THE LAST JUDGEMENT OF MANKIND: Already frightened?

Judgement Day is a specific "day" or

Period, when particular groups, nations, or

mankind in general are called to account by God.  It may be favourable  or unfavourable.

We want God to judge us favourably.

APPOINTED JUDGE AND HIS QUALIFICATIONS:

Who is appointed by God as our Judge?

Jesus Christ appointed by Jehovah as judge.

How does the Bible show that Jesus is the

Judge?  This fact is made clear in the Bible.

At Acts 10: 42 Jesus called "the one decreed by God to be judge of the living  and the dead.

And Jesus himself  said " the father judges no one at all, but he has entrusted all the judging  to the Son."  (See also John 5:22, Mathew 12:36, Acts 17: 31)

The judge that God appoints must be a good judge who understands both God's laws and man's problems.  Who is able to understand both God's laws and man's problems? No one

would be able to do this better  than Jesus Christ himself. He knows God's laws perfectly, and on earth he obeyed them completely.  Not only that but through his own experience  as a man  he can understand our problems. Because he is able to understand our problems he will really be able to combine his good judgements with love.

But Jesus is more than a judge.  He is also God's high priest. This is important. Nineteen hundred years ago, as high priest he offered the human sacrifice  that can cleanse obedient men.  He can bring us into a right condition before God. It is only through such a high priest that we are able to receive God's favour.

(Hebrew 5: 9,10)

Christ Jesus will be a good and honest judge. If we obey God we shall have no reason to be afraid of Jesus judgements.  But if we do not

obey God we shall have every reason to fear.

(Isaiah 11: 3, 4)     Therefore a favourable

Judgement means preservation to prospects of everlasting life under Jesus kingdom rule.

PAST TIMES ADVERSE JUDGEMENTS:

Some people have already been judged.  They have shown that they do not deserve life. At

various times in the past Jehovah called people and nations to account for their actions and executed his judgements by bringing  destruction. Such executional judgements  were not arbitrary demonstration of brute force or overwhelming power.  The Bible emphasize that Jehovah is a lover of righteousness and justice so his executional judgements  involve both of these qualities. For example:

   A)  Adam and Eve were judged unworthy of              life.  They were put to death by Jehovah.

          (Genesis 3: 17-19)

   B)  The people who died in the flood of                     Noah's day received the same kind of

         unfavourable judgements.  God brought             the flood that "destroyed them  all."

         (Luke 17: 27)

   C)  Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon and the

         Infamous apostle who betrayed Jesus.

         The course that Judas chose was a 

          deliberate one, involving malice, greed,                pride, hypocrisy and scheming.

          Jesus said about Judas: "it would have              been finer for that man if he had not been

          born." Later Christ called him "the son

          of destruction." (Mark 14:21,                                John  17:12)

These people will not be resurrected  from the dead in the new world.

PRESENT DAY JUDGEMENT:

How could one get a bad judgement  today?

One could get it by refusing to obey God.  One could get an unfavourable judgement by continuing  to side with false religious leaders

Or by sinning against God's holy spirit.

(Mathew 12: 31, 23: 33) Certainly it would not be wise to side with those who go into Gehenna or everlasting destruction.

So the people who will be judged unfavourably are the people who have refused to obey God and who have refused to be led by the Lord Jesus Christ.   They are stubborn people.

Jesus said that people of this kind today are  like goats.  He said these  goatlike people  "will depart into everlasting cutting-off." In God's battle of Armageddon they will forever be cut off from life. (Mathew 25: 46)

People of all nations put on Judgement when Christ takes kingdom power. It  happened

1914 AD. Now we are living "in the last days",

which period climaxed at Armageddon War.

Basis for judgement mentioned in (Mathew

25:40, 45, John 12: 48, John 3: 19)

JUDGEMENT DURING 1000 YEARS RULE:

Who will live through  Armageddon?

Only those who obey the Bible command to seek Jehovah: "before the day of Jehovah's anger come upon you. Seek Jehovah all you meek ones of the earth, who have practiced  his own judicial decision. Seek righteousness Seek meekness. Probably  you  may be concealed in the  day of Jehovah's  anger.

(Zephaniah 2:2, 3)

After Armageddon Jehovah's  surviving worshippers will be called  "a great crowd"

Revelation 7: 9,10

Everyone who is alive on earth will receive great blessings  during that  time, but some of the people who are resurrected for judgement  or some who are  born as children  to the people who live through  Armageddon, still  may refuse to serve God. Anyone who refuses to obey God's  kingdom  after a long-enough trial will be put to death.  His death  could  not be blamed on anyone else, but would be only because he had willfully refused  to obey God.

Such a one is sentenced to destruction before the end of the 1000 year reign of Christ Jesus.

When reading Revelation  20: 12-15 Those resurrected will not be judged on the basis of the works done in their former life  because the rule at Romans 6:7 says "for he who has died has been acquitted (or justified) from his sin."

The "resurrection of judgement" is for those persons whose hearts may have been wanting to  do right, but  who died  without  ever having had an opportunity  to hear of God's purposes  or to learn  what he expects of men.  Many of these  may have been decent  people . They may have  been sincere in their  belief, but still  they "practiced vile things". They had no opportunity to learn of righteousness from God.  So they will get that  opportunity. They will get it in the "resurrection of judgement."

These people will be brought back to the  paradise earth. They will be  taught the truth. They  will be  shown what is right. Then they will be  judged according  to what they  do  about it.  If they  obey  God's commands they will get life.  If they  do not obey God's  commands they  will go into everlasting  death  just as Adam did after he deliberately  disobeyed God. (John 5: 28, 29)

By means  of  the Kingdom Jehovah  God  will  bless  the  earth.  He will  teach the  great crowd  of people  who  will have  lived  through Armageddon how to take care  of the  earth.  These  people  will learn  how  to plant the Paradise .They will enjoy doing this good  work.  They  will get great pleasure  from seeing  what it will do.

FINAL JUDGEMENT:

The final judgement  will not come  until the  end of Christ's 1000 year reign.  By then  all

the people who have  continued to live on earth  will have  been  lifted out of their  fallen condition. Paradise will have been completely restored.  All the  dead  in the  memorial  tombs will have  been  raised. Good things will  have  been done   The earth will  be filled with good people, who will really  be obeying God . The whole  earth will have  been  brought back  into the  blessed condition that  existed  in the  paradise of Eden.  Then, at the  end of the

1000 years the king Christ  Jesus  will turn the  paradise back  to Jehovah  God .  That is when Jehovah will  allow the  final test  to come.

Everyone on earth  will be  judged  according to how he meets  this test.

How will the  last test  come about?

The final  test will come when Satan and  his demons, will be  let  out for a little while .

Revelation 20: 1-3, 7-9

Satan's heart will not have changed during

Imprisoned in the abyss.  Again he will try to turn all men away from God.  He will use some  kind of selfishness as his weapon.He will try to make  people think that they  will be better off if they follow  him than they  would be if they  did right and obeyed God.  Selfishness is a thing  that Satan understands.  It was a selfish  desire to  be worshipped  that caused  Satan himself to turn  against God.

Then those people who are misled  by Satan

will be destroyed as prophecy recorded in

Revelation 20: 7-10 and the Devil  who has misleading  them  was hurled into  the  lake  of fire and sulpher. This lake  is the  symbol of the  "second death"  from which  there  is no resurrection  at all. Total annihilation!

REWARD OF FINAL JUDGEMENT:

Jehovah's test is accurate. And since his test is  accurate we can be sure that,  when he says  that  everyone  who  is living on earth  is WORTHY OF LIFE, never again  will  there be even a single  case  of rebellion  or disobedience against him  anywhere on earth.

Each person who passes this final test  will receive the  greatest of rewards. He will be declared  righteous  by the  great Judge, Jehovah.    Therefore his name  will be

"WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF LIFE " and he will be given the  right to perfect life on the paradise  earth forever!

SUMMARY:

Now, what have we learned about  judgement?

We have learned that a person  could  fall away and be  judged unfavourably  either  now  or

at Armageddon  or during the  1000 years of Christ's  reign, or at the  end  of  the  final test.

Through selfishness one could  fall away into everlasting destruction. But one can be among those  who do Right who receive a favourable judgement and who get the blessings  of

everlasting life in the paradise earth forever.