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HE WHO HOLDS THE GAVEL. James 4:11-12. 10/27/2024. #16.
11 Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another?
1. Finger pointing chaos
a. James returns to his fiery tongue theme by admonishing the church not to speak evil of each other
a1. This is a general term referring to any hurtful, critical, unwholesome speech that mocks, defames, accuses, or attacks others
a2. Unfortunately, gossip and malicious attacks are not uncommon in churches
b. Admonition against verbal attacks is common in New Testament
a1. Matthew 7:1-5 do not judge, lest you be judged (whatever measure you judge will be used to judge you)
a2. Romans 14:4 who are you to judge another’s servant…
a3. Galatians 5:15 if you bite and devour one another, make sure that you do not consume…
a4. I Peter 4:8…love covers a multitude of sins”
c. Apparently, James’s readers were bickering and making accusations against one another
a1. The fleshly prideful nature still surfaced
a2. Needed to place self under control of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18)
d. Petty criticism destroys the fellowship
2. Judging one another is against the Law
a. Even though we are not under the law, the law of God reflects God’s righteousness (Romans 7)
b. The greatest commandments are to love God and our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:36-40)
a1. John 13:34 love is mark of disciples
a2. James 2 love is the Royal Law
c. Leviticus 19:18 love your neighbor as yourself
d. God’s law centers on love = if one loves God and others there will be no murder, adultery, stealing, false witness, or coveting
e. By violating the law of love, the readers were judging the holy law of God
a1. It is the law of God that is the basis for judging us
a2. By judging the law we guarantee judgment by the law
f. 3 points to understand the place of the law
a1. The law can’t grant salvation (faith issue)
a2. A believer can’t lose salvation
a3. The law is the moral standard of holiness
g. 3 areas for us to judge
a1. Our own sinful nature (I Corinthians 11:27-32)
a2. To judge overt sin (Matthew 18, 1 Cor. 5)
a3. In areas of proper responsibility (as a parent, official, boss, or church leader)
h. Admonished to be a doer of the law (Jm. 1:22 = obey the Word)
3. The Judge of all
a. We are not to judge others, for it is not our place
a1. Romans 12 God is the proper judge of all
a2. We are not the Holy Spirit for others
a3. We stay in our proper position and allow God to fulfill his role as Judge
b. Examples of proper judgment:
a1. Luke 15 it was not the elder brother’s place to judge his returned prodigal brother
a2. Revelation 2 the church of Thyatira should have judged Jezebel’s sins
a3. John 21 it was not up to Peter to dictate what John was to do
a4. I Corinthians 5 the Corinthians should have judged the sins of the man who took his step-mother as his lover
a5. Eph. 5:11 we are to call out sin (as John the Baptist did with Herod), but we are not to meddle in the lives of others (I Peter 4)
Key passage: Matthew 7:1-5 7 “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. 3 And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.