The timing of the judgment of the living

[skyblue888]

We may with great boldness approach the throne of grace pleading the merits of our Redeemer which we appropriate by faith. Then Jesus places us close by His side encircling us with His human arm while with His divine arm He grasps the throne of the Infinite. His merits are sufficient to present to the Father in our behalf. And, as we, day day, hour by hour, moment by moment, rest in His merits for our acceptance with God, the grace of God opens our mouths that we may boldly make known this mystery which is Christ in you the hope of glory through simple faith which appropriates to ourselves the merits of the blood that was shed for us upon Calvary's cross.

Our boast is not in ourselves but in Christ, in His all-sufficient merits and righteousness. We have nothing in ourselves of which to boast. We have no ground for self-exaltation. Our only ground of hope is in the righteousness of Christ both imputed and imparted to us through simple faith that lays right hold upon the merits of His sacrifice.

sky

[skyblue888]

Back to the topic of the judgment of the living.

Generally speaking, there are two positions held today in regard to the Judgment of the Living. There is the position held by some that the judgment of the living commences with the setting up of the Image of the Beast (when Sunday shall be enforced by law of church and state) and that only those who have passed its searching scrutiny can receive the latter rain and go forth and give the Loud Cry. Then, as the message goes forward and souls are gathered in from Babylon, they each in turn are judged, sealed and filled with the Holy Spirit in latter rain power to join in the giving of the Loud Cry. This procedure continues until the work is completed with the close of human probation. This is one position as held by some today.

The other position is that the judgment of the living comes upon the people of God at the end of the Loud Cry period: "When the mission of the gospel is completed, the judgment will accomplish the work of separation." C.O.L.122. "The tares and the wheat are to grow together until the harvest, and the harvest is the end of probationary time." Ibid, 72.

This time will come suddenly upon all the people of God and not one by one as the other position seeks to prove.

There are some who may ask as to what it matters anyway as to which position we hold so long as we are ready day by day. But why did the Lord go to so much trouble as to give to us the sure Word of Prophecy if we did not really need it? That Word was given for us to study and to understand; to know not the day or the hour, but when these things would come to pass in their correct order, so that we can rightly relate ourselves to the events of the last days and be found in the very place and position the Lord would have us in.

Think of the fatal delusion which would fasten upon the mind of one who believed that the reception of the latter rain could only come after he had been judged. It would mean that the very moment in which he received the outpouring of the Spirit in latter rain power, he must conclude that he had been judged and sealed (final seal) and that therefore he was eternally secure and had the guarantee of his place in Heaven.

But the fact is that the latter rain brings to completion the work of God's grace in the soul as we learn from Testimonies to Ministers p.506 and Testimonies, Vol.1, p.353. Such a work cannot be achieved without the co-operation of the believer anymore than can any other work of grace be achieved without it. Furthermore such a work of grace is essential to prepare one to pass the judgment itself which comes at the end and not the beginning of the latter rain. Therefore the true believer will know that the outpouring of the Latter rain is no signal for relaxation and the acquirement of a sense of security. He will be closely on guard, co-operating with the Spirit of God in the final work of grace in the soul so that he will not be found unprepared for the judgment when it comes.

On the other hand he who had the incorrect view of the matter would take such a position. He would naturally relax into an attitude of false security with all the dire results of so doing. It would literally cost him his eternal life. It was for no insignificant purpose that the Lord gave us the revelations of prophecy. We are to know that the judgment of the living does not take place until the end of the latter rain and not at the beginning of it. This fact is made very clear in the Word of Truth and this we shall see as we proceed.

to be continued

[skyblue888]

The very first fact, which we need to have fixed clearly in our understanding is that not one of us can receive the final seal of God until after we have passed the great final test. In other words there comes to us first of all the great final test and we either pass it or fail under the pressure of it. If we do successfully withstand it, in the power of the Living God, then we receive the seal of God and are eternally secure from the tempter's devices. Quoting Revelation 13:11-17, the pen of inspiration declares:

"This is the test that the people of God must have before they are sealed. All who prove their loyalty to God by observing His law, and refusing to accept a spurious sabbath, will rank under the banner of the Lord Jehovah, and will receive the seal of the living God." Bible Commentary, vol.7, p. 976.

It is important that careful attention be given to just what this statement does actually say and not anything we might assume it to say. After the quotation from Revelation 13:11-17, the very next words say, "This is the test that the people of God must have before they are sealed."

First of all, there is the revelation of the miracle working power of Spiritualism. This will test the people of God and no doubt there will be those who are among the people of God and who will be deceived thereby. Then there is the making of the Image itself. As we learned previously, the people of God will refuse to obey the law imposed in these verses. Then will ultimately come the death decree upon those who refuse to comply. It will be only when this point is reached that the fullness of the Image of the Beast will be realized. When it is first formed, it is not the point where the full pressure of its power has been brought upon the people of God. This is because it has not fully gained the control of the hearts of the masses of the people. That pressure and the corresponding test increases till the ultimate is reached in the decree to put them to death.

Having outlined all this in these verses it then says, "This is the test that the people of God must have before they are sealed." Therefore all that is listed there must be included in that text, not only a part of it. Inasmuch then as we are told that the death decree is imposed with all its awful weight upon the people of God just before the close of probation, and inasmuch as we learn here that the death decree is included in the great final test, and inasmuch as we have learned that we must pass this test before we are sealed, then it follows that the seal of God (final seal) will come upon the people of God just before the commencement of Jacob's trouble, which is quite a distance of time from when the Image of the Beast is first set up.

But it is a fact so plainly understood by all that it does not need to be proved here that none of us can receive the final seal of the living God until we have been judged and had our sins blotted out from the heavenly sanctuary. Therefore if only those who have passed this test successfully can receive the seal of God, then only those who have passed the same test can pass the judgment of the living successfully. If the receiving of that seal is contingent on the passing of that test, then the passing of the judgment must be equally contingent on it. And this is but to say that the judgment of the living will not commence until the final test has come upon the world. We know that "the great final test comes at the close of human probation." C.O.L.412. This means that it comes at the end of the Loud Cry period when the mission of the gospel is completed, and that therefore the judgment of the living also must come at the end of the Loud Cry period, and most certainly not at the beginning of it as some have thought. C.O.L.122,123,72.

to be continued

[Musicman1228]

Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months. Rev. 11:1-2.

Judgement begins with those that worship in the Temple of God, that is "The Kingdom of Heaven". This indicate the first judgement of those that are alive during the 'appointed time of the end'. You can get a good picture of this in Matt 25:1-13.

IF (and only IF) the SDA church is the Kingdom of Heaven (as the 10 bridesmaids prophecy suggests) then those that are in the SDA church will be judged before the Great Tribulation even begins.

After the door to the marriage feast is shut in the face of the 5 foolish bridesmaids (who are now lost forever) and the 144,000 and the 5 wise bridesmaids are sealed THEN the Great Tribulation judgement begins for those that are in the court outside the Temple, and will last exactly 42 literal months (beginning on a new moon and ending on the 43rd new moon).

Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth. Rev. 3:10.

[skyblue888]

How things stand at the end is made very clear from this statement from the Great Controversy: "When the third angel's message closes, mercy no longer pleads for the guilty inhabitants of the earth. The people of God have accomplished their work; they have received the Latter Rain, the refreshing from the presence of the Lord, and are prepared for the trying hour before them. Angels are hastening to and from in Heaven. An angel returning from the earth announces that his work is done; the final test has been brought upon the world, and all who have proved themselves loyal to the Divine precepts have received the seal of the Living God...

"Then Jesus ceases His intercession in the sanctuary above... He lifts up His hands, and with a loud voice says, 'It is done;' and all the angelic host lay off their crowns as He makes the solemn announcement: 'He that is unjust, let him be unjust still; and he that is filthy let him be filthy still, and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still; and he that is holy, let him be holy still.' (Rev.22:11) Every case has been decided for life or death. Christ has made the atonement for His people, and blotted out their sins. The number of His subjects made up; 'the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven,' is about to be given to the heirs of salvation, and Jesus is to reign as King of kings and Lord of Lords." G.C.p.613,614.

Those who have proved themselves loyal in the face of that test, receive the seal of the living God, while the remainder obviously have the mark of the beast, in each case, forever. This statement makes it very clear indeed that the great final test comes upon the world, the final decisions are made for or against God, and immediately then the work in the sanctuary comes to its end. This makes it clear and plain that once the final test comes, which all must have before they are sealed, then immediately follows the judgment of the living, the work in the sanctuary is finished and there is no more work of grace for the soul. And all this proves that the judgment of the living is not followed by the latter rain but by the time of Jacob's trouble only. The latter rain must and does come before the Judgment of the living!

1. The Image of the Beast is set up 2.The wheat and the tares still co-mingled during this period 3. The mission of the gospel is completed at the end of the loud cry 4.The wheat and tares are separated by the great final test 5. The judgment of the living 6. The close of probation 7. The time of Jacob's trouble and the plagues.

The judgment of the living cannot come until the end of the loud cry because the wheat and the tares are not separated until the end of the loud cry period. C.O.L.72,122,123,412; 7 BC 976.

sky

[skyblue888]

Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months. Rev. 11:1-2.

Judgement begins with those that worship in the Temple of God, that is "The Kingdom of Heaven". This indicate the first judgement of those that are alive during the 'appointed time of the end'. You can get a good picture of this in Matt 25:1-13.

IF (and only IF) the SDA church is the Kingdom of Heaven (as the 10 bridesmaids prophecy suggests) then those that are in the SDA church will be judged before the Great Tribulation even begins.

After the door to the marriage feast is shut in the face of the 5 foolish bridesmaids (who are now lost forever) and the 144,000 and the 5 wise bridesmaids are sealed THEN the Great Tribulation judgement begins for those that are in the court outside the Temple, and will last exactly 42 literal months (beginning on a new moon and ending on the 43rd new moon).

Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth. Rev. 3:10.

Yes, there is a time of probation for the professed church but that is not the judgment of the living yet. And we cannot re-apply the time prophecies of Daniel 12 for after 1844 there is no message to be given to the people of God that is to be based on time. See 1 S.M.188.

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[skyblue888]

The latter rain comes before, and not after the judgment of the living commences. Because this point is so important, we will not leave it until we have examined still further evidence to show the same truth.

Accordingly we turn to the next statements on the matter found once again in the book Christ's Object Lessons, 122,123. There we read: "When the mission of the gospel is completed, the judgment will accomplish the work of separation." "When the work of the gospel is completed there immediately follows the separation between the good and the evil and the destiny of each class is forever fixed."

The teaching of Christ under consideration here is another parable, that of the fishing net. Jesus said, "The kingdom of Heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind; which when it was full, they drew to the shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth and sever the wicked from among the just, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire; there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth." Matt.13:47-50.

"The casting of the net is the preaching of the gospel. This gathers both good and bad into the the church." C.O.L.122.

Just as the wheat and the tares grow together in the church until the harvest, so the gospel net gathers both the good and the bad fish into the church until the harvest when the two are forever separated. Thus we see that between the parable of the wheat and the tares and the fishing net there is a very close connection in thought and that they are both teaching the same truth in regard to the final separation.

While the parable of the wheat and the tares makes clear enough as to when this shaking will occur, this parable makes it even more specific and precise. The comment here is that "when the mission of the gospel is completed, there immediately follows the separation between the good and the evil and the destiny of each class is forever fixed."

Let us ask some questions, the answers to which will be found in these sentences. For how long do the good and the bad fish remain together in the ship which is the church? They remain there until the mission of the gospel is completed and then they are forever separated. When will the mission of the gospel be completed? Will it be at the beginning or at the end of the latter rain period?

If the mission of the gospel was completed at the beginning of the latter rain period then what would be the need for the latter rain and loud cry? It is the latter rain which finishes the work of God's grace not only in the soul of each living believer but also in the work of calling the true children of God into the full knowledge of the truth in these last days. Therefore it is when the latter rain has come to its end and only then that the mission of the gospel will be completed.

What comes at this point to accomplish the work of final separation? It is the judgment which comes at this point of time. This can only be the judgment of the living which is intended here for the judgment of the dead has been going forward ever since 1844. One could hardly expect to find a statement which more clearly states that the latter rain comes before the judgment of the living than this one. It specifically and directly says it and leaves no argument in the matter.

to be continued

sky

[skyblue888]

There are many who immediately assume that the shaking described in Early Writings pages 269-272, is the dividing of the wheat from the tares, the wise from the foolish virgins, the good from the bad fish. Now to make this assumption and to draw this conclusion is to make a very serious mistake. It is to fail to understand the difference between things which are different and yet which are called by the same name! While it is very true that there is a shaking or separation before the loud cry begins, it is to be understood that this is not the same shaking as comes at the end of the loud cry period at the judgment of the living. There are two very different shakings at two very different points of time, caused by different factors altogether. It is important that these differences be understood or we shall find ourselves making wrong conclusions which will lead to our taking every wrong position in the final and finishing conflict.

Before discussing these different shakings so as to make this point clear, let us first establish the principle of Bible interpretation wherein there are often two things called by the same name yet they are in all other respects different and yet, as Bible students we must learn to understand this difference although it is never explicitly pointed out in the scriptures.

The simplest and clearest example of this is found in the two comings of Jesus Christ, the first of which is now in the past and the second is yet to be. Both of these events are called "the coming of Christ," because that is exactly what each is. No other word better describes the event in each case. But there the similarity ends for in practically every other respect they are entirely different.

Let us compare these differences. In the first coming He came in complete obscurity, but in the second He will come in the brilliant glory of His Father and all the holy angels and every eye shall see Him. There will be nothing obscure about that coming. In the first He came in poverty but in the second with all the riches of God.

In the first He came to minister in suffering and ultimate death; in the second He comes to minister in glory and immortal life. So we might go on and compile quite a list of differences but this is sufficient to make the point intended. Now here is a point that we need to see and it is that while both of these comings were foretold in the Old Testament, never once are we told in the Old Testament that there are to be two comings. Always it simply spoke of the coming of the Messiah or the Savior or the King, and then proceeded to describe that coming whether it was the first or the second.

Now for you and for me today this matter of discerning the difference between the two comings of Christ presents no problem. But while this is to us no problem, it was certainly not so easy for the people who lived in expectation of the coming of the Messiah at the first coming of Christ. In fact they did not see and understand that there were to be two comings of Christ, but saw and understood that there would be only one when they should have understood two. There can be no blame on the part of God for their misunderstanding. The Holy Spirit was available to them as He is to us to teach them these guiding principles of interpretation so that they did not need to err at all. But they did. They had no excuse for making this fatal mistake, and we have the advantage of the same Teacher as they, but as well we have the lesson that their mistake can and must teach us.

"Had the Jews, with humble minds and spiritual discernment, studied the prophecies, they would not have been found in so great error as to overlook the prophecies which pointed to His first advent in humility, and misapply those which spoke of His second coming with power and great glory. The Jewish people had been striving for power. They could not distinguish between those prophecies which pointed to the first advent of Christ, and those that described His second glorious appearing. The power and glory described by the prophets as attending His second advent, they looked for at His first advent." Review & Herald, Dec.17, 1872.

The measure of the seriousness of their mistake can be seen only as we realize that it cost them their eternal life. As a result they were so mistaken as to the nature of the coming involved, that when Jesus came exactly as prophesied, they rejected Him on the basis of their understanding of the prophecies. In fact, once having gained the wrong key to the study of the scriptures, the more they searched them the more they were confirmed in their rejection of the Savior.

But do not think lightly that we are immuned to the same mistake. True we will not make the same mistake in respect to the two comings of Christ, but we have to face the same test of our humility and willingness to learn what the Word would teach us as distinct from what we might wish it to teach us. Just as there were two comings of Christ, so there are two shakings or separations, two seals of God, two marriages, and two justifications, to name some of the things which are called by the same name and yet are different. In respect to these things, the same pattern exists exactly as does with the two comings of Christ. The facts are these:

Nowhere does the inspired writer state that there are two different shakings. But both shakings are described and in quite close detail in various parts of the Word of God. In the one place the word of truth will describe the shaking as if it was the only one that was ever to be. In another place the other shaking will be described again as if it was the only shaking that there was to be and it is so often that the Bible student just takes it for granted that there is to be only the one. So few ever seem to awaken to the realization that there must be two for they are different.

to be continued

[skyblue888]

THE DIFFERENCES

It is not often that the two things which are different are covered in the same prophecy. The parable of the fishing net clearly shows the differences between the first and the second or final separations. In this parable, the differences between these two separations are made so clear that none need to err in the understanding of them. Let us look then at the parable for a moment or two.

The net which is a symbol of the teaching of the gospel through human lips chosen of God, is let into the sea of the world and brings forth fish good and bad. Note very carefully that it does not bring all the good and all the bad from the sea in any one dipping. In other words, in this separation, some good and bad are separated from the rest. These good and bad are deposited together in the ship and the net dips again and again to gather more good and bad into the same ship. Eventually the mission of the fishermen is completed and then they sail to the shore where they sit down and examine each fish, separating the good from the bad and casting the bad back into the sea once again.

That is the story in brief outline. Now let us examine the differences in detail. In the first skaking or separation, the preaching of the gospel by human messengers accomplishes the work but the second is accomplished by the fish being put through a test. Therefore, while human messengers bring the message which accomplishes the first separation, only God in Heaven through the angels can accomplish the second separation. It is a work which is not committed to human hands to do. It is to the second separation and not to the first that the statements so often quoted about the angels doing the work of separation must be applied. The statements referred to are ones such as these two: "Let the tares and the wheat grow together until the harvest. Then it is the angels that do the work of separation." "The work of separation is given to the angels of God and not committed into the hands of men." 2 SM 69; Testimonies to Ministers, p.47.

The first shaking separates good and bad from the rest but the second shaking separates the good from the bad among those who were participants in the first separation. Note carefully that the second separation is not concerned with any who were never caught up in the first separation. Unless we have had a part in the first separation we will not even be considered in the second!

The first separation occupies a process of time as the net dips again and again until the mission of the gospel is completed but the second is very short as each is put through the screen of the final test to determine their acceptance or rejection for the harvest. The first gathers the good and the bad into the church, the second separates the good from the bad for the heavenly garner.

Therefore the fact that one is involved in the first separation is no guarantee that he will be in the kingdom while the second does give this guarantee. The first must be completed before the second can begin.

These differences between the two shakings or separations are very real indeed. They are just as real as the differences between the two comings of Christ and like them must on no account be confused with each other. If we are careful to understand these differences then we shall find not the least difficulty in identifying which of the two skakings is referred to whenever we read a prophecy of the one or the other, just as a clear and distinct understanding of the difference between the two comings of Christ removes all difficulty when needing to apply the various prophecies to the one or the other of the two comings.

to be continued

[skyblue888]

In the light of the above information we shall have no difficulty in seeing the difference between the shaking described in Early Writings pages 269-272 and the one of which we have been studying in the parable of the net. Knowing as we do now, that the first shaking is caused by the coming of a message, while the second is caused by a test, we have but to ask the question as to what is the cause of the shaking mentioned in Early Writings, 269-272, to find out which of the two shakings it is. So we read, "I asked the meaning of the shaking I had seen and was shown that it would be caused by the straight testimony called forth by the counsel of the true witness to the Laodiceans." page 270.

Could any language me plainer than this? Here we are told that the cause of this shaking is the bringing of a message to the Laodicean church and that message is the Laodicean message. This chapter does not mention the great final test of the death decree being imposed upon the people of God as being the cause of this shaking. And how could it be, for a moment of reflection will show that it would be impossible for such a situation to arise at the same time as the giving of the Laodicean message to the church.

The Laodicean message is addressed to a people in a lukewarm condition who, thinking they are rich and increased with goods and having need of nothing are in fact destitute, poor, blind and naked, in desperate need, and don't know it. Such a people, while in that condition, could most certainly never stand against the pressures of the image of the beast. They would not be able to refuse the law which demanded they worship the beast and his image, and therefore against such a people the buy and sell decree would never need to be brought, because the church and the state would have won with lesser pressures than that. This is to say that such a people in such condition, would never generate the fearful persecution which is the essence of the great final test, which accomplishes the second and final separation.

Whenever did a lukewarm church ever stir the enmity and the anger of the world against it? This never has been and never will be. Instead, the process is that the church is found standing in a lukewarm condition and lacking the living presence of the mighty power of God. To such a church comes the living message (second call of Matt.22) of living righteousness and the result is that there is a skaking, a great persecution followed by a separation. See the picture of this in the days of Christ and the Apostles. See the picture of this in any age and generation. See DA 232.

As the loud cry church becomes filled with the power of God and the truth of God, she goes forth to overthrow the strongholds of evil and then it is that persecution follows. "Persecution will spread the light." D.A.354. In the situation to be faced in the last days this will lead the people of God inexorably into the great final test which will come as a result of their own empowered witness for the truth and protest against the evil of the time. And the great final test in turn will accomplish the final work of separation.

Thus there can be no excuse for confusing the separation caused by the latter rain message and the separation which comes at the end of the latter rain when the mission of the gospel is completed, as is shown in the parable of the net. This also explains the fact that during the latter rain period, the wheat and the tares, the wise and the foolish virgins are still comingled. We now know that the first separation brings out good and bad from the rest. Therefore the separation which takes place during the latter rain does not divide the wheat from the tares but simply gathers the wheat and the tares into the church of God where they continue to grow together until the harvest when the judgment will accomplish the work of separation and the destiny of each class will be forever fixed.

"When the mission of the gospel is completed, the judgment will accomplish the work of separation." C.O.L.122.

The parable of the wheat and tares and the fishing net show this very distinctly. These words are too plain to be misunderstood.

Hope this helped.

sky