“Jesus is coming BACK, Judgment”
Hebrews 9:27/Matthew 25
CREDIT: I used Jeff Strite heavily as a source for this sermon. I do not think I improved on his work and can't really figure out what parts in the sermon below are mine and which are his. I share this sermon with hesitation, knowing Jeff did the heavy lifting, but I share it none the less so that you might see how it fits into my sermon series. Thanks Jeff Strite.
Jeff Strite shares this story:
An extremely nervous patient came to his dentist for root canal surgery. He was brought into the examining room and made comfortable in the reclining dental chair. The dentist then injected a numbing agent around the patient’s tooth, and left the room for a few minutes while the medication took hold. When the dentist returned, the patient was standing next to a tray of dental equipment.
“What are you doing by the surgical instruments?" asked the surprised dentist.
Focused on his task, the patient replied, "I’m taking out the ones I don’t like."
When it comes to the teachings in the Bible:
there are people who like to pick and choose
the parts they can keep and
the parts they can throw away.
Most people would like to REMOVE HELL from the Bible:
They don’t want to hear about it
They don’t want to think about it
And they certainly don’t think there is ANY chance they are going to Hell
On the other hand people love to think about HEAVEN:
because Heaven is the cure for all of our fears.
In Heaven there will not be any more death, or sorrow, or tears, or pain.
It will be a place of ETERNAL life and pleasure.
“In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you.
I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” John 14:2-3 (KJV)
Everyone is excited about heaven, but
Very few people want to talk about Hell
And almost nobody seriously thinks they are going to Hell
Hell is real…
11 million copies of the book “Heaven is for Real” were sold
Then there was a movie of the same title made $133 million dollars
But NOBODY would buy a book called “Hell is hot and ready”
Plain and simple:
If Jesus RETURNS before we die, the judgment is next
If Jesus DOES NOT return before we die, the judgment is next
“And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,”
Hebrews 9:27 (NKJV)
At least 4 things will happen at the Judgment:
There will be a trial, a presentation of evidence establishing our guilt and God’s justice in sending people to Hell
There will be no escaping the judgment
there will be no favoritism.
We will ALL give an accounting of their lives, both good and bad..
Rewards and punishments will be issued.
The righteous in Christ will go to heaven and sinners to Hell.
Almost everyone believes at least SOMEBODY ought to go to hell - as long as it’s not them
Mark Twain once said: “I’ll take Heaven for the climate and Hell for society.”
What a foolish misunderstanding
To think that Hell will be a great place to be
At least 5 times in Jesus’ ministry He talked about Hell being a place of
For example, in Matthew 13, Jesus said
“The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Matthew 13:41-42
Weeping and gnashing of teeth, Weeping and gnashing of teeth
It will quite literally be (pause) “Hell”
And you don’t want to go there.
You don’t even want to joke about it.
And “… all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” Romans 3:23
And the “Wages of sin is death” Romans 6:23
Jesus is not pleased with anyone going to Hell:
Many, many, many people believe God has some sick joy in sending people to Hell
Somehow they believe God is looking for people to throw into Hell
Nothing could be farther from the truth…
God is patient with us….
“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9
Those who go to Hell:
Will bring tears to the face of Jesus,
Not joy, not a smile, not satisfaction
Those in Hell will be saying “I’d rather burn in Hell than love God”
It does not sit well with Jesus and should not sit well with US:
that people ignore the “free gift of God” (Romans 6)
How are we managing what God has given us?
What are we doing for God’s Kingdom with what he’s given to us?
Are we advancing God’s Kingdom or building our own Kingdom?
Jesus was nailed to the cross on Calgary for OUR SINs:
Our sins, our rebellion separate us from God
Sins we willfully committed made us enemies of God,
“When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.(X2)” Galatians 5:19-21
Jesus attempted to heal our sin problem by HIs death, burial and resurrection:
“For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, 20 and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.” Colossians 1:19-21 (NKJV)
I said Jesus attempted to heal our relationship:
I say “attempted” to heal
Because we have a part in the process
We have to accept the gift Jesus offers
Without receiving the gift of forgiveness, we have none
Remember Judgement is coming….
“And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,”
Hebrews 9:27 (NKJV)
Those who live like there is no God:
Will soon find out they are wrong
There is a God, and He demands payment for SIN
He is a JUST GOD
Those not washed in the blood of Jesus will be thrown into the fires of Hell
There will be a DAY accounting:
“But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. 11 For it is written:
“As I live, says the Lord,
Every knee shall bow to Me,
And every tongue shall confess to God.”
12 So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.” Romans 14:10-12
Matthew 25 describes the judgement Jesus will bring:
“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.
34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
41 “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:
46 And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
There is a reckoning
Have you ever been to Oklahoma?
When I first moved to Joplin, Missouri
To start school at Ozark Christian College
I would take drives and discover what there was to see
On one of my trips I got on I44 headed west
It was a nice relaxing drive
I was cruising along with the big trucks
Next thing I know I see a sign that says something like this
“Next stop 85 miles, Tulsa, OK
I was on the way to Tulsa,
There was a well marked exit
And I drove right past my off ramp
I had several problems:
I was low on gas
I was headed to Tulsa and didn’t want to go
Oklahoma loves toll roads and I didn’t have any cash to pay
So my truck and I repented:
I drove over the dirt median
Made a quick U-turn
And headed back to Missouri
If I had kept going the way I was going,
I would have ended up where I didn’t want to BE
Many people are in much the same situation:
Headed the wrong way and
In need of a U turn
But in order to get to heaven I have to do it God’s way.
I need to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.
I need to accept the fact that I’m a sinner and I need to repent and change my life.
I need to be willing to allow Jesus to own my life and control my decisions.
I need to be willing to “sign the contract” by being buried in the waters of baptism and rise to walk in newness of life.
And I need to be willing to live my life for Jesus from that day on.
Getting into heaven will happen
because I belong to Jesus, or not all
It comes down to a choice:
Do you believe?
“I am the way, the truth and the life; no man comes unto the Father but by me.” John 14:6
BUT
“If you don’t believe that ‘I am He’ you will die in your sins.” John 8:24
CLOSE: Adrian Rogers once recalled hearing about a nightclub called “The Gates of Hades”. The story goes that a newcomer to the city was looking for this nightclub and he stopped a policeman to ask directions.
It just so happened that there was a church on that same street called “Calvary Church” and when the man asked the policeman for directions, the cop replied:
“If you want to get to the Gates of Hades, you’ll have to go past Calvary.
Hymn “Wherever He Leads I’ll go” is that true???
