AFTER THESE THINGS

All who do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, whose sins have not been washed in His blood, will be left on the earth to pass through the tribulation. Matt. 25:10-12. The Gospel of the grace of God (Acts 20:24) which promises justification by faith in Christ and heaven as an eternal home, will no longer be preached. Those who consciously rejected this great salvation will never again have another opportunity to be saved. Heb. 2:3; Acts 13:38-41.

The Lord will guide His saints to the Father's house on high. John 14:2,3; Heb. 2:13. After having led His people to the Father's house on high, the Lord will seat them at His table and serve them with heavenly joy. Luke 12:37.

The judgment seat of Christ will be established in heaven, where the Lord will sit as judge.* There are three main reasons for there to be a judgment. First, to magnify the grace of God in meeting our needs as sinners. This will show how great our debt actually was because of sin, when the sins and failures of our life are made manifest. We will learn how immense His grace is in passing over all of it. The second reason is so that, in all things, the perfect wisdom of God may be revealed. He identified Himself with His people. On that occasion He will answer all the difficult questions we had about our life. He will show the reason why the troublesome difficulties were necessary for our formation. The third reason is so that the rewards (recompenses) of the saints and the place they will occupy in the Kingdom may be determined. The result of this will stimulate the eternal praise of God's saints. The character of the session will not be judicial. It will not be the believer's sins that will be in question. This has already been settled once for all by the complete work of Christ on the cross. The knowledge of this gives the believer great boldness, since it assures him that he will not be surprised by the day of judgment (1 John 4:17). The believer can rest in perfect confidence in the Word of God, which is faithful and tells him that he "shall not come into condemnation" (John 5:24; Rom. 8:1). But the believer's actions (2 Cor. 5:10), his servile work performed for the Lord (1 Cor. 3:9-15), his motives (1 Cor. 4:4-5; Rom. 2:15,16), his words (Matt. 12:36,37), and his personal conduct (Rom. 14:1-12), will all be reviewed before the holy eye of the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything in the believer's life will be made manifest on that day, both what he practiced before and after his conversion.** This will reveal what the Lord's unlimited love and patient grace were during the believer's life. Believers will bless the hand that guided them and the heart that planned everything as they learn that "His way is perfect." Ps. 18:30.

[ Note: *There are two types of judge.

Christ will execute judgment in the character of both. One type of judge is the one who is in the character of someone invested with authority to decree the sentence in judgment upon a guilty defendant, for example, a judge who acts in the judicial courts of a country. The Christian will never find himself before Christ in this character of Judge (John 5:24; Rom. 8:1). The other type is the judge who acts as an arbiter, having sufficient knowledge to decide the merit of a given matter, for example, a judge of some contest or art exhibition. This type of judge evaluates the quality and beauty of a given work on display. It is in this second character that Christ is seen as Judge toward believers. ] When I stand before the present throne, Covered with adornments I did not win; Then I shall know the Lord fully, Then I shall know how much I have and do not know. [ Note: ** Some may disagree with this, but the Scriptures (2 Cor. 5:10) declare clearly that it is a matter of the actions done through the body, and not of the actions practiced after conversion. We were all in the body before we were converted. It will be necessary to have everything made manifest in the believer's life, to show that the Lord's unequaled grace is so great that it overcomes all. Where sin abounded, grace abounded much more (Rom. 5:20). It should also be remembered that the saints will be glorified on that occasion and will not be stained by the knowledge of such things revealed. On that day we will learn once for all how evil the flesh is, and this will only magnify the grace that sought us and found us. No one will be pointing his finger at another. All will have been brought there on the basis of one thing: grace, and only grace. And then, when we discover, in the midst of all this, that He will find a reason to reward us, we will be overcome by an understanding of His love and grace in a far deeper way than could ever be reached if everything were not revealed to us. This will produce the highest and most vibrant notes of praise "To Him who loves us and washed us from our sins in His blood" (Rev. 1:5). ] All will receive a reward. Each one will receive the praise that comes from God (1 Cor. 4:5; Matt. 25:21-23). There may be seven crowns that will be given as reward. The incorruptible crown (1 Cor. 9:25), the crown of rejoicing (1 Thess. 2:19), the crown of righteousness (2 Tim. 4:8), the crown of life (James 1:12; Rev. 2:10), the crown of glory (1 Pet. 5:4), the crown of gold (Rev. 4:4) and the crown given to those who overcome (Rev. 3:11).

All the heavenly saints (represented in the 24 elders) will take their places on thrones around the Lord in heaven and, as they look upon the Lord in all His glory as Creator and Redeemer, they will cast their crowns and themselves at His feet in worship and praise. Rev. 4-5.

The marriage supper of the Lamb (Christ)

will take place in heaven.* The bride is the Church. The guests for the marriage banquet will be the friends of the Bridegroom (John 3:29), the saints of the Old Testament. Rev. 19:6-10.

[ Note: *It is difficult to pinpoint exactly when this will happen. It will be at some point after the judgment seat of Christ and before His coming. ] As soon as the Holy Spirit and the Church*, whose presence on earth has been restraining the passions of men, are taken out of the scene, corruption and violence will quickly become established. Morality will be despised as it was in the days of Noah and Lot (Luke 17:26-29). Iniquity will multiply. 2 Thess. 2:6,7; Matt. 24:12.

[ Note: *The people of God are salt and light in this world. When the salt (which before the invention of the refrigerator was used as a preservative) is removed, corruption will become established. When the light is gone, darkness will pour in. Matt. 5:13-16. ] After the true Church has been called to glory, the Roman Catholic system will apparently gather many sects within Christendom (cited as being her children -- Rev. 2:23) into a corrupt religious system called "Mystery (religious), Babylon the great, the mother of prostitutes." This is the false church. Rev. 17:1,2. Just as the church of Rome sought in the past to influence the governmental system, she will again enter the political arena in a campaign to unite the nations of Western Europe and perhaps some of North America.* Countries such as Italy, Great Britain, France, Spain and others that enjoyed the light and privileges of Christianity without faith in Christ (being Christians only in name) will be involved in the coalition. The power, money and influence of these nations will help to unite them into a confederation of ten nations identified as the Beast. The formation of this Western Confederation of nations is the revival of the ancient Roman Empire predicted in the Scriptures. It is also referred to as Babylon in its political aspect. Rev. 6:1,2 (First seal); Rev. 13:3; Dan. 2:41-43; Dan. 7:7,8; 7:19-27.

[ Note: *Many seek to know where America fits into prophecy. Daniel 2:43 shows that the Roman Empire, whose roots are in Western Europe, will mix with "human seed." Without a doubt, this refers to the immigration of the peoples of Western Europe to North, Central and South America. The Americas were almost entirely populated by those who came from Europe. Canada has the peoples of France and Great Britain. The United States has the people of Great Britain and a mixture of all the other European nationalities. Mexico and other countries of Central America were populated mainly by the Spanish. The countries of South America are mostly of Spanish origin, except Brazil, populated mainly by the Portuguese. All these nationalities are European in their origin. ] The false church of Rome (the religious system) will control the revived Empire (the political system) for a time. It is to this that reference is made as the woman riding on the Beast. Rev. 17:1-13.

The city of Rome will be the capital of the newly revived Empire, the imperial throne. Rev. 17:9-13.

At the same time God will place in the hearts of the Jews (the two tribes, Judah and Benjamin) the desire to return to the land of Israel. Gen. 31:3; Isa. 18.

A naval power (probably the newly revived Roman Empire) will assist the Jews in their purpose of returning to the land of Israel. This maritime power will cause a national return of the Jews (of the two tribes). About 13 to 14 million Jews will return from all parts of the world, for political, commercial and cultural reasons alone. Isa. 18; Ps. 73:10.

The great multitude of Jews will return in unbelief. They will be apostates, having abandoned the knowledge of God and the Bible. Ps. 73:8-12; 1:4-6; Isa. 17:10. Among the multitude of Jews who return, there will be a notable remnant that fears God and is separated from the apostates because they have faith in Jehovah. They will fear God and tremble at His Word. Ps. 1:1-3; Isa. 17:6,7; 66:2; Mal. 3:16-18.

The hope of the faithful Jewish remnant will be the coming of the long-awaited Messiah to establish the Kingdom in accordance with the Scriptures of the Old Testament. Ps. 2.

Some among the faithful remnant, called "maschilim" ("the wise or instructed" -- cf. the note on Dan. 11:33 in the Bible translated by J. N. Darby) will instruct the others in the ways of the Lord. As a consequence of this a testimony for God will arise around Jerusalem. Dan. 12:1-3,10.

The gospel of the Kingdom will be preached.* It will be mainly the Jews who preach this gospel at the beginning, but later the Gentiles will also preach it. Those who have not consciously rejected the gospel of the grace of God preached in the Christian era will have an opportunity to receive the gospel of the Kingdom. A great multitude of Jews and Gentiles will believe the gospel, being blessed on the earth at the establishment of the Kingdom. Matt. 24:14; Ps. 96; Rev. 7.