IMPALED ON A YARDSTICK
"Now, where in the world would you get a chapter title like this?" you may be asking. "Why, from the Bible!" would be my reply.
"Judge not, that ye be not judged." "For with what judgement ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what MEASURE ye mete, it shall be MEASURED to you again." "And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?" "Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?" "Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam of thine own eye;
and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye." "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets." Words of Jesus from Matthew 7.
When our Lord tells us not to judge, He is not asking us to be either naive, spastically undiscerning or stupid. Part of what He is saying here is that we must be willing to have the same yard stick measure used on us as we are using on others. It is amazing how many of us can "dish it out" but can't "take it"; how many of us can give advice or counselor rebuke or reprimand, etc., but are unable, (or should I say unwilling) to take even a small amount of the same treatment back in return! Though the Word says "Judge not!", it also says, "Try the spirits..." and "Try those who say they are apostles..." and the Holy Spirit gives us the gift of the "discerning of spirits" (not to be confused with the gift of suspicion), and "Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge." (l Cor.14:29) "Evil men understand not judgement: but they that seek the Lord understand all things." (Proverbs 28:5) "But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man." (I Cor.2:15).
In the book of Esther, remember Haman? He was hung on his own gallows.
Remember Daniel's lion's den? The men who put him there were killed in the same den by the same lions! Can you think of others who were meted out the same measure they meted out to others? The Scripture even talks about the Lord "paying them back double"! Remember the men that threw Shadrach into the fiery furnace? (Dan.3:2). Remember Nabal, husband of David's Abigail? (l Sam.25). Remember Pharaoh pledging to kill the Hebrews? The measure that he intended others to meet, he got met with, himselfl!! (Ex. 1 0:28). Etc., etc.
Paul says, "Who art thou, that judgest another man's servant? Before his own Master he standeth or falleth. And God is able to make him stand!" Remember, it is not enough for us to accept Jesus as our Lord only, but IT IS also NECESSARY FOR US TO RECEIVE JESUS CHRIST AS LORD OF OUR BROTHER (and sister).
Are you one of those who likes to wrongly quote the Scripture: "There is One Mediator between God and man: the Man Christ Jesus, AND ME!!!" (The "and me" should not, MUST not, be added.)
AN UNFORGIVEABLE SIN Or BLASPHEMING THE HOLY SPIRIT
Blaspheming the Holy Spirit = saying something is of the devil that is of God's Holy Spirit. I have heard dear Christians say, "Oh, he (or it) is of the devil," when in fact, the person or the thing was of God!!! Jesus says that this sin will NEVER BE FORGIVEN!- yet Christians do this too often. Matthew 12:31.
(If you think that you have committed the "unforgivable sin" please see our treatment of this in our book, How To Rule The World or Seek First The Kingdom Of God.)
"If you offend or cause one of these little ones (the disciples, or those who are doing the will of God), to stumble or to fall, better that you never were born, or that you had a millstone hung around your neck and that you be dropped into the deepest part of the sea."(Words from our Sweet Gentle Saviour, in Matthew 18:6; Mark 9:42; Luke 17:2; and Matthew 5:22.)
Let's take a look at this Matthew 5:22 in the Amplified Bible: God is speaking, "But I say to you that EVERY ONE who continues to be angry with his brother or harbors malice [enmity of heart] against him shall be liable to and unable to escape the punishment Imposed by the court; and WHOEVER speaks contemptuously and insultingly to his brother shall be liable to and UNABLE TO ESCAPE THE PUNISHMENT imposed by the Sanhedrin, and WHOEVER says, 'You cursed fool!' - 'You emptyheaded idiot!' shall be liable to and unable to escape the hell (Gehenna) of fire." God says, "Whoever" and "To his brother". "Whoever" includes Christians and "brother" includes your brother (and your sister) (and your spouse) in the Lord!!! It is a deceived person who says that Christians cannot go to hell, when God Himself says otherwise in places like Hebrews 6:4-6 & 10:23-31 & Mat,24:13, etc. This kind of "eternal security" breeds infernal insecurity!
Again, Jesus Himself says, "If you call your brother a fool, a liar, an empty headed idiot, or stupid, you are in danger of the judgement of hell fire." (Words from our Gentle Jesus.) Matthew 5. Hmmm, I wonder why He said that??? Do we really believe it?? I wonder if the same danger is present when we have that attitude toward our friend in our thinking? What does the Lord say, "If we hate our brother, (or sister), we are a murderer!" I John 4:15. (That's what He says!)
TOUCHING THE LORD'S ANOINTED"
There is that in the Christian vernacular what is known as "touching the Lord's anointed". In order to adequately define the term as it is (or should be), used, we will refer to the Scriptures from which the phrase comes: I Chronicles 16:21,22 says, "He, (God), suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, He reproved kings for their sakes, saying, 'TOUCH NOT MINE ANOINTED, AND DO MY PROPHETS NO HARM.' "!!!
O.K., we have the Lord's command, now let's look at the Lord's application of that command. It really makes for interesting reading, (doesn't it all!!!), I Samuel 24:6, "And he said unto his men, 'The Lord forbid that I should do this thing unto...the Lord's anointed, to stretch forth mine hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the Lord' ".
But LOOK at the situation here where this principle is being applied! David is already the rightful king!!! He has already been anointed and prophesied over! The "Anointed" man about whom he is speaking and "the Anointed" to whom this principle applies is: 1) Demon possessed! (18: 10), 2) A murderer! (22:17), 3) Has lied, 4) Has stolen David's wife! (25:44), 5) Has tried to kill David repeatedly! (19:1), 6) Tried to kill his own son! (20:33), 7) Becomes a consulter of a witch, (28:7) for a seance, etc., etc., etc... This, THIS IS THE LORD'S ANOINTED ???? But the exact same temptation comes again two chapters later in 26:9b, & 11a, "Destroy him not: for WHO CAN STRETCH FORTH HIS HAND AGAINST THE LORD'S ANOINTED, AND BE GUILTLESS?" "The Lord forbid that I should stretch forth mine hand against the Lord's anointed."! Why just think of it! Saul's kingdom had ALREADY been taken away from him, and his right to be king - his right to live, was gone. Plus, as we said, he was stark raving demon possessed! You mean to tell me that HE'S NOT TO BE TOUCHED ???
WAR DECLARED
But note one further fact: when David does discover that someone else did touch the Lord's anointed, he not only went into mourning along with his friends, but he executed the people who did touch this "Lord's anointed". But what about you? What about us??? Have you been critical of spiritual leaders? Have you gossiped about them? Have you been wrongly judgemental? O.K., maybe they didn't do it YOUR way, or follow what YOU thought they should do, or say it the way YOU thought they should, or, or, or, or... But let me ask you, were they devil possessed? Did they murder anybody? O.K., maybe they did steal somebody's wife (or divorce their own), maybe they did beg for money when they should have done it the "Mueller Method", (though the beggar went to heaven !) Or, maybe they were too exclusivistic, or arrogant, or preached the "Grand Snatch Rupture Doctrine", or maybe they didn't!!! But tell me dear one, did they actually murder any one? Were they devil possessed??? Were they worse than Saul??? If they were not, and we "touched" them, mark my words, if we criticized them behind their back and did "roast preacher" on them and "bit" them psychically or devoured them spiritually, then THUS SAITH THE LORD, IT HAS BEEN ACCREDITED TO OUR ACCOUNT, AS HA VING BEEN DONE TO CHRIST, THE WAY WE HAVE RELATED TO EVEN THE LEAST OF THOSE WHO ARE DOING THE WILL OF GOD!!!!!!!
In Galatians 5, Paul gives some insight, "...by love serve one another." "For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." "But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another."! "Now the works of the flesh are...hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, ...envyings,...and such like...that they which do such things shall NOT inherit the Kingdom of God"!!! Then, in conclusion, Paul gives us perhaps the greatest reason why we criticize..."Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, ENVYing one another."! James puts it this way, "But if ye have bitter ENVYING and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth." "This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devil-ISH." "For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work." "But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be
entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy." "And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace." Once again, I remind you of the last verse in the Old Testament which says that if we don't start loving each other, God will "smite the earth with a
curse. "!!!!!!!
“HIT LIST”
Who is on your personal psychic "Hit List"? You don't like Tammi's make up? (don't you wish you were as purty?) Have you been critical of Oral's hospital, (I hope you never need it!) or Jimmy's swagger? (God grant that you become at least as great, and at least as humble,) or Moral's majority, or Billy's success, or Kenneth's faith, or Pat's program or Robert's glass church? Add your own name's and your own pet peeves at your own risk? God is listening and watching, and promises to measure you by your own yardstick, and "mete your own measure"...on you!!!
PAUL'S HIT LIST
Look at Paul's yardstick and Paul's hit list in Philippians 1," ...many of the brethren..." and "Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife...", (no make-up mentioned yet, but wait, the list continues), . "The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds." Now look at Paul's scathingly vituperative conclusion: "What then? notwithstanding, EVERY WAY, whether in pretense, or in truth, CHRIST IS PREACHED; AND THEREIN DO I REJOICE, YEA, AND WILL REJOICE"!!!!!!! In other words, there may be men of God that have had wrong motives in their ministry, but Jesus is being preached, and in spite of the imperfections or abuses, Christ is being preached and folks are coming to God. Instead of criticizing, Paul rejoices that Jesus is being preached!
I am recommending that this be your reaction also. Which brings us to the next subject called, "The Rule of A Right Spirit".
Before we do though, I want to just mention one other point. David not only refused to touch the Lord's anointed, but he executed those who did. Let me ask you: WHAT DID YOU DO THE LAST TIME SOME ONE MURDERED, MOLESTED, MAIMED, MARRED, MUGGED OR OTHERWISE MESSED WITH THE "LORD'S ANOINTED" IN YOUR PRESENCE???
Here, I think of Franky Schaeffer's book, ANGER: The Myth of Neutrality. What would you do if you were sitting at a restaurant in polite company, and some loudmouth, devil possessed drunk, came over and started abusing a lady in your group??? I dare say, would most of you be a silly, weak kneed, sissy???
Would you allow the dastardly and diabolical dismembering of your sweet sister??? Did you think that the Bible says, "When someone slaps your sister, that YOU should turn the other cheek?"
According to our law in this country, if you are "along for the ride" and some crime is committed by your party, then you are equally guilty by association. I talk about this in another place, but I personally invite you to declare a "Holy War", and determine that never again, will you allow the psychic dismembering of a brother or sister to take place in your presence. My decision to do this has led to some confrontation. I have had to plead with, and sometimes rebuke certain family members or close friends or people that I really wanted to impress, but I had a clear choice of offending them OR, of offending the Holy Ghost. Believe me, a true disciple of Jesus has already made up his mind who to offend. Anyone who will compromise, wilt or sell out under this kind of pressure is a spiritual prostitute. We have defined spiritual prostitution as that which "sells out, or compromises, in order to obtain, gain, retain or maintain the favor of man instead of God." Spiritual prostitution is the worst kind of all! A physical prostitute knows what she is, and so do others, but a spiritual prostitute pretends that he, or she, is spiritual.
Father God, I repent for my cannibalizing of others.
Help me never to murder others with my mouth - or allow others to in my presence. Help me always to rightly relate to you - in the least of these. Amen
CHAPTER 6 - REVIEW
1. From what Scripture comes the thought of being impaled on a yardstick?
2. Give at least two Scriptural examples of people who were impaled on their own yardstick, so to speak.
3. Complete this thought: "It is not only necessary for us to receive Jesus Christ as our Lord but also the Lord of _____________________ .
4. Define "Blaspheming the Holy Spirit".
5. What is deserved by those who "cause one of these little ones to stumble or fall"?
6. Who are "these little ones"?
7. What are we in danger of if we call our brother "stupid"?
8. What (briefly) is meant by "touching the Lord's anointed"?
9. Name several negative things about the "anointed" one about whom David was referring, that he refused to "touch".
10. Complete this Kingdom Principle: "It is accredited to our account, as having been done to Christ _____________________.
11. All the law is fulfilled in what word?__________
12. Name at least 5 things related to this study that will keep folks from inheriting God's Kingdom.
13. What is perhaps the greatest single reason for cannibalism?
14. Is it possible to always keep a "right spirit"?