The Master Will Judge
"We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ..." (2 Corinthians 5:10)
"Paul said that we must all, preachers and people alike, 'appear before the judgment seat of Christ'. But if you learn here and now to live under the scrutiny of Christ's pure light, your final judgment will bring you only delight in seeing the work of God done in you. Live constantly reminding yourself of the judgment seat of Christ, and walk in the knowledge of the holiness He has given you. Tolerating a wrong attitude toward another person causes you to follow the spirit of the devil, no matter how saintly you are. One carnal judgment of another person only serves the purposes of hell in you. Bring it immediately into the light and confess, 'Oh, Lord, I have been guilty there.' If you don't, your heart will become hardened through and through. One of the penalties of sin is our acceptance of it. It is not only God who punishes for sin, but sin establishes itself in the sinner and takes its toll. No struggling or praying will enable you to stop doing certain things, and the penalty of sin is that you gradually get used to it, until you finally come to the place where you no longer even realize that it is sin. No power, except the power that comes from being filled with the Holy Spirit,can change or prevent the inherent consequences of sin.
'If we walk in the light as He is in the light...' (1 John 1:7). For many of us, walking in the light means walking according to the standard we have set up for another person. The deadliest attitude of the Pharisees that we exhibit today is not hypocrisy but that which comes from unconsciously living a lie."
Sadly, I find myself having to confess quite often.
ReplyDeleteAnother reason to stay away from people, I think.
Linda, I found this a very challenging commentary as well - although for me, it is probably less about staying away from people directly. People are not the cause of my sin - unfortunately I am quite capable of it even without anyone present.
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