JUDGMENT IN THE KINGDOM CHURCH *By the late Pastor Bob Hanna

JUDGMENT IN THE KINGDOM CHURCH *
*By the late Pastor Bob Hanna*
*

Scripture Reading: Acts 5: I-II

We who are saved and are living in the age of the dispensation of the
grace of God---we who are sons and heirs of God, secure and
heaven-bound- --can hardly conceive the magnitude of our liberty and
blessings. As members of the Church which is the Body of Christ we will
never experience those things identified with the kingdom church. But we
are shown a foretaste of the form of judgment to be rendered in the
Messianic kingdom---swift and sure, irreversible and final.

Ananias and Sapphira desired the best of two worlds, to "have their cake
and eat it." Peter's declaration that, "Thou conceived this thing in
thine heart" leaves no doubt that the offense was a deliberately planned
plot to become respected and admired for their philanthropy while
partaking of the apparently idyllic way of life enjoyed by the communal
church.

The temptation of material gain is the undoing of many a mortal soul.
But in the case of these two deceivers it brought on a dramatic
demonstration of kingdom judgment, which deals neither with hesitation
or indecision. Ananias and Sapphira were guilty of sin and were
therefore immediately punished for commission of that sin.

You and I, as members of the Church which is the Body of Christ, are not
under this economy of kingdom judgment but under grace. Kingdom judgment
is according to prophecy: "And He shall rule them with a rod of iron
..." (Revelation 19:15.) But our church "was kept secret since the world
began" (Rom. 16:25).
Not until we have become humble and teachable, standing in awe of
God's holiness and sovereignty. ...acknowledging our own littleness,
distrusting our own thoughts, and willing to have our minds turned
upside down, can divine wisdom become ours.
J. I. Packer