CHAPTER 14: WHERE DOES JUDGMENT BEGIN 2025

Luke 1:4 – “so that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been taught.”

Very soon after my promise to the Lord, I found myself in offices that were involved in great responsibility and money. In my position I, too had more responsibility than ever before in my life and that was just the beginning. It was vital that I learn quickly what I was up against and my place in dealing with all of it. I began writing notes as I witnessed the challenges that come against men and were now coming against me. Each observation written down as a challenge to anyone in a position of authority. Each observation brought me to the Bible to understand. Each question answered by the Word. Year after year these fifty chapters have guided me and ultimately so many into the Word of God. Questions that all of us ask at one point in our lives or many times. What I have found is that either I go to God for the answers, or something else will answer. I pray that I serve only the Lord and I thank Him for the questions and the answers. That is these fifty chapters, and today, Chapter 14, Where Does Judgement Begin, I can remember clearly the harsh end result of corporate and political decisions made right in front of me that crushed the lives of others. Had it not been for the Lord, it could’ve done the same to me, however the Lord had other plans for me. Without the Lord I wouldn’t have been standing there in the first place to observe and participate in the experience. Looking back over the years, Judgement, and man’s intolerance of one another, has caused nothing good. So today, as I have done over the last many years, I share the observations of a man newly found in the body of Christ, realizing the frightening first scripture I experienced, and why all of this is so important.

Hebrews 10:31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Okay, before we begin, let me make one thing clear. Terror is terror with or without God, however, terror without God is absolute, terror with God is temporary. Judgement is a hideous way to introduce others and ultimately be the victim of terror. Judgement should remain in the hands of God, period.

Matthew 25:31-46 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the [a]holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’

 

37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’

 

41 “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; 43 I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’

 

44 “Then they also will answer [b]Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ 45 Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46 And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Needless to say, Judgement is not for likes of a sinner like myself. I hardly have the right to decide such matters. So now the heart of the matter. I could see that fiduciary duty required direction and that direction required knowledge and wisdom. That too, came with the Bible.

Luke 12:48 b  For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.

 

Jeremiah 33:3 ‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and [a]mighty things, which you do not know.’

This puts things in perspective. Men cannot know judgement or any such thing like it without God, and to be more precise men will judge rather than respond correctly without God. First, I realize, before I react what must I know? I know I need to take a good look at myself before I work with other people.

Matthew 7 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

How do you run a company without judgement? Challenging. I realized quickly that judgement was not the tool. Assessment is the tool of a leader. Assessments have solutions. Judgement is a dead end and a dangerous weapon in the hands of an amateur. Since, I’ve realized God is the only professional able to wield judgement I had to set it down. God promises things, so men I was watching had this promise whether they knew it or not.

Isaiah 46:9-10 Remember the former things, those of long ago, I am God, and there is no other, I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.’

I tried and still try to this day to embrace such a huge fact in that scripture. And as the years go by, I watch what happens when men reject God’s promise in lieu of their own ideas.

Isaiah 5:19-20 They even mock the Holy One of Israel and dare the Lord to punish them.[a] “Hurry up and punish us, O Lord,” they say. “We want to see what you can do!” 20 They say that what is right is wrong and what is wrong is right; that black is white and white is black; bitter is sweet and sweet is bitter.

That, too, scared me, the beginning of understanding the line between God and no God, this Judgement thing was real, too real. I wrote down the definition of judgement.

In scripture, the “sin of judgment” refers to unjustly condemning or criticizing others, often based on appearances or without acknowledging one’s own flaws. It’s about usurping God’s role as the ultimate judge and engaging in hypocrisy by overlooking one’s own shortcomings while focusing on those of others. Matthew 7:1-5 warns against judging others without first addressing one’s own sins.

It is not a single act of sin, but rather a persistent, willful, and hardened rejection of the Holy Spirit’s work in revealing Jesus as the Messiah and calling people to repentance.

“I promise you that any of the sinful things you say or do can be forgiven, no matter how terrible those things are. But if you speak against the Holy Spirit, you can never be forgiven. That sin will be held against you forever.” — Mark 3:28-29

You see, once I begin judging, I judge everything, it becomes my job and I believe I know, and I don’t know and there in lies the danger. I begin to think that God is not necessary and that anything that comes against me is not good. I read about just such things in the times of Jesus. Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, according to Jesus, is attributing the work of the Holy Spirit to evil or Satan. An example of that is found in ..

Mark 3:22 And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.”

The rulers of that day believed themselves to be the judge and rather than see the truth, they were blinded by their own judgement and crucified Jesus for their internal belief of what is good. Long story short, Jesus is coming back, and everything I’ve read, I believe in that book. It is either absolute or obsolete. As I’ve stated, the last thing I want is terror without God, my fears with God are temporary.

1 Thessalonians 5:1-5 New Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, 2 for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.

Assessment? All of us have “ex-something.” Ex wives, husbands, partners, friends, isn’t it better to say as an assessment rather than a judgement. Pretty difficult, right? In our business, we fire somebody in an emotional outburst, thrash another unfortunate individual in the effort to prove a point. Attacking relationships is never profitable, ever. Making a correct assessment and allowing people to leave with dignity, hard to do.

James 3:6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

Void of solution, understanding and compassion, God is replaced by self will, this is Judgement. God questions all of us, why would we think we were anything at all?

Job 38:3-7 Brace yourself like a man; I will question you,
 and you shall answer me.
“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation, Tell me, if you understand.
Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone—
while the morning stars sang together and all the angels[a] shouted for joy?

He has said that to a man, the man’s name was Job. Job understood, Job was a man of God and embraced the Lord. Satan did not do this, and paid the price. This is what He said to Lucifer, the devil, Satan himself.

Isaiah 14:15 You said in your heart, “I will ascend to the heavens;
I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon.[a] I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.” But you are brought down to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit.

You see, I’ve come to understand that Judgement runs like a wild river, everything in its path, is in danger. All the angels that sided with Lucifer, that is what happened. Not too long after that, mankind fell into sin and debauchery and the Lord passed judgement on all of the earth.

Jude 5-7 And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling— these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.

 

Genesis 6:9-14 So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth.

Now, that’s judgement. Better to help each other to live correctly, that is assessment. Scripture is clear about that as well.

Ezekiel 3:18-19 When I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. 19 Yet, if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.

So, answer the question, where does judgement begin? Is anybody paying attention? Like I said, CEO’s believe they are above reproach, they’re not, think about it.

Matthew 24:39-41 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.

Assess each situation, asking for the wisdom and knowledge of the creator. You can walk away from people, do so with prayer and prayer for those who need it. You needed it, and somebody rather than judging you prayed for you, rather than judged you, they prayed or you might not be here. Where does judgement begin? Let’s back it up even further. It begins in the black heart of satan, and ends in the Word of God. The only in between is what you decide in the responsible position you have been given. God gave you that position. Not to be an example of judgement, but rather an example of God. To do that requires the assistance of God. Make the assessment of the situation and take it to the Lord, give it some thought, every time Judgement rears it’s head, perhaps the Lord will guide you through, rather than being guided by rage, emotions, concepts, national and international hypocrisy, false teachings, courageous numbskulls bent on clever schemes, or just plain stupid, moving ahead without knowledge judging a situation rather than making a correct assessment and involving possible solutions rather than dead ends. Remember always, Judgement, when in play, comes from you or to you. Sometimes we error and judge harshly and sometimes we are judged harshly. Judgement should remain in the hands of the professional, The Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 15:57-58 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.