The Final Judgement - John 3:19-21

1:45But when you look at these fears, they really boil down to a couple core truths, core issues that seem to permeate through all of them. There is a fear of loss, and there's a fear of exposure. That really kind of brings it all down. Death is really a fear of loss, but it's also fear of judgment, what's to come afterwards. Fear of rejection, fear of failure, fear of ridicule, fear of being alone is all a fear that stems from being exposed or being found useless or worse, evil or wrong. And so, Willie, when you boil down the whole fear of death, it comes down to a fear of judgment. Are you afraid to die? I just ask you that. If you really asked yourself that question right now, are you afraid to die? If you are, if there is a sense in you that there is a fear of death, it's because there's a fear of what's To come after, a fear of judgment, a fear of having your wrongs exposed before a holy God in a watching universe. But for the one who has faith, there is no fear in death because there is no fear in the coming judgment. There is no fear of great loss. There is no fear of humiliating exposure. And it's only the Christian who has a solid basis for going into eternity without a fear of the coming judgment. And that's what I want to talk to you this morning.

3:39I'll just read to you 1 John chapter 3, verses 19 through 21. This is the judgment that the light has come into the world, and men love the darkness rather than the light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the light so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.

4:17Title of this morning's message is The Final Judgment. Scripture makes it very clear that it is coming. There is a final judgment. Acts 17:31 says that he has. Fixed a day. God has fixed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness through a man whom he has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising him from the dead. There is a point, there is a judgment, there is a man, the man Jesus Christ, and he has made it evident that this is the one through whom he's going to judge the world by raising him from the dead. No one else has come forth, no one else is around to make that judgment or to be that judge. Romans 2:16 says that God has appointed a day in which he will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus. That eternal, that final judgment is coming.

5:15And you and I are going to stand there before him, the presence of a holy God. You know, one of my favorite cheat teachers going through college, or my favorite teachers throughout any class I was taking, whether it was school, in high school, or college, or seminary, my favorite teachers were those who dealt straight with me. They knew what they wanted to teach me, and they said, Here's what I want you to learn. Now go learn this. This is what you're going to be tested on. They weren't trying to trick me. They weren't trying to catch me in some kind of trap. They. Spoke directly. They told me exactly what would be on the exam and how to prepare for it. And so knowing what was coming would give me the ability to prepare for it, not only prepare for it, but have a peace about it. Such is what a good professor does. They teach. They let you know. They communicate. They're not trying to trap or trick. Well, God is a good teacher. He has given everything to us that we need to know so that we can be prepared for that final examination, that final judgment.

6:39That's what I want to talk to you about this morning, and that's what our scripture takes us to this morning. How do you get ready for such a day? How do you get ready for the final judgment? Well, the answer is in our text. For starters, you need to understand the nature of the judgment. If you're going to be ready for the judgment, you need to understand the nature of the judgment so that you can be prepared for it. And that's what I want to do this morning. I want you to understand the final judgment so that you can be prepared for it. And I've broken these scriptures or these three verses down into really two distinct categories. There is God's verdict, that is, the judgment that God is going to make. He gives it to us right now: the verdict and the distinction. The distinction, and that is between the people that God will make a distinction between. So there's God's verdict, that's the judgment that He's going to make, and then there is a distinction that He's going to make between two categories of people. So that's where we're going this morning: God's verdict and then God's distinction. Look at verse 19.

7:53First, I want you to see God's judgment or God's verdict. God's verdict. Look at verse 19. This is the judgment. That's that same word. And this is the condemnation you saw in verse 18. This is that same word. And in here, it implies verdict. Here is the verdict. And there's an emphasis. This one. This is the verdict. Here it is. It's like the gavel, right? It comes down. The judge is getting. This is it. Boom. This is what you're going to hear. Boom. This is what it is. Boom. The verdict. The judgment. This is it.

8:30And there are three elements of God's judgment that I want you to see here. First, this is the judgment. That, number one, the light has come into the world. It's right there. This is the judgment that the light has come into the world. And remember what light is. Light is that medium that lets the viewer see the view. You can see me and I can see you because there is a medium in here called light. If we turn out, All the light, if every ray of light was completely evacuated from this room, you and I could not see each other. So, light is that medium through which the viewer sees the view.

9:14And how John uses this is: Jesus is the light, the true light. He is the light, he is that perfect embodiment of God, he is that manifestation of true information about God. So, as the light, Jesus lets us know about God. As you understand Jesus, you understand God. As light in a room allows us to see each other, so Jesus allows us to see God. That's the light. Jesus is that medium through which we see the light has come. This is the judgment. The light has come. It's a perfect tense. The light has come means the light has come and it hasn't left. The light has come. The Father has sent his Son into the world. The light, the true light has come. The cosmos in which he loved. Remember, he said in verse 3:16, for God so loved the world. And here we have in verse 19, the light has come into the world, into this sphere which God loves, this cosmos. The light has come in.

10:27And it didn't leave. Remember, the Father sent the Son. He loved the world so much that he sent his Son to communicate truth about himself to that cosmos which he loved, to let the world know true information about him. Turn on the light. But the Father sent the Son. And then, if you'll, at the end of John, the Son sends his disciples. In John chapter 20 and verse 21, Jesus shows himself to his disciples and says, Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, I also send you. The Father sent the light into the world, and Jesus, the Son, sent his disciples to continue the proclamation of the truth, of the declaration about light into the world. So the light has come and it has continued with us through his apostles and through those who have believed the testimony of the apostles. And that's us today. Light continues to go forth. It has come and it is here, and it continues to go forth. True information about the true God revealed in his Son, Jesus Christ, continues to go out through little communities like this right here. And this is the purpose for our congregating this morning. And it continues. We are the light. We are ministers of the light. And the light has come and now is. So, God's verdict: the light has come into the world. I want you to see a second element of God's verdict. Look back at the text: men love darkness rather than light. This is the judgment: that the light has come into the world, and men love the darkness rather than the light. They love darkness, they preferred no medium, no clear medium through which they could see God.

12:31They preferred something else, they preferred darkness, and darkness, sorry, the darkness is referring here to the spiritual darkness, the darkness, the moral, spiritual darkness of a fallen world. And it is including ignorance as opposed to knowledge, sin instead of righteousness, lies as opposed to truth, pride as opposed to humility, and self as opposed to God. You see, people cannot come to Christ and receive his gospel without putting behind their spiritual darkness. And if you don't really like the true picture of God, guess what? You prefer darkness. Men love the darkness rather than the light.

13:27But look what's happening in here. Look what's happening. Don't miss what's happening here. Remember, look back at John 3:16. For God so loved, God agape the world. He cherished the world. He showed the greatest affection for the world. That's what God loved. And look in verse 19, but humanity loved, same word, agape. They cherished and showed the greatest affection for the darkness. You see a contrast between what God loved and between what man loved. This is the verdict.

14:04This is the judgment. Light has come into the world. And God is saying, men loved the darkness rather than the light. What an indictment. The world had a greater affection for error than truth. They favored fantasy over reality. That's God's judgment. That is what you're going to hear. That is what is appointed. That is what is coming. That is what is now. Men love darkness rather than light. I mean, what an indictment. Now, keep in mind what John's doing here. I don't want to lose focus of what John's big picture is.

14:56One of the issues going on in the first century was. Okay, if Jesus is the Messiah, if Jesus is the king, where is the kingdom? Remember, he's writing to be able to lead Jews, unbelieving Jews, to Christ. If Christ is the Messiah, where's the kingdom? That's what goes together. A king? That's our understanding of what Scripture says. If there's a king, there's a kingdom. If he's the Messiah, where's his kingdom? He's not the Messiah. John is saying, yes, he is the Messiah. And I'm writing these things so that you will believe that he is the Messiah.

15:36And I'm writing these things so you will know why his generation rejected him. And the reason his generation rejected him was because they loved darkness rather than light. But it's not just true of their generation, it's a picture of humanity, lost humanity in every generation throughout men and women, boys and girls. They love darkness rather than light. And if you're going to follow Christ, guess what you're going to go through? A series of changes. You cannot follow Christ and stay in your spiritual darkness. Day after day, life with Christ is one of continual repenting. It's one of putting off. It's one of leaving where you are and going to him. That's the nature of following Christ. And those Who love their darkness don't follow him.

16:35They may get sophisticated in hiding it, but at the core, here's the judgment. Light has come. But men love darkness rather than the light. But there's a third element, third element of God's verdict. This is the judgment. This is the verdict. That the light, number one, has come into the world, and men love the darkness rather than the light, number two. And number three, the reason underlying it all, because their deeds were evil. Because their deeds were evil.

17:16You see, they were categorically workers of evil. This is God's judgment. This isn't a doctrinal position of a church. This is the testimony of Scripture. This is the testimony of John saying this is what the final judgment is. This is what the gavel, when it falls, this is what you're going to hear. This is his judgment. The essence of evil is what's being spoken. Their words, their works, their deeds, the very substance, the very essence of them are evil. They are driven by evil intentions. They are driven by thought. The means, the goals, all that may they are, they have a category or an essence of evil. The quality of their works are fundamentally evil. Now, they may look good on the outside. We're not saying that every work, he's not saying every work is as evil as it can be. But in the judgment, all those who reject Christ, all those who love darkness to light, keep in mind, in John's Gospel, the light is a person, a person, Jesus.

18:35Those who do not come to Jesus are those who love darkness more than light, and the reason is because their deeds are evil. They may not be as bad as they could be, but when in the final analysis, there will be some selfish intent, some pride, there will be something that comes to the surface that exposes them before a watching world what the nature of their works truly are. And at the base, fundamental level, they will prove to serve self rather than serve God. This is God's verdict. And you can take him on and challenge and disbelieve these words, but these are the words that are going to be proven true at the judgment. And he's going to use his son to bring them about. Me, these words are very enlightening. These are very important words, because this verse tells us the true reasons, the true reason why people will spend eternity in hell. And I appreciate J.C. Ryle's words here because it catches the essence. Here is the true reason why people will spend eternity in hell.

20:00And I'm quote: There is not a word about any decree of God predestinating men to destruction. There is not a syllable about anything deficient or wanting either in God's love or in Christ's atonement. On the contrary, God has revealed enough of the way of salvation to make men inexcusable if they are not saved. But the real account of the matter is that men have naturally no will or inclination to use the light. They love their own dark and corrupt ways more than the ways which God proposes to them. They therefore reap the fruit of their own ways and will have at last what they loved. They love darkness, and they will be cast into outer darkness. They did not like the light, and so they will be shut out from the light eternally. In short, lost. Souls will be what they willed to be and will have what they loved.

21:08The verdict is their deeds were evil, and that's why man chose the darkness rather than the light. Just a couple of chapters, John's Jesus is going to say these words in John 7:7. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify of it that its deeds are evil. This is the judge. This is the verdict. And if you want to take him on and try to prove to him that your deeds are not of a substance self-serving and evil, you will find in the end you will bow the knee and confess, you're right. You're right.

21:58So they appeal, and John is giving these words to us now so that you can know how to prepare for the judgment, and that is to believe, turn away from your sin, turn away, come to the light and agree, my deeds are evil. I need a change. Forgive me. That's why he gives it to us. Well, here's the verdict. The light has come into the world. Men love the darkness rather than the light. Because their deeds were evil. That's the verdict. That's the judgment that's coming. But second, I want you to see God's distinction. God's distinction. And he really doesn't, John doesn't want us to be ignorant of who the children of the devil are and who the children of God are.

22:55In fact, listen to his words in 1 John 3:10. He makes such clear distinctions. 1 John 3.10 says, This, by this, the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious. Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother. John makes it very simple, and here he doesn't use the terms children of the devil or children of God. In context, he's talking about the children of God. But specifically, if you look at the text in verse 20, he's using terms that will speak of the workers of evil and the workers of truth. But they're one and the same, the children of the devil and the children of God. But the terms will stick with the terms that he uses, or workers of evil and workers of truth. Beginning in John 3:20, he uses these words, or he describes these as workers of evil, workers of truth. And in John's Bible, Mind, it's very clear who the children of God, who the children of light are, who the children of God, and who the children of the devil are, and they are known by their relationship to the light. He wants it clear in our minds. You should not go through life wondering, okay, who are the children of God, who are the children of the devil?

24:21You've probably heard of Einstein's theory of relativity, right? Well, we could call verses 20 through 21 God's reality of relativity. Okay, I'm trying to be funny. If you're kind of a physics guy, you might get it. But here's God's reality of relativity. It's that a person's relative motion to the light tells you who they are. If they are repelled by the light, they are workers of evil. If they are drawn to the light, they are workers of truth. So you can picture a big light up here, and everybody can be categorized in one of these two categories. One moving away from the light, one drawn to it. Which one are you? And be honest. Soul, be honest. Tell yourself right now, soul, it's my time to be honest with you.

25:20What is the trajectory of your life? It's really not how bad your sin was, how deep you got into things, or how bad. Had you been victimized, or that's not the issue. The issue is, what is your trajectory? Are you your motion toward the light, or is your motion away from the light? John gives us a simple description of the doers and workers of evil in verse 321. In verse 3, 21, he describes these workers of evil by two fundamental characteristics. Two fundamental characteristics.

26:09Verse 20, for everyone who does evil hates the light. Look at this. Two characteristics. First of all, they hate the light. Back at verse 20, for everyone who does evil hates the light. And there's a participle there. It's a verb. Everyone who is doing or is practicing evil, that which is worthless, no value, evil. The one who is practicing these things is hating the light. And they go together. The one who is hating the light is the one practicing evil.

26:52So the one who is practicing is the one who is hating. And fundamentally, they hate the light, and this hatred is expressed. Expressed by them not coming to the light. For everyone, look back at verse 20. For everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light. You see, their motion is away from the light. They're not coming to the light. They'll stand in direct opposition to those who do. They do not come to the light. As a result of their hatred, they are characteristically moving away from the light. And this will show up in the way they live, their philosophy, the way they think.

27:34They will not have a Christ-centered life. Christ will be off, and the centroid of their life will be centered around self and other things, but it will not show up. Their life is not centered around Christ. They hate the light, and they are moving away from the light. Strong language. But there's a second characteristic about the workers of evil. They are afraid of exposure. Why are they moving away from the light? Because they're afraid that their deeds will be exposed. Look back. For everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light for fear that his deeds, that is, his works, will be exposed. It's one of those greatest fears, right? To be exposed, to be found in the wrong before a watching.

28:30World. But it's important to note: look back. Look back. It doesn't say they're afraid of the light. Look back and make sure you really. Now, I think this is indirect reality. They are afraid of the light. But specifically, it's not that they are afraid of the light. The language is they hate the light. And the reason they hate the light is because their greatest fear is that their deeds are going to be exposed. And that's what Judgment Day is. It's about exposing the thoughts and intentions of man's heart. That's God's verdict.

29:18You know, one thing I've noticed about light is that you use light, you flip on a light switch because when you want to see things. And as a father with a lot of kids, I've learned that a messy room looks just like a clean room if you're in the dark. If the light is off, a clean room looks just like a messy room. Now, it doesn't smell the same, but that's a whole different metaphor, right? But here's the idea. It's like when light goes on, there's an exposure. And that's why they hate the light, because they are afraid that their messy room is going to be dark. Exposed.

30:03You remember Adam's little sin in the garden? Let me just read to you a little bit of this. Remember, call it a little sin? I mean, because by today's standards, it really is a little sin. I mean, all he did was just ate something he wasn't supposed to eat. Big deal. I mean, it's not like he killed anybody, right? He just ate something. He did something he wasn't supposed to do. I mean, it's not that big of a deal. But listen to what happened after he ate. You know, here's the devil coming to him and saying, here, you know, if you eat this, you'll be like God, that kind of thing. Eve takes.

30:41You know the account of what happens. But then all of a sudden, something changes. He takes it and he eats. And then in verse 7, then the eyes of both of them were open, and they knew they were naked. And they sowed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings. They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees. You see what happened? You know that voice that started telling me, you know, you'll be like God. As soon as they take a bite, you know what he starts saying? Shame on you. You did exactly what he told you not to do.

31:24And he is mad. You need to run. Run, boy, run. Run from him. That's the voice. And so he, they run, right? And they cover themselves, fig leaves, as if that's going to hide them. So they hide among the bushes. But their judgment day came, right? God, they couldn't get away from the presence of the Holy One. And then what they start blame shifting, right? They start, they still go from physical hiding to philosophical hiding. It's her fault. It's the devil's fault. It's the serpent's fault. All right, really, it's your fault, God, it's not mine. That's what spiritual death is: a running away from God. Running away.

32:20And so, and I think it's very important to understand that a small sin, and it wasn't a small sin, but my point is, a smallest of sins in the presence of infinite holiness will drive you to run as fast as you can. I don't care what degree your sin is here, you have it. And even the smallest sin, the smallest lie, what we would call white lies and stuff like that, even the smallest will drive you mad in the presence of a Holy One. God, and you will run, run, boy, run, girl, run.

33:07This is in you. And death is this inner disposition to run away from God. That's death. You will stand before him. And there is something about you that wants to flee the presence of the holy God. But Jesus came into a world that was condemned. It was already running from God. And he came into the world, into a condemned world, and the condemned world ran away from him because they knew they were guilty of evil and didn't want to be exposed. Listen, how can you have a relationship with somebody who's afraid of you, extremely afraid of you? You can't. How can you have a relationship with God if you're extremely afraid or you hate him? How can you have a relationship like that? You know, I met my wife in Russia on a mission trip. And I never wore a cowboy hat before the mission trip, but we were going to the mission trip for the purpose of handing out Bibles and Christian literature. So we wanted to be seen, me and another friend of mine. Mine. So we got these cowboy hats. Never wore them before. I haven't worn them since. But anyway, we did in Russia.

34:37We wanted them to know who we were, and sure enough, they were like a magnet. Now, imagine if the first time I met Nancy, she comes up to me and she says, I hate your hat. I hate your boots. I hate your smile. I hate the way you talk. I hate the things that you are doing. And I hate the things you like. And then she says, and I really, really mean it. Now, do you think I should turn around and say, do you want to marry me?

35:16If she couldn't stand to be around me for five minutes, do you think she would enjoy spending a lifetime with me? Of course not. Of course not. I mean, I guess I could hire some kind of secret service to kind of go in and force her, maybe take her dad hostage and all that kind of stuff and force her to marry me and say, I've got this great house, we're going to move in this house, and we're going to get married, and there we're going to be together. Do you think she'd appreciate the house? No, the great house, no matter how nice I made it, it'd be a prison to her. And no matter how good I was to her, I would be a cruel taskmaster, right? Right?

35:54Well, understand something about God. Understand that the Father is prepared. A bride for his son, and he is not going to bring him an unwilling bride. Such would be a curse, wouldn't it? Wouldn't it be a curse to both the bride and to the groom? You see, and what Jesus has already said is the work of the Holy Spirit is the new birth. And the miracle of the new birth is it makes a person willing to come.

36:30The new birth, you need that new birth to find beauty in Christ, to find beauty, to not be afraid to come. That's why this whole thing starts out with Jesus telling Nicodemus, you must be born again. You must be born from above, with a quality from above. Otherwise, you will continue running. Well, there's a second. We have to move on. A lot more to say there, but sufficient. God's distinction. The workers of evil in verse 20, and in verse 21, he tells us about the workers of truth, the workers of truth. Look back at verse 21. But he who practices the truth comes to the light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God. So the two characteristics that are very different from the workers of evil, the workers of truth know. Number one, they come to the light. Interesting. They are categorically and characteristically moving towards the light. You see, the alternative of going through life in a repeating pattern of evil and worthless deeds is to practice and do the truth.

37:48And the idea of doing it, there's a different verb here, but it means to act faithfully. The ones who are practicing the truth, they are practitioners of the truth. This is characteristic of the children of God. They act faithfully, they act honorably. That is, they even celebrate the truth. You see, the person who celebrates the truth happily comes into the light. The light is a person. And the light has come into the world. And those who love the truth, those who are changed and drawn to the truth, come to the truth because there's no reason not to.

38:36And this movement shows up in the way they think. It shows up in the company that they keep. It shows up in the places that they go. It shows up in the activities of their routine. There seems to be a Christ-centered quality and drift of their life. It doesn't mean there could be catastrophic sin failure. But, like David, when confronted with it, there is a movement. To the light. We have, listen, no one, I don't care if you've walked with Christ and you sin, listen, it's not about your sin, it's about his grace and his mercy, and that come to the light. He's the only one who really, he's the only one who can deal with it. And we have a sacrifice, we have a beautiful, sufficient, holy, perfect sacrifices. So come, so come, keep coming. Christ is that sacrifice. So they come to the light. Second characteristic that's very different from the workers of evil is they want exposure. They want exposure. Look back. But he who practices the truth comes to the light so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God, that is, brought about in God, passive, having come about in God. So the lover of darkness runs away from the light for fear of shame, but the lover of life wants his deeds exposed. And why? Because he wants to show that the one that's doing this, the one at work, is God Himself. There is no fear in God's presence when God Himself is doing the work.

40:22And I appreciate Westcott's comments here. The lover of light is not some intrinsically superior person. Person. I think that's very important. If he or she enjoys the light, it is because all that has been performed for which there is no shame or conviction has been done through God, that is, in union with him, and therefore by his power. So they come to the light. They want exposure. Their conscience is clear. And the ultimate question is: why?

41:00Why is their conscience clear? And the answer: they have been born of God. John 1:12 says this, but as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born not of flesh, nor of the will of the flesh, but of God. And that's where this whole thing started. You must be born again. You see, a good professor tells you what to expect. Nicodemus came looking really for a kingdom. He comes to Jesus and he says, God's with you. No one can do these works.

41:47Rome is here. Are you bringing in the kingdom? That's what's on his mind. And Jesus speaks to Nicodemus very clearly. Directly, and he says, Nicodemus, you're in great danger. Even if the kingdom were to come in today, you would not be part of it because you must be born again. And so he takes Nicodemus through. John's purpose for his gospel is to believe. We can put the whole system backwards as it shows up in this passage. Eternal life comes about because of the new birth. And the new birth comes about by looking with faith to the lifted up, crucified Christ.

42:44You must be born again. You must be born again. You cannot have eternal life unless you are born again. You cannot be born again unless you look to the crucified Christ. Creator God has come and he has gone to the cross. So that voice that said, run, run, run, could be silenced. And you could go, go, go to the one who can take care of your sin, to that loving God who created you in the first place.

43:20God sent his son. It's a strange way to seek and save the lost, isn't it? But this is how he does it: to tell you, you don't have to run from God, but run. To him. Let's pray. Father, we do need a solution to our greatest fear. Our greatest fear is that exposure and loss that we are sure to face upon a judgment where we are standing in our own righteousness and the exposure of our own sin before a watching universe. Father, we thank you that you have come and you have given Christ, that we can look, knowing for certain that you, Creator God, have factored in our sin, have made a provision for our sin. And Father, what's left is that we believe and you call us to believe. Father, and you, by your Spirit, we ask that you would cause us to believe. And Father, we may not be able to sort out the mystery in our minds completely, but we do know it is a work of you. And we ask you to come and do your work in us. And help us today, Father, to choose to believe you, to settle in our minds forever. If your word says it, we believe it, and we're going to go accordingly. Father, thank you for your Son. Thank you for the grace. In Jesus' name. Amen.