Thank you for reading the message this week. I hope that all of you have had a good week and are doing well. My week has been OK. I am feeling good some days and not so good on others.
Last week, we saw that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Jesus. As we learned, the Bible says that whoever has the Son has life. Those who do not have the Son do not have life. Eternal life is through Jesus Christ.
Today, I want us to focus our attention on the fact that Jesus is the Judge of all. John 5:22 lets us know that the Father has turned all judgment over to the Son. In Romans 2:16 Paul tells us, that God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus. Paul again tells us in II Timothy 4:1 that Jesus is the one who will one day judge the living and the dead. II Corinthians 5:10 is a sobering verse that informs us of the fact that all will one day stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
There is one extended account found in Matthew 25 where Jesus tells about His judging of the nations when He returns to earth. He said that He will separate the nations as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. His judgment will be based on who has done good and right to the least among them. Jesus said that when you have done it to the least of these, you have done it unto me. When you do not do for the least of these, you have not done service for the Lord.
So, what is that Jesus is going to judge? First of all, we know that after we die, there is a judgment. The Bible says in Hebrews that it is appointed that all will die, and after that the judgment. I believe that when we die, we are judged by the Lord Jesus as to whether or not we will be allowed into Heaven. As we learned, He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Jesus. Jesus is the decider. Jesus is the one who knows the thoughts and intents of every heart. He knows what is in a person. He knows those who have a true possession of faith versus those who only have an empty profession of faith. He does not look on appearances. He looks on the heart. Those who have truly put their faith and trust in Jesus and love Him will be with Him in the place that He has prepared. Jesus takes everything about a person into account. He is the one who decides who gets into Heaven not us.
Now, what about this verse that all will stand before the judgment seat of Christ. At this judgment, Christians will receive reward for what they have done for Jesus while on this earth. They will receive one or more of the crowns spoken of in the Bible. Paul says that some people's work for the Lord will be like gold, silver and precious stones. When tried by fire, their works remain. Others works are like wood, hay and stubble. When tried by fire it burns up.
Some Christians I am afraid will not have much treasure in Heaven. They will be saved by grace through faith, but they won't have what they could have because they were too concerned with building up treasures on earth that are just going to pass away.
Finally, I want to focus on the judgment that Jesus spoke of in Matthew 25. Those who really were in Christ helped the least among them. This didn't provide them with salvation, but it did demonstrate if they truly had Jesus as the Lord of their lives. If you have Jesus as Lord, you will follow Him. That means doing unto others as you would have done unto you. That means helping people and trying to make things better for those who are hurting and oppressed. Some will say at the judgment Lord we knew you. But Jesus will say I never knew you. Why? Because their actions did not demonstrate that they really loved Jesus. Jesus knows what is really in the heart. What is in the heart will ultimately manifest itself outwardly.
Jesus is the judge. What should be our response? If you don't know Jesus as Savior and Lord, I urge you to trust Him. If you are a believer, live your life so that when you stand before Jesus at the judgment seat of Christ you will have gold, silver and precious stones and not wood, hay and stubble. Do all knowing that we will all give an account to the Lord. Amen.
Prayer Request
I am doing a little better with my help. I am seeing a specialist on Monday, so pray that I will keep getting better. Also, there are supposed to be bad storms in my area tonight, so pray that they won't be too bad. Thank you.
Please pray for those who lost so much in the fires in Hawaii. Pray that they will get the help that they need.
Pray for an end to the fires in Canada.
Let us all pray for peace. Ukraine, Sudan, Syria, Yemen and many other nations need our prayers for peace.
For our prayer focus countries this week, let us pray for those living in the nations of Somalia and Iran. Pray that many will come to know Jesus.
Next week, we will continue with our current series. I will post the verses on Monday, and I will post the next part of the book midweek. May God bless you all.
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