Judgement Day Is Coming? - From His Heart - Week of December 1, 2016

Some years after World War II ended, Winston Churchill made this astute observation regarding the state of morality in Great Britain, “The moral landslide in Great Britain can be traced to the fact that heaven and hell are no longer preached in the land.”  Because coming judgment was not regularly preached, the people engaged in all forms of sin and debauchery with no thought of the consequences. 
 
If Churchill’s statement was true in 1960, how much more appropriate is it for today?  People today have a false view of God.  They see Him as mushy, weak, and without standards.  They conveniently forget that He is "holy, holy, holy."  They fail to comprehend the ominous warning in Hebrews 10:31, “It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” 
 
TWO JUDGMENTS
 
All of us will one day stand before the Lord Jesus Christ, our Creator God (see John 5:22-23), to give an account of our lives.  Unbelievers will do this at the Great White Throne Judgment (see Revelation 20:11-15), and believers will do this at the Judgment Seat of Christ (see 2 Corinthians 5:10).  Christ-rejecters (unbelievers) will be judged for their sins and cast into hell---the garbage dump of eternity where the fire is never quenched and the worm never dies.  Christ acceptors (believers), on the other hand, will have their works tested by fire.  They will be rewarded for their fruitfulness and faithfulness to the Lord. 
 
Tragically, some Christians will experience tremendous loss at the Judgment Seat of Christ.  They will not lose their salvation or their inheritance of heaven, but they will lose their hope of reward.  Why?  The reason is these Christians did not yield to the Lordship of Christ.  They did not walk in the power of the Spirit but in the power of the flesh.  The product of their lives will go up in flames, consisting of wood, hay, and straw (see 1 Corinthians 3:11-15). 
 
WHICH JUDGMENT FOR YOU?
 
There are only two possible judgments after death.  Which one you go to depends on what you do with the Savior in this life.  For unbelievers, the horrors of hell await, and rightfully so.  For believers, the Judgment Seat of Christ should persuade us “to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord.”  As the old poem so aptly states, “Only one life will soon be past.  Only what’s done for Christ will last.”  
 
Our world today does not even have the fear of God's judgment on the radar screen.  People think they can sin with impunity, but nothing could be further from the truth.  God is the righteous judge, and no one gets away with sin.  Sin for the unbeliever results in eternal punishment, and sin for the believer results in eternal loss of reward.  Do not be deceived.  There is a heavy price to pay for embracing the passing pleasures of sin. 
 
May we be sobered to the evils all around us.  May we be sensitive to any ungodly thought, word, deed, or attitude we have allowed into our hearts.  May we be aware of the coming judgment and the exposing of all things hidden in the darkness.  Listen:  it pays to serve Jesus ... and it costs to neglect Him.

P.S.  I would love to hear your thoughts on this.  Direct questions and comments to pastorjeff@fromhisheart.org.