What is Sin - Part 4 : Judge not, Unless You're Supposed to

WHAT IS SIN?

Part 4 - Judge not, unless you’re supposed to...

Pastor Bruce A. Shields

House of Faith Church | www.PS127.org | www.TruthDigest.org

SCRIPTURE READING

Luke 6:37-38; 41-42

“³⁷"Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. ³⁸Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."

 ⁴¹"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? ⁴²How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,' when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.”

INTRODUCTION

Most quote just the first scripture, forgetting the rest, and not fully understanding what this scripture means.

For some reason, the ones who are constantly quoting “Do not judge...” in my experience, happen to be some of the most judgmental people I know.

Crying “Do not judge...” while at the same time condemning others for various social, economical or personal reasons.

This judging of others is sometimes masqueraded as correction of another’s sin, although they never take a single step of biblical correction the scripture lay out for us.

 Sometimes judging is disguised as concern about another person’s negative actions or behavior, when it is nothing more than someone not liking another person.

Sometimes there is no disguise at all, and a believer will outright judge, and slander another person for no reason other than they think they are above someone else, which is usually related to “I’m closer to God than you”, “I have more money than you”, “I’m just better than you”.

It’s easy to misconstrue the actions and words of those we dislike.

Sinners - Romans 3:22-23 “...There is no difference, ²³for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

Poor - Luke 6:20 “ ²⁰Looking at his disciples, he said:
   "Blessed are you who are poor,
      for yours is the kingdom of God.”

Homeless - Luke 8:19-20 “¹⁹Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go."

 ²⁰Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."

Ugly - Isaiah 53:2 "For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him."

Imprisoned - Apostles were imprisoned many times...so were God’s people in the Old Testament, imprisoned by Egypt...and now, God’s people are imprisoned by sin.

Hungry - Philippians 4:12 “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.”

the list goes on...

Forgetting the all-important parable, Jesus shares in scripture about this type of thinking and behavior.  Saying, “What you do to the least of these, you have done to me.”

Why is there so much confusion about judging?

This is because they fail to read the scripture in context, and fail to see the entire picture Jesus paints here in Luke.

Jesus commands in this text here, not to judge, but when you continue to read, it instructs us to remove the plank from our own eye, so we may see clearly to remove the speck from our brother’s eye.

What is going on here is the scripture is defining the difference between the judging we are not supposed to do, and the judging the word clearly instructs us to do.

We discover the difference in semantics.

Judge Not, but do Correct.

We are basically commanded to judge no one, but correct those who are within the church, when it is appropriate to do so.

Today we are going to look at incorrect judging that took place in the scripture, and correct judging that took place, as well as read a few scripture about the True and Just Judge of all.

I.                   JUDGMENT, CORRECTION, WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE?

a.      Defined -

                                                              i.      Judgment - We are NOT to look down on others (this is pride), we are not to judge sinners (they are already condemned), we are not to say whether someone is going to heaven or hell...that is up to God alone! (only God knows the heart of man).

                                                           ii.      Correction - We ARE to judge ourselves (correction), we are to judge our children (correction), we are to judge those who call themselves Christians, who say they are part of the Body of Christ.

b.     Scriptures commanding us NOT to judge

                                                              i.      James 4:11-12 “¹¹Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. ¹²There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?”

                                                           ii.      James 2:1-6 “¹My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism. ²Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. ³If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet," ⁴have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

 ⁵Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? ⁶But you have insulted the poor.

1.      Luke 9:47-48 “⁴⁷Jesus, knowing their thoughts, took a little child and had him stand beside him. ⁴⁸Then he said to them, "Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For he who is least among you all—he is the greatest."

2.      Matthew 25:31-46 “³¹"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. ³²All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

 ³⁴"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

 ³⁷"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

 ⁴⁰"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

 ⁴¹"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴²For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

 ⁴⁴"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'

 ⁴⁵"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

 ⁴⁶"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

                                                         iii.      Romans 14:10-13 “¹⁰You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God's judgment seat. ¹¹It is written:
   " 'As surely as I live,' says the Lord,
   'every knee will bow before me;
      every tongue will confess to God.'” ¹²So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.

 ¹³Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way.

c.      Commanded TO judge (correction)

                                                              i.      I John 5:16-17 “ ¹⁶If anyone sees his brother commit a sin that does not lead to death, he should pray and God will give him life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that he should pray about that. ¹⁷All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death.”

1.      the sin that leads not to death - “Errors we make daily”

2.      sin that leads to death - “Choosing to life continually in a direction that is in obvious opposition to God”

                                                           ii.      Matthew 18:15-17 “ ¹⁵"If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. ¹⁶But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.'¹⁷If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan...”

1.      Treat him as one who is NOT a follower of Christ, a non-believer, no longer a brother, but a neighbor.

                                                         iii.      Galatians 6:1-4 “ ¹Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. ²Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. ³If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. ⁴Each one should test his own actions.”

                                                         iv.      Luke 17:1-4 “ ¹Jesus said to his disciples: "Things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come. ²It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. ³So watch yourselves.
      "If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. ⁴If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, 'I repent,' forgive him."

                                                           v.      I Corinthians 5:9-13 “⁹I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— ¹⁰not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. ¹¹But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.

 ¹²What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? ¹³God will judge those outside. "Expel the wicked man from among you."

1.      We are to judge believers in the church...

2.      We are NOT to judge those outside of the church!

II.               JUDGMENTS

a.      Incorrect Judgment in Scripture

                                                              i.      John the Baptist

1.      Matthew 3:3-4 “³This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:
   "A voice of one calling in the desert,
   'Prepare the way for the Lord,
      make straight paths for him.' "

⁴John's clothes were made of camel's hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.

                                                           ii.      Apostles

1.      Galatians 2:4-6 “⁴This matter arose because some false brothers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves. ⁵We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might remain with you.

 ⁶As for those who seemed to be important—whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not judge by external appearance—those men added nothing to my message.”

2.      Pentecost  Many said they were drunk when they spoke in the known languages of other lands and peoples.

                                                         iii.      Colossians 2:16-19 “ ¹⁶Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. ¹⁷These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. ¹⁸Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions. ¹⁹He has lost connection with the Head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.”

                                                         iv.      Jesus

1.      “...can anything good come from Nazareth?”

2.      “...Isn’t that the carpenter’s son?”

3.      “...he can’t even save himself...”

                                                           v.      Myself

1.      Don’t judge a man by the clothes he wears, God made one, the tailor, the other.

a.      Your tie doesn’t match your suit

b.      White socks with dress shoes?

c.      You need a hair cut

d.     Where did you go to Seminary?

e.      You have tattoos

b.     Correct Judgment in Scripture (Correction)

                                                              i.      Judge Ourselves

1.      I Corinthians 11:31-32 “³¹But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. ³²When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.”

                                                           ii.      Ananias and Saphira

1.      Judged for lying to the Holy Spirit

                                                         iii.      I Corinthians 11:31-32 “³¹But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. ³²When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.”

                                                         iv.      Romans - Correction for those who call themselves followers of Christ, yet follow nothing but the sinful desires of their flesh and this world.

III.            THE ONE TRUE JUDGE OF ALL

a.      God, the true and just judge of all

                                                              i.      James 5:9 “⁹Don't grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!”

                                                           ii.      I Peter 2:23 “²³When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.”

                                                         iii.      John 12:48 “⁴⁸There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day.”

CONCLUSION

We are commanded NOT to judge others who;

1.      Are sinners NOT in the Body of Christ

2.      Whether someone is going to heaven or hell

3.      For any reason, whether social, financial, personal...

We are commanded TO judge (correction) others who;

1.      Are professing Christians (followers of Christ)

2.      But, primarily we are to judge ourselves.

 If you have judged another, or spoke wrongly of others, you must confess your sin to the Lord and you will be forgiven.  If you continue to judge others wrongly, it is sin, and if you continue, you endanger your relationship with God the Father, who refuses to be in the presence of sinful people.

Confess and repent today, so that you may receive forgiveness.