#2 - The Hour of His Judgment - Pr. Opanda Wamalika | Prophecy

So, welcome to prophecy [snorts] second presentation. On Sabbath, the presentation I made was basically the introduction. And today we continue going a little bit deeper. Prophecy is actually Bible study. But it requires some commitment on your part, some concentration. So, that you may benefit from it. Today I'm talking about the hour of his judgment, the hour of the judgment of God. I told you those who are here on Sabbath that uh I've only picked on the theme of judgment. I'll run with this theme up to the end of the week. So, Revelation 14:7 says, "Saying with a loud voice, 'Fear God and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment has come. And worship him who made heaven and earth and the sea and the springs of water.'" Of course, verse 7 is a continuation, is a continuation of a sentence which begins in verse 6. And because um the word judgment is in verse 7, I'm focusing there. But for you to appreciate the idea that is being presented, it's important for you to know what verse 6 says. Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven with an everlasting gospel to preach to every creature on earth. And verse 7, I like the the King James version, "And he cried with a loud voice." It means this is an urgent message. So, the hour of his judgment uh I've quoted it from the New King James Version can be transliterated from Greek. If I have to write in English exactly the way it appears in Greek the hour of the judgment of him. But you see, that doesn't make sense in English grammar. That's why I told you on Sabbath that there is no there are not two languages which can fit in each other word for word. And so, translation we try to retain the idea. So, the hour of the judgment of him, hence giving two possible meanings. That is God being on trial. So, God is being judged. And God himself being the judge. Very interesting. Secondly, in the New Testament Bible, the word judgment has two meanings. It's very important. What I'm saying is that the word translated in English as judgment in Greek it has two meanings. The first one, when the Greek writes krima it means a crisis or trials, a catastrophic event. And when the Greek says krisis it means a judicial process. A judicial process. I do not intend to bother you with a lot of Greek. Those are the only two words I'll use. So, please, it is not too burdensome on your part to know krima and krisis. Let me see if >> [snorts] >> it is not troubling you yet. Can you all say krima? Krisis. Yes, in English they just translated judgment. So, now, let's look at the view that God is the judge. The judgment of God always goes through two phases, according to the way the New Testament has presented that theme. Phase one is judgment for the righteous or for the people of God, then followed by phase two, judgment for the what? The wicked. Whether or not judgment is seen as punishment or crisis or a judicial process. Let's start by looking at judgment as a punishment or a crisis, a catastrophic event. And we all know that, those who have read the New Testament, particularly prophetic books, you will see how it presents how the world will end, particularly Revelation chapter six, from verse 15, we see terrible things happening there. That's judgment. For example, Israel was taken by Babylon and later Babylon was destroyed. The people of God are punished first, and then the wicked are punished next. The Bible says, therefore, he brought against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary and had no compassion on young man or virgin, on the aged or the weak. He gave them all into his hand. And later we see Babylon being destroyed. That very night Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans, was slain and Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about 62 years old. Daniel chapter 5:30. And when we follow up with the life of Daniel, we see that he was drawn into the lion's den and later his tormentors, the people of God are punished first and then next the wicked. Then the book of Daniel says, "And the king gave the command and they brought those men who had accused Daniel and they cast them into the den of lions, them, their wicked and their wives." So, we have seen Daniel um was thrown in the lion's den and later on the people were thrown into the lion's den. And the lions devoured them and broke all their bones in pieces before they ever came to the bottom of the den. We have many other Old Testament examples. For example, in the book of Esther, if you read the whole book, you'll find that first there is Haman's conspiracy to destroy the Jews, which gave the Jews a lot of crises in their hearts. Later Esther and Mordecai saved the Jews and destroyed Haman, Haman and company. In the New Testament, the book of 1 Peter chapter 4:17, we have read it so many times, "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. The context from verse 12 presents that judgment by Peter as trials facing the people of God by reason of their faith. He says, "Brothers, do not see it strange when you face all manner of trials." Read the whole thing up to verse 19 and you'll see Peter is not talking about a judicial process. He's talking about a punishment, a crisis, trials facing the people of God. There's a small quotation I want to do from Adam Clark on 1 Peter chapter 4 verse 17. Hope they're clear. He says, "But probably the word krima, which we here translate judgment, may mean no more than affliction and distress. For it was a Jewish maxim that when God was about to pour down some general judgment, he began with afflicting his own people in order to correct and amend them that they might be prepared for the war following the score." In that quotation, we have the same sentiment and in nearly the same words as in Peter, namely, "God never punishes the world but because of the wicked, but he always begins with the righteous first. The destroyer makes no difference between the just and the unjust. Only he begins first with the righteous. See Ezekiel chapter 9 verse 1 to 7, where God orders the destroyer to both to slay both old and young in the city. But said he, "Begin at my sanctuary." I want to give more New Testament examples. Um Hello? Okay. Can you hear my voice? Yeah. Oh, oh, it's there. Good. In Revelation chapter 7 verse 14, it says, "And I said to him, 'Sir, you know.'" So, he said to me, "These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb." The righteous who have suffered tribulation, crisis, first, chapter 7. And then we see the wicked suffering next. Revelation chapter 9 verse 18, "By these three plagues, a third of mankind was killed by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which came out of their mouth." That story runs from chapter 8 verse 2. But Revelation 13 verse 15, crisis for the righteous, then next crisis for the wicked. He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. And now look later on. Chapter 16 verse 2, "So, the first went and poured out his bowel." That's the first angel. He went and poured out his bowel upon the earth and a foul and loathsome sore came upon the men who had the mark of the beast and those who worshipped his image. They're suffering. Matthew chapter 24 verse 21 to 22. For then Jesus said, "There will be great tribulation such as has not been seen since the beginning of the world until this time. No, nor ever shall be." And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved. But for the elect's sake, those days will be shortened. This is referring to tribulation against the people of God. But look at verse 29 to 30. Immediately after the tribulation, the then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven. And then all the tribes of the earth will mourn. And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. So, you are seeing I'm just presenting one idea. That judgement as a punishment will always begin with the righteous and then the wicked. Even in a family that believes in God, even those who don't believe in God, if you look at families, some families are going through a difficult time. And intelligent people there would call the elderly and ask them, "What is the problem? Everybody's dying. Kuna nini mbaya?" What happened is that when a family is going through a crisis, which is not normal, you will notice that the good people in that family are the ones who start suffering. But the bad drunkards and what have you, they are just okay, alive and kicking. The reason is so that the good people may sit and reflect and ask themselves, "Where have we gone wrong?" And they make corrections. The wicked don't have time to think about that. So God will punish you, good person. If you will not take steps to correct the problems in your family, wait and see. Later on those drunkards and all those people who are wayward will undergo uh trials that you have never seen before. Now, let's look at God being the judge. Okay? We have already said that the judgment of God always goes through two phases. Judgment for the righteous, then followed by judgment for the wicked. Whether or not judgment is viewed as punishment or a judicial process. So now, let's look at judgment as a judicial process in the Bible. The judgment of the righteous has always taken place since the ascension of Jesus Christ from the ascension of Jesus Christ to date. This is a very very very important point. When we reach Wednesday, Thursday, you'll discover that if you didn't take some of these points that I'm underlining and highlighting, there are certain things I'll be saying that may start slipping through your fingers. So I'm saying that first point that I'm saying is important. The judgment of the righteous has always taken place from the ascension of Jesus to death. But, the wicked judgment as a judicial process will take place until the end of the world. Now, examine the following text with reference to judgment of the righteous. Romans chapter 5 verse 1 to 2. It says, "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God." I've underlined the justified and I've underlined we have peace with God. "Through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God." Not that justification is a judicial verdict of acquittal. You cannot be justified without a judicial process interrogating you and declaring you as just. That's what the Bible is saying. That when we believe in Jesus, we are declared judicially as just. And therefore, what happened? We have peace with God. When we have peace with God, we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Look at Romans chapter 5 verse 18. "Therefore, as through one man's offense, judgment came to all men resulting in condemnation. Even so, through one man's righteous act, the free gift came to all men resulting in justification of life. I've put an arrow there. men and resulting meaning that there is information that the writer has assumed you know. A gift can be of value to you if you receive it. So, if you don't receive a gift, you are as if you never was given a gift. The fact that you have not accepted a gift does not nullify you having been given that gift. So, you have to accept it. The result is justification. That word is a judicial word. You have been declared I love the revised standard version. It says acquittal. When you are acquitted, it means that there will be no other judgment that you'll go through that you'll have to acquit you again or condemn you. Are you seeing that point? And Romans chapter 8 verse 1, there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit. For those who may want something a little bit deeper, I inform you that uh those underlined words were supplied by the translators. The original authentic Greek version doesn't have them. And even the New International Version doesn't have them. Probably that's one of the reason why students where I passed a field that they don't like New International Version because it has omitted some parts. It's not accidental or malicious on the part of New International Version. It's true that the the original Greek version doesn't have it. And why did the translators put there? Because when you read the whole of Roman chapter 8, you will see that the saints who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit is implied in the first statement. But the fact is that Paul didn't write it and he knows why. It means the first statement is complete stable. It doesn't need to be added anything. There is therefore now now. What's now? Now. No condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Period. I want to read John chapter 5 verse 24. And you can see my title there. There is no judicial process for the righteous. In other words, the righteous appearing in the heavenly court and undergoing a judicial process. If I'm understanding these statements well, I don't think that will be there. Look at Jesus. What does he say? 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." I noticed that they used the word crisis and I told you that crisis I hope I've said if I I've not said let me say it. Krisis refers more to judgment as a judicial process. And krima to judgment as a crisis, as a punishment. So, Jesus is saying that if you believe in him, you will not undergo judgment as a judicial process. Are you seeing that point? But has passed from death into life. Now, um the question is how come Revelation 14:14 presents a scene or an event that seemingly talks about the righteous being judged judicially. I'll mention of course later, actually, that by studying deeply that will not be a judicial process, but it will be sealing. But let's go slowly. Then I looked and behold a white cloud and on the cloud sat one like the Son of Man having on his head a golden crown and in his hand a sharp sickle. I'll come back. And another angel came out of the temple crying with a loud voice to him on the cloud, "Thrust in your sickle and reap, for the time has come for you to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe." So, he who sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped. Seemingly, it's talking about judgment, the end of the world. And if you read verse 14 to 20. Revelation 14. You will see verse 14 to 20, two judgments take place. Reaping or harvesting. The righteous first and from verse 17 the wicked first. I'll make several comments on that. So, let's go to the right hand. The wicked next. Righteous first, the wicked last. Then another angel of the temple which is in heaven. He also having a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of out from the altar who had power over fire and he cried with a loud voice. He cried with a loud He cried aloud. So, the word with not be there. To him who had the sharp sickle saying, "Thrust in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth for her grapes are fully ripe." So, the angel thrust his sickle into the earth and gather the vine of the earth and threw it into the great wine press of the wrath of God. So, this is judgment for the wicked after judgment for the righteous. But I'm mentioning it appears as if it's a judicial process, but I'll mention more deeply that. Look at the the information referring to the righteous. Since it is clear that judgment for the righteous is a continuous process since the ascension, the harvesting or generally very many books written by Adventist eschatologists, they say harvesting refers to judgment at the end of time. But the harvesting that we have just mentioned in this passage refers to what is called sealing. The righteous are sealed. Now, you are justified and then you are sealed because some people who are justified reach somewhere in their Christian pilgrimage and turn around and go back. So, that's that's the thing. You are justified. We don't preach about one saved always saved. No. You are saved and the Bible teaches that clearly. You know the story of the that 10 virgins. All of them were ready. They had the the the garments. They were going to wait for Jesus. But some something happened on the way. They never entered. So, that's why I'm saying there is justification. You are walking. You are a spiritual man, but somewhere you need sealing. So, that's the point I'm saying. And so, Revelation 14:20 Now, I'm referring to the wicked compared to Revelation 20:8-9 shows that they are the same and take place after the millennium. That is the event judgment for the wicked. Let's look at that. Judgment for the wicked um and the winepress was trampled outside the city and blood came out of the winepress up to the horses' bridles for 1,600 furlongs. And chapter 20:8-9, which is referring the same to the wicked. They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city and fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. So, judgement for the righteous I've mentioned they will not undergo judgement as a judicial process. But those who will undergo judgement as a judicial process are the wicked. 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 a fiery flame. Its wheels a burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him. A thousand thousand ministered to him. 10,000 times 10,000 stood before him. The court was seated and the books were opened. This obviously is a judicial process, right? But the court shall be seated and they shall take away his dominion to consume and destroy it forever. That's Daniel 7:26 and the other one is Daniel 7:9-10. So, 7:26 is an emphasis of what has happened in the first part of the chapter. Only the wicked are judged in Daniel chapter 7. A careful reading of Daniel chapter 7 shows that it was the wicked who are judged or they underwent a trial at the end of the world based on what was written in the books and were condemned and that judgement was passed in favor of the righteous. So, the righteous are favored. They don't undergo a judicial process, but the wicked do undergo a judicial process. If you read Daniel chapter 7 several times, you'll notice it is referring to the judgment of the wicked and not the righteous. And this judgment, which is the same one recorded in Revelation 20, takes place during the millennium. While the righteous are presently being justified by faith. The wicked will be condemned based on works written in the books. Now, let's let's let's go a little bit deeper there. Daniel 7 and Revelation 20. Look at Daniel 7. The court was seated. And the books were opened. And verse 26 says, "But the court shall be seated and they shall take away his dominion to consume and destroy it forever." The wicked are being judged. That event is the same one in chapter 20 Revelation. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. You can compare that, right? And another book was opened, which is the book of life. That one, put it in parentheses. It is not referring to the wicked. The books that were opened. So, you can read and jump that. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And the dead were judged according to their works by the things which were written in the books. So, we have two categories of books here. One is books. Another one is the book of life. So, the wicked will be judged based on works. You already know that the Bible has spoken in so many places. We shall repeat all these things as we continue. We are not justified by works. You see? So, the righteous cannot be judged on the basis of works written in books. The righteous are justified by faith without works. The Bible is very clear. But, the wicked shall be judged based on what is written in the books. So, let's go back to statement we began with. The hour of his judgment has come. Since Now, it's important. Since the judgment referred to in chapter 14 verse 7 is a judicial one, because that word judgment in Greek is crisis. Is a judicial one. And the righteous won't go through this process as already seen. Who is going through that process? It follows that the one on trial must be God himself. You know, in the judgment of God, the righteous are involved where their response is a contingent of their ceiling. What I'm saying is that those who respond to the gospel call are sealed. And those who reject the gospel call are condemned in the millennial judgment. Now, God is on trial. And as I'll be mentioning later on in our subsequent presentations, the righteous are called upon to serve as witnesses. God is on trial and is depending on the witness of the righteous. Are you seeing that? Yes. So, that I'm saying that uh uh their response is a contingent of their ceiling. Now, it means that I hope everything is still okay. People who will be sealed will be interrogated or let me use the word cross-examined to test if their witness will vindicate God or will condemn God. But I'll talk in details on those things. Now, I have said not more than two points. The first point is that judgment particularly in the New Testament means a punishment and a judicial process. And those people are judged first. And then the wicked. Whether we view judgment as a punishment or whether we view it as a judicial process. And then I've mentioned that the righteous are not going to wait for a particular point in future when they will be judged. The judgment for the righteous began at the ascension of JESUS CHRIST. WHEN you believe, you are justified. Meaning, you are judged because justification is a verdict emanating from a judicial process. The judgment that has been mentioned in Daniel chapter 7 is not for the righteous. I'm sure you have heard very many prophetic expositors, preachers mentioning that it refers to the righteous also. No, it doesn't. I'll repeat these things again and again. We shall look thoroughly on Revelation chapter 20. We shall notice that if you read as students and the young people like saying reading between the lines, you will notice that it's not judgment for the righteous, but for the wicked. Are you seeing that point? Yes. So, now up to this point, I have a few minutes to go. Uh because it's Bible study, Bible study is not a sermon. I want a question or a comment provided that the comment is restricted within what I have said. Yes, we have So, let me see the first two hands. Can I mama happen? And then there's a gentleman on that side. All right. Questions are better. But comments are not bad. Yes. >> Happy camp meeting Sabbath. >> Amen. >> Um I got confused when you said that we will not be justified by works. I always thought it would be faith and works. But you said for the righteous it would be faith only. One, two. Uh please speak a a bit more about these books. Um I've always got some confusion. >> About what? >> The books. How many books are there? I know the book of life and these other books that it talks about. What books are these? >> All right. >> Thank you. Mhm. >> Thank you, pastor. Um Paul is saying that uh a time will come that the saints will also be given an opportunity to look at the books and to do judgment. And according to the presentation we've got uh can you put to us uh at what point are the saints are given the opportunity now to do the judgment? Because what you've covered in Daniel 7 and also in Daniel in Revelation 14 put that uh uh the heavens are the one that are in charge of uh judgment. Uh what I've always understood is that the second phase of judgment are the review. Which the Lord God himself now gives to the saints. Now, look at the books. If you go to the Lord and you ask him, "Oh, my mother was a good person. He had believed and is not here." And now he gives you the books. Look at the records of your mother. Look at the records of your father. I've always believed that. And in concurrence with what Paul is also saying that we'll also have the opportunity to uh to do judgment and to even judge even the angels. Put to the context where we find ourselves in the seats of judgment. >> Uh thank you so much. Um All right. >> [clears throat] >> The goodness of your question is that they helped me uh uh improve on my presentation. Tailor them to meet those questions. Uh one point I can say is that uh it is clear in scripture and it should be clear to all of us that we are not justified or we are not saved by works but by faith. That's very important. And uh one of my presentations, you have asked about uh what about works? I mean, we are saved by faith. Then, you mean works uh don't >> [laughter] >> Yeah. The The only thing for now, it's there in coming. The only thing for now is that uh while works are important for those who are saved for the righteous, unfortunately, those works will not be considered in judgment. See, that's the thing that I can say. Yeah, works are important, but as important as they are, they are not considered in judgment. So, we shall look in detail that. Brother, thank you so much what you have said. It's lined up in forthcoming presentation. Thank you so much for the response. But, you can also text me. You can just write a text to me. You ask or even you say what you like me to highlight. But, remember it is judgment. I'm dealing with the judgment theme from beginning to end. Thank you so much. My number you are able to get it, but let me say 0710 992712. 07 10 992 7 1 2. Don't miss tomorrow's presentation. It's entitled God on trial. God on trial. Let us pray. Father in heaven, we thank you for giving us the opportunity to look at this question of judgment. Sometimes it brings problems. We ask that we may be humble before you so that you may teach us so that we may live lives that glorify your name. Preserve us until tomorrow for the next presentation in Jesus' name. Amen. God bless us.