Two Types of Judgments

Announcer:

This is Today With Derek Prince. The internationally recognized Bible teacher and author presents to you Keys to Successful Living.

In this week’s messages Derek Prince concludes his series ‘Laying the Foundation.’ His final theme is entitled ‘Eternal Judgment,’ which will explain the two kinds of judgment, the principles of God’s judgment and the successive scenes of judgment in the future. Today he will begin with the two kinds of judgment and move on to the principles of God’s judgment as outlined in Scripture. Listen now as he begins this week’s message at a conference held in New Zealand. Be sure to stay tuned at the end of today’s message for our address and this week’s special offer.

Derek Prince:

Now, when we speak about judgment we need to realize that there are two main ways in which God brings judgment on people. The first is His judgments in history; the second, which is the kind of judgment we’re going to talk about, is His eternal judgments, those judgments which confront us as we step out of time into eternity. It’s important to be able to distinguish the two types of judgments, otherwise we might be confused by what seem to be conflicting statements.

The first judgment of God is in history and it involves bringing blessing or punishment on succeeding generations according to the way the first generation has responded to God. In Exodus chapter 20:4–6 we have a very clear example of God’s historical judgments. Exodus chapter 20:4–6, which is part of what we call the Ten Commandments. God says:

“‘You shall not make for yourself any carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them, nor worship them. For I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing mercy to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.’”

We see there that the sin of idolatry, which is the greatest of all sins, carries with it a judgment that extends to the succeeding three or four generations. That’s a judgment in history and there are countless examples of how that judgment has actually worked out in the history of Israel and of other nations that have been involved in idolatry.

And then in Jeremiah chapter 32 Jeremiah also deals with this question of God’s judgment in history. And in a prayer that he prayed to the Lord, Jeremiah 32:18, he said:

“You show loving kindness to thousands and repay the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them. The great, the mighty God whose name is the Lord of hosts . . .”

So again, Jeremiah says God repays the iniquity of the fathers into the succeeding generations. This is again a judgment in history, in time.

“This also applies to God’s blessing on the righteous. In Psalm 103 David says in verses 17–18:
But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children’s children, to such as keep His covenant and to those who remember His commandments, to do them.”

There is a promise of God’s blessing and righteousness to children’s children, to succeeding generations. So the way that we conduct ourselves and we relate to God not only affects us, but it probably affects successive generations. That’s a very significant and important thought that we need to bear in mind. We are in some way answerable for either the blessing or the suffering of succeeding generations.

I think this is an obvious fact of experience. For instance, a child born to alcoholic parents starts, as they say in America, with two strikes against him. It’s not his fault but the judgment of God on those parents will naturally filter down through succeeding generations.

Now, we need to say that but we need to add there’s a different kind of judgment of God which is what the writer of Hebrews calls eternal judgment, which is judgment that affects our destiny in eternity. And there the principles of judgment are completely different. These are stated by God to Ezekiel in chapter 18, verses 1–4, Ezekiel is speaking, he says:

“The word of the Lord came to me again, saying, ‘What do you mean when you use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes and the children’s teeth are set on edge’?’”

You see, that’s saying the children are suffering for the sins of the father.

“‘As I live, says the Lord God, you shall no longer use this proverb in Israel. Behold, all souls are mine. The soul of the father, as well as the soul of the son is mine, the soul who sins shall die.’”

Now, we’re not talking about historical judgments, we’re talking about the judgment of every individual soul as it steps out of time into eternity. And there every soul bears responsibility only for the life that it has led. The soul that sins, it shall die.

“And that is repeated again in verse 20. Here God is still more emphatic. Ezekiel 18:20:
‘The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.’”

So when we step out of time into eternity we’re not any longer being judged for the sins or blessings of our parents, our forbears, we’re going to answer to God personally only for what we did in life. The righteousness of the righteous will be upon him, the wickedness of the wicked will be upon him. And it says in the book of Ecclesiastes, ‘Where the tree falls, there it will lie.’ What condition you are in when you die will determine your condition throughout eternity. This is eternal judgment, a very, very solemn thought.

Now I want to deal with five principles of God’s judgment, all of which are stated in Romans chapter 2. Romans the second chapter unfolds five principles of God’s judgment. Now I read the Bible, first of all, in Greek, in the New Testament, and then I read various translations. I appreciate the NIV, there’s a lot of good in it. But sometimes it moves away from the structure of the original and if you listen to me and you’re

following the NIV, you won’t get the same result as if you listen and you’re following in the New King James. I’m not saying one is better than the other, I’m just saying each has its strong points, each has its weak points. There is no one perfect translation.

“So here are the five principles of God’s judgment, all unfolded in Romans chapter 2. Romans 2:2: We know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things.”

That’s the first principle. God’s judgment is based on real facts, it’s not based on hearsay. I remember when the Lord wanted to find out the truth about the condition of Sodom and Gomorrah, He’d heard terrible reports from the angels and from others but you remember He said to Abraham, ‘I’ve come down to see for myself.’ That really impresses me. God doesn’t judge by hearsay, He judges according to truth.

The second principle of God’s judgment in verse 6 is:

“He will render to each one according to his deeds . . .”

We will be judged for what we have done. That is a basic principle that runs right throughout the Bible and it applies to believers as well as unbelievers. In 1 Peter chapter 1:17, Peter unfolds this principle, applying it specifically to believers. He’s speaking to believers and he says:

“And if you call on the Father who, without partiality, judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your sojourning here in fear.”

That’s a kind of statement that isn’t publicly disseminated in most churches today. But Peter says to believers, bearing in mind that you’re going to be judged according to what you’ve done, live a reverent, godly life. Don’t be rash, don’t be proud, don’t be presumptuous—because everything you say and do, one day you’re going to have to answer to God for. And remember, that is addressed to believers, not to unbelievers.

And then in Revelation 20:12 it says all the people that were judged in the final judgment were judged according to what was written in the books. So, God keeps a record of every life.

Now, you know in the days of the New Testament, books were not like this but they were much more like tapes. They were scrolls rolled up. I think that’s a much more clear picture. I’m inclined to think that in the judgment—his is just an opinion—every one of us will be confronted by something like a video tape which stretches out the entire course of our life before us. I remember when God was dealing with me about four years ago when I was very sick. I was really seeking God as to why I wasn’t being healed. One night God woke me up about 2 am, which is the time He’s rather in the habit of speaking to me, and He gave me a little review of the life I’d been leading. I want to say I was a preacher, generally accepted, sometimes criticized. I was about the same level as a lot of other preachers who are comparatively well known. But God showed me that in many ways I had been extremely carnal. Not committing any gross sins, I’ve never been involved, thank God, in sexual immorality, drunkenness or the misappropriation of funds. Nevertheless, God showed me there were things in my past that were displeasing to Him.

I’m only speaking from my own experience. I began to realize what it means to spend the time of our sojourning here in fear. Not slavish fear, but reverent awe as before God who will judge everything we say and everything we do.

Announcer:

Tomorrow Derek Prince will continue his theme ‘Eternal Judgment’ when he’ll look at the last three principles of God’s judgment and go on to share about five main features of judgment for Christians as they one day stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

This week’s message is available on audiocassette No. RC4169 and also on video. Our special offer this week is the deluxe hard cover edition of The Spirit-filled Believer’s Handbook in which Derek presents a more in-depth study of the six basic doctrines of the Christian faith which he is covering in this series.

To receive your copy of this week’s message ‘Eternal Judgment’ write today and include a contribution of $5.00 or more for audiocassette RC4169 or $14.95 for the video teaching. Include a gift of $15.00 or more for The Spirit-filled Believer’s Handbook.

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