Hasty Judgment

Do Not Make a Hasty Judgment

are you quick to make a judgment

Are you quick to make a judgment?

A couple arrived at the theater and proceeded to their seats. As they went down the aisle, they arrived at their seats only to find a man sprawled over them. The wife looked at her tickets to confirm that they are indeed at the right place, and said to the man, “Sir, you must be mistaken—these are our seats.” He barely noticed them and grunted in their general direction. She spoke louder with the same words, threatening to get the manager, but to no avail. The couple brought back the manager, who spoke to the man, “Sir, you are in the wrong seats. These seats belong to these customers. Where is your ticket?” The man grunted at the manager with no inclination of moving. The manager threatened him, “If you do not move immediately, I will call the police!” The man did not even stir. The manager left and brought back a police officer, who saw the man sprawled over the respective seats. He bent down and asked the man, “What is your problem?” Finally, the man barely whispered, “My problem is that I fell out of the balcony!”

Often times, we are quick to judge others. Jesus warns us in the Sermon on the Mount,

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. (Matt. 7:1-2)

Yet, so many people misinterpret and misquote these verses. As the passage continues and the context declares, Jesus is not condemning the act of judging in and of itself, but of hypercritical judging. To state the case in point, in the verses that follow this admonition, Jesus said,

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. (Matt. 7:6)

Thus, one would have to make a call of judgment to determine who are considered dogs or swine.

Elsewhere, Jesus also declared, “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment” (John 7:24). This ought to be the rule of our lives. Far too often, we are quick with our judgment based upon appearance—in such, we are not to be a “respecter of persons” (cf. James 2:1). Rather than being hasty with our judgment, we are to wait for all of the facts. Only then can we make the proper judgment. The inspired wise man Solomon declared,

He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding: but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly… Seest thou a man that is hasty in his words? There is more hope of a fool than of him. (Prov. 14:29; 29:20)

Be careful about how you judge!

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Silence and Haggai

Silence and the Scriptures During the Time of Haggai

silence is not permissive

Silence is not permissive.

Romans 15:4 states, “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.” The apostle Paul in this text, inspired by the Holy Spirit, as all authors of scripture, brings home the point that there is much worth in the examination of the Old Testament writings. Many folks approach the Old Testament with a bit of trepidation because they understand we are under a New Covenant in Christ. However, it must be recalled that all passages in the Old Testament are not specific to the Old Law. There are eternal principles that were established outside of the Law of Moses before, after, and during it. Principles of modesty, marriage, God’s nature, and more reside within the Old Testament scriptures and provide direction for us today.

There are many passages in the Old Testament that provide guidance on how man is to behave when God is silent about something. The following scripture provides a very precise example of Biblical Authority and how it relates to the “Silence of the Scriptures” – Haggai 2:10-13:

In the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ask now the priests concerning the law, saying, If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt do touch bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any meat, shall it be holy? And the priests answered and said, No.

Then said Haggai, If one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean.

In this passage, The prophet Haggai asks the priests if something which was holy comes into contact with something else which was common, will that common item become holy. They priests answer “No”. Yet, there is no passage in scripture that told the priests this. There had been no command of God in regard to this. How did the priests know the answer? The answer resided in the silence. God had never addressed this issue directly. Therefore, the priests could not declare a common item contacting a holy one to become holy.

The second question Haggai asked regarded what would happen when the common came into contact with the unclean. Would it become unclean? The answer given: “Yes”. How did the priests know this answer? God has spoken on the issue, he had not been silent (Num.19:11-22).

The importance Haggai 2:10-13 (and other passages like it), is that when God has been silent on an issue it is prohibitive, it is not permissive. The priests of Haggai’s time knew this. Perhaps when Christians today determine to bring in instruments to worship, praise teams, drama, puppet shows, clapping, swaying, foreign elements to the Lord’s Supper, rummage sales, bake sales, community meals to draw folks to the gospel, and any other number of innovations into the service of God, they will consider that He has been silent regarding permission of these things. God’s silence prohibited action in the time of Haggai and it does so today as well.

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Retaliation

Retaliation

should christians engage in retaliation

Should Christians engage in retaliation?

It seems that life is filled with enemies of all sorts of shapes and sizes.  From the business world who can destroy our way of earning a living, to difficulties within families that lead to severe falling outs, to the spiritual minded who teach different doctrines or changes the Gospel (Gal. 1:6-9), Christians are guaranteed to have enemies (Jn. 15:20).  But, how should Christians treat their enemies?

An enemy is defined as a hostile group of people.  The Bible defines it as one you oppose or hate, displaying hatefulness toward another.  When someone treats us in the wrong way, the world teaches us that we should lash out in response to that wrong and defend ourselves.  “Let them have it” is what the world says.  Now, we usually demand what is just or fair to all parties as dictated by our reasoning and our conscious.  We feel that something must be done to them who harmed us.  That is vengeance.  Vengeance is the act of inflicting pain on another, harming someone in retaliation to the point that they begin to feel the way they made us feel.  But, is this what a Christian has a right to do?  Consider what God said, “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.  Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.  Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good” (Rom. 12:19-21).

Our dear Jesus gave us the perfect example of this type of attitude throughout His life.  His enemies were from the physical, financial, family and spiritual realms.  Since we are to follow in the steps of Jesus, we are to follow in His actions towards His enemies.  Consider what else God said, “. . . Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:” (2 Pet. 2:21-23).

When people who are hostile toward us and treat us in a way that would cause most people to form hatefulness in their hearts, how are we suppose to respond to them?  Do we retaliate against them or do we “give place unto wrath?”  When we are reviled and insults are thrown at us, do we throw insults back at them or choose not to retaliate?  Do we threaten or threaten not?  Do we seek to make our own verdict or do we commit ourselves to the righteous judge?  Do we overcome with evil or with good (Rom. 12:21)?

When we retaliate against another, we sin and worse, we make ourselves the enemy of God (Isa. 59:1-2).  We need to keep in mind that God, in all His righteous might, has the only right to take vengeance.  Because of our lives, He has all reason to take vengeance on us.  But, instead of doing this, He decided to give us a way that we could be reconciled to Him, through His Son, Jesus.  What we could not do for ourselves, God did for us, while we were enemies (Rom. 5:6-10).

We might want to let our enemies have it (an eye for an eye), but we need to let them have our mercy and love.  They deserve it, not because they are our enemies, but because we were once God’s enemy and that is how God looked upon us in the same way.  If we treat them any other way is to invite the same judgment upon us.  It seems that the greatest test of the Christian is how we treat our enemies.  The same test is how God will judge us as well.  Dear Christian, “. . . Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;” (Matt. 5:44).

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Sin and Fear

The Fellowship of Sin and Fear

there is a fellowship between fear and sin

There is a fellowship between Fear and Sin.

After the children of Israel cross the Jordan River they embark on their militaristic campaign to conquer the Promised Land. God delivers Jericho into their hands and warns them that they are not to take any pillage from the city and all the wealth of the city was to be consecrated unto the Lord. However, after the initial defeat at the hands of the men of Ai, it was found that Achan had sinned in taking for himself of the spoils of Jericho. When asked about his guilt Achan confesses, “When I saw among the spoils a beautiful Babylonian garment, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. And there they are, hidden in the earth in the midst of my tent, with the silver under it” (Joshua 7:21).

In this confession we note the progression of sin and the fear associated with it:

The Head: Achan said, “I saw.” We teach our children to “be careful little eyes what you see.” But how often do we place our eyes, our minds, on those very things that tempt us to do evil? The Psalmist wrote, “I will set nothing wicked before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; It shall not cling to me” (Psalm 101:3). Be careful big eyes what you see!

The Heart: Achan said, “I coveted.” Covetousness is a blight on any people and we live in a society inundated with it. People lie, cheat, and steal to get what they see. This plague has become a scar upon the church as well as men seek their own will and not the will of the Lord. Proverbs 4:23 says to, “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.”

The Hand: Achan said, “I took.” To see and desire are one thing; to act on it is something else all together! Here the sin is full-grown. James 1:15 tells us that, “when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” There are going to be times when we are going to be tempted to sin; this is simply a fact of living in sin-filled world. But just because this is true does not mean that we have to give in to the sin. In fact, “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).

The Hiding: Achan then said, “I hid them.” Why did he hide these things? Because he knew he had sinned, he knew it was wrong, and he was afraid. Sin brings fear because we know that there are consequences for our actions. Unfortunately some have become so callous to sin that they no longer fear. Fear and sin are inescapably connected.

The Horror: Achan is stoned to death for his sin. Again James 1:15 says that sin, “brings forth death.” Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death…” One of the saddest stories in all the Bible comes to a close with the acknowledgement of God’s wrath and the far reaching consequences of the sin and fear of one man.

The sinful life of every man follows this same progression and has just as sad and devastating consequences spiritually. However, we have this precious truth that there is “now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:1). In Christ we have no reason to fear because He has paid the price for our sins and has saved us from sin and death (Romans 8:2). The love that God has poured out upon His children has delivered us from fear (2 Timothy 1:7). Because there is “no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love” (1 John 4:18). Did you get that? Only those who have been perfected through obedience to Christ can live without fear. Be fearless and be faithful.

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Go Further

He Went A Little Further

are you willing to be like jesus and go further

Are you willing to be like Jesus and go further.

Near the entrance of Gethsemane, He left eight of the apostles and then took Peter, James and John closer to the place where He was to pray. He left this “inner circle” and “…went a little further, and fell on His face, and prayed” (Matt. 26:39, KJV). He went further than others—He always did—and told us to do the same.

In the Sermon on the Mount, He talked about going beyond where others would go. When compelled by a Roman soldier to carry supplies for a mile, Jesus said we should go a greater distance and carry it two (Matt. 5:41). If someone thinks he needs our tunic, Jesus said we should go the greater distance and give him our outer garment as well. He went further, and so should we.

Think of the application this has in every area of our lives. When we see how the world lives with its measure of morality, we should do more. The ungodly do good to those who do good to them, but Christians return blessing for cursing, good for ill treatment and prayers for those who prey on us (Matt. 5:44). He went further, and so should we!

Christian husbands and wives need to go further in the way they treat their mates than anyone else on this earth. Agape love does not wait until a spouse treats them with kindness. Christians go further, and they go further first! Christian parents go further with how they deal with their children than those in the world. Our children’s friends should see how we treat out children and be jealous! Christian children go further in honoring their parents than their friends at school do to their parents. Remember that Jesus went further and so should we!

Christians go further in the workplace than their fellow workers. The Bible uses the term “eyeservice” to describe those who work only when the eyes of their employers see them. Christians do not give eye-service—they go further (Eph. 6:6). They also work just as diligently for good bosses as they do for unkind ones (1 Pet. 2:18). Our Lord went further, and so should we.

Now, take this principle and make it part of your life and part of the life in your family. Going further than others expect will change you and will brighten the light you shine. It will also shock those around you. They likely have never met someone who goes the extra mile. Perhaps they will even see you as part of a church that practices this lifestyle and be led to become part of this great family.

Why not take a moment right now and think of what you did yesterday or today where you could have done more. Do not ever forget. He went further and so should we!

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