1 Peter 1:17, ‘If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth’.
As we are living in this world, glorifying God, there is one area, where we need to be careful is in, ‘having fear of God’. If we are addressing our living God as Father, then we need to conduct ourselves in reverential fear of God, during our stay on earth. He is a righteous judge. He is a loving Father. One day, we must all appear in front of the judgement seat.
When we appear before the judgment seat of Christ, we find there are two categories of people.
- Standing in confidence
- Shrink away from Him in shame.
Let us be among those who stand in confidence.
1 John 2:28, ‘Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming’.
The three areas where we need to be careful in our lives are:
- God judges our deeds or actions, whether they are good or bad:
2 Corinthians 5:10, ‘For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.’
V11, ‘Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are made manifest to God; and I hope that we are made manifest also in your consciences’.
We need to understand that we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ and our righteous God who judges impartially, will judge each one, according to his works, whether good or bad.
The quality of each man’s work will be tested with fire.
1 Corinthians 3:10, ‘According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. 11 For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. 14 If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. 15 If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.’
Man must be careful how he builds, not the size of it or quantity; but God looks at how he builds. Let us be careful.
Romans 11:36, ‘For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.’
Everything we do should be from God, through God and to God; for His glory. This work will remain in the test of fire. We will be rewarded.
- God judges our inner motives behind all things we do:
1 Corinthians 4:5, ‘Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God.’
God judges and discloses the motives of man’s hearts. How we are doing, why we are doing, what is the motive behind what we are doing. Are we doing works to get praise from God or men? God looks at our heart, He knows the inner motives. There is no value before God, if we do things to please men. Let us have good motives and be pleasing to God.
Matthew 6:1, ‘“Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.’
Jesus is teaching how we pray, fast, give. Do everything with right motive. Be careful how we do.
V4, ‘so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.’
V6, ‘But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.’
V18, ‘so that your fasting will not be noticed by men, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.’
The Father who sees us in secret will reward us. Man looks at the appearance but God looks at our heart.
Proverbs 16:2, ‘All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight,
But the Lord weighs the motives’.
We might be good in our own eyes but God judges our motives.
Revelation 3:17, ‘Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, ‘
We might think we have everything and lack nothing; but God looks at our hearts and judges our inner motives. We should not be ignorant but live in the reverential fear of God.
- God judges our Words:
God judges our words which are evil, idle, careless, useless or foolish. Have fear of God in this area of our lives.
Matthew 12:36, ‘But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. 37 For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”’
Holy Spirit says, that we should be very careful in using our tongue. We are going to give account for every word we speak, on that judgment day.
Colossians 4:6, ‘Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.’
Let us be more reverential in this area of using our tongue.
Psalms 19:14, ‘Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer’.
GNT, ‘May my words and my thoughts be acceptable to you,
O Lord, my refuge and my redeemer!’
We see his prayer that, ‘let his words and thoughts be pleasing to the Lord’.
1 Peter 1:17, ‘If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth;’
Let us conduct ourselves in fear of God. It is not the fear that will hurt us but have a genuine, reverential fear; that, we might hurt our Living God. When we are using our tongue, when we are doing works, the motives we have – all these things we need to do it in a reverential manner, knowing that when we do things, is it hurting my Father.
V14, ‘As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, 15 but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; 16 because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”’
This reverential fear will help us to grow in holiness. Be holy in all behaviors. Our God is holy.
2 Corinthians 7:1, ‘Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.’
We can perfect holiness only through the reverential fear of God. Let us judge ourselves. If we judge ourselves, we will not be judged. Let us examine ourselves.
Psalms 139:23, ‘Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me and know my anxious thoughts;
24 And see if there be any hurtful way in me,
And lead me in the everlasting way.’
Let us pray to God, asking Him to point out the areas where we are hurting our Lord, to have reverential fear in the areas that God shows us. One day, when we stand before the judgment seat of Christ, we can stand in confidence and not shrink away in shame.
May God bless us.
