Free My Soul!: From Judgements
Lead Pastor: Rollan Fisher
Focus: We will be freed in our souls from the bondage of judgment when we look to Jesus, the only truly righteous judge.
Why Having a Judgmental Heart is Unhealthy
How to Make a Right Judgment
Looking to the Perfect Judge
PRAY
Why Having a Judgmental Heart is Unhealthy
We must understand that having a critical, judgmental heart is bondage to our souls.
Think about it.
Why is having a judgmental heart so unhealthy?
I am usually bitter and/or angry in my own soul when judgmental towards others.
I am unable to enjoy the beauties of the life and relationships that I am given because I am always pointing out what is wrong, rather than what is right.
When I am quick to point out the errors of others, I do not have the wherewithal to realize my own shortcomings and faults (Matthew 7:1-5).
When I am judgmental, I am not happy until others are proven wrong.
I miss the grace of God for my own life because I am so merciless towards others who have failed my standards.
As a result, I end up treating myself and being treated with the same lack of mercy that I withhold from others.
James 2:8-13
If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
How to Make a Right Judgment
Jesus does not tell us not to simply throw out judgments, but teaches us how to make right judgments.
John 7:24
24 “Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.” -Jesus
Part of being a disciple and learning to make disciples is growing in the ability to gracefully judge - to distinguish between good and evil in the world.
The only way to tell the true difference between good and evil is to align yourself with the one that is altogether good - God.
Your identity as a Christian is to be a part of a royal priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Christ (I Peter 2:9,10).
So part of the primary role of the believer is to distinguish between the holy and the common, the unclean and the clean, that we might be pleasing to God.
God foreshadowed this by speaking of the priests through the prophet Ezekiel:
Ezekiel 44:23-24
They shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean. In a dispute, they shall act as judges, and they shall judge it according to my judgments. They shall keep my laws and my statutes in all my appointed feasts, and they shall keep my Sabbaths holy.
Two Categories of Judgment:
1. Judgments regarding the sin in the world:
God will judge sin and those who persist in it (I Corinthians 5).
We are to be ambassadors of reconciliation between God and mankind with the gospel of Christ here (II Corinthians 5).
2. Judgments within the church:
We are to encourage one another to grow in the image of God as we provoke one another to love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:23-25).
This is where it gets tricky.
Many times, as believers, we mistake our preferences for what is the standard of good.
There is a difference between the commands of God and your personal convictions.
The only way that we are going to be able to walk in the love of Christ is to be able to distinguish between the two.
Romans 14 and 15 - In these passages, Paul instructs us how to live as followers of Christ, placing others’ interests above our own when navigating disputable civil matters.
Romans 14:1-15:13
As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him.
Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.
The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord.
So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother?
For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.
Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died.
So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding. Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble. The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves.
But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.” For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God's truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, “Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles, and sing to your name.” And again it is said, “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.” And again, “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples extol him.” And again Isaiah says, “The root of Jesse will come, even he who arises to rule the Gentiles; in him will the Gentiles hope.” May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
*We all want to see ourselves as those with strong faith.
We all believe our points of view are correct.
However, God’s objective is clear - no matter how right you believe you are, or how you see yourself, placing others’ interests above your own for the sake of Christ is our standard of interaction with others in the world.
Our highest aims must be Christ’s goals - that which will both exalt and advance HIS eternal Kingdom.
Everything else is temporary and has a shelf-life to it.
The problem is that our character is cementing depending on where we stand and what we exalt.
*You are in error when you allow yourself to disobey the clear, written commands of God to uphold your own convictions.
How do I know when I am missing the mark in my judgments?
There is no reference to Jesus Christ - his character, his will or his Word.
I am more concerned with my interests than I am with those of others.
I am nasty in my disposition towards others who disagree with me.
-Always remember that you can be perfectly right while operating in the perfectly wrong spirit.
How do I make the right judgments?
Go prayerfully to Christ and his Word.
If I have chapter and (Bible) verse for why I am doing what I am doing, then I know it is my great ambition to align myself with the perfect judge, rather than the opinions and trappings of the world.
Looking to the Perfect Judge
Jesus is the only perfect judge, so we must align ourselves with him.
Everyone else in the world is driven by their ulterior motives and baggage.
It is through Christ’s life and example alone that we learn to make right judgments.
How do we know that we can trust Christ’s judgments?
His judgments were both selfless and true.
This is why an encounter with Jesus Christ at the cross is imperative for our relationship with God and healthy dynamics with our fellow human beings.
It was only through the cross of Christ that sin was both perfectly addressed and provision was made for a complete escape from judgments.
It was only through the cross that both a perfect judgment and a perfect reconciliation were ultimately displayed.
This is that into which God now calls us to follow him in relationship with others.
So what am I to do?
Repent of the ways that I’ve made idols of issues above Christ and his Word.
Repent of clinging to wisdom from the world devoid of the thoughts, character and motives of Christ.
Intentionally think about ways that I can be thankful for and commend others around me, rather than simply the ways that I can tear them down.
Make Jesus and his Kingdom my filter for all decision making, becoming all things to all people, so that by all possible means, I might win as many as possible to the person and cause of Christ (I Corinthians 9).
Through repentance and faith, we come into the peace of God for our minds, hearts and disposition toward others.
Come to the cross today and be freed of the bondage of judgments in your soul.
Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher 2021