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:
The Greek word for judge in Mt. 7:1-5 is krino, which means to separate, choose, etc. and has many shades of meaning that must be decided by the context. Mt 7:1-5 is one of the most misquoted, misapplied and misinterpreted passages in the Bible. It can’t forbid us from judging in the common sense because Mt. 7:6 tells us to judge between dogs and pigs or people that are like dogs and pigs. Judging is also demanded of us in many other Scriptures.
The command is against judgmentalism, a condemning spirit that springs from a self-righteous heart and shows itself as censorious, hypercritical and fault-finding, generally of another’s motives. The antonym for judgmentalism would be generous, big-hearted, accepting. God is the only true and righteous judge and when we judge another’s motives we usurp the role of God.
We must remember that Christians, although delivered from the eternal, final judgment that the unsaved will face at the Great White Throne by the sacrificial death of Christ, still experience corrective judgment while in the body (I Cor. 11:27-32) and after death will give account at the Judgment Seat of Christ for things done in the body (II Cor. 5:10).
INTRODUCTION:
The word “judge” assumes a “standard,” “rule,” or “means” by which to judge.
CLASS ACTIVITY: Don Richardson had a fantasy about the US purchasing the Kamchatka Peninsula and setting up a truly Christian nation. Carol got absolutely tired of this fantasy. But if such a thing ever happened, and you were given responsibility to establish a law code for this new country, what would be your major source/s for a code of law?
OUTLINE FOR TODAY:
THE CHRISTIAN MUST JUDGE
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
THE CHRISTIAN WILL BE JUDGED
I. God is the Only True and Righteous Judge
II. God’s Judgment is Both Present & Future
A. The Great White Throne Judgment
B. Judgment While in the Body
C. The Judgment Seat of Christ
GOD’S “STANDARDS” OF JUDGMENT
I. The Divine Law of Love
II. Lists of Ethical Guidelines in the NT
III. The Life of Christ, the Way He Lived
IV. Our Conscience
V. The Measure We Use to Judge Others
THE FINE ART OF SPECK REMOVAL
WHAT ‘RULE’ MUST WE USE?
GOD’S STANDARDS / RULERS HE USES TO JUDGE US
ILL: When in Indonesia I was put in charge of putting up a building on our mission HQ site. I know nothing about building and left the building process to the Indonesians and one of the contractors. I focused on purchasing sand, rocks etc and as the trucks rolled in I paid for the materials. A week or so went by and David Enright, our NZ worker came down to look at the building progress and immediately noted that one of the brick walls was leaning. The workers had a plumb line and should have seen that immediately but they did not. They had to tear down the wall and start over. Rulers help us to measure but they can also function as “straight edges” enabling us to see what things are not lined up. God provides us with “rules” or “rulers” to help us live in line with His will and to show us when we are out of line!
RULER # 1 – HIS DIVINE LAW OF LOVE
QUESTION: Where do we start when we consider the divine laws that God will use to judge us?
READ FULL TEXT: The one law that is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifice: Love the Lord you God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength; Love your neighbor as yourself. (Mark 12:29-34).
Jesus said that a man who held this position was not far from the Kingdom of God.
Jesus replied, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Mt. 22:37-40)
One Bible teacher calls this “The organizing principle of Christianity.”
Notice the “all” emphasizes totality, “First” emphasized priority, and “greatest” emphasizes pre-eminence.
The focus of both commandments is sociological (not theological or anthropological). Both have major ethical implications concerning how we are to live.
Paul writes in Romans 13:8, 10 . . . he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. . . . Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
“The entire law is summed up in a single command: Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Gal. 5:14)
“If you really keep the ROYAL LAW found in Scriptures, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing right.” (James. 2:8).
The Golden Rule: “Here is a simple rule-of-thumb guide for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you, then grab the initiative and do it for them. Add up the law and the prophets and this is what you get.” (Mt. 7:12, The Message)
RULER # 2 – LISTS OF ETHICAL GUIDELINES IN THE NT
The NT is loaded with lists of ethical / moral does and don’ts. Christians may claim to not be under the law but they are certainly “under,” e.g. required to live according to these lists. This is what God expects of them.
QUESTION: What NT list of ethical guidelines can you think of?
The Beatitudes: poor in spirit, mourn, meek, hunger for righteousness, merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers, rejoice in persecution.
The Product of an Evil Heart (Mt. 15:19): (We must avoid) evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.
The Qualities of Love (I Cor. 13:4-7): patient, kind, does not envy, does not boast, not proud, rude, self-seeking, easily angered. Does not keep a record of wrongs. Does not delight in evil, rejoices with the truth. Always protects, trusts, hopes, perseveres.
QUESTION: Does God really care if we have these qualities of love in our life? Does he expect us to have them? Will he judge us for not having them?
The Acts of the Sinful Nature: (We must avoid) sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and the like. (Galatians 5:19-21)
The Fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Gal. 5:22).
Things we must get rid of: bitterness, rage, anger, brawling, slander, malice (Eph. 4:31) and anger, rage, malice, slander, filthy language and lies (Col. 3:8-9).
Content of our thought life: Whatever is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things (Phil. 4:8).
QUESTION: Does God really care if we think about these things? Does he expect us to think about them? Will he judge us for thinking about bad things and not good things?
Things we are to pursue: righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness (I Tim. 6:11).
The kinds of people who will be in the Lake of Fire: cowardly, unbelieving, vile, murderers, sexually immoral, practitioners of the magic arts, idolaters, liars (Rev. 21:8).
RULER # 3 – THE LIFE OF CHRIST, THE WAY HE LIVED.
READ JOHN 13:12-17: Jesus set an example for us that we are to follow.
QUESTION: Does Jesus expect us to follow this example of servanthood? Will he judge us for not patterning our lives after him in this respect?
“Whoever claims to live in him (God) must walk (live) as Jesus did” (I John 2:6).
“Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, Just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us . . . .” (Eph. 5:1-2).
“To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps” (I Pt. 2:21).
“For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son . . . “ (Rom. 8:29).
RULER # 4 – OUR CONSCIENCE
The NT is loaded with lists of ethical / moral does and don’ts. Christians may claim to not be under the law but they are certainly “under,” e.g. required to live according to these lists. This is what God expects of them.
QUESTION: What NT list of ethical guidelines can you think of?
The Beatitudes: poor in spirit, mourn, meek, hunger for righteousness, merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers, rejoice in persecution.
The Product of an Evil Heart (Mt. 15:19): (We must avoid) evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.
The Qualities of Love (I Cor. 13:4-7): patient, kind, does not envy, does not boast, not proud, rude, self-seeking, easily angered. Does not keep a record of wrongs. Does not delight in evil, rejoices with the truth. Always protects, trusts, hopes, perseveres.
QUESTION: Does God really care if we have these qualities of love in our life? Does he expect us to have them? Will he judge us for not having them?
The Acts of the Sinful Nature: (We must avoid) sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and the like. (Galatians 5:19-21)
The Fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Gal. 5:22).
Things we must get rid of: bitterness, rage, anger, brawling, slander, malice (Eph. 4:31) and anger, rage, malice, slander, filthy language and lies (Col. 3:8-9).
Content of our thought life: Whatever is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things (Phil. 4:8).
QUESTION: Does God really care if we think about these things? Does he expect us to think about them? Will he judge us for thinking about bad things and not good things?
Things we are to pursue: righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness (I Tim. 6:11).
The kinds of people who will be in the Lake of Fire: cowardly, unbelieving, vile, murderers, sexually immoral, practitioners of the magic arts, idolaters, liars (Rev. 21:8).
RULER # 5 – THE MEASURE WE USE TO JUDGE OTHERS
“To be censorious is the presume arrogantly, to anticipate the Day of Judgment, to usurp the prerogative of the Divine Judge; in fact, to play the part of God.” (Stott, 177)
When we judge a person’s motives, which is what a censorious, fault-finder does, we assume the role of God.
If we assume the role of Judge we are admitting to superior knowledge and of course we are judging based on a certain “standard” or “measurement.”
QUESTION: In Mt. 7:2 Jesus says, “. . . with the measure you use. . .
“ What does he mean by “measure?”
“Evaluated by the standard” (ISV); “Your standard of measure” (NASB).
It appears that God will use our own “measuring stick,” “ruler,” “standard,” “plumb line” to judge us.
If we are censorious, fault-finding, condemning, hypercritical and judge another’s motives God will credit us with superior knowledge and judge us accordingly.
This concept seems to be reinforced in other Bible passages:
“You, son of man, are the watchman. I’ve made you a watchman for Israel. The minute you hear a message from me, warn them. If I say to the wicked, ‘Wicked man, wicked woman, you’re on the fast track to death!’ and you don’t speak up and warn the wicked to change their ways, the wicked will die unwarned in their sins and I’ll hold you responsible for their bloodshed. But if you warn the wicked to change their ways and they don’t do it, they’ll die in their sins well-warned and at least you will have saved your own life. (Ezekiel 33:7-9, The Message)
“Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly” (James 3:1).
“And a servant who knows what the master wants, but isn’t prepared and doesn’t carry out those instructions, will be severely punished. But someone who does not know, and then does something wrong, will be punished only lightly. When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required. (Lk. 12:47-48, The New Living Translation)
QUESTION: What might be some examples of censoriousness that may be used as a “measure” to judge us at the Judgment Seat of Christ?
APPLICATION:
If we judge other based on the type of music they use to worship God, will God then judge us for every worship song we sang half-heartedly, with a wandering mind, while angry, without sincerity?
If I judge another’s motives / heart based on the way he/she dresses will God then judge me on every time I have dressed with an ulterior motive? Spent money on clothes that I did not need?
If I judge someone for drinking will God judge me for over-eating? Not sharing?
If I judge someone for the kind of vehicle they drive? The kind of vacation they take? Will God judge me for every act of stinginess?
CONCLUSION
ILL: In ancient Persia a certain corrupt judge who accepted a bribe to render a false verdict was ordered executed by King Cambyses (around 500 BC). The judge’s skin was then used to cover the judgment seat. Subsequent judges were forced to render their judgments while sitting on that chair, as a reminder of the consequences of perverting justice. (MacArthur, 435)
SO WHAT???
1. We are commanded to judge, commanded not to be censorious and clearly reminded that although we are saved from the Great White Throne judgment we will all stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ.
2. God has made it very plain by what standards / measures He willjudge us.
3. The Second Commandment, referred to as the “Royal Law” and containing the “Golden Rule” will be foundational the guideline in judging us.
4. The “measure / standard” we use in judging other’s motives will be the “measure / ruler” that God uses to judge our motives at the Judgment Seat of Christ.