[0:00] This is the evening service at Holy Trinity on the 9th of June 2002. The preacher is Steve Brown.
[0:11] His sermon is entitled Don't Judge Others and is based on Luke chapter 6 verses 37 to 42.
[0:26] Well tonight I've got a confession to make. When I was a teenager I loved to come home after school, plonk myself in front of the telly, switch it on and watch Judge Judy.
[0:42] Judge Judy was fantastic. There she was, the little old lady who had no fear. She took no rubbish from anyone.
[0:53] She could extract the truth with methodical precision. She would make people sweat and squirm when they were on the back foot.
[1:04] She remained hard and cold as ice when people used to cry in her courtroom. She was merciless when she gave her closing statements and final judgements.
[1:18] And I used to love to watch Judge Judy judge. I used to love to watch Judge Judy condemn. I loved it so much because I loved it because I loved to condemn.
[1:35] Daniel was a leader in youth group. And we were peers the same age as each other. We were both about 16. And he got all the attention.
[1:47] He was cool. You know, he wore all the right clothes. He had the right hairstyle. Had all the funny one-liners. Knew what to say. Always the centre of attention.
[1:59] So he got all the upfront jobs. He even preached in church. He was responsible for running youth group a lot of the time. He was the golden boy.
[2:10] And I was jealous. I was upset that Daniel got all the opportunities. And that hardly anyone else did. Especially myself. I wanted to do things.
[2:22] But I always got overlooked. And I felt neglected. Treated unfairly. I felt as though no one actually agreed with my point of view.
[2:33] And that they were all against me. But Daniel always got his own way. Everything went his way. Everyone was for him.
[2:43] Everyone treated him as important and worthwhile. So I started to judge Daniel. I started to pick out his weaknesses. I took him apart like a watch.
[2:54] I figured out his motives. I scrutinised his actions. I assessed his work. I criticised his results and his achievements. I judged him.
[3:04] And judged everything he did. But it got worse than that. I actually started to condemn him as well. I didn't just suss him out. I summed him up.
[3:16] And I put him in a box. And I condemned him as a false teacher. As two-faced. I condemned him as a bad leader. I condemned him as a bad example for the youth to look up to.
[3:28] I condemned his character. I not only judged him. But I condemned Daniel as a person. Do not judge. And you will not be judged.
[3:41] Do not condemn. And you will not be condemned. You see, the Pharisees had judged Jesus' actions, hadn't they? They condemned Jesus as a false teacher.
[3:55] Just read with me some of the context for this passage we have tonight. So flick your pages over backwards to chapter 5. And we're just going to see how these Pharisees judged and condemned Jesus.
[4:08] Chapter 5, verse 30. The Pharisees said to Jesus' disciples, Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners? There they are, judging his actions.
[4:22] What about verse 33? Then they said to him, John's disciples, like the disciples of the Pharisees, frequently fast and pray, but your disciples eat and drink.
[4:33] There they are, judging his actions. What about Luke 6, verse 2? One Sabbath, while Jesus was going through the fields, grain fields, his disciples plucked some head of grain, rubbed it in their hands and ate them.
[4:48] But some of the Pharisees said, Why are you doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath? There they are, judging his actions again. Verse 7. Have a look at that.
[4:59] The scribes and the Pharisees watched him to see whether he would cure on the Sabbath so that they might find an accusation against him. There they are, this time, looking for the opportunity to condemn Jesus.
[5:14] What about verse 11? But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus. There they are, condemning Jesus to death.
[5:27] The Pharisees judged Jesus' actions and they condemned Jesus to death. You see, judgment leads to condemnation.
[5:38] And with that in mind, Jesus turns to his disciples and teaches them, saying, Do not judge and you will not be judged. Do not condemn and you will not be condemned. Don't be like the Pharisees.
[5:53] That's what he's saying. Don't be like the Pharisees who judge others. Don't be like the Pharisees who lift themselves up above everyone else and cast down their judgments. Don't be like the Pharisees judging in order to feel superior and above everyone.
[6:10] Don't be like the Pharisees condemning those who hold different views. Condemning without the facts, without knowledge, without the truth. Don't be like the Pharisees condemning in order to justify their own position.
[6:24] Don't be like the Pharisees. Judging, condemning because of jealousy and envy. Sometimes I listen to 3OW and I suppose I'm making confessions.
[6:40] There's another one. I listen occasionally to Stan Zemanik 3pm on weekdays. And if you ever want an example of someone who can cast judgment on people without facts, just listen to Stan.
[6:59] If you ever want an example of how to condemn people without evidence, listen to Stan. If you ever want an example of how to assassinate a person's character by judging and condemning them unfairly, listen to Stan.
[7:14] He's very good at it. Don't be like Stan Zemanik. Tonight, don't be like the world because that's what people in the world, that's why they listen to him.
[7:29] Because they love to judge and love to condemn. The world loves to do that. They love to feel superior by judging other people. They love to condemn in order to justify themselves.
[7:43] You see, in the church, we're not to be like that. We're to be different. We're not to cast our judgment on others without facts or judge people who we might disagree with or they disagree with our opinion.
[7:57] We're not to seek to be superior or to justify ourselves in our own position. We're not to condemn those who we don't get along with or rub up against.
[8:09] We're not to condemn those who don't live up to our expectations or disappoint us. But on the other hand, we have to be balanced. That doesn't mean we be unwise either.
[8:22] It doesn't mean that we turn a blind eye to things and when people do things wrong, it doesn't mean that I can go do anything that I want to do because you can't judge me. If that was the case, then I suppose we'd have to throw the Bible out because the Bible makes many right judgments, doesn't it?
[8:40] Especially wisdom in the Old Testament. Wisdom from the Bible helps us to make right judgments, fair judgments, informed judgments, truthful and righteous judgments, holy judgments that don't lead to condemnation but lead to healthy correction and ultimately godliness and unity in the church.
[9:02] that's how we know that we're making right judgments. Is the church benefiting? Is the church growing in godliness and unity as a result of our judgments?
[9:14] judgments. But we've got to be careful, very careful. Make sure when you make judgments that they're right. Make sure you're in the right position to make those judgments.
[9:29] Make sure you have the right authority to make those judgments because I want to tell you if you judge you will be judged. If you condemn you will be condemned just like I was.
[9:45] You see I ended up being judged for my judgment of Daniel and I ended up being judged for my judgment of the youth group that I was in. People started to judge me as being jealous.
[9:57] People started to judge me as being angry and cynical and they were probably right. And eventually they condemned me as a troublemaker, a whinger and a loner.
[10:09] that probably wasn't right but still in the end I had to leave that church because unity and godliness had gone out the window and relationships were damaged beyond repair and the church was suffering because everyone was judging everyone.
[10:30] Everyone was condemning each other. Do not judge and you will not be judged. Do not condemn and you will not be condemned. Instead forgive and you will be forgiven.
[10:42] Give and it will be given to you. I want to tell you marriage is a pretty tough thing sometimes and when two people come together you can expect that there's going to be some sort of friction.
[10:54] They don't see eye to eye all the time and when Mel and I have disagreements and don't see eye to eye that happens occasionally I want to tell you.
[11:07] Occasionally we disagree over issues and they're usually small issues like you know dishes not being done towel on the floor my whiskers in the thing when I shave and I think it's a ghost that does it but or I say something insensitive.
[11:29] It's important that we forgive each other isn't it? it's important that I forgive Melissa when she offends me it's important that she forgives me when I offend her instead of judging we need to forgive each other because when we forgive then we're able to give when I forgive Melissa or she forgives me then we can start to give to each other again we can give more effort to our relationship we can give each other love and respect so that our marriage will grow and function right and head in the right direction and it's the same in the church just on a big larger scale there's lots more people involved we need to forgive the wrongs against us we need to forgive those who neglect us or overlook us or treat us unfairly or don't agree with our opinion or even slander us we need to forgive those who even judge and condemn us we must forgive and give after all isn't that exactly what jesus did for us after all didn't he give forgive i mean while we judged him didn't he give his life for us while we condemned him to the cross we need to learn how to forgive and give like jesus did because a good measure pressed down shaken together running over will be poured will be put into your lap for the measure that you give will be the measure that you get back now in jesus time they wore clothes different to us used to wear cloaks and tunics long things and they used to fold it up so that they could carry things in the front of the lap and they go to the market they would get stuff and they'd put it in and they'd press it down so that they could put more in or they'd shake it together so it'd sift down to the bottom and they could put more in on top jesus uses this analogy to show that no matter how much we put in or sift together there's going to be more and more overflowing as we give we're going to get more and more so that it overflows into our lap the more that we give and forgive the more we will receive from god god gives abundantly if we give abundantly but is that true is that true will we get back the measure that we give out will we get judged if we judge will we be condemned if we condemn will we be forgiven if we forgive will we get if we give will we get back the measure we give out the reason i ask this question is because when i look at the world that doesn't happen i see people get forgiven and receive good in this life when all they do is judge and condemn i see people get judged and condemned when all they do is give and forgive in this world jesus formula doesn't work it doesn't work very well at all sometimes we don't get what we deserve tyrants prosper servants suffer in this world so why does jesus seem so confident when he says when he says this why does he seem so sure of himself when he says for the measure you give will be the measure you get back because one day it will come true one day the measure you give will be the measure you get back one day
[15:10] Jesus will return and on that day jesus will return to judge and condemn you see he's already come to forgive and give and when he comes back he will come to judge and condemn and on that day jesus formula will work 100% it won't be frustrated by this world anymore it'll be fully implemented and those who judge will be judged by the righteous judge jesus and those who condemn will be condemned by the righteous judge jesus and those who forgive will be forgiven by the righteous judge jesus and those who give will be given much by the righteous judge jesus so tonight ask yourself this question do i have a high expectation of jesus return because if you do you're more likely to be a forgiving and giving person and less likely to be a judging and condemning person because you know that that's jesus job description that jesus will do that when he comes back and that you have got to get on with your forgiving and giving he'll take care of the judging and condemning one day it'll all be sorted out so let's learn how to forgive and give well verse 39 jesus starts to give us some parables to sort of flesh this out a bit so let's have a look at them he also told them a parable can a blind person guide a blind person will not both fall into a pit when
[17:00] I was in youth group with Daniel we didn't have bible studies and I got really frustrated at that and I thought that everyone was blind that they didn't have bible studies blind because they couldn't see the benefit that a bible study would have for youth blind because they weren't passionate and zealous about God's word so I judged to be blind and in need of guidance so I started my own bible study and I invited all the youth group to come along and some came actually it was good some came along but there was a problem straight away I didn't know the bible very well I didn't have the skills to lead people I was still pretty young never done it before and I was too harsh and dogmatic to allow them to contribute or lead so eventually of course the group folded after a couple of months and in the end it just reinforced the idea in youth group that bible study wasn't for youth it caused more damage than good you see
[18:08] I was the one who was blind and the people that allowed me to lead them well they were blind too crazy and we both fell into a pit you see the problem was I judged that they needed guidance I judged that they weren't capable of guiding themselves and I judged that I was the man for the job see the parable is fairly simple don't be too quick to judge that you're the person to lead don't be too quick to judge that you're more capable than others don't be too quick to judge that they're in need of your guidance and showing them the way be careful don't be an arrogant judge a disciple is not above the teacher but everyone who is fully qualified will be like the teacher I don't know if you've seen Star Wars episode two yet don't worry I'm not going to spoil it for you but in episode two we start to see Anakin start to move towards the dark side and we see this by because he starts to criticise his teacher
[19:18] Obi-Wan Kenobi he starts to judge Obi-Wan as being jealous of him jealous of his superior Jedi skills and he believes that Obi-Wan is actually holding him back stopping him from becoming the greatest of all Jedis so he starts to go it alone he stops listening to Obi-Wan he even starts to disobey his explicit commands he starts to do his own thing and the disastrous results the pain and suffering that that will eventuate him will no doubt see in episode three see Anakin's arrogant and he judges Obi-Wan as inferior to him he judges that he is superior and that he ought to be the teacher and there's going to be some pain and suffering the parable is fairly simple don't judge that you're more capable than your teachers don't be too quick to judge that they're inferior to you and that you ought to be the teacher be careful don't be an arrogant judge
[20:26] Jesus goes on to say why do you see the speck in your neighbor's eye but do not notice the log in your own eye well how can you say to your neighbor friend let me take out the speck in your eye when you yourself do not see the log in your own eye you hypocrite stop first take the log out of your own eye and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor's eye this is it this is the application don't judge others don't condemn others instead judge yourself if needs be condemn yourself don't condemn others examine yourself before you even start to consider examining someone else eventually I had to examine myself before I could consider to examine others after I left the youth group I went to university at
[21:26] Deakin and I joined up with the Christian union group there and there was a staff worker there and he taught me some stuff he taught me to examine myself he taught me to judge my actions he taught me to assess my motives he taught me to scrutinize my behavior before looking at other people he taught me to analyze my work he taught me to look at my results and my achievements before looking at other people's he taught me to take the plank out of my own eye he taught me to judge myself and he showed me how to forgive others he taught me to condemn myself if need be but showed me how to give to others in the end I was able to stop judging and condemning Daniel I was able to forgive and give to him and we actually have an okay relationship now tonight the message is pretty simple when you read this passage and we have to ask ourselves the question are we judging and condemning are we taking the speck out of our brother's eye without taking the log out of our own eye because if you're doing that be careful because one day the righteous judge will come and on that day you'll be judged and condemned instead tonight let's examine ourselves let's take the plank out of our own eye let's forgive and give rather than judge and condemn after all isn't that what
[23:06] Jesus did for us didn't he forgive while we judged him didn't he give his life for us while we condemned him to the cross i for knees to this will learn them and start together and ask you