This is the english version of a sermon preached in portuguese on the 26th September 2010 at Sao Miguel Paulista Corps, Sao Paulo. It was the last in a sermon series on the 11 articles of doctrine of the Salvation Army. (All scripture quotations are from the NIV)
Sao Miguel Paulista Corps - Salvation Meeting 26/09/10
Text: 2 Timothy 4:1
Bible Reading: Matthew 25:31-46
Theme: He will judge the earth.
I will go as far as to say, that I think that the greatest spiritual danger of our time is that people don´t really believe in heaven and hell.
It is my impression that people certainly do not appear to act as if they believe in heaven and hell very much. They do not act as if they know that it is a fact that one day they will stand before Jesus and be judged for what they did during their life on earth. If they did know and believe this as a fact, then I think they would act very differently.
In my experience of life, over many years, I think I have perceived what I would call a creeping universalism. I have certainly seen this phenomenon amongst people who do not profess faith in Christ. Many of them believe in a vague God, a convenience-store type of God, who they can go to only when they need him, but the rest of the time they get on with their lives without giving him another thought. I have seen this kind of belief particularly at funerals. All of a sudden at a funeral, the question of whether there is a God and whether there is a heaven becomes very important. And these people seem to think that as long as the person who died was not a very terrible person, but tried their best, and occasionally did something good for someone, then surely this vague God, whom they have heard about and almost believe in, will allow the deceased person to go to heaven. Or perhaps it is more accurate to say that they only really believe in heaven and not God. And therefore, somehow, we will all eventually end up in a spiritual paradise because no one has the right to judge us. So, we all win in the end. Now this sounds to me like an advert for the national lottery! (Here is a picture which kind of sums up this sort of idea – it is a view looking down from the sky onto the tops of some tall buildings. It demonstrates the idea that all the dead people are safely up above the sky looking down on the living.)
Now I say this kind of thinking is a terrible spiritual danger because of what happens when we stop really believing in a heaven and hell, in a life after death, in a God who judges between the righteous and the wicked. Think about this for a moment. If nothing we do here on earth has any eternal consequence; if no one will hold us accountable for the lives we have lived, then why should we be good? Well now, the atheist might perhaps reply to that, that we should be good because being good makes society function properly, and if we are not good then everyone will suffer including us.
But there are at least two problems with that argument; firstly, if there is no God, who decides what actually constitutes being good? Should the government decide? The United Nations? The banks? The President of the USA? The President of Iran? The Communist Party in China? Should you decide? Should I decide?
And second problem with that argument, which is related to the first problem, is that sometimes by doing what we think is good, we can cause others to suffer; for example, when we look after our own interests and those of our families and friends first, surely that is a good thing, isn’t it? And yet doing this may actually be the cause of others´ suffering. After all, it was this kind of reasoning that led people to bring slaves to Brazil. It was this kind of reasoning that led to the development of atomic weapons. It was this kind of reasoning that has led to global warming. It was this kind of reasoning that has led to the current injustice in world trade and world finance. And, in fact, it is this kind of argument, the argument that says that it is good to look after ourselves first, that is partly responsible for the terrible poverty in the world today.
And even though many times we hear the political leaders of the world talk about Aid for those in poverty, clearly there is a difficulty in giving that aid because this argument for self-interest is very powerful indeed within their countries.
So I am saying that one of the chief reasons there is so much suffering in the world today is because people have either forgotten or have refused to believe that there is indeed a heaven and a hell and that one day we will all have to stand before Christ and account for what we have done with our lives. And I think if people really believed this, then they would want to know Jesus better and know what he requires of them, and they would want to follow his teaching and commands carefully, so that when he comes to judge them they will be ready.
Now how did this happen? How did people stop believing in the truth of God´s judgement and in heaven and hell? Well, this lack of belief must have started somewhere, and perhaps it started in the church! Of all places for it to happen, it started in the church of Jesus Christ. Yes, I am suggesting that perhaps there were and still are people who would call themselves Christians and yet would deny that there is a hell, nor a judgement that will send them to it. And even worse, perhaps there are also those who say that they believe that there is a heaven and a hell and a judgment, but then they live their lives in a way that suggests that they do not actually believe what they say.
Well, the Salvation Army’s final article of faith makes it very plain what Salvationists are supposed to believe. Let’s stand and read it together.
11. We believe in the immortality of the soul, the resurrection of the body, in the general judgement at the end of the world, in the eternal happiness of the righteous, and in the endless punishment of the wicked.
Now of course, there has always been much debate about what the words in this statement actually mean – immortality, resurrection, general judgement, heaven and hell – but tonight I want to try to give you my interpretation of this truth which I hope has been guided by the Holy Spirit.
And I have some confidence that the Holy Spirit will be guiding me, and also you as you listen, because we are going to look extensively at scripture, and that is because the first thing that needs to be said about this article that we have just read is that it is thoroughly biblical; you will find all the ideas it contains within the bible.
1. He has set a time.
In Acts 10:42 we have the historical record of the Apostle Paul speaking about the calling of the first apostles, amongst whose number he included himself. What did God call Paul to do? Let us read it.
Act 10:42
He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead.
Paul´s preaching to the Athenians demonstrates his faithfulness to this calling. Let´s read Acts 17:29-31.
Acts 17:29-31
29"Therefore since we are God's offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by man's design and skill. 30In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 31For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead."
Paul, in his turn, passed on the call of Christ to Timothy, his young protégé. And the calling was to preach the same message. Let us read 2 Timothy 4:1-2.
2 Timothy 4:1-2
In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2Preach the Word..
Now in my opinion, there is no ambiguity here. There is no real possibility of making a mistake about what is being said here. Paul is saying exactly what Jesus said before him. He told his audience then, and he tells us now, through the scriptures, that at the end of human history, which is still continuing at the present time, there will be a great judgment of all humanity.
Everyone who has ever died will be resurrected and they, along with all those still living will be made to stand before Jesus who will pass judgement on them. He will judge their lives. He will judge how they lived their lives. Jesus will consider what each person knew about him, and on that basis, he will judge whether they put their faith in him.
And as a result of that judgment, some of us will know the eternal happiness of being with Jesus forever; and some of us will know the eternal pain of being without Jesus forever. In other words, some of us will enter heaven, and some of us will enter hell.
I wonder what you think of when you think of heaven and hell. Well, here are some pictures which might help you think about this. Firstly, here is a picture of a beautiful view from a mountain. Peace and beauty: – I think that heaven will be full of both. Then, there is a picture of a family sitting down to eat together. Lots of joy and love: – I think that heaven will be full of these too.
But what about hell? Well, I think I have shown this photograph before, but it is a picture of a Brazilian gold mine with thousands of workers carrying sacks of dirt up very long and dangerous ladders. Pain, exhaustion, fear and hopelessness – I think hell will be full of those. And then here is a picture of young Paraguayan prostitutes. Shame, hurt, desperation: – I think that hell will be full of that too.
The General of the Salvation Army has asked all Salvationists around the world to pray on this very day for the issue of Sexual Trafficking, that terrible crime that is continuing around the world. This is the bible text that accompanies his request:
Micah 2:9
9 You drive the women of my people
from their pleasant homes.
You take away my blessing
from their children forever.
The trafficking of human beings by other human beings to be used for sex or labour is truly hell on earth. So let us pray, right now.
Lord, forgive us if we are not doing our part to try and end this great evil in the world that is sexual trafficking. We pray for the victims, that you may raise up heroes and heroines who will fight for their release. We pray that you will heal the terrible wounds that have been inflicted upon their minds and bodies. We pray that they will know your cleansing power and be restored to their families and their friends and be able to begin a new life, safe from those who would exploit them.
We pray for the men and women who enslave and traffic other human beings. We pray that you will stir their consciences so that they will hate themselves for what they do, and therefore decide to stop doing it. We pray that they will be compelled by their conscience to make restoration to their victims, and if necessary, to give themselves up to pay the penalty for their crimes. We pray that if they do this, that by the mystery of your grace, you will forgive them.
We pray for the governments and law enforcement agencies and other international groups and charities that are trying to stop this terrible crime or to help those who are the victims of it. We pray that they will have the desire, the funding, the wisdom, the courage and the cooperation they need to stamp out this modern form of slavery. We pray that those who have power will use it to bring justice, and to prevent trafficking in the future. Lord, we know that you hate human trafficking, and we pray that you might grant us the privilege of being used by you in some small way to end it. We pray this in the name of the one who came to serve and to save, Jesus Christ. Amen.
From the reports we have seen and heard, we know that the world of the slave is a world of bullying, violence, loneliness, pain, loss, humiliation and injustice; all the things that we all hate to experience. And what lies beneath all these things is an absence of God.
On the other hand, the things we love, like music, dancing, parties, beautiful objects and people, the beauty of nature, the possibility of achievement, kindness, generosity, friendship, the laughter and innocence of children; underneath all these things is the presence of God. And what the bible tells us is that to be in heaven is just to be in the presence of God, whilst to be in hell is to be separated from God. And the bible explains that God has decided that Jesus shall judge who are worthy to know the presence of God and who are worthy to know separation from God – for eternity.
But do you or I know which is which? Do we know who will be saved and who will be condemned; who is bound for heaven and who is bound for hell? I can think of at least two people in this world who have a bad opinion of me. Of this I am fairly certain. Of course, there are probably more like them, but I´m not so sure of that! Not surprisingly, these two people are not really close friends of mine anymore! (Although this was not necessarily my choice, I hasten to add.) Now this fact could make me feel bad about myself, even make me feel guilty, but actually I believe that whatever it was that I did to them that caused them to have this bad opinion of me has now been forgiven by my Saviour, Jesus Christ, even if they cannot bring themselves to forgive me.
And so when I stand before Christ to be judged (and here´s a picture of a painting of Jesus on judgement day) he will not look at me and say, you hurt those two people and for that I condemn you. No, he will say, your sin is forgiven, go (into heaven) in peace. Now, if those two people hear this, they might complain that Jesus is being unfair; but no, his judgement is fair. Jesus has received the punishment I should have had for my sins by dying on the cross, and it is by his grace, and his grace alone, that he will judge me innocent on that day. But if he has done this for me (and none of you know the full extent of my sin just as I do not know the full extent of your sin), if he has done this for me, who am I to judge anyone else? Who am I to condemn another and say, you are a sinner and you will be condemned to hell?
Listen to what Jesus says about this in Luke 6:37-38
Luke 6:37-38
"Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
Sometimes when I think about some people´s behaviour towards me, towards others, towards the Christian church, towards the Salvation Army, towards their fellow Christians, towards those in need, and well, I confess that I find it too easy to condemn them, to judge them. I find that I want them to suffer for their behaviour; I want them to be punished. But what Jesus is saying is that he, and he alone, will be the judge of who has sinned against God, and he, and he alone, will decide who will be condemned. And I, his disciple, am to show the same grace and forgiveness to others that he showed to me.
Will some of those who trafficked human beings be saved and go to heaven? Will some of those who behave badly in the church be saved and go to heaven? Only Jesus truly knows. But the lesson of the thief on the cross next to Jesus is that true repentance will always be met with divine grace.
2. For I was hungry...
Jesus himself says that many people will be surprised at his judgement. Let us read his parable in Matthew 25:31-46.
Matthew 25:31-46
The Sheep and the Goats
31"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For 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, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
41"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'
44"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'
45"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'
46"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."
I was reading a commentary about this parable. The writer pointed out the extreme shock and surprise that those hearing the words of Jesus seem to experience. On the one hand, those who were compassionate and cared for Jesus´ brothers are shocked and surprised to learn that they were doing this for Jesus himself. Perhaps they were only doing what they felt should naturally be done for those in need. They were acting like human beings should, with compassion and concern for others. They didn´t realise that this would be the test which would decide whether they would spend eternity with God.
On the other hand, those who were condemned were also shocked and surprised. The bible scholars suggest that Jesus may have been speaking this parable against the Jews of his time, or more specifically the Jewish leaders, whom he knew would persecute the church, just as they did him. And so when he speaks about his little ones he is referring to his disciples who would represent him after he had gone back to heaven. Now these Jewish leaders would be surprised at the negative judgment of Jesus because they thought they were righteous, and therefore would be saved. But Jesus says that because they persecuted or neglected to help those who represented him on earth, then they have also persecuted or neglected him and so are condemned.
Now there are still those today who think that their righteousness comes from doing all the religious things. They attend the church, they give their tithe, and they say all the right things in public. You will remember that this was the lesson of the rich young ruler last week; he thought that he was righteous because he kept all the laws.
But the truth of someone´s faith is demonstrated by what they do for others.
The sheep in the parable did good works because they were genuinely good and loving, not because they sought to gain a reward, but because they had genuine compassion for others, and also perhaps because they knew their need of the gospel which the disciples of Jesus were bringing to them.
But the goats in the parable could not fool God. They clearly thought they were innocent of neglecting Jesus, but the truth is that if we try to be good only to avoid punishment, or to gain a reward, then we will probably fail in doing good, because that is never a sufficient motivation. And in my experience, it is perfectly possible for people to do all the religious things, and sound very holy and yet never really help anyone who has a need. And interestingly, these same people are also the ones most likely to judge the spiritual condition of others.
(But in the mercy of God, perhaps these goats, by trying to do good, even if it is for the wrong motive, may perhaps see the response of those they help and by the power of the Holy Spirit, it may change them and they will be become convicted of their own need for forgiveness and love.)
The key principle of the parable is that selflessness, in other words, putting others before yourself, is what characterises heaven. And selfishness is what characterises hell. In heaven, we will be with the source of all goodness and love and kindness. And those in hell will be separated from the source of all goodness and love and kindness. And this will mean that there may be those who, although they never confessed the faith with their mouth, showed compassion to Christians and so will be forgiven. Whereas there will be those who called themselves Christians but failed to help those who they should have cared for as their brothers and sisters, and they will be condemned.
3. Pluck it out.
So how do we respond to these words of Jesus? How do we ensure that we live a life that demonstrates our belief in the future reality of his judgement, and heaven and hell?
Well, Jesus tells us how to do this in Mark 9:43-49.
Mark 9:43-49
43If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. 45And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell.[d] 47And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, 48where
" 'their worm does not die,
and the fire is not quenched.' 49Everyone will be salted with fire.
Now this is very extreme language. The name for such a use of language is hyperbole. But even if Jesus didn´t mean to say that we should literally maim ourselves physically, I think he was being deadly serious and was using exaggeration to show us how important it was to deal with our sin. And this is because, of all the people that ever lived, I think Jesus had the best understanding of how terrible hell would be. After all, he had some memory of heaven, and an ongoing, vibrant experience of the presence of God his Father and the Holy Spirit, and therefore he could imagine the terror of feeling their absence, and indeed, some say he later experienced this terror and desolation when he was crucified and died.
So Jesus wanted to leave us in no doubt that we should deal with anything in our lives that might threaten our salvation.
The context of this passage is Jesus´ teaching about people receiving or rejecting the gospel and those who preach it. And so Jesus is saying that if there is anything that stops us from accepting the gospel, anything that stops us from being his true follower, anything that causes us to reject his teachings and commands, then we need to get rid of it, if we want to be saved. We need to get rid of it, even if we feel that this thing is as important to us as a hand or foot or an eye.
But what is it that he might be talking about? What is this thing that we need to renounce because it causes us to sin?
Is it something in our lifestyle, such as a television programme, or a love of fashion, or the music we listen to, or the books or magazines that we read, the internet sites we look at?
Is it our friendships? Is there some friend that is leading us into sin, whom we need to stop being friends with? Could it even be someone in our family?
Is it certain opinions that we have had for many years, and feel very strongly about?
Is it a strong emotion or attitude?
Is it our religion; our understanding of how church should be done? Is it some kind of addiction to something? Is it a hidden desire? Do any of these things cause us to sin?
Jesus is saying that it is better to avoid these things altogether, to completely remove them from your life, rather than jeopardise your salvation, because sin is so serious that it can separate you from God.
One of the great works of the Holy Spirit is conviction. He comes to us, and through the word of God, spoken in the worship service, or spoken by a believer, or read by us in private, the Holy Spirit stirs us up and reveals to us what it is that is unholy within us. I believe that he has done that tonight. As I prepared this talk he was doing the same work in me.
I know that Jesus is my judge. He sees within my heart and knows if there is anything wrong there, and he condemns it. And if it remains there and is not dealt with, he will condemn it on the day of judgement. But I also know and believe that Jesus is my saviour, and so I know that if I ask him to forgive me and to cleanse me, he will send the Holy Spirit to me to help me remove the sin from my heart. And I know that if I allow the Holy Spirit to do this work in me, then not only will I have an increasing sense of the presence of God in my life, bringing me peace and joy and love while I live on this earth, but far greater than this, on the day of Judgement, when I stand before Jesus, he will smile at me, he will embrace me, he will take me by the hand and lead me and all the saints into heaven. Oh, what a day that will be! The greatest promise! The greatest gift!
My friends, tonight, will you listen to the Holy Spirit? Will you renounce your sin that keeps you from accepting Christ? Will you renounce your sin that endangers your salvation?
Come to this place tonight and seek forgiveness, seek cleansing, seek a new way of being, accepting the Lordship of Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.
And for those of you who have the assurance in your heart of heaven tonight, I would ask you firstly to thank God for your salvation! Say a pray of gratitude to him, that he has saved you from hell and provided a place for you in heaven. And when you have done that, I want you to think of all those people you know who have not accepted Christ as their saviour; all those people you know who are not yet Christians. And perhaps you also need to come here to this place, to plead for their eternal destiny; to ask Jesus to help you preach the gospel to those people in whatever way you can, taking whatever opportunity that he gives. Bring these people before him now and plead for their eternal soul; ask that after the judgement, they will be found amongst the saints and not amongst those that are cast out of the divine presence.
I invite you all to come now and to meet with the resurrected Lord Jesus at this special place of prayer.
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