Hal Lindsey discusses the judgments of God, emphasizing the importance of understanding the two resurrections: one leading to life for believers and the other leading to judgment for the unrepentant. He highlights the growing unease in Israel and the prophetic significance of current events, suggesting that the hardships faced by the Jewish people may lead them to seek their Messiah. Lindsey explains the concept of the judgment seat of Christ, where believers will be rewarded based on their faith and works, contrasting it with the final judgment for unbelievers, who will face eternal separation from God. He urges listeners to ensure their faith is rooted in a personal relationship with Jesus, as this is the only way to avoid condemnation.

More now? Well, I'm, uh, doing something. You're writing again? That's right, yeah, I've got something. All right, well listen, I want you to take just a little bit of time here before you go and do your sermon and tell us about what's happening in Israel. I know you've been there many, many times and, uh, back to last year, how many times have you been there? Well, I figured up in a period of 14 months, I was there four times. Four times. Well, why don't you just, uh, give us a little bit about Israel. Fine. You know, uh, the mood has really changed in Israel from what was true before the 1973 war, and, uh, I could see it particularly this last year, and, uh, I've pondered many times, prayerfully, what this means in God's timetable. But, uh, there is, there's not the sureness and the, uh, confidence in the average Israeli that there used to be. And the average Israeli is, uh, really wondering whether the dream of having, uh, a homeland is worth all the hardship they have to go through. And the young people are questioning this. But, of course, the vast majority are sticking it out, and there's a growing sense of, uh, uh, patriotism that's even overcoming this tremendous personal hardship that each Israeli has to go through. It's the highest taxes in the world, and so forth. But, uh, as I see their sense of isolation growing, and that's what is hardest for them to take, not just the economic problems, but, uh, as I see each Israeli feeling alone in a world where he's surrounded by a sea of, uh, Arab people that they know are hostile toward them, and they see that there's only one nation that they can count on for help, and they don't know how long they can count on that. That's the United States. Uh, there, there's a growing uneasiness there. And I believe as, as we look at the prophetic scripture, we can see that this is something that has to come. Because in God's prophetic plan, the Israelis will never really search and be open to know who their Messiah is, or even look for him, until they're really under the greatest stress that they've ever been in in their history. And I believe that stress is setting in. And I believe the stress that we see happening now may well lead them to accept a guarantee of defense from the man that the Bible calls the Antichrist. And I believe that the stage is being set for that, possibly right now. But also, I see this, and this is the exciting thing to me. There's a growing openness to the claims of Jesus of Nazareth. I have to be careful to qualify that. If, if those who believe in Jesus come over there and try to get a Jew to convert culture, they're not interested. And I mean by that, uh, some missionaries that are there, and those who are interested in talking to Jews about Jesus, too often think they have to force the Jew to become a Gentile, and enter a Baptist culture, or a Presbyterian culture, or something like that, before he can really be a true believer. Well, the Bible says nothing like that. So if you come to a Jew, and you don't talk about whether his culture's wrong, there's nothing essentially wrong with his culture, the way he lives, the way he's been brought up. But you talk to him about the Messiah, about their own prophet, you don't talk about an institution or an organization, you talk about coming to a personal relationship with a man, Jesus, and show how all the prophets give witness that he is the Messiah, then they're interested. As a matter of fact, while I was making a movie over there last November, the director of, the Jewish, Israeli director, said that he was really excited because some young people from Europe came by his door in an apartment where he lived, and they asked his wife if she would like to buy a book, and they said, we're going door-to-door selling it. And she said, well, what is the name of the book? And so they told her the Hebrew name, it's the Hebrew translation of the late great planet Earth. And she said, well, I really would like to have it because my husband's working on the filming of that, and that's the one that's going to be released, of course, in May with Orson Welles. And so she bought a copy, and she said, tell me, do many people buy a copy of the book? And they said, almost every door we knock on, they buy a copy. And this means that thousands upon thousands of these are out. Now, this is just one aspect I know about what's happening in Israel. But I believe that there is a growing openness, if approached correctly, and that there's, at the same time, a growing sense of isolation and insecurity. So this is something I hope we can develop in one of the future times down here. So let's tell them that you're going to be back here at Melody Land on May the 1st, Sunday evening, 530 p.m. That's May the 1st. And I'm really excited about the message that God has given me. I'm going to call it the Books of God. And I've never seen anything in a commentary or in print or anything on this, and yet I was electrified as Dan and I were driving over here, and we found that God keeps a number of books which have tremendous impact upon us. For instance, did you know that God has a bottle that he keeps your tears in, and he has a book which writes every hardship he allows you to go through? That's just one thing. And do you know that you look the way you do because God had written all your members in a book? Listen, he's got a lot of books, and there are two of them that really make a difference, the Book of Life and the Lamb's Book of Life, two different ones. Well, we'll be back for that sermon May the 1st. Let's welcome him back, all right? Well, I'm thrilled to be back at Melody Land. You remember the last time I was here, we prayed for a young man named Bill. And I want to give a report. The next morning after we prayed for that young man, I told you he was a man who had studied Greek here in the Melody Land School of the Bible. They were so sure because of the diagnosis of this man that he was shot through with cancer that when they operated on him, they removed his lymph glands. They took him for a biopsy, and they found absolutely no cancer at all, found that nowhere in his body he had been riddled with it two days before. And he wanted me to pass on his eternal gratitude to this body of believers who all joined together and stormed the throne for him. And I pass my thanksgiving to you, too. Tonight I want to talk about the judgments of God. Now, I don't want to make this a real heavy message, but you know, God really laid this on my heart. I was going to talk about something else, and all of a sudden this got laid on my heart. And I know that when God does that, I can't argue with him. So here we go. Turn to John, chapter 5, verses 28 and 29, the gospel of John, chapter 5. Many things that I'll refer to in the message tonight are found in the book that I wrote a couple of years ago called There's a New World Coming. And I'm not trying to sell books. I'm just trying to tell you that, you know, the Lord was so working on me and in me when I wrote this book that every time I read it, God speaks to me. And that's something, I want to tell you, that he'll speak to me through something I wrote myself. But this is a paragraph-by-paragraph analysis of the book of Revelation. I think it's the most important book I've written. So I go through and see the things that get at my heart and cause me to really look at Jesus. Now this book has been out for a while, so it's at a reduced rate now. I just encourage you, if you haven't read it, to read it because of the importance of that message to what's happening in our world today. Now when I was here last time, we talked about an update of how we can know, and how I'm absolutely sure, that we're on a countdown toward the coming of Christ for his own, and that his coming is very near. All about us in the newspaper and the events that are happening all about us, we're seeing a precise pattern of events that were predicted by the prophets long ago, all coming together. So there is no doubt that this pattern is simultaneously coming together, and that's what is unique. It never has before simultaneously come together with all of these pieces of these predicted events fitting together. And so I start off, based on what I said the last time, with the fact that Christ's coming for his own, for those who have believed in him, is very, very near. I believe the next significant event in prophecy is not going to be something I'll read about in Newsweek, probably be in there, but we won't be there to see it. I think the next significant event on God's prophetic calendar is going to be the sudden snatching away of every believer in Jesus Christ. I believe that's very, very near. And that's what we call, what has been called theologically, the rapture, and as you know, I call it the great snatch. Now, in John chapter 5, verses 28 and 29, we read these words. Jesus is speaking. He says, "...do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming in which all who are in the tomb shall hear his voice, and shall come forth, those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, and those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment." In the original Greek, it doesn't say deed. I'm reading from the New American Standard Bible. In the original Greek, it has a definite article before the word good and the word evil. The good and the evil, because there are certain acts that we can perform that God considers the good, and there are certain acts that we perform that he says they are the evil. He's speaking of certain definite things here, and we'll go over what that is as we develop into this study. Now, the good, what good thing can I do to inherit eternal life? When he says, "...those who have done the good shall have a resurrection of life. Those who have done the evil shall have a resurrection of damnation." Well, that question is answered for us in John chapter 6. Hold your place here and let's just look at it. It's just a page or two over. What's the good? John chapter 6, verses 28 and 29. The group asked him. They said, "...therefore to him, what shall we do that we may work the works of God?" This was an honest question. They wanted to know how they could have a relationship with God. What would God require of them? What did Jesus say? Jesus answered and said to them, "...this is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent." I'm going to amplify that more. But what is the good thing that we can do? Believe that Jesus Christ took our place on the cross, took the guilt for our sins, and he took the judgment of God against himself for those sins. And when we believe that, we have forgiveness of sin, eternal life, we receive a new birth, a new nature which wants to follow God. And as we depend upon the Holy Spirit, he empowers us to follow him. Good works result, but they're never the basis of why we're accepted with God and why we'll be in the resurrection of life. What's the evil? John 3, 18 explains that. Let's look at it. "...he who believes in him is not judged." I want you to remember that, because we're going to talk about judgment. "...he who believes in him as the one who bore his judgment is not judged, but he who does not believe has been judged already." In other words, the one who checks out of this life and has not believed in God's provision of forgiveness through Jesus Christ does not have to wait until the last judgment to know he's been judged, because it says he's already been judged. And it says, "...because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." And this is the judgment that the light has come into the world, and men love darkness rather than light, for their deeds were evil. Men won't come to the light to receive a free gift because their deeds are evil, and the pride of man will not let him submit to a free gift from God. Now, looking again at John 5, 28 and 29, verse 29, Jesus said, "...those who hear his voice and all will someday, those who did the good to a resurrection of life, and those who committed the evil to a resurrection of judgment." All right, there we have two different resurrections, the resurrection of life and the resurrection of judgment. Which one will you be in? You know, the thing that requires real Bible study is to learn how to rightly divide the word of truth. Not dissect it, but rightly discern it. The scripture urges us, study to show yourself approved to God, a workman who does not need to be put to shame, rightly dividing the word of truth. And I can really see the necessity of that in this verse here, because Jesus makes a general statement and he does not explain it. He says there will be a judgment wherein there will be a resurrection of life and there will be a resurrection of judgment. But you know, as you study what the scripture says intently, you find that the scripture shows that the resurrection of life has several stages. In other words, it occurs in several stages. It doesn't occur all at the same time. You know, when I first became a believer, I had the common idea that almost everyone who approaches the Bible has at first, and that is that there's going to be a final judgment and everything's going to take place at one time. If you are a believer, you're going to stand there and there are unbelievers and believers are going to be there. And there's going to be a separation between believers and unbelievers. And when you get to the judgment throne, you're going to be judged as to whether you made it or not. Well, scripture doesn't teach anything like that, not at all. So I want us to look at the resurrection of life for a minute, a little bit more of a detail. Hold your place in John and turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verses 20 through 24, 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verses 20 through 24, where it says, But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive. But each in his own order, that's the thing I want to stress, each in his own order. Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ at his coming. Now the word first fruit in the in the illustration here makes us project back to the order of the Jewish harvest. And I believe that that's the best way to understand how the resurrection of life takes place. You know, in the Jewish harvest, they had, first of all, when they would harvest the grain, the first fruit, this would be a token of the harvest that would be cut. They would bring it before the Lord at the temple and they would offer it to the priest and it would be called a wave offering. That is they would wave this token of the harvest before the Lord, give thanks to him for that. And it was a, it was considered a guarantee of a full harvest. And then after the first fruit, there was the wave offering. That was the second part. Then there was a third part of the harvest, which was the general harvest where there would be a great harvesting, but there would always, the Lord said, don't completely harvest every field, leave the gleaning. And the gleanings were the, the grains and so forth that were left by the cutters. And it was left for the people who were the poor and the poor people would come and glean from the field. So that was the last part of the harvest. Now I believe that we can see this fit into the order of resurrection and the order of judgment. Christ is the first fruit. But inseparably united to the first fruit was the wave offering, which was brought out of that. And then the harvest, then the gleaning. I believe that the wave offering is going to be the rapture. That's the second stage of the resurrection of life. Let's look at a verse on that. Look at John chapter 14 with me, verses 1 through 3. A very familiar passage. Most of us have heard this, especially if we've ever been to a funeral, because it's a comforting passage. But Jesus said this, verse 1 of John 14, Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many dwelling places. If it were not so, I would have told you, for I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way where I'm going. Of course, he went on to answer some more questions where he said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to God except through me. Now, this was the promise that Jesus himself left to his apostles and all who would believe through their words, and that includes us. That he was going to prepare a place for us. And where is that place? It's in his Father's house. And he's preparing dwelling places for us. And he said, he is coming to take us to those prepared dwelling places. I know right away that there has to be something special happen here, because according to Matthew 25, which we'll look at not now, but in a moment. When Jesus comes back in the second Advent, he is coming back to the earth, visibly and personally. It'll be at the end of a seven-year period where there's a global war. And he will come to put down all of the armies that will be in battle around the Middle East. It'll spread to the whole world, but the focal point will be in the Middle East. The horrible war that's predicted, the Russians will invade the Middle East, along with the Arabs. Then the great hordes of Asia, led by Red China, I believe, will come in. The West, including the United States, will be involved in that. All of this will culminate with the battle of Armageddon, at which time Christ will return to keep man from destroying all life on this earth. That's the second Advent. He will come to the earth. But at that time, he does not take believers off the earth back to his Father's house. What does he do? Well, within just a moment, he keeps them on the earth. And they go into a kingdom that will last a thousand years on this earth, and they will dwell with him here for a thousand years. So when he comes in his second Advent, the visible personal return to the earth at the end of this great global holocaust, the believers will stay with him on earth. But he says of the believer in the church that he will be taught to be with him in his Father's house, which is not on the earth, it's in the Father's house. So that tells me right there, hey, there's something that needs to be correlated here. It tells me that these two events are not the same event. Of course, there's a lot of other evidence, but it tells me that these two events are not the same. The coming from Christ's church, that is all who are believers now in this time, is to take us to his Father's house. His coming back to the earth in a visible return is to set up a kingdom on the earth and to keep those who survive that period as believers, as mortals, to go in and repopulate the earth and set up that kingdom. So these two events are not the same. This is what you call rightly dividing the word of truth by comparing scripture with scripture. Now, when Jesus comes to take us to the Father's house, what's going to take place there? This is actually the second stage of the resurrection of life. Who's going? Who's going to go in this? It'll be a secret coming because Christ says that he'll come in the twinkling of an eye and catch us up to meet him in the air. 1 Corinthians 15 verses 51 to 53 and 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 verses 15 to 18. Those two passages tell us he comes suddenly, without warning, and catches us up to meet him in the air and then takes us to the Father's house. And there we are to dwell with him in the mansions he prepares. But what else takes place during that time? Well, first of all, we know it's only those who are in Christ who take part in this resurrection, the rapture. Look with me at 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 for a moment. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 verse 15, page 315, if you have the same New American standard I do. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 verses 15 and following. It says, For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. The Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. The important thing is it's the dead in Christ. That is a technical phrase that's used in the New Testament only, and it's only used after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and it's never used of an Old Testament thing. The dead in Christ refers to all of those who have believed in Jesus Christ since his glorification, that is his death, burial, and resurrection. Because you see, the Holy Spirit after that began to do something he had not done before in God's working with man. That is, the moment we believe in Jesus Christ, we're miraculously taken by the Holy Spirit and baptized into a living organic union with the very person of Jesus Christ. That's unique to this time, to this age that we live in. Not true before. Now they were saved, of course, in the Old Testament, but they did not have the privilege of being joined into the very body of Jesus Christ. That's not just an illustration. The scripture says we're bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh. So the one who is a believer in Jesus Christ since his resurrection is said to be in Christ, and that means to be in union with him, to be part of him, in a mystical and yet actual way be in union with the very person and the body of Christ, bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh. Now that tells us that this particular part of the resurrection of life only applies to the believer of this particular time in the church. So when Christ comes secretly before that seven-year holocaust, I believe, which we call the tribulation, he is coming to take those who are alive now, and I believe I'm looking on the face of many of you who will be part of that. Suddenly one moment you're here and the next moment you see the Lord face-to-face and you look down at your body and you say, wow, it's glorified. Well now I'm glad you clapped about that because I think any one of you could get excited about a new suit of clothes, but what about a new body? Philippians 3, 19, 20 and 21 says it'll be exactly like Christ. Won't wear out, won't hurt, can't get any disease. You're shaking your head, one that gave testimony a while ago. Be nice to have one that doesn't hurt, won't it? And that's going to happen in the twinkling of an eye. And those who have believed in Jesus Christ since the day of his resurrection will be raised from the dead at that time. But what about the Old Testament saying? Not yet. I'll show you when. But only the church will be part of the rapture. The living will be caught up to meet him alive, changed from mortal to immortal without seeing physical death. The dead believers in Jesus, since his resurrection will be raised from the dead, their bodies will be raised incorruptible and joined to their spirits which are with Christ right now, consciously waiting that moment. Now what does take place, though, after that? Well, in 1 Corinthians chapter 3, verses 10-15, it tells us what's going to happen as one of the things during that period. This is one of the judgments of God. This is called the judgment seat of Christ. What happens at the judgment seat of Christ, and who will be there? Verse 10, according to the grace of God which was given to me as a wise master builder, the apostle Paul said, I laid a foundation. Another is building upon it. But let each man be careful how he builds upon it. For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. He's talking about an imagery of a spiritual temple that's being built. The foundation is Jesus himself. And he says on that foundation is being built a spiritual temple which is made up of living people, you and I, and all of those who have gone before us who have believed in Jesus. They're being built on the foundation which is Jesus Christ. And he says now in verse 12, now if any man builds upon the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, you know he likens each one of our lives as an individual temple too. There's a corporate temple and there's an individual temple. Now he says he switches to the individual. And he says if anyone literally builds on that foundation, each one of our lives has a foundation when we believe in Jesus Christ. And that foundation is the only one that will make us into the family of God and the temple of God. And that's Jesus himself. But he says if anyone builds on that, silver, gold, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, two kinds of building material. And then he says that after we build that each man's works, verse 13, will become evident for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire. And the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work. If any man's work which he has built upon it remains, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work is burned up, he shall suffer loss. But, and this is one of the most important buts in the Bible, if you'll let me emphasize it here, but he himself shall be saved, yet so as through fire. He himself shall be saved. Now we're talking about a judgment at which everyone who stands there will what? Be saved. There's none lost at this judgment. Not one. You know why? Because Jesus said in John chapter 6, verse 40, this is the will of him who sent me, that of everyone who beholds the Son and believes in him will have eternal life, and I myself will raise him up in the last day. Now if he doesn't raise one up that has beheld him and believed in him, what has he not done? He has not done the will of the Father. And let me tell you something, if you haven't seen it already, that's impossible! It's impossible! He will do the will of the Father, though the earth go into pieces, though the universe go into smithereens, he'll do the will of the Father. He came to do it, and he says, I will raise him up on the last day. But some of us are going to have the smell of smoke on our toes. Sometimes, I'm sure each one of us, build with gold, silver, and precious stones. Sometimes all of us build with wood hair straw. The aim of our lives should be now, before we get there, to build with gold and silver and precious stones. Next message I give in this place, May 1st, is going to be on the books of God. Don't miss that. I'll tell you, God's blowing my mind with this. He's keeping a lot of books. It's exciting what he puts in there, and it's even more exciting what he says he blots out for the believers, not the unbelievers. Some names are being blotted out. But of the believer, he says, their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more. That means he hasn't got a book on it, thank God, because in Psalm 130, verses 3 and 4, David said, If the Lord should mark iniquity, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with God that he might be reverently trusted. So, thank God, his bookkeeping has its specific application. But you know, I think of the books that are being kept on us, every one of us is one day going to stand alone before Jesus Christ. Alone! And we'll never feel as alone as we are that day. We'll stand before him as in a new body, which won't just be disintegrated by his presence, but we're standing there with nothing but ourselves. And the books are open. And before us is the one who pages through it, and we look at his hands as he goes through, and we see scars on them. We know those are the scars that are the token that will never be put to eternal judgment. They're also, if we really understand, the greatest reason why we ought to serve him with all our heart and might and soul right now. Out of love for one who loved us and gave himself for us. That's the only acceptable motive, by the way. Everything we do for him out of thanksgiving and love for what he's done is gold, silver, and precious stone. Everything, praise the Lord, you got the point. Everything we do with a motive that we're not trying to gain God's acceptance, but we're just thankful that we are accepted through Jesus Christ. And we come with the right motive, and we just trust him and let the Holy Spirit work through our personalities and our talents. We let whatever talents we have be given over to him, and then if the motive's right, everything we do, everything God through the Spirit of God does through us is gold, silver, and precious stone. Every time we trust him when there's a hardship that comes, you lose your job, someone dear to you falls sick, someone dies, some unexplainable thing. Every time we just say, Lord, I don't understand this, but you said you cause all things to work together for good for those who love you and are called according to your purpose. You do what I call SOP, the Believer's Standard Operating Procedure. First, you claim Romans 8, 28. That covers everything. Then you give thanks, 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, verse 18, and everything gives thanks for this, whatever's happening at that moment, is the will of God and Christ Jesus concerning you. And then the third part of standard operating procedure should be claiming a specific promise to answer your problem and then putting the burden on God and leaving it there. He is, listen, he gets excited about that and that's gold, silver, and precious stone. Malachi chapter 3 says he's preparing a book of remembrances. I better not get too much into books or I'm going to give away the whole thing. Now he knows though, and he's got a way of remembering, but everything that we do that is contrary to his word and his sin will be wood, hay, and stubble. And you know, most of it starts with motive. We do something good with the wrong motive, it's wood, hay, and stubble. That's the thing that really terrifies me, knowing the terror of the Lord. I'll tell you one reason, because I can fool everybody else, but I never can fool him. Never! That's why I look at things as there's divine good and there's human good. Divine good are all of those things I have happen in my life with the right motive and trusting the Lord to work through me by the Holy Spirit. Human good may be the same work, but with the wrong motive, and you lose. I just pray to God that I don't send a bunch of smoke signals up when I get there. But I'm sure, as Jesus kind of talked about this, he said the first shall be the last, and the last shall be first. You know, I'm sure that the people who will have the greatest bonfires will, in many cases, be guys like me who are out front a lot. Because, you know, in human terms, we look at the person who's gifted by God, and that's a great gift. He didn't earn it, he didn't deserve it. Look at the guy who's up front, and we think, wow, he's going to get a lot of rewards. You may see the biggest smoke going up. You know, it doesn't mean a thing if a guy's used of God and out front. Yeah, it's praise the Lord, but a spiritual gift will operate even when a guy's got the wrong motive, thank God. A spiritual gift will operate because God gave it, and he says the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. So it'll work, but he won't get a reward. But I think of the dear saints. I think of, you know, some of the reasons why I'm still alive, and I bet Ralph could tell about the same thing, and all of us, Pastor Cook, that one of the reasons we're still alive and breathing is because there are some, I can just, I just think of one. There's an elderly lady in church, and that woman prayed for me to the day she died, Jewish lady. No one ever saw it. It was in the closet, in private, but every day she prayed for me that I would make it through seminary, that I would keep rolling in the ministry every day. And there are people like that who pray for all of those who are standing out in front, or else they wouldn't live very long. I hope you pray for me, by the way. You know why? Because you'll accumulate gold, silver, and precious stones. Some people we've never heard of, a little old lady in tennis shoes, will come up there, and there's going to be the biggest pile of gold, silver, and precious stones. You know, the scripture says that at the wedding feast of the Lamb, which will take place later, that there are robes which reflect the righteous deeds of the saints. Now, we're all going to have a robe, but Jan was telling me that she thought the robes would have gorgeous ornamentations of those who had, you know, really walked with God, and had the right motives, and trusted Him. You know, the thing is, we're going to have to wear these clothes forever, and right out there is going to be an example of where we were in this life. They'll demonstrate where we trusted Him. Of course, we'll have resurrection bodies, the old sin natures will be out, so there won't be any jealousy or anything like that. It just will be a demonstration that God has. Now, that's what's going to take place at the judgment seat of Christ. The next major judgment will take place seven years after Christ comes to take His Church secretly and instantly out of the world. While we're going through judgment of rewards, on earth there will be all of the tribulation that's described chronologically in the Book of Revelation, and many other passages. At the end of that seven-year period, Christ Himself is going to come personally back to this earth and stop the warfare that's there. And what will He do immediately after He returns? Turn with me to Matthew chapter 25, please. Matthew chapter 25, verses 31 and 32, says, "...but when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne, and 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." Then He gives the most unusual basis of judgment here, because He talks about a special breed of men that He calls His brethren. All right. Who are these men who are His brethren? Well, you can search the Scripture high and low. The only thing you can come up with is they have to be Jews. But I believe a particular, especially a particular breed of Jews, it will be the 144,000 Jewish witnesses who will all have a price on their head during the seven-year period. They'll be the greatest witnesses this earth ever saw, like 144,000 Jewish Billy Grahams all turned loose at one time. And the Scripture says their ministry will be incredible. It says a multitude out of every tribe and nation and tongue will stand before the throne of God who have come out of the great tribulation and have washed their robes white in the blood of the Lamb. Where'd they get the message? They're introduced in Revelation chapter 7, where that's found, 144,000 Jewish witnesses, all who will be hunted relentlessly down by the Antichrist. Now, the way Jesus judges these people here is by the way they treated or mistreated these witnesses. You see, the only way these witnesses can survive will be by the support of those who believe their message. You know why? Because everyone's going to be required to receive a number, the number of the name of the Antichrist. And if you don't have that number, what can't you do? You can't buy or sell or hold a job. So how will these men survive? By those who believe their message, because it speaks of them as being in prison and they didn't visit them, of being naked and without clothes, of being without food and without water. See, this is a very special situation. He calls them, it's because of the time that they're special and because he calls them his brethren. You see, these who are standing there, some of them were believers who became believers during the tribulation. And yet he doesn't call them in the same category as he calls these others. He said these are his brethren in a special sense, special relationships. Now, there's another thing that I want to point out that's very important. Matthew 25 verses 31 to the end of the chapter is the judgment of the Gentiles. Because when Christ comes back to the earth to set up his kingdom, he's going to judge the Gentiles separately from the Jews. Now, how do we know that? Well, he says here in verse 32, all the nations will be gathered before him, ta ethne, in the original Greek, and that can be translated either nations or Gentiles, and both mean the same. Nations plural in the Jewish Bible always meant all you guys that are not Jews. But it also means Gentiles. And so he's saying here he will gather all Gentiles before him and he's going to judge them. Those who have become believers, and they will demonstrate whether they were believers or not by the way they treated Jesus' witnesses, the Jews, all of those who are believers will go into the kingdom. We'll connect this with Revelation 20 in just a moment. They will go into a kingdom which will last a thousand years on earth as mortals. They will reproduce. They will have children. Apparently this kingdom starts with only believers because the unbelievers here are judged and cast off the earth in the place of judgment. So here we have the judgment of the Gentiles. Well, what about the Jews? At this same time, Ezekiel chapter 20 talks about another judgment which the Messiah Jesus will take. Ezekiel chapter 20 verses 34 through 38, page 1184. Chapter 20 verses 34 through 38 says, And I shall bring you out from the peoples and gather you from the lands where you are scattered with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out. I shall bring you into the wilderness of the peoples. You know where that is? The Sinai. He's going to put them back out in the Sinai. And this is when he comes to set up his kingdom. And he says about the Jews, he says in verse 35, I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples and there I shall enter into judgment with you face to face. This is when he comes back. As I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into the judgment with you declares the Lord God. And I shall make you pass under the rod and I shall bring you into the bond of the covenant. I shall purge from you the rebels and those who transgress me. I shall bring them out of the land where they sojourn, but they will not enter the land of Israel. Thus you will know that I am the Lord. Here's the judgment of the Jews, a judgment of the Gentiles, Matthew 25, a judgment of the Jews, Ezekiel chapter 20. They're separate. Now that tells me something else. Once again, rightly dividing the word of truth since the resurrection of Christ and the giving of the Holy Spirit. What does the scripture say about the Jews and the Gentiles? Huh? There is no difference. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile today. Read Ephesians. Then why does he judge the Gentiles and the Jews separately here? Because the church is done gone seven years before. That's why. This is another one of the things that one of the evidence is that the rapture occurs before the tribulation, not after. And so he's back to dealing separately with the Jews and with the Gentiles. Now another point says in Zechariah chapter 13. I hope you don't mind me referring to all of these guys back in the Old Testament. Just think of how embarrassed you're going to be one day when you're up in heaven and Zephaniah comes up and says, howdy, you ever read my book? Now you get, you know, it won't matter if you read mine, but his is a little heavier. Now, Zechariah chapter 13, verses 18 or I should say verses 8 and 9. God says, It will come about in all the land, declares the Lord, that two parts in it will be cut off and perished, but the third will be left in it. And I will bring the third part through the fire, refine them as silver is refined and test them as gold is tested. This is the tribulation. They will call on my name and I will answer them. And I will say, they are my people. And they will say, the Lord is my God. One third of the living Jews apparently will survive and become believers during the tribulation and will go into the land and be brought under the covenant that was sworn to Abraham, like Ezekiel 20 says, I will bring them in the bond of the covenant. What covenant? The covenant he made with Abraham, which cannot be broken. That one day he would make a nation of these people, a nation that to the man would swear allegiance to the Lord God and would follow him in faith to the letter of his word. So that's the judgment at the second advent. Very quickly, I know some of you are a little restless, but I'm almost to the end. At this point when the judgment of the second advent is going on, this is when all of the Old Testament dead are raised. Daniel chapter 12 tells us that. Okay. Just glance at it. Good old Dan chapter 12. This is one through three after Daniel predicts the great war that leads to the battle of Armageddon. He says in chapter 12, now at the time, at that time, Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people will arise and there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time. And at that time, your people, everyone who has found written in the book will be rescued. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will await those who everlasting life. Let's see. I'm sorry. Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will await these everlasting life, but others to disgrace and everlasting contempt. All right, here it's talking about the resurrection of the old Testament saints, which occurs at the visible personal coming of Christ at the end of the tribulation. And there they are raised to be in glorified bodies. And apparently there's going to be glorified people and mortal people on the earth and that kingdom at the same time, because of the old Testament prophets said, David, my king shall reign out of Jerusalem. And the Messiah will also be there as the son of David. Now, what a time this earth is going to have. Boy, there is a new world coming that will go on for a thousand years. And that closes us in on that final judgment. Look at Revelation chapter 20, Revelation chapter 20 verses four through six gives the interlude from the second advent to the last judgment. It says, and I saw thrones and they sat upon them and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God and those who had not worshiped the beast for his image. This is talking about the raising from the dead of the tribulation saints. You see, they were beheaded for not worshiping the beast who is the antichrist. And it says, and had not received the mark upon their forehead and upon their hands. And they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years in the image of the harvest of Israel. This is the gleaning. You see the great harvest takes place with the raising of the church and the raising of the old saints, but the raising of the tribulation saints is like the gleaning. Now he says that they are raised and it says in verse four still, and they had not received the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand. And they came to life and reigned with Christ for how long a thousand years. Now, let me tell you something. There is a very important rule of interpreting the Bible that Martin Luther left. We better listen to it in this day and hour. Martin Luther said, when the sense of the scripture, or I should say, when the literal scripture makes good sense, don't seek any other sin. And what he meant by that is don't allegorize something that's stated in scripture as a fact, unless the context demands that it's an allegory or a parable. This is not stated as an allegory or a parable, but as a fact of future history. Some people want to make the thousand years a thousand days and say, well, Peter said that isn't a thousand years with God like a day and a day like a thousand years. Well, Peter said it's like that. He didn't say that it was. And he said, that's only with God, not man. We still have to live it out. So when God says a thousand years, I'm just dumb enough to say that's what he means. But when we get to the judgment seat of Christ, we'll see who was dumb. And I don't think I'll have any smoke on that one. Now it says that during that verse five, the rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. In other words, it's finished at that point. The first resurrection is the resurrection of life. And all who are believers are raised in those stages. Christ, the first fruit, the waves do, the harvest, the gleaming. Then the first resurrection is over. The rest of the dead will not come to life for a thousand years. Who are the rest of the dead? Only unbelievers. Only. Now that's brought out, says in verse five, verse six, blessed and holy is the one who has part in the first resurrection over these. The second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years. And that's only the beginning, but we will reign with him on earth for a thousand years. Now he says, and when the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison. Know why the earth is going to be so great during that period? First part of the chapter says Satan will be bound for a thousand years. We have no idea of the degree of spirituality that people will have during that thousand year period. With Satan bound, there'll be no more world system, this elaborate, organized spirit of the age that he has had over the earth, which he himself is the king over, the world system, as Jesus calls it. That won't be here because Jesus will be in charge of this earth. He'll set up the standards and the moods and the spirit of the age. The Holy Spirit will cover the people as water covers the seashore, it says that people will be a child at a hundred years old in Isaiah 65, 20. Apparently there'll be no one died during this period except unbelievers. And so this will be a marvelous period. But at the end of that thousand years, we're told that the devil will be released and allowed to go on the earth again. Now, why would God do that? Well, it's obvious if you find those who at the end of a thousand years will follow him and he will bring about a revolt, which will never get off the ground because before it can, God will call the end. That'll be it. But why does God allow this? Well, to show that apparently the children of those who start this, which will all be believers, some of them will be unbelievers, even with Jesus personally on the face of the earth ruling and Satan will just bring what's out in their hearts because there'll be such universal righteousness, it'll be hard to be bad during that time. And so God just lets it be revealed outwardly what he sees on the inside by letting Satan go and stir up a rebellion. That's it. That's his last act. And then what happens? Well, scripture says in verse 11, I saw a great white throne and him who sat upon it from whose presence earth and heaven fled away and no place was found for them. I saw the dead, the great and the small standing before the throne and the books were open. Notice it's plural. And another book was opened, there's another, which is the book of life and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it and the death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them and they would judge every one of them according to their deeds. Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. You know something? Horrible thing. I can't read this lightly. Every person who stands at this judgment is condemned. The last judgment will have no believers there. Only unbelievers. All who stand here will be cast out of God's presence forever into a place called the lake of fire. Some theologians try to air condition this passage in modern times. Maybe it's because they know they're going to go there in their guts. But this says it's a lake of fire. And let me tell you something. If it isn't literal, then it must mean something that's just as bad as a lake of fire. That's good enough for me. I don't want to go there. But it says that all will stand here. You know, the most terrifying thing to me is that every person who has ever lived is going to be bodily resurrected someday. Now, we all believe that the believer will be bodily resurrected. But this says, and the rest of the scripture says so, that the unbeliever is going to be raised from the dead bodily. And he will stand before that last judgment in a body of corruption. But in a body which can experience pain. And it says the books are open. And another book, which is the book of life. And one is called the book of deeds. The book of works. As I bring this to a close, I want you really to think with me for a moment. Why is this judgment necessary? And why and what is going to be said to these people? Says they will be judged according to their work out of the book. Well, I can put together what the scripture says and come up with what's going to happen there. I believe God and the one who's on this throne will have nails, nailed sword hands again. Jesus, he said he's going to be the judge of the living and the dead. John chapter five, also in Philippians, also in second Corinthians five, it says, every knee shall bow and confess that Jesus is Lord. That's the unbeliever as well. They'll stand before the lamb who once died for them. The judge who judges every man will also be the one who died, but they wouldn't have had to come there. And so if they stand before this awful judgment, they're going to be judged by their deeds. And one of the books that will be there is the Bible. Paul said in Romans, men shall be judged according to my gospel. Where is it in the Bible? Galatians chapter three, verse 10, cursed is everyone who does not abide in all things written in the book of the law. In the Bible. There are going to be a lot of men there that said the Bible was filled with error. They're going to find that it isn't in error when they stand and they're judged by the very thing they tried to destroy. Horrible. And every deed that these people have done will be evaluated. And I believe the deeds that God will evaluate most will be the ones that the person thought were good. The reason I believe that is because John three 18 says he who believes in the son is not condemned, but he who believes not the son is what condemned already. So he's already condemned before he gets there. So why the judgment to demonstrate fairly to every unbelieving man who stands there, why he is judged and everyone who leaves that judgment, though he is condemned forever will agree. It was righteous, horrible thing to have to agree to, but they will. You know why? Because I believe that the son of God with an angel reading over a book that will contain everything that this individual has done will go over what he thought were the best deeds that he did. And then the son of God will read from the word of God, Isaiah 64, six, but all of your righteousnesses are as filthy red in my sight. And then he will read from John three 18. He who believes on the son is not judged, but he who believes not the son has been judged already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God. The only unpardonable sin on earth is to die rejecting Jesus Christ. There is no other. Last thing, the Holy Spirit is often brought up in Matthew 12. That's something that could only happen in the time of Jesus with an unbeliever doing it. They were attributing to Satan the miracles that Jesus were performing. And those miracles were his, his credentials to prove that he was the Messiah and the savior of the world. So rejecting his miracles then was tantamount to rejecting his message. And when they reject his message, what were they rejecting? Eternal life. But John three 18 says there is only one unpardonable sin, and that's to leave this life, rejecting Jesus Christ and everyone who stands there. What will they be pleading? Well, I believe that Jesus gave us a preview of that horrible thing in Matthew chapter seven, where some will be religious. A lot of them will be religious standing there at that last judgment in Matthew seven 24 or seven 22. Jesus said, many will say to me on that day, what day? The judgment day. Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name cast out demons and in your name perform many miracles. Wow. Listen, they wouldn't plead this if it were untrue. They're at the place where you can't lie. No one will lie at the last day, at the last judgment. So they plead their words. And what will Jesus say? Then will I declare to them, I never knew you depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. Can you imagine what that will be like? Why are these people condemned? These Matthew seven talking about why are they condemned to the last judgment? Because they were standing on their work, not on believing in Jesus Christ. John six 29, this is the work of God. What? That you believe on him whom he has sent. If you're standing on any other ground, you better get it right tonight. Don't take a chance on that. Only God knows the heart. Only God knows the motive. Only God knows what you're really resting your hope of forgiveness and eternal life on. But he knows. You may be here tonight and you say, this is awful. I didn't want to hear this. I was drugged here. Well, you have my sympathy, but I'll tell you one thing. If I could, I'd scare the hell out of you rather than have you go there. Think of it. That awful day when time is at an end, and the son of God is sitting on that awful white throne of judgment. Person after person comes up and says, this is your life. And it seems as it is, not as people thought. And all who stand there have every hope that was false stripped away. And after every good deed that they thought they could bring up, I paid my bills. I was a good neighbor. I always tried to keep the golden rule. How often have I heard that? I don't know Jesus. I keep the golden rule. Most of them don't know where the golden rule is found in the Bible. So how do they keep it? Well, I was a good Mason. No reflection on the Masons intended. I was a good Baptist. I was a good churchgoer. I was a good Presbyterian. I was a good Catholic. Well, make a bit of difference. There's only one thing that would have kept him from being there, and that was that he saw that he could never be good enough by his own good deed for God to accept. And he came without one plea saying, God, I can't keep your law. I've broken it. I'm a sinner, therefore. And I understand that Jesus has died for me. I want to accept a gift of forgiveness. Come into my life, and I want to be the way you want me to be. So I give Jesus the right to come in and take over and make me the way he wants me to be. All who do that will never stand at the last judgment. But those who fail to do that will one day, as sure as you're sitting here, one day you will stand at that last awful judgment. Then it'll be too late. And after everything has gone over, there will be something that will rain in your ears forever. Depart from me. I never knew you. I never knew you. I never knew you. I never knew you. And there'll be no hope, no help, no one to comfort because everyone will be isolated in himself. I remember guys used to say aboard ship when I was there, oh, I'm going to go to hell. All my buddies are going there, and we'll play cards. But I remember after I became a believer, I went back and I said, you got to play cards, huh? You ever seen a guy play cards in a blast furnace? Oh, just a thought. Awful. But no one has to go there. No one. The only one the scripture says that's qualified to pronounce judgment on these people is the one who died for them. And he died for you tonight. And if you will accept him right now, you will be at a judgment where the only issue will be whether you gain rewards or lose them. Put in your reservation for that one. Oh, we want to see to reach out and that we and help us to we want to see oh and say that we love you you