Chapter Eleven: The Other Side of Judgment

As we walked along, a noise of furious anger and rage filled the hallway.Nick trembled a bit, and looked up at me.

"Are we about to be attacked?" he asked.

"No, not here, anyway" I replied. "Over on one of the other threads, someone who wants his jesus to be bigger than someone else's jesus, is playing 'thumper' again."

"Does that happen often?" asked Nick.

"Depends" I said. "If someone egocentric and insecure gets started on a doctrinal kick, they can get pretty rowdy.

"Especially on a Monday."

"Ah, I see." answered Nick, and we moved on.

As we walked along, a thought occurred to me.

"Hey Nick" I said, and the duck craned his head over curiously. "You ever read the Bible?"

The duck shrugged.

"Bits of it, here and there. Why?" he asked.

"You ever read about Moses and the Burning Bush?"

"Yeah, I think so." answered Nick. "Why, you see one coming up ahead?"

"No" I replied. "It just hit me, though. You suppose God was trying to get through to Moses, and we humans being so stubborn, it took a flaming shrubbery to get his attention?"

Nick chuckled."Like, 'Can you hear me now', in 2000 B.C." laughed Nick.

Off in the distance, something like thunder rolled.

"I thought 'e 'ad a sense of humor" muttered Nick.

"I don't think that was God" I answered.

"Great", replied Nick. "Then we're in the bowels of hell, and it's getting diarrhea!"

I tried vainly to keep that mental image away.

"By the way, mate" chirped Nick, "any plans for lunch?"

He laughed at the look I gave him.

At the same moment, a feeling of dark dread crept over us both. I knew Nick felt it too, because he suddenly spoke up

Ummmmm, mate, I think maybe I should have warned you, that I have a few enemies down here."

"Uh-huh" I answered, "Like someone who creates an aura of doom, maybe?"

"uhhhhhh, yeah, something like that." said Nick, and suddenly my backpack became much heavier. I stopped and reached in to see what that was, and discovered a large sword, scabbard and shield. I had mixed feelings about that; it's nice to have necessary items dropped in, but if I needed weapons, I was in trouble. And besides, I though Arf was supposed to get all the fighting.

Something heavy fell in the distance, like a giant approaching. I heard metal-shod feet slam into the rock, and as I turned to Nick to ask if he knew who it might be, something dark and terrible broke through the left wall ahead of us, and stepped into our way.The creature was four times my height, and smelled like a latrine long untended. Smoke rose from his red eyes, and he grinned, displaying three rows of sharp yellow teeth, with red meaty strands hanging from them. He also carried a heavy mace, bloody with red pulp. He wore black armor with profane words and phrases written across his torso and chest.

The demon grunted and gestured at Nick with his mace.

"I'm here for the duck" he hissed. Nick cowered behind my legs.

I cocked my head.

"Are you sure you wouldn't want a nice Reuben sandwich?" I suggested.

The demon spat at me, missing by a couple feet. I stared at the hissing rock where it landed.I sighed and hefted my sword and shield, willing myself to match the demon's size.

Where did my dog get to, I wondered, as we collided.

Jesus once said, when speaking to His disciples, 'Where your treasure is, there will you heart be, also'. And when your dog's favorite exercise is a good fight, you should know she won't be far from the fray.

Just as we made contact, and I spoke a Word, there was a hard slam backwards, and I fell to my side, as the demon was likewise slammed down towards the wall, the profane script on his chestplate shimmering and fading from the impact of the holy word.There was a tearing noise behind the demon, and as he rose, he reached back to see what had attacked him. For a moment, I thouhg Nick was showing some uncommon bravery, but in a flash it realized Arf had returned. And she had the penguins with her. Unfortunately, the demon now had allies with him, smaller but just as mean, and a melee seemed imminent. So I spoke another Word, having braced myself this time, and as the force rebounded about the walls, everyone but me held their ears and fell to the floor. I noticed the script on the demon's breastplate had even been altered to, "Won't you be my neighbor?", and in places the steel had changed to cardigan.

The demon was not happy with the change.

"Arrrrrrgh!" he screamed, and Nick chuckled.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh, I'm really liking this change of events" he laughed, and the demon tried vainly to rise. He seemd to be stuck to the cave floor. Arf was grinning, but I didn't know why, yet.

"Hey Arf", I called out. "How's tricks?"

"Funny you should ask that," replied Arf.

"Did you know they make Holy Bubble GumTM?"

"For real?"

"Yup" affirmed my pooch, "And you can do tricks with it, too."

"Ah." I said, nodding. "Like sticking demons' butts to the floors of caves?"

"Among other things" agreed Arf.

Everyone had settled down, more of less, and I noticed my Sword and Shield had become a Bible and Concordance. I got the idea.

"OK, everyone get comfortable" I announced. "Time for Bible Study."

Arf grinned, Nick looked mildly curious, the demon shrieked as if he had been impaled, and a couple of the smaller demons appeared to have soiled themselves. A good audience.

"THIS is not fair!" roared the demon. "I was told there would be a great conflict!"

"Maybe", I said to him, "It's just not the sort of conflict you expected, but it will be great, nonetheless"

"ARRRRGH!!" replied the demon, and Nick rolled his eyes.

"Quite the conversationalist, aren't yew?" he asked the demon.

"Listen Gov, not that I mind a good sermon, but what is the plan here, exactly?"It's not as if Smelly from Helly here" - Nick nodded at the bound demon, whose breastplate had now turned purple, and script flowed across it, reading 'I wuv you, You wuv me...' - "is going to change religions, now is he? Or any of his lot, either", gesturing back at the other demons caught in thrall.

"To each, his own" I answered Nick. There's a reason for everything, so yeah, there's a reason for this, also.

"Let's begin with Ephesians 4:9 . "What does "He ascended" mean, except that He also descended to the depths of the earth". What's your name, demon lord?" I asked the bound monster, whose breastplate had now turned pink, with a cartoon animal on it's center.The demon responded with a sound like a drunk man retching and cursing at the same time.

"OK, then, I'm going to call you Chuck" I said."Are you interested in Salvation?"

'Chuck' stared at me, incredulous. "Do you really think that there is anything but torment in wait for me?" he demanded.

"Why not?" I asked him. "Jesus came to Earth for all men" I reminded him.Chuck glared at me.

"I am not a man" he retorted."John 3:18" I said, "Whoever believes in Him is not condemned"

Nick kicked my shin. "Pardon me, Gov, but that's a reeeeeeeal bad idea, that one. I don't think God would like you offering His pardon to the very ones tormenting humans and animals alike all these years."

"People change", I reminded Nick. "Why not Chuck here?"

Chuck stared at me, but his malice had faded. "You can't be serious" he breathed, "or else you're a blind fool. "Nothing can change for the damned."

I winked."Not until you try, at least" I remarked. "Look, you figure you're looking at eternal torment and punsihment, right?"The infernal crowd nodded, almost as one."All right then, any chance of getting better than that is better than just taking the worst possibe case, isn't it?"Stunned by the notion, the demons stared silently for a few moments, absorbing the notion that there could be Hope for them, too."Ummmmmm, what sort -" one of them croaked - "what sort of judgment do you think we might get, if, we, well, if we switch sides?"

Now that he had voiced the notion, the crowd suddenly realized that the Evil One might not approve of their defection, and they panicked. Unable to stand, they nonethless began to shriek and cower, as if any moment their fell master might arrive.

"Switching teams won't be enough." I warned them. "You would have to repent for every evil thing you ever did, said, or thought, and accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your King, for ever and ever without condition or restriction.

"You would also have to face judgment, for even though he forgives, even in His Mercy there is Justice."

Seeing Despair in their faces, I added, "but there is Hope with Him, where it can be no where else be found."

No one said anything for a long time. Then Chuck quietly nodded, reached to his sides and released his pink-and-purple-pola-dotted breastplate and tutu, and kicked his mace to the wall

"I'm in." he said. "Teach me to pray."

As others made their decisions, nodding in agreement or shaking their dissent, I saw the walls on either side begin to change, one brightening, the other darkening. I knew we'd have a big audience in a couple moments.I said the Lord's Prayer about as fast as I ever had.

Oddly enough, for once everyone seemed to be acting in character. The demons were angry, Nick was trying to hide behind me, and I was far less sure of my position than I put on. For all of that, I found it strange to consider just how easily I accepted the apparent collision between Absolute forces between which I found myself. Thinking back to my last conversation with my Lord, I wondered if I would be sent back into solitary for a longer time to consider my errors. I was not, at least, worried that it might offend God to offer His Grace to anyone who might take it, even the very fallen angels who predated Man’s own existence. I briefly wondered if ‘Chutzpah’ was sufficient for that degree of presumption.

When the walls flashed into openings as I expected, I saw that they were resolved differently from each other. To the right, I saw a glorious shining host, arrayed for battle with bright armor and dressed in white linen. To the left, I saw a dark host, but they could not battle, as they were all of them chained to the ground, already restrained as they had apparently already been defeated. I wondered at the purpose of this pass.

Heralds entered our space from either side. The dark emissary was chained as the others, but with a length which allowed her entry into the room. I knew her as a former politician of great fame, charisma and influence, but no integrity. The bright emissary from the other side was my wife, Mikki, who greeted me with a bright smile as she walked in. The two heralds stood side by side, each facing me as advocates before a judge, but ignoring each other.

“May it please the court” began the Senator, and I actually turned my head and looked behind me, before I realized she meant me, “there is no jurisdiction here. All here from hell, to hell belong.

“Suffice them to their torment.”

Mikki laughed at that.

“Hello again, Daniel” she began, “I’m not going to ask how you got this group together, but I have been told to say to you, that you are the arbiter here. Your decision has consequences, but will be accepted as binding.

“What is your judgment for these here?”

I had not, to be honest, thought the matter through, but I suddenly recalled the remonstration from Paul, that we believers would one day judge angels, and it suddenly seemed, strange and out of place as it was, that I did indeed have that authority. I immediately prayed a quick request for wisdom and direction, then found my voice.

"Ah." I said, nodding. "Like sticking demons' butts to the floors of caves?"

"Among other things" agreed Arf. Everyone had settled down, more of less, and I noticed my Sword and Shield had become a Bible and Concordance. I got the idea.

"OK, everyone get comfortable" I announced. "Time for Bible Study." Arf grinned, Nick looked mildly curious, the demon shrieked as if he had been impaled, and a couple of the smaller demons appeared to have soiled themselves. A good audience.

"THIS is not fair!" roared the demon. "I was told there would be a great conflict!"

"Maybe", I said to him, "It's just not the sort of conflict you expected, but it will be great, nonetheless"

"ARRRRGH!!" replied the demon, and Nick rolled his eyes.

"Quite the conversationalist, aren't yew?" he asked the demon. "Listen Gov, not that I mind a good sermon, but what is the plan here, exactly?"It's not as if Smelly from Helly here" - Nick nodded at the bound demon, whose breastplate had now turned purple, and script flowed across it, reading 'I wuv you, You wuv me...' - "is going to change religions, now is he? Or any of his lot, either.", gesturing back at the other demons caught in thrall.

"To each, his own" I answered Nick. There's a reason for everything, so yeah, there's a reason for this, also. "Let's begin with Ephesians 4:9 . "What does "He ascended" mean, except that He also descended to the depths of the earth". What's your name, demon lord?" I asked the bound monster, whose breastplate had now turned pink, with a cartoon animal on it's center. The demon responded with a sound like a drunk man retching and cursing at the same time.

"OK, then, I'm going to call you Chuck" I said. "Are you interested in Salvation?"

'Chuck' stared at me, incredulous. "Do you really think that there is anything but torment in wait for me?" he demanded.

"Why not?" I asked him. "Jesus came to Earth for all men" I reminded him. Chuck glared at me. "I am not a man" he retorted.

"John 3:18" I said, "Whoever believes in Him is not condemned"

Nick kicked my shin. "Pardon me, Gov, but that's a reeeeeeeal bad idea, that one. I don't think God would like you offering His pardon to the very ones tormenting humans and animals alike all these years."

"People change", I reminded Nick. "Why not Chuck here?" Chuck stared at me, but his malice had faded.

"You can't be serious" he breathed, "or else you're a blind fool.

"Nothing can change for the damned."

I winked. "Not until you try, at least" I remarked.

"Look, you figure you're looking at eternal torment and punsihment, right?" The infernal crowd nodded, almost as one.

"All right then, any chance of getting better than that is better than just taking the worst possibe case, isn't it?" Stunned by the notion, the demons stared silently for a few moments, absorbing the notion that there could be Hope for them, too.

"Ummmmmm, what sort -" one of them croaked - "what sort of judgment do you think we might get, if, we, well, if we switch sides?"

Now that he had voiced the notion, the crowd suddenly realized that the Evil One might not approve of their defection, and they panicked. Unable to stand, they nonethless began to shriek and cower, as if any moment their fell master might arrive.

"Switching teams won't be enough." I warned them. "You would have to repent for every evil thing you ever did, said, or thought, and accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your King, for ever and ever without condition or restriction.

"You would also have to face judgment, for even though he forgives, even in His Mercy there is Justice." Seeing Despair in their faces, I added, "but there is Hope with Him, where it can be no where else be found."

No one said anything for a long time. Then Chuck quietly nodded, reached to his sides and released his pink-and-purple-pola-dotted breastplate and tutu, and kicked his mace to the wall.

"I'm in." he said. "Teach me to pray."

As others made their decisions, nodding in agreement or shaking their dissent, I saw the walls on either side begin to change, one brightening, the other darkening. I knew we'd have a big audience in a couple moments.

I said the Lord's Prayer about as fast as I ever had. Oddly enough, for once everyone seemed to be acting in character. The demons were angry, Nick was trying to hide behind me, and I was far less sure of my position than I put on. For all of that, I found it strange to consider just how easily I accepted the apparent collision between Absolute forces between which I found myself. Thinking back to my last conversation with my Lord, I wondered if I would be sent back into solitary for a longer time to consider my errors. I was not, at least, worried that it might offend God to offer His Grace to anyone who might take it, even the very fallen angels who predated Man’s own existence. I briefly wondered if ‘Chutzpah’ was sufficient for that degree of presumption.

When the walls flashed into openings as I expected, I saw that they were resolved differently from each other. To the right, I saw a glorious shining host, arrayed for battle with bright armor and dressed in white linen. To the left, I saw a dark host, but they could not battle, as they were all of them chained to the ground, already restrained as they had apparently already been defeated. I wondered at the purpose of this pass. Heralds entered our space from either side. The dark emissary was chained as the others, but with a length which allowed her entry into the room. I knew her as a former politician of great fame, charisma and influence, but no integrity. The bright emissary from the other side was my wife, Mikki, who greeted me with a bright smile as she walked in. The two heralds stood side by side, each facing me as advocates before a judge, but ignoring each other.

“May it please the court” began the Senator, and I actually turned my head and looked behind me, before I realized she meant me, “there is no jurisdiction here. All here from hell, to hell belong.

“Suffice them to their torment.”

Mikki laughed at that. “Hello again, Daniel” she began, “I’m not going to ask how you got this group together, but I have been told to say to you, that you are the arbiter here. Your decision has consequences, but will be accepted as binding.

“What is your judgment for these here?”

I had not, to be honest, thought the matter through, but I suddenly recalled the remonstration from Paul, that we believers would one day judge angels, and it suddenly seemed, strange and out of place as it was, that I did indeed have that authority. I immediately prayed a quick request for wisdom and direction, then found my voice.

I stood, finding myself robed as courtroom judges are. “I begin with the demon I refer to, as Chuck” I intoned. Chuck, looking relieved that I had not used the name he had originally used for himself, rose.

“Chuck, you have a long and evil history of actions and intentions. Why should I believe you have changed?”

“Well, because I have” assured Chuck. He had been smiling slightly, but realized he was not at all in the clear.

“I have no doubt you know, better than most, what waits for the damned” I said. Chuck stared back, stone-faced. “But I also have promised you the chance for mercy” I continued, “so the question before me is, what is the best way to determine where your heart lies now?”

“What, had you your freedom, would you do with it?” I asked him.

Chuck started to speak, but then stopped, and stared at the ground for a moment. “In all honesty,” he answered, “it wouldn’t be long before I went back to what I did before.” He said.

“It’s not like I want to do that, but if I’m going to be honest, that’s what would happen. Even if I got another chance, I’d blow it.”

“Well said” I replied, which stunned the audience.

“If you had pretended anything else, Chuck” I explained, “I’d have suspected you were hiding your true intent.

“Anyone who truly wants to change, worries they’ll fail. If you want to receive God’s Grace as He prepared it for Man, you must be able to live as men do. Do you understand what I mean?”

Chuck dropped his jaw, and said nothing at first. Then, faintly, he answered, “I do.”

“And are you willing,” I continued, “to accept that condition in order to receive the other?”

“But I will have nothing, nothing at all to start.” said Chuck.

“Indeed” I agreed. “Like a man whose house has burned down, and he has escaped with nothing but his life.”

A few moments passed, while Chuck absorbed that thought. Then he nodded.

“And there are consequences, for what you did” I warned him. “You must pay back everyone you wronged.”

Chuck gulped, but nodded again.

“Be it so.” I said, and in a shimmer, Chuck was transformed from a powerful demon into a rather small and unimpressive man. But his face radiated joy, as he ran towards the host in white.

“Don’t forget,” I called after him, “this is the Millenium, not the Eternity.

“Fail here, and there is no hope!”

“I know!” he called back, “But for the first time in as long as I remember, I am able to try!”

Sitting back down, I surveyed the rest of the demons.

“OK,” I said, shaking my sleeves out, which caused a distant roll of thunder. In the back of my mind, I heard the Master chuckle.

“Who’s next?”