The Judgment Day
DO YOU KNOW:
That the thought of the Judgment Day
causes dread in many, usually because
they were mistaught that it is a 24-hour day, when, amid great convulsions of nature-literal earthquakes,
graves opening, etc.-Christ calls from
heavenly bliss and horrible torture the billions of the dead, places them back into the old bodies they had at death,
sentences them and then sends them
Back, some to eternal joy in heaven, but the vast majority to eternal
torture by fireproof
devils-accordingly, the Judgment Day has been termed Doomsday (see Dictionary)?
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That this view, that originated in the Dark Ages, makes the Judgment Day
quite purposeless-a farce?
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That because Adam disobeyed, God sentenced him (and the race in his loins)
to death, but that God in His great
love caused His Son to be "made flesh," "a little lower than the angels for the
suffering of death ... that he by the grace
of God should taste death for every man" (#Ge 2:17; 3:17-19; #Ro 5:6-19;
Matt. 20:28; #Joh 1:14; 3:14-18; #Heb 2:9)?
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That these "good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people,"
center in Jesus, the "ransom for
all, to be testified in due time"; they guarantee to "every man" one (no second chance
for any of Adam’s race) full, fair opportunity
for everlasting life (either in this life or after being awakened from
the dead-#Joh 5:28, 29, R.V.), for God "will have all men to be saved [from
Adamic condemnation; but all will not
be saved eternally], and to come unto the
knowledge of the truth" (#Lu 2:10; #1Ti 2:3-6; 4:10)?
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That the term day is often used to mean a period much longer than 24
hours, both in common usage (e.g.,
Luther’s day) and in Scriptural usage (#Ge 2:4; #Heb 3:8, 9; #Ps 95:7-10; #2Co
6:2)?
DO YOU KNOW:
That the Gospel Age has been the Church’s
judgment day (#2Th 1:4, 5; #1Pe 4:17), but
that also God "hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in
righteousness"-"the day of judgment and perdition [destruction] of ungodly men; but ... be not
ignorant of [forget not, R.V.] this one
thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years" (#Ac 17:31; #2Pe
3:7, 8; #Ps 90:4)?
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That Satan, "the god of this world," has for centuries blinded the
minds of the vast majority (#2Co 4:4), that darkness has covered the earth, "gross darkness the people," but that in the
world’s great judgment day he is bound,
"that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand
years should be fulfilled" (#Isa 60:2; #Re
20:2, 3, 7)?
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That "in that day," the 1,000-year reign of Christ, when He will
judge mankind, "the earth shall be
full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea"; then "it shall be said ... Lo, this is
our God; we have waited for him, and he
will save us ... we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation" (#Isa 11:9,10; 25:6-9; 40:5; 52:10: #Jer
31:34; #Hab 2:14)?
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That the word judge as used in the Scriptures does not mean merely to sentence, but includes (1) instruction (#Ps 19:7-11; 25:8, 9; 106:3; 119:108; #Isa 33:5; 56:1; 59:4, 8-15; #Eze 22:2; #Mt 12:18-20; 23: 23; #Col
2:16), (2) testing (#Ps 26:1-3,
comp. #Ps 139:23, 24; #Jer 11:20,
Comp.#jer 20:12; #2Th 1:4, 5),
(3) chastisement for correction (#Isa 26:9; #1Co 11:31, 32- comp. Luke 12:47, 48; #Heb
12:5-11; #Re 3:19), and (4) passing a sentence (#Mt 7:1, 2; #Joh 7:24; #De
1:16; #Ps 17:2)?
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That Jesus "shall judge [by these 4 processes the quick [the living] and
the dead at [during] his appearing and
his kingdom"; "he must reign [in His
1,000-year reign], till he hath put all enemies under his feet; the last
enemy that shall be destroyed is
death" (#2Ti 4:1; #1Co 15:24-26; #Ps 72:1-4; #Isa 11:1-6; 32:1; #Jer 23:5, 6; #Ho 13:14; #Re
20:11-15)?
DO YOU KNOW:
That Christ’s "Bride" and
Joint-heir, the true Church, will rule
with Him over the earth in the 1,000-year judgment day and assist in
judging the world, offering to them
"the water of life freely" (#1Co 6:2; #Ob 21; #Mt 19:28; #Lk 22:29, 30; #Ro 8:16-21; #2Ti 2:11, 12; #Re 3:21; 5:9,10; 20:4, 6; 22:17)?
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That according to God’s Oath-bound promise, Abraham’s Seed, i.e., Christ
and the Church, will bless "all
the families of the earth"; and this will be during their 1,000-year reign (#Ge 12:3; 22:16-18; #Gal 3:7-9, 16, 29;
#Heb 6:13-20; #Ac 3:19-25)?
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That those to be blessed include the dead as well as the living-that the
dead will be awakened from their
"sleep" in death (#Ps
6:5; 146:4; #Da 12:2; #Joh
5:28, 29, R.V.; #Joh 11:11-14; #1Th 4:14; #2Pe 3:4) and will then be given an exact knowledge of the truth and a full opportunity to gain
everlasting life?
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That eventually "God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and
there shall be no more death, neither
sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any
more pain: for the former things [things of Satan’s reign, including the
curse of sin and death] are passed
away" (#Re 21:1-4;
22:1-3; #Isa 35:10; 65:17-25)?
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That "when the Son of man shall come in his glory ... then shall he sit
upon the throne of his glory: and
before him shall be gathered all nations: and
[under the testings of that great judgment day] he shall separate them
one from another, as a shepherd
divideth his sheep from the goats"; and that those with good characters, pictured as sheep, will be
given everlasting life and "inherit
the kingdom" on earth (the meek shall inherit it-#Mt 5:5), whereas those who will
not have proved worthy, pictured as goats, will "go away into
everlasting punishment [Greek, kolasin,
cutting off]," the Second Death, never to live again-"all the wicked will he destroy"; "they
shall be as though they had not
been" (#Mt
25:31-46; #Ps 145:20; #Ob 16; #Mt 10:28; #2Pe 2:1, 12; #Jude
12)?
DO YOU KNOW:
That the destruction of the wicked is
symbolized by their being cast into
"the lake of fire," "which is the second death," into
"everlasting fire [fire is an apt
symbol, not of preservation but of destruction], prepared for the devil [who is to be destroyed,
annihilated-#Heb 2:14; #Eze 28:19]
and his angels" (#Re 20:14,15; 21:8)?
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That "the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life
through Jesus Christ," that
"the soul that sinneth, it shall die," that eventually "every soul, which will not hear [obey]
that prophet [Christ], shall be
destroyed from among the people" (#Ro 6:21, 23; #Joh 3:36; #1Jo 5:12;
Psa. 37: 38; #Eze 18:4, 20; #Ac 3:19-23)?
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That the Bible shows that the world’s judgment day is not Doomsday, but Salvation Day, when God’s Kingdom will rule
on earth; so we should rejoice greatly
as we see it approaching-"Let the earth be glad ... for he [God]
cometh to judge the earth: he shall
judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth"; "all the ends of the earth shall see
the salvation of our God," and
shall fear (reverence) Him (#Ps
96; 98; 67; #Isa 26:9; #Nu
14:21)?
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