The Judgment sermon

Certainty of It

PAUL stood in the midst of Mars' Hill, in Athens, and preached to those

ancient philosophers. Among other things, he said to them: "And the times of

this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to

repent: because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world

in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given

assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead." (Acts 17:30,

31.) God hath appointed this judgment day. It is coming. "And as it is

appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment." (Heb. 9:27.)

God made this appointment. God keeps his appointments.

Who Judged?

We have already learned from the above quotation that "he will judge the

world in righteousness." All shall be judged.Jesus said: "When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy

angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: and before him

shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as

a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats." (Matt. 25:31, 32.) In another

place we hear him saying: ''Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the

which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they

that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done

evil, unto the resurrection of damnation." (John 5:28, 29.)

Basis of Judgment

What will be the basis upon which we shall be judged? We shall be

judged for the things that we did while we were in the. body. "For we must all

appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the

things done in his body. according to that he hath done, whether it be good

or bad." (2 Cor. 5:10.)

Secret things will be judged in that great day. "In the day when God shall

judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel." (Rom. 2:16.)

We may be able now to cover up some things from the eyes of men. but we

cannot cover them from the eyes of the Lord. Secret things will be made

manifest at the judgment bar of Christ. Many things that would not bear the

light of open day here shall be brought to light at the judgment.

We shall be judged by our words. We say many things here that we would

not say if we knew we were going to be thrust into eternity within the next

hour. We are too careless in our use of words. "But I say unto you, That every

idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of

judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou

shalt be condemned." (Matt. 12:36, 37.) Is it any wonder that the wise man,

Solomon, gave expression to this. "The words of a wise man's mouth are

gracious: but the lips of thy words be few." (Eccles. 5:2.) "If any man offend

not ina fool will swallow up himself. The beginning of the words of his mouth is

foolishness: and the end of his talk is mischievous madness. A fool also is full

of words"? (Eccles. 10:12-14.) There must be a lot of fools in the world! ''Be

not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing

before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let word, the

same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body." (James 3:2.)

Another thing that will be the basis of judgment is what we did with Jesus.

What we do with Jesus now determines what he will do with us then. "He that

believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned

already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son

of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and

men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil." (John

3:18, 19.) Pilate had Jesus on his hands and did not know what to do with

him. He knew he had to do something with him. And so do we. Pilate asked:

"What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ?" (Matt. 27:22.) May

God help us all to do the right thing with him. Of course the right thing is to

obey him implicitly.

Who the Judge?

Jesus will be our Judge. We have already read in Acts 17:30. 31 that God

will judge the world by Jesus. "For the Father judgeth no man. but hath

committed all judgment unto the Son." (John 5:22.) For this we ought to be

profoundly thankful. He will be a just, righteous, and merciful Judge. We shall

receive our just deserts. We cannot fool the Judge. He knows all about us.

Issues?

The issues of the judgment will be eternal in their nature. When the

prisoner stands at the bar to receive his sentence in our civil courts, it is a

serious and solemn minute. To think what it will be when we stand at the

judgment bar of Christ toreceive our eternal sentence! Listen: "Then shall he say also unto them on the

left hand. Depart from me. ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the

devil and his angels . . . And these shall go away into everlasting punishment:

but the righteous into life eternal." (Matt. 25:41-46.) "And to you who are

troubled rest with us. when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with

his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not

God. and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be

punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from

the glory of his power, when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to

be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was

believed) in that day." (2 These. 1:7-10.)

My reader, are you obeying the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ? Have you

come to him by faith, repentance, confession, and baptism? (Matt. 28:18-20:

Mark 16:15. 16: Luke 24:46. 47; Acts 2:37. 38:8:26-39:22:16.)

Did you rise to walk in newness of life? (Rom. 6:3-5: Col. 2:12.)