Saturday, January 27, 2018

January 27, 2018

Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.  The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death.”  Revelation 20:11-14

In my last post I referenced five Scriptures that talk about judgment and each one of them mention that ultimate judgment will be based on your permanent record!

The Bible talks about Five Judgments and guess what? Each one is factored on permanent records:

1) Judgment of Israel, Daniel 12:1

At the end of the age Israel will be judged for her refusal to acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah. How can you be saved when you fail to acknowledge the Savior?

This rejection of Christ will represent a significant blot on their permanent record.

2) Judgment of Nations, Joel 3:1-2

Each of the nations of the world will stand before the throne to receive their judgment for their treatment of Israel and their sins against God.

Unfortunately, America is one of those nations ripe for judgment. God help us!

3) Judgment of Angels, Jude 6; Genesis 3:15

Isaiah tells of a cataclysmic event that took place in heaven when Lucifer rebelled against God and implicated one-third of the angels with him. They were all expelled from heaven. Those fallen angels or demons have been feverishly opposing God and God's people ever since.

These are the angels that will be judged and cast down to the Lake of Fire eternally. Good riddance!

4) Judgment of Believers

Those of us who know Christ as Savior and have obediently served Him will be judged according to our works. We will be rewarded on the merit of our permanent record.

5) Judgment of Unbelievers

Finally, those who never knew Jesus as Savior or who once knew Him but then turned away from Him.

The Judge on the throne will be Jesus! Who is more qualified to be the judge than the One Who was judged on the cross for the sins of the world?

So those who say a Holy God would never send anyone to Heaven is right - Jesus will be the One to condemn them to Hell based on their permanent record!

The judgment seat is referred to as The White Throne. White as in pure, holy and radiant! 

The original word used for this judgment seat is "bema" and it refers to the stage or platform where the judges sat to judge the Olympic athletes according to their performance. Those judged as the winners were called up to the "bema" where they received their laurel wreath shaped like a crown. That is a familiar way of explaining the seat of the coming judgment.

Each person will stand before the "bema" to receive 

Three Books of Judgment: 

Each person's judgment will be based on their permanent record as compared against three works.

   Scriptures

The first book that will opened during the judgment
will be the Scriptures.  All of us will be judged
based according to how well our lives measured up
with the sacred Word of God!

Works

The second book opened will be the record of
works in our lives following our decision to follow
Christ as Savior. In other words, our permanent record will be displayed for all to see!

Life

The third book opened will be the Book of Life. Those  whose names appear in that Book will be welcomed to Heaven and those who don't will be consigned to Hell.

So judgment will begin with the Word of God so it will be clear what God expected from them so they will be without excuse.

The the personal permanent record of each person will then be opened that those deeds done in the flesh and those works will be compared to the demands of the Word of God.

Judgment literally will "by the book"! So remember,
YOUR EARTHLY ACTIONS GAIN ETERNAL TRACTION!