Judgment is not a subject that most people enjoy thinking about, but judgment is coming, and sooner than most would want to recognize.  People look for any excuse to avoid thinking about coming judgment.  In fact, just before the death of actor W.C. Fields, a friend visited him in the hospital and was surprised to see him thumbing through the Bible.  When asked what he was doing?  Fields replied, “I’m looking for loopholes.”  There are no loopholes; The Bible states that we have an appointment with judgment:

And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: - Hebrews 9:27

Which judgment your appointment is for, is up to you.  We will discuss the Seven

judgments as found in the Bible, and I hope that you will make the right choice and I so doing, will find and see that the coming judgment that you will face, can be a blessing and not something that causes fear and anxiety.

The Judgment of Sin at Calvary

The first judgment that we will discuss is arguably the most important one for you.  It is the judgment of sin at Calvary which occurred approximately in A.D. 33 at the Cross of Calvary at the crucifixion of Jesus.   All sin, not just the sin of those present, and not just the sin of times past, but all sin:  past, present, and future were all judged at this judgment.  All of mankind by nature are the servants of sin (Romans 6:17, John 8:34) as servants of sin, we needed to be bought out of the slave market of sin.  That is what Jesus did on the cross of Calvary.  He bought us with a price (1 Corinthians 6:20), and according to the Bible, that price was Gods own blood (Acts 20:28).

For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: - 1 Peter 3:18

That is the gospel, according to what the Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4.  That verse above just told you that Jesus suffered for sins “once.”  That means that the sacrifice of Jesus occurred only once.  He is not a perpetual sacrifice, In Hebrews 10:10-12  we see that he paid the price for sins once for all.  He was the just we are unjust, he sacrificed himself so that we could be brought back to a right relationship with God.  He was put to death, buried, and rose again (quickened in the Spirit) from the dead.  He is not dead today, he is not still hanging on a cross, he rose from the dead, and he ascended to the Father where he is acting as our advocate (1 John 2:1-2).

Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.
 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 Corinthians 5:20-21

Jesus took the punishment that we deserved and gave us all of the benefits that he deserves.

The Believers Self-Judgment

The second judgment on this list is the Believers Self-Judgment.  This judgment is to occur daily and should take place anywhere and everywhere that the believer happens to be, church, home, the office, school, grocery, in the car or anywhere else.  As the title suggests, this judgment only applies to believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.

You are a believer if you have put all of your faith and trust in the finished work that Christ did on the cross during the judgment of sin at Calvary.  If you have not been born again (Click here for more on what this means), you are not a believer in the Biblical sense.  Many people will claim to be a believer, based solely on the fact that they believe that there is a God.  It is important to recognize that fact, but in so doing, you have just proven that you are not a fool:

The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. - Psalms 14:1

You are not a believer because you believe in ‘God.’  The Devil believes and knows that there is a God (James 2:19), but that does not make him a believer, and that alone will not make you a believer either.  To be a believer in the biblical sense, you must be born again.  You need to apply the sacrifice made at the Judgment of Sin to your account.

Once you are a believer, you receive forgiveness from your sin, and you have eternal life (more on that in a moment).  However, you will still struggle with sin.  As a born-again believer, you now have two natures.  You are your very own version of Jeckly and Hyde!  The Apostle Paul describes this struggle as a war in your members.  In Romans 7:15-23 he describes the daily battle that the Christian must face.  He also tells us in 1 Corinthians 11:31 that we need to judge ourselves.

Refusing to judge yourself will lead to the chastisement of the Lord.  The Lord will chastise you if you don’t judge yourself.  As an earthly father would correct his children out of love, the Lord will correct you for your profit:

For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
 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.
 Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?
 For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.
 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless, afterward, it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
 Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;
 And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed. - Hebrews 12:6-13

Standing and State

Standing

Once you become a believer, you have standing and a state in the Lord.  Your standing is in Christ once you are born-again.  The first time you were born, you were born a child of the Devil.  I know that sounds mean, but it is merely the truth.  The Lord Jesus was speaking to some people one day, religious people, and he told them that their father was the devil:

Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar and the father of it. - John 8:44

That is why we needed to be born-again (John 3:3).  Once you are born-again the bible teaches that you are placed into the body of Christ and sealed into that body with the Holy Spirit of promise:

That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
 In whom ye also trusted, after that, ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory. - Ephesians 1:12-14

Your standing is secure in the Lord.  The bible says that you can know that you have eternal life.  It did not say that you might get it someday, but that you can know for sure that you already have eternal life.

State

Your state, however, can be affected by your sin, because your state in the Lord concerns your fellowship with him, not your salvation.  1 John chapter 1 describes this very well.  John tells us in 1 John 1:3-4 that we can have fellowship with the Lord.  In fact, if we don’t protect that fellowship, we will not be able to be full of joy.  Your fellowship with the Lord directly impacts your joy.  Your state in the Lord is why you must self-judge as a believer.  When the Lord shows you something that in your life that is affecting that fellowship, he pleads with you to get it fixed:

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. - 1 John 1:8-9

The Judgment Seat of Christ

The next judgment is the judgment seat of Christ and is for believers.  The judgment seat of Christ will occur after the rapture of the church when the Lord calls the body of Christ out of this world, and we meet him in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17).  The subject of this judgment will be the works of the believer.

We know that we are not saved by doing good works (Titus 3:5-7), but once you receive salvation, you are called to do good works:

 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Not of works, lest any man should boast.
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. - Ephesians 2:8-10

Sin is not the subject of The Judgment Seat of Christ; sin has already been dealt with when you accepted Jesus as your Lord and Saviour.  The only thing that will be dealt with at the judgment seat of Christ is your works and whether they earned you any rewards or if they caused you to lose rewards:

According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.
 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 Corinthians 3:10-15

You know that only believers will appear before the judgment seat of Christ, based on          1 Corinthians 3:11, that verse just told you that only those who have Jesus as their foundation would be at this judgment.  The only way to have Jesus as your foundation is to accept the payment and free pardon that he has offered you.

Again in 1 Corinthians 3:15, notice that it is your works that are at issue, not sin.  Even if you don’t have any works that are worthy to pass this judgment, you will still have your salvation; you just won’t receive any rewards.

The Judgment of Israel

The purpose of the tribulation is to deal with Israel and for them to repent and accept their Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ.  We are commanded to pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalms 122:6).  Knowing that the judgment of Israel in the future is a fact, does not give you license to persecute them.  The Lord made some specific promises to Abraham, and those promises will be fulfilled.  The church has not replaced Israel, and the church does not get those promises.  All of the promises that God made to Israel will be performed.

The Judgment of Nations

At the second Advent of Christ, all of the surviving Gentile Nations will be judged based on how they treated the nation of Israel:

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?
 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
 Or when 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. - Matthew 25:31-46

The support or persecution of Israel will be the subject of the judgment of nations.   If they support Israel they will be blessed; if they persecute Israel they will be cursed (Genesis 12:3)

The Judgment of Angels

The Angels that rebelled against God and left their first estate will be judged at The Great White Throne Judgment.

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 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 Peter 2:4

The Great White Throne Judgment

The Great White Throne Judgment will occur at the end of the Millennial reign of Christ on earth.  This judgment will take place in outer space, and will concern the deeds of the lost.  If you don’t get saved today, this could be you!

The Lord has done everything possible to give you eternal life.  He does not want to condemn you; he wants to show you grace and mercy.  Jesus came into the world to save sinners.  Won’t you accept the gift of eternal life today?  If you reject the gift of eternal life, you will be called to this judgment:

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. - Revelation 20:11-15

The Lord is going to shut the door on his mercy and grace, and if you don’t accept that mercy before judgment comes, you will not get another chance:

And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. - 2 Thessalonians 10-12

Those verses just told you, that if you wait too long to receive the gift of eternal life, you will not get another chance!  Just like those who didn’t believe Noah when he told them that judgment was coming but instead wanted to sit back and ignore the warnings until after the rain started to fall.  By that time, it was forever too late for them.  The Bible says that God shut Noah in the Ark (Genesis 7:16).  Once the Lord shut the  Ark, no-one else could get in.  Don’t wait, don’t gamble, accept the Lord today!

If you have never done business with the Lord and accepted him as your savior, get it fixed today.  He is offering you a pardon for your sin, won’t you accept it today?

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. - Romans 10:9-13

If you are a believer, maybe you have found that your joy isn’t full, maybe your fellowship isn’t what it once was.  Have you left your first love?  If so, why not confess that to the Lord and restore your fellowship today.

Our hope at Irvington Bible Baptist Church is that this podcast provided some encouragement and has helped you to develop a closer relationship with the LORD Jesus Christ.