2008-04-11
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Last week, the Holy Spirit directed me to begin a new segment called "Judgment," as we begin the seventh chapter of Matthew, the last of the three chapters encasing Christ's Sermon on the Mount. And yes, He covered a great deal of basic theology that momentous day He spoke to so many on the mountainside near Jerusalem. We began looking at the question: If we accept the Lord Jesus in our hearts will we be saved no matter what we do? MT 7:1, "Do not judge others, so that God will not judge you." That's a tough natural instinct to overcome, as we are so much in the habit of it. And yet, Christ is commanding us to leave the judging up to the only One He has authorized to do it- His Son, Jesus Christ. Just in case one gets the idea that this is a new concept, we must go back into the OT, in DN 7: 13-14, to see that it isn't. "During this vision in the night, I [Daniel] saw what looked like a human being [Christ]. He was surrounded by clouds, and He went to the One who was Ancient of Days [the Father] and was presented to Him. He was given authority, honor, and royal power, so that the people of all nations , races, and languages would serve Him. His authority would last forever, and His Kingdom would never end." We also looked at COL 3: 13, a statement about forgiveness that corresponds to the approach that we should take about judgment, as said in MT 7:1. "Be tolerant with one another and forgive one another whenever any of you has a complaint against someone else. You must forgive them just as the Lord has forgiven you."
To have a better understanding of the context of MT 7: 1, we must examine MT 7: 2-6. "For God will judge you in the same way you judge others, and He will apply to you the same rules you apply to others. Why, then, do you look at the speck in your brother's eye and pay not attention to the log in your own eye? How dare you say to your brother, ‘please, let me take that speck out of your eye,' when you have a log in your own eye? You hypocrite! First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will be able to see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye? Do not give what is holy to dogs-they well turn and attack you. Do not throw your pearls in front of pigs-they will only trample them underfoot." We must first examine ourselves in a very clear mirror, which God's teaching in the Scriptures gives us. If my own experience is any teacher, there is so much uncovering and repenting work for me to do that I don't have the time to judge another. Like most people, I have hidden sin that is subtle and thus, can cause trouble, unless it is discovered in the course of honest self-examination and expunged from my life. Every so often, I discover pockets of unfaithfulness left over from my rather checkered past that are laid open. This process is painful, but quite necessary for that process of getting rid of them.
To fully understand MT 7: 1-6, we are led to the question: Is all judging wrong? You'll notice that these verses are about judging others. It would throw us off the track of finding answers acceptable to God had not Christ added verse 6. There are times when we must consider our audience, the people we are with and those we lean toward judging at the time. In other words, the issue of discernment comes into the picture. As has become my carefully taught habit, I begin by praying something like PS 119: 125, a plea for discernment. "I am Your servant; give me understanding, so that I may know Your teachings." And to it, I add, this plea for wisdom. PS 51: 6, "Sincerity and truth are what You require; fill my mind with wisdom." Then, I set about the task of applying what the Lord's answer to this prayer teaches me. For example, there are some people who will not respond to a calm request to discuss differences between themselves and me, even though we are basically intelligent adults. Their emotional make-up won't respond to laying our differences on the table and logically working them out one by one. I had a hard time learning that lesson when I was college age with my former mother-in-law. She responded to my efforts to be polite, respectful, and to work out our differences by dissolving in tears and dramatically leaving the room. Had I had discernment that the Lord and life's experience has given me today, I would have understood that this approach [or any other in her case] would have never worked. Our lessons are painful, but they aren't often forgotten. So, in answer to the above question, I have to say, "yes, there are times when we must make some judgments, and the Lord lets us know when those times are."
There are some citations which give us some illumination on this difficult question. While I can't cite every one of them this week, what I don't cite this week will be discussed next week. MT 7: 7-8 " Ask, and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks will receive, and anyone who seeks will find, and the door will be opened to him who knocks." I immediately flashed back to GN 22: 12, when I was meditating over this passage. "'Do not hurt the boy or do anything to him,' he [the angel of the Lord speaking to Abraham regarding Isaac] said. ‘Now I know that you have obedient reverence for God, because you have not kept back your only son from Him.'" We must remember that our Father never keeps back anything from us that we need, not even His only begotten Son from the cross [JN 3: 16; RO 3: 24-25]. All we have to do for discernment is to seek our God and ask Him for it.
PRAYER: O Lord, You have authorized the Lord Jesus Christ to be our Judge. This is because You know His love and compassion, His wisdom and His discernment is so far superior to ours. I'm reminded of the story of how Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, came to Moses in the desert, only to find that Moses was overwhelmed with squabbles to solve. The wise Jethro told Moses to assign a few trusted people to handle the smaller cases, and for him only to manage the more difficult ones [EX 18: 12-26]. Just as Christ must handle the judgments that are more important, such as the final outcome of a person's salvation, we are given smaller matters to decide, using the discernment that is available to us through God's teaching in the Scriptures and our own life's experience. We must claim and remember PS 119: 93, "I will never neglect Your instructions, because by them you have kept me alive." I'm tempted to add the words "in Christ" to the end of that verse, because it is what I believe. Paul actually did in RO 6: 11. We must remember that Christ, in His Sermon on the Mount, uttered, MT 5: 3, "Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to them." What this means, Dearest Abba, is that we can't decide on anything without the discernment we get from Your teaching and our faith in Your Son. We are so blessed to have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, and yet, we don't always have the good sense to listen for His direction. We confess that we are still sinners, and thus, don't have the right to judge others. Each day that You teach us something new, we are deeply blessed to move forward in our spiritual maturation. We can't do this without Your intervention, and we thank and praise You for it. We do the same for this and so many other blessings You bring into our lives. In the mighty name of Jesus Christ, we offer You this prayer. Amen.
Next week, I will continue discussing some of these supporting citations that illuminate MT 7: 1-6. While these concepts are not always easy to understand, with self-disciplined study of the word of God, study where we get to see connections between certain citations, we are given a better understanding of God's will and His teaching. One of the signs of spiritual maturity is making God's will our own. 1 PET 4: 1-2, "Since Christ suffered physically, you too must strengthen yourselves with the same way of thinking that He had; because whoever suffers physically is no longer involved with sin. From now on, then, you must live the rest of your earthly lives controlled by God's will and not by human desires." Two other issues pop up here-our willingness to submit to God and our willingness to trust Him. As for submission, PS 31: 4-5 contains a plea and a statement of discernment. "Keep me safe from the snare that has been set for me; shelter me from danger. I place myself in Your care. You will save me, Lord; You are a faithful God." As for trust, we are shown the path to real happiness, in PS 84:12, "Almighty God, how happy are those who trust in You." Why should we trust God? Just look at IS 64: 4, "No one has ever seen or heard of a God like You, Who does such deeds for those who put their hope in Him [see also 1 COR 2: 9]." Yes, Dear Readers, we can trust that if we turn to our Lord for discernment, He will help us by leading us to it, because of His deep, abiding love for each of us. Praise be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn