Only God Can Judge Me!

Romans 14:1–12 (ESV)

1 As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. 2 One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. 3 Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. 4 Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. 5 One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7 For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. 8 For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. 10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; 11 for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” 12 So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.

Introduction

Who’s your favorite rapper? Why?

What do we know about Tupac?

Tupac’s mom named him Tupac Shakur which means Shining serpent (interesting), which translates to brilliant spirit.

Tupac wrote a song called Only God Can Judge Me. He had many themes throughout his music, such as social responsibility and politics. It also included race, poverty, and prison industrial complex. I think he was instrumental in trying to shine the light externally. He also hit on the economic unrest that existed due to inequalities. He also hit on police brutality. I am not sure exactly how much Tupac dealt with personally or even how much he looked internally, one quote that resonated with me: “Every time I speak, I want the truth to come out.” - Tupac

I believe, based on my limited research, that Tupac stood ten toes down in the face of adversity and felt confident that he was doing what he was called to do as he fought systems that were oppressive.

Main Idea: God holds Christians accountable.

Key Question: How are you living your life?

Body/Key Points

If we believe that Only God Can Judge Me, then:

We are all equally important within God’s Kingdom.

We fellowship in community but we are judged individually.

There was so much debate within the Roman church and that was why Paul wrote this letter. - both sides were considering themselves stronger believers while they considered the other side as weak believers.

Paul names a couple of the manmade rules that were tripping up particular believers. The first was about diet. On one side, some believers though eating meat was sinful, so they would only eat vegetables. Other believers thought it was okay to eat anything.

Paul introduces another example regarding the same concept - some people were celebrating special holidays, while others thought every day was the same.

We are only accountable for our own actions.

We must not give an account for others.

What’s the first thing we do when we get in trouble? We blame someone or something else.

We are good with complaining but are yet to work on to fix it.

Jesus said that is foolishness to point out a speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye if you have a two-by-four in your own. See Matthew 7:3 “3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?”

We must give an account for how we spent our time, how we have improved our opportunities, and what we have done and how we have done it.

We must give an account for our actions/behaviors, our thoughts/minds, and our reactions/responses; everything outside of the will of God.

We must give an account for how we treated others - Christians and non-Christians.

We will experience God’s ultimate judgement.

Free ourselves from the expectations of the world; and from the fluidity of the worldly plans the enemy has for you; and from having to please others.

The fullness of the characteristics of God extends to ultimate judgement. “We know the name of Jesus but don’t live out the nature of Jesus.” -E. Dewey Smith

Here’s how we will be judged: DO YOU KNOW JESUS?

Romans 10:9 “9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

This is our criteria for salvation.

Application

We need to know AND LIVE OUT the Great Commandment and the Great Commission.

Great Commandment: Mark 12:29-31 “29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.””

Great Commission: Matthew 28:19-20 “19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”” Are you being discipled? Are you sharing the gospel with others?

We need to stop judging others. Christians are at different levels of spiritual maturity. They also have diverse backgrounds that color their attitudes and practices. The first lesson to learn in living harmoniously with other Christians, therefore, is to stop judging others.

We need to build a lifestyle of prayer - pray that God gives you the desires of your heart. David writes: Psalm 37:4 “4 Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

We must build our relationship with God.

Closing

Salvation is the gift of eternal life. Saved from the penalty of sin and God’s ultimate judgement on Earth. It is the keeping power of God. We must believe in Jesus Christ that God raised him from the dead, for our sins.

We offer an opportunity right now for anyone who is not saved, or who does not know Jesus to make a decision in your heart right now. We will give you a few minutes. After KYC, come up to me or one of the leaders and let us know of the decision that you’ve made. And we will show you next steps.

Pray