Judgment

Welcome to Worship in the Word with Pastor Robert Morris. We are in a series called Good News, and Pastor Robert is sharing how four words that sound like bad news become good news when we look at them through the lens of Jesus Christ. Today's message is about the word judgment, and I know what you're thinking, and yes, even the word judgment can be good news. Pastor Robert explains why in this incredible message, so let's jump right in. So we're in a series called Good News, and we've talked about how the gospel, the word gospel means good news, and how because Jesus came, He takes words that were bad news before and changes them to good news.

For instance, the word judgment, and probably when you think of it, you think, okay, you got your hands full this week, Pastor Robert, and you know, no clue how you're going to change judgment into a good word. And even with a verse like this, Hebrews 9 27, it is appointed for men to die once, and then after this, the judgment. It just didn't sound that good to me, you know, just want you to know you're all going to die. And after you die, the judgment, you're going to go to the judgment, you know.

So again, it doesn't seem that way. It kind of reminds me of when my mother used to say to me, just wait till your father gets home. You know, judgment is coming, and it's going to be in the house of the Lord.

You see, you know, it's coming. And so of course, I would go in and just pray that he had had a good day at work that day and would come home and just say, you know, because God's been so good to me. I'll just give you grace and mercy and didn't happen very often.

But anyway, that was my prayer. So, all right. So here are my three things about judgment and we'll get around to good news.

All right. Number one, the first point is each and every one. Each and every one. Here's what I mean by that. Each and every person is going to go through the judgment.

There's no way out of it. It is appointed for men to die. And then after that, it is appointed that everyone's going to stand before God in judgment. So it's going to start out the message like bad news, but we'll get it to good news.

All right. Let me show you a few verses. Ecclesiastes 12, 14, for God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil. Isn't that good news?

I told you it doesn't start that good. It doesn't sound, judgment doesn't sound good. And yet Christ changed it. Revelation 20 verse 13, the sea gave up the dead who were in it and death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged each one according to his works. 1 Peter 1 17, and if you call on the father who without partiality judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear. It almost sounds like just wait till your father gets home.

But you know, they're just not that pleasant sounding. You know, Matthew 16 27 for the son of man will come in the glory of his father with his angels, and then he will reward each according to his works. Revelation 22 12, and behold, I am coming quickly and my reward is with me to give to every one according to his work. This is why I named the point each and every one. And my question for you is, are you included in the word each? And are you included in the word every? Each and every one is going to be judged by his works. Each and every.

This is such a bad news message so far. Each and every one. And this doesn't say, but not believers.

Because I promise you, I'm going to show you how this turns into good news. But we're reading verses that each one will be judged according to his works. Each and every one will be judged according to his works. When we talk about eternity, where we spend eternity is based upon our belief. But how we spend eternity is based upon our behavior. So it is important how you live. Every person is going to be judged according to his or her works.

Every person. And your belief determines your behavior. One of the strangest things that anyone ever said to me to this day, I remember, he said, I believe in tithing. I just don't do it. And it hit me so strong that I just had to stop and say, that's just not a true statement. That's not a true statement. And he said, no, no. He said, I really do believe in tithing. I just don't do it.

I said, it's not true. I said, do you believe in bathing? Because I hope you do it. Because if you really believe in it, you do it.

Do you believe in being faithful to your spouse? Because it's just like you're standing here and telling me, I believe in being faithful to my spouse. I just don't do it. You don't believe it. You don't believe. You can't say you believe in tithing if you don't do it. You don't believe in it. You don't believe.

I'll just take one passage. You don't believe that God will remove a curse off of your life if you tithe. That He will rebuke the devourer from your life.

And that He will open the windows of heaven and bless you. If you believed it, you'd do it. So I'm not trying to argue for or against.

I'm really not. I'm just simply telling you, if you don't do it, you don't believe it. That's all there is to it. So belief determines behavior. Because we're going to talk about unbelievers and believers. And that's how it makes the difference then, how we're judged for our works. So we've talked about each and every one will be judged. So point number two is the bad news. And I know what you're thinking. It can't get worse.

It can and it does. Revelation 20 verse 11, Then I saw a great white throne, and him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them, and I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books, plural. Please notice, plural. Books were opened. And another book, singular, was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books, plural.

The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one, according to his works. Now, you need to understand there are two judgments. There's a great white throne judgment, and there's the judgment seat. And whether you believe in Jesus will determine which judgment you attend. Every person at the great white throne judgment is an unbeliever.

Every person. And every person at the judgment seat of Christ is a believer. So your eternal destiny is based solely upon your belief, whether you believe in Jesus or not. But how you spend separation from God, if you're an unbeliever, or how you spend eternity in heaven as a believer, is determined upon your behavior.

So we'll get to that in just a moment. Notice the books and the book. Okay, the books are works.

The books were opened, and each were judged according to his work. But notice that this judgment, the book of life, is not opened. That's the book. We know that it's the book of life because it tells us it's the book of life.

And just go down just a few verses. Verse 15 says, And anyone not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. So you want your name in that book. But it's actually very easy to get your name in that book. And that's simply change your mind about who Jesus is, that he is the Son of God, that he did live and die for you, and then he rose again for you on the third day. That's how easy it is to get your name in that book. So when you do that, you then are going to show up at the judgment seat of Christ, and you're still going to be judged, but I'm going to show you, because point three is going to be the good news when we get there. But the bad news gets badder. Because unbelievers are judged according to their works, and they're punished according to their works.

There are degrees of punishment. And this is not a message for actually for me to go into all of that, but I'll show you enough so that you'll see. But let me just ask you a question. Now, you know, we don't base theology on logical questions, although logic, the word logic comes from the word logos, which means the word of God. So true logic is based on the word of God. But we base theology on the word.

So I'll show you the word, but let me just ask you a logical question. When I say there are degrees of punishment, would a man who lives his life and has a family, goes to work, doesn't kill people, doesn't commit adultery, doesn't do things like that, yet he refuses to give his life to Jesus Christ? Well, he's an unbeliever, he'll be separated from God. But will he receive the same punishment or degree of punishment that Hitler will receive?

No, he won't. He'll still be separated from God for all eternity, but you got to remember God's a just God. And so I'll show you just a few scriptures to help you understand that everyone's going to be judged by their works and unbelievers are going to be punished to the degree of their sin. Let me show you a scripture. Matthew 11 verse 21. Woe to you, this is Jesus speaking, Chorazin, woe to you Bethsaida, for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, and I'll explain to you about these two cities in a moment, they would have, now let's just try to bring a little bit from last week, changed their minds.

And by the way, this is Jesus talking. He's not saying, I think they would have, he has all knowledge. He says, they would have repented.

They would have. If they had seen what you've seen, they would have repented long ago in sack, cloth and ashes. But I say to you, it will be more tolerable, in the Greek this means more lenient, more lenient for them, for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment, there's the word again, judgment, than for you. And you Capernaum, who are exalted to the heaven will be brought down to Hades.

That's the Greek word for hell. For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, everyone remember Sodom and Gomorrah, Sodom. Here's one of the most amazing verses in the Bible and it's Jesus speaking. If the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. Let me read this next verse and then come back to that statement. But I say to you, it shall be more tolerable for land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you.

And he's talking to Capernaum, a city in Israel. Okay, here's what's so amazing about that statement. He said, if those mighty works had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. Okay, this is Jesus talking, so he can't lie.

Here's what he's saying. My father and I wouldn't have destroyed Sodom. If Sodom had seen what you've seen, they would have repented. But you've seen what they haven't seen that you haven't repented. So let me tell you a little about Tyre and Sidon.

It's because you know about Sodom and Gomorrah. Tyre and Sidon were two cities north of Israel. They were port cities.

They were Phoenician cities, part of the Phoenician cities. They were sea merchants, that's what they did. Their four main sins are listed for Tyre and Sidon in Ezekiel, Amos, and Joel. And I'm gonna read the one in Joel because I believe Joel lists the most grievous sin that they were involved in. And it's amazing how we just read over this because Jesus says, if what had been done in Tyre and Sidon that had been done in Euchariah and Bethsaida had been done there, they would have repented. So the most grievous sin that they were involved in was child trafficking. Let me read you the scripture, Joel 3.3. They have cast lots for my people, in other words, they were involved in enslavement, have given a boy as payment for a harlot and sold a girl for wine that they may drink.

They're selling children for sex, sex and alcohol. So there was grievous sin in Tyre and Sidon. And then of course we know about Sodom and Ezekiel and even the New Testament lists the sins of Sodom.

So I'm not gonna go into all that. But he says, Corazon, Bethsaida and Capernaum, you three cities are going to be judged more harshly than Tyre, Sidon and Sodom. Okay, here's why verse 20, right before Matthew 11, 20. Then he began to rebuke the cities in which most of his mighty works had been done because they did not change their minds, they did not repent. So we know studying the life of Jesus and his travels, most of his mighty works were done in these three cities. That's why he's saying, if the mighty works which had been done in you had been done in three of the most wicked cities ever, they would have repented and even remained until this day.

It's pretty amazing. Romans 2 verse 5, but in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart, that would be unrepentant would be another word there, a stubborn or hard heart that you won't change your mind about things. You are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. Okay, Jesus said to people who give to the kingdom, you are treasuring up for yourselves in the kingdom.

You're laying up treasure, store up treasure for yourself. He's now speaking to people who have not repented and he's saying this again to the apostle Paul to the church at Rome, but he's saying to them, you are treasuring up wrath. This is why I'm only trying to prove to you that there are degrees of judgment for the unbeliever. All right, so we get to the good news.

Here's point number three, the good news. As I told you, there are two judgments. So now we're talking about the judgment seat of Christ. Second Corinthians 5, 10, for we must all appear, he's writing to believers, before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body according to what he's done, whether good or bad.

Each one may receive this. Romans 14, 10, why do you judge your brother or why do you show contempt for your brother? We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Now, 1 Corinthians 3, he's gonna go into a little more about how believers are going to be judged, how our works are going to be judged. 1 Corinthians 3, verse 10, according to the grace of God which was given to me as a wise master builder, I've laid the foundation and another builds on it. But let each one, remember you're in each one, if you've accepted Christ, you've got the foundation of Christ and now you're building on that foundation.

Let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now, if anyone builds on this foundation, remember this foundation is Jesus, and then he's going to name three nouns that are eternal and three that are temporary, that are temporal. Okay, if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, and what I mean by eternal is they'll last through a fire, which is a judgment, and then the three that are temporal, wood, hay, straw, each one's work will become clear. For the day will declare it because it will be revealed by fire and the fire will test each one's work. So this is for every person that's accepted Christ, of what sort it is.

We're going to define what that means, what sort it is. If anyone's work, which he has built on it, endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss, he would suffer any reward he would have received, even though it was a good work because of what he did that made it temporal, not eternal. But he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. Again, it is showing that we're saved through the blood of Christ, not through our works, but we're still judged by our works, okay? So how do you know whether what you're doing is an eternal work or a temporal work? Matthew 6, verse 1 says, take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, now this is very important, the next three words, to be seen by them.

Let me, I'll come back in just a moment and read the rest of this passage. But here's how you know, because every charitable deed you do, you can't do it in secret. I mean, in other words, if you volunteer at a homeless shelter or you pick someone up to bring someone to church that doesn't have a ride, or you do something like that, you can't do everything in secret, but you can do it with a motive to be seen, or you can do it with a motive to actually help the person. When you do it to actually help the person, that receives an eternal reward. When you do it to be seen, it's burned up.

It's not going to. All right, so he says, to be seen by them, don't do it. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory for men.

Again, notice their motivation is to have glory from people. Assuredly, I say to you, they had their reward, but when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret, and your Father, I told you the Father's always watching, who sees in secret, will Himself, we're going to come back to that, reward you openly. Now that's one of the greatest verses in the Bible, that the Father Himself, Himself, is going to reward you one day. See, I told you it's going to get, this is getting to be pretty good news. See, it's not going to be that the Father just walks out on the stage one day, with like billions of people there, and says, y'all done good, and then you're going to be way in the back somewhere, and you're going to say, what did He say?

I think He said they need more wood. You know, it's not going to be anything like that. You're actually going to get to meet the Father personally one day, because He's going to reward you personally. So, you want me to bring it all together? I mean, I can bring this all together. Here's the way judgment is a bad news word for people who don't put their faith in Christ, and it's a good news word for people who put their faith in Christ.

All right, you ready? If you don't give your life to Christ at the judgment, you're going to be punished for your bad works. If you give your life to Christ at the judgment, you're going to be rewarded for your good works. Totally changed. Totally different.

Completely, totally different. Every person gets appointed to die. After that, the judgment. But, if you don't give your life to Christ, you'll be punished for every evil work you've done.

If you give your life to Christ, He took your punishment for you, and you're actually going to be rewarded for every good work you've done. We want you to take a moment to think about what Pastor Robert shared today and listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying to you. If you want to connect with us or check out some of Pastor Robert's other messages, visit pastorrobert.com. And if you haven't already, go follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter so we can be a part of your community. Thanks for being with us today. Next time, Pastor Robert is concluding this series with a message about death. This is a really important message and one well worth tuning in for. We will see you then.