The Daily Word of Righteousness

An Army of Judges, #6

The remnant of Jacob will be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, like a lion among the beasts of the forest, like a young lion among flocks of sheep, which mauls and mangles as it goes, and no one can rescue. Your hand will be lifted up in triumph over your enemies, and all your foes will be destroyed. (Micah 5:8,9—NIV)

See, the day of the LORD is coming—a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger—to make the land desolate and destroy the sinners within it. The stars of heaven and their constellations will not show their light. The rising sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light. I will punish the world for its evil, the wicked for their sins. I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty and will humble the pride of the ruthless. (Isaiah 13:9-11—NIV)

Deliverers will go up on Mount Zion to govern the mountains of Esau. And the kingdom will be the LORD's. (Obadiah 1:21—NIV)

It is obvious the return of the Lord is not as pictured today. It is not to "catch His waiting bride away" but to accomplish the four tasks we have outlined above. It really is a much better vision, if you think about it, than singing and shouting and dancing about for a thousand years. This could get boring, at least when compared with the glorious prospect of establishing the Kingdom of God on the earth. How do you feel about this?

Now we will think about the change that must take place in the thinking and practices of Christian believers if we are to be prepared to appear with the Lord and accomplish the scriptural promises associated with His return.

If we are to be God's judges, and the Scripture is indisputably clear that we are, then we must know the difference between right and wrong, and we must be people who always choose the right and resist the wrong.

A judge is in a very weak position, especially when judging angels, when he himself is guilty of the sin that is in question. Isn't that so?

Even today when it is known that a judge has been guilty of drunk driving, he doesn't have the moral high ground when an individual accused of drunk driving is brought before him.

The Christian people of today have experienced salvation. They have placed their faith in Jesus Christ and have been baptized in water.

Many of the Christian people also have experienced the baptism with the Holy Spirit to the extent they have spoken in tongues, perhaps prophesied, and are accustomed to prolonged praise and worship.

But very few, it appears, of the multitudes of Christian people understand the power of the new covenant to provide victory over worldliness, over physical lusts and excesses, and over self-will. They are babies when it comes to actual righteousness of behavior.

Much Christian doctrine works against the development of godly behavior in the believers. The prevailing opinion seems to be that godly behavior is what the Apostle Paul meant by "works" and therefore is the enemy of the believer who is seeking to be justified by faith.

The "works" the Apostle Paul was referring to was the Law of Moses. Paul told us several times that if the believer in Christ chooses to be the servant of his or her sinful nature, he or she will die spiritually and not inherit the Kingdom of God. This interpretation seems to not be present in the Christian churches.

To be continued.