KINGDOM BIBLE STUDIES

The scriptures reveal that just as the "coming" of the Lord is progressive - past, present, and future - so is the "judgment day" progressive - past, present, and future. The question follows - When did the judgment day begin? Jesus Himself answers the question in the plainest of language. "For the Father judgeth no man, but HATH COMMITTED all judgment unto the Son" (Jn. 5:22). "And Jesus said, For judgment I AM COME into the world" (Jn. 9:39). "N-O-W is the judgment of this world: N-O-W shall the prince of this world be cast out" (Jn. 12:31).

It should be plain even to a child that the judgment day began with the coming of the Judge. The Judge is WITHIN YOU because the Christ is WITHIN YOU! It requires no extraordinary intelligence or spirituality to reach that conclusion. Let us stop putting the judgment out beyond the cemetery and believe what God's Word really says about it. To all who wait for a judgment day in some future time or age I now say, as our blessed Lord has said, "N-O-W is the judgment of this world: N-O-W shall the prince of this world be cast out." Far too many Christians want to put it out at some final end, but either Satan IS BEING bound and chained in your life, and in the experience of multitudes TODAY, or he will never be eradicated from this planet. NOW shall the prince of this world be cast out! It has to begin somewhere and end somewhere. It is happening now, praise God, and the work shall advance unto that glorious consummation when God becomes ALL IN ALL! We will be better equipped to face up to our PRESENT WALK and respond to the Father's dealings in our lives TODAY when once and for all we lay hold upon the significant and incontrovertible truth that "N-O-W is the judgment of this world: N-O-W shall the prince of this world be cast out."

The apostle Paul, speaking on Mars Hill, told the Athenians, "The time of this ignorance God winked at; but NOW commandeth all men everywhere to repent: BECAUSE He hath appointed a day, in which He will judge the world in righteousness by that Man whom He hath ordained; whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised Him from the dead" (Acts 17:30-31). This passage sets forth four wonderful truths: (1) God has appointed A DAY (2) In that DAY He shall JUDGE THE WORLD in righteousness (3) He shall judge the world by that MAN whom He hath ordained (4) This ASSURANCE is given unto ALL MEN.

This judgment day is not a day of eternal doom, but a blessed day of ASSURANCE UNTO ALL MEN. But how is that assurance given unto all men? In just this way. God has appointed A DAY in which He will in righteousness judge the world by A MAN whom He has ordained for that purpose. That Man, of course, is His Son, and His Son died the death of all humanity, but this assurance lies in the fact that GOD RAISED HIM FROM THE DEAD. The assurance given UNTO ALL is, that as God dealt with His own Son in death and ressurrection, so He will deal with ALL HUMANITY.

The first question encountered in this passage concerns the word "day." God has appointed "a day" in which He will "judge." Is it a twenty-four hour day, a thousand-year day, or a dispensational day? This much is certain - a twenty-four hour day in which all the billions upon billions of souls from Adam on down, march in a line before a literal judgment bar misses entirely the true purpose and import of this judgment day. When does this "judgment day" come? Most Greek interlinears furnish this reading: "Because He set a day in which He is about to judge the world in righteousness, by a man whom He appointed." Two thousand years ago Paul said God was about (Greek: mellei) to judge the world. This word MELLO, where found in the present, active, indicative tense signifies, not only INTENTION of purpose but also NEARNESS of action, meaning at the point of, or ready to do what has been stated. Had Paul meant to teach a judgment day two or three thousand years in the future, he certainly would not have used MELLO in any tense, and especially in the present tense. Therefore the judgment of the world was ABOUT to take place in Paul's day, yea, had ALREADY COMMENCED according to the teaching of Jesus!

There is a wonderfully significant term used by Jesus on several occasions wherein He states, "The hour IS COMING, and NOW IS." This unique expression points to something that is coming, but which has already begun - it SHALL BE, and yet it ALREADY IS. The process has begun but remains to be carried forth to its consummation. Just before His crucifixion Jesus warned His disciples, "Behold, the hour COMETH, yea, is NOW COME, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave Me alone" (Jn. 16:32). The predicted scattering was even then beginning by events already set in motion as the hour of His death drew nigh, but would be fully manifest during the time that His body lay in the tomb, and continue throughout the forty days until His ascension. "The hour COMETH... and NOW IS." In the tenderest of pathoes Jesus informed the woman of Samaria, "The hour COMETH, and NOW IS, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth" (Jn. 4:23). The great transition from a localized God who dwelt in a magnificent temple built by men's hands to the omnipresent God known and experienced by the Spirit in the living temples of our own bodies was wondrously near at hand even as these enlightening words poured from the anointed lips of Jesus. The change had, in fact, ALREADY BEGUN in the Person of Jesus Himself who knew the Father in a dimension none had ever known Him before. Thus could He say, "The hour is COMING, and NOW IS." For multitudes it was still to come, but for Jesus it was a present and glorious reality.

Later, the Lord proclaimed, "The hour is COMING, and NOW IS, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. For as the Father hath life in Himself; so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself; and HATH GIVEN Him authority to EXECUTE JUDGMENT also, because He is the Son of man" (Jn. 5:25-27). In this beautiful passage, pregnant with truth and spiritual instruction, both the resurrection and the judgment are associated with the activity of the Son of God, and both are included in the divine order: "The hour is COMING, and NOW IS." Hear it! The resurrection is COMING...and NOW IS! The judgment is COMING... and NOW IS!

Judgment does not mean punishment alone. Punishment may be an element in judgment. Judgment is discrimination, decision; the finding of a verdict, and the passing of a sentence. Judgment is translated in the Old Testament most often from the Hebrew word MISHPAT. MISHPAT means simply "a verdict" which may be either FAVORABLE or UNFAVORABLE. The only judgment most people understand is the negative aspect of judgment, the UNFAVORABLE VERDICT, followed by swift and severe punishment. It should require no more than a moment's reflection, however, to enable anyone to see that the very same judge who sentences one man to pay a fine, another to die in the electric chair, may suspend the sentence of a third man and declare yet a fourth man "not guilty" - acquitted! It is plain that a great many different "judgments" or "verdicts" may come from this one judge. Thus, the work of the judge is not merely to condemn and mete out sentences, but to weigh all the facts and take all the circumstances into consideration in each case and render a just verdict, favorable or unfavorable, as the evidence may dictate.

It was Sunday, October 5, 1986. There was a football game being played in St. Louis. St Louis was playing the New York Giants. St. Louis was behind with only 2 minutes and 20 seconds left to go in the game. One touchdown could tie the game. Suddenly there was a pass into the end zone. It was so close. Was it a score or wasn't it? If you watched the game on television or read about it in the paper, you heard that the officials went into the instant replay to help make the call. For five minutes the game was held up while they looked at instant replays from every angle until they finally waved to one referee on the field, a man named Chuck Hammerling. They said, "You call it." He called it: "Incomplete!" St. Louis lost. How would YOU like to be that referee? Chuck Hammerling went to the shower room, packed his bags, and sneaked out of the stadium, hoping nobody would see him. He got to the airport, boarded the plane, slid into his seat and looked around to be sure that he was safe. When he looked across the isle he said to the man sitting there, "Did you hear the game today?" "No," the man replied. He said, "Are you a St. Louis fan by any chance?" "Not particularly." "Good," he sighed, "I finally feel safe."

That is a mere human reaction to the awesome sense of responsibility in rendering a decision, a verdict. But speaking of the judgment of the Lord, hear the note of triumph and exultation when David speaks by the inspiration that the Spirit gives, saying:

"Let the heavens be glad and LET THE EARTH REJOICE;

And let men say among the nations, the Lord reigneth!

Let the sea roar, and the fullness thereof; let the fields REJOICE, and all that are therein.

Then shall the trees of the wood (people of the earth)

SING ALOUD AT THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD,

Because HE COMETH TO JUDGE THE EARTH.

O give THANKS unto the Lord, for HE IS GOOD;

For His mercy endureth forever!" (I Chron. 16:31-34)

Why will the trees of the forest (people of the nations) "sing out" when is coming to JUDGE THE EARTH? One would think they might weep, or shrink in consternation at the thoughts of His judgments, but why all the SINGING? Why the REJOICING? Because God's judgments are an expression of HIS GOODNESS and everlasting MERCY, designed to teach the inhabitants of the world RIGHTEOUSNESS! The earth shall rejoice because this means that we have reached the turning point in our degeneration, and have come to the times of regeneration. This is true even now for the elect, but must ultimately reach unto the whole world and the entire creation. His presence, while it speaks of His utmost holiness, and will not tolerate the continuance of evil, brings the changes needed for harmony and righteousness. And when the divine disciplines have accomplished their desired results, His new life shall flow in restoration and victory. Hallelujah!

My soul rejoices with joy unspeakable and full of glory in the knowledge that my Judge is Christ Jesus my Saviour and Lord. That Christ should be appointed Judge is most proper and fitting. Our American law ordains that a man shall be tried by his peers, and there is justice in that statute. Now the Lord God is the Judge of men, but at the same time it is in the person of Jesus Christ. "God shall judge the secrets of men BY JESUS CHRIST" (Rom. 2:16). JESUS CHRIST! What a name for a Judge! The SAVIOUR-ANOINTED: that is the meaning of the name. Jesus Christ, the Anointed Saviour, is the JUDGE! Someone has pointed out that we have a "hanging Judge" - hanged on a tree on Golgotha's hill! Men shall be judged by a Man. "For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son... and hath given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of man" (Jn. 5:22,27). Why, "because He is the SON OF MAN?" Because He has come into the scene where man is a sinner, under judgment and curse, and He, who has come into this scene became a man.

I think that God has chosen Christ, the MAN Christ Jesus, that there may never be an objection raised concerning that judgment. Men shall not be able to say - We were judged by a superior Being who did not know our weaknesses and temptations, and therefore he judged us harshly, and without a compassionate consideration of our condition. No, God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, who was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin. He is our brother, bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh, partaker of our humanity, and therefore understands what is in men. He has shown Himself to be skillfull in dissecting motives and revealing the thoughts and intents of the heart. It will be the loving Christ, whose tears, and bloody sweat, and gaping wounds, attest His brotherhood with mankind; and it will be clear to all intelligences that however dread His sentences, He could not be unmerciful. God shall judge us by Jesus Christ, the Anointed Saviour, that the judgment may be judgment UNTO VICTORY!

The thoughts of many hearts were revealed by Christ on earth, and it is that same wise and compassionate Christ who is the Judge today. When the self-appointed judges of wrong brought to Christ a woman taken in sin to have Him pronounce His verdict and sentence upon her, He appeared to be preoccupied. Then in one brief moment of time He lifted the whole subject out of the realm of controversy, saying, "He that is without sin, let him first cast a stone at her." A strange hush fell upon the crowd. Self-accusings began to make themselves felt within, forces long dormant were awakened to work, voices long silent began to shout, and "being convicted in their own conscience they went out one by one, beginning at the eldest." Ah, the judgment-seat was already set and the striking feature is that men pronounced judgment upon themselves and accepted it without murmur or protest. But to the frightened woman cowering at His feet, He said, "Woman, where are your accusers? Has no man condemned you?" She answered, "No one, Lord!" And Jesus said, "I do not condemn you either. Go your way, and from now on sin no more." Glory! What a Saviour! Hallelujah! What a Judge!

Perhaps in spirit we have stood with our adorable Christ as in humiliation He emptied Himself and took upon Himself the form of a servant, descending into the depths of our earthiness, tasting the bitter dregs of the darkness and death of this dread realm for every man; but have we stood with Him in His exaltation, where He sits far above principalities and powers and might and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this age but in the ages to come, HIGHLY EXALTED and given a name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that He is Lord to the glory of God the Father?

What a difference between the babe of Bethlehem's manger, the child of Nazareth, hunted by Herod, carried down by night into Egypt for shelter, and the King of kings and Lord of lords, before whom every knee shall bow! What a difference between the weary man full of sorrows, and He that is girt with glory, sitting on a throne encircled with a rainbow! From the derision of men who cast Him out, and preferred a robber and a murderer to the Saviour, to the throne of universal judgment - what an ascent! I am unable to convey to you my own heart's sense of the contrast between the "despised and rejected of men," and the universally-acknowledged Lord, before whom kings and presidents and prime ministers and pontiffs must bow into the dust. He who was judged at Pilate's bar, shall summon all to His bar. What a change from the shame and spitting, from the nails and the wounds, the mockery and the thirst, and the dying anguish, to the glory of One whose eyes are as a flame of fire, His feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in an oven, and out of whose mouth goeth a sharp two-edged sword! Oh, how we ought to bow before Him now as He reveals Himself in His righteous judgment and in His fathomless grace!

"For 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" (II Cor. 5:10). That is very decisive, if there were no other text. We must ALL APPEAR. The Greek word which is translated "judgment seat" is BEMA, and means simply a step or that which the foot is set on, indicating a raised platform reached by steps and occupied by some person in authority. The same word is translated "throne" in Acts 12:21, and it can mean award-seat, as much as judgment-seat. It would apply as fully to the seat occupied by a judge in a civil case as to that of a judge trying a case of life or death. It bespeaks not of the TYPE of judgment, but of the FACT OF AUTHORITY.

When we come to this thought of the judgment seat of Christ we approach a subject upon which there has been a fathomless sea of misunderstanding and a world of carnal conjecture. The idea generally entertained is of Christ coming to earth, seated upon a dazzling throne, and that He will summon everyone in rank and file before Him, to be judged. Adam would stand there, with Mother Eve, and look in wonder upon his offspring. It would be the first time in which he has ever had the opportunity of seeing all his children together. What a sight he would then behold - far stretching, covering all the globe which they inhabit, enough not only to people all earth's plains, but crown her hill-tops, and cover even the ways of the sea, so numberless must the human race be if all the generations that have ever lived, or shall ever live, shall at once "appear" before the judgment seat of Christ! Every one from before the Flood, from the days of the Patriarchs, from the times of Moses, and David, and from the Babylonian kingdom, all the legions of Assyria, all the hosts of Persia, all the multitudes of the Greeks, all the vast armies and legions of Rome, the barbarian, the Scythian, the bond, the free, men of every color and of every tongue - what a vast assemblage would be mustered, what a spectacle would be held! I do not hesitate to say that though good and holy men have conceived the foregoing picture, it is, nonetheless, entirely out of harmony with the whole portrait of judgment. This distorted picture arises from a too-literal interpretation of a few obscure verses of scripture which were supplied merely as SYMBOLS, to be understood by the spirit of wisdom and revelation from God.

"We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ" (Rom. 14:10). These are deeply solemn words, which our hearts would do well to ponder. But no less important than what the passage DOES say, is what it does NOT say. It does NOT state that we shall all appear or stand before the judgment seat of Christ AT THE END OF THIS AGE, or AT THE END OF THE WORLD, or IN SOME FAR-OFF HEAVEN SOMEWHERE, or UP ON A CLOUD, or IN SOME FAR DISTANT AGE. The divine record states in emphatic terms that we MUST all APPEAR, but it does not dictate that we must all appear at once, or when or where we shall appear. The simple fact that we must appear has been embellished by the religious systems with a liberal sprinkling of carnal reasoning and unscriptural speculation!

Having established that "the Father HATH (already) COMMITTED all judgment unto the Son" (Jn. 5:22), and "the time IS COME that judgment must begin at the house of God" (I Pet. 4:17), and "ye ARE COME unto ... God the Judge of all" (Heb. 12:22-23), and "the Judge STANDETH before the door" (James 5:9), and "N-O-W is the judgment of this world" (Jn. 12:31), can we not see by these words of inspiration that the Christ truly CAME as Judge, and continued to come; He now COMES as Judge, and continues to come; and He YET SHALL COME as Judge, and shall continue to come until the last verdict is handed down, the final sentence carried out; there shall surely be those severe prunings, crushings, shattering, melting; but when they have accomplished their desired results, His new life shall flow in restoration and victory for all mankind, praise His wonderful name! The judgment seat of Christ does not refer exclusively to any ONE coming moment or event, nor to ANY specified future time period in which Christ acts as Judge. It is a comprehensive term, embracing within its range the whole judicial dealing of Christ our Lord with men and nations until, by His redemptive judgments, "He will destroy in this mountain (the Kingdom of God) the face of the covering cast over ALL PEOPLE, and the veil (of spiritual blindness) that is spread over ALL NATIONS. And He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord will wipe away tears from off ALL FACES. And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for Him, and we will be glad and rejoice in HIS SALVATION" (Isa. 25:7-9).

"For we must all appear before the- judgment seat of Christ; that every one may RECEIVE the things done in his body" (II Cor- 5:10). The words of Paul in this passage demonstrate vividly the truth we have been dealing with heretofore. I would draw your attention to the word " receive." Let us see just what this word "receive" means according to Strong's Concordance. It means "TO TEND or to take care of; to provide; by implication to carry off." This should make it plain to us that the things we are doing in the body, the deeds performed in the body, are before the judgment seat of Christ, and are constantly NOW being judged and every thought is being brought into captivity to the Christ. Everything is being tended to, provided for, and all that need be removed is being carried off. This judgment is not inflicted from without, but from within. God, the wisest of all Fathers, has so ordered the universe that somehow, sometime, sin brings its own punishment, and it shall be the experience of the whole of mankind, as it was of Israel, and as it has been of the saints, that "thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and by backslidings shall reprove thee" (Jer. 2:19). In our own bodies we daily sow and reap (Gal. 6:7), actively receiving blessing or cursing according to the deeds performed. Who can deny that it is THE LORD, THE RIGHTEOUS JUDGE, who, moment by moment renders the verdict, setting in motion the precise circumstances, events, and dealings which constitute the reaping, the receiving in our body according to the deeds done! No, we are not awaiting some future specified day of judgment, but are keenly aware that we are constantly N-O-W being judged, receiving either the increase of HIS LIFE WITHIN, or His corrections - in our body.

What a judgment seat! What a Judge! What reality! Oh! what an unspeakably glorious and awe-inspiring scene John the beloved beheld as from his vantage point in the spirit he saw "a great white throne, and Him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them" (Rev. 20:11). Who is it that sits there? It is clearly the Lord Jesus Christ. The One who fills that throne is without doubt the Son of man. And how does He sit there? In and through His body, the saints, unto whom judgment is given (Dan. 7:22). A throne is of authority. The throne is called "great" because of its vast magnitude, its awful sovereignty, and the majesty of the One who fills it. It is called "white" because of the absolute purity and righteousness of its Judge and His judgment. So we see a seat of authority of great majesty, power and purity. Observe, the heaven, and the earth, fly from the face of Him that sits upon the throne!

"From His face (intelligence, countenance, illumination) the earth and the heaven fled away." Consider the scene! In its symbology the "earth" is that earth WHICH WE ARE, the carnal, earthly nature of old Adam. "The first man is OF THE EARTH, EARTHY" (I Cor. 15:47). "As we have borne the image of the EARTHY, we shall also bear the image of the HEAVENLY" (I Cor. 15:49). "Heaven" means height, eminence, elevation, exaltation. God dwells in heaven, the invisible realm of spirit that transcends this gross material realm. When you touch God by the spirit, you touch heaven. When you experience God in the spirit, you experience heaven. When you know God in the spirit, you know heaven. When God is revealed to you by the spirit, heaven is opened and you behold heavenly things. There are many heavens, for there are many realms, dimensions, and levels on which God can be touched, experienced and known in the spiritual world. Most saints have passed through several heavens in their UPWARD WALK of progressive spiritual experience. But Jesus is greater than them all, for He "ascended up FAR ABOVE A-L-L  H-E-A-VE-N-S" (Eph. 4:10). God is so great in His fullness that even "the heaven OF heavens (the super-heaven containing all other heavens) CANNOT CONTAIN HIM!" (I Kings 8:27).

It is wonderful to know God in His heavens. Each heaven bespeaks of a sphere of life, a plane of relationship, a level of experience in God by the spirit. When the Lord unveils Himself to you on a higher plane, in deeper measures, in richer and fuller dimensions of His life and glory, and you experience Him in it, you ascend in Him to a higher heaven. But, thank God! there is a realm of HIS FULLNESS which lies ABOVE and BEYOND all heavens! When the Christ appears on His great white throne of judgment its effulgence reveals the darkness of the carnal mind, uncovers the deceitfulness of the wicked heart, exposing in stark reality the man of sin sitting in the temple of God. For us to become the sons of God, the image of God, this thing - SELF, carnality, and and all that pertains to the earthly nature - must be destroyed by the brightness of His coming, removed, taken out of the way. Blessed be God! Before the face of Him whose countenance is as the sun shining in its strength, none of the things of the flesh can stand, so they flee away, and no place is found for them! Our "earth" flees away from before the face of HIM who sits upon the throne!

Before the face of Him who sits upon the throne in the higher-than-all-heavens, the limitations of our present "in part" knowledge of the Lord, every heaven of spiritual experience which is less than HIS FULLNESS, stand revealed as falling short of the image and glory of God. Before the majesty of His white throne, in the searching illumination of His eyes of flaming fire, none of our spiritual immaturity can stand, and ALL our HEAVENS flee away, and no place is found for them! In the sovereignty and fullness of His throne there are no more "heavens," no more companies, groups, levels of servants, friends, bride, sons, prophets, apostles, pastors, kings or priests; no more those who know Him as Saviour, while others know Him as Healer, others as Baptizer in the Holy Spirit, and still others who follow on to know Him in deeper measures. High above the earth realm, and far beyond all the heavens of spiritual experience sits the GREAT WHITE THRONE - and the invitation is extended: "To him that overcometh will I grant to SIT WITH ME IN MY THRONE, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father in His throne" (Rev. 3:21). But you will never know Him in the power and glory of His throneship, my beloved, until YOUR EARTH and all YOUR HEAVENS have flown away, and you have put on the Lord Jesus Christ in the fullness of His divine nature, to manifest Him in all His wondrous beauty and majesty. Can you not see that this process is progressively going on all the time, as we are changed from glory to glory, moving inexorably toward the final goal - GOD ALL IN ALL!

Up to this point we have emphasized the office of Christ Jesus our Lord as universal Judge and the effectual working of His judgments in our lives. The scriptures reveal, however, that the Church is the body of Christ, and God's blessed Christ must include both the Head and the body. All true saints must be aware of this sacred secret - that the body is the body of ALL THAT THE HEAD IS. If Christ the Head is Saviour, then the body of Christ the Head is the body of the Saviour - a body of SAVIOURS. If Christ the Head is King, it follows that the body of the Head is the body of the King - a body of KINGS. And armed with the knowledge that Christ the Head is the great and universal Judge, it should be perfectly clear that the body of the Head is the body of the Judge a body of JUDGES! The purpose in the firstfruits being judged is that they in turn may be qualified to judge. The judgments of God shall be executed upon the human family and the ages to come by this glorious CORPORATE CHRIST, Jesus Christ the Head and all the sons and daughters of God, His body, the completeness of HIS THRONE which shall smite the dark kingdoms of this world, and the saints shall take the kingdom and reign with Christ in power, authority and glory.

God is preparing a mighty COMPANY OF JUDGES whose responsibility it shall be to JUDGE THE WORLD in righteousness! Daniel 7:21-22 sheds much light upon this subject."I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; until the Ancient of days came, and JUDGMENT WAS GIVEN TO THE SAINTS OF THE MOST HIGH; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom." Again, "And he that overcometh... to him will I give POWER OVER THE NATIONS: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron" (Rev. 2:26-27). "And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and JUDGMENT WAS GIVEN UNTO THEM" (Rev. 20:4,6). The apostle Paul adds, "Do ye not know that the SAINTS shall JUDGE THE WORLD? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that WE shall JUDGE ANGELS, how much more things that pertain to this life? (I Cor. 6:2-3). Jesus spoke of this same beautiful truth when He said to His disciples, "Ye are they which have continued with Me in My temptations. And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as My Father has appointed unto Me; that ye may eat and drink at My table in the kingdom, and SIT ON THRONES JUDGING THE TWELVE TRIBES OF ISRAEL" (Lk. 22:28-30).

Most of the Christian world is waiting for Jesus to come at "any minute" and bring judgment upon the earth. In the greater light of present truth we now understand that the judgment which HE IS, and which is now wrought out in His saints, the firstfruits of His redemption, will ultimately be manifested to creation in and through the sons of God. The judges for this day are now in preparation for their awesome task. Yes, YOU shall judge the world, saints...but you will do it in humility and with a broken heart full of compassion and love. The first aspect of the ministry of the judges in the coming age is JUDGMENT. This work however, hall be swiftly followed by the second ministry of MERCY and RESTORATION, for God's judgments are ever unto correction and redemption.

All who judge must be possessed of that same anointing of the SEVEN SPIRITS OF GOD that rests upon the firstborn Son of God. "And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord" (Isa. 11:2). "These things saith He that HATH THE SEVEN SPIRITS OF GOD" (Rev. 3:1). Thank God! The very thought of a universe governed by the sons of God who are filled with the seven-fold intensified Spirit of the Lord leaves me absolutely breathless! Words become totally inadequate and human ability to articulate the wonder of such a thing fails completely. Our faltering minds cannot fully appreciate nor comprehend the wonder of Enoch's prophecy: "Behold, the LORD COMETH with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him" (Jude 14-15).

There are several points of interest in the passage just quoted. "Behold, the Lord cometh WITH TEN THOUSANDS OF HIS SAINTS." The original would be better expressed, "The Lord cometh I-N HOLY MYRIADS OF HIMSELF." He comes in that people who are bone of His bone, flesh of His flesh, spirit of His spirit, life of His life, mind of His mind; the extension and projection of all HE IS - HIMSELF CREATURES. "To EXECUTE judgment upon all." To execute means to carry out, to fulfill, to PURSUE TO THE END. Holy myriads of Himself shall carry out judgment upon ALL, and pursue it unto the end, until the full fruit and effect of that judgment shall be manifested IN ALL. "And to CONVINCE all that are ungodly..." To convince means to CONVICT, REPROVE, and FULLY PERSUADE all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him. This is conviction, my friend, HOLY GHOST CONVICTION that must be ministered into the minds and hearts of men before they will submit so that the cleansing process can begin in them. Hallelujah! What a judgment! Thus the Lord comes in His holy ones to bring an ending to the long reign of sin, darkness, and death, praise His wonderful name.

Day by day we are learning the ways of the Lord. Only God can teach us these things and equip us to judge with righteous judgment. It would be well here for us to take particular notice of a divine principle set forth by the apostle Paul in his letter to the Corinthians. All who earnestly desire to acquire the wisdom and attributes of THE JUDGE and possess the nature which dispenses RIGHTEOUS JUDGMENT should give prayerful consideration to these words. "For I know nothing by myself...but He that judgeth me is the Lord. Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come..." I Cor. 4:4-5). Judge nothing before the time, UNTIL THE LORD COME. When is that? In the blindness of church tradition someone's mind will immediately jump to the conclusion that Paul is talking about waiting to judge until the so-called "second coming of Christ." But that is in no way the meaning here. "Judge nothing before the time...until the Lord come, who (when He comes) both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts, and then shall every man have praise from God."

Judge nothing... until the Lord come - to judge. In any situation, circumstance, problem or trouble where judgment is required, it means just this - MAKE NO JUDGMENT APART FROM THE MIND OF THE LORD! Judge not, precious friend of mine, by the seeing of the eye or the hearing of the ear. Judge not by the outward appearance, by carnal reasoning, natural understanding, fleshly wisdom, nor by religious tradition. WAIT UPON THE LORD. Render no judgment about anything until the Lord draws nigh with that precious wisdom which is from above, until the light of His presence brings divine understanding, until the glorious mind of Christ gives spiritual discernment. Judge nothing until the Lord appears in the matter, disclosing the counsels of HIS MIND, making bright the pathway before your feet. The wisdom which is from above teaches us that this coming of the Lord in judgment is a PRESENT ACTION, NOT a future event. When the Lord comes He "brings to light the hidden things of darkness, and makes manifest the counsels of the hearts," that there may be righteous judgment. Jesus is the true Light that has come into the world and when this penetrating Light enters into our hearts, we have understanding.

No man has a right to judge anything until this Light has shined into his intellect. Otherwise he is judging in darkness and will do just as Paul says in Rom. 2:1, "For wherein thou judgest another, THOU CONDEMNEST THYSELF; for thou that judgest doest the same things." No one has any right to judge anyone else when he is himself in darkness and doing the same things he is judging in another. But when the entrance of the Lord occurs, then our whole being will be filled with light and we can know surely that the first one judged will be O-U-R-S-E-L-V-E-S. The faults and failings of others will fade as the darkness before the shining orb of the morning sun when God begins to reveal ourselves to us!

As a brother has shared, there are times of divine visitation when the Lord deals with you. Don't try to bring things to judgment before the Lord comes. The same thing is true for other people's lives. Don't try to bring them under conviction and get them into a dealing before the proper time. There is a time the Lord has reserved for every one of us. He will walk up and down the whole territory,of our being. He will cover us thoroughly from head to toe, in every area of our lives. He is going to convert this whole "earth" of mine so that it may reflect the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ! We are always in a hurry. God is never in a hurry. Be sure to give Him enough time. He is going to deal with you. He is going to deal with your brother and sister. He is going to have a glorious Church without spot or wrinkle, thoroughly purged, whose iniquity has been taken away. He is going to have a vast family of sons in the express image of the Father in heaven. He is going to have a world wherein dwelleth righteousness, and the transformation of the world in that day will be the marvel and joy of the inhabitants of earth. He is going to have a universe pulsating with the beauty, harmony, life and glory of God, for His grace shall freely reach out and touch everything in all the unbounded heavens with the eternal life of Him from whom all things come, by whom all things exist, and in whom all things end. As George Hawtin has so eloquently written, "Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end. There shall be no end to its increase in this age, no end to its increase in the age to come, and no end to its increase in the ages of the ages. His increase shall reach far beyond the measure of man's mind until planet after planet, star after star, galaxy after galaxy throughout the vast rock strewn sidereal shall taste the increase of His government and the glory of His restoration and no inharmonious chord is heard in all God's universe forever, but order, interdependence and unity, where CHRIST IS ALL IN ALL" -end quote.

There is a PURPOSE IN JUDGMENT, and it is always a purpose of love. There is a deep, clear purpose in everything that God does. And His love for us, deep and tender, is the fire burning under that purpose. The character of God must be kept ever in mind. The leading trait in His character is expressed, not by the word "purity," nor "righteousness," nor "justice," but by the word "love." Though if we knew the real meaning of "love" we would find it includes these others, and more. The purpose in judgment is two-fold. It is a purpose TOWARD SIN, to get rid of it. And God's attitude here is relentlessly uncompromising. No exceptions are ever noted. And there is a purpose TOWARD MEN. Now regarding the purpose toward men, it is disciplinary. The whole thought is to change the man. It is love working, love for the man. The purpose is the same as the surgeon's. He thrusts in his keen-edged blade, not to destroy life, but to save it. Heis driving hard against the disease. The knife that cuts and hurts is held steady by the kindly purpose in the heart.

Judgment only terrifies those who don't understand the process. One has seen the effect of tropical storms on people when first going to reside in a land where they prevailed. Having been brought up in a land where lightning and thunder were rarely seen, they found the effects Of a typically tropical storm to be TERRIFYING. But one is astonished to find that the inhabitants of the country in question looked forward to those electric storms with unmingled satisfaction. They forgot the elements of terror in the scene, in remembering the glorious blessings that the storm would bring. They saw the welcome rains falling from heaven and putting an end to their time of suffering and privation. The terrible period of drought and famine, dealing out death on every hand, would give place to the period of green and plenty. And truly their hopes were well founded, for in a few days, death seemed swallowed up of life; there was joy with plenty on every hand. The storm, therefore, had two different effects upon two classes of people. To those unaccustomed to the scene, and unmindful of the blessings at hand, it was terrifying; they saw only the electric storm with its menacing bolts of lightning and frightening peals of thunder. The more experienced inhabitants, however, rejoiced at the thunder and lightning because these heralded the blessings beyond.

So it is in regard to the coming of Christ in judgment. Strangers to the grace of God and His ways are alarmed by the portents of that Day. But those who have drawn close enough to the heavenly Father to know His mind and heart understand that all His judgments are corrective and redemptive, and therefore altogether desirable, beneficial and glorious! The ecstatic exclamation of joy and gladness at the prospects of the coming of God's righteous judgment in to the earth is found all through the psalms and the prophets. If you are truly destined to stand among the company of the sons of God, the long-awaited liberators of creation, you will most assuredly thrill at the heavenly vibration of David's inspired song: "Say among the nations that the Lord reigneth: the WORLD ALSO shall be established that it shall not be moved: HE SHALL JUDGE THE PEOPLE RIGHTEOUSLY. Let the heavens rejoice, and LET THE EARTH BE GLAD; let the sea roar, and the fullness thereof. Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein: then shall all the trees of the wood REJOICE before the Lord: for HE COMETH, for He C-O-M-E-T-H TO JUDGE THE EARTH: He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with His truth" (Ps. 96:10-13).

"Make a JOYFUL noise unto the Lord, ALL THE EARTH: make a loud noise, and REJOICE, and SING PRAISE. Let the sea (raging, surging multitudes of humanity) roar, and the fullness thereof; the world and they that dwell therein. Let the floods (armies) CLAP THEIR HANDS, let the hills (small kingdoms, third world nations) BE JOYFUL TOGETHER before the Lord; for HE COMETH TO JUDGE THE EARTH: with righteousness shall He judge the world, and the people with equity" (Ps. 98:4,8-9).

There is a scene in Revelation 8 - so awesome, so incredible, so glorious! "And when he broke the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. And I saw the seven angels who stand before God; and seven trumpets were given to them. And another angel came and stood at the altar, holding a golden censer; and much incense was given to him, that he might add it to the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up before God our of the angel's hand. And the angel took the censer; and he filled it with the fire of the altar and threw it to the earth; and there followed peals of thunder and sounds and flashes of lightning and an earthquake. And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound them. And the first sounded, and there came hail and fire, mixed with blood, and they were thrown to the earth; and a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up" (Rev. 8:1-7).

In this dramatic scene all heaven is hushed! For nearly half an hour the elders kneel in silent wonder. The living creatures, the mighty cherubim, the burning seraphim, all are hushed and speechless. The saints before the throne are silent. Angelic choirs put away their hymnals; the harps have been put aside; and there is not a sound in heaven. All is hushed! Why? It is because the SEVENTH SEAL has been broken and they have seen the judgments written on the seventh document. Seven angels with seven trumpets stand ready to inflict fiery judgments on the earth-realm. THIS INDESCRIBABLE SILENCE HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH PRAYER! It has to do with INCENSE! It has to do with WORSHIP! It has to do with the holy FIRE upon the altar! The time has come for God to bring to His golden altar EVERY PRAYER of His people, all the PRAISE of His saints, and the WORSHIP of His elect. The judgment is set. All is brought to His judgment bar. He is going to put His consuming fire under the incense of OUR WORSHIP to test the aroma! Will it be a sweet smelling savor - or a stench in His nostrils? Will it be the stench of flesh, the foul smell of soulish zeal and emotion, the offensive odor of carnal religious exercise - or will it be the sweet savor of a broken and contrite spirit, the fragrance of a yielded and obedient heart, the pleasing scent of a worship that is in spirit and in truth?

Then John saw the angel take the censer and fill it with FIRE from the altar of God and cast it into the EARTH - into that earth which WE ARE, into the lives and hearts of God's people; and "there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings and an earthquake" - great commotions, intense dealings, marvelous unveilings, powerful words, deep revelations, fearful manifestations, fiery processings and judgment of such intensity and severity that our soulish nature reels to and fro, shaking to its very foundations. Trumpet after trumpet, judgment is poured out from GOD'S ALTAR into the spiritual lives of the elect until they are so thoroughly purged, purified, refined and transformed that when we arrive at the final drama, the closing scene, the grand finale of the pageant of the SEVENTH TRUMPET we find "And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven saying, the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever. And the TEMPLE OF GOD was opened in HEAVEN, and there was seen in His temple (the body of Christ) the ARK OF HIS TESTAMENT (the glory, nature, authority and incorruptible life of God). And there appeared a great wonder in heaven (the realm of the spirit); a WOMAN (the true Church, the bride) clothed with the SUN (the illumination and glory of Christ), and the MOON (cold, reflective light of external religion) under her feet, and upon her head a CROWN OF TWELVE STARS (authority of divine government): and she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And she brought forth a MANCHILD (the manifested sons of God), who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up UNTO GOD (into the highest heaven, the realm of His fullness), and to HIS THRONE (governmental authority)" (Rev. 11:15,19; 12:1-2,5).

Talk about judgment unto victory! This is the judgmental process of God which MUST BEGIN AT THE HOUSE OF GOD! God shall bring forth a "firstfruit company" who are UNDEFILED BEFORE GOD. These are they that have repented of sin and every work of the flesh. With Christ, their victorious Head, they have died to all the desires of the flesh and mind. They are a people who have fixed all their hopes in Christ the Lord. Their hearts cry not for the tinsel of the world, nor yet for the trinkets of popular religion, but their prayer ascends to God day and night, "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven." Purged of all pride, self-interest and filthiness of flesh and spirit, and of all soulish works and worship, these shall be accounted worthy to reign with Christ as kings and judges from the spirit realm, and those who rule from henceforth are a royal priesthood like unto their Lord, after the order of Melchizedek.

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