We must all appear
before the judgment seat of Christ . . . —2 Corinthians 5:10
Paul says that we must all, preachers
and other people alike, “appear before the judgment seat of Christ.” But if you
will learn here and now to live under the scrutiny of Christ’s pure light, your
final judgment will bring you only delight in seeing the work God has done in
you. Live constantly reminding yourself of the judgment seat of Christ, and
walk in the knowledge of the holiness He has given you. Tolerating a wrong
attitude toward another person causes you to follow the spirit of the devil, no
matter how saintly you are. One carnal judgment of another person only serves
the purposes of hell in you. Bring it immediately into the light and confess, “Oh,
Lord, I have been guilty there.” If you don’t, your heart will become hardened
through and through. One of the penalties of sin is our acceptance of it. It is
not only God who punishes for sin, but sin establishes itself in the sinner and
takes its toll. No struggling or praying will enable you to stop doing certain
things, and the penalty of sin is that you gradually get used to it, until you
finally come to the place where you no longer even realize that it is sin. No
power, except the power that comes from being filled with the Holy Spirit, can
change or prevent the inherent consequences of sin.
“If we walk in the light as He is in
the light. . .” (1 John 1:7). For many of us, walking in the light means
walking according to the standard we have set up for another person. The
deadliest attitude of the Pharisees that we exhibit today is not hypocrisy but
that which comes from unconsciously living a lie.
(Taken from Oswald Chambers – “My Utmost
for His Highest” March 16)