The Unconverted “Believer” (14): The Future General Judgment of Works 05/16/2021

First Baptist Church Leominster

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About his ministry in the church at Corinth and also in Acts 18. We are introduced to the

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Jewish convert a great preacher that being Apollos so Acts chapter 18

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Acts 18 After this Paul left

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Athens and went to Corinth and he found a Jew named Aquila a native of Pontus Recently come from Italy with his wife

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Priscilla Because Claudus had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome And he went to see them and because he was of the same trade

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He stayed with them and worked for they were tent makers by trade And he reasoned in the synagogue every

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Sabbath and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia Paul's occupied with the word testifying to the

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Jews that the Christ was Jesus and When they opposed and reviled him he shook out his garments and said to them your blood be on your own heads

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I am innocent from now on. I will go to the Gentiles and He left there and went to the house of a man named

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Titus justice a worshiper of God His house was next door to the synagogue

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Crispus the ruler of the synagogue believed in the Lord together with his entire household and Many of the

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Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision

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Do not be afraid but go on speaking and do not be silent For I am with you and no one will attack you to harm you for I have many in this city who are my people

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And he stayed a year and six months teaching the Word of God among them But when

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Galio the pro -council of Achaia The Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him before the tribunal

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Saying this man is persuading people to worship God contrary to the law But when

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Paul was about to open his mouth Galio said to the Jews if it were a matter of wrongdoing or vicious crime

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Oh Jews, I would have reason to accept your complaint But since it is a matter of questions about words and names in your own law

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See to it yourselves. I refuse to be judge of these things and he drove them from the tribunal and they all sees

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Sophonis the ruler of the synagogue and beat him in front of the tribunal, but Galio paid no attention to any of this after this

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Paul stayed many days together and Then took leave of the brothers and set sail for Syria and with him

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Priscilla and Aquila At cincerea he had cut his hair for he was under a vow and they came to Ephesus and he left them there

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But he himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews When they asked him to stay for a longer period he declined

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But on taking leave it leave of them. He said I will return to you if God wills and he set sail from Ephesus When he had landed at Caesarea He went up and greeted the church and then went down to Antioch After spending some time there he departed and went from one place to the next through the region of Galatia and Phrygia strengthening the disciples

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Now a Jew named Apollos a native of Alexandria came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man competent in the scriptures

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He had been instructed in the way of the Lord and being fervent in spirit He spoke and talked accurately the things concerning Jesus though.

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He knew only the baptism of John He began to speak boldly in the synagogue but when

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Priscilla and Aquila heard him they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately and When he wished to cross to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him when he arrived

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He greatly helped those who were who through grace had believed For he powerfully refuted the

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Jews in public showing by the scriptures that Christ was Jesus Let's pray

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Our father We rejoice knowing that Christ is

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Jesus that Jesus is the Lord Jesus Christ that Jesus is

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Lord that Jesus is King and Lord we are here this morning to worship him

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We're here this morning to worship you for you are worthy of all praise glory and honor

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And so we Lord Lord we pray that you would help us in our worship help us to focus on the words of the scriptures

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We pray that the Spirit would teach us and apply these things to our lives Help us

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Lord to be diligent to search these things out and to impart maximum effort to walk in a manner that is pleasing to you we pray

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Lord that you would help us understand the scriptures that you would help us live the scriptures and We thank you

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Lord for this morning in Jesus name. Amen Well, let's turn in our

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Bibles, please to Revelation chapter 20 we're gonna deal with a I think one of the most

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Frightful passages of all scripture in which we read about the final judgment of mankind this is commonly referred to as the great white throne judgment and This passage of scripture toward the end of the biblical record declares that there will be a future event in which

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God will judge all the human race according to their works and The outcome of this judgment of works of all humanity will either be of course

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Entrance into eternal life or consignment to everlasting hell It's the greatest event of human history

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Set forth toward the end of the Word of God here. The seriousness of this matter is staggering when you consider it and It should lead all people who read it to or hear of it to search their souls in order to assess their

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Standing before God and to live in preparation for that day that will one day arrive and And so here is the passage of the

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Word of God that speaks to the end of human history and The accounting that all people must render unto

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God the future general judgment of works and so here's

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Revelation 20 11 to 15 and Then I saw a great white throne in him who sat on it from whose face the earth and heaven fled away

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And there was found no place for them and I saw the dead small and great standing before God and books were opened and Another book was opened

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Which is the book of life and the dead were judged according to their works by the things which were written in the books

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The sea gave up the dead who were in it and death and Hades Delivered up the dead who were in them and they were judged each one according to his works

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Then death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire This is the second death and Anyone not found written in the book of life was cast in to the lake of fire.

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I suppose if there was one passage that the Holy Spirit used To convict my soul of the guiltiness of my sin and certain damnation

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Apart from Jesus Christ. It was this passage I first read it in a gospel tract and it scared the bejeebies out of me

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And the Lord used it to convict me of my sin of certain judgment and Brought me to salvation in Christ declaration of the judgment

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This passage is terrifying or should be terrifying to one outside of Christ if he believes the Holy Bible is the

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Word of God And its statements are truths of God the fact is there is heaven to gain and there is hell to escape and That this is possible only through the one

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God is appointed and enabled to secure our salvation for sin that being

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Jesus Christ the Son of God as Peter filled with the

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Holy Spirit declared nor is there salvation in any other For there is no other name under heaven given among men

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By which we must be saved Jesus Christ is the only way to escape the lake of fire eternal punishment

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The Word of God teaches throughout its pages That there will be an accounting rendered to God by all people for how they lived in this world

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Even in the Old Testament this idea is pronounced Solomon wrote about it at the end of Ecclesiastes where he was reflecting upon What he had learned through his life experience

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Here's the sum of the matter Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter fear God and keep his commandments for this is man's all

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For God will bring every work into judgment including every secret thing whether good or bad

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The Prophet Daniel foresaw the final judgment In which

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God's people would receive salvation and the damned would be consigned to everlasting punishment

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Daniel 12 1 and 2 and at that time your people will be delivered Everyone who is found written in the book and many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth

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Here in their graves shall awake Some to everlasting life some to shame and everlasting contempt

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All who are in the graves to destinies however upon their resurrection But of course, it's in the

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New Testament where these matters are most clearly and fully set forth for us And of course the

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Lord Jesus himself taught about hell in several places in the Sermon on the Mount He taught about hell a great deal and so in Matthew 5

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But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment

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Think about that being angry with somebody unjustly Will warrant

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Guiltiness in the judgment whoever says to his brother Rekha shall be in danger of the council But whoever says you fool shall be in danger of hell fire and And then on another occasion he exhorted his readers to repent of their sin, otherwise they would suffer the unending punishment of hell

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If your hand causes you to sin cut it off. He's talking about repentance, of course from sin using a metaphor of Hyperbolic language

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Hyperbole in order to press it upon his hearers It is better for you to enter into life maimed rather than having two hands that go into hell into the fire that shall never

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Be quenched. It's eternal Where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched and Then he repeats it in several different ways for emphasis if your foot causes you to sin cut it off It is better for you to enter life lame rather than having two feet to be cast into hell

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Into the fire that shall never be quenched and again where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched and If your eye causes you to sin pluck it out

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It's better for you to enter the kingdom of God With one eye rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire

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Where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched Then in another place our

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Lord taught the need to have faith in God and his way of salvation He taught and do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul

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But rather fear him fear God who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell

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But it was really toward the end of his earthly ministry when the Lord Jesus spoke in detail about the final judgment and so We can cite several passages, but perhaps

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Matthew 25 is quite clear in Which he describes the final separation of the wicked from the righteous the sheep from the goats as a shepherd separating his flock

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When the Son of Man comes in his glory, that's the second coming all the Holy Angels with him

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Then he will sit on the throne of his glory The idea of taking a stand to exercise judgment and all the nations will be gathered before him and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats and He will set the sheep on his right hand

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But the goats on the left and then the king will say to those on the right hand come you blessed of my father inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world and Then he gives the reason that they are extended this

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Invitation verse 35 for I was hungry. You gave me food. I was thirsty. You gave me drink.

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I was a stranger You took me in I was naked you clothed me. I was sick. You visited me I was in prison you came to me then the righteous will answer him saying

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Lord When did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and take you in or naked and clothed you or when did we see you sick or in Prison and come to you and the king will answer and say to them

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Assuredly I say to you in as much as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren

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He's talking about his people Christians brothers and sisters in as much you did it to them.

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You did it to me also you see here is a judgment of works and The basis of work of judgment here is on how

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You regarded and treated your Christian brothers and sisters The second tablet of the

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Ten Commandments will be the basis of one of the bases of judgment on that final day

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But then he'll also say to those on the left hand depart from me you cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels and Then he gives the reason why for I was hungry you gave me no food.

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I was thirsty. You gave me no drink I was a stranger. You did not take me in naked. You did not clothed me sick and in prison

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You did not visit me and they will answer also answer him saying Lord When did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not minister to you?

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And then he will answer them saying Assuredly I say to you in as much as you did not do it to the one of the least of these and again

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He's talking about his brothers and sisters in Christ You did not do it to me and these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal

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And so there in Matthew 25, we see a general Judgment separation of the righteous from the unrighteous and it's a judgment according to works how they lived

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The Apostle Paul set forth the final judgment of mankind in Romans 2 He warned people even though they caught thought quite well of themselves that they'll be judged according to their works

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That is the manner in which they live their lives and the outcome of this judgment was either the gift of eternal life

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He's not teaching salvation by works here by the merit of works and So it's either the gift of eternal life or the rendering of God's justice of his indignation and wrath

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And so Paul wrote therefore you are inexcusable. Oh, man, he doesn't directly refer to Jews at this point

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But he's alluding to them. They were rather self -righteous looking down on others Even when they were committing the same kinds of sins

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Therefore you are inexcusable. Oh man, whoever you are who judge and here it's condemning

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Well, you're doing the same thing for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself for you who judge practice the same things but we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things and Do you think this old man you who judge those practicing such things and doing the same?

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That you will escape the judgment of God Or you despise the riches of his goodness forbearance and long -suffering not knowing the goodness of God leads you

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To repentance but in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you're unrepentant

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You are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God and Then here in verse 6 who will render to each one according to his deeds

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Eternal life To those who by patient continuance in doing good doing good seek for glory honor and immortality

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Eternal life is given to them as a gift They don't earn it by doing these things, but it's given to them who are characterized by these things

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But to those who are self -seeking and do not obey the truth that obey unrighteousness indignation and wrath

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Tribulation and anguish on every soul of man who does evil of the Jew first and also the

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Greek But glory honor and peace to everyone who works What is good to the

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Jew first and also to the Greek for there is no partiality with God all the human race is going to stand there before King Jesus and He's going to administer justice and it's going to be the same standard for all humanity

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But Christians are so different than non -christians that their lives are going to give evidence

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That they knew God love Christ they love Christ's people They were born again and their lives care were characteristic of Righteousness.

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No, not perfection. Obviously, we're all with sin But there's a clear difference between the way a true

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Christian lives and the way non -christians live Now when we address the subject of biblical salvation and we have certainly for a number of weeks now

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Although we frequently speak of being saved from sin both its power and its effects and being saved from alienation

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From God and a blessed relationship with God There's always present in our understanding that salvation is deliverance from God's wrath upon sinners from eternal hell

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Salvation is often set forth as escaping God's sentence of damnation on the final day of judgment

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And that's why Paul could write now our salvation is nearer than we when we first believed he declares in Romans 14 and This judgment and this final day of judgment is what's set forth clearly for us in Revelation 20 11 through 15, which we have read

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So let's work through the details of this passage Revelation 20

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First we have the scene of the judgment in verses 11 and through 12 a first clause of verse 12

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Notice John the Apostle wrote what he saw then I saw God gave him a vision the far distant future at the end of history

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When God will render justice to all who lived in defiance and disregard of him as the true

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God But John also foresaw the deliverance of those who were the recipients of God's salvation whose names are recorded in the book of life

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So we read in verses 11 and 12 a of all humanity brought before the throne of God Then I saw a great white throne

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Him who sat on it from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away and there was found no place for them

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And I saw the dead small and great standing before God So John saw a great white throne

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In the ancient world the greatness of a king's throne displayed the greatness of the king's authority and power over his realm

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And so we read of King Solomon's throne Wealthiest greatest

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Powerful king of his day moreover the King Solomon made a great throne of ivory Overlaid it with pure gold the throne and six steps the top of the throne was round at the back

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There were armrests on either side of the place of the seat two lions stood beside the armrest

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Twelve lions stood there one on each side of the six steps. Nothing like this had been made for any other kingdom

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Except this throne that Jesus is sitting on I guarantee you is a great white throne I'm sure

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Solomon's throne would pale in comparison John saw a far greater throne in heaven.

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Then I saw a great white throne And John saw God sitting on the throne

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All people were brought before him to be judged by him now in the Revelation Usually God the

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Father is seated on the throne. We have that in Revelation 4 for example But Jesus Christ is also reigning along with his father.

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In fact, he declared to one of the churches I also overcame and sat down with my father on his throne

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He's sitting at the right hand of the father ruling on behalf of the father And because of other verses of Holy Scripture that declare the father is entrusted his son with the final judgment of mankind

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We know that here John saw Jesus Christ as God sitting on a throne

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His throne to exercise the final judgment of mankind on behalf of his father

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That the throne is white a great white throne speaks of God's holiness and the holy nature of his judgment that he executes in his regal authority

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Greg Beale Wrote the white color of the throne denotes the holiness of God The judgment about to proceed from the throne is from the

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Holy God who judges not only to punish sin But also to vindicate his persecuted people

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And God who is sitting upon his throne causes all people in all things to recoil from his glorious presence and from his authority

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It would seem that the glory of his face that is his presence causes the created order to disintegrate before him

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We read from whose face The earth and they haven't fled away and there was found no place for them

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Now the scriptures teach us that one day this entire created created order will be incinerated

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After which God will create a new heavens and a new earth And these few words in Revelation 20 verse 11 may depict this event

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Peter wrote of this event occurred at the second coming of Christ and the final judgment That would then take place

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But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night. In other words suddenly Unexpectedly not quietly in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise and the elements will melt with fervent heat

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Both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up Therefore since all these things will be dissolved

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What manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness? looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God Because of which the heavens will be dissolved being on fire and the elements will melt with fervent heat

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Nevertheless, we according to his promise look for a new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwell

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Well in the book of the Revelation the new heavens and new earth appear in Revelation 21 and 22

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John wrote in the first verse of the next chapter now I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven first earth had passed away

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When did the first heaven and the first earth pass away We would say

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In verse 11 of chapter 20 When we read from whose face the earth and heaven fled away

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It is speaking of this cataclysmic ending of the present order of creation before the new creation is brought into existence in Revelation 21 1

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John writes of the earth and heaven there was found no place for them. They're gone the heaven and earth

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This last statement by the way may be alluding to Daniel's vision when the wicked kingdoms of the world to the judgment of God are supplanted or replaced by the kingdom of God They become like the chaff of the summer

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Threshing floors and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them could be found

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And in the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament the Septuagint it's a very similar to the

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John's Words in Revelation 2011 there is found no place for them John also saw the dead who are classified as small and great

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Verse 12, I saw the dead small and great standing before God. These are two adjectives

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Small and great and they're found elsewhere in the book of Revelation interestingly We read it back in chapter 11 verse 18 the small and great describe all

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Christians The nations were angry your wrath has come the time of the dead that they should be judged

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They you should reward your servants the prophets and the saints those who fear your name small and great

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All Christians are going to be rewarded For their stewardship in this life and should destroy those who destroy the earth again, notice the general judgment here and And then in Revelation 1917 and 18 however, these two adjectives small and great described not the righteous but the unrighteous

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Then I saw an angel standing in the Sun he cried with a loud voice Saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven come

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Gather together for the supper the great God that you may eat the flesh of Kings Flesh of captains the flesh of mighty men the flesh of horses and those who sit on them and the flesh of all people

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Free and slave and here it is both small and great So the adjectives small and great refer to righteous people but also they are descriptive of the unsaved the unrighteous people and So we would argue the use of these two adjectives here in verse 12 a of Revelation 20

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May be understood as encompassing all people all humanity Both the righteous and the unrighteous the small and great of all mankind this is a general judgment of all mankind and here they are all standing before God to be judged by him and Have him pronounce their eternal destiny of either the new heavens and the new earth or the lake of fire the second death

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Well, then we read about the basis of judgment in verse 12 B Here's the standard by which the dead will be judged and of what it is about them that will be examined we read and the books were open and Another book was open which is the book of life and the dead were judged according to their works by the things which were written in the books and So John saw some books and they were opened

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The dead were judged by the things written in these books Now John doesn't describe precisely what the the contents of these books, but you know that hasn't prevented commentators from making their suggestions

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Jonathan Edwards thought that the books open were but two books which represented two aspects of God's dealings with people

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And so he argued that there is first the book of God's remembrance Of course the book is a metaphor

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God's omniscience. He remembers Everything about you and of me and that's scary when you think about that Words attitudes actions thoughts of all people within history the book of remembrance, but there's another book

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Among these first mentioned books Edwards posited that this was the Word of God by which all people would be judged on that final day he wrote

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Which book seemed to be these to the book of God's remembrance and the book of Scripture The former as the evidence of their deeds which are to be judged

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The latter is the rule of judgment The works both of the righteous and of the wicked will be brought forth that they may be judged

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According to them and those works will be tried according to the appointed written rule And I might just interject this

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I read Edwards sermon, it's rather long in his two -volume works that I have the final judgment.

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I Happen to put it years ago in a Word document And so those who received your notes today via email or your phone

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I actually attached that Word file also to my sermon notes. So that's in your That's there the final judgment by Jonathan Edwards But at the end of that sermon just as final section, it's the application of this thing

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I thought this is so good I actually took that put it in 10 font Squeeze it into four pages and that's at the end of your notes that you have in front of you

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We're not gonna read through those But they're there. I thought you know, he had an application for the unsaved an application for the

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Christian You know, and so I thought that we would all benefit from that. And so I hope in your spare time you'll look over those

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Words of application by Jonathan Edwards preached back in the 18th century

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Now again, John saw these books the language of books in Revelation 2012 is parallel with a passage in Daniel whole revelation is is built upon Old Testament ideas and words and So the idea of books may be parallel with Daniel 7 where Daniel Declared I watched till thrones were put in place and the ancient of days was seated.

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That'd be the father His garment was white as snow the hair of his head was like pure wool

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His throne was a fiery flame its wheels a burning fire a fiery stream issued came forth before him and a thousand

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Thousands ministered to him ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him the court was seated and the books were opened

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Way back in Daniel's prophecy Anticipating God's judgment But then turning back to Revelation 20 we read in addition to these open books

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There's another book which is also open. Thank God for this one. It's the book of life and by the way

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This is also I think alluded to reference in the prophecy of Daniel. We already

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I think I read from Daniel 1 12 1 & 2 At that time

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Michael shall stand up I Might just interject this if you don't mind

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You know the Jehovah's Witnesses say that Michael is actually Jesus Prophesied and we can kind of recoil from that Of course

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Michaels the Archangel but actually most of the Puritans agreed with that that Michael the Archangel is actually represent a figure of the pre -incarnate

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Christ and They would argue here that you know What Mike the way Michaels described can only really be attributed to the

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Son of God and so they would commonly argue this I'm not saying you're right or wrong, but When I read them pretty unified in something

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I tend to doubt myself rather than them At that time Michael shall stand up the great prince

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He's a prince who stands watch over the sons of your people and there shall be a time of trouble Such as never was since there was a nation even at that time and at that time your people shall be delivered everyone who is found written in the book and Then the resurrection again a general resurrection and many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake some

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Everlasting life some to shame and everlasting contempt Notice it appears to be a general resurrection

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And I'm going to interject this at this point explain it a little more later Contrary just to dispensationalists who say there's a thousand seven years difference between the resurrection of the righteous and the resurrection of the unrighteous

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Daniel describes it as a single event some unto life some unto damnation and we would say

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Revelation 20 also teaches the same and Then he describes the various degrees of glory awarded to his people those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament in other words like the outside atmosphere

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Glory is going to be given to them those who are wise are probably those who live for God Maybe those who like in Proverbs he who said it's what he winneth souls is wise

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So I think that's probably the meaning because he says next and those who turn many to righteousness

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Like the stars forever and ever we're gonna vary in the degrees of glory that's conferred upon us

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Upon the judgment Well, then we read the comprehensive nature of this judgment in verse 13

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God summons before him in judgment all people who have lived throughout history Verse 13 a the sea gave up the dead who are in it death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them and they

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Were judged each one according to his works The First clause shows that God will bring before him in judgment everyone who has ever lived and died even though their bodies were consumed or disintegrated

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Even those who perish in the sea Edwards from his sermon I've alluded to reference

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Upon this all the dead shall rise from their graves all both small and great who shall have lived upon the earth since the foundation of the world those who died before the flood those who were drowned in the flood all that have died since that time and that shall die to the

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End of the world there will be a great moving upon the face of the earth and in the waters in bringing bone to his bone in Opening graves and bringing together all the scattered particles of dead bodies

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The earth shall give up the dead that are in it. The sea will give up the dead that are in it However, the parts of the bodies of many are divided and scattered

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However, many have been burnt and their bodies have been turned to ashes and smoke driven of the four winds

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However, many have been eaten by wild beasts of wild beasts of the fowls of heaven the fishes of the sea

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However, many have consumed away upon the face of the earth and great part of their bodies have ascended into exile

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Exhalations yet the all -wise and all -powerful God can immediately bring every part to his part again

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It's all encompassing Cremation is not going to in any way mitigate against the final judgment

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And not only will the sea gave up the dead but death and Hades delivered up the dead which were in them.

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This is interesting Death here probably speaks of the grave in which body physical bodies reside

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Hades may speak of the place where the souls of those who die Go after after they die on earth their souls go to Sheol Luke 16 the rich man

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Lazarus died their bodies are put in the grave, but their souls are in Sheol And Sheol was just the realm of the soul of the dead

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Both the righteous and the unrighteous would go into Sheol the abode of the dead And so Hades may be regarded here as it set forth in the

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Old Testament a place where all souls of the dead Reside, of course in Luke 16 the souls of the redeemed are separated from the souls of the unrighteous

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Jesus makes that clear the righteous souls are enjoying rest Waiting for the day of the resurrection the souls of the unrighteous the unsaved are in Hades or Sheol Suffering presently

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God's wrath for living and dying in unbelief But at the end of the age God will cause the physical bodies to be reunited with their souls and they'll be summoned before the throne

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Of God to face their final judgment. All people will be resurrected That is their souls will re -inhabit a body that is brought forth

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All human beings will be raised on that day. The Lord Jesus declared this in John 25 28 29 do not marvel at this in the previous two verses

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He was talking about the glorious spiritual resurrection that he can affect by speaking his word

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It's just a wonder an amazing thing. You should marvel at that He said don't marvel at this the physical resurrection as though it's really a lesser

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Miracle than bringing new life to a dead Christian who's defiant and rebellious But it's nothing for God to bring forth dead the physical dead to physical life.

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Do not marvel at this the hour is coming Notice it seemed to speak of one event

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He didn't say there there's a time coming separated by a thousand and seven years

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But our is coming in which all who were in the graves will hear his voice and come forth

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To groups those who have done good to the resurrection of life

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Next week we're going to talk about what good works are But Christians are characterized by good works

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Those who have done good to the resurrection of life those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation

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There you have a general resurrection general judgment of all mankind to destinies

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Well, John saw that all brought before God's throne are judged. They were judged each one according to his works

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All people of all times who lived in every place should be resurrected from the dead and they all will be judged according to their works

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Romans 2 and The outcome of this judgment will either be damnation or salvation

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As one wrote this judgment then we're in the dead were judged according to their works includes believers as well as unbelievers

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Despite the clear teaching of Scripture that salvation is not attained through works Obviously It is an equally clear teaching of Scripture that a

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Christian is known by his works as surely as is an unsaved man Therefore Christians who are saved by grace through faith will be proven to be so as a result of an examination of their works

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And that God is going to judge all people according to their works the outcome of which is either salvation or damnation

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It's the teaching of all Scripture What kind of works will judge

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God judge First God will judge the thoughts of every person who has ever lived

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These thoughts are the secret things of the soul as Paul wrote in Romans 2

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For as many as have sinned without law that would be the Gentiles will also perish without law

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That is having the presence or knowledge of the law and as many have sinned in the law That would be the Jews will be judged by the law in the day when

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God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ According to my gospel those secrets are your thoughts

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Second God will judge all of our actions indeed every deed performed by every person who has ever lived

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Paul wrote for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that each one may receive the things done in the body

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According to what he has done Whether good or bad and Third God will judge us for all the words that we have ever spoken

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Jesus declared by I say to you that every idle word that men may speak they will give account of it in the day of judgment

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For by your words will be justified by your words you will be condemned Now when we see the word justified we think you know being justified by grace through faith alone

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But it's not talking about legal or for forensic Justification here.

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He's really talking about being vindicated Your words will vindicate prove that you're a

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Christian or your words may prove you're not a Christian Your very speech betrays that fact

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It Declares when the Lord brings us before him in the final judgment our words that is our speech Will either prove that we're true

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Christians or will prove us to be otherwise hypocrites and Then forth

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God will judge each of us according to the attitudes that we exhibited in life We read for example of the unholy anger that will be condemned by the

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Lord He taught but I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment

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Whoever says to his brother Rekha You know a derogatory dismissive term shall be in danger of the council

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But whoever says you fool shall be in danger of hellfire We ought to be careful about what we declare regarding other people

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It's one thing to declare what God says of them, but you know with regard to yourself

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Stay clear of that True Christians are known by the way they think they feel they speak they behave and on the

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Day of Judgment their lives are governed Their their lives governed by faith in Christ will show forth ample testimony that they were the

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Lord's people On the other hand the evidence will convict all unbelievers that they had lived for themselves not doing

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God's will And so the way in which they think feel speak and behave will convict them before their

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Almighty Judge who sees all things remembers all things and judges all things It's it's all comprehensive.

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God is a righteous judge No sin ever committed in the history of the world is going to be dealt with In an unjust way

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Won't be ignored now we can thank God of course for the Christian our judgment took place on the cross

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So our sins were were dealt with according to justice Obviously, that's why we'll escape this judgment as far as the condemnation

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The outcome of this judgment verses 14 and 15 then death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire.

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This is interesting This is the second death Anyone not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire

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Well in in verse 13, we read that death and Hades delivered up the dead which were in them

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And so now the grave and shale is empty however here both death and Hades are cast into the lake of fire and so basically the apostle

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Paul wrote that upon his Resurrection the Lord Jesus would reign until he defeated all the enemies of God and his people and this is indicative of the fact

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That death is destroyed No more grave.

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No, no more shale we read in first Corinthians 15

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I didn't give the reference here, but it's 1st Corinthians 15 But now Christ is risen from the dead has become the firstfruits of those who fall asleep

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That has died for since by man came death by man Also came the resurrection of the dead for as in Adam all die even so in Christ all that are in Christ shall be made alive

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Each one in his own order Christ the firstfruits afterward those were Christ's at his coming Then comes the end when he delivers up the kingdom to God the

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Father When he puts an end to all rule all authority and power For he must reign till he's put all enemies under his feet.

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The last enemy that will be destroyed is death Death and Hades are cast into the lake of fire

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And so the grave is the realm of death and with the resurrection final judgment of mankind

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It'll be emptied of its former habitants. No more graves Similarly shale is vacant of the souls of those who had formerly occupied that spiritual realm

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And so here in Revelation 20 14 and 15 with death and Hades being personified

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They're there. They're dealt with as though they were persons Death and hell were taken and cast into the lake of fire just like the devil and then in the demons were cast there and So George Beasley Murray a

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Baptist commentary scholar who died not that long ago wrote death and Hades are declared in chapter 1 verse 7 and 8 to be under the control of the risen

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Lord. He had the keys, you know of death and Hades In chapter 6 verse 7 and 8 they are personified as here but there they represent agents of judgment death stalking the land in the wake of the sword famine pestilence and Wild beasts and the underworld opening its jaws to receive the dead

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John therefore views death as evil and an adversary which only the

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Lord can subdue and Hades There's a part of the old order of existence Which must give way to the life of the new creation very much in the same way as Paul in his exposition of the resurrection

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Death and Hades therefore are thrown into the lake of fire their power over man has ended since they who are acknowledged by the

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Lamb have risen for Participation in the life of the new creation and those who deeds condemned them to suffer the second death in other words the lake of fire

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Gone is death and Hades and Then to this event

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John wrote and this is the second death The first death was physical death. The second death is consignment to eternal punishment in the lake of fire

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As one wrote as there is a second and higher life. So there is also a second and deeper death as After that life, there is no more death.

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So after that death there is no more life A good little tool

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I've had for years a J. I Packers book entitled concise theology. He has a series

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Oh, I don't know there must be 60 or 70 chapter short chapters two pages on every major doctrine of the

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Bible And so I looked up his little little word on hell and he summarized the

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New Testament teaching The New Testament views hell that is the Greek word Gehenna As Jesus calls at the place of incineration as the final abode of those consigned to eternal punishment at the last judgment it is thought of as a place of fire and darkness of weeping and grinding of teeth of destruction and of Torment in other words of total distress and misery if as it seems these terms are symbolic rather than literal

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Fire and darkness would be mutually exclusive in literal terms We may be sure the reality which is far beyond our imagining exceeds the symbol in dreadfulness

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New Testament teaching about hell is meant to appall us and strike us dumb with horror

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Assuring us that as heaven will be better than we could dream. So hell will be worse than we can conceive

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That is a good statement and such are the issues of eternity which now need to be realistically faced

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Well, that's basically the passage and the meaning But we have to touch on you know, in the minutes we have remaining issues respecting the general judgment of mankind according to works

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Because several things can immediately come to mind When the subject of the final judgment of mankind is addressed issues arise it should be addressed

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These include first questions posed about certain details of the judgment Second there are challenges to the teaching of the eternal duration of the wicked in hell that must be countered and Third there are alternative interpretations about this future judgment that must be addressed and corrected

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And so first there's the question Will the sin of believers be made known and considered that the final judgment that's a good question to answer, isn't it?

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Every word you've spoken every thought you've had every attitude you've exhibited every action

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You've taken is that going to be in open display? Before not just me, but everybody there

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This is a question commonly posed Involving the nature of public disclosure their sins on the day of judgment well,

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God make known to all present at the judgment all the sins that we've ever committed and interestingly

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Good men have come down differently on this matter I've got the collected writings of John Newton, you know, the author of amazing grace a good pastor

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He addressed the issue to a friend who wrote him a letter asking him and this is how the letter is headed in his

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Collected works letter three a letter to a friend on the question whether the sins of believers should be publicly declared to the great day

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Or how are we to understand the Apostles assertion? We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that everyone may receive the things done in the body

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According to that he had done whether good or bad in other words 2nd Corinthians 510 compared with Romans 14 12 and Newton's response included these words.

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I Would say whatever may be the precise meaning of 2nd Corinthians 510 We are sure it cannot be designed to weaken what we are taught in almost every page of the free absolute and unalterable nature of the believers justification

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The benefit of which is to the forgiveness of sin is signified by the phrases blotting out not remembering casting behind the back and Into the depths of the sea we could go on as far as the

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East is from the West so far He hath removed us in our sins from us The sins of a believer are so effectually removed that even when or if they are sought for they cannot be found

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For Jesus has borne them away Think of the scapegoat going off into the wilderness removing our sins

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Believers are complete in him clothed in his righteousness. They shall stand before God without spot or wrinkle who shall lay anything to their charge

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That's Paul's words in Romans 8 who shall lay anything any charge of God's elect. It's God who's justified and So it would seem therefore

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John Newton would have answered the question No, the sins of believers will not be rehearsed before all at their future judgment of works

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But then I read on in this letter by Newton. He seemed to go the other way But it is probable that those

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Stray expressions chiefly in other words the blotting out, you know

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Forgetting if not entirely respect the guilt imputation and deserve consequences of sin

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None can suppose that the Lord will or can forget the sins of his people. God can't forget anything.

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He's omniscient When he says your sins, I will remember no more He's basically saying

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I'll no longer take those into consideration with regard to our relationship It's like you like somebody offends offends you and they come up they say please forgive me you say it's forgotten

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No, you haven't forgotten it. You just say it's no longer going to be an issue between us. God doesn't forget anything

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When he says their sins that I'll remember no more it's saying I'm No longer going to take them into consideration.

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They're under the blood And so none can suppose the

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Lord will or can't forget the sins of his people or that they can ever be hid from his All -comprehending view neither can

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I think they themselves will forget them How can you forget them? their song is founded upon a recollection of their sins and their circumstances in this life revelation 5 9 and their love and consequently their happiness seems inseparably connected with the consciousness of what they were and What they had done

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Think of amazing grace that this man wrote the former slave trader

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It was the thought of who he was and what God saved him from through Jesus Christ that enabled him to write the glory

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That's conveyed in that hymn. Is that not right? You take away his sense of sin and you take away the basis of that hymn

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I Think those are the sweetest moments of this life when we have the clearest sense of our own sins

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Provided the sense of our acceptance in the beloved Christ is Proportionately clear and we feel the consolations of his love notwithstanding our transgressions in Spite of who

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I am and what I've done. He loves me And when we arrive in glory unbelief and fear will cease forever our nearness to God and communion with him will be

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Unspeakably beyond what we now conceive and therefore the remembrance of our sins will be no abatement of our bliss

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But rather the contrary in other words It's going to increase our joy what we learn and what our sins are rehearsed to us and we see what we've escaped and Then he acknowledges with respect to our sins being made known to others

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I acknowledge with you that I could not now bear to have any of my fellow creatures

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Made acquainted with what passes in my heart for a single day Amen, but I apprehended as a part of a proof of my present depravity that I feel myself disposed to pay

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So great a regard to the judgment of Ben In other words, I shouldn't be ashamed of it

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You know before men while I'm so little affected with what I am in the sight of the pure and holy

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God But then he says, you know later it'll be different but should it but I believe that hereafter when self shall be entirely rooted out and my will perfectly united to the divine will

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I should feel no reluctance Supposing it for the manifestation of his glorious grace that men angels and devils should know the very worst of me

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Whether it will be so or no, I dare not determine in other words He wouldn't make he wouldn't make the declaration in the end

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But that's a good argument But then I read the views of Jonathan Edwards and It's clear.

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He gave a different understanding to this issue Absolutely, the sins of believers will not be brought up on the

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Day of Judgment. He declares I prefer Edwards you Don't know

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After he described in vivid terms God's exposure the wicked sins of the unrighteous He declared these words regarding the sins of the righteous on the

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Day of Judgment The good works of the Saints will also be brought forth as evidences of their sincerity good works and Of their interest in the righteousness of Christ as to their evil works.

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They will not be brought forth against them on that day For the guilt of them will not lie upon them.

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They belong clothed with the righteousness of Jesus Christ The judge himself would have taken the guilt of their sins upon him

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In other words on the cross therefore their sins will not stand against him in the book of God's remembrance The account of them will appear to have been canceled before the time

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The account that will be found in God's book will not be one of debt but of credit God cancels all their debts and sets down their good works and is pleased as it were to make himself a debtor for them by his own gracious act

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It is a difficult question to answer But the fact is the Word of God promises that the

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Lord Jesus is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you thoughtless Before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy

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Nevertheless the scriptures also exhort us therefore beloved looking forward to these things be diligent to be found in him in peace without spot and blameless

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And that suggests that it could be otherwise right

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I Didn't put this in my notes. They're too long already But Edward points out too that when we come out of the graves

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We're going to have immoral bodies nobody's going to go before this judgment and Already be or only to then discover that they're lost or saved

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You know Christians coming out of their graves They're gonna have immortal bodies like it on to Christ and they're gonna go before this judgment

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There's not going to be a sense of terror on our part, but rather confidence in joy That will you know will be exonerated as Christians on that day

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So we should not be terrorized at all with regard to this. We should be humble Trusting the

01:00:14

Lord and living in the light of it, but it should not cause us fear Perfect love casts out fear

01:00:23

Well, we have to be quick here Challenges to the doctrine of the eternal punishment of the wicked.

01:00:29

I just got a book two weeks ago That David Green recommended to me our friend published in 2004 and it was addressed by a number of reformed scholars and Wrote different chapters hell under fire modern scholarship reinvents eternal punishment and in this book it talks about numbers of Evangelical so -called

01:00:53

Bible believing scholars that no longer view hell as eternal punishment, but they teach annihilation you know or temporary a finite period of suffering and then annihilation and this book basically reaffirms the biblical and historical view of Hell and so Al Mohler wrote the first chapter and David Green was right when he recommended said this chapter by all

01:01:20

Muller's worth the price of the book And he entitled this chapter modern theology the disappearance of hell and he concluded the chapter with these words

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The revision or rejection of the historic doctrine of hell comes at a great cost The entire system of theology is modified by effect

01:01:38

Even if some revisionist refused to take their revisions to their logical conclusions Essentially our concepts of God and the gospel are at stake

01:01:47

What could be more important the temptation to revise the doctrine of hell to remove the sting and scandal of everlasting conscious?

01:01:55

Punishment is understandable You know, I wish the Bible did teach annihilation, but it doesn't teach is eternal punishment

01:02:04

But it's also a major test of evangelical conviction, this is no theological trifle as one observe

01:02:13

Observer has asked could it be that the only result of attempts? However, well -meaning to air condition.

01:02:20

Hell is to ensure that more and more people wind up there And that's exactly right hell demands our attention in the present and now confronts evangelicals with a critical test of theological and biblical integrity and Hell may be denied, but it will not disappear it's there and Then lastly we want to address other views regarding the great white throne judgment what we have presented today in today's evangelical world is a minority position a

01:02:53

Very minority position of minority But it's consistent with our

01:02:59

London Baptist confession of 1689 and every other Baptist confession historically up until the 20th century,

01:03:06

I Included the three paragraphs here from the confession will not read them, but it clearly talks about a single day a general resurrection of the dead a general judgment according to works and the outcome either being

01:03:22

Eternal life eternal damnation. This is the historic view of Protestants throughout history until the beginning of the 20th century all of the older Protestant confession set forth the general resurrection and judgment of mankind, but with the entrance of Dispensationalism at the onset of the 20th century this all changed

01:03:47

Most evangelicals view the white throne judgment the great white throne judgment here in Revelation 20 as only unbelievers

01:03:55

No Christians are here present at the great white throne judgment. They argue Furthermore, they do not believe that Christians will undergo a judgment of their works the outcome of which is either

01:04:06

Salvation or damnation they teach the only future judgment that Christians will face is for the purpose of the

01:04:13

Lord awarding them with reward for faithful stewardship and they claim that this separate judgment of Christians occurs a thousand -and -seven years before this great white throne judgment and So they take other passages.

01:04:28

We took one from Matthew 25 the Lord separating the sheep and goats Which is the general judgment of mankind and they project it back before a thousand -year

01:04:42

Millennium and they argue that it's just living people at the end of a future seven -year tribulation that are judged and they're at living people not from the dead but living people and some are allowed to go into the

01:04:55

Thousand -year Jewish earthly millennium and others are cast off. I guess into hell at that point.

01:05:01

It's not clear but Basically where our confession of faith equates this judgment with Matthew 25 with the final judgment of Revelation 20

01:05:11

They they teach it's it's long before But if you consider the end time teaching of Dispensationalists, which we all were taught and believed

01:05:23

I did for eight ten years after becoming a Christian I changed in 1982

01:05:28

It's been a while But we would ask these kinds of questions that they cannot answer

01:05:34

What of all those who died during a future seven -year tribulation that they say will come upon the world after the rapture of the church?

01:05:41

When will they be resurrected? Because they say Christians are resurrected at the beginning of the tribulation

01:05:47

What about all those Christians who died during the tribulation when are they resurrected? When will those who are saved during the tribulation experience their judgment before Christ?

01:05:57

Since all the redeemed had already passed through that judgment after a pre -tribulation rapture When are they going to be judged and rewarded the judgment seat of Christ has already taken place dispensationalists argue and What about those who are living on the earth and converted during the thousand -year kingdom when they die?

01:06:17

When do they experience their bodily resurrection whenever they die during the thousand years? and When do they face their judgment of works before the

01:06:26

Lord Jesus? I'm talking about those that are living in a thousand -year earthly millennium and they're there in their natural bodies and they're converted

01:06:33

Then they die. When are they resurrected and when do they experience the judgment seat of Christ?

01:06:39

It already took place before the You know Before the second coming there's all kinds of inconsistencies and Conflicts when you begin to work out the implications of what they're saying

01:06:52

Given their end time views dispensationalists would require a number of future resurrections and a number of future judgments

01:07:00

It's much simpler and biblical to see that there will be only one final general resurrection of all humanity in which they will then undergo one general judgment before the throne of God and so we embrace the truth that Lord Jesus taught in John chapter 5 do not marvel at this the hour is coming a single event is coming

01:07:20

When all who are in the graves will hear his voice and come forth those who have done good under the resurrection of life

01:07:27

Those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation But Dispensationalists who claim to take the book of Revelation literally don't take

01:07:37

Jesus's words of John 5 literally They've got to put a thousand and seven years in the middle of that sentence

01:07:44

Separating the judgment of the wicked from the judgment of the righteous How do we consider this judgment well, we should certainly live in the light of it shouldn't we

01:07:58

It matters how you live And if you profess to be a Christian yet, you've got a secret life going on and I've known

01:08:07

People over the years I would have swore now. There is a godly man or woman

01:08:13

Only to learn later. That wasn't the case at all. There was a secret life going on that Revealed no their

01:08:22

Christianity. They had never been born again. I couldn't live that way How are we living Are we living in the light of the coming judgment again?

01:08:32

not out of a sense of fear and terror, but really out of out of a sense of hope and Anticipation of what

01:08:38

God has promised us the glory of Revelation 21 and 22 is ours and it's a certainty.

01:08:44

It's not in doubt and you know, we can we conclude with the you know, the promise of God that we commonly quote from from the last verses of Jude which

01:08:57

I can't find now But basically the the promise is to him who's able to keep you from stumbling and to present you faultless

01:09:06

Faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy To God our

01:09:13

Savior who alone is wise be glory majesty dominion and power both now and forever a man

01:09:21

The Lord is going to set everything right We see a lot of injustice and wickedness and we think you know, how can

01:09:27

God allow all this to be? Because there's a final judgment when he's going to make all things, right?

01:09:35

By the end of that judgment everybody is going to realize everything has been dealt with justly by a holy and righteous

01:09:42

God That he's entrusted this authority to his son Jesus Christ. Thank the

01:09:48

Lord. Let's pray Father help us we pray to have this final

01:09:55

Resurrection and judgment in our minds Lord help us to live in hope

01:10:00

Lord and with joyful anticipation of this day And then our entrance into a new existence a new creation a new heavens and new earth

01:10:11

In which we will be completely delivered from our own sin our

01:10:16

God and then from a world Characterized by so much sin and injustice in the meantime

01:10:23

Our God help us to proclaim the glorious gospel of salvation That there's escape for any at all who will come to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior for we pray in his name