JUDGMENT: AS SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF GOD

We have talked about the judgment of sin at Calvary or at the Great White Throne. We have talked about the BEMA seat of Christ at which Christians will be judged for those things both good and bad done in the body of Christ.

I was judged at as a sinner in 1979 at Mount Vernon Baptist Church. I will be judged at the JSOC after the Rapture, but I am being judged as a son of God currently.

The three judgments we face are tied directly to the phases of our salvation. I was saved. I am being saved, and I will be saved. Theologians refer to it as justification, sanctification, and glorification.

Justification is being made righteous in the sight of God. That is what happened at Calvary. I was justified before God.

Job 9:32–33 “For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, And we should come together in judgment. Neither is there any daysman betwixt us, That might lay his hand upon us both.”

Titus 3:7 “That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

Romans 5:1 “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:”

Our justification is a gift from God based on our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Sanctification is the process by which Christians are transformed into being more Christlike.

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

Galatians 2:20 “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”

As Christians, we are to mature in the faith as we continue in our Christian walk. As we mature, we should become more and more sanctified.

Glorification is the realization of our salvation when redemption is realized.

Titus 2:14 “Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.”

1 Corinthians 15:52–54 “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.”

The great news is that we are going to be redeemed. When we put our faith in Christ, as a matter of fact, God sees us as we are redeemed.

Once we are born again, the Holy Spirit begins the sanctification process, and God judges us as we stray from that path. It is the right God has as our Father.

John 1:12–13 “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”

Hebrews 12:5–6 “And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.”

God has the right to discipline His children, and He exercises that right.

When I got saved, I became a child of God, a joint heir with Christ. I no longer belong to me, but to my heavenly Father who has the legal right to discipline me.

Now, before we dig too deep into God’s discipline. We must make a distinction.

Do you remember when we began our study in James?

James 1:2–4 “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”

There are things that happen in this world that are just the consequences of living in a sinful world. God uses those things to complete His perfect work in a Christian.

I am going to give you an example in my life. God did not make my mother have an auto accident, but He used that accident to strengthen my faith. We can never assume that all the bad things that happen are a result of God’s chastisement, but we also do not need to neglect the fact that God does chastise His children.

God never chastises the lost. He only chastises His children.

Ananias and Sapphira were chastised. The rich fool and Herod were taken out by God because they had crossed God’s imaginary line.

Luke 12:17–20 “And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.

And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?”

Acts 12:21–23 “And upon a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them. And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man. And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.”

There is a difference in how God deals with the lost in this world, and in how He deals with His children in this world. God disciplines His.

As a Christian, for what does God discipline me? (1 Cor. Chap 10:6-10)

1 Corinthians 10:6–8 “Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.”

1 Corinthians 10:9–10 “Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.”

In this passage, we see the big 4 reasons why Christians are disciplined.

Idolatry

Fornication

Tempting God

Murmuring/Complaining

How many of you find it hard to swallow that Paul lists complaining as just as “big” a sin as idolatry? UH-OH!

Philippians 4:6–7 “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

Murmuring and complaining are not Christian behavior. As a matter of fact, murmuring and complaining led to the immediate death of many Israelites in the wilderness.

Numbers 21:5–6 “And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread. And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.”

God has the right to discipline His children, but the modern church likes to dismiss the chastening hand of God, but I want you to know that God still chastises.

Let me tell you this, and this is where you and I must understand how God operates.

God will do whatever He has to do to keep His children from acting like the world’s children. I want to share two examples from the New Testament.

A. ANANIAS AND SAPPHIRA.

Ananias and Sapphira were Christians. They were integral members of the early church, but they lied to the Holy Ghost. They made a commitment that they never intended to honor.

Ananias and Sapphira tempted God and were idolatrous.

They tempted God by making a commitment and not following through with it, and they were idolatrous because they put themselves before God.

An idol in the Bible is something or someone you put before God. You are an idol in your own life when you put your interests before what God expects, and you are tempting God when you make a commitment that you never intend to honor.

Now, we act like today that God will not discipline us in the same way that He did Ananias and Sapphira, but what do we always say?

Hebrews 13:8 “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and forever.”

Isaiah 40:8 “The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: But the word of our God shall stand for ever.”

Let me ask you a question. If you believe God’s Word stands forever, why would possibly think that He would not discipline you in the same way that He did Ananias and Sapphira? Why would He not discipline you like He did the Israelites in the Wilderness for complaining and murmuring?

B. LYING AT THE LORD’S SUPPER.

1 John 5:16 “If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it.”

1 Corinthians 11:26–30 “For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.

But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.”

There were Christians at the Church at Corinth who had died and some who were sick because they lied to the Holy Ghost because they claimed they were worthy to participate in the Lord’s Supper. What they should have done is judge themselves so they would not have been judged.

We are to judge ourselves to find the sin in our lives, and then we are to confess that sin, and everything will be okay, but if we do not do that we are risking the chastising hand of God.

Matthew 5:23–24 “Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.”

Did you know if you come to church as a Christian with unconfessed in in your life against a brother or sister, that you are sinning by being at church. Jesus says that you are to go to that brother before you even give your offering.

If you do not do that, you will be disciplined by the Father. We do not want to believe that, but God places great demands on His children. Christians are supposed to be different.

Christians are not to hold grudges. Christians are to put Christ first and are to put the needs of others before their own needs. Christians are not to live willingly sinful lives, and if a Christian does, God will discipline that Christian. I believe that sin in the lives of Christians is one of the major reasons the church is ineffective today.

We like to blame the world, but do we ever consider the blame we have?

1 John 1:9–10 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”

Listen to me. This is very serious.

There have been Christians throughout the ages, not in every case, that have died prematurely as a result of God’s chastisement.

God’s chastisement can affect our health, our wealth, our emotions, and our mental state.

God has promised to give us God’s peace that passes all understanding. If you are not living in that peace, more than likely, you are being disciplined by God. That is why some Christians are so miserable. As part of God’s chastisement, God has taken away His peace that passes all understanding.

God sets high expectations for His children, and that includes you and me, and He will use whatever means necessary to get His children to meet those expectations. Just ask David.

Have you ever heard of Moses?

Did you know Moses died prematurely as chastisement for his sin?

Deuteronomy 34:7 “And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.”

Moses struck the rock the second time instead of speaking to the rock, and he died prematurely. You know that from the Bible saying that he was 120-years-old and still had his eyesight and all of his strength.

Guess what we do every time we sin? We strike the rock instead of speaking to it.

Romans 6:1–4 “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”

Christians have a mediator between them and God, and all we have to do to avoid God’s discipline is speak to our Father through Jesus Christ.

AMEN!!!!