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God’s Supreme Court of Justice — Part 11 “Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:14-15). Yesterday, we considered the terrifying truth that this “everlasting furnace of fire” will be the gruesome and ghastly sentence for every person who was guilty of ‘failing to come to the Lord Jesus Christ on His gospel terms’! Furthermore, NO ONE will point their finger in the face of Judge Jesus, on that dreadful day, and say, “I am being cast into the eternal lake of fire; and it is Your fault!” Not after the immense price that the Lord Jesus paid, so that any and every “penitent and believing” sinner could be saved from the wrath to come! Years ago, I heard the shocking story of a man who had contracted a deadly nerve disease. After he had undergone a battery of tests, the specialist gave him these hopeless words, “The ever-increasing pain of this debilitating disease is going to be extremely excruciating. If I were to inject you with enough pain medicine to dull the torment, the narcotics themselves would kill you. Furthermore, I am sorry to say that this condition is terminal. The dilemma that we face is that there is only one possible cure for this horrific disease. However, it would take the ransom of a king to purchase this serum. Moreover, your insurance company would never pay for the acquisition of this particular medicine.” The dying man cried out in desperation, “Doctor, please! There must be some way we can obtain this healing medication. Please try to do something!” The specialist responded, “Well, sir, I have told you that you cannot possibly raise enough money to purchase this serum. But I will see if there is anything that I can do.” The patient did not hear a word from the doctor for 3 or 4 days. However, the suffering victim did not realize that (during those very days) the specialist had been selling off all of his assets in order to attempt to raise the funds for the serum. After the doctor liquidated all his possessions and property, he approached several organizations and foundations to raise the exorbitant amount of money needed. Finally, the physician raised the necessary funds and purchased the serum. As he was hurrying to return to the hospital, the doctor was involved in a terrible accident. The doctor’s own precious son, who accompanied him in the purchase of the serum, perished in the accident! When the specialist finally arrived in the hospital room, the tormented patient noticed that the physician’s hair and clothes were disheveled. Bloodstains covered his white coat. The patient cried out, “Where have you been?” The doctor responded, “I liquidated all of my assets in order to purchase the serum. Then I sought assistance from a number of organizations until I finally raised the necessary funds for this serum.” The physician continued on to say, “Oh, but friend, I have just returned from the morgue. I have been in a terrible accident. This blood, which is spattered on my coat, is the BLOOD OF MY SON! He has died in the accident! But here is the serum! It will surely cure you!” Now, imagine that this patient heard about the cost, and the vial of serum was now in his hand. But it arrived and is available for you, but at the high cost of the death of his son. Then, after staring at the healing remedy for quite a while, he violently threw that little tube of ‘life-saving’ medicine to the floor! And to top it all off, the patient then pointed his finger in the face of the physician and arrogantly shouted, “I am going to die, and it is your fault!” Well, dear friend, that would not only be the depths of bizarre foolishness; it would also be a shocking combination of preposterous ignorance and arrogance. To be willing to treat the only way to be saved with carelessness and contempt. No one will be able to cast blame on anyone else. Precious reader, the cross of Jesus Christ was not an accident. It was not a fluke or a plan gone awry. For the substitutionary atoning work of the Son of God was the eternal plan of the Godhead from before the foundation of the world! In the fullness of time, God did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up on behalf of every sinner who will repent and believe the Gospel! So, because of His sacrificial and loving payment, you can be absolutely certain that no condemned sinner is going to be able to fire an ‘accusation of blame’ at the Great White Throne Judge! What about you? Can you look into the face of death, and say that ‘death is your friend and no longer your enemy?’ Are you ready to die? For no one is really ready to live until first they are ready to die. No one can be ready to die without a genuine, life-transforming encounter with the Lord that will make you a new creation. Jesus and His work on the cross and resurrection are the only antidotes that can make you ready to die, so that you are then ready to live.