The Apostles Creed He Will Judge The Living And The Dead

Slide 1. On the third day he arose from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father almighty; from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

LORD'S DAY 19

52. Q. What comfort is it to you that Christ will come to judge the living and the dead?

A. In all my sorrow and persecution I lift up my head and eagerly await as judge from heaven the very same person who before has submitted himself to the judgment of God for my sake, and has removed all the curse from me. He will cast all his and my enemies into everlasting condemnation, but he will take me and all his chosen ones to himself into heavenly joy and glory.

Hell disappeared. And no one noticed. Church historian Martin Marty.

It seems to be out of step with our times.

it is difficult to reconcile hell and the judgment with the love of God.

the punishment of hell does not seem to fit the crime.  As Ryle said "I call on all who profess to believe the Bible, to be on their guard.

Slide 2  Universalism  takes the hell out of forever.

God's intention to "reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven" (Colossians 1:20).

Ryle said: Some do not believe there is any hell at all. They think it impossible there can be such a place. They call it inconsistent with the mercy of God. They say it is too awful an idea to be really true. The devil of course, rejoices in the views of such people. They help his kingdom mightily. They are preaching up his old favorite doctrine, "You shall not surely die."

Some believe there is a hell, but never allow that anybody is going there. All people with them are good. As soon as they die, all were sincere, all meant well, and all, they hope, got to heaven. Alas! what a common delusion this is!

But  Matthew 12:32 the Lord Jesus Christ speaks of the unpardonable sin: "It shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come." In Mark 3:29 it is called an "eternal sin,"

Rev. 20:10 and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

Slide 3 Conditional Immortality;  takes the forever out of hell.

2) Some do not believe that hell is eternal. They tell us it is incredible that a compassionate God will punish people forever. He will surely open the prison doors at last. This also is a mighty help to the devil's cause. They focus on "Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matthew 10:28)

But   "These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life"(Matthew 25:46). (also Daniel 12:1,2 "At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book.2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt."

"If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand,10 he also will drink the wine of God's wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.11 And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, ..Rev 14:9-11

Mark 9:42"Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.43 And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire.44  And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell. 47 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell,48 'where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.'

At the root of the debate is the question of whether hell is fair and just. Sensitive Christians some say cannot believe in eternal, conscious punishment. To us as humans, everlasting punishment is disproportionate to the offense committed. God appears cruel, unjust, sadistic, and vindictive. The purpose of punishment, we are told, is always redemptive. Rehabilitation is the goal of all prison sentences. The concept of a place where there will be endless punishment without any possibility of parole or reform seems unjust.

How can hell be just?

It is actually here at the Judgment Seat of Revelation 20 that we can see how eternal punishment is Just. Jonathon Edwards wrote; "Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained."—Acts 17:31 Christ Jesus will descend in a most magnificent manner from heaven with all the holy angels. The man Christ Jesus is now in the heaven of heavens, or as the Apostle expresses it, "far above all heavens" (Eph 4:10). There He hath been ever since His ascension, being there enthroned in glory in the midst of millions of angels and blessed spirits. But when the time appointed for the Day of Judgment shall have come, notice of it will be given in those happy regions. Christ will descend to the earth, attended with all those heavenly hosts, in a most solemn, awful, and glorious manner. Christ will come with divine majesty: He will come in the glory of the Father, "For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father, with his angels" (Mat 16:27). We can now conceive but little of the holy and awful magnificence in which Christ will appear, as He shall come in the clouds of heaven, or of the glory of His retinue.

 

Slide 4  There will be NO EXCEPTION  From The SOLEMN SUMMONS (Rev20:10-12)

Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them.  And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. 12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne

The People Who Are Called

All Sinners Will Be There      Jonathon Edwards "When the bodies are prepared, the departed souls shall again enter into their bodies and be reunited to them, never more to be separated. The souls of the wicked shall be brought up out of hell, though not out of misery, and shall very unwillingly enter into their bodies, which will be but eternal prisons to them."

All Self-righteous Will Be There   All Self Satisfied Will Be There       All Slow-deciders Will Be There

They intend to be saved one day.  They know they are sinners and are not antagonistic to the Gospel, but they just do not intend to give their hearts to Jesus today.

All Sunday Christians Will Be There     

The Places They Are Called From

And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; Edwards  "THEY SHALL ALL BE BROUGHT TO APPEAR BEFORE CHRIST—the godly being placed on the right hand, the wicked on the left (Mat 25:31-33). The wicked, however unwilling, however full of fear and horror, shall be brought or driven before the Judgment Seat. However they may try to hide themselves—and for this purpose creep into dens and caves of the mountains and cry to the mountains to fall on them and hide them from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb—yet there shall not one escape. To the Judge they must come and stand on the left hand with devils."

Sometimes when a judge issues a summons, the criminal refuses to come. He may disguise himself, flee to another country seeking asylum, or he may even commit suicide to keep from coming to judgment. But on this judgment day, there will be no refusal and no escape.

 

Slide 5 There will be NO EXCUSE Because of THE SECRETS DISPLAYED (Rev 20:12)

12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, 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 books, according to their deeds.

Eccl. 12:14 "For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil"

Slide 6  Romans 2:16 "On the day when God judges what people have kept secret, according to my gospel through Christ Jesus."

Luke 12:1-3 "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.2 Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.3 Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops.

 

Slide 7  There will be NO ESCAPE From THE SOBER VERDICT

13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done.14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.15 And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

 

Slide 8  In The Court of No Appeal  There will be The Fearful Face of the Judge

John 5: 22 The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son 25 "Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.27 And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man.28 Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice29 and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.

Slide 9  In The Court of No Appeal there will be The Fearful Fate of the Lost            Awful   Agonising      Always      Acceptable

Severe             Sad            Sure

Entering hell is easy enough. All that one has to do is neglect Christ, the only one who can save us. Jonathan Edwards gave more consideration to the doctrine of hell than any other theologian. His sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" kept audiences spellbound, stripping from them any objections or excuses they might have had against the doctrine of hell. He made the point that there are some people now living for whom God has more anger than some who are now in hades (he called it hell) who have already died. Therefore, it was only the mercy of God that kept them from plunging into the abyss: There is nothing that keeps wicked men at any one moment out of hell, but the mere pleasure of God. .. There is no want in God's power to cast wicked men into hell at any moment. . . They deserve to be cast into hell, so divine justice never stands in the way. . . They are now the objects of that very same anger and wrath that is expressed in the torments of hell .. yea, God is a great deal more angry with great numbers that are now on the earth, yea doubtless with some who reread this book, who it may be are at ease, than he is with many of those who are now in the flames of hell.

Unconverted men walk over the pit of hell on a rotten covering, and there are innumerable places in this covering so weak that they will not bear their weight, and those places are not seen. . . There is the dreadful pit of the glowing flames of the wrath of God; there is hell's wide gaping mouth open; and you have nothing to stand upon, nor anything to take hold of, there is nothing between you and hell but air; it is only the power and mere pleasure of God that holds you up. .. His wrath burns against you like fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else than to be thrown into the fire. . . You hang by the slender thread, with the flames of divine wrath flashing about it and ready every moment to singe it, and burn it asunder

Ryle: The Reality of Hell There is such a place as hell. Let no one deceive you with vain words. What people do not like, they try hard not to believe. When the Lord Jesus Christ comes to judge the world, He will punish all who are not His disciples with a fearful punishment:

All who are found unrepentant and unbelieving All who have clung to sin All who are stuck to the world All who have set their affections on things below.  All who are without Christ shall come to an awful end. Whosoever is not written in the book of life shall be "cast into the lake of fire." [Rev 20:15] If I never spoke of hell, I should think I had kept back something that was profitable, and should look on myself as an accomplice of the devil. Beware of new and strange doctrines about hell and the eternity of punishment. Beware of manufacturing a God of your own: a God who is all mercy, but not just; a God who is all love, but not holy; a God who has a heaven for everybody, but a hell for none; a God who can allow good and bad to be side by side in time, but will make no distinction between good and bad in eternity. Such a God is an idol of your own.

Slide 10 Settle Out Of Court

Acts 17: 30,31 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent,31 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead."