Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
“He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

• Matthew 25:40-46

So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.

• Romans 14:12

Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.

• 1 Corinthians 15:51-52

“All Christians believe that there will be a last judgment that will follow the second coming. When Christ comes again, the souls of those who have died in Christ will return from paradise to receive their incorruptible bodies, and living believers will be similarly transformed. The Athanasian Creed summarizes biblical teaching by saying that at the coming of Christ all men shall rise again ‘and shall give an account for their own works.’
“There would not be the justice we all long for if God, the Perfect judge, did not reward and punish. We would expect John Wayne Gacy and Mother Teresa to each be judged differently.
“Even for believers, there will be judgment. Remember that Christ warned the Pharisees that we will stand before the King and be judged by whether we fed Him when He was hungry, gave Him drink when He was thirsty, extended Him hospitality when a stranger, clothed Him when He was naked, cared for Him and visited Him in prison. When did we do these things for you, Lord, the people will ask. His reply ‘Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me’ (Matthew 25:40). (Or as He later points out, what you did not do, you did not do for Him [25 :45].) We are saved by our faith alone, but we will be judged by how we have extended God’s graces to others. The universal call to holiness … has eternal consequences (Romans 14:12).
When Jesus comes again, the world will be created anew. God’s purposes must prevail in the end. Jesus Christ will come and reign supreme over everything. And then, as Scripture promises, all things will be brought into subjection to Him, and God will become all in all.”

• Charles Colson (with Harold Fickett), The Faith

Chuck Colson does not conclude his book with this ending, but this is the final foundational belief, according to the author, that all Christians should have.

Last week’s topic about the sanctity and dignity of human life is debated in our courts and during our elections and some of those people are Christians, but it boggles my mind how they can be.  Yet, with this topic, a young woman came to my Sunday school class while I was teaching Jeremiah.  After listening for two weeks, she commented as she left, “I do not believe this world will come to an end.”

I stood there dumbfounded.  I could have used my scientific knowledge.  I could have used Edwin Powell Hubbell’s argument that the expanding universe has a “red shift” which means that the universe is not eternal, which means the galaxies are slowing down.  I could use the Second Law of Thermodynamics argument.  The change in entropy is positive.  In other words, disorder increases with the result of all processes.  The universe, as a clock, was wound by Someone, and ever since then, the clock has been winding down.  I think, for a chemical engineer, this should prove the existence of God as the One winding the clock as well as proof of the End Times.  But I had a friend, agnostic and chemical engineer, who refused for me to bring up that argument, probably because he had no answer.

Those two arguments are probably over most people’s heads, so then you go to the Biblical argument.  God will someday have enough of the world ignoring His existence, and He will simply flip off the lights…  No, not that simple.  If you study the End Times prophecies, there is a lot that happens in those last seven years.  And frankly, there are things that must happen before that, and I do not think we are there, but we may soon be.

But the belief that it is coming is essential.  Chuck Colson brings up three reasons that we need to believe and understand the End of it All.  First is Justice.  We will all be held to account.  The Great White Throne will be where those in the Book of Life are proclaimed as children of God, and those not in the Book will be cast into the lake of fire.  But for those in the Book of Life will be brought before the Judgment seat of Christ and they will be rewarded based on how they lived their life, who they affected in a positive way, and what deeds they did to further God’s kingdom.

But then Chuck Colson talks of Love.  John 3:16 starts with “For God so loved the world” and now He was bringing all of us home, adopting us as His children, so we could be one big happy family.

And then, God deals with death.  We shall all die, but that only ends our earthly life.  When God brings down a New Heaven and a New Earth, we will have incorruptible bodies and we will live forever.

Lord, show me what are the foundations of “the Faith.” Many of us true believers may not be comfortable with the moment of dying.  As I get older and the pains seem to be more consistent, I often think You are gently, slowly preparing me for death.  I think my wife welcomed the idea of going home.  I think I may as well, knowing that there will very soon be no pain, no suffering, no sin, and no death.  You are a just God, and all things will one day be righted.  Praise Your Holy Name.  In Your name I pray.  Amen.

Editor’s Note: This ends this mini-series.  The author found two texts with things written by his wife, and he will cobble those together in another “with a little help” series.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.