My father said to me just before he died that he hated going to funerals where everyone was preached into Heaven regardless of their lifestyle or obedience to the gospel of Christ. He said, They forget there is a day of judgement.
The Bible speaks of those in whom there is no fear of God before their eyes, and men treat lightly the thought of judgement, even boasting about the number of friends they will have in Hell. Through the fear of the Lord men depart from iniquity (Prov. 16:6) – more laws won’t better people, and neither will giving up and having less laws. Laws made by men to be broken by men in part explains why there is wickedness in the world. In view of the condemnation they were under one thief said to the other Don’t you fear God (Luke 23:40). What a predicament to know that you are condemned as a sinner and that your life is ebbing away and soon you will be reaping life’s choices. But, that’s the predicament of every man and woman isn’t it? (Heb. 9:27). There’s a great day coming!
Jude 6 records that the angels that sinned are held in chains under darkness unto the judgement of the great day. Why is it great? There has never been and will never be another day like it. So great it is called ‘that day’. The expression ‘that day’ is used grammatically to refer to any particular day of context (eg. Luke 6:22,23). But there are occasions when nothing has to be said to define what ‘that day’ is. God has appointed a day (Acts 17:30,31), and so great will be that day that it needs no introduction – cf. 2 Tim. 1:12,18; Luke 10:12.
Mind you, that day will start off like any other day! The sun will be rising on one part of the earth, be at its zenith at another and be setting at still another. People will be rising, working and retiring, eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage. But then a lot of things are going to happen – without warning, things will change very quickly. So quick, in fact, that no one will be able to change their situation for in the twinkling of an eye Christ will return, the saved will be raised and delivered from the destruction of the universe that will immediately follow. It’s going to be a big day and that’s just the start! After this there comes the judgement! Why will it be a great day?
First, it is a fundamental doctrine, for if there is no final judgement, no final separation between sin and righteousness, sinner and saint, the doctrine of salvation has no rational meaning. It is incomprehensible, even to the mind of the average man, that wickedness and righteousness should achieve the same end. So mindful was Jesus that final judgement was awaiting all men, His teaching would be inexplicable without the doctrine. Heb. 6:2 calls it a first principle.
Certain things are taken for granted in arguments. That is, some truths are so universally recognized that they are ‘givens’, providing the basic building blocks that lead to more complex truths. Gen. 1:1 is an example:- in declaring God to be the Creator, His existence is taken for granted for it is only the ‘fool’ who denies God’s existence (Ps. 14:1). The apostle Paul makes an argument in the early section of Romans which assumes the judgment of all mankind. In anticipation of an argument (similar to the one in Rom. 6:1) that glosses over man’s sins by suggesting that sin served a ‘good’ purpose by highlighting the righteousness of God, Paul swiftly pulls the rug from under this line of thinking by saying if this was true, God would not be able to judge the world (Rom. 3:6). That thought was deemed to be an adequate expose of the foolishness of such thinking.
It will be a great day because of the universality of it. (Matt.25:31,32) All nations will be there – great nations – Egypt, Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome, Great Britain, United States of America, USSR, China. Small nations will be there – Edom, Moab, Ammon, Philistia, Midian, Amalek, Iceland, Monaco, Australia. Wicked towns will be there – Sodom, Gemorrah, Tyre, Sidon. Little towns will be there – Capernaum, Chorazin, Bethsaida (Matt.11:20-24). Big cities will be there – Babylon, Nineveh, Athens, Rome, San Francisco, Sydney, Brisbane. Every citizen of these cities and towns will be gathered before the throne of God. If you think that the Olympics represents a great international gathering, it’s nothing compared to the great day of judgement. There will be no greater gathering in all of time and eternity:- God, Christ, the Holy Spirit and every living soul, whether having lived in the flesh or angelic.
It will be great because of the individuality of it. It is inescapable – Rom. 2:3 do you think you will escape the judgement of God? Each man will answer for himself (Rom. 14:12) – everyone of us will give account of himself to God (2 Cor. 5:10). Everyone will receive the things done in his body, whether good or evil. We have been in situations when someone has been delegated to be spokesman for the group. Did you ever get sent to the Headmaster with a few mates – or the Commanding Officer? I can remember the degree of comfort and anonymity in those situations when you didn’t have to walk alone. Not so on the great day. We won’t be lumped in groups or categories or classes – or hide behind a father or mother or husband or wife (“she’s religious enough for both of us”). I mow the lawn for both of us – she cooks the meals for both of us – that’s alright. But we can’t live for God for another and I can’t expect another to answer for me on that great day. We won’t have a few mates to get their story straight and put in a good word for us.
It will be great because it will be righteous (Rom. 2:2 –the judgement of God is according to truth). The more the people the more the potential for sin and the more sin usually. It is ironical that everything about the proceedings on the day of the greatest gathering of people is that everything will be done right. It will be no ‘kangaroo’ court, and neither will highly-paid lawyers skirt justice by a technicality, pleading insanity, or appealing to the fifth amendment. There will be no plea-bargaining. Thus the judgement will be righteous (Rom. 2:5), presided over by the ‘righteous judge’ (2 Tim. 4:8). It will not be a grading on the curve. For some it will mean eternal life, with glory, honour, peace and rest (Rom. 2:7,10; 2 Thess. 1:7) (what a thing to hear Well done, good and faithful servant), whilst for others it will mean the suffering of wrath, indignation, tribulation, anguish, vengeance and everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord (Rom. 2:5,8,9; 2 Thess. 1:6,8,9. (what a thing to hear depart from me into the Hell prepared for the Devil and his angels). Sobering as this is, we can rest assured when considering the plight of the damned, that every person’s judgement will be perfectly right – God will make no mistakes – either way. Everybody will end up in the right place.
It will be great because of the thoroughness of it. We go to the courts of men to be judged for one crime, usually. But this judgement will incorporate all a person’s deed (Rom. 2:6), not just the deeds that are visible to all (1 Tim. 5:24), but also the ‘secrets of men’ (we have no courts for thoughts – not yet anyway) (Rom. 2:16; Heb. 4:13; Eccles. 12:14; Luke 12:2; 1 Cor. 4:5). Unsolved crimes often stay unsolved, but God knows (Heb. 4:15) His eyes are as fire (Rev1:14). Every idle word will come into the judgement (Matt.12:36). Those who have been members of the church but have failed the grace of God will be exposed. Some men’s sins are open beforehand going before the judgement, but what about denominational people who have never been baptised (Matt.7:21)? Consider the example in 1 Cor. 10:1 – these were ‘baptised’ people but many of them were lost. Will members of the church of Christ be lost? Yes. I’m not trying to destroy the security we have in Christ or downgraded the power of His blood, but I am trying to balance that with the truth that man is so good at deceiving himself, and that what we claim can be often different from what we practice.
This judgement will be great because it will be impartial (Rom. 2:11). One’s social standing, economic status, gender, or national heritage will not exempt anyone. The rich man will be judged as a rich man, and the poor man will be judged as a poor man. There is a common thinking that a poor man gets an automatic entrance into Heaven because he was poor on earth (the reverse of old Jewish thinking). The healthy person will be judged as a healthy person and the sufferer will be judged as a sufferer – there is also a common line of thinking that those who suffer in life are granted free passage into heaven because they’ve had the “hell” on earth. Personal circumstances are different, but this will be taken into account (Luke 12:47,48). Jew and Gentile will be judged appropriately (Rom. 2:12-15). Judgement day will be the great leveler – there is the famous picture in Isa. 14:9,10 of the departed seeing the coming of the king of Babylon in death: Are you become as one of us?
It will be great because of the finality of it. We have grown accustomed to court room scenes from TV shows such as Law and Order. We have gotten used to hearing 20 year sentences handed out. Can you imagine being in that position? Well, what about “Depart from me into everlasting punishment”. It will be the end, the consummation of all earthly history. Time will be no more and timeless eternity will reign. (Heb. 9:27; Matt.25:46)
So, are you ready for that great day? Everyone will want a friend on that day. Everyone will want a barrister. You know what? The court of Heaven has appointed one – 1 John 2:1. Have you accepted Him or rejected Him? Are you going to take your chances and conduct your own defence? That’s foolish – Phil. 3:9. It’s a sure thing you will be found guilty as charged – Rom. 3:23!
But look, there’s more (1 John 2:2). That’s the best barrister you’ll ever get. Someone who says I’ll not only represent you but whatever penalty the court hands out I’ll pay it. You don’t many lawyers like that do you? You get found guilty and your own your own unless you want to cough up some more big bickkies and they’ll mount an appeal. The fact of the matter is Christ has already paid the price for sins – we have to commit ourselves to Him.
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