R239 Understanding Judgment, PT.2

Welcome to The Encouraging Word, featuring the Bible-based teaching of Dr. Don Wilton and Understanding Judgment, Part 2.

As a remarkable perspective on judgment, we gain an understanding that, yes, we are under the judgment of the Lord of the universe, but we also exercise judgment in our life. And today we'll head to John chapter 5 for Part 2 of this study with Dr. Wilton. While we do so, Dr. Don wants you to know we believe firmly in the power of prayer, and you can ask someone to pray with you anytime on our prayer line. 866-899-WORD is the phone number. That's 866-899-9673. Love to talk and pray with you, but we also would love to connect you with wonderful resources, like the brand new devotional we're launching into 2022 with.

You can find details on our website as well at www.tewonline.org. Now, Dr. Don Wilton. Four prevailing secular philosophies. I'm going to share them with you very quickly.

You ready? Number one is what I would choose to call the Mardi Gras philosophy of the end of the age. You know, I lived in New Orleans for 14 years. Mardi Gras is unbelievable. If you've never been to it, don't. I want you to know that it's the time when Satan pays a personal visit to the city of New Orleans.

You can ask Dr. Pounds. He was born in New Orleans. But I want you to know, friends, that Mardi Gras has oath. Millions of people come to that city. And that is why my wife and I and family always left every time there was Mardi Gras. But people just go berserk. You've never seen anything like it.

Throw me something, mister. People walking around waiting for some priceless piece of plastic junk to come flying out of one of those trucks. But do you know what Mardi Gras really means? Mardi Gras really means I'm going to live today because tomorrow I'm going to die. You see, in Mardi Gras, my friends, there is Fat Tuesday followed by Ash Wednesday. On the actual culminating day of Mardi Gras, which is called Fat Tuesday, it's a good name, the debauchery is something of which you've never seen. People go berserk.

I mean, it is unbelievable. It means I'm going to get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get everything I can. I'm going to do whatever tastes good, feels good, sounds good. And in every other sense, I'm going to just do it because I want to do it because tomorrow I'm going to die. On Ash Wednesday, you want to see New Orleans. It's like a morgue. I mean, people even paint their faces black.

The churches are filled to capacity with people confessing their sins so that next week they can go back and do the same thing again. I remember about 10 years ago on Elysian Fields Avenue near the Baptist Seminary, a little girl came to watch the Mardi Gras parade. There was a man standing in that massive crowd and all of a sudden, an extra special piece of priceless plastic junk came flying out of one of those trucks and that man decided he was going to have it and he began to kick and shove and kick and shove and move.

I mean, he just was getting that thing. It was flying through the air and he didn't see that little girl and he kicked her out from under him. She went sprawling out on the road and that truck rode over her head and killed her right there in the street. The next day in the Times-Picayune States item of New Orleans, Louisiana, the newspaper had a little article on a page where nobody would bother to read it.

Little girl dies in Mardi Gras parade. Yes, my friends, there are many people today who would say, preacher, don't preach about judgment and all that stuff. I'm going to live today because tomorrow I'm going to die. But there's a second philosophy that you find in the world, in the secular world and that is what I choose to call the philosophy of reincarnation.

Real jawbreaker. Well, incarnation means to be made in the flesh. You put the prefix re on the front, it means to be in the flesh again. It is a cyclical view of the rebirth of mankind. Here's what those who believe in reincarnation believe. Do you know that over 85% of Hollywood stars believe in some other form of reincarnation? From Shirley MacLaine to Elizabeth Taylor and on and on down the line.

And folks, they are spewing their junk and their lies all over America today and people are falling for it hook, line and sinker. Reincarnation means that I'm born into this world. I live for 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 100 years, I die. I just get born again into the next world. Then I live in the next world, I die, get born again. It is a cyclical view of the rebirth of mankind.

Do you know what those people believe? There are many forms of reincarnation by the way. They believe that the quality of this life is going to determine the quality of my next life. Now in Africa, 95% of tribal Africans believe in some other form of reincarnation. I have been among tribes that believe that if you're not careful, you can lead a good life in this life and you'll come back in the next life as a chief or a prince or a prime minister or something real good.

But if you lead a bad life, you better watch out. You might come back as some bad kind of... Do you know what they believe folks? You could even come back as a frog. Man, I wouldn't want to come back as a frog in South Louisiana. Or you without your legs before you even know it. They are mean. You go, man, there are frogs with crutches and wheelchairs all over Louisiana.

It is unbelievable. I'll never forget my wife's face the first time she had frogs legs. She's still trying to getting over it, aren't you? Well, any rate, reincarnation. Well, there's a third philosophy that's in the world today about the judgment throne of God. And that is what people call purgatory. Mardi Gras, reincarnation, the third is purgatory. People who believe in purgatory believe that when a person dies, and I'm being simplistic, when a person dies, all people go into a place called purgatory. It's neither heaven nor hell in case hell doesn't exist.

It's not heaven. It is a state between this earth and heaven, purgatorial existence. And the word purgatory comes from the verb to purge, which means to cleanse or to make brand new or to wipe out the blemish of the life and the sin that you have had in your life. That is why for a person who believes in purgatory, it is absolutely critically important moments before death to get a preacher or a priest to come and pray for them.

Why? Because the closer you can be prayed over and have your sins forgiven prior to death, the less time you're going to spend in purgatory. Because the length of your time in purgatory is in direct proportion to the amount of accumulated unforgiven sin that has accrued against you.

I've got some friends in New Orleans on the anniversary of their son's death. They go to their church, they pay money to their church, they give tithes to their church. They ask everybody to pray that their son's time in purgatory will be shortened by the grace of God. I want you to know my friends according to the Word of God that the Bible does not teach a Mardi Gras philosophy of life.

The Bible does not teach reincarnation and the Bible does not teach a purgatorial existence for those who die in their sinfulness. But there is a fourth philosophy that is in the world today and it is what I would choose to call the William Shakespeare philosophy of life. Jolly good chap was William. You know that William Shakespeare was the man who invented Tylenol? Did you know that?

He's the one who's given us English students headaches for so many years. But you know that there are people who believe what William Shakespeare put so well into one of his plays which he entitled All's Will That Ends Well. Have you ever met someone who has that kind of... Preacher, you know, man, listen, that was great today, but you know, let's not, you know, don't get kind of carried, don't get carried away with judgment and all. It's all just gonna, it's gonna be fine. Look, it's gonna work out. They are pan-millennials. They believe that it's all gonna pan out in the end.

It doesn't matter what, just don't get excited. Don't ever mention hell and don't ever say that God is a God of judgment and don't ever talk about the great white throne judgment and don't ever say that sinners can never come into the presence of God because all's well that ends well. Have you ever heard a man say to you, Preacher, don't worry me now, maybe one day I'll sort this all out, but not now, not now. You remember John Wayne? We used to love John Wayne. You know, I saw John Wayne overseas so many times, really. When I came to the United States, I thought all the men in the United States were as good looking as John Wayne and then I met Jerry Collins. But you know, John Wayne, we used to go and watch John Wayne movies all the time and he was a real John Wayne fan.

He was a wonderful person. Do you remember his final interview just three weeks before he died on national television? The interviewer who didn't quite know how to describe life after death said to him, Mr. Wayne, you're so famous and you're so loved. Do you believe that when you die that you know that you are going to, that when after you, you're going to go up, you know, up, down. Well, do you believe it? And Mr. Wayne looked across that national television audience and he said, ah, I don't know about all of that stuff, but I guess I'm fixing to find out one of these days, ain't I? Someone told me that it was their understanding that John Wayne gave his life to the Lord Jesus Christ just prior to his death. You know, I hope that's the case because that means I'm going to see him again. I like that.

He was a wonderful person, very much loved all over the world. The Bible says there is now therefore no condemnation to those who are in union with Christ Jesus. Such great news, not just from Dr. Wilton, but from Scripture reminding us there is no condemnation for those who are in union with Christ Jesus. Some of us, maybe even some of you, are finding yourself feeling condemned.

You need to know God is ready to free you from that and we'd love to pray you through that situation on our prayer line. 866-899-WORD is the phone number. That's 866-899-9673. We'd love to pray with you in any situation you're in and we can do that on the keyboard as well. You can also go to our website, www.tewonline.org.

One of the ways we push back the condemnation of the enemy is by spending time in God's Word. If you haven't signed up for the free email that comes out every morning from Dr. Wilton, I pray you'll consider doing that today. You can do it on our website, www.tewonline.org. Just click the word Devotional at the top of the screen, www.tewonline.org. I hope you'll sign up today.

Have a great teaching with Dr. Don Wilton. Why do you suppose that the Lord Jesus Christ would bring this defense of his apparent predicament before these religious leaders back to the issue of judgment? Well, I believe, friends, that we cannot understand the judgment of God unless we understand three underlying principles that Jesus shares right here in this passage. I give them to you. Number one, in order to understand the judgment of God, we must understand the relationship between the Father and the Son.

I want to run that by again in case some of you had a rough night last night. If we ever begin to understand the judgment of God according to Scripture, what it was that Jesus was trying to say in John 5, we must understand first of all the relationship between God the Father and God the Son. You see, Jesus spoke of his relationship with God the Father in unbelievably intimate terms. But when he spoke about his relationship with God the Father, he spoke about two dynamics that were an outgrowth or a consequence of his relationship with his Heavenly Father.

Number one, it involved his loyalty. Verse 19 tells us, I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He can only do what he sees his Father doing because whatever the Father does, the Son does also. Jesus was saying here that God is my Father but I and the Father are one and I am completely loyal to the Father and the Father has done what? He has entrusted all judgment to me.

Why? Because judgment is rooted in the character and the heartbeat of who God is. He is a holy God and he cannot tolerate any sin whatsoever or any blemish in any person. What was he saying? He was saying to these religious leaders, independence of thought on the part of me as the Son of God is absolutely impossible. He's saying while I am as God and never anything less than God, so I am man and am never anything more than man. What was Jesus saying? Jesus was trying to tell these disciples, my friends, that to creation's remotest bounds into the Godhead's most secret and distant counsels, the Son knows exactly what God is doing. In other words, he was saying to these religious leaders, he was saying as Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, my mind is co-existent and co-extensive with the mind of Almighty God in Christ Jesus.

What an incredible statement to make. Yes, he was absolutely loyal. I and the Father are one but it didn't only involve his loyalty, it involved his love. If we're gonna understand the judgment of God, we've got to understand the relationship between the Father and the Son and that relationship was based upon two principles.

It involved, first of all, his loyalty but it also involved his love. That's my favorite verse in all of Scripture, for God so loved the world. You see, my beloved friend, you cannot understand.

You will not understand the judgment of God outside of the love of God. That's why we're here today. That's why we love one another. That's why my wife and I and family were so excited to come back home because of the love in this congregation. That is why we are standing here today to share with you the unsearchable love of God in Christ Jesus.

God was, Jesus was saying to these people, I healed this man. Do you know why? Because I love him, that's why. And then he said, no, and you have the audacity to be amazed. What seems to be your problem, brother? What seems to be your problem? I healed this man and you're upset with me? You're upset with me? I preached all week at Home Missions Week in Gloria to New Mexico. So high in the mountains, you've got to catch your breath every time. A man came up to me and he said to me, pastor, the greatest tragedy that I'm facing is that there are even people in my own church that every time God moves, they get upset.

I said to him, I wish you could come to Spartanburg, brother. Do you know why, my friends? Because the judgment of God is inextricably intertwined with the love of God in Christ Jesus. God acts because he loves you. There is not one person here this morning who is not here because of anything but the love of God. That is why every person is so special.

It matters not what you've done or where you've been or what you're guilty of, my friend. The judgment of God is bound into the heartbeat of the love of God. He was loyal to the Father and his love made manifest in his own life that he even gave of himself even unto death. We've got to understand the relationship between the Father and the Son. But then in the second place, we've also got to understand the lordship of Jesus over life and death.

If you want to try and understand the judgment in the next few weeks that I preach on this, we're just scratching the surface this morning. You've got to understand the relationship between the Father and the Son. But secondly, you've got to understand his lordship over life and death. You see, the Bible says from verse 21 through 26, I'm not going to reread it, that Jesus Christ is the Lord of life. He is life. He doesn't make life.

He is life. And what Jesus was saying to them, he was saying to them, I'm also Lord over the grave. Now, you can't blame these people for being skeptical.

Oh, they must have been skeptical. Do you know why these people were skeptical when Jesus said, I'm Lord over the grave? Jesus hadn't conquered death yet, had he? He hadn't been crucified yet. He hadn't been resurrected from the graveyard.

Well, perhaps they had a little bit reason to be skeptical. He had done all other kinds of things before his resurrection. In chapter 2, he had changed the water into wine. In chapter 4, he had healed the nobleman's son.

This is all out there for public consumption. In Luke chapter 4, 31, he had healed the man possessed with the Spirit. In chapter 5, verse 12, he had cleansed the leper and just prior to these verses, he had healed the man at the pool of Bethesda. But within months, in fact, statisticians tell us within six months of what Jesus said here, three things were to happen. Number one, he was to raise the son of the widow in Luke chapter 7, 11 through 17.

All that got their attention. But then they really, their attention was aroused because in the second place, he raised Jairus' daughter just a couple of months later in Luke chapter 8. But the culminating climactic expression of Jesus' power came in John chapter 11 and I can't wait to get there when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. You see, my friends, that's why in verse 25 and then again in verse 28, Jesus says, the hour is at hand. Just you wait and see what's going to happen, buddy.

If you're upset because I had the audacity to love this man, you're going to be miserable in a little while. You ain't seen nothing. He was saying to them, perhaps, fasten your seatbelt, gentlemen. You are going to be so amazed. Verse 28, he uses the word again. Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming. I'm telling you about it.

I'm warning you. I'm letting you know that a time is coming, that there are going to be unbelievable things happening. What was he saying to these people? Here's what he was saying, brother Jim. He was saying that time and life is the complete monopoly of God. He was saying that everything that I am and everything that you are is the monopoly of God. He was saying that all the abundant varieties of life that we discern upon this planet are his divine invention. That's what Jesus was saying.

Jesus was saying the very essence of life is himself and that everything was created after its own kind, but then he turned to them and he said, but I, I was not created, I was begotten. Why? Because I'm co-equal with the Father. We cannot understand that.

I cannot understand that. I tell you on vacation, folks, when I would get this passage out and begin to read it and begin to read it and begin to read it in this past week, I thought, how in the world can I ever explain the eternal dynamic of who God is to my people? What do we say? We say, I was, I am, and I will be. Jesus said, I am, I am, and I am.

He always was in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. How do we ever understand judgment? We've got to understand it in light of the relationship between the Father and the Son. We must understand it in light of Jesus' lordship over the grave, but there's a third way in which we understand the judgment. We can only understand the judgment, my friend, in light of the two resurrections, in light of the two resurrections. The Bible says there are going to be two resurrections. The whole concept of resurrection is both exciting and frightening.

It's exciting if you know Jesus, frightening if you don't. Would you open your heart to what Dr. Don wants to share with you next? Are you ready to give your heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ?

I'm so happy to hear that. Why don't you pray this prayer with me today? Dear God, I know that you love me very, very much, and I know that the Lord Jesus Christ came and died on a cross so that I might be forgiven of my sin. Today, I repent of my sin. I confess my sin to you, and I invite you to come into my heart and into my life by faith. In Jesus' name I pray. If you've prayed that prayer, let me be the first one to welcome you to the family of God.

This is wonderful. I hope that you know how much I'm going to be praying for you and how very important this is for me. Call us so that we can talk to you and connect you in the right place so you can begin this wonderful journey.

And in just a moment, I'm going to come back with a final word. Welcome to the family of God. I'm convinced that some of you were praying along with Dr. Wilton moments ago to give your life to Jesus Christ, perhaps for the first time or to rededicate your life and say as we begin this new year together, you want to be focused on living for Jesus and allowing him to live in and through you. Dr. Wilton has prepared wonderful resources that will help you grow in your faith, take those next steps.

He wants you to have them absolutely free. If you'll call and let us know about your decision at 866-899-WORD. That's 866-899-9673. Or if you'd rather, communicate with us on our website. That's easy to do as well at tewonline.org. That's tewonline.org. Let us know and we'll get these resources out to you right away.

You know, we have a great deal of resources available. You'll find them there at that website as well, tewonline.org, and one of them is the Daily Encouraging Word Devotional. Again, we have both a leather-bound copy that you can purchase, and as you purchase that, it fuels the ministry of the Encouraging Word. But if you'd like to just try it out for free, we have a wonderful email Dr. Don sends out every single day. You can click on Devotional at the top of our website at tewonline.org and sign up to receive yours. You sign up today.

Within 24 to 48 hours, you'll be getting that email from Dr. Wilton. It's a powerful application of a small bit of God's Word. It literally will take you just a couple of minutes to read every day and jumpstart your day in God's Encouraging Word.

Now, I love the email. That's my preference. My bride, though, likes the hard copy.

She can put that over her visor and use it during carpool line or whatever she needs to do. So if you're interested in that copy as well, it's free. If you sign up on our website at Devotional, ask for a hard copy or the email, we would love to be encouraging you with God's Encouraging Word. The Encouraging Word