The Sin of Slander and Judging Others: Part 1

The Sin of Slander in James 4:11-12

These two verses here say a great deal to us, and it's like he revisits the tongue. And what he's talking about is slander. So for the next several weeks, there'll be a part one today and a part two, Lord willing, next week.

And then we'll have an intersection of a thanksgiving message, and then we'll return back. I don't know how many parts this could be. It can go maybe four, I'm not sure. Or however long it takes us to get through it.

We're not going to be in no rush. But we need to draw out everything we possibly can from the Word of God and what James is saying through the Holy Spirit. But what's he talking about in verse 11 and verse 12 is actually not to judge a brother or falsely judge him.

But he talks about the sin of slander, defaming others, and especially the brothers. Now he's returning back to speaking to the church and the brethren, and he brings some very strong medicine to the church, very, very strong.

So I'd like to speak to you about the sin of slander and judging of others. So, James chapter 4, two verses of scripture. And you wouldn't think this much is in two verses, but there's a heap, a lot of truth in these two verses.

So hear the word of the living God this morning. Do not speak evil against one another, brethren. He who speaks against a brother or judges his brother speaks against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you're not a doer of the law, but a judge of it.

That's convicting. Verse 12, then he says this, there is only one lawgiver and judge, the one who's able to save and to destroy. But who are you who judge your neighbor?

Wow.

May God bless the reading of His word to our hearts this morning. Let's pray. Father, this is such, such strong words from your heart. Help us to remember that this is word. Lord, as this holy man of God, James, was speaking this, these words are inspired.

These words are God breathed from you. Thank you, Father, for your great and precious promises. Lord, thank you for your awesome word. But at the same time, Lord, we're going to thank you this morning for these loving warnings that you give us as well.

Help us, Lord, to receive correction as well as we do encouragement from your word. For it is the warnings and the correction that makes us grow and sanctifies us to be more like Jesus. Yes, Lord, every promise from you is true and a yes and amen.

Because your word says, therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of the flesh and of the spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Lord, with your everlasting love and help us to see that every word that you give us, even the warnings, is from your heart of love.

It is love that warns us. It is love that says, take heed. And help us to remember, Father, that our first calling unto you is holiness. Help us to be holy in you, Father. And only in you. Only in Jesus.

Because within our own works, we cannot be holy. It's only in Christ. So Father, we need grace to live holy. Sanctify us through and through by your blessed Holy Spirit that we would be more like Jesus, your Son.

And we would ask this in his name for his honor and glory, for your honor and glory. And we ask this in Jesus' name, amen and amen. Powerful words we have this morning from James. Someone has suggested that there are three important questions we should always answer before indulging in criticism of others.

And this is very good. If you can write this down. This is something to remember. Number one, what good does it do your brother? What good does it do your brother? Number two, what good does it do yourself?

And third, which I believe is the most important, what glory for God is in it? That is very good. We should always keep those questions before us before we indulge in criticizing another. The royal law of liberty, the law that comes from our King, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the Lord Jesus Christ says that we should and commands us that we should love our neighbor as ourselves.

Jesus said that, a new commandment I give unto you that you love one another as I've.

Loved you.

That's a high standard, beloved. And to the context in which James is speaking, he says to speak evil against a brother therefore or to judge his motives is the same as speaking against the law and condemning it as worthless.

That's basically what he's saying. In other words, to break a law deliberately is to treat it with disrespect and contempt. It is the same as saying that the law is not good and not worthy of obedience.

That's paraphrased. Now as I'm saying that, that is stepping all over my toes because each and every one of us in this room has failed in this area one way or another and we're going to go into detail about this, what it means to misjudge or to judge.

We're going to look at this. The scripture has a lot to say about slander, a lot to say about judgment and what kind of judgment. It is a lot of scriptures that's really taken out of context and we're going to have to look to the context of what James is really saying here.

So what he's saying here, he who refuses obedience virtually says it ought not to be.

The law.

Beloved, within these two verses, I'm telling you, there is an area of theology that is so vast, it is so basic, it is so essential. And I heard John MacArthur saying this as well. He said that he believes that it is the very heart and core and the very floor, ground floor and the very foundation, and this is MacArthur saying, of how we perceive sin.

It is critical and very important. And this is so, this is so needed in the churches today. We don't hear enough of this. So how do we perceive sin has a lot to do with how we perceive righteousness and how we perceive obedience.

It's our conception of God. It's the way we view God. It's the way we view sin that gives us our perception of how we view ourselves as well. So how we perceive ourselves and God and his law. And so as we look into these two verses of scripture, fasten your seatbelts.

Get ready to go a little deeper into a region of theology because you're getting ready to go into a vast ocean. And it's almost like I picture myself when you go to the ocean, you see the vastness of the ocean, you step into it, it's ankle deep, the next thing you know you're knee deep, next thing you're waist deep, neck deep, then it's over your head, and then next thing you know you're a hundred feet into the water, and then it keeps getting deeper and deeper and deeper, and I'm telling you this is the way the word of God is.

It is infinite, it is vast, and that's the way God is. He is infinite and vast, and there is no limitation to it, and how can we grow in the grace of God unless we dig ourselves into the word of God? And here James does some serious digging.

It would hold for us so many wonderful, wonderful insights. And we may take several Lord's Day, like I said, to explore this text, but the truth within these two verses, but we need to catch the truth of what James is saying by the Holy Spirit and His meaning in the text.

So by God's help and by His Holy Spirit, we will dig out these nuggets of gold and learn by His grace and apply this to our everyday living, and that's what we need, isn't it? We need it to our everyday living, our everyday thinking, our everyday walking, our conduct, the way we behave, the way we act, the way we react, the way we think, the way we live, the way we get up every morning, the way we talk, the way we walk, everything about us.

And God's word is that thorough, it addresses all of it. So we are going to scratch the surface today, today is going to be an introductory. Let's look at the sin of slander. Let's look at the sin of slander, and we are going to briefly touch on judging our brother.

But James 4 .11, look at 4 .11, do not speak evil against one another, brethren. He that speaks evil of his brother and judges his brother speaks evil of the law and judges the law, but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge.

And then he drives the truth home, there is one lawgiver who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you that judges another? You can almost see James asking that question, who are you? Paul said that too, who are you, old man?

That is humbling, and that is the way we should be. We should be humbled, because we are nothing. Now after reading these two verses, beloved, let me say this, of the Holy Scriptures, we are at once reminded of the Sermon on the Mount.

That's the first thing I think of when I hear these verses, it's almost as I hear an echo from James from the Sermon on the Mount. One of the most misinterpreted verses in Scripture, by the way, and from chapter 7, and Jesus says, and why behold the moat that is in your brother's eye, not consider the beam, the log, that's in your own eye.

That sounds like a radical statement, but I remember years ago in Bible college, this young man got up to present, they would allow students to preach a 15 minute sermon, he had to really pack a lot in 15 minutes, it was like a devotion.

And he came up there, and I thought one day, what in the world was he bringing up there to the podium? Kid you not, this kid brought in, and I say kid, I was a kid myself at the time, he brought this huge log, it was heavy, he brought it up there and put it before people.

He actually wanted people to see his sermon, I said, that's brilliant, and then he said you can't see my speck, but he had a little speck and he had a little log, and then he gave the illustration of what Jesus was talking about, this big log, and he held it up on his shoulder and he put it right in front of his face, and he said that's what Jesus is actually meaning.

It's radical, but I tell you, you never forget it, do you? You get the message, and that's the way Jesus delivered his messages. They just didn't remember it per se, they caught it, it was part of them, they never forgotten it, and that's what Jesus was talking about.

And then he says, you know, the Apostle Paul says the same thing, and he gets it from the teachings of Jesus, and he says, but you, why do you judge your brother? Paul said it. And then he goes on to say, for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God, personally.

R .C.

Sproul said no one else will be there for you. When we stand before God in judgment to answer for our works in Jesus Christ, not the condemnation because Jesus took care of that, but our works in Jesus, he said no one else will be there with you.

That makes me tremble. Think of it, not only do they, what these teachings reflect, these teachings reflect on Jesus and what he taught and the Apostle Paul and what he taught, they are so virtually related to what has been said by James.

He drives it home, and he's previously covered before coming to this point, to this text, in the epistle, and think of what he's already covered. He's covered, he's already rebuked the abuse of the tongue in chapter 3, which is employed in criticizing our brethren.

He's already exposed the prize of false wisdom, which leads us to form unjust judgments as he has rebuked the selfish desires which results in wars and contentions, which make us untrue to God. And now he warns against defaming as usurping the place of God, wow, as lawgiver and judge.

This is a very convicting book, and you know, you really don't hear a lot of preachers preach from this book. You ever wonder why? Because it cuts, preachers are probably thinking nowadays, well I'm going to lose my congregation if I preach this.

Well, bring on the truth. It's for the believer, how can a believer grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ unless he's given the true word of God? I want the word of God. I mean, I want the goods. Well this servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, James, has given us many warnings with much.

Love.

That's much love behind this. I almost picture Paul as he was giving his exhortations and warnings, especially to the Galatians, the believers at Galatia, and he said, well many tears, many tears. And I'm sure James had that as well.

Now here comes James, he speaks about the very heart of the royal law of the king. Speak not one against another, speak not evil. We cannot avoid forming opinions, can we? Each one of us has opinions.

You see it everywhere. We all have opinions, whether they're good or bad opinions, they need not always be expressed. We need to learn how to guard our tongue. And it is the love of finding fault which James here rebukes.

Now I don't know about you, our natural flesh does that. I'm being honest. We are fault finders. If you can't say amen, say oh me. Because I'm telling you, I'm walking on my toes. Before it comes to you, it's already been here.

I've been, my toes are so crunched they're flat right now. So it is the love of finding fault that James is rebuking. It is the same sin in which is censured by our Lord Jesus and the Apostle. Behind the sin of slander and wrongly judging our brothers is an awful sin of pride.

It's the pride is the root of all these sins. It is trying to lift myself up, to demean others, to defame others. And that's what slander is. James gets very direct, doesn't he? He gets very specific.

You know when you read his words, he's not generalizing. He is, he hits point direct, he slams hard, he's specific with the sin of defaming the sin or the sin of slander, what he talks about. MacArthur says in his commentary, and I thank God for men like this, pastors.

He's been like a pastor's pastor to me. He does a lot of work for pastors and he already did the definition of slander. But listen to what he says here in his commentary. When medieval monks completed a list of seven deadly sins, they included pride, covetousness, lust, envy, gluttony, anger, and laziness, conspicuously absent from that list was the sin of slandering others.

Nor in all likelihood, he says, would slander rank very high on any contemporary list of serious sins. He says this, is so widespread, we scarcely seem to notice it. Despite our seemingly casual attitude toward it, slander is not a particular destructive sin because it's so common among us.

And he goes on, he gives Noah Webster's defined slander as this, and this is good. A false tale or report maliciously uttered, intending to injure the reputation of another by lessening him in the esteem of his fellow citizen, by exposing him to impeachment and punishment, or by impairing his means of living, end quote.

Wow.

That is a strong definition. That's Noah Webster. Slander strikes at the people's dignity, it defames the character, it destroys their reputation, and the most priceless worldly asset to that person, which Proverbs speaks of, of a good name.

While other sins require particular sets of circumstances before they can be committed, keep this in mind, slander needs only a malicious tongue driven by hatred. That's all it needs. Now, you know I got chapter and verse for this because I'm not going to say something that is God's word, and I was thinking about it as I was studying.

I said, you know, as an ambassador of Jesus Christ, I am not going to stand before redeeming grace church and saying, give my opinion about this. I will give you chapter and verse, I promise you. Psalm 41, 7 and 8.

Listen to what David said, all who hate me whisper together against me. Against me, they devise my hurt. And what do they say? Saying a wicked thing poured out upon him. When he lies down, he will not rise again.

That's the wicked toward David. Psalm 109 verse 2. For they have opened the wicked and deceitful mouth against me. They have spoken against me with a lying tongue. They have also surrounded me with words of hatred and fought against me without cause.

That's Bible, folks. You know the Bible has so much to say about this, and there's no way. I'm going to just scratch the surface today. There are so many examples. Read your Bible. It's all in there. It's all in the Old Testament.

I'm not going to be able to touch on all of them because there's so many of them. And as I was looking into them, they kept going deeper and deeper and deeper. And I said, there's no way I can get all this out.

But aren't you glad that the Holy Word of God exposes our sins and deals with this? Because if God did not deal with it, we wouldn't. You see, the Holy Spirit shines the light. The closer you get to God, He is light.

He is holiness. And here we are, even as children of the living God, we come drawn closer to God. And that light of His holiness just shines more and more upon our sin.

That's Isaiah.

After Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted up, and this whole train filled the temple, and the place was filled with smoke, and he saw the holiness of God and gazed upon the God who is absolutely holy, he pronounces a curse upon himself.

How much more are we? You know, the Old Testament denounces the sin. Let's start with the Old Testament. I want to just hit just a little, a few verses here and there. The sin of slandering God or men more often than it does any other sin.

Leviticus 19 .16, listen to what God commands His people. You shall not go about as a slanderer among your people. That's to the point, isn't it? Psalm 15 .3, speaking of a mark of a godly man. He does not slander with his tongue.

That's a mark of a godly man. The opposite of godly, the godly is a mark of an ungodly person. That's the way the Scripture is, black and white. You have the godly, you have the ungodly. You have the wise, you have the fool.

That's the way it is. Jesus said, are you for me or are you against me? Well, wicked persons are ones who slander others.

That's what Scripture says.

Psalm 50 verses 19 through 20. You let your mouth loose in evil and your tongue frames deceit. You sit and speak against your brother and you slander your own mother's son. Jeremiah 6 .28, all of them are stubbornly rebellious.

This is God speaking. Going about as a tail bearer, they are bronze and iron. And they, all of them are corrupt. Ouch. Jeremiah 9 .4, let everyone be on guard against his neighbor. And do not trust any brother because every brother deals craftedly.

That word craftedly literally means like Jacob. He has a play on words.

He's a deceiver.

And then it goes on to say, amen, sir planner, thank you. And every neighbor goes about as a slanderer. Boy, the word of God just cuts, doesn't it? No wonder the writer of Hebrews calls the word of God like a two-edged sharp sword.

It's razor sharp. And thank God it's razor sharp because it does its work. There's nothing else that can really sanctify us through and through like the word of God. And of course you're familiar with Romans chapter 1.

Romans 1 .29 and 30 says, and Paul the apostle speaks, speaking of those that are under the wrath of God. Being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed. Listen to the list. Evil, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice.

They are gossips. And then he goes right to the next. Verse 30, slanderers. What follows slanderers? Haters of God. Insolent, arrogant, boastful. Then he goes even deeper. Inventors of evil. Then he says disobedient to parents.

You see how it's a chain link. How depravity keeps going deeper and deeper and deeper. You know the seriousness of slander calls David to vow this. In Psalm 101 verse 5. Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him will I destroy.

Well listen to the word of God. And to pray, David prayed in Psalm 140 verse 11. May a slanderer not be established in the earth. They will not be established. They are going to be cut off. Now, in Proverbs 20 .19.

The wisdom of Solomon. He counseled against associating with a slanderer. He said don't associate with them.

Wow.

He who goes about as a slanderer reveals secrets. Therefore do not associate with a gossip. A slanderer. In other words, one who whispers opens his lips. One who opens his lips. New Testament has a little bit to say with it.

Like I said, I just chose just a handful of scriptures.

There's so many more.

Just piles upon piles of it. New Testament also condemns the sin of slander. The Lord Jesus himself identified its source as an evil from the heart. It comes from the heart. Which precedes all these evil thoughts, fornications, adulteries.

Jesus said it all comes from the heart. Slandering. Matthew 15 .20. Paul also feared that he would find slander among the Corinthians. When he visited them in 2 Corinthians 12 .20. He also commanded in Ephesians.

Ephesians 4 .31. And Colossians 3 .8. To avoid it all together. And the apostle Peter in 1 Peter 2 .1. Also exhorted his readers not to slander others. Notice the prophets speak against it. The holy apostles speak against it.

And Jesus himself speaks against it. How much more can be said? The scripture chronicle of devastating effects of slander. Listen to the devastating effects of slander. Like I said, I'm only hitting high points here.

Proverbs 16 .28 and Proverbs 17 .9 notes that it destroys friendships. It destroys friendships. Proverbs 18 .8 and Proverbs 26 .22 speak of deep wounds inflicted on the one slandered. Have you ever been slandered?

Doesn't it inflict deep wounds? It does. And to those who inflict such wounds upon us. We pray for them. Lord forgive them. We need to pray for them. That's the reaction of a child of God. And I tell you, do not allow the root of bitterness to take hold.

Because the root of bitterness is poison. That word bitterness in the Greek is poison. Let the poison loose. And the poison will destroy you. So we must forgive. Look at Jesus on the cross. All the slander that was placed upon the Lord Jesus.

And all the sin. And all the filth. And everything placed against Jesus. While He hung there in shame. He said, Father forgive them.

For they do not know what they're doing.

That's powerful.

That's a love.

And that's the kind of love that is within us, beloved. To forgive. And we do not need to hold these things. Even though people are out to get us. Hey, look. We wrestle not against flesh and blood. These are satanic powers.

And people, and even if it's a brother. And we're going to deal with that in a minute. We're going to deal with that. How to deal with the brother that sinned against us. Or sins against someone else.

Jesus deals with that. Well, there's also other scriptures.

In Proverbs 11 .9 and Isaiah 32 .7. Warned that slander can ultimately destroy people. It's a destroyer. After all, look at who's the destroyer. We're getting down to the nitty gritty here, right? We're going to get to the origin of this slanderer.

Where slanderers come from the father of all lies. The slanderer himself. Slanderers stir up contention. According to Proverbs 26 .20. Slanderers spread strife. In Proverbs 6 .19. And also, it becomes a fool's Proverbs 10 .18.

Throughout the entire Bible. There are so many examples that are loaded. Of illustrations of slander. But did you ever think. That where slander actually originated from. It came from the heart of an archangel.

By the name of Lucifer. Yes sir, and that's where it came. It turned a prideful angel into a devil. And why this sin is so serious and diabolical. Leads me to the next point. The word diabolical. Diabolos means slanderer.

It means devil. That's where it comes from. Now listen to this. Revelation 12 .10. Let the word of God speak. Amen. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven. This is John. When he saw the vision. In heaven.

What God was about to turn loose. His wrath. And all of his wrath. Come. That's what it was saved from. But here he says. And now the salvation. And the power. And the kingdom of our God. And the authority of his Christ has come.

This is the day we all long for. This is the glorious day of the coming of the Lord. And I'm telling you. This is the day of the Lord. For the accuser of the brethren. Has been thrown down. And he who accuses him before our God.

Day and night. Now think of that. God allows him to have access into heaven. To accuse us. And I'm thinking. Now if I was God. I'm not God.

Of course. I'd say.

No you're out of here. But God uses. That slew footed creature.

Which he is.

As a fallen creature for his glory. Doesn't that blow your mind?

God.

The holy God. Allows him to come. Before heaven. Now he's already been thrown out of heaven. But yet he has access to heaven.

I said.

Lord.

Why?

But God knows what he's doing. It's all to an ultimate end. And what is his ultimate end? His glory. That's the end of all things. His glory. Aren't you glad you know that? Praise God.

Satan.

At this time. Right here. And I said all that to say this.

Satan.

Will no longer. Accuse the believers. Before the throne of God. When this time comes. Because he will no longer have access to heaven. Then he will be cast into the lake of fire.

Now.

We will witness that. We will witness that. Praise God. We will witness that. Now if we read. That's going to be a glorious day. That will be enough to praise God for. No more devil. No more temptation.

No more sin. But no more Lucifer. No more fallen angel. If we read back in Genesis. Now listen. I took you to Revelation. Let's go back to Genesis.

Let's go to the beginning.

Rather than the end. Genesis 3. Verses 1 through 6. Turn with me there.

I tell you.

These verses here. We can't know this enough. Because you want to know the Bible. Go to the foundation of the Bible. If you want to know about the ending. Read the beginning. Read the book ends. I tell you.

You got to know the book ends.

Amen.

Amen. Praise God. Isn't the word of God good?

Okay.

I'm at 34 minutes. I got to truck along here. We need to read Genesis 3. Look at 1 through 6. This is so enlightening. Now the serpent was more crafty. Notice. Crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made.

And he said to the woman. Indeed has God said. You shall not eat from any tree of the garden. The first thing he says.

Has God said.

He slanders God's integrity. He slanders his word.

Verse 2.

The woman said to the serpent. From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat. But from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden. God has said. You shall not eat from it or touch it or you will die.

Verse 4. The serpent said to the woman. Again he comes back. You surely will not die. Listen to the father of lies there. Verse 5. For God knows that in the day you eat from it. Your eyes will be opened and you will be like God.

Knowing good and evil. And right then. When the woman saw. She saw. That the tree was good for food. Appealed to her senses there. Notice that. The flesh. And that was a delight to her eyes. And that the tree was desirable to make one wise.

She took from its fruit and ate. And she gave also to her husband with her. And he ate.

Now.

Notice.

Just.

Two important very. Important truths. That's before us. In verse 1. First of all.

Satan.

Slandered. God's integrity. He slandered his integrity. Indeed he said. As God said. By that. And questioning God's goodness. His character. His integrity. And then in verse 5. He slandered God's motives.

Now this is diabolos here. This is the father of all lies.

He's.

And by the way.

His strategy has never changed. He still uses this strategy. Because he's successful with it. He throws doubt. On the character of God. God's withholding something good from you. Isn't he the same lie?

He's the same father of lies. And he still whispers that to us today. Even to children of God. He's the accuser of the brethren. God's holding back something.

Oh.

Suffering comes. And a lot of people start questioning God.

But oh.

If they look into the verses of scripture. Suffering is a gift. Miss Lillian knows what I'm talking about here. It's that gift. That's that perfect gift she talks about. What does it do? Those afflictions pulls you away from the world.

Pulls you away from the comforts of this world. And it pulls you into God himself.

Amen.

Those afflictions work. They're guaranteed to work. Because it humbles us. And it weans us from the world. And I get these words from J .C. Rowell.

By the way.

It weans us from the world.

Yeah.

Aren't you glad of that?

Yeah.

Bring on the suffering.

Come on.

You see what I'm saying? Because it becomes. And I like what Elizabeth Elliot said. She said Christian. You will come to realize. That it's normal to suffer. As a true believer in Jesus. But you also embrace the suffering.

And that's why Paul embraced it.

Because he said.

If I'm going to know the power of his resurrection.

Come on.

I'm going to know the fellowship of his sufferings.

Amen. Praise God. That's how we get close to God.

You see.

And it's those who God has chosen to suffer. Are the closest to him.

You know.

Isn't it wonderful? That God can do this. God can take suffering. He can take these things. And pull us closer to himself. And God does it. That's glorious.

You see.

Basically implying God. The devil was saying. Basically implying that God. Was selfishly withholding something good. From Adam and Eve.

He's a liar.

Oh my. He's a liar. And Jesus said. He's the father of it. If there's lies going on. There's a lot of lies in this world. Know that the father of lies is behind it. Well the first act of slander in human history.