He has already judged the angels and demons! At some point, the angels made their final decision to stand with or against God. This decision and their judgment all happened before the fall of man.
In Psalms 50, we see a prophecy for a different time of judgment, where God will summon the spiritual realm along with all mankind. This prophecy is very succinct in its description, and will be described in more detail when we reach other books, such as Matthew and Revelation.
This psalm, particularly verse 4, is referring to the judgment of nations at the end of the Tribulation, when the angels will help gather together all of mankind and all demons. Satan and the demons will immediately be thrown into the abyss and bound for a thousand years.
Then Jesus will separate the sheep from the goats. All unbelievers will be removed from the earth - and at some point - all unbelievers of all times will be judged for their sins at the White Throne Judgment.
Meanwhile, verse 5 describes the moment when Jesus (and the angels) will gather together all of those who become believers during the Tribulation and take them into the Millennium. This is when all of the Israelites' covenants will be fulfilled.
At some point (or at various points), all believers are judged at the Bema Seat, where we will be rewarded for our good deeds done with pure motives...
(Psalm 50) The Mighty One, God, the Lord, has spoken, and summoned the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting.
2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God has shone forth.
3 May our God come and not keep silence; fire devours before Him, and it is very tempestuous around Him.
4 He summons the heavens above, and the earth, to judge His people:
5 “Gather My godly ones to Me, those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.”
6 And the heavens declare His righteousness, for God Himself is judge. Selah.
2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God has shone forth.
3 May our God come and not keep silence; fire devours before Him, and it is very tempestuous around Him.
4 He summons the heavens above, and the earth, to judge His people:
5 “Gather My godly ones to Me, those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.”
6 And the heavens declare His righteousness, for God Himself is judge. Selah.
From this we see:
- angels will one day help gather together people, as well as demons
- angels testify that God is righteous and judge over all
Personal experience: as Christians, we should not be judgmental or critical towards either unbelievers or believers. Even if it just remains in our thoughts, being negative will eventually fall out of our brains and onto our tongues! Or influence our actions!
God is the only judge. Only God can look into our hearts and judge our motives and intentions. There will be times when we are to discern the actions of others and to address those, but only as God directs us. But this should not be our focus.
We are to LOVE all people! And SHOW our love to all people! Loving someone doesn't mean that we approve of everything they do. But when we truly love people with God's love - that cannot help but spill out!
We should also love ourselves (obviously - not to put ourselves first - but we should not put ourselves down)! We can be very critical of ourselves. This never helps anything! Self-negativity can become a repetitious loop in our brains - repeating the bad things we have heard others say about ourselves over the years, or the bad things we think about ourselves for whatever reason.
If there is some sin that needs addressing, we need to reconcile that and continue on as we should. As Christians, God has forgiven us and is so very gracious! We need to embrace that and see ourselves in a better light - in God's light! And practice forgiveness and graciousness to those around us - as well as ourselves. We are to do what we can to build up God's kingdom - not tear it down. And as believers - we are part of God's kingdom!
Then - - - even in our attempts to "do better", experience has taught me that I need to be more positive in my thinking regarding THAT. For example: I can talk a lot! Like - a lot! And I am always trying to temper that. But if I just tell myself to NOT talk... what do I do? I talk even more! Because I'm focusing on the talking, itself. But if I encourage myself to ask more questions and listen - I now have a positive goal to strive towards!
Today's takeaway: in the Bible, whenever God commands us NOT to do something, it is always preceded or followed by a command that has a positive goal. Therefore, what we should focus on is declaring (along with the angels) that God is righteousness, and focus on living in God's strength and guidance...
(Galatians 5:13-26) For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. 17 For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. 19 Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, 21 envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. 26 Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.
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