In today’s Bible passage, we can also see a similar thing. “The hands that fishes will catch the fish, but it is God who will separate the good from the bad”. Remember when Jesus called out to His first disciples, He said to them: “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matt.4:19). The disciples were gathered by Jesus and through His power, they became men of God who were great witnesses for His Name. Peter preached a sermon that resulted in more than three thousand people returning to God. After the ascension of Jesus, His disciples were persecuted and dispersed, but wherever they went, they always became fishers of men for Jesus. Which means that they managed to bring people back to God. Consider that when Jesus ascended to Heaven, there were 120 people who believed in Him, and yet from their actions, the Christian Church was started and now the Church is in every country and there are billions around the world who are Christians.
How was this possible? Because the Lord Jesus Christ kept His promise to His disciples that they would become fishers of men. Today, the Christian Church is in every nation, and includes every nationality. People with white skin, black skin, yellow skin, red skin, brown skin, etc… Thanks be to God that we have the opportunity to serve Him within the Uniting Church with the Australian people. Through the love of God, the Uniting Church considers that the Christian Church includes all people of any nationality. They are willing to help anyone to follow God. That is why within the Uniting Church there are people of Indian, Korean, African, Samoan, Tongan, Vietnamese backgrounds, and many more.
Sometimes I have the opportunity to attend the various Uniting Church Conventions and each time I thank God for the chance to see what His Kingdom would look like. Why do I say this? Because I can see people of many nations, of many skins, of many languages, all coming together to worship and praise God, just as pictured by Saint John: “I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no man could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, and crying out with a loud voice: ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb!’” (Rev.7:9-10). Thanks be to God, I was able to witness a few moments on this earth that seems the same in Heaven. Truly a great blessing!
In the Church there are degrees of separation between the members, for example, those who are strong in their faith and those who are weaker in their faith. But regardless of whether someone in the Church is weak or strong in faith, we should not judge anyone. Because the Lord Jesus has taught us to “judge not, that you be not judged” (Matthew 7:1). Why? Because we can only see the outside, but God can see right through our hearts and minds. “For the Lord sees not as man sees, man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart” (I Samuel 16:7b).
Let me tell you a story to illustrate how we should not judge others. An old man excitedly said to an old woman: “I just bought a hearing aid today, and I can hear everything so clearly!” The old woman asked him: “How much did you buy it for?” The old man replied: “I bought it at the shops of course! You’re starting to show your senility!”
Was the machine working so well that the old man became a better person than the old woman? If we happen to notice or see that the faith of other members of the Church is declining, we should pray for them and not judge them. The power to judge people belongs to the Lord Jesus, just as the Bible has written: “…Christ Jesus is to judge the living and the dead..” (II Timothy 4:1). In the Courts of this country, a prosecutor may stand in front of the judge and proclaim that this person is guilty and that person is guilty, but the ultimate decision to decide the guilt of the accused belongs to the judge. The power to proclaim whether or not a person is worthy to enter the Kingdom of God belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ. It does not reside in anyone else.
When deciding on who may enter the Kingdom of God, the Lord Jesus uses one universal law to judge all mankind. The Bible call that law the Law of Love. Even the Lord Jesus Himself said: “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13) and “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-5) . We can learn about the infinite love of Jesus through the question of Peter: “Lord, how often shall I forgive those who sin against me? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him: “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven” (Matt.18:21-2).
a.- Abram was called by God to travel to a land that God had promised him. But Abram did not fully trust God when he had to go through Egypt and was afraid that he would be killed because his wife was very beautiful. Abram told people that Sarah was his sister and not his wife. But he begged for God’s forgiveness for his lack of faith and God forgave him. (Genesis 12:13; 20:2; 21:33)
b.- Peter denied Jesus three times. He wept bitterly (Luke 22:62) after the event and repented. Jesus forgave him.
c.- Paul was known as Saul before he became a Christian. “Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem” (Acts 9:1-2). But after he repented and followed Jesus, Paul was forgiven.
Through these examples, we can learn a valuable lesson in that during our journey of following God, we can sometimes fall and commit sins against God. But we should never give up because of these things. We should repent of our sins with God and ask for His forgiveness, and He will forgive us. This is the fundamental principle in being able to receive the loving forgiveness of God. The person who falls by the roadside and gives up will lose their souls forever in the fires of hell. On the other hand, the person who sins but continues to follow God and pray that “My Lord God, please forgive me, for I am a sinner” will be forgiven by the love of God. God promises that, “Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.” (Isaiah 1:18). This principle is clearly demonstrated in both the Old and New Testament.
The Bible writes: “when the net was full, men drew it ashore and… sorted the good into vessels but threw away the bad” (Matthew 13:48). This illustrates the judgment day for sinners. The Lord Jesus will be the judge who will carry out this judgment, as He has said: “the Father has granted the Son of Man the authority to execute judgment” (John 5:27). This is the power and authority that belongs to the Creator. That is why His judgment is absolute and final, which means that there will be no court high enough and powerful enough for us to lodge a complaint. If Jesus pronounces that we are to enter His Kingdom, then this will be a great joy for us, but if He pronounces that we are to endure eternal condemnation then that is final.
Thinking about this, each of us should reflect on the power and authority of Jesus and consider what could happen to our souls. Because if condemned to hell, our souls will endure torture for eternity, forever and ever! That is why the Bible teaches us that “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31).
Thus, we should not judge anyone. Each of us should examine our lives and repent our sins with God so that we may avoid the terrible judgement that God has reserved for Satan and all those who follow it and do not want to repent with God. When I was young, I often had to use nets to fish for food. After letting the nets out, I would pull the nets back in and often found that many things had been caught. For example, mud crabs, little shrimps, fishes of all types and sizes, and sometimes even water snakes. I was extremely frightened of snakes, and whenever there was a snake in the net I would quickly use a stick to beat their heads. The net was in one spot on the river and yet it caught so many types of animals. Some are fishes and yet there are many that are not fishes but were also caught by the net.
May God allow us to be the same in His Church. We are the same because we are all children of God, and because each of us has been saved by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. May the Word of God continue to live in our hearts and may His blessings continue in our lives. A-men.
Rev Thanh Huu Tran
