Yes, You'll Be There

Well just imagine being one-on-one with Jesus Christ. You’re looking into His eyes and everything that you have ever done – your whole life – is present before you. You can’t hide. You can’t plead special mercy. You can’t put your own twist on what really happened. You can’t hire an attorney to represent you so that he can say it better. It’s just all there. And that is exactly what is going to happen.

Take your Bibles and turn to 2 Corinthians 5 where the Apostle Paul makes an astounding statement. And in order to understand this passage of Scripture we must see it in context. I should really begin in verse 9. He’s been talking about dying and living, and saying that whether we die or whether we live, it doesn’t really matter. Our ambition should be to be pleasing to Him. That’s verse 9 of 2 Corinthians 5.

Verse 10, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.  Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience.”

The Judgment Seat of Jesus Christ is sometimes referred to as the Bema Seat because that word is the Greek word for judgment seat. It’s the tribunal where cases were tried, and the place where the judge stood. Those of you who have been to Corinth know that you can actually go today to the Bema, where the Bible says the Apostle Paul came to when he visited Corinth.

And now Paul says that we shall all stand there. Now don’t confuse the Judgment Seat of Christ, which is the topic of our message and messages, with the Great White Throne Judgment of Revelation 20. The Great White Throne Judgment is the place where all unbelievers of all ages shall appear before God. And they shall be judged on the basis of their works. And the reason for that judgment is to determine the degree of their eternal punishment. The fact that they are there means that they will be banished by God, but the question is how much punishment is commensurate with what they did with what they knew. That’s where the small and great stand before God and the books are opened because hell will not be the same for everyone.

The Judgment Seat of Christ or the Bema is the place where all believers in Jesus Christ – those who have trusted Him as Savior – shall appear and before whom they shall be judged. That’s known as the Bema Seat of Christ.

Neither of these judgments determines whether you go to heaven or hell. That decision is made in this life, and it is already made based on where you appear, which of the judgments you are at, because while it is true that hell will not be the same for everyone, heaven will not be the same for everyone either because we shall all be judged by Christ.

Now there are some similarities between these two judgments. For one thing, both of them are based on works. The wicked in the Great White Throne Judgment are judged, I should say, based on the deeds that they have done, the Scripture says. And here in this judgment, the judgment for Christians, it is also based on the deeds done in the body, whether good or bad.

Now salvation is not by works at all – “not by works lest any man should boast” – but our rewards are by works. So one of the similarities is that both of them are based on works. But there is another similarity, and that is that attendance is compulsory. You can’t get out of it. Are you acquainted with the word hooky? Do you understand what I mean? Sometimes our parents thought we went to school, and some of us didn’t go to school. We did something else.

Notice what the text says, and if you like to underline in your Bibles, look at that little word must in chapter 5, verse 10. “For we must all appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ.” And those who do not know Christ as Savior must appear at the Great White Throne Judgment. There is no escape because no matter where you run, God will find you, and you will be there.

Now I find it interesting that something that motivated the Apostle Paul so often has received so little attention in evangelical circles and in our churches. The other day I was at the Moody Bible Institute library thinking that surely there are lots of books written on the Judgment Seat of Christ. There are books written on everything else. There are so many books, you don’t even know which ones to read, though if you are looking for some suggestions I might give them to you. But I went there and discovered that there are only about four, and I already had those four. I couldn’t believe it. Here is the Apostle Paul who frequently in his letters always pointed to that day when we shall be judged (and when he wanted to do well), and it receives scant attention. And I myself have been thinking about this series of messages conceptually at least for five or six years, and I just have not had the courage to preach it. So here we are at the beginning of a series of six messages.

Let me first of all clear up some misconceptions. Maybe that’s why we hear so few sermons about this. It’s because of some misconceptions that are deeply embedded in the minds of many people, and we need to do away with them so that we can clear the underbrush and get to the heart of the issue.

The first misconception is that our failures and our sins can never return to haunt us. The argument goes like this. “I thought that when Jesus forgave me for the sins He cast them in the depths of the sea. He doesn’t remember them anymore, and consequently there is no way that my failures and my sins can have any impact on the Judgment Seat of Christ.” Well, what does the text say? It says, “You’ll be recompensed for the deeds done in the body whether good or bad.”

Now there is some truth in what I’ve just said. So far as your eternal condemnation is concerned there is no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. It is quite true that God has put away your sins. It is also true, however, that you can suffer loss – serious loss. As a matter of fact, one of my messages is entitled What We Can Gain at the Judgment Seat of Christ. And another one is going to be entitled What We Can Lose at the Judgment Seat of Christ.

Oh yes, in heaven everyone will be happy, especially when God comes and wipes away all tears from their eyes. And I do think that those are tears of regret that will be wiped away. Everyone in heaven will be happy, but not everyone will have the same position of responsibility, because this is a training ground so that God knows where to slot you in the coming kingdom. I want you to know that there is a way in which God is going to evaluate us totally, and even our failures and our sins will impact the final evaluation.

Let me give you a second misconception, and that is that rewards are not proper motivation. Now this is ingrained in many people’s minds. People will say, “Why should you even preach about that because actually shouldn’t we just serve God because we love Him? Do you really think we should serve God because of rewards? That’s selfish. Furthermore aren’t we going to just take our crowns and cast them before the Lord anyway?” You know, the implication is that it’s no big deal whether you have done well or poorly because you give all your rewards back to Jesus, and 10 minutes into eternity everybody forgets how you did. And what’s the big deal anyway? And furthermore, rewards aren’t supposed to be our motivation.” 

Well I want you to know today that there are many reasons that we should be motivated to serve God. Certainly we should be motivated by love. The Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:14 says, “For the love of Christ controls us.” That’s a wonderful motivation, and it is absolutely true that God would be worthy of worship and adoration and service even if we receive no rewards. There’s no question about that. But did you know that there are other motivations that are biblical and very legitimate? And one is fear of the judgment seat? You say, “Where is that?” Well, my dear friends, we just read it in the text. Remember keep your Bible open. Keep your finger on the text. You’ll notice that Paul says, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ” in verse 10. Verse 11 says, “Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord (The King James says, “knowing the terror of the Lord.”) we persuade others.”

“Knowing the terror of the Lord I persuade you today to live for Jesus Christ because we know the fear of the Lord.” That’s a perfectly legitimate motivation. Listen, it’s not wrong to be motivated by a desire to please Christ in that day. You’ll notice Paul says in verse 9, “Whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.” Is that really a selfish motivation to want to please Christ? And he says, “For (notice the connective there) we must all appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ.” It is not wrong to want to hear, “Well done.” In fact, it is unbiblical and wrong if you don’t care whether you hear “Well done” from the lips of Christ.

And I am absolutely astounded as I’ve begun thinking about this. Now I pick up the Bible and I seem to see it everywhere that Paul refers to the fact that he wants to do well at the Judgment Seat. He says in the second chapter of Philippians very clearly, “I want to preach the Word of God. I want to do it so that I will not have run in vain, so that I might have joy at the glorious appearing of Christ.”

Moses was not ashamed to reveal the fact (at least the Bible reveals it) that his major motivation was the reward that he was going to get. He said no to the treasures of Egypt (Hebrews 11) because he looked forward to the recompense of the reward. He says, “When I stand to think about eternity and thinking of living with God forever, I know that God will make up to me whatever it is that I endure, and I am willing to believe that God’s reward will compensate me for all the things that I am turning my back on in this life.”

You begin to read the Bible. Read the writings of Paul, and you will see it cropping up all over. Paul is always motivated by how he will do when he sees Jesus. It’s not wrong. It’s not unbiblical to want to have rewards because Jesus is pleased with you.

A final misconception is that our works can’t be rewarded by God. Our works can’t be rewarded by God because He gave us the ability to do them. This is the way this argument goes. Somebody says that if you’ve believed in Jesus Christ, that is a gift of God because faith is a gift of God. And therefore, it’s “not of works lest any man should boast.” The Bible is very clear. We can’t boast about it and say, “Well, I get credit for it because I believe.” It was granted to you by God. And therefore since works are essentially the same and God works in us both to will and to do of His own good pleasure and to achieve certain results and He grants us the ability to do good works, and the desire to do good works, how can we be rewarded in light of the fact that it’s not really us who is doing it? It is just God in us. Well that is a good point too. Of course, faith is a gift of God. Of course, the ability to do works and the desire to is God-given. But you need to take into account the incredible generosity of God. He’s more generous than He really should be. For something that He gives us, namely the gift of faith, He gives us the reward of eternal life. For the gift of works, for the ability to serve Him, He gives us the gift of eternal privilege. It’s just that God is generous. Don’t tell me we don’t deserve rewards. I know we don’t, but God is good. He works in our hearts, gives us the desire to do good things, and then He rewards us for that which He did in us. Isn’t He generous?

Well, now all of that is just by way of introduction. What I’d like to do is give you five characteristics of the Judgment Seat of Christ.

Number one, it will be fair. We will be judged fairly. How do you know that? Is that in the text? Well, implicitly so because it is the Judgment Seat of Christ who is the One who is going to judge us. He is the One who redeemed us. He came as Savior. He died on the cross for our sins. He reconciled us to God. He loves us with an everlasting love, and when He returns He comes now as judge. He switches roles. Now that’s very important to understand. He comes and He switches roles even for unbelievers. He comes for them in flaming judgment, taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

So for those who are headed for the Great White Throne, He comes as a judge, but for us also He comes as a judge, and I take it that this will happen at the resurrection when we are raised at the rapture, and it is then that our bodies and our souls will be united, and it is then that we will stand before God. But we will be judged by Christ. We’re judged by somebody who loves us and that gives us hope.

I believe that because this judgment is fair, and from what we know and what we can infer from Scriptures, it will be a judgment that will only include how we lived since we came to saving faith in Jesus Christ. The reason I believe that is because the Apostle Paul expected to do well in the judgment, even though he was a murderer before he came to faith in Christ. God is not going to deal with those areas, but rather with how we behaved as His children, how we behaved after we came to understand that He did so much for us. Now the question is “What are we willing to do for Him in light of His mercy and His grace?”

So it will be a fair judgment. It will be a judgment that is tempered with mercy because the One who judges me is the One who loves me and redeemed me.

Let me give you a second characteristic. It will be a thorough judgment. Notice the text again. “For the deeds that are done in the body according to what he has done, whether good or bad, whether helpful or worthless, it will encompass everything.” Now you know what the text really says? When it says, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ,” do you know what the Greek word really means? We will be manifest. It doesn’t mean simply to show up at the judgment. Yeah, we’re going to show up, but we’re going to be manifest. We’re going to be revealed at the Judgment Seat of Jesus Christ – the deeds done in the body, whether good or bad. All of those good deeds that you’ve done that you’ve forgotten about, the cup of cold water that was given in the name of Christ, the card that was written, the meal that you made for people that could never repay you! Jesus is very clear that is one way to especially get rewards.

By the way, one of the messages I’m going to preach is entitled What Christ Will Be Looking For, but anyway, the things that we did that were good that have long since been forgotten, they are all going to be there. But the bad will also be there, and all things are naked and open unto the eyes of whom we have to do. It will be a thorough evaluation. God keeps records. God knows.

I read an article some time ago. Those of you who are into computers, and those of you who are into those websites, did you know that all the sites that you visited are recorded? Somewhere, someplace, someone could find every site that you see. You know that on the Internet there are many good things, and then there are many bad things that we should never see. And you may think, “Well, nobody knows what I am watching,” and there is somewhere, and I don’t know where because I don’t understand computers, but somewhere someplace there’s a record of the sites that you visit. God knows the sites that we have visited. He knows, and we will be judged whether good or bad.

You say, “Well, do you mean to say that we’ll actually see our sins?” Well, don’t ask so many questions on this first message. Alright? (laughter) I’m going to be preaching on what it means to suffer loss, and we’re going to deal with that issue. But I do know this: It is going to be a very, very thorough judgment. It includes what was good and what was bad.

Thirdly, it’s going to be an impartial judgment. For this I bring in Romans 2 where it says that the judgment of God is according to truth. I think that’s the way our translations have it, but actually you know what the Greek word means there? It means according to reality. The judgment is according to reality. It shall be an impartial judgment.

Do you know what that means? That means that for the wealthy who always get all the breaks, who pull all the strings for all the perks, it won’t make any difference. They are going to be just along with all the rest of us. For those that were successful in life, who always walked as if they were special, here we’re all the same. There’s no distinction here. You say, “Well, what about pastors and missionaries? Don’t they get a break?” Oh, no break at all! In fact, to them is stricter judgment. It says in James 3:1, “Not many of you should become teachers (don’t be quick to teach), my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.” Think of my responsibility, and I didn’t intend to say this, but I’m on a roll so I’ll just keep talking.  Think of how much stricter I shall be judged. I have at my disposal the possibility of misleading many, many people. God help me that I shall not! But to me shall be stricter judgment!

So you have all of the divisions that we have made in our minds, and suddenly those divisions don’t matter one little bit. What other people have said about us is totally irrelevant. It’ll be like living in a house, and all of our houses have good things and bad things in them. By bad things I mean messy closets, things that we wouldn’t necessarily want people to be poking around in. I know that I have two offices here at the church, one in which I do work, and I like to keep the door closed because everything is strewn around. Don’t snicker. (laughter)

Imagine someday the walls of our house (and I’m likening our lives now to a house), and suddenly the walls disappear. There isn’t a single wall and everything is made manifest – just all lying there – just bare and open with no covering – nothing. This is reality. This is the judgment of God according to reality, the Scripture says.

George Whitefield, is the famous preacher, whom I greatly admire (Many biographies have been written about him.), and who is buried here in the United States, by the way. Someday I want to get to his tomb. Newspapers criticized him. He was, of course, in conflict with John Wesley, his old friend. You remember they had an argument theologically and they had a falling out. All kinds of interesting things happened in his life. I’m told that on his tomb there are these words: “The manner of man George Whitefield was that day shall reveal.” How true that is. When he stands before God it will not make one bit of difference as to what the newspapers said about him. All of the critics that didn’t like him and the people who loved him, and all the words that were said in favor of him, and the words that were said against him will not matter. God will not say, “George Whitefield, you were rather famous and you preached to large crowds.” That will not come up. The judgment of God is according to reality. Just take the walls down and see what is there.

Number four, we’ll be judged individually. Notice it says in the text, “For we must all appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ, that each one – each one - may be recompensed.” You know in the book of Romans there was some argument among people. They were judging one another regarding eating meat, and some people said you shouldn’t because it was offered to idols, and somebody else said it was okay if you do.

Listen to what the Apostle Paul says: “Why do you judge your brother, or again why do you regard your brother with contempt?” By the way, is there anyone here and you know a brother or sister and you regard them with contempt for whatever reason? Paul says, “Why do you do that, because we shall all stand before the Judgment Seat of God?” He says, “Every one of us shall give account of himself.” There’s a word to underline. “Of himself to God!” You don’t be quick to judge the motives of another person.

I intended to turn to it, but we haven’t done so. But In 1 Corinthians 4 the Apostle Paul says, “Look, don’t be so quick to pass judgment before the time because the Lord will come who will bring to light the hidden things of darkness (And he’s talking about Christians) and expose the motives of men’s hearts.” Don’t you dare be too quick to judge. Certainly there are things that people do that are sinful that we need to judge, but don’t judge their motives quickly. Hang on. Don’t regard them with contempt because you are going to be answerable to God, and he is going to be answerable to God, and she is going to be answerable to God, individually alone without any other person entering into a defense of their case. We shall give an account to God individually.

You say, “Well is it private judgment? Is it just between you and Jesus?” I don’t think so. I think that people are watching. Do you remember in the parable in Luke 19 where Jesus talked about the man who is given the various talents, and then one took it and hid the talent? Later on Christ says to the bystanders, to the people who are watching, “Take this talent from this guy and give it to the one who already has ten talents, and discipline this unfaithful servant, and give it to the person who already was faithful.” And the bystanders did what the king told them to do.

Now at this point you’re saying, “This is really getting scary. I mean now it’s really, really getting scary. I mean, it’s one thing to be alone with Jesus, but it’s another thing to have your whole life revealed and everybody is watching.” Well, a couple of thoughts! First of all, remember we’re kind of all in the same situation. That’s the first thing. The second thing that I want to tell you as I’ve been meditating on this is, it suddenly dawned on me that even if it’s public it won’t matter. It won’t matter one little bit because you will not care. The whole universe could be watching. The only thing that matters is the expression on Christ’s face and what He thinks. Every other opinion that you’ve considered so important in this world, the image that we have wanted to build, the house and the walls that we’ve wanted to construct, will not be important. Only what Jesus thinks will matter.

When Michelle Edmonds, here at the church, gives a piano recital, we might all clap. I can clap freely because I wouldn’t even recognize if there were some mistakes. I’m sure there are none but I wouldn’t notice it. Sometimes somebody says, “Did you notice that So-and-So was off pitch?” No, as a matter of fact, I thought they were just where I was. (laughter)

You know what really matters to Michelle is her father who is our minister of music and what he thinks. That’s what she’s really looking for. What does a football player look for? He’s looking for what the coach thinks. Really, at the end of the day that’s what matters. The press can write whatever they like, and his friends can say this, and his enemies can say that, but what’s important is what the coach thinks. Now you take that illustration and then you magnify it. And we’re not talking about a minister of music or a coach. We’re talking about Christ, Lord God, the One whom we love, the One who died to redeem us. That’s who we are talking about, and only what He thinks will really matter. So I conclude saying that we don’t know for sure whether it is public. I tend to think it is, but I want to say to you, “Don’t worry about that.” It will not matter one little bit.

We’ll be judged individually. We’ll be judged graciously. What is the purpose of this judgment anyway? If it’s not to determine whether we go to heaven or hell (The fact that we’re going to be in heaven is assured, as we stand in this judgment.), why have it? Well, there’s a law of justice. It says “to be recompensed for the deeds done in the body whether good or bad.” Now I don’t believe that this is punishment. It’s not as if God is saying, “I’m disciplining you because I expected more from you.” No, by now we have resurrected bodies and we’re going to be in heaven and punishment would kind of be (What shall we say?) unnecessary and unfruitful and unproductive. And furthermore, as far as actual punishment is concerned, Christ bore that for us on the cross.

But there is just the natural consequence of justice and recompense that is taking place. Let’s suppose, for example, that you have a boy who has always wanted to fly an airplane. He just lives and dreams of when he could be in a small airplane sitting next to a pilot whom he has become friends with. And the pilot lives in the neighborhood and they spend time together, and the little boy falls in love with this guy and would just give anything to be up there with him and sitting at the controls, even if he really doesn’t understand them.

So the pilot says to the little boy, “Alright, here’s the deal. You mow my lawn five weeks in a row. If you do that consistently and do a careful job each time, I’ll take you up and we’ll take a flight at the end of the five weeks.” The boy does it well the first week. He does it not so well the second week. The third week he doesn’t do it at all. He comes the fourth week and says the grass is too tall for the lawnmower, and so it’s really just a mess when he’s finished. And he doesn’t do it at all the fifth week.

So now the time comes for evaluation. It isn’t as if the pilot is angry. He’s not saying, “I’m going to take this out on you. Why didn’t you do what I asked?” No, that’s not it. But when the time for the evaluation comes, he can see the sadness in the pilot’s face. And then he can also see that the flight that he had looked forward to will not happen. And that’s the way I see the Judgment Seat of Christ.

But there are some people, and I shall develop this in the message next week if God wills it, who will not get to rule with Christ. They’ll be happy in heaven, yes, but they will not get to rule with Him because they were unfaithful on earth. And therefore they will see the sadness on Christ’s face because here He redeemed them at such high cost (That’s the thing.) and such undeserved love. And they lived for themselves and they do not give to God’s work, and they will not be involved, and they will not renounce the sin that God hates, so there is a natural consequence that is built into that so far as the coming rewards and the coming kingdom are concerned.

So we will be judged graciously. I don’t expect Christ to be angry. I do expect Him to be disappointed, and John told believers, “Live in such a way that we are not ashamed at His coming,” because some of us will be ashamed at His appearing. But it will be gracious. It will be loving because it will be Christ.

I don’t know if you saw this interview or not, but I happened to see it and I forget the details, but I’ll never, never forget how the interview ended. As long as I live I will see the scene etched in my mind. Diane Sawyer said to Billy Graham, “How would you like to be remembered?” And Billy didn’t actually answer the question in the way in which I think she intended it, but he looked away with great sadness in his face and he said, “Well, I’d really like it if the Lord were to say to me, ‘Well done, thou good and faithful servant,’ but I don’t think that He will.” And with that he turned away, and the interview was over.

As I watched that, a whole flood of thoughts came to me simultaneously. One of them was, “Billy, you are being unnecessarily humble. I mean it’s good to be humble but let’s not push this too far. You have preached around the world. You’ve preached the Gospel to more people than any living man who ever walked this planet, and you have been faithful essentially to that message. And you’ve traveled this world. You have been pushed and pulled and used by those who have been your enemies. And you’ve gone through an awful lot. And Billy, don’t be so humble.” That was the first thought that I had, but right on the heels of it, and maybe simultaneously I had a second thought, namely the one that you had right now as I told you that story. I know what you’re thinking. “Billy, if you’re not sure that you are going to do well, what about the rest of us?” (laughter) Isn’t that what you were thinking? My goodness, Billy’s not sure.

Well, I want you to know that Billy at least understood something that is important to understand. Number one, it is true that there are people whom you have never heard of that are going to do very, very well at the Judgment. I have no question about that. I think I met somebody like that several months ago. I want to tell you about him someday. I want to tell you the story of a man of God who has been called to endure incredible suffering, and the way in which he is enduring it. He sure is going to be ahead of me at the Day of Judgment, and ahead of a lot of us.

So it’s true that it isn’t fame, because in that day, as was said of George Whitefield, it will not matter that Mr. Graham has been on the list of the ten most admired men of the world (or United States) for the last who knows how many years. That will be irrelevant. The manner of man Billy Graham was that day shall reveal.

Would you remember this? This life is training for the next. That’s my entire message next week. I want to develop that thought so that you can see what we can actually gain if we are faithful. And would you also remember that every day we live we are either adding something to the loss column or we are adding something to the reward column. Every day we are doing it. Tomorrow morning you get up and it’s time to go to work. You pray and you give the day to God. “Lord, I give You this day. Today I want to walk in the Spirit. I want to be obedient. I want to serve You no matter how difficult the boss is that I live with. I want to represent Christ well in my constituency and in my vocation. And I see everything as being given over to You, and I want to walk in faith and obedience.” And you will be on the reward column that day. 

And on the other hand, you can just do your own thing – selfishly pursue, manipulate, don’t take God seriously, don’t begin the day with Him so that you can kind of just do your own thing, and you don’t represent Christ well. That’s also part of your ledger. It’s part of your website that will be pulled up when you stand before God. And God is calling all of us to say that we must live with great soberness, life-changing soberness. Seek God now! The sins that are so skillfully hidden – reveal them now to God and to someone else who can help you, because they will be there as part of the evaluation. “The things spoken in the bedroom,” Jesus says, “will be shouted from the housetop.” He said that there is nothing hidden that shall not be revealed, because God is into reality.

And then I end by saying that there are some of you here who are not ready because you will not even be at the Judgment Seat of Christ if you were to die today. You would show up at the Great White Throne Judgment because you don’t know Christ as Savior. You have never been shielded from His wrath. And I urge you today to believe in Christ. That means to say no to all human attainments, all possibility that you can be saved by human rituals, or religious rituals, and place your trust in Christ alone, decisively, personally. Acknowledge your helplessness and your sin, and flee to Him and be saved because if not, you will be at the other judgment. Remember that this is not optional. It is compulsory that every man stand before God either at the Bema or the Great White Throne.

And if you will, let us pray.

Father, we do ask in the name of Jesus that You shall come to change us and to transform us in light of the awesome prospect of standing before You some day to give an account for today and for tomorrow and for last week. We are humbled. There is both joy in our hearts at seeing You, but there is also the proper fear that it shall someday come out. We pray, Father, that You might cause within us a whole new spiritual revival as we as a church contemplate our responsibility. Grant us that, Father, we pray.

And now before I close this prayer, you need to talk to God. If you are a Christian what do you need to say to Him in light of what you’ve heard? If you are a non-Christian, that is you’ve never believed on Him, call out to Him in your heart right now and be saved.

Oh Father, complete the work that You have begun. Help us not to be in a hurry, to stifle Your voice, but to listen to it with meditation and with intensity we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.