Judgment

February 12

Exodus 28

Psalm 21:8-13

Proverbs 5:1-2

Matthew 25:31-46

Judgment

“But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne.  And all the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on His left.”  Matthew 25:31-33 LSB

There is a lot of confusion about the Judgment Seat of Christ.  Even scholars do not agree about when different groups of people will be judged by God.  I have done quite a bit of research on the topic and I am going to outline what I believe will occur.  I am not dogmatic about it, but I believe that this is consistent with scripture and I will back it up with scriptures as I explain it. 

            At some point in the future, a trumpet will sound in heaven and Jesus will appear in the clouds.  The bodies of everyone who has died having believed in Jesus and accepted Him into their heart will rise out of their graves.   Their souls are in heaven with Jesus so their bodies will meet their souls in the sky.  Then everyone who is alive at that time who has accepted Jesus will join them in the air and they will all be taken to Heaven for seven years.  (I Thessalonians 4:13-18)  During that time, they will stand before the Bema Seat of Christ and be judged for their works while on earth.  This will not be to judge whether they will be allowed to go to heaven.  If they are there, their name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.  This judgment will be to determine rewards in Heaven.  At that point we will have pure hearts so any rewards will be received in humility and gratitude recognizing that any good we ever did on earth is because of His working in our lives.  (Romans 14:10, 2 Corinthians 5:10) 

            At the end of the seven years, Jesus will return to earth, and the believers will return with Him.  There will be another time of judgment where Jesus will judge all the survivors of the tribulation period.  This is the judgment referred to in the passage today when Jesus will separate the sheep from the goats, the righteous from the wicked.  The people who become Christians during the tribulation and were either martyred or survived to the end will go into the Millennial Kingdom with the other believers.  The wicked who refused to accept Jesus will be cast into Hell.  Many also believe that at this time the Old Testament saints will be resurrected and allowed to go into the Millennial Kingdom as well.  Satan will be bound and thrown into the Abyss and the Antichrist and False Prophet will be thrown into Hell with the wicked.  At the end of the 1000-year Millennial reign Satan will be released for a short time and will be finally and completely defeated by Jesus and thrown into Hell.  At that time, all unbelievers throughout history will be resurrected to stand before the Great White Throne Judgment.  Jesus will judge them based on their works and they will receive their final sentences and be cast into the Lake of Fire in Hell for all eternity. (Revelation 20) 

            In summary, there are three different times of judgment for different groups of people.  All believers, alive and dead at the time of the rapture will be judged during the seven years when they are in heaven while the Tribulation Period is happening on earth.  This judgment is to determine rewards.  At the end of the seven years, there will be a judgment for those who became believers during the Tribulation Period who either died or survived the tribulation and for the unbelievers who are alive at the end of the tribulation.  The believers, the sheep, will go into the Millennial Kingdom with all of the believers from the rapture.  The unbelievers, the goats, will be cast into Hell.  At the end of the 1000-year Millennial reign there will be the Great White Throne Judgment in which all of the unbelievers from history will be resurrected and judged based on their deeds.  They will be sentenced to Hell for eternity and then all believers will go to spend eternity in Heaven. For believers, there should be no fear about standing before Jesus for judgment.  Our destiny is secured.  We don’t have to worry about whether we are going to “make it in.”  This is a sobering reminder that everyone will someday stand before God for judgment.  Those who do not have a relationship with Jesus will spend eternity in Hell.  We need to pray for those we know who do not know Jesus asking God to give us opportunities to share the gospel with them before it is too late.