Judgment Day and Justified by Faith

    It's said that when people are in a near death situation, they see their lives flash before their eyes. I don't know if that's true but I do think such situations make us consider the brevity of our lives in the light of eternity. I have seen similar scenarios depicted in some Gospel tracts though I am not sure how accurate they are in depiction of the final judgment. Will we really have a screening of our entire lives before us? Some Scriptures might suggest that. In Jesus' parable of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16 (which some scholars think may be an account of real people in Hell and Heaven, respectively), we do see Abraham reminding the rich man of the good things he had in life and the suffering Lazarus went through. There are a number of Bible verses that inform us that people will be repaid according to their deeds. (Romans 2:6, 10, 11 and Revelation 2:23)
We have a very clear picture in Jesus' parable of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25. The King reviews the deeds of both the sheep and the goats and rewards or punishes each accordingly.
    It is important to note that judgment is not a matter of God sizing up our good and bad deeds to see if we make the nice or naughty list. Jesus says in John 6:28-29 that the work of God is to believe in Him whom He has sent. Salvation from sin and judgment is through faith in Jesus' death and Resurrection alone. It is through God's grace that any of us are saved. (Titus 3:5, Ephesians 2:8-10)
   Yet we often get that image of works being weighed on a scale for judgment, which is totally false. Movies and TV shows help enforce that mistaken idea. (See "Heaven Can Wait", "The Good Place", etc.) If it were up to our good works to save us, we'd all be in Hell because there is no one righteous- no, not one! (Psalms 14:1-3, Psalms 53:1-3, Romans 3:10, Romans 3:23)  We all need the righteousness of Jesus- the only One who is perfect and met God's standard of perfection- because He is God. And our faith in Him imputed His righteousness to us! (2 Corinthians 5:17-21)
  I actually had a dream last night that was much like the judgment scene I was describing at the start, except for some random things, as dreams tend to go. (For instance, I don't think the judgment takes place backstage of a late night talk show with Jimmy Kimmel hosting, but I'm fairly sure that's what I saw.) And I was apparently there for emotional support because in the dream I was with a woman in a screening room watching key events in her life like a movie, which ended with a review of the pros and cons in her life. And evidently she didn't make the grade. I was able to leave at that point as it wasn't my time or judgment.
As a disclaimer, let me say that dreams are often hazy images culled together from different things in our lives and I don't generally put much stock in them for meaning, etc. And maybe I had such a dream because I was recently reading through "Erasing Hell" by Francis Chan & Preston Sprinkle.
   Of course, there were grave theological issues with that presentation, which is all the more reason not to try to make too much of dreams. (Which is not to say God can't use them, as He obviously has throughout The Bible. Just be cautious and ask The Holy Spirit to show you anything you need to see.) To quickly summarize, I believe we will stand alone before God, for one thing. And we will be judged based on what we did with Jesus. For a Biblical picture of Judgment Day, check Revelation 20:11-15 for the Great White Throne Judgment unbelievers will face and 1 Corinthians 3 for the Bema Seat judgment that believers will face. (Note: Believers in Christ's deeds while in Christ are judged in order to determine spiritual rewards from The Lord- NOT to judge about salvation. That is already secure with Christ.)
    Again- it cannot be emphasized enough that good works DO NOT save us! In fact, as Jesus makes clear in Matthew 7, good works can damn us instead! He says many will come to Him on the last day calling Him, "Lord, Lord" and present their resumes of good works that they were pridefully relying on and He will tell them- "Depart! I never knew you." That's a scary and sobering scene! Yet in Matthew 7:21, Jesus tells us who WILL enter the kingdom of Heaven- only those who do the will of His Father in Heaven. Okay- so what's the will of The Father? Jesus tells us in John 6:40. "For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day." Jesus further clarifies in John 6:63 that the flesh is NO help at all; it is The Spirit who gives life.
        All that said, as James 2 reminds us, faith without works is dead. The good works DO NOT save- only faith in Jesus' death and Resurrection that pays for one time for ALL our sins (Hebrews 10:12) does that- BUT good works naturally follow salvation as an outpouring of God's work in our lives to be more like Him and as a natural response of gratitude to Christ for His saving work. (Ephesians 2:8-10, Philippians 2:12-13) As 2 Corinthians 13:5-8 says though, it's good to do a pulse check every so often and make sure we are in the faith.
      As one who often identifies with Mr. Fearing (John Bunyan's timid pilgrim who struggles with doubts and fears but does make it to the Celestial City in the end because of his faith in Christ), I find myself often going back to John 6:68-69 to say with Peter- "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that You are the Holy One of God." This is one of my favourite expressions of faith in The Bible because it echoes my heart's cry.
       "Lord Jesus- I believe You are real and You are God just as The Bible says and You are the only Way, Truth and Life. I know I've done plenty of wrong in my life and I still fall into sin that I don't want to keep doing but You know sometimes I revel in the illicit pleasure some sins elicit.  Help me in that struggle to hold to You because I know You're infinitely better than sin. Forgive me for my many failings. Thank You for Your death and Resurrection that pays for all sins for all time. Even the good I think I've done is not really good if it's not from You and with Godly motives. I don't have any good deeds to rely on; I simply and wholly trust Your righteousness. Help me to remember that my salvation is based on Your grace in which I put all my faith. Cleanse me with the hyssop branch and I shall be clean. Use Me for Your glory as You see fit. Help me to not be scared or worried but rather to trust You with all my heart and feel assured in Your love and salvation. Thank You for always loving this knucklehead through all my goofiness and open defiance and sinfulness. You are Lord and You are my Saviour and Lord; I love you for loving me first- and for all the Awesome Goodness You embody that our world so desperately needs. I need You and trust You no matter what. Use Me to tell folks about You all the more. Thank You. In Your Holy Name, Amen."
      As one of my favourite quotes from C.S. Lewis' "The Chronicles of Narnia" says, “I'm on Aslan's side even if there isn't any Aslan to lead it. I'm going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn't any Narnia." Puddleglum has this bold statement of faith in "The Silver Chair". Likewise, I'm on Jesus' side no matter what and I'm going to seek to live for Him as His Spirit enables me no matter what. No matter what my fickle fink-le funky feelings tell me, my faith is firm in Father God and I'll trust the facts of His Word.
     "My faith has found a resting place not in device nor creed. I need no other argument; I need no other plea.  It is enough that Jesus died and that He died for me." (Shout out to Lidie H. Edmunds, a pilgrim who went before me in that great cloud of witnesses. :-)) Or as Edward Mote said, "On Christ the Solid Rock I stand- all other ground is sinking sand." Where do you stand? There is a Judgment Day coming we will all face one day. There are two dates that we have no idea when they will come but we know one or the other will happen in our lifetime. Either we will see The Lord Jesus return in our lifetime or we will die one day. Why do we work so hard to avoid our funeral instead of prepare for it? It's easier to forget these truths and the eternity of both Hell and Heaven but it doesn't change anything when we do. As Flannery O'Connor observed, "A Good Man is Hard to Find". That's quite true- only God is good. And sometimes we need a guy with a gun at our heads to keep us honest. What do we say when we really think about these realities if we're honest? Those who worship God must do so in spirit and truth. So be truthful and pray and consider what you need to do as the Holy Spirit leads. "Now is the day of salvation." (2 Corinthians 6:2) While you're gathering ye rosebuds while ye may, grab onto the Rose of Sharon while ye may. Today is the day of The Lord's favour- but the Door will not be open forever.
 

Don't Let The Sun Go Down Angry (Song)

Note: This is an entry from the archives that I started thinking on again recently after hearing the original song again. Since the singer, Sir Elton John, recently had a successful biographical movie ("Rocketman") come to theatres, it seemed like a good time to bring this one to the light of day again. Of course, it's all about dealing with things in the light of day- and not letting anger linger into the night but instead dealing with it while it's still called today. Don't let the sun go down angry- but let The Son shine on you and cleanse you of unrighteousness.
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Okay! And now for a serious one and one of my favourite ones! This one was actually largely inspired from a Sunday sermon that I heard when I wrote this. The title was just there and just perfect for one of the Bible verses I heard almost verbatim! And it’s from yet another favorite ‘70s song- though the pianist continues to make hits today of course.
But this song is all about ending each day on the right note and not letting the sun go down angry- but rather, making peace.
(Note: In an effort to be poetic and because it just seemed to fit the rhyme scheme of the song best, this song is actually sung from the point of view of anger personified.)


“Don’t Let the Sun Go Down Angry”
Copyright by Nathan Ludwick 8/4/2011
(parody of “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” by Elton John)
(Ephesians 4:26-32, Ephesians 5:8, Proverbs 19:11, Proverbs 29:11, Ecclesiastes 7:8-9, Romans 12:19, James 1:19-21, Colossians 3:7-9, 1 Corinthians 13, Hebrews 3:13)

I can’t light no more of your darkness
Read the Scriptures- Ephesians 5:8- stay in the light
You’re growing tired and time instills abhorring
Satan’s there on the ladder of your life

Your hate enslaves yourself to falling
You seek vengeance- it changed your peace to strife
If you’d just read Ephesians 26 verse (in)
Chapter 4 and left me binded by The Christ

Chorus:
Don’t let the sun go down angry (Don’t let the sun)
You only hurt yourself and all while someone else is free
Christ disallows a fragment of your life to writhe and seethe
But choosing your sulking is like the sun going down on me

Eleventh line- oh, it’s right- Proverbs 29 [two nine]
Fools seethe full brunt but see the wise conceal
Go on, discard me hon’ because it grieves Spirit of God
Now these cuts you have- they need God’s Love (to) help them heal

(Repeat Chorus twice)
……………………………………………………………………………..
  For now, keep redeeming the time for the days are evil- but don’t get angry and complain and don’t curse out your brothers while blessing Christ’s name. Rather, keep showing the love of Christ to everyone each day and make the most of every day that God has given us for His glory.
May His face shine upon you and give you peace. God bless. :-)

The Power is Yours! (Forgetting What's Behind)

Don't ask, "Why were the old days better than today?" It's not good to ask such things.... (see Ecclesiastes 7:10-18 and chapter 12).... As Acts 17:24-28 tells us, God set men and women in history at exactly when and where He wanted them to be for His purposes.... (which doesn't mean that God won't move you at some point too though ;-))- But part of finding our identity in Jesus as His follower means being happy with who God made us to be- boy or girl, Asian, Hispanic, Native American, Pacific Islander, African descent, Indian descent, Caucasian, mixed, etc., Spanish, Trinidadian, American, German, Swiss, South African, Ukrainian, Canadian, Argentinan, Brazilian, Peruvian, Eritrean, Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, Australian, Indian, Senegalese, Antarctican, etc.- whatever the social class- whatever other label we put on each other....... God made us above all those things in His image (Genesis 1:26-31). And when we're in Christ, none of those things matter anyway! (Galatians 2:20, Colossians 3:1-4, John 13:34-35, Galatians 3:25-29) And as Colossians 3:11 says, "Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all."
    We are all infinitely important and infinitely loved by God. (Jeremiah 31:3) And we are all valuable in His kingdom, where the elder learns to serve the younger and the younger cares for the elder- where each thinks of others as better than themselves and each seeks to love each other truly and forgive from the heart...
     No, these aren't the "good ol' days"- but as I like to say, the only good ol' days this planet has ever seen were Genesis 1-2. We won't have any more truly good ol' days until Revelation 21-22 come to pass. But Jesus makes the in-between time more abundant when we follow Him, as John 10:10 says. :-) And during our faith journey with Him, He shapes us to be more and more like Him in character and empowers us with spiritual gifts to bring a touch of The Divine to a fallen world so badly needing of redemption. To be sure, the final Redemption culminates with the coming of The Lord- but until then, we're like the Planeteers with our power rings, sent forth to bring God's restoration to the world through our love and good deeds and sharing of the Greatest Love of all shown to us on the cross and in the empty tomb (Romans 5:8). And way better than Captain Planet, and the Avengers who "have a Hulk"- we have Someone Real Who can do something about our situation (Hebrews 11:1-6)- we have a Savior- Jesus Christ- Whom we eagerly await to come back from Heaven! We have The One Who alone bears the title of King of Kings and Lord of Lords! We have The One God Who holds all things together and by Him all things exist!

And as Jesus said in Acts 1:8 (in essence)- The Power is yours! :-) (So use His gifts and be His witness in all the world.)

Will You Believe and Ask Him? (song)

Note: Another favourite from the archives. One of my magic references in the song- "The Magician", a short-lived action/adventure show that utilized magic as a means of stopping the bad guys and starred Bill Bixby, recently finally got a DVD release! :-) And that deeper magic of Aslan is finally set to come back to theaters in the near future with things moving along nicely with "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair" movie! We must believe in (deeper) magic! Of course, it's always timely to consider Christ and His claims and what we will do with His offer of salvation. As 2 Corinthians 6:2 says, now is the day of salvation!
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This recounts a specific incident in The Bible. It’s about a certain magician who came face to face with the most powerful magic he’d ever seen. And when he got a lovin’ spoonful of that magic, he just had to have it at any price. But what he didn’t realize was that if you just believe and ask, this magic is totally free! (And yes- bonus points for catching the various magic references I just had to make- especially the one at the end! For Narnia- and The Lion of Judah!) 

“Will You Believe and Ask Him?” 
(parody of “Do You Believe in Magic?” by The Lovin’ Spoonful) 
(copyright by Nathan Ludwick 4/24/2010) 
(Acts 2:38, Acts 8:4-25) 

“Will you believe and ask Him right into your heart?” 
Now then Simon believed that sorcerer upstart 
And his magic- well, it used to be groovy 
Acts 8 reveals Simon’s like an old time news reel 
Philip tells him ‘bout The Master- how He’ll free your soul 
But it’s like Simon now felt a learner in a brave new world 

Yeah, Houdini’s magic- don’t bother to choose 
Earvin Johnson’s Lakers; Orlando and crew 
Bibxy’s “Magician”- or then Merlin beguiles 
They can’t buy off the faith no matter how hard they try 
The peeps start talking- Simon’s not The Divine 
Now they got Christ, so they get baptized 

Then they receive The Spirit- Pete and John laying 
Their hands on them wowing Simon- “Are you selling?” 
“And maybe, if the money is right” 
Well, Pete cuts him off now, stating, “You ain’t right” 
“Your sins- renounce them, baby, then you’ll see” 
“How the magic’s in The Spirit and The Spirit’s in me” 

Yeah, Will you believe and ask Him? 
Yeah, believe in the passion of God’s own Son 
Believe in the power of Resurrection 
Believe deeper magic that can set you free 
Ohh, talking ‘bout Aslan 

Do you believe in Aslan? (Do you believe like I believe?)[background vocal] 
Will you receive Redeemer? (Do you believe like I believe?)[background vocal] 
Will you believe and ask Him? (Do you believe like I believe?)[background vocal] 
(Fade) 
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Christ Extends and Tarries (song)

Whether you're in the dawn of your life or the twilight years, one thing holds true for all of us- we all will die one day. (Unless you get a cool deal like Enoch or Elijah where God just takes straight up home to Heaven without dying. ;-)) And one day, we will all meet God and all face His judgment. And none of us match up to His standards of perfection. Thus, the judgment we all face is one of absolute guilt that deserves absolute punishment- eternity in hell. This is not the outcome The Lord wants for anyone- He loves us all so much He sent Jesus to die for us and rise again so that we would have an escape. Jesus met the standard of perfection for us and when we accept the work He's done on our behalf, God imputes Christ's righteousness to us and sees that in us instead and accepts us as His own children. Of course, it is up to us to grab hold of God's offer of love and forgiveness and trust Him, even as He continues to seek us out. One day He will return and time for that will be up. We don't know when that day will come or when we will die, but we do know that The Lord is patient and long-suffering with us- to Him a day is like 1000 years and 1000 years like a day- He has waited 2000 years since Christ's death and resurrection and He's waiting still. He doesn't want anyone to perish but for all to come to repentance. Come accept His offer today while there's still time.


"Christ Extends and Tarries" (parody of "A Thousand Years" by Christina Perri; copyright by Nathan Ludwick 1/8/2017)
(Hebrews 9:27-28, 2 Peter 3:1-10, Isaiah 54:8, Jeremiah 31:3, John 3:16-21, John 6:35-50, John 10:27-30, 2 Corinthians 6:2, Romans 10:9-13, Ezekiel 18:23, Romans 2:4)

Heartbeats pass
Count on it- promise it!
Now to the grave
(Do) you stand with God? Well, I'm afraid you'll fall
But what will you stand there on?
Self-righteous doubt? Suddenly goes away as you bow

Once it's over...

(Chorus 1)
Christ has died and been raised- (He's) waiting for you
2 Peter 3:8- with The Lord a day's like a thousand years
Millennium's a day to The Lord!

Christ waits still
Dutifully calls Jesus
"Call on My Name"
I will not have anyone cast away
Whose handed by Father to Me
All He draws- 44 in John chapter 6

Come- you're chosen

(Repeat Chorus 1)

(Chorus 2)
So call upon God- believe- Christ will find you
Christ has got you eternally- He has loved you with eternal love
His love wants to see no one lost

Come, whosoever
God has chosen

(Repeat Chorus 1 and Chorus 2)

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Back to the Future- Now for Now!

"The future- I gotta check this out, Doc." - Marty McFly on October 21, 2015 in "Back to the Future Part II"
Yay for Back to the Future Day! (Yes, it's finally October 21, 2015! Great Scott! Whoa! This is heavy, Doc. :-)) One of my favorite movie series ever! In Part III, Doc tells Marty and Jennifer that their future hasn't been written yet- no one's has. Your future is whatever you make it- so make it a good one, both of you.
This is kind of a paradox here (hopefully not the kind that destroys the whole universe). Psalms 139:16 says that our future is written because God has written in His book every one of the days that were formed for us. Yet while God knows everything and knows our future, we do not. But we are called to play a role in shaping our future, in which sense Doc was correct. According to Proverbs 24:20, there will be no future for the evil man; the lamp of the wicked will be put out. But for those who have put faith in Jesus Christ as Savior, we have a future and a hope in Christ as Jeremiah 29:11 says. (Yes, I know that promise is specifically for the Israelites at that particular time in history. Nonetheless, we know from verses like 1 Corinthians 2:9 that no eye has seen, no ear has heard and no heart has imagined what God has in store for those who love Him. As Proverbs 23:17-18 tells us, when we continue in the fear of The Lord, surely there is a future and your hope will not be cut off. Just note that the good God has in mind for us may not be the same good we might think of- we are promised suffering for following Christ( John 16:1-4)- but as Romans 8:28-29 says, God works all things together for good, to those who love God and are called according to His purpose- which is to conform us to the likeness of His Son. So that good might include hard times and suffering- and the good it results in is us being more like Jesus- the only One who is good.) As Lamentations 1:9 laments of Jerusalem, "Her uncleanness was in her skirts; She did not consider her future." (Much like the poor Martin McFly of the 1800s who never considered his future. ;-) Of course, the Marty McFly of 1985 affirmed that when it comes to the future, "I think about it all the time.")
1 Timothy 6:17-19 instructs the rich of this age not to put their trust in uncertain wealth, but rather in God, Who is always certain. They should be generous with their wealth and so store up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed. Paul says that a crown of righteousness is laid up for him in the future which The Lord will award on that Day (of The Lord)- and not only to Paul, but to all who have loved His appearing. (2 Timothy 4:6-8)
That's how we can determine our own future in a sense. When we put faith in Jesus' death and Resurrection to pay for all our sins and follow Him, we know we have a future forever in Heaven with Him. But don't wait for the future to make that choice (we don't know if we have one!- James 4:14, Proverbs 27:1)
In keeping with both BTTF II and 2 Corinthians 6:2- the future is now! Today is the day of salvation! Call on The Lord while you may be saved! Forever's gonna start tonight (if you put faith in Christ. John 10:10)
"Would that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would discern their future!" (Deuteronomy 32:29)