Judging Angels and the World, part 1

What will be our role in the heavenly places?  Which angels will we judge – the ones who fell or will there be others who will fall?

Paul only mentions judging angels in one verse, but the reason he mentions it is very important.

1 Corinthians 6:1-4

Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints?   Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?   Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life? If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church.

So it is in passing that Paul mentions judging angels, almost as a matter of fact.  Also in verse two he mentions that the saints shall judge the world.  Obviously he’s talking to the Corinthians who are members of the body of Christ, so it is evident that there is a judging aspect when it comes to the world and to angels.

The body of Christ was created for the heavenly places.

Ephesians 2:6

And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

Angels are heavenly beings and that is where they reside right now.  They are part of God’s heavenly kingdom and government.

So what is this judgment?  The usual description is ‘ruling over angels.’  We will have a ruling authority over the angelic realm, but in context of 1 Corinthians 6…

Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints?

…the issue is a civil matter.  Evidently the saints in Corinth, being carnal and immature, were having disputes and instead of being gracious and not having these quarrels, or at least going to other saints in the church, they went outside of the church for judgment.

1 Corinthians 6:5

I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? no, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren?

Paul is getting on them for not only having a dispute, but having a lost judge settle it.  That was dumb; instead of being gracious one to another,

Ephesians 4:32

And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.

…they brought reproach to the Lord and his doctrine.

So this judgment is not in connection with rulership, but it is in regard to civil disputes involving contracts or property rights, for example.  Go back to the law and you’ll see how this issue of judgment was used and you’ll understand why Paul brings it up:

Deuteronomy 25:1-2

If there be a controversy between men, and they come unto judgment, that the judges may judge them; then they shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked.

This is judgment that justifies the righteous and condemns the wicked.  There is punishment involved.

And it shall be, if the wicked man be worthy to be beaten [ i.e. 40 stripes save one], that the judge shall cause him to lie down, and to be beaten before his face, according to his fault, by a certain number.

There is fault involved.

1 Corinthians 6:7

Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded?

Although we will have some ruling authority over the angels in heaven, this judgment has to do with reviewing the works of someone and then condemning them.  The only place the saints in this present dispensation will judge the world and the angels in the capacity to condemn wickedness, is the Great White Throne judgment (GWTJ).

Revelation 20:11

And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.

The devil and his angels and the world will be judged by the Lord, but we will play a part in that.  In our courtrooms today there is a judge, but also a jury of 12 judges.

Romans 2:16

in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.

This is Judgment Day, the GWTJ.  We are in Christ.  We will help him judge.  He will use his body and also the nation of Israel to judge.  This GWTJ is where all the lost of all the ages will be judged according to their works and given a proper punishment in the lake of fire.  That will happen after Christ comes back to set up his kingdom on this earth and the first installment of the 1,000 years of the Kingdom. 

I am still working this out.  I am a student of the word like you, but no doubt the body of Christ will be qualified to judge at that time.  Not every saint at the time of the rapture will be qualified; if they don’t have the mind of Christ today, they won’t have it then either.

During the Millennium while Christ is on the earth teaching Israel and the gentile nations about his word and about who he is, those of us who are joint-heirs and who understand the Pauline grace message, and more importantly, who labor for the Lord in it and suffer for it, will teach our brethren in the body of Christ the word of God. 

Romans 8:17

And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

Hopefully this helps!

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Northern California Grace Fellowship

Do you have a question for Pastor Ron?

 Heir of God or Joint-Heirs with Christ? 

Importance of God’s Word

Every time someone calls me Reverend Knight, I cringe.  It hits me right in my heart. The term, reverend, is used one time in scripture:

Psalm 111:9

He sent redemption unto his people:
he hath commanded his covenant for ever:
holy and reverend is his name.

Only one person in the bible is called reverend and that is the Lord Jesus Christ.  Don’t ever call a man reverend…if you’re used to doing that, try to change that.  Holy and reverend is God’s name!

Psalm 138:12

A Psalm of David  [about the Messiah]

I will praise thee with my whole heart:
before the gods will I sing praise unto thee.
I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name
for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth:
for thou [God]  hast magnified thy word above all thy name.

Did you just see what that said?  As much as God makes a big deal about his name, there is something that he magnifies even above that…his word!  Do you understand what it means to magnify his word?

Isaiah 42:21

The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness’ sake;
he will magnify the law [his word], and make it honourable.

You can trust God…even beyond his name; you can trust his word.

+  + + +

Paul addresses God’s name being blasphemed among the Gentiles in his first epistle to the carnal Corinthians.  They were saints who acted like they were lost.

1 Corinthians 5:3-5

For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit…

(that being, present through the word of his that they had)

…have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed, In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ…

(notice his name has power with it)

…to deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh…

(that is why you’re not supposed to be a stranded grace believer.  Satan loves to have saints out there on their own.)

…that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

(The point here, being that Paul is interested in that person’s reward at the judgment seat of Christ.)

The way that we, today, glorify the name of the Lord Jesus Christ is by listening to his apostle to us – the apostle Paul, who wrote Romans through Philemon for us gentiles in this dispensation of the grace of God.

1 Corinthians 14:37

If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I [Paul] write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.

Transcribed excerpt from

09 2 Thess chapter 1.mp3  

You Can't Please God through Your Performance

Ephesians 2:8-9

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.

Today God is not accepting religious works; he is accepting your faith based on what his Son did at Calvary¹.  That’s what the book of Galatians is about.  Our apostle Paul has to correct² believers, those who have put their trust in Jesus Christ; but who left³ the message Paul preached⁴ and went back to the law of Moses.

The law is anything you, in your own power, try to perform to please God.⁵  If you’re not resting in what God has to say through the books of the apostle Paul⁶, and allowing that doctrine to work⁷ in you, you’re under a performance-based acceptance system.⁸

Now it may not be the law of Moses and the 10 commandments; it could be your own little standard of perfection, or your pastor’s, or your mom’s, or your dad’s; but, it is some type of performance to get the blessing.  You know that’s not where the Spirit of God leads you.  The Spirit of God says that you’re not under law; you’re under grace. 

…for ye are not under the law, but under grace.  [Romans 6:14]

Grace is all that God is free to do for you through the death of his Son at Calvary:

G od’s

R iches

A t

C hrist’s

E xpense

Paul says that we ought to rest in the Lord Jesus, not just as our Saviour for our sins (justification), but during our Christian walk (sanctification) as we learn the doctrine written down in the 13 books of the apostle Paul, rightly dividing them from the scriptures written to Israel in the future and to Israel in time past.  That is how God begins to work in you.

Transcribed from this YouTube video…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQBJBLxWReM&feature=em-uploademail 

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¹ For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: [1 Corinthians 15:3-4]

² All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: [2 Timothy 3:16]

³ I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:  which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. [Galatians 1:6-7]

⁴ If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.   [1 Corinthians 14:37]

⁵ Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.   But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.  [Romans 4:4-5]

⁶  But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:  whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. [2 Timothy 1:10-11]

⁷  For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe. [1 Thessalonians 2:13]

⁸ Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command thee this day, to do them.[Deuteronomy 7:11]

Who is the wisest of all?

Why does God allow Satan to do what he does?  He wreaks havoc and hinders godliness.  

It’s because there is a battle, and an issue about the wisdom:

  Who is the wisest?  Who is worthy to be to be worshiped? 

Everybody knows God is the ultimate power; but he is not a bully; he’s not forceful…at this time.  However, there will come a day he will pour out his wrath on people in the future because they chose it. But now, he isn't trying to prove to anyone on earth or in the heavenlies [i.e., the fallen and elect angelic beings] that he needs to be worshiped just because he can pound them.  What he will show each of us, and particularly the angels, is that he is worthy of worship because he is the wisest, as attested by the scriptures.

1 Timothy 1:17

Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

So there is this battle of wisdom and he allows the ancient Enemy, the Adversary, to do all he can to thwart his plans; but, at every turn God catches him in his craftiness. 

Job 5:13

He taketh the wise in their own craftiness: and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong.

That is the wisdom of Almighty God!  Remember, the heavens are not clean in God’s sight.  After the angelic rebellion, God put into motion his plan to redeem the earth through mankind, the “first man” Adam; and, he will ultimately do it through the “last Adam,” the Lord Jesus Christ. 

As sons of God, the angels didn't know how God the Father would reconcile the heavens.    Now they do. God began to reveal to the apostle Paul this one new man, which is called the body of Christ. 

Ephesians 2:15

Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;

1 Corinthians 1:24

But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.

The mystery dispensation of grace is, and how Jews and gentiles, in particular, in one body, would be taken up to the heavens by the Lord Jesus after the judgment seat of Christ; and, that God the Father would then reconcile the heavens back unto himself.  The angels didn't know that before, as the mystery had been kept hid in God and wasn't revealed until it was told to Paul. 

                                                                                                        

Ephesians 3:10

To the intent that now [in the dispensation of grace] unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church…

They now watch the church to learn about this thing called grace.  They see that God is going to use this new creature, the body of Christ – the church, which is his body.  This is…

 …the manifold wisdom of God,

The multi-faceted wisdom of God. 

The angels watched how God was redeeming the earth through this nation of Israel; but they still didn't know how God would reconcile the heavens, which are currently unclean in his sight; but he has a way to make them clean.  And now Satan knows that.  He didn't before because it was kept secret. 

Romans 16:25

Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,

People might ask you why this isn't being preached in churches today.  It’s because there is a policy of evil by the Enemy to hide it from them.  It was hid from him and he’s trying to make sure it is hidden from every human being.  Satan and his angels hate humanity.  They hated Adam.  God was mocking Satan and his angels when he used the dust of the ground from this planet to create a dust man to begin this process [of redeeming the earth]. 

Genesis 2:7

And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Satan has been trying to thwart God’s plan ever since and will continue until the Lord Jesus Christ returns. 

So it is a show of wisdom…that is why Satan is allowed to do what he does.

*****

Ephesians 3:10

To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God.

Now the elect, holy angels who didn't rebel say, “Yes!  God is the wisest.  He is the one we should worship.”

Transcribed excerpt from…

10 16 2013 Ron Knight -Ephesians Study (1.21) 'The Name Above Every Name' Part 4

The Grace of Christ

Galatians 5:7-8

Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?  This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you.

When someone persuades you, they give you an argument to believe and they persuade you in your mind.  You consider what they say and you think, “Yup, that’s for me.”

Paul was not the one who persuaded the Galatians to not obey the truth.

Galatians 1:6

I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:

Galatians 5:1-3

Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.  Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised [or,today, put under any type of legalism], Christ shall profit you nothing.  For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.

Paul says, “It wasn’t that long ago that I gave you this message.”  The one who called these gentiles was God in Christ through the apostle Paul. 

2 Thessalonians 2:14

Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul marveled that they could leave the grace of Christ for another gospel.  You know what that gospel was my friend?  It was the gospel preached to Israel by John the Baptist, the Lord Jesus and the 12 apostles:  the gospel of the kingdom, this earthly kingdom.  That’s not the gospel for today.

Paul’s gospel is that Christ died on the cross for your sins, was buried and rose again (1 Cor. 15:1-4).  It is a heavenly kingdom gospel.  When you die as a believer (or are raptured before you die) you go to heaven.  Israel is going to inherit the earth.  Those are two different gospels!

Somebody came and confused the Galatians.  They used good words, fair speeches, cunning craftiness, and they just waited to deceive the hearts of the simple.

Romans 16:18

For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.

Ephesians 4:14

that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

The most deadly thing you can do is just listen to a man.  Don’t just take my word for it.  God uses preaching, but you make sure you’re in the word rightly divided.  When a man says something against what the apostle Paul writes, you don’t listen to him.  Paul says to rightly divide.

2 Timothy 2:15

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

If you were to die today, where would you spend eternity?  God has a message of grace for you today.  Your works can’t save you, it’s your faith: you believing that Jesus Christ the son of God died on the cross for your sins.  Do you believe the living Saviour Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried and rose again?  If you do, God will save you right this moment.  You don’t have to pray a prayer; you don’t have to move a finger; get water baptized; go to church.  You just believe God and God looks in your heart and sees your heart resting in what his word says about his Son.  Through faith in his blood you can have redemption of sins.

Romans 3:24-25a

Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood

If you’re a believer, you don’t need to be on the treadmill of religion anymore by being in a church that doesn’t teach the Bible rightly divided.  If you are, I can guarantee you that you’re on a treadmill and you’ll never grow in your Christian life.

God has given us the apostle Paul to be our instructor, our teacher, our preacher, our apostle today.  Without understanding the word rightly divided and obeying what Paul says, you’ll never please God with your walk.

1 Thessalonians 4:1

Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more.

1 Corinthians 14:37

If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.

You can get the profit out of the Lord Jesus Christ that God put in him for you if you study with a ministry that rightly divides the word of truth.

Transcribed excerpt from video post: The Grace of Christ  

Definition of King of Kings

The King James Bible defines its own terms.  We should look in God's word first to see what his thinking is on any given word of phrase.  For instance, we find the bible's definition of “King of kings” as given, right here...

Daniel 2:37

Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.

The reason the Lord Jesus Christ is called the King of kings is because the God of heaven, God the Father, has given his Son a kingdom and power. 

Luke 19:12

He said therefore, A certain nobleman [God the Son]went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return.

Matthew 6:13b

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Daniel 2:37 is similar to the Lord’s prayer that Israel is to pray in that future time [of trouble].  And that (the kingdom, the power and the glory) is what God is going to send back through the Lord Jesus Christ.

But look at the rest of what it means to be King of kings...

Daniel 2:38

And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold.

When the Bible says the earth is the LORD's, and the fulness thereof, it is a prophecy of the coming kingdom of the Messiah.   

Psalm 24:1

The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof;
the world, and they that dwell therein.

1 Corinthians 10:26

For the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof.

Solomon was a type of the Messiah.  Just as the gentiles brought animals to Solomon, including peacocks and gorillas, so shall every creature on planet earth be dedicated to the Lord Jesus Christ in that day...because , the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof. 

Revelation 17:14

…for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings…

Revelation 19:16

And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

  

Transcribed excerpt from audio file: “19 2 Thess Ch2.mp3”

Second Thessalonians

Hopefully this helps...Maranatha!

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Northern California Grace Fellowship

Do you have a question for Pastor Ron?

 Heir of God or Joint-Heirs with Christ?