Christ is coming to judge the
world. "And as it is appointed for men once to die, but after this the
judgment" (Hebrews 9:27). We have two appointments, which we will definitely keep: death and
judgment. Judgment day is certain. There is no way to escape it. All of ors will be there for
this final appointment. "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that each
one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done in the body,
whether good or bad. Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men"
(2 Corinthians 5:10-1 1). No one will be excluded from the Judgment. Every person, who has
ever lived, that are now living, and who will ever live, will stand before the
Lord and be judged.
We will not
know when Judgment Day is coming. "Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour
you do not expect" (Matthew 24:44) We must be
very serious about the Judgment. "For we shall all stand before the
judgment seat of Christ. For it is written `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 an account of himself to
God" (Romans
14:10-12). At the Judgment there will be no atheists. What will the judgment be
like? "Then I
saw a great white throne, and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And
there was found no place for them. And l saw the dead, small and great, standing before
God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead
were judged according to their works, by the things written in the books. . .And anyone not found written in
the Book of Life was cast
into the lake of fire-The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of
fire and brimstone where
the beast and false prophet are. And they shall be tormented day and night forever and ever"
(Revelation 20:11-12, 15, 10). Being cast into the lake of fire with the devil is not very good
company to be with forever and ever. Is your name in the Book of Life? Are you sure? Your
eternal life in Heaven depends on it being there.
The Lord is
omniscient. He knows all things. There is nothing hidden from Him. "And there is no creature
hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give an account" (Hebrews
4:13).
The Lord will make no mistake in the Judgment. "For God will bring every work
into judgment, including every secret thing,
whether good or evil" (Ecclesiastes 12:14). We can have no secrets from God.
He knows everything
about each of us. At the Judgment there will be two groups of people, the vast majority who are lost and
the few who are saved. In which group will you be? Many will be shocked and terrified
to learn that their sincerity, good works. and prayers
will be to no avail if they have left out the essential component of obedience
to God's will. How wise it is to obey the
will of God today. No human creed written by men or convention of men will do us any good. God will not accept any of our
excuses. Being religious is not
enough, doing good works is not enough. preaching is
not enough. We must submit to the obedience of God's will, and not our will, or
else we will hear the Lord say,
"I never knew you, depart from Me" (Matthew
7:23).
The Lord's
judgment will be final. There will be no appeal. There will only be two verdicts: 1) "I never knew
you, depart from Me" (Matthew 7:23) or 2) "Well done, good and faithful servant.. .enter into the joy of your Lord" (Matthew 2:21).
Our number one priority in this life is that we must be prepared to meet the
Lord in judgment. If we miss ({eaves and
end up in Hell we can only blame ourselves. There will not be a second chance. We have got to get it right the first
time. "Prepare to meet your (God" (Amos 4:12). We must he prepared
for Judgment Day. Eric