Theological term
Day of Judgment
8 sermons · All terms
Ask FGBC #54: If My Sins Are Forgiven, What Will I Be Judged For?
If the sins of the justified are cast into the depths of the sea, what remains to be accounted for on the Day of Judgment? This question is answered by distinguishing the forensic declaration of justification by faith alone — grounded in Christ's imputed righteousness — from the logic of an earthly trial. The Day of Judgment for the righteous is not an investigation to determine status, but a public manifestation of the glory of God's mercy, confirming what Christ has already secured. The 1689 LBCF chapter 32 frames the point: that day is appointed for the manifestation of the glory of God's mercy toward the elect, not for a second or final justification.
The Wisdom of Little Things
Proverbs 30:24–28 presents four creatures — ants, rock badgers, locusts, and spiders — that are little on the earth yet exceedingly wise, each compensating for weakness through a distinct form of wisdom. The sermon argues that these creatures function as divinely appointed patterns for human imitation, both temporally (in diligence, self-defense, unity, and perseverance) and spiritually (in preparing for the day of judgment, fleeing to Christ as refuge, advancing together as the church, and persisting in heavenly ambition). Self-awareness of one's own weakness is the prerequisite to each form of compensatory wisdom, and pride is its chief enemy. The great spiritual application is that the weak and feeble, who have no righteousness of their own, find their only refuge in Christ — the rock of salvation who hides them from the torrent of God's just wrath.
The Two Builders
Matthew 7:24–29 concludes the Sermon on the Mount with a parable of two builders whose contrasting foundations — rock and sand — expose the decisive difference between saving faith and mere hearing. The sermon argues that true faith, sovereignly granted and resting on Christ alone, produces a life of obedience to his word, while the mere hearer — however impressed by the teaching — builds on shifting ground and faces a great and final ruin. The devil, the world, and remaining indwelling corruption all beat against both houses, but only the house founded on Christ stands. Hearers are urged to close with Christ now, trusting not in works or false religion but in his righteousness alone.
The Wisdom of Little Things
Proverbs 30:24–28 presents four creatures — ants, conies, locusts, and a spider or lizard — each marked by inherent weakness yet possessing a compensatory wisdom that enables them to thrive. Expounding Agur's numerical proverb, this sermon draws out four corresponding virtues for the people of God: industry in preparation, caution before danger, unity in cooperation, and persistence under adversity. Both temporal and spiritual dimensions of each lesson are developed — from Sabbatarian labor ethics and self-defense to readiness for the day of judgment and the endurance of the Christian race. The whole is gathered under a call to honest self-awareness: to know one's limitations, refuse indolence and complaint, and by grace overcome through wisdom.
The Hope of the Resurrection
Paul's closing words in 2 Timothy 4:6–8 set before the church three interlocking realities: his present situation as a condemned man being poured out as a drink offering, his past perseverance across the full course of Christian warfare, and his future hope — the crown of righteousness awarded by the righteous Judge on the day of resurrection. The sermon argues that the resurrection hope is not a passive consolation but the very engine of faithful Christian living: Paul fought, ran, and kept not as an ascetic but because of the surpassing worth of Christ and the certainty of what awaits. Believers are exhorted to examine whether they are presently fighting, running, and keeping — for what is said in the eleventh hour can only be said because of what was done faithfully in hours one through ten.
The Tree and Its Fruits
Matthew 12:33–37 confronts every hearer with the inseparable connection between the inner condition of the heart and the words that proceed from it. Working through Christ's fourfold address to the Pharisees — exhortation to repent, condemnation of their wickedness, explanation of the heart's role as the source of speech, and anticipation of the Day of Judgment — the sermon establishes that words are not morally neutral but are the public evidence of what a person truly is before God. The doctrines of total depravity and total inability undergird the exposition: no one can speak good things from an evil heart, and only sovereign regeneration — God removing the heart of stone and giving a heart of flesh — can change the root so that the fruit changes. The only shelter from that coming day of accounting is the Lord Jesus Christ, the one man who never spoke an idle word, whose righteousness alone justifies the ungodly.
Christ and the Demoniacs
Matthew 8:28–34 presents two men so thoroughly dominated by demonic forces that no human restraint could subdue them — yet Jesus casts out an entire legion with a single word. This exposition works through the description of the demoniacs, their confrontation with Christ, the exorcism itself, and the city's fearful rejection, arguing that the passage is Matthew's sustained demonstration of Christ's absolute authority over the powers of hell. The demons' own testimony — confessing Jesus as the Son of God and acknowledging a coming day of judgment — stands as a rebuke to all who withhold that confession. The sermon closes by calling hearers to flee to Christ rather than away from Him, pointing to the restored men clothed and in their right minds as a picture of what sovereign grace accomplishes.
The Wisdom of the Small
Proverbs 30:24–28 presents four small creatures — the ant, the rock badger (coney), the locust, and the spider — each of which compensates for its weakness through a distinct virtue: preparation, caution, cooperation, and ambition. The sermon draws out the spiritual import of each creature's instinct, pressing the hearer to prepare for the coming day of judgment by faith in Christ alone, to guard against spiritual danger through prayerful dependence on God's Word, to pursue unity in family and church, and to press forward with holy ambition through every trial. Applications are directed with particular warmth toward children and young people, calling them to receive the gospel while youth remains their 'summer.'