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"Judge not,
that ye be not judged." Matthew 7:start is the cry of a lot
of people when you try to reason with them about their sin.
I couldn't
tell you the number of times that I heard that when I used
to teach in the girls cottage at the juvenile center before
we went on the road; I
know I heard it at least every other week. "You can't judge
me, God knows my heart," they would say. Or if it is a
church person that you are
dealing with, you are many times called a Pharisee when you
question someone's salvation or their spiritual condition.
However, the Bible never has told us not to judge; on the contrary, the
Word of God commands us to judge with a few conditions.
There in Matthew 7, which is the most quoted scripture on
this subject (even the lost sinner knows verse 1), it simply
commands us to judge our self first, before we judge someone
else. Verse 1-6 says, "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. And
why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye,
but considerest not the beam 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. 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." That is when you become a hypocrite, when you try to
judge someone else without judging yourself first. Also, the
Lord tells us their in verse six that our judging is not
going to be accepted,
especially by a lost person ( a dog is a picture of a lost
man and a swine is a picture of a lost woman: i.e. the dog
is returned to HIS vomit
and the sow to HER wallowing in the mire) and they will
often turn on you for trying to judge them. This concept is
repeated again in I Corinthians 2:14-16 which says, "But the
natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God:
for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them,
because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is
spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no
man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord,
that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ." A
lost man or woman is not going to understand the things of
God for they can't know
the mind of the Lord; but a Saved man or woman who loves the
Word of God and spends time reading and studying it and has
a working knowledge of
it, can't help but see and judge things in other people's
lives because we have the mind of Christ written down for us
in black and white. We are
fruit inspectors - "by their fruits ye shall know them",
Matthew 7:20. It takes a lot of prayer and discernment to
deal with people about their
sin. Concerning a lost person, it is better to just stick to
the gospel and the matter of eternity; of course you do have
to deal with the part
of them being a sinner, you can't leave that out. There are
many instances of preachers in the Bible and even the Lord
Jesus Christ
Himself that immediately dealt with the persons sin. For
example, the Lord talking to the Samaritan woman at the
well, Peter with Annalist and
Sapphira, Paul with Elymas the sorcerer, etc. That is why it
is so important to walk in the Spirit so that we can have
discernment about
when to deal with sin and when not to while reasoning with
people. And as far as things and people in our own
life. The Bible says," try the
spirits whether they are of God", I John 4:1. "For if we
would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we
are judged, we are
chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with
the world." I Corinthians 11:31-32. "Now I beseech you,
brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences
contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid
them." Romans 16:17. As our Pastor says, "When you walk up
to a
faucet to wash your hands, you better judge the thing or you
are going to get your hands scalded. "A famous quote
of Tu Pac, the rapper that was shot a couple of years ago
was, "Only God can judge me." That is true and He will in
the last days (Rev. 19:11) by the Word of God (John 12:48)
If person does not judge himself and repent now, his sins
will follow him after death. I Timothy 5:24 & 25 says, "Some
men's sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment;
and some men they follow after. Likewise also the good works
of some are manifest beforehand; and they that are otherwise
cannot be hid." Well, may the Lord bless you. I hope this
has been a help and a blessing to you. Have a great day.
Sis. Tanya |
in the
