Rest Now, Judgment Later

Colossians 4:12 “Epaphras, who is one of you, a bondservant of Christ, greets you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.”

 As believers, we labour here on the earth, and part of our labours that we perform is prayer. In the passage of scripture quoted above the apostle Paul teaches us that he and his ministry team laboured fervently in prayers for the saints. Paul and his ministry team ended those labours however, the day they went to be with the Lord Jesus in heaven. In other words they are not continuing in heaven to labour in prayers for the saints on the earth, for each one of them have ended their labours and have since entered their time of rest.

Galatians 4:19 “My little children, for whom I labour in birth again until Christ is formed in you.”

When Paul stated, as quoted above, that he laboured in birth again until Christ was formed in the churches in Galatia, he was referring to the prayers and supplications that he offered to God on their behalf, while he was on the earth. Once Paul fell asleep in the Lord however, Paul ended his labours and has since entered into his time of rest. Over the centuries and even currently today, there have been numerous fables and false visions spread in the church that the saints in heaven are praying for the saints on the earth. The reason that Satan has tried to bring this lie into the church is to try and lure the saints to then pray to their fellow saints in heaven, to ask them to intercede to God on their behalf. Such prayers are futile however, for no one hears them. Our Lord Jesus has taught His church to pray directly to our Heavenly Father, by the Holy Spirit, in the name of Jesus, and those are the only prayers that are heard by God. We have seen earlier that the scripture says that our works follow us. Scripture teaches us that the works that we do while on the earth account to us as fruit for eternity (John 4:36). And so there are many saints in heaven today who are still reaping fruit for eternity, based on their works that are still blessing the body of Christ on the earth today. You say how is that possible? The bible is full of accounts of saints who, through their testimonies and teachings, have built with silver, gold and precious stones into the lives of myriads of believers over the centuries, and are still doing so today. And then there are the saints who have, outside of the bible, left behind writings and various other media avenues available, which have also blessed and continue to bless the body of Christ today. And so we see that heavens books are not yet closed and the final tally has not yet been made, because of which, no saint has yet received any reward from our Lord and Master. There is a set day in the future when the final total of all the works of all Christians will be judged, and then and only then will each saint receive their eternal rewards from the Lord.

Revelation 11:15-18 “Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!"  … (18) The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, And the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints, and those who fear Your name, small and great, and should destroy those who destroy the earth.”

 Scripture plainly reveals to us that the Lord’s saints will be judged by Him at His second coming, which is when the first resurrection will take place. And so it is only when we are judged on that day that we will receive our rewards from the Lord Jesus. Until that time no saints will be judged and consequently no saints have yet received or can receive any rewards, which includes all thrones and crowns that will be given by Him. In the passage of scripture quoted above we see that the saints will be judged and rewarded at the sounding of the seventh trumpet, and the seventh angel will only sound his trumpet at the end of the age. Clearly none of the Lord’s saints will be judged or rewarded before that time.

Psalms 50:1-6 “The Mighty One, God the Lord, has spoken and called the earth from the rising of the sun to its going down.  … (4) He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that He may judge His people: (5) “Gather My saints together to Me, those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice."  (6) Let the heavens declare His righteousness, for God Himself is Judge.”

In the passage of scripture quoted above, again the Holy Spirit has spoken clearly to let us know that our Lord Jesus will judge His saints when He returns to set up His millennial reign on the earth, for our Lord says that His angels will gather His saints to Him when He returns so that He may judge His people. And He tells us in this passage that His saints will be gathered from both heaven and the earth, which clearly refers to the first resurrection. And so this passage confirms what Paul taught, which is that even though Paul was assured that he would receive the crown of righteousness as his reward; Paul knew that he would not receive it when he went to be with the Lord, but rather he would only receive his crown on the appointed day when all Christians will receive their rewards according to their works done on the earth.

Luke 14:14 “And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”

In the passage of scripture quoted above our Lord Jesus has plainly taught us that we will only be rewarded for our works at the resurrection of the just and not before. We have already seen that the resurrection of the just is the first resurrection, which will take place at the second coming of the Lord. When He was on the earth, our Lord Jesus also plainly taught the disciples that thrones will only be given to His saints at the time of the regeneration, again referring to the time of the first resurrection (Matthew 19:28). Clearly that time has not yet come, and so no saints have received any rewards from the Lord because no saints have been judged yet. (For more detail on this point see my series “Resurrection of the Dead”).

1 Corinthians 4:5 “Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one's praise will come from God.”

In the passage of scripture quoted above the Holy Spirit reveals to us that our Lord Jesus will only judge His church when He returns to the earth and not before, for He counsels us through the apostle Paul to judge nothing before the time until the Lord comes. And so we see that scripture is very clear that there is a set day in the future when all the Lord’s saints will be judged by Him at the same time. That set day will occur at His second coming, which is when the resurrection of the saints will occur. It is only on that day of judgement that the saints will then be rewarded for their works, which will include any crowns and thrones that may be given to the saints. Until that day however, scripture again plainly teaches us that all saints who fall asleep in the Lord go to be with Him and to enter into His rest. Sadly just as there have been false visions and fables spread in the church that the saints in heaven are praying for the saints on earth, so there have also been false visions communicated to the church of saints who have already received their crowns and thrones from God. None of this is true however, for all crowns and thrones will only be given on that set day of judgement.

Michael E.B. Maher

Eternal Judgement

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