By: Juliet Constantine

“And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.” (Revelation 20:12 NKJV)
 

I have read that there will be a Roll Call in Heaven. In fact, it has already commenced. This Roll Call is contrary to the popular song which says: “I’ll be somewhere listening for my name”. This isn’t so correct because, at that time, your personal response will not be required. Why? You will not be there in person. When your name is called in Heaven, your Advocate - if you have one - will respond for you.

In sanctified imagination, I am viewing a court-like setting, but it’s a bit different in that the Advocate Attorney and the Judge is one and the same person. It would seem that the Advocate’s job is to defend those whose names He chooses to place in Heaven’s Register. When those names came up for mention in the Roll Call, the Advocate Attorney would plead His blood as their defense. He could only do so when the person’s recorded entries in Heaven’s Journal had the word ‘pardon’ written across them. So irrespective of what the prosecution panel brought to the fore, the Advocate Attorney would raise His hands and declared that the ransom has been paid on behalf of the defendant. The cancelled charges meant the vindicated was now free to leave.

Back to the Roll Call in Heaven, it’s going on for what seems like a mighty long time. Either the Register must be a very long one and/or the work of the defense is being impeded. Whatever, is happening, one thing is certain – this Roll Call (which began over 169 years ago), examining the recorded entries, will culminate at the same time for both dead and living people.

Bible Scholars called this period of examination “the Investigative Judgment”. It began in 1844 when our High Priest began cleansing the Heavenly Sanctuary. You may recall that on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement for the Jewish nation, everyone was required to be clean from their sins; if not, they would’ve been cut off. It’s as if individual names were being called, and those with sin were cut off from the congregation. Well, that’s similar to what’s happening now – though largely ignored by thousands.

Jesus, our High Priest, is making representation on our behalf. We can only win when we follow His instructions and confess and forsake all sins. This way, in His defense on our behalf, He can plead His blood – the sacrifice He made on our behalf. This process is of the utmost importance.

As He goes through your records and mine, what will they reveal? Have you been naughty or nice? Does it matter? What’s important is that all your sins are confessed to Jesus Christ, not to a representative. We must turn away from practicing them. Since the process has begun with the dead, we can be certain that He is now examining the recorded entries for the living. You and I do not know when He will call our names – if it hasn’t already been done. Therefore, it means that we have no more time to be naughty, to practice sin. We are now living in our Yom Kippur – our Day of Atonement. Now is the time for us to put away our sins and be clean, or else we will be cut-off.

When the Roll is called in Heaven, will Jesus answer for you?

Dear Father, thank for allowing Jesus to be our Advocate Attorney and our Judge. Please reveal those sins and sinful tendencies in our lives that we need to confess and turn away from. Grant us the strength to remain faithful, we pray, in Jesus’ name, amen.

Copyrighted by Juliet Constantine 2014 (for “Alone With God – Finding Jesus In The Scriptures” Daily Devotional)