FOURTH QUARTER 2022
SABBATH SCHOOL INSIGHT #13
DECEMBER 24, 2022
“THE JUDGING PROCESS”

 

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10, NIV).

 

As the lesson points out, the reality of judgment in the Bible is evident, and throughout Scripture numerous passages on the topic are found.  The last book of the New Testament certainly has much to say on the subject.  From beginning to end Revelation is concerned with judgment.

Addressing the church of Thyatira Jesus says, “I am He who searches the minds and hearts.  And I will give to each one of you according to your works” (Rev. 2:23).  Laodicea, the seventh church, means “judging of the people.”

When the fifth seal is opened, the poetic cry of the martyrs is, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” (6:10).

The seals and trumpets are partial judgments.  When the 7th trumpet sounds, the 24 elders announce that the time has come to judge the dead, reward the saints, and destroy those who destroy the earth.  The door into the Most Holy Place is opened (11:15-19).

In the heart and center of the book, we read, “Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, and the sea and springs of water” (14:7).  The two messages that follow announce the fall of Babylon and the judgments to fall on those who worship the beast and his image (14:8-13).

When the harvest is fully ripe Jesus leaves the Sanctuary (14:14-16), the seven last plagues fall, and Babylon is judged (15:5-8, Chapters 16, 17, and 18).

Chapter 19 opens with a multitude in heaven praising God for His true and righteous judgments.  The marriage of the Lamb, “the Faithful and True,” who in “righteousness judges and makes war,” has come.  The beast and the false prophet receive their just due (Chapter 19).

During the thousand years judgment is committed to the saints who live and reign with Christ in heaven (20:1-6).  At the end of the thousand years Satan and his released prisoners surround the holy city.  The final judgment then takes place (20:7-15).

Revelation even concludes with words referencing judgment (22:12-21).  Yet, here in the heart of its epilogue is a wonderful invitation.  “And the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’  And let him who hears say ‘Come!’  And let him who thirsts come.  Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely” (22:17).

The marvelous truth is that the judgment makes complete sense when understood in the light emanating from the One who offers the water of life freely, the Lamb, the slain and victorious Lamb, who alone was able to unseal and open the book (Rev. 5).

Returning to the central passage of The Revelation of Jesus Christ we read, “Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth- to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people” (14:6).

The everlasting gospel is not a preface to the Three Angels’ Messages.  It is its heart and substance, and the everlasting gospel concerns every intelligent creature in the universe.

Were it not for the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world the great controversy between Christ and Satan (as we know it) would not have taken place or exist now.  Satan and those who chose to follow him in rebellion would have been blotted out of existence.

“God is the fountain of life; and when one chooses the service of sin, he separates from God, and thus cuts himself off from life. He is ‘alienated from the life of God.’ Christ says, ‘All they that hate Me love death.’ Ephesians 4:18; Proverbs 8:36.

“At the beginning of the great controversy, the angels did not understand this. Had Satan and his host then been left to reap the full result of their sin, they would have perished; but it would not have been apparent to heavenly beings that this was the inevitable result of sin. A doubt of God's goodness would have remained in their minds as evil seed, to produce its deadly fruit of sin and woe.” —Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 764.

“Had he (Satan) been immediately blotted out of existence, some would have served God from fear rather than from love. The influence of the deceiver would not have been fully destroyed, nor would the spirit of rebellion have been utterly eradicated. For the good of the entire universe through ceaseless ages, he must more fully develop his principles, that his charges against the divine government might be seen in their true light by all created beings, and that the justice and mercy of God and the immutability of His law might be forever placed beyond all question.” —Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 42.

“Time must be given for Satan to develop the principles which were the foundation of his government…God’s order must be contrasted with Satan’s order” RH September 7, 1897.

“Satan led men into sin, and the plan of redemption was put in operation.  For four thousand years, Christ was working for man’s uplifting, and Satan for his ruin and degradation.  And the heavenly universe beheld it all.” —Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 750.

“Not until the death of Christ was the character of Satan clearly revealed to the angels or to the unfallen worlds.  The archapostate had so clothed himself with deception that even holy beings had not understood his principles.  They had not clearly seen the nature of his rebellion.” —Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 758.

“Satan saw that his disguise was torn away. His administration was laid open before the unfallen angels and before the heavenly universe. He had revealed himself as a murderer. By shedding the blood of the Son of God, he had uprooted himself from the sympathies of the heavenly beings.

“Yet Satan was not then destroyed. The angels did not even then understand all that was involved in the great controversy. The principles at stake were to be more fully revealed. And for the sake of man, Satan's existence must be continued.  Man as well as angels must see the contrast between the Prince of light and the prince of darkness. He must choose whom he will serve.” —Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 761.

The risen Savior ascended to Heaven as Conqueror over sin and the grave, and for a little over 1800 years He ministered in the first compartment of the Heavenly Sanctuary as man’s advocate and representative.  The war continued here on earth (Revelation 12).

In 1844, the investigative judgment commenced (Daniel 7, 8, Revelation 10, 11, 14).  God’s loyal subjects were convinced as to Satan’s lies.  As witnesses of the awful devastation wrought by Satan and his subjects a question would be, “Who of Christ’s professed followers are safe to save?”  The angelic host and citizens of the unfallen worlds would certainly not wish to see rebellion infiltrate the universe again.  “I watched till thrones were put in place, and the Ancient of Days was seated” (Daniel 7:9).

Angels and representatives from the worlds examine the records and participate in the pre-Advent judgment.  The books are opened to them.

At Jesus’ second coming He resurrects His sleeping saints and delivers those awaiting His appearing “who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.”   During the thousand years in heaven the books are opened for all the redeemed.  The question is asked, “Why are certain friends and relatives not among the saved?”  All participants in this judging process will have an intelligent understanding as to why the lost have unfitted themselves for eternal life.  The question in the judgment is, “Given the light available to you, what have you done with the costly Gift so freely bestowed?”  The ransomed, with Christ, will render just sentences for the rejecters of God’s mercy.  “And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them” (Revelation 20:4).

The redeemed of earth participate in the millennial judgment.  The books are opened to them.

Finally there is the judgment that involves Satan and his followers, which takes place at the end of the thousand years after the holy city descends to earth.  The books are then opened for the rejecters of truth.

“In the presence of the assembled inhabitants of earth and heaven the final coronation of the Son of God takes place. And now, invested with supreme majesty and power, the King of kings pronounces sentence upon the rebels against His government and executes justice upon those who have transgressed His law and oppressed His people. Says the prophet of God: ‘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.’ Revelation 20:11, 12.

“As soon as the books of record are opened, and the eye of Jesus looks upon the wicked, they are conscious of every sin which they have ever committed.

“Above the throne is revealed the cross; and like a panoramic view appear the scenes of Adam's temptation and fall, and the successive steps in the great plan of redemption. The Savior’s lowly birth; His early life of simplicity and obedience; His baptism in Jordan; the fast and temptation in the wilderness; His public ministry, unfolding to men heaven's most precious blessings; the days crowded with deeds of love and mercy, the nights of prayer and watching in the solitude of the mountains; the plottings of envy, hate, and malice which repaid His benefits; the awful, mysterious agony in Gethsemane beneath the crushing weight of the sins of the whole world; His betrayal into the hands of the murderous mob; the fearful events of that night of horror—the unresisting prisoner, forsaken by His best-loved disciples, rudely hurried through the streets of Jerusalem; the Son of God exultingly displayed before Annas, arraigned in the high priest's palace, in the judgment hall of Pilate, before the cowardly and cruel Herod, mocked, insulted, tortured, and condemned to die—all are vividly portrayed.

“And now before the swaying multitude are revealed the final scenes—the patient Sufferer treading the path to Calvary; the Prince of heaven hanging upon the cross; the haughty priests and the jeering rabble deriding His expiring agony; the supernatural darkness; the heaving earth, the rent rocks, the open graves, marking the moment when the world's Redeemer yielded up His life.

“The awful spectacle appears just as it was. Satan, his angels, and his subjects have no power to turn from the picture of their own work. Each actor recalls the part which he performed. …all behold the enormity of their guilt. They vainly seek to hide from the divine majesty of His countenance, outshining the glory of the sun, while the redeemed cast their crowns at the Savior’s feet, exclaiming: ‘He died for me!’

“The whole wicked world stands arraigned at the bar of God on the charge of high treason against the government of heaven. They have none to plead their cause; they are without excuse; and the sentence of eternal death is pronounced against them.

“It is now evident to all that the wages of sin is not noble independence and eternal life, but slavery, ruin, and death. The wicked see what they have forfeited by their life of rebellion. The far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory was despised when offered them; but how desirable it now appears. ‘All this,’ cries the lost soul, ‘I might have had; but I chose to put these things far from me. Oh, strange infatuation! I have exchanged peace, happiness, and honor for wretchedness, infamy, and despair.’ All see that their exclusion from heaven is just. By their lives they have declared: ‘We will not have this Man [Jesus] to reign over us.’ ” —Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, pp. 666-668.

“Every question of truth and error in the long-standing controversy has now been made plain. The results of rebellion, the fruits of setting aside the divine statutes, have been laid open to the view of all created intelligences. The working out of Satan's rule in contrast with the government of God has been presented to the whole universe. Satan's own works have condemned him. God's wisdom, His justice, and His goodness stand fully vindicated. It is seen that all His dealings in the great controversy have been conducted with respect to the eternal good of His people and the good of all the worlds that He has created. ‘All Thy works shall praise Thee, O Lord; and Thy saints shall bless Thee.’ Psalm 145:10. The history of sin will stand to all eternity as a witness that with the existence of God's law is bound up the happiness of all the beings He has created. With all the facts of the great controversy in view, the whole universe, both loyal and rebellious, with one accord declare: ‘Just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of saints.’” —Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, pp. 670-671.

The judgment at the cross and the three-phase end-time judgment reveal to all the agape, goodness, justice, and inclusiveness of the Godhead.  We can see from Scripture and the pen of inspiration that every created intelligent being participates in the judgment process.  In the pre-advent judgment, angels and representatives from the worlds sit on thrones and are included in the judgment process.  During the 1,000 years the redeemed are given thrones and co-reign and judge with Christ.  Finally, the books are opened for Satan and the wicked just prior to the final conflagration.  Satan’s lies are evident to all, and in the end he stands alone. 

I once heard a minister say, “You will never find God judging in the book of Revelation.”  While we find passages that clearly refute his statement, we can say that God opens the records for all to see and judge for themselves.

The books reveal every thought, word, act, and motive of the judged.  Yet beyond this, the books reveal God’s providential dealings and heart of yearning love for each of His creatures, the saved and the lost.  In the light of the gospel and the great controversy we behold a transparent, wonderful God whose ways surely are “just and true.”

When all is said and done, God stands exonerated.  Sin will never arise again.  Never again will God’s benevolent and just government be called into question.  The Lamb, though, forever wears the scars that tell the story of the cost of sin and God’s unfathomable love for His children.

 

~ Martha Ruggles