Judge Not, Lest Ye Be Judged

As a point of interest, this is actually a misquote. There is no “lest” in the verse. The King James version reads: “Judge not, that ye be not judged.” (Matthew 7:1, KJV)

Matthew 7:1-2

A. Judge not
–1. We must judge ourselves, but must not judge our brother
—-a. We must not sit in the judgment seat, making our word a law to others
—-b. As James likens it, we must not speak evil of our brother (James 4:11)
–2. We must not judge a man’s soul by a single act
—-a. We cannot infer what he is in himself based on what he is to us
—-b. Nor can we judge the heart, the intention, for that job belongs to God alone
—-c. Counsel our brothers, yes, and help them, but do not judge them
–3. A point of clarification
—-a. Making the assertion that another person’s actions are wrong is not judging
——i. Judging is not holding our brothers and sisters accountable to God’s Word
—-b. Judging happens when we make a judgment call on another person’s heart
——i. When we assert their intentions, and decide where their heart lies in relationship to God
B. That you be not judged
–1. If we judge others, we may expect to be judged ourselves
—-a. No one is more judged by others than the one who is most vocally judgmental
—-b. No mercy is given to the reputation of those who show no mercy to others
–2. We will be judged accordingly by God
—-a. Indeed, we will be judged more harshly by God
—-b. James 3:1
–3. With the judgment you pronounce you will be judged
—-a. You will be measured by the same measure you have used for others
—-b. Let us, then, be gracious and charitable, not severe, with our brothers

Do We Deserve Long Life?

Let me preface this by being entirely forthcoming: I have very little experience with death.  I have not experienced the death of an aunt, uncle, cousin, parent, child, sibling, spouse, close friend, or pet.  All four of my grandparents are alive.  In fact, only one death thus far has brought me to truly uncontrolled weeping and deep mourning: when the 11-year old brother of one of my dearest friends died suddenly and tragically.  But even then, I suppose I felt not so much the pain of loss as the pain of sympathy, the sorrow of seeing my good friend so broken in anguish.

Death is wrong.  Death is bad. Death, I believe, was not a part of God’s original plan, is not his desire for us, and, praise Jesus, will not be a part of our new creation in him.  And yet, God allows us to die, all of us; he allows countless children to die and we ache with longings for who they could have, would have become.  And I think it is significant that when death is at its most painful, it is always because someone died too young.  Certainly, children are too young to die, but even the man in his early 50s is too young to have a heart attack.

And so we turn on God.  We are incensed at his great injustice, to allow those so young to die.  I think of Africa, that God would allow orphans, the most helpless of children, to be malnourished, diseased, and starved — literally — to death.  And yet, if you are at all like me, you do not think it better that these children had never been born.

I want to challenge the idea that we are entitled to a certain duration of life.  To be sure, the sudden, accidental death of an 11-year old boy is, of course, more acutely painful than a great-grandmother who, after a long, fulfilling, tiring life, finally passes in her sleep.  But does this mean that it is a greater injustice?  That someone or something or somebeing is guilty? responsible? reprehensible?  That even God himself should be held accountable for allowing someone to die too soon?

I do not believe so, and here’s why: I believe that death, however tragic in circumstance, is not so inherently bad as to outweigh the inherent goodness of life.  The very act of creation is so bursting with goodness and beauty and wonder and love that the pain and wrongness of death pales in comparison.  How blessed is the family that was given 11 years of joy!  So short, and over so soon, but 11 years of undeserved joy, infinitely more good than none.  And that’s the bottom line: life itself is an act of God’s grace.  It is a gift that none of us deserve, and God does no greater or lesser injustice in letting life end after 11 years than after 11 days or 11 decades.

I mean not to discourage mourning, nor to rush it.  Only to suggest that in our mourning, let us not charge God with wrong.  Let us not forget the good gift that was, and is, life.

I have not dealt much with death.  I have, however, seen many men and women better than me respond to death with astounding peace, praising God for life in spite of the pain of death.  It is my hope and prayer that, when death comes to those closest to me, I may fall to the ground alongside Job, worshiping God: “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

Do not be anxious, part 2

Matthew 6:25-34

A. Christ’s reasons for not worrying (cont’d)
–1. Who, by worrying, can add one hour to his life, or add one cubit to his height?
—-a. What a foolish and ridiculous thing to be filled with anxiety about how to make oneself taller
—-b. So, too, is it foolish to worry about circumstances that we cannot change
——i. We ought to reconcile ourselves to our current state
——ii. What cannot be remedied, we must make the best of
—-c. So, like Zaccheus, don’t worry about height, but rather climb a tree to better see Christ
–2. The Gentiles seek and are concerned with things of the world
—-a. They are eager for this world because they are strangers to a better world
—-b. They live without God in their world, and without knowledge of his providence
–3. But our heavenly Father knows that we need all these things
—-a. Food and clothing, God knows and provides for us
—-b. We should, then, ease our worries by giving them to God (1 Peter 5:7)
–4. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness
—-a. We are called to devote our care and thought to the kingdom of God before our own worldly well-being
——i. It is our duty to desire and to pursue the kingdom of God
——ii. And let righteousness be our way, seeking righteousness as we seek heaven
—-b. Seek it first
——i. First in priority, and first in practice
——ii. Let us do first that which is most needful, letting God who is First have our first
–5. All these things will be added to you
—-c. If we diligently seek first the kingdom of God and its righteousness, the Lord will provide the needs of this life as much as he sees good for us, and we would not wish for more
—-a. Godliness is good for us, even in this life (1 Timothy 4:8)
—-b. We, like Joseph’s family, should have no concern for our things when the best of God’s kingdom is ours (Genesis 45:20)
–6. Tomorrow will be anxious for itself
—-a. Not that we should not prepare ourselves with wisdom
—-b. But that we should not burden ourselves with worry of difficulties and problems which may never come
——i. Or may prove to be easy to bear when they do come
—-c. The trouble of today is sufficient, we need not accumulate burdens by anticipating future trouble
—-d. Let us mind our present duty as it comes
B. To conclude: It is Jesus’ will and command for us that we not be our own tormentors
–1. We need not make our life more dark and unpleasant by worrying about troubles than it already is by the troubles themselves
–2. “By our daily prayers we may procure strength to bear us up under our daily troubles, and to arm us against the temptations that attend them, and then let none of these things move us.” -Matthew Henry

*Space and time prevent me from including an aside on death here, but, as promised, I will follow up soon with a post of its own.

Do not be anxious, part 1

Matthew 6:25-34

A. Do not be anxious about your life
–1. Christ takes the time to repeat three times that we ought not be anxious
—-a. Worry and anxiety disturb our joy in God, and hinder our hope in him
—-b. They come from a disbelief of the goodness and wisdom of God’s sovereignty
——i. If we truly believe and trust in his good provision, we have no place for worry
–2. Christ gives reasons to support this command
—-a. Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing
——i. Sure, food is necessary for life, but life is so much more than food
——ii. Life is like the light from an oil lamp, food is only the oil
——iii. Life itself is from the breath of God
——–1. So let us not worry about the good gift that God has given us
—-b. Consider the birds, and the lilies of the field
——i. God’s providence cares for the inferior creatures
——ii. Birds are among the farthest from the care of men, yet they are fed
——–1. And they are fed without any toil of their own
———-a. The ant and the bee may be examples of hard work, planning, and industry
———-b. But the birds teach us to trust and rely on God for our daily bread
——iii. Lilies do not toil, yet they are clothed in beauty
——–1. The God who provides for a lily without its labor will surely much more provide for us
———-a. It is our duty to work, and God blesses our labor
——iv. Therefore let us not be anxious about food or clothing

We ought to reconsider our view of death. Often we view death as a sign of God’s failing to provide and care for us. We cannot, we tell ourselves, put our trust in God for food, because there are people that die of starvation. Can we really assert that God has failed to provide for those people? More on that tomorrow.

An Eye Toward God’s Treasure

*Note: I apologize for missing yesterday’s post. My internet was down.

Matthew 6:22-24

A. The eye and the body
–1. The eye is the lamp of the body
—-a. Whatever the eye is directed upon will affect, or infect, the whole
–2. If the eye is healthy (KJV “single”: free from deceit)
—-a. An eye toward goodness and charity will direct us to Christian action
—-b. We will be full of light, full of good works, which are lights shining before others (Matthew 5:16)
–3. If the eye is bad, or evil
—-a. An eye toward coveting and lust, grudging and griping, will direct us to darkness
—-b. We will be full of darkness, of corruption and worldly desires and hypocrisy
–4. As our eye directs our whole being, we must direct our eye upon good
—-a. Incline our eye to the treasures of heaven, and our hearts will follow
B. Who is your master?
–1. No man can serve two masters
—-a. Christ, especially in terms of money, dispels the myth that we can serve two masters
—-b. We cheat ourselves, convincing ourselves we can divide between God and the world
——i. That we can please both God and men, and have treasures both in heaven AND on earth
——ii. We try to make our religion serve our worldly interests
—-c. Christ tells us it is not possible
——i. It makes common sense
——ii. Their commands, at some point, will contradict or interfere with one another
——iii. When two masters part ways, you will see which one the servant follows
–2. You cannot serve God and money (KJV “mammon”: gain, or wealth)
—-a. Whatever is of the world, the lusts of the flesh, of the eye, is “mammon”
——i. To some it is food, or laziness, or money (Philippians 3:19, Proverbs 6:9)
—-b. We cannot serve with both an eye to God and an eye to gain
——i. God says be content, but gain says grasp at all you can
——ii. God says be honest and just, gain says cheat, if you can get away with it
——iii. God says be charitable, gain says hold on to what is yours
——iv. God says to keep the sabbath holy, but gain says to make use of that day as well as any other for the world
——v. Their commands are inconsistent, so that we cannot serve both
——–1. Not that we mustn’t serve both, or shouldn’t serve both
——–2. We cannot
—-c. Who is the second master, the rival to God?
——i. You are.

——ii. When you cannot serve both your own interests and God’s, which will you choose?
—-d. We should have our eye toward God, for he has an eye toward our good (Romans 8:28)
——i. Let us make the good choice, and then let us abide by it

Treasures in Heaven

Matthew 6:19-21

A. A fundamental error of hypocrites and sinners is that they choose the world for their reward
–1. Jesus, having warned us against coveting the praise of men, warns us against coveting the treasures of the world
B. Laying up your treasure
–1. Everyone has something that he makes his treasure
—-a. His portion, that which his heart dwells upon
—-b. Christ’s aim is not to deprive us of our treasure, but to direct us in our choosing it
–2. Do not lay up your treasure on earth
—-a. We ought not consider earthly treasures, material things, to be the best things
—-b. We ought to know when we have enough
——i. Not coveting an abundance, not continually desiring more
—-c. We ought not depend upon wealth to be our supply, our security in the future
—-d. We should be content with little, not grasping for surplus
–3. Why we should not make worldly things our treasure
—-a. They are liable to destruction
——i. Worldly things break down, change, lose value, and spoil
——ii. Worldly things are inherently prone to corruption and decay
—-b. They are liable to loss or theft
——i. The greater the treasure, the greater the eyes of theft upon it
——ii. No worldly treasure can be so laid up that it is impossible to lose
——–1. It is foolishness to make these insecurities our treasure
—-c. This relates especially to what Jesus has just preached about seeking the praise of men
——i. The opinions of men are fickle, prone to corruption and change, easily stolen away
——ii. They are an earthly treasure
–4. Lay up treasures in heaven
—-a. There are treasures in heaven, as sure as there are on this earth
——i. It is wise to lay up our treasure in these
—-b. We ought to place our contentment and happiness in Christ
–5. Why we should make heavenly things our treasure
—-a. They are safe from destruction
—-b. They are safe from loss and theft
—-c. Heavenly things are above and beyond the changes and chances of the world
C. Where is your heart?
–1. It is good to be concerned with our treasure, because our heart will follow
—-a. “The temper of our minds, and consequently the tenor of our lives, will be accordingly either carnal or spiritual, earthly or heavenly.” -Matthew Henry
–2. Our hearts belong to God
—-a. We ought to lay up our treasure in him, so that our hearts will be lifted to him
—-b. If our hearts are with Christ, where can they be better?