The Righteous Judge - Part 3

By Lee Simmons

Revelations 20:11-15

"And I saw a great white throne and Him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence and there was no place for them, and I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne and books were opened. Another book was opened which is the Book of Life. The dead were judged according by what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades was thrown into the Lake of Fire. The Lake of Fire is the second death. If anyone's name was not written in the Book of Life he was thrown into the Lake of Fire."

Father, we're here today to hear from You. Lord, when we're out in the world we hear the philosophy of the world. Lord, it's in every newspaper that we pick up, every magazine that we read, every T.V. show that we would watch -- Lord, all around us are the philosophies of the world. But, God, we're here because we know that Your Word is truth and You are true and You never change, so we're here to hear from You what Your Word says. Not what we think, not what some doctrine or dogma or theology says, but only what the Word of God has to say. And I pray, Lord, that I would be true to Your word, to share it clearly and plainly, of what You say. God, You tell us in Your word there's appointed unto man once to die, but after that, the Judgment. Prepare our hearts, Father. We ask it in Jesus' Name. Amen.

Twenty-two years ago, my wife and I first began full time Christian ministry in a little town in southern Ohio called Chillicoffee. It was known for one thing -- the Meade Paper Company, and it smelled all the time, making that paper. But, there was something big going on in that town after we first arrived, they were building a new hospital. There was only one hospital in that town that was in the city, actually the village -- it wasn't very big and they bought some land and they were building a big modern hospital. And they invited all the pastors to come for a tour just before it was finished. And the president of the hospital himself came and took the pastors on a tour through this almost completed hospital. There's only one place that I ever remember being in that hospital on that tour, and its a place I'll never forget. Because it's a place where the present hospital took us into this and then said, this is a place you'll never want to come. You see, this little room had no windows in it, had one very heavy door, and the walls were lined with lead. It was the radiation room. In those days, most of the treatment for cancer was done by cobalt radiation and you were wheeled in there and put under a big machine and the tumors were bombarded with this radiation. I'll never forget his words -- this is the place you never want to be -- and I thought then as a young man in my twenties, what it would be like to be diagnosed with a tumor and wheeled in there and bombarded with radiation. I wondered what that would be like. I had some fear in my heart about that.

But this chapter of Scripture talks about a great white throne that all of the unsaved dead stand before. It's also the sort of place where none of us would ever, ever want to because it's the place of judgment where the Bible says so when God opens the Book of Life and He doesn't find a name . . . the people are cast in the Lake of Fire for ever and ever. The Bible says whosoever's name was not found written in the Book of Life will be cast into the Lake of Fire. Now we have been in this series on judgment.

No one likes to talk about judgment -- the fact that God is the Judge, but He is. And the good news for the believer is that the moment that you and I trust Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, our sins are nailed to the cross and God says that He remembers them no more. He said "I'm burying them in the depths of the deepest sea," and as Corrie Ten Boom said, He puts a sign there and He says no fishin'. They're gone.

But the Bible says for believers, that we will go before the Judgment Seat of Christ (2 Cor 5:10). All believers will stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ, but will not be judged -- but our salvation -- that was taken care of at the cross, but on the basis of our service, and we will receive the reward or not receive rewards according to what we've done. But Revelation 20 talks about different judgment. In fact the bema seat takes place at the rapture of believes who go to meet the Lord, and they receive the rewards. This is a thousand years later.

In fact, in chapter 20, verse 5 -- you can look at that first of all -- you'll see that the other that are not resurrected until the end of the millennium time. But Revelation 20:5 says this: The rest of the dead (that's the unsaved dead) do not come to life until the thousand years were ended (that's the millennium). It says this is the first resurrection. Now, for Christians, it's the first resurrection. It says "blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death which is the second resurrection of the unsaved, has no power over them but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with them a thousand years." And then of course, spend the rest of eternity with the Lord. But the Bible says for Christians, that we will stand before that Bema Judgement Seat and will receive rewards (or not), and we'll be ushered into everlasting life.

But the Bible says of the unsaved -- there's a great white throne. It's a place not any of us would ever want to be. Now I want you to know, on the authority of God's Word in this text, that that's a fact. The Bible makes it very clear that God will be upon the throne, and the Bible says the small and the great will be there -- the very, very rich and the very, very poor, from all nationalities and all races and all languages and all educational backgrounds and all social, economical structures -- they'll all be there.

Look at verse 11. He says, "and then I saw a great white throne and Him who is seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence and there was no place for them. (v. 12) I saw the dead (he saw all the unsaved) great and small standing before the throne, and the books were opened, another book was opened which is the Book of Life, and the dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books." Now the Bible says that there will be a day when all that ever lived, that have died without the Lord, will stand before the great white throne. And when God opens up that Book of Life and He looks for the name and it's not there, the Bible says they will be cast forever in the Lake of Fire. The Bible calls that Hell. Now there are many, many people today that deny the reality of a literal Hell. In fact, when Gallup and other people do surveys, they'll ask them these questions: Do you believe in a literal heaven? And most people say, "Oh, yes, of course I do" - and of course, they say, "I'm gonna be there." Then they say: Do you believe in a literal Hell; and most people say, "No, I don't." Now if you're here today and you say, well I really don't believe in this business of a literal Hell or a punishment forever, there are several reasons why you don't and why people don't. First of all, if you don't, you are using a well known psychological defense mechanism called "denial."

Here's how denial works. You are told that you have an eternal illness. You're gonna die. They say, "You're gonna die within the week," and the studies have said that the very first phase that people go through is denial. They say, "No, it's not going to happen. The tests were wrong. The studies were wrong. It's not me, I'm not going to die!" Because with denial, the things that we fear the most, we deny the most. We just ignore it -- it's not there. Many people will not go to the doctor to have a checkup because they say, "Oh, there's nothing to that. I'm not going to go." And often times for people, it's too late. We have someone who just lost their father at 56. And the whole family said, "You've got to go, you've got to go to the doctor, you have to have that checked out!" And the man was in denial and said, "No, I'm not going to go" and boom, his heart went, just like that -- at 56. And so it is with Hell. Believers will say - no, it doesn't exist -- it can't exist. God wouldn't do that! And so they're in a stage of denial.

People that deny a literal Hell are buying the devil's lies. The devil doesn't want us to believe in it, he wants us to go on our own way. But there's something else if we don't believe in Hell. And that is we call God a liar. You know that Jesus spoke about Hell more than anybody in the Scriptures? Oh, Jesus is loving, and Jesus is a good teacher -- but He also warned people of the wrath to come -- and He said there are two roads. There's a narrow road that leads to life and few there be find it. He said but there's a broad road that leads to destruction and many go. When Jesus described how He talked about eternal fire. He talked about a place where the worm dieth not -- a place of horror.

Now, lest you think that God is evil and mean and rotten, the Bible says He doesn't want anybody to go there! 2 Peter 3:9 says that God's not willing that ANY should perish, but that ALL might have everlasting life. God wants everybody to go to heaven -- but they make the wrong choice -- they don't go. So this Scripture tells us that that is just a fact -- that Hell is real. And if we deny it we're just in denial -- or following Satan's lies, or were just saying to God, "God, this is Your Bible, but I don't believe it." When you talk about it -- "I don't believe it, I'm going to believe MY way" then you're in an awful serious place when you do that. For the Bible says that Hell is real -- there's a fact of Hell.

But God's judgment is also a fair judgment. Now, notice in this text what happens in God's judgment. Look again at verse 12. John said, "I saw the dead great and small standing before the throne, and the books were opened." So there's a whole series of book, but then there's one book, it says "another book was opened which is the Book of Life." There's a Book of Life and then there's also these books of works. It says the dead were judged according to (notice carefully) what they had done, as recorded in the books. The books recorded everything that they had done.

In fact, the Bible tells us that no idle thought that we have will be covered over. (v. 13). The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and Death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them and each person was judged according to what they had done. Now, a lot a Christians have trouble with this. They say, wait a minute. I thought people go to Hell that don't receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and that is true. But the judgment was based upon what they had done. It was based upon their works for a very important reason. That's how people want to be judged. I've often times sat down and shared the gospel with people and I ask them this question: If you were to die right now and stand before God and He would say these words to you, "Why shall I let you into my Kingdom?" I ask them this question: "What would you say?" And people say one of two things. They either say: "I've accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. I've done what the Bible says" -- and that's the right answer. Or, most people say and answer it just like this: "I'm a good person. I lived a good life. I've never killed anybody. I've not done anything terrible -- and I would say these things to God."

Now, you see, people who don't trust Christ as their Savior and refuse to trust Christ as their Savior, they want to be saved by their works. They're proud of who they are. They're proud of what they've done and they say, "I will say to God, look at me -- look what I've done!" And when the unsaved dead stand before God, He opens up the Book of Works . . . and they say, "Well, Lord, I've done this. But, God, I'm a good person." And God might say, "Who said so? Who are you to think that you're good?" You see, God said any of our own self efforts and our own "works of righteousness" -- he said this: they're rags! Stinky, smelly, filthy, rotten rags! That's what your works of righteousness are! "But God! I helped my neighbor - I've got the best filthy rags! Well, God, I did a good job." God says that's filthy rags! "Well, God, I even went to church on Christmas and Easter" and God says that's filthy rags!

You see, God's judgment is fair because people stand and they are judged the way that they want to be judged. But when the books are opened and God looks at the works that are filthy rags in the Book of Life, their name is not there, the Bible says they're cast in the Lake of Fire. Now, Hell is necessary. God's judgment is fair, but Hell is necessary. Eternal punishment is necessary for some very important reasons. First of all, the Nature of God demands it. Now a lot of people say, "Well, God is so loving and God is so wonderful, that God would never want anybody -- (and He's not willing -- the Bible says) but God would never let anybody go to Hell. Everybody must go to Heaven."

But I want you to think about governments that have existed on the face of this earth. Do you know that every government of evil, wicked people -- even the most evil, wicked government that's ever existed -- has a way of punishing evil doers? That when someone murders someone, or does something that they consider wrong, there is a system of punishment -- the very nature of government. What about God's government? God is the righteous and the Holy Judge -- and people violate His standards. Now let's just say in our country that we've just decided to be perfectly loving, that our government says that we're going to love everybody. Oh, we love everybody! We love everybody so much, there is not going to be any more punishment in our country. If you murder somebody, that's okay. You raped someone. That's okay. You abuse a child -- oh, we love you so much, we'll just let you go on doing it! Any government would be absolutely crazy not to punish violators.

What about the government of God? When God looks and says, "What have you done to My Son? Have you accepted or rejected Him?" And so when the government of God -- God, because He's holy and just and righteous, although He loves us, He doesn't want to punish sin but because He is just, He must punish sin, and He says "I will in no wise clear the guilty." But, here the nature of man demands it as well, too. You see, God makes us free moral agents. We have a choice -- we're not robots. He doesn't say, "Okay, I want you all to praise the Lord" and we say "praise the Lord"; pulls a string here, walk here, we're going to go to church now, read the Bible now . . . . No! He says you have a choice! Here's the Way. Here's one way, here's the other way. Which way that I go? We say to God, "I'm not going to go your way, I'm going to go my way. I'm going to live my life my way, salvation and eternal life is going to be my way," and God says, "Well, that's okay, too," -- you can't do that! How could God do that? He can't. But, do you know the nature of Adam also demands judgment and punishment? Now, if you look in your Bible and you read Revelation 4 and 5 and other texts, you see a picture of heaven. What are people doing around the throne in heaven? They're praising God! They're celebrating! They're worshipping -- in abandonment in worship before the throne! They're saying "Hallelujah!" and "Amen!" and there's songs of praise and "to Him who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb, be blessing and glory and honor forever and ever" -- I mean, heaven is a never ending worship service. If you don't like worship now, lot's of luck! Can you imagine? Hitler around the throne? Well, he's done a lot of evil things -- but he's going to be there praising Jesus? Josef Stalin? How about Madeline O'Hara, who curses Jesus every chance she gets. I've heard that when Madeline O'Hara gets up, that her mouth is so foul that every other word is blasphemy of Jesus and God. Are we going to say, well, God's loving, so Madeline O'Hara is going to be around the throne. But what about the people who rest in their good works. Now here is the fellow that says, "Well I'm a good person, I live a good life and I go to church, and I pray and I do this, and I do that." And then they stand before God. And they walk up to the throne -- "All right, God, here I am. God, I've done this and God, I've done that - and I go to church and I pray and I do this . . . " and God says, "Oh, you're a wonderful person. Come into My Kingdom. Be here forever - you're so wonderful!" [And they say] "Yeah I know, God - I'd be here. And [the guy sees] all these people are over in the corner praising Jesus, and I'm thinking I don't need to praise Him. I'm here because of me! Look what I have done! Why should I want to worship Him?" There's only one group of people that know how to worship - those who know that they've been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. You see, if you don't understand redemption, if you don't understand salvation, if you don't understand the sacrifice of Jesus Christ - you can't understand worship! But if you know that it was nothing to the cross -- nothing to the cross I bring - only the cross I cling - and if I understand Jesus paid it all -- all to Him I owe -- sinners left a crimson stain -- He washed it white as snow -- that for the rest of my life in eternity -- I want to praise God for the Blood of the Lamb!!!

Only those who truly understand the sacrifice Christ made -- can truly worship. And that I don't care what people think. I don't care what they say -- because I know what God's done for me. But you see, those who would say, "Oh, I'm a good person, I've lived a good life" -- they spend their life praising themselves! They had no need or desire to praise the Lord. So God's judgment is a fact. God's judgment is fair. God is true. By the way, God keeps perfect books. We hear about these famous trials. We hear about people that go free and we hear about technicalities -- don't worry about any of that. God keeps perfect books. There will not be any justice on this earth that's totally fair. That's just the way it is. But God keeps perfect books.

But I want you to know that God's judgment is also final. Look at verse 14. "Then Death and Hades were thrown in the Lake of Fire. The Lake of Fire is the second death." Now in chapter 20:5 we read about the first resurrection. That the believers, when they're raptured to be with the Lord, that their resurrection -- that's the first resurrection -- but it says there's a second death. That's where the second resurrection is because you see, all the dead -- the Bible says the sea gave up their dead. Even those who were dead at sea -- and Hell gave up the dead and everything gave up their dead and they have some sort of a resurrected body -- which is the second resurrection. And the Bible calls it the second death. But the Bible says when you are cast in the Lake of Fire, that's the second death. It's also been said of Christians -- Christians are people who are born twice and die once. And non-Christians are people that are born once and die twice. So what does that mean? Well, everyone's born once physically in this world. We all have a physical birthday.

But a Christian has a spiritual birthday. A Christian says, "I have been born again. I have a spiritual birthday." I can take you to New Brittain Baptist Church in New Brittain, Pennsylvania and I can walk you down the aisle and I can point you to almost the exact seat and I can tell you that on Thursday night of April of 1964, as a 15 year old teenager, the Thursday before Easter, I individually and personally confessed by sin and I invited Jesus Christ to come into my life and change me -- and I was born again. And I know that I know that I know because I've done what God says. So I have a physical birthday; I have a spiritual birthday. So, I've been born twice. Some day, if Jesus doesn't come first, I'm going to breath my last breath. Somebody will pronounce me dead. I will have just become more alive than I've ever been before. Because the Bible says absent from the body; present with the Lord. It's a physical death -- but it's eternal life. But for the unbeliever, there's a physical birth, but there's no rebirth. So they're born once, but the unsaved die twice. They also have a physical death. But there is a second death when they are cast in the Lake of Fire. You cannot find the word "limbo," or "purgatory," or "second chance" anywhere in your Bible. The Bible never gives any hope that there's ever a second chance that God's going to change His mind and say, "Well, we're going to give you one more shot at this thing." Our opportunity is now - not later.

God's judgment is final. There's n o acquittal. There's no hung jury. There's no high powered lawyer to get you off on a technicality. The Lake of Fire is forever. It's final. The second death. But it's also forever. All through the Bible when the Bible talks about eternity it uses a phrase "forever and ever." The Lake of Fire that the devil and his angels are cast in is forever and ever. And you can't find one verse or one thought or one hint anywhere in Scripture that punishment ends. And we would in our hearts so want to believe and say, "No, we don't want to see that happen," but just as there is eternal life for the saved, there is eternal damnation for the lost. Jesus spoke about the fire that burns forever and ever. And there are people that teach and say, "Well, it must be temporary because forever and ever really means from the ages to the ages and therefore someday it's going to end." But if you believe that eternal punishment is going to end, then you must say eternal life is going to end because the same word is used. "From everlasting to everlasting" is used for eternal life as well as eternal damnation and it's also the word used for God being eternal. And as much as the thought is so difficult for us to swallow, God's Word says it's true. But He doesn't want anybody to be there. He is not willing that any should perish, but that all might find everlasting life! Look at chapter 21:8. Look who will be in Hell. Now this verse lists some horrific things, but it also lists a couple things that applys to many people -- the cowardly and the fearful. People in this category often say something like this: "Well I'm afraid to accept Jesus. What will people think? I'm afraid to trust Christ as my Savior, I think I'll do it my way." The unbelieving might say something like this: "I don't believe I have to be saved to go to heaven."

One of our ladies was just yesterday was out knocking on doors -- that had received the Jesus video and saw it, and you know, she said "I didn't pray that prayer. I've always depended upon being a good person. I'm going to depend upon that." So our lady said to this person, "If you don't trust Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you'll spend eternity in Hell." And yet, this 95 year old lady, who is living on borrowed time, still would not accept Christ as her Savior. How foolish! It's the most important decision. It's the unbelieving -- those that don't believe the Gospel - they are there -- oh, good people, good life, moral people -- but they were unbelieving! The vial, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magical arts, idolaters, and all liars -- their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulphur. This is the second death. The Bible says the unbelievers will be there with the murderers, with the sexually profane, with the vilest of vile. You think of the worst of society -- the dredges of society -- and the most evil wicked people that have ever lived of all times, and if you are an unbeliever, they'll be your next door neighbors in Hell -- for eternity. For God is not willing that any should perish. I want you to look back one more time in chapter 20:15. I want you to look very carefully at verse 15. It says if anyone's name was not found written in the Book of Life, he was thrown in the Lake of Fire. And the very most important question I must ask of myself: Is my name written there? And my name doesn't go in there because of some magical point, I've been such a good person, that all of a sudden I've earned my name there -- it's not that way. Unless a man is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of Heaven. When I accept Christ as my Savior, my name is written in His book. Is my name written there? That's the first question I must ask myself. The second question is: How many people that I know, do I know around me, whose names are not written there? And I could put their name right there. A man I talked to last week who God has laid on my heart - his name is Ron - if Ron's name is not written in the Book of Life, he's going to be cast in the Lake of Fire. And God wants me with all the zeal and boldness, to share with Ron, to keep him out of the Lake of Fire. Put in there the names of people that you know -- loved ones, friends, family -- if their name is not written in the Book of Life, God says - not me, not some theology, not some church doctrine, not some council that decided somewhere back in ancient history -- God says that if their name is not there, they'll be cast in the Lake of Fire. That's why right now, all around the world, missionaries are sharing the Good News, why preachers are proclaiming it. Because God is not willing that any should perish. But I want everlasting life. So many people want to wait. They say, "Some day I'll think about that stuff. Some day I'll consider it. Oh, I've got enough time." I see a lot of people say, "When I get older, you know - maybe on my death bed I'll trust Christ as my Savior", but we never know how much time we have. Last week my wife and two daughters were going down at midnight the Pennsylvania Turnpike and they hit a big puddle of water on the road and they lost control of the car. At the same time I had a vision, a dream -- whatever it was, that my wife and two daughters were killed in a car accident and prayed to the Spirit for an hour and a half down in New Jersey, waiting for them to come. The last thing I ever expected was that to happen, and God miraculously protected them, surrounded them, and they walked out without a scratch. But we never know. We never know. In the words of this song I heard many, many years ago rings so true. It's called Plenty of Time. I got up on Sunday morning; I went to the church at ten; I listened to the words I heard time and time again; The preacher spoke of simple lives, it seemed he spoke of mine; But I was young, I had plenty of time.

Plenty of time to decide where I'm bound To eternal darkness or to a heavenly crowd I'm just a young man, not yet in my prime So I'll just wait, I've got plenty of time.

I walked on down life's pathway, living as I wished to live Out to beat the other fellow, out to get what life could give Making money is not simple, having fun is not a crime So I'll just wait, I've got plenty of time.

Plenty of time to decide where I'm bound To eternal darkness or to a heavenly crowd I'm just a young man, not yet in my prime So I'll just wait, I've got plenty of time.

Before I knew what had happened, life's scenes had passed away And millions stood before God's throne, for it was Judgment Day Now eternal darkness beckons and the name it calls is mine But I thought, I had plenty of time.

Eternity waits, I've got plenty of time To think of all the days Christ could have been mine My chance is over, earth days are left behind Now I've got nothing, but plenty of time.

The Bible says now is the day of salvation. And your name will only be written there because you trusted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.. On the authority of the Bible, I tell you that. But the good news is that you don't have to earn it. You don't have to strive for it. Because you will never know what good enough is, because God said none of it is good enough. And that's why I gave My Son. Is your name written there? Are all your family members' names written there? The people with whom you work with, are their names written there? Are your friends, are their names written there? The Bible says in Hebrews 9:27, "it is appointed unto man once to die, but after that _______. " Is my name written there?

Let's bow our heads together, please.

Our heads are bowed, our eyes are closed. O, dear friend, is your name written there? Don't leave here this day without knowing that you know that your know because you invited Christ to be your Lord and Savior. That your name's written there. Is there a time, is there a place? And you can say, "That's when it was -- that's when I gave my life to Jesus Christ. I know that I know that I know, because I've done what God says, that I've been born again. But if you don't know, if you're not sure -- don't leave here today without Christ. And if you know Christ as your Savior, God is called everyone of us to be a zealous witness to those around us. What about those whose names you know are not written there? Father, my prayer is that if there's anyone here today who does not know Christ as their Savior, God, that they would run to the altar. God, that they would want to know that their names are written there, that there's eternity of everlasting joy waiting for them. And God, that you would give us a holy boldness, a holy zeal to give the greatest gift to those around us -- whether it's a Gospel tract or a Jesus video or a verse from the word of God, or our testimony -- whatever it is - that with zeal and boldness we would share the best news -- the words of eternal life. So, God, speak to our hearts from your word, we ask in Jesus' name. Let's stand together and praise. If you're not sure this day that you were born again, we invite you to make your way down this aisle and say, Pastor, I'd like to know, I'd like to be born again today. I want people to take the word of God, show you the Scriptures, sit down with you right here and lead you to faith in Christ. So as we sign, just make your way down here. Say, Pastor, I'm coming. I'm not sure. I've come to be born again. You might be a church member. You might have been catechized and baptized, you could say before God's throne, "O, God, I've done this, this and this." But if you've not been born against, He'll say depart from me accursed, I never knew you. If you are a believer here today, I believe God flashes on our mind the faces of the people that we know that don't know the Lord. I ask that you bring them to the alter in prayer and say, "O, God, I'm bringing this person, I'm trusting for their salvation, and God, that I'd be that zealous witness for your." You know, some of us get so zealous about inviting people to other things. We hear about a sale and we say, "O, you gotta go, the sale is great!" Or we go to a vacation place and say, "You gotta go there, it's great!" So how do we approach heaven. "You gotta got there! It's great!" We want to take as many people with us as possible, to glory. And God says, "You shall be my witnesses." We don't have a choice. So, in the altar call today, if you're not sure of your salvation, please come, while someone shares with you. If you need more boldness, more zeal, more fire, the Holy Spirit to be that witness for Christ, I'd like you to come -- the apostles, when they were threatened and they were beaten, they would get together for a prayer meeting and they'd pray for one thing, "O God, that we might speak your word with boldness." You can never go wrong praying Scripture. "O, God, that I might speak Your word with boldness." If you need a holy boldness today, come to the altar and say, "O God, I need that boldness to share the Good News." God uses all different ways to share His word. It could be a tract, a testimony or a tape -- or sitting down with the Word of God. But whoever that person is or those people are, that flash on your mind, ask God for the boldness and zeal to share His Word. If you need to come and have Christ in Your life, come. Come to the altar and pray for a lost soul, come. You want to ask God for a new zeal, a new boldness - come. If God has spoken to your heart . . .

It is the believer that will stand before Christ to receive the rewards, but if you have not yet invited Jesus into your life to be your Lord and Savior, then you will appear before a different throne to be judged. And everyone who's name was not found written in the Lamb's book of life was thrown into the Lake of Fire. If you have not received Jesus as your Lord and Savior, your name is not in the Lamb's Book of Life; but it can be by trusting Jesus as Lord and Savior. If have never been saved and born again with a new Spirit, then you can be today. The Bible says that to as many who received Him, to those He gave them the power to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name. If you are not sure of your salvation, then pray this simple prayer with me.

So I am going to pray a prayer of invitation to receive Jesus into your life. It is not like saying an "our Father" or like reading a prayer card, it is not the words that are significant but what it means. You are going to ask Jesus to save you from your sins, to come into your heart, to be the master of your life and to take you to heaven when you die. So if you are not sure of your salvation today, and the desire of your heart is for Jesus Christ to come into your life to be your Lord and Savior, make this your prayer. Dear Lord, I am a sinner. I confess my sins to you and right now ask you to forgive my every sin. I invite you right now into my life, to be my Lord and my Savior. Thank you for coming into my life. May never be the same again. Make me a new person in Jesus Christ for I thank you in Jesus name. Amen. Father we thank you. We thank you for the body and blood of Jesus and as we come around your table, help us to come with a heart cleansed by the blood of Christ, with an attitude of gratefulness and a desire to walk in the holiness you have called us to. We thank you and praise you in Jesus name. Some people give their all to their sports or their hobbies, yet those around them get nothing. Some of you know things are not right in your family because things like sports or hobbies are more important than your family. You need to give your all to God and your family. ==========================================================================

If you have prayed this prayer, please let us know by EMAIL or by correspondence. It would be a real blessing to us. And if you would like a cassette tape of this message, please send $3.00 to cover costs to: Faith Chapel 200 Gillespie Avenue Syracuse, N.Y. 13219 (315) 468-2745

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"Watch and pray, therefore, that you would be counted worthy to escape the judgment that is coming upon the earth and be able to stand before the Son of Man" (Luke 21:36).

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