Does God Judge and Should Preachers teach about God’s Judgment?
This post is apart of our Q and A series. If you have a question you’d like answered, please send us an email at redeemingfamily@gmail.com
Let's answer that question with a few things today, first, a few passages in scripture, second, with a story, and third, with a few statements for us as listeners of sermons and as preachers of sermons.
First, let's look at scripture.
What does Scripture say about God Judging?
Hebrews 12:23 shows that God is the judge of all: You have come to God, the Judge of all,
Acts 10:42 shows that the Apostle Peter understood Jesus to be the judge of all, Jesus having been given that role by God: He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead.
2 Timothy 4:8 reveals that as he neared the end of his earthly life the Apostle Paul spoke of the Lord Jesus as judge: Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
Hebrews 9:27 speaks about judgment as coming after death in a final eternal decree regarding the state of individuals: Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment
Daniel 7:13-14 prophetically recounts the vision of Daniel regarding the authority of the Christ to come: In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.
John 5:26-27 connects the trail of authority prophetically spoken of by Daniel by which Jesus (the Son) has received authority to judge: For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.
This is just a brief smattering of passages. There are worthwhile longer studies examining more passages in depth. Even from these few verses, it is very apparent, that the scriptures speak of God as being the ultimate judge, and specifically, Christ Jesus has all authority in heaven and earth (Matthew 28:19-20). Anyone who makes a statement like "God doesn't judge" is speaking either ignorantly (not knowing the truth of God's Word), or in blatant rebellion against God's word.
A Story of a Preacher Speaking about God's Judgement
It was dark on the cold streets of downtown St. Louis. While the region didn't often get much snow, there was some accumulation on the sides of the roads. Not the beautiful glistening snow of hallmark movies. It was the dirty, muddy snow covered in the excess filth of a thousand traveling cars. I turned my car from the main street into the driveway and parking lot of a 4 or 5-story brick building. It had a distinctive feature that many in Old North St. Louis knew well, a towering dark chimney stack rising high into the sky. What once was a building filled with the fire and smoke of industry, was now a building filled with men spit up and chewed out by choices, addictions, and hard knocks. The mission shelter had 44 beds available for up to 44 overnight homeless guests.
I walked past the line of men who had gathered near the side entrance of the building. I nodded and said hello to a few of the regulars whom I had gained something of a relationship with. In the summer there wasn't much of a line, and often we would have "extra" open beds, maybe averaging something between 20-30 men each night at the shelter. In the cold winter though, it was different. It's much easier to find a place to stay for the night when it's 80 degrees, than when it's 30 degrees. When the winter was cold, the line would be long. More than 44 men would line up. Starting with the 45th man there would be hope that someone earlier in the line would lose their place for the night due to poor behavior, intoxication, or some other unknown reason.
My role that night was not to preach, but instead to help cook and serve. There was a meal served, and then a 30-minute chapel service each night at the shelter before the men were marched upstairs to the showers and bunk room. While we had volunteers (individuals and groups) come in and lead chapel, I learned from my time serving (and from the wise words of a faithful man of God, who I will call Randy, who worked at the shelter) to always have a sermon ready. Sometimes volunteers didn't show up. Randy had always told me "The man of God must be prepared in season and out of season". If the volunteers didn't show up, it was my role to lead the chapel that night.
I asked one of the homeless regulars, whom I will call Greg, who had been there every shift I had worked, "Who is coming to lead chapel tonight?". "12 Shot" Greg answered. I did a double-take. I thought "12 Shot? What is he? Some kind of vigilante preacher loaded with shotguns coming to the hood of St. Louis?". I followed up with another question "What sort of preacher is he?". "The best," he said. I raised my eyebrows. The elaboration from Greg was brief: "He preaches fire and brimstone and grace".
After dinner was served the volunteer to lead chapel did show up. He visited with a few of the men who clearly recognized him. He shook hands with some and sat down to talk with others. When it came time for chapel I listened and marveled. "12 Shot" told how at one time he was a "scientific drunk". He had figured out how he would maintain his buzz throughout the day. 12 Shot would use various mouthwashes and sprays he would mask his breath, and he would take 12 shots each day at intervals to never allow himself sobriety. He proclaimed with boldness that he was a man justly deserving of God's righteous wrath. He shared many of his sins that he engaged in carelessly against God and with full diligence and care to the satiating of his own desires.
It struck me that night (and has stuck with me for more than 10 years since) that 12 Shot preached as though he was preaching against himself. He didn't lay into the crowd of men. He didn't lay out hypothetical guesses of transgressions. He spoke as a man who was fully deserving of any judgment God himself would render towards him. 12 Shot demonstrated throughout his preaching that God's wrath was deservingly coming as a result of the godlessness and wickedness of people (Romans 1:18). 12 Shot put himself in that category. He was godless and wicked. He was worthy of receiving nothing from God except wrath.
12 Shot then mentioned a few of the passages that we have listed above, speaking explicitly about God's wrath against sin, and the judgment of God towards the wicked. The words from Greg spoken earlier in the night rang in my mind. 12 Shot really was a "fire and brimstone" preacher.
Something then changed in the tone, face, and words from 12 Shot. He didn't change the subjects of his preaching. He was still talking about God, and he was still talking about the "old 12-shot", who he used to be. Yet, there was a breath of life instead of judgment in his words. 12 Shot had clearly articulated his status as one deserving God's wrath, but then he spoke of how he was a new man, a changed man, a man who had received mercy instead of wrath. This wasn't due to his own efforts or attempts to "clean up" his life. His new status was completely a result of the unmerited favor, the underserved blessing of God. The man who was only a few moments ago genuinely in tears about his sin, was now smiling and laughing with gladness. 12 Shot explained the change in his life and even in his speech as a result of the "grace of God in Jesus Christ". The change was all a result of the mercy of God in providing a savior for sinners like 12 Shot. While 12 shot (and all sinful humanity) was completely deserving of God’s righteous wrath, he had instead received blessing from God through salvation in Christ.
After the chapel service was over, the men would line up to head upstairs to the bunkroom to sleep. I stopped Greg as he was going towards the stairs "Wow, what a sermon!" I said to Greg. He smiled and said, "Yep, he brings fire, brimstone, and grace every time". "How often is he here?" I asked. "About once a month, unless he's in overseas for missions work". That evening 12 Shot was gracious enough to stay late and talk with me after my dinner shift was over and the men were upstairs. We became friends during my time in St. Louis, and 12 Shot to this day is one of the most gracious and humble servants of God I know. 12 Shot had a legacy at the homeless shelter. He was often the favorite preacher of all the many volunteers who came to lead chapel during my 18 months of work at the shelter. Why? Why would a man who preached "fire and brimstone and grace" be a favorite? While many answers could be given, I genuinely believe it was because many of the shelter guests were believers, and the story of 12 Shot's life was similar to their own, they were also deserving of God's wrath, but because of God's merciful grace in Christ Jesus, they were new men. Even though the world may have looked on those men as worthy of being forgotten, their heavenly Father had not forgotten them. The men who were not of value to the world had been bought with the precious blood of Jesus Christ.
Should Preachers Speak about Judgement in their Sermons?
12 Shot certainly thought the answer to that question was "yes", and so did Richard Baxter. Baxter was an English clergyman in the 1600s who wrote about both the truth of sinful man's wretched state before God and the need for sinners to become aware of their great peril.
"Let a minister of Christ show them their misery ever so plainly and faithfully, they will not be persuaded they are so miserable. Let him tell them of the glory they must lose, and the sufferings they must feel, and they think he means not them, but some notorious sinners. It is one of the hardest things in the world to bring a wicked man to know that he is wicked, or to make him see himself in a state of wrath and condemnation. Though they may easily find, by their strangeness to the new birth, and their enmity to holiness, that they never were partakers of them; yet they as verily expect to see God and be saved, as if they were the most sanctified persons in the world. How seldom do men cry out, after the plainest discovery of their state, I am the man! or acknowledge, that, if they die in their present condition, they are undone for ever!" (From Baxter's work 'the Saint's Everlasting Rest')
Preaching the judgment of God then is not a work of hateful malice but of hopeful persistence. The gospel preacher brings the truth of God's Word to bear before the unbeliever. He who preaches about God’s judgment faithfully labors to awake the sinner from the drunken stupor of spiritual death to the eternal realities of God's righteousness. In declaring the truth of God's judgment, the faithful gospel preacher hopes to be a means by which the wandering lost finds the path out of misery, and onto the road of eternal life.
I'm preaching through the book of Jonah during the month of November, so I am compelled to bring up Jonah as an example here. The scriptures themselves summarize the preaching of Jonah as "Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown." (Jonah 3:4). That's a pretty "judgment" heavy message to bring. Yet, that message of judgment was used by God to bring about a great deliverance in the city of Nineveh (See Jonah 3:5-10). It was God who appointed Jonah to the task of preaching an adversarial message of judgment (Jonah 1:1-2). The proclaiming of God’s righteous wrath against sin was to be the very means by which the sinners of Nineveh would come to know just how spiritually dead they were. Maybe one of the contributing factors for why we do not see true reformation, revival, and repentance, is because so many so-called "preachers" nowadays lack this fundamental part of the gospel proclamation given by God - the need for a savior due to the very real wrath of God revealed from heaven. Maybe one of the contributing factors to why we do see reformation, revival, and repentance in some places is because of the faithful biblical proclamation of God’s righteous wrath revealed from heaven against all wickedness.
The scriptures make it plain that God is the supreme judge. As preachers, our mouths are not our own. We have been given a message to proclaim, namely, the whole counsel of God contained in the scriptures. That means we must speak of judgment as honestly, boldly, and frequently, as God's Word does. When we preach little of judgment, we will preach of a very little Christ, who saves from very little, and who brings with him very little. The scriptures speak of Christ as more magnificent than any worldly comparison (Colossians 3:1-14). He is a great Christ, who has accomplished a great redemption, saving His people from a great calamity, bearing in himself the full weight of great judgment against sin.
We as listeners ought to soberly listen, and in worshipful adoration exclaim with the Psalmist that God is the righteous judge of nations (Psalm 7:8, 11), and judge of individuals (Psalm 51:4). We ought to subject our lives to the word of God, repenting as judgment is proclaimed and conviction of our sin springs up. We then also ought to praise with thankfulness the God who has secured redemption through His gracious provision of all that we need in Christ (Ephesians 2:1-10).
We as preachers must always remember the aim of our proclamation is nothing short of the redemption of eternal souls (1 Timothy 4:15-16). The judgment that we preach is not a sadistic message of savage brutalism. The judgment that we preach is the righteousness of God, with the hope and aim of demonstrating the grace of God to sinners in Christ Jesus. As preachers, we must watch out for the temptation that came to Jonah, that he should rather wish his audience to perish (Jonah 4:1-3). We ought to (like 12 Shot did) ensure that our own sinfulness is pointed out less when we hypocritically preach a message to our audience we have not first received. Our aim instead ought to be motivated by the love of Christ, and our preaching compelled and propelled by the example of the apostolic ministry and message
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)
Does God judge? Absolutely. Should preachers preach about judgment? Absolutely! Always aiming to drive sinners to the greatness of the grace of God provided in Christ Jesus.