The Judgment

Oh, wow! I found a really great article on this webpage...and it's called "The Judgment". It was wrote by David S. MacMillan III . It had me in tears. Anyway, here it is:

As I journeyed through the byways of this world, I came to a cave and went in and I fell asleep. And as I slept, I dreamed

Thus begins the classic allegory The Pilgrims Progress by John Bunyan. And thus begins our story now. Except that its not a cave, its my bedroom.

I saw an expanse of human beings so vast, it paralleled the Pacific Ocean. Hundreds of hundreds of millions stretched out across the sky below me. Yet, somehow there was not a single sound as the billions fixed their gaze on the most awesome sight I had ever seen: a gigantic, pure white throne at the head of the multitude, with the Creator of the Universe seated upon it. Jesus stood at the left of the throne, and His eyes reached across the vast expanse to beckon me to His side.

I stood beside my Savior and felt His love wash over me more real than anything I had ever experienced. But there was a note of sadness mingled with His love, that cut me like a knife. Confused, I watched as He called to people from the vast sea of humanity and as they came before the throne one by one.

One man came up, and I realized that he was my project partner from eighth grade, Samuel. A cold sweat seized me as I wondered whether anyone had ever shared the Gospel with him. I could see terror etched across his face as he heard the voice of Jesus Christ saying those awful words, Depart from me, you worker of lawlessness. I never knew you.

A shining angel grabbed Samuel and pulled him toward the other side of the throne. I watched as Samuel was thrown into a lake of fire and heard his screams echo across the sea of people. As he fell, his eyes met mine, and a thousand words flashed between us in that instant. Why didnt you tell me? You had the words of eternal life, but you never let me know.

But my attention was called back to another person being brought before the throne. It was my roommate from summer camp in 2004 – what was his name? Ah, yes: Christopher. My mind flashed back to a time that we had been sitting in our room, and he had mocked a Christian commercial. But I hadn’t said anything to him. Jesus pronounced judgment yet again: I was not sent into the world to condemn the world. You were condemned already because you did not believe in the Name of the Son of Man.

Tears streamed from my eyes as I watched my friends and acquaintances condemned one by one. A man I sat next to on a plane. My girlfriend from college who had freely admitted that she was an atheist. I remembered that I had been more concerned about how “macho” she thought I was than I had been about this Day. She pulled away from the angel and burst out in tears as she bawled, Why didnt you say something, David? I would have listened! Then she screamed as she was cast into Hell. Her screams echoed across my mind over and over again.

After what seemed like hours of this torture, the Lord laid His hand on my shoulder and wiped the tears from my cheeks. I will remember His words forever: Was this the place where I was supposed to say, Well done, good and faithful servant?

Every thirteen seconds, twenty people die that have never repented of their sins and trusted in Christ. Every thirteen seconds, twenty people go to Hell[1].

The Bible teaches that every human being has an eternal soul. Every human being will live forever in one of two places. Your friends will either spend eternity in Heaven with God or eternity in a lake of fire and brimstone that burns for ever and ever. You cannot afford to let someone else do the witnessing. You must obey the Words of Jesus Christ and preach the Gospel to every person that you can.

I am not asking you to sell everything you have and devote your life to screaming, Repent or perish! from street corners. Far from it. But it is your duty to share your faith whenever it is reasonably possible. This might mean that you sit next to some complete stranger during lunch at school and ask him, What do you think is on the other side when we walk out of here? Maybe you can hand a gospel tract to the gas station attendant when you go in to pay for gas. In any situation, ask yourself what is more important: what you want to do, or the salvation of the person that God has placed in your path?

Right about now you are screaming at me, I dont know how to share my faith! So what? Neither did Paul. But he started doing it and learned, didnt he?

In real life I am a paralegal. I have noticed that, in the legal field, when a person is confronted with a bitter opponent, they will try to find some slight point of agreement and work from there. This is our job as well.

Regardless of a persons religious background, they still have a conscience. God had written His law, the Ten Commandments, on the heart of every individual. I have never met a person who said, Lying, stealing, adultery, blasphemy I thought it was the right thing to do! Everyone knows the difference between right and wrong, so if you meet them at that point of agreement the conscience it will make the difference between life and death for that person. If you can, ask a person if they have kept the Ten Commandments. Have they ever lied or stolen? Jesus said that lust is the same as adultery, and hatred is the same as murder. Have they always honored their parents? What about the third commandment: do not take the name of God in vain? Have they ever used Gods holy Name as a curse word to express disgust or anger?

If you get to this point, you can ask a person whether they think God, in His infinite justice, would let a lying, thieving, adulterous, blasphemous, murderer-at-heart into Heaven. When a person realizes their guilt before a Just and Holy God, the message of Christs sacrificial death on the Cross will make sense to them and they will fling themselves at the mercy of Jesus Christ.
If you would like to know more about how you can share your faith easily and effectively, go to LivingWaters and watch the video Hells Best Kept Secret. You can also visit Way Of the Master for more information. Or, you can send me an email and I will try my best to answer your questions. My email address is “d3@regenerateourculture.com”

And it is true that if you actively witness to people they will make fun of you. Jesus said, If they persecuted me, will they not much more persecute you? The question is this:

Which is more important: the judgment of men, or the Judgment of God?

[*Editors note:* sometime after the idea for the dream this article was conceived, a pastor called into Way of the Master radio and told of having one very similar. So if it felt like youd heard it somewhere before, thats your reason.]

fn1. Numbers based on BibleHelp.org article

I just can't tell you how much I needed to read this. Witnessing needs to be my passion ALL my life. I so need more compassion as lost souls are damned to Hell. How can I walk by people and not think about their eternal destiny?

Until the nets are full,
~Kirsten~