Podcast Audio and Video:
Sermon on the Mount, Part 7 – YouTube
Show Notes:
Matthew 7: 1-5 is so misunderstood. If there has ever been a phrase hijacked by the world and the devil himself, it is “Judge not.” Two words have never been taken so out of context on a regular basis than these words right here. The world’s #1 rule is “Judge not,” but this is a twisting of Jesus’ words.
Jesus didn’t take judgement away. Rather, He clarified what it meant and how we should do it: 1.) We are not to judge based on our own opinions, 2.) we are not to judge others for a sin we are unrepentant of, 3.) and we are not to judge the world.
We have no authority to pass judgment based on our own opinions. When we deal with the idea of righteous judgement, we must get to a law and ask, “Who authorized this law, and through what authority does this law come?” This does away with human opinion based on what we think or feel. We must separate our judgments from God’s judgments because all judgement comes from God.
Hypocrisy must be taken out of judgment. We are inexcusable in judging others if we are still in the same unrepentant sin, even if we are using the righteous judgments of God. If we are not living out what our mouth is proclaiming, we are hypocrites bringing judgment down on ourselves.
It’s not our business to judge the world. God has specifically called out some behaviors of men and said they would be judged. Our job is to point out the judgments of God and hopefully someone will tremble and repent. We are to understand the judgments of God, how they apply to people in this life, and exercise them within the Church.
Judgements are not founded on our personal truth, our present reality, or the changing trends. As Christians we believe God is the final Judge over all the earth and every man will stand before the righteous judgments of God Himself. The judgments of God are according to truth, and truth is that which agrees with final reality.