Word of Salvation – Vol. 33 No. 32 – August 1988

 

The Return Of Jesus Christ As Judge

 

Sermon by Rev. M. P. Geluk on Lord’s Day 19, Q.&A. 52

Reading: 1Thessalonians 4:13-5:11; 2Thessalonians 1:3-12

Singing: Ps.H.264:1,2; Ps.H.264:3,4; Ps.H.47: 1,2,3,4; Ps.H.78; BoW.H.14.

 

International tensions and nuclear arsenals cause people to fear an all-out global war which may blow up the world.  That will mean the end of civilization as we know it.  Christians are not sure whether the present world will end by direct action of God, or God using man’s self-destructive powers.  But Christians are sure that this world will end, and that a new heaven and earth will take its place.  Christians have this certainty because the whole Bible points to a great renewal of all things at the end of time.  It will take place when the Lord Jesus Christ returns from heaven.  He is King now in these last days but Satan is still around with limited freedom.  When Jesus comes again, His kingship will be completely and perfectly established.  All sin and evil will disappear.  But Jesus will come not only to bring in His eternal reign of glory and perfection.  His coming will also be a judgment upon the living and the dead.  It is this judgment of Christ that we want to consider now.

As we then look to: The Return of Jesus Christ as Judge, we see that:

1.  Some need to fear this, and

2.  Others will be comforted by it.

1.

In the first place then, some need to fear the return of Christ as Judge.  Fear is usually present when some earthly judge will put the things you have done wrong in broad daylight.  Children know fear when their parents have to punish them for disobedience.  Adults know it too when they have to face the judge in court.  The charges will be read out and everyone will know what you have done wrong.  You fear the exposure of your wrong deeds and you also fear the punishment that must follow.

How much more will men have to fear Jesus the Judge!   He will call on everyone to give account for every thought, word, and deed that went against His commands.  The Bible says in Heb.4:13,

“Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight.  Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”

And in Matt.12:36 we read Jesus’ words:

“I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.”

And Luke recorded Jesus as saying,

“For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open.” (8:21)

Just allow that to sink in.  God knows everything.  Imagine that for all the years that you have been around, a tape recorder has picked up all the things you have said, and a video recorder all that you have done, and a gadget, which we have not been able to make as yet, has recorded all your thoughts.  Yes, there will be many good things on all these recorders.  But God has made man good and in His likeness and therefore the good is nothing unusual or special.  It should have been all good.  But it won’t be – you and I know that.  There will be those wrong things that up to now no one except you know about.  There will be things only the relatives and family know about.

It is rather frightening isn’t it!   The Last judgement could be embarrassing too.  We sort of know each other.  But there will be a few surprises when all the secrets come out into the open.  We would lose whatever respect we have for one another if we heard and saw all the recordings of each other’s family quarrels and private sins.  We rather not have that happen.  And yet God knows everything.  He has seen and heard it all.  And now everyone of us has to face God at the Last judgement.

We have only spoken so far about those wrong things which immediately come to our mind: the obvious sins But there are also the less obvious ones.  Think on that passage in Matthew’s Gospel, ch.25:31-46, where it speaks about the Son of Man coming in His glory at the end of time.  It says that all the angels will come with Jesus and He will sit on His throne in heavenly glory.  Then judgement begins.  All nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

Now that passage depicts Jesus, the Judge, condemning those to hell who did nothing for the hungry and thirsty, who did nothing for the stranger and the naked, who did nothing for the sick and the prisoners.  Those who hear this judgement are surprised because all their lives they lived so selfishly that they never gave much thought to the hungry, thirsty, stranger, naked, sick and prisoner.  They knew of course that there were such needy people in the world but somehow life went on for those self-centred ones in the usual way.  Now these are the less obvious sins.  But very obvious to Christ.  And it is before Him as Judge that we have to give account.

We can understand, therefore, how some need to fear the return of Christ as Judge.  And it is possible that this fear is stronger with the elderly than the young.  When you are young you somehow assume that only the old die.  Death comes to the young too, of course, but it’s usually unexpected.  The elderly are aware of their age and the end of one’s earthly life is expected more.  Thus the elderly make up the balance sheet of their lives sooner than the young.  And so they come to remember their sins and thus fear can take hold of them when they know they soon have to face Jesus the Judge.  But it is good for both old and young to be reminded that none of us may experience death like those who went before us.  You may have your grave all ready and waiting, next to your departed husband or wife, or whatever the case may be, but it is quite possible that your body will never be put in it.  The Lord Jesus Christ may come anytime, yes, He could return in your lifetime.

What will that be like?  You better know, so that you will recognize this great event when it happens.  The Word of God says that the Lord Jesus will be “revealed from heaven in blazing fire with His powerful angels.  He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.” (2Thess.1:7, 8).  The appearing of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, will be glorious (Titus 2:13).  All the nations of the earth will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory.  He will send His angels with a loud trumpet call.  (Matt.  24:30, 31) The dead will be raised (I Cor.  15:52), and every eye will see Him (Rev.1:7), and every knee shall bow… and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. (Phil.2:10, 11).

No one knows of course, when all this will come about.  But maybe we should be more busy with the Lord’s return as Judge than with our going to heaven.  The early Christian church spoken of in the New Testament was more occupied with Jesus’ return to judge the living and the dead, than the church of today.  The Lord has delayed His coming.  There are obviously some elect to be gathered in.  But the delay has caused the church to lose its keen expectation for all things to be put right.  For that is really what the Lord’s judgement means: to put all things right.  To overthrow all evil, and all injustice, to banish Satan and his evil angels forever in the bottomless pit, and establish a new glorious reign of peace and perfection.  But the church today has lost sight of this.  Putting all things right has receded to the background and in its place we speak more of our going to heaven than Jesus’ coming to earth.  We even make death a little sentimental and we try to comfort the bereaved with well-meaning phrases about the dead.  Nearly all funerals speak of those who died as being better off, at peace and rest.  But the Word of God does not share this optimism about everyone who is dead as having gone to heaven.  Only those who confessed Jesus Christ as their Saviour and whose lives indicated an obedient, holy living, have gone there.  And where the children of God who died have gone is only an interim place.  It’s not their final future.  That is the new heaven and earth which Jesus will establish after His judgement.  Now will we survive this judgement?  That’s the question on which we have been concentrating.  Some need to fear Jesus’ return as Judge.

2.

In the second place we note that others will be comforted by the return of Jesus Christ as Judge.  Indeed, Question 52 of Lord’s Day 19 asks, “How does Christ’s to judge the living and the dead” comfort you?  Why then did we speak of fear?  Well, if you take a close look at the answer to Question 52, then you will see it speaks of distress and persecution.  That reflects the Reformation times when the Catechism was written.  It came out of a painful time of oppression where the forces of darkness openly attacked the children of God.  They witnessed many injustices and wicked deeds.  Like some of the psalmists, they cried out to God for deliverance and asked Him to rise up as Judge against those guilty of terrible sins done to their fellow men.  The New Testament also reflects such persecution and distress as does many a century in the history of the church.  Even now in other parts of the world the church is facing hard and difficult times.  And maybe such conditions will be faced by us too in the near future, for this society is moving away from its Christian roots.  But up to now, we here in this part of the world, have not had to face open persecution.  And maybe we will best see the blessing of that when we one day find ourselves looking back to what once was.  Now we are not so badly off.  There is enough to eat, we have somewhere to live and plenty of clothes.  We are seldom challenged in our faith to the point of physical persecution.  In such times Christians can become complacent and selfish.  We are more preoccupied with personal peace and happiness than with the well-being of others and justice in the land.  And we are less mindful of God’s burning desire to put all things right and to have the heavenly kingdom of righteousness and justice come in full.  Then, when we do hear of Christ’s return as Judge we can become conscious of our daily sins, the sins of the past, the sins of omission and neglect.  And so we fear exposure and punishment.

Now we must not ignore this fear or quieten its accusing voice in our conscience.  No, let it lead us to repentance and faith.  There is a reason for the New Testament’s speaking about Jesus the Judge in a threatening way.  The manner in which the Last Judgment is described is supposed to have a restraining influence on us.  In His Word God scares us with the Last Judgement, but He does so in order to have us call upon Him for forgiveness and salvation.

And therein lies our comfort too.  For how do you see Christ now?  Yes, He will return as Judge and it will be bad indeed for all those who must face the withering fire of God’s justice all by themselves.  But now is the day of salvation, now is the time to look to Christ and be saved from divine justice.  And so God come s to us in His grace and calls upon everyone to repent and believe.  Do your sins worry you?  Are you burdened by your guilt?  Would you rather not have others know the things you do in secret?  Are you now conscious of not having cared much for the needs of others?  Have you selfishly looked after yourself and kept to yourself?  Well, you may look to Christ the Saviour.  You may have turned to Him in the past and you have allowed your faith to become a thing of custom and routine.  Well, turn to Him again.  You may be more conscious now of your failures and sins than ever before.  Doubts may fill your mind and unbelief batters your faith.  Yes, Satan is around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.  It may be you.  You may right now be at the crossroads of your life.  Which way are you going to go?

Well, how do you see Christ?  Did He not come for you when he came into the world to save sinners?  When He died on the cross to take away the guilt of man’s sins, was He not dying for you?  Yes, how do you know if the Saviour is for you?  What does God say?  He calls on all men to repent and believe, and those who do, He saves for the sake of Christ.  If you have not, or do not repent, then once again hear the terrible tidings of your having to face Jesus the Judge as the guilty one.  But God sent Christ and gave us His Word so that we could hear the call to faith.  And when you do repent then realise that the Spirit of God has been drawing you to the Father, for no one come s to the Father except the Spirit draws him.  And no one calls on God by his own will, for all are dead in trespasses and sins.  Yet, the dead may hear the voice of the Saviour and live.  All those elected of God will come to Christ.  And those for whom Christ died are also given new life through Christ’s resurrection.  And those for whom He died and rose again, those also He represents before God in heaven so that Satan can never again accuse them as guilty.

Through Christ they have been predestined, called, justified and glorified.  They are God’s and no one shall ever snatch them out of God’s hand.  Doubt and unbelief may fight raging battles in their hearts and minds but the saving work of Christ cannot be undone.  He who is the author and finisher of our faith will return to us time and again and assure us of salvation.  But do not passively sit back and wait for things to happen.  Turn to God, turn to His living Word and let its light and warmth comfort you again.  Put faith to work, fight the good fight of faith and practise love.  Love God and love one another.  When you love, as God loves you, then you will see the hungry and the thirsty, the stranger and the naked, the sick and the prisoner all around you.

Then as you do all that under the sovereign grace of God, would you then still be afraid of Jesus’ coming as Judge?  Would the very Saviour who suffered and died in your place, who rose again to give you new life, who at present is your Intercessor and Mediator in heaven, would He now at His coming condemn you?  Do you really think, after all that He has done for His own, that He would do such a thing?  God’s Word surely teaches us that the Saviour will never do that.  Did He not say to all who drink from Him, “I will never, never cast them out!”

None of us here can say to anyone else: “You will not have to face Jesus’ judgement alone”.  I cannot declare you saved forever, nor you me.  Neither can we look to our good works and rest our case on them.  For even our best works are not yet perfect.  It is Jesus alone.  Only He can give us the confidence of awaiting Him as the Judge who has already stood trial in our place before God and so has removed the whole cur se from us.  Only Jesus.  And therefore it is to Him alone that you must look.  You must not find your confidence in what others say about you, nor in your own works.  You will not find it there.  But you will find it with the Saviour.  He has caused you to hear the good news of salvation: He brings you repentance and faith: He has opened the kingdom of heaven to you and made you enter.  And it is the same Jesus who will not condemn you out of the Kingdom.

So go from here renewed in your faith.  Go and practise the love with which the Father loves you.  When Jesus returns as judge many unbelievers in this world will see what they never believed they would see.  For Christians it will mean the fulfilment of their hopes.  Remind one another that this present world will end soon.  This world is, of course, important for here we must live as children of the King and claim all things for Him.  But it is not everlasting; it will pass away.  And because there is a new world of peace and righteousness coming, а world which is everlasting, be sure that the things you treasure are not of this world but of the world to come.  And for as long God gives us life in this world, or for as long as it takes for Jesus to return, you and I had better be sure that the Lord and we have the same enemies, and that those who love Jesus are our friends.

AMEN.