© 2019 Don Pinson | [Download]
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Everything from parental disrespect, to chaos in the schools, to mass shootings, can be laid at the feet of one missing truth in our society: Accountability to God, our Creator. And yet, I seldom hear a sermon from the passages in the Bible which teach that we will face God as our Judge of what we’ve done with this life. Yet the Bible is so clear about it!
The final judgment, the one for those who haven’t surrendered to Christ as their Master, is found in the book of Revelation, chapter twenty. It tells us:
“And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away…And 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…And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:11-15)
God is going to open “the books” (Rev. 20:12); that is, the Books of the Bible; and He is going to reason with every single lost person about why they should have surrendered their lives to Christ, until they bow their knee and say, “Yes, you were RIGHT during my lifetime; you are RIGHT now. I should have surrendered to Jesus. HE IS LORD!” All who have ever refused Christ as Lord; the sinner who did the most good things, and the sinner who shook his fist in God’s face and blasphemed His Holy Name will all, alike, fall on their face and admit that Jesus is Lord (Philippians 2:10-11).
Those of us who have surrendered to Christ will face Him in Judgment also: But it will be very different from the judgment of sinners. 2 Corinthians 5:10 tells us about it:
“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body…whether it be good or bad.”
Only if we understand these Judgments will we live for God’s purposes instead of our own pleasure, prestige, or possessions. Our Founders in America identified this understanding as that which undergirded our oaths in our courts. George Washington warned us what would happen if we ever quit believing in God’s Judgment when He stated,
“Let it simply be asked where is the security for prosperity, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths…in the Courts of Justice?” (emphasis added)
(Washington, George. September 19, 1796, in his Farewell Address. John Eidsmoe, Christianity and the Constitution – The Faith of Our Founding Fathers (Grand Rapids, MI: A Mott Media Book, 1987, 6th printing 1993), p. 119.)
The way to restore accountability; the way to stop disrespect toward parents, pastors, and teachers; the way to stop mass shootings, is to restore the fear of God and the love of God into the minds of America’s children, in that order. This will give them the knowledge that they are sinners needing a Deliverer from their sins. This will be the Holy Spirit’s tool to lead them to Christ. Once they surrender to Jesus as Lord—having been convinced by the Spirit that Jesus’ shed blood is the only means of getting rid of their guilt for all the wrong they’ve done—He will give them a new heart. Then they will live life with an eye on their judgment to come. They will live for purpose; not selfish pleasure, since the Lord is going to review that life from the day they surrendered it to Christ.
So, bringing America’s children to Christ as their Lord is the way to stop sin in our society. Thus, Church Leaders: Shouldn’t we get busy reaching and discipling America’s children?
Think about it; because if you don’t, someone else will do your thinking for you—and for your children! And you won’t like what that brings to you. I’m Don Pinson; this has been Think About It.