Come to our 14th study, the final judgment. That's a very great interest to us, isn't it? The fact of judgment. And we've been talking all about judgments through this book. Judgment has always been understood. Turn to Romans chapter 1. Romans chapter 1. And we read from verse 28, and since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a base mind, Romans chapter 1 verse 28. God gave them up to a base mind and to improper conduct. They were filled with all manner of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malignity. They are gossiped, slanderous, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents. foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God's decree that those who do such things deserve to die, they not only do them, but approve those who practice them. So in other words, it's innate in the human heart. Everyone knows that judgment is coming. There's nobody who doesn't know the judgment is coming. They may spend most of their lives trying to cover that up or to refuse to face it or to rationalize it away, but it's there. The judgment is coming. Now, you remember the state, if you look at the sixth chapter of Genesis, we won't now, but if you look at the sixth chapter of Genesis, every imagination of man's heart was evil only continually from his youth up. See, that's incredible, isn't it? And the violence that spread across the face of the earth. So we are in an age of violence, we know that. And the flood, as I often say, was not just a handy rinse to wash out evil from the world. It was judgment on man's evil. Just as Sodom and Gomorrah was a judgment of God. And the covenant of grace that God gave to Noah was that he wouldn't again destroy the earth by flood. And that was given so that man could realize that rain could come and he wouldn't have to be in fear that this was the ultimate judgment. Do you see that? So God is the judge of all the earth. That's what Abraham tried to plead with God. if there was 50 just people in Sodom that God would spare the city and God said yes I'll do that and Abraham used this sort of belief he said show not the judge of all the earth do right and God said yeah I'll do right he did it was judgment Habakkuk said you're of purer eyes than to behold iniquity and you cannot look upon evil and he was saying you're going to send a hasty and bitter nation into Israel you know to destroy it But he said, you're of purer eyes than the beholden iniquity, you cannot, he wouldn't let them go and do that. But that's the reason why God did, because he was of purer eyes than the beholden iniquity. They couldn't look upon him, he had to judge the evil of Israel. So by sinning they hate us, the bitter nation. Hebrews 9.27 says that it is appointed unto man once to die, and then the judgment comes. That's just a statement, a fact. But in its context, of course, it's very important. We're not looking at its context. Let's have a look at James, chapter 4, verse 12. It's a very good word for today. He says in verse 11, Do not speak evil against one another, brethren. He that speaks evil against a brother or judges his brother speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one lawgiver and judge. He was able to save and to destroy. But who are you that you judge your neighbor? Very good word for today, isn't it? That throughout the world everybody is thinking of judging. Right? Everybody is thinking, everybody is taking God's place. And the only person who's got the right to judge in all the world is God. He's the one who gave the law. He's the only one. The fact that he delegates judgment to you know, to judges and magistrates and other people and parents and others. It's just, it's a delegated authority. Nobody has it. None of us could or would or ever did create law. And so, that's it. But it's interesting isn't it today, the anger in people at injustice, as though somehow or another they're God who's got to do the judging. That's really what we're thinking about. Right, now I'll turn to John chapter 5, because this is also important. And if you say, well, we're not much into the book of Revelation yet, the answer is that those who are into the book of Revelation already had this background. We've said that before, say it again. John 5, we'll read from verse 22. The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son. that all may honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He who does not honour the Son does not honour the Father who sent him. Truly I say to you, he who hears my words and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not commit a judgment, but has passed from death unto life." See, Christ's already done the judging of that person. That's good, isn't it, to have your judgment over? Isn't it? And John puts it very beautifully, he says, Perfect love casts out fear, for fear relates to punishment. And he who fears is not made perfect in love. And he says, by this we have confidence for the day of judgment. For as he is, so are we. As guiltless as he is, so are we. And he says, in this world, meaning now. I went out of the city this morning to know we're totally guiltless. I didn't say we're totally sinless, but we're totally guiltless. Truly, truly, our Saviour, the hour is coming, and now is when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in Himself, so He granted the Son also to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man." And we really need to get back to to Daniel chapter 7. We won't do that at the moment, Daniel chapter 7, but it's a very important passage because it's the passage on judgment of the world. But it's the son of man who has given authority over all the nations. He is the true judge. So God has given judgment to him. Do not marvel at this, for the hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come forth, those who have done good to the resurrection of life and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. So, everybody is going to be raised from that state of death to face the judgment, whether we are good or evil. Now, I seem to be saying two things here, because the verse says here, we must ticker in his fortune, we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, to receive the things done in the body, whether good or bad. And actually the Greek verb means to receive back the things done in the body, whether good or bad. So whatever we've done, we'll get back. Now if that worries you for a minute, as it may well do so, just keep it suspended. You wouldn't like to be faced with all that you've done in the body. It was bad, would you? But you wouldn't mind being faced with all that you've done that was good, which you think is minimal anyway, don't you? But you're wrong. If you're a believer, you've done a lot of good in the body. And if you say, I can't remember when I did any good in the body, well, when, Lord, when did we see you naked and filthy? When did we see you thirsty and give you a drink? When did we visit you? When were you in prison and we visited you? We don't remember doing any of that. So the good that you do, you don't think of it. Not letting one hand know what the other hand is doing. Can you see that? not just being clever, the fact is that when we do something purely, we don't know we have. But when we do something impurely, we jolly well are told by all the powers of darkness. They get us concentrating on our failures and we go down the sink. Well, we'll come back to that in a minute. Judgment and the judgments in Revelation. First of all, we have seen the judgments that come upon man and the powers of evil in the action of the seven seals, the seven trumpets and the seven bowls of wrath." Now, some of you may not have been here for all of those studies, but they are very powerful, aren't they, those judgments? The seven seals, the seven trumpets and the seven bowls of wrath. And we've said that if you push that back into the past and say, God put out his judgments, say, at the time of the Roman Empire, and they're all over, Or if you push them into the future and say one day God's going to come and pour out his wrath in the seven seals and the seven trumpets and the seven dollars, then you're wrong. The judgments of God are always proceeding, always have proceeded. Now they've been put into those forms, in which you can look at them, you tend to think, well if I can't see that sort of action, like you use the literal terms, you know when a mountain falls into the sea or the rivers become blood, or the sea as a dead man's blood or all of those things which are pretty frightening symbols. But you've only got to look around at the anguish of the world today to know it's in terrible pain and it's under terrible judgment. True? Any of you who've been through mental anguish and spiritual torment will know what I'm talking about. And if you'd see that around the world today. Somebody said the great army of welfare workers Psychiatrists and psychologists and therapists and others are really enlarging the industry. Far from caping with it. They are unconsciously opening it up more and more and more. Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing is another story. Alright, secondly we have seen that God's avengement seems to be coming slowly. You remember the story in Luke 18? with a widow who nagged the unjust judge. Don't forget he's unjust, which meant that he took the highest bribe. If the plaintiff offered more than the defendant, or the defendant offered more than the plaintiff, then the one who offered most got the judgment. He was an unjust judge, you see. And this woman, all she had was her ability to nag. And we won't make any jokes about it either. But she had a righteous cause, so she nagged properly. And the judge said, I can't handle the nagging. You know, if I could get her, she's not going to give me a penny. You know what I mean? But it pays to get rid of her. So he gave her a proper judgment. And of course the contrast there was the Lord said that, He said, Shall not the judge of all the earth speedily avenge his elect? And he said, when I come, shall I find faith on the earth? He meant, shall I find the faith that God is speedily avenging his elect? And everywhere Christians complain that God isn't judging. He isn't doing it. When will he come and do it? Look at poor little me and what I've been going through. God's done nothing about it. Right? And so, he didn't say, when I come, shall I find faith on the earth? But this kind of faith that God is speedily avenging his elect. A lot of people think, oh, the faith will not be in the earth when he comes. You know, the gospel will have dwindled away to almost nothing. And they say, well, will he find faith on the earth? That's not what he said. Will I find this kind of faith that God is speedily venting his elect in? You can go to a hundred Christians, I'll bet you'll find about 80 of them don't think he is. So if he came, he wouldn't find that kind of faith in them. Can you hear what I'm saying? And then if you just look at 2 Peter for a moment, chapter three, he brings up the thing. This is the second letter that I've written to you, chapter three. Beloved, and in both of them I've aroused your sincere mind by way of reminder that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandments of the Lord and Saviour through your apostles. First of all, you must understand this, that scoffers will come on the last day with scoffing, following their impassioned I'm sorry. Not dilatory. He's not dilatory. I've used this illustration before. He said to Abraham, the land of Canaan is yours, but not for some hundreds of years until the iniquity of the Amorites is right, complete, ready for judgment. Then I'll send Israel in. And when Israel came in, they didn't just come in as an invading army, throwing people out. They came as those executing the sword of judgment upon an evil people. It completely changes the complex, doesn't it, of the whole thing. All right, now in Revelation chapter 6 verse 9, you remember the saints there are saying to God, when he opened the fifth seal, verse 9, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God, for the witness they had borne. And they cried out with a loud voice, O sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before thou wilt judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell upon the earth. Now you might think they were a bit bloodthirsty to want that avengement. But were they wanting something for what they've done, the justice done, or were they wanting for the world to know that God is the God of justice and he leaves nothing unjudged? I'm sure it's the latter. They weren't out just for vengeance. And in Romans 12 we're told to give place to wrath. Let God do the judging, don't you do that. You heat coals of fire in the head, you know, by loving your enemy and doing good to himself. All right, now, still in this matter of judgment, let's turn to Romans chapter 3. I'm sorry, Romans chapter 2. And verse 3. Do you suppose, O man, that when you judge those who do such things, and yet do them yourself, you'll escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume upon the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? Do you not know that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? Now, what's meant by his kindness? It means that instead of coming down with a chopper, God is patient. When he has a right, so to speak, to judge, he doesn't do that immediately. Now, we're not like that, are we? We can hardly wait to get there. to do it. But by 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 for he will render to every man according to his works. So God is patient. He's not hasty. He doesn't lose his temper. But there are two verses, two statements here, in Romans, while we're there in Romans 3, we see verse 25, God put him for Christ to be a propitiation by his blood to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous. It justifies his faith in Jesus. What does that mean? Instead of judging our sins, to put in a silly human way of talking, he waited until the cross. Every sin was judged at the cross. Right? And we've seen, that's why in the book of Revelation, the wrath of the Lamb is not just wrath upon sin, but it's a wrath upon the rejection of grace and the insistence of going on in sin. Because Christ has borne the judgments on the cross. So he's got a right to be the wrathful lamb. True? Now, God never passed over former sins at all. There's not one sin he'll pass over anyway. And in the 17th chapter of Acts, you remember he's talking to the Greeks of Athens, and he says, he points to all their idols, and he says, the former times of ignorance, God winked at. That's the King James Version, God winked at. Same thing's passed over, you see. But now he has commanded all men everywhere to repent. And he has raised up one, that's Christ, to judge the whole world. So he let it pass, all those times of idolatrous ignorance, he let them pass. But now Christ has come, there's no excuse for anybody. Christ has come and so he's going to judge. What we must get clear for ourselves is that God's judgment is righteous judgment. We already read that in Romans. He says, but by your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. Now if I may say so, down through the centuries, I remember as a boy, and I can remember a man by the name of Vincent Craven, some of you may know him from Scripture Union, He'd be a very old man then. And he gave a fantastic study, I was just a boy at the time, early teens, on the silence of God. He took all the historical happenings of, you know, these dreadful things that have happened in history, like genocides and those things. Why didn't God move? He never seemed to lift a finger. Sometimes almost the whole nation has been wiped out. And I can still remember him saying, you know, presenting that to us. And the world is very quick to want to judge God so that he can't judge it. If you get in first. Human beings have got to make, this is the way of being able to put people under guilt, aren't they? How many of you are coming along on Monday to our book launching? You're not? It only takes a second, you've got people under guilt, do you? Oh, I bet you're foolish enough to get under, that's your problem. Now the whole of the book of Revelation, that's why people don't understand, all these people who are curious, just curious about things, they're looking through for weirdo things, you know what I mean? Something to stimulate their poor old jaded brains. And what it's all about is vindicating God. Now, you don't have to justify God. He justifies you, but you know what I mean? But we have a lot against God. All this anger people have got is primarily against God. It's not against human beings, primarily. That anger is a very deep thing. And I've said many times to you, if you are angry, you're never rational. Certainly not on the issues. that you're angry about, too. You can't discuss them properly. You've probably seen a married couple having arguments, have you? And they're just not rational. Whipping out their files and pulling stuff out, you know, from the past twenty, thirty years. Forty years. Do you remember on our honeymoon? So, if we get in first and judge God, then that lets us off the judgment. Now, that's a ridiculous approach man makes. Now, this book doesn't leave anybody free to do that in the ultimate. Chapter 16, verse 5, And I heard the angel of water say, Just art thou in these thy judgments, thou who art and wast a holy one. For men have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink. It is their due. And I heard the altar cry, and don't forget who was under the altar, those who wanted the judgments, remember? What do they say now? Yea, Lord God, the Almighty, true and just are thy judgments. God's judgments, they're impeccable. You will never find a flaw in them. Turn to chapter 19. As a matter of fact, chapter 18, verse 20. Rejoice over her, over Babylon, O heaven, as saints and apostles and prophets, for God has given judgment for you against her. See, in verse 24, And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all who have been slain on the earth. Now they're the people in Revelation chapter 6, under the altar, the martyrs. And then there's this great loud voice of a multitude in heaven saying, Hallelujah, salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for his judgments are true and just. He has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with the fornication, and he has avenged on her the blood of his servants. So you can see all of those judgments are righteous judgments. Clear? Now if you can grasp that, I think it'll make an enormous difference in you every day. There's some of us, and I have to include myself amongst them, who could kick a mower when it didn't work. Said, this mower's temperamental. So a mower could be temperamental. And we do that with all kinds of things. The door doesn't open, or just some little thing. What we really mean behind it, there is a system working against us. It set the great conspiracy, the big plot, and called me, I am subject to it. The pot boils over, it did it on purpose. And we see God, all things work together for good, right? For those who love him. Ah yes, but. That's incredible, how other people are so foolish. I see we've struck a well. Point three, the judgment of the evil powers is seen in the judgment of Babylon when it's destroyed as a power. We've just seen that in chapter 18 and you go through that and read it and see how the writer John keeps telling you, well Babylon had a good and that's finished. And just at the right moment, you see, what they said was, it's all happening in a day. Suddenly the judgment has come. That's why they could understand the sort of a judgment of attrition, you know, bit by bit, bit by bit. But dawning like that, remember as we said, when the bushfires and the floods came, there was nothing you could do about it. Suddenly the judgment is there. And we saw in a lot of those plagues and bowls of ruffling poured out, that far from being awed by them, The impenitent were made even more angry and furious. Judgements are great things. Look, just a lovely verse in Isaiah 30, verse 18. And that really is a very beautiful verse. Verse 18. Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you. Therefore, the Lord waits to be gracious to you. Therefore, he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is the God of justice. Blessed are all those who wait for him." Now, here's Israel. It's not waiting for God. It wants to do its own thing. And he, in patience, he waits to be gracious. He waits to be gracious to Israel. Isn't that something? Ah yes, but, and he wants to show mercy, but he's the God of justice. So he comes in with justice. And then, when he executes his justice, they all wait for him. In other words, judgments are grace. God gets it over. I'll use this simple illustration. There's a kid just rotten with guilt. So what you do, you put a bit of emotional blackmail on the kid. You know what I mean? And it increases its guilt, doesn't give it any freedom. But somebody said, you know, with a bit of applied psychology, getting to the seat of the matter, the kid is released from guilt in a minute. A good whack on the bottom, and that's it. I told you a little girl that, you know, was a little bigger, and they used to say, isn't she cute? You know, this little contrary kid, isn't she cute? And one day she ran up and down the keys to the piano, And the businesswoman said, isn't she cute? And she turned around and said, isn't there anything I can do that'll get you mad? See, and that's our release, that God gets mad at our sin. Not in an irrational way. Because he's a holy God. Right? So that's a release. And then we're done with our idiocy. All right, so Babylon is destroyed. Now, chapter 19, verse 20, or 19, I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who sits upon the horse, and against his army. And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet, who in his presence had worked the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. And these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. And the rest were slain by the sword, what sword? The word of God. For goodness sake, don't make it into a literal thing. Have you been slain by the word of the Lord? I hope so. I don't know what the lake of fire is, but I often think it's the lake of God's holiness, his holy love. And to be unholy and to be immolated in the fire of his love would be a frightening thing, wouldn't it? You'd probably like a physical fire to get it over with. forever to be immolated in the lake of his love. I don't know, I'm not saying that is a dogmatic truth. Chapter 20 verse 10, verse 9, they marched up over the broad earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them. And the devil who had deceived them, what's the fire that comes down from heaven by the way? The word. Somebody said, I really like what you said. I was at another place, you know, I didn't say Luther said it. of Satan, one little word shall fell him. You know in that lovely song, A Mighty Fortless Is Their God, he's got that line, one little word shall fell him. And that's the word that will ultimately destroy evil, that's what it means, surely. Why words like a fire, says the Lord. Fire came down and consumed them, and the devil, if you were to see them, was thrown into the lake of fire and salt, where the beast and the false prophet were, and they would be tormented day and night forever. Well, we must hurry on, because I've been trying to build that up, but can you see at least that nothing in all time will ever be forgotten by God, or is ever forgotten by God, and ultimately there is a judgment. So we just relax. Let God set his time for the judgment. If we're biting mad, Now the final judgment. Now that's what we want to see. Chapter 20, verse 11. And I saw a great white throne, and him who sat upon it from his presence, earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. You know, don't you, that the earth and the sky have all been infected with evil. And so nothing that is evil can stand at that moment in the judgment. So they fled away, you see. Chapter 21. I saw a new heaven and a new earth. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne. And books were opened. And you know what great and small means, don't you? They might have been the presidents and the kings and the rulers and the authorities. But the judgment is what levels us all. You know, you can't claim anything now because you are high up in the order of things. And the books were opened. Now keep your hand there and go back to Daniel 7. And it says, verse 9, As I looked, thrones were placed, and one that was ancient of days took his seat. His raiment was white as snow. The hair of his head was like pure wool. His throne was fiery flames. wheels were burning fire, a stream of fire issued and came forth from before him. A thousand thousand served him and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court sat in judgment and the books were opened. Now you have to follow that right through and we can't do that. But what we can look at is verse 13. Behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the ancient of days, which was presented before him. To him was given dominion and glory and kingdom, and all nations, peoples, and languages should serve him, his dominion, his everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away in his kingdom, one that shall not be destroyed." So this son of man is the one who controls all things, right? So he judges all things. That's what Jesus said in John 5, that the Father has given the Son to have judgment because he is the son of man. You see that? He links him up with this great and glorious passage. And we're told, where's the verse now? Yes, I just missed the verse. Oh yes, that's right. Yes, that's right. Verse 26. And this court with all these thrones, you know, Paul said on one occasion, we shall judge angels. Do you remember that? Judge angels? And do you remember that Jesus said to the disciples, I'll give you all thrones and you'll sit judging Israel? And it says, but the court shall sit in judgment and the dominion, his dominion, the dominion of the beast, shall be taken away to be consumed and destroyed to the end. But the kingdom shall be given to the saints. So we saw that, that verse 8, that the court sat in judgment and the books were opened. So that's the picture that the writer of Revelation is drawing on. But here, you see, I saw a great white throne and him who sat upon it, in his presence earth and sky fled away and no place was found for them. Who sat upon the throne is God, isn't it? But we see from the other passages that in that judgment is the Lamb. He is judging too. So all the books are open and it's of course a figurative way of speaking that everything that we do is recorded. Nothing is lost. And we're judged by what we do. We're not judged for eternal life by what we do. Now let's get this clear, because otherwise our whole doctrine of grace will go down the drain. There is no condemnation, there is no judgment for them that are in Christ Jesus. So far as eternal life is concerned, no believer will ever be judged. Jesus said, he that believes in me shall not come into judgment but has passed from death unto life. Paul says there is therefore now no condemnation. Christ said as he is, or John said as he is. We have confidence for the Day of Judgment, because as He is, so are we, in this world. We already happen to fear anything about the Day of Judgment, because so far as judgment for our sin and our guilt is concerned for eternal punishment, that question has been settled long, long ago. True? Right? But the books are still going to be open. And we're going to be judged by what's in the books, but not for eternal punishment. It's what has been called losses and rewards. We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ and receive back the things done in the body, whether good or bad. I remember my old principal, a great old man of God, and he showed us that verse, that verb, that not receive something for the good we've done or receive something for the bad we've done, but receive back what we've done. Which is what we are. Now, if that's still frightening to you, and you say, where's the grace in all this? Let me tell you this, that all of the evil of your sin, and all the guilt of your sin, that's all been destroyed. But God is not going to... It's a funny way to put it, let us off the hook about our stupidity, and our sin, and our evil, and our laziness. Paul said, that I buffered my body, and keep it in subjection, lest I, who have preached to others, might myself become a castaway. I don't mean castaway in the sense, I'll lose eternal life. But he meant, I'll just be an idiot, fool, who's wasted his whole life. Do you see that? Now, but he also says in the third chapter, 1 Corinthians, that, that all our works shall be tried as by fire. Some of us, he said, will escape with the skin of our teeth. By the skin of our teeth. Well, he said, as by fire, which we, English proverb says, by the skin of your teeth. Whatever that means. We know what it means. We just get there. But we'll be naked, we'll have nothing to show for all our years of Christian living and experience. And John says in his second epistle, see to it that you lose not your full reward. Now, you may be saying, but aren't you getting us back into a works trip again? I know. See, in those seven churches, Jesus said, I know your works. That's what he was interested in. I know your works. Paul says, By grace you are saved through faith, that this night of yourselves is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. That settles that, doesn't it? But he goes on to say, But we are his workmanships, created in Christ Jesus unto all good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them. And Christ said, Let your light, sir, shine before men, that they may see your good works. They won't attribute it to you, but they'll glorify your Father who is in heaven. Christ said, The works which I do, I do not of myself. He said, The Father who dwells in me. He said, He does the works. Can you see that? That God has got his plan and he's called us into it and we're participants. It's nothing to do with being goody-goody. Not being naughty, not doing bad things, but doing good things. And nothing to do with any of that. The good things we do are just simply fulfilling the will of God. Not being moralistic and good in a moralistic way. Can you hear what I'm saying? It's not desisting from the naughty things and doing the nice things. It is doing the will of God. And that may mean that it ends in martyrdom. That may mean that it takes us out of a place of coziness and comfort and puts us into a place of stress. I'm not saying necessarily it does. Anyone saying necessarily it doesn't. But if we are part with Him, then of course it will all be judged. And I don't think you need to get too worried if you've got a great whole list of things. that you're going to be faceless. One person talked to me, it may even be here today, and said to me, well I can't stand the fact that on the Day of Judgment they'll all see what I've done. They'll all see what I've done. Let me tell you, they'll all be too busy looking at what they've done to be looking at what you've done. And it's not that kind of thing God's saying, see, see what you did? I didn't miss any of it. It's not that at all. What we will be then will be the product of what we have been being. We've lost something by our laziness, by our ineptitude, you know what I mean? By our foolishness, by our rebellion. We've lost something. And we've gained a lot by our obedience, our love. And the great French theologian Godet said, God is a man, I'm sorry, man is a vessel created by God, destined to be filled. And as it is filled, so it is enlarged, or increased, and as it expands, so it is filled. So if you are on the stretch, as Paul says, I press towards the mark for the prize for the high calling of God in Christ. If you're on the stretch, you grow, you develop, you mature, you're enriched, right? Your vessel gets larger and larger. You can have more and more of God. But every vessel would be filled up in heaven, there's no doubt about that, in eternity. But some of them could have been a lot bigger than they are, and had a greater capacity than they are. When I was a prisoner of war, I was on the back of the bed for a long time, and I resolved to read four hours a day, to think four hours a day, and to write four hours a day, which I did. And now I've got the fruits of that. I can write. People say, how do you turn out all those books? Well, I remember when I started to learn how to write, that a friend of mine who was being trained by a very famous publicist, he was told, the only way to write is to write. You see that? So the only way to grow is to grow. The only way to mature is to mature. And if we just drop how out of our vocabulary and get on with it, Can you see that? So, look back there again, see? And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, by what... That's whether you're saved or whether you're not saved. Is that clear? And you needn't worry about shame and pain and anguish of the day, in that sense. You're not going to be put through that. But I bet a million will wish they had taken, you know, redeemed the time, had taken up the opportunity, had not received the grace of God in an empty way. I'm not talking about the lost, I'm talking about the saved. And don't get, don't get worried if you've messed up a lot of your life. He says, I'll restore the years which the latest have eaten. He can give you in five minutes more than you could have done in 50 years. If that's your mind and your heart. True? Moses had to go to the backside of the desert for 40 years. He was all the better man for it. But if he hadn't been an idiot and killed the Egyptians and done a few other stupid things in Patras, he wouldn't have had the 40 years. Right? And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, by what they'd done. And the sea gave up the dead in it, death and Hades gave up the dead in them, and they were all judged by what they'd done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death in the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not written, found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. The only thing that will save us from eternal judgment, eternal punishment, will be that our names, before the foundation of the world, were written in the book of life. We're saved by grace, not by works. Can you see that now? There'll be nothing to fear of that judgment. But if every day we think, I'd like to be richer, fuller, maturer, more useful, I'd like to fill out the life God has given me, the capacities God has given me, the time God has given me, Well, go to it. That's what it's all about. There'll be nothing that's untied, left untied, at the end of time. Isn't that something? And you say, oh gosh, well, I've really messed around, I've played around, I've been an idiot, I've wasted... Well, that's not the point. Now is the accepted time. You see? I beseech you therefore brethren, that you receive not the grace of God in vain. Let's get on with it from now on then. I'll look back, I'll restore the years for the likes of me. Every man a penny. Those that came late. You don't earn rewards. OBE, you know the OBE, the Army, not very polite, not the word I'm using, other beggars efforts. You don't earn OBEs or MBEs or anything like that, you just are real, and then somebody recognises that along the way you get a little bonus. It doesn't have to be a bonus of contention either, does it? So what about it? Therefore knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men. The love of Christ, constrains us. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for the lovely and rich and helpful lessons we learned from this great prophecy of John. We know, Father, it's in conformity with the whole of your scripture, but somehow or another, in it, things are revealed which are just not as explicit in other places. We thank you this morning that we have seen that the Bride is holy, And the war is a holy war, not an unholy war from our point of view, however unholy it may be, in the hands of unholy powers. Think ye, Father, that your eye is there for all humanity, and your holiness demands the ultimate judgment, but pours out the present judgments as grace and mercy to the penitent, and as deeper judgment to the impenitent. And thank you, Father, that one day we will hear, even against our own conviction, well done, that good and faithful servant enter into the joy of your Lord. Come, beloved of my Father, enter into the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Help us, Father, to live in this expectation and this way of life, in Jesus' name.