Who Are You to Judge Another?

Please turn in your Bibles to the book of James in chapter 4 Before I read the text.

I wanted to thank you for your prayers and support as I traveled to, Ohio over the last several days and attended the funeral of a friend of mine who was a minister and his two children and There's a lot of hard things in relationship to not just the death

But the relationship between him and and the CPC and other things and it was a good time and pray for a continued reconciliation and that we'd be able to minister to the family in the future and that Relationships that are hard in town there would also there be reconciliation there.

I really thank you for your prayers and support in that James chapter 4

I'm gonna begin reading in verse 1 Where do wars and fights come from among you

Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members you lust and do not have

You murder and covet and cannot obtain you fight in war yet You do not have because you do not ask

You ask and do not receive because you ask amiss that you may spend it on your pleasures

Adulterers and adulterous is do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?

Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God Or do you think that the scripture says in vain the spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously?

But he gives more grace Therefore he says God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble

Therefore submit to God resist the devil and he will flee from you Draw near to God and he will draw near to you

Cleanse your hands you sinners and purify your hearts you double -minded

Lament and mourn and weep let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom

Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and he will lift you up and now our text for today

Do not speak evil of one another brethren He who speaks evil of a 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

There is one lawgiver who is able to save and to destroy Who are you to judge?

another This is God's holy and infallible word.

Please pray with me now. Oh Lord we are a people of unclean lips

We run our mouths improperly we we talk too much Lord we condemn with our words those for whom you have died and we

We seek to take the place of you as the righteous judge. No Lord. I pray that you would bring conviction upon us that would lead to repentance

And greater faithfulness and joy and Thanksgiving as a result and we ask this all in Jesus name

Amen Please be seated I'm also happy to report that my grandson

Callan is Here today for his first worship service. I'm so happy to see

Jacob and Veda and Callan what a great blessing to have you here today Who are you?

To judge another today the Message really hinges on verse 11 the the command that's given there

Do not speak evil of one another brethren James has already it seems exhaustively so talked about the tongue and Bridling it and the dangers of misusing it

Here he continues another illustration another example about how the people of God can misuse their words in such a way to do harm to other real brethren and If you ever have spent any time on the internet or gone to a conference or gathered around with a group of Christians We speak evil of one another regularly

We speak evil of those for whom Christ has died and we need to repent and to stop doing that So today there are two kind of sections that I like us to consider first the command and the implications of it

Do not speak evil of One another and second the consequences that would happen if we violate it

Let's look at verse 11 again Do not speak evil

The word that is most commonly associated with this term for us is probably slander and To slander is to defame to injure by maliciously uttering a false report

But it also entails uttering a true report That goes outside the definition of what we think of a slander but that could be evil speaking that makes sense we can tarnish or impair the reputation of another by false tales or true tales maliciously told or propagated

To speak evil is to speak against to backbite

To speak down in a hostile Deriding way to mock and even as we prayed to revile

It is a malice of speech that's directed against one's neighbor and Positively as was prayed in our prayers of the people

When Christ was reviled he did not revile in return

Why do we speak evil of one another Why is this true for us who have

Tasted and seen that the Lord is good that they have been the recipients and beneficiaries of his grace and mercy

Christ does not speak evil of us the father in the spirit

Do not speak evil of us because we have been united to Christ in faith and we have been washed

The righteous judge doesn't speak evil of his people Why do his people speak evil of?

his people There's another element to this. I'd like you to consider There are two sections

Lord willing next week will consider The section that begins in verse 13 and and both of these still deal with the tongue

This is a Condemnation in our section in verses 11 and 12

But in verse 13, there's also the boasting So we see these are two sides of a similar problem and has been the case in James What we realize is our speaking evil of another is rooted in our pride

When I can point out your deficiencies I can elevate my superiority

You can say you're doing it because of Orthodoxy, but in reality, you're probably not doing it for that reason.

You're probably doing it because of your pride we are

Particularly people who care about the culture and the things we are Grieved by the sins of the world in Fact we hate the sins of our wives and our husbands and our children and our extended family

We hate our sin She's we hate their sins But but the real question for us is and this is really at the heart of a true revival of Religion in a person's life and heart and in the church and a denomination in a region in the nation in the world

Is do we hate our? sin We hate the homosexuality we hate the transgenderism we don't hate the pride in us

We can tell you all the things that are wrong out there, but we don't look inwardly and say what's wrong in here

Let's build the kingdom of God we might say but but can we build the kingdom of God without addressing that resident problem within the

Christian Needs to speak the truth about sin And this is not to say that we can never say that a person is doing something wrong, but I fear too often

Our speaking evil is filled with malice There's another element

That I'd like us to consider here and one of the things that's hard about this Particular section is it doesn't seem to be properly tied as it has been recently with other parts of the immediate preceding context upon first glance but but it does have to ask the question if God resists the proud and Speaking evil of one another is a symbol and sign of pride

Then it follows that in order to not be one who is resisted by God as proud

We cannot speak evil of one another so I see a very strong connection ultimately to the previous context if the devil is the

Diabolical one the slanderer It would follow and it would seem that in order for me to resist the devil

I would not need to Follow his ways if I speak evil of the brethren

I am acting like the great slanderer himself there's a

Qualification list for elders and deacons and first Timothy 3.

I don't want you to turn there Under the list of the deaconate requirements is

Something along these lines It says and of course because the lesser office includes this this would be true of the office of the elder as well

It says first Timothy 3 11 Likewise their wives must be reverent

Not slanderers Temperate faithful in all things

In Proverbs chapter 6 there are six things that the Lord hates seven that are an abomination to him a

Proud look a lying tongue

Hands that shed innocent blood a Heart that devises wicked plans feet that are swift and running to evil a false witness who speaks lies and one who sows discord among brethren

Three of the seven abominations in the sight of God are speaking evil this should cause us to Be very cautious with our words

You might say I Can speak evil of the pagans.

You can't really even speak evil of them because they are made in the image of God They may be numbered among the elect for whom

Christ has died You can't even speak evil of them. Oh Lord bridle the tongues of us your people

Who run our mouths and and deride and tear down and destroy with our lips

Oh Lord humble us in your sight and do not allow us to speak evil

There's another element to this. It's important the next level of discussion here it says he who this is the second half of verse 11 he who speaks evil of a brother and Judges his brother

Speaks evil of the law and judges the law To judge is to come to a decision to separate

But here this isn't necessarily just dealing with right and wrong. This is

Judging someone in such a way to subject them to censure Those are minions

They don't know the gospel Those are minions may have their doctrine of soteriology wrong, but if they're trusting the

Lord Jesus Christ Can't speak evil of them. This applies across all of the different disciplines that we

Consider important To be a judge in this case is to be those who act the part of Arbiters and and pass judgment on the deeds and words of others.

This is the Judging of motives. We see someone do something.

We say that guy is always doing this. He's He's that way we don't know that that man has not repented

And that was part of his former conduct We are those in our judgment who judge severely and unfairly

Finding fault with this or that and others and of course this language in our section the grammar and The tenses the moods all the things that contribute to this.

This is equivalent in this idea of judging to condemning

So to speak evil of a brother is to condemn him It is to sit in judgment over him and doing this

James says that we are actually speaking evil of the law and I believe the original audience like us and them more.

So they highly esteem the law of God In order to pass judgment on our brother to condemn him

We are in fact are speaking evil of God's holy law and We are sitting in judgment of the law

Do we do that? The law sits in judgment over us

It's God's codified instrument to say this is right and this is wrong and James says when we go outside of that We become usurpers of the authority of God We're gonna be resisted because that is a proud and haughty man and woman and child who sits in judgment of the law of God and speaks evil and judges his neighbor

Ecclesiastes 7 says a good name is better than precious ointment

Proverbs 22 says a good name is to be chosen rather than great riches and Favor is better than silver or gold

To bear false witness is a violation of the ninth commandment and we think this is just merely lying in court if we pronounce

Condemnation upon a man who woman or child who's redeemed in Christ.

We are violating the ninth commandment Thomas Watson says so eloquently

The scorpion carries his poison in his tail The slanderer carries his poison in his tongue

Paul the Apostle was even slandered They said men might do evil that God may make some good come out of it

Let us do evil that good may come they said it was slanderously reported that Paul was teaching this he wasn't

Christ the Most Holy One was called a glutton and a drunkard John the

Baptist a holy man was said of him that he had a demon to speak evil is to strike wounding blows with the tongue to harm our brother our sister in Christ to sit in judgment of them

When I speak evil of a brother, I lie about God's grace in their life.

I also Deny that God is sanctifying them now or could in the future

Why do we discard people

How many Preachers have you thrown away John Piper discarded now

Why do older preachers get liberal? I don't know they do John Piper really loves

Jesus. He's we've got errors. We can't discard John Piper We tear down people

We Dismiss people we diminish people we despise people we look down upon them.

We think so highly of ourselves And this has already been mentioned under the guise of defending

Orthodox doctrine. We wound those For whom Christ is died

Truth telling is magnified If I See my brother sinning.

I have a lot of remedies to help him. I can go to my brother according to Matthew 18 particularly if I have been sinned against I can come to him with the idea of Galatians 6 to to bear his burden and the law of Christ I Can take

Paul's example from Ephesians and put away all evil speaking and let all bitterness wrath and anger

To be put away from us with all malice Why do we pronounce judgment?

Why do we subject our brother to censure? Why do we pass judgment on?

the holy righteous law of God As I've said many times in our study in James that there is a close connection

To James's teaching and the Sermon on the Mount. I'm not going to have you turn many times I'm going to ask you now to turn to Matthew in chapter 7.

I Remember 20 plus years ago now that the most popular

Bible verse in the culture had been supplanted

John 3 16 and The verse that replaced it was

Matthew 7 1 and only 7 1 no context no other verses

You're not allowed to judge. It's not what it teaches We are to judge righteously

But in our judgment we're seeking the glory of God the purity and peace and unity of his church and the good of our brother

None of it is entails us Dragging them through the mud

None of this entails us Disparaging them all of it is for their good.

We come to them. We confront them We we deal with them There's maybe we as those who love we we cover their sins the multitude of their sins with our love for them see if you can see a connection between Matthew 7 in our text

Judge not That you be not judged for with what judgment you judge you will be judged and With the measure you use it will be measured

Back to you. That's a little frightening if I'm a reviler

Covenantally I've invited reviling into my life If I have a critical spirit against my brother or sister

I am inviting the critical nature of sinful man into my life

We reap what we sow And now the critical part

My brother doesn't have His doctrine and order there are things that I like and care about that.

He doesn't have And so I Speak derisively of him Why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye?

But do not consider the plank in your own eye Or how can you say to your brother?

Let me remove the speck from your eye and Look a plank is in your own eye

This passage speaks to the world in which I live I Can see the speck in my brother's eye

And there's a plank sticking out of mine Is that true for you?

These things ought not to be and today we are being warned by the Lord and we've been confronted with this

We have to amend our behavior. This is fresh to us now verse 5 it says hypocrite

First remove the plank from your own eye And you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye

Augustine has said the wounds of the tongue No physician can heal

One time I was asked to preach very the early days of me being called into ministry my brother -in -law was

Ill or something. There's so much short notice and I had to preach Day of no previous notice

There was a guy there as a visitor. He wasn't the best guy. He was a little bit of a troublemaker and He told me to not quit my day job now

I Don't have the gifts that other men have but I believe the Lord called me to preach

That's done for a young preacher As 20s trying to be a faithful servant

How many times have we done that? Off -handed remarks little digs little jabs

It's so cowardly and What we also do is where we're passive -aggressive to them in person we don't really say what we think about them, but we talk bad about them behind their backs and slander their good name

Three of the great abominations the things that the Lord hates This is something that the church now has to To look at I don't think you're any worse.

You're probably better than the average church But I think this is a real issue for the time in which we live

We speak evil of one another and it's easy. I think we kind of in our flesh.

I think we like it It's fun to run some people down who aren't like us it makes us feel good

It's all selfish and it's all Very unsavory turn back to James now

David in Psalm 140 Was crying out to God for Deliverance from wicked men and this language comes up and the words of Jesus and also

John the Baptist and Paul They sharpen their tongues like a serpent and the poison of asps is under their lips

Think about that great serpent in the garden. What was his weapon? What was the warfare?

his words Ecclesiastes 10 says the words of a wise man

And wise man's mouth are gracious But the lips of the fool shall

Swallow him up Those who are thinking of a law righteousness and rejecting grace and the salvation that is in Christ alone

Paul says their throat is an open tomb With their tongues they have practiced deceit the poison of ass is under Their lips

He who speaks evil of a brother And judges a brother speaks evil of the law and judges the law

But if you judge the law you see the cruel irony here.

We do not judge the law the law judges us You are not a doer of the law but a judge

You have circumvented the holy process You Have made yourself the judge you are not a law keeper

You are not upholding the royal law of love of James chapter 2

You're not loving your neighbor as yourself in order to fulfill the royal law according to Scripture You're being prideful

Self -interested when you violate this principle of Scripture and now verse 12

The commandment has some very terrifying

Consequences there is chastening and correction for those who violate this principle

I pray the Lord will enable us to stop speaking against The brethren and other genuine

Christians that we would have true unity in Christ It says there is one

Lawgiver Jesus Christ is the lawgiver and the

Sermon on the Mount is the amplification of the Ten Commandments there is a external way to obey the

Ten Commandments a conformity from without that looks righteous and Jesus shatters that notion in the

Sermon on the Mount and says these are matters deep within the hearts of the people In order to obey the law,

I can't have the outward performance I have to have the inward reality the substance of it thankfully

James 4 6 is still in play. He gives more grace There's a lawgiver.

His name is Christ and the lawgiver has Amplified and expounded upon the

Word of God to give us the full understanding of what the law is He alone is the one who is able to save and to destroy

He's the one who sits in condemnation. He's the one who strikes the gavel

Who are you? to judge another

Well, it's not all bad news. There's some good news the lawgiver the law expounder the law teacher is

Also the law keeper this sounds like you're studying this morning But and if I in faith have been united to Christ I have been reconciled to the law.

I Have been reconciled to God's holiness on the cross justice and mercy have kissed and It has fallen in sweet places to you who know

Christ I think that's why James is so adamant.

How could we go back against that? He has kept the law in our stead

We have been vitally united to him. We are alive in him

We have the punishments and penalties of the law have been removed because of the grace of God in Christ So glad he's the righteous judge and we are not

How could you? Judge another brethren

James has been very concerned that we have a genuine Christian faith a faith that Because it is so pure and true and it's singular

Devotion and trust in Christ it of necessity and by implication Manifests itself and living a certain way

You and I today Have to stop speaking evil of one another

We still need to cry out against sin in ourselves and in the church

But but we cannot condemn those for whom Christ has died I've talked about this many times and I'm in my

Old age. I'm getting known for being gentle. I have not always

Been gentle and I can tell you with great certainty if you come against my bride or my children

I will probably respond with great ferocity

Toward you how much more so the righteous indignation of Christ Would respond to those who speak treacherously and condemning of his bride and his children

That that's why it's so nonsensical for James that that we could participate in such a thing

It goes against our very new nature in him wanted to I've told my children this a number of times.

There are a lot of things That we focus on and care about my friend is a very ambitious man very

Vision mission oriented guy. He had a lot of plans. He's doing ministry in Honduras and ministry in Myanmar and Feeding homeless people and witnessing.

I mean just unbelievable. He made a lot of plans Last Sunday, he he preached the word and led his church in worship

He went to bed on Monday night and woke up to his house on fire

He started getting his wife and his kids out and he and he ran upstairs to get the last two boys out and They didn't make it out

He didn't make it out We need to cut through all of it

Distracts us there. There's one pressing and urgent need of the moment The most important thing in the world is that you be united to Christ Everything else is a far second today

The only thing that matters for the Robinettes is do they know Christ? And on the day of your death the only thing that will matter.

Are you united to Christ? everyone here

I Know I suspect believe you're Christians But this is the most important thing.

This is the chief business of our lives because If the day of our death is to be sweeter than the day of our birth we have to know

Christ and Since we know Christ and we've professed our Devotion and love for him and and we're going to be united to him again in this very tangible way in the sacrament

It follows that that we ought to live as those who are united to Christ Not taking stock in our performance

But drawing from the great love with which he has loved us and saved us

Brethren We're supposed to be known for our love

I wonder if some of the impotency of the gospel in our time is

The culture doesn't say like they did and acts. Oh, look how they love one another

They see us and they say oh look how they hate One another

Repentance is required for me and you and our church and every church We need to continue to fight and to strive to have pure doctrine, but we can't ever

Condemn those for whom Christ has died. Amen Let's pray together

Oh Lord we we confess

I Pray that you will bring to remembrance the ways in which we do this

We sit in judgment. We're so haughty. We're so Idolatrous, we think so highly of ourselves.

Oh God Help us now to repent of speaking evil of your precious ones

Help us to see the the hubris The delusion that we would be sitting in judgment and usurping the ruling of our

Great judge the one and only lawgiver No, Lord, Jesus.

I thank you that you've you've accepted us we who are slanderers and backbiters

Who sit in judgment of those whom we ought not and Lord you? Because of your great love and mercy and grace you have saved even us

Pray that you would draw out the source of venom in us

That we might show the love and honor that is due your name by loving and serving our brethren

And Lord, we thank you that you have reconciled us to yourself And I pray that our time and communion will be sweeter today when we consider this great work.