Today on the verdict with Pastor John Monroe. You will die and you will face God. And you will go into judgment. Here is the promise. If you believe In Christ, you have eternal life.
You will not come into judgment. But you've passed From death. To life. From darkness. To lights.
This is the verdict with Pastor John Monroe. What do you believe happens when we die? While most people say they believe in heaven, Thinking about judgment or the possibility of hell is something that many prefer not to discuss or reject outright. But today we're learning what Jesus teaches about heaven, hell, and the judgment of God.
So let's join Pastor John Monroe as he begins a new message titled, Judgment is Coming. Today in our series on Matthew, we come to a subject with which many people would rather not face. This is a subject, however, which is clearly taught in Holy Scriptures, and in particular is taught by our Lord Jesus. The subject is the judgment of God. Is there really a future judgment for those who don't believe?
While everyone seems to believe in heaven, fewer believe in hell. But isn't it difficult to think that there can be a heaven without a hell? As always, our authority is not our opinions or our ideas, but rather the Bible, the very Word of God. we'll think of what Jesus said on this sobering subject of judgment. Listen carefully now.
as we think. The judgment is coming. The Bible says, It's appointed unto men to die once. And after this The judgment. You believe that?
Do you believe That there is a coming Judgment. Do you believe that one day you will stand before God? You say, is there really a future judgment? Yes, there is. Vast majority of people, even unbelievers, believe in heaven.
and everyone wants to go to heaven. But Surely there can't be a hell. Hell is rejected by many. Because they say it is incompatible with a god of love. and a God of compassion.
How could a loving God Consign anyone to hell. It's unimaginable. It's a moral outrage. It's an intolerable concept.
Some say But hell. cannot exist. And if there is a hell, God is not going to c send anyone. There. Remember John Lennon with his head imagine?
There's no heaven, it's easy if you try. No hell beneath us, above us only. Sky.
Well, you can imagine all you like. You can deny all you like. But hell will not go away. Hell, in fact, is part of Our language isn't that people talk of hell and earth. People in anger say, I don't commend it, say, go to hell.
Hell is a reality. Hell is the final Place of the un Believing. Yes, there is a heaven. And there is A hell. And I have to say, as your pastor, And I want you to understand this.
If you die without Jesus Christ, If you reject the message that Matthew is presenting that Jesus is king, that Jesus is Lord, that Jesus is Savior, if you reject that, or if you delay in responding to it, and you die without Christ. You will live forever. And your destiny. is hell. I've called this message, judgment is coming.
Let's open our Bibles to Matthew chapter 11.
Now here are the words of Jesus. Matthew 11. Verse 20, that he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done. Because They did not repent. War to Ukraisan.
Woe to you, Bethsida. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you It will be more bearable in the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum? Will you be exalted to heaven?
you will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom. than for you. Do you think of more solemn words?
They sort of jar us, don't they? I've been enjoying the teaching about Jesus healing. Sermon on the Mount, wonderful teaching, convicting although it is. But this now jars us. But here it is.
In the recorded word of God, and we're going to learn. That Jesus taught The reality of eternal Punishment. You may not believe it, you may reject it, you may imagine it like John Lennon, that it doesn't exist, but you cannot escape the reality. of eternal punishment.
Now think of the context. that we have here. We have back In verse sixteen, Jesus says, what shall I compare? This generation. They didn't accept John's teaching, they didn't accept Christ's teaching.
And here they were, these favorite cities. Khorasan, Beth Seda. Which was the hometown of Peter and James, and John and Andrew. Capernaum, which is described earlier by Matthew, as his own city. where many of his mighty works had been done.
They did not repent. They did not believe. The gospel. Strange, isn't it? Do you know that familiarity with the person of Jesus Familiarity with the message of Jesus.
will not rem will not render you immune. from coming. Judgment. Rather, as we've read, You can be familiar with the message. You can see the Presence of God among you.
You can see God at work. And yet If you do not repent, greater will be the judgment on you than those who never saw the mighty works. And so we read that these cities Corazon, Bethesda, Capernaum, will receive the judgment of God. Verse 20, because they did not. Repent.
Oh, they they know Jesus, they hear him. But there is no personal response, no personal repentance, no personal belief in Jesus Christ. They see his mighty works. Three times in the passage we read, we hear this. Word mighty works has miracles.
They see. The power of God in their midst. Little girl is raised from the dead. They see it, and yet they do not repent. For those who do not repent, there will be degrees of punishment, obviously.
You ask, as I've asked this week, as I've looked at this passage, why did Khrazin? Why did Bethseda Why did Capernaum not repent? I mean, Jesus was right there. Blind people receive their sight, lame walk. And in fact, he raises someone from the dead, and still they do not repent.
Why was that? Could you answer that question? I can't explain it. There's something else that I can't explain. I can't explain.
Why some of you You've been brought up in a Christian home. Your fathers and your mothers have taught you the gospel, and you have not yet responded.
Some of you Sitting here this morning, have not yet got right with God. You have not repented, you have not humbled yourself. You're too busy, you're too lazy, you procrastinate. You make up some excuse for not believing, but you see God at work, and the Spirit of God may even have convicted you. And still, They're not right with God.
Can you explain that? What I do know is this. But Jesus says for such people that is coming. Judgments. Jesus clearly taught the existence of hell.
One day Every single one of us. will stand before God. And some people are in the kingdom of God. And some people are outside of the kingdom. of God.
We're in Matthew 11, turn over a couple of pages in your Bible to Matthew chapter 13. Verse forty. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The end is coming. Don't think.
That world history will continue as it's going forever and ever. It will come to an end. The Son of Man will send his angels, they'll gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all lawbreakers. and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Verse 43, then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father. He who has ears, let him hear. Jesus saying, listen. Take action. Do you hear this?
There's a kingdom of God and there's a kingdom of darkness. There's a kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ and there's a kingdom of Satan. Verse forty seven, Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into the containers, but threw away the bad.
So it will be at the end of the age. You getting the point? The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous. and throw them into the fiery furnace, in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Chapter 25.
Matthew 25. Matthew chapter 25 verse For to everyone who has will more be given. And you will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, Even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness.
In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Verse 41. Then you will say to those on the left, notice the separation. The saved from the unsaved, the righteous from the unrighteous. Then he will say to those on his left, Depart from me, you cursed.
Into the What is it? Eternal fire prepared for the devil and his Angels. Verse 46. And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal Life. This is the teaching of Jesus.
We've seen this before, haven't we? The Sermon on the Mount. But Jesus clearly said: there are two gates, there are two paths, there are two eternal destinies. There is a narrow path that leads to life eternal. There is a wide path that leads to destruction.
Therefore, enter by the narrow path. That's the gospel. Repent. and believe in the gospel. If you repent and trust Christ, you'll have eternal life.
If you refuse to do so, you will perish. The wrath of God will remain. on you Listen again to Jesus as it's found in John chapter Three. John 3 verse 36. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life.
That's the promise of the gospel. If you today believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you'll have eternal life. How can He give you eternal life? He's sinless. He died for our sins.
He's buried. He rose again. He's alive forevermore. He has eternal life. And if you cry out to him, turning from your sin, and receive him into your life as your savior, you're given as a gift, eternal life, and you will never perish.
Whoever believes in the Son has present tense eternal life and will never lose that eternal life. Whoever does not obey the Son. Shall not see life. But the wrath of God remains. On him.
These cities did not obey. They refuse to repent. They were quite comfortable in their existence. Comfortable living, going to the synagogue, friends. Capernaum must have been a wonderful place to live there.
Picturesque on the Sea of Galilee, what a great place. Khrazen and Beth Said are not too far away. They did not obey? They will not see life. But the wrath of God remains on them.
John 5. Verse 24. Truly, truly I say to you. Remember the old King James, some of you? Verily, verily.
Sounds better, doesn't it? Listen. Verily, verily.
Means listen up, this is true. I say to you, Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He He does not come into judgment. But it's past. from death.
Polite. You're under the wrath of God because of your sin. The wages of sin is death. If you continue As you're doing, you will die and you will face God. And you will go into judgment.
Here is the promise. If you believe... In Christ, you have eternal life. You will not come into judgment. But you have passed From death.
To life. From darkness To light. From the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of indescribable. Light. How is it that Jesus can say this?
He's God. How does he accomplish this? He dies on the cross for your sins. The wages of sin is death. Unless my sin is dealt with, I will enter into eternal death.
Jesus Christ comes to seek and to save the lost. We're lost because of our sin. It drags us down. It will damn us to hell. Christ comes.
and says, Now, if you come to me, If you believe in me, I'll give you eternal life because I've conquered death. We who are followers of Christ have passed from death into life. Trust Christ. But says someone, well, I'm still not persuaded, John. The love of God.
Is inconsistent with the eternal punishment of the wicked? No. The love of God. is not inconsistent with the eternal punishment. Of the wicked.
This is the argument of the skeptic. You've heard it. It's a fairly simple argument. God is loving, isn't He? Yes.
God is merciful, isn't He? Yes, absolutely. He's full of mercy. And therefore, a loving, merciful God could not condemn anyone to hell. That's inconsistent with my view of God.
My God is loving. Your God might be an angry God, but my God is a loving God. He's very accepting. And he understands. that none of us are perfect.
What does the scripture say? Is God loving? Of course. But God is perfectly balanced in his attributes. All of his attributes are Infinite in their perfection and they're perfectly balanced and reveal the very glory of God.
And God is loving, God is merciful, but He's also a God who's holy. A God who is just A God who's righteous. You got a very distorted God. You've got a God like an indulgent grandfather who who loves his his kids. We had one of our with our granddaughter stay with us overnight and and it's difficult to say no to her.
I admit it. Probably good defines easier to say no to her, but I was brought up with boys. I it's very difficult for me to say no to a little girl. But there's times when I have to say Kara, no, no. Yeah.
That's wrong. We don't do this. Yes, do I love my granddaughter? Absolutely. My heart is full of love for her.
I'd give my very life for her. But there are things still, in spite of my love, and really because of my love. I want to be righteous. I want to be holy. What kind of God do you have?
Do you think God? Isn't just? Do you think that you're more loving than God? Do you think with your finite Being and opinions that you're able to pass judgment on God. You really think you're more loving in God?
Do you really think that you're more just than God? I talked about Saddam and Gemara. Before the judgment of God fell on Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham, this man of faith, is pleading with God. And during That Dialogue between God and Abraham. We read in Genesis 18, verse 25.
Rhetorical question, shall not the judge of all the earth do right? Do you think that's a good question? But when you stand before God You're going to get a perfect judgment. Of course. God is infinite in His holiness.
God is infinite in His righteousness. Infinite in his love, and our great eternal God never gets the verdict or the sentence wrong. In the final judgment for you and for everyone else, God will execute perfect judgment. God is infinite in his wisdom. Infinite in his knowledge.
He knows every single thing about you. And I want to say that no one will be in heaven who should have been in hell. And no one will be in hell who should be in heaven. Human judges are sometimes biased, they're sometimes lazy, they're sometimes sheer incompetent, they're sometimes very slow, they're sometimes very vindictive, sometimes biased.
Some of you have experienced the unfair justice of our so-called justice system. Ah, but this justice system is perfect. God has all the evidence and he acts with perfect Justice, righteousness, love, and compassion. And those in hell deserve their eternal destiny. We want to judge God by our own finite and imperfect ideas and standards.
And one of the huge problems we have, a problem which even impacts the church. is that we don't understand the seriousness of sin. If you had this conversation with someone as I have, someone's done something wrong and it's really quite inexcusable. They they can't justify what they what they've done, but then they say, well, but none of us are perfect, are we? No, that's true.
None of us are perfect. But you say that's not really the point. You're taking the focus on your wrongdoing and saying, well, it really isn't that bad because I may have done this, but you did that and Johnny did this. Have you noticed that? Of course that goes right back to the Garden of Eden, doesn't it?
Finger pointing. The woman you gave me. Everything was fine in the garden, God, until you brought this woman. She. She's the cause of Ulum they gave me.
Well, what it was the serpent that said this. And they they they hide. They try and hide from God. That's what we've been doing ever since, haven't we? People talk of cover-ups.
People talk today, well, what is really the evidence? People lie, they lie, they cover up their sin. And then when they're caught, they point to someone else. Yes, but it really was this. If you knew the home I came from.
And we trivialize sin. Sin is not trivial. with God. We re do you realize that your sin Is an act of rebellion and wickedness against God. that you have deliberately Trespassed.
You've deliberately gone over the line. God has said, don't do this, and you have stepped over it. Isn't that right? Anyone here claim to be perfect? Of course not.
I'd be utterly deluded. Um Um This is the verdict, featuring the Bible teaching of Pastor John Monroe. There's still more to hear when John returns in just a moment, so stay with us. From matters of truth and identity, to the subjects of love and grace, our world seems more confused than ever. but to find truth and certainty about who we are and find peace, we must turn our attention away from the world and look to the Word of God.
To help you do that, John wrote a booklet titled Eternal Security, Finding Certainty in a Chaotic World. Through this special resource, John shares his personal testimony, along with a careful examination of Scripture, to offer us clarity on matters of eternity. Get your copy today by visiting our website at theverdict.org. While you're there, consider making an investment in this Bible teaching ministry. Whether it's $5, $50, or more, your gift today helps cover the cost of sharing these gospel messages to listeners around the world.
And if you haven't already, be sure to subscribe to the Verdict Podcast, featuring John's weekly podcast exclusive called Avizandam. It's available wherever you get your podcasts, or simply go to our website. Again, that's theverdict.org. The verdict is a ministry of Calvary Church in South Charlotte. We're located on the corner of Highway 51 and Ray Road.
If you've been looking for a church home or a community to help you grow in your walk with Christ. We invite you to join us for our Sunday services. For more details about Calvary and our service times, visit theverdict.org.
Now, here's Pastor John Monroe.
Well, what's your verdict? Do you believe in future judgment? To dispute future judgment suggests that we can't rely on the teaching of Jesus, and that doesn't seem right. If there is a future judgment, as indeed there is, Do you have the confidence that you will escape this judgment? The Bible says.
It's appointed for man to die once. And after that comes judgment. Think about it. The only way of salvation is found in our Lord Jesus Christ. who offers us salvation.
forgiveness of sins, and eternal life. Thanks for joining us today on The Verdict. I'm Michelle Davies. Today's program with Pastor John Monroe was produced and sponsored by Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.
