1 Corinthians 4:5, commentary and pictures

Do not pass final judgment on any person or their work before its time, for human beings see only outward appearance and cannot read the heart, while the Lord alone knows hidden motives and judges without mistake and with compassion. When the Lord comes He will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and make manifest the counsels, purposes and intents of the heart, judging every act by the motive that prompted it. All words, actions and motives are recorded and kept open before Him, and in that day every case will be decided by what is written in the books according to each one's works. Then every true and faithful person will have praise of God and a just reward according to deeds done in life, and human rankings made beforehand will not stand. Therefore each one should examine his own heart and bring hidden things to light now while they may be righted, leaving uncertain cases and the reputation of others to God.

Refraining from Premature Judgment

Nothing is to be judged before the time, until the Lord comes. Human beings are faulty and unqualified to decide another's case, for they cannot read the heart and judge only by outward appearance. Only the Lord is judge, for He alone knows the hidden motives guiding each action, reads hearts as an open book, never mistakes, does not judge as man judges, and judges every soul with tenderness and compassion. Human judgment is a very small thing, and knowing nothing against oneself does not justify, since it is the Lord who judges. Final praise depends on His judgment rather than on human approval or self-commendation, and deficiencies and inward motives that become apparent before angels and men still await His final decision.

No one is to judge God's servants, their work, its value, faithfulness, or reward before the Lord comes. Only the Lord can judge them rightly and determine true faithfulness, for at His coming He will reveal what is hidden and disclose the purposes of hearts, then give each person praise and a just reward from God. The estimate that brethren or the church may place upon a person, whether good or evil, does not change his standing before God, and true approval is not self-commendation but whom the Lord commends. God has appointed no man to be judge of another man's work, motive determines the value of an action, and believers must not measure fellow workers as imperfect by their own standards or favor and exalt one person above another. Human rankings made beforehand do not stand, for Christ sees what is hidden, including motives behind service, and those placed first may be last and those placed last may be made first.

To speak evil of others or make oneself a judge of their motives or actions usurps the prerogative of the Creator, for there is but one judge, God. It is not a light thing to judge and condemn fellow men, and the command specially forbids light accusations, jealousy, murmuring, fault-finding, criticism, and condemnation against those God has called as His ambassadors, leaders, and teachers, requiring honor for those God has honored. God holds people accountable for how they treat His servants, as shown in the judgment visited upon Miriam for jealousy and murmuring, which stands as a rebuke to all who do so. Such fault-finding dishonors Christ, is led by Satan, and must cease, for no one is given the work of judging others since humans cannot read hearts while all judgment is committed to One who cannot err. Jealousy, ambition, pride, and accusations against God-appointed workers may be concealed from people but are known to God, who reads the secrets of every heart and in His own time will expose what is hidden in darkness and reveal the purposes of hearts. Each person is therefore to examine his own heart instead and be very careful how he judges.

Uncertain personal cases are to be left to God and to conscience, and the church must not treat people as sinners until there is evidence that they are sinners in the sight of the holy God. No one has a right to decide questions on mere supposition without knowing the possibilities and probabilities of the work. Apparent mistakes, financial outlay, or partial failure in a new enterprise are not to be condemned within a narrow test such as three years at Cooranbong, nor are criticizing and false reports to be spread that brand men as failures, for only He who knows the end from the beginning can lay censure. Since people overlook their own faults and may mistake or imagine wrongdoing in others, they should show patience and tender consideration, avoid suspicion and criticism, and entrust reputation and correction of wrong impressions to God. No blame is to be attached to any soul until God Himself condemns.

What Christ Will Disclose

When the Lord comes He will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, including secret sins, hidden deeds, words, actions, double-dealing, and the inner life. Everything hid, covered, and left concealed in darkness will be revealed, and motives shaped by selfish traits and obscured by reports and hearsay will be exposed. Darkness, secrecy, outward appearances, and even a pious appearance cannot conceal sin or deceive God, who reads the heart as open and keeps an exact record of character.

He will make manifest the counsels, purposes, intents, and thoughts of the heart, judging every act of life by the motive that prompted it. A man may appear to possess great integrity while breaking the law in heart, and outward righteousness will not screen defects, for the righteousness of Christ will not cover one cherished sin and only what accords with God's law will stand and decide fitness for a place as sons and daughters of God. Many acts passing for good works and deeds of benevolence highly applauded by men are recorded as springing from selfish motives and base hypocrisy, and many receive applause for virtues they do not possess. Outward appearances may also misrepresent people of pure motives and noble purposes, so that those neglected, slandered, or despised may then receive commendation, for God sees motives and gives each person credit justly. Human sympathy and natural feelings can misjudge a guilty person and oppose just correction, but the Lord knows hidden wrongdoing and the motives people try to conceal.

Words, actions, and motives are recorded, with an angel writing the manner in which precious moments are employed, and all things are open before Him, even in the work-room and sleeping apartment. In the judgment the books are opened and the record testifies for or against each person, helping decide destiny and fitness for a place as sons and daughters of God. No selfish act, deceptive deed, vain or false word, underhand transaction, or act of selfishness or greed escapes the record. Means given in good faith for God's work but selfishly used though concealed must be answered for, and hidden matters shrouded in mystery, including secret corruption in His work, will be revealed with their effect on His cause. The great day reveals whether actions were guided by unselfish principles and whether duties were faithfully performed.

In that day each person will stand revealed just as he is, either fashioned after the divine similitude or disfigured by selfishness and covetousness, with character transferred to heaven's books as faithfully as features on a polished plate. The disclosure ends false peace and self-complacency, arouses conscience to convict, burden and distress, discloses past days, human inventions and glory, and brings defects to remembrance to be discerned and corrected through Christ's grace, presenting Christ as the One offended. The Spirit quickens conscience to recognize God's law and inner guilt and uncleanness before the Searcher of hearts. God's dealings by merciful reproof and tests reveal heart purposes, proving His people to expose concealed corruption and remove stumbling blocks that hinder truth, so that He may have a clean and holy people. So in the great day every man shall be known as God knows him, and wrongdoing left unchanged will bring lasting shame.

Praise and Just Reward

Then every true and faithful person will receive praise from God, with a just reward according to the deeds done in life. That praise does not depend on human approval or self-commendation, for it is not the one who commends himself who is approved but the one whom the Lord commends. Human estimates made beforehand do not stand, and Christ's judgment can reverse human rankings so that those placed first may be last and those placed last may be first.

God faithfully records and will reward every sacrifice, act of self-denial, and pang of anguish endured for His sake. He does not pass by unnoticed the burdens, crushing care, ruined health, falsehood, accusation, and lack of sympathy borne for the sake of present truth, even when accusers are like Job's comforters. What is not yet manifest will then be declared. Even the poorest, weakest, humblest faithful service done in love is recorded in the book of life, will be remembered and rewarded, and may start waves of blessing that widen and deepen to refresh and bless the world.

Those neglected, slandered, or despised for pure motives and noble purposes may then receive God's commendation when true character is revealed. Those who in sincerity follow righteous principles and patiently bear wrongful accusation as Christ bore wrongful accusation daily will receive praise from God and a great reward. God sees the motives behind every action and will give each person credit justly. He knows those who are true and faithful so that He can cooperate with them, and He rewards willing service and every duty performed in His name.

Time and Work of Judgment

The judgment follows the coming of the Lord, for it is then that the hidden things of darkness and the counsels of the hearts are brought to light. During the thousand years between the first and second resurrections the righteous reign with Christ as kings and priests and share in judging the wicked, comparing each person's acts with the Bible and determining the sentence according to deeds done in life.

At the last great day justice takes the throne, and Christ lays bare the motives and deeds of every one, so that every hidden action stands out as clearly before the doer as if proclaimed before the universe. Every case is brought in review before God and decided according to what is written in the book, by whether works were to glorify God or to glorify self, with no human word, name, or influence counting for anything in that decision. Every thought, word, and deed is tested by the Judge of the whole world, and each one receives sentence according as his works have been. Then the arm strong to save shows itself strong to smite and destroy the enemies of the kingdom who refused to receive the Saviour.

The full results and history of work for truth remain unknown until the judgment, including a messenger's words and the effects of a person's work, which will be known only then. The secret cruelties practiced against the Waldenses in the fortified heights, caves, and underground tunnels, where many precious faithful people lost their lives and left their bones as a testimony, will remain hidden until the Lord comes to uncover the hidden evils done in darkness. The day of God will also reveal the true cause of all disappointments in those who commenced well in lifting burdens and received encouraging testimonies but were afterward overcome, showing God not at fault. His encouraging promises were given upon conditions of maintaining an unselfish spirit, feeling insufficiency and weakness, trusting in the name and strength of Jesus and making God their strength, while they fell because they were not watchful and guarded, trusted their own strength and wisdom and judgment, became self-confident and self-sufficient, and followed their own corrupt hearts under Satan's seizure of their weak points of character.

In the near future all will be judged, and very soon every hidden thing will be brought to light, exposing how untiringly the mystery of iniquity has worked and how many souls are lost through the evil working of human agencies. A day of reckoning is coming when every act and motive will be brought into judgment and every man rewarded according as his work shall be, and controversies with brethren that bring reproach upon the cause of God will meet that test.

Stewards and Gospel Workers

Ministers of Christ and physicians are stewards of the mysteries of God and of the Master's goods, means and property, and they are not to receive final judgment from men now but from the Lord when He comes. They are required to be found faithful, and the connection of every soul with God is essential to that faithfulness. The estimate that brethren or the church may place upon a person, whether good or evil, does not change his standing in the sight of God, so nothing is to be judged before the time. When the Lord comes He will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and make manifest the counsels of the hearts, and then every true and faithful man shall have praise of God. That praise is not of men but of God, for not he that commends himself is approved but whom the Lord commends. The verse therefore requires diligent self-examination of where each steward stands under great accountability, keeping everything in order, keeping a conscience void of offense toward God and fellow men, handling the Master's property honestly without mean or selfish dealing, and not making his own course appear as possessing great wisdom above fellow stewards.

True shepherds and missionaries preach not themselves but Jesus Christ as Lord and themselves as servants for Jesus' sake. God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness has shined in hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Faithful workers always bear about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, so that the life of Jesus is made manifest in mortal flesh. That exceeding precious truth, accepted in the heart, refines, purifies, elevates and ennobles the receiver, cuts away fleshly lusts, and brings every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. It fits workers who are not self-centered, who lift the standard of truth in cities and highways and in new fields, who will work in different capacities anywhere, who will practice self-denial without fainting, who take up the work at hand for Jesus, and who feel the burden of caring for the flock of God by precept and example.

Each laborer is to make sure his own work will bear the inspection of God who judges every man righteously. The judgment examines each person's work for God and the motives behind it, with no thought, word, or act connected with His work hidden from the Judge of all the earth. That accountability calls for reverence and freedom from selfishness and indifference. God has appointed no man to be judge of another man's work, so contention, wicked envious feelings, accusation and criticism of one another's work, and the undoing of another Christian's work that gives rejoicing to satanic agencies, must end. Those zealous to accuse are to use their voices instead to minister to the needs of souls ready to perish, and if they cannot enter into the labors of others without sitting in judgment on their work they are to decline such responsibilities and take up some line of work God can trust them to do, putting into it so much consecrated zeal that their efforts will be without fault.

Present Duty and Self-Examination

The verse calls for a true, living experience and a faithful character that can stand when deficiencies are made apparent before angels and men. It teaches not to think of men above what is written, not to be puffed up for one against another, and not to glory as if gifts were not received, since whatever anyone has was received. Every soul needs righteousness going before him so that the glory of God will be his rearward, for the building of God in human character is the most splendid workmanship. Because the Searcher of hearts will bring hidden motives to light and judge every act by the motive that prompted it, whether praiseworthy or deserving censure, ministers whose daily conduct influences others and all who would reach perfection of Christian character must make each day's actions a subject of careful thought and deliberate review under all circumstances. That daily review is to make a person acquainted with his own habits of life, to know his own motives and the principles that actuate him, and to see whether conscience approves or condemns, since many acts passing for good works and even deeds of benevolence are prompted by wrong motives, many receive applause for virtues they do not possess, and many deeds highly applauded by men are recorded as springing from selfish motives and base hypocrisy.

Questions and motives are to be brought to light now, before the great day comes when every work will appear with its underlying motive, the secrets of all hearts will be made known, and every thought, word, and deed will be tested by the Judge of the whole world with sentence according to works. Everything hidden and covered and left concealed in darkness will be revealed in the trying day of God when it is too late for wrongs to be righted or sins to be washed away, so admitting only wrongs already plainly brought out eases the conscience for now but leaves deeper hidden things to be exposed then, and all that is deeper must be admitted and righted now while washing away is still possible. Instead of watching fellow workers to find fault and judging and condemning them, each person is to examine his own heart and be very careful how he judges, since humans cannot read hearts while God reads the heart and all judgment is committed to One who cannot err. The hidden inner life will be revealed and all the inward working of character made manifest as if reflected in a mirror, to arouse conscience, convict, burden and distress, disclose the record of past days and the vanity of human inventions and human glory, bring defects of character to remembrance that ought to have been discerned and corrected, show how character should have been transformed through the grace of Christ, and present Christ as the One offended, and therefore each person is called to examine his own life now.

Those pressed by trials and false charges are to bear patiently all that comes and have courage in Him, for Christ at His coming and in the last great day will bring hidden things to light and make known the counsels of the hearts, nothing ever thought or said or done having escaped His notice, since He knows the motives that prompt men to action. Those who in sincerity have followed righteous principles and who patiently bear wrongful accusation as Christ bore wrongful accusation daily will receive praise from God and a great reward, while those ready to judge and misrepresent the motives of others will be greatly surprised by Christ's estimate of character. Since people overlook their own faults and can mistake or imagine wrongdoing in others, they should show patience and tender consideration, avoid suspicion and criticism, and entrust their own reputation and the correction of wrong impressions to God rather than pronouncing judgment on motives before the Lord comes. A day of reckoning is coming when every act and motive will be brought into judgment and every man rewarded according to his work, so controversies with brethren that bring reproach upon the cause will meet that test, and preparation requires reading the clear and plain word and practicing its teachings for Christ's sake.