The Judgment
Text: Matthew 25:31-46
Series: Restoration Sermons
Date:
Speaker: Ed Rangel
Location: Waupaca Church of Christ
Bible Version: NASB 1995
Sermon Type: Expository
Learning Objectives
By the close of this lesson the hearer should be able to:
- Name and refute three theories that deny or redefine the coming judgment: (a) there is no judgment; (b) judgment is a process ongoing now; (c) judgment has already been passed.
- Answer nine specific questions about the judgment from Scripture: whether it exists, when it is, who the Judge will be, who will stand there, how they will be judged, for what, and with what result.
- Describe the biblical portrait of both destinations — heaven and hell — from the same texts, particularly Matthew 25:46, where the same word (aiōnios) describes both.
- Explain why the judgment should produce present urgency, not speculative curiosity.
- Commit to the kind of life that will stand at the judgment — not merely a life that avoids obvious sins, but a life of active obedience.
Thesis
A final judgment is coming — one day, one Judge, all people. The biblical description of that event and its two outcomes is not speculative or symbolic; it is the most concrete and consequential fact about the future that the New Testament presents.
Burden
Some people dismiss the judgment as mythology. Some treat it as metaphor — a symbolic way of saying that bad behavior tends to have bad consequences. Some argue it is a process already underway, or that it was completed at the cross. All three positions allow people to avoid the force of the most serious passage on the subject: "When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats" (Matt. 25:31-32).
The language is specific. One moment. One throne. All nations. One separation. The result: eternal life or eternal punishment.
Introduction
The three theories identified in the introduction are not ancient errors — they are live options in contemporary Christianity and in general culture.
No judgment: The benevolent deity of popular religion does not judge anyone permanently. Love wins eventually; all are restored. This is universalism, dressed in sentimentality.
Judgment ongoing now: Everything that is happening now is the judgment — the consequences of bad behavior in this life constitute the judgment. There is nothing further. This view evacuates the eschatological urgency of the New Testament.
Judgment already passed: At the cross, everything was settled. The question is only whether you are on the right side of the already-rendered verdict. While there is truth in the "already" dimension of New Testament eschatology, this view is used to eliminate the "not yet" dimension — the coming day when all accounts are settled publicly and finally.
Each of these theories, if accepted, allows the person holding it to live without urgency in relation to the judgment. This sermon removes that comfortable distance.
I. Questions Concerning the Judgment
The outline structures the first major section as a nine-question catechism — each question answered from specific texts.
1. Will there be a judgment?
Yes. "God has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness" (Acts 17:31). "If God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment" (2 Pet. 2:4) — angels are reserved for judgment, and God does not make reservations he does not use. "The present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men" (2 Pet. 3:7).
2. Will there be a judgment day — a specific moment, not an ongoing process?
Yes. "Angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day" (Jude 6). "The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment" (2 Pet. 2:9). "Because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God" (Rom. 2:5). The specific phrasing — the day, the great day, the day of wrath — establishes a definite moment, not a process.
3. When will it be?
"It is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment" (Heb. 9:27). After death — not during life, not as an ongoing consequence structure. The judgment comes after the death that every person will face.
4. Who will be the Judge?
Jesus Christ. "For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son" (John 5:22). "For judgment I came into this world" (John 9:39). "I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead" (2 Tim. 4:1). The Judge is the same person as the Savior. The one standing in judgment is the one who offered himself on a cross. This is not incidental — it means the Judge knows perfectly well what human beings face, and chose to face it himself.
5. Who will be there?
Everyone. "For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God" (Rom. 14:10). "He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world" — all nations (Acts 17:31). "And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne" (Rev. 20:11-15). "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, whether good or bad" (2 Cor. 5:10). The scope is without exception. There is no category of person who is exempt from appearing.
6. How will all be judged?
By their deeds, recorded and evaluated. "Each of us will give an account of himself to God" (Rom. 14:12). "The Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds" (Matt. 16:27). "The books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds" (Rev. 20:12-13).
7. For what will all be judged?
For the full account of life — nothing excluded. "Fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil" (Eccl. 12:13-14). Every act. The hidden ones too. The standard is total.
8. What will be the result?
Two and only two outcomes. "Then He will say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels'… 'These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life'" (Matt. 25:41, 46). When Felix heard Paul speak "about righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come," he was terrified (Acts 24:25). The result is not something that produces comfortable reflection. The prospect produces either terrified urgency or settled confidence — depending on where one stands.
9. All will be sentenced.
The two outcomes are not possibilities — they are certainties. Every person at the judgment receives a sentence: "Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom" (Matt. 25:34) or "Depart from Me, accursed ones" (Matt. 25:41). No one leaves without a verdict.
II. The Bible's Description of the Two Places
Having answered the nine questions, we turn to the biblical description of each destination. The key facts are stated from the same texts in each case, with Matt. 25:46 providing the decisive parallel.
Hell:
The lake of fire (Rev. 20:14) is the final state of the wicked. It is the second death — "the lake of fire is the second death"; the word "death" in this context is not extinction but the permanent condition of separation from the source of life. The bottomless pit carries imagery of descent — a place that has no bottom, no final landing, no end to the falling. Eternal fire (Matt. 25:46) — the adjective aiōnios modifies both "punishment" and "life" in the same verse; the grammar cannot be used to soften one without undermining the other.
Heaven:
Eternal life (Matt. 25:46) — the same aiōnios that describes the punishment describes the life; if the punishment is genuinely eternal, so is the life; they stand or fall together. The one who overcomes is not hurt by the second death (Rev. 2:11; 20:14) — the lake of fire has no claim on them. As heirs of God (Rom. 8:17) — "heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ" — everything that belongs to the Father belongs to his children; the inheritance is the presence and glory of God himself.
Application
Three responses this sermon requires:
Take the judgment seriously. Not as a conversation topic or a doctrinal position, but as a fact about the future that shapes everything about the present. Felix trembled. That is the appropriate response to an accurate hearing of the facts.
Do not speculate beyond the text. Who exactly will be condemned and who will be saved is not the question this sermon is equipped to answer with precision in individual cases. The question is whether you, personally, are ready to stand before the Judge. That is the only question you can actually do anything about.
Live in light of it. Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 is the summary: fear God and keep His commandments, because God will bring every act to judgment — everything hidden, whether good or evil. The fear of God that produces obedience — not mechanical compliance, but the deep reverence that aligns a life with God's will — is the only rational response to the fact of a coming judgment.
Conclusion
There will be a judgment. It will be on a specific day. The Judge will be Jesus Christ. Everyone will stand there. All will give an account of their deeds. All will be sentenced.
The sentence will be one of two things: "Come, you who are blessed of My Father" or "Depart from Me, accursed ones." The same word — aiōnios — describes the duration of both destinations. There is no third option, no second chance, no reversal.
This is not frightening news for those who are prepared. It is the most reassuring news in the universe — that God is just, that every act done in secret will be brought to light, that the long record of human wickedness will be accounted for and ended, and that the righteous will inherit what was prepared for them before the foundation of the world.
Invitation
The Judge is also the Savior. The same person who will sit on the throne of judgment is the same person who said, "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest" (Matt. 11:28). He has not yet taken the throne of final judgment — that day is still future. Today is the day of the invitation. Tomorrow — or at the moment of death, whichever comes first — the invitation closes and the judgment begins.
If you have not responded to the invitation: believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God. Repent of your sins — not because repentance earns you anything, but because it is the only honest response to the fact that you have sinned. Confess his name. Be baptized for the remission of your sins (Acts 2:38). The book of life is open. The verdict is not yet rendered. Come now, while coming is still possible.
Word Study
| English Term | Greek Term | Basic Meaning | Usage in This Sermon | Sermon Significance | Key Texts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Judgment | krisis | the act of judging, the verdict rendered, the decisive evaluation | the event this sermon is entirely about | the event this sermon is entirely about; the New Testament treats it as certain, future, and total in scope | — |
| Eternal / age-lasting | aiōnios | belonging to the age to come, eternal duration | applies equally to punishment and life in Matt | applies equally to punishment and life in Matt. 25:46; the same word, the same grammar, the same duration for both | Matt. 25:46 |
| Second death | ho deuteros thanatos | the lake of fire; permanent separation from God | distinct from physical death | distinct from physical death; the final state of the condemned | Rev. 20:14 |
| Judgment seat | bēma | a raised platform for an official to render verdicts, the place of public accounting | Paul says we will all appear there | Paul says we will all appear there; no exception | 2 Cor. 5:10 |
Scripture Interlock Table
| Theme | Boles' Outline | Supporting Scripture |
|---|---|---|
| The throne, the separation, the sentences, the two destinations | I–II | Matt. 25:31-46 |
| "He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness" | I.1 | Acts 17:31 |
| Angels reserved for judgment; present heavens reserved for the day | I.1–2 | 2 Pet. 2:4; 3:7 |
| Wicked angels kept for the great day; judgment on all the ungodly | I.2 | Jude 6, 14-18 |
| "After this comes judgment" — after death, judgment | I.3 | Heb. 9:27 |
| All judgment given to the Son; Christ is the Judge | I.4 | John 5:22; 2 Tim. 4:1 |
| "We will all stand before the judgment seat" — no exceptions | I.5 | Rom. 14:10; 2 Cor. 5:10 |
| The great white throne; books opened; judged by deeds | I.5–6 | Rev. 20:11-15 |
| "God will bring every act to judgment, everything hidden" | I.7 | Eccl. 12:13-14 |
| Felix trembled at righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come | I.8 | Acts 24:25 |
| aiōnios — same word for punishment and life; both eternal | II | Matt. 25:46 |
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Converted from H. Leo Boles, Outline 84. Primary text: Matthew 25:31-46 (stated by Boles). Doctrinal audit: three theories that deny/redefine judgment named and answered; nine-question catechism structure retained from Boles and expanded; aiōnios argument (same word for eternal punishment and eternal life in Matt. 25:46) stated as the grammatical and theological guard against annihilationism and selective eternality; no premillennial framing — general resurrection and general judgment stated as single events per the texts; Felix's fear noted as the appropriate response; invitation retains full obedient response (Acts 2:38). No OCR errors found in source.
