Judgment

Watch the video of this sermon on YouTube: Judgment The outline in Word and PDF formats is attached below. Judgment I. Definitions 1. Judgment n. - 1. a. The action of trying a cause in a court of justice; trial. (Now rare or merged in 3.) 3. a. The sentence of a court of justice; a judicial decision or order in court. 6. The pronouncing of a deliberate opinion upon a person or thing, or the opinion pronounced; criticism; censure. 7. a. The formation of an opinion or notion concerning something by exercising the mind upon it; an opinion, estimate. 8. a. The faculty of judging; ability to form an opinion; that function of the mind whereby it arrives at a notion of anything; the critical faculty; discernment. b. Good or sound judgement; discernment, discretion, wisdom, understanding, good sense. 2. Judge v. - 1. To try, or pronounce sentence upon (a person) in a court of justice; to sit in judgement upon. (Also said of God or Christ: cf. prec. 2.) 2. spec. To pronounce sentence against (a person); to sentence, condemn. 9. To form an opinion about; to exercise the mind upon (something) so as to arrive at a correct or sound notion of it; to estimate; to appraise. 10. To pronounce an opinion upon, to criticize; esp. to pronounce an adverse opinion upon, to condemn, censure. Also absol. (In quot. 1377, To express or pronounce one's opinion about.) 1526 Tindale Matt. vii. 1, 2 Iudge not lest ye be iudged. For as ye iudge so shal ye be iudged. II. In today's world, few things are demonized more than judgment. 1. Judging another person's beliefs or actions is an unpardonable sin in the eyes of the world. 2. Tolerance is instead extolled as the apex of virtue. 3. The world has it entirely backwards. A. Evil men understand not judgment (Pro 28:5) and hate the idea of it (Act 24:25). B. But he that is spiritual judges all things (1Co 2:15). 4. People that despise judgment only despise it when they or their lifestyle are judged. 5. They would be all in favor of it if they were taking someone to court for injuring them. 6. If they would judge themselves, they wouldn't have to worry about others judging them (1Co 11:31-32). III. Judgment and discrimination are required to understand the difference between truth and error, right and wrong, good and evil. 1. A man cannot think without exercising judgment and discrimination. 2. Discrimination n. - 1. a. The action of discriminating; the perceiving, noting, or making a distinction or difference between things; a distinction (made with the mind, or in action). 3. God's priests were to teach His people to discriminate (Eze 44:23). A. In order to arrive at truth, the mind must make a difference between things, which is discrimination. i. Things that are different are not the same. ii. A thing cannot be and not be at the same time in the same way. B. When a man receives new information, he must compare it with truth that he currently knows and see if it is in contradiction with it. i. If the new information conforms with reality, then it can be accepted as true. ii. If it contradicts reality, then it must be rejected as false. iii. If it conforms with reality, but is in contradiction with previously held ideas, then the previously held ideas must be reevaluated. iv. This is the process of judging to arrive at truth. v. Paul encouraged the brethren to judge what he said (1Co 10:15). C. In order to know whether something is right or wrong, or good or evil, a man must first know what is right and good. i. God defines what is right and good in His word. ii. All things must be measured against the perfect standard of good in scripture. iii. If a thing is found to be in conflict or opposition with what God says is good, then it is evil. iv. This is the process of judging to know what is good and evil. 4. It is no wonder that people don't know the difference between good and evil today because they are taught to not judge nor discriminate. 5. Jesus commended Simon for listening to a proposition, considering it, and judging it to find the correct answer (Luk 7:40-43). 6. Paul exhorted the brethren to judge in their minds whether it was right and proper for a woman to have short hair (1Co 11:13-15). 7. Jesus condemned the Pharisees for not judging what was right (Luk 12:57). IV. The only partial Bible verse that most Americans know is "Judge not..." (Mat 7:1). 1. This is hypocrisy and self-contradiction at its finest. A. When Man A tells Man B to "judge not," Man A has considered what Man B has said, determined that it was judgmental, formed an opinion that Man B's judgmental words were wrong, and then proceeded to criticize, censure, and condemn Man B for it by telling him to "judge not." B. In other words, Man A has judged Man B for judging. C. Man A has condemned himself a hypocrite. 2. This is precisely the type of judgment that Jesus was condemning when He said, "Judge not, that ye be not judged." (Mat 7:1) A. Jesus was rebuking hypocritical judgment (Mat 7:2-5). i. For example... ii. A man addicted to pornography has no right to judge an adulterer. iii. A man with a financed car or credit card debt has no right to judge another man who is in debt. iv. A man with a temper has no right to judge another man for exploding on someone. v. A woman who gossips about others has no right to judge another woman for gossiping about her. vi. A man who is antisocial and uses his smartphone when he is spending time with others has no right to judge others when he sees them doing it. vii. A man who has unruly children has no right to judge another man who has kids that are out of control. B. Far from forbidding all judgment altogether, Jesus was actually commanding us to judge others after we have judged ourselves for the same thing (Mat 7:5). i. Removing the mote in one's brother's eye is an act of judgment. ii. This judgment is to be done after one has removed the beam out of his own eye (judged himself). iii. For example... iv. A man that was a fornicator in the past, but repented and has remained celibate has the right to judge fornicators. v. A man that was in a false religion, but repented and committed himself to the truth has the right to judge those who stay in false religion when they know better. vi. A man who got himself out of debt and is living responsibly has the right to judge those who are living beyond their means. C. When we judge, we will be judged in kind (Mat 7:2). i. When I do evil, I want to be judged for it; therefore when I judge others for doing evil, I am doing unto them as I would they do unto me (Luk 6:31). ii. The judgment we think to do to others will be done unto us (Est 7:9; Dan 6:24). 3. It is inexcusable to judge another man for doing the same thing that you do (Rom 2:1). A. When we judge others hypocritically we dishonor God and give unbelievers a reason to blaspheme the name of God (Rom 2:19-24). B. David hypocritically judged that a fictitious man deserved death for doing something far less heinous than David did (2Sa 12:1-6). C. David was condemned for his sin and his hypocritical judgment and was punished by the same means by which he sinned (2Sa 12:7-12). D. David's sin gave the Lord's enemies an occasion to blaspheme (2Sa 12:14). V. Jesus commanded us to judge righteous judgment. 1. God loves judgment (Isa 61:8). 2. Judgment is a weighty matter of the law of God which should be done (Mat 23:23). 3. We must judge righteously (Pro 31:9). 4. We must not judge according to the appearance, but rather judge righteous judgment (Joh 7:24). A. Judgment must be done impartially (Lev 19:15). B. A diligent search for the truth must first be made before judging (Deu 13:12-15). C. Judgment should not be made without knowing the facts (Joh 7:51). D. Judgment should be postponed until the LORD brings out the facts about someone (1Co 4:5). E. Never judge a book by its cover. 5. When the facts are known via credible witnesses, we can judge someone without being present (1Co 5:1-3). 6. Brethren have a duty to judge between each other when a controversy arises (1Co 6:1-5). 7. It is good to examine someone's life and judge whether he has been faithful (Act 16:15). 8. True love abounds when there is righteous judgment (Php 1:9). 9. True love only approves of good things (Php 1:10 c/w 1Co 13:6). 10. True love judges sinners and rebukes them for their sin (Lev 19:17). VI. Judgment must begin in the house of God (1Pe 4:17). 1. Sadly, churches are often the places where judgment is avoided and even forbidden. 2. Churches are more focused on bringing people in than they are on converting them. 3. Most churches today do not practice church discipline and are therefore leavened with sinners (1Co 5:1-8). 4. God is displeased when there is no judgment (Isa 59:14-15). A. God will destroy churches that abhor and pervert judgment (Mic 3:9-12). B. God will remove a church's candlestick for not judging itself (Rev 2:5, 14-16). 5. God is more pleased with a church that exercises justice and judgment than He is with one that offers sacrifices to Him (Pro 21:3). 6. A lack of judgment in families, churches, and society has caused our demise. 7. If judgment begins at the house of God then it will eventually make it to the House of Representatives and the White House. 8. If it doesn't, there is no hope for reforming the country. 9. America has lost its greatness because it has lost its goodness. VII. Judgment must be rendered only when there is a just cause. 1. If we condemn a man without a cause, we are the ones that are in danger of being judged by God (Mat 5:22). 2. Unjustly calling a man a fool is a sin (Mat 5:22), but it is righteous to call a man a fool who acts like one (Mat 23:16-19; Luk 24:25; 1Co 15:36; Gal 3:1). 3. There is nothing wrong with calling wicked people wicked. A. Jesus called the Pharisees serpents and vipers (Mat 23:33), and whited sepulchres (Mat 23:27). B. Paul called people liars, evil beasts, and slow bellies (Tit 1:12-13). VIII. We must not judge people for things that are not sins. 1. If we judge a brother for a thing that the law of God doesn't judge him for, then we are judging the law (Jam 4:11-12). 2. We must not judge a brother in a matter of liberty (Rom 14:1-4, 10, 13-14). IX. Judgment must always be tempered with mercy. 1. If we expect mercy from others and God, we must show mercy (Mat 5:7; 2Sa 22:26-27). 2. "For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment." (Jam 2:13)