Sermon on Lord’s Day 19 Q&A 52⤒🔗

52. Q. What comfort is it to you that Christ will come to judge the living and the dead?
A. In all my sorrow and persecution I lift up my head and eagerly await as judge from heaven the very same person who before has submitted Himself to the judgment of God for my sake, and has removed all the curse from me.[1] He will cast all His and my enemies into everlasting condemnation, but He will take me and all His chosen ones to Himself into heavenly joy and glory.[2]
[1] Luke 21:28; Rom. 8:22-25; Phil. 3:20,21; Tit. 2:13, 14. [2] Matt. 25:31-46; I Thess. 4:16, 17; II Thess. 1:6-10.

Scripture Reading: Matthew 25:31-46; 1 Corinthians 4:1-5

Singing: (Psalms and Hymns are from the "Book of Praise" Anglo Genevan Psalter)
Psalm 98:4
Psalm 43:1,3
Psalm 55:12,13
Psalm 59:1,8
Hymn 8:13,14

Beloved Congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ!

The Question & Answer of our Catechism we deal with today revolves around the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. Return. The point is that the Lord has been in our midst, used to walk this earth, but He left. That was the material of Lord’s Day 18; Christ has ascended into heaven. But, our Question & Answer says now, Christ has not left us for good. Rather, He will return.

We welcome the idea of Christ’s return, find it comforting. To be with Christ, that He would live with us: yes, that’s encouraging, especially in the midst of the struggles and strife of this mortal life.

But see: the Apostle’s Creed –and therefore the Catechism- does not simply confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is coming back; the Creeds mention that He’s coming back as Judge. That’s fully Scriptural; Peter in his talk with Cornelius proclaimed that God has ordained Jesus to be "Judge of the living and the dead" (Acts 10:42) – in other words, of all people, without exception. Judge: people of every tribe and race, rich and poor, good and evil, you and me, will appear before Christ’s judgment seat, and the Judge will separate the sheep from the goats, He will send some this way and some that way.

Judge. We feel there’s something negative, something threatening in the notion of judgment. We hear in the term a warning to be prepared, to live a holy life. And it’s good we hear that notion, congregation, as I hope to draw out in a moment. But Lord’s Day 19 does not lay a finger on this warning element; Lord’s Day 19 puts the matter of Christ’s return as Judge in the context of comfort. That’s Q 52: "What comfort is it to you that Christ will come to judge the living and the dead?" The Catechism does not ask: what warning is implicit in the fact that Christ will come to judge? It does not ask: how must you prepare for Christ’s return? But the focus of the Catechism lies on the comfort, and there’s a very good reason for that. It’s this: the fact that Christ comes as Judge means that we can leave the injustices of life to Christ, and we can get on with doing our tasks.

I summarize the sermon with this theme:

That Christ comes as judge gives the Christian great comfort

1. The need for this comfort,
2. The nature of this comfort,
3. The outcome of this comfort.

The need for this comfort←⤒🔗

From the moment of the fall into sin in the beginning, human life has been characterized by strife and struggle. God announced to the serpent back in Genesis 3 that He would place "enmity" between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman. Enmity: that’s hatred, war, strife. The devil against the children of God. Antithesis.

The last book of the Bible repeats that theme. The devil was not able to destroy the Seed of the woman, was, in fact, defeated. Hence the words of Rev 12:12: "Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time." Vss 13-17 describe the devil’s angry effort to destroy the church and the hellish frustration that results. It’s summed up in vs 17: "And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." Whether the Christian sees the anger of the devil is one thing; God Himself has told us of the fact that the devil is enraged and God’s people are the target of his hellish fury. The devil can express that wrath in very subtle forms or in very blatant forms, but it’s real either way.

In our Lord’s Day the Catechism gives expression to this reality with the opening words of A 52. The Catechism speaks there of "all my sorrows and persecution." We read the word ‘persecution’, and our thoughts go to what the brethren in, say, China experience; they are imprisoned on account of the faith, beaten and abused, and perhaps killed for the testimony of Jesus. We compare that to our circumstances, and feel that this term in our Catechism is somewhat too strong with regards to ourselves.

Now, brothers and sisters, it is certainly true that we in Australia today do not face the persecution so many brothers and sisters in the faith face elsewhere. But that takes nothing away from the intensity of the devil’s hatred of the church in Kelmscott, hatred of you and me. He’s just crafty enough to package his hatred in less open, more subtle forms. As an illustration of what I mean, I refer to the life of David as described in the book of Samuel.

Everybody knows how David killed Goliath with his slingshot, and so delivered Israel from the oppression of the Philistines. But that victory on David’s part over the enemy outside earned him an enemy from within God’s own people. "Saul has slain his thousands," sang the women of Israel after Israel’s victory over the Philistines, "And David his ten thousands" (1 Sam 18:7). Saul’s response: "Then Saul was very angry, and the saying displeased him…. So Saul eyed David from that forward" (vs 8f). Driven by jealousy Saul sought to kill David. Chap 18 relates how Saul twice cast his spear at David to pin him to the wall, relates how he tried to get David killed in battle with other Philistines. Chap 19 continues the theme, records how Saul again sought to pin David to the wall with his spear (vs 10). He even sent men to surround David’s house so that they might kill him in the morning (vs 11). Talk about persecution! And note: Saul and David were brothers in one faith, children of one God by covenant, instructed to offer sacrifices at the same altar, eat the Passover together! Within the household of faith in Israel were not love and respect, but jealousy and hatred. My point: the devil’s hatred against the people of God does not express itself only through the language and actions of people like Goliath – who mocked the living God and oppressed the people of God. The devil expresses his hatred also by pitting brother against brother.

The devil hasn’t changed. That is why David’s response to this persecution from Saul’s hand is instructive for us. 1 Samuel 19 describes how Saul’s men surrounded David’s house to kill him. What David did in return? O yes, he fled to save his life. But what could David do in the face of Saul’s jealousy? What could David do about the injustice he was experiencing from the hand of his brother-by-covenant? David prayed. David laid the matter before God, asked God to deliver him from his tormentors. It’s Ps 59. The heading reads: "A Michtam of David when Saul sent men, and they watched the house in order to kill him" – 1 Samuel 19:11. "Deliver me from my enemies, O my God," David prays. "Defend me from those who rise up against me. Deliver me from the workers of iniquity, And save me from bloodthirsty men." Those enemies, those who rise up against him, those workers of iniquity, those bloodthirsty men: those are David’s brothers in the faith. Who can resolve the dispute between David on the one hand, and Saul with his men on the other? David casts the problem before the Lord, because David realizes well that the Lord is the Judge of all the earth! And he knows also: the Lord will execute judgment and justice in due time. When? How? That’s not David’s concern. For David it is enough to know that God is the righteous Judge, and so David lays the problem before the Lord and asks Him for deliverance. God, after all, knows the hearts. Then David can be confident that God will give him reason so sing of God’s power and delight in God’s mercy (vs 16). Justice will prevail, deliverance will come, at God’s good time.

And we know: it did come. Sure, it took many years of further hounding and persecution before King Saul died in battle, and that was God’s judgment on this ungodly child of His. More, when Saul died, he appeared before the throne of God to receive the just sentence of God on all he had done.

So it is, brothers and sisters, with all who offend, hurt, persecute the children of God. Paul writes to the Thessalonian Christians, about the persecution and suffering they are enduring. Says Paul: "it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, and to give you who are troubled rest with us" (2 Thessalonians 1:6f). When, though, would God repay those persecutors? When would God give rest to the persecuted Christians of Thessalonica? Says Paul: "when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed" (vss 7-10). Here’s the same thought with which David worked: vengeance belongs to God, God will execute judgment upon those who hurt His people. But it happens at God’s time – and Paul is content (and tells the Thessalonians to be content) to leave the matter for the future, even for the day when Christ returns on the clouds of heaven.

We are not physically persecuted today on account of the faith. But the devil’s hatred comes at us in more subtle ways. Perhaps we experience hurt from brothers of one faith. Perhaps we feel no care from the communion of saints. Perhaps loved ones have shunned us and we’re alone, all alone, and no one seems to understand. Perhaps we find ourselves repeatedly teased at school (Christian school!), or even regularly insulted by our classmates. Perhaps (to say it with Jesus’ words in His parable in Mt 25: we’re hungry or thirsty and nobody gives us food or a drink; we feel like a stranger, lonely, and nobody takes us in; we feel naked and exposed, and nobody clothes or protects us; we’re sick or imprisoned, and nobody visits us. What should be an environment of peace and love (church, home, school) can be so very disappointing. Life knows so many sorrows, persecutions….

Then what? We need comfort, we need encouragement, we need perspective. What comfort there is? Instant justice, instant relief? David knew better. He laid his troubles before the Lord, and left them there for God to sort out in His time. Paul knew better too, and told the Thessalonians that God will repay at His time those who hurt His children now – when Christ comes back.

There’s the instruction of our Lord’s Day, beloved. Ever since the fall into sin this life knows so much sorrow and persecution. In the midst of that sorrow and persecution, with its accompanying injustice and victimization, what do I do? The Catechism catches the instruction of Scripture with these words: "in all my sorrow and persecution I lift up my head and eagerly await [the] judge from heaven." Get despondent, heart-broken and weary in the face of the troubles and wrongs of this life? Take matters in my own hand and insist on righting all the wrongs (to my satisfaction)? No, says the Catechism: lift up your head! Look up, for there you find hope and justice! God, God will send the Judge at His time, and that Judge will judge the living and the dead, will judge all people, will judge also between you and your neighbor.

This, congregation, is how the fathers years ago worked with the doctrine of Christ’s return. I refer to the Belgic Confession, Article 37. I read at the end of the second paragraph these words about the Last Judgment: "it is a great joy and comfort to the righteous and elect. For then their full redemption will be completed and they will receive the fruits of their labor and of the trouble they have suffered. Their innocence will be known to all and they will see the terrible vengeance that God will bring upon the wicked who persecuted, oppressed, and tormented them in this world." Finally, here is justice! That’s why the Catechism asks in Q 52 what comfort it is to you that Christ will come to judge. In the midst of life’s sorrows and persecutions, it’s a comfort we need.

Let’s move on now to our second point,

The nature of this comfort←⤒🔗

That the Lord Jesus Christ comes again to judge the living and the dead is indeed a great comfort for those children God who are afflicted in this world. But, brothers and sisters, there is a troubling aspect here that honesty compels us to address. It’s this: when Christ comes to judge the living and the dead, He will judge not just my neighbor who hurt me, but He also will judge me. Now, that He will judge my neighbor who hurt me, yes, that’s sits OK with me; that will mean justice, redemption. But that He will also judge me¸ well, that doesn’t sit so well…. After all, I can recall times when I’ve insulted the little fellow at school who couldn’t stand up for himself. And I can recall times when my brother was hungry and I didn’t feed him, thirsty and I didn’t give him a drink. I can recall times when my sister was vulnerable and I didn’t defend her, when my brother was sick or in prison and I did nothing to encourage him…. I easily see the sins of another toward me, but honesty drives me to acknowledge that I’ve failed the other so very, very much also….

Then I read in the Bible that on the Day of Judgment the books will be opened (Rev 20:12) and God will bring up everything I’ve ever done. 2 Corinthians 5:10: "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad." My evil works, things I’ve kept secret all these years, those sins of youth I’m so ashamed of, will be exposed! And it’s not just things I remember that will be exposed, but also those sins I’ve long forgotten. More, it’s not just those things I recognize as sin that will be exposed, but also activities that I didn’t even pick up as sin!

So too my words: "But I say to you," said Jesus in Mt 12, "that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment" (vs 36). Idle words: that’s a reference to carelessly spoken words, things like lies or gossip or even insulting another. The Bible is as condemning of lies and gossip and insults as it is of adultery and murder. Jesus is emphatic: I must give account. And that’s to say that all those idle words –whether I’ve forgotten them or not, even whether I realized they were idle or not!- will be brought up again, none forgotten by God, none overlooked! And I must give account….

More, even my thoughts will be laid on the table, as well as the motives behind my thoughts - and hence behind my words and deeds. 1 Corinthians 4: "Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts" (vs 5). "The counsels of the hearts": that’s a reference to what happens deep inside me, what I think and why I think it. Whether my thoughts (and hence words and deeds) are driven by love and compassion or by jealousy or greed is well known to God, and at the time of Christ’s return the patterns and motives of my thoughts will all be revealed…. And that’s true of motivations and patterns of thought I’m aware of as well as those I’m not conscious of – let alone recognize as evil….

Christ comes "to judge the living and the dead." That He judges my enemy and exposes his warped motives and evil words and corrupt deeds suits me fine (says my sinful heart); that’s justice, he’s getting what he deserves. But that He judges me – that’s a different matter, and I’m uncomfortable with that. I realize: I can’t stand before His judgment seat any more than the next person – including those who have caused me sorrow in some way.

With all of that in mind, beloved, the comfort we needed so much according to our first point falls in a huge hole. Yes, it’s so comforting in the midst of the sorrows and persecutions of life that Christ comes to judge the living and the dead; here’s promise for justice! But I’m a sinner as much as my neighbor, and if I’m to be on the receiving end of that same judgment, woe is me!

That is why we need to notice carefully, brothers and sisters, how the Catechism describes the Judge. A 52: who is that I so eagerly await from heaven? Says the Catechism: "the very same person who before has submitted Himself to the judgment of God for my sake, and has removed all the curse from me." "The very same person who before has submitted Himself to the judgment of God": that’s a reference to the work Christ accomplished on Good Friday! Christ went to the cross, and there He submitted Himself to the judgment of God for my sake! He took on Himself all of my sins – including the evil deeds that will be exposed on the Last Day, and all those idle words I spoke, and even my sinful thoughts and the motives of those thoughts! All those sins earned for me the eternal curse of God under which I must invariably perish everlastingly, but Christ Jesus took them on Himself and paid for them! So the curse that lay on me is gone, gone! Calvary: it speaks so loudly of Christ’s mercy to the unworthy, to me; Calvary spells out what compassion is, what love is, what grace is.

That same Christ who died in my place, who satisfied the justice of God on my account, has ascended into heaven – where He intercedes before God on my behalf today; more mercy, compassion, grace! In heaven He controls this world for the sake of the church – my sake included; more mercy, compassion, grace! This is the One who will return on the clouds of heaven to judge me. Will He come as an angry Judge, ready to throw the book at me? Will He send me with the goats to His left hand because He has found me guilty of insulting one of the least of His little ones? True, I deserve it! But the promise is NO!

Why not? Because He took my curse upon Himself on the cross, and so "removed all the curse from me." I know that because He has established with me His covenant of grace, and in that covenant promised me forgiveness of sins and eternal life! More, He has given to me the gift of faith so that I respond to His covenant promises, and I may see evidence of that faith in the fruits I may bear – love to my neighbor, joy even in trials, peace in my heart even in persecution, patience in adversity, kindness towards those who hurt me, goodness to those who are insensitive to me. Perfect love? Perfect joy, perfect peace, perfect kindness and gentleness and compassion and mercy? No, my love to the other is no more perfect than my brother’s love toward me. My compassion to the other is no more perfect that his compassion toward me. I have such a small beginning of the obedience God requires, I don’t see all my brother’s needs, and I don’t realize either how much my words and deeds can hurt him. It bothers me that I don’t see my brokenness more clearly, I’m sorry that I hurt my sister, I acknowledge my sins and sinfulness before God. And in repentance I strive to do better, to help the other in his needs…. I try: I see my brother hungry and I feed him, see him thirsty and give him a drink, see him ill clothed and provide his needs, see him in pain and minister to him. So I see the work of God in my heart, and so I’m sure that the work He has begun He’ll bring to completion on the day of Christ’s judgment. Even my remaining weaknesses, which I perhaps don’t see while another sees them so clearly, will not prevent me from hearing those blessed words of the Judge of all flesh: "Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world" (Mt 25:34).

What, then, is the nature of my comfort? Is it this, that my enemy will receive his just reward while I am vindicated? No, no, that’s not the fine point of my comfort – simply because I’m too aware of my own abiding sinfulness. The nature of my comfort is rather the identity of the Judge. That Judge has laid down His life for me, He loves me, has shown great compassion for me, and He won’t change! So, if the merciful Savior of Good Friday is to judge me, then I can look forward eagerly to that Great Day – for He will not condemn me. Yes, all my evil deeds will come up, and I will have to give account of every idle word I’ve spoken, and I’ll have to justify all my thoughts and their motives – and I know well that I can’t. But I believe that I can plead with the Judge on the basis of His own sacrifice on Calvary for me, and remind Him that He took on Himself the curse which I deserved. The identity of the Judge: that’s my comfort.

Now yet our last point,

The outcome of this comfort←⤒🔗

This life has so much sorrow and persecution, not only from unbelievers but also from members of the household of faith. I understand now: it’s not up to me to set straight the wrongs I experience, and make sure each receives his just reward; that’s God’s department, and the Day of Judgment is coming. And I admit: it’s just as well that pursuing justice is not man’s department. If it were up to me to set straight the wrongs I experience and ensure my weak brother received his just reward, he would be equally entitled to set straight the wrongs he experiences and ensure that I receive my just reward…. How rich, then, that God has appointed not me as judge over my brother, nor my brother as judge over me, but Christ as judge over us both. And this Judge has paid for the sins both of my brother and of me – for we both confess our individual depravity, and we both embrace in faith the redeeming work of Christ on Good Friday, and we both confess the renewing work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, and we both confess that Christ is the righteous Judge.

If that is so, beloved, a consequence follows. It’s this: since Christ is the righteous Judge, it’s not for us to keep insisting on righting the wrongs of the other! Listen to Paul: "with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by a human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. For I know of nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this; but He who judges me is the Lord. Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one’s praise will come from God" (1 Cor 4:3ff). Is Paul saying that he’s above criticism? Certainly not; he knows he’s a sinner still. But, says Paul, people’s opinion of him doesn’t count for much – whether those people be the saints of Corinth or the courts of Caesar. Critical is what the Lord says. And Paul knows that he’s justified in God’s eyes through Jesus’ blood. So: let the Corinthians refrain from judging him; judging is Christ’s work.

Does Paul with a command like this undermine the whole matter of church discipline, pointing out each other’s sins? In the very next chapter the apostle reprimands the church of Corinth for being lax in their admonitions and discipline; they let a brother of the congregation live in blatant immorality. And immoral people, he adds in chap 6, will not inherit the kingdom of God. That’s to say: "fornicators and idolaters and adulterers and homosexuals and sodomites and thieves and covetous [persons] and drunkards and revilers and extortioners" simply will not survive on the Day of Judgment, but will be congregated on Jesus’ left and shown the way to the everlasting fires of hell. Paul was adamant: the Corinthian brethren may leave no such sinner in the delusion that he will be saved. There is every need for discipline, admonishing each other in the face of sin.

But admonishing a brother of his sin is a different matter than setting oneself up as judge over another, and finding him wanting. Here Jesus’ admonition holds true: "with the judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you" (Mt 7:2). Show the other compassion, as Christ has shown you compassion – and as you want compassion yourself! Shower the other with mercy and love, as Christ has showered you with mercy and love – and as you want others to shower you with mercy and love. Those who treat the other with those attitudes, says Jesus in the parable of Mt 25, will hear the blessed invitation to enter the kingdom of the Father – for they produce, however weakly, the fruits of the Spirit, the evidence that Christ has died for them and renewed them. But those driven by jealousy or anger, or those who ignore the other in his hurt and need, who readily pass judgment on the shortcomings of others, Christ will measure with the severity they use to measure the neighbor.

Christ comes again, soon, to judge the living and the dead. There’s a wonderful comfort in that confession, for it means that we can leave judgments to Him who judges righteously – and therefore leave a lot for Christ to sort out. At the same time there’s a great responsibility here, and that is to make sure that I am ready to meet this Judge. Specifically, how does Christ evaluate my attitude and words and conduct with respect to my neighbor? Does He see love and compassion and mercy – I feed him when he’s hungry, I clothe him when he’s exposed, I minister to him in prison or in illness? He’s the righteous Judge, and so I need to be right before Him – and so repent of all my sins and produce the fruit of the Spirit as abundantly as I can.  Amen.