"Last Judgment Triptych" c 1467-1471, by Hans Memling.
"Then I saw a great white throne and One seated on it. Earth and heaven fled from His presence, and no place was found for them. I also saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged according to their works by what was written in the books.
Then the sea gave up its dead, and Death and Hades gave up their dead; all were judged according to their works. Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And anyone not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire."
I have mentioned several times, in this blog, that it seems that my Christian diet has been primarily oatmeal. I have no one to blame for this but myself. But it does strike me as odd that this, and many other truths of the Bible, do not get preached in today's postmodern church. It seems that those things that are uncomfortable or perhaps controversial are left out. If we can't hold hands and sing "Let there be peace on earth" then it isn't brought to the light of day.
Certainly God is love. Clearly Jesus Christ died on the cross to save sinners. Post-modernity has no problem with much of this part of the story. But what about hell? What about the Holy God, who has given Jesus Christ all authority to judge in that last final judgment. What about the part of the truth that if you don't come to a saving faith and believe in Jesus Christ that you are clearly destined to Hell?
This part is dismissed as hell-fire and brimstone. "Lets not talk about that, can't we just sing another round of Kumbiya?", they say.
My friends, my family...do you believe in God? Do you believe that the Bible is the holy inspired Word of God? Then you simply can not dismiss the parts you don't like. It is all God's Word.
I just finished listening to Dr. Steven J. Lawson on the subject of the Last Judgment. Dr. Lawson is a Baptist preacher. Dr. Lawson is a well known and respected expositor of the Word of God. When I first started listening to this topic, my mind went to that place....you know...."oh here we go...hell-fire and brimstone". The Baptist preacher is going to try and scare me into heaven"
I had to ask God's forgiveness for those thoughts. Because you see...these are not Dr. Larson's words. These are the Words of Almighty God. I had better heed them.
I would ask that you give a listen to Dr. Lawson's message on the Last Judgment. If you are one of God's elect then I would think that this message would give you more urgency in your evangelism. If you are not "born again" and one of God's elect, then I implore you....give this message an open mind and listen to God's proclamation to us all.
Here is the link to the message.
I would love to hear your thoughts on this matter. Hit the comment button and share your thoughts.
