People are more accountable for what is INSPECTED than what is EXPECTED.
When you send a child to go do a task, is it wise to ask him to return and show you how he finished it? Or do you think it would be wise to ask this young child to go do the task and tell him that you will never check to see how he has done?
God is a judge. He will call every person, every deed and every word into accountability, and He will grant reward or lack thereof based upon the facts.
“Far be it from You to act in this manner, to kill the righteous with the wicked. And far be it from You, that the righteous should be as the wicked. Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Genesis 18:25).
“Lift up Yourself, Judge of the earth; give a just repayment to the proud” (Psalms 94:2).
“…before the LORD; for He comes, for He comes to judge the earth; He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with His truth (Psalms 96:13).
“But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the first-born who are written in Heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel” (Hebrews 12:22-24).
Here in this verse of Hebrews 12:22-24, God is shown as Judge. However if that is all that He is we have much to fear. The Word shows us that God the Judge is also Jesus the Mediator. He is the only One who can come between a righteous and holy God and lost sinful men. Notice also in this passage of Hebrews that there is a revelation of the blood of Jesus being both the means and the price by which reconciliation has been achieved.
“For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him” (John 3:17).
“The Lord is not slow concerning His promise, as some count slowness, but is long-suffering toward us, not willing that any of us should perish, but that all of us should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
Judgment has been transferred from the Father to the Son.
“For the Father judges no man, but has committed all judgment to the Son, so that all should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him” (John 5:22-23).
The subject of judgment can be very lengthy and we will only attempt to cover what many consider to be the two main judgments here. In respect to these judgments we will only attempt to cover them in outline and not in detail.
Reference is made to “Throne of (Christ’s) glory”. We will not cover this judgment in this book. (Matthew 25:31, Matthew 19:28).
1. Judgment of believers. In the first judgment, the seat upon which the Judge will be seated is the Judgment Seat of Christ. Those to be judged here will be Christ’s own followers and servants. We will cover the future and the present applications of this judgment.
2. Judgment of un-believers. The second judgment seat is called the “Great White Throne”. Believers in Christ will escape this judgment because their names are written in the “Lamb’s Book of Life.”
We recommend the book The Spirit Filled Believers Handbook, Author Derek Prince, chapters 48-52 for a more complete study on the subject of judgment. 1
1A. Judgment of believers. The Judgment Seat of Christ (future).
2 Corinthians 5:10 says, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due to him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” Notice this does not say anything but good or bad, there is no in-between.
This judgment is not for condemnation, but for reward. I believe that if we knew more about this judgment, we would live our lives differently. Have you ever watched an Olympic event and seen the “judgment” at the end? The fastest runner was judged first, and given a Gold Medal; second place was judged Silver, etc.
I don’t think any of us know everything there is to know about Heaven, eternity, and the afterlife. As for me, I don’t want to waste this life and forfeit something that will go on for eternity!
We are told that there will be a test of fire. 1 Corinthians 3:11-15 says, “For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christf any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to lightt will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work what he has built survives, he will receive his rewardf it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.”
It seems like most of the time the rewards are defined as obtaining more authority and becoming closer to Jesus.
1B. The Judgment Seat of Christ (present).
There is also a present day judgment for believers.
I believe that we are all in a continuing process as follows:
a. Jesus sows the seed of the Word of God in our life for a need that He wants to meet.
b. Satan tries to steal the seed, and/or make the growth of it unfruitful. Mark chapter 4.
c. We go through the trying of our faith during a period of time.
d. Jesus comes back to deliver us and bring our “judgment”.
When He comes to bring us what was promised, will He find us faithful and standing in faith? If so, we win; if not, we loose.
Our faith will be tested by fire. 1 Peter 1:7 says, “These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed.
Are you standing for a healing, for a financial situation, a family situation, as an intercessor for someone, for more Godly character, or whatever? Jesus returns for “judgment,” for reward, now, while you are still living on this earth. Psalms 96:13 says, “before the LORD; for He comes, for He comes to judge the earth; He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with His truth.”
Jesus tells His disciples about a judgment that will take place here and now on this earth. Matthew 16:26-28 says, “What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done. I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
I submit that one could take many of the judgment Scriptures having to do with believers in the New Testament, and apply them both to the judgment we will receive when we get to Heaven and to these present day circumstances. If you don’t agree with me, that’s okay. That is just my opinion, and in fact, has been my experience. But I do not wish to step on your theological toes in this matter.
2. Judgment of un-believers.
Beginning of a quote from The Spirit Filled Believers Handbook, Author Derek Prince, pages 513-515. 2
“(Revelation 20:11-15) Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. 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. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
This is the ultimate end of all sin and rebellion against the authority and holiness of almighty God; to be cast forever into the lake of everlasting fire. Only those whose names are written in the Book of Life will escape this final judgment. The names recorded in this book are those who during their life on earth availed themselves, through faith, of God’s mercy and grace. These fall into various categories.
All those who put their faith in Christ’s atoning sacrifice on behalf of mankind will already have been resurrected at the commencement of the millennium. They will have passed through their own appropriate judgment before the judgment seat of Christ, not for condemnation, but to assess their reward.
It seems certain that the majority of those who appear before the great white throne will not have fulfilled the conditions for receiving God’s mercy and will therefore be condemned to the lake of fire. Nevertheless, as was pointed out in chapter 46, there will definitely be at least two categories of people before the great white throne who will escape condemnation and enter into eternal life.
The first category will consist of people such as the queen of the South and the men of Nineveh, who availed themselves of the mercy which God offered to them in one brief but decisive revelation of Himself. Scripture does not indicate how may others there may have been in the course of history who were given a similar opportunity.
The second category will consist of all those who died in faith during the millennium.
Can we anticipate that there will be others to whom God will extend mercy from His great white throne? The answer to this is locked up within the omniscience of God. For us, with our limited knowledge and narrow perspective, it is foolish to speculate.
Let us rather adapt the attitude expressed by Abraham.
(Genesis 18:25) Far be it from you to do such a thing--to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?"
Those who have tasted God’s measureless mercy are assured that He will never withhold His mercy from any who qualify for it.
(Romans 11:33) Let us beware, however, of assuming that we can every fully comprehend all that is included in the outworking of God’s judgments. Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!”
End of the quote from The Spirit Filled Believers Handbook, Author Derek Prince, pages 513-515.
There is one final thing to remember about judgment of unbelievers. The wrath of God was put on Jesus as the final judgment of sin. The choice is really yours to accept or reject God’s free gift of salvation. The only safe place to be is to be sure that you have been born-again. That is when your name is listed in the “Lamb’s Book of Life.”
One final thing to remember about the judgment of believers is that God is seeking ways of rewarding you, not of condemning you. Purpose to live your life on earth in obedience to the Lord’s voice and in total abandonment to Him so that you will receive all the possible rewards for eternity.
The Second Coming
Another aspect of judgment is the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to this earth. We will not give a complete teaching on the subject here, but the Bible is VERY clear. He is coming again. The Lord purposely does not give us very much detail about when He is coming again. Notice in Acts 1:7, Jesus in effect tells His disciples just before He ascends back into Heaven, “None of your business when I am coming back, you concentrate on being My witnesses” [Author’s paraphrase].
He came the first time as our suffering Saviour, our substitute, our Lamb to take away our sin. The second time He comes, He is coming as King, to set up His Kingdom.
The Old and New Testaments are filled with Scriptures on the Second Coming of Jesus to this earth. Here are just a few.
“But I would not have you ignorant, brothers, concerning those who are asleep, that you be not grieved, even as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will also bring with Him all those who have fallen asleep through Jesus. For we say this to you by the Word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord shall not go before those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. And so we shall ever be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).
“So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation” (Hebrews 9:28).
“And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming” (1 John 2:28).
“Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is”(1 John 3 2).
“…who also said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.’”(Acts 1:11).
“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know”(John 14:1-4).
“knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation." For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. 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. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. 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. Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless” (2 Peter 3:3-14).
However or whenever He comes back, or if you meet Him when your body dies, makes little difference. Your theology on end times really does not matter, expect for one thing. He is coming! You will meet Him eye to eye; you will meet Him as judge. You need to be ready!
We need to keep Jesus’ perspective in mind. He is anxiously waiting to receive His Bride, the Church. In Jewish tradition the son prepared the wedding house on his father’s property, working on it constantly in anticipation of the wedding day. The father would continually inspect the house to see when it was ready. Also, in the Jewish tradition there was no wedding date set. The bride had to be ready all the time. Matthew 25:10 says, “And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came. And they who were ready went in with him to the marriage, and the door was shut” (Matthew 25:10).
“And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.’ Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie. ‘I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.’ And the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.” (Revelation 22:12-17).
Our story starts with a curse due to man’s disobedience. “…Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life” (Genesis 3:17b).
Our story ends with the Lamb taking our curse so we could be blessed. “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 22:3).
Amen!
ISOB Discipleship Training Manual. Larry Chkoreff (WALK) ( Judgment- Second Coming)
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