How Are We To Judge Righteous Judgment? # 5
Let's go to Luke 6:37-38. Luke again uses the word "krino" in the very first word of verse 37. "To form or express a judgment or opinion more commonly unfavorable," as Zodhiates says, "Judge not, and you shall not be judged: condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. [He says} forgive [though, if you forgive, He says, you're going [to be] forgiven. Notice verse 38. He says, "Give, and it shall be given back to you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, running over, shall men give your bosom. [Meaning it's yours to hold onto] For with the same measure that it shall be measured to you again."
So he says, "Rather give, and forgive!" rather than judging or condemning.
Look at Colossians 3:13-15. This is an exhortation of what we should be doing rather than judging or condemning. God and Christ are forbearing with us. Meaning they put up with us, our wrong attitudes, our wrong words, and wrong thoughts. And here we're being encouraged to do the same thing. Colossians 3:14, "And above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection."
Love, it's a bond. The Greek word for "bond" means ligament. It's the Greek word that we translate today as "ligaments." Ligaments are what hold bones together. Without the ligaments, your thigh bone would fall off your shin bone. They would not be connected. And what he's saying is that love is the connection between two human beings. It's the bond of perfection. Colossians 3:15, "And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you are called in one body; and be thankful." And so what he is saying is that forbearing one another and forgiving one another bring peace. Not strife! And where strife is, I guarantee you, you don't have patience and kindness and gentleness and forgiveness and forbearing.
Now the fourth and last point. We said earlier in the very beginning that we are to judge. Remember Christ said, "Judge righteous judgment." Well we've, up to this point, discussed the fact that God and Christ judge mankind and we're not supposed to judge mankind, but yet Christ said, "Judge righteous judgment." So that begs the question and leads us to the fourth point.
If we're not to judge one another, then, what on earth are we supposed to judge?
We're not supposed to judge one another, but Christ said, "Judge righteous judgment." Okay, then that means we should be judging something. What should it be? We are going to find out that there are three things:
We Must Judge truth from Error
That's a big job. Not judging our brother or our sister, we're supposed to judge truth from error. Look at 2 Timothy 2:15: "Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed." We don't have to be ashamed of studying God's Word. But notice this last phrase: "...rightly dividing the word of truth." Study allows us to do that.
Now the Greek word for "divide" means "to proceed on a straight line, or in nautical terms meaning to hold a straight course. You know by compass. You just follow a compass heading. Or it's the equivalent to the Greek word of doing what is right. So, to hold a straight course, to follow a straight path, or to do what is right.
So we rightly divide the Word of Truth. We divide it so we understand, "What is the course that God wants me to walk on? What is the path He wants me to walk on? What course does He want me to take?" That's why we study the Bible. We apply it to ourselves. Not to compare ourselves to somebody else, but we study the Bible to know how we should live.
And that's what used to aggravate me in years past. We opened the Bible up and we condemned everybody. And we weren't looking at ourselves to say, "Well, am I following the right course? Am I on the right path? And that's what we need to be doing and not judging other people.
And today in the greater Church of God, too many are not rightly dividing the Word of Truth. They have gone astray. And without getting into any details, I'll just give you one example of several people I know over the last few years that have completely jumped off the track.
What they first started to do is they have a burr under their saddle about tithing. They didn't want to tithe. And so, they looked into the Bible with an already drawn conclusion that "I don't have to tithe. And so how do I go about proving that?" Well, that's not an open mind. So you go with an axe to grind and so you start pulling scriptures out of context and then you prove that you don't have to tithe.
We, in every case that I am aware of, it didn't stop there. Then it went to the Holy Days, went in there and proved that "No, the Holy Days were done away with the Old Testament and therefore, we don't have to keep the Holy Days."
And then guess what happened next? It was the Sabbath. Do away with the Sabbath. And this little progression of not rightly dividing the Word of Truth, this little progression of not being able to judge truth from error took them right out of the Church. And right now guess what? They're right back in the world!
And there have been tens of thousands in God's Church who have done that. It starts with one thing, leads to another and another because now they are in a spirit of error and not a spirit of truth.
And so, it is our responsibility to know and to know that we know the truth in the Bible. That means we have to study to show ourselves approved, but the goal of the study is to know what the truth is relative to our behavior and our thoughts and our deeds. And not look into God's Word to condemn other people.
Look at Matthew 7:15-21. Christ made this very clear. We are to judge fruits. We're to judge truth from error and then the second thing is we're to judge fruits. Notice the context of judging fruits: "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves." How do you know a false prophet? How do you know a wolf in sheep's clothing? "You shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of a thorn bush, or can you pluck a fig off a thistle bush?" Obviously no! Verse 17: "Even so every good tree brings forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree brings forth evil fruit." Verse 18: "A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit."
Now that's not to say all of us bring forth evil fruit sometime in the day. We say something we shouldn't say. We think something we shouldn't think, but He's talking about "Look at your fruits. Look at this individual's fruits over time." Don't take a snapshot of five second in their life when maybe they said something they shouldn't have said. And we all regret doing that and repent of it, but look at their fruits over a period of time. So, we must judge truth from error and we must judge the fruits. But also:
We must judge ourselves - our conduct, our motives, and our heart. If we spend our time comparing ourselves to God's Word and then we measure up to God's Word, then God's not going to judge us harshly. He's not going to condemn us.
The Greek word for "judge" is "diakrino", and it means to make a distinction. So we judge ourselves and we make a distinction. 2 Corinthians says: "Examine yourselves." Examine yourselves. It doesn't say, examine others. It says "examine yourselves." And what does it go on to say, "Whether you be in the faith." So that's what we should judge ourselves on. Am I in the faith? Am I really with it? Am I really following God? We have to make a distinction of whether we are in the faith.
We should look at ourselves. We must judge ourselves on the following:
Am I putting God first in my life?
Am I fully obeying God?
Am I pleasing God with my attitudes, my thoughts, my deeds, my interaction with people?
Am I growing to be like Jesus Christ? That's the big question!
Christ is not going to have a bride He cannot recognize! Christ is not going to have a bride with a different set of values or different standards of conduct or behavior. Christ is going to marry someone that's like Him!
So in conclusion - let's wrap this up - we have seen that God and Christ have taken to themselves to judge mankind. And that human beings are not responsible for judging one another. We are not to assume Their job That's what satan did and he was cast down. We don't want to put ourselves in that position!
We are told very plainly in Ephesians 4:30 what we should be doing instead of judging others. It says: "And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God." The word "grieve" in the Greek means to "offend". Don't offend the standards, the principles of God's Spirit. In other words, when we judge others (not their fruits), we are offending God's Spirit. And how often do we not griever the Holy Spirit? Verse 31 tells us, "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking [which is judging] be put away from you, with all malice:" Now verse 32, Paul says, "be you kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving of one another, even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you."
Let's remember that. And let's remember how to judge righteous judgment.
~Rick Railston~
(The End)
Friday, February 24, 2017
Friday, February 17, 2017
How Are We to Judge Righteous Judgment? # 4
How Are We To Judge Righteous Judgment? # 4
Judging other humans has a very bad side effect. There's one gigantic side effect. So let's go to 1 Corinthians 4 and see what that side effect is. We'll read the first seven verses.
Paul was on the receiving end of this side effect. And he was trying to correct it in this very troubled Church in Corinth. They had all kinds of problems. And if you put it in modern terms, Corinth was basically a combination of New York City and Los Vegas. And it was a very reprobate town. And Church members came in - Jews and Gentiles - as part of that system. 1 Corinthians 4:1, "Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God." One of the mysteries, of course, is Christ living in you and the Gentiles being called into the Church. Verse 2: "Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be faithful. But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you." He is referring to the courts of men. And we see that all the time. We see crooks getting time off. We see guilty people getting a pass. And we see people that are innocent being convicted. And Paul says, "It's no big deal if you examine me according to the way man examines." He says: "... yes, I don't even judge myself." "For I know nothing of myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judges me is the Eternal". He says, "I don't care what you say about me because you don't judge me. Christ judges me."
Now this is the word "krino." 1 Corinthians 4 - ...judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness in our hearts, and will make manifest [or apparent] the counsels of the hearts." You can't do that. You don't know that, but just hold off. Don't judge because Christ is going to make it all apparent when He comes. He says: "... and then shall every man have praise of God." Those who are worthy of praise will have the praise. Verse 6: "And these things, brethren I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes; that you might learn in us not to think above that which is written." The King James says, "of men". And that's in italics and that was inserted by the translators. I believe that's an error. I think it would be "think of yourself" - not of men - above that which is written." 1 Corinthians 4:6 "... that no one of you be puffed up one against another." He says, "Don't think of yourself above what ought to be thought about. Don't think of others below yourself that you be not puffed up one against another." This is the side effect of judging humans: is when we do, we puff ourselves up. We aggrandize ourselves because we think, "Oh, I'd never do that!" Therefore, we're above them and they're below us. We get puffed up. And it's very easy then to put on the whole mantle of self-righteousness. "I wouldn't do that."
He's asking the question. He says: "...and what have you that you did not receive?" In other words, "You can't change your looks. You can't change your mind in the sense of the way your brain is built." He says: "... now if you did receive it [if it was a gift], why do you glory, as though you hadn't received it?"
In other words, as you earned it or you worked for it or because of your goodness, you got it as through your own efforts because remember what James 1:17 says? We won't turn there. James tells us that every good and every perfect gift comes from where? The Father of lights with no variableness and no shadow of turning! Every good thing that we have is a gift from God. We don't earn it because of our righteousness. We didn't get it because of our hard work. We didn't get it because somehow we're superior to our fellowman. Repentance is a gift. Forgiveness is a gift Salvation is a gift. Calling is a gift. God's Holy Spirit is a gift. Faith is a gift. It's all a gift! We don't earn it.
And so what Paul is saying here is that who are we to be puffed up when we compare ourselves to somebody else about gifts that we didn't earn in the first place. He said, "Don't do that! Look to God because God is the Father that gives us everything." So how can we exalt ourselves and puff ourselves up when we're handed the gift in the first place?
Look at 2 Corinthians 10:12, very, very clear Scriptures about the Second Point that we shouldn't be judging one another. Paul is now trying to get them to forgive this man that they/he had kicked out of the Church before. And he's trying to get them off their high horse now of self-righteousness. He says, "For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they who compare themselves one with another, they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise." Because they're comparing a human against a human; they're not comparing a human against God's law because God's law is what we're judged against. We're not judged against the conduct of another human being. We're judged against God's law. And when we judge somebody else, we imply - whether it's overtly stated or not - we imply that, "Oh, I wouldn't do that! I'm too good for that. I wouldn't do that." And, thus, we elevate the self. We become puffed up.
So, but the question was set aside: What do we do if we see a brother in error? Now we had the spot remover in the Church. Finally, that man, when he was corrected couldn't take the correction, and finally left the Church, but if we're not to be spot removers, which we're not, what do we do if we see a brother in error? Very simple! Galatians 6:1 gives us the answer. Let's remember the answer because we're not here to judge our brother. We're here to help our brother. Galatians 6:1 says: "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault," (Or a woman, it doesn't make any difference), be overtaken in a fault," here's what you do: "...you which are spiritual, restore such alone [the one who is sinning] in the spirit of ..." What? Haughtiness? Arrogance like the publican received from the Pharisee? Is that the way you go approach somebody? No! He says: ...[you] which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness; considering [yourself], lest you be tested - lest it come to you."
Now what is this saying is this is not judging your human brother. This is not condemning you human brother. It's attempting to help your brother in a pure and a humble spirit. Just going and saying, "Look, I saw you do this. And I love you. And it really worries me and can we sit down and talk about it?" No condemning. No judging somebody's heart, but, as we'll see, you were judging somebody's actions.
So the Bible makes it very plain that we're not to judge one another. That is the job of God and Christ. So that's the Second Point.
That leads us to the Third Point.
Rather than judging one another, we are - instead of judging - we're to be merciful, forgiving and patient.
~Rick Railston~
(continued with # 5)
Judging other humans has a very bad side effect. There's one gigantic side effect. So let's go to 1 Corinthians 4 and see what that side effect is. We'll read the first seven verses.
Paul was on the receiving end of this side effect. And he was trying to correct it in this very troubled Church in Corinth. They had all kinds of problems. And if you put it in modern terms, Corinth was basically a combination of New York City and Los Vegas. And it was a very reprobate town. And Church members came in - Jews and Gentiles - as part of that system. 1 Corinthians 4:1, "Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God." One of the mysteries, of course, is Christ living in you and the Gentiles being called into the Church. Verse 2: "Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be faithful. But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you." He is referring to the courts of men. And we see that all the time. We see crooks getting time off. We see guilty people getting a pass. And we see people that are innocent being convicted. And Paul says, "It's no big deal if you examine me according to the way man examines." He says: "... yes, I don't even judge myself." "For I know nothing of myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judges me is the Eternal". He says, "I don't care what you say about me because you don't judge me. Christ judges me."
Now this is the word "krino." 1 Corinthians 4 - ...judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness in our hearts, and will make manifest [or apparent] the counsels of the hearts." You can't do that. You don't know that, but just hold off. Don't judge because Christ is going to make it all apparent when He comes. He says: "... and then shall every man have praise of God." Those who are worthy of praise will have the praise. Verse 6: "And these things, brethren I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes; that you might learn in us not to think above that which is written." The King James says, "of men". And that's in italics and that was inserted by the translators. I believe that's an error. I think it would be "think of yourself" - not of men - above that which is written." 1 Corinthians 4:6 "... that no one of you be puffed up one against another." He says, "Don't think of yourself above what ought to be thought about. Don't think of others below yourself that you be not puffed up one against another." This is the side effect of judging humans: is when we do, we puff ourselves up. We aggrandize ourselves because we think, "Oh, I'd never do that!" Therefore, we're above them and they're below us. We get puffed up. And it's very easy then to put on the whole mantle of self-righteousness. "I wouldn't do that."
He's asking the question. He says: "...and what have you that you did not receive?" In other words, "You can't change your looks. You can't change your mind in the sense of the way your brain is built." He says: "... now if you did receive it [if it was a gift], why do you glory, as though you hadn't received it?"
In other words, as you earned it or you worked for it or because of your goodness, you got it as through your own efforts because remember what James 1:17 says? We won't turn there. James tells us that every good and every perfect gift comes from where? The Father of lights with no variableness and no shadow of turning! Every good thing that we have is a gift from God. We don't earn it because of our righteousness. We didn't get it because of our hard work. We didn't get it because somehow we're superior to our fellowman. Repentance is a gift. Forgiveness is a gift Salvation is a gift. Calling is a gift. God's Holy Spirit is a gift. Faith is a gift. It's all a gift! We don't earn it.
And so what Paul is saying here is that who are we to be puffed up when we compare ourselves to somebody else about gifts that we didn't earn in the first place. He said, "Don't do that! Look to God because God is the Father that gives us everything." So how can we exalt ourselves and puff ourselves up when we're handed the gift in the first place?
Look at 2 Corinthians 10:12, very, very clear Scriptures about the Second Point that we shouldn't be judging one another. Paul is now trying to get them to forgive this man that they/he had kicked out of the Church before. And he's trying to get them off their high horse now of self-righteousness. He says, "For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they who compare themselves one with another, they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise." Because they're comparing a human against a human; they're not comparing a human against God's law because God's law is what we're judged against. We're not judged against the conduct of another human being. We're judged against God's law. And when we judge somebody else, we imply - whether it's overtly stated or not - we imply that, "Oh, I wouldn't do that! I'm too good for that. I wouldn't do that." And, thus, we elevate the self. We become puffed up.
So, but the question was set aside: What do we do if we see a brother in error? Now we had the spot remover in the Church. Finally, that man, when he was corrected couldn't take the correction, and finally left the Church, but if we're not to be spot removers, which we're not, what do we do if we see a brother in error? Very simple! Galatians 6:1 gives us the answer. Let's remember the answer because we're not here to judge our brother. We're here to help our brother. Galatians 6:1 says: "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault," (Or a woman, it doesn't make any difference), be overtaken in a fault," here's what you do: "...you which are spiritual, restore such alone [the one who is sinning] in the spirit of ..." What? Haughtiness? Arrogance like the publican received from the Pharisee? Is that the way you go approach somebody? No! He says: ...[you] which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness; considering [yourself], lest you be tested - lest it come to you."
Now what is this saying is this is not judging your human brother. This is not condemning you human brother. It's attempting to help your brother in a pure and a humble spirit. Just going and saying, "Look, I saw you do this. And I love you. And it really worries me and can we sit down and talk about it?" No condemning. No judging somebody's heart, but, as we'll see, you were judging somebody's actions.
So the Bible makes it very plain that we're not to judge one another. That is the job of God and Christ. So that's the Second Point.
That leads us to the Third Point.
Rather than judging one another, we are - instead of judging - we're to be merciful, forgiving and patient.
~Rick Railston~
(continued with # 5)
Sunday, February 12, 2017
How Are We to Judge Righteous Judgment? # 3
How Are We To Judge Righteous Judgment? # 3
So let's ask the question then. Why are we not to judge one another? Because we have a problem in judging incorrectly! Remember John 7:24, the very first Scripture? We're told, "Judge not according to appearance." And human beings do it all the time! I've done it. You've done it. We judge according to the outward appearance.And God judges the heart. And we are incapable of judging the heart. Therefore, we should not be judging one another because we don't know a person's heart. We really don't.
We need to focus rather on our sins and our faults. Not on the faults of somebody else. The obvious example is in Luke 18:9-14. Christ understood this. He was trying to teach us in a parable that we are incapable of judging our fellowman. We cannot do that. It's God job.It's Christ's job. Luke 18:9, we know the story: "And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and [they] despised others."
So the purpose of the parable is aimed at people who judged others in comparison to themselves. And we have already seen we shouldn't be doing that.
Verse 10: Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican." One was righteous on the surface. We judge according to appearance. One was righteous. He wore the robes. He had all the credentials. And the other was a tax collector. Verse 11 "The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself." Meaning the prayer never went above his head. God never heard it. He was praying with himself. He says: "God, I thank [you] that I am not like other men..." (John 18:11). So he is judging himself versus others. And he said, "I'm so thankful, God, that I'm not like these other scoundrels out there." "[They're extortioners, [they're] unjust, [they're adulterers, or even as this publican". He was already judging this man he didn't even know! Just by appearance. And he says, "I fast twice in a week, I give tithes of all that I possess." He said, "I'm just wonderful. Look at what I do! And I just know this publican doesn't do any of this." He was making a judgment not knowing the man's heart. "And the publican [on the other hand] standing afar off, "I'm sure the Pharisee was right up in front taking all the glory and this publican was over in the dark shadows in the corner. "And... [he was] standing afar off, would not [so much] lift up his eyes unto heaven, but [beat] upon his [chest] saying, "God be merciful to me a sinner."
And then Christ says: "I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other, for every one that [exalts] himself shall be abased; and he that [humbles] himself shall be exalted."
Now we see here in this example that one man focused on the other man's alleged sins. The other man focused on his sins and not on the other person's alleged sins. One was looking to change himself. The other was comparing himself to somebody else and then elevating himself in the process. The Pharisee, there is no mention of him wanting to change or even feeling he's done anything wrong, but the other man could hardly stand before God realizing what a sinner he was. And so this tells us very clearly we're not to judge one another. We're supposed to be looking at ourselves.
We judge our brother when we speak evil of our brother or sister. When we judge somebody, which we're not supposed to do, we speak evil of them. Look at James 4:11-12. Direct commandment, hard to get around this one. "Speak not evil one of another, brethren." Very plain! Now he explains why: "[He that judges] his brother, [speaks] evil of the law, and [judges] the law: but if [you] judge the law, [then you're] not a doer of the law, but [you're] a judge." "There is only one lawgiver." And, by implication, there's only one judge - God and Christ, but Christ is the one that executes judgment. He says: "There is only one lawgiver [and one judge] who is able to save and to destroy." He's asking the question: 'You that judge and speak evil of somebody else are you able to save and destroy?" He says, "So don't speak evil of your brother because, if you do, you're taking over the job of God and Christ. And boy, woe unto us if we try to take on authority that doesn't belong to us!
When we judge others, we also condemn ourselves. Look at Romans 2:1-6. Paul makes this very clear in judging others, we are actually putting ourselves into condemnation because in part we're taking on a job that doesn't belong to us. He says: "Therefore [you are] inexcusable, O man [or woman] whosoever [you are] that judge that judges: for wherein you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you that judge do the same things."
So when we condemn another person, what we're being told here is, "You hypocrite! You do the same thing! You're condemning somebody else for the very thing that you do." "But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to the truth [to God's word]..." God will take care of that. God is going to judge. God judges the deeds. God judges and knows the hearts of men. When you criticize others, do you think somehow, that gives you a pass on God's judgment and Christ's judgment? Verse 4: "Or do you despise the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering?" He's saying "When you judge somebody else, they you're condemning them. And he says, Look at what God's done to you." I look back at my life and I see that God has been so good to me even when I was sinning. God has been forbearing me, as it says here. That means "put up with me." God has put up with me and my attitudes and my wrong thoughts for so long and He didn't judge me or condemn me. He gave me time to have the light come on and to begin to see. And yet, when we judge our fellowman, we don't give them that time. We're condemning them right then. God gives us sometimes decades! He has for me. Sometimes decades to come to the realization of certain sins and certain wrong attitudes and wrong thoughts and wrong approaches. Longsuffering, forbearing, giving me decades to do that! And yet, when we judge our brother, you see, we're condemning him right on the spot! We're not giving them time. We're not giving them decades. We're not allowing them to grow in God's Spirit because of our condemnation. Make no mistake, at the end of the day, we're judged. Our deeds are stacked up against God's Word and we're judged accordingly. God does that. Christ does that. Not each of us.
Now let's go to James 5:9 and see another scripture about when we judge somebody we condemn ourselves. "Do not grumble against one another." Don't do that. Why? "...lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door!
Peter said, "Judgment is on the house of God." James is saying, "Don't grumble and complain against each other because you're going to be condemned. You're condemning yourself when you do". Also we are told that we're going to be judged with the same yardstick we judge others. We're going to be judged with the same severity that we judge others, or we're going to be judged with the same mercy that we show others. Christ said this on the Sermon on the Mount. "Do not judge, or you too will be judged." "For in the same way, you judge others, you will be judged,and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." (Matthew 7:1-2). Meaning, if we have a harsh yardstick and we measure others according to our harsh yardstick, Christ says, "I'm going to use that same yardstick against you. You want to be harsh with your brethren? You want to be condemning? You want to cut them no slack? "I'll do the same to you." That's a scary thought! Matthew 7:3 - "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?" How can you say to your brother, "Let me [in my wonderfulness and righteousness] take the speck out of your eye," when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?
We've all done it! We've all had it done to us by hypocrites. And all of us have been hypocrites in doing it to to others. Hopefully, we're not doing it now, but I used to years ago. And you just didn't think twice about it. Just hypocritical!
Verse 5, He says: "You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."
I can remember years ago in Washington. One of the churches - I won't tell you which, but - we had a church in a certain area and we had a man who was a self-appointed "church policeman". And he was the self-appointed "church spot remover!" And so we would have a Sabbath service and then during the week, he would go around, primarily to widows and housewives and all. And he would call on them and tell them in a monologue of what their sins were at Sabbath services or what their sins were during the week. And he would sit down with them and he would correct them in that sense. I started getting reports from people who were offended by this. Obviously! We all would be! And so, I was given the job of sitting down and talking with this man. Now the hypocritical thing is the reason - one of the reasons - this guy did it is because he had plenty of time because he didn't work. His wife supported him. And so he had plenty of time to go around and criticize others. And you see, it never occurred to him that he was going to be judged with the same severity that he was judging others. And he felt quite free to point out everybody's faults. And he had these gigantic spiritual blind spots in his own character. One of which is 1 Timothy 8 - "You're worse than an infidel if you don't support your family." He couldn't see that! And so we need to understand that boy, if we're severe in our judgment of others. Christ and God are going to be severe with us.
~Rick Railston~
(continued with # 4)
So let's ask the question then. Why are we not to judge one another? Because we have a problem in judging incorrectly! Remember John 7:24, the very first Scripture? We're told, "Judge not according to appearance." And human beings do it all the time! I've done it. You've done it. We judge according to the outward appearance.And God judges the heart. And we are incapable of judging the heart. Therefore, we should not be judging one another because we don't know a person's heart. We really don't.
We need to focus rather on our sins and our faults. Not on the faults of somebody else. The obvious example is in Luke 18:9-14. Christ understood this. He was trying to teach us in a parable that we are incapable of judging our fellowman. We cannot do that. It's God job.It's Christ's job. Luke 18:9, we know the story: "And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and [they] despised others."
So the purpose of the parable is aimed at people who judged others in comparison to themselves. And we have already seen we shouldn't be doing that.
Verse 10: Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican." One was righteous on the surface. We judge according to appearance. One was righteous. He wore the robes. He had all the credentials. And the other was a tax collector. Verse 11 "The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself." Meaning the prayer never went above his head. God never heard it. He was praying with himself. He says: "God, I thank [you] that I am not like other men..." (John 18:11). So he is judging himself versus others. And he said, "I'm so thankful, God, that I'm not like these other scoundrels out there." "[They're extortioners, [they're] unjust, [they're adulterers, or even as this publican". He was already judging this man he didn't even know! Just by appearance. And he says, "I fast twice in a week, I give tithes of all that I possess." He said, "I'm just wonderful. Look at what I do! And I just know this publican doesn't do any of this." He was making a judgment not knowing the man's heart. "And the publican [on the other hand] standing afar off, "I'm sure the Pharisee was right up in front taking all the glory and this publican was over in the dark shadows in the corner. "And... [he was] standing afar off, would not [so much] lift up his eyes unto heaven, but [beat] upon his [chest] saying, "God be merciful to me a sinner."
And then Christ says: "I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other, for every one that [exalts] himself shall be abased; and he that [humbles] himself shall be exalted."
Now we see here in this example that one man focused on the other man's alleged sins. The other man focused on his sins and not on the other person's alleged sins. One was looking to change himself. The other was comparing himself to somebody else and then elevating himself in the process. The Pharisee, there is no mention of him wanting to change or even feeling he's done anything wrong, but the other man could hardly stand before God realizing what a sinner he was. And so this tells us very clearly we're not to judge one another. We're supposed to be looking at ourselves.
We judge our brother when we speak evil of our brother or sister. When we judge somebody, which we're not supposed to do, we speak evil of them. Look at James 4:11-12. Direct commandment, hard to get around this one. "Speak not evil one of another, brethren." Very plain! Now he explains why: "[He that judges] his brother, [speaks] evil of the law, and [judges] the law: but if [you] judge the law, [then you're] not a doer of the law, but [you're] a judge." "There is only one lawgiver." And, by implication, there's only one judge - God and Christ, but Christ is the one that executes judgment. He says: "There is only one lawgiver [and one judge] who is able to save and to destroy." He's asking the question: 'You that judge and speak evil of somebody else are you able to save and destroy?" He says, "So don't speak evil of your brother because, if you do, you're taking over the job of God and Christ. And boy, woe unto us if we try to take on authority that doesn't belong to us!
When we judge others, we also condemn ourselves. Look at Romans 2:1-6. Paul makes this very clear in judging others, we are actually putting ourselves into condemnation because in part we're taking on a job that doesn't belong to us. He says: "Therefore [you are] inexcusable, O man [or woman] whosoever [you are] that judge that judges: for wherein you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you that judge do the same things."
So when we condemn another person, what we're being told here is, "You hypocrite! You do the same thing! You're condemning somebody else for the very thing that you do." "But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to the truth [to God's word]..." God will take care of that. God is going to judge. God judges the deeds. God judges and knows the hearts of men. When you criticize others, do you think somehow, that gives you a pass on God's judgment and Christ's judgment? Verse 4: "Or do you despise the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering?" He's saying "When you judge somebody else, they you're condemning them. And he says, Look at what God's done to you." I look back at my life and I see that God has been so good to me even when I was sinning. God has been forbearing me, as it says here. That means "put up with me." God has put up with me and my attitudes and my wrong thoughts for so long and He didn't judge me or condemn me. He gave me time to have the light come on and to begin to see. And yet, when we judge our fellowman, we don't give them that time. We're condemning them right then. God gives us sometimes decades! He has for me. Sometimes decades to come to the realization of certain sins and certain wrong attitudes and wrong thoughts and wrong approaches. Longsuffering, forbearing, giving me decades to do that! And yet, when we judge our brother, you see, we're condemning him right on the spot! We're not giving them time. We're not giving them decades. We're not allowing them to grow in God's Spirit because of our condemnation. Make no mistake, at the end of the day, we're judged. Our deeds are stacked up against God's Word and we're judged accordingly. God does that. Christ does that. Not each of us.
Now let's go to James 5:9 and see another scripture about when we judge somebody we condemn ourselves. "Do not grumble against one another." Don't do that. Why? "...lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door!
Peter said, "Judgment is on the house of God." James is saying, "Don't grumble and complain against each other because you're going to be condemned. You're condemning yourself when you do". Also we are told that we're going to be judged with the same yardstick we judge others. We're going to be judged with the same severity that we judge others, or we're going to be judged with the same mercy that we show others. Christ said this on the Sermon on the Mount. "Do not judge, or you too will be judged." "For in the same way, you judge others, you will be judged,and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." (Matthew 7:1-2). Meaning, if we have a harsh yardstick and we measure others according to our harsh yardstick, Christ says, "I'm going to use that same yardstick against you. You want to be harsh with your brethren? You want to be condemning? You want to cut them no slack? "I'll do the same to you." That's a scary thought! Matthew 7:3 - "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?" How can you say to your brother, "Let me [in my wonderfulness and righteousness] take the speck out of your eye," when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?
We've all done it! We've all had it done to us by hypocrites. And all of us have been hypocrites in doing it to to others. Hopefully, we're not doing it now, but I used to years ago. And you just didn't think twice about it. Just hypocritical!
Verse 5, He says: "You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."
I can remember years ago in Washington. One of the churches - I won't tell you which, but - we had a church in a certain area and we had a man who was a self-appointed "church policeman". And he was the self-appointed "church spot remover!" And so we would have a Sabbath service and then during the week, he would go around, primarily to widows and housewives and all. And he would call on them and tell them in a monologue of what their sins were at Sabbath services or what their sins were during the week. And he would sit down with them and he would correct them in that sense. I started getting reports from people who were offended by this. Obviously! We all would be! And so, I was given the job of sitting down and talking with this man. Now the hypocritical thing is the reason - one of the reasons - this guy did it is because he had plenty of time because he didn't work. His wife supported him. And so he had plenty of time to go around and criticize others. And you see, it never occurred to him that he was going to be judged with the same severity that he was judging others. And he felt quite free to point out everybody's faults. And he had these gigantic spiritual blind spots in his own character. One of which is 1 Timothy 8 - "You're worse than an infidel if you don't support your family." He couldn't see that! And so we need to understand that boy, if we're severe in our judgment of others. Christ and God are going to be severe with us.
~Rick Railston~
(continued with # 4)
Monday, February 6, 2017
How Are We to Judge Righteous Judgment? # 2
How Are We to Judge Righteous Judgment? # 2
So in that sense, since Christ seeks the Father's will, they are both judging because they are both of the same mind and of the same character and of the same spirit, but the Father has delegated to the Son the actual doing of the resurrecting and the actual delineating and separating of the sheep from the goats.
Now in Christ's first coming, think about this: Man judged Jesus Christ. Man decided to put Christ to death. Man decided to condemn Him. Man decided to scourge Him and to heap rebuke upon Him. So it's only fair that when Christ comes back the second time, He judges mankind because in His first appearance on this earth, man judged Him. Now the tables are turned and when Christ comes the second time, He is going to judge mankind. And it is obvious that Christ will determine or judge who will be resurrected and who will not.
So let's understand that under Point One the Father has delegated to Christ judgment of all mankind.
Point B under the First Point of God and Christ are responsible for judging mankind, Point B is that:
B. Christ judges a human's works (a man or a woman's works) according to His Word.
We are judged according to the Word of God. That is the standard upon which we are judged.Now in the physical world, men allegedly or supposedly are being judged according to written law, whatever the law is. But with God and Christ, a human is judged according to the Word of God. Let's go to John chapter 12, read verse 48. Notice what Christ says.
John 12:48: "He that [rejects] me,
And many did!
"and [receives] not my words,
And many rejected His words.
"[has] one that [judges] him.
What is it?
"...the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day."
Now remember, back in John 7:24, the definition of the word "righteous" was observing divine laws. And Christ is saying, "Those divine laws are what you must measure up against and in the end of the day judges you - these divine laws."
Let's go to 1 Peter 1:17. Peter reinforces what Christ said in John chapter 12. The apostles understood this perfectly and they repeat it again for our benefit. 1 Peter 1:17, notice what he says about the Father: "And if [you] call on the Father, who without respect of persons [judges] according to ... What? "every [person's] work.
What they do - every person's work! He says, "If you understand that then we need to 'pass the time of our sojourning in fear' on this earth because we are being judged."
Now men often judge with favoritism. I've seen that in business. And frankly, I've seen it even more in the Church. People in upper echelons judge others with a degree of favoritism. And I've seen it were two different individuals committed the same transgression. And one got a pass and one didn't based on favoritism.
Christ judges every man - and I don't care if it's the apostle Peter who wrote these words or Herbert W. Armstrong or any of us - He judges any man or any woman according to the same standard. And that standard is God's Word. No free passes! We're to judge according to God's Word!
So Point B is A:
B. Christ judges a human's works and compares them to His Word.
Point C - the third regarding God and Christ being responsible for judging mankind.
C. We, the firstfruits, are being judged now.
Now is our time, our only time! And we're in 1 Peter 1. Jump to chapter 4 and read the familiar Scripture, verses 17 and 18.
"For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God [the Church of God, the Body of Christ]: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end of them [be] that obey not the gospel [that don't follow the Words of Christ]?
1 Peter 4:18: "And if the righteous ...
Now this is the same word that we quoted in John 7:24 - those who observe divine laws.
"And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and sinner appear?"
What is their fate? Well, we know what that is and it's a sad fate.
So, summing up the First Point, we clearly understand - we could spend the whole sermon on this, but - we clearly understand that only God and Christ judge human beings. Now we have to understand that as God's people. Shame on us, if we don't!
Because that leads to the Second Point - the obvious point - is that:
ll. We, as human beings are not to judge one another.
That is the job God and Christ have chosen for themselves. And yet, in the greater Church today, God's people just jump in and judge one another and take over, take away from God and Christ the job that They said is Theirs! And what do we do is we judge other people. We judge their hearts. We judge their motives. We judge what's going on in their head - even though we're not in their head. But God's people have done that for decades.
And so the Second Point here is that we are not to judge one another. And it's obvious because only God knows the hearts and minds of human beings. We don't. Humans cannot know the heart of another human.
Now the apostles understood that and they set an example for us in Acts chapter 2 because they prayed and cast lots on who should replace Judas because they did not know the hearts of those they were looking at, those they were considering. They couldn't tell. Notice Acts 1 and verse 24. They were trying to replace Judas. They had two men.
"And they prayed, and said, [You] Lord, which [know] the hearts of all ..." The word "men" in the king James Bible is in italics.
"[You] Lord, which [knoweth] the hearts of all, show [which] of these two [you have] chosen."
And they drew lots and God picked the one.
So let's understand that. And the apostles knew even in those early days that only God knows the heart of a human being. And we are incapable of judging the way God and Christ judge.
~Rick Railston~
(continued with # 3)
So in that sense, since Christ seeks the Father's will, they are both judging because they are both of the same mind and of the same character and of the same spirit, but the Father has delegated to the Son the actual doing of the resurrecting and the actual delineating and separating of the sheep from the goats.
Now in Christ's first coming, think about this: Man judged Jesus Christ. Man decided to put Christ to death. Man decided to condemn Him. Man decided to scourge Him and to heap rebuke upon Him. So it's only fair that when Christ comes back the second time, He judges mankind because in His first appearance on this earth, man judged Him. Now the tables are turned and when Christ comes the second time, He is going to judge mankind. And it is obvious that Christ will determine or judge who will be resurrected and who will not.
So let's understand that under Point One the Father has delegated to Christ judgment of all mankind.
Point B under the First Point of God and Christ are responsible for judging mankind, Point B is that:
B. Christ judges a human's works (a man or a woman's works) according to His Word.
We are judged according to the Word of God. That is the standard upon which we are judged.Now in the physical world, men allegedly or supposedly are being judged according to written law, whatever the law is. But with God and Christ, a human is judged according to the Word of God. Let's go to John chapter 12, read verse 48. Notice what Christ says.
John 12:48: "He that [rejects] me,
And many did!
"and [receives] not my words,
And many rejected His words.
"[has] one that [judges] him.
What is it?
"...the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day."
Now remember, back in John 7:24, the definition of the word "righteous" was observing divine laws. And Christ is saying, "Those divine laws are what you must measure up against and in the end of the day judges you - these divine laws."
Let's go to 1 Peter 1:17. Peter reinforces what Christ said in John chapter 12. The apostles understood this perfectly and they repeat it again for our benefit. 1 Peter 1:17, notice what he says about the Father: "And if [you] call on the Father, who without respect of persons [judges] according to ... What? "every [person's] work.
What they do - every person's work! He says, "If you understand that then we need to 'pass the time of our sojourning in fear' on this earth because we are being judged."
Now men often judge with favoritism. I've seen that in business. And frankly, I've seen it even more in the Church. People in upper echelons judge others with a degree of favoritism. And I've seen it were two different individuals committed the same transgression. And one got a pass and one didn't based on favoritism.
Christ judges every man - and I don't care if it's the apostle Peter who wrote these words or Herbert W. Armstrong or any of us - He judges any man or any woman according to the same standard. And that standard is God's Word. No free passes! We're to judge according to God's Word!
So Point B is A:
B. Christ judges a human's works and compares them to His Word.
Point C - the third regarding God and Christ being responsible for judging mankind.
C. We, the firstfruits, are being judged now.
Now is our time, our only time! And we're in 1 Peter 1. Jump to chapter 4 and read the familiar Scripture, verses 17 and 18.
"For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God [the Church of God, the Body of Christ]: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end of them [be] that obey not the gospel [that don't follow the Words of Christ]?
1 Peter 4:18: "And if the righteous ...
Now this is the same word that we quoted in John 7:24 - those who observe divine laws.
"And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and sinner appear?"
What is their fate? Well, we know what that is and it's a sad fate.
So, summing up the First Point, we clearly understand - we could spend the whole sermon on this, but - we clearly understand that only God and Christ judge human beings. Now we have to understand that as God's people. Shame on us, if we don't!
Because that leads to the Second Point - the obvious point - is that:
ll. We, as human beings are not to judge one another.
That is the job God and Christ have chosen for themselves. And yet, in the greater Church today, God's people just jump in and judge one another and take over, take away from God and Christ the job that They said is Theirs! And what do we do is we judge other people. We judge their hearts. We judge their motives. We judge what's going on in their head - even though we're not in their head. But God's people have done that for decades.
And so the Second Point here is that we are not to judge one another. And it's obvious because only God knows the hearts and minds of human beings. We don't. Humans cannot know the heart of another human.
Now the apostles understood that and they set an example for us in Acts chapter 2 because they prayed and cast lots on who should replace Judas because they did not know the hearts of those they were looking at, those they were considering. They couldn't tell. Notice Acts 1 and verse 24. They were trying to replace Judas. They had two men.
"And they prayed, and said, [You] Lord, which [know] the hearts of all ..." The word "men" in the king James Bible is in italics.
"[You] Lord, which [knoweth] the hearts of all, show [which] of these two [you have] chosen."
And they drew lots and God picked the one.
So let's understand that. And the apostles knew even in those early days that only God knows the heart of a human being. And we are incapable of judging the way God and Christ judge.
~Rick Railston~
(continued with # 3)
Friday, February 3, 2017
How Are We To Judge Righteous Judgement? # 1
How Are We To Judge Righteous Judgment? # 1
Well, all of us, I think, if we look back at our lives have made wrong judgments. I know I have. Too many times to remember even! And when we make wrong judgments, we create problems for ourselves and we create problems for others when we make judgments that are in error.
And yet, despite that, Christ says the following in John 7:24. Let's turn there. Keep the Scriptures in your mind because we're going to come back to it. Not turn back to it, but keep it in your memory. And I know you know this. It's a very familiar Scripture, John 7:24. Christ was telling us something very important in this one Scripture, several things in this one Scripture. He says:
"Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment" (John 7:24).
Now if you look at this, there are three facets that are obviously apparent when you first read the verse. It says - the first one is we are to judge, because He says, "Judge righteous judgment." So we are to make judgments, but when we do judge, we judge righteously. That's the second thing that we see that's just obvious. We are to judge and when we do judge, we judge righteously. And then the third thing we learn very quickly is that there's a clear implication that Christ is warning us and cautioning us about judging in an unrighteous manner. That it is possible for us to do that.
Now the Greek word for "judge" is "krino", and it is pronounced "kree-no." And it means to pronounce an opinion concerning right or wrong. And it is variously translated in the New Testament as judge or determine. Or it is translated condemn - judge, determine, or condemn.
Now Zodhiates in his very fine dictionary says the following about "krino" - Remember this, It says, "To form and express a judgment or opinion as to any person or anything," but notice this, "more commonly unfavorable." In other words, in the New Testament, it is talking about judging in an unfavorable way. I'll read that again, Zodhiates says, "To form and express and a judgment or opinion as to any person or thing, more commonly unfavorable," and, as we're going to see, more commonly the human tendency to look down on somebody and to judge somebody in a condemning or a negative way.
So we understand the word "judge," but now let's look at the Greek word "righteous" in this same verse. It is "dikaios". And it has three meanings, all roughly the same - observing divine laws. Righteousness is observing divine laws. And that is obvious. If we follow God's laws, then we take on His righteousness as we follow them.
A second meaning is innocent, faultless, or guiltless. And that obviously is a truism because if we follow God's divine laws, then we become guiltless. We have no guilt. We have no fault. And we are innocent in His eyes as long as we follow His laws.
The third meaning is thinking and feeling and acting in a way that totally conforms to God's will. Thinking and feeling and acting in a way that conforms to the will of God. And all of us want to do God's will and when we follow God's will, we thereby become righteous as He is righteous.
Now this verse tells us that if we are to judge righteously, we need some instruction on how to do that. And what we're going to look at in the Bible today is this whole question of judging righteous judgment. In other words, "How are we to judge?" That's one question we're going to answer. And secondly, "What are we to judge? And then, "How are we to judge righteous judgment?"
And there is confusion among God's people because we see God's people judging in areas where they shouldn't be judging at all, and then not judging in areas where they should be judging. And so what we really need to do is get this whole subject of righteous judgment firmly in our head so that we follow God's way and do God's will instead of following human nature. So what are we to judge and how are we to judge righteous judgment?
Point Number One:
This is the foundation. This is something we need to cement in our brains because the greater Church of God, I'm sad to say, does not follow this and does not do this.
1. God and Christ are responsible for judging mankind.
It's the job that God has taken to Himself and has delegated to Jesus Christ to judge mankind.
Now if you like to outline, this is the First Point. Point A is:
A. The Father has delegated to Christ the judgment of mankind.
It's very clear in the Scripture. The Father has delegated the judgment to Jesus Christ.
Now at Christ's first coming, He did not come to judge. Let's understand that. His role, His job, His mission, so to speak, in His first coming was not to judge mankind. Let's go to John 12 and verse 47 and see that. Christ said that very plainly, just as plainly as the nose on our faces. He did not come to judge in His first coming as the Messiah. John 12:47, Christ says: "And if any man hear my words, and believe not, [He says] I judge him not ... for I am come not to judge the world, but to save the world."
So His mission in coming the first time was to sacrifice Himself as Saviour and to pay the penalty for all of mankind's sins. He did not come to judge the world. He came to save the world.
Now when He comes the second time, it's totally different. He will judge the world when He comes the second time. Let's go back to chapter 5 in John, we are going to read verses 21 and 22 and then jump to 27 through 30. John chapter 5, notice this. Christ says in verse 21:
"For as the Father [raised] up the dead [and would raise up Jesus Christ] and [quickens] them [meaning gives the dead life]; even so the Son [quickens] whom he will. Verse 22 "For the Father [judges] no man, but [has] committed all judgment ...".
The Greek word here means "a separating" or "a selection". It's not the word "krino", but this Greek word means a separating as the sheep from the goats are separated or a selection as you pull out the sheep from the goats.
John 5:22 [So] "the Father [judges] no man, but [has] committed all judgment unto the Son." John 5:27, "And [has] given him authority to execute judgment."
Now that Greek word for "execute" means "to do" or "to carry out."
So that means Christ is the One that is actually going to carry the judgment out. He is actually the One that is going to resurrect those who are going to be resurrected to eternal life, and it's His job to resurrect those that are going to be resurrected back to a physical life to go into the lake of fire.
So verse 27, "And [has] given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man."
Verse 28, "Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,"
He's implying now on the fact that God has delegated to Him the job of executing judgment.
John 5:29, "And shall come forth [They'll come forth out of the graves]; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation."
Christ is the One that is going to actually do this.
Verse 30, "I can of my own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not [My] own will, but the will of the Father [that has] sent me."
~Rick Railston~
(continued with # 2)
Well, all of us, I think, if we look back at our lives have made wrong judgments. I know I have. Too many times to remember even! And when we make wrong judgments, we create problems for ourselves and we create problems for others when we make judgments that are in error.
And yet, despite that, Christ says the following in John 7:24. Let's turn there. Keep the Scriptures in your mind because we're going to come back to it. Not turn back to it, but keep it in your memory. And I know you know this. It's a very familiar Scripture, John 7:24. Christ was telling us something very important in this one Scripture, several things in this one Scripture. He says:
"Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment" (John 7:24).
Now if you look at this, there are three facets that are obviously apparent when you first read the verse. It says - the first one is we are to judge, because He says, "Judge righteous judgment." So we are to make judgments, but when we do judge, we judge righteously. That's the second thing that we see that's just obvious. We are to judge and when we do judge, we judge righteously. And then the third thing we learn very quickly is that there's a clear implication that Christ is warning us and cautioning us about judging in an unrighteous manner. That it is possible for us to do that.
Now the Greek word for "judge" is "krino", and it is pronounced "kree-no." And it means to pronounce an opinion concerning right or wrong. And it is variously translated in the New Testament as judge or determine. Or it is translated condemn - judge, determine, or condemn.
Now Zodhiates in his very fine dictionary says the following about "krino" - Remember this, It says, "To form and express a judgment or opinion as to any person or anything," but notice this, "more commonly unfavorable." In other words, in the New Testament, it is talking about judging in an unfavorable way. I'll read that again, Zodhiates says, "To form and express and a judgment or opinion as to any person or thing, more commonly unfavorable," and, as we're going to see, more commonly the human tendency to look down on somebody and to judge somebody in a condemning or a negative way.
So we understand the word "judge," but now let's look at the Greek word "righteous" in this same verse. It is "dikaios". And it has three meanings, all roughly the same - observing divine laws. Righteousness is observing divine laws. And that is obvious. If we follow God's laws, then we take on His righteousness as we follow them.
A second meaning is innocent, faultless, or guiltless. And that obviously is a truism because if we follow God's divine laws, then we become guiltless. We have no guilt. We have no fault. And we are innocent in His eyes as long as we follow His laws.
The third meaning is thinking and feeling and acting in a way that totally conforms to God's will. Thinking and feeling and acting in a way that conforms to the will of God. And all of us want to do God's will and when we follow God's will, we thereby become righteous as He is righteous.
Now this verse tells us that if we are to judge righteously, we need some instruction on how to do that. And what we're going to look at in the Bible today is this whole question of judging righteous judgment. In other words, "How are we to judge?" That's one question we're going to answer. And secondly, "What are we to judge? And then, "How are we to judge righteous judgment?"
And there is confusion among God's people because we see God's people judging in areas where they shouldn't be judging at all, and then not judging in areas where they should be judging. And so what we really need to do is get this whole subject of righteous judgment firmly in our head so that we follow God's way and do God's will instead of following human nature. So what are we to judge and how are we to judge righteous judgment?
Point Number One:
This is the foundation. This is something we need to cement in our brains because the greater Church of God, I'm sad to say, does not follow this and does not do this.
1. God and Christ are responsible for judging mankind.
It's the job that God has taken to Himself and has delegated to Jesus Christ to judge mankind.
Now if you like to outline, this is the First Point. Point A is:
A. The Father has delegated to Christ the judgment of mankind.
It's very clear in the Scripture. The Father has delegated the judgment to Jesus Christ.
Now at Christ's first coming, He did not come to judge. Let's understand that. His role, His job, His mission, so to speak, in His first coming was not to judge mankind. Let's go to John 12 and verse 47 and see that. Christ said that very plainly, just as plainly as the nose on our faces. He did not come to judge in His first coming as the Messiah. John 12:47, Christ says: "And if any man hear my words, and believe not, [He says] I judge him not ... for I am come not to judge the world, but to save the world."
So His mission in coming the first time was to sacrifice Himself as Saviour and to pay the penalty for all of mankind's sins. He did not come to judge the world. He came to save the world.
Now when He comes the second time, it's totally different. He will judge the world when He comes the second time. Let's go back to chapter 5 in John, we are going to read verses 21 and 22 and then jump to 27 through 30. John chapter 5, notice this. Christ says in verse 21:
"For as the Father [raised] up the dead [and would raise up Jesus Christ] and [quickens] them [meaning gives the dead life]; even so the Son [quickens] whom he will. Verse 22 "For the Father [judges] no man, but [has] committed all judgment ...".
The Greek word here means "a separating" or "a selection". It's not the word "krino", but this Greek word means a separating as the sheep from the goats are separated or a selection as you pull out the sheep from the goats.
John 5:22 [So] "the Father [judges] no man, but [has] committed all judgment unto the Son." John 5:27, "And [has] given him authority to execute judgment."
Now that Greek word for "execute" means "to do" or "to carry out."
So that means Christ is the One that is actually going to carry the judgment out. He is actually the One that is going to resurrect those who are going to be resurrected to eternal life, and it's His job to resurrect those that are going to be resurrected back to a physical life to go into the lake of fire.
So verse 27, "And [has] given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man."
Verse 28, "Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,"
He's implying now on the fact that God has delegated to Him the job of executing judgment.
John 5:29, "And shall come forth [They'll come forth out of the graves]; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation."
Christ is the One that is going to actually do this.
Verse 30, "I can of my own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not [My] own will, but the will of the Father [that has] sent me."
~Rick Railston~
(continued with # 2)
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