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Speaker: Rev. Shine Thomas
Posted on: 2009-10-02
Series: Revelation

Introduction:

The Bible portrays God as a judge who will judge every man for what he has done. Now we have been saved and washed by the blood of Jesus Christ. Since Jesus took our sins and bore our punishment on the cross, do we ever have to face a judgment from God?

Romans 2:6-8 6 God “will repay each person according to what they have done.” 7 To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. 8 But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.

Every person will be judged by God. Both those who obey him and disobey God will be judged.

Let us look at the different judgments mentioned in the Bible.

1. Judgment of Sin at Calvary.
2. Judgment of self.
3. Judgment of saints.
4. Judgment of Israel or Jews.
5. Judgment of the nations.
6. The great White throne judgment or the judgment of sinners.

For further reading on these judgments visit: http://www.cityharvestag.org/Sermons/Are-you-ready-to-be-judged-2.
Now out of all 6 judgments the first 3 apply for us believers.

The believer’s judgment.

The believer’s judgment is threefold.
1. Judgment of sin.
2. Judgment of self.
3. Judgment of saints.

1. Judgment of sin.

We were all supposed to be judged for the sin that came into the world through the fall of Adam and Eve. I praise God for we need not go through this judgment because Jesus took our judgment as a sinner upon him on the cross.

2 Corinthians 5:21 God made him (Jesus) who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him (Jesus) we might become the righteousness of God.
1 Peter 2:24 “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.”

Jesus took our judgment on the cross. We were destined for hell, but Jesus died for us and took our sins and penalty on him. So if we want to really know what Christ suffered for us we need to understand what the suffering in hell is.

Do you remember a man who went to hell? The rich man in the Lazarus story went to hell.

Luke 16:19-25 19 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried 23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’ 25 “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.

Lazarus died and went to Abraham’s side. The right man died and went to hell. I want to ask you some questions. Is heaven on top of the hell? Can a person go to hell see the people on the other side? Can people talk back and froth from heaven to hell?

First of all it proves that even if we die physically we have a spirit which will not die. It will go to heaven or hell depending on whether we have accepted Christ or not. The rich man went to hell and Lazarus went to Abraham’s side.

Now hell is also called Hades in Greek and Tartarus in Hebrew. Now Hell, Hades, abyss, or Tartarus are all one and it is a temporary holding place of wicked souls (men), fallen angels, and demons. This is where the rich man went. On the Great White throne judgment God will bring them all to judgment and throw them in the lake of fire.

Now Lazarus went to Abraham’s bosom. Abraham’s bosom is also called paradise or third heaven. It appears, therefore, that God had one temporary, intermediate place of comfort (under three names: Abraham’s bosom, Paradise, and “the third heaven). The OT saints went there.

We must understand when Jesus is telling this parable he has not yet died. Paradise and hell were one on top of another with a great chasm separating them.

But now the people in hell remain in hell until the Great Judgment but the people in paradise have been taken to heaven when Jesus died.

Ephesians 4:8-9 8This is why it says: “When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people.” 9 (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions?

John 20:17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

Now those who die the in Lord do not go to paradise but we go to heaven.

Now let us look at hell and see what Jesus when through for us.

Rich man in hell and Christ on the cross.

a. Agony of Separation.

The rich man was separated from Abraham. Luke 16:23-26 23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’ 25 “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’

Jesus was separated from God the Father on the cross. God turned his face away from Jesus. Matthew 27:46 About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?”(which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).

Jesus had never been separated from God before and after except only for the time when Jesus was made sin for us, he was made a curse for us.

b. Agony of Thirst.

The rich man was thirsty in hell. Luke 16:24 So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’

Jesus was thirsty on the cross. John 19:28 Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.”

c. Agony of Darkness.

There is pitch darkness in hell. It is a place of fire yet dark. Matthew 8:12 But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Matthew 22:13 “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Jesus Christ had 3 hours of darkness on the cross. Mark 15:33-34 33 At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 34 And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).

d. Agony of Eternity.

Eternity means time without end, something that is final. There is no change. It goes on for ever and ever and ever. If anyone goes to hell it is eternal, there is no coming out.

See what Jesus Christ said on the cross. John 19:30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Jesus died on the cross and said, “It is finished.” That means the judgment of sin is finished. It is eternal, no more we will be judged for our confessed sins. Jesus died once but the benefits of his death are eternal, it goes on for ever and ever. What Jesus accomplished on the cross is eternal.

We were all supposed to be judged for sin because we were born in sin. We were supposed to go to hell. But I have good news for you; we need not go to hell because Jesus suffered that punishment for you and me.

Praise God we have been saved from the judgment of sin because Jesus took it for us. You can escape this judgment if you accept Jesus Christ as your personal saviour.

2. Judgment of self.

Once you accept Jesus then you need to judge to ourselves daily.

1 Corinthians 11:28, 31, 32 But let a man examine himself. 31 For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.32But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

Illustration: I remember the time when I was a schoolboy in Fort William, Calcutta. Our school was along the banks of River Hooghly which made the entire area fertile. Grass and weeds as high as our knees used to grow around the school and by the time we run after a butterfly or play hide and seek our body was full of weeds and cuts and it used to burn. Finally we used to sit on the steps of our school and examine our body and take out the weeds, which used to be painful. Even when we take the weeds out there would still be some here and there and we need our friends to help us in taking those out.

This is how we are to examine ourselves, judge ourselves, look into our shortcomings and correct ourselves. If we do not judge ourselves, then God will judge us.

Now listen, first of all we are not supposed to sin, but daily self examination will reveal our sins to us and once we know we have sinned we have an advocate who can argue for our cause and cleanse us.

1 John 2:1-2 1 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

Either we judge ourselves and ask Jesus to cleanse us or you can allow God to judge you. We are going to be judged one way or another and how you want to be judged you can choose.

Illustration: You know our son Sam is growing up and there are so many things of the world that are not accepted by us. We have given him strict guidelines on what is permissible for him and what is not. Now it is up to Sam to judge himself and reject of accept what he sees from the world, but he knows if he goes beyond the boundaries he is in for punishment when he comes to us.

This is exactly how we are to judge ourselves. God has given us guidelines and it is up to us whether we obey or not but if we do not judge ourselves we will be judged by God the Father.

Hebrews 12:5-11 5 And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, 6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.” 7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? 8 If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! 10 They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

If we do not judge ourselves God will judge and chasten us.

3. Believer’s future judgment.

We will again be judged after the second coming of the Lord Jesus. Judgment of saints follows the rapture. The Bible says at the second coming of Jesus, the trumpet will sound and the dead in Christ shall rise first and we who are alive will be caught up together with the resurrected dead and meet the Lord in the clouds which is called the rapture. All believers who have already died and are living in body will be judged immediately after the rapture.

Why judgment for believers or saints?

It is a rewarding judgment. 2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

What can we do with our sins?

How do people react with their sins?

1. Cast blame.

Some people blame others. No one wants to take responsibility of their sins but cast blame to others. When it comes to sin we are good finger pointers.

Adam blamed Eve, then he blamed God. Eve blamed the serpent. Genesis 3:12-13 12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” 13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

King Saul: 1 Samuel 15. When God asked Saul to fight against the Amalekites, he asked him to totally destroy all that belongs to the enemies including people and cattle.

Saul attacked the Amalekites and defeated them. But Saul and the army spared the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs—everything that was good. God told Samuel he regretted making Saul the king and he disobeyed. Samuel reached Saul to enquire what he had done.

1 Samuel 15:13-15 13 When Samuel reached him, Saul said, “The LORD bless you! I have carried out the LORD’s instructions.” 14 But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?” 15 Saul answered, “The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the LORD your God, but we totally destroyed the rest.”

We never take accountability of our mistakes. We always pass the bug. It is always somebody’s mistake, we say we are a victim; it is somebody else, not me. We need to stand up and take responsibility of our sins.

2. Cover our sin.

Some people try to hide their sins.When Adam and realized their sin and shame of their nakedness and they tried to hide from God. Genesis 3:8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.

We have another incident in Joshua 6. When God asked Joshua and his people to enter Jericho God said: Joshua 6:18 Keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it.

Joshua 7:1 But the Israelites were unfaithful in regard to the devoted things; Achan son of Karmi, of the tribe of Judah, took some of them. So the LORD’s anger burned against Israel.

Eventually they got defeated with Ai, a smaller nation and Joshua cried to the Lord. God said, “Israel has sinned and violated my commandment.” When Joshua finally zeroed in on Achan see what he said: Joshua 7:20-21 20 Achan replied, “It is true! I have sinned against the LORD, the God of Israel. This is what I have done: 21 When I saw in the plunder a beautiful robe from Babylonia, two hundred shekels of silver and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.”

David tried to hide his sin in 2 Samuel 11. It was a time when Israel was at war. David stayed back and as he was walking in the roof of his palace he saw Bathsheba bathing. David sent messengers to get her, David slept with her and she became pregnant. Oh! David sinned and now he wanted to cover up his sin. Soon David pulls back her husband Uriah to be with his wife so that he could transfer the responsibility of the pregnancy to Uriah. But Uriah did not go to his house because Israel was at war. The next day David called Uriah, gave him food made him drunk, again that night Uriah did not go to his house. Two times David failed in covering his sin. The very next day David chose another way to cover his sin. David sends him back to the battle field and murdered Uriah. Triple cover-up to hide a single sin.

Proverbs 28:13 Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy. We all have tried to cover our sins, but if we cover our sins we will not prosper.

4. Confess our sins.

1 John 1:8-9 8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Conclusion

Hebrews 9:27-28 27 Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

We are destined to be judged by God. It is far better to judge ourselves and ask Jesus to cleanse us from our sins than to fall in the hands of God for judgment. Let us confess our sins and look forward to the Lord’s Table. Amen.