Friday, May 11, 2012,
6:39 a.m. – The Lord woke me this morning with the song “Not By Might” playing in my mind.
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Matthew 7:1-6 (NIV 1984):
“Do not judge, or you
too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged,
and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
“Why do you look at
the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in
your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of
your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite,
first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove
the speck from your brother’s eye.
“Do not give dogs what
is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them
under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.”
My Understanding: Before
we delve into this specific passage of scripture, I want to first of all look
at the meaning of the word judge, and also look at some other passages of
scripture that give instructions on judging or not judging. To judge means “to
form an opinion of somebody or something, especially after thought or
consideration; to criticize or condemn somebody” (Encarta); estimate; guess;
assess; decide; ascertain; weigh; appraise; believe; conclude; and/or determine.
We make judgments every day on what to wear, what to eat, where to go, and what
to do, etc. Judgments are evaluations and assessments, and can include and/or
are followed up by decisions and actions based upon our appraisals and our conclusions.
Wrong Judging
You, therefore, have
no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you
judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do
the same things. ~ Rom. 2:1 (context: passing judgment on others for doing
the same things you do)
Who are you to judge
someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand,
for the Lord is able to make him stand… You, then, why do you judge your
brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before
God’s judgment seat. ~ Rom. 14:4, 10 (context: judging others on disputable
matters)
The goal of this kind of judging is to condemn the other
individual, to look down on the person, perhaps even to criticize others just
for the sake of criticism, and then perhaps to gossip about the individual so
that others will share with us in our judgments (condemnations), and perhaps
also for the purpose of trying to make ourselves appear superior to the other
person. Involved in this is hypocrisy, for we are condemning others for doing
the same things we are doing. And, also involved in this kind of judging is
legalism, i.e. judging in matters that the Bible does not clearly define as
sin, but have to do with personal conviction or personal preference. These are
considered “disputable matters” and do not fall under the category of sin.
Actually, they are amoral because they are neither good nor bad. This kind of
judging can also result in rejection (condemnation), insult, backstabbing,
false accusations, destroying another’s reputation, spite, malice, and/or other
kinds of hurtful behavior directed toward the person whom we are judging
falsely.
Right Judging
What business is it of
mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God
will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked man from among you.” ~ 1 Co.
5:12-13 (context: Unrepented serious sin allowed to continue in church
unchecked)
If any of you has a
dispute with another, dare he take it before the ungodly for judgment instead
of before the saints? Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And
if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? Do
you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!
~ 1 Co. 6:1-3 (context: taking other believers to civil court – lawsuits -
instead of to the church)
Brothers, if someone
is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch
yourself, or you also may be tempted. ~ Gal. 6:1
Test everything. Hold
on to the good. ~ 1 Thess. 5:21
Dear friends, do not
believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God,
because many false prophets have gone out into the world. ~ 1 Jon. 4:1
This kind of judging has as its goal right (truthful;
correct) evaluations (discernment) for the purpose of acting justly, lovingly,
mercifully and compassionately toward those who are in error, toward brothers
and sisters in Christ living in conscious, willful and unrepentant sin, and toward
those who are purposefully and willfully deceiving and manipulating others for
their own advantage and are leading others to false beliefs or false
perceptions of what is right and what is wrong. In matters of sin within the
church and solving disputes among believers inside the church, the goal should
always be to bring the person to repentance and then to provide restoration and
reconciliation, and not condemnation and rejection, as far as it is within our
power to accomplish.
In matters of doctrinal error, false teaching, and wolves in
sheep’s clothing whose goal is to lead God’s flock astray, our goal should be
to expose and correct error in order to help our brothers and sisters in the
Lord not be led astray by false teaching. If a brother and/or sister is caught
up in false teaching, then we should lovingly confront the brother and/or
sister, Biblically expose the lies for what they are, and present the truth to
that person (or group of people) in hopes that they would see the error of
their ways. Again, the goal is to bring the person(s) to repentance and
restoration.
Right and Wrong
Judging
In today’s passage of scripture, we have examples of both
right and wrong judging. The wrong kind is three-fold: 1) Judging with a
condemnation kind of judging, 2) Hypocritical judging in that we have known and
unrepentant sin in our own hearts and lives, and 3) Hypocritical in that our
offense is far greater than the other’s persons offense, and yet we are trying
to get him or her to change while we knowingly maintain our own and often more
grievous sin problems. Basically, the wrong kind of judging is usually
hypocritical and its goal is condemnation, not restoration.
The right kind of judging here is also three-fold: 1) Judge
ourselves first and take the log or plank (profuse sins) out of our own eyes,
2) then we can see clearly to remove the smaller amount of sins out of our
brother’s or sister’s eye, and 3) be discerning (don’t be duped) about false teachers
and/or those who are wolves in sheep’s clothing or who masquerade themselves as
angels of light (dogs and pigs), but who manipulate, use, deceive, and take
advantage of naïve followers of Christ to lead them away from pure devotion to
Jesus Christ.
Dogs and Pigs
These “dogs and pigs” are spiritually unclean (unrepentant),
and there is clear evidence of them outwardly rejecting the truth of the gospel
of Jesus Christ with vicious contempt, stiff resistance, and/or disdain both
for the truth of the gospel, and for those who are ministers of the gospel,
i.e. for all those who share the true gospel message with others. Among the
dogs and pigs are those who water down the gospel message to make it more
comfortable and palatable to the hearers of the message. They seek to not
offend people with the true message of the cross of Christ, and so they
soft-pedal the gospel to make it more seeker-friendly. They remove the need for
repentance and obedience to Christ from the gospel, and they give the message
that God is pleased with us no matter what we do, which means God is pleased
with evil, and that just ain’t so! They cannot afford to have their lies
exposed, and so they often vehemently object to the true gospel message
(includes repentance and obedience) and to those who deliver the true gospel, and
will sometimes even do everything within their power to destroy the messengers
of the true gospel to try to discredit them.
The caution here is to not give these dogs and pigs what is
sacred, i.e. our “pearls.” This brought to mind the phrase, “pearls of wisdom,”
which has to do with insight, wisdom, advice or godly principles governing one’s
behavior. In the context of this passage of scripture, it seems apparent that
this is speaking of not trying to remove sin from the lives of those who are obviously
opposed to the gospel message, and/or from those who have already spitefully
and maliciously rejected our words of godly counsel or wisdom in the past. If
we have been treated thus before, or we have witnessed such treatment over a
course of time, then we should exercise godly discernment by not giving our “pearls
of wisdom” and the truth of the gospel to those who refuse it. If we do, they
may trample us and our words under their feet, and then turn and tear us to
pieces with their words and actions toward us or against us behind our backs.
Jesus told his disciples that if their message was refused that they should
shake the dust off their shoes and move on.
The Song
The Lord woke me with the song “Not By Might.” He always coordinates the songs he puts in my head
each morning with where I am reading in scripture. This song is based off Zechariah
4. Zechariah is a prophecy about Jesus Christ and the New Covenant temple, i.e.
the body of Christ, yet there was also teaching contained within it for the
hearers of that time. This was the time of the rebuilding of the temple that
had been destroyed through judgment. And, Zechariah parallels the rebuilding of
the temple in his day over to the body of Christ, a city without walls, the
heavenly Jerusalem. The counsel here was for the people of God to flee Babylon
(worldliness), to repent of their sins, to be clothed in Christ’s
righteousness, to walk in the ways of the Lord and in his counsel and wisdom, and
to complete the work of the rebuilding of God’s temple (now the church) in the
Holy Spirit’s power and strength, and not in human will, power or might. The
rebuilding that is needed today is revival, i.e. it is a spiritual rebuilding
of the body of Christ, God’s temple, and a restoration back to what God
intended us to be spiritually.
The people faced opposition to this rebuilding of the
physical temple, and we will, as well, face opposition to the rebuilding of
human lives, including our own, as we individually are the temple of the Holy
Spirit, too. There will be “dogs and pigs” who will oppose us if we are
exposing lies being taught in the church, and if we are revealing the truth of
God’s word concerning salvation, in particular, and concerning the need for
revival.
Satan is our greatest opponent, and he will use all kinds of
tactics to try to get us to be discouraged and to give up in defeat. He will
also use human instruments to come against us to try to weaken our resolve to
walk in obedience to Christ and to adhere to the truth of the gospel. These are
all considered “mountains” in our lives that stand opposed to us being made
holy and purified in our hearts of all unrighteousness. We cannot fight Satan with
the weapons of this world or in our own strength. Only the Holy Spirit of God
can bring down these strongholds in our lives and can defeat our opposition.
So, we must yield to the Holy Spirit’s work in our hearts and lives, and trust
the Lord to change our hearts first, and then to use us to help others to be
revived and renewed in their faith, too; to not fear opposition, and to not be
duped (deceived and/or manipulated) by wolves in sheep’s clothing.
Not By Might / An
Original Work / March 29, 2012
Based off Zechariah 4
“Not by might, and not
by power,
But by My Spirit,”
says our Lord, God.
“Mighty mountain, O
what are you?
Before Christ you will
become level ground.”
The hands of our Lord,
Savior God,
Formed the foundation
of His church.
He alone will complete
the work
He began in His
servants’ hearts and minds.
Who despises small
beginnings?
Much can be done in
Christ’s strength within.
Be of courage, and
trust your Lord.
All sufficient He is
for all your needs.
Opposition and apathy:
Holy Spirit will set
us free!
We can be overcomers
in our faith
In our Lord, and our
Savior, King.
Don’t be troubled by
God’s timing.
He has ev’rything in
His command.
Hasten to obey His
commands fully,
Trusting Him to work
all for good.
Not by might nor by
human strength,
But by God’s power;
strength within;
My dependency now on
His working
His will in me in
righteousness.
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