Who am I to Judge?

 

Who Am I to Judge?

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“Who am I to judge?” It is a common refrain spoken by people who do not want to appear judgmental, intolerant, and unloving. But the idea that we should not to pass judgments is not only irrational, but for the Christian the idea is an unbiblical renunciation of our responsibility before God to speak truth. At best it is spiritual cowardice. At worst, it makes us guilty of complicity in the sins of others.

 

Who am I to judge? If we love our neighbor as ourselves, we WILL make judgments. What loving parent does not tell a beloved son or daughter, “Don’t hang out with those people. They’re nothing but trouble”?  Why do we make judgments about our children’s friends? Because we LOVE our children and want to protect them. 

 

Who am I to judge? Each time we vote for a political candidate, are we not making judgments, deciding if the person’s policies or promises line up with what we think are good and right?

 

Now, of course, if we are talking about deciding the final destination of people after death, absolutely and certainly only God will make that judgment. Only almighty God has the authority to judge and send to an eternity in the Lake of Fire, or an eternity with Him and all the angels and saints in heaven. The Lord Jesus tells us in Luke 12:4-5 – “I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him! (Luke 12:4-5)

 

And on what basis will the Final Judge make that decision? If you’re fluent with your Bible you already know the answer to that question. Only those who have by faith given their lives, their lifestyles, and their obedience to Jesus will hear the Final Judge say, “Welcome, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord.” (Matthew 25:23) All others will instead hear the Final Judge say, “Depart from me, all you evil doers, into the eternal fire reserved for the devil and his angels.” (Matthew 7:23)

 

“Who am I to judge?” Most religious and even non-religious people who make that fallacious statement usually appeal to the words of the Lord Jesus in Matthew 7: “Judge not lest you be judged.”

 

But let me quickly and clearly say that those who focus exclusively on that first verse in Matthew 7 do so by ignoring the context of that text – not only the context of that chapter, but the context of the rest of the New and Old Testaments. I will demonstrate that in a short while.

 

Remember, a Biblical text taken out of context is a pretext to teach error.

The misuse of Matthew 7:1 – whether intentionally or unintentionally – the misuse of that verse serves only to mislead the biblically illiterate and the marginally illiterate into falsely thinking ‘love’ doesn’t warn others of the eternal danger they face by continuing in their sins.

 

And worse yet, as I said a few minutes ago, when we refuse to make judgments about the words and the actions of others, we become complicit, we actually assist them on their journey to hell.

 

Please hear what God said to the prophet Ezekiel. You’ll find it twice in his prophecy, in chapter three and in chapter 33. Here is only a portion in chapter 33:1-6

 

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Son of man, speak to the sons of your people and say to them, ‘If I bring a sword upon a land, and the people of the land take one man from among them and make him their watchman, and he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows on the trumpet and warns the people, then he who hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, and a sword comes and takes him away, his blood will be on his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet but did not take warning; his blood will be on himself. But had he taken warning, he would have delivered his life. But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet and the people are not warned, and a sword comes and takes a person from them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require from the watchman’s hand.’

 

And St. John clearly tells us in his second epistle that to protect ourselves and others from heresy that we ARE to judge what others say and do: Here are verses seven through 11: “For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch yourselves, that you do not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward.

 

John then continues his admonition that we judge the actions of others:  Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting; for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds.

 

I hope the application to 2020 is obvious. If we see someone living a lifestyle of sin and we do not warn that person of the eternal consequences of that sin, then God holds US also responsible for that person’s eternal damnation AND we ultimately participate in their evil deeds.

 

I do not know how these texts in Ezekiel and John’s epistle can be interpreted otherwise.

 

“Who am I to judge?” Often those who say such things from pulpits and classrooms and through the printed media are nothing less than politically correct spiritual cowards, false teachers, and children of Satan dressed in clerical garb who do not CARE about the lost sheep; For if they cared about the lost sheep, they would search for them and lead them by the word of God back to the fold.

 

What did Jesus say about such false shepherds? Here is John 10:7-10 – “Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

 

So, is it wrong for Christians to judge others? As I have mentioned before, perhaps one of the most often cited Scriptures used to ‘prove’ Christians have no right to judge is a brief excerpt from Matthew 7: Do not judge so that you will not be judged (Matthew 7:1). 

 

But is the Lord Jesus – indeed, does the entire word of God itself teaching us that we must avoid judging others? What would societies look like if no one judged the actions of another? Courts would close and prisons would empty its prisoners back into our communities because no one could pass judgment on murderers, rapists, thieves, and other criminals. 

A society without authority to judge others would descend into total anarchy. That is why St. Paul refers to governments as having been “established by God” for the protection of its citizenry (Romans 13:1-6). 

Let's look at the context of Matthew 7: Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. (Matthew 7:1-5)

The Lord Jesus is saying more than a simple “Do not judge.” Rather, He warns us to avoid judging without first examining our own lives.

 

The Holy Spirit clarifies Jesus’ point through St. Paul: Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things . . . . But do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment on those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God? (Romans 2:1-3) 

Thus, if we are to judge the actions of others, we must first ensure our own actions are moral and will stand up to the scrutiny of the Lord who knows all things.

Looking back at the Matthew passage, the Lord Jesus continues in verse six: Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine. . . . In New Testament language, dogs and swine referred to non-practicing Jews and Gentiles who did not follow the Law of Moses. Unless Jesus’ disciples ‘judged’ the actions of those who live contrary to Jewish law, this commandment in verse six of chapter seven does not make sense.

But the Lord was not yet finished. In verses 15-16 of the same chapter, He warned: Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. If Jesus intended verse one to be a ‘stand-alone’ commandment, then His warning about false prophets is meaningless since we would not be permitted to judge the words or lifestyles of others to know of whom we should be wary.

The Father of evil – Satan – ever strives to distort God’s truth by introducing false teachers and false Christians into the Church. That is why the Holy Spirit warns us again through St. Paul: For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness . . . . (2 Corinthians 11:13-15). 

Unless we judge what others do and say, we cannot protect ourselves or others against Satan’s lies and deceptions.

 

An example of why such judgment is necessary to protect the flock is found in St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. One of the men in the congregation was sleeping with his father’s wife, and St. Paul passed swift judgment on him: For I, on my part, though absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged him who has so committed this, as though I were present. In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and I with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus, I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough? Clean out the old leaven . . . . I wrote you in my letter not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one. . . remove the wicked man from among yourselves. (1 Corinthians 5:3-13)  

(By the way, besides protection, another purpose of Christian judgment is the rehabilitation and reconciliation of the sinner. We find this is what occurred with this man. By the time Paul wrote his second letter to that church, the offender had turned his life around and had been restored to the Christian community – 2 Corinthians 2:1-11).

We could examine many other New Testament texts that instruct Christians, for their own safety and the safety of others, to be “wise as serpents and harmless as doves” (Matthew 10:16). But for the sake of brevity I will cite only a few more texts which, if Matthew 7:1 was intended as a ‘stand-alone”, would not make sense – and why that passage must be read in context with the rest of Scripture:

1 Corinthians 15:33-34:  Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.” Become sober-minded as you ought, and stop sinning; for some have no knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame. Unless we use Biblical principles to judge the company we keep, we risk our own morals being corrupted.

 

2 Corinthians 6:14-15^: Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?  Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever?  To avoid being “bound together with unbelievers” one must make judgments based on what God tells us marks the character of unbelievers.

 

 2 Thessalonians 3:14-15: If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of that person and do not associate with him, so that he will be put to shame. Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother. Once again Paul instructs his Christian readers to judge the actions and words of others by God’s holy word.

 

1 Timothy 5:9-10: A widow is to be put on the list only if she is not less than sixty years old, having been the wife of one man, having a reputation for good works; and if she has brought up children, if she has shown hospitality to strangers, if she has washed the saints’ feet, if she has assisted those in distress, and if she has devoted herself to every good work. How could the church put such women on “the list” without first judging their lives to determine if their lives line up with the word of God?

 

1 Timothy 5:19-21: Those who continue in sin, rebuke in the presence of all, so that the rest also will be fearful of sinning. How could church leadership rebuke those who continue in sin without judging their actions by the clear teaching of Scripture?

Ephesians 5:3-10  But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. . . . ⁶ Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient . . .  ¹¹ Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. We cannot expose the sinful words and acts of others if we refuse to judge those words and acts by the word of God.

The Lord Jesus tells us: Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment” (John 7:24). Righteous judgment means taking the log out of our own eye before we get busy taking specks out of someone else’s eye. It means approaching our brother or sister in love, and not in a spirit of condemnation – but approaching them nonetheless for their correction.

 

According to the whole testimony of New Testament Scripture, Christians obey God when we, in love, make judgments of the words and the actions of others, and when we warn them of the eternal danger they face if they continue in willful sin.

 

Who am I to judge? God’s word REQUIRES Christians to judge the words and the actions of others. He requires it in the same way that He requires us to take the Great Commission to heart and go into all the world and tell others the good news of Jesus and His offer of salvation and forgiveness and eternal life – AND to warn those who persist in their sins of eternal judgment.

 

Oh, may God the Holy Spirit fill us with boldness and passion for the eternal souls of others, that we will not refuse to tell them the truth of God’s love – and of His judgment.

Don't Dilute the Truth

 I love science, especially biology, anatomy, and physiology as they relate to the human body. I have studied medical and pharmaceutical-related textbooks and lectured for years on the subjects. 

It does not surprise me when I speak with biblically illiterate men and women – many of whom, I soon discover, took no more than the few required science courses in college – it doesn’t surprise me that they fall lockstep behind evolutionists who preach that the stunning complexity of the human body is simply a matter of billions of years of slow and progressive changes. 

Really? So, knowing what medical science now knows about that complexity of the human body, how did the first humans evolve before the pancreas developed its essential exocrine and endocrine functions? How did the first humans not die within hours before the liver evolved sufficiently to develop its critical array of functions related to blood coagulation, body metabolism, immunity, and about a thousand other critical bodily functions (okay, ‘a thousand’ is hyperbole, but you get the point). 

How did the first humans survive without the brainstem, the cranial nerves, the cerebellum, the cerebral spinal fluid, the spinal cord, and the skeletal structures that protect them all? What about the functions of the lungs and the kidneys? Apart from the most visible function of respiration and elimination (far more complex that that brief description) how did the first human evolve without those organs critical (there is that word again) to maintain the acid-base balance of our blood within a very tight range? 

What do we say about the essential electrolytes such as calcium, potassium, sodium, and a host of other vital chemical and hormonal reactions without which life would not exist? How did the first humans survive the first HOURS after evolving from a lower stage? 

And how did the first male and the female of the species evolve at the same time and in the same geographical place to propagate our species? And what about the hormones necessary for reproduction and nurturing of the fetus? 

The questions we SHOULD ask are nearly endless – and none of them can be explained with the knee-jerk response, “It took time.”  Too many things had to occur simultaneously for life to exist. 

No, it does not surprise me when the biblically illiterate fall lockstep in with other biblically illiterates. “Group Think” is nearly always a dangerous practice. 

But what DOES surprise me is when biblically LITERATE start spouting evolutionary theory as if it is an unquestionably proven fact. 

I got to thinking about this after a brief discussion on one of my online discussion pages with a group of religious folk, some of whom implied that I am a backwoods superstitious yokel because I believe the Biblical account of the sudden and special creation of Adam and Eve; that they were real and historical people – which, by the way, Jesus and the apostle Paul also believed. (for example, Matthew 19:4-6; 1 Timothy 4:12-14; 1 Corinthians 15 and Romans 5). 

Listen! God is the God of the supernatural. Let me repeat that for emphasis: God is the God of the supernatural. When we dilute our faith in God’s omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence we cannot logically stop our dilution with the Creation account. What do we do with the Ten Plagues? The Red Sea? The virgin birth? Feeding the 5,000? The resurrection of Jesus? What do we do with the inspiration and the infallibility of the Scriptures? 

We do not need to dilute the truth in order to make truth more appealing to skeptics. Our responsibility is to simply tell others what the Bible clearly teaches.  Let the supernatural Holy Spirit do with our words as He chooses. 

After all, it is He who said: 

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts. “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there without watering the earth and making it bear and sprout, and furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.” 

And it is He who also said: “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.” (1 Corinthians 1:18)

When God Weeps

When God Weeps

 

When I think of God’s emotions, I most often think of His love for me, and patience, and compassion. And I think also of His anger and wrath against those who choose of their own free will to not follow Him.  But I usually forget another emotion God exhibits. He reminded me of it as I am now reading again through the prophet Ezekiel. I found it in chapter 6. Here are two translations: (Ezekiel 6:9, NRSV) "Those of you who escape shall remember me among the nations where they are carried captive, how I was crushed by their wanton heart that turned away from me, and their wanton eyes that turned after their idols."

 

"And those of you that escape shall remember me among the nations whither they shall be carried captive, how that I have been broken with their lewd heart, which hath departed from me, and with their eyes, which play the harlot after their idols." ASV)

 

Only rarely have I considered that God’s heart is broken, crushed, when those He loves so much – that being all 100% of humanity – how His heart is so terribly wounded when anyone turns away from Him, when they reject Him.

 

Nancy and I have been married going on 46 years. I love my wife. I know she also dearly me.  I cannot begin to fathom the deeply visceral pain that would devastate me if she were ever to walk out of our marriage. I cannot begin to comprehend the agony if she were ever unfaithful to me.  And I do not doubt she feels the same way about my fidelity toward her.

 

We also have three children. I cannot imagine what it would be like if any of them would turn their back on Nancy or me and never call, write, or visit.

 

Some of you reading this know from personal experience the agony of rejection by a spouse or a child. To this day, years, maybe decades later, the hurt still cuts.

 

Rejection. 

Many of you will remember a text you’ve read many times in the past. It’s in John’s gospel about Jesus – the Creator, the lover of His creation, especially of men and women.  Here is what the Holy Spirit tells us:

 

“There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. (John 1:9-11)

 

The text doesn’t say it, but I think it measures to the same poignancy as the text in Ezekiel: “How I was crushed by their wanton heart that turned away from me . . ..”

 

It is one thing – bad enough as it is – when those who never wanted to follow God reject God.  But how does it hurt Him when those who once followed Him turn from Him?

That’s what happened to an early Christian whose name was Demas. We first find him in Colossians 4 where Paul calls him a faithful servant of Jesus. The apostle mentions him once again as his ‘fellow worker’ for Christ in the book of Philemon.

 

But something happened to the once faithful servant of Christ. We read these words in 2 Timothy 4. Paul is in prison. He’s alone. And Paul writes to Timothy: Make every effort to come to me soon; for Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica . . . .”  (verses 9-10). The word used here for ‘loved’ is agape. It means to love something or someone dearly, to be well pleased with, to decide no one and nothing else more valuable.

 

Demas, having become enamored by this present world, turned not only from Paul, but seems he also turned from God.

 

You and I should not wonder why the Holy Spirit urges us in 1 John 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world the love of the Father is not in him. Or why Jesus warned in Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” Or why God tells us in the context of Ezekiel, God is crushed when we turn from Him to our own desires.

 

We all know such things happen. There are some who never come to the loving Creator and heavenly Father because they want to follow their own rules and not God’s. On the other hand, some come and stay for a while, but then fall away for any number of reasons, such as those enumerated in the Parable of the Sower. You can read it for yourself in Matthew 13.

 

But the critical question for us is this: When we are faithless, how does God ‘feel,’ when we turn from Him? It is NOT anger or wrath. It’s pain – the pain of rejection, the pain – on a much larger scale than WE can understand – of watching your beloved spouse – or your beloved CHILD – walk away from you.

 

What does God feel when we turn from Him? God’s heart broke over the nation that turned its back on Him (Ezekiel 6:9). He wept over Jerusalem when it turned its back on Him (Luke 19:41). And don’t think for a moment that God does not weep over you or me or those we love and who turn away from Him.

Here is what He said to His wayward sons and daughters through Ezekiel:

“Now as for you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus you have spoken, saying, “Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we are rotting away in them; how then can we survive?”’ Say to them, ‘As I live!’ declares the Lord God, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?’ Ezekiel 33:10-11 

And here is what He said again, this time through the prophet Hosea: “Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. Take words with you and return to the Lord. Say to Him, “Take away all iniquity and receive us graciously, that we may present the fruit of our lips. (Hosea 14:1-2)

Listen. This is important. If you’ve turned from Him, He weeps. His heart is broken. Even now, as you read this, His heart is broken. And that’s why you’ve read this far, because your inner spirit is hearing Him calling you: “Please. Come back. Please. I long for you to return.”

What will you do? He hopes it is this: Tell Him you’re sorry you strayed. Tell Him you want to come home. He will open His arms for you to come. Even now, as you read these words.

 

Never become so arrogant to think we cannot end up as Demas. Or Judas. We must each be ever watchful and alert to the danger of slipping away by degrees from our God and becoming enamored with the present world.

 

How do we keep alert and watchful?

 

1. Know therefore the condition of your heart. Focus on that condition every day. Evening is best, but morning is a good time, too. Focus on your heart’s bent toward God, and if you might detect a subtle coolness of heart entering your relationship toward Him.

 

As we just heard from Hosea: “Take words with you and return to the Lord. Say to Him, “Take away all iniquity and receive us graciously, that we may present the fruit of our lips.” Say to God: “O Holy Spirit! Show me if I am falling asleep. And if I am, shake me awake.”

 

2. Keep short accounts with God. Don’t let sins – especially the sins we call minor, or venial sins – don’t let them slide without acknowledging them to God and to ourselves that we are wrong.

 

St. Augustine: While he is in the flesh, man cannot help but have at least some light sins. But do not despise these sins which we call "light": if you take them for light when you weigh them, tremble when you count them. A number of light objects makes a great mass; a number of drops fills a river; a number of grains makes a heap. What then is our hope? Above all, confession.

 

3. Keep doing the right things, even and especially if they seem to have grown tedious. Bible reading. Prayer – even monosyllable simple prayers, Congregational worship. And do not forget DAILY confession of sins.  There is not a person in this room who does not have something to confess each evening, even if only the small and minor sins.

 

Remember the warning of the Lord to the church at Ephesus: ‘I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; and you have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, and have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place—unless you repent. (Revelation 2:2-5)

We need to know it hurts God when we willfully sin. But His open arms are always waiting. His compassion will always draw us in. We only need to acknowledge when we hurt Him, apologize, repent . . . and come to Him for reconciliation. In fact, if we want to know what makes Him happy – that’s it: Our willingness to return to Him in repentance, responsive to His call to a life of holiness.

Guilty, but . . .

 I post this about once a year. Its message is timeless. I hope it encourages you. 

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"And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Also another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, by what they had done." (Revelation 20:12) 

As I sat one morning and pondered the Final Judgment, my thoughts wandered to what it might be like when the books – the books that record my life – are opened before the Great Judge. And Scripture texts cascaded across the images forming in my mind.

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I am dead. 

I don’t know how I know it, but I am dead. And I stand before the Judgment Seat of God.(1) The Accuser (2) stands next to me, denouncing me and charging me with the many crimes I’ve committed during my life. Murder. Perversions. Treasons. Rebellions. The litany seems to never end. He cites all of them. 
Each in order. 

I don’t remember most of them, but my prosecutor holds aloft his dossier of dates and times and places. And with each accusation the memories of my forgotten sins flood my mind. They overwhelm me. With great shame – and fear – I try to push them from my memory, but to no avail.

Then almost from nowhere, He appears – my advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous.(3)

He waits for the accuser to finish. And then He looks soberly at the Judge. “These accusations are all true,” Jesus says. “But Father, I ransomed him with My blood.(4, 5)  He entered the waters of baptism. He confessed his sins with each offense.(6) He followed Me and served Me these many years. (7) And You promised I would not lose any whom you have given Me.” (8) 

The Judge listens in silence. Then He looks at my Accuser. He looks at me. He looks at my Advocate. He raises His gavel, and I wait for what is about to come next.

“Guilty,” the Judge says with a solemnity I shall forever remember. “I declare you guilty on all counts.”

Panic – unrelenting panic grips me. And then I hear Him add, “But I hereby pardon you of all counts for the sake of my son, Jesus.” (9, 10)

His gavel falls to the Bench with a crack that echoes throughout the chambers of heaven and of hell.

Dazed, I look at my Advocate. His eyes smile back. It is true. Gloriously, wondrously true. I am pardoned. Forgiven. Redeemed forever because of the blood of the Lamb. 


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1 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Also another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, by what they had done. (Rev 20:12)

2 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. (Rev 12:10)

3 And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. (1 John 2:1) 

4 And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy art thou to take the scroll and to open its seals, for thou wast slain and by thy blood didst ransom men for God from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. (Rev 5:9)

5 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace. (Ephesians 1:7)

6 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

7 If any one serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there shall my servant be also; if any one serves me, the Father will honor him. (John 12:26)

8 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up at the last day. (John 6:39)

9 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that made us whole . . . and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:5-6)

10 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1)

White to Harvest

 

“Take heed, keep on the alert; for you do not know when the appointed  time will come. It is like a man away on a journey, who upon leaving his house and putting his slaves in charge, assigning to each one his task, also commanded the doorkeeper to stay on the alert. Therefore, be on the alert—for you do not know when the master of the house is coming, whether in the evening, at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning— in case he should come suddenly and find you asleep. What I say to you I say to all, ‘Be on the alert!’” (Mark 13:33-36)

When the Lord Jesus says something once, it’s important. When he says it twice, we really should sit up and take notice. But what ought we do when He says the same thing four times in five verses?

Please listen, my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ: stay on the alert. The time is short. The Lord could call YOU to your eternal reward before you finish reading this. Or the last trumpet could sound before the end of the day, to call all His true sons and daughters to the place He’s been preparing for us.

Please, don’t fall back. Not even an inch. Keep pressing forward toward the mark of the high call of God in Christ Jesus. I say it again, time is short. There is still much work to be done for the Master. Seek Him for how He wants to use you in His fields that are white for harvest.

Called to Excel

Several years ago, I was visiting someone at one of the 55+ community where I hold Bible studies and preach each week. The residents were getting ready for a Bingo game. As I stood in the back of the room, I watched one of our regular attenders slowly make her way toward the folding chairs with her walker. It looked like a slow and tedious process. A moment later she accidently knocked her walker against a chair occupied by one of the other residents. It wasn’t a hard impact. How hard can a walker pushed by an 80-year-old bang into a chair? But the seated woman in the chair – also in her 80s – turned and angrily barked at the poor woman who just stood there – probably embarrassed by the sudden outburst.

To her great credit, the woman with the walker quietly apologized, turned away and shuffled to the other end of the room where she found another seat.

I thought about that experience for several weeks afterward, and when I read through 1 Thessalonians recently, the memory returned. Here is the text:

1 Thessalonians 4:1-11, “Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more. . . . Now as to the love of the brethren, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another; for indeed you do practice it toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, to excel still more, and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you . . ..”

Let’s look a moment at that last clause: “Just as we commanded you.” Who, then was doing the commanding? Paul alone? Or is Someone else involved here?

Christians have taught that the word of God – meaning the Scriptures – was given to us by the Spirit of God, written down and proclaimed by the prophets and apostles of God, so that people might believe and become children of God. That’s how God worked salvation in the past – whether in the OT or the NT eras. And the Holy Spirit still uses the word of God, proclaimed by men and women who believe and live according to the word of God, to help men and women today become children of God.

But the word does no one any good unless, as I said a moment ago, we accept it – we believe it to be the word of God fully and completely without error regarding such things as history, theology, and morality. And if we believe it, then what must follow is obedience to it, for salvation is inextricably linked to obedience to the Savior.

Here are only a few texts: Matthew 7:13 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

The Lord Jesus expands on his comments in Luke’s gospel: “Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, ‘Lord, open up to us!’ then He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know where you are from.’ Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets’; and He will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you are from; Depart from Me, all you evildoers.’ In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves being thrown out. (13:24-28)

Does that sound suspiciously like the people were reminding the Lord of how often they received Holy Communion – how often they ate and drank ‘in His presence’?

Please do not miss this point. If we are linked to Christ through faith, we must obey Christ. If we are NOT living a life that proclaims aloud, “Lord! I want to do what YOU want me to do," then we should check ourselves to see whether we truly are children of God, or if we've deluded ourselves into thinking our rituals and do-gooding are a sufficient substitute for being born again, an acceptable alternative for making Jesus absolute Lord and Master of our life.

Note this important text in 1 Samuel 15:22-23 “Samuel said [to Saul the first king who had just disobeyed God’s command], “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.”

Scripture from one end of the book to the other – and 2000 years of Church teaching -- makes it clear enough with anyone with eyes to see and ears to hear that God is far less concerned with what we SAY than what we DO.

When the Holy Spirit, speaking through the apostle Paul wrote: “Just as we commanded you . . .” we must pay attention, because it was NOT simply Paul who commended them (and us). It was the Holy Spirit.

The text goes on: “Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more. . . .”

Three points here:  First, God tells us over and over how we are to walk before Him and before others.  For example – and this really is not rocket-science, nor does it require a lot of definitions or examples because each of us in this room has an intuitive understanding of how we ought to live. The Holy Spirit who lives within each of our hearts and conscience tells us how to live.

Next thing I want to say about our text in Thessalonians is the phrase Paul adds: “Just as you actually DO walk . . .”  a parenthetical remark that is not just an aside, but integral to Paul’s message – and to God’s message to us in 2020. God knew how they were walking honorably toward the Celestial City. And God knows how honorably you and I are walking – as He knew how the woman with the walker I mentioned earlier.

Which brings us to the next point: That we EXCEL still more.

Listen: We are not to practice MARGINAL Christianity. Just getting by. Living on the periphery, one foot in the Kingdom of God, the other foot in the kingdom of this world. Coasting along the theological buffet what to believe and not believe, how to live and how not to live. No, to excel is to press forward. A pushing through. A not resting until the battle is over and we stand at the Dais of God to receive our reward.

So, keep on doing the right thing until the last moment of your life. Don’t give up. It’s not the one who starts as much as it is the one who finishes the course. 

Years ago, I stood at the bedside of Dan Taub. Some 30 years my senior, Dan modeled for me the Christian walk. But now he was dying. Liver cancer. As I stood there, trying not to notice his yellowed skin and sclera, I asked him, “Dan, how does it feel to know you are dying?”  I was a young Christian at the time – only a few years old in the Lord – and I was curious what this man of God was thinking as he faced eternity.

He lifted his hand from the mattress and placed it over mine on his bedrail. Then he looked into my eyes and quoted from Paul’s letter to Timothy: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing. (2 Timothy 4:7-8)

The Christian walk is a fight. It’s a war. The Holy Spirit reminds us of this battle repeatedly so we might not forget it. For example, 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, ⁴ for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. ⁵ We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ . . ..”

Or this one in Ephesians 6: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.”

Christian, please listen: Don’t give up. The battle is hard, but don’t give up.  With God’s supernatural help – which He gives to ALL His children who ask Him for it – with His help, do as Paul wrote in Philippians 3: “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. . . however, let us keep living by that same standard to which we have attained.

Did you note that last sentence? Let us keep living by that same standard to which we have attained. In other words, don’t backslide. Don’t say to yourself, “I’ve done enough for God. I want to coast the rest of my life.”  Don’t do that. Keep living by the same standard of service to God as you know to live – and then excel still more.

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