Remember ! Our festival of praise is this Saturday.

Who’s The Judge ?

Matthew 12: 34-35 You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. 35 The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil.

Matthew 6: 24 No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth. James 4:4 You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

James 4: 7 Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Ephesians 6: 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.

Our last lesson : 1. We cannot tolerate evil speaking. 2. There are reasons people speak evil. 3. Evil speaking produces negative results. 4. We must work together to overcome.

James 4: 11-12 Do not speak against one another, brethren. He who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge of it. 12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy; but who are you who judge your neighbor?

With this lesson : 1. We will clarify what it means to judge. 2. As sovereign, God judges as He wills. 3. We are also commanded to judge. 4. It’s okay for brethren to disagree. 5. We’ll all be judges by God on that day.

I. In scripture, how is the term “judge” used ?

Genesis 15: 13-14 God said to Abram, "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years. 14 "But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with many possessions.

Genesis 16: 4-6 He went in to Hagar, and she conceived; and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her sight. 5 And Sarai said to Abram, "May the wrong done me be upon you. I gave my maid into your arms, but when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her sight. May the Lord judge between you and me." 6 But Abram said to Sarai, "Behold, your maid is in your power; do to her what is good in your sight." So Sarai treated her harshly, and she fled from her presence.

Exodus 18: 25-26 Moses chose able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens. 26 They judged the people at all times; the difficult dispute they would bring to Moses, but every minor dispute they themselves would judge.

Judge 2: 18-19 When the Lord raised up judges for them, the was with the judge and delivered them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for the Lord was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who oppressed and afflicted them. 19 But it came about when the judge died, that they would turn back and act more corruptly than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them and bow down to them; they did not abandon their practices or their stubborn ways.

Romans 14: 1 Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions. … 4 Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. … 10 But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.

of all creation, God brings judgments on men and on nations. II. As the sovereign ruler of all creation, God brings judgments on men and on nations.

God reserves ALL punitive judgment to Himself. Hebrews 10: 30-31 For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” 31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

III. Even so, Christians are to judge others. Is this a contradiction.

John 7: 23-24 If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the Law of Moses will not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made an entire man well on the Sabbath? 24 Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”

I Corinthians 5: 10-11 I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world. 11 But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one.

I Corinthians 6: 1-5 Does any one of you, when he has a case against his neighbor, dare to go to law before the unrighteous and not before the saints? 2 Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? If the world is judged by you, are you not competent to constitute the smallest law courts? 3 Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more matters of this life? 4 So if you have law courts dealing with matters of this life, do you appoint them as judges who are of no account in the church? 5 I say this to your shame. Is it so, that there is not among you one wise man who will be able to decide between his brethren,

James 2: 3-4 and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, and say, "You sit here in a good place," and you say to the poor man, "You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool," 4 have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives?

IV. It is okay for Christians to disagree about some things.

Romans 15: 7 – Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God. I Peter 4: 8 – Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins. Romans14: 1 – Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions. 2 One person has faith that he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats vegetables only.

Romans 14: 5 One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and he who eats, does so for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who eats not, for the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God.

V. We will all individually stand before the judgment bar of Jesus.

I Corinthians 4: 5 Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men's hearts; and then each man's praise will come to him from God.

Romans 2: 5-6 But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, 6 who will render to each person according to his deeds:

Acts 17: 30-31 Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, 31 because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead."

The day is set !! When will it be ? Are you ready ?

We remember. Jesus Christ our Passover Was sacrificed for our sin

Saturday the church will come together in a holy convocation Place : Lion’s Club bldg in Park Time : 2:00 – 4:30 Agenda : Praising God