Author: Frank Tunstall, D. Min.
The Holy Spirit’s role includes compounding the guilt that motivates people to acknowledge they will stand one day before the judge of all the earth. Satan and his followers had committed the worst sin that can be made – denying Jesus is the Son of God and the world’s only Savior. A cornerstone proof by which the Holy Spirit “convinces the world” the great judgment day is ahead, is the fact Satan was judged at Calvary (John 16:11 GW).
Satan began to throw everything in his arsenal at Jesus when He was arrested and the capstone of his evil was nailing Jesus to a cross.
Think about it.
Did the Devil think he had won the victory when Jesus died? Perhaps. But I doubt it. Is it not reasonable Lucifer knew Jesus had won when it became certain our Lord would not come down from the cross? Are we to believe Satan did not know Jesus would walk out of His tomb, conquering death itself, the “last enemy?” (1 Corinthians 15:26).
The minions, the demons in hell might have celebrated some, but it was a shallow party that lacked greatly in enthusiasm. Satan had to know Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, and if Lazarus could be raised, the Heavenly Father could resurrect His Son too. Satan’s last and best chance was to make the cross so brutal Jesus would override the guidance of His Father and the Holy Spirit and stop the sacrifice. But coming down from the cross would have meant Jesus would not have succeeded as God’s Passover Lamb, and there would have been no resurrection to celebrate. Jesus’ righteous character would have also been impeached and the bond between Him and His Father broken.
Indeed, Jesus did swallow the bitter cup of God’s wrath bearing the sins of all humanity. God’s wrath was not in vain.
But Satan did refuse to recognize Jesus as the Lamb of God and the Savior of the world.
Jesus did stay on the cross until His death. That achievement meant Jesus successfully made provision to take away the sin of the entire world (John 1:29). Secondarily, it also guaranteed Satan was “weighed in the balances and found wanting,” and the devil knew it (Daniel 5:27). Since God judged Satan at Calvary and did not spare him, is it not obvious He will judge all people who reject His Son, especially considering Jesus died and arose again to save them? Yes, the worst sin a person can commit is rejecting Jesus as the Son of God and our Savior.
The Apostle John said the reason Jesus came was to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:9; Colossians 2:13-15). Satan’s defeat at Calvary should convince everyone that a worldwide judgment day is coming. “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So, Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation” (Hebrews 9:27).
The Pentecostal message includes this solemn warning: no one should take for granted the coming reckoning on the great judgment day. “Be sure your sins will find you out” (Numbers 32:23). God “has set a day when He will judge the world in righteousness and has given public proof by resurrecting Jesus from the dead (Acts 17:31). This too is part of the meaning of celebrating the Day of Pentecost.
Think about it.
Beloved pastor, when is the last time you preached on the judgment to come, and did it with a broken heart like Jesus did when He wept over Jerusalem? (Luke 19:41-44). Yes, the great price Jesus paid to redeem humanity guarantees a Judgment Day is ahead. ‘“As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.’ So then, each of us shall give account of himself to God” (Romans 14:11-12 KJV; Revelation 6:15-17). This part of the message of Pentecost message must not be ignored either.
“I dreamed that the great judgment morning had dawned and the trumpet had blown. I dreamed that the nations had gathered to judgment before the White Throne. From the throne came a bright, shining angel, and he stood on the land and the sea. And he swore with his hand raised to Heaven that time was no longer to be. And, oh, what a weeping and wailing as the lost were told their fate. They cried for the rocks and the mountains. They prayed, but their prayer was too late.”
By: Bertram H. Shadduck