Do Not Judge Anything Until the Lord Comes

 Do Not Judge Anything Until the Lord Comes

 

1 Corinthians 4:3-5: "It is a very small matter to me that I should be judged (anacrido) by either you or by others. I do not even judge myself, for I am not aware of anything to reproach myself for, but by this I am not justified. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore do not judge anything before the time comes, that is, until the Lord comes. He will bring to light things hidden in darkness and will reveal the intentions of the heart. Then each person will receive praise from God."

Anakrido (ἀνακριθῶ) is a compound word of Ana (ἀνα: above: Kingdom of God) and Krido (κριθῶ: judgment). Anakrido signifies God's judgment. It means that it is a very small matter for you or others to judge me. This is because judgment is something God does, and human judgment is of no significance.

"Before the time comes" means before Jesus returns. The point is that Jesus will judge when He returns, and that He Himself does not judge faithful ministers before then. Therefore, it is wrong for believers to judge one another.

Looking at God's presence through the Old Testament, He appeared to the people in the midst of fire on Mount Sinai. The people could not approach Him; only Moses, the chosen one, was able to draw near. Likewise, in the New Testament, Jesus appears like fire to His chosen people, the disciples.

In Mark 9:1-3, it says, "Then He said to them, 'Truly I tell you, some standing here will not die before they see the kingdom of God coming with power.' Six days later Jesus took Peter, James, and John and went up on a high mountain by themselves. There He was transfigured before them, and His clothes became radiant, whiter than any laundry on earth could make them."

This shows the appearance of Jesus when He died on the cross, resurrected, and returned to enter into the hearts of His disciples to be present. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18: “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God (Katabesetai). The dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are still alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore, comfort one another with these words.”

Katabesetai signifies the Second Coming. Therefore, at the Second Coming of Jesus, the pioneers of faith who existed before Christ will rise first, and subsequently, the saints will also become the Kingdom of God in spiritual bodies through the Second Coming of Jesus. For the saints, Christ has already returned and entered. Thus, they become a temple and the Kingdom of God. Thus, they become Parousian. Christ entering into the saint is Katabesetai, and thus a temple is built within the saint's heart, and He dwells (Parousian) within it.

Saints living in the present experience the death of their former physical bodies and transformation into spiritual bodies, receiving the Logos (Parousian (παρουσίαν, presence). In 1 Corinthians 15:51-52, the Apostle Paul says, "Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye—at the last trumpet. For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed."

This is a story about the spiritual body. Transformation does not mean that the physical body suddenly transforms into a spiritual body, but rather that the former dies and one is born from heaven as a spiritual body. It means that the physical body dies with Jesus Christ and is reborn into a spiritual body through the power of the Holy Spirit.

For believers who believe that they died on the cross and resurrected with Jesus Christ, the Second Coming of Jesus Christ means that Jesus has entered into their hearts through the power of the Holy Spirit. Of course, for believers who do not believe this (other people), the Second Coming of Christ has not been fulfilled.

For believers, the Second Coming of Christ is not as a judge, but as a Counselor to help them avoid difficulties while preaching the gospel in the world. This means that those who preach the gospel will receive praise from God. However, for those who are not believers on the last day, the Second Coming of Christ comes as the Judge. This is the Great White Throne Judgment.

 

Believers in the church who are waiting for the Second Coming of Jesus must realize that the Second Coming has not been fulfilled. Believers who claim to be waiting for the Second Coming are essentially waiting for the Great White Throne Judgment. Therefore, believers awaiting the Second Coming are those who are still wandering within the law.

When the Second Coming of Christ takes place in the heart of a saint, the saint becomes the Kingdom of God (Heaven). That is why it is likened to a heavenly wedding feast. Christ, the bridegroom, and the saint, the bride, meet and become one. The saint must bear the fruit of Heaven and spread the seeds of resurrection again. Therefore, they must continue to bear the fruit of resurrection.

"He will reveal what is hidden in darkness and make known the intentions of the heart." The saint who is in Jesus Christ becomes a temple, and Jesus enters that temple and dwells therein to reveal His will; His will is to show the saint the heavenly temple according to the pattern. This is what becomes the Kingdom of God.

 

Exodus 25:40: "You shall set up the tabernacle according to the pattern shown on the mountain." It means to contemplate the Kingdom of God while looking at the tabernacle. The Tabernacle was constructed according to the pattern of the Kingdom of God; the Garden of Eden is the Tabernacle itself, representing the Kingdom of God. The Tabernacle contains the Most Holy Place, where the Ark of the Covenant, symbolizing God, was located. Two cherubim angels served as God's thrones, and the High Priest entered the Most Holy Place to meet God. Inside the Tabernacle were golden tabernacle furnishings, a lampstand symbolizing the light of life, and the showbread, the bread of life; offering unnatural fire would incur God's wrath. The showbread must also be placed according to prescribed procedures.

Since the Tabernacle is represented as the Garden of Eden, the Kingdom of God must be understood through the image of the Garden of Eden. The Garden of Eden signifies the Kingdom of God established within the hearts of believers amidst the world. The message is to understand and realize the Kingdom of God through the Garden of Eden.