Luke 21:34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.

35 For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.

36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

We're not to watch and pray to be raptured out of the world in order to escape Judgment Day; but instead, we are to watch and pray so that we can STAND BEFORE the Son of man. Interesting isn't it?

Romans 14:10 But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

"For we shall all STAND before the judgment seat of Christ"? Obviously the Bible is just wrong---isn't it?

Why does Luke 21:36, in the context of the final judgment of this world, and Romans 14:10, in the context of Christ situated upon His judgment throne, both speak of the elect people of God standing in the Day of Judgment?

Perhaps, it is because the Bible says the unsaved will not be able to stand at that time:

Psalm 1:5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

On May 21, 2011, we all entered into the final judgment of mankind, and the only question that remains is, who shall stand?

Revelation 6:17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

It's very obvious that what God means by 'standing' before His judgment seat, involves enduring through it. And at its conclusion remaining alive because the judgment of God, or the verdict of the One sitting upon the judgment throne, is that you have been found innocent of all charges due to the fact that Christ has paid the penalty for them already at the foundation of the world.

'To stand' before the judgment seat of Christ, ultimately means to endure it.

Matthew 24:13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

The fire of the wrath of God will certainly burn up all the wicked. None whose sins are upon them will stand. But that is not the case for God's elect people:

Malachi 3:2 But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap:

There's that question again, "Who shall stand when He appeareth"?

The salvation of God is the only thing that permits a soul to endure through the Day of God's fierce wrath. In the book of Ephesians this is pictured by the spiritual armor (spiritual equipment provided via salvation) of God:

Ephesians 6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Are you standing (enduring) in this evil Day of Judgment? If you've gone back from the Biblical calendar of history you can be sure you're not standing properly before the judgment seat of Christ.

If a professed 'true' believer has returned to church, even after God painstakingly has shown us by His Word the Church Age is over, it is certain that individual is not standing (enduring) through this time of the final judgment.

If a professed 'true' believer has returned to former doctrines, doctrines God has graciously provided correction to as He unsealed His Word at the time of the end, it is also certain that such an individual is NOT standing before the throne of Christ's judgment.

And of course, if former professed 'true' believers have now returned to the things of this world, its politics, its social issues, its pleasures and disputes, rather than focusing on the things of the kingdom of God (which are found only in the Bible), then it also is certain that they are not able to stand before Christ's judgment seat.

But someone might say, "I thought the elect people of God already have stood before the judgment seat in Christ as He paid the penalty for their sins? I don't understand why you are saying the people of God must stand before His judgment seat at the end of the world? Since their sins were already paid for, it seems like it would be double jeopardy. As though they were being tried for the same sins twice.

Well, now you're starting to get the idea. Who else do we know of that experienced the judgment of God, or paid the atonement price demanded for breaking God's law----and then did it again, a second time in order to demonstrate what He did the first time?

A person that has learned the wonderful and new truth that Jesus made payment for the sins of His people at the foundation of the world, and yet, entered into the human race in order to suffer and die (a second time) in order to demonstrate His atoning work---will be much better equipped to understand what is happening to God's elect people, alive and remaining on the earth in the Day of Judgment. They, the body of Christ, are following the exact pattern set by Him, by appearing before the judgment seat of Christ in order to demonstrate the fact that their sins have ALREADY been forgiven in the Person of Christ at the foundation of the world.

This is why the word "appear" in 2 Corinthians 5:10 is so important:

2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ;

The Greek word appear (#5319) is the identical Greek word used to describe the Lord Jesus Christ's entry into the human race to make manifest the works He had finished at the world's foundation.

We, the elect children of God, must appear, or be made manifest before the judgment throne, so that, as we endure to the end. As we go through the spiritual fires of God's wrath. As all the rest of mankind, all around us, are cut off and burned up, and yet we continue on---this will serve to demonstrate the glorious truth that we have already had our sins paid for by Jesus long ago. Our continuance through this awful time, and our standing at its close, will mean that we have been found innocent of all wrongdoing. God's judgment, finally, will be, "I find no fault in them". They have no sin upon them. They are washed. They are clean. That will be the final verdict for all the Lord's true people at the completion of this prolonged judgment period.

Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

The Greek word translated as "present" in verse 27 above, is the same word 'stand' found in Romans 14:10. The purification process of the final judgment time (the fire serves to purify the gold and silver) also finally results in a thoroughly washed bride of Christ. A bride now ready to stand before the Bridegroom officially without spot or wrinkle.

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