Being moved with fear, the Apostle Peter affirmed: "judgment must begin at the House of God" (1 Pet. 4:17)! Do you agree? Do you know what "judgment" Peter is referring to? Consider the verse in full, my reader.
| "For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?" - 1 Pet. 4:17-18 |
So, what do you think it means? Have you ever heard a sermon on it? Have you ever given diligence to study this profoundly rich and exceedingly relevant topic that spans the Bible from cover to cover? Evidently, the Apostle Peter thought it was relevant to how the saints are saved (Note: according to scripture, the saints are the Citizens of the House of God. - Eph. 2:19). Peter descriptively specified the course, saying, "if the righteous scarcely be saved" (1 Pet. 4:18). What could Peter be referring to when making the inspired estimation, "scarcely", in reference to the experience of salvation!? My reader, the following explanation is but the tip of the iceberg...
| “God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day. If he turn not, He will whet his sword; He hath bent his bow, and made it ready. He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death; He ordaineth His arrows against the persecutors.” – Psalm 7:11-13 “Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men.” – Psalm 90:3 |
Have you ever wondered what King David meant when he said, speaking of God, “Thine arrows stick fast in me” (Ps. 38:2), or, “Thy hand was heavy upon me”, which meant, “[his] moisture is turned into the drought of summer” (Ps. 32:3-4)? What was happening to him? Also, have you ever wondered what David meant, when he said, “the floods overflow me”, or, “Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and Thou hast afflicted me with all Thy waves” (Ps. 69:2, 88:7)? Speaking of this, again, David said, “All Thy waves and Thy billows are gone over me” (Ps. 42:7)! Furthermore, what was happening to David when he cried out to God, “Hide not Thy face far from me” (Ps. 27:9, 143:7), or, in other words, he requested, “Send out Thy light” (Ps. 43:3)? Or, what about when David said, “When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. For day and night Thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer” (Ps. 32:3-5), and, “my soul thirsteth for Thee, my flesh longeth for Thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is” (Ps. 63:1)? Now, we know that David was highly favored by God and beloved in His sight. We know that he was elect of God and precious. But… nevertheless, such experiences like these and more happened to him, a man after God’s own heart! David knew the reason for it all, my reader. These terrifying experiences were God’s spiritual judgments against the progression of sin in David’s life, according to the psalms. Read them carefully and you can see the contextual details which tell the story. You will see how David understood the goodness of God’s favor and love in it all, though the orchestration of such experiences were a fearful trial to endure. These experiences were God’s compulsory judgments which forced David to fulfill the standards of righteousness required by the Church, therefore David suffered them because He was chosen, elect, and precious in the Lord’s sight. Thus, David was compelled to say, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn Thy statutes” (Ps. 119:71). These were special judgments delivered to a special people for the fulfillment of special standards of righteousness through the enablement of Special Grace (“the power that worketh in us” – Eph. 3:20).
Needless to say, these experiences were observable and morally discernable, right? Indeed. But, what about today? My reader, do you see what David saw? Saints of the 21st century, are these experiences even in your vocabulary? If we do not know what these spiritual judgments are, exactly, and why they happen, then we are susceptible to feel and do just what we think is necessary; which likely means, we will just “be at peace”. Fearfully, we will just “be at peace” …even when God Almighty has taken away our peace! Let’s face it, my reader. Our own deceitful hearts can easily work in collaboration with false prophets for the making of a false peace (Jer. 17:9, Lam. 2:14). Biblical History proves it. Even though God did wound and hurt His beloved people of old, taking away their peace, the false prophets proclaimed the contrary, as it was written: “They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of My people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace” (Jer. 6:14, 8:11, Ezek. 13:10). And, because of this, the people of God were frequently made to voice the wearisome question, “Where is the God of judgment” (Mal. 2:17), as if He doesn’t even exist!
Needless to say, these experiences were observable and morally discernable, right? Indeed. But, what about today? My reader, do you see what David saw? Saints of the 21st century, are these experiences even in your vocabulary? If we do not know what these spiritual judgments are, exactly, and why they happen, then we are susceptible to feel and do just what we think is necessary; which likely means, we will just “be at peace”. Fearfully, we will just “be at peace” …even when God Almighty has taken away our peace! Let’s face it, my reader. Our own deceitful hearts can easily work in collaboration with false prophets for the making of a false peace (Jer. 17:9, Lam. 2:14). Biblical History proves it. Even though God did wound and hurt His beloved people of old, taking away their peace, the false prophets proclaimed the contrary, as it was written: “They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of My people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace” (Jer. 6:14, 8:11, Ezek. 13:10). And, because of this, the people of God were frequently made to voice the wearisome question, “Where is the God of judgment” (Mal. 2:17), as if He doesn’t even exist!
| “Ye have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him? When ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delighteth in them; or, Where is the God of judgment?” – Mal. 2:17 |
Likewise, most 21st century Christians are blinded from their wounds and hurts which God has inflicted upon them. Contrary to the spiritual experiences and spiritual judgments suffered by the beloved of God, King David, they stagger on in unbelief that any such thing is possible. In the aforementioned terms voiced by David, this means: 21st century Christians meditate, memorize, melodize, and mandate peace even while the arrows of God are stuck fast in their flesh (“Thine arrows stick fast in me” - Ps. 38:2)! At such a time when David did say, “My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness” (Ps. 38:5), 21st century Christians say to every man his neighbor, “Ye shall have peace”. In such a situation, I cannot help but think of Jeremiah’s alarming outcry, when he said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Surely Thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall have peace; whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul” (Jer. 4:10)! True peace is found by looking straight-on at the spiritual judgments of Jesus Christ, the KING of the Church. David’s experiences were manifestations of spiritual judgments (spiritual curses or spiritual plagues) which God inflicted him with, namely: spiritual arrows to wound the soul, spiritual floods of water to suffocate the soul, spiritual darkness to confound and blacken the understanding, and spiritual desertification to dehydrate the spiritual man; and, let us understand that all these forms of Fatherly Chastisement were perfectly in concert with God’s purpose of love and redemption [see “The Goodness of God Leadeth Thee to Repentance”]. These spiritual feelings were manifestations of spiritual judgment executed independently by God or through angels so as to make the saint feel the sinfulness of sin being committed, and repent. Let’s face it, my reader! As Jesus is standing among and walking amidst the Churches with seven stars in His hand, it is for judgment (Rev. 1:20, 2:1, 3:1)! Why else do we see the Angels of God doing what they have done all throughout Biblical History?
Thus, in the process of time, as Jesus decides “when sins”, “what sins”, and “how many sins” are made known to each individual saint’s conscience, He doesn’t want them feeling good about it. The terrifying experiences must be proportionate to the horror of sin being committed and confronted, thus repentance is wrought in an otherwise hardened heart (“Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept Thy word” – Ps. 119:67). This is what David was speaking of in a variety of spiritual experiences which were, in summation: the non-damnable spiritual curses of God, called, spiritual famine & desertification, spiritual floods of water, spiritual darkness, and so on. Jesus doesn’t want the saints to feel good about any phase of slipping; and, much more, He doesn’t want the saints to feel good when they have altogether fallen into damnable sin! Saint-to-saint judgment exists to discern when these spiritual judgments of God are in operation upon individuals in the Church. In fact, through the faithful execution of these spiritual plagues, sinning saints cannot be hidden! Slipping saints can never go unnoticed! Thereby, the safety-net operation of saint-to-saint judgment is enabled to catch the slipping from utterly backsliding. Practically, how does this look? Well, John Wesley described it in plain language which resonates with many (The Unquestionable Progress from Grace to Sin), but the word of God does implore the saints to gaze upon the encroachment of sin with literary richness and captivating imagery. If only we felt our sin was like David feelingly described his sin to be, we would repent! If only we knew, understood, and embraced the judgments and operations of a thrice HOLY GOD as a bullock accustomed to the yoke (Jer. 31:18), we would be free (Matt. 11:30, Amos 5:14-15)! In the aforementioned terms, I mean to say, let us understand the workings of Divine Judgment in the Church in the following manifestations...
Thus, in the process of time, as Jesus decides “when sins”, “what sins”, and “how many sins” are made known to each individual saint’s conscience, He doesn’t want them feeling good about it. The terrifying experiences must be proportionate to the horror of sin being committed and confronted, thus repentance is wrought in an otherwise hardened heart (“Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept Thy word” – Ps. 119:67). This is what David was speaking of in a variety of spiritual experiences which were, in summation: the non-damnable spiritual curses of God, called, spiritual famine & desertification, spiritual floods of water, spiritual darkness, and so on. Jesus doesn’t want the saints to feel good about any phase of slipping; and, much more, He doesn’t want the saints to feel good when they have altogether fallen into damnable sin! Saint-to-saint judgment exists to discern when these spiritual judgments of God are in operation upon individuals in the Church. In fact, through the faithful execution of these spiritual plagues, sinning saints cannot be hidden! Slipping saints can never go unnoticed! Thereby, the safety-net operation of saint-to-saint judgment is enabled to catch the slipping from utterly backsliding. Practically, how does this look? Well, John Wesley described it in plain language which resonates with many (The Unquestionable Progress from Grace to Sin), but the word of God does implore the saints to gaze upon the encroachment of sin with literary richness and captivating imagery. If only we felt our sin was like David feelingly described his sin to be, we would repent! If only we knew, understood, and embraced the judgments and operations of a thrice HOLY GOD as a bullock accustomed to the yoke (Jer. 31:18), we would be free (Matt. 11:30, Amos 5:14-15)! In the aforementioned terms, I mean to say, let us understand the workings of Divine Judgment in the Church in the following manifestations...
 | - For more information, see: "A 2-Stage, Populous Distinct, Chronology of Judgment". |
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