KINGDOM COURTESIES

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on March 11, 2020 under AM Bible Study |

AM Bible Study Group: March 11, 2020 from Luke 6:37-42

Our Lord proclaims the future blessedness of those who suffer for Him, and the future woefulness of those who savor this world instead of Him.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

The teaching of our Lord Jesus is practical. It is, in fact, the most practical teaching in the world. It even impacts the way we relate to people in everyday life.

In His ‘Sermon on The Plain’, as we find it in Luke 6:20-49, Jesus spoke to His disciples about the ethics of His kingdom. And among the things that He taught them, He said;

“Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.” And He spoke a parable to them: “Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into the ditch? A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher. And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the plank that is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother’s eye” (Luke 6:37-42).

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As we come to this passage, let’s remember a couple of very important things.

First, as popular as it might be for unbelieving people to quote many of these instructions—and as eager as many philosophers have been to embrace them as principles for life—they really are not meant for the unbelieving people of this world. They are specifically for followers of Jesus. We shouldn’t try to impose these principles on unbelieving people as an ‘ethic’ for them to aspire to. They are not meant to be embraced or kept without a saving relationship with Jesus. These words of our Lord may give inspiration encouragement to the unsaved people of this world. But teaching these principles to them won’t reform them. As Dr. Harry Ironside has well said;

“Christ’s instruction was given for the guidance of His disciples. It is a mistake to suppose that in the teaching of our Lord we have a system of ethics designed to curb the evil propensities of natural men and so raise them to a higher spiritual plane. Nothing will do this but the new birth. When men are born of God, they find in the instruction of Jesus, the principles that guide in living the new life. But we need to remember there must be a life by which we live before we can live the life” (H.A. Ironside, Addresses on The Gospel of Luke [Neptune, NJ: Loizeaux Brothers, 1982] p. 207; emphasis added).

These words of instruction, then, are meant for those who have been born again, and who have a relationship with Jesus by faith, and who are empowered by the indwelling Holy Spirit to keep true to them. There is no other way to keep them, as He intended, except through dependency upon Himself. And that leads us to another important thing to keep in mind. They are commands that are based on the experiences of God’s grace that we have had through Jesus. We treat other people the way Jesus commands us to in this passage because—ultimately—we have received God’s grace in these areas first.

The apostle Paul pointed this out to us in his letter to Pastor Titus. He urged Titus to teach the people of God to live faithfully before the watching world; telling him,

Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men (Titus 3:1-2).

And why are we to do this? Paul goes on to say;

For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life (vv. 3-7).

If we will look carefully at our Lord’s instructions, we’ll see in them that we are motivated to treat people in these ways because of a clear sense of how God has treated us.

Look first at how we are to …

1. BE GRACIOUS, BECAUSE WE NEED GRACE (v. 37).

Jesus sets this before us in the form of three commands. He said, “Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” Clearly, we’re meant to remember the grace God has shown toward us, and to let this grace be part of our motivation.

Consider the command, “Judge not, and you shall not be judged.” Jesus taught this same thing in the Sermon on The Mount, when He said, “Judge not, that you be not judged.” We might wonder, “Aren’t there times, though, when I need to exercise judgment?” And of course there are. But we’re not to set up a standard of our own making, and judge people on the basis of our own standard—as if we are qualified to be a judge in God’s place. Jesus went on to say, “For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you” (Matthew 7:1-2). This doesn’t mean that we are to cease being discerning on the basis of God’s revealed standards. After all, Jesus will go on in the next section to teach us that ‘a tree is known by its fruit’; and that we are to discern good fruit from bad fruit (vv. 43-43). Rather, this simply means that we are not to set up our own standards of judgment, apart from God’s standards, and criticize people on the basis of what we have created. If we do that, we put ourselves in danger of being judged by God according to the standards we set for others. After all, considering how we have sinned against God, we certainly need mercy ourselves.

Nor are we to condemn others—speaking ill of them, or cursing them before God, or relegating them to ‘hopelessness’ and ‘worthlessness’ on the basis of our own imperfect evaluation of things. After all, we can’t know people’s true heart attitudes, or their genuine motives for the things they do. If we condemn people on the basis of our own imperfect understanding, then we place ourselves under the threat of also being condemned. We should remember that, in spite of our failures, God has pardoned us in Christ and has declared us righteous on the basis of His grace.

Instead, we are to be ready and willing to forgive those who offend us and do us wrong; so that God will freely forgive us for our wrongs. As Jesus has said;

For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses (Matthew 6:14-15).

We shouldn’t take this to mean that our salvation is based on whether or not we do the ‘good work’ of forgiving others. Rather, this is affirming that, as God’s children, we have been completely forgiven by His grace. And so, we should respond to that grace gratefully in our treatment of others. If after having received this grace, we were to then refuse to show the same grace to others, then God would justly withhold the blessings of His fellowship from us—and may even bring us under discipline—until we repent and do so. (See our Lord’s parable of ‘the unforgiving servant’ in Matthew 18:23-35 as an illustration of this.)

We are to refrain from judging others, refrain from condemning them, and be forgiving toward them; because as redeemed sinners, that’s what we ourselves need from God every single day. As the apostle Paul wrote, “be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32).

Then, we see that we are to …

2. BE GENEROUS, BECAUSE WE’LL BE REWARDED (v. 38).

Jesus says, “Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom” (v. 38a). In Jesus’ day, when someone went to market to buy grain, the grain would be poured into a basket or into a fold of their garment, then pressed down, then shaken together in order to compact the supply as the grain settled into place. Sometimes, in great acts of generous supply, the grain would spill over the sides of the container.

In our relationships with other people, whenever the opportunity to ‘give’ comes upon us, we’re to do so. We’re to give without fear of loss. In fact, He encourages us to give generously; and said, “For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you” (v. 38b). In Malachi 3:10, God commanded the people of Israel;

“Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this,” Says the Lord of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it” (Malachi 3:10).

This shouldn’t be confused with ‘prosperity gospel’ teaching. This is not meant to be used as a ‘guarantee’ that we can manipulate in a materialistic way. Sometimes the blessings come in forms that are not ‘material’. Sometimes, the blessings even come in the form of the grace of God to endure hardships and trials. But in any case, we never need to be afraid of being generous in the opportunities of giving God gives us; because God Himself is abundantly able to supply our needs—and in fact does so. Paul encouraged the believers in Corinth to give generously; telling them;

But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work (2 Corinthians 9:6-8).

We’re to give, then, from out of the knowledge that our God is always able to take care of us, and to supply us abundantly with everything that we need.

We go on to see that we are to …

3. BE TEACHABLE, BECAUSE WE NEED A TEACHER (vv. 39-40).

We’re told, “And He spoke a parable to them: ‘Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into the ditch?” (v. 39). This is a very memorable illustration; and it’s one that Jesus used in His teaching different occasions (see Matthew 15:14 and 23:16). It shows us that, when it comes to spiritual matters, it is dangerous to follow people who don’t really know where they are going.

As Jesus’ followers, we’re not to present ourselves to the people of this world as if we have great wisdom and insight to offer them in our own power. That’s how people of this world do things. Many of the ‘life-experts’ end up down in the ditch because of their own self-professed human wisdom and authority—and they lead others down into the ditch with them. Instead of presenting ourselves as ‘experts’ to others, we’re to remember that we are ‘ongoing students’ in the school of our Master Teacher, Jesus. He Himself once warned,

But you, do not be called ‘Rabbi’; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren. Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ (Matthew 23:8-10).

In the passage from Luke 6, Jesus went on to explain, “A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher” (v. 38b). If we remember that we ourselves are only ‘students’ in Jesus’ ‘continuing education program’, and if we faithfully behave as ‘fully trained’ students, then we will be careful to only say the things to people around us that Jesus Himself has taught us. We wont speak our own words of ‘personal expertise’ to people; but rather, will speak His words to them. He’s our Teacher—now and forever. He’s the only one who can ever say, “The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63).

And so, we should never present ourselves as above our Teacher; but instead, should always be pointing others to Him. We should never set ourselves up as the experts, because we ourselves always need to be taught by the Teacher of all teachers.

And finally, we see that we are to …

4. BE HUMBLE, BECAUSE WE ARE IN NEED OF CORRECTION (vv. 41-42).

One of the most arrogant ways that we can present ourselves to the people of this world is by behaving as the official ‘fault-finder’ and ‘fault-corrector’ of others Jesus asked, “And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the plank that is in your own eye?” (vv. 41-42a).” We can be very blind to our own faults—and can even try to cover-up that blindness by going around correcting the faults of others while we ignore the things that are wrong in our own lives. The people of this world resent this very much when they see this kind of behavior in those who call themselves Christians.

Jesus puts His finger on the nature of things when He went on to say, “Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother’s eye” (v. 42b). This is not to say, of course, that we shouldn’t help correct the faults of others; or that we must ourselves first be perfect before we do so. But it would mean that our hearts are only right and just in doing so—and that we ourselves are only truly effective in helping others—when we have first practiced the humility to admit to and repent of our own faults. It would mean that we do so with an unhypocritical and humble attitude—only as sinners helping other sinners come to the Savior.

The apostle Paul himself helped others on the basis of the help that he was first given through Christ. In 2 Corinthians 1, he wrote;

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ. Now if we are afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effective for enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer. Or if we are comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. And our hope for you is steadfast, because we know that as you are partakers of the sufferings, so also you will partake of the consolation (2 Corinthians 1:3-7).

The people who are best qualified to help others to deliverance are those who have first been sincerely delivered by Jesus. They are able to comfort those who are in any trouble with the comfort with which they themselves have been comforted in by God.

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In the way that we conduct our relationships with people in this world, then, we’re to show unmistakably that we belong to another kingdom. We’re to show that we ourselves have been the recipients of God’s grace through King Jesus. We’re to show that we’ve been shown grace by the way that we are gracious to others; that we trust in God’s blessings by the fact that we are generous to those in need; that we are students of Jesus by the fact that never exalt ourselves as the guide to others; and that we ourselves are humble by the fact that we first experience God’s help for our own faults before we seek to help others.

May God help us to show, by the way we treat people, how our Lord has treated us.

EA