God of our salvation, we come into your presence with the joy of being in your service, of spending time in Your word. Tonight we study about Judging, and what meaning that may have for our lives. We are thankful for your word in our study of The Sermon On The Mount, as given to us by Jesus. We pray that our fellowship today will bless each one here and give each of us joy and purpose that we may be useful vessels in your service. Be with those of our group who cannot be here today, we pray you will share our blessing with them. Be with those of us who are suffering illness and those who care for them. Restore their health and bring them back into our midst. In Jesus name we pray, Amen
Mat 7:1 "Do not judge, or you too will be judged.
Mat 7:2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
Mat 7:3 "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?
Mat 7:4 How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?
Mat 7:5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.
Jesus often says things in a way that requires us to think about them. In this case, he has used hyperbole, or exaggeration to make a point. He doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t judge others in the sense of forming a moral appraisal of their behavior. We can’t avoid doing that, and we should not avoid doing that. If such were the case, the injustice in the world would never be addressed. In these verses Jesus was speaking to the people in words they could easily associate with their life experiences.
In addition to processing the thought of “not judging” it brings about the thought of being merciful, compassionate, and forgiving of others, it can include other things, such as: Giving others the benefit of the doubt, and leaving the ultimate judgment of others to God instead of simply concluding that someone is (or should be) condemned. Jesus’ means that we are to be respectful of the positions of others and that we should not jump to our judgmental conclusions, since we too have our own faults, some of which may even be greater than the faults of those whom we are attempting to judge.
And in this same thought process we are not to be forgetful of our own judgment. God who ultimately judges all will allow that as we measured our judgments made of others, so shall we will be judged, even so by the same measure that we applied to our fellow man.
We are to be mindful of our own shortcomings, failures, and unrighteousness before forming a conditional judgment about others. We are to first remove the plank from our own eye.
One must be convinced of the manner of judgment, and search the Scriptures without bias as to what God requires if they are to dwell with Him forever, understanding scripture verses such as Isaiah 55:7; Acts 3:19; Hebrews 5:9, so as to obtain a full answer to the question, “What must I do to be saved?”
Pg.2
Making judgments:
Have you ever heard the saying that you only have one chance to make a first impression. That saying relates to the matter of someone making a judgment about or forming an opinion of another person. Jesus even instructed his disciples with respect to their judgment of others. Luke 9:5
Q.1 Why would Jesus make such a statement to his disciples?
Q.2 What are those aspects in this verse one might regard as judgmental?
Q.3 Under what conditions might our first impression be wrong?
Q.4 How is it possible to make a bad first impression?
Being Judgmental:
Jesus was very critical of those teachers, scribes and Pharisees who were judgmental of their fellow man. Matthew 23:13
Q.1 Why was Jesus so critical of the scribes and Pharisees?
Q.2 What is the reasoning behind Jesus’ comments?
Q.3 Where might one find this hyper critical attitude existing today?
Q.4 When are there times that you would be critical in judging others?
Passing Judgment:
There comes a time it the life of everyone, when judgments of circumstances, people places and things must be formed. When Jesus was temped by Satan in the wilderness. Matthew 4:10 Jesus had been temped with food, circumstance, wealth and power, all he needed to do was to give up his soul.
Q.1 What are some things that we must make judgments about ?
Q.2 Why must we make judgments about certain places?
Q.3 How are we to judge circumstances with which we become involved day by day?
Q.4 When might one appreciate being “a good judge of character”?
Being Judged:
Each man gets out of the world of men the rebound, the increase and development of what he brings there. What once man sends out into the world, will return to him in equal or greater measure. There will be a day of judgment for all. And each of us will be judged on our own merits, not on the merits of those who may have judged us during our lifetime. God is the ultimate and final judge. Matthew12:36
Q.1 What do we think will be the criteria for our final judgment.?
Q.2 Why would anyone have a fear of final judgment?
Q.3 Does God hear every word spoken?
Q.4 Why did Jesus speak about judgment in such a stern manner?
Pg.3
Bible Verses
Isaiah 55:6 Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near. 7 Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
Act 3:19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, 20 and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you--even Jesus.
Hebrews 5:8 Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered ,9 and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.
Luke 9:5 If people do not welcome you, leave their town and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them."
Matthew 23:13 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to
Matthew 4:10 Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’
Matthew12:36 But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken.
Closing Prayer:
Father God: we ask that you continue with us as we leave this place, make a blessing for each one here and deliver us safely to our homes. Be with those of us who need our prayers and Your healing touch_(prayer requests)_ And now we ask that You bless each one mentioned here tonight with Your comfort and assurance, and offer them the strength to endure so that Your name may be exalted. We pray for our loved ones and families….. may it please You to keep us from all harm and bring us together again when next we assemble in Your name.
In the name of Jesus we pray, Amen
On judging………. A Meditation Pg.4
Perhaps, if we weren't so busy regarding the shortcomings of others, we would find that most of us do possess redeeming qualities, discreet as they may be. Some may even be God given.
Some of us notice when the sky is blue, when the night is dark, and when the stars are out. Some pay attention to the moon, and the man in it. Others look at it as a symbol of romantic love, still others regard it at the time of harvest.
Most of us are chilled by a cold wind and warmed by the summer breezes. All of us have differing opinions on many subjects, none of us are without an opinion, no matter what might be the subject.
One is charmed by music, another by the colors of the rainbow, still another by the majestic beauty of nature in whatever form it may represent. And then there are those who have a love affair with food, the smell of it , the texture of it, and of course, the taste of it. All of these things being subject to our judgment.
Many of us love wild animals, others of us seem to like taking their life in sport. The wild things of this world are from God, just as we are from God. That presents us with the opportunity to see the world as the place we call Eden, where we as human beings, and the wild animals live in harmony in the place called paradise that God made for us. Judgments abound as to how that should be managed. God made it for his fellowship with his created creatures. There are those that would have it otherwise. The price we pay for our judgment of God’s things is quite high.
It is our judgment of God’s things that has put us here in our sinful state, even though we deem it ours. It never the less still belongs to God. We smile at children, and laugh at humorous stories and events. Some of us carry the burdens of others as though they were our own. We suffer for them because we judge them as needy. Others do the same bearing of burdens because they suffer for their world or the creatures in it, or the condition of it. We suffer for the sick, the poor, the deprived and the lost because we feel their need. That is all based on our judgment of what we see feel and hear.
We are good and bad, both not without fault, but we are not without some of the goodness of God Our Father. Just as did Adam and Eve, we possess some of the qualities God gave us when we were created. All of us have access to extraordinary energies, powers, heightened creativity and exceptional performance. We all harbor a greater capacity for life than we know. That will never change. And just as with Adam and Eve, it is our judgments that condemn us still, and it is still by God’s grace that we are set free
Jesus came so that we might have that sort of life and have it more abundantly. So it was in the mind of God, that man is incapable of living in total innocence, surrounded by and imbued with the natural gifts that he provided, and because of our poor judgment, sin has commandeered the life of man.
Thus it was in the Judgment of God that we needed a Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. So that when in our final stand before God in judgment we will then have a righteousness that God will not Judge as being in contempt, but in Holy acceptance, being judged as righteous, because He, Jesus is our righteousness. And we are not the judges of that, It is the will of God.
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