Volume 26, Issue 7
Judgments Are Coming (Continued From Page 14) WisconsinChristianNews.com
Page 15
The third and final judg- ment to consider is the Great White Throne judg- ment. This judgment is found in Revelation 20:11- 15. The subject of this judg- ment is the dead unbelievers of all ages. They will be con- signed to the lake of fire. “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were writ- ten in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” In the John 9 passage above, Jesus identifies those who will be judged – those who say they see but are blind. The point Jesus makes is that because of their blindness, their sin re- mains. In other words, claiming to be morally right, when they are morally bankrupt, they remain spir- itually dead and in the bonds of sin. We have seen this recently in a startling way. The as- sassination-martyrdom of Charlie Kirk revealed a wickedness and evil in the human heart that foretells of judgment. Those celebrating the heinous act do so be- cause they believe their morals and values are supe- rior to Christianity, espe- cially Kirk’s “brand” of Christianity. Christians who have remained silent or caved to the wickedness of American leftist woke cul- ture by making feeble but revealing claims disassociat- ing themselves from Kirk, are ripe for rebuke or worse. Many of those speaking lies and insults in our own day will face either the Sheep and Goat Judgment (Matthew 25:31-46) should Jesus return soon, or the Great White Throne Judge- ment (Revelation 20:11-15). Jesus will preside over both of these judgments.
of judgment. That is the idea that many people hold, namely, that Christians are not to judge. How many of you have ever heard that statement? People who believe that others should not judge nor- mally point to Matthew 7:1 which reads this way in the New American Standard translation: “Do not judge so that you will not be judged.” Seems pretty clear, doesn’t it? If that was the end of the thought concerning judg- ment, then we would have to admit that people should not judge other people. However, that is not the end of the thought concern- ing judging and so we must continue to read. Matthew 7:2-6 contains the rest of the information we need to understand to obtain an accurate and bib- lical view of the subject of judging. Those verses say: “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 eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” We don’t have to look far to find proof that the modern world’s interpretation of this passage, that Christians are not to judge, is wrong. In Matthew 7 alone we find
his neighbor, dare to go to law before the unrighteous and not before the saints? Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? If the world is judged by you, are you not competent to con- stitute the smallest law courts? Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more matters of this life? So if you have law courts dealing with matters of this life, do you appoint them as judges who are of no account in the church? I say this to your shame. Is it so, that there is not among you one wise man who will be able to decide between his brethren, but brother goes to law with brother, and that before un- believers?” 1 Corinthians 6:1-6. “Let two or three prophets speak and let the others pass judgment.” 1 Corinthians 14:29. “Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of dark- ness, but instead even ex- pose them.” Ephesians 5:11. “Beloved do not believe every spirit but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” 1 John 4:1 “I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot toler- ate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false.” Revelation 2:2. The truth is friends, the Bible says we are to judge but we are to do so in a specific manner. That manner is righteously. What this means is that we will evaluate ourselves in light of what we see that we believe needs to be
judged. How do we evaluate ourselves? We do that by asking God to show us any- thing that is not pleasing to Him. If we are living with known sin in our lives then we need to address that sin, confess it, repent of it, and only seek God’s guidance on
how to address sin in some- one else’s life. Dr. Mike Spaulding
P. O. Box 3007 • Lima, OH 45807
these statements: v5 – you hypocrite. v6 – dogs & swine.
v11 – if you then, being evil. v15 – beware of the false prophets. v16 – you will know them by their fruits. v21 – not everyone who says to Me ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven. v26 – And everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act upon them will be like a foolish man. And this is just the tip of the iceberg, as they say. The testimony of the Bible is that Christians must be a discerning, judging people. Here are a few more exam- ples: “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.” John 7:24.
There is one more subject to discuss within the context
“Does any one of you, when he has a case against
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