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e Four
Judgments
By Alfred Henry Burton
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e Four Judgments
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Contents
e Four Judgments ........................................................5
e Judgment of Sin ........................................................7
e Judgment Seat of Christ: 2 Corinthians 5 ..............11
Title for Heaven Already Secured .................................13
ree Dierent Workmen .............................................19
e Judgment of the Living Nations .............................23
e Great Tribulation .................................................... 27
e Great White rone ...............................................31
e Wicked Dead Not yet Raised .................................33
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e Four Judgments
WHAT could be of greater moment than the subject of
coming judgment; and yet strange to say there is no one so
little understood and about which there is greater confusion
of thought.
e rst of the four is past and the remaining three are
future.
1. ere is the judgment of sin.
2. e judgment seat, (or throne) at which all believers
shall appear.
3. e throne of His glory, at which all the living nations
shall appear.
4. e great white throne, before which all the wicked
dead shall appear.
e rst took place at the cross.
e second will be in heaven.
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e third will be on earth.
e fourth will be in space.
It is of the utmost importance to be clear about these
judgments in their order, for if we are not clear about the
rst, it is impossible to be clear about the others.
e Judgment of Sin
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e Judgment of Sin
at God’s severe and righteous judgment for sin fell on
Christ at the cross, the following scriptures show-”He hath
made Him sin for us, who knew no sin: that we might be made
the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Cor. 5:21.)
“Once in the end of the world (or age) hath He (Christ)
appeared to put away sin by the sacrice of Himself.” (Heb.
9:26.)
“As it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this
the judgment: so Christ was once oered to bear the sins of
many.” (Heb. 9:27,28.)
“Who His own self bore our sins in His own body on the tree,
that we being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness:
by whose stripes ye are healed.” (1 Peter 2:24.)
ese scriptures in the New Testament may suce to
show that the blessed Lord bore our sins, and the judgment
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for them on the cross. en in the Old Testament we will
only refer to Psa. 22 and 69; Isa. 53.
e result of our blessed Lord bearing the judgment for
our sins, sets us free from it all, and in seeing this we can
then understand the following scriptures.-
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word,
and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life,
and shall not come into condemnation, (or judgment) but is
passed from death unto life.” (John 5:24.)
“ere is therefore now no condemnation to them which
are in Christ Jesus.” (Rom. 8:1.)
“For by one oering He hath perfected forever them that are
sanctied.” (Heb. 10:14.)
“eir sins and iniquities will I remember no more.” (Heb.
10:17.)
It is important therefore to remember that for the child
of God judgment is past.
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word,
and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life,
and shall not come into condemnation, (or judgment) but is
passed from death unto life.” ( John 5:21.)
If the reader will open his Bible at John 5., he will nd
the word “condemnation” (John. 5:24), “judgment” (John.
5:27), and “damnation” (John. 5:29), and it will greatly
help him to understand the teaching of this most weighty
passage if he remembers that In each case the word should
be “judgment”; for though translated in our English Bibles
by these three dierent words, there is but one word in the
original Greek which properly means “judgment,” and
indeed is so rendered in the new Revised Version.
Before we proceed further in our inquiry, we are anxious
that the Christian reader should lay rm hold of this deeply
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important truth, that not only does the believer in Christ
possess now eternal life (“hath eternal life”), but that also, on
the authority of Christ’s own word, “he shall not come into
judgment”; for the same unerring Word that assures him of
the rst great truth, likewise assures him of the second.
But, it may be said, are we not told that “it is appointed
unto all men once to die, and after this the judgment”?
“ALL” NOT THERE.
Certainly not. Let the reader open his Bible at Heb.
9:26-28, and he will see that the word “all” is not in the
passage. In Heb. 9:27 we are told what is the common lot of
mankind; namely, death and judgment; but in Heb. 9:28 we
nd the believer’s portion: instead of looking for death, he
is looking for Christ’s appearing; and instead of waiting for
Christ as his judge, he is looking for Him as his Savior, who
shall change his body of humiliation and fashion it like unto
His own body of glory. (Phil. 3:20,21.)
e blessed Savior appeared once in the end of the
world to put away sin by the sacrice of Himself. He came
1900 years ago about the question of sin, to put away sin,
to bear the sins of many; and having done the work on
the cross which has settled that question on the believer’s
behalf forever, He will appear the second time without sin;
that is, apart from the question of sin altogether. For if that
question was settled at His rst coming, it could not possibly
be raised again at His second coming.
For the unbeliever, of course, His coming must be for
judgment; but for the believer it will be “unto salvation”-
in other words, the full results of the work which He
accomplished at His rst coming will be reaped by the
believer at His second coming. He will then not only
possess the salvation of his soul that, through grace, he
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enjoys now, but then salvation will be completed in the
glorifying of his body.
What peace it gives to the soul when once we see that
God can never in justice raise the question of our sins with
us! Has not Christ once suered for sins, the just for the
unjust, to bring us to God? (1 Peter 3:18.) Did He not His
own self bear our sins in His own body on the tree? (1 Peter
2:24.) And has He not, after having oered one sacrice
for sins, forever sat down on the right hand of God? (Heb.
10:12.) Surely the believer will never have to suer for sins
for which Christ has already once suered! Surely he will
never have to bear sins which Christ bore on the cross!
Surely he will never have to be judged for sins for which
Christ has already oered Himself as a sacrice!
Is it not clear, then, beloved Christian reader, that God
will never enter into judgment with you as regards your sins,
seeing that the Lord Jesus has already borne the judgment
that was due to them?
“Payment God will not twice demand,
Once at thy bleeding Savior’s hand,
And then again at thine.”
What, then, does it mean when it says, “We must all
appear before the judgment-seat of Christ”?
Let us now briey consider the other three judgments:
e Judgment Seat of Christ: 2 Corinthians 5
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e Judgment Seat of Christ: 2
Corinthians 5
While it is perfectly true that the believer will never
have to be judged for his sins, yet it is equally true that he
will have to appear before the judgment-seat of Christ. e
word “appear” in 2 Cor. 5:10 is the same as made “manifest”
in the next, and so we may read it thus, “We must all be
made manifest,” &c.
It is important to observe that the Spirit of God
carefully avoids saying, “We must all be judged.” Had it been
said in 2 Cor. 5:10, “We must all be judged,” it would have
been a direct contradiction of John 5:24, which says, we
“shall not come into judgment,” and we may rest assured
that one verse of the Word of God could never contradict
another. But it says, “We must all be made manifest before
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the judgment-seat of Christ”; that is, everything that we
have done here will be brought to light there, and we shall
receive reward or suer loss, according to what we have
done, whether it be good or bad.
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Title for Heaven Already
Secured
It will not then have to be decided where we are to
spend eternity, and whether we have a title for heaven or
not. By no means, for the believer knows now, without
the shadow of a doubt, that he will spend his eternity with
Christ in glory. Look at 2 Cor. 5:1, “We KNOW that …
we HAVE … an house … eternal in the heavens.” In
other words, we (Christians) have the present and perfect
certainty of an eternity in heavenly glory, “therefore we are
always condent.” (2 Cor. 5:6.)
And instead of having to wait until the judgment-
seat, in order to know whether we have a title for heaven,
we ought always to give “thanks to the Father which hath
made us meet to be partakers of the inhertance of the
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saints in light.” (Col. 1:12.) But it may be said, Will not this
condence tend to make us careless in our walk here?
Far from it. If Christ has suered so much for our sakes
in order to procure eternal glory for us, it will make us
“labor” (mark the word), “that … we may be well-pleasing”
(or acceptable) “to Him.” (2 Cor. 5:9.) And should this
motive in itself not be enough, we have this added, that “we
must all be manifested before the judgment-seat of Christ.”
Everything will be brought to light there; if we have been
living for ourselves, we shall suer loss; but if, through
God’s grace, we have been seeking to live for Christ, we
shall receive reward.
But the reader may say, “I always thought that we had
to appear before Christ’s judgment-seat in order to have
it settled, whether we were to be in heaven or not.” By no
means. e moment a Christian dies, though his body is
laid in the grave, his spirit goes to be with Christ. As our
chapter puts it, he is “absent from the body,” and “present
with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:8); and, again, the apostle Paul said
that he had a “desire to depart and be with Christ.” (Phil.
1:23.) So too the Lord said to the thief on the cross, “To-
day shalt thou be with Me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:43.) Now,
if Paul, and the dying thief, and all the saints of God who
have died since the cross of Calvary, have been with Christ
for 1800 years, more or less, is it likely that they should
have to leave that place of perfect blessedness in order to be
judged to see whether they have a right to be there or not?
Surely not.
“But then,” it may be said, “it is their spirits that are with
Christ, whereas their bodies are in the grave: might not
resurrection make a dierence?”
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Let us see what the Word of God says. 1 Cor. 15 is
occupied from beginning to end with the subject of
resurrection; rst, that of Christ Himself, and then that
of the saints. ere evidently were some false teachers at
Corinth who were trying to persuade the believers there
that there was no such thing as resurrection. Consequently
the Spirit of God, through Paul, gives seven distinct proofs
of the resurrection of Christ-”the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:4),
“Cephas” saw Him, “then the twelve” (1 Cor. 15:5), “after
that ve hundred brethren at once” (1 Cor. 15:6), “after
that He was seen of James,” “then of all the apostles” (1
Cor. 15:7), “last of all of me also.” (1 Cor. 15:8.) is point
was of immense importance; for “if Christ be not raised …
ye are yet in your sins” (1 Cor. 15:17); their very salvation
depended on the fact that Christ had not only died, but
risen again. But if Christ has risen from the dead, then the
dead do rise; and in what order? Christ the rst-fruits (that
is, over 1800 years ago); “afterward they that are Christ’s at
His coming.” (1 Cor. 15:23.) And how do they rise? Let the
reader open his Bible, and read 1 Cor. 15:43-let him read
it over and over again. “It is sown in dishonor: it is raised in
glory.” Now, this clearly refers only to the believer in Christ.
When he is raised, has he then to be judged, to see whether
he is to be in glory or not? Certainly not. He is raised in
glory. e very act that raises him from the dead puts him
into glory. Say, beloved friend, has your soul grasped the
power and simplicity of those three words-RAISED IN
GLORY?
en, further, as to those believers who will be alive
when Christ comes (and you and I, dear Christian friend,
might be among the number), “we look for the Savior, the
Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body, that it
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may be fashioned like unto His glorious body” (or, “His
body of glory.”) (Phil. 3:20,21.) So that when Christ comes
into the air (1 ess. 4:13-18), the living saints will be
changed in a moment, and become perfectly like Him; for
they shall see Him as He is (1 John 3:2), and “the dead in
Christ” shall be “raised in glory.”
But why are we so anxious to prove all this?
Why simply to show that before ever we stand before
the judgment-seat of Christ we shall not only be with Christ,
but already gloried, and so perfectly like Christ.
Now, could it for one moment be supposed that any of
those who are gloried and like Christ could possibly be
cast into outer darkness? Surely not. Who could imagine
such a thing? e thought even is absurd.
Besides this, Who will be sitting on the judgment-seat?
Why, Christ, of course; and, Is not He the very One that
bore all our sins in His own body on the tree? Is it likely that
He will then lay to our charge sins which He Himself died
for on the cross years ago? Impossible!
But what, then, is the judgment-seat of Christ for? As
we have shown, it cannot be to judge whether we are to be
in heaven or not, for we shall be there already; but being
there with Christ, and in gloried bodies like Christ, we
shall review in company with Himself our whole history in
this world. We shall retrace every step, we shall recall every
circumstance; and, in the unsullied light of His blessed
presence, we shall weigh every act and deed of our lives in
the balance of the sanctuary, we shall see them as He saw
them, and judge of them as He judged of them.
He will then show us where and how we failed; but
instead of this making us afraid of Him it will only deepen
in our souls the sense of His unchanging grace and love,
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that He should so long have borne with such failing, erring
creatures.
He will also delight to bring to our remembrance every
little act of service for Himself-the smallest thing we may
have done for Him, a word spoken for Him, or even a cup
of cold water given in His name will not be forgotten. en
“every man shall receive his own reward according to his
own labor.” (1 Cor. 3:8.) O, beloved Christian reader, let us
not lose the precious opportunities which are now given
to us of serving Christ! Let us awake from the disgraceful
slumber of apathy and indierence into which, alas! we are
so prone to fall! Let us not live to ourselves, but to Him who
died for us!
“I gave My life for thee,
My precious blood I shed,
at thou mightst ransomed be,
And rescued from the dead;
I gave My life for thee,
What hast thou given for Me?”
“Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day
shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by re; and the
re shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s
work abide … he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work
shall be burned, he shall suer loss; but he himself shall be
saved … If any man dele the temple of God, him shall
God destroy.” (1 Cor. 3:13-18.)
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ree Dierent Workmen
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ree Dierent Workmen
Now here we have three distinct thoughts-
A real Christian, whose work is good, will receive a
reward. (1 Cor. 3:14.)
A real Christian, whose work is bad, will suer loss,
though he himself will be saved. (1 Cor. 3:15.)
A wicked man who, being evil himself, and with evil
intent, can only do evil work, both he and his work are
destroyed. (1 Cor. 3:17.)
While these verses no doubt apply especially to the
subject of service, the same principle applies to every detail
of the Christian’s life. How much that we do and say now
will have to be burned up then!
But we believe that every Christian will receive a reward,
little though any of us may deserve it; for we can scarcely
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conceive it possible that there could be a real child of God
who had never done anything, however small, for Christ.
What a solemn thought it is that everything will be
brought to light there I How careful it should make us in
all our walk and ways and service! How important that
everything that we do and say now should be done and said
in view of that coming day, when we must be manifested
before the judgment-seat of Christ!
But some may say, “Does not the apostle speak in the
very next verse of the terror of the Lord? Does not this look
as if he had some fear as to the results of that day?”
He does; but with no sort of an idea that he or any
Christian will then be condemned. He is not troubled about
himself, and how it will turn out with him; all his concern
is for others. If it be such a solemn thing, even for him who
is sheltered by the blood of the One who sits as Judge, what
will it be for the man who has no such shelter!
“Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord,” does he say,
“We tremble for ourselves”? Not at all; but, “We persuade
men.” (1 Cor. 3:11.)
We said that every saved soul would receive a reward.
Now what, it may be asked, could the thief on the cross do
for Christ? Was he not blaspheming His name almost up to
the last moment of his life?
Ah, beloved reader, we believe his reward will indeed be
a bright one. What did he do? He did what you and I have
never been called upon to do. e whole world was against
Christ; the multitude had risen against Him; the Jewish
nation had shouted, “Away with Him”; the chief priests and
rulers had cried, “Crucify Him”; Judas, one of His disciples,
had betrayed Him; Peter had denied Him; all had forsaken
Him; the passers-by were wagging their heads at Him, and
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mocking the holy Suerer in His dying agonies; and what
of the thief? He only, so far as we read, raises his voice in His
favor. What a privilege was his! How grateful to the heart
of Christ it must have been to hear the simple but heart-
felt testimony, “is man hath done nothing amiss.” (Luke
23:41.) Surely it will not be forgotten in that day! He will
not lose his reward.
But not only shall we then see our failures as we never
saw them before, and learn too, as we had never known it
before, the matchless grace of the Savior in bearing with us,
notwithstanding all those failures; not only will He then
remind us of every little act of service for Him, and reward
us as His grace alone could, but we shall learn then how He
preserved us in the midst of dangers we never saw nor felt
while here.
We must never forget that Satan is always against us;
but, blessed be His name, God is always for us. Surrounded
by unknown dangers He protects us; amidst unseen perils
He preserves us. How loud will be the praise that will
resound to His name, when, before the judgment-seat of
Christ, we look back, and remember all the way that the
Lord our God has led us! (Deut. 8:2.)
As an illustration of this we may mention a case drawn
from the history of God’s earthly people, Israel. Look
at Num. 22 to 25. Israel, delivered out of Egypt, have just
completed their wilderness wanderings, they are just about
to enter the land of promise, when Satan, their great and
constant enemy, once more bestirs himself against them.
He incites Balak, king of Moab, to send for Balaam, son
of Beor, saying, “Come … curse me this people.” (Num.
22:6.) But when Satan opposes them, God protects them;
and so He says, “ou shalt not curse the people: for they
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are blessed.” (Num. 22:12.) Satan does his very best, tries
every means, employs every artice; but all in vain. How
much did the children of Israel know of all that was going
on against them on the hilltop? ey were stretched out
in their tents in the plains of Moab, perfectly unconscious
of it all. Satan’s vast and mighty conspiracy, and God’s still
greater deliverance, were both alike unknown to them. In
like manner, we believe, many an attack of Satan’s against
us is unseen by us now; but “in that day” everything will be
manifested; “we shall know as we are known.”
If it were not for the light of that day, we should
never know half the extent of God’s forgiveness, nor the
unchanging character of His faithfulness.
“When I stand before the throne,
Clad in beauty not my own,
en, Lord, shall I fully know,
Not till then, how much I owe!”
And as all our failures, short-comings, and sins pass
before us, instead of its awakening the slightest fear, or the
smallest question as to our acceptance, it will only produce
deeper thanksgiving and praise, and make us swell with
more energy and sweetness the song of redemption, “Unto
Him that loved us,, and washed us from our sins in His own
blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and
His Father; to Him be glory and dominion forever and
ever.” (Rev. 1:5,6.)
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e Judgment of the Living
Nations
We would now consider for a few moments the well-
known passage in Matt. 25:31 to end; namely, the judgment
of the sheep and the goats. Hundreds of God’s people read
this chapter under the impression that it teaches, as they say,
the doctrine of the general judgment. Let us examine it in
dependence upon the Spirit of God.
It is very commonly supposed that this is the description
of a scene which will take place at the end of the world’s
history, when all shall stand before God to be judged for
their sins, the sheep being, it is said, the Christians, and the
goats the unconverted.
Now, in order the better to understand this passage,
we would call the reader’s serious attention to the most
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important subject of the second coming of Christ. Deeply
interesting as this subject is, we cannot do more than refer
to it now, in order to remind the Christian reader that in
the New Testament this great and solemn event is spoken
of in two ways: in the rst place Jesus will come into the
air for His saints, in order to take them home to Himself to
His Father’s house (John 14:2,3; 1 ess. 4:13 to end); and,
secondly, He will come with His saints to the earth to judge
the world. We may here mention that in the Old Testament
while the coming of the Lord is frequently spoken of, it
is always His corning with His saints in judgment to the
earth. His coming for His saints into the air is never once
referred to in the Old Testament. (Jude 14,15 Zech. 14:1-
6.) ese are not exactly two events, but two stages of the
same event, separated by an interval of time.
e rst of these may take place at any moment. (1 Cor.
15:51-55; Rev. 22:20) When He comes for His saints, He
comes not as their judge, but as their Savior. (Phil. 3:20,21.)
He comes not to execute vengeance on them, but to receive
them to Himself in the Father’s house. (John 14:2,3.) ose
that have slept through Jesus shall be raised in glory (1
ess. 4:13-18; 1 Cor. 15:43,52), and the living saints (you
and I, perhaps, dear fellow-believer) shall be changed in a
moment, and “be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.”
(Phil. 3:21; 1 John 3:2.) Moreover, when He comes for His
saints, He comes not to the earth, but into the air. (1 ess.
4:17.)
On the other hand, when He comes with His saints, He
comes to execute judgment on the ungodly. (2 ess. 1:7-
11; Jude 14,15.) He then comes to the earth; “His feet shall
stand in that day upon the mount of Olives … and the Lord
my God shall come, and all the saints with ee.” (Zech.
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14:1-6.) While there is nothing to hinder His coming for
His saints this very day, there are many prophecies yet to be
fullled, and many events yet to take place, before He comes
with them in judgment. And we may also add that much
will take place on the earth between His coming for His
saints and His coming with them.
Now, returning once more to Matt. 25:31, we shall easily
see that it is to the second of these stages that the Lord Jesus
refers. It is very helpful in understanding the passage to
notice that from Matt. 24:32 to Matt. 25:31 may be treated
as a parenthesis. e early part of Matt. 24, is a remarkable
prophecy of events that are yet to take place in connection
with the Jews. As we have before observed, the Lord may
come at any moment for His saints, and then, when we are
at home in the Father’s house in glory, God will once more
begin to deal with the Jewish nation on the earth.
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e Great Tribulation
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e Great Tribulation
Many prophecies of the Old Testament will then be
fullled, which we cannot now enter into, deeply interesting
as they are; the “time of Jacob’s trouble” (Jer. 30.), that is,
“the great tribulation,” will then take place (Dan. 12:1;
Matt. 24:21), and during this time the ery persecution will
be so severe that the elect remnant of the Jews shall with
diculty escape; many we know shall be slain, but “he that
shall endure to the end” (that is, to the end of this time of
great tribulation), “the same shall be saved.” (Matt. 24:13)
During this time, too, the godly remnant of the Jews
will preach the gospel of the kingdom in all the world, for
a witness to all nations (i.e., the heathen). e gospel of
the kingdom which will then be preached is very dierent
from the gospel of the grace of God which is now being
proclaimed. Now through the gospel God is telling poor
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sinners that Christ has come, and is oering them eternal
glory with that Christ in heaven on the ground of the work
He accomplished at Calvary’s cross; but then. the Jewish
remnant will announce that Christ is coming to set up His
kingdom on the earth, and to reign as King. (Matt. 10:17,
22, 23; 24:14.)
When this gospel of the kingdom shall have been
preached to all nations, and when the time of tribulation
shall have reached its height, “then shall appear the sign of
the Son of man in heaven; and then shall all the tribes of
the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming
in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” (Matt.
24:30.) What a moment! e One whom this world
crowned with thorns, rejected and crucied, shall then be
seen returning girt with almighty power, arrayed in dazzling
glory, and accompanied with all His gloried saints.
Let us now pass from Matt. 24:30 to Matt. 25:31.
“When the Son of man shall come in His glory … then
shall He sit upon the throne of His glory, and before Him
shall be gathered all nations.” It is very clear that Christ here
comes in glory to the earth; but when He so comes we shall
come WITH HIM; for “when Christ who is our life shall
appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory.” (Col.
3:4.) It is equally clear that He is here seen coming to judge
the nations; but when He so comes we shall come WITH
HIM. (Jude 14,15.) Now, if at this period we come with
Him, He must previously have come for us; and, further, He
does not here come to judge us, but we (i. e., believers) come
with Him to judge the nations-”Do ye not know that the
saints shall judge the world?” (1 Cor. 6:2.)
Who then are these nations? perhaps the reader may ask.
ey are the Gentile nations, or heathen alive on the earth
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when Christ comes in judgment; they are the very nations
to whom the Jewish remnant have preached the gospel of
the kingdom, after that the Church has been taken away.
We would beseech the reader to study these verses carefully;
he will then see that the nations are judged according to
the way in which they have treated these godly Jews, here
called “these My brethren.” (Matt. 25:40, 45.) ey are
divided into two companies-”the sheep” are those who
have received these messengers of the coming King, and to
them are addressed the gracious words, “Come, ye blessed
of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from
the foundation of the world” (Matt. 25:34); that is, they
enter the millennium to enjoy all the blessings of Christ’s
earthly kingdom; “the goats,” on the other hand, are those
who have rejected these messengers and refused the mercy
oered through them, and to them are uttered the awful
words, “Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting re,
prepared for the devil and his angels.” (Matt. 25:41.) is
judgment of the living nations being over, the millennium
will commence, and for 1000 years we (the gloried saints)
shall live and reign with Christ. (Rev. 20:4.)
Carefully observe that in this passage none but the living
nations are judged: all here are alive, none of them have
passed through death; this in itself is sucient to show that
a general judgment is out of the question.
Further, there are three companies spoken of, and not
merely two. Now, if “the sheep” are all the redeemed, and “the
goats” are all the lost, who then are “these my brethren”?
Let none suppose that they are some of the sheep; had it
been so the verse would have run thus: “Inasmuch as ye did
it to one another,” &c. e meaning of the passage will be
involved in hopeless obscurity until the simple truth is seen
e Four Judgments
30
that the nations here spoken of are the Gentile nations alive
on the earth when Christ comes to set up His kingdom.
Christians, i. e., the Church, are not mentioned in this
portion of the chapter; they are spoken of in the parables of
the Servants, the Ten Virgins and the Talents. (24: 45-25:
30.)
e Great White rone
31
95411
e Great White rone
e subject now before us is a deeply solemn one, and
we would earnestly entreat, you, beloved reader, to sit down
as in the very presence of God, Bible in hand, and study
carefully Rev. 20.
As we have before seen from Scripture, the Lord Jesus
may return at any moment for His saints. Yes, His shout
may be heard this very night. His own blessed testimony
at the close of the Word of God is this: “SURELY I come
quickly, Amen.” May the ready response of our hearts
be, “Even so, COME, Lord Jesus.” (Rev. 22:20.) In one
moment, in the twinkling of an eye, we may be caught up to
meet our returning Savior in the air; He will then take us to
the Father’s house, where we shall be at home with Himself
in the glory. A short interval will then elapse, during
which time in heaven the saints will be manifested before
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32
the judgment-seat of Christ, and during which time also
on earth will be taking place all the judgments described in
the Book of Revelation, from chapters 6 to 19. Heaven will
then open again (Rev. 19:11), and the Lord, followed and
accompanied by all His saints, will once more come forth;
He will come with, His saints to the earth, and will execute
judgment upon all those then alive on the earth who oppose
themselves to Him. At this time also, as we have seen, the
living nations will be judged according to Matt. 25:31, &c.
All evil will then be put down, every enemy destroyed, and
all things shall be subdued unto Him. e length of time
during which He will reign is said to be 1000 years, hence
called the “millennium” (which simply means 1000 years),
and during this time the gloried saints live and reign with
Him. (Rev. 20:4.)
e Wicked Dead Not yet Raised
33
95412
e Wicked Dead Not yet
Raised
Up to this moment not one of the wicked dead have yet
been judged, not one of those who have died in their sins
have yet been raised. Does this sound strange? Let the
reader, ponder this deeply solemn and important chapter,
let him ponder it unbiased by all his preconceived thoughts,
and in simple dependence upon the teaching of the
Spirit of God. In Rev. 20:4 are described those that have
part in the FIRST RESURRECTION: How bright and
blessed is their portion!”ey live and reign with Christ
for 1000 years.” All this time “the REST of the dead”
(i. e., the wicked dead) will remain in their graves; they
“lived not again till the thousand years were FINISHED.”
(Rev. 20:5.) How dark and awful is their portion! We feel
e Four Judgments
34
we cannot do better than quote the veritable words of
Scripture:
“And I saw a GREAT WHITE THRONE, and Him
that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven ed
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 hades
delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were
judged every man according to their works. And death and
hades were cast into the lake of re. is is the SECOND
DEATH. And whosoever was not found written in the
book of life was cast into the lake of re.” (Rev. 20:11 to
end.) We would just draw the reader’s attention to a few
most important points in this nal judgment.
In the rst place, Christ does not here come to the earth
at all; instead of this we read that “from His face the earth
and heaven ed away.” How dierent this is one sacrice
for sins, forever sat down at the right hand of God.” (Heb.
10:12.) All judgment has been committed to His hand.
“e Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all
judgment unto the Son … and hath given Him authority
to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of man.”
(John 5:22-27.) Every knee must bow before Him; every
tongue must confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Reader, have
you? Do so NOW, and you are SAVED; wait till the day of
judgment, and you will be LOST forever.
We would earnestly commend this subject to the
reader’s prayerful consideration, and we trust that, like the
Bereans of old, he may receive the Word with all readiness
e Wicked Dead Not yet Raised
35
of mind, and SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES daily,
whether these things are so. (Acts 17:11.)
Courtesy of BibleTruthPublishers.com. Most likely this text
has not been proofread. Any suggestions for spelling or punctuation
corrections would be warmly received. Please email them to:
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