Principles and Scenes of Judgment

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This is Today With Derek Prince. The internationally recognized Bible teacher and author presents to you Keys to Successful Living.

Yesterday Derek Prince began his new topic ‘Eternal Judgment.’ He shared with us about the two kinds of judgment and the first two principles of God’s judgment as outlined in Scripture. Today he will give us the three remaining principles of God’s judgment and proceed to tell us the manner in which Christians will one day be judged before Christ. Be sure to listen at the end of today’s broadcast for our address and this week’s special offer.

Derek Prince:

Going back to Romans chapter 2, the next principle of God’s judgment is stated in verse 3. Do I mean verse 3? No, I don’t. Because the thing is that it’s not translated the way I want. Yes, it’s Romans 2:11. I’ll explain what I mean in a way, what I mean just briefly. It says:

“There is no partiality with God . . .”

Now all the modern translations say that because it’s a modern phrase. You see, the Old King James said ‘there is no respect of persons.’ It’s much more accurate because partiality can be to any kind of person. You can take some kind of weak, insignificant little person and be very partial to that person. So weak I really want to help them, I really want to do everything for them. But respect of persons means we’re not impressed by what people are in their natural selves. A man may be a general, a president, a bishop, but he doesn’t get any special judgment from God, he’s treated just like everybody else. That’s what it means when it says there is no respect of persons—particularly aimed at people who occupy positions of prominence in the world today.

All right. The next principle of God’s judgment, number four, is according to the measure of light. And Paul says in Romans 2:12:

“For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law.”

If you have the law, you’ll be judged by it. If you don’t have the law, you won’t be judged by the law but you’ll still be judged for what you’ve done.

And this principle is illustrated by the words of Jesus in Matthew chapter 11 when He speaks to some of the major cities of His day who had not responded to His preaching. Matthew 11:20–24:

“Then he began to upbraid the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent. ‘Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you.’”

Why? Because Tyre and Sidon had less light. Bethsaida and Korazin had had the greatest light and they would be the most severely judged. You and I will be judged according to the light that is available to us. I want to say generally speaking to people in the English-speaking world, there is a greater measure of light available to us today than I think has ever been available to any previous generation in history. We have Bibles en masse, we have endless books, we have tapes, we have cassettes, we have preachers, we’re going to be judged by the light that’s been made available to us. Let’s bear that in mind. God’s standards of judgment for this generation will be the most severe because we’ve had the most light. And then Jesus goes on in the next verse:

“You, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you.”

You see, judgment is according to light. The more light we have, the more strict will be our judgment. And as I said before, I say to each one of you, including myself, there probably never has been a generation of Christians that have had the measure of light available that we have today. Bear that in mind, that’s going to be the standard of our judgment.

And finally, the fifth principle of God’s judgment in Romans 2:16, it says:

“In the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.”

So God is not merely going to judge our open acts but He’s going to judge our secret innermost thoughts and motives and attitudes. I think it’s correct to say that God is very concerned about our motives. Two people may perform the same outward action but their motives may be entirely different. And when God judges them, He will take into account their motives.

Now we’re going to go on to the scenes of judgment. And as I understand it, there are going to be four major, successive scenes of judgment. The first will be before the judgment seat of Christ. The Greek word bema means a platform on which a Roman official sat to execute judgment. Pontius Pilate sat on his bema when Jesus appeared before Him for judgment. This will be a judgment only of Christians, only of believers. We go again to 1 Peter chapter 1:17. I somehow feel that God wants me to read this verse twice. 1 Peter 1:17:

“And if you call on the Father who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your sojourning here in fear.”

That’s written to us. We call on the Father. And then in 1 Peter 4:17 it says:

“For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God. And if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel?”

Where does judgment begin? Always with the house of God. Always with the people who have the most truth. And so, when judgment starts, the first people to be judged will be the Christians. They’ll have a special judgment.

“Romans 14:10–12 says this:
But why do you judge your brother or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we [Christians] shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ [the bema], for it is written, ‘As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee shall bow to me and every tongue shall confess to me.’ So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.”

And remember, there’s only one person that you have to give account of, that’s yourself. You don’t have to give account of me or your pastor, and you waste a lot of time judging others, some of you, when you should be judging yourself. The only person you’re going to have to give account for is yourself. And that you’re going to have to do.

So Paul says each of us shall give account of himself to God. That’s each of us Christians. And then in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 he returns to the same theme. 2 Corinthians chapter 5:10:

“For we [Christians] must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that each one may receive the things done in his body according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”

We must all appear, it says. But the Greek says we must all be made manifest. There will be no secrets. Everything will be totally exposed, nothing will be hidden. And, we will be before the judgment seat of Christ to receive according to the way we have lived in the body. And I pointed out already in this series but I’ll say it again, there are only two categories, whether good or bad. Nothing in between. Everything that is not good is bad. Jesus said very clearly, ‘He that is not with me is against me.’ There is no neutrality. Jesus has excluded neutrality.

There are a lot of people in churches sitting on the fence. Do you know what that means, to sit on the fence? To be unwilling to make a commitment. They’re not on one side, they’re not on the other side. They’re not doing good but they wouldn’t admit that they’re doing bad. I make this comment sometimes, when the Holy Spirit comes to a church, one of the first things He does it to electrify the fence! You have to jump off on one side or the other. That’s why a lot of people don’t welcome the Holy Spirit because He abolishes their neutrality. There is no neutrality with the Holy Spirit.

“Now, the five main features of this judgment. I’ll just go through them very briefly. It’s individual, each one will answer for himself.
It’s for the things done in the body, the way we have lived while we were in this body. There are only two categories, good or bad. 1 John 5:17 says:
All unrighteousness is sin.”

Anything that is not righteous is sinful. You see, this third category has slipped into people’s thinking and it deceives so many. There is no neutrality.

The next principle is it is not for condemnation, that’s very, very important. We’re going to be judged, but we’re not going to be condemned, if we are true, sincere believers in Jesus. The principle of judgment is for assessment of service.

Let me give you three Scriptures which maybe will comfort you at this point. I see some of you looking a little concerned—which isn’t a bad thing to be, believe me. John chapter 3:18, Jesus says:

“‘He who believes in Him is not condemned but he who does not believe is condemned already.’’

So if we are truly believers in Jesus we will be judged but we will not be condemned. And then again He says again in John 5:24:

“‘Most assuredly I say to you . . .’’

And that’s the most emphatic way that Jesus can express Himself.

“‘Most assuredly I say to you, ‘He who hears my word and believes in Him who sent me has everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation but has passed from death unto life.’’

And finally, Romans 8:1:

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

So we’re not talking about a judgment of condemnation, we’re talking about judgment which will assess the service that you’ve offered to Jesus during your life.

Announcer:

In tomorrow’s message Derek Prince will continue his theme ‘Eternal Judgment,’ by giving us three requirements by which we can know if our works will withstand the fire of God’s judgment. He then begins his assessment of two New Testament perils which are patterns of judgment from which we can learn.

This week’s message is available on audiocassette No. RC4169 and also on video. Our special offer this week is The Spirit-filled Believer’s Handbook. This five hundred page hard cover study of the six basic doctrines of the Christian faith includes topical and Scripture indexes useful for new Christians as well as pastors and teachers in the study of God’s Word. To receive your copy of ‘Eternal Judgment’ write today and include a contribution of $5.00 or more for audiocassette RC4169 or $14.95 for the video teaching. Include a gift of $15.00 or more for The Spirit Filled Believer’s Handbook.

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