Vian Baptist Church
Hebrews 9:27 “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:” As I get older the amount of doctors visits are getting crazy. I have gone for years in my younger days without a doctor visit necessary I grew up in Missouri and you had to have your mother diagnose you with something close to death or dismemberment to get to go to the doctor. Because of that I am still all original with no missing bits. The six years I was in the U.S. Navy I only went to sickbay once. I really didn’t want to go then, but my bunk mates insisted so they could get some sleep instead of listening to me cough. Appointments are important. Doctors offices have gotten to the point that one of their secretaries call to remind you that you have an appointment. Some of the big city doctors charge you even if you do not see them.
Now we get back to our verse…it is appointed unto man. Well, you have a specific time for you to appear before God. The appointment will be kept. There is no way out of this appointment. You can’t forget it and you can’t disregard it. It will happen.
Acts 17:31 “Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.”
We have a little more information about our appointment… we will be judged by Jesus Christ, the one who was raised from the dead.
The appointment is sure because we all have an expiration date. It is foreordained that we all die and are judged. Many people laugh at this, yet these same people die every day. I bet they are a little surprised when they find out that there really is a God who created them. I’ll bet they are shocked to see Jesus who died for them.
There are two appointments for Judgment. 2Corinthians 5:10 “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.”
There is a positive judgment for Christians found in 1 Corinthians 3:12-15 “Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.”
This one judges the works of Christians after their conversion. Did they build lasting things (gold, silver, precious stones) or did they just live their lives for themselves (wood, hay, stubble). This judgment is positive in that in this judgment we are not fearful of hellfire. What happens is we lose reward, not our eternal life.
The second judgment is not one that anyone wants to attend, yet attendance is absolutely required. You cannot miss this appointment unless you have received Christ as your Savior. This last earthly judgment is horrid to think about, yet uninformed people laugh about it every day.
Revelation 20:11-15 “And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”
And they were judged every man according to his works…a solemn judgment, a terrifying judgment for as the scripture tells us, many came from death and hell to join this judgment and await their turn to face Goa. Even the dead in the sea was brought before God for this final pronouncement of their doom. Those who came from hell (the unsaved dead) knew what torment was already. Hell is a place of torment, yet nothing like what is to face those who rejected Christ.
Did God condemn them to this awful place? No, we are told that they condemned themselves. John 3:18-19 “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”
Judgment is coming…the appointment must be kept…there is no way around, over or under it… you will be judged when your shelf-life expires. Are you ready?
