The Great Day Of The Lord

By: W. L. Totty

"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil"(Ecclesiastes 12:13-14).

We learn from that passage that our whole duty is to fear God and to keep his commandments. Since God shall "bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil," that ought to make each person think solemnly and soberly about how he walks in this life. There is no way to hide anything from God. Every work will be brought in, whether it be done in secret or openly, both good and bad.

It is evident that even children of God fail to think seriously about what is coming after this life. Many members of the church are neglecting their duty toward God in many respects. One outstanding point of neglect is a failure to attend the services when the church meets to worship the Lord. Too many of us, it seems, feel as if one service a week to worship God is enough to take us to heaven. God gives us 168 hours a week; and many people will give God only one hour a week and sometimes not any; yet, they expect to go to heaven. But living the Christian life is a daily, hourly living for Christ. When people let their faith in God become too weak that any trial or tribulation will discourage them and make them turn away from God, they need not expect to hear Christ say, "Well done," at the judgment.

Jesus said, "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 7:21). It will be too late to say, "Lord, Lord," when the judgment comes. Jesus also asked, "And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" (Luke 6:46).

In Matthew 25 Jesus gives us a description of how it is going to be when he comes. He said, "When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left" (Matthew 25:31-33). The goats represent the evil persons who have not prepared themselves for judgment; and the sheep represent the good.

Then Jesus enumerated the good things they had done for him. When they asked him when they had done those things, Jesus replied, "... Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me" (Matthew 25:40).

To those on the left hand he is going to say "...Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels" (vs. 41). Then Jesus said of those who will be on his left, "...Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me" (vs. 45).

When Saul of Tarsus was on his way to Damascus to persecute the Christians, Jesus spoke to him and said, "Saul, Saul, why persecuted thou me?" Therefore when Saul was persecuting the church, he was persecuting Christ.

We are going to have to be busy working in the kingdom of God if we expect to be on Christ's right hand when he comes. When that hour comes, all the material things which we may have gained in this life will amount to nothing.

Jesus asked the question, "...what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Matthew 16:26). There is nothing a man  would not give in exchange for his soul on the judgment day if Jesus would tell him he could go back and accumulate things in the kingdom of heaven instead of the kingdom of the world, but them it will be too late.

Our Lord when he was upon the earth, said, "I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work" (John 9:4).

Let us not forget that the apostle Paul, guided by the Holy Spirit, said, "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad" (II Corinthians 5:10).