and come out—those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.

By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.

There will come a double resurrection of all who are dead; a resurrection to life for those who have done good and a resurrection to judgment for those who have not.  #Dan 12:2 There are several judgments which actually take place; first is the judgment as to which camp an individual belongs, but also a separate judgment for those who have done good and for those who have done evil.  The basis for God’s judgment is man’s response to the revealed will of God.  Therefore it involves all of the thoughts, words, and deeds of every person. It must also take into account the amount of knowledge of God and His will possessed by each person and their ability to fulfill it.

Dan 12:2  Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.

  1. Resurrection to life
    1. Who is involved
      1. Those who place their faith and trust in Christ
        We are justified before God only on the merit of the perfect work of Christ. (#Rom 5:1, 8:1, 1Cor 1:30)
        Ro 5:1  Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
        Ro 8:1  Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,
        1 Co 1:30  It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.
      2. Those with their name written in the book of life (#Rev 20:15, 21:27)
        Re 20:15  If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
        Re 21:27  Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
        Who is it that has their name written in the Lamb’s book of life?  He who has faith in Christ and His finished work.
      3. Those who have done good (#John 5:29)
        Joh 5:29  and come out—those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.
        Who is it that does good? Those who have placed their faith and trust in Christ and in His finished work. This has 3 aspects to it as follows.
        1. imputed work
          Since we are in Christ, His perfect works have been imputed to us and we are now perfectly righteous in the sight of God. (2 Cor 5:21)
          2 Cor 5:21  God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
        2. changed lives
          Placing our faith and trust in Christ institutes a change within us. We begin to be changed into His likeness. (#Gal 2:20, 2Cor 3:18)
          Ga 2:20  I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
          2 Co 3:18  And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
          This process involves decision and action on our part. (#Rom 6:11-13, 12:2)
          Ro 6:11-13  In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.
          Ro 12:2  Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
          Due to our changed lives, good deeds will naturally follow. (#1John 1:6, James 2:17)
          1 Jo 1:6  If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.
          Jas 2:17  In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
        3. doing God’s works
          Jesus defined God’s works which we are to do as just believing on Christ. (#John 6:29)
          Joh 6:29  Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.
    2. Judgment of believers
      1. Has nothing to do with salvation
        We have already seen that resurrection to life is totally dependant upon placing faith and trust in Christ.
      2. We are not judged for our sins
        They have been dealt with once and for all by the death of Jesus and the cleansing we receive because of our reliance upon it. (#1Jo 1:9, Heb 10:17)
        1 Jo 1:9  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
        Heb 10:17  Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.”
      3. We are judged for our deeds
        We will be judged in respect to our stewardship of the talents, gifts, opportunities, and responsibilities we have had during the course of our lives. (#Mat 25:14-30, 25:31-46, Luke 19:12-28, 1Cor 3:12-15, 2Cor 5:10, 1Peter 1:17, Rev 20:12-13)
        2 Co 5:10  For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due to him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
        1 Pe 1:17  Since you call on a Father who judges each man’s work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear.
        Re 20:12-13  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 each person was judged according to what he had done.
      4. The result is reward or loss of reward (1 Cor 3:11-15)
        1 Co 3:11-15   For no-one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.
    3. Conclusion
      The thought of standing before Christ and accounting for all the deeds we have or have not done should affect us much the same way it did Daniel Webster.  When once asked the greatest thought he ever had, he responded, “I’ve thought about many things, but the most awesome, the most terrifying, the most shattering thought I’ve ever had, is my personal accountability to God one day.”
  2. Resurrection to Judgment
    1. Jesus will judge (John 5:28-29)
      What will He look like? (#Rev 1:14-16)
      Re 1:14-16  His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.
    2. What will the attitudes of the judged be like? (Rev 1:17, 6:15-17, 9:6)
      Re 1:17  When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last.
      Re 6:15-17  Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”
      Re 9:6  During those days men will seek death, but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them.
    3. Who will be involved?
      1. Those who have done evil
        We have already seen that this involves all who have not placed their faith and trust in Christ. (#Rev 20:15)
        Re 20:15  If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
      2. the great and the small (Rev 6:15, 20:12)
        Re 6:15  Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains.
        Re 20:12  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.
        Leonard Ravenhill once said, “I’d rather be the least in the Kingdom of God than the greatest in the kingdom of the devil.”
    4. What will happen?
      1. Recognition of Christ’s rightful place (Philippians 2:10-11)
        Php 2:10-11  that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,  and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
      2. Exposure
        Every deed and every thought will be exposed.
      3. Perfect judgment (Gen 18:25)
        Gen 18:25  Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?”
      4. Punishment according to merit (Luke 12:47-48)
        Lu 12:47-48  “That servant who knows his master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows. But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.
      5. Eternal damnation (Rev 20:15)
        Re 20:15  If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
        As Leonard Ravenhill said, “There is no court of appeals afterwards. The verdict is final!”
    5. Conclusion
      The greatest sermon ever preached is probably “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” by Jonathon Edwards. The people in the congregation were so affected by the sermon that they fell off their seats and desperately clung to the pillars holding up the church ceiling for fear of falling into the hell they so vividly saw. What was the reason for the power of this sermon? It wasn’t the delivery: Edwards read the sermon in a monotone voice. The power was from the anointing of God upon it because Edwards had been praying fervently, “Oh, God, stamp eternity on my eyeballs.” If God would stamp eternity or judgment upon our eyeballs, we would be a vastly different people from what we are.