There is a day coming in which God shall judge all men. Every man will be judged according to exact justice and righteousness. The standard by which we shall be judged is the holy law of God himself. We will be judged according to the books of God, in which are recorded all our earthly thoughts, words and deeds (Heb. 9:27; II Cor. 5:10-11; Rev. 20:11-12; Matt. 25:31-46). In that great and terrible day of the Lord, every man shall receive exactly what is due to him. None will be punished who do not deserve to be punished. And none will be received into heaven's eternal glory who do not deserve to enter in. Those who are found guilty of sin, or any infraction of God's holy law, shall be forever cast into hell. Those who are perfectly holy, holy as God himself, shall enter into heaven (Ps. 24:3-4; Rev. 21:27; 22:11). In that day, at the bar of God, the Judge of all the earth, who must do right, will do right. He who sits upon the great white throne will not show any lenience, partiality, or favoritism. He will not bend his law. He will not be merciful to any. He will be gracious to none. He will judge all men according to the facts before him. He will not consider anyone's age, extenuating circumstances, ignorance, or inability. The judgment seat is not a place of mercy. It is a place of strict, unbending, unwaivering, immutable justice. Only the facts will be considered when you and I stand before Almighty God. Guilty or not guilty, righteous or unrighteous, holy or unholy, these will be the only matters of consideration in that day. "evil pursueth sinners: but to the righteous good shall be repayed" (Pro. 13:21) "The soul that sinneth, it shall die" (Ezek. 18:20). He that "hath done that which is lawful and right shall surely live" (Ezek. 33:16). God will by no means clear the guilty. And he will not punish the righteous.
In the light of these facts, most plainly set forth in the Word of God, it is obvious that the only hope any sinful person has of eternal salvation and acceptance with the holy God is that he might be saved by the infinite merits of an able, all-sufficient Substitute. AND THAT SUBSTITUTE IS THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD!
The Lord Jesus Christ is the sinner's Substitute. By his precious blood he has completely washed away the sins of his people, so that they are no longer recorded in the book of God's law and justice against us (Isa. 43:25; 44:22). In that great day, when God opens the book, he will not find one sin recorded against any of those for whom Christ died (Jer. 50:20). Our sins were imputed to Christ. He was punished in our stead. And by his blood, he fully satisfied the penalty required by God's law for our sins. Christ paid our debt to God's law. Now we have no debt to pay!
And the Lord Jesus Christ is "THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS" (Jer. 23:6). His righteous obedience to God is imputed to all who believe the gospel, so that in the sight of God's holy law, according to the record of God's own books, we are perfectly righteous. Believer, hear these words and rejoice:
If we are in Christ, united to him by faith, washed in his blood and robed in his righteousness, the day of judgment will not be for us a dreaded day of doom, or even of sorrow, but a day of victory, triumph and glory.
With these things in mind, I want you to look with me at our text for this evening. The title of my message is: DAY OF JUDGMENT – DAY OF GLORY! You will find my text in Revelation 11:15-19. In John's vision, the second woe is past, and the third woe comes quickly. When the seventh angel sounded his trumpet, the great day of judgment was introduced. This is what John heard and saw. "There were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned. And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and to them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy (or corrupt) the earth. And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of the testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail." Proposition:
In these verses John shows us the significance of the day of judgment, as it relates to the triune God, the Lord Jesus Christ, believers and unbelievers.
Divisions:I want to show you three things from these verses about the day of judgment. The day of judgment will be...
1.A day of great glory, joy and praise for God's elect (vv. 15-17).
2. A day of just vengeance upon God's enemies (v. 18).
3.And the beginning of perfect, eternal communion between God and his people (v. 19).
I. THE DAY OF JUDGMENT WILL BE A DAY OF GREAT GLORY, JOY AND PRAISE FOR GOD'S ELECT (vv. 15-17).
We look upon the day of judgment with sobriety, but not with fear. We are not presumptuous; but we are not unbelieving. Reading through the Word of God, I do not find a single believer who looked upon that great final day with dread or fear. Throughout the Scriptures, the children of God looked upon the glorious day of the Lord with hope and expectation, because they trusted the merits of Christ and the promises of God. Today, men and women live in constant fear and dread of that day, though they profess to believe in Christ. Why? There can only be one reason: They expect God to deal with them in that day, not according to the merits of Christ, but according to the own personal merits.
How different things appear in our text, from the way we have been told it will be. Here is the final day judgment. All angels and men are gathered beneath the throne of our God and Savior. All the elect angels and all the elect people are there. And among those elect, I see no tears of sorrow, no punishment, no loss of reward. Nothing of the kind is found. There is no sorrow, but only joy! There is no weeping, but only praising! There is no hanging of heads in shame, but only glory and exultation! Judging from this, and every other text I read in the Book of God, THERE ARE NO DEGREES OF REWARD IN HEAVEN! Nothing but bliss and glory await the saints of God on the other side of the grave.
What are those things which shall be matters of praise and thanksgiving among God's elect in that great day? Many things shall fill our mouths with praise on that day. But here John sees three particular things for which all the elect saints and angels give praise to God.
A. THESE SAINTS AND ANGELS THANKFULLY RECOGNIZE AND GIVE PRAISE TO GOD AND HIS CHRIST, BECAUSE IT IS HIS RIGHT TO SOVEREIGNLY RULE OVER ALL THINGS.
This world belongs to Jesus Christ, our God and Savior, lock, stock, and barrel. Because he is God, he is the rightful owner, possessor, and ruler of all things. He who created all owns all. And it is his right to do with his own what he will (Matt. 20:15).
But Christ Jesus has another claim to his universal monarchy. It is his right to rule all things, because he is God. And the Father has given him dominion over all things as a Man, as the reward of his obedience and death as our Substitute (Isa. 53:10-12; Heb. 10:10-14).
Our Lord Jesus Christ is an absolute, universal Monarch, who always does his will in all things. He orders all things, rules all things, sustains all things and disposes of all things as he sees fit. And all the saints of God praise him for his glorious sovereignty. Only traitors and rebels despise the King's throne, envy his crown, or oppose his rule.
B. IN THAT GREAT DAY, GOD'S ELECT WILL PRAISE THE TRIUNE GOD FOR THE EVIDENT DISPLAY OF CHRIST'S SOVEREIGN DOMINION AND POWER (v. 17).
The world has always belonged to Christ. He does, always has, and always will reign over all things. But sometimes his power is not apparent. Sometimes it appears that Satan is the supreme ruler of the world. But when the day of the Lord is fully come the royal sovereignty of Christ will be universally evident. King Jesus will assert his rights, exert his power, and visibly take possession of his creation. In that glorious day opposition shall be completely abolished! In that day, all men shall see that God has put all things under the feet of Christ, and made him to be the Head over all things (Isa. 45:22-25; Phil. 2:9-11).
C. AND ALL THE ELECT MULTITUDE REJOICE, GIVE THANKS AND PRAISE CHRIST FOR THE FACT THAT HIS GLORIOUS REIGN SHALL NEVER END.
"He shall reign for ever and ever!" The rule of Christ shall not continue for a thousand years and then cease, as many suppose. He shall reign forever and forever. His dominion is an everlasting dominion. When the end comes, Christ the Mediator shall deliver up the kingdom to God, he will present his church before the throne of the triune God in all its glorious perfection and completion. But he shall never relinquish his dominion as our Mediatorial King. In that glorious day King Jesus shall fully receive the reward of his labor (Ps. 2:7-11; Dan. 7:13-14; Isa. 9:6-7; Luke 1:31-33).
King Jesus reigns and shall reign forever! "None shall ever wrest the sceptre out of his hand" (Matthew Henry). "He must reign!"
The day of judgment will be a day of great glory, joy and praise for God's elect, because it will be the day of Christ's final triumph, victory and glory as King of kings and Lord of lords.
II. THE DAY OF JUDGMENT WILL BE A DAY OF JUST VENGEANCE UPON GOD'S ENEMIES (v. 18).
Let every rebel be warned! Let every unbeliever tremble! Let every persecutor and abuser of God's elect shake with fear! God will avenge his own elect. Christ will punish his enemies with everlasting destruction. But even the manifest wrath of the Almighty will not change the hearts of men. Only grace can change a man's heart and nature. Here we see men and women, even as they stand before the great God pouring out their shameless anger and hostility toward God! It is true, all will bow to Christ and confess that he is Lord to the glory of God the Father. But the unbelieving will be made to bow. They will not bow before the throne of the sovereign Christ willingly. Those who lived in rebellion and died in rebellion shall be rebels forever. And every rebel will get what he deserves from God in that great day.
A. THE ETERNAL MISERY OF THE DAMNED WILL BE A MATTER OF STRICT JUSTICE.
B. AND THE GLORIOUS, ETERNAL REWARD OF THE RIGHTEOUS WILL ALSO BE A MATTER OF STRICT JUSTICE (Ps. 11:5-7).
III. AND THE DAY OF JUDGMENT WILL BE THE BEGINNING OF PERFECT, ETERNAL COMMUNION BETWEEN GOD AND HIS PEOPLE (v. 19).
Here John sees the sanctuary of God in heaven standing wide open. Even the holy of holies is open and perfectly accessible! Nothing is veiled. Nothing is hidden. The Ark of the Covenant, so long concealed from men, is now in open view. What can this mean?
That ark, with its mercy-seat, is the symbol of God's presence and glory. The fact that it is now open declares that God will forever dwell with his people in perfect, intimate, real, glorious fellowship. He said, "There will I meet with thee, and will commune with thee from above the mercy-seat" (Ex. 25:22). Through the sin atoning sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in his glorious Person, we shall forever be accepted in God's glorious presence.
A. This opening of the temple in heaven, and the appearance of the ark of the covenant means that THE COVENANT OF GRACE, WITH ALL ITS PROMISES AND BLESSINGS ARE FOREVER OURS IN CHRIST!
B. BUT FOR THE WICKED AND UNBELIEVING THE APPEARANCE MEANS WRATH, BANISHMENT AND DEATH.
It pours out upon the lost nothing but wrath, flashes of lightning, peals of thunder, quaking, and destructive hail to crush them down into hell forever!
Application:Now, let me reason with your hearts, and persuade you, as God will enable me, to be reconciled to God now by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The basis of my appeal is fourfold (II Cor. 5:1-21):
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