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GALACTIC NEWS FROM THREE ANGELS #6
THE VERDICT IN 27 A.D.
It was a three-hour piece of celluloid fiction,
but it didn’t lessen the horror of the outcome. An innocent man was about
to die in the electric chair. And not just an innocent man, but a quiet,
gentle man who had in him God’s gift of tender healing.
And the main guard on the “green mile” knew in his heart that John Coffey
— “like the drink, but not spelled the same” — was innocent. He had committed
no crime; on the contrary, he had tried to use his spiritual gift of healing
to save the two little girls someone else had killed. Now he was about
to sit down in “Old Sparky.”
And in a moment of spiritual fear the guard confesses to his wife: “I’ve
done some things I’m not proud of, but this is the first time I ever felt
really actually in danger of hell.” Why? Because how could he possibly
face God on Judgment Day and have an answer when God asked him: “Why did
you kill one of My gifts?”
Paul Edgecombe knew that a judgment was about to take place there on Death
Row, and that it would be wrong. It was inescapable; night after night
he had tried to think of a way to fix this great wrong. But there was
no way out. An innocent man was going to pay the price of a guilty one.
A gentle, good person was going to be treated as a vile criminal, and
at the stroke of midnight, “ride the lightning.”
It’s interesting that even in a Stephen King thriller like this — and
the wrenching details come to us somewhat insulated, second-hand, I’m
relieved to say — mankind is sobered by the specter of Judgment Day. Because
we know in our hearts that God will not get things wrong. He will make
no mistakes. And this fictional prison guard, Paul Edgecombe, rightly
admitted his fear. He was literally afraid of hell, because he would have
no answer for the probing questions from the throne.
Here in our Los Angeles Times, the wonderful columnist Mike Downey recently
reminded us about some real stories of men who almost got up to the electric
chair, or the lethal injection gurney . . . and then were found to be
innocent. Lawrence Marshall, a law professor at Northwestern University,
got a man named Gary Gauger off death row, proving he had not killed his
parents. He got Rolando Cruz off after ten years on death row. Another
man confessed to killing a little ten-year-old girl, and DNA eventually
proved that Cruz was innocent . . . but ten years! Maybe some of you saw
on the Hollywood award programs recently, like the Golden Globes, how
“Hurricane” Carter, the boxer, got out of prison after twenty years of
false imprisonment. Here on earth, where police sometimes make mistakes,
and where prosecutors might have racially motivated vendettas to pursue,
and where judges are not infallible — good people go to jail and bad ones
roam the streets. Guilty men ride in limousines and innocent ones have
the lethal injection needle — “The Spike” — stuck in their veins at 12:01
in the morning.
Well, friend, this is a heavy beginning to our week as we keep on studying
seven very challenging verses in the word of God. We’re exploring together,
in the very heart of Revelation, chapter 14, what many of us call “The
Three Angels’ Messages.”
“Then I saw another angel” — actually, this is the
first of the three — “flying in mid-air, and he had the eternal gospel
to proclaim to those who live on the earth — to every nation, tribe, language
and people. He said in a loud voice, ‘Fear God” — or “show Him reverence
and respect,” we studied last week — “because the hour of His judgment
has come.”
Now friend, we want to talk about this judgment. And
I’ve already said that the concept of the judgment is, and ought to be,
a sober one. First of all, it’s a life-or-death time for every single
person. There won’t be any appeal beyond this judgment. What’s more, those
who are involved will be facing a Judge who knows perfectly and absolutely
and instantly what really happened. That’s why this fictional jail guard,
Paul Edgecombe, was so shaken in his soul. He knew that God knew! God
knew every motive, every thought, every detail about this tragedy.
The Bible talks very openly and in detailed fashion about the Judgment.
I don’t believe it’s a metaphor, or just colorful, apocryphal writing.
“Books were opened,” says the Word of God. The Judge is seated on His
throne.
But I want to tell you something that we found in a great, scholarly book
by a seminar professor named Dr. Norman Gulley. He has a book that describes
a lot about what the Bible teaches about the Judgment, and there’s one
sentence I want to give you right here. Listen:
“The pre-Advent judgment is wonderful news for all
good Christians.”
Let me say that again:
“The pre-Advent judgment is wonderful news for all good Christians.”
Now, you might be wondering about that expression:
“The pre-Advent judgment.” That simply means that when Jesus comes again,
the Second Coming, He already knows who He is going to save. That makes
sense, doesn’t it? In fact, the book of Revelation teaches this in almost
the very last verse. Chapter 22, verse 12:
“Behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me,
to give every man according as his work shall be.”
Very clearly, if Jesus comes again in the clouds, as
He promised many times He would do, He’s already decided who are His.
He has pre-judged His trophies. “I am the Shepherd, and I know My sheep,”
He said in the Gospels.
And friend, if you are His . . . if you have given your life to Him and
accepted His gift at Calvary and are living in relationship with Him right
now . . . He knows that fact! And He’s judged in your favor already! No
wonder Dr. Gulley writes that the Judgment is marvelous news for any Christian.
And Christ promises: “Based on that Judgment in your favor, I’m coming
with a reward for you.” And what a reward, by the way!
I mentioned in our study last week that there are really four judgment
scenes in the Word of God. We want to look at all four of them, but you
know, I kind of like what this same seminar teacher, Dr. Gulley, says
on the next page.
“Judgment Day was primarily and initially at Calvary.
Jesus said of the cross, ‘Now is the time for judgment on this world;
now the prince of this world will be driven out.’”
That’s John 12:31, a tremendous, pivotal verse. And
really, he’s absolutely right. At Calvary, God was judged victorious and
Lucifer was judged to be wrong and defeated and destroyed. Not destroyed
YET . . . but destined for destruction.
And friend, you and I, if we accept the victory judgment at Calvary in
our lives now — God knows that! He knows it instantly! And He rejoices
in judging in our favor.
In our closing moments, though, let’s think a bit about the timing of
the Judgment. True indeed — the real Judgment happened at Calvary, and
we all praise God for the results. Jesus is vindicated, Lucifer condemned.
However, that only has implications for you and me IF we accept Calvary,
IF we allow the death of Jesus Christ to cover over our guilt. So there
certainly is a sense where judgment for us happens much later than 27
A.D. In fact, the book of Hebrews, chapter 9, makes it clear what happens
in our own case, each one of us:
“He [Christ] has appeared once for all at the end of
the age to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself. Just as man is
destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.”
As long as you are alive, friend, your eternal destiny
is an open question. Will you accept the Cross — and be declared innocent?
Or will you, by your own choice, reject that Cross — and remain in guilt?
Even on a deathbed, even hanging on a cross like that thief next to Jesus,
even with just moments left, a person might choose this Teacher from Galilee
to be their Savior . . . and live forever.
We observed at the end of last week that our wonderful, omniscient God
— who is so eager to save each one of us — would know immediately, instantly,
if a man or woman had chosen Him. Listen, that’s no mystery to God; He
doesn’t have to look up your name on some CD-ROM reference library. He
doesn’t have to pore over page after page of transcripts to see if you
have more good deeds than bad ones. He knows — He’s always known — if
you or I have really and truly cast our fates at the foot of the Cross.
He knows it . . . and it takes less than two seconds for Him to know it.
We said rather boldly last week: God really doesn’t need a Judgment process.
Because He knows.
In that sad miscarriage of justice on the “green mile,” prison guard Paul
Edgecombe slowly, painfully, found out the things the jury didn’t know.
The hidden secrets the prosecutors had missed. But friend, truth doesn’t
trickle into God’s courtroom. He knows.
So the WHO of the Judgment, and the timing of the Judgment . . . must
involve others besides God. First thing tomorrow, I invite you to join
me as we think about who those people might be.
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