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"Judge not, that ye be not judged" (v. 1). In the previous chapter we
were obliged, so as not to exceed the usual length, to confine ourselves
unto the first part of this brief verse. In it we sought to show what is
here not forbidden, that there is a lawful judging which God requires us
to exercise, both in public and in private. Then we pointed out no less
than seven forms of unlawful judging, indicating that this prohibition
of Christ’s is a very comprehensive one. Our apology, if such be needed,
for entering into so much detail is, first, because these words "judge
not" are so frequently misunderstood and misapplied; and second, because
the sin which is here forbidden is a very grievous one and has become
exceedingly common. Some Christians are more prone to it than others,
one in one way and one in another. It is a sin which may be committed in
the house of prayer. When the minister is rebuking some evil or failure
in some particular duty, there are often those present who will conclude
he is addressing himself to some others in the congregation, which is
one reason why so many reap so little from hearing the Word preached.
Now since it be wrong for us to judge one of our brethren or even our
fellows presumptuously, hypocritically, hastily, unwarrantably, unjustly
or unmercifully, how much more heinous must it be for us to give audible
expression to the same and transmit it to others! Equally so is it for
those who listen to us to repeat the same. "Thou shalt not go up and
down as a talebearer among thy people" (Lev. 19:16): yet who among us
can plead innocence therein? Alas, how many there are, now that the
pulse of love beats so feebly, who take a devilish pleasure in spreading
evil reports of fellow members and enlarging on the same. "A talebearer
reveals secrets: but he that is of a faithful spirit conceals the
matter" (Prov. 11:13). Equally reprehensible is it for us to censure and
hold up to scorn those of another denomination, unless the Scriptures
plainly condemn them. "Speak evil of no man’s (Titus 3:2) forbids us
expressing anything to the discredit or disadvantage of another to
anyone but to oneself, except where duty demands it—the putting others
on their guard against an evil-doer or a doctrinal corrupter.
It should be pointed out that veracity is not the only virtue which
needs to be exercised whenever we make report of the character and
conduct of another. To say of such and such a person, "He possesses this
or that virtue, but—well, least said, soonest mended," is far worse than
saying nothing at all, for such an utterance insinuates to our hearers
that there is some grave evil in the party to whom we have alluded. We
may say nothing but what is the truth, yet by the very manner in which
we express ourselves suggest that a certain person is not to be trusted.
Thus when David came to Ahimelech begging bread for his men and
requesting some weapon, and the priest granted him the sword of Goliath
(1 Sam. 21), Doeg, who witnessed the transaction, put his knowledge to a
wicked use by reporting the same unto Saul, implying that Ahimelech had
entered into a conspiracy with David against the king’s life; and the
telling of the truth from such an evil motive and in such a manner cost
the lives of eighty-five priests (1 Sam. 22:18): again we say, Behold
how great a fire a little matter kindles!
"Judge not, that ye be not judged." After the commandment there follows
a reason which is designed to cause us to make conscience of forming and
expressing unlawful judgments; or, more accurately speaking, the second
part of the verse is a dissuasive, a warning against the sin forbidden
at the beginning of it. But precisely what is the nature of this
warning, exactly what did our Lord here have in mind? Nearly all the
expositors see in it nothing more than a threat that we must be prepared
for our fellows treating us just as we treat them: that if we asperse
people, others will slander us; that if we be harsh and censorious in
the estimates we form of our fellows, then we in turn shall receive
unkind treatment, being paid back again in our own coin. On the other
hand, if we be charitable and merciful, ready to think the best and slow
to think the worst of any, then others will in turn deal gently and
considerately with our reputation. In brief, that the words "that ye be
not judged" signify lest ye be unlawfully and unfairly judged by men.
Now we do not believe this common interpretation of Christ’s warning
gives the full or even the principal force of it, and that for several
reasons. First, because the usual sense accorded it is one which has
little weight with those who are walking with God. It is true there are
many professing Christians who are greatly concerned about what others
think and say of them, who are most anxious to shine in their eyes, who
are very jealous of their own reputations and easily hurt if anyone
slights them or speaks a word against them, yet all of this has its
roots in pride and self-esteem. But one who is walking with God, who is
painfully conscious of the plague of his heart, who in some measure at
least sees himself as God sees him, is so thoroughly aware of his awful
corruptions, his many inward and outward defects, that he knows quite
well that the worst men can say against him falls far short of the
estimate he has of himself. The one who unsparingly judges himself is
unruffled by the criticisms of others.
When one is truly walking with God his only concern is what his
Divine Master thinks of him. If he makes conscience of all that
displeases Him, if he daily confesses to Him every known sin and begs
Him to cleanse him from sins of ignorance and omission, if he be
sincerely endeavoring to walk in the path of obedience, it will trouble
him very little what other worms of the dust think or say about him. He
is conscious of the fact that God knows his heart, that if only he has
the approbation of the Lord this is worth infinitely more than the
highest esteem of all mankind. Said the apostle Paul, "But with me it is
a very small thing that I should be judged of you" (1 Cor. 4:3): their
opinion mattered nothing, his responsibility was not unto them. "Yea, I
judge not mine self," he added: Christ alone is my Lord and Judge, by
Him I stand or fall. Blessed liberty is it when we are delivered from
being in bondage to the fickle opinions and estimates of man, who will
one day cry Hosannah" and the next day "crucify."
It is not that walking with God produces a spirit of egotism which
causes one to have so high regard of himself that he considers he is
outside the range of human judgment: no, far otherwise. Nor will he
disdain a correction or admonition when he needs it: rather will he say
with David, "Let the righteous smite me, it shall be a kindness; and let
him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my
heady’ (Ps. 141:5). A truly humble soul will weigh before God the
reproofs of the righteous. "Rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee" (Prov.
9:8), for he knows full well that "faithful are the wounds of a friend,
but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful." "As an earring of gold, and
an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover upon an obedient ear" (Prov.
25:12): alas, how few with an "obedient ear" are now left! But while
welcoming needful reproofs and being thankful for the faithful dealings
of those who wish him well, this is vastly different from being the prey
of public opinion, fearful of being misunderstood, wondering what one
and another will say of us, even while we are doing that which is right.
Second, we find it very difficult to persuade ourselves that when the
Lord said "Judge not, that ye be not judged" He had reference to nothing
else, nothing more solemn and searching than, Refrain from passing
unlawful judgment upon others lest you meet with the same treatment at
the hands of your fellows. Such a warning has little weight with the
majority of professors and none at all with those who are walking in the
fear of God, for where His fear possesses the heart it is delivered from
the fear of man. Furthermore, it seems entirely out of accord with the
whole tenor of His Sermon, with the searching character of all its
details, that He should introduce and make so prominent (note the
following verse) what is after all but a secular motive. In a discourse,
one chief design of which was to make plain the spirituality of the
Christian character in contrast with the worldly character of the
Pharisee, Christ would surely employ a weightier dissuasive than the
mere fear of suffering from the fickle judgments of fellow mortals.
Third, and what is more decisive, the idea that "judge not, that ye be
not judged" means we shall in this matter reap in this world exactly as
we sow—that if we defame others we also shall be defamed, that if we
refrain from rashly and censoriously censuring others we shall ourselves
be spared the experience—will not stand the test of Holy Writ. Apply it
to the Lord Jesus Christ and the treatment which He met with from man:
He never unjustly or unmercifully censured another, yet how frequently
were false and cruel charges preferred against Him. Apply the principle
to the life of the apostle Paul and see how completely it breaks down;
can we suppose that God had employed him to write 1 Corinthians 13 had
he been of a censorious, carping, pharisaical spirit? Yet he was
"defamed" on every side and accounted "the offscouring of all things" (1
Cor. 4:13)! No, such an explanation, such a theory, will stand neither
the test of Scripture nor of Christian experience and observation today.
"Judge not, that ye be not judged." In view of what has been pointed out
we cannot avoid the conviction that many of the commentators unwittingly
toned down this solemn portion of the Truth, blunting the sharp edge of
the sword of the Spirit, for it seems clear to us that some vastly more
awe-inspiring motive was in our Lord’s mind, a far weightier dissuasive
from the sin forbidden than the treatment we shall meet with at the
hands of our fellows. We are persuaded that what Christ here had
reference to was not the judgments of men but the judgments of God, not
the decisions of time but the verdicts of eternity. In reality it is
but a sop for the conscience, a sewing of " pillows to all armholes"
(Ezek. 13:18), to tell people if they be guilty of transgressing this
precept and unlawfully judging others that all they have to fear is
being unrighteously judged by their fellows. But for Christ to declare
that such conduct will meet with Divine judgment at the Awful Assize is
a warning which may well make the most thoughtless to consider and the
stoutest heart to quake.
But it should be pointed out that this warning of Christ’s is not to be
understood as meaning: If you be generous in the verdicts you pass upon
others, God will be lenient in His judgment concerning you; that if you
be harsh and cruel, God will deal severely with you. No, whatever our
judgments of others may be, God’s judgment will be "according to truth"
and that without "respect of persons" (Rom. 2:2, 11). Thus we
understand our Lord to mean: Beware of forming wrong judgments of your
brethren and fellow men, especially hasty and unmerciful ones, for all
your judgments are to be reviewed in the searching light of God’s
throne, and by those judgments you are yourselves to be then judged.
Not that the judgments we form of each other are to be the sole test by
which our profession will be weighed and our character tried, but that
this will be one of the tests. "By thy words thou shalt be justified,
and by thy words thou shalt be condemned" (Matthew 12:37) will be
another; our treatment of Christ’s brethren, as Matthew 25 plainly
intimates, will be yet another. Take care then that your judgments of
others be such as will endure the scrutiny of the Divine Judge, for if
they are not they must lead to disapproval.
We are well aware of the fact that what we have said above is contrary
to most of the teaching of the day even in orthodox circles. So much
emphasis has been laid upon certain favorite verses that the balance of
Truth has been lost here, as it has almost everywhere else. Such a
statement as He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath He seen
perverseness in Israel" (Num. 23:21) has been interpreted to mean that
God looks not upon His people as they are in themselves but ever views
them in Christ, and therefore sees them as without any sin. But such an
idea is flatly contradicted by Holy Writ. God does take cognizance of
our sins and plainly declares: "If His children forsake My law and walk
not in My judgments... If they break My statutes and keep not My
commandments... Then will I visit their transgression with the rod and
their iniquity with stripes" (Ps. 89:30-32). Believers are required to
confess their sins, and both their forgiveness and cleansing are made
contingent thereon (1 John 1:9). It is blessedly true that the believer
has a perfect standing or status before God, yet that must not be made
to swallow up his state and present case.
We would not for a moment consciously weaken the glorious force of
"There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ
Jesus" (Rom. 8:1), and "he that hears My Word, and believeth on Him that
sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation
[Greek "judgment "]; but is passed from death unto life" (John 5:24).
Yet those verses must not be understood in such a way as to clash with
other portions of God’s Word, such, for example, as "For the time is
come that judgment must begin at the House of God" (1 Pet. 4:17). No
born-again soul shall ever suffer the eternal judgment of God, for he
has for ever passed beyond the reach of penal death or the curse of the
Law, Christ having suffered the curse on his behalf. But though beyond
the curse of the Law, Christians are subject to the government of God,
and that government will not make light of wrongdoing nor relinquish its
righteous requirements. Sin is no less sinful when committed by a
believer than by an unbeliever, and unless it be repented of or put
right before God in this life it will have to he put right in the Day to
come. And who that loves holiness would wish it were otherwise? Many a
breach between fellow Christians is never healed in this world: must not
things be put right between them before they can spend eternity together
in heaven?
Both the orthodox pulpit and what is regarded as sound literature convey
the impression that no matter how grievously the Christian may have
failed in his duty, he has nothing to fear so far as the next life is
concerned, that however careless and fruitless he has been, unclouded
bliss awaits him after death. But between death and eternity proper is
the Day of Judgment! But the Truth is now so watered down and so
accommodated to the carnal mind that the Lord’s people are led to
believe complacently that so far as they are concerned that Day will be
solely one of receiving rewards and words of praise. But this writer
does not so read the Scriptures: he finds another class of passages
which set forth quite a different aspect of the Truth, and though these
passages be almost universally shelved, or "explained away" when pressed
upon the attention of those claiming to be Christians, he dare not
ignore them or fritter them down.
"But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy
brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For
it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me,
and every tongue shall confess to God" (Rom. 14:10-11). We merely call
attention to the bare fact that the judgment seat of Christ is
here set before believers as a solemn motive to refrain from judging
their brethren, a motive which will have no force if commendation is all
they are to receive there; and that this warning is immediately followed
with "So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God":
that this rendering of accounts will be something more than a mere
formality scarcely needs to be pointed out. "Every man’s work shall be
made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be
revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort
it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall
receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer
loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire" (1 Cor.
3:13-15). This has reference to the adjudication of the labors of
Christ’s servants, when their work will be subjected to the searching
scrutiny of Divine holiness: "saved, yet so as by fire" certainly does
not suggest a happy experience—not that we understand there is anything
in these verses which furnishes the slightest support to the popish
"purgatory." Ministers would do well seriously to ponder this passage
and turn it into earnest prayer.
"For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ: that every
one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath
done, whether good or bad" (2 Cor. 5:10). The "we" takes in the whole
election of grace, all who are redeemed by Christ. That there will be
something more than the handing out of bouquets is plainly intimated in
"that every one may receive the things done in the body, according to
that he hath done, whether good or bad." An awe-inspiring description of
Christ in His office of Judge (when inspecting and passing sentence upon
His churches) is given in Revelation 1, where He is seen with "His eyes
as a flame of fire; And His feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned
in a furnace; and His voice as the sound of many waters" (vv. 14, 15).
"Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men"
(Col. 3:23): observe the solemn motive given for enforcing this solemn
precept: "Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the
inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ. But he that doeth wrong shall
receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of
persons" (vv. 24 and 25): that some will be "ashamed before Him" in that
Day is clear from 1 John 2:28. May the Lord enable both writer and
reader to live his life more and more with the judgment seat of Christ
before him.
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