Someone spread the rumor that there are no tears in heaven. Not true. The Lord says this, “I will wipe away tears.” There will be tears! I believe at The Judgment Seat of Christ, there won’t be a dry eye. As He begins to play back the “video tape” of your life, your works, your motives, your hidden desires...there will be cause for tears.
In my own mind, I try to picture what that scene will be like. One by one, every man individually, will see those things that he has done in this life (I Cor 3:13). And I believe that one by one, He will call every saint by name to stand before Him.
He will say Matthew... Remember Matthew was the “IRS” man who wrote the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew will stand up and the Lord will say, “Matthew what have you ever done for me?” He will reply, “I admit that when I was a disciple, I wasn’t much of one. I know that I ran when I was in the garden and I was as far away from the cross as I could be. But after resurrection, I became convinced you were who you said you were!” And according to history, they asked Matthew to deny that Christ rose again, but he couldn’t deny what he knew was true. So they killed Matthew with a sword in Ethiopia. But the Lord will say as Matthew sits down, “Well done thou good and faithful servant.”
Next He will call Mark... “Mark, what have you done for me?” Now I believe that Mark, who wrote the Gospel of Mark, is John Mark that you read of in Acts. Remember him? He is the one that started out with Paul on one of the missionary journeys and just about the time it got tough, John Mark says he better go back and “check on mom”. Go home John Mark. Paul was so aggravated with him that next time they went out, Barnabus wanted to take him, but Paul didn’t want him.
In the Gospel of Mark, a disciple in the garden flees and when he runs, an enemy grabs his coat and the disciple “streaks” through the garden naked (the first streaker). It never gives the name, but it is such a personal testimony that I suspect it was John Mark himself. And poor John Mark has to watch the “video” in front of us all. And John Mark will say, “If ever there was a chicken, it was me. If there ever was a coward, it was me!” But later when they asked John Mark to just deny that Jesus really was God, he couldn’t. He knew He was God. So they took John Mark and tied him alive to the back of a chariot and drug him repeatedly through the streets of Alexander until they ripped the flesh off of him and he was nothing more than a bloody mass.
And then He will call Luke... Luke was the doctor who wrote the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts. The doctor who so faithfully went with the Apostle Paul throughout the book of Acts. They hung Luke in an olive tree in Greece. Not a doubter any longer.
Peter... remember Peter, the proud, bold one who stated, “I don’t care where you go; I will go with you.” And the Lord said, “Peter, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” And Peter did. Peter was crucified in Rome, upside down.
James, the great.... Beheaded in Jerusalem. James the less... Thrown from the pentacle of the temple. And then, because he was still alive, they went down and with a club, they literally beat him and split his body right in half. All because he would not deny that the one he followed was really Christ the Messiah.
Bartholomew... Cut up; filleted alive. Andrew... Bound to a cross where he preached to those who persecuted him until, exhausted and starving, he died. Thomas the doubter... “Thomas will you deny Him?” He would not. They ran a lance through his body.
Jude... Shot with an arrow. Matthias... Stoned and because there was still a flicker of life in his body, they cut off his head. Barnabus... Stoned to death. Paul... After all his tortures was beheaded in Rome. One person, of all the apostles and all the writers of the New Testament, didn’t die a martyr’s death. His name was John... They dipped John in a vat of boiling oil and when they brought him out, he lived. His flesh was so marred that you could not distinguish nose from eyes from mouth. They said he was the ugliest man alive. They banned him to an island named Patmos because they never wanted to see him again. And there on that island, God gives him a vision, The Revelation of Jesus Christ!
“Well done thy good and faithful servants!”
After he has called all those... He is going to say Rob Lindsted... And somehow I am going to have to stand in front of Him and say, “It was so hard to live for you in America.” I think there will be a hush as people from all the ages will realize that if there was anyone that ought to have been looking for Christ to come... it is us, right now in America. If there is anyone who ought to be occupied with bringing the Gospel to the world, it is us! We stand before Him with no excuse! With every sign indicating that Christ could come at any moment, what would it take for God to convince us that we should live for eternity and not for time?
Do you love His appearing?
Are you ready if Christ were to come TODAY?!
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