A young man had committed a misdemeanor and was appearing before a judge
for the first time. He was fidgety and nervous. The judge, in an effort
to settle him down, said, "Son, don't be nervous. I'll see to it that you
get justice." The young man nervously replied, "Yes, sir, Mr. Judge. That's
what I'm afraid of, but please, could you throw a little mercy in on the
side."
This is a book on justice. Its author pleads with the reader to please
throw a little mercy in on the side.
Now why do I plead for your mercy? Because this book is different. This,
like my books on prayer, the Holy Spirit and others, comes from a series
of Bible studies that I have taught to the membership of the First Baptist
Church of Hammond on Wednesday nights. My custom has been to take the outlines
from which I taught and spend many hours dictating them for transcription
and publication. Such is not the case in this book. I simply did not have
the time, for many reasons. There were more demands on my time than ever.
Because of that, I have simply had the Bible studies on Wednesday night
transcribed, edited, proofread and prepared for publication. As you read,
please consider yourself sitting in the auditorium of our church, listening
to a Bible study. I think you will find it easier to forgive me for the
repetition of statements and even illustrations.
I do not claim to be an author; I simply want to leave all that I can
for the following generation. At this printing, I am 65 years of age, which
means that I'm old enough for Social Security. I have been preaching for
over 46 years and pastoring for 44 of those. During these years of pastoring
hundreds of thousands of people, preaching over 51,000 sermons and having
a personal acquaintance with thousands of preachers, I have seen thousands
of justices and injustices. One of the main injustices that I have noticed
is the injustice of misinterpreting Bible verses concerning justice.
Please be lenient with me as you read. Have mercy on me by avoiding
the position of critique, and as you give me justice, please, Judge, throw
a little mercy in on the side.
Dr. Jack Hyles
Chapter Two - AREAS OF JUDGING
"Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations.
For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth
herbs. Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not
him which eateth not judge him that eateth:for God hath received him. Who
art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth
orfalleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.
One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike.
Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He that regardeth the
day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to
the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, he
giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and
giveth God thanks. But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou
set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat
of Christ." Romans 14:1-6, 10
"How can I myself alone bear your cumbrance, and your burden, and yourst
nfe? Take you wise men, and understanding, and known among your tribes,
and I will make them rulers over you. And ye answered me, and said, The
thin which thou hast spoken is good for us to do. So I took the chief of
your tribes, wise men, and known, and made them heads over you, captains
over thousands, and captains over hundreds, and captains over fifties,
and captains over tens, and officers among your tribes. And I charged your
judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brethren, and
judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the stranger that
is with him." Deuteronomy 1:12-16
Moses had too heavy a load, so God told Moses to choose judges in the
land. Some men were capable of judging thousands of people. Some men could
not judge thousands, but they could judge hundreds of people. Some men
could not judge hundreds of people, but they could judge fifty people.
Some men could not judge fifty people, but they could judge groups of ten
people. Each judge was limited by his ability to judge. If a man had fifty
people to judge, he was not to judge anybody in one of the other groups.
That has always been God's plan, and that is still God's plan! Judges are
to judge only in their own particular areas.
Every one of you adults has some area over which you are responsible.
You are to judge in that area and not in any other area. A school teacher
judges in his classroom, but not in the classroom next door. A principal
judges in his school, but not in the school down the street. A pastor judges
in his church, but not in the church across town. A father judges in his
home, but not in the home next door.
Not only are you not to take any action about things outside your own
area, but you are not to make mental judgments outside your own area. Each
of us has some area or areas where we are supposed to judge. I want to
show you a few of those areas.
1. The husband is to judge the household. Ephesians 5:22, "Wives, submit
yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord." The household is
the first area of judgment, and that is the husband's area.
2. Parents are to judge in the home. Ephesians 6:1, "Children, obey
your parents in the Lord:for this is right." This is another area of judgment.
If God has given you children, He has given you that area to judge. If
you have children, it is your job to judge in your family. It is not my
job to judge in your family, because I am not in charge of that area.
3. The employer is to judge at work. Ephesians 6:5, "Servants, be obedient
to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling,
in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ." That means if you run a business,
God has given you that business to judge. That is your area of judgment.
If someone else has a business, you are not supposed to judge in his business.
You are supposed to judge only in your area.
4. The pastor is to judge in the church. Hebrews 13:7 says, 'Remember
them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of
God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation." Hebrews
13:17, "Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for
they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may
do it with joy, and not with gri ef for that is unprofitable for you."
There is a responsibility for the pastor to judge in the church. That does
not mean the pastor is the dictator of the church. That means he is the
leader. "Ruler" means "leader," and a leader has followers. If you don't
have followers, you are not a leader. As pastor, I am to rule (lead), and
my followers or members are to follow.
5. Rulers are to judge in areas of government. Romans 13:1, "Let every
soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God:
the powers that be are ordained of God." This is talking about the government,
because it speaks of paying taxes a little later in the passage. We will
just call them rulers.
So far we have five who have areas of judging — husbands, parents, employers,
pastors and rulers. Each one of these has his own area. None is to go into
anybody else's area. It is not the ruler's business to judge in the church,
because that is not his area. It is not my business to judge in Washington,
D. C. because that is not my area. When those in government talk about
the separation of church and state, they are talking about the church not
meddling with the state; they are not talking about the state not meddling
with the church! But, God says everybody is to have his own area of judgment,
and nobody is to interfere with anybody else's area.
Every problem we have in our churches and homes, is a result of someone
wanting to judge in an area that has not been given to him. There are other
areas that the Bible does not specifically mention, and that is why it
speaks of "higher powers." Higher powers are those given to lead in certain
areas.
Ephesians 5:21 says, "Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear
of God." This is one of the most important verses in the study of justice.
The first area of judging we discussed is that of husbands. Yes, the wife
is to submit herself to the husband, but then it says to submit yourselves
one to another. What does that mean?
That means that the wife should submit herself to her own husband. The
husband, knowing that he will have the final decision, can then submit
himself to the advice or counsel of his wife.
In any area of responsibility, when a leader has responsibility and
the follower has submitted himself to the decision of the leader, the leader
can then seek advice from the follower in making a decision. Whether it
be a father, a mother, an employer, a pastor, or a husband, once the follower
has submitted himself to the final decision of the leader, the leader has
the liberty to submit to his follower's counsel or advice.
There are people who are under someone in one area and over that same
person in another area. For example, your son may be your employer. Let
me use Attorney David Gibbs, Jr. as an example. David Gibbs' father has
some authority over David Gibbs as his father, but the father works for
his son, so when they go to work, David Gibbs has the authority to judge,
because that is his area. They submit themselves one to another.
That is what a good church is. It is God's people submitting themselves
one to another, because in one area you will be over somebody, and in another
area that person will be over you.
I was my mother's pastor. As her son, I respected her advice and honored
her as my mother, but when she came to church, I was over my mother. So,
we submitted ourselves one to another. Sometimes a pastor has to work secularly
besides receiving a salary at church. He may work for a member of his church,
so when the pastor goes to work, he is under the member's judgment. When
the member goes to church, he is under the authority or judging of the
pastor. They submit themselves one to another.
In Garland, Texas, the city manager almost ran the city. The mayor was
more of a figurehead, and the city manager ran the town. One of the deacons
in our church was the city manager of Garland. As a citizen of Garland,
he was the judge over me, but as pastor of the church, I was the judge
over him.
This is the source of many of our problems. We get accustomed to being
over somebody in certain areas, and we don't want to submit to authority
in an area when we do not have the right to judge. A person who has many
areas of responsibilities and judging given to him by God will find it
more difficult when he comes to a place where he is to follow. Every fundamentalist
church in America that is having trouble has this trouble because somebody
does not want the pastor to have the authority that God has given to him
as the pastor! Usually it is caused by somebody who is wealthy or powerful
and leads almost everything else that he is in. He comes to church but
cannot take it, for he is to submit himself to the pastor at church. There
are certain areas where you have the judging responsibilities and somebody
submits to you. Then, there are areas where others have the responsibility
and you, in turn, submit yourself to them.
I will give you an example. Brother Roy Moffitt is in charge of the
"A" bus ministry in our church. Brother Jim Jorgensen is Vice-President
of Hyles-Anderson College. Brother Moffitt teaches part-time in Hyles-Anderson
College, so when he goes to the college, he is under Brother Jorgensen,
because Brother Jorgensen has been given that area to judge. When Brother
Jorgensen comes to the church and attends a bus meeting, he is under Brother
Moffitt. What are they doing? Brother Moffitt is submitting himself to
Brother Jorgensen, and Brother Jorgensen is submitting himself to Brother
Moffitt.
A church can have perfect harmony if the people will go according to
God's plan. A home can have perfect harmony if the family will go according
to God's plan. A nation can have perfect harmony if the rulers go according
to God's plan. It is not your job to figure out what the pastor ought to
do in areas of his responsibilities. You are to judge only in your God-given
areas.
A perfect example of this is found in Romans 14:1-3. "Him that is weak
in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations. For one believeth
that he may eat all things; another, who is weak eateth herbs. Let not
him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth
not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him." We had a young man
in our college who decided to pass out literature in the college on how
to eat. He let everyone know that if they did not eat the way he did, they
were of the Devil. He had not been given the area of telling students how
to eat! That was out of his area! God is saying not to judge in any place
that is not your area to judge.
Romans 14:4a asks, "Who art thou that judgest another man servant?"
If a man judging back in the Old Testament had ten people whom he was responsible
to judge, it was none of his business what a man who had 100 to judge was
doing. That was not his area of judgment. It was none of his business to
judge in his heart, mind or actions those who were not in a constituted
area given to him by God Almighty.
Keep your nose out of someone else's area. This would solve almost every
problem that you have. God has chosen different people for different areas.
Chapter Three - JUSTICE BETWEEN PEOPLE
"And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off
for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter." Isaiah 59:14
There is no way that you can execute justice unless you know the truth.
There are injustices being done between parents and children. There are
injustices being done between teachers and pupils. There are injustices
being done between administrators and employees. These injustices almost
always revolve around the fact that we do not know the truth before we
decide to execute a sentence.
All of us must judge. Parents are judges. Teachers judge in the classroom.
Administrators judge those who are under them. Al-most all of us are in
some way judges whether we like it or not. I judge many times a week with
thousands of judges judging my judgments. Probably at least 100 times a
week I must make some judgment about someone, and it has a profound affect
on each life. That means that many times a week people can get upset with
me because I do not judge like they think I should judge.
I judge only when I have jurisdiction over somebody. I do not try to
figure out what the sentence should be, what the crime is or what the judgment
should be in someone else's area. I have too much to be concerned about
in my own areas of jurisdiction. I never allow myself to draw an opinion
about a judgment case unless I have jurisdiction.
[am the Pastor of the First Baptist Church and the Chancellor of Hyles-Anderson
College. If there is a judgment to be made between two staff members, I
must make that judgment because it is within my jurisdiction. There are
many situations in which I must make judgments over these institutions
because they are within my God-given jurisdiction.
It would change your life if you would never consider what you would
do if you were judging in someone else's jurisdiction. You would be a happier
person and would maintain a better spirit. This is called "keeping your
nose in your own business." It would solve a great many problems if all
people quit judging where they have no jurisdiction.
What is judgment? Judgment can be broken down to three basic areas.
If you handle each of these three areas properly, you will be a just judge.
1. Judgment is the right assessment of guilt. It is not justice to punish
without knowing the crime. That is never just. Before you can make a judgment,
you must have all the facts of what the crime actually is. Let me break
this down into several principles dealing with the assessment of guilt.
(1) You cannot make a judgment based on what it looks like someone did;
(2) You cannot make a judgment based on what you think someone did; (3)
You cannot make ajudgment based on what someone is accused of doing; and
(4) You can make a judgment based only on what you know someone did! Now,
let me illustrate these principles.
One night at Hyles-Anderson College someone forgot to lock a classroom
door. A faculty member found a dating couple alone in that darkened classroom!
This couple was not caught doing anything wrong together. In fact, they
claimed that they were only praying together! Suddenly, I was placed in
a position of making a judgment.
Now, what would most people think they were doing? Most of us would
think that they were misbehaving. What did it appear like they were doing?
It appeared like they were doing wrong. Should they be judged on what we
think they were doing? No, that would not be just. Should they be judged
for what it appeared they were doing? No, that also would not be just.
They can be judged only for what I know they were doing. Could Ijudge them
for appearing to be doing something wrong? Only if a rule already existed
stating that they could not appear to be doing wrong.
What do I know this couple did? I know that they went in a dark room
alone together. That is all I know they did. Now, that does happen to be
against the rules at Hyles-Anderson College. My first impulse was to punish
them
for what I thought they were doing, but in order to be just, I could not
do what I wanted to do. Others perhaps felt that I should punish them for
what it appeared they were doing, but once again, in order to be just,
I could not do what others wanted me to do. They were punished for being
in a dark room together.
People should not be punished for what we think they did, nor for what
they even appear to be doing. We are also not to judge them for what someone
accuses them of doing. Teachers and administrators must not be careless
in judging a student merely because of the accusation of another teacher.
Sometimes people see things differently than the way they really happened.
As a result, a student can be punished unfairly because we assume he is
guilty. Justice must properly assess the guilt. I refuse to punish somebody
for a crime I do not know he committed or for breaking a rule I do not
know he broke. I will not use circumstantial evidence because that would
not be just.
2. Judgment is the right sentencing of the guilty. The punishment of
a crime must be equal to the crime that was committed. A scale or balance
is the symbol of justice. Punishment is to balance out the weight of a
crime. If there is no punishment, there is no justice. If there is too
much punishment, there is no justice. The weight of the punishment must
exactly balance the weight of the crime.
Now let's break this down into several principles that will explain
how to be just in the sentencing of guilt.
First, punishment should be predetermined. I do not like to make judgment
calls. The Old Testament laws not only stated the wrong but also established
the punishment that accompanied the doing of that wrong. Justice cannot
stand many judgment calls. Sometimes we feel good, and sometimes we feel
bad. Therefore, we will not always execute the same sentence for the same
crime. So, in order to be just, the sentence should be predetermined.
That is why Christian schools often have problems. The leader makes
judgment calls which can be scrutinized by everyone. That is the reason
many years ago I met with the deacon board of the First Baptist Church
and spent hours listing every possible crime a student could commit in
one of our schools and determining what the punishment would be for committing
each crime. That is justice. It also removes the blame from the judge.
God uses that system throughout the Bible. That is what He was doing
in Romans 6:23 when He said, "For the wages of sin is death...." God was
establishing the punishment for the crime.
Secondly, the knowledge of the rule should be considered. A person should
know the rule and its consequences. That is why in our schools we give
out a handbook that gives both the rules and the consequences for breaking
each rule. It is possible that at times we are delinquent in getting out
the word of a rule. This is the reason the Bible tells us that it will
be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment than it
will be for Tyre and Sidon. Sodom and Gomorrha did not have the Old Testament,
whereas Tyre and Sidon did. They knew more; hence, their consequences were
more severe.
The Bible says that "the times of this ignorance God winked at." (Acts
17:30a) People have asked me why it is wrong now to have more than one
wife but it was not wrong in the Old Testament. It was wrong then to have
more than one wife, but it is even more wrong now because we have been
given greater knowledge of the law. It is critically important in any area
of our jurisdiction that we make it clear to those under us what both the
rules and consequences are.
Thirdly, consider any precedent. Before administering judgment, it is
important to consider what has been done before for the same infraction.
When dealing with the administrators of our schools, I often ask if there
is any precedent on a matter. It is so that we will not punish someone
differently than we punished someone else in the past for the very same
infraction.
When establishing the punishments for children, it is a good idea for
the punishment to be in the same area as the crime. For example, if a teenager
uses the car without permission, the punishment could be taking away his
use of the car for a period of time.
3. Judgment is the right treatment after the sentence. Punishment for
a wrong deed is the same as a payment for a debt. Once the debt has been
paid, it is forgiven! No more reminders need to be sent. It is not just
to continue adding sentencing after the punishment has been paid. Do not
continue mentioning it.
In this matter of justice there are several principles that we must
constantly remember. Without these we are destined to have problems. These
are the principles by which I have tried to live for many years.
Basic Principles of Justice
1. Only One has perfect justice. God is always just, and only His justice
is always perfect.
2. No two people will always agree on what is just. Good people can
differ on some things.
Many years ago Dr. John R. Rice and the Sword of the Lord published
my book, The Hyles Sunday School Manual. I was so excited and proud about
that book that I took it with me to the barbershop to read it while I was
getting my hair cut.
As I was reading the book in the barbershop, I came to a place where
several pages were missing! Quickly I looked through the book, and I found
those pages misplaced later in the book. I rushed out of the barbershop
and went to a pay phone to call Dr. Rice and inform him of the problem.
When he answered the phone, I said, "Dr. Rice, you are going to be disappointed
to find out that 20 pages of The Hyles Sunday School Manual are not in
correct order." There was silence on the other end of the phone! I said,
"Dr. Rice, what are we going to do about it?"
Dr. Rice finally spoke, and he said, "Dr. Hyles, we will print a sticker
to be placed on the inside cover of the book telling the reader where to
find those pages."
I said, "But, Dr. Rice, that is not fair."
He said, "I think it is fair."
I did not think that Dr. Rice was making a just decision. I felt that
he should reprint the book, but Dr. Rice felt we should put a sticker on
the inside cover. I was sincere. So was Dr. Rice. Yet we differed. This
did not hurt our relationship at all. It simply shows that two people,
regardless of how sincere, do not always agree on justice.
3. I must not require you to reconcile your justice with mine. If I
do require you to agree with me, then I am acting as God. I always think
that my judgment is right, but good people can disagree. In any instance,
I could be wrong and the other person could be right. That is one reason
we all should limit our judging to our own areas of judgment.
Dr. Rice and I disagreed on what was just, butl decided manyyears before,
"Dr. Rice is a good man." Although as a man he could be wrong on some things,
I never required him to agree with me because I also am human and could
be wrong. Consequently, I must not require others to reconcile their concept
of justice to what I think is justice.
4. I must decide if you are sincere. If you are sincerely trying to
be just, I must not get upset if you disagree with me on what is just.
If only God is always just, then sometimes I will be sincerely wrong. So
will you. If we disagree on what is just, I must take into account the
possibility that this is a case where I could be wrong. Dr. Rice was sincere.
Even though I disagreed with him, the possibility remained that I was wrong.
5. Because you are sincere, I must allow you to disagree.
6. I will not put you on trial every day. Folks, decide once and for
all if someone is sincere, and then stop putting him on trial every day.
The reason we do not get along with others is because we are constantly
putting them on trial. Decide once and for all that a person is sincere,
and then you will not struggle with him when you disagree on what is just.
Others will not do things the way you want them done, but do not put them
on
trial for your disagreements.
There is a statement made in the Bible three times with exactly the
same wording, and a fourth time in a slightly different way. Romans 1.~1
7, "... The just shall live by faith." Galatians 3.~11, "... The just shall
live by faith." Hebrews 10:38, "...the just shall live by faith." Habakkuk
2:4 says, "...the just shall by his faith."
What does this mean? Romans 1:17 says we live 'from faith to faith."
It means that we live by our confidence in the justice of God. That is
also how we treat each other and get along with each other. We have confidence
in one another, not because any one of us has perfect justice, but because
we are sincere and seek to be just. We must accept the fact that even in
our sincerity all of us are sometimes wrong. We should not put each other
on trial nor condemn each other if we think the other person is not being
just. If we do, we become God because we think we are the only one who
is right.
This truth could change your life! It could keep you from destroying
your marriage, your business, your friendships and even your relationship
with other leaders. Someone must be in charge of every situation. Do not
be another's judge. Do not make him agree with your judgments. Allow others
to disagree by accepting that they are sincere. Do not put them on trial
every day. You may be right and they may be wrong, but they may be right
and you may be wrong. Since you are not God, do not play God!
Chapter Four - RESPONSE TO JUSTICE
"He hath shewed thee, 0 man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require
of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy
God?" Micah 6:8
When the Bible answers the question, "What does the Lord require of
thee?" the first thing mentioned is "to do justly." The most important
thing in the Christian life is to be just. Justice is the balancing of
the scale. It is punishing an individual equivalent to the crime that was
committed. It is rewarding an individual equivalent to the deed performed.
Justice is more than the sentencing of a judge in a courtroom, a teacher
in a classroom or a parent in a home. It is also the sentencing within
our hearts toward others. A just person has justice in the heart.
This chapter will be built upon the foundation of the basic principles
of justice discussed in the previous chapter: (1) Oniy God has perfect
justice; (2) No two people will always agree on what is just; (3) I must
not require you to reconcile your justice with mine; (4) I must decide
if you are sincere; (5) Because you are sincere, I must allow you to disagree;
and (6) I will not put you on trial every day.
"To do justly" means that we are only to punish when we know that a
crime has been committed and when we punish according to the degree of
the crime. If money is missing from your wallet or purse and you suspect
that your child took it, it is not just to punish that child until you
are positive that he took it. It is tragic that often we punish someone
before we have all the facts. Suppose you punish the child and then later
discover that your husband or wife borrowed it. You have treated the child
unjustly because you made your judgment based on suspicion rather than
on fact.
Doing justly means that you never punish somebody who should not be
punished. That is the first thing the Lord requires of you. In whatever
area you have been given to judge, you are first to make certain that you
are just. The first responsibility of a Christian parent is to do justly.
The first responsibility of a school teacher or principal isto do justly.
The first responsibility of every person in a position of leadership is
to do justly. Those under our leadership have a right to be treated justly.
It is wrong to jump to conclusions and administer punishment before
we have examined all the facts. Suspicion is not a basis for punishment.
Accusation is not a basis for punishment. Fact is the only basis for punishment.
The greatest perversion taking place in America among Christians today
is their perversion of justice. We hear preaching about what is required
to be a good Christian; yet we virtually ignore what the Bible says. So,
what does the Lord require of you?
1. "To do justly." That is God's top priority. Pastors, be just to your
members. Teachers, be just to your students. Parents, be just to your children.
Employers, be just to your employees. God requires it. Punish only when
you know a crime has been committed.
2. "To love mercy." This is a big part of doing justly. Mercy is not
believing something unless you know it is true. It means not jumping to
conclusions and not punishing until you have all of the facts. It means
giving an individual the benefit of the doubt if you do not know he is
guilty.
At First Baptist Church we have a rule stating that deacons must not
smoke cigarettes. Several years ago two of our deacons were accused of
smoking. I met privately with each of the two men to ask them whether or
not it was true. I still did not believe it because I did not yet have
their side of the story.
One of the deacons admitted that he was having a difficult time quitting
his smoking, and he resigned the deacon board. The other man denied ever
having smoked a cigarette. I did not have enough proof to convict him,
so I gladly accepted his word. That is mercy. I would rather show mercy
and be wrong than to condemn someone without knowing that he is guilty.
Tragically, most Christians are more interested in execution than in mercy;
yet the Lord requires it of us to show mercy. We preach what we require
and ignore what God requires.
3. "To walk humbly with thy God." Again, this is still an extension
of the first requirement of doing justly. We are not to think of ourselves
more highly than those we are investigating, nor are we to prejudge them
in our minds. We are not to follow our assumptions and judge without facts.
Oftentimes we have evidence but no proof, so we go ahead and pronounce
guilt without knowing the individual is guilty. I refuse to punish someone
based on my opinion or anyone else's opinion. To do so is pride, because
it is elevating your opinion to the level of the law. A person is innocent
until proven guilty. We Christians are the worst in this matter of judging
someone because we think he is guilty. Our intuition is not always right.
Never are we to judge an individual until we know he is guilty.
There is a way we are to respond tojustice. We need to understand this
in order to be just. Romans 12:19 and 20, "Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves,
but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine;
I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him;
if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals offire
on his head." Those instructions tell us what we are to do when we feel
that we have been treated unjustly.
"Avenge" and "vengeance" are words that deal with justice. They deal
with the way we respond to justice when we think it is wrong. The word
"avenge" means our response to authority when justice has been performed.
It is our response to justice. It is not dealing with how people treat
you, but rather your response to justice when it is extended.
For example, your child's school teacher disciplines your child, and
you do not agree with his decision. You are not to respond improperly by
trying to slap the hand of authority. That is God's responsibility, and
we are to allow Him to respond. The word "vengeance" means "out of justice."
We are not to respond improperly to the justice somebody else makes. Authority
is to stick with authority and allow God to straighten out the mistakes
and injustices.
When I was a boy and I received a spanking at school, I automatically
received another one when I got home. My mother automatically accepted
the judgment of my teacher. Today, parents attack the teacher's judgment.
The Bible says that we are not to settle the account with others in authority
when we think they have judged wrongly. We are not to be avengers of injustice.
God will settle the account in His perfect judgment.
All of us are human. Not one of us knows perfect justice, so none of
us will always execute perfect justice. We are going to make mistakes.
Therefore, we are to allow others in positions of authority to execute
justice as they see it without our interference. God ordains and chooses
authority to make judgments, and we are to subject ourselves to their decisions
without our efforts to avenge verdicts with which we disagree.
Vengeance is anarchy. It is every man deciding what he thinks is right
and trying to enforce it outside of proper authority. I may think you are
wrong, but since I could be wrong, I must leave the final verdict to God.
He will balance the scales.
A parent came to me and told me that his son was kicked out of a children's
choir, and he did not feel that it was right. He argued that I did not
know all that happened; yet, neither did this parent. He had based his
opinion on the story his son told him and not on all the facts. I trusted
the judgment of the authority. That is what the Bible teaches us to do.
God has chosen people for positions of leadership. We are to allow them
to be in charge without our interference and scrutiny. If they carry out
something that is not just, God says that He will see to it that the scales
are balanced and justice is done. If the teacher wrongly disciplines your
child, God will intervene and bring about justice. That is His job, not
yours. God has given us the authority to judge, but not the authority to
judge other judges. The correction within justice is up to God.
This is why Christians should not take other Christians to court. I
Corinthians 6:1, 2, "Dare any of you, having a matter against another,
go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints? Do ye not know
that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged
by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?" I Corinthians 6:6-8,
"But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers.
Now therefore there is utterly afault among you, because ye go to law one
with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather suffer
yourselves to be defrauded? Nay, ye do wrong, and defraud, and that your
brethren."
In these passages we are told that we ought to take care of our own
problems without taking them to court. It is wrong for a Christian to take
another Christian to court. God's Word says that we are to allow ourselves
to be defrauded or cheated rather than take a Christian to court. You have
no rights other than to obey God's Word and allow God to balance the scales
of justice. It is NOT our responsibility to enforce justice, except in
our designated areas.
A church is an intricate thing. Leadership overlaps and often places
someone over you who, in another situation, is under you. For example,
I am the authority over our Christian school teachers; yet my children
were under their authority when they were in school. I did not judge the
way those teachers judged my kids and then avenge my kids if a teacher
was wrong in my opinion. Sometimes I did not like the way they handled
my child; yet, I left it to God to avenge the injustice.
God will avenge all injustices. Vengeance is up to Him. All of us occasionally
feel that we have been mistreated or that someone in our family has been
mistreated. Once judgment has been executed by proper authority, we are
not to try to correct the situation in the way we think it should have
been done. That is anarchy, and it is disobedient to the Bible. That person
is the authority in that situation and has the right to judge in the way
he sees fit.
Vengeance is taking matters into your own hands and attempting to correct
injustice. That is God's place, not ours. You judge th area that God has
given to you and defend the right of others t judge their area as they
see fit. This will solve many of ou problems and help us to keep peace
with others. Let God be th avenger!
Chapter Five -
JUDGING ANOTHER MASTER'S SERVANT
"Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands,
ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and
mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy
to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall
lift you up. Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh
evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law,
and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of
the law, but a judge. There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to
destroy: who art thou that judgest another?" James 4:8-12
This chapter is going to be built around ten statements. Most of what
I will cover will be new, but some will overlap things in a previous chapter.
1. Originally each man judged and protected himself, his own family,
his own property and his own freedom.
2. As the population centralized, we chose people from among us to protect
the rest of us.
3. We have groups, and appointed people lead each group. For example,
we chose pastors to lead the churches, a ruler to lead a nation, a governor
to lead a state, a mayor to lead a city and a principal to lead a school.
Each has his own area where he is to judge.
4. The body politic does not judge. It is not the responsibility of
a judge in one area to judge in another area that is someone else's area
to judge.
5. The body politic chooses the one to lead or judge, and the one chosen
does the judging or leading. For example, our nation does not vote on how
to punish every crime. We choose some to do the judging, and they are responsible
for judging those who commit crimes. The same is true in a school or in
a business. There are delegated authorities whose responsibility it is
to judge for the rest. That is God's plan, and it has always been God's
plan.
Christians desperately need to learn this. We judge each other, criticize
each other, slander each other, and spread bad about each other, and in
so doing, we despise the law! We are entering into an area where we have
appointed people to do that for us.
6. We vote about the lawmakers, but not about the law. The lawmakers
are chosen to create the laws by which we live. It is not our job to decide
the laws. If we do not like the laws they make, we can choose new lawmakers.
I may not like all of their laws, but they make the laws.
7. If we take it upon ourselves to enforce the law, we despise the law
and go against those whom we chose. Parents who go to their child's teacher
to complain every time their child gets in trouble are despising the law.
The rules were already established by those who were delegated by us to
set them and are to be enforced by those who were delegated by us to enforce
them.
8. Most of us have an area in which we are to judge. We have been chosen
to judge in that area.
9. No one is to enter our area, and we are not to enter anyone else's
area. Romans 14:4, "Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to
his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for
God is able to make him stand."
Who are you to judge someone else's classroom? Who are you to judge
someone else's church? Who are you to judge someone else's family? You
have no right to interfere in the judgment of another's area. The master
of that area is to decide; no one else is to do so! We are not to sit in
judgment of anyone who is outside of our jurisdiction to judge.
A few years ago I submitted an ad to The Sword of the Lord. Dr. Hutson
sent it back to me and said that he could not run the ad. That is his business,
so I had no right to tell him how to run his paper. That is his area. Every
organization has to have a leader, and that leader is responsible to judge
that area. No one else is to interfere with that judgment. The chosen authority
must run the organization, and authority needs to be supportive of other
authority, lest all authority becomes weakened.
You cannot succeed without this principle. A family will fail without
this. A country will fail without this. A church will fail without this.
A business will fail without this. Somebody must be given the responsibility
by the rest of us to rule and allowed to do so without the rest of us interfering.
This is why so many of our churches are having trouble. We call a pastor
to lead us, and then we want to tell that pastor how to lead. We judge
him for the way he leads. When he doesn't do things the way we think he
should, we cause trouble or leave the church.
10. We are not to speak evil or judge outside of our area. This is what
we read in James 4:11 and 12. James says we are not to speak evil of our
brother. The words, "speak evil," in the Greek are "katalaleo," which means
"to speak evil based on hearsay." James goes on to say not to judge our
brother. The word "judge" in the Greek is "krino," which means "to judge
based on facts." James was saying that we are not to make judgments of
each other based on hearsay or on facts, unless it is within our area of
judging. To do so, James says, is actually to speak evil and judge the
law.
The Bible is telling us not to go into the other person's area of judgment
and criticize, even if we know the facts concerning a situation. You are
not actually criticizing or judging that individual; you are criticizing
and judging the law, and this is anarchy. Judging by hearsay and judging
by fact are both wrong if it is outside of your area. This is the only
way you can have law and order!
Chapter Six - JUDGE NOT
"The L ORD your God hath multiplied you, and, behold, ye are this day
as the stars of heaven for multitude. (The LORD God of you fathers make
you a thousand times so many more asye are, and bles you, as he hath promised
you!) How can I myself alone bear you cumbrance, and your burden, and your
strife? Take you wise men and understanding, and known among your tribes,
and I will make them rulers over you. And ye answered me, and said, The
thing which thou hast spoken is good for us to do. So I took the chief
of your tribes, wise men, and known, and made them heads over you, captains
over thousands, and captains over hundreds, and captains over fifties,
and captains over tens, and officers among your tribes. And I charged your
judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brethren, and
judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the stranger that
is with him." Deuteronomy 1:10-16
Moses looked out and saw the multitudes of Israelites and realized that
he could not adequately judge them all. He knew he needed help. No man
could make all the judgments that needed to be made, so Moses chose men
according to their ability to help him judge.
What does the Bible mean when it says that we are not to judge? Does
that mean that we are never to judge an individual in any situation? In
this chapter I am going to explain what the Bible means when it says, "Judge
not."
In Deuteronomy God through Moses gave men areas ofjudgment. There were
three restrictions given to these men or judges.
1. The judges were not allowed to rule or judge in another area. Romans
14:4, "Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master
he standeth orfalleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make
him stand." God has given us each an area where we are supposed to judge.
If we go outside that area, it is called "judging" and that is wrong! Each
of us is to judge inside our areas, but we are not to make judgments in
another's area.
We live in a society of critiquing. Everyone thinks he has a right to
critique everybody else. Our universities teach students how to critique
each other. Even in some Christian colleges in homiletics classes the students
are often taught to critique preaching.
A teacher in a classroom must judge his students. That is not wrong.
If that teacher judges the students in another classroom, that is judging,
and it is wrong. It is up to the person who has been given the responsibility
of judgment to decide what should be done. The Bible asks who we think
we are to interfere. It's none of our business! Matthew 7:1, 2, "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."
Nobody can run anything with the whole world trying to help him run
it. In your areas of judgment everyone would not always agree with the
way you judge, but it is not their business to interfere. Likewise, it
is not your business to interfere with the areas of others. If we judge
areas that are not our responsibility, we have no power to make changes
in those areas. As a result, there are three things that would begin happening
to us. These are the three things that happen to all who judge outside
their own area:
(1) It brings anger. When you judge outside of your area and it is not
done the way you think it should be done, you get angry because you have
no power to change it. The best thing for you is to not even know what
is happening in another man's area. Keep yourself focused on that which
is in your area and on the judgments that you must make.
People get angry because they want their way and they do not get it.
There is no need for you to have a way if you do not judge, and there is
no way for you to judge if you just mind your own business.
(2) It brings frustration. The human mind is so constructed that it
needs to complete what is starts. No one is as frustrated as the person
who starts something and does not finish it. When you judge something that
is not in your area, you cannot complete the cycle; therefore, you are
going to be frustrated. Much of the mental illness people have comes from
the frustration of judging what other people do without the ability to
change it.
(3) It brings pride. When a person begins to judge outside his own area,
before he realizes it, he thinks he can judge everything. I have to be
careful all the time because people all across America call or write and
ask me what to do. If I am not very careful, I will begin to think that
I am always right, and I will want to tell other preachers how to run their
church or ministry. It is easy for a judge over much to think he has the
ability to judge better than the judge over little. It would be easy for
me to have an opinion on how one of our college graduates should run his
church. I am not to have an opinion or judgment unless he asks me for my
advice.
One reason it was wrong for the Pharisees who caught the woman in the
act of adultery to judge her was that it was not their area of judgment.
God had set up certain powers for the judgment of the woman. Anything else
is anarchy.
2. The judges could not even consider a situation without two witnesses.
Just like the Supreme Court, they were not allowed to even take the case
unless two witnesses came forward at the same time. Two witnesses brought
about a cause to investigate but not a verdict of guilt!
We are to abstain from the appearance of evil as Christians. However,
if someone does not abstain from the appearance of evil, we are not to
make a judgment on that appearance. We are never to judge according to
the appearance. John 7:24, "Judge not according to the appearance, but
judge righteous judgment." We are to judge according to the fact. Never
convict people because it appears that they have done something wrong.
This is what causes much of the trouble in churches.
This is called mercy. Mercy is not judging without truth. Truth is what
you judge. Justice is when you punish for what you know has been done.
Mercy never judges by appearance. Proverbs 28:20, 'Mercy and truth preserve
the king: and his throne is upholden by mercy."
Let me give you five statements that relate to this truth: (1) We must
have righteous judgment; (2) None is righteous, as we read inRomans 3:10,
"As it is written, there is none righteous, no not one"; (3) So we cannot
judge the inside. I Samuel 15:7 says that God looks on the heart. Man cannot
look upon the heart, so man cannot judge the heart. That means that man
cannot judge motives. It is time for us to quit judging people's motives;
(4) God is the final judge; and (5) We can judge only what we know, and
that is not the inside!
Over and over again the Bible says that man is justified by faith, but
James comes along and says that man is justified by works. People have
argued this point for years, yet both are true because there are two forms
of justification. Paul was talking about being justified in the sight of
God. James was talking about being justified in the sight of man. God alone
can judge the heart of man. Man can judge only what he sees. Man's judgment
is limited by actions, not motives.
3. The judges were not allowed to seek for witnesses in an attempt to
find guilt. Sometimes people "get it in" for someone and begin looking
for something wrong in that person. When they find something, they rejoice
over it. That is not justice. There is nothing as awful as a person who
spends his life looking for something to justify the condemnation he already
feels for someone. That is a miserable man.
For the sake of your friends, your family, your church, your class,
your school and your life, do not judge outside of your area. You can enjoy
the peace of going to bed at night knowing you are just.
I refuse to allow myself to form opinions in areas for which I am not
responsible. If all Christians practiced these principles, there would
never be another church split. We are so prone to judge.
Chapter Seven - SUBMITTING ONE TO ANOTHER
"And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the
Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always
for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. Wives, submit
yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord." Ephesians 5:18-22
"Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Servants,
be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with
fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ." Ephesians
6:1, 5
There are ten points I am going to cover in this chapter. Some will
be repetitious from previous chapters, but I will be building upon them
to get across this particular lesson.
1. God has given different areas of judgment.
2. These different areas are as much a part of the law as the law itself.
The choosing of individuals to carry out God's law is as much a part of
God's law as the laws they are judging.
3. God has given us several different areas of judgment today. The home
has been given a father and husband. The church has been given a pastor.
A business is given employers. Almost everyone has been given at least
one area over which they are to judge. It may be a Sunday school class,
a bus route, or a school room. Wherever you are placed as the leader, that
is your given area to judge. You are to judge only in that area, not in
someone else's area. You are not even to make mental judgments in areas
that are not your responsibility. Anytime you judge outside of the area
God has given to you, the Bible calls that "judging." Itis wrong to judge
outside of your area. Most of our problems come when we violate that principle.
4. No leader of an area is over the other except for the three purposes
of the state. The state has been given the responsibility to protect (1)
our person, (2) our property, and (3) our freedom. That is what government
is to do. That is all the government is to do. Other than that, no one
is to interfere in the business of the other. The government is not to
interfere with the church outside of those three things. Each entity is
to be operated without interference of any other.
When I first became Pastor of the First Baptist Church, a very powerful
and influential man in Hammond attended our church. He owned the largest
department store in the city and was extremely wealthy. He was the type
of man who was accustomed to being in charge of everything in which he
was involved.
One evening Mrs. Hyles and I had dinner in his home. It was an extravagant
meal in a very elegant setting. During the dinner his wife asked me if
I planned toj oin the area's ministerial association. Trying to be diplomatic,
I told her that I had not yet decided. She pressed me to state my decision
right then and there. I told her that I would join if it were fundamental.
She informed me that it was not fundamental and persisted to ask me if
I planned to join. Her husband began to push me for an answer as well.
These were not bad people, but they were accustomed to being in charge
of so many things that they were trying to be in charge of me. Finally,
I told him that I would not tell him how to run his store unless he asked
me for advice, and that if I ever wanted his advice as to how to pastor
the church, I would ask him as well. I informed him that unless I asked
for his advice, I expected him to mind his own business. We were asked
to leave. His problem was that he did not know how to submit himself to
the leadership of someone in an area of which he was not in charge.
You have an area over which you have been placed by God to judge. You
are to judge that area only. Most of the people who get angry and leave
churches do so because they did not get their way in an area that was not
their business to judge. Pray for others who are in charge, but do not
try to make judgments for them.
5. When I judge outside of my area, I am breaking the law. The law includes
how it is to be enforced. Your city has speed laws. Police officers are
assigned to enforce those laws. It is not your responsibility to enforce
those laws, and if you do, you are breaking the law. That is just as much
a part of the law as the law itself. James 4:10-1 2 "Humble yourselves
in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. Speak not evil one
of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth
his brother, speaketh evil of the law: but if thou judge the law, thou
art not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one lawgiver, who is able
to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?"
I carry in my wallet a pass that admits me past the security guards
at Hyles-Anderson College. Without a pass, no one is allowed into the college.
Even though I am the founder and Chancellor of the college, I submit myself
to those who are in charge of security. I must humble myself so that I
will do so. That is submission to authority. God's Word even says that
if you do not submit, you are violating the law. If you make judgments
against another leader, you are speaking evil of the law.
There is a difference between a lawgiver and a law enforcer. Congress
makes laws but does not enforce those laws. God is the giver of the law,
and He places people in the position of enforcer of those laws. When you
speak evil of that person, you are speaking evil of God because God put
them there. God is the lawgiver. When you judge another man's area of responsibility,
you put yourself above God, and you become guilty of idolatry.
Unless we submit ourselves to God's system of laws and enforcement,
our society will crumble. Not one of us is perfect; therefore, we must
even submit ourselves to the imperfect judgment of man within the perfect
system of God. Authority is authority even when it is wrong.
6. When I judge outside my area and therefore break the law, I then
put myself above the law of all other areas. In reality I am putting myself
above God because I have placed myself above His appointed authority.
7. I have then become a judge when not appointed.
8. In areas outside of those over which I am in charge, I am simply
to obey. Ephesians 5 and 6 speak of being filled with the Spirit and the
characteristics that accompany that Spirit-fullness. A part of the evidence
of being filled with the Spirit is submitting to other authority. If you
do not submit, it is a sign that you are not Spirit-filled. Sometimes that
means that we must submit to the authority of someone over whom we have
authority in another area. That is submitting one to another. This is God's
plan and is a part of His divine law as much as the law itself.
When I go to the campus of our college, I submit to the authority of
the security guards by driving the speed limit. It is arrogance if I think
that I am above the law, even though I am the boss of those security guards.
I must submit to their given authority just as much as I expect them to
submit to me as their employer. Too many Christians are haughty and are
unwilling to submit to other authority.
9. The only two ways to get out from underneath a law are to die or
to leave that area. God has placed me where I am. In some areas I am the
judge and in other areas I am not. In those areas where I am not the judge,
I am to submit myself to those who are. As long as God leaves me in that
place, I must obey those who are over me.
10. We are to be humble in those areas outside our own authority. A
church has many, many areas with many different leaders in charge. If any
of those leaders refuse to humble themselves and submit to someone in charge
of another area, trouble starts! It is amazing how easy it is to judge
another's area rather than simply judging our own.
You are not a Spirit-filled Christian unless you are willing to submit
to others who have been given authority over you.
Chapter Eight - JUSTICE BEFORE THE TRANSGRESSION
"And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto
children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint
when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and
scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth
with you as with son; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless
afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which
are exercised thereby." Hebrews 12:5-7, 11
We have already determined that there are three phases of justice, and
in each of these three phases we must make certain that we are judging
justly: (1) We must be just in determining the judgment; (2) We must be
just in executing the judgment; and (3) We must be just following the judgment.
So, it could be said that Justice must be followed before, during and after
judgment.
In this chapter I am going to deal with justice before the transgression.
This is before anybody has sinned. Many people are unjust because they
judge improperly. Let me give you eight principles to follow preceding
judgment that will prevent you from treading a path of injustice.
1. Before there can be a judgment, there must be a law. I cannot punish
someone if there is no law for what he has done. To do so is unjust. There
must be a law or a rule. Occasionally, someone will do something in one
of our ministries that the leader of that ministry does not like. Although
there is no law against what the person did, the leader is suggesting that
the person be punished. What he is suggesting is that we get a vigilante
group to punish that person, but that would be unjust because there was
no law regarding what that person did.
Romans 3:20, "Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh
be justified in his sight:for by the law is the knowledge of sin."
There is no doubt that Adam and Eve did things that were wrong in the
Garden of Eden, but they did not know they were wrong, for they had not
yet eaten of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Their eyes had
not yet been opened to know good from evil. So, if there is no law, there
is no knowledge of sin.
Romans 4:14, "Because the law worketh wrath:for where no law is, there
is no transgression."
The Bible tells us clearly that if there is no law, there is no transgression.
Over the years I have had people who got mad at me and left the church
because they expected me to punish a person for a law that was not even
made. I am not going to do that because there must be a rule before I can
justly punish a person. People must know beforehand that what they did
was wrong.
Romans 7. 7-13, "What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid.
Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except
the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. But sin, taking occasion by the
commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the
law sin was dead. For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment
came, sin revived, and I died. And the commandment, which was ordained
to life, I found to be unto death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment,
deceived me, and by it slew me. Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment
holy, and just, and good. Was then that which was good made death unto
me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me
by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding
sinful." Paul said that unless the Bible had told him, he otherwise would
not have known that lust was wrong. Through Paul, God is telling us in
this passage that before there can be a transgression, there must be a
law. So, you have no right to punish anyone unless there is a rule that
he has broken. You may not like what he did, and you may not even like
the person, but if there is no law, there is no transgression. You may
want to punish him, but you cannot, for no law has been broken.
2. Punishment must not be retroactive. It is wrong for me to make a
law today and then punish you because you broke it yesterday. If there
was no law yesterday, you did not break the law yesterday. If there was
no rule yesterday, you broke no rule yesterday. Far too often, we judge
according to our passion and our anger. We also often judge according to
the level of discomfort something has given to us. We even judge according
to whether or not we like somebody. That is not justice. God is more concerned
about justice than He is about any other matter. Justice is His most important
quality. God will not execute injustice.
Adam and Eve enjoyed perfect fellowship with God in the Garden of Eden,
but then something happened. They sinned. When man sinned, he turned his
back on God. God said that sin would bring forth death, so God had to turn
His back on man also. God wanted man back, but He could not accept man
back until His justice was satisfied.
God conceived a plan to come to earth, become flesh, live a sinless
life, fulfill the law, go to Calvary to pay for the sins of mankind, charging
them to His own record, and after 72 hours, rise from the dead for man's
justification. As a result, God can again turn to man and receive man back
into fellowship.
Although Christ did die for man, the main reason He died was for God!
He died to satisfy God's justice so that God could take man back to fellowship
with Himself. If Christ had not died on the cross, God could not have taken
man back because that would have been unjust! If God took man back into
fellowship because man joined a church, God would not be just. If God took
man back because man got baptized, that would be unjust. If God took man
back because man confessed his sins to a priest, God would will do something
in one of our ministries that the leader of that ministry does not like.
Although there is no law against what the person did, the leader is suggesting
that the person be punished. What he is suggesting is that we get a vigilante
group to punish that person, but that would be unjust because there was
no law regarding what that person did.
Romans 3:20, "Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh
be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge ofsin."
There is no doubt that Adam and Eve did things that were wrong in the
Garden of Eden, but they did not know they were wrong, for they had not
yet eaten of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Their eyes had
not yet been opened to know good from evil. So, if there is no law, there
is no knowledge of sin.
Romans 4:14, "Because the law worketh wrath:for where no law is, there
is no transgression."
The Bible tells us clearly that if there is no law, there is no transgression.
Over the years I have had people who got mad at me and left the church
because they expected me to punish a person for a law that was not even
made. I am not going to do that because there must be a rule before I can
justly punish a person. People must know beforehand that what they did
was wrong.
Romans 7:7-13, "What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid.
Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except
the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. But sin, taking occasion by the
commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the
law sin was dead. For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment
came, sin revived, and I died. And the commandment, which was ordained
to life, I found to be unto death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment,
deceived me, and by it slew me. Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment
holy, and just, and good. Was then that which was good made death unto
me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me
by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding
sinful." Paul said that unless the Bible had told him, he otherwise would
not have known that lust was wrong. Through Paul, God is telling us in
this passage that before there can be a transgression, there must be a
law. So, you have no right to punish anyone unless there is a rule that
he has broken. You may not like what he did, and you may not even like
the person, but if there is no law, there is no transgression. You may
want to punish him, but you cannot, for no law has been broken.
2. Punishment must not be retroactive. It is wrong for me to make a
law today and then punish you because you broke it yesterday. If there
was no law yesterday, you did not break the law yesterday. If there was
no rule yesterday, you broke no rule yesterday. Far too often, we judge
according to our passion and our anger. We also often judge according to
the level of discomfort something has given to us. We even judge according
to whether or not we like somebody. That is not justice. God is more concerned
about justice than He is about any other matter. Justice is His most important
quality. God will not execute injustice.
Adam and Eve enjoyed perfect fellowship with God in the Garden of Eden,
but then something happened. They sinned. When man sinned, he turned his
back on God. God said that sin would bring forth death, so God had to turn
His back on man also. God wanted man back, but He could not accept man
back until His justice was satisfied.
God conceived a plan to come to earth, become flesh, live a sinless
life, fulfill the law, go to Calvary to pay for the sins of mankind, charging
them to His own record, and after 72 hours, rise from the dead for man's
justification. As a result, God can again turn to man and receive man back
into fellowship.
Although Christ did die for man, the main reason He died was for God!
He died to satisfy God's justice so that God could take man back to fellowship
with Himself. If Christ had not died on the cross, God could not have taken
man back because that would have been unjust! If God took man back into
fellowship because man joined a church, God would not be just. If God took
man back because man got baptized, that would be unjust. If God took man
back because man confessed his sins to a priest, God would not be just.
If God took man back because he took communion or the sacraments, God would
not be just!
The only thing that allowed God to accept man back into fellowship was
that His justice had been satisfied. When Jesus paid the penalty for our
sins on the cross, the justice of Almighty God was satisfied, and God could
turn to man and receive man back if he put his faith in Christ. God's justice
had to be satisfied!
If you want to be like God, you must be just. God's justice will not
be superseded by anything, including His love, mercy and grace. We too
must make justice foremost in our Christian lives.
If a child in our Christian grade school does something wrong for which
there is no rule, that child cannot be punished. I went to our deacons
one night and told them that I no longer wanted our school principals to
make judgment calls. I no longer wanted the principals or administrators
to have to decide whether or not a student was expelled. We decided instead
to let the rules expel the student. That was one of the greatest days in
the history of our school system!
I listed everything that I could think of that a student could do wrong.
I took a list of 29 things to the deacons and told them that we were going
to decide the punishment for each one of those things. When a student did
something, we would already have decided what the punishment would be.
For example, one rule explains that students can be in the building only
during specified hours. The penalty for violating that rule is five demerits.
No longer could a teacher or principal make a ruling of his own judgment,
for now the law was given, stating both the rule and the punishment for
violating that rule. We did the same thing for every rule. If we make a
new rule today, we cannot justly enforce that rule on somebody who broke
that rule yesterday. I refuse to be unjust, even if it costs me church
members. I have a responsibility before God to be just.
3. The law must be made known. The divine law of God has always existed.
The laws as given in the books of Moses are eternal. There was never a
time when those laws did not exist. Every word in the Bible always was,
so every law in the Bible always was. Men did not know the law because
the law had not yet been given to man until the time of Moses. God did
not punish man for what man did not know. Likewise, it is our responsibility
to make known the law before we should punish.
4. Punishment should be made known as a part of the law. Deuteronomy
19:15-17, "One witness shall not ris e up against a man for any iniquity,
or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses,
or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established. If
a false witness rise up against any man to testify against him that which
is wrong; Then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand
before the Lord, before the priests and the judges, which shall be in those
days."
Here we have an example of the Bible giving not only the transgression
but also the punishment. God reveals to us the three parts of the law:
(1) the law, (2) the punishment for breaking that law, and (3) the person
responsible for enforcing that law.
It is wrong for a judge to make a judgment call concerning the penalty
a transgressor receives. That is one of the things wrong with the criminal
justice system in America today.
When our children were small I made a list of the things they could
do wrong, and I taught them the penalty for breaking each rule. Most of
us determine punishment on the basis of the inconvenience we experience.
No wonder we have a society that knows nothing about justice! They have
never seen justice in our homes. Unfortunately most people do not care
enough about their children to take the time to make rules and determine
what the punishment will be. I always tried to punish consistently, and
I tried to make the predetermined punishment a greater sacrifice than the
enjoyment they received in breaking the rule.
If you do not do this, you will punish according to your moods. One
time when the child breaks the rule you will be in a good mood, so you
will simply tell the child not to do it anymore. The next time he does
the very same thing, you may be in a bad mood, so you severely spank him.
The child learns that he has a chance of getting away with breaking the
rules, depending on what type of mood you are in. If you are just, the
punishment will not depend upon your mood but upon the law and the predetermined
punishment for breaking that law.
5. The judge must not have a will in the matter. The most important
thing in a jury trial is the selection of the jury. Attorneys avoid choosing
juries with preconceived ideas about the case. First Baptist Church had
a trial about a building we accidently tore down. The trial was moved to
another area because the attorneys felt a fair trial could not be held
in Hammond. It was felt that a judge would have no bias somewhere else
like a judge who lived in Hammond might have.
6. There must be no respect of persons. Deuteronomy 1:16, 17, "And I
charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your
brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his brother, and
the stranger that is with him. Ye shall not respect persons in judgment;
but ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid
of the face of man;for the judgment is God's: and the cause that is too
hard for you, bring it unto me, and I will hear it."
The Bible says that we must be fair with the person being judged. Everyone
must be judged the same way. I always ask our school administrators if
we have any precedent in a matter set before us for judgment, so that we
can be fair to everybody. We try to treat everyone the same.
The Bible also says that we ought not to be influenced by those who
are watching us judge. If you judge out of respect of the person you are
judging, that is wrong. It is equally wrong if you are influenced by the
opinions of those who are around you and watching you as you judge. I will
not be influenced by anyone when it comes to judging the way I feel is
right.
People sometimes leave our church over this, but they will just have
to leave. It is my area to judge, and I refuse to alter my judgment based
on anyone's opinion, regardless of his standing in the church. I must judge
as I feel is right and fair in my areas of judgment, and you must do the
same in yours.
This entire society of ours is built on critique, but the truth is,
no one is to critique somebody else's area of judgment. In your area, judge
the deed, not the person. Judge by principle, not by popular opinion.
7. Punishment must be for the right motive. Nobody should ever punish
anyone for punitive purposes. Hebrews 12:11, "Now no chastening for the
present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward ityieldeth
the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby."
Every time you punish your child, the purpose should be to make him
behave properly, not simply to "get back" at him. That is the purpose of
it all.
When Mrs. Hyles and I got married, we lived a while at her parents'
home. We were in college at the time right after my discharge from the
army. Her mother had a black cat. In the bathroom there was a little white
heater. That black cat liked to sit on that heater and watch me shave.
Then one chilly morning I began to shave, and the little cat jumped on
that heater. It was so hot that the cat almost leaped to the ceiling! That
cat never again jumped up on that heater to watch me shave!
Justice means that every time you punish, it inflicts a discomfort with
a purpose of correction, not just to make the person feel bad. That is
what the word "chastening" means.
8. Punishment should be given according to maturity. Luke 12:48, "But
he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten
with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much
required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the
more."
You have been given an area where you are to judge. Outside of that
area, you are not even to judge in your mind. You are to occupy yourself
with judging your own area. When I go hear a preacher preach, I do not
judge his sermon. I search for a blessing. God has not given me the responsibility
of judging his preaching.
Establish the ground rules for the area God has given to you. Use these
eight principles to set up those ground rules before an infraction is committed.
That is justice!
Chapter Nine - ADMINISTERING THE JUSTICE
"The cloke that I left at Troas with Carp us, when thou comest, bring
with thee, and the books, but especially the parchments. Alexander the
coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works:
Of whom be thou ware also; for he hath greatly withstood our words. At
my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: Ipray God
that it may not be laid to their charge. Notwithstanding the Lord stood
with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known,
and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth
of the lion." II Timothy 4:13-17 7
We have decided the proper punishment. We are inside our own area of
judgment, and it is now time to administer our judgment. How we administer
that judgment is very critical. Let me give you four things we ought to
do in the administration of the punishment. Some of these thoughts will
perhaps surprise you.
1. Usually punishment should be given with dignity, propriety and courtesy.
This should be the case most of the time.
2. Harsh treatment is usually reserved for a time when it is needed
as a part of thejudgment. There are times when as a part of your child's
punishment you ought to get angry. This should never be because you are
mad. You should show anger only because the child needs you to do so never
because you lost your temper. Anger is a tool which sometimes needs to
be used as a part of the punishment of the transgression.
II Samuel 14:28, "So Absalom dwelt two full years in Jerusalem, and
saw not the king's face." David had a son named Ammon, who raped his sister,
Tamar. Absalom, another of David's sons, plotted and killed his brother
Ammon as revenge for the raping of Tamar. David punished Absalom by not
allowing him to see his father for two years. We also must sometimes use
aloofness, anger or harshness as a part of punishment.
3. We should use the harshest treatment for the judgers. Unless harsh
treatment is a part of the actual punishment for the person who has done
the wrong, we would be wise to treat no one harshly except, of course,
those who are guilty of the wicked sin of judging.
What the Bible Says About Judging
1. Judging is inexcusable. Romans 2:1, "Therefore thou art inexcusable,
0 man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another,
thou condemnest thyself for thou that judgest doest the same things. But
we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them
which commit such things."
Who is inexcusable? The drunkard? No! The harlot? No! The whoremonger?
No! The thief? No! The murderer? No! Who is inexcusable? "Whosoever thou
art that judgest." This means you are not to judge outside of your own
area. If a man is given an area of judgment, but judges outside his own
area, the Bible says that is inexcusable.
Look at all the sins listed here inRomans 1:24-32, "Wherefore God also
gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour
their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into
a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who
is blessed for ever. Amen. For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections:
for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against
nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman,
burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which
is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error
which was meet. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge,
god gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not
convenient; Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness,
covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity;
whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors
of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenantbreakers,
without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment
of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only
do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
Look at all these wicked sins listed here; yet, who is inexcusable?
Those who judge those who commit these sins yet who are outside their area
of judgment. The judger, the gossiper, the slanderer, the critic, the tattler
and the babbler are inexcusable. It is the only sin which is inexcusable!
Inside your jurisdiction, it is proper to judge these people; but to
judge outside your jurisdiction is inexcusable! God will judge them. It
is our responsibility to judge those things only if they are in our area
of jurisdiction.
2. Judging is the only sin that will get you punished for another.
Deuteronomy 19:15-19 explains that a false witness was to receive the
same punishment as would have been inflicted upon the accused if he had
been proven guilty. Haman accused Mordecai of a capital crime punishable
by death on the gallows. Haman ended up dying on those gallows intended
for Mordecai. Esther 7:10, "So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he
had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king's wrath pacified." The harshest
treatment mentioned in the Bible was given to those who judged. No other
sin demands such harsh retribution as does false accusation.
3. Judging is the first step down. Once a person starts judging people
who are not in his area of jurisdiction, he is on his way down a terrible
path.
4. Judging is the only sin that warrants public rebuke. I Timothy 5:17-20,
"Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially
they who labour in the word and doctrine. For the scripture saith, Thou
shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And the labourer is
worthy of his reward. Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before
two or three witnesses. Them that sin rebuke before all that others also
may fear."
The only sin mentioned here is false accusation. God is not instructing
us to rebuke publicly everybody in the church who commits a sin, nor is
He giving us permission to do so. That is foolishness! You could never
do it, for everyone sins every day. In reality, the only sin spoken of
here is the sin of false accusation.
5. Judging is a sin Paul rebukes someone for committing. We read in
I Timothy 1:20, "Of whom is Hymenceus and Alexander; whom I have delivered
unto Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme." II Timothy 2:17, "And
their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenceus and Philetus."
In I Corinthians 5:1 there is the mention of a man who was committing
adultery with his stepmother. Paul never mentions the man's name. He does,
however, openly rebuke the blasphemers and slanderers. The destroying of
someone's reputation was considered worse by Paul than many other sins.
I wonder how many lives have been destroyed by judgers. I wonder how many
homes have been ruined by them. I wonder how many ministries and churches
have been destroyed. That is why it is so wicked.
II Timothy 4:14, 15, 'Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the
Lord reward him according to his works: Of whom be thou ware also; for
he hath greatly withstood our words." Alexander, the coppersmith, was named
in Scripture for his resistance to Paul. Yet, we do not know the names
of those who were guilty of adultery or other various sins. We do know
the names of judgers and slanderers. God lets us know in His Word.
6. Judgers are the main people beloved John rebuked. III John 9, 10,
"I wrote unto the church: but Diotrophes, who loveth to have the preeminence
among them, receiveth us not. Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his
deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not
content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth
them that would, and casteth them out of the church." Diotrophes was guilty
of slander, or as John described it, "prating against us with malicious
words."
If you saw a deacon in your church drunk, or if you saw a deacon with
a harlot, what would you do? Most people would expose him. If you had a
deacon come up to you and slander someone, what would you do? Would you
listen? Or would you treat him harshly like John did?
Have you ever considered that the Devil's main sin is that of accusing?
Satan is called the "accuser of the brethren." What does it really take
to be as wicked as the Devil? Accusing the brethren! I am not trying to
minimize any sin, but I am trying to put the emphasis where God does.
7. Make it your goal to salvage wrongdoers. I do not understand preachers
who do not want to salvage their people. If one of my people falls into
any type of sin, I want to salvage him. I do not condone the sin of King
David, but I do want to remind you that he wrote some of his greatest Psalms
after his sin. God is in the salvaging business!
Abraham did wrong when he got the Egyptian maid pregnant. I certainly
am not condoning what he did; yet, after that sin, God still performed
the miracle of giving Abraham a son when he was 100 years old.
Jacob was away from the will of God for 20 years. I am not condoning
that, but it was after that that he was called a prince.
Moses killed a man, and that was a terrible wrong! I am not condoning
murder, but it was after that sin, that God used him to lead the Israelites
out of Egypt.
If you ever want to get like God, then start looking at sin like God
does. Hate it because of what it does to those you love!
In my ministry I have been accused of not hating sin. That is a filthy
lie. I do hate sin. I hate the liquor that destroyed my dad. I hate sin
because of what it does to the people Ilove, but I still want to salvage
those people. With these thoughts in minds, let me give you four principles
by which I always try to live.
Four Principles By Which I Try to Live
1. I always defend the accused (unless it concerns a broken civil law).
I do not know whether or not the accused person did that which he is accused
of doing, but I do know that the accuser is doing what the Devil does.
He is accusing the brethren. The Devil is not a false accuser. He is a
true accuser. If you accuse someone to me, I am the witness to your sin
of accusing.
A dear friend of mine who had been a preacher for many years called
me one day. Years ago he quit the ministry, but I never knew why. He assumed
I knew, so he started to tell me about it. I stopped him and said to him,
"I do not want to know what bad you did. Ijust want to know about all the
good you did." He began to cry and said to me, "You are the only real friend
I know I have."
I would rather someone say that to me than to be known as one who spreads
garbage about people. What real pleasure is there in that?
2. I try never to believe criticism. You do not have to believe or disbelieve
something that is said to you. If someone comes to me accusing someone
else of doing something wrong, I do not believe it. I am not saying that
the accuser is a liar because I am not saying that the accused person did
not do it; I merely refuse to believe it is true until it is proven to
be true!
3. I never investigate outside my own area ofjudgment. I do not want
to know what someone did that was wrong. I do not want to know what a fellow
pastor did or was accused of doing. If it is in my area to judge, then
I must investigate. Otherwise, I do not want to know!
4. I do not spread accusations even if they prove to be true. I do not
want anyone to know what someone has been accused of doing even if it is
true. I get weary of the Pharisees who say someone 15 covering sin merely
because they do not want to destroy someone's reputation. Jesus showed
the most compassion on those who had fallen into sin. He showed the least
compassion toward those who spread it.
It is time for Christians to live like Christians in the way we treat
sinners. If people have sinned, we ought to discipline them with dignity,
courtesy and love, unless we feel that harshness will help them.
When I was a little boy, my mother and I would go downtown to shop.
There was a large "ten cent" store there called Grand and Silvers that
sold everything, including the best malted milk I ever drank! Back them
they cost only a nickel. We were so poor that we could never afford to
buy one, but I would go over and watch the people drink their malted milks.
Sometimes someone would leave a little in the bottom of their glass and
I would sip what was left!
I loved to look around in that store, and I didn't stay by Mama very
well. My mother would call me back to her, but soon I would wander away
again. Finally, she would hide from me so that I could not find her! She
could still see me, but I could not see her. I would become very frightened
because my mother was separating herself from me. That was the punishment.
It was harsh, but it was meant to teach me a lesson. When it was over,
she always lovingly made up to me because I had learned the lesson. Harshness
was a part of her judgment.
Most of the time our harshness should be reserved for those who are
harsh. Judgment should be harshest on those who are judges.
If I damage your name, it is a greater crime than robbing you of your
possessions. The Bible says in Proverbs 22:la, 'A good name is rather to
be chosen than great riches."
I refuse to steal someone's good name, because if I do so, the harshest
judgment is reserved for me. I do not ever want to be inexcusable!
Chapter Ten - JUSTICE AFTER THE JUDGMENT
We are going to find out what to do after the judging has been done.
A transgression has been committed. The penalty has been paid, and judgment
has been given. Now what are we to do? The child has been spanked. Perhaps
the student has been given 50 demerits. Judgment is all over now, so what
are we supposed to do?
1. We are not to publicize it. Revelation 12:10, "And I heard a loud
voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom
of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren
is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night." This is
talking about the Devil. The Devil is the accuser of the brethren.
One day it dawned on me that the Devil is not a false accuser. The Devil
is accusing you right now before God, but he is not just a false accuser.
He is a true accuser; he is telling the truth about you. Do you want to
be like the Devil? If you accuse someone falsely, that is like the Devil;
but if you accuse someone truly, that is also like the Devil! Unless it
is in your area, you are of the Devil when you decide to accuse or judge
someone.
That word, "accuser," is an interesting word. It means "speaking out
loud against." If it is not in your area, you are not supposed to judge
it. If it is in your area, you are not supposed to speak out loud about
it. It is always wrong to spread bad about anybody unless it is concerning
reference for a job, etc.
James 4:11, "Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh
evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law,
and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of
the law, but a judge." "Speak not evil one of another" means "Do not scandalize."
It means that you are not to tell a bunch of lies against somebody. You
are not to tell something that you do not know is true. It also means that
you are not to judge even when you know something is true, if it is outside
your God-given area.
Why are we not to blab about those who commit sin? I will tell you why.
It is because they have families who are innocent people. They have wives
and children who do not need to live their lives with a whole nation knowing
what happened. I am not covering up sin. I am just not for exposing sin.
"Covering up sin is what you do if you do not punish in your area. Once
the punishment is made, it is not covering up sin not to talk about it.
To tell the whole world about what happened is only going to hurt children
who have a right to grow up with a normal life. The family has a right
not to be crucified!
You may ask, "But aren't we supposed to rebuke them before all?" I Timothy
5:17-20, "Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour,
especially they who labour in the word and doctrine. For the scripture
saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The
labourer is worthy of his reward. Against an elder receive not an accusation,
but before two or three witnesses. Them that sin rebuke before all, that
others also may fear."
This is not saying that anybody who commits a sin is supposed to be
rebuked in front of the whole church! The sin spoken of here is committed
by those who make an accusation without two witnesses. Those are the ones
who are to be rebuked in front of them all, because they are trying to
destroy innocent people without proof of anything. God does not intend
for us to get up and rebuke everybody and expose their sins. If someone
sins, let him come to the altar, get right with God, and try to do right.
Then, let us try to help him do right! Do not talk about what he did!
Let me tell you how I do it. A man who worked for us committed what
folks like to call "gross sin." I called him into my office and said, "I
love you. I have had more than two people tell me that they witnessed your
doing something that appeared to them to be a gross sin." (If one witness
had come forward, I would not have called him in, because the Bible says
I am not to receive the accusation unless I have two or more witnesses.)
I said to him, "I need to ask you a question: Is it true?"
He said, "Yes, it is."
I said, "You know what that means. Why don't you go ahead and resign
right now? I will personally help you. I will keep your family fed while
you can find employment. I suggest that you leave the area. I promise you
that I will be responsible to pay your salary for several months until
you find a job." Then the man resigned to me in my office.
I am not going to tell you who he was, because it is none of your business!
He was in my area of judgment! If we publicly rebuked everyone in the church
who committed a sin since the last Sunday, we would never be able to end
a service. Why don't we use some common sense?
A deacon of ours started smoking, so I called him in and said, "I have
two people who said they saw you smoking down at Douglas Street and Hohman
Avenue. Is it true?"
He said, "Yes, it is."
I said, "You know what that means. I suggest that you resign the deacon
board."
On two or three occasions deacons have committed what we call "gross
sin." I called those deacons in. If they admitted what they were accused
of doing, I suggested that they resign the deacon board. I did not "blab"
it around! Those deacons have lovely families who do not need to bear the
stigma of their daddy's sin, just because some preacher thought he was
supposed to blab everybody's sin in front of the whole church. That is
the way I handle it. I am not going to get up and broadcast everybody's
sins. I am not going to call my deacons together and reveal why that man
resigned. This method is called "loving people." You say, "Brother Hyles,
that is hiding sin." No, it is not! It is called "not exposing it." It
is not hiding it! I would be hiding it if I did not call him into ask him
if he did it. I did not hide it. I brought it out in the open and talked
to him about it.
2. Balance the scale. Make the punishment equal to the crime. That is
justice. When a person commits a crime, the scale is not balanced. If that
person is not punished for that transgression, it is not justice, because
the scale is still not balanced. If that person is overly punished, that
is not justice either. So, what is justice? Justice is when someone commits
a transgression, and the punishment is equivalent to the transgression.
3. Do not require him to pay more. Do not punish him more by refusing
to speak to him. Do not punish more by branding him. There are probably
five men who are among the best men in our church, and I know they served
time in the penitentiary. Those men committed a crime and were given the
punishment for their crime. They served their time. When I look at them,
I look at them like I look at anybody else. The scale is balanced. If you
have not committed a crime, then your scale is balanced. If they have committed
a crime and paid for it, they have balanced their scales. The debt is paid.
Do not "blacklist" them. Do not look down on them. The debt is paid!
We had a young man in our church who kissed a woman 29 years ago. He
did not plan to kiss her. They both went to our church. They worked at
the same place. They had a coffee break and were talking to each other.
She was a beautiful woman, and he was a handsome man. In a moment of passion,
he kissed her. As soon as he kissed her, he said, "I am sorry. Forgive
me for what I have done."
He got in his car, rushed to the church, came to my office, and said,
"Pastor, this is what I did. I am sorry. I do not know why I did it." He
walked down the aisle the next Sunday night and asked God to forgive him.
There are still some people who will not trust that man because of what
he did. Twenty-nine years ago he slipped for just one moment. I am not
saying you ought to let your daughter go steady with him. That becomes
your area of judgment. If your daughter is going to have a date with someone,
that becomes your area of judgment. You have a right to judge in that situation.
If he applies for a job in your employment, you have a right to check his
past, but outside of your area, it is not your business! Do not require
him to pay more.
4. Forgive him as Jesus forgives. Ephesians 4:32, "And be ye kind one
to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's
sake hath forgiven you."
We are to forgive like Jesus forgave. If we forgive like Jesus forgave,
then we are also to forget, because God has also forgotten our sins. As
deep as the sea, our sins have been separated from Him. That isn't all.
When Jesus forgives us, He not only forgets, but He looks at us with 'justified
forgiveness," as if we have never sinned at all. That means if you sinned
against me, I am to forgive you and forget that you did it. As far as your
record is concerned, you are supposed to be justified as though you never
sinned against me.
You would be shocked how many people have come to my office and said,
"Brother Hyles, I want to ask you to forgive me again for what I did to
you three years ago." I did not even remember the incident about which
they were talking. That is 'justified forgiveness." Once the transgression
has been committed and the judgment has been executed, I am not to publicize
it; I am to balance the scale, making the punishment equal to the crime;
I am not to require them to pay more; and I am to forgive as Jesus forgives.
You are not going to be happy if you spend your life trying to decide
what somebody outside your area of responsibility 15 supposed to do. You
have no way of bringing it to a conclusion because it is not in an area
where you are the judge. Not only are you going to hurt somebody else,
but you are going to hurt yourself.
Nobody is as frustrated as people who know an answer but do not have
the opportunity to give the answer. If you do not have the responsibility
to judge, then stay out of that area. This may keep you from having a nervous
breakdown. Do yourself a favor, and do not make judgments in an area that
is outside the boundaries that God has given you.
Chapter Eleven - JUSTICE AND WITNESSES
"One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for
any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or
at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established. I/ a
false witness rise up against any man to testify against him that which
is wrong; then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand
before the Lord, before the priests and the judges, which shall be in those
days; And the judges shall make diligent inquisition: and, behold, if the
witness be a false witness, and hath testified falsely against his brother;
Then shall ye do unto him, as he had thought to have done unto his brother:
so shalt thou put the evil away from among you. And those which remain
shall hear, and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil
among you. And thine eye shall not pity; but life for life, eye for eye,
tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot." Deuteronomy 1 9:15-2 1
Let me begin with an illustration. I will give you ten statements concerning
a young man who comes to attend Hyles-Anderson College. This can be applied
to any ministry.
(1) When he first arrives at college, he is in awe of Dr. Wendell Evans,
the President of Hyles-Anderson College. He sees Dr.Evans as a hero and
has great respect and admiration for him.
(2) Because of this young man's hard work and humility, he is hired
to work at Hyles-Anderson College.
(3) The young man does a good job for a while and keeps his regard for
Dr. Evans as his hero. He continues to look up to him with great respect
and admiration.
(4) The young man begins to get more self respect as he begins to grow.
Suddenly he also begins to have problems as he begins to measure himself
improperly. He starts thinking he is bigger than he actually is.
(5) This young man's ego is being built by students who were given to
him. He personally had nothing to do with drawing them to the school. Not
one of these students came because of him.
This can happen in any given situation where someone is in a new area
of growth. There is no one who knows so little as someone who knows a little!
There is no one who thinks he knows as much as someone who knows a little!
(6) This young man fails to realize that his hero, Dr. Evans, has been
growing too. He thinks that he is growing to Dr. Evans' level until suddenly
he thinks that he knows more than Dr. Evans. He even begins to sit in judgment
of Dr. Evans.
(7) The young man is still as far behind Dr. Evans as he was in the
first place. Dr. Evans is still as much his superior as he was the first
time he met him because Dr. Evans has also continued to grow.
(8) The young man does not realize that his hero is still as superior
to him as he always was. Tragically the young man deprives himself of his
hero.
I still feel the same awe toward Dr. Lee Roberson as I did the first
time I met him. The fact is that Dr. Roberson has grown even as I have
grown. I do not assume that I have caught up to him, so he is still my
hero!
I was with Dr. John Rice for many years, and I knew he had feet of clay.
I could have found his weaknesses if I had wanted to, but I did not want
to because I wanted Dr. Rice to remain as my hero. In fact, I tried to
avoid seeing his faults. I feel sorry for people who think they have grown
to the level of their heroes. If you ever lose your heroes, you lose your
security.
(9) The young man begins to judge the judge. When that happens, he loses
his chance to grow. When you catch up with the person above you, there
is no one left to pull you up. You will not learn any more because you
think you know all which that person knows. When you know all your teacher
knows, you will not learn more.
(10) The young man immaturely uses some verses that he does not understand
to prove his point.
This illustration can be applied to any ministry and in any place. In
most of the places where I find a disloyal assistant pastor, he is almost
always young. Rarely do I find a 50-year-old assistant pastor who is being
disloyal. It is usually the young man who does not know enough to know
he does not know much. Invariably these disloyal young men are fueling
their mutiny with some scriptural misapplication. Let me show you two of
the passages often used in these situations.
1. II Corinthians 13:1, "This is the third time lam coming to you. In
the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established."
These young theologians like to use the logic that this means anytime
two people say they saw something, we are supposed to believe it. That
is not at all what the Scripture is saying!
Let's use for an example a man who is a school teacher. Suppose he fails
two young ladies in his class, and then they get together and decide to
get revenge. They claim he made sexual advances toward them, and they begin
to spread it around. Most preachers would have fired that man simply because
those two girls accused him. This situation actually happened in one of
our schools, and eventually one girl admitted that she and the other girl
had lied to get back at him for failing them.
What if you were the one being falsely accused by two "witnesses"? What
if that one being accused were your husband? Would you want people to take
the word of two false witnesses? What if it were somebody else's husband
who was being falsely accused?
Is God saying here that we are to accept the accusations of two homosexuals
who have decided to destroy the ministry of a preacher by accusing him
of committing homosexual acts? What about two sex perverts or two prison
inmates? If two of these people falsely accuse a person, are we to accept
their accusations as truth? Absolutely not! Yet, that is exactly what most
Christians do. In fact, most people do not even require one witness. We
just believe it because "someone" said it.
In immaturity, someone grabs this verse and uses it to defend, believing
something against someone simply because two people say they saw him do
it. People have criticized me because they think I do not punish the way
they think I should punish; yet, they do not know the facts that I know.
I am not going to punish someone whom I do not know to be guilty. I do
not have a quick-trigger finger, and I am not going to believe irresponsible
witnesses!
2. I Timothy 5:19, 20, "Against an elder receive not an accusation,
but before two or three witnesses. Them that sin rebuke before all, that
others also may fear." The key word in this passage is the word "receive."
These verses do not say not to "believe"; they say not to "receive." The
Supreme Court of the United States makes two decisions concerning a case.
The first decision is whether or not to take the case. The second decision
is how to judge the case. The word "receive" is the same word that describes
that first decision the Supreme Court makes. We are not even to consider
a case against an elder unless there are at least two witnesses. This does
not means he is guilty; it only means that we will at least consider it.
The guilt is not to be presumed, and if there are not at least two witnesses,
we are not even to receive the accusation for consideration. We are never
to receive gossip or hearsay. Refuse to accept it! Far too many people
know too much gossip that goes around our churches.
I will receive the case only if there are at least two witnesses and
then only if it is in my jurisdiction or area of judgment. In law they
call this "probable cause," which means they investigate it, but it does
not mean the person is guilty! Do not assume guilt, even if there are a
hundred witnesses. If there are two or more witnesses, and if the matter
is in your area, receive the case, consider the possibility and investigate
it carefully.
Immature Christians use this Scripture to defend publicly rebuking people
before the entire church. That is ridiculous! Everyone sins from Sunday
to Sunday, so every Sunday everyone would have to be rebuked publicly.
Yet that is how these young, immature "theologians" think. In fact, there
are only a few sins they personally have selected for which they want public
rebuke. They do not want to rebuke all sin. What most of them want to rebuke
is sexual immorality; yet that is only one of the ten commandments and
not even the first one mentioned. For example, have you seen anything lately
that you wished was yours? If so, you need to be publicly rebuked for coveting!
What is this Scripture teaching? There is only one sin mentioned here,
and that is the sin of being a false witness. God is teaching us in His
Word that false accusers should be rebuked before everybody. The New Testament
is built on the foundation of the Old Testament, and this passage comes
from an Old Testament passage, Deuteronomy 19:25-21.
A false witness in the Bible is not a talebearer but is someone who
claims he saw something that he really did not see. If a person is found
to be a false witness, notice what the Bible says is to be done to him.
He is to be punished with the same punishment that goes with the crime
he falsely accused another of committing. The same punishment that would
have been inflicted on the accused was to be inflicted on the accuser!
Murder was a capital crime, punishable by death. If a man falsely accused
someone of murder, the accuser was to be sentenced to death, according
to the Scripture. Why was this the case? The Bible says it was done to
put away the evil. What evil? The evil of falsely accusing someone in an
attempt to destroy that person's life.
The sin discussed in I Timothy 5:19 is not the sin of the accused but
the sin of the one doing the accusing. Both of these passages state the
same reason for this. I Timothy 5:20 says, '...that others also may fear."
Deuteronomy 19:20 says, "And those which remain shall hear, and fear...."
In both cases, the Bible is speaking of false accusations and the rebuking
of those who falsely accuse. So, we are taught to deal harshly with false
accusers.
There are very few things any worse than falsely accusing someone. Imagine
a person falsely accusing someone just so that person will be wrongly punished.
That is a terrible thing! By the
way, just because you have a gut feeling about someone does not give
you the right to accuse him. That would never stand up in court. God forbids
this type of accusation and treats it as the most severe crime!
Your life is not going to be rich if you lose your heroes. That is what
is wrong with America. America was great when America had heroes. When
you lose your heroes, you lose your security and forfeit your chance to
grow. When you lose your heroes, you cannot be taught more. The best preacher
will be the one with a hero. The best musician will be the one with a hero.
Years ago when our Sunday school attendance surpassed Dr. Roberson's
Sunday school attendance, I personally did not surpass Dr. Roberson! He
is still my hero because even though I have grown, I have not outgrown
him! I feel sorry for people who think they know as much as those who were
once their heroes. None of us have "arrived." There are many people in
this world who know more than we know. Do not deprive yourself of having
heroes to whom you can look.
Colleges and seminaries all across this nation are training "knowit-all"
preachers. It is easy for the hero of some not to have any heroes. It is
easy for the hero to think that he has arrived. In many cases, the hero
has never really built anything on his own; yet he begins to think he knows
more than the one who built the area where he became a hero. So, he takes
verses like these and begins to show his true level of ignorance.
Chapter Twelve - AN EXAMPLE OF JUSTICE
"It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such
fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should
have his father's wife. And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned,
that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. For
I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judge already,
as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed, In
the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my
spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, To deliver such an one
unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved
in the day of the Lord Jesus." I Corinthians 5:1-5
Several people had brought to Paul's attention that there was an act
of fornication being committed by a man in the church of Corinth. To make
it even worse, it was being committed with the man's own stepmother. Notice
how Paul reacted to these accusations.
Paul never mentions the man's name. In I Corinthians 5:1 he refers to
the man as "one." In verse 2 he merely uses the pronoun, "he," and again
inverse 3, the pronoun, "him." Inverse 4 he refers to the man as "such
an one." Not once did Paul refer to the man by his name. I believe that
Paul did not know who the man was because Paul was not responding to gossip
that he had heard about somebody. Paul was responding to a situation.
When I was preaching out of town once, a man wrote me a note asking
me how he should handle a situation in his church. A man had been stealing
money out of the offering plate at his church, and he wanted to know how
to handle the situation. I met with him and told him what I thought he
should do. I did not ask him the man's name because I did not need to know
his name. I was not interested in judging the person. I was interested
only in judging the situation. Many years ago I established a policy of
how to handle this situation.
Likewise, Paul did not hear an accusation about a person, but about
a situation. He was wise and experienced and had faced almost any possible
situation, so he had already judged the situation without even knowing
the person involved. Paul was not trying this individual, but was applying
his principles and policies as he had at other times when he faced similar
situations.
Paul's writings taught against gossip and slander. Do not take Bible
doctrine from an example or illustration. Take doctrine from Bible teaching.
If you are not careful, you will begin to think that Bible characters were
perfect. You cannot always do everything like Paul did. For example, Paul
once had his head shaved and took a Jewish vow, even though twice he spoke
against those very things in Scripture. Paul did wrong!
Esther married a heathen king. That king had a drunken party and asked
his wife, Vashti, to strip and display her body to all those at the party.
Vashti refused to do it; yet Esther agreed to marry him. Yes, Esther was
a courageous woman. Once she had made her mistake, she did save Israel,
but Esther still should not have married that king. Do not take Bible doctrine
from illustration. The Bible teaches not to marry the heathen, so Esther
should not have married that heathen king. God often uses people who make
mistakes to do something great.
Daniel made a horrible mistake. When the Jews had been in captivity
for 70 years, everyone who wished to do so was allowed to return to rebuild
the temple and later to rebuild the wall. Daniel did not return perhaps
because he was influenced by the heathen university which he had attended
in Babylon. It was not right that Daniel did not return; yet God still
chose to use him. It is important that we not look for our doctrine in
the illustrations of the Bible, for many of them reveal God's working in
spite of men's disobedience.
I have heard many preachers use I Corinthians 5:1-5 as basis for revealing
an individual's sin and telling people to deliver that individual to the
Devil so that the Devil could kill him. That is not what Paul said; nor
is it God's form of justice! If God wants someone killed, you do not need
to do it. Paul was not speaking here of punitive or destructive judgment.
This was remedial judgment. He was talking about allowing the Devil to
have him for a little while to shake him up a bit.
When the Israelites had neglected God, God called Nebuchadnezzar "His
servant." This wicked vile king was called God's servant so that God could
deliver His people to him for a little while to allow him to rough them
up to destroy their fleshliness so that they would get right with God.
Paul is speaking of the same thing here. He is instructing them to deliver
the man to the Devil to rough him up and teach him that sin does not pay.
Why? So that his spirit could be saved.
I Timothy 1:20, "Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered
unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme." Why did Paul deliver
Hymemeus and Alexander to Satan? He did not do it to kill them, but to
teach them not to blaspheme. That is synonymous with I Corinthians 5:5.
Paul is not speaking of allowing Satan to destroy the man's body, but of
destroying the man's carnality by delivering him to the Devil so that he
could punish him. God has a chain on the Devil. The entire purpose is remedial,
not punitive.
Too many Christians like to reject sinners and watch them suffer and
die. That is NOT New Testament Christianity! God never tells us to deliver
anyone to death. He is a corrective God. Hebrews 12:6a, "For whom the Lord
loveth he chasteneth."
Paul did not end his lesson there. In his second letter to the church
at Corinth he mentions the situation again. II Corinthians 2:1-8, "But
I determined this with myself that I would not come again to you in heaviness.
For if I make you sorry, who is he then that maketh me glad, but the same
which is made sorry by me? And I wrote this same unto you, lest, when I
came, I should have sorrow from them of whom I ought to rejoice; having
confidence in you all, that my joy is the joy of you all. For out of much
affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many tears; not that
ye should be grieved, but that ye might know the love whic