The Sin of Slander and Judging Others: Part 1

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The Sin of Slander and Judging Others: Part 2

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These two verses here say a great deal to us, and it's like he revisits the tongue.
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And what he's talking about is slander. So, for the next several weeks, there'll be a
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Part 1 today and a Part 2, Lord willing, next week. And then we'll have an intersection of a
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Thanksgiving message, and then we'll return back. I don't know how many parts this could be. It can go maybe four,
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I'm not sure. However long it takes us to get through it. We're not going to be in no rush.
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But we need to draw out everything we possibly can from the Word of God and what James is saying through the
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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.
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But he talks about the sin of slander, defaming others, and especially the brothers.
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Now he's returning back to speaking to the church and the brethren, and he brings some very strong medicine to the church.
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Very, very strong. So, I'd like to speak to you about the sin of slander and judging of others.
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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.
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So, hear the word of the living God this morning. Do not speak evil against one another, brethren.
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He who speaks against a brother or judges his brother speaks against the law and judges the law.
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But if you judge the law, you're not a doer of the law, but a judge of it. That's convicting.
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Verse 12. Then he says this. There is only one lawgiver and judge.
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The one who's able to save and to destroy. But who are you who judge your neighbor?
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Wow. May God bless the reading of His word to our hearts this morning. Let's pray.
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Father, this is such, such strong words from Your heart.
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Help us to remember that this is Word. As this holy man of God, James, was speaking this, these words are inspired.
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These words are God breathed from You. Thank You, Father, for Your great and precious promises.
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Lord, thank You for Your awesome Word. But at the same time, Lord, we're going to thank
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You this morning for these loving warnings that You give us as well.
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Help us, Lord, to receive correction as well as we do encouragement from Your Word.
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For it is the warnings and the correction that makes us grow and sanctifies us to be more like Jesus.
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Yes, Lord, every promise from You is true and a yes and an amen. Because Your Word says,
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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.
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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.
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It is love that warns us. It is love that says, take heed.
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And help us to remember, Father, that our first calling unto You is holiness. Help us to be holy in You, Father.
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And only in You. Only in Jesus. Because within our own works, we cannot be holy.
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It's only in Christ. So, Father, we need grace to live holy. Sanctify us through and through by Your blessed
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Holy Spirit that we would be more like Jesus, Your Son. And we would ask this in His name for His honor and glory.
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For Your honor and glory. And we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. And amen.
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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.
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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?
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What good does it do your brother? Number two, what good does it do yourself?
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And third, which I believe is the most important, what glory for God is in it?
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That is very good. We should always keep those questions before us before we indulge in criticizing another.
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The royal law of liberty, the law that comes from our King, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the
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Lord Jesus Christ, says that we should, and commands us, that we should love our neighbor as ourselves.
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Jesus said that. A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another as I have loved you. That is a high standard, beloved.
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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.
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That is basically what he is saying. In other words, to break a law deliberately is to treat it with disrespect and contempt.
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It is the same as saying that the law is not good and not worthy of obedience.
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That is paraphrased. Now, as I am saying that, that is stepping all over my toes.
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Because each and every one of us in this room has failed in this area one way or another.
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And we are going to go into detail about this, what it means to misjudge or to judge.
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We are going to look at this. Scripture has a lot to say about slander. A lot to say about judgment.
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And what kind of judgment. It is a lot of scriptures that is really taken out of context.
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And we are going to have to look to the context of what James is really saying here. So what he is saying here, he who refuses obedience virtually says it ought not to be the law.
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Beloved, within these two verses, I am telling you. There is an area of theology that is so vast.
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It is so basic. It is so essential. And I heard John MacArthur saying this as well.
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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
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MacArthur saying, of how we perceive sin. It is critical and very important.
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And this is so needed in the churches today.
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We don't hear enough of this. So how do we perceive sin has a lot to do with how we perceive righteousness.
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And how we perceive obedience. It is our conception of God. It is the way we view
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God. It is the way we view sin. That gives us our perception of how we view ourselves as well.
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So how we perceive ourselves and God and His law. And so as we look into these two verses of scripture, fasten your seat belts.
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Get ready to go a little deeper into a region of theology. Because we are getting ready to go into a vast ocean.
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And it is almost like I picture myself when you go to the ocean. You see the vastness of the ocean. You step into it.
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It is ankle deep. The next thing you know you are knee deep. The next thing you know you are waist deep. Neck deep. Then it is over your head.
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And the next thing you know you are a hundred feet into the water. And then it keeps getting deeper and deeper and deeper.
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And I am telling you this is the way the Word of God is. It is infinite. It is vast. And that is the way
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God is. He is infinite and vast. And there is no limitation to it.
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And how can we grow in the grace of God unless we dig ourselves into the Word of God.
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And here James does some serious digging. It would hold for us so many wonderful, wonderful insights.
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And we may take several Lord's Day, like I said, to explore this text. But the truth within these two verses.
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But we need to catch the truth of what James is saying by the Holy Spirit. And His meaning in the text.
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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.
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And that is what we need, isn't it? We need it to our everyday living. Our everyday thinking. Our everyday walking.
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Our conduct. The way we behave. The way we act. The way we react. The way we think.
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The way we live. Amen. The way we get up every morning. The way we talk.
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The way we walk. Everything about us. And God's Word is that thorough.
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It addresses all of it. So we are going to scratch the surface today.
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Today is going to be an introductory. Let's look at the sin of slander. Let's look at the sin of slander.
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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.
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He that speaks evil of his brother and judges his brother speaks evil of the law and judges the law.
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But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. And then he drives the truth home.
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There is one lawgiver who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you that judges another?
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You can almost see James asking that question. Who are you? Paul said that too.
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Who are you, old man? That is humbling. And that's the way we should be.
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We should be humbled. Because we are nothing. Now after reading these two verses, beloved, let me say this.
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Of the Holy Scriptures, we are at once reminded of the Sermon on the Mount. That's the first thing
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I think of when I hear these verses. It's almost as I hear an echo from James from the
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Sermon on the Mount. One of the most misinterpreted verses in Scripture, by the way.
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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.
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That sounds like a radical statement, but I remember years ago in Bible college, this young man got up to present.
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They would allow students to preach a 15 -minute sermon. You had to really pack a lot in in 15 minutes.
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It was like a devotion. And he came up there, and I thought one day, what in the world is he bringing up there to the podium?
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Kid you not, this kid brought in, and I say kid, I was a kid myself at the time.
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He brought this huge log. It was heavy.
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He brought it up there and put it before people. He actually wanted people to see his sermon. I said, that's brilliant.
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He said, you can't see my speck. He had a little speck and he had a little log. And then he gave the illustration of what
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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.
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And he says, that's what Jesus is actually meaning. It's radical. I tell you, you never forget it, do you?
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You get the message. And that's the way Jesus delivered his messages. They just didn't remember it per se.
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They caught it. It was part of them. They'd never forgotten it. And that's what Jesus was talking about.
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And then he says, you know, the apostle Paul says the same thing, and he gets it from the teachings of Jesus.
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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.
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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.
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He said, no one else will be there with you. That makes me tremble.
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Think of it. Not only do they, what these teachings reflect. These teachings reflect of Jesus and what he taught and the apostle
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Paul and what he taught. They are so virtually related to what has been said by James.
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He drives it home. And he's previously covered before coming to this point, to this text in the epistle.
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And think of what he's already covered. He's covered. He's already rebuked the abuse of the tongue in chapter three, which is employed in criticizing our brethren.
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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.
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And now he warns against defaming as usurping the place of God.
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Wow. As lawgiver and judge. This is a very convicting book.
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And you know, you really don't hear a lot of preachers preach from this book. You ever wonder why?
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Because it cuts. Preachers are probably thinking nowadays, well, I'm going to lose my congregation if I preach this.
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Well, bring on the truth. It's for the believer.
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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.
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I mean, I want the goods. Well, this servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, James, has given us many warnings with much love.
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That's much love behind this. I almost picture Paul as he was giving his exhortations and warnings, especially to the
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Galatians, the believers at Galatia. And he said, well, many tears.
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Many tears. And I'm sure James had that as well. Now here comes
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James. He speaks about the very heart of the royal law of the king. Speak not one against another.
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Speak not evil. We cannot avoid forming opinions, can we? Each one of us has opinions.
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You see it everywhere. We all have opinions. Whether they're good or bad opinions, they need not always to be expressed.
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We need to learn how to guard our tongue. And it is the love of finding fault, which
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James here rebukes. Now, I don't know about you, our natural flesh does that.
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I'm being honest. We are fault finders. If you can't say amen, say oh me.
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Because I'm telling you, I'm walking on my toes. Before it comes to you, it's already been here.
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My toes are so crunched, they're flat right now. So it is the love of finding fault that James is rebuking.
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It is the same sin in which is censured by our Lord Jesus and the
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Apostle. Behind the sin of slander and wrongly judging our brothers is an awful sin of pride.
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It's the pride is the root of all these sins. It is trying to lift myself up to demean others, to defame others.
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And that's what slander is. James gets very direct, doesn't he? He gets very specific.
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You know, when you read his words, he's not generalizing. He hits point direct.
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He slams hard. He's specific with the sin of defaming the sin or the sin of slander, what he talks about.
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MacArthur says in his commentary, and I thank God for men like this, pastors. He's been like a pastor's pastor to me.
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He does a lot of work for pastors and he already did the definition of slander.
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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.
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Conspicuously absent from that list was the sin of slandering others.
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Nor in all likelihood, he says, would slander rank very high on any contemporary list of serious sins.
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He says this, it is so widespread we scarcely seem to notice it.
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Despite our seemingly casual attitude toward it, slander is not a particularly destructive sin because it's so common among us.
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And he goes on, he gives Noah Webster's defined slander as this, and this is good.
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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.
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Wow, that is a strong definition. That's Noah Webster. Slander strikes at the people's dignity, it defames the character, it destroys the reputation, and the most priceless worldly asset to that person, which
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Proverbs speaks of, of a good name. While other sins require particular circumstances before they can be committed, keep this in mind, slander needs only a malicious tongue driven by hatred.
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That's all it needs. Now you know I got chapter and verse for this.
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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 say and give my opinion about this.
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I will give you chapter and verse, I promise you. Psalm 41, 7 and 8. Listen to what
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David said. All who hate me whisper together against me. Against me they devise my hurt.
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And what do they say? Saying a wicked thing poured out upon him when he lies down he will not rise again.
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That's the wicked toward David. Psalm 109 verse 2. For they have opened the wicked and deceitful mouth against me.
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They have spoken against me with a lying tongue. They have also surrounded me with words of hatred and fought against me without cause.
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That's Bible, folks. You know the Bible has so much to say about this sin. There's no way.
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I'm going to just scratch the surface today. There are so many examples. Read your
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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.
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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 of this out.
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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.
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You see, the Holy Spirit shines the light. The closer you get to God, He is light.
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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 shines more and more upon our sin.
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That's Isaiah. After Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted up and His whole train filled the temple and the place was filled with smoke and he saw the holiness of God and gazed upon the
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God who is absolutely holy, he pronounces a curse upon himself. How much more are we?
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You know, the Old Testament denounces the sin. Let's start with the Old Testament. I want to just hit a few verses here and there.
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The sin of slandering God or men more often than it does any other sin. Leviticus 19 .16,
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listen to what God commands His people. You shall not go about as a slanderer among your people.
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That's to the point, isn't it? Psalm 15 .3, speaking of a mark of a godly man.
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He does not slander with his tongue. That's a mark of a godly man. The opposite of godly.
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The godly is a mark of an ungodly person. That's the way the Scripture is, black and white.
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You have the godly, you have the ungodly. You have the wise, you have the fool. That's the way it is.
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Jesus said, are you for me or are you against me? Well, a wicked person are ones who slander others.
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That's what Scripture says. Psalm 50, verses 19 through 20. You let your mouth loose in evil and your tongue frames deceit.
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You sit and speak against your brother and you slander your own mother's son.
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Jeremiah 6 .28, all of them are stubbornly rebellious. This is
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God speaking. Going about as a tail bearer, they are bronze and iron.
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All of them are corrupt. Ouch. Jeremiah 9 .4,
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let everyone be on guard against his neighbor. Do not trust any brother because every brother deals craftily.
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That word craftily literally means like Jacob. He has a play on words.
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He's a deceiver. And then it goes on to say, amen, sir planner, thank you.
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And every neighbor goes about as a slanderer.
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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.
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It's razor sharp. And thank God it's razor sharp because it does its work.
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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.
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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.
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Listen to the list. Evil, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice.
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They are gossips. And then he goes right to the next. Verse 30, slanderers.
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What follows slanderers? Haters of God. Insolent, arrogant, boastful.
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Then he goes even deeper. Inventors of evil. Then he says disobedient to parents.
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You see how it's a chain link. How depravity keeps going deeper and deeper and deeper.
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You know, the seriousness of slander calls David to vow this. In Psalm 101 verse 5.
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Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him will I destroy. Well, listen to the word of God.
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And to pray, David prayed in Psalm 140 verse 11.
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May a slanderer not be established in the earth. They will not be established.
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They're going to be cut off. Now, in Proverbs 20 .19,
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the wisdom of Solomon. He counseled against associating with a slanderer. He said don't associate with them.
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Wow. He who goes about as a slanderer reveals secrets. Therefore, do not associate with a gossip, a slanderer.
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In other words, one who whispers opens his lips. One who opens his lips.
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New Testament has a little bit to say with it. Like I said, I just chose just a handful of scriptures. So many more.
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Just piles upon piles of it. New Testament also condemns the sin of slander.
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The Lord Jesus himself identified its source as an evil from the heart. It comes from the heart.
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Which precedes all these evil thoughts, fornications, adulteries. Jesus said it all comes from the heart.
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Slandering. Matthew 15 .20. Paul also feared that he would find slander among the
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Corinthians. When he visited them in 2 Corinthians 12 .20. He also commanded in Ephesians.
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Ephesians 4 .31. And Colossians 3 .8. To avoid it all together.
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And the apostle Peter in 1 Peter 2 .1. Also exhorted his readers not to slander others.
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Notice the prophets speak against it. The holy apostles speak against it.
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And Jesus himself speaks against it. How much more can be said?
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The scripture chronicle of devastating effects of slander. Listen to the devastating effects of slander.
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Like I said, I'm only hitting high points here. Proverbs 16 .28 and Proverbs 17 .9.
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Notes that it destroys friendships. It destroys friendships. Proverbs 18 .8
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and Proverbs 26 .22. Speak of deep wounds inflicted on the one slandered.
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Have you ever been slandered? Doesn't it inflict deep wounds? It does.
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And to those who inflict such wounds upon us. We pray for them. Lord forgive them.
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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.
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Because the root of bitterness is poison. That word bitterness in the Greek is poison.
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Let the poison loose. And the poison will destroy you. So we must forgive. Look at Jesus on the cross.
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All the slander that was placed upon the Lord Jesus. And all the sin.
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And all the filth. And everything placed against Jesus. While He hung there in shame.
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He said, Father forgive them. For they do not know what they're doing. That's powerful.
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That's a love. And that's the kind of love that is within us, beloved. To forgive.
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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.
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These are satanic powers. And people, and even if it's a brother.
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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.
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Or sins against someone else. Jesus deals with that. Well, there's also other scriptures in Proverbs 11, 9 and Isaiah 32, 7.
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Warned that slander can ultimately destroy people. It's a destroyer.
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After all, look at who's the destroyer. We're getting down to the nitty gritty here, right?
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We're going to get to the origin of this slanderer. Where slanderers come from the father of all lies to slander himself.
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Slanderers stir up contention. According to Proverbs 26, 20. Slanderers spread strife.
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In Proverbs 6, 19. And also, it becomes a fool's Proverbs 10, 18.
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Throughout the entire Bible, there are so many examples that are loaded of illustrations of slander.
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But did you ever think that where slander actually originated from?
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It came from the heart of an archangel. By the name of Lucifer.
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Yes, sir. And that's where it came. It turned a prideful angel into a devil.
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And why this sin is so serious and diabolical. Leads me to the next point.
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The word diabolical, diolibos, means slanderer. It means devil.
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That's where it comes from. Now listen to this. Revelation 12, 10. Let the word of God speak.
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Amen. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven. This is
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John. When he saw the vision in heaven. What God was about to turn loose his wrath.
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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
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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
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Lord. And I'm telling you, this is the day of the Lord. For the accuser of the brethren has been thrown down.
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And he who accuses them before our God day and night. Now think of that.
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God allows him to have access into heaven to accuse us. And I'm thinking, now if I was
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God. I'm not God, of course. I'd say, no, you're out of here.
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But God uses that slew -footed creature. Which he is, is a fallen creature for his glory.
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Doesn't that blow your mind? God, the holy God, allows him to come.
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Before heaven. Now he's already been thrown out of heaven. But yet he has access to heaven.
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I said, Lord, why? But God knows what he's doing. It's all to an ultimate end.
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And what is his ultimate end? His glory. That's the end of all things.
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His glory. Aren't you glad you know that? Praise God. Satan, at this time, right here.
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And I said all that to say this. Satan will no longer accuse the believers before the throne of God.
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When this time comes. Because he will no longer have access to heaven. Then he will be cast into the lake of fire.
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Now, we will witness that. We will witness that. Praise God.
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We will witness that. Now, if we read. That's going to be a glorious day. That will be enough to praise
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God for. No more devil. No more temptation. No more sin.
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But no more Lucifer. No more fallen angel. If we read back in Genesis.
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Now, I took you to Revelation. Let's go back to Genesis. Let's go to the beginning. Rather than the end.
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Genesis 3. Verses 1 through 6. Turn with me there. I tell you.
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These verses here. We can't know this enough. Because you want to know the Bible. Go to the foundation of the
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Bible. If you want to know about the ending. Read the beginning. Read the book ends. I tell you.
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You got to know the book ends. Amen. Amen. Praise God. Isn't the word of God good?
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Okay. I'm at 34 minutes. I got to truck along here. We need to read
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Genesis 3. Look at 1 through 6. This is so enlightening. Now the serpent was more crafty.
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Notice. Crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman.
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Indeed has God said. You shall not eat from any tree of the garden.
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The first thing he says. Has God said. He slanders God's integrity. He slanders his word.
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Verse 2. The woman said to the serpent. From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat.
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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.
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Verse 4. The serpent said to the woman. Again he comes back. You surely will not die.
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Listen to the father of lies there. Verse 5. For God knows that in the day you eat from it.
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Your eyes will be opened and you will be like God. Knowing good and evil.
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And right then. When the woman saw. She saw. That the tree was good for food.
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Appealed to her senses there. Notice that. The flesh. And that was a delight to her eyes.
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And that the tree was desirable to make one wise. She took from its fruit and ate.
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And she gave also to her husband with her. And he ate. Now. Notice.
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Just. Two important very. Important truths. That's before us. In verse 1.
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First of all. Satan. Slandered. God's integrity.
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He slandered his integrity. Indeed he said. Has God said.
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By that. And questioning God's goodness. His character. His integrity.
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And then in verse 5. He slandered God's motives. Now this is.
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Diabolos here. This is the father of all lies. He's. And by the way. His strategy has never changed.
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He still uses this. Strategy because he's successful with it. He throws doubt.
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On the character of God. God's withholding something good from you.
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Isn't he the same lie. He's the same father of lies. And he still whispers that to us today.
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Even to children of God. He's the accuser of the brethren. God's holding back something. Oh. Suffering comes.
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And a lot of people start questioning God. But oh. If they look into the verses of scripture.
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Suffering is a gift. Miss Lillian knows what I'm talking about here. It's that gift.
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That's that perfect gift she talks about. What does it do? Those afflictions pulls you away from the world.
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Pulls you away from the comforts of this world. And it pulls you into God himself. Amen. Those afflictions work.
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They're guaranteed to work. Because it humbles us. And it weans us from the world.
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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?
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Yeah. Bring on the suffering. Come on. You see what I'm saying? Because it becomes. And I like what
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Elizabeth Elliot said. She said Christian. You will come to realize. That it's normal to suffer.
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As a true believer in Jesus. But you also embrace the suffering.
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And that's why Paul embraced it. Because he said. If I'm going to know the power of his resurrection. I'm going to know the fellowship of his sufferings.
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Amen. Praise God. That's how we get close to God. You see.
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And it's those who God has chosen to suffer. Are the closest to him.
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You know. Isn't it wonderful? That God can do this. God can take suffering.
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He can take these things. And pull us closer to himself. And God does it.
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That's glorious. You see. Isn't it basically implying God. The devil was saying.
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Basically implied that God was selfishly. Withholding something good.
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From Adam and Eve. He's a liar. Oh my.
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He's a liar. And Jesus said he's the father of it. If there's lies going on.
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There's a lot of lies in this world. Know that the father of lies is behind it.
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Where the first act of slander in human history. Led directly to the first sin. Right there.
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Slander. Beloved. Is that kind of serious sin. Which God both hates.
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And will judge. That's all through scripture. And God will judge it. Now as we break ground on these.
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Two verses. Of scripture. Before approaching the text. I want to bring out something very very important to you.
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And let me kind of change gears here okay. Talk about slander. Let's talk about the misconception that needs to be dealt with.
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And that is according to the word of God. Biblical injunctions against slander. Do not as many in the church today erroneously believe.
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Prohibit rebuking those who persist in unrepentant sin. Now I want to make that clear.
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Because that's not slander. Actually what I just mentioned. On the contrary.
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Such public exposure of sin. Is commanded from scripture.
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So we need discernment. To recognize. What does it mean.
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And how does the bible define slander. And how does it separate in the sense of those who sin.
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In a way of. How can I put this in the right words.
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Against the Lord. And how is this to be dealt with. And Jesus gives this to us.
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Now as you well know. Matthew 18 is the key chapter right. Our Lord Jesus himself set forth the perimeters.
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For dealing with sinning Christians. The brothers. The sisters. Why does he do it.
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He does it because he's the head of the church number one. And he has the authority to do it. Because he's the
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Lord of the church. He's the head of the church. And he does it.
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The cause to keeping his body clean. Jesus wants a clean body.
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He wants a pure body. His body will be holy. Actually Paul said it's going to be a glorious church.
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Without spot or without wrinkle. I like what Ravenhill said. He said I've been to a lot of weddings.
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He said I've been to the poorest of the poor. And to the richest of the rich. And I tell you.
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This is what he said. I quote Ravenhill. He said I've never seen a dirty bride. Now that a preach.
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Never seen a dirty bride. And I'm telling you. Jesus' bride is going to be pure.
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Jesus' bride is going to be pure and holy. And without spot. And uncontaminated from this world.
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That's the kind of glorious church. That Jesus is going to have. Jesus said it.
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Now listen to what's in this perimeter. He says this. I don't have time to preach on this. He says if your brother sins.
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Step one. Go and show him his fault. In private. Number one.
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First. Number two. If he listens to you. You have won your brother.
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But Jesus says. And why does Jesus say but? Because he knows more likely.
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They're not going to listen to you. But if he does not listen to you. Take one or two more with you.
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Strike two. So that by the mouth. Of two or three witnesses. Every fact may be confirmed.
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He gets that from Deuteronomy. Now listen to this. If he refuses to listen to them.
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Them. Now the witnesses. Tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen.
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To even the church. Let it be to you. As a person be a Gentile. And a tax collector.
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In other words. It's communicated. Strike three. You're out. Now Jesus. Notice the order there.
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And that's restorative church. Now Pastor. That seems to be pretty cruel mean.
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There's a lot of love behind that. And by the way. That's why Paul said. A little leaven leavens the whole lump.
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And I've mentioned this example before. You put a rotten potato. In a whole bag of good potatoes. And let it sit there for a while.
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I guarantee that whole bag will be rotten. That's the way it happens. That's the way depravity is.
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A little leaven will constantly. Just leaven everything else. And everything else will be corrupt. Jesus knows.
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You've got to pull it out. You've got to cut it off. You've got to take it out. You've got to deal with it.
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But he does it in love. He doesn't do it to be cruel. Even though there's sin that's involved.
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And it can be terrible sins. But we need to handle this in love. We're going to look at scripture on that in just a minute.
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Three steps of restorative church discipline. I don't have time to preach on that. But that's a whole sermon, beloved.
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Commanded by the head of the church. And those who refuse to repent after private warnings. Are to be rebuked publicly before the church.
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Paul repeated this. Lord's command. In Titus 3 .10. Telling Titus to reject.
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A factious. A divisive man. After his first and second admonition.
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Or warning. He himself publicly rebuked such a person. In 1 Corinthians chapter 5.
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Paul practiced this. So James' word says. Do not speak against.
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Or speak evil against one another. Do not forbid exposing sin with the intent. But rather.
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Lying. With malicious intent. You see what I'm saying. There are two important critical points here.
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I'd like to give you. In my application. I think this will take home the truth.
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What he's talking about. In conclusion. Very important here. And here are the two points of application.
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Number one. What judging others does not mean. And number two.
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What judging others wrongly does mean. Notice what I said. What judging others does not mean.
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And what judging others wrongly does mean. Now I'm not going to be able to finish this. I'm going to pick it up next week.
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So listen to what he says. Listen to what he says closely. Right here. Very important to understand this text.
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What judging others does not mean. Does not mean. Number one.
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It does not. Judging someone to be discerning. With regard to his character.
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Or teaching. You see what I'm saying. To his character or teaching. Many people as you well know.
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We've all experienced this in this room. From our own. Siblings.
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Daughters. Sons and so forth. They quote this. Judge not least you be judged.
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I'm here to tell you. That's one of the most misquoted. Misinterpreted scriptures in the word of God. And I'm going to bring this out.
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It's about judging others. But they never bother to read down to verse 6. Where Jesus says.
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Do not give what is holy to the dogs. And do not throw your pearls before swine.
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Now notice what he talked about. Jesus talked about two animals right there. In their nature. Dogs and swine.
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That's right. Both unclean. Absolutely. He's talking about people there. He's talking about people's nature.
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Jesus made a judgment there. He's Jesus. What Jesus did say also.
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The judge righteous judgment. And in verse 6. You must make some judgmental decisions.
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About a person's character. That guy's a dog. He's a pig.
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He made a decision. That's mean pastor. You shouldn't say things like that. Jesus said it.
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He said don't give that. What is holy to the dogs. Well if you keep reading in Matthew 7 .15.
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It goes further. Listen to this. He knows where to go. Jesus knew. He was talking about swine and dogs and unclean.
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Where does he go? He goes to the false teachers. Beware of false prophets.
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False teachers. Who come to you in sheep's clothing. Now who's mean all of a sudden.
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I think that wolf. That's dressed up like a sheep out there. Ready to eat up a sheep. It's pretty mean.
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Now I want you to think about this. The shepherd is the one that cares. The shepherd is the one that loves the sheep.
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Why is that in reverse today? Well people don't have discernment. Because they don't know the word of God.
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They have their own opinions. Now. Let God be true and every man a liar.
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We stand on the word of God. And Jesus goes on to say. But inwardly these wolves.
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They come. Inwardly they are ravenous wolves. It takes a discerning sheep.
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Beloved. To see and recognize. That that's not a true sheep over there. And Jesus said that.
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You know them by the fruits. What kind of fruit do they bear? You say that's a wolf.
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He's all dressed up like a sheep. He's pretending to be a sheep. But he's a wolf. That's judgmental.
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Forget it. That's the word of God. People can have their own opinions. But I stand with God's word.
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Amen. It requires judging. The man's teaching is false.
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Now let's look a little bit at this. We live in times when tolerance is accepted. Right? Unity.
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Oh we've got to have unity. You've been divisive. You know where I'm going here. So called love.
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Pragmatism. Amen brother Keith. Pragmatism. If it works it's got to be of God. I'm loving.
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And you're not. Because I'm peaceful. Which usually means being nice.
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Is it being nice? This is dominant themes in evangelical church.
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Beloved. We need the word of the Lord. I'm telling you. We need a thus says the
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Lord. And if you dare to confront or expose sin nowadays you're labeled as someone teaching as unbiblical.
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Or legalistic. Or pharisaical. Or the person's a false teacher. Or you get accused of being judgmental or unloving.
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Beloved we're seeing more and more of this. Because there's a decline. From the holiness of God.
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In our society. But the Bible is crystal clear.
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The word of God is crystal clear that a pastor is being extremely unloving.
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Listen to this. Unloving to allow wolves to prey on the flock. And to allow sinning believers to infect the flock without confronting or exposing them.
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You know Calvin the reformer said this. The preacher, the pastor, the shepherd of God's people should have two voices.
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To call the sheep and to warn them of the wolf. I am here to tell you.
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That sums it up. Well what about chapter and verse? Don't give me Calvin. Well Calvin's good but I'll give you something better.
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Listen to Acts chapter 20. I love this. Paul's giving an exhortation to elders.
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Now I'm going to read this. Listen to the apostle Paul. Listen to the word of God.
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He's at Ephesus. He's about to depart. And he's not going to see them no more.
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So he's got a charge to give them. He charges them. Like he does
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Timothy in chapter 4 2 Timothy. From Meletus he's sent to Ephesus and called to him the elders of the church.
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I'm sorry verse 17. In verse 18 of chapter 20. And when they had come to him he said to them this is
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Paul's charge. Now listen very closely. This is one of my favorite verses in chapters in the word of God.
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And I love this. He says this. You yourselves know from the first day I set foot in Asia how
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I was with you the whole time. This man gave of himself beloved. Verse 19.
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Serving the Lord with all humility. And he was not kidding when he said this. And with tears with the trials which came upon me through the plots of the
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Jews. How I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable and teaching you publicly from house to house.
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He believed in house to house. Praise God. Verse 21. Solemnly solemnly.
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I'm sorry testifying to both Jews and Greeks. Listen to what he preached. A repentance toward God and faith in our
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Lord Jesus Christ. That was his message. That's the gospel right there. And then he said this in verse 22.
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And now behold bound by the spirit. Oh I love that. He's bound by the spirit.
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In other words he's the slave of Jesus Christ. And now he says behold
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I'm bound by the spirit. I am on my way to Jerusalem not knowing. He didn't know either.
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What was going to happen to me there. Except that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city saying that bonds and obligations await me.
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But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself.
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You know why he said that? Because he was already dead in Christ. He's living in Christ. He said to die is gain.
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He said there's no loss. He said I'm already dead. But he said
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I don't count my life dear to myself so that I may finish my course and the ministry which
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I receive from the Lord Jesus Christ to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God.
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Now he goes on to say this. And now behold I know that all of you among whom
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I went about preaching the kingdom. That's what he preached. I will no longer you will no longer see my face.
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This really hit them hard. And he said therefore now he's getting to what
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Jesus is talking about making judgments. Listen very closely. Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent what a testimony beloved of the blood of all men.
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This man had a clear conscience. Nothing more precious than that. I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God.
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The whole counsel of God. He preached it all. Now he goes on to say this but be on guard.
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Now this is an exhortation to the elders. Be on guard for yourselves for all the flock among which the
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Holy Spirit has made you overseers. In other words you got a duty. You got a responsibility to shepherd the church of God which he purchased with his own blood.
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That's valuable. In other words you've got something valuable. What he's saying is you've got something so priceless and valuable you better shepherd it right.
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And he tells them what to do. And he says oh I guess that they may come in.
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No. I know that after my departure savage wolves will come among you not sparing the flock.
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He's serious. A wolf does not spare the flock. He wants the sheep for one reason. He wants to eat them.
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He wants to eat the sheep. Well the shepherd he protects them.
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He's a protector. And listen to what he does. And from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after them.
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That's a cult. It's all about, amen, it's all about theatricals. You've already read my notes.
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You knew where I was going to go next. Well anyway, that's exactly right. Theatrophies.
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Therefore be on alert. Notice the warnings. Notice the warnings. And he said be on alert.
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Remember that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears.
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You talking about a man of God? This man he put his heart his soul and you know he did it gladly too.
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He didn't do it out of a bad motive. You know why he looked at it? I really believe
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Paul looked at number one that he saw that he caused hurt to the Lord Jesus Christ when he persecuted the church.
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And he said all that pain that's coming on me, that's gladly welcomed down. Because even though he didn't look at it like earning salvation but he saw it as a call.
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See beloved, that was his vocation. And it came to the point that he knew he was called to suffer.
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It was a calling to suffer. But he knew his reward in heaven would be great.
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Amen. Jesus is worth it. Now doesn't that motivate you to live for Jesus even more?
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And it goes on in verse 31. Therefore be on alert. Remember that night and day for a period of three years
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I did not cease to admonish each one with tears. And now, notice what he says.
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He's telling these elders, now I command you to God, to the word of his grace which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.
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And listen to what he says. Listen to his testimony. I have coveted no man's silver or gold or clothes.
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In other words, he wasn't in for the goods. He's in it for Jesus. He's got all the goods.
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He's got the goods. Verse 34, you yourselves know that these hands ministered to my own needs to the men who were with me.
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I tell you, a lot of pastors really need to study that right there. They better know why they're called and they better know that they're not in it to get something out of it but only to the
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Lord Jesus of birth's glory. And everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner.
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Oh, he believed in hard work. The apostle Paul? Yes, the apostle Paul. He worked hard.
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He was a tent maker in this manner. And then he said this, you must help the weak and remember the words of the
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Lord Jesus that he himself said, it is more blessed to give than to receive. He understood this.
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And I love what happened after he said this. Listen to the way the reaction was.
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When he had said these things, he knelt down. How beautiful is this? He knelt down and he prayed with them all.
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And they began to weep aloud and embraced him, embraced Paul, repeatedly kissed him, grieving especially over the word which he had spoken that they would not see his face again.
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And they were accompanying him to the ship. And they said goodbye, Paul. And I guarantee a lot of them, godly people said we'll meet you in heaven.
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We'll see you then. We'll see you at the throne. Praise God. That's glorious.
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Well, I tell you what, I have so much to be said here. I'm going to have to give this a closure because my time is about gone.
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Well, very quickly he exhorts these elders. Think of that. The Apostle Paul exhorting elders, leaders of the church.
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And that's what he told them. Warning them. Warning them against false teachers.
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Notice the warnings. One by one he gives them. I mean just bullet points.
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Bam. Bam. Just incredible. There's so many verses here.
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So many verses. Brother Michael said a minute ago, if you read in your devotional, 3
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John 9 and 10, the Apostle of Love, by the way, warns the flock about a man by the name of Diotrephes.
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Why? Because he loves to have the preeminence. He loves to draw people to himself and away from Jesus.
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I'm telling you that man was in trouble. And if you read the latter verses, it actually Paul, I'm sorry not
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Paul, but John says you overcome evil by good. And he basically gives them application.
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This is how you take care of men like Diotrephes. Now we don't know exactly how John the Apostle addressed
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Diotrephes. But I'm sure heaven I don't know unless Diotrephes repented you won't see
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Diotrephes in heaven. Because he was not a humble man. Amen.
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God will not share his glory with another. Well, very quickly let me bring this to a close and we'll pick up next week.
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Paul called people by names. He called them out by names. People say that's wrong
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Pastor. No, that's not what the scripture says. See, people don't know
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God's word. People are operating in the flesh because they want money and they got false motives and they serve
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God what they can get out of God. We don't serve
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God what we can get out of God. We don't serve God for his benefits. We serve God because God's God.
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And Jesus this glorious person laid down his life for our salvation.
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God in the flesh humbled himself. So the apostles were not in any way in these instances wrongly judging others.
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So we must conclude it is only not it is not judging someone to exercise discernment about ungodly behavior in the church.
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My goodness, I didn't even hit my second point on that. Wow. If you study 1
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Corinthians 13 Amen. Come on Pastor. Oh my goodness.
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You got the motive. You got the right motive. Amen. Amen. And we always must examine ourselves.
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Our heart's motive is in the light of 1 Corinthians 13. Paul talks about you can have all this faith.
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You can move mountains. He said you can have all this knowledge. You can understand all mysteries.
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You can even be a martyr and be burned alive for the wrong motive.
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If we don't have love, if you don't have charity He says what? You're nothing.
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Doesn't he get to the point? Now that makes me look here. Search me oh God and see if there be any wicked way in me.
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Lord have mercy on us. Do not speak evil against one another. Do not speak slander, slanderous, malign, damaging words to damage another person's reputation by sharing false, deliberately misleading information about someone that's in sin.
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Yes we are to be deserting but we're not to slanderously destroy someone's reputation.
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And you notice when a person does that? A person that's acting that out is lifting himself up and he's pulling the other person down or pushing them down I should say.
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You see? And he's trying to play, he's playing the hypocrite. And God's got his number.
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God will judge. And we're to pray for these people. But I'm here to tell you if a person's in sin in this, we are to call that out.
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Lovingly. Now, I don't have time to go there. There's restorative church discipline.
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It's all about to repair to to get the broken bone repaired.
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That's what it means. Restorative means, Michael knows what I'm talking about here, a dislocated limb.
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You've got a dislocated, a broken limb. God wants to heal it. It means to mend.
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And that's what Matthew 18 is talking about in its context. Let me give you one verse and then
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I'll close and I promise it. Galatians 6 .1 Brethren, He speaks to the brethren.
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Brethren, I love this verse. Even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore.
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Notice what you do. You restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. And then he gives a warning to the person that's in the ministry of restoring.
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Each one looking to yourself. In other words, be careful to yourself so that you too will not be tempted.
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In other words, even a stronger spiritual believer can be tempted to come down when you're coming down into that gutter, into that trench to help that person.
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You've got to be careful because Satan is right there ready to take you down. And I'm telling you that's why we always humble ourselves and I was going to go to Philippians chapter 2 to humble ourselves as Jesus humbled himself.
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And we'll pick that up next week. Praise God. Let's pray.
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And I've got a prayer to pray from the valley of vision. And you know it's going to be good from this. Amen. Praise the name of the
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Lord. God always meets with us and he's faithful. Listen to this prayer as we pray.
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And let this be your prayer this morning. Sovereign Lord, when clouds of darkness, atheism, and unbelief come to me,
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I see thy purpose of love and withdrawing the spirit that I might prize him more. And chastening me for my confidence in the past successes, that my wound of secret godlessness might be cured.
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Help me to humble myself before thee by seeing the vanity of honor as a conceit of men's minds as standing between me and thee by seeing that thy will must alone be done as much in denying as in giving spiritual enjoyments by seeing that my heart is nothing but evil mind, mouth, life void of thee by seeing that sin and Satan are a loud power in me that I might know my sin be humbled and gain strength thereby by seeing that unbelief shuts thee from me so that I sense not thy majesty, power, and mercy or love then possess me for thou art good and worthy.
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Thou dost not play in convincing me of sin Satan did not play in tempting me to it
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I do not play when I sink in deep mire for sin is no game, no toy, no
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Bible let me not forget that the heinousness of sin lies not so much in the nature of the sin committed as in the greatness of the person sinned against but when
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I am afraid of evils to come comfort me by showing me that in myself
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I am a dying condemned wretch but that in Christ I am reconciled made alive and satisfied and that I am feeble and unable to do any good but that in him
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I can do all things that what I now have in Christ is mine in part but shortly