Series: The 7 Phases of the Atonement
Sermon: #5 -- Execution of the Judgment, Part 1
Pastor Rod Thompson
Midland SDA Church
November 3, 2018
As we continue our series on the 7 phases of the atonement let’s start with a little review
The first phase of the atonement was accomplished immediately after the sin of Adam and Eve. God gave them the remedy for the sin problem. He promised a Savior / Redeemer and He instituted the sacrificial system
In the second phase, at the appointed time the promised redeemer arrived on the scene and laid down His life for you and me. He was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
In the third phase of the atonement He ascended into heaven and began His priestly ministry in the first apartment (the holy place). He pleaded His blood, offered up incense and prayers on behalf of sinners for over 1800 years.
In the fourth phase of the atonement, beginning in 1844 He stepped into the most Holy place of the heavenly sanctuary and the judgment began. Antitype had met type and we are now living in that antitypical day of atonement.
Now is the time for us to afflict our souls, now is the time for us to get right with God. Because during this judgment it is being determined who will receive the reward of the righteous and who will receive the reward of the wicked.
The Great Controversy P 482
“Every man's work passes in review before God and is registered for faithfulness or unfaithfulness. Opposite each name in the books of heaven is entered with terrible exactness, every wrong word, every selfish act, every unfulfilled duty, and every secret sin, with every artful dissembling. Heaven-sent warnings or reproofs neglected, wasted moments, unimproved opportunities, the influence exerted for good or for evil, with its far-reaching results, all are chronicled by the recording angel.”
If we meet all of the requirements of the investigative judgment, then our names will remain in the book of life and our sins will be blotted out. They will be blotted out because Jesus was our substitute, He paid our penalty for us and the slate is wiped clean. But if we don’t meet the requirements, then our names will be blotted out of the book of life and our sins will remain.
And thus the pre-advent judgment will be complete. Every case will have been decided. Hopefully you remember that in our fourth phase of the atonement we were looking at the American criminal justice system and comparing that to what was going in in heaven in that pre-advent judgment. We saw that in this investigative judgment there are several steps in the legal process.
1. Must be an accusation (Revelation 12:10) The accuser of our brethren
2. Must be a trial – Evidence revealed (Daniel 7:10) the court was seated and the books were opened
3. The verdict is given (Innocent or guilty) (Revelation 3:5) If we overcome our names will not be blotted out of the book of life
And that brings us to the 4th step in the criminal justice system and the 5th phase of the atonement
4. The execution of the judgment (part 1) In the criminal justice system the sentence has to be executed. It’s not enough to have a trial, and have a verdict. The punishment has to be meted out
Jesus said in Revelation 22:12, “behold I come quickly and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.
In the fifth phase of the atonement process we have the second coming of Christ, from heaven to the earth. At this time the righteous living and righteous dead will receive a portion of their eternal reward.
According to 1 Corinthians 15:51-55 and 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 the dead in Christ will be raised to life and caught up in the air to meet the Lord. The righteous living will be translated (transformed from mortal to immortal) and also caught up in the air to meet the Lord and they will all travel to heaven with Him.
At this time the living wicked will receive a portion of their eternal reward (1 Thessalonians 5:3 & 2 Thessalonians 1:3-10), they will be slayed by the brightness of His coming.
The wicked dead will also receive a portion of their eternal reward, (Revelation 20:5) they are to remain in the grave for another thousand years.
But, this phase of the atonement process is still not complete. It is important for us to remember the typical earthly Day of Atonement sanctuary service mentioned in Leviticus 16. There were two goats that were used in this service. One was the Lord’s goat and the other the scape goat. The Lord’s goat was slain and made atonement for sin.
But we also need to understand that the only “sins from which the sanctuary was cleansed …were those that had been carried in through repentance and confession, and by means of a substitute.” Only those who passed the investigative judgment had their sins paid for by Jesus
Read Ezekiel 18: 1-9
Here we see a picture of the ones who will pass the investigation – they have lived a righteous life. They were transformed by the indwelling Spirit of God and lived as God has commanded
But, if the investigative judgment had proved those who confessed to accept Christ as substitute, had done so falsely or that they later had gone back to a sinful life, the guilt of their otherwise forgiven sins will be revived and return to them.
Read Ezekiel 18: 10-13
Here is a person who has professed to be like Christ but their actions have denied their words. They did not live out the life that God has asked for. So their sins will not be placed on Jesus, they will be accounted for by the individual
What’s Paul saying here? He says there are some sins that are evident. They are evident because the sinner has recognized them and turned from them and now they are producing good works that are equally evident that they couldn’t or wouldn’t do on their own but now Christ is living in them. It’s easy to see that these have lived a life surrendered to God. These will pass the test of investigation in the judgment.
But then he says there are some that are not so easy to tell. They have made a profession of faith. They claim to believe in God, but their works don’t follow their proclamation. There is no change in character, there is no evidence that Christ is living in them. In this case it’s not so clear that Jesus is truly the Lord and master of their life. They may appear to be forgiven but only the judgment will reveal if they truly have been
Matthew 7:21 Jesus said, Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven.
In the case of those who pass the investigative judgment the blood of the Lords goat covers them. He paid the penalty for their sins. And those who have not passed the investigation their sins will return unto them. They will pay the penalty for their sins themselves.
But if we go back to the earthly sanctuary we see that there were two goats. The Lord’s goat was sacrificed and his blood cleansed the sanctuary
On the other hand, the scape goat was not slain and therefore made no atonement. The first goat (the Lords goat) pointed forward to Christ who, on the cross, would make atonement for our sins.
The scape goat, in antithesis, represented Satan, who is responsible for not only his own sin but the sins of all mankind since he instigated and tempted them to commit their sins. As the initiator he will be held responsible for the origination of their sin, but each individual is the agent of their own sin and therefore, if they have not accepted Christ as their substitute, or they failed to pass the investigative judgment then they will pay for their own sin.
But as the initiator of sin there is a price to be paid by the devil as well
Read Leviticus 16: 20-22
At the end of the earthly sanctuary service the High Priest, after making atonement for the sanctuary, would come out of the sanctuary and place his hands on the scape goat and confess the sins of the people. The goat would then be taken off into the wilderness by a fit man.
In the antitype the Lord will do the same thing, He will cleanse the sanctuary through the judgment process, then come back to this earth.
Revelation 20:1-3 shows us that the angel of Lord, will take hold of Satan, who was represented by the scape goat, and the whole sin problem is going too laid where it rightfully belongs. All of the sins of God’s people are going to charged against his account if you will. All of the sins of God’s people are going to be confessed over Satan
You see brothers and sisters, for the last 6,000 + years God has been taking the blame for the sin problem.
When a child has died and the parents cried out, “how could a God of love take away my little girl.” God has taken the blame. Whenever there was a natural disaster, and it was written off as an act of God – God has taken the blame.
But one day the blame will be placed where it rightfully belongs. It will be placed against the account of the one through whom sin entered our world.
A More Excellent Ministry (E. E. Andross) P 111
Then the reproach that has rested upon the sanctuary of God – the habitation of the Most high – and upon God’s holy name ever since Lucifer fell from his exalted station in heaven, will be rolled away, the universe will once more be clean.
As the High Priest would come out of the sanctuary on the typical Day of Atonement, he would lay his hands on the scape goat, confess the sins of Israel over the animal. Then the goat would be taken off into the wilderness were he would be let go.
As we look at the antitype we see the same thing happening. We see Jesus our High Priest coming out of the heavenly sanctuary, coming back to this earth, rescuing His people, and laying hold of Satan. All the sins of His people confessed over the devil, placed where they rightfully belong.
Revelation 20:2 He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for one thousand years.
At the second coming of Jesus this world is going to be destroyed by the brightness of His coming. The wicked living are going to be destroyed. The wicked dead are going to remain in the grave. And this world is going to look like a devastated wilderness, where Satan is going to be chained by his circumstances. There is no one living on the planet except him and the angels that rebelled with him.
God is going to give them a one thousand year time out. Where they will have opportunity to think about the devastation that they have caused. So, this phase of the atonement ends with Satan having the blame for the sin problem placed squarely on his shoulders. The sins of God’s forgiven people placed on his shoulders. The blame for the introduction of sin to this world placed upon him.
The living wicked (those who never surrendered to God and those who failed to pass the investigative judgment) receive the first phase of their eternal reward. They are destroyed by the brightness of his coming. The wicked who were already dead but never surrendered to God and those who failed to pass the investigative judgment receive the first phase of their eternal reward - they remain dead for another thousand years.
The living righteous (those who have passed the investigative judgment) receive the first phase of their eternal reward – they are taken to heaven by God.
The dead who passed the investigative judgment receive the first phase of their eternal reward – they are taken to heaven by God.
And thus ends the 5th phase of the atonement. Next week we will look at the 6th phase of the atonement and what happens during that 1000 years
But as we have seen brothers and sisters now is the time for us to get ourselves right with God. Now is the time to make sure that the record clearly shows that we have surrendered to God. Now is that time that our actions should line up with our profession.
I ask you the question if you are accused of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you. Or change that around the other way. Is there enough evidence to prove by a changed life, changed character that you have the Spirit of God ruling and reigning in your heart?
Do you forgive others as Christ has forgiven you?
Has that heart of stone been turned to a heart of clay or are you the same difficult, impossible person to deal with?
Do you have compassion and mercy for others?
Do you have a passion for the lost and are you reaching out to them with the message of salvation?
Are you feeding the hungry, providing for the widows and orphans?
Are you like the widow who didn’t give of her excess but gave even out of her great need?
Are you totally surrendered to God?
Now is the time to set the record straight. Now is the time to make it so abundantly clear that all of the on looking angels will have no doubt in their mind that you are clearly living under the control of the Holy Spirit.
Because at some point the investigative judgment is going to close for you. It may be at your death or the second coming of Jesus. But friends now is the time, because we don’t know when that time will be
But I believe that time is coming upon us quickly. Do you believe that Jesus is coming in your life time? Time is short.
And as every other message that you will hear ends so does this one. And comes down to the same thing every time doesn’t it. We are here, living at this time in earth’s history, living in the time of phase 4 of the judgment. And phase 5 is about to come upon us. The execution of the judgment part 1.
So I want to encourage you today, to choice wisely. Live for God every moment of every day. Is that the desire of your heart?
Let’s pray!