Shortly before the coming of Christ (and just before the wrath of God is poured out in the seven last plagues) the judgment must take place.

“For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God” (1 Peter 4:17)?

“The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished” (2 Peter 2:9).

Consider Revelation 14:6, 7 and verses 15, 16, which state that the investigative judgment must take place before the “harvest of the earth,” elsewhere called “the end of this world.” Verse 7 refers to those who announce to the world that we are living in a time of preparation for the end. At the very end, “the Son of man shall send forth his angels” to gather the tares for the fire and the wheat for the heavenly barn (Matthew 13:30, 40–43). Each individual alive at that time has been already designated as either a grain of “wheat” or a “tare” and is already carrying the mark that identifies his or her choice.

In preparation for that harvest, the Lord appeals to us to “repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you” (Acts 3:19, 20).

In this time of preparation for the end we must seek the Lord to help us gain a genuine experience in repentance and conversion. What is the difference between having our sins forgiven and having our sins “blotted out”? The Lord hears us every day as we pray: “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors” (Matthew 6:12). But to have our sins blotted out is something completely different.

“In the great day of final award, the dead are to be ‘judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works’ (Revelation 20:12). Then by virtue of the atoning blood of Christ, the sins of all the truly penitent will be blotted from the books of heaven.”1

“Sins that have not been repented of and forsaken will not be pardoned and blotted out of the books of record, but will stand to witness against the sinner in the day of God.”2

What declaration will be made in the courts of heaven when the investigative judgment is completed shortly before the coming of Christ?

“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. And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie” (Revelation 22:11–15).

After these two classes have been identified (by the declaration of Jesus recorded in these verses), and after their destiny has been decided, a character change will be impossible.

“Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath” (Matthew 25:28, 29).

“When Christ shall cease His work as mediator in man’s behalf, then this time of trouble will begin. Then the case of every soul will have been decided, and there will be no atoning blood to cleanse from sin. When Jesus leaves His position as man’s intercessor before God, the solemn announcement is made, ‘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’ (Revelation 22:11).”3

As soon as the intercessory work of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary is finished, the four angels release the “winds” of the earth.

“And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads” (Revelation 7:1–3).

As soon as the sealing work is finished, the “winds” of national and international conflicts will start blowing.

“Christ has made the atonement for His people and blotted out their sins. The number of His subjects is made up; ‘the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven’ (Daniel 7:27), is about to be given to the heirs of salvation, and Jesus is to reign as King of kings and Lord of lords.

“When He leaves the sanctuary, darkness covers the inhabitants of the earth. In that fearful time the righteous must live in the sight of a holy God without an intercessor. The restraint which has been upon the wicked is removed, and Satan has entire control of the finally impenitent. God’s long-suffering has ended. The world has rejected His mercy, despised His love, and trampled upon His law. The wicked have passed the boundary of their probation; the Spirit of God, persistently resisted, has been at last withdrawn. Unsheltered by divine grace, they have no protection from the wicked one. Satan will then plunge the inhabitants of the earth into one great, final trouble. As the angels of God cease to hold in check the fierce winds of human passion, all the elements of strife will be let loose. The whole world will be involved in ruin more terrible than that which came upon Jerusalem of old.”4

“And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth’ (Revelation 16:1). Not only will Satan cause great trouble on earth, God will also pour out His anger, through the seven last plagues, on those who have rejected Him.

Then the saints will have to go through a time of trouble described in these verses:

“And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book” (Daniel 12:1).

“Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. . . . For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be” (Matthew 24:9, 21).

“And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” “And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name” (Revelation 12:17; 13:16, 17).

“For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape” (1 Thessalonians 5:2, 3).

“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. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. 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” (Luke 21:34–36).

“And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 5:23).

“Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it” (Jeremiah 30:7).

“As Jacob was threatened with death by his angry brother, so the people of God will be in peril from the wicked who are seeking to destroy them. And as the patriarch wrestled all night for deliverance from the hand of Esau, so the righteous will cry to God day and night for deliverance from the enemies that surround them. . . .

“Such will be the experience of God’s people in their final struggle with the powers of evil. God will test their faith, their perseverance, their confidence in His power to deliver them. Satan will endeavor to terrify them with the thought that their cases are hopeless; that their sins have been too great to receive pardon. They will have a deep sense of their shortcomings, and as they review their lives their hopes will sink. But remembering the greatness of God’s mercy, and their own sincere repentance, they will plead His promises made through Christ to helpless, repenting sinners. Their faith will not fail because their prayers are not immediately answered. They will lay hold of the strength of God, as Jacob laid hold of the Angel, and the language of their souls will be, ‘I will not let Thee go, except Thou bless me.’

“Had not Jacob previously repented of his sin in obtaining the birthright by fraud, God could not have heard his prayer and mercifully preserved his life. So in the time of trouble, if the people of God had unconfessed sins to appear before them while tortured with fear and anguish, they would be overwhelmed; despair would cut off their faith, and they could not have confidence to plead with God for deliverance. But while they have a deep sense of their unworthiness, they will have no concealed wrongs to reveal. Their sins will have been blotted out by the atoning blood of Christ, and they cannot bring them to remembrance.”5

After Christ receives the kingdom (Luke 19:12, 15; Revelation 11:12), He will return, bringing His reward with Him to give to every one according to his or her work.” The reward that He is bringing with Him has already been decided in the investigative judgment. This is implied in the statement in Revelation 22:12. And now, at His coming, He will say to the saints: “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom”; and to wicked: “Depart from me” (Matthew 25:34, 41). The result of the pre-advent investigative judgment (Revelation 14:7 (compare verse 7 with verses 15 and 16)) will be applied at the coming of Christ. This is the executive judgment mentioned in 2 Timothy 4:1.

In what sense is the Flood in the days of Noah compared to the coming of Christ in our days?

“And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all” (Luke 17:26, 27).

What did the multitude that stood outside realize when the door of the ark was shut and it began to rain? They understood that the door of probation for them was shut forever.

How is the destruction of Sodom and Gomorra to be compared to the destruction that is coming in the day of Christ?

“Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed” (Luke 17:8–30).

Did the inhabitants of those wicked cities still have a chance to repent and turn to the Lord when fire was coming down from heaven? What did Christ mean when He said: “Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed”?

God help us to trust the Bible and reject false hopes based on imaginary theories! God help us to put our trust entirely in Him! May we accept God’s leading as He prepares us to live through the time of trouble coming in the near future. God help us to repent and be converted in preparation for living without the mediation of Jesus.