Just as there was a world-wide judgment in Noah's day, so there will be a judgement at the end of time. If that judgment came with water, then how will it be in the end except with fire? For it will be like the time of Lot in Sodom, when the Lord will come from the heavens; it will be like the days of Noah, when His judgement is revealed to the world; as the apostle Peter says, " For they (scoffers) deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. " (2 Peter 3:3-9)
In that day, everything done in the body will need to be accounted for. God is just; and He is just such that He cannot let anyone go unpunished. Evil cannot persist, not even a single lie; as it says, “Truthful lips will be established forever, But a lying tongue is only for a moment.” (Proverbs 12:19) Every evil thing will be made right through judgment; as the LORD God says, "I will discipline you, but with justice; I cannot let you go unpunished." (Jeremiah 46:28)
And He said this to His own people, so how much more is it applicable to the rest of the nations? If He doesn't spare His own people, what is the fate of the rest of the world that do not know Him? If He let just one sin go unpunished, He wouldn't be good and just. It is a good thing to judge evil and a lie: for that's justice. When justice is not upheld, people riot; for it is evil not to judge wrong-doing, but it is right to render justice. It is good to do justice and show no partiality; as it says, " Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed quickly, therefore the hearts of the sons of men among them are given fully to do evil. " (Ecclesiastes 8:11)
The Lord God is Judge. And He will make all to rise from their grave, the living and the dead, and they will stand before Him on that great and terrible day; as it says about that day: " A day of wrath is that day, A day of trouble and distress, A day of destruction and desolation, A day of darkness and gloom, A day of clouds and thick darkness, A day of trumpet and battle cry Against the fortified cities And the high corner towers. I will bring distress on men So that they will walk like the blind, Because they have sinned against the LORD; And their blood will be poured out like dust And their flesh like dung. Neither their silver nor their gold Will be able to deliver them On the day of the LORD'S wrath; And all the earth will be devoured In the fire of His jealousy, For He will make a complete end, Indeed a terrifying one, Of all the inhabitants of the earth. " (Zephaniah 1:15-18)
And it says about that day: " Alas, you who are longing for the day of the LORD, For what purpose will the day of the LORD be to you? It will be darkness and not light; As when a man flees from a lion And a bear meets him, Or goes home, leans his hand against the wall And a snake bites him. Will not the day of the LORD be darkness instead of light, Even gloom with no brightness in it? " (Amos 5:18-20)
For the dead who lived in death, it says, “The dead will not live, the departed spirits will not rise; Therefore You have punished and destroyed them, And You have wiped out all remembrance of them.” (Isaiah 26:14) But for the dead who lived in life, which is truly life, it says, “Your dead will live; Their corpses will rise. You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy, For your dew is as the dew of the dawn, And the earth will give birth to the departed spirits.” (Isaiah 26:19) So God will cause both the righteous and the wicked to rise, but only the righteous will arise to life. For all evil and all lies will be made right, and it is made right through judgment; all wickedness will be put into it's proper place and judged as wrong; and righteousness will be exalted and rewarded in that day. When evil is reprimanded, reproved, and rebuked, it is made good through the correction; and our God is a God of justice and righteousness. Right now is the time to receive correction and forgiveness, but in that day, it will be a time for judgment and wrath, for condemnation or reward.
Judgement is not merely in word, but in action too; the result of judgment is either condemnation or praise; to compress the lips is to allow evil to pass, to allow injustice to persist; but God will reveal His righteous judgement in that day. If sin goes uncorrected, it is allowed to live a little longer; in it's persistence, it corrupts much that is good; but nevertheless, all sin has an end. Do we not bury that which is unclean? We don't expose our uncleanness, do we? Our bodies have waste to it; and we put that waste in dark places, for it is good to be not seen; we gather it together and put it into a pit and burn it with fire or cover it with dirt. And don't we bury their dead? So what do you suppose God will do with the moral filth of the world when He sends forth His angels? Won't everything unclean be cosigned to its proper place and burned with fire? If we do these things with that which is unclean to our eyes, how much more will God with that which is abhorrent to His eyes? For men riot when justice is not upheld: when someone who is supposed to be punished gets off free, men go out and riot against the judge and police; and they say, "The police are no good! We want justice!" So we know it's good to render justice, for we ourselves want justice; however, when it comes to our wrongs, we want mercy; that is why it says, " So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty. For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment. " (James 2:12-13)
And God's righteous judgment rewards all according to their works: to the one who judges, they will be judged, and to the one who shows mercy, they will be shown mercy. As it says, "For the day of the LORD draws near on all the nations. As you have done, it will be done to you. Your dealings will return on your own head. Because just as you drank on My holy mountain, All the nations will drink continually. They will drink and swallow And become as if they had never existed.” (Obadiah 1:15-16) And this drink is the chalice of God's fierce wrath which is drained to the dregs (Isaiah 51:17-22).
God is not like any judge on earth: for He is perfect. He will reward all with righteous judgment in that day when the judgment of God is revealed through the One He has appointed; He will reward those who by persistence seek immortality, life and peace, looking for the hope of everlasting life; “But to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation.” (Romans 2:8) Even the righteous will be scarcely saved; as it says, "For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? AND IF IT IS WITH DIFFICULTY THAT THE RIGHTEOUS IS SAVED, WHAT WILL BECOME OF THE GODLESS MAN AND THE SINNER?" (1 Peter 4:17-18)
Someone might say, "Stop judging me!" Or, "Only God can judge me." But if we cannot withstand the judgment of mere mortals, how can we withstand the judgment of the Almighty God? Is it not a terrifying thing? As He says, “Behold, the day of the LORD is coming, Cruel, with fury and burning anger, To make the land a desolation; And He will exterminate its sinners from it. For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not flash forth their light; The sun will be dark when it rises And the moon will not shed its light. Thus I will punish the world for its evil And the wicked for their iniquity; I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud And abase the haughtiness of the ruthless. I will make mortal man scarcer than pure gold And mankind than the gold of Ophir. Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, And the earth will be shaken from its place At the fury of the LORD of hosts In the day of His burning anger.” (Isaiah 13:9-13)
So then, I ask, if we are sinful and God sees and hears everything, and He will not let anyone go unpunished, how then can anyone be saved? As the Scriptures say, "Few will be saved." But how is there few? Shouldn't there be none? As He says, "Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. " (Matthew 7:13,14)
But then He says, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. " (Matthew 19:23-30)
If there is no hope, then "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die." (Isaiah 22:13)
Isn't the danger so evident? We're evil and God is Holy. What must we do to be saved from the wrath which is to come! "Wreched and miserable man that I am! Who will free me from this body of sin and death?" (Romans 7:24)
Does someone need to send a rocket into space to find the cure and bring it down to us? Or does someone need to dig into the center of the earth to reveal the mystery? Where is the knowledge of salvation? In whom does it exist? As Moses wrote in the Book of the law, "It (The command) is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it." (Deuteronomy 30:12-14)
As it says, "So that you can do it," for the things which seem impossible to us are possible to God, so that we can do. As He says, "Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for Me?” (Jeremiah 32:27) Then He says, “If it is too difficult in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, will it also be too difficult in My sight?” (Zechariah 8:6) For who has ascended? Or who has descended? Salvation is not far away from any one of us; as it says, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” (Zechariah 9:9) For it is God who descended, and it is He who ascended. It is He who came! For man surely cannot save himself; as He says, "Or do you have an arm like God, And can you thunder with a voice like His?” (Job 40:9) If so, "Then I will also confess to you, That your own right hand can save you.” (Job 40:14) So surely we need a savior; surely we need a rock. Or can wealth save us? Can we gather up enough food for ourselves to withstand the evil day? Which gun can shoot against spirits? Or which sword can fight against the unseen? Surely, even our best efforts are useless.