Phrases You Do Not Want to Hear on Judgment Day

Mike Wencel

 

►There are many phrases that none of us wants to hear someone say to us. Here are some of the top ones:

   ► Hello Mr. Smith, this is the IRS calling.

   ► I’m sorry Mrs. Jones, but you need to put your affairs in order.

   ► Mr. Brown, this is the Police department, do you have a son named Jarod?

   ► Mrs. Wilson, this is the county morgue calling...

► As serious as some of these are, there are many even more serious phrases that we do not want to hear God say to us on judgment day. Let’s study some of these together.

Jesus in his sermon on the mount says: Matthew 7:21-23  "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.    Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'

How sad it will be for those who followed the doctrines of men, convincing themselves that they were doing the will of God, without ever studying God’s Word to see if what they were being taught was in accordance with the Bible.

A closely related verse that expresses a similar sentiment:

► Luke 6:46  "But why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do the things which I say?

Just praying to God is not going to be beneficial to us, if we are not obeying what God tells us to do and not do in his Holy Word. None of us has a valid excuse for not studying God’s word, with all the ways we have available to do so (printed bibles, internet, smart phones, study materials, commentaries).

► Jesus told a parable about 10 virgins who were attending a wedding celebration. The bridegroom was delayed, and so it had gotten dark. Five of the virgins were wise and brought extra oil for their lamps, and the other five were foolish and brought no extra oil. So the foolish ones tried to borrow oil from the wise, but the wise ones told them to go and buy their own oil. When the bridegroom finally arrived, the five wise virgins were there waiting for him and were invited into the banquet, and then the door was closed. When the foolish ones arrived after purchasing their oil, they knocked on the closed door and said  Matthew 25:11-12  'Lord, Lord, open to us!'   But he answered and said, 'Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.'     

Jesus is telling us that we must be prepared and equip ourselves with the knowledge of God’s Word so that we will not be caught unawares on Judgment day. No excuses will be adequate on that day. How sad it would be to have the gates of heaven slammed shut against us.

Jesus concludes this parable with this advice:

 "Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming. 

In talking about the Judgment, Jesus gives this illustration:

Matthew 25:41-42  "Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting 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 take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.' 

Jesus tells us that as Christians who are pleasing to God, we must help our fellow man in need. If we don’t do these things while we are on this earth, we will undoubtedly hear these words from our Savior’s mouth, and that will not be good.

Jesus also told a parable of an Unforgiving Servant. The servant owed the king a large sum of money, but begged for the kings patience, and the king forgave his debt. But then the servant found someone who owed him a small amount of money and because he could not pay, the servant had him thrown into debtor’s prison. When word of this got back to the servants master, the master said this to him:

Matthew 18:32-35  'You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?' And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.

Jesus is pretty clear as to God expectations of us in regards to the forgiveness we extend to others. God has extended remarkable forgiveness to us, we must do the same to others. It’s that simple.  

Jesus talks about being anxious in his sermon on the mount, and tells us not to worry about what we will eat or drink, or the clothing we will wear. He says:

Matthew 6:30  Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

That last little phrase ‘O you of little faith’, is the phrase I do not to hear from God’. Faith can manifest itself in many ways, and we all need to do everything in our power to stay faithful to God throughout our lives, in good times and bad, through our worship, our obedience, and our works. This need to be our top priority.   

There is one name that I do not want Jesus to call me:

Matthew 7:5  Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. 

Matthew 15:7  Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: 'These people draw near to me with their mouth, and honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. and in vain they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.' " 

Matthew 23:28  Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. 

Webster defines a hypocrite as: One who feigns to be what he is not; one who assumes an appearance of piety and virtue, when he is destitute of true religion.

But I like Thayer’s definition even better, very simply:  an actor, stage player, a pretender.

The bottom line: you can’t fake Christianity, you may be able to fool every person in the world, but you cannot fool God. God sees our inner motivations and knows our heart. He is not impressed with good actors!

Revelation 3:14-16  And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, 'These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: "I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. 

Webster defines lukewarm as: “Not ardent; not zealous; cool; indifferent; as in lukewarm obedience or  lukewarm patriotism.”    Each of us needs to take our own spiritual temperature. Are we on fire for the Lord, doing everything we can in service to God, or are we merely lukewarm, doing just enough to “get by”. We may be satisfied with “just getting by”, but these verses tell us in no uncertain terms that God is not. 

In Matthew 22 Jesus tells the Parable of the Wedding Feast. The king in the parable arranged a wedding feast for his son. He sent out one round of invitations, but the people were not willing to come. So he sent a second round of invitations, but the people went about their business and ignored the invitation. Some of them even killed the king’s servants who delivered the invitations. So the king was furious and sent out his armies and destroyed those murderers and burnt up their city. Then he told his servants to gather people from the highway and bring them to the feast. So the wedding hall was filled. But the king noticed a man who did not have on a wedding garment and he said to this man:

Matthew 22:12  Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?' And he was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' 

This man displayed contempt and disrespect for the king by showing up in his dirty street clothes. He represents  those who think they will be accepted by God because of their own righteousness rather than through the righteousness of Jesus Christ.  They are arrogant and think that they can behave in any way they want, not respecting God or his Word, and yet somehow be accepted by God. It is a very twisted and delusional belief, and will end in the same punishment that the man in this parable received – eternal condemnation. 

In speaking to the church at Ephesus, Jesus says this:

Revelation 2:4  Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. 

Apparently, the people of the Ephesian church had not retained the strong and “on fire” love for God and his Word they had when they first came to the knowledge of the truth. In other words they had let worldly things take the place of God as their number 1 love. They had apparently forgotten the command of Jesus that Matthew,  Mark and Luke all recorded on their Gospel accounts:

Mark 12:30  And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment.

In speaking to the church at Sardis, Jesus says:

Revelation 3:1   "I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. 

This church had a good name and a reputation for having life and vitality, but Jesus says that it was dead. Interesting! What man sees may not be what really exists. Jesus is able to look beyond the externals and see such things as sin, the heart, and motivations. Activity alone does not make one alive in Christ.

 

 Phrases You Do Want to Hear on Judgment Day

 

We have examined many statements that we DO NOT want to hear on Judgment Day, but let’s also examine some statements that we DO want to hear on Judgment Day.

 

We are all familiar with the Parable of the Talents. When judgment day comes, I want to hear God saying the words to me which he said to the five talent man and the two talent man:

Matthew 25:21  His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.'

But we have to do more than just desire to hear these words, we have o live our lives in a way that is faithful and obedient to God  under all conditions – during times of ease and time of difficulties as well.

Matthew tells of an event where a centurion came to Jesus, telling him that one of his servants was  lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented. So Jesus agreed to come to the man’s house  and heal the man, but the centurion said to Jesus: Matthew 8:8-10 Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed.  For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it.   When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, "Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!  

That last sentence is one that we would all love to hear God say to us: “I have not found such great faith”. Thinking about this scene on Judgment Day, should motivate us to be more faithful.

Matthew tells of another person, this time a woman, a Canaanite, whose faith impressed Jesus. This woman had a daughter who was demon-possessed, and she wanted Jesus to heal her. But Jesus said to her: “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." Then she asked Jesus again, but he said "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs." But then the woman recited her now-famous reply: "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters' table."  Upon hearing her reply Jesus said  Matthew 15:28  "O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire." And her daughter was healed from that very hour. 

We have already looked at Matthew 25 and the Parable of the talents and seen the phrase that we would not want to hear, but later in that chapter we see a phrase that we would want to hear God say to us. Jesus is describing the Judgment and he says this:

Matthew 25:34-36  And He (Jesus) will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of 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 took Me in;  I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.' 

To hear the phrase Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you is what each of us who have been faithful and obedient to God’s word should be looking forward to hearing. It is something we should think about often, and it should motivate our behavior every day. But notice it is conditional – and requires more than “faith only”.

 

We’ve already looked at some negative judgments that Jesus gave to the church at Ephesus in the Book of Revelation, now let’s look at some of the positive things Jesus had to say about that same church. Hopefully Jesus will be able to say these same statements about Oceanside and each one of her members:

►Revelation 2:2-3  I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name's sake and have not become weary.

What a glowing review and a perfect description of what the Lord’s church should be. Let us pray these statements will always be true about Oceanside.   

 

 

 

 Conclusion

► We’ve examined 13 different phrases that we do not want to hear on Judgment Day, as all them will lead to eternal punishment. 

1.   Matthew 7:21-23

2. Luke 6:46

3.  Matthew 25:11-12

4.  Matthew 25:41-42  

5.  Matthew 18:32-35

6.  Matthew 6:30

7.  Matthew 7:5

8.  Matthew 15:7 

9.  Matthew 23:28     

10. Revelation 3:14-16 

11. Matthew 22:12 

12. Revelation 2:4    

13. Revelation 3:1  

 

►We’ve also examined 5 phrases that we do want to hear on Judgment Day, as they will lead to eternal reward.

          1. Matthew 25:21 

2. Matthew 8:8-10

3. Matthew 15:28 

4. Matthew 25:34-36 

5. Revelation 2:2-3 

 

► The question we need to ask ourselves now, is this: WHAT ABOUT ME? If Jesus were to return today and have the Judgment, which of all the phrases we looked at, would be true about each of us today?

 

Would we evaluated positively and rewarded positively by Jesus or would we be evaluated negatively and rewarded negatively?  Most of us would automatically say positively, but is that really the case? Can we honestly review each of the negative judgments that we looked at today (and many others that we did not have time to study), and say with complete confidence that none of them apply to us? I hope we can, but if we can not, then we need to make some changes in our lives right away. This is quite urgent because we have no idea of when Jesus will return to judge us. It could be today!

► PROCRASTINATION IS NOT AN WISE STRATEGY!