Doctrine #15: The Final Judgement

But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left.  Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. [Matthew 25:31-33, 41]

There will be a final judgment in which the wicked dead (non-believers) will be raised and judged according to their works. Whoever is not found written in the Book of Life – together with the devil, his angels, the beast, and the false prophet will be consigned to everlasting punishment in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone which is the second death.

Benefits of Sound Doctrine

1. Sound doctrine will prevent you from going to hell.
2. Sound doctrine will save your life IF you listen and do what is required.
3. Sound doctrine gives us hope and a bright future!
4. Sound doctrine proves who is really in control.
5. Sound doctrine provides comfort and peace when all hell is breaking loose.
6. Sound doctrine shows us ALL of God’s promises since the beginning of time, for current times, and in the future.
7. Sound doctrine provides healing from sickness and disease.
8. Sound doctrine gives you the ability to have a relationship with God All Mighty.
9. Sound doctrine equips you to do what you are called to do.
10. Sound doctrine baffles the devil, he doesn’t know what to do with it.
11. Sound doctrine will give you the ability to trust in the Holy Spirit leading.
12. Sound doctrine will prevent you from straying from the Lord.
13. Sound doctrine gives you a deep sense of awe for God.
14. Sound doctrine gives you a reverential fear of the Lord.
15. Sound doctrine is imperative for all believers in these last days.
16. Sound doctrine will cause you to seek the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
17. Sound doctrine will produce a church that allows the Holy Spirit to lead.
18. Sound doctrine will provide power and supernatural workings of the Holy Spirit.
19. Sound doctrine provides a life of peace, prosperity, and purpose.
20. Sound doctrine gives you a solid foundation for everything in your life.
21. Sound doctrine prevents you from living in fear and anxiety.
22. Sound doctrine will give you boldness in the Holy Spirit.
23. Sound doctrine will give you the ability to be a living sacrifice.
24. Sound doctrine will help prevent you from receiving the antichrist spirit.
25. Sound doctrine gives you discernment about heaven and hell.
26. Sound doctrine will allow you to live a holy life.
27. Sound doctrine will keep you from falling away from the faith.
28. Sound doctrine will prevent you from being deceived.
29. Sound doctrine will help you from going insane in this crazy world.
30. Sound doctrine will help you to STAND FIRM.

People can be flippant all they want, justify their actions, make excuses, and blatantly ignore the Word of God. But sadly, there will come a day when they will stand before the Lord – and tragically it’s not going to go well for them. First, they are going to be surprised they are actually being judged because they believed they were a “good Christian” or a “good person”. They also wholeheartedly believed their name was going to be written in the Book of Life because they said the sinner’s prayer.

You don’t EVER get out of hell – NEVER. That is NOT a place that we want to go. I am so baffled at how many people nonchalantly live their lives and are so apathetic to the Word of God; yet dare to call themselves a “Christian”. What that says to me is a few things: (1) they are NOT reading the Word, (2) they don’t care what the Word says or (3) they don’t believe what the Word says. Because seriously if you are reading these scriptures that I’m going to be sharing with you – HOW CAN YOU CONTINUE CARRYING ON WITH AN UNGODLY LIFESTYLE????

***Sidenote: To be honest I never call myself a Christian for that reason, I will call myself a believer or a child of God before I will say I’m a Christian because honestly, the meaning is so screwed up that who knows what someone thinks when they hear that word.

THE NARROW GATE

You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it. [Matthew 7:13]

• This is terrifying – Lord I pray that you keep me on that straight road that is narrow and less traveled.
• The Greek word stenos was translated strait in this verse, and it literally means narrow.
• This is where the criticism about Christians being narrow-minded is appropriate.
• If we want to enter in at the narrow gate, we need to be straight and narrow-minded.
• There aren’t multiple ways to God; there is only ONE way, and that is through faith in Jesus as our personal Savior.
• Good thing I’m always looking for the less traveled road.
• Look what happens when you follow a crowd.

FIRE NEVER GOES OUT

But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts in me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone hung around your neck. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one hand than to go into the unquenchable fires of hell with two hands. If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one foot than to be thrown into hell with two feet. And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out. It’s better to enter the Kingdom of God with only one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, where the maggots never die and the fire never goes out. For everyone will be tested with fire. [Mark 9:42-49]

• These scriptures are basically saying, do whatever you have to do to make sure that you are not sinning against the Lord Jesus Christ.
• Whatever we do, we best not be setting an example that will cause other people to stumble.
• There are NO second chances once this final judgment has taken place.
• I personally don’t want to be where there are undying maggots and inside a fire that never goes out… that would be pure hell – this is the lake of fire (goodness)

THE FINAL JUDGMENT

And I saw a great white throne and the one sitting on it. The earth and sky fled from his presence, but they found no place to hide. I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books. The sea gave up its dead, and death and the grave gave up their dead. And all were judged according to their deeds. Then death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire. This lake of fire is the second death. And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire [Revelation 20:11-15]

This is where it’s tragic because we are talking about people we may know and care about deeply.

• Imagine the unimaginable, the earth and sky will just simply disappear with a glance from God Almighty. What the hey, holy smokies…
• The godly dead had already been resurrected and had reigned on the earth for one thousand years.
• Those who are standing before the Great White Throne of God for judgment are the ungodly dead.
• These ungodly dead people are resurrected and are judged according to their works.
• Being judged according to our works is a bad thing since all of us have sinned and come short of God’s glory and the just punishment for sin is death (thrown into the lake of fire).
• This lake of fire will replace hell, where the ungodly dead are now incarcerated.
• Hell will be no more, because it is in the bowels of the earth and the earth will flee.
• There will be a new heaven and earth and the place of torment for the ungodly will be this lake of fire where they will be punished forever and ever. (so so so awful)

THE RIDER ON THE WHITE HORSE

Then I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. Its rider was named Faithful and True, for he judges fairly and wages a righteous war. His eyes were like flames of fire, and on his head were many crowns. A name was written on him that no one understood except himself. He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his title was the Word of God. The armies of heaven, dressed in the finest of pure white linen, followed him on white horses. From his mouth came a sharp sword to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod. He will release the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty, like juice flowing from a winepress. On his robe at his thigh was written this title: KING OF ALL KINGS AND LORD OF ALL LORDS.

Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, shouting to the vultures flying high in the sky: Come! Gather together for the great banquet God has prepared. Come and eat the flesh of kings, generals, and strong warriors; of horses and their riders; and of all humanity, both free and slave, small and great.

Then I saw the beast and the kings of the world and their armies gathered together to fight against the one sitting on the horse and his army. And the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who did mighty miracles on behalf of the beast—miracles that deceived all who had accepted the mark of the beast and who worshiped his statue. Both the beast and his false prophet were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. Their entire army was killed by the sharp sword that came from the mouth of the one riding the white horse. And the vultures all gorged themselves on the dead bodies. [Revelation 19:11-21]

• Jesus is the one who is riding this majestic white horse when He comes to judge.
• This is an exhibition of the triumph of Christ after the destruction of his enemies.
• This is the symbol of the final victory that is to be obtained over the beast and the false prophet.
• The white horse is the emblem of this, and Faithful and True are characters of Christ.
• The first appearance of Jesus on earth was to reconcile man with God.
• This second appearance is for Jesus to make war against those who are at war with Him.
• His robe was bloody from the battle He is fighting once again for us.
• Those of us who were taken up during the rapture are the ones dressed in white following Him on white horses.
• Jesus will speak Scripture out of His mouth (the sword) and slay all His enemies. What a powerful truth. Anything the Lord would say would be equal to Scripture, but He won’t say anything new. That’s because the written Word that we have is as good as it gets. He doesn’t need to say anything that isn’t already recorded in Scripture. God’s written Word is greater than all the weapons of mankind.
• KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS – nothing else needs to be said.
• The carcasses of God’s enemies shall be food for all the fowls of heaven. He shall feed all the beasts of the earth for twelve months with their flesh and all the fowls for seven years.
• The victory gained by the great and glorious head of the church: The beast and the false prophet, the leaders of the army, are taken prisoners.
• This graphically displays the arrogance and stupidity of man for them to think that they could defeat the Lord.
• YES FINALLY – the devil and ALL of his cronies are thrown into the Lake of Fire.

Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.
[1 Corinthians 16:13]