Judge With Righteous Judgment

I would like to begin today's sermon with a question, an intriguing question. Brethren, do you know that one day you will judge the angels? What is the Apostle Paul referring to when he says this? Who are we to ever judge angels who are superior to us? So let's go to the scripture that mentions this, 1 Corinthians 6.3. 1 Corinthians 6, verse 3, Paul says the following. Or do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more the things of this life? What does he mean by this? Which angels is he talking about? Is he talking about all the angels? Obviously, the righteous angels do not need to be judged by us. But the fallen angels will be judged by us. Where does that appear in the Bible? Let's go to 2 Peter 2, verse 4. Notice what it says, 2 Peter 2, verse 4. For if God did not spare the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, which is Tartarus, place of confinement, and delivered them into prisons of darkness to be reserved unto judgment. So these are the angels that are going to be judged. Of course, Jesus Christ will supervise the whole process. But he is going to involve the saints, those that are resurrected into that first resurrection, and be able one day to judge these fallen angels. Now, do you know anything about these fallen angels? It reminds me of the first message. Well, certainly we know the influence of these fallen angels. Do we have a chip on our shoulders about these angels, and have made us and other human beings fall? Certainly, Satan is like a roaring lion, going about, seeing whom he can devour. And so we are going to judge angels because we are witnesses to the damage that they have done to mankind. Imagine those poor people in the days of Noah, living in ignorance, going about, being deceived by Satan and his angels to the point where they perished in a flood. They paid very dearly for their sins at that time. Also, there's another scripture in Jude, verse 6. Just a little bit over past 2 Peter. Jude, verse 6. It says something similar to 2 Peter. It says, And the angels who did not keep their dignity, but left their own habitation, he has kept under darkness in everlasting prisons for the judgment of the great day. So yes, they are going to be judged.

Now, will the saints receive this authority to judge?

The answer is certainly yes. Notice another scripture, Revelation, chapters 20, verses 4 and 6. Let's go there. Revelation, chapters 20, verses 4 and 6.

After Christ comes back and establishes his kingdom, he puts away Satan at the beginning here of the verses of chapter 20. And then he says in verse 4, once Satan is out of the way, when that kingdom can be established, it says, verse 4, And I saw thrones, in other words, positions of authority, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. So they are given authority to judge in this coming kingdom of God under Christ. Notice at the last sentence of verse 4, it says, And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. So Christ has his team. They will govern that thousand-year reign upon the earth, and they will be judges. They will judge. Notice in verse 6, Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such a second death has no power. They will never die again. But they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. So here they are both priests and kings, and kings are the ones that judge the nations under them.

We have even another example of being judges in the kingdom. That is found in Luke chapter 19 verses 15 through 17. This is the famous parable of the pounds. Luke chapter 19 verses 15 through 17.

This is a parable Christ gave about him going back to his father, but giving his servants what amounts to a certain amount of money to negotiate. And so coming to verse 15 when he returns, it says, And so it was when he returned, having received the kingdom, He then commanded these servants to whom he had given the money to be called to him, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading.

Then came the first saying, Master, your mina, which is a certain large amount of money, has earned ten minas.

Now God does not give us money when we're baptized. Oh, I'm sure we'd have a lot more baptized people. If we had outside here, you get a million dollars if you come and get baptized. I mean, we would have just about half of Orange County as a membership. But God isn't going to spoil someone like that. What he gives us is a portion of his Holy Spirit.

That's with the laying on of hands. That's the first tiny portion of God's Spirit that is in us, and we start applying it. And as we apply it, God adds more and more to it. And in this case, from that initial giving of the Holy Spirit, this person said this was multiplied ten times. He worked at it. He was faithful to the end. And so now he learned how to manage not the money, which was the example here so much, as he learned to manage God's Spirit and judge righteously in his life. He learned to make wise decisions for himself, for his family, and then has an extension to others.

And so this is the way God works with us. He adds according to the growth. And it was well brought up in the first message about the need to walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh. We always are going to have these two options while we're still alive.

Are we going to let the carnal nature take over, or are we going to take the spiritual nature to make the decisions in our lives? So the main point in 1 Corinthians 6-3 about judging angels is that we must now learn to judge righteously. That's what Jesus Christ mentioned in John 7, verse 24. It's very interesting because it's found in the Old Testament. And Jesus Christ is quoting from the Old Testament when he mentions in John 7, verse 24, he says, Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.

So there's a way that you can judge in the wrong manner by appearance and not by the reality. What is truth behind that appearance? They were judging Christ incorrectly because they weren't boring down. They weren't looking deeper and just were judging by the appearance of things, by their traditions, but not by the true biblical principles. So the purpose of this talk today has to do that as future judges in God's kingdom, we must learn today how to judge according to biblical principles because many times they are different from the judgment of men. Judgment of men based on human reasoning and human philosophies.

But we judge or should do it totally based on God's Word and not on our opinion or other people's opinions in this world. What are then those principles and requirements for judging righteously? Let's see what the Bible says. This will help us make righteous judgments in our daily lives and know the criteria needed for evaluating the decisions we make.

Is it a righteous decision or is it an unrighteous decision? Let's go to the first scripture where God talks about judges and the qualifications for judges back in the days of Israel in Exodus chapter 18. Exodus chapter 18 starting in verse 14. As you know, this had to do with Jethro's advice as Moses' father-in-law. It says here in verse 14, So when Moses' father-in-law saw all that he did for the people, he said, What is this thing that you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit and all the people stand before you from morning until evening?

And Moses said to his father-in-law, Because the people come in to me to inquire of God. When they have a difficulty, they come to me, and I judge between one and another, and I make known the statutes of God and his laws. So you see, the first requirement to be a judge is you have to be knowledgeable in God's statutes and laws. Just like a lawyer, before he can represent his state, he has to know intimately the laws of the state.

He has to know the cases. He has to know the right application, the wrong application. Graham's up there. He can relate. He just passed his bar exam. And so he knows the first requirement. It wasn't his beautiful face or his physique or anything else. No, it was what was inside between the two ears, and he had to learn so much. And so this is one of the requirements for everyone that's in the church that wants to one day rule under Jesus Christ to develop those pounds of God's spirit through the right application of God's word.

Let's leave a finger here. Let's go to 1 Timothy. No, 2 Timothy, rather. 2 Timothy. This is a scripture that came to mind right now. 2 Timothy 2, verse 15.

This was one that was not in my notes. 2 Timothy 2, verse 15. It says, Be diligent to present yourself, approve to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. Yes, that's the first requirement for a judge before God.

Because if you don't know how to divide God's word properly, if you don't know how to distinguish what's true from false, that's in the wrong business we're in. Continuing on, verse 17, it says, So Moses' father, in Exodus 18, said to him, verse 17, The thing that you do is not good. Now, it tells us in the Bible that Moses was one of the meekest men that were alive. And you can see here, his father-in-law is really scolding him. And Moses is taking it in. He could have said, Well, God's been working with me all of these years. Look at all the great miracles that have been going on, and I'm the chosen one. No, Moses had a humble attitude. He could take correction. He could change his mind.

Verse 18, Both you and these people who are with you will surely wear yourselves out. For this thing is too much for you. You are not able to perform it by yourself. Listen now to my voice. I will give you counsel, and God will be with you. Stand before God for the people so that you may bring the difficulties to God. And you shall teach them the statutes and the laws, and show them the way in which they must walk and the work they must do. Moreover, you shall select from all the people able men. So here's the second requirement. Able men. This has to do with people. The term has to do with being competent, being doers, and not hearers. Again, it's a person that has put God's word in his life. He applies it. He lives it. Of course, nobody does it perfect, but this is something that's constant. He works at it day after day. Able men, competent, doers, and not just hearers of the word. And what else?

Such as fear God. These are God-fearing men. They have a deep respect for God. They have a fear to disappoint him, and they fear God more than men. So throughout their lives, they put God first. Before their jobs, before other influences, sometimes even family. You have to put God's God's law first. It says here, the fourth requirement, men of truth.

The term here means trustworthy and honest. Yes, you don't have to worry about them misusing funds.

People that tell you the truth, not used to lying about things or deceiving others. And then it says, hating covetousness. Other translations, abhorring dishonest gain. In other words, they are not bribable. You can't pay them to distort the judgment. You can't influence them. If they're family or they're not, or they have money, or they can do you favors or whatever, nope, it has nothing to do with the judgment that is going to be passed.

That's something you have to learn in life. And you're going to pay a price, but you learn to do that. That everybody has the same equal place before God's law. You don't look at whether they're influential or not. I remember I got in trouble many years ago. I'll just mention, just like a little anecdote. Again, it's not me, but God working me. Got into the council. Well, my boss was part of the council at that time. And, of course, I didn't have anything special in mind, but there was an issue that the council had to resolve. And I had to disagree with my boss. And I tried to wait until the last moment to see if somebody else would come up with it, because I wasn't dumb. I knew it was coming after me. Nobody said anything. So I raised my little hand and said, couldn't we take this into consideration? And afterwards, people said, you know that that's the way it should be done. Boy, I tell you, after that never was the same relationship. I sacrificed the relationship for putting the truth first and not being a respecter of persons. So you have to go through life, where are you doing it because you're going to get something out of it? Or you're going to win favor? Or is it because it's what God expects us to do? It goes on to say, you shall set them up over the people as heads of thousands of hundreds of fifties and of tens. Now, Deuteronomy 1, 15 through 17, adds more conditions to be a judge. Deuteronomy chapter 1 verse 15 through 17. You see how wise God's word is? It doesn't matter whether it was thousands of years ago. God is inspiring this. And if I asked a gram, is this something that the California government would like judges to do? Is this something they talk about in the classes? Yes or no? Oh, they don't talk about it very much, do they? No, that's not the criteria. Are we in trouble in California? Yes, we are. But you see, this is timeless truth. This applies then as now.

Graham's laughing because he's saying, I took all these four years and nobody ever told me about these things. You have to find it in the Bible. It says in verse 15, So I took the heads of your tribes, wise and knowledgeable men, again about God's word, and made them heads over you, leaders of thousands, leaders of hundreds, leaders of fifties, leaders of tens, and officers for your tribes. Then I commanded your judges at that time, saying, hear the cases between your brethren and judge righteously between a man and his brother or the stranger who is with him. See, judge righteously. That's what Christ was telling the Pharisees. This is part of God's word. It's supposed to judge righteously according to God's word. And then he goes on to add, you shall not show partiality in judgment. You shall hear the small as well as the great. So it's the same thing. Somebody comes very insignificant, very economically distressed or whatever, and somebody else comes and very powerful. You see them the same way. It's the same law for both cases. You don't favor one over the other. You shall not be afraid in any man's presence, for the judgment is God's. In other words, not be afraid of anybody. Don't be intimidated or influenced by others. Is what he's saying here. For the judgment is of God. It's according to God's law. I'm not supposed to come up with my own ideas. I'm supposed to do it according to God's laws. The proper application of it with mercy, yes, love, temperance, but it's God's laws that support what is being said.

And then the last condition, he says, the case that is too hard for you, bring to me, and I will hear it. And so, this is telling us as a judge, in whatever circumstances, whether it's in our household or in our business or whatever, don't go beyond the parameters of authority. You consult, you check it out, and maybe it's something above your pay grade. Don't try to do things that are beyond your pay grade. They're things that I have to talk and delegate them, and someone else in higher authority has to come up with it. You have to know, you have to discern. See, I have this square that I've been given authority. It's important to stay within that square. Don't go higher than the authority given to you, but at the same time, don't go lower, because there are people that don't do anything. They've been given the authority to carry it out, and they don't meet even the lowest requirement. They kick the can down the road. They do something else. No, if it's your authority, then do it. Carry it out. Be faithful to God.

In Leviticus 19 verse 15, it adds one more element, which I think is so interesting. This verse has to do with a modern phenomenon today, and man has erred not putting it into practice. That is Leviticus 19 verse 15. It says, you shall do no injustice in judgment. You shall not be partial to the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty. In righteousness, you shall judge your neighbor. Isn't it interesting? You shall not be partial to the poor. Now, have you seen that sometimes? Governments say, oh, well, these poor people, they can't do anything, and then you're doling out money so they don't have to work, or, oh, they don't have a place. Let's take over what the rich have, and let's give them some of these parcels of land and everything else. You see, no, you're supposed to help the poor. Educate them. As they say, instead of giving them a fish, give them a fishing pole. Teach them to fish for themselves, because if they depend on you or the government or somebody else for the fish, they'll never learn how to have the dignity and pride to earn their own keep. And so, in a sense, this was the great mistake of Karl Marx with this idea about communism and then socialism, which is kind of a more watered-down version of communism, but it is, oh, you see, the proletariat. He would use that term. That was the lowest citizen in the old Roman Empire. They used to use that word because it comes from Poland, which means birthing. And so, he said these were the citizens that they didn't have properties, they didn't have anything else. All they did was birth people, the proletariat. And so, he said, well, these are the people I exploited, and we need to rebel, and we need to just take over society and take over everything, and then just give it to the poor and partial it out. Well, that was a tragedy because what happened? It was the people that were parceling this out that kept the biggest portion of it. And you had the collapse of the Soviet Union after 70 years of atrocious acts because, oh yeah, they said, well, it's the poor. So, poor people, you have to kind of bend the rules for them. No, you can apply the right rules to them. At the same time, you're not supposed to bend the rules for the rich or the influential. Deuteronomy 16 verses 18 through 19 has a good summary of what righteous judgment is all about. Deuteronomy 16 verse 18 and 19, it says, you shall appoint judges and officers in all your gates. In other words, in all your cities, there by in the city gates was usually where they had a judge, which the Lord your God gives you according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with just judgment. Same basic words that Christ used. Learn to just or judge righteously. By the way, there are two terms here in the going to the Greek when Christ used this term about judging.

When he says do not judge, that word is creno. And creno is the term which has to do with the verb. It's to judge someone. Whereas the term crema means the judgment itself. And it's used to learn to discern, evaluate. That's the process of judging. And then the judgment is the result of the right type of judgment. So that's the basic term used in the New Testament for it.

In Deuteronomy 16, 18, we were reading here, it said, you shall appoint judges in your gates, and they shall judge the people with just judgment. You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality, nor take a bribe. For a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous. And so there are all kinds of laws about not taking bribes, but look at the world we have now. So much of government and politics is based on bribes. Corporations bribe the politicians, all kinds of influential people. It's terrible. You have these great presidential elections, and it costs over a billion dollars. Now that's not from the candidates. That's all of these influence groups, and they expect something in return. That's not the way to run government. That's not the way it's going to be run in God's kingdom.

So let's look at some other vital principles when one judges. If we're going to learn to be judges in God's kingdom, we have to start today to apply these principles, to learn them, to incorporate them into our own character. Proverbs 18 verse 17. This is a very valuable principle.

It is not generally used enough. In judgment, Proverbs 18 verse 17, it says, the first one to plead his cause seems right until his neighbor comes and examines him. In other words, cross examines. See, there are two sides to most of these issues. There are two opinions. Two people usually affected. They come. Each one is blaming the other for being at fault. Well, should you just say, oh, well, I'm friends with this person, and so I'm sort of going to listen to them more, and the other person, I don't like as much. No, that's not the right way to do it. You listen to them. It doesn't matter if it's your best friend. I don't care if it's relative or not. It shouldn't have any influence. Who is the one that's being affected? Who is the one that truly is the cause of the problem more than anything else?

So you have to always give the opportunity. Sometimes you'll hear one case, and boy, it sure looks like it's very convincing, but then you say, well, well, how about what others opine about this? What about this other point of view? Sometimes it'll be shocking. The person says, they have you convinced, and then the other the person says, well, this other person, he doesn't think this is a good idea at all. Oh, you didn't bring it up. Don't you think that's important? To be able to weigh things carefully, make what is a reasonable decision, because you need to have both sides before making a judgment. You see the pros and the cons. You see the strengths and the weaknesses of the different cases. In James chapter one, James chapter one, verse 19, gives us another principle here.

It says, so then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath, for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Here's the importance of don't get emotionally carried away with the issue. Keep your calm. It says, listen more than you talk. There are some people that just want to be heard. It's my point. It's my issue. They go on and on. Well, it's important to listen as well and not just talk and to stay calm and don't let anger get the best of you because that's when you make the worst decisions. That's when you injure somebody. That's why I still have one of my favorite sayings is, if you want to be happy today, you want to be at peace, then there are certain things that you please don't say it out loud that can cause friction. Just eat those words. Don't let them come out. It's like a cage or teeth. Don't let those offensive words come out because they can damage the whole relationship during that day. So if you can avoid that, it's very important. Here's a third principle, Matthew 7, verse 12. Matthew 7, verse 12. It's called the golden rule.

It says, therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them. For this is the law and the prophets. This is the whole spirit of God's laws about love and being concerned about the other person. And so put yourself in the other person's place first before judging them.

It's so important. Is this the way you would like to be treated? As you see, others are being treated. And if you see someone that's being mistreated, does that upset you? Do you say, that's not the way to treat things. You wouldn't want to be treated as you're treating others, would you? That's a good principle to keep in mind. And then Proverbs 11, verse 14. Again, essential principles for good judgment. Proverbs 11, verse 14.

It says, when there is no counsel, the people fail. Things go bad. Why? But in the multitude of counselors, there is safety. Consult. Check things out. Don't try to decide on your own. Consult with people that are wiser, that have a better expertise about things before making that final decision. So that's why, in United, we use different counsels. We have a local counsel. They are there to give advice, counsel, experience before a local matter is decided, dealing with physical parts, not talking about they're not judging into spiritual issues. But they are here for the welfare of the congregation. And that counsel meets and the pastor is part of that. But he doesn't run it. We have the chairman, Troy Tower. And, hey, I've been wrong at times. And I appreciate what the counsel says. And so you learn to work as a team together. Build a consensus. That's why we have a council of elders where we all are there as counselors and we have all kinds of others that we ask advice before a decision is made. And then, if you want to judge, you better get used to being criticized. Because there's always somebody that's not going to be happy with what you have determined. Notice in Titus chapter 1, Paul, who was very knowledgeable about judging because he had to pastor many congregations, said in Titus 1 verse 15 through 16, he says, to the pure, and this is talking, other translations have it clear, to the pure of heart. All things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but even their mind and conscience are defiled. In other words, there are some people that, because of their attitudes and because of their hostility and everything else, and they've already let that negative attitudes come in and so forth, that even the purest of motives, they're going to suspect they're going to be suspicious. They're not going to trust it. And it says, verse 16, they profess to know God, yes, but in works they deny Him. There's not that spirit of humility, checking things out. No, they come in and they're all mad and they know they're right and nobody's going to change their minds. It's in being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work. So that's why it's important to do things before God and fear God more than you fear men. So the fact is that God is watching us as we apply righteous judgment in our lives in all that we do.

In Luke 16, verse 10, it's a good summary of these principles. This is one of those hidden kingdom principles. God just disperses throughout the Bible. This is one of the kingdom principles. Luke 16, verse 10. It says, He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much. And he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much. So there's a pattern. The Bible says the Ethiopian doesn't change his skin. The leper doesn't change the spots. And as you see the trajectory, a person is faithful in the little things. He's going to be faithful in the big things. And if he's unfaithful in the little things, he's going to project it out. Because it doesn't matter whether it's little or big. It's the attitude of the person that is determining whether they do what is just or not. So in conclusion, we are, according to the Bible, to judge the fallen angels one day. We are preparing for that glorious kingdom when we can learn to judge under Christ's loving and effective tutoring. He's going to be our teacher. He's going to guide us.

We are working on these things. So one day God can say to us, as he says in Matthew 25, verse 23, when his Lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant, thou has been faithful over a few things. Hey, you learn to rule your own life. You learn to rule your own household. You learn how to govern properly over little things. And then he says, I will make the ruler over many things. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. That's what God is working on. That's what he's working on, all of us. So as Christ said, let's learn to just to judge in righteous judgment.