Home

How to get saved
How to find truth
Who is Jesus?
Why Jesus?
The Bible?
Catholics
Church failed?
Foundation
Discipleship
The Paranormal
Rapture

Contact/Email us
Science/evidence
Links
Web Tools
Bible Tools
F.A.Q.'s
Tenets of Faith
Translate page
 

doteasy.com - free web hosting. Free hosting with no banners.

 

Eternal Judgment: of the Believer
Does the Bible teach a purgatory for believers?
Search the Bible:
Search for:
in:
using:
Include Study Tools
 

This page is a continued theme of the Gospel of the Kingdom found here: 

 Click here

Everyone must go through fire, if we do not experience the Baptism of Fire here on earth we will get it afterwards. 

Mark 9: MKJV
49 For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt.

Math 3: KJ21
11   I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear. He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.

One of the main ways our faith is tested is whether we seek to be a disciple. I discuss the 9 Biblical requirements of discipleship here: 

 Click here

Here are a couple of scriptures dealing with some of the requirements of discipleship: 

Math 16: MKJV
25 For whoever desires to save his life shall lose it, and whoever desires to lose his life for My sake shall find it.
26 For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

The word "life" in verse 25 is the Greek word "psuche", it is where we get the word psychic. It is better translated as "soul". (I discuss the salvation of the soul here: click here ) Those christians who fill their life with their soulish desires, will at judgment lose all that which filled them, for the corruptible will burn and the incorruptible will be saved. That which is imperfect and fleshly will be destroyed, but that which is spiritual will be saved. We can have both in our life, things of God and things of our flesh. 

1 Cor 3:  MKJV
12 And if anyone builds on this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble,
13 each one's work shall be revealed. For the Day shall declare it , because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try each one's work as to what kind it is.
14 If anyone's work which he built remains, he shall receive a reward.
15 If anyone's work shall be burned up, he shall suffer loss. But he shall be saved, yet so as by fire.
16 Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

You can have: gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; in your temple. If you are a christian you are a temple of God, because God lives in you. Gold, silver, and precious stones will survive fire but wood, hay, stubble; will not. Lets look at 2 Tim 2: (MKJV)

20 But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honor, and some to dishonor.
21 Therefore if anyone purges himself from these, he shall be a vessel to honor, sanctified and useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.

This sums it up well: 

1 Cor 15: MKJV
50 And I say this, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit incorruption.

So if you pursue the life of the flesh, your fleshly appetites will be destroyed in judgment, and you will suffer loss (loss of rewards discussed later). If you fill yourself now, you will be emptied there. Our lives are to be filled with Christ, not with soulish endeavors or fleshly lusts. 

Let's look at this unfaithful believer (the following scripture will be used a few times in this page, please make note of it): 

Math 7: 
21: Not every one that says unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven. 
22: Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? and in your name have cast out devils? and in your name done many wonderful works? 
23: And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity. 

Luke 14: NKJV
34 "Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? 
35 It is neither fit for the land nor for the dunghill, but men throw it out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"

They are not fit for the land which is the Kingdom, nor are they fit for the dunghill which is the Lake of Fire, so they are cast out. Out where? 

Rev 21: MKJV
24 And the nations of those who are saved will walk in the light of it; and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it.
26 And they shall bring the glory and honor of the nations into it.
27 And there shall in no way enter into it anything that defiles, or any making an abomination or a lie; but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life.

Rev 22: NKJV
2 In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
14 Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city
15 But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie. 
 

These scriptures show us where the carnal christians will go, outside New Jerusalem, the city of heaven. These carnal christians will keep their salvation but as tho thru fire: 

1 Cor 3:
15: If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire

They will inhabit the new earth outside New Jerusalem the city of heaven. Thru the fire, these folks will be emptied of these unsanctified "fillers". For the new creation will not have anything outside of Christ. So, the unholy appetites from filling their lives with unholy things, will be emptied out there. Since they did not completely fill their hunger with Christ, but with things not sanctified, and since the time of repentance is over, God in His graciousness has given a method to heal these people from the fire that will judge them and/or the emptiness it will leave them in: 

Rev 22: 
2: ...the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 

When these believers are emptied of their "junk", they will once again have that "hunger" in them, but are unable to repent and become more holy. 

Luke 6: MKJV
21 Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.
25 Woe to you who are full! For you shall hunger. Woe to you who laugh now! For you shall mourn and weep.

John 6: MKJV
35 And Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes on Me shall never thirst.

Those christians who sin or are selfish, will be outside the Kingdom (outside New Jerusalem): 

Rev 21: MKJV
24 And the nations of those who are saved (they are saved) will walk in the light of it; ("it" is New Jerusalem, which is described in more detail in other verses) and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. (those kings who rule these unfaithful but saved folk will bring the glories of these folk into the city because...) 
27 And there shall in no way enter into it anything that defiles, or any making an abomination or a lie; but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. (some saved people will be unable to enter into this great city, because the sought their pleasure on earth rather than seeking their pleasure in heaven) 

Rev 22: NKJV
2 In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. (these saved nations will be taking these leaves as medicine for all eternity) 
14 Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. (many christians who have obeyed God will have access to the city) 
15 But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie. (those who are saved, but lead sinful lives will be outside the city) 

We can know this is the new earth and New Jerusalem because: 

Rev 21: MKJV
1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. And the sea no longer is.
2 And I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of Heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her Husband.

It may be hard to believe, but scripture tells us there are people outside the city of heaven. It tells us they were sinners but were saved. It also tells us that these nations of people need healing. Why would a saved resurrected person need healing? Because he has been cleansed by the fire of God which has burned out the junk that he didn't remove himself. Now that emptiness is no longer filled by a motivation of sin, because sin has been removed. Nor can it be filled by repentance. After death there is no repentance: 

Rev 22:
11: He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.

To the degree that you fill your life with Christ on the earth, is the degree you will have of Him there. But there will be no more sin or selfishness in the new earth, so God will purge it out. To the degree of their faithfulness or sin they will burn in fire. This fire is only a small glimpse of the eternal torment of the unbeliever. However, it is still painful, for afterwards, throughout eternity some (or all) of those christians burned, will use the leaves of the Tree of Life for medicine or to fill the empty places that they did not give to Christ, which were filled with sin or selfishness and then emptied by fire. 

There are 3 such fires. Another fire will take place at the Glorious Appearing. This will be for the Jews and gentiles on the earth at that time. It will also be for those believers who died or were raptured after the 1st rapture. I do not have that one laid out much at this time. The scriptures dealing with that one are those found in Lamentations. When the anti-christ and his armies are dealt with, Christ will then judge the Jews and the gentiles who are alive, then He will begin the 1000 year reign. The 3rd fire is the Lake of Fire for the unbelievers and demons. 

Now to the place and time of this first event: 

Math 3: KJ21
12  His fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His threshing floor and gather His wheat into the garner; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

Jesus will purge HIS floor, the church. 

1 Cor 3: MKJV
13 each one's work shall be revealed. For the Day shall declare it , because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try each one's work as to what kind it is.

This speaks of THAT DAY. 

Math 7: 
22: Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? and in your name have cast out devils? and in your name done many wonderful works?

And here is that day...  Let's look at these verses slowly: 

Rev 14: NKJV
14 Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud sat One like the Son of Man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle. 
15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, "Thrust in Your sickle and reap, for the time has come for You to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe." 
16 So He who sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped. 

This may be those who have died in Christ after the rapture (see verse 16 "on the earth"). They may or may not be given new bodies as those at the rapture at this time, but probably are. I believe they may, because Jesus is the one in verse 14, and the angel in verse 15 tells Him on the cloud (Jesus) to reap. Angels do not have power to rapture or resurrect people, which is what I believe Jesus is doing in verse 16. As Jesus met the 1st raptured christians and changed them, He will probably change these new ones also. The new bodies will also survive the fire described below. To learn about the rapture click on "Rapture" in the pink area to the left. To learn about which christians are NOT raptured click on the link below: 

 Are You Prepared for the 2nd Coming?

17 Then another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. 

This is for everyone who is heaven right before this moment. (Which could be the same crowd above, rather than a 2nd group raptured being the 1st crowd) Those who got their new bodies at the 1st rapture: those who had died (in Christ) before the 1st rapture and those who were raptured before the tribulation (the 1st rapture). These people may be the very cloud Jesus is "on" in verse 15. 

These reapings are probably the judgments of Christ to the church. This will probably be the rewards and/or separations. Those separated to be cleansed from their soulish life from those who already denied their souls while alive. See Math 7:21-23,  above. 

18 And another angel came out from the altar, who had power over fire, and he cried with a loud cry to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, "Thrust in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for her grapes are fully ripe." 
19 So the angel thrust his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth, and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.

This probably the angel in verse 17. He has a "sharp" sickle. Verse 19 calls him an angel, so this is probably not Jesus in verses 14-16. The angels seem to be doing the separating as described in Math 13. This is alot of scripture so I won't quote the parables, Math 13:3-8, 24-30. Only the interpretations. 

Math 13: NKJV
19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside. 

When the Gospel is preached, demons or their work are often present in the unbeliever, reasoning away the Gospel message. The Word of God found no place in their heart, these people are the unsaved and will go to the Lake of Fire. 

20 But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. 

This represents many many saved believers. At some point in their life, they accepted the truth of Jesus as dying for their sins. It may have been as a child, in Sunday School, or older in church, or even at an evangelical crusade. But they never fed the truth or accepted any teachings to allow the seed to produce any fruit. These "believers" or "christians" are pretty much fruitless, the only thing separating them from the unbelievers is that they believed and a plant began to grow, but it died, before bearing any fruit. 

I was such a believer once. Somewhere about the age of 8 years old, I believed in the work of Jesus. I went to a Lutheran church which taught me alot of the Bible, but I was given no teachings that helped my faith grow. Or I failed to see them. Eventually, my faith became bankrupt as a teenager. You can read my story here: 

 My Personal Testimony

This kind of believer is full of carnality. I had scripture, and so many of these may have scripture too, but it will be taken from them, including any false doctrines, which killed their faith, many of which may be teachings from Jezebel. But these folk probably have a lack of teaching which encourages sin, rather than bad teaching that allows sin. These kind of christians will not be raptured at the 1st rapture. To learn more about furthering your faith and getting raptured: 

 Click here

I believe a major portion of the saved nations are these type of "christians". But Jesus will save them: 

John 6: MKJV
39 And this is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all which He has given Me I should lose nothing but should raise it up again at the last day.
40 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes on Him should have everlasting life. And I will raise him up at the last day.

Back to Math 13: 

22 Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. 

This group is very similar to the last group discussed. But these perhaps are perhaps worse, because they have heard the Word, but allowed their faith to fall thru sin. It is often these kinds of christians that make up many liberal churches or are the "backsliders" from conservative, charismatic, or evangelical churches. They feed on their lusts and sin, and defend themselves with teachings from Balaam, the Nicolaitans, or Jezebel. 

Rev 2: MKJV
14 But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the teachings of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling-block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit fornication.
15 So you also have those who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.
20 But I have a few things against you because you allow that woman Jezebel to teach, she saying herself to be a prophetess, and to cause My servants to go astray, and to commit fornication, and to eat idol-sacrifices.

2 Tim 4: MKJV
3 For a time will be when they will not endure sound doctrine, but they will heap up teachers to themselves according to their own lusts, tickling the ear.
4 And they will turn away their ears from the truth and will be turned to myths.

It is very difficult to reach these folk, because they have closed their ears and hardened their hearts. The best thing I can say to them is to ask: are you prepared for the Lord's coming? If they don't repent of Jezebel, they will be left behind: 

Rev 2:22: Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.

 Are You Prepared for the 2nd Coming? Click here

Back to Math 13: 

23 But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty." 

These christians are fruit bearers. Some do not produce 100% fruit of the spirit. Many only produce 30 or 60 fold. The 30 and 60, as well as the 100 fold believers are not the saved nations outside New Jerusalem, but are those in the city. 

Back to Math 13: 

37 He answered and said to them: "He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 
38 The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. 39 The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. 

Here we see the angels are the one's separating for the judgments of God. 

40 Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. 41 The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, 42 and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear! 

Two separations by the angels. The first in verses 38 & 39, separating the unbelievers from the believers. The second in 41 & 42, separating the faithful believers from the unfaithful believers. Again, this is evidenced in Math 7:21-23 (seen above) and here: 

Ezek 34 NKJV
17 "And as for you, O My flock, thus says the Lord GOD: "Behold, I shall judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and goats.

Now, back to Rev 14: NKJV 

18 And another angel came out from the altar, who had power over fire, and he cried with a loud cry to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, "Thrust in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for her grapes are fully ripe." 
19 So the angel thrust his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth, and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.

Here we see the fire. This is THE FIRE. Do you see "clusters of the vine of the earth, for her grapes are fully ripe"? 

Jesus is our example. He went to Gethsemane to empty Himself out, to do God's will.  Gethsemane is "wine press" in Greek. Grapes must be pressed and emptied to make wine. At this point, all christians who did not empty themselves out are gathered. Earth represents flesh, those that are earthy (carnal) will be separated for the fire. Or possibly the church will be put in the fire completely but those who have been baptized by fire while alive may not be hurt by this Fire. They are then put into the fire, which is the wrath of God. God is called many things in the Bible, and one of them is Fire: 

Hebrews 12:29 For our God is a consuming fire. 

The Lake of Fire is that part of God which hates evil, it is His full wrath. This fire judgment is not His full wrath, these are His people. They are saved. They just have lost their saltiness and have not been purified. 

Some translations of the Bible show this fire and call it hell. This is a poor translation and is "Gehenna" in greek. Here is some info about this judgment from another christian web author (his material will be in italics, I will comment with regular font in blue): 

 THE JUDGMENT SEAT OF CHRIST--PART II

I expect that almost every reader will be shocked at the idea that a judgment involving Gehenna could apply to a believer. This in not a novel interpretation, however, originated by this writer. (nor am I any such an originator) There are several other Christian teachers that I know of who have endorsed this truth (see the endnote).5
(please go to the link above to see who he is speaking about, if you wish for more witnesses)

Gehenna is a valley situated outside of Jerusalem. G. H. Pember describes this place in his commentary on the penalties outlined in Matthew 5:22, where Gehenna is referenced: 

Again, in regard to the penalties--in ordinary language, "the Judgment" and "the Council" were names given to the local Jewish Courts, which had cognizance of minor offenses, and to the Supreme Court, or Sanhedrim, at Jerusalem, respectively; while the Hell of Fire--literally, the Fiery Valley of Hinnom--indicated a prerogative of the 
Sanhedrim, by which they were able to order that the body of an executed criminal should be conveyed to the Valley of Hinnom, and there be cast, amid the sewage of the city and every kind of offal and corruption, into one of the numerous fires which were kept ceaselessly burning for the purpose of consuming the filth.6 

The Greek word Gehenna has its derivation from the Hebrew term Ge-Hinnom, which literally means the "valley of Hinnom." The term is derived from the Hebrew words gay (Strong's #1516) and Hinnom (Strong's #2011). Unfortunately, many English versions, but not all, translate this term into the English word "hell." This is a grave mistake in translation, since the average English reader understands hell as a place of eternal punishment for the lost. This mistranslation can easily lead the reader to a wrong exegesis of the passages containing this word. The translators should have simply translated the word as Gehenna, or the "valley of Hinnom", since it is a geographical place. While it is true that the Jews of Jesus' time understood Gehenna to be a place of future punishment for certain persons, it is not true that this judgment was necessarily understood by them to apply strictly to the "lost" (as opposed to God's people), or that it would be eternal in duration. In the Old Testament, God used this place as a judgment only upon His people, not the nations (Jer. 7:30-33). The Biblical identity of "hell", the place which the Bible definitely describes as the final, eternal destiny of the lost, would be the "lake of fire." (Rev. 20:15) 
(I prefer to name the current dwelling place of the unbelievers as hell, because hell is actually thrown into the Lake of Fire at judgment time)

The question arises, however: Is Gehenna equivalent to the "lake of fire" (Rev. 19:20; 20:10,14,15; 21:8)? In answering this question, the first obvious observation is: If these places are identical why would the New Testament use two different terms? We should also note that all of the New Testament Gehenna verses are directed toward God's people, either toward the disciples (believers), or toward the Jews. The "lake of fire" verses are directed toward unbelievers. Believers can be "cast into" Gehenna (Mk. 9:47). However, the Bible never explicitly says believers can be "cast into" the lake of fire. The Scripture does definitely indicate that unbelievers will be cast into the lake of fire (Matt. 25:41--cf. Rev. 20:10; 12-15).

The Bible implies that non-overcoming Christians may be "hurt by the second death" (Rev. 2:11), and in Revelation 20:14 the second death is identified as the "lake of fire". 
However, it is possible that this reference in Revelation 20:14 only involves the second death experience of the unbeliever. (God's Wrath of Fire is manifested at least 3 times, the Lake of Fire is only one such manifestation, but is the FULL manifestation. This is one reason why it is possible that all the church will be put in God's fire (Rev 2:11), but those who are overcomers will not be hurt by it and those christians hurt by it will use leaves of the Tree of Life.)

It is important to note that rabbinical thought at Christ's time identified the judgment of Gehenna with a punishment upon sinners. In his classic work The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, Alfred Edersheim describes for us the teachings on Gehenna in the two schools of Jewish theology that were existent in Christ's day. Both schools considered Gehenna as a place of punishment. This thought was probably derived from an eschatological (end-time) extension of Jeremiah's prophecy on Gehenna (Jer. 7:30-31), or from the judgments of Gehenna that were placed upon certain dead criminals by the Sanhedrin. Both schools viewed Gehenna as a place for certain classes of sinners (including the Jews), with one class suffering temporal punishment there and another class suffering eternal punishment. 

"And do not fear those who kill the body, but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell [literally, Gehenna]" (Matt. 10:28). 

God will be destroying their soul, because they sought to save it. It is also destroyable because it is filled with things that are not eternal (wood, hay, & stubble). Remember, he who seeks to save his soul will lose it... Their soul will now be destroyed. In the 2nd such fire, which will be upon the unrepentant Jews and gentiles left alive after the Tribulation. But this 2nd fire will also be for the christians who lived thru the Tribulation and those who died after the 1st Fire. Thus they will be given new bodies to survive the 2nd Fire. This is the 2nd or perhaps 3rd rapture. This is the Glorious Appearing.

----------- 

Back to Rev 14: MKJV

20 And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even to the bridles of the horses, for the space of a thousand, six hundred stadia.

After learning what Gehenna is, we now see this is outside New Jerusalem in heaven. This is where Jesus will be judging the church. Please make note of the blood from The Winepress. 

Luke 22:44: And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

Here is Jesus, in Gethsemane praying. What I am about to say may be shocking to many believers. Jesus struggled with God's will in Gethsemane. Struggled but did not sin. He even asked the disciples to pray with Him. It took 3 times of prayer before Jesus accepted the cup of God's will. This is the only time Jesus may have had His soul struggle to obey the Spirit. During this winepress of His soul (remember Gethsemane means winepress in Greek), He was purified thru prayer and obeyed. The winepress, with Christ denying His soul, actually produced blood. Not much blood (just some drops), because Jesus never sinned, nor was He soulish or selfish. 

The carnal christians will produce blood when they are thrust into the winepress of God's wrath. The grapes must be emptied! Blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of heaven. This is not physical blood in Rev 14:20, this is the essence of their soulishness. The souls will be emptied of all things corruptible. 

And here is the result of the purging fire: 

Rev 15: LITV
2 And I saw, as a glassy sea having been mixed with fire. And the ones overcoming the beast, and its image, and its mark, of the number of its name, were standing on the glassy sea, having harps of God.

We see 2 groups of people here, those mingled by The Fire and those who overcame. Who are these without fire? We see they have harps. We can see 2 other groups with harps also. One group is seen in Rev 14, before the verses about the reaping sickles. 

Revelation 14 MKJV
1 ¶ And I looked, and lo, the Lamb stood on Mount Zion. And with Him were a hundred and forty-four thousands, having His Father's name written in their foreheads.
2 And I heard a voice from Heaven, like the voice of many waters and like the voice of a great thunder. And I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps.
4 These are those who were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are those who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These were redeemed from among men, as a firstfruit to God and to the Lamb.
5 And in their mouth was found no guile, for they were without blemish before the throne of God.

Here is a group of men either raptured before the reaping, or had died and were gathered. These men are "without blemish before the throne of God". One sign of this blamelessness is that they are virgins. These men are 100 fold fruit producers, they are given harps, or are singing like or with harps. Another group with harps are found here: 

Rev 5: MKJV
8 And when He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one having harps and golden vials full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

Many believe the 24 elders in heaven are great overcoming christians, or jews, or even 12 of each. I don't know who they are. But they have great authority and have harps as well. 

Psalm 137 seems to speak about harps having no place in Babylon while their proper place is in Zion (the church, New Jerusalem). Isaiah 30:27-33 seems to speak about the 2nd Fire at the Glorious Appearing and has harps mentioned. As does Ezek 26:1-14. 

What I think is shown here with the harps, is that those christians who produce 100 fold fruit, will not be put in the Fire. They will be over those who went into the fire. This is a hard saying, even to myself. I do not even consider myself of this level. At one time when I was single and going thru Bible school, I struggled with my desire for marriage, believing that staying single would produce an opportunity for a higher position in the Kingdom of God. 

Math 19:
12 ... there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of Heaven's sake. He who is able to receive it , let him receive it.

Does that mean married people or women can't become 100 fold believers? I don't know, I don't claim that. I know as a married man, I have fallen into the cares of the world. 

1 Cor 7: MKJV
32 ... The one who is unmarried cares for the things that belong to the Lord, how to please the Lord.
33 But the one who is married cares for the things of the world, how to please his wife.

I know I am at most a 60 fold manifesting believer. It is possible that the 30 and 60 fold will not be put into the fire. I find this unlikely, but possible. Possible, because they will have the ability to follow the truth or authority over them willingly in eternity. They will no longer be held by the cares of the world, tempted by sin, nor deceived by bad doctrine. They will also have higher examples to follow and see with their very eyes. Another possibility is that the 30 & 60 group with or without the 100 fold group will be put in the fire, but the fire won't harm them or will purge them depending on the level they were obedient on earth. Perhaps we cannot know whether the overcomers will or will not enter into the Fire or 2nd death. But, the overcoming christian shouldn't fear it. Unless it is this fear: 

Philp 2:12 NKJV 
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 

I would like to say. That this is called the 2nd death because it is the death of the soul. We can seek to fill our soul with our own desires and have it destroyed there or we can deny our soul now and save it for eternity. Obviously, there are degrees of this, hence the 30, 60, 100 fold. 
If you would like to learn more about saving the soul: 

 Click here

This all takes place, it would seem before the 7 bowls/vials of wrath are poured out. The bowls/vials of wrath, are judgments on the earth, very extreme ones. But God say's judgment begins in the house of the Lord: 

1 Peter 4: NKJV
17 For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?

What then is the purpose of this purging fire? 

1. To empty out of man, those things man put in to himself, to fill the vacuum God should have filled. This is his soulishness, selfishness, personal agenda's and so on. Those things Christ said we should deny. 

2. To protect the innocent and the not so innocent from one another's soulishness in eternity. If carnal christians continued in their carnality, heaven and the new earth would run amuck. People would get hurt and hurt themselves. 

3. To guarantee that eternity will not have another fall. If men were allowed to keep those things that are not of God, not eternal, and are selfish, there could take place another fall, like in Eden. 

The true purging fire will burn away any dross in the soul that would allow rebellion to take place. The fire cannot in anyway be dodged or shortened by the soul in the fire. There is no room for choice in the matter. Those that are Gold will have no fear of fire, and will have no sorrow or tear in the Kingdom. 

Some other points about the True Purging Fire: 

1. There is no freewill involved in the purging process. 

At this point in time, the time of repentance is over. We will be judged by the deeds we did in the body on earth. Nothing, nor anyone, can change the length, duration, or strength of the purging fire. It will be different for each person, according to THEIR own walk in life. In my opinion, I do not think it will last long. I am not saying a response to God during the purging is forbidden, or a response is not possible. I am saying that our response will not change the duration, strength, or length of the fire. I also am not saying that a proper or holy response won't be noticed. One may or may not get a "Thou hast done well" from God or some other acknowledgment due to their response after the experience. But the experience itself will not change. There are some things listed in scripture that will affect our purging, seen below. 
 

2. Nothing changes the length or strength of the process except the persons own walk and faithfulness to Christ and The Word of God while in the flesh on earth. 

2 Cor 5: MKJV
10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive the things done through the body, according to that which he has done, whether good or bad.

What we do in our body, not out of the body, is what we shall be judged for. The only things scripture says will change our judgment are these: 

1 John 1:9: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 

But this confession and repentance hinges on this: 

2 Corinthians 7: NKJV
9 Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. 10 For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.

Then there is this: 

Luke 6: NKJV
37 "Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.

There are many misinterpretations of this. A good website about this verse is here (this link is not mine-nor do I endorse anything else at that site): 

  Two Kinds of Judging

Basically it means we will be judged in the same manner we judge others. We should judge others correctly, or do not judge them at all. 

Then there is this: 

Math 6: MKJV
14 For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you;
15 but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

This relates to the previous scripture. In the degree of mercy we give, we will receive. This is shown in Math 18:23-35

Some may say, "He promises to give anything we ask to those who love Him.", thinking they can ask for a lesser judgment. 

reply: 
James 4:3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. 

It is a lust, to try and live less purely and weasel out of the judgment. In fact, this very idea is part of the teaching of Jezebel, of which will cause a believer to miss the rapture. Many unbelievers have this problem, but I think many catholics and other liberal christians have this problem as well. Many protestants think their going to get a blanket forgiveness without true repentance.  Many catholics take advantage of their system to sin and go confess. Its an abuse of the system, and Rome itself doesn't teach it, but their system causes it. I won't go further here, this isn't about catholics. There are extreme right wing protestant christians who think everyone will get saved. This also leads to lusting after sin without repenting. It is this very type of lusting that may keep a believer from the rapture. See here: Are You Prepared for the 2nd Coming?

Here are some great links on the subject of the believers judgment (listed by order of quality-1st best): 

 THE JUDGMENT SEAT OF CHRIST--PART I by Thomas W. Finley
 THE JUDGMENT SEAT OF CHRIST--PART II by Thomas W. Finley
 The Judgment Seat of Christ by WhatSaithTheScripture.com
 Judgment Seat of Christ by Dr. Douglas D. Stauffer

Page's of mine related to this subject: 

 Foundational Principles of Christ - Part 1

 Foundational Principles of Christ - Part 2 The Doctrine of Baptisms

 The Rapture

 Are You Prepared for the 2nd Coming?

 The 2 & a Half Tribes that didn't Cross Over

 Prophecy

 The Gospel of The Kingdom - part one

 The Lake of Fire - another part of the Foundational Principle of Eternal Judgment 
 

I have made a Main Page for a list of all my pages. You can see it here: 

 Click here for Main Page

 
 Click here to email or contact the webmaster