The saints of the Most High, will be given judgment upon their resurrection. We need to know what that judgment means.

Dan 7:22  until the Ancient of Days came, and a judgment was made in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom.

1Co 6:3  Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life?

Jud 1:14  Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints,

Jud 1:15  to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”

How do we judge?

What do we base our judgment on?

What about mercy?

Let’s look at the Old Testament examples first.

The following verses show how Moses judged the Israelites.

Deu 1:17  You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small as well as the great; you shall not be afraid in any man’s presence, for the judgment is God’s. The case that is too hard for you, bring to me, and I will hear it.’

Num 35:29  ‘And these things shall be a statute of judgment to you throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

We must be careful not to take a bribe, for this blinds the eyes of the wise, and leads to perverting the words of the righteous.

Deu 16:19  You shall not pervert justice; you shall not show partiality, nor take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous.

Deu 17:8  “If a matter arises which is too hard for you to judge, between degrees of guilt for bloodshed, between one judgment or another, or between one punishment or another, matters of controversy within your gates, then you shall arise and go up to the place which the LORD your God chooses.

Deu 17:9  And you shall come to the priests, the Levites, and to the judge there in those days, and inquire of them; they shall pronounce upon you the sentence of judgment.

Deu 17:10  You shall do according to the sentence which they pronounce upon you in that place which the LORD chooses. And you shall be careful to do according to all that they order you.

Psa 7:6  Arise, O LORD, in Your anger; Lift Yourself up because of the rage of my enemies; Rise up for me to the judgment You have commanded!

God teaches us how to judge.

Psa 119:66  Teach me good judgment and knowledge, For I believe Your commandments.

Notice the following verses showing the saints in judgment.

Psa 149:1  Praise the LORD! Sing to the LORD a new song, And His praise in the assembly of saints.

Psa 149:2  Let Israel rejoice in their Maker; Let the children of Zion be joyful in their King.

Psa 149:3  Let them praise His name with the dance; Let them sing praises to Him with the timbrel and harp.

Psa 149:4  For the LORD takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the humble with salvation.

Psa 149:5  Let the saints be joyful in glory; Let them sing aloud on their beds.

Psa 149:6  Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, And a two-edged sword in their hand,

Psa 149:7  To execute vengeance on the nations, And punishments on the peoples;

Psa 149:8  To bind their kings with chains, And their nobles with fetters of iron;

Psa 149:9  To execute on them the written judgment This honor have all His saints. Praise the LORD!

We know that in the Old Testament times if a woman or man were found in adultery they would be put to death.

Lev 20:10  ‘The man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, he who commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress, shall surely be put to death.

However in the New Testament, Christ showed that mercy now must accompany the law. Notice the same situation and how Christ judged it.

Joh 8:4  they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act.

Joh 8:5  Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?”

Notice the following scripture, Christ wrote in the ground with His finger. This is very interesting, remember the Ten Commandments were written with the finger of the Father in stone. Christ now writes with His finger in sand. Now this is the understanding of this……Christ wrote in the sand which typifies the softening of the law…now that mercy is added……sand is softer than stone. The Ten Commandments were written twice, Christ wrote in the sand twice, the Ten Commandments were written whilst the Israelites played the harlot and worshiped the golden calf, {Ex 32 v 7-8} Christ wrote in the sand when the woman was brought to Him who was found in adultery.

Joh 8:6  This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.

Joh 8:7  So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.”

Joh 8:8  And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.

Joh 8:9  Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.

The amazing difference between the two judgments, Christ pointed out that she had sinned, but He showed mercy to her and said…… sin no more. She knew what her sin was, but she was given the chance to repent and to stop sinning.

Joh 8:10  When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?”

Joh 8:11  She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”

Heb 10:28  Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.

The following scripture should be noted very carefully, if we want mercy from God, we must give mercy to others.

Jas 2:13  For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

At the beginning of the article, I asked a few questions, now let’s go over the answers.

How do we judge and what do we base our judgment on?

We must judge as we would want to be judged.

If we show mercy, we will receive mercy.

God grants the ability to judge, so we must ask Him for knowledge and understanding in this area.

We need to have knowledge of the precepts and laws of the Old Testament, and what God told Moses He wanted put in place regarding these things.

Of course, before we make a judgment on any matter, we must always ask for God’s help. Ask for wisdom understanding love and mercy, seek the will of God and not our own ideas and God will direct our thoughts and actions.

The word of God is the foundation for judgement, it must be applied with the input of mercy, which was shown to us by Christ. People should be shown their sins, and given the correct way to live. If a person is for example stealing, then we should tell them that this is not acceptable, and that they must stop stealing, and then we should show them the correct way to live that is acceptable to God. We then show them that they should work in order to obtain what they need. The person would be extended mercy and shown love by this act, and also given a chance to repent.

However the stealing does exact a penalty which they must pay back. Some things require working for a person for a certain time till the debt is repaid, others the item is replaced double. Etc. etc. This is showing love and mercy to the person who was the victim of the crime.

Zec 7:9  “Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘Execute true justice, Show mercy and compassion Everyone to his brother.

1Co 7:25  Now concerning virgins: I have no commandment from the Lord; yet I give judgment as one whom the Lord in His mercy has made trustworthy.

Having said the above, what about the person who does not repent, and continues in his or her sin? The person shows no signs of repentance, because they continue to commit more crimes.

The person has been shown their sin, they have been shown the correct way to live, they have been given a chance to repent and live a life pleasing to God and yet they chose to return to their life of sin.

Gal 6:7  Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.

Rom 2:8  but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness indignation and wrath,

Rom 2:9  tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek;

2Th 1:8  in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

God will not tolerate disobedience to His laws, people will be shown the correct way to live and then expected to obey. God’s ways lead to happiness, love and joy to those who obey.

The reason why mankind has endured such miseries over the past thousands of years is because they have chosen to disobey God and live whatever way they felt was right. THIS WAY HAS FAILED.

Mankind must learn to obey God’s way…it is the only way. If people refuse to obey then the penalties will be severe ……And yet brought on in love, for the good of all mankind.