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John 12:31 THE JUDGMENT OF THE WORLD DRAWING NEAR

Introduction:

	Jesus had announced to the great crowd who had gathered
at Jerusalem for the Passover that He was drawing near His
death.  In our text today He makes another very vital
announcement.

I.  What did Jesus say was about to take place?

	V. 31, "Now is the judgment of this world..."  Jesus
announced that the judgment of the world was about to take
place.  This means that the people of the world were about
to be judged.
 	(V. 31)  "...now shall the prince of this world be cast
out."  Jesus also announced that the prince of the world was
about to be cast out.  This means that Satan was about to be
cast out.  Satan is said in Scripture to be "the prince and
power of the air."  He is also said in Scripture to be "the
god of this world."  He is not the Creator God.  He is not
the rightful.  Jehovah God is the Creator God and the
rightful Sovereign of the world.  Satan is one of the false
gods.  He has usurped authority over the world which does
not rightfully belong to him.
	This leads to some questions which are difficult to be
answered.  Jesus does not give us all of the answer in this
text.  We are going to have to search the Scriptures and
find the answers in the over-all teachings of the Scripture.

II.  In what sense was the world about to be judged?
	
	Let me first point out to you that Jesus was not saying
that the time had arrived when the saved people of the world
would be judged and rewarded.  That judgment is usually
called "The Judgment Seat of Christ" and it will take place
in end-time events.  In that judgment the saved will not be
judged to determine whether or not they would go to heaven.
That question was settled when the repented of their sin and
trusted in Jesus Christ for salvation.
	Let me also say to you that Jesus was not saying that
the final judgment of the unsaved was about to take place.
That judgment is usually called "The Great White Throne
Judgment" and it, too, will take place in end-time events.
This judgment will not take place until after the Great
Tribulation is over and even the millennium will be over.
It is said in the Book of Revelation that a Great White
Throne would appear and that the earth and heavens will flee
away.  The unsaved dead of all the ages will be raised and
brought before the Great White Throne to be judged.  They
will not be saved to determine whether or not they are
saved.  All who are judged in this judgment will be cast
into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone.  They are already
judged as guilty before God and they already stand condemned
before God.  They will be judged in order to determine just
what the punishment of each person will be.  They will be
judged, sentenced and cast into the Lake of Fire and
Brimstone.
	I would also point out to your that Jesus was not saying
that "The Judgment of The Nations" was about to take place.
This is a judgment which will take place after the Great
Tribulation and at the opening of the millennium.  The
purpose of this judgment is to determine who will go alive
in their fleshly bodies into the millennium.
	But Jesus did say that the world was to be judged and He
said that this judgment was about to take place.  It was
near at hand.  But the question is: In just what sense was
the world about to be judged?
	Again I say that we will have to search the Scriptures
and let the Bible give the answer to the question.  We are
not to use wild imagination.  We are to compare what Jesus
has said here with what is taught in other passages of
Scripture and come up with Biblical answers to the question.
	This judgment is to be understood in the light of what
Jesus had already earlier announced to this great crowd of
people.  He had announced to them that He was about to be
put to death.  He was about to go to the cross and be
crucified.  In Isaiah 53:6 it is said, "All we like sheep
have gone astray.  We have turned every one to his own way,
and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all."
	That is, all mankind has sinned.  We have all gone
astray by sinning.  We have all turned our own way.  We are
all guilty.  This Scripture says that "the Lord hath laid on
Him the iniquity of us all."  All of the people of the world
has sinned and the Lord, the Lord God the Father, has laid
on Him, the Son of God, the iniquity of us all.  At the
crucifixion of Jesus God the Father would lay on Jesus the
iniquity of the whole world.
	Furthermore, on the cross God the Son, would suffer the
penalty for the iniquity of the whole world.  In the death
of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary the sins of the
whole world were judged and paid for.
	Thus, Jesus suffered the full penalty so that the guilty
sinners would not have to suffer that penalty.  In order for
the guilty sinner to be free from the penalty of his sins,
God requires that he repent of his sins and trust in Jesus
to save him.  If a sinner repents of his sins and trusts
Jesus for salvation then the suffering of Jesus counts as
judgment of that sinner's sins.
	Therefore, he will not be judged in The Great White
Throne Judgment because judgment for his sins has already
taken place and accounted to him by his faith in Jesus.
	Potentially, every sinner in the world could be saved.
The whole world was judged and the whole world could be
saved if only they would trust in Jesus Christ the Savior.
	But the sinner who does not repent of his sins and trust
in Jesus Christ for salvation that sinner must yet be judged
before The Great White Throne because he has not been
cleansed from his sin.
	He will not need to be judged to see if he is saved or
lost.  He is already judged and he already stands as guilty
before God.  He is already condemned.  He is still condemned
because he is already a sinner and has not trusted in Jesus
Christ to be saved from the penalty of those sins.  John
3:18 says, "He that believeth on Him is not condemned; but
he that believeth not is condemned already because he hath
not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."
He will be judged at The Great White Throne and cast into
The Lake of Fire and Brimstone.
	
III.  In what sense would Satan be cast out?

	(V. 31), "...now shall the prince of this world be cast
out."  Jesus was not saying that Satan's influence in this
world would be over when He died on the cross.  Jesus died
on the cross nearly two-thousand years ago and Satan is
still active in this world today.  As one writer has said,
"Satan is alive and well on planet earth."  All that one has
to do to see the evidence that he is still active in the
world is to read the newspapers, watch the news or just look
about him.  There is plenty evidence that Satan still
exercises a great deal of influence in the world today.
	Neither was Jesus saying that at His crucifixion Satan
would be cast into The Lake of Fire and Brimstone.  The time
will come when he will be cast out finally.  He will be cast
out into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone never to plague the
world again.  He will be imprisoned there forever.
	But Jesus did say that Satan would be cast out at the
time that He would be crucified.  That brings up the
question:  In what sense would Satan be cast out at the time
of the crucifixion of Jesus?
	That question is partly answered in this:  In His
crucifixion on the cross Jesus laid the groundwork for the
final judgment and the final casting out of Satan.  The
groundwork for the final doom of Satan was laid when Jesus
was crucified and arose from the grave.  If Jesus had not
arisen from the grave then Satan would have been victorious.
But the resurrection of Jesus from the grave spelled the
downfall of Satan even though his final downfall has not yet
taken place.
	The question is also partly answered in this:  By His
death on the cross Jesus brought an end to Satan's dominion
over the sinner who repents and trusts in Jesus.  In John
8:36 Jesus said, "If the Son shall make you free, ye shall
be free indeed."  That believer is no longer under the
dominion of Satan.
	Satan can still tempt him and Satan will continue to
tempt him.  Satan may even entice him into yielding to the
temptation.  But Satan can no longer have dominion over that
man because he has trusted in Jesus.  He is free from the
dominion of Satan.  He is forever free from the dominion of
Satan.

Conclusion:

	Whatever judgments are to take place in the end-time
events are getting closer and closer at hand.  Would you
like to get your judgment for your sin over with now?  Would
you like to get it over with in such a way that you will
avoid being judged in The Great White Throne Judgment and
avoid being cast into The Lake of Fire and Brimstone?  If so
then place your faith in Jesus Christ the Son of God to save
your soul.  Trust Jesus to save you by counting to the
suffering which Jesus did on the cross to take care of your
sin.  Who will come?
	If you are already saved and desire to yield your life
to Jesus in some special way then come this morning and let
the Lord have His way with your life.  Who will come?