Sermon Tone Analysis

But it was the sin of self righteousness.

Whether you're rich or poor, educated or uneducated, Christian or non Christian, you can find this attitude of judging others -- politicians, prostitutes, pimps and pastors.

Everybody is guilty of this sin.

You can find it everywhere.

It's one sin we tend to make excuses for.

"I'm not really judging; I'm just a fruit inspector."

This sin Paul talks about as being a major problem in our lives.

I.

No one has the right to judge others.

NIV841 You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.

2 Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth.

3 So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment?

4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance? 5 But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.Judging is the past time of the self righteous.

4 Characteristics of a Self Righteous Person:

1.

He accuses others and excuses himself.

NIV841 You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.Typical - we judge others by their actions and ourselves by our intentions.

We excuse ourselves.

Everyone else is guilty, but we are innocent.

It’s the worst kind of religious pride.

How do people label their own sin?a.

We label our own sin.

We don’t gossip, we share prayer requests or concern.

I’m not critical, just discerning.

We relabel our sin… I’m not negative, I’m realistic.

I’m not un-relaible, I’m flexible.

I’m not lazy… just laid back.

We judge others but we say, that’s just the way we are.

b.

We conveniently forget our own sins.

"The person who thinks he has a clear conscious just has a poor memory."

2.

He measures other people by the wrong standard.

NIV842 Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth.SR says they are better than… This is on contrast with the way God judges, which is based on truth.

The problem is we are blind to the truth.

All of us have blind spots, areas of weakness we don't see.

Many times we don't see where we're at fault but we only see where other people are at fault.

It's ironic but we tend to judge in other people what we dislike in ourselves.

If you have a problem with pride you're going to be very quick to judge people who are full of pride.

If you're very lazy you'll be very quick to judge people who are lazy.

It's just our nature.

When we start to judge things, we have the tendency to judge the things we dislike about ourselves the most.

When you see someone violently reacting to a certain sin it may be they have a fear of it or they are guilty of it.

We measure by the wrong standards and tend to play God.

3.

He thinks that judging others puts him in a better position.

NIV843 So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment?Judging others will not gain us points with God, so why do we do it?

The reason we like to judge others is that it makes us feel better… like we’re not so bad.

ILL - If you owed 20 million and I owed 10 million, and I say, you are in bad debt, does that negate my debt?

Of course not.

We look at other people and think their sin is worse that ours, so we try to negate our sin, but it doesn’t.

Theirs may be worse than yours, but you still are accountable for your own sin.

Paul is saying don’t look at other’s sin and point criticism at them.

When you point your finger you have three pointing back at you.

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4.

He misinterprets God’s blessing on his life

NIV844 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance?Contempt = have low regard or treat lightly.

You have low regard for what God had done or you take it for granted.

People think that if everything is going good, they are doing good, or they have favor with God.

SR people think they deserve God’s blessings.

He doesn’t realize it’s all God’s Grace and if God gave him what he deserved, he wouldn’t even be here.

God blesses our lives… sometimes inspite of our sin… because of his grace.

It's amazing that God knows everything about you and about me and yet He's patient and loving.

How many times could he have lowered the boom on us?

Plenty.

Paul is saying that our attitude should be one of knowing we don’t deserve all the good things God is doing in our lives.

The purpose of God's goodness and kindness is to lead you towards repentance.

The purpose of God blessing your life is to motivate you to change.

It’s the goodness of God that draws people to repent.

You don’t bring people to Christ by putting them down.

You show them the benefits of knowing Jesus and what God wants to do in their lives.

You show them the kindness of God, the patience of God, the love of God, the forgiveness of God… When we realize how good God is to us and how little we deserve it, it ought to cause us to fall on our face and say, "I'm so grateful for what You've done in my life!

You've not given me what I deserve but You've given me what You want to give me, Your kindness and blessing."

A spiritually self righteous person misinterprets the goodness of God.

The Results of being judgemental

NIV845 But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.SR attitude is I’m ok, but everyone else is not.

Are you storing up wrath or treasure?Store up treasure.

Judgementalism angers God… because it is playing God.

Why is it that the people Jesus got the most upset at were the Pharisees not the adulteress?

It's because they were judgmental.

Being judgemental is playing God and only god is God and can judge.

While we are looking at this subject, here are some passages on when it’s wrong to judge.

When is it wrong to judge others?

1. It’s wrong to judge when you practice the same sin.

NIV841 You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.

2 Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth.

3 So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment?

2. It’s wrong to judge when it blinds you to your own faults.

NIV841 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.

2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. 3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?We often judge others when we have the same thing going on in our lives… we just don’t see it.

Jesus is saying get your life in order before confronting someone else.

3. It’s wrong to judge when you draw conclusions based on outward appearances.

NIV8424 Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment.”hair,

clothes, color, Judging on outward appearance is wrong.

NLT7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him.

The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them.

People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”​

4. It’s Wrong to judge when you condemn somebody else before hearing the facts.

NIV8451 “Does our law condemn anyone without first hearing him to find out what he is doing?”Get the facts first.

Even if your conclusion proves accurate ultimately, you're wrong anyway because you judged without getting the facts.

How many times do we make judgements based on hearsay?

There's always more than one side to a story.

There's your side, their side, God's side.

Don't judge before hearing the facts.