NATIONAL JUDGMENT

                                           NATIONAL JUDGMENT

      In studying the end times, Christians need to look directly at scripture
to understand judgment. Each person is judged separately, and each
nation is judged separately based on the overall record of the people.
Christ said "For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do
not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind." (John 9:39)  This may be difficult to understand, but He is explaining He is not judging people while He is on earth, but people are separating themselves by choosing whether or not to believe in Him. Their personal choice   decides their eternal home.

    To judge a nation, God looks at the choices and records of the people
He placed in control of the nation. Christians who say they are committed
to Christ (The Way) will be judged as in the above paragraph, and He will
examine each person's works. Remember, James 2:17 warns us "Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead." Going to church is not works, singing in the choir is not works. Works is following the teaching of Christ as given us in the four gospels. Works is actually doing something to benefit someone else. If you study the PARABLES in the gospels you will see your marching orders. Christ warns about the love of money (Matt. 6:24); judgment (Matt, 7:1), and to save yourselves time in researching  many verses of scripture, look at Matt. 25:31-46.

    Matt. 25:31-46 makes it clear your works depend on some sort of 
sacrifice on your part. It may be time, money, skill, labor, supplies, or
counseling. There are two emotions at play when you do "works", and
your personal, honest evaluation will tell you how "religious" you really
are. You may have a warm, fuzzy feeling, which denotes you enjoyed
being able to help someone. You may have a feeling of satisfaction for
having fulfilled a need. If your feeling has both these elements, you have
performed a "works". A works requires more than an easy solution, as
you can see from Matt. 25:31-46. Under grace (Christ), tithing is not
a works (surprise). That was a requirement under the Law. We still 
call the offering (in services or mail, wire, etc.) tithing, but it is a
matter of choice in amount. If you research the giving of Israelites,
you will find the 10% was only a part of required giving. There were
several needs that were met through other offerings. These were
somewhat like the social nets we have today. Think social security
and health insurance. Consider the widow's mites (Mark 12:41-44,
Luke 21:1-4), to see what a sacrifice and works is.

    Americans proudly proclaim their generosity and mission work all
over the world. Today many foreign nations seem to have lost their
respect for us. Other developed nations have universal health care,
and much of it is high quality. We shove tons of money into education,
but keep falling behind other developed nations. While God will
undoubtedly weigh these matters in judging us, we are about to
cross the line Jesus warned us about THREE times. Look at Matt.
19:13-15, Mark 10:13-16, and Luke 18:13-17. He is speaking about
the importance of every person (child) to God, without discriminating
by nationality, race or religion. He is also telling us that His kingdom
consists of those who RESPOND and TRUST in Him. We are to treat
each child as a treasure and sacrifice whatever is necessary to raise
them for HIM. Yes, I'm writing about all those children that have
entered our nation illegally. If you're a real committed member of
The Way (Christianity), you must know these directions from Christ
are for us now as testimony to our faithfulness and truth. Or, we can
follow the advice of columnist George Will, who was quoted on TV
as calling these immigrants "eight year old criminals with teddy bears."

    These children haven't been judged by anyone, not even God, so
Will's comments are obviously a lie and intended to inflame those
Americans who are responding with greed and hatred. These people,
apparently know nothing of decency or Christ's teaching, and refuse
to understand that it takes a parent's great trust to send a child across
two or three countries in the hope they could escape the drugs and
murder of their native country. They aren't carrying bombs and they're 
not coming here to spread disease. Think of the terrifying trip across
countries without adults or money. Those complaining say we need
to spend our money and resources on our own children. They're
absolutely correct. We have large numbers of children right at home
who are poor, malnourished and in subpar schools. These same 
naysayers are the ones who are only concerned with their own family.
They are the ME politicians and followers who place their own interests
over other citizens. It's all about money, greed and discrimination.

    We're told in the gospels by Christ to treat our neighbors as we would
treat ourselves. This was such an important issue that Christ listed it
as the Eleventh Commandment. Where are our pastors and Christian
leaders on radio and television? For that matter, where are impartial
news editors? Will you be watching to see if the Satanic Temple court
case will be accepted by the Supreme Court? They want the same
privilege granting Christians the right to discriminate against people
and corporations who aren't Christians. This is the road to theocracy, 
which is well under construction. 

    God gave mankind the choice to follow Him or not. He has never
forced anyone to become a Christian. He has never forced anyone to
get educated, married or anything else. God does not want saints in
Heaven who can't pass His test of salvation. Those who aren't saved
obviously won't follow His (Christ's) teaching. If you think you're a
committed Christian, read the four gospels carefully and see how
many of His lessons you can pass. We all sin, but if we're committed,
we receive the Holy Spirit to help us reduce sin. Can you check off
areas He taught as places where you have improved? Do you care
at all about less fortunate people? Have you bought in to the ridiculous
claims that all poor people are lazy, all handicapped people are
 "throw-aways, that our returning vets don't deserve more than a
mere existence or whenever medical care, that all abortions are
sins, that same sex marriage is only for fornication, that gay people
should be (humanely) eliminated, the elderly should politely retire
and fade away without their own savings (social security), that our
federal government should be diluted to states' rights, that Hitler was
right in creating an elite race, that women should be "talked down"
to, that almost half of our citizens live off some kind of government
 welfare ,or that it's okay to follow any opinion without checking for 
the truth?

    You must understand that God is really in full control, and He is
able to perfectly understand the condition of your heart. He doesn't
have to hear your words to know the score, and He can't be fooled.
Only you can fool yourself. If Christians continue to ignore Christ's
directions, our national scorecard will fail. You could be among the
professing Christians that don't pass the tribulation test, and will have
to stay behind for the make-up test. I pray that isn't so.

Rev. Walbear