Hebrews 4:1-13, Promise and Warning

1. The Promise Stands as does the warning (1 – 3)
2. The Promise is Rest in Christ (4 – 11)
3. Nothing is Hidden from God (12 – 13)

 

And such were all of us.

Eph 2:1-7 paints a stark contrast between people of the world and people of God.

Before we were alive in Christ.

Ephesians 2:1-3 (HCSB) And you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you previously walked according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler who exercises authority over the lower heavens, the spirit now working in the disobedient. We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath as the others were also.

We were spiritually dead.

We were enslaved to sin, the world, and Satan.

We were objects of God's wrath.

We lived as disobedient children.

We were under Satan's rule.

 

After we were born from above and made alive in Christ.

Ephesians 2:4-7 (HCSB) But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love that He had for us, made us alive with the Messiah even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace! Together with Christ Jesus He also raised us up and seated us in the heavens, so that in the coming ages He might display the immeasurable riches of His grace through ⌊His⌋ kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

We are spiritually alive.

We are enthroned with Christ.

We are objects of grace.

We have fellowship with God.

We are in union with Christ, Jesus - His servants/slaves.

 

No man can cause himself to be changed from being spiritually dead to alive in Christ.  In order to see and enter the kingdom of God, you must be born from above by the Spirit of God. No human gives birth to himself, physically or spiritually. God takes that which was dead and makes it alive - can these bones live? You, know Lord. Nobody else has the keys to life.

None but Jesus can do poor sinners good.

Warnings to the Saints - Luke 12:1-12

Warnings to the Saints, Luke 12:1-12

You can listen to the sermon here.

In a sermon from Hebrews 12, Martyn Lloyd-Jones advised us to not go the Bible only for comfort. Go to the Bible expecting God to confront you and argue against false belief and false peace. David wrote as much in Psalm 119:75 I know, LORD, that Your judgments are just and that You have afflicted me fairly. Our passage today is such a place. The focus of this passage is warning the saints against errors; Luke did not make a record here of how to be saved; these warnings are not given to those outside the family of God. The warnings build up the doctrine of the humility of the saints, reminding us in Whom our sufficiency lies. The video hymn was selected to put this fact in front of us: “Why was I made to hear Thy voice, And enter while there's room; When thousands make a wretched choice, And rather starve than come?” The only answer is God’s sovereign choice; we deserve nothing good from Him.

In last week's sermon we learned about the hypocrisy of the false, external religion, which could be summed up as, "Do what I say, not as I do" as shown in Luke 11:46 - And he said, “Woe to you lawyers also! For you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers. That exchange with the religious leaders caused a stir and many people clamored to see more from this prophet we confronted the Jewish leaders, but Jesus wanted to use the lesson to teach His close disciples something deeper.

1. Warning against hypocrisy. Luke 12:1 In the meantime, when so many thousands of the people had gathered together that they were trampling one another, he began to say to his disciples first, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

As we have been seeing in our walk through Luke’s gospel, there were often large crowds following after Jesus. As we sometimes read about in our news, in large crowds it’s not uncommon for people to knock others down and trample one another. This is the common disregard for fellow man that is displayed in the perceived anonymity of a large mob. Jesus does not address this crowd in this scene – He turned to His close disciples and warned them about the hypocrisy of the Jewish religious leaders. The hypocrisy of the Pharisees was their self-righteousness. Recall the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector: one prayed publicly, in superficial terms; the other humbly cried out for mercy, knowing he needed mercy. This problem is ours as well – we tend to think of ourselves too highly and think of sin too lightly. Self-righteous church-folk are modern Pharisees: comfortable in their traditions and not wanting to be confronted with the truth of God's Word.

Perhaps this is why our prayer life is superficial, virtually overwhelmed with physical concerns – about many who are not even part of this fellowship. Do we spend our time and attention praying and asking for prayers about physical to crowd out the nagging suspicion that we need the grace of God today, to be broken over our own sin? When we pray together, how seldom do we pray for, or ask for prayers, about spiritual matters, for the salvation of loved ones? Physical matters are not unimportant, but they are secondary. If our souls be unhealthy, that is far more critical than our physical bodies. “If your eye offend you, For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.” Stark teaching such as this is meant to show us how the spiritual is more important than the physical.

In Matt 16 we see His close disciples in a boat with Jesus, as He warns them about the leaven of the Pharisees. They thought He was griping about the fact they had not thought to bring any bread on the trip. Those closest to Him while He walked this earth had trouble understanding the danger of the false teaching among them – doctrines they were taught from their youth, things they had taken as truth all their lives. Just as countless Baptists do, having been brought up in “church-life” and “knowing” what is true. How much of what we know is mere tradition, just as it was with the Pharisees? In our passage Jesus accuses the Pharisees of hypocrisy – claiming to be someone you ain’t and leading others astray with false doctrines. This is a common problem in our day, as we can be deceived and not know it. This is why we are to examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith; this means to make sure we are resting in the finished work of Christ, not trusting in our works. This is why God gives us to one another in the local fellowship so we can live together to the degree we can know one another well. This is important, as we learn in the next piece of our text.

2. Second Warning against hypocrisy. Verses 2&3 There is nothing covered that won’t be uncovered, nothing hidden that won’t be made known. Therefore, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in an ear in private rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops.

A hypocrite who is not self-deceived will say one thing in public and another in the quiet darkness he shares with a very few. We all think we can get away with stuff (we don’t call it sin) and there’s no harm or foul if we don’t get caught. Perhaps the most common example of this is seen in how we drive. I can drive 5 MPH over the speed limit and be safe. Most of the time you can travel 10 MPH over the speed limit and not be pulled over. As long as you aren’t stopped for speeding, no problem! Yet we are otherwise very much in favor of laws – against murder, robbery, and such. Yet God has said, 1 Peter 2:13-15 Submit to every human authority because of the Lord, whether to the Emperor as the supreme authority or to governors as those sent out by him to punish those who do what is evil and to praise those who do what is good. For it is God’s will that you silence the ignorance of foolish people by doing good. Ya gotta love Peter’s pen – it is God’s will we silence foolish people by doing good. We don't earn God's approval by obedience, but we have no excuse for disobedience to God or to human authorities, because they are established by God.

Here's another example of hypocrisy. There's a TV show: The Secret Lives of the Super Rich. It shows the outrageously expensive stuff that owns them, trying to make viewers envious. But the news reports show us real world glimpses into some of the debauchery super rich and powerful people engage in. While many witnesses die and these wealthy, powerful people escape the nation's court system, there is a Judge Who sees all and has perfect justice. We might think these people are like the white-washed cups Dexter mentioned last Sunday, full of indescribable wickedness. In fact, those who claim to be reconciled to God and rely on their own efforts to please Him are MORE wicked than reprobates who make no such claims. Such was the standing of the prideful Pharisees. All will be fully revealed on the day Christ Jesus returns to judge the nations; everything done in secret will be made known; every private whisper proclaimed publicly. We need to live as though we believe this.

John 3:19-21 - And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.  But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God. This is Jesus' commentary on man's natural condition: loving his sin and the darkness that hides it from other men; failing to rightly fear God, from Whom NOTHING is hidden. This is the leaven of the Pharisees from every era - hypocrisy and no fear of God. Such should not be so among us!

3. Warning against fear of man. Verses 4-7 “And I say to you, My friends, don’t fear those who kill the body, and after that can do nothing more. But I will show you the One to fear: Fear Him who has authority to throw ⌊people⌋ into hell after death. Yes, I say to you, this is the One to fear! Aren’t five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight. Indeed, the hairs of your head are all counted. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows! 

If we're honest, we all fear something or someone, just as we all worship something or someone. An author wrote, years ago: There is a God Who is and there is a god we want. They are not the same! The God Who is knows all things and, by His hand of providence, controls all things. He throws unrepentant sinners into hell - they don't choose that destination. Fear Him - not as His enemies do, but as the angels do.

Angels get no mercy or forgiveness for sin; this is why they long to look into these things - how the gospel was preached by ancient prophets for the benefit of those who would come much later (1 Peter 1:10-12). A third of the angelic realm was thrown down from heaven because they rebelled against God. No second chance, no forgiveness; only a fearful expectation of fierce judgment and a fury of fire that will consume His enemies. That same warning of judgment is given to men who continually trample the grace of God (Heb 10:26-27), which ought to give each of us reason to examine ourselves – do we truly trust in Christ?

Since God knows of every bird that falls, knows every hair on our heads; how can we live as though He doesn't know every sin we commit in word, thought, or deed? To fear God means we live in recognition of Who He is – almighty, all-knowing, all-powerful, creator, sustainer, and judge. Since we all stumble in many ways, it is double foolish to think we don’t need one another if we are to walk obedient fear of God. He calls us together, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. (Ephesians 4:12-16)

So with men who can make our lives miserable, we must remember the One Who was made miserable for us. We can fear man and what he can do or we can fear God and what He can do. If we fear man, there is no refuge from God; if we fear God, He is our refuge from man.

4. Warning against shrinking back. Verses 8-10 “And I say to you, anyone who acknowledges Me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God, but whoever denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.

This is closely tied to our previous point. One aspect of fearing man is we would be fearful of proclaiming Christ. In our day, so many people have grown up “in church” that they think they are Christian by default. Many know nothing about the Bible, care nothing for things of God or His people – yet claim to love Jesus, despite their gross ignorance of Him. These people are difficult to evangelize because we fear upsetting them. We must bear in mind: it is not our call to convert people or convince people; our calling is to proclaim Him. The word “acknowledge” (used in the ESV) means to confess (as in the KJV and ASB) or profess. It is to be known as His and make His excellencies known, trusting the Holy Spirit to do what only He can do – save wretched sinners.

Jesus Goes out of His way here to establish an important truth: The Christian God, the true God, is triune. The common view in national Israel was that God was one and only one. This is one of the stumbling blocks they had in accepting Jesus as the Son. Also, they had very little understanding of the Holy Spirit. Jesus is pulling back the veil a little to show them God as He is. In these three verses Jesus establishes the personhood of all three members of the trinity. The Son confesses His people to God the Father and declares that, while all manner of sin can be forgiven, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not. Each of the members of the God-head are jealous for one another. The Son proclaimed the Father in His ministry (John 12:49-50 For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.”). The Father glorified the Son (Matthew 17:5 “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”). The Holy Spirit also glorifies the Son (John 16:14 He [the Holy Spirit] will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. And in our text, Jesus declares that everything spoken against Him can be forgiven, but blasphemy of the Spirit will not. The Holy Spirit’s role is to convict the world of sin and guide and teach the people of God about the Lord Jesus. He does not seek His own glory. So the Son stands up for the Spirit.

What is, then, blasphemy of the Holy Spirit? Luke 11:14-18: Now He was driving out a demon that was mute. When the demon came out, the man who had been mute, spoke, and the crowds were amazed. But some of them said, “He drives out demons by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons!” And others, as a test, were demanding of Him a sign from heaven. Knowing their thoughts, He told them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is headed for destruction, and a house divided against itself falls. If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say I drive out demons by Beelzebul.

It's not merely speaking against the Holy Spirit that Jesus was warning against; it is ascribing to Satan the work of the Holy Spirit. It may be because the Spirit does not testify about Himself that the Son has made it all the more vital that we know the role of the Holy Spirit and honor and worship Him as God.

We are herein warned to not grow complacent about declaring Christ to the world and to be careful to honor God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit.

5. Encouragement to Trust God. Verses 11 & 12 Whenever they bring you before synagogues and rulers and authorities, don’t worry about how you should defend yourselves or what you should say. For the Holy Spirit will teach you at that very hour what must be said.”

Again, we see a strong connection with the previous verses: do not fear man; fear God. Here we get a word of encouragement, of comfort. Previously we were told to fear God because He has the power to throw people into hell. Here we are told to trust God (do not worry about those people!) because the Spirit of God will give us the message. This was fulfilled for Paul, as he wrote in 2 Timothy 4:16-17 At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them! But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. When Paul first came under attack, no men came to his aid. Note this – he did not blame them! His trust was in God and it was God Who gave him the gospel message to fully proclaim the glories of Christ so all could hear.

The context here is explicitly Jewish; this word was spoken directly to His fellow Jews. The application is universal, as we see throughout Scripture that the world will hate the saints and we will be persecuted. The point is not the historical context of synagogues and the intricacies of the Jewish theocracy; the point is to not be concerned about man, including what they think of us. The natural man cannot comprehend why we have the priorities we do; the gospel that is their only hope is foolishness in their eyes. We cannot save them, and keeping quiet so they don’t think us fools is something we’ve been warned not to do.

Trust God (all three persons) to be your wisdom in every circumstance in which you are tested. We are not to trust in our own wisdom or skill when preaching or teaching nor when being attacked on main street for believing on Christ Jesus. Confess Christ as Lord, profess Him as the Savior of sinners. Be consistent, in your prayers and in your public speech: Jesus Christ is Lord and King, come to Him all who are weary!

Application. John came out of the wilderness preaching judgment on his fellow Jews, telling these vipers to repent and flee the wrath to come. He warned them not to put stock in their fleshly lineage, as YHWH is able to raise up children of Abraham from rocks. In the Kingdom he announced, neither having Abraham as your father nor having Christians as your parents grants one entrance. The ax was being laid to the root, as every tree not bearing fruit would be cut down and burned.

After a short sermon, the people wondered if John was the Christ. He told them that water baptism was not the point, but baptism with the Holy Spirit by the Christ was. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.

So with many other exhortations he preached good news to the people.

Good news for sinners is not news that comforts them in their sin. The good news from God rebukes the self-righteous man, warns him to flee the wrath of God, and confronts him with the glorious truth of the true Christ.

If you seek to make sinner comfortable, you are aligned with the hypocrites. If you seek to present the glorious Christ, warning people to believe on Him, to repent of their sin, and flee to Him, you are aligned with the humble servants of God. We preach Christ crucified, not a program or a building. Seek to please Him - for He has the keys to eternal life.

Remember David, a man beloved by God. Jumped into horrendous sin with both feet. Was blinded by his own lust. Took what was not his, violated who he took, killed her husband. Yet he was not abandoned by the God who had set His unchanging love upon him. The faithful One sent a man to love David unto the truth. After Nathan confronted David, he wrote Psalm 51, in which we see a contrite man, broken over his sin, pleading with God to have mercy on him, to blot out his sin, wash him, create a clean heart and renew a right spirit in him. He cried out for God to Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.

This is the confidence we can have IF we have been born from above by the Spirit of the living God.

That video hymn, written by Isaac Watts around 1700, ends with this prayer to God: “Pity the nations, O our God! Constrain the earth to come; Send Thy victorious Word abroad, And bring the strangers home. We long to see Thy churches full, That all the chosen race May with one voice, and heart, and soul, Sing Thy redeeming grace.” That should be the constant desire of our hearts – may the Lord give His desire to see all of His chosen ones saved and the willingness to declare His gospel to every creature.

Water Baptism

You Can Listen to this Sermon Here

There are some comments and teaching in the audio not contained in the notes below.

Water Baptism

Baptists baptize believers – by submersion. We're in the minority. Denominations that practice "infant baptism" include Roman Catholics, Eastern and Oriental Orthodox, Anglicans, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Methodists, some Nazarenes, the United Church of Christ (UCC), Moravian Church, Metropolitan Community Church, Wesleyans, and Episcopalians. There are some who believe baptism is salvific – Church of Christ, Disciples of Christ, and those who hold to Federal Vision.

Baptists used to be called “people of the book,” resting on the sure foundation of Scripture and submitting to the authority of Scripture. If we are not tenacious in this matter, we are vulnerable to smooth sounding arguments that end up becoming traditions that cannot be questioned. Just as has happened for those who sprinkle little ones. I do not want to spend much time explaining why the paedobaptist view on baptism is wrong, I will appeal to a few of their finest theologians to tells us they are wrong.

John Calvin: “John and Christ administered baptism totins corpore submersione, by the submission of the whole body … The very word 'baptize' … signifies to immerse entirely, and it is certain that immersion was the practice of the ancient church.”

Martin Luther: “The Greek word baptizo means 'immerse' or 'plunge', and the word baptisma means immersion.”

Ulrich Zwingli: “Immersion of the whole body was used from the beginning, which expresses the force of the word 'baptize', whence John baptized in the river. It was afterward changed into sprinkling, though it is uncertain when or by whom.”

And the great B.B.Warfield: “It is true that there is no express command to baptize infants in the New Testament, no express record of the baptism of infants, and no passages so stringently implying it that we must infer from them that infants were baptized.”

These four giants of the Reformation and the development of Presbyterian theology unabashedly tell us their position is not based on the Scriptures. It’s what I call “white space theology” – derived from the spaces between the words in the Word; what they call "good and necessary inference." When did this great controversy over baptism start? If believers' baptism is what the Bible teaches, why and when did people start baptizing babies? History records the creeping ignorance and superstition that led to this practice and the religion which institutionalized it. In the 3^rd century, some people in the church became convinced that baptism was meritorious and had a magical power to help save the soul. At first, people only baptized infants who were sick – as an insurance policy. Quickly, all infants were baptized, sprinkled instead of dipped – for their physical health. Church men began to argue over when the infant should be baptized – saying on the 8^th day? Others argued it ought be delayed as long as possible so that more sins would be covered. Such was the case with Constantine, who refused to be “baptized” until he was on his death bed. Lack of knowledge and trust in the Word of God leads men astray, to trust in the imaginations of men. Something that divides people for centuries, shedding no little blood, ought to be based on clear teachings from Scripture - not inferences needed to support that which is not found clearly taught.

When Christianity was legalized, the church, already suffering from an unhealthy view of “holy clergy”, saw infant baptism as an effective way to number the people so they could be taxed and controlled. And to convince the ignorant masses, these compromised churchmen played up the false notion that baptism plays a part in saving one's soul. This is called Sacerdotalism – using a sacrament (a religious rite) as a means of conveying God's favor to the people. When the Reformation broke out, some were called Magisterial Reformers – they maintained the close connection between church and state. One of these, Zwingli, was stuck between his belief that the Bible commands believers' baptism and his practice, which was more than a thousand years old, the union of church and state and control of the people by infant baptism. So he persecuted those who did not practice what the state commanded because he feared the people. Such is the power of our unexamined presuppositions and the influence of the culture. We must be people of the book!

In the early 17^th century, the Puritans fled England in search of religious liberty. They had been persecuted because they believed in salvation by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone and they were persecuted because the state church held to a sacerdotal view. Yet they, like Zwingli, failed to escape the trap they fled – they brought it with them, just like Lot did when he fled Zoar. Baptists also fled to the New World to escape religious persecution. In a report, Ill News from New England, early American Baptist John Clark records how he, Obidiah Jones, and John Crandall were arrested because they had discussed baptism over dinner at a boarding house. These three were hauled before the court in Boston, found guilty of not honoring the state religion. They were beaten, fined, and thrown in prison. The Puritans had established state churches in the colonies and they persecuted those who did not agree with their religious views – just like the Church of England which persecuted them. Our theology affects how we live, just as it did these Puritans and these Baptists.

With that brief historical backdrop, I want to explore the deepest meaning of this ordinance. Why is baptism – baptism of believers – important? What does it signify?

We know what Romans 6:4 says, we rightly hear it every time a child of God gets baptized - We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. This gives us a picture of what has been done to us, that as the Lord Jesus was put to death and raised up, so are we. This is an important truth that we must never forget. But I hope we open our eyes to the greater meaning of this simple ordinance and pray that we see together what a glorious picture has been given to us by our great and gracious Lord.

As with most important truths from Scripture, the spiritual significance of what God has revealed is far, far greater than we at first comprehend. Unless we dig into the Word and pray for wisdom, we may not get to the place where we see more and are given even more reason to humbly thank our God, in awe of Who He is and what, in truth, has been done.

I highly recommend a small book by Baptist Pastor Hal Brunson, titled The Rickety Bridge and the Broken Mirror, a book of parables about baptism, which is most helpful.

The metaphor in Romans 6:4 gives us the active or present reality of the meaning of Christ's death, that introspective reality of the first resurrection, when we die to sin and are raised to new life. But this verse and the act of baptism also point back historically to the death of Christ and prophetically forward to the physical resurrection of all the saints when He returns to judge all flesh. Baptism is a multifaceted word picture that ought to remind us of far more than the glorious change wrought in the life of the redeemed sinner. One aspect of baptism that baby sprinklers cannot lay claim to is baptism as a picture of submersion into great waters, portraying the great waters of Divine judgment. We see in Scripture several passages where great waters are graphic symbols of God's judgment and wrath against sin – which Christ took upon His body as the Lamb sacrificed for our sin. He was submersed into the ocean of God's wrath on our account, and raised up on the third day. There are at least four major word pictures used in Scripture that describe baptism.

1. The flood of Noah.
2. The sorrows of David, described as “great waters”.
3. Jonah being cast into the sea.
4. Jesus' understanding of His death.

The Apostle Peter points to this great flood of the entire earth as a vivid picture of the believer's baptism as well as a figure or type pointing to the suffering of Christ. In proclaiming (1 Pet 3:18) that Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, Peter then alludes to the flood and how only 8 persons were saved in the ark, brought through the great waters of God's judgment against sin. And Peter goes on in his first letter to tell us that baptism corresponds to this – the flood of Noah, the outpouring of God's wrath in judgment and the only refuge being in the ark which is Christ. In 2 Peter, the flood is listed with another well-known symbol of God's wrath against sin – Sodom and Gomorrah. God's wrath against sin is real, it is certain, it is final. We need a savior, One Who can bear up under this wrath, One Who has no sin of His own to atone for. Not only did Christ provide refuge from God's wrath, He was buried in God's judgment as payment for sin. He is worthy of our praise.

What about the sorrows of David? This man after God's own heart knew of his own sin and the despair of trusting in any mortal man for reconciliation with Holy God. David and other Psalmists described their deep sorrows as a kind of burial beneath the billows and waves of the Almighty. In Psalm 42 we read, Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? In this sorrowful lament with his soul, he describes his afflictions in terms that point to baptism - Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your waves have gone over me. Three images of water – waterfalls, breakers, and waves – all communicate the idea of a cascading waterfall pummeling the poet, with the brutal breakers and waves of an angry ocean violently washing over his head. These terrifying metaphors of his torment and anguish wash over him, drowning him in his sorrows. Carried along by the Spirit of God to write these things, perhaps the Psalmist knew not that he prophesied of the promised Messiah, but his words anticipate the sufferings and death of Christ as a kind of baptism. The word for deep in the psalm is used as a synonym for sheol, connecting to the death of Christ as a submersion into the deepest waters of sheol. And the water metaphors in this psalm undoubtedly describe the suffering servant of God - Psalm 42:10  As with a deadly wound in my bones, my adversaries taunt me, while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?” This is widely recognized as prophecy of the Lord's sword-pierced side and the cruel mockery of those who blasphemed while He hung on the cross.

David's description of his soul's suffering in deep water takes us more deeply into the sufferings of Jesus. As did the high priest of Israel, we are brought through the first veil, the holy place of Christ's impeccable flesh, gazing upon His physical sufferings; and then through the second veil into the holy of holies, to the very heart of Christ, where we see the spiritual anguish of the Lamb being under the rod of God's wrath. In Psalm 18, David wrote about his persecution at the hand of Saul – but the eternal message of redemption contained in all of Scripture here portrays the Savior's passion, not David's sorrow; death and hell as the persecutor of Christ, not Saul chasing David. The king of Israel describes his trials in terms of sorrow and death and hell which have a human and a divine cause, stark images of his soul's baptism into the lesser sea of man's wrath and the greater ocean of God's wrath. David is immersed in human wrath, Saul's rage is real. But David's words tell of God's judgment on sin and care for His people. Psalm 18:7-17 Then the earth reeled and rocked; the foundations also of the mountains trembled and quaked, because he was angry.  Smoke went up from his nostrils, and devouring fire from his mouth; glowing coals flamed forth from him. He bowed the heavens and came down; thick darkness was under his feet. He rode on a cherub and flew; he came swiftly on the wings of the wind. He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him, thick clouds dark with water. Out of the brightness before him hailstones and coals of fire broke through his clouds. The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered his voice, hailstones and coals of fire. And he sent out his arrows and scattered them; he flashed forth lightnings and routed them. Then the channels of the sea were seen, and the foundations of the world were laid bare at your rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of your nostrils. He sent from on high, he took me; he drew me out of many waters. He rescued me from my strong enemy and from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me.

But as God did not leave David's soul in torment, neither would He suffer His Holy One to see corruption, as Christ was not left buried beneath the sea of God's wrath and the ocean of His judgment. As David cried out in his distress and called upon the Lord from beneath the deep waters of his sufferings, so also the Savior, as it were, from beneath the burning waters of the cross, (Matthew 27:46) Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” As deep calls to deep, the Almighty heard the voices of David and David's seed, and thus He bowed the heavens and came down, riding on a cherub and flying on the wings of the wind; God answered the cry of His Son and sent from above and drew Him out of many waters.

The sorrows of David and other psalmists resonate with all who suffer, but they point us to the One Who suffered what we deserve, to bring many sons and daughters to glory. The love of God for His elect caused the Son of God – David's promised seed – to submit to the baptism of His Father's wrath, so we who are called by His name would be reconciled to our Father and not be left to our just deserts.

When we baptize a new convert, we are not drinking His cup, but we bapize in remembrance of what He did – to cut the New Covenant in His blood to reconcile sinners to Holy God. Paul asks, Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? (Rom 6:3) And further he tells us, (1 Corinthians 12:13) For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

Oh, the Savior’s love for His Father – and all those He chose to redeem in Christ! Baptism – it's an ordinance which shows how spiritually dead people have been raised to new life in Christ. But, oh my dear brothers and sisters – it is much, much more than that. I pray you got a glimpse of a better picture of the grand and glorious sacrifice of our Lord and Savior was prophesied and pictured in various ways as a baptism into God the Father's judgment. The price He paid and the suffering He took as He drank the cup of wrath due us, summed up the submersion and emersion as one is plunged beneath the waters of baptism and raised up from the deep as did our Savior. Let us never see baptism as only the celebration of a new-born brother in Christ, and not ever the mere sprinkling of water over a little one who knows nothing and fears not the sprinkled water. Let us always remember the One Who was baptized in a way you and I could never survive. Christ paid the price we could not pay. He drank the cup and underwent the baptism we could never do. Every time we see this ordinance, let us think on His sacrifice, His obedience, His submission. And let us be thankful we have a faithful God Who did not allow His Holy One to see corruption – that we would have the firm hope of life eternal. We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. It is a glorious picture of our Redeemer, but we won't know that if we are not people of the book!

Passover Fulfilled

You Can Listen to This Sermon Here.

5 points:

1.       The facts of the crucifixion (the text)

2.       The context – what two groups of people?

3.       The physical pain of the crucifixion

4.       The true suffering

5.       The point for us

1. Mark 15:22-39.

2. Context: Two groups of people. Mark 15:15-21. Paul wrote that men are, by nature, enemies of God and children of wrath (Rom 5:10, Eph 2:3). Those who clamored for Christ to be crucified represent everyone not reconciled by the blood of Christ - this was you and me before He redeemed us. In Luke's account we read that the crowd repeatedly demanded Barabbas be the one set free, not Jesus. Carnal man cannot accept the gospel and they will do what they can to suppress knowledge of it. When we sin, we stand with those who demanded Barabbas be set free. The soldiers mocked the Lord of glory and beat Him.  Enemies of God. 1Cor 2:8 None of the rulers of this age knew this wisdom, for if they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

The other group, Jesus' disciples, were not making noise before the throne of this world, they had run away when He was arrested, Matthew 26:56 "But all this has taken place that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples left him and fled. In this passage, we see two things: God had planned Jesus' sacrificial death in pretty precise detail and we see how those who hate God are often more vocal and active in proclaiming their false religion than are the people God has chosen for Himself to proclaim His. Brothers, this should not be so among us!

The two men on either side of Jesus represent these same two groups of people: everyone belongs to the city of man or to the city of God. While both of these criminals initially railed against Christ, Luke reports (23:42) that one became convicted of his sin and cried out for mercy while the other did not. The repentant man represents all the sheep of God and the unrepentant man represents all the goats. There are only these two groups of people. Each one professing the name of Christ needs to examine himself to see if he is in the faith - it is far too easy to think you are a Christian and not be one. We learn from these two men that it matters not when or how I die, what matters is in whom I die ... in sin OR in CHRIST, Who is my righteousness.

In our day, God-haters fill the news, advocating the murder of infants, all sorts of abominations, and the silencing of Christians. Far too many professing Christians are willing to go along to get along with these reprobates who grow bolder by the day; or they remain silent. Just like the scene at the cross. We who are in Christ should take care not to follow after the world; must guard against following Christians who want to compromise with the world in our day; and we must not be silent! No matter our circumstances, we are to be known as God fearing people; making Him known among the people of the world.

3. The Physical Pain of the Cross. Crucifixion is believed to have originated in the Persian Empire; however, Romans are given credit for perfecting it into a heinous means of inflicting death. Romans crafted the cruelty of crucifixion to demonstrate three clear messages. First, it was incredibly painful for the victim (so much so that the person being crucified often was rendered unconscious during the proceedings). Second, it provided a lingering death, which was much preferred for extremely vicious criminal acts. Third, it afforded a horrific deterrent for anyone contemplating a similar offense. Josephus described crucifixion, following the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans in A.D. 66-70, as “the most wretched of deaths.”

Archaeological evidence strongly suggests that criminals during the time of Christ were not forced to carry an entire T-shaped cross, but rather only the crossbeam, which would have weighed between 75 and 125 pounds. The vertical post would be laid down and the cross piece fastened to it, the condemned nailed through the wrists and feet, then the cross would be lifted up and slammed down into the hole made for the post. Archaeological data indicate that the specific nails used during the time of Christ’s crucifixion were tapered iron spikes five to seven inches long with a square shaft approximately three-eighths of an inch across. In John's gospel, Thomas says he would not believe unless he saw and touched the nail marks in Jesus' hands.  

The spikes would have been driven through the wrist, near the heel of the hand. If through the palm, the weight of the man would pull the spike through the flesh. In this part of the wrist (considered part of the hand in ancient times), major nerves and blood vessels would be missed, allowing the man to hang freely, unable to breath. For the feet to be fastened to the post, the knees would be bent and rotated, with the feet lined up side by side and the spike be pounded through the sides of the feet in front of the heel.

To breathe, the man on the cross would have to push up on his feet, scraping his scourged back on the rough wood of the post. With all his weight on the spike through his feet, he couldn't stay up very long - a couple quick breaths. Then back down - scraping his back - to hang from his hands. Intense pain and muscle cramping were inventible, hastening the collapse of the man, leaving him unable to breathe - dying of asphyxiation.

At the ninth hour, which was around 3 PM, Jesus cried out to the Father. We'll look at what He said in a minute. What we need to see now is better recorded by John: John 19:28-30 After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. The sour wine on a hyssop branch - same as that used to paint the blood of the Passover lamb on the doorposts during the last plague of Egypt: Ex 12:21-23 Then Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and select lambs for yourselves according to your clans, and kill the Passover lamb. Take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. None of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning. For the LORD will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you.

These details are God quietly screaming His sovereignty and proclaiming His Son to be the fulfillment of that precious sheep from so long before. The Jewish Passover lamb shed its blood to protect national Israel's firstborn from physical death. The Passover Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus, is the fulfillment of that type. He shed His blood to preserve true Israel's children from eternal death.

Jesus was crucified outside the city, at the garbage dump. All these physical things piled one on top of another to humiliate the condemned. The Creator and Judge of all flesh, treated like the dregs at the bottom of a cup.

The temple veil was torn in half, foretelling the certain doom of the temple building, which, in 70AD, would come tumbling down until no stone was left in place - just as Jesus had said. When the centurion saw and heard all this, he declared that Jesus truly was the Son of God. The repentant thief and the Roman centurion both had their ears and eyes opened to see Christ for Who He is.

But physical death was not the worst of it, nor would it have satisfied our great need.

4. The True Suffering on the Cross. Many people, sadly, were crucified by the Roman government. Only one crucifixion satisfied the Father's wrath against the sin that plagues the sons and daughters of Adam. When Jesus cried out, My God, my God! Why have you forsaken me? He was quoting Psalm 22, which provides a rich description of what was happening at the cross. The death of Christ was not an accident of history; it was God’s plan from before time to redeem sinners. For Christ to be forsaken means He was not being treated as a son, but as an enemy of His Father; for our benefit.

The wrath of God was poured out on Christ at Calvary, He drank the cup of death meant for you and me. Earlier in Mark's gospel, we have this response from the Lord Jesus to the request from James and John to sit on either side of Him in glory. Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” And they said to him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized.” (Mark 10:38-39). Note how Jesus connects these two, the cup and baptism. The other disciples heard this. Other than the ten being indignant at these two, what might they have thought about the cup and the baptism? They would soon learn that this cup the Lord spoke of was not the cup of communion and the baptism was not a water baptism. Jesus had spoken in terms that left his disciples uncertain, but we know from the record of Scripture that what He was speaking about was the cup of wrath and the baptism of death that awaited Him; of which He lamented: I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished! (Luke 12:50)

The disciples would drink of His cup and be baptized with His baptism vicariously through Him. No mortal man can stand where Jesus did: cursed by God for the sins of others and lay His life down knowing He would pick it back up again. When we take communion, we are not drinking His cup, but we drink in remembrance of what He did – to cut the New Covenant in His blood to reconcile sinners to Holy God. When we are baptized, it is not merely following His example when John baptized Him in the Jordan. Paul asks, Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? (Romans 6:3) And further he tells us, (1 Corinthians 12:13) For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. We were baptized into Christ’s death, the death He died for us, to break down what separates us from God and one another, to make one people that will bring honor and glory to His name. The cup and baptism signify our union with Christ, reminding us of what He did for us in drinking our cup and being baptized into the death we deserve.

At the cross of Calvary, what is called the Great Exchange took place: 2 Corinthians 5:21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. This is what Paul spoke of last week in telling us how Christ drank the cup of wrath due us and gave to us the cup of blessing. We have an alien righteousness - that of the God-man - which secures us as beloved in the Father. Without this union with Christ, there can be no peace with God the Father.

Hebrews 8 tells us the priests of the Old Covenant and the sacrifices thereof were copies and shadows of the heavenly things. Because He was the obedient son, the faithful witness, the righteousness of God, He was qualified to appear as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. (Hebrews 9:11-14) The time for the temporary covering of sins with the blood of goats and other animals was finished when Christ shed His blood. There is no need to return to the shadows. The promised One has come and He has finished His redemptive work.

In our day, the news brings us a report of people in the nation of Israel planning to reenact the Jewish Passover in anticipation of rebuilding the Jewish temple. They are trying to move backwards in redemptive history, as if Christ has not come! The Passover was to remind them of God's rescue of His people from bondage in Egypt, with the lamb's blood as the marker. And the Passover was to point to another Lamb who would come and have His blood shed. In a passage where Paul is describing the danger of allowing a bold, unrepentant sinner to remain in the fellowship of saints at Corinth, he uses the image of leaven in in yeast: 1 Corinthians 5:6-8 Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Paul is teaching us that the kingdom of God is pure, undefiled; and we are to work to keep our local fellowship as pure as humanly possible. During the Jewish Passover, they had to make sure no yeast was anywhere in the house, not just in the yeast. This was in preparation for the Passover lamb being sacrificed so its blood could be applied to the doorposts.

Something greater that the blood of animals has been shed on our account: Christ Jesus is the Passover lamb for all who have been given to Him. If the Jews were to be so diligent in getting the leaven out of their homes, Paul tells us, should we not be more so in getting publicly unrepentant sinners out of our fellowship? He applies this to our lives and our message - unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. We should have genuine fellowship with one another and biblical truth in our conversation, teaching, and preaching. We'll review this in our next, final point.

5. What This Means for Us. In real terms, what does the crucifixion of Christ mean to us? Since this happened so long ago, is it necessary to talk about it? Next week we will hear about the resurrection, without which we are no different from those who have no faith. There is no resurrection without a death. And, as mentioned earlier, the death of Christ was no ordinary death. Preaching Christ and Him crucified is the means we’ve been given to bring lost sheep into the fold.

1 Corinthians 1:17 For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. This short statement hits three key points that he will explain in more detail in chapter 2. Frist, He was sent; this sending was to preach the gospel, not to baptize; second, the gospel is plain speech, not smooth words; third, the power of redemption is with God, not man.

1 Corinthians 2:1-5 And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. Same three points, amplified.

Preaching with power from God does not rest in human wisdom or cunning. It grieves my soul to see so many Baptists waste their lives embracing worldly ways to attract people of the world into the local assembly of the saints! Flashy programs and emotionally manipulative messages are not of God. When men called of God stand up to preach, there is a recognition of Whom we represent. We are not our own, we preach a message not of our making. Contrary to the values of the world, we exalt the God-man who allowed Himself to be treated horribly, Who has a kingdom not of this world, Who bids us to serve one another with love as He loved us - giving ourselves to one another. He gave Himself to us by submitting to taking the cup of wrath due us.

Crucifixion was a humiliating, grotesque method of killing the dregs of society. The Christian faith embraces what the world considers shameful; we preach a Lord and Savior who was treated like refuse by the powerful of the world. False religions pursue charismatic leaders who gather lots of followers who are eager to hear that they are prized above all. True religion cherishes faithful servants who preach what they need to hear, that they are not good in and of themselves and that the only One Who is good in and of Himself submitted to be crucified by the hands of sinful men and suffer the wrath of God on our account.

Back in 1 Cor chapter 1 we read about carnal behavior, the saints were following this man or that. Paul would have none of it. 1 Corinthians 1:10-13 I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? Notice how he finishes this rebuke of these dear people - three diagnostic questions: Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul? When we have a party spirit we follow a man rather than the God-man. Following carries the sense of being in union with the leader. The only true leader was crucified for you - no mere man could have been. Our water baptism reflects our union with the leader, signifying our death and resurrection in him. The Lord’s Supper declares His death for sin and soon return. Can any mere man suffice as your leader or mine? Let us not be drawn aside from the truth of God's Word, the sole sufficiency of the blood of Christ. The time for shapes and shadows is over. The true Passover is our Lamb of God. Seek refuge in Him. Trust Him. Speak gospel truths to one another.

John Owen, The Glory of Christ, as quoted by Rick Holland in Uneclipsing the Son, page 141:

"A constant view of the glory of Christ will revive our souls and cause our spiritual lives to flourish and thrive. The more we behold the glory of Christ by faith now, the more spiritual and the more heavenly will be the state of our souls. The reason why spiritual life in our souls decays and withers is because we fill our mind with other things. ... But then the mind is filled with thoughts of Christ and His glory, these things will be expelled. ... This is how our spiritual lives will be revived."

If you want your spirit revived, fill you mind with thoughts of Christ and His glory. Seek those thing which are above, and spur one another on while it is still today. And tell others where you found bread and water that truly satisifies.

What About the Judgment?

You can listen to this sermon here.

Hebrews 9:27-28  And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,  so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

Ask 10 Christians about the day of judgment and you'll likely get more than a dozen answers. From Ancient times, God's people have known there will be an accounting before Him, but there seems to be an ongoing lack of understanding about it – the nature, purpose, and participants of and in this great and terrible Day of the Lord.

What is the nature of this judgment? Throughout national Israel's history, she and the pagan nations around her were subjected to God's judgment for their actions. One example from Psalm 9:16 [950] The LORD has made himself known; he has executed judgment; the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands. Sometimes we see Israel being punished and at others it was pagan nations. When God's name is profaned, those responsible will be disciplined.

We see in Psalm 75 [1030] that God's judgment is not always punishment: verse 7 but it is God who executes judgment, putting down one and lifting up another. This was commonly associated with rulers being raised up or put down. As in the days when Israel wanted to be like the pagan nations, with a mortal man as her king, so many Christians in our day put too much hope in political leaders, forgetting the end of the ages has come upon us (1 Corinthians 10:11) and our citizenship is in heaven (Philippians 3:20).

With man's predilection of being focused on things temporal, Scripture speaks most about the doom of judgment at the end of the age, as there is no recovery from it. Speaking of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Psalm 76:7-9 [1031] But you, you are to be feared! Who can stand before you when once your anger is roused? From the heavens you uttered judgment; the earth feared and was still, when God arose to establish judgment, to save all the humble of the earth. We see similar accounts in Isaiah 66, Jeremiah 25, and Ezekiel 39. Matt 16:27 [1856] For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done. The ancient preacher adds some detail to this: Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 [1209] The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. [this first part we are familiar with; this next part is our topic] For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil. This should sound familiar, as Paul said virtually the same thing in 2 Corinthians.

The Lord Jesus spoke of the day of judgment without providing detail of its operation, as if the Jews knew all about. Matthew 10:15 [1840] Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town. The doom of Sodom and Gomorrah was legendary; this doom Christ spoke of was worse! This type of reference recurs several more times in Matthew 11 and 12. In Luke 3, John tells the Pharisees that the wrath of God is upon them and those "trees" that do not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. In Revelation 6:19ff [2473], the other man named John reveals the terror of being found naked on judgment day: Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” God’s judgment is real. We must be ready. If the day of judgment was not certain doom, Christ would not have had to bear that dreadful curse and we would not benefit from His wondrous love!

One of the more frequent discussions touching on both the purpose and participants is focused on the "Bema Seat Judgment" of Christians. This phrase generally refers to the idea that believers must stand before God to be rewarded - separately from those who are doomed to hell. The proponents of this doctrine call this the Bema seat judgment to distinguish it from The White Throne Judgment. The latter they believe to be the Judgment that God reserves for judicial verdict against transgressions by the wicked. They may get some support from John 5:24 [1829], which uses the same word (in several translations) as verse 22. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. But the word, judgment, is kree'sis in the Greek; which can also mean damnation or condemnation; context reveals what is correct. The KJV gets this verse right: Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. We see the same two statements in verse 27 & 29. John 5:28-29 (KJV) Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. Again, KJV gets it right, ESV and others use the word "judgment." We’ve seen that God will bring every deed into judgment – no man escapes this. But we also see that those who have passed from death unto life shall not come into condemnation! This is Paul’s point in Romans 8:1, as he tells those who were tempted to trust in works that there is NO CONDEMNATION for those who are in Christ Jesus, He is the only refuge!

The truth about the judgment seat is a lot less complicated and much less ambiguous. The Greek word bema, which is translated seat, is from a root that means 'base' or the foot (and by extension, step). It is used to designate a stepped seating area for Judgment. Thus bema simply refers to the raised seating of a judge or a king. For example, the throne of a King is usually stepped seating. In other words, seating that is raised above the level of the surrounding area. Much the same as our courts today have established for judgments. In our country one must approach the raised judgment area called the bench. Likewise, the bema seat is simply the raised seating of someone sitting to judge. For example, Pilate sat on the judgment seat [bema] when Jesus was being accused of wrong doing (Matt 27:19 & John 19:13). John 19:13 [2064] So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Stone Pavement, and in Aramaic Gabbatha. This is the same Greek word as found in 2 Corinthians, where the alleged "Bema seat" judgment takes place.

In both Biblical accounts of this episode (Matt 27 & John 19), the Greek word translated seat, bema, means the exalted seat of judgment. We should note very clearly that far from being a seat to hand out rewards, it is a seat of Judgment in tribunal for crimes (perceived or otherwise). Pilate sits upon this Judgment seat and he makes a Judgment to have the Lord Jesus Christ scourged, and handed over to be crucified. Quite clearly, this was a Judgment seat for judicial law. This is not only illustrated by the context, but also by the content. In both passages, Pilate sits on this bema and delivers a judicial verdict against Christ (beating and handing Him over to be crucified) which has absolutely nothing to do with rewards. Likewise, in the book of Acts we find the same scenario present with this Judgment seat (Acts 18:12 & 17). Acts 18:12 [2124] While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack against Paul and brought him to the judge’s bench. The ESV calls this a tribunal, the KJV calls it a judgment seat. The Greek word is bema.

What is the purpose and who are the participants? The parable of the talents shows believers have rewards, based on our deeds – just as we read in Psalm 75:7. The purpose of judgment day is two-fold; with punishment for evil-doers, rewards for good deeds (which the Holy Spirit equips and wills us to do), and our inheritance as joint-heirs with Christ. This inheritance is being regenerated or born of God to live and reign with Him. This is taught in Ephesians 1:11, 13-14 [2263] In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will. … In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. This is confirmed in Galatians 3, Colossians 1 & 3, Hebrews 9 & 11, and 1 Peter 1. The inheritance Abraham looked for was that city whose designer and builder was God, the heavenly Jerusalem which is described in Revelation 21:9-10 [2494] Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God.” This is what Peter made mention of in 1 Peter 2, when he referred to the saints in Christ as living stones being built up as a spiritual house. What greater reward could one hope for than being at peace with God, abiding with Him in perfect harmony?

Matthew 25:31-33 [1877] When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Two groups of people present at this judgment, when Christ returns and sits in judgment on the nations, He is on a bema; sheep at His right hand, goats at His left. No separate judgment for the saints in this passage.

Another glimpse at this judgment: Revelation 22:12-15 [2497] “Look! I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me to repay each person according to what he has done.  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. “Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates. Outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying”. Same two groups of people, each getting judged. Those who wash their robes (KJV: keeps His commandments) are blessed; these are the people of God who have been raised up and given His Spirit Who wills and equips us to do what pleases Him. Outside are those who do not know Him.

The Bible is clear that there is one Judgment of Christ, and it takes place at the last day. It is then that man will stand before the Judgment seat of Christ to give account of what he has done on earth, whether good or evil. All those who were washed clean in the blood of Christ stand before God spotless with 'good' works that are faultless. The rest of the dead stand with 'bad' works, and are found guilty in their works of sin. 2 Timothy 4:1 [2342] I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Romans 14:10 [2181] But you, why do you criticize your brother? Or you, why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before the tribunal of God. One judgment of all flesh, the quick (alive in Christ) and the dead; at the end of the age.

2 Corinthians 5:10-11 [2229] is where many stand to defend a separate “bema seat” judgment for Christians. But does that passage teach this? For we must all appear before the judgment seat (bema) of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.  Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences. The same two groups of people, before the judgement seat of God.

This raised seat judgment Paul speaks of in this passage also describes the throne on which Herod sat when he was killed by God (Acts 12), the judgment seat Paul was dragged before Gallio (Acts 18), the place Festus sat in Acts 25, Caesar's judgment seat in Rome, and the raised platform where Paul met his accusers (Acts 25:16-17). The Greek word does not lend itself to the narrow, single purpose definition imposed upon it by the Bema Seat proponents. Bema used to describe various judgment seats and thrones, from which men in authority render judgment.

The Great White Throne Judgment, in Revelation 20:11-15 [2493], has many of the same characteristics of these other passages we’ve read. And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. What in this passage gives the impression it’s a different scene? More detail, same two groups of people, same two eternal states. The Greek word for throne (thronos) is not bema; but one definition of bema is "throne" and one definition of thronos is "seat." While different words, they are nearly identical in meaning.

Revelation 20 is the same basic scene as in Matthew 25, wherein Christ sits on His throne of glory, judging between sheep and goats. Here in Revelation 20, the Lord sits on a throne which is great and white - terms that ascribe glory and honor. In Matthew 25 [1877], the deeds done by each group are reviewed, have everything in common. The one thing that distinguishes between the sheep and the goats is the sheep did their works out of love for Christ and His brothers. Verse 40 “And the King will answer them, ‘I assure you: Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.’ verse 34 Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. The inheritance of the saint in view once more.

In Revelation 20, the sea gave up her dead and death and hell gave up their dead. Is there any doubt that "death and hell" give up the damned, to face their Judge? These are terms commonly associated with those who are not reconciled to God. What about the sea; are its dead the same category of people or does it give up those who have died in Christ? Isaiah 60:5 [1350] sheds light on this, describing the fulfillment of what national Israel foreshadowed when all nations come to God, where the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you (God), the wealth of the nations shall come to you! This supports the idea that in Revelation 20, the sea could refer to those being called by God from every nation, tribe, and tongue. This would fit right in with the other judgment passages, which show the same two groups of people - sheep and goats.

And in this scene, it is as clear as it can be: the only thing that determines destiny has nothing to do with deeds we do here. If your name is not written in the Lamb's Book of Life, you have no life in Christ. If your name IS written in the Lamb's Book of Life, you have eternal life in Christ. Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Whatever rewards we may gain by faithful, Spirit led service in this age, inheriting the kingdom is totally based on God’s free gift of grace poured on His sheep.

This is what YHWH meant in this snippet from Job 34:23 [921] - For God has no need to consider a man further, that he should go before God in judgment. The judgment eternal destiny of souls is not based on deeds done in the flesh; it is wholly dependent on and based on the standing one has; is he in Christ? And when one comes to Christ Jesus in faith, which is a gift from God, he will be protected from the wrath of God on that great and terrible day when Jesus judges all nations and peoples.

In speaking about the trials we will face in this age, Peter pointed us to Christ as our example; revealing a truth about the final judgment that ought to comfort the saints. 1 Pet 2:23 [2409] When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. This is why we who are in Christ have no need to fear the day of judgment: He is just. The white throne is a sign of Christ’s rule and His glory: He is mighty.

Summary & Conclusion

The nature of this judgment is comprehensive, no mortal is excluded. The purpose of judgment day is twofold: to reward those who by patience in well-doing seek for honor and glory and to punish those who are self-seeking and unrighteous. Varying rewards and punishments. The participants in the day of judgment are two:  those who have been clothed in the righteousness of Christ and seek to bring Him honor and those who are dressed in their own rags of self-righteousness who serve themselves and mind earthly things. In these things, God is glorified in saving sinners, punishing evil doers, and bringing the age of redemption to a close for all will know Him and declare Christ to be King, whether they rejoice in their salvation or weep in their doom.

Luke 12:42-48 [1983] And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. … And that servant who knew his master's will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.

The great day of the Lord is a frightful time for those who are not clothed in Christ. It’s a validation of all He has promised for those who wear His white robes. 2 Pet 3:13 [2243] But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. If you are in Christ, you can, with a clear conscience, join the saints of old and cry out, Maranatha! Come quickly, Lord Jesus! If you do not have peace in your soul as you consider the end of things and the accounting that must be made to the Creator and Judge of all things, consider His words (John 6:35 & 37) [2035]: “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. … All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” There is salvation in no other name or person. Come to Jesus. He is the faithful one.

On the day of judgment, that great and terrible day when everything done in secret will be exposed (Ephesians 5:13), there is no place to hide, no safe refuge, no shield from the wrath of God – except for the very Lamb that will judge all flesh. This is why the gospel is central to mission of every church. This is why Christ Jesus is heralded as the only savior of poor sinners; He alone makes atonement for sin, He alone reconciles His enemies to His Father. He is the bread and water of eternal life; no one who comes to Him will hunger or thirst; no on who flees to Him will ever be cast out. Repent of your sin and believe on Christ – there is no other way to be at peace with God. Peace with God came at a dreadful price as the Son of God drank the cup of wrath due us. This wonderous love, that caused the Lord of bliss to bear the dreadful curse for your soul and mine. Let us exhort one another while we have breath to always look unto Christ, for He is our great salvation and He is our life!