Brothers and sisters,
Our subject this morning is learning righteous judgment.
Judgment is a word which can sometimes make us uncomfortable. We live in a world which increasingly tells us that we should not judge at all. We are encouraged to accept almost everything, to regard standards as personal choices, and to think that one person’s idea of right is just as valid as another person’s.
But that is not the way Scripture uses the word judgment.
When the Bible speaks about righteous judgment, it is not encouraging us to be harsh, self-righteous, critical or condemning. Righteous judgment is about discernment. It is the ability to recognise the difference between good and evil, right and wrong, truth and error, and then to make our decisions according to the principles of God.
“Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.”
John 7:24
So there is clearly a kind of judgment which is wrong, but there is also a judgment which the Lord positively commands us to exercise.
The question, therefore, is not simply, Do we judge?
We all make judgments every day.
The real question is:
By what standard do we judge?
Do we judge by what society says is acceptable?
Do we judge by what our friends think?
Do we judge according to what is easiest?
Do we judge according to what causes the least trouble?
Do we judge according to our own feelings?
Or do we judge according to the revealed principles of God?
That question takes us back to the book of Deuteronomy.
Israel Standing on the Border
Deuteronomy is a remarkable book because Israel stood on the very edge of the Promised Land.
Behind them lay the wilderness.
Behind them were forty years of wandering, failure, discipline, death and renewal.
The generation which had come out of Egypt had largely died in the wilderness. A new generation stood before Moses. They were about to enter the land which God had promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
And so Moses rehearsed the Law before them.
Deuteronomy is not simply a collection of rules. It is a loving appeal.
Again and again Moses reminded Israel of what God had done for them, what God expected of them, and what would happen if they turned away from Him.
There is something very relevant to ourselves in that.
We too are travelling towards a promised inheritance.
We too belong to a community called out from the world.
We too have experienced the patience, discipline and mercy of God.
And we too are being prepared for a Kingdom.
So when Moses speaks to Israel on the edge of the land, we ought to listen very carefully.
In Deuteronomy 1 Moses recalled the appointment of judges.
“Take you wise men, and understanding, and known among your tribes, and I will make them rulers over you.”
Deuteronomy 1:13
These were not supposed to be merely powerful men.
They were to be wise.
They were to be understanding.
They were to be men whose character was known among the people.
And Moses continued:
“And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him.”
Deuteronomy 1:16
Notice the expression:
Judge righteously.
Then Moses explains what this means:
“Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; but ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God’s.”
Deuteronomy 1:17
There are several principles here which ought to affect every one of us.
First, righteous judgment is impartial.
It is not affected by whether we like somebody.
It is not affected by whether they are important.
It is not affected by whether they are wealthy.
It is not affected by whether they are our friend.
It is not affected by whether we are frightened of upsetting them.
“The small as well as the great” were to be heard.
Secondly, righteous judgment requires courage.
Moses said:
“Ye shall not be afraid of the face of man.”
Deuteronomy 1:17
That is extremely challenging.
Many wrong decisions are not made because people do not know what is right.
They are made because people are frightened of the consequences of doing what is right.
We may fear criticism.
We may fear losing friendships.
We may fear being thought old-fashioned.
We may fear standing apart.
We may fear making ourselves unpopular.
And so the standard gradually changes.
Not because Scripture has changed.
Not because God has changed.
But because we have become afraid of the face of man.
Moses gives the answer:
“For the judgment is God’s.”
Deuteronomy 1:17
That changes everything.
Ultimately, the standard is not ours.
It belongs to God.
When Standards Begin to Slip
There is a sobering development when we move from Deuteronomy to the prophecy of Ezekiel.
The judges and elders of Israel had originally been appointed to uphold righteousness.
But what happens when those who are supposed to defend God’s standards begin to abandon them themselves?
Ezekiel chapter 8 gives us a terrible picture.
Ezekiel is taken in vision to Jerusalem and shown what was happening among the very people who ought to have known better.
“And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel…”
Ezekiel 8:11
Then Ezekiel sees what they are doing.
They are involved in idolatrous worship.
These were not ignorant Gentiles who knew nothing about Israel’s God.
These were elders.
These were men with position.
These were men who should have known the Law.
These were men who should have been teaching righteousness to others.
And yet privately they had allowed the standards of God to be replaced.
That is one of the most dangerous situations which can arise in a community of believers.
It does not usually happen overnight.
Standards normally disappear gradually.
Something which would once have troubled the conscience becomes tolerated.
Then it becomes familiar.
Then it becomes accepted.
Eventually it can even be defended.
That is why Scripture repeatedly warns us to examine ourselves.
It is possible to remain outwardly religious while inwardly moving further and further away from God.
The elders in Ezekiel’s day had position.
They had status.
They had religious heritage.
But none of those things protected them from corruption.
Neither will they protect us.
Having been in the Truth for many years does not automatically mean that our judgment remains righteous.
Being an arranging brother does not automatically guarantee righteous judgment.
Being able to give talks does not guarantee righteous judgment.
Knowing our Bibles well does not guarantee righteous judgment.
Knowing the correct doctrines does not automatically mean that our lives are governed by those doctrines.
We must continually return to the standard.
And the standard is the Word of God.
The Danger of Religious Appearance
When we come to the time of the Lord Jesus, we find another religious leadership structure.
There were scribes and Pharisees.
There was a council or house of judgment.
There were men who were recognised as religious authorities.
Many of them knew enormous portions of Scripture.
Some were meticulous about religious practice.
Yet the Lord Jesus repeatedly challenged them because something had gone badly wrong.
In Matthew 23 he said:
“The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat: All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.”
Matthew 23:2-3
That is one of the clearest definitions of religious hypocrisy in Scripture:
They say, and do not.
Their teaching and their lives had become disconnected.
And that is a danger for every believer.
We can say the right things.
We can defend the right doctrine.
We can attend the meetings.
We can use the right vocabulary.
We can know exactly what somebody else ought to be doing.
But there is still a vital question:
Are we doing it ourselves?
The Lord’s criticism was not simply that the Pharisees lacked knowledge.
Much of the time they possessed knowledge.
Their problem was that knowledge had not produced the right character.
Their religion had become concerned with appearance.
Jesus said later in Matthew 23:
“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.”
Matthew 23:25
Then he says:
“Cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.”
Matthew 23:26
God works from the inside outward.
The world is often concerned with appearances.
God is concerned with the heart.
We can fool one another.
We cannot fool God.
The Lord also warned his disciples about the leaven of the Pharisees.
Leaven is particularly effective because a small amount spreads through the whole lump.
That makes it a powerful picture of influence.
Standards seldom collapse because somebody openly announces:
“From today onwards we shall ignore the Bible.”
It is usually much subtler.
A little compromise here.
A little change there.
Something excused because circumstances are difficult.
Something accepted because everybody else is doing it.
Something left unchallenged because raising it would be uncomfortable.
And little by little, the leaven spreads.
This is why we must regularly ask ourselves whether the thinking of the world has begun to reshape our thinking.
Paul says in Romans 12:
“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind…”
Romans 12:2
The pressure is always towards conformity.
The world wants us to think as it thinks.
To value what it values.
To excuse what it excuses.
To pursue what it pursues.
To fear what it fears.
But the disciple of Christ must continually have his or her mind renewed by the Word of God.
Righteousness in the Lord Jesus
And then we come to the perfect example.
The Lord Jesus did not merely teach righteousness.
He lived it.
At the beginning of his public ministry he came to John the Baptist.
John initially resisted baptising him.
Matthew records:
“But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?”
Matthew 3:14
And Jesus replied:
“Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness.”
Matthew 3:15
Jesus had committed no personal sin.
Yet he willingly submitted himself to baptism.
Why?
Because he had come completely to do his Father’s will.
His whole life was an acknowledgment that the way of the flesh leads to death and that life is found through complete submission to God.
Baptism pointed forward to the pattern which would characterise his entire life - the denial of self, obedience to his Father, death, and ultimately resurrection to newness of life.
And that obedience continued throughout his ministry.
At every stage Jesus was faced with choices.
Would he take the easy way?
Would he compromise?
Would he seek popularity?
Would he avoid suffering?
Would he follow human reasoning?
Or would he trust his Father?
And every time, he chose righteousness.
That choice brought opposition.
It brought rejection.
It brought misunderstanding.
Eventually it brought him to his sacrifice.
To the wisdom of the world, the path of Christ appeared foolish.
Paul says:
“For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness…”
1 Corinthians 1:18
Human wisdom says: preserve yourself.
Human wisdom says: protect your position.
Human wisdom says: avoid suffering.
Human wisdom says: take the easiest route.
But Christ trusted God.
And because he trusted God, he could make righteous judgments even when obedience was costly.
Hebrews gives us a wonderful summary of his character:
“Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity…”
Hebrews 1:9
Notice both sides.
He loved righteousness.
And he hated iniquity.
Sometimes we can think of righteousness merely in terms of avoiding bad things.
But Christ positively loved what was right.
He loved the ways of his Father.
He delighted to do God’s will.
The Psalm says prophetically:
“I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.”
Psalm 40:8
That is where we need to reach.
Not merely obeying God because we fear punishment.
Not merely following commandments because we feel obliged.
But actually learning to love the things which God loves.
And learning to hate those things which God hates.
Abraham: Faith and Righteousness
Romans 4 brings Abraham before us.
Paul writes:
“For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.”
Romans 4:3
Abraham believed God.
That does not mean merely that Abraham believed that God existed.
His faith meant that he trusted what God had said sufficiently to act upon it.
God told him to leave his country.
Abraham went.
God promised him a seed.
Abraham believed.
God told him to offer Isaac.
Abraham obeyed, trusting that God was able even to raise the dead.
Faith affected judgment.
Because Abraham trusted God, he could make decisions which appeared extraordinary according to ordinary human reasoning.
And that is one of the keys to righteous judgment.
If we do not truly trust God, then when God’s way becomes difficult we will eventually choose another way.
We will choose the safe way.
The convenient way.
The socially acceptable way.
The financially advantageous way.
The way which avoids conflict.
But faith says:
God knows better than I do.
Faith says:
God’s standards are right even when the world says they are wrong.
Faith says:
Obedience is worthwhile even when I cannot immediately see the outcome.
Faith says:
I would rather stand with God and appear foolish to men than stand with men and be found foolish before God.
That is righteous judgment.
Applying This to Ourselves
So we must bring the subject home.
It is very easy to look at the seventy elders in Ezekiel and condemn them.
It is very easy to look at the scribes and Pharisees and identify their hypocrisy.
It is very easy to recognise where religious organisations have compromised.
The much more difficult thing is to examine ourselves.
Paul says:
“Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves.”
2 Corinthians 13:5
We need to ask:
Have my standards changed?
Are there things which once troubled my conscience but no longer do?
Have I allowed repeated exposure to the world’s thinking to make something seem normal which Scripture says is wrong?
Do I make decisions according to biblical principles, or according to convenience?
Does fear of other people affect my judgment?
Do my actions actually match what I say I believe?
Those are uncomfortable questions.
But they are necessary questions.
Imagine that someone followed us for a week without hearing anything we said about our faith.
They watched what we did.
They saw what we watched.
They heard what we said.
They saw how we treated our family.
They saw how we behaved at work.
They saw what we spent our money on.
They saw what occupied our spare time.
They saw how we reacted when somebody annoyed us.
They saw what happened when doing the right thing became inconvenient.
At the end of the week, would they be able to identify that we were disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ?
That is not asking whether we are perfect.
None of us is.
It is asking whether there is consistency between what we profess and how we live.
The Pharisees’ great problem was:
They say, and do not.
We must not allow that sentence to describe us.
The Fear of Man
Perhaps one of the greatest obstacles to righteous judgment is still the warning Moses gave thousands of years ago:
“Ye shall not be afraid of the face of man.”
Deuteronomy 1:17
The fear of man is extraordinarily powerful.
A young brother or sister can know perfectly well what Scripture teaches but be frightened of being different at school or university.
An adult can know what is right but fear consequences at work.
A parent can know what standards should be maintained in the home but fear upsetting children.
An ecclesia can know what Scripture teaches but fear appearing unfriendly or old-fashioned.
A brother can know that something ought to be said but remain silent because speaking will make life uncomfortable.
And gradually the fear of man replaces the fear of God.
Proverbs says:
“The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe.”
Proverbs 29:25
Notice again the relationship to faith.
The answer to fearing man is trusting God.
The more certain we are that God is real, that His Word is true, that His promises are certain, and that His Kingdom is coming, the less important human approval becomes.
That does not mean becoming deliberately confrontational.
Righteous judgment is not an excuse for harshness.
The wisdom from above is described in James as:
“first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits…”
James 3:17
Truth and kindness belong together.
Righteousness and mercy belong together.
Courage and humility belong together.
Our Lord possessed all of them perfectly.
Preparing for the Kingdom
Israel in Deuteronomy stood on the borders of the land.
We are also a people standing on the borders of an inheritance.
We do not know exactly how long remains before the Lord returns.
But every day brings us nearer.
The question is whether we are being prepared.
God is not simply preparing a place for us.
He is preparing us for the place.
And much of that preparation concerns our ability to discern His ways.
Isaiah prophesies of the Lord Jesus:
“And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears.”
Isaiah 11:3
The coming King judges differently from the world.
Not merely according to appearance.
Not according to prejudice.
Not according to popularity.
But according to righteousness.
If we hope to be associated with him in that Kingdom, then we need to be learning righteous judgment now.
Every decision is part of that education.
Every difficult circumstance is an opportunity.
Every disagreement tests us.
Every temptation presents a choice.
Every pressure from the world asks us:
Whose standard will you use?
That brings us back again to Moses:
“For the judgment is God’s.”
Deuteronomy 1:17
Those few words can remove an enormous burden from us.
We do not have to invent morality.
We do not have to decide what truth ought to be.
We do not have to reshape God’s principles so that they fit every generation.
Our responsibility is humbler than that.
We must listen.
We must learn.
We must believe.
And then we must obey.
At the Table of the Lord
And now, as we come to remember the Lord Jesus in bread and wine, we have before us the supreme example of one who loved righteousness and hated iniquity.
Here was a man who never allowed the standards of his Father to be weakened.
He was surrounded by a corrupt world.
He was misunderstood.
He was tempted.
He was opposed.
He was falsely accused.
He was deserted.
He suffered.
Yet he remained faithful.
He could say:
“I do always those things that please him.”
John 8:29
What a contrast with ourselves.
We look at our own lives and recognise inconsistency.
Times when we knew the right thing but did not do it.
Times when convenience won.
Times when fear won.
Times when pride won.
Times when the thinking of the world influenced us more than we realised.
But the emblems remind us not merely of our failure.
They remind us of God’s mercy.
They remind us that God has provided a way of forgiveness.
They remind us that in Christ there is hope.
And they call us again to follow him.
So as we examine ourselves, let us ask God to help us to see where our standards may have slipped.
Let us ask whether our conduct genuinely matches our profession.
Let us examine whether we are being moulded by Scripture or by the world around us.
Let us ask whether our decisions arise from faith in God or from fear of man.
And above all, let us look again at the Lord Jesus.
He loved righteousness.
He hated iniquity.
He trusted his Father.
He obeyed when obedience was difficult.
And because he remained faithful unto death, God raised him from the dead and exalted him.
That is the direction in which we are travelling.
The wilderness will not continue forever.
The Kingdom lies ahead.
May we therefore hear again the appeal of Scripture.
May we refuse to allow the world to weaken the standards which God has revealed.
May what we do increasingly match what we say.
May we judge, not according to appearance, prejudice, convenience or fear, but with righteous judgment.
And may we become more like the one whom we have gathered to remember:
the Lord Jesus Christ,
who loved righteousness and hated iniquity,
and who trusted his Father completely.
So that, when he returns, by the grace and mercy of God, we may be found ready to enter that Kingdom for which we wait.