JUDGMENTS

JUDGMENTS

Study and be eager and do your utmost to present yourself to God approved (tested by trial), a workman who has no cause to be ashamed, correctly analyzing and accurately dividing [rightly handling and skillfully teaching] the Word of Truth.  II Timothy 2:15

Study and learn who you are, what your purpose is, and what the Lord has in store!  There are judgments…There is not a GENERAL judgment, but there are five separate judgments revealed in the Bible, and they differ as to time, place and purpose.  Yet, they all have one thing in common:  the Lord Jesus Christ is the Judge.  John 5:22 Even the Father judges no one, for He has given all judgment (the last judgment and the whole business of judging) entirely into the hands of the Son.

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 I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, the person whose ears are open to My words [who listens to My message] and believes and trusts in and clings to and relies on Him Who sent Me has (posses now) eternal life.  And he does not come into judgment [does not incur sentence of judgment, will not come under condemnation].  But he has already passed over out of death into life. 

What an important phrase: the believer “does not come into condemnation judgment”.  (Condemnation and judgment are rendered the same word.)  Our sins were judged in Christ on Calvary and every believer “hath passed out of death into life.”  This is present salvation.  Christ paid for our sin penalty.  He was judged in the believers’ stead.  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 As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.

2.  The sins of the believer have been “blotted out” and God has promised that He “will not remember thy sins.”  I, even I, am He Who blots out and cancels your transgressions, for My own sake, and I will not remember your 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

For Christ [the Messiah Himself] died for sins once for all, the Righteous for the unrighteous (the Just for the unjust, the Innocent for the guilty), that He might bring us to God.  In His human body He was put to death, but He was made alive in the spirit. 

4.  The believer will never be condemned with the world, because Christ was condemned in his place.  II Cor. 5:21 For our sake He made Christ [virtually] to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in and through Him we might become [endued with, viewed as being in, and examples of] the righteousness of God [what we ought to be, approved and acceptable and in right relationship with Him, by His goodness]. Christ was made a curse for us on the cross, and Gal.3:13 Christ purchased our freedom [redeeming us] from the curse (doom) of the Law [and its condemnation] by [Himself] becoming a curse for us, for it is written [in the Scriptures], Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree (is crucified).  Hebrews 9:26 For then would He often have had to suffer [over and over again] since the foundation of the world.  But as it now is, He has once for all at the consummation and close of the ages appeared to put away and abolish sin by His sacrifice [of Himself]. The believer will not come into judgment because his sins have been purged.  Hebrews 1:3 He is the sole expression of the glory of God [the Light-being, the out-raying or radiance of the divine], and He is the perfect imprint and very image of [God’s] nature, upholding and maintaining and guiding and propelling the universe by His mighty word of power.  When He had by offering Himself accomplished our cleansing of sins and riddance of guilt, He down at the right hand of the divine Majesty on high.

THE JUDGMENT OF THE BELIEVER’S SELF

I Cor. 11:31 For if we searchingly examined ourselves [detecting our shortcomings and recognizing our own condition, we should not be judged and penalty decreed [by the divine judgment].  The judgment of the believer’s self is more than judging things in the believer’s life.  When the believer judges self, the good and the bad in his life come to light and he will confess the bad.  I John 1:9 and forsake it.  Isa. 55:7 Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thought; and let him return to the Lord, and He will have love, pity, and mercy for him, and to our God, for He will multiply to him His abundant pardon. There is a judgment other than looking for sin in your 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 When Christ, Who is our life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in [the splendor of His] glory. Christ is the believer’s life.

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 For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh.  I can will what is right, but I cannot perform it.  [I have the intention and urge to do what is right, but no power to carry it out.]

To deny self is to take up our cross and follow Christ.  Mark 8:34-38 And Jesus called [to Him], the throng with His disciples and said to them, If anyone intends to come after Me, let him deny himself [forget, ignore, disown, and lose sight of himself and his own interests] and take up his cross and [joining Me as a disciple and siding with My party] follow with Me [continually, cleaving steadfastly to Me].  For whoever wants to save his [higher, spiritual eternal] will lose it [the lower, natural, temporal life which is lived only on earth]; and whoever gives up his life [which is lived only on earth] for My sake and the Gospel’s will save it [his higher, spiritual life in the eternal kingdom of God].  For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his life [in the eternal kingdom of God]?  For what can a man give as an exchange (a compensation, a ransom, in return) for his [blessed] life [in the eternal kingdom of God]?  For whoever is ashamed [here and now] of Me and My words in this adulterous (unfaithful) and [preeminently] sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when He comes in the glory (splendor and majesty) of His Father with the holy angels.

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 Trembling and astonished he asked, Lord what do You desire me to do?  The Lord said to him, But arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.

6.  To judge self is to no longer practice self-esteem [different from self image – Psa.139 – made in His image]  but to esteem others better than self.   Phil. Do nothing from factional motives [through contentiousness, strife, selfishness, or for unworthy ends] or prompted by conceit and empty arrogance.  Instead, in the true spirit of humility (lowliness of mind) let each regard the others as better than and superior to himself [thinking more highly of one another than you do of yourselves.)

[MAY WANT TO DEAL WITH “LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF…explaining that to think highly of yourself as being made in God’s image is healthy…and we are to view our neighbor in just the same way! And esteem him better than ourselves!]

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 Why do you criticize and pass judgment on your brother?  Or you, why do you look down upon or despise your brother?  For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God.  II Cor. 5:10 For we must all appear and be revealed as we are before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive [his pay] according to what he has done in the body, whether good or evil [considering what his purpose and motive have been, and what he has achieved, been busy with, and given himself and his attention to accomplishing].  These Scriptures 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 was judged in Christ on Calvary, and Therefore, [there is] now no condemnation (no adjudging guilty of wrong) for those who are in Christ Jesus …Romans 8:1. 

1.  This judgment will take place “in the air” following the first resurrection.  I Thess. 4:14-18 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will also bring with Him through Jesus those who have fallen asleep [in death]. For this we declare to you by the Lord’s [own] word, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord shall in no way precede [into His presence] or have any advantage at all over those who have previously fallen asleep [in Him in death].  For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud cry of summons, with the shout of an archangel, and with the blast of the trumpet of God.  And those who have departed this life in Christ will rise first.  Then we, the living ones who remain [on the earth], shall simultaneously be caught up along with [the resurrected dead] in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so always (through the eternity of the eternities) we shall be with the Lord! Therefore comfort and encourage one another with these words.

There will be a thousand years between the resurrection of the saved and the unsaved.  Rev. 20:4-5 Then I saw thrones, and sitting on them were those to whom authority to act as judges and to pass sentence was entrusted.  Also I saw the souls of those who had been slain with axes [beheaded] for their witnessing to Jesus and [for preaching and testifying] for the Word of God, and who had refused to pay homage to the beast or his statue and had not accepted his mark or permitted it to be stamped on their foreheads or on their hands.  And they lived again and ruled with Christ (the Messiah) a thousand years.  The remainder of the dead were not restored to life again until the thousand years were completed.  This is the first resurrection. And there will be a thousand years between the judgment seat of Christ where only saved will appear and the “great white throne judgment” where only unsaved will appear.

2.  At the judgment seat of Christ, the believer will give an account of himself to God.  Therefore, we should look to our own words, and not judge the works of others.  Romans 14:10-13 …ABOVE…For it is written, As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God [acknowledge Him to His honor and to His praise]. And so each of us shall give an account of himself [give an answer in reference to judgment] to God.

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 And now, little children, abide (live, remain permanently) in Him, so that when He is made visible, we may have and enjoy perfect confidence (boldness, assurance) and not be ashamed and shrink from Him at His coming.  And “suffer loss” – not the loss of salvation, but the loss of rewards.  I Cor. 3:11-15 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is [already] laid, which is Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).  But if anyone builds upon the Foundation, whether it be with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw.  The work of each [one] will become [plainly openly] known (shown  for what it is); for the day [of Christ] will disclose and declare it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test and critically appraise the character and worth of the work each person has done.  If the work which any person has build on this Foundation [any product of his efforts whatever] survives [this test], he will get his reward.  But if any person’s work is burned up [under the test], he will suffer the loss [of it all, losing his reward], though he himself will be saved, but only as [one who has passed] through fire. 

So whatever you do, do it to the glory of God – “Christ in you…living out His life through you!”  And whatever you do [no matter what it is] in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus and in [dependence upon] His Person, giving praise to God the Father through Him. 

THE JUDGMENT OF THE NATIONS 

Matthew 25:31 When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory; And before Him shall be gathers all nations.  This judgment is not the judgment of the great white throne.  Rev.20:11-15 Then I saw a great white throne and the One Who was seated upon it, from Whose presence and from the sight of Whose face earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them.  I [also] saw the dead, great and small; they stood before the throne, and books were opened.  Then another book was opened, which is [the Book] of Life.  And the dead were judged (sentenced) by what they had done [their whole way of feeling and acting, their aims and endeavors] in accordance with what was recorded in the books.  And the sea delivered up the dead who were in it, death and Hades (the state of death or disembodied existence) surrendered the dead in them, and all were tried and their cases determined by what they had done [according to their motives, aims and works].  Then death and Hades (the state of death or disembodied existence) were thrown into the lake of fire.  This is the second death, the lake of fire.  And if anyone’s [name] was not found recorded in the Book of Life, he was hurled into the lake of fire. 

By comparing the Judgment Seat of Christ and the great white throne judgment:

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

Hasten and come, all you nations round about, and assemble yourselves; there You, O Lord, will bring down Your mighty ones (Your warriors).  Let the nations bestir themselves and come up to the Valley of Jehosaphat, for there will I sit to judge all the nations round about.  Put in the sickle, for the [vintage] harvest is ripe; come, get down and tread the grapes, for the winepress is full; the vats overflow, for the wickedness [of the peoples] is great.  Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision!  For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.  The sun and the moon are darkened and the stars withdraw their shining.  The Lord will thunder and roar from Zion and utter His voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth shall shake; but the Lord will be a refuge for His people and a stronghold to the children of Israel. 

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. (ABOVE)

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 After this I looked and a vast host appeared which no one could count, [gathered out] of every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages.  These stood before the throne and before the Lamb; they were attired in white robes, with palm branches in their hands.  In loud voice they cried, saying [Our] salvation is due to our God, Who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb [to Them we owe our deliverance]!  And all the angels were standing round the throne ... fell prostrate and worshiped God…Who are these people clothed in long white robes?  And from where have they come?  ….these are the ones who came out of the great tribulation …now before the throne…serve Him day and night …shall hunger no more…thirst no more…For the Lamb Who is in the midst of the throne will be their Shepherd, and He will guide them to the springs of the waters of life; and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. 

“goats” – the unsaved II Thess. 1:7-10 And to [recompense] you who are so distressed and afflicted [by granting you] relief and rest along with us [your fellow sufferers] when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in a flaming fire.  To deal out retribution (chastisement and vengeance) upon those who do not know or perceive or become acquainted with God, and [upon those] who ignore and refuse to obey the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Such people will pay the penalty and suffer the punishment of everlasting ruin (destruction and perdition) and eternal exclusion and banishment from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power.  When He comes to be glorified in His saints [on that day He will be made more glorious in His consecrated people], and [He will] be marveled at and admired [in His glory reflected] in all who have believed [who have adhered to, trusted in, and relied on Him], because our witnessing among you was confidently accepted and believed [and confirmed in your lives].

 “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 Then I saw a great white throne and the One Who was seated upon it, from Whose presence and from the sight of Whose face earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them.  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.  According to Rev. 20:5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.  This is the first resurrection.  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 AT THE VERY FIRST OF THIS PAPER! 

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 All who have sinned without the Law will also perish without [regard to] the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged and condemned by the Law.

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 For God’s [holy] wrath and indignation are revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who in their wickedness repress and hinder the truth, and make it inoperative. 

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 And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful steward, the wise man whom his master will set over those in his household service to supply them their allowance of food at the appointed time?  … But he who did not know and did things worthy of a beating shall be beaten with few [lashes].  For everyone to whom much is given, of him shall much be required; and of him to whom men entrust much, they will require and demand all the more.

 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 THE STORY OF THE RICH MAN IN ABRAHAM’S … ASKING A “TIP OF HIS FINGER IN WATER AND COOL MY TONGUE … and besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who want to pass from this [place] to you may not be able, and no one may pass from there to us:…If they do not hear and listen to Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded and convinced and believe [even] if someone should rise from the dead.

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