Now, let's go back to the book
of James, chapter four. Now, I've already dealt with
the first 10 verses that Brother Joe read, so this morning we're
going to deal with just two verses of Scripture, verses 11 and 12
of James, chapter four, where James writes, by inspiration
of the Spirit, speak not evil one of another, brethren. He
that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh
evil of the law, and judgeth the law. But if thou judgest
the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. There
is one lawgiver who is able to save and to destroy. Who art
thou that judgest another? Now, I've entitled this message,
Faith and Righteous Judgment. Faith and Righteous Judgment.
Now, that may seem strange to title this title from these two
verses because what James is actually talking about here in
verses 11 and 12, what he's forbidding is unrighteous judgment. In fact, I had that on my mind
when I was making up my little list for the songs, and I think
I put Faith and Unrighteous Judgment, but that's not the right title.
But you don't even know that anyway. You don't do the tapes.
That's for Ron. So don't get on to me. But it's Faith and Righteous
Judgment. So what I want to do is I want to take this opportunity
to talk to you a little bit about judgment. Not the judgment that
we all must stand before, but judgment among brethren. and
judgment as we look at things, how we assess things, how we
understand things and make judgments. And I want to do that because
these two verses are talking about the opposite. We'll use
the opposite to see the positive here, to see the truth of it. Three things in these two verses. First of all, notice that this
is a commandment given to brethren and for brethren. He says, Speak
not evil one another, of one another brethren, who are the
brethren, that's believers, sinners saved by the grace of God. This
is not talking about the brotherhood of man. This is talking about
the brotherhood of Christ. His people, His church, His elect,
His sheep, those who have been chosen of God, redeemed by the
blood of Christ, and regenerated by the Spirit, who are members
of the same family. The Bible calls it a household.
His house. Hebrews chapter 4 speaks of that.
You can read that. Where it talks about how we are
members of his household and his family. Christ told his disciples,
he said, you are in the world. You're there. This is your location.
But you're not of the world. You've been called out of the
world. You've been saved out of the world. And so you're in
a different family. Christ told the religious Pharisees,
whom everybody looked up to and judged to be the people of God,
the spiritual leaders of the day. Christ told them, He says,
you're of your father the devil. You're a member of the household
and family of the devil. And He indicated that by proof
in the way that they preached their message. Their message
was not salvation by grace, but salvation by works. And so this
is a commandment given to the brethren and for the brethren.
Secondly, it's a commandment against self-righteous judgment
and slander of brethren. It deals with both. This speak
evil of brethren, that's slandering. It has to do with bringing a
false accusation against a brother in Christ or a sister in Christ.
It has to do with speaking evil, bringing suspicion. And then
it has to do with condemning. condemning a brother or sister
in Christ. And then lastly, it has to do
with a commandment given in light of God's nature and God's law. That's what he says in verse
12. One lawgiver. One lawgiver who's able to save
and to destroy. And who are you that judge another?
Well, let's go back. Now, first of all, commandment
given to and for brethren. Now, we as believers in the Lord
Jesus Christ, We're all saved by the grace of God. Same way.
You may have had a different background than I. You may have
had a different experience or several experiences. Come from
different parts of the country. There are a lot of differences
that exist among us. But in this one area, we're all
the same. We're sinners saved by the grace
of God. We have one way of salvation. Look at James 4 and verse 6. Look at verse 6. He says, but
he giveth more grace. I love that term, more grace,
because that's what we need. We need grace and more grace. God is the God of all grace. And it says, wherefore he saith,
God resisteth the proud. That's what we are by nature,
proud. Proud of ourselves, proud of our works, proud of the flesh. Listen, any sinner who comes
before God seeking salvation, or any part of it, by their works,
that's pride. That's the proud look that God
hates. Any sinner who judges himself
or herself to be saved apart from Christ, apart from His shed
blood and His righteousness imputed, charged and accounted, my friend,
that's pride. God hates it. Well, God resists
the proud. You see, what God does by His
sovereign grace is He takes a proud sinner and He brings him down.
And that's what He says, but giveth grace to the humble. Now,
we're not by nature humble, not before God. But God makes us
humble. It takes the grace of God to
make a sinner humble, to make a sinner submit to Christ and
His way of salvation. If we're not humbled by God,
we're not humble at all in His sight. And that's why He says
in verse 10, now listen to this, He says in verse 10, humble yourselves
in the sight of the Lord and He shall lift you up. What that
literally means is make a conscious effort to humble yourself. You
know that you cannot do that apart from the grace of God.
So it takes the grace of God in Christ to save us, to humble
us, and when He's talking about our relationship with each other,
It takes the grace of God to humble us thereto, and so He
gives more grace, more grace. So with all of our differences,
with all the stages of growth and knowledge that we have amongst
us, we all have in common the faith of the gospel of God's
grace in Christ. We've all been humbled by God,
and that's a good thing. Another thing you need to see
here, in this verse 11, he says, Speak not evil one another of
brethren. Now, as I said, this is speaking
of brethren. Brethren in Christ. And the Bible
teaches that to speak evil of a brother or a sister in Christ,
that is, to condemn, slander, or to accuse a brother or sister
in Christ, is to speak evil of Christ Himself. Did you know
that? You can't speak evil of your
brother or sister in Christ without Christ himself taking it personally. Another passage you can read
on your own, Matthew chapter 25, when he is talking about
the judgment there, and he's talking about the sheep and the
goats, and how he'll take the sheep on his right hand, and
he'll tell them, he said, in that I was hungry, you fed me.
In that I was naked, you clothed me. And that I was in prison,
you visited me, sick, and you helped me. And they say, when
did we ever do that, Lord? We never did that. In that you've
done it unto these, the least of my brethren, you've done it
unto me. Brother Tim James says, you can't
kick one of Christ's children without him feeling the pain.
And that's the way it is. When you make an accusation against
a brother or sister in Christ, you look at it that way. I'm
accusing Christ himself. When I condemn, when I speak
evil. You remember he said to the goats
on the left, he said, well I was sick and you didn't help me.
I was hungry and you didn't feed me. They said, when did we ever
not do it? He said, in that you did it not unto the least of
these my brethren. You didn't do it unto me. So
think about it that way. Now somebody says, well, you
know, this area of judgment is so misunderstood. It's so misunderstood. You know, people will say, now
look, look at verse 12. The last line there says, who
art thou that judges another? And you've got to keep this in
its context because people will say, well, now we don't judge.
I've heard people say that. I don't judge. Now let me tell
you something, that's a lie. That's a lie. You do judge. I
judge. God gave us a conscience. You
know what the conscience is? It's the seed of judgment in
the mind whereby you accuse or excuse. That's what it is. It's
natural to man. Now, by nature, we have an evil,
fallen conscience, a guilty conscience, a legal conscience. But by the
blood of Christ, when the Holy Spirit comes in and gives us
life and brings us to Christ, that conscience is cleansed,
not by our works. Not to say in my conscience,
well, I finally made it. I've done enough. But it's the
conscience that's cleansed by looking to Christ who did all
that was required and more. Like I said the other night,
if somebody came to you and said, are you saved? What do most people
start doing? They start talking about their
experience. Well, I walked an aisle when
I was 12 or I got baptized or I had a dream or something. And
what they're doing is they're giving you their qualifications.
of why that proves that they're saved. But that's the wrong thing
to do. If somebody asks you if you're saved, don't give your
own qualifications. You don't have any, and I don't
either. Give the qualifications of your
Savior. That's how you know you're saved.
Well, I didn't save myself, so what do my qualifications have
to do with this? It's not my righteousness that
saves me or justifies me. It's not my suffering that washes
away my sins. It's not my tears. It's the blood
of Christ. And I can tell you I'm saved
because my Savior is God and man in one person. He's God. He's able. He's willing. He's
appointed. He's qualified. I can tell you
I'm saved because He stood in my place and went to the cross
and died for my sins and paid my debt in full and gave me a
righteousness, an everlasting, infinite righteousness that stands
through eternity before God. You see, it's not my obedience
that qualifies me. It's His obedience unto death.
He's qualified. That's how I know I'm saved.
He ever lives to make intercession for me, seated at the right hand
of the Father right now. He's my advocate. He's Jesus
Christ the righteous. Let me tell you about my Savior.
That's how you know. I don't have any qualifications. I guess if you could say it this
way, somebody said, what's your part in salvation? And the old
preacher said, well, he did all the saving and I did all the
sinning. And I guess maybe that might be our qualification. Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. But you see, in this matter of
judgment, judging ourselves, we all judge. I've said this
quite often, and probably even here too, I've said, don't lie
to yourself and say you don't judge things. You do. You're
judging right now. You're judging right now whether
or not I'm telling you the truth. Somebody said, one time to me,
he said, well, I don't care what you say. And I said, well, you
made a judgment that what I'm saying is not worth hearing.
You know, but you are judging. You make assessments. Who should
I hear? Who should I listen to? Who should
I follow? Where should I go? Where do I
get the most out of this or that or whatever? What satisfies my
need? You make judgments. But doesn't the Bible say, judge
not that you be not judged. Well, let's turn there. Turn
to Matthew chapter 7. Another statement that Brother
Tim James made. He preached on this passage here
one time in the conference, June conference, and he said this
is the most misquoted passage in the Bible. And I agree with
him. Look at verse 1 of Matthew 7.
It says, Judge not that you be not judged. Now look at verse
2. For with what judgment you judge,
you shall be judged. And with what measure you meet,
it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the moat
with a splinter that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest
not the beam, the big log, that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt
thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the moat out of thine
eye, let me fix your problem. And behold, a beam is in thine
own eye. You've got a bigger problem than them. How can you
fix theirs? You can't even fix your own.
Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye,
and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy
brother's eye." Now, what is he saying here? What does this
say? He's not forbidding all judgment here. And I'm going
to prove that to you in the very same passage here. He's forbidding
self-righteous judgment, hypocritical judgment, the perennial fixer
of all the problems of everybody else. That's what he's forbidding.
I know what's wrong with you. I can see it. I'll fix it. Here's
what you need to do. Here's what everybody needs to
do. If they'd all just think like me. I've told you all this
church would be great if everybody just thought like me. But you see, that's the kind
of judgment that he's forbidding here. Self-righteous judgment.
It's the kind of judgment that says, well, I know that person
is lost because he or she's a sinner. Well, what's wrong with that?
Well, you're a sinner, too. I'm a sinner, too. So what have
I just done? I've just condemned myself, because
if I'm going to judge people lost and saved based on the fact
of whether or not they're a sinner, I'm a sinner, too. What have
I done? I've just spoken volumes about myself. That's not what
he's saying here, you see. This is self-righteous judgment.
And it's really the same kind of thing that James is forbidding
over in James chapter 4. This speaking evil of a brother.
It's a self-righteous way of looking at each other and judging
each other. Slandering, because you think
you have some high holy purpose. That's what it is. Putting down
a brother, making accusations against a brother, and even condemning
a brother. And doing it in the name of the
Lord, because you really feel like you're right and they're
wrong. And that's what he's saying. That's the kind of judgments
that's being forbidden here. Look here in the same passage
of Matthew chapter 7. Look at verse 13. Now, to prove to you that he's
not forbidding all judgment here, okay? He's just forbidding self-righteous
judgment, hypocritical judgment of others. He says in verse 13,
"...enter ye in at the straight gate, for wide is the gate, and
broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there
be which go in thereat. Because straight is the gate,
and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there
be that find it." Now, He's commanding us to enter in at the straight
gate. Now, that's the way of the gospel. That's the way of
grace. It's the narrow way. Somebody
said, how narrow is it? Well, it's so narrow that you
can't bring anything in with you. You have to come as a naked
sinner to Christ. Offering nothing, bringing nothing.
I have nothing to recommend me unto God. I have no goodness
of my own. I have no righteousness of my
own. I have no holiness of my own. My works, I can't bring
them in. That's too narrow. It's one way. Christ said, I am the way, the
truth, the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. If you come to God and receive
salvation through the straight gate and the narrow way, you
come through Christ and Him alone. By Christ, it's His blood alone
that washes away my sins. It's his righteousness alone.
Don't bring anything else. If you come in saying, well,
I'm a physical seed of Abraham. I'm a Jew. This way is too narrow
for you. You can't get through. You say,
well, I've been circumcised. Too narrow. I keep the law of
Moses. I was baptized when I was 12.
I joined the church. Put all that baggage out. It's
too narrow. But you know, in order to do
that, you're going to have to make a judgment. You're going to have
to make a judgment between what is the straight and narrow way
and what is the broad way. And you know the only way you
can make that judgment? Is if God reveals it to you and brings
you to your spiritual senses. That's the only way you can do
it. Because otherwise you're going to judge, well, what's
the big deal? Everybody's okay. They're doing
their best. They're sincere. They're working hard. How can
you say that's not the right way? I'll tell you how I can.
Because God enters into the heart. And he enters into the conscience,
and he convicts us of sin and of righteousness and of judgment,
and brings us to our spiritual senses, to where we know there's
no other way but Christ. Now, we can't judge everybody's
heart, and it's foolish and self-righteous for us to do that, to try to
do that. We can't judge everybody's heart, but here's what I'm telling
you. It's kind of like this. Anyone who's not resting totally,
completely, and fully on the Lord Jesus Christ and His obedience
unto death, His finished work for all of salvation, anyone
who does not believe in Him, trust in Him, and rest in Him
is lost. Now that's a judgment. Now I
can't go around and start counting heads and pick something out.
Now you, you and you. Now you don't, but now you all
do. I can't do that. That's stupid for me to try to
do that. But I can tell you right now,
if you're not risking in Christ alone, you're lost. He that believeth
shall be what? Damned. He that believeth not
shall be damned. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. Confesses it in baptism. Baptism
doesn't save you. But he that believeth not shall
be damned." That's what the Scripture says. Self-righteous judgment
is an awful judgment. And it happens between brothers
and sisters in Christ. It shouldn't. Over in Romans
chapter 14, look over there with me. Oh, incidentally, there in
Matthew chapter 7, you know, right after he talks about the
straight gate and the narrow way, he says, beware of false
prophets. Do you see that in Matthew 7? He says, beware of false prophets.
Let me ask you a question. How are you going to be aware
of a false prophet unless you judge he's a false prophet? That's
impossible. You can't be aware of something
you can't know. He's given a warning. Well, what is a false prophet?
Well, the context tells you. Anybody who leads sinners to
the broad road that leads to destruction is a false prophet.
Anyone who leads sinners to the narrow way, the straight gate,
to Christ That's a true prophet, a true preacher. Simply it. I mean, I know it gets a little
more complicated when we try to level it down to each individual,
but that's basically it. It's not that difficult in that
sense, you see. But look here in Romans 14. Here's
brothers in Christ, brothers and sisters in Christ, who were
judging each other, not over the gospel, but over in different
things, like what a believer should eat, what a believer should
not eat, things like that. And you know, many of these were
Jews who had been raised under the Old Covenant while that was
still in effect, and it was forbidden for them as that nation under
the Old Covenant to eat things like pork and shellfish and things
like that. But now those distinctions of
foods were abolished by the coming of Christ, the new covenant entered
in. Paul told Timothy, he said, I'm convinced there's nothing
unclean in and of itself, we can enjoy all things in moderation. That's what he says. So there
are no distinctions of meats and days and diets now. The rule
now under the new covenant is moderation, temperance, that's
what it is, not overindulgence. But these weak believers, he
says in verse 1, him that is weak in the faith, what he's
talking about weak in this specific area of what to eat and what
not to eat, He says, you receive that person, but not to doubtful
disputations. Like if we'd have a person come
in and they say, well, I read in the old covenants, you know,
how we're not supposed to eat pork, so I'm not going to eat
pork. Don't look at that person and say, well, you must be a
lost legalist. Now they may be. We get to know
them a little bit. And if they're looking to Christ
alone, who cares what they eat or don't eat? Now, on the same
token, the weak believer, don't you look at the mature believer
who has the liberty of these things in his conscience. Don't
you judge him. Say, well, you mean you eat pork?
Well, you're lost. That would put a lot of us in
a pickle, wouldn't it? You see, those are the things
that James is talking about. Don't speak evil one of another.
He says, we stand before God. That's what Paul says in Romans
14. And that's what James is saying over here in James chapter
2 when he says there's one lawgiver in verse 12. We stand before
God, not before men, to be judged as to the matter of our salvation.
So don't judge in this way. This is for brothering, you see.
Don't look suspiciously at each other. And then when he says,
in verse 11 here of James chapter 4, he says, Speak not evil one
of another. He that speaketh evil of his
brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and
judgeth the law. But if thou judgest the law,
thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. Now what's he talking
about the law? He's talking about the law of liberty there. He's
not talking about the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments condemns
us all. That's why we need Christ, you see. He's talking about the
law of liberty that he mentioned over in James chapter 1 and 2.
He's talking about the law of love. What does the law say to
brethren? It says, love one another. Christ
said, by this shall all men know that you are my disciples if
you have love one to another. In other words, the love that
the law commands is the opposite of slander, and false accusations
or empty accusations, and condemnation. We're to love
one another. Now, let me tell you this. This
doesn't forbid us to make proper judgments according to God's
Word. I want you to turn to John chapter
7. I want you to listen to this. Here you're going to find that
we are commanded to make judgments. It's not an option. We're commanded
to make judgments. Here in John chapter 7, Christ
had done a great work, a miracle, and the Pharisees and the people
were judging Him to be of the devil. They were making false
judgments based on false grounds. And so He tells His disciples,
look at John chapter 7, look at verse 24. He tells His disciples. Judge not according to the appearance."
Do you remember that? Remember back over in 1 Samuel,
when Samuel went down to Jesse's house to find the king, and everybody
was brought up there except the youngest one, David? And finally,
when they brought up David, do you remember what he said? He
said, now, you've got to understand, God doesn't look on the outward
countenance. God looks on the heart. Now, we can't do that. The only thing I know about your
heart is what you tell me. Your words, out of the heart,
precede all the issues of life. And that's the only way you can
know mine, what I say. It's like I told you, somebody
said, well, you preach Christ all the time. Well, I hope that's
the revelation of my heart. You see what I'm saying? And
that's the only way you can tell. You know, I had a fellow tell
me, he said, you're not preaching from your heart. Well, all I'm
doing is preaching Christ and Him crucified. And if that doesn't
tell you what's on my heart, I don't know what else can. But
we can't be judges of each other's hearts, you see. God looks on
the heart. So He says, don't judge according
to outward appearance. But He says, listen to verse 24, He
says, but judge righteous judgment. Faith and righteous judgment.
Now, how am I, a sinner, going to judge with righteous judgment?
How in the world is that possible? Well, righteous judgment does
not speak of anything as far as purity or omniscience in me. Like I know all things. And therefore
I can make righteous judgments about everybody. Righteous judgment
speaks of the right standard of judgment. Now what is the
only right standard of judgment that we have? Right here. This is it. And when he says
judge righteous judgment, he says judge according to God's
word. That's what he means. And so,
see, that's why this is a commandment against self-righteous judgment
and slander of brethren. Now, when people accuse each
other, brethren, now, think about this. You know, not all accusations
are false when we accuse brethren. I'll give you an example of that.
Turn over to 1 Corinthians chapter 5. And so when James is saying,
don't speak evil of a brother, he's not talking about making
accusations that are correct. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter
5. Now listen to this. Paul writes, it's reported commonly
that there's fornication among you, and such fornication as
is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should
have his father's wife. This is a man in that church
who was committing incest with his stepmother. That's what was
happening. And the church was just letting
it go. They weren't judging properly. And so somebody could come up
to this fellow and say, now I accuse you of being a fornicator. Now,
that's not self-righteous judgment. That's just the truth. However,
if you're going to make that accusation, and if you're going
to take care of that problem, use the biblical process. Do
what the Bible says to do. What does the Bible say to do?
Go to that person one-on-one first. Am I right? Go to that person one-on-one.
You know, if there's a problem between a brother Or a sister
in Christ? What does the Bible tell you?
Go to that person one-on-one, privately, and deal with it. Nine times out of ten, that settles
the problem. Not always. Now, if that doesn't
work, what does it say to do? You take two or three brethren
who are eyewitnesses to the crime, to the sin. That's what you do. Now, when it says take two or
three witnesses with you, it doesn't mean find two or three
guys who agree with you. It means eyewitnesses. who've
seen it and compare it, just like on the court of law. And
if that doesn't work, what do you do? You bring it before the
church. Now, let me tell you something.
When slander or accusations are made and those who make those
accusations refuse to use the biblical process that I just
told you, what does that tell you? It tells you more about
the accuser than it does the accused. Isn't that right? And Paul says, you're to remove
this man from the church and pray that God will bring him
to repentance. That's what he's saying there. But listen, we're
commanded to judge righteous judgment. We are. Galatians chapter
1, for example, where Paul exposes the false preachers who were
bringing in works into the mix, salvation by grace plus their
works, plus their circumcision. What does he say in Galatians
chapter 1? He says, though we are an angel from heaven preaching
any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached,
let them be anathema. That means you judge them to
be lost. When somebody comes in and preaches a false gospel,
you're to make a judgment, a righteous judgment, according to God's
Word. Not according to your feelings, not according to your own standard,
but according to God's Word. And you're to judge them to be
lost. That's what he's saying. 2 John 9 says, if they who transgress
and go beyond the doctrine of Christ hath not God, that's what
it says, What's he talking about? He's talking about those who
are preaching another gospel. But back here in James 4 now,
look back. Don't slander. That's what he's
saying. Don't make accusations and suspicious
words about a brother or sister in Christ. Don't condemn one
who's looking to Christ. When you do that, he says, you're
speaking evil of the law, the law that tells you and command
you to love your brethren. You're saying, no, I'm not going
to do that. That's that that law is not worth either hearing
or believing. I just don't agree. You're judging the law, speaking
evil of the law and you're judging the law. But if thou judge the
law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. You see, if
you judge the law, you're setting yourself up above the law. That's what he's saying. And
how do you prove it? Look at verse 12. Here's the commandment given
in light of God's nature. There's one lawgiver. You didn't
give the law. I didn't give the law. God did.
Who commanded us to love one another? God. Who loves us in
Christ, God? Did we deserve it? No. Somebody
says, well, now that brother or sister, they've acted like
this, they don't deserve my love. None of us deserve God's love.
And He's the Lawgiver. How is His love shown? He gave
us His Son, the Scripture says. All that He had, His Son, Jesus
Christ. And how is the love of God shed
abroad within our hearts? By the Holy Spirit who drives
us as sinners who don't deserve salvation and cannot earn salvation,
who drives us to Christ for all salvation. You all remember that song, A
Sinner Like Me? Keep that rolling around in your
mind. And you see, to judge the law is to set yourself up in
the same plane as God. He's the lawgiver. And it says
He's able to save and to destroy. You know what that really means
is if you slander me or make an accusation against me, it
really doesn't matter. That just shows more about you
than it does me. God's the only one who can save
and destroy. You can't save me and you can't
destroy me. You know, that's been a great
comfort to me in these last years. I'm serious, and you all too.
Because not only have I been slandered, you have too now.
We're together in this thing. It's not just me out there on
a limb, you know. We're together. And when they slander me, they
slander you. When they slander you, they slander me. And that's
what it is. Setting themselves up as God,
in the place of God, thinking that I have the right to do that?
No, sir. God's the giver of the law. The
law is an expression of God's nature. Who God is. And in light of that, how in
the world could He save any of us? There's not but one way,
and that He gives more grace. Grace, grace, grace. It's all
by grace. And He alone is able to save
sinners, and He alone is able to destroy them. How can He save us? Through Christ.
Without Christ, nothing but destruction. And if his testimony in the law,
which is the product of infinite wisdom and justice, and it's
from the one who knows us all better than we know each other
and better than we know ourselves, which is always according to
truth in God's way, that's the standard by which we're to judge
all men and women, then who are we to judge another by a different
standard? You say, well, The things I know
about this person, you don't know the half of it. You don't
know the half of it. But God does. God does. Now, listen to what he says here.
When he says, Who art thou that judgest another? Again, he's
not forbidding all judgment. There's righteous judgment now,
and that's judgment based on God's Word. That's not going
around counting heads and trying to pick out everybody and say
who's saved and who's not. That's not what I'm talking about.
It's just simple. There's a general judgment there,
and that's simply this now, that if you're not looking... Listen,
listen, friend. I'm begging you, I'm pleading
you, you look to Christ for salvation. Don't look anywhere else. I hate
it when people come up and tell me about their past experiences,
and I'm sorry. I mean, I know that offends a
lot of people. I hate it because I know that's where they're looking
to. Let me tell you what happened to me when I got saved. I don't
want to know what happened to you when you got saved. I'll
tell you what I want. I want to know who are you looking
to right now, right now, today, for all of your salvation. And
if you're looking to him, forget the past and look forward towards
the mark of the high calling in Jesus Christ. You say, well,
that makes good stories and people get their emotions tugged at. Forget all that stuff and go
to the word of God. If this isn't enough to make
you emotional, then what can my sad stories help you? All you'd want me to do is just
tell it and tell it again. It doesn't mean anything. Only the
word of God. If they speak not according to,
here's a judgment, Isaiah 820. To the law and to the testimony,
if they speak not according to this word, there's what? No light
in them. Speak according to this word.
There's nothing greater. Listen, I like a good illustration. I'm not very good at giving them.
I don't go around looking for them. I love a good illustration,
but no illustration I can give you can supersede this word right
here. This is the living word. This is the word that the Holy
Spirit says is able to make thee wise unto salvation. My illustrations
can't do that. Besides, you know, somebody said
one time that an illustration is like a window in a house.
It lets a little light in. That's okay, but don't build
the whole house out of windows. I'm not here to entertain you
or tell you stories and all that. I'm not here to get you emotional.
I'm just here to point you to Christ. And that's the only hope
you have. It's the only hope I have. But
now, in this matter of judging, like I said, saving faith and
righteous judgment go together. But now faith and unrighteous
judgment do not go together. And so when he says, Who art
thou that judges another? He's talking about this speaking
evil. He's talking about this slander,
this accusation. He's talking about this condemnation
of brethren. Don't do that, he said. It's
not appropriate for a believer. It's not appropriate to faith.
But let me tell you something about this. Now, this is a commandment
given in light of God's nature and law. And God is no respecter
of persons now. Now, we are, but God is not.
And a proof of that, you are, listen, you are, we are all,
I say we, not just you, but we are all more prone to be more
tolerant and kind and considerate to our family and our loved ones
than we are to others. Isn't that right? And the reason
is, is because we're a respecter of persons. But God is not. And
God's law is no respecter of persons. But here's what I'm
saying to you. Turn to Romans 8 and look at
verse 32, I believe it is. And then we'll conclude with
this. He mentioned God's law. If a sinner is truly looking
to Christ for all salvation, now, Christ as he's identified
and distinguished in the Word of God, now that's your standard.
And the reason I'm saying that is because not everybody is looking
to the same Christ. I'll give you a prime example.
I know people don't like me to mention names and all that, but
just think about Jehovah's Witnesses now. You all know the denomination
of Jehovah's Witnesses. Now their doctrine as a denomination
is to deny the deity of Christ. Did you know that? They deny
the deity of Christ. My friend, the Christ they're
looking to is not the Christ of this book. And I'm not saying
that to be mean. I don't want to be mean to anybody.
I pray for them. I pray that God will... Paul
said in Romans chapter 10, my heart's desire and prayer for
Israel, those who were seeking salvation by works, that they
might be saved. They have a zeal of God to give
them that much, but not according to knowledge. For they, being
ignorant of God's righteousness and going about to establish
their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto
the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the
law for righteousness to everyone that believes. They wouldn't
submit to Christ. So we have to make those judgments.
You see, we can't just assume that everybody's our brother
and sister because they named the name of Christ. And that's
not being mean or or judgmental in the sense of unrighteous judgment.
That's just being going by the word of God. That's what faith
and righteous judgment is all about. But you see, if a sinner
is truly looking to Christ. The Christ is identified and
distinguished in this book. who accomplished what this book
says he accomplished, if a sinner is truly willing, what does the
law of God say about him? What does the law of God say
about her? Well, here it is. Verse 31 of Romans 8. What shall
we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? Notice it's give us all things
freely, that means we don't work for it and we don't earn it.
Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God
that justifies. God's the one who did the justifying
through Christ. And who is he that condemneth?
It's Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even
at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for
us. If that sinner He is truly looking to Christ. That's what
God's law says about him. Now, who am I to set myself up
as a judge over that person in unrighteous judgment so as to
slander them or to accuse them or to condemn them? You see,
let's deal with each other as those who are going to be judged
by that perfect law of liberty, James said in James 2, the gospel.
Deal with each other gently, compassionately, kindly, and
in love. Alright.