“What Does Jesus Say
About The Judgment Day?”
Steve W. Reeves
A. There is coming a day when God will put the final period upon the final sentence
in the final paragraph on the final page of the final chapter in the final volume of the
history of this world. There is coming a day when the clock of time will tick for the
final second. There is coming a day when humanity will draw its final breath upon this
world as we know it.
1. When that day comes the dead will be raised to stand before the Lord Jesus
Christ in final judgment.
2. Whether you are young or old the words of Hebrews 9:27 speak to you. “It is
appointed to man once to die and after this the judgment.”
3. Bert Olney was a skeptic who ridiculed Christians. He made fun of the Bible and
chided preachers as fakes and phonies. When a new, young preacher came to
town Olney spotted him on the sidewalk and began to ridicule him. The young
preacher simply said, “It is appointed to man once to die and after this the
judgment.” With each of the scoffer’s sinister swipes the preacher simply said, “It is
appointed unto man once to die and after this the judgment.” Finally, Olney said,
“You don’t even have guts to argue,” and left. He was furious for days with the
preacher but every time he thought of him he remembered the words, “It is
appointed unto man once to die and after this the judgment.” Eventually those
words began to work on Bert and ultimately caused him to turn to God.
B. In Revelation 20:11-15 John described the final judgment in these words. “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. 12 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. 13 And the sea gave up the
dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them;
and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. 14 Then death and
Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of
fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown
into the lake of fire.”
C. Given the inevitability and importance of this day and the eternal consequences it
brings we owe it to ourselves to ask, “What does Jesus say about the judgment
day?”
I. THE SURETY OF JUDGMENT
A. Jesus spoke frequently about judgment.
1. When Jesus sent his disciples out to preach, He instructed them in Matthew
10:14-16, “Whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out
of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet. 15 Truly I say to you, it will
be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment
than for that city.”
2. In Matthew 11:21-22 (cf. Luke 10:14) Jesus warned the unrepentant cities of his
day about the judgment, “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For
if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they
would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 Nevertheless I say to
you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for
you.”
3. In Matthew 12:41 Jesus said, “The men of Nineveh will stand up with this
generation at the judgment, and will condemn it because they repented at
the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here (cf.
Luke 11:32).
5. Following this Jesus said in verse 42, “The Queen of the South will rise up with
this generation at the judgment and will condemn it, because she came from the
ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something
greater than Solomon is here” (cf. Luke 11:31).
B. Life is full of judgment scenes.
1. Consider Naboth’s trial to answer Jezebel’s wicked charges (1 Kings 21).
2. Paul was tried before the Roman authorities of his day (Acts 24-26).
3. Jesus stood before the Jewish court and the Roman authorities.
4. In 1518 a thirty-seven-year-old man was brought into court before the leading
religious and political figures of his day. He was given an opportunity to recant
the harsh criticisms of Roman Catholicism and the pope. Martin Luther refused
to back down.
5. As surely as I stand before you there is coming a day of judgment.
II. THE SOURCE OF JUDGMENT
A. What will the day of judgment be like?
1. Returning to John’s vision in Revelation 20 notice that He saw a “great white
throne.” The greatness of it demonstrated deity. The whiteness of it
demonstrated purity and the nature of it demonstrated authority.
2. Who sat upon the throne? He is pictured as one who is so great that the
heavens and the earth fled from his presence and had no place to hide. This is
the judge. Jesus said that He is that judge.
a. In John 5:24 Jesus said, “For just as the Father raises the dead and gives
them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes. 22 For not even
the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, 23 so
that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He who does not
honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.”
b. You have a destiny with deity. You are going to meet Jesus one day. You
will meet Him as Savior or as judge. (See Philippians 2:8).
3. Who will be there?
a. In verse 12 John said he saw the “dead, the great and the small standing
before the throne.”
b. Jesus said in John 5:28-29, “Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in
which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, 29 and will come forth; those
who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the
evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.”
c. My dear friend, listen closely. One day you will hear Jesus say to you, “well
done good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21), or “depart from me, I never
knew you” (Matthew 7:23). What you hear Him say then is being determined
by how you live your life now.
B. When Astronaut Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon on July 20, 1969, one news
commentator said, “This is the greatest day in history.” I believe a greater day is
coming in which we will all appear before the Son of God and every knee will bow
and tongue confess Jesus is Lord.
III. THE STANDARD OF JUDGMENT
A. Human standards of judgment are fallible because they are subjective. They are
subject to error and misunderstanding. God’s standard of judgment is objective. It
is based upon unmovable, irrefutable standards that do not change.
1. Jesus, the great judge, does not change.
a. Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.”
b. Notice the description of Jesus in Revelation 1:13-16. He is described as
having white hair, blazing eyes and feet of burnished bronze. These
represent purity, grandeur and judgment. In verse 16 John said that a sharp
two-edged sword came from his mouth. What was this? Hebrews 4:12 says
the word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword. It is the standard of
judgment.
B. Secondly, at that great judgment the books will be opened and the lamb’s book of
life will be opened. John said that whoever’s name was not found in the
book of life was cast into the lake of fire
1. Some years ago a man called me at the office and asked me to hold a
revival meeting. He said, “You’re hard to get hold of. I couldn’t find your name in
the book.” He was talking about the phone book. I explained that we lived in a
“preacher’s house” and the listing was “Church of Christ Parsonage.” My name
wasn’t in the book.
2. My name is in books like “Preachers of Today,” “Harding Lectures,”
“Outstanding Young Men of America.” That means nothing if my name is not in
the Lamb’s Book of Life.
IV. THE SUBSTANCE OF JUDGMENT
A. Upon what shall we be judged? In Matthew 12 Jesus said, “But I tell you that every
careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of
judgment.”
1. How does that make you feel? Everything you have said will be judged. Not just
your words but your thoughts.
2. Notice Revelation 20:12, “And the dead were judged from the things which were
written in the books, according to their deeds.”
3. Paul understood this. In 2 Corinthians 5:10 he wrote, “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.”
B. Surely, we must also consider what Jesus said in Matthew 25:31-36, “But
when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will
sit on His glorious throne. 32 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; 33 and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My
Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the
world. 35 For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and
you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 36 naked,
and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came
to Me.”
1. Jesus said that the substance of judgment is not only concerned with our
relationship with God but with our relationship with others.
2. How can we be pleasing to God when we live selfish lives that give no thought
to the needs of others? This is the substance of judgment.
.
CONCLUSION:
A. A group of settlers was crossing the prairie when they spotted a prairie fire in the
distance rushing toward them. They feared for their lives and thought they would be
burned to death. One of the old timers took a match and lit a fire behind them. “What
are you doing, now we’re surrounded by fire,” they exclaimed. As soon as the fire had
burned off a section of ground the man told everyone, “Move to that ground that has
already been burned.” He knew the approaching fire would not come where the fire
had already been.
1. This is how it is with judgment.
2. Jesus took the fire of judgment upon Himself at the cross. When you stand
with Him you are safe.
B. Song: “There’s A Great Day Coming.”
