The Hypocrisy Of Judging
I.
Acts
15:9-When you feel superior to another person you will judge them and if you
are judge you are a hypocrite
A. 7-This
was a big deal and there was much disputing
1.
1-2-Some
men were teaching you cannot be saved if you are not circumcised after the
after the law of Moses and they were commanding people to keep the law of Moses
and Paul and Barnabas didn’t agree with this and there was a heated discussion
about this very issue and they decided to take this question to the elders of
the church
2.
3-Paul
and Barnabas had been seeing God move amongst the gentiles who were not
circumcised after the law of Moses
3.
4,5-There
was a group of believers who said the gentile converts need to be circumcised
& commanded to keep the law of Moses
B. 9-God
put no difference between us and them giving us the same Holy Ghost and
purified their hearts by faith just like us; Peter is saying they are just like
we are, but these religious people were discriminating and “putting difference”
between them and those gentile converts because they weren’t circumcised and
didn’t keep the law of Moses
1.
Judge-To
separate, to make distinction (difference or division), to discriminate
(categorize, classify, favor)
2.
What
these Pharisees were trying to do was discriminate against the ones who weren’t
circumcised after the manner of Moses and judge and call them lesser and decide
that these who haven’t been circumcised are somehow lesser
a. MSG-And God, who can’t be
fooled by any pretense on our part but always knows a person’s thoughts, gave
them the Holy Spirit exactly as he gave him to us. He treated the outsiders
exactly as he treated us, beginning at the very center of who they were and
working from that center outward, cleaning up their lives as they trusted and
believed him.“So why are you now
trying to out-god God, loading these new believers down with rules that crushed
our ancestors and crushed us, too?
b. ERV-To
God, those people are not different from us. When they believed, God made their
hearts pure. 10 So
now, why are you putting a heavy burden around the necks of the non-Jewish
followers of Jesus? Are you trying to make God angry? We and
our fathers were not able to carry that burden.
C. ***10-This
is the mark of a judge, he is a hypocrite; They want these gentiles to keep something
that they are not keeping***
1.
8-10-Peter
is dealing in honesty and reality so many times if we would just humble
ourselves and deal in reality, simple honesty would put an end to all judging
a. The
truth is they got the same Holy Ghost, the same purifying, and they are no
different than us and you’re asking them to keep the law which neither you nor
your forefathers could keep – TRUTH
b. To come
down hard on someone for missing it and judge them you’d have to deal in lies
and fantasy and pretend like you’ve never missed it, but if you’d just be
honest and acknowledge you’ve missed in similar ways it’d put an end to all
judging
2.
The
Pharisees are dealing in lies & fantasy (Pretending like they are different
then Gentile converts, pretending like they keep the law)
a. Hypocrites
are pretenders and they deal in lies and fantasy; They want to pretend like
they are keeping the law
3.
12-13-When
you realize you’re being a hypocrite the atmosphere goes from loud judging to
silence
II.
In order to judge you
have to act dishonestly; Honesty will eliminate all judging-Matthew 7:1-5
A. If you
are a judge, you are a hypocrite and if you’re judging you are being
hypocritical and a big part of being hypocritical is dealing in lies and
fantasy and NOT reality (Hypocrite-An actor, stage player, pretender)
1.
While
you come down hard on them and judge them and be critical of them for their
faults you are pretending like, acting like you have no faults of your own and
like you’ve never done anything like they are doing – THAT’S LIES, THAT’S
FANTASY
a. The
only way you can judge them for having that speck in their eye when you have a
beam in your eye is to pretend like you don’t have a beam and that’s what a
hypocrite does, he pretends and deals in fantasy
2.
The
big thing is you have something major in your eye, but you’re going to pretend
like it’s not there and deal in fantasy and lies
a. Why do
you gaze at their speck and pay no attention to your beam? Because you are a
hypocrite pretending like you don’t have a beam in your eye
b. How can
you say to your brother let me get that speck out of your eye, when there is a
beam in your own eye? – The only way you can say that to your brother is
to be a hypocrite and pretend like you don’t have a beam in your eye; You
couldn’t say that without being a hypocrite; The way you can say that is to be
a hypocrite and then you can say it
B. The central nature of
judging is hypocrisy, deception and pride-Matthew 7:1-5
1.
Hypocrisy-To
come down hard on you and be critical of you and judge you for a fault or for
missing it I have to pretend like I don’t have any faults of my own and I have
to pretend like I’ve never missed it
2.
Deception-You
don’t see the truth about yourself and the truth is you have faults just like
them and you’ve missed it in a very similar fashion to the way they’ve missed
it, but while you’re judging them you don’t see that-Matthew 7:3-You don’t perceive your beam
a. A key characteristic of
judging is that you are very aware of the faults others, but you are very
unaware of your own faults; You come down on someone else for having a fault
meanwhile you are totally unaware of your own faults
b. The deception is you are
judging like you have no faults or you don’t have faults as bad as them because
you believe you don’t and you are deceived
3.
Pride-You
believe you are superior because you believe you have no issues or faults or at
least none as bad as theirs so now you anoint yourself as the judge and you’re
going tell others what’s wrong with their lives
a. Matthew 7:4-Let ME pull the mote out of your eye – Who made you the judge?
b. God is the judge and it’s
a high form of pride to think you could do his job
4.
Honesty
will put an end to all judging-If you will just get real you’ll stop
pretending, believing lies and acting prideful
a. When Peter brought
honesty and reality on the seen it put an end to all judging
C. The
idea is you are fixated on the very small fault of another and how wrong it is
and how they need to get rid of it while you have faults yourself and what
you’re judging them for you are guilty of yourself
1.
Matthew
7:1-5-Do you notice it’s all wood just like all sin is sin
III.
What
you judge others for you are guilty of yourself – Romans 2:1,3
A. Romans
2:1-Truths about judging
1.
1-There’s
no excuse for judging
a. He’s
dealing with a group of people in Romans 1 who are way off being judged by
another group of people; Just because people get way off doesn’t give you an
excuse to judge them
b.
MSG-Those
people are on a dark spiral downward. But if you think that leaves you on the
high ground where you can point your finger at others, think again.
c. God
didn’t deliver you out of it so that you could judge people who are still in it
2.
1-If
you judge them and say they need to pay, then you condemn yourself b/c you’re
doing the same stuff and you need to pay
a. Matthew
7:2-With what judgment you judge, you shall be judged and with what measure you
mete it shall be measured unto you
b. If you
say pronounce them wrong or guilty then you are saying they need to be judged,
they need to pay
1)
If
the judge pronounces someone wrong or guilty he then passes judgment/what the
need to do to pay for what they did; if the judge says you’re guilty then what
he is saying is that you need to pay
2)
If
they are wrong and you said they are then you’re saying they need to pay the
penalty and punishment
c. What do
they need to pay for? Sin and the wages of sin is death
1)
Romans
6:23-There’s not different payments for different types of sin; they all cost
the same and therefore they are all equal
2)
If
judge them for sin, then you condemn yourself b/c you too have sinned and if
they have to pay you have to pay-Matt18
3.
2-God
is their judge, his judgment is according to the truth against people who do
such things – You are not the judge
a. PHIL-1-4 Now if you feel inclined to set yourself up as
a judge of those who sin, let me assure you, whoever you are, that you are in
no position to do so.
4.
3-If
you judge you’re going to get judged-Matthew 7:1
a. When
you judge someone else it’s not them that are going to get judged, but it’s you
who will get judged for judging them
5.
4-Judging
people doesn’t lead them to repentance
a. 4-They
looked down upon the goodness and forbearance and longsuffering of God and thought
that wouldn’t lead people to repentance, but judging would, not knowing that
it’s the kindness of the Lord that leads people to repentance
1)
Despise-Think
little or nothing of; Goodness-Kindness, Gentleness; Forbearance-Toleration; Longsuffering-Patience,
Forbearance; Goodness-Mild, pleasant, kind, as opposed to harsh, hard, sharp
b. 4-It’s
not your judging people that’s going to turn them to God, it’s the kindness and
mercy of God flowing through you that will turn people to Jesus
1)
You
want people to repent because that’s how they get mercy, but people don’t
repent because you judge them, the repent because you are kind and merciful and
gracious to them
c. They
are judging these people who are way off and being hard and harsh, NOT KNOWING
that doesn’t lead people to repent
6.
1,3-Whatever
you judge others for you are guilty of yourself
a. VOICE-So
you can see there are no excuses for any of us. If your eyes shift their focus
from yourselves to others—to judge how they are doing—you have already condemned yourselves! You don’t realize that you are
pointing your fingers at others for the exact things you do as well. 2 There’s no doubt that the judgment of God
will justly fall upon hypocrites who practice such things. 3 Here’s
what is happening: you
attack and criticize others and then turn around to commit the same offenses
yourselves!
B. If you
judge somebody for doing something that you yourself are doing that makes you a
hypocrite
1.
Romans
2:17-23-This is a group of people who are so sure that they have it all
together and therefore they are going to be in the ministry of mote
deliverance, but they have a beam in their own eye and they are hypocrites; This
is the mark of a judge and a mark of a hypocrite – Judging others for
doing something that you yourself are doing
a. TLB-17-You Jews think all is well between
yourselves and God because he gave his laws to you; you brag that you are his special friends. 18 Yes, you
know what he wants; you know right from wrong and favor the right because you
have been taught his laws from earliest youth. 19 You are so
sure of the way to God that you could point it out to a blind man. You think of
yourselves as beacon lights, directing men who are lost in darkness to God. 20 You think
that you can guide the simple and teach even children the affairs of God, for
you really know his laws, which are full of all knowledge and truth. 21 Yes, you
teach others—then why don’t you teach yourselves? You tell others not to
steal—do you steal? 22 You say it
is wrong to commit adultery—do you do it? You say “Don’t pray to idols” and then
make money your god instead.[d]23 You are so
proud of knowing God’s laws, but
you dishonor him by breaking them. 24 No wonder
the Scriptures say that the world speaks evil of God because of you.
2.
What
you are judging someone else for are you positive that you are walking in the
perfection of it in your own life?
a. PHIL-Romans 2:21-22-You preach against
stealing, for example, but are you sure of your own honesty? You denounce the
practice of adultery, but are you sure of your own purity?
3.
24-Judging
and hypocrisy destroys your witness, but when you’re merciful and honest and
don’t pretend like you don’t have any faults and have never had any faults it’s
that kindness that will enhance your witness and turn people to the Lord
a. MSG-The line from Scripture, “It’s because of
you Jews that the outsiders are down on God,” shows it’s an old problem that
isn’t going to go away.
C. *So many times what we
judge others of we are guilty of ourselves and when our anger begins to rise
because of something that someone did we need to take a good hard look in the
mirror and ask ourselves, “How am I doing in that area?” rather than judging
someone else
1.
2
Samuel 12:1-David was guilty of the same thing he judged that man of; You are
the man
a. In
David’s heart he knew what he did was wrong and that’s why he tried to hide
it-2 Samuel 11:27
1)
He’s
trying to get Uriah to sleep with his wife to hide it, but Uriah won’t do it
2)
Men
died in batter so David could cover what he did
b. 5-7-David’s
anger was kindled against the man and he came down hard on this man who had
done this thing and he’s judging
1)
When
your anger rises against somebody you’re getting ready to judge
2)
When
his anger started to rise up b/c that guy had no pity he should have took a
good hard look at himself in that same area
c. 7-The
very thing David judged this “man” of He was guilty of himself
1)
6-He
came down hard on this guy for having no pity (To spare, Have compassion on)
and that’s hypocrisy because he just got through having no compassion for
Uriah, Uriah’s family, Uriah’s wife
2.
Luke
13:10-17
a. 14-Indignation-When
you’re anger rises like this you’re getting ready to judge and what you need to
do is put the light back on yourself and ask yourself how are you doing in that
area
1)
He
is judging Jesus for working on the Sabbath; He examined Jesus, He decided he
was wrong, and he pronounced it
b. 15-Jesus
called him a hypocrite b/c he’s pretending like he does no work on the Sabbath
and that’s not true and what he judged Jesus for doing he was guilty of himself
c. 17-He
was ashamed; When you realize you’re acting hypocritically you get quiet
IV.
Is this
true that you what you judge others for you are guilty of yourself? How could
that be true?
A. How
could this be true that what you judge others of you are guilty of yourself?
1.
John
8:1-10
a. 5-She
sinned, she transgressed the law and they want her to pay which is judgment
b. 7-He
didn’t say, “He that is without adultery among you,” because Jesus doesn’t
categorize sin
1)
The
sin wasn’t the adultery, the sin was transgressing the law, disobeying God
2)
According
to Jesus she was guilty of transgressing the law and what they judged her for
they were guilty of themselves
c. 9-When
you realize you’re acting hypocritical you get quiet
1)
What
they are judging her for they are guilty of themselves
d. 10-Condemn-To
judge worthy of punishment
1)
Why
couldn’t they judge her worthy of punishment and make her pay? Because they
were guilty of the same things and if she has to pay then they have to pay; With
what judgment you judge you will be judged
2.
What
is sin?
a. 1 John
5:17-All unrighteousness is sin
b. Romans
14:23-Whatever is not of faith is sin
c. 1 John
3:4-Transgression of the law is sin (Romans 4:15)
d. James
4:17-To him that knows to do good and does it not is sin
B. What
did a person do when they sinned? They yielded to the flesh, they disobeyed
God, they violated light
1.
When
you violate what you know is right and when you violate the light you have and
what God has given you light about and shown you to do it is sin – And so
when you judge somebody for that while you do, you are guilty of the same
things because everybody on Earth has done that-Romans 3:23
2.
Any
sin you want to talk about is exactly the same in nature; people knew what to
do and they overrode what they knew was right and they yielded to temptation
and gave into the flesh
a. Sin-Miss
or wander from the path of uprightness, to do or go wrong, to error, to wander
from the law of God
b. Have
you ever done that? Have you ever yielded to the flesh? Have you every
disobeyed God? Then who are you to judge somebody else for doing the same thing
that you’ve done
c. People get upset with
Adam and Eve, but what was it that they did? They disobeyed God, they didn’t do
what God told them to do, they yielded to temptation – Have you ever
yielded to temptation and ignored what you knew was right?
3.
In
nature and in spirit you have done the same stuff but a judge and a hypocrite
wants to pretend like it’s something different
a. How could they do it? You
know exactly how they could do it because you’ve done stuff just like it
C. “Yeah
but, I would never do anything like that, that’s just awful, how could they do
something like that” – These are the words of a judge and a hypocrite-James
2:1-13
1.
Respect
of persons favoring someone because you’ve deemed better somehow
a. 1-Respect
of persons-One who discriminates; Partiality; The fault of one who when called on to
give judgment has respect of the outward circumstances of man and not to their
intrinsic merits, and so prefers, as the more worthy, one who is rich, high
born, or powerful, to another who does not have these qualities
b. 4-Are you not partial
(1252, judge, separate, make distinction, discriminate) in yourselves?
1)
4-AMP-Becoming
critics and judges with wrong motives
2.
5-6-God’s
saying they are something but you are saying they’re nothing – Who made
you the judge?
a. 6-Despised
the poor-To look down on, treat with contempt, insult
b. 6-7-And
these people who YOU think are something, they oppress and judge and blaspheme
the name of Jesus, but you think they are something because they got some money
3.
8,9-If
you are judging you are not loving; These verses are connected: If you fulfill
the law of love you do well, but if you have respect of persons which is not
loving your neighbor, if you’re judging you’re not loving; When you’re judging
sinning and you’re not loving
a. Loving
them is valuing them as much as you value yourself
b. The new testament
commandment is not to judge and correct, but to love, value them, treat them
like they matter, come across like you care and want to help
4.
9-If
you judge and discriminate you commit sin; Is it sin to examine someone and
decide and pronounce that they are superior to this other person and then
discriminate and look down upon and judge?
a. Respect
of persons-One who discriminates; Partiality; The fault of one who when called on to
give judgment has respect of the outward circumstances of man and not to their
intrinsic merits, and so prefers, as the more worthy, one who is rich, high
born, or powerful, to another who does not have these qualities
5.
10-If
you keep the whole law, but offend in one point you are not just guilty of that
one point you are guilty of it all-How can that be?
a. 1 John
3:4-Transgression of the law is sin
b. 11-FOR HE
THAT SAID-It’s not what you are violating it’s who you are violating-The same
God that said do not commit adultery also said do not kill
c. Is any time you don’t do
what God told you to do less important than others – If God told you to
do something and you didn’t do it, it doesn’t matter what it is that you didn’t
do it all falls into the same category
6.
“I
would never” – You already have so stop judging a playing a hypocrite
a. What
right does a murderer have to feel superior to and judge and adulterer? What
right does an adulterer have to feel superior to and judge a murderer? Should
you brag about how you didn’t commit adultery when you killed somebody this
morning; As
a murderer what makes you superior to an adulterer
1)
How
can a murderer feel superior to an adulterer? Only by being a hypocrite
2)
EX:
The preachers brother who pulled that guy out of the car and beat him up, but
was happy because he didn’t cuss
b. This type of judging is
happening right and left; This feeling of superiority because, “I haven’t done
that,” and yet if you’ll be honest you have done something just like it
1)
People
feel superior to others and judge them because in their minds they’ve never
done anything like that and because they haven’t then they have the right to
put their noses in the air and look down on somebody who has done such things
2)
The
idea is people think they are superior b/c they haven’t done anything that bad;
It’s
this air of superiority and it’s judging
7.
12-You’re
going to be judged by the law of liberty (free, exempt, free from the law)
which is mercy; speak and live like you got mercy
a. 13-If
you show no mercy you get no mercy and if you judge you’re going to get judge