Three Looks at the Wicked

Psalm 37:35‑36; Ecclesiastes 8:10; Revelation 20:12  •  2 min. read  •  grade level: 6
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The first look is David's: "I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree. Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yea, I sought him, but he could not be found." Psalm 37:35, 3635I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree. 36Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yea, I sought him, but he could not be found. (Psalm 37:35‑36).
The second look is Solomon's: "I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of the holy, and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done." Ecclesiastes 8:1010And so I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of the holy, and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done: this is also vanity. (Ecclesiastes 8:10).
The third look is John's: "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." Revelation 20:1212And 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. (Revelation 20:12).
Each sight as it is brought before us becomes more intensely solemn.
To live in your wickedness is bad.
To die in your wickedness is still worse.
But to stand before God in your wickedness is past imagining.
It is bad enough to see an unconverted sinner buried, but it must be an awful sight to see him rise again, to see him stand before God in judgment.
Did you ever think who it is that will pass sentence on a sinner? It is Jesus! He who pleaded on the cross, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do," that One who wept over Jerusalem and said, "How often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!" is the One who will pass sentence on your soul if you die unconverted.
Oh, what a thought! What could be more appalling? Yes, there is no question but that, of all solemn sights other than dark Calvary, John saw the most solemn of all.
Just think over those sights once more, and may the Spirit of God constrain you to believe the message of God's amazing love in Christ. Receiving it into your heart, you will have "joy and peace in believing" on this side of the grave, a bright, bright hope beyond it, and "boldness in the day of judgment."