THE COMING TIME OF JUDGMENT

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler.

For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And,

“If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”

1 Peter 4:15, 17-18

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

The earth and heavens as we know it are going to end one day (Revelation 21: It’s as sure as the guarantee that we all will die.

This utter destruction will align when Jesus returns to judge all humanity. We know through His own words found in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 24:

And then at last, the sign that the Son of Man is coming will appear in the Heavens, and there will be deep mourning among all the peoples of the earth. And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of Heaven with power and great glory. And He will send out His angels with the mighty blast of a trumpet, and they will gather His chosen ones from all over the world, from the farthest ends of the earth and Heaven.

Heaven and earth will disappear, but My words will never disappear. Vv.30-31, 35

When Jesus returns, it will be with the fanfare of the One who God has granted all authority in Heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18). It will be a cataclysmic event of epic proportion and this means everyone on earth and in the heavens will be aware when it happens as Jesus descends from the “clouds of Heaven” in “power and great glory, dispatching “His angels with the mighty blast of a trumpet”. These angels “will gather” the “chosen ones” of Christ “from all over the world, from the farthest ends of the earth and Heaven”. They will be the ones who come to judgment throne and gain pardon because Jesus, the Savior their placed their belief in, already had paid the sin penalty owed.

As for everyone else, those who decided to rebuff God’s offer of salvation, we learn of their fate from Jesus Himself as He speaks in the 25th chapter of Matthew, verses 31-33, 41, 46:

“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on His left.”

“Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”

“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Through the very words of Christ, we gain an image of the coming time of judgment and there will only be one of two outcomes for every single person who has ever lived.

For those who believed in Jesus, the sheep of the Good Shepherd, they will be justified and thus found righteous, gaining promised eternal life and a share in the very inheritance of Heaven’s Kingdom (Romans 8:14-17).

For everyone else, an everlasting life of punishment, torment, and damnation awaits within “the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels”. That’s right, refusing to trust and follow Jesus will earn you a forever existence with the devil and his minions.

If you have chosen to not follow Jesus today, is that what you really want?

I hope you’ve given it the proper thought as the implications are immense.

Why all this discussion about the coming time of judgment?

Because we find Peter touching on it in his letter to “God’s chosen people” who were “living as foreigners in the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia” (1 Peter 1:1). Here’s what he writes in the fourth chapter of that letter:

If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler.

For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And,

“If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” Vv. 15, 17-18

Fresh off of speaking about how Christian believers should expect to suffer for their faith just as Jesus did, we find Peter touching on the kind of suffering that no believer should experience, the suffering that comes with major sins like murder, stealing, or any other criminal offense. Even more minor offenses such as meddling were to be off limits.

Peter goes on to make a clear point intended to be a shot across the bow for anyone who had chosen to reject Jesus. For if those who were in God’s household would face judgment despite their righteousness and justification, those who were His very children who were faithful and obedient in following His Son, then what about His assessment of sinners who were unsaved and the subsequent outcome? What would “become of the ungodly and the sinner”, a question born out of the very mouth of Solomon in the Book of Proverbs (11:31)?

As we saw prior, Jesus has already answered Peter’s question, drawing the line in the proverbial sand regarding the two sides people will fall on when He returns for the final time.

Which side will you be found on?

My advice is not to be on Jesus’ left.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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