THE JUDGMENT

The judgment of the righteous and the wicked is sure to come! The judgment has been predicted in the Old Testament: (1 Chr. 16:33) “Then shall the trees of the wood sing out at the presence of the LORD, because he cometh to judge the earth.” (Psa. 9:7) “But the LORD shall endure for ever: he hath prepared his throne for judgment.” (Psa. 96:13) “Before the LORD: for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth.” (Eccl 3:17) “said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.” Please notice that this passage agrees with my opening statement that both the “righteous and the wicked will be judged”!

“Judgment” is also one of the first principles of the gospel: (Heb. 6:2) “Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.” The doctrine of Judgment is just as true as the doctrine of baptism is. God has even appointed a day in which the world shall be judged: (Acts 17:31) “Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.” If you believe that God raised Jesus from the dead you must also believe that a day of judgment has been appointed. Although many years have passed since this statement was made I still believe that that day will come! Yes, I believe this even though I do not know when it shall come to pass; I believe it because Jesus said so: (Mark 13:32) “But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.

The Day of Judgment will be a day of destruction for the wicked: (Job 21:30) “That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath.” (Rom. 2:12) “For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;” This verse also confirms that all will be judged; even the Gentiles who did not have the Law will be judged! It is just as Jesus said “all nations” shall be present for the judgment: (Matt. 25:32) “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:

There are some who contend that the righteous [I.e. the Christians] will not be judged; however, the Bible that I read and trust tells me that ALL MEN will be judged: (Heb. 12:23) “To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,” (Heb. 9:27) “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:” Friends, if you are alive when Jesus comes again you will escape a physical death; but you will not escape the Day of Judgment. We must understand that both the living and the dead will be judged: (2 Tim. 4:1) “I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; (1 Pet. 4:5) “Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead. It will make no difference who you are, whether you be “small or great” you will be judged according to your works which God keeps record of in His book of life:(Rev. 20:12) “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.” You might argue the point that the righteous will not be judged, but if you do so you are arguing with God and not with me!

What will we be judged of? We will be judged of all of our actions: (Eccl. 11:9) “Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.(Eccl 12:14) “For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” (Matt 12:36 – 37) “But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. ³⁷For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. Do these scriptures not tell us that we need to be extremely careful of what we do and say; let us always remember that God is watching us and He is keeping record in the book of life? You say that you are very careful not to sin in what you do or say; while this may be true are you aware that even your thoughts could get you in trouble? (Eccl. 12:14) :For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” You might be able to hide your secret sins from others but you cannot hide even these from God.

The question has come up “If I have repented of all of my sins; and they are remembered no more [Eph. 8:12] of what will we be judged”? Let us remember that God keeps record of our good works as well as the bad. It might serve us well to look at Webster’s definition of the word “judgment”: “JUDG'MENT, n. The act of judging; the act or process of the mind in comparing its ideas, to find their agreement or disagreement, and to ascertain truth; or the process of examining facts and arguments, to ascertain propriety and justice; or the process of examining the relations between one proposition and another.” Could it be that the righteous will have their works compared by the Judge? Could it be that God looks through the Book of Life to ascertain the truth concerning our righteousness? I believe that Christians will be judged from the Book of Life; otherwise Jesus Christ could not say: (Matt. 25:21) “His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.”