Blessed Assurance in the Judgment Hour
William Diehl

"Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his JUDGMENT is come." Revelation 14:6-7

All the world is called to face the terrors of the Judgment bar of God. Who can look upon the face of God and have his life be measured by the holiness of the very righteousness of God? The eye of the Judge will pierce even unto the very thoughts and intents of every heart. Every word, every secret, and every hidden motive of the heart will be open to the all seeing One. There will be nothing hidden that will not be revealed. The most hidden things of the life will be not escape His all seeing scrutiny.

All will be judged. How shall we escape? How shall we "escape the judgment of God?" Rom 2:3 How shall we prevail

"against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God who will render to every man according to his deeds....In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men?" Rom 2:16

This is no make believe JUDGMENT! As surely as the reader is reading these words, just as surely all will be judged by the same standard of absolute perfection that was required of Adam before fall. No sin will be tolerated in the JUDGMENT!

Not a taint of pride, selfishness, or laziness. No envy, no greed, no uncontrolled appetite, no lust or impurity, and no gossiping lips will be tolerated. Even the best deeds of even the godliest of men will appear in the judgment to be examined. All motives must be absolutely without fault. From the preacher in the pulpit to the felon in the dungeon, all the time that ought to have been spent in service meeting the needs of suffering humanity will have to be accounted for. There will be no excuse to offer for all the time wasted which could have been used to give comfort to the fatherless, clothing to the ragged, and food to the hungry. Woe! Woe! Woe! to the inhabitants of the earth! Who shall be able to stand in that Day! The great Day of His wrath is come and who shall be able to stand!!

Shall we weep for our sins? Shall we mourn and fast and afflict our souls. Will a river of tears wash away our sins of commission and our sins of omission? Who is worthy to stand before the Judge of All? Our God is a consuming fire!! Is there anyone who has clean hands and a pure heart? Who can present a life that can measure with the very righteousness of the Law of God? Shall we plead for another 100 years to get ready for the judgment? Will 1000 years of purifying our souls be sufficient that we may stand prepared to face our life's record? God's throne is set down in judgment and He will judge righteously.

The Lord Jesus Christ Himself will be the Judge in that day. The humble carpenter's son will not then come as a dusty itinerant teacher but will rather come in the blinding glory that He had from eternity with the Father. He comes to judge the nations. Before Him every knee shall bow.

John 5:22ff For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son... And hath given him authority to execute JUDGMENT also, because he is the Son of man ... as I hear, I JUDGE: and my JUDGMENT is just.

John 8:16...if I JUDGE, my JUDGMENT is true.

John 9:39 And Jesus said, For JUDGMENT I am come into this world.

Yes, the Lord Jesus Christ came to the earth to one day be the final Judge of all, but that is not the end of the story!! To the amazement of the hosts of heaven, the Judge of All allowed Himself to become the Judged of All!! Though He was the sinless, holy Son of God, He became the condemned Son of Man to be JUDGED for the sins of all.

His name was called in the judgment to be judged as the guilty One.

"Then Pilate entered into the JUDGMENT hall again, and CALLED Jesus"

Jesus' name was called in the judgment!! and then He was called to the judgment a second time,

"And (Pilate) went AGAIN into the JUDGMENT HALL, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer."

And then again for a third time Jesus was called to judgment for us,

"Pilate...brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the JUDGMENT SEAT in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha. And it was the preparation of the Passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King! But they cried out, Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him! Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King!? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar! Then delivered he Him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away. And He bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha where they crucified him, and two others with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst. And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS. This title then read many of the Jews: for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin."

For whom shall we weep now? Behold the Man! The One worthy to be Judge of all has become the Judged of all so the Barabas of wretched humanity may go free. Our Lord hung ALONE, that He might ATONE. Our Lord bore the dis-Grace of the Cross that we may have saving-Grace of forgiveness. The justifying grace of God is free but it cost God everything.

The verdict of "forgiven" can now be pronounced upon the "guilty" one who calls out to Jesus, "Lord be merciful to me a sinner." By God's unmerited grace alone, the punishment has fallen upon Another. "There is now no condemnation" to those repent sinners who believe in Jesus and turn to Him as their Lord and Savior. He who is forgiven much will love much.

Only one who has been in the prison cell awaiting the sure retribution of the broken law can truly appreciate the pardon of the King. Only the slave granted his freedom can now become the faithful servant of all as he is born again by the Spirit of God to begin the life-long struggle against his old sinful nature and turn to a life of service.

Blessed assurance. Jesus is mine! Oh what a foretaste of glory divine! Heir of salvation, purchased of God. Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood. This is my story. This is my song. Praising my Savior all the day long!

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