Are You Ready To Be Judged?

John 5:19-24 ARE YOU READY TO BE JUDGED ON JUDGMENT DAY?

Many years ago, in a frontier town, a horse bolted and ran away with a wagon carrying a little boy. Seeing the child in danger, a young man risked his life to catch the horse and stop the wagon. The child who was saved grew up to become a lawless man, and one day he stood before a judge to be sentenced for a serous crime.

The prisoner recognized the judge – it was the same man who, years before, had saved his life. So he pled for mercy based on that experience. But the judge silenced the man by saying to him, “Young man, many years ago I was your savior. Today, I am your judge, and in the name of justice, I sentence you to be hanged.”

Many years ago, Christ died on the cross as your Savior. Soon, you will be standing before him on Judgment Day, and he will be your judge. What will Jesus say to you on that day? Are you ready to be judged on Judgement Day? Are you ready for Christ to look deep into your heart, to look at all the details of your life, and decide the eternal destiny of your soul? Are you ready, my friend?

Today we are in the second Sunday of the season of the church year known as the “End Times.” One of the things we focus on during this time of the year is the end of the world, and judgment day. Our goal for this morning is to prepare you for that day. According to the Bible, Judgment Day could come at any moment, and we want you to be ready. In the Bible, Jesus tells us that one day, we will see him do amazing things. In verse 20 of our text for this morning, Jesus says, “For the Father loves the Son, and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these.”

Jesus said this to people who were arguing with him. The leaders of the Jews were upset with Jesus, because he had healed a man on the Sabbath. They didn’t like him. They didn’t like what he did. They didn’t like the attention he was getting. They accused him of being a false teacher, disobeying God the Father in heaven.

Jesus here sets them straight. He’s definitely not separate from the Father – the two of them work together in perfect harmony on everything. Every time Jesus healed a person, even on the Sabbath – he and the Father were working together. “But you haven’t seen anything yet,” Jesus told them. “Some day you’ll see the Father and me working together on something even greater.” And then Jesus went on to tell them about Judgment Day. In verse 21, he talks about how he will someday raise people from the dead. And then, look at verse 22: “Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son.” The Jews at that time thought that on Judgment Day, God the Father would judge the world. But Jesus here tells them that that’s not how it’s going to be. He will be the judge – Jesus – the one they were arguing with – the one they were accusing of being a false teacher. Someday, on Judgment Day – Christ would be the judge.

Do you know why Jesus told them this? He wanted them to realize that their version of religion was wrong. Just honoring God the Father in heaven wasn’t enough, if Christ was going to be the judge someday. They needed to honor not just the Father, but the Son – look at verse 23: “That all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.” Jesus was telling the people that if they really wanted to be prepared for Judgment Day, just honoring God the Father wasn’t good enough. They needed to honor the Son, Jesus Christ, just as they honored the Father. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t be prepared for Judgment Day.

Based on this passage, I would say that our world today is completely unprepared for Judgment Day. Most people in our country do believe that there is some sort of a higher power out there, some sort of God. And most people believe that someday, there will be some sort kind of judgment. But most people do not believe that Jesus Christ is God, and that he will judge the world. Most people, really, want nothing to do with Jesus Christ. He’s too controversial. He’s the one those religious extremists talk about, but not normal Americans.