The Nature of Judgment

Opening & Intro

What comes to your mind when you hear the word Judgement or judging?

Judgmental Judging

World’s Definition or God’s Definition?

Main Point

God’s is the only being who has the right to judge ANYONE!

Why Does it Matter

His Judgment is perfect and just.

It matters because we tend to paint God with our brush of what judgement looks like and not look at his.

Scripture

Zephaniah 1:2–8 NIV

“I will sweep away everything from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord. “I will sweep away both man and beast; I will sweep away the birds in the sky and the fish in the sea— and the idols that cause the wicked to stumble.” “When I destroy all mankind on the face of the earth,” declares the Lord, “I will stretch out my hand against Judah and against all who live in Jerusalem. I will destroy every remnant of Baal worship in this place, the very names of the idolatrous priests— those who bow down on the roofs to worship the starry host, those who bow down and swear by the Lord and who also swear by Molek, those who turn back from following the Lord and neither seek the Lord nor inquire of him.” Be silent before the Sovereign Lord, for the day of the Lord is near. The Lord has prepared a sacrifice; he has consecrated those he has invited. “On the day of the Lord’s sacrifice I will punish the officials and the king’s sons and all those clad in foreign clothes.

Zephaniah 2:1–9 NIV

Gather together, gather yourselves together, you shameful nation, before the decree takes effect and that day passes like windblown chaff, before the Lord’s fierce anger comes upon you, before the day of the Lord’s wrath comes upon you. Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the Lord’s anger. Gaza will be abandoned and Ashkelon left in ruins. At midday Ashdod will be emptied and Ekron uprooted. Woe to you who live by the sea, you Kerethite people; the word of the Lord is against you, Canaan, land of the Philistines. He says, “I will destroy you, and none will be left.” The land by the sea will become pastures having wells for shepherds and pens for flocks. That land will belong to the remnant of the people of Judah; there they will find pasture. In the evening they will lie down in the houses of Ashkelon. The Lord their God will care for them; he will restore their fortunes. “I have heard the insults of Moab and the taunts of the Ammonites, who insulted my people and made threats against their land. Therefore, as surely as I live,” declares the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, “surely Moab will become like Sodom, the Ammonites like Gomorrah— a place of weeds and salt pits, a wasteland forever. The remnant of my people will plunder them; the survivors of my nation will inherit their land.”

Zephaniah 3:1–8 NIV

Woe to the city of oppressors, rebellious and defiled! She obeys no one, she accepts no correction. She does not trust in the Lord, she does not draw near to her God. Her officials within her are roaring lions; her rulers are evening wolves, who leave nothing for the morning. Her prophets are unprincipled; they are treacherous people. Her priests profane the sanctuary and do violence to the law. The Lord within her is righteous; he does no wrong. Morning by morning he dispenses his justice, and every new day he does not fail, yet the unrighteous know no shame. “I have destroyed nations; their strongholds are demolished. I have left their streets deserted, with no one passing through. Their cities are laid waste; they are deserted and empty. Of Jerusalem I thought, ‘Surely you will fear me and accept correction!’ Then her place of refuge would not be destroyed, nor all my punishments come upon her. But they were still eager to act corruptly in all they did. Therefore wait for me,” declares the Lord, “for the day I will stand up to testify. I have decided to assemble the nations, to gather the kingdoms and to pour out my wrath on them— all my fierce anger. The whole world will be consumed by the fire of my jealous anger.

Sounds harsh doesn’t it.

I want to argu today that this is not quite as harsh as we might inititially believe it to be.

Let’s look at a court today. Imagine you were summonded to defend yourself.

What if the Judge KNEW all of the facts? Woudl you be nervous coming to judgement?

No. Because you know you are forgiven and that there is no punishment for you.

Now, imagine someone murdered your son then spat in your face afterward.

Would you want justice to come upon that person?

What if the person said sorry I was having a bad day and the judge said okay and let that person go only for them to continue murdering people and hurting people?

Would that be justice? would that be fair? That’s what is happening here.

God is going to judge these nations both Jew and gentile. Babylon and Judah.

Those who call on the lord and identify themselve by HIS authority will be the remnant and will be saved.

Those who continue to rebell won’t be because they don’t want it.

I have said it before God won’t save you against your will. That is not justice.

You have to choose to follow Him and set yourself apart for Him.

Application

How to you form your identity?

Is it your family? Job? Hobbies? Where you live on the planet?

All of those things while not evil inherantly have a serious risk of becomming idols in your life.

If your ideology doesn’t line up with the teachings of Christ and the other authors of scripture then you, unfortunatley have an idol in your life that needs to be torn down.

God knows those who are his and those who are not

John 10:14 NIV

“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—

We need to be sure that we KNOW God!

we cant manipulate God! We can’t earn our way in!

Closing

We have to submit to the authority of God. No one else has the authority to judge us. ONly He who is worthy.