THE GREAT JUDGE

 

1.    One of the fundamental truths in the book of Jonah is that God is a judge of mankind.

2.    He judged the Ninevites worthy of destruction if they did not repent.

3.    He also judged his disobedient prophet.

4.    Not only is God a judge, He is the executor of sentences.

5.    This morning we want to look at God from the standpoint of a punishing judge.

6.    Again and again the Bible says God punishes people, though He does not enjoy this.

 

FOR THE SCRIPTURE READING WE HEARD 2 PETER 3:9.  GOD DOES NOT WANT PEOPLE TO PERISH.  RATHER, HE WANTS ALL PEOPLE TO COME TO A KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUTH AND BE SAVED.  THIS IS HIS WILL, BUT SINCE NOT EVERYONE DOES WHAT IS REQUIRED FOR SALVATION, THERE MUST BE AND THERE IS PUNISHMENT.

 

A.    I want to initially look at this subject by highlighting some verses from Acts and Romans.

B.    The plan is to begin in Acts 17 and move forward from there.

C.    In Acts 17 we find that Paul was telling some non-Christians about the resurrection.

D.    The apostle said that in times past God had overlooked (not punished) certain things, verse 30.

 

2.     The time of toleration has come to an end. 

3.     If you have found Acts 17 let’s read verse 31 – READ.

A.    Several key points are in this verse.

B.    God is a judge.

C.    Secondly, a future time of judgment is coming (this will occur at the second coming of Christ).

D.    At this time “all” people will be judged.

E.     God is not a judge who lets certain classes of people escape punishment.

F.     All deserving of punishment will be punished.

G.    The standard of judgment will be “righteousness” (doing what God’s word says).

 

4.     Let’s suppose that many of the people in our day and time refuse to live as God wants.

5.     Will God really punish those who live and act contrary to His will?

6.     Our next reference—Rom. 1:32—answers this question.

A.    Here Paul spoke of people who “know the ordinance of God.”

B.    These people have the truth or access to it but choose not to follow it.

C.    What will be the result of those who do not obey God?  - READ. Rom. 1:32.

 

7.     God is a judge.

8.     According to the end of Rom. 1, He says some people will need to die.

9.     When people talk about death, the conversation is serious.

10. The kind of death in Rom. 1 is not physical death.

11. It is eternal death; complete separation from God that is unending.

12. The God described in the New Testament believes in and will bring punishment upon the ungodly.

13. The punishment is so strong it is described by a word that conveys finality and completeness.

 

14. To this someone might say, “Such behavior by God does not sound fair, loving, and right.”

15. If God is good and kind, how can He be a punishing God?

A.    If you turned to Rom. 1, skip down a few verses to Rom. 2:2.

B.    Here Paul answers this question – READ.

 

16. Does God punish people?  Yes.

17. What we can we say about His punishments?  They are “according to truth.”

18. In the world we sometimes unrighteous punishments are administered.

19. People who do not deserve punishment—oftentimes small children—are incorrectly punished.

20. When God punishes people, His punishment only comes to those who deserve it.

21. His word says those who deserve punishment are the disobedient.

 

22. To this someone might say this is fair but perhaps God will not really do what the Bible says.

23. In life punishment is sometimes promised but not always administered.

24. Might God simply forget about or overlooking those who are disobedient?

25. Rom. 2:5 – READ.

A.    The unsaved are “treasuring up for themselves wrath.”

B.    Just as the saved lay up treasure in heaven, so the same is said of the unsaved.

C.    This wrath will not be removed - Verse 6 – READ.

D.    God will punish those who are not in a right relationship with Him.

 

26. What has been said makes it sounds like there are only two groups of people.

27. There are the saved who will avoid punishment.

28. There are also the unsaved who will face God’s fierce wrath and everlasting punishment.

29. This is exactly what Paul stated a little later in the Roman letter.

30. Listen to Rom. 11:22 – READ.

 

AGAIN AND AGAIN THE BIBLE SPECIFICALLY AFFIRMS THAT GOD PUNISHES PEOPLE.  IN ADDITION TO THE SPECIFIC STATEMENTS, WE HAVE SEVERAL SPECIFIC EXAMPLES.

 

1)      In the opening pages of the Bible we read about Adam and Eve.

2)      The first two people in the Bible were punished.

3)      This couple had children, two of which were Cain and Able.

4)      Do we not remember how God punished Cain?

 

2.     As time progresses the Bible says the people of the earth became more and more evil.

3.     Gen. 6 describes how the “sons of God” saw the “daughters of men.”

4.     The sons of God were righteous people; the daughters of men were the disobedient.

5.     People were becoming worse and worse.  What did God do?

6.     He punished those who would not repent.

7.     Time passed.  There were other punishments like the judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah.

8.     Eventually the nation of Israel came into being.

9.     During this period the emphasis was less on individuals and more on the Hebrew nation.

10. God’s people became disobedient.  What did He do? 

11. He punished the very people He delivered from Egyptian bondage.

12. The Old Testament was nailed to the cross of Jesus (Col. 2:14-15).

1)      We now have, as Jesus said in Mt. 26, a “New Testament.”

2)      Does God still punish people under the new system or have the punishments ended?

3)      In 2 Thess. 1:7-8 Paul referred to the Lord’s second coming.

4)      He said people will be punished for “not obeying the gospel.”

5)      The gospel (literally the good news) is the New Testament.

6)      Thus, those who do not obey the New Testament will also be punished.

 

13. From the beginning of time to the end of time there is one clear and consistent picture of God.

14. He is a God of punishment to those who do not obey Him.

15. The Hebrew writer said He is a “consuming fire” (Heb. 12:29).

 

WE CAN SAY THESE THINGS AND READ THEM STRAIGHT FROM GOD’S WORD BUT MANY STILL DO NOT BELIEVE IN A GOD WHO PUNISHES THE DISOBEDIENT.

 

A.    In this country this message is certainly not popular.

B.    We are part of the greatest nation that has ever existed. 

C.    We are God’s people.  We are members of His body the church.

D.    Punishment will surely not come upon us.

 

2.     This is how many think but this is not sound reasoning.

3.     In the first chapter of Jonah we read about a man who was a spokesman for God.

4.     A spokesman is important.

5.     The person who speaks for the President of the United States or another country is important.

6.     Imagine being selected to communicate words messages from the Creator.

7.     This was Jonah’s lot in life.

A.    Jonah had a special function but he was not obedient to God’s will.

B.    This is why Jonah 1:4 says “Jehovah sent” a “great wind upon the sea.”

 

8.     I hope that in your Bible these two words in Jon. 1:4 are underlined.

9.     The people on board this ship faced a storm but the storm was not a natural storm.

10. It came directly from God.

11. Verse 11 says the storm grew worse.

12. The raging sea was already bad but it became a lot more intense.

13. When we look at verse 13 the Bible says the greatness of the storm increased a third time.

14. The men were “rowing.”  They were “rowing hard.”  They could not fight this storm.

15. God was in the process of punishing His prophet.

A.    The chapter closes by saying God prepared (this is worthy of underlining too) a great fish.

B.    Jonah was not accidentally swallowed by a fish that happened to be in the area.

C.    The prophet was in the fish for three days.

D.    I’m not sure what it would be like to be inside a fish, but I think we all agree it would not be pleasant.

E.     It is no surprise that the second chapter opens by saying “Jonah prayed.”

F.     This man learned that God punishes people—even His people if they do not obey.

 

16. The Bible says God has rules that we need to abide by.

17. If we do we are blessed.

18. Heb. 5:8-9 says that God is the author of salvation to those who obey Him.

19. If we do not want to obey the rules we will not be saved.

20. God gives people chance after chance to avoid punishment.

21. He has given us a book which spells out the rules.

22. We use our lives to decide how we will respond to Him.

 

23. One stand we will stand before the Great Judge.

24. He will render a verdict for our life.  What will it be?

25. Will He say we were a faithful Christian and be taken home with Him?

26. Or will He say that we were disobedient and now the time for punishment has come?

27. We noted that God punishes people according to truth.

28. There must be evidence against us before He will punish us.

29. Does such evidence exist?  If so are we ready to have it removed?