If you were to die this very moment

[Always in His Presence]

If you were to die this very moment and met Jesus face to face -

What is the first thing He would say to you.

 

[The Liturgist]

If you were to die this very moment and met Jesus face to face -

What is the first thing He would say to you.

I don’t know, but I pray at present “Have mercy on Thy unprofitable servant, Christ my true God and King.”

 

[Always in His Presence]

What is the first thing He would say to you.

Well, according to Scripture, Revelation, where two thirds of mankind refuses to stop serving demons, and don't even give a thought to turning to God/Truth/or Jesus,
the first thing He says to two thirds of mankind is
bye bye

Unless you are part of the two thirds. Can you answer the question please.

 

[Always in His Presence]

I don’t know, but I pray at present “Have mercy on Thy unprofitable servant, Christ my true God and King.”

Why are you not profitable?

 

[The Liturgist]

Why are you not profitable?

When Abba Sisoës lay upon his deathbed, the disciples surrounding the Elder saw that his face shone like the sun. They asked the dying man what he saw. Abba Sisoës replied that he saw St Anthony, the Prophets, and the Apostles. His face increased in brightness, and he spoke with someone. The monks asked, "With whom are you speaking, Father?" He said that angels had come for his soul, and he was entreating them to give him a little more time for repentance. The monks said, "You have no need for repentance, Father" St Sisoës said with great humility, "I do not think that I have even begun to repent."

After these words the face of the holy abba shone so brightly that the brethren were not able to look upon him. St Sisoës told them that he saw the Lord Himself. Then there was a flash like lightning, and a fragrant odor, and Abba Sisoës departed to the Heavenly Kingdom.

 

[The Liturgist]

Well, according to Scripture, Revelation, where two thirds of mankind refuses to stop serving demons, and don't even give a thought to turning to God/Truth/or Jesus,
the first thing He says to two thirds of mankind is
bye bye

Not quite. Our Lord is not flippant. “Depart from me, you workers of iniquity!”

Also we do not know the ratio of saved to unsaved. This is why we pray for the salvation of all in the ancient Divine Liturgy and the other prayers and services of the Early Church which have been chiefly preserved in the East (but the ancient Western liturgies have survived in some places largely intact, and we have ancient manuscripts, and they are very similar to those of the East, all ancient liturgies having much more in common than, for example, the worship of an evangelical megachurch, a Pentecostal megachurch, a chapel of the Plymouth Brethren, or a Reformed Presbyterian church, or a mainstream Protestant church, the last group bearing the most resemblance to the Early Church but with much shorter worship typically.

 

[Joseph G]

If you were to die this very moment and met Jesus face to face -

What is the first thing He would say to you.

For those who are genuinely saved and sealed by His Spirit, there is this expectation when we appear before His throne:

Jude 24-25 KJV

"Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,

To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen."

And then somewhere in the order of events, including having our bad works burned up and treasures remain - and in the sheep being separated from the goats and told why - there is this climatic event:

Matthew 25:34 NIV

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world."

And somewhere in there, what I believe we all long to hear:

Matthew 25:21 NIV

"His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

 

[timothyu]

Shalom

 

[ozso]

"Why do you look so surprised?"

 

[Always in His Presence]

When Abba Sisoës lay upon his deathbed, the disciples surrounding the Elder saw that his face shone like the sun. They asked the dying man what he saw. Abba Sisoës replied that he saw St Anthony, the Prophets, and the Apostles. His face increased in brightness, and he spoke with someone. The monks asked, "With whom are you speaking, Father?" He said that angels had come for his soul, and he was entreating them to give him a little more time for repentance. The monks said, "You have no need for repentance, Father" St Sisoës said with great humility, "I do not think that I have even begun to repent."

After these words the face of the holy abba shone so brightly that the brethren were not able to look upon him. St Sisoës told them that he saw the Lord Himself. Then there was a flash like lightning, and a fragrant odor, and Abba Sisoës departed to the Heavenly Kingdom.

No clue as to whom you are addressing.

I ask YOU. Personally, not anyone else.

 

[mourningdove~]

"Welcome Home"

 

[timothyu]

Did you spread my only gospel, the Gospel of the Kingdom as directed?
Did you follow my two commandments as directed, putting the will of the Father before your own thus loving all as self?
Did you repent of the ways of your world and instead follow the ways of the Kingdom?
Did you follow Me alone, or somebody else who said follow me?

 

[The Liturgist]

No clue as to whom you are addressing.

I ask YOU. Personally, not anyone else.

Forgive me, my intention was to imply that if Abba Sisoes, who lived a life of repentance, asked for more time to repent, then surely I, who am surely a much worse sinner than even the worst of the Desert Fathers, cannot be profitable, but am rather entirely dependent upon the mercy of Christ to save me.

 

[The Liturgist]

Did you spread my only gospel, the Gospel of the Kingdom as directed?
Did you follow my two commandments as directed, putting the will of the Father before your own thus loving all as self?
Did you repent of the ways of your world and instead follow the ways of the Kingdom?
Did you follow Me alone, or somebody else who said follow me?

Did you not previously say that the Gospel of the Kingdom was different from the one taught by St. Paul?

 

[timothyu]

Did you not previously say that the Gospel of the Kingdom was different from the one taught by St. Paul?

Acts 19:8 He went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the Kingdom of God

Acts 28: 23 And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening. 24 And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not.

Acts 28: 30 And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him, 31 Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him.

 

[Always in His Presence]

What is the first thing He would say to you.

Here is the question

Forgive me, my intention was to imply that if Abba Sisoes, who lived a life of repentance, asked for more time to repent, then surely I, who am surely a much worse sinner than even the worst of the Desert Fathers, cannot be profitable, but am rather entirely dependent upon the mercy of Christ to save me.

So what would Jesus say to you - Liturgist - first thing out of His mouth....

 

[The Liturgist]

Acts 19:8 He went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the Kingdom of God

Acts 28: 23 And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening. 24 And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not.

Acts 28: 30 And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him, 31 Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him.

So the Gospel of the Kingdom is the same one St. Paul preaches in Galatians, Romans, etc?

 

[Bob Crowley]

If you were to die this very moment and met Jesus face to face -

What is the first thing He would say to you.

I think the first thing we'll hear at the judgement seat will be our name.

Any attempt to extrapoloate anything after that would be sheer conjecture, although I think we'll have some idea of our fate by the expression on God's face even before there is any "spoken" exchange.

One thing that intrigues me (along with a lot of other things) is that everybody who has just died will have their own personal perception of the judgement seat.

At the moment there are about 8 billion people in the world and on average 107 people die per minute around the world.

If the judgement takes five minutes in our time (just surmising) then 535 people would similtaneously have a vision of the judgement seat as though it was reserved exclusively for them.

God does a lot of multitasking.

The reason I say "Five minutes" is that I've long claimed that the night my father died he appeared in my room. From the expression on his face he was either looking at something behind and above me that filled him with awe. At other times he ws trying to hid his face behind his hands as though he could not stand what he was watching (at those time I think he was seeing less salubrious aspects of his life being played back).

Now we had a full blown conversation. I don't know how long it took but five minutes was probably long enough. He'd just died, we had an exchange, and then judgement was pronounced all in a few minutes. It didn't take long.

As an afterthought something was coming for him from my left which caused him to give a terrifying scream just before he disappeared into eternity. Since I was sitting up in bed at the time and facing him, then I assume the "judge" was also facing the same way as I was.

In anthropromorphic terms, if the business about the sheep on the right and the goats to the left has any literal significance, he went to the left.

Just a speculative afterthought.

I think it's pretty quick. But at the same time several hundred other people were probably having a similar experience as though the judgement was theirs and theirs alone.

Between monitoring our thoughts, words, actions and those actions we should have done as 8 billion people hurtle through the universe at about 300 or so kilometres per second, maintaining the universe, watching over heaven, hell and purgatory, listening to prayers, watching angels and demons, and looking into the past, present and future, God keeps Himself busy.

As Christ said, "My Father is always working...."

 

[Always in His Presence]

I think the first thing we'll hear at the judgement seat will be our name.

Any attempt to extrapoloate anything after that would be sheer conjecture, although I think we'll have some idea of our fate by the expression on God's face even before there is any "spoken" exchange.

One thing that intrigues me (along with a lot of other things) is that everybody who has just died will have their own personal perception of the judgement seat.

At the moment there are about 8 billion people in the world and on average 107 people die per minute around the world.

If the judgement takes five minutes in our time (just surmising) then 535 people would similtaneously have a vision of the judgement seat as though it was reserved exclusively for them.

God does a lot of multitasking.

The reason I say "Five minutes" is that I've long claimed that the night my father died he appeared in my room. From the expression on his face he was either looking at something behind and above me that filled him with awe. At other times he ws trying to hid his face behind his hands as though he could not stand what he was watching (at those time I think he was seeing less salubrious aspects of his life being played back).

Now we had a full blown conversation. I don't know how long it took but five minutes was probably long enough. He'd just died, we had an exchange, and then judgement was pronounced all in a few minutes. It didn't take long.

As an afterthought something was coming for him from my left which caused him to give a terrifying scream just before he disappeared into eternity. Since I was sitting up in bed at the time and facing him, then I assume the "judge" was also facing the same way as I was.

In anthropromorphic terms, if the business about the sheep on the right and the goats to the left has any literal significance, he went to the left.

Just a speculative afterthought.

I think it's pretty quick. But at the same time several hundred other people were probably having a similar experience as though the judgement was theirs and theirs alone.

Between monitoring our thoughts, words, actions and those actions we should have done as 8 billion people hurtle through the universe at about 300 or so kilometres per second, maintaining the universe, watching over heaven, hell and purgatory, listening to prayers, watching angels and demons, and looking into the past, present and future, God keeps Himself busy.

As Christ said, "My Father is always working...."

Doesn't answer the question - When Bob Crowley steps into heaven, what is the first thing Jesus says to him?

 

[Bob Crowley]

Apart from my name that's going to depend on what I think, say, do or don't do between now and then.

That's why we Catholics say the Confiteor at every mass.