The Judgment
of the Living
The second phase of
the judgment bar is of Christ (the
judgment of the living) and it begins
when the censer is cast down and the
Great Tribulation begins. The 144,000
will announce the judgment bar of
Christ. They will cry out,
“…. Fear God and give him
glory because the hour of
his judgment has come. Worship
him who made the heavens,
the earth, the sea and the springs of
water.” (Revelation 14:7,
italics mine)
The judgment of the
living is unlike the judgment
of the dead in several ways. First,
the judgment of the living does
not require a complete review of
a person’s life. The judgment of
the living will be based on our
response to the Two Witnesses. Here
is how it works: (1 Corinthians 3:13,
Revelation 3:10) All that maters to
Jesus is our response to His Two
Witnesses. At the end of the 1,260
days, the judgment of the living will
end because every person will have
either the seal of God or the mark of
the beast by that time. If a person
should die during the Great
Tribulation before he receives
the seal of God or the mark of the
beast, he will be judged just like
those who had previously died.
Because many people will die before
they are sealed or receive the mark
of the beast, the judgment of the
dead continues uninterrupted after
the judgment of the living begins.
The second difference
between the judgment of the dead and
the living is that the judgment of
the living involves a four-step
process. When the censer is cast
down, everyone on Earth will
participate in “Step One”
even though they may not live long
enough to complete all four steps.
Some people will go through these
four steps faster than others. The
first people to be judged and receive
the seal of God will be the
144,000.They are sealed just before
the Great Tribulation begins.
(Revelation 7:1-4) They are the first
fruits of the end-time harvest.
(Revelation 14:4) After the 144,000
are sealed and empowered, the censer
will be cast down and the four steps
will begin. They are rather easy to
understand.
The
Four Step Process
Step One – The
Law of God Proclaimed: When the
censer is cast down, the 144,000 will
go to work. The Holy Spirit will
empower them to preach the law of God
as a witness to all nations.
(Matthew 24:14) A witness does not
have to be a human being. Consider
this example: “After Moses
finished writing in a book the words
of this law from the beginning to
end, he gave this command to the
Levites who carried the ark of the
covenant of the Lord: ‘Take this
Book of the Law and place it beside
the ark of the covenant of the Lord
your God. There it [the Words of
God] will remain a witness
against you.’” (Deuteronomy
31:24-26, italics and insertion mine)
Gods’ law
operates like a plumb line.
God’s law defines the truth and
in so doing, it destroys lies and
deception. Nothing is more wonderful
than the light of truth to
those who love truth. During the
Great Tribulation, God’s Word
will be given unusual power to cut
people “to the heart.”
Remember Peter and the disciples on
the Day of Pentecost? “[Peter
said] ‘Therefore let all
Israel be assured of this: God has
made this Jesus, whom you crucified,
both Lord and Christ.’
When the people
heard this, they were cut
to the heart and said to
Peter and the other apostles,
‘Brothers, what shall we do [to
escape God’s wrath]?’
Peter replied, ‘Repent and be
baptized, every one of you, in the
name of Jesus Christ for
the forgiveness of your sins. And
you will receive the gift of the Holy
Spirit.’”
(Acts 2:36-38, italics
and insertions mine)
The overwhelming
devastation of the first four
trumpets will subdue religious
prejudice for a short time.
God’s manifold wrath will open
the minds and hearts of a religiously
diverse world so every person,
regardless of language, culture or
religious background can make
thoughtfully and intelligently
consider His law that the 144,000
will proclaim. People will hear the
testimony of Jesus (the words of
Jesus) coming out of the mouths of
the 144,000 and the honest in heart
will be “cut to the heart.”
Step Two –
Holy Spirit Discomfort: God’s
law makes no sense without the
enlightenment of His Spirit! “The
man without the Spirit does not
accept the things that come from the
Spirit of God, for they are
foolishness to him, and he cannot
understand them, because they are
spiritually discerned.” (1
Corinthians 2:14)
God’s law will be
proclaimed throughout the world with
Holy Spirit power. The distinction
between truth and error, good and
evil, will be made so plain that
young people will even be able to
understand the difference. Conviction
will fall hard upon the honest in
heart and painful decisions will be
required. The social consequences for
following Jesus will be severe. (John
16: 1-3) The Holy Spirit will
sufficiently “pressure”
each person to choose the right and
refuse the wrong. (See Joshua 24:15
and Hebrews 3:7-19.) Socially and
culturally speaking, the situation
will be difficult.
The gospel of Jesus
always puts a person in a tough
situation because the gospel demands
total submission and loyalty to the
law of God, and it goes without
saying that our fallen human nature
finds this difficult. When there is a
price to pay for submission to
God’s law, our faith in Christ
is tested. Do you remember how Peter
betrayed Christ outside
Caiaphas’ home? (See Mark
14:53-15:1.) That embarrassing moment
was a turning point in Peter’s
life. Peter realized that Friday
morning there was a huge difference
between knowing Jesus and
surrendering to Jesus. A few weeks
later, Peter was chosen as the
primary speaker at Pentecost because
he had openly betrayed Christ and
repented. Jesus gave this converted
disciple a chance to let his
countrymen clearly know where he now
stood. I mention this because Peter
knew firsthand the internal struggle
between loyalty and cowardice. He
wrote, “For it is time for
the judgment to begin with the family
of God: and if it begins with us,
what will the outcome be for those
who do not obey the
gospel of God?
And, ‘if it is hard
for the righteous to be saved,
what will become of the ungodly and
the sinner?’” (1 Peter
4:17,18, italics mine)
Those who love God and
His truth will eventually step out in
faith and embrace the gospel of Jesus
Christ. Once a person decides
to take his stand to obey God’s
Word, he will be given as much grace
and strength as needed to face the
trials and persecution that will
follow. On the other hand, people who
cannot make a decision to obey the
gospel will capitulate. There is
no strength to bear the consequences
of persecution without making a
wholehearted decision to follow
Christ. Cowards, faithless, and
double0minded people will go along
with the flow to avoid suffering, and
their eternal loss will be
mind-boggling. (Revelation 21:8) “….’No
eye hath seen, no ear heard, no mind
has conceived what God has prepared
for those who love him – but God
has revealed it to us by his
Spirit.’ The Spirit searches all
things, even the deep things of
God.”
(1 Corinthians 2:9,10)
For 1,260 days Jesus
will watch and wait, patiently
allowing each person to make up his
own mind. The Holy Spirit will pound
on every heart’s door. The third
member of the Godhead will do
everything short of violating human
choice to get rebellious people to
surrender to the plumb line of Truth
– the law of God; unfortunately,
many people will choose to rebel.
Like the rich young ruler, they will
conclude that the price for obedience
is just too great. (John 3:19-21;
Luke 18: 18-25; Revelation 13:8)
Without the enabling power that comes
from a determined decision to follow
Christ at any price, the wicked will
be right – the price for
obedience is too great.
Step Three –
Your Final Decision: During the
judgment pf the living, three forces
will be working together. The Word of
God will be heard by everyone.
Then, the Holy Spirit will apply
great pressure within every heart
to obey God’s law, and last, persecution
will force everyone into making a
decision. At first, you might think
that the Two Witnesses are pulling
people toward the shores of salvation
and persecution is driving them away,
but it is not what you think! Those
who love God and His Law will receive
the testimony of the Holy Spirit.
They are willing to accept
persecution because they are
committed to pleasing God at any
cost. On the other hand, those who
love their lives and their
possessions more than God will not be
able to take the heat and accept the
suffering that comes with their
decision. Jesus said, “The
man who loves his life will lose it,
while the man who hates his life in
this world will keep it for eternal
life.”
(John 12:25) “And
everyone who has left houses or
brothers or sisters or father or
mother or children or fields for my
sake will receive a hundred times as
much and will inherit eternal
life.” (Matthew 19:29)
There are always some
people who will waver back and forth
for a time, but increasing pressures
from persecution will eventually
force everyone into their final
decision. Everyone on Earth will
either receive the mark of the beast
or the seal of God. There is a simple
reason for the persecution of the
saints: Salvation comes through faith
in Christ. Therefore, the Great
Tribulation will be a test of faith.
Faith in God quickly separates
people. Remember the twelve spies
that Moses sent into the Promised
Land? (Numbers 14) Faith is a very
scary thing to those who do not know
God and His power of His Word. Faith
in God separates sheep from goats.
Our actions declare our faith. James
agrees. He wrote, “…. I
will show you [and God] my
faith by what I do.” (James
2:18, insertion mine) Jesus assured
the church members in Philadelphia
(an early Christian church that had
suffered persecution for years),
“Since you have kept my command
to endure patiently, I will also keep
you from [or during] the our
of trial that is going to come upon
the whole world to test
those who live on the
earth.” (Revelation 3:10,
italics and insertion mine)
Step Four –
The Seal and the Tattoo: Every
person who surrenders to the law of
God and the Holy Spirit will fall in
line with the testimony of Jesus.
After choosing to obey Jesus without
regard for the consequences, each
person will be given the strength and
faith to pass any test which
persecution might impose. The fires
of persecution will refine and purify
the faith of the saints. “….
I will refine them like silver and
test them like gold. They will call
on my name and I will answer them; I
will say, ‘They are my
people,’ and they will say,
‘The Lord is our
God.’” (Zechariah 13:9)
After passing some fiery tests of
faith, a dramatic miracle will
happen. It is ironic after losing
everything he owns, each faithful
person will then lose his carnal
nature!
The sealing of the
saints requires the testimony of the
Two Witnesses. The law of God will
serve as the plumb line. It will
measure the actions of John Doe.
Jesus will see what John did, in
fact, submit to God’s law. John
will demonstrate his love for Jesus
and his neighbor. The Holy Spirit
will testify that John’s faith
was thoroughly tested and he loves
God with all his heart, mind, and
soul, and his neighbor as himself.
John gave everything he owned for the
sake of the gospel! John was
persecuted for worshiping Jesus on
His Sabbath day. John actions clearly
showed his love for God and man. The
testimony of God’s Two Witnesses
will establish the fact that John
loved God and man. Jesus will
announce His judgment: “Seal
John Doe! Set him free from
sin’s curse. Give him the
wedding robe!” At that moment,
John’s carnal nature will be
removed and John will no longer have
a propensity for sinning! John Doe
will be like Adam before the fall. He
will feel a joyful difference and if
he’s in prison, he just might
start singing at midnight.
(Acts 16:25)
Those ho reject the
law of God and the promptings of the
Holy Spirit will become more
rebellious and hard hearted as time
passes. Eventually, everyone in this
crowd will commit the unpardonable
sin. God’s plumb line will
measure their rebellion and the Holy
Spirit will confirm the blasphemy of
each person. To save their
possessions and themselves from
death, the wicked will eventually
submit to wearing the mark of the
beast – a tattoo that Lucifer
will impose on mankind during the
sixth trumpet. After everyone has
been sealed or tattooed, the judgment
of the living will come to an end and
the influence of the Two Witnesses
will disappear. Their work and
influence is finished. “Now
when they have finished
their testimony, the beast that comes
up from the Abyss [Lucifer]
will attack them, and overpower and
kill them…. The inhabitants of
the earth will gloat over them and
will celebrate by sending each other
gifts, because these two prophets had
tormented those who live on the
earth.” (Revelation 11:7,10,
italics and insertion mine)
Three
Observations
Now that both phases
of the judgment bar of Christ (the
judgment of the dead and the living)
have been discussed, three
observations need to be made:
- Consider
the righteousness and
fairness of God when judging
mankind. God will deal with
the dead and the living, the
rich and poor, the educated
and the uneducated, the
Christian and the
non-Christian using the same
witnesses. Everyone will be
judged according to their
actions. “For God
will bring every deed into
judgment, including every
hidden thing, whether it is
good or evil.” (Ecclesiastes
12:14) “Behold, I am
coming soon! My reward is
with me, and I will give to
everyone according to what he
has done.” (Revelation
22:12) “The sea gave
up the dead that were in it,
and death and Hades gave up
the dead that were in them,
and each person was judged
according to what he has
done.” (Revelation
20:13)
- Those
who receive the seal of God
will be set free of
sin’s power. Jesus said,
“Then you will know
the truth, and the truth will
set you free,” (John
8:32) I cannot emphasize this
aspect of God’s amazing
grace enough! Think about
this: Even the worst addict
or vilest sinner can be set
free of their addition and
sinful baggage if only they
will step out in faith and
obey the gospel of Jesus. The
choice for salvation will be
very clear during the Great
Tribulation the coat will be
great. Jesus says, “If
you love me, you will obey
what I command.”
(John 14:15)
It is interesting to me that the
fourth commandment (which will become
the object of great hatred) is the
only commandment in the Ten
Commandments that commands people to
cease from work at an appointed time.
What a wonderful commandment! God
requires rest on His seventh day so
His children can rejuvenate. The
144,000 will powerfully proclaim, “Worship
[the Creator on His holy day,
worship] him who made the heavens,
the earth, the sea and the springs of
water,” but astounding, as
it seems, millions will rebel. The
fourth commandment has been scorned
for centuries and the wicked will
widely resist it when they arte
confronted with the demands of
God’s law! Why is this called
blasphemy? Blasphemy is rebellion
against the law of God. “The
sinful mind is hostile to God. It
does not submit to God’s law,
nor can it do so.” (Romans
8:7) This hostility cannot be
justified. It only exists because we
have carnal natures. Nothing is more
wonderful than a Sabbath rest from
the burdens of life. I have found
God’s Sabbath rest to be my
favorite day of the week! Jesus said,
“Take my yoke upon you and
learn from me, for I am gentle and
humble in heart, and you will find
rest for your souls. For my yoke is
easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew
11:29,30)
3.
By the time Jesus closes His judgment
bar; He will have passed judgment on
every soul who has even lived on
Earth. When He appears at the Second
Coming, He will deal separately with
three groups of people”
A.
The righteous dead
B.
The righteous living
C.
The wicked dead
D.
The wicked living
“Behold,
I am coming soon! My reward is with
me, and I will give to everyone
according to what he has done.”
(Revelation 22:12) Notice the
outcome of each group: The righteous
dead will be resurrected, and the
righteous living will be caught up
together with the righteous dead to
meet the Lord in the air. (1
Thessalonians 4:15-17) The wicked
dead will not be disturbed. They will
sleep through the Second Coming and
be resurrected at the end of the
1,000 years. (Revelation 20:5) The
wicked living will be destroyed at
the second Coming and they will sleep
during the 1,000 years. (Revelation
19:19-21) Every person who lived
during Earth’s 6,000 years of
history will be in one of these four
groups at the Second Coming.
