Let's turn back to John chapter
5, and if God, the Holy Spirit, will enable me, I want to pick
up right where I left off this morning and talk to you about
the day of judgment. John chapter 5, verse 22. The Father judgeth no man. but hath committed all judgment
unto the son verse 27 and hath given him authority to execute
judgment also because he is the son of man marvel not at this
for the hour is coming into which all that are in the graves shall
hear his voice and shall come forth all that are in the graves
they that have done good unto the resurrection of life and
they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation
and let me ask you to give serious Honest thought to this question,
what we have just read, does that terrify you or comfort you? Is that something you anticipate
with joy or dread with horror? Of this, you can be sure. We
shall all receive from the Lord God in the day of judgment exactly
what we deserve. Those who have done good shall
come forth from the grave unto the resurrection of life. Those
who have done evil shall come forth from the grave unto the
resurrection of damnation. Have you done good or have you
done evil? What does God say? The righteous
Lord loves righteousness. He always deals with all moral
creatures in strict righteousness, both in the execution of his
judgment and in the glorious gift of eternal life. He always
deals with men in strict righteousness, justice, and truth. The judge
of all the earth shall do right. Now, this is what that means.
If God sends you to hell, and he will send some folks to hell,
if God sends you to hell, he will do so on the grounds of
absolute, unquestionable, undeniable righteousness. If he is pleased
to bring you into the bliss and glory of heaven, he will do so
on the grounds of absolute, undeniable, demonstrated, strict righteousness. The holy Lord God will never
violate his law. He will never bend his law. He
will never compromise his justice. And when he gets done, when he
gets done, When the day of judgment is over and everything appointed
from eternity has been finished and time shall be no more, then
every creature in heaven, earth, and hell will declare, even so,
Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments. Every creature in heaven, every
creature in earth, every creature in hell, every man, every woman,
every angel, every demon shall declare, even so, Lord God Almighty,
true and righteous are thy judgments. Me and today, dare set themselves
up as judges of God and dare to assert that God does things
that are not right. They dare to assert that God
will one day have to answer for the things that he has done or
things that he has allowed to be done. There is a day coming
when the mouth of all rebels shall be stopped. And every creature
in heaven and in hell will confess. Even so, Lord God Almighty, true
and righteous are thy judgments. Turn to Revelation chapter 20.
Here we have a corresponding statement given by this same
Apostle John who records our Lord's words in our text. Revelation
20, verse 11. John's talking to us now about
that day when all that are in the grave shall stand before
God in judgment. I saw a great white throne, and
him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven
fled away, and there was found no place for them. And I saw
the dead, small and great, stand before God. and the books were
opened and another book was opened which is the book of life and
the dead were judged out of those things which are written in the
books according to their works notice how often this is stated
according to their works God's going to judge every man according
to their works exactly according to strict justice And the sea
gave up the dead which were in it. And death and hell delivered
up the dead which were in them. And they were judged every man
according to their works. And death and hell were cast
into the lake of fire. This is the second death. Now
if you back up to verse six, you'll see that John by inspiration,
gave us a little anticipation for what he was about to say.
He says, blessed and holy are they which have part in the first
resurrection. On such, the second death has
no power. And then he speaks of these being
cast into hell and says, this is the second death. If you have
already been raised with Christ from death to life, you've got
nothing to fear from this. This is the second death. And
whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast
into the lake of fire. Here, God, the Holy Spirit described
this awesome great day. the day of judgment, this glorious
throne before which judgment is set, before which we must
appear in that day with these words, a great white throne. Great, because it's the throne
of the omnipotent God. White, because it is a throne
of unquestioned, unquestionable Undeniable purity. Absolutely spotless. Absolutely undeniable. He is just. Let men say what
they will. No word shall be brought at last
against him. It will be known by all creatures
and all creation. God is right. God is just. The Lord of hosts is righteous
in all his ways and true in all his works. And it's called a
throne. Because it is that upon which
is seated the great king. and sovereign monarch of the
universe, whose will is always executed. In the last day, when
time shall be no more, we must appear before this august great
white throne to be judged of God according to our works. And we will, on the basis of
our works, receive exactly that which the strict, unbending righteousness,
justice, and truth of God demands we shall receive. I've stressed
that. Yet all the while, the word of
God that constantly warns the unbelieving and the wicked of
this day, this day of judgment, that God stamped on your conscience
in creation. Try to forget it if you can.
Go ahead. Just go ahead. Shut it out of your mind. You
won't go to sleep tonight for thinking about it until the wee
hours of the morning because you can't shut it out of your
mind. It's stamped on your conscience. You can't erase it. God won't
allow it. that thing that terrifies the
unbelieving in the word of God is never spoken of not one time
in a way of fear or dread or terror by any believing sinner oh my soul how can that be read
the psalmist, read how David speaks of it he sings about it
Job anticipated it. The Apostle Paul, turn over 1
Corinthians chapter 4. 1 Corinthians chapter 4, let
me show you something. On this earth, God's saints are
always misjudged and misrepresented, maligned and slandered by reprobate
men. But there's a day coming when
God Almighty will vindicate himself, vindicate his people, and vindicate
his servants according to strict justice. The Apostle Paul here
in 1 Corinthians writes to these Corinthian believers who had
some folks among them that didn't really like him much. Every time
they got a chance to, they'd say something to kind of chop
away at his legs, you know, knock his feet out from under him,
try to bring him down in the eyes of other people, try to
make him look to be something less than honest and honorable.
And this is what Paul says, with me, verse three, it is a very
small thing that I be judged of you. I can't tell you how
many times in recent years I have signed letters with first Corinthians
chapter four, verse three. Go look it up. I get letters
from folks and get emails from folks, and they're just cussing
me a blue streak. You know, I've done this, you
did that, you say this, you say that. And I respond by just signing
my name. Thank you for writing. First
Corinthians chapter four, verse three. That's all. Well, you
cocky, arrogant thing. Call it what you will, I'm confident
of this. Your judgment doesn't matter a hill of beans, nor does
mine. It's a very small thing that
I should be judged of you or of man's judgment. Yea, I judge
not mine own self, for I know nothing by myself. Yet am I not
thereby justified. I'm not even making any pretense
that this justifies me or anything I say or do. But he that judgeth
me is the Lord. Therefore, judge nothing before
the time. God teach me to practice this.
Don't judge anything for the time. Don't presume you know
anything until God makes all things manifest, especially about
somebody else. Until the Lord come. Who both
will bring to light the hidden things of darkness. And will
make manifest the counsels of the heart. And then every man's going to
have just what he deserves. Every man shall have his praise
of God. I'm either an absolute liar and
a deceiver, or I'm telling you the truth. And that's for you
to decide. I don't dread this day. Oh no. I look forward to this
day with great joy and anticipation. This day of judgment. If, as
a believer, you who are saved by God's free and sovereign grace,
trusting the sin-atoning blood and perfect righteousness of
Christ the Redeemer, if you understand what this book teaches concerning
those things, You have no reason to dread the Day of Judgment. No reason to fear. No reason
to be in the least bit hesitant or reluctant concerning it. Let
me show you four or five things this evening concerning this
Day of Judgment. First, understand this gospel revelation. The Lord
Jesus Christ is coming again. Revelation 1, verse 7, He cometh. I love that declaration
of our Lord's coming. Behold, he cometh. Not he is going to come, not
someday he will come. Behold, he cometh. The Lord Jesus,
two days ago, left his bride on this earth. And he is now
coming for his bride again. Behold, he cometh. That means,
David, he's on his way to get us. He's on his way. Well, he's
taking his time by getting here. Just two days. Just two days. My soul, I've been going home
a lot longer than that for my wife, and she never suspected
I wasn't coming back. Behold, he cometh. Well, brother
John has been gone for 2,000 years. 1,000 years with him?
Just a day. Just a day. He's not constrained
by time. He's not pressed by time. He
doesn't get in a hurry. He's not in a tizzy. Everything's
exactly as he ordained. Behold, he cometh, and every
eye shall see him. The two men standing who received
him up into glory, those holy angels said, this Saint Jesus
you've seen taken up from you, he's coming again. Behold, he
cometh. The Lord Jesus, that man who
was born at Bethlehem, who lived in righteousness as our representative
and died as our substitute at Calvary, he is coming again. He said, I will come again. Paul
said the Lord himself shall descend from heaven. He said again, the
Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven. Turn to Job chapter
19. Look at this statement by Job.
Every time I think about our Lord's second coming, I try to
remember two men in particular. Enoch, back in his day, this
is before the flood. Before the flood, he prophesied
that the Lord's coming with 10,000 of his saints. Enoch did. Those
fellows knew something. Here's Job, who lived somewhere
between the days of Enoch and the days of Abraham, probably.
writing the first book to be written of inspiration. He says
in chapter 19, verse 25, I know that my Redeemer liveth and that
he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. And though
after my skin, worms destroy this body, you must stick me
in the ground. And these fellows he's talking
to were anxious to get it done right now. You're going to stick
me in the ground where I'm going to eat my flesh. Yet in my flesh
shall I see God, whom I shall see for myself. Mine eyes shall
behold and not another, though my reigns be consumed within
me. The second coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ is spoken of as the coming of a thief in the
night. when men least expect him to
come, he's coming. It's spoken of as the coming
of one that comes suddenly, unexpected, climactically. But that's speaking
of his coming with reference to the ungodly, to the unbelieving
and the unfaithful, not with reference to his own people.
God's people are spoken of as those who are taught to look
for him, to anticipate him, to expect him. We're waiting for
his coming. We're looking for his coming,
for the blessed hope of the glorious God, of the great God and our
Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. We are standing on the tiptoe
of faith, expecting him. Oh God, teach us to do that.
Every day when you wake up, every day when you wake up, oh, the
Lord's coming. All through the day, the Lord's
coming. What matters then? Who's in the
White House or who's not? What matters then? What's going
on in this world? What matters? What the cost of
tea is in China? The Lord's coming. He's coming. He's coming for his own. No man
knows the day or the hour and We are not to look for signs
of His coming. I could spend a good bit of time
here. I won't, but I could. We live in this foolish religious
generation. I guess every religious generation
has its own folly. But all of my life as a believer,
Folks have been writing books about prophecy and they've been
having prophecy conferences and prophecy seminars. If it wasn't
for prophecy, folks wouldn't go to church at all. They're
looking for the regathering of Israel. Oh, this might be it. Somebody mentioned tonight, one
of you fellows said that Israel had been accused of breaking
or committing war crimes. Now, they wouldn't fight in fair,
they say. This might be it. The whole world's turning on
Israel. This might be it. Boy, the Arabs are raising the
price of oil again. This might be it. This might
be it. You remember the Y2K scare? The whole world going crazy.
Oh, All the computers are going to mess up. And folks spent millions
of dollars preparing for something that never happened. Millions
of dollars. Millions. I was sitting on an
airplane back before 2000 arrived. I was sitting on an airplane,
went down and fell out of Dallas. Delta Airlines had hired him,
his company. They were down there at the main
headquarters at Delta revamping their whole computer system.
He said, it is huge. He said, it is huge. Now, this
is an unbelieving infidel who happens to have a little knowledge
about computers. And I talked to him about it. I said, what
do you think about it? He said, a whole lot of hoopla about nothing,
but we're making good money on it. And preachers were doing
the same thing. I know some who wrote books about
it, sold a bunch of them. And when it didn't happen, the
Lord didn't come, the world didn't come to an end, you know, they
came back to the same fools the next year and sold them more
books about another thing. Because folks are looking for signs.
Never once does God tell His people to look for signs of the
Lord's coming. They tell us to look for Him
coming. Looking for Him, we shall not
be frustrated. Looking for Him, we shall not
be disappointed. Now, here's the second thing.
When Christ comes, we're told in John chapter 5 and again in
Revelation chapter 20, that there will be a great general resurrection,
a resurrection both unto life and unto damnation, a resurrection
of the righteous and the wicked, a resurrection of all those who
sleep in the graves. Now, if you have one of those
Bibles that's been messed with, one of Mr. Schofield's Bibles,
you will have notations all over John chapter 5, verses 25 through
29 and Revelation chapter 20. And the notes at the foot of
the Bible will more than likely take up more space than the page
on which the text is written, because they're trying to explain
away what's plainly stated. Now, this doesn't mean that there's
going to be a general resurrection. Actually, there's going to be
two resurrections separated by a thousand years, during which
there's going to be the millennial age, and all that nonsense men
have invented. No, our Lord says, in this day,
in this day, one day, All that are in the graves are going to
hear his voice. Look at it. John chapter 5 verse 28. Marvel not at this. The hour
is coming in the which all that are in the graves shall hear
his voice. I said day, forgive me, hour. The hour is coming. All this
is going to take place quickly. And shall come forth They that
have done good under the resurrection of life. They that have done
evil under the resurrection of damnation revelation 20 verse
13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it And death and
hail delivered up the dead which were in them and they were judged
every man according to their works This I perceive and I may
stand to be corrected, they'll be all right. I perceive this
to be the order of things. Now, I don't, it doesn't, it
really doesn't matter to me if the order is exactly opposite,
it'll be all right. But this is what I perceive best I can
gather from scripture. In that hour, all who have died
in faith, when Christ comes from heaven,
when he appears in glory, All of those Old Testament saints,
all of those martyrs, all of our friends who've gone before
us, all those who sleep in the earth, that is, their bodies
sleep in the dust of the earth, all of God's saints in days gone
by, all of them shall suddenly rise from the dead. Oh, brother
Don, you don't really believe that stuff, do you? I believe
it. Oh, I can't tell you. I don't
just believe it, I rejoice in it. And they shall have priority. They shall have priority. They
shall rise first. That doesn't mean that there's
going to be a thousand years between their resurrection and
ours. No, no, no. But as they rise, then immediately
after those sleeping saints rise, we too shall be changed. Turn
to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. All of God's saints living on
the earth will be changed and caught up to meet the Lord in
the air. First Corinthians 1551. Behold, I show you a mystery.
We shall not all sleep. I've got a lot of friends whose
bodies sleep in the earth. You do, too. But we're not all going to sleep.
We're not we're not all going to fold up this vesture. We're
not all going to finish our course. We're not all going to finish
our race before Christ comes again. Some of God's elect will
still be living on the earth. We shall not all sleep, but that doesn't mean we're going
to be left out. We shall all be changed. Look
at it in a moment. Look at it again in the twinkling
of an eye. at the last trump for the trumpet
shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and there's
not even a pause and we shall be changed this corruptible shall
put on incorruption this mortal shall put on immortality death
will be swallowed up in victory and we will meet the Lord in
the air as our Lord descends from heaven and he calls up from
the dead all who have slept in him all these years all who slept
went to sleep this morning he calls them from the grave and
from the tomb and they immediately are resurrected just that quick
we shall be changed and we'll go out to meet the Lord And he
will come with 10,000 of his saints. He will come with all
his elect, all of them. You remember when Paul came to
Jerusalem, I think it was, no, came to Rome. The brethren at
Rome came out to meet him and then went back with him. That's
the picture. The Lord's coming. All the saints
will be called up from the grave, and we which are alive and remain
shall be changed. We'll go up and meet him there. And as that
happens, we will come with him to the earth. The new Jerusalem,
the heavenly Jerusalem, a bride prepared and adorned for her
marriage shall come with him. And then a third thing shall
happen. All the dead shall be raised. Yes. you too shall be
raised who do not know our Redeemer. As he comes to consume the earth
and make all things new and set in judgment, all his saints shall
come with him and the dead shall be raised. Body and soul shall
be joined together. And that brings me to the third
thing. In that day, there'll be a time of reckoning. Turn
to 2 Corinthians chapter 5. Oh, for you who are without righteousness, without mercy, and without grace,
who die without hope, who die without Christ, who die in your
sins. For you, there'll be no music
in that day. No brightness, no joy, no anticipation, but only
terror. For we must all appear before
the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone may receive the
things done in his body according to that he hath done, whether
it be good or bad. Knowing, therefore, the terror
of the Lord, we persuade me. Persuade you now, be reconciled
to God. Persuade you now, quit fighting
against God. Persuade you now, quit your rebellion. Bow to the Son of God. Trust
the Savior. You're going to meet Him in judgment.
You're going to stand before Him in judgment. The judge in
that day will be Christ Himself because He is the Son of Man. The Father judgeth no man but
hath committed all judgment unto the Son and he will judge us we read
in Revelation 20 out of the books the books shall be opened that
means that we will be judged according to the record of God's
strict justice When the Lord God, our Savior,
sets on the throne and starts to open the books, what shrieks of horror will commence? What terror will seize your soul? No, God doesn't. have to keep
record books, he's omniscient. There is an allusion here to
the statue books in a court of law where records are kept. In that day, every crime, every
offense, every sin shall be made manifest. You know, all that you have almost convinced
yourself is hidden. And I got by. All that you've almost convinced
yourself, it's been long enough now, it's not going to come out.
It'll save you. Keep tucked away in the deep,
dark recesses of your heart crusted over with the filth of your flesh
that you dare not stir to memory. Going to be open. Open as they
are now to the eyes of him with whom we have to do. to your keenly
awakened conscience opened to expose you to all God's creation
as the sinner you are worthy of hell. Worthy of hell. Worthy of hell. You won't go
to hell if you ain't worthy of hell. It won't happen. It won't happen. If you're not
worthy you'll not perish. But blessed be God, there's another
book. A book. Merle, it's called the
Book of Life. Another book. A book. At the head of the book, there's
one name. It's called the Lamb. It's the Lamb's Book of Life.
And some of these folks are going to be judged out of that book
exactly according to their works. Exactly according to their works.
Turn to Jeremiah 50 verse 20. in those days and at that time
saith the Lord in those days at that time says Jehovah the
iniquity of Israel my chosen shall be sought for God Almighty opens the books
Here stands Don Fortner. I know him. Shut up. I'm not
interested in you. I knew him. Not interested in you. Well,
I know what he did. I don't have any interest in
you. You see, the one sitting on the throne as the judge is
the one person in the universe who knows the truth of the record
because he put away my sins. He took my sins and made them
His own. And He satisfied the justice
of God for my sins. And having died under the wrath
of God in my room and in my stead, He put away my sins and they
are no more. And He sits on the judgment throne
and let hell bark all it will. And let men say what they will.
Let men accuse as they will. Let Don Fortner himself accuse
as he will. there shall be none. None. None. None. Did you get it? None. You mean
when the triune Jehovah in the person of the Judge Christ Jesus
the Lord, the omniscient God in that day looks for my sins
and my iniquities, he will find none. Well, let's see if that's
what it says. The iniquity of Israel shall
be sought for, and there shall be none. That's what it said. That's what it said. And the
sins of Judah, they shall not be found. How
come? For I will pardon them whom I
reserve. You see, this book of life is
the record of divine election. It's the record of a perfect
purity. It is a record of perfect righteousness,
perfect obedience, a record of complete satisfaction. It records
God's promise of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, made
in his son before the world was. It records the name of one whose
name is Jehovah, the Lord, our righteousness. And, you know,
Bob, that's the only name it records. That's the only name
in that book. That's the only name in that
book. Let me show you. Jeremiah 23, verse six. Jeremiah 23 verse 6. You see God's elect all have
a new name given them. A name that no man can receive
except they whose names are in the book of life. A name that
no man can understand and no man can speak except they who
are born of God. Jeremiah 23 verse 6. In his days
Judah shall be saved. Israel shall dwell safely and
this is his name whereby he shall be called the Lord our righteousness
Turn over chapter 33 verse 16 Almost the exact same words in
those days shall Judah be saved and Jerusalem shall dwell safely
and this is the name of wherewith she Israel and Judah who shall be
saved this name wherewith she shall be called the Lord our
righteousness now sometimes people you'll hear them tell
you about a day coming when God's going to judge his people. He judged our sins at Calvary,
but you're going to have to answer to God. You're going to have
to answer to God for everything you've done since he saved you. That ain't nothing on this earth
but a Protestant form of purgatory. And it's a lie that's exposed
as plainly in this book for a lie as it can possibly be. The only
reason men teach this lie is because they think that God's
people have to be motivated like they do or like they are by rewards
or the threat of punishment. God judged our sins at Calvary
and they are no more. Somebody said, well, that was
all of our sins before we were saved. They were all judged at
Calvary. They were all judged at Calvary.
The Lord Jesus put away our sins. They are no more. He made us
as he was made sin for us, made us the righteousness of God in
him. And we stand before God, every
sinner who trusts Christ. Every sinner who believes on
the Son of God stands before God as Christ himself, perfectly
righteous. And God says, likewise reckon
ye also yourselves to be dead indeed under sin, but alive under
God. That's how God reckons us, Bobby.
I reckon that's how we ought to reckon ourselves. free, righteous, perfect, because
Christ is made of God and to us wisdom and righteousness and
sanctification and redemption. A fourth thing, and I'll wrap
this up. Those who are found perfectly
righteous, righteous according to the record of God himself,
shall enter into the eternal life. and inherit everlasting
glory with Christ the wicked nothing awaits you but damnation
but for the righteous nothing awaits us but the perfection
of glory that's all that's all The Lord
Jesus will present us holy, unblameable, unreprovable, without spot, without
wrinkle before the Father. When judgment is over, all the
books are closed. This is how the scriptures present
it in 1 Corinthians 15. The Savior will turn from the
judgment seat, holding his people as it were in his hands, and
as the servant who said, I will not go out free because I love
my wife, and I love my master, and I love my children. He said,
bore my ear through. I'll take care of them. And he will present all the host
of God's elect, saying, lo, I and the children whom thou hast given
me. Then cometh the end, and God
shall be all in all. The Father is determined that
all men honor the Son as they honor the Father. Therefore He
committed all judgment to the Son, gave Him authority to execute
that judgment. And it shall be done exactly
as it is written in this book, in strict justice, in perfect
righteousness. Amen.