Why is there all this confusion about Judgment?
Rev. John R. Greene
Living in these last days is exciting! During these perilous times, a hypnotic sleep has shadowed the church world. I believe it comes down to one issue, judgment!
Let's look at Biblical judgment, and expose this thick, dark cloud that has many blinded by Satan's lies. Listen to people and you hear, "Don't judge me!" Others say, "I'm only a fruit inspector." But there is a small group that still loves the perfect, holy Word of God and live by it who say, "Yes, I am to judge. It must be righteous judgment, and it begins as Peter recorded, in the house of God!"
In Lu 17:3, Jesus warns, "Take heed to yourselves: if thy brother tresspass against thee, REBUKE him; and if he repent, forgive him." As the church has rejected this warning, and the resulting command, it as grown lukewarm as Jesus also said of the Laodiceans. Jesus tells us that brothers and sisters in the church world will sin against us, this may be knowingly and sometimes unknowingly. Jesus leaves no debate as how to deal with sin. Jesus explains clearly, and we must obey His Word.
Now enters several of our many problems with judgment. So many have taken a "holier than thou" attitude and proclaimed themselves as the "Church Critic" for life. This is far from God's Word!
To judge righteously one must be "Spiritual" as Ga 6:1 calls to be. This requires a bona fide relationship with God that is evidenced daily in consistent prayer and regular fasting. But it doesn't stop here; we must be reading God's Word and rightly dividing it. We must never take God's Word out of context like the Pharisees did, and newspaper reporters (no offense) do to sensationalize a story.
To judge one must have an attitude of restoring and mending the fallen brother's heart and the broken relationship with you. If there is any other desire or motive, then you are not spiritual and disqualify yourself. This disqualified person who judges is the person Jesus spoke about in Mt 7 when He said, "Judge not! Get the log out of your eye!"
Please pay careful attention that Jesus says, "brother." We are not to rebuke a sinner this way because in Pr 9:8 it is written, "Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate you: rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee." However, not everyone who attends church is a brother or sister in Christ. You find this out when you lovingly deal with sin and they respond as the scorner.
Most people "err" saying, "Don't judge me," so I must ask if they are born again? Remember that a wise man receives correction and grows, but the scorner rejects the message and many times attacks, even slanders the messenger. This person is written about in Ro 8:6, "For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." The hypocrite and those that live in sin are dead.
Jesus left no doubt concerning His bride, the purity and holiness in which she must walk. We can't say a pretty prayer and be saved. No pastor can shake your hand, and you be saved. Sin must be dealt with in the holy relationship of Jesus and His bride. Therefore, we can't say we are saved and still sin. We can't say we are saved and do what we want. We can't say we are saved, and reject God's Word.
This is why judgment must be restored back into the church! Watch our society improve. Restore righteous judgment into the church and watch teen pregnancy drop, the schools improve, our elected officials make godly decisions, and our homes have moms and dads for the children. We will continue next week with judgment! It's good to be back! Amen!
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