Good morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
In my part of the country there are a vast number of billboards along the highways which trouble me. In large letters they boast of their attorney winning their lawsuit case and gaining them huge amounts of money. The result is rapidly rising insurance rates for everyone and a growing group of greedy lawyers willing to disregard the truthful facts and help their deceitful clients seek to get rich quickly regardless of how it impacts those being sued.
Once again, I’m amazed how relevant is our friend the apostle Paul, writing nearly 2000 years ago, in the year 54ad, from the city of Ephesus to a group Christians in the great Greek city of Corinth. His letter is in our Bible and known as 1 Corinthians, and today let’s watch as Paul dictates, and Timothy scribes his words on the parchments.
“If any of you has a dispute with another, dare you take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the Lord’s people? Or do you not know that the Lord’s people will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!” (1 Cor. 6:1-3)
I notice Paul challenging the Corinthian Christians to consider that there should be a recognizable, significant difference between the wisdom and integrity in judgment used among God’s people as compared to that found with those people who have no interest in God, or His truth, or God’s morality. This is the message of the Bible book of Proverbs, isn’t it? God honoring wisdom, truth and morality should stand in stark contrast to that of our world. Do you know why? God honoring wisdom is based on God’s unwavering Truth and the clarity of the Holy Spirit of God guiding God’s people in discerning God’s holy perspective on every situation. Now you might want to pause and ponder that for a moment!
Did you notice Paul declaring that God’s people will someday judge the world and even judge angels? What is Paul talking about here? Years later the Holy Spirit led the apostle John to write the last book of the Bible, the Revelation. As John was recording the vision he received from God, Revelation 20 describes a future time when Jesus Christ will return to earth in all His splendor and power, and He will defeat evil and wickedness. He will bind Satan who will be in a place John calls “the Abyss”, bound and unable to affect anything on earth for 1000 years.
Then John writes this: I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the Word of God. They had not worshipped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their forehead or hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ Jesus 1000 years...And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. “ (Rev.20:1-4,11,12)
Do you see John describing martyrs who died in their refusal to deny Jesus Christ or the truthfulness of God’s Word? Do you also see they had refused the mark of the beast, the antichrist? And do you see God raises from their death some deceased believers in Jesus and places them on thrones, alongside Jesus who then reigns over all things and all people during those 1000 years? Do you see a final judgement taking place for all people?
My friends, I love the fact that for God time and geography are not constraining! If John wrote The Revelation in about 90ad, the prophet Daniel wrote his book in about 560bc! That’s more than 600 years of time which separated them but look at Daniel’s description of this same time of Jesus Christ reigning in judgment: “As I looked, ‘thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days [Almighty God] took His seat. His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of His head was white like wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze. A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before Him. Thousands upon thousands attended Him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The court was seated, and the books were opened.” (Daniel 7:9,10)
Paul would have studied the book of Daniel many times in great detail. Paul understood there will come a time of final judgment and Jesus Christ Himself will be the final judge before whom EVERY person will stand, who has ever lived through all time. Apparently, Jesus will involve some of God’s people in assisting Him in this time of judgement for many of them will be on thrones alongside Jesus! The scene will be almost indescribable and terrifying with fire and brilliant light and the sovereign majesty of God Himself presiding over all.
When Paul says, “Do you not know that we will judge angels?” I believe he is speaking about the judgment which will take place for Satan, the antichrist, and all demons who are fallen or evil angels. Rev. 20:10 says: “And the devil…was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” Peter describes fallen angels or demons bound by God being held until a day of judgment, listen: “For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment…then the LORD knows how to rescue the godly from persecution and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgement.” (2 Peter 2:4,9)
Now, this is all quite remarkable isn’t it my friends? Paul, don’t you see, was challenging the Corinthian Christians to understand that the Holy Spirit of God gives wisdom, discernment, insight to God’s people so they should be able to help their fellow Christians resolve disputes in God honoring ways, WITHOUT bringing those disputes into the public, secular courtroom to be decided by lawyers and judges who often have little respect for God, little understanding of God’s truth and will therefore decide lawsuit cases on the basis of worldly, distorted, human wisdom rather than God’s holy, truthful wisdom.
Now I’d like us to pause right here for today and deeply reflect on the challenge Paul is placing before us. Look closely at your life, your city, the legal system in your city, and the people of God in your city. What is God saying to you and me, today my friends, about how HE wants us to resolve our disputes? I’ll be waiting for you right here tomorrow as we continue digging into these wise words of Paul.
Today’s Scriptures are 1 Cor. 6:1-4; Rev. 20.
Choose below to read or listen.
1 Cor. 6:1-4
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Revelation 20
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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