Judgement Day

Jesus spoke of the judgement day when he walked among men. He said "Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of' Judgement" Matthew 12:36. "He that rejecteth me and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him. The word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day" John 12:48. Jesus spoke of a day of judgement on the last day. He said that two kinds of words were important: what we say and what he said. We will be judged by his words and by our words. This means that we need to pay attention to what we say and to what he says in the Bible.

But how can we be sure that there really will be a day of Judgement? We can be sure there is a judgement because he proved there would be a Judgement by his own resurrection from the dead. The apostle Paul said, "God now commandeth all men everywhere to repent because he hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the world by 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" Acts 17:30,31. "For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, that everyone may receive the things done in his body, according to what he hath done whether it be good or bad" II Corinthians 5:10. We can be sure that there is a judgement day and we can be sure that everyone on earth will be there.

The climax of the judgement scene is recorded by John in the last book of the Bible, the Book of Revelation. "And I saw a great white throne and him that sat upon it from whose face the heaven and the earth 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 (Hades) delivered up the dead which were in them and they were judged every man according to their works." Revelation 20:11-13.

Here are some clear facts from the Bible about the judgement: Fact No. 1: Man must give account of himself on the day of judgement. (Matthew 12:36; Romans 14:10,12). Fact No. 2: All of us shall appear at the judgment. (Acts 17:31; II Corinthians 5:10) Fact No. 3: We're to be judged by how we measure up to the word of God. (John 12:48; Revelation 20:11-13) Fact No. 4: We need to get ready for the judgement day. (II Corinthians 5:10; Matthew 12:36-41)

Now if Jesus is going to be the judge and his words are going to be the standard or rule by which we are judged it becomes very important that we learn what his words are. In the great sermon on the mount he said, "Not everyone who saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name cast out devils and in thy name done more wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you. Depart from me you that work iniquity" Matthew 7:21-23. Those who do his will, will not receive this condemnation and punishment. What will you say at the judgement?