How To Protect Yourself Now From Judgement Day

What a terrifying time it will be when Christ returns. For those who rejected him, it'll be their worst nightmare come true.

We read of how powerfully the Lord will punish the wicked in Jude 1:14 and 15 (BBE) when he wrote, "The prophet Enoch, who was the seventh after Adam, said of these men, 'The Lord came with tens of thousands of his saints, To be the judge of all, and to give a decision against all those whose lives are unpleasing to him, because of the evil acts which they have done, and because of all the hard things which sinners without fear of God have said against him."

Even worse for rich, wicked people, Everything they accumulated will be destroyed. As we see in 2 Peter 3:10 (BBE), "But the day of the Lord will come like a thief; and in that day the heavens will be rolled up with a great noise, and the substance of the earth will be changed by violent heat, and the world and everything in it will be burned up."

Revelation 20:12 (BBE) shows that neither will anybody be able to avoid God's courtroom. "And I saw the dead, great and small, taking their places before the high seat; and the books were open, and another book was open, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged by the things which were in the books, even by their works."

This Book of Life contains all the names of those who yielded up control of their lives to Christ. Revelation 21:27 (BBE) warns that only those who have their names in the book will be in God's new Jerusalem. "And nothing unclean may come into it, or anyone whose works are cursed or false; but only those whose names are in the Lamb's book of life."

But Revelation 20:15 (BBE) declares the fate of those who refuse Christ's plan for their salvation. "And if anyone's name was not in the book of life, he went down into the sea of fire."

Fortunately, there is a way to escape God's wrath. Romans 10:9 and 10 (BBE) explains how to become a child of the King of Kings: Jesus Christ. "Because, if you say with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and have faith in your heart that God has made him come back from the dead, you will have salvation: For with the heart man has faith to get righteousness, and with the mouth he says that Jesus is Lord to get salvation."

This is the central theme of my next book, You Think You're Going to Heaven? We should be glad that God has made a way for us to be saved from his justifiable wrath. Jesus took the punishment for those of us who have surrendered ourselves to his rulership.

On Saturday, providing the Lord doesn't return before then, I hope to post about being under house arrest and how the Apostle Paul made good come out of his imprisonment.

Saturday Song: Nilsson, "Good Old Desk"

Harry Nilsson was one of rock music's genius talents. His voice ranged over five octaves and his lyrics were inventive. Though he never became overly famous, he influenced many artists during the years of his life.

One song I relate to is "Good Old Desk." Being a writer, I spend most of my days sitting at one of a trio of desks in my home.

Listen to the song here:

As far as I could find out, there are no desks mentioned in Holy Scripture. Even so, writing is something done by both people and God. Exodus 31:18 (BBE) tells us, "And when his talk with Moses on Mount Sinai was ended, he gave him the two stones of the law, two stones on which was the writing made by the finger of God."

The books which were written by people used to be in scroll form. Solomon himself mentioned them in Ecclesiastes 12:12 (BBE), saying, "And further, my son, take note of this: of the making of books there is no end, and much learning is a weariness to the flesh."

Various men became the Lord's writing team, putting into print the Word of God. As Daniel 9:1 and 2 (BBE) informs us, "In the first year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, who was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldaeans; In the first year of his rule, I, Daniel, saw clearly from the books the number of years given by the word of the Lord to the prophet Jeremiah, in which the making waste of Jerusalem was to be complete, that is, seventy years."

The heavenly Father has his own set of books, as Revelation 20:12 (BBE) tells us. "And I saw the dead, great and small, taking their places before the high seat; and the books were open, and another book was open, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged by the things which were in the books, even by their works."

Writing preserves the truth, as I've written before. Therefore we can test and trust the Bible. Oral tradition becomes distorted as folks add to it or omit things they don't like from it. But the written word stands firm.

On Monday, I hope to post about why Adam and Eve didn't die immediately when they ate the forbidden fruit.

Saturday Song: Inner Circle, "Bad Boys"

This is one of my favourite reggae songs. The American TV show, "Cops" used it as their theme song, an apt choice as far as I'm concerned.

I found the full length version of the tune. Take a listen to it.

I'm glad that God is the ultimate police officer and judge combined. This saves us the trouble of seeking revenge on those who wronged us. As the Apostle Paul reminds us in Romans 12:19 (KJV), "Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord."

We couldn't have perfect revenge even if we could take it. We only see a person's exterior so we don't understand why they did what they did. But Jeremiah 17:10 (KJV) quotes God as saying, "I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings."

Furthermore, God knows what people are up to. Revelation 20:12 (KJV) says, "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."

People figure God can't see them if they do their sins in secret. But Jesus tells us in Luke 8:17 (KJV), "For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad."

And as God spoke through his prophet in Jeremiah 23:24 (KJV), "Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD."

What a relief it is that God will repay the crimes against us by the wicked. Does this song and what I wrote make you glad? Please let me know in the space below.

Monday's post will be about how our Lord went through all the trials of life which we experience.

Saturday Song: Inner Circle, "Bad Boys"

This is one of my favourite reggae songs. The American TV show, "Cops" used it as their theme song, an apt choice as far as I'm concerned.

I found the full length version of the tune on YouTube. Take a listen to it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4MRmEPNUxY&list=RDf4MRmEPNUxY

I'm glad that God is the ultimate police officer and judge combined. This saves us the trouble of seeking revenge on those who wronged us. As the Apostle Paul reminds us in Romans 12:19 (KJV), "Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord."

We couldn't take perfect revenge even if we tried. We only see a person's exterior so we don't understand why they did what they did. But Jeremiah 17:10 (KJV) quotes God as saying, "I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings."

Furthermore, God always knows what people are up to. Revelation 20:12 (KJV) says, "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."

People figure God can't see them if they do their sins in secret. But Jesus tells us in Luke 8:17 (KJV), "For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad."

And as God spoke through his prophet in Jeremiah 23:24 (KJV), "Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD."

What a relief it is that God will repay the crimes against us by the wicked. Does this song and what I wrote make you glad? Please let me know in the space below.

What About All the Good I Did?

Bearing in mind what I've written here in the past, some folks might still be puzzled about which works God will judges by. After all, millions of people are kind and helpful. Doesn't that count for something?

Certainly there are many sincere folks doing charitable work. But why are they doing so? We only see their exterior but the Lord sees their motives clearly.

When Israel tired of being ruled by judges and demanded a king, it grieved Samuel. He was the last judge of that nation.

Saul, Israel's first king, disobeyed the Lord so Samuel was told by God to find another. Below is what he said  to him about the next king.

(1 Sam 16:7 KJV)  "But the LORD said unto Samuel, 'Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.'"

So it's our motives which the Lord judges us by, not how good we appear to others. On Judgement Day, he will judge our deeds according to our desires, as the two verses below describe.

(Daniel 7:10 KJV) "A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened."

(Revelation 20:12 KJV) "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."

All other religious systems believe that we mortals can work our way to heaven. Only in Christianity is the price for our sins paid in full. We have but to surrender our lives to Jesus who bought our freedom from God's wrath.

I'm in the process of writing a new book called You Think You're Going to Heaven? People need to realize that their works, no matter how seemingly noble, are as filthy rags in God's sight because of selfish motives. I'll be posting more on this subject as the book comes together. So far, I'm on chapter two.