Sessional Judgment for the Gentiles. During the 7-year tribulation, the gospel of the Kingdom will be carried to “all the nations” (Matt. 24:14; Isa. 66:19). Some will accept this gospel, others will reject it. Those who reject it will ignore the desperate need of the Jewish preachers, but the faithful will shelter and feed them. At this sessional judgment, the Gentiles will be separated into two groups, the sheep and the goats.

The Lord will reveal to all that their personal faith or unbelief was demonstrated by their treatment of the faithful Jewish remnant, whom he calls “My brethren”. The criteria by which the Gentiles will be separated is according to their treatment of the remnant. A great many will receive the gospel of the kingdom. We read of them in Rev. 7:9 as "A great multitude which no man could number." They are the sheep. Others will reject the gospel and persecute the remnant. They are the goats. The sheep will enter the Kingdom, the goats will go to the lake of fire.

This is the sessional judgment "of the quick" — the living Gentiles at the beginning of the Millennium. There is another sessional judgment "of the dead" that will occur at the end of the Millennium, called the great white throne judgment (Rev. 20:11). See judgment of the quick and the dead. Down through the centuries these two events have been frequently confused. The believers who receive the gospel of the grace of God today will never stand before the sessional judgment of Christ; "there is then now no condemnation to those in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 8:1). There will be a judgment seat of Christ for the believer, but it has nothing to do with eternal salvation.

Some have mocked the feasibility of the Lord bringing every living Gentile to the land of Palestine to stand before His throne for judgment. However, this is what the Word of God says, and we must believe it by faith. Also, remember that the population of the earth will be vastly reduced by this time.