SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/27/2025 8:20 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-2 “The
Seriousness of His Commission”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference:
2 Timothy 4:1
Message of the
verse: “1
I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is
to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom:”
I want to begin this SD by looking at the phrase in
the presence of as this parallels a common format used in Roman courts and legal
documents and would have been familiar to Timothy, and also others of that day. Now a typical summons might have begun: “The
case will be drawn up against you in the court at Hierapolis, in the presence
of the honorable judge Festus, chief magistrate.”
Now service of Christ Jesus is not
only done before His constant watchful eye but it also will be subject to the
judgment of this infinitely greater Magistrate, who is to judge the living and
the dead. Here are some verses that go
along with that: (Matt. 25:34-41; Acts 10:42; 17:30-31).
John MacArthur writes the following
in his commentary on 2 Timothy 4:1 “In the New Testament, krino (to judge) has numerous shades of meaning, ranging from the
broad and usually positive sense of forming an opinion or of resolving an issue
(as in Luke 7:43; Acts 4:19) to the immeasurably more serious and negative
sense of condemning or damning (as in John 12:48; Acts 13:27; 2 Thess. 2:12).
“The New Testament reveals three
distinct judgments of human beings that Christ will conduct: the bema seat judgment of believers only (1
Cor. 3:12-15; 2 Cor. 5:10); the sheep and goats judgment of the nations, in
which believers will be separated from unbelievers (Matt. 25:31-33); and the
great white throne judgment of unbelievers only (Rev. 20:11-15).” I have to say that the only judgment for
believers in the church age will be the bema seat judgment, and that will go on
in heaven right after the rapture, and will take place in heaven while the
Tribulation period is going on, on the earth.
So what will believers be judged for at this bema seat judgment? My thoughts are that in eternity past God has
set forth things that the believers are to do, and then once a person is saved
he or she is given gifts of the Holy Spirit in order to aid believers in doing
what God has called for them to do in eternity past. How believers do what they are called to do
for the cause of Christ will determine what kind of rewards they will receive
during this period in heaven, as stated right after the rapture.
Now in this present text that we are
looking at, Paul’s focus is on the Lord’s judgment of believers, all of whom
one day will “appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may be
recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether
good or bad” (2 Cor. 5:10; cf. 1 Cor. 3:12-15).
These are the verses of what I wrote about in the previous
paragraph. MacArthur adds that “the
emphasis is not so much on the preacher’s proclaiming of his own ministry in
light of that judgment.”
That is as far as I am going to go
in this SD, as Lord willing I will pick up where I left off in tomorrow’s SD.
Spiritual Meaning for My Life
today: It is my desire to continue to write these
Spiritual Diaries and continue to put them onto my blogs so that the Holy
Spirit of God will use them to bring glory to my Lord Jesus Christ.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
It is my desire to please the Lord by doing what God has called me to do
in eternity past, as I seek to understand how I can bring glory to my Lord
Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit as He leads me in doing what
I was called to do.
6/27/2025 8:47
AM
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