Hartland Winter Convocation 2018: Preparing the Way

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Hartland Institute of Health and Education

Giancarlo De Miranda

God’s Perspective On the Three-Phased Judgement

We are going to be studying, I believe you can see here in the projection, God's perspective on the three-phase judgment.

I'd like to analyze this theme with you this morning and try to help you to understand how God interacts with His created beings.

We are told that this is life eternal, that we might know him, the only true God in Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

To know Him is to love Him and by beholding we become changed.

And I believe this is our desire this morning to become more like Jesus, more like our Heavenly Father.

We also want to implement some principles that we are going to learn in this Bible study.

We wanted to make it practical in our personal lives And I believe by the end of our study, as we analyze the 3 phases of the judgment, we can draw a very important principle of the government of God that we can apply in our everyday life.

We are told in Scripture, you don't need to turn there, but in 1 Corinthians chapter 4 verse 9 that the world where we live became a spectacle to the universe.

In other words, the universe is watching this world for 2 main reasons.

1, they are interested to see who will accept the gospel and repent and have everlasting life.

But second, they are interested to see how God deals with His people, with His intelligent creation.

They are watching to see how God deals with his creatures like the principle of his government.

We are told in 1st Peter 1 12, you don't need to turn there, that the angels they desire to look into the plan of salvation.

They are carefully observing what God is doing in order to save mankind.

I would like to share a quote from the Spirit of Prophecy with you, which I believe it's a very important quote which will establish a foundation for our study this morning.

Now notice with me what it says here, but the plan of redemption had a yet broader and a deeper purpose than the salvation of man.

It was not for this alone that Christ came to the earth.

It was not merely that the inhabitants of this little world might regard the love of God as it should be regarded.

So if it was not only for that, what was another reason?

It says here, but it was to, what is the next word there?

Vindicate the character of God before the planet earth.

Before I continue to read this passage, I'd like to emphasize here that God is actually providing answers for his created beings of the universe, to the holy angels, to the unfalling worlds.

God is interested to provide answers for his creatures.

He wants to vindicate his character because we know that Satan accused God from the beginning several accusations such as that God's law cannot be perfectly kept, that the angels could not keep God's law.

He came to this earth and then he proposed that man could not keep God's law.

Satan seemed to be right in his accusation.

And then he accused Christ that fallen man, sinful man cannot be forgiven.

Then he says that if they are forgiven God is not just.

Several accusations were made against the government of God, how He deals with His creatures.

Now I want to continue this statement, the act of Christ in dying for the salvation of man in the cross of Calvary, the greatest revelation of the character of Christ, would not only make heaven accessible to man, but before all the universe, it would justify God and His Son in their dealing with the rebellion of Satan.

The task of God is not only to save mankind but actually to save the whole universe.

Even though many of his creatures did not rebel against him but yet they are in danger.

And it is the work of Christ, the work of God to reveal His character more fully to the whole universe in order to protect them from the seeds of rebellion that Satan has sown in the universe.

And then it finishes by saying, it would establish the property of the law of God and would reveal the nature and the results of sin.

So here is the foundation of our study this morning.

In the cross of Calvary, God in Christ revealed to the universe his character of love.

However, I would like to suggest this morning that many of us, and when I say many of us I'm referring to mankind, we do not understand what Christ did for us in Gethsemane, also in the cross.

Many people don't even believe in Christ, some do not even heard about Christ, some has rejected Christ because they don't fully understand His love for them.

And in order for the character of God to continue to be vindicated, it must continue to be unfolded.

And the way God chose to continue to unfold His character of love which He revealed in the cross of Calvary is through the 3 phases of the judgment.

We find in Timothy chapter 5 and verse 24, we find at least 2 different judgments here.

It says, Some men's sins are opened beforehand, going, notice carefully here, before to judgment, and some men they follow after.

So these verses give us the understanding that God will judge mankind at least, we know it's 3 phases of the judgment, but in these verses we find at least 2 phases of the judgment.

Some people they will be judged before and some people will be judged after.

And God would like to continue to unfold His character of love during these phases of the judgment.

Now we find in 1 Peter 4 verse 17 an idea of who is going to be judged first.

For the time has come that judgment must begin where?

So God will judge mankind and also angels in 3 different stages but the very first stage is with the house of God.

The house of God is referring to those who profess to believe in Christ, those who have professed to follow the true God, they are going to be judged.

We find an inspiration in this statement which says, I want to read it for you, it says, so in the great day of the final atonement, in the investigative judgment, the only cases considered are those of the professed people of God.

So who are going to be judged in the investigative Judgment, the very first phase of the judgment.

It says there, it says clearly there, those who have professed to be the people of God.

The judgment of the wicked is a distinct and separate work just as we saw in 1 Timothy chapter 5.

We know it's during the millennium, the 1, 000 years.

This quote is in the Great Controversy, page 480.

Now, I would like to analyze more carefully the investigative judgment, because that's what we are going to do this morning.

We are going to analyze the investigative judgment, the millennium judgment, and the judgment after the millennium, in order to understand how God deals with his creatures, how God provides answers to the universe including to mankind, just and wicked and also the fallen angels.

And as we analyze that again we want to understand more of God and how we can apply that same principle of his government in our personal life.

Now I want you to turn with me to Revelation chapter 14.

We see here in Revelation 14 a message warning people to prepare for the judgment.

And we clearly see here that the judgment, at least this first phase of the judgment, takes place before the second coming of Jesus.

We have this discussion among theologians about a pre-Adventist judgment.

Many scholars, especially evangelicals, they don't believe in a pre-Adventist judgment.

But we find here in the 3 angels message the pre-Adventist judgment.

In verse 6, notice what it says there, and they saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to do what with the everlasting gospel?

So we see here that the gospel is being preached.

In other words, the end did not come yet.

And the message that was preached, we find in verse 7 all the way to verse 12, saying with a loud voice, fear God and give glory to him for the hour of his what is the next word?

Judgment is come and worship Him that made heaven and the earth and the sea and the fountains of waters.

Then we find the second angel's message in verse 8, the third angel's message from verse 9 to verse 12, and then, only then, in verse 14, we find the second coming of Jesus after the 3 angels message in verse 14 it reads and I looked and behold a white cloud and upon the cloud 1 set like unto the son of man Jesus Christ having on his head a golden crown and in his hand a sharp sickle.

So Christ will only come in the clouds of heaven, this is his second coming by the way, after the 3 angels message is preached to all the world.

And in that 3 angels message we find a message of judgment.

Fear God and give glory to him for the hour of his judgment will come.

In other words, the judgment takes place while the through angels message is being preached to the world prior to the second coming of Jesus.

Daniel, let's go to Daniel chapter 7, he takes us into the courthouse of God in the most holy place of the sanctuary and gives us more information of what happened during the investigative judgment there prior to the second coming of Jesus in the heavenly sanctuary.

I want you to see what it says beginning in verse 9 the Bible reads and I beheld till the thrones were cast down and the ancient of days did see this is God the Father by the way verse 10 a fiery stream issued and came forth from before him, thousands ministered unto him, and 10000 times 10000 stood before him.

The judgment was set and the, what is the next word there?

So we can draw several things from these verses.

The first thing that we can understand is God the Father is there present during the judgment.

And we also find books during the judgment.

We know it's the book of life, the book of remembrance, also the book of sin and death.

They are there exposed during the judgment and God the Father is there.

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God’s Perspective On the Three-Phased Judgement

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