Gentiles

Part 2

Hell
#7/9: The Inside Story of Your Future Life
Mark 9:42-48

February 18^th / 19^th 2012
by Pastor Colin S. Smith

“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.”  Mark 9:42

The task I have today is surely the most difficult that is given to any preacher.  We have been looking at the inside story of your future life— death, resurrection, judgment and, as we come toward the end of this series, the awesome realities of heaven and hell.

Every person who has ever lived will personally experience either heaven or hell.  No one will experience both.  All of us need to hear about hell, either as a warning of what we’re heading for, or as an appreciation of what we’ve been delivered from in Jesus Christ.

Why we believe in hell
I believe in hell because I cannot escape the clarity with which Jesus spoke about it.  Hell is not, as is sometimes suggested, the invention of sick medieval minds.  If it was just a human invention, we could dismiss it, as so many who profess to be Christians are doing today.

But the inescapable fact is that the clearest teaching about hell in the Bible comes directly from the lips of my Lord Jesus Christ.  No one speaks more clearly about hell than He does.  Jesus defines truth for me: I take His word as truth in regard to heaven, so I must take His word as truth in regard to hell.

It’s more than personal because, as a church, we believe in hell.  If you are a member of this church or when you become a member, you are asked to affirm your commitment to our statement of faith.  It is a summary of the teaching of Jesus, which we affirm to be true…

“We believe that God will raise the dead bodily and judge the world, assigning the unbeliever to condemnation and eternal conscious punishment and the believer to eternal blessedness and joy with the Lord…”

This is what we believe, and we believe it because this is what we find in the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ.

These truths are so awesome that from time to time, even if we have been a Christian for many years, we need to stop and ask ourselves, “Do I really believe in heaven?  Do I really believe in hell?”

I have set a discipline for myself, and I’ve asked the Lord to help me to be measured in all that I say to you today.  My aim is to show and explain the words of Jesus on this subject, to attempt to answer some of the most frequently asked questions about this subject and to point you to Jesus Christ who endured the terrors of hell, so that you should never know, through faith in Him, what it is like.

However careful and measured this truth is stated, there is no way of escaping its horror.  Jim Packer says…

“New Testament teaching about hell is meant to appall us and strike us dumb with horror, assuring us that as heaven will be better than we could dream, so hell will be worse than we can conceive.” ^[1]

We need to hear this truth.  It is increasingly common in our culture to say that the only thing that should be spoken about in church is love.  That sounds spiritual, but it is not biblical.  Paul says, “Knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others” (2 Corinthians 5:11).  People who are greatly loved can do terrible things.  

If you’ve come to Jesus as your Savior and Lord, you will agree—every word that Jesus spoke is a word that we need to hear.  There are three strands in the teaching of Jesus about hell: It is a place of punishment, a place of destruction and a place of exclusion.  I invite you to open your Bible and to hear the words of our Savior.

Hell Is a Place of Punishment

“And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”  Matthew 25:46

Jesus speaks about “punishment.”  You may say, as many people say today, “I don’t believe in punishment. I only believe in correction.”  All I can say is that you have a disagreement with Jesus.  His words are clear. 

He speaks about a punishment that is eternal.  God is just, and that means He never punishes in an arbitrary way.  The words of Jesus are important here: “If anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck” (Mark 9:42). 

What is Jesus saying here?  Terrible things are done in this world, especially to children.  A large part of it is never brought to justice here.  Jesus says, “You need to know that God will bring this, and every other sin, to justice.”  Nobody hurts a child and gets away with it.

Now Jesus says, “It would be better for the person who sinned against a child to have died before he or she did that.”  Why would that be better?  Why would it have been better for the man or the woman who did that?  Because the punishment experienced by a person in hell will be a direct reflection of the particular sins they have committed.

Nobody will be punished for one sin that they did not commit.  If the person Jesus is speaking about had been drowned in the sea before he caused a little one to sin it would be better for him, because he would have one less sin to deal with in hell.  A person in hell would give anything to have committed just one less sin.

That makes us sit up and take notice.  Jesus is not talking about arbitrary punishment, but about real punishment for real sins—named, dated and remembered by God.  On the last day the books are opened and the dead are judged by “what they have done” (Revelation 20:12).  Hell is a place of punishment.  You have the word of Jesus on that.

The punishment comes in two forms
“Their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.”  Mark 9:48

Jesus says, “their worm,” not “the worm:” It is personal.  Jesus is speaking of something unique and internal to every person in hell.

The thing that eats away on the inside of a person is conscience. Conscience will be fully activated in hell.  A person in hell will live with the full knowledge of what they have done.  Jesus says, “Their worm does not die” (Mark 9:48).  It never diminishes and it never ends.  It is a direct reflection of the consequences of sin in their life.

When our Lord says, “the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:48), He is telling us that a person in hell lives under the judgment of God, who is a consuming fire, forever. 

The presence of God will be heaven to some and hell to others.  For those who love Him and serve Him, the presence of God is heaven.  But for those who hate Him and refuse Him, the presence of God is hell forever.

Hell Is a Place of Destruction

“Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”  Matthew 10:28

What is meant by this word “destroy”?  Some Christians have suggested: If the soul and the body are destroyed in hell, could this mean they cease to exist?  Is Jesus suggesting, in using the word “destroy,” that punishment will come to an end when the soul and the body are destroyed?

The same question arises from the best known verse in the Bible: “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).  What is meant by the word “perish?”  This is an important question:  Do the words “destroy” or “perish” mean that a body or soul might cease to exist in hell? 

Douglas Moo points out that the word “destruction” in the Bible often refers to “the situation of a person or object that has lost the essence of its nature or function.”

For example, Jesus says “You don’t put new wine in old wine skins—the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed” (Matthew 9:17).  That does not mean the skins no longer exist.  It means that the skins have holes in them, and they can no longer perform the function of holding the wine.

When a woman poured ointment over Jesus, someone said, “Why was the ointment wasted?” (Mark 14:4).  The word translated “wasted” is the same word Jesus used in Matthew 10:28.  In this context it means that it can no longer be used; it’s been poured out on the ground.

When a woman lost a coin and then found it, she said “Rejoice with me for I have found the coin that I had lost” (Luke 15:9).  Again the word translated “lost” is the same word Jesus used when he spoke about the soul and body being “destroyed.”  When the coin is lost, it can no longer fulfill the purpose of buying things.

When the Apostle Peter speaks about the flood, he says, “the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished” (2 Peter 3:6).  Again it is the same word Jesus uses for the destruction of the body and soul in hell. ^[2]  Clearly, the world did not cease to exist as a result of the flood.

Now here’s the point: Wineskins with holes, ointment that was said to be wasted, a coin that was lost and then found, and a world that perished in the flood… Douglas Moo says,

“In none of these cases do the objects cease to exist; they cease to be useful or to exist in their original intended state.” ^[3]

So for a body or soul to be “destroyed” does not mean that the person will cease to exist.  It means that the person cannot fulfill the purpose for which a human being was made.  William Still says…

“The awful thing about hell… is the gnawing burning searing agony of its unfulfilment. Life in that living death will be one huge aching void…” ^[4] 

Hell Is a Place of Exclusion

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.’”  Matthew 25:41

Punishment and destruction speak of what a person suffers; exclusion speaks about what a person misses.  Jesus said that many on the last day who speak about the things they have done will hear Him say, “I never knew you; depart from me” (Matthew 7:23).

Jesus spoke about a wedding banquet and all the joy and the fasting, and outside there are people “weeping and gnashing their teeth” (Matthew 22:13).  The book of Revelation pictures the great city and then speaks of those who are “outside” of it (Revelation 22:15).

As terrible as the doctrine of hell is, we should be very thankful that evil will be always be outside of heaven.  William Still describes hell as…

“a completely isolated and insulated realm for the absolute containment of all evil when it is eventually banished from God’s kingdom” ^[5]

One sin from Adam has brought the ruination of our world.  Hell is outside heaven forever, because in the new heaven and the new earth sin will be no more.

Punishment, destruction and exclusion—all three come together in this New Testament passage: “They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might” (2 Thessalonians 1:9).

Why Does Hell Have to Be Forever?

Is it not reasonable that there should be punishment and destruction and exclusion for a time, and then it comes to an end?  You’re going to be asked this question someday.  How are you going to answer it?   

Hell goes on forever because sinners never stop sinning.  If you think sinning stops for the sinner at the end of this life, you’ve really not understood the Bible’s teaching about sin.

When the judgment of God comes, sinners hate God even more than they did before, “People gnawed their tongues in anguish and cursed the God of heaven for their pains and sores. They did not repent of their deeds” (Revelation 16:10-11).

The sinner cannot change his heart.  He cannot bring himself to love God.  Nobody will be repenting in hell.  J. I. Packer says…

“There is nothing arbitrary about the doctrine of eternal punishment: it is in essence a case of God respecting our choice, and continuing throughout eternity the spiritual condition which we chose to be in while on earth.” ^[6]

The heart of the sinner does not grow softer in hell.  Remember who the sinner has for his company in hell—the devil and his angels.  Sin will sink deeper into the sinner and the sinner will sink deeper into sin.

In heaven, our love for each other will be more and more, as we grow in the knowledge of Christ.  But in hell, the remnants of affection will grow less and less, as people become more and more absorbed with themselves.  Bishop Ryle says…

“Most men hope to go to heaven when they die; but few, it may be feared, take the trouble to consider whether they’d enjoy heaven if they got there… Heaven is essentially a holy place; its inhabitants are all holy; its occupations are all holy… What could an unsanctified man do in heaven if by chance he got there?” ^[7]

John Owen says that people who are not made holy in this life cannot enter into the blessedness which consists in their enjoyment of God…

Unholy persons “cannot enjoy God, nor would God be a reward to them.” ^[8]

Would God be a reward to you?  Your answer to that question is a statement about the condition of your heart, your spiritual condition.

Here’s the tragedy of sin: The sinner could not be happy in heaven, and he cannot be happy in hell.  Do you see what a terrible thing sin is?  Sin is a complete dead end.  It leaves you with no place to go. Of course sinners will want to be out of hell, but they will not want to be in heaven.  

Ligon Duncan comments on the words of Jesus, “gnashing of teeth…”

“In hell, people are gnashing their teeth at God! There is no repentance there. There is no one saying, ‘I wish I were with you, God.’ There is no one in hell who wants to be in heaven.” ^[9] 

Are you resisting God today?  “As the tree falls…” the Bible says, “so shall it lie” (Ecclesiastes 11:3).  You don’t want to fall that way. 

Your prayer today should not be “Deliver me from hell,” but “Deliver me from the sin that leads there. Wash me, cleanse me. Give me a new heart. Change this will that is always resisting you.”

How Can a Person Be Happy in Heaven…
…If They Have Loved Ones Who Are in Hell?

Have you asked this question?  I have.  This is surely one of the hardest questions, and I cannot give you a complete answer, but let me point to three things I have found helpful…

God will wipe all tears from your eyes
God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.  Revelation 7:17

This is the promise of God to every believer—in His presence, but not before.  Can you imagine this?  God Himself so close to you that He wipes tears from your eyes? 

You would think God would delegate this sort of job to an angel.  If someone cries in my office, I hand them a tissue.  God will get closer to you than that.  How close do you have to be to wipe tears from a person’s eyes?  God will be that close to you, and you will not be afraid!  And when God wipes your tears away, they will never return.

In heaven, the redeemed will be like Christ
“Not my will, but yours, be done.”  Luke 22:42

Maurice Roberts points out that…

“When in Gethsemane, every nerve of Christ’s humanity shrank from the cursed death of the cross, He was able to say: ‘Not my will, but Thine be done’ (Luke 22:42). In heaven, the redeemed will be like Christ.” ^[10]

You may not be able to imagine this now, but in heaven you will be able to say “Not my will, but Yours, be done.”

What we will be like in heaven has not yet been made clear
“What we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him…” 1 John 3:2

Dr. R. C. Sproul ^[11] points out that the problem we’re grappling with is that we don’t yet fully know what sin is, we don’t yet fully know what God’s holiness is, and we don’t yet fully know what we will be like when we are glorified in His presence.  When we see Jesus, we will be like Him.  None of us can comprehend how vast a change that will be. 

When Sproul was teaching seminary students, he would ask a student to stand in front of the class to represent Jesus.  Then he would ask another student to stand in front of the class to represent Hitler. 

Here are these two standing as far apart from each other as they can stand in the classroom.  Then Sproul would invite a third student to come forward and represent the apostle Paul. 

Then he would say to the class, “Apart from Jesus, Paul was probably the holiest man to have walked the earth. Where on this continuum between Jesus and Hitler should we put the apostle Paul?”  Answer: Close to Hitler.

Our first thought, as we see it, is that there’s a huge difference between Hitler and Paul, and that Paul must therefore be very close to Jesus.  But Sproul was pointing out that the chasm between Hitler and Paul, on the one hand, and Jesus on the other, is so immense that the separation between Hitler and Paul is almost negligible.

But when you are glorified, you will be very close to Jesus, and that means that there will be a great chasm between you and all unredeemed humanity.  Sproul draws this conclusion…

“Because we are so Hitler-esque, we can relate to monstrous sinners more than we can relate to Jesus Christ. That’s why we find the doctrine of hell so repugnant. That’s why we feel sorry for Uzzah when he’s killed for touching the ark (2 Samuel 6), or Aaron’s sons who were struck down for playing at worship (Leviticus 10)….

The day will come when our passion and our identification with the glory of God will be so great that our sympathies will be with God and not with our fellow creatures who belittle God’s glory. We are not there now. But in our glorification we shall be.” ^[12]

The Lord Jesus Christ Endured Everything Hell Is…
…So You Would Never Know What It Is Like 

What is hell?  It is punishment, destruction and exclusion… What happened at the cross when Jesus died?  The punishment that brought us peace was upon Jesus.  He entered into the destruction of death—the parting of His soul from His body.  And in the darkness, He was shut out, excluded from the knowledge of the Father’s love and He cried out “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46).

Jesus endured all that hell is on the cross, so you should never know what it is like.  He took the punishment, so that in Him there would be no condemnation for you.  He endured the destruction of the second death, so you could be raised to new life in Him.  He was cut off from the Father, so that in Him you could be reconciled to the Father forever. 

Thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift!  If you have been outside of Jesus Christ, why would you not come to Him today? 

[2] Thomas Boston, “Human Nature in Its Fourfold State,” p. 336, Sovereign Grace, 2000
Boston cites the demons who ask if Christ has come to “destroy them” (Luke 4:34, and Matthew 8:29). “The devils are afraid of torment, not annihilation.”

[3] Cited in Christopher Morgan, “Is Hell For Real?” p. 44,  Zondervan, 2011

[4] William Still from the article, “Heaven and Hell,” p. 7, The British Evangelical Review, Vol. 2, 1984.

[5] Ibid., p. 4

[6] J. I. Packer, “God’s Words,” p. 208, Baker Academic, 1998

[7] J. C. Ryle, “Holiness,” p. 23, Moody classics, 2010

[8] Ibid., p. 24

[9] Ligon Duncan, “Fear Not” p. 37ff, Christian Focus, 2008

[10] Maurice Roberts, “The Happiness of Heaven,” p.105, Reformation Heritage, 2009

[11] http://www.ligonier.org/learn/conferences/tough-questions-christians-face-2010-national/can-we-enjoy-heaven-knowing-of-loved-ones-in-hell/?format=video

[12] http://www.ligonier.org/blog/2010-ligonier-national-conference-rc-sproul-ii/

© Colin S. Smith 

 
Please include this statement on every copy distributed:

By Colin S. Smith. © Colin S. Smith. Website: UnlockingtheBible.org

Gentiles

Part 1

This wrath of God is not some kind of flaring rage.  It is a strong and settled opposition to all that is evil.  God is love; it is part of His nature.  But it’s not in God’s nature to be angry.  The Bible tells us God is “slow to anger,” and Paul says that God is provoked to anger by three things…

Godlessness, wickedness & suppression of the truth

…all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth… Romans 1:18
A godless person doesn’t want anything to do with God and a wicked person refuses to obey God.  Here are people saying, “We don’t want God; we won’t obey God.”  Over time these patterns of behavior suppress the truth about God.  You could put all your weight on a powerful spring to hold it down, but if you let up the spring recoils.  It takes effort to go on resisting God!

Now what will God do when He is confronted with people who say, “We don’t want to know you.  We won’t obey you.  We’ll pour our energy into patterns of behavior that will keep your truth as far away from us as possible!”  The answer is: He reveals his wrath. 

Notice Paul says, “the wrath of God is being revealed.”  It does not say, “The wrath of God will be revealed,” it says that it’s being revealed now.  How is God’s wrath being revealed now?  I want to suggest three ways the wrath of God is very clearly revealed in human history…

God’s wrath is revealed in history

“Cursed are you…”  Genesis 3:14

Right back at the beginning of the Bible story we are told about the great disaster in the garden:  

Adam said, in effect, “I don’t want God and I won’t obey God.”  On that day, the wrath of God was revealed for the first time when God said to the serpent, “Cursed are you” (3:14). 

The word “cursed” literally means “consigned to destruction.”  Then God said to Adam, “Cursed is the ground because of you” (Genesis 3:17).  The whole earth, as we know it, is consigned to destruction because of man’s sin.

But on the same day, God promised a Savior: Someone will be born of the woman who will crush the head of the serpent (Genesis 3:15).  God’s anger is the flipside of His love.  His opposition to everything that destroys His people is part of His commitment to do them good.

God’s wrath is being revealed now
“God gave them over…”  Romans 1:24, 26, 28
Is God revealing His wrath by striking people down when they sin?  No.  Look at how God’s wrath is revealed: “God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts” (1:24), “God gave them over to shameful lusts” (1:26), “God gave them over to a depraved mind” (1:28).

Where an individual or a society says, “We don’t want God and we won’t obey God,” God expresses His wrath by allowing their choice.  He stands back and allows those who hate Him to live with the full reality of their own choice.

What happens if I “give up” the crystal vase I’m holding up with my hand?  It will become subject to the pull of the force of gravity and it will fall to the ground.  That’s what happens when God gives up the godless and wicked.  They’re at the mercy of powers greater than themselves: Sinful desires (1:24), shameful lusts (1:26) and a depraved mind (1:28). 

God’s wrath will be revealed on the Last Day

“Storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath when his righteous judgment will be revealed.” Romans 2:5

The wrath of God is being revealed now, but it is only partial.  History is riddled with issues that are never resolved, truths that never come to light and evils that are never brought to justice.

There will be a day of absolute justice, and when it comes, there will be people who call on the rocks to fall on them (Revelation 6:16).  On the last day, there will be people who have spent their whole lives saying, “My will be done,” and God will say to them, “Your will be done.”

 God’s wrath has been revealed at the cross
“Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood.” Romans 3:25
The Bible tells us that God demonstrates His love for us at the cross.  But God also demonstrates His wrath at the cross.  But was it really necessary for God to demonstrate His wrath too?

 That was the issue in the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus said, “Father, if it be possible, let this cup be taken from me.”  What was Jesus saying?  “Father, if there is any way that men and women can be saved from your wrath without me coming under it, then that would be my choice.  But if this is the only way, then let your will be done.”

 “God did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all” (Romans 8:32).  God gave Him up.  God gave Him into the hands of sinners.  God dropped Him into hell itself.  That is why He cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

The storm broke on Him, and when it was over, the way was opened in which the godless may return to God, and the wicked may be set free from the power of sin and delivered from the wrath of God, “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).

This LifeKey is based on the message “Wrath,” by Pastor Colin S. Smith, from the series, “Unlocking the Bible in Romans & Corinthians,” preached on July 15, 2001.

Power

Part 2

Power

Part 1

The psychological test data was analyzed with the spiritual life survey which yielded some unexpected results.

“When the results came in, initially I was surprised and disappointed.  Those seminary students who had been Christians for many years were only slightly healthier and happier than those who had accepted Christ in the past one or two years.  The difference was not even statistically significant…

…However, my disappointment turned to joy.  I learned one of the most valuable lessons of my life when I found the factor that made the difference.

That factor was Scripture meditation.

Students who practiced almost daily Scripture meditation for three years or longer were significantly healthier and happier than students who did not meditate on Scripture daily.

Also, they were significantly healthier and happier than students who had meditated on Scripture daily for less than three years.”

Meditate on the Word

Paul Meier, M.D., sums up his findings with these points:

• Experiencing the abundant fruit-filled Christian life rather than bitterness, depression, and anxiety is dependent upon a renewing of the mind.
• Renewing the mind can come from various sources: confrontation from a loving friend, therapy with a Christian counselor, the Holy Spirit’s conviction, biblical teaching, and daily meditation on Scripture
• Renewing the mind is a continual process needing daily input from God and His Word.
• “Daily meditation on Scripture, with personal application, is the most effective means of obtaining personal joy, peace, and emotional maturity.”
• It generally takes about three years of daily Scripture meditation to produce mental health and happiness that is statistically superior.
• Group C (characterized by psychological conflict and emotional pain) did not have anyone who regularly meditated on Scripture
• Most of the students who daily meditated on Scripture were in Group A (the group with superior mental health, maturity, and happiness) and some were in Group B (normal health and happiness)

Do you struggle with bitterness, anxiety, depression, or other emotional pain?  Perhaps you need to meditate on Scriptural truths more and renew your mind in the hope of Jesus Christ.  The study showed that renewing your mind daily consistently over a long period of time will reap the biggest benefits.

These findings should be of no surprise to us because God promises it to be true in Psalm 1:1-3:

“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.”

And Romans 12:2:

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Here are some resources from Unlocking the Bible to help you renew your mind:

Free Daily Bible Reading Guide

Sermon: A Mind Transformed by the Gospel by Colin Smith

DVD Group Study: 10 Keys for Unlocking the Bible

Spoken Word CDs

—————————————————————–

This information was taken from a story was written by Paul Meier, M.D. and is included on pages 26-28 of “Renewing Your Mind in a Secular World” edited by John D. Woodbridge.

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]]> http://www.unlockingthebible.com/8-free-ways-you-can-support-unlocking-the-bible/feed/ 0 http://www.unlockingthebible.com/are-you-ready-to-get-in/ http://www.unlockingthebible.com/are-you-ready-to-get-in/#comments Mon, 13 Feb 2012 15:30:28 +0000 Barb http://www.unlockingthebible.com/?p=8622 “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” John 14:6

Other religions center around certain teachings and practices that you can adopt into your life. You can have Buddhism without Buddha or Islam without Mohammed, but you cannot have Christianity without Christ.

Many religions teach, “This is the truth,” but Jesus says, “I am the truth.”  Many leaders have said “This is the way,” but Jesus says, “I am the way.”  Many spiritual masters have told us, “Do this and you will have life,” but Jesus says, “I will give you life.”

Two ways to get there

Suppose you are in a large, unfamiliar city, and you have to get to a particular destination.  Unfortunately, you left your GPS at home and your cell phone is on the fritz…

You could ask for directions… and a kind stranger might tell you something like this: Take the #29 bus, get off at the second stop, go past the old cement works and over the bridge, go through the underpass and it’s right there on your left.  Or you could take a taxi… You tell the taxi driver where you want to go, and he says, “Sure, I know where that is. I’ll take you there.”

Now suppose you decide to ask for directions, and just after you get on the #29 bus, the man who gave you directions has a heart attack and dies.  It makes no difference to your journey, because you wrote down what he told you.  You’re no longer dependent on him.  All that matters, as far as your journey is concerned, is that he gave you the instructions before he died.

But suppose you’re in the taxi, and just as you’re going past the old cement works (in a run-down part of town), the taxi driver has a heart attack and dies.  Now you’re stuck.  You do not know the way to your destination, and the one you trusted to get you there was unable to do it.

The heart of Christianity is what Christ Himself will do for you.  It is not the teachings that will save you; it is the Teacher himself.  That is why Christianity stands or falls with the resurrection of Jesus.  If Christ is not risen, then our faith is in vain.  It will not get us where we want to go.

Everything hangs on whether Jesus is who He says He is…
…and whether He is able to do what He says He can do…

“No one comes to the Father except through me.”  John 14:6

Jesus not only says that He is personally able to take us to be with the Father; He also claims that He is the only one who can do this.  Why?  Because this is a place that no other man or woman has ever been.  He came from the Father; He is able to take us to the Father.  

We have to make a decision, and John says that the reason he has written his Gospel is “that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you have life in his name” (John 20:31).  What John says here really sums up the purpose of the whole Bible. 

The question is: Do you believe Him?  Will you put your trust in Him?  Are you ready to stake your destiny on Him?  He comes alongside and says, “I would like to take you to the Father.”  Are you ready to get into the car? 

 This LifeKey is based on the message “Christ,” by Pastor Colin S. Smith, from the series, “Unlocking the Bible in John,” preached on May 20, 2001.

The Separation
#6/9: The Inside Story of Your Future Life
Matthew 13:24-30; 36-43

February 11^th / 12^th 2012
by Pastor Colin S. Smith
 

“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away.”  Matthew 13:24-25

God sows good seed in a field.  Satan comes at night and sows weeds.  So, the field ends up looking a complete mess.  That’s our world.  Jesus makes it clear that the world will always be like this until He comes again.

The wheat and the weeds are bound up together.  Children of God and children of the devil are rooted in the same soil.  Their roots are twisted together.  Jesus says they have to be left to grow together until harvest. 

We belong to the same families; we are educated at the same schools; we work in the same companies.  Our lives are bound together, but it will not always be so.  When Christ comes in glory, He’ll gather and separate.

The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace, “In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 13:41-42).

Christ will gather and separate
This truth is all over the Bible, and especially in the Gospel of Matthew…   

John the Baptist says of Jesus, “He will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” Matthew 3:12

In Matthew 22, Jesus tells a story about a wedding.  Many people are invited but there are some who will refuse the invitation. 

“Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left.” Matthew 24:40-41

Jesus says, “When the Son of Man comes in His glory… He will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.”  Matthew 25:31-32

I want to give you an overview of what the Bible tells us about this separation, and then to look at the intensely practical application of this great truth to our lives today.

There are many things about the final judgment that God has not told us.  I find it extremely difficult to imagine what this day will be like, and I expect you do too.  How will God bring judgment to bear with absolute justice in the lives of billions of people?  How long will that take?  All we know is that God is Almighty and that He knows all things…   

God Has Told Us What We Need to Know

There will be a judgment and no one can avoid it
“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.”  2 Corinthians 5:10

We find this same truth throughout the New Testament…

“Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.” Romans 14:10

“Each of us will give an account of himself to God.”  Romans 14:12

“No creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”  Hebrews 4:13

In other words, when you give an account to God, you will not be able to pass off some other version of the truth, some spin that you can get away with telling other people, even those who are close to you.

Good and evil are mixed up together in this world.  The wheat and the weeds are rooted together, but it will not always be so.  Donald Macleod points out that a sense of justice is engraved on every human heart…

“We have laws, judiciaries, judges and penal establishments, and these all reflect a profound sense that justice must be done.” ^[1]

 This goes across all cultures.  But, he says…  

“If God has no right to hold his Great [Trial], no human judge has a right to hold his. If Hell is immoral, every prison, penitentiary and detention center in the world is an outrage.” 

You do not think that prisons and penitentiaries are an outrage?  Why?  Because you are made in the image of God, and you know that justice must be done.

 Jesus Christ will be the Judge
“The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father.”  John 5:22-23

The same truth is in Matthew 25: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory… He will sit on his glorious throne.  Before him will be gathered all the nations and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats” (Matthew 25:31-32).

Friends, this is of huge importance.  We know who the Judge will be!  That is marvelous information to be given, because the Judge offers us the opportunity to make peace with Him now.  In grace and mercy, the Judge invites you to become His friend.  The Judge has come into the world to offer Himself to you as your Savior!

Everyone who has been to court knows what it’s like to wait for the judge to enter the courtroom and take his seat.  What will it be like for those who have despised Christ to see Him take His seat as the Judge?  What will it be like for you, if the pattern of your life is to resist Christ’s claims? 

Picture the scene as Christ takes His seat and says to sinners…

“I am Jesus who you have sinned against.
I am Jesus whose laws you have broken.
I am Jesus whose blood you have despised…” ^[2]

Years ago I came across a poem by a soldier in the First World War.  The man’s name was Willie, and he was living in rebellion against God.  One night God gave him a vision in which he saw the glory of Christ, and he saw something of what it would be for him to stand before Jesus…

“There ain’t no books; there ain’t no thrones, Its Him you’ve got to see!
It’s Him, just Him who is the judge of blokes like you and me,
And boys I’d sooner shrivel up in the flames of a burning hell
Than stand and look into those eyes and hear His voice say, ‘Well?’” ^[3]

God is just and He will consider every opportunity and…
every mitigating circumstance as He exercises judgment
You can have absolute confidence in the justice of God.  No judgment will be out of proportion for the sin that they committed.  No one will be judged for a sin they did not commit.  No one will be held accountable for knowledge they did not have or for an opportunity they were not given.

Jesus performed miracles in the town of Bethsaida.  These people had the clearest possible revelation of the glory of the Son of God, but they did not repent.  Jesus said about this town…

“Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you.”  Matthew 11:21-22

Judgment will be made in the light of the opportunity given.  Those in Tyre and Sidon didn’t have the same opportunity as those in Bethsaida, so Jesus says, “It will be more bearable for them than for you. You were given the clearest possible revelation and you did not repent. You are accountable for what you received, and for what you’ve done with it.”

In Romans 2, Paul takes up the issue of those who have never heard.  The Bible never talks about those who have never heard the Gospel, but it does take up the issue of those who have never heard the law.  God gave the law to Israel, but what about people who were brought up worshipping other gods, like Baal or Dagon, and never heard the Ten Commandments? 

“All who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.” Romans 2:12

Paul is saying, “Understand this, no one will not be judged by a law that they were not given.”  How then will those people who never heard the Ten Commandments be judged?

“The work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.”  Romans 2:15-16 

Conscience condemns us as much as the law.  Of course there are times when we tried to do what was right in all good conscience, but is there anyone who would be comfortable to stand before God on the basis of a conscience that is completely clear?  I would not be able to stand before Him, except on the basis of Jesus Christ.  Anthony Hoekema says…

“Those who received the full revelation of God’s will in both Old Testament and New Testament will be judged by their response to the entire Bible.  Those who had only the Old Testament revelation will be judged by their response to the Old Testament… Those, however, who received neither the revelation found in the Old Testament nor that found in the New will be judged in terms of the light they had.” ^[4]

Do you see the profound impact of this for us today?  We who have the greatest light also have the greatest responsibility.

James says that those who teach will be judged more strictly (James 3:1).  Why?  Anyone who speaks for Jesus Christ must give an account of what they have said in His name.

But it’s not just for those who speak it; it’s also for those who hear.  Jesus said “If you hear my words and don’t put them into practice…” What are you like?  A man who builds his house on sand, and on the Great Day the collapse is terrible.  What are you doing with the light you have received?

Judgment Will Be Passed On…
…Our Works, Words, Motives and Secrets

Everyone in heaven will know why they are there.  They are there because of Jesus Christ—His death for them; His life in them.  Everyone in hell will know why they are there.  They are there because of their sins.

In a court of law, charges must be specific.  The judge cannot say, “You are a generally bad person, so I sentence you to five years in prison.”  That’s injustice.  You can’t do that.

There must be specific charges.  This is how it will be at the judgment.  A person in hell will have full knowledge of why they are there, as much as a person in heaven.  The Bible is very clear about what will be judged.

Works
“Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay everyone for what he has done.”  Revelation 22:12

“The Son of Man… will repay each person according to what he has done.”  Matthew 16:27

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done.”  2 Corinthians 5:10

Salvation is through faith, because faith unites us to Christ who saves.  But judgment is focused on works, for the evil that will be punished and for the good that will be rewarded.  This is why Jesus says that even a cup of cold water given in the name of Christ will be remembered and rewarded. 

For a person in Christ this is a reason for great encouragement.  “Each will receive his wages according to his labor” (1 Corinthians 3:8).  In the perfect justice of God, there is going to be sentencing for those who are outside Christ and rewards for those who are in Christ.

Words
“On the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”  Matthew 12:36-37

That’s why James says that teachers will be judged with greater strictness.  We are responsible for what we teach to others.  If we speak in Christ’s name, we must give an account to Christ of what we’ve said in His name. 

If I was just in ministry for my comfort, we would never have a series like this, and I would have to give an account for that.  And you would rightly ask me, “Why did we not hear about this in church?”

Motives
“Do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God.”  1 Corinthians 4:5

The motives of other people are hidden from us.  That’s why we must be very careful about making judgments about the motives of other people.  It is a terrible thing to ascribe evil motives to someone; it is something you would have to give an answer for.  Paul says we must not pronounce judgment on motives before the time.  The day is coming when the Lord will “disclose the purposes of the heart.”

A person is in a dispute, and they say “It’s not about the money.”  And you don’t know whether it was about the money.  Well, if it was about the money, God will make that known.  And if it wasn’t, and you thought it was, you will know that too.

Secrets
“…that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.”  Romans 2:16

“For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.”  Ecclesiastes 12:14

“Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops.”  Luke 12:2-3

How to Prepare For the Judgment of God

Practice Patience and Live at Peace
“If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’”  Romans 12:18-19