1. Christians are both forbidden and commanded to judge: “24: Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment” (John 7).

2. “Righteous judgment” “Verse 24. Judge not according to the appearance. Not as a thing first offers itself to you, without reflection or candor. In appearance, to circumcise a child on the Sabbath might be a violation of the law; yet you do it, and it is right. So, to appearance, it might be a violation of the Sabbath to heal a man, yet it is right to do works of necessity and mercy. Judge righteous judgment. Candidly; looking at the law…” (Albert Barnes, cp. Luke 1: 6, Gal. 2: 14, John 12: 48, cp. Deut. 1: 16, 17).

3. What is judging? Judge (Noun and Verb) [Verb] krino primarily denotes "to separate, select, choose;" hence, "to determine," and so "to judge, pronounce judgment." "The uses of this verb in the NT may be analyzed as follows: (a) to assume the office of a judge,…, John 3: 17. (b) to undergo process of trial, John 3: 18.... (c) to give sentence, Acts 15: 19; Acts 16: 4; Acts 21: 25. (d) to condemn, John 12: 48;… Rom. 2: 27. (e) to execute judgment upon, 2 Thes. 2: 12…

4. What is judging? (f) to be involved in a lawsuit, whether as plaintiff, Matt. 5: 40; I Cor. 6: 1; or as defendant, Acts 23: 6. (g) to administer affairs, to govern, Matt. 19: 28; cp. Judg. 3: 10. (h) to form an opinion, Luke 7: 43; John 7: 24; Acts 4: 19; Rom. 14: 5. (i) to make a resolve, Acts 3: 13; I Cor. 2: 2" [From Notes on Thessalonians by Hogg and Vine, p. 267.]

5. Jesus encouraged judging “54: And he said also to the people, When ye see a cloud rise out of the west, straightway ye say, There cometh a shower; and so it is. 55: And when ye see the south wind blow, ye say, There will be heat; and it cometh to pass. 56: Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that ye do not discern this time? 57: Yea, and why even of yourselves judge ye not what is right?” (Luke 12.)

6. Paul was asked to judge Lydia “15: And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us” (Acts 16).

7. Christians were to judge the church “5: I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? no, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren? 6: But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers. 7: Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another…” (I Cor. 6).

8. We must avoid sinful judging - Must be “righteous judgment” -  Subjective judgment (“I feel”).  Ascribing motives (“You did it because…”).  Emotionally judging.  Censorious judgment (cp. Jas. 4: 11, 12).

9. If worse than subject Do Not Judge Do Judge Jesus taught judging By appearance only Romans asked to judge If just as bad Paul judged If in area of libertyJudgment in reasoning Using wrong law Using the right law

10. "God created male and female and intended that a man be a man and a woman be a woman and that in marriage they would produce a family. From the Old Testament we learn that homosexuality is a sin.... The apostle Paul clearly taught that people can repent and discontinue homosexuality as well as other sins, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11."

11. “The discerning of spirits” “10: To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues” (I Cor. 12). The above refers to miraculous ability provided to some in the First Century (v. 11). We can discern today, using the word and gathered facts.

12. “The discerning of spirits” 1. By their teaching – Acts 15: 2, 1, 5, 24. 2. By their deeds – Acts 20: 18, 19, 33, 34. 3. By what they do not do – Matt. 23: 3, 4. 4. By physical appearance – John 7: 24, cp. 23, 5: 8, 9. See Proverbs 7: 10.

13. Conclusion: Let us faithfully fulfill our duty to rightly judge and avoid all sinful judgments. “Good judgment” is an essential to happiness and the avoidance of choices that result in hurt and misery.