And the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him. He will sit on His throne in heavenly glory, and all the nations will be gathered before Him. And He will say to those on His left hand, go away to eternal punishment. but the righteous to eternal life. We come here to the concluding part of this great prophetic message of our Lord Jesus Christ. And all through this second section he has been telling us that the day of his parousia, his glorious return, cannot be known by any man. cannot be predicted by anyone and will not be made known by any signs. And so when he comes finally to discuss that, he just says, when he comes. And so we come today to this awesomely important subject of the great day of the Parousia of Christ. You know, whenever I read the words of this passage, I immediately think of one of the most awesome days in my life, which was the Victory Day parade in Chicago, Illinois, at the end of World War II. All during the war we had hoped for such a great day Down deep I think we believed it would come, but the expectation was nothing in comparison to the reality. Our band, I was in a military band in the Second World War, was lined up on a little side street off of Michigan Boulevard in Chicago. And then suddenly at the prearranged signal, we marched out of that side street onto this great Michigan boulevard to the most awesome scene I have ever witnessed. I can now understand why the Bible describes a great company of human beings like a sea, because that's really what it is like. I can remember that sea of faces as far as you could see. And when the jets went overhead and those heads turned, it was just like the waves of the sea. And we marched down Michigan Boulevard in front of the reviewing stand of President Truman and many of the great dignitaries, the admirals and generals who had led us to victory. And it was truly a spine-tingling and awe-inspiring moment in the life of anyone who saw it. And yet I'm sure that that will pale into insignificance in comparison with the great day of God's judgment. After all, there were only a few million people there. But on the great day of the Lord, there will be a multitude that no man could ever number. And the first thing that I want to impress upon you from this passage of the Bible that we have just read is the certainty of that day. No, we do not know when it will come, but we certainly have it on the authority of Jesus that it most certainly will come. And indeed, this is one of the constant teachings of the Word of God from the very beginning. We are told in the Bible that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, already prophesied of this day. For he said, and I quote, the Lord comes with ten thousand of his saints to execute judgment upon all and to convince all that are ungodly among them of their ungodly deeds. And that same truth is echoed again and again all the way through the Bible. Now you are aware, I'm sure, that many times when the Bible speaks of the day of the Lord, it doesn't necessarily mean that great day of which our Lord is speaking. Many times in the Bible, the day of the Lord is that historical moment when he deals with a particular nation in the context of history. There was a day of the Lord with regard to Babylon. There was another day of the Lord with regard to ancient Egypt. And there was another day of the Lord even with regard to Israel. in 70 AD, but quite clearly there is a day that surpasses all of those days, namely that great and notable day when, as our text says, all the nations will be gathered before him. That's what makes it totally and completely unique And we cannot confuse it with any of those prior historical judgments because here, gathered in one place, at one time, are all the nations of the whole human race throughout both space and time. We don't know when it will be. God hasn't revealed it. But we do know that it will certainly come. For Jesus Christ has assured us of it, for he said, Heaven and earth will pass away, but my word will not pass away. So if Jesus Christ is the truth, and if what he spoke was the truth, then we can be sure that one day, like a thief in the night, will come that awesome and glorious appearance of Jesus Christ when all nations will be gathered before Him. And I wonder if you can picture in your mind's eye what an awesome thing it will be. It won't be anything like it was when Christ came to the world the first time. When our Lord Jesus Christ came the first time, The Scripture says, There was no beauty or comeliness that we should desire Him. Because He came in the form of a servant, He was despised and rejected of men. There were those who did not even hesitate to spit upon Him, and to insult Him, and even to crucify Him. And even as he died the cruel and terrible death of the cross, there were those who scoffed and laughed at the awesome claims he was making. What a mistake they made! And what terror will fill their hearts when they realize what a mistake they made on that great and glorious day when they recognized the very person whom they spurned and see that he is not only the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world, but the roaring lion of the tribe of Judah, who has eyes like pools of fire, and has a voice like the sound of many waters, and whose hair is white like the ancient of days, and who has the power and majesty to make all men tremble in silence before him, for he will bring with him myriads upon myriads of the glorious angels of God in all of their awesome might and glory. For as the prophet Amos once said, the day of the Lord is great and awesome. Who can endure it? I don't know if you've ever read the book called The Longest Day, but it really is a fascinating account of the landing of the Allies on Normandy Beach in the Second World War. Now the Nazi high command expected that this would come somewhere, sometime, And yet somehow they never really were prepared for the magnitude of that great invasion of the Allies in the Second World War. They didn't realize how great the magnitude of it would be. And as that one day passes before you in that remarkable book, you get the sense of the magnitude of things, even within the context of history. Imagine the magnitude then of that great and awesome day when Christ will appear with all of his holy angels, and they also are countless. And when, as Daniel the prophet says, a river of fire flows out before him, and thousands upon thousands and myriads upon myriads attend him, and then there stands before him that veritable endless sea of human faces constituting the whole human race. Don't you see what fools we are, brothers and sisters, if we do not make it the number one business in life to be ready for that great and awesome day, just as a soldier in World War II was very foolish if he did not make it his constant preoccupation to be ready for that great day of the allied invasion of Normandy. So it is with us and the Pharisee of Jesus Christ. And it's an awesome thing to realize that no one is going to escape that great and awesome day of the judgment of God. You will be there, and I will be there, and so will everyone else who has ever lived in all of history, and we will be judged by the divine human Savior, for the Father has given all judgment into the hands of Christ. I remember some years ago I was quite fascinated by a television series I think the name of it was, You Are There. And the idea of that series was to reenact some of the great historical moments of the past. in a time framework that includes you in it. And so they would have Alexander the Great there and they would interview him and he would answer some of the questions that you and I might want to ask. Or they would have Socrates the great Greek philosopher there and you could talk to him and interact with him. And of course, that was all fiction. It was interesting, exciting, but after all, quite unreal. But you know, on that last great day, it really will happen. For we ourselves, with our own eyes, will see Adam and Eve, the first parents of the whole human race. And they in turn will look upon all their posterity and the enormity of what they have done will sink into their hearts as never before, for they will see that vast number of men who are going to eternal perdition partly because of that original sin of which they were responsible, and imagine what an awful thing it will be for them to see them consigned to eternal destruction. How would you like to be there on that day and have to answer for being the first man in history who claimed to be the vicar of Christ, the dark and evil doctrine of the papacy? How would you like to be there on that day and face those whom you had murdered as Cain will once again face Abel? And those people who buried that millionaire and put him to death in the news yesterday will face the man that they killed. You know, I think we all can remember someone that we have sinned against and we will see them again. And we will also look into the eyes of those who have sinned against us. Because the Bible says there will be nothing that is covered that will be hidden on that day. And it'll all come back to us, even the idle words, for the Bible says we will be judged for every idle word that we have ever said. Well, you know, it's a very easy thing to scoff at this idea of the great day of judgment now. And you see it today in our culture. It's not unusual for some of the great comedians of our culture today to get a laugh out of people by bringing up the idea of judgment or reflecting upon the folly of the days of Noah and that sort of thing. But on that day, I can assure you, every mouth will be stopped and there will be no more scoffing as the whole human race, as the Bible tells us, will be utterly silent, with every mouth stop, to await the judge's solemn verdict. And what will be the criterion of that judgment? On what basis will the judge of all the earth determine to which company we belong? Well, the Bible makes it very clear, it will be the way that we have lived, And right there you see the amazing contrast. For then the king will say to those on his right hand, Come you blessed of my father, receive the inheritance prepared for you since the creation of the world. And to those on his left hand he will say, depart from me into the fire prepared for the devil and his angels. And the thing that really strikes you as you read this passage is the fact that both groups seem somewhat surprised. Now why is that? Why is it that those who are invited to come into the kingdom of God prepared for them from the creation of the world are surprised? And why is it that the lost who are now being driven out of the presence of the Lord Jesus forever are surprised, crying, when did we see you and neglect you and ignore you? You see, the difference is that the authentic people of God never have the slightest idea of relying on anything that they themselves have done. That's the key to it. If we're really Christian people, we know that even our righteousness is like filthy rags before God. Who among us here would ever say that he had done five things that could count anything toward meriting eternal life? No, the people of God are always and entirely dependent upon the perfect righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. And they say, nothing in my hands I bring, only to the cross of Christ I cling. Or like the psalmist, God be merciful to me, on thy grace I rest my plea. And the ungodly, on the other hand, always have at least latent within their minds and hearts the idea that they're not really too bad. and that they really have done quite a few things that ought to count something with God, and so when they come there, right away they say, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy? Did we not cast out demons? Did we not do many wonderful works in your name? In other words, Lord, don't you see the merit of the things that we have done? And precisely because their real confidence is in their own righteousness, in their own merits, their own goodness, for that very reason they are an offense to God. And he says, depart from me, I never knew you, you workers of iniquity. And you see the difference is that all the way along they entirely overlooked exactly what the Lord's people made as their primary concern. You see, the natural man the man who's never been born again and rarely converted, he doesn't understand the difference between these two things. For you see, real faith works by love. Real faith works itself out in the loving and grateful acts of Christian charity. That's why Jesus Christ said, if you are my disciples, you must love one another. And he also says, if you don't love your brother whom you have seen, you are just deceiving yourself if you think that you love God whom you have not seen. For the Lord God calls us to love our brothers and sisters in Christ with the same kind of forgiving and compassionate love that we ourselves have received from him. And the godly do that, and those who are not godly just don't even recognize the dimension of life of which the Lord is speaking. And so the criterion of judgment will be our works and our attitude toward them. And the difference is really the difference of night and day, and the judgment of God is according to that reality. And so finally, brothers and sisters, the great division will be made, and the Lord will say to the one, Come, you have eternal life. And to the other, he will say, Depart, for you have eternal punishment. And you know the Greek words there are identical. And any attempt to overthrow the biblical doctrine of eternal punishment will at the same time overthrow the biblical doctrine of eternal life. For it is one and the same authority that tells us of one and the other. Now really, when you stop and think, of what that means, it staggers the imagination. We had everything in common to begin with. A common creation. We all came from one human pair, Adam and Eve. We all had the first parents identically, the one with the other. We all had a common fall. and became sinners through the fall of our first parents, and we have all had a day of grace and salvation in this world. It staggers you then to realize that on that day, when we see the parting of the ways, we will have nothing left whatsoever in common, never throughout all eternity. Will the two ever meet again? You know, that's one of the most difficult things for us to realize. Because we all know that this means the ties of flesh and blood will be broken. Because some of my flesh and blood will be on one side, and some of it will be on the other. And some of your flesh and blood will be on one side, and some will be on the other. And that takes us right to the words of Christ. You remember when he said, don't think that I came to bring peace on earth. I didn't come to bring peace, but a sword. And to set a man at variance with those of his own household, so that a man's enemies are those of his own household. And you remember when Jesus Christ said, you've got to be ready to hate your own father and mother and sister and brother and daughter and son and even husband and wife. Or he said, you can't be my disciple. Now, a lot of people dismiss that as unreal talk. But my dear friends, it's the most realistic talk there is, because on that last great day, you will see for the last time your brother, your uncle, your daughter, and you will be separated from them for all eternity. For on that day will be fulfilled the words of the Lord Jesus." Now, do you imagine that you will be grieving on that day when you say goodbye to them? Well, I'm here to tell you, you will not be grieving, you will be rejoicing. Does that shock you? How can it shock you when you realize that then you will be conformed to the image of Christ? And when you are conformed to the image of Christ, you will love the justice of Christ. And you will rejoice in it. For you will realize that they were offered the grace of God and they spurned it. That God patiently, again and again, pled with them to receive the saving grace of God and they would not have it. and that because of their ingratitude they have through a whole lifetime treasured up for themselves wrath in the day of judgment, and because you will be conformed to the image of Christ you will see this, and you will recognize the justice in it, and you will not only recognize it, you will rejoice in it. For the Bible says there are no tears anymore for God's people, for he will wipe away all tears from their eyes. And when we know him, even as we are known, and when we understand the justice of God as it really is, on that awesome moment of eternal separation, we will rejoice. in the triumph of the justice of God, and we will rejoice that He is glorified, not only in the salvation of His people, but also in the eternal punishment of those who have spurned His gracious favor. That's a staggering thing. I don't claim to be emotionally or psychologically ready for it yet, That's how awesome the issues of life really are. And I hope that the Lord God Almighty will impress them upon you, for this really ought to be the decisive influence upon all that we do and say in this life. For we are to be the people of God who look for His glorious appearing. I remember many years ago I was preaching on this theme. I don't claim that I did a good job, but it was at a youth camp up in the state of Maine, where we had a lot of youth from the different Reformed churches of New England come together every summer. And I was preaching that year on heaven and hell, And like the great poet Dante, I felt that I had done a whole lot better job with hell than with heaven. And I suppose that's because heaven is so high and lofty that we can't attain it. But anyway, I had preached about the horrors of damnation in hell and then about the glories of heaven. And afterward this young lady came and asked if she could talk to me about it, and I said certainly. And we were talking privately there, and she broke down and wept and acknowledged what a vile sinner she had been, and it was unbelievable some of the things she told me you wouldn't imagine such a thing. But I was encouraged because I could see that there was a real wellspring of repentance in her and so it was a joy to go on and tell her about the grace of God and assure her of the Savior's mercy. But then I said, now what was it that made you want to get right with God? What was it that brought you to this repentance and this change of heart and life? Was it, I said, the fear of eternal damnation in hell? No, she said, it wasn't that. Oh, she said, I admit that it filled me with terror. But the thing that really did it, she said, was the description of the kingdom of heaven. And I had described the kingdom of heaven in such a way as to intimate that it would be a place of joy and happiness and laughter. And she said, when I heard that, it was almost as though I could hear the singing and the laughter. And she said, I knew that my heart was breaking, that I might be with the Savior. And you know, that's really the thing that strikes you again and again. She didn't realize it, but God had used both of these truths to bring her to sincere and genuine repentance. He had first used the reality of His holiness and His judgment to make her afraid of the wrath which is to come. And then, in His goodness, He had beckoned her with His mercy and grace, and she came to true and lasting repentance. And I hope that the Lord God will do the same for each of us, for the issues are incomparably great. Just think of it. Eternal punishment or eternal life? Are you living as one who seeks to be with Jesus? A poet put it like this, the sands of time are sinking, the dawn of heaven breaks, the summer morn I've sighed for, the fair sweet morn awakes, Dark, dark has been the midnight, But day-spring is at hand, And glory, glory dwelleth In Emmanuel's land. The King there in his beauty, Without a veil, is seen. It were a well-spent journey, Those seven deaths between The Lamb, with his fair army doth on Mount Zion stand, and glory, glory dwelleth in Emmanuel's land. The bride eyes not her garment, but her dear bridegroom's face. I will not gaze at glory, but on my King of grace, not at the crown he giveth, that on His pierced hand the Lamb is all the glory of Emmanuel's land. May the Lord God grant that every one of you will be there on that great day. Amen. We pray, Heavenly Father, that Your Holy Spirit will so instruct and move us, that we shall live every day of the rest of this life that you have given us as those who look for the glorious appearing of the Lord Jesus. How wonderful that in your mercy, O God, you invite us to be with those who will be on the right hand, inheriting the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world. What an awful thought that we should reject that grace, trust in our own relative righteousness, and find ourselves on that last great day, forever cast out of the glorious presence of your Son Jesus Christ our Savior. Father, prevent it, we pray, by your sovereign and efficacious grace, and we will give you the praise forever. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.