Judge Not That You Be Not Judged. Part [11] 03/25/2024 (Evening thought)

Luke 23:41 And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. 42 And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when you come into thy kingdom. 43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.

The thief on the cross who said “Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom” did not have a chance to do the things that most of us as sinners are required to do, to complete the process of repentance. He wasn’t baptized, he did not keep the Sabbath, and he didn’t have a chance to return fourfold, for the things he shoplifted and stole during his entire lifetime.

Yet, God who reads the purposes and motives of the heart, gave him a free pass through the pearly gates because, by the words the thief spoke, it becomes obvious that he would’ve fulfilled all requirements if he had the opportunity to. Thus, by his own words he will be justified, while the other bandit who died next to Christ will be condemned by his words too.

William Miller, Calvin, Martin Luther, John Knox, and most of the martyrs who died during the dark ages, never kept the Sabbath, because the light of truth on the matter had not yet dawned upon their own minds. But God who sees not as man sees will usher them into life eternal because their purposes and motives were always to serve God to the very best of their knowledge and ability.

Revelation 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

May God add His blessing to the study of His word. “Good night” and God bless!

Judge Not That You Be Not Judged. Part [10] 03/24/2024 (Morning thought)

Genesis 19:6 And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him, 7 And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly. 9 And they said, Stand back. And they said again, this one fellow came in to sojourn and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door.

Lot, in this instance had judged motive correctly, based upon what the men of Sodom said, and based upon their commensurate actions, all of which made their inner motives manifest to the eye of the beholder. At that time, they had accused Lot of judging them, but Lot’s conclusion was actually a no brainer, since the hard evidence could not be misinterpreted. The nefarious purpose was stated, and the actions that followed, pointed to only one logical conclusion.

However, the issue of judging one’s motive is mostly to be left up to God. When God judges, He does not use gut feeling or premonition, or humble opinions in drawing His conclusions. Instead, The Lord uses the books of record, with live footage so that upon inspection by any intelligent being, they would be able to see clearly, why God concluded the way he did.

God allows a person’s actions to demonstrate inner motives, and thus, when we read in the Bible that the books in heaven were opened, we understand it to mean hard evidences of records, together with the live footage, of both the evil and the good which persons did, or did not have the chance to do, as the case might be.

2nd Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

May The Lord add His blessing to the study of His word. God bless!