When Mary and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem to register for the census decreed by Caesar Augustus, many other people had arrived there too. That being the case, Joseph could find no room for them in the inn. If that weren’t bad enough, she was about to give birth. I imagine Joseph was getting rather anxious at that point, so he accepted a spot in the stable. Soon thereafter Mary gave birth to Jesus Christ, the Son of God, wrapped Him in cloths and laid Him in a manger, a feeding trough for the animals. (Luke 2:1-7)

Years later, this same Jesus, who was God in human form, was finishing up His ministry preparing to return to the Father. Just before the Feast of the Passover He met with His disciples for their last supper together. After Judas left to betray Jesus to the Jewish leaders, Jesus told those who remained, the eleven, that His time had come to suffer and die. After this, He would be returning to the Father. He mentions specifically, “Do not let your heart be troubled: believe in God, believe also in Me. In my Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.” (John 14:1-3)

Obviously these two instances provide a great deal for us to think about. The Scriptures referenced are packed with ‘food for thought’ that our Lord would have us dwell upon. For now though, I would like to consider one thought, and that is, “Is there room in our heart for Him?”

When Jesus came down from Heaven to be among us, we told Him “we have no room for you, but you can stay in the stable if you like and sleep in the feeding trough.” He is telling us that if we will open the door of our heart (Revelation 4:20) and truly believe in Him, He has many dwelling places, not just rooms, that He has prepared for us.

Jesus came the first time to be our sacrifice, and by that, to pay for all our sins. All who come to Him by faith will have all their sins permanently washed away and will be provided a wonderful dwelling place to live with Him for eternity.

Our world today has very little need for Jesus; at least that’s what it thinks. More and more of mankind openly defame His name and have not a smidgen of room for Him in their heart. Others say they are His followers, but their heart is full of everything but Him.

The things of the world have taken over the hearts of most and turned their hearts away from God. The Scripture says, “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” (1 John 2:15)

Only God knows those who are really His. Therefore, we need to, “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?” (2 Corinthians 13:5)

Jesus also said in John 13:34-35, “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.”

Could it be that if there is room in our heart to love others, the love of Christ is working through us because He has our hearts? To the contrary, if our heart is full of worldly desires, can Christ be part of that?

Our salvation is determined by the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the Lord, through the Apostle Paul, makes the Gospel very clear in 1 Corinthians 15:1-19. Ephesians 2:8-9 goes even further by saying, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

So it isn’t our love that saves us. It is His love and our belief that saves us. But if we are His disciple, our love should be growing. Our heart should be opening up as the love of Christ works in us.

If we are a disciple of Jesus, He will have planted the seed of love in our heart when we were saved. If we are His, that seed will germinate and grow as we grow in fellowship with Him. What stage is the love of Christ in your heart? Does it even exist? Do we actually belong to Christ or are we a reprobate, as Jesus said?

Only we can know what is in our own heart. I can’t answer for you, and you can’t answer for me, so let us all take seriously 2 Corinthians 13:5 (quoted above). Are we really saved by the precious blood of Jesus Christ, or are we just pretending, putting on an act that may fool others but not God?

We are living in a day when Satan is working overtime at drawing man away from anything to do with Almighty God. He doesn’t want us to think about Jesus. He doesn’t want us to read the Scriptures (because in them we will know the Truth).

His greatest ploy is to tell us we have plenty of time to think about spiritual matters. We don’t need to be in a hurry. There are more important things we need to do first, and then we can take care of any spiritual matters.

With others, he comes right out and convinces them that Christianity (TRUE Christianity) is from an old book that is outdated and we are much smarter than that.

However, Jesus says that Satan is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44). So who is telling the truth? We have no problem listening to all that Satan has to say, so why can’t we open our hearts and give God a listen?

When Jesus came to us, we had no room in the inn. We gave Him a stable and feeding trough for the animals. When we come to Him, He not only provides a room, but a dwelling place in Heaven to live with Him eternally. He wants to give us all the glories of Heaven, but first we must open our heart to Him through belief.

If you are not His, open your heart and “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.” (Acts 16:31).

If you are His, open your heart and confess your sins. “He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)

“Come now, and let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool.” (Isaiah 1:18)

Grant Phillips

“Judge not, that ye be not judged.” (Matthew 7:1)

“Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:” (Luke 6:37)

“Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.” (John 7:24)

When society is neck deep in sin and a Christian says, “This isn’t right,” the first thing you hear from someone is, “Judge not.” One homosexual sympathizer stated the other day on a social media site, “The Bible says we are supposed to be accepting of others and understanding.”

I have heard this tripe so much it wearies me. The world loves to take the verses above out of context and use them for their defense, and totally ignore everything else. The part that really wearies me though is when I hear this from those who claim to be a Christian while defending sins that are so blatant only an idiot could miss it.

When reading Matthew 7:1, “Judge not, that ye be not judged,” has anyone taken the time to read the other verses that go along with it? Matthew 7:1 is referring to judging others with a hypocritical self-righteous attitude (read verses 2-5). In order to fulfill the commandments that follow throughout the remainder of the chapter one has to be able to judge what is holy, who are dogs, what are pearls, and who are swine.

In the sixteenth verse we read, “Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?” Then in verses seventeen through twenty Jesus speaks of good trees, bad trees, good fruit, and bad fruit. Don’t you think there might be some “judging” going on here? Of course there is. Notice verse twenty: “Wherefore, by their fruits ye shall know them.”

It’s very clear to me that a Christian, when “rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15) is able to identify good trees from bad trees and good fruit from bad fruit. In other words, I think we can accurately identify what is sin and what is not from God’s Word.

Let take a look at the third verse above. “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.” (John 7:24) I like how John MacArthur states this: “While Jesus forbade harsh, censorious judgment that self-righteous legalism promotes (Matt. 7:1), He demanded the exercise of moral and theological discernment.”

If Christians can’t make a judgment call of what is right and wrong and who is right or wrong, we are no better off than a leaf being blown around in a strong wind. This is exactly where our society is today. Nothing is wrong and nothing is right. It’s just whatever you think is okay. However, the Bible doesn’t see it that way.

Someone may think the Bible is just an old outdated story book, but in reality the Bible is the very Word of Almighty God, and what is contained therein is Truth.

The world wants no absolutes, but the Bible is absolute in everything it says. If it says that something is a sin, the discussion is over. That’s it. It’s a sin. Period.

In the following verse Jesus told his disciples to judge people based on the reception they received.

“And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.” (Mark 6:11)

If the word of the disciples was rejected, the people were condemned because of judgment that was pronounced against them by shaking the dust from under their feet. Whole cities were judged for refusing to hear the Truth.

The Apostle John judged those who forsook the Truth. “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.” (1 John 2:19)

In this passage, he was basically saying that these people claimed to be Christians, but they were not, because they turned their back from the Truth.

I wonder how many today are claiming to be Christians but are not, and the proof is in the fact that they have turned their back from the Truth. This is something we need to get serious about. If we think we are a Christian, but we walk hand in hand with what the world is saying today, we have a serious problem. This is a problem that could have eternal consequences, and needs to be dealt with immediately.

We are now living in a society that is calling down judgment upon its own head because of sin. It says “Judge not,” yet it is bringing down judgment upon us all as a nation. Our minds are so twisted and our souls so black, I am convinced that we have gone past the point of no return. The following verse is a snapshot of our darkened souls.

“Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!” (Isaiah 5:20-21)

Jesus makes it even clearer.

“And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.

But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.” (John 3:19-21)

This is exactly why we refuse to acknowledge our sins before God. We love the darkness and hate the light. When someone says that murdering babies is a sin, the world screams with anger. When someone says that homosexuality is a sin, the world wants to kills us. And these are only two of our blasphemies against God!

Our President, Congress, Supreme Court and lesser rulers in this country (with some exceptions) are corrupt to the bone. Many of our business leaders are corrupt. Most of Hollywood reeks. The sports world is eaten up with greed and corruption. And then there’s the religious crowd. Jesus said.

“So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.” (Revelation 3:16)

America’s churches (not to mention others around the world) make Jesus, God in the flesh, want to throw up. It is very difficult today to find a local church that rightly handles the Word of Truth.

The Apostle Peter said, “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?” (1 Peter 4:17)

Folks, if we don’t start making some judgment calls based on God’s Word and stand tall for the Truth, judgment is coming. We can spout off about “Judge not” all we want, but our sins are still sins and judgment is still coming. We may pollute the Gospel by saying that we are to be understanding and sympathize with sin, but that is nothing but another lie from Satan’s repertoire.

Again, Matthew 7:20 states, “Wherefore, by their fruits ye shall know them.” That is judging. We had better be judging, or we will be judged.

Many times when I was young I picked apples from apple trees. I learned very quickly which ones were ripe, which were spoiling, and which were just rotten. I knew which to accept and which to reject. That’s called judging. Let us become fruit pickers, not self-righteously but morally and theologically.

Grant Phillips