I’m going to give you a test this morning. I’m going to present facts regarding an historical figure from the back in the 1700s, and then I’m going to ask you who I have described: He was a brilliant general who won several battles for his nation, but over time, this general became angry about how he felt he was being treated. Money was tight, and he’d been passed over several times for promotion. Then he hurt his left leg in a battle at place called Saratoga. Because of the leg wound, it was possible that his military career was ended. He became bitter and resentful and he switched sides, betrayed his country, and began fighting for the enemy. The enemy entrusted this general with 1600 troops to attack and destroy one of the major cities of the day… a placed called Richmond, Virginia. To this day, this general’s name is a by-word for betrayal and treachery. Does anyone know the name of this general?
That’s right: Benedict Arnold.
Remember - Arnold had destroyed the city of Richmond, Virginia; and during the American Revolution, a Virginian was asked what they’d do if they ever caught Benedict Arnold. He replied that they would cut off his left leg (that had been damaged at Saratoga) and bury it with full military honors.
The rest of him… they would hang. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GR46G-pwszI)
As you can imagine, THAT final judgment appealed to a lot of American colonists. Benedict Arnold had betrayed his nation out of bitterness and pride and they felt he deserved to be properly punished. Ultimately, he found that no one wanted him around - the American’s didn’t want him, and the British didn’t trust him, and he was buried… in forgotten grave. One historian - while hunting for his burial place, found it hidden behind some rubble – with lettering painted on the concrete wall of the crypt. (https://theviewfromchelsea.com/2020/09/27/benedict-arnold-an-american-patriot-in-london/)
Final Judgment appeals to us, that’s why the last of our favorite verses is all about judgment: 2 Corinthians 5:10 says “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.”
People like the idea of judgment - not for themselves, mind you - but they find satisfaction that bad people will pay a price. One person noted that God wouldn’t be a righteous God if there was NOT a time when sinners would finally be punished. Mass murderers, rapists, child molesters, crooked politicians… and the list goes on and on and on. Our very essence cries out that there needs to be a day of judgment. Because if there isn’t day of judgment, God could not be a righteous God.
And the Bible repeatedly tells us… there is going to come a day when everyone will appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil
Over and over again, the Bible drives that point home: Romans talks of people who are “filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.” Romans 1:29-31
And then Paul writes: “Because of your hard and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed…. on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.” Romans 2:5, 16.
John wrote: I saw the dead - great and small - standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. 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. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” Revelation 20:12-15
Daniel 12:2 sums it up with these words: “Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.”
There will be a day of judgement because God IS a righteous God. And it’s so much a part of our message that nearly 80% of American’s believe “we will all be called before God at the Judgment Day to answer for our sins.”
Peter declared “(Jesus) commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name." Acts 10:42-43
This is our message… there is coming a time of judgment.
The intriguing thing is, lots of people think they’ll get a pass because of their good deeds. They won’t have to stand in judgment because they’re nice folks.
ILLUS: According to a study done in 2007, roughly 1/2 of Americans believe they will go to heaven if they are “generally good” or “do enough good things,” while only 1/3 believe salvation is obtained only by accepting Jesus Christ.
Now, there’s a reason for that! And the reason is – this thinking is baked into our thinking. As an example, I’m going to recite a few common American phrases and you see if you can complete them: “We make money the old fashioned way, we... (earn it)”; “There is no such thing as a free... (lunch)”; “There is no gain without... (pain)”; “God helps those who... (help themselves).”
Everything about the American life teaches us a simple truth: you get what you earn. You get what you work for. You get what you pay for. And, there’s nothing wrong with that. That should be the American way. We should be responsible individuals who work to take care of our families and contribute to society.
But, the problem is - many people believe they can think about God (and their relationship to Him) the same way they think about their paychecks or to their possessions. I should do good things and then get what I pay for… I should earn my salvation. (modified illustration by James Merritt “What’s So Amazing about Grace?”).
Because, if you PAY for your salvation, you won’t have to face judgement .
But – the problem is - that won’t work. In the days of Jesus, there was a group of men called the Pharisees (Jesus despised them for the self-righteousness and hypocrisy, but they were known to be very meticulous in making sure they did everything right! They felt (because of their righteousness) that they were a shoe-in to live with God. And Jesus used the Pharisees as a measuring stick of righteousness. Jesus said: “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:20
In other words – the Pharisees were seen as being very righteous people but even THEIR righteousness wasn’t enough to gain heaven. That’s another way of saying – you can’t be good enough to be good enough to get into heaven. All of us - you and me) have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. None of us is righteous… no not even one (that’s what Romans tells us). And Ephesians 2:3 tells us that (before we became Christians) we “were by nature children of wrath (we deserved God’s WRATH) like the rest of mankind.”
And instinctively, we all know that anyway. There are times when the best of us CRINGE when we remember the bad words and bad thoughts and bad deeds we’ve done. The guilt and shame of those things can sweep over us like a flood and we tend to say things like “I hate myself!” When that happens we begin to question whether we’re really all that nice.
That’s why so many people are driven to try to PAY OFF bad deeds with good deeds. I’ve often used scales to explain this (I brought a large scales I bought years ago and placed it on the Communion Table, along with a box of crayons and two metal candlestick holders). Folks tend to see life like a scales. (I reached into the crayon box and pulled a few crayons) These crayons represent the bad thoughts and deeds and words that people have in their lives (I put the crayons on one side of the scales). As you can see, the scales are suddenly out of balance and folks see the evil of their lives as being uncomfortable.
So what do you do if you life is out of balance because bad things we’ve done? Well, you put some good deeds on the other side of the scales (I put more crayons on the “good side” to balance the scales. And that works for a while, but sometimes (placing a candlestick on one side of the scales) people do such an evil thing in their lives that they pull things way out of balance. When Jesus was on the earth, He spent most of His time with the folks who had seriously put their lives out of balance – the prostitutes, tax collectors, and “sinners”. These people really realized what a mess they’d made of things and Jesus’ message deeply appealed to them.
To fix this major mess in their lives, folks tend to work harder to do more and more good deeds (I placed the other candle stick on the other side of the scales). And they hope this huge outpouring of righteousness will bring balance to their lives again. But there are a few problems with this theology of the scales.
1) There’s no scoreboard. If you go to a football or basketball game, there’s a scoreboard on the wall that helps you keep track of what the score is… but there’s no scoreboard to tell you if you’ve done enough good to balance out the bad of your life. That’s why – when many people are asked if they believe they’re going to heaven – respond by saying “I hope so.” They don’t know if they’ve done enough to put their lives back in balance and earn a place in heaven. There’s no scoreboard.
2) Notice, adding weight to the “good side” of the scales doesn’t remove the bad stuff from the scales. All the weight of our past sins are still there. Eventually, there’s no room. The scales are only built to handle so much weight.
3) And if too much weight is added to the scales (I had removed the nut that held the scales to the balance beam and pushed the scales off the beam allowing the scales to crash to the table), and ultimately the scales break. People’s lives fall apart and they give up hope of ever being able to undo the damage of their past.
(I put the scales back together). It's a mess. But God says, let me fix that for you. Let me TAKE weight off your scales and put your life back together the way it should be (I took the weight from the “bad” side of the scales).
In Revelation 20:12-15 John writes “I saw the dead - great and small - standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. … And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”
There’s a book of life???? If my name is in that book, then I don’t have to face judgment? How do I get into the book of life? Well, Peter declared “(Jesus) commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives FORGIVENESS of sins through his name.” Acts 10:42-43
When we belong to Jesus, we receive forgiveness of our sins. God removes the bad stuff from our lives and we are freed from the guilt and shame they could bring. All that’s left on the scales are the good deeds of our lives – and God loves good deeds, He just wants us to understand that those good deeds can’t save us. The only thing that can save us is God’s forgiveness of our sins when we believe, repent of our sins, confess Jesus as our Lord and allow ourselves to be buried in the waters of baptism.
God’s forgiveness is the only thing that will save us. Because without it we face judgement.
CLOSE: Many years there was a typical Sunday Evening Worship service at a certain church. It was just like any other Evening worship in 1000s of churches across the land – a few faithful folk showed up, but not many. Songs were sung, the sermon was preached, and a closing prayer, and the people made their way out to the parking lot. What met their eyes as they walked out the church door shocked them – the parking lot was full of cars with more cars coming down the road. People were on their knees in tears and prayers, earnestly imploring for God to save them. The crowded parking lot was full of members and non-members, and the hardy band of Sunday Night worshippers stood in amazement wondering what had happened.
Why was this happening? Well, the date was October 30, 1938 and the people crowding the parking lot had just heard Orson Wells’ broadcast of the “War of the Worlds” – totally unaware that it was NOT a news broadcast. They came to plead with God on their knees because they felt the world was being invaded by an unstoppable conqueror. They thought that - if only God would forgive them… maybe He’d spare them from destruction.
Of course, there were no Martians, that was all just pretend. But the day will come when the real conqueror will come – Jesus coming as King of Kings and Lord of Lords and only one thing will save us from a fearful judgment from God. The blood of Jesus Christ. Are you ready?
INVITATION
