The Seven Judgments

THE SEVEN JUDGMENTS

There are seven judgments that can be found in the bible, one has already passed, but six more are yet to come...or perhaps I should say that one is in progress!  The first was of Jesus Himself, the second is you of yourself, the third, of believer's works by Christ Jesus, the fourth, of the Gentile survivors of the Tribulation, the fifth, of the Jewish survivors of the Tribulation, the sixth, of the fallen angels, and the last is of the unsaved.  Shall we examine these?

In the judgment of the sins of the world embodied by Christ Jesus, the cross became the judgment on those who reject it, the cross being the total victory over Satan for Jew and Gentile believers alike in Christ.  "Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.  And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me." (John 12:31 - 32)  Christ's purpose for this judgment in obedience to the Father's will, was this; "For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him." (2 Cor. 5:21)  As a result of this judgment, the believer's justification and security was made sure.

The second judgment you do to yourself.  Kind of feels funny, but we need to judge ourselves for permitting our sinfulness.  "I will be his Father, and he shall be My son.  If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men: But My mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee." (2 Sam. 7:14 - 15)  "And David said unto Nathan, 'I have sinned against the LORD.'  And Nathan said unto David, 'The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.  Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.'" (2 Sam. 12:13 - 14)  So we need to confess our sins, and agree with the Father what sin is, that He should forgive us.  There are several verses concerning this; "If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not?  But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons." (Heb. 12:7 - 8)  "For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.  But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world." (1 Cor. 11:31 - 32)  "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9)   So the judgment here ends up with chastening, but not condemnation.

The third judgment we as believers are concerned with is that of our works.  "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body," (2 Cor. 5:10)  Thankfully, not for believers' sins!  "For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." (Heb. 8:12)  "And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more." (Heb. 10:17)  But ah, your works!  "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.  Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; 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.  If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.  If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire." (1 Cor. 3:11 - 15)  This will happen when the Lord comes again.  "Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.  It is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.  But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man's judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self.  For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but He that judgeth me is the Lord.  Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God." (1 Cor. 4:1 - 5)  Now the consequences of this judgment is this; "And, behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be." (Rev. 22:12)

The next judgment is of the Gentile survivors of the Tribulation, and how we stood the test of treating our brothers and sisters in Christ, and the Jewish people.  Jesus specified this; "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: 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: And He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.  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: 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: Naked, and ye clothed Me: I was sick, and ye visited Me: I was in prison, and ye came unto Me.'  Then shall the righteous answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when saw we Thee an hungred, and fed Thee?  Or thirsty, and gave Thee drink?  Saw we Thee a stranger, and took Thee in?  Or naked, and clothed Thee?  Saw we Thee sick, or in prison, and came unto Thee?'  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.'  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: For I was an hungred, and ye gave Me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave Me no drink: 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.'  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?'  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.'  And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal." (Matt. 25:31 - 46)  Jesus also told His disciples, "Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves." (Matt. 10:16) I think we can apply this when dealing with people on the street corners asking for help.  Ask God through the Holy Spirit to help you meet the needs of these people, because so many are pretenders and deceivers.  If you watch them long enough, they go home to a warm house, to a spouse who brings home a paycheck...and others cannot be given money, as they will use it to buy alcohol or drugs or cigarettes.  So one must have much cunning to discern the truly in need from the charlatans.

Jewish survivors of the Tribulation will also be judged whether they be worthy for residence in the Millennial kingdom.  "'As I live,' saith the Lord GOD, 'Surely with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule over you: And I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out.  And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face.  Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you,' saith the Lord GOD.  'And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant: And I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against Me: I will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.  As for you, O house of Israel, thus saith the Lord GOD; Go ye, serve ye every one his idols, and hereafter also, if ye will not hearken unto Me: but pollute ye My holy name no more with your gifts, and with your idols.  For in Mine holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel,' saith the Lord GOD,  'There shall all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, serve Me: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the firstfruits of your oblations, with all your holy things.  I will accept you with your sweet savour, when I bring you out from the people, and gather you out of the countries wherein ye have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you before the heathen.  And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for the which I lifted up Mine hand to give it to your fathers.  And there shall ye remember your ways, and all your doings, wherein ye have been defiled; and ye shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that ye have committed.  And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have wrought with you for My name's sake, not according to your wicked ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, O ye house of Israel,' saith the Lord GOD." (Ezek. 20:33 - 44)  Mal. 3:2 - 5, 4:1 - 2 also covers this judgment.

"Know ye not that we shall judge angels?" (1 Cor. 6:3)  This is the sixth judgment, but not the last.  Imagine that we should be counted worthy to judge angels, just as Paul tells us!  "And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day." (Jude 1:6)  "For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;" (2 Pet. 2:4)  Be not surprised which angels are to be judged, either..."And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever." (Rev. 20:10)  "And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.  And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth:..."(Rev. 12:3 - 4)  The devil and his evil angels, these will be the ones judged, and thrown into the lake of fire.  Now the lake of fire will also be used as the disposal for those of the last judgment.

The unsaved are they which will face the last judgment, and woe unto every single one of them!  "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.  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.  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.  And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.  This is the second death.  And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." (Rev. 20:11 - 15)  And so this judgment falls on the wicked dead, those who stiffneckedly refused to accept Christ as their Savior, those who rebelled against God to the last breath.  Now while it says the second death, note also that death is cast into this lake of fire.  If death is cast into this lake, then understand the second death does not mean that they die again, or are annihilated, but rather that their eternal souls are forever burning in this lake of fire!

So these judgments apply to whom they will.  Jesus already underwent the first, saints are part of three of them, angels undergo one of them, and sinners undergo two of them.  Of the saints and sinners, it is up to them to, of their free will, choose their judgments!