HAVE you ever pondered the “must,” the irresistible “must” of this text of scripture: “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad?” (2 Cor. 5:1010For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. (2 Corinthians 5:10).) Heaven and earth will pass away, but this ‘must” will never pass away till it be fulfilled. We address this question to our reader who is not sheltered from judgment by the blood of Christ, before whom loom the terrors of the Lord and the fearful issues of the coming day, and we earnestly beg him to give his undivided attention to this certainty.
There is no uncertainty in scripture respecting how and when those who die without Christ will stand before His tribunal. The rejected Saviour will be their Judge. The seat of mercy which He now occupies will he changed for the great white throne of judgment. The voice now heard so tenderly saying “Come unto Me” will be then heard in its terribleness and majesty. Mercy, like the heavens which are now stretched over our heads, will have fled away; there will be found no place for it before the great white throne. Justice will hold its sway alone. This earth, this life, these seasons of opportunity will be all passed, the sea will have given up the dead in it, death and the grave their prey, the resurrection will have taken place, eternity have begun. The books will be opened, containing the record of the deeds done in this mortal body, and the small and the great will be judged out of those things written in the books according to their works.
Delude not yourself, to imagine that the dust of your body shall sleep on heedless of the trumpet’s call, or that your soul shall escape the voice that summons you to the throne,” for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.” Your body, which is now will be then changed to a spiritual body, capable of existing eternally. The great and final change will have taken place, in which Condition you will live forever. Let not your forgetful memory cheat you into disbelieving that God forgets your works for they are all at this moment, good or bad, written down in His books. Nay, the very words you speak are recorded, for, for every idle word that men speak they shall give account at the day of judgment. Secret things will be made manifest; long-forgotten sins will be unburied and dragged from their darkness into the light of divine holiness. Terrible light then, reader, for its rays will be unmixed with grace, and what can man expect from God’s holiness when it is exercised without God’s grace? Now the light of God’s holiness shines to us in perfect grace from the cross of His Son and reveals to us the precious blood which cleanses from every single sin, but then the light will reveal the sin of man without the remedy, and will detect and convict in order to condemn.
We inquire once more, What say your heart to this “must” of God’ word? As the tree falls so will it lie, a you die so will you live throughout eternity. The ax may be laid to your root. Dare you declare that your life shall be prolonged another hour Unsheltered, unsaved, oh! “flee from the wrath to come.”
To escape judgment you must be judged in the person of another; to flee from the wrath to come you must have one who has endured the wrath in your stead. How can this be? There has been judgment of sin, and wrath against sin upon this earth; God’s light and holiness have been revealed it connection with sin, and mercy point you to the great judgment of Calvary. There was a necessity for that darkness, that sin-bearing, that wrath-enduring, a “must” that could not be satisfied until it was fulfilled, a necessity of divine love. Jesus Himself uttered the words, “Even so must the Son of man be lifted up.” (John 3:1414And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: (John 3:14).) And the effects of this “must” flow out to you today, for the reason Jesus said He must be lifted up was “that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
You stand between two judgments―the judgment of Jesus for sinners, and the judgment by Jesus of sinners. This day of salvation is the brief period between these two tribunals. In this day of salvation you receive the benefit and blessing of the first, or earn the doom and destruction of the second.
The holiness of God has been satisfied by what Jesus did for sinners upon the cross; the sins of all who believe have been borne by Him there; His death there is our life for eternity. Man’s sins and God’s justice must meet. They have met once on the cross; they will meet again at the great white throne. Have you believed on the Son of God? Have you by faith accepted His work for sinners upon the cross? “Whosoever believeth in Him” will never perish, but has everlasting life; whosoever’s name is riot written in the book of life will be judged by the standard of his works, and be eternally lost. If you believe, you will not come into judgment. (John 5:2424Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24).) You have been judged in the person of Jesus upon Calvary, and are one with Him—your life in glory.