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Baptist Catechism 43

Q. 43. What shall be done to the wicked, at the Day of Judgment?

A. At the Day of Judgment, the bodies of the wicked, being raised out of their graves, shall be sentenced, together with their souls, to unspeakable torments with the devil and his angels forever. (Dan. 12:2; John 5:28,29; 2 Thess. 1:9; Matt. 25:41)

Scripture Reading: Matthew 25:31–46

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you as aad stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ ‘Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.’” (Matthew 25:31–46, ESV)

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Please excuse any typos and misspellings within this manuscript. It has been published online for the benefit of the saints of Emmaus Reformed Baptist Church but without the benefit of proofreading.

Introduction

Talk of hell is weighty. It is a very heavy and serious subject. And every Christian does feel this heaviness within their soul when they think of someone being sentenced to hell, and it is right that they do. It is similar to the heaviness that fills a courtroom when a criminal is tried, convicted, and finally sentenced. Everyone in the room can feel the weightiness of the moment. Everyone knows that something serious is happening. And even if all agree that the man is guilty and the penalty is just, those who have love in their hearts will feel a sense of sorrow even for the condemned, knowing that a life has been ravaged by sin. And how much more is the weightiness of the final judgement, and eternal damnation?

It is certainly right to say that the Christian should never rejoice at the thought of someone going to hell. The Christian should feel sorrow at the thought of even their worst enemy coming under God’s condemnation. Just as it would be concerning if a courtroom erupted in jubilant celebration when the sentence of death is pronounced upon the condemned, so too it would be concerning if someone rejoiced in their heart concerning the thought of a man going to eternal punishment. Only one who is consumed with anger and a desire for vengeance could feel such a thing in their heart. As I have said, it is right that we feel a sense of sorrow for those condemned, for this is a weighty matter.

But let us be sure to not error in another direction, and that would be to consider the judgments of God to be somehow unnecessary or unjust. While it is true that the thought of men coming under the judgement of God is weighty and ought to produce a sense of sorrow, it is also true that we ought to say this is right and even good.

If we go back to the courtroom, you will see what I mean. If when the guilty murderer is sentenced to death the courtroom erupts in jubilant and cheerful celebration, that shows that men are very angry and vengeful — this cannot be the disposition of the Christian. But will anyone dare to say that it is wrong for them to celebrate the fact that justice has been served? Will anyone dare to say that those who have lost a loved one at the hands of the murder are wrong to consider the judgemnet to be fitting, right, and good? And so you see that justice will always produce a mixture of thoughts and emotions, and this right. It is right for us to grieve over the destruction that sin brings, but it is also right for us to celebrate when justice is served. 

If we rejoice in this way over the just judgements of men, how much more should we rejoice over the just judgements of God. 

And brothers and sisters, rest assured God’s judgement are and will be perfect.

He is not driven by a passion for vengeance, as we sometimes are, so that he is moved to over do it.  In fact, the scriptures reveal that he takes no pleasure at all in the death of the wicked. Listen to Ezekiel 33:11: “ As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?” (Ezekiel 33:11, ESV).

And when God judges, he does not judge with limited knowledge as we do, for he is all knowing. Human judges and juries do their best to judge according to what they know. They rely upon evidence and testimonies. But they do not see for themselves whether or not the crime was committed. Not so with God. The Judge of all the earth sees everything with perfect clarity. He even knows man’s thoughts and the intentions of his heart. He does not struggle with the issue of limited knowledge when he administers justice. 

And when God judges he will get it perfectly right, for he is just. The punishment will fit the sin and perfectly so. Psalm 96:10 speaks to this: “Say among the nations, ‘The LORD reigns! Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity” (Psalm 96:10, ESV). Equity means rightness or fairness. God’s judgments will be perfectly right and fair. And this is why Paul says in Romans, “Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God” (Romans 3:19, ESV). At the judgment, every mouth will be stopped. No one will say, God, you got it wrong. 

In our prisons there are men and women who insist that they are innocent. Some of them probably are! For we are flawed in our judgements. But many of them are guilty. They know it, but they lie. There will be none of that at the judgement on the last day, for God will judge with perfect equity, and all will see it. 

One question that I often get as a pastor is, what about infants that die in infancy, or those incapable of understanding the gospel? Will they be judged by God? For they are born in sin, aren’t they? Yes, all are born in sin. I think our confession gets it just right in 10.3. But for now let me simply say that I know this for sure, God will get this perfectly right on the last day. No one will be able to complain against God, saying, this is unjust.   

God does not take pleasure in the death of the wicked, and neither should we. But neither should we consider the judgements of God to be bad. To the contrary they are good. His judgements are and will be perfectly right and just. 

This truth does bring a kind of comfort to the people of God. This world is filled with sin, wickedness, and injustice. We long for justice because we are made in the image of God who is just. And so it is comforting to know that on the last day God will right every wrong. 

And isn’t it interesting how even those who do not believe in God or in the Christ whom he sent will comfort themselves with the idea of justice in the afterlife when faced with some great evil. “This predator will get what is coming to him”, they say. Or “this terrorist who killed thousands of innocents will pay in the life to come.” These same people may deny that hell exists for common folk, but they hope that it exists for those who are particularly heinous. They assume that hell is sparsely populated. They assume that it is for Hitler, Mussolini, Stallen, and other characters like these. But when it comes to the common man, hell is a myth. Those who think in this way are right to take some comfort in the fact that wrongs will be made right in the end and that justice will be served. But they are terribly wrong to minimize their own sin and the sin of others.  

The scriptures teach that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23, ESV), and “the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23, ESV). Yes, there are heinous sins, and there are particularly heinous. But all sin is truly heinous and will be punished on the last day, unless we are found in Christ, washed in his blood. 

Do not believe the lie that you sin is not serious. It is truly terrible for humans to live in the world that God has made, to enjoy his blessings in this life, and to partake of his mercy, but fail to give him honor and glory. How ungrateful we are by nature. And not only do we fail to honor our Creator, we worship the creature instead. We rob him of the glory due his name. This is heinous sin deserving of God’s just condemnation. And add to this the disrespect we have shown to mother and father and to others with authority over us, the hatred we have shown to our fellow man, our sexual immorality, our thievery, and  dishonesty. We are ungrateful sinners by nature. Do I really need to convince you of this!? It is strange how we read the news and say, look at all the wickedness in the world! But we are unable to see the wickedness in our own hearts. We see it in the lives of others while convincing ourselves that we and those who are close to us are basically good. 

Brothers and sisters, God would be just to send us to hell for all eternity for our sin against him — for failing to love him with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and our neighbor as ourselves. But he is merciful and kind, as you know. He has provided a Savior, Christ Jesus the Lord.    

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Matthew 25:31–46

The Matthew 25 passage that was read earlier does clearly teach that God will judge on  the last day. Some will go to eternal life, and others to eternal punishment. 

I cannot take the time to walk through this passage verse by verse with you, but let me make some important observations. 

One, this is the teaching of Jesus. Some wish to have a Jesus who is only merciful and gracious. This is not the historical Jesus, but only a figment of the imagination. The real Jesus taught that on the last day the unrighteous will be judged. 

Two, God will judge all people on the last day through Christ, who is in this passage called “the son of man.” Verse 31: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations…”

Three, this passage divides humanity into two groups — the righteous and unrighteous. 

Four, the righteous are said to be “blessed by [the] Father”. This is compatible with what the scriptures say elsewhere regarding the doctrine of election. The righteous are those favored by God. And on the last day they will be welcomed to “inherit the kingdom prepared for [them] from the foundation of the world.” This is also compatible with the doctrine of election.

Five, the righteous and unrighteous are known by their fruits. The righteous love God and Christ, and this love is shown by caring for the needy around them. The unrighteous hate God and Christ,  and this is shown by their neglect of the needy. It would be wrong to interpret this passage as if it were saying that salvation is earned by good deeds.That would be contrary to the clear teaching of scripture found elsewhere. And that would also be contrary to what Christ said at first in this passage, calling the righteous “blessed by [the] Father”, and inviting them to “inherit the kingdom prepared for [them] from the foundation of the world.” But it would also be wrong to ignore what Christ says regarding good works. Those blessed by the Father will do good works, friends. If our faith is alive and true it will move us to care for the needy around us. Faith without works is dead, as James so clearly teaches. Trully, we will know them by their fruits. 

Six, while the righteous receive favor or grace from God,  the unrighteous are rightly judged for their sin. The Son of Man will say,  “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” And you will notice that their sin is not what we would call heinous sin. They are not condemned for being murderers, liars, and thieves, but for failing to show love and compassion to their fellow man in need when it was in their power to do so. 

Seven, this judgement will happen when Christ returns in glory. He will return suddenly. He will return bodily. He will return gloriously so all will see. And when he does he will sit upon his throne to judge. There will be no delay. No purgatory, and no thousand reign. Any teaching which inserts a gap of time between the return of Christ and the judgment is to be regarded as false. 

Are you ready, friends? What you do in this life will have eternal consequences. When you die, your soul will go immediately to heaven or hell. And when Christ returns bodies and souls will be reunited for the judgment. Those in Christ — those who believed upon him in this life whose sins were washed away — will hear the words, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world”, whereas those who die in their sins will hear these words:  “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” This is the word of the Lord.

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Conclusion

Q. 43. What shall be done to the wicked, at the Day of Judgment?

A. At the Day of Judgment, the bodies of the wicked, being raised out of their graves, shall be sentenced, together with their souls, to unspeakable torments with the devil and his angels forever. (Dan. 12:2; John 5:28,29; 2 Thess. 1:9; Matt. 25:41)