Article - Are You Ready For The Judgment Day?
The Bible clearly teaches that God has a day prepared when He will judge all men. To the idolatrous people in Athens, Paul declared that God “…has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead" (Acts 17:30-31). For many people this will be the saddest day of their life. They did not prepare spend their life preparing for this day. As a result, they will be lost (Matthew 25:1-10). To others, this will be the most wonderful day of their life. They spent their life preparing for this day and were ready to go to Heaven (Matthew 25:23). For The Day of Judgment to be a happy day for us we must understand the nature of this day. Let us consider several biblical characteristics of The Judgment Day.
Judgment is certain in action. The Judgment Day of God is as certain as the fact that each person must one day die. The Hebrews writer stated, “It is appointed to man once to die and then the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). Paul reminds us of the surety of God’s Judgment when he writes, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God." So then each of us will give an account of himself to God” (Romans 14:11-12). It has often been said that there are two things certain in this life: death and taxes. To that list we would also add The Judgment Day.
Judgment is uncertain in time. Concerning the day of God’s judgment, Jesus said “Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (Matthew 24:44). Paul taught the Thessalonians that the Lord’s coming would be as a thief in the night (1 Thessalonians 5:2-3). Paul’s point is you don’t know when a thief is coming to rob you, nor do you know when the Lord is coming again. Jesus taught that only the Father knew the time of His return and judgment (Matthew 24:36). The reason God did not tell us when He was coming in judgment is because He knows our nature. If God told us exactly when He was coming then we would very likely squander our time down to the very last minute and then try to get ready. We are terrible procrastinators. Judgment could happen at any time. Are you ready for it?
Judgment will be by The Book. When God judges the world, the standard for judgment will be the Bible. Jesus said, “He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him — the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day” (John 12:48). Each of us will have our deeds in this life compared with the Word of God to see if they are right (2 Corinthians 5:10-11). If we are going to be judged by God’s word, then we must also live by God’s word.
Friend, are you ready for The Judgment Day? If you have lived right and been faithful to God then you will have a home in Heaven. However, if you have not lived by the Bible, but instead have lived a life of sin it will be a sad, sad day. To those who were unfaithful to His will Jesus said, “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41). May God help all of us to prepare for The Judgment Day.
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