The Coming Judgment of the Church
“The Coming Judgment of the Church”
(Romans 14:10-12, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, October 2, 2005)
Introduction: Beyond being right, but not beyond right and wrong
Ever the crowd-pleaser, I am going to begin my message this morning with a grammar lesson. Did you know that the title of this sermon is ambiguous? The genitive at the end of it (“of the Church”) is the part that can have more than one meaning. If it is a subjective genitive, then the expression tells us that the church is the one that will do the judging. If it is in an objective genitive then the church is the one being judged.
This is very much to the point of what the Lord has for us in the verses before us this morning. Are we the ones who are judging, or is the Lord the one who in a day yet to come will judge us? And what does the topic of judgment have to do with the kind of Christian liberty and appropriate biblical tolerance that Paul is teaching to the church in Rome? Is it wrong for us today to be critical of others with our thoughts and with our words?
Of course, not all criticism is bad. Everyone knows that there is a difference between having a father with a critical spirit, and having a father that occasionally has a word of correction for his dearly loved children. What is behind a critical spirit, and how can we make progress in turning away from such an overpowering sin?
Do you have a critical spirit? Perhaps it will help you in your self-examination if I ask you this question: Which would you rather be, right or happy? Many people insist on being right at all costs. This type of attitude in the church can lead to much unnecessary division. There are many issues that the Bible has said very little about. That does not mean that God doesn’t care about these smaller issues, or that there is no right or wrong on those points. But it does mean that the gift of patient love with one another is something to be earnestly sought in prayer. There are many instances where bearing with one another in love is far more honoring to God than merely having the right answer to the question at hand.
TODAY’S PASSAGE:
Romans 14:10-12 10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; 11 for it is written, "As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God." 12 So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.
The “Weak” and the “Strong” reviewed (10a)
In this fourteenth chapter of the Apostle Paul’s epistle to the Romans, we have been learning about two groups within the church that Paul refers to as the “strong” and the “weak.” The strong man may not be a person of natural physical, emotional, or intellectual strength. But he shows spiritual strength in this, that God has accepted him through Christ, and that he has been given much liberty in a great number of areas. For example, he has freedom to eat, drink, and order his days according to general principles of biblical obedience rather than through slavish obedience to old ceremonial laws or to the opinions of those around him.
The weak man has not rightly considered the implications of the gospel for his way of life. He thinks he is right with God, at least in part, through his obedience to old laws that Christ has fulfilled or man-made rules that come from tradition. The weak man is tempted to judge his brother or sister according to his own answers to smaller questions of biblical doctrine or morality. He is tempted to view himself as one of the obedient ones that take God’s word more seriously than the average bear. The strong man knows his freedom in Christ concerning matters like dietary laws, yet he too has a temptation that must be resisted. He must not despise his weak brother who does not understand the right use of Christian liberty.
We can now see from verse 2 that Paul is not merely trying to say the same thing twice to the same people. He is speaking to two groups in verse 10. He first turns to the weak brethren who think that they can only eat vegetables, and he effectively says, “Stop judging your brother in the church for whom Christ died and rose again.” He then looks on his other side at the “strong” who know that they may eat anything, provided that it is received with prayer and thanksgiving, and He says, “And you, … stop despising the weak man who may be judging you harshly. He does not know what he is doing.”
We will all stand before the judgment seat of God (10b, 12)
The first verse begins with the two questions we have been considering. But the Apostle goes on to provide strong reasoning for both parties in this simple biblical teaching: Both the strong brother and the weak brother will stand before the judgment seat of God. In verse 12 he says, that each man will have to personally give an account of himself to God. In the words of 2 Corinthians 5:10, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.” This is very similar to our text, except Romans says it is the judgement seat of God, and 1 Corinthians says it is the judgment seat of Christ.
As John Piper comments, “Our judge will be Christ. It is God's judgment too (Rom. 14:10-12, "We must all stand before the judgment seat of God"), but God "has given him authority to execute judgment" (John 5:27). So God the Son and God the Father are one in their judgment, but the Son is the one who stands forth as the immediate Judge, to deal with us.”
This is something for us to consider, and it can help us in our fight against sinful habits of the heart and the tongue that disturb the peace of the church. What will it be like to stand before Christ as our life is reviewed by the one who knows what is in a man?
When someone is interested in becoming a member of this church, I or one of the other elders who pastors this congregation spend some time meeting with the person. Over a series of weeks or even months we go through a book together that describes the fundamental truths of the historic Christian faith. Each person needs to know in good conscience that he is a sinner and that Christ is his merciful savior. He needs to resolve to be a follower of this Jesus and a supporter of the work and worship of the church as a submissive participant in the body of Christ. The elders of the church speak with that person and eventually he needs to be able to affirm his faith as a solemn vow before God in the presence of all of you who witness his simple “yes” answers to the questions posed to new members. For some who are more shy, the idea of standing up in front of others and nodding their heads “yes” can be a very intimidating thought. They must do this in obedience to the command of the Lord, who insists that we own Him as our Lord and Savior before men.
But as intimidating as that may be, it is nothing when compared with the truth of today’s text. One day each of us must stand before the judgment seat of Jesus Christ, and answer for the way in which we have used the profound gifts of life and liberty in our service of the One who freely gave His all both in life and in death for us. Are you ready for that day?
There are many passages in the Bible that tell us the truth about the coming day of judgment. Most importantly, we know that there will be a distinction made between the world and the church. The world is headed toward eternal judgment. Those who are truly a part of the Lord’s church will go into everlasting life. But do we know that even those redeemed by the Lord’s blood will yet stand before the judgment seat of God and face the one who died on the cross for us? Jesus said, “By their fruits you will know them.” Each of us will have to explain to Him why we have not loved the weaker brethren, why we have not turned to Him in prayer when we were losing hope, why we have so often given up on our duties in the face of some opposition.
Let me read you some other passages that make it clear that the Lord will one day examine every life. This examination will show the distinction between the world and the church, and will also be used for evidence concerning the distribution of eternal rewards among the elect.
Romans 2:3-6 3 Do you suppose, O man- you who judge those who do such things and yet do them yourself- that you will escape the judgment of God? 4 Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? 5 But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. 6 He will render to each one according to his works:
Matthew 16:25-27 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what shall a man give in return for his life? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.
Matthew 25:31-46 31 "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?' 40 And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.' 41 "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' 44 Then they also will answer, 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?' 45 Then he will answer them, saying, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.' 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."
How does God’s eternal plan to show mercy fit into this? Not only does the Bible teach that we will be judged by works. It also clearly promises that some will be saved by grace, and not by the merit of our own works:
Titus 3:3-7 3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. 4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
How are we to understand this? The answer is quite simple. We are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. His merit has been applied to us. But while we are saved by grace alone, grace that saves is never alone. The works that God ordains for us are the evidence of the saving grace of Christ that He has granted to us. This gives meaning to every act of God-honoring obedience and devotion in our lives.
1 Corinthians 15:56-58 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
The Old Testament proof-text and context in Isaiah 45 (11)
The judgment of God is coming, and it is real. While there are many passages in the bible that teach this, in verse 11 of this morning’s text Paul quotes from chapter 45 of the Old Testament prophet Isaiah. In this chapter God says over and over again that His redeemed people are the result of His own plans and actions. He is the One Creator. He is the One Redeemer. Finally the last verses make it clear that He is the One Judge to whom all must one day answer. Using the word “Israel” to speak of his chosen ones out of all of the tribes of the earth, God says:
Isaiah 45:22-25 22 "Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. 23 By myself I have sworn; from my mouth has gone out in righteousness a word that shall not return: 'To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance.' 24 Only in the LORD, it shall be said of me, are righteousness and strength; to him shall come and be ashamed all who were incensed against him. 25 In the LORD all the offspring of Israel shall be justified and shall glory."
There is simply no escaping the fact that all must answer to God. As those who must answer the Lord one day and explain what we have done with the great grace that He has granted to us, do we really have time to judge others over disputable matters? Will the Lord be pleased when we despise His loved ones? It is a frightening thing to stand before the living God, for our God is a consuming fire. Is it defensible for us to wrongly treat those for whom the Son of God lived and died?
POINT: There is a necessary humility and gentleness that comes from a true understanding of eternal judgment.
God has not hidden the facts of judgment from us. His chosen people will make good use of them, and turn from small-minded impatience in our dealings with each other. Let me press the point of this text further by asking you to consider the One who has been appointed by God to be the Lord of the coming Day of Judgment. In doing this I want to distinguish between the judgment of God upon the world and the judgment of God upon the Church.
We know that the final destiny of the world and the church is radically different. The passage that I read to you earlier from the end of Matthew 25 which talks about the sheep and the goats is one of the classic passages in the Bible on this point. It ends with this simple inescapable sentence, speaking first of the final destination of the world, and then the final end of the perfected church, called here the righteous. “And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” In the words of the Westminster theologians, “At the resurrection, believers, being raised up in glory, shall be openly acknowledged and acquitted in the day of judgment, and made perfectly blessed in the full enjoying of God to all eternity.” This cannot be said about those who “do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus” (2 Thes 1:8).
The Judge of the World
Jesus is coming again to judge the living and the dead. The church has confessed this biblical truth for centuries. To take this away from Him, which no one can do, is to take away part of His exaltation, and to steal from Him part of His holy glory.
Who is this Jesus who is the judge of the world? All things were made through Him, and He upholds all things by the Word of His power. As Creator and Sustainer of all, what could be known about Him was plain to all, because He showed it to them in His works of creation and providence. His invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So the world is without excuse in its rejection of Him. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles (Based on Romans 1).
Therefore, this Jesus, who was Himself so intimately involved in the creation of everything, who protects and provides humanity with each passing moment, has been appointed as the Judge who will at the appointed time judge the world in perfect righteousness. This Jesus who was rejected by the world despite all His perfect righteousness, will one day judge the world.
The important thing to note here is that He is the Judge of the world, not you.
The Judge of the Church
What about the judge of the church? Who is this One who will distribute rewards to the righteous and expose those who are not truly part of His eternal church? Is it not Christ Jesus, the one who died – more than that, who was raised – who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us? The one before whom we will stand is the one who works out His special providence for His church, so that we are preserved through all kinds of tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, and war (Romans 8:34-35). It is the One who made an eternal agreement with the Father to rescue you from sin and misery. It is the One who on the cross faced the wrath of God for you.
Once again, the important thing for you to note is that He is the judge of the church, not you. Brothers and sisters, you were saved by the grace of this wonderful Jesus who will one day judge the church. Can it possibly be right for us to judge each other over 100 lesser issues and 1000 inconveniences when the clear and plain facts of the death and resurrection of Christ unite us in a holy and eternal bond as the Lord’s own family? We must not do this thing. We must place our hands over our gossiping and slanderous mouths. We must ask for God’s Spirit to so fill us that even our every thought would be taken captive by Christ.
By the way, how is it that sinners like us would even be talking about REWARDS! How is it that we will one day hear these words, “Well done thy good and faithful servant?” Here is the key: The One who was judged for us and who suffered the punishment of the cross for us, has taken what we deserve, and we have been credited with His righteousness. And we would be the judges of others? We would presume to despise others within the Lord’s household? Have we forgotten that we will stand before the judgment seat of God?
Conclusion: Lord, help me today…
One British commentator says this concerning the verses before us this morning: “There is no sin to which Christians – especially ‘keen’ Christians – are more prone that the sin of censoriousness. The apostle’s words are seriously intended. ‘Should a man not lay his hand upon his mouth before he criticizes his brethren? When we pass swift, uninformed, unloving and ungenerous judgments, surely we have forgotten that if we speak evil of them, at the same time we speak evil of the Lord whose name they bear.’”
The Father has given the Son the authority to execute judgment. The King will return. He will review each one of us. Every knee will bow. Every tongue will confess. May the truth of the coming judgment of God upon the church give us pause when we would sin. And may a sweet spirit of love and forbearance together with true acts of Christian aid be characteristic of this assembly of God’s people. This is a daily challenge. My prayer is this, that God would help you and I today to use well the truth of the coming judgment, that we would love one another more fervently and sincerely from the heart.
Friends, the title I began with this morning contains an objective genitive. The church will be judged. God will judge.
Romans 14:10-12 10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; 11 for it is written, "As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God." 12 So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.
(Romans 14:10-12, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, October 2, 2005)
Introduction: Beyond being right, but not beyond right and wrong
Ever the crowd-pleaser, I am going to begin my message this morning with a grammar lesson. Did you know that the title of this sermon is ambiguous? The genitive at the end of it (“of the Church”) is the part that can have more than one meaning. If it is a subjective genitive, then the expression tells us that the church is the one that will do the judging. If it is in an objective genitive then the church is the one being judged.
This is very much to the point of what the Lord has for us in the verses before us this morning. Are we the ones who are judging, or is the Lord the one who in a day yet to come will judge us? And what does the topic of judgment have to do with the kind of Christian liberty and appropriate biblical tolerance that Paul is teaching to the church in Rome? Is it wrong for us today to be critical of others with our thoughts and with our words?
Of course, not all criticism is bad. Everyone knows that there is a difference between having a father with a critical spirit, and having a father that occasionally has a word of correction for his dearly loved children. What is behind a critical spirit, and how can we make progress in turning away from such an overpowering sin?
Do you have a critical spirit? Perhaps it will help you in your self-examination if I ask you this question: Which would you rather be, right or happy? Many people insist on being right at all costs. This type of attitude in the church can lead to much unnecessary division. There are many issues that the Bible has said very little about. That does not mean that God doesn’t care about these smaller issues, or that there is no right or wrong on those points. But it does mean that the gift of patient love with one another is something to be earnestly sought in prayer. There are many instances where bearing with one another in love is far more honoring to God than merely having the right answer to the question at hand.
TODAY’S PASSAGE:
Romans 14:10-12 10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; 11 for it is written, "As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God." 12 So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.
The “Weak” and the “Strong” reviewed (10a)
In this fourteenth chapter of the Apostle Paul’s epistle to the Romans, we have been learning about two groups within the church that Paul refers to as the “strong” and the “weak.” The strong man may not be a person of natural physical, emotional, or intellectual strength. But he shows spiritual strength in this, that God has accepted him through Christ, and that he has been given much liberty in a great number of areas. For example, he has freedom to eat, drink, and order his days according to general principles of biblical obedience rather than through slavish obedience to old ceremonial laws or to the opinions of those around him.
The weak man has not rightly considered the implications of the gospel for his way of life. He thinks he is right with God, at least in part, through his obedience to old laws that Christ has fulfilled or man-made rules that come from tradition. The weak man is tempted to judge his brother or sister according to his own answers to smaller questions of biblical doctrine or morality. He is tempted to view himself as one of the obedient ones that take God’s word more seriously than the average bear. The strong man knows his freedom in Christ concerning matters like dietary laws, yet he too has a temptation that must be resisted. He must not despise his weak brother who does not understand the right use of Christian liberty.
We can now see from verse 2 that Paul is not merely trying to say the same thing twice to the same people. He is speaking to two groups in verse 10. He first turns to the weak brethren who think that they can only eat vegetables, and he effectively says, “Stop judging your brother in the church for whom Christ died and rose again.” He then looks on his other side at the “strong” who know that they may eat anything, provided that it is received with prayer and thanksgiving, and He says, “And you, … stop despising the weak man who may be judging you harshly. He does not know what he is doing.”
We will all stand before the judgment seat of God (10b, 12)
The first verse begins with the two questions we have been considering. But the Apostle goes on to provide strong reasoning for both parties in this simple biblical teaching: Both the strong brother and the weak brother will stand before the judgment seat of God. In verse 12 he says, that each man will have to personally give an account of himself to God. In the words of 2 Corinthians 5:10, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.” This is very similar to our text, except Romans says it is the judgement seat of God, and 1 Corinthians says it is the judgment seat of Christ.
As John Piper comments, “Our judge will be Christ. It is God's judgment too (Rom. 14:10-12, "We must all stand before the judgment seat of God"), but God "has given him authority to execute judgment" (John 5:27). So God the Son and God the Father are one in their judgment, but the Son is the one who stands forth as the immediate Judge, to deal with us.”
This is something for us to consider, and it can help us in our fight against sinful habits of the heart and the tongue that disturb the peace of the church. What will it be like to stand before Christ as our life is reviewed by the one who knows what is in a man?
When someone is interested in becoming a member of this church, I or one of the other elders who pastors this congregation spend some time meeting with the person. Over a series of weeks or even months we go through a book together that describes the fundamental truths of the historic Christian faith. Each person needs to know in good conscience that he is a sinner and that Christ is his merciful savior. He needs to resolve to be a follower of this Jesus and a supporter of the work and worship of the church as a submissive participant in the body of Christ. The elders of the church speak with that person and eventually he needs to be able to affirm his faith as a solemn vow before God in the presence of all of you who witness his simple “yes” answers to the questions posed to new members. For some who are more shy, the idea of standing up in front of others and nodding their heads “yes” can be a very intimidating thought. They must do this in obedience to the command of the Lord, who insists that we own Him as our Lord and Savior before men.
But as intimidating as that may be, it is nothing when compared with the truth of today’s text. One day each of us must stand before the judgment seat of Jesus Christ, and answer for the way in which we have used the profound gifts of life and liberty in our service of the One who freely gave His all both in life and in death for us. Are you ready for that day?
There are many passages in the Bible that tell us the truth about the coming day of judgment. Most importantly, we know that there will be a distinction made between the world and the church. The world is headed toward eternal judgment. Those who are truly a part of the Lord’s church will go into everlasting life. But do we know that even those redeemed by the Lord’s blood will yet stand before the judgment seat of God and face the one who died on the cross for us? Jesus said, “By their fruits you will know them.” Each of us will have to explain to Him why we have not loved the weaker brethren, why we have not turned to Him in prayer when we were losing hope, why we have so often given up on our duties in the face of some opposition.
Let me read you some other passages that make it clear that the Lord will one day examine every life. This examination will show the distinction between the world and the church, and will also be used for evidence concerning the distribution of eternal rewards among the elect.
Romans 2:3-6 3 Do you suppose, O man- you who judge those who do such things and yet do them yourself- that you will escape the judgment of God? 4 Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? 5 But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. 6 He will render to each one according to his works:
Matthew 16:25-27 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what shall a man give in return for his life? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.
Matthew 25:31-46 31 "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?' 40 And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.' 41 "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' 44 Then they also will answer, 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?' 45 Then he will answer them, saying, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.' 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."
How does God’s eternal plan to show mercy fit into this? Not only does the Bible teach that we will be judged by works. It also clearly promises that some will be saved by grace, and not by the merit of our own works:
Titus 3:3-7 3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. 4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
How are we to understand this? The answer is quite simple. We are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. His merit has been applied to us. But while we are saved by grace alone, grace that saves is never alone. The works that God ordains for us are the evidence of the saving grace of Christ that He has granted to us. This gives meaning to every act of God-honoring obedience and devotion in our lives.
1 Corinthians 15:56-58 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
The Old Testament proof-text and context in Isaiah 45 (11)
The judgment of God is coming, and it is real. While there are many passages in the bible that teach this, in verse 11 of this morning’s text Paul quotes from chapter 45 of the Old Testament prophet Isaiah. In this chapter God says over and over again that His redeemed people are the result of His own plans and actions. He is the One Creator. He is the One Redeemer. Finally the last verses make it clear that He is the One Judge to whom all must one day answer. Using the word “Israel” to speak of his chosen ones out of all of the tribes of the earth, God says:
Isaiah 45:22-25 22 "Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. 23 By myself I have sworn; from my mouth has gone out in righteousness a word that shall not return: 'To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance.' 24 Only in the LORD, it shall be said of me, are righteousness and strength; to him shall come and be ashamed all who were incensed against him. 25 In the LORD all the offspring of Israel shall be justified and shall glory."
There is simply no escaping the fact that all must answer to God. As those who must answer the Lord one day and explain what we have done with the great grace that He has granted to us, do we really have time to judge others over disputable matters? Will the Lord be pleased when we despise His loved ones? It is a frightening thing to stand before the living God, for our God is a consuming fire. Is it defensible for us to wrongly treat those for whom the Son of God lived and died?
POINT: There is a necessary humility and gentleness that comes from a true understanding of eternal judgment.
God has not hidden the facts of judgment from us. His chosen people will make good use of them, and turn from small-minded impatience in our dealings with each other. Let me press the point of this text further by asking you to consider the One who has been appointed by God to be the Lord of the coming Day of Judgment. In doing this I want to distinguish between the judgment of God upon the world and the judgment of God upon the Church.
We know that the final destiny of the world and the church is radically different. The passage that I read to you earlier from the end of Matthew 25 which talks about the sheep and the goats is one of the classic passages in the Bible on this point. It ends with this simple inescapable sentence, speaking first of the final destination of the world, and then the final end of the perfected church, called here the righteous. “And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” In the words of the Westminster theologians, “At the resurrection, believers, being raised up in glory, shall be openly acknowledged and acquitted in the day of judgment, and made perfectly blessed in the full enjoying of God to all eternity.” This cannot be said about those who “do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus” (2 Thes 1:8).
The Judge of the World
Jesus is coming again to judge the living and the dead. The church has confessed this biblical truth for centuries. To take this away from Him, which no one can do, is to take away part of His exaltation, and to steal from Him part of His holy glory.
Who is this Jesus who is the judge of the world? All things were made through Him, and He upholds all things by the Word of His power. As Creator and Sustainer of all, what could be known about Him was plain to all, because He showed it to them in His works of creation and providence. His invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So the world is without excuse in its rejection of Him. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles (Based on Romans 1).
Therefore, this Jesus, who was Himself so intimately involved in the creation of everything, who protects and provides humanity with each passing moment, has been appointed as the Judge who will at the appointed time judge the world in perfect righteousness. This Jesus who was rejected by the world despite all His perfect righteousness, will one day judge the world.
The important thing to note here is that He is the Judge of the world, not you.
The Judge of the Church
What about the judge of the church? Who is this One who will distribute rewards to the righteous and expose those who are not truly part of His eternal church? Is it not Christ Jesus, the one who died – more than that, who was raised – who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us? The one before whom we will stand is the one who works out His special providence for His church, so that we are preserved through all kinds of tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, and war (Romans 8:34-35). It is the One who made an eternal agreement with the Father to rescue you from sin and misery. It is the One who on the cross faced the wrath of God for you.
Once again, the important thing for you to note is that He is the judge of the church, not you. Brothers and sisters, you were saved by the grace of this wonderful Jesus who will one day judge the church. Can it possibly be right for us to judge each other over 100 lesser issues and 1000 inconveniences when the clear and plain facts of the death and resurrection of Christ unite us in a holy and eternal bond as the Lord’s own family? We must not do this thing. We must place our hands over our gossiping and slanderous mouths. We must ask for God’s Spirit to so fill us that even our every thought would be taken captive by Christ.
By the way, how is it that sinners like us would even be talking about REWARDS! How is it that we will one day hear these words, “Well done thy good and faithful servant?” Here is the key: The One who was judged for us and who suffered the punishment of the cross for us, has taken what we deserve, and we have been credited with His righteousness. And we would be the judges of others? We would presume to despise others within the Lord’s household? Have we forgotten that we will stand before the judgment seat of God?
Conclusion: Lord, help me today…
One British commentator says this concerning the verses before us this morning: “There is no sin to which Christians – especially ‘keen’ Christians – are more prone that the sin of censoriousness. The apostle’s words are seriously intended. ‘Should a man not lay his hand upon his mouth before he criticizes his brethren? When we pass swift, uninformed, unloving and ungenerous judgments, surely we have forgotten that if we speak evil of them, at the same time we speak evil of the Lord whose name they bear.’”
The Father has given the Son the authority to execute judgment. The King will return. He will review each one of us. Every knee will bow. Every tongue will confess. May the truth of the coming judgment of God upon the church give us pause when we would sin. And may a sweet spirit of love and forbearance together with true acts of Christian aid be characteristic of this assembly of God’s people. This is a daily challenge. My prayer is this, that God would help you and I today to use well the truth of the coming judgment, that we would love one another more fervently and sincerely from the heart.
Friends, the title I began with this morning contains an objective genitive. The church will be judged. God will judge.
Romans 14:10-12 10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; 11 for it is written, "As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God." 12 So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.
posted by Pastor Magee at 10:30 AM
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