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Our Mission: Revelation 14:6-12
The Moment of Truth - Lesson 26
The
Last Judgment
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Let us pray together:
Our Father,
Will there be a judgment?
If so, how will this judgment take place? When will it take place? Who will be judged?
Your Word can answer these questions, if You send Your Holy Spirit to enlighten us on this
subject. This is why we humbly ask You to guide us during this lesson.
We thank You in the precious name of our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen.
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John 16:12
I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.
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In order to have a better understanding of this lesson, it is
necessary to study first the lessons «The Two
Sanctuaries» and «The 70 Weeks».
We therefore strongly encourage you to review these two lessons before going on.
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Job 19:29
(...) that you may know there is a judgment.
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The Bible clearly declares that one day, a judgment will take place.
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The Bible clearly declares that one day, a judgment will take place:
«God shall judge the righteous and the wicked.» (ECCLESIASTES
3:17)
«When I choose the proper time, I will judge uprightly.» (PSALM 75:2)
«[God] has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness.» (ACTS
17:31)
«I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living
and the dead.» (2 TIMOTHY 4:1)
«It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.» (HEBREWS 9:27)
«The heavens and the earth which now exist are kept in store by the same word, reserved
for fire until the day of judgment.» (2 PETER 3:7)
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Our thoughts, words, and deeds will be brought to trial:
«Judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will
both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts.»
(1 CORINTHIANS 4:5)
«For every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of
judgment.» (MATTHEW 12:36)
«Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your
youth; walk in the ways of your heart, and in the sight of your eyes; but know that for
all these God will bring you into judgment.» (ECCLESIASTES 11:9)
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2 Corinthians 5:10
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
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Romans 14:10
We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
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Hebrews 10:30
The Lord will judge His people.
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The case of each person will be brought to trial.
Whether or not we profess to follow God, the Bible is clear: one day, we will be judged.
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John 5:24
[Jesus said,]
«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 judgment, but has passed from death into life.»
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Now, how can Jesus declare that he who believes in God will not
come into judgment, while the Word of God declares that we must all appear before the
judgment seat of God?
Simply because those who accept God's salvation will be represented by Jesus Christ
Himself, as their Advocate before the Father.
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If we really desire it, Jesus will plead and win our case before God!
«For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands,
which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God
for us.» (HEBREWS 9:24)
«We have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.» (1 JOHN 2:1)
«Much more then, having now been justified by [Christ's] blood, we shall be saved from
wrath through Him.» (ROMANS 5:9)
«Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who
is in heaven.» (MATTHEW 10:32)
«There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.» (ROMANS 8:1)
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Daniel 7:9-11
I watched till thrones were put in place, and the Ancient of Days
was seated; His garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head was like pure wool.
His throne was a fiery flame, its wheels a burning fire; a fiery stream issued and came
forth from before Him. A thousand thousands ministered to Him; ten thousand times ten
thousand stood before Him.
The court was seated, and the books were opened.
I watched then because of the sound of the pompous words which the horn was speaking.
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The judgment will begin before Jesus' second coming.
Indeed, this vision of the judgment takes place as the horn (a power that we will soon
identify) is still committing its misdeeds here below.
Now, can we know the date of the beginning of the judgment?
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Daniel 9:22,23
[Gabriel] talked with me, and said,
«O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you skill to understand.
At the beginning of your supplications the command went out, and I have come to tell you,
for you are greatly beloved; therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision.»
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To better understand the subject of the judgment, we must first
go back into the book of the prophet Daniel.
In the lesson «The 70 Weeks», we saw the angel
Gabriel helping Daniel «understand the vision», that is, the previous vision he had
received in Chapter 8 and which still remained unexplained: the prophecy of the 2300 days.
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Daniel 9:24,25
Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy
city (...).
From the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem (...).
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We also saw that these 70 weeks, symbolizing a period of 490
years, were cut off from a longer period, that is, the 2300 years.
The 70 weeks began in 457 B.C., that is, «the going forth of the command to restore and
build Jerusalem», and ended in A.D. 34, when Stephen was stoned by the Jews.
Now, to complete the period of 2300 years, we must add 1810 years (2300 - 490 = 1810) to
A.D. 34, and we arrive to A.D. 1844.
Here is now a summary of the 70 weeks prophecy and the 2300 days prophecy.
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Summary of the 70 weeks prophecy and the 2300 days prophecy:
+----- «For 2300 days; then the
sanctuary shall be cleansed.» -----+
|
|
+---- «70 weeks are determined for your people.»
----+ |
|
| |
Arta- Restora- Baptism
Cruci- Stoning
Cleansing
xerxes' tion of
of fixion
of
of the
decree Jerusalem Jesus
of Jesus Stephen
sanctuary
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|-------------|
Autumn Autumn
Autumn Spring Autumn
Autumn
457 B.C. 408 B.C. A.D. 27
A.D. 31 A.D. 34
1844
|-- 7 weeks -|-- 62 weeks -|-- ½ week --|-- ½ week --|
|
|- 49 years -|- 434 years -|- 3½ years -|- 3½ years -|--1810 years-|
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Daniel 8:13,14
«How long will the vision be, concerning the daily sacrifices
and the transgression of desolation, the giving of both the sanctuary and the host to be
trampled under foot?»
And [the angel] said to me,
«For two thousand three hundred days; then the sanctuary shall be cleansed.»
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To understand the judgment, we must go through the 2300 days
prophecy and the cleansing of the sanctuary.
The 2300 days designate a 2300-year period which started in 457 B.C., and ended in A.D.
1844, the year in which the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary began.
What does this cleansing consist of? This is what we are going to study now.
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Numbers 28:3
This is the offering made by fire which you shall offer to the Lord: two male lambs in their first year without blemish, day by day, as a regular burnt offering.
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In the lesson «The Two
Sanctuaries», we saw that God asked the people of Israel to build a sanctuary.
Two services took place there:
- First the daily service, in which lambs were sacrificed for each person's sins. Day
after day, sins were thus moved to the sanctuary.
- At the end of the religious year, a second service had to be performed to purify the
sanctuary.
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Leviticus 23:27-29
The tenth day of this seventh month shall be the Day of
Atonement.
It shall be a holy convocation for you; you shall afflict your souls, and offer an
offering made by fire to the Lord.
And you shall do no work on that same day, for it is the Day of Atonement, to make
atonement for you before the Lord your God.
For any person who is not afflicted of soul on that same day, he shall be cut off from his
people.
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The cleansing of the sanctuary took place once a year, on the Day
of Atonement.
The sins of the truly repentant were then totally erased.
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Hebrews 9:24
Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.
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We have also seen that the earthly sanctuary was really a model
of the heavenly sanctuary, where Jesus is now working.
As the Lamb of God, He takes upon Himself the sins of repentant men, and transfers them to
the heavenly sanctuary.
So, will the heavenly sanctuary also have to be purified one day, just as the earthly
sanctuary did?
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Hebrews 9:23
Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
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Yes, the heavenly sanctuary must also be purified.
According to the prophecy of Daniel, this purification began in 1844: this is the first
phase of the judgment.
Just as the cleansing of the earthly sanctuary concerned only the people of Israel, the
purification of the heavenly sanctuary concerns only those professing to follow God.
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1 Peter 4:17
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
of God?
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The judgment began in the heavenly sanctuary in 1844, with the
examination of each believer's case.
On the day of the cleansing of the earthly sanctuary, each Jew who had persisted in his
sins was cut off from his people, even if he had offered lambs during the year.
Likewise, many people claim to follow Christ, but the judgment will identify the true
converts.
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Matthew 7:21-23
Not everyone who says to Me, «Lord, Lord,» shall enter the
kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
Many will say to Me in that day, «Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast
out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?»
And then I will declare to them, «I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice
lawlessness!»
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Since 1844, the judgment has been separating true Christians from
false ones.
Let's note that performing miracles is not absolute proof of a genuine conversion.
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The names of all false Christians will be erased from the Book of Life:
«He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will
not blot out his name from the Book of Life.» (REVELATION 3:5)
«The Lord said to Moses, "Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My
book."» (EXODUS 32:33)
«Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the
rightous.» (PSALM 69:28)
«But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and
does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? All the
righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; because of the unfaithfulness of
which he is guilty and the sin which he has committed, because of them he shall die.»
(EZEKIEL 18:24)
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Revelation 20:12
And books were opened.
And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life.
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Many books will be consulted during the judgment.
First there is the Book of Life, containing the names of all those claiming to follow
Jesus Christ.
As we have just seen, before Jesus' return, God will erase from this Book the names of all
those whose conversion was not true, keeping only the names of the genuine believers who
will have done the Father's will until the end.
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Malachi 3:16
Those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord
listened and heard them.
So a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and who
meditate on His name.
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Revelation 22:12
And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.
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There is also the book of remembrance, containing all the good works of God's children, which will justify the reward of each one on the New Earth.
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Amos 8:7
The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob,
«Surely I will never forget any of their works.»
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Jeremiah 2:22
«For though you wash yourself with lye, and use much soap, yet your iniquity is marked before Me,» says the Lord God.
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Finally, there are the books containing the bad works of all
those who rejected God's offer of salvation in Jesus Christ.
These books will justify the punishment of each unrepentant person at the end of times.
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Romans 2:12,13,16
As many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law; for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified (...), in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.
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James 2:12
So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty.
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The basis of the judgment will be the Law of God, the subject of a future lesson.
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Luke 12:47,48
And that servant who knew his master's will, and did not prepare
himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.
But he who did not know, yet committed things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few.
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Acts 17:30
Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent.
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The judgment will take into account each person's level of knowledge.
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Revelation 22:11,12
He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let
him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let
him be holy still.
And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according
to his work.
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The cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary will soon be completed.
This will put an end to the first part of the judgment, having separated the true
Christians from the false ones.
The fate of each person will then be fixed, and Jesus Christ will finally return to gather
His people.
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Revelation 20:4
And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was
committed to them.
And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the
word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark
on their foreheads or on their hands.
And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
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As we have seen in the lesson «The
1000 Years of Revelation», a period of 1000 years, the millennium, will follow the
return of Jesus.
This will be the second part of the judgment, in which the people of God will judge the
wicked.
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1 Corinthians 6:2
Do you not know that the saints will judge the world?
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Luke 22:29,30
[Jesus said,]
«I bestow upon you a kingdom, just as My Father bestowed one upon Me, that you may eat
and drink at My table in My kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of
Israel.»
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During these 1000 years, God's people will study the individual cases of the wicked, their responsibilities, their degree of guilt according to their thoughts, words, and deeds.
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Revelation 20:12,15 and 21:8
Books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the Book of
Life.
And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the
books. (...)
Anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. (...)
They shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the
second death.
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At the end of the 1000 years, the wicked will come back to life
to receive their verdict of guilt.
Having rejected God's call to salvation, their sentence will be a total and final
destruction.
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Revelation 14:6,7
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 - saying with a loud voice,
«Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come.»
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Yes, the hour of the judgment of God has come.
Do we all rely on the only Advocate who can really help us, Jesus Christ, that He may
appear for us before the throne of God, and obtain forgiveness for our sins?
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Acts 24:25
Now as [Paul] reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the
judgment to come, Felix was afraid and answered,
«Go away for now; when I have a convenient time I will call for you.»
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Or are we perhaps like Felix, afraid of the judgment because we have not yet put our lives into the hands of Jesus Christ, the one and only Savior and Lord?
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Ecclesiastes 12:13,14
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep
His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.
For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether it is
good or whether it is evil.
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Let's remember that we must all appear before the divine court.
The only way to be acquitted is to accept Jesus as our personal Savior and Lord.
His presence within us will enable us to keep God's commandments, which express His will
for each of us.
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Let's thank God for inviting us to receive salvation:
Heavenly Father,
We now know that Your judgment has already begun. Without a good Advocate, our case would
be lost.
But You loved us so much that You gave us Your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, so that He
may be our atoning sacrifice for the forgiveness of our sins, and also our Advocate before
Your throne.
Now, as we pray, we want to accept Him as our personal Savior and Lord of our life.
Through His presence within us, we want to do Your will from now on, so that our names may
not be blotted out of Your Book of Life.
In the precious name of Jesus Christ we pray.
Amen.
The test of Lesson 26 is waiting for you!