35. Judgment day

First John chapter 4 verse 16 here now the inspired word of God we have come to know and have believed the love which

God has for us God is love and the one who abides in love abides in God and God abides in him by this love is perfected with us so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment because as he is so also are we in this world let's pray father once again as we prepare to look into your word we ask very simply very straightforwardly that you would be pleased to open our eyes our ears and our hearts that we would see hear and understand what you have to say to us and most importantly that we would take what we know what we hear and we would apply it to our lives and that we would become more like our

Savior Jesus Christ in his name we pray amen please be seated according to a recent survey about 80 % of Americans believe that they will stand before God on judgment day to answer for their sins 39 % believe that we are living in the end times right now which

I find interesting since only 11 % of Americans read the Bible every day 1 in 5 that's 20 % have read through it once while 1 in 10 that's 10 % have said they've read none of it and answer to the question how do you read the

Bible 22 % said they read a little bit every day 35 % said they never pick it up 30 % said they look up things that when they feel they need to 19 % reread just their favorite parts 17 % say they flip it open and just read a passage at random now the reason

I find this interesting these results if 80 % of Americans believe in judgment day a day when all men will be judged by God why is our society so corrupt and why aren't more people reading and studying what

God has to say about judgment day after all the only authoritative source in these matters is the

Word of God and the Word of God so clearly says in 2nd Corinthians 5 verse 10 for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body according to what he has done whether good or bad

I bring this up because our text this morning we read these words in verse 17 by this love is perfected with us that we may have confidence in the day of judgment the answer to the questions

I just posed is not really a mystery while 80 % claim to believe in a day of judgment the majority of those people don't want to think about that day most people are like the proverbial ostrich who just buries his head in the sand when it comes to things eternal for most people there is no assurance of what that their fate will be on that day most people want to believe that they're a good person and will enter heaven because of the good deeds that they've done will outweigh the bad but they don't want to talk about that day they would rather hear and talk about the love of God not the judgment of God yet John in the text before us introduces judgment day in the context of the love of God and not just the love of God and as a general theological topic but in the admonition as we've seen over the last few weeks the admonition is that we are to dwell in God's love so we're going to begin where we left off last week about dwelling in God's love one of the problems in our society is the failure to understand that there are consequences for all of our actions to point it out

I was in a restaurant a couple of weeks ago and a menu item caught my eye instead of offering soup du jour soup of the day they offered soup of the moment and I read that that was my reaction to I chuckled when

I when I read it I thought it was a very clever marketing idea but unfortunately many people live their lives that way they live just in the moment and they don't think about the consequences of their actions they completely ignore the the principle of sowing and reaping and in fact many people foolishly say their motto is to eat drink and be merry for tomorrow you die and they don't even know what it means to die but more on that later so the concept of living for the moment without experiencing consequences is a fallacy of the first degree all of our actions and deeds in this life have consequences and that is the clear teaching of the

Word of God it's one of the realities of life one of the reasons that you can trust the scriptures is as you read them you will come to understand they tell it like it is the

Bible is truth and never candy coats the realities of life and many people just don't like that they want to be coddled they want to just feel better about themselves but Paul warned about this very reality in his letter to his son in the faith

Timothy in 2nd Timothy chapter 4 verse 3

Paul says for the time will come when they will not endorse sound doctrine but wanting to have their own their ears tickled they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths you see the

Bible is like a mirror it shows us who we are as sinners and that we are as sinners in serious trouble but the

Bible doesn't just do that it doesn't just leave us there it gives us the grand remedy for our condition the love of God that caused him to send

Jesus Christ to die for the sins of his people so any talk or discussion of judgment must begin must begin with the love of God now last week we began to examine what it means to dwell in God or abide in God remember verse 16 we have come to know and have believed the love which

God has for us God is love and the one who abides in love abides in God and God abides in him the believers position in God is one of permanent residency not temporary occupancy it is the intimacy this this intimacy that John describes as abiding even in each other but any discussion of this kind of love must begin with firstly what what was the condition of mankind after the fall what makes the love of God so astounding in saving sinners is the condition of sinners

Paul describes this condition in Ephesians 2 we read this earlier but it bears repeating look how

Paul describes the condition of fallen man Ephesians 2 starting in verse 1 you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you formally walked according to the course of this world according to the prince of the power of the air of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience among them we too all formerly lived in the lust of our flesh indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind and were by nature children of wrath even as the rest notice his words children of wrath sons of disobedience that's the condition for every single person born most people tend to mitigate their sinful condition to air is human doesn't it sound nice it's a nice platitude we all make mistakes

I'm not so bad and then there's usually after that is

I'm not as bad as and who are the big ones Adolf Hitler Idi Amin just we named some really bad guy because everybody's oh yeah you're not as bad as that maybe not but you're bad enough but that's not how the

Word of God describes fallen mankind spiritually dead apart from Christ we are allies with the prince of this world that is we are allies of the devil we are children of wrath in other words we're rebels and enemies of God Almighty and any understanding of that condition is necessary to understand the extent of God's love look how

Paul look look how Paul continues in Ephesians 2 and these two words that verse 4 starts with some of the most delightful words in all of Scripture but God you would deaden your trespasses and sin but God being rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us even when we were dead in our transgressions made us alive together with Christ by grace you have been saved and raised us up with him seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus but God boy

I love those two words Paul says it again in Romans 5 8 and notice how that starts coincidentally enough but God demonstrates his own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners

Christ died for us it is the love of God for his creations that caused him to send his only begotten son to die for his rebellious people who if we were left to ourselves would happily and merrily eat drink and die so you can see why

John would say that dwelling in love is the ultimate proof of the assurance of salvation but then the question comes how does one dwell in this love how does that what does that look like look at verse 17 once again by this love is perfected with us love is perfected with us this is an extremely important point how is love perfected with us you know too often people and and even

Christians minimize what salvation really is Charles Spurgeon said even if sin is pardoned that is not enough for us we need to have sin put away from us he continues and listen carefully to his words the gospel wouldn't be good news if God merely forgave us our sins if God merely gave us a clean slate we would only mess it up again and if God merely secured our eternal future we would still be stuck with the shame and the sorrow of sin today thankfully that isn't how

God treats us he has saved us by his mercy and he grows us to the reality this reality is all over the

New Testament God not only saves you from your sin but he is at work in us to give us the holiness that he has demanded we see this in the

Sermon on the Mount where Jesus addresses what real godly love looks like in Matthew chapter 5 verse 46 he says for if you love those who love you what reward do you have do not even the tax collectors do the same if you greet only your brothers what more are you doing in others don't even the

Gentiles do the same therefore he says you will are to be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect what

John is addressing what Spurgeon commented on is the doctrine of sanctification salvation is more than just forgiveness of sin salvation is more than redemption forgiveness of sin opens the door to a life of obedience to Christ a life of dwelling in his love a life of abiding in him and he and us in fact

Spurgeon nobody said it like Spurgeon Spurgeon was once asked but isn't forgiveness the end of salvation and he said yes but which end the purpose for our salvation for the salvation of mankind according to the scripture is more than forgiveness the goal is to become like Jesus Christ in Romans 8

Paul explains this very clearly I'm gonna begin with Romans 8 28 because good

Calvus we all like Romans 8 28 and we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love

God to those who are called according to his purpose we all know and love that great promise of God it's very comforting to to be reminded that even during even during the tough times that we go through in life

God will always bring all things together for the good of his people but notice how

Paul describes the Christian in that verse those who are called according to his purpose if you're a

Christian you were saved for a reason but not for anything good that you have done in the past there's nothing those works account for nothing no matter how good they were remember

Paul was the doctor of the law and had a zeal for good works but listen to what he said about himself

Philippians chapter 3 verse 7 but whatever things were gained to me those things

I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ more than that I count all things to be lost in view of the surpassing value of knowing

Christ Jesus my Lord for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them but rubbish that I may gain

Christ and may be found in him not having a righteousness of my own derived from the law but that which is through faith in Christ the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith so the purpose for your salvation is not for anything you did in the past but for what you are called to do once you are saved we read about that in Ephesians 2 we read this this morning

Ephesians 2 10 for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which

God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them if you're a believer in Jesus Christ God has prepared a way for you to walk but back to Romans 8 29 for after the comfort of verse 28

Paul goes on to give us the fuller reason for our salvation remember

Romans is a grand biblical exposition of the gospel of Jesus Christ and in verse 29

Paul tells us why we recalled by Christ but he does so in very plain language for those whom he foreknew he also predestined to become conformed to the image of his son that he would be the firstborn of many brethren

Christian you were not saved just to wreck just to rescue you from eternal damnation now praise

God that we were rescued from eternal damnation and I am NOT minimizing that one iota

I thank God every day that he has saved me from eternal damnation but it's more than that you were saved to be conformed to the image of Christ Christ Christ was raised from the dead after dying for the sins of his people and he was raised and he took the seat at the right hand of God and he is the firstborn of many brethren so when you come to Christ your sins are forgiven but you are also joined with him in newness of life and he abides in you and you abide in him which means you become like him this is what's known as the doctrine of progressive sanctification as the

Christian dwells in the love of God he becomes more like his savior sanctification that is becoming like Christ is not an option it is the natural outgrowth of your being justified and Paul says it's over and over again but no place more clearly than 1st

Thessalonians 4 verses 3 and 4 in fact you know what this verse is one of my favorites especially when

I'm doing counseling people often come into the study and say pastor I just want to know the will of God for my life that's easy and they look at me like I have two heads 1st

Thessalonians 4 3 for this is the will of God your sanctification that is that you abstain from sexual immorality that each of you know how to possess his own vessel and sanctification and honor and Peter highlights this doctrine in his first epistle as well 1st

Peter 1 14 as obedient children do not be conformed to the former lusts which you were which which were yours in your ignorance but like the

Holy One who called you be holy yourselves also in all your behavior why because it is written you shall be holy for I am holy and that's exactly what

John is saying in the text before us look at verse 17 one more time by this love is perfected with us and there are many many more passages of scripture that emphasize the same doctrine but here's a question how is this to be accomplished we're talking about means and method how does this look like in practicality well first and foremost we need to recognize that it's possible to work out your sanctification because the

Holy Spirit who dwells in you as a Christian apart from him you can do nothing

Romans 8 verse 13 for if you are living according to the flesh you must die but if the spirit if by the spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body you will live for all who are being led by the

Spirit of God these are the sons of God and that is what Jesus promised his disciples as his departure to heaven drew near remember in John 14 he says

I will ask the Father and he will give you another helper that he may be with you forever that is the spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it does not see him or know him but you know him because he abides with you and will be in you so first and foremost your sanctification is possible because of the spirit who dwells in you but we are also encouraged to make diligent use of the means of grace that means reading the scriptures but reading the scriptures not haphazardly not just opening up the text and choosing something your favorite passage but reading the scriptures in a way that you understand them and then apply them to your life by systematic study as Paul says to Timothy 2

Timothy 2 15 be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed accurately handling the word of truth it also means to work out your salvation it also means to be men and women of prayer to always be in an attitude of prayer it means praying as Jesus instructed us to pray in his model prayer in that Sermon on the

Mount pray like this he said and again he gave us a model to emulate in how we pray and praying in the manner we see incorporated in the scriptures you want to do a little good study one you ever have trouble praying look at the prayers of Paul and Ephesians and Philippians and Colossians we have samples of how

Paul prayed what he prayed for we're also encouraged by scripture to be active participants in the

Church of Jesus Christ we are not saved to be lone ranger Christians we are saved to be part of a local body of believers that we can edify and encourage one another that's part of the sanctification process let me just summarize what sanctification looks like it's simply the golden rule

Matthew 7 12 and everything therefore treat people the same way you want them to treat you for this is the law and the prophets then in the middle of this exhortation on love

John introduced the subject of judgment look again at verse 17 by this love is perfected with us so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment besides all the other reasons and all the benefits for dwelling in God's love he gives us one more that we may have confidence in the day of judgment now this is not the first time

John raises this point back in chapter 2 he wrote this first 28 now little children abide in him so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink away from him in shame at his coming this is one of those times in chapter 4

I mentioned this several weeks ago that John sometimes preaches in circles and I don't mean that in a bad way he circles back and we hit some of the high points he does that again those who are abiding dwelling in God's love not only will not shrink from Christ at his coming but will have confidence in that day to understand what

John means and the impact it has on people we must explain a few things concerning judgment day first what is judgment day and I'm going to introduce some topics here this this morning and next week we will actually pick up on a little bit more so this is just kind of a brief introduction but judgment day is a day appointed by God when all of humanity will be judged according to their deeds

Hebrews 927 in as much as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment and we quoted 2nd

Corinthians 510 earlier but it bears repeating for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body according to what he has done whether good or bad now some people attempt to relegate the words of scripture concerning judgment to figures of speech and while some of the language of judgment is metaphorical and there are figures of speech used the fact is there is a day when it will be when all will be judged and that is crystal clear in the scriptures our confession of faith the 1689

London Baptist Confession succinctly gives a summary of this read just the first paragraph

God has appointed a day or and he will judge the world in righteousness by Jesus Christ to whom all power and judgment is given of the

Father in which day not only the Apostate Angel shall be judged but likewise all persons that have lived upon the earth shall appear before the tribunal of Christ to give an account of their thoughts words and deeds and to receive according to what they have done in the body whether good or evil we do not have the time nor is it my purpose to fully explore this doctrine today but there are a few few more pertinent facts that are important for us this morning first the day is fixed by God and no one knows the hour nor the except for him and him alone and while we don't know the exact procedure we can tell that it will be a legal proceeding the books will be opened revealing a perfect record of everyone's life which also means it will be a formal event it will be a visible event judgment will not be rendered in secret and by the way there will be no backroom deals the standard of judgment will be the deeds done good or evil based upon the perfect standard of the law of God judge will be perfect in that day unlike our human courts there will be no miscarriages of justice no innocent will be convicted no guilty will be set free and just as I mentioned the judge will be

Jesus Christ in that day every sin will be accounted for and the punishment made it out in perfect measure for each sin and the scripture teaches that there will be degrees of punishment for the wicked but all those who are guilty will go into eternal torment that place is described as the second death in Revelation 20

Jesus described it as the place where the worm doesn't die the fire isn't quenched and further says it will be a place where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth he says these will go away to eternal punishment but the righteous to eternal life the other side of judgment is all is those whose punishment for sin has been paid for by Christ they will receive rewards for their faithfully living out the gospel in this life in other words they will be recompensed for their good deeds let me just clarify something on death what does it mean to die the primary meaning of die in scripture is separation the concept of being separated when someone dies their soul is separated from the body on Judgment Day there will be a general resurrection of both the godly and the ungodly waiting for judgment and upon judgment those declared righteous will enter eternal life those who are not in Christ will be sent to eternal death that is eternal separation from the love the mercy and the goodness of God and instead will be eternally punished with those thoughts in mind any rational thinking person would be fearful at the very least and horrified at the prospect of facing

Almighty God on Judgment Day can you imagine and for eternity that prospect changes only by Christ's blood that's the promise of God for when

God forgives sin it is removed as far as the east is from the west it is cast into the deepest sea never to be raised again so you can see why

John is spending so much time admonishing Christians you need to be fully assured of your salvation that's his whole purpose in this book and the ultimate test for assurance is that you are dwelling in love look again at verse 17 by this love is perfected with us so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment confidence can you imagine walking into that courtroom and being judged and have confidence because yours you know that you're going to be declared not guilty because Jesus Christ has pled guilty for you

I hope you can see why I began this message with those statistics about what people believe about judgment and the corresponding practices of scripture reading it's understandable why people avoid thinking about judgment if you have no confidence how you will fare on that day who wants to think about it put it from your mind and even make light of it but that's a terrible burden to carry so if you're a

Christian you can see why assurance is necessary if you are saved and you know it you should have no fear of death no fear of judgment day you can stand humbly yet confidently before the throne of God knowing your sin is gone and you are clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ if you're here this morning and you're not a believer you have no such promise no such assurance quite frankly you should be afraid

Hebrews 10 13 says it is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living