There are many judgments
mentioned in Scripture that appear at different times. There
was the judgment
of Adam and Eve, the judgment of the people of Noah’s day, the judgment of
Sodom and Gomorrah.
There were various groups of
people judged by God such as Egyptians, Babylonians, the Ninevehites, and of
course the Israelites to mention a few.
There are also individual
judgments as we who belong to God critique our lives to see if we are in God’s
will.
There will be future judgments
such as the Judgment Seat of Christ, the Sheep and Goat Judgment, and the Great
White Throne Judgment.
The Sheep and Goat Judgment
will settle who goes into the Millennium or to the “place prepared for the
devil and his angels (Matthew 25:31-46) once the Tribulation is ended.
The two most important
judgments are the Judgment Seat of Christ and the Great White Throne Judgment.
The Judgment Seat of Christ
will be for the Church and only the Church. It will take place in Heaven while
those on earth are going through the Tribulation. The judging will be by our
Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. Rewards will be given to each person in the
Church based on how we have used our life for Him. I’ll come back to the
Judgment Seat of Christ later.
Great White Throne Judgment
The Great White Throne
Judgment will be a time and place where all of mankind who do not know Jesus
Christ as their Savior and Lord will stand before Him to be judged. Everyone
who has died and who is living at that time without Christ in their heart will
be standing before Him as a defendant to be judged.
Cain will be there. Pharaoh
will be there. Goliath will be there. Alexander the Great will be there.
Caesar, Nero and Caligula will be there. Judas, Pilate, Caiaphas, the
Antichrist and false prophet will be there. Joining them will be Lenin, Stalin,
Hitler, and many other well-known names. There will be millions present who no
one knows but God.
“And I saw the dead, great
and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened.” Revelation 20:12
All who are dead and without
Christ are currently in hell waiting for that date; the date they will stand
before a holy God and admit He is God while they kneel before Him awaiting
their judgment.
The Lord Jesus will listen to
every excuse, but when it’s all over there will be no acceptable excuse. All,
without exception, will be sent to the Lake of Fire to spend the rest of
eternity in torment.
I’ve gotten to the age where
I most always check the obituaries each day. As I look at the names, I wonder,
“Were they saved?” Some who I know personally are saved, and some are not. What
a joy to leave this world and be with Jesus, but on the other hand, what a
tragedy to leave this world and be in hell awaiting the final judgment.
Most people today are very
flippant about Jesus Christ and their need for Him. Others are very
antagonistic concerning Jesus, and the world’s hatred is growing greater as the
days pass. Blind to the Truth now, but then in hell, when the Truth is most
evident, it is too late.
There are no atheists or
agnostics in hell. They may have claimed that distinction while alive on earth,
but not now, not in hell. Some will beg and some will curse God, but none can
change their circumstances once they are in that awful place. Actually, it will
just get worse. They’ll go from the county jail (hell) to the prison (lake of
fire) doing hard time for eternity.
We open our newspapers each
morning and read the stories of people in our communities who must stand before
the judge. They must answer for the crimes they have allegedly committed. They
may be found not guilty. They may be found guilty and have a sentence imposed.
At the Great White Throne Judgment all will be found guilty. Christ will
administer judgment based on what they have seen and heard about Him and what
they have done about Him (Matthew 10:15; 11:20-24). All will be sentenced to
the lake of fire for eternity.
Every person living today who
does not know Jesus Christ as their Savior can avoid the Great White Throne
Judgment by simply recognizing they are a sinner headed for hell, and then ask
Jesus to save them. It doesn’t matter how good or bad one is, the blood of
Jesus can wash us clean and make us one of His own if we just put our faith in
Him. If you will do that, the only judgment facing you will be the Judgment
Seat of Christ.
“And I saw a great white
throne, and him that 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, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was
opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things
which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up
the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were
in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 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.
(Revelation 20:11-15)
Grant Phillips
Email: grantphillips@windstream.net
Pre-Rapture Commentary: http://grant-phillips.blogspot.com
Rapture Ready: http://www.raptureready.com/featured/phillips/phillips.html