Pastor Barry's  "Chapter & Verse"  Day 157

June 7;   Hebrews 9:27;   213/260(I);   ‘Our Appointment’

Hebrews 9:27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,

If you do not know the Lord Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, this verse can be frightening.  Very often, until we are Born Again, we do not want to think about death.  Once you do become a Christian, death is no longer frightening.  We simply pass from this natural realm to the spiritual realm to be with Jesus forever.  I believe this verse is saying something that will bless you.  Death means separation.  When a person dies physically, their spirit is separated from their body.  Their spirit then goes to heaven or hell, depending on whether or not that person has accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.  Spiritual death is also separation.  It means that a person’s spirit is separated from the Lord because they never made Jesus the Lord of their life.  That is called the second death.  It is like the Lord is saying everyone must die physically, but this verse does not mention the second death.  Jesus does not want anyone not to be with Him forever.  But what about the judgment?  If you are a Christian, the Judgment Seat of Christ is where the rewards are given for our faithfulness to do the Lord’s work while we are here on the earth.  That is why it is so important for every believer to be in church, getting equipped to do the Lord’s work.  We all want to stand before the Lord Jesus, knowing how faithful He has been to us, and also knowing we did all we could in this life to share Jesus with as many people as we could.  Eternal rewards are based on what we do with our time here on earth.  It is vitally important that each of us to prayerfully consider how important His work is.