"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness."
Romans 1:18
The Lord is not apologetic when He warns us of the wrath to come nor does He flinch when He defines and condemns our fashionable sins. Let us review the abundant Scriptures that speak to us of the future Judgment of God.
God is crystal clear about SIN. He hates sin and His anger is expressed in what Scripture calls the “wrath of God.” A wrath that is revealed in the course of this life, and which will be fully revealed at the Day of Judgment. The Lord is not apologetic when He warns us of the wrath to come nor does He flinch when He defines and condemns our fashionable sins. Let us review the abundant Scriptures that speak to us of the future Judgment of God:
God is crystal clear about SIN. He hates sin and His anger is expressed in what Scripture calls the “wrath of God.” A wrath that is revealed in the course of this life, and which will be fully revealed at the Day of Judgment. The Lord is not apologetic when He warns us of the wrath to come nor does He flinch when He defines and condemns our fashionable sins. Let us review the abundant Scriptures that speak to us of the future Judgment of God:
“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hinder the truth in unrighteousness... because that, knowing God, they glorified him not as God, neither gave thanks; but became vain in their reasonings, and their senseless heart was darkened...Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools... and changed the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things...Wherefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts unto uncleanness, that their bodies should be dishonored among themselves; for that they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this cause God gave them up unto vile passions: for their women changed the natural use into that which is against nature: and likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another, men with men working unseemliness, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was due... who, knowing the ordinance of God, that they that practice such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but also consent with them that practice them.” Romans 1:18-32
God will bring to account every thought, word, and deed. He is omniscient. He knows us through and through:
"The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked; but now he commandeth men that they should all everywhere repent: inasmuch as he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead."
Acts 17:30–31
"But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to each person according to his deeds."
Romans 2:5-6
"There is no creature hidden from his sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of him with whom we have to do."
Hebrews 4:13
Who can stand before His indignation? Who can endure the burning of His anger? His wrath is poured out like fire and the rocks are broken up by Him."
Nahum 1:6
"His eyes are upon the ways of man. He sees all his steps."
Job 34:21
"Every man’s way is clean in his own eyes but the Lord weighs the motives."
Proverbs 16:3
"And He said to them, 'You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God."
Luke 16:15
"Every careless word that men shall speak they shall render account of it in the day of judgment." Matthew 12:36
"When the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. And these will pay the penalty of eternal destruction away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day."
2 Thessalonians 1:7-9
Sadly men refuse the Gospel of our Lord and Savior, preferring darkness to light. They prefer condemnation rather than salvation.
“He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”
John 3:18-21
When men reject or refuse the Gospel, they are left to live without the power of the Gospel, which changes their sinful lives. They refuse to believe in Him and His Truth. They choose to live in darkness rather than in the Light because they love their evil deeds, their sins. They hate the Light, refusing to come in total surrender to Him because they do not want their sins exposed by the Light. They choose to remain in their lawlessness, their sins. That is a sad choice! The Gospel offers them a life free from the bondage of sin. Blaspheming the God of heaven, they refuse to turn to God and repent of their lawless deeds. Therefore, they must suffer the consequences of their bad choices eternally.
GOD'S JUDGMENTS ARE RIGHTEOUS ALTOGETHER
"Righteous art thou, O Jehovah, And upright are thy judgments."
Psalm 119:37
When we look closely at God’s Judgments as revealed in the Scriptures, we notice that people often reject the Gospel and its power to change their lives of sin. Sadly, they are left to live without the Gospel, the hope of salvation and without Christ. That is a sad choice. Why? Because they refuse the power that there is in the Gospel of our Lord and Savior to change their lives of sin into righteousness. They choose to live a life of darkness rather than light. Therefore, they will suffer the consequences of their choices, in this life and the next. God in His infinite loving-kindness and mercy, gives all men the opportunity for repentance and restoration, and yet we find that people will not turn from their sins to God. They prefer to blaspheme the God of heaven because they refuse to repent of their lawless deeds. Sadly, on the final day of reckoning no one will be able to claim an unfair judgment, nor will there be any courts of appeal. We all will be standing before the Judgment seat of Christ.
"... For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God." Romans 14:10.
"So that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Philippians 2:10-11
"You are righteous, O Lord, the One who is and who was and who is to be, because You have judged these things. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink. For it is their just due. And I heard another from the altar saying, "Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgements."
Revelation 16:5-7
In the Day of Judgment, God will judge all people for their sins against Him. He will judge all who have sinned. He will do this because He is holy and righteous. God must punish the sinner. The WORD will judge ALL. God cannot and will not ignore the one who has broken His righteous Law. The Law is a reflection of the character of God, His righteousness. Therefore, to break God's Law is to sin against God and deny the holiness and righteousness of His character. He will be vindicated. He will judge.
Judgment means accountability, and accountability means responsibility. God created us in His image, unique from everything else in this world. What a magnificent and sublime blessing! He holds us responsible for living up to that blessing as best we can, bearing good fruit for His glory. He demands that we live upright, blameless. The Day of Judgment will be a day on which God will call us to account for how we have lived up to the responsibility of being created in His image, in His righteousness.
Sadly, there will be a final Day of Judgment. That day is already set by God, and everyone from every age and every place, small and great, will be present on that day to be judged according to their deeds. The fact that God is a God of truth and righteousness means that He is also a God of justice, and judgment is required by law to be connected to justice. There is no other way to be right with God except to become righteous.
"Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire."
Revelation 20:11-15
God has appointed Christ to be the Judge on that day. He will indeed be the most righteous Judge before Whom any of us will ever stand. He will judge us according to our deeds. He knows everything about our hearts, whether good or bad. There will be no deceit, no legal maneuvering, no injustice. Truth will prevail! But thanks be to our God, His Son has come to save us from God’s wrath by dying that cruel death on Calvary in order that we may have a second chance, redemption by the cleansing of His precious blood. He is offering ALL men the opportunity to repent, turn to Him and seek His forgiveness through the obedience of the Gospel of His Son our Lord and Savior. He is now knocking at the door to the hearts of many saying,
"Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me."
Revelation 3:20.
Everyone is invited, all sinners, to drink of the water that He gives us so that we might never be thirsty.
"The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come.' And let the one who hears say, 'Come.' And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.'"Revelation 22:17
"Then He said to me, "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost."
Revelation 21:6
Now is the time to take advantage of God's grace, His gift for all men while there is still time to repent. While we are still alive on this earth, there is the hope that we may be transformed from lawlessness into righteousness and become faithful to Him, through His teachings. Let us not be stiff-necked and disobedient, provoking His wrath and rejecting His grace for He will hold you and me accountable in that Day of Judgment. That day is coming for all men, you can be sure of it. Let us not reject His invitation to be reconciled which was made possible through the precious blood of His Son, our Lord and Savior.
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."
John 3:16
"Being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed." Romans 3:24-25
My prayer to God is that we heed these divine warnings and be received into the joys of our Lord.
"Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people." Hebrews 2:17
“Thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift.“ 2 Corinthians 9:15
Luci
I leave you with this great Hymn, “There’s a Great Day Coming.”
There's a great day coming,
A great day coming,
There's a great day coming by and by;
When the saints and the sinners shall be parted right and left,
Are you ready for that day to come?
Chorus:
Are you ready?
Are you ready?
Are you ready for the judgment day?
Are you ready?
Are you ready?
For the judgment day?
There's a bright day coming,
A bright day coming,
There's a bright day coming by and by;
But its brightness shall only come to them that love the Lord,
Are you ready for that day to come? [Chorus]
There's a sad day coming,
A sad day coming,
There's a sad day coming by and by;
When the sinner shall hear his doom, "Depart, I know ye not,"
Are you ready for that day to come? [Chorus]
