Subject: What happens immediatly after you die? |
Bible Note: Continuation Part 2, Question: I don’t understand the White Throne Judgment, the Judgment Seat of Christ and the Final Judgment. In what order will they occur and briefly explain each one? Answer: Here is the chronological order. The Judgment Seat of Christ: This is the judgment of Church saints that will happen after the Rapture to Heaven and before the actual wedding ceremony in Heaven. The purpose of this judgment is not to put our sins on display since our sins are covered forever by the blood of Messiah, but rather an evaluation judgment as to how we lived once we were saved. If we were serving the Lord, we would be building with gold, silver and precious stone, but those times when we were not serving the Lord we would be building with wood, hay, and stubble. At this judgment the wood, hay, and stubble would simply be burned away and the gold, silver and precious stone will be purified. What is left will determine our reward and our position in the Messianic Kingdom. Thus by the time of the wedding ceremony, all that is showing on the bride will be the “righteous acts of the saints”. The Scriptures for this include, Romans 14:10-12; II Corinthians 5:10; I Corinthians 3:10-15; Revelation 19:6-8. The Final Judgment:This is a special judgment of all Gentiles who survive the Tribulation and will be held at the Valley of Jehoshaphat, the valley that separates Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives. The basis of the judgment is anti-Semitism or pro- Semitism (how these people treated the Jews during this period). The believers of the Tribulation evidenced by their pro-Semitism will be the ones to enter the Messianic Kingdom and populate the Gentile nations of the kingdom. The goat Gentiles are the unbelievers of the Tribulation who showed their lack of faith by their anti-Semitic works and therefore they will be killed and not enter the Messianic Kingdom. It is over the sheep Gentiles that the Church saints will co-rule. The Scriptures include Joel 3:1-3; Matthew 25:31-46. The Great White Throne Judgment: This is what is meant when people talk about “The Final Judgment” but it is a judgment of all unbelievers of all time, not to determine whether they were saved or not, but to determine the degree of their punishment in the Lake of Fire. Their names have been blotted out of the Book of Life, showing that they never believed and therefore were worthy to stand the judgment. The “other books” and their biographies that will in turn determine their degree of punishment. The Scriptures here include Revelation 20:11-15. For more details see our book entitled The Footsteps of the Messiah: The Study of the Sequence of Prophetic Events. As you can see from Rev 9:6 above, man must retain his body, in order to experience the pain of punishment for those who are not saved, and conversely the indescrible joys of Heaven in the presance of Our Lord Jesus, for those who are saved. |