The conclusion of the matter is this!

Charles Spurgeon, et al.

(Be sure to LISTEN to the Audio, as you READ the text below.)

Hebrews 9:27, "It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment."

There is a truth which Scripture refuses to soften, and conscience cannot silence: there is a Judge over the whole earth, and there will be a final judgment, in which perfect justice will be administered.

The Judge is Jesus. He is the moral governor over His creation. He does not allow men to live in sin and rebellion just as they please; and then to die as brute creatures without accountability. He has appointed a day when He will judge the actions and words, along with the secret thoughts and motives of every person.

Every moment of history is moving toward that unavoidable hour when every person who has ever lived, will be righteously judged by King Jesus. He who once stood silent before earthly courts, will sit enthroned before all nations. The hands that were pierced, will open the books. The eyes that once wept over Jerusalem, will blaze like fire. The meek Savior, will be revealed as the righteous Judge, and His sentence will be final.

This judgment will be universal--all mankind, without exception. The living and the dead will stand before Him. Kings and peasants, persecutors and sufferers, the moral and the immoral, the godly and the wicked, the rich and the poor, the small and the great, the young and the old--all will be judged. Every "mask" will be torn off. No hiding place will avail. No soul will escape His summons.

This judgment will be searching. Deeds will be examined, words will be weighed, and secrets will be exposed! Not only what was done, but why it was done. Not only public actions, but private thoughts. Not only remembered sins, but long-forgotten sins.

This judgment will be exact and just. Books will be opened. Nothing will be overlooked, exaggerated, or mistaken. There will be no hearsay, no slander, no injustice. Every sentence will be so righteous, that even those condemned to Hell will be compelled to agree with their doom. The damned soul will say, "Amen" to its own condemnation. Much of the bitterness of Hell will be, not merely that it is dreadful, but that it is fully deserved.

This judgment will be final. When Jesus pronounces His verdict, it will never be reversed. There will be no second court, no later appeal, no change of sentence. "These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." Matthew 25:46

Yet for those who sincerely trust and love Him, judgment has already fallen. Their sentence was executed at the Cross. There is no condemnation for those whose guilt and punishment was atoned for, by the slain Lamb.

"When all has been heard, the conclusion of the matter is this: Fear God and keep His commandments, because this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, along with every hidden thing, whether good or evil!" Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

You may want to read the whole of Spurgeon's powerful sermon, "Jesus, the Judge!"