Jim Bakker Show - The 5 Kinds of Judgment Explained - R.T. Kendall
Aired: 2020-12-22
Duration: 09:42


=== Retributive Judgment (04:30) ===

[00:00:00]  The five, you want to do the five judgments that you identify in your book now?
[00:00:05]  There are five kinds of judgment.
[00:00:08]  First, retributive judgment.
[00:00:11]  That's getting even in the Old Testament.
[00:00:14]  An eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth.
[00:00:17]  And what is the purpose of eternal punishment?
[00:00:20]  Why would God send people to hell?
[00:00:23]  Is it to improve them?
[00:00:25]  Is it to make them better?
[00:00:27]  No, it's to punish for our sins.
[00:00:31]  That's why we go to hell.
[00:00:33]  I pray that none of us do.
[00:00:35]  There are two ways God punishes sin: one, through eternal punishment, the other, by the death of his son.
[00:00:43]  God got even at the cross.
[00:00:46]  And the blood that Jesus shed cried out for justice.
[00:00:51]  And God heard the cry.
[00:00:54]  And Jesus could say, it is finished.
[00:00:57]  That meant that all that was required for you to go to heaven was done at the cross.
[00:01:04]  And God got even at the cross.
[00:01:06]  So nobody needs to go to hell.
[00:01:08]  Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.
[00:01:12]  Well, that's the first, retributive judgment, when God punishes.
[00:01:17]  Second, there is gracious judgment that is partly retributive and partly merciful.
[00:01:26]  Example: when King David sinned with Bathsheba, committed adultery, and then tried to cover up the sin by killing Uriah, God was very displeased.
[00:01:40]  And he sent Nathan the prophet, and Nathan the prophet uncovered David's sin, but then said, The good news is, you will not die.
[00:01:50]  God is showing mercy.
[00:01:52]  And that's when David wrote the 51st Psalm and the opening words, O Lord, have mercy on me.
[00:02:00]  And so King David is an example of what I call gracious judgment, partly retributive, partly merciful.
[00:02:08]  Third, there is redemptive judgment.
[00:02:13]  That is seen in the wilderness when the children of Israel sinned and they brought God's anger.
[00:02:21]  So God sent venomous snakes, and the snakes were biting the people, and the people were dropping dead, and they were crying out.
[00:02:29]  And God said to Moses, erect a serpent of brass and cause people to look at the serpent, and if they do, they'll live.
[00:02:39]  And those that looked at the serpent lived.
[00:02:41]  It was redemptive judgment.
[00:02:44]  By the way, perhaps you've heard of the great English preacher, Charles Spurgeon.
[00:02:49]  He had a phrase he would use in his preaching: there's life in a look.
[00:02:55]  And you look to Jesus at the cross.
[00:02:58]  Spurgeon put it like this: run to the cross.
[00:03:02]  If you can't run, walk.
[00:03:04]  If you can't walk, crawl.
[00:03:07]  And if you can't crawl, look.
[00:03:10]  And in John 3:14, Jesus said, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up.
[00:03:21]  And those that look to the Son will be saved.
[00:03:23]  That's redemptive judgment.
[00:03:26]  Then there's a fourth kind.
[00:03:28]  I call it natural judgment.
[00:03:30]  You reap what you sow.
[00:03:33]  Nothing more to be said.
[00:03:34]  It says it all.
[00:03:35]  Natural judgment.
[00:03:37]  You ask for it.
[00:03:38]  You reap what you sow.
[00:03:40]  Fifth, arguably the worst kind of all, silent judgment.
[00:03:47]  When God doesn't do anything, he doesn't say anything.
[00:03:53]  You have no idea what he's thinking.
[00:03:56]  You see, God is unlike us.
[00:03:57]  When you and I get angry, we show it.
[00:04:00]  But the angrier God is, the calmer he is.
[00:04:05]  And are you aware that with Sodom and Gomorrah, we know how much God hated that?
[00:04:11]  It was not any hint that God was angry, not a hint.
[00:04:15]  Do you realize God just rained fire and brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrah?

=== God's Gracious Judgment (03:43) ===

[00:04:22]  No warning.
[00:04:23]  It was silent judgment, then suddenly it happens.
[00:04:27]  Worst thing of all, you don't want that.
[00:04:29]  You want God to say something.
[00:04:31]  But the good news is, what America is experiencing today is gracious judgment.
[00:04:40]  God is angry, but he's doing this because he loves us.
[00:04:46]  And he's trying to get our attention.
[00:04:48]  And I would say to anybody watching me right now, God is on your case.
[00:04:55]  And this is what it's all about.
[00:04:57]  And the eventual result, it may not happen day after tomorrow, but it's a matter of time.
[00:05:03]  It's going to bring about the greatest awakening ever.
[00:05:08]  I have to say this, if I'm totally honest, I don't think for many of us, God has our attention.
[00:05:17]  People only want to know one thing, one thing.
[00:05:20]  When will it go back to normal?
[00:05:21]  When will we have football on Sundays?
[00:05:24]  When can we watch baseball?
[00:05:26]  Just get back to normal.
[00:05:28]  Listen, this life is not all there is.
[00:05:33]  You need to know that.
[00:05:35]  Hebrews 9, 27, it is appointed unto man wants to die after death the judgment.
[00:05:42]  Whoever I'm talking to you, you will stand before God at the judgment.
[00:05:49]  And if in this crisis that we're in, God gets your attention, the best thing that can happen, not getting your old income back, not getting to watch pro football.
[00:06:04]  No, you get right with God.
[00:06:06]  You turn to him and say, God, have mercy on me.
[00:06:09]  That's worth everything.
[00:06:11]  But not only that, I believe that down the road, something will happen.
[00:06:18]  Ask me later if you want me to go into it.
[00:06:19]  I'm so afraid I'm talking too much, but it will bring about the revival we've longed for, prayed for, but I don't think it's going to happen today after tomorrow.
[00:06:30]  As I said, I don't think we are awake at all.
[00:06:34]  I think we still just went, when's it over?
[00:06:35]  When's it going to be over?
[00:06:36]  Get the vaccinations.
[00:06:40]  When can we start going back to do the things we have always done?
[00:06:45]  And while we're still thinking only of that, it means he's not got our attention yet.
[00:06:50]  The people just wait for the virus as if this is going to cure everything.
[00:06:55]  I heard yesterday, it'll probably be next summer before even we begin to notice the difference.
[00:07:00]  So if you think things are going to get back to normal next week, no one thinks that.
[00:07:05]  In the meantime, he's speaking to you.
[00:07:08]  And it's just a reminder that this life is not all there is.
[00:07:13]  This is why God has sent his son into the world to die on a cross.
[00:07:18]  The Bible in a nutshell, John 3, 16, for God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish.
[00:07:29]  That means not go to hell, but have everlasting life.
[00:07:34]  And if through this double whammy, that's what we're in, by the way, it's not just the coronavirus.
[00:07:40]  Look at all that's happening.
[00:07:44]  Violence in the nation, defunding the police, all the things that we've never had before.

=== Keep Eyes on the Ark (01:57) ===

[00:07:51]  We've never been like this before.
[00:07:54]  It's God's loving way to say, I care about you.
[00:07:57]  Look to me.
[00:07:58]  Look to my son.
[00:08:00]  And what a great thing if somebody listening right now, you get the message and you find God and you give him your life and you live to please him.
[00:08:14]  And with that, you know, life just changes.
[00:08:19]  So the reason Joshua said to the children of Israel, we've never been this way before, he told them what to do.
[00:08:29]  He says, look at the ark.
[00:08:31]  You can read it.
[00:08:32]  Joshua chapter 3, verse 4.
[00:08:36]  Keep your eyes on the ark.
[00:08:38]  Because where the ark goes, you go because the ark knows the way.
[00:08:44]  You don't know the way.
[00:08:45]  Keep your eyes on the ark because you've never been this way before.
[00:08:50]  And so transferred into the New Testament.
[00:08:54]  What's the ark in the New Testament?
[00:08:56]  It's Jesus Christ.
[00:08:58]  He is the image of God.
[00:09:01]  He is the glory of God in person, the ark, Jesus.
[00:09:06]  And so Hebrews chapter 12, verse 2.
[00:09:10]  Fix your eyes on Jesus.
[00:09:14]  And you do that.
[00:09:16]  You'll find peace.
[00:09:18]  You know, everybody's afraid.
[00:09:22]  We were just in New York City a few days ago.
[00:09:25]  My son and I, on every trash can in New York City, on every trash can are the words, don't be afraid.
[00:09:35]  Everybody's afraid.
[00:09:36]  You keep your eyes on Jesus.
[00:09:39]  He'll give you peace.
[00:09:41]  He'll show you the way forward.