REFORMED CHURCH, BELLVILLE: SUNDAY 10
FEBRUARY 2002: EVENING SERVICE
Our help is in the Name of the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.
Beloved, grace and peace be to you from God our Father, and the Lord
Jesus Christ, through the mighty working of God the Holy Spirit.
AMEN.
Psalm of praise: 9:1,5
Prayer
Psalm 2:5
Scripture reading: Luke 6:17-49
Text: Catechism Sunday 43
Luke 6:37
"Do
not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will
not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned."
The Jews agreed that all people on earth were unacceptable to the Lord
as a result of their sins - all but they!
- They had become so presumptuous in their form of worship that
they considered that they had outgrown God's judgement.
- Actually, they had gone so far as to arrogate to themselves God's
prerogative of judgement, and to condemn all the heathen.
- They had become so self-important in their religion that they no
longer understood their calling.
- They were the people who bore God's covenant, and through whom
the gospel was to pass to all the other nations as well - and in this
they failed.
- Now we should not judge the Jews too harshly, for we are always
in danger of making the same mistake - even though we are members of
the New Testament church.
There are various reasons why we should not judge others. In this
sermon we shall consider some of these matters:
1. We are not judges, because God has
not appointed us in that capacity.
2. We cannot be divine judges, because
we ourselves do not in all respects have the gift of discrimination.
3. We may not judge, because we are
ourselves guilty of our sins before God.
1. We are not judges, because God did
not appoint us in that capacity.
Frequently there are believers who use God's Word as a sword to pass
judgement on other people and other nations, as if they had drawn up
God's secret counsel and plan.
- We must realize that we believers are not competent to judge
others just because we are believers - we are servants of God, and
therefore also servants of His Word.
- A servant cannot do the work of his master. Our task is to
proclaim the gospel of redemption: God Himself will pass judgement.
- We cannot deny that there are some members of the congregation
who grow in sin, and who have no wish to desist from doing so.
- It is true that some people do not live in accordance with
God's Word.
- And it is just as true that another will surrender to
covetousness,
- and it is also true that some live immoral lives.
- and it is as true that others will grow more and more
ill-tempered,
- and yet others will become tardier and more remiss in meeting
the requirements of their faith.
But it is not for us to judge them - our calling is to proclaim God's
grace to them, so that they may repent, because the love of God urges
them to break with their sins.
- But we may not play the judge and condemn them, because we are
not God who sits in the seat of judgement.
- We are not called to see how many people we can hurt and drive
away from us.
- We are called to find and meet with sinners and to proclaim to
them the gospel of grace (and, if necessary, of repentance).
God Himself has the necessary procedures in the congregation to
minister to sinners, and then, if they are obdurate in their
wrongdoing, to apply disciplinary measures and expel them from the
church. But that is not what this commandment is about. It
requires members of the church to refrain from maligning and condemning
one another and others.
Let us consider the statement that God did not appoint us as judges,
and that we therefore are not permitted to pass judgement on others.
- If our neighbour has done something wrong in his spiritual life,
there is a specific manner in which the matter should be dealt with in
accordance with God's Word.
- If he has committed a sin which is punishable in terms of the law
of the land, there is also a manner in which the Lord wishes it to be
done at that level.
- We have worldly judges who must distinguish between right and
wrong in all kinds of judicial matters, and pass judgement in that
capacity.
- They do not pass judgement on the grounds of their personal
opinion; all must pass judgement in accordance with a specific judicial
system.
- This judicial system has also been willed by God. And all of us
- king as well as beggar - bow before that judicial authority of the
Judge.
But now there is the tendency among people to pass judgement on the
lives and activities of others, and then to tear to shreds the lives of
these people.
- And this, while they have not been appointed in any such
capacity, and while they also do not possess the wisdom and insight of
God to qualify them to judge others.
- No person is able to pass judgement in terms of God's grace and
election.
- Our judgement rests only upon our personal opinion, which has
been quite heavily contaminated through sin.
That is why the Lord tells us: Do not judge. You are not God's judge.
God calls us as believers to worship Him, and to serve one another.
That is why the commandment to love one another is so central to His
law.
2. We cannot be divine judges, because
we ourselves do not in all respects have the gift of discrimination.
To gossip about others and to besmirch their name is directly in
opposition to the commandment to love one another. Stated in very
direct terms: It means that we would then miss our calling completely.
- Let me ask you a question which you must answer for yourselves:
Can someone who refuses to do what he was created for, one day be with
God in heaven?
- Does the Lord not say that you will reap what you sow?
In verses 36 and 38 the Lord provides the answer to the problem. Do not
judge, because it will merely land you in trouble.
- Rather give in love and with charity.
- Forgive others their transgressions, and let God eventually judge
righteously.
- We must just pray for grace and for our personal acquittal.
- We pray this of God and of other people - and we must act
similarly towards our fellowmen. Look in your Bibles - it is written in
verses 37 and 38.
Just like other persons, we have been damaged by sin. This means that
our insight is as limited as theirs.
- Can you pass judgement on the mental torment and stress born by
someone who has committed suicide?
- Do you know all that passed through his mind before taking his
own life?
- No, you don't. Therefore you may not pass judgement. This holds
good, basically, for other sins.
Verse 40 states that a pupil is not above his teacher, but after he has
been fully trained, he will be like his teacher. Apply this to the
previous verse: We are all blind.
- If we are taught by God, we will become like Him, and then we
will know better than to pass judgement, but be merciful and act with
love.
- Paul asks in Romans 8: "... who
is the one who condemns?" And then he answers his question in the
words; "Christ Jesus ... is he who
died ... who also intercedes for us..." And in the previous
verse: "God is the one who justifies."
If you are one who maligns and condemns people, this simply means that
you have a different teacher, someone other than the Lord.
3. We may not judge, because we are
ourselves guilty of our sins before God.
The Lord will demand a reckoning of every one of us, because we are
ourselves guilty and stand accused. Where does the judgement we so
frequently pass on other people fit in with the situation on that day
of divine judgement?
- The bare fact is that the Lord will open the books (Rev. 20:12)
and then everybody's sins will be clear before us.
- We will be so condemnable, that we will be unable even to speak.
- How can we then, since that is our condition, pass judgement on
others in this world?
The Lord teaches that none is righteous, not even one (Romans 3:10 and
12).
- He teaches that we have all sinned against the supreme majesty of
God.
- For that reason none of us can be saved through our works.
- Those who are eventually in heaven will be there purely through
the grace He has bestowed upon them.
- Since we are ourselves in such a weak position, we are not, by
any stretch of the imagination, in a position to pass judgement on the
lives and sins of others.
- The Lord means precisely this when He says that you must first
remove the log from your own eye before trying to remove the speck from
your brother's eye.
- We therefore have but one way before us, and that is to abandon
all forms of hypocrisy regarding others.
- We should talk less about others, and devote more attention to
our own sins.
Jesus Christ did not die so that we may say what we like about others;
also not so that we may criticize others - left, right and centre -
without a fair hearing.
- He died so that the Holy Spirit could be poured out over us to
lead us to salvation.
- In this process He teaches us to know where we ourselves sin.
- He also teaches us to devote our entire lives to God out of
thankfulness for our redemption - and to promote rather than to destroy
the good name of our neighbour.
- Our redemption in Christ teaches us to focus our love upon our
neighbour.
- We must promote his wellbeing
- and win him for the Lord through our example.
By maligning and passing judgement on others we achieve just the
opposite. We break down. We destroy. We do not evince the love of God
that must go out from us to win others for the Lord.
Let us read Catechism Sunday 43 together.
LORD'S DAY XLIII
112. question. What is
required in the ninth commandment?
answer. That I bear false
witness against no man1; wrest no man's words2,
be no backbiter or slanderer3; do not judge, nor join in
condemning, any man rashly or unheard4; but that I avoid all sorts of
lies and deceit as the proper works of the devil4, unless I
would bring down upon myself the heavy wrath of God5;
likewise, that in judicial and other dealings I love the truth, speak
it uprightly6, and confess it; and that, as much as I am
able, I defend and promote the honour and reputation of my neighbour8.
1. Prov.19:5,9; 21:28 2. Ps.15:3; 50:19,20 3. Rom.1:30 4. Matt.7:1;
Luke 6:37
5. John 8:44 6. Prov.12:22; 13:5 7. 1 Cor.13:6; Eph.4:25 8. 1 Pet.4:8
AMEN.
Closing prayer.
Closing Psalm: 138:1
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the
fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
AMEN.
Rev. Dr. M.J. du Plessis
Reformed Church
Bellville.
10 February 2002
Scripture quoted from NASB.