Our Coming Judgment

Those of you who were lucky/unlucky enough to hear me talk tonight (im not sure what everyone thinks, but i hope it's nothing too bad) anyways, I had a meltdown. I am so passionate about Jesus' love for us, I couldn't help but to cry. He is so much to us, and he should be the biggest part of our lives, I just wanted to stress that to everyone. He IS our reason for being. But this is the outline of what my talk was supposed to be about;

Do we live with today in mind? Or tomorrow?

Do we live for eternal gratification?  Or instant satisfaction? 

Are we living like sheep? Or goats?

2 Undeniable truths: one day we will die and one day we will be judged

Matthew 25:31-33, 41,46   Sheep and Goats

When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.....Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels'.....Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.

Sheep (on the right) are going to heaven- these are true believers, people who have a personal relationship with Christ, the sheep are forgiven, therefore they are saved.

Goats (on the left) are going to eternal punishment. Hell. They are those who mocked, ridiculed, reject Jesus, and those who have superficial faith.

We will be judged based on if we are forgiven or not. If we are forgiven we should be living like sheep. Following the shepherd.

Who will be the judge on judgment day?

2 John 5:22

Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son,

This verse tells us that God has appointed Jesus to be the judge. How perfect, he gets to choose who will live forever. When Jesus Christ died for our sins, he suffered through hell. (He descended into hell- its in the apostles creed.) I think he knows who should go there. We all deserve it because we are sinners, but that's why a relationship with him is so important.

Will all the goats go to hell?

1 Peter 4:18

If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?

Without Christ, the Bible says no one can be truly saved from the punishment for his sins, hell. With man's own efforts salvation is impossible, but with God everything is possible.

With God- Possible          Without God- Impossible

If you're not living FOR God today, why would he want you to live WITH him tomorrow?

What does the Bible say hell will look like?

(2 Peter refers to hell as a gloomy dungeon.)

Matthew 8:12

But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be  weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Revelation- the lake of fire, fiery lake of burning sulfur

Also, in Revelations it talks about the lake of fire being the “second death”

            Revelation 21:8

 

After we physically die (our first death) our hell would be a spiritual place since our bodies are not physically thee.

            The lake of fire is the future hell. It is the second death that will come after our judgment; after we are separated like the goats and sheep in Matthew 25. This hell will be a physical hell.

1^st death – spiritual hell  

2^nd death- physical and spiritual hell, for eternity

How do we go from a spiritual hell to a physical hell?

            John 5:28-30

Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out- those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.

 

Jesus will rise everyone’s physical bodies up from the grave- everyone, forgiven or not, will be given a resurrected body. From there we are judged. The forgiven (sheep) will live and the goats will be condemned.

Rev. Tom Brown puts this hell into perspective for us: “today hell is like a jail (spiritual only). In the future, the jail will be thrown into security prison- the lake of fire (spiritual and physical).

Can we, or how can we, be saved from hell?

            Luke 23:42-43 (One of the criminals being crucified next to Jesus)

Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."

 

Jesus thought anyone who truly repented could be saved. So the only way to eternal life is through the blood of Jesus Christ that was spilled through his physical death when he was crucified. We are to repent for our sins and ask his forgiveness.

Ephesians 2:1.8.13.18

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins....For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith....But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ....For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

We are spiritually dead from our sins and are condemned to death, but in Jesus we have life again.

            Look back at Matthew 25:41:

Hell was not meant for us. He chose us to be with him, and He gives us the free will to choose him back. 

We call ourselves Christians, we claim to have Jesus in our hearts; then why don’t we take his word more seriously?

He has threatened us with hell as punishment if we reject him. Why do we reject him? Do we think he will back down on his word? God follows through with his promises! If we lift him up he wont let us down!

-          Internal and external change (when you accept Jesus)

Make sure if you’ve been calling yourself a Christian; make sure you share those changes with others. We are called to be servants to our neighbors. We should be reaching out to save everyone. Hell is a place that was not meant for us, let’s make sure we don’t go there.

Some non-believers think they will have to give up so much to get so little, or they will have to work too hard at it. They are so wrong.

If you accept a life with Jesus he will do the changing. And it’s a changing for the better.

What a Life with Christ looks like or means for us?

            When we have a life in Christ we are looking at persecution for our beliefs and trials to make us strong, but we also have faith and a life of meaning. We have faith knowing that Christ will always have our backs. We have faith knowing that our lives are not meaningless. We have a creator that loves us. He can give us a life of gratification. When we fall into our temptations we only get instant satisfaction, we will always be looking to the next thing we can get. It’s a sad, lonely, meaningless life.

         Psalm 18:46-50   -----look up

            Psalm 37:27-28   -----look up

No one said being a Christian was easy, or that it made life easy. You still have problems, you still go through rough patches, but it lets face it; without God you have nothing. Nothing to look forward to, no one to lean on. With God, you know that there is a bigger picture that we cannot see; you know that he is always with you.

If being a Christian made life perfect, everyone would be a Christian, because everyone wants the easy way out.

He is a God of promises and he stands by those promises. He is our shield, our savior, our guiding light.

Remember: if you live for today, you’re living for instant satisfaction, if you live for tomorrow, you’re living for eternal gratification.