Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Our national conscience has been shaped and seared to take refuge in the judgement of God.

We have trained ourselves, and in fact deceived ourselves, into believing that there is relief to be found in the thought of God's judgement.

"Only God can judge me" has become our rally cry as we seek to justify whatever corrupt desires and self-serving actions we want to justify.

"Judge not, lest you be judged" has become our most quoted verse in replacement of .

But, brothers and sisters, Jesus assures us that on that Day there will be no relief found at the thought of his awesome judgement.

On that day, every motive, every attitude, every action, every reaction, every idle word, every justified sin, every second of indifference to God and his Kingdom will all be totally exposed in the blazing light of God's holiness.

On that Day, there will be no comfort to be found in the face of God's relentless holiness, unless you are covered in his Son's righteousness.

He will separate us.

He will declare finally all who have been with him on the narrow and difficult path and all who have continued along the wide and easy path.

He will announce whether you are his family or his enemy, his disciple or his opposition.

On that day, the only thing that will matter is that he says to you, "Come, you who are blessed by my Father."

Turn with me this morning to the very end of and the end of the Olivet Discourse, where we will see Jesus explaining this judgement to his disciples.

Our national conscience has been shaped and seared so that it is trained to take refuge in the judgement of God.

We have trained ourselves, and in fact deceived ourselves, into believing that there is relief to be found in the thought of God's judgement.

"Only God can judge me" has become our rally cry as we seek to justify whatever corrupt desires and self-serving actions we want to justify.

"Judge not, lest you be judged" has become our most quoted verse in replacement of .

But, brothers and sisters, Jesus assures us that on that Day there will be no relief found at the thought of his awesome judgement.

Proverb 17:15 says that it is an abomination to justify the wicked.

And, on that day, every motive, every attitude, every action, every reaction, every idle word, every justified sin, every second of indifference to God and his Kingdom will all be totally exposed in the blazing light of God's holiness.

On that Day, there will be no comfort to be found in the face of God's relentless holiness, unless you are covered in his Son's righteousness.

God’s Word

He will separate us.

He will declare finally all who have been with him on the narrow and difficult path and all who have continued along the wide and easy path.

He will announce whether you are his family or his enemy, his disciple or his opposition.

On that day, the only thing that will matter is that he says to you, "Come, you who are blessed by my Father."

Turn with me this morning to the very end of and the end of the Olivet Discourse, where we will see Jesus explaining this judgement to his disciples.

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The Vision Fulfilled…Finally

"When.....then...." It's going to feel like He's never coming, but He is.

Jesus has went to great lengths to make clear that his return is going to take a long time.

For the disciples, this meant that it would be a delay in their vindication and a delay in their ultimate triumph in Christ.

It would be a long time before they would know the joy of sitting around Jesus' throne, watching the nations come under his rule.

They would know martyrdom before they knew glory.

They would know suffering before they knew triumph.

But, his day will come.

It will come.

This is Christ's assurance to his disciples.

One day, his long delay will finally come to a close and when it does, Jesus in his blazing glory, Jesus in his lethal holiness, Jesus in his blinding purity, Jesus in his fearsome majesty will descend with legions of heaven's warriors coming to judge the earth.

Every account in the Bible we have of a person seeing an angel leads that person to tremble in terror at their sight.

And, on that day, the entire sky will fill with so many of them that they overwhelm the sun from one end of the earth to the other.

And, then!

Then, Jesus will take the throne that only He is glorious enough to sit upon.

In fulfillment of God's promise, He will descend to the throne of David upon which He will reign forever over all peoples and all worlds and all dominions.

And, the vision that the disciples have long had of Jesus reigning as King, the vision that they've had of him holding the key to military dominance, the vision that they've had of returning Israel to her glory will be finally and fully realized with far greater wonder and power than they could have ever realized.

Jesus will not be returning the former Jerusalem and the former Israel to her former glory.

Jesus will be coming as the true Israel himself through whom every nation will be blessed.

He will create a new heaven and a new earth and reign from a new Jerusalem.

Every promise will be fulfilled, and every assurance will be proven true.

“the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him” But, his day will come.

It will come.

This is Christ's assurance to his disciples.

One day, his long delay will finally come to a close and when it does, Jesus in his blazing glory, Jesus in his lethal holiness, Jesus in his blinding purity, Jesus in his fearsome majesty will descend with legions of heaven's warriors coming to judge the earth.

Every account in the Bible we have of a person seeing an angel leads that person to tremble in terror at their sight.

And, on that day, the entire sky will fill with so many of them that they overwhelm the sun from one end of the earth to the other.

And, then!

Then, Jesus will take the throne that only He is glorious enough to sit upon.

In fulfillment of God's promise, He will descend to the throne of David upon which He will reign forever over all peoples and all worlds and all dominions.

And, the vision that the disciples have long had of Jesus reigning as King, the vision that they've had of him holding the key to military dominance, the vision that they've had of returning Israel to her glory will be finally and fully realized with far greater wonder and power than they could have ever realized.

Jesus will not be returning the former Jerusalem and the former Israel to her former glory.

Jesus will be coming as the true Israel himself through whom every nation will be blessed.

He will create a new heaven and a new earth and reign from a new Jerusalem.

Every promise will be fulfilled, and every assurance will be proven true.

Your Future is Certain

APPLICATION: It feels like He isn't coming, doesn't it?

Generation comes and generation goes, and we still don't see him.

But, you know what?

For thousands of years, God's people had awaited their Messiah.

They had waited for the seed of Abraham that would bless the world.

Generation would come and generation would go, and the Messiah didn't come.

It felt like He would never be and that He would never come.

They lived under terrible kings, experienced exile in godless countries, and were conquered by many foes.

The people of God knew despair and famine and fear far before they knew their Messiah, but then the virgin had a Son.

Then, God's promises were fulfilled and his assurances were proven true.

Then, having followed him for 3.5 years, Jesus' disciples watched as He was betrayed by one of them.

They were there in the Garden when Jesus was arrested by the soldiers and brought before the rioting crowd, demanding his slaughter.

And from the cross, as Jesus declared that it was finished, it appeared that all hope of a Messianic reign had come to a close.

It appeared the man that they believed they would follow to the throne would lead them instead to an early and bloody grave.

But then, Sunday came.

Sunday came, and the stone was rolled away.

Jesus had promised that He would die and be in the belly of the earth, and on Sunday every promise was fulfilled and all of his assurances were proven true.

And so, brothers and sisters, I know that you look at your circumstances and you look at your suffering and your look at your health and you look at your family, and you find your heart doubting and you find your mind wondering whether Christ will ever return.

But, brothers and sisters, the Christ who was born and the Christ who was raised is the Christ you can trust to return!

You're going to know suffering before you know triumph, and you're going to know pain before you know glory.

But, you will know triumph, and you will know glory because Christ will return.

Oh, but brothers and sisters, your future is certain!

It is is assured!

The Christ who was born and the Christ who was raised can be trusted when He says He'll return.

The Shepherd and his Flock

"before him will be gathered all nations" Around Jesus' glorious throne, He will be surrounded by his fearsome angels.

And, before them, all people from all corners of the earth will be gathered together.

For some, some it will be their greatest day as they stand before a Lord they've never seen but have long known.

With eagerness and anticipation, they will await the first time that they will lock eyes with their King and to hear his kindness directly from his own lips.

For others, it will be their worst day as they realize the full gravity of a true judgement of every action, attitude, and thought.