Jesus the Judge – Part 2

Hey, podcast listeners! Thanks for streaming today's podcast, From Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory is a nonprofit ministry featuring the Bible teaching of Dr. Robert Jeffress. Our mission is to pierce the darkness with the light of God's word through the most effective media available, like this podcast. To support Pathway to Victory, go to ptv.org slash donate or follow the link in our show notes.

Now, here's today's podcast, From Pathway to Victory. God's Word with you every day on this Bible teaching program. On today's edition of Pathway to Victory, we're going to discover today how the end times reveal another one of Jesus' roles. Not only did the end times reveal Jesus as Messiah and Prophet and King, they reveal Him to be the true judge of all of the world.

Most people don't believe Jesus would ever judge anyone. But as we're going to see today, the fact is Jesus is going to judge everyone. Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor Dr. Robert Jeffress. People often say that the wicked will meet their just rewards. So is there really going to be a day of reckoning? Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress shares what the Bible says about the judgments that will occur at the end of time. We'll also discover why Jesus Christ has been appointed as the ultimate judge of all humanity. Now, here's our Bible teacher to introduce today's message. Dr. Jeffress? Thanks, David, and welcome again to Pathway to Victory.

Let me start with a question today. What comes to your mind when you hear the name Jesus? Maybe it's a classical painting, or maybe it's the face of an actor playing Jesus in a television program. Well, Jesus is the most portrayed person in human history.

But most of these depictions stem from the first coming of Jesus, not his second coming. This becomes the genesis or the impetus for my brand new book called Jesus Revealed in the End Times. In my new book, I introduce you to the multifaceted person of Jesus Christ. Each chapter celebrates a specific role he plays in our lives. Jesus the Messiah, Jesus the prophet, the lamb, the conqueror, the king, the judge, the Lord, and maybe best of all, Jesus our friend. I'd like to send you a hardbound copy of my brand new book. This 200-page volume is one of the most important books I've ever written, and a copy is yours when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory.

And when you respond today, I'll be sure to include a collection of encouragement cards. Each one can be displayed on your desk or in your kitchen as a constant reminder that Jesus is coming again, and he is your hope. Today in our message, Jesus the judge, we're going to look at five judgments in the end times over which Jesus is going to preside. The first judgment, we call it the judgment seat of Christ. Paul wrote, for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one of us may be rewarded for what we have done in the body, whether it be good or bad.

We're gonna be judged and rewarded according to what kind of life we have lived. That's the judgment seat of Christ. The second judgment Jesus will preside over is the judgment of the tribulation martyrs. What do you mean the tribulation martyrs? They will go through the world witnessing and evangelizing, and through their witness, many will come to know Christ as Savior during the tribulation. Many of those believers, Jews and Gentiles alike, will be martyred because of their faith. And so they will be, at the end of the tribulation, those tribulation martyrs, they will be raised from the dead and receive their new bodies, and they will be rewarded.

This is the judgment seat of Christ. The judgment of the tribulation martyrs. There's a third judgment, the judgment of Israel. And the Bible, the Old Testament, is filled with prophecies about this judgment.

Isaiah 11, 12 says, he will lift up a standard. God will lift up a standard for the nations and assemble the banished ones of Israel and will gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. Remember that during the tribulation, there are many Jews who will be saved, many who aren't saved. But in the last three and a half years of the tribulation, Satan, the dragon, in concert with the beast, the antichrist, goes after Christians and Jews alike.

And many of them flee into the wilderness, and they escape death. But they can't escape the judgment of God. He is bringing back all of the Jews, at this time, for a judgment. What is that judgment?

It is according to a standard. He will lift up, and that standard is Jesus Christ. Now listen to this, because a lot of Christians in today's world are confused about this. You don't go to heaven for being a Jew.

No. There's one way to heaven. It is through faith in Jesus Christ. And so, before the millennium, it is important to separate righteous Jews, those who have trusted in Christ, and the unrighteous rebels that need to be judged, those who have opposed the Messiah. And that's what happens during the judgment of Israel. I could point to many scriptures.

Isaiah was one. Another one is Ezekiel 20, verses 37 to 38. God's talking to Israel.

He said, I will make you pass under the rod. I will bring you into the bond of the covenant. In other words, they're outside the covenant, if they're Jews and not believers. Abrahamic covenant, that was for believing Jews, not for every Jew, for believing Jews. Paul said, not all those who claim to be Israel are really Israel. The only way you can be a true Israelite is to believe in Christ and be a descendant of Abraham. But he's saying here, I will make you pass under the rod, and I will purge you from the rebels, those who transgress against me, and I will bring them out of the land where they sojourn, but they will not enter the land of Israel. Here's a group of Jews who will not enter the land.

And it's those who have rebelled against the gospel. I will bring them out of the land where they sojourn, they will not enter Israel. Thus you will know that I am the Lord. Jeremiah 23, verse six. In his days, Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. That's believing Judah.

Believing Israel will dwell securely. And this is his name by which he shall be called the Lord of righteousness. And that closely fits in with the fourth judgment. Not only will Israel, not only will the Jews who survived the tribulation be judged to separate the righteous from the unrighteous, the Gentiles will be judged at this time as well, the judgment of the Gentiles. It's many ways similar to the judgment of Israel, and that is it occurs in the interim period before the millennium, and it's a way of separating the righteous from the unrighteous. Only the righteous will enter into the millennium. Jesus talked about this judgment of the Gentiles.

In Matthew 25, 31 to 33, part of the Olivet Discourse, when the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate from one another as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep on his right and the goats on the left. Now, when we talk about the judgment of nations, listen to this, it's not what we think. I used to think, used to hear people say, well, God's going to judge the United States of America, and he's going to judge Great Britain and Scandinavia. There's going to be a judgment of nations, because after all, that's what it says.

And you press it, well, why are these nations? Well, they're primarily non-Jewish. There are a few Jews, but mainly it's non-Jews, and so we're going to be judged by nations. No, that's not what it's saying.

That's impossible. First of all, there are no eternal judgments of nations. We are judged individually by our relationship with God. Now, a nation can be under God's judgment. We see that in the Old Testament, Babylon, because they practiced child sacrifice, and Israelites, because they imitated that. They were judged by God.

They had dire consequences. I believe the same thing's true in America. I believe as long as we allow the murder of millions of unborn babies into womb, we're going to experience God's judgment. And even righteous people, those who believe the right thing about life, have to suffer the fallout of living in a nation that doesn't believe that.

But that's not what this is talking about. The best way to understand the nations, the word is ethne in Greek. It's simply referring to individual Gentiles, non-Jews. God is going to judge Gentiles, just like he judged the Israelites, and Joel 3, verse 2 talks about that. What will be the basis upon which he judges the Gentiles?

Now, this is so misunderstood. Look at Matthew 25, 34 through 40. He has just said, I'm going to separate the sheep from the goats, believers from unbelievers.

Verse 34, then the king will say to those who are on his right, come, you who are blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom which I prepared for you. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you invited me in naked and you clothed me.

I was sick and you visited. I was in prison and you came to me. Then the righteous will answer him and say, Lord, when did we see you hungry or feed you or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in or a naked and clothe you?

When did we see you sick and in prison and come to visit you? Then the king will answer and say to them, truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of mine, even the least of them, you did it to me. Now, some people rip this passage out of context and say, well, that's the mission of the church. Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit those in prison.

That's what we're supposed to do. That's what Jesus said. And if you do that enough times, you get to go to heaven. Is that what Jesus is saying?

No, remember the context. He's talking about how Gentiles will be judged who lived during the tribulation. And Jesus is saying how they treat the brothers of Jesus.

Who are the brothers of Jesus? Jews who are saved. He's talking about the 144,000 witnesses. They're the ones who are imprisoned and kept from eating because they won't take the mark of the beast.

He said to the extent that you show mercy to them and love for them, you're showing love for me. How they treat the 144,000 witnesses is a proxy for their relationship to Jesus. That's what he's talking about here, the judgment of the Gentiles. There is a final judgment and that is the great white throne judgment. And it is the judgment of all unbelievers from the beginning of time.

I thought for a long time yesterday afternoon how to explain this to you. But in the Bible, there are two resurrections. The first resurrection is the resurrection of all of the believers. Every believer is a part of the first resurrection. Remember Paul said, as in Adam all die, so in Christ all shall be made alive, but each according to his order. The first resurrection isn't one event at a time in history.

It's a series of things that occurs. There's a resurrection parade. Jesus is at the head. He was the first one raised from the dead.

Following Jesus is the church. That's you and I when we are raised and given our new bodies at the rapture of the church. And then the Old Testament saints will be raised along with the tribulation martyrs. They get their new body at the end of the tribulation.

And then some in the millennium get theirs at the end of the millennium. Four different times, four different groups of people receive the resurrection body, but they're all part of the first resurrection. Blessed is he who is part of the first resurrection, for over him the second death has no power. But there is a second resurrection that it occurs one time. And it's when all unbelievers who have ever lived are raised in judgment.

Now listen to this. When believers die, they immediately go into the presence of Jesus to be absent from the bodies to be at home with the Lord. It doesn't matter whether you're an Old Testament saint, you live in Jesus' time, you're in the church age, whether you're in the tribulation, when a believer dies he goes to be with Christ.

But his body awaits a resurrection at the appointed time. When a non-Christian dies since the day of Adam, he goes to another place called Hades. It is a temporary holding place for unbelievers. It is a place of terrible suffering.

Jesus talked about it in the parable of the rich man in Lazarus in Luke 16. But that's not their final destination. They are awaiting the one judgment, the great white throne judgment that will dispatch them to their ultimate destination. So there are two resurrections, the first resurrection and then the second resurrection that John describes in Revelation 20 verses 12 to 13. Now you listen closely for the next eight minutes because what I'm about to tell you will change your eternal destiny.

Many of you, it determines your eternal destiny. So listen carefully. Revelation 20 verses 12 and 13, John says, I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne. And the books, underline that, the books were opened. And another book, underline that singular book, was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, the books plural, according to their, what?

Their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it. And death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them. And they were judged, every one of them, according to their deeds, plural. What does it mean death and Hades gave them up? At the great white throne judgment, all unbelievers who have been waiting in Hades, perhaps for thousands of years, they will be raised in order to be judged.

Now, what is the basis? How will non-Christians be judged? Notice God keeps two sets of books. There is the book, singular, the book of life, that records the name of every person who's ever trusted in Christ as their savior. If you are a Christian today, your name is written in indelible ink in that book of life. There is the book of life, but there are also the books. There is a set of books that records your every thought, your every word, your every action.

It records that for every human being who has ever lived. Now, when an unbeliever stands before Jesus Christ at the great white throne judgment, he will be judged not by the book. His name isn't in the book.

He will be judged by what's in the books. You see, the unbeliever has his name not written in the book of life out of his own choice. He has said, I don't need Jesus Christ to go to heaven. I don't need God's grace. I'm good enough. I'm not perfect, but I'm good enough to make it to heaven on my own.

I don't need God's grace. God says, fine. If you want to be judged by your works, we'll judge you by your works.

Let's open them up and see what they are. Every unbeliever will see a list of everything he's ever done, said, or thought, and he will come to an understanding that the perfect standard of righteousness, Jesus Christ, means that he has fallen short of that perfect standard of righteousness. And the Bible says, because of his own choice, he will be judged by his works. And the Bible says, if anyone's name, verse 15, was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. What is the lake of fire? It is the eternal destination of those who are unsaved. If a person's name is not written in the book of life, he will be cast into the lake of fire. It is a place of darkness, of solitude, of loneliness, of the weeping and gnashing of teeth, Matthew 13 42. But the worst thing about the lake of fire is this. Jesus said in Matthew 25 46, it is an eternal destination. He was cast into the lake of fire and tormented day and night forever and ever. Ladies and gentlemen, here's the terrible truth about hell.

When a person has spent 10 billion trillion years in that horrible place, he will not have lessened by one second the time he has left to spend there. I don't believe that, Pastor. I can't believe in a Jesus Christ who would sentence somebody to an eternity of suffering.

I can't accept that. Then you don't believe in the Jesus of the Bible. You believe in the Jesus of your own imagination because the Jesus of the Bible said hell is a place of eternal damnation. Jesus spoke more often of hell than he did about heaven because it's a reality. It's a reality from which every sane person would find a way of escape if they could. Jesus Christ is not just one way.

He is the only way of escape. What does that mean for us today? Revelation 22 verse 12, Jesus said, Behold, I the judge am coming quickly and I bring my reward with me to recompense every person for what he has done. For some people, that's a rejoicing thought.

That's something to anticipate. If you're living for Christ and your name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life, you can look forward to rewards. Jesus is coming to reward the righteous, but don't forget he's also coming to judge the unrighteous at the great white throne of judgment.

The best thing you can do to be ready is to trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior today because the judge is coming. One of the most popular judges in America today is Judge Frank Caprio, who serves as the Chief Judge of the Municipal Court of Providence, Rhode Island until recently. His rulings are televised on the program Caught in Providence.

You may have seen it on television. He's known as a judge who's especially merciful and compassionate, trying to offer help to those convicted to start a new way of living, but he wasn't always a compassionate judge. In fact, on his first day as a judge, first day on the bench, a woman was brought to him who had $300 in parking tickets, and he tried to offer her a repayment plan.

She said she didn't have any money to repay the fine, and he grew so angry at her that he ordered that her car be seized and sold at an auction. After he finished that case, he was feeling pretty good about himself. His dad happened to be in the courtroom that day to watch his son in his first day as judge. Judge Caprio came up to his father, well, how do you think I did, dad? His father said, lousy.

You didn't do too good at all. Frank said, what do you mean? He said, Frank, that woman was scared. She had no hope.

You intimidated her. You can't treat people that way. And from that point on, Judge Caprio decided to be a compassionate, a kind judge. But in a recent interview, he said, nevertheless, my primary role is to do justice. We have a compassionate Savior named Jesus Christ, who loved you and me so much, he voluntarily came and gave his life for the forgiveness of our sins. He's a compassionate Savior, but he's always a just judge as well. And one day he's coming to render justice to everyone who doesn't know Christ as Savior.

How can you be ready for the coming judge again? Do you know for sure your name is in the book of life? Do you know for sure you've trusted in Jesus Christ as your Savior? Trust in him today. Accept him today.

Because ladies and gentlemen, the truth is you either accept him as your Savior today, or you face him as your judge one day. There's no greater choice in all of life. This is your day to begin walking in harmony with God. And if you've made this decision, would you be sure to write and let me know? In a moment, David will give our mailing address. Your encouraging words will make it to my desk.

You can be certain of that, and I'll look forward to celebrating your decision. Earlier you heard me describe a book I've written on today's topic. It's brand new and already a bestseller. The book is titled Jesus Revealed in the End Times, and the subtitle is Hope for Today from the One Who Holds Our Future. Tomorrow is the final day in this brief teaching series, and if you've intended to request a copy of my book, be sure to reach out to us right away. Just mention my book, Jesus Revealed in the End Times, when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory.

I'll be sure it's sent to your home right away. In fact, I'm also going to include a collection of encouragement cards. These creative cards will provide a visual reminder that the King is coming, and He's the one who holds our future in the palm of His hands. In closing, I'd like to express my profound thanks to our Pathway partners and all who give generously to support Pathway to Victory. God has called me to teach His word with boldness, clarity, and conviction, but He's never asked me to do this all alone. Gratefully, He's brought about faithful friends like you, who empower us to pierce the darkness with the light of His word. Thanks so much, David.

Thanks, Dr. Jeffress. Today, when you support the ministry of Pathway to Victory by giving a generous gift or by becoming a Pathway partner, you're invited to request a copy of the brand new book by Dr. Robert Jeffress called Jesus Revealed in the End Times. Go to ptv.org or call us at 866-999-2965. And when you give $100 or more, you'll also receive the complete collection of audio and video discs for this month's teaching series, Jesus Revealed in the End Times.

You'll get that along with the corresponding study guide. Today and tomorrow, though, are the last days we'll mention this offer, so please get in touch right away. One more time, our phone number, 866-999-2965, or go to ptv.org. You could send your request by mail right to P.O. Box 223-609, Dallas, Texas, 75222. Again, that's P.O. Box 223-609, Dallas, Texas, 75222. I'm David J. Mullins.

Have you ever longed for a best friend, someone who truly understands you and supports you through life's ups and downs? Learn about Jesus, our friend. That's Friday on Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas. Embark on the spiritual journey of a lifetime on the Pathway to Victory Journeys of Paul Mediterranean Cruise, May 5 through 16, 2025. Enjoy 11 days of fellowship, relaxation, and spiritual refreshment while sailing aboard a luxury cruise ship. You'll visit sought-after island destinations like Santorini, Mykonos, and Crete.

And amidst all the natural beauty, you'll seek the one who created it. To book your spot on the 2025 Journeys of Paul Mediterranean Cruise, go to ptv.org. You made it to the end of today's podcast from Pathway to Victory, and we're so glad you're here. Pathway to Victory relies on the generosity of loyal listeners like you to make this podcast possible. One of the most impactful ways you can give is by becoming a Pathway partner. Your monthly gift will empower Pathway to Victory to share the gospel of Jesus Christ and help others become rooted more firmly in his word. To become a Pathway partner, go to ptv.org slash donate or follow the link in our show notes. We hope you've been blessed by today's podcast from Pathway to Victory.