When people think about the Apostles’ Creed, there's usually one phrase or statement that particularly stands out to them. At least in my experience, whenever you mention the Apostles' Creed there will be somebody who will say, "I have always wondered about that statement…" One of those statements that we have looked at is that Christ “descended into hell”. What does that mean? Another statement is going to come – what does it mean when we speak about believing in the church?

But here we come to a statement that I think intrigues our children most of all, if we are still using this classic version of the Apostles' Creed. We are so used to it that it never dawns on us that to a child to say, "I believe He will come again to judge the quick and the dead" is a very strange thing to say. Who are the quick?

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We are all so familiar with this, it doesn't strike us how curious this must sound to our children and our grandchildren. He will come to judge the quick and the dead. Why doesn't He come to judge the slow and the dead?! The answer, of course, is that this is just an old English word for those who are still alive. So here is the question for you today: Are you quick today? The fact that you are eating, that you are talking, that you are breathing and look alive shows you are among the quick. What the creed is saying is that when the Lord Jesus Christ returns, He will come to judge both the living and the dead.

Later on in our series of studies in the Apostles' Creed we will return to this idea of the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is what He is returning to do that I want to think about just for a few minutes with you this afternoon. But just before we do that, let's remind ourselves that over the piece in the New Testament there are probably more references to the return of the Lord Jesus Christ than there are to the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is a very interesting thing, because in our Christian year in most of our churches we will celebrate His nativity and we will celebrate His resurrection, but we don't often celebrate with a special day the fact that Jesus Christ is going to return. But there are multitudinous references in the Gospels and in the Letters and in the Acts of the Apostles and in the book of Revelation ([the whole] New Testament) to the fact that He will come again.

Why is there that tremendous emphasis on the Lord Jesus' second coming? Is it so that we can all be turned into “armchair sleuths”, trying to work out when He will come? No, not at all. It is because of what is emphasized here in the creed: That what we have done in response to His first coming will be made manifest at His second coming. What we have done in response to His first coming is what is going to be brought fully and finally to light in His second coming.

And the New Testament teaches us that His second coming will be a personal coming. Remember how the angels said to the disciples, when He ascended into heaven, "What are you doing staring into heaven? He is not going to come back today from heaven. But this same Jesus will return in like manner to the way in which you have seen Him go" (Acts 1). So it is the same Jesus who was raised and ascended who will come again in majesty and glory (as the New Testament Scriptures say) in the clouds of heaven – the glory cloud of God's marvellous presence – with His holy angels.

He comes personally, we are told He will come visibly, and we are also forewarned that He will come unexpectedly. That is to say, you will not be able to work out in your calendar the date when the Lord Jesus will return. And that is quite deliberate on God's part, because God wants us to be ready every day of our lives for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.

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I love that story about the great English evangelist in the 18^th century, John Wesley, brother of the hymn writer (and John Wesley wrote some great hymns himself). As he rode around England preaching the gospel, somebody encountered him on the road. He was extremely famous. "Mr. Wesley", he said, and Wesley stopped. The man said to him, "You preach so often about the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. And when I have heard you preach, Mr. Wesley, there has always been a question I have wanted to ask you. If you knew for a fact that the Lord Jesus was going to return at this time next week, what would you do between now and then?" Do you know what Wesley did? He got down off his horse, opened his saddlebag, and he pulled out his calendar and flicked through it. He said, "This afternoon I would preach in such and such a place. Tomorrow, I see I am supposed to be preaching in another place." And he just went through the events that were on his calendar. Then when he had read that out, he said to the man who had stopped him, "That is exactly what I would do if I knew that the Lord Jesus was going to return this time next week."

What a way to live, isn't it? That really is the way to live. As I sometimes say, we need to learn to live our lives as Christians backwards as well as forwards. To live a day at a time in the consciousness that this may be the day that the Lord gives to us. And when we think about that, it is not a morbid thing to do. “Teach me to number my days”, says Psalm 90. It is not a morbid thing to do. It is actually a highly efficient way to live. Now, that is not to say that you do what Wesley did – he divided each hour into 20 minute segments. He was a 20 minute manager. But live conscious that you are living towards a destiny. We are not caught up in a kind of tumble dryer of life that is just an endless cycle going nowhere, but we are destined to go somewhere. And therefore, thinking about that destination is one of the most life-transforming things we can do as Christians.

The Character of God’s Judgment⤒🔗

Here is what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5 about that destination. I want you to notice his words in verse 10: “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive good or evil, according to what he has done in the body. He is speaking about God's final assessment of our lives. Notice that he includes all of us in it. He includes the Corinthians in it, he includes himself in it, and by implication he includes all of us in it.

There are two things to notice. First of all, [notice] what he has to say about the character of God's judgement. In scope, it is clearly universal. And that is characteristic of the Bible teaching right from the beginning. Genesis 18:25b: “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” It is characteristic of the teaching of Jesus, as we see in the parables that we are now reading towards the end of Matthew's Gospel. Towards the end of His ministry, a kind of focus develops in Jesus' parables because of the urgency of the situation. He is urging people to see that decisions that we make now determine destinies that we will have in the future.

Then another thing that we might just skip over, but it is actually obvious also in what Paul says. It is not just that the scope of this judgement is universal, but that this judgement will be marked by perfect equity. It will be true judgement. It will be accurate judgement. We all, in different ways, judge one another. I do not mean that we are judgmental in spirit, but that we make assessments of people. And most of us discover at some point in our lives how foolish our assessment has been, and that we haven't really known the truth about that person's life. We wonder why they are so slow, and then we find out something about them that makes us amazed that they are as quick as they are. Or we wonder why they always seem to react to something in the way they do, and we discover something about their background and we realize how false our judgements have been. Because we have not been able to take a kind of whole person scan and then examine that scan. We don't have the ability, really, to assess people very well. In fact, Paul says to the Corinthians, “I don't really know how to assess myself” (1 Corinthians 4). Which is a good word for some Christians. Some Christians spend all their time assessing themselves! Paul says that you need to learn to forget about yourself, because you are not capable of making a really final assessment of yourself.

But God is. God is. You know, you can't help wondering what that final assessment will look like, when God puts us all into the final sieve of His judgement and we come out on the other end. How different will that look from the assessments that have been made in this world, and even the assessments that we make of others? I sometimes think it is one of the beautiful things about being a Christian that you can see what Christ has done in somebody else's life and not feel jealous of the fact that you think that when you get to glory they are going to be a lot further on than [you are]. But because of what I see God has done in their lives, I am glad of that. I rejoice in that. It is such a wonderful thing to be a Christian believer when you look forward to the absolute equity, the fairness, the discrimination and the perfection of the judgement of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Here is an important thing: The New Testament teaches us that the Father has put all judgement into the hands of the Lord Jesus. Why has He done that? It is so that we can be absolutely sure that we will be judged by somebody who is our peer – who has felt our temptations more deeply than we have, experienced our griefs more profoundly than we have, died a death more awful than any death any of us could ever die, so that we are never able to say to God about His judgement of our lives, “You used the wrong measuring stick to judge me.” No. Rather, in the presence of the Lord Jesus (as Paul says in Romans 3) our mouths will be zipped shut, and we will know that His judgement and assessment is perfect.

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The Basis of God’s Judgment←⤒🔗

The great question is: What is the basis of this judgement? And Paul also explains that. He says we will be judged according to God's true standard. We will receive what is due. Due for what? Due for what we have done in the body (2 Corinthians 5:10). That is to say, what will be assessed is who we have really been.

Now of course, we can think about that, but we will come to somewhat differing conclusions about what that means depending on the grading system we imagine God will employ. I don't know if you know, but because education is now so international, deans of colleges and universities have manuals piled high telling them what a grade at one university in one country means when it is transferred to another university in another country. Because grading systems are not all the same.

Actually, I am [used to] a very different grading system from the American grading system. The difference between being British and being American is summed up in the grading systems that are used in Scottish universities and American universities. How does the grading system work in an American university? You start with 100 and then they begin to chip down. How does the grading system work in a British university? You start with zero and you have to work your way up. No wonder Americans are so optimistic! If you get 85% in a British exam you are flying like an angel. If you get 85% in an American exam (at least the institutions I have taught in), you are heading for the exit door. So the grading system makes a great deal of difference, doesn't it?

So how does God grade? Is God British? Is He a British God or is He an American God? “I will judge you all according to your own standards”? Well no, His standard is absolute perfection. His standard is Jesus. And anything less than Jesus is a failing grade, ultimately. That is the shattering truth of the gospel. Because it so overturns every other grading system we have ever used – i.e. that we are better than average. Apparently 80 or 90% of the population believe they are better than average drivers. Even with my mathematics I can see that can't be possible, but we all think that way! And the one Person with whom we never compare ourselves from the point of view of God's assessment of us is that Jesus is the only one who has received a passing grade.

The Effect of God’s Judgment←⤒🔗

So Paul is saying the situation is very serious. And that is why in verse 11, having spoken about the character of this judgement, he immediately goes on to say something about the effects of this judgement. “Knowing the fear of the Lord”, he says. He is speaking here as a Christian who has discovered something else about God's judgement, and we will come to that in a moment. But he is looking out on the world as a Christian, and he is saying, “Because we realize what a powerless situation humanity is in, our great desire, as we think about them appearing before the judgement seat of the Lord, is to seek to persuade them about the one way in which at the judgement seat of God they may receive not condemnation, but justification” (see verse 11).

And it is so obvious from what he says that if we stand before the judgement seat of God in and of ourselves, no matter what we bring with us, [it isn’t enough]. I love the story of one of the great 20^th century theologians whose works would have reached almost to the ceiling of Jackson Hall. He tells the story of trying to get into heaven as he carries the pile of books, and Saint Peter says to him, “You can't bring any of that stuff in here.” So not even mammoth religious accomplishments are adequate there. But because [Paul] is really a beggar who has found bread, and he realizes his responsibility is to tell other beggars where they may find bread, the rest of this chapter is taken up with him explaining to us how those of us who understand that before the judgement seat of the Lord we stand condemned can know that we may one day stand before that judgement seat as though we were perfectly righteous.

Now, I can imagine that some people reading this passage might think that Paul gives us a little clue further on down the passage when he says that we really believe this: That God has not counted our trespasses against [us] (verse 19). Look at those words in the middle of 2 Corinthians 5:19. Here is Paul's gospel message: “God was…not counting their trespasses against them”. I have met so many people who read words like that in the Bible and say, “Well, that is the God I have always believed in. I have always believed in a God who doesn't count our trespasses, our sins. So there is really no need to be anxious about the judgement seat of Christ, is there?”

But that is not what Paul is saying. What Paul is saying is that those who come to faith in Jesus Christ discover that this wonderful truth is the very heart and soul and power of the Christian gospel: It is not that God didn't count men's sins; it is that instead of counting our sins against us, He has counted our sins against somebody else. He doesn't count their sins against them (verse 19) ought to make us ask the question, “Well then, against whom does He count their sins?” And the answer is in the very last verse of the passage. He made Christ, who was sinless (who “knew no sin”) to become sin. He who was righteous bore our sin on the cross, in order that those of us who are unrighteous, but who are holding on to Him in faith and trusting in Him as our perfect Saviour, might be counted before God as perfectly righteous.

How I love this. This has meant so much to me personally. To think I could stand before the judgement seat of God on the last day and be counted as righteous as Jesus Himself! Because the only righteousness I have is Jesus' righteousness, and He has said to me, “Give me your sin, and take my righteousness, and stand in that righteousness before my heavenly Father, and all will be well.”

The Crown of Righteousness←⤒🔗

Here is what I think is a most interesting thing: Paul himself was not gloomy about the judgement seat of Christ for himself. He was burdened for others to discover what he had discovered through faith in Christ. Elsewhere, when Paul speaks about the judgement seat (for example, in almost the last words he has ever wrote or dictated to his young friend Timothy), he says, “I am finishing my life, and I have this great confidence that when I appear before the judgement seat of the Lord I will receive the ‘crown of righteousness’, which the Lord will give not just to me, but to all those who are looking forward to His coming again in glory” (see 2 Timothy 4). And he is really stretching forward to it and looking forward to it! How could he possibly do that?

Well, the answer lies in that little expression he uses: “The Lord is going to give me the crown of righteousness.” You see, he already believes in Jesus Christ. His sins have already been forgiven. He is already clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. And so he is looking forward to the judgement day just as [a king or queen] might look forward to their coronation day. Because on that day, instead of being turned away from the presence of God, Paul says it will be as though God will place a crown of righteousness. He has given me His righteousness now in the Lord Jesus, but it is as though He will place the crown. There will be outward expressions of that righteousness on that great day.

Here is a trick question to end with: When did Elizabeth become queen? Not the day she was crowned (the day of her coronation). She became queen the previous year. Her coronation was simply the outward expression of what had already been true – that she was queen and did reign. So for the Christian believer, the final judgement of the last day has been kind of pushed forward into the present day. We know how we stand before that judgement seat. And that is why we can look forward to it with anticipation. I think the best way to put it is like this: It is almost as though the Lord will say, “Since that day when you were justified through faith in my Son, in your life I have been moulding this precious crown to fit your head perfectly. On it there are designs that give expression to all that I have done in your life. It will be different from the crown on every other Christian believer's head. You are all justified in my sight, but I am giving you an individual crown, so that everybody will see who you are.”

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Sometimes when you meet people you look them in the face, and then you look at something else. Maybe you look at their clothes or their spectacles or their ties. Often people's ties will tell me whether they are American or British. You don't stare at them, but you pick up these things. And when people say, “Will we recognize one another in glory if we are Christian believers?” the answer is, “Yes, partly.” Because you will say, “Weren’t we in First Presbyterian Church together? I remember you.” And then you glance up at the crown and you say, “But I didn't know that is who you really were!” You might even say, “Oh, I am so sorry! I didn't really recognize you!” You see, when we begin to think about that future now, it not only makes us want to say to those who aren't Christians, “There is forgiveness and justification in Jesus Christ”, but it makes us want to live with those who are Christians with a certain kind of sensitivity to the fact that we don't want to be either too shocked or too embarrassed when we find out who they really were. You know, some people have entertained the angels unawares, not knowing they were angels. And sometimes the people we pass by and we don't give very much time of the day to, we will be jolly surprised when we see their crowns!

What a great thing the Christian faith is, isn't it? Don't you think it is the most extraordinary thing in the world? Here we are, sophisticated 21^st century people with all our scientific gadgets, and here we are in a room where the thing that really matters to us all is that we live our lives into the future as those who have settled our destiny then through coming to faith in Jesus Christ. I hope you have done that. It sure changes everything! It really does.