Episode Transcript
[00:00:02] Speaker A: All right, so I need you to look at the image on the back of your handouts for this.
You guys see that picture?
This is a game called soccer.
Soccer. Have you heard of it? Yeah.
It is not football. It is soccer. I speak English, and it is an English word not even originating in America, but in, I think, Scotland.
Yes. Soccer or football.
Do you speak a different language?
I'm going to call soccer? Yeah. This image generated a lot of controversy recently.
So one of the teams playing in this was Iran. The Iranians, you know, they have been casting themselves as victims for a while now in the world, but now they've done it at the World Cup. They have been the victims of something egregious. Can't you see?
You see the egregious thing happening? Can anyone identify what's going on in the image?
Kellan, I'm assuming you have seen it.
[00:01:04] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:01:05] Speaker A: So what's going on?
I believe so. Yeah. They're in white.
[00:01:12] Speaker B: It appears that he's attempting to shoot.
[00:01:14] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:01:15] Speaker B: And I think they're gonna call an onside penalty or an offside penalty on this guy kind of right below it.
[00:01:25] Speaker A: Yeah, the one not quite at the bottom.
Second to the bottom.
[00:01:29] Speaker B: Yeah, but he's clearly not.
[00:01:38] Speaker A: Yeah. Okay. Interesting. That's a. That's an interesting. So there was. There was. The ball was kicked into the net on this play, and that would have given Iran the lead, but instead it was rescinded because there was an offside penalty which resulted in a one to one draw, and that sent those boys packing back to Iran.
Offside in saga can be confusing. It's notoriously confusing, but once you understand it, it's not too difficult. So many people, such as Iranians, even. What Kellen just explained here is that the rules. You can't have any part of your body that could attack, so it doesn't include your hand beyond the last defender when the ball is last kicked. Does that make sense? So when the last guy kicks the ball, if you have any part of your body that could touch the soccer ball past the last defender, it would be offside. If that's the rule, it's clearly not offside. Right. You guys can see. I don't have one with me. Let me hold this real quick. You guys can see there's this guy here at the top in red, and he's clearly the furthest one down the field. Right?
But that's not the rule, Kellen. That's not the rule. The rule is actually you can't be beyond the second to last player.
But Usually there's a goalkeeper in the goal, so people think it's the last defender, but the goalkeeper's not in the goal. And so I ran, and many people have misunderstood this call, and they were actually justly given a penalty and went home. Now, why do you think. What are you saying?
[00:03:10] Speaker B: Are they saying that this number.
[00:03:15] Speaker A: I can't see the numbers.
Yeah, his toe is past number nine.
Yeah, that's what they're saying. It's still minuscule, actually. We them are the rules. Is this like a 600dpi? I don't know.
Anyway, why do you think this resulted in such a huge controversy besides, you know, confusion around a confusing rule?
Put yourself in the shoes of the Iranians.
Why would you be upset?
Because they think it's unfair. Yeah, they think it's unfair. They think it's unfair. And people want fairness. We want fairness. You know, all sorts of soccer fans, us fans have been whining about fairness.
You know, we all want fairness. It's especially clear in sports. We want fairness overall.
Everyone wants what is fair ultimately. And that means something when we come to this lesson of the final judgment. That kind of instinct to want fairness is still very relevant, even more relevant when we talk about this subject.
So let's review real quick.
What is theology?
Anyone new? Okay, I saw Asher's hand first.
Nice. Okay. What doctrine are we in?
Last things. And we. And what lessons have we covered?
Yeah, the millennium was one of them. Yes.
The resurrection. Yes.
Death in the intermediate state.
One other.
Yeah, the return of Christ. That's right. Death, intermediate state, return of Christ, Millennium, resurrection, after death and the intermediate state are ceased. After that is over, after the return of Christ, after the millennium and the resurrection, there will be a final judgment. There will be a final judgment. It's kind of the. At least what we largely agree upon. It's kind of the next thing. This judgment is sometimes fancily called the Great White Throne Judgment.
And here's the summary of this.
The final judgment.
Excuse me. The final judgment is the future universal public verdict rendered by Christ, in which he will evaluate all human beings and angelic beings.
The final judgment is the future universal public verdict rendered by Christ, in which he will evaluate all human beings and. And angelic beings.
So for this, we're actually going to start by reading a passage from Revelation 20, which talks about this very event and gives us a lot of the details. Not all of them, but a lot of the details we need.
So we're going to read Revelation 20, 11, 15.
We'll kind of keep that you might even put a bookmark or something in there so you can flip back to it periodically.
So Revelation 20, this is almost the very end of your Bibles, if you don't know Revelation 20:11 15 says, Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it.
From his presence, earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them.
And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne.
And books were opened.
Then another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books according to what they have done.
And the sea gave up the dead who were in it. Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done.
Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. And this is the second death, the Lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
So point number one, the final judgment is executed by Christ.
He is the judge. He judges. It is executed. It is done by Christ.
Now, before we kind of get into that, I want to acknowledge it is true that everyone kind of believes the final judgment is after the return of Christ generally, but it's not all the same. So these, remember these millennial positions, people. It really does kind of affect how you interpret a lot of these passages.
So the all millennialists, the post millennialists, believe it is right after he returns. And then the premillennialists believe it's also after that 1000 years. Those are the only difference. But it's still after Christ's return. Regardless. There's a little bit of a distinction, but I want to focus on who the judge is. Revelation 20 doesn't say right.
Refers to him who is seated on this great white throne, does not define who he is.
But we kind of get this from the Bible so we know there's this day of the Lord, something vast, magnificent and final is going to happen. It's affirmed countless times in the Old Testament. New Testament, we don't have time to go through all those passages or even a lot of them.
But we can look at a couple New Testament books that give us a lot of clues. So go to 1 Thessalonians 5 first Thessalonians 5.
Okay, we're going to look at.
Start in verse one. I'm going to read a few and then skip some verses. So look at 1 Thessalonians 5:1.
Now, concerning the times and the seasons, brothers you have no need to have anything written to you, for you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.
While people are saying there is peace and security, then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. Now look at verse 9.
For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we might live with him.
Now go to the next book, 2nd Thessalonians 2. Just need a page or two over, probably.
Look at 2nd Thessalonians 2:7, for the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming.
The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing because they refuse to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends a strong delusion so that they may believe what is false in order that they may be condemned who did not believe the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
So these passages, they say a lot about the day of the Lord, kind of the conditions that will be going on, the manner in which it comes.
But we see the centrality, I think, kind of underneath the centrality of the Lord Jesus through the events.
So whether it's the Lord Jesus defeating Satan, whether the salvation they receive in that day is through the Lord, he's kind of underneath the surface, but we see this climactic, swift, sudden, final thing, event happening in the day of the Lord.
Now, to make it a little bit more clear, go, go over to the gospel of John 5.
John 5:22.
John 5:22 says, for the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son.
And then verse 27, and he has given him authority to execute judgment because he is the Son of man.
So who has authority to judge in the day of the Lord,
[00:12:23] Speaker B: the Son and God.
[00:12:25] Speaker A: Yeah, the Son.
The Son is given this authority from the Father to judge. Christ is given the authority. This is the purpose of his second coming.
Well, the first coming of Christ, when he came, he made a way to be saved from this judgment, all the while telling us that the next time he comes, it is for judgment.
So that's the purpose of the second Coming is for judgment. This is. This gives us our first application.
Appeal to Christ the judge, through faith, for salvation from judgment. Appeal, call to him, beg of him.
He is the judge, and it's through him that you can be saved.
So you're not. You don't need to go find this workaround. You can go straight to the judge and appeal to him based on his works that you can be. You should be saved.
So appeal to him through faith. If he is the judge, why would we rely on anyone else or anything else to redeem us, to justify us?
That kind of helps, I think, paint the picture of why. You know, there are lots of reasons why it's foolish to try to earn your own justification, but when the one that can actually justify you is the judge, just makes it all the more clear that it is absolute futility, a waste of time, and useless to try to merit your own justification or find it in something else, because Christ is the judge.
The second point, second or the second main point, affirmation, is that the final judgment is for all people and angels. All people and angels.
So Revelation 20, that passage we read at the beginning is clear that all people will be judged.
Everybody, it says in that passage, and the dead were judged by what was written in the book of Life and talks about people from the sea and death in Hades coming to be judged and says they were judged. Each of them.
Each of the dead were judged.
Not some of them, but each of them.
So if everyone is to be judged, and that is certainly true, then how can Christians think about a verse that says, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, if everyone is to be judged, how can Christians think about that verse?
There is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.
Anyone have an answer?
Is this a contradiction?
There is now no condemnation, yet we will be judged.
Is that confusing?
Yeah.
Judgment and condemnation, what would the difference be?
[00:15:47] Speaker B: I mean,
[00:15:51] Speaker A: just because you're judged, that doesn't mean we're being condemned to hell.
Yeah, I think that's right. So we a lot of times use judgment and kind of just. We use it in a negative way. It doesn't always mean that.
So I think that's. That's a helpful distinction.
Well, we. What we see is that there is this judgment, but believers receive their verdict beforehand.
How.
How do believers receive their judgment beforehand? Well, they are declared righteous through faith.
So there's already this judgment that you are righteous through faith. There's no condemnation for you.
This declaration of righteousness through faith. What word goes with that definition?
Justified. Yeah, justified.
One of my favorite words, justification.
So through justification, believers receive the verdict of the judgment beforehand. It doesn't mean that that judgment won't happen, but the verdict is already leaked. It's already given to you.
So application two.
If you are in Christ, so this is if you have turned from your sins and believe in him, only you can rest easy knowing that there is no condemnation in store for you at the final judgment, though all people, whether you're alive or dead, will be judged.
You can have confidence. You can rest easy knowing what verdict will be handed down.
Look at John 3:18.
It kind of helps us understand this even more.
John 3:18.
So this of course comes after a famous verse about believing in the Son we read in 3:18. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
So according to this verse, just as believers are already justified before the final judgment, unbelievers are what?
Yes, condemned already.
They are condemned already, as that verse says.
So there is this kind of on both ends, this understanding, because the sentence, the judgment is so certain that we can know what the verdict will be.
Are you justified already or are you condemned already? Is it as good as done?
Well, it's all based on faith in Christ.
Then another passage, Romans 2, 6, 8. I'll just read that quickly.
We read, he will render.
Christ will render to each one according to his works. To those who by patience and well doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life.
But to those who are self seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.
So what kind of eternity is destined for the wicked?
What are the words?
It's wrath and fury.
Those are the words of the Lord. Here wrath and fury are in store.
I mean, it can't be more clear than that. Revelation 20 confirms this with different language saying they will be thrown into the lake of fire.
It's even more of a painfully vivid picture of what it will be like.
So just as a side note, we should not downplay this.
We shouldn't make light of it, because it is a very serious and real, eternal and final thing.
But we also shouldn't try to work around this. We shouldn't try to read those words and make them mean something else. We shouldn't try to say, well, but God wouldn't really pour out wrath and fury on a beloved creature.
We must take the Bible at face value for what it says here.
And understand, we need to do something about this.
We need to turn from our own sins. We need to charge others to do the same.
Because this is a comprehensive judgment. It even goes beyond us, like I said, I said, and angels will be judged.
Jude six. Jude six says this. And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he is kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day. So even here we see evidence that every being will be judged.
The wicked will receive eternal punishment and the righteous will receive eternal life. And this includes even those angels that sinned against God. This is a comprehensive judgment that will root out every trace of sin from the world.
And that brings us to our third point. The final judgment is fair and just.
We care about fairness.
We can struggle when we think about the seriousness and permanence of this judgment, but it is fair and just.
So inherent to this third point is kind of the first error to avoid. We must not think the final judgment is unfair.
We cannot think the final judgment is unfair.
It is such an indictment of the holy and good God to say such a thing.
Each person is judged. What? What's the phrase we've read in several passages by what is each person judged?
According to what?
Does anyone remember?
According to his works.
Each person is judged according to what he or she has done.
Does that sound fair?
I think so. I think we would think so.
You know, even we want to be judged by what we have done, the content of our character, things that are actually true of us that we cannot say that is unfair to be judged according to our works.
And here's the thing. Well, how can anyone be saved? Is such a thing fair?
Through faith. This is why some of that theology we talked about before, through faith. Remember, Christ's righteousness is credited to you. That is justification. It is credited to you.
So when you're judged by your works, well, in your credit of works, whose works are in there now, Christ's works have become yours.
So you are fairly judged by your works because they are his credited to you.
And so this fairness and the reality of being judged by works stands. Each person receives what he or she deserves.
Each person receives what he or she most desires.
No one is dragged into heaven kicking and screaming. No one is sent to hell who honestly chose Jesus. You receive exactly what the deep intentions of your heart actually want.
And in terms of fairness, the Bible doesn't just speak of being judged according to our works. There's actually degrees of punishment, and there are degrees of Reward.
Sometimes we struggle to understand this, I think, because we can't really know exactly what it's like, what that means practically. Here's an example. Luke 20:46, 47 says, Beware Jesus speaking says, beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes and love greeting in the marketplaces, in the best seats, in the synagogues and the places of honor, at feasts, who devour widows, houses and for a pretense, make long prayers.
They will receive the greater condemnation.
The religious hypocrites in this context, receive a greater condemnation.
I can't tell you here's how it's greater. But Jesus tells us there is greater and lesser condemnation, though it is all terrible.
And there are also rewards for believers.
James 1:12, for example, says, Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial for when he has stood the test. He will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.
Maybe in a couple weeks Pastor Ryan will preach that text and tell us what the crown of life really is. I don't know what it is. There are other types of crowns listed in the New Testament. The crown of righteousness, 2nd Timothy 4:8. The crown of glory, 1st Peter 5:4. I don't know how literally we should take these crowns or how if we should split them up or if they are different ways to talk about honor in. In heaven. But regardless, I think we have to say there are varying degrees of glory in heaven.
This helps us to avoid another error. So error number two, we should not be confused about the judgment of believers. We can be confused, right? But you know, Ezra helped us understand judgment doesn't necessarily mean being condemned. So that helps us understand, okay, believers can be judged without it being a condemnation.
There is a judgment through justification that is declared during one's life. There are rewards even though God gets ultimate glory. So there are rewards even as God gets all the glory.
In fact, I think these rewards can and should even incentivize us to live faithful lives.
So application number two, be motivated by the promise of future rewards at the judgment seat of Christ.
I can't understand why else there are rewards if not to compel us to pursue righteousness and faithfulness and goodness in our lives.
This is how you can lay up for yourself treasures in heaven. What else can that mean?
Now, rewards should never be our primary motivation, but I think they can and should compel us to do what is good.
And the final main point number four, the final judgment is final and eternal.
So it's fair and Just. But it's also final and eternal.
Go to Matthew 25:46.
Matthew 25:46 says, this is kind of after a longer passage of Christ, kind of in detail explaining this judgment, the righteous and the wicked and what they will look like. And he says, and these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.
So we see this word eternal with punishment and life.
If punishment is not eternal, Jesus would not call it eternal punishment. We'll kind of talk about that a little bit more next week. But just as there is no end to glory with Christ in heaven, there is no end to punishment.
And this is also the final decision. If it is eternal, naturally it must be the final decision. It lasts for forever. The verdict does not end logically. If salvation is eternal and punishment is eternal, this judgment is the final factor.
And so let's conclude with a third and final application. What do we do?
How do we think about this?
Is this a serious topic?
And even our next lesson will kind of go a little bit deeper into one of these destinies.
Well, application three is, let the finality and eternality of the final judgment put urgency to the task of evangelism.
Now, maybe the finality and eternality. So the finalness and the foreverness of this judgment should shock you into actually changing your life, especially giving up the selfish and petty way in which you live, giving up the sin that you are idolizing and treasuring in your heart, and actually turning to the one, the judge, who can save you and render you a not guilty verdict, a righteous verdict, a crown of life that lasts for eternity.
And maybe it just needs to get us that believe off of our rear ends and boldly taking the gospel to people who need to hear it.
You know, it's hard to say, what else can we do with such a serious and dire message other than repent and believe in the gospel and to tell others to repent and believe in the gospel, to win them to Christ, to become friends with them, to go to places and meet people that you might not otherwise meet, to consider working in ministry or doing missions, to work in jobs strategically so that you can have opportunities for evangelism, to pick schools strategically, that you can be a member of a church that does this in the community in which they are. All these ways we can think of the finality and the seriousness of the final judgment, and we can do something about it.
Are there any questions about this?
Okay. Of course, as always, if there are, you can let me know at any time.
Let's pray and we will talk about the next lesson next week. Father, thank you for your mercy to those who believe in your son.
We ask that you would draw people to yourself today that do not believe. You would reveal in our hearts the sin that we're clinging to. Lord, give us boldness and opportunity to share the gospel with the lost.
Lord, we praise you that you are holy, aware, in awe of you, as you are a mighty and holy judge. We graciously thank you for your mercy towards sinners. We pray this in Christ's name, Amen.
