WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:12.300 Our scripture reading this morning, from where we'll look at in our sermon, is James chapter 4, verses 11 to 17 in the New Testament. 00:00:12.300 --> 00:00:13.300 ! 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:41.439 There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbour? 00:00:43.100 --> 00:00:51.620 Come now, you who say, today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit. 00:00:52.700 --> 00:00:57.240 Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? 00:00:57.240 --> 00:01:02.039 For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 00:01:03.420 --> 00:01:09.260 Instead, you ought to say, if the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that. 00:01:10.560 --> 00:01:15.920 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 00:01:17.240 --> 00:01:23.460 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. Amen. 00:01:23.459 --> 00:01:35.780 C.S. Lewis in his famous book, Mere Christianity, talks about the difference in following the rules that God gives us and deep change. 00:01:36.759 --> 00:01:39.219 And the way he describes this is through a metaphor. 00:01:39.399 --> 00:01:46.819 He talks about the difference in painting something and just slapping coats of paint on the outside of a perimeter 00:01:46.819 --> 00:01:50.799 versus taking a stain or a dye. 00:01:51.659 --> 00:01:56.199 And a stain, a dye, you know, when you put it into something that can soak it up, it goes all the way to the middle. 00:01:57.719 --> 00:02:00.299 And he says in the letter, that's the difference. 00:02:00.379 --> 00:02:05.179 That metaphor is describing the difference between being a person who has professed faith 00:02:05.179 --> 00:02:09.719 and just then tries to go and follow the rules because you say, well, faith without works is dead. 00:02:09.719 --> 00:02:13.819 And so I've got to believe and then I've got to go follow all the rules God's given me 00:02:13.819 --> 00:02:19.479 versus a person who is experiencing deep gospel change in their life all the way, 00:02:20.259 --> 00:02:25.099 soaking it up like a stain or a dye all the way into the center of their hearts. 00:02:25.900 --> 00:02:32.939 And so with that metaphor, he then gives some of the very famous lines that you will probably have heard from C.S. Lewis. 00:02:33.060 --> 00:02:36.479 He says, you've got to go in for the full treatment. 00:02:36.479 --> 00:02:43.639 The church exists for nothing else but to draw people into Christ and to make them little Christs. 00:02:44.239 --> 00:02:51.159 If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, the pastors, the missions, the sermons are simply a waste of time. 00:02:51.679 --> 00:02:54.079 God became man for no other purpose. 00:02:54.959 --> 00:02:56.379 Now we're back to James today. 00:02:57.679 --> 00:03:02.899 And James, just for a reminder, is the biological brother of Jesus, the little brother, 00:03:03.199 --> 00:03:05.060 the little bro of Jesus, we might say. 00:03:05.060 --> 00:03:08.020 And he was a skeptic. 00:03:08.120 --> 00:03:13.819 He did not believe in his brother as the son of God, as the savior, when Jesus was in his earthly ministry. 00:03:14.479 --> 00:03:19.159 And Paul tells us that when Jesus rose from the dead, he specifically appeared to James. 00:03:19.780 --> 00:03:25.860 And from that moment, James believed and he became an apostle and he became a pillar of the church in Jerusalem. 00:03:26.259 --> 00:03:30.080 So it's from there that he's writing to the church around the whole Mediterranean. 00:03:30.080 --> 00:03:38.439 So James 1.1 tells us that he writes to the dispersed exiles all across the Mediterranean. 00:03:38.860 --> 00:03:44.820 And he's talking there with an Old Testament metaphor about the church, saying that the church is the new Israel. 00:03:45.040 --> 00:03:46.460 That means that James is writing to us. 00:03:46.520 --> 00:03:48.780 He's writing to all of us today who are Christians. 00:03:49.460 --> 00:03:51.260 And it's a practical book. 00:03:51.520 --> 00:03:52.560 You'll remember that. 00:03:52.560 --> 00:03:53.920 It's a book about growth. 00:03:54.039 --> 00:03:57.280 It's a book about change, deep change, how to change. 00:03:58.000 --> 00:04:00.580 And for that reason, there's a danger in it. 00:04:01.599 --> 00:04:02.699 We all want to change. 00:04:04.039 --> 00:04:06.140 We all want to be something more than what we are. 00:04:06.259 --> 00:04:12.819 We want to be less miserable than we are by putting away our impatience and becoming more patient. 00:04:12.819 --> 00:04:20.120 We want to be less miserable by putting away our anger and our frustration and annoyance with people and being kind and meek. 00:04:20.120 --> 00:04:21.780 We want change, deep change. 00:04:22.360 --> 00:04:28.319 The danger is to read the book of James like the other epistles in the New Testament and read it just as a list of rules. 00:04:29.220 --> 00:04:30.840 And there are a lot of rules in James. 00:04:31.040 --> 00:04:32.519 There are a lot of commands in James. 00:04:32.699 --> 00:04:34.920 And we've looked at all these to-dos. 00:04:35.199 --> 00:04:36.040 Bridal your tongue. 00:04:37.280 --> 00:04:38.399 Care for the orphan and the widow. 00:04:39.100 --> 00:04:40.300 Show mercy to the afflicted. 00:04:40.980 --> 00:04:42.720 And the list goes on and on and on. 00:04:42.720 --> 00:04:45.160 We could list dozens of commands. 00:04:45.320 --> 00:04:55.580 And if you highlight a Bible, if you like to do that, and you take a highlighter and just highlight the commands that are in James, it would be an incredibly colorful text. 00:04:56.300 --> 00:05:03.260 The danger is that you remember James' line from James chapter 2, faith without works is dead faith. 00:05:03.259 --> 00:05:06.639 And you think, okay, first I've got to believe. 00:05:07.120 --> 00:05:11.899 But if I'm going to stay in God's good graces, then I've got to do a lot of stuff. 00:05:12.180 --> 00:05:13.579 And I've got to follow the rules. 00:05:14.519 --> 00:05:17.699 And what James is actually doing is something very different than that. 00:05:17.779 --> 00:05:22.240 Different church traditions have gotten caught up in that idea. 00:05:22.620 --> 00:05:24.680 But that's not what James is saying at all. 00:05:24.680 --> 00:05:34.240 And instead, he gave us the prescription of how to really change at the very end of the passage last time, just before what we read today in 8 to 10, chapter 4. 00:05:35.160 --> 00:05:35.959 And here's what it is. 00:05:35.980 --> 00:05:38.319 He says, draw near to God. 00:05:39.160 --> 00:05:40.160 Come close to God. 00:05:40.259 --> 00:05:41.460 And he will draw near to you. 00:05:41.759 --> 00:05:44.519 And be wretched over your sin and your struggle. 00:05:44.699 --> 00:05:45.860 And weep over it. 00:05:46.540 --> 00:05:49.000 And he will exalt you when you're humbled. 00:05:49.000 --> 00:05:57.220 Or you could say James 1, 21 to 23, where we were told, return to the word that has already been implanted in you. 00:05:57.779 --> 00:05:58.540 And what is that word? 00:05:58.639 --> 00:06:02.860 That is the word, the logos, Jesus himself through the word, the scriptures. 00:06:03.060 --> 00:06:05.220 And he's saying, weep over your sin. 00:06:05.459 --> 00:06:09.060 Know yourself, as John Calvin put it at the very beginning of his Institutes. 00:06:09.500 --> 00:06:11.180 There are only two things for the Christian to do. 00:06:11.319 --> 00:06:13.279 Know yourself and know God. 00:06:13.339 --> 00:06:14.779 And then know yourself in the light of God. 00:06:14.779 --> 00:06:20.339 Return to God, knowing your sin, weeping over it, and really examining yourself. 00:06:20.759 --> 00:06:26.679 And then looking at Jesus 10 times and saying, because of his grace, I want to become more like him. 00:06:26.979 --> 00:06:31.319 That's the difference in painting your life with rules. 00:06:32.500 --> 00:06:38.059 And really soaking up gospel change like a dye, like a stain into your heart. 00:06:38.060 --> 00:06:48.740 And James is actually saying, because of the grace of Jesus, return to him and be replanted over and over and over and over again in his grace, 00:06:48.879 --> 00:06:54.279 so that you would become a little Christ, as C.S. Lewis put it, like him more and more over time. 00:06:55.100 --> 00:06:57.540 Now today, we've got a command. 00:06:57.699 --> 00:06:58.879 We've got two commands. 00:07:00.079 --> 00:07:00.779 Judge not. 00:07:02.360 --> 00:07:06.439 Do not speak evil of a brother or sister, or you are judging them. 00:07:06.439 --> 00:07:10.660 And so you'll hear there the connection back to the Sermon on the Mount when Jesus said, 00:07:11.259 --> 00:07:14.639 Judge not, lest ye be judged, to put it in the King James line. 00:07:14.860 --> 00:07:21.420 And that command is not about the will as much as it is about the heart. 00:07:21.560 --> 00:07:22.819 It's about deep heart change. 00:07:23.220 --> 00:07:23.879 How do we do it? 00:07:24.560 --> 00:07:29.500 How do we hear it and soak it in like a sponge, like a dye into a sponge? 00:07:29.500 --> 00:07:35.740 And so let's learn here for just a few minutes what it means to be fully human. 00:07:36.560 --> 00:07:44.259 What it means to be truly human by going back and looking at Christ and becoming like a little Christ in this command. 00:07:44.980 --> 00:07:47.000 Don't speak evil of a brother or sister. 00:07:47.220 --> 00:07:48.480 Don't judge them. 00:07:48.480 --> 00:07:54.460 And what we're really being told here is of the danger of playing God. 00:07:54.840 --> 00:07:57.660 Because only God is the real judge and the lawgiver. 00:07:57.879 --> 00:08:03.180 And so this is an invitation to be truly human, to be fully human is the idea. 00:08:03.259 --> 00:08:05.439 Now we read verses 11 to 17. 00:08:06.400 --> 00:08:12.300 And in 11 to 17, there's a connection between speak no evil of anyone. 00:08:12.300 --> 00:08:15.360 And you better say, if the Lord wills. 00:08:15.360 --> 00:08:17.660 And in both sections, it says, who are you? 00:08:18.060 --> 00:08:21.000 So there's a glue through those two questions. 00:08:21.439 --> 00:08:25.060 We're going to look at those two questions over two weeks. 00:08:25.100 --> 00:08:29.019 So playing God part one today, playing God part two next time. 00:08:29.660 --> 00:08:37.460 And so just verses 11 and 12 this morning tell us about playing God versus being truly human, being what we actually are. 00:08:37.460 --> 00:08:43.360 And so we learn here in verse 11 about playing God by judging people, firstly. 00:08:43.480 --> 00:08:48.300 And then secondly, of the problem of playing God by judging God deeper in. 00:08:50.220 --> 00:08:53.879 So first, playing God by the problem of judging people. 00:08:53.940 --> 00:08:54.960 So you'll see it in verse 11. 00:08:55.620 --> 00:08:57.000 It's said so clearly. 00:08:58.180 --> 00:09:00.759 He says in verse 11, do not speak evil against one another. 00:09:01.379 --> 00:09:03.060 So there's the line, speak evil. 00:09:03.059 --> 00:09:09.379 And then he explains it a little bit by saying, if you do speak evil, then you have judged your brother or sister. 00:09:10.179 --> 00:09:12.379 So two ways to describe one thing. 00:09:12.500 --> 00:09:14.699 Speak evil and judge your brother and sister. 00:09:15.259 --> 00:09:18.059 Now, just like I mentioned, you'll hear the Sermon on the Mount in that. 00:09:18.179 --> 00:09:28.919 But you also, as I've been studying James, I'm sorry to say that I didn't realize till this week that James is actually following Leviticus 19 and his prescriptions. 00:09:28.919 --> 00:09:34.500 So you can go back later and read through Leviticus 19 and find how James is basically outlining it. 00:09:34.860 --> 00:09:40.500 And in Leviticus 19, verse 16, it says, you shall not go about as a slander among your people. 00:09:40.759 --> 00:09:41.620 So there it is. 00:09:41.639 --> 00:09:46.860 And he's picking up on that Old Testament command, that moral law that just has not changed since the Old Testament. 00:09:46.860 --> 00:09:56.159 And so the word that he uses for speak evil here, katalaleo, is translated slander typically, historically. 00:09:56.519 --> 00:09:57.659 And that's all it means. 00:09:58.320 --> 00:09:59.159 What does it mean? 00:09:59.980 --> 00:10:04.399 To speak evil or to slander means to talk down to somebody. 00:10:05.279 --> 00:10:07.680 It means to make them small. 00:10:08.720 --> 00:10:10.639 To pull the rug out from underneath them. 00:10:10.860 --> 00:10:13.440 To make them feel weightless, like they have no grounding. 00:10:13.440 --> 00:10:19.460 And the idea connected to judging is as if you have taken your seat. 00:10:19.620 --> 00:10:24.940 You've stood in the judge's bench and put that person in the dock, the criminal's dock. 00:10:25.620 --> 00:10:26.760 And so you make them small. 00:10:26.840 --> 00:10:27.600 You speak down to them. 00:10:27.660 --> 00:10:28.800 You become their moral authority. 00:10:29.440 --> 00:10:31.980 You become their supreme, their judge of their life. 00:10:34.200 --> 00:10:35.600 And that's slander. 00:10:36.120 --> 00:10:41.860 But the key is that you can absolutely tell the truth and be slandering. 00:10:41.860 --> 00:10:44.940 You can tell the truth about somebody and be slandering them. 00:10:45.019 --> 00:10:47.720 You can tell the truth to somebody and be speaking evil against them. 00:10:48.379 --> 00:10:57.440 So in the book of Esther, the evil Haman, he went to King Ahasuerus and he spoke the truth about the Jews. 00:10:57.560 --> 00:10:58.759 And what he said about the Jews was, 00:10:59.960 --> 00:11:01.240 They do not follow your gods. 00:11:01.740 --> 00:11:03.200 They do not follow your laws. 00:11:03.419 --> 00:11:07.180 They worship their own God and they follow the laws only he's given them. 00:11:07.320 --> 00:11:09.379 And that was absolutely true. 00:11:09.379 --> 00:11:13.240 And he said, So in his heart he sought to destroy them. 00:11:13.960 --> 00:11:14.960 What is slander? 00:11:15.179 --> 00:11:16.399 What does it mean to speak evil? 00:11:16.539 --> 00:11:21.500 It means that you might be telling the truth about somebody around here in the community, 00:11:21.500 --> 00:11:28.580 but you do so in order to destroy them, to hurt them, to diminish them, to make them small, 00:11:28.779 --> 00:11:33.379 to take away their social capital among the community that they're a part of. 00:11:33.379 --> 00:11:36.779 The second word that gets used here is the word to judge. 00:11:37.679 --> 00:11:41.159 And it's just elevating slander. 00:11:41.779 --> 00:11:43.879 And the way it's doing so very probably means, 00:11:44.659 --> 00:11:50.500 refers to pronouncing somebody, condemning somebody like a judge as lost, as beyond grace, beyond hope. 00:11:50.799 --> 00:11:55.480 So it's making some kind of pronouncement against somebody's soul and saying, 00:11:55.659 --> 00:11:56.820 There's no way they're a Christian. 00:11:56.820 --> 00:12:01.920 There's no way they could be a part of God's family and God's community and God's kingdom. 00:12:02.500 --> 00:12:05.100 And the big problem there is God tells long stories. 00:12:07.160 --> 00:12:09.780 And the question at the end of verse 12 is, 00:12:10.080 --> 00:12:10.720 Who are you? 00:12:10.879 --> 00:12:14.520 Who are you to judge your neighbor, to pronounce them lost, pronounce them forever gone? 00:12:15.020 --> 00:12:15.980 You don't know. 00:12:16.040 --> 00:12:16.800 You don't know their story. 00:12:16.900 --> 00:12:17.640 You don't know their background. 00:12:17.800 --> 00:12:19.460 You don't know what's going on in their life right now. 00:12:19.720 --> 00:12:21.360 You don't know what God will do. 00:12:21.560 --> 00:12:22.720 Only God can say that. 00:12:22.780 --> 00:12:23.640 Only God can judge. 00:12:23.639 --> 00:12:28.659 And so Thomas Manton very helpfully summarizes this. 00:12:28.860 --> 00:12:33.600 And he was the clerk of the Westminster Assembly. 00:12:33.759 --> 00:12:36.299 And he says that this is outside of our jurisdiction. 00:12:36.500 --> 00:12:38.340 There are three things outside of human jurisdiction. 00:12:39.120 --> 00:12:42.340 And that's to speak against the counsel of God from eternity, 00:12:42.699 --> 00:12:44.919 to speak against what the scriptures say, 00:12:45.179 --> 00:12:48.019 and to speak against the heart of a human being. 00:12:48.799 --> 00:12:51.500 Three things that are outside of our domain, outside of our jurisdiction. 00:12:51.679 --> 00:12:52.139 We can't do it. 00:12:52.159 --> 00:12:52.700 We can't see it. 00:12:52.700 --> 00:12:53.379 We don't know enough. 00:12:53.639 --> 00:12:57.519 We don't have enough information, he's ultimately saying here. 00:12:58.120 --> 00:13:02.580 Now, we could call this judgmentalism, 00:13:02.879 --> 00:13:05.360 which is what it's often been called. 00:13:06.120 --> 00:13:10.799 And so judgmentalism has two layers to it in these two words. 00:13:10.879 --> 00:13:12.220 The first layer is motivation. 00:13:13.340 --> 00:13:17.299 So what's the difference in speaking the truth about somebody's life 00:13:17.299 --> 00:13:20.399 or into somebody's life in judgmentalism? 00:13:20.679 --> 00:13:22.259 And the first layer is motivation. 00:13:22.259 --> 00:13:24.740 And so in motivation, you've got to ask yourself, 00:13:25.039 --> 00:13:29.480 am I telling the truth to tear down instead of to build them up? 00:13:30.480 --> 00:13:33.379 And then the second layer is verdict casting. 00:13:34.580 --> 00:13:39.659 Have I pronounced guilt and condemnation upon them when I have no right to do so? 00:13:39.740 --> 00:13:40.360 No standing. 00:13:40.580 --> 00:13:41.580 I don't know enough information. 00:13:41.580 --> 00:13:44.700 I don't know what God's going to do ultimately with the end of their life. 00:13:45.900 --> 00:13:46.480 All right. 00:13:46.480 --> 00:13:52.860 You will all know that in the contemporary world, the modern culture that we live in, 00:13:52.920 --> 00:14:00.240 this is a favorite of people to say, you see, the Bible says, don't judge people. 00:14:00.920 --> 00:14:02.580 Judge not lest ye be judged. 00:14:02.580 --> 00:14:07.080 But the problem is that religious people, and especially Christians, are incredibly judgmental. 00:14:08.920 --> 00:14:09.820 Sometimes we are. 00:14:11.600 --> 00:14:14.460 But is that what is being talked about here? 00:14:14.759 --> 00:14:16.840 You know, people say, look, religious people are judgmental. 00:14:16.900 --> 00:14:21.180 Christians are judgmental because they say that other people's religions aren't true, 00:14:21.259 --> 00:14:23.900 that Christ, that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. 00:14:23.960 --> 00:14:26.200 There's no way else to the Father except through Him. 00:14:26.200 --> 00:14:29.240 And that's judging other people's religions. 00:14:29.460 --> 00:14:32.700 And it's just important to be, for one minute, really clear. 00:14:32.960 --> 00:14:37.480 In the Bible, we're not being told here, number one, that we can never tell the truth. 00:14:38.480 --> 00:14:43.220 And the authority of God's Word is so clear on that and calls us to tell the truth. 00:14:43.320 --> 00:14:47.300 The second thing we're not being told here is to never morally evaluate anything, 00:14:47.480 --> 00:14:50.520 anybody's behavior, what anybody is up to in life. 00:14:51.360 --> 00:14:53.379 And instead, we've got a paradigm for that. 00:14:53.440 --> 00:14:54.180 Well, just think about it. 00:14:54.179 --> 00:14:58.559 If a person says, look, Jesus says, judge not, lest ye be judged. 00:14:58.679 --> 00:15:01.939 James says, don't speak evil, don't judge another person. 00:15:01.979 --> 00:15:03.019 You don't have the right to do so. 00:15:03.559 --> 00:15:06.579 You see, religious people are judgmental. 00:15:07.359 --> 00:15:08.179 That is a judgment. 00:15:09.519 --> 00:15:12.859 You know, you have to fall on your own sword in order to even say such a thing. 00:15:13.319 --> 00:15:14.979 That's a moral evaluation. 00:15:15.239 --> 00:15:16.459 That is a moral proclamation. 00:15:16.719 --> 00:15:19.599 Religious people should not say that any other religion is wrong. 00:15:19.859 --> 00:15:21.019 It's falling upon your own sword. 00:15:21.139 --> 00:15:22.759 Of course we have to morally evaluate. 00:15:22.759 --> 00:15:26.360 We couldn't do life for one day without moral evaluation. 00:15:27.379 --> 00:15:31.000 But instead, we have a paradigm for this in the Bible, and it's in Ephesians. 00:15:31.500 --> 00:15:35.919 And the paradigm is, speak the truth in love. 00:15:36.360 --> 00:15:38.480 Do not speak evil or judge. 00:15:39.259 --> 00:15:40.279 And again, what does that mean? 00:15:40.319 --> 00:15:45.879 It simply means that you go and you tell the truth to somebody about a neighbor, about a person that you know. 00:15:45.879 --> 00:15:48.500 And you do it because you want to restore them. 00:15:48.559 --> 00:15:50.240 You want to see them built back up. 00:15:50.279 --> 00:15:51.379 You want to rescue them. 00:15:51.439 --> 00:15:54.860 You want to draw them back from the ways they're running away from God. 00:15:55.000 --> 00:15:57.740 Or do you do so because you hate them? 00:15:57.779 --> 00:15:58.500 You want to destroy them? 00:15:58.539 --> 00:16:02.279 You love and enjoy seeing a little bit of their life fall apart secretly. 00:16:02.279 --> 00:16:07.379 You say, you know, on the surface, it's such a shame about so-and-so. 00:16:08.379 --> 00:16:09.139 It's awful. 00:16:09.339 --> 00:16:10.240 I hate to hear it. 00:16:10.319 --> 00:16:13.059 But deep down in the heart, schadenfreude. 00:16:13.220 --> 00:16:14.679 Apologies to our German friends. 00:16:14.779 --> 00:16:17.120 Schadenfreude is actually happening. 00:16:17.220 --> 00:16:17.639 What is that? 00:16:17.699 --> 00:16:22.600 That's when you secretly enjoy the demise of other people deep down in the soul. 00:16:22.600 --> 00:16:23.740 And that is slander. 00:16:24.420 --> 00:16:26.420 Are you wanting to restore them? 00:16:26.480 --> 00:16:27.659 Are you wanting to destroy them? 00:16:28.019 --> 00:16:33.340 And of course, we all know that we have different degrees in our own lives of struggling with this problem. 00:16:34.220 --> 00:16:37.759 Notice in verse 11, what does he say? 00:16:37.820 --> 00:16:41.399 He says, don't speak evil or judge a brother or sister. 00:16:41.560 --> 00:16:46.120 So he's talking about it in the context of the community of faith and using the language of family. 00:16:47.060 --> 00:16:49.160 Here's the difference between truth and love and slander. 00:16:49.159 --> 00:16:51.759 Here, imagine parents. 00:16:52.519 --> 00:17:00.000 Imagine parents who are sitting in their living room late into the night and they're talking about their children. 00:17:01.459 --> 00:17:06.460 And they're saying of their eldest, their youngest, you know, our eldest child. 00:17:07.700 --> 00:17:12.440 The husband says to the wife, let me tell you about this dumb thing that they did. 00:17:13.779 --> 00:17:17.299 And they're ruining their life. 00:17:17.299 --> 00:17:19.740 And, you know, they just have a good laugh about it. 00:17:21.359 --> 00:17:25.279 They sit late into the night just saying, ah, our eldest child, what a fool. 00:17:25.359 --> 00:17:26.339 He's doing everything wrong. 00:17:26.700 --> 00:17:28.339 His life is going to be absolutely ruined. 00:17:28.399 --> 00:17:30.399 And they're just joking and trivially about it. 00:17:30.460 --> 00:17:30.619 Do you? 00:17:31.399 --> 00:17:32.279 No, of course. 00:17:32.519 --> 00:17:38.480 There's no parent who sits in the living room late into the night and says, my son is ruining his life. 00:17:38.480 --> 00:17:41.700 And it's, you know, it's a shame, but oh well. 00:17:42.900 --> 00:17:43.680 No, what do they do? 00:17:43.740 --> 00:17:48.559 They weep into the night because they love their son or daughter. 00:17:48.559 --> 00:17:53.920 And they say, I would do anything to help bring them back, to restore them, to seek their good. 00:17:54.039 --> 00:17:55.279 And that's the difference. 00:17:55.940 --> 00:17:56.500 What does he say? 00:17:56.599 --> 00:17:59.240 Brother and sister, family, church community. 00:17:59.240 --> 00:18:04.099 Do you talk about one another as if it is your family? 00:18:04.960 --> 00:18:09.160 That's the difference in truth and love and speaking evil and judging and slandering. 00:18:10.500 --> 00:18:11.680 Am I judgmental? 00:18:11.779 --> 00:18:13.400 That's the question James is asking. 00:18:13.900 --> 00:18:16.880 And I don't mean me specifically, though it does apply to me. 00:18:16.940 --> 00:18:17.640 Don't shout out. 00:18:18.140 --> 00:18:19.079 Am I judgmental? 00:18:19.079 --> 00:18:23.259 But the question is, am I judgmental? 00:18:24.779 --> 00:18:27.039 And here's just a couple ways to think about that. 00:18:27.099 --> 00:18:31.519 One, do you have an instinct to criticize first? 00:18:32.759 --> 00:18:37.699 Do you enter into a space and look for what's wrong before you ever say anything about what's right? 00:18:39.899 --> 00:18:46.259 Do you, again, schadenfreude, do you hear that news about that person who has had to resign because of public sin? 00:18:46.259 --> 00:18:53.039 And while you say it's awful on the outside, deep down in your heart, you have a little bit of delight because you say, at least I'm not them. 00:18:53.460 --> 00:18:55.779 They make me look better as they go down. 00:18:56.740 --> 00:19:02.480 Do you find that it is your instinct to say something like, you know, I'm just an honest person. 00:19:03.140 --> 00:19:05.039 It's just my personality to tell the truth. 00:19:05.980 --> 00:19:12.960 These are signs of a spectrum of judgmentalism, of moving toward speaking evil and struggling with this. 00:19:12.960 --> 00:19:18.160 And, of course, we can all come today and say, this is me to some degree, every single one of us. 00:19:19.039 --> 00:19:24.799 In the pre-modern world, it took a long time to spread the whispers of the community. 00:19:25.039 --> 00:19:28.019 You know, you had to take it on horseback, village to village. 00:19:28.620 --> 00:19:30.299 But today, you can take a screenshot. 00:19:31.380 --> 00:19:35.279 And when you take a screenshot of what that person texted you, you send it to three people. 00:19:35.400 --> 00:19:36.140 And then what happens? 00:19:36.620 --> 00:19:37.759 They send it to three people. 00:19:37.759 --> 00:19:39.819 And they, their three people, send it to three people. 00:19:40.119 --> 00:19:45.200 And before you know it, a thousand people are all talking about whatever issue there is before you. 00:19:45.619 --> 00:19:50.819 And that means that we are incredibly prone to this sin more than even a pre-modern person ever would have been 00:19:50.819 --> 00:19:52.980 because of the capability we have to slander. 00:19:53.079 --> 00:19:53.980 What do we do about it? 00:19:58.000 --> 00:19:59.039 Camp is coming up. 00:19:59.160 --> 00:20:00.240 My kids are going to camp. 00:20:00.400 --> 00:20:04.619 We're having discussions in our house about our younger kids going to camp. 00:20:04.619 --> 00:20:07.799 And whether it's the right time or not, I'm all in, by the way. 00:20:10.199 --> 00:20:15.519 And you know what happens at camp is when a, I used to be a camp counselor. 00:20:16.259 --> 00:20:22.059 And you find that when a child is homesick, sometimes it expresses itself by them really acting out a lot 00:20:22.059 --> 00:20:26.459 and misbehaving and making camp kind of miserable for all the other kids. 00:20:27.439 --> 00:20:29.599 And you can go to that child and you can say, 00:20:29.819 --> 00:20:33.179 you've got to obey the rules. 00:20:33.180 --> 00:20:35.640 Let me get out the code of conduct again and read it for you. 00:20:37.000 --> 00:20:41.420 And that's probably not going to change anything because you're just painting the exterior. 00:20:42.779 --> 00:20:46.539 But if mom and dad send a letter and that letter says, 00:20:47.019 --> 00:20:51.820 son, daughter, look, I know you're struggling at camp, but I just want you to know you came to camp. 00:20:51.940 --> 00:20:54.140 We sent you to camp, not because we don't love you. 00:20:54.200 --> 00:20:55.060 We love you desperately. 00:20:55.180 --> 00:20:57.880 We wish you were at home, but we think this is good for you. 00:20:57.880 --> 00:21:02.580 And we want you to receive this letter from home and know the love of mom and dad. 00:21:03.400 --> 00:21:09.300 Then that has the possibility of actually letting the rules, the code of conduct soak into the heart. 00:21:09.960 --> 00:21:10.340 Why? 00:21:10.440 --> 00:21:11.340 Because now they're safe. 00:21:11.420 --> 00:21:12.500 Now they're in a state of grace. 00:21:12.620 --> 00:21:18.780 Now they know that obedience is actually about the health of everybody else because they feel healthy. 00:21:18.920 --> 00:21:19.680 They feel loved. 00:21:19.940 --> 00:21:20.940 They feel beloved. 00:21:20.940 --> 00:21:24.320 What do you do with your slander, with your speaking evil, with your judgmentalism? 00:21:24.600 --> 00:21:28.500 You got to come back to Jesus and re-receive the implanted word. 00:21:28.820 --> 00:21:32.460 Just like James says, draw near to Christ and he will draw near to you. 00:21:32.860 --> 00:21:35.740 Don't just say, I better not do this because it's against the rule. 00:21:35.920 --> 00:21:40.519 No, come to Christ and look at him and say, what is he like to me? 00:21:40.660 --> 00:21:41.980 He is my elder brother. 00:21:41.980 --> 00:21:46.480 He is also judge of all the earth. 00:21:46.579 --> 00:21:50.200 The judge of all the earth had every right to condemn me. 00:21:50.440 --> 00:21:51.240 Had every right. 00:21:51.579 --> 00:21:52.480 Yet, what did he do? 00:21:53.059 --> 00:21:55.440 He did not speak slander against me. 00:21:55.500 --> 00:21:56.680 He died for my slander. 00:21:57.640 --> 00:21:59.019 That's what my elder brother did for me. 00:21:59.099 --> 00:22:00.380 Therefore, how can I be judgmental? 00:22:00.460 --> 00:22:03.299 How can I be judgmental if the God of all the earth did that for me? 00:22:03.460 --> 00:22:04.900 That's the heart of change. 00:22:04.960 --> 00:22:06.200 It's a gospel change. 00:22:06.559 --> 00:22:09.140 It's got to soak in like a dye, like paint. 00:22:09.220 --> 00:22:10.880 Be wretched for your judgmentalism. 00:22:10.880 --> 00:22:12.920 Cry out to God and he will draw near to you. 00:22:13.380 --> 00:22:15.320 And in your humility, he'll exalt you. 00:22:15.400 --> 00:22:16.340 He'll lift you back up. 00:22:16.400 --> 00:22:18.300 He'll change you from the inside out. 00:22:18.380 --> 00:22:20.660 And then, let me give you this paradigm. 00:22:20.880 --> 00:22:21.480 Here's the paradigm. 00:22:23.320 --> 00:22:30.020 Number one, before I speak words about anybody in our church community to anybody else, 00:22:30.100 --> 00:22:31.900 number one, is it true? 00:22:32.340 --> 00:22:33.400 Have I checked the facts? 00:22:34.800 --> 00:22:35.280 Why? 00:22:35.400 --> 00:22:39.260 Because Zechariah 8.16 says, speak the truth to one another. 00:22:40.880 --> 00:22:43.320 Number two, is it loving? 00:22:43.840 --> 00:22:47.560 Would I want the same to be said about me in another conversation? 00:22:47.720 --> 00:22:47.880 Why? 00:22:48.020 --> 00:22:51.740 Because Ephesians 4.15 says, speak the truth in love. 00:22:51.800 --> 00:22:52.360 Is it loving? 00:22:53.400 --> 00:22:56.080 Number three, is it edifying? 00:22:56.340 --> 00:22:58.560 Does the word I'm sharing build up? 00:22:58.680 --> 00:22:58.900 Why? 00:22:58.900 --> 00:23:04.160 Because Ephesians 4.29 says, do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouth, 00:23:04.160 --> 00:23:09.820 but only what is helpful for building others up that it may benefit those who are listening 00:23:09.820 --> 00:23:10.240 to you. 00:23:11.100 --> 00:23:12.620 And lastly, is it needful? 00:23:13.060 --> 00:23:15.320 Is it the right time and place for this? 00:23:16.180 --> 00:23:21.019 Am I accomplishing what is good for this person in the right moment, the right time, the right 00:23:21.019 --> 00:23:22.380 place, the right audience? 00:23:22.500 --> 00:23:22.600 Why? 00:23:22.720 --> 00:23:27.180 Because only say what is helpful and beneficial to all the parties involved. 00:23:27.340 --> 00:23:28.140 Ephesians 4.29. 00:23:28.140 --> 00:23:35.800 Secondly, and very briefly, not only are we told here not to play God by judging other 00:23:35.800 --> 00:23:41.680 people, but we're told here not to play God, to take God's place in the bench by judging 00:23:41.680 --> 00:23:42.100 God. 00:23:42.180 --> 00:23:48.300 Now, that's not on the surface of the text, but James does imply here that slander against 00:23:48.300 --> 00:23:52.640 a brother or sister in the church is actually putting God in the dock. 00:23:52.720 --> 00:23:53.259 It's slander. 00:23:53.440 --> 00:23:54.540 It's judging God. 00:23:54.539 --> 00:24:00.519 So you can see how he puts this by implication in 11b down through chapter 12. 00:24:00.599 --> 00:24:01.119 What does he say? 00:24:02.259 --> 00:24:07.079 The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother speaks evil, and here it is, against 00:24:07.079 --> 00:24:09.519 the law and judges the law. 00:24:10.299 --> 00:24:13.779 But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge. 00:24:14.519 --> 00:24:15.539 So here's how he says it. 00:24:15.579 --> 00:24:19.859 He says, when you speak slander against somebody evil, you judge the law. 00:24:20.319 --> 00:24:21.220 Confusing language. 00:24:21.339 --> 00:24:22.000 What does that mean? 00:24:22.000 --> 00:24:24.099 The law. 00:24:24.220 --> 00:24:24.799 What's the law? 00:24:25.720 --> 00:24:30.819 Again, I just started to awaken to this a little bit more this week because I realized the connections 00:24:30.819 --> 00:24:32.440 between Leviticus and James more. 00:24:32.599 --> 00:24:39.799 But the law that James refers to in James chapter 2, the royal law, comes from Leviticus 19, the 00:24:39.799 --> 00:24:44.259 first place we see the Lord tell us, love your neighbor as yourself. 00:24:44.359 --> 00:24:45.220 That's the royal law. 00:24:45.660 --> 00:24:49.180 And James repeats that for us like Jesus repeats it in the Sermon on the Mount. 00:24:49.180 --> 00:24:55.960 And when we break the royal law by slandering somebody, speaking evil against somebody, what 00:24:55.960 --> 00:25:01.580 we've done is the law in the Bible is like the judge, and we're in the dock. 00:25:01.660 --> 00:25:02.500 We're lawbreakers. 00:25:02.620 --> 00:25:06.700 We're the ones underneath the law, hearing God's moral vision for our lives. 00:25:07.200 --> 00:25:11.279 But when we slander somebody, what we do is we take the law, God's law, His word, and 00:25:11.279 --> 00:25:16.700 we put it in the criminal's dock, and we stand in the bench, and we look down and say, Lord, 00:25:16.899 --> 00:25:20.680 thank you for writing these laws down for me, but I find them not fit for my purposes. 00:25:21.759 --> 00:25:24.619 And I'll make my own law, and I'll make my own way, and I'll make my own path. 00:25:24.619 --> 00:25:29.599 And so we become the judge of all the earth who is then judging the law and saying, the 00:25:29.599 --> 00:25:31.619 law is not good enough for my life. 00:25:31.700 --> 00:25:32.779 That's what it means to judge the law. 00:25:32.779 --> 00:25:38.339 Now, by implication, because God is, verse 12, the law giver. 00:25:38.599 --> 00:25:41.019 The law simply reflects His moral character. 00:25:41.539 --> 00:25:47.019 That means that when we speak evil of one another, we have actually put God in the criminal 00:25:47.019 --> 00:25:52.599 dock and said, thank you for expressing your moral vision for us in the Bible, but it is 00:25:52.599 --> 00:25:53.680 not fit for our purposes. 00:25:54.079 --> 00:25:55.599 We will make the laws for ourselves. 00:25:56.099 --> 00:25:57.319 We will decide what we're going to do. 00:25:57.379 --> 00:25:58.460 And so we judge God. 00:25:58.680 --> 00:25:59.579 We judge the law. 00:25:59.579 --> 00:26:03.939 Well, every time we judge other people and we speak slanderously about other people, 00:26:05.259 --> 00:26:09.539 three reasons, three ways, I should say, that you can judge the law. 00:26:09.619 --> 00:26:11.279 Number one, by simply ignoring it. 00:26:12.980 --> 00:26:19.879 Number two, by taking laws away from the Bible, by saying, yes, I recognize God has commanded 00:26:19.879 --> 00:26:22.359 these things, but I don't like that law. 00:26:22.419 --> 00:26:23.399 I don't recognize that law. 00:26:23.460 --> 00:26:24.619 We call that progressivism. 00:26:24.619 --> 00:26:31.879 Or number three, and this one's more subtle, by adding laws to the law, by taking laws that 00:26:31.879 --> 00:26:36.639 aren't in the Bible, and this is where judgmentalism can really destroy a community, by taking things 00:26:36.639 --> 00:26:41.500 that are not prescribed in God's Word and creating laws that we think must be there for a person 00:26:41.500 --> 00:26:45.639 to really be religious and adding those to people's lives and beating them over the head 00:26:45.639 --> 00:26:47.839 with it exactly like the Pharisees. 00:26:47.839 --> 00:26:54.779 Thomas Manton, again, the clerk of the Westminster Assembly, he said, adding laws that God hasn't 00:26:54.779 --> 00:27:00.399 named, making more sins than God has made, binding others in chains of your own making, 00:27:00.879 --> 00:27:07.139 presenting your own austerities and rigorous observances and duties upon another, that is 00:27:07.139 --> 00:27:08.740 what it means to judge the law of God. 00:27:08.740 --> 00:27:14.079 Now, here's three reasons why we cannot play God in that way. 00:27:14.460 --> 00:27:21.480 Number one, verse 12, there is only one lawgiver. 00:27:22.279 --> 00:27:23.240 What does that mean? 00:27:24.079 --> 00:27:27.259 It means that God is the creator of the world, not us. 00:27:27.319 --> 00:27:28.819 We're not the creator, only He is. 00:27:28.900 --> 00:27:34.339 And so only the creator of something can tell you what it's for and how you're supposed to 00:27:34.339 --> 00:27:35.700 live in it, live unto it. 00:27:35.700 --> 00:27:40.860 So we're not, we don't have any right to add laws, to take away laws, to ignore any of the 00:27:40.860 --> 00:27:42.860 laws of God because God made them. 00:27:42.940 --> 00:27:43.799 Only He has that right. 00:27:43.900 --> 00:27:49.019 Number two, there is only one lawgiver and judge, verse 12 says. 00:27:49.100 --> 00:27:49.660 What does that mean? 00:27:49.779 --> 00:27:52.980 That means that only God is righteous enough to actually judge people. 00:27:54.440 --> 00:27:57.340 Because every single one of us is a sinner and because we didn't make the law, we have 00:27:57.340 --> 00:28:00.140 no right to pronounce condemnation upon anybody. 00:28:00.360 --> 00:28:03.680 Only God is the righteous judge and lawgiver. 00:28:03.680 --> 00:28:07.080 And then thirdly and lastly, what does verse 12 say? 00:28:08.539 --> 00:28:11.500 Because only He is able to save or to destroy. 00:28:14.140 --> 00:28:19.640 Because God is the creator of all law and all law reflects His person, only He has the right 00:28:19.640 --> 00:28:25.160 to judge and therefore only He, the judge, has the right to save somebody from the law or 00:28:25.160 --> 00:28:26.660 to destroy them because of the law. 00:28:26.660 --> 00:28:39.000 How then could anybody standing in the dock as a lawbreaker be found or righteous or saved? 00:28:39.100 --> 00:28:40.200 How could anybody be saved? 00:28:40.279 --> 00:28:44.240 How could any of us, if we're a lawbreaker standing in the dock before the great judge, 00:28:44.500 --> 00:28:45.820 how could any of us be saved? 00:28:45.880 --> 00:28:49.759 And that's what makes the cross of Christ so incredible. 00:28:49.759 --> 00:28:55.559 God is the righteous judge and He can't, He won't, He refuses. 00:28:55.700 --> 00:29:00.779 No justice would allow God to say, when we stand in the dock, you know, you've committed 00:29:00.779 --> 00:29:05.039 these sins, these crimes against the universe, against humanity, against me, the judge, the 00:29:05.039 --> 00:29:05.599 righteous judge. 00:29:06.039 --> 00:29:07.220 Let's just forget about it. 00:29:08.079 --> 00:29:09.700 Let's just all go home and forget about it. 00:29:09.740 --> 00:29:10.799 Just mercy. 00:29:12.200 --> 00:29:14.920 And that would mean that God is not righteous judge. 00:29:15.039 --> 00:29:16.000 He is not just. 00:29:16.119 --> 00:29:17.099 He is not the lawgiver. 00:29:17.099 --> 00:29:20.939 Remember, the expression of the moral vision of reality is not the expression of His moral 00:29:20.939 --> 00:29:21.399 character. 00:29:22.480 --> 00:29:26.219 But because God is just, how in the world could He save? 00:29:27.539 --> 00:29:32.539 And this is what makes the cross of Christ so incredible, that the judge of all the earth 00:29:32.539 --> 00:29:33.879 came and stood in the dock. 00:29:35.000 --> 00:29:40.139 That the only one who is righteous enough to judge humanity is the one who was judged by 00:29:40.139 --> 00:29:40.839 humanity. 00:29:42.699 --> 00:29:46.879 What makes the cross so incredible is that in the cross, you have the justice of God, 00:29:47.099 --> 00:29:51.879 God expressed, and the mercy of God expressed to sinners where they meet in Jesus Christ, 00:29:51.939 --> 00:29:53.799 the great judge who was judged in our place. 00:29:54.959 --> 00:29:59.439 This passage is really telling us, you know, we don't have any right to play God, to pretend 00:29:59.439 --> 00:30:00.959 like we're the judge of all the earth. 00:30:02.059 --> 00:30:06.000 But 2,000 years ago, we stood in the court. 00:30:07.000 --> 00:30:12.919 All of humanity stood in that court, and we said, crucify Him, crucify Him, crucify Him. 00:30:12.920 --> 00:30:14.120 We played the judge. 00:30:14.300 --> 00:30:16.120 We put Him in the dock. 00:30:16.259 --> 00:30:17.740 We murdered Him. 00:30:17.779 --> 00:30:20.019 He was judged in our place. 00:30:20.140 --> 00:30:22.960 And that, you see, their mercy and justice kiss. 00:30:23.039 --> 00:30:28.240 And we've got to look up and say, if Jesus Christ, the great just judge, was willing to 00:30:28.240 --> 00:30:31.700 die for my judgmentalism, surely that's got to break my judgmentalism. 00:30:32.460 --> 00:30:34.580 Surely that's got to change the way I approach other people. 00:30:34.740 --> 00:30:37.519 Surely that's got to soak down into the core of who I am. 00:30:37.519 --> 00:30:39.680 And I'll finish with this word. 00:30:41.000 --> 00:30:46.700 Kelly Capik, who is coming to speak here on May the 30th in his great book, You're Only Human, 00:30:48.119 --> 00:30:51.579 he talks about American late-night television. 00:30:52.879 --> 00:30:57.980 And if you've seen any of that, Jimmy Kimmel, people like that, Jay Leno, if you want to 00:30:57.980 --> 00:31:02.000 go way back, David Letterman, they used to do this thing, and they probably do it here, 00:31:02.059 --> 00:31:04.079 but I don't watch enough live TV to comment. 00:31:04.079 --> 00:31:11.480 They go out into the New York City streets, and they ask people, they ask Americans, regular 00:31:11.480 --> 00:31:13.980 Americans in New York City, you know, who's the vice president? 00:31:15.799 --> 00:31:16.720 Here's a map. 00:31:16.879 --> 00:31:17.699 Identify this. 00:31:17.799 --> 00:31:20.019 They point to Scotland, and they say, identify this nation. 00:31:20.659 --> 00:31:22.960 What is this island in world geography? 00:31:23.259 --> 00:31:28.559 And, of course, no American can identify where the UK is or name the vice president. 00:31:28.559 --> 00:31:34.019 And that's what the shows are always about, and it just further embarrasses us on the global 00:31:34.019 --> 00:31:34.399 map. 00:31:35.919 --> 00:31:40.980 Kelly asked, if you went around to churches, as churches get out today, and you ask, why 00:31:40.980 --> 00:31:43.779 should a Christian be humble? 00:31:46.079 --> 00:31:50.279 He guesses that in his book that the answer would be, we would all say, well, because we're 00:31:50.279 --> 00:31:50.599 sinners. 00:31:50.599 --> 00:31:50.719 sinners. 00:31:51.559 --> 00:31:57.699 And that's absolutely true, but the question is, were Adam and Eve called to be humble in 00:31:57.699 --> 00:31:59.480 the holy garden, the righteous garden? 00:32:00.000 --> 00:32:01.319 And the answer is absolutely yes. 00:32:01.359 --> 00:32:03.059 You see, what's the antidote? 00:32:03.219 --> 00:32:07.619 At the very end of this passage, James just leaves you with this question, who are you? 00:32:08.740 --> 00:32:11.980 And you could hear that as saying, who are you, you sinner? 00:32:12.779 --> 00:32:13.619 And that's very true. 00:32:13.699 --> 00:32:15.099 We are sinners in need of grace. 00:32:15.099 --> 00:32:20.359 But before that's the right answer, the first right answer is this, who are you? 00:32:20.419 --> 00:32:23.659 And you should say, I'm only human, and I'm gloriously human. 00:32:24.939 --> 00:32:26.119 It's good to be human. 00:32:27.119 --> 00:32:28.240 It's good to be what you are. 00:32:29.240 --> 00:32:30.899 So don't be judge of other people's lives. 00:32:30.980 --> 00:32:34.000 Let God be God, because you're just human, and it's right to be human. 00:32:34.059 --> 00:32:38.000 It's humble to be human, and humility is the condition of your creatureliness. 00:32:38.799 --> 00:32:40.259 It's not just a product of sin. 00:32:40.339 --> 00:32:41.939 It's exactly what you are. 00:32:42.059 --> 00:32:42.879 Let God be God. 00:32:42.980 --> 00:32:44.039 God is comfortable with that. 00:32:44.039 --> 00:32:47.099 And God is very comfortable with all of us just being human. 00:32:48.000 --> 00:32:49.159 So let's go and be human. 00:32:50.159 --> 00:32:51.519 The words of Psalm 15.3, 00:32:51.960 --> 00:32:58.440 A citizen of Zion is one who has no slander on his tongue, who does his neighbor no wrong, 00:32:58.940 --> 00:33:02.099 and who casts no slur upon his fellow man. 00:33:03.180 --> 00:33:03.839 Let us pray. 00:33:03.940 --> 00:33:10.200 Father, we ask that you would help us to rest secure in the judge who was judged in our place 00:33:10.200 --> 00:33:11.599 for our judgmentalism. 00:33:11.599 --> 00:33:16.539 And so we ask, Lord, that instead you would take the paradigm, speak the truth in love, 00:33:16.599 --> 00:33:18.559 and soak it down into our hearts like a sponge. 00:33:19.159 --> 00:33:20.899 And we pray this in Christ's name. 00:33:21.659 --> 00:33:21.980 Amen.