Resurrections & Judgments in the Bible

Transcript

GRM 932
2/13/2005
Resurrections and Judgments in the Bible
Selected Verses
Gil Rugh

We have been considering the matter of biblical prophecy and I want to pursue that theme with you again today and the advantage of an overview, it gives you a complete snapshot of events. The disadvantage, it leaves you with a lot of questions about details. But nonetheless we’re going to do an overview of several things today and any of them could be a study in and of itself. So don’t get discouraged in the details if some of this is new to you. For many of you, you’ve been through it a number of times and that helps when you begin to keep building on what you’ve already heard and know.

We’re going to talk about the resurrections and the judgments of scripture. We talked in our last study together about the rapture of the church. Tremendously significant event and it impacts every single one of us. For every person who is a believer in Jesus Christ, is part of the church of Jesus Christ, also known as the bride of Christ. Christ is coming again, not to earth but in the air to take us to be with Himself. That’s when Christ descends in the air, calls all true believers to meet Him in the air, and takes us to the place He has prepared for us in the presence of His Father in glory. Then we have this period of time, 7 years divided into two 3½ -year periods, called the 70th week of Daniel. It completes God’s prophetic program for the nation Israel. At the end of that Jesus Christ will return to earth and we will begin the 1000-year millennium followed by the eternal kingdom. The 1000 years are the first phase in the eternal kingdom.

Now what I want to do is talk about the matter of the resurrections that are unfolded in scripture. We’ve put these on the chart, and if you turn in your Bibles to I Corinthians chapter 15. I Corinthians 15 is the fullest discussion of the subject of bodily resurrection that we have anywhere in the Bible. There are many other passages that talk about the resurrection, but this is the fullest discussion of bodily resurrection. It is an absolutely essential doctrine. There were already in Paul’s day those who were denying a literal, bodily resurrection and Paul says they have destroyed the Christian faith. Verse 16, “If the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. If Christ has not been raised your faith is worthless, you are still in your sins.” In spite of that there was major theology promoted, not too long ago under a theologian known as Karl Barth, and his theology taught that it doesn’t matter whether there is a bodily resurrection. What really matters is if you have a resurrection experience. But here the Apostle Paul says everything stands or falls on the resurrection. If Christ wasn’t bodily raised, Christianity collapses. If Christ was bodily raised, it means we will be bodily raised and that’s the reality.

Verse 20, “Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by man came death,” referring to Adam, “so by man also came resurrection of the dead, Christ. For as in Adam all die, in Christ all will be made alive, each in his own order. Christ the first fruits, after that those who are His at His coming. Then comes the end when He hands the kingdom over to God the Father, after He has abolished all rule and authority and power.” We move along here in the order of resurrections. Christ is the first fruits. In the Old Testament the first fruits were the first ears of grain brought in that were the initial indication of a coming harvest. The first part of the harvest was brought in, those initial ears of grain, and presented before the Lord and they represented the fact that there was a coming harvest. Christ is the first fruits. His resurrection is the guarantee of a coming resurrection. You and I as believers in Jesus Christ have the guarantee and assurance that we will be bodily raised from the dead because Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. Listed there are just the passages at the end of all four gospels that talk about His resurrection from the dead.

After the resurrection of Christ there are those that are Christ’s at His coming. You remember we looked at the biblical teaching on the rapture of the church which occurs here, the Second Coming is in two stages. The first stage of the Second Coming is when Christ comes in the air and calls the church to meet Him. He does not come to earth; He comes in the air and calls for all believers to meet Him in the air. At this point in time, as we saw in our study of these passages, the dead in Christ, I Thessalonians 4 says, will be raised first. So, the bodies of those who have trusted Christ since Acts chapter 2 down until the rapture of the church, will come out of the graves and they who have left those bodies in death will move back into them. And then we who are alive will be caught up together with them in the air to meet the Lord. And He will take us to the place that He has prepared for us, as He promised in John 14:1-3.

Then we have the 7-year tribulation. We’re not spending a lot of time on the rapture because if you weren’t with us a couple of weeks ago, we went into some detail on that, and that is covered there. There is a 7-year period of time here on earth and the church is in heaven. The church is the bride of Christ, remember. We will be in heaven and there will be several events that take place. There’ll be a judgment taking place there, the formal consummation of the marriage between Christ and His bride, the church, takes place. Then at the end of the 7-year tribulation Christ returns to earth and the church, people from Acts chapter 2 down to the rapture, have been in heaven with Him and now return with Him. We are all in glorified bodies, and we return with Him and the display of His glory as the bride of Christ is unveiled before all creation. Romans chapter 8 says the whole creation groans, awaiting the time when we will be unveiled as the sons of God. That will happen at this point. The creation viewed here as personified in Romans 8 is groaning because at this point when Christ returns and the events here take place, the curse will be lifted from the creation. This is where Isaiah 2, 9, 11 and a multitude of other passages unfold. We are told that the child will play on the hole of the poisonous snake. The wild animals, there will be no animosity there—the lion lies down with the sheep and so on. The curse is lifted from the creation, the desert will blossom like the crocus, and so on. All creation is looking forward to this time.

Now at the Second Coming of Christ to earth there is also a resurrection that occurs. It’s important that we keep the order of the resurrections clear. Old Testament saints, in other words everyone up until Acts chapter 2, part of the Old Testament period of time, who died did not get their resurrected bodies here at the rapture. This was only for those who were part of the church. Now at the Second Coming Old Testament saints—Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel—all the Old Testament saints are resurrected here.

Turn back to Daniel chapter 12, Daniel toward the last third of your Old Testament, after you get through the large prophets of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, you’ll hit Daniel. At the end of Daniel chapter 11 Daniel has been talking about this period of time, the last part in particular of the 70th week of Daniel, culminating with the destruction of the Antichrist, the man of lawlessness, the man of sin that we’ve talked about on other occasions. The end of chapter 11:45, “he will come to his end, and no one will help him.” If you read the preceding context, we’re talking about the little horn of chapter 7, the willful king as he’s described here in chapter 11. Now chapter 12 continues as Daniel unfolds events that are crucial to this period of time. Remember he didn’t have a chapter division when he wrote this. Now at that time—what time? The time we’ve just been talking about, events in the 70th week of Daniel, and particularly the last part.

Michael the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people. Michael the archangel is particularly entrusted with the responsibility of the nation Israel. It seems from this reference and other references that angels were assigned responsibilities for certain nations. Remember earlier in chapter 10 of Daniel the angel Gabriel comes with an answer from God to Daniel’s prayer, but he says the prince of Persia withstood me for three weeks. A fallen angel, a demonic being who had authority over the realm of Persia, was able to hold up Gabriel from his mission until Michael came and brought added authority. Michael, who is particularly the angel, stands guard over the sons of your people, a reference to the Jews, Daniel is a Jew. He will arise, there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time. We’re talking about the last 3½ -year segment of the 70th week of Daniel, the Great Tribulation. At that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued. Remember when Christ returns to earth, He will come to deliver the nation Israel. The goal of the Antichrist is to destroy and wipe out the nation, but Christ comes and brings deliverance.

Now what happens when He comes and brings rescue? Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake. We have a resurrection, these to everlasting life. So those who are resurrected at this point will be resurrected to everlasting life. These are the believers, those who were asleep. All Old Testament saints, everyone up until the start of the church as well, as we’ll see in a moment, the tribulation saints. But for right now all these Old Testament saints will be resurrected at this point. They’ll get their glorified bodies. The others will be raised to disgrace and everlasting contempt and that won’t happen for 1000 years. He concentrates on these who are raised to everlasting life. The others are going to be raised to contempt and destruction. We’ll talk about them further in a moment, their resurrection will occur later. Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heavens. Those who lead many to righteousness are like the stars forever and ever. They are going to share in the glory of the kingdom right here that Christ is going to establish. They will rule and reign with Him.

Turn back to the New Testament, Revelation chapter 20. Now there is no reason for anyone to have any confusion about timelines here. Now we haven’t just done a study of the book of Revelation, but if you’ve been here for previous studies, you know that Revelation 6-18 deals with this 7-year period. Chapter 19 deals with this event right here, Christ returning to earth to deliver Israel and establish His kingdom. At this point in time, we’re right here as we start Revelation 20:1, “an angel comes down from heaven, holds the key to the abyss, a great chain. He laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old who is the devil and satan.” So, you ought to know who we are talking about. He’s given several of his names here. “He bound him for 1000 years.” Some people say that’s ridiculous; how would you bind an angel with a chain. That’s not ridiculous, you are. What makes you think the God who created angels is not able to create a chain to bind angels? I mean the silly things people come up with. All right I can't get off on that. You should have those 1000 years underlined at the end of verse 2, or highlighted, however you mark your Bible.

Verse 3, “He threw him into the abyss and shut it and sealed it over him so that he would not deceive the nations any longer until the 1000 years were completed.” You ought to have that underlined or highlighted, the 1000 years. “After these things he must be released. Then I saw thrones and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus, because of the Word of God, those who had not worshipped the beast or his image.” Remember chapter 13 of Revelation, beginning here for the last 3½ years anyone who does not receive the mark of the beast and become his worshipper, they’re going to attempt to execute. Only true believers refuse to do it. Though many people are martyred here, many believers come to life right here. They came to life and reigned with Christ for 1000 years. Let’s just go on and then we’ll come back. Verse 5, “The rest of the dead do not come to life until the 1000 years were completed. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who has part in the first resurrection, over these the second death has not power. They will be priests of God and with Christ and will reign with Him for 1000 years.” Verse 7, “when the 1000 years are completed”. Now six times in those first 7 verses, six times in verses 2-7 he tells us it’s 1000 years. Would you believe many people who write commentaries on Revelation say it’s not 1000 years. When the 1000 are completed, after the 1000 years, when the 1000 years are completed, they’ll reign with Him 1000 years. Oh, but it’s not 1000 years. Is it any wonder people get confused in the book of Revelation? I mean how would you deal with your kids in this situation if you tell them when they walk out the door, I want you back here in 15 minutes and their brother or sister says what did Dad say? He says be back in 15 minutes. Oh, that doesn’t mean anything, we’ll go for the day. You say why didn’t you come back in 15 minutes? Because 15 minutes doesn’t mean 15 minutes, it means anything I want it to mean. I can’t get off on that either.

We’re here for the resurrection, verse 4. You see what happens. Those who had suffered and died here, been martyred, are resurrected at this point and that’s fitting. Why? Because this is the 70th week of Daniel. What does that do? That completes God’s program for the nation Israel—490 years are determined upon your people and your holy city, Daniel chapter 9 says. Four hundred eighty-three years came to a conclusion the first 69 weeks, just before the crucifixion of Christ. We have one 7-year period. Old Testament saints are not resurrected with the church, they are not part of the church, they are not part of the bride of Christ. Remember John the Baptist said he wasn’t the groom, he wasn’t the bridegroom, he’s a friend of the bridegroom. He was part of the Old Testament; he was not part of the church. John the Baptist was dead, even though his life was recorded in the gospels, you understand the church was not in existence in the gospels. The church does not begin until Acts chapter 2. So Old Testament saints and believers who have died in this period of time. When the church is raptured, there are no believers left on the face of the earth, you understand that. All believers are removed at this point. Then there are people who get saved during this 7-year period, many of them are martyred. They will be raised here with Old Testament saints, and we are told at the end of verse 4,” they came to life and reigned with Christ for 1000 years.” That’s why we call it the millenium, that’s Latin for 1000 years. That’s the first phase in the eternal kingdom of God. And if I think of it, I’ll say more about that later.

Now there is one group of people, when you get to this point every believer who has died will have been resurrected and received glorified bodies. There is no more resurrection of believers. It’s done. But what about all the unbelievers? Come down to Revelation 20:7, after the 1000 years are completed satan will be released from his prison. Note what happened here. Satan was bound for 1000 years during this millennial period. What has happened during these 1000 years? Christ has been reigning over the earth. Glorified saints, the church that received its glorified bodies, and also Jews who have been resurrected have been reigning with Him 1000 years. There were people who were saved during this period, we’ll say more about them in a moment, they are in this 1000-year period in physical bodies. They’re having children, having families. We in glorified bodies are ruling over them. Isaiah tells us that anyone who dies at only 100 years of age during this 1000-year period will be thought accursed of God, because they will have died? No, because of judgment, because nobody dies at 100. They will be considered a kid. It will be God’s judgment.

What happens here, you have the curse lifted from the creation at this point, you also have the removal of satan. You have a perfect environment in a world ruled by a perfect king, without any influence from satan. Yet by the time we get down here we’re going to find that there are billions of babies who have been born here, because again the curse has been lifted and you can have childbirth without pain and so on, so people are having a lot of children. But those children are born with what? A sin nature. They have to be saved. They’ve been born into a world where the curse has been lifted from the creation, where satan is not present. But they have inherited from their parents a sin nature. They will have to come to trust in the reigning king, who is the Savior of the world.

We come along at the end of the 1000 years here, satan is released from his prison. Verse 8, he comes out to deceive the nations and they come up to Jerusalem to make war against Christ who is ruling over the earth. He gets a few to follow him. Look at the end of verse 8, “the number of them is like the sand of the seashore.” You know what this 1000-year period of time does? It completes God’s program in dealing with sin and it removes all excuses. Some people say oh well I’m the way I am because of the family I was born into. Oh well it’s the environment that shapes the person. You know what the Bible says, it’s the heart. After 1000 years of a perfect earth under a perfect king people would rather have satan as their king than Christ. They are destroyed by fire from heaven.

Verse 10, “the devil who deceived them is thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and false prophet are also.” They were cast there when Christ returned here. So satan is not the first one to be cast into hell. You have the beast and the false prophet placed in hell here. Now 1000 years later satan is cast there. You’ll note they’re tormented day and night forever and ever. You and I cannot imagine the awfulness of hell. Hell is so awful; many people say they choose not to believe there could be such a place. Well reality does not change. God speaks the truth.

Verse 11 “then, then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, in whose presence earth and heaven fled away. No place was found for them. I saw the dead, the great and the small standing before the throne.” Here you have the resurrection of unbelievers. Verse 13, “the sea gave up the dead which were in it, death and hades gave up the dead which were in them.” All those who had died, their souls were in hades awaiting final sentencing to hell, are resurrected at this point. All the wicked, all unbelievers are resurrected at the end of the 1000 years. They appear before Christ for judgment, and we’ll talk about that in a moment. But you’ll note the resurrections then in scripture. You have Christ the first fruits. After that those who are Christ’s at His coming, first stage the church at the rapture. Then the second phase, Old Testament saints and tribulation saints at the Second Coming to earth. Then all unbelievers from Cain, the son of Adam and Eve, down until this period of time, all unbelievers are resurrected and judged. You have the first resurrection here, Revelation 20:5, “the rest of the dead did not come to life until the 1000 were completed. This is the first resurrection.” Now some people pick this up and say there is only one general resurrection for everyone. That cannot be because who is the first fruits? Christ. His resurrection occurred 1000 years. But those first ears of grain were part of the harvest. The first resurrection is a quality of resurrection, it includes all the righteous. It’s Christ the first fruits, the church at the rapture and Old Testament and tribulation saints at the Second Coming to earth. The first resurrection is a quality of resurrection, it includes all those who are going to be resurrected to life and be part of the kingdom and the glory that God has promised to those who love Him.

That’s why verse 6 says “blessed and holy is the one who has part in the first resurrection.” You have to be part of the first resurrection, one of these groups. Over these the second death has no power. We’ll see the second death is hell. In other words, those part of the first resurrection will not be going to hell. Everyone not part of the first resurrection, this group here, they are all going to hell. So, the others will reign with Christ for 1000 years, the end of verse 6. So, everyone here, all believers, will have been resurrected, glorified or those living in physical bodies here and after this we’ll go on into the eternal phase of the kingdom.

Let me say something about the resurrection body and I just want to review this, I’ve mentioned it to you. We find out about the resurrection body by looking at what the Bible says about the resurrection body of Christ. Some people say that well the body of Christ was unique because He was God and man. That’s true, but you understand it’s His physical body that is resurrected and glorified, and we’re going to get a body just like His. Look in Philippians 3:20. Paul has talked about the terrible fate of those who were infecting the church but not genuine believers. He talks in verse 18, “that many walk of whom I’ve told you and now tell you even weeping, they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite. They glory in their shame, they set their mind on earthly things. For our citizenship is in heaven from which we also eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” Now note what Jesus Christ will do. He will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has to subject all things to Himself. His divine power will operate and what will it do? Transform this humble body, this lowly physical body into conformity with the body of His glory. This body will become conformed to the glorified body Christ had following His resurrection.

Turn to I John 3:2, verse 1 talks about the contrast between the believer in the world and the world doesn’t understand the believer. The world doesn’t recognize believers because they don’t recognize Christ. Then verse 2, “beloved now we are children of God. And it has not appeared as yet what we shall be.” I mean it hasn’t yet been fully realized and we only can get a glimpse. We know that when He appears we will be like Him. Now we won’t become deities. He was not only man, but He was also God. But we will be like Him in the transformation of our bodies and its glorification. We will see Him just as He is. Everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies Himself. You live in light of that anticipation and expectation.”

With that in mind, what was the resurrection body of Christ like? I want to just highlight these quickly because this would be its own study. Several qualities or characteristics of the resurrection body of Christ. First it was the same body that was crucified and buried, the exact same body. John chapter 20, He said to His disciples, look at my hands. They have the nail prints in. Look at my side, it has a wound in it. It was the same body. Now in spite of that there are those who claim to be evangelicals who say well you know that was an exceptional case with Christ. But we’re not going to be raised with these same bodies. Just boggles my mind. There was a major debate and books written on it on both sides by men who claimed to be evangelicals, two men in particular teaching in evangelical seminaries debating the issue. One saying it won’t be the same body that we have now that’s going to be raised. Where do you cross the line where you no longer qualify to be called evangelical? Jesus is making the point. Look at my body, same one. Also, they recognized Him. Now there were occasions when it suited His purpose not to allow them to recognize Him. At the end of the gospel of Luke they are walking along and talking to Him, and they don’t recognize who He is until He leaves. They said, now it’s clear. But generally, they recognized Him. He appeared at the end of the gospel of John in that closed room. You don’t find them saying, who are you? They recognized Him, it’s Him. It was the same one, same body raised. That’s the point of the empty tomb. It’s the same body. So it’ll be our same body.

It was a body that had material substance, Christ’s body did. Turn to the end of the gospel of Luke. We’ll take all these verses, we won’t go to the parallel references, we’ll just take them from Luke here for time, Luke 24. We’re going to have a spiritual body, I Corinthians 15 says, but it’s not going to be a spirit body in the sense it doesn’t have substance. Now some of these differences are hard for us to grasp. The disciples thought when they saw Christ, they were seeing a spirit. Verse 37, “they were startled and frightened, thought they were seeing a spirit.” He said, verse 39, “see my hands, my feet. It is I Myself.” Now in effect it’s the same one. “Touch Me and see, a spirit does not have flesh and bone.” He has flesh and bones, He’s going to eat some fish, verse 41. “Do you have anything here to eat?” Verse 42, “they gave Him a piece of broiled fish, He took it and ate it.” Handle Me, touch Me, grab on. Now some take from this statement in verse 39, a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have, that what will be lacking in the resurrected body is blood. Because in these physical bodies, the life of the flesh is in the blood. I believe there is some validity to the possibility of that inference, that they will not be fleshly bodies in this humble state, sustained by blood. But they will have flesh and bone. But it will not be flesh and bone with the same limitations we have.

You know Jesus could come and go, so you come down to our next point. It was a body without its previous limitation. He wasn’t restricted by physical barriers. Luke 24:36, “while they were telling these things He Himself stood in there midst.” How did He get there? He just turned up there, just like at the end of the gospel of John in John 20. He just turned up in that room. He could appear and disappear. Earlier in Luke 24:15, they are talking and discussing, Jesus approached, their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him. I referred to this earlier, and the discussion that went on and when the discussion is over, He leaves. He’s not bound. You know I’m restricted; I can’t get in and out of this room without opening the doors. Try it after the service. This physical body in its present state has limitations. But the glorified body will be flesh and bone, but it won’t have limitations. We say I have a hard time conceiving that. Well of course you do, so do I because we’ve never experienced it except watching something in science fiction. The only thing we have is what happened to Christ. So that tells us something of what our resurrection body will be like and it’s characterized by glory. That’s why it’s called a glorified body.

The process is underway—II Corinthians 3:18 says that’s what’s going on to us spiritually in our spirit as we take in the Word of God. We are being transformed, metamorphosed into the same image from glory to glory by the work of the Spirit, II Corinthians 3:18. But that process will be brought to completion for us as the church at the rapture, when we are glorified.

Okay, so that’s what we have to look forward to. Everyone in the church is going to get a glorified body. All Old Testament saints are going to get glorified bodies. Believers who die in the tribulation are going to get glorified bodies. There will be some people in the kingdom in physical bodies—those who become believers in Christ during that 7-year period before Christ returns to earth. They become believers in Christ, and they survive to the end.

I want to back up. We’ll talk about the judgment, so now let’s look at the judgments. I’m going to start with just the background. At the cross Christ judged sin. He judged the world, the flesh and the devil, sin in all its aspects and manifestations. We’re not going to go into this. We have some references—John 12,” now the prince of this world is judged.” Romans 6:10 says “the old man is crucified.” Hebrews 2:14-15 talk about destroying the works of the devil. Galatians chapter 6 talks about the world is crucified to me and I to the world. We have the world, the flesh and the devil coming under the judgment of the cross. That’s why faith in Christ sets us free from sin and all its aspects and the control of the devil, the power of the world and influencing and dominating a life as well as the old man as we refer to it. It has been crucified with Christ.

I want to focus on the judgments, then, that you and I as physical people will experience, either in the church, Israel or unregenerate people. Sin has been dealt with, the penalty for my sin has been paid. But I am still going to give an account before Christ for my faithfulness to Him. This is an awesome, frightening fact. We have the judgments of the church at the rapture. We’ll go to II Corinthians chapter 5 with you, if you would. While we’re going to II Corinthians 5 let me say I’m thinking we may begin a study of I Corinthians. I’ve been thinking about the book of Luke, I’ve been thinking about the Corinthians epistles, and some events have tilted me toward Corinthians. But if you have been here very long you know that this is not in concrete, it’s not even in sand. We might end up doing a totally different book, but my anticipation is probably to start a study of I Corinthians. But if I don’t do that, we’ll do Luke, if I don’t do that, we’ll do another book.

II Corinthians chapter 5. The Apostle Paul is talking about what happens to this body at death, the reality of death and it’s a reminder, death is not the end. At death we move out of these physical bodies. For believers, we go into the presence of the Lord, verse 8, “we are of good courage, I say, and prefer to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.” So much for soul sleep. You leave your physical body, the body without the spirit is dead, James 2:26 says. He’s talking about then, what happens to us as believers. We have a judgment, and that judgment will occur at the rapture. But when he talks about the death of the believer, that’s a fitting time to talk about what’s going to follow death for us. At the resurrection of the body, we’re going to face judgment.

Verse 9, he says we have as our ambition, whether at home or absent to be pleasing to Him. Verse 10, “for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.” We call this the bema seat. We’ve transliterated over into English bema, the bema seat. We sometimes call it bema because of our English. It’s the place that we will come to, it’s a judgment seat where we will give an account of our lives, be judged by Christ, be rewarded by Him or lose rewards. “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ so each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” It is not something to be taken lightly. Note the next verse, “therefore knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men.” What’s he talking about when he says knowing the fear of the Lord? Well let’s back up. Verse 9, “we have as our ambition, whether at home in the body or absent, we want to be pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.” Verse 11, “therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord we persuade men.” Paul says the realization that I must stand before the judgment seat of Christ and give an account is an awesome event. That is a fearful thing to me. We say how does the Apostle Paul keep going. He was afraid of the alternative of not, he was going to have to give an account. Why don’t we persuade men and share the gospel with them? We’re afraid of what they’ll think. You know what? Paul was more afraid of what Christ would think. Knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men. Because of the fear of men, we sometimes keep silent. Paul said the realization, some day I will stand before the bema of Christ, I will give an account. Knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men. An awesome event, a real event.

Back up to I Corinthians chapter 3. When and if we do I Corinthians we’ll do the details of this judgment, because I Corinthians 3 is the fullest discussion. But he’s talking about his fellow workers—Peter, Apollos, himself and that leads him to talk and apply it broadly to the church. The foundation which is laid is Christ. We’re only dealing with those building on the foundation of Christ, the believers. Verse 11, “and if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw.” What you’re doing now as a believer in Christ, each man’s work will be tested by fire. Verse 15, “if any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.” At this time when we stand before the bema of Christ, what we have done with our lives will be put to the test of the fire. But everyone at the bema is going to heaven. This is not a judgment to see whether you go to heaven or not, everyone at this judgment is going to heaven, because they have placed their faith in the finished work of Christ. But they’ll suffer great loss. We have the super spiritual, pious people that say oh I wouldn’t work for rewards. I don’t care if I get a reward, being in heaven will be good enough for me. You are a phony; you are a pious fraud. That’s not humility, that’s arrogance to tell the living God that what You have said in Your Word doesn’t matter to me and it’s not important and I don’t care. It’s not humility. The Apostle Paul who perhaps had greater insight because of the revelations given to him and who had been transported to the third heaven, when he spoke about this, he said knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men. True reverence and awe and fear of God drives us to obedience, not to some kind of pious, I don’t care about rewards, it doesn’t matter to me, being in glory will be enough. You better consider whether you’re going to be there with that kind of attitude. You’re more spiritual than Christ. You say, don’t say that. Well don’t talk like that. It will matter greatly. The sad thing is we may not grasp how serious this matter is until we stand there and see the loss. Oh, I didn’t know it was like that, I had my life as a believer on earth to store treasure in the glories of heaven, and I wasted it. What a terrible thing. Oh, if only I had known, this is what it entails. I wouldn’t have cared what people thought, I wouldn’t have frittered my life away in those things that are being consumed by fire. We should have walked by faith and not by sight. Take God at His Word, this is a serious matter. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you are a member of the church, you will be at the bema seat. It will matter because God says it will matter. It will matter greatly. Oh, does that mean I won’t get to heaven? You’ll get to heaven; you will be saved so as by fire. But don’t think you have God in a box—I’m going to heaven, and it won’t matter, nothing else matters. Other things matter greatly because God says they do. You’ll understand how greatly they matter when that day comes.

Romans chapter 14 is another verse on this judgment. Here’s where the bema seat occurs. How do we know the bema seat occurs here? Well, several things—the bride is going to be brought together in marriage with Christ. When we get to this point, remember, we found the church clothed in white garments which are said to be the righteous works of the saints. They’ve already been judged for the deeds done in the body, other factors. When we get here, Christ returns to earth, there are several judgments that occur. Remember at the Second Coming of Christ Old Testament saints and tribulation saints will be resurrected. At their resurrection, and the judgments occur in the context of the resurrection, for these that we’re talking about now. When Old Testament saints are resurrected and tribulation saints are resurrected, they are judged, and that’s when they’re rewarded. Part of the reward is the role they play in reigning with Christ and the responsibilities given to them. The Old Testament talks about the judgment on Old Testament saints, we already looked at Daniel 12, we won’t go back there. But remember they’re resurrected, they shine, they have glory, they’re going into the kingdom, they’re like the stars and the glory that they have as they reign with the Son of God in His kingdom.

In Revelation 20:4 we talk about the tribulation saints were raised and they rule and reign with Christ for 1000 years. This is part of the rewards given at the judgment seat for Old Testament saints and tribulation saints. They are resurrected in the context of going into the kingdom and that’s where they are judged and rewarded and their responsibilities and so on in the kingdom are set out.

Jump to the last resurrection, if you would, the resurrection of unbelievers and the judgment of unbelievers. This, remember, happens at the end of the 1000 years. Go back to Revelation chapter 20. We read this in the context of the resurrection, you note their judgment occurs here. In verse 11 you have the Great White Throne. This is the last judgment of scripture. Every single unbeliever who has ever lived will appear at this judgment seat. Verse 12, “I saw the dead, the great and the small standing before the throne. The books were opened, another book was opened which is the book of life.” We have two sets of books here. We have a set of books that contain all the works they have done. We have another book which is the book of life. The dead were judged from the things which are written in the books according to their deeds. They say, see I knew, we are going to be saved by our works. God is going to put them on the scale and if your good works are enough the scale swings in your behalf and you’ll go to heaven. No, you understand that at the Great White Throne, everyone here is going to hell. This judgment is for the purpose of determining where in hell you will be placed. Just like there are rewards for believers who are going to heaven, so there are differing degrees of punishment for those who are going to hell.

Look how this judgment goes on. “The sea gave up the dead which were in it, death and hades gave up…….” When unbelievers die now, they do not go directly to hell, they go directly to hades, described with the rich man in Luke 16 as a place of torment in fire. When hades gave up the dead which were in it, all the unbelievers who are in hades now come out, they are resurrected. Their bodies are resurrected, they come out of hades as well and now they are to be sentenced to hell. This is a resurrection of the wicked wherever they were. They were judged everyone of them according to their deeds, then death and hades were thrown into the lake of fire. All the dead will appear at this judgment, all those who were in hades are cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. Remember earlier, verse 6, “blessed and holy is the one who has part in the first resurrection. Over these the second death has no power.” Now we find those over whom the second death does have power.

Verse 15, “If any one’s name was not found written in the book of life he was thrown into the lake of fire.” You know everyone here is going to the lake of fire. They are judged on the basis of their works, not to see if they’re going to heaven, but where in hell they are going, because only those in the book of life are going to heaven. The book of life is here just to demonstrate your name is not here. We don’t have time to go into it, but all the judgments of scripture are based on works, and people will suffer differently in hell. People who have sat under the ministry of the Word of God and heard again and again and again will suffer most greatly. Those who have never heard will suffer less, but we’re talking about suffering in hell. It will be terrible whatever it is. But you understand, we sometimes say oh what about the people there who have never heard, what about the people here who hear regularly? They will be in the worst possible position. Remember Jesus told the cities of His day it would be more tolerable in the day of judgment for Sodom and Gomorrah than it will be for Capernaum and the present-day cities, because they had greater light. Greater light brings greater responsibility brings greater judgment. Those who have heard the word of Christ, the truth of the gospel and rejected it will suffer to a greater degree than those who have never heard. But all who have not been redeemed by God’s grace through faith in His Son are going to hell.

This is the resurrection of the wicked, this is the last judgment of scripture. No believers will be here, believers will all be part of the first resurrection of which Christ is the first fruits, the church at the rapture and Old Testament saints and tribulation saints at the Second Coming to earth. One thousand years pass, then you have the wicked raised and they are sentenced to hell. Again, what goes on in this life is of utmost importance. We’re dealing with matters in this life that are of eternal significance. Where you will spend eternity is determined by your response to the gospel of Jesus Christ here in this life. As believers in Jesus Christ, the rewards we will get will be significant through eternity and are determined by what we do here. So often we are like children who are playing, they fail to realize the importance.

There are two other judgments I want to mention because sometimes people are confused. There are the living at the second advent. When Christ returns to earth there are people, believers and unbelievers, alive on the earth. They will be judged right here. Now they are not the resurrected. These are the Old Testament saints who have died whose bodies are resurrected, tribulation saints who have died and are resurrected. But there is also a judgment here of those who are alive—Jews who have lived through the tribulation and Gentiles who have lived through the tribulation. There will be both believers and unbelievers. We have to take a moment. We have to jump back to the Old Testament, the book of Ezekiel. Ezekiel chapter 20. I want to mention this because some people get confused and they lump these judgments all together and it only brings confusion and confusion adds confusion. Ezekiel chapter 20, right about the middle of your Bible. God spoke to Israel. Verse 34, “I will bring you out from the peoples, gather you from the lands where you were scattered, with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, with wrath poured out. I will bring you into the wilderness of the people and there I will enter into judgment with you face to face.” We’re talking about living people gathered among the nations of the world, Jews here. “As I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, I will enter into judgment with you. I will make you pass under the rod, bring you under the bond of the covenant. I will purge from you the rebels, those who trespass against me. I will bring them out of the land where they sojourn, but they will not enter the land of Israel.” They’re not going into the kingdom. Remember the parallel, the example was verse 36, when He brought them out of Egypt, but all the rebels died in the wilderness. They didn’t go into the land. When Christ returns there will be a judgment on Israel and none of the rebels in Israel are going into the kingdom. There will be a mass turning to Christ among the Jews just before His Second Coming, but not every Jew is going to turn to Christ. There’ll still be many, many Jews who will continue in their rebellion.

Come to Matthew 25 and we’ll have to stop here, Matthew 25, the judgment of the sheep and the goats. My understanding that in Matthew chapter 25 you’re dealing with the judgment of Israel in the first 30 verses, the parable of the ten virgins, waiting for the coming of the bridegroom. They’re not the bride, they’re the ten virgins awaiting the coming of the bridegroom. That’s when Christ will return with His bride to unveil her, the church, and we’ll have the wedding feast. Five were prepared, five were not, refers to those Jews ready for Christ and those who are not ready. So also, with the parable of the talents and the accountability there. Then you come to verse 31, “but when the Son of Man comes in His glory and all the angels with Him, He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him.” Now we’ve moved from judging Israel at the Second Coming, living Jews, to judging living Gentiles, the nations, the goyim. Talking about the Gentiles, they are judged. When does it happen? When the Son of Man comes and His holy angels with Him and sits on His glorious throne. All the nations are gathered. He separates them, the sheep from the goats. These are living people; these are not resurrected people. “He puts the sheep on His right, the goats on His left. The king will say to those on His right, come you who are blessed of my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” They are going into the kingdom, and He tells all they did. “You fed me when I was hungry, clothed me when I was in prison” and so on. They say when did we do all this to you? Well verse 40, “the king will answer them, truly I say to you, to the extent you did it to one of the least of these brothers of mine you did it to me. Then He’ll say to those on the left, depart from me you cursed ones into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels.” So here we are right here. What is He talking about? To the blessed, you go into the kingdom. To the goats, you’re on your way to hell. They will be killed. They will be resurrected here at the judgment of the Great White Throne with unbelievers. What do we determine? Who is going into the kingdom—the sheep. Why does He say when you gave a cup of cold water. So many people misunderstand this, this becomes the basis for a social program in the church. That doesn’t have anything to do with that. During this period of time when the goal of the Antichrist and the devil is to destroy all the Jews, to do a kindness to the Jew will put your life on the line. Only those who are true believers will do that, they manifest their concern and love for the Jews in being willing to put their life on the line. That’s why they’re judged on that basis, it reveals the true condition of their heart. Has nothing to do with whether you do a kindness to somebody today. I’m not saying you shouldn’t, I’m saying this passage is not talking about that. We have to take it in its context. It’s talking about what happens when Christ comes at this point and determines who goes into the kingdom. Problem comes, people make just one general judgment and every time you talk about judgment you must be talking about the last judgment, so this is… No, He’s talking about specific setting here and who’s going into the kingdom.

The judgment of the sheep and the goats is a judgment of living people. We were talking about the judgment of resurrected people here. But there is judgment of the living. Don’t confuse them, they will determine who goes into the kingdom. Those who survive this judgment, they were alive in their physical bodies, they are alive here, they are believers, they go on into the kingdom in their physical body. They repopulate the earth, they have children, multitudes of children. Many of those children born in the millenium will not become believers in Christ. They are the ones who will rebel against Christ as we saw in Revelation 20 and prefer to have satan as their king. They will be destroyed there and appear at the Great White Throne.

That’s just an overview of the resurrections and judgments of scripture. There is order, we just have to be careful we take it literally, these future things, and we take it in their proper order as I Corinthians 15 says. The resurrection, each in his own order, starting with Christ, then those who are His at His coming, then the coming of the end and the judgment of the wicked. Most important question of all is where are we in light of the coming of Christ? Do you know the Savior, not do you attend this church, not have you been baptized here, not do you give money here. Have you come to believe in Jesus Christ?

Let’s pray. Thank you, Lord, for a Savior who has come to bring us salvation. Lord it is amazing that we who deserve judgment, deserve hell, were worthy of death should experience so great a salvation that brings complete cleansing and forgiveness and promises us a glory for the future. I pray for any who are here, Lord, who do not know the Savior, that their eyes might be opened to believe in Him, that they might enter into life and have a future of glory. We praise you in Christ’s name. Amen.