Proclamation:
“Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait
until The Lord comes. He will bring to
light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise
from God.” 1 Corinthians 4:5 (NIV)
Explanation:
These words were written by the apostle Paul, under the
influence of The Holy Spirit of God, to the believers in the church at Corinth . Paul began this chapter by telling them that
they should regard all of the apostles and leaders as servants of Christ. (1
Corinthians 4:1) He said that those
entrusted with leadership positions must be proven faithful and that it is The
Lord God who will judge them. (1 Corinthians 4:2-4) The Lord will judge the leaders, and everyone
else. He will bring to light all of the
things which were done in darkness. He
will also expose the motives for every action and spoken word. Those who are worthy of praise will receive
it from God.
Application:
We really should not judge people because we are not
qualified. We do not have all of the
relevant information available to us upon which to base a just decision. We can only hear what is said and see what is
done in our presence. (Recordings can be
so easily manipulated.) We have no idea
of the thought processes or motives which were behind them. Only The Lord God can see the heart and the
mind, (Jeremiah 20:12) and only He has all of the information about a person
which is necessary in order to judge him justly. (Hebrews 10:30) All of the things which were done in the dark
will be brought to light. One day we
will have to give an account of our stewardship (Luke 16:2) including every
thought, deed, and spoken word. (Matthew 12:36)
We will all stand before Christ. (Romans 14:10-12) Don’t believe the people who say, “What
happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.”
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