ETERNAL JUDGMENT
"Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this will we do, if God permit.” (Hebrews 6:1-3).
In
the above verses, we find six concepts that St. Paul refers to as “the principles of the doctrine of Christ,” and,
in chapter 5 of Hebrews, “the first
principles of the oracles of God.” We
have explored the first five principles, Repentance
from Dead Works, Faith Toward God,
The Doctrine of Baptisms, The Laying On of Hands, and The Resurrection of the Dead in earlier
messages. Now, let’s turn to the sixth
and final principle, Eternal Judgment.
Eternal Judgment
“And as it is appointed unto men once
to die, but after this the judgment:
so
Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for
Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” (Hebrews 9:27, 28).
The Bible teaches that we are given one opportunity to live out our
natural lives before being raised from the dead to one day stand before the
Judge of all the earth to give account for what we did with that life. There are no “do-over’s,” and we are not going to be endlessly reincarnated as
some other person, creature, or plant until we finally get it right and attain
a mystic state of peace. What we do with
this one life that we have been given matters.
The seeds that we sow through the choices that we make in this life will
surely determine what we reap in the next life (Galatians 6:7, 8). In the natural world, if I scatter thistle
seeds in my garden, then I can’t expect to have nice tomatoes come up
later. In the same way, if my life is
marked by lawlessness, willfulness, and rebellion against God’s moral laws, how
can I expect to be rewarded in the afterlife?
God is a just God and He gives every soul a fair chance to make a
decision for or against what is right and godly. It all comes down to a choice of what or whom
we will serve. The best definition for
sin is, “…him that knoweth to do good,
and doeth it not.” (James 4:17). If
we transgress our own conscience by the things we do, is God not greater than
our conscience, and will He not judge us for those things we condemn ourselves
for? Happy indeed is that person who can
walk with a pure conscience and not condemn themselves for the things they
allow themselves to do (Romans 14:22, 23).
The
Apostle Paul wrote concerning the final judgment that, “…we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every
one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done,
whether it be good or bad.” (2 Corinthians 5:10). And on the same subject Jesus said, “For the Son of man shall come in the glory
of his Father with His angels; and then He shall reward every man according
to his works.” (Matthew 16:27).
It is clear from these verses that we must not only stand before the
Judge to give account of ourselves, but that that Judge will be the Lord Jesus
Christ Himself. Every knee will bow to
Him in that day, and every tongue will confess that He is Lord and Judge. He Who is both the Word of God and the Wisdom
of God, Who was with God in the beginning, and Who lives forevermore, Who is
the express image of God, and Who is the fullness of the Godhead: He it is that
will sit on the seat of judgment to try the sons of man in the final day. “For
the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:
that all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that
honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent Him.” (John 5:22, 23).
There
is coming a day when the Lord Himself will return to earth and ultimately
destroy all the works of man which have defiled, polluted, and destroyed God’s
creation from the beginning. Like a
thief in the night, He will not announce the day nor the hour of His
return. The righteous (His faithful
servants) will be aware of the signs of His coming, will have prepared
themselves, and will be looking for His coming.
The unrighteous on the other hand will be taken by surprise when He
returns and will not know until too late that their final hour has come. Peter describes that day with these words: “But the day of the Lord will come as a
thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great
noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the
works that are therein shall be burned up.” (2 Peter 3: 10). God will recreate new heavens and a new earth
in which all things will be in harmony with Him. Peter continues by writing, “Seeing then that all these things shall be
dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation
and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God,
wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall
melt with fervent heat?” (2 Peter 3:11, 12).
None
of us is without excuse. Everyone has
some sense of shame over the bad choices that they have made. “For
all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23). Whether saint or sinner, it is evident that
in man there is some degree of understanding of right and wrong. If not, then governments wouldn’t bother
making laws by which they can differentiate between good and bad behavior, and
they wouldn’t establish deterrents to ensure that the citizens of their nations
choose the right and are punished for the wrong. Neither would people bother with religions
that promise heavenly rewards for righteous acts done on earth if they had no
sense of right and wrong. Paul writes, “For when the Gentiles, which have not the
law [of God], do by nature the things
contained in the law [of God], these,
having not the law [of God], are a
law unto themselves: which shew the work of the law written in their hearts,
their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while
accusing or else excusing one another;) in the day when God shall judge the
secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.” (Romans
2:14-16) Even in the absence of the law
of God, mankind still has a sense of right and wrong. God has placed a conscience in each of us to
help act as a moral compass. It is part
of the function of the human spirit that God has placed in every man. “The
spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward parts of the
belly [heart].” (Proverbs
20:27). That conscience is most
effective when it is inspired by the laws of God, a noble example, or (best of
all) the Holy Spirit. Since the day that
Adam and Eve ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, mankind’s
conscience has been enlightened to a certain extent, and we feel the guilt of
our wrong actions. Adam and Eve knew
immediately after eating of the forbidden fruit that their nakedness was wrong,
and they hid themselves from God’s presence.
The Law of God was later given to Moses to further define a moral
plumbline for men to order their lives by.
Outside of Christ, however, man found it impossible to keep those laws
without transgressing. It would require
a Savior to deliver man from sin, the world, death, and the devil - and that’s
just what God provided!
So,
just what happens to man when he dies?
There is not a simple answer to that question because there is only one
Man that has ever been in heaven and hell; but fortunately, Jesus has left us
many clues so that we can piece together just what we can expect when we
die. There are many theories and
sentiments about what occurs after death, and what the state of the dead is
after they depart this life which adds to the confusion in many people’s
minds. Some believe that the dead go
directly to heaven when they die to be with the Lord and that they are aware of
everything going on with the living and can hear their conversation and
prayers. Some believe that the dead can
leave “signs” to guide the living or encourage them through difficult times and
are always an unseen presence in their lives.
There are even those who believe that by using a medium with special
gifts they can speak to the dead and have them answer them. Others believe that the dead enter purgatory
where they must endure suffering in order to purify them of their sins before
going to heaven. Still others believe
that the dead simply enter a state of peaceful sleep and are not awakened again
until the time of judgment – or never awakened at all! Clearly, there is an abundance of
contradictory ideas concerning what happens to the dead. While many of these beliefs are comforting to
those who have lost loved ones, they are not based on what the Bible really
teaches, and can give a false sense of security to those who should be
preparing themselves in this life to give account to their Maker in the
next.
When
we die, our spirit returns to God Who gave it, and our bodies are placed in the
grave to eventually turn to dust (Ecclesiastes 12:7). There is a place
(apparently in the lower parts of the earth) however, where the souls of the
departed go after their physical bodies die and are laid in the grave. “For as
Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of
man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”
(Matthew 12:40). “…now that He [Jesus] ascended,
what is it but that He also descended first into the lower parts of the
earth?” (Ephesians 4:9). In Old
Testament Hebrew this place is referred to as “Sheol”, and in the New Testament Greek it is called “Hades”.
Both these words are translated as “hell” in our English Bibles. Scripture speaks of Sheol/Hades as a place
that is “down” in the lower parts of
the earth. “Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the
pit.” (Isaiah 14:15). “And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted to
heaven, shalt be thrust down to hell.” (Luke 10:15).
In
Luke chapter 16 Jesus tells the story of the rich man and the beggar named
Lazarus. In the story, the underworld
appears to be divided into two separate regions. One region is that place of torment where the
wicked are sent until the time of their final judgment. This area is evidently comprised of a number
of different levels. “Thou hast delivered my soul from the
lowest hell.” (Psalms 86:13). “For a fire is kindled in Mine anger, and
shall burn unto the lowest hell…” (Deuteronomy 32:22). The other region is a place of comfort and
peace where, before Christ’s death and resurrection, the righteous were sent to
wait until their resurrection. This
second place is referred to in Jesus’ story as “Abraham’s bosom” (See Luke 16:19-31). Neither of these places was intended to be
permanent, but only meant as a temporary holding place for the souls of men
until they come to their final judgment.
From
Jesus’ story it is evident that the souls of the just and of the unjust are
both awake and aware of their surroundings.
The wicked feel the heat of their torment in Hades while the righteous
know the peace and comfort of Abraham’s bosom.
It is also clear from the story that the dead cannot send back word to
their loved ones about their state or the conditions of the place that they are
in (See Luke 16:27-31). Man looks for
comfort from many things in this life besides the Savior and Lover of our
souls. We hear stories of a dead loved
one communicating in some way to their living friend or relative, but this is
not the norm unless the Lord were to ordain it for some unique purpose as when
Samuel appeared to Saul after Samuel’s death.
Scholars are divided on this story, however. Some argue that God allowed Samuel to briefly
appear to Saul to pronounce his fate, while others attribute the black arts
employed by the witch of Endor for a deception.
If this were commonly allowed to happen, then every tormented soul would
be getting word to everyone they care about, and every righteous soul would
send word of the comfort that they have found.
We would be hearing stories every day of such encounters with the dead,
but it just isn’t so. Neither does God
allow disembodied souls to roam the earth as “ghosts” who are able to appear to
living men. Any encounters that men
testify as having experienced with a departed friend or loved one are more than
likely brushes with demonic spirits posing as someone who is deceased. This is why séances are also very dangerous
and very deceptive.
God
sent His Son into the world to partake of flesh and blood, and to experience
all of the things that you and I experience in our lifetimes. He knew joy, and He knew sorrow; He knew
life, and He knew death; He knew strength, and He knew weakness. Jesus was tempted in every way that we are
tempted, and yet He did not yield to sin (Hebrews 4:15). It was necessary also for Him to experience
those things that come on man after death.
Therefore, when Jesus died He descended into Hades for three days where
He took the keys to the gates of hell and led those who were in Abraham’s bosom
up to a place referred to as Paradise.
Keep in mind that this was not a resurrection of these souls, but merely
a relocation to Paradise where they would wait until the resurrection day. They will remain disembodied souls until that
time, but they were no longer captive in the lower parts of the earth. Jesus led the captivity captive! “I am
He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and
have the keys of hell and of death.” (Revelations 1:18). From that time, the region of Hell or Hades
that was referred to as Abraham’s Bosom was emptied, and all the souls of the
righteous now go to Paradise when they die.
As Jesus said to the thief who was crucified beside Him, “Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be
with Me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43).
At
the time of Jesus’ return to earth (which is His second coming), Satan will be
bound and locked in the bottomless pit for 1000 years (Revelations 20:1,
2). This bottomless pit is the same as
hell or hades. All of the righteous will
be resurrected at this time. Everyone
who was waiting in Paradise and all of those who are alive at Jesus’ coming
will be changed and receive their celestial bodies. After this there will be thrones set up for
judgment, and the righteous will be judged.
Every man will be judged “…according
to his deeds: to them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory
and honour and immortality, eternal life: but unto them that are contentious,
and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,
tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew
first, and also of the Gentile; but glory, honour, and peace, to every man that
worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: for there is no
respect of persons with God.” (Romans 2:6-11). Christians are not exempt from judgment just
because they name the name of Christ.
God is not interested in those who say they know Him but don’t do the
things that He says. “For the time is come that judgment must
begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be
of them that obey not the gospel of God?” (1 Peter 4:17).
In
1 Corinthians chapter 3, Paul likens God’s people (His Church) to a
building. “…ye are God’s building.” (1 Corinthians 3:9). He writes that the foundation of that
building is the gospel of Jesus Christ (v. 11), but he gives us a stern warning
when he writes, “But let every man take
heed how he buildeth thereupon.” (v. 10).
Paul argues that the quality of the material we use to build on that
foundation makes a difference and we will either be rewarded or suffer loss
depending on how well our work holds up (vs. 12-15). God distinguishes in this chapter between
those works that don’t build up the Church and those that actually defile or
weaken the Church. “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God
dwelleth in you? If any man defile the
temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which
temple ye are.” (1 Corinthians 3:16, 17).
What we do with the gospel is going to determine how we spend our
eternity – or even where we spend it.
Jesus’ parable of the talents reveals that what we do with the gifts
that God has given us translates to the quality of our standing in heaven. Every believer has received spiritual gifts
from God that we are to use to build up our fellow Christians and minister
grace to the lost. It is essential that
we learn to operate those gifts in the Spirit and not according to the flesh or
according to the wisdom of man. “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh
profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they
are life.” (John 6:63). “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the
true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the
Father seeketh such to worship him. God
is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in
truth.” (John 4:23, 24). At the end
of the day, it is better that we judge ourselves during this lifetime so that
we will not require judgment in the afterlife (1 Corinthians 11:3).
After
the first resurrection, the Lord Jesus will establish His visible Kingdom on
earth. He will rule and reign among men
for 1000 years, and afterwards Satan will be loosed from the bottomless pit for
a little while to try and deceive those nations of people who were unbelievers
and still alive after the great tribulation.
Many of those will indeed be duped into believing the devil’s lies and
will come up to the holy city Jerusalem to war against the Lord and His
saints. God will send down fire from
heaven and destroy this army which will then set up the second resurrection and
final judgment. At this time Satan will
be cast into a lake of fire and brimstone where he will be tormented for
eternity. This lake of fire is a
different place than Hades and is referred to in the Old Testament as “Gehenna” or “Gehenna of fire”. According
to the “Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance
of the Bible,” “This was originally
the valley of Hinnom, south of Jerusalem, where the filth and dead animals of
the city were cast out and burned; a fit symbol of the wicked and their future
destruction.” This answers to “Tartaros” in the New Testament and is
only used once in 2 Peter 2:3 to describe the place where God will send the
angels that sinned to suffer their eternal punishment. Both these words, “Gehenna” and “Tartaros”
along with “Sheol” and “Hades,” are all translated as “hell” in the English
Authorized Version of the Bible and can be confusing if we consider them all to
be referring to the same place. This
lake of fire will be the final hell where the wicked will ultimately
reside. In the end, even death and hell
(Hades) will be cast into this lake of fire.
“And I saw a great white seat and Him
that sat on it, from whose face fled away both the earth and heaven, and their
place was no more found. And I saw the
dead, both great and small stand before God: And the books were opened, and
another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged of
those things which were written in the books according to their deeds: and the
sea gave up her dead, which were in her, and death and hell delivered up the
dead, which were in them: and they were judged every man according to his
deeds. And death and hell were cast into
the lake of fire. This is that second
death. And whosoever was not found written in
the book of life, was cast into the lake of fire.” (Revelations 20:11-15).
This is truly a sobering picture of the great final judgment of
God. At this time God will open the
books in which there has been recorded all of the deeds that men have done in
their lifetimes, good and bad. Also, the
book of life will be opened and if anyone’s name is not recorded there, they
will be cast into the lake of fire. That
book records the names of all those who have accepted the gift of grace and
salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God that takes away the
sin of the world. A careful reading of
Revelations 3:5, 6 seems to indicate that it is possible for one’s name to be
blotted out of the book of life once it has been recorded there. “Therefore
we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest
at any time we should let them slip.” (Hebrews 2:1).
Many
Christians recoil at the thought of any
soul having to suffer an eternal torment, and for this reason many false
doctrines have been spawned that offer a gentler outcome for the wicked. Doctrines such as Universal Reconciliation
(which teaches that everyone will be reconciled to God in the end), and
Annihilation (the belief that the wicked will just be destroyed completely and
not have to suffer after judgment) may soothe man’s softer inclinations, but
they find no foundation in scripture.
God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, and His ways are not our ways
(Isaiah 55:8, 9). We should never presume
to know better than our Creator. Many
modern Christians seem to have developed an aversion to the fear of God, but it
is fear that motivates us to depart from evil (Proverbs 16:6). It is the beginning of knowledge and it
provides an effective incentive for mankind to want to resist their baser
tendencies. Yes, as our relationship
with our Lord develops, it is our love that also motivates us, but it should
never entirely replace our fear and reverence for the Almighty. I have seen parents give a plain, direct
command to their children only to see the children ignore that command and do
as they please without any correction or chastisement on the part of the
parent. This teaches the child to
disobey, disrespect, and dishonor the parent and it leads to more and greater
transgressions and outright rebellion. I
don’t blame the children for this behavior – it is the parents’ fault for
reinforcing and encouraging such behavior by their inaction. Kids who are consistently corrected by their
parents in patience and love (not in anger or frustration) learn to respect
their parents and to resist evil even when their parents aren’t right there
with them watching them. That’s how it
is with the fear of God. “The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for
ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.” (Psalms
19:9). The fear of God is pure and it is
wholesome; it is based on a mutual love, and a godly reverence for the One Who
made us and is infinitely wiser than we are.
“But I will forewarn you whom ye
shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell;
yea, I say unto you, Fear him.” (Luke 12:2-5). “Knowing
therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men.” (2 Corinthians
5:11). “By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved
with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house.” (Hebrews
11:7).
I
would like to say one final word about young children and those who have a
mental health condition. I believe that
God will deal with such ones according to the knowledge that they have. The Jews believed that once a child turned
13, they were then accountable for their actions. Before that, they were considered
innocent. I think that it depends on the
child. If the child is aware that his/her actions are wrong, and they
deliberately and defiantly choose wrong, they are accountable. This is why we must be willing as parents to
lead them to repentance through both love and chastisement. A child left to themselves will bring their
parents to shame. Jesus said, “Take heed that ye despise not one of these
little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold
the face of my Father which is in heaven.” (Matthew 18:10). As for those with mental health conditions, I
believe that God knows the heart and mind of each one, and He will judge
righteously according to their capacity to understand.
I
am acutely aware of the complexity of this subject. In writing about this last foundation
principle I found it to be the most difficult of them all. I still have questions the answers for which
have not been fully revealed to me to my satisfaction, but I have come away
with a much greater understanding than I had to begin with. I know that I do not have all the answers to
the questions that can be gendered by this subject, but I am confident that I
have represented it faithfully according to my understanding at this time, and
based on much prayer and study. As we,
the Church, progress in the things of the Lord we will continue to receive more
and more light by which we will be able to see His truth more clearly.
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