The future judgment day

1. One useful Internet tool is something called “Yahoo Answers.”

2. This free service allows people to post a question and then other people provide answers.

3. People can ask questions about beauty, health, home and garden, pets, sports, travel, pregnancy, etc.

4. Some of the questions that are asked on this free service relate to “religion.”

5. This unique service could be a great work for members of the church.

6. Christians could sign on to this service and answer Bible questions for people.

OUT OF CURIOSITY I RECENTLY CHECKED THIS INTERNET TOOL TO SEE WHAT IT SAID ABOUT A FUTURE “JUDGMENT DAY.”

a) One response said the idea of a judgment day is a scare tactic used by Christians.

b) Similar questions were asked by other people and a variety of other responses were also given.

c) Some of the questions people ask are very good and some of the answers are also very good.

d) Other questions and answers are ridiculous and some of the answers are flat out wrong.

2) There are lots of ideas about a future judgment day.

3) Various religions certainly have different ideas about a future judgment.

4) Today we want to consider what the Bible says about a future day of judgment

a) Our study begins in the book of Matthew – Mt. 7:2.

b) Jesus knew that as human beings we can choose how we act.

c) Some people choose to be kind and some choose to be hateful and very critical of others.

d) The Lord warned that the standard we use on others will be used on us.

e) If we are severe and harsh on people that will affect the way we are judged.

f) Mt. 7:2 – READ

5) Jesus not only implied a judgment in this verse, He implied that we can have some control on how we are judged.

a) If we treat others with mercy, our future judgment can be tempered with mercy.

b) As we go through our lives, we want to be careful how we treat others.

6) God has appointed a time of and for judgment and it is going to be a time that will involve all people.

7) A few chapters later (Mt. 10:15) Jesus spoke about the cities of “Sodom and Gomorrah.”

8) Sometimes people think information in the Bible is just a myth—interesting information but untrue stories.

9) This is not the way Jesus treated Old Testament events; He spoke of ancient people as being real.

10) In this case He referred to the people who had lived in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.

11) These people had lived wicked (morally corrupt) lives and they had faced divine punishment.

12) Jesus warned that the earthly punishment these people had faced was not their only penalty.

13) Mt. 10:15 – READ

14) People from the past will be part of the future judgment; God does not forget about people.

15) If people are bad, God remembers their evil. If people are righteous, God remembers them as well.

16) Not only does God remember all people, He remembers all things.

17) Next on our list of references is Mt. 12:36.

a) This passage explicitly says God is not a forgetful God.

b) As we go through life we forget all kinds of things.

c) Even if we could remember 99% of what happens to us, just 1% of our life is quite a bit.

d) Jesus said God is aware of all things – here is what Mt. 12:36 says – READ

18) Some things in life are “idle.”

19) We may let a car idle; land may lie idle; a person may be idle.

20) Idle is not the same as actively committing evil.

21) Some people do not speak “evil”; they just endlessly ramble. Some are involved with idle speech.

22) Jesus said the future judgment will be so thorough, it will even include things such as useless words.

23) The Bible not only promises a future judgment, it promises a judgment that it 100% complete.

24) Nothing will be left out or omitted when the Day of Judgment comes.

25) It will be complete because the judge will be unlike any other judge the world has ever seen.

a) When people are told they will be judged, they often want to learn about the judge.

a) We may want to know if the judge a man, a woman, young, old, easy, hard, etc.

b) Some want to know if anything can be said or done to curry favor with the judge.

c) The Bible tells us about the end of time judge.

d) In Jn. 5:22 we are told who the judge will be: Jesus.

e) Jesus is man’s savior, mediator, and friend if we have embraced New Testament Christianity.

f) If we are accountable for our actions and have not obeyed Him, Jesus will oppose us.

g) Let’s see what Jn. 5:22 says – READ

h) According to this verse, Jesus will be “judge and jury” and He will serve in this role for all people.

i) For those who are not right with God, Jesus will condemn them.

j) For those who are right with God, they will be vindicated – verse 24 – READ

k) For Christians, sins have been dealt with on and by the cross.

l) Thus, for the saved, judgment will be a time of vindication.

26) In life people sometimes say a judge cannot understand their circumstances.

27) A poor person may feel like a judge is very rich and cannot understand his plight.

28) Someone with a limited education may feel like a college educated judge cannot understand them.

29) These kinds of things will not be true when people stand before the Lord – verse 27 – READ

30) Jesus is “a son of man” (He knows what it is like to be human).

31) Jesus will not judge us based on theory; He will not be like someone who read a book about something.

32) Jesus came to this earth, He lived as a man, and He knows what humanity is like.

33) He will judge us based on His having lived as a human being for several years.

34) Jesus will one day judge and His judgment will be easy to understand.

a) We may walk into a building and there are 100 different offices.

b) We may be presented with a lot of different choices and alternatives as far as where we might go.

c) When it comes to judgment, there are only two possible verdicts: saved or lost.

d) It is not difficult to determine our eternal status now and it will certainly not be hard in eternity.

e) Staying in this same chapter, let’s look at verse 29 – READ

35) “Life” is a description of heaven; “judgment” is a description of Hell.

36) All will be committed to one of these two places.

37) Judgment will be a fairly simple process: we are classified as a sheep or a goat.

38) Someone may ask how this process is going to work.

39) Will everyone be gathered together for a period of judgment?

40) Is a person judged immediately after he dies? How do things work?

41) Jesus answered these questions in verse 28 – READ

a) “All” is the key word. Many will be dead when Jesus returns. Others will be alive.

b) Whether people are dead or alive, they will all be gathered together and the judgment will then occur.

c) We do not know when this will be; the Bible says this time will come like a thief in the night.

42) As we noted earlier, not everyone believes in a future judgment.

43) Some think a judgment day is just a scare tactic used by religion.

44) When people consider the evidence for it, they often have a change of heart.

45) Acts 24:25 says there was a ruler who heard about the future judgment.

46) This passage says this ruler was “terrified.” He was so frightened he sent the preacher away.

47) We can be like this man and close the Bible so we do not see what it says about a future judgment.

48) We can tell people to not talk about a future judgment. We can pretend that this subject is a lie.

49) We can deny the truth, but we cannot change the true of a future judgment.

50) Denial of a truth does not alter it.

51) Paul said some think they will “escape” God’s judgment (Rom. 2:3).

52) In life lots of people think they will escape something.

a) Scores of criminals thought they would never be caught for their crime.

b) Thieves have thought they would avoid detection because they were too careful or too smart.

c) Most of those who thought they were too smart or careful did get caught.

d) Some have thought they would be able to escape death. No one has avoided death.

e) Some think they will escape judgment; God says these people are also in for a surprise.

f) Death comes to all and judgment follows (Heb. 9:27).

53) God’s judgment will be “righteous” (Rom. 2:5) and it will come.

54) God wants His people to have confidence in and about the final judgment.

a) Some Christians may have the idea the judgment day is a time to be feared.

b) 1 Jn. 4:17 says the saved are to have “boldness” about the day of judgment.

c) For Christians, the time of judgment will be a time of exoneration.

55) Not long ago I sent something using the US postal service and requested a signed receipt.

56) The package was delivered and a few days later the signed receipt was returned to me.

57) The people who received that package later tried to tell me they never received my correspondence.

58) That was the wrong thing to say – I told them the information had been signed for; I had a receipt.

59) I had confidence in their receiving some information because of a receipt from the post office.

a) A similar thing is true in 1 Jn. 4:17.

b) If we are a Christian, we “have a receipt.”

c) Our receipt is the blood of Christ a faithful Christian life.

d) When it comes time for the judgment day, the question is: Did we become a Christian?

e) Did we live a faithful Christian life?

f) Daily Christian living is part of assurance of eternal life.

60) In Jude 15 we find an inspired writing say the “ungodly” are going to be convicted.

61) All the ungodly are going to be condemned. The righteous will be acquitted.

62) We often refer to the “judgment day.”

63) In reality, the judgment is made the moment we die.

64) The judgment day might be called a “sentencing” day.

65) Those who did not live lives pleasing to God will be sentenced to eternal banishment from God.

66) The righteous will be given a judgment of being one of the saved.

67) For the saved, the judgment day should be viewed as a time of unquestionable justification.

68) The day of judgment is the final gateway to perfect fellowship with God.

69) For the unsaved, it is the final step in unending suffering.

70) We do not know when the judgment day will come.

71) Suppose that it comes at 11:05 today. Will we be ready?