He Will Come to Judge the Earth (Revelation 20.11-15)

Introduction

Yes, today is the First Sunday of Advent which means that this is the fourth Sunday before Christmas Day. Advent calendars, Advent wreaths, Advent candles start here. If you’re a regular churchgoer, you know that Advent is from the Latin adventus meaning “coming” or “arrival.” You hear this every year in church because most preachers feel they haven’t quite done their duty if they don’t say it yet again.

The colour associated with Advent is purple which is supposed to symbolise sorrow and fasting (Why is fasting purple? Don’t ask). It’s ironic isn’t it, how many people do you know who are going to be eating less in the run up to Christmas? But purple is also symbolic of royalty because Advent looks back to celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace and looks forward to the return of the King of kings.

Why did Jesus come the first time? He told us: “It’s not the well who need a doctor but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous to repentance, but sinners.” “The Son of Man came to seek and save the lost.” “I have come that you may have life in abundance.”

So we know why he came the first time.

What we’re going to be doing over the next three weeks in our morning services is ask why he is coming the second time. When Jesus returns what will he do then?

It’ll be nothing like the first time. Then he appeared as meek and on a donkey; this time he will appear as mighty and on a conqueror’s horse. Then he came in poverty. This time he’ll return in power. Then he was rejected as King of the Jews; this time he’ll be revered as King of kings. Then he said, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.” But this time the clock will have run down and there will be no more opportunity for repentance; he will judge the earth. He’s coming back to judge the living and the dead.

Judgement

The editors of the World Christian Encyclopaedia once did a remarkable study. Going through the whole Bible, they counted 735 different future predictions in the Bible. And they calculated that that amounts to roughly 27% of all Bible verses. Then, with an open Bible at one end of the desk and a stack of history books at the other, they found that 596 of the 735 prophecies recorded in Scripture have already been fulfilled, which is about 81%. Of the 19% of biblical prophecies that have not yet been fulfilled, that’s 139 different prophecies, most are about the return of Christ and the end of the world – including those found in our passage from Revelation this morning.

Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and everyone was judged according to what they had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. All whose names were not found written in the book of life were thrown into the lake of fire.

Revelation isn’t the simplest book of the Bible is it? But, even if we have to pass on one or two of the details, this passage is clear enough.

What a scene! There’s a grand white throne, maybe made of marble or ivory, and “one who was seated on it” but it doesn’t say who. We know from Acts 17 that it’s a human being because it says, “God has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed.” And we know from our reading from John’s Gospel this morning that that man is Jesus. “God the Father has given his Son authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.”

That means two things: firstly, everyone will acknowledge that what he decides is totally fair; he will judge the world with justice. Secondly, no one will be able to complain. We will be assessed by one who lived under the same pressures that we do. Jesus knows what is in the human heart. He just has to look at us and knows us through and through.

In this vision everyone, dead and alive, has been summoned before Christ in a great and awesome day of reckoning. There’s nowhere to hide. It’s the moment of truth.

The Evidence

Psychiatrists now know that we all possess a complete record of everything we have ever said and done. All of us, from the moment we are born, log absolutely everything in the complex data storage system that is the human brain. All our words, feelings, actions, and thoughts are neatly filed.

Now, as you know, the two characteristics of old age are a bad memory and… err… what was the other thing again?! So you might say, “Well I can’t remember what I was thinking on a certain day when I was a child. In fact, I can’t even remember what I had for dinner last Monday.” But that’s because most of our memories are stored in the subconscious layer - and that’s increasingly true as we get older - but the reality is that it’s all in there somewhere.

If you’ve ever lost files in a computer crash without having any of them backed up, you’ll know that, as annoying things go, it’s up there with finding your car damaged with no note left on the windscreen and having your tour operator go bust a week before your £2,000 holiday and you weren’t insured. I have, on three occasions in my life, lost practically everything on my computer, because I had minimal or zero backup. Get one of these.

God has a full backup of your mind and mine in heaven - and this is what it means in v12 where it says, “books were opened.” They’re books about my life and yours and I believe that when we come face to face with God, all our subconscious records will move up to the conscious level and we will have to acknowledge that everything he says about us is absolutely right. There’ll be no lawyer clever enough to find loopholes. There’ll be no miscarriages of justice. We’ll have to hold our hands up and say, “Well, the evidence is there for all to see, and I have no complaints.”

This Is Your Life

When I was young, I used to watch a TV programme in which a presenter surprised a celebrity, or someone who had done a lot for charity, by presenting them with a big red book with gold letters on the cover; “This is Your Life.” Do you remember that show – or has it slipped down into the subconscious already?

Any researcher working on “This is Your Life” will tell you that in doing the background work to make the programme they often uncovered embarrassing information about the celebrities that they had to suppress for the show. They only broadcast the presentable bits of course. Sometimes though, despite their best efforts, the personality made sure the audience saw their dark side as well. In 1983 a well-known boxer appeared ‘live’ on the show worse for wear after a few drinks - and he spent the whole time using of foul and abusive language to describe his best friends who later appeared right before him, flown in especially from Australia and America!

When the book of my life and yours is opened on the day of reckoning, it’ll all be there. Our lives in their best light and the dark side as well.

When the snooker player Stephen Hendry was on the show, aged 21, he said, “This is your life? I’ve hardly had a life yet!” Ah, but by the time I was 21 I’d done enough for my mother to disown me if she only knew the half of it. How many of us would be completely relaxed about having every thought and every deed we had done up to the age of 21 projected onto that screen behind me for everyone else here to see?

Everything recorded in these books will be out in the open, declassified. Talk about Freedom of Information! What I really thought about ‘Mrs. So and So’ on the PCC will be a matter of public record. Every exaggerated expenses claim, every hateful thought, every skin-saving lie, every lustful look, every spiteful remark and worse will be revealed.

The Verdict

Alfred Nobel was a Swedish inventor, chemist and engineer. He owned an iron and steel plant which he turned into a major armaments business. It was there that his research and development of nitroglycerin led him to the invention of dynamite which he patented and amassed a vast fortune from.

In 1888 a newspaper erroneously reported his death. In fact, it was his brother who had died so Nobel read his own obituary. Here’s what the headline read; “The merchant of death is dead.” And it went on to say, “Doctor Alfred Nobel, who became rich by finding ways to kill more people faster than ever before, died yesterday.” Nobel was devastated.

He decided from that day on that his legacy should be different. About three years before he died he signed his last will and testament, leaving most of his vast estate (valued today at hundreds of millions of pounds) to establish the Nobel Prizes. There are 4 awards for science and literature, but the fifth is for “the person or society that renders the greatest service to the cause of international brotherhood, the suppression or reduction of armies, or in the establishment or furtherance of peace.”

If your obituary were published prematurely in tomorrow’s paper, what would you like it to say? Would that be any different to what it actually would say? Twice in this reading (in v12 and in v13) it says that the living and the dead were judged not for what they had believed but for what they had done.

Whatever people think about us, we will have to give an account to God for what we have actually done with our lives. Does this mean then that God will accept us on the basis of our good deeds? Does it mean that we can be saved by works? No, we are justified by faith in Jesus Christ and saved by grace alone. There is no other way. But, even though we cannot be saved by our works, we will be judged by them.

God will open the “Book of my Life” and yours and the proceedings will begin. The Bible says that there is one who accuses us before God night and day. Satan, the counsel for the prosecution will open his case.

“Have you ever knowingly sinned in your life Mr. Lambert?” “Err, yes.”

“Have you ever criticized others for things you have done yourself?” “Well, yes.” “Have you ever gone one day without falling into sin at some point?” “Err, no.”

“Have you always done what you know to be the right thing?” “Not always, no.”

“Has your life been filled with thankfulness in proportion to God’s generosity and authority?” “Let me think… hmm, that would be no as well.”

“I see. No more questioning Your Honour.”

I will look into Jesus’ searching eyes. “Anything to add?” “No, Lord.”

There is another book though that I haven’t talked about yet, and it appears in v12 and v15. This book is actually mentioned 8 times in the Bible; it’s the Book of Life. It’s the complete, unabridged record of Jesus’ perfect life; that’s why its full title is the Lamb’s Book of Life. Turn the cover over and what do you see?

It’s all in there; a flawless portrait of his matchless character;

Chapter 1 - his limitless love
Chapter 2 - his amazing faith
Chapter 3 - his unshakeable integrity
Chapter 4 - his innocent sufferings
Chapter 5 - his endless mercy
Chapter 6 - his awesome authority
Chapter 7 - his total truthfulness
Chapter 8 - his unsurpassed leadership
Chapter 9 - his breathtaking compassion
And on it goes until (last but not least) the short epilogue - his unassuming humility.

Talk about a good read… But the Bible tells us that there are other names in this book as well; whose? I’m going to read three verses from the Bible.

“These women have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life.”

“I will never blot out the names (of those who are victorious) from the book of life, but will acknowledge their names before my Father and his angels.”

“Nothing impure will ever enter (the New Jerusalem), nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life.”

So who are these people whose names are in the book of life? It’s all those who have been faithful to Jesus as their Saviour and Master. Do you see now why the Bible says we are “in Christ”? If we are faithful to him our names get written into the record of Christ’s perfect life. That’s why it says we are “included in Christ.” God includes your name into the story of Christ’s flawless life and gives you his perfect righteousness.

But I would be culpable to speak on this passage and close my eyes to v14-15.

“Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. All whose names were not found written in the book of life were thrown into the lake of fire.”

The day of judgement, for some, will open the door to an era of extreme happiness that goes on forever. There will be a new heaven and a new earth. Jesus himself and all who belong to him will be there. There will be glorious new bodies which will never grow old. There will be no death there, no grieving, no crying, and no pain. All who belong to Christ on that day will be healed forever.

But for those who refuse the gospel and who reject Christ, it will be a day of devastation. It says that “Death will be thrown into the lake of fire” too and I think that means that the suffering and regret of Christ’s enemies in hell will never end.

This is a serious, unambiguous and repeated warning in Scripture, but in 30 years of being a Christian I can count on one hand the number of sermons I’ve heard on it. No one wants to be unpopular. But I’d rather people said “John Lambert takes the Bible too literally”, than hear God say, “You explained it away too easily.” I’d rather be criticised for frightening people towards heaven that stand accused by God of lulling people towards hell.

Ending

I finish by saying that I can’t talk about all this without having a heavy heart. It upsets me. It pains me. I hope it troubles you too. Most of all, it weighs on the heart of God, who “wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”

And it fires me up to work harder and harder - and pray more passionately, and with tears - that this church, under God, can be more and more a place where God’s glory shines brightly, so that all those whose name is not yet written in the Lamb’s book of life might turn to Christ, so that their name would be inscribed there too.


Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 29th November 2009

The Enemy Within (Romans 16.17-20)

Introduction

You’re walking in a forest and you hear “Timber!!!” The voice sounds really near. Then you hear a slow creaking sound and a loud crack. A tree is about to fall - conceivably on you.

Or you’re standing around beside a golf course and suddenly someone shouts “Fore!” with an element of panic in the tone of voice. A golf ball has been hit badly and is travelling dangerously off course - perhaps towards you.

I’ve never been hit by a falling tree or by a stray golf ball – but I spent most of my weekends as a boy racing sailboats on the Thames, crewing for my dad. I learned to duck quickly whenever I heard my dad shout “Jibe!” It meant the boom was going to swing at great speed from one side of the boat to the other – and, being in the middle of the boat, my head was in the way. And, being a bit dithering and vague, I got hit by a jibing boom on several occasions. “Jibe!” “Eh?” Smack!!! “Ouch!”

Timber, Fore, Jibe; three urgent warning calls that danger is real, close up and imminent.

Why Vigilance Is Essential

The Apostle Paul, finishing off his letter to the Romans, starts to wind it up in v17 with a similar warning; “Watch out!” Picture a runaway chariot, speeding down a cobbled hill in Rome, clattering against the stones, hurtling towards a mother with a pram. The word Paul uses here in v17 “Watch out” is the very word you would have shouted as soon as you saw that chariot. It’s a word that expresses something urgent and pressing and critical. There’s a lunatic running amok in the street with a knife. The word Paul uses here in v17 is what you would shout to a friend to warn him about the danger. “Watch out!”

What do you think a young and growing Christian community would need to watch out for? We’ve been thinking a lot about spiritual warfare in the last few months; principalities and powers, strongholds and footholds, armour and weaponry – all we need for the battle out there. But the sobering thing about tonight’s readings from God’s word is that sometimes the battle is not out there in the big bad world. It’s in here, in the church. Sometimes we have to do battle with an enemy within.

One of the key features of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan – and one of the reasons why they were, and are, so difficult to win – is enemy insurgents infiltrating local police or armed forces. Just last week, tragically, you’ll have seen the news, five British soldiers came under machine gun fire and were killed by a man who had gained access to their quarters by joining the Afghan army as a trainee. In the same week a disillusioned loner in the American military opened fire on his brothers in arms in a base in Texas. 100 bullets. 29 injured. 13 fatalities.

I don’t know what the answer is to all that. But I do know what the answer is in the spiritual realm, because God gives it to us here in Romans 16. And we’re going to look at that together in a minute.

Truth or Love?

But first of all, let me tell you about two friends of mine; Margaret and Patrick. They are both real people and neither is from here. Margaret once said to me something like this; “What we need is unity and love. People go on about what we have to believe. Truth is important, don’t get me wrong, but if I had to choose between love and truth, I’d take love every time.” Patrick takes another view. “Only one thing has any value; the truth that Jesus died for my sins on the cross – everything else is unimportant.”

Who’s right? What do you think is most important in the Christian community? Is it truth or unity? In other words, is it more important that we hold on to the truths established in Scripture and passed on to us? Or is it more important that we keep the Church together as a loving, united community? Verses 17-18 give us something to go on.

“I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people.”

So – what do you think? Margaret would say, “Look, it says here, ‘watch out for those who cause divisions,’ because what we need is unity.” Patrick would say, “Look, it says here, ‘watch out for those who put obstacles against teaching you have learned’ because what we need is the truth.”

And of course we want both, don’t we? If you drift away from what the Bible says you’ll get spiritually unhealthy and eventually you’ll die because Jesus said “my words are spirit and they are life.” And if we drift away from each other, becoming unloving and disunited we’ll lose our cutting edge because Jesus said “all people will know you are my disciples by the love you have for one another.”

I wonder if we naturally tend towards an approach that says, “Look, nobody has the whole truth, everybody sees things differently, let’s celebrate difference, and keep our unity, let’s not divide over these matters, let’s be a broad church.” Is that so bad? The thing is, Paul does care about unity here. That’s why he says, “Watch out for those who cause divisions.”

Here’s the key to unlocking this problem of truth versus unity; it’s not refusing bad teaching that damages unity in the church – the real harm is done when we just accept it uncritically. It’s not rejecting strange doctrine that is unloving – it’s tolerating weird ideas and new fads and unbiblical novelties whenever they appear that shows we are too scared to fight for the spiritual wellbeing of our brothers and sisters in Christ.

In both our readings tonight Paul talks about Satan in the context of people, in churches, promoting beliefs contrary to wholesome, healthy, biblical teaching. And there still are. It’s spiritual warfare of a different kind. “For such persons are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.” He still does. “Give them a wide berth” says Paul.

If you’re under 30, you were born in an era of human history where it is very hard to be a lover of truth. Lovers of truth in 2009 will spend their whole lives resisting pressure to conform to the dominant worldview of this age – which is the post-enlightenment belief that there is no truth (there’s just opinion), there’s no absolute right and wrong (there’s just differences) and that everything is relative (it just depends on your perspective).

Do people really infiltrate churches and sweet-talk people with false teaching? Yes. I’ve seen it happen in London and in Paris. I’ve seen how young, impressionable Christians, hungry for new experiences of God, desperate for some kind of spiritual sensation or some new thing that’s taken off elsewhere, easily became attracted by the promise of success, health, happiness, revival and personal fulfilment - and then it ends in tears. It’s the enemy within.

I want you to look at several cases of the enemy within in the New Testament. You have an envelope on your table with a passage from the Bible. I’m going to give you a few minutes to read the passage and try and answer the questions…

For discussion in groups of 10 people

Galatians 1.6-9 and 3.1-6
Colossians 2.16-23
2 Corinthians 11.3-11
Jude 3-13
1 John 2.18-26

What does the author say here, if anything, about the behaviour of ‘the enemy within’? 
What clues does this passage give about what ‘the enemy within’ was teaching? 
What, if anything, does the passage say about the effect this had on the church?
These questions might seem irrelevant – but they are important because Satan still does the same sort of thing in the same kind of way today. Know your enemy!

I think the key words to note about his behaviour are subtlety, pride, confusion, competitiveness, deception and greed for money.

The key strands on what they were teaching are, I think,

• legalism – it’s all man-made and focused on what you do
• mysticism – spiritual techniques or experiences and an emphasis on angels
• getting Jesus all wrong – it’s another Jesus, or they’ve lost connection with the head, or they’re denying Jesus Christ.

Be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil. What does that mean? I think “be wise about what is good” means keep your brain switched on, be level-headed, check stuff out, don’t just swallow what someone says because they’re on God TV or write books. The Message translates it, “I want you to be smart, making sure every ‘good’ thing is the real thing.”

What about “Be innocent about what is evil?” I think it’s about not being naïve. Don’t be easy to fool. Again, the Message translates it well; “Don't be gullible in regard to smooth-talking evil.”

And, v20, “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.” His defeat is comprehensive and complete.

Past: Satan has been irretrievably doomed by the resurrection of Christ from the dead.

Future: Satan will be finally defeated and thrown into hell, never to deceive the world again, when Christ returns victorious.

But tonight’s emphasis has been on the present. What is the situation now?

Preset: Satan is being beaten back every day by Christ through believers like you and I wearing the full armour of God and speaking the word of truth. You may say, “Alleluia.”


Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 15th November 2009