JUDGEMENTS
JUDGEMENTS OF THE SCRIPTURES
Let us now take a look at all the Judgements spoken off in the Scriptures, where a throne is set up and people are judged, because many people have the wrong ideas of what will happen after they die. This is often caused by pastor or preachers failed to tell them the facts of what it says in the Scriptures, but instead told them what their religious order or cult taught them.
You may ask, how do we know that what we write is true? The simple answer is that after more than 40 years of diligent study of the Word of God we write from the Bible and you can make your own decision of what you want to believe. Like the Bereans, who after hearing Paul and Silas preach, went home and searched the Scriptures (they only had the Old Testament) and when they realised that what Paul and Silas were saying was in the Scriptures, they took it all on board and believed. That is what you also must do, read what we write and go to the Bible and see if it is true what we write.
The first thing we want yo to know is the different groups of Saints in the Bible. Without these distinctions you will struggle to correctly understand a lot of things in the Bible. You can read about the different group of Saints on our Topic page “Saints”
WE WILL LOOK AT THREE JUDGEMENTS
We will look at three Judgements and explain whom the Judgements are for and what happens at these Judgements. It is important for you to know about these Judgements, for your own understanding and also to help others understand what happens the moment you die. REMEMBER to be a BEREAN and CHECK with the Scriptures (the Bible) to SEE what we WRITE is backed up with the Scriptures.
BE LIKE A BEREAN
We encourage you to READ what we WRITE, go to the Bible and CHECK that the Scriptures CONFIRM what we WRITE and then BELIEF what we WRITE.
JUDGEMENT FOR REWARDS NOT SALVATION
The first important fact we have to stress is that this Judgement is NOT for SALVATION but for REWARDS. When Paul, in the above verse writes “WE must ALL” appear before the Judgement Seat of Christ, the “WE ALL” are all the BORN AGAIN believers that trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour from the beginning of the Church at Pentecost till the completion of the Church, when the LAST person “CHOSEN IN JESUS FROM BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THIS WORLD” has trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour and the Church is RAPTURED by the Lord Jesus Christ. NO ONE ELSE will stand before this Judgement Seat. It is ONLY for the Church.
The Judgement Seat of Christ is NOT for PUNISHING sin because Jesus bore the PUNISHMENT for our sins on the Cross.
This Judgement is not to decide whether or not the believer who stands before Jesus at the Judgement seat is saved or not saved, because all believers in the Body of Christ, the Church, are SAVED for eternity from the moment they believed the Gospel and trusted in Jesus as their Lord and Saviour and were sealed into the Body of Christ, the Church, the Holy Spirit when He made His abode in their them, with the promise NEVER to leave them. NOTHING that we do can pay the penalty for our sins. Our sins were paid for and our debt settled by that wonderful amazing loving SACRIFICE when Jesus gave His Own life and died for us on the Cross, was buried, rose again and ascended into Heaven where He is our Mediator beside the Father. What an AMAZING GRACE, what an AMAZING LOVE. NOTHING can ever separate us from that AMAZING LOVE.
Romans 8:38-39 “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR BELIEVERS IN THE BODY OF CHRIST, TO LOSE THEIR SALVATION. ONCE SAVED ALWAYS SAVED!
WHEN WILL THE JUDGEMENT SEAT OF CHRIST TAKE PLACE?
The Scriptures do not specifically state when this Judgement will take place but we believe it takes places in Heaven shortly after the RAPTURE and before the Wedding Banquet takes place. Here are some reasons why we think that way.
When John was caught up into Heaven in Revelation 4 (type of the Rapture) he saw the following:
Revelation 4:4 “Around the throne were twenty-four thrones; and upon the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in WHITE GARMENTS, and GOLDEN CROWNS on their heads.”
We all believe that the twenty-four elders represent the Church and the WHITE GARMENTS represent the Glory of Christ and the GOLDEN CROWNS represent the rewards received at the Judgement Seat of Christ, as the word “Crowns” is “STEPHANOS” which are crowns like laurels given out at the early Games. They are REWARDS and not SOVEREIGNTY.
Also we read in Revelation 19:14 “And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses.” We are that army and are clothed in FINE LINEN WHITE AND CLEAN, again representing the righteousness of Christ.
WHO WILL APPEAR BEFORE THIS JUDGEMENT THRONE?
All believers that trusted in Jesus as Lord and Saviour during the period starting at Pentecost and which ends at the Rapture when the last person chosen in Jesus has trusted in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, completing the Church, the Body of Christ, His Bride. NO ONE ELSEwill appear before this Judgement Seat. It is ONLY for the CHURCH.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN AT THIS JUDGEMENT SEAT?
All Christians (that is the Church, the Body of Christ, the Bride of Christ) who were taken up in the Rapture, will appear before this Judgement Seat of Jesus Christ where their actions done in their “Christian” service for the Lord, whether good or bad. It has noting to do about their sins as they were all forgiven the moment they believed and trusted in Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. Their Salvation is not in question here. We will be judged for our MOTIVES behind these actions. Did we do them for the Glory of God or for selfish reasons? Are they God centered or human nature centered?
Paul tells us that by the grace of God he laid the foundation stone, but this foundation stone is not just any foundation stone but the CORNER STONE and that this foundation stone is JESUS CHRIST.”
1 Corinthians 3:10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid A FOUNDATION, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it.
1 Corinthians 3:11 “For no man can lay a FOUNDATION other than the one which is laid, which is JESUS CHRIST.
The apostles laid more foundation stones, but they were normal foundation stones and these stones are the teachings of the apostles. As we can read in 1 Corinthians 3:10 that each Christian must be careful on how he/she builds on that foundation of Jesus Christ the Corner Stone and the foundation stones of the Apostles.
Paul goes on to say that Christians can build on that foundation which the following elements.
1 Corinthians 3:12 “Now if any man builds on the FOUNDATION with GOLD, SILVER, PRECIOUS STONES, WOOD, HAY AND STRAW.”
Again, let us make one thing very clear!!!
ONLY BELIEVERS WILL STAND BEFORE THE JUDGEMENT SEAT OF CHRIST
There is only ONE Judgement Seat UNBELIEVERS stand before and that is the GREAT WHITE THRONE JUDGEMENT OF GOD.
Revelation 20:11-12 “Then I saw a GREAT WHITE THRONE and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another [book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.”
Unbelievers’ scale on the Judge’s “balance” fall short and because their names are NOT written in the Book of Life, they are thrown into the Lake of Fire for eternity, which is the second death.
The Greek word for THRONE is “thronos” ascribed to God’s Divine power for judgement of the unbelievers’ standing in regards to eternal destination.
The Greek word for Judgement Seat (Judgement Seat of Christ) is “bema” ascribed to a judge of games etc and to Jesus Christ as Judge on how we ran our race as Christians.
1 Corinthians 9:24 “Do you not know that those who RUN IN A RACE all run, but only one receives the PRIZE? Run in such a way that you may win.”
Hebrews 12:1 “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us RUN with endurance the RACE that is set before us,”
Believers stand before the Judgement of Christ where Jesus will judge on how they have used the gifts God has given to them. If they have used the gifts faithfully and with the right motives they will get rewards. Their works are tested to be of gold, silver and precious stones which withstood the test of fire.
If they haven’t use the gifts given to them faithfully or with the right motives they will not get rewards but are saved as by fire. Their works were of wood, hay and straw and are consumed by the fire.
After we have received our rewards from our Judge at His bema seat, an amazing scene unfolds.
Let us look at Revelation 4:10-11 “the TWENTY-FOUR ELDERS will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will CAST THEIR CROWNS BEFORE THE THRONE, saying, “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.”
The Greek word for crowns here is “stephanos” and means “wreath” or “crown” given as reward and honour.
The Greek word for crown (royal) is “diadem” and is used for the many crowns on the head of Jesus at the Second Coming
Revelation 19:12 “His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many DIADEMS; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself.”
Jesus Christ is the only One that receives DIADEMS (Crowns) as He is the KING of KINGS and LORD of LORDS.
Who is the One sitting on the throne in Revelation 4:2 ?
Revelation 4:2 “Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and ONE sitting on the throne.”
Let us look at some of the verses.
Revelation 4:1 “After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the FIRST VOICE which I HAD HEARD, LIKE THE SOUND OF A TRUMPET speaking with me, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.”
The FIRST VOICE John had heard is mentioned in Revelation 1:10 “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a LOUD VOICE, LIKE THE SOUND OF A TRUMPET.”
We can see that it is the same voice in the two verses, loud and like the sound of a trumpet.
Who owns that voice?
Revelation 1:8 ““I am the ALPHA AND OMEGA,” says the Lord God, “WHO IS AND WHO WAS AND WHO IS TO COME, THE ALMIGHTY.”
Revelation 1:17-18 “When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the FIRST AND THE LAST, and the living One; and I WAS DEAD, AND BEHOLD, I AM ALIVE FOREVERMORE and I have the keys of death and of Hades.“
Isaiah 44:6 “Thus says the LORD, the KING OF ISRAEL and his REDEEMER, the LORD of hosts: I AM THE FIRST AND I AM THE LAST, And there is no God besides Me.
Revelation 4:8-11 “And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, “HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY, WHO WAS AND WHO IS AND WHO IS TO COME. And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to HIM WHO SITS ON THE THRONE, to Him who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders will fall down before HIM WHO SITS ON THE THRONE, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying, “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for YOU CREATED ALL THINGS, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.””
Revelation 22:13 ““I am THE ALPHA AND OMEGA, the THE FIRST AND THE LAST, THE BEGINNING AND THE END.”
Let us first look at Isaiah 44:6 above: According to this verse the LORD is the KING OF ISRAEL, is the REDEEMER OF ISRAEL, is the LORD OF HOSTS, is the I AM THE FIRST AND I AM THE LAST, is GOD, as He says “THERE IS NO GOD BESIDES ME”
Then in Revelation 1:17-18 above we read that Jesus is also the FIRST AND THE LAST and also I WAS DEAD, AND BEHOLD, I AM ALIVE FOREVERMORE. This is Jesus, the Son of Man, Who was dead and is alive, He is the eternal Son of God, He is God.
Colossians 1:15 “He is the IMAGE of the INVISIBLE GOD, the firstborn of all creation.”
“The first born of all creation” doesn’t mean Jesus was created, but it means “priority”, the firstborn in that period and area had the inheritance and leadership.
Colossians 2:9 “For in Him all the FULLNESS OF DEITY dwells in BODILY FORM,”
We can safely conclude from these verses that the One Who is on the throne and speaks is God, the Triune God, the Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
The unity of the Holy Trinity can NEVER be broken. Where the Father is, the Son and the Holy Spirit are also. Where the Son is, the Father and the Holy Spirit are also. Where the Holy Spirit is, the Father and the Son are also.
GOD IS ALWAYS ONE – IN THREE PERSONS – FATHER – SON – HOLY SPIRIT
We read: Revelation 4:4 “Around the throne were twenty-four thrones; and upon the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in WHITE GARMENTS, and GOLDEN CROWNS (stephanos) on their heads.”
The twenty-four elders, who represent the Raptured Church, take off their crowns (stephanos) they received at the Judgement Seat of Jesus Christ, fall down before the throne and cast their CROWNS (Stephanos, their rewards) before the throne of Jesus Christ.
They acknowledge that the reason for them getting the rewards (CROWNS -stephanos) is because it was Jesus that enabled us to do the works, (which He had prepared for us), faithfully and with the right motives. ONLY Jesus is worthy to receive ALL honour and glory and praise.
There is nothing in us that would have enabled us to do these works faithfully and with the right motives. Only God working in us, as we allow Him to work in us by walking in OBEDIENCE to His will and Word.
The glory we are clothed with in eternity is GOD’S GLORY.
Romans 11:36 “For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the GLORY forever. Amen.”
TO GOD BE ALL THE GLORY IN JESUS CHRIST
Let us now look at how many CROWNS (stephanos) are available to be won during our Christian race we are running from the moment we are BORN AGAIN till the moment we are RAPTURED.
These are the CROWNS (stephanos) that are given to Church Saints for works they have performed which are of GOLD, SILVER or PRECIOUS STONES quality. They withstand the test of fire.
The five crowns to be won are:
THE VICTOR’S CROWN – (1 Corinthians 9:24–27).(Imperishable Crown)
1 Corinthians 9:24-27 “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.”
Before athletes run in a race they train hard, eat well and look after their body, so that they are in the best shape to run the race to win, but they receive a perishable crown.
As Christians and servants of God we too have to prepare ourselves to run the race to win by reading His Word and act upon It in obedience, disciplining our bodies by turning away from evil and only let good things enter our hearts, so that we can run the race to the end and receive a heavenly imperishable crown.
THE CROWN OF REJOICING – (1 Thessalonians 2:19).
1 Thessalonians 2:19 “For who is our hope or joy or crown of exultation? Is it not even you, in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming?”
This is the crown for the “soul winners”. The gift of soul winning is a very beautiful gift that often results in great rejoicing when a person has come to the Lord and ask for forgiveness and believed and trusted in Him as Lord and Saviour.
One important point is very clear and must be remembered all the time. It is NOT us as witnesses that saves a sinner, but God Himself is the One that gives the increase.
We have all individual gifts as members of the Body of Christ (the Church) and we must recognise these gifts as God gives them to us and we must exercise these gifts as best as we can to the glory of God. We are only the vessels through which the Fathers draws sinners to Himself. To some He gives the gift of cultivating the soil of the hearts of a sinner. To others He gives the gift of sowing the seeds and to others He the gifts of watering the seeds. Only it is He that brings life to the seeds, He brings the increase.
Never should we think or say that we changed a person’s heart so that they believed. Only God can do that. We can rejoice that God used us as a vessel to bring that person to Christ. If we are obedient to His Word and our calling and perform the works He has prepared for us diligently and bring people to Christ so that God can bring the increase, then can we rejoice and receive our CROWN OF REJOICING at the Judgement Seat of Christ. However we will, in that scene described above, fall down on our face and throw our crowns at the throne of our Lord and Saviour.
Revelation 4:10-11 “the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying, “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.””
THE CROWN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS– (2 Timothy 4:8). (Sometimes also referred to as the Victor’s Crown)
Oh what a wonderful crown this is.
Let us look at the verses of Paul in 2 Timothy 4:6-8 “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have FOUGHT THE GOOD FIGHT, I have FINISHED THE COURSE, I have KEPT THE FAITH; in the future there is laid up for me the CROWN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to ALL WHO HAVE LOVED HIS APPEARING.”
Paul knew his death wasn’t far away, that he was going HOME TO BE WITH THE LORD. He also knew that he had fought the fight to stay faithful to His Lord and Master, the Lord Jesus Christ, that he finished the course of his earthly ministry the Lord had given him without wavering along the way, that he kept the faith despite all the tribulations that had come is way during his ministry even to the point of death.
Paul talks about what he endured as a servant of the Lord in 2 Corinthians 11:24-28 “Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches.”
Would we have endured through all these tribulations? There are and have been many Christians that have endured even worse situations than these and have endured till the end when God took them home.
They didn’t give up on their faith because of the sufferings that came their way, they were not distracted by false doctrines, scoffers or worldly lusts, they didn’t give up on their longing for the appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ, either at the Rapture or at their death. They were steadfast in their faith, steadfast in their serving the Lord as best as they could, steadfast in their studies of the Scriptures to know God deeper and deeper, steadfast in their longing for the appearance of their Lord and Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.
They will be rewarded with this CROWN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS at the Judgement Seat of Jesus Christ.
THE CROWN OF LIFE – (James 1:12; Revelation 2:10).
THE CROWN OF GLORY – (1 Peter 5:4).
