No, this is not about the 2014 movie, The Judge, starring Robert Duval and Robert Downey, Jr. I’m speaking of the God of gods and King of kings, and in this case, the Judge of judges. All the fallen angels and all of mankind who have not called upon the name of Jesus will stand before this Judge and receive true justice.

I have watched a lot of real life crime shows. A few murders for example in our area have even appeared on a television crime show. It is interesting to see the evidence gathered and discover who committed the crime. One of the greatest assets in solving modern crime is of course deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). I love to see the one get caught who took an innocent life. However, I am often sickened at how our justice system coddles criminals at the expense of the victims. Even though we still have the greatest judicial system on earth, it is often taken advantage of by unscrupulous, unjust and spineless people.

There is a judgment day coming however that will have no plea bargains, no appeals, no slap on the wrists, no unjust sentences, no judicial errors, no favoritism, etc. Oh yes, there will also be no parole board.

This Day of Judgment is called the Great White Throne Judgment. Another thing that is quite unique with the Great White Throne Judgment is that all sentencing will be for eternity. There will be no one sentenced for a few years and then released. There will be no one released for good behavior. There will be no one released because of overcrowding. All will serve a sentence that will last for ever and ever and ever; i.e. eternity.

Another thing that is unique about The Great White Throne Judgment is that no one will be able to buy their way out of serving their time. There will be no bail. Neither will they be able to lie their way out of their sentence. There will be no tricky moves by silver-tongued lawyers, because there will be no lawyers. There will only be the Judge and the defendant. That’s it.

Begging won’t help. Promises to do better won’t help. Pleading ignorance won’t help. Threatening won’t help. Would you like to know why? I’ll tell you.

The true God, the God of Israel and the Church, is omniscient. There is nothing hidden from Him. He knows everything. Just a few verses to point this out are Psalms 139:7-16, Isaiah 46:8-11 and Hebrews 4:13.

Those standing before God at the Great White Throne Judgment will be able to hide nothing. All will be revealed by a Judge who won’t need a lie detector to know the truth. He already knows the truth from every lie. He cannot be tricked. He cannot be fooled.

If you are reading this now and do not know Jesus as your own personal Savior, you are obviously still alive. You still have the opportunity to do something about your eternal destiny. It is not too late for you to avoid standing before the one and only God who will be the Judge of all fallen angels and all mankind who have rejected Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Satan told Eve in the Garden of Eden, “… Ye shall not surely die.” (Genesis 3:4) That is the same thing he is still saying today, and far too many people are buying into this damnable lie. Don’t think so? Every time you hear someone say something to the effect of, “God would never send anyone to hell,” you’re hearing this same lie. Or they might say something like, “God is a loving God, everyone goes to Heaven when they die.” Same lie. Or how about this, “Look at the good work they have done for so many. God couldn’t refuse them.” Again, a lie straight from the king of liars; i.e. Satan.

On this planet called Earth, where we all live, there are many people who call themselves either atheists or agnostics. There is one place however, other than Heaven, where there are no atheists and there are no agnostics. It is called “Hell.” Everyone there believes in God, but they let their opportunity slip through their fingers and it is now too late for them. They now believe, but it came too late.

Do you have one foot on a banana peel and the other in the grave? Do you know that we all live like this? There is no guarantee of tomorrow for any of us. The Scripture says,

“Come NOW, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” (Isaiah 1:18 emphasis mine)

Yes, we all live with one foot on a banana peel and the other in the grave, but for those who belong to Christ, we’re always ready to go and be with Him. It doesn’t matter when we die, because to die is to be with Christ face to face.

“For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labor, yet what I shall choose I know not. For I am in a strait between two, having a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless, to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.” (Philippians 1:21-24)

The time will come that our God will act as Judge, but right now He is freely handing out His grace to all who will come to Him through Jesus Christ.

God the Father has made a law for mankind to follow or suffer the consequences. That law says, I will forgive you of all your sins, clean you up and adopt you as my own, but there is only one way it can happen. My Son died for you and took the penalty of your sins on your behalf. He satisfied my justice and has made it possible for Me to save your souls. You can only come to Me through Him. This is it. There are no exceptions. God says, “If you accept this, you will receive my grace. If you do not, you will receive my judgment.”

Many of us like to go to different vacation spots to just relax for a while. There are always several ways to get to our destinations. Put the map up, because there is only one route to God.

“…I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6)

I decided long ago I prefer to call God my Father and not my Judge. I was saved through nothing of my own, but only by His grace through faith in His Son Jesus Christ. You can do the same. Otherwise, He will be your Judge.

Grant Phillips

Some say the word “rapture” is not in the Bible, so therefore there is no rapture of the Church. Neither is the word “trinity” in the Bible, but God is triune; God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. He is one in three persons.

“Rapture” comes from the Latin word “rapturo.” It is the equivalent of the Greek “harpazo,” which is found in 2 Corinthians 12:2 and 1 Thessalonians 4:17 for “caught up.”

Harpazo and rapture both mean: (a) to seize, carry off by force, (b) to seize on, claim for one’s self eagerly, and (c) to snatch out or away.

The Rapture (rapturo, Latin; harpazo, Greek) of Christ’s Church will happen on God’s time schedule. Some believe it will happen before Daniel’s 70th week (commonly called the seven year Tribulation), some in the middle and some at the end. It is clear to me that it is impossible for it to occur at any other time than prior to Daniel’s 70th week (the seven year Tribulation).

The next event on God’s calendar is the Rapture of the Church. After that will follow Daniel’s 70th week, then Christ will return with His Church at the end of Daniel’s 70th week and set up His millennial kingdom, which is called the 1,000 year Millennium.

It does not upset me if others do not believe as I do regarding these events, but some folks really get uptight about these matters. For example, a few have tried to “straighten me out.” Others simply say I’m a false prophet and going to hell. Some question my salvation in very colorful ways, while others are just plain ticked off that I would believe in a Rapture at all.

Where does all this venomous hatred come from? The answer is obvious. Satan hates God’s Truth and will continue to fight against God and His chosen ones until his last breath.

Again, I strongly and without question believe in a Rapture of the true Church prior to the start of Daniel’s 70th week (the Tribulation). I would like to present the following for consideration. This is not original of course. Many others have presented these same arguments and I will use these same verses that others have pointed to.

At the Rapture, Jesus comes FOR His Church. Luke 21:36; John 14:1-3; 1 Thessalonians 1:10, 4:14-17, 5:9; Revelation 3:10

At His 2nd Coming, Jesus comes WITH His Church. Zechariah 14:5; Colossians 3:4; Revelation 19:7-8, 14; 21: 9-10; Matthew 24:29-31; Jude 1:14-15; 1 Thessalonians 3:13

At the Rapture, Jesus appears to only the Church: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Matthew 5:8; John 11:40 Hebrews 9:28

At His 2nd Coming, He appears to everyone: Zechariah 14:4; Revelation 19:11-21; Revelation 1:7; Zechariah 12:10; Matthew 24:30; Luke 3:6; John 19:37

At the Rapture, only true Christians (the Church) are taken (those who are alive at that time and those who have died prior). Unbelievers (those not of the true Church) are left behind. Matthew 25:1-13; Revelation 3:8-10; 4:1; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

At His 2nd Coming, the wicked are taken. The righteous (Tribulation saints) are left behind. Matthew 13:28-30

There are many other stark differences between Christ coming for His bride (the Rapture) and His 2nd Coming (at the end of the Tribulation). The more these are considered, the clearer it becomes that the Rapture will occur, and it will occur before Daniel’s 70th week (the 7-year Tribulation).

To believe or not believe in the Rapture will not save anyone. Only absolute trust in the Lord Jesus Christ will save any of us. It is His blood sacrificed for us that makes those who believe on Him a child of God. His works save those who believe on Him.

Some say the Rapture is an “escape hatch” we Christians have devised. It is an “escape hatch,” but it is not something we devised. This promise comes directly from God’s Word. It is an “escape hatch” because God is going to pour out His wrath upon the earth during those seven years of Tribulation, but not upon His own bride. Therefore, He snatches us out beforehand.

One other time God poured out His wrath upon the entire earth, and that was during Noah’s day with a world-wide flood.  With the flood, God removed Noah and his family from harm’s way via an ark. This time, He will remove His own entirely from the earth and allow Satan a free hand, for a while, then bring down His own judgment upon Satan and all his followers.

Do I want an “escape hatch” from this horrible time of wrath to come upon all the earth? You betcha! It’s going to get really nasty, and I want no part of it. Thank God that our Savior and Lord will not leave His bride here on earth to undergo His own wrath. And that’s another point. What groom who loves his bride would do that?

You don’t believe in the Rapture? That’s fine. Are you a Christian? If you are, you’re going to be pleasantly surprised if it occurs in our lifetime, and there is a strong chance it will.

Should fear of the seven years of Tribulation be used to hopefully bring people to a saving knowledge of Christ? Absolutely! That is one reason among others that Satan hates for us to be knowledgeable of God’s end-time prophesies. He wants to lull as many as possible into thinking they’ll be okay, or it won’t be that bad, and the Church won’t be removed anyway. He wants us to believe that we’ll just get saved during the Tribulation. Many will be saved, and many will die a horrible death. Is that what you want?

You believe I’m a fool for believing in the Rapture, but listen to this. My faith isn’t in the Rapture. It is in Jesus Christ, and I know Jesus did not lie when he said,

“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.” (John 14:1-4)

Grant Phillips