Lesson #14
Are You Ready?
According to our Lord, the vast majority of people are not ready for the Judgment and will be lost forever in eternity, but only a few are ready to go to Heaven (Matthew 7:13-14). We are told in Amos 4:12 to "Prepare to meet your God". Most people will be unprepared. The unprepared will be lost in the eternal punishment of Hell. We must be prepared because we will not get a second chance.
The Judgment will happen when the Lord comes again. No one will be exempt. "For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ" (Romans 14:10). If we are not ready, it will be too late to try to get ready when we are standing before the Lord in Judgment. Our eternal fate is sealed either when we draw our last breath or if the Lord comes before we die, and we don’t know when either is going to happen. 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9 says, "When the Lord Jesus is revealed from Heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power."
Sadly, the vast majority of people will be horrified when they hear "Depart from Me, you cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his angels" (Matthew 25:41). Those who are lost in Hell will only have themselves to blame. Is your name in God’s Book of Life? If it isn't, "Anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire" (Revelation 20:15). How do we make sure our name is in the Book of Life? Jesus says "Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in Heaven" (Matthew 7:21). We must do God’s will and faithfully continue to do His will all the days of our life, if we expect to go to Heaven. Are you ready for the Judgment?
What a tragedy it would be if we fall short and fail to receive the heavenly inheritance reserved for us due to our failure. It is sad that the vast majority of people of this world are entering the wide gate that leads to eternal punishment in Hell. Jesus says, "for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it" (Matthew 7:13-14). For the majority who are lost there will be no second chance to get it right. It will be tragic for a child of God, who was once faithful, to fall short and miss Heaven.
In Matthew chapter 25 the Lord gives the parable of the ten virgins: five foolish and five wise. The five foolish did not make the necessary preparation for the wedding of the bridegroom. The wedding began and the door was shut. Afterward the five foolish "virgins came also saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ But he answered and said, ‘assuredly I say to you, I do not know you’" (Matthew 25:11-12). Let’s not be among the foolish.
We are warned to "beware lest you fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked" (2 Peter 3:17). We are to "Let no one cheat you of your reward" (Colossians 2:18). Our soul is the most precious thing we possess in the world. "For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Matthew 10:26). It is bad enough that those in the world are going to be eternally lost, but it is horrible for an unfaithful Christian to also be lost. But "some shall depart from the faith" (1 Timothy 4:1).
We should be very careful for, "let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall" (1 Corinthians 10:12). No one who departs this life with a failing faith can expect to go to Heaven. "Beware, brethern, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God" (Hebrews 3:12). Those who turn back to their old ways, and no longer walk in the light of God's word, will not receive their reward of eternal life in Heaven. "Therefore, brethern, be even more diligent to make your calling and election sure" (2 Peter 1:10).
All people should be preparing to stand before God, because one day we all will. No one knows the day or hour he will die but, "And as it is appointed for man to die once, but after this the judgment" (Hebrews 9:27). Our appointments with death and judgment cannot be canceled. Every person who has ever lived will keep both appointments whether they want to or not. Physical death is not the end for anyone. We are not like animals, we have eternal souls that will live forever in one of two places, Heaven or Hell. When we draw our last breath, our eternal fate is sealed.
After we die we will all stand before the Lord and be judged. "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men" (2 Corinthians 5:10-11). "So then each of us shall give account of himself to God" (Romans 14:12).
The vast majority of the world is living as though they think they will never stand before the Lord in judgment. They live as though they think there is no God. They give no thought about ever dying, but they will die because there is "a time to be born, and a time to die" (Ecclesiastes 3:2). "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat, both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness" (2 Peter 3:10-11). For the vast majority of people, "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (Hebrews 10:31). People, who are not prepared to meet God in judgment, do not realize how fearful this will be. But this will only be the beginning of their fear, which will last forever and ever.
Because the majority of people have not prepared to meet God, "There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth" (Matthew 13:42), when they are "cast into hell fire, where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched" (Mark 9:47-48). This torment will go on forever. This is not a scare tactic; Hell is real, the Bible says so.
But what about the few who are prepared to meet God as they "Enter into the joy of your Lord" (Matthew 25:21)? In Heaven "God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away" (Revelation 21:4). Let’s be prepared to meet God so we can go to Heaven.
Questions Lesson #14
Are You Ready?
(Click on the button of the answer
of your choice)
1) (Romans 14:10) Who will stand before the judgment seat of Christ?
Only the wicked.
All people.
Only those who are still living when Christ comes again.
2) (Amos 4:12) We do not have to be prepared to meet the Lord in judgment.
3) (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9) At the end of time everlasting vengeance will be taken on who?
No one.
All people.
Those who do not know God and those who have not obeyed the gospel.
4) (Revelation 20:15) The many who are lost will be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone.
5) (Matthew 7:21) Who will go to Heaven?
Only the few who have faithfully done God's will.
All people.
Most people.
6) (Matthew 7:21) All people who call Jesus their Lord will go to Heaven?
7) (Matthew 7:13-14) How many people will be lost and how many will be saved?
Few people will be lost and many will be saved.
Many people will be lost and only few will be saved.
All people will be saved.
8) (2 Peter 3:17) We should beware lest we fall from our steadfastness and be lost.
9) (Hebrews 3:12) What can cause us to depart from God and be eternally lost?
An evil heart of unbelief.
Nothing can cause us to depart from God.
Trying to be faithful to God.
10) (2 Peter 1:10) We must be even more diligent to make our calling and election sure.
11) (2 Corinthians 5:10-11) Who will appear before the judgment seat of Christ?
Only the wicked.
All people.
Just some people.
12) (Romans 14:12) Each of us shall give an account of himself to God.
13) (Revelation 21:4) What will Heaven be like?
No tears, no sorrow, no crying, no pain; nothing but joy and happiness.
Not much different than life here on the earth.
A horrible place.
14) (Hebrews 10:31) It will be a fearful thing, for the lost, to fall into the hands of the living God.