The Last Courtroom Session

THE JUDGE:  “I did not ask you if you are a good person by the world’s standards,”  The Great Judge declares.  “The question is:  How have you kept MY standards?”  You feel your heart stricken!  You know what He’s asking.  It’s too late to change anything now.  You know that He knows, and you’re not going to be able to buffalo your way out of this one!  “But mama went to church...,” you begin to say.  But you know this ain’t about mama.  This isn’t even about church.

GOD’s law, also known as the Ten Commandments, are not suggestions.  His commandments are His Law, and if you break just one, you’re guilty of all.  GOD is THE Judge.  He will judge according to how His law has been kept.  In a court of law as we know it, do you think an honorable judge will let you escape sentencing by telling him that you’re really a good person, that you’re sorry, and you will never do ‘it’ again?  The answer is no.  You will, in some form, pay a debt to society ruled equivalent to what you took from it.  GOD is a just GOD.  You will not be able to bribe Him on Judgment Day.  As fire will consume a dry leaf, even though it may not want to, so is the just nature of GOD.

THE JURY:  You try to treat others as you would like to be treated; you have ‘good works’ on your record;  Your dear sweet mama can vouch for you;  You’re all set for Heaven!  Or are you?  You know, once you are dead, you won’t get another crack at this.  Would it be worth it to you to find out just where you are on The Justice Scales?

Okay, let’s start with a line of questioning.

1)      Have you ever told a lie, even a little ‘white’ one?

2)      Have you ever taken anything that did not belong to you? 

3)      Have you ever looked at someone with lust in your heart?

4)      Has GOD always been number one in your life?

5)      Have you honored your parents?    

Answer these self-examination questions honestly.  Lying to yourself at this point is just as dangerous as lying to the Judge.

We’ll stop the questions now, asking just half of the test.  How did you do?  Did you answer “yes” to any of them?  Please note:  “…happened years ago” is a “yes”.  If that doesn’t seem fair, consider this:  If Jack-the-Ripper were sitting in a courtroom awaiting judgment, would you want to hear the judge say, “Oh, that happened so long ago, why don’t we just forget about it?”

THE CROSS EXAMINATION:  Okay, let’s see how you did.  If you answered “yes” to Q#1, you have broken the Ninth Commandment; Q#2, the Eighth Commandment; Q#3 actually entails more than most think because Jesus said if you even look at someone with lust in your heart, you have broken the Seventh Commandment; Q#4, the First Commandment; and Q#5, the Fifth Commandment, (which, incidently, is the only commandment that comes with a promise:  long life.)

So, how did you do?  Are the scales leaning a bit far to the left?  According to these laws, will you be going to Heaven or sentenced to Hell on Judgment Day?  Remember, taking Aunt Sue to the doctor isn’t going to score you any Brownie Points.  The Law is the Law, and breaking the Law means punishment.

THE OBJECTION:  “But it’s impossible to keep all these commandments!  How ‘fair’ is that?”  You know, you’re right.  It is impossible to keep all these commandments.  The Bible agrees, saying “There is none good, no not one (Romans 3 verses 10, 11, 12), and “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of GOD,” (Romans 3 vs 23).  The Bible also reveals that “the wages of sin is death”.  You are a sinner because you have broken the law.  OBJECTION OVER-RULED.

PREDICTED VERDICT:  GUILTY.  ETERNAL DEATH BY FIRE

THE STAY OF EXECUTION:  Ring, ring.  “Wait a minute!  It’s for you!”  GOD knew that you would not be able to keep His commandments.  He knew this before you came to court.  But He did something for you… because He loves you and does NOT want to see you get what you actually deserve... because He wants you to be with Him in Heaven.  Do you know what He did?  He sent His only Son to take your punishment for you (John 3 verse 16).  He does not want to see you punished, an eternal sentence in torment where “the fire is not quenched and worm dieth not” (Mark 9 verse 44), so He did what no father on earth has ever done:  sacrificed His sinless Son to be sin for you (II Corinthians Ch. 5 vs 21).  How does that make you feel, to know that the GOD of the universe loves you that much?  Love is not what GOD does, it’s who He is (1^st John 4 verse 8).  What can you thank JESUS for right now?  JESUS did what He did because He loves you, and wants to share His inheritance with you.  (Of course, you will have to read His Will (The Bible) to know what your inheritance will be).  He nailed our sins to His cross.  Prophecy was fulfilled by His being laid in a borrowed tomb.  The wonderful news is, He didn’t stay in that tomb!  And this is, consequently, what Easter is about:  celebrating an empty tomb.  No other religion in the entire world can boast of this!  No one can produce JESUS’s body.  (Why do you think this upsets the world so much?  Must be something to it.)  2000 years ago, JESUS CHRIST died on the cross to pay for the sins of the world.  His last words were, “It is finished!”  In other words, He stepped into the courtroom and completely paid your fine.  The debt has been paid in full.  All who repent and trust in Him receive forgiveness of sins.

THE QUESTION:  Will you take The Call?  Only you can decide if you are going to accept His ‘Stay of Execution’ or not.  Will you take a step towards the door of freedom, or a step back towards the prison cell you’ve come to know so well?  You can remain in sin’s prison for the rest of your life, or not.

“GOD commands all men every where to repent:  because He has appointed a day, in which He will judge the world in righteousness” (Acts 17:30).  If you already know your answer, and your answer is to stay where you are, then you might as well stop reading.  If you answer that you are not going to make a decision, you just did.  No decision is a decision.  If you have a heart to thank JESUS, to accept His wonderful gift of salvation, then waste no time and hit those knees!  Don’t worry about what you are going to say.  The condition of your heart is more important to Him.  But as a guideline, this would be a model prayer of repentance:  GOD, please forgive me for sinning against You.  I understand that, according to Your Law, I deserve the eternal death sentence (Hell).  However, You are not willing that I should die like this.  Thank You that Jesus suffered and died for me and rose again on the third day.  I now repent and yield myself to JESUS to be my LORD and Savior.  I will read Your Word and obey what I read.  In JESUS’s Name I pray, amen.

LIFE WITHOUT BARS:  Like what was said before, there is only one way to know what your inheritance is, and that is to read The Will.  You cannot know the wonderful promises GOD made to His children unless you read and hear His Word.  The Bible will be your sword, a weapon to be used against the enemy.  And yes, the redeemed have an enemy:  the Devil.  He didn’t bother you when you were on his side.  Here’s a promise you need to remember:  “greater is He (Jesus) that is in you, than he (the evil one) that is in the world” (1 John 4 verse 4).  PRAY ABOUT EVERYTHING!  Prayer is not a chore, it’s a privilege.  Imagine sitting on papa’s knees and pouring out your heart to Him.  Buy a book on prayer at your local Christian Store.  IT WOULD ALSO BE GOOD to purposefully set out to be around other Christians whom you can talk to.  Church would be a great place to start.  Do not neglect the older members, for this is where you will find wisdom and sound advice.  Go where that friend of yours has been inviting you for the past ten years.  Wherever you go, pray about it.

You will (as all other Christians) make mistakes along the way.  There’s a song title, “I’m Not Perfect, Just Forgiven” that makes an excellent motto.  Making things right is important, but more important are the intentions of our heart.  People see what we do, but GOD sees our heart and why we do what we do.

Galatians chapter 2 verse 20, in the New Testament, says:  “I am crucified with CHRIST:  nevertheless I live; yet not I, but CHRIST lives in me; the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.”  Bob George, “Classic Christianity”, wrote this:  “Christians are continually trying to change their lives; but GOD calls us to experience the Exchanged life.  Christianity is not a self-improvement program.  It isn’t a reformation project.  It is resurrection!  It is new life!  And it is expressed in terms of a total exchange of identity.  JESUS CHRIST identified Himself with us in our death in order that we might be identified with Him in His resurrection.  We give Christ all that we are—spiritually dead, guilty sinners—and Christ gave us all that He is—resurrected life, forgiveness, righteousness, acceptance.”  In other words, He trades His clothes for our old, worn-out rags; it is as if we never sinned in GOD’s eyes.  This is called “being Justified”.

“*CASE DISMISSED!”

*What the redeemed are going to hear on Judgment Day.

-Written by Diana

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