Final Judgment – Standing Before God
A little while back I was having a conversation with someone who said something that shocked me. He was talking about how some people were judging him about something he had done, and he said this: "They can't judge me! Not even God judges me! What gives them the right?"
As I said, this took me by surprise. 2 Corinthians 5:10 says this: "We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad."
The Reality of Judgment
This was a common theme in the writing and singing of the Wesleys. Listen to what John Wesley wrote in his sermon The Great Assize: "We shall all, I that speak and you that hear, 'stand at the judgement-seat of Christ.' And we are now reserved on this earth, which is not our home, in this prison of flesh and blood... till we are ordered to be brought forth... to give an account of all our works, from the cradle to the grave; of all our words; of all our desires and tempers, all the thoughts and intents of our hearts."
When last did you contemplate this? That when you die and go through that gateway to glory of which we spoke these past two days, you will have to give an account for all you have done? Perhaps regular contemplation of this fact will be useful for us, as we seek to live lives of Christian holiness and love.
Grace for the Believer
But Wesley goes on in that same sermon to say that for the believer, "all the transgressions which they had committed shall not be once mentioned unto them to their disadvantage; that their sins, and transgressions, and iniquities shall be remembered no more to their condemnation." Isn't this good news? We spoke of this in week 2 of Lent – that God will wash away the sins of those who repent and put their faith in Him. And so even though believers do give an account at the judgement seat of God, we have the assurance that in Him our sins are forgiven and cast away into the deepest sea.
Wesley then says this: "The wicked, meantime, shall be turned into hell, even all the people that forget God... They will be 'punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power.'"
The Wesleys were evangelicals. They were not afraid to talk about the reality of hell for those who reject God. In our day there are those within the church even who reject the notion of hell. Some believe that all will eventually be reconciled to God. Some believe that the godless will suffer in hell for some time and then eventually be snuffed out when their just punishment is complete. Some believe that non-Christians will be tormented forever in the fires of hell.
Whatever your view, know this: each of us, when we die, will face God and give an account for each thought, word and action. Those who believe will receive mercy and life eternal. Those who don't won't.
I pray that your faith is in Jesus and the blood He shed, so that one day when you stand at that throne, Jesus says to the Father "This child is with me! Their record is clean."
