For fifty years I had some vague
ideas of what judgment and heaven and hell would be like. It was based on
my learning experiences from preachers and teachers and my own Bible studies.
In recent years I have come to realize that my picture of judgment has
been restricted because I had not been listening to what the scriptures were
saying. Because of my beliefs about the subject, I had been reading in
things that were not there and ignoring some things that were there.
After years of ignoring what some
scriptures were saying, I have decided to take a new look at what the future
holds, regarding judgment and beyond, by listening to all scripture that I can
find that addresses the issue. In this introduction I will give a summary
of what is in my book. If you want to see more, read the book.
Following, I will try to show how
some of our Christian beliefs about judgment and the hereafter are not
supported by scripture. I will also present some possible alternatives
that could be scriptural. Read what I have written but your real duty will be
to listen to the word of God and believe Him. Let's listen to Jesus
describe judgment.
Jesus will come in glory and
judge the world:
Matthew 25
31
"But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him,
then He will sit on His glorious throne. 32 "All the nations will
be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the
shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; 33 and He will put the sheep on
His right, and the goats on the left. 34 "Then the King will say to
those on His right, `Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the
kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
Jesus will tell those on the right they are heirs to the kingdom that has been prepared for them because they did good deeds for Him. They gave Him food when He was hungry, water when He was thirsty, etc. He will explain how they did them to Him when they did them to, “one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them”.
He will then
tell those on the left how they are condemned because they did not do those
works of love for His brothers. He will judge the nations and reward them
based on their works of love for God’s elect.
What about faith in Jesus?
Why does Jesus not mention faith? The scriptures tell us repeatedly
about how we are justified by our faith in Jesus, not by our works. Some other
scriptures, however, do mention people being judged based on their deeds (Ezekiel
24:14 and Revelation
I had pictured every person who
will ever live being selected for one side or the other, the saved on the right
and the damned on the left. We know that the saved will be saved by
faith. Is Jesus really saying that? If He is, we should be able to
see it confirmed in other scripture. We need to look a little deeper into
the scriptures to find the answer to that question.
We have just seen what Jesus said
about how He will judge the nations on that day when He comes in glory. Other
scriptures mention that day and what will take place when He comes. What
else is mentioned about that day? One thing has to do with how that day
will begin. If we back up one chapter in Matthew, we can listen to Jesus
speak of how the day will begin.
A picture of how the day will
begin:
Matthew 24
30
"And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all
the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON
THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory. 31 "And He will
send forth His angels with A GREAT TRUMPET and THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER His
elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.
This is how the day
will begin when Jesus comes in glory. It will begin with the sign of the
Son of Man appearing in the sky. When His sign appears, all of the
tribes of the earth will see Him and mourn. As we read in another place
where the scriptures speak of Christ's coming with the clouds, "BEHOLD, HE IS COMING
WITH THE CLOUDS, every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all
the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him." (Revelation 1:7)
This will not happen for just a few believers. Every eye will see
Him coming with the clouds, including those who crucified Him.
That last day will
begin at different times of the day on this earth (Depending on time zone) but
it will be the beginning of a new day, Judgment Day. Jesus will send
forth His angels and gather together His elect from the four winds; from one
end of the sky to the other. In Mark He said, “from the farthest end
of the earth to the farthest end of heaven” (chapter 13). No
matter where they have been scattered, they will be found and brought to
Jesus. His elect are really His brothers, so He will be gathering
together His brothers from every nation on earth.
This is one of those scriptures
that I had not paid much attention to. It sounds like Jesus will be
gathering together His brothers from among the nations before He sits in
judgment of the nations. Why would Jesus gather together His brothers
from among the nations and then have them brought before Him and judged with
the nations when the nations are judged? He will judge the nations based
on how they have treated His brothers.
If He will judge the nations based
on how they will have treated His brothers, why not keep His brothers with Him
as He judges the nations. Is it possible that He will be doing exactly
that? Is that why He will speak to those on the right and tell them they
are blessed of the Father because they did those works of love for “one
of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them”.
Is it possible that the mental
picture I had of what would be taking place on that day was wrong? Just
where will His brothers be when He will be judging the nations? Why,
also, is Jesus not saying anything about faith?
We will begin our study with these
basic questions and search the scriptures for answers. We will search
knowing that all scripture is true and consistent with other scripture.
As we read more scripture about judgment and the world to come, more
questions will come up. We will see some possible answers being presented
but some things may remain unanswered. The true answers must be consistent with
all scripture.
All scripture is Jesus
speaking. John writes, “In the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the
beginning with God” (John 1:1-2). He will later say how the
Word became flesh and dwelt among us (Verse 14).
If Jesus is the Word
of God from the beginning, then all scripture is Jesus speaking, and that
includes the Old Testament scriptures. Nothing can change what Jesus said
about Judgment Day in Matthew, chapter 25, but other scripture might help us
understand what Jesus is really saying.
John recorded where
Jesus spoke of that last day when all of the dead will be raised, saying, "Do not marvel at
this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His
voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection
of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of
judgment." (John 5:28-29) We are seeing the same day and the same
events being described and it will happen on the day when Jesus will judge the
nations.
Just before Jesus spoke of how all will hear His voice and come forth from the tomb, He said something else that might cause us think more about how judgment will take place on that last day. He spoke to the crowd saying, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life”.
He
will then say, “Truly, truly, I say to
you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son
of God, and those who hear will live”. Those
were the words that Jesus was referring to when He told the Jews not to marvel
at them. They were tied to the resurrection and judgment.
The hour had come for some to hear
the words of Jesus and believe. Jesus told those Jews that if they
believed Him, they have eternal life. He also tells them that believers
do not come into judgment. Having a better idea of what will be happening on
Judgment Day is a part of our goal. We need to listen to Jesus and
believe Him if we are to learn what He is really telling us.
Remember, we just heard John tell us how Jesus was the Word from the beginning. He is the Word that became flesh. In John, chapter 5, He tells us that he who hears His word and believes Him who sent Him (The Father) has eternal life.
He
is telling us what He meant when He spoke those words in John 3:16.
Remember, those who believe in Him will have eternal life.
If, however, we don't believe the words
of Jesus, then we do not have eternal life. In other words, if we
hear His words and
refuse to believe that He means what He says, then we don't really
believe in Him. He is the Word, so we must believe the Word.
Jesus is telling us that if we will
believe in Him, we will regain what had been lost. When Jesus told them
that the hour had come when the dead will hear His voice and the ones who hear
will live, He is obviously saying that true hearing means to believe what is
being said. As Jesus said, the one who hears Him and believes God “has
eternal life”.
If Jesus says that the ones who believe Him have passed out of
death, into life, that means they were dead before they believed. He is
telling the crowd before Him that the unbelievers among them were still dead
but any believers were alive.
Those unbelievers standing before Jesus
were very much alive in the flesh. Was He not telling them they were
spiritually dead? He is telling us that the unbelieving world is dead but
if we change and truly believe in Him, we have eternal life.
Is that like Adam being told that he
would die on the day that he ate of that forbidden fruit? Jesus is the
Word from the beginning, but Adam did not believe the Word, meaning, he did not
believe Jesus, and he disobeyed and died. Adam died, spiritually, the day
he ate and man has been spiritually dead ever since.
The only way for man
to live again would be through God’s grace and His gift to man. God would
provide the redemption price necessary to let man regain eternal life with God.
That only happens through faith in Jesus. Jesus paid the price and, for
those who would believe in Him, God promises to give them back the life that
Adam lost.
It is possible to hear and yet, not
hear. Adam heard God's word but he did not really believe and it brought
death. We must hear the voice of Jesus and believe Him if we want to be
brought out of death and into life. Only those in the crowd who heard and
believed would regain that life.
These are scriptures
that I spent little time on in the past because of the conflict that I thought
was being caused by the wording. When Jesus said that everyone who
committed evil deeds will be raised to judgment but those who have done good
deeds will be raised to life, was He saying that believers are the ones
that will have done those good deeds? We know that some unbelievers also
do good deeds.
If He is speaking of
believers, how can it be true that believers will not come into judgment and be
among the nations being judged on that day? Is Jesus really saying that?
Will they be raised to life while others will be raised to judgment?
That does not fit with scripture that tells us how we all (Including
Christians) will be judged.
Paul tells us how we
will all be judged. He wrote, “For we must all appear
before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his
deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (2
Corinthians 5:10)? What about that place in Romans, chapter 14, that
says, “For we will all stand before the
judgment seat of God” and
“each one of us will give an account of himself
to God”.
Those scriptures were
written to the church. Paul said that "we"
must all appear there and "we"
will all be before the judgment seat of God. He was including himself.
All will be judged based on their deeds and that includes the elect of
God. There appears to be a conflict between scriptures and a conflict
between what some of the scriptures are saying and my previous beliefs about
judgment.
We are looking at the
day when Jesus will come in glory and judge the nations. Was Paul
speaking of that day in 1 Thessalonians? In chapter three, Paul wrote to
encourage them to endure their afflictions and he ended by asking the Lord to
cause them to increase in love for each other and for all people, “so that He may
establish your hearts without blame in holiness before our God and Father at
the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints”.
He says that Jesus will come with
all His saints. What did he mean when he said Jesus would return with His
saints? He answered that question in the next chapter. In chapter 4
Paul continues to speak of the coming of Jesus and how He will descend from
heaven with a shout and with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of
God.
Paul tells how those
who had fallen asleep will not be left behind, saying, “God will bring with Him
those who have fallen asleep in Jesus”. The saints who
will be coming back with Him are the ones who have fallen asleep in
Jesus. Will not their spirits be coming back to receive their resurrected
bodies?
He then tells us that
when Jesus descends from heaven, “the dead in Christ will
rise first, then we who are still alive will be caught up together with them in
the clouds to meet the Lord in the air”. It sounds like
Paul is speaking of the same day that Jesus spoke of in Matthew, chapter
24. If it is the same day, the elect will be gathered to Jesus before He
sits in judgment of the nations.
If it should be true,
as some have said, that the, “caught up”, described by Paul,
will really happen many years before Judgment Day, the same thing would apply.
We read where the saints will be caught up “in
the clouds to meet the Lord in the air”. Paul then added
something to that statement. He said, “and
so we shall always be with the Lord”.
Whether judgment will happen only a few minutes or hours later or hundreds of years later, the same thing will be true. The saints will have been caught up to Jesus and will forever be with Him. It will happen before the nations will be judged.
If they are “caught up”
and will ascend to meet Jesus to always be with Him, they will
always be with Him. They would not be removed from Him to be judged when
the nations are judged. They would be with Him at the throne as He judges
the nations on that day.
Jesus will have
gathered His elect (His brothers) from among the nations and some time after
that He will judge the nations. If that is true, He will have His
brothers with Him at the throne as He judges the nations based on how they
treated His brothers. When Jesus speaks of works of love being done for, “these
brothers of mine”, will He word it that
way because they will be with Him at the throne as He judges the nations?
If believers have been
gathered to Jesus and will not be with the nations being judged, that would be
consistent with scripture that we read previously that said that believers have
eternal life and will not come into judgment (John 5:24).
Will we, the saints,
be with Him at His throne as He judges the nations? If we will be with
Him as He judges the nations, will we be involved in that judgment? Jesus
told the apostles that they would be involved in that judgment. He said
that, in the regeneration, when He sits on His throne, they,
“also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of
The regeneration will
happen when bodies are resurrected and living bodies are changed. That is
the day when Jesus will judge the world. When He sits on His throne to
judge the world, the apostles will also sit on thrones, judging
The apostles will be at the throne judging with Him
but will not His other elect be there at the throne, also?
Will the other
brothers of Jesus be sitting in judgment with Him also? Will they be
judging the Gentile nations as the apostles judge
Jesus said of the one
who overcomes, “I will grant to him to
sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father
on His throne” (Revelation 3:21). Only believers
overcome (1 John 5:4-5). We can only overcome by faith in Christ.
If we overcome, somewhere in time, or at the end of time, we will sit
with Him on His throne. Will we sit in judgment with Him and assist with
judgment of the unbelieving nations?
Was Paul speaking of
that in 1 Corinthians, chapter 6? Paul was addressing some of the problems
in the church at
The angels who sinned will be
judged on that last day (Jude 1:6). Paul said that Christians will judge
them. He also said that Christians will judge the world. If the saints will
judge the world and if they will also judge angels, it should happen as Jesus is
sitting on His throne in judgment of the nations. Will the saints be
judging those who had either treated them well or treated them badly?
How can that be true
if we must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ? Even Peter spoke
of our being judged and how he will also be judged. Peter made that
statement, “For it is time for judgment to begin with the
household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for
those who do not obey the gospel of God” (1 Peter
What was that Peter?
Are you telling us that there will be two different judgments, one for
the household of God and one for those who will not have obeyed the gospel?
Are those of God's household to be judged first? Are you also
telling us that judgment of God's household began back in the first century?
When Peter said it was
time for judgment to begin with “us”, he included himself.
Remember, he is one of the twelve who will be judging the twelve tribes
of
It was nearly two thousand years
ago that Peter made that statement about it being time for judgment to begin
with the household of God. If he meant exactly what he said, then it
appears that there are two different judgments, one for the judges and one for
the nations and it also appears that judgment of the judges began first and it
began back then. We will look at that possibility a little later.
Judges must be
qualified to judge before they can sit in judgment. If the saints will
sit in judgment and judge the world, they will be called before Jesus and
judged for their faithfulness before they are assigned as judges. It
sounds like Jesus may judge His servants first, based on their faithful service
and then He and His brothers would judge the world based on their works of love
(Their deeds).
The parables of Jesus
repeatedly tell us how the Master will judge his servants based on how faithful
they were in their service to Him.
In the parable of the
talents, the master’s slaves were entrusted with his possessions and they will
be called to give an account for what they have done with them. When the slave
who gained five talents reported what he had done, the master told him, "Well done, good
and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in
charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master." The one who gained two
talents was praised and told the same thing.
Each one of the master's slaves was judged based on their faithfulness to Him in doing their
assigned duty. For the slave that did nothing, Jesus said, “Throw
out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be
weeping and gnashing of teeth”. Faithful
service was the key. Those servants who are faithful in serving Him will be put in
charge of many things and they will enter into the joy of their Master.
After Jesus told that
parable, His next words were, "But when the Son
of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His
glorious throne." Jesus then speaks of how He will judge the
nations based on their works of love for His brothers, the same ones who will
have been judged based on their faithful service to Him. He will judge
His servants based on faithful service "But" He will judge
the nations based on their works of love for His brothers.
The word “but” (In the above
scripture) is not in most translations but it is in the NASB translation and it
is in the original Greek. It is a trivial word that usually adds little
to the meaning but not in this case.
Jesus gave a similar
parable in the parable of the minas (Luke, chapter 19). The master was
going away on a trip to another country where he was to be given a kingdom and then
return. Before he went, he called ten of his slaves in and gave each
slave one mina to do business with while he was gone. Jesus tells how he
judged his slaves when he returned.
One by one the
master's slaves are called in and judged. The one who gained ten minas
was praised and told, “Well done, good slave,
because you have been faithful in a very little thing, you are to be in
authority over ten cities”. The one who
gained five was told the same thing and was put in authority over five cities.
The one who did nothing with his mina was condemned and what he had was
taken from him.
Again, He is judging
His slaves based on their faithful service. It appears that those who
will have done more in their service will be permitted to sit in greater positions
of authority. In the parable of the minas, one was placed over ten
cities and one over five cities. Will
their new positions begin when the nations are brought before Jesus for
judgment?
In the parable of the
minas, after the master had judged his slaves, he passed judgment on his
enemies. His enemies were the ones who did not want him as their king.
They were citizens of that land and they had previously sent a delegation
to request that he not be made king over them. He was made king in spite
of their objections.
After judging his
slaves, the king said, “But these enemies of mine, who did not want me
to reign over them, bring them here and slay them in my presence”.
We are seeing separate
judgments, one for the Master’s servants and another for those who refuse to
accept Him as Lord. The unbelieving nations never accepted Jesus as Lord.
They did not want Him to reign over them. It sounds like they will
be judged after the saints are judged.
It sounds like the
Lord’s servants will be judged first. If so, the judges will be selected
based on faithful service and that includes doing the deeds of love that He has
commanded. Those who believe in the Master will do their duty. It
sounds like the nations will then be judged based on their deeds of love for
the Master’s faithful slaves who will have entered into the Master's joy. Would
that mean they will have become His brothers?
Notice
something else about the difference between judgment of the Master’s servants
and judgment of His enemies. It appears that the Master’s servants will not
be judged in the presence of a great number of people. It looks like they will be called before Him in private, one at a time
to be examined. We may be seeing that in the parable of the minas.
In that parable
scripture says, "When he returned,
after receiving the kingdom, he ordered that these slaves, to whom he had given
the money, be called to him so that he might know what business they had done.
"The first appeared, saying, `Master, your mina has made ten
minas more.' After the first had been examined and rewarded scripture
says that “The second came”. Later,
another came.
After examining His
servants He has His enemies brought before Him to be executed. When His enemies are brought before Him it
appears that they will be brought as a group after He has completed judgment of
His servants. It appears that they
were not present when He was judging His servants.
It sounds like His
enemies who did not want Him to rule over them will be brought before Him just
as the nations will be brought before Him. It sounds like the same event
being described in those two scriptures.
It appears that the misdeeds of the Lord’s faithful servants will not be
broadcast and made known to everyone but the evil deeds of all unbelievers will
be made known to the world.
Is that what Paul is
saying when he speaks of those who have been justified by faith and quotes from
what David said about their sins being covered? He writes, “just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to
whom God credits righteousness apart from works: "BLESSED ARE THOSE WHOSE
LAWLESS DEEDS HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN, AND WHOSE SINS HAVE BEEN COVERED. "BLESSED
IS THE MAN WHOSE SIN THE LORD WILL NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT." (Romans 4:6-8)
That sounds like what
James said when he spoke of those who would turn a sinner back from his error
that he “will save his soul from
death and will cover a multitude of sins.” (James
5:19)
Wow, it sounds like the Lord's faithful servants will be judged in private and their misdeeds will be covered and not be revealed to everyone. It also sounds like the unbelieving nations will be judged in the presence of everyone and their every thought and deed will be made known. We are seeing the Shepherd seperate His flock before Him, one by one. It sounds like every thought and every deed of those unbelievers will be revealed to all present on that last day.
We can see when Jesus
will judge His servants that are still living and serving when He returns.
We read of His coming on the clouds of the sky, in Matthew, chapter 24.
After He described His coming, He told a parable about slaves who were
placed in charge of the master’s house. Regarding the one who was a “faithful and sensible
slave whom his master put in charge of his household”, he will be blessed
and put in charge of all the master’s possessions.
For the evil slave who
served unfaithfully and mistreated his fellow slaves, He will judge the
unfaithful slave and, “will cut him in pieces
and assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping
and gnashing of teeth”. When He gave a
similar lesson in Luke, chapter 12, He said of the unfaithful slave, “assign
him a place with the unbelievers”.
He is passing judgment
on His servants, not the unbelieving nations. If the nations before Jesus
in judgment are unbelievers, it appears possible that the unfaithful servants
may be placed with them because they were not true believers. It is also
possible that the unfaithful servants will have already been cast into hell
before the nations are judged. We may be seeing that in another parable.
Jesus spoke of how He will judge His servants in the parable of
the tares (Matthew, chapter 13). An enemy had sown tare seed
in a man's wheat field. His servants reported to him that tares were growing
among the wheat. The master told his servants that the tares were not to
be removed until harvest time. At harvest time the tares were to be gathered
and burned when the wheat was harvested.
Jesus gave that
parable and then said that at the end of the age, "The Son of Man will send
forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks,
and those who commit lawlessness, and will throw them into the furnace of fire;
in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth".
He is speaking of removing the wicked ones who are living among the
righteous when the end comes.
Jesus is telling us how He will judge His servants. The angels will remove the wicked from among the righteous in His kingdom and will throw them into the fire, "Then THE RIGHTEOUS WILL SHINE FORTH AS THE SUN in the kingdom of their Father".
It
appears possible that He will be removing the wicked from out of His kingdom
before He judges the nations. It sounds like He will have selected the
faithful from among those of His kingdom to sit with Him as the nations are
being judged.
That could explain judgment of those servants who are still living when Jesus returns but what about those who had fallen asleep before His return? Remember, Paul said they will be returning with Jesus to receive their resurrected bodies.
They would have been judged previously if they will be coming back with
Him when He comes on the clouds of the sky. Will they be judged when
their work is completed? Peter said, “it is time for judgment
to begin with the household of God”. It sounds like
the time had come back then for judgment of the saints who had passed from this
life.
When He comes, all who have died
will come forth from the tomb but only the elect will ascend to meet Jesus
before judgment. Are the elect judged and separated out from among the
other departed when their bodies fall asleep? The scriptures do not
mention the souls of God’s people being judged when they depart this life but
can we see it in the story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31)?
In the story of the rich man and
Lazarus, the rich man let the poor man starve at his door. Jesus said, “Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to
Abraham's bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried”.
Jesus says of the rich man, “In
Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and
Lazarus in his bosom”.
The rich man was in
torment in Hades but Lazarus was in comfort. The rich man was concerned
about his brothers, still living on earth. He wanted Lazarus to go back
and warn them about that place. If his brothers were still living on
earth, then Judgment Day had not come and the resurrection has not taken place.
The rich man’s body was still in the tomb. Only his soul would have
been in torment, in Hades.
Remember, on that last
day, all who are in the tomb will hear His voice and come forth. On that
day, bodies and souls will be called into judgment and those who will be damned
will be damned in body and soul (“fear Him who is able to
destroy both soul and body in hell” - Matthew
Regarding souls in
Hades, remember how Peter mentioned the soul and body of Jesus after His death
(Quoting from the Old Testament), saying, “BECAUSE YOU WILL NOT
ABANDON MY SOUL TO HADES, NOR ALLOW YOUR HOLY ONE TO UNDERGO DECAY” (Acts, chapter 2).
Did Christ's Soul descend into
Hades when His Body went to sleep? Did not the Father rescue His Soul
from Hades when He raised up His Body from the dead? If His Soul was in
Hades He would not have been in torment. Is there one place of comfort in
Hades and one place of torment?
A decision had been
made to cast the soul of the rich man into torment and allow the poor man to
rest with Abraham until Judgment Day. That required some type of judgment
as to where their souls would abide after their bodies had fallen asleep.
Are the souls of God’s
people judged for life or death when the body falls asleep and will the souls
of those who will not have done their works of love be condemned to torment?
The rich man had not done works of love for his poor brother and he found
himself in torment after his body had died. Jesus is the creator and the
judge and He made that decision.
Will the souls of the faithful rest until His coming? If so a
judgment must be made to determine their faithfulness. Was Peter telling
us about that when he said that it was time for judgment to begin with the
household of God? Is he speaking of unrighteous souls being condemned to
torment before they are brought into judgment (In 2 Peter, chapter 2)?
Peter said, "the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from
temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of
judgment".
If they will be kept under
punishment for that Day of Judgment, they will have been judged and sent to
that punishment before Judgment Day. He says that they will be there for
the Day of Judgment. From the parable of the tares we can see that some
of those who were in the
If they will be there
“for the day of judgment” then it appears that
they may be brought into judgment when the nations are judged but they may also
have been cast into the fire before the nations are judged.
If those separated to the right will not be His elect (On the day when Jesus will judge the nations), who are they? If they will become heirs to the kingdom prepared for them how can they not be God’s elect?
Remember, Jesus will not mention faith as a reason
for their reward. He will not tell them how they have become heirs to the
kingdom because of belief in Jesus but because of their works of love for the
brothers of Jesus. He will also not tell them how they did those works of
love for “each other” but they did them for, “one of these brothers
of Mine”. It appears that His brothers will be with Him at the
throne.
Notice
something else Jesus will not say. Those on the right are not being told
they are to inherit the
Remember, after our present heavens and earth have been
destroyed, there will be a new heaven and a new earth and a New Jerusalem, the
home of the Father and His sons. John describes it in Revelation, chapter
21, saying, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and
the first earth passed away”. John says of that
Will the loving ones from the nations of this
earth (Those on the right-hand side in judgment) inherit kingdoms and dwell out
in the nations of the new earth? Will there be other kingdoms in the new
world, subject to the everlasting King and His saints? Was Daniel
speaking of that when he spoke of the Son of Man coming before the Ancient of
Days?
When Daniel saw One like the Son of Man
coming before the Ancient of Days to receive His kingdom (Daniel, chapter 7),
he writes, “And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, That all the
peoples, nations and men of every language Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which
will not pass away”. Daniel will later speak of the saints of the
Highest one being given, “the sovereignty, the dominion and the greatness of all the
kingdoms under the whole heaven”.
The saints will not have dominion of
all kingdoms under heaven on this earth. It will happen on the new earth
because Daniel will continue by saying, “His kingdom will be an
everlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey Him”. All dominions
serving Him in an everlasting kingdom must take place in the world to come
because this world is not everlasting.
We need to stop trying to find answers
in this earth and look heavenward. We need to keep looking forward to the
promised home with God. Paul tells us to “keep seeking the things
above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the
things above, not on the things that are on earth” (Colossians
3:1-2).
If there will be other kingdoms on that
new earth, will those unbelievers who knew how to love others and especially
the brothers of Jesus be rewarded in those kingdoms? Jesus once spoke to
His disciples and told them that “whoever gives you a cup of water to drink
because of your name as followers of Christ, truly I say to you, he will not
lose his reward” (Mark
He was speaking to His disciples when
He spoke, not to outsiders. It appears that He is speaking of outsiders
who do good deeds for the disciples being blessed for their good deeds, not His
disciples being blessed (Even though they will also be blessed for their good
deeds).
The wording in Mark
When Jesus speaks of those blessed ones
on the right and says how they will have eternal life because of their works of
love for His brothers, that might help to explain what Paul wrote in Romans,
chapter 2 about how it is the doers of the Law who will be justified.
Paul wrote of those Gentiles who did not have the Law but who will be judged based on having the Law of God written in their hearts. He said, “it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified”.
He spoke
of Gentiles who did not have the Law and how some, “do instinctively the
things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves”. He said “they show the work of
the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their
thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them”. Jesus will judge them
based on their law, the law of their heart.
It sounds like God will judge people
who do not have the law of God, based on what is in their hearts and if they
had hearts of love that did good deeds, they will have, “glory and honor and
peace” (Verse 10). Paul does not say they will be justified by
faith, he said they will be justified by having done “instinctively” what God wants done.
It sounds like they will have done God’s will by instinct and not by
commandment.
When Paul wrote those words, it was
after he told of God’s patience and kindness but how those who have stubborn
and unrepentant hearts are storing up wrath in the day of wrath and the day of
the righteous judgment of God, “who WILL RENDER TO EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS
DEEDS:”
Remember, “God is love” (1 John 4:8) and He
loves those who love others with works of love. It appears possible that
some people will be justified by their good works and not by their faith.
If they will be justified by their works and not by their faith,
they would likely not be allowed to dwell with God or to see God because they
will not have been made perfect by the blood of Jesus. Only true
believers have been made perfect in Jesus. Will only true believers be
allowed to see God?
It appears that anyone who will have been justified by works of love and not by faith will not be heirs in the kingdom of heaven. That sounds like the same thing that would be taking place if those on the right hand side are not true believers but good, loving people of the world who had been good to the brothers of Jesus.
Those who
have been justified by faith in Jesus are made perfect “in Him”. They
will become sons of God and heirs in the
After this earth has passed away, God
will provide a new heaven and a new earth and He will provide a
Remember, we can only overcome by faith.
That city will be the dwelling place for God and His sons, the ones who
will have overcome by faith. If there will be some who will be justified
by works and not by faith, they likely will not be allowed to dwell in that
city. Will they have eternal life in kingdoms outside of that city?
John will also tell us how that city will have no need for the sun and moon because the glory of God will be its light and “its lamp is the Lamb”. He will also speak of the nations of the earth in that chapter. John writes, “The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it”.
If the nations are to
walk by its light then it will be the nations of that new earth because the old
earth will no longer exist. The elect of God are the brothers of Jesus
(The sons of God) and their home will be with the Father and the Lamb in
We heard John describe that heavenly
city of gold in Revelation, chapter 21 and tell how those who overcome will be
sons of God and heirs dwelling in that city. He then tells us what will
come to the damned. He writes, "But for the cowardly and unbelieving and
abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and
all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone,
which is the second death." (Verse 8)
In the next chapter he continues to speak of that city and those who will dwell there and he says “they will reign forever and ever”. In verse 14 he tells us about those who have washed their robes, “so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city.”
He then mentions the same ones who were
described as being damned to the lake of fire in chapter 21, saying they were
outside (Outside the city). John says that outside the city “are the dogs and the
sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and
everyone who loves and practices lying” (Revelation
Those evil ones will be outside of the
city of that New Jerusalem but we read in chapter 21 where they will also be in
the lake of fire. It sounds like hell will be outside the city of
Is Isaiah telling us the same thing in
Isaiah, chapter 66? In that chapter he speaks of that new heavens and new
earth and he tells us something that appears to fit with what John said that
may be telling us that hell will be located outside the city of
He ends chapter 66 with the words, "For just as the
new heavens and the new earth Which I make will endure before Me,"
declares the LORD, "So your offspring and your name will endure. And
it shall be from new moon to new moon And from sabbath to sabbath, All mankind
will come to bow down before Me," says the LORD. "Then they
will go forth and look On the corpses of the men Who have transgressed against
Me. For their worm will not die And their fire will not be quenched; And they
will be an abhorrence to all mankind."
Isaiah speaks of that new heaven and
new earth and how the LORD says that all mankind will come and worship
before Him and then go forth (Departing from that New Jerusalem) and see the
damned burning in unquenchable fire.
The sons of God will not be coming
there to that city to worship. Remember, those who have overcome this
world will become sons of God and they will be living in that city of
John seems to be saying the same thing
that Isaiah said. Hell will be located outside the city of
Jesus spoke through John to tell us
something else that will be granted to those who overcome (Overcome this
world). In Revelation, chapter 2, John writes, “He who overcomes, and
he who keeps My deeds until the end, TO HIM I WILL GIVE AUTHORITY OVER THE
NATIONS; AND HE SHALL RULE THEM WITH A ROD OF IRON, AS THE VESSELS OF THE
POTTER ARE BROKEN TO PIECES, as I also have received authority from My Father” (Revelation
2:26-27).
Those who overcome to the end of life
on this earth will not rule over the nations of this earth. It appears
that they will rule over the nations of the new earth. It sounds like the
righteous ones from the right hand side in judgment will be rewarded with
eternal life, but not with God. It sounds like they will inherit kingdoms
and live out in the nations of the new earth.
It appears possible that those who overcome this world and remain faithful until death on this earth will reign forever over the nations in a new world. If so, that would be consistent with all of the unbelievers from this earth dwelling out in the nations of the new earth with the ones who knew how to love (Those from the right-hand side in judgment) ruling over the damned. They may be allowed to rule over the damned but they would be subject to their kings, the sons of God.
Remember, Daniel said that the saints of the Highest one will be given sovereignty and dominion and the greatness of all kingdoms under heaven. That will not happen on this earth. It will happen after the saints have been caught up to Jesus. Paul says we need to get our mind set of what is above not on the things of this earth.
We have
been seeing how the bodies and souls of God's people will be in different
places after they pass from this life. The make up of ones being includes
more than body and soul, however. Paul wrote, “may your
spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians
Paul says that there are three components of our being. A complete person includes one who has spirit and soul and body. All three components are required for one to be made complete. It also appears that Jesus will return with the spirits of His elect and they will be made complete in body, soul and spirit before they ascend to meet Him in the air.
If the saints
will be made complete and without blame when Jesus comes, it appears that they
will be gathered to Jesus and will not come into judgment when the nations are
judged.
Remember,
when we die, our soul goes to Hades when our body falls asleep. Our
spirit, however, goes to the Lord. We can read about that in Acts,
chapter 7, when we read about the death of Stephen. Just before he was
stoned to death he looked into heaven and saw Jesus standing at the right hand
of God and he said, "Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man
standing at the right hand of God." (Acts
The Jews brought him outside of the city and began to stone
him. Just before he died he said, "Lord
Jesus, receive my spirit!" The scriptures tell us that having
said that, he fell asleep.
His body fell asleep
but there is no doubt that Jesus was in heaven and there is no doubt in my mind
that Jesus did receive his spirit into the
If Jesus will be bringing the
spirits of the saints with Him when He returns, will the spirits of the
unbelieving nations not be coming back for their resurrected bodies? Will
they be raised incomplete in body and soul, without their spirit? Only
those who have been made perfect by the blood of Jesus will have been made
complete and blameless when He returns. If they will not be made complete
at the resurrection, they will come into judgment without their spirits.
When Jesus spoke of how He will
cut the evil slave in pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers (Luke
Remember, Jesus is the Word.
He knows the heart of man and He knows our thoughts and intentions and He
will make His judgments based on what He knows. If the souls and spirits
of unbelievers will be separated (Or kept separate) at resurrection, then Jesus
will do it by cutting them in pieces.
Will incomplete ones be left behind for judgment? Will unbelievers have their bodies and souls raised up to come into judgment without their spirits? Remember, the evil ones on the left will be cast into hell fire. They will be cast into hell in body and soul.
It sounds like those nations before the throne will be
there in body and soul but without their spirit. If so, they will be
dead. The body without the spirit is dead (James
Will only the dead be
standing before Jesus on that Judgment Day? When John saw and described
that judgment, he writes, “I saw the dead, the great and the small,
standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened,
which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were
written in the books, according to their deeds” (Revelation
20:12). The dead will stand before the throne and be judged on
that day, not the living.
Remember, Jesus tells us that “everyone who lives and
believes in Me will never die” (John
Believers
"have" eternal life. We are hearing about the spiritual death of
unbelievers and how those that truly believe in Jesus have passed out of that
death into life. Unbelievers have not passed out of death. If they
come into judgment as unbelievers they will still be dead. The dead will
be standing before the throne on that day not the living.
It appears that the
dead will be judged according to their deeds, not according to their faith or
their faithful service. Remember, His servants will be judged based on
faithful service. That requires the same deeds of love but they will have
been done in response to belief in and love for Him.
When the scriptures
speak of believers having eternal life, we need to remember that true belief is
obedient. Our favorite verse tells us that whoever believes in the Son has
eternal life (John
John
The wrath of God
abides on those slaves who do not have an obedient faith. That is what
Jesus was telling us in His parables of the talents and the minas. The
evil slave who will not be found serving faithfully when Jesus returns will be
cut in pieces and assigned a place with the unbelievers.
We read where Jesus
said of the one who has passed out of death that he “does not come into
judgment”. Believers
will not die and, somehow, they will not come into judgment. Would that mean not
coming into judgment in the flesh on Judgment Day? It sounds like they
will not come into judgment in the resurrected flesh if their souls have been
judged and found faithful previously. Only unbelievers are dead
and the dead will be brought into judgment in body and soul on that last
day.
If Jesus was really telling us
that the nations being judged by Him at that time will include only unbelievers
(And possibly His unfaithful servants) and if they will be judged based on how
they have treated His brothers, it would fit with the day of vengeance that
Paul describes in 2 Thessalonians, chapter 1. He speaks of the affliction
of the saints by others and the vengeance of God on those who have afflicted
them.
He wrote to that church and
praised them for their perseverance in the midst of the persecution they were
enduring at the hands of others. He tells them that they were suffering
for the
He will then speak of the judgment
to come:
2 Thessalonians 1
6
For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who
afflict you, 7 and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well
when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in
flaming fire, 8 dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to
those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 These will pay the
penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the
glory of His power.
He is speaking to the church, the
brothers of Jesus, and that includes all sons of God by faith. Paul
speaks of how they were suffering for the
The gospel of love is the good
news that God loved us and His Son died for us. It must be obeyed with
love. True gospel obedience requires that we love God first (With
obedience) but we must love others also. We must especially love the sons
that He died for. We must love them in deed and truth.
Paul said (Same chapter) that he
was thankful because their love for each other was growing even greater.
He was telling them that he was thankful that their gospel obedience was
growing. In his first letter to that church He also spoke of their love
for one another. We read (Previously) that verse where he was asking the
Lord to cause them to increase in love for each other and for all people, “so that He may establish your hearts without blame in
holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His
saints” (1 Thessalonians, chapter 3).
We must increase in love for the
church and for all others, “so that” we will be blameless on that day.
We must be blameless to become sons of God and heirs in His house because
only perfect people can dwell with God. One of the requirements for
becoming blameless is to love all people and to especially love God's sons.
Paul spoke of that day
when Jesus will deal out retribution to those who do not know God and do not
obey the gospel and said they “will pay the penalty of eternal
destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His
power”.
If we must know God,
then we must know love because God is Love. John tells us about that when
he writes, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is
from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one
who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” (1 John 4:7-8)
Anyone who does not
love does not know God because God is love. When judgment comes, those
who have not loved will be separated from God forever. They will be
separated from love forever. They will have been separated from love and
light and life to dwell forever in death and darkness.
In that same chapter
of 2 Thessalonians, Paul says that it will happen when, “He
comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among
all who have believed”.
In that chapter he also tells them, “that
the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you in Him, according
to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ”.
They will be one in glory with Christ before
the nations.
In another place Paul
wrote of Christ’s coming and said, “When
Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him
in glory” (Colossians 3:4). When He comes in
glory, bringing with Him those faithful saints, they will be revealed with Him
in glory.
Jesus will be revealed in flaming
fire on that day. When it happens, He will be glorified in His saints.
Will the saints not be revealed with Him in glory when He gathers them
from among the nations and sits in judgment before the nations? The
saints will have been made one with Christ and they will have been given His
glory (John
When Paul describes
Jesus coming with vengeance, he is seeing the same judgment that Jesus spoke of
in Matthew, chapter 25. Those who have not loved His brothers will see
His vengeance and be placed on the left. They will be damned because they
did not do works of love for the brothers of Jesus.
Will those who did
good deeds for the brothers of Jesus become heirs to other kingdoms in the new
world? Will they possess those nations where the only light of the world
will shine out from the city of
Will distant nations
dwell in darkness? When John describes that new earth and that city of
Isaiah will tell us
about the darkness of that new earth but when we read from Isaiah we are really
hearing Christ speak to us. Remember, He is the Word. Christ spoke
through the prophets telling how He will gather His spiritual
One place where
Jesus spoke through Isaiah about what is to come
Isaiah began that
chapter (Chapter 60) by telling us that “darkness will cover the
earth And deep darkness the peoples; But the LORD will rise upon you And His
glory will appear upon you”. He says that,
"Nations will come to your light”.
He also writes, “all your people will be
righteous; They will possess the land forever”.
The only place where
God’s people will possess the land forever is in that heavenly land to
come. It will take place on the new earth where darkness will cover the
earth and deep darkness the peoples, but, for God’s people, they will have the
LORD for an everlasting light. This is the
everlasting land where spiritual
In that same chapter,
Isaiah speaks of how God’s people had been persecuted. As he continues he
speaks of what is to happen to those who had caused affliction for them.
He wrote, “The sons of those who
afflicted you will come bowing to you, And all those who despised you will bow
themselves at the soles of your feet; And they will call you
the city of the LORD, The
The peoples of that
dark earth will be the ones who had afflicted God’s people on this earth.
Isaiah tells us how they will be required to serve God’s people on that new
earth. God’s people will be dwelling in the city of the LORD. It
will be a city where “all your people will be
righteous”. Remember, John said it
will be the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. Will there be
people living in slavery out in the nations of that new earth? Will they
be forced to serve as slaves to God's people?
In chapter 61, Isaiah continues to
speak of God’s vengeance and of what is to come. He says that “Strangers will stand
and pasture your flocks, And foreigners will be your farmers and your vinedressers.
But you will be called the priests of the LORD; You will be spoken of as
ministers of our God. You will eat the wealth of nations, And in their riches
you will boast.”
Remember,
John spoke of that city and the new earth and wrote “The nations will walk
by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.”
We are hearing the Spirit of
Christ speak through Isaiah telling us the same thing that He said when He
spoke in the flesh and when He spoke through the inspired writers of the first
century. When He spoke through Paul He said that when He comes from
heaven in flaming fire, He will repay with affliction the ones who have
afflicted His people (2 Thessalonians 1:6). When He spoke through Isaiah
He told of how He will repay those who had afflicted His people by having them
become servants to His people.
He is really telling us about the
new earth and what is to come about there. Will the nations of that new
earth bow down at the soles of the feet of God's people and serve them? Could there be a worse hell than
for those who had valued freedom in this life being required to toil forever in
slavery?
Will the damned dwell out there in
deep darkness and burn like Jesus burned when He was offered on the altar of
the cross as the only perfect sacrifice? Will the hell fire to come be a
spiritual fire rather than a literal earthly fire as we know fire?
Remember, Abraham told his son (Isaac) that "God
will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son” (Genesis 22:8).
Jesus is the true Lamb of God and
He is the true burnt offering for
When the Lord tells us that, if we overcome, we
will rule over the nations with a rod of iron (Revelation
When Moses spoke of their yoke of slavery and how
God had delivered them, he told them not to be drawn away to worship the sun
and moon and stars, "But
the LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, from Egypt, to
be a people for His own possession, as today.” (Deuteronomy 4:20)
Remember, Jesus said that at the end of the age the wicked will be removed from
out of His kingdom and thrown into a furnace of fire (Matthew 13:41-42).
The slavery that that old Hebrew nation served
under in
It appears that most of them were not required to
work in a literal iron furnace. When he spoke of their being brought out
of the iron furnace, was he speaking of the harshness of that slavery?
Was it slavery like being ruled over with a rod of iron? Is that how it
will be for the damned in eternity? Will the furnace of fire actually be
eternal slavery of bitter and hard labor?
We heard Isaiah speak
of those who had afflicted God’s people as becoming slaves to God’s people on
the new earth. We also read what he said about that new heavens and new
earth and how all mankind will come and worship before Him and then go forth
and see the damned in their fire that will not be quenched (The end of chapter
66). It is a world where all mankind will come to
Is this not the second death?
Is hell to be located out there in those dark nations? Is that the
outer darkness the scriptures speak of? Remember, there will be no sun or
moon for light. The only light will be in that city of
When the nations come
to that city to worship, it will not include God’s sons. Remember, God’s
sons will be living in that city with the Father and the Lamb. They will
have overcome and scripture says that “He who overcomes, I
will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it
anymore; and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city
of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and
My new name” (Revelation
3:12).
Those who overcome
will become sons of God and heirs in that city and they will become a part of
the
It sounds like there will be at
least three groups of people on the new earth, the sons of God living in
Jerusalem, living mankind of that new earth and the damned burning out on the
new earth. Remember, if those from the right hand side in judgment will
not be the brothers of Jesus, but they will be heirs on the new earth, then they
will be heirs in the nations and the rulers of the nations on that new
earth. They will rule over the nations but would also be serving under
the sons of God.
The sons of God would be reigning
over the nations of the new earth. That might help to clarify something
that Paul said in Romans, chapter 4. Paul spoke of God's covenant promise
to Abraham and said, "For the promise to Abraham
or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through the
Law, but through the righteousness of faith." (Romans 4:13)
Remember, the wording in Genesis, chapter 17, did not mention Abraham and his
descendants being given the world. The covenant promise was that God
would give the land of Canaan as an everlasting possession to
Abraham and to his seed.
It sounds like God was really
promising to give to him and to his descendants the whole new world. Is
that everlasting
It sounds like those blessed ones from the right-hand side will become heirs to the kingdoms of the new earth. If that is true, then it would bring new light to some things that Jesus said in His Sermon on the Mount. He said "Blessed are the gentle (meek), for they shall inherit the earth" and "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy".
He did not mention those promises only applying to the faithful.
For the ones that Jesus said would inherit the kingdom of heaven, He said
it was the "poor in
spirit" and those "who
have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness".
Christians are the ones who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness.
Remember, Jesus will
tell those on the right, “Come, you who are
blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation
of the world”. The meek will have shown mercy and
will have done their works of love and they will be blessed and they will
inherit the earth. It sounds like they will inherit the earth but will
serve under the sons of God who will be living in
Isaiah spoke of judgment of the nations in
chapter 34. He begins that chapter, saying, "Draw
near, O nations, to hear; and listen, O peoples! Let the earth and all it
contains hear, and the world and all that springs from it. For the LORD'S
indignation is against all the nations, And His wrath against all their armies;
He has utterly destroyed them, He has given them over to slaughter".
Read that chapter and look closely
at what Isaiah is saying. He is speaking of the end and final judgment.
He says that the host of heaven will wear away and the sky will be rolled
up like a scroll. The LORD will destroy the nations. Their corpses
will give off their stench. He is speaking of the nations and of
Remember, the nation of
When God spoke through the
prophets of the destruction of
Isaiah tells how the final
dwelling place for
That would help us to
understand something that John said of the damned in Revelation, chapter
14. In that chapter John tells us what the Lord said of the one who will
have worshipped the beast and said that he would drink of the wine of the wrath
of God and “He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone
in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.
"And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they
have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever
receives the mark of his name." (Verses 10-11)
The smoke of their torment will ascend
before the presence of the Lamb because the Lamb will be dwelling in that city
of
If those who will be cast
into slavery will have no rest day or night, then there will be both day
and night for them. Inside that city of light there will only be one
eternal day but outside that city darkness will cover the earth except near
that city of light. Outside the city there will be day and
night. The righteous ones who will be dwelling there will likely
dwell in daylight near that city while the damned will dwell in the darkness of
that eternal night.
In that chapter 14, of Revelation, he also speaks
of the saints who have kept the commandments of God and says how they will
obtain rest. He writes, "And I heard a voice
from heaven, saying, "Write, `Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord
from now on!' " "Yes," says the Spirit, "so that they may
rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them."
For those who have done their work on this earth,
the deeds of love that they have been created to do, they will find rest in
that land of rest. For those who have not done their work on this earth,
they will never find rest on the next earth. They will have no rest
forever and ever. Those slaves will not rest. Only their masters
will rest.
Those righteous ones from the nations
will come to that city to worship but it appears that they would not be allowed
to enter through the gates. Only those who have washed their robes will
be allowed to enter through the gates. Will they worship from courts
outside of the city like the old Law people had to stay outside of God’s holy
temple?
Remember, that old worship was an
earthly copy and shadow worship (Hebrews 8:5). If the old shadow worship
only allowed God's priests to worship within the temple, it would
likely be that way spiritually. If all other worshippers under the
old covenant had to worship God from courts outside of the temple, it would
likely be that way spiritually.
If the righteous ones from the
right-hand side (in judgment) are not the elect of God and will not have been
justified by faith in Jesus, it brings up a question that must be addressed.
If they will be given eternal life because of works of love for the
brothers of Jesus, then many, if not most of them, would have heard the gospel
being preached but will not have responded. That creates a problem.
The Great Commission statement in
Mark, chapter 16, was the command to “Go
into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed
and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be
condemned”. If some of those on the right heard
the gospel message but they did not believe and obey the gospel, they stand
condemned for their unbelief. If they stand condemned for their unbelief
how can they be called righteous and be given eternal life?
Will all from the unbelieving nations be condemned to forever be separated from God? Those on the left will be condemned to “eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels”.
If those from
the right will be given eternal life in the nations but will never be allowed
to enter that city and behold the face of God, they will be condemned to be
separated from God and to forever dwell out in dark nations. It sounds
like they may be allowed to walk by the light of that city (Revelation
If part of the things
that we see as possibilities are really true, how do we explain the scripture
that tells us “God has given us eternal
life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he
who does not have the Son of God does not have the life” (1
John
Notice, what is really being said. Eternal life has already been given to believers. Remember, Jesus told the Jews that he who “hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life”.
This is speaking in the present and past tense, not the future tense. It has already happened for believers. Their names have already been recorded in the book of life for life in the Son in that New Jerusalem.
Remember, God is not limited by time. He
knows who will overcome and be faithful to the end. Jesus tells us that,
for those who overcome, He will not erase their names “from
the book of life” (Revelation 3:5).
Those who overcome and keep His
deeds until the end are the ones who will rule over the nations. It
sounds as if believers have already been given eternal life and if they stay
faithful, their name will still be on the list and they will be raised to life
and will not come into judgment with the nations. If so, they will not be
judged with the nations to see if they will be given eternal life because they
already have it.
It sounds possible that only those
who had never been given life in the Son will be brought into that final
judgment to determine if they are worthy of being justified by their good deeds
for eternal life out in the nations of that new world. They cannot have eternal
life with God because they will not have been made perfect by the blood of
Jesus.
God’s sons will reign
in
Was
not the Psalmist telling us the same thing when he spoke of the Lord at the
right hand of the LORD and how, "He will judge
among the nations, He will fill them with corpses"
(Psalms 110:6). That sounds like the vengeance
that God will meet out to those who had afflicted His people.
Those who truly believe Jesus will
obey with works of love. They are the ones who will have eternal life with God.
It sounds like those who have only been justified by good works will have
eternal life outside that city. Eternal life, however, is only for those whose
names have been written in the book of life. In Revelation 20:15, John
writes that “if anyone's name was not found written in the
book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire”.
If those on the right will have
eternal life, they must be recorded in that book. It appears that they
may be recorded for life in the nations. Was Isaiah telling us there may
be several lists in the book of life (Isaiah, chapter 4)? He speaks of
those who will dwell in that Jerusalem
The
Remember, all mankind will be coming to
If there will be more than one
list of names for those who are to live on the new earth, that would be
somewhat like the old list of names that Moses had recorded for the ones who
were to live in that earthly land of promise. Members of each tribe were
listed with their place of inheritance but the priesthood was listed
separately. They were not heirs in that land because the scripture tells
us, “the LORD is their inheritance”
(Deuteronomy 18:2).
Peter said that we are a royal
priesthood and a holy nation (1 Peter 2:9). True believers are the new priesthood.
Their inheritance is, “the LORD”. They will
live with God in His house, not outside. Only the new priesthood, are heirs
with Jesus and will dwell with God in that new “Holy of Holies”, the New
Jerusalem. They will have life in Jerusalem because they were recorded for life
in Jerusalem but it appears that there will be people of other nations living
out in that new world.
It appears that only holy ones are
recorded for life in that
Only those recorded in the book of
life will be alive on that new earth. Anyone not recorded there will be dead.
Those coming to that city to worship will be living mankind. That does not
include the dead out in those dark nations. Those corpses will not come to that
city to worship because God is the God of the living, He is not the God of the
dead (Luke
We become sons of God by faith
(Whether male or female) when we obey His commandment and put Jesus on as our
clothing (Galatians
Jesus is the veil leading to God’s dwelling place, the true Holy of Holies. The old Holy of Holies was only the earthly copy. Only the high priest could enter that room and he could not stay because he was not perfect and his blood offering was not perfect. Our High Priest and His offering were perfect. He has entered that room and has taken His seat at the right hand of the Father. Some day, He will bring His perfect ones (Those made perfect by His offering) through the veil with Him.
We must be “in Jesus”
to enter because only the high priest will enter the Holy of Holies. We
will enter with Him because we will have been made one with Him and will be
clothed in Him and will have been given His perfection.
Remember, under the old earthly
copy, the Holy of Holies was that inner room in the temple. That room was
God’s dwelling place among His people. It was a perfect cube of twenty
cubits each way. It was completely covered with gold cladding. It
was foretelling of the everlasting home of God in that New Jerusalem.
John tells us that city will be a perfect cube and stand fifteen hundred
miles high (Its length, width and height are equal – Revelation
Remember, it will be a city of
pure gold. Was not that old Holy of Holies telling of God’s true Holy of
Holies? Only those made perfect by His blood will enter into that place.
John said that only those who have washed their robes will enter through the
gates of that city (Revelation
John said an angel, “carried
me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem,
It may be fifteen hundred miles
high as we know miles because the angel who measured it used a gold
measuring rod to measure the city and its gates and walls. John tells us
that the wall measured seventy-two yards high “according
to human measurements, which are also angelic measurements”. It
sounds like the city will stand fifteen hundred miles high according to human
measurements because he used the same rod to measure the city.
According to human measurements the highest mountain on this earth stands less than six miles in elevation above sea level. Compare that with a city fifteen hundred miles high. It is hard to imagine any mountain on which that city would stand.
It
appears that the New Jerusalem is the great and high mountain that John spoke
of. Whether or not he is speaking of earthly miles, as
we count miles, does not matter, the lesson is the same. It will be one
really high dwelling place, relative to anything else around on that new earth.
It sounds like the
We are seeing the same
mountain that Isaiah spoke of. He tells us of nations coming there to
worship, saying, "Now it will come about
that In the last days The mountain of the house of the LORD Will be established
as the chief of the mountains, And will be raised above the hills; And all the
nations will stream to it. And many peoples will come and say, "Come, let
us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; That He
may teach us concerning His ways And that we may walk in His paths" (Isaiah 2:2-3). It
will happen at a time when nation will no longer lift up sword against nation
and never again will they learn war.
If the only light of the world
will come from that city, the righteous from the nations will walk by the light
of the Lord (“The nations will walk by its light, and
the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it” – Revelation
Jesus spoke of the darkness of unbelievers. He said, “I
have come as Light in to the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will
not remain in darkness” (John
We read where only believers have
passed out of death into life and now we see how believers have also passed out
of darkness into light. It sounds like unbelievers are spiritually dead
and are in spiritual darkness on this earth. Will the death and darkness
of the new earth be like the spiritual death and darkness here?
Will the dead outside
that city be something like the living dead that dwelled outside that old
earthly city? Those who had been struck with leprosy in that old covenant land
were like the living dead. They were unclean and were banished from the
presence of God's people. Their bodies were rotting away as they stood on
their feet.
Was Zechariah
foretelling that which was to come on the new earth when he wrote of those who
had gone to war against
Paul tells us that
Jesus is the only heir (Galatians
A few verses later he
will say how that by His one offering He has perfected for all time those who
have been sanctified. We must be made perfect in order to draw near.
Remember, only holy ones will be recorded for life in that
God's covenant promise to Abraham
(Genesis, chapter 17) was to be God to Abraham and his descendants and to give
them the
The old covenant was faulty
(Hebrews 8:7). It was faulty because man is faulty. It could never
give man an everlasting
Abraham understood that and it can
be seen in Hebrews, chapter 11. The writer spoke of Abraham, saying,
"By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land,
dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise; for
he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder
is God." Abraham lived in that
earthly land as an alien. He never received an inheritance there. He
knew that the real promise was that heavenly
God's promises to Abraham were to
him and to his descendants by faith. When we look closely at some of the
details of those promises we can see some interesting things. When God
first called Abraham from his country and his people and told him to go to the
land that God would show him (Genesis, chapter 12), He told Abraham how He
would bless him and all of the families of the earth would be blessed in him.
God also told him how he would deal with outsiders. He told Abraham “I
will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse”.
Does that sound something like
what Jesus will tell those before Him in judgment? He will judge them
based on how they will have treated His brothers, the spiritual sons of
Abraham.
Another interesting promise is found in Genesis, chapter 22, after God had tested Abraham by commanding him to offer Isaac as a burnt offering. Remember what God said (through the angel) to Abraham after he obeyed God and placed Isaac on the altar to offer him as a burnt offering?
God restated His promises to Abraham about how all
nations would be blessed in his seed and his seed would be multiplied like the
sand on the seashore. God added something to His promise. He added
the promise that "your
seed shall possess the gate of their enemies" (Genesis
We heard John describe that new
world and the damned being outside the city. Will they forever burn in
dark slavery because they did not believe Jesus and follow Him out of their slavery
to sin? If they were never saved from slavery, they will still be dead
and they will never be free from slavery to sin and death. Remember, Jesus
tells us that the ones who have believed Him have passed out of death.
The damned will still be dead in the world to come.
When Jesus spoke of judgment of the
nations through Joel (chapter 3), He said it would happen in the valley of Jehoshaphat.
He will judge the nations on behalf of
His people. He speaks of spiritual
While on earth, Jesus
did not speak of resurrecting only the nations for judgment to avenge His
people. Or did He?? Was Jesus saying just that in Matthew, chapters
24 and 25? God gathered His people from among the nations and after that
He judged the nations. He will judge them based on how they treated, “these
brothers of Mine”. This appears
to be judgment of the nations to avenge His people, not judgment of His people.
It appears that He will gather His people and then He will judge the
nations.
Ezekiel also said
something about how it will be when God gathers His people. God tells His
people that, “I bring you out from
the peoples and gather you from the lands where you are scattered”
(Ezekiel, chapter 20). In that same
chapter Ezekiel records, “As a soothing aroma I
will accept you when I bring you out from the peoples and gather you from the
lands where you are scattered; and I will prove Myself holy among you in the
sight of the nations”.
Remember what Paul
said about how Jesus will be glorified in His saints? Paul spoke of that
day when Jesus will be revealed and said that it will happen, “when
He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among
all who have believed”. The name of
Jesus will be glorified in His saints on that day. Jesus will prove
Himself holy among them when He gathers them to Himself in the sight of the
nations.
We heard John speak of
that New Jerusalem. We also heard Isaiah tell how all mankind will come
there to worship. There is another reason why the remnant of the nations
will come to
John mentioned
something about that tree and it’s leaves in Revelation, chapter 22. He
saw the river of life coming from the throne of God and the tree of life on
either side of that river. He said “the leaves of the tree
were for the healing of the nations”. God’s sons
will dwell in
Remember, Paul
describes our new bodies in 1 Corinthians, chapter 15. He tells us that
we will have imperishable and immortal bodies. Paul also wrote how
Jesus will, “transform the body of our humble state into
conformity with the body of His glory” (Philippians
God’s sons will have been made perfect in Jesus. Their bodies should not
require healing. They will be like Jesus. All of
God’s sons will be perfect and immortal. Imperishable and immortal bodies
will have no pain and no tears and will need no leaves for healing.
Will those kind
hearted ones from the right-hand side be the only ones from the nations to
receive those leaves? Will the evil ones remain unhealed? That
would make sense because it is likely that the dead can’t be healed. We
can't be sure of that because they will be spiritually dead. There is some
healing for the spiritually dead on this earth but that may not be the case on
the new earth.
God will destroy this earth and
its heavens and there will be a new heavens and earth with a New Jerusalem.
That city is the everlasting dwelling place for God and His holy ones. It
will be on a new earth where the elect will rule over the nations with a rod of
iron. What nations would it be except those nations before Jesus in
judgment?
Regarding judgment and heaven and
the world to come, my picture has changed greatly within the last few years.
It appears that Judgment will not be comprised of everyone being either
saved in heaven or damned to hell. The saved will not go to heaven.
They will be brought into the heavenly home of God but that home will be
the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven to the new earth.
Will it be more tolerable for those unbelievers who know how to love with deeds of love than for the evil ones who did evil deeds? God requires that His sons be treated with respect and that everyone show their love for them with works of love.
Will the loving ones from the nations be allowed to come to the gates of
that city to worship God and be allowed to walk by the light of God’s glory in
a new world because of their good deeds for the brothers of Jesus? Will
they, however, forever be tormented with the knowledge that eternal glory with
God was theirs for the taking if only they had believed?
Do I believe that this book
presents a perfect picture of judgment and the coming world? No, because,
after you read the book, you will see that many questions have been presented
but many answers will still be hidden. We can see some obvious answers
and some possible answers but much of what I have presented here and what will
be presented as possibilities in the book is just that; just possibilities.
If some of the things
that we have been seeing as possibilities turn out to be true, then we need to
have been very careful in our judgment of others (even of unbelievers) in this
life. Jesus may allow me to sit with Him in judgment on that last day but
I must be careful about judging others in this life.
If some unbelieving
outsiders will really be called “blessed of My Father”
and will be given eternal life in the nations
of that new world, then what Jesus said about judging others, in Matthew,
chapter 7 (“Do not judge so that
you will not be judged") may also apply to
them if our judgment is to send them to hell. They may be unworthy
of the kingdom of heaven but some of them may not be damned to everlasting hell
fire. I fear that I may have been guilty of doing that in the past.
There is no doubt
about what is waiting for God’s sons in glory. The questions have to do
with judgment and the future of unbelievers who have done deeds of love.
Remember, Paul said that some will have been “justified”
by having done “instinctively”
what God requires. We know that
believers are justified by faith in Jesus and they will obey His commands to
love others. Some others will love by instinct.
Jesus expects us to keep listening
and He will keep revealing more to us. All scripture is true, so the true
answers to our questions must reflect that. I have seen enough to know
that my old beliefs about judgment were not consistent with what Jesus has
said. I may not be able to see everything about judgment and the new
world to come but I can see that my old ideas that had everyone either being
put on the right and given heaven or placed on the left and being damned to
hell is not scriptural.
I am not from one of the schools
of theology. I am a Christian and a retired engineer. It has only
been within the last few years that I have come to realize that God means
exactly what He says when He speaks and that includes what He says about
judgment and the new world to come.
You will notice that I have used the New American Standard translation for the copied scriptures in this book. You may wish to also read the same scriptures from the translation that you normally use.
Revised
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