To Encourage You

2 Corinthians 5:10 “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.”

There is no other book that has ever been written that speaks to us with the urgency that the Bible does.  The Bible isn’t a book like so many others about which we can have a “take it or leave it” attitude.  I’ve had situations in my life where I’ve tried to share to gospel with others and their response has been “I’m not interested in that,” or “I don’t see any need for that.”  I had one person tell me once that he never thought about eternal things, that such things never crossed his mind.  What these people didn’t realize, however, is that the message of the Bible isn’t something that is optional.  It isn’t up to us to determine its validity. Whether we accept it or not doesn’t affect the fact that it is true, and as such, God’s Truth, in the well-known words of The Battle Hymn of the Republic, “goes marching on.” And because of that, we will either believe and obey it, or it will eventually overwhelm our unbelief like a flood. 

An example of this is proclaimed by the apostle Paul in the verse above.  Paul lets us in on a most critical matter.  He tells us that we all, each and every one of us, must appear one day before the judgment seat of Christ.  All means all.  It includes people like Pilate, who rendered a very evil and unjust verdict against Christ. It includes all the Pharisees who would not have this Man to be their King. It includes all the despots of history. And it includes you and me. It doesn’t matter if we think this message is “for us.” It doesn’t matter if we’re interested in hearing about it.  It doesn’t matter if we subscribe to “our own truth,” as so many people proclaim in our day and age.  No, we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.  We have an appointment, and it’s not a secret, for God has written about it in black and white for us in His Word.

So, the question for each and every one of us is “Am I ready for that moment?  Am I ready to stand before the Almighty one whose ‘eyes are like a flame of fire’” (Revelation 19:12) and about Whom we are told “no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account” (Hebrews 4:13). 

Well, praise be to God that He’s not only told us about that judgment day, but He’s also told us how to be prepared for it. In those well-known words from John 3:16, He’s told us that He so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son to die for us and bear the punishment for our sins, and that if we will put our faith in Him, we will not perish but have everlasting life.  But what He’s also told us in the verses immediately following John 3:16 is that “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. and this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” 

You see, at that moment when we stand as individuals, one by one, before the judgment seat of Christ, there will be one of two verdicts: “Condemned,” or “Not Condemned.”  There are no other options.  So, are you ready for the judgment seat of Christ?  Are you ready to meet the Lord?  If not, you better get ready, for it’s an appointment none of us can opt out of.  It’s a place where we all must appear.