1 Corinthians 11:31

SELF-JUDGMENT

‘If we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.’

1 Corinthians 11:31

God is the unerring Judge, but He would rather that men took the work of judgment into their own hands.

I. Man’s heart and life must be judged.—That is taken for certain. The judge may be one or other, but judgment must be passed.

(a) There must be a clearly manifested moral order. Good and evil must each claim its own. It must be made clear under what king we serve, and whether we serve him worthily or unworthily.

(b) Freedom of choice necessitates a judgment. It requires a decision of approval or condemnation, an apportionment of praise or blame. We are stewards, and must give account; servants, and must have our wages or punishment; children, to be chastised or rewarded.

(c) The very cravings of our moral nature demand a judgment. We want a stamp set upon our lives, as a letter demands its signature, as things require names. For our real satisfaction we must have a judgment, and not a mere arbitrary deliverance.

II. Man’s judgment of himself is preferred by God to His own judgment of Him.—Judge yourself, and God will not judge you. That seems wonderful, and is very gracious.

(a) Man’s judgment of himself is mote glorifying to God than His own judgment. The judgment-seat erected in a man’s own heart is a grander and more satisfying thing to God that the great white throne of the judgment-day. There is one judgment prized by men more than the most convincing charge of the judge, and that is the hearty, penitential confession of the criminal himself. So God prizes more the heartfelt condemnation of the sinner by the sinner himself than all the terrors and splendours of his own judgment-seat. God’s law written in a man’s heart is grander and lovelier to God than the tables of stone written by His own finger; and the judgment of truth lisped, however brokenly, by the sinner’s tongue, is more musical to God than when solemnly echoed by the heavenly hosts.

(b) And this especially makes a man’s judgment of himself so dear to God; it opens the way for His great mercy reaching his soul. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin; but ere that blessed tide can reach the soul, the gates must be thrown open by confession and repentance. ‘Except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish.’ As a sinner condemned already, condemned by your own heart and mouth, come freely to the blood which cleanseth from all sin.

For this judgment to be thorough and satisfying it should be constant. Come day by day, and adjudge your actions and thoughts by the ‘shekel of the sanctuary.’ That will keep you real, humble, penitent; opening your ears with ever fresh gladness to the assurance, ‘There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.’ If you judge yourselves, you will not be judged.