Lesson 6: Eternal Judgment

Intro

we are wrapping up our series, Elementary. We have been taking a deep dive into 6 of the fundamental truths that every Christian needs to fully understand. So much of what we believe and practice find their roots in these 6 truths

This morning, we are concluding with one of the biggest and often forgot truths of our faith. Maybe not forgotten, but taboo truths because we don’t want to scare anybody. This morning, we are diving into Eternal Judgment

OT Dealings

The Old Testament, often in the prophetic writings, refer to the Day of the Lord.

Isaiah 2:11–12 NLT

Human pride will be brought down, and human arrogance will be humbled. Only the Lord will be exalted on that day of judgment. For the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has a day of reckoning. He will punish the proud and mighty and bring down everything that is exalted.

Joel 2:30–31 NLT

And I will cause wonders in the heavens and on the earth— blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun will become dark, and the moon will turn blood red before that great and terrible day of the Lord arrives.

Amos 5:18–20 NLT

What sorrow awaits you who say, “If only the day of the Lord were here!” You have no idea what you are wishing for. That day will bring darkness, not light. In that day you will be like a man who runs from a lion— only to meet a bear. Escaping from the bear, he leans his hand against a wall in his house— and he’s bitten by a snake. Yes, the day of the Lord will be dark and hopeless, without a ray of joy or hope.

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Doesn’t that day sound awesome? Doesn’t it sound like something to look forward to? The prophets paint a pretty dim picture, especially Amos. The way the prophets describe it make it sound like something to be feared. It was inevitable, there was no escaping the day of the Lord. Even look at how Daniel describes it

Daniel 7:9–10 NLT

I watched as thrones were put in place and the Ancient One sat down to judge. His clothing was as white as snow, his hair like purest wool. He sat on a fiery throne with wheels of blazing fire, and a river of fire was pouring out, flowing from his presence. Millions of angels ministered to him; many millions stood to attend him. Then the court began its session, and the books were opened.

Daniel 7:28 NLT

That was the end of the vision. I, Daniel, was terrified by my thoughts and my face was pale with fear, but I kept these things to myself.

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Daniel was shook from the vision itself. Obviously we skipped a large junk but those first two verses paint a really important picture. There is an anciet one whose clothes are white as snow, he sits on a throne, and books are opened.

that white as snow imagery should immediately draw a New Testament believer to Jesus. That is what we should think of immediately.

I want you to hold onto that image of books being opened, because we are going to see it again later on in another account.

The Old Testament paints a terrifying picture. So what happens when the New Testament picks it up? There is an account in the Gospels, but we will come back to it. Here’s how Paul talks about the Final Judgment

Romans 14:10–12 NLT

So why do you condemn another believer? Why do you look down on another believer? Remember, we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For the Scriptures say, “ ‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bend to me, and every tongue will declare allegiance praise to God.’ ” Yes, each of us will give a personal account to God.

2 Corinthians 5:10 NLT

For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body.

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Paul was a Jew, writing to both Jewish and non-Jewish audiences. He wrote with an understanding that the Day of the Lord was an inevitably, but he wanted to remind the churches that everyone will stand before the Judge, and everyone will give an account

I think this is an important point to sit on because there is a line to thought that says that the believer will escape judgment. Based on these two passages, it doesn’t seem like it. We will all stand before the Judge, and we will all give an account of the things we have done in our earthly body.

In case your wondering who the judge is going to be

John 5:22 NLT

In addition, the Father judges no one. Instead, he has given the Son absolute authority to judge,

John 5:27 NLT

And he has given him authority to judge everyone because he is the Son of Man.

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So Jesus is going to sit as judge over all man. And what exactly is going to happen that day?

Revelation 20:11–15 NLT

And I saw a great white throne and the one sitting on it. The earth and sky fled from his presence, but they found no place to hide. I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books. The sea gave up its dead, and death and the grave gave up their dead. And all were judged according to their deeds. Then death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire. This lake of fire is the second death. And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.

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Remember what Daniel said. The Ancient One would sit on His throne and the books would be opened. John has a similar vision but takes it a step further. He mentions the Book of Life, and the Book of Life appears to be the great determining factor in Jesus’ judgment.

There is one stipulation to stay out of the lake of fire; make sure your name is written in the Book of Life

So when we read in the Bible about working out our faith with fear and trembling, imagine. Imagine standing before the judgment seat of Christ, awaiting your turn to find out if your name is in the book. What are you feeling? How confident do you feel?

When we were in Medicine Hat, we hosted a group called Heaven’s Gates and Hell’s Flames. It is a drama and we put it on for three nights in a row. The idea was you would invite your friends to the drama and they would see the gospel on full display. At different points in the drama, some people would be literally dragged off to Hell by the devil and his demons, and others would enter heaven because of their faith.

It was a strong message, but lots of people got saved through this ministry because as shocking as it may be, that is exactly what we read in scripture.

I want this imagery to sink for you because it should have 2 effects on our life

It should stir us to live a life that is worthy of the Lord

EVAGRIUS OF PONTUS*

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If I have to stand before Jesus, the one who died to take away my sin, then I want to be sure there is not a whole lot of sin to give an account for. That is not to say that we won’t make mistakes, but there is a big difference between accidental slips and intentional habitual sin. I want that second category to be a short list. I want both to be a short list, and it is going to take work to accomplish it, but it is worth it in the end. If I have to give account, I want to give a good account to my Savior and my Lord

2. It should stir us for others

On that great and terrible day, once Jesus has passed His judgment, that is it. There is no appeal process, there is no second chance. Once judgment is passed, that is final and eternal.

If that is the case, I want to do everything I can to make sure the ones I love most have their name written in that Book of Life. It might mean being a little forceful, it might mean being a little in their face, but I really don’t want to leave that to chance. I want to know that at the end of the day I have done absolutely everything I can to make sure my loved ones are on the right side of judgment.

I want to be clear. If your name is written in that Book of Life, it means your sin is washed by the blood of Jesus and you are good to go. But even Paul describes that there will be those who enter the kingdom of Heaven smelling like smoke. AKA they got in but it was close.

But I don’t think we can ever take it for granted that our name is written in the Book. If you prayed a prayer, declared Jesus as your Lord and Savior, but live a life ruled by sin and you are lord of your own life, is your name really written in the Book?

Scare Tactic

I want to end with this. I’ve been told in the past that we should never use hell to get people into heaven. I was told by the camp that I worked at that the scare tactic doesn’t work.

If you’ve never heard my story, here is the most important part. I grew up in church and I knew my stuff. Then one day, I was in a youth group from another church and heard about hell and God’s judgment for the first time ever. Scared the tar out of me. I thought I knew my stuff, I thought being a good person was good enough, but all of a sudden I was going to stand before Jesus, and if my name wasn’t in the Book of LIfe, I was going to spend eternity in a lake of fire of eternal torment.

Guess what I did that night. I gave my life to Lord because I was pretty sure hell didn’t seem like a place I wanted to go. I’ve never looked back. Everyone who was saved through heaven’s gate and hell’s flames, most of them are still committed followers of Jesus Christ. I don’t advocate scaring people into heaven, but I’m not going to shy away from the reality of what happens if you don’t make Jesus the Lord and Savior of your Life.

You have two options: Heaven or hell. There’s no in between, there’s no middle ground, nothing. Heaven or hell, and the entrance into heaven is your name in the Book of Life.

How confident are you that your name is in that book?