Are You Ready to Stand Before God? | Matt Baker

This week, Pastor Matt Baker wraps up our series The Non-Negotiables with a message on the Final Judgment. It’s a topic many people avoid, but Jesus spoke clearly about eternity, accountability, and the hope we can have through Him.

This message reminds us that our lives matter, our choices matter, and that God invites every person to know Him before it’s too late. Whether you’ve followed Jesus for years or you’re still figuring out what you believe, this message challenges us to live ready, live faithfully, and live with urgency.  

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Transcript

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- Hey, this is Phil Kniesel, lead pastor at Hope City Church. Thanks for tuning into our podcast. My prayer is that this helps and encourages you, gives you some practical ways to live out your faith and ultimately fills you with hope. Enjoy the message.- Well, good morning everyone. Before we start, I just want give a huge shout out to the Kingsway campus. Please know that I love all of you so much and I'll be back with you next week. Uh, awesome. Now I have a, a question for everyone here in person at our Twigger and Kingsway campuses and those online, how often do you clean your refrigerator? Maybe you're on top of things weekly. Maybe you're that like once a month or, or maybe you're sitting here and you're like, wait, what? You're supposed to clean your refrigerator. . Yes. Yes. The reality is that cleaning your fridge, it's always an adventure. And I don't know how it happens, but somehow every fridge becomes an archeological dig site, right? You open the door, there's leftovers in there that could be displayed on a museum container in the back. So dangerous, it probably qualify for government funding. You've got sauces with expiration dates older than your kids, right? , you got that vegetable tray at the bottom, mushy puddles of vegetables. Then there's that one mystery container that no one will claim ownership of, mainly because no one knows what's inside and everyone's afraid to remove the lid, right? And do the sniff test. No one wants to do that. At some point, the fridge becomes a place where hidden things are revealed, things you forgot about, things that have been pushed to the back, things nobody wants to deal with, things that have become unsafe and dangerous to your health. Now, I wonder how many people are gonna go clean your refrigerators this afternoon, ? Well, we are wrapping up our series of talks called the Non-Negotiables, and we've been learning some of the core beliefs and foundational truths of Christianity. These are the beliefs that shape who we are as Christians. And in this series we've covered the Bible, the Trinity Salvation through Christ the Church. And today we're gonna look at what the Bible calls the final judgment. Now, the final judgment is when everyone who has ever lived will stand before God one day. This is something Christians have believed for, for thousands of years, but did you catch that everyone who has ever lived, that means those who are followers of Jesus, also those who aren't. See God knows everything we have done said, even thought. But he's perfectly fair, loving, good, and his judgment will always be right. That is a non-negotiable. So here's my big question for everyone. Are you ready to stand before him? When you stand before Jesus, what will your life show? How did you use the time you had? What things have been hidden, pushed to the back or have become unsafe or dangerous to you or those around you? See, Jesus explained this to his disciples in Matthew chapter 16 of the New Testament. Jesus says this, for the son of man will come with his angels in the glory of his father and will judge all people according to their deeds. Now, the word deeds refers to an action or work performed by an individual, right? Deeds can be good or deeds could be evil, but they're often used as a measure of someone's faith and character. See, we were created by God to do good things for his glory. And the ultimate hope is that all people will realize their need for Jesus, but not only accept him as their Lord and Savior, but also live a life that helps point others to him. James is a pastor in the New Testament. He writes these words. He says, what good is it? Dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith, but don't show it by your actions, can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing and you say goodbye, have a good day. Stay warm, eat well. But then you don't give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? So you see, faith by itself isn't enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. Now, someone may argue, some people have faith, others have good deeds. But I say, how can you show me your faith? If you don't have good deeds? I will show you by my faith, by my good deeds. You say you have faith for you believe that there is one God good for you. Even the demons believe this and they tremble in terror. How foolish can't you see? The faith without good deeds is useless. See, the Bible clearly teaches that a day of judgment is coming. We will all be judged according to our works. But here's the thing, our our works, our deeds, they don't save us, but they will reveal us. They'll show what's been important to us and what we've done with the life that we've been trusted with for Christians. However, the final judgment is not about condemnation. It's actually about evaluation. In the book of Romans, it says, so now there's no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. See, the final judgment is the day when God makes everything right. Jesus will decide who belongs with him forever. Now, for those who, who are not followers of Christ, this may sound scary, but it is the truth. If that's you today, just please hear me. God loves you. He loves you so much. He has purpose for your life. He, he's just waiting for you to come to him. There is nothing that you have done or that has been done to you that can keep you away from his love, his mercy, and his grace. So as we head deeper into this topic here, here's what we need to be clear about. Every person will stand before God. God sees everything clearly, right? Nothing is hidden from him, and nobody can avoid that day. E eternal immunity doesn't exist. We're not playing survivor. But today I wanna take us to the Book of Revelation. And the book of Revelation is the last book of the Bible. It shares visions given to the Apostle John about the final victory of Jesus Christ over evil, as well as the final judgment of the world. And I'm gonna go to Revelation chapter 20 for us today. It says that I saw a great white throne and the one sitting on it, the earth and sky fled from his presence, but they found no place to hide. I saw the dead, both great and small standing before God's throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life and the Dead were judged according to what they have done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up its dead and death in the grave gave up their dead, and all were judged according to their deeds. Then death in the grave were thrown to the lake of fire. This lake of fire is the second death, and anyone whose name was not found recorded in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. Now, this was a vision given to John by the Holy Spirit, a vision that was shared. It was actually shared with a specific target audience at the time. So these were churches in the Roman province of Asia, which would now be modern Western Turkey. But for clarity and understanding, I do feel we need to dissect this passage. And so I wanna break this down and highlight a few scriptures. So John says, I saw a great white throne in the one sitting on it. So this verse introduces the scene of the final judgment. The great white throne represents God's perfect authority, his holiness and justice, and the one seeded on the throne, that that's, that's God himself, who will judge all people fairly and righteously. And the words great and white. They actually mean something. Great means supreme authority. White means perfect holiness. John also writes, I saw the dead, both great and small standing before God's throne. This means that we will all stand before God. It it doesn't matter if someone is rich or poor or famous or unknown. No one will escape being accountable to him. See, everyone has ever lived will answer for their lives. And John writes, and the books were open, including the Book of Life. These books contain the complete records of every life ever lived. We need to understand that God sees our actions, right? He sees and hears our motives, our words, and our thoughts. Nothing is hidden from him. As good as we are at times of hiding and masking things from people, we can't hide from God. And John says, and anyone whose name was not found recorded in the book of life, was thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is hell. There's no sugarcoating. It hell is real, period. It is a place of existence, but it's a place of eternal suffering. It's a place of total separation from God in a total state of constant torture. I will tell you though, what, what Hell isn't. It isn't a swear word, and it's also a place that you never want to tell someone to go to. It's a real place where people will suffer for eternity. See, all throughout the old and New Testament, our verses describing the very existence of hell, in fact, hell is mentioned about 50 times in the Bible. And not once is it talked about being a good place. So what is this passage and revelation telling us? It's warning us that there will be a day when we will all face judgment from God. And Jesus actually confirms this in the book of Matthew. He says, however, no one knows the day or hour when things will happen. Not even the angels in heaven or the son himself. Only the Father knows. So only God knows when this day will come. It doesn't mean it's uncertain, it just means it's unannounced. And this should cause us to do something. It should cause us to evaluate our lives and how we have lived them. However, this, this throne is not where everyone will actually stand. Before you see, the Bible is very clear that the great white throne is for the unbelievers. For those that have rejected salvation, rejected God, rejected his love and mercy. For those who are believers in Christ, we will stand before the bema seat and the word bema. In Bible times, I should refer to like a raised platform in ancient Greece where judges rewarded athletes after competitions in the same way the Bible describes Jesus rewarding believers for lives lived faithfully for him. See, the beam seat is the judgment seat of Christ. For Christians, it's a time when believers will stand before Jesus in a given account of how they've lived their lives. For him, it's not about deciding who goes to heaven or hell'cause salvation has already been settled right through faith in Jesus Christ. Instead, the beam a seat is about evaluating a Christian's faithfulness and rewarding obedience and deeds. And the Apostle Paul actually refers to the beam a seat in his letters to the churches in Roman Corinth. He says, remember, we'll all stand before the judgment seat of God. He also writes, for we must all stand before Christ to be judged, we will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body. So to simplify it, the beam seeds like a heavenly reward ceremony where Jesus honors Christians for how they followed and served him. But this sometimes brings up the topic of forgiveness. See, when we, when we accept Jesus, our Lord's savior, we're forgiven right of our sins. In the book of one, John says, but if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. So then why do believers still need to stand before Jesus and be all be told of all the things we've done, both good and bad? And again, it just, it goes back to there's no condemnation in Christ for those who believe in him. But even though we are forgiven, we're still responsible to stand before him and answer for the choices we've made in our lives. See, our salvation doesn't eliminate us from being judged by God. But if you're a follower of Jesus and you're living a life that represents who he is, you're faithful, obedient, generous of what you've been given. You love people, you're caring for others, you're spreading the good news of the gospel, then you'll be rewarded for all that you've done in his name for the believer. This shouldn't be scary. The question is, how do you wanna approach that day? Do you want to be ready or do you want to be rebellious? I don't know how many people can relate to this, but I've been to court and stood before a judge. Do not ask why. I will never tell you. . When I was a teenager, my friends and I sometimes did things that got us into trouble. And uh, there was one time one of my friends and I, we did something, uh, that we, uh, each got caught. We had to sit in separate police cars, and then we had to go before a judge. I was just a teenager. I was 17. So I was scared. I really was, uh, because of what had happened. I knew I'd done something wrong. I knew I deserved to go and be judged. I, I knew that, and I knew I couldn't control what I had done. That's too late. But what I could do is control how I approached my judgment. So for me, I put on the nicest clothes I had. I showered, you know, brushed my hair, uh, brushed my teeth, combed my hair, did all those kind of things. When the judge called me up to the podium, I just, I made sure how scared I was. I just remember how scared I was. I made eye contact with her. I just stood up straight eye contact with her. Uh, and when she talked to me, I was just, yes, your honor. I'm sorry, your honor. I'll never do this again, your honor. I, I really think she could see the remorse in me.'cause I, I'm pretty sure I was shaking. Uh, 'cause I was truly sorry. I didn't want a silly mistake to ruin my future. My friend on the other hand, decided to come to court differently. He came to court as if he just found out he had court. Like he was walking by the courthouse and someone came up to him and said, you have court right now. It was like his bedroom door was attached to the courtroom and he just rolled in off his bed like serious. He was wearing yesterday's clothes, didn't brush his hair. I remember his personal hygiene wasn't, you know, where it should have been that day. And when he stood at the podium, he leaned on it. He like looked at the floor, didn't look at the judge. And when the judge was talking to him, he thought, Hey, you know what would be really good right now is if I talked back to the judge many times. But here's the thing, there was no remorse, no apology, no sincerity whatsoever. When it came for the judge to, to make her decision, she decided to try us separately. I was so thankful, In the end, the judge did have mercy on me and, and closed my case and, and, and let me walk with no consequences. My friend on the other hand, not no, that wasn't the case for him. He was given a verdict that he had to deal with moving forward, really for the rest of his life. How do you want to be judged by God when the day comes? So your life matters. Now what we do with our life personally and for others, it matters. And this deserves great attention. So today I wanna give a few ways to prepare for when it comes to standing before God. And the first one, very simple. Just get yourself ready. Just like I did going to court. I got myself ready. I cleaned myself up the best I could. I postured myself in repentance. I was sorry for what I had done. And I wanted the judge to see it and know it. See, there's only one way to ensure your eternity with Jesus in heaven. It's surrendering your life to him, right? Surrendering your life to him, making the decision to follow him with your life. So when Jesus was, was with his disciples, he told him this. He said, I'm the way of the truth and the life. No one can come to the Father, right? Except through me. Peter, one of Jesus' disciples was teaching the temple. He proclaimed these words. He said, now, repent of your sins and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped away. The beautiful thing about coming to Jesus that we just have to come to him. He then begins to transform us from the inside out. He does the cleaning. He removes the lid, he does the things. He leads us by the power of His Holy Spirit. To live a life away from the things that we did. We just have to get ourselves ready. So if you're here today at one of our campuses or watching online, and you just realize that you need Jesus in your life, you're concerned about your eternity, I wanna help you take that next step. See, Jesus came to earth for you. He died a horrific death for you. He rose again for you, and he's coming back for you. And, and if that's you, I actually don't wanna wait another moment. I wanna say a prayer right now that you can pray wherever you are. And I'm just giving you the words to say so that you can invite Jesus into your life so that you will know that you'll be spend eternity with him. So if that's you, would you pray with me today? Jesus, I need you. Thank you that you died for me. You rose again. You're coming back. There's nothing that I can do that, that would stop you from loving me. That you've got purpose for my life. Would you forgive me of the things I've done? And would you transform me from the inside out? I surrender my life to you. I wanna spend eternity with you and I I, but I want your presence now. So fill me with your Holy Spirit and help me just walk in the path you have from my life and, and, and, and give me opportunities to tell others what you've done for me. I love you and I trust you. Amen. If you prayed that prayer, if that meant something to you, that you made the best decision for your life and as your church, we just wanna equip you to help you move forward with that decision, you can actually, uh, take your phone out and you can place it up against that disc on the seat back and a little window will pop up. Click the follow Jesus button. There's a, a digital ebook we'd love to download you to download right to your device. Just helps explain what it means to be a Christian. And I'm so proud of you for accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior. This means that you are saved, that you are a Christian. It means that Jesus has now filled you with his Holy Spirit and he's with you. It also means that when you stand before him, you already know where your eternity will be spent. It's beautiful. So the first thing to prepare you for when it comes to stand before God is get yourself ready. The second is this, make your life matter. As followers of Jesus, we, we are that we, we are followers. We're to follow his example that we read throughout scripture, right? Jesus cared for the poor, the widows, the sick. That's who we are to be. We're called to honor our, our mothers and fathers. We're we're called to love and lead our spouses and our children. And we're called to put God first and love others. And we're called to talk about Jesus. And that he came to save the world. See what seems important now will mean nothing. Then see, fame, money, success, status will not matter before God's throne. You can't take any of that with you. What will matter is whether we knew Christ and how we lived for him. See, what you do with your life matters now. And it matters when we stand before God. In the parable of the three servants spoken by Jesus, the master says to his servant with whom he was pleased, he says these words, listen to this. He says, well done my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling the small amount. So now will give you many more responsibilities. What words do you want spoken to you? When you stand before Jesus, I know what I want to hear. Well done. Good and faithful servant. See, the final judgment reveals the eternal weight of every day. Everyday choices, small acts of obedience, kindness, forgiveness, and faithfulness. They matter more when we realize that eternity is attached to them. So when it comes to preparing to stand before God, get yourself ready, make your life matter. And third, live with urgency. Heaven and hell are real. This is shown to us in scripture, and it's a promise. This is where people will go. People will go to heaven. People will go to hell. See, when Jesus was hanging on the cross before he died, we read him an ex of an exchange between him and one of the criminals that was being crucified before him or beside him. Here's what it says. One of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed. So you're the Messiah, are you prove it by saving yourself and us too while you're at it. But the other criminal protested. Don't you fear God even when you've been sentenced to die? We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn't done anything wrong. Then he said, Jesus, remember me. When you come into your kingdom and Jesus replied, I assure you today you'll be with me in paradise. See, heaven is a paradise. It's a place where there's no more suffering, no pain, no tears. It's where Jesus is. It's where you wanna be and it's where we should want others to be as well. But for so many people, hell has become the reality. If hell is real and those that will, that go there will suffer for an eternity. Why aren't we talking about it? Why are we allowing people to go there? How much do you have to not care about someone to believe that eternal life in heaven is real impossible for anyone and everyone and not tell them. See, we all have someone in our lives. Someone unless they turn to God, will, will spend an eternity in hell. Maybe it's a, a family member, a loved one close friend, just someone in your life that you have a relationship with. I wanna imagine this for a moment. You're standing on a sidewalk with that person and you're having a conversation with them. You know about whatever, as you're talking, a large truck is speeding down the street towards your loved one. You begin to tell them that their life is in danger and your loved one with all their heart has their back to the truck. They can't see it. They don't believe you that a truck is coming and they don't even care to look. But you can see it. It is going to happen. Now, would you just stand there and let the truck drive into your loved one and kill them?- No.- You would protect them. You would tackle them, lunge at them, pull them outta the way. The last thing you would do is be quiet or do nothing. You would risk your life to save them. Well, there's a truck coming and it's real. If you're a a Christian, you see it and they don't. And it's time for us to open our mouths and speak the truth to those around us. Let's live a life with urgency to help others be ready for when they stand before God. See what we choose to do in this life. It carries into the next, the final judgment should change how we live today. And if eternity is real, if heaven and hell are real, then our priorities, relationships, habits, spiritual lives. All that should reflect now should reflect that reality now, not later. Don't wait until it's too late to prepare yourself to stand before him. Now, when we look at the life of Jesus, there's, there's a passage of scripture that he spoke that really encompasses what it means to get ready, make your life matter, and live with urgency. And this is from his sermon on the mound from Matthew chapter five. Jesus speaks these words. He says, you are the salt of the earth, but what good is salt of his loss? Its flavor. Can you make it salty again? It'll be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. You are the light of the world like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father. See, when we get ourselves ready and we make our life matter and we live with urgency, we aren't just looking out for our own attorney, but we're looking out for the eternity of others, and that is what the gospel of Jesus is all about. Knowing that and living that out will speak loudly when we stand before him on that day. Would you stand if you're able to, as I pray for us, Jesus, I thank you that there is always a door to you that is always there. We just need to open it. I pray for those who have opened that door who know you personally as their Lord and Savior who have made that decision to follow you. Lord, I just speak God an urgency over their life. They would evaluate themselves and see where in their life things may need to change or shift. But also, God, would you put that urgency to speak the truth to those in their lives, to those around them, that there is a truck coming, eternity is real, and there are two places, one with you and one in internal suffering. So, Lord, I pray for boldness and courage as we live our lives that reflect who you are, that we follow your example and we don't stay quiet any longer. Lord, I pray for those who may be skeptical, maybe just haven't made that decision, or maybe they've fallen away and they're just not sure about coming back. Holy Spirit, would you just continue to reveal yourself to them and what they know no matter what. That door is always there and they can always walk through it. You're just waiting for their attention. I pray they, it would take a very sincere look at their eternity and where they wanna spend it. Jesus, I thank you for who you are, that your love is for everyone. We trust you and we give you all the glory today in Jesus' name. Amen. If you're here today and you could use prayer for anything going on in your life where we understand the life has difficulties, we're gonna have some of our team down on this side of the stage. They would love to personally pray with you today. But church, we, we will all stand for the judgment seat of God. Don't wait to make things right with him. Get yourself ready now. Make your life matter now and live with urgency now. Thank you so much for being in church today. Enjoy the sunshine. We'll see you next weekend.