by
Stanley Harris

I hereby present you with a summons to appear before the judgment seat of Christ 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." 2 Corinthians 5:10

It makes no difference who or what you are, you must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, and when you do you may expect that, "God shall bring every work into judgment with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." Ecclesiastes 12:14. God has a complete record of our lives and it is all to be reviewed in the judgment.

We can hide some things from men but we can't hide a thing from God. He will bring every work into judgment with every secret thing. If we think we can hide anything in our hearts from God, we are deceiving ourselves. God knows the innermost secrets of our minds, and He looks into the deep recesses of our hearts.

The story is told of a woman who plotted to get the insurance of her invalid husband. She drove a long narrow finishing nail into his brain and wiped away the blood and combed his hair neatly over the place. The family doctor was unsuspecting, and the blood was not evident so he pronounced her husband dead from natural causes. It appeared that she had committed a perfect crime. However years later it was necessary for the operators of the cemetery to dig up the remains of some of the deceased. It so happened that one of the graves that was to be opened was that of the woman's husband. When they dug up the body, they found the nail piercing through his skull. The authorities were informed and they immediately went to the woman to inform her of their findings. Then she was presented with the disclosure that her crime had been discovered, she cried out, "God has found me out at last." In actuality God knew about her crime all the time.

It is impossible to hide anything from God. Those things that we think we have hidden from the Lord will be revealed in the judgment, and then, as in the case of this woman, it will be a bitter experience when our sins are exposed.

How much easier and better it is to confess our sins to the Lord now, in the day of His mercy, and when judgment comes, they will be covered with the blood of Jesus, and never will they be revealed.

Many people have the idea that when Jesus comes there will be a period of some twenty-four hours in which all will be lined up to file past His throne to be judged. But this is not what the Bible teaches about the judgment. Startling though it may seem to some, the judgment is going on in heaven at the present time. It is a solemn fact that God is weighing the lives of those who profess to believe in Him in the balances right now. The Bible reveals that when the Lord comes.

He is coming to execute judgment. When the lost see Jesus coming in the clouds of glory, they will be condemned in their hearts because of the mistakes that they have made. All of these mistakes will come up before them; the things that they have done that are harbored in their subconscious minds will come up before them to condemn them.

Every court case must have an investigative trial before the judgment is actually executed. After all the facts are known, and the jury deliberates, the verdict is rendered, and the individual is either freed or punished, whichever the case may be.

It is an unthinkable thing that people should be judged and sentenced without a fair trial. Truly God is not going to sentence any man or woman without a fair trial. But divine justice will be meted out at last, and right now God is pleading with the human race to accept the cross of Jesus, which is the only hope for freedom and eternal life. Both John the Revelator, and Daniel the Prophet, saw in vision the solemn judgment scene that is going on in heaven today. The revelator says, "And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands." Revelation 5:11. John further describes this impressive scene as follows: "And I saw a great white throne and Him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them; and they were judged every man according to their works; And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. Revelation 20:11-15.

Daniel the prophet describes this impressive scene as follows, "I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head like the pure wool: His throne was like the fiery flame, and His wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before Him: thousand thousands ministered unto Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him: the judgment was set and the books were opened." Daniel 7:9, 10.

Dear friends, the great supreme court of the universe has been called and is meeting this very moment in an investigation of the records of our lives. "Thinkest thou this, oh man, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?" Romans 2:3. Many people have put off their surrender to Christ and have refused to obey Him. There are many who call themselves Christians but do not live what they profess. None of these can escape the judgment. The judgment is as certain as the dawn. When those who profess to be Christians but who do not live up to their profession find out at the end that they are lost, they will cry out, "Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? and in Thy name have cast out devils? and in Thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." Matthew 7:22, 23.

Now is the time to put away your sins. When Jesus comes it will be too late to confess your mistakes. We must make our peace with God today and not wait.

The prophet Daniel was very much interested in the work of Jesus Christ as our high priest. An angel told Daniel of the history of the world and gave him a prophecy that revealed when the last phase of Christ's work would begin. "And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed." Daniel 8:14.

The last work of the earthly priesthood, each year was the cleansing of the sanctuary or temple, and this took place on what was called the day of atonement. So the last work of Jesus as our High Priest, is the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary or the final disposition of sin. There was a definite time for the cleansing of the earthly sanctuary, the tenth day of the seventh month (Leviticus 16:29). Just so, the prophet Daniel predicted a definite time for the entrance of Christ into the last phase of His work as priest in the heavenly court. It was to begin at the end of the two thousand three hundred days. These are prophetic days, each one stands for a year. In Ezekiel 4:6 it says, °thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year." So the twenty-three hundred days referred to in Daniel 8:14 actually represent twenty-three hundred years. This twenty-three hundred year span of prophecy is the longest time prophecy in the Bible

The angel told Daniel that the prophecy would have its beginning at the time of the decree to rebuild Jerusalem. In the book of Ezra in the 7^th chapter and verses 12 and 13 we find that this decree to rebuild Jerusalem was made by King Artaxerxes in the seventh year of his reign. The seventh year of the reign of Artaxerxes was 4.57 B.C. 457 B.C. is the date for the beginning of this great prophecy. Twenty-three hundred years later it would end. At the end of this period of time, Christ began His work as High Priest in the judgment hall above. The cleansing of the sanctuary represents the cleansing of the temple of God of the sins that have been sent up in the prayers that have been offered.

In this amazing prophecy of the twenty-three hundred years, the angel told Daniel that the first sixty-nine weeks of days, or four hundred eighty-three literal years of prophetic time were to reach to the Messiah, the Prince. (Daniel 9:25). This amazing revelation gives us the very year in which Christ was to appear as the Saviour of the world. Since the prophecy began in 4,57 B.C. and since it was to be four hundred and eighty-three literal years until the time that the Messiah, the Prince, would come, we can know for a fact that Christ was to appear in the year 27 A.D. And Christ did appear at that time and was baptized in the River Jordan in that very year. Christ knew that He had come exactly on time, and we read in the scriptures that "Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God and saying, the time, is fulfilled." Mark 1:14, 15.

Many people do not realize that the Bible prophesied many years before the coming of Christ, the very time when He would appear. This prophecy silences the infidel and baffles the Jews. Not only does the prophecy reveal the time of Christ's coming, but it further reveals that in the middle of the seventieth week (or seven year period) Christ was, to be crucified. (Daniel 9:25-27). At the end of that prophetic week, the Jews, as a nation, were rejected and the disciples began to labor for the Gentiles. (A.D. 34) The Jews ceased to be a favored people and since then have stood on an equality with all other people before God. All have the same rights and privileges.

When the seventy weeks or four hundred and ninety prophetic years were cut off from the twenty-three hundred years, it still left eighteen hundred and ten. When we add eighteen hundred and ten years to 34 A.D. it results in the sum of eighteen hundred and forty-four. This ( A.D. 1844) is the date which marks the end of the twenty-three hundred year prophecy. Daniel said, "Then shall the sanctuary be cleansed." Daniel 8:14. Christ's solemn work of judgment began in 1844.

Paul tells us in positive terms that God appointed a day in which He would judge the world. "And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent: Because he hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness, by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men in that he hath raised him from the dead." Acts 17:30, 31. Paul also reasoned of "judgment to come." Acts 24:25. James also spoke of the day when, "the judge standeth before the door." James 5:9.

The judgment of this world had its beginning in the year 1844. Many students of Bible prophecy interpreted Daniel 8:14 to mean that the earth was going to be cleansed at that time. Therefore there were many in all parts of the world who believed that the Lord was going to come to destroy sin and sinners in 1844. But Christ did not come to the earth, but He did go into the presence of His Father in a special way to act as the mediator and high priest for the world.

The cleansing of the temple of God in heaven of all the sins that have been confessed down through the ages is going on at this present time. Paul explains the work that Christ is doing in our behalf in heaven in these last days as follows, "For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now, to appear in the presence of God for us. Nor yet that he should offer himself often as the high priest entered into the holy place every year with blood of others, for then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world, but now once in the end of the world hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself., And as it is appointed unto men once to die but after this the judgment, so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many. And unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation." Hebrews 9:24-28.

Think of it friends. Christ, for over a hundred years has been doing the work of cleansing the temple in heaven by blotting out the sins that have been confessed in His name, or in some cases blotting out the names from the book of life of those who have failed to live the true Christian life. God is seated on His throne. Jesus is there as our intercessor. The angels are there, thousands and thousands of them. The books have been opened. The records are being reviewed.

Yes, God has books wherein records are kept. He has a book of life in which are entered the names of those who claim to be His followers. "I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works." Revelation 20:12.

In addition to the book of life, we are told that God has a book of iniquity, All of our sins are recorded in this book. "For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord God." Jeremiah 2:22. The angels have a complete record of all of our iniquities and they are marked in the book of iniquities.

There is a third book also. It is called the book of remembrance. It contains a record of all of the good things we say and do. "Then they that feared the Lord, spoke often one to another; and the Lord hearkened and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon His name." Malachi 3:16. I hope that God has a lot of good things listed under my name in the book of remembrance, don't you?

We can clearly see that God has three books; the book of life, the book of iniquity, and the book of remembrance. If you are a follower of His, your name is in the book of life. Your sins are also recorded in the book of iniquity, and your good deeds in the book of remembrance. If you have confessed all of those sins that have been listed in the book of iniquity, they will be blotted out by the blood of Jesus and your name will be retained in the book of life. However, if there are sins unconfessed, and that you have failed to forsake; when your name is called in the judgment, it will be blotted out of the book of life. It tells us in Revelation 3:5, "He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before My Father, and before His angels."

By what standard will we be judged you ask? Well, let me read it to you. "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. Notice that the commandments of God will be the standard upon which we will be judged. It is the only standard that God has. It is no wonder that Satan is so determined to make men break one of God's commandments, for he knows that if he succeeds in this it will condemn them in the judgment. "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. " James 2:10-12. You can see that we are going to be judged by that law that says, thou shalt not commit adultery, and thou shalt not kill. God says if we break one of the least of His commandments that we will be found guilty.

Jesus says, in John 14:15 "If ye love Me, keep My commandments." Do we love Jesus enough to obey Him? The answer to this question will determine whether or not our names will be retained in the Lamb's book of life.

It is true that the commandments cannot save us. They are merely a standard for us to go by. They show us what sin is. When we see that we are breaking one of God's commandments, we are to ask the Lord to forgive us and mend our ways. You may be sure that God will investigate to see if you have been an obedient child of His. The Lord will not permit anyone to enter heaven who is rebellious or disobedient. There has already been one rebellion in heaven and God does not want another one there.

The Bible tells us that, "The heart is desperately wicked." Jeremiah 17:9. As God looks down into your hearts tonight, He can see what is there. God is able to read our thoughts. He knows all about our lives. He knows if we are honest. He knows if we have stolen, or if we have bad tempers, or lying tongues, or hatred in our hearts. Yes, the Lord reads our hearts as an open book. Friends, God can change these hearts of ours. He has offered to give us a new heart wherein dwelleth righteousness. Why don't you let Him give you this precious gift, tonight. Remember, dear friends, if you are willfully breaking one of God's commandments, He will have to blot your name out of the book of life.

Oh beloved, don't be rebellious or disobedient. Confess your sins, return what you have taken, make all the wrongs right. The Bible says,"Be converted that your sins may be blotted out." Acts 3:19. When your name is called in the great supreme court of the universe in heaven, will Jesus stand before His Father and plead your case? No matter how many sins you may have committed, if you have confessed them in His name, He will plead for you. On the other hand, if there are sins that you willfully persist in, the blood of Jesus can never cover such disobedience. If you have unconfessed sins that you know of on God's record book, you can't eradicate them in any way except they be covered with the blood of Jesus. If you fail to claim His shed blood, Christ will have to remain silent when your name if finally called in the judgment hall. He will not be able to stand and plead your case.

Christ is our only mediator, He is the only one who can help us. There is no attorney that we can hire, there is no price that we can pay, there are no works that we can perform to gain salvation. The only one who can successfully plead for us is Jesus.

Abraham Lincoln had a son called Tad Lincoln. He was very proud of his son. The lad was chatting with a soldier in the outer office of the White House one day. The soldier was waiting to get in to speak to the President. The President's secretary finally came out and announced that the President was through seeing people for the day. The soldier, who had been visiting with Tad Lincoln, informed the lad that he could not come back again and that he had an urgent matter to take up with the President, and he was greatly grieved over the fact that he could not see him. When Tad heard this he said, "You mean you want to see my father?" The soldier was surprised to learn that the lad was the son of the President. He said,"Yes, I would like to see him very much," and the lad said, "wait a moment." He hurried into the inner office, and soon came back and said, "come in, my father wants to see you." The son of the President got him in. My dear friends, only the Son of God can get us into heaven. Only Christ can successfully plead for us before the throne of the Father.

The Bible tells us that the judgment must begin at the house of God. I Peter 14:17. Beginning with Adam, the Lord started the work of the investigative judgment in l844. Just how far down the ages of time the Lord has come in this great work, we do not know. Who knows, he may come to the names of some of us this very night. Suppose your name should be called tonight, would you be ready? I would like to hope that when my name is called, that I might be on my knees in prayer. I certainly would not want to be in one of the resorts of pleasure at that time. Nor would I wish to be committing some sinful act, or gossiping, or criticizing some one, or having a fit of violent temper or jealousy. I truly hope that I will be ready when my name is called.

I often think of the solemn judgment scene in heaven. Satan does not want us to think about it, but it is important that we do. Some day, or night, the angel will cone to my name in the book of life. Stanley Harris will ring out in the judgment hall. Then the book of iniquities will be opened. There under my name are the sins that I have committed. Next to those sins is the record of my confession in the name of Jesus. It is my determination that every one of my sins will have been confessed in His name. Then the angel with great joy gives the word that all the sins have been confessed, forsaken and forgiven. I can see Jesus moving close to His Father and holding up those nail pierced hands. I hear Him plead, Father, my blood, my blood is sufficient for Stanley Harris. Father, I will that he may be with me where I ant. I see the Father bow in acknowledgment of His Son's request. Then the angels burst forth in joyful song.

Oh, friends, I truly want it to be that way, don't you? Then the name of John Doe is read. Immediately the book of iniquity is opened and there's the record of John Doe's sins. There is cheating, there is the record of a bad temper, there are some lies that were told. There are deceitful things that he did. After each of these sins is marked confessed and forgiven but finally, there is one sin that John Doe has not confessed. John Doe is still living in that sin. He hasn't repented of it. He knows that it's a sin but he wilfully clings to it. The word is passed along that John Doe has not forsaken his sin. The angels bow their heads in grief. Jesus does not move to plead his case. The Father is grief stricken. Christ cannot plead for John Doe. His sacrifice has been in vain for him.

Christ says if ye will confess, I will forgive. It will be our own fault if we haven't confessed our sins, and made all things right with God. We will have no one to blame but ourselves if we are found wil1fullyly disobeying one of God's commandments.

The Bible tells us that when this great work of the investigative judgment is finished in heaven, that Christ who is now our High Priest, will lay off His priestly garments, and put on His kingly robes and crown in preparation for returning to this world to redeem His saints.

When the judgment is ended, Christ will make the final decree that will settle every man's fate for all eternity. "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he that is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. And behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be." Revelation 22:11, 12.

When Jesus comes in the clouds of glory, His reward is with Him to give every man according to His works. He comes as King of kings and Lord of lords. "Our God shall come and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him. He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people." Psalm 50:3, 4

The wicked who are condemned in their own hearts by their sinful deeds and their rebellious spirit will run from the presence of the Lord and seek to hide. The righteous will look up aid say, "Lo, this is our God, we have waited for him, and now he has come to save us." "But with righteousness shall He judge the poor and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and He shall smite the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips shall He slay the wicked." Isaiah 11:4.

The day of Christ's coming will be a terrible day for those who are lost. But it will be a wonderful day for the saved. I want to ask you my friend. Is your name in the Lamb's book of life? It is more important for your name to be there than in any Who's Who volume. It seems to me that all should want their name in the book of life. It means the difference between eternal life or eternal damnation to you, to have your name in the book of life.

A man was riding through town in his carriage one day, when suddenly his horse became frightened and with a leap and a jerk, started running in a frenzy of fear. The man lost his grip on the reins and the runaway rushed headlong toward a catastrophe. A big man came running out into the roadway and leaped forward and caught hold of the horse's bridle, and finally dragged him down to a halt. The man in the carriage thanked the man profusely for saving his life. Later on, the man whose life had been saved, committed a terrible crime and was called before the judge to be sentenced. As he looked up into the judge's face, he recognized him as the man who had stopped his runaway horse and saved his life some weeks before. He said, "Judge, do you remember me? I'm the man whose life you saved several weeks ago. Can't you do something to save me now?" The judge answered him, "Then I was your saviour, but now I am your judge."

Today, Christ is our Saviour, Someday soon He is coming as a judge to judge the world, Today He is the mediator between God and man, and stands ready to plead your case if you will ask him. Do you sincerely want Jesus to act as a mediator for you? If you do will you please raise your hand? Yes, I see many hands. May God bless you and may He seal this decision for eternity. Shall we pray.