How Would You Like Your Judgment? #1

Why, then, is Jesus talking and telling us that you're going to be judged by the measure with which you judge? Is He saying that even His own disciples are going to be judged? Wow!

If so, this is pretty serious. Well, what we need to do today is to be very precise, to think through what the Bible teaches about judgment. Is judgment unique to non-believers?

Well, the Bible tells us all people will give an account of their lives, but in different circumstances. And on this edition of The Truth Pulpit, Pastor Don Green will begin comparing and contrasting those events as he continues our series, The Art of Discernment. Hi, I'm Bill Wright, and Don is titled today's message, How Would You Like Your Judgment? You see, Jesus tells us in Matthew 7 that the manner in which you judge will in turn be the way you are judged. So if you're looking for maximum grace eventually, be gracious and humble in your dealings with others.

Let's get started as we join our teacher now in The Truth Pulpit. Now what I want to do here at the start to give you a sense of where we're going in this is that Jesus is addressing his disciples and commanding them. He is addressing them to contemplate what they are doing now because it will have an impact on their eternal reward before God. And he is commanding us, those of us that know him, he is commanding us to stop living life with a critical, fault-finding spirit toward others.

And he does this in order to help us, to warn us, and to bless us. He is pointing us in this passage to the reality that you and I have a coming judgment of our own. And what happens to us in that coming judgment, even as believers, as we'll see, I'll go into this. He warns us that God is going to judge us in a manner that somehow resembles and reflects the way that we have interacted with others during the course of our lives. And the way that we have judged others is the standard that God is going to apply to us when we stand before him to receive our eternal reward. And so we come and realize that there is something of massive eternal significance in what we're reading here today. Massive eternal significance that has a direct impact on every immediate human relationship that you have here on earth and how you interact with others, how you think about the world around you, how it is that you speak, and all of the assessments that we all make in everyday life. And so he's pointing us to our coming judgment, and he's warning us that God is going to judge us in the way that we judge others.

That's the basic theme of the text here. Now, when we talk about judgment, I always think there's a question that comes up that kind of needs to be addressed in Christian circles, and it's this. Does the thought of judgment, of a future judgment before God, even apply to Christians at all? I mean, I thought that the purpose of salvation was that we were going to avoid judgment. Why then is Jesus talking and telling us that you're going to be judged by the measure with which you judge? Is he saying that even his own disciples are going to be judged? Wow.

If so, this is pretty serious. Well, what we need to do today is to be very precise, and that's what we're going to do our level-headed best to do today, to think through what the Bible teaches about judgment. And just by way of a little bit of introduction here, Scripture speaks of a particular kind of judgment for unbelievers, for sinners who do not repent and receive Christ. It speaks about a judgment that applies to them, and then it also speaks of a judgment that applies to those of us that know Christ.

And that's what we want to try to unpack for you here, is to distinguish those two things so that we're thinking rightly about what is to come. So first of all, our first point here today is this, is that God will judge non-Christians in eternal hell. God will judge non-Christians in eternal hell.

And it should immediately be obvious that we're not trying to be a seeker-sensitive church here today with what we say, and we don't try to avoid things that will offend people by what Scripture says. There will be an eternal judgment at the end of time where those who do not know Christ will be cast into an eternal lake of fire, which is the just judgment for their sins against God during their earthly life. And if you'll turn to Revelation chapter 20, you'll see this stated plainly. Revelation chapter 20, verse 11, where it reads, I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them, and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

Do you see it, beloved? If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. You know, I would want to know if I were you, is my name in the Lamb's book of life or not? That's a matter of pretty great consequence. You know, one of the things about eternity is it doesn't end.

There's no cessation to it. Those who would teach you a doctrine called annihilationism that says that the unsaved are judged and God annihilates them so that they cease to exist are not telling you the truth. You have an eternal soul that is going to live forever, and it is your duty, it is your responsibility to make sure that your soul is well before you die because those that die in an unsaved condition, those that die with unforgiven sin are facing an eternal judgment in hell.

This is the natural consequence. This is the right thing for a holy God to do when, think with me, when those who have an eternal soul sin against an eternal God and break his eternal law, well, then there's going to be eternal consequences to that. And we have to come to grips with what Scripture says. And so Scripture here in Revelation 20 brings us, as it were, and we peek, we look over and we peek into the very brink of hell itself. And every man must contemplate this reality that if you die in your sins, you will face a terrifying judgment. Now, that's the reality for every unsaved person.

Here's our question for today. Is Jesus, is our Lord applying that threat of eternal judgment to Christians? Is he threatening eternal damnation upon those who have put their faith in him for salvation? Is that what he's doing here in Matthew 7?

And the answer to that question is no. That's not what Jesus is talking about here in Matthew 7. You see, let's remember some of the basics about Christianity. The whole point of Christianity is that Jesus Christ suffered the judgment our sins deserve on the cross. He stood in our stead.

He stood in our place. Stated more graphically, he hung on a cross in our place in order to bear the judgment that your sins and mine deserved. And so he's already paid the price of eternal judgment for those who come to him for salvation.

He's already paid the price and God is not a God who inflicts double jeopardy. The whole point of the New Testament gospel can be summed up in John chapter 5 verse 24. John 5 verse 24 where Jesus said, truly, truly I say to you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and does not come into judgment but has passed out of death into life.

Does not come into judgment. Does not come into that eternal condemnation of which scripture speaks for the unsaved, but rather believing in Christ we have passed out of death, out of judgment into life, into forgiveness, into eternal blessing. That's the promise of the gospel. That's why we can gather together in the name of Christ in a spirit of joy and confidence and peace knowing that our Lord has made provision for us.

And it would be my privilege as a teacher, as a preacher, to invite you to come to Christ if you don't know him. To come to the foot of the cross and to come to Christ for the forgiveness of your sins that this awful judgment of Revelation 20 would pass you by. That in Christ you would pass through that judgment safe and enter into eternal life.

Christ as it were would extend his hand to you and say, come to me you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Come to me and I will deliver you from this eternal judgment that is certain to come. I've paid the price for sinners.

Believe in me and the gift can be yours. And so we recognize that scripture speaks of an eternal judgment for sinners who reject the gospel and yet we realize that we have this great blessing from Christ for those of us that have believed in him that he has delivered us from that. He has rescued us from it so that that threat does not hang over our own heads and we rejoice and have peace in that.

My Christian friend, my brother and sister in Christ, let me assure you based on the testimony of the word of God that if you are in Christ you need never fear hell again. He who saved you will keep you. He who brought you into his hand will not let anyone pluck you out. Satan can do his best against your soul but he cannot take you out of Christ because Christ has saved you and Christ keeps you. That's what a great, faithful, loving Savior does.

He keeps those that he has saved. And so we are greatly blessed to be free from that fear of eternal judgment. Now, with that said, the Bible does speak of another kind of accountability, another kind of judgment that we face as Christians and that's what I want to move into here in the second point of our message today. The fact that Christ has delivered us from hell and death does not mean that there's not going to be an accountability that we give to God at the end of our lives when we stand before him. The Bible is equally clear on this point as well. And so that brings us to point number two is that God will judge the lives of Christians.

He will judge the lives of Christians. And this is perhaps not as emphasized as often as it could be in the Christian circles in which we live and move and have our being. As I'm going to show you, and I state simply by way of introduction here right now, the Bible teaches us as believers that we will stand before God and give an account to him for our lives after we came to faith in Christ. And so Christ deals with our sin, takes it away, and we enter into life in Christ and then God gives us a window of time in which to live as Christians. He gives us a stewardship, you might say, a stewardship of life and ability and talents.

And there's a time coming where we're going to have to give an account to him for what we've done with that opportunity and with the life that he's given us. If you'll turn to Romans chapter 14, there's three or four different passages that I want to take you to that just teach this unmistakably. Romans chapter 14, beginning in verse 10. Here in Romans chapter 14, Paul is writing to Christians, he is addressing believers in Christ as shown by the language of brother that he addresses them with.

In Romans chapter 14 verse 10, he says, actually let's back up to verse 7, let's say, to set the context a little better. He says, not one of us lives for himself and not one dies for himself. For if we live, we live for the Lord. Or if we die, we die for the Lord. Therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord's.

Now notice brothers and sisters here this morning, notice something very important. Paul is addressing those who are in the Lord. He is addressing those who belong to Christ, who have been saved, who have been ransomed by the blood.

And so he's addressing Christians here in this portion of his letter. Verse 9 he says, for to this end Christ died and lived again that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. Now in verse 10 we come to what is pertinent to our discussion here this morning. Verse 10 he says, but you, why do you judge your brother or you again?

Why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For it is written, as I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me and every tongue shall give praise to God.

Then he goes on and says in verse 12, so then each one of us will give an account of himself to God. Beloved, I want to just remind you, those of you that have been with us over the years, this is what I have said to you so many times. I have told you again and again to contemplate the fact that you have an appointment with God that you are inexorably moving toward. And so we plead with you as a church, we plead with you to take that into account, to take life seriously, to be mindful of the fact that you have a coming appointment with God, an appointment of some kind of judgment that we're going to talk about in a moment, because that's the only way that you can live life with the proper perspective, is if that is somehow anchored in your thinking.

Only then can you assess life properly. Only then can you establish priorities correctly, to realize that all of my priorities and all of my choices and all of my decisions are coming in a context where I'm going to give an account to God for my life and what he has done for me. And what I've said, I'm pleading with you.

I'm pleading with you in what I'm saying here right now. What I have said so many times to you is that the only thing in life that matters for you, and what I want more than anything for each one of you under the sound of my voice, is that that time of judgment for you would go well. That that would go as well for you as it possibly could, because nothing else matters by comparison. And so, Scripture tells you that if you are a Christian, you are going to give an account to God for your life. 1 Corinthians chapter 3, beginning in verse 10, says this, according to the grace of God which was given to me, me being Paul here, like a wise master builder, I laid a foundation and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. You start to see a theme, each man, each one of us, each person being brought into this calculation, into this calculus of what is to come.

Every one meant to consider it closely. Verse 11, for no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now, if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man's work will become evident, for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work. If any man's work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.

Now notice a couple of things here. Notice how often Paul says, any man, each man, each man, any man, any man. It's in practically every verse of this passage. Don't you see, beloved, don't you see that you're included within the scope of that? Doesn't it, doesn't it awaken you to eternal realities and the matters of eternal significance? Doesn't it awaken you to those things to realize that somehow this is addressing your life as well?

This is of great consequence. God is going to evaluate our lives in a way that is like fire testing physical materials. Now this is not the false doctrine of purgatory.

We addressed that recently in our series on Catholicism and I'm not going to spend any time on it here. But what Paul is describing here is that there are aspects of life that we do, there are things that we say, things that we think that have eternal value and eternal consequence that will become the basis upon which our reward is given to us. These things of indestructible quality like precious gold, silver, precious stones, matters that endure compared with matters of temporal insignificance, let alone eternal insignificance, wood, hay, straw that just is going to evaporate before the fire.

Paul is saying that God's judgment is going to be something like a fire, not that we're going to actually go through eternal flames, not that, but that our work is going to be tested by fire. The matters of our life that have eternal significance will endure and will become the basis of our reward. The opportunities that you squandered, the time and the other things that you've devoted to things of no significance will burn up. There'll be nothing left upon which to give a reward.

So that will bring a, I'm using a metaphor here, will bring a big basket that has some precious stones in it and has some straw in it, and it'll be dumped out and it'll burn up. And what's left will be the basis upon which God will reward us. And only those things that have eternal value will be the basis of your reward. Go to 2 Corinthians 5, if you will. 2 Corinthians 5. Again, I want you to see that Paul is necessarily and obviously addressing Christians and what he has to say here. 2 Corinthians chapter 5 beginning in verse 6. 2 Corinthians 5 verse 6 says, Therefore, being always of good courage and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord, for we walk by faith not by sight, we are of good courage I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. Who is it that's going to be with the Lord when they die except for Christians?

True believers. So that's who he's addressing. And he goes on in verse 9, he says, Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. Now in this context of addressing Christians, watch what he says in verse 10. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Paul, talking to Christians, says we are going to appear before the judgment seat of Christ and be recompensed for how we've lived our lives. And he says to them, We must all appear before the judgment seat.

Now, let me clarify something for you here. At that time, at that seat of judgment before Christ, Christ is not going to rehearse all of our sins before us and castigate us for them and criticize and judge us and bring all of our sins up as if, you know, as some of the tracts used to do, that he's going to play a videotape of your entire life and everything's going to be exposed like that. I don't believe that's true at all.

It's true. Scripture says plainly for those of us that are in Christ, we have a promise from God in Hebrews 10 and other places that says, Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more. Praise God for that. I am so thankful that he is not going to rehearse my sins again. Our sins were dealt with finally at the cross. Christ satisfied the judgment of God against our sins at the cross.

The payment was made in full for those who believe in him. And so he's not going to promise us that and then yank them back out at the last minute and reverse everything that he told us to base our life and hope upon. He's not going to do that. Otherwise, this was kind of an inadequate work that Christ did for us when he suffered on the cross. No, he's not going to rehearse our sins before us for those of us that are in Christ. I'm talking to Christians now.

But Scripture does make it plain that God will evaluate our lives at that time. Listen. Listen.

Listen. God will evaluate our lives to determine a reward that somehow will echo for us throughout all of eternity. Obviously, the judgment seat of Christ will be a place of serious examination. But praise God, it pertains to our works rather than the judgment of unbeliever's souls at the great white throne. Pastor Don Green will have part two of his message, How Would You Like Your Judgment, next time here on The Truth Pulpit, as we move further into our series, The Art of Discernment. We hope you'll be with us then.

Right now, though, Don's back here in studio with some closing words. Well, hello, my friend. I want to thank you for listening to The Truth Pulpit. Thank you for being a student of God's Word.

You are the reason that we do these things. We want to bring God's Word to you in a way that makes it alive and applicable to you and brings you into a deeper knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, if you've benefited from this broadcast, we just ask you to do a simple thing. Go to our web page or go to our Facebook page. Look us up on Facebook and just drop us a little note, just a word that would let us know that you've appreciated today's broadcast or the other aspects of our ministry. We would love to hear from you. Thank you for listening to The Truth Pulpit. We are grateful to Christ for you. Thanks, Don. And friend, remember also to visit TheTruthPulpit.com where you can learn more about podcasts and free CDs of Don's teaching. I'm Bill Wright, and we'll see you next time on The Truth Pulpit.