Judge Not

"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" (Mat. 7:1,2). If you want to fend off as much undue woe as possible, than by all means take serious heed to the words of Jesus quoted in this passage. These words are infallible truth, and constitute a warning that cannot possibly be escaped. As quoted in our post yesterday, the prophet Micah gave us some of the safest instructions in all the Bible: “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God” (Micah 6:8)? Probably the most outstanding characteristic of someone who is following steadily after the Spirit of God, is that they have a merciful spirit and attitude toward people who have fallen short. The apostle Paul referred to this in his letter to the Galatians: “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” (Gal. 6:1). Do you see the correlation between this passage and our text passage? And Jesus added some more fuel to this fire of holiness with the following words of pure simplicity and truth: “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy” (Mat. 5:7). And James the brother of Jesus had synonymous input to this discussion as well: “For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment” (Jas. 2:13). I think the point has been sufficiently made by the scriptures. The point is very simple, and also easy to follow if we condition our hearts to being caring and merciful.

I’ve seen it time and again: Someone being judgmental about someone else’s failures, and even about what they judge to be someone else’s faultiness, that in fact may not be a fault at all. Time passes, and God gives space to them to repent of being harshly judgmental; as he wishes to bring no evil judgment on anyone (Lam.3:33). But without repentace, the very thing that someone has been judgmental of someone else about, comes around to visit them. So as it is said, “What goes around comes around.” The reason? “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Gal. 6:7). And you will find that if you truly walk with God by following the leading of his Spirit, you will be a target of this judgmental spirit more than anyone else. The religious folks who rejected Jesus judged that he had a devil and that he was casting out devils by THE devil (Jn. 8:48; Mat. 12:24). But guess who it was that was truly under dominion to Satan, and who did not get delivered from demonic influence? That is correct; the accusers. Job’s friends were judgmental about what they percieved to be his wickedness, but in the end it was only Job’s prayers for them that delivered them from God’s judgments against their sins (Job 22:5; Job:42:7-9). And when the religious leaders of Jesus’ time brought a woman caught in the act of adultery to him, trying to trap him by the law; he turned their harsh judgment back onto themselves, and they slinked away, ashamed of their collective self condemnation. And though the law did call for the woman to be stoned, Jesus was more willing to show the real heart and soul of God’s law, and sent the woman away in peace with the admonition to sin no more (Jn. 8:3-11). So in conclusion I can only say that all who hope to attain unto eternal life should diligently heed this invaluable truth. And in fact, those who WILL attain unto salvation WILL both heed and do the things that pertain to mercy and truth. Amen.