Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Niver. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 1030 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
945 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com. Now here's our pastor, Todd Nibbert. I've entitled this message, Who
Are You to Judge? I'm reading from James chapter
4, beginning in verse 11. James says, Speak not evil one
of another brethren. He that speaketh evil of his
brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law. and
judges the law. But if thou judge the law, thou
art not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one lawgiver
who's able to save and to destroy. Who are you that judges another?"
Now in the original, and as a matter of fact, some of the other translations
state it this way, Who are you to judge another? My first question is, who is
James speaking to when he says, you, who are you to judge another? Now, here is a rule. The Bible
doesn't speak to other people. It speaks to you. The Bible doesn't
tell other people how to treat you. It tells you how to treat
them. When James says you, who are
you to judge somebody else? Beloved, he's speaking to you.
He's speaking to me. You. Who are you to judge anybody about anything. For me or you
to stand in judgment on anybody is the practice of hypocrisy. Do you believe that? It's so,
whether you do or not. Now, James says in verse 11,
Speak not evil one of another, brethren. Don't criticize don't
slander, don't speak evil of your brother." What if what I'm
saying is true? You're still not supposed to
do it. Speak not evil one of another brethren. When we speak
evil and slander our brethren or anybody We're attempting to
make our own light brighter by making them look darker every
time. All slander, all criticism, all
speaking evil is simply self-promotion. me trying to make myself look
badder at the expense of them. I love that scripture, by this
we know we pass from death to life when we love the brethren. And what does love want to do?
Love doesn't want to expose his brother's sins. He may be aware
of them, but he wants them to be covered. Think before you
speak. Think, T-H-I-N-K. Think before
you speak. Think, T, is it true? H, is it
helpful? I, is it inspiring? Does it inspire
someone to follow Christ? N, is it necessary? Does it serve
any good purpose? K, is it kind? Speak not evil
one of another, brethren, and judge not one another. Now, people
you love, you don't want them spoken ill of, do you? If you
speak ill of my wife, if you slander my wife, you're not going
to be my friend. And what you say may be true, but I love her.
And our Lord is that way with regarding to his people. He says,
in as much as you've done it to the least of these, my brethren,
you've done it to me. He takes personally all evil
speaking against his people because he loves them. Don't speak evil
one another, brethren, and don't judge one another. And here's
why. He that speaketh evil of his
brother, and judges his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and
judges the law. All of a sudden you're not a
doer of the law, but you've arrogated to yourself a position you have
no business in. You've become a judge. Verse 12, there's one lawgiver. And that one lawgiver is not
mere you. It's God. God has no law over his head.
He's the lawgiver. And whatever he does is right.
And he doesn't do it because it's right. It's right because
he does it. He's God. He is the law giver, not me,
not you. And anytime that I judge my brother,
all of a sudden I arrogate to myself a position that belongs
to God only. He's the one lawgiver. And here
is something else about him, the one lawgiver, the God of
glory, the living God. Look what it says next about
him. He is able to save and he is able to destroy. Now what
a blessed thought. He is able to save. Now that's what I need. Something
I pray every day, Lord, save me. Save me from my sins. Save me from myself. Save me. He's a Savior. He's able to save. Matthew 121 says, Thou shalt
call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins. He's able to save. Now let me
tell you how He's able to save. For me to be saved from my sins,
He's going to have to do something for me. First of all, he's going
to have to keep the law for me because I haven't kept it. He's
going to have to keep it for me as my representative, as my
substitute, and he's going to have to keep it perfectly. Secondly,
he's going to have to answer the demands of God's justice
against my sins because the scripture says, the soul that sinneth shall
surely die. He's going to have to answer
the demands of God's justice and pay for my sins, for me to
be saved. He's going to have to do that.
I can't do it. I can't pay for my sins. I can't
put them away. I can't make up for them. Could
my tears forever flow? Could my zeal no longer know?
These for sin could not atone. Thou must save and thou alone. I need someone to defeat the
devil for me because I'm no match for him and he could turn me
inside out. He defeated Satan for me. Not only do I need Him to keep
the law for me, not only do I need Him to pray for my sins by dying
for them. Not only do I need him to defeat
the devil for me, I need him to do something for me. I need
him to give me a new heart, a heart that believes, a heart that repents,
a heart that loves God, a heart that continues in the gospel.
I can't do any of those things. I've got to have him, for me
to be saved from my sins, he's gonna have to give me a new heart
and he's gonna have to cleanse my daily walk. I sin every day. And every time I pray, I have
to pray, forgive me of my sins. And I need someone who can cleanse
me from my daily walk. And I need someone who can raise
me from the dead when I die and make me just like the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now that's what I need to be
saved. And the scripture says he's able
to save. But it doesn't only say he's
able to save. It also says he's able to destroy. Fear not him
who can kill the body, and after that, that's all it can do. Fear
him that's able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Yea, I say unto you, fear him. And he's able to kill, and this
is a good thing. He's able to slay you. He's able
to slay me and destroy us of all self-sufficiency, self-righteousness,
kill us, and show us our only hope is the life of the Lord
Jesus Christ. It's only when I'm killed that
I'm made alive. The Lord killeth, and the Lord
maketh alive. Now, he's able. There's one lawgiver who's able
to save and to destroy. You, you, who are you to judge
somebody else? What a question. You, who are
you to judge? Now, the first thing that hits
me when I hear this from James, and I hear him speaking to me,
Todd, who are you to judge anybody about anything? When I hear this
passage of scripture speaking to me, the first thing I think
of is what would happen to me if God judged me according to
my personal works. What would happen to me if God
put the Ten Commandments beside of me, and how do you measure
up to these? You know, every time I sin, I
put something before God. Every time I sin, I break that
commandment continually. You know, when the Lord said
the great commandment is to love God with all your heart and all
your soul and all your strength and love your neighbor as yourself.
Well, I'm in a continual state of never keeping the greatest
commandment. If that's the case, I must be
a great sinner. Why, with regard to not making
idols, how many false imaginations and ideas have I made of God
to make things easier on myself or make myself believe something?
Reverencing His name, keeping it holy, why, I've never had
the proper reverence for the name of the living, holy God. Resting, I never rest. Honoring
my father and mother, honoring authority, oh, how many times
have I rebelled against authority? Thou shalt not kill. How many
times have I murdered men's characters by slander? Thou shalt not commit
adultery. How many times have I committed
adultery in my mind and heart? Now, I haven't done it physically,
but to do it in your heart and mind is the same thing. Thou
shalt not steal. How much have I robbed God of
glory and given it to myself? Thou shalt not bear false witness.
Every time I've told the truth, I've told it in such a way as
to make myself look better. Thou shalt not covet? When have
I not coveted? What would happen to me if I
would be judged by God's holy law? Here's the fact of the matter.
I haven't kept one commandment one time. And if you think you
have, you show that you have no idea of the holiness of God's
law, nor do you have any idea of how sinful you really are.
Now, think about this. You, lawbreaker, Who are you
to judge somebody else? Now, what is this thing of judging
somebody else? Does that mean we should never
judge? Well, the Lord said, Judge righteous.
Judgment. He did say that. There are times when we have
to make a judgment. In that same chapter where the
Lord said, Judge not, He said, Beware of false prophets. You've
got to make a judgment on a man on whether or not he's a false
prophet. You've got to make a judgment about that, don't you? Now, what
if we didn't have a judicial system? What if there were no
punishment for right and wrong, no judgment, no judging and punishing
crime? What would happen in our society?
What if in the church I pastor, somebody got up and started preaching
another gospel? They started preaching salvation
by works and denying the great truths of the scripture and the
great doctrines of the gospel. They stand up and deny that men
are dead in sins or God elected a people or Christ died for the
elect or God the Holy Spirit's grace is irresistible and invincible.
Somebody got up and started denying those things and preaching somebody
else, something else. Would I be judgmental in saying,
You can't do that. That's wrong. You're not allowed
to do that. That would be righteous judgment
for me to do that, because those people would be preaching another
gospel. I mean, there are situations in which you have to be a judge.
What if your children are out getting in all kinds of trouble
and putting themselves in danger and others in danger by their
irresponsible actions, and you get ready to punish them, and
they say, well, you can't judge me. Yeah, I can. Yeah, I can,
because I'm your parent and I'm your authority. There are times
when judging is absolutely essential. What James is talking about is
that feeling of moral superiority, comparing yourself to somebody
else and coming out on top. looking at what someone else
is doing and saying, they shouldn't be doing that, even though they
shouldn't be doing that. But you're demonstrating a judgmental,
critical spirit. And James says, you, who are
you to judge somebody else? Now, Paul said in Romans 14,
13, Let us not therefore judge one another any more. In James
chapter 3, verses 1 and 2, James said, In many ways we offend
all. Me, you, in many ways we offend
all. We all have besetting sins, weaknesses,
inconsistencies. contradictions, insecurities. We all have a history that we're
still living with. Some have such difficult pasts
that it's amazing that they're doing as well as they do. Maybe
we ought to be commending them instead of criticizing them for
what they've been through. We all have what Paul called
a thorn in the flesh. Everybody does. Somebody says,
I don't. Well, that's your thorn in the
flesh. You're blinded by self-righteousness. We all have a thorn in the flesh.
Oh, how painful it is. Paul said he had this thorn in
the flesh, the messenger of Satan that buffeted him. Now, I think of what Paul said
In Galatians chapter 6, if any man be overtaken in a fault,
overcome by some sin. Can't you understand how that
could happen to you? Oh, if any man be overtaken by a fault.
Now, what I want to do in closing is give you 10 reasons why we
should not judge anybody about anything as far as this attitude
of moral superiority. Once again, this is a greatly
misunderstood scripture because people use this if you're talking
about this is the gospel and this is not. Somebody says, well,
that's being judgmental. No, it's not. It's being faithful
to the Lord. If I don't hate the false, I don't love the true.
That's faithfulness. That's not being judgmental and
critical and harsh. That's being faithful to the
Lord, faithful to the souls of men. I want people to know the
truth. If somebody's telling somebody that salvation is by
works, I'm going to say, no it's not. I want to tell the truth.
And I want to be critical of anything that's contrary to the
gospel when it comes to how God saves sinners. But as far as
being critical of someone, judgmental toward someone, having a morally
superior attitude toward someone, let me give you 10 reasons why
that should never be. Number one, because the Lord
said not to. He said, judge not. that you be not judged. That
is a command. So with regard to every time
I judge somebody, I'm sinning against the Lord because He said
not to do it. Judge not that you be not judged. Now, here's the second reason
that comes to my mind why we should never sit in moral superiority
as our brothers judge and think ourselves qualified to be moat
removers, because when we judge, it's pure hypocrisy. Let me show
you that in the Scripture. First, the passage of Scripture,
Matthew chapter 7. The Lord said in verse 1 of Matthew
chapter 7, Judge not that you be not judged. 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 mote that's in thy brother's eye, but considereth not the
beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother,
Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye, and behold, a beam
is in thine own eye, thou hypocrite? First cast out the demon out
of thy own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out
the moat out of thy brother's eye. For me or you to sit in
judgment over our brother's inconsistencies and contradictions and sins is
to act the hypocrite, because we are worse than they are. Now let me show you this again
in the scriptures in Romans chapter 2. Therefore thou art inexcusable,
O man, whosoever thou art that judgest." Now hold on, let's
back back to Romans chapter 1 verse 29 being filled. Paul is speaking
of these people being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication,
wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, debate,
deceit, malignity, whispers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful,
proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection,
implacable, unmerciful, who knowing the judgment of God that they
which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do
the same, but have pleasure in them that do them." Now, are
those bad people? You say, yes, they are. Well, listen to what
Paul says next. Therefore thou art inexcusable,
O man, whosoever thou art that judgest. For wherein thou judgest
another, you condemn yourself. For you that judge do the same
things." Whatever you're judging your brother for, you're guilty
of doing the precise same thing, which is pure hypocrisy. It's hypocritical for me to stand
in judgment on my brother. And thirdly, To sit in judgment
upon somebody is to assume the position that only belongs to
God. God's the judge. There's one lawgiver, and he
is always going to judge righteous judgment. Abraham said, shall
not the judge of the earth do right? He is the judge of the
earth. He will do right. He's the judge, not me, not you. We have no business arrogating
that position to ourself. Can't do it. Now, with regard
to every judgment we make when we judge somebody, here's the
fourth reason why it's always wrong to judge. With regard to
every judgment we make, we do not have enough information or
the correct information to make a proper judgment. You don't
know all the facts. And if you don't know all the
facts, you are unable to render a proper judgment. You don't
know what was behind that person's actions. You don't know what
they were going through. You don't know what caused it.
You have no business making a judgment. That brother with a limp in his
walk, He has a rock in his shoe that you don't see. And if you
had that rock in your shoe, you would be limping worse. Now, may the Lord deliver us
from making these rash judgments when we don't know the facts
anyway. Here's the fifth reason we should
never be a judge of others. The person you're judging does
not answer to you. Paul put it this way, who are
you to judge another manservant? That one you're judging doesn't
answer to you. You have no business judging
him. To his own master he standeth
or falleth. The thing for me and you to do
is mind our own business. There was a dear man that died
a few years ago in our church, but he had a saying that he said
all the time that always hit me. He said, I have way too many
of my sins of my own that I need to be worried about my brother's
sins. Mind your own business. Sixth reason not to judge is
a judgmental attitude is so unlike the Lord Jesus Christ. He said,
come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I'll
give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn
of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart. You know, sinners who
were around the Lord Jesus Christ did not feel threatened and did
not feel judged. And he is the truly holy man. You know, when you're around
a real religious person, when you feel like you're under their
eye and you feel judged and condemned by them, and they seem so holy
and righteous, write this down. They're not holy and righteous.
That's a put on and it's evil. The Lord Jesus Christ, sinners
could come into his presence and not feel judged and not feel
threatened. This man receiveth sinners, and
eateth with him." He's the friend of publicans and sinners, and
he is. And he is holy, but yet people
never... Now religious people... I'm sure
they felt threatened by him, the righteous, the morals, so
they thought, but sinners didn't. Paul said, I beseech you by the
meekness and gentleness of Christ. Oh, his humility, the humility
of the son of God is such that no one feels judged around him. How glorious is his character. Judging is contrary to love. Paul put it this way when he
was speaking of this thing of us judging our brethren in Romans
chapter 14. He says, Now walkest thou not
charitably? Love covers in silence all things. It's not exposing things. It
covers them in silence. Judging is contrary to the law
of Christ. We read in Galatians 6.2, bear
ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. Now, if you're a believer, you
know what your greatest burden is? Your sin. Not somebody else's sin, your
sin. Now, I know some people don't
feel that way, but it's because they're not believers. If you're
a believer, your greatest burden is your sin. And you know what
your brother's greatest burden is? his sin. Bear, put up with one another's
burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. And here's the ninth
reason to not judge. Judge not that you be not judged. Now he's not saying that if you
judge somebody, then you're going to be judged by God and sent
to hell. If that's the case, nobody will be saved. When he
says, judge not that you be not judged, For with what judgment
you judge, you shall be judged, and with what measure you meet,
it shall be meted out to you again." If you want somebody
to despise you, make them feel judged by you. They'll see every
flaw, they'll see every fault, they'll see every inconsistency,
and they'll see it clearly. But if you don't judge them,
If you have a gracious attitude toward them and they don't feel
judged by you, they're going to like you. That's just the
way it is. Judge not that you be not judged. And finally, judging is the religion
of the Pharisee. He spake this parable unto certain
which trusted in themselves and despised others." Talking about
the Pharisee and the publican, that Pharisee trusted himself
that he was righteous if you have any personal righteousness
You're self-righteous, and if you're self-righteous, you're
always going to look down your nose at somebody else. You're
always going to find somebody else to compare yourself with
and say, well, at least I'm better than this man, just like that
man did. He said, I'm not like other men are, even as this publican. I'm different. That is the religion
of the Pharisee, that holier-than-thou attitude, and God said, that's
a smoke in my nostrils. That's how God views that. If you want to judge somebody,
here's the one to judge. If we would judge ourselves,
we would not be condemned. This is Todd Kniper. To request
a copy of the sermon you have just heard, send your request
to messages at toddsroadgracechurch.com.