7. Judge should be produced first for the judgment.

From the sermon on February 17, 2008

I have told you about the kingdom of heaven and hell for a long time. When we did not know about God’s providence, we believed that people who died with faith in Jesus would immediately go to the kingdom of heaven and the nonbelievers would go to hell.

Going to heaven is the ultimate goal for Christians. Hell is a scary place, even to people who do not believe in God. When I say that no souls have gone to the kingdom of heaven or hell, Christians may be suspicious and doubtful about my words. So I would like to explain it to you carefully.

After a human being is born, he must die. We cannot avoid it. But Paul emphasized the world after death, saying that

the judgment must come after death. “This will take place on the day when God will judge men’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares” (Rom. 2:16).

What is the judgment? Simply stated, the judgment is justice. In our world, judges decide the penalty for criminals in a court of justice. It is the same in heaven. Souls should receive judgment to decide whether it is guilty or not and what the penalty should be if they are guilty. After the judgment, the souls are declared to be guilty or not and their penalty is decided. When the guilty are sentenced, they must go to jail. Like that, the kingdom of heaven and hell will be made after the judgment.

In Revelations, John the apostle was taught by Jesus. He said, “I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge” (Rev. 20:4). The dead must be judged. But the judgment has not been performed yet. Why not?

Dear people, can we have a trial without a judge? Even if there is a court, a trial cannot be held without a judge. For example, a defendant is supposed to be tried in a court, so an audience visits the court to see the trial. What if there