The last day! Children know when the last day is coming. The last day before Christmas break or the last day of the school year. Adults know when the last day of work is before their two-week family vacation. Our Hymn of the Day celebrates a very different day – the Last Day – the day that is surely drawing near.
Verse one: The day is surely drawing near when Jesus, God’s anointed, shall with great majesty appear as judge of all appointed. All mirth and laughter then shall cease when flames on flames will still increase, as Scripture truly teaches.
We don’t always think of God as a Judge. In fact, we often like to – wrongly – view both the Father and the Son as non-judgmental. This is a wrong view of our God because the Lord certainly does judge. God says through his prophet Malachi: “Look! The day is coming, burning like a blast furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble. The day that is coming will set them on fire, says the Lord of Armies, a day that will not leave behind a root or branch for them” (Malachi 4:1)
That’s what those who disobey God have waiting for them. They will be stubble in God’s furnace. That day will set them on fire. God says, “Sinners, you’re living on borrowed time! The Day of Judgment will come!” And on that day, God’s anger will burn hot, not like the crackling flames of a campfire, but like the iron-melting heat of a blast furnace. All mirth and laughter shall cease when flames on flames still increase. No unbelieving evildoer will escape that Day of fiery judgment.
Verse two: A trumpet loud shall then resound and all the earth be shaken. Then all who in their graves are found shall from their sleep awaken and with the living in that hour, by God’s almighty, boundless pow’r, be changed at his commanding.
One day, the ages of earth will end. It will be a day of wild extremes. There will be a final judgment when God separates the evildoers from those who call on his name in faith. The Lord himself will come down from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first” (1 Thessalonians 4:16). Then those who are still alive will meet those who have been awakened from the sleep of death.
Verse three: A book is opened then to all, a record truly telling what each has done, both great and small, when they on earth were dwelling, and ev’ry heart be clearly seen, and all be known as they have been in thoughts and words and actions.
The Book of Life will be opened on that Last Day (Revelation 20:12). God has recorded the names of God’s saints, along with those actions they have done by faith. All their evil deeds, all their wicked actions, all their unbelief and doubts have been erased by the blood of Jesus.
Verse four: Then woe to those who scorned the Lord and sought but carnal pleasures, who here despised his precious Word and loved their earthly treasures! With shame and trembling they will stand and at the judge’s stern command to Satan be delivered.
The saints on Jesus’ right will be filled with joy and exhilaration. They will receive what they have not earned and will enjoy what they do not deserve. Those on Jesus’ left will be filled with shame and trembling. At his second coming, Jesus will find those people who have foolishly pushed aside the umbrella of his mercy. On Judgment Day they will be caught unprotected and will be drenched in Jesus’ holy anger. They will have hellfire rain down on them. Scripture teaches, “Such people will receive a just penalty: eternal destruction away from the presence of the Lord and from his glorious strength” (2 Thessalonians 1:9).
Verse five: My Savior paid the debt I owe and for my sin was smitten; within the Book of Life I know my name has now been written. I will not doubt, for I am free, and Satan cannot threaten me; there is no condemnation!
There is a separation that is coming. Believers will be separated from their sins – as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12). Therefore, they are welcome in Jesus’ presence. But unbelievers retain their sins. Throughout their lives they have separated themselves from their Savior. Therefore, they are banished from Jesus’ presence.
Hell is the ultimate expression of a fair and just Creator. He is God who is punishes evil. He is also God who has been patient for several millennia. But like the father who counts to three before the spanking and grounding in order to teach his son a lesson, so our Heavenly Father has been counting for thousands of years, but there will come a time when his patience runs out and the unbelieving world will receive more than a tanned behind and a timeout. When Judgment Day comes, it will be a day of ultimate terror and misery for those who removed God from their lives here on earth. For God is a just God and he will honor their choice and remove himself from their eternity.
Verse six: O Jesus Christ, do not delay, but hasten our salvation; we often tremble on our way in fear and tribulation. Your saints are waiting patiently; come soon, Redeemer, make us free from ev’ry evil. Amen.
People will claim that Judgment Day isn’t fair. As Christians, we willingly admit it isn’t fair. It isn’t fair that we are forgiven. It isn’t fair that Jesus’ brings salvation. It isn’t fair that we are loved so much. It isn’t fair that we receive heaven because of Jesus’ cross. But that is the way it is. And aren’t you grateful that it is?
The people who go to hell deserve to go there. The people who go to heaven don’t deserve to go there. How wonderful is that?
That means that we can look at the Day of the Lord much, much differently. We pray that Jesus not delay his return, but hasten our salvation. We are God’s saints who are waiting patiently for God’s righteous judgment which brings the end of our tribulation and the beginning of our salvation. For us who accept Jesus’ sacrifice and believe in him as our Savior from hell, the Day of the Lord won’t be a day that burns like a furnace. It will be a day that brings life. That day will be the first day of our new life, our life free from sin, free from pain and trouble and sorrow and death. Look forward to this Day.