Judgment Day: When is it, And Are You Ready For It?

This is not the topic of many Christian sermons these days. Perhaps, this is because it concerns a future event, whose date of occurrence is rather indefinite. It also carries a rather negative connotation with it, and this doesn’t tend to draw much of a crowd. Folks are far more interested in gratification and fulfillment of present needs, e.g., the “health, wealth and happiness” message, than they are with a vague future event. Thus, popular preaching, as is always the case, follows demand.

This phenomenon–the avoidance of preaching about this–is also driven by the complexity of the subject and the multitude of different opinions as to the what, when, who and where of it. As a former acquaintance, who had attended a seminary of a mainstream Protestant denomination, informed me, there are certain topics that he and his fellow seminarians were told to avoid addressing, I.e., if they wanted to “stay out of trouble.” This definitely includes anything that deals with future events spoken of in the Bible.

But there is a rather huge problem with this tact. The Bible, which most Christian sects claim is their final authority in faith and practice, is chock full of prophecies about future events. In fact, it is almost equally divided between declarations concerning the “here and now”, and those of a future time. To leave out teaching about future events in the Bible is to exclude half its contents!

I contend that it is a grievous disservice to a congregation of believers to avoid teaching on the topic of the future judgments spoken of in Scripture. It is, in fact, vital that all saved people have a clear understanding of these judgments, and how they apply to them in the eternal scheme of things. Therefore, let’s proceed with the study of God’s judgments in Scripture.

Three Main Judgments

While judgments are passed on certain behaviors and peoples throughout Scripture, we will not dwell on these in this exegesis, but rather on three future events, ((There are three basic eschatological schools of thought concerning future, prophetic events in Scripture.1. Historicism; which teaches that the prophecy in the Revelation has unfolded over the past two thousand years in seven stages, symbolically characterized in the seven churches of Revelation 2 and 3. 2. Preterism; which teaches that everything spoken of in the Revelation was fulfilled by AD 70, and the “Parousia” or second appearing of the Lord happened at that time; and 3. Futurism, which teaches that everything in the Revelation is in the future. I will be teaching, in this article, from the Futurist perspective. Of course, there are a multitude of variations within each of these major divisions, which aren’t needful to identify in this particular discussion.)) concerning three different groups of people: 1. The Jews; 2. The Gentiles; 3. The Body of Christ (aka, “the church”) These will be addressed in the order in which they appear in Scripture. 

First, let’s establish a basic truth: All prophecy, in both the old and new testaments, concerns only numbers 1 and 2; the Jews (Israel) and the Gentile nations who qualify for God’s blessing according to the everlasting covenant with Abraham ((Gen. 12 and 17))

The Sheep and Goats Judgment

The first of these judgments is what is commonly referred to as the judgment by the Lord of the sheep and goats,

Matt 25:31-26:1

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:

32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:

33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:

36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?

39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:

43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.

44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?

45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.

46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

First, this judgment is of the “nations.” The word nations is translated from the Greek ethnos, which always refers to the “heathen”, non-Jewish, Gentiles. (The corresponding word in Hebrew is gowy or goy.).

What this is not is a judgment of “the church.” This is so because the church, the body of Christ, isn’t going to inherit this particular kingdom spoken of by the Lord in this passage. Nor is it “the last judgment”, invariably, so-called in almost every commentary one can find on this passage, or a judgment based on the general conduct (works) of the audience being addressed. Ney. This is the judgment of the nations present during Israel’s “great tribulation,” briefly described in the preceding chapter, ((Matt. 24: 15-21)) and is based solely on how they responded to the plight of “the least of these my brethren,” or according to the context of Matthew’s gospel, “the lost sheep of the house of Israel…my people…his people”(Matt. 1:21; 2:6; 10:6; 15:24) Rendering aid to the poor of the world has absolutely nothing to do with this. ((Nor does it have anything to do with rendering aid to modern-day Israel. For a more detailed treatment of this topic, see What Price Israel? and Israel: Where does she stand in the Dispensation of Grace? ))

Those who get designated “sheep,” by virtue of aiding the Lord’s brethren, Israel, will, as it says, “inherit the kingdom.” What “kingdom” is it that they will inherit? This is “the kingdom of heaven,”  referred to as such 32 times in Matthew’s gospel. ((This is an earthly kingdom, not the heavenly one the body of Christ will inherit.)) But this inheritance isn’t the same as Israel’s inheritance in this kingdom. Isaiah 60,61,62 clearly place these Gentile nations into the service and under the rule of Israel.

The Judgment Seat of Christ

2 Cor 5:10

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. (Also ref. Romans 14:10)

This is the judgment of the church, which is made up of both Jews and Gentiles who have believed the “gospel of Christ”, trusting that Christ died for their sins and was raised again…for their justification. ((1 Cor. 15:1-4; Rom. 4:24)) While this judgment appears in the order of Scripture after the sheep and goats judgment, it will actually happen at least seven years before this (the duration of the “tribulation” or “wrath to come”). Unlike the S and G judgment, which will happen on the earth, this judgment will be in “heavenly places,” ((Eph. 1:3)) when the Lord calls up the church, as in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17. Also unlike the S and G judgment, this is not a judgment to determine anyone’s inheritance or eternal destination; this is a trying of the works of individual members of the body of Christ to determine the level of reward they receive,

Col 3:23-25

23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;

24 Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.

25 But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.

1 Cor 3:10-15

According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.

11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;

13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.

14 If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.

15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

Being that this occurs prior to the tribulation, ((For a detailed discusion of this see: “Where, on the Bible Timeline, does the “Rapture” Occur?)) it can therefore have nothing to do with aiding Israel during that time. Nor is it a judgment of sin(s), because according to the gospel of Christ, the body of Christ possesses “the forgiveness of sins”(Eph. 1:7), and this at the moment of salvation. This has to do, expressly, with the quality of works (or lack thereof) of individual members of the body from the moment they are saved, to either their physical death or the “catching up” of 1 Thess. 4. Thus, the Apostle Paul, the revelator of the gospel of Christ and the body of Christ, continually admonishes body members to be “rich in…zealous of….to maintain…good works,” ((1 Tim. 6:18; 2 Tim. 3:17; Titus 2:7,14; 3:8,14)) indeed, to “study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed; rightly dividing the word of truth….That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ.” ((1 Tim. 2:15; Philip. 1:10))

The Great White Throne

Rev 20:11-21:1

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.

12 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.

13 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.

14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

This is the final resurrection and judgment of all those who have passed from this life, that is, who are not part of the body of Christ. And, according to verse 13, this is a “works” judgment, and it does determine one’s eternal destination. 

Certainly, this will include all people who existed during the present dispensation (Eph. 3:2), and heard the gospel of their salvation, “the gospel of Christ”(Rom. 1:16). ((It is evident that there have been people who have lived and died over the past 2000 years who never heard of Jesus Christ, much less the gospel of Christ. Because of what it says in Romans 1:18-25, I believe this category of people will be judged according to what they knew and how they responded to it. While these people cannot be in the body of Christ, just as with the unborn and newly born who passed from life never having the benefit of knowledge, I must believe God has a special place for them in the eternal scheme of things.))

The important thing to know about this judgment is that the body of Christ will not be part of it. ((This is pure speculation, so take it for what it’s worth, but I believe it is possible, in that the body of Christ is with the Lord in heaven prior to the tribulation and the S and G judgment, and according to. 1 Thess. 4:17, will “…ever be with the Lord,” that we will be present at this judgment as judges. Ref. 1 Cor. 6:2,3)) Those of us in the body are accounted righteous in Christ at the moment we “first believe,” and “sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise…unto the day of redemption” ((Rom. 3:22; 4:6; Eph. 1:13,14; 4:30)), and therefore God cannot pass judgment on our eternal condition/destination in any future judgment. The question is, are you in the body of Christ, I.e., have you trusted Christ as your Savior? The apostle Paul told the Corinthians (2 Cor. 13:5), who had fallen into the habit of questioning the authenticity of the salvation of others, to “examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves.” Indeed.

Mike Schroeder

Feel free to reprint and/or distribute this article. All Scripture references and quotations are from the King James Bible.

Notes: