mgpcpastor's blog

Judgement, Hell, Heaven: these are not subjects for the lecture theatre, abstract subjects of intellectual interest to be mastered and then left behind. They are the stuff of eternity: of the Creator; a rebellious creation held to account; of righteous punishment; of undeserved redemption; and, finally, of a never ending life in a new creation worshipping the Father and the One Who was slain.
It is for this reason that summarising Kanisha’s sermons is difficult. They were heartfelt and earnest; at one and the same time we were instructed, but we also stood on holy ground. But, at the same time, matters of such import need to be shared openly and freely, in every context of life possible. I’ve included all three talks in one post. Take your time though, there are depths and complexities here that demand careful and thoughtful exploration. These truths demand a response, they call out for consideration.
Before we start, these are my notes, they are not a transcription. There are parts that are taken pretty much word for word, other times I’ve sought to clarify my notes for reading. Any lack of flow or points that seem not to make sense would be mine. (Incorrect references too.)

Introduction:
Converted alcoholic illiterate Arthur Stace famously created an indelible impression upon Sydney by reproducing the word ‘Eternity’ in copper-plate script on footpaths and other locations for thirty-five years. He wanted people to think about the realities which that word implied. While there are certain contexts, such as the sickbed and the disaster, where people will seek counsel on eternal issues, usually such thoughts are far from their minds.
The preacher, as he opens God’s word and proclaims it, must have Stace’s goal in mind. “To stand in the pulpit is to fling open the door to eternity or it is nothing at all. We do nothing if we do not open eternity (heaven and hell; God and Christ; life and death; the ultimate victory; and the coming kingdom). We must open eternity to God’s people, so that they may turn to the living one and drink of the water of eternal life.”
Such teaching is not theoretical, nor is it focussed solely on the matter of what happens after this life: “What we think about eternity is utterly decisive for how we will spend today and all our other days. Our Australian culture of practical atheism depends on the reality of coming death and nothing beyond. Self-denial, taking up our cross, serving others, patience, these things make no sense because today may be the last day.”

Session One: Judgment (Matthew 25)
1. Judgement is necessary.
In recent days a prominent former judge, Marcus Einfeldt has perverted the course of justice and indicated difficulty in distinguishing between truth and lie.
Yet we are all liars. Who has the right to judge us? We all want leniency and a god who is lenient. The Bible expects, and even longs, for God’s judgment/justice.
Isaiah 11:3ff. Judgment is necessary because justice is rare. Isaiah speaks of a judge who will not be swayed to partiality. There is a cosmic scope to this judgment: the wolf and lamb, et al, will be altered by this judge. His presence equated with the presence of God. The earth shall be filled with the glory of God as the waters cover the sea.
Miroslav Wolf, Christian thinker: Jesus calls His people to love their enemies, not because God will turn His cheek, but because judgment belongs to God alone.
Only a tiny sliver of people can indulge themselves in the idea of a God who does not judge. Everyone else longs for that judgment. North Korea, Zimbabwe, Sudan, these places long for God’s judgment, it is all that enables them to continue.
The comfortable west aligns ourselves with the tyrants who believe there is no account (Psalm 3)

2. Judgment is revelation.
The Bible talks about Jesus. He is the glorious majestic one who God has appointed to judge. In Matthew 25 the final thing Matthew records before the passion is the account of the final judgment. The imagery of sheep and goats creates awe.
Even more awesome than that image of final judgment is the fact that the One who had authority to hold everyone to account then goes to die, receiving the punishment of those who will appear before Him.
Now we recall Him in suffering and resurrection. One day we will behold Him in His glory. But is Judgment Day a time when everything will be weighed up and destiny is decided? Not really: John 3: 18 tells us our destiny is decided now.
Will those who hear the word be good soil? As we preach the Scriptures we are not the harbinger of death, but the ambassador of life. We pray that God would bring life to people. This is the preacher’s burden.
Matthew 25 demonstrates that we are saved by faith now; and at judgment what we are will be revealed. There is no condemnation at judgment for those who are justified now. Rather the justice and mercy of God will be displayed.
Who will be found wanting?
All.
His mercy will be praised in the forgiveness of His people.
His justice will be praised in the judgment against the others.

3. Judgment divides.
Jesus separates sheep and goats. There is not confusion. The sheep He directs into the kingdom. The goats He sends out into the fire. What is the test of faith in Jesus? A confession, but what is the evidence? Not those whose faith was expressed in words alone, but those whose faith is manifested in kingdom works. Notice that the sheep and the goats are both surprised that their final destiny was reflected in their works. Salvation according to grace: condemnation according to works. 2 Corinthians 5:8 teaches that all must be judged.
Only God can do those actions attributed to salvation. Works prove we are those who are saved.
Four signs of evidence that this work is God’s and not ours:
i. Sheep are called ‘The blessed of my Father’;
ii. They receive an inheritance, which is a gift, not a wage;
iii. ‘From the foundation of the world’ shows a plan that could only have been God’s; and, finally,
iv. Their surprise shows they were not working at achieving this state.

4. Judgment and the preacher.
Our ministry will be judged.
Consider those goats who worked in Jesus’ name, but He did not know them.
Consider ‘the account for every careless word’, also James’ exhortation of the more strict judgment upon those who teach. Paul: those to whom a trust is given must be faithful. We will be judged by Jesus, the merciful, who would we rather have do this (this is a comfort)
No-one sees our preparation, our prayer, our struggle, but God. We mustn’t be distracted by those who don’t see us and ignore the Lord who does. What distracts us? Those things that occupy us.
Preach the Word. This is the task against which we will be judged, for it is the power of God for salvation.
The need of our listeners; show us the track; get us on the track; help us to the end of the track.
The preacher’s quadrilateral: (from 1 Timothy): life; doctrine; yourself; your hearers.
Preach the truth, preach it truthfully, submit to the word that is shared.
But preach with Gospel encouragement. 1 Corinthians 4:5 tells us that the Lord judges our works. The idea of God’s judgment usually brings fear. But what is received after judgement?: Praise. 2 Timothy: the Lord stood at Paul’s side so that the message might be fully proclaimed to the Gentiles. 2 Cor 3:5: our competence comes from God. 2 Cor 4:7: we are jars of clay. Paul’s testimony: God is for Him.

Three exhortations.
1. Jesus the healer, the Saviour will return as the judge of the living and dead. Are you ready to meet Him? Run to Him now.
2. Perhaps you are weary and cannot bear the wounds of the Spirit. Living on the surface of relationships and the Word. Repent and turn (or return) to the Lord for the water of refreshing.
3. For those toiling in the field of his harvest, those who are poor in spirit, those who are persecuted for the sake of His name. The words that we will hear: Come take your inheritance.

Session Two: Hell (Mark 9: 42-50)
When we die, we all die.
Buddism: conciousness is preserved we return until we achieve ‘Nirvana’.
Christians: life continues in either paradise or outer darkness. A new body in a new heaven and a new earth. The complete fulfilment of Jesus’ kingdom. A life beyond life. We shall all be like Him and we shall be with Him.

All people will be raised again. There are two eternities: one of eternal blessedness and one of eternal punishment.
Today we will think about both.

The reality of hell. Three reasons to talk about it.

1. Relentless trivialisation requires Christians to know what Hell really is. Not a place of companionship. It is not a place where ‘all our mates will be and we’ll all have a beer or kick a footy.’ This is death dealing ignorance.
2. Jesus speaks more about hell than any other figure in Scripture. A rejection of hell claims moral superiority to the Lord Jesus. To repudiate Hell is to repudiate Christ.
3. Our discipleship remains sentimental and superficial. Piper: understanding of Hell deepens appreciation of God, redemption and present/eternal life.

Jesus uses at least three images to explain Hell.

1. To punish sin.
We were not created for hell, eternity is set in our hearts, we were made for fellowship with God. Hell is the home our sin deserves, but it is not the home we were created for.
The immediate context of Jesus with a child and His words about the punishment that those who would mislead a child challenges us to ask: what does this say about our society’s treatment of children, both physical and spiritual? Implication: accountability. Not just actions but attitudes. Matthew 6 and 25. Better to go to heaven maimed than go to hell whole.
Gehenna valley, associated with child sacrifices and latterly a dumping ground of unmentionable waste. Metaphorical images (worms/unquenchable fire) what is the nature of the suffering that is imaged? Unending, unimaginable torment.
2. Destruction. Wide is the gate that leads to destruction. John 3:16 ‘we shall not perish’.
Some voices believe that it is a destruction to non-existence: either immediately or after a period of time. Hell becomes emptied. Destruction may mean kill, may also mean made unfit for its purpose. (cf. 1 Peter-world after flood/ burst wine skin/ lost coin) not annihilation but ruin. CS Lewis’ The Great Divorce: every negative tendency growing and magnified for eternity. Humanity degrades and withers to greater and greater extent, forever.
3. Banishment from the presence of the Lord.
We can turn our backs on God in this life and enjoy the tokens of common grace. Food, music, nature, friends all of these can be enjoyed. Now, in this life. In Hell all these will be gone. God is present, but not in comfort.

Hell lasts forever.
Is it fair? How can God be just/fair to punish for eternity the sins of a lifetime? How is His victory ever complete if those in Hell continue to exist? The Scriptures don’t so much answer these questions as provide this perspective.
1. There is no repentance among those in Hell. Sin continues. Revelation 16:8. The name of God is cursed without repentance. They refused to repent.
2. Jesus gives clear indicators that the eternal punishment of Hell is proportionate. Luke and Matthew. Degrees of punishment. But still Hell.
3. Human responsibility. The daily choice of destiny is made with Jesus openly proclaiming the eternal consequences of the choice. Paul in Romans: God gave them up… Lewis: Thy will be done/thy will be done. Hell self-chosen.
4. Justice of the punishment is consequent to the dignity of the one sinned against. The seriousness of sin contrasts the holiness of the God, the One sinned against.
5. Abraham’s affirmation: the judge of all the earth will do right. God’s eternal purpose is shown in Hell, who are we to presume other?
6. The magnitude of the cross is shown.

The sign and triumph of the cross.
Jesus has faced hell, though He was innocent and did not deserve hell at all.
On Good Friday we glimpse Hell.
In the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus is overwhelmed by the reality of that which lies ahead and asks that the cup be taken from Him. What could so disturb the master of creation? What was the cup? The cup of God’s wrath.
Banishment. Why have you forsaken me? The infinite, complete and eternal fellowship of the Father and the Son, is now expressed as the Son experiences separation from the Father. The horror of Hell is not its duration, it is separation.
The cross is everything that makes Hell Hell, but it also what makes heaven possible.

Two things:
1. Without Hell we would not understand the cross. Without the cross we would not have love for God. Hell does not make us love God, only the cross teaches us that. See the face of the crucified Lord and the love that is expressed there for you and me. If we are motivated only by fear of hell, we’ll be legalists, if we think hell unworthy of God we’ll be moralists.
2. It is likely that we think of those who do not love the Lord. The horror of hell is something that we experience as something escaped because of the work of Jesus. Our desire that others come to faith is shared by God. Isaiah: ‘my eyes are fountains of tears’; Paul: the warnings of God, with tears. Jesus wept. Ezekiel 33: God takes no pleasure, but rather they turn. Luke 15: the Father runs to meet his son. Don’t bring the judgment forward. We don’t know that those who reject Him now will always do so. Pray on. Speak of Him who died.
Trust the Lord who is merciful and will do right. Speak of the cross.

Session 3: Heaven (John 20: 11-22)

Most Australians believe in heaven. Most probably believe their loved ones are there. Generally not a lot more thought would be involved than that. Heaven is a concept of loved ones with the Lord and one day we will be with them.
As Christians should know this is only the beginning, or nearly the beginning. Theologians refer to it as the intermediate state. Those who have died in Christ are waiting the final day, for their resurrection, their glorified body, and eternal life in the new creation.
Why would anyone believe such a thing? Through the ages: resurrection. On Easter Sunday Jesus was raised and so shall we all, some to eternal life and some to eternal punishment.
Tonight[’s sermon]: Heaven. Everything made new.

Heaven: sky; heaven: the place God is; the place God’s presence is apparent in an unrestrained way. Now He limits the effects of His presence (cf. Jesus)
The life to come will not be a spirit existence, that is already the case, but something more.
Scripture and the new heavens: Genesis: heavens and earth; Revelation: new heavens and new earth. Now we live in a world of tragedy and sorrow. Not only for what we lost, but what we long for to be restored.
Isaiah 65: 750 years before Jesus: new heavens new earth, former things forgotten; weeping and crying will be no more; everyone will live a full life; everyone will see fruit for labour. The reversal of the Genesis curse. A people blessed by the Lord.
The ministry of the Lord Jesus on earth: thousands fed in the wilderness; the blind saw; the lame walked; the mourners received their dead back. But Jesus was betrayed, crucified, dead and buried, He returns from the grave on the third day.
We had no idea what life after birth would be like while we were in our mother’s wombs. The Scriptures provide an incomplete picture of the life to come. [It should be noted this is not an inadequate picture, it is the one God provides us.]
1. A bodily life. The tomb was empty, they saw Him raised. If tomb was empty, but there was no appearance it would be a defeat. No-one would know what happened. If the tomb was not empty and he appeared we would think of a spiritual resurrection. But the tomb was empty and He appeared bodily. He will restore and renew humanity in the resurrection.
This led to Christians championing a value of physical life: children; the aged; and the sick. Bodies were the bearers of the image of God. Christians began to care for people’s bodies. Jesus body was an enhanced (glorified) immortal body, our bodies will be like His.
2. A personal life. Mary meets him; Thomas meets him; transformed, but recognisable. (His wounds are glorified, not healed, cf. John’s vision of a lamb that was slain.) Consider Buddhism that has no personal identity. Jesus affirms the integrity of the personal identity of each person. Death cannot destroy us, our personhood is immortal.
3. A fulfilled life. We will no longer be subject to death, decay, natural forces; no longer ignorant of God, His will and His love. No longer incapable or unwilling to love Him and love others. The Spirit of Jesus lives within us to bring the fruit of the Spirit, the renewed image of God. We will finally experience the fullness of humanity. Heaven is not confined to personal transformation: all creation will be liberated from its frustration and curse. Creation groans. John sees a new creation descending not us rising.

Revelation 21 describes the purged, restored, liberated and redeemed creation. John heaps image upon image to describe the image He sees. Jonathan Edwards: John sets forth very low shadows by very high description.
Three things John sees:
1. A city. A corporate reality, a community, not a place of solitude. Activity and creativity and things to do. Idleness is not the image given, but doing and producing. Verse 26 has the kings of the earth and the glory and honor of the nations. Culture redeemed and present. Technology purged of sin. A secure city yet in verse 25 its gate is never closed. Fruit is yielded every month, a constant provision. The great battle is over. Incalculable, large, all consuming, reminiscent of the holy of holies, but everyone is in there. The whole cosmos is the holy of holies, in the presence of the Father and our mediator.
2. The citizens. The overcomers are there, those who eat from the tree of life; whose names are inscribed in the book of life. They sit with the Lamb upon His throne. Chapter 7: out of the great tribulation, come those who have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb. Numberless multitude from every nation, tribe, tongue and people. No more tears, death, mourning. The old order has gone. We will no longer visit the older brother whose life and memory are slipping away. We will no longer counsel those whose marriages have crumbled to violence and infidelity. We will no longer be called out in the middle of the night. We will not visit maternity wards in sadness. The missionaries we presently send will no longer feel a sense of disparity about where they have gone and the place from where they have come.
3. The Lamb. Revelation 4 and 5 tells us of the throne room. Promise, power and praise are ever-present. Worthy is the Lamb. God is utterly worthy. The glory of God is heaven’s reason.

In conclusion.
1. If you are a pastor, a Sunday school teacher, bible study leader, youth leader. To minister the word of God is to woo for the sake of the groom. Come! Let the invitation go out, whoever is thirsty, let them come, freely, deeply from the spring of life.
2. Preaching about heaven will draw the accusation of being no earthly good. The church’s earthly usefulness diminishes as we stop talking about heaven. Helps us not to be bound by earthly concerns and all their imperfections. No longer held prisoner by what this life cannot provide anyway. We pursue a heavenly agenda now because we know that perfection awaits. Heavenly mindedness will make us utterly useful.
3. All this fellowship and praise with no responsibility. To what shall we return? The uncertainties of life. We do not lose heart, because of that which we have been given. Our light and momentary troubles are storing a weight of glory. Fix your eyes on what is unseen. What is seen is temporary. What is unseen is eternity. Heaven is coming here. Come Lord Jesus.