The Creed - I Believe In The Judgment

I BELIEVE in God the Father Almighty, Maker

of heaven and earth: And in Jesus Christ his only

Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell; the third day he rose

again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the

right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy

catholic church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins;

the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen

The CreedI BELIEVE in the

JUDGMENT to COME








Key Question…“Is There a Coming Judgment?”

The Creed – I Believe in the Judgment to Come

“It is a public scandal that gives offense, it is no sin

to sin in secret.” - French Dramatist, Moliner


"And 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."

(Hebrews 4:13)

"“But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall

give an accounting for it in the day of judgment."

(Matthew 12:36)

"on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of

men through Christ Jesus."(Romans 2:16)


But Isn‟t God Love…?"In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God

abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. We have seen and testify that

the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world."

(1 John 4:10-14)


"The Lord‟s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness."(Lamentations 3:22-23)

God is Love, But Also Just

"A jealous and avenging God is the Lord; The Lord is avenging and wrathful. The Lord takes vengeance on His adversaries, And He reserves wrath for

His enemies. The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, And the Lord will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. In whirlwind and storm is His way,

And clouds are the dust beneath His feet. . . .The Lord is good, A stronghold in the day of trouble, And He knows those who take refuge in

Him."(Nahum 1:7)

" “For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze,”

says the Lord of hosts, “so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.”"(Malachi 4:1)


The Wrath of God

Five General Types of God‟s Wrath:

1.Eschatological (Revelation)2.Calamity (Flood)3.Eternal (Hell)4.Consequential (misuse freedom)5.Abandonment (Romans 1)


"“He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”"(John 3:36)

Abandonment Wrath


"“Because I called and you refused, I stretched out my hand and no one paid attention; And you neglected all my counsel And did not want my reproof; I will also laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your dread comes, When your dread comes like a storm And

your calamity comes like a whirlwind, When distress and anguish come upon you. “Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently but they will not find

me, Because they hated knowledge And did not choose the fear of the Lord. “They would not accept my counsel, They spurned all my reproof. “So they shall eat of the

fruit of their own way And be satiated with their own devices."(Proverbs 1:24-31)

The Wrath of Christ

" And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. His eyes are a

flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and

His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. From His mouth comes

a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the

Almighty."(Revelation 19:11-15)


Why is God‟s Wrath Coming?

"For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes

upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them; for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness,

but instead even expose them; for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret."(Ephesians 5:5-12)

"Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. For it is because of these

things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience, and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them."(Colossians 3:5-7)


Why is God‟s Wrath Coming?"“Then in the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet

complete.”"(Genesis 15:16)

"hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved; with the result that they

always fill up the measure of their sins. But wrath has come upon them to the utmost."(1

Thessalonians 2:16)

The figure of "heap up" or "fill to the full" (anaplerosai) points to a well-defined limit of sin appointed by divine decree. When this point is

reached, divine chastisement becomes inevitable.


God Always Warns First


"The Lord, the God of their fathers, sent word to them again and again by His messengers, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place; but

they continually mocked the messengers of God, despised His words and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, until there was no

remedy."(2 Chronicles 36:15-16)

" And He began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard and put a wall around it, and dug a vat under the wine press and built a tower, and rented it out to vine-growers and went on a journey. “At the harvest time he sent a slave to the vine-growers,

in order to receive some of the produce of the vineyard from the vine-growers. “They took him, and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. “Again he sent them another

slave, and they wounded him in the head, and treated him shamefully. “And he sent another, and that one they killed; and so with many others, beating some and killing

others. “He had one more to send, a beloved son; he sent him last of all to them, saying, „They will respect my son.‟ “But those vine-growers said to one another, „This is the

heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours!‟ “They took him, and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. “What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come

and destroy the vine-growers, and will give the vineyard to others."(Mark 12:1-9)

Judgment is Certain

"The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His

commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring

every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil."

(Ecclesiastes 12:13-14)

"And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes

judgment,"(Hebrews 9:27)


Immanuel Kant didn‟t believe you could know God, but

taught that if God doesn‟t exist, then ethics were meaningless.

Without God all ethics are emotive – a matter of opinion.

Kant asked the question, “What would it take for ethics

to be meaningful?”

How to Have Real Justice…?


For there to be meaning in ethics there must be … Justice.

What is necessary for justice to be real? This world shows that justice doesn‟t always prevail. There must be life after death.

Is that enough? No. There must be a judgment. And it must be perfect.

And for there to be perfect justice and a perfect judgment, there must be a perfect judge. One that must know all the facts of the case. He

must have all knowledge.

Is that enough? No. the judge must be righteous. A judge can know all the facts and be corrupt.

Is that enough? No. The judge must have the power to implement and enforce the justice. Nothing must be able to oppose him.


The Perfect Judge

"“For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment

to the Son,"(John 5:22)

"because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in

righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from

the dead.”"(Acts 17:31)


What Judgments are Coming?


1. Bema Seat

This judgment concerns itself with the believers rewards. Occurs after the Rapture in Heaven.

1 Cor. 3:11-15

2. Sheep/Goat

This judgment concerns itself with living Jews and Gentiles at the end of the tribulation. Occurs on earth.

Matt. 25: 31-46

3. White Throne

This judgment concerns itself unbelieving humans and fallen angels. Occurs outside of earth.

Rev. 20: 11-15

What Judgments are Coming?


Judgment ofBeliever‟s works

Rap

ture

Tribulation

7 years

2ndC

omin

g

Sheep/Goat / OT Saints

Judgment

Millennium

1,000 years

White Throne

Judgment(Unsaved,

Fallen Angels)

Eternity

Bema Seat Judgment"For we must all appear before the judgment seat of

Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has

done, whether good or bad." (2 Corinthians 5:10)

• Degrees of rewards• Quantity of works (Luke 19:11-27; Rom 2:6-7) • Quality of works (1 Cor. 3:10-14) • Motivation of works (1 Cor. 4:5) • Manifested in the crowns we receive (2 Tim. 4:7-

8), robes we wear (Rev. 19:8); degrees of ruling authority we exercise (Luke 19:11-27)

• Affects Church age saints occurs right after Rapture (2 Cor. 5:10, Rev. 19:6-9)


Sheep/Goat/OT Saints Judgment

"“All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the

shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on

the left." (Matthew 25:32-33)

• Living believers and unbelievers judged• Affects both living Jews and Gentiles• Tribulation saints (believers who died during that

time) are judged• Old Testament saints judged (Ezek. 20:34-38)• Beast and false prophet judged and thrown into

lake of fire


White Throne Judgment" Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another

book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds." (Revelation

20:11-12)

• Satan judged before all others• All unbelievers judged• All fallen angels judged• Only one destination – eternal death


Why a Judgment of the Lost?"“And that slave who knew his master‟s will and did not get ready or act in

accord with his will, will receive many lashes, but the one who did not know it, and committed deeds worthy of a flogging, will receive but few. From

everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more."(Luke 12:47-48)

"And while all the people were listening, He said to the disciples, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love respectful

greetings in the market places, and chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets, who devour widows‟ houses, and for appearance‟s

sake offer long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation.”"(Luke 20:45-47)



Judgments Listed by Tom Ice


What applications can we take away from these truths?

Application #1 – Judgment is Certain


The first doctrine to be denied in Scripture is Judgment:“The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die!”

-Genesis 3:4

But God says Judgment is certain:“For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is

hidden, whether it is good or evil.”- Ecclesiastes 12:14

Live with a mission to save the lost.


"If sinners be dammed, at least let them leap

to hell over our bodies. If they will

perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees. Let no

one go there unwarned and unprayed for.”

- Charles Spurgeon


On an American troopship, the soldiers crowded around their chaplain asking, “Do you believe in hell?” “I do not”, replied the chaplain. “Well, then, will you please resign, for if there is

no hell, we do not need you, and if there is a hell, we do not wish to be led astray.”

Application #2 – Salvation is Certain


"Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through

Him."(Romans 5:9)

"For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,"

(1 Thessalonians 5:9)

Live with peace and thankfulness.

Application #3 – Christ‟s Victory is Certain


"Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. Moreover we are

even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised.

For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have hoped in Christ

in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied. But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all

die, so also in Christ all will be made alive."(1 Corinthians 15:12-22)

Live with confidence and assurance.


Christians talk often of being „saved‟ and of „salvation‟, which means

„deliverance‟. But how often do Christians reflect on the question:

“Saved from what?”


“For some, Hell is simply a truth realized too late.”

- Os Guinness


The Essence of Theological Liberalism:

“a God without wrath brought men without sin into a kingdom without

judgment through the ministrations of a Christ without a cross.”

- Richard Niebuhr


“The judgments of the Lord are true; they are righteous altogether."

(Psalm 19:9)

Judgments – “mishpat” – “Divine Verdicts”

"“Far be it from You to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike.

Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?”"

(Genesis 18:25)








The CreedI BELIEVE in the

JUDGMENT to COME

Spiritual

The Creed - I Believe In The Judgment