Revelation 20:11-15 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
I was driving recently and was tuned to an “oldies Station.” Turns out that I really didn’t recognize many of the songs since they were referring to the 70s, I was expecting the 50’s. Not many will recall Dr. Welby and Dr. Gillespy unless they like the movies of the late 1940’s. Our modern day entertainment presents us with ER or Scrubs. (I guess that the latter is a “Doctor Show” but I’ve not seen an episode, so I don’t know.) A good “bedside manner” was an asset in days gone by. Basically, a good bedside manner implies that you should treat persons with the kindness that you would expect and desire. The goal was to present both good and bad news in a respectful and compassionate way.
If you present to an emergency room for true emergency care you pretty well have to take who is available for your physician. If however, you schedule an appointment in a physician’s office, you perhaps have made a choice to see a particular doctor. Or maybe you took the first available appointment or waited weeks to see the physician of your choice.
Becoming the physician for someone who seeks you out is a pretty personal matter, particularly if you are dealing with the potential problems of heart disease. A wise and ancient writer once said “the heart never stops but once and then forever.” Time has changed this a little bit but the general premise is still operative.
I saw William McKinley for the first time as a new patient and shook his hand 45 minutes later after a history, physical exam, chest x-ray and EKG. I concluded that he had 2 kinds of heart disease, diabetes, thyroid disease and high blood pressure. After he dressed, I outlined his many problems for him and offered a specific plan of therapy. He then looked me eye to eye and said “What will happen if I don’t?”
My sister once informed me that medicine is referred to as a practice since doctors are trying to get it right. A great deal of that is true. In addition though, medical practice is also an art as well. What you offer and do is sometimes artful and not cut and dried. Sensing the patient’s possible negative response to my directions, I simply replied, “You’ll die.” So much for Marcus Welby and bedside manner. His response was “You’re serious!” Yes, I was. He became an ideal patient and friend and his problems responded very well to care for a number of years.
No one would accept it to be morally responsible to down play what is potentially life threatening. A failure to inform in a situation that becomes grave in nature is totally unacceptable. Facts are facts and sugar coating is neither desirable nor acceptable.
We recently reviewed the different approaches by the 2 thieves that were crucified with Jesus. One ridiculed and one turned to Jesus in faith. Jesus assured the contrite thief that he shortly would be with Him in His Kingdom in eternity. All three died the same afternoon. Trusting Jesus as we do, we have no doubt that the penitent thief was and is with Jesus. What about the other one who fails to turn to Jesus?
Near the completion of the New Testament Book of Revelation is the Great White Throne Judgment. It is the second of two major resurrections. The first occurred earlier and was for rescued sinners whose sin guilt had been paid for by Jesus as Sinbearer. Faith in the Biblical Christ as Savior and Lord resulted in the believer’s sin being punished on Jesus. Acceptance of Jesus as Lord (which requires the forgiven to follow the will of Jesus) resulted in the imputation of the goodness of Jesus into his soul. The judgment for sin has been met. The Great White Throne judgment has no application for them.
The Great White Throne Judgment is a call for all others to appear before God to judge their sin. At this time, all sin, whether by deed or thought, registered against the individual will be exposed and judged. All who appear within this judgment will be judged to be guilty and will be separated from God for eternity. Simply, they will be thrown into the lake of fire. (Ecclesiastes 12:14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.) The punishment will not be uniform but all will be found guilty. The soul of the guilty will be forever separated from God.
Certain roles in life have certain responsibilities. In the past, if I failed to find or acknowledge a serious and life threatening process involving you, I would be legally liable. No one would accuse me of attempting to scare you. Some things in life are by nature scary. Issues with the soul are even more important than those concerning the material.
God loves us all. We must, however, approach Him on His and not our terms. Sin, disobedience to God’s will, is the issue that separates us from God’s will. God has very carefully and painfully orchestrated a plan so that our sin is punished not on us but on His Son Jesus. We choose to accept this solution by confession and repentance and a willingness to follow Jesus as our King. The alternative is to ignore Jesus and to ultimately stand judgment before God to accept punishment of our sin.
There is no other way into the presence of God’s Kingdom. If there were, God is not loving but a tyrant.