Rev. 14:7; Ps. 51:1-4; Rev. 20:12; Dan. 7:9, 14, 26; Rev. 4:2-4; Rev. 5:1-12.

 “Saying with a loud voice, ‘Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water’ ” (Revelation 14:7, NKJV).

 If the Bible was ever clear about anything, it’s clear that God is a God of judgment, and that sooner or later, in one way or another, judgment — the judgment so lacking here and now — is going to come and be administered by God Himself, “the Judge of all the earth” (Gen. 18:25; see also Ps. 58:11, Ps. 94:2, Ps. 98:9). Or, as Paul Himself had written: “So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God” (Rom. 14:12).

 Scary thought, isn’t it? Having to give an account of ourselves before God, the God who knows the deepest things, the God who will “bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil.” (Eccles. 12:14, NKJV)?

 Yet, ultimately the judgment reveals the goodness and the grace of God and that He is both just and merciful in how He deals with the saved, and even with the lost.

 This week we will explore the deeper themes of the judgment in relation to the great controversy raging in the universe, and we will look especially about what happens when God’s faithful people themselves face the inevitable “judgment to come” (Acts 24:25).

 Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, April 29.