THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT - PART FOUR
SECTION VIII
ENTERING AT
THE STRAIT GATE
JUDGING
OTHERS
“Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.” (Matthew 7:1, 2).
The question of whether or not Christians can or should
judge others has been debated for centuries.
There are those who strictly believe that judging others is forbidden. Besides the one command from the Savior that
is quoted above, they direct us to many other places in scripture which speak plainly
about not judging. For instance, James
wrote, “Speak not evil one of another,
brethren. He that speaketh evil of his
brother, and judgeth his brother,
speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou
art not a doer of the law, but a judge.” (James 4:11). Paul tells us, “Therefore thou art
inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou
condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things. But we are sure that the judgment of God is
according to truth against them which commit such things.” (Romans 2:1, 2).
And again, Jesus
said, “And if any man hear My words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but
to save the world. He that rejecteth Me, and receiveth not
My words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same
shall judge him in the last day.” (John 12:47, 48).
On the other side, there are those who raise the
argument that if we cannot judge, then how can we preach against sin? How can we exercise church discipline on those
who are walking contrary to the Gospel of Christ? They would inquire what it was that Jesus was
doing when He overturned the tables of the money changers in the temple and
drove them out with a scourge in His hand?
Also, they would ask us to consider Jesus’ words to the Pharisees and
the Sadducees when He told them, “Woe
unto you…hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the
platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Woe unto you…hypocrites! for ye are like unto
whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of
dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.” (Matthew 23:25, 27, 29). What was the Lord doing, they would ask, if
not making judgments about the behaviors and beliefs of these religious sects?
There are two words in the New Testament that we need
to examine in order to sort out this debate.
The first is the Greek word “krino”
used in Matthew 7:1 that has been translated as “JUDGE” or “JUDGED” in the
King James Bible. This word is also used
to express these related concepts:
·
to condemn;
·
to go to law;
·
to call into question;
·
to pronounce an opinion concerning right and wrong;
·
of those who act the part of judges or arbiters in matters of
common life, or pass judgment on the deeds and words of others;
·
to pronounce judgment;
·
to subject to censure;
·
to preside over with the power of giving judicial decisions.
Reading through this list, I notice that judging seems
to be all about calling someone out for what is perceived as sin, or worse,
pointing out their sins to a third party.
There is no thought of remedial action intended, no compassion or mercy
- only condemnation and a rush to judgment.
Often, the one doing the judging may be guilty of the same or greater
sin.
Certain scribes and Pharisees brought a woman to Jesus
who had been caught in the act of adultery.
They pointed out to the Lord, that according to the Law of Moses, she
should be stoned to death. The question
they put to Him was, “What sayest Thou?” It seemed like an open and shut case. She was guilty, there were witnesses, and the
Law was clear on the matter – what could be said against it? The scribes and the Pharisees were not there
for justice against the woman, however, but only to tempt Christ. Jesus was not there to condemn, but to
save. As the scripture says, “…he shall have judgment without mercy, that
hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.” (James 2:13). Rather than initially replying to them at all,
Jesus stooped down and wrote something in the dirt with His finger. We’re not told what He wrote, and many have
offered their theories about it. I say,
if it were important for us to know what He wrote, then it would have been
revealed plainly to us. The important
thing is what He said next. “He
that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.”
(John 8:7). The Lord then stooped down
again and continued to write. We’re told
that the accusers began to be convicted by their own consciences and walked
away starting with the eldest ones right down to the last. When Jesus looked up and saw the woman
standing by herself, He said, “Woman,
where are those thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee?” The woman said, “No man, Lord.” Jesus then
replied, “Neither do I condemn thee: go,
and sin no more.” (John 8:8-11).
When we bring judgment and condemnation on our fellow believers,
we are standing in the place of the Law.
That is not our job. We can do a
lot of damage by being hasty with our judgments. As a young Christian, I was at the receiving
end of some pretty harsh judgments. I
can tell you that they hurt very much, especially coming from brothers and
sisters we looked to for encouragement and instruction. I was thankful for an older brother in the
Lord in my life who counseled me in wisdom and love.
This brings us to the second Greek word that we need to
look at. It is “katartizo”. It is
translated as “RESTORE” in the KJV
and it can be used to express all of the following:
·
perfect, make perfect, mend, restore;
·
to render, i.e. to fit;
·
to mend (what has been broken or rent), to repair;
·
to complete;
·
to fit out, equip, put in order, arrange, adjust;
·
ethically: to strengthen, perfect, complete, make one what he
ought to be.
It is evident that there are times in the life of the
Church when certain ones may need correction and discipline. How do we reconcile this with the Lord’s
command to “Judge not”? Paul gave us the answer in his words to the
Galatian churches to whom he wrote, “Brethren,
if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye
which are spiritual, RESTORE such an one in the spirit of meekness;
considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.” (Galatians 6:1). The
contrast is striking. On the one hand are
those who only want to CONDEMN
others for their behavior. On the other
hand are those who want to RESTORE the
ones who have been overtaken by a fault or sin.
We are all servants to one Master: Jesus Christ. If we stand, or if we fall, it is the Lord’s
business. He is the One Who is directing
us and teaching us to overcome and to be more like Him. He is more than capable of teaching us how to
stand and how to walk. Like little babes
we are going to fall down a lot while trying to learn to walk, but eventually
we will get it. It is up to those who
are spiritual to love and encourage the younger, and not to condemn them. They will keep a watchful eye on us knowing
that falls are part of the process of learning to walk. “For a
just man falleth seven times, and
riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.” (Proverbs
24:16). We have an accuser who stands
before the Father and Judge of all condemning us. We also have an Advocate Who takes our side
and intercedes for us to the Father.
When we judge and condemn our brothers and sisters, we take the side of the
accuser. When we pray for, intercede
for, and offer counsel to our brothers and sisters, we take the side of our
Advocate Jesus Christ.
The qualifications for being a restorer are: 1) we must
be spiritual, a mature believer who possesses true compassion and who also may,
or may not, be called to a leadership position in the Body of Christ; 2) we
must have a spirit of meekness and gentleness toward the one who is at fault;
and 3) we must have the humility to first judge ourselves and our motivation (inspect
and remove any beams in our own eyes) before we attempt to correct others.
St. Matthew in his Gospel quotes a prophecy of Jesus
that was first spoken by the Prophet Isaiah.
Matthew uses it to describe some of the character of Christ. It reads, “A
bruised reed shall He not break, and smoking flax shall He not quench, till He
send forth judgment [justice] unto
victory.” (Isaiah 42:3). Those who
are already hurting, He will handle gently so that they do not break altogether. Those who are smoldering and about to go out,
He will fan back into a blaze so that they may be on fire for their God once
more and return again to victory.
“And why beholdest thou the mote that is in
thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam [timber; log] that is in thine own eye? Or how
wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and,
behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou
hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou
see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.” (Matthew
7:3-5). We must remember that we will be
judged with the same judgment by which we judge others, and measured according
to the same standard that we measure others with. If our judgment is harsh, we will be judged
harshly. The one type of judgment that
we should be very active in, however,
is judging ourselves. As Paul reminds us, “…if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.” (1 Corinthians
11:31).
Some years ago, I was mentoring a young man in the Lord
who had recently been saved. One evening
he came by the house for fellowship and asked me if I would pray with him about
finding a job. I said I would, and we
prayed on the spot. He left quite happy
and excited to see what God would do. Not
very long afterwards he came back and told me that the Lord had answered our
prayer, and he had found a job at a local bar.
I asked what job he was doing at the bar, and he said,
“Bartending.” I must say that I was
taken aback by this. Inwardly, I thought
that this couldn’t possibly be where the Lord wanted him. It would expose him to some very bad
influences, and he would be dispensing alcohol to the patrons while trying to
maintain a Christian witness. With
everything in me I wanted to challenge this choice of jobs and warn him of the
dangers, but something strange happened.
As I was trying to frame the words, I could feel the Holy Spirit urging
me to hold my tongue. I thought that
this couldn’t be right, but I was definitely feeling a strong check in my
spirit. So, we fellowshipped for awhile,
he left; and I prayed. Not long afterwards
– less than a week – he visited me again.
When he came in the house, I could tell that he was a little down. I asked him what was up, and he said that he
had lost his job. When I asked him what
had happened, this is what he told me, “Well, I was pouring a drink for a
customer the other night, and as I was sliding his glass over to him, I heard
the Lord speak inside of me saying, ‘If
you wouldn’t drink that yourself, why are you giving it to others?’ Well, I knew I couldn’t keep that job
anymore, so I quit!” We had a very good
conversation about it, and we prayed together for him to find another job. I was so thankful, though, that I had not
said anything to him that first night.
How much better that he was able to learn the voice of His Savior for
himself through the leading of the Holy Spirit.
Coming from me, it may have been open for debate; but coming from God,
he had no doubt about his path.
This lesson was not just for this young brother. The experience taught me a great deal also
about hearing from God and trusting Him to do what He pleases with His
own. We humans are often way too quick
to judge others, and too slow to judge ourselves. We feel it is our job to fix everyone else
when we are still in need of much
fixing.
Paul told a young Timothy, “…the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness
instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them
repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; and that they may recover
themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his
will.” (2 Timothy 2:24-26). Paul
knew that the Lord was grooming Timothy for a position of leadership. Indeed, he later became the first bishop of
the Church of the Ephesians. With this
in mind, Paul wanted to equip Timothy with the tools he needed to properly deal
with those who were struggling with their faith and would need help and counsel.
We mustn’t scrutinize people using only what we see
with our eyes, and according to their outward appearance, or what we hear with
our ears. We may not have all the facts.
What may seem apparent to our casual
gaze, may not be all that it seems. The
Prophet Samuel made that mistake with the sons of Jesse. When God sent him to anoint a king from among
Jesse’s sons, he would have chosen one of Jesse’s tall, mature, and handsome
sons to be King of Israel. In so doing, he would have overlooked David, Jesse’s
youngest son, altogether. God saw
David’s heart, his faith, and his courage, and directed Samuel to anoint him
king. Concerning one of the other
brothers who looked like king material, the LORD said, “…Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because
I have refused him: for the LORD
seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD
looketh on the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7). Jesus said, “Judge not according to the appearance,
but judge righteous judgment.” (John 7:24).
See also Leviticus 19:16.
We are all part of the same body. The members of a body don’t seek to harm one
another, but, instead, they do everything they can to promote health and well
being in one another. If my right knee
is hurting me, my left leg will take up some of the weight until the injured
part is better, and my hands will massage the weaker member to work out the
soreness. So it is with the Body of
Christ. Its members should all have the
same concern one for another, and be able to discern when a member is hurting
and needing support.
There may be times when a member is endangering the
rest of the body and must be removed to save other members or even the life of
the entire body. In Christ’s body, if
someone has been overcome by Satan and is posing a threat to other members, and
refusing to repent, then that one may have to be put out for a time until he
acknowledges his sin and returns to the Lord.
Paul was forced to do this in the Corinthian Church in the case of the
man who was having an affair with his stepmother. The church was told to put that man out of
the church and have no fellowship with him whatsoever (see 1 Corinthians 5). Such governmental decisions must be made by
those who have had their senses exercised to discern both good and evil
(Hebrews 5:14). Foremost, they must
always be done in the fear of God. In the
case of the Corinthian Church, the action taken against this man brought him to
repentance. He was subsequently restored
to the church and once again embraced as a brother. “For
what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them
that are within? But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among
yourselves that wicked person.” (1 Corinthians 5:12, 13). When a brother or sister is disciplined in
this manner, they are presented before God Who will bring righteous judgment on
them.
“Give not
that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine,
lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.” (Matthew 7:6). There are those who simply won’t receive
reproof or admonishment because they are harnessed fast to the world and ignore
the truth. They don’t recognize the
value, or have any use for, the pearls of wisdom that the Lord gives His
ministers in order to restore souls gone astray. They only stomp on the truth and lash out at
the ones trying to help them. We must be
cautious, therefore, when rebuking those who oppose themselves. Solomon wrote in the Proverbs that “He that reproveth a scorner getteth to
himself shame: and he that rebuketh a wicked man getteth himself a blot. Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee:
rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee.” (Proverbs 9:7, 8). And later he wrote, “Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy
words.” (Proverbs 23:9).
We are not to apply the same principles of church
discipline to those who have not been born again. As Paul says, “…what have I to do to judge them also that are without [or
unbelievers]?” A person must be truly saved before they
will willingly submit themselves to the correction of the Holy Spirit and the
loving discipline of the Church.
As we learn to become sensitive to the Lord’s leading,
He will give us the words to speak to the needs of all men, saved and unsaved.
ASK, SEEK,
KNOCK
“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?” (Matthew 7:7-11).
God delights in giving good gifts to His children,
though He often waits for us to ask, seek, and knock in order to increase our
faith, and encourage our trust in His vast supply. God says, “My
grace is sufficient.” This means
that there is nothing that
His supply can’t meet. There are many
things that we don’t think to ask for because our faith doesn’t yet reach that
far. As we grow in His Word, however,
our faith grows, too; and we are emboldened to ask for more of what God has
already promised.
When our children were small and would come to us with
a boo-boo or if they felt ill, we would pray for them while addressing their
need. As they grew older, they would come
and ask us to pray. This habit of prayer then became something
that they began to do on their own – at first for little things, and then for
greater. As they grew into adulthood,
they would pray for friends and family, jobs, spouses, major purchases, and, eventually,
their own children.
“That
Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in
love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and
length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth
knowledge, that ye might be filled
with all the fulness of God.” (Ephesians 3:17 - 19).
Paul concludes this thought with a benediction that always speaks deeply
to my heart, and I hope to yours as well: “Now
unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto Him be glory
in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20, 21)
We are not to treat God like a vending machine which
will dispense whatever we desire in
life. The psalmist reminds us instead to
“Delight
thyself also in the LORD; and He shall give thee the desires of thine
heart.” (Ps 37:4). When God becomes
our sole delight in life, then our desires will become pure and not
self-centered. We must seek what God’s
will is for us, and not what our will is for God. There is nothing more powerful than learning
to discern the Father’s will and then praying according to that
revelation. This is how Jesus prayed
when He said, “…not My will, but Thine be
done.”
THE “GOLDEN
RULE”
“Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.” (Matthew 7:12).
The beauty and simplicity of this statement is
awe-inspiring. If we would just learn to
treat everyone else in the same way that we expect to be treated, we would be
fulfilling all that the Law and the Prophets have instructed us to do. What a world we would have if this were a
reality! When I was growing up, the
Golden Rule was posted in large letters in the school classrooms. Even if it wasn’t taught directly, its
prominence in the classroom every day elevated it to a place of importance. I’m sure that I wasn’t the only one who
considered its words and their meaning.
Jesus taught that “He
that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world
shall keep it unto life eternal.” (John 12:25). He said, “…whosoever
will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake
shall find it. For what is a man
profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what
shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:25, 26). This is not a popular concept. Man is a very selfish creature. It is the only path to real peace on earth,
however. The only way that we can
achieve it is through Jesus Christ. He proved
that it was possible for flesh and blood to attain such a degree of
selflessness, and through the new birth it becomes possible for us. It is not something that we can attain all at
once. Day by day, and step by step, we
grow into the measure and the stature of Jesus Christ as we surrender ourselves
to His will. As the prophet says, “…precept must be upon precept, precept upon
precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little.”
(Isaiah 28:10). Like the bud on a fruit
tree blossoms and forms fruit, very tiny at first, but growing larger and more
mature every day, so also do we grow more and more into maturity as we abide in
Christ Who is the True Vine.
THE STRAIT
GATE
“Enter ye in at the strait [narrow] gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” (Matthew 7:13, 14).
Christianity is a lifelong journey, and it’s a narrow
pathway that we are called to walk on. Contemplating
all that Jesus taught up to this point in His Sermon On the Mount, we can
easily grasp the idea that He was not calling us to just a “go-to-church-on-Sunday-and-live-as-we-please-the-rest-of-the-week”
type of religion. Neither was He signing
on to be merely a co-pilot in all of our life’s journeys. Either Jesus pilots our ship, or there is no point in Him being aboard at
all. He isn’t coming on as just another
crew member - He must have full control.
It’s the only way that we can be transformed into His image and likeness. There are too many who name the name of
Jesus, but have not allowed Him to write His character upon their hearts. These are they who have entered at the wide
gate and are walking in the broad way.
They have a lot of company, too.
Who wouldn’t want to retain their own independence, but be ushered into
heaven by the One that they never took the time to know?
Jesus offers us an unbelievable exchange: our sins for
His mercy and righteousness. As Paul
writes, “For He [God] hath made Him [Jesus] to be sin for us, Who knew no sin; that we
might be made the righteousness of God in Him [in Christ].” (2 Corinthians
5:21). The blood that Jesus shed was the
price of our redemption. Those who
choose to receive His gift of love and mercy are given the power to become sons
and daughters of God (John 1:12). Isaiah
says, “Come now, and let us reason
together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as
white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If
ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: but if ye refuse and rebel, ye
shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.”
(Isaiah 1:18-20). Like any good father,
God desires obedience from His children.
He also desires a willing spirit in us, one that wants to do His
will. Rebellion must always be corrected
with the rod of chastisement, but scripture assures us God only chastens those
whom He loves and prunes those who are already bearing some fruit.
FALSE
PROPHETS
“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” (Matthew 7:15-20).
This section of Jesus’ Sermon just naturally flows from
the previous section. The Lord warns His
disciples of false prophets and how to distinguish them from true
prophets. He says we will know them by
their fruit. What fruit is He referring to? It is the fruit of the Spirit.
When a person is saved and baptized into Jesus Christ, they
will receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
This is the Comforter and the Spirit of Truth that Jesus promised would
come after He was ascended into heaven. Before
His departure, the Lord said to His disciples, “I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.” (John
14:18). So, the Holy Ghost is the Spirit
of Christ Himself living in every believer.
As Christians we must learn to recognize the voice of the Savior within
us as He seeks to guide and teach us His ways.
As we walk in accordance with the Spirit’s direction, we will begin to
bear the fruit of the Spirit as the Life of Jesus flows into our hearts and
minds. Paul names some of the fruit for
us: “…the fruit of the Spirit is love,
joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance...”
(Galatians 5:22, 23). These are the
qualities that the Life of Jesus Christ will produce in us. Jesus tells us that false prophets will come
to us in the guise of a Christian, like wolves in sheepskins. Rather than trying to discern them by their
appearance, we need to look deeper at the fruit that they produce in their
lives. A good tree will bring forth good
fruit, but a corrupt tree will not. If
someone is abiding in Christ the True Vine they will produce fruit. If they
are not abiding in Christ, the lack
of fruit will be evident.
Jesus told a parable about a farmer who planted a field
of wheat. Later, his enemy came and
sowed tares among the wheat in his field.
Tares
are a type of weed that very closely resembles wheat, but does not bear useful
grain. In fact, the seeds from tares are
actually toxic if ground like wheat and ingested. The farmer's servants asked him if they
should pull out the tares; but he forbid them because, by so doing, some of the
wheat would also be uprooted. He told
them to wait till the harvest, and then the tares could be separated from the
wheat and destroyed. (Matthew 13:24-30, 34-40).
This parable is a clear warning that there are those
within the Christian church who look and speak the part of a true believer, but
who bear no good fruit for the kingdom of God.
They are, in many respects, like the Pharisees and Sadducees of Jesus'
day that were full of religion, but lacked real faith and charity. They could quote the scripture forward and
backward but did not recognize the Son of God when He was standing before them
speaking God's words. They did many works,
but only to be seen of men, and to garner praise for themselves.
BUILD ON
THE SOLID ROCK
“Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? and in Thy name have cast out devils? and in Thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity. Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of Mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of Mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.” (Matthew 7:21-27).
These are sobering words to be sure. The Lord makes it clear at the end of His
Sermon that neither our profession nor our wonderful works qualify us for
citizenship in the Kingdom of Heaven.
What does qualify us is hearing
the sayings of Jesus and doing them.
Discipleship is defined by those who continue
in Jesus’ words. They are the ones who
will know the truth and be made free by it. (John 8:31, 32). What they build in their lives will be strong
enough to resist the storms of life because it will be built upon a Rock:
Jesus, the Son of God.
“But He
answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of
the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4).
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