What is Judgment Day?

All shall give account to GOD (Rom. 14); all shall be manifested before the judgment-seat of Christ, and shall receive according to the deeds of the body. But this is not judgment, save for those who, rejecting Christ (2 Cor. 5), die in their sins. Those who are Christ's are justified even now by faith. Unbelievers, who refuse Him and His redemption, must be judged; and they perish justly, for their works are evil. The day of judgment will be no contradiction of the believer's justification. The gospel declares it individually; the church witnesses it corporately; as the Lord will manifest it gloriously in that day. It is only unbelief which sets all in confusion. Take Heb. 9:27-28, as a clear corroboration of this on the ground of redemption, as John 5 on the ground of life eternal. "And as it is appointed to men once to die, and after this judgment; so Christ also, having been once offered to bear the sins of many, shall appear a second time apart from sin to them that wait for Him unto salvation." Dr. S. sees only the natural man's portion; faith receives Christ's sacrifice and waits for salvation in contrast with judgment.

The third is due to confusion on all sides from lack of subjection to the truth that the believer does not come into judgment, i.e., the eternal judgment at the end. There accordingly in Rev. 20:11-15, we find none but the dead; and these dead, as the context proves, are exclusively the wicked. The blessed and holy had been raised long before. Even in O.T. times this truth ought to have been and was known. See Ps. 143:2: "Enter not into judgment with thy servant; for in thy sight shall no man living be justified." If even a saint, God's servant, came into His judgment, he could not be cleared: it would annul the force of judgment or deny the manifold faults of a saint. God will do neither. His judgment will take full effect on all that enter there. How then are any saved? "By grace have ye been saved through faith," because Christ bore their judgment, which therefore they shall not enter. If they did, they could not be justified; whereas they are already in this life justified by faith. All teaching is false which supposes that "both saints and sinners shall be judged." Our Lord Himself in John 5 expressly lays down on the contrary that the believer, the saint, does not come into judgment, but has even now eternal life, which is incompatible with it, and has passed from death into life. Such is the way of divine grace with all believers. They already honour God's Son by believing God's testimony to Him. Those who now dishonour His word and His Son by their unbelief cannot escape the judgment by-and-by and must honour the Son of man Who judges them. For in this capacity it will be. They disputed His divine glory. They denied His Sonship in the supreme sense. They despised or derided eternal life, His giving it or their need of it. As they dishonoured Him now, in contrast with all who bowed to His name in faith, He will raise and judge them at the end. For all must honour the Son. Happy they that do so by now believing in Him, receiving life, and doing the good that follows that divine nature; most miserable those that reject God's word and Son, and so have not life but only worthless ways, and therefore must be judged and thus honour Him perforce in that day.

And here we would note, in confirmation of what has been already said, the perfect and Divine accuracy of the language used by the Spirit of God. It is said that all shall "appear" before the judgment seat [or throne] of Christ, the real meaning being that all shall be manifested. In this all are included, saved and lost. The word used, therefore, is merely that they shall "stand" or "be manifested" — not that they shall be "judged." On the other hand, where it speaks only of the unbelieving dead, raised before the great white throne, the expression employed is that they shall be "judged." This is no fanciful or refined distinction. Our Lord Himself, while here on earth, says: "He that hears My word, and believes on Him that sent Me, has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment" (John 5:24). Almost immediately afterwards He speaks of two resurrections, a "resurrection of life" and a "resurrection of judgment" (v. 29). Surely two passages standing in such close juxtaposition show that judgment, so far as the question of salvation is concerned, is a thing from which the believer has already escaped. Being justified, it is impossible that he shall be judged. Hence the very fact that all those raised in the last scene, after the end of the world, are judged, is conclusive evidence, that the believers in Jesus Christ are not there. When their deeds are inquired into, it is not for the purpose of judging them, but that they may be manifested, and rewarded according to the measure of their faithfulness on earth.

All the vast multitude of the unregenerate dead, from the earliest ages down to the termination of the kingdom of Christ on earth, will be raised by the mighty power of God, and be brought before the great white throne to receive the award of their eternal doom. And to show that not one sinner who has ever passed away, wherever he may have died, shall escape, it is added in verse 13, "And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell [hades] delivered up the dead which were in them." At the mighty voice of the Son of God, just as the fish came at his bidding into the nets of His disciples, and Lazarus came out of his tomb, so will all this countless throng "come forth" out of their graves, or from their last resting-places, unto the resurrection of judgment. (John 5:28-29.)

We have, in the next place, the principles of the judgment: "And the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is [the book] of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works." (v. 12.) Again we read, "And they were judged every man according to their works." (v. 13.) The first ground of judgment then is the actual works, the deeds of every soul while living on the earth. And, let it be remarked, that positive evidence as to these is adduced from the "things which were written in the books." All the "works" of men are therefore recorded, and recorded by Him, before whose omniscient eye the nature of every action is revealed. Deeds long since forgotten, sins which, apparently trivial in human estimation, have faded away from the memory, all will be produced as the ground of condemnation. Not only so; but the book of life will also be opened, and if the names of those arraigned before this solemn tribunal are not found in it (v. 15) the sentence is passed, and the judgment executed. There are thus two kinds of evidence — positive and negative, both condemnatory, and both alike precluding all ground of appeal.

Judgment is inescapable. God's Word declares with absolute decision "We must all be manifested before the judgment seat of the Christ, that each may receive the things done in the body, according to those he has done, whether it be good or evil" (2 Cor.5: 10). Some may not believe this, but their unbelief will not exempt them. In the case of unbelievers the judgment seat of Christ will be the great white throne (Rev.20:11‑15). The Christ they refuse will be their judge. They may think death is the end, but "all that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth" (John 5:28‑29). Their bodies raised, they will receive their judgment in their bodies. The very fact of standing before the Son of God will fill people with terror and the results will fill them with horror. Since they will be judged according to their works they will be consigned to the lake of fire to suffer torment day and night for ever and ever. How dreadfully unwelcome, yet inescapable a judgment for those who have refused the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ!

Now whether it be as Saviour or as Judge that God deals with men, it is by Christ He does so. At the present moment He has assumed the character of Saviour, but there is a day coming in which He will sit as Judge upon the throne, and that is the day in which “every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess to God.” There can be no escape for any one. As to the judgment of the living, those who know not God and who obey not the gospel shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power (2 Thess. 1). As to the judgment of the dead, we have that in Revelation 20:11-15, “And I 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. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” Whether the judgment be that of the living or that of the dead, there does not seem any escape from the second death for those who come into it.

Then comes the Great White Throne Judgment of Revelation 20:11-15. Please read these solemn verses. All the dead unsaved of all times are resurrected to stand before God—before the Lord Jesus Christ (John 5:22) who sits on His judgment-throne. White speaks of the absolute purity or righteousness of the justice to be meted out there. There will be neither mercy nor revenge: only justice. Christ is there as the Judge of people, not as their Savior.

Question: Would you explain the difference between the great white throne and the judgment seat of Christ? Well, the time is nearly up, but I can say a few words. It is plain enough from Rev. 20:11-15 that the judgment of the great white throne is the closing act of Christ in His mediatorial kingdom, and that those judged before the great white throne are the dead only. You have only to read the verses to be satisfied about this. The word translated in 2 Corinthians 5:10, "judgment seat" is not "throne," but "Bema," in the original Greek, which signifies a tribunal. The apostle Paul speaks of the Lord, the righteous judge, giving him a crown of righteousness, and not to him only, but to all them also who love His appearing. We have already seen that the saints are caught up to meet the Lord, and will be changed in an instant when He descends into the air: and it is plain that their places in the Kingdom must be settled according to righteousness, before they come out with Him after the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, in Revelation 19. So that the important difference between the great white throne and the saints appearing before the judgment seat of Christ is, that the former is a judgment of the dead as to their persons, by their works, and the penal consequence is eternal perdition. The latter is not a judgment of the persons of believers for they will be there in glorified bodies like Christ, and there can be no penal consequences, for Christ has borne all their sins, and all the penal consequences attaching to them. But there will be righteous awards for the things done in the body. Not a cup of cold water given in the name of a disciple will lose its reward. All that has been of Christ will be owned by Him, and for all that has been of the flesh we shall suffer loss. All will not have the same place in the Kingdom, though all will be like Christ in glory, as the result of sovereign love and grace and the work of Christ. But each Christian lives his own individual life and is responsible for his own acts and each will be rewarded according to his own deeds. The poor widow who put her two mites into the treasury will get her reward, and the martyrs who were burnt at the stake will get theirs. Good works ought to characterise Christians, though love should be the motive and spring of everything done to Christ or His people, yet the knowledge of His recognition of all service to Himself in His day acts as an encouragement and a stimulant in this heartless and selfish world. Look at the various promises of reward to encourage the Lord's people in the addresses to the Churches in Rev. 3 and 4. But we must never confound the good deeds of the saints with what people often call "good works," as if it were possible for unconverted persons to please God in one single thing. "They that are in the flesh cannot please God." "Without faith it is impossible to please him." But when truly converted to God and sealed by the Spirit, "the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance," "and they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts." A person who thinks he can have any part in saving himself will be damned, for Christ must have all the glory of saving the sinner and bringing us into glory.

Again let us remember that it is said of all such who have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ that they have everlasting life and shall not come into judgment. For the true believer there is no judgment, because the Lord Jesus passed on the cross through the judgment as his substitute. The judgment seat of Christ of which we read in 2 Cor. 5 and before which all have to appear who are Christ's, concerns works, service, rewards, etc., and not an eternal destiny.

For how can a soul know that he is quickened and shall not be judged? He who reveals the portion that belongs to some and awaits the rest has not left in obscurity or doubt that which is so all-important; He has told out what so deeply concerns every child of man. Only unbelief need or can be uncertain, though it indeed should not be, for its sorrowful end is too plain to others if not to itself. Defying God, it must be judged by Him Whom it can no longer dishonour. What, on the other hand, can be more graciously distinct than the portion our Lord warrants to faith? "Verily, verily, I say to you, He that heareth My Word, and believeth Him that sent Me, hath life eternal, and cometh not into judgment, but is passed out of death into life" (verse 24). It was no question of the law, but of hearing Christ's word, of believing (not in God in any sense, as the Authorised Version conveys, but) Him that sent Christ, believing His testimony. For this had He sent His Son, that He might give life eternal. He, therefore, that believeth Him "hath life eternal." It is a present gift of God and possession of the believer, to be enjoyed perfectly in heaven doubtless, but none the less truly given now and exercised here where Christ then was.† The contrast of life and judgment here, as of salvation and judgment in Heb. 9:27-28, is so distinctly revealed, and on ground so solemn as the honour or dishonour of the Son, that one may wonder at the prejudice of the late able Knightsbridge Professor in the University of Cambridge, who opposes Dr. Gr. Guinness where he is as right as he himself was wrong on the judgment in Rev. 20. For the faithful never coming into judgment at all, Mr. T. R. Birks saw "no ground but Alford's altered translation of John 5:24, which I believe to be a mistake" ("Thoughts on the Times and Seasons of Sacred Prophecy," p. 65, 1880): an astounding utterance, not only in its philological aspect, since the Greek admits of no other sense, but no less certainly as a question of Divine grace and truth, and of Divine righteousness. It is nothing less than a heterodox or unbelieving offence against the Gospel, even against what an O.T. saint could say before the Saviour came, as in Ps. 143:2. If the manifestation of all absolutely before the judgment-seat of Christ were enfeebled, there had been reason for the gravest warning. But it is agreed, that each of us shall give account of himself to God, and receive the things done through the body accordingly, whether good or evil. This, however, gives no title to deny Christ's word, or the believer's distinctive privilege that he comes not into judgment or needs "acquittal" in that day, after having been already justified. Doctrinally it dishonours the Lord and His work, yet more than the faith of the saint; it replunges into doubt and darkness those whom grace has saved through believing; it would bring back the distress on exercised hearts, which the misrendering of John 5 and of 1 Cor. 11 introduced. This misrendering in the A.V. is corrected beyond just hesitation by the R.V. AB to "Alford's altered translation," be it remarked that the A V. of John 5:22 and 27 corrects the error in 24 and 29. It is the same word κρίσις all through, which indisputably means "judgment," not damnation or "condemnation" like κατάκριμα, as the verb (22, 30) means "to judge." Nor is it unimportant to notice the ignorance of talking thus of Dean Alford, seeing that the most influential perhaps of all versions, Jerome's Vulgate, is quite right in both John 5 and 1 Cor. 11, where the A.V. was lamentably and inexcusably wrong. In the Gospel the old Latin MSS., Vercell. Veron. Brix., etc., were right. Many of the Oriental versions are correct; some waver like the A.V., to the ruin of definite truth on what is of great moment. But where the doctrine on everlasting punishment was unsound, it is not surprising to learn that there was lack of faith as to life eternal and its exemption from judgment. †[Cf. "Exposition of Epistles," p. 375.]

But there is more than the actual communication of a new life by faith, a life of which Christ, not Adam, is the Source and Character; he who has life does not come into judgment (κρίσιν). The Authorised English Version has "condemnation"; but the Lord says more than this: the believer "cometh not into judgment." He will be manifested before Christ's tribunal; he will give account of all done in the body, but he does not, if Christ is to be believed, come into judgment. He will never be put on his trial to see whether he is to be lost or not. Strange notion! after it may be in the separate state departing "to be with Christ, which is far better," certainly after being changed into the likeness of His glory, to be judged. Think of the "beloved disciple," when glorified, put on so awful a trial! It is equally inconsistent for every other believer; for life eternal is the same for all. Salvation does not vary for any, more than Christ does. No! such an idea is theology, the too common doctrine of Christendom, Protestant or Popish, Arminian or Calvinist; but it is directly in collision with the plain and sure words of Christ.