John 12:41-50 The idea of final judgment is not a popular concept in our largely secularized society today. But The Lord Jesus Christ clearly preached a coming "last day" in which all people would be judged. If God is truly a just judge, then he must bring his judgment against those who have broken his law, and we have repeated promises from scripture that his judgment one day will come. Are you ready for that great day? When you stand before the judge of all the earth, will you be prepared to stand before him in the righteousness of Christ, or will you stand before him in your own sin?

Well, brethren, we are about to wrap up our time together. And what a better way to do it than to look again at the word of God. I am pleased to look at John chapter twelve, verses forty-one through fifty. And I have a question. The final judgment, are you ready?

I'm sure you have memorized Hebrews twelve fourteen. Follow peace with all men. And holiness. Without which no man shall see the Lord. Can't talk about holiness.

Without talking about why. We certainly want to see the Lord. The final judgment, are you ready? John chapter 12, verses 41 through 50. Please stand with me again.

As I read in your herring this portion of the infallible, inerrant, and unadulterated word of Almighty God. These things Isaiah said when he saw his glory and spoke of him. Nevertheless, even among the rulers, many believed in him. But because of the Pharisees, They did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue. For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.

Then Jesus cried out and said, he who believes in me believes not in me, but in him who sent me. And he who sees me sees him who sent me. I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in me should not abide in darkness. And if anyone hears my words and does not believe, I do not judge him, for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. He who rejects me and does not receive my words has that which judges him.

The word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day. For I have not spoken on my own authority. The Father who sent me gave me a command what I should say and what I should speak. And I know that his command is everlasting life. Therefore, whether I speak just as the father has told me, so I speak the word of the lord.

Let us pray father. Thank you for being our light and our salvation and granting us the assurance and confidence to declare it boldly. Thank you father for being our joy, our comfort, our guide, our teacher, and in every sense, our light. You are light within, light around, light reflected from us, and light to be revealed in us. Grant us the grace to keep our eyes fixed upon our lord and savior Jesus Christ, in whose matchless name we pray, amen.

You may be seated. The final judgment, are you ready? Brothers and sisters, ladies and gentlemen, the whole concept of A day of judgment is not a popular one in our generation. A day of judgment. Most people don't want to hear anything about that.

It is definitely not a favorite sermon topic. Many in the intelligentsia in western society have dismissed the concept as primitive at best and dangerous at worst. However, we will see from this text of Holy Scripture that divine judgment and a coming day of judgment are very valuable and needed concepts. They are actually indispensable realities. The biblical promise of a judgment day has been greatly slandered and misunderstood.

A gospel understanding of the same is far more nuanced, complex and multifaceted than the superficial view of the average person in today's world. Our text has in it the very last words of our Lord Jesus in his public ministry. These words you just read are the last words Jesus spoke in his public ministry. After this in John chapter thirteen, our lord retires to his disciples the night before he he died on the cross of Calvary. This was the end of the public ministry of our Lord and the last thing that he spoke and it was about judgment.

The last thing Jesus said was about judgment. So let's just learn from our Lord's last public words concerning the nature of the final judgment. Why it should inform our pursuit of holiness. We should examine this on the three headings. One, the inescapable confrontation.

Two, the inevitable condemnation. And three, the indescribable compensation. Let's take them in order. Number one, the inescapable confrontation. The inescapable confrontation.

I base this on verses 46 through 48 of the text. The inescapable confrontation. Now, our Lord Jesus states very categorically and with abundant clarity in verse 48 that a judgment day is inevitable. It's going to happen. Let me read.

He who rejects me and does not receive my words has that which judges him. The word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day. That is abundantly clear. Our Lord teaches many earth shaking lessons here. Among them is the announcement that there will be a last day.

Hmm. It will be a last day. In other words, history is not cyclical. History is linear. Just like there was a first day.

There will be a last day. And that last day will be a judgment day. And there will be a judge. Please notice that our Lord Jesus in describing himself in verse 46, juxtaposes the very positive idea, the metaphor of light, with a very forbidding idea of judgment. They're put side by side.

He said, I have come as a light into the world that whoever believes in me should not abide in darkness. I have come as a light so that whoever believes in me should not abide in darkness. Now our Lord explains here that the absence of judgment only confirms the presence of darkness. Hmm. I am come as a light.

I'm bringing judgment. I'm coming as a light. So the absence of judgment only confirms the presence of darkness. Those who want to get rid of judgment are ignorantly calling for the proliferation of darkness. A judgment day is actually essential to our spiritual well-being.

It welcomes the light. A judgment day welcomes the light. I've got to change our thinking. If there is no judgment day, there'll be no meaning to our lives. I want you to ponder that.

There will be. If no judgment day is coming, there will be no meaning to our lives. Most people spend their lives trying to prove themselves, don't they? Come on, isn't that the truth concerning us? We spend a lot of time trying to prove ourselves.

Sometimes many are not even sure exactly who they are trying to prove themselves to. Of course, whether or not their world view is secular or religious, this is a passionate pursuit for everyone. Biblical Christianity explains that it is God's approval that we really want, whether we are aware of it or not. We may even suppress that idea. But it's God's approval that we want every day that we get up we're seeking approval.

However many want to prove that they are significant that their life has value that they should be appreciated. I think everybody wants to be appreciated. Wants to feel like they're significant. If there is no judgment, if there is not a culminating evaluation, If there is no ultimate assessment, if there is no final judgment, what is the point of your existence? You'll be doing all this work and never get the answer.

Life becomes a frustrating and pointless endeavor. If our built in sense of morality of right and wrong is suppressed and if our conduct in relation to the same is not properly assessed, How will we know if we have succeeded? Without an assessment, without a time of judgment, how will we know if we've achieved what we've been working for our whole life? There must be a time of accounting when we get answers. How will we know if we're good, decent, productive, and virtuous people?

Without an ultimate judge and a day of judgment, what is the point of living? It's like taking a tough course and going home at the exam time. It's like pursuing someone that you love and before you pop the question you just run away. Many people are attempting to soothe their guilty consciences by challenging the idea of a divine judge who will dispense justice on the final day. However, they are soon plunged into total darkness and a meaningless life.

Their pretentious and delusional liberation from the final judge of the Bible is turned into an absurd despair of a life without meaning and purpose. What is the point of doing that which is good if there are no rewards and punishments? If altruism, Philanthropy, magnanimity, caring, if love and kindness will all turn out to be the same thing as genocide and bigotry and pedophilia and incest and rape and theft and all corruption. Why should anyone pursue a virtuous life? I hope I'm communicating.

If doing good is going to end up at the same place as doing bad, What's the point? There's got to be a judgment. There's got to be a day of reckoning or life is meaningless. We must also consider the fact that if there is no judgment day, it will be impossible to contain and restrain our visceral impulses to immediately avenge the wrongs that have been done to us. Let me tell you something.

If there is no judgment day, somebody wrongs you, how are you going to hold back from getting them? Without judgment, any sense of community and civility will be impossible. A lot of times, we can relax because we know that the Lord God will ultimately sort out our issues. But without that, we're being forced to take matters into our own hands. Our social relations will be totally ruined.

If there is not a final divine judgment and a judge who will actually settle all the scores with absolute and unimpeachable justice, Why should we not settle the scores right now? If we don't know that he is going to do it, we might as well get on with it. Some people are convinced that the notion of judgment only encourages hostility, vitriol, acrimony, and aggressive behavior. They say, my goodness, if you talk about judgment, people will just get aggressive. In their view, the idea of a divine judge that dispenses retribution and punishments only poisons relationships between people.

That's their view. The idea is that instead of seeking compromise and conciliatory measures, people will be encouraged to seek vengeance and will want their pound of flesh whenever there is a disagreement or difference of opinion. Actually, the opposite is true. The opposite is true. Listen, the only means of avoiding the chaos of vigilante justice, well, what's that?

The mob, the mob, where the mob rules. It's actually vigilante injustice, but we'll call it vigilante justice. The only way to avoid the chaos of that is the delayed justice of final judgment. The ultimate justice of God. Without God as the final judge, you're going to have mob rule.

We are often tempted to take matters into our own hands when we are convinced that nothing will be done about the injustice that has been inflicted upon us. But when we know that God will justly settle all things, we can relax. We can relax. We have no need to take matters into our own hands. We will not be sucked into an endless cycle of violence, which is the main source of misery in the world.

It is the existence of a divine judge and a final day of judgment that restrains the godly victims of injustice. Listen, no simple platitudes on non-violence or familiar cliches of comfort are going to cool the hot anger that we feel when we have been egregiously victimized. The only thing that will work is the confidence in the biblical doctrine that there is a judge in all the earth and that judge is not us and he will do right. No one can evade the jurisdiction or the subpoena of this judge. It is an inescapable confrontation.

We will all stand before him and we will answer for our lives. The truth is that everyone lives as if there is a day of judgment, even the pagan. Everyone lives as if, even those who reject Christ and the word. The true and living God has put it in our hearts that we will account. Did you hear me?

Oh yes, there will be a lot of denial. Oh, I don't believe in that. But check, watch their lives. They live as though there will be a judgment. Of course, they do so foolishly and in a perverted way.

The true and living God has put this information in our hearts that we will account. The problem is that every man's sin causes him to attempt to determine for himself the terms of the judgment and the standard of the judgment and the means of the judgment and the rules of the judgment and the adjudicator in the judgment so he gets it all warped. However this is a fool's errand. Ready or not the God of all comfort will also prove to be a consuming fire. Ready or not, no sin will go unpunished at the final tribunal.

We will pay in hell if we're not paid for on Calvary. Ready or not, that day will bring joy unspeakable for the elect of God and weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth for the reprobate. Ready or not that day will witness the great separation of the sheep from the goats. Ready or not that day is coming for God has appointed an inescapable confrontation. But not only is there an inescapable confrontation, there is an inevitable condemnation.

Let's deal with that. Number two, the inevitable condemnation. And I base this on verses 42 through 43, 42 and 43. Brothers and sisters, ladies and gentlemen, the outcome of any sinner facing the judgment seat of Christ should be obvious. I said the outcome is obvious.

We can go ahead right now and just tell you. It's inevitable condemnation. We cannot win before his tribunal. Just imagine you're taking a court, a case to court and you're hearing long before you go. You're going to lose, man.

You're going to lose big time. And so you're asking, well, why should I go? Because you have to. The subpoena of the judge of glory cannot be avoided, but I'm telling you up front, before the tribunal of God, you will lose. It's inevitable condemnation.

The verdict is depressing, for we will lose the case. Condemnation is inevitable. There is literally no hope of a victory. None. Period.

Any other kind of preaching and religion is fooling you. This is a plain teaching of Holy Scripture. Everyone who will find salvation in Christ must at some point grapple with the weight of this fact. In the case that you bring before God on the judgment day, you will lose. It is very important that we notice that the judgment of God focuses on what is going on in our hearts.

His judgment focuses on what is going on in our hearts. Immediately before our text passage, we are advised in John chapter 12 and verse 37 that our Lord's miracles and extraordinary ministry Was still met with widespread rejection. I don't know why after reading things like this that we don't behave a little bit better when we face rejection. Because you had a perfect person ministering and He got rejection. Sometimes we second guess ourselves, we want to beat ourselves because we get some rejection.

The most perfect person on the planet in his ministry faced rejection. Interesting. We then see in the following verses that our Lord warns the religious leaders of the judgment. These were the spiritual elite. Externally They were quite good in terms of the moral law, the religious rituals, and in their faith affirmations.

These were the good people, the religious people. Yet, our Lord was not impressed. He made clear that condemnation was hanging over them. Why? Why?

There was something wrong with their hearts. Outwardly, they were perfect. But he says, their hearts were messed up. The apparent faith and outward conformity to the law was rooted in pride. The message of Christ exposes this.

Of course, they resented his exposure of the hypocrisy as well as the whole notion that they were also sinners and in need of salvation. They would have none of it. These religious leaders had among them some who received Christ and his message, but only in principle. Come on, we just read it. They received Christ, but only in principle.

They thought that Christ was legitimate and desirable. However, the politics, the politics of the synagogue, the politics, the fear of being put out of the synagogue was more important to them than the truth. You just read it? Human approval trumped divine approval. They were in danger of judgment not because their outward obedience was found wanting, but because their hearts had a different allegiance.

Religious politics was more important for them than real piety. So, what does it say about the latter in 1 Samuel 16 and verse 7? For the Lord God does not see as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. Hmm. Please, Please do not be confused by the many passages that affirm that we will be judged according to our works.

Don't let that confuse you. I'm referring to passages like Romans 2 and verse 6 where we are told that God will render to each one according to his deeds. All confusion should disappear. When we meditate on the metaphor that our Lord used in Matthew chapter 7 and verse 20, when he said, therefore by their what? Fruits what?

You shall know them. The presence or absence of fruit powerfully speaks to the fundamental condition of the tree. I said the presence or absence of fruit does what? It speaks to the fundamental condition of the tree. The absence of productivity generally indicates the absence of life.

Is our Lord saying that the fruit of the tree causes life? Of course not. The fruit is an index of life. Productivity is an indicator of viability. So, we as sinful and finite beings are only able to assess the external and the outward appearance.

However, God is able to examine the consistency of the outward with the inward. For God, the works or the fruit, the outward, must be consistent with the inward. He can see it. We can't see it. It is possible for us to attempt to do a good deed with a bad motive.

Isn't that right? That's possible. It is also possible for us to attempt to do a bad deed with an apparently good motive. God is interested in the heart, for he focuses on the congruency of the fruit with the heart, the heart. This is why outward good works can be judged by God to be really iniquitous.

You heard that? God can look at your outward behavior and say, that's iniquity. Matthew seven twenty two and twenty-three. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your name and then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me.

You who practice lawlessness, iniquity. Our Lord can instantly tell whether what is going on on the outside matches what is going on on the inside. He is interested in the nature of the heart so he looks at the works, the fruit, to assess whether it is the fruit of holiness or the fruit of hypocrisy. Our Lord is not just concerned about what we are doing he's also concerned about why we're doing it. If our hearts are self-centered, self-reverential, self-saving, self-righteous instead of being open to God, humble, needing his grace and mercy.

There is going to be a difference in the way we live. However, the key thing for God is the nature of our hearts. That's the key thing for God. Our Lord is not so much adding up how many good deeds we have done. He's not doing that.

He's interested in the nature of our hearts. Do we have hearts that are unselfish, humble, respectful of literally everyone we meet? Oh boy. We think we are to only respect those Who respect us. He wants us to respect everyone.

Craving what is important to God and the very nature of God. He needs us to see his image in everyone. Do we see his image in everyone? Or do we just see his image defaced in that one? Even though his image may be defaced, it's not erased.

We've got to see his image in everyone. Listen, this is not difficult to understand, you know. It happens every day when a crime is investigated. Of course, killing someone is a serious matter. It is important that we have a look at what a person has done.

However, killing someone is not necessarily a crime. The motive that is what is going on in the heart is what an investigator and a prosecutor is interested in. Come on, we know that. When a crime happens and somebody's killed, we want to know why. What's going on in their hearts?

Where did we get that from? We got that from God. So the prosecutor wants to know not just that the person is killed, because a lot of times killing is not murder. All murder is killing, but all killing is not murder. So we want to know why.

Why was this person killed? A judge wants to know that. A jury wants to know that. A killing is only a crime if the motive is wicked and malicious, if the heart is messed up. If you kill to protect your country in a war, if you kill to protect your family at home In defense, you have not murdered.

God is interested just like the courts in what's going on in your hearts. He's not just looking at what you're doing. He wants to know why. Another important principle in the judgment that our Lord will conduct is that it will be conducted on the basis of the knowledge that we have. In other words, Every human being knows enough of God's moral requirements to condemn him or her.

Hello? You don't need any sophisticated instruction. You don't even have to go to church to know what's right and wrong. Romans 1 20 and 21, for since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes are clearly seeing, being understood by the things that are made even his eternal power and Godhead so that they are without excuse because although they knew God, hello, they did not glorify him as God nor were thankful but became futile in their thoughts and their foolish hearts were darkened. In verses 47 and 48 of our text, our Lord did not emphasize His person as the judge.

And we know He's the judge, but He didn't emphasize that. Instead, he emphasized his standard of judgment, which is what? The Word. It is his Word that will judge us. His Word will be the evaluation criteria.

Whatever truth is known to us concerning God's moral requirements will be invoked in the judgment to condemn us. It really does not matter where in the planet we have lived or in what century or whether or not we have received formal instruction on the moral law of God. Whatever amount of God's truth that is known to us, whether written down or written on our hearts, that is what will condemn us in the final judgment. What we know. And God has made it abundantly clear that we know enough.

Everybody knows enough. Do you know what this means? This means that there is absolutely no hope for you or me to be acquitted at god's bar of justice. You can't. Well, I didn't know what you do know.

It's written on your heart. We can't escape. We're going to lose. We're going to lose. Condemnation is inevitable.

How foolish have we been when we have imagined that our feeble works will actually work on the Judgment Day. How foolish have we been when we have sought to settle an infinite debt owed to an infinitely holy God with corruptible and finite offerings. How foolish have we been when we have boasted in what we have spent a lifetime building only to find out that it was constructed on shifting sand. How foolish have we been when we have comforted ourselves with the false safety of the crowd forgetting that Faith is about piety, not politics. Safety of which crowd?

Somebody told me some time ago, there is no safety in numbers, only in exodus. Never mind. How foolish have we been when we have forgotten that God's standard is absolute perfection? What? Absolute perfection.

And that closing off or almost saved will never matter. How foolish have we been? So the text tells us about inescapable confrontation. What else does it tell us? It tells us about inevitable condemnation.

We're going to lose. But the text also tells us about indescribable compensation. That's the third thing. Indescribable compensation. I mean compensation.

Look at verse 47 of the text and you'll see what I'm talking about. Brothers and sisters, I'm about to make an announcement that will sound very familiar and even unspectacular. But I can say without fear of contradiction that it is the greatest news that you will ever hear in your entire life. You ready? Listen to me.

The only possible way that we're going to be able to handle the moral scrutiny of the divine judgment is if that judgment day has already passed. Did you hear my announcement? I told you to be on spectacular. You will not be jumping up and down. But if you understand it, you will praise God.

Listen, the only possible way that we're going to be able to handle the moral scrutiny of divine judgment is if that judgment day has already happened. Okay, I think I'm going to have to work it out. I know that sounds a bit cryptic, but I mean it literally. Listen, the gospel of Jesus Christ is that in him we have already had our judgment day. Hallelujah.

Makes me want to shout, but I'll behave myself here. You're not accustomed to that. Listen, folks. In Jesus, our judgment day for true believers has already happened. If we are trusting in the work of Christ alone on Calvary for our salvation, our judgment day has already passed.

Hallelujah. The message of our Lord Jesus, the message that our Lord Jesus brings us is that even though judgment day is coming, the last day, we can rest assured that He is the only way out. The only way that we will see the Father. He alone is the representative of the father. If we reject him, we are rejecting the father.

He's the only way for us to survive the judgment. Okay. In verse 47 of our text. Look, look at it, look at it. Our Lord said, and if anyone hears my words and does not believe, I do not judge him, for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.

In other words, our Lord's first advent was not about judgment. His second advent will be about judgment but not the first one. When he came the first time, he's making it clear here, that's not about judgment. His second advent is about judgment. Now, earlier in our text chapter, verses 37 and 38, the apostle John quotes the prophet Isaiah's discussion of a mysterious suffering servant who will appear to bring salvation.

He quotes Isaiah. However, the prophet also discloses that the people who did not believe, that the prophet made it clear that the people did not or will not believe him. Why? The expectation of the people was that the Messiah would not merely articulate the truth about justice, but actually execute justice. That was their expectation.

They were not looking for a mere preacher of truth about justice. They were looking for a politician who will take the reins of power and execute and implement justice in the land. So when they read these messianic texts, they were looking for a champion who will come and get rid of these Romans. So they were going to reject this. What foolishness is this?

Tell them my kingdom is not of this world. Get rid of the Romans. So they were disappointed in this Messiah. The Lord Jesus was generally rejected because of a massive misunderstanding of his mission. However, he did not have a failed mission even though it was misunderstood.

He rescued all he came to rescue. He rescued all who truly believe on him to the regenerating power of the holy spirit. These are the same people who were paid for on Calvary by the suffering of the of god the son. These are the same people who were chosen before the foundation of the world by the father. Our lord, the suffering servant that was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah was rejected but he was not routed.

He was despised but he was not defeated. He was scorned but he was not stopped. He was loathed but he was not a loser. The prophet Isaiah wrote concerning Christ in Isaiah 53 verses 3 through 5. He says he was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

And we hid as it were our faces from him. He was despised and we did not esteem him. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. He was wounded for our transgression. He was bruised for our iniquities.

The chastisement of our peace was upon him and by his stripes we are healed. You see the justice of the infinitely holy one of Israel required that sin had to be punished. Judgment had to come down upon each and every breach of the law. The gospel is that the infinite judge of glory actually and lovingly received the punishment that was due to sinners. He became vulnerable and took our punishment.

Hallelujah. This is why the prophet continued. All we like sheep have what? Gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way.

And what? The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. What actually happened, listen to me, what actually happened was that our Lord Jesus Christ as judge of the universe left the bench and came down into the dock. Can you imagine that? The judge left the bench and went down into the dark.

He did he did not stay on the high bench of justice above us as sinners, he came down among us. He came down and actually got below us. He took the place of the criminal, the place of the defendant and prepared himself to receive the whip, to receive the spear, to receive the thorns, to receive the club, to receive the nails, to receive the pain. It got worse. To receive the separation from the father.

The humiliation. To receive the death. He took the place of sinners. He took judgment for sinners. On Calvary.

So that we can face and survive the judgment in the last day. Come on man. He took our judgment on Calvary so that we can survive the judgment on the last day and if you are judged in him on Calvary, your judgment day is past. You can survive the final judgment. Hallelujah to the Lamb.

What this means is that if sinners like us sincerely believe him, our judgment is over. If we are truly penitent and place our faith in Christ alone, our judgment is absolutely in the past. That is the only possible way that we can stand in the judgment to come. He was punished for us. He took what we deserve.

True believers have already been judged in Christ on Calvary's tree. Their judgment is actually over. Hallelujah. You know this is the best news in the whole world. Oh yes, you can't find better news than this.

It has wide and blessed implications for the believer. Listen folks, This is exactly what makes Christianity unique and unmatched among all other world views, whether secular or religious. True believers in Christ will survive the judgment day because their real judgment day was on a hill far away on which stood an old rugged cross. The hymn writer called it the emblem of suffering and shame. He continued, and I love that old cross where the dearest and blessed for a world of lost sinners were slain.

Listen folks, because the judgment of true believers is in the past on the cross of Calvary, they can stop pretending to be perfect. Hello. They don't need to do that anymore. They're now free. They don't have to be fakes and phonies anymore.

They don't have to be defensive anymore when they are accused, whether truthfully or falsely. You don't have to be defensive because you jolly well know in your heart and in reality that whenever someone accuses you even falsely, that you are far worse than what they're talking about. Oh, come on. You know. OK, OK, OK, they may be wrong with that particular accusation, but you're saying to yourself, well, you only knew about that.

You know you're worse than what anybody has ever accused you of. And you know that it's covered in Calvary. Hallelujah. So you can say to them, you can even say to yourself, I know that I am a worm. I am a wretch.

But thank God for Calvary. It's all covered in the blood of Jesus. Hallelujah. So we're free. We can just speak the truth.

We're free. We can admit our failure. We can just speak the truth. True believers can now be honest with themselves about the filth of their unregenerate lives and even the remaining corruption of their regenerate lives. For the score was what?

Settled long ago. The old account was settled long ago. Our judgment was on Calvary. So we can face the final judgment with confidence. You see, because God really loves his children and has fully accepted his children, they are free to be absolutely honest about their flaws without condoning it or excusing it.

That is the power of knowing that one is deeply loved and deeply valued, so much so that God could settle the score on Calvary. The Relationship does not hang on one's ability to never mess up again. It hangs on God's unconditional love in paying the price in full. Listen, because of what was done to our Lord Jesus, We who are true believers have no fear of the same being done to us. Our God is a just God and does not participate in double jeopardy.

If Jesus paid the infinite debt for sinners, those who prove to be true believers have no debt at all. Isn't that the best news? It's the best thing I've ever heard. No debt at all. None.

Pain in full. Hallelujah. For the true believer in Christ, the reality of the future and final judgment forces him to be serious about holiness because the reality, Well, not because of, but the reality of Calvary, as the believer's judgment day, Calvary was our judgment day, that reality gives us confidence in standing before a holy God. The believer is passionate about fighting sin, but He's not petrified at the prospect of failure. He's neither Pharisaic or antinomian.

Oh, come on now. He is free. He's free indeed because if Christ's sacrifice has made him free, he is free because of Christ. The struggle is over. I hope you're glad the struggle is over.

The struggle is over, for there is therefore Now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. The struggle is over for when Christ had by himself purged our sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. The struggle is over for Christ also hath once suffered for sin the just for the unjust that he might bring us to God. The struggle is over for God hath made Christ to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. The struggle is over for Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us.

The struggle is over. It is an indescribable compensation. Hallelujah to the Lamb! I must close. I must close.

As I close, I need to make sure that the central theme is clear concerning judgment in Biblical Christianity. Why is salvation even possible? Have you ever meditated on that? Why is salvation even possible? Why has not everyone been already swallowed up in the justice of a holy God?

Ignorant people in our culture say, oh, I don't believe in that kind of God. How can a loving God send people to hell? The ignorant. They have The wrong question. How can a holy God not send people to hell?

Holiness requires the destruction of that which is unholy. So what should be happening to us? What happened in Noah's flood should be happening to us. And every war and atrocity you think of should be happening to us. You ever meditated on what hell is?

Well, nothing going on on this side is hell. It's infinitely worse in hell, and he puts people in hell. So please understand that We really should not be here. We really should not be saved. We really should not have hope.

If justice prevailed without the cross, we're doomed and He's right. Can we get that settled? If God sends us to hell, it's a righteous judgment. That's the right thing to do. Holiness demands the destruction of that which is unholy, But we're still here.

Why are we even saved? How come we're still here if the business of holiness is the eradication of that which is unholy? Why does any sinner have a chance at salvation at all? The answer is that salvation is possible not because of some mitigating contribution from a guilty sinner but because of a mysterious development concerning the judge. Oh, you didn't hear me.

Salvation is possible not because of what's happening to us or among us, but because of what's going on in the heart of the judge. That's why it's possible. Because we're really supposed to be destroyed. What's happening with the judge? I've told you before that there is no court of law in this land or in my country or on the planet anywhere where a judge will allow himself to be judged.

Come on. If you want to find out for yourself, go into a courtroom and try that. A judge is about to pronounce judgment and you stand up and judge him. You are an unfair person to you. Judging the judge?

You're stupid. Don't go judging a judge in his court. No judge allows that. He holds you in contempt and you start your prison sentence early. The judge is there to judge, not to be judged.

Please listen carefully, For this is the unique contribution of biblical Christianity to the whole world. Any one of us can have assurance of salvation this morning. Assurance that our judgment is over. If we have evidence that our lives, in our lives, that Jesus Christ, the ultimate judge of the universe, has flipped the script concerning us, hallelujah. Here's the good news.

Here is the gospel. It is that the judge of the entire universe has permitted himself to be judged. That's biblical Christianity. For the first time, a judge and the greatest judge has permitted himself to be judged. He took the place of the condemned.

The judge has been judged on Calvary. The evidence that must be produced in our lives is a saving faith in the work of that judge when he was judged. The judge has been judged. Hallelujah. Because of his work, true believers can now walk.

Because of his experience, the record of the penitent is expunged. Because of his punishment, The elect of God can now have peace because of his rejection. The guilt of the redeemed is now removed because of his crucifixion, the remnant of God can now stand in declare. You know, I do not generally name persons that I often quote in my sermons, even though their names are written in my manuscript. I do this because I only want one name to be magnified in my sermons, and that's the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

However, I'll make an exception. According to the late great Baptist preacher of the 19th century, C.H. Spurgeon, I quote, there is a real fire in hell as truly as we have a real body, a fire exactly like that which we have on this earth, except this. Except this. It will not consume you, though it will torture you.

Will torture you. You have seen asbestos lying amid red hot coals but not consumed. Soul your body will be prepared by God in such a way that it will burn forever without being consumed. With your nerves laid raw by searing flame, yet never desensitized for all its raging fury, and the acrid smoke of the sulfurous flame searing your lungs and choking your breath, you will cry out for the mercy of death. But it will never happen.

Never, no never come. Listen. There is no way out of the final judgment. Put your trust in the judgment that Jesus endured on behalf of sinners. Embrace the judgment that he faced as your own judgment.

Flee the wrath to come. Do not make light of it. Deal with this matter before it's too late. Thank God for Calvary, for the crimson tide that washes white and snow. Thank God for his free and sovereign grace, his unmerited favor.

Face this matter before you face your God. Why? Psalm Number one, the Psalmist discussed the ultimate prosperity of the righteous in glory. You know it. However, concerning the ungodly, the inspired writer wrote, The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away.

Therefore, the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous. But the way of the ungodly shall perish. Amen. Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, You are the Lord God Almighty. You have promised to sustain your children. We, your children, are confident concerning your strong reserve with which to discharge this engagement. For you are able to do all things. Father, we have no reason to fail for the ocean of your omnipotence is inexhaustible.

The towering mountains of your almighty strength is invincible. Father, please forgive our sinful defiance of your holy precepts, as well as our ignorant and futile resistance of your infallible purposes. Father, our strength will never be able to overcome your power. Father, you are the everlasting one who directs the earth in all its ways. Father, when we consider your dealings with past generations, our faith increases.

You speak and it is done. You command and it stands fast. Father, If you have hung the world upon nothing, are you not able to support your children? Are you not able to rescue them? Oh God, change lives.

Even today, we pray in your son's matchless name, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.