“Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee.” Acts 27:24
Lord, grant to us all the souls of those who sail with us in life’s sea.
“Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward.” Isaiah 58:8
Wow, is it possible that before we already show up somewhere, that our righteousness can precede us? Let it be so Lord. Let it be that no matter where we go, that no matter who sees us, they already know we are clothed in your righteousness Lord.
“Thus saith the LORD, The labour of Egypt, and merchandise of Ethiopia and of the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over unto thee, and they shall be thine: they shall come after thee; in chains they shall come over, and they shall fall down unto thee, they shall make supplication unto thee, saying, Surely God is in thee; and there is none else, there is no God.†Isaiah 45:14
This scripture is speaking of something that will happen in the future, more precisely it is during the millennial reign of Christ. In the meantime, since Jesus said “The kingdom of God is within you,†Let’s live such a life in the Spirit that others around us will say, “Surely God is in Thee.â€
“Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have created it.” Isaiah 45:8
Even if you have been a believer for several decades, it doesn’t hurt to be reminded again the heavenly order. First, let hearts be open to salvation, then let righteousness spring up. The order has never changed, first is salvation then comes righteousness. Man can never through righteousness obtain salvation.
“Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. 2He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. 3A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.” Isaiah 42:1-3
This prophecy is referring to the Lord Jesus Christ and His bringing salvation to the Gentiles. Praise God, for I am a Gentile, a saved one. The Spirit of God plays the major part in salvation. Verse one says that the Spirit was upon God’s servant; again that servant is the One and only Jesus Christ. It was the power of the Spirit that brought forth salvation to the Gentiles. Verse three talks about a “smoking flax.” That is what happens when a fire is about to go out. It represents a life that is soon to be snuffed out. It represents Gentile’s desperate and holding out for truth, desiring salvation, but they have not much hope left. Church, there are millions of these smoking flax people all around us. We must not let the last flicker of hope go out. The answer again is found in verse one. It is a Spirit led, Spirit filled, Spirit powered believer who can cause the fire to burn. So much of what the church offers today is worldly and fleshy and void of the Spirit. No doubt many who use worldly means to reach the lost have sincere intentions. But we must understand that it is the world that smothers the fire, it is the absence of the Spirit that deprives fuel for the fire. “Quench not the Spirit.” (I Thessalonians 5:19). The Spirit does not need our help; we need the help of the Spirit. The Spirit of God just needs someone to perform through. If we quench the Spirit there is no other way for us to “bring forth judgment unto truth.” This generation like never before needs to be confronted by a Spirit filled people. You must be one.
“But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat. 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†(I Corinthians 5:11-13).
It has been said that the most quoted scripture in the Bible is John 3:16. I dispute that and say there is another scripture that is quoted more often, not just by Christians, but by the world too. To be fair, the scripture that I am referring to is not quoted in entirety and it is paraphrased. Matthew 7:1 says, “Judge not, that you be not judged.†Here is how it is most often said, “Thou shall not judge,†or “Who are you to judge?†If you would ask most people if it is alright to judge anyone, most would say no. Christians and sinners alike, are growing more resistant to the idea of anyone judging their life. I can understand non-believers hate being judged, but true followers of Christ need to understand that it is biblical to judge the body of Christ.
Many Christians have a hard time with the whole thought of judging others. One of the biggest reasons is they do not judge themselves. If believers never evaluate their walk with the Lord, then they may feel uncomfortable with judging others in the body of Christ, and rightfully so. There is nothing that makes one a hypocrite more than rebuking others for sin, when the one who is rebuking everyone is himself living a sinful life. No doubt we have way too many so called believers who live carnal lives and yet are judging and condemning other believers for their short comings. No one appreciates these kind of people speaking into their life.
Even for Christians who do live godly lives, they still may find it hard to judge the body of Christ. That is the reason for this article. Good righteous judgment is very important for the body of Christ to help keep her healthy. It is meant for the good of the individual believer and the whole of the body of Christ. Any of us can get drawn away into idolatry or some other sinful thing. It is a beautiful thing, though not comfortable at first, when a brother or sister sees a saint who is overtaken by sin and lovingly confronts them with the hope they would repent and get back to right standing with the Lord.
Before any believer should judge another they need to remember this important thing. Judging needs to start with yourself first. This is one time you can put yourself first. You need to examine your own life before you speak up to others about theirs.
“Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates†(II Corinthians 3:5)?
When you do examine yourself, don’t see how you stack up against man, but see how your life lines up with the word of God. Ask God what He thinks of your walk, not man. I am sure many people appreciate the medical experts teaching us different self-examination techniques we can perform on our bodies to detect unwanted growths that could lead to death. How much more, should we as believers, be thankful that we can examine our walk to see if there is something there that could lead to spiritual death. When the Holy Spirit does put His finger on something in our lives we must then confess it and forsake it. He is a loving God that is patient and always willing to forgive us by the blood of His Son Jesus Christ.
The Christian who has sinned at times and then made it right with God, will understand how a believer can fall into sin, and will be much more patient and loving in their judging a brother or sister. They won’t be doing it with a self-righteous spirit. They will do it in such a way that even the one who is being judged should recognize the love. We already read Matthew 7:1, now let’s look at the next two verses. We will see how this speaks to the thought that we can judge only after we dealt with the things in our life.
“For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye†(Matthew 7:2-3)?
Verse two tells us that when we do judge, we are opening ourselves to be judged the same way. So if you don’t want to be judged by self-righteous people, then you better not judge in self-righteousness. If you don’t want people condemning you for your sinful failures, then don’t go condemning anyone else. In verse three we learn that it is alright to judge another believer, after we get the beam out of our own eye. It is then that we can judge righteously. It is then we can judge in love. The true heart behind righteous judgment is always for the sake of the believer and the body of Christ.
There are those saints who are the most eager to judge their fellow brethren. If you are one of them, make sure your life is right, make sure your heart is pure and make sure it is righteous judgment. The heart of judging anyone must always be for restoration and the desire for the one being judged to live a life that brings glory to God. If one who claims to be a Christian and refuses to repent of a sinful life, then for the sake and spiritual health of the body, that one must be removed. This is a right judgment. In fact, God expects us to have such a love for the body that we should not allow any person, no matter how much they may be loved, to be a cancer to the body of Christ. If the Bible says, “…put away from among yourselves that wicked person,†then a judgment has to be made about that person living in sin. We are not even so supposed to eat with a brother or sister who is living a sinful life. This does not mean that we can’t eat with any Christian who sins. If that were the case, you wouldn’t be able to eat with me. I have sinned many times since I have become a believer, but the difference is that I have confessed those sins to the Lord. It is the person who refuses to repent and continues to live in open sin that the body of Christ must put out. This isn’t an easy thing to do. I have done it a few times in my church because I love Christ and His body too much to allow any individuals to spread their sin amongst the church. So to conclude; Yes judging is right, as long as it is done right.
“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. Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself†(Galatians 6:1-3).
“And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.” Isaiah 4:1
It is similar in our day. We have people, who want to cover up their reproach and take on the name Christian, or even worse, take on the name of the Lord, but never surrender to the Lord. The only thing that can ever take away a man’s reproach is the blood of Jesus Christ.
“There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt.” Ecclesiastes 5:13
There is no one who knows this better than American Christians. Our nation is so blessed with prosperity, but it has only been to our own hurt. Materialism and the life of ease has captured the hearts of multitudes of Christians. This has hurt the body of Christ and grieved the heart of our Lord who was the one who blessed us in the first place. Yet, we can still rise out of this; we can still come back to our first love. Let’s not hurt and hinder ourselves anymore.
“There be three things which go well, yea, four are comely in going: 30A lion which is strongest among beasts, and turneth not away for any; 31A greyhound; an he goat also; and a king, against whom there is no rising up.” Proverbs 30:29-31
And even more amazing than a King whose troops are with him is a shepherd (pastor) who is likeminded with the body and the body is like minded with him. Look out devil
“The horseleach hath two daughters, crying, Give, give. There are three things that are never satisfied, yea, four things say not, It is enough: 16The grave; and the barren womb; the earth that is not filled with water; and the fire that saith not, It is enough.” Proverbs 30:15-16
In spite that it is harder than ever to find a good church these days, there are just some Christians who will never be filled or satisfied. They jump from church to church or from this doctrine to that doctrine, and yet never find what they are looking for. More than likely, their problem is that they refuse the living water of God to satisfy them. They look for other people and things to satisfy, but they never look for God.