Matthew 7:1,2

AGAINST RASH JUDGMENT

‘Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged; and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.’

Matthew 7:1

Here we see the rule of God’s judgment in matters between man and man—‘With what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you again.’ Thus, we see that, for the present, God is to us all, even to the unthankful and evil, what He would have us also to be. But between this life and that other comes the Day of Judgment, when we must give an account of the things done in the body, and of this Judgment this is one of the great rules: with what measure men have measured to others, it shall be measured to them again. Thus, we are now choosing the rule by which we shall be dealt with by-and-by.

I. God’s rule in judgment.—‘With what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you again.’ Those words must surely seem to us some of the most awful words in the Bible, for—

(a) They are so plainly the words of that justice which all men acknowledge, that we not only believe, but feel, that they must be true. If we believe in a Judgment at all, then we must look to be dealt with in the same spirit, by the same measures, according to the truth and generosity which we have shown, when it was our turn to show mercy, to pass opinion, to help and share and give. Can any imagine that they may deal with men harshly, but that God ought to deal with themselves tenderly? This then is one thing that makes these words so awful, that we see for ourselves that it must be as they say.

(b) The other is that, while we feel the certainty of the law, we cannot see how it will be carried out. It lies in the awful darkness of the time to come. All we know is that, some time or other, a man’s deeds will be returned upon him, and he will find out what God his Maker and Judge thought of his dealings with his brethren by what happens to himself. And the fearful thing to think of is that, for the most part, this is to be in another world—where all things will be different—so much greater—for blessedness and for anguish—where what is to be is to be for good, and for ever. It is there, for the most part, that this law will have its fulfilment, and the measure be measured back to men.

II. Man’s unreasonable judgment.—We must all judge often, and sometimes condemn. The sin is not in judging and condemning, but in doing so without reason—carelessly, unjustly—for the sake of condemning, condemning without mercy and without fear. In this case the same harsh and unsparing judgment awaits ourselves. Dare any one look back into his past and venture to say that he could endure the judgment, if, in God’s justice, what he measured to others was to be exactly measured to him again? Yet that is God’s rule. Can we hear of it and not tremble? God repays to men what they do. He measures back, and judges them by the standard they apply to their brethren.

Let us beseech Him not to enter into judgment with us who never can be justified in His sight. There is mercy with Him, but it is only for those who now, in the hope of God’s forgiveness, are ready with all their hearts to forgive their brother.

Dean Church.

Illustration

‘There are different measures in which men give themselves to Christ, and Christ despises none of them, but in different measures He again is compelled to give Himself back to them. With what measure each gives himself to the Saviour, the Saviour gives Himself in His salvation back to each. As when in some foreign land, in some strange shrine of Romish or pagan worship, all glorious with art, all blazing with the light of precious stones, there bend around the altar the true devotees who believe with all their souls; while at the door, with heads uncovered and with faces solemnised by the presence of a ceremony in which they do not believe and in which they take no part, lingers a group of travellers full of joy at the wondrous beauty of the place; and as when the music ceases and the lights go out they go away, each carrying what it was in him to receive—the devotee his spiritual peace, the artistic tourist his spiritual joy; so men bestow themselves on Christ, and by the selves that they bestow on Him the giving of Himself to them must of necessity be measured.’