Study
Outline
Judgment begins at God’s house
Judgment during the Tribulation
Judgment during the Millennium
Judgments beyond comprehension
Introduction
Our goal is to impart the fear of God in everyone who reads this, inspiring us to put away sin and complacency and live with a fiery vision of the eternal God burning in our souls. We need to feel the urgency of the end times, and seeing multitudes heading for a Christless eternity, we should be doing all we can to bring people to Jesus. God’s judgment is vast and surpasses human comprehension, but grasping the basics will impact our lives and transform our character to be more like Jesus as we walk with carefulness and purpose in the light of eternity.
First of all, the judgment of God is divinely orchestrated and beyond
human comprehension, and should not be confused with being judgmental, which is
human, flawed, and sinful. Usually, when we think about judgment, the idea of
finger-pointing, condemnation, and guilt comes to mind. People who are
self-righteous and judgmental have misrepresented God and how he judges. Having
a “holier than thou” attitude that condemns others without mercy is not the
right spirit. And on the other hand, to excuse sin is like ignoring a cancerous
growth that can lead to death. We need to have the right balance in our
understanding of God’s judgment.
Usually, we don’t associate love with judgment, but there is a strong
correlation between the two. When a society judges a savage murderer as worthy
of the death penalty, you can accuse them of acting in vengeance and wrath, or
you could say they loved their community enough to protect their people from a
dangerous monster. Similarly, God must judge every person, separating the
righteous from the wicked, or there could be no heaven, which is also why he
created a jail for sin called hell. That is why Jesus came, to separate his
people from the wicked, and take his people to safety.
John 9:39
Then Jesus said, "I came into this world for judgment [to separate
those who believe in Me from those who reject Me to declare judgment on those
who choose to be separated from God], so that the sightless would see, and
those who see would become blind," (Amplified Bible).
Throughout the Bible, we see that God is a God of separation,
infinitely Holy, separate from sin, and without equal. Beginning on the first
day of creation, God separated the light from darkness, and on day two, he
separated the firmament (heavens) from the waters (Gen 1:3-8). The first step
we take to give our lives to God is to separate from the darkness and come into
the light.
2 Corinthians 4:6 For God, who commanded the light to shine
out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the
knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ
1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal
priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the
praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
God is the supreme judge, and judgment is part of his character, along
with His holiness, righteousness, justice, wisdom, knowledge, and other
attributes. Seemingly opposite aspects of God's character are a counterbalance
of each other, goodness and severity, love and hate, forgiveness and judgment.
Deuteronomy 32:3-4 … ascribe ye greatness unto our God. He is
the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth
and without iniquity, just and right is he.
Romans 11:22 Therefore consider the goodness and
severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness,
if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off.
God is love, and he is also absolutely holy and just and cannot
tolerate sin. Therefore, judgment is a righteous consequence of his character.
To abide with a holy God, we must be separate from sin, be honest, and discern
the difference between right and wrong.
Philippians
1:9-10 And this I
pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all
judgment; That ye may approve
things that are excellent; that ye be sincere and without offence till the day
of Christ.
Borrowing from a few
different translations (NIV, BBE, WNT) of that verse, we get a better picture
of God’s love and judgment.
And this I pray, that your love may abound,
increasing in clear knowledge, with keen perception for testing
things that differ with a depth of insight in judgment, so that you
may be men of transparent character and may be able to
discern what is best and true.
God is a father, and his holy character requires holiness (separation
from sin) in his children. When we sin, his judgment will follow with a good
spanking for his children. Unlike earthly fathers who discipline out of anger,
God’s corrective discipline is always because he loves us and for our good, leading
us to repentance, restoration, and the formation of our character.
Hebrews 12:5-11 And you have forgotten that word of
encouragement that addresses you as sons: "My son, do not make light of
the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the
Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son."
Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not
disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes
discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover,
we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How
much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! Our fathers
disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines
us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems
pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest
of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
As those verses implied, if we refuse to obey him, we prove that we are
not his children, and if we remain unrepentant, we judge ourselves unworthy of
him, with eternal consequences. But we don’t have to wait for the final
judgment to deal with our sin. We can proactively judge ourselves and ask God
to forgive us immediately after sinning.
Acts 13:46 Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said,
"It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first;
but since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold,
we turn to the Gentiles.
1 Corinthians 11:28-34 A man ought to examine himself before
he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks
without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself.
That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen
asleep (dead). But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment.
When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not
be condemned with the world… So then, my brothers, when you come together
to eat, wait for each other. If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so
that when you meet together it may not result in judgment. And when I come,
I will give further directions.
1 John 1:7-9 But if we walk in the light (confessing
our sins to God), as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one
another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we
claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If
we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and
purify us from all unrighteousness.
Psalms 32:5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did
not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions
to the LORD.” And you forgave the guilt of my sin.
One of the core concepts of the Christian
faith is that God will judge everyone, but he also offers forgiveness, which
should produce reverence, respect, and the fear of God in our lives.
Hebrews 9:27 Just as man is destined to die once, and
after that to face judgment,
Hebrews
6:1-2 Therefore let
us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity,
not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to
death, and of faith in God, instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands,
the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 Now all has been heard; here is the
conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this
is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including
every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.
God is the judge of all in heaven and earth.
God will judge Satan and all the fallen angels, as well as every human being.
Unlike earthly judges who can be corrupt, God is no respecter of persons, and
all his judgments are righteous and justified.
Ps
19:9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever: the
judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.
Hebrews
12:23 To the general
assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and
to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits
of just men made perfect.
God the Father has given all judgment to God the Son, Jesus Christ. Because
he never sinned, he conquered sin, death, and defeated the Devil, Jesus has all
power and authority to judge all things in heaven and earth.
John 5:22-30 Moreover, the Father
judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son … And he has
given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man … By myself I can
do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for
I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.
2
Timothy 4: I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who
will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom:
No one will have any excuses before Jesus. He went through every kind
of situation and temptations but did not sin. He felt hunger and pain, and was
acquainted with sorrow and grief, was betrayed and rejected, he was persecuted
and beaten, mocked and spit on, was unjustly sentenced to death, he took 39
lashes with a barbed whip, and was left to bleed to death hanging on a cross.
Yet, he never sinned. Yes, he is worthy to Judge.
Hebrews 4:14-16 Therefore, since we have a great high priest
who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold
firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable
to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in
every way, just as we are yet was without sin. Let us then approach the
throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to
help us in our time of need.
The Holy Spirit anointed Jesus to have
spiritual discernment and insight, not being guided by outward appearances and
what he saw and heard, but he judged righteously in the Spirit.
Isaiah 11:1-4
And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall
grow out of his roots: And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him,
the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the
spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; … And shall make him of
quick understanding in the fear
of the LORD: and he shall not judge after
the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: But with
righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek
of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with
the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.
We just read that Jesus was quick of
understanding, or an alternate translation would be quick of smell or
discernment. We can understand how to discern things spiritually with the
following example: when you wake up in the morning, you smell a strong aroma of
coffee coming from the kitchen, but how do you know it was coffee? Do you have
to go to the other side of the house, go into the kitchen and look inside the
coffee pot to prove that coffee was making that smell? No, you discerned the
smell of coffee and recognized it immediately without seeing it, even from the
other side of the house. In the same way, Jesus was quick to discern different
spirits, motives, sins, and other factors that were not seen or heard
outwardly.
Matthew
9:2-4 Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic
lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son,
be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you." And at once some of the scribes
said within themselves, "This Man blasphemes!" But Jesus,
knowing their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts?
Luke 16:15 He
said to them, "You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men,
but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in
God's sight.
Luke
6:6-8 … The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were
looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he
would heal on the Sabbath. But Jesus knew what they were thinking and
said to the man with the shriveled hand, "Get up and stand in front of
everyone." So, he got up and stood there.
Jesus is our example, and he taught us about
righteous judgment. The first thing we notice is that Jesus discouraged us from
judging and condemning others. If we are judgmental of others, our criticisms
will be reversed and turned against us as our judge, exposing our hypocrisy.
John
7:24 Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.
John
8:15-16 You judge
by human standards; I pass judgment on no one. But if I do judge, my
decisions are right, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me.
Matthew 7:1-2 "Do not judge, or you too will be
judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will
be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
Luke 6:36-37 Be merciful, just as your Father
is merciful. "Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn,
and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
Roman 2:1-3 You, therefore, have no excuse, you who
pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you
are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. Now
we know that God's judgment against those who do such things is based on truth.
So, when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do
you think you will escape God's judgment?
If we do not want
to be judged by God and want God to show mercy to us, we need to show mercy to
others. If we refuse to show mercy to others, we can forget about receiving
mercy from God for ourselves (Matt 18:22-35).
Jonah
2:7-8 When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the LORD: and my prayer
came in unto thee, into thine holy temple. They that observe lying vanities
forsake their own mercy.
Micah
6:8 He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require
of you? To act justly and to love mercy and
to walk humbly with your God.
James
2:12-13 So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of
liberty. For judgment is without mercy to the one who has
shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
From the beginning with Adam and Eve, people
have tried to hide their sins from God. We can't hide sin from God, and he has
many ways to expose our sins and bring them out into the open. Hiding sin is a
sin, and God will not tolerate it.
John
3:9, 20-21 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men
loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone
who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that
his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into
the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done
through God."
1
Corinthians 14:24-25 But if an unbeliever or someone who does not
understand comes in while everybody is prophesying, he
will be convinced by all that he is a sinner and will be judged by all, and the
secrets of his heart will be laid bare. So, he will fall
down and worship God, exclaiming, "God is really among you!"
Acts
5:3-5 Then Peter said, "Ananias (a church member), how is it that Satan
has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for
yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn't it belong to you
before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal? What
made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but
to God." When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear
seized all who heard what had happened.
Joshua
7:11-21 (God speaking to Joshua) Israel has sinned; they have violated my
covenant, which I commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted
things; they have stolen, they have lied, they have put them with their own
possessions ... Then Joshua said to Achan, "My son, give glory to
the LORD, the God of Israel, and give him the praise. Tell me what you have
done; do not hide it from me… Achan replied, "It
is true! I have sinned against the LORD, the God of Israel. … I coveted
them and took them. They are hidden in the ground
inside my tent, with the silver underneath."
David committed adultery and arranged the murder of the woman’s
husband, and then tried to hide it. David thought he had gotten away with
murder until the prophet Nathan showed up. Nathan asked David to give his
judgment on an upsetting situation. The story greatly angered David, and he
pronounced judgment on the supposed offender of the story without realizing
that he was judging himself with his own words.
2 Samuel 12:1-7 The LORD sent Nathan to David. When he came
to him, he said, "There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the
other poor … "Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man
refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the
traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to
the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him." … David
burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, "As surely as
the LORD lives, the man who did this deserves to die! He must pay for that
lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity." Then
Nathan said to David, "You are the man!
Although David unknowingly pronounced the death penalty against
himself, he was very remorseful, profoundly repented, and even published a song
about his repentance. Seeing David's repentance, God granted him forgiveness.
2 Samuel 12:13 Then David said to Nathan, "I have
sinned against the LORD." Nathan replied, "The LORD has taken away
your sin. You are not going to die.
However, David did not escape judgment altogether and suffered many
severe consequences. The same sins committed by David became his judgments, and
his children repeated his sins against him and each other. David had many
children, but we will focus on three, the oldest son Amnon, and from a
different mother, he had Absalom and his sister Tamar. The judgment played out
as follows; Amnon raped Tamar, then Absalom killed Amnon in revenge. Later
Absalom had a coup against David and slept with David’s concubines, and then
Absalom got killed during the coup.
And you thought you had family problems? The whole mess only shows how
the consequences that follow us are a type of self-inflicted judgment; you will
reap what you have sown, and here Nathan lays out the chain reaction set off by
David's sin.
2 Samuel 12:10-12 Now, therefore, the sword will never depart
from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the
Hittite to be your own.' "This is what the LORD says: 'Out of your own
household I am going to bring calamity upon you. Before your very eyes I
will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you (his son
Absalom), and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight. You did it in
secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.'"
We must be careful about all our words because life and death are in
the power of the tongue, and for every word we speak, we will give account for
in the courtroom of heaven.
Matthew
12:36-37 But I tell
you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless
word they have spoken. For by your words, you will be acquitted, and
by your words you will be condemned."
Proverbs 18:21 Death and life are in the
power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.
James 3:2-6 We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is
never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole
body in check … Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The
tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts
the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set
on fire by hell.
The children of Israel had a bad habit of murmuring and complaining,
which doomed an entire generation. The parents complained that their children
would die in the wilderness before reaching the promised land. But guess what
happened? The complainers died, and the innocent children lived and entered the
promised land.
Numbers
14:28-32 So tell them, 'As surely as I live, declares the LORD, I
will do to you the very things I heard you say: In this desert your bodies will
fall every one of you twenty years old or more who was counted in the census
and who has grumbled against me. Not one of you will enter
the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb
son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. As for your children that
you said would be taken as plunder, I will bring them in to enjoy the land you have rejected.
But your bodies will fall in this desert.
God has called us to be separate and holy, and we should never let
anything ungodly or unwholesome come out of our mouths or give an ear to any
filthy jokes, dirty talk, cursing, gossip, slander, and so forth.
Ephesians 5:3-6 But among you there must not be even a
hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because
these are improper for God's holy people. Nor should there be obscenity,
foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.
For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person such a man is
an idolater has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no
one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God's wrath comes
on those who are disobedient.
1 Timothy 5:13-15 Besides, they (speaking of young widows) get
into the habit of being idle and going about from house to house. And not only
do they become idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying things
they ought not to. So, I counsel younger widows to marry, to have children, to
manage their homes and to give the enemy no opportunity for slander. Some
have in fact already turned away to follow Satan.
We are accountable for what we know of the
word of God, the same word that causes us to be born again, feeds us with spiritual
milk, meat, and bread is the very word that test, judges, and exposes our
thoughts and attitudes.
Hebrews
4:12 For the word of God (Jesus) is living
and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing
soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of
the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything
is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
Psalms
105:17-19 He sent a man before them Joseph who was sold
as a slave. They hurt his feet with fetters, He was laid in irons. Until the
time that his word came to pass, the word of the LORD tested him.
John
12:47-48 "And if anyone hears My words and does
not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to
save the world. "He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has
that which judges him the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last
day.
When judged by the word, it can be by either
the written or the spoken word of God. The written word of God plays an essential
part in our spiritual lives in many ways, and we are required to put into
practice what we know. Our response to the word of God determines how we live
and our judgment.
James
1:21-25 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent
and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can
save you. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive
yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not
do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after
looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But
the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and
continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it he will be
blessed in what he does.
Matthew
7:24-27 "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them
into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came
down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it
did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone
who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a
foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose,
and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."
Acts
13:46 Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: "We
had to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider
yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles.
2 Peter 3:5-7 But they deliberately forget that long
ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water
and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and
destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for
fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
There are times that God will use people to speak to us through the
inspiration of the Spirit of God, and both the speaker and the listener are
accountable to God.
Jeremiah
23:26-32 "The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream;
And he who has My word, let him speak My word faithfully. What is the
chaff to the wheat?" says the LORD… "Therefore behold, I am
against the prophets," says the LORD, "who steal My words
everyone from his neighbor…" "who use their tongues and say, 'He (God)
says…Yet I did not send them or command them...
1 Corinthians 9:16-17 Yet when I preach the gospel, I cannot
boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!
If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward; if not voluntarily, I am simply
discharging the trust committed to me.
1 Timothy 4:13-16 Until I come, devote yourself to the
public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. Do not neglect
your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message … Watch
your life and doctrine closely. persevere in them, because if you do,
you will save both yourself and your hearers.
By the word of the Lord, people can receive warnings to avoid disaster
and receive guidance, or sometimes to deliver a message of judgment in this
life. In the case of Ahab and Jezebel, they murdered a man and stole his
vineyard. God spoke to Elijah to deliver his sentence of judgment against the Elijah
to deliver his sentence of judgment against the ungodly pair and gave specific
details.
1 Kings 21:17-23 Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah
the Tishbite: "Go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who rules in Samaria.
He is now in Naboth's vineyard, where he has gone to take possession of it. Say
to him, 'This is what the LORD says: Have you not murdered a man and
seized his property?' Then say to him, 'This is what the LORD says: In
the place where dogs licked up Naboth's blood, dogs will lick up your blood
yes, yours!' … "And also concerning Jezebel the LORD says: 'Dogs
will devour Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.'
Later Jezebel threatened to kill Elijah, and he ran away in fear and
discouragement. But God spoke to Elijah and gave him a mission that would play
a crucial role in fulfilling the judgment against Ahab. God sent Elijah to
anoint Jehu to be Ahab’s successor and executioner.
1 Kings 19:16 Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over
Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel
Meholah to succeed you as prophet.
Once Jehu was anointed to be king of Israel, he wasted no time bringing
the word of the Lord by Elijah to fulfillment. Jehu furiously drove his chariot
after Ahab and put an arrow through Ahab’s heart, and then he used his horse to
trample Jezebel to pieces.
2 Kings 9:25-26 Jehu said to Bidkar, his chariot officer,
"Pick him up and throw him on the field that belonged to Naboth the Jezreelite.
Remember how you and I were riding together in chariots behind Ahab his
father when the LORD made this prophecy about him:… Yesterday I saw the blood of
Naboth and the blood of his sons, declares the LORD, and I will surely
make you pay for it on this plot of ground, declares the LORD.' Now then,
pick him up and throw him on that plot, in accordance with the word of the
LORD."
2 Kings 9:34-36 Jehu went in and ate and drank. "Take
care of that cursed woman (Jezebel)," he said, "and bury her, for she
was a king's daughter." But when they went out to bury her, they found nothing
except her skull, her feet and her hands. They went back and told Jehu, who
said, "This is the word of the LORD that he spoke through his servant
Elijah the Tishbite: On the plot of ground at Jezreel dogs will devour
Jezebel's flesh.
If we sin in our ignorance of God, it is
still sin. But probably the worst sin is one we willfully commit while knowing
it is wrong, which produces a type of guilt or self-condemnation. Also, if we
are obligated to do something godly, but we don’t do it, we are guilty of
neglect and accountable for it. The greater our knowledge of God, His will, and
his purposes, the more we will be held to a higher standard of judgment.
Hebrews
10:26-31 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we
have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but
only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the
enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the
testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do
you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under
foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that
sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who
said, "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," and again, "The
Lord will judge his people." It is a dreadful thing to fall into
the hands of the living God.
Acts
17:30-31 And the
times of this ignorance God winked
at; but now commands all men everywhere
to repent: Because he has appointed a day, in the which he will
judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained (Jesus);
whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from
the dead.
Luke
12:47-48 And that
servant, which knew his lord's will,
and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things
worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few
stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required:
and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.
1 Samuel
3:13-14 "For I have told him that I will judge his house
forever for the iniquity which he knows, because his sons made themselves
vile, and he did not restrain them. "And therefore, I have sworn to
the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be atoned for by
sacrifice or offering forever."
We are accountable for everything we have
done with our bodies which are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Because God
created us in His image, if we sin against our bodies by disfigurement, immorality,
or perversion, we defile the temple of God and bring disgrace to His image and
His name, in return, we bring shame and guilt upon ourselves at the judgment.
2
Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of
Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the
body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
1
Corinthians 6:18-19 Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does
is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against
his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple
of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are
not your own?
1
Corinthians 6:9-10 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not
inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters,
nor adulterers, nor homosexuals,
nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor
revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.
Galatians
5:19-21 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery,
fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions,
jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy,
murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of
which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that
those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
1
Corinthians 3:16-17 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and
that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple
of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple
you are.
Those in the greatest peril of judgment will
be the religious teachers and leaders because they are responsible for their
influence on other people. Ministers, pastors, and teachers who abused their
position for riches, power, or other wrong motives have a more strict and
severe judgment before God.
James
3:1 Not many of you
should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.
(NIV)
James
3:1 Do not be eager,
my brethren, for many among you to become teachers; for you know that we teachers shall undergo severer judgement.
(WNT)
The worst opposition Jesus faced came from
the religious leaders, as they followed, harassed, spoke against him, and had
him killed. Bad religious leaders have been around as long as the Devil, always
opposing the truth, quenching and resisting the Holy Spirit, but in the end,
they will stand in judgment for their deeds.
Matthew
23:13-15 "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For
you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in
yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. "Woe to you,
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour
widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore, you
will receive greater condemnation.
Matthew
7:21-23 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom
of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. "Many
will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name,
cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' "And then I
will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who
practice lawlessness!'
2
Peter 2:1-3 But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there
will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive
heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them bringing swift
destruction on themselves. Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the
way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit
you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been
hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.
Galatians
1:7-9 which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to
pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven,
preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be
accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again,
if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him
be accursed.
The church should be competent to judge itself because the saints will judge
the world and angels in the future. Everybody in the church is accountable for
their actions, and the unrepentant are subject to church discipline. That would
include preachers, singers, and elders, and they should not have access to any
pulpit, stage, podcast, or ministry until they have been restored to God, right
the wrongs, and maintained a good testimony.
1
Corinthians 6:1-6 If any of you has a dispute with another, dare
he take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the saints? Do you not know
that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to
judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? Do you not know
that we will judge angels? How much more the
things of this life! Therefore, if you have disputes about such matters, appoint
as judges even men of little account in the church! I say this to
shame you. Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise
enough to judge a dispute between believers? But instead, one
brother goes to law against another and this in front of unbelievers!
Matthew 18:15-17 "If your brother sins against you, go
and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you
have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along,
so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three
witnesses.' If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if
he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a
tax collector.
1
Corinthians 5:1-6 It is actually reported that there
is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that does not occur even
among pagans: A man has his father's wife. And you are proud! Shouldn't you
rather have been filled with grief and have put out of your fellowship
the man who did this? Even though I am not physically present, I am with
you in spirit. And I have already passed judgment on the one who did
this, just as if I were present … When you are assembled in the name of our
Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is
present, hand this man over to Satan, so that the
sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the
Lord.
Judgment begins with God's people, and those
who claim to represent God have a higher standard of morality than the ungodly.
There will be severe punishments on groups, denominations, and independent
churches that go into apostasy (backsliding, error). Following a crowd does not
give a free pass from judgment. We judge ourselves by the affiliations we keep.
We are responsible for following the truth and getting out of false or sinful
religious organizations. Birds of a feather flock together.
Revelation
18:2, 4 And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying,
"Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place
of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a (bird) cage
for every unclean and hated bird! … And I heard another voice from heaven saying,
"Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you
receive of her plagues.
1
Peter 4:17-18 For the
time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it
first begins at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of
God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the
sinner appear?
Jude
1:5-6 I desire to
remind you although the whole matter is already familiar to you that the Lord
saved a people out of the land of Egypt, but afterwards destroyed those who had
no faith. And angels those who did
not keep the position originally assigned to them, but deserted their own
proper abode He reserves in everlasting bonds, in darkness, in preparation for
the judgement of the great day.
Ezekiel 9:6 "Utterly slay old and young men,
maidens and little children and women; but do not come near anyone on whom is
the mark; and begin at My sanctuary." So, they began with the elders
who were before the temple.
You may be thinking if someone has never
heard preaching in their life, then how could God judge them? Nobody can use
that excuse because all creation is shouting about the creator. Everything in
creation proves intelligent design and exhibits irrefutable evidence for God. From
the smallest atom to the biggest star, everything has a complex structure of
atoms, and a DNA code, making it impossible for the universe to exist by
accident. The evidence for God in creation is so convincing that to reject it,
you would have to be intellectually dishonest, have a hardened heart, or have a
mind blinded by Satan.
Psalm
19:1-4 … The heavens declare the glory of God; the
skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they
pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There
is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out
into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens he
has pitched a tent for the sun,
Romans
10:14-18 How then shall they call on him in whom
they have not believed? and how
shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound
went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.
2
Corinthians 4:3-4 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those
who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of
unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ,
who is the image of God.
Romans
1:18-20 For God's anger is being revealed from Heaven against all impiety and
against the iniquity of men who through iniquity suppress the truth. God is
angry: because what may be known about Him is plain to their
inmost consciousness; for He Himself has made it plain to them. For, from
the very creation of the world, His invisible perfections namely His eternal
power and divine nature have been rendered intelligible and clearly visible by
His works (creation), so that these men are without excuse.
Even small children are born with the ability
to know right from wrong. Our conscience is a sensitive tool designed to help
us in our relationship with God. But every time we go against our conscience,
we damage it, our conscience can get to the point that it can no longer
function, and we can lose the sense of guilt for doing wrong. Our conscience
records everything like a body camera, including the audio, video, and every
thought and motive as it happens. Everything from our lives will be on display
before the throne of God, and we will give an account for everything. Every thought
will be a witness, and our conscience will either condemn us or justify us.
Romans
2:14-15 For when
Gentiles who have no Law obey by natural instinct the commands of the Law,
they, without having a Law, are a Law to themselves; since they exhibit proof
that a knowledge of the conduct which the Law requires is engraved on their
hearts, while their consciences also bear witness to the Law, and their thoughts,
as if in mutual discussion, accuse them or perhaps maintain their innocence.
1 Timothy 1:19-20 … holding on to faith and a good
conscience. Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith.
Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be
taught not to blaspheme.
1 Samuel 24:5-6 Afterward, David was conscience-stricken
for having cut off a corner of his robe. He said to his men, "The LORD
forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the LORD's anointed, or lift
my hand against him; for he is the anointed of the LORD."
2 Corinthians 4:2 Rather, we have renounced secret and
shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On
the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to
every man's conscience in the sight of God.
1 Timothy 4:1-2 The Spirit clearly says that in later times
some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by
demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences
have been seared as with a hot iron.
Many people think that by keeping the ten
commandments or being good, they can be righteous before God. On the contrary,
the Law condemns everyone and makes us guilty before God. There is only one
person who could fulfill the Law, live a perfect life of obedience, and satisfy
the righteous judgment of God, and that was Jesus Christ. Salvation is the gift
of God by faith in Christ, and he alone can save us from the condemnation of
the Law.
Romans
3:19-20 Now we know
that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the
law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore, by the
deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the
law is the knowledge of sin.
Galatians
3:24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us
unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. (KJV)
Romans
4:13-16 For the promise that he would be the heir of the
world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the
righteousness of faith. For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith
is made void and the promise made of no effect, because the
law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no
transgression. Therefore, it is of faith that it might be according
to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who
are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the
father of us all
They say you can tell who a person is by the company they keep. To take
that thought a step further, the customs, ideologies, and philosophies we
endorse show which camp we are in, God's or the Devil's. Even if a person does
not participate in the evil deeds of others, but they are silent or condone
those actions, they are just as guilty as the wrongdoers by association.
Romans 1:32 Although they know God's righteous decree
that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these
very things but also approve of those who practice them.
1 John 3:8-10 He who does what is sinful is of the devil,
because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of
God appeared was to destroy the devil's work. No one who is born of God will
continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning,
because he has been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God
are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is
right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.
John 8:44 You belong to your father, the devil, and
you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the
beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he
lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
The teachers and Pharisees were always trying to trap Jesus with
questions. But Jesus shredded them with their own words, and he used their
words to show that they condoned the sins of the past, and by their association
with the criminal act, they were as guilty as the original offenders.
Matthew
23:29-35 "Woe to
you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the
prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. And you say, 'If we had
lived in the days of our forefathers, we would not have taken part with
them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' So, you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those
who murdered the prophets. Fill up,
then, the measure of the sin of your forefathers! "You snakes!
You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?
Therefore, I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them
you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue
from town to town. And so upon you will come all the righteous blood
that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood
of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the
altar.
The ultimate sin of association comes from our sinful nature, which we
inherited by Adam's sin and passed to everyone through our DNA at birth, making
everyone a sinner and guilty before God. But our association with the sacrifice
of Christ by faith saves us from the guilt of our sin and makes us righteous
before God.
Romans
5:17-18 For if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one, much
more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will
reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.) Therefore, as through one man's
offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through
one Man's righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in
justification of life.
Jesus made comparisons between different
cities and people groups regarding judgment. God will contrast the testimony of
people from various times, places, and similar circumstances to compare how
they reacted to determine their guilt or innocence.
Matthew
12:27 And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast
them out? therefore they shall be your judges.
Matthew
12:41-42 The men of Nineveh will stand up at the
judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the
preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here. The Queen of the
South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for
she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom, and now one
greater than Solomon is here.
Matthew
11:20-24 Then Jesus began to denounce the cities in which most of his miracles had
been performed, because they did not repent. "Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! If the miracles
that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have
repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes But I tell you, it
will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be
lifted up to the skies? No, you will go down to the depths. If the miracles
that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have
remained to this day. But I tell you that it will be more bearable for
Sodom on the day of judgment than for you."
We can look at the life of David to see how
God uses judgments to deal with a nation. After a life of hardships and
warfare, David finally had peace from all his enemies. Then Satan inspired him
to number the people, which angered God, resulting in judgment.
1
Chronicles 21:1 Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to
take a census of Israel.
God sent a prophet to David and told him to
choose one of three different judgments and let him make his choice. These
options typify how God may judge a nation by sending famines, plagues, enemies,
and all kinds of natural catastrophes like droughts, floods, and earthquakes.
1
Chronicles 21:9-14 The LORD said to Gad, David's seer, "Go and
tell David, 'This is what the LORD says: I am giving you
three options. Choose one of them for me to carry out against
you.'" So, Gad went to David and said to him, "This is what the LORD
says: 'Take your choice: three years of famine, three
months of being swept away before your enemies, with their swords
overtaking you, or three days of the sword of the LORD days
of plague in the land, with the angel of the LORD ravaging every part of
Israel.' Now then, decide how I should answer the one who sent me." David
said to Gad, "I am in deep distress. Let me fall into the hands of the
LORD, for his mercy is very great; but do not let me fall into the hands of
men. So, the LORD sent a plague on Israel, and
seventy thousand men of Israel fell dead.
Another example of national sins, resulting
in natural disasters, happened in the reign of David. Israel had been
experiencing a famine for three years, so David prayed to the Lord, and the Lord
showed him the problem. The children of Israel had a covenant of peace with the
Gibeonites (since Joshua’s time), and King Saul tried to exterminate them in
violation of the covenant. Therefore, Israel was judged by famine
2
Samuel 21:1 During the reign of David, there was a famine for three successive
years; so, David sought the face of the LORD. The LORD said, "It
is on account of Saul and his blood-stained house; it is because he put the
Gibeonites to death."
When David asked the Gibeonites how he could make restitution, they
wanted the execution of seven sons of King Saul. David accepted their request
and sent for seven of Saul's descendants.
2 Samuel 21:6 … let seven of his male descendants be
given to us to be killed and exposed before the LORD at Gibeah of Saul the
Lord's chosen one." So, the king said, "I will give them to
you."
This judgment turns out to be a multiple judgment, dealt with one stroke.
First, there was the judgment of famine. Second, in the following verses, you
will notice that Saul's daughter Merab was the mother of five sons given for
death to make restitution. There is some background to that verse.
Saul had offered his daughter Merab in marriage to David on the
condition that he would fight the Philistines for Saul, hoping the Philistines
would kill David. Later, Saul lied and gave Merab to another man in marriage,
and she had five sons by that other man (1 Sam 18:17-19). But in the end,
Merab's five sons had to be executed as part of the restitution agreement with
the Gibeonites.
2 Samuel 21:8 But the king took Armoni and Mephibosheth,
the two sons of Aiah's daughter Rizpah, whom she had borne to Saul, together
with the five sons of Saul's daughter Merab,
whom she had borne to Adriel son of Barzillai the Meholathite. (NIV)
Here is the third judgment, but it has a little bit of a twist in the story.
Saul wanted to have David killed, so he hatched a plot to have the Philistines
kill David. Saul offered his daughter Michal to David in marriage if David
would pay a wedding dowry of 100 Philistine foreskins, thinking the Philistines
would kill David in battle. David killed 200 Philistines and paid the dowry to
Saul (1 Sam 18:20-28). But again, Saul tried to kill David, and he fled for his
life. Then for a second time, Saul took his daughter away from David, and he
gave Michal to another man (1 Sam 25:44). Then after some years, Saul died,
then David took Michal back from the man she married, and David remarried her
(2 Sam 3:13-14).
Then when David brought the ark of the covenant into Jerusalem, Michal
saw David dancing and spinning with all his might before the Lord, and she
bitterly criticized him. David responded to Michal's nagging by leaving her as
a barren woman for all her days (2 Sam 6:20-23).
Here's the twist in the story, it is apparent that Merab had died
before the Gibeonite incident, and her sister Michal had adopted her five sons.
So, the scorned barren wife Michal finally had a hope of mothering children,
but not for long. The price for reconciliation with the Gibeonites required the
lives of those five boys, and she remained barren and without children all her
days (2 Sam 6:23).
So, Saul's murders of the Gibeonites, his lies, giving Merab and Michal
to others, Michal's criticisms, and her barrenness had all been judged, found
guilty, and punished with one stroke.
2 Samuel 21:8 So the king took Armoni and Mephibosheth,
the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bore to Saul; and the
five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul,
whom she brought up for Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite; (NKJV)
Whenever any country displeases God for any reason, he may send enemies
to fight and conquer them. All the nations of the world will do God’s bidding
and execute his judgments, whether they realize it or not.
2 Kings 24:2-3 The LORD sent Babylonian, Aramean,
Moabite and Ammonite raiders against him. He sent them to destroy Judah, in
accordance with the word of the LORD proclaimed by his servants the prophets. Surely
these things happened to Judah according to the LORD's command, in order to
remove them from his presence because of the sins of Manasseh and all he
had done,
When Moses confronted the Egyptian Pharoah to release the Israelis from
slavery, God sent ten plagues in judgment on the gods the Egyptians worshipped.
God sent plagues against the Nile, snakes, frogs, flies, gnats, hail, locust,
darkness, thunder, and the killing of the firstborn children and cattle.
Exodus 12:12 "On that same night I will pass through
Egypt and strike down every firstborn-- both men and animals-- and I will
bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD.
Now we come to the judgments that happen at the
resurrections, and these two go hand in hand, and you
can't look at one without seeing the other. There are different opinions about the
timelines or how the judgment happens. Let's look at two of the most popular
viewpoints. And note that only God knows the exact details of the future, and
therefore we may speculate on some areas based on assumptions or likely
scenarios.
One view holds that judgment is a one-time event for
everybody that will happen at the end of time, with God separating the
righteous from the wicked and then judging everyone individually. They view the
Judgment Seat of Christ, the Throne of Glory, and the Great White Throne as the
same event, basically holding to a single “judgment day.”The other view is that there will be two main times of judgment, starting
with the rapture of the church, the two witnesses, and the martyrs, which go
before the judgment seat of Christ to determine rewards and eternal inheritance
until the second coming. At the second coming, Christ will sit on the Throne of
His Glory to judge who will enter the kingdom and who will go to hell, which
completes the first resurrection and judgment.
After one thousand
years, when time is no more, every sinner who has ever lived will be brought
from death and hell to stand before the Great White Throne in judgment. Their
judgment determines their punishment, and they will have their part in the
resurrection of condemnation in the lake of fire, which is the final judgment called
the second death.
Revelation
20:5-6 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the
thousand years were finished. This is the first
resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection:
on such the second death hath no power
It is appointed for men to die once, then the
judgment. In a sense, we are pre-judged because we go to either paradise or
hell to wait for our resurrection, and the results of each person's judgment
will determine their eternal rewards or punishment.
John
5:28-29 "Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming
in which all who are in the
graves will hear His voice "and come forth those who have done good, to
the resurrection of life, and those who have
done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.
God is a rewarder of those who seek him, and from the rapture of the church to the second coming, God will determine the rewards for the faithful. Each saint will stand before the judgment seat of Christ, and their works will pass through the fires of testing to determine what was approved by God and what was not.
First, at the rapture, the church will be resurrected,
judged, and rewarded, and then the process repeats for the two witnesses,
tribulation martyrs and the Old Testament saints. These resurrections and
rewards are called the "first resurrection" and are only for
believers. (more details about eternal rewards are in the Resurrection study).
Hebrew 11:6 But without
faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that
He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
1 Corinthians 2:9 But as it
is written: Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart
of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him."
During the tribulation, there will be a fake church that will be the harlot bride of the antichrist. This state-run global religion is a demonic system that controls through sorcery, deception, persecution and is drunk on the blood of the saints.
Revelation 17:3-6 So he
carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting
on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and
ten horns. The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold
and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of
abominations and the filthiness of her fornication. And on her forehead a name
was written: MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE
ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the
saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.
The harlot church gained power through a global coalition with the antichrist (the beast) and ten world leaders (10 horns). These leaders hate the harlot and destroy her, and her judgment is double that of what she dished out, coming with fire, torment, sorrow, plagues, mourning, famine, and death in one day and hour.
Revelation 17:16 "And
the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these will hate the harlot, make
her desolate and naked, eat her flesh and burn her with fire.
Revelation 18:6-10
"Render to her just as she rendered to you, and repay her double
according to her works; in the cup which she has mixed, mix double for her.
"In the measure that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, in
the same measure give her torment and sorrow … "Therefore, her
plagues will come in one day death and mourning and famine. And she will be
utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her. … kings
of the earth, standing at a distance for fear of her torment, saying, 'Alas,
alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour your
judgment has come.'
The antichrist and false prophet will unleash hell on
earth and kill multitudes of saints and sinners. The antichrist will go into
the temple of God in Jerusalem and declares himself a god. Then he will set up
an image of himself and demand that everyone worship his image, take his mark, or
get killed. Those who seek to save their lives by bowing to the image,
accepting the mark, receiving the number of his name 666, will automatically be
judged guilty and sent to hell.
Revelation 13:7, 15-17 It
was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority
was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation … He was granted power to
give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both
speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be
killed. He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free
and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and
that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast,
or the number of his name.
Revelation 14:9-11 Then a
third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, "If anyone
worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on
his hand, "he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God,
which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall
be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and
in the presence of the Lamb. "And the smoke of their torment ascends forever
and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his
image, and whoever receives the mark of his name."
The judgment on those with the "mark of
the beast" begins while they are still alive, plagued with ugly and
painful sores breaking out on their skin (possibly spreading from the mark on
their hands and foreheads?).
Revelation
16:1-2 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple
saying to the seven angels, "Go and pour out the bowls of the wrath of
God on the earth." So the first went and
poured out his bowl upon the earth, and a foul and loathsome sore came upon
the men who had the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image.
When God has finished using the antichrist
and false prophet for his purposes, they are captured, judged, and sent alive
into the Lake of Fire. They are the first inhabitants of the Lake of Fire, and
after one thousand years, others will join them.
Revelation
19:20 Then the beast was captured, and with
him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he
deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his
image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with
brimstone.
The world's armies will surround and attack Jerusalem, and Christ will return in the second coming to judge the nations with fire, a sword, and a great army of resurrected saints and angels behind him. Christ's appearance will bring a rapid end to the worst time of human suffering in the history of the world (Matt 24:21), where a massive portion of the world's population will die. The judgment for all those who fight against Jerusalem is that their eyes will dissolve in the sockets, their tongue and flesh will dissolve, and the blood from this battle will stretch for 200 miles and be about 5 feet deep in places.
Revelation 16:16 And they gathered them together to the place
called in Hebrew, Armageddon.
Jude 1:14-15 Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied
about these men: "See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands
of his holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict All the ungodly
of All the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of
a\All the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him."
Isaiah 66:15-16 For behold, the LORD will come with fire
And with His chariots, like a whirlwind, to render His anger with fury, And
His rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by His sword The LORD will
judge All flesh; And the slain of the LORD shall be many.
Zechariah 14:1-14 Behold, the day of the LORD is coming,
and your spoil will be divided in your midst. For I will gather all the
nations to battle against Jerusalem; … The city shall be taken, the houses
rifled, And the women ravished. Half of the city shall go into captivity, But
the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then the LORD will
go forth and fight against those nations, As He fights in the day of battle. …
Then you shall flee through My mountain valley … and the LORD my God will
come, And all the saints with You. It
shall come to pass in that day That there will be no light; The lights will
diminish. It shall be one day Which is known to the LORD. And the LORD shall
be King over all the earth. In that day it shall be-"The LORD is
one," And His name one ... And this shall be the plague with which the
LORD will strike all the people who fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh shall
dissolve while they stand on their feet, their eyes shall dissolve in their
sockets, and their tongues shall dissolve in their mouths.
Isaiah 63:1-4 Who is this who comes from Edom, with dyed
garments from Bozrah, This One who is glorious in His apparel, Traveling in the
greatness of His strength? -"I who speak in righteousness (Christ), mighty
to save." Why is Your apparel red, And Your garments like one who
treads in the winepress? "I have trodden the winepress alone, and from
the peoples no one was with Me. For I have trodden them in My anger, and
trampled them in My fury; Their blood is sprinkled upon My garments, And I
have stained all My robes. For the day of vengeance is in My heart, And the
year of My redeemed has come.
Revelation 14:10, 18-20 The same shall drink of the wine of the
wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his
indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the
presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb :..
So the angel thrust his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth,
and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the
winepress was trampled outside the city, and blood came out of the winepress,
up to the horses' bridles (5 feet), for one thousand six hundred
furlongs (200 miles).
2 Thessalonians 1:6-9 God is just: He will pay back trouble to
those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as
well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in
blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do
not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be
punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the
Lord and from the majesty of his power
Revelation
6:15-17 And the kings of the earth, the great
men, the rich
men, the commanders, the mighty
men, every slave and every free man, hid
themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains
and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of
Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! "For the great
day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?"
During the tribulation, many judgments will occur,
which will kill multitudes with plagues, famines, martyrdom, war, and by the end
of Armageddon, only a remnant of believers will survive.
Matthew
24:21 "For then there will be great tribulation, such
as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever
shall be. "And unless those days were shortened, NO
Flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened.
Romans
9:28-29 For the Lord will carry out his
sentence on earth with speed and finality." It is just
as Isaiah said previously: "Unless
the Lord Almighty had left us descendants, we would have become like Sodom, we
would have been like Gomorrah (3 survivors)."
(NIV)
When
Christ comes at the second coming, he will gather the nations to the Valley of
Jehoshaphat for judgment, and he will sit on the throne of His glory. First, He
divides the people into two groups, herding the good to one side and the bad to
the other, like a shepherd with the sheep and the goats. Christ will judge each
one individually, and he will purge all evil from the kingdom.
Matthew 25:31-41 "When the Son of Man comes in
His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne
of His glory. "All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He
will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats
Ezekiel
34:1-17, 22, 28-31 "And as for you, My
flock, thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Behold, I judge between one Sheep and
another, between the rams and the male Goats [between the righteous and the
unrighteous] … therefore, I will rescue My flock, and they shall no longer be
prey; and I will judge between one sheep [ungodly] and another [godly] …
They will no longer be prey to the Nations, and the predators of the earth
will not devour them; but they will live safely, and no one will make them
afraid [in the day of the Messiah's reign]. (Amp)
Joel 3:2, 12-14 I will also gather all nations, and bring
them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; And I will enter into judgment with
them there on account of My people, My heritage
Israel, Whom they have scattered among the nations; They have also divided up
My land… "Let the nations be wakened, and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat;
For there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations. Put in the
sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, go down; For the winepress is full,
the vats overflow for their wickedness is great." Multitudes,
multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the
valley of decision.
His
judgments of the nations (sheep & goats) are determined by how they treated
his brethren, especially during the tribulation, that would be the martyrs and
the Jews. Those who gave aid and assistance to “his brethren” will be judged,
approved, and welcomed into the kingdom.
Matthew 25:31-41 "And He will set the sheep on His right
hand, but the goats on the left. "Then the King will say to those on His
right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared
for you from the foundation of the world: 'for I was hungry and you gave Me
food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in;
'I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison
and you came to Me.' …"And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly,
I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren,
you did it to Me.'
On
the other (left) hand, the goats will be the nations that went to war against
the Jews, ignored the persecution of the Jews, and failed to offer them any
help during the tribulation. They will be judged and sent to Hell. Jesus said
that ALL sinners had been taken away in the judgment of Noah's time, relating
how ALL sinners will be taken away in the coming judgment and the vultures will
eat their bodies.
Matthew 25:41-46"Then He will also say to those on the left hand (Goats), 'Depart
from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and
his angels … "Then they also will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did
we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and
did not minister to You? '"Then He will answer them, saying,
'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of
these, you did not do it to Me.
Ezekiel
20:37-38 "I will make you pass under the rod [as the
shepherd does with his sheep when he counts them, and I will count you as
Mine and constrain you] and bring you into the bond of the covenant [to which
you are permanently bound]. 38 And I will separate from you the
rebels and those who transgress against Me; I will bring them out of the
land where they temporarily live, but they will not enter the land of Israel.
Thus, you will know [without any doubt] that I am the LORD. (Lev 27:32)
Luke
17:34-37 I tell you, on that night [when Messiah comes again] there
will be two [sleeping] in one bed; the one (the non-believer) will be Taken
[away in judgment] and the other (the believer) will be left. 35 There
will be two women grinding [at the mill] together; the one (the
non-believer) will be Taken [away in judgment] and the other (the believer)
will be left. 36 ["Two men will be in the field; one will be
Taken and the other will be left."] 37 And they asked Him,
"Where, Lord?" He answered, "Where the corpse is, there the Vultures
will be gathered." (Amp)
Revelation 19:17-18 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun; and
he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of
heaven, "Come and gather together for the supper of the great God, "that
you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men,
the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people,
free and slave, both small and great."
Matthew 24:37-39 "But as the days of Noah were, so
also will the coming of the Son of Man be. "For as in the days before
the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage,
until the day that Noah entered the ark, "and did not know until the
flood came and Took them ALL away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be
(8 survivors out of possibly 2 billion people).
Matthew 13:41-42 "The Son of Man will send out His
angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom ALL things that offend,
and those who practice lawlessness, "and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There
will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Christ will rule (judge) the
nations with a rod of iron during the Millennium, and the church will rule and
reign with him. Jesus promised the overcomers in the church that they also would
rule the nations with a rod of iron.
Psalm
2:6-8 "Yet I have set My King (Speaking
of Christ) On My holy hill of Zion."(Jerusalem) "I will declare the
decree: The LORD has said to Me, 'You are My Son, Today I have begotten
You. Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations for Your inheritance, And
the ends of the earth for Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of
iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel.'"
Revelation
2:26-27 "And he who overcomes (speaking
to the church), and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power
over the nations 'He shall rule them with a rod of iron; They shall be dashed
to pieces like the potter's vessels' as I also have received from My Father
Revelation
20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat on them,
and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been
beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not
worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their
foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a
thousand years.
1
Corinthians 6:2-3 Do you not know that the
saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are
you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Do you not know that we shall
judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life?
In the resurrection, we will be like the angels of God, and we
will function and serve God in the same ways that angels serve God. During John's
vision in the book of Revelation, twice John fell at the feet of an angel to
worship, only to find out that it wasn't an angel, it was a fellow servant, and
of his brethren the prophets. The word angel means messenger, and we will be
God's messengers with duties and responsibilities in the millennium and
eternity
Matthew 22:30 "For in the resurrection
they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in
heaven.
Revelation 22:3 And there shall be no more curse,
but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall
serve Him.
Revelation 19:10 And I fell at his feet to worship
him. But he said to me, "See that you do not do that! I am your fellow
servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God!
For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."
Hebrews 13:2 Do not forget to entertain
strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels.
Revelation 22:8-9 Now I, John, saw and heard
these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet
of the angel who showed me these things. Then he said to me, "See that you
do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the
prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God."
Jesus
told the apostles that he would be sitting on the throne of glory (judgment of
sheep & goats) while the apostles would sit on 12 thrones judging the 12
tribes of Israel in the millennial kingdom. Christ will delegate rulership
authority to each disciple to rule during the millennium and eternity.
Matthew 19:27-29 Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold,
we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore? And
Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, that ye which have followed me, in
the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye
also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or
mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.
With all that in mind, in the following verses, we see how
those who were faithful receive rewards of rulership over multiple cities,
similar to how the twelve apostles will rule over the twelve tribes. God judges
each person's trustworthiness and faithfulness and delegates rulership
accordingly, which could apply to both the resurrected saints and the kingdom
citizens during the millennium.
Luke 19:12-27 Therefore He said: "A certain nobleman
went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return.
"So, he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten minas, and said
to them, 'Do business till I come.' "But his citizens hated him, and
sent a delegation after him, saying, 'We will not have this man to reign over
us.' … "And so it was that when he returned, having received the
kingdom, he then commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money,
to be called to him, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading.
"Then came the first, saying, 'Master, your mina has earned ten minas.'
"And he said to him, 'Well done, good servant; because you were
faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities.' "And the
second came, saying, 'Master, your mina has earned five minas.' "Likewise,
he said to him, 'You also be over five cities.' "Then another came,
saying, 'Master, here is your mina, which I have kept put away in a
handkerchief. 'For I feared you, because you are an austere man. You collect
what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.' "And he said to
him, 'Out of your own mouth I will judge you, you wicked servant. You
knew that I was an austere man, collecting what I did not deposit and reaping
what I did not sow. 'Why then did you not put my money in the bank, that at my
coming I might have collected it with interest?'…
Take
note in the following verses that the unfaithful servant had his reward
stripped away from him without being physically punished. He lost his crown,
squandered his opportunities, was empty-handed, but he survived the fires of testing.
On the contrary, King Jesus will have the rebels (goats) who rejected his reign
and refused to submit to his authority brought before him and killed
"And
he said to those who stood by, 'Take the mina from him, and give it to him who
has ten minas.' ("But they said to him, 'Master, he has ten minas.') 'For
I say to you, that to everyone who has will be given; and from him who does not
have, even what he has will be taken away from him. 'But bring here those enemies
of mine (the goats), who did not want me to reign over them, and slay them
before me.'"
Matthew 13:11-12 He replied, "The knowledge of the
secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever
has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have,
even what he has will be taken from him.
1 Corinthians 3:11-15 … If anyone's work which he has built on it
endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer
loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
Matthew
had a different take than Luke, adding that the unprofitable servant should be
cast into outer darkness, showing that he was an unbeliever. That should keep
us on our toes and not take salvation for granted. Either way, Christ will judge
between the righteous from the wicked.
Matthew 25:30 … 'And cast the unprofitable
servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'
Christ will establish His government with justice
(Isa 9:6-7), and people will have a lifestyle of peace, health, and abundance,
living in a world that has become like the garden of Eden, and it will be like
heaven on earth. There will be no idolatry, no false religions, and Satan will
be bound. With Christ, the Messiah ruling the nations, there will be a return
to the Jewish laws and priesthood, animal sacrifices, and observance of the
feasts of the Lord. All the nations will be required to attend the festivals in
Jerusalem or face judgments like drought.
Zechariah
14:16-17 And it shall come to pass that everyone
who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year
to year to worship the King, the LORD of
hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. And it shall be that whichever
of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King,
the LORD of hosts, on them there will be no rain.
Isaiah
66:23-24 And it shall come to pass That
from one New Moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, all flesh shall
come to worship before Me," says the LORD
"And they shall go forth and look
upon the corpses of the men Who have transgressed against Me …
From the start of the millennium, the earth and all things
will be restored, like the garden of Eden, which includes the physical health
and longevity of the people. The people will live very long lives, possibly for
a thousand years. Those who sin face strict judgment and even death, and if
they die at the young age of 100, they are considered cursed, unsaved, and an
unbeliever.
Isaiah 65:20 "No more shall an infant from there live
but a few days, nor an old man who has not fulfilled his days; For the child
shall die one hundred years old, But the sinner being one hundred years old
shall be accursed.
Salvation
is always by faith, and children born to the sheep (believers) are unbelievers
unless they come to saving faith in Christ for themselves. These unbelievers
live in a paradise much like the garden of Eden, but they still have Adam's
sinful nature. And after Satan's release from the pit after 1,000 years, he
deceives these unbelievers and incites them to attack Jerusalem. The battle of
Gog and Magog brings armies from the four corners of the earth to attack Jerusalem,
and God intervenes and sends fire down from heaven and destroys them all. Satan
is apprehended at that time and thrown directly into the lake of fire.
Revelation 20:7-10 Now when the thousand years have expired,
Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the
nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather
them together to battle … whose number is as the sand of the sea. They went up
on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved
city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. The
devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone
where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night
forever and ever.
Then Christ
will call all in the graves to come forth to judgment, and the unbelieving
sinners from all ages will stand before the Great White Throne for judgment,
sentencing, and sent to the second death.
John 5:25-29 …"Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour
is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God;
and those who hear will live … Do not marvel at this; for the hour is
coming in which ALL who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth.
Revelation 20:13-15 Then I saw a great white throne
and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And
there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great,
standing before God.
As we
just read after the battle of Gog and Magog, fire comes from God and consumes
them, and the earth and heavens will flee away, meaning the world and the
physical universe will cease to exist. At that juncture, the material universe
is gone, replaced by eternal spiritual habitations, and time is no more.
2 Peter 3:7-13 But the heavens and the earth which are
now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of
judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But beloved, do not forget this one
thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years
as one day. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in
which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will
melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be
burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what
manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and
hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be
dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?
Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new
earth in which righteousness dwells.
Revelation 20:9 And fire came down from God out of heaven
and devoured them.
Matthew 24:35 "Heaven and earth will pass away,
but My words will by no means pass away.
Isaiah 34:4 All the host of heaven shall be
dissolved, And the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll; All their host
shall fall down as the leaf falls from the vine, and as fruit falling from a
fig tree.
The Great White Throne draws a stark contrast from other
scenes of the glorious heavenly throne with vibrant colors, encircled by
rainbows, pavement of gold, layers of brightly colored jewels, the river of
life, and choirs of angels and saints praising God.
There are only two words written to describe the great
white throne, great and white. There is no mention of angelic choirs, no
colors, no precious jewels, no gold pavement, no rainbow, only the black and
white stark reality of eternal judgment before the almighty God. It is where every
sinner who has ever lived will stand before the Almighty God and look into the
eyes of fire and answer for everything they did in their life.
Revelation 20:11-12 Then I saw a great white throne and Him
who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there
was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing
before God …
Jesus Christ will be sitting on the great
white throne judging all of godless humanity, and there will be no excuses
before him. Jesus himself experienced hunger, was mocked, beaten, spit on, and
crucified in a mock trial, but didn't sin and lived a perfect life. Only the
ungodly, self-righteous, hypocrites, and wicked sinners who loved darkness and
rejected Christ will stand at this judgment of condemnation.
Revelation
20:12-15 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. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades
delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according
to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the
second death. And anyone not found
written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.
Daniel
7:9-10 As I looked, thrones were set in place, and the
Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was as white as snow; the
hair of his head was white like wool. His throne was flaming with fire,
and its wheels were all ablaze. A river of fire was flowing, coming out from
before him. Thousands upon thousands attended him; ten thousand times ten thousand
stood before him. The court was seated, and the books were opened.
Revelation
1:13-16 … One like the Son of Man, clothed with
a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. His
head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame
of fire ... His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and
His voice as the sound of many waters; He had in His right hand seven stars, out
of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the
sun shining in its strength.
At the great white throne will be a set of books, everyone will be
judged, according to what's written in the books. From eternity past, before he
created the world, God knew every human who would come into existence, and
although everyone has free will to make their own choices, he had foreknowledge
of which ones would be righteous and which ones would be wicked. And he wrote a
book with the names of all those who would be saved, called the Lamb's book of
life.
The book of life validates the salvation of those whose names are in
the book. If a person's name is not in the book, they go to the lake of fire.
At the great white throne, the book of life is open and testifying against
those whose names are not in it. There is another set of books, and a book that
holds all the information about everybody who has ever lived, or will live,
called the book of remembrance. These books testify about each person's
thoughts, motives, actions, and how they affected others.
Revelation 20:12, 15 And I saw the dead, great and small,
standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened,
which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they
had done as recorded in the books. … This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of
Life was cast into the lake of fire.
Revelation 13:8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him,
whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world.
Revelation 17:8 …And those who dwell on the earth will
marvel, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation
of the world.
Malachi 3:16 Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one
another, And the LORD listened and heard them; so, a book of remembrance was
written before Him For those who fear the LORD And who meditate on His
name.
Revelation 21:26-27 And they shall bring the glory and the honor
of the nations into it. But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles,
or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the
Lamb's Book of Life.
Psalms 139:14-16 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully
made; Marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well. My frame was
not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in
the lowest parts of the earth Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your Book they all were written, The days
fashioned for me when as yet there were none of them.
Daniel 7:10 A fiery stream issued and came forth from
before Him. A thousand thousands ministered to Him;
Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The court was seated, and
the books were opened.
Daniel 12:1 "At that time Michael shall stand up,
the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; And there shall
be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that
time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone who is found
written in the book.
The following verses say that God may blot
out names from the Book of Life. To blot out means to smear out,
obliterate, erase, wipe away. So, this brings up the argument of whether it is possible
to lose salvation because only people named in the book of life will inherit eternal
life. If a name gets blotted out, they will go to the lake of fire. The Lord,
Moses, David, and Jesus all mentioned the threat of having names blotted out of
the book of life.
Exodus 32:31-33 Then Moses returned (after the golden calf)
to the LORD and said, "Oh, these people have committed a great sin, and
have made for themselves a god of gold! "Yet now, if You will forgive
their sin but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written."
And the LORD said to Moses, "Whoever has sinned against Me, I will
blot him out of My book.
Psalms 69:27-28 Add iniquity to their iniquity and let them
not come into Your righteousness. Let them be blotted out of the book of the
living, and not be written with the righteous.
Revelation 3:5 "He who overcomes shall be clothed in
white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life;
but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.
But
the books are not opened until the very end, not until the last person has died,
exposing the full effect of each person's life on others. It's like the ripples
made when you drop a rock in a pond; likewise, the influence of our life will
make ripples long after we are gone. The only question is; how wide (how many
people), and how far (into the future) do the ripples go?
We will use Karl Marx as an example (assuming he never repented). His philosophy
of communism is responsible for unspeakable torture, suffering, starvation, and
death for untold hundreds of millions of lives. Satan has used the communist
philosophy as a weapon to destroy belief in the existence of God and to rob,
kill and destroy everything in its path. His philosophy continues to have a
powerful grip over much of the planet. Nothing from Karl Marx's life and legacy
will escape judgment, including each minuscule aspect of every life touched by
his philosophy. After the last person on earth has died, the accumulated effect
of his evil influence can be totaled and calculated, and his punishment will be
according to the impact of his works.
With the books opened and every second of every life exposed, nothing
missed, nothing glossed over, the trials begin. The body camera starts the
playback of everything seen, heard, known, thoughts, motives, every printed or
spoken word, of everyone impacted by Karl Marx and communism.
Hebrews 4:12-15 For the word of God (Christ) is
living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the
division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of
the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from
HIS sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of
HIM to whom we must give account
Everyone who promotes the communist philosophy of Marx will share in
his guilt by association. We could also include an endless list of those who
condone or benefit from; abortion, LGBTQ agenda, political tyranny, slavery,
genocide, etc. Anyone who acts as a propagandist (fake news), makes dirty
money, condones, or cooperates with ungodly agendas will be held responsible
(especially regarding the rising global antichrist system).
Jesus used guilt by association to condemn the Pharisees (Matt
23:30-35), and later Stephen did the same (Acts 7:51-52). While Dietrich
Bonhoeffer was resisting the evils of Hitler and the Nazi movement, he said:
"Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us
guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.” God calls us to
restrain, hold back and fight against evil, but to condone, tolerate or enable
sin will bring judgment on ourselves.
2 Thessalonians 2:7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at
work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.
The discernment needed to sort through the web of intertwined lives
over the generations, and every motive, every thought, every action, of
everyone who has ever lived is far beyond all human comprehension. Only God
Almighty can be the judge.
Romans 11:33 Oh, the depth of the riches both of the
wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways
past finding out!
The resurrection of condemnation is the time of reckoning, the
punishment for every injustice and every evil deed, with no second chances, no
forgiveness, no mercy, and no hope of escape. This eternal prison is for those
who have rejected God's mercy and forgiveness; both the surrounding environment
and their bodies are filled with unrelenting torment forever, in the place
called the second death and the lake of fire.
Revelation 20:14-15 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.
John 3:19 "And this is the condemnation, that
the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light,
because their deeds were evil.
John 5:29 "and come forth--those who have done good,
to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the
resurrection of condemnation.
In the second death, unbelievers will have bodies that burn but are not
be consumed, unending pain, unquenchable thirst, unrelenting mental anguish, and
no hope of ever being released. The worst punishment is for hypocrites and
backsliders, whose eternal punishment is according to what they knew, their
rejection or perversion of the truth, and the level of their betrayal to Christ.
Hebrews 10:29 How much more severely do you
think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood
of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?
Matthew 24:50-51 … his portion with the hypocrites. There
shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Luke 12:47-48 "And that servant who knew his
master's will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall
be beaten with many stripes. "But he who did not know, yet committed
things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom
much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been
committed, of him they will ask the more.
Let's look at what's in store for the ungodly that were greedy; lying,
stealing, cheating, and abusers for money. The same treasures that they hoarded
will torment them, and their gold and silver will eat their flesh like fire for
eternity.
James 5:1-3 Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because
of the misery that is coming upon you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have
eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will
testify against you and eat your flesh like fire.
Matthew 6:24 "No one can serve two masters. Either
he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and
despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.
Consider Judas Iscariot that betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver.
The memory of his betrayal and greed will haunt him like a burning fire forever.
Judas brought a terrible curse upon himself that entered his body and bones, and
his shame will cover him like a garment forever.
Psalm 109:17-18 As he (Judas) loved cursing, so let
it come to him; As he did not delight in blessing, so let it be far from him.
As he clothed himself with cursing as with his garment, so let it enter his
body like water, And like oil into his bones. Let it be to him like the
garment which covers him, and for a belt with which he girds himself
continually.
In a final word for those who associate with the prosperity gospel of
greed, remember that love of money is the root of all evil (1 Tim 6:10) and is
like leprosy. Look at Gehazi, Elisha's assistant, who should have been Elisha's
replacement. But after Naaman's healing from leprosy, he ran after Naaman to
get money. When Gehazi returned from taking the money from Naaman, Elisha
pronounced a curse on him, and his descendants (greedy people) prophesied that
Naaman's leprosy would cling to them forever. He lost his ministry, his health,
and his soul for money. We should not run after money or things of this world,
but we should run to win Christ! (1 Cor 9:24; Phill 3:14)
2
Kings 5:26-27 Then he said to him, "Did not my heart go with
you when the man turned back from his chariot to meet you? Is it time to
receive money and to receive clothing, olive groves and vineyards, sheep and
oxen, male and female servants? "Therefore, the leprosy of Naaman shall
cling to you and your descendants forever." And he went out from his
presence leprous, as white as snow.
Those who loved the darkness,
and rejected the light, will be cast into a thick darkness that can be felt and
causes great pain. These fake Christians, and fake ministers, having empty promises
and trendy teachings, are cut off from Christ, and are backslidden, boastful of
sin, and have left their calling are reserved for the blackest darkness
forever. They will sink deeper and deeper into that darkness and farther from
the light forever.
Jude 1:12-13 These men are blemishes at your love feasts (fake
Christians), eating with you without the slightest qualm, shepherds who feed
only themselves (fake ministers). They are clouds without rain (empty
promises), blown along by the wind (follow trendy teachings); autumn
trees, without fruit (cut off from the vine - Christ), and uprooted (Tares
uprooted from wheat) twice dead (backslidden). They are wild waves
of the sea, foaming up their shame (boastful of their sin); wandering
stars (left their calling), for whom blackest darkness has been
reserved forever.
John 3:19-20 "And this is the condemnation, that the
light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light,
because their deeds were evil. "For everyone practicing evil hates the
light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.
Revelation 16:10 Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the
throne of the beast, and his kingdom became full of darkness, and they
gnawed their tongues because of the pain. They blasphemed the God of
heaven because of their pains and their sores and did not repent of their
deeds.
Exodus 10:21 And the LORD said unto Moses, stretch out
thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt,
even darkness which may be felt.
In the resurrection of condemnation, Satan and the fallen angels, and
those who were the godless rulers and leaders of this life, will have the worst
punishment and be in the lowest places in hell.
Isaiah 14:9-19 "Hell from beneath is excited about
you, to meet you at your coming; It stirs up the dead for you, All the
chief ones of the earth; It has raised up from their thrones All the kings of
the nations. They all shall speak and say to you: 'Have you also become as weak
as we? Have you become like us? Your pomp is brought down to Sheol, And the
sound of your stringed instruments; The maggot is spread under you, and worms
cover you.'…"How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of
the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! Yet
you shall be brought down to Sheol (Hell), To the lowest depths of the Pit.…
Like the garment of those who are slain, thrust through with a sword, who go
down to the stones of the pit, like a corpse trodden underfoot.
We barely scratched the surface looking at
God’s judgment, but the reality is that the subject has no end and goes past
our ability to fathom. Maybe it’s God’s mercy to limit our understanding, so we
are only held accountable for what little we do know.
Romans
11:33-36 O the depth
of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! (KJV)
Romans
11:33-36 Oh, how
inexhaustible are God's resources and God's wisdom and God's knowledge! How impossible it is to search into His
decrees or trace His footsteps! "Who has ever known the mind of the Lord,
or shared His counsels?"
Seeing how sinful and undeserving we are,
makes us realize how much we need Christ to save us and have a greater appreciation
of God's mercy, forgiveness, and love. That may be the most outstanding mystery
of all, how an infinity holy God could love his enemies, who are so unworthy
and sinful. This contrast only serves to magnify and glorify God, his amazing
divine character, and the monumental sacrifice he paid to save us.
Romans 5:8-10 But God demonstrates His own love toward Ephesians
2:4-8 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which
He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive
together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together,
and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the
ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness
toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been
saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
Colossians 1:21-22 And you, who once were alienated and
enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the
body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and
above reproach in His sight.
us, in that while we were still sinners,
Christ died for us. Much
more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved
from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled
to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we
shall be saved by His life.
The
redeemed should be eternally grateful for the sacrifice of the cross, God’s
great love, forgiveness, and mercy, and give honor, glory, and praise to Him
forever! But we should also be watchmen to warn others, and do whatever we can
to bring souls out of the darkness and into the marvelous light of the gospel.
This book is part of a series
of studies that all Christians should know and teach. We call it the "toolbox
series" because these studies are tools to equip you to share your faith
with others. For free resources and study materials, visit our website at Ears2Hear.online.