Final Judgment

Well, we have already made our proclamation so it only remains for me to bring the teaching. This is the tenth and final session of our series entitled “Laying the Foundation.” In previous sessions we’ve dealt with five of the six foundation doctrines mentioned in Hebrews 6:1–2. We dealt with repentance towards God, faith, the doctrine of baptisms, laying on of hands and resurrection of the dead. It remains in this final session to deal with the final foundation doctrine, eternal judgment.

Now, when we speak about judgment we need to realize that there are two main ways in which God brings judgment on people. The first is His judgments in history; the second, which is the kind of judgment we’re going to talk about, is His eternal judgments, those judgments which confront us as we step out of time into eternity. It’s important to be able to distinguish the two types of judgments, otherwise we might be confused by what seem to be conflicting statements.

The first judgment of God is in history and it involves bringing blessing or punishment on succeeding generations according to the way the first generation has responded to God. In Exodus 20:4–6 we have a very clear example of God’s historical judgments. Exodus 20:4–6, which is part of what we call the Ten Commandments. God says:

“You shall not make for yourself any carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them, nor worship them. For I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing mercy to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.”

We see there that the sin of idolatry, which is the greatest of all sins, carries with it a judgment that extends to the succeeding three or four generations. That’s a judgment in history and there are countless examples of how that judgment has actually worked out in the history of Israel and of other nations that have been involved in idolatry.

And then in Jeremiah 32 Jeremiah also deals with this question of God’s judgment in history. And in a prayer that he prayed to the Lord, Jeremiah 32:18, he said:

“You show lovingkindness to thousands and repay the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them. The great, the mighty God whose name is the Lord of hosts...”

So again, Jeremiah says God repays the iniquity of the fathers into the succeeding generations. This is again a judgment in history, in time.

This also applies to God’s blessing on the righteous. In Psalm 103 David says in verses 17–18:

“But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children’s children, to such as keep His covenant and to those who remember His commandments, to do them.”

There is a promise of God’s blessing and righteousness to children’s children, to succeeding generations. So the way that we conduct ourselves and we relate to God not only affects us, but it probably affects successive generations. That’s a very significant and important thought that we need to bear in mind. We are in some way answerable for either the blessing or the suffering of succeeding generations.

I think this is an obvious fact of experience. For instance, a child born to alcoholic parents starts, as they say, with two strikes against him. It’s not his fault but the judgment of God on those parents will naturally filter down through succeeding generations.

Now, we need to say that but we need to add there’s a different kind of judgment of God which is what the writer of Hebrews calls eternal judgment, which is judgment that affects our destiny in eternity. And there the principles of judgment are completely different. These are stated by God to Ezekiel in chapter 18, verses 1–4, chapter 18, verses 1 through 4. Ezekiel is speaking, he says:

“The word of the Lord came to me again, saying, ‘What do you mean when you use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes and the children’s teeth are set on edge’?’”

You see, that’s saying the children are suffering for the sins of the father.

“‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘you shall no longer use this proverb in Israel. Behold, all souls are mine. The soul of the father, as well as the soul of the son is mine, the soul who sins shall die.’”

Now, we’re not talking about historical judgments, we’re talking about the judgment of every individual soul as it steps out of time into eternity. And there every soul bears responsibility only for the life that it has led. The soul that sins, it shall die.

And that is repeated again in verse 20. Here God is still more emphatic. Ezekiel 18:20:

“The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.”

So when we step out of time into eternity we’re not any longer being judged for the sins or blessings of our parents, our forbears, we’re going to answer to God personally only for what we did in life. The righteousness of the righteous will be upon him, the wickedness of the wicked will be upon him. And it says in the book of Ecclesiastes, “Where the tree falls, there it will lie.” What condition you are in when you die will determine your condition throughout eternity. This is eternal judgment, a very, very solemn thought.

I’ve sometimes remembered with amusement my Foundation Series originally came out as seven, separate, small volumes. Then it was brought together in three volumes, then it was brought together in one volume. But in the days when we had seven volumes, the title of the last volume was Eternal Judgment. We would see these books displayed for people to buy them and people would pick them over and buy the first six and somehow they didn’t want to buy number seven. They didn’t like the title Eternal Judgment. But, dear friend, whether you like it or not, it’s true. You really need to face up to this reality of eternal judgment.

Now I want to deal with five principles of God’s judgment, all of which are stated in Romans 2. Romans the second chapter unfolds five principles of God’s judgment. Now I read the Bible, first of all, in Greek, in the New Testament, and then I read various translations. I appreciate the NIV, there’s a lot of good in it. But sometimes it moves away from the structure of the original and if you listen to me and you’re following the NIV, you won’t get the same result as if you listen and you’re following in the New King James. I’m not saying one is better than the other, I’m just saying each has its strong points, each has its weak points. There is no one perfect translation. Somebody said the NIV is the “Nearly Inspired Version,” I don’t know whether you’ve heard that!

So here are the five principles of God’s judgment, all unfolded in Romans 2. Romans 2:2:

“We know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things.”

That’s the first principle. God’s judgment is based on real facts, it’s not based on hearsay. I remember when the Lord wanted to find out the truth about the condition of Sodom and Gomorrah, He’d heard terrible reports from the angels and from others but you remember He said to Abraham, “I’ve come down to see for myself.” That really impresses me. God doesn’t judge by hearsay, He judges according to truth.

The second principle of God’s judgment in verse 6 is:

“He will render to each one according to his deeds...”

We will be judged for what we have done. That is a basic principle that runs right throughout the Bible and it applies to believers as well as unbelievers. In 1 Peter 1:17, 1 Peter 1:17, Peter unfolds this principle, applying it specifically to believers. 1 Peter 1:17. He’s speaking to believers and he says:

“And if you call on the Father who, without partiality, judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your sojourning here in fear.”

That’s a kind of statement that isn’t publicly disseminated in most churches today. But Peter says to believers, bearing in mind that you’re going to be judged according to what you’ve done, live a reverent, godly life. Don’t be rash, don’t be proud, don’t be presumptuous—because everything you say and do, one day you’re going to have to answer to God for. And remember, that is addressed to believers, not to unbelievers.

And then in Revelation 20:12 it says all the people that were judged in the final judgment were judged according to what was written in the books. So, God keeps a record of every life.

Now, you know in the days of the New Testament, books were not like this but they were much more like tapes. They were scrolls rolled up. I think that’s a much more clear picture. I’m inclined to think that in the judgment—his is just an opinion—very one of us will be confronted by something like a video tape which stretches out the entire course of our life before us. I remember when God was dealing with me about four years ago when I was very sick. I was really seeking God as to why I wasn’t being healed. One night God woke me up about 2 a.m., which is the time He’s rather in the habit of speaking to me, and He gave me a little review of the life I’d been leading. I want to say I was a preacher, generally accepted, sometimes criticized. I was about the same level as a lot of other preachers who are comparatively well known. God showed me that in many ways I had been extremely carnal. Not committing any gross sins, I’ve never been involved, thank God, in sexual immorality, drunkenness or the misappropriation of funds. Nevertheless, God showed me there were things in my past that were displeasing to Him. He brought to me this Scripture in Malachi:

“Jacob I have loved, Esau I have hated.”

That’s what God says. And Esau is a type of the carnal man. There are no gross sins recorded of Esau but he just was a carnally minded man. God said, “I hate that.”

God showed me, and I had been nearly fifty years in the ministry, there were things in my life that He hated. He showed me that I had in some respects been careless. Some of the scenes that he showed me were in restaurants. I don’t know whether you realize that God judges you in restaurants, too. Somebody said, “All you Americans can talk about is food.” Another person said, “If you want to find out where the best restaurants are, ask a preacher.” Now, there’s a certain truth in that, it’s not totally true. I’m only speaking from my own experience. I began to realize what it means to spend the time of our sojourning here in fear. Not slavish fear, but reverent awe as before God who will judge everything we say and everything we do. So that’s a word from 1 Peter.

Going back to Romans chapter 2, the next principle of God’s judgment is stated in verse 3. Do I mean verse 3? No, I don’t. Because the thing is that it’s not translated the way I want. Yes, it’s Romans 2:11. I’ll explain what I mean in a way, what I mean just briefly. It says:

“There is no partiality with God...”

Now all the modern translations say that because it’s a modern phrase. I sometimes ask the question: Can you really put the Bible in modern English without interjecting modern thinking? Because the language you use is very much an expression of the way you think. You see, the old King James said “There is no respect of persons.” It’s much more accurate because partiality can be to any kind of person. You can take some kind of weak, insignificant little person and be very partial to that person. So weak I really want to help them, I really want to do everything for them. But respect of persons means we’re not impressed by what people are in their natural selves. A man may be a general, a president, a bishop, but he doesn’t get any special judgment from God, he’s treated just like everybody else. That’s what it means when it says there is no respect of persons—particularly aimed at people who occupy positions of prominence in the world today.

All right. The next principle of God’s judgment, number four, is according to the measure of light. And Paul says in Romans 2:12:

“For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law.”

If you have the law, you’ll be judged by it. If you don’t have the law, you won’t be judged by the law but you’ll still be judged for what you’ve done.

And this principle is illustrated by the words of Jesus in Matthew 11 when He speaks to some of the major cities of His day who had not responded to His preaching. Matthew 11:20–24:

“Then he began to upbraid the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent. ‘Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you.’”

Why? Because Tyre and Sidon had less light. Bethsaida and Chorazin had had the greatest light and they would be the most severely judged. You and I will be judged according to the light that is available to us.

I want to say generally speaking to people in the English-speaking world, there is a greater measure of light available to us today than I think has ever been available to any previous generation in history. We have Bibles en masse, we have endless books, we have tapes, we have cassettes, we have preachers, we’re going to be judged by the light that’s been made available to us. Let’s bear that in mind. God’s standards of judgment for this generation will be the most severe because we’ve had the most light.

And then Jesus goes on in the next verse:

“You, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you.”

You see, judgment is according to light. The more light we have, the more strict will be our judgment. And as I said before, I say to each one of you, including myself, there probably never has been a generation of Christians that have had the measure of light available that we have today. Bear that in mind, that’s going to be the standard of our judgment.

And finally, the fifth principle of God’s judgment in Romans 2:16, it says:

“In the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.”

So God is not merely going to judge our open acts but He’s going to judge our secret innermost thoughts and motives and attitudes. I think it’s correct to say that God is very concerned about our motives. Two people may perform the same outward action but their motives may be entirely different. And when God judges them, He will take into account their motives.

We’re going to go on to the scenes of judgment. And as I understand it, there are going to be four major, successive scenes of judgment. The first will be before the judgment seat of Christ. The Greek word bema means a platform on which a Roman official sat to execute judgment. Pontius Pilate sat on his bema when Jesus appeared before Him for judgment. This will be a judgment only of Christians, only of believers. We go again to 1 Peter 1:17. I somehow feel that God wants me to read this verse twice. 1 Peter 1:17:

“And if you call on the Father who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your sojourning here in fear.”

That’s written to us. We call on the Father. And then in 1 Peter 4:17 it says:

“For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God. And if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel?”

Where does judgment begin? Always with the house of God. Always with the people who have the most truth. And so, when judgment starts, the first people to be judged will be the Christians. They’ll have a special judgment.

Romans 14:10–12 says this:

“But why do you judge your brother or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we [Christians] shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ [the bema], for it is written, ‘As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee shall bow to me and every tongue shall confess to me.’ So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.”

And remember, there’s only one person that you have to give account of, that’s yourself. You don’t have to give account of me or your pastor, and you waste a lot of time judging others, some of you, when you should be judging yourself. The only person you’re going to have to give account for is yourself. And that you’re going to have to do.

So Paul says each of us shall give account of himself to God. That’s each of us Christians. And then in 2 Corinthians 5 he returns to the same theme. 2 Corinthians 5:10:

“For we [Christians] must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that each one may receive the things done in his body according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”

We must all appear, it says. But the Greek says we must all be made manifest. There will be no secrets. Everything will be totally exposed, nothing will be hidden. And, we will be before the judgment seat of Christ to receive according to the way we have lived in the body. And I pointed out already in this series but I’ll say it again, there are only two categories, whether good or bad. Nothing in between. Everything that is not good is bad. Jesus said very clearly, “He that is not with me is against me.” There is no neutrality. Jesus has excluded neutrality.

There are a lot of people in churches sitting on the fence. Do you know what that means, to sit on the fence? To be unwilling to make a commitment. They’re not on one side, they’re not on the other side. They’re not doing good but they wouldn’t admit that they’re doing bad. I make this comment sometimes, when the Holy Spirit comes to a church, one of the first things He does it to electrify the fence! You have to jump off on one side or the other. That’s why a lot of people don’t welcome the Holy Spirit because He abolishes their neutrality. There is no neutrality with the Holy Spirit.

Now, what we have to say is there are five main features of this judgment. I’ll just go through them very briefly.

It’s individual, each one will answer for himself.

It’s for the things done in the body, the way we have lived while we were in this body.

There are only two categories, good or bad. 1 John 5:17 says “All unrighteousness is sin.” Anything that is not righteous is sinful. You see, this third category has slipped into people’s thinking and it deceives so many. There is no neutrality.

The next principle is it is not for condemnation, that’s very, very important. We’re going to be judged, but we’re not going to be condemned, if we are true, sincere believers in Jesus. The principle of judgment is for assessment of service.

Let me give you three Scriptures which maybe will comfort you at this point. I see some of you looking a little concerned—which isn’t a bad thing to be, believe me. John 3:18, Jesus says:

“He who believes in Him is not condemned but he who does not believe is condemned already.”

So if we are truly believers in Jesus we will be judged but we will not be condemned. And then again He says again in John 5:24:

“Most assuredly I say to you...”

And that’s the most emphatic way that Jesus can express Himself.

“Most assuredly I say to you, ‘He who hears my word and believes in Him who sent me has everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation but has passed from death unto life.’”

And finally, Romans 8:1:

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

So we’re not talking about a judgment of condemnation, we’re talking about judgment which will assess the service that you offer to Jesus during your life. The clearest place that this is described is 1 Corinthians 3:11 and following. Paul is speaking about building the church and he says:

“No other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become manifest; for the day will declare it because it will be revealed by fire and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.”