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The Judgment Seat of Christ (Alternate 3)
Leonard Ravenhill

Leonard Ravenhill (1907 - 1994). British-American evangelist, author, and revivalist born in Leeds, England. Converted at 14 in a Methodist revival, he trained at Cliff College, a Methodist Bible school, and was mentored by Samuel Chadwick. Ordained in the 1930s, he preached across England with the Faith Mission and held tent crusades, influenced by the Welsh Revival’s fervor. In 1950, he moved to the United States, later settling in Texas, where he ministered independently, focusing on prayer and repentance. Ravenhill authored books like Why Revival Tarries (1959) and Sodom Had No Bible, urging the church toward holiness. He spoke at major conferences, including with Youth for Christ, and mentored figures like David Wilkerson and Keith Green. Married to Martha Beaton in 1939, they had three sons, all in ministry. Known for his fiery sermons and late-night prayer meetings, he corresponded with A.W. Tozer and admired Charles Spurgeon. His writings and recordings, widely available online, emphasize spiritual awakening over institutional religion. Ravenhill’s call for revival continues to inspire evangelical movements globally.
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Sermon Summary
In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the power of Jesus' resurrection and how it defeated death. He highlights the foolishness of those who tried to put eternal life to death and how Jesus triumphantly rose from the grave. The preacher also acknowledges the support and hospitality he received during his time at the church. He concludes by reminding the audience that everyone will face judgment, regardless of their status or wealth, and that God will ultimately do what is right.
Sermon Transcription
I know we call him Brother Gordon Best, inviting me to come here for the three weeks we have been here and for the very wonderful way that Brother Solon has supported and just had every interest he could have in seeing that we were comfortable and everything, you know, was kind of in order. And as I said this morning, there are three kinds of reactions to preaching. It makes people sad, mad or glad. My preaching makes people very glad. They're glad I'm finishing tonight. We're all human, and I've kept reminding you this week, and I'm always reminding myself, that no man has ever done God a favor. It doesn't matter how much we sacrifice or whatever we do. And I'm a victim of my own philosophy, and yet I'm a human being. You may not think that, but I am. And tonight, if I could borrow the eloquence of maybe one of the greatest orators the church ever had, George Whitefield, or if I could borrow the ability of Gabriel, I might be able to put this message over. I don't have either, and I don't pretend to be an orator, and yet God uses the medium of words. We express ourselves and we understand and we react to words. And so tonight, I do want to present two sides of this, what I think is the most sobering thing in a Christian's thought. And as my brother said, there's a lot of excitement in singing, there's a lot of excitement in dramatic preaching. Will you take a seat quickly, please, because I want to get going. There's a lot of excitement, but there is a section of theology which is called eschatology. Eschatology deals with that part of divine truth which is yet to be unfolded. Recently, there has been a new interest in the second coming, partly, of course, because of what has happened in Israel. But the most neglected part of eschatology is that part which we're going to think about tonight, about the judgment seat of Christ in two aspects. There are many judgments. There's going to be the judgment of the living nations, and believe it or not, the day is coming when some human beings are going to be given the privilege of judging angels. There are many rewards. We'd need a lot of nights to describe them, but we can't. But the two main aspects tonight are those of the judgment of the unsaved and again, then the judgment of the believer. So we read two portions of scripture for our foundation, the 20th chapter in the book of the revelation, and readings from verse 11. And then in the first epistle of Paul to the Corinthians in the third chapter, in the book of the revelation, chapter 20 and verse 11. And I saw a great white throne and him that sat upon it, from whose face the heavens and the earth fled away, and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God, and the books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them. And they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life, was cast into the lake of fire. Now the judgment of the believer, first Corinthians chapter 3 and reading from verse 9. For we are laborers together with God. Ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building. According to the grace of God which is given unto me as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation and another builder thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For on the foundation can no man lay than that is laid which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man's, any man build upon this foundation, gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble, every man's work shall be made manifest, for the day shall declare it. Because it shall be revealed by fire. And the fire shall try every man's work of what thought it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved. Yet so as by fire. I'd like to say this is a preliminary particularly to young people here because somewhere along the line you're going to meet somebody who says that they do not believe in God and they do not believe the Bible. Well you just tell them from me there's one way to prove it and that is to refuse to die. And then you've got us all fooled. But Hebrews 9 27 makes it very clear that it is appointed unto man once to die and after this the judgment. Some years ago I read a very brief but a very brilliant biography of one of the greatest preachers of all time. Preachers developed strange habits. This preacher was being criticized one day around the table. Potters envy potters, singers envy singers, preacher envy preachers. And they were discussing this famous preacher. One of them said I heard him preach the other night he didn't preach like a man he preached like a seraph. It seemed to me as though he was singing into eternity. It seemed to me as though he'd swallowed the whole dictionary. I have never been so transported in listening to a preacher as listening to that man. And I found it difficult to reconcile that famous preacher with a habit that he has developed. Because this preacher used to carry in the right hand pocket of his coat a bunch of precious stones. A diamond, an amethyst, a sapphire, a ruby and other things, pearls. And he would go into a park and he would sit there and take out these precious stones and select one of them. And returning the others to his pocket he would put it on his hand and then his fingers and he would elevate it and catch the gleam of the sun. And he would smile and little children would gather around him and point their fingers to their heads. Now I don't mind people doing that. They have a right to do what they like with their own head. It's when they point at mine I get a little worried. They pointed at the fellow and said you know he's kind of crazy. Dr. Jowett was there, one of England's greatest puppeteers. And he said you know brethren I do the same thing. Where do you get money to buy a handful of precious stuff? Well I don't do it with stone. There is a hymn that talks about the word of God. It says this, it is a golden casket where gems of truth are stored. It is the heaven drawn picture of Christ, the living word. And he said I go to the jewel casket of God and I select one word out of it and I don't hold it up to the sun. I hold it up to the light of eternity and say Lord let eternity shine into this word. I suggest we do that tonight. If I could transport you out of time into eternity I'd love to do it. You'd never forget it. You'd never be the same. You'd never be the half backslidden, prayerless, unbelieving, loveless folk who like to go to banquets and let others go to hell fire. You once got a prospect of eternity and I trust God will give you it. And I'd say to you young people don't you be like the other Christians around, for God's sake don't. The world has rejected us, why should it reject you? It's rejected him because he's rejected us. Because most of us are married to materialism. Again I want you to select one word out of this precious word of God. It's there by, literally it's there because he has said eternity in the heart of man. It's there by inference. I remind you again that Harnett the great German philosopher said that Christianity is a very simple but a very sublime thing. To live in time for eternity under the eye of God and by his help. But I ask you reverently as I shall answer the judgment bar, do you think this generation of Christians lived in the light of eternity? Forget it. We're not eternity conscious, we're money conscious, we're style conscious, position conscious, possession conscious, personality conscious. We're as mesmerized by material half the Christians today. We'll want to look at the Dow Jones averages with anxiety more than to see people perishing. And until the church again becomes eternity conscious, you can do as you like but we'll never have revival. Now what a dreadful picture this is. Here is John the beloved disciple. You see this is the only authentic book in the whole world, I don't care how many millions there are, that lifts the curtain and shows us eternity. And John has seen that day of all days. He's seen the great white throne, not the peacock throne of the shire of Persia and not that marvelous wonderful gold and ivory throne of Solomon. He sees the great white throne and him that sat upon it. From whose face the heavens and the earth have fled away and they've found no place for them. You see there's going to be one dramatic moment in history when God is going to put out the light and pull down the blinds and time has finished. And yet this word of God says that God is going to bring everybody to judgment. From the first man that lived Adam to the very last child that's born before the final trumpet blast. Oh I wish I could sing, I can't. But I once did have a man that could sing and I love to hear him. He had a deep baritone voice and he used to sing that majestic song. I dreamed that the great judgment morning had come and the trumpets had blown. I dreamed that the nations had gathered for judgment before the white throne. On the banks stood a bright shining angel. He stood on the land and the sea and he swore with his hand raised to heaven that time was no longer to be. And oh what a weeping and wailing when the lost heard of their fate. They cried for the rocks and the mountains. They cried but their prayer was too late. The drunkard came to the judgment and the gambler came to the judgment. And he depicts them coming there to the judgment. Yes sir they're all going to stand. I don't know how you keep sane in a world like this unless you're dumb. The only thing that keeps me sane is this that one day there's going to be a payday and the judge of all the earth will do right and there's not a living man going to bribe him. Whether he's a millionaire that sits at banquets or whether he's a potter whether he was Confucius or a king it makes no difference. Oh yes sir the drunkard was there and the man who'd sold them the drink and the judge who gave them the license and in hell they forever did sink. And oh what a weeping and wailing when the lost heard of their fate. The moral man came to the judgment but his self-righteous rags would not do. A pauper he stood at the judgment. Yes sir his money had vanished away and there he is standing now naked in the presence of the eternal God. Have you ever tried to visualize how many people have lived? We have what now 3,000 million people in the world and if this present speed of procreation goes on we're going to have about 6,000 million people in about another 25 years. How many people have lived since the beginning of time? Did you ever think that those people you couldn't read about when you were a kid hardly the Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Hivites, you're going to see every one of them one day? Everybody that was in the Roman Empire, in the Medo-Persian Empire, in the British Empire. They're coming from every bloody battlefield in the world. Whether you go to the time when Alexander raped humanity or you go to this devilish mess that we have now in Vietnam where human blood is riding. We don't write history with print. We write history with human blood and we write human skins for parchment. We don't print history on paper. That every boy of the 42,000 that's given his life, everybody that died in the 1914-18 war, the battle of Vimy Ridge and Passchendaele and all those terrible things that we had. There's not a soldier whose body has fertilized the field that God doesn't know his name and number. Remember the word of Jesus. Oh how excited people were. You know that ministry is going to come back and you know what? It isn't going to come with a big shop there who need a headquarters and a big staff to run it and a big fat tent. Your sons and your daughters are going to prophesy and boy they'll make us bow our heads in the dust when they get the anointing of God. Yes sir that's going to happen and it's going to happen before very long because you see we're moving in America. I say this I'd say that if he were here I'm going to write to him about it. I saw in the newspaper last night Billy Graham is going to be the Grand Marshal of the Roses Parade in Pasadena on New Year's Day. God help us. Could you think of the Apostle Paul being the Grand Marshal to a bunch of pretty lovely. America isn't going down the road of roses. She's in the valley of the shadow of death. We don't need a program. We need a prophet. I've written Graham's old deal off and Oral Roberts the whole bunch did that 20 years and done nothing so what makes me think they're going to start now? They're sitting on eggs they can't hatch. They've made prophecies for years and they've never come to pass. But I've got news for you. God is going to vindicate his holy name. He didn't die for a church that's in the mess that the church of God is in tonight. He died for something pure not this adulterous thing that can flirt with the world and sit at a banquet one night and sing and you give him a thousand bucks and the next night he's back in Las Vegas to hell with that kind of stuff. That's not Christianity. It's a fabrication. It's a deception of the devil. Yes that day is coming back so we're not merely the magic that Jesus had but every power that Jesus had is going to be restored. After all you get the four gospels the fifth book is the book of Acts. The Acts is the church of God doing everything that Jesus did in the days of his flesh and when the church of God gets back to hell and when she gets the real anointing of the Holy Ghost brother we're going to see pageants of God. After all I don't know how long it took to build this building up but you know it could burn down in six hours if it caught fire and I believe God's going to burn those bastard systems and I'll answer at the judgment for that the twin bastard systems of Rome the Roman Catholic church and communism he's going to burn them and he's going to burn like a holy fire through our generation you look for it and I say you young people you watch it don't let anybody buy it you're not even me as zealous and as keen as I am for you and for God. You want the way God's given you if you have to walk with sandal feet all your life do it but live clean and shun immorality and shun drink and shun tobacco that's more than many Christians have done set an example to them they haven't set one to you you set one to them they don't pray you pray they don't fast you fast they want money score it I sometimes wish I could live without a dime I don't make much money I make maybe three thousand bucks a year and if you can live on less than that tell me how to do it and you know I haven't preached it I don't have I preached this message this year I don't think I have God will not let me preach it you know why well I'll tell you why because you're not to cast your pearls and finish the rest oh they ran after Jesus and somebody said you know what he did he put eyes in a blind man he unplugged their fears he made oh but yesterday he made a man he he can do wonderful things and while they're talking somebody slips a note to Jesus and Jesus says come on boys let's go and they go and knock at the door and this girl says so you care man and call yourself a friend isn't it amazing God never does anything on your time he only does it in his own huh you've been praying for patience and he's been keeping you waking and you're half mad because he won't do it well why did you ask for patience you say you're a friend of my brother well why didn't you come and heal him that's what I've come to do he's dead he stinks so a lot of people think that I'm dead but this man was dead and he stunk too a lot of Christians stink as far as that goes as far as I'm concerned then Jesus says well come on let's go to the cemetery so I just go into the cemetery you didn't love it I did that's why I came come on throw away the stone and then Jesus says you see people say do you literally believe what you preach I talked with Dave Wilkerson not many months ago I used to edit his paper and Dave Wilkerson said Len do you still believe now he says there's a revival in the country I haven't seen it yet but he said you still believe there's going to be a holy ghost revival and I'll put brother the greatest revival that will out Pentecost Pentecost is still coming up nobody's going to make a fortune out of it so some of you will back off you mean to say that one day Jesus yes yes yes yes Jesus said roll away the stone he's in a cemetery and if he'd said come forth what would happen all the cemetery would have come and it wasn't time so he said he said all right Lazarus come forth you see and he came forth oh isn't that wonderful oh he says don't get excited do you know the day is coming when I'm going to say you see the resurrection isn't a part of my philosophy or my theology the resurrection is a person I am the resurrection he says and the day is coming when Jesus is going to say a word and everybody that's dead from earth wide bounds and all the father's coast they're dead at the bottom of the sea that went down with the Spanish Armada that were destroyed in that ship what was it the oh I've forgotten the name of it at the beginning of World War II there the Arcadia or something and those that went down on the Lusitania and those that went down on the Titanic and all those that went down in when the Spanish Armada attacked England sure they're going to come from every battlefield they're going to come from every kindred and tribe and nation and people and tongue of multitudes like the stars and heavens of multitudes like the sands by the sea shore that no man everyone is going to come to judgment at the voice of the Son of God as I said the other day I guess I don't have to read Romans 8 28 anymore I did when I was a spiritual infant and if you read it that's where you are you want to get something a bit tougher than that when I see this crazy world when I see the designs of communism when I read tonight that they've opened another city to the troops in Canada and they're under martial law almost and things are getting drastically worse by every minute the only way I can keep my chin up is to say I know the God of all the earth's going to do right and I know this everything's in the hands of God he's running the show the usurper has his place right now but God's still running the show he isn't one second behind on his timetable oh yes I get excited let me just say it again to many of you weren't here you know the first countdown was Easter morning when they put Jesus there on a slab of stone and I imagine the devil said you know we've got him I just went in and pinched him he's as dead and cold as anybody I've ever seen dead and we've got him you know there's only one thing that's scaring me he said that just before sunrise he'd get up and go so do you know what we're going to do now we've got him there on a slab and we've got a stone over the over the grave and we've got wax over the stone and we've got seals over the wax and and they've got soldiers guarding it but that isn't enough for him you know he's desperately dangerous now what we'll do is roll all the sin of the world on top of him and and then as a last thing we'll bring every demon in hell now we've got it he's dead the stone is there the wax the seal the soldiers all the sin of the world is on him and now every demon is hell and listen we've only got about 10 seconds to go can he hold it 10 seconds and if he can hold him there we can fill hell and ruin humanity and all hell is nervous and suddenly in that dramatic moment oh i like that hymn i wish we could really sing it but you know that hymn that says vainly they watch his death i say how stupid can these philosophers be how do you put eternal life to death do you know that's what they were trying to do put eternal life to death how do you find hide the light of the world in a in a grave vainly they watch his dead jesus my savior vainly they feel the death and then he says triumphantly death cannot keep its prey jesus my savior he tore the bars away jesus my lord up from the grave here and listen he ascended to the fire and you know what he did he led captivity captive he went to hell and told him he triumphed over them and the devil's never gonna open it it's we all forgotten it not the devil we forgot the resurrection power of the holy ghost we've forgotten the might of the spirit oh jesus says you think that's wonderful for me to raise well i'm gonna raise every person that ever lived from the beginning of time to the end isn't that gonna be something when will it happen don't worry about the day god always keeps his appointment he's got an appointment with you it's appointed unto you once to die and brother you won't escape it well where is he going to take place i i couldn't care less maybe god will just blow the steps and we'll all be there millions billions trillions quadrillions of people i saw the dead small and great i've always liked history i was going past the uh your famous wonderful library there in washington somebody said to me that's a great library i said it's a fantastic library they've just improved it he said i didn't know i said sure they put five of my books in it and uh but you know there's a section in that library uh that's all history encyclopedia britannica roland's ancient history of rome uh encyclopedia britannica the uh american encyclopedia all the history of the world is there i'd like to visualize you know just just opening all those books and all those marching legions of rome caesar and alexander the great and uh you know uh tiberius caesar and uh oh caesar augustus and and the famous julius caesar and the crazy guy that made his horse what did he do make his heart a senator i've often wondered about senators but anyhow he made his horse into a senator or something didn't he had a special ordination so is it going to be wonderful to see them all come to light i saw the dead small oh brother the great aren't going to dodge this i'm going to see all the kings of england all the caliphs of baghdad all the maharajas of india all the voluptuous kings of france all the czars of russia everyone in the army navy what they're all going to come in that day not in their splendid shining armor the slaves that built the pyramids the men that cut the suez canal the men that cut the uh panama canal the men the men that cut the corinth canal hundreds of years before paul saw it they're all going to come to life one day i saw the dead small and great stand before god can you see them by the million the red and the yellow the black what about the inkers they disappeared millions of them are what about the millions of people again slaughtered by bombs and by disease they're all coming yes sir payday someday it's come home boy come on bring your bills for every man is going to stand there and every man is going to receive his own reward and he says the books were open well if you're going to have a judgment day you must have a judge you must have witnesses oh you know when people start getting dithering singing i got a mansion over the hilltop you know and oh boy hold it a minute when you get the whoopees you know and you sing oh that will be glory listen you don't deserve glory you deserve hell it won't be glory for me i i won't sing it i'll sing oh it will be glory for thee you see just before you just take up your eternal abode and relax on your sofa and angels bring you orange juice or something forever and ever that's all most of you want you're a lazy bunch anyhow uh but just before you get there will you remember this you've one serious obstacle my beloved wonderful friend dr tozer used to say to me many times lance i've got one problem it isn't really that i have to go and see jesus at the judgment for the things i've done it's the things i've could have done that worry me oh sister you wish to god you'd never bought that mint coke when there are so many perishing people around and starving people my dear wife and i mix with folk we do it we love them the godly people but you know sometimes they'll just sit like this when we're at dinner and they'll have about two hundred thousand dollars worth of jewels and they have their fabulous yachts and you know i don't envy them one one one little bit not one bit the judge i had a sense to make this expression the other day i never heard anybody emphasize it the same way but you know this man who saw this judge do you know he did he was the man that used to listen to the divine heartbeat used to listen to the heart of eternity beating lay his head on the bosom of the lord jesus and when he saw him in resurrection splendor he fell at his feet as dead well i say reverend in god's name what do you think you're gonna do say hi buddy i'm glad you died for me you've got one serious problem before you take up your eternal habitation friend you've got to stand at the judgment seat and you know what he's like oh he isn't that nice picture of jesus you know with it looks as though he's training to be a film star and i say that reverend clearing i'd like to rescue jesus from stained glass windows and children's cradling books are also pathetic i'm not facetious god forbid but when i see what an artist depicts jesus he looks as though if he didn't die of crucifixion at 33 he'd die of the consumption of 34 anyhow he's always pathetic with a lamb in his hand looks as though he's begging for mercy and please don't shove me around and but it sends it look look look i said to one of the most famous artists in america one day brother why don't you paint jesus as he is because you can't that's why why don't you paint him as isiah sees him traveling in the greatness of his strength and his garments are red with blood from barbara's field he's coming from the battle of armageddon john said when i saw him oh no he isn't that lovely picture of solomon's it made a fortune but where so can we make a guide to how can we make a fortune out of jesus or me or if you got a chance ask the evangelists they're doing it ask some of your big groups evangelization groups they're doing it biggest racket on god's earth tonight is evangelism in my mind i'm sick of it i wouldn't team up with them anyhow most of them won't want me i'd be very humble about it but by the same token we're living in a dreadful day i want to remind you about this christ you're going to see no no he isn't the jesus of your storybook he isn't the picture dore painted of him so haggard looking the australians whenever they showed me they're not beecroft i think he's your artist and he has jesus has blonde hair and bright blue eyes and my he's got a personality do you know what jesus was like when he was 30 years of age he looked like an old worn man of 50 because they said you're not yet 50 years of age are you any of you ever be flattered that somebody said you must be about 50 and you're 30 you wouldn't be too flattered about it but now this man has died he has done what the blood of bulls and beasts could not do and all the sacrifices and all the days of atonement and everything else he's tied it up all in himself and presented his blood and he's died and risen again and you know what he's like he's not only a lovely jesus from his beautiful throne he will welcome me home don't believe it for a minute you'd never know i want to believe what poets and singers say altogether nearly oh you're not going to meet a buddy like that a gentle jesus meet no he's not in fact you're not going to see your savior i got news for you you and i aren't going to see a savior we're going to see a judge you may be the rottenest sinner tonight you could be the biggest prostitute in this town you may be perverted you may be another lsd you may have had 60 trips to hell and back and you may have a criminal i don't care who or what you are tonight i want to tell you that jesus christ tonight is on a throne of mercy and he'll save you if you ask him but he won't be on a throne of mercy that day he'll be on a throne of judgment no mercy mercy has gone forever and john says when i saw him man this takes your breath away doesn't it takes mine away sometimes i weep over it sometimes i laugh sometimes i lay on my back and say hallelujah what a day i'm gonna see him the king of kings and the lord of lords and everything's gonna be under his feet and sometimes i go down on my belly as tozer said len there's only one way for you and to pray and men with vision lay on your belly and look at god face downward that's the way to look at him and when you see him that way oh no jesus hasn't lovely wavy hair he isn't blonde as the australians say he hasn't black hair like gory said he isn't a brunette almost like the american artist said what is he like well i'll tell you the color of his hair let me say this do you remember a person in history called mary antoinette she was the darling of society she had a skin that looked like painted enamel she had a gorgeous hairstyle and she became the mistress didn't she of the king of france she became his darling and when they were taking her through the capital city men took off their coats and and rushed them under the wheels of a chariot and they wanted to keep the dust and said don't touch it don't touch it and they threw their kisses and they tore up roses and threw them at the the woman and they hailed her they hitched the horses from a royal carriage and shoved the horses down the street and they pulled the chariot through singing and chanting and bowing down and making every kind of obeisance and homage that they could and then she fell foul of the king and he put her in the very bastille where madame guillaume later went told her that she would die in the morning at a certain hour when they put her in she was a shapely beautiful woman with a faultless face and a beautiful hairstyle and everybody was breathless they couldn't even believe it they thought she was wax but when they went in the morning to drag her to that merciless thing called the guillotine they found her huddled in a corner she'd heard every stroke of the clock outside and every time she heard the stroke of a clock it was saying death death death and she'd seen some bloody disasters at the guillotine when they went for her in the morning she was not charming dignified upright poised lady she is a crumpled piece of derelict humanity and you know what in the hours she'd been living for death her hair had gone as white as snow in the night typical of what suffering and john says when i saw him his hair was as white as snow why because of the suffering of gethsemane because of the agony of the cross because white is symbol of reverence and age and from everlasting to everlasting he's god he was worshipped with all the affection and wonder and it broke their heart to see him come to earth packing beauty into the womb of a woman how do you do it an insane man kicked him around and when john saw him his hair was as white as snow his feet were like burnished brass his face was like the sun in its strength his eyes were living coals of fire and they're going to search you at that judgment bar on your own with nobody to support you my dear friend and read you through and through from a to z from the very first moment you gave your heart to christ to the last moment his hair was as white as snow his feet were like burnished but his face was like the sun in it and his voice majestic like the sound of many waters and john says when i saw him i fell at his feet as dead what do you expect him to do but he says the books were open oh have you ever heard i've heard men say sometimes half drunk or you know when i see god i'm gonna tell him my dear friend when you see christ you're not gonna see god you won't see god if you're saved and sanctified now 50 gifts of the spirit nobody's ever gonna see god in my judgment he lives away in eternity spirit nobody will see it we're gonna see the sun he has committed all things into the hands of the sun he has exalted the sun he's given the world to the sun he's given the glory to the sun the sun did the job the sun gets the glory can you visualize all the unholy dead standing before him uh some of you kids know a bit about dirt and rubbish in the two years i worked with dave wilkerson i got my eyes open i didn't know people in america had sex relations with animals but they do and i can prove it to you i didn't know some of the distortions of disease that these people i i don't i i didn't know that they had all night nude shows and and 20 different ways to act sex and all but they do it and when god brings all the scum of babylon and all the scum of new york and all the scum of london and all the scum of all the do you know who's going to be there they're fearful and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and wholemongers and sorcerers and idolaters and liars they're all going to have their part in that language burneth with fire and brimstone brother that's quite a record isn't it oh that description that you have there in the fifth chapter two of the book of the revelations i'm going to read but he says when he opened the sixth seal there was a great earthquake and this sun became black as sackcloth of hair and the moon became as blood verse 13 the stars of heaven fell onto the earth even as a fig tree cast of her untimely things when she's shaken of a mighty wind and the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together and every mountain and island were moved out of their places listen and the kings of the earth and the great men and the rich men and the chief captains and the mighty men and every bondman and every freeman they hid themselves in dens and rocks of the mountains and they said to the mountains and the rocks fallen us and hide us from the face of him that sitted on the throne and from the land for the great day of his wrath is come can you visual can you get a brief concept of that oh you'll see marilyn monroe there oh you'll see your filthy film stars there oh you'll see the rich of the earth there some were kings of the nations and some were kings of the material empires some of them ruled over standard oil and some of them ran so high on others had their multi-million dollars coca-cola what have you got and not one of them is going to escape and not one of them is going to bribe an angel every man and as soon as the judgment even gets said for jesus is there on his throne high and lifted up and before him are the four and twenty elders and before him are the living creatures and behind him there's a choir of ten thousand times ten thousand which is a hundred million plus a few more thousands thrown in did you ever go into the presence of anybody and it took your breath i was preaching in a certain country and they delivered a letter to me and said the governor of this country requests your presence boy did i shine my shoes and did i shave very carefully and when i got to the palace the guard stood to attention and saluted and i said uh his excellency the governor has requested my company thought people were finding out how valuable i really am and so they requested my company and uh he said just a minute i must check this and he checked phone through and i said yes sir then another servant came i passed another guard then i went in again and here was this very dignified cultured gentleman the governor has had come descending to see you i said that's right i wasn't nervous really but man it's a lot of ostentation and show and when i got in i was all done just the governor and i and i told him a few things i won't tell you what i told it but oh this is transcended by a million million million million degrees of importance and wonder and solemnity this isn't the high court of america this isn't the supreme court of america or the high court of england this is the final court of all the ages that there's no appeal after this and nobody's going to be laid on one side for deferred judgment it's immediate judgment the angels are there god's computers of work and when these men saw this my god there's no way out of this all you can see is millions and millions and billions of people the kings of all the earth the small and the great they're all here what are we going to do and god blows out the sun and just the eternal light of god shines at the blazing eyes of a holy god read through every avenue and column and thought of human desire and human heart and god is reading every personality your husband won't be there to help you don't start crying now and your wife won't be there and the preacher won't be there that helped you to get backslidden that is if you're in this judgment and me thinks a lot of people will be on and on what did they do the stars begin to fall this this is terrible the stars are whizzing through space god's breaking up his universe let's run and find shelter i can't face his holy purity how shall i whose native sphere is dark whose mind is dim before the ineffable appear and on my naked spirit bear the uncreated be i can't do it rocks hills all of us hide us and what did he say he says that he that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh god shall have them in derision well that comes from the second psalm and commenting on it mr uh the greatest preacher of one of the greatest of all time spurgeon says if that's what god does when he laughs what in the world does he do when he's angry can you imagine just one or two of these unholy dead coming let's let's let's oh boy i'd like to take a week over this but i can't come here i'm busy talking i see someone i say hey your brother so-and-so and they just and i say what did gabriel say i didn't hear that oh he said a man called shickle grubber is going to stand there and all the eyes of all the ages upon one man and god can take a thousand years over him because time has ended time is standing still shickle grub i never heard of him oh well he changed his name his other name is hitler ever hear of him when he was massacring people the angels went round at night and picked the tears off the um off the faces of little babies that cried because daddies and mamas had been killed and and store my tears in my bottle the psalmist said and god has every tear that dropped and every heartbeak and and every sob and every groan of those little orphans that for years struggled and hitler's going to give an answer and he liquidated make six million jews and god the roll call of every one of them he's going to answer and he lent in the coastline of germany a thousand miles and push more kings off their thrones maybe than any modern man that ever and god's got it all on record and hitler begins to tremble and he says but i didn't do it by myself remember mr goring won't you goring was here and the angel says keep quiet god's gonna judge goring too there was the other fellow that other fellow with that name began with g2 gorbo dr gorbo's with his phd it's amazing what a devil you can become with a phd because after all there are the germans are one of the most intellectual crowds in the world but they've been one of the fiercest crowds in the world too i'll bring gorbo gorbo's is going to receive his own judgment this is your bag as you kids would say this is your bag and nobody's going to help you to carry it you see hell isn't going to be the same for everybody there are degrees of punishment because god's a holy god some are going to be beaten with few stripes and some are going to be beaten with many stripes oh time hurries let me rush through this listen the books were open what kind of books do you think are there my mother used to tell me when i was a little kid remember god takes it all down in a book and i used to visualize him having a busy job taking everybody in the world but he's got the record all right don't worry don't worry he's got it all down the books were open i say what kind of a book do you think god has what kind of books does god have who do you think's been taking the record well a faithful angel that never made a mistake he he's been taking the record all right and every man is going to receive his own reward in my office i have the encyclopedia britannica and i use it i like it not very long ago science did a job with it you know it did it put all those 30 volumes on a piece of film and they're all wrapped on a little spool like a spool of cotton you use on your sewing machine they're having trouble in canada a few years ago in canada a man made an incision in the human brain well i've seen part of this done when they they they cut this scalp here and they slide it back and they make a hole in the head and he found a main road in the head with five terminals on we'll forget the other four he said that little dot at the end about as big as a pinhead you know it is it's all your conscious memory since you're a little boy and away there in canada dr wilbur penfold the director of the montreal neurological institute performed this operation it was reported in i think 1967 in reader's digest he froze a man's mind he kept the other part alert and he said to the scientist that little terminal there has every record that that man has you see what your eyes do every day they're two little tv things and they record 250 000 a quarter of a million impressions every day and you have a soundtrack at the side that records it all now now this fellow didn't believe it in the fact he says well we'll wait a minute wait a minute and when he denies the ties one side of the brain he said watch i'll put pressure on this little spot and i'll ask the man a question first what did you do when you were seven years of age he said i don't know what i did when i was seven i couldn't remember that he said try he said i can't he said try again he said i can't and he he said to the doctors and he put pressure on he said what did you do when you were seven oh he said i just come back yeah i remember when i was seven i did this i did that i did the other i did the other i did the other and they let go and he said my mind's gone blank what did you do when you were 20 i can't remember a thing what I did. He put pressure and said what did you when you oh it suddenly come back to me I did and do you know what he did that man unfolded he was reliving because it says here that that you can put a point on the what they call the temporal cortex of the brain put certain pressure there and a man will relive the emotion and actually live everything he's done. Now why was I fiddling in my purse I guess you thought you're all gonna get a dollar or something. Look I've got a Bible here with 750,000 words in it. I've got a little bit of celluloid here you see it's like one of those things you make for your photograph you know when you make a 35 millimeter camera it's the same size and you know what it's got on it's got every word of that Bible on it that's what it's got. It's reduced one 65 thousandth of the Bible. It cost a dollar and a half. You can buy a little thing and you slot it in and you can read every word I look I looked at one but I wouldn't buy the machine because it was nine dollars and I am too Scots to buy it spend so much but here it is and I've got the authentic thing here it was made by the World Publishing Company. It's a PCMI plus technique developed by developed by the National Cash Register. It has 1,245 pages on that little bit of film. It's the text of the Bible with 773,746 words and it's easy to clear and clear to read and it's been reduced to an incredibly small space at the reduction of one 62,500 part and you can magnify it a hundred times. You see somebody will try and brush you off and say you don't think God's got a record. Look if a man can put all that Bible on a bit of film which is about one and a quarter inches because there's a margin round that too in case you can't see it that's what it is it's maybe an inch and a quarter and you can put three quarters of a million words on an inch and a quarter of space brother I'm going for God every time. If this is what science does brother I'm going for God again there isn't a thing you've ever done in your life. You haven't even forgotten it. The blood may have erased it but some of you have things you wish to God you could erase and God didn't take it out of your mind to keep you humble and remember the dirty dog he used to be or the rotten prostitute you used to be or the big hypocrite in the church he used to be. That'll help to keep you humble. As I said the other night some people say you need sin, a little sin to keep you humble. Why not have a lot and be real humble. You don't need sin to keep you humble. All I have to do is realize how little I've done for God and boy I feel like crawling home every night on my hands and knees. I don't know how you feel. The books are going to be open the book of memory. You can't destroy a thing. You can't destroy this desk. Burn it. What will you do? Reduce its cubic capacity. Instead of being 33 inches high or something you reduce it to about four inches of ashes and gases but you haven't destroyed it you've changed it. You're indestructible. A thousand million years from tonight you'll be living in an endless eternity or in heaven. As I said the other morning remember this there's no such stupid thing as praying to saints. One man in the Bible tried it remember. You see if Kay Purnia doesn't write an article on this after this now. Oh what's it about? It's about a man who landed in the lost eternity didn't he? And he prayed from the wrong place to the wrong person. Father Abraham. Abraham had no power. He prayed from the wrong place at the wrong time about the wrong thing and he got the wrong answer as far as he was concerned. You can't pray through saints. There's no valid ground in the Word of God for it. And what did the angel say to him? Forget it. The angel said son remember. Remember. Remember. When you get a heaven you'll remember every sermon you ever heard, every altar call you ever heard. You'll feel that tract in your hand that you once folded up and threw down on the street. You'll remember God is going to have torment to torment. You'll remember memory is eternal. I told you science can reproduce it in your mind even now when you're when you when you're getting older. But God has said eternity in the heart of man and and son remember in my lifetime. Al Capone is going to remember every man he liquidated. The government never got him did they? No they knew he killed 12 people but they never brought a charge. They were scared stiff. What did they get him for? Income tax. Far more important than killing 12 people anyhow. Can you imagine Al Capone standing there with those holy eyes of fire looking down on him and billions of people. Can you remember and think of Julius Caesar standing there? Hmm? Boy I rejoice when they put the Pope's there I'll tell you that. I said one day I hope one of my jobs in heaven is to push every Pope into hell and the lady said you're not kind. I said I can't be kinder than God and he's going to do that. That's the most wicked system on earth. They've killed more people than all the wars we've ever had. The most clever political intrigue. The Jesuits have been masterminded almost every war that there's been. All the drunkards are going to be there. Those boys are going to come down from Milwaukee and stand there at the judgment seat and answer. And there once was a man by the name of Kennedy. Did you ever hear of him? He made his million sending people to hellfire and look what he got for it. That every heart that that man broke and every life he blasted is all paid to his account in that day. And as Billy Sunday used to say remember friend payday Sunday. And when those men come to judgment they're going to scream there send him to the lowest hell. He killed my husband when he was driving. He killed my family. My girl started with a drink in the nail house and ended up a prostitute. God he's going to bring every work into judgment. Not a king of the earth. Not a president of the United States. Not a tribal king. None of the kings of the Hittites, Perizzites. Not, not, not, not one of them. Not one of them he's going to escape. I'd like to stay just a couple of minutes here because I want to say something about the other section. But have you ever dreamed what will happen when say Pastor Russell who founded the Jehovah Witnesses. First they were called what? The Rust Lights. And then they were called the Millennial Dornish. You know every time a thief is caught he changes his name. And that's what those rascals did. And now the Jehovah's Witnesses and they've got a kingdom. They have. Do you know where it is? It's hell. Can you imagine Pastor Russell standing there? Look preacher if you're going to hell go to hell but don't take your congregation. Can you imagine Pastor Russell standing there in the doom? Gabriel with a trumpet voice says to hell forever and ever Pastor Russell. And all the millions he's led astray and say that's right send him down. Can you imagine Joseph Smith and Brigham Young who've led all the millions of Mormons to destruction standing there at the judgment? How do you think they're gonna feel? Don't you think they'll look like scared rabbits and say my god I wish the hills would fall on us. Looks as though it's gonna take place on earth doesn't it with mountains round. All the rocks and hills fall on us. Hide us from the wrath of the Lamb. There's nothing more lovely than lambs and sheep. Ask the folk from Australia I wonder if there's 50 million sheep there and lambs. Had a big drought this year lost a lot of them I guess. Nothing more beautiful than a little lamb. We used to have some remember when the boys had some Martha those little lambs how they loved to play. Oh beautiful but you know there's nothing got a temper and nothing can get more angry than a lamb. Yes sir he was the meek and lowly Jesus. One man with a bit of plush on him and a little crown said one day why don't you do as I tell you Jesus I'll take your life from you. Jesus looked at him so sorrowful and he said you can take my life. Nobody's taking my life from me. I'm gonna lay it down. And he stood before another king and he answered him not a word and he said what you don't answer a king. Oh brother. When you see these characters standing there and this is this is the what they do actually call it the grander size. There's no court of appeal after this. The sentence is forever and ever. Depart to the right to the left but never the train shall meet. Do not I believe one of the agonies of hell will be that everybody in hell will be able to look right into heaven. If I pull these curtains back now they just pitch black out there and I say you look into the darkness you couldn't see a thing but if I was standing in the darkness I could see everybody. I'd say oh there's my wife there's some folk from Australia there's a brother been coming regularly to the meeting here this brother more and so oh yes yes yes yes when you're in the dark you can see it. Do you know one of the agonies of hell? I say reverently my God some people see Billy Graham's face a million times when they're in hell or Oral Roberts or some of you evangelists. There are a million roads into hell there isn't one out. Heaven is eternal joy without sorrow. Hell is eternal misery without any joy. Hell is eternal darkness without any light. Why that rich man he wouldn't drink tea or coffee or anything. He wanted the most delicate wine but when he was in hell he said give me one drop of water. No water in hell. Chew your tongue. Take eternal misery forever and ever. You rejected the most wonderful offer God ever made to man. He offered you the blood of his son to cleanse you from every sin and give you a place in heaven and live and reign forever and ever and you refused it so perish. See God's mercy doesn't last forever. Don't let anybody fool you. There are times when God finishes with men and there are time when God finishes with nations. My spirit shall not always strive with man. And remember the Word of God says it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God and Robert Louis Stevens said I only know one thing worse and that's when you fall out of the hands of the living God. When it's finished with you as an individual you've sinned away your day of grace. You're flooded with your opportunities. You grieve the Holy Ghost until you quench the spirit and brother you could be as dead tonight as this thing and there's only one prayer you can't pray. A man may sin the sin unto death and you shall not pray for him the Word of God says. You can be dead 50 years before you get put in the grave. God never speaks to you again. He doesn't owe you anything does he?
The Judgment Seat of Christ (Alternate 3)
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Leonard Ravenhill (1907 - 1994). British-American evangelist, author, and revivalist born in Leeds, England. Converted at 14 in a Methodist revival, he trained at Cliff College, a Methodist Bible school, and was mentored by Samuel Chadwick. Ordained in the 1930s, he preached across England with the Faith Mission and held tent crusades, influenced by the Welsh Revival’s fervor. In 1950, he moved to the United States, later settling in Texas, where he ministered independently, focusing on prayer and repentance. Ravenhill authored books like Why Revival Tarries (1959) and Sodom Had No Bible, urging the church toward holiness. He spoke at major conferences, including with Youth for Christ, and mentored figures like David Wilkerson and Keith Green. Married to Martha Beaton in 1939, they had three sons, all in ministry. Known for his fiery sermons and late-night prayer meetings, he corresponded with A.W. Tozer and admired Charles Spurgeon. His writings and recordings, widely available online, emphasize spiritual awakening over institutional religion. Ravenhill’s call for revival continues to inspire evangelical movements globally.