Participants: Stephen Bohr
Series Code: TGCC
Program Code: TGCC000002A
|
00:15 Well, hello everybody again.
00:18 It's good to see you all here for session number two 00:22 of this series. 00:23 We're talking about the great controversy between 00:27 good and evil, and how God solves this problem 00:31 through the Sanctuary service. 00:33 Now before we begin our study this evening, 00:35 which is titled, God's Judgment Process, 00:39 we do want to ask for the Lord's special presence with us. 00:42 And so I invite you to bow your heads with me as we pray. 00:46 Father in heaven, we thank You for bringing us 00:49 to this place once again. 00:51 I thank You for all of those who have taken time 00:53 from their busy schedule to come and be at this meeting tonight. 00:58 And we ask that You will be with us through the presence 01:00 of Your Holy Spirit, that You might give us understanding, 01:04 and that we might know that You are taking all the necessary 01:07 steps to vindicate Your character once and for all 01:12 forever before the universe. 01:14 And we thank You for hearing our prayer, 01:16 for we ask it in the precious name of Jesus, amen. 01:21 In our last study together, we were reading some verses 01:26 that indicate that all of the universe is observing 01:31 the problem of evil as it develops, 01:34 not only in this world, but in heaven as well. 01:38 And so I want to begin with one of those text that 01:41 we studied yesterday. 01:43 1 Corinthians 4:9 01:47 And it's very unusual that I would read a text 01:50 from the New International Version. 01:52 I'm actually a New King James guy. 01:55 But the translation in the NIV, I believe, captures best 02:00 the meaning of this text so that it's very understandable. 02:05 And so in 1 Corinthians 4:9, the apostle Paul writes... 02:17 So notice, Paul is saying that the apostles are on display. 02:22 The word, "display," here is the word, "apodeiknumi," 02:27 which means, to demonstrate, to expose to view, 02:30 or to exhibit. 02:32 In other words, there's some aspect in which the apostles 02:35 are being exhibited. 02:37 So notice once again... 02:49 So he's using the illustration of what was done in Rome 02:53 by taking criminals to the Colosseum to have them 02:57 fight with wild beasts while the spectators watch 03:00 what was happening. 03:01 And so basically the apostle Paul is saying, 03:03 "Us apostles are being taken to the arena as a display 03:08 or as a demonstration." 03:10 And then he continues writing... 03:18 The word, "spectacle," is the Greek word, "theatron," 03:22 from where we get the word, "theater." 03:24 In other words, this is a drama that is taking place. 03:28 And it's being observed by witnesses. 03:32 And the apostles are on display before these witnesses. 03:36 Now I want to read particularly the last part of this verse. 03:40 It says, "We have been made a spectacle..." 03:42 That is, a theater. 03:44 "...to the whole universe..." 03:47 The word there that is used is the word, "cosmos." 03:50 "...to angels as well as to men." 03:54 So notice, the apostles were on display. 03:57 This was a theatrical, a real theatrical display, 04:01 that was being viewed, or testified to, by men 04:07 as well as by angels. 04:09 In other words, heaven and earth are both 04:12 observing and watching what is happening here 04:16 on this earth. 04:17 And then we read 1 Peter 1:12, where it's speaking about the 04:22 message that was given to the Old Testament prophets. 04:26 And I read there from 1 Peter 1:12, "To them..." 04:30 That is, to the prophets of the Old Testament. 04:47 So in other words, the apostles wrote, not for their time 04:49 primarily, they wrote for our time because what they 04:52 wrote about is fulfilled in our time. 04:55 And notice the last part of the verse. 05:03 So basically, the plan of salvation which was described 05:07 by the prophets, which is fulfilled in our time, 05:11 had to do with things that angels desire to look into. 05:16 Angels are studying the plan of salvation, in other words. 05:20 Let's notice a few other verses that show that not only 05:23 this world, but heaven is involved in witnessing 05:27 the great controversy that is transpiring here on this earth. 05:31 Notice Colossians 1:19-20. 05:35 Colossians 1:19-20 05:38 It says there, "For it pleased the Father that in Him..." 05:42 That is, in Jesus. 05:44 "...all the fullness should dwell, and by Him..." 05:48 That is, by Jesus. 05:50 "...to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him..." 05:56 That is, by Jesus. 06:07 So notice, the cross not only reconciles the earth with God, 06:11 but it also reconciles what? 06:14 It reconciles heaven with God. 06:16 Because heaven catches a glimpse of what the character of God 06:20 is truly like. 06:22 Notice Luke 15:10. 06:24 Heaven is very closely linked with planet earth. 06:28 Heaven is watching what is happening on planet earth. 06:31 They're involved in the situation here. 06:34 Notice Luke 15:10. 06:36 Speaking about the angels, it says... 06:39 Jesus is speaking, by the way. 06:50 So when a sinner repents on earth, does that have 06:53 implications or repercussions in heaven? 06:55 It most certainly does. 06:57 Because Jesus said that there is joy in the presence 07:01 of the angels when one sinner repents. 07:04 Notice Luke 12:8. 07:06 Time and again we have this theme that heaven is involved 07:09 in this controversy on earth. 07:11 They are not only involved as witnesses, but they are 07:15 actively involved as well. 07:17 Luke 12:8 07:19 And we'll also read verse 9. 07:22 Jesus is speaking once again. 07:43 So notice, our names are being confessed before the angels. 07:47 The angels are observing our cases, in other words, 07:52 in the judgment. 07:53 Notice Revelation 3:5. 07:55 Revelation 3:5 once again speaks about God presenting 08:00 our name before the angels. 08:02 It reads there... 08:03 Once again, Jesus is speaking. 08:20 There it is again. 08:21 Notice, the angels are involved with what's 08:24 happening on this earth. 08:25 Notice also Ephesians 3:8-11. 08:32 This is a rather long passage, but it has very many 08:35 important points. 08:37 This is how it reads. 08:38 "To me..." That is, to Paul. 08:54 Notice he's saying, "I'm preaching so that 08:56 everyone can see." 08:58 Can see what? 08:59 Let's continue. 09:21 Now notice that the manifold wisdom of God 09:24 needs to be demonstrated. 09:25 Notice to whom it needs to be demonstrated to. 09:28 It's demonstrated "...by the church to the principalities 09:32 and powers..." Where? 09:34 "...in heavenly places..." 09:42 So once again you have the idea that the church is to 09:46 make known the plan of salvation, not only on this 09:50 earth, but to the principalities and powers 09:53 in heavenly places. 09:54 That's referring, not only to the angels, but it's referring 09:58 to the inhabitants of other worlds as well. 10:01 Notice Romans... 10:03 Well, before we go to Romans, let's go to Psalm 51:1-4. 10:07 And then we'll go to Romans 3:4. 10:09 There's a little difference here. 10:11 Romans 3:4 quotes Psalm 51, but in the quotation, 10:16 it changes it a little bit. 10:18 You know, if I was to ask you, 10:21 "In the judgment, who is it that is judged?" 10:24 you probably would say, "Well, we are the ones who are judged. 10:28 God judges us." 10:29 But there's another sense in which during the judgment 10:33 it is God who is being judged. 10:35 Now notice what we find in Psalm 51:1-4. 10:39 Of course, this is the penitential psalm of David 10:43 after he committed adultery with Bathsheba 10:47 and after he had her husband killed in the battle front. 10:50 It says there... 11:24 Does God say that we are all sinners, yes or no? 11:28 The Bible says that we are all sinners. 11:30 God says that we are all sinners. 11:32 Now if we openly confess that we are sinners, 11:35 is God judging us correctly? 11:38 Absolutely. 11:39 But what if we should say that we're not sinners. 11:42 Well, then we run into certain problems. 11:45 Now notice how Romans 3:4 quotes these verses from Psalm 51. 11:54 It says there... 11:57 This is Romans 3:4. 12:05 That is, those who say that they haven't sinned. 12:08 Now speaking about God. 12:19 Did you catch that? 12:21 In Psalm it says, "You will be found guiltless when You judge." 12:25 But when it's quoted by Paul in Romans 3:4, 12:28 he says that, "You might be found..." What? 12:32 "...that You might be found just when You are judged." 12:36 And so basically, in the judgment God is judging us. 12:40 But in the process of judging us, God Himself 12:44 is being judged by the universe to see if God 12:47 is pronouncing a righteous and a true judgment. 12:52 Perhaps the clearest indication that we have in the Bible 12:55 of this connection between heaven and earth, 12:58 of this involvement of heaven with earth, 13:01 is in the story of Job. 13:03 I wish I had a couple of hours just to talk 13:05 about the story of Job. 13:07 But we don't have the time to do it, so let me just synthesize. 13:10 In Job 1 it says that the sons of God come to present 13:14 themselves before the Lord. 13:16 And among them comes Satan. 13:19 And then God says to Satan, 13:21 "Have you considered My servant Job? 13:24 He is a blameless man, he eschews evil, 13:28 and he's righteous even though he lives in your territory." 13:31 I'm paraphrasing what God says. 13:34 And Satan says, "Oh, well of course he's faithful to You. 13:37 Because You favor him." 13:41 You remember one of the arguments that Lucifer 13:43 used in heaven? 13:45 "Oh yeah, You have favorites. Your Son is Your favorite. 13:47 Yeah, You take Him under Your wing. 13:49 You don't let anybody else in." 13:50 And so the devil says, or Satan says to God, 13:54 "Well, you know, of course he serves You. 13:57 Because You do everything good to him, 13:59 while You don't do good things to everybody else. 14:01 But if You allowed me to touch him, he would blaspheme 14:05 You to Your face." 14:06 Now we need to understand that all the 14:08 sons of God are present there. 14:09 The representatives of the worlds are there 14:12 in the heavenly council. 14:14 Now God could have said to Satan, "Nah, you're lying. 14:18 Don't believe what's he's saying." 14:19 God could have said that, but the heavenly beings 14:22 would have thought, "Hmm, what is God afraid of." 14:25 And so God says to Satan, "Oh, so you say that he serves Me 14:28 for the loaves and the fishes? 14:30 I'll let you do anything you want to him, 14:32 only don't touch him." 14:33 And so we know the story. 14:35 The devil goes out and he afflicts Job by making him 14:39 lose everything that he has; children, servants, beasts. 14:44 Everything that he owned he lost. 14:47 And instead of blaspheming God, Job says, "God gave and 14:52 God has taken away. 14:53 Blessed be the name of the Lord." 14:55 And so how is God looking before the heavenly council? 14:58 God is seen to be truthful. 15:00 And Job is seen to be faithful to God because he loves God. 15:04 Not because of the loaves and the fishes. 15:06 And so you have a second council meeting in heaven. 15:09 And once again, the sons of God who had left the first meeting, 15:12 it says that they come again to the presence of God. 15:15 And God says to Satan, "Have you seen My servant Job, 15:19 that he's still faithful to Me in spite of the fact 15:21 that you turned Me against him?" 15:23 And the devil says, "Of course. 15:25 Because You only let me take stuff away from him, 15:27 but You didn't let me touch him. 15:29 If You let me touch him, 15:31 he would blaspheme You to Your face." 15:33 And so God could have said, "No, no, the trial is over. 15:37 He's never going to do that." 15:39 He could have said that. 15:40 The heavenly beings would have thought, 15:42 "Hmm, we wonder what God is really afraid of. 15:45 You know, He's not letting Satan do it because He's afraid that 15:49 Job might apostatize." 15:50 And so God says to Satan, "Okay, you can do anything you want. 15:55 You can touch him any way that you want, 15:58 only I forbid you to take his life. 16:00 Because if you take his life, then the trial is over." 16:03 And so Satan goes out and he afflicts Job with boils 16:06 from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet. 16:10 And then he loses the support of his wife. 16:12 His wife says, "Curse God and die." 16:14 And his three friends come to console him. 16:17 And even his three friends turn to be his accusers. 16:21 And then Job feels that God Himself has forsaken him, 16:24 because he cries out to God and God apparently does not 16:27 listen to what he's saying. 16:28 He's lost everything except his life. 16:31 And yet Job remained faithful to God. 16:35 God was shown true before the heavenly council. 16:38 And Satan was shown to be wrong. 16:41 Are you following me or not? 16:42 And so we find in this story this controversy between 16:46 heaven and earth, and how God is made to look good 16:51 when His people are faithful to Him 16:53 even in the worst circumstances. 16:56 Now what we're going to study... 16:58 That was just the conclusion of our last study. 17:00 And now we are going to enter into our study on the judgment, 17:06 the judgment process. 17:08 I'd like to begin by sharing with you a list 17:12 of the beings in the universe that are involved 17:16 in this controversy. 17:18 First of all, God is involved. 17:20 God is the accused. 17:22 In the story of Job, it's not Job that is accused. 17:26 God is accused of favoring Job. 17:28 And so we need to understand that in the Bible, 17:31 the devil, yes he's the accuser of the brethren, 17:34 but primarily the devil is accusing God. 17:37 And so the accused in the whole great controversy 17:40 is God Himself. 17:42 Now another group that is involved in this 17:45 great controversy are the heavenly beings who remained 17:49 faithful to God. 17:51 And I've mentioned that those heavenly beings 17:53 who remained faithful to God are, first of all, the angels 17:58 that did not give in to Satan's temptations. 18:00 And secondly, the representatives 18:03 or the inhabitants of all of the worlds of the universe. 18:06 So there is a group of heavenly beings that are faithful to God. 18:11 They're involved in the great controversy 18:13 because they're observing how the great controversy 18:16 develops and how God is going to resolve this problem. 18:20 Now there's also a group of earthly beings 18:23 who are faithful to God. 18:25 The earthly beings are composed of the righteous 18:28 who died before the second coming of Christ 18:31 and the righteous who will be alive when Jesus comes. 18:35 And so among the righteous you have the dead in Christ 18:39 who die before Jesus comes, and you have the living 18:42 righteous who will be alive and remain when Jesus comes. 18:46 Then you also have a group of heavenly beings 18:49 that are unfaithful; which is the devil and his angels. 18:54 They're heavenly beings; they were cast to the earth, 18:56 but they still had their origin in heaven. 18:58 They also are involved in the great controversy. 19:02 And finally, you have a group of human beings on earth 19:06 that are also unfaithful to God. 19:09 So basically summarizing, God is the accused. 19:13 There's a group of heavenly beings who are faithful to God; 19:16 the angels and the inhabitants of the worlds. 19:19 There's a group of earthly beings who are faithful to God. 19:22 Those who died in Christ and those who are alive 19:24 when Jesus comes. 19:26 You have a group of heavenly beings that were 19:28 unfaithful to God. 19:29 That is Satan and his angels. 19:32 And finally, you have a group of earthly beings 19:35 that are unfaithful to God; which are those who chose sin 19:40 and rejected Jesus Christ as their Savior. 19:44 Now the purpose of the judgment is to clear up the issues 19:50 of the great controversy before each one of these groups. 19:54 In other words, when each one of these groups 19:57 is persuaded and convinced that God was just and loving 20:01 in the way in which He dealt with sin, 20:04 only then will God be able to destroy sin and sinners. 20:09 Every single group must be convinced. 20:12 The heavenly beings who remained faithful to God, 20:14 the earthly beings who remained faithful to God, 20:17 the heavenly beings who were unfaithful to God, 20:20 and the earthly beings who were unfaithful to God. 20:23 When all of these groups have been persuaded, 20:26 then God can bring the great controversy to an end 20:31 and He can cleanse the universe from sin and sinners. 20:36 Now, there are three stages of the judgment process. 20:41 You know, if you asked a common ordinary Christian 20:45 from any church when the judgment takes place, 20:50 most likely they would tell you that the judgment takes place 20:54 when Jesus comes. 20:56 And they get this, for example, from the creed where it says 20:59 that Jesus will come to judge the living and the dead. 21:02 So for them, the judgment is when Jesus comes 21:05 for the second time. 21:06 But even before that, they don't realize it, 21:09 but they believe that the judgment is when a person dies. 21:13 Because most churches teach that when a person dies, 21:15 if they were good they're whisked off to heaven. 21:18 And if they were wicked, they're sent to hell. 21:21 So basically they were judged at a certain moment when they died. 21:25 But they also say, "Well, you know, the final judgment 21:28 is going to be when Jesus comes again." 21:31 And then the righteous will be saved, 21:33 and the wicked then will be confined to hell, 21:36 not only from death till the coming of Jesus, 21:39 but forever and ever. 21:40 That's basically their concept of the judgment. 21:43 But the Bible describes the judgment, not as an event. 21:47 The judgment is a process. 21:50 We need to understand that the judgment is not an event, 21:53 the judgment is a process. 21:56 A process that, we're going to study, began in 1844 22:00 and does not end until the wicked are destroyed 22:04 after the millennium. 22:06 So in other words, for hundreds and hundreds of years 22:10 the judgment takes place, and the judgment occurs 22:14 in three successive stages. 22:17 Now you say, what are the three successive stages? 22:22 We're going to study those in a few moments, 22:24 but I also would like to mention something else 22:27 to set the stage for what we're going to discuss. 22:30 Not only does the judgment take place in three successive 22:34 historical stages, but each stage of the judgment 22:38 consists of three steps. 22:40 Each of those three stages consists of three steps. 22:44 Now you say, what are the three steps? 22:47 You know, the human system of jurisprudence 22:51 is built on God's method of judgment. 22:55 You say, how is that? 22:57 The first step of each stage of the judgment 23:02 is an investigation of the case. 23:06 Let me ask you, in earthly tribunals when a judgment 23:10 is going to take place, is the case examined first? 23:13 Is the evidence presented first? 23:16 Absolutely. 23:17 You have an examination of the evidence, 23:19 an investigation of the evidence. 23:21 That is the first step of the judgment. 23:24 The second step of the judgment is, after the case has been 23:28 evaluated, examined, investigated, 23:32 and it's been discovered whether the person is innocent 23:35 or guilty, then the sentence is pronounced. 23:39 That's the second step of the judgment. 23:42 And then once the sentence is pronounced, 23:45 the time comes for the third step; which is the 23:49 execution of the sentence. 23:51 Are you following me or not? 23:53 Is that the way our system of justice works 23:55 in the United States? 23:57 Absolutely. 23:58 Democratic countries operate that way. 24:00 There's an investigation of the case to determine 24:03 whether the person is innocent or guilty. 24:05 Then you have the sentence based on the 24:07 examination of the evidence. 24:09 And finally you have the execution or the implementation 24:13 of the sentence that was given based on the evidence. 24:17 So what I want us to remember now, as we're going to get into 24:21 a study of the stages, is there are three successive historical 24:25 stages to the judgment. 24:27 And each of those stages follows these three steps. 24:31 Investigation, sentence, and execution of the sentence. 24:36 Now, the first phase of the judgment takes place 24:43 before the second coming of Christ. 24:46 In fact, now we are living in the time of the judgment. 24:51 Now you say, what is the purpose of this stage of the judgment? 24:55 The purpose of this stage... 24:57 And by the way, later on in this series we're going to study 24:59 this in much more detail. 25:01 Today we're looking at the global picture so that later 25:04 we'll be able to fit all of the pieces into the global picture. 25:07 But what is the purpose of this stage of the judgment 25:11 before the second coming of Christ? 25:13 The purpose is to persuade the heavenly beings 25:17 that God acted correctly in every case that is examined 25:23 of those who profess Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord. 25:26 You see, among those who profess Jesus, 25:29 are there individuals who are true believers 25:32 and others who are not true believers? 25:34 Of course. 25:36 Do you have true and false virgins? 25:40 You have five wise and five what? 25:43 Foolish. 25:44 They all have a lamp. 25:45 They all have the Bible. 25:47 And a certain measure of the oil, which is the Holy Spirit. 25:49 And yet, one group are counterfeit believers. 25:53 In the church, is there wheat and also tares in the church? 25:57 Absolutely. 25:58 Are there those people who say, "Lord, Lord," 26:01 but Jesus says, "I don't know you"? 26:04 Are there people who have the form of godliness 26:07 but don't have the power of godliness in their lives? 26:10 Are there even ministers that disguise themselves 26:13 as ministers of righteousness when they're not really 26:16 ministers of righteousness? 26:18 Are there good and bad fish in the church 26:21 that the fishermen bring into the boat, or into the church? 26:24 Absolutely. 26:25 Are there true and counterfeit believers 26:28 in the wedding chamber? 26:30 You know the parable of Matthew 22. 26:33 And so not everybody who professes the name of 26:35 Jesus Christ is a true believer. 26:38 And so God is going to open up the records of all of those 26:42 who profess the name of Jesus Christ. 26:45 The judgment before the second coming is only of those 26:48 who claimed Jesus Christ as Savior and as Lord; 26:53 to sift between the genuine and the counterfeit. 26:56 Are you following me or not? 26:58 And the purpose is that the heavenly beings will see that 27:01 God acted correctly in every single case 27:05 and that God has a right to bring those who are 27:08 faithful believers to heaven with Him when He comes 27:11 for the second time. 27:13 In other words, does a judgment have to take place 27:16 before Jesus comes to determine who Jesus can take to heaven? 27:19 Of course. 27:21 There has to be investigation, a sentence, and then when Jesus 27:24 comes He executes the sentence or He gives the reward. 27:28 Are you following me or not? 27:29 And so the purpose of the judgment before the 27:32 second coming of Jesus is to separate true believers 27:36 from counterfeit believers in the view of the heavenly jury 27:39 so that Jesus, when He comes to take the genuine believers, 27:44 the whole universe will say, "You brought the ones here 27:48 who really were worthy to be brought here." 27:51 The purpose of the second stage of the judgment 27:54 we will look at after we examine some verses 27:57 about the pre-advent investigative judgment. 28:00 Now let's notice several text in the Bible that describe this 28:05 stage of the judgment before the second coming of Jesus. 28:09 Go with me to Daniel 7. 28:11 We'll read verses 9 and 10, 28:13 and then we'll read verses 13 and 14. 28:17 Now you know Daniel 7 describes a series of beasts 28:20 that represent historical stages. 28:23 First of all, you have a lion that represents 28:25 the kingdom of Babylon. 28:27 Then you have a bear, which is the Medes and Persians. 28:30 Then you have a leopard, which represents Greece. 28:32 Then you have a dragon beast that represents Rome. 28:35 Then the dragon beast sprouts ten horns. 28:37 And that represents the divisions of the Roman Empire. 28:41 Then among the ten horns rises a little horn. 28:44 That's Papal Rome that rules for 1260 years. 28:49 At the end of the 1260 years, you have the verses 28:54 that we're going to read now. 28:55 Verse 9... 29:03 Who is the Ancient of Days? 29:05 It's God the Father. 29:06 Where does God the Father live? 29:08 We pray, "Our Father, which art everywhere?" 29:11 No, that's not the way we pray. 29:12 "Our Father, which art..." Where? 29:13 "...in heaven." The Father dwells in heaven. 29:16 Remember that. 29:20 Now if He was seated, He wasn't seated there before. 29:24 Are you following me or not? 29:44 Who are those, the ten thousand times ten thousand? 29:47 The angels. Where do the angels live? 29:48 In heaven. 29:50 They're in the presence of the Father. 29:51 And then notice what it says. 29:57 So what is going to begin at this point? 30:00 The heavenly judgment. 30:02 It's going to take place in heaven. 30:04 And it takes place after the year 1798. 30:08 Because this comes after the dominion of the little horn. 30:11 Now Daniel 7 doesn't give us the exact date. 30:14 We're going to study that a little bit later on, 30:16 but it is after 1798. 30:19 Now, let's go in our Bibles to verses 13 and 14. 30:24 See, the Father moves, He sits, and the judgment begins. 30:29 And then immediately after, notice what happens in verse 13. 30:39 Who is that, the Son of Man? Jesus. 30:44 What are the clouds? 30:46 The angels. 30:49 Now the Millerites said, "Oh, this is the second coming of Jesus." 30:52 No it's not the second coming of Jesus, because it doesn't 30:55 say here that the Son of Man comes to the earth. 30:57 Where does He go? 31:03 He goes to the judgment chamber in heaven. 31:11 Now why did Jesus go there? 31:12 Why did Jesus go there to where the Father was? 31:16 And the Father sits to begin the judgment, the books are opened. 31:20 Why does Jesus go there? 31:22 Notice verse 14. 31:24 "Then to Him..." That is, to Jesus. 31:32 So what does Jesus go there for? To receive what? 31:34 The kingdom. To receive the kingdom. 31:59 Now what is Christ's kingdom? 32:01 We usually have the tendency to think that the kingdom 32:04 is a geographical territory. 32:07 You know, for example, the United Kingdom. 32:11 We think that's Ireland, and Scotland, and England. 32:15 But in the Bible when it speaks about the kingdom, 32:18 it is really referring to the subjects of the kingdom, 32:21 the people that belong to the kingdom. 32:24 Now is it necessary for an investigation in the judgment 32:28 to be made to show who is a member of Christ's kingdom? 32:33 Absolutely. 32:34 And so Jesus goes to the Ancient of Days 32:37 so that it can be revealed who are subjects of His kingdom. 32:40 And when the judgment is over, His kingdom is made up. 32:44 Because it's been determined who the subjects of His kingdom are. 32:49 Now let's go also to Revelation 14:6-7. 32:52 We're talking about the first step of the 32:56 first phase of the judgment. 32:57 The investigative stage. 32:59 Notice Revelation 14:6-7. 33:03 This is the first angel's message. 33:05 You know, in Revelation you have three messages, 33:07 which are God's last messages to the world. 33:10 And this is the first of the three. 33:12 It says there in Revelation 14:6-7... 33:27 Question, while the gospel is preached 33:31 can people still be saved? 33:33 That's kind of a dumb question. 33:35 But I ask a dumb question to make a point. 33:37 Of course. 33:38 If the gospel is preached to every nation, kindred, 33:40 tongue, and people, people can still be saved. 33:43 Right? The door of mercy has not closed. 33:45 But now notice what verse 7 continues saying. 33:49 It says in verse 7, "...saying with a loud voice, 33:52 'Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment 33:57 will come.'" 34:00 That you very much. 34:01 In the Greek, it is an aorist. 34:04 That is a past tense. 34:06 In other words, the first angel is saying, 34:09 "The hour of His judgment has come." 34:12 Does the judgment then begin while the gospel 34:15 is being preached? 34:16 Very clearly, the gospel is preached. 34:18 And the judgment begins while the gospel is being preached. 34:22 So must the judgment, the investigative stage anyway, 34:26 be before the second coming of Christ? 34:28 Absolutely. 34:30 Now I want you to notice also the moment when the 34:32 sentence is pronounced. 34:34 After the judgment comes to an end... 34:35 This is the investigative stage, the first step 34:38 of the first phase of the judgment. 34:40 As soon as it's finished, a pronouncement is made. 34:44 It's found in Revelation 22:11. 34:47 This is the sentence. 34:48 Revelation 22:11. 34:52 It says there... 35:14 Does that sound pretty final? 35:16 Pretty much. 35:17 Because it's describing the close of probation 35:21 after each case has been examined and investigated. 35:25 And the kingdom of Christ is made up because Christ has 35:28 revealed before the heavenly universe who is His true child, 35:32 who is a genuine believer. 35:35 Now after this in the very next verse, we have the time 35:39 when the sentence is executed or when the sentence is rewarded. 35:45 Notice Revelation 22:12. 35:49 Jesus says... 35:55 What does Jesus bring when He comes? 35:57 His what? 35:59 Now if Jesus brings the reward, must He have determined 36:01 in the judgment before what the reward is going to be? 36:05 Of course. Absolutely. 36:07 And so here you have the implementation or the execution 36:10 of the verdict that was given in the judgment. 36:27 So here you have the first phase of the judgment. 36:31 It's before the second coming. 36:33 It is to judge the righteous. 36:35 For Christ to make up His kingdom and reveal to the 36:38 heavenly universe who is worthy of being taken to heaven 36:41 when Jesus comes. 36:42 Then you have the sentence, 36:44 where every case has been decided. 36:46 And then Jesus comes to give the reward based on the sentence 36:50 that was given, which is based on the investigation 36:53 that was made. 36:54 It follows the same system of jurisprudence of 36:57 the United States and many other democratic countries. 37:01 We copied it from God, actually. 37:04 Now, there's a second stage of the judgment. 37:08 The second stage takes place during the thousand years. 37:13 Now during the thousand years, this is after the second coming, 37:16 during the thousand years the righteous will be in heaven. 37:21 Because Jesus is going to come to take them to heaven, right? 37:23 The Bible tells us, Jesus says, "In My Father's house 37:26 are many mansions. 37:27 If it were not so, I would have told you. 37:29 I go to prepare a place for you. 37:31 And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again 37:34 and receive you to Myself." 37:36 So when Jesus comes the second time, 37:38 He takes His people to heaven. 37:39 He takes the saints to heaven. 37:41 Those who have been proven worthy in the judgment 37:44 to be taken there. 37:46 And then in heaven God's people will be involved 37:50 in a process of judgment. 37:52 Now for who's benefit is this stage of the judgment? 37:56 It's for the benefit of the righteous. 37:58 You see, are there going to be a lot of people missing in heaven 38:00 that the righteous felt should be there? 38:03 That had pretty moral lives? 38:05 And they're wondering, "Hey, why isn't so and so here? 38:09 That person was so nice. 38:11 He never spoke an evil word." 38:13 You know? 38:14 And Jesus is going to open up the records 38:17 to the saints who went to heaven with Him, 38:20 and He's going to show to them how He was righteous 38:23 and true, gave every opportunity to all of those 38:27 who stayed behind to be saved, 38:29 and that they rejected salvation. 38:32 When this phase of the judgment ends, God's people 38:35 are going to be convinced that everyone that is there 38:38 deserves to be there and everybody that stayed behind 38:42 deserved to stay behind. 38:44 It's to persuade the righteous that God acted correctly 38:47 in every single case. 38:49 Are you following me? 38:50 Now, let's notice the stages of this second 38:54 phase of the judgment. 38:56 Go with me to Revelation 20:4. 38:58 Revelation 20:4. 39:00 Here we have the investigation and the sentencing. 39:04 Notice what it says there in verse 4. 39:15 So notice that those who sit on thrones, they're going to 39:18 receive the work of judgment. 39:20 They're going to be working in a judgment 39:22 during the thousand years. 39:24 So it continues saying... 39:34 Now don't get all hung up over the souls crying out. 39:38 You know, this is figurative language. 39:40 This is not literal language. 39:42 The word, "soul," in the New Testament 39:44 is also translated, "life." 39:46 In fact, in the Bible it says that the blood 39:49 of man is his soul. 39:50 The blood is his life. 39:53 Probably the best explanation for the souls crying out here, 39:56 they're the same souls that were crying out 39:58 under the fifth seal in Revelation 6:9-11, 40:01 is the story of Cain and Abel. 40:03 Was an injustice done in the case of 40:05 the story of Cain and Abel? 40:07 Did the bad guy live and the good guy die? 40:11 Of course. 40:12 What happened with the blood of Abel? 40:14 What did the blood of Abel do? 40:15 God said to Cain, "The blood of your brother Abel 40:18 cries out to Me from the ground." 40:20 So it's the life of Abel that is crying out. 40:23 It's not some intangible soul that's flying off somewhere. 40:28 And so here it says, once again... 40:32 This is the righteous. They go to heaven. 40:35 They're going to judge. 40:55 So those who are going to judge during the thousand years, 40:57 are they going to be alive and in heaven 40:59 during the thousand years? 41:00 Yes. 41:01 And so you say, "But Pastor Bohr, 41:03 who are they going to judge?" 41:06 Well, let's read another text that describes this judgment 41:10 during the thousand years. 41:11 And then the Bible gives us an answer of who the righteous 41:15 or the saints are going to be judging 41:17 during the thousand years. 41:18 Notice Revelation 20:11-12. 41:22 Revelation 20:11-12 41:26 Verse 11 is describing the second coming of Christ. 41:31 We need to understand that. 41:33 Revelation 20:11 is describing the second coming of Christ. 41:37 And verse 12 is describing the judgment during the millennium. 41:41 Now let's notice verse 11. 41:55 So notice, heaven and earth fade away, 41:58 and there's no place for them. 42:01 Now you say, how do you know that's describing 42:03 the second coming? 42:04 Because this same idea is repeated in Revelation 6:14-17. 42:10 Let's read that carefully. 42:12 Speaking about the second coming, it says... 42:19 So you see, the heavens fade away. 42:21 And then it says... 42:26 There's the key word, "...out of its place." 42:28 So Revelation 20:11 and Revelation 6:14 42:34 are describing the second coming of Jesus. 42:36 And then of course it continues saying in verse 15... 42:59 This is describing the second coming of Christ, right? 43:02 So is He sitting on a throne, according to this, 43:04 at the second coming? 43:06 Absolutely. 43:07 It speaks about one who is seated on the throne. 43:09 Does it say that the heaven fades away 43:12 as a scroll? Yes. 43:14 Does it say that every mountain and island on earth disappears? 43:18 Of course. 43:19 And so Revelation 20:11 is describing the 43:22 second coming of Jesus. 43:23 Let's read it again. 43:34 And then notice what comes next. 43:36 What comes next in verse 13 is the millennial judgment 43:41 after the second coming. 43:43 Notice what it says in verse 12. 43:45 "And I saw the dead..." 43:47 Which dead would this be? 43:49 Is this the righteous dead? 43:50 No, because the righteous dead resurrected when Jesus came. 43:53 So which dead must this be? 43:55 It must be the wicked dead. 43:57 And so it says... 44:03 And you say, "Now wait a minute, pastor. 44:04 How can dead people stand before God?" 44:08 Does it say that these are dead people standing before God? 44:11 Yes, that's what it says. 44:12 It says, "And I saw the dead..." 44:25 So when they're judged, are they dead? 44:28 When they're judged are they dead, yes or no? 44:30 Yes, it says, "And the dead were judged..." 44:36 So how is it that the dead stand before God? 44:39 We're going to study this in more detail later on. 44:41 They stand before God through the record of their life 44:44 in the heavenly books. 44:47 They don't stand there personally. 44:49 And believe me, we have a whole lecture where we're going to 44:52 deal with this aspect of the judgment. 44:54 When it says that the dead stand before God 44:57 and the dead are judged during the millennium, 44:59 what it simply is saying is that God keeps a biography 45:04 of everyone on earth of their entire life 45:08 in the heavenly records. 45:09 And that is what is examined during the thousand years. 45:13 The dead, as individuals, are dead during the thousand years. 45:18 But they are before the throne of God 45:20 through the record of their lives. 45:22 Are you following me or not? 45:23 And by the way, I'm going to cover this 45:25 with luxury of detail later on in our series. 45:29 So notice it says that the dead are judged during 45:33 the thousand years. 45:35 Now the question is, who are they going to judge? 45:40 Well, here we have something very interesting. 45:44 A text that many people don't even look at. 45:47 Adventists do, but from other churches. 45:50 It's like this text doesn't really exist 45:52 in the minds of people. 45:54 Notice 1 Corinthians 6:1-3. 45:56 It clearly says who the saints are going to judge. 46:00 The apostle Paul is speaking here of lawsuits, 46:02 that we should not take one another to court. 46:05 And he says this... 46:14 In other words, if you have a beef with one of the 46:16 church members, are you going to take that case 46:19 to the worldly courts to make the church look bad? 46:22 Verse 2... 46:26 What? 46:28 What does, "the world," mean? 46:30 It must be the worldlings. 46:31 It's not talking about the righteous. 46:33 It's not talking about the saved. 46:35 Jesus said, "Love not the world, nor the things 46:37 that are in the world." 46:39 He says that he who makes himself a friend of the world 46:43 is an enemy of God. 46:44 So the word, "world," refers to the unrighteous. 46:47 So the apostle Paul is saying, "Don't you know that the 46:50 saints are going to judge the unrighteous?" 46:52 But not only the unrighteous. 46:54 Notice what it continues saying in verse 2... 47:11 What are the saints going to judge? 47:13 Not only the ungodly, the world, but they're going to judge what? 47:18 Angels. 47:19 Which angels would those be? 47:21 The righteous angels? 47:23 Do the righteous angels need a judgment? 47:25 No. 47:26 It's the wicked angels who need a judgment. 47:28 And so it says clearly here that the saints 47:31 will judge the world, the ungodly, and they will judge 47:36 the fallen angels, Satan and his angels. 47:39 And by the way, this is exactly what Revelation 20:4 says. 47:43 It says, "Judgment was committed to them." 47:46 God's people will judge during the thousand years. 47:48 Because God wants to show them that He was right 47:51 in taking those to heaven that He did 47:53 and in leaving behind those that He left behind. 47:58 Now there's another step or another phase to the judgment. 48:02 The third phase of the judgment. 48:04 It takes place after the thousand years. 48:07 Now let me just say, you're probably wondering, 48:10 you're saying, "Okay, we understood the investigation. 48:14 We understood the sentencing. 48:16 But where is the execution of the sentence of those 48:19 who were judged during the thousand years?" 48:21 Well, the execution of the sentence doesn't take place 48:24 until after the thousand years. 48:25 That's when the wicked are cast where? 48:28 Into the lake of fire with the devil and his angels. 48:30 That's the execution of the sentence that is investigated 48:34 and pronounced during the thousand years. 48:37 But let's talk briefly about the judgment that takes place 48:41 after the thousand years. 48:43 Now who does God want to convince of His righteousness 48:48 and of His love in the judgment that takes place 48:51 after the thousand years? 48:53 Well the purpose of the judgment after the thousand years 48:58 is to even convince the wicked and Satan and his angels 49:03 that God was right in excluding them from heaven. 49:08 In other words, God is going to prove before the heavenly beings 49:13 that He was right. 49:14 He's going to prove before the saints that He was right. 49:16 And He's going to prove to the devil and his angels 49:19 and the wicked that He was right. 49:21 And only when the whole universe recognizes that God 49:25 was right in His judgment will God be able to eradicate sin. 49:29 Because everybody will be on the same page. 49:33 Are you following me or not? 49:34 What a wonderful God, who even is going to make it 49:37 necessary for the wicked and the devil and his angels 49:41 to see the righteousness of their sentence, 49:43 and how God is love. 49:46 Now let's read several text that describe the judgment 49:50 after the second coming of Jesus. 49:52 Go with me to Revelation 20:13. 49:55 Revelation 20:13. 49:59 This is describing what happens after the millennium. 50:03 So notice, Revelation 20:11 is the second coming. 50:06 Revelation 20:12 is the judgment during the thousand years 50:10 when the dead stand before God. 50:12 But verse 13 describes the time when the dead 50:15 are going to resurrect, the wicked dead are 50:17 going to resurrect. 50:18 Notice once again Revelation 20:13. 50:26 Hades is the grave, by the way. 50:31 What do these expressions mean, "the sea gave up 50:36 the dead who were in it," and, "Death and the grave 50:39 delivered up the dead who were in them"? 50:41 What does it mean, "gave up," and, "delivered up"? 50:45 It's talking about the what? 50:47 The resurrection of the wicked. 50:49 In a moment I'm going to read you another parallel verse 50:52 that uses similar language. 50:54 And notice what it continues saying. 51:00 So is there a judgment that takes place after 51:03 the resurrection of the wicked? 51:04 Absolutely. 51:06 Very clearly this verse tells us so. 51:08 It says the sea gives up the dead in it; 51:11 that's the resurrection of the wicked. 51:13 Death and the grave deliver up the dead that were in them. 51:16 And then it says that once they're raised, 51:20 they are what? 51:21 They are judged, each one according to his works. 51:24 They were judged during the thousand years 51:26 so that the saints could see why they were lost, 51:29 whereas after the thousand years they are judged 51:32 while they're alive so that they can confess 51:34 the justice of their sentence. 51:36 And Satan and his angels themselves will bow 51:39 and say that God has acted correctly, God has been right. 51:43 Notice Isaiah 26:19 where this idiom is used about "giving up." 51:50 Isaiah 26:19 says... 52:04 Who are those who dwell in the dust? 52:06 It's the dead, right? 52:07 The dead dwell in the dust. 52:09 And then it says... 52:17 You see the similarity in the terminology 52:20 that we found in the book of Revelation? 52:22 And so after the millennium, the Bible tells us 52:25 in Revelation 20:5 that the rest of the dead resurrect 52:30 after the thousand years. 52:32 And when they resurrect, they will be able to see, 52:36 there will be an investigation that will show them 52:39 the righteousness of their sentence. 52:41 And then they will kneel and they will 52:43 pronounce their own sentence. 52:44 They will say, "Just and true are Your ways, O God. 52:47 We deserve to be destroyed. 52:49 You gave us an opportunity to be saved, 52:52 and we rejected it." 52:54 And then what is going to happen? 52:56 God is going to execute the judgment that was determined 53:01 in the investigation and was shown to these wicked people 53:06 and to the devil and his angels. 53:08 Are you following me or not? 53:09 Now, let's notice the execution of the sentence 53:12 in Revelation 20:14-15. 53:15 And then we will notice Revelation 21:8. 53:18 This is the sentence and the execution, 53:22 the final execution of the sentence. 53:27 That is, the grave. 53:35 Now let's unpack that for a moment. 53:38 What is the death that the wicked are going to suffer? 53:41 What is their final punishment for sin? 53:43 The second death. 53:44 Can you have a second death unless you had the first? 53:47 No. 53:49 Let me tell you what the scenario is. 53:51 Many who live before the second coming of Christ, 53:54 ungodly, died right, before Jesus came? 53:57 And then others died when Jesus came, right? 54:00 So all of the wicked were dead. 54:03 Did they die once? 54:05 Yes. That's their first death. 54:06 Is that their punishment for sin? 54:08 No. Why couldn't it be? 54:10 Because they have not seen their day in court. 54:14 See, God is going to show them in a court of law 54:17 that he was right. 54:18 He would not give them second death without them saying 54:22 that we deserve it. 54:24 Are you following me or not? 54:25 And so basically what we find is that God reveals to them 54:30 their cases, and then they will suffer second death. 54:35 Which means that the first death was before Jesus came, 54:38 or at the moment of the second coming of Jesus. 54:41 And the second death is a death from which there will be 54:44 no resurrection. 54:47 That is the final execution of the sentence against those 54:50 who rejected Jesus. 54:52 So it says in verses 14 and 15... 55:07 Now you say, "Pastor, what was in the books 55:10 that condemned the wicked?" 55:12 Oh we don't have to guess, because the Bible gives us 55:15 a description of what was found in the records of the wicked. 55:18 Notice Revelation 21:8. 55:21 Revelation 21:8. 55:39 Is that a list of the things that are found in the records 55:43 of the wicked? 55:45 Absolutely. 55:46 What's going to happen with them? 55:47 Based on what is found in the books, all of these sins, 55:50 of which they did not repent, they did not confess them, 55:53 and they did not trust in Jesus as their Savior, 55:56 it says... 56:10 So does this make sense, what we've studied this evening? 56:14 You see, the judgment is not an event. 56:18 The judgment is a process. 56:21 A three phase process. 56:24 And each phase is composed of three steps. 56:28 Investigating the case, then pronouncing the sentence 56:33 based on the evidence, and finally executing the sentence 56:37 based on the evidence and the pronunciation of the sentence. 56:41 In other words, God will not condemn anyone without 56:46 them having their day in court. 56:49 They will confess before the universe that God was right. 56:53 God will convince all of the heavenly universe 56:56 that He was just and He was loving. 56:59 He will convince the righteous during the thousand years 57:01 that He was just and He was loving 57:04 in leaving behind those who stayed behind 57:06 and in taking to heaven those whom He took. 57:10 And finally, He will even convince the devil 57:13 and his angels, and the wicked themselves, 57:15 that He has dealt justly with them, that He loved them, 57:19 that He gave them every opportunity to receive 57:21 Jesus as Savior. 57:23 He gave them every opportunity to be saved. 57:26 And yet, every opportunity was slighted and rejected. 57:31 And therefore, Satan and his angels, and the wicked, 57:35 will pronounce their own sentence. 57:38 They will say, "Just and true are Your ways, O God." 57:42 And then, and only then, will God be able to destroy 57:46 sin and sinners from the universe. 57:49 Because everybody is on the same page. 57:54 Don't we have a wonderful God? 57:56 A God who cares what His creatures think. 57:59 Now don't miss our next study. 58:00 We will be studying about the entrance of Jesus 58:03 as the Lamb to the camp of God's people. |
Revised 2016-08-22