19 And I saw when he opened the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the whole moon. And the sun became as blood, and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth as a fig tree casts her unripe figs when she is shaken of a great wind. And the heaven was removed as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the princes, and the chief captains, and the rich, and the strong, and every bondman.

2:02 And every free man hid themselves in the caves, and in the rocks of the mountains. And they say to the mountains, and to the rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. For the great day of their wrath is come, and who is able to stand? And now Revelation chapter 19.

2:31 Again, taking us down to the final day. To the last day. Under the image of our Lord Jesus coming as a mighty warrior in the final conquest of evil. Revelation 19 verses 11 through 16.

2:48 And I saw the heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and he that sat thereon called Faithful and True. And in righteousness he judges and makes war, and his eyes are as a flesh. flame of fire and upon his head are many diadems and he has a name written which no one knows but he himself and he is arrayed in the garment sprinkled with blood and his name is called the word of god and the armies which are in heaven followed him upon white horses clothed in fine

3:27 linen white and pure and out of his mouth proceeds a sharp sword that with it he should smite the nations and he shall rule them with a rod of iron and he treads the wine press of the fierceness of the wrath of god the almighty and he has on his garment and on his thigh a name written king of kings and lord of lords now let us you again pray and ask god to draw near to us in the preaching of his word our father we confess that

4:10 the mere reading of these two brief passages brings a sense of trembling awe to our hearts for we know that whatever is the imagery of apocalyptic vision the reality is never less than the imagery but far greater and grander far more awesome stunning and we pray that your holy spirit will come we seek with our paltry finite minds to think in categories that are so far above us and beyond our comprehension

Paul's Charge to Timothy: Preach in Light of Christ's Judgment

4:51 oh holy spirit come and take the truth of scripture and make it live to each of our minds and hearts for our good and and for your glory amen great apostle paul is a prisoner in the city of rome he knows that within a very short time he is to be killed he's to be executed as a martyr for the sake of the savior whom he loved supremely and whom he had served so effectively and convincingly

5:34 from the time god graciously arrested him on the road to damascus and in that setting he wants his final words to his spiritual son and fellow laborer timothy as found in his second letter to timothy to reflect what his dominant thoughts are as he faces his own imminent death and as he thinks of young to young to timothy carrying on in the work of the gospel there in ephesus and in that second letter

6:13 chapter four contains his final charge to timothy and in that charge he places before timothy perspectives that are constantly to shed their light and if i may reverse the imagery cast their very pronounced shadow over all that he does as a servant of god and a minister of the word of god he says to him in chapter four in verse one of second timothy i charge you in the sight of god and of christ jesus now notice in what light

6:54 particularly is he charged in the sight of god and before christ jesus is it a charge before god and christ jesus in the light of his cross in the light of his resurrection in the light of his tender concern for his sheep no paul says to timothy i charge you in the sight of god and of christ jesus who shall judge the living and the dead and by his appearing and his kingdom preach the word herald the message timothy with the conscious

7:35 ness of the very well defined and ominous shadows of the judgment seat of christ constantly enveloping your ministry i charge you before the christ who shall judge the living in the dead and by his appearing and his kingdom preach the word well are subject for the past couple of months in the ministry of the word here has been The Return of Christ in New Testament Belief and Experience.

Review of the Series: The Return of Christ

8:11 We began the series examining six texts which clearly demonstrated that an eager expectation and love for the return of Christ was an element, a vital element, in ordinary or normal Christian experience as it is described for us in the New Testament. We then considered four reasons as to why true Christians who are in a healthy spiritual condition do indeed eagerly await and love the return of the Lord Jesus.

8:50 We then proceeded to focus our attention on some foundational issues relative to the return of Christ. And we have seen from the scriptures that as to the event of that return, it is certain. As to its place in redemptive history, it is both central and climactic. As to the time of our Lord's return for us and the people of God in every age, it is always imminent, indefinite, and unknowable.

9:27 And then for some weeks now, we've been opening up this fourth category as to the events connected with the return of Christ. They are clearly revealed and manifold. And I have suggested, and I keep repeating it in my reviews, that we must not try to come up with a mathematically precise column of all of the events that will occur in this particular order at the return of the Lord Jesus. The Bible does not set the return of Jesus before us in that way.

10:02 It is set before us almost without exception. In terms of some practical pastoral concern, either expressed by the Lord Jesus or one of the biblical writers. And therefore, a certain aspect of what will happen at his coming is highlighted with no specific reference to time. Now, we do have in the first Thessalonians passage a time reference, and that had a pastoral concern.

10:30 People were thinking that their dead relatives would either be overlooked or be second-class slaves. So, Paul says, So, there is a sequence. We know that the returning Lord will pay attention to his dead saints first in order of time. But apart from that reference and several others, the great principle that I trust we have grasped and that we will carry with us in our ordinary Bible reading is we must think rather of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Lord Jesus Christ.

11:06 Of the events that cluster around the coming of our Lord Jesus. And I've used the illustration or analogy of a pie. And if the circle of the pie is every event which Scripture says will be found connected with the return of Christ, and the center is the return of Christ himself, then I find it helpful to think of the three major slices in the pie. In no particular order.

11:36 And we have looked... We have looked together at those things that comprise the slice of the pie that I have called what will happen to those who are in Christ at the return of Christ.

11:48 And we have seen from our examination of a number of passages at the return of Christ, all who are truly in Christ, and we've looked at four things that God clearly states will occur to his own. At the return of Christ, all who are in Christ, whether dead or alive, shall be fully conformed to the image of Christ, to be forever with Christ. Secondly, at the return of Christ, all who are truly in Christ shall be brought to the judgment seat of Christ in order to be openly identified, vindicated, and confessed by Christ,

12:29 and then to receive the rewards of grace from Christ. And then thirdly, at the return of Christ, all who are truly in Christ shall share with Christ in the final judgment executed by Christ upon wicked men and fallen angels. And then last Lord's Day evening, I had a delightful task as I address this fourth thing that will cluster around the return of Christ as he deals with his own at the return of Christ, all who are truly in Christ, all who are truly in Christ, all who are truly in Christ, all who are truly in Christ, shall be presented to Christ by Christ

13:10 as the fully perfected bride of Christ. And we had the privilege of looking into the scriptures that set before us this wonderful reality. Now for any visiting among us, that represents in about seven minutes of review twelve to thirteen hours of exposition. I've not quoted any of the scriptures.

What Will Happen to the Unbelieving and Wicked at Christ's Return: Resurrection to Judgment

13:32 I just want to bring you on board if you've not been with us. If you care, the tapes are available in our library or from the Trinity pulpit. But we press on this morning and in our ongoing examination of this broad subject of the events connected with the coming again of our Lord Jesus, we move from the first major slice in the pie, that is, from considering what will happen to those in Christ at the coming of Christ to the next large slice in the pie of events, namely, what will happen to the unbelieving and wicked and the devil and his angels at the coming of Christ.

14:15 It is one second coming in glory and in power in which our Lord will deal graciously and decisively in bringing to consummation the redemption of His own and in connection with the same return bringing to final destruction of the world. Those that are not His own, including the devil and His angels. So as we narrow our attention to this area of biblical revelation, note with me, first of all, at the return of Christ, the bodies of those who are not in Christ shall be raised by the voice and power of Christ

15:01 to be rejoined to their departed spirits in order to be rejoined to their departed spirits. In order to be rejoined to their departed spirits. In order to be rejoined to their departed spirits. In order to appear in judgment before Christ with all of the unbelievers who are alive at the coming of Christ.

15:17 Now that's a long sentence, I know. But I believe it brings together every major line of biblical truth in answer to the question what will happen at the return of Christ with respect to those who are not in Christ. And by now I hope you've been persuaded that this little phrase in Christ is the most all-encompassing biblical term for what it means to be a real Christian. Not in the church, not in the way of conformity to the standards of the church or to one's particular denomination, but to be a Christian is to be in Christ.

15:58 To be a non-Christian is to be out of Christ. To be a Christian is to be in Christ. A non-Christian is yet in Adam except for...

16:07 for the devil and the fallen angels who have no solidarity, no covenantal relationship to Adam and to his first transgression. So we're going to consider together from the Scriptures this very sobering reality. When Christ returns, what will happen to those who are not in Him? I answer, first of all, those who are not in Christ shall be raised, by the voice and power of Christ, to be rejoined to their departed spirits in order to appear in judgment before Christ along with all of the unbelievers

16:51 who are alive at the coming of Christ. Now turn with me, please, to what is the most foundational text of Scripture in my judgment, setting forth the first category of my answer to the question, about the events that will impinge upon non-Christians. John, chapter 5. John, chapter 5.

Christ's Authority to Judge: John 5:16-34

17:17 In this chapter, as with many places in the Gospel of John, we have the record of our Lord's controversy with the religious leaders in Israel. And in this particular setting, Jesus has made some claims which have greatly disturbed those who here in verse 16 are called the Jews. For this cause the Jews persecuted Jesus because He did these things on the Sabbath. But Jesus answered them, My Father works even until now, and I work.

17:48 For this cause, therefore, the Jews sought the more to kill Him because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also called God His own Father, making Himself equal with God. So the issue is very clear. The Jews are upset with Jesus, not only because He broke their Sabbath rules, not God's Sabbath law, but because the terminology He used about God being His Father, My Father, they understood that this was a claim to a very unique relationship to the Father. One in which He was not just the Son of God,

18:31 thinking in terms that we often think the offspring of, but He is God the Son. God is His Father in such a way that He shares in the very properties of deity itself. And so our Lord is going to vindicate that claim in the following context. Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Jesus is answering their objection which has precipitated their desire to kill Him that He has made Himself the Son of God.

19:09 And in the course of setting out specific reasons as to why this claim is valid, we come in that context to verse 22. For neither does the Father judge any man, but He has given all judgment unto the Son, in order that all may honor the Son even as, kapos, a verbal equal sign, as they honor the Father. He that honors not the Son honors not the Father that sent Him. He is clinching the nail of His claim to be equal with God.

19:51 He says the Father has delivered all judgment to Me that in that deposit of stewardship to be judge of the world, I may be acknowledged to be God the Son and given all the honor that is given to My Father as God, that honor belonged to Me. And if you refuse it to Me, you give none to My Father. There could not be a more explicit ironclad claim to deity than our Lord makes in those words. Now, with that reality that all judgment has been committed unto Him in that setting, notice verse 25, Truly, truly, I say to you,

20:35 the hour comes, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live. That's speaking of a spiritual resurrection and the voice of Christ through the gospel that effectually calls His people to Himself. But that's not the only situation in which the voice of the Son of God shall enter the realm of death and call to life. Look at verses 28 and 29.

21:05 Marvel not at this, for the hour comes, and He doesn't say, and now is. That would not be true. The hour is coming in which all that are in the tombs shall hear His voice, that is, the voice of the Son of Man, that is, Jesus, Son of God. All that are in the tombs shall hear His voice and shall come forth.

21:34 They that have done good unto the resurrection of life and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of judgment. Here our Lord's words are clear, unambiguous. He says the hour is coming in which all that are in the tombs, and that's a figure of speech, a synecdoche, in which the part is put for the whole. All that are in a state of physical death in the tombs, rotting on a mountain trail somewhere, eaten by the sharks in the belly of the sea, the hour is coming

22:18 in which all those who are dead shall hear His voice and shall come forth. Does that language remind you of another section in John? You remember in John chapter 11? Jesus stands by the mouth of Lazarus' tomb.

22:43 And the Scripture says, He spoke and said, Lazarus, forth! And the Scripture says, And Lazarus came forth. How do dead men hear when it's the voice of the Son of God that brings them to life? They hear with the very life that He has imparted.

23:07 And as surely as Jesus stood by Lazarus' tomb and said, Lazarus, come forth! And the tomb yielded up the dead. So every single tomb will yield up its dead when the returning Christ says, Come forth to judgment! And every single one who has died and whose body has gone into the tomb, into a grave, long disintegrated into untraceable particles throughout the earth, the Scripture says,

23:51 Jesus, who is Son of Man, Son of God, who in the full power of His divine nature has been given this stewardship of judgment because He is the Son of Man, when He speaks and says, Come forth, they shall come forth. And they'll come forth in only two categories. Those that have done good. As we saw several weeks ago, that is, those who are truly in Christ and in their union with Christ have not only been given an imputed righteousness, the very righteousness of Christ, but they have been regenerated and made new creatures

24:36 and given a principle of holiness and obedience so that the pattern of their life is that they do good. Not perfectly, not as the ground of their acceptance before God, not with equal zeal and efficiency, but the pattern of their life has been they have done good as being united to Christ out of a motive of love to Christ in the strength and power of Christ. They have done good. They shall come forth to that resurrection of life.

25:09 That's what we saw in our first consideration of what happens to those who are in Christ. It is return. The dead in Christ shall rise first. Body and soul shall be wholly conformed to the image of Christ.

25:24 But there's only one other category. They are described as those who have done evil. The pattern of their life has been lawlessness, evil, indifference to God's norms. They may be religiously evil.

25:42 They may be morally evil. They may be irreligiously evil and immorally evil. But evil is the characteristic of their lives. And they are brought forth to what?

25:55 In the Greek preposition, eis, if you think of an arrow pointing into a center, they are brought forth unto the resurrection, eis, into, towards, with the purpose of judgment, judgment, judgment in the sense of the scrutiny of Christ, in which pure law shall be operative in the courtroom. We are not thinking of believers who stand at the judgment seat of Christ with no relationship to the penal sanctions of the law. They have all been met in their Savior. They stand to be openly vindicated, be given the rewards of grace as we've seen.

26:38 But here we have another group who come to a resurrection of judgment, a resurrection of judgment. And Jesus said, the hour is coming. It is coming. It is imminent.

Reunion of Body and Spirit for Judgment: Revelation 20:11-15

26:56 It is the next great event in the history of redemption when the heavens will part and we shall hear the trump of God and the voice of the archangel and the triumphant shout of the returning warrior king, the Lord Jesus. And the dead shall come forth. It is precisely at this time and in this event that God will release their spirits from hell, thereby reconstituting them whole human beings. May I repeat that?

27:35 It is at this time when Christ's voice gives physical life to dead sinners, that their spirits will be released from hell and reunited to those bodies so that as whole human beings they will stand before Christ in final judgment. This is what we see in Revelation 20, language that perhaps has puzzled many of you for a long time as it has me. But I hope it makes sense in this context this morning. Verse 11 of chapter 20.

28:18 John said, I saw a great white throne and him that sat upon it from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne. Obviously they are not standing in a dead state. The ones who were dead but have now been raised, they are standing before the throne.

28:47 The books were opened and another book was opened which is the book of life. And the dead were judged out of the things that were written in the books according to their works. Now notice. And the sea gave up the dead that were in it.

29:03 All that are in the tomb shall hear his voice, a synecdoche, a part for the whole, where we have the same figure of speech. The sea now is the part for the whole. The sea, the ground, the mountains, wherever the dead have been housed, they shall give them up. The sea gave up the dead that were in it and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them.

29:30 Death that took the souls of the unconverted into Hades, into that temporary holding place in some passages translated in our Bible as hell. The rich man died and was buried. His body was in the ground. But in Hades he lifted up his soul being in torments.

29:56 The souls of unbelievers taste in the moment of their death what they will face in its full unleashed fury in the day of the Lord's return. They go into a place of conscious torment and separation from God. But at the coming of Christ those disembodied spirits shall be released from Hades, shall be joined to their bodies raised by the voice and the power of the returning Christ in order to stand before the judgment of Christ. This is why I've said in trying to pull the biblical truth together at the return of Christ

30:40 the bodies of those who are not in Christ shall be raised by the voice and power of Christ to be rejoined to their departed spirits in order to appear in judgment before Christ. And the consistent teaching of the scriptures is that there is to be such a judgment at the coming of our Lord Jesus. Not a third, not a fourth coming but in that one glorious appearing in glory and power with the entourage of His angels. This is why Jesus could say in Matthew 25, 31

Universal Judgment of All Nations: Matthew 25:31-32 and Acts 24:14-15

31:25 a passage we've looked at several times previously in the course of this study when, adverb of time, when the Son of Man shall come in His glory. There's no other coming recorded in scriptures subsequent to His first coming in humility. There's no other coming in the form of reconciliation culminating in His ascension to the right hand of the Father when the Son of Man shall come in His glory and all the angels with Him then. When, then, when the Son of Man shall come then shall He sit on the throne of His glory and before Him shall be gathered

32:09 all the nations. Language could not be more clear than that shall be gathered before Him all the nations. John says, I saw the dead small and great stand before God and the books are opened and they are judged every one according to their works. This was a fundamental tenet in orthodox Jewish conviction even before the coming of Christ.

32:40 Look at Acts chapter 24. Paul is standing before Felix giving a defense and being an evangelist to the Roman potentate. Notice what he says in Acts 24, 14 and 15. But this I confess unto you that after the way which they call a sect so serve I the God of our fathers believing all things which are according to the law and which are written in the prophets having hope toward God which these also believe that they will themselves look for.

33:18 Speaking of the very Jews that are opposing Paul and his witness concerning Christ but Paul says on this point we are fully agreed. And what is the point? The point is that there shall be a resurrection both of the just and unjust. It was a foundational tenet and our Lord Jesus Christ did absolutely nothing to alter that fundamental concept of a day the day of the Lord when the returning Messiah shall summon the nations before him.

33:57 Some coming forth to a resurrection of life. Some to a resurrection of judgment. And surely the echoes of Daniel 12 in verse 2 are found in this language. Many that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake some to sleep in shame some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

34:22 And furthermore it is a fact that the scriptures teach that not only at his return with respect to those who are not in Christ will he raise the dead who are not in Christ. Rejoin them to their spirits release them from hell from Hades that they might stand before him as whole living human beings. But the scriptures declare he will deal in judgment with all those who are alive but not in Christ when he appears and here the passages are so numerous. Second Thessalonians 1 in verse 7 writing to the Christians he says you that are afflicted rest with us when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven in flaming fire

35:07 with his angels and what will he do? He will come he says to take vengeance on all them that know not God and obey not the gospel. There will be those at his return who are proud of their wretched unbelief who have no sense of shame when they say I will not have this man to reign over me. The scriptures are clear that they will join those who previously were in their graves as to their bodies in Hades as to their spirits and together they shall stand before him whose eyes are as a flame of fire to be judged by the Lord Jesus.

The Certainty and Irresistibility of Christ's Call to Judgment

35:51 So then when we ask the question at the return of Christ what shall be done to those who are not in Christ? The answer of scripture is frighteningly clear at the return of Christ the bodies of those who are not in Christ shall be raised by the voice and power of Christ to be rejoined to their departed spirits in order to appear at the judgment before Christ with all the unbelievers who are alive at the coming of Christ. And as certainly as every prophetic word of God pertaining to events already accomplished in the history of redemption as surely as every prophetic word

36:36 pertaining to his first coming has found perfect fulfillment Isaiah says Isaiah spoke of the suffering servant and so clearly has that been fulfilled that Philip is able from that very suffering servant passage in Isaiah to preach Jesus to the Ethiopian eunuch and as surely as there is not one prophetic word that pointed to his first coming and all that would be connected with that coming every single prophetic word that points to his second coming shall find complete

37:19 and comprehensive fulfillment. The hour is coming in which all that are in the tomb shall hear his voice and shall come forth no debating no arguing no equivocating as surely as Lazarus could not bring himself out of the state of death by himself Lazarus could do nothing but come forth when the sovereign voice of the Son of God called him and you who have sat in this place for months and years

38:03 and resisted the voice of the Son of God speaking to you in overtures of grace and mercy invitation and warning entreaty heartfelt to flee from your sins and run to Christ and you've resisted his voice hardened your heart and hour is coming when you will not be able to resist he will say to your dust come forth he will release your spirit from hell and as you sit here this morning a body soul entity

38:46 you'll stand before the risen Christ to be judged by this Christ but now we ask do the scriptures which yield such a clear testimony to the facts of the resurrection and the reality of judgment for those not in Christ do the scriptures give us more details and specific information about that judgment and what will happen and without any flights of imagination even a sanctified use of that marvelous faculty that God has given us the imaginative faculty

The Judgment Process: Identification, Trial, Condemnation, and Banishment

39:31 this is what the scriptures force upon us and here's the second part of our answer to the question what will be done the second slice in the pie to those who are not in Christ at the return of Christ and it is this at the return of Christ all who are not in Christ shall at the judgment throne of Christ be openly identified tried condemned and banished by Christ into a place most horrifically described in the very words of Christ

40:14 as surely as those who are in Christ will stand at the judgment seat of Christ to be openly identified vindicated confessed by Christ and then wonder of wonders be given the rewards of grace by Christ so those who come to the resurrection of judgment will be openly identified as well but not to be vindicated and confessed but tried condemned and then banished by Christ into that horrible place described in horrific words by Christ himself when the Lord Jesus has summoned all humanity

40:57 before his awesome throne as we saw with respect to the ones who are in Christ his first act will be one of identification of identification turn again to Matthew 25 Matthew 25 verse 31 but when the son of man shall come in his glory and all the angels with him then shall he sit on the throne of his glory and before him shall be gathered all the nations now notice his first act he shall separate them one from another as the shepherd

41:41 separates the sheep from the goats and he shall set the sheep on his right hand and the goats or but the goats on the left you see the specific emphasis upon his act of identification he will identify the sheep and place them at his right hand he will identify the goats and place them at his left hand at the return of Christ those who are not in Christ shall at the judgment throne of Christ be openly identified by Christ

42:25 two of the kingdom parables in Matthew 13 focus upon this reality here Jesus says he will employ the cooperative effort of angels in this work of identification separation slash identification there is the parable of the wheat and the tares as some of you know the tares were darnel that in the process of growing they look so much like wheat that if an untrained eye were to try to pull out the weed the darnel they would pull up the wheat as well and our Lord uses that parable to say no a time of infallible identification is coming in the last day

43:09 verse 24 of Matthew 13 another parable he set before them saying the kingdom of heaven is like to a man that sowed good seed in his field but while men slept the enemy came and sowed tares darnel among the wheat and went away and when the blades sprang up and brought forth fruit then appeared the tares also and the servants of the householder came and said unto him sir did you not sow good seed in your field whence then hath it tares and he said unto them an enemy has done this and the servants say unto him will then that we go and gather them up and he said no lest perhaps while you gather up the tares you root up the wheat with them let both grow together

43:52 until the harvest and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers gather up first the tares bind them in bundles to burn them but gather the wheat into my barn you see what our Lord is saying know what in this life the keenest most discerning eye can make an infallible judgment as to who is really in Christ who merely has the appearance of being in Christ who has mere profession who is vitally joined to him but that ambiguity will all be resolved

44:36 at the end of the age when Christ comes in glory and in power he will enlist the service of angels who will implement his infallible identification of his own and since his eyes are as a flame of fire and he can say I search the hearts and the reins he will make an infallible and perfectly accurate identification something no elder no pastor can do something no husband no wife can do no mother no father no child can do it takes

45:20 omniscience to make an infallible identification of those who are truly in Christ and those who have never been vitally joined to him but in the second place they will not only be identified but they will be tried and condemned the whole setting of that judgment of condemnation that resurrection unto judgment is the concept of a courtroom and the trial will be based on the fact that the judge is omniscient and will bring forward an accurate and comprehensive body of evidence to validate

46:04 as he did with his own that his judgment is true and righteous the Lord Jesus will bring forward the deeds of his people in the day of judgment to display to the entire gathered moral intelligent universe that when he says come you blessed you righteous ones you have done good that that was not a mirage that that was based on the solid evidence I was hungry and you fed me thirsty and you gave me drink in prison and you visited me that is not the manifestation that they are truly saved well likewise the flip side the dark side

46:48 of that is the trial that Jesus will subject all sinners to is one that is based upon his omniscience his perfect justice and righteousness he will manifest that his identification of them as unrighteous was neither arbitrary nor unrighteous it will be a judgment based upon their works look at Romans 2 and verse 2 it will be a judgment according to truth and we know that the judgment of God is according to truth

47:33 against them that practice such things it will be a judgment not only according to truth but verse 5 of Romans 2 it will be the revelation of the wrath judgment of God it will be according to truth it will be in perfect conformity to God's own standard of right it will be a judgment in righteousness it will be according to verse 6 a judgment according to works who will render to every man according to his works and included in the works verse 16 the secrets

48:17 of men here in these few verses in Romans 2 we have these things said about the judgment administered by Christ according to truth it will be a judgment that reveals God's righteousness in that judgment it will be according to works and it will descend to the thoughts and the intents of the hearts of men so when we read it will be it will not simply be the works that fellow mortals can observe though it will include that but it includes the thoughts and the cogitations and the secret motions of the heart and it is the state of the heart

49:02 that in God's eyes turns many externally virtuous deeds into wretched sin this people draws near to me with their lips but their heart does not turn away from me in vain do they worship me Paul could say in first Corinthians four or five judge nothing before the time until the Lord come who will make manifest the secrets of the heart it includes the words which are the effluence or the outflow of a depraved and evil heart Matthew 12 35 and 36 make the tree

49:46 good and its fruit good and it commissioned the man to destroy and wine excuse me an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil things for by the word it should be justified by your word you will be condemned in every I will word it meant used to a given account there got in the day of judgment that's not a word to believe years speaking about that no one hears but god the lies that you tell yourself the words you may speak to some close

50:29 associate who's in on your secret some of you young people got your little secrets where you whisper your unbelief and your uncleanness to some of your buddies and your girlfriends in this very church family god hears every one of them in jesus will bring every one of them before you in the day of judgment every idle word every word that is the effluence of an evil fountain called the uncleansed unregenerate human heart all specific deeds done in violation of god's law in short the imagery of revelation 20 and verse 12 will come to pass the books are opened and the dead

51:14 shall be judged out of the books according to you their works now granted the standard of the severity of the judgment will be how much men knew or did not know of the will of god jesus said in luke 12 he who knew not his lord's will and did it not shall be beaten with few stripes he who knew and did not shall be beaten with many jesus says in matthew 11 more tolerable in the day of judgment for sodom and gomorrah than for you fully acknowledging there will be greater and things typical of all glory among them but one thing is the common denominator those who are locked in chris

Sinners' Futile Arguments Against Christ's Judgment (Matthew 7, Matthew 25, Luke 13)

51:58 heraus of all the voice and power of christ disается beloved judgment new charges show that that your children no one it is to be earlier identified but tried and can ham by jesus christ of the things that hit me with tremendous force as never before in my preparation of this material there are at least three passages of scripture in which jesus says sinners standing at his judgment seat are going to enter into argument with him about the justice and the righteousness of his

52:41 judgment think of it mortals debating with the sovereign exalted omniscient son of god jesus must have put that there for a reason three instances and i want you to look at these instances with me matthew chapter 7 remember we're seeking to understand from our bibles what will happen in that awesome day when heaven and earth flee away and sinners raised and joined to their departed spirits stand before the lord jesus in judgment verse 21 of matthew 7

53:23 not everyone who says unto me lord lord shall enter the kingdom of heaven but he that does the will of my father which is in heaven many many many many many will say to me in that day in that day when he's on his judgment throne they're going to talk back to the judge lord lord did we not prophesy by your name and by your name demons and by your name do many mighty works and then will i profess solemnly profess it's a language

54:01 of the court i will solemnly declare unto them i never knew you depart from me you who work iniquity what's the fundamental principle our lord highlights in verse 21 only those who do the will of the father are identified as belonging to christ and heirs of the father's kingdom not everyone who says but he who does shall enter that's the fundamental principle no one gets to heaven on good wishes or on mere lip profession we get to heaven by the virtue and righteousness of christ revealed to us in the gospel and applied by the power of the spirit

54:42 who never simply reveals the saving virtue of christ and brings us to trust in christ he takes out the heart of flesh writes the law of god upon our hearts and gives us a passion to be a part of the church and to be a part of the church and to be a part of the church to please christ and to do the will of the father there's the fundamental principle only those who do the will of the father are identified by christ as belonging to christ and heirs of his heavenly kingdom but then the fundamental principle is followed by a frightening prophecy look at the frightening process prophecy many will say to me in that day the day of judgment and what do they say they plead their case they say lord you must have made a mistake in

55:23 identifying us as goats you must have made a mistake in gathering us with those who do unrighteousness for lord the facts are these did we not prophesy speak the authoritative word of god in your name not in the name of the propagators of error and of heresy but in your name we spoke forth your words and furthermore they are not in the name of the propagators of error and of heresy they say lord you must have made a mistake by your name cast out demons when we invoked your name

56:01 as those who profess to be aligned with you you validated our exorcism of demons and demons went out from our ministry in your name do you see that folks and they say lord if that's not enough to overturn the verdict here's our third batch of evidence and by your name we cast out demons do many mighty works powers signs and wonders i mean getting people saved that's a the greatest of all wonders but that didn't get people all excited these people went beyond that and jesus does not

56:45 make any effort to refute their claim so there's the fundamental principle only those who do the will of the father will enter the kingdom of the father the frightening prophecy is there going to be many who are going to object to the lord's identification of them and to the conclusion of his trial and judgment of them well then we see the final pronouncement verse 23 then will i profess to them now notice the significance i never knew you there never was a time when i knew you does that mean he doesn't know them in terms of aware of

57:28 them of course not he's the omniscient lord what he's saying is i never was identified with you in a saving relationship the scripture says my sheep hear my voice and i know them and they follow me john 10 27 he said i never knew you there never was any vital union of faith and affection from you to me and reciprocally from me to you i never knew you depart from me now notice who they are you that work and it's a present tense participle i believe it's a present tense and i believe it's a participle you that are continually

58:08 working iniquity lawlessness though you professed my name and came into the company of those who professed it and though you came up through the ranks of that company to the point where you were given places of public stewardship and responsibility and you spoke my word in my name and though you saw that word in my name effectual to the dismantling of some of the work of the devil cast out demons and though many mighty works were done the greatest work was never done in you to wrench you from a life of iniquity into

58:47 a life of righteousness get out of here i don't know you that's sober you i tell you it's this text that caused me to say to the men in the academy more than once don't you ever in seasons of serious self-examination make your usefulness in the ministry of the lord of the nations a measure of your state in grace this text should forever put the cap on any notion that a man should take comfort he must be in the state of grace because of what happens under his ministry these men are prominent successful and orthodox but damned well if they were workers of iniquity

59:31 and they were never thrown out of the church and never banished for their open godless lives where would they be? where was the iniquity practiced? obviously in the thoughts and in the motives and in the secret hours when the wife was in bed the kids were in bed and he sneaked down to his study and through a few clicks his eyes were drinking in pornography preachers are doing this by the hundreds across this country if you don't believe me write to dr dobson and ask for the documentation of their hotline of pastoral counseling if you think this is just pastor martin rhetorical overkill

60:15 the iniquity is obviously cherished in the heart and in the eyes and in the secrets not known to men but seen by the eye of the judge get out of here i never knew you you are iniquity workers second passage matthew twenty five come back to it again people objecting or at least asking for free work at least for free work in the church for further validation that the judgment has been righteous the lord speaks to the goats those on the left hand and we read in verse

60:58 forty one then shall he say also to them on the left hand depart from me you cursed into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels for my judgment that you are wicked is validated by these non actions in your life for you see the connection depart from me into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels but a place to which all who have sold themselves to the devil the deceiver and the murderer and the liar for i was hungry you didn't give me to eat i was thirsty and you gave me no drink

61:41 i was a stranger and you didn't take me in naked and you didn't call me sick and in prison and you didn't visit me now they're going to debate with the lord now they're going to debate with the lord i mean you're sending us to help because we didn't do that way they were worldwide justify that justification of our damnation picket cheeky but talk back to the lord on the throne talked back to the judge they asked him but until they answered saying what would we see you hungry or thirst or stranger naked or sick in prison did not minister to you many shall answer them saying he condescends to their cheekiness

62:21 Remember the whole universe is assembled. Waiting with bated breath is the judge making a righteous judgment. He has told them to depart. They are objecting. What will the judge say?

62:36 And with one stroke, the Lord Jesus resolves the issue. Then shall he answer them saying, verily, truly, most assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it not unto one of these least, and he points to his sheep on his right hand, you did it not unto me. What's he telling them? He said, you never had a clue that the essence of saving religion is such that when you are born of God and brought

63:06 into his family, you love those that are begotten of God. First John 5, 1, whosoever is begotten of God loves him also that is begotten of God. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples. If you have love one to another, the fruit of the spirit is love. Our Lord, by this concrete statement of what they didn't do, lays bare to the judgment of the whole moral universe.

63:36 That the root of saving religion was never in them. That's why Jesus said he'll banish with the hypocrites every professing Christian who will not forgive from the heart his brother. Matthew 18. So shall my father do to you if you forget not every man his brother from the heart. Why? Forgivers become forgiving saints. And if you're not a forgiving saint, you ain't a forgiven sinner. And in the day of judgment, if you don't repent, you're not a forgiven sinner.

64:10 Christ will validate his identification of you as a wicked man or woman, boy or girl. His judgment of you as cursed by demonstrating that tight-fisted spirit of unforgiveness that said, I'll never forgive him. Never forgive her. I cannot forgive this or that. Don't you toy with such issues.

64:41 Your objections will be swept away. Then there's a third passage. Luke chapter 13. Day of judgment, again, is in the field of view. Notice what our Lord says. Someone asks out of the crowd, are there few that be saved? And the Lord says, that's not the important issue. The important issue is any who are saved come in by the narrow door. And you better bend all of your interest and concern to get through that door.

65:12 Verse 24, strive to enter in by the narrow door.

65:18 And you shall seek to enter and not be able. Take away any punctuation mark after able. Seek shall not be able when once the master of the house is risen up and has shut fast the door. And you begin to stand without and to knock at the door saying, Lord, open to us. And he shall answer and say, I don't know you where you're from. Then shall you begin to say, we did eat and drink in your presence. What do you mean you don't know us?

65:48 We were where you were. We ate and drank in your presence. You came where we were. You did teach in our streets. And he shall say, I tell you, I don't know where you are from. Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity.

66:07 Here the identification and the judgment comes to us under the imagery of the house despot is a literal rendering of the master of the house. He's the oikos despotos. He is. He is the house despot. And he's been sitting inside by the door inviting, inviting, inviting. But now a time comes when he gets up. The Lord of the house shuts the door. All who are in are the ones who have been welcomed, owned as rightful guests at his banquet. He goes on to say that in that banquet there'll be Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And they'll come from east and west and north and south. What John sees is the great multitude whom no man can number.

66:50 And these people are outside saying, Lord, you made a mistake. We got our tickets. We we we've got our reservations. Knock, knock, knock. Let us in. The Lord says, No, I don't know where you're from.

67:04 Wait a minute, Lord. Look, look what we're telling you. Let's look again at the evidence. Isn't there evidence to indicate this is an invalid judgment? You came into the area where we were and we ate and drank in your presence.

67:22 And you taught in our streets. We had close associations with you. We had benefits from what you said. And we had social interaction in the eastern context. Eating together is a pledge of friendship. The Lord says, In spite of all your protestations of friendship, proximity to me and to my truth, I don't know where you're from. And the door remains shut.

67:56 Now, this. It strike you as strange. And I've been living with this haunting pressure. As far as I know, there may be other passages, but these are the only ones that I've discovered in wrestling afresh with this issue. Why would the Lord give three different examples of people objecting to the rightness, to the accuracy of his identification, his trial and his conclusion? I believe it's because the Lord knows.

68:28 How wretchedly perverse and deceptive is the human heart. And he gives us this three fold picture. Not that he wants to see as many as possible fit that picture to prove the prophecy was true. But every announcement of judgment in the Bible prior to the voice of Christ that will cause the judgment is a pronouncement.

68:59 Judgment laced with mercy that we flee from the wrath to come. And I say to you who sit in this place this morning, don't rest on the flimsy, unbiblical foundation. When you think of the great question, will he identify me as a sheep or as a goat? Will I stand before him in Christ?

Pastoral Exhortation: Flee from Wrath to Come

69:30 To be identified, vindicated, confessed by Christ and to receive the rewards of grace or at the return of Christ, will my body, if I've died, be joined to my spirit only to appear before the judgment seat of Christ to hear the sentence depart from me, you cursed. God willing, tonight we'll take up the last phrase that I've put in that second statement. Banished by Christ into a place most horrifically described in the words of Christ. But I close this morning with this very simple question.

70:16 Do you really want to be an eternal monument of the truth of what we've studied this morning? What Christ will do for those who are not in him in the day of judgment? I want each of you to imagine that we're sitting. We're sitting here in a cozy context with three or four feet between us.

70:40 I want to look you straight in the eye and say, do you really want this? I ask you, is that what you're living for? For the hour when you will hear the voice of the Son of God and stand in judgment and all of your protestations will be shown for what they are. Empty, hollow protestations.

71:03 It's hard for me to believe. And any rational boy or girl, man or woman sitting here this morning would say to me, were we sitting in a more intimate context? Yes, Pastor Martin, that's really what I'm living for. I'm living for the time when Jesus will judge me and send me to hell.

71:22 I don't believe anyone's that mad, that morally and spiritually deranged. If you have any sense of your highest well-being, I beg you in Christ's name. In Christ's name. Go to Him.

71:41 Give yourself no rest. Do you know that you're hidden in Christ and in the virtue of His perfect life and His death under the wrath of God? You have a righteousness that will stand the scrutiny of the eye of the judge in the last day. Do not rest until you know that in union with Christ, you too have died to the dominion of sin, have risen to newness of life in the power of Christ and of the Spirit.

72:10 Now, presenting your body's instruments of righteousness unto God, anticipating the day when body and spirit will be perfected into the likeness of Christ. And throughout eternity, you'll behold the face of God and of the Lamb and follow the Lamb whithersoever He goes. Let's pray. Our Father, once again, we have drawn near to awesome, overwhelming reality.

72:47 And we feel so keenly the dulling influence of our sin, the constricting influence of our creatureliness. But may your Holy Spirit bring these things home with power to every heart in this place today. Seal your word to the everlasting salvation and joy of many. For Jesus' sake.

73:17 Amen.