REVIEW
FLIP CHART: SOM’S KEY VERSE, GOAL, MOTTO
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness ….” (Mt. 6:33a).
The law sends us to Christ for justification; Christ sends us back to the law for sanctification.
FLIP CHART: Show new “Perfect Righteousness” chart explaining steps to coming to Christ (As a worm, mourning, meek, spiritual hunger/thirst with the result of legal righteousness). Explain: moral righteousness, immediate moral change at conversion, gradual change through life’s challenges and speeding up moral change via CCRC (Concentration, Choice, Reflection and Confession/Thanksgiving). Key verse, “By one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy” (Heb. 10:14).
FLIP CHART: John Stott’s outline of SOM.
“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. (Matthew 7:1-5)
REVIEW:
Chapter 7 focuses on relationships. The first relationship deals with helping a brother who has a fault.
Mt. 7:1-5, that tells us not to judge, is one of the most misquoted, misapplied and misinterpreted passages in the Bible. The common Christian runs to this verse the first time someone challenges him about a peculiar activity (or sin) and defends himself by saying, “Do not judge.”
“Krino (to judge) means basically to separate, choose, select, or determine and has a dozen or more shades of meanings that must be decided from the context.” (MacArthur, 432)
These verses must be interpreted in their context and the whole Sermon on the Mount is based on both our ability and need to judge. In verse 6 and 7 we are told to judge between dogs and pigs. And later judge who is a false prophet. The same chapter tells us to judge between the wide and narrow way, good and bad fruit, solid and shifting foundations. The whole sermon tells us to judge between true righteousness and false righteousness and the practitioners of true and false righteousness.
The focus on the command not to judge is against judgmentalism or censoriousness.
As Christians we must use our critical faculties to make judgment calls in life but we are not to be judgmental. Judgmentalism is a condemning spirit that springs from a self-righteous heart and shows itself as censorious, hypercritical and fault-finding, often of another’s motives.
Most judgmentalism happens when discussing the “gray areas” in theology and lifestyle and slips very quickly into criticizing a person’s motives and character. Judgmentalism is a terrible sin that wounds our brothers and sisters and often disrupts love and fellowship. We need to pray that God will give us a generous and accepting to those who do not see eye-to-eye on the gray areas of life.
OUTLINE FOR TODAY:
THE CHRISTIAN AND JUDGING
I. Defining the word “judge”
II. The Christian is Commanded to Judge
III. The Christian is not Commanded to Abandon His Critical Faculty
AVOIDING JUDGMENTALISM
I. Definition of Judgmentalism
II. Marks of a Judgmental, Censorious Spirit
JUDGING THE CHRISTIAN
I. God is the Only True and Righteous Judge
II. God’s Judgment is Both Present & Future
III. God’s Unit of Measure
THE FINE ART OF SPECK REMOVAL
JUDGING THE CHRISTIAN
I. GOD IS THE ONLY TRUE AND RIGHTEOUS JUDGE
GOD IS THE ONLY JUDGE
“There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy” (James 4:12A).
QUESTION: What qualities in God as a Judge should comfort and also alarm us?
QUESTION: What are the two major problems we have with human judges?
GOD IS A RIGHTEOUS JUDGE
When Abraham was pleading for God to spare the righteous that yet remained in Sodom and Gomorrah he kept arguing that God would not destroy the righteous with the wicked. In his prayer he said, “Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Gen. 18:25)
“He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways a just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.” (Deut. 32:4)
“God is a righteous judge . . . “ (Ps. 7:11).
GOD WILL JUDGE THE WORLD THROUGH CHRIST
“. . . on the day that God will judge men’s secrets through Jesus Christ . . . ” (Romans 2:16).
“Moreover the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son . . . And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man” (John 5:22, 27).
“ . . . He (Christ) is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead” (Acts 10:42).
In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he (God) has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed (Christ) (Acts 17:30-31).
CHRIST JUDGES WITH FULL KNOWLEDGE OF THE FACTS.
“Death and Destruction lie open before the LORD – – how much more the hearts of men!” (Prov. 15:11)
“Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” (Heb. 4:13)
“. . . God will judge men’s secrets through Jesus Christ . . . ” (Romans 2:16).
“All a man’s ways seem innocent to him but motives are weighed by the LORD” (Prov. 16:2).
“Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts” (I Cor. 4:5).
“But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.’” (I Sam. 16:7)
“I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deed deserve” (Jer. 17:10).
II. GOD’S JUDGMENT IS BOTH PRESENT & FUTURE
We must remember that the words in the Sermon on the Mount are delivered to believers, not unbelievers. Again and again our Lord refers to “Our Father” and “Your Father.”
Our text reads, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.” The question is “By whom?”
“Surely it means this: ‘Judge not, that ye be not judged’ by God.” (MLJ, 172).
God’s Word speaks of three distinct types of judgment.
ETERNAL, FINAL JUDGMENT
Christians are freed from eternal, final judgment by accepting the death of Christ and his punishment as a substitute for what they rightly deserve.
“I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life” (John 5:24).
“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus . . . “ (Rom. 8:1)
We speak of the great white throne judgment, the separation of the sheep from the goats (Mt. 25)
“If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire” (Rev. 20:15).
“We are so anxious to assert the doctrine of justification by faith only, that very often we are guilty of minimizing the other doctrines of Scriptures which are equally a part of our faith and therefore equally true.” MLJ, 172)
PRAYER: Have someone thank God that through the blood and sacrificial death of the Lord Jesus Christ we have escaped eternal punishment for our sins.
TEMPORAL, CORRECTIVE JUDGMENT
This is judgment to which we are subject as God’s children and because we are God’s children.
READ: I Cor. 11:27-32
QUESTION: What are some principles we can draw from this text concerning judgment on Christians.
1) Christians can sin against Christ.
2) A Christian who partakes of the Lord’s Supper in a meaningless way is bringing judgment on himself/herself.
3) Judgment may come in weakness, sickness, death.
4) Judgment we experience while we are Christians is corrective.
“. . . it is very wrong for Christians to trip lightly through life saying that he believes in the Lord Jesus Christ and that therefore judgment has nothing to do with him, and all is well. Not at all; we must walk warily and circumspectly, we must examine ourselves and search ourselves lest this kind of judgment descend upon us.” (MLJ, 174)
“. . . many of us who claim to be evangelical Christian are not only guilty of glibness in these matters (relating to judgment), but are also curiously lacking in what used to be called the ‘fear of God.’”
It seems that God, at times, in order to correct, discipline and judge us withholds his protection.
“Hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit save on the day of the LORD.” (I Cor. 5:5)
If we are judgmental / censorious / hyper-critical we are exposing ourselves to the temporal judgment of God. We will not lose our salvation but we will evidently lose something else (MLJ, 176).
PRAYER: Pray that we will so walk in the light, so live in the will of God that we will avoid sickness, weakness and death as a result of God’s temporal, corrective judgment on us.
JUDGMENT OF REWARDS, JUDGMENT SEAT OF CHRIST
“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” (II Cor. 5:10)
“For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. . . . each of us will give an account of himself to God” (Romans 14:10, 12).
“. . . the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. If what he has build survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.” (I Cor. 3:13-14)
Paul writes, right after his statement on the Judgment Seat of Christ, “Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord (the Judgment Seat of Christ), we try to persuade men” (II Cor. 5:11).
Onesiphorus ministered to Paul’s needs when Paul was in prison in Rome. Paul wrote, “May the Lord grant that he will find mercy from the Lord on that day!” (II Tim. 1:18)
“And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.” (I John 2:28)
Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the LORD from now on.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.” (Rev. 14:13)
Do we really believe that God will not judge us if we fail to participate in the work of His kingdom? If we bypass Mt. 6:33 and fail to run after / prioritize the kingdom of God and his righteousness, how will God evaluate that?
They love thee little, if at all
Who do not fear Thee much.
If love is thine attraction Lord
Fear is thy very touch.
And Father! When to us in heaven
Thou shalt Thy face unveil,
Then more than ever will our souls,
Before Thy goodness quail.
(Frederick William Faber, 1814-1863)
ILL: Dad worked as a logger, gone early in the morning. We had one car, a 1951 Chevrolet. It had seen a lot of miles by 1958 and was in bad shape. One Friday night with a friend we were going somewhere, to goof around, and around 10:00 at night the transmission blew-out and I drifted off to the side of the two lane road about 2 miles from my home. I had to leave the care and walk home. It was late at night but I could not stand to go into the house. I was heart-broken to know that I was causing him more trouble and money. Finally I went in and sat in the living room. Eventually Dad got out of bed, came out and I told him what has happened.
If I could feel that deeply and be that despondent just because of the small trial I caused my father (He got the transmission fixed on Saturday), how are we going to feel standing before God with empty hands, with nothing positive to show him for our time on earth?
Must I go, and empty handed
Thus my dear Redeemer meet?
Not one day of service give Him,
Lay no trophy at His feet?
Refrain
Must I go, and empty handed?
Must I meet my Savior so?
Not one soul with which to greet Him,
Must I empty handed go?
Not at death I shrink or falter,
For my Savior saves me now;
But to meet Him empty handed,
Thought of that now clouds my brow.
Oh the years in sinning wasted,
Could I but recall them now,
I would give them to my Savior,
To His Will I’d gladly bow.
O ye saints, arouse, be earnest
Up and work while yet ’tis day;
E’er the night of death o’er take thee,
Strive for souls while yet you may.
PRAYER: Let’s pray that we will so live that we will not be ashamed in God’s presence, that we will not come before Him empty handed.
SO WHAT???
1. The Triune God is righteous, just and all knowing. The Lord Jesus Christ will judge the human race with full knowledge of and based on every thought and motive of our hearts.
2. By God’s grace we have been saved from eternal judgment because of our faith in the sacrificial death of Christ on our behalf.
3. We experience corrective, temporal judgment by God in this life for our thoughts, words and actions.
4. All believers will be required to give an account for their lives and how they have lived them before the Judgment Seat of Christ.