The words of our title are found in Amos 4:11-13:
"(11) 'I
overthrew some of you, as God
ov
erthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were like a firebrand plucked from the
burning; yet you have not returned to Me,' says the Lord.
(12)
'Therefore thus will I do to you, O Israel; because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel!'
(13) For
behold, He who forms mountains, and creates the wind, who declares to man what
his thought is, and makes the
morning darkness, who treads the high places of the earth-- The Lord God of hosts is His name."
In these verses we see that the Lord God of hosts
is warning the backsliding nation of Israel that there is a coming time when He
must act in judgement upon them. In verses
6,8, 9,10 and 11 the Lord remonstrates with them, "Yet you have not returned to Me," says the Lord." Note the tone of His
words! 'I overthrew some of you, as God overthrew Sodom
and Gomorrah.' He is giving them a clear warning that if they do not repent
and return to Him a similar judgement would come upon them! "Therefore thus will I do to you, O
Israel; because I will do this to you."
Our God is a jealous God! Exodus
20:3-6:
"(3) You shall have no other gods before Me.
(4) "You shall not make for yourself a carved
image, or any likeness of anything
that is in heaven above, or
that is in the earth beneath,
or that is in the water under
the earth;
(5) you shall not bow down to them nor serve them.
For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the
iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,
(6) but showing mercy to thousands, to those who
love Me and keep My commandments'."
Exodus 34:14:
"(For
you shall worship no other god, for the Lord,
whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God)"
Every person will one day meet God! Hebrews 9:27:
"And as
it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment" Whether you
are a born again believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, or not, each of us will
have to give an account of ourselves to God. Romans
14:10-12 :
"(10) But
why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother?
For we shall all stand before the
judgment seat of Christ.
(11) For it
is written: 'As I live, says the Lord, Every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God.'
(12) So then
each of us shall give account of himself to God."
I must point out here that the Judgement Seat of
Christ is only for His own redeemed people. It is not for the wicked dead;
those who have died unrepentant still in their sins. They will have their own
awful day of judgement.
2 Corinthians
5:10:
"For we
must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive
the things done in the body,
according to what he has done, whether good or bad."
1 Peter
4:17-18:
"(17) For
the time has come for judgment
to begin at the house of God; and if it
begins with us first, what will be
the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?
(18) Now "If the righteous one is scarcely
saved, where will the ungodly
and the sinner appear?"
1 Corinthians
3:9-15 :
"(9) For
we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, you are God's building.
(10) According
to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid
the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he
builds on it.
(11) For no
other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
(12) Now if
anyone builds on this foundation with
gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw,
(13) each
one's work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be
revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is.
(14) If
anyone's work which he has built on it
endures, he will receive a reward.
(15) If
anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet
so as through fire."
Our work for Christ is compared to gold - silver -
precious stones. These precious things will endure the fire of judgement. However,
if our work has not been Christ centred and does not bring glory to our God -
it will be burned up in the fire of judgement. Please note very carefully, the
person is not judged but his or her works!
Ungodly, unrighteous people on the other hand will
be judged according to their evil works.
Galatians
6:7-8:
"(7) Do
not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also
reap.
(8) For he
who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the
Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life."
The Book of Revelation gives us the final
destination for all those who have rebelled against God and refused His offer
of eternal life in our Lord Jesus Christ. It is a very sombre, dreadful scene.
Revelation
20:10-15:
"(10) The
devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where
the beast and the false prophet are.
And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
(11) Then I
saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and
the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them.
(12) And I
saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And
another book was opened, which is the
Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the
things which were written in the books.
(13) The sea
gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who
were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works.
(14) Then
Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
(15) And
anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire."
Let's look at some points in these verses.
1. The Devil
has been stripped of all power over men. He is cast into the Lake of Fire and
is tormented forever.
2. A Great
White Throne is set up for judgement.
3. All the
wicked dead from Adam and Eve's time onwards stand before God.
4. Books are
opened! Everything we have ever done in our lives on Earth has been recorded.
5. The Book of
Life is also opened.
6. They are
judged according to their works recorded in the books about their lives.
7. If their
names are not found recorded in the Book of Life they are cast into the Lake of
Fire.
8. The Lake of
Fire is the second death. It is final! It is absolute! It is irrevocable!
This is the resurrection of condemnation the Lord
Jesus Christ spoke about in John
5:28-29:
"(28) Do
not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves
will hear His voice
(29) and
come forth--those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those
who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation."
I sincerely hope that you will appear at the
Judgement seat of Christ and not at
the Great White Throne. Everything we have done for Christ that glorifies God will
be rewarded. Everything we have done from our own will that does not glorify
God will be burned up.
Matthew 5:16:
"Let your light so shine before men, that they
may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."
Ephesians
2:10 :
"For we
are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared
beforehand that we should walk in them."
Are you prepared to meet your God? Which judgement
will you be at?
Jon Peasey
Biblical Perspectives blog www.jon-peasey.blogspot.com
[All
Scriptures quoted are from the New King James version; unless otherwise noted.
Words enclosed in [ ] are inserted
for clarity. Words in bold type
emphasise a point. You may notice some verses are quoted with ... at the beginning, ending or
elsewhere in a verse. Only the relevant part or parts of the verse, that relate
directly to the current subject matter is quoted.]
[If
you have any questions or comments you are invited to contact me via the
comments section below.]
