This is not the complaint department

The Judgment

³¹ “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. ³² All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; ³³ and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.

³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; ³⁶ naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ ³⁷ Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? ³⁸ And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? ³⁹ When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ ⁴⁰ The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’

⁴¹ “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; ⁴² for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; ⁴³ I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ ⁴⁴ Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ ⁴⁵ Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ ⁴⁶ These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

This passage speaks of the end times final judgment. A time when Jesus returns, no longer to view all things by grace, but rather to judge according to their works all those who have not accepted His free gift of grace. When it says in this passage that He will judge the nations, it is not referring to a collective judgment of countries ie U.S., Great Briitain, France etc. The word nations that is used in this passage is the Greek word ethnos, from which our English word ethnic is derived. So the judgment will be of all men of all ethnic background.

I don't want to spend time today the on end time study. I simply want us to see that there is also a place of judgment, where people are not viewed through the lens of grace. This is why we must take great care when we pray for others. We must be careful that we always present them to God at the throne of grace. If we hold something against another person or stand in judgment of them we are not qualified to intercede for them. We must first completely forgive anyone who has wronged us before we can pray for them. We must present them to the throne of grace rather than the judgment seat.

This is more than just the right and spiritual thing to do. It also has a very direct and serious impact on us. If we bring some one to God in judgment and accusation we actually put ourselves in a position to stand before the judgment of Christ.   Jesus gives us this warning in Matthew 7 :1“Do not judge so that you will not be judged. ² For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. ³ Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? ⁴ Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? ⁵ You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.

 " For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.Do we sometimes get hurt by other people? Of course we do. But bringing them before God in judgment is not how we respond. Remeber also Jesus words in Matthew 18:20  For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.” Applying that truth to this principle, I would then say that we should refrain from gossip as well. Bringing our complaints and judgment against some one to another believer places both us and them in a position to be judged.

Hurts and offenses will come. If we determine now to bring others to the throne of grace rather than the judgment seat, it will make it easier for us to do that when the offense comes.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus, Holy Spirit, thank you for grace. Thank you that because of the finished work of the cross I can come boldy, with confidence to the throne of grace. Holy Spirit I ask you now to remind me and guide me to the throne of grace if hurt or offense comes my way today. May my prayers and intercession be pure in your sight. I pray that by Your grace I will walk in Your grace.