Turn back to Romans chapter 14.
While you're turning there, Elizabeth Marsh is in the hospital right
now, and she's having a hard time. So everybody remember her
as the Lord enables you. Verse 13. Let us not. Therefore, judge one another
anymore. Now, when is the last time you
pass judgment upon somebody? When is the last time you felt
critical toward somebody and disagreed with their actions? Well, we have a command here. Let us not therefore judge one
another anymore. That's a command. This is a command
that I fear is frequently broken. By all of us. And this is a command
that can seem in some respects, paradoxical. There are judgments
that we are called upon to make when you hear me preach, you
have to judge. Whether or not what I'm saying
is according to the Word of God. And there are judgments we're
called upon to make in the Scriptures. Let me show you a few. Turn to
1 Corinthians chapter 5. Now, this is regarding a man
in the church in Corinth who was guilty of gross immorality. It's reported, verse 1, commonly
that there's fornication among you. And such fornication is
not so much as named among the Gentiles that one should have
his father's wife. Now, he says in verse nine, I
wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators.
You're making a judgment there when you do that, aren't you?
He says, don't keep company with him. Look in verse 11. But now
I've written unto you not to keep company. If any man is called
a brother, be a fornicator or covetous or an idolater. or a
railer or a drunkard or an extortioner with such a one know not to eat.
Now there are judgments of some kind going on there, aren't there?
Look in 2 Thessalonians chapter 3. This is regarding that one
who refuses to work. Look in verse 14. If any man obey not our word
by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him,
that he may be ashamed. Yet count him not as an enemy,
but admonish him as a brother." Now there are some things, there
are many things that are condemned by the Bible, aren't there? Right
is right, and wrong is wrong. And the Lord did say in John
chapter 7, verse 24, judge not according to appearance, but
judge righteous judgment. He said that, didn't he? Now,
that being said, here we have this command. Let us not judge
one another anymore. Under any circumstance, for any
reason, let us not judge one another anymore. Now, I want to speak on the subject
why we should not judge. Let's look what led Paul to make
this statement, we're going to look at this entire chapter real
briefly, then I want to make some comments about why we shouldn't
judge. Now, look what he says in verse
one. Him that is weak in the faith. And there is such a thing
as being weak in the faith. Now, what does he say to do with
this person? Receive them. Embrace them. Welcome them with open arms. But not to doubtful disputations. Now, that person who is weak
in the faith has scruples, has weird beliefs. He's wearing gray
clothes. Don't judge him. Don't judge
him. Leave him alone. Don't criticize
him. Verse two, for one, believe it
that he made all things. This is the stronger brother.
He knows there's no merit in not eating something that's been
sacrificed to an idol or eating something that's been sacrificed
to an idol. He realizes that. Another who's weak, he will not
eat that meat sacrificed to an idol. Now, let not him that eateth
despise. Look down upon him that he is
not. Now that one who is not wrong, he's wrong. He shouldn't be that way. But
that one who has that understanding, don't you look down upon him? Don't judge him. Don't criticize
him for that. And let not him which eats judge
him to eat. That one person says, well, he's
wrong in eating that meat that was sacrificed to an idol. Or
he's wrong taking the way to contemporize this is alcohol. Somebody thinks it's wrong to
drink alcohol. Stay away from it in front of
them. Don't. But if someone judges that one who would drink alcohol,
Paul says, don't do that. Don't sit in judgment of somebody. Don't try to force your convictions
upon them. If that person eats meat, And
you say, that's wrong. You're wrong in making that judgment,
is what he's saying. Let's go on. Verse four. Verse
three, God received him. I love that. If God received
him and you haven't. Verse four, who are you to judge
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. What a question. Who are you to judge somebody
else's servant? You've got no business. To his
own master he stands or falls. He doesn't answer to you. He's
not accountable to you. You don't have any business judging
somebody else's servant. Verse 5, one man esteemeth one
day above another. Another esteemeth every day alike.
One man thinks, for instance, well, it's the Lord's day. It's
Sunday. I shouldn't go to the store. I ought to just read the scriptures
all day in between the services. And someone else thinks, well,
I can go to the store or go swimming on Sunday. It doesn't make any
difference. One man esteems one day above another. Another man
esteems every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded
in his own mind. But don't push your conviction
on somebody else and judge them and criticize them if they don't
have your conviction. He forbids us to do that. Verse six, he that regarded the
day. Regarded it to the Lord. And
he that regarded not to the day to the Lord, he does not regard
it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, he giveth God thanks.
He that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and he giveth
God thanks. For none of us live to himself,
and no man dies to himself. For whether we live, we live
under the Lord, and whether we die, we die under the Lord. Whether
we live, therefore, or die, we are the Lord's. For to this end
Christ both died and rose and revived, that he might be Lord
both of the dead and the living. But why dost thou judge thy brother? He's your brother. Why do you
judge him? Or why does thou set it not thy
brother? You see, when you're judging
what you're doing, you're looking at him in a morally superior
way. You're saying I'm better than
him. I wouldn't do that. I'm setting myself up above him
and I'm making him to be nothing. Why do you say that not your
brother, for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ?
That brother that you're criticizing, you know what he's going to do?
He's going to stand before the judgment seat of Christ and be accepted.
He's justified. He's accepted in the beloved.
Every believer is going to stand accepted before the judgment
seat of Christ. And we judge him. You know, Our
understanding of justification will have a great effect on how
we esteem our brother. It surely will. That brother
is justified before God. That brother is accepted by God.
He better be accepted by me. Verse 11, for it is written,
As I live, sayeth the Lord, every knee shall bow to me and every
tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us should
give an account of himself to God. We'll not be giving an account
of our brother. We'll be giving an account of
ourself. So here's the command. Let us
not, therefore, judge one another. Any more. Never do it again,
but judge this rather that no man put a stumbling block or
an occasion to fall in his brother's way. You make sure you're not
a stumbling block. That's what you need to give
your time to thinking about, not about your brother, but about
yourself. Verse 14. Now, Paul says, I know
and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus that there's nothing unclean
of itself. If it's been sacrificed to idols,
it's okay, eat it. But to him that esteemeth anything
to be unclean, to him it is unclean. But if thy brother be grieved
with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably Destroy not him
with thy meat, for whom Christ died. Now, what does that mean?
How can I destroy that brother for whom Christ died by going
ahead and eating meat and going against his scruples? I mean,
he's the one in the wrong, not me. How can I be hurting that
person? How can I? Why do I have to live
up to his scruples? Well, turn to 1 Corinthians chapter
8. Paul says, but meat commendeth
us not to God. 1 Corinthians 8, verse 8. But meat commendeth us not to
God, for neither if we eat it are we the better, neither if
we eat not are we the worse. It doesn't make any difference
whether you eat or you don't eat. But take heed, lest by any means
this liberty of yours becomes a stumbling block to them that
are weak. For if any man see thee which
has knowledge said it meet in the idol's temple, and he thinks
it's wrong, but he sees you doing it. Shall not the conscience
of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are
offered to idols? He's going to be going against
his own conscience when he does that. He feels like it's wrong,
but he watches you do it, and he says, well, it's okay to do
it. It must be. And he's doing wrong. And through thy knowledge
shall the weak brother perish. That's not talking about a terminal
perishing. You know that. But he's the one hurt for whom
Christ died. When you sin so against the brethren
and wound their weak conscience, you cause them to go against
their conscience. You sin against Christ. That's plain enough,
isn't it? Wherefore, if meat make my brother
to offend, I'll eat no flesh while the world stands, lest
I make my brother to offend. Go back to Romans 14. Verse 16. Let not your good. And it's good to understand,
I can eat any meat I want. It doesn't make any difference.
That's a good. That's maturity. That's spiritual maturity to
understand that. You ought to understand that. What you eat or what you
don't eat doesn't have anything to do with your relationship
with God. But don't let your good be evil spoken of. And so
here he names the gospel. Here's the gospel right here.
For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink. But righteousness,
the very righteousness of Jesus Christ, the Lord, as my righteousness
before God, that's my confidence. The kingdom of God is righteousness
and the peace that comes from knowing his righteousness is
my righteousness before God. I get such peace from that. All
that God requires of me, I have in Christ. Isn't that wonderful?
Oh, what peace we enjoy from that and what joy we derive from
that. It makes me plumb happy to know
that Christ is my righteousness before God. And that's the only
righteousness there is. That's the gospel, isn't it?
That's the gospel. The kingdom of God is not meat
and drink, what you eat and what you don't eat. It's not your
scruples. It's righteousness and peace
and joy in the Holy Ghost. Verse 18, the results of the
gospel, for he that in these things serves Christ, He's acceptable
to God, and he's approved of men. Let us, and here's the therefore
of the gospel, let us therefore follow after the things which
make for peace, and things wherewith we may edify one another. For
me, destroy not the work of God, Well, I have a right to eat that
if they don't see it, that's their problem. They're the weak,
immature believer. I'm going to go ahead and do
what I want. No, all things indeed are pure, but it's evil for that
man who is with offense. If he thinks it's wrong, it is
wrong. Even though it's not wrong, it is wrong. That's the truth. It's good. Look at this. It's
good neither to eat flesh. Nor to drink wine. nor anything
whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak."
Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not
himself and the thing which he loveth. Isn't it a blessing to
be able to do something and not feel guilty about it? And thank
God for it. The freedom we have in Christ Jesus. But have it
to yourself. And he that doubts who feels guilty for what he's
doing is damned if he eats, he's condemned if he eats, what he's
doing is wrong, because he eateth not of faith, for whatsoever
is not of faith is sin. Now turn with me to James chapter
three. James, the third chapter. Verse one. My brethren, Be not many masters. Don't be seeking this, knowing
that we shall receive the greater condemnation, for in many things,
we, me and you, every one of us, offend all. We all offend in many ways. Every one of us. Every individual
in this room right now, this would be a description of you
and I. We all offend in many ways. Beginning right here, I'm talking
about myself. I'm talking about all of us.
This is the truth. We all have weaknesses. We all have inconsistencies. We all have contradictions. We all have insecurities. We
all have a history. We all have a yesterday that
we're living with and being affected by today, don't we? Some have such difficult past
that it's a wonder they're doing as well as they are. Maybe instead
of criticizing them, we ought to be admiring them after what
they've gone through. We all have the flesh. We all
have an evil nature, a nature that can't be anything but evil. It's with us right now, present
tense. You know, I think of that passage
of scripture where Paul said, if a man be overtaken in a fault,
can't you see how easily you could be overtaken, overcome
in some fault, in some sin? Look in James chapter 4, verse 11. Speak not evil of one another,
brethren. Don't criticize. It's true what I'm saying. Still
don't do it. Still don't do it. You know,
when we do that, what we're doing is trying to make ourselves look
better. That's what we end up doing when we do that. 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 you're a judge. There's one lawgiver
who is able to save and destroy. Who are you? What a question. You, if this is the way of, you,
who are you to judge somebody else? I am completely disqualified
to be somebody's judge. If I assume somebody is better
than me, is it a gracious act of humility on my part? Because
I really believe it's the truth. If I take the lowest seat in
the house, Am I condescending to do such a thing, or is it
because that's where I belong? May we all ask ourselves that
question. Now, why should we not judge
our brother? Let me give you some rock-solid
reasons why we should not judge our brother. Here's the first
one, because the Lord said not to. That's enough of it. He said, judge not. Now the next
time you're, and there's things we disagree with, we don't understand,
but what's the Lord say to do about it? Don't judge him. Judge
not. That's the Lord's command. Judge
not. That's enough of a reason right
there, isn't it? Judge not. But here's the next reason, I'm
going to give you some more reasons, because it's hypocrisy. If I judge anybody,
it's pure hypocrisy. Look in Matthew chapter 7. The Bible has a lot to say about
this. Judge not. These are the words
of the Lord Jesus, 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 splinter,
the mote that's in thy brother's eye, but you don't consider the
beam, the log that's in your own eye? Or how will you say
to your brother, let me pull out the mote out of thine eye,
and behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Hypocrite. There's what that is, isn't it?
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. Paul said in Romans
2, 1, Therefore thou art an inexcusable old man, whosoever thou art that
judges another. For you that judge do the same
things. That's what the Bible says. Whatever
you're judging somebody for, you do the exact same things
you're judging them for. Why not judge? Why should we
not judge our brother? Because when we judge our brother,
we assume the position that only belongs to God. All of a sudden,
we become lawgivers and judges. When we slander them, even if
it's true, we judge them. And when we judge, we become
the judge. We arrogate a position that we
have no business having. God is the only judge. And for
us to judge is seeking to take his place. So don't judge one
another anymore. Here's another reason not to
judge. We don't have enough information to make an accurate judgment.
We don't know all the facts. We don't know what happened.
That brother with a limp in his walk has a rock in his shoe.
that you don't see and that you don't know about. And if that
rock was in your shoe, you'd be limp and worse. You do not
know. I do not know the facts. Turn
to first Corinthians, chapter four. I think this would be a
blessing. I've seen this in a different way than I ever have. First Corinthians,
chapter four. Paul says to the Corinthians,
verse three, first Corinthians, chapter four, but with me, It's
a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or man's judgment,
yea, I judge not mine own self. For I know nothing by myself,
yet am I not hereby justified, but he that judges me is the
Lord. Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord
come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness,
and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts, the motives, and
so on, all these things that you and I cannot see. But look
what it says next, and this is what I've never noticed before.
And then shall every man, every believer, will have praise of
God. Every single one of them. I hesitate to be critical of
somebody that the Lord praises. You know, it's foolish to make
a judgment when you don't have all the facts, isn't it? And
rest assured, you don't. You don't know what that person
has gone through. You don't know everything that has taken place
up to that point. Here's another reason not to
judge. That person you're judging does not answer to you. You're messing somebody else's
business. That's what you're doing. Who are you to judge somebody
else's servant? He or she does not answer to
you. I couldn't help but think of
Peter after the Lord told him what kind of death he was going
to die. And he glorified God by that death. You know what
Peter did as soon as the Lord said that? What about this man?
Boy, good job. You know how the Lord answered
him? What business is that of yours? If I will that he tarry
till I come, what's that to thee? It's none of your business what
I do with him. You follow me. That's the only thing that counts.
You follow me. Now, another reason why it's
so wrong to judge it because it's so unlike the Lord Jesus
Christ. And one of the things, there's
so much glorious about the person of Christ. This is a hard thing
to get hold of. But he's holy. Utterly and completely holy. Never sinned. And yet sinners
could be in his presence and were drawn to him, and they didn't
feel threatened, and they didn't feel judged. Isn't that beautiful? Sinners could come to him. Now, they get around us, they're
going to feel threatened, and they're going to feel judged.
But he who is holy, they come in his presence. And they're welcome. Look in
2nd Corinthians, chapter 10, I want you to look at this verse
of Scripture with me. Verse one. Notice Paul's argument. Now,
I, Paul, myself, beseech you by the meekness and gentleness
of Christ. The word gentleness. Let me give
you the dictionary definition from Vine's Greek Dictionary.
Equitable, fair, 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. Here's an example. The disciples are asleep when
they should have been watching and praying. And what did the
Lord say? The spirit is willing, but the
flesh is weak. He knoweth our prayer. He remembereth
that we're dust. Here's an illustration. I'm in a restaurant and everyone
has experienced this. The waiter doesn't do a good
job. The waiter's rude. The waiter doesn't give us the
time that he ought to be giving us. We get aggravated and we
say, well, they're not going to get a good tip. Well, if you
knew what had happened to him today, you'd probably give him
a big tip. That very well could be the case. And I hope every
member of this church is a big tipper every time. Why should we not judge one another?
It's contrary to love. It's contrary to love, Paul said
about this kind of behavior in Romans chapter 14. Now, walkest
thou not charitably? You see, when you love somebody,
You think the best of them, don't you? Love thinketh no evil. You give them the benefit of
the doubt. That's what you do when you love somebody. Why should
we not judge our brother? Turn to Galatians, chapter six.
It's contrary to the law of Christ. Galatians, chapter six. Brethren, if a man be overtaken
in a fault, oh my, you which are spiritual, exposing, bringing
before the church that he might be judged and disciplined and
excommunicated, stay away from, no, restore such a one in the
spirit of meekness, considering thyself Considering thyself, how weak,
how sinful you are, how that if you are tempted, you will
fall. Bear ye, put up with one another's
burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. is a burden to me. It's a burden. Somebody wrote me just this week
and they were talking about the blackness of their heart and
they said, I can't wait to die to get away from myself. I understand
that. And your sin is a burden to you. It's a burden, isn't it? It's
a burden. bear one another's burdens, forbear
one another, put up with one another, and so fulfill the law
of Christ. This is His law. Isn't it a beautiful
law? Let me give you a real good reason
not to judge. Matthew 7, 1 and 2 says, Judge not that you be
not judged. Here's a great reason. Judge
not that you not be judged. For with what judgment you judge,
you shall be judged. And with what measure you meet,
it'll be meted out to you again. Do you want to hold his feet
to the fire? Do you want to nail him to the wall? What goes around
comes around. He's got it coming. If you do
that, that's what God will do with you. Is that what you want? Is that what you want? I think
not. The Lord is going to deal with
me as I deal with my brother. If I deal with my brother in
kindness and mercy and forgiveness, that's the way the Lord deals
with me. If I hold his feet to the fire and nail him to the
wall, he's got it coming. He's wrong. That's the way the
Lord will deal with me. Now turn to Luke chapter 18.
Here's the last one. Judging our brother is the mark
of a Pharisee. The Pharisee within. Every one of us had the nature
of a Pharisee. It's the old nature. And judging our brother is the
mark of a Pharisee. Let me show you that. Verse 9. And he spake this parable unto
certain which trusted in themselves, that they were righteous. And this is what happens every
time someone thinks that way. They despised others. They sat
at not others. They looked down their nose at
others. Two men went up into the temple
to pray, the one a Pharisee, the other a publican. The Pharisee
stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee. I'm giving
you the credit. He was a Calvinist. I'm not as
other men are. extortioners, unjust adulterers,
or even as this pathetic publican. I fast twice in the week and
I give tithes of all that I possess. He compared himself with this
publican, didn't he? And the publican standing afar
off would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but
smote upon his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. Now look what our Lord says.
I tell you, this man, This pathetic publican went down to his house
justified. Without sin, without guilt, rather
than the other, for everyone, no exceptions to this rule, everyone
that exalts himself shall be abased. And he that humbleth
himself shall be exalted. Let's not judge one another anymore. Amen? Let's pray.