JUDGMENTS - July 27th, August 3rd

II Timothy 2:15
Study and learn who you are, what your purpose is, and what the Lord has in store! There is NOT a GENERAL judgment, but there are separate judgments revealed in the Bible, and they differ as to time, place and purpose. One thing in common: the Lord Jesus Christ is the Judge. John 5:22 Everyone – from Adam to the last man to be born on this earth – will stand before the Lord Jesus Christ to be judged.

In the FIRST judgment, the sins of the believers have already been judged in Christ on the cross.

In the SECOND judgment, the believer is to judge self, or be judged by the Lord Jesus Christ and disciplined.

In the THIRD judgment, all believers must appear at the “judgment seat of Christ” [often referred to as the BEMA] where their works are to be judged.

In the FOURTH judgment, all nations are to be judged at the Second Coming of Christ.

In the FIFTH judgment, the wicked dead are to be judged at the great white throne.

THE JUDGMENT OF THE BELIEVERS’S SINS
John 5:24 Our sins were judged in Christ on Calvary and every believer “hath passed out of death into life.” This is present salvation. The believer will not come into judgment because:

1. Jesus Christ paid the penalty, and on the grounds of His substitutional death, the believer is separated from the penalty of sin forever …Psalm 103:12
2. The sins of the believer have been “blotted out” and God has promised that He “will not remember thy sins.” Isaiah 43:25
3. Our Lord suffered for our sins, “the just for the unjust,” that we might be saved and never come into judgment as sinners. I Peter 3:18
4. The believer will never be condemned with the world, because Christ was condemned in his place. II Cor. 5:21 Christ was made a curse for us on the cross, Gal.3:13 Christ purchased our freedom The believer will not come into judgment because his sins have been purged. Hebrews 1:3

THE JUDGMENT OF THE BELIEVER’S SELF I Cor. 11:31 I John 1:9
Isa. 55:7 (a judgment other than looking for sins in one's life)
1. If we see ourselves as God sees us, we will want to renounce self. To do so, we must “reckon ourselves dead unto sin” – replacing the Christ life for the self life. Col. 3:4
2. To judge self is to deny self. This is more than self-denial. Self denial is denying one’s self of the gratifications of the flesh. If we practice self-denial only, it is treating the symptom and not the cause. But when we deny self, we are attacking the cause, for in self (that is, the flesh) Romans 7:18
To deny self is to take up our cross and follow Christ. Mark 8:34-38
3. To judge self is to lose the self-life and find the Christ-life.
Gal. 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ [in Him I have shared His crucifixion]: it is no longer I who live, but Christ (the Messiah) lives in me; and the life I now live in the body I live by faith in (by adherence to and reliance on and complete trust in) the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
4. To judge self is to no longer be self-conscious, but become Christ-conscious.
5. To judge self is to no longer be self-controlled, but to become Christ-controlled. Acts 9:6
6. To judge self is to no longer practice self-esteem [different from self image – but to esteem others better than self. Phil. To judge self is to become selfless!!!

THE JUDGMENT OF THE BELIEVER’S WORKS
The believer’s works will be judged at the “Judgment seat of Christ.” The term, “Judgment seat of Christ” is found only twice in the Bible, but it is referred to many times. It is found: Romans 14:10 II Cor. 5:10 - reveal that ONLY believers will appear at the judgment seat of Christ. Believers will be judged, not their sins, for we have already seen that the sins of the believer were judged in Christ on Calvary…Romans 8:1.

1. This judgment will take place “in the air” following the first resurrection. I Thess. 4:14-18 There will be a thousand years between the resurrection of the saved and the unsaved. Rev. 20:4-5
2. At the judgment seat of Christ, the believer will give an account of himself to God. Romans 14:10-13
3. It is a most humbling thought to know that some day the believer will face all of his works – “good or bad.” Some will be ashamed I John 2:28 Some will “suffer loss” – not the loss of salvation, but the loss of rewards. I Cor. 3:11-15 So whatever you do, do it to the glory of God – “Christ in you…living out His life through you!”


THE JUDGMENT OF THE NATIONS
Matthew 25:31 COMPARING TWO JUDGMENTS...

1. The judgment of the nations will take place “when the Son of man shall come in His glory…then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory”. The great white throne is never called “the throne of His glory.”

2. At this judgment, He will judge the living nations.Joel 3:11-16

3. At this judgment, there will be no resurrection of the dead. At the great white throne, all the wicked dead are raised; “the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them.

4. At this judgment, the judge is God. “the King” judging the living nations in His earthly kingdom. At the great white throne, the judge is God, judging only the wicked dead.

5. At this judgment, there are no books opened. At the great white throne, the “books were opened.”

6. At this judgment, there are three classes judged:
“sheep” – the saved; Rev. 7:9-17
“goats” – the unsaved II Thess. 1:7-10
“the elect of Israel” Rev.7:1-8 …a loud voice...saying, Harm neither the earth nor the sea nor the trees, until we have sealed the bond servants of our God upon their foreheads. … twelve thousand were sealed… OF DIFFERENT TRIBES …and … vast host appeared which no one could count…
At the great white throne judgment, there is only one class: “the dead”

7. At this judgment, the King gives the kingdom to those who have eternal life. At the great white throne, there are no saved, and no kingdom; they are all “cast into the lake of fire!”

THE JUDGMENT OF THE WICKED
Rev. 20:11 The great white throne judgment will follow the 1,000 year reign of Christ. This is the final judgment, and only the wicked dead are to be judged. Rev. 20:5 The believers were resurrected a 1,000 years before this judgment, and their works were judged at the judgment seat of Christ. II Cor. 5:10

1. The wicked dead will seek a hiding place from the face of the Lord Jesus Christ, the judge. But there is no hiding place.

2. The “dead, small and great” will stand before God. But the greatness of the great will be of no value. Rom. 3:12

3. The “book of life” will be opened—the wicked will see that God in His mercy provided space for them in the Book ... They will be without excuse. Romans 1:18-20

4. The dead will be judged “according to their works”. God is a just God, and since there are degrees of punishment in hell, some will be punished more than others. Luke 12: 42, 48

5. There will be no acquittal, no higher court to which the lost may appeal. It is lost, and lost forever; it is damned to all eternity, and that without hope. There is a hell. Luke 16: 19-31

In hell there is no hope, no sympathy, no love, even the love of God does not extend beyond the portals of hell.