“Judgment Day and the Truth”

May 22, 2011

John 14:1-14 Acts 7:55-60 1 Peter 2:2-10

In the 1992 film, “A Few Good Men”, Tom Cruise plays the character of Navy defense attorney Lieutenant
Daniel Kaffee and Jack Nicholson plays Marine Colonel Nathan Jessep. In a pivotal courtroom scene these
two characters get into a shouting match as Colonel Jessep is questioned on the witness stand.

Col. Nathan Jessep: You want answers?

Lt. Daniel Kaffee: I think I'm entitled.
Col. Nathan Jessep: You want answers?!
Lt. Daniel Kaffee: I want the truth!
Col. Nathan Jessep: You can't handle the truth!

There are times in our lives, particularly as Christians, when we know the truth, but others around us refuse
to believe that truth. We know what we saw and what we heard, but our friends think that we’re pulling their
legs or that we are simply lying. We know that the Bible is the truth because of what we have seen, what we
have heard and what we have felt. We have seen God at work in our lives and in the lives of those around us
and yet we fear telling others about what we know because we are afraid that they will not believe us. In
Acts 7:55-60, Stephen, an early follower of Jesus Christ (although not one of the twelve disciples), knows
the truth about Jesus and preaches that truth in front of a crowd that included the Sanhedrin, the leaders of the
synagogue…
51
“You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors:
You always resist the Holy Spirit! 52 Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute? They even
killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him
— 53 you who have received the law that was given through angels but have not obeyed it.” 54 When the
members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. 55 But Stephen, full of
the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.
56
“Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
57
At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, 58 dragged him
out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man
named Saul.
59
While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 Then he fell on his knees
and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.

Stephen knew the truth and was unafraid to tell others what he knew. At the same time, God rewarded his
courage by allowing him to see an even deeper truth by allowing him to see Jesus Christ standing beside God
in a position of honor. Perhaps someone should have warned the Sanhedrin that they could not handle the
truth. These church leaders did not want to hear the truth and refused to believe it even when they did. They
could not handle the truth.

Even though we live in a vastly different place and time, in our world we can still expect to meet people who
do not understand and who refuse to hear or believe the truth. We will certainly meet people who will
declare that they are our enemies simply because we believe in Jesus. Regardless, our calling is to be like
1
Stephen and hold fast to what we know to be true. Naturally this causes us to worry but in John 14:1-14, we
discover that even disciples were worried because Jesus was leaving them…
1
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many
rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I
go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I
am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”
5
Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
6
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7
If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen
him.”
8
Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”
9
Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone
who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am
in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority.
Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father
and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. 12 Very truly I tell you,
whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these,
because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be
glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

The message of Jesus is that we should not worry. Because we know God, because we know Jesus and
because we know and believe the truth, Jesus says that we can have both hope and confidence in our future.
More than that, we can have confidence because we have seen the evidence of God’s work. Jesus also
reassures us by reminding us that we already know the truth, that Jesus is one with God and speaks with the
power and authority of God. Jesus says that he was able to perform miracles because God lived within him
and worked through him. Finally, in a statement that is both tremendously reassuring and terribly
intimidating, Jesus tells us that if we believe in him and believe in the truth about him, then God will live in
us and work through us in the same way that he did in and through Jesus. This is both reassuring and
intimidating because if God lives in us and works through us as he did in Jesus during his time on earth, then,
Jesus tells us, we will do even greater works than Jesus did. If we have faith and confidence in Jesus Christ,
we are able to ask God to work through us to do things that bring him glory. Jesus says that when we do
that, we may ask for anything in his name and he will do it.

In these words, Jesus not only gives us faith and confidence in our future and in our eternity, but reassures us
and gives us hope and confidence in the present. If we know that Jesus stands beside us and that God is
living in us, working through us and answering our prayers, what can we possibly have to worry about?

You may have heard that, at least according to Harold Camping, a former civil engineer and now a Christian
radio host, yesterday the rapture and judgment were supposed to occur at 6:00 pm. Despite the fact that in
Matthew 24:36 Jesus said, “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the
Son, but only the Father,” Camping posted his dire prediction on 2000 billboards and in newspapers across
the country. I suppose you’ve noticed… we’re all still here. We may laugh at folks like Harold Camping
and predictions like these are often used by unbelievers to discredit all of Christianity, but there is a truth that
can be known. We are not intended to know exactly how or when the world will end but it will end. We are
told that the return of the Messiah will come like a thief in the night. Jesus said, “42 “Therefore keep watch,
2
because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house
had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his
house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you
do not expect him. (Matthew 24:42-44) Each day we must keep watch over the events of the world and
prepare ourselves so that we are ready to face God’s judgment. As much as we like to ridicule men like
Harold Camping for getting things wrong, events like these remind us of three things. First, as I pointed out,
God has promised that there will be a judgment and that we must be prepared for it. Second, Jesus does not
want us to worry unnecessarily about whether we belong to him or not but instead wants us to reassure us
that if we believe in God and have put our faith in Jesus then we can not only have confidence in our eternal
future, but also that God will work through us and give us the power to accomplish the work of Jesus Christ
in our modern world. Third, just as the leaders of Jerusalem refused to hear the truth, we will also encounter
those who do not believe and will ridicule us for speaking the truth.

The leaders of the synagogue in Jerusalem refused to believe the truth and murdered Stephen rather than
listen to him. Even so, he did not stop speaking the truth. Whether we like the idea or not and although it
wasn’t yesterday, and although it may not be today, there will be a day of judgment. Jesus has promised that
because we believe in him we have nothing to fear, but our unbelieving friends do. Regardless of how we
interpret scripture regarding the teaching of judgment and Hell, on Judgment Day, things will not go well for
them. Jesus said, “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they
will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in
my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I
will do it.” When we pray in the name of Jesus for things that will glorify God, he has promised to answer. I
can think of few things that will give God more glory than to pray for our unbelieving friends and neighbors
and to talk to them about the truth of Jesus.

Not everyone will believe.

Not everyone can handle the truth.

No matter what, never stop praying. Never stop trying. Never stop speaking the truth.

Too much is at stake.

3

You have been reading a message presented at Barnesville First United Methodist Church on the
date noted at the top of the first page. Rev. John Partridge is the pastor of Barnesville First.
Duplication of this message is a part of our Media ministry, if you have received a blessing in this
way, we would love to hear from you. Letters and donations in support of the Media ministry or
any of our other projects may be sent to Barnesville First UMC at 123 W. Church St., Barnesville,
OH 43713. These messages are available to any interested persons regardless of membership.
You may subscribe to these messages, in print or electronic formats, by writing to the address
noted, or by contacting us at subscribe@barnesvillefirst.com. If you have questions, you can ask
them in our discussion forum on Facebook (search for Pastor John Online). These messages can
also be found online at http://www.scribd.com/Pastor John Partridge and audio podcasts at
http://www.sermoncloud.com/ (type the church name in the search box). All Scripture references
are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.