Speaking Evil and Judging

I have noticed in observing kids especially, when an objective standard is established by a recognised authority they are keen to see others comply.  It seems a great injustice that they would be obedient to the rule and others would ignore it.  Little pleasure is taken in the fact they are doing what they are told when others break the rule without consequences.  It is nigh impossible for some outwardly compliant children to remain silent about rulebreakers without complaining about them or dobbing them in.  It may be I know something about this from personal experience.  One child disobeys to express his own will, and telling on him is a way for the more compliant and legalistic to try to control him.  No motive is pure in this instance.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we grew out of our tendency to disobey, lie, gossip and meddle as we grew older?  Our old ways do not supernaturally vaporise after we come to Jesus Christ in faith.  For this reason James exhorted Jewish believers in James 4:11-12:  "Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. ¹² There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another?"  Obeying the Law of Moses was a massive part of Jewish culture in ancient times until now, and it was not uncommon for differences of opinion and interpretation to lead to conflict: business deals went sour, family dramas persisted, and people had different religious practices and convictions.  James told believers not to speak evil of one another in judgment.  They were not to vent their feelings or opinions of others by slanderous gossip, to pit people against one another, or to humiliate by divulging private matters.

Speaking evil of others is contrary to what James previously stated, that we ought to humble ourselves before God and man.  James explained that the arrogant judgment of others was actually to speak against the Law--and this is contrary to a heart that is humble and subject to the Law.  The role of judges is to rightly interpret and apply the Law to the lives of people, and those who judge and speak evil of one another disobey the Law.  The only One who is above the Law is the Lawgiver and Author of it, Jesus Christ.  The Law is good when used lawfully, and Jesus is the righteous Judge of all.  Only a fool would speak ill of His Law and by extension the Author Himself, the One able to save and destroy.  Us judging someone or the Law judging someone are two different things.

If you have ever played baseball, you know the umpire has the authority to officiate the game.  He does not make the rules but enforces them, and the umpire's word is final.  The umpire alone calls balls and strikes, and any player with a brain in his head knows it is in his best interest not to argue with the umpire--even when he is convinced the umpire made a bad call.  It is not in the player's favour to openly assert or even imply the umpire is blind, does not know the strike zone or is stupid.  If the player is not immediately ejected for his comments, he can be sure any future marginal calls will not go his way.  So the smart, self-controlled player shuts up, lets the umpire make the call, and does his best to get a hit within the rules of the game.  If we know not to speak poorly of an umpire, how much more careful should we be not to speak evil of one another and by extension the Law?  We aren't a judge or the Lawgiver, and thus we are called to be obedient to Christ as His faithful subjects.

James asked, "Who are you to judge another?"  We are not called to voice negative opinions of others as if we are a judge in a court of law "just stating the facts" of a case.  As those subject to Christ, we should focus our efforts on what He requires of us rather than stating how others have failed to measure up.  Even if we are in a position of authority in the church or a judge, it is not fitting we would speak against the Law or by extension the Lawgiver.  There are ways to deal with sin and offence in the Bible we ought to follow, and speaking evil of others through gossip or slander are not ways God has prescribed.  If we speak evil of the brethren we are like the self-righteous hypocrite who tattles on others, a sinner before the God Who will bring every word and motive of the heart into judgment.  Those who speak evil of others do so at their own peril, for there is one Judge--and we are not Him.

Preserved by God

"Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."

1 Thessalonians 5:23

Having forgiven our sins and purified us by the Gospel of grace, He is able to preserve us blameless until Christ returns.  A "life preserver" is intended to save a potential victim of drowning, and Jesus is faithful to save all who trust in Him.  As it is written in Jude 1:24-25, "Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, ²⁵ to God our Savior, Who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen."  During study preparation I was intrigued by the concept of how God preserves His people and realised His manner of preservation is very different than ours.

When we preserve things, we do so with the intention to keep them exactly as they are.  The first thing that comes to mind are fruit preserves or conserve, fruit canned with a high-sugar content to prevent spoilage.  I thought of pickled organs or body parts suspended in formaldehyde, or even entire bodies stored in glass tubes in clear fluid like in science fiction movies.  There are chemical preservatives added to food to keep it fresh as long as possible.  Artwork is preserved by sealing out moisture, dust and insects, and by maintaining an appropriate temperature out of direct sunlight.  All is done to keep things how they currently are to prevent further decay, damage or degradation.

This is not God’s way of preservation.  He does not put us in glass tubes to protect us from potential dangers of the world, nor is He like an additive infused into us to slow the decomposition process.  After we are born again, He does not preserve us how we are:  He uses our experiences in our fallen world, other people and trials to refine us, gives us His word to change us and supplies the Holy Spirit to transform us.  Our whole selves are blameless by His atoning sacrifice and no one can snatch us from His hand, yet God puts us through the fire of affliction and preserves us while He refines and purifies us.  Spiritually we are made righteous and preserved blameless, but He also moulds us to be more like Jesus every day.

By faith in Jesus we are enabled to endure and press on--even if we feel like the stress and toil of life is tearing us apart.  We can have all confidence in God's preservation and salvation during this life and also when our souls are required of us in physical death.  Having been made alive to God through spiritual regeneration, He desires us to keep growing, learning and choose to joyfully embrace our sanctification.  He does not treat us like the servant who buried the talent in the ground merely to preserve it:  God desires we would be invested in life for His glory and to be fruitful.  Praise God for preserving us blameless and also helping us mature and be changed for the best at the same time.

God Must Be Glorified

It is great pleasure for those who give gifts to have them joyfully received.  Some people can be difficult to buy for because they seem to have everything or have refined tastes.  King Solomon was a man of enormous wealth, and I imagine very challenging to impress.  To have your gift gladly received and used by him would have been a great compliment, and in a small way could be viewed by the giver as accepting his own person.  If a commoner has difficulty to give a suitable gift to someone who isn't even royalty, to find an acceptable offering before the LORD God is impossible!

In His grace, God provided His Law for the Hebrews that outlined acceptable offerings and sacrifices for His glory that also benefitted the people by atoning for sin and feeding them.  Imagine how joyful the people were after the tabernacle had been constructed, Aaron the high priest and his sons were sanctified, and the LORD consumed the sacrifice on the altar with fire from heaven in their sight.  Leviticus 9:23-24 tells us what happened:  "And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of meeting, and came out and blessed the people. Then the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people, ²⁴ and fire came out from before the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the fat on the altar. When all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces."  When a baseball player hits a home run fans instinctively stand to their feet, and when a rugby player scores a try a shout of joy rings out from faithful supporters.  The glory of the LORD appeared to the people and the burnt offering was consumed on the altar, God's people shouted with joy and fell on their faces before His presence.

To have your offering received by God with fire from heaven!  What amazement, what gladness swept through the people!  The incredible act proved God's existence, was affirmation they had done according to His Law, their sin was forgiven and they had been accepted by Him--unlike Cain who was rejected.  But the euphoria did not last long.  Leviticus 10:1-3 says, "Then Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it, put incense on it, and offered profane fire before the LORD, which He had not commanded them. ² So fire went out from the LORD and devoured them, and they died before the LORD. ³ And Moses said to Aaron, "This is what the LORD spoke, saying: 'By those who come near Me I must be regarded as holy; and before all the people I must be glorified.' " So Aaron held his peace."  God who consumed the sacrifice offered Him, in accordance to Law, also consumed the priests who disobeyed God by doing what He had not commanded.  In the process of offering the first sacrifices in the history of the nation of Israel two men perished before God due to their sin.  This had a sobering effect upon all who witnessed the event:  no priest in the line of Aaron was God, and they were to give Him reverence rather than show off or seek glory for themselves.

This passage makes clear our best efforts or doing as we see fit makes us acceptable before God.  The only way we can stand before Him, serve Him and present ourselves as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable before God, is when we follow God's ordained way.  Jesus has revealed Himself as the Way, the Truth and the Life, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.  Under the New Covenant of grace, our God remains a consuming fire.  We see this in the early church when Ananias and Sapphira lied to the Holy Spirit about the price of the land and were struck dead.  Great fear came upon the church and all who heard these things.  The righteous response of His faithful servants is to humble ourselves before God and to glorify Him through our obedience--not to bury the talents He gives us lest He find reason to reject us--for this betrays our carelessness and selfish desire for our own glory.

Hebrews 12:28-29 says of Christians, "Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. ²⁹ For our God is a consuming fire."  As Adam Clarke wrote, "He will either hallow or destroy us: he will purify our souls by the influence of his Spirit, or consume them with the breath of his mouth!"  Those who humble themselves before God in faith and obedience are made holy by His indwelling presence, and He daily teaches us to put our sin to the sword in repentance.  It is only by the grace of God through the Gospel we are enabled to stand before Him and offer ourselves as living sacrifices.  Having accepted us by grace through faith, we are to serve Him with reverence and godly fear.  Judgment begins at the house of God, and by our sanctified lives may the almighty God be glorified today!

Jesus With Us

The Bible is the powerful word of God that has profound meaning packed into each individual word, phrase and sentence.  In cross-referencing different books of the Bible fresh insights are illuminated, providing additional points of personal application.  Because some verses or statements that convey comforting truths are repeated often to the point of becoming cliche, it is possible the context of the scripture can be ignored or forgotten.  The immediate context of a verse is extremely significant, for without it we can miss the purpose of why it was written and how God intended it to impact our outlook.  A verse I read this morning illustrated this well.

If you have been a Christian for a little while, it is likely you have heard Jesus has promised believers "never to leave or forsake you."  This is true in every sense.  But this is the second half of a verse without providing the reason why this was brought up at all--and it might surprise you.  For the sake of context I will include the previous and following verses in Hebrews 13:4-6:  "Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge. ⁵ Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." ⁶ So we may boldly say: "The LORD is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?"  Now there are many situations where we are comforted and encouraged to know Jesus is with us and will not forsake us, yet the immediate context of this promise is an exhortation against covetousness and to be content.  I suspect the cliche version is rarely used towards that end.

Reading these verses together gives us insight how fornication and adultery demonstrate covetousness, to pursue a romantic or sexual relationship outside of singleness or marriage.  There are people who are not married and covet a spouse, and others who are married and desire to pursue others in lust.  Because Jesus is with the single and the married person alike, regardless of our marital status we can experience contentment through faith in Him.  We might not struggle with covetousness concerning relationships but with other things others have and we do not.  Our conduct as children of God ought not to be marred by covetousness--greed and sinful ingratitude for what God has provided us or our current marital state--but we can find contentment and rest in Jesus alone.  You may not have experienced this yet, but based on the promise of Jesus contentment is offered along with His presence.  As real as the offer of salvation is through the Gospel for sinners, so contentment is provided by Jesus by faith for the naturally covetous.

The following verse is also connected to the contentment we have in Jesus alone:  "So we may boldly say:  "The LORD is my helper; I will not fear.  What can man do to me?"  Because Christ is with us, we can have confidence in the LORD's help today without fear of man.  We can also rest comfortable in a future that seems uncertain, for no man is greater than our Saviour Who is with us and will never forsake us.  People can mock and scorn us; man can even kill us.  But no one can separate us from Jesus Christ, His love, and deprive us of sweet fellowship with our Saviour.  We are greatly helped and realise we are never alone because Jesus will never leave or forsake us.  Many people have been left by their spouse and been heartbroken, but Jesus will never break our hearts like this.  We ought to have broken hearts for all the times we have coveted, looked with lust, and lived without contentment when Jesus was faithful to be with us and never left us alone.  The contrite and repentant heart Jesus will heal and purify, and this is reason to rejoice forever by faith in our Saviour Who is with us.