The God Who Will Judge the World

“And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where 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).

“For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil” (Eccl. 12:14).

Evidence is overwhelming that many people believe they can hide from God and He will never know of their evil thoughts, deeds and language. This is still a case of not understanding the Omniscience, Omnipresence and Omnipotence of God. His Majesty and Might are unknown to those who think they are deceiving God in their sin. Sometime in the distant future these fools plan to come out of hiding and present themselves as good, honest people who expect to enter heaven.

One does not hide from God. He sees and knows all things He wants to know, even the thoughts of the billions upon earth today. “Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do” (Heb. 4:13). One can conceal his thoughts from everybody, even from himself at times. One can be self deceived when he thinks he can deceive God. “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting” (Gal. 6:7-8). You do not hide one thing in your life from God.

One of the most frightening things to me in all of my life is the fact that my God knows what I did in 1920, in 1928, in 1930, in 1935. Not only that, He knows what I did July 22, 1930. He knows precisely what I did at 20 minutes past 11 o’clock a.m., July 22, 1935. He knows what I thought, what I did and said minute by minute, and it has not faded at all in His mind. I may not understand that. I may not want to believe it, but that is a fact revealed in His word that I must face when my days upon earth are numbered.

Time is the measurement of my life upon earth. It is divided into seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months and years. Each minute I receive from God is clean and free of all records. What I think, do and say are recorded upon each minute for which I must give an account before God. After I have written upon each minute the history of my life, I can never erase one line of it. God will forgive me upon my obedience to the conditions He has given for the remission of sins, but the facts of my history are still there. They are in the mind of God until he forgives them. He will then remember them no more forever: He will never hold them against me again.

That is who God is. I do not hide from Him. I do not hide anything. If I should go into the inner closet and lock myself there in darkness, whatever I do and however I conduct myself, He is right there to see it. And every word I utter to anyone, He is right there to hear it. When I say something and then deny I said it, when I know full well I did say it, I may deceive them, I may hide from them, but God knows that I am lying about it and I can’t ever get that correct in my life and with God until I make that matter right. I have lied! And for me to go through life pretending that the lie is not there, and try to live it down and run real fast to get away from it, will not correct that sin. If it is between me and God, I had better get it right with God and never do it again.

We had better quit lying to ourselves and to one another. God is truth. God hates a lying tongue. You listen: “These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren” (Prov. 6:16-19). Liars will have their part in the lake of fire and brimstone (Rev. 21:8).

Proverbs 6 says there are seven things which God hates. Three of those things have to do with a misuse of the tongue. God hates a lying tongue; He hates a false witness; and He hates one that sows discord among brethren. To sow discord is to say that which is not so in order to turn one against the other. You think about how damaging, how dangerous it is to say what you ought not to say. But you say that which is not true, you lie. If you lie, you deceive, you tell that which is not so, you intend to mislead people. You may try to excuse yourself, but you do not remake God! You do not change Him. You do not hide from God. What you say, He knows; what you are, He knows. He knows your mind exactly as it is.

If one should be asked a question which he did not want to answer, it would be right to tell him you did not want to answer than to lie about it. God cannot lie (Titus 1:2). By His Nature God is Truth, and in Him is no lie at all. Jesus said in John 8:32: “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

The devil is a liar, and was a liar from the beginning; and he was a murderer (John 8:44). There is no such thing as a “little, innocent” lie. It is a lie if it is not truth, and it is not of God, but of the devil. Any and every effort to deceive by words or actions is lying. One intends to make a false impression on the heart and life of another: that is lying! No one can deceive God in anything. Some have tried. In fact, Ananias and Sapphira lied unto God (Holy Spirit) about the amount they give to the needy (Acts 5:3).

Many think they can conceal from God what is in their minds because they can conceal it from everyone else in the world, even from the closest person to them on earth. We can deceive each other, but we cannot deceive God. The problem with many is that they believe that if they can convince men to accept and approve one another in their way of life, they will then be all right. All will go to heaven because God will accept them. But that is not so. We are with one another here on earth for a little while, but we are going to have to live in eternity for ever. And if God does not accept us in eternity, we have missed every thing. I had rather be right with Him.

By the life of many they simply say to God: I will ignore what you say and do as I please. That way they think they make God a shadow to ignore when they do not need Him. To ignore what God says is actually mocking God. It is not really saying, I am hiding from God; but it is saying, I am ignoring God.

“I know the Bible says that, but . . .” This is such a common reply to what the Bible teaches. I do not know whether you are thinking along that line or not. But this is what causes churches to change. This is why we have liberal doctrines and practices in churches. It is because many people ignore what God said, and as their teachers lead them into traditions that become law to them, they think they are obeying God. This was the course in the development of denomina-tionalism. Men usually divide over what is not written in the word of God, rather than what it plainly teaches. Prejudice is a hindrance to hearing and understanding the word of the Lord. People close their eyes and stop their ears, and harden their hearts, and the Lord will not remit their sins. When the word of God plainly commands something, man has only two choices: obey it or reject it. His eternal destiny will depend upon which one he selects.

I may not learn much in my life. In fact, I may leave this life far below the average so far as learning is concerned, but there is one thing I think I have learned, and that is the most profitable thing that I know for me: I think I have learned what obedience and discipline mean so far as the word of God is concerned. Obedience means doing what God says to do, in precisely the way God said to do it, for the purpose God said to do it, and not question any thing else. I may not understand why God required some things, but when I understand what He told me to do, I will be blessed of Him when I obey. Beloved, God will judge the world in righteousness by Jesus Christ. Each one of us must give an account for the deeds done in the body, whether they be good or evil. And God will bring every work into judgment with every secret thing and there will be no respect of persons.

The standard for judgment will be the word of God. It will be opened and the dead will be judged by what is written in the books, according to their works. That is the truth because God said so. We must be serious in seeking God while He may be found. We must be diligent in preparing our lives for the judgment.