Lesson #26
THE JUDGEMENT

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Reading: Matthew25

God must be obeyed

When King David was established on his throne, he decidedto bring the Ark of God from Kirjath-jearim, where it had been for sometime, to his capital city, Jerusalem. A new cart was made, to be pulledby oxen. When all was ready, the priests of God walked beside the ark asit went on its way. But at one point, the oxen stumbled, and a man calledUzzah put out his hand to hold the ark and steady it. Then, we are told,a terrible thing happened:

"God smote him there for his error; and there hedied" (2 Samuel 6: 7)

Why was the punishment so severe, when all that Uzzah haddone was steady the Ark of God? God had said quite plainly in the book ofNumbers that His ark must always be carried by the priests on their shoulders.So either Uzzah did not know God's commandment, or he did not choose toobey it. In either case, he was guilty before God.

This account shows us that God is holy and great, and rightly demands obedience from those who serve Him.\

 

Men who despise God's love

Jesus once told a story about a king who made a marriagefeast for his son. When the feast was ready he sent his servants to callthe guests; but those guests refused to go! They preferred to get on withtheir own everyday affairs rather than to obey the king's summons to thewedding. No wonder the king was angry, and sent his servants to destroythe men who had despised his invitation (Matthew 22:1ñ14).

God is a great King. If He has graciously invited a manor woman to share in the joys of His kingdom on earth, and that person deliberatelysays, "I do not want what God is offering me, and I will not obey Him"- then there will come a time of judgement, and that person will be condemned.As we read in Galatians 6: 7 "God is not mocked: for whatsoevera man soweth, that shall he also reap."

Resurrection and judgement

The Bible teaches us that there will be a day of judgementafter the resurrection. God is loving; but He is also just and upright.As it says in Exodus 34: 7, "(God) will by no means clearthe guilty". He could not give eternal life to men and women whohad despised His love, and who, knowing that Jesus had died for them, madeno effort to serve and obey Him. So Paul tells us:

"We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ" (Romans 14: 10)

"We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad" (2 Corinthians 5: 10)

 

There must be a time of reckoning

Jesus once said to his followers: "Ye call me Masterand Lord: and ye say well; for so I am" (John 13: 13). In New Testamenttimes, if a man bought a slave, he would own that slave totally. The slavecould no longer please himself; he had one task in life - to please hismaster.

Now Jesus bought us with his own blood, when he gave hislife on the cross as a sacrifice for sin. So Paul tells us:

"Ye are not your own. For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify god in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's" (1 Corinthians 6: 19, 20)

This means that we are responsible to the Lord Jesus for the way we live our lives. When he comes again he will reward the faithful, and punish those who have despised his ways.

 

Truth in a parable

To teach his followers about their responsibilities tohim, Jesus told a parable which you will find in Matthew 25: 14-30. Readit now for yourself. Notice verse 21, which tells of the reward of the faithfulservant: "Thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will makethee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."

The man who had not obeyed could expect no such reward.His punishment was severe. Notice verse 30: "Cast ye the unprofitableservant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

The righteous judge

When Jesus comes again, he will raise the dead, and gathertogether those of his followers who are living at that time. There willbe a time of judgement. After the judgement, those who have been acceptedwill be given eternal life, and Jesus will say to them;

"Come, ye blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world" (Matthew 25: 34)

Jesus himself will be the judge (see John 5: 28-34), andwill judge with the wisdom that God has given him. We read in Isaiah 11:

"He shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: but with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth" (Isaiah 11: 3ñ4)

Men can only judge by what they see and hear: but the LordJesus will know the hearts of men, and he will make no mistakes in his judgement.

Who will be at the Judgement Seat?

Those who have been baptised, who have heard God's graciousoffer of life, and knew they should have submitted to it, will be gatheredto the Judgement Seat of Christ.

But they will not be the only ones. There will be men andwomen who lived before the times of Jesus; who had accepted the covanentsof promise to Abraham will be called before Christ's judgement seat to accountfor what they have done about the gospel message, the "pearl ofgreat price". Those who have been unfaithful will be at the JudgementSeat with those who have tried to live up to the example of Jesus' perfectlife. Hebrews 10: 26-27 warns us:

"For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries."

Jesus himself tells us: "Whosoever shall deny mebefore men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven"(Matthew 10:33).

Those who have never known about the true God, and Hisplan of redemption, will not be raised to judgement. You may remember theverses in Psalm 49: 19, 20 which say of such a man:

"He shall go the generation of his fathers; they shall never see light. Man that is in honour, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish."

You will see that the idea of going to heaven when we diesimply will not fit in with these Bible truths.

Joy for those who are accepted

Those who are accepted at the judgement will be given eternallife. Their bodies will never again feel pain or tiredness or any humanweakness, and their minds will never again be tempted to think wrong thoughts.It will be a time of great rejoicing for the faithful. In the Bible it issaid to be like a wedding feast, and we read in Revelation 19: 9 "Blessedare they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb."

When Jesus was with his disciples, sharing his last mealon earth with them before his death, we call it "the last supper",he said to them:

"I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me; that ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel" (Luke 22: 29-30)

When the Kingdom comes, the twelve apostles are to ruleover Israel, which will then be the most important nation on earth. Everydisciple accepted by Jesus will share in the work of ruling the world. Sowe read in Revelation 5: 9, 10 that the faithful saints sung a song, saying:

"Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation: and hast make us unto our God kings and priest: and we shall reign on the earth."

 

What will happen to those who are rejected?

We have seen that those who come before the Judgement Seatof Christ will be divided into two classes. Christ will accept some, andreject others. He will give eternal life to those he accepts. But what willhappen to those who are found unworthy? What will their punishment be? Wedo not know the details but some things are quite certain. First, they willsee how foolish they have been; they will realise what wonderful blessingsthey have thrown away, and this will cause them agony of mind. Jesus saidof such people:

"There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the Kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out." (Luke 13: 28)

Finally, they will be completely destroyed. Jesus likenedthe judgement to a harvest where the good corn is separated from the uselessweeds. The corn is carefully preserved, but the weeds are destroyed in thefarmer's bonfire (Matthew 13: 36-43). Paul taught the same thing very plainly:

"The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heavenwith his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that knownot God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shallbe punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord,and from the glory of his power" (2 Thessalonians 1: 7ñ9)

Love or fear?

There are some passages in the Bible which seem to warnus not to be too confident about our position at the judgement; whereasother scriptures seem to encourage us to be full of confidence. There isno real contradiction. We can have no confidence in ourselves - but we canhave total confidence in the saving power of God. For, as we read in Romans8: 32

"He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?"

Though we may begin by being afraid of God, we shall graduallylearn to love Him and trust Him completely. And so John says:

"Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgmentÖ There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear" (1 John 4: 17, 18)

Summary

1. There will be a judgement day.

2. It will follow the resurrection.

3. All who have accepted the truth of God will be brought to judgement.

4. Those who are accepted at the Judgement Seat will then be given eternal life.

5. Those who are rejected will suffer agonies of mind, and will be destroyed.

Chapter to read: 2 Corinthians5

A good verse to memorize: 2Corinthians 5: 10

"For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad"