Grace and Judgement (#1032)
Good morning. Today, we’re going to continue our series on the grace of God and get into a subject, that is frankly rather involved, consider this kind of an introduction today then a final word on the topic, because we’re going to talk about grace and judgement. Judgement is a tough thing. People, I think, perhaps by nature, probably the nature of the old man, like to judge everything and everybody around them. They like to compare people to the way they are, and people that don’t measure up to the way they are, or the way they claim to be, they want to judge and think of them as somehow inferior, or sinful. And it is a very slippery slope. Because, as we’ll see as we go into this, first-of-all, the human condition is such that it’s impossible for any of us to ever be perfect. Sometimes we do better than others, sometimes we do better than ourselves, sometimes we do well for a while, then we don’t do so well for a while, and it is just a tough thing. And, when it comes right down to it, God is the only one that can judge accurately where people are at.
And, because we are in the age of grace, He doesn’t seem to spend a lot of His energy judging people, He seems to spend His energy loving people and answering their prayers and trying to help them, which as we are to imitators of God, that is what we ought to be doing instead of judging people and deciding who is more righteous then somebody else, we ought to realize as we try to do that righteousness come through Jesus Christ, and we just shouldn’t be worried about what everybody else does. Other than to love them and pray for them and help them. But it is a very challenging topic, we’re going to read some very challenging sections of scripture.
Again, I don’t pretend to have the final word on the sections of scripture, even on the topic. I’m reminded of things like where it says the weakness of God is strong than man, and the something of God is wiser than man. In other words, God is so far above where we are, that the idea that we should judge between ourselves is amazing. It would be like somebody is driving down the road in a Ferrari and you and I are taking a walk, and you’re all excited because you can walk a little faster than I can; well, so what, there is a guy in a Ferrari. He can go much faster then either of us can walk, run, or sprint. Well that is sort of the way God is. He is so far above where we are, that the idea that I should compare myself to you and say I’m better, or smarter, or anything, is just silly. Just silly. But people do it. So, we’re not going to stop people from dong it, but what we can do is learn from God’s word the folly of judging others.
And I know there are verses in the Bible that talk about, that if your brethren have a fight with each other, rather than going to the law or unbeliever, we should be wise enough as Christian brothers and sisters to judge the truth of the matter and work through it, but that is a different thing. That is working through a disagreement, I’m talking about just judging people about the way they live or the way they talk, or the way they dress, or one of the many, many other things that people judge each other on, it is just silly to do that, because it is really God’s job.
What we’ll see is as we get into this, is that is very challenging being a human being. It is just as challenging being a human being who is Christian trying to live God’s word. It is very difficult to really understand where people are really at, completely, you may see a little bit. What does it say somewhere? No one knows the heart of a man, except the man himself and God. It’s just not possible, so when it comes down to it: we love one another, we help one another, and ultimately, we look to God. Because God is the one who really understands us completely and can show us what to do. And, if we are off the ball, he can show us. And there are plenty of other verses about that. Like I say, we might have to have a part two on this one, I’m already thinking of half-a-dozen of things I should have put in the notes, so maybe we’ll do part two next time. At any rate, let’s start in II Kings chapter five…
As taught by Bruce Mahone 20211121. All rights reserved.
Verse Listing and Notes
II Kings 5:18-19 Go in peace
John 8:10-11 Neither do I condemn thee
Matthew 12:1-8 David and the shewbread (sacred loaves)
Romans 7 I delight in the law of God after the inward man (vs. 22)
II Corinthians 3 Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (vs. 17)
Matthew 7:1-5 Judge not, that ye be not judged (vs. 1)
Romans 2:1 Thou that judgest doeth the same things
II Corinthians10:1-12 They measuring themselves by themselves are not wise (vs. 12)
Romans 5:1ff We HAVE peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ
Teaching