2009-03-20
Good Morning Cherished of God,
This segment on judgment has been much longer than the others, so I asked God in prayer why. His answer to me was that judgment is one of the areas in which more people sin than almost any other. The long-term implications leading to damage or even destruction of relationships moves us away from rather than closer to God’s will. So in obedience to Him, I will write about it until He is satisfied. A reminder of the foundational passage for this discussion from Christ’s Sermon on the Mount is necessary. MT 7: 1-2, 6, “Do not judge others, so that God will not judge you, 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…Do not give what is holy to dogs-they will only turn and attack you. Do not throw your pears to swine-they will only trample them underfoot.” How do we know who are dogs and swine? With a question like that, we must go to the Holy Spirit in prayer. He is our Counselor, sent to us by the Lord and is certainly the right Source for learning the answer. This is one way that prayer can be so powerful. PS 10: 17, “You will listen, O Lord, to the prayers of the lowly; You will give them courage.” PS 86: 7, “I call to You in times of trouble, because You answer my prayers.” PS 145: 18, “He is near to them who call, who call to Him with sincerity.” No human has even a tenth of what God knows. IS 55: 7-8, “’My thoughts,’ says the Lord, ‘are not like yours, and My ways are different from yours. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are My ways and thoughts above yours.’”
What exactly does Christ’s warning in MT 7: 1 actually mean? Here is an example of why we should never take Scripture out of context. Read with verse 2 [above], we can see that it doesn’t mean never make judgments. Our lives would be chaos without ever making any kind of judgment. The idea here is to read the warnings in context, so that we see them as a set of rules for how to make valid judgments, judgments with God’s wisdom included in them. One of the things the Lord is saying here is that when people are wicked, treacherous, treasonous, vicious, and/or show utter contempt for divine truths, we are not to obligated to go on sharing these truths with them. In situations like this, we are absolutely required to make a godly judgment. The judgment can’t be made hastily most of the time either. The Great Commission is still a principle to be acted upon. MT 28: 19-20, “Go, then, to all peoples everywhere and make them My disciples: baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to obey everything I have commanded you. And I will be with you always, until the end of the age.” As I have written many times before, we must never ignore the powerful witness that a good example conveys. This too, in addition to words to a heart hungry for salvation and peace can be a powerful life-changer with the help of the Holy Spirit’s intervention. However, if one’s life is being threatened by the recipient of such a message, it’s time to stop and accept that it is not being received with any interest or sympathy. On the other hand, how many of us have tried to witness to someone who rejects what we are saying initially, then goes home and thinks about it, and eventually, over time, comes to accept it? Judgment is required with the help of the Holy Spirit to know how long to wait, when, and even how to convey the Gospel of Jesus Christ. There are also the need to meet that person where he or she is at the time, choose a time when that person is not exhausted or preoccupied. And of course, never use language which would be inflammatory to him. For example, the very name, “Jesus Christ,” is inflammatory to a traditional Jew, so substitute “the Lord” for it. The reason for this is the need to overcome long-given conditioning by his synagogue and parents at home.
Spiritual perception is needed to make this or any kind of judgment. 1 COR 2: 14-15, “Whoever does not have the Spirit cannot receive the gifts that come from God’s Spirit. Such a person really does not understand them; they are foolishness to him, because their value an be judged only on a spiritual basis. Whoever has the Spirit, however, is able to judge the value of everything, but no one is able to judge him. As the Scripture [IS 40: 13] says, ‘Who knows the mind of the Lord? Who is able to give Him advice?’ We, however, have the mind of Christ. It is not a value judgment to view the relationship of a true believer with regard to Christ and our loving God. We do this with Scripture, in COL 3: 3-4, “For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Your real life is Christ and when He appears, then you too will appear with Him and share His glory.” Does this give us the right to think we are any better than the potential believer with whom we are speaking? Absolutely not! We are sinners, as are all humans, because of our inheritance due to the original sin [GN 3: 1-6], as well as our own sins that we have committed. However, the difference is that those who truly believe in the Lord Jesus and have repented, have been eternally forgiven. There is never room in righteousness for arrogance, excessive self-esteem, or lack of humility. God has asked us to “be holy because I am holy” [LV 11: 44-45; LV 19: 2; 1 PET 1: 16]. It’s a tall order for sinners, but it’s our goal nevertheless.
PRAYER: O Lord, we know that You want us to make godly judgments and are blessed that You have given us the Holy Spirit to help us to do that. Prayer has so much power, power that can be used in so many ways. It can be used to help us know Your direction [along with Scripture]. It can give us principles that when combined with wisdom can lead us to make a difficult judgment call rightly. It can help us to know how to serve others, how to witness, when to witness, and how far we can go before we realize that our efforts will come to no avail. Judgments wrongly made can divide families and cause no end of trouble. The Holy Spirit can help us realize when we are met with false prophecy and false teaching. We can learn what is of the Lord and what is of the evil one. We owe it to our Lord Jesus to consult the Holy Spirit often and to follow the direction He gives. That is because Christ paid the ransom necessary to buy us out of the marketplace of slavery to sin and to give us real freedom [JN 3: 16; RO 3: 24-25]. He suffered and died on the cross, so that we who listen to the truth might have the opportunity to be saved from spiritual death. PS 32: 1-2, “Happy are those who wrongs are forgiven whose sins are pardoned! Happy is the person whose sins are put out of sight!” We will never forget the great sacrifice of Your only Son that You made for us, nor will we stop being grateful for it. We dedicate ourselves to seeking You out before settling difficult matters in our minds or making complicated judgments. We know we must ask ourselves if we have any hidden or evil agendas before we make a judgment about another person. We also acknowledge that there are areas where only You and You alone have the right to judge at all. These we learn through the Scriptures. You are a generous, loving, and compassionate God, who teaches us every day to be like You. We thank and praise You for the wisdom You share, for always being there for us, and for guiding us through difficult judgments we must make. In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen.
Next week, I am led to write more on how to recognize who will listen and who will not to the truth of salvation and peace through Jesus Christ. Discernment doesn’t always come easy. So, we must remember these principles. JER 29: 11-13, “I alone know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you not to bring disaster, plans to give you the future for which you hope. Then you will call to Me. You will come and pray to Me, and you will find Me because you will seek Me with all your heart.” Moreover we can pray this plea for discernment. PS 119: 125, “I am Your servant; give me understanding; so that I may know Your teachings.” And, we can pray for wisdom. PS 51: 6, “Sincerity and truth are what You require; fill my mind with wisdom.” All of these things are no good without patience on our part. There are times when we must take insults that cut deeply for the sake of our faith. Peter has spoken of this and Paul of the cost of being a disciple [2 COR 11: 22-29]. 1 PET 4: 14, 17, “If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you…For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will he outcome be for those who do not obey the Gospel of God?” These godly men set an example for us in their courage of faith. Even through both had their physical lives taken horribly, they are spiritual victors in Christ and are honored in heaven. We too have been equipped to have that kind of judgment and courage, if we will only remember to seek the Lord’s help and accept His direction.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn Johnson