Back to the Future, Part 4

What will Judgment Day look like?

With an answer, here's Dr. Michael Yousaf. He will divide those who thought that they can get into heaven by their own steam. Those who thought that they can get to heaven by what they consider their own good work. From those who through their service and through their obedience to the great shepherd, they will prove their salvation. It will be a separation between those who think that they are good enough for God, from those who serve God out of a heart of obedience. He will separate those who thought that God will let everyone into his heaven from those who know that only through the righteousness of Jesus Christ can they make it to heaven.

That's what's going to happen in that last day. Born in Egypt and very familiar with Middle Eastern life, Dr. Michael Yousaf has an intimate understanding of the context and the culture of the Bible teaching that we'll be looking at today. Thank you for joining him for Leading the Way. Up next, Dr. Yousaf continues his captivating series called Back to the Future. It's a challenge to understand that future events must impact our priorities of today. Remember that you can also watch Dr. Yousaf and Leading the Way content on video.

Learn where and how when you visit ltw.org. Here now is Dr. Michael Yousaf to begin. As I bring this series of messages on the second coming of the Lord Jesus to a close, I want to remind you of what I said at the very beginning. This Olivet Discourse that we have been looking at from Matthew 24 and 25. And I told you that this is the longest answer that Jesus had given to any question that has ever been asked.

Now that in itself ought to make you sit back and take notice. Because Jesus obviously wants to communicate some things to us. Namely that you and I who know the Lord Jesus Christ must take His second coming very seriously.

He does and therefore you and I ought to. Jesus wants His own to live expectantly of His return. That Jesus wants His own to be prepared for His second coming.

That Jesus wants to warn His own to be careful, to be forewarned of false teachers and false messiahs and false preachers and false teaching. In fact, Jesus spoke more about heaven and hell than anybody in the Bible. And He spoke more about hell than He spoke about heaven.

Why? Because He knew what it's like. He is the creator of the universe.

And as the creator of the universe, He knows what that place is like. It's prepared originally for Satan and his demons and that is why He pleads with people to repent. He pleads with them to accept God's plan for salvation as the only way for salvation. That He's pleading with people to take refuge in Him. To take refuge in His cross. To take refuge before the wrath of God is revealed. He is pleading with people to escape the judgment of God. He is pleading with them to come and be redeemed and be eternally saved. He is pleading with people to count the high cost of rejecting Him as the only way to the Father. As the only way to heaven. As the only way to salvation.

You will never hear Him speak with vengeance or with hostility or in anger. No, no, no, you can't find that in the scripture. He spoke tenderly about that day of judgment. He spoke empathetically about the day of judgment. And in the last few verses of this called Olivet Discourse, you see the most compassionate, which is really ironic, they are the most compassionate words of the Lord Jesus and yet they are the most stern and the most sobering words that you hear in the scripture. And that is why I want to summarize them for you under four headings to make it easier for you to remember. Under four headings, turn with me please to Matthew 25, the last verses in that passage.

And the four headings are these. There is the person, there is the place, there is the process, and there is the pronouncement. There is the person, the place, the process, and the pronouncement. The person.

Who is that person? Jesus makes it very, very clear that the judge of all the earth in that day, in the last day, is no other than the Lord Jesus Christ himself. In John chapter 5 verse 22 and 23 he said, For the Father judges no one that he has committed all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. And he who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.

People running around said, you know all the ways lead to heaven, all the ways lead to God, we're all going to make it in the end, now you won't. He said he committed all judgment to the Son so that they may honor the Son and believe that he sent him. For the one who died on that cross is no other than the King of Kings and the King of Glory, who one day coming to reign and rule forever. He is saying the Son of Man who died in humility on the cross is no other than the King who will rule with an iron scepter.

He will rule with a rod of iron. Beloved I know and you know that there are so many misguided preachers and so many misguided priests and so many misguided teachers who are running around saying yes Jesus is the Son of Man, but they never acknowledge him as the coming king and the ruling king. They will never believe in him as the judge of the world. They say he is so good and he is so loving he will never judge anyone.

They want the meek and mild Jesus, the milk toast Jesus, but they never proclaim the whole of Jesus that he is the judge of the universe. But listen, in reality we should not marvel or even doubt the fact that he will come with power and great glory and that he will judge the universe. We should rather marvel at the fact that he ever came in humility and to offer grace and forgiveness to whomsoever comes to him. We should never marvel or doubt the fact that he will judge sinners who have rejected him and lived their lives indifferent to him. But we should rather marvel at the fact that he offered pardon and forgiveness to whomsoever. That he offered deliverance from judgment to whomsoever come to him. We should not even be surprised that he will condemn sinners, that he condemns sinners, but we should marvel at the fact that he came to redeem sinners who are worthy of judgment.

There is a question. When will the judgment begin? The moment he appears. Immediately after the stars and the moon darken immediately when the heavens shake immediately after those earthquakes and the tsunamis immediately when those who have rejected him, the mighty men and powerful men will be running from mountain to mountain weeping and crying and wailing asking the mountains and the rocks to cover him from the face of him who sits on the throne. Immediately when you begin to see people dying of fright he will come with power and great glory. Revelation chapter 20 verses 11 and 12.

Listen carefully. Here's what the apostle John said. Then I saw the great white throne and him who sits on it.

Earth and sky fled from his presence and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead great and small standing before the throne. My beloved friends, every one of us when we die we live again.

The question is where will you live? Where will you spend eternity? He said I saw the dead great and small standing before the throne. And he said then the books were opened. Another book was opened which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.

Let me ask you a question. Is your name written in the book of life? Is your name written in the book of life?

If it is not you can be sure it's written today. Come to Christ while the opportunity is here. So that your name be written in the book of life.

The person, the place. The place is the great and glorious throne where judgment will take place. Listen to what the prophet Joel hundreds of years before Christ said about that day in Joel chapter 3 verse 16.

He said at that time the Lord will roar from Zion. The heaven and the earth will tremble. At that place the whole world will be judged. Every person in every country and every tribe and every nationality will be judged. Every person in every generation and every nation will stand before him at that great throne of judgment. The time is now, not later. The person, the place, the process. In the Middle East, even the people who lived in the cities like myself, we are aware of how sheep and goats herd together during the day, not at night time.

Did you get that? They herd together during the day. And from a distance they are both four-legged creatures. They may look alike from a distance. They may even sound alike at times. But from that point on they are totally different in every way. They are different in temperament. They are different in habits.

They are different in behavior. The sheep is docile and compliant. They are eager to follow the shepherd. There is a certain signal that a shepherd can make and the sheep immediately run to the shepherd. They love to be with the shepherds. They have comfort in being with the shepherd, but not the goats. The goats, on the other hand, are rambunctious and unruly creatures.

They really are. They are stubborn. That's why I say stubborn is a goat.

That's where it comes from. They are stubborn creatures. They are independent and they often compete for leadership with the shepherd. The shepherd wants the sheep to go this way.

They try to mislead them to go this way. Sheep recognize the voice of the shepherd and they want to follow the shepherd. But the goats, to them, one sounds as good as the other. One shepherd is as good as the other. To the goats, all the roads lead to the same place.

All the road leads to a god somewhere. To the goats, one shepherd is as good as another. To the goats, one religion is as good as the other.

To the goats, all the ways are going to lead somewhere. They have no discernment. They have no understanding. They have no desire to follow the shepherd.

They cannot tell the truth from falsehood. And that is why, at the end of the day, he separates the two. The sheep will go to their fold and the goats will go to their fold. And beloved, that's what's going to happen on the Day of Judgment. That's what Jesus is saying here. The good shepherd, the great shepherd of the sheep, he loves his sheep too much to let them spend eternity with the goats. And he divides between those who are into religions from those who are into relationship with Jesus Christ, the great shepherd. He will divide those who thought that they can get into heaven by their own steam.

Those who thought that they can get to heaven by what they consider their own good work. From those who, through their service and through their obedience to the great shepherd, they will prove their salvation. It will be a separation between those who think that they are good enough for God from those who serve God out of a heart of obedience. He will separate those who thought that God will let everyone into his heaven from those who know that only through the righteousness of Jesus Christ can they make it to heaven. He is going to separate between those who think that they can earn their inheritance from those who have received their inheritance because of the family connection to Jesus. That's what's going to happen in that last day. It will be a separation by the good shepherd.

Hear me right on this one. The good deeds that Jesus is talking about here are the fruit of salvation, not the root of it. For no one is going to be saved by good works. And that is why you notice that neither the sheep nor the goats were surprised at the place where they are. Neither of them are surprised for where they are. You know what the surprise is? They were surprised for the reason why they're there in these two different places. They're surprised at the reason.

You see, the judgment will be based on how true Christians treated Christ, on how they treated his followers, how they treated his children, how they treated those who belong to Jesus. And that's why he talks about my brethren, one of the least of my brethren, those who belong to me. The sheep, because they are true sheep of Christ, they subconsciously love others. They subconsciously serve others. They subconsciously give of themselves. They subconsciously sacrifice of themselves. They subconsciously reach out to others.

They subconsciously care for one another without even realizing what they're doing because that is the proof of the renewed nature in Christ. And they said, when did we do that? They were surprised.

They said, oh yes, you did it. You know, most of the people who really do serve God are the quiet ones that you probably and I never hear about what they do. Oh, but heaven is watching. Heaven is watching. It is the fruit of the new nature.

The goats, on the other hand, who gave crumbs and thought they were the last of the big spenders, those who are into charity and charitable work, those who have given lip service, they're the ones that are going to be surprised because we said we've done some good. The process of separation, the process of judgment is very simple. Beloved, listen to me. It is very simple. We complicate things. He said the leftists are going to be on the left and the rightists are going to be on the right. That's not a political statement, by the way. But Jesus describes how the separation is going to be.

One will be on one side and one will be on the other. Those who personally and intentionally know the good shepherd and serve him by serving his children, by serving his disciples, those are the ones who are going to make it to heaven. And the bottom line is this. If you have placed your complete trust in Christ for your salvation and that you are obeying him as you walk in this life, you're a sheep. If you are full of your own idea of who God is and how you're going to get to him, you're a goat. If you humbly acknowledge that you're a sinner and deserve eternal judgment without Christ and therefore you sought that salvation from his hand, you're a sheep. If you think that God should accept you into his heaven because you are a good person or you've done few good things, then you're a goat. If you walk with Jesus in obedience in serving him by serving his church with all of your heart, then if you love him with all of your heart, then you're a sheep.

If you think that you are a Christian but you never walked in obedience with him, you've never rejoiced in his presence, you're a goat. But here's the good news. Here's the good news.

Are you ready for it? Say amen. The day of judgment is not here yet. The fact that you're still alive is the good news because every goat can become a sheep. And make no mistake about it, every one of us were born a goat. Every one of us and only the grace of Jesus Christ can make you a sheep and it can do that today, wherever you are.

The person, the place, the process, and finally, very quickly, the pronouncement. On that day, the goats are going to be consigned to eternal punishment. Why? Because of their unbelief. Because they failed to recognize Jesus as the only way.

Because they will be unfit for his kingdom. Because they have persecuted Jesus' followers. Because they have despised Jesus' followers. All the derogatory terms that people use to describe those who believe there's only one way to salvation and they call us every name in the book. Because of the mocking of Jesus' followers.

Because they have belittled the claims of Jesus Christ that he is the only way to the Father in Heaven. Listen how Jesus himself describes hell. He says, a place of everlasting punishment.

None ceasing fire. Remember when Moses saw the bush burning but it's not consumed? That fire goes on and on and on but it's not consuming. It is a place from which there's no escape. It is a place from which there's no relief. It is a place from which there's no rest. In fact, the Greek word is used here. The word means perpetual.

Never ending. On the other hand, those who have taken on the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Not their own, but the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Those who have accepted Jesus' payment on the cross to be for them. Those who have acknowledged their sin and their desperation without Jesus Christ. Those who have gratefully accepted the gift of forgiveness and eternal life.

And share it with others. Those who walked with him in obedience, in service, in humble service. They will inherit an eternal bliss. Beloved, listen to me, the contrast could not be more stark. And the time to prepare for the day of judgment is now, is now, is now.

Not tomorrow, now. Listen to what Jesus said in Mark 13, 35 and 36 and 37. Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming. In the evening, at the midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning.

Lest, coming suddenly, he finds you sleeping, sleeping. And what I say to you, Jesus said, I say to all, watch, watch, watch. Thank you for listening to Leading the Way Audio. Available online with the Leading the Way app through your favorite podcast platform and more. Learn all about these and more, plus where to watch Leading the Way video when you visit ltw.org.

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