SPIRITUAL JUDGMENT
[p. 161] SPIRITUAL JUDGMENT
1 Corinthians 6:1 - 5; John 18:19 - 24; Judges 3:5 - 11; Judges 4:1 - 6 ( ... commanded?)
According to the passage we have read in the epistle to the Corinthians, we see, as regards judgment, what is the destiny of the saints who compose the assembly: they will judge the world and they will judge angels. May we now, in the exercise of judgment among the saints, be qualified for our great functions to come in this respect!
The question is put as follows, in the epistle to the Corinthians: “Thus there is not a wise person among you, not even one, who shall be able to decide between his brethren!” Is there not such a man who can settle questions among his brethren? It is evident that they were lacking in such wisdom, in spite of all that the apostle Paul says as to them (1 Corinthians 1:5 - 7). The question that he puts makes us think that there was not a wise man among them, a man capable of deciding difficult questions among his brethren. Nevertheless, he maintains that those who form part of the assembly are qualified to act thus, for he orders that those who are “little esteemed in the assembly” should be employed for such occasions. “Set those to judge who are little esteemed in the assembly”. Notice that the one who was to be employed is a person of the assembly, for intelligent persons are found “in the assembly”; and if wisdom is not there, it will not be found anywhere in the world. “If two of you shall agree on the earth concerning any matter, whatsoever it may be that they shall ask, it shall come to them from my Father who is in the heavens” Matthew 18:19. It is a question of two or three who are in the assembly.
I now desire to show you, from the other passages [p. 162] we have read, how this spirit of judgment is to be developed in us; in that, as in all else, we must learn from Christ. He is found before the throne of judgment, where true justice ought to have been administered; but He was not Himself on the throne of judgment, although that throne belonged to Him. God “has set a day in which he is going to judge the habitable earth in righteousness by the man whom he has appointed, giving the proof of it to all in having raised him from among the dead” Acts 17:31. He is the Judge, and the world will soon get the benefit of His perfect administration. It will not be an administration encumbered by interminable Acts of Parliament. It would be very difficult for anyone to read all the Acts of Parliament of men, even if one spent a whole life at it. They have their own value; but our Lord Jesus Christ Himself sums up the whole law in these two commandments: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy understanding. This is the great and first commandment. And the second is like it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments the whole law and the prophets hang” Matthew 22:37 - 40. Our great and beloved Lawgiver will write these two commandments in the hearts of men; and the world to come, of which He will be Judge, will enjoy a perfect administration of justice.
Nevertheless, at the moment of which we are speaking, He was not on the throne of judgment: He was at the bar of the tribunal of men: it is the opposite of all moral history. As the passage in John 18 shows, the position was reversed, for the Judge of Israel was there, in the presence of all. It is true that He was smitten, but He was present; He did not keep silence, for that moment formed part of His testimony as the Judge of Israel. Before leaving this world, our Lord was to bear witness to just judgment. As if he were himself the true judge,
[p. 163] the high priest questions Him. He calls witnesses, for, according to the law, “at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall a matter be established” Deuteronomy 19:15. “The high priest therefore demanded of Jesus concerning his disciples and concerning his doctrine. Jesus answered him, I spoke openly to the world; I taught always in the synagogue and in the temple, where all the Jews come together, and in secret I have spoken nothing. Why demandest thou of me? Demand of those who have heard, what I have spoken to them; behold, they know what I have said”. The Lord’s acts were public. His ministry was public. He did nothing, and said nothing, in secret. There were thousands of witnesses of what He had said and done. Why were they not called, if He was to be judged? But we see that one of them gave Him a blow on the face. Such was the character of the throne of judgment before which the Lord was found. Since everything was based on witness, if He had spoken evil, why not bear witness of the evil? And if He had spoken well, why smite Him? “If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil; but if well, why smitest thou me?” The Lord did not defend Himself, though He might have appealed to legions of angels. He had told the disciples that if they were smitten on one cheek, they were to present the other.
If therefore there are differences between brethren, we have here the principles on which judgment is to be carried out; and if a wise man is found among them, he will act according to these principles. He will thus qualify for that great function in the day to come. The Judge of Israel, in presence of the high priest, had established all these principles; and they should be maintained and put into practice in the assembly today, as they will be in the future.
These principles were applied in Israel, in old times, when the need was felt. The first judge of Israel [p. 164] was Othniel, and I believe that if we examine the passage in the book of Judges regarding him, we shall learn from that judge a feature that should form the basis of all judgment approved of God. The people of God were living in bad company; it says, “The children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, Hittites and Amorites and Perizzites and Hivites and Jebusites”. They “dwelt”, it says. And what was the result? It was that they inter-married, with the inevitable consequence that the practices of those nations characterised the people of God. It is a very serious situation — a situation that has often characterised the people of God, and which characterises them much in our day. Such circumstances bring in the governmental ways of God, and His ways are always the fruit of His love. The divine thought is expressed in the judge; and deliverance is also in the judge. The oppressor sent by the government of God was the king of Mesopotamia (that is to say “Syria of the two rivers”), a man possessed of great natural resources — learning which is very dangerous among the people of God and which brings you down to the level of men around you; in such a case we are sure to fall to the level of those who have only natural resources. Then there is neither progress nor spirituality. In those circumstances the judge must have great spiritual resources. There is no reason why there should be one of us not characterised by this, for faith’s resources are immense.
Othniel belonged to a blessed family, and no one can be a judge according to God if he does not belong to that family. He was of the family of a man, Caleb, whose faith had shone in the darkest days, and he persevered in faith; at the age of eighty-five years, this Caleb was full of vigour. “I am still this day strong, as in the day that Moses sent me” Joshua 14:11. He appreciated the inheritance of God and possessed the power to take possession of it. Further, Othniel [p. 165] had as wife the daughter of that great man of faith, who possessed great spiritual means. Othniel’s wife knew how to ask. She had encouraged her husband to ask of her father a field. She herself asked, “Give me a blessing; for thou hast given me a southern land; give me also springs of water. And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs” Judges 1:15. The king of Mesopotamia, with his two rivers, had no such resources. No man of this world has the resources possessed by the man of faith, a man established in the light of the assembly, and who has received, as blessings, the upper springs and the lower springs. He is infinitely superior to the man of this world, whatever he may possess materially. So Othniel was found beyond the reach of natural influences. How many of the Lord’s servants are independent of natural influences? Deliverance from these influences lies in laying hold of the resources which are available to us; and that is what is seen in Othniel and in Achsah. They acted on the principle of asking. So Othniel judged Israel and went out to war. “And Jehovah gave Chushan-rishathaim king of Syria into his hand; and his hand prevailed against Chushan-rishathaim. And the land had rest forty years”. You see, beloved, the great principle which is established in Othniel with regard to judgment; it is the principle of cultivating our spiritual resources and increasing them.
The other judge was Ehud. This man was different from Othniel. As to him, it was no question of family relations, nor of great spiritual resources. It was a question for him of the word of God. No one can be judge among the people of God, save one who knows how to use the Scriptures, and who knows how to use them spiritually. “For the word of God is living and operative, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and penetrating to the division of soul and spirit, both of joints and marrow, and a discerner [p. 166] of the thoughts and intents of the heart” Hebrews 4:12. This man’s weapon was a sword having two edges. You will remark that the sword has two edges; and I must know how to use this sword against myself. I can only use it against another if I have used it against myself This weapon distinguished between soul and spirit, and between joints and marrow; “a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart”. If therefore I have been personally searched by the word, there is no danger of my using partiality. I shall know how to judge; my judgment will be a righteous judgment; it will be according to the thoughts of God.
Ehud had to do with a fat man. It was a matter of human pride. Eglon king of Moab was “a very fat man” Judges 3:17. How much the people of God have been oppressed by human pride! How much they have suffered from it! How many things there are of which we are proud, alas! Yet all these humiliating things are not even worth the trouble of being mentioned by a Christian. Nevertheless, we are proud of them. We are enclosed in our own fat. What is to be done? A secret sword with two edges is absolutely necessary. It was no question of religious culture for Ehud: he was left-handed. He was not a normal man. He would have been quite despised in the seminaries; but he effectively maintained what met the situation at that moment. He acted ruthlessly against that terrible thing — pride — which has its origin in Satan himself. The secret of Satan’s fall was his pride. The saints themselves have to suffer from pride. If this man is to judge, in the presence of pride, he needs this sword — a sword having two edges; he knows how to wield it: he wields it skilfully.
The next judge is Shamgar. I did not read the passage: Judges 3:31. In him, we have another feature of this great principle of judgment. The [p. 167] instrument he uses is an ox-goad. If an ox could speak, it would be able to tell you what a goad means; but we are occupied with men, and Scripture uses oxen to speak of men. “Thou shalt not muzzle the ox”, it says, “that is treading out corn” (1 Corinthians 9:9); but it does not say, Thou shalt not use the goad. The goad is the discipline of God. It sometimes seems severe to us, but it is necessary. When I have learnt the lesson that is needful for me I have acquired experience, and it is according to my experience with God that I possess power. “He smote the Philistines, six hundred men, with an ox-goad” Judges 3:31. Who are the Philistines? Men of renown. They take a place among the people of God, because the latter have failed in their responsibility to exterminate them. As on previous occasions, they it was who ruled over Israel, but the man who possesses an ox-goad kills six hundred Philistines at one stroke, for in divine things he who can kill one can kill six hundred. So success flowed from experience.
If you have great spiritual resources, if you know how to use the word of God, if you have acquired experience in the school of God, then you will be qualified for spiritual judgment. Such are the great features that God can approve.
I will now speak of Deborah, in whom another feature is presented. It was a question of a woman; and it says that she “judged Israel at that time”. At that time, Israel was ruled by a man having great military resources. His resources were not those of the king of Mesopotamia. This man of great military resources was Jabin; and he had nine hundred chariots of iron, a great display of military power. Could a woman face such a situation? Let the sisters in particular consider it with us. Let us see how God meets this serious state of things. We are in the presence of the greatest display of military strength against the people of God; and a woman is to overcome [p. 168] all that. But how? She was the wife of Lapidoth, as Othniel was the husband of Achsah who had great spiritual resources; she was the wife of a man who had light (the name Lapidoth means ‘light’). I believe she represents the believer in relation with Christ as “the Light”, for the light is of the greatest importance when such a military force is to be met. In the epistle to the Ephesians, it speaks of the rulers of darkness against whom we have to struggle. The whole power of Satan is in view in the epistle to the Ephesians. We are therefore enlightened as to the place where Satan is and as to his power. It is an advantage to us to know the headquarters of the enemy and what are his forces.
But the light is not sufficient to gain the victory, and so we read that “she dwelt under the palm-tree of Deborah”. She had gained victories herself. I cannot stand, in the presence of Satan, apart from that. It was not the palm-tree of Lapidoth; it was the palm-tree of Deborah. If it had been the palm-tree of Lapidoth, it would have been objective, but it was a question of experiences she had had herself. She had herself overcome. It is said that “he that ruleth his spirit is better than he that taketh a city” Proverbs 16:32. The children of Israel came up to Deborah for judgment. She did not need to announce herself, for moral power was with that woman. “She dwelt under the palm-tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in Mount Ephraim; and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment”. Dear brothers and dear sisters, we must rule our own spirit in order that the Holy Spirit may do things in us. I have much more confidence in the instinct of a spiritual sister than in the calculated judgment of the most intelligent brother who is not spiritual. Instinct is the most important thing, and if we are spiritual, our instincts will be true. The children of Israel recognised [p. 169] this great quality in Deborah; they came up to her and trusted her judgment.
But all that was not sufficient to crush Sisera, the captain of Jabin’s army, and his chariots of iron, and his multitude. But it was a great moral basis in view of the defeat of the enemy. She says to Barak, “Hath not Jehovah, the God of Israel, commanded? Go and draw towards mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun, and I will draw unto thee, to the torrent Kishon, Sisera, the captain of Jabin’s army, and his chariots and his multitude, and I will give him into thy hand” Judges 4:6,7. She draws Barak’s attention to the commandment of Jehovah: “Hath not Jehovah the God of Israel commanded?” A commandment had been given, and if God commands, we can expect the complete defeat of the enemy, however powerful he may be. I do not wish to speak at length on this victory; I am speaking of the features, the qualities of the judge. These qualities shine beautifully in Deborah. The victory was due to her responding to the commandment of Jehovah: “Hath not Jehovah the God of Israel commanded?” The victory was complete. The result was seen in that “a mother in Israel” arose. Then the highways were established and the villages were no longer forsaken. It says that formerly the travellers on highways went by crooked paths and “the villages ceased in Israel” Judges 5:7. So you see that the service of Deborah introduced the great divine highways. Now we know where we are going; we no longer follow “crooked paths”, for there is a highway. We do not walk blindly. On these highways are the villages in which we enjoy happy fellowship and unity among our brethren. The ministry of Deborah had one great result: it is that there were those who love Jehovah. “Let them that love him be as the rising of the sun in its might” Judges 5:31.
[p. 170] Beloved, I might speak longer on this subject, for it includes the whole of the book of Judges. I only wished to point out to you these features in relation to the circumstances in which the testimony is at the present time; these features relate to our circumstances. I lay stress on what is seen in Deborah. If I am to have power among the saints, I must be in spiritual victory and know how to rule my own spirit. The saints will recognise me; I shall be wise, capable of deciding difficult questions between my brethren.
Thus we should be qualified, in view of the day when we shall judge the world and angels.
Address by J.T. at Valence, 12th May, 1926, evening.