Jump Start # 1539

Romans 14:10 “But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.”

  This week, our Jump Starts are taking a look at the theme of God being the judge. One mistake that is so easy to make is to compare our legal system with God’s. They are not the same. Yesterday we noted that God’s law is not open to various interpretations. Today, we will take a look at why God judges us.

I like watching re-runs of Law & Order. My brother, the attorney, reminds me that what actually happens in courtrooms isn’t much like what goes on in the TV show. However, I’ve noticed something that takes place in just about every episode. There is a crime and then someone is arrested. When that person first stands before the judge, he almost always says, “Not guilty.” The show has the police and the prosecutor detailing evidence why the defendant is guilty. His attorney comes up with all kinds of legal maneuvers as to why he isn’t guilty, even declaring insanity if necessary. It’s a battle of the wits to win the decision of the jury. All this makes for great TV show—but it’s not close to what God does with us.

First, God already knows. There is no prosecutor in Heaven who is trying to provide evidence as to why we are guilty. God knows. Hebrews tells us, “there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do” (4:13). The Galatians were told, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.” (6:7). God knows. Jesus stated that the very hairs of your head are numbered. Have you ever thought about that? How many hairs do you think are on your head? A thousand? A million? Five? I wouldn’t know. I couldn’t even guess very well. God knows. God knows things about me that I don’t know.

So, when the Bible tells us that we will be judged by God, it is not a fact finding mission. We stand before the judge and He already knows. He knows the idle words that we have whispered under our breath. He knows the thoughts we have had about others. He knows our motives. He knows what opportunities that we have had given to us. He knows. There is no surprising God. He will not be shocked to learn some dark secret that he have kept all these years. We can hide things. We can keep secrets. We can tell no one, and still, God knows.

When Jesus told the story of the rich man and Lazarus, at their death they were separated into torment or Abraham’s bosom. A judging had already taken place. When Jesus died, He declared to the penitent thief that he would join the Lord in Paradise. It is easily assumed that the other thief went to “the other place” when he died. A separation or a judging had already taken place. This separation seems based upon how one stands with God. The faithful, such as Lazarus, the Lord, the penitent thief were determined to go to a place of comfort. The rich man and the other thief on the cross, were determined to go to a place of punishment. Their choices in life and their relationship with the Lord lead to those separations.

In God’s courtroom, if we could use that expression, there isn’t a jury of our peers. There isn’t a prosecutor who is trying to nail us. There isn’t a defense attorney who is doing everything to get us out of that trouble. It’s not like that. God knows. No jury. No prosecutor. No defense attorneys.

Second, unlike the TV shows, God’s judgment is final. There is no attorney who is going to file an appeal on our behalf. The sentence stands. There is no authority above God. There is no “going to the top.” There is no “Supreme Court” of Heaven. The judgment of God is fair, righteous and final. The foolish talk about sweeting talking your way into Heaven or bribing an angel is spoken by those who do not know the Bible nor understands or respects the position of God. We have a hard time with things being final. There is always “Your boss” that we go up the chain until we get a satisfactory answer. It’s not that way with Heaven. God is not an equal to us. God does not owe us anything, especially forgiveness and salvation. God does not answer to us. God is not paid by us. We need to get those thoughts out of our minds and out of our theology.

Third, there are several judgments of God. We are talking primarily about the final judgment, but God has other, lesser judgments and disciplines all throughout our lives. When the preacher steps on our toes with the Bible, that is a form of judgment. Timothy the preacher was told to reprove and rebuke in his preaching. God’s word is sharp and it cuts through our excuses and laziness. It judges us. The admonition of brethren judges us. It is one way that God gets through to us. These lesser judgments can cause us to make course corrections that will affect the final judgment.

Fourth, unlike TV shows, where the judge is supposed to be impartial, God is for us. God wants to save us. God doesn’t want any to perish. His righteousness will not allow Him to look the other way. However, consider what all God has done for you. First, He has given you today. Another day. Not just another day at school or the salt mines, but another day to live for Him. Another day to draw closer to Him. Another opportunity to be right with Him. Second, God sent Jesus, the best of Heaven. The Lord came because His Father sent Him. He sent Him to save us. We were guilty but God wants us to be saved. Third, He has given us the Bible, which is His will and His heart. He has shown what He wants. He shows us what pleases Him. He has left dozens of footprints from ancient times of those who walked with Him. We can make it, because of the clear way before us. Fourth, He listens to us in prayer. Through prayer, His will comes into our lives. Fifth, God has given us the church and brethren to encourage us, help us, support us and even kick us in the pants when we need it. All these things God has done for us. God is not sitting idle. He does not remain impartial. He has been involved in our lives. He wants us to believe, trust and obey Him. He wants us to spend forever in His home. Our choice. He can not force us. We can’t live like a sinner and die like a saint.

We will all stand before judgment seat of God. It won’t be like TV. It sure makes us think about what we are doing today. It sure makes us think about why we even have a today.

More on God the judge next time.

Roger

Jump Start # 1433

Romans 14:10 “But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.”

  I was out preaching last night, one of my favorite things to do. The topic was, “The Certainty of Judgment.” The Bible, from the Old Testament through the New Testament, tells us of the coming judgment. There’s no getting around that fact. Few things are certain. There is no certain return on your money. The election isn’t certain. In sports, no team is certain to win. Solomon expressed this when he wrote, “the race is not to the swift and the battle is not to the warriors…for time and chance overtake them all.”

There are two possibly three things that are very certain. Jesus is coming. Until Jesus comes first, we will die. We will be judged by God. It’s that last certainty that scares us and we don’t like to think about it. We’d like to just bypass the judgment and go straight to Heaven. We want a divine “get of jail free card.”

There are enough Bible passages that gives us reason to be scared about the judgment. Every idle word spoken will be given an account to God. We will be judged according to the things we have done, whether good or bad. Unless our names are written in the book of life, we will not enter Heaven. That’s enough to make most of us be quiet. But then we add to this that we are judged by God’s word—that perfect standard. The judgment is not a test, written or oral. It’s an accounting of what we have done. Jesus said, “I  was hungry and you fed Me. I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink.” He didn’t say, “Name the apostles.” He didn’t say, “Tell me the books of the Bible in order.” It is what have you done. Your faith ought to have changed you on the inside and affected how you treat others on the outside.

Then we add to this that we will be judged by God. It’s one thing to be judged by our peers. If our family judged us it wouldn’t be so bad. Many of us have talked our way out of tickets and have gotten extended time when we missed deadlines. We have become pretty good at getting by with things. The judgment is not conducted by us, but by God. There is no one greater than God. This makes the judgment final. Who can you appeal to when God has declared you guilty? It all ends with God.

Then we add that we are all judged. Our passage says, “For we must all stand…” Other places state, “each one must give an account.” It’s one thing to be judged as a family or a church. It’s one thing to be judged as a nation. But it’s you by yourself. No family members. No friends. No one, but you.

There is enough in this judgment stuff to make us scared. The old preachers used to bang away on these type of lessons. “Hell, fire and brimstone” was the norm. We’ve moved away from that some and in doing so, we simply do not talk that much about the coming judgment. Paul did to Felix. The Bible does to us.

All of this leads to the point that what we are doing matters. “It’s my life and I can do what I want,” changes when you realize that you will be judged some day. God sees and God knows. The judgment isn’t a gathering of the facts, God already knows. It’s not a determination process, as in our court systems in which evidence is presented, a prosecutor points to the reason why a person is guilty and a defense attorney tries to prove innocence. We have too much “Law & Order” in us and that skews our thinking about God’s judgment. God already knows. You will not surprise Him at the judgment. He will not be shocked to find out some things. He knows.

This leads to one grand conclusion:

Without Jesus, we have no hope of Heaven. Without Jesus, we are not going to make it. Without Jesus, we will be lost. Without Jesus, our sin stained souls will be cast from the presence of God. Goodness simply isn’t good enough. We must bow our hearts, bend our ways, and obey Christ. He must be our Lord. We must believe Him, trust Him and do what He says. Stop fussing about what God says. Stop arguing with the Bible. Stop looking for loopholes. Stop playing games with God. This is serious stuff. Believe Him. Trust Him. Obey Him. That includes being baptized for the remission of your sins, because He said so. Forgiveness and grace are the only hope that we have. They are only found in Jesus. Without Jesus, without forgiveness, without grace, we are doomed.

Understand that the sweet grandma that lives down the street isn’t going to Heaven because she is nice. Either she is in Christ or she is not. Our culture doesn’t like such language. Understand the military man who dies defending our country, who is a hero, doesn’t go to Heaven because he died in service. Understand the police man who is killed saving others doesn’t go to Heaven because he died in duty. Understand the person who has had a miserable life doesn’t deserve Heaven. No one deserves Heaven. No one gets Heaven because of something heroic that they did. Heaven is for those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life. Heaven is for those who have walked with Christ. Heaven is for those who have made Jesus their Lord. They have shaped their lives around Jesus. They worshipped as God describes. They honor God in the way He wants to be honored. They have chosen to obey Him, follow Him and trust Him. Sinless they are not, but they are saved by the grace of God.

This is the only way that judgment doesn’t totally scare us. Our hope is not that we have done everything right, because we have not. Our hope is not in doing more good than bad. Good deeds do not erase the bad. Only the blood of Jesus removes sins. Our hope is not in us. Our hope is in Christ. We have not done enough. We have been lazy. We have not made the right choices. We have fumbled way too many times. Through Christ, in Christ, by Christ—we have confidence. Jesus is the answer.

This is why we must change our lives. This is why we must tell others. This is why we must continue to walk with the Lord. There is no hope in us, it’s Christ. It’s not the church that saves us, it’s Christ. Cling to the Lord. He is the only way that we can get through this.

In 1887, a man from Ohio, wrote a hymn. He wrote a song about the judgment day. The chorus of his song says, “There’s a great day coming, a great day coming.” He viewed the judgment as a Great Day. Most wouldn’t put the judgment in the great day category. Most would say that it’s the worst day of their lives. But for the Christian, for those who have walked with the Lord, that day will be great. It will be the day that we see the Lord. It will be the day that we bow before Him. It will be the day that we enter God’s home. It will be a great day.

We need to be reminded of this. The forgiveness offered by God changes everything. Our faith in Christ changes everything.

You and I will stand before God someday. That’s for certain!

God wants you with Him in Heaven. He’s trying to get you there. You have to make the steps. Won’t you open His book and open your heart?

(Share this with someone you love)

Roger