SELF-JUDGMENT
Arthur W. Pink (1886-1952)
"For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be
judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should
not be condemned with the world"—1 Corinthians 11:31, 32. "For if we would
judge ourselves, we should not be judged." Here we perceive a judgment to
which the saints, and only the saints, are amenable; a judgment belonging
solely to this life, exercised by Christ, who is the Judge. To Him the
Church is accountable; every believer is responsible to Him for his
thoughts, words and works. Nothing escapes His notice. He walks "in the
midst of the seven golden candlesticks"; "His eyes are as a flame of fire";
"before Him all things are naked and opened" and He can still say to each
and all, "I know your works." This tribunal is always set; the books are
always open; from it no believer can altogether escape. Not that the Lord is
strict to mark iniquity, or righteous to punish; if He were, "O Lord, who
should stand?"
The Lord Jesus has no haste to correct His children; He
says, He does it not "from His heart." And, indeed, the words above contain
most gracious assurance of deliverance from correction, even though they
have offended. They seem to say, indeed, that the Lord is slow to chasten,
though His children be so faulty. His love for them is such, that not only
shall they be delivered from all penal inflictions for sin (for these He has
fully borne for them), but He would also show them how to avoid His
corrections. There is something, therefore, exceedingly gracious in this
notice given to the church, "If we would judge ourselves, we should not be
judged," tending to confirm our confidence in our Lord, and in His amazing
condescension and tenderness.
The believer knows he must trust in Jesus implicitly and
confide in Him entirely. When the storm and tempest rage the most furiously,
he may run into his hiding-place and find sweet repose from the world, the
flesh, and the devil, for "the name of the Lord is a strong tower; the
righteous runs into it and is safe." Now if ever there was a time when this
confidence could be shaken, it would be when the saint had sinned; but even
then he may, and must, rest his soul in Jesus. Some of the Lord's children
when overtaken in a fault, immediately expect correction at His hands, and
through all of it walk heavily; but the passage also meets their case. It is
a law of our great High Priest, and also our Judge, that, "if we would judge
ourselves, we should not be judged"; that is, if we note when we have
offended, and go directly to the Judge condemning ourselves, and confessing
it to Him, He will pardon and pass it by. Wonderful condescension! He will
allow the believer to be his own judge. What a proof that the Spirit is
within him; yes, Christ Himself, the Hope of Glory!
Having judged himself, and brought in the verdict of
guilty, the believer will feel the paramount necessity of getting the blood
sprinkled afresh upon him, and of turning out of the wrong path; and he is
thus brought to the point, only more readily and speedily, to which
chastening would have brought him. It is, if one might so speak, a nearer
and easier way back into the right path; for the Lord only wishes us to walk
with him, enjoying His presence and His smiles; and when we turn aside
through frailty, the sooner we come back the better. It is not He who would
keep us at a distance. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to
forgive us our sins" (1 John 1:9). But alas! many walk so carelessly, "at
all adventures with God," that they offend, and are not aware of it. They
are out of the way, and know it not. They are plainly, therefore, not in a
capacity to judge themselves; and as sin must not be on the believer unknown
and unconfessed, the good Lord will go after the careless one, and bring him
into judgment. He will judge him, since he would not judge himself.
But (if such an expression might be used) He would much
rather His people should judge themselves. He would have them live so that
He might always be present with them; and they might have their Lord
continually, if, as soon as they sinned, they detected it, and acknowledged
it; then they would cease to be guilty, and walking thus in the light, as He
is in the light, the fellowship should not be broken, for the blood should
"cleanse from all sin." The believer, thus cleansed and restored to
obedience, escapes the chastening, for the end of the chastening is
amendment; and if he has arrived at the latter, what need is there for the
former?
And O, how like is this to our Lord! and how kind of Him
to make it so plain to us! Should we not at least learn thus much from the
words—if He is so graciously desirous not to chasten, how very careful
should be our walk with Him! Now this was not the case with these
Corinthians; they sinned again and again, and seemed to take no account of
it. They were carnal; there was among them envying and strife, and division;
still they judged not themselves. The Lord, who is slow to anger, waited
long, and they only went further and further astray, until at last, in the
abuse of His supper, He was compelled to be the Judge.
Perhaps Peter's was a case like the former; he judged
himself. His bitter tears told of his guilt and his sorrow, and not a word
of upbraiding does he hear. The very angels have a special message for him:
"Tell His disciples and Peter, that He is risen" etc. And our Lord was "Seen
of Cephas, then of the twelve." "The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared
unto Simon." Note the words guilt and guilty, in the above, have nothing
whatever to do with the believer's state before God; for in Christ he is as
free from the imputation of sin as the risen Surety. But if the washed one
offends in neglecting to wash his feet, he will bring the sense of guilt
into his conscience, which may be so strong as to make him forget he has
been purged from his old sins. The Lord vouchsafe us tender consciences, and
the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus, to which we are elected.
"But when we are judged we are chastened of the Lord,
that we should not be condemned with the world" "When we are judged of the
Lord we are chastened." He does not always tell us our fault first; we are
so selfish and unwilling to suffer, that we are willing then to search
ourselves, and we see therefore this evil is upon us. Having sinned and
failed to confess, we are laid open to His displeasure; to escape then is
hopeless. O the bitterness of provoking Him to punish us, our best Friend;
that One who poured out His life's blood for us; who endured the sharpest
inflictions of justice to screen us; Him whose heart is love, and on the
sense of whose love all our happiness depends! Yet, we forfeit all, and
compel Him to restrain His lovely smile, put on instead a frown, take the
rod in His hand, and chasten us for our folly. Then we cannot escape: smite
He will. How long and how much, we must leave to Him. We are completely in
His hands; His power over us is supreme, entire; resistance is vain, and
will certainly increase the affliction. There is nothing to be done, but
humbly to lie down before Him, and submit to His will. He may punish
severely; often He does. He may punish long; and there is no promise that it
shall not be so. The suffering child has but one resource, but one door of
hope; it is love, the exquisite, surpassing love of Him who is chastening.
On that he throws himself, as Quarles says, "I turn from Lord to Jesus; From
Yourself to You." Yes, there is none other. He who inflicts the pain can
withdraw His hand; He who has wounded, can bind up; He who has laid us in
the dust by His frown, can raise up by His smile. Yes, He can forgive, He
can restore; He can heal. "He will not always chide." He will "turn again,"
perhaps meaning He will relent, as the parent when he has punished the
child; never is his heart so soft as then.
So our Jesus: "Is not Israel still my son, my darling
child?" asks the Lord. "I had to punish him, but I still love him. I long
for him and surely will have mercy on him." Jeremiah 31:20 This, this is a
mercy, an infinite mercy, that we are in the hands of One so tender, so
loving, who does not like to put us to pain, who does it unwillingly, and
longs to restore us to favor.
But there is still a greater mercy in the reason assigned
for correction; it is "that we should not be condemned with the world." Ah
it is enough to make one tremble to think of the ungodly, who never having
been chastened here, will hereafter bear the full punishment of all their
offences. But it is not so with us, thanks be to God, we are judged here,
not there; in this world, not in the next. And it is because we shall be
acquitted hereafter that Christ our Lord must of necessity notice our
offences here: "You only have I known," etc. The wicked go free, the houses
are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them, for this reason,
their reckoning is future, ours is present. Let us bless the Lord for His
kind care of us, and for not allowing us to take our own way. Let us not
rebel against His loving discipline, but thank Him for being so particular
with us, (2 Cor. 10:18), seeing that His dealing points to our high destiny,
and issues in our everlasting blessedness, to the praise of the glory of His
grace.