Let's turn back to Romans chapter
14. I've entitled tonight's message,
The Judgment Seat of Christ. In the latter part of verse 10,
Paul says, For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. He begins this verse with a question. Why do you judge your brother? He's your brother. Why do you
judge your brother? Why do you set at naught and
count as nothing your brother? because that's precisely what
I'm doing when I'm judging my brother. I'm setting him at naught. I'm saying he is nothing. Now the judging he is speaking
of is that critical spirit inflamed by a morally superior attitude. Now there are some judgments
we have to make constantly. Every time I hear the gospel,
I have to judge whether or not it's the truth. Thank God I'm
given the scriptures to make that judgment. But every time
I hear the gospel, I need to judge, is that man preaching
the gospel? I'm not just to swallow it, hook,
line, and sinker. But I'm going to be like the
noble Bereans and search the scriptures daily whether these
things be so. So I have to make a judgment
with regard to what I'm hearing. If someone is living in a way
that the scripture forbids, it's not a judgmental spirit to know
that that kind of action is wrong. And that's not being judgmental. If someone is living habitually
in a way the scripture forbids, it's not being judgmental to
not approve of that. Galatians chapter 6 verse 1,
Paul said, if a man be overtaken in a fault. Can't you understand
that? How easy it would be for you
to be overtaken in a fault. If a man be overtaken in a fault,
you which are spiritual restore such in one. in the spirit of
meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted." Now
that man in Galatians 6.1 who restores that brother who's overtaken
is not being judgmental in what he's doing. He's doing it in
the spirit of humility, knowing that he is just as bad. He loves
his brother. That is why he is doing this. What Paul is speaking of is a
holier-than-thou attitude, looking down your nose at your brother
in moral superiority, a critical spirit, putting bad
construction on the things he does, things that you can't see,
but you're making assumptions. It's a spirit of criticism is
what he's speaking of. Now, with regard to anything
your brother is doing, remember, look back at Romans chapter 2,
verse 1. Now, Paul had, at the end of
chapter 1, given this big list of horrible sins. And then he
says in chapter 2 verse 1, Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man,
whosoever thou art that judgest, for wherein thou judgest another,
you condemn yourself, for you the judge doest. Present tense. Not you used to. Whatever you're
judging that brother of, present tense, you're guilty of doing
the precise same thing. Now the next time I'm critical
of my brother, I hope I remember that what I'm criticizing him
for, I'm guilty of doing. It's what's called the practice
of hypocrisy. Now think about this. He's your
brother. Why would you judge your brother? Why would you sit at not your
brother? That's so contrary to love. And
the Lord said not to, didn't he? He said, judge not, that's
a command. Judge not, that you be not judged. And when we judge someone, we
assume a position that belongs only to the Lord. Turn with me
to James chapter four, verse 11. Speak not evil one of another
brethren, He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his
brother, James chapter 4 verse 11, and judges 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. You've all of a
sudden presumed the position of being a judge. There is one
lawgiver who's able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge
another? You're not a lawgiver. You're
not a judge. Who are you to judge your brother? With regard to judging our brethren,
we do not have enough information to make an accurate judgment
in the first place. It's so apparent that brother
with a limp in his walk has a rock in his shoe that you don't see. And if you had that rock in your
shoe, you'd limp more than he does. We don't have enough information
about anything to make an accurate judgment about anything concerning
our brother. Do you believe that? You don't
know the facts. You don't know the facts. It's foolish for me to make a
judgment regarding someone's action when I really don't have
all the facts. I will make a wrong judgment
and a foolish judgment. That brother you're judging doesn't
answer to you in the first place. Look in verse 4 of chapter 14.
Who art thou that judges another man's servant? To his own master
he stands or falls. Yea, he shall be holding up,
for God is able to make him stand. His master sees you judging his
servant, and you can be sure he's not pleased. That brother you're judging doesn't
answer to you. To be judgmental is to be unlike
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now one of the things that are
so attractive about the Lord Jesus Christ is sinners, immoral,
wicked people who are guilty of great sin could be around
the Lord Jesus Christ and not feel threatened and not feel
judged. and not feel like they were under
his microscope. Isn't that beautiful? I don't
want anybody ever to feel threatened or judged by me. I want to be
like the Lord. That's how he is. And that lets us know that true
holiness isn't what most men think it is. Because men who
think they're holy like to make people feel uncomfortable. Not
the Lord. 2 Corinthians 10 1 Paul said, I
beseech you by the meekness and the gentleness of Christ. And that word gentleness means
fair, listen carefully, what this word gentleness means. It
means, and this is the way the Lord is, this is the Lord Jesus
Christ that's being described. It means fair, equitable, moderate,
forbearing, not insisting on the letter of the law. It expresses
that considerateness that looks humanely and reasonably at the
facts of the case. And when the Lord came to the
disciples and saw them sleeping, he said, the Spirit is willing. What comes next? But the flesh
is weak. And in this non-judgmental attitude,
there is a recognition of the weakness of the flesh. How weak is your flesh? Well,
your brother's in the same condition as you. That waiter that was
rude to you and you refused to tip him, if you knew what he
was going through, you would have given him a bigger tip,
wouldn't you? When you judge your brother,
you're acting contrary to love. You see, when you love somebody,
you put the best construction on what they do. Not the worst,
not the critical spirit, but the best construction upon what
they do. You see, love thinketh no evil. It's not ready to put an evil
construction on the actions of the brother. When we judge our brother, it's
contrary to the law of Christ. I've already quoted this scripture
from Galatians chapter 1, but it says, bear ye one another's
burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. Now you know what's
a burden to me? My sin. My sin is a burden to me. And your sin is a burden to you. bear ye one another's burdens,
put up with one another, and so fulfill the law of Christ. This is called the law of Christ. We, when we judge our brother,
this is so significant, we make our brother judgmental and critical
of us. Judge not that you be not judged. When you become a judge, you
know if you treat your brother with a non-judgmental non-critical,
accepting way. You know what? He's not going
to see all your faults. You've got them, but he's not
going to see them. He's going to overlook them. He might see them. He's going to
overlook them. But if you judge him, if you criticize him, all
of a sudden he's going to become your critic, and every fault
you have will be magnified. And that's what the Lord means
when he says, judge not that you be not judged. For with the
same judgment you judge, you shall be judged. And with what
measure you meet, it'll be meted out to you again. Now, judging
is the religion of the Pharisee. Anytime I sit in judgment on
my brother, I'm like that Pharisee in the temple praying, God, I
thank thee. that I'm not as other men are. I'm not an extortioner. I'm not
unjust. I'm not an adulterer. I'm not
like this poor, pathetic publican. I'm different. I'm better. I give you the credit. I thank
you that I'm not like that poor, pathetic publican. That is the
religion of the Pharisee. Anytime I judge my brother, I'm
comparing myself to him and I'm saying I come out on top. That
is the religion of the Pharisee. Now, I love what Paul says here
in this verse, verse 10. But why dost thou judge thy brother? Or why dost thou set it not thy
brother? For we, You, your brother, and every
other believer shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
Now understand this. This does not mean you better
watch out because you're going to stand to be judged when you
stand before the judgment seat of Christ, so you better kind
of lighten up on your judgment. No, it means you're going to
stand. Accept it. Your brother is going
to stand. Accept it. This is not meaning
simply standing erect, because if you go on reading in the next
verse, every knee's gonna bow. Before the judgment seat of Christ,
we'll be on our face. Every knee's gonna bow. But the
point he's making is, why are you judging that brother who
stands accepted before God, before the judgment seat of Christ?
Why would you judge and criticize someone that he has justified? will all stand accepted before
the judgment seat of Christ. Now remember how that pelican
went down to his house? He had prayed, contrary to the
Pharisee, God be merciful to me, the sinner. The Lord says,
I say unto you, that man went down to his house justified. Nothing to criticize him for.
just before God. Now why would you be critical
of your brother who stands just before God? Now this and several other scriptures
are used for what is called the Bema Judgment of Christ. I don't
know if you've ever heard of that, but that's what a lot of
fundamentalists use. A lot of Calvinists and Reform people
speak of the Bema Judgment Seat of Christ. We shall all stand
before the Judgment Seat of Christ, and it's the Greek word bema,
and that's why they call it the Bema Judgment. They say it's
different from the general judgment, because you're already justified
in the general judgment, but this is the judgment where you're
going to stand before Christ, and you're going to be judged
according to how you have conducted yourself, and how judgmental
or non-judgmental you've been, or how zealous you've been for
His glory, and how much you've lived for Him, and how much you've
worked for His cause, and your position in glory will be handed
out to you here. based upon your personal obedience
here on earth. The Bema judgment of Christ. And that's what most religious
people believe. Yes, salvation is by grace. Yes,
we're justified by the righteousness of Christ. All that's true. But
our reward in heaven and our position in heaven is going to
be determined by our personal obedience here upon earth. And they use this scripture For
we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ, for
it is written, as I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow
to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every
one of us shall give an account of himself to God. I'm going
to give an account about how obedient I was, or how good I
was, or how I tried to strive against sin, or how many people
I witnessed to, or what good I did in the kingdom of heaven.
I'm going to give an account of myself to God. I try to think
of giving that kind of account. What would I say? what would I say? Turn to 2 Corinthians
chapter 5. This is another scripture that
is used for that. Verse 9, wherefore we labor that
whether present or absent we may be accepted of him, for we
must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone
may receive the things done in his body, according to that he
hath done, whether it be good or bad." Now if you don't know
the rest of the scripture, that sounds like you're going to be
judged based upon the things done in your body. Now, You've
got to compare one scripture with other scriptures. Is that
the general teaching of scripture? That yes, you're justified, but
a judgment's coming where you're going to have to stand before
God and give an account of how you lived your life and how you
sought to serve Christ. And it's going to be according
to the things done in this body. Whether it's good or bad, and
your place in heaven will be in direct relation to your works
here upon earth. Now that's what most people believe. Does the scripture teach this? I mean, there it says we're going
to receive the things done in the body. Well, it will be seen
whether or not you've been justified by the things done in your body.
It will be seen. You remember how Christ said,
Come ye, blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared
for you for the foundation of the world. Four, I was hungry
and you gave me meat. I was thirsty and you gave me
drink. I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you came and
visited me. In prison, all these things you
did, they didn't know they'd done them. Now, the point is,
there will be evidence in your body as to whether or not you
really believe the gospel. You know, if you believe the
gospel, you're going to want to come to a place where it's
really preached, aren't you? You're not going to go somewhere
where the gospel's denied, where it's not. There'll be things
that you're going to love as people. And I think those things
represent the preaching of the gospel more than anything else.
Isn't it in the preaching of the gospel that the naked are
clothed? that the hungry are fed, that those in prison are
visited. That's in the preaching of the
gospel. That's when that takes place. And there will be evidence
in your body as to whether or not you really believe the gospel. And there'll be evidence whether
you didn't. Our Lord tells us that. But does that mean that
there's some kind of works-based reward that you're going to get
that's going to determine your position in glory? Well, is that
what the scripture teaches? Well, I've got two examples,
Old Testament and New Testament, to show you that it doesn't.
The Bible does not teach that. The first example is found in
1 Samuel chapter 30. Would you turn with me there? 1 Samuel chapter 30. And this
is when the subject is being dealt with. You always want to
go to where the subject is being dealt with to find out what the
Bible really teaches about something like this. Now, what had happened,
this is when David recovered all the goods from Ziklag, 600
men went to fight the Amalekites, to get this stuff back, and 200
of them were so hungry and so faint that they couldn't go.
They had to stay behind. They didn't have the strength
to get over the creek. They were just hungry. I don't
know what was wrong with them, but they were too tired, too worn
out, too beat up to go. And so David took 400 men with
him, and these other 200 stayed behind. Now, look in verse 21
of 1 Samuel chapter 30. This is after David has recovered
all the spoil. And David came to the two hundred
men, which were so faint that they could not follow David,
whom they had made also to abide at the brook Besor. And they
went forth to meet David and to meet the people that were
with him. And David came near to the people. He saluted them,
then answered, All the wicked men and men of Belial, worthless,
wicked men. This is the response of every
single one of the wicked men. Now that's very significant. Because they went out with us,
we will not give them out of the spoil that we've recovered,
save to every man his wife and his children, that they may leave
them away and depart. We did more than they. They don't
get any of the spoil. We'll give them their wives back,
but we're not giving them any of the spoil because they didn't
do anything. We did more than them. It was our lives that were
on the line fighting this battle, and they were back sitting down
at the creek while we were out battling. It's not right for
them to get the same thing we do. Now, this was the wicked
men's response. Verse 23, then said David, you
should not do so my brethren with that which the Lord hath
given us, who hath preserved us and delivered the company
that came against us into our hand. Now the wicked men thought
we did this. David said the Lord did this.
This didn't have anything to do with anything we've done.
The Lord did this. For who will hearken unto you
in this matter? But as his part is that goeth
down to the battle, so shall his part be that teareth by the
stuff. They shall part alike. And it was so from that day forward
that he made a statute and an ordinance for Israel unto this
day." Now there's the Old Testament teaching. Now the New Testament
teaching, Matthew chapter 19. Leave it to Peter to make this
statement. Verse 27, and this is after the
rich young ruler was turned away. Then answered Peter, Matthew
19, 27. Then answered Peter and said
unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all and follow thee. What's in
it for us? What's in it for us? We've forsaken
everything. And we followed you, come thicker
thin. Now what's in it for us? How
are we going to be rewarded? Surely we're going to get more
than that person who hadn't done what we've done. We've left our
home. We've left our family. We're following you. What's in
it for us? Now the Lord answers. And Jesus
says unto them, Verily I say unto you, You which have followed
me in the regeneration, when the Son of Man shall sit in the
throne of His glory, you also shall sit upon the twelve thrones,
judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And every one that hath
forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother,
or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, he shall
receive it a hundredfold, and shall inherit, not earn, but
inherit everlasting life. But many that are first shall
be last, and the last shall be first, for the kingdom of heaven
is likened to a man that is a householder." And then he gives this, this
may be my favorite parable. It's about the man, the householder,
he's got, he comes out at 6 o'clock in the morning and he hires some
people, a penny a day, that's a fair working man's wages, a
penny a day. And he comes back out at nine
o'clock, there's still people idle, he says, whatsoever's right,
I'll give you. He comes out at 12, three and five, whatsoever's
right, I'll give you. Now let's pick up, you know the
story. Let's pick up reading in verse eight. So when evening
was come, the Lord of the vineyard saith unto the stewards, call
the labors and give them their hire, beginning from the last
unto the first. And when they came that were
hired about the 11th hour, they received every man a penny. a
full day's wages for one hour's work. Let's say 12 hours, 10
bucks an hour, they got $120 for one hour's work. How gracious. How gracious. How merciful. What a good man
that would give these men all this money for one hour's labor. All this speaks of is the graciousness
and the magnanimousness of the man. Verse 10, But when the first
came, they supposed that they should have received more. Wouldn't
you suppose that? Sure you would. And they likewise
received every man a penny. And when they had received it,
they murmured against the good man of the house, saying, These
last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal
unto us, which have borne the burden and the heat of the day.
You've made them the same as us when we've done so much more.
But he answered one of them and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong.
Didst not thou agree with me for a penny? Take that thine
is and go thy way, and I'll give unto this last, even as unto
thee. Is it not lawful for me to do
what I will with my own? Is thine I evil because I am
good? So the last shall be first, and
the first last for many be called. But you, be chosen. Everybody
gets the same thing. Now, that's the teaching of Scripture. Now, regarding this thing of
wanting to get a higher position in heaven, you have pure idolatry. That's all it is. You know, this
idea There's going to be some that are real close to the throne,
standing right in the presence of Christ, the ones that were
really maybe the martyrs and the ones who have done the most.
And then you'll have some people in the next row that they were
theologians and they were very generous and back and back and
back. And you have these degrees of glory and so on, of men's
works. All that is is pure idolatry. making an idol of wicked men. There's only one who's going
to get any glory in heaven and that's Christ himself. All glory
goes to him and none goes to anybody else and we like it that
way. This whole attitude is completely
contrary to love. If I love you Do I want to be
exalted above you? I get a mansion, you live in
a shack. That's completely contrary to love to your brethren. If
you love someone, you want them to be honored. You don't want
to have a higher place than them. This thing of earning a higher
reward in heaven because of your works of personal obedience here
on earth, Do you think that you can add
something you've done to justification and improve it? I want you to think about how ridiculous
that is. You have the righteousness of Jesus Christ and you're going
to add something that you've done to that and somehow it's
going to be better? Do you really have such a high
opinion of what you've done? Do you really think it's that
good? It's not. It's not. That thing that you've
done that you think you would earn a higher reward in heaven
for, God would send you to hell for it. That's the truth regarding
that. What this is, is works in grace
clothing. That's all it is. A little leaven,
leavens the whole lump. You put any work, human work,
in the scheme of salvation, beginning, middle, or end, and you make
it salvation by works, glory goes to man. If you begin with
an act of man's free will, that's works. If in the middle, you
become progressively more holy and more pleasing to God by the
things you do, that's works. In the end, If you, through your
works, earn a higher position in glory and a higher reward,
that's works. That's all it is. So this idea of the beam of judgment
that comes from this passage of scripture is evil through
and through. And I love the way it's pointed
out in 1 Samuel 30. It was all the wicked men. and the men of Belial, men who
really had no love for God that wanted to promote this kind of
thinking. So I hope we don't have any thoughts
of a Bema judgment like we'll get some kind of higher reward
because of what we do. What could you do that could
improve upon Christ? The very thought of that is blasphemous.
All that being said, there is a judgment seat of Christ when
the world will be judged in righteousness. And that's by His standard, not
ours. His standard. Now this judgment is universal. We shall all We shall all stand
before the judgment seat of Christ. No one will be absent. He says
in verse 11 of our text in Romans chapter 14, back there to Romans
14. Verse 11, for it's written, as
I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me and every
tongue shall confess to God. Now everybody knows, everybody
in this room, everybody outside of this room knows intuitively.
We're born with this knowledge that God's holy and he's going
to judge the wicked and he's going to reward the righteous.
God's righteous. He's going to judge the wicked.
He's going to punish the wicked and he's going to reward the
righteous. Everyone knows that intuitively. were born with that knowledge. No such thing as an atheist. Look in Revelation chapter 20. Verse 11, John describes this
judgment, and he says, And I saw a great white throne, and him
that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled
away, and there was found no place for them. And I saw the
dead, small and great, stand before God, and the books were
opened, and another book was opened. There were books, Paul,
and there was a book. which was open, which is the
book of life. And the dead, the dead in sins
were judged out of those things which were written in the books,
plural, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead
which were in it, and death and hell delivered up the dead which
were in them. And they would judge every man
according to their works. And death and hell were cast
into the lake of fire. This is the second death, and
whosoever was not found written in the book of life." The book
of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, it's called. Twice
in the book of Revelation. Whosoever was not found in the
book of life was cast into the lake of fire." Now, two options. It's not an option, it's just
the way it is. You're either going to be judged out of the
books, or you're going to be judged out of the book. Which
one do you want? You're going to be either judged
out of the books, or out of the book. Now this judgment is very
personal, verse 12 of Romans chapter 14. So then, every one
of us shall give account of himself to God. Now that could mean I'm
not going to be responsible for anything you do. When I stand
before God in judgment, I'm not going to be able to say, well,
what about so and so? Look what they did. What did
they do? Why are you being judged? I'm not going to be able to do
that because I'm going to stand before God by myself without
reference to you or anybody else. I'm going to stand by myself.
But let's say you do stand by yourself. What kind of account
are you going to give? Let me show you the account I'm going
to give. Turn with me to Isaiah chapter 45 because this is the
passage of scripture he quotes from. Isaiah chapter 45. Here's my account. Now here's
the quotation that we just read of in verse 11, Isaiah chapter
45, verse 23. I've sworn by myself the word
has gone out of my mouth and righteousness and shall not return
that unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. Now I just quoted that, but let's
go on reading. Everyone will give an account of himself. Here's
the account of every believer. Surely, shall one say, in the
Lord have I righteousness and strength. That is my account. Surely, shall one say, this is
what every believer is going to say, when I give an account
to myself, here's what I'm going to say, in the Lord have I righteousness,
and in the Lord have I strength. That's the only account I'll
give. Paul put it this way in Philippians
3 9, O that I may win Christ and be found in him, Not having
my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is
through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of
God by faith. Now that's the only account I'm
given. It's the only account that's safe. If I bring up anything
else, you know what I'm going to hear? Depart. Depart. Ye cursed into everlasting fire
prepared for the devil and his angels. That's all I'll hear. Does sure count? Says, surely
shall one say, in the Lord have I righteousness and in the Lord
have I strength. Now this judgment is divine,
therefore perfectly righteous. When I think of the judgment
of God, the punishment always fits the crime and the reward
always fits the righteousness. Now, there'll be different degrees
of punishment in heaven, I mean, in hell. And the reason being,
you know, the Lord says, regarding some, he says, they shall receive
greater damnation because they, for pretense, make long prayers,
the same shall receive greater damnation. There are degrees
of punishment in hell because hell is according to your works.
Those who've had more life will be punished greater, the Lord
says. The more you've got to hear the
The people in this room that have heard the gospel would have
it worse on judgment day than people who have never heard the
gospel. There are degrees of punishment
in hell, but there are no degrees of rewards in heaven because
it's the same righteousness. We're saved by the righteousness
of Christ only. That's why everybody's the same.
There are no differing degrees. Now, this judgment seat is final. There's no court of appeals. There's no higher court. You
know, you get judged here and you try to take it to another
court. There's no higher court than this. If I hear depart,
it's eternal. If I hear come ye blessed, inherit
the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world,
it's eternal. How you die here is how you'll
spend eternity. Look in Revelation 22. Revelation 22, verse 11. He that is unjust, let him be
unjust still. And he which is filthy, let him
be filthy still. You're going to remain that way
throughout eternity. And he that's righteous, let
him be righteous still. And he that is holy, let him
be holy still. How you die, if you die in your
sins, you're going to spend eternity that way. If you die justified,
you're going to spend eternity that way. Now go back to Romans
chapter 14. Let me close this up. Verse 13, let us not therefore
judge one another any more. Now that brother you're judging
is going to stand accepted on judgment day. He sings with you,
bold shall I stand in that great day, for who ought to my charge
shall lay. Fully absolved through these
I am from sin's tremendous curse and shame. We have boldness on
the day of judgment because Christ is our righteousness. That brother,
he's going to stand accepted. You're going to stand accepted.
So let's not judge each other anymore. How ridiculous it is
to sit in judgment on one whom God has justified. It's ridiculous,
isn't it? Now, there are two judgments. we should make. Look in verse
13. Let us not therefore judge one another anymore, but judge
us rather, if you're going to judge, make a judgment regarding
this, that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall
in his brother's way. Now if you want to judge, if
you want to be judgment, judge this. You make sure that the
way you are is not being a stumbling block to your brother. Not making
him emboldened to sin through your poor attitude and actions
and conduct and whatever. If you want to make a judgment,
you make sure you're not a stumbling block to your brother, but rather
an encouragement and an example to your brother. You judge yourself. And the final judgment is 1 Corinthians
11. Would you turn with me there?
A few pages over. Here's a judgment we should always
make. Verse 31. For if we would judge ourselves. Now you have full liberty to
criticize yourselves. If we should judge ourselves. You know what our conclusion
would be? I'm guilty. I need the righteousness
of Christ. I need Christ. I need Him. Now,
if we judge ourselves, hear the promise, we should not be judged. You find me anybody that comes
into God's presence guilty as charged with the rope around
my neck. You're right and I'm wrong. I perverted that which was right
as we read this morning and somewhere somebody read Job 33. I perverted
that which is right and didn't profit in it. Anybody that comes
to God like that, you know what? They're going to go away justified. May God enable us to Continually
practice those two judgments to judge that I don't put a stumbling
block before my brother and that I judge myself that I might not
be judged. Let's pray together. Lord, we're ashamed, as we confess,
how judgmental, how critical we are toward our brother. And
Lord, we ask for forgiveness. Lord, it's such base hypocrisy
for us to judge anyone. We ask for forgiveness. We ask
for cleansing. We ask for a new attitude. We ask that we might be, as Paul
said in that verse, let us not judge one another anymore. Lord, deliver us from that. Give
us the grace to truly esteem our brother as better than ourself. and enable us to take the lowest
seat at all times. Lord, bless this word for your
glory and for our good. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.
You got Mitch? Stand and sing together 226.
I love that hymn.