Announcements
SYMPATHY: to Janet Switzer and Troy & Belinda Parrish and their family, at the passing of their husband/father, Harold Switzer, on Monday, January 27.
The funeral was held here at the Church on Friday, January 31.
SYMPATHY: to David & Georgia Gist at the passing of David’s brother, Keith Gist, on Wednesday, January 22. The funeral was held on Saturday, February 1, in Westminster.
LIVING CROSS REMINDER: A casting meeting for this year’s presentation will take place tonight in Baker, after the evening service.
Please make plans to attend if you have already been assigned a role or if you would like to participate.
From My Heart
The Bible speaks to us of at least seven judgments. First, there is the judgment of Calvary’s Cross. This judgment was the judgment of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who was nailed to the Cross to die for our sins. A second judgment is what I am going to call self-judgment. In I Cor. 11:31, we read, “For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.” The Apostle Paul is speaking of “self-judgment” in relation to participating in the Lord’s Table. When we come to the Lord’s
Table, we should practice self-judgment lest we are judged by the Lord. In I Cor. 11:32, using the King James Bible’s built-in dictionary, we read, “But when we are ‘judged,’ we are ‘chastened’ of the Lord….” So, if we do not practice self-judgment at the Lord’s Table, we set ourselves up to be chastened by the Lord.
The third judgment is the judgment of all the redeemed at the Judgment Seat of Christ. This will take place after the saints have been raptured up to Heaven during the Tribulation Period. II Cor. 5:10 says, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” This judgment seat is where the Lord will dole out the crowns we have earned in our Christian life, which we will cast at the feet of our Savior.
The fourth judgment is the judgment of nations. In Matt. 25:32, we read, “And before Him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats.” The fifth judgment is the judgment of Israel. Israel is going to be judged by the Lord for her sins, her idolatry, and for her rejection of the Lord Jesus the first time He came. Just what this judgment entails is a matter that will establish Israel back into the land, but with judgment from the Hand of God. Ezekiel 20:30-44 describes this judgment.
The sixth judgment is found in Jude 6, where Jude tells of certain angels who fell with Satan, being held in chains, until a day of judgment that is coming for them. And the last judgment is found in Rev. 20:11-15, called the Great White Throne Judgment. This judgment is when all the unsaved from all the ages will be brought out of Hell, into Heaven, to stand before the Lord Jesus. At that moment, every individual and every fallen angel, including Satan, the Beast, the Antichrist, and even Hell itself will be cast into the Lake of Fire that burns with fire and brimstone.
In this list of judgments, you can see that each and every one of us will have to one day, stand before the Lord. We are told in Hebrews 9:27, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” We hear much talk of God’s love…but we also need to speak of God as a God who brings judgment in His hands. Meet the Lord at the first one - the Cross, and you won’t have to face Him at the last one - the Great White Throne.
