2008-08-15
Good Morning God’s Treasures,
Now that we have completed the list of do’s and don’ts about making judgments, we need to look at when to judge. Upon initial inspection, it looks like the Lord Jesus came up with some inconsistencies in the Sermon on the Mount. For example, MT 7: 1 says, “Do not judge others, so that God will not judge you…” And yet, MT 7: 6 tells us “do not give what is holy to dogs-cast your pearls before swine.” The question is raised, if you don’t judge, how do you know who are dogs and swine? I urge you to be patient, and let’s dig for the answer. In Greek, the word “krino” is used for “judge,” which means “to assume the office of a judge, to condemn, to give sentence, to undergo the process of a trial, or to execute judgment upon.”
Some of the criteria for judgment are: 1) Do not judge until there is no hypocrisy in your life. We must remember the example the Lord gave us in MT 7: 3-5 where He made the use of hyperbole to make His point. Take the log out of your own eye before you remove a speck from the eye of another [paraphrased here for brevity]. Until we have gone through honest self-examination alongside the teaching of the Lord Jesus, how would we have a solid foundation on which to make any judgments of the behavior or heart-attitude of others? We have to know how we measure up to Biblical principles before we can assess if others do. If we don’t measure up, and how many of us really do? Then, how do we know if we even understand the principles Christ has taken the time to teach us? Another way of looking at this is to ask: are we being honest with ourselves? 2) Christ warns us in MT 7: 2, “…for God will judge you in the same way you judge others, and He will apply to you the same rules you apply for others.” If we are harsh and unyielding, then, that’s how God will approach judging us. On the other hand, if we are honest, open, and fair in making our judgments, God will know that we are trying to model Christ, Who judges that way. Understanding truths about God from the Bible really helps. PS 75: 9-10, “But I will never stop speaking of the God of Jacob or singing praise to Him. He will break the power of the wicked, but the power of the righteous will be increased.” We must trust in God to do that. 3) Leave the judgment of others to God. What this means goes directly to the nature and extent of God’s power, power that no human has. God alone can determine the fate of a person. There are times when we are sorely tempted to say, “he or she is on a road straight to hell,” in our anger. Only God knows for sure. PS 147: 5, “Our Lord is great and very powerful. There is no limit to what He knows.” However, we are reassured about God’s wise, righteous, and compassionate use of that power. PS 77: 13-15, “Everything You do, O God, is holy. No God is as great as You. You are the God Who works miracles; You showed Your might among the nations. By Your power You saved Your people, the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.” Another really good way to express the point being made here is judge the fruit a person produces rather than the person himself. RO 13: 13-14, “Let us conduct ourselves properly, as people who live in the light of day-no orgies or drunkenness, nor immorality or indecency, no fighting or jealously. But take up the weapons of the Lord Jesus Christ, and stop paying attention to your sinful nature and satisfying its desires.” That gives us a window into the truth of a person’s character. We must make these assessments with an eye to judging our own need to change to closer behavior to that Christ modeled for us. And, they must be made in humility.
When we look at things this way, we can see that Christ never really did stray from total consistency of God’s teaching. One further question might be asked: how do we judge the fruit another produces? From the bottom of my heart, I believe that if this fruit is beneficial to spiritual growth in self and others, growth that brings us closer to God, then it’s good fruit. If the fruits of the Spirit, in GA 5: 22-23, can be seen in what is being done, then it is more likely to be good fruit. We must look at both the process of producing this fruit and its impact on others. Really good fruit can even be felt in generations long after our physical deaths. Just examine the best fruit of all, salvation through Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection combined with our repentance and belief in God’s Son. The fruit of Christ’s suffering and obedience to God is the salvation of generations of sinners who would have had no other escape from certain spiritual death! [JN 3: 16; RO 3: 25].
There are some other concepts we must understand in order to use our more limited human judgment than God’s in a righteous way. 1) We must fully understand the context and content of MT 7: 1-6. The Lord is not trying to make us puppets on a string. Instead, He wants us to use our God-given power to assess people’s deeds, to make choices that, hopefully, will conform to His teaching. He knows we will make mistakes, but He also hopes we will learn from them and not repeat them over and over. Sadly, mankind has a poor record where learning from the mistakes in their past history is concerned. That is something that should be turned around! 2) We must come to understand what makes certain judgments wrong. For example, one of the greatest mistakes ever made was by Adolph Hitler, who believed he could make the world a better place by tinkering with mankind’s very makeup, his “ultimate solution.” His idea was to exterminate 6, 000,000 Jews in favor of what he called the Aryan race. The wrongfulness of this horrific atrocity is a lesson that should never be forgotten. And yet, others are today tinkering with biogenetic research and cloning-about to make the same mistake. 3) We must know when to judge, and that will be discussed in next week’s message. The Holy Spirit urges us to think about the assertions in this message and put them to prayer.
PRAYER: O Most God on High, we come to You as sinners in need of Your direction and the courage to follow it in the matter of making judgments. We appeal to You to hear our plea, in PS 143: 10 ,”Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God. Let Your good Spirit lead me on a level path.” We urge You to help us to discover and expunge our own hypocrisy. PS 19: 12-13, “Who can understand His errors? Cleanse me from secret faults. Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me.” Without You, we are worthless and unable to produce the goodness Your Son modeled for us. We recognize that there are times when we wrongly blame You, Father, for the mistakes we have made. PS 51: 3-4, “For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against You, You alone, have I sinned, and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You are justified in Your sentence and blameless when You pass judgment.” We beg you to direct our steps to conform to Your teaching. PS 119: 133, “Order my steps in Thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.” Guide us in the decisions we make. PS 119: 10, “With my whole heart have I sought Thee: O Let me not wander from Thy commandments.” We are reassured by Your words in PS 34: 8-9, “See for yourself the way His mercies shower down on all who trust in Him. If you belong to the Lord, have reverence for Him; for everyone who does this has everything He needs.” You are to be praised and thanked for every good thing You do and for the righteous, just, and loving God that You are. In Christ’s holy and mighty name we pray, amen.
By taking the time to delve into the meat of Christ’s Sermon on the Mount teaching, much can be revealed that will help us with the questions that are not always black and white, the ones where we must make judgments. Next week, we will look into the question of when to judge and other matters, if space permits. In the meanwhile, we must be reminded that God is eager for us to succeed in living righteously, having wonderful relationships with others around us, and being able to bring His goodness to earth in a very practical way. We are made alive in the Lord by His word, which refreshes us. PS 119: 93, “I will never forget They precepts: for with them Thou hast quickened me.” Making time for God in prayer allows us to place our burdens before Him. PS 5: 2, “Give heed to the voice of my cry, My King and my God, for to You I will pray.” God wants us to use our talents, the ones He gave us, to be His earthly “ambassadors.” PS 19: 8, “The Lord’s instruction is right; it makes our hearts glad. His commands shine rightly, and they give us light.” So Dear Readers, I close with 2 COR 12: 1, “Be happy and grow in Christ. Live in harmony and peace. May the God of love and peace be with you all.” Praise be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn