EXTRACT
The words “Judge not, that ye be not judged”2 are often employed to hinder a sound judgment as to the plain path of right and wrong. If a person is walking in that which I know by the word of God to be wrong, I must judge that he is walking wrong, or give up my judgment of right and wrong. I may trust he may be misled, or that difficulties and temptations may have overcome him, and consider myself lest I also be tempted – think the best I can of him: but I cannot put evil for good, nor good for evil. There can be no right motive to do what is wrong to do – a thing contrary to God’s will. There may be ignorance, want of light in the conscience, and I may and ought to take all this into account, but I cannot say that the person is not doing wrong. Woe be to me if, for any personal consideration, I enfeeble my own sense that a wrong path is a wrong one. The saint must be very careful not to allow any sophistry to modify his submission of heart and conscience to God’s judgment of good and evil. As regards the church of God, the Scriptures plainly declare we are to “judge them that are within, but them that are without God judgeth”3. This is no imputation of motives, nor habit of forming an opinion on other people’s conduct, which is an evil habit, but the duty of not allowing evil in the house of God. It is positively commanded of us not to allow it.
There is a wrong spirit of judgment. If I occupy myself needlessly in thinking of others, and expressing an opinion of them; if in questionable cases I ascribe, even in my mind, wrong motives; nay, if I do not hope in such cases that the right motive is at the bottom, I am in the spirit of judgment and away from God. If severity of judgment on the person, when I am bound to judge he is faulty, possesses my soul, this is not the Spirit of God.
But to weaken the plain, unequivocal, and avowed estimate of right and wrong, under the pretence of not judging; or to deny the knowledge of one another and mutual love among the saints, under pretence that we have not a right to judge, is of the enemy, and a mere cover to man’s conscience to avoid the conscious pressure of that judgment on himself. If I am to maintain a divine standard of right and wrong, I must judge those who do wrong to be doing so….
J.N. Darby in ‘Christian Friend’ reprinted in
‘Words of Grace and Comfort’ 1950 Vol.26 pp. 258,259
Edited and Published by John A Brown
36 Laverock Park, Linlithgow EH49 6AT UK Tel 01506 670 437
email notesofministry@virginmedia.com
Printed by Crystal Print, 22 Western Road, Billericay, Essex CM12 9DZ Tel: 01277 650 661