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Is there only one judgment, and where do our spirits go now?

  According to the the scriptures there is only one judgment. So that means that no one has entered the Kingdom of God yet, because no one has been judged. Knowing this I ask what happens or where do our spirits go during this time, and do the spirits of the righteous go to the same place that the unrighteous do until judgment?

  According to the Bible, there are at least three judgments; the Judgment Seat of Christ, which Christians will face; the Judgment of the Nations, for all of the living at the end of the Tribulation Period; and the Great White Throne Judgment, before which the lost will stand.

First, the Judgment Seat of Christ is for all Christians. This judgment is not to determine whether we are saved (that was determined and decided before we die). This judgment is to determine the Christian’s rewards for eternity. I Corinthians 3:10-15 says, "According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and THE FIRE SHALL TRY EVERY MAN’S WORK OF WHAT SORT IT IS. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a REWARD. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer LOSS: but he himself shall be SAVED; yet so as by fire."

You will notice that the Christian does NOT face the fire — his works do. All of our works will face the fire. The number of our works is not going to be the deciding factor as to whether we receive a reward, but the sort of our works. In other words, the motives behind our works will be tried. If we did something for the wrong motive, then that work will go up in smoke, and there will be no reward for it.

Please notice carefully that we are not being tried there for our sins. That was already settled before we die. I John 1:7 says, "...the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." Only Christians come to the Judgment Seat of Christ, and they all walk away saved. It is just that some will walk away with many rewards; some will walk away with fewer rewards; and some will walk away with no rewards. "If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a REWARD. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer LOSS: but he himself shall be SAVED; yet so as by fire."

The next judgment is the Judgment of the Nations. This takes place at the end of the Tribulation Period. Matthew 25:31-46 says, "When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungered, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal."

This judgment, the Judgment of the Nations, is to deal with all who live through the Tribulation Period, to prepare for the Millennium to come (the thousand year reign of Christ upon earth, into which only saved people enter).

These people are not saved by their works, but their works show whether they were truly saved or not. Ephesians 2:8-10 says, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." We are NOT saved by our works, but we are God’s workmanship, and expected to show forth that for His glory.

In the Tribulation Period, people will evidence, by their works toward other Christians, whether they are truly born again. Remember what is going to be the situation during the Tribulation Period? Revelation 13:11-18 says, "And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And THAT NO MAN MIGHT BUY OR SELL, save he that had the MARK, or the NAME of the beast, or the NUMBER of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six."

People are not going to be able to buy or sell without the mark, name, or number of the beast. True believers will NOT take that mark. Revelation 14:9-11 says, "And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name." Whoever takes that mark will not get saved. They will end up being cast into hell.

The result of not taking the mark of the antichrist will mean a life of great hardship. Those people will have to buy on the black market, meaning a secret supply line whose transactions must be kept secret. These people are thus going to need food, clothing, medicine, etc. Notice, once again, read the things brought up at the Judgment of the Nations, and now you can understand why. "When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:

And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungered, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal."

Notice the people that need food, clothing, shelter; and how some of them are in prison. These are Christians that are trying to survive during the Tribulation Period, and refuse to take the mark of the beast.

Why does God send the people to hell that refused to help these Christians? Are they saved, or in this case, lost, because of their works? No. Ephesians 2:8-10 still applies. "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." Once again, their works, or lack of works, just proves what is really in their hearts. If we do not love and care for other Christians, the Bible is pretty clear about our spiritual condition. I John 4:20,21 says, "If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also."

Those people who refuse to help Christians when they are dying from their need of food and medicine, etc., are just showing that they do not love the brethren — thus, do not truly love God.

The last judgment is the Great White Throne Judgment. This judgment is not to decide whether people are saved or lost. All who appear at this judgment are lost. The judgment is just to decide the degree of punishment which they will endure for all of eternity, because the judgment is handed out according to their works upon earth. Revelation 20:11-15 says, "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."

It does not matter how rich, or how poor; how well-known, or how unknown; where the person died, on land or in the sea; all the lost will be resurrected to stand before God. The Book of Life will be there to show that they never got saved, because their names are not there. Revelation 17:8 says, "...whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world," The Bible will be there, to show the warning that they rejected while they were yet alive, and the punishment that it promised. John 12:48 says, "He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day." And the books of works will be there to show them the multitude of their sins, and to thus determine their exact amount of punishment throughout eternity. "...and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works."

In the lake of fire, all will suffer in the fire, but to different degrees. The Bible speaks of different degrees of punishment for the wicked. Matthew 10:15 says, "Verily I say unto you, It shall be MORE TOLERABLE for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city." Matthew 11:22 says, "But I say unto you, It shall be MORE TOLERABLE for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you." Revelation 18:5-7 says, "For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. Reward her even as she rewarded you, and DOUBLE UNTO HER DOUBLE ACCORDING TO HER WORKS: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double. How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so MUCH TORMENT and sorrow give her..."

How can people suffer different degrees if they are all in the lake of fire? That is easy to answer, because fire can be a multitude of different temperatures. You can light a candle and try to solder a copper pipe with it, but it would probably not be hot enough. A propane torch would do the job, because it is hot enough, but it would not braze or cut through steel. A gas welder would braze and cut through steel. In all of these instances, flame is used, but it varies greatly in temperature. The flame of a candle is hot, and would burn you, but not nearly as severely and quickly as the propane torch or the gas welder flames. The lake of fire is going to be the exact punishment that a sinner deserves for the sins that he or she committed in life.

Until these respective judgments, the spirits of the saved go to heaven, and the spirits of the lost go to hell.  Luke 16:22,23 says, "And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom."

Lazarus was taken to heaven, to paradise at the moment of death.  Jesus told the repentant thief on the cross in Luke 23:43, "And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise."  The apostle Paul tells us that paradise is the same as the third heaven (the highest heaven, the dwelling place of God).  II Corinthians 12:2-4 says, "I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one CAUGHT UP TO THE THIRD HEAVEN. And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) How that he was CAUGHT UP INTO PARADISE, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter."

You will also notice that the rich man was immediately in hell.  At the Great White Throne Judgment, he will be cast into the lake of fire to suffer the exact punishment that he, and all other lost people deserve for all of eternity.  Revelation 20:14,15 says, "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."

Are you ready to meet the Lord?

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