Tagged: final judgment

The One for Whom Hell is Prepared

The following excerpt is taken from What Every Christian Should Know About Satan. Order your copy in print, Kindle, or Audible versions here.

The Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Massachusetts is well into its third decade of operation and has yet to report a single breakout. The SBCC, as insiders call it, has earned its reputation as the most technologically advanced and secure prison in the world – even more secure than Russia’s notorious Black Dolphin Prison, or the ADX prison in Colorado, dubbed the “Alcatraz of the Rockies.” 

Roughly six hundred corrections officers guard Souza-Baranowski’s fifteen hundred prisoners. But just to be sure, the omniscient eye of a robotic overlord carefully monitors every inch of the facility. More than forty graphic-interfaced computer terminals drive a keyless system that controls every aspect of the prison, from doors to the water supply. If that’s not enough, three hundred and seventy high-definition cameras record everything at all times. Plus, a taut-wire fence and microwave detection system guard the perimeter. 

If you think you can simply snip a few wires or pull the plug on the entire system, think again. SBCC is one of the only U.S. prisons designed to run entirely on solar and hydroelectric power. Oh, and for anyone trying the old-school method of digging out, the prison was built using the highest-strength concrete and tool-resistant steel available. Hollywood blockbuster Escape Plan to the contrary, not even Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone could bust out of this place.

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Everyone’s Day of Reckoning

This is the 22nd in a series of excerpts from What Every Christian Should Know About the Return of Jesus, released by High Street Press and available at Amazon.com. 

One day, every person is resurrected and summoned before Christ in final judgment. While salvation is a gift of God, received by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, our lifestyles reflect our beliefs. That is, our words and deeds reveal our citizenship, either in the kingdom of God or in the domain of the evil one.

Put another way, our works count for something. Heaven is not the same for every believer, nor do all those who reject Christ experience hell identically. Our final, personal, individual judgment before Christ is his way, as the righteous judge, of setting things right for eternity.

Our short stay on earth is a dress rehearsal for life beyond the grave. One day, we all stand before Jesus to give an account of what we did with the gospel, as well as our time, talents, opportunities, and other gifts God has entrusted to us. This results in varying degrees of reward for believers, and varying degrees of punishment for unbelievers.

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He Will Judge the Nations

This is the 11th in a series of excerpts from What Every Christian Should Know About the Return of Jesus, released by High Street Press and available at Amazon.com. 

The second coming of Jesus is implied in hundreds of Old Testament prophecies that center on future judgment of the world and a coming kingdom of righteousness. Jesus and the New Testament writers elevate these ancient prophecies and apply them to the unfinished but guaranteed future work of the Savior.

One challenge of messianic prophecies is their compressed view of the future. We see predictions of a Suffering Servant who is despised, rejected, and sacrificed for our sins (Isa. 53), along with visions of a Davidic king who comes in power, judging the world and setting things right (Ps. 110). 

Are the Suffering Servant and Davidic king separate individuals, or are they one person conducting two major campaigns to redeem a sinful and fallen world?

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My reward is with me – Revelation 22:12

Previously: Don’t seal the prophetic words – Revelation 22:10-11

The scripture

 Rev. 22:12 – “Look! I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me to repay each person according to what he has done. (HCSB)

My reward is with me

Jesus speaks in verse 12: “Look! I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me to repay each person according to what he has done.” The New Testament often repeats the theme of judgment based on works. For example:

  • In Matt. 16:27 Jesus declares, “For the Son of Man is going to come with His angels in the glory of His Father, and then He will reward each according to what he has done.”
  • In Matt. 25:31-46 Jesus speaks of the coming judgment of the “sheep” and “goats.” He separates those on His right from those on His left and explains that their works revealed their character. The sheep are welcomed into His kingdom, prepared for them from the foundation of the world, while the goats are banished to the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels.
  • In Rom. 2:5-8 Paul writes, “But because of your hardness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed. He will repay each one according to his works: eternal life to those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality; but wrath and indignation to those who are self-seeking and disobey the truth but are obeying unrighteousness …” While commentators have offered nearly a dozen interpretations of this difficult passage, the most likely one is that works are the outcome of a person’s faith, or lack thereof. Paul quotes from Ps. 62:12 and Prov. 24:12 when he writes, “He will repay each one according to his works.” The believer, indwelled and empowered by the Holy Spirit, lives a life of conformity to the image of God. The unbeliever, driven by the flesh, produces works worthy of eternal separation from God.
  • In 1 Peter 1:17, Peter notes, “And if you address as Father the One who judges impartially based on each one’s work, you are to conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your temporary residence.”
  • And in Rev. 20:13, as unbelievers stand before the great white throne, they are judged “according to their works.”

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Anyone not found in the book of life – Revelation 20:15

Previously: The second death – Revelation 20:14

The scripture

Rev. 20:15 – And anyone not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. (HCSB)

Anyone not found

John concludes this section with the words, “And anyone not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire” (v. 15).

As the wicked pass through the gates of hell in Dante’s epic poem Inferno, they are greeted with these words: “Abandon hope, all you who enter here.” These words remind the damned that once inside, there is no escape from the fiery torments they have brought upon themselves.

As Charles Swindoll writes, “Though the details of Dante’s fictional picture of heaven, hell, and purgatory range from the fantastic to the heretical, he was right about this: the final destination of the wicked features a one-way entrance. All hope vanishes beyond; there will be no escape from the lake of fire…. The facts of eternal punishment are set forth without a hint of hope … because no hope exists apart from God” (Insights on Revelation, pp. 266-67).

Books are opened at the great white throne, and the wicked find their names there, along with details of their lives – perhaps even a full accounting of their deeds. Some may wish to be excluded from God’s record of their thoughts, words, and actions, for their lives are laden with every sort of evil. They stand before their Creator – who has revealed Himself in creation, conscience, Christ and Canon – with no excuse (Rom. 1:20). They have turned up their noses at God’s revealed love and turned their backs on His grace. And now they are reminded of every idle word, every selfish deed, every squandered opportunity as the evidence written in the books piles so high and wide it becomes like prison walls that cannot be scaled.
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