The Judge's Decision

"Guilty!" The voice of the judge rings through the hall with a terrifying resonance. The defendant stands speechless. He never thought this would be the verdict he heard. His mind begins to race to figure out what went wrong. He thought he had covered all his bases and gained the right approval from all the right people.

While the echo of the judge's voice begins to fade into the walls, the defendant begins to stammer out a reply..."But, Your Honor I didn't know what I was doing was wrong. All my sources said it was right."

"You broke the law, your guilty", the judge replied with the look of disappointment in his eyes.

"But Your Honor, what I did wasn't so bad. Look at what others have done," said the defendant hoping to gain some justification.

"Your the one I am trying right now and your guilty," the judge flatly replied.

"But Your Honor, I know your son," plead the defendant with his eyes still fixed below the gaze of the judge.

"I have had you in my house many times, I have tried to show you what is right, but you still broke the law, your guilty," was the judge's response.

"But I call your son 'friend', Your Honor," reasoned the defendant, now hoping to gain sympathy.

"My son's friendship should have made you more willing to do right," the judge replied plainly.

"But Your Honor, I do all kinds of community service, I give to a lot of charities, I could do more if that will help," bargained the defendant.

"You broke the law, you can't reverse that with a few charitable gestures," countered the judge firmly.

"But so many people agree with me that I was right in doing what I did.," the defendant replies with a hint of arrogance.

"The law has always said it was wrong, the law has not changed," the judge said sternly.

"But the law is so old, it is out of date. It doesn't accurately apply to today's society and culture," the defendant defiantly replied.

"The law is the law. It was set long ago to set apart the people who would obey it. To make them different. To be a standard for others to notice. To draw people to its source. You're guilty of violating it. You have usurped your authority," explained the judge.

"But what else can I do?," questioned the defendant.

"You have done exactly what is in your nature to do. You are guilty. You can only receive what you deserve," answered the judge.

"But there must be something else. This can't be all there is," the defendant plead once again for mercy.

The judge just shook his head, broken-hearted, yet angry at the defendant's obstinance and he replied, "My son, who you call friend, He offered you a gift that would have made a difference in today's ruling. He offered a gift that would have changed all this. But you refused. He went to the greatest expense to  purchase this gift and yet you denied him. He held it right out in front of you and you turned it away because you didn't want to feel obligated to him...Because you wanted to continue in your lawless practices. You didn't care for my son. If you did you would have accepted his gift. You would have been grateful for the expense. You would have wanted to change your practices if you had cared for him at all...if he was truly your 'friend'.

So, here you are, guilty. You refused the gift, so now you must pay the penalty yourself. You must suffer the consequences and my officers are at the door now to assign you to your place, your prison. This is an eternal sentence. So many say this is an unfair sentence, but those who say so are the very ones who refuse to obey the law and also reject the magnificent gift of love which my son purchased with every bit of his resources.

People say I can't be loving and a judge at the same time. My love exceeded my judgment when I allowed my son to pour out such a tremendous expense in order to pay the law's penalty on behalf of any and all who would accept it.

So, please do not stand and accuse me. I have done no wrong, yet you have offended the law on more than one occasion. I am just and you are guilty. Your punishment is sure, though it is never what I wanted. I watched you for a long time, I waited, I sent messengers to you and then I finally sent my son to plead with you to change your direction. I did all of this out of love, but you refused time and again. So all I can say now is, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.'" (Matthew 7:15-23)

Final Thoughts
This blog today is inspired by the Supreme Court's decision, however, it does not have to do only with the subject of homosexuality. Our nation and even many of our churches have made more and more decisions to compromise and justify living contrary to the Bible. Today's decision was simply one symptom of a much greater problem.

I have no position or right to judge another's sin, but I can express what God has to say about sin. I wrote the above story to depict what the Bible says about our sin and how the Bible says He will judge it. It doesn't matter how much we justify, explain, bargain, argue, or have the support of others on our opinions. In the end, it doesn't matter what ruling earthly judges pass, because they will not be the judges each of us will stand before on the final day of judgment. We will stand before the one perfect, righteous, holy Judge. If the choices we make are contrary to what God has established in His Word (the Bible), then we have failed to live to His standard: perfection.

Now you might say, "None of us lives up to that standard" and that is absolutely true. Jesus Christ is the only man that ever walked the earth and lived sinlessly:

"...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (Romans 3:23). 

So where does that leave us? Hopeless on our own or we could be blessed with a tremendous gift if we will just accept it:

"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23) 

If you have not yet accepted the Son's gift, then I hope you will do so today. Simply submit yourself to Him and confess the sins you have committed, ask for His forgiveness, accept His forgiveness, and, out of gratitude for the gift and out of love for the Son and the Father, change your practices to line up with what God teaches in His Word. You still will not be able to live flawlessly, but the difference is that when you sin, you will not be content to stay in it. You will desire to quickly confess and turn back in the right direction. Connect to a church so you have the help and support of other people that are facing the same struggles you are. You can also be a support to them.

If you are a believer already, please join me in praying for our country.  That's the best place to fight this battle.  We don't have to be ugly and hateful to those who don't know Jesus. They are simply living the only way they know. If we are ugly to them, then we are not showing them who Christ is...we are not displaying to them the fact that He loves them enough to give them a wonderful gift.

"For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses." (2 Corinthians 10:3-4)

I pray that you will be forever changed by the kindness of our loving Father, rather than stand guilty before the righteous Judge. I would be glad to visit with you more on this. Please email me at chris.sweet@fbcmabank.com if you would like to talk or ask questions.

For God's Glory,

Chris S. Sweet

"You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you...See, I have taught you statutes and judgments just as the LORD my God commanded me, that you should do thus in the land where you are entering to possess it...So keep and do them, for that is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes and say, "Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people." For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as is the LORD our God whenever we call on Him? Or what great nation is there that has statutes and judgments as righteous as this whole law which I am setting before you today? Only give heed to yourself and keep your soul diligently, so that you do not forget the things which your eyes have seen and they do not depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your sons and your grandsons..." (Deuteronomy 4:2-9, emphasis mine)