The Most Beautiful City

 

   

A godly man was struck by a vehicle and rushed to a hospital. Doctors informed him that he had about two hours to live. His faith was implicit in the goodness of God in this life and in a future life in Heaven. To him death was only a gateway leading to the presence of God and to his Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. His family was hurriedly called to his bedside.

As he embraced each one he had a parting word. “Beloved,” he said to his wife, “you have been the dearest woman in the world to me. Good-night, my dear, I'll see you in the morning.” “Mary, what a joy you have been to your father, Good-night, I'll see you in the morning”. He then turned to the oldest son “Will, continue to grow in every Christian grace and virtue. Good-night, Will.”

He then called Charlie to his side. “Charlie, you were a promising boy but you have followed the broad road, I love you. Good-bye, Charlie.” Charlie seized his father's hand and between sobs he cried out: “Father, why have you said good-night to the others and good-bye to me?”“Son, I will meet the others in the resurrection morning. But, I have no hope of seeing you over there. We shall never meet again. It is good-bye, Charlie.”

In Psalm 1:5 we read “Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.” This verse refers to what will happen when the end comes.  Throughout the Bible it is affirmed that people must face the judgment of God one day. It’s appointed for man to die once and after that comes judgement (Heb 9:27) God has set a day when he will judge the world with justice (Acts 17:31).

At the end of each season, crops are harvested.  A good farmer removes all chaff from the grains before putting it in the store. In the same way, when this world comes to an end, Jesus will appear with his winnowing fork in his hand. He will gather the wheat in his barn and burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire (Matt. 3:12). God will remove all sinners from the righteous before placing them in Heaven.

The wicked will not stand in the judgement.  The psalmist asked “if you Lord kept a record of sins, Lord who could stand?” (Ps.130:3). The Lord does keep a record of sin and the wicked will have their recorded sins read out to them.  In Isaiah 2 we are told that the Lord almighty has a day in store for all the proud and lofty and they will be humbled. The arrogance of man will be brought low and human pride will be humbled.

People will flee from the fearful present of the Lord and the splendor of his majesty, when he rises to shake the earth. They will try to enter into the rock and hide in the dust from before the terror of the Lord. The righteous will stand because their saviour is able to make them stand in the presence of his glory, blameless with great joy (Jude 1:24 NASB).

In verse 1, the psalmist states that in this life, the righteous will not be found in the assembly of the sinners. Now in verse 5 he says that in the next life, the sinners will not be found in the assembly of the righteous.  This world, just like the body of a man, was not made to last, one day it will pass way. In a vision of the end times John saw that current heaven and earth were passed away and there was no more sea (Rev. 21:1).

The stars will dissolve and fall like withered leaves. The heaven will roll up like a scroll. Every mountain and island will move out of their place (Isa.34:4, Rev 6:14). When that happens we shall have come to the end of God’s dealings with this earth, as we know it. It is reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgement and the destruction of the ungodly.  But, there is a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells (2 Peter 3:7-13).

The Scriptures show clearly there are only two destinations after death: eternal life or eternal wrath. In Romans 2 Paul contrasts the two destinies. He describes eternal life by four words: glory, honor, immortality and peace (vv.7, 10). He describes eternal punishment by four words: wrath, indignation, tribulation and distress (vv 8-9). God’s anger towards the ungodly will break out on the Day of Judgment.

According to Jesus eternal life goes on forever and punishment is eternal (Matt. 25:46). Eternal life begins with moment the righteous come to God (John 17:3). But it is indescribably deepened the moment they step into God’s presence where there is fullness of joy (Ps. 16:11). Those in Hell will suffer conscious torments away from the presence of the Lord (2Thess. 1:9).  

The judgment for the believers is not the judgement of sins but determination of rewards based on labor rendered in the service of the Lord (Rev. 22:12). The basis of this judgment is written in 1 Corinthians 3:11-15.  The final judgment that will put an end to all judgment for all time will be that of sinners. It is vividly described in Revelation 20:11-15. John saw the dead standing before a great white throne and books were opened.

The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. Another book was opened which is the book of life (Rev. 20:12-14). The basis of this judgment is said to be the books. Everyone whose name was not written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:15). Everyone who was found written in the book of life was rescued (Dan. 12:1). Rejoice if your name is written in the book of life (Mark 8:36).

The second book will be the Book of Works (deeds). Unbelieving dead will be “judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books”. The invariable teaching of the bible is that judgement will be on the basis of works (Ps. 62:12, Ec. 12:14, Rev.14:13, Matt.16:27, Cor. 5:10). Since He will evaluate their deeds, there seems to be a difference in degrees of punishment as there will be differences in rewards for believers (Matt.11:20-24). Jesus taught this same principle in Matthew 23:14.

New Jerusalem is the future home of the saints (Heb. 12:22-23). Abraham looked forward to this city whose builder and architect is God. The beauty of this city is described in Revelation 21 and 22. Its brilliance is clear as crystal. The great street is of gold, as pure as transparent glass. The wall has twelve foundations decorated with every precious stone. Nothing impure will enter there, but only those whose names are written in the book of life.

Hell is the future home of the wicked. They will then be thrown to the Lake of Fire (Hell) which is the second death (Rev. 21:8). Jesus gave a parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16: 19-31). These two men lived in close proximity to each other. It was only after both men died that God’s judgment was evident. Verses 22-23 give us a picture of the Rich Man and Lazarus in Eternity. Here, the roles of the two men are almost exactly reversed.

The rich man made two requests. First he pled for water to cool his tongue. His petition was denied, based on two factors. First, justice demanded that he get what he deserved. Second, Hell and Heaven are divided; with no access between the two. His second request was that Lazarus goes to his five brothers to warn them not to come to this place. This request was also denied. The prayers of the dead do not work.

Hell is the place which justice requires; for it is there that the evils done in life are paid for. God is just, he cannot overlook evil. Vengeance is mine says the Lord, I will repay (Rom. 12:19). Hell, once entered, is an irreversible fate. Whenever we are tempted to disobey Gods command, we should remember that the torment of temptation is never as great as the torment of its consequences.

The wicked and the righteous both die and are buried side by side in cemeteries. One day all will hear his voice and come out of their graves. The righteous will rise to live and the wicked will rise to be condemned (Dan 12:2, John 5:28-29). All of God’s children from all the centuries will be together at last (Jude 14-15). When believers die it is only “good night”. But if our loved ones died without Christ, there is no biblical reason to think we will ever see them again.  

God more often he delays His judgment, so people continue to do evil (Ec. 8:11, 2 Pet. 3.3-4). Since we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells we should make every effort to be found spotless, blames and at peace with him (2 Pet. 3.13-14). In this life, nothing is as crucial as enrolling in the assembly of the righteous whose names are written in Heaven (Heb. 12:23).