2002-01-01
Good Morning Faithful Ones,
In finishing up his passage on suffering as a Christian, Peter makes the distinction between the judgment of the redeemed and that of the condemned. Today’s passage is 1 PET 4: 17-19. “The time has come for judgment to begin, and God own people are the first to be judged. If it starts with us, how will it end with those who do not believe the Good News from God? As the Scripture [PR 11: 31] says, ‘It is difficult for good people to be saved; what, then, will become of godless sinners?’ So then, those who suffer because it is God’s will for them, should by their good actions trust themselves completely to their Creator, Who always keeps His promise.”
Yesterday, I didn’t have the chance to bring up a very important concept that our Lord repeats often and was mentioned in 1 PET 4: 7. “The end of all things is near…” We must remember that man’s time and God’s are not the same. That’s probably a good explanation for some of the impatience that I have demonstrated in the past and must struggle to put behind me now. This urgency to get our spiritual houses in order is critical to our understanding that God doesn’t want us to procrastinate. 1 THESS 5: 2, “For you yourselves know very well that the Day of the Lord will come as a thief comes at night.” We see this same reminder in the words from today’s passage, “The time has come for judgment to begin..”(17). We are not to know the exact time, because if we did that would deny God the chance to see if we as individuals will heed His call to holy living, i.e. He wouldn’t see how we are going to respond to His sovereignty. As a part of the Olivet discourse, Christ revealed that even He doesn’t know the exact time. MT 24: 36, “No one knows, however, when that day and hour will come-neither the angels in heaven nor the Son; the Father alone knows.” That is one reason why I would question any theologian who tried to place an exact date on the onset of the Tribulation.
Should we believe that the end times are near at hand or that there will be a final separation of the redeemed from the condemned? You bet we should! MT 25: 31-32 is the truth. “When the Son of Man comes as King and all the angels with Him, He will sit on His royal throne, and the people of all the nations will be gathered before Him. Then He will divide them into two groups, just as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. Symbolically, the sheep are the redeemed, and the goats are the condemned. The judgment of the redeemed, the one that will happen first according to (17) in today’s passage, is the Bema seat judgment. It’s the same one described in MT 19: 24-28, RO 14: 10, 1 COR 3: 7-14, 1 COR 9: 23-25, and 2 COR 5: 10, which I hope you will read. The quality of each person’s work will be seen when the Day of Christ reveals it. What is built on a sure foundation will survive the refiner’s fire to which it is subjected. This is the judgment that was described by using the metaphor of a judge sitting on a raised rock, called the Bema seat, high enough to see the outcome of the race. Let me cite 2 COR 5; 10, because it is important. “For all of us must appear before Christ, to be judged by Him. Each one will receive what he deserves, according to everything he has done, good or bad, in his bodily life.”
There is a separate judgment for the condemned with a very negative outcome. It’s a judgment we would most certainly like to avoid. PR 11: 31, “Those who are good are rewarded here on earth, so you can be sure that wicked and sinful people will be punished.” This later judgment will be for those who have made a lifestyle out of sin and who have rejected the invitation that God has put out to all of us to lead a holy life. In fact, these people have rejected God Himself and refused to recognize either His sovereignty or His supremacy. I have mentioned several times in previous messages that when we act according to the guidance given us by the Holy Spirit, God lets us know that He is pleased by granting us “the peace that goes beyond human understanding” [PHIL 4: 7]. When God is displeased with things that people do, He allows misery, pain, and negative consequences to come into their lives. Some of the most unhappy people I know are those who openly live a life of sin and/or reject God’s deity. They may say they are happy and rationalize their behavior, but the bottom line is that they can’t know the kind of happiness that believers know-the kind that transcends the grave.
As for the judgment of the condemned, it will surely happen. We know this, because it is described in detail in REV 20: 11-15. “Then I [John] saw a great white throne and the One Who sits on it. Earth and heaven fled from His presence and were seen no more. And I saw the dead, great and small alike, standing before the throne. Books were opened, and then another book was opened, the book of the living. The dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books. Then the sea gave up its dead. Death and the world of the dead also gave up the dead they held. And all were judged according to what they had done. Then death and the world of the dead were thrown into the lake of fire. (This lake of fire is the second death.) Whoever did not have his name written in the book of the living was thrown into the lake of fire.” I once did a study of the difference between “sheole” or Hades and “gehenna” or hell. It is interesting to note the issue of consciousness in the two. Those in Hades are awaiting judgment and are as the Bible puts it “asleep” or unconscious. They are not in pain. Those who end up in the lake of fire are indeed conscious and will feel pain and torment for eternity. Their kind of suffering is spiritual failure that is never-ending.
Throughout the Scriptures we can see example after example of God keeping His promises. In fact, there is nowhere found an example of Him not keeping one. That is why we can take comfort in knowing that when we please God by enduring suffering for our faith and we trust and obey His commands, we need never worry that God will break His promise of inheriting the Kingdom made to us. Our Creator loves us unconditionally, and we can respond by showing our love for Him by trusting and obeying Him.
PRAYER: O Lord, You inspire the writers of the Scriptures to urge us not to postpone expunging sin from our lives and taking up Your call to holy living. Your Son told us that we are not to know the exact Day that He will come for us and that You have not even told Him. That’s as it should be, so that we will demonstrate to You the content of our faith and how dedicated to You that we are. We humbly approach You in an attitude of confession and with an open heart. We acknowledge our faith in Your sovereignty, supremacy, and compassion. Even if it is difficult for us, we dedicate ourselves to making whatever changes in our lives You command, so that we might serve You, love You and those around us, and further our own sanctification. That You sent Your Son to the cross and gave us the Holy Spirit, demonstrates Your love and compassion for us. Today and always, we offer you worship, adoration, loyalty, trust, obedience, praise, honor, and thanks for all that You are in our lives. You are our Refuge from a cruel world, our Protector in times of trouble, our Provider Who sees to our every need, and a Keeper of every promise You make. May You be blessed forever and ever. In Christ’s name, amen.
In the beginning of a passage about the flock of God, Peter speaks directly to the church elders with an important message. We will look at that message from 1 PET 5: 1-4 more closely tomorrow. Our God is indeed Supreme in every way. That includes in the love He has for You. We will never have better friends Who care more for us than the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. When we take leadership from these three persons of God, our lives are made much the better for it. Never forget that God loves each of you and so do my husband, Peter, and I.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn