Psalm 119, 33 through 40 is a description of God's word. It's a call for us to come now and fellowship with God and his word and his table. But listen to the phrases. Each verse is a different expression. Perhaps one of these, in fact, not just perhaps, one of these I know, will capture the prayer of your heart right now. Teach me, O God, the way of thy statutes, and I shall observe it to the end. Give me understanding. that I may observe thy law and keep it with all my heart. Make me walk in the path of thy commandments for I delight in it. Incline my heart to thy testimonies and not to dishonest gain. Turn away my eyes from looking at vanity and revive me in thy ways. Establish thy word to thy servant as that which produces reverence for thee. Turn away my reproach which I dread, for thine ordinances are good. Behold, I long for thy precepts. Revive me through thy righteousness." Through this section of scripture we are called this day to come. be taught by God to be revived in His Word, to learn His statutes that we might reverence God, to fellowship with Him, to turn away from our self-dependence to Christ's trust. That's the call this morning. Let us do that. I'd ask you, if you would, turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 25, and your bulletin is an outline. Please use that this morning. Turn there and use that. I've got quotes there that you'll need and notes that will help you follow along as we walk through. this morning. So this is the last time we'll be on this theme. As we finish different Old Testament prophets, we're returning back again to heaven. And so we're on point thirteen, actually part thirteen, believe it or not, this is part two. But the overall series is thirteen, and we got a lot more. But next week we're going back to Jeremiah. So we're going to finish up on what we started last week. But the next week we're going to begin studying Jeremiah. I encourage you To therefore, if you haven't already, begin reading Jeremiah, 52 chapters. It's a long book. It's a great book. Be familiar with that book. The goal is for you to be as familiar with Jeremiah as you might be with Romans. So let's do that. So I encourage you to start studying, reading, and fellowshipping around Jeremiah. Next week, we'll hopefully hit it hard. This morning though, we are in Matthew. We'll begin in Matthew Chapter 25. This is the Olivet Discourse. We looked at this last week and we'll start here and go to other portions of scripture. This is the Olivet Discourse, the talk God gave to his disciples right before he was captured, arrested, and brought to before being judged. So Matthew Chapter 25, 31-46 will be the text that we begin. Christ is describing the final judgment, which is what we're talking about now. This is God's Word, I remind you. Therefore, out of reverence and respect at its reading, please stand with me. Hear now the Word of your God. But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne, And all the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. And the king will say to those on his right, Come you who are blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you invited me in naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to me. Then the righteous will answer him, saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger invite you in, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and come to you? And the king will answer and say to them, truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of mine, even the least of them, you did it to me. Then he will also say to those on his left, depart from me, accursed ones, into eternal fire, which has been prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry, and you gave me nothing to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me nothing to drink. I was a stranger, and you did not invite me in. Naked, and you did not clothe me. Sick, and you did not visit me. Then they themselves also will answer saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or strange or naked or sick or in prison and did not care for you? Then he will answer them saying, truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me. And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. Thus far, the reading of God's word. Let's pray. Lord, what a joy it is to be before you this day. To know that by divine appointment this sermon was ordained before time began for us, your people, to fellowship with you in. Feed us now, we pray, richly. Give me the grace to preach your word with fidelity and with unction. and wedded with the need of your people. Humble the proud, convert the lost, strengthen the weak, assure the doubting, but Lord, for us all, conform us to the image of Jesus Christ for your glory and praise. We ask this in Jesus' name, amen. Please be seated. Following the resurrection of Jesus Christ, Christ appeared many times to different and variety of his disciples. One of which was in Luke 24, where we read about Jesus Christ coming to two disciples on the road to Emmaus. And there he has a conversation with these two disciples of which we read, and beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, Jesus explained to them the things concerning himself and all the scriptures. Wouldn't it have been amazing to have been there? To be a part of that conversation, to hear Jesus Christ take the Old Testament and describe the redemptive work of Jesus Christ of the Messiah from it. We obviously weren't and can't. We don't know the content of the conversation except we do know from Luke 24-25 that some of the conversation involved a discussion about prophecy. Listen to verse 25, and he said to them, O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken. Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into his glory? In essence, we know from this that Jesus Christ spent at least a little bit of time talking about the Old Testament prophets and the prophecies about the Messiah. Prophecies which these disciples obviously missed or did not believe. Now this is an amazing thing, because if you think about it, did you know there are 660 prophecies in the Bible about the coming of the Messiah? 660 prophecies. Of which 436 reference the first coming of Christ. of which Christ fulfilled every one of them. 436. Now if Christ fulfilled 436, every one of the prophecies that were given in the Bible from the prophets about the first coming of the Messiah, don't you suppose the remaining 224 are in the bag? Don't you suppose that the remaining prophecies that all refer to the second coming of Jesus Christ, that those two most certainly will be carried out. Indeed it is God's word, there is no doubt. But think of it, every prophecy of the first advent was fulfilled by Christ. Every prophecy about the second coming likewise will be fulfilled. And one of those prophecies, is referenced here, that there will come a time where we stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Now that's not something that God's going to bring just non-believers before. That's something every individual that has ever lived someday is going to stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Well, what is that? And what does that mean? Last time we began, we're looking at four questions. We're asking four questions about the Last Judgment. And the first question we asked last time is, what is it? And we define it as the final judgment. I've got it there. The final judgment is that time when all mankind will stand before the judgment seat of Christ and so be judged. You see it here in Matthew 25, but when the Son of Man comes in His glory and all His angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne and all the nations will be gathered before Him. That's the last judgment. At that time, when everyone's been resurrected from the dead, everyone living and dead have been come back to life, souls rejoined with their bodies, they will stand before the judgment seat of Christ, and Christ will judge them. 2 Corinthians 5.20 says, we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each man may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, whether good or bad. Every one of us is going to stand before that judgment seat and be judged. Now, we know that the basis of that judgment is God's law. I referenced that last week. But the aim, the intention behind the last judgment is to discern a genuine believer from a false. Right? That's the sheep and the goats. As a result of this judgment, God places certain people on his right, certain people on their left. And it's predicated upon the genuineness of their faith. Notice Matthew 25 verse 34. This is all a review. Skip down to verse 41. Then he will say also those on his left, the goats. Depart from me, cursed ones, into the eternal fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels. On what basis? For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, et cetera, et cetera. So while the basis of the judgment, the final judgment, is God's character, God's law, nevertheless, the aim is to distinguish genuine faith from sham faith. That's the aim. So we're all going to stand there, brothers and sisters, and everything in private will be made public. Everything. And the purpose will be to determine, to distinguish genuine faith from false faith. Now, by way of application, last time we talked a lot about this. We know, first off, that whatever sin is revealed in that last day as God's people will be forgiven. We know that. What will be manifest will be forgiven sin. Praise God. However, as the last judgment is based upon a determination of genuine faith and fake faith, false faith, by way of pastoral application, Let me exhort you here once again. I've got it here right in front of you there. The temptation, this is my temptation. I read this and my first thought is, man, if I'm gonna be judged as the genuine of my faith and it's based upon how if I've been freed from sin, am I living a life free from sin, which means ministering and serving God's kingdom. If that's the case, then by all means, I'm gonna be someone who really excels at that. And that's the natural desire. Man, I'm going to do really well at serving in these various ways. And brothers and sisters, the Pharisees of the Old Testament and New had the doctrine of the final judgment. And you know what? They did that very thing. The Pharisees were so worried about the outside of the cup, they neglected the end and anticipation of the day they would stand before God and be able to say, look at my righteousness. I, by all means, am saved. And God will say, Matthew 7, get away from me, I never knew you. And they'll be shocked. Why? Because they did not have faith. They weren't relying upon Christ. They were relying upon their works. And so, my pastoral exhortation, as I summarized it here, you got it printed there in front of you, by way of summary, is brothers and sisters, don't fall into the trap, if based upon Matthew 25, to go, oh, if that's the case, then I'm gonna make sure my life looks great. Hey, if the aim of the final judgment is the distinction of saving faith, then if you want to be prepared for the last day, focus on the inside where your faith is. Are you trusting Christ? Are you trusting self? Are you trusting Christ or religion? Why are you saved? Why should God save you? If you were to die right now and stand before God, and God were to say, why should I let you in? If it's not because of Jesus Christ, brothers and sisters, I'm telling you right now, you've got a false faith. If you say, well, because I've gone to church, and I read the Bible, and I've done these great things. Matthew 7 says that many in the last day will say that, and God will say, be gone, I never knew you. Are you hearing me? Don't miss, it's too important to miss. The basis upon which you are saved is Christ and Him crucified, period. So respond to this incredible sobering reality, not with a determination to go do more things, but a determination to trust Christ, to cling to Christ, to cleave to Christ all the more. Nothing in my hands I bring simply to the cross, I cling. Okay, so what is the final judgment? We're talking about that day when every one of us are brought before the judgment seat of Christ and will be judged. All right, the next question is, when will it occur? When? And for that we're going to go to two passages, Revelation 20, 2 Peter 3. So if you would turn in your Bibles, Revelation 20. And listen to the text, Revelation 20 verse 12. Speaking of the last judgment, This is what John wrote. Revelation 20 verse 12, you got the verse there in front of you. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne. In other words, they've been resurrected. All of mankind, the dead and the living, standing before the throne. And books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged from the things which were written in the book according to their deeds. That's the last judgment. So when it comes to the timing, when is the last judgment? The last judgment from Revelation 20 is after the resurrection. And we know the resurrection occurs when Jesus Christ comes back. So right now, the chronology goes something like this. Jesus comes back. He calls us. We are resurrected from the dead, those who have died. If we're living, we are raised up and glorified as we rise. Our souls are rejoined to our bodies. We meet Christ. We come back down to the earth. and God sets up the judgment. Now, that's not it. Notice 2 Peter. Go back in your Bibles, a couple books. 2 Peter chapter 3 verse 11b through 13. This is going to bookend the final judgment. Notice, it's after the general resurrection But it's before something else. 2 Peter 3, 11b. We'll start in verse 11. It's all these things are to be destroyed in this way. What sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hasting the coming of the day of God? That's the last judgment. Second coming, last judgment. On account of which, when Jesus Christ comes back and begins the judgment, the heavens will be destroyed with burning and the elements will melt with intense heat. But according to his promise, we are looking for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. This book ends it. So the Last Judgment is going to take place, and while the Last Judgment is taking place, evidently from this passage, the earth is being consumed by God. God is destroying the earth. If you look at verse 10 of 2 Peter 3, he describes about how the elements will be destroyed with intense heat and etc. So God will be destroying the earth as the judgment goes on based on Revelation 20. You don't have to go back there. After the judgment, Satan and all of his followers are cast into the lake of fire. And then, with the earth being destroyed and remade, Okay, you see that in 2 Peter 3, you see that in Revelation 20. With the earth being remade, God then will bring the sheep, or place them back into this earth, this earth. So the earth in which we stand right now will be burned, purified with fire, remade into a paradise, and we, in our physical bodies following the judgment, will stand in fellowship and serve God in a physical, corporeal existence the rest of eternity. Wow. So that's the timing. So the timing is simply, I won't review it, Christ, I will, Christ comes back, resurrects everybody, the last judgment, while that's going on the earth is burned, it's being remade, the judgment's done, sheep, goats, goats and Satan are cast into the lake of fire to suffer for eternity, and the sheep then are placed in the new heavens and the new earth. That's in our future. Wow, now you know why the hope of the believer is this time. We'll talk about that at some point. All right, that brings us then to why. Why a day of judgment? Why a public day of judgment? Do you realize every sin you've ever committed will be made public? I don't like that idea, but it's true. Every sin, yikes. And I would be willing to say that most of the sin you commit you have forgotten. All of it would be made public. Why? Why will it be made public? Why every sin? Why believers? If God has forgiven us, Romans 8, there's therefore now no condemnation for those in Jesus Christ, why would God bring a forgiven saint before the judgment seat to be judged according to his works? Why? Give me three answers. Let me give you three answers. There are more. Let me give you at least three. First, to vindicate his name. To vindicate his name. Go with me to Romans chapter 3. Romans chapter 3. So on your outline illusions, the cross of Christ, that's where we are. Romans chapter 3. Let me ask you something. Did you know that Jesus Christ, when he was crucified, he was not crucified in the basement of some dungeon of torture? He was rather crucified in the broad public so that the world, heaven and earth could see, lifted up so everyone could see. His was a public sacrifice. Okay? And to use liturgical language, it was an open sacrifice. In the Bible, there were open and closed sacrifices. Closed sacrifice was the Day of Atonement. He brought the animal in, sprinkled his blood on the mercy seat. That was a hidden or closed sacrifice. No one saw it but God and the priest who was doing it. But an open sacrifice, everyone could see. Christ's crucifixion was an open sacrifice. Why? Romans 3 verse 25. 3 verse 25b, this was to demonstrate, speaking of the public crucifixion of Christ, this was to demonstrate God's righteousness because in the forbearance of God, he passed over the sins previously committed for the demonstration, I say, of his righteousness at the present time that God might be shown to be just and the justifier. righteous and the righteous maker of the one who has faith in Jesus Christ. Why was Christ publicly crucified? Paul's making a big deal about this. Why? Because God wanted to demonstrate to the world that he is just. If God forgives sin, just simply overlooks sin, that is a merciful God but not a just God. And that's no God at all. If God just overlooks our sin, that's not salvation, brothers and sisters. That's bad news, because God may be merciful, but He's not just. A just God must punish sin. The wage of sin is death. So what did God do? God publicly displayed His justice. Jesus Christ was crucified for your sin. And that was publicly demonstrated to show God has not overlooked your sin. God doesn't look upon your sin and say, okay, just this one time, I'll let it go like a parent might. No, God said, because of your sin, I will kill my son. He will die in your place. But he also did it to show his mercy. You see that the cross is both the justice of God and the mercy of God because because of that cross work we're forgiven. So God is both just and the justifier, righteous and the righteous maker because of the cross. You'll see this concern about God's character. his name throughout scripture. Ezekiel 36, 22 through 23, that's the focus of redemptive history. This is one example. Therefore say to the house of Israel, thus says the Lord God, it is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I'm about to act, but for my holy name. which you have profaned among the nations where you were. And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations which you have profaned in their midst. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when I prove myself holy among you in their sight. This passage is repeated in Isaiah 5, Ezekiel 20, Ezekiel 38, Ezekiel 27, and 25, Deuteronomy 9, 6, et cetera, et cetera. It's not for you, but for me. God is concerned, holy with his glory, holy with his name, holy with his justice. In light of that, in light of the crucifixion, in light of that biblical theme, redemptive theme, it should not be a surprise to us that when we come to the crucifixion or the last judgment, it also revolves around the demonstration of the righteousness of God. You're there, Romans chapter 3. Go back to chapter 2, verse 5. In light of this, what do you suppose is behind the public judgment of all of mankind? Number one in your notes, the manifestation of the righteousness of God. Notice verse five, speaking of the Jew who represents the religious unbeliever. But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and, get this, the revelation of the righteous judgment of God. Do you understand, brothers and sisters, that the last time when God judges the earth, God is going to do it in such a way that He manifests to the world that His justice, that His judgment is just? That's what Romans 2 is teaching. That there will be no question from anyone at any place that this isn't just. When God damns the goats to the eternal fire, No man will be able to say, unfair, unfair. Why? Because all of the sins will be made public. In fact, think about this. That's one reason why we do public confession. Remember Joshua, Achan? Joshua 7. Achan was Achan to steal. That's how you memorize Achan was the guy he stole. Achan was Achan to steal some money when they conquered Jericho. So Achan stole and God's people go off to fight Ai and they get beat miserably and Joshua falls on his face. Oh, you know, how awful. And God says, get off your face. There's sin in the camp. Oh, there is? Yeah. Someone violated my command that no one takes any of the booty from Jericho. So they march everyone before the tribes and they send it down to Achan. And what does Joshua tell Achan? Joshua 7.19, great verse. If you haven't memorized it, at least memorize the reference. Joshua says, give glory to God and confess your sin. Incredible statement. You see, Achan sinned, and he's going to be judged for that sin. But if he didn't confess his sin, that would leave everybody to wonder, man, what's wrong with God? He just, what, he got up on the wrong side of the bed? You know, fire came down. You know, on Achan, poor Achan. You know, Achan was a good guy, and look what God did to him. I'm not sure I like that God. Isn't that what people say when it comes to the doctrine of God's judgment? Non-believers say it all the time. You're a judgmental God. I don't like your God. One of the reasons why there's going to be a public judgment is so that everyone sees the sin for which they stand condemned before God. And it won't just be small transgressions of this sort or that. I challenge you, and I want to take this to my next point, I challenge you today, spend just one hour, that's too long, 30 minutes writing on a piece of paper every sin you've ever committed. How long would it take till you went, I'm done? You go, oh man, I could spend days. Well, then do it. I challenge you. I'm telling you right now, give me five minutes and I'll be out of time, or I'll be out of, I'll be done. Let's see, let's see, one time I did that, and I'm sure I did that a lot of times, but I don't remember, I just know that. So I take the 10 commandments, know the gods. I'm guilty of worshiping other gods. Me, of course, that'd be me. I worship my wife, perhaps, I worship, how long would it take? Okay, you want more than 30 minutes, I'll give you an hour. You want more than an hour, I'll give you a day. How about a year? How long would it take for you to exhaust your memory on how many sins you have committed? Say it took you a year. Brothers and sisters, when you were done with that exercise, do you know what you'd have in your hand? One one zillionth of the sin of which you are guilty. You realize that? Because of our frail view of God, we do not comprehend even our sin. Did you know, without Christ, it is sin to exist? Our existence is a front to God because we are in rebellion against God. all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Brothers and sisters, without Christ, our existence is an affront to God and His holiness. And you think a piece of paper, 30 or 40 pages deep, front and back, represents the totality of the sin of which you are guilty? On the Day of Judgment, not just the sins you know, but every sin that you've ever committed and are guilty of will be paraded before the whole world. that God might be seen as just. Wow. But also merciful. Go with me to 2 Thessalonians 1. We're going to skip 1 Peter 1. 2 Thessalonians, incredible statement. So after the prison epistles, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians. Go to 1 or 2 Thessalonians 1 verse 7b. 2 Thessalonians 1 verse 7b, notice what Paul says, the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God, to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. And these will pay the penalty of eternal destruction away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power. Now get this, when he comes to be glorified in his saints, on that day. Stop there. God is going to come on the Last Judgment, and one of the purposes of the Last Judgment is to be glorified in His saints. How will God be glorified in His saints? Because, brothers and sisters, the sin that will be revealed about you will be forgiven. Now, once again, take that piece of that book that you wrote about all your sins. That's one one zillionth of your sin of which you are guilty. Why will all your sins be paraded? You want all your sins to be paraded. You want them. Because the more that the world sees your wretchedness, the more will they be in awe and glory over the grace and mercy of Christ. Do you see it? And it's not just the world. Now the text goes on. And to be marveled at by all who have believed. Some of you this day are mindful of the grace that God has given you and it brings you to tears. Imagine being on that day when you will see every sin, most of which you do not see today. Every sin. What will it be like to gaze upon that sin? How crushing will it be? How burdening? And then to behold the Lamb of God And to know that all of that world of sin has been laid upon my Savior. Wow! What a God! What a Savior! Brothers and sisters, the reason why there's going to be a public judgment is to vindicate the name of God, both that He's just and gracious. Another reason, brothers and sisters, is to sober the child of God, back side of your sheet, to sober the child of God that they might not presume. Important one. Follow with me here that they might not presume. There's a class of scriptures, brothers and sisters, in the Bible which are titled in theology as the believers may perish passages. For example, let me read one of those or a couple of them. But Christ was faithful as a son over his house, whose house we are if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope from into the end. Now, if you don't hold fast the confidence, the implication is you're not saved. If anyone does not abide in me, Christ says he's thrown away as a branch. It's talking about his believers. Hey, Christians, if any of you don't abide, they judge you to be thrown away as a branch. John 8, 31, Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed him, if you abide in me and my words abide in you, and then he carries on. Brothers and sisters, There is a class of passages that are very difficult to understand when you recognize scripture says you can't lose your salvation. Be confident it's the very thing that he who began a good work in you will complete it. Philippians 1.6, you will not lose your salvation. Romans 8, nothing will separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8.36 and following 38. You can't lose your salvation. Well then what do we do with these passages that make it sound like you can? That's a trouble. That's a problem. We call those, a believer may perish passages and we need to have an answer for that. Well, there is one such answer been given by Charles Hodge in his commentary on 1 Corinthians. If you and I were to go back to seminary to Charles Hodge's classroom when he was at Princeton, we would learn this. Go to Acts chapter 27. Okay. Acts 27. This is an amazing answer. This is all Charles Hodge, guys, so this isn't original to me. I wish it were. Actually, I don't wish it were, because this is a wonderful truth. Acts 27, verse 14. Let me tell you a little story. Paul has been captured in Jerusalem, arrested, and he's going to be tried. He sat there in a prison cell for two and a half years, waiting to be tried, or how long he was in Jerusalem, waiting with Felix and Festus and the whole bit, waiting for a bribe. And finally, Paul says, I'm tired of waiting. I'm not going to give you a bribe. I want Caesar. I'm a Roman citizen. Send me to Rome. So they have to. So Acts chapter 27 verse 14, they get on a ship. On that ship in the Mediterranean on the way to Rome, we read, but before very long, they rushed down from the land of violent wind called Iroquilo. When the ship was caught in it, it could not face the wind, we gave way to it and let ourselves be driven along. So, they're now being driven along for their lives. They're on this boat, you know the story. Man, they're going down, and these are experienced sailors, and they're frightened, and they're going down, and it's scary, and they don't know what to do. And then God, Acts 27, 23 through 25, look at it. God comes, appears to Paul, and Paul relates this vision to the people. This very night an angel of God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood before me saying, do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand before Caesar, and behold, God has granted you all those who are sailing with you. Therefore, keep up your courage," Paul tells his crew. Man, for I believe God that it will turn out exactly as I've been told. No one's going to die. So imagine you're in this big, huge storm. The ship's going along. God tells Paul, no one's going to die. Not about you. My two boys have graduated and gone, right? But they used to play airsoft. You remember the old Bethel Presbyterian Church airsoft wars? Most of you attended if you were boys. Some of you ladies. Right? Back in the old days, you could have not an airsoft war, you could have a .50 caliber war. And no one's gonna die. Do you realize that? God has said, by decree, no one's gonna die on this boat. Man, you could have a war with guns. You could chop people up and they wouldn't be wounded. Wouldn't that be amazing? You'd have a ball. You could climb up to the highest mass, swine dive off on your head, no harm. Isn't that what Paul's saying here? No one's gonna die. Well, if no one's gonna die, you can do whatever you want, right? Why is that? Well, because we are also, God works his will through what is known as the law of secondary causes. And so if those people did a swined off off the top of the mass, they would have died. And if they'd taken a gun and shot each other, they would have died. But that doesn't make any sense. Paul just told them no one's going to die by divine decree. We're talking God's decreed this, brothers and sisters. That's exactly right, but it's not a contradiction. Notice with me Acts 27 verse 30. As the sailors are trying to escape from the ship and to let down the ship's boats into the sea on the pretense of intending to lay out anchors from the bow, Paul said to the centurion and soldiers, unless these men remain in the ship, you yourselves cannot be saved. Whoa, whoa, whoa. No, Paul, you just said, by divine decree, there's the doctrine of the perseverance of the sailors. That was supposed to be funny, not saints, but the sailors. The doctrine of the perseverance of the sailors is that none of them are going to die. But if they get off that ship, they're dead. Is that genuine? Uh-huh. From this, we conclude, this is Charles Hodge, from this, we conclude that God has not only ordained the ends, but he's also ordained the means. And if the means are violated, the end is not secure. So if those men got off that boat, they're dead. And thus, I'll give you my quote, Charles Hodge, the appeal secured the accomplishment of the promise. Did you get that? So God's telling the elect that if they apostatize, they shall perish, prevents their apostasy. And in like manner, the Bible teaching that those for whom Christ died shall perish if they violate their conscience prevents their transgressing or bringing them to repentance. The whole point, the believer may perish passages are given to sober the Christian. You see, we get so caught up in the fact that, hey, brothers and sisters, your salvation's done, that it's easy to sit back and coast. Sit back and say, hey, bring on the final judgment. I'm ready for it. I don't mind. I'm saved. No worries. Hakuna Matata. Right? What a wonderful name. Right? That's the Christian motto. No worries. I'm saved. I don't have to worry about a thing. So why does God give these Christians may perish passages? Because, brothers and sisters, the same reason. as Charles Hodges said, because the means are just as important as the end. It does matter. It matters a great deal. And likewise, brothers and sisters, in other words, God would not have us take his providence lightly, such that we don't care what we do. No, it does matter what we do. And we gotta understand that. That's Charles Hodges' point. The means are just as important as the end. And likewise, just as much as we're not to take God's providence, his election lightly when it comes to living in this life. So we're not to take God's election lightly when it comes to the final judgment. Turn with me finally to Revelation chapter 16. I want you to notice how John himself uses the doctrine of the final judgment to evoke sobriety on the part of God's people. You're going to stand before the judgment seat of Christ, brothers and sisters, and you don't want to stand there without faith. Revelation 16, 15, speaking of the second coming, and thus the last judgment, Paul wrote, behold, I'm coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his garments, lest he walk about naked and men see his shame. The word, that phraseology, naked, retentile, is referencing being unclothed with the righteousness of Christ, being without Christ's righteousness. Man, Christ is coming, you be sober, because you don't want to be without faith when he comes back. The knowledge that you are going to stand before the judgment seat of Christ ought to sober you, so that you don't presume. J.C. Ryle put it this way, God's sovereignty was never meant to destroy man's responsibility. One thief was saved that no sinner might despair, but only one that no sinner might presume. Brothers and sisters, God's people have a history of that. Amos 5.18, Alas, you who are longing for the day of the Lord, for what purpose will that day be? It will be darkness and not light. All God's Jews were sitting around in Amos' day. Bring on the judgment, God. We're ready for it. Victory day. And Amos says, damnation day for many of you. because you're presuming you're saved because you go to church. You presume you're saved because you read the Bible. You presume you're saved because you've made a public testimony. Let me ask you, is Gavin saved because he stood up and made a public testimony before man? Here's Gavin, absolutely not. Is he saved because he was baptized? Absolutely not. He's saved because of Jesus Christ. And it's Jesus Christ to whom he should cleave and cling this day, every day, for the rest of his life. Through thick and thin, good and bad, sin and morality, clinging to Jesus Christ. Don't presume, that's the second reason why there's a public judgment, brothers and sisters, and we're going through it. Thirdly, we already talked about this, so we'll spend very little time to sober us into God living as Christians. Romans 13, the night is almost gone, the day is at hand, let us therefore lay aside the deeds of darkness. Matthew 24, 42, where we began this morning, the text says, the night is, therefore be on the alert for you do not know the day or the hour. Third reason, brothers and sisters, why God reveals to us, why he's bringing us through the judgment, to keep us alert. He's coming, brothers and sisters. I'll tell you what, I don't want to be... When I think about it, this past week has been a pretty good week spiritually for me. It really has been because all I've thought about is staying before God's judgment seat. Knowing I'll be exonerated, knowing God will say, forgiven, but I don't want any more sin to be revealed on that day. Oh man, Lord, forgive me, forgive me, forgive me. I'm so sorry. It's made me sober. I hope it's made you sober. That's why. So what is it? Today we're all going to stand before God. When? Following the general resurrection before the final, the new heavens and the new earth. Why? God's glory. Vindicate his name to demonstrate his mercy, to keep us so that we don't presume, oh, I'm saved, I go to church. And thirdly, to make us sober, to be alert and watchful and ready. Fourth, last question, who will do the judging? Get ready for this one. It's amazing. Two verses and we're done. Matthew 16. Go to Matthew 16. It's an amazing passage. Matthew 16 verse 27, Listen to what this says, for the son of man is going to come in the glory of his father with his angels and will then recompense every man according to his deeds. So Jesus Christ is coming. This passage and many other verses describe him therefore as the judge. So who's doing the judging? Jesus. Jesus is the judge on the last day. That's where Michael Card saw, for us as God's people, when you look in your judge's face, you'll see your savior there. Pretty cool, that's true. Christ is the judge, but it's not just Christ. Notice with me 1 Corinthians 6. Last verse, 1 Corinthians 6. Verses two through three. There's an exhortation about don't bring civil lawsuits against brothers and sisters. Don't bring your brothers and sisters before a court of law. This is what Paul wrote, verse two. Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is judged by you, are you not competent to constitute the smallest law courts? Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more matters of this life? All right, laying aside the issue of lawsuits, what's the point here? What do we glean? We, God's people, are going to participate in the final judgment. Think about that. Look at the verse. That's what it says. Wow, that's amazing. Do you realize that, brother? We're gonna participate. In what way? I told you that was our last verse, so don't turn there if you don't want to, Revelation 19. I'll turn there, I've turned there. Revelation 19, listen to it. After these things I heard, as it were, a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, because His judgments are true and righteous. For he has judged the great harlot who is corrupt in the earth, that's the false church, with her immorality, and he has avenged the blood of his bondservants on her. There's a lot of debate about what 1 Corinthians implies. How are we going to judge? What does that mean? A lot of debate as to what that means. But we can at least say this, at least this, we will give the amen to the judgment of Christ. That's what Revelation 19 is saying. On that last day, we're going to say, amen, God, it's just. The judgments from Revelation 18, we're talking about the final judgment. God's judgments, the goats in hell, all who sent there, it's just. Amen, Lord. Amen. So you will give the amen. to the final judgment. And in that way, at least we can say, you will be a participant in the last judgment. Richard Baxter wrote these words. They shall not only judge the world and Christ their head by way of communion with him, by the works compared with those of the ungodly, or by way of testimony against them. So Baxter's offered those four ways. But they shall be assessors of Jesus Christ, the judge, giving their voice against them, consenting to his judgment as just, and saying, amen, to the doom pronounced against the ungodly." That's the final judgment. Now, brothers and sisters, how do you respond to something like this? Do you respond with fear, hope for its delay, burying our heads in the sand? I hope you respond with sobriety. I hope you respond with faith clinging to Jesus Christ. I hope you respond, as John leaves Revelation, with a passion for the lost to be saved. Loved ones, you do not know Christ. I also hope that you leave here with a sense of excitement and joy, because in light of everything that we've seen, recognized, and we're going to see, I close in summary. The last judgment and the days after will be a day of, according to scripture, great refreshment for us all. deliverance from all our misery, participating in the marriage feast of the Lamb, crowning. Our Lord Jesus himself will be glorified in all his saints, such that the final judgment represents nothing less than Christ's victory day. And if that were not enough, notice that the final judgment also will be the time that Christ will confess before the angels and all men that he loves us, he is atoned for our sin, we are heirs of eternal life, we are his people, and he is our God. It truly will be a day of vindication. How do you respond? I think we respond the same way as did John. Lord with sobriety, come Lord Jesus, come quickly. Amen. Let's pray. Father God, what a joy it is to be called by your name and be given the incredible privilege of eternity. Thank you for giving us a glimpse of our futures this day. And Lord, we trust and pray that it's the future of all of us to be in the new heavens and the new earth, but if there should be one here this day who's not trusting you. God, we pray, open their eyes. Save them from their sin before it's too late. Let them see their need for Jesus Christ, his cleansing blood, and may they by faith trust Christ as the Lamb of God who takes away their sin. But Lord, for us all, we pray, the lamb of God, your lamb, your sheep. God, give us the grace to live on this earth, not despairing, but with sobriety. Trusting our Savior evermore, preaching the gospel to our souls and living a light of the crosswork of Jesus Christ. How we love you, Lord Jesus. And we long for the day when we will be with you in your glory. But until that day, oh Lord, grant us grace to believe. Help our unbelief. Grant us the grace to persevere, to stand firm in Christ, to love you, and to serve you. To not be caught up with the worldly mind, the worldly pleasure, but to live our lives for the kingdom and the glory of Christ. God, this we ask in Jesus' name, amen.