Sermon Tone Analysis

WALK WORTHY

WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? Pt.2

Sunday July 3, 2022

Scripture Reference: Romans 2:1-4 (NLT)

Intro.

A. Let's begin today by looking at our scripture text.

"You may think you can condemn such people, but you are just as bad, and you have no excuse!

When you say they are wicked and should be punished, you are condemning yourself, for you who judge others do these very same things.

2 And we know that God, in his justice, will punish anyone who does such things.

3 Since you judge others for doing these things, why do you think you can avoid God's judgment when you do the same things?

4 Don't you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you?

Does this mean nothing to you? Can't you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?" Romans 2:1-4 (NLT) I want to add here what Jesus said to us in the Sermon on the Mount because I think it speaks clearly to the issue, we begin looking at last week.

"Do not judge others, and you will not be judged.

2 For you will be treated as you treat others.

The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged.

3 "And why worry about a speck in your friend's eye when you have a log in your own? 4 How can you think of saying to your friend, 'Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,' when you can't see past the log in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite!

First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend's eye.

Matthew 7:1-5 (NLT)

B.

Last week we were looking at what I called "The Unrighteous Judge".

We saw the description Paul gave us of this person in V.1.

As I closed the message last week I gave you this challenge, "Am I this unrighteous judge?"

Am I the one who is doing what Paul is so severely condemning?

[] Part of the reason I wanted to share the words of Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount is because God used them powerfully in my life when I was in Bible college to reveal to me that I was this unrighteous judge.

I was judgmental, condemning, and critical of someone, and it was only because I didn't like the position, they were in.

I didn't think they deserved to be in that position.

As I said last week, I pretended to be on the moral high ground when in fact my attitude put me far below the person I was condemning.

1.

Now I will probably say this again, but not being judgmental does not mean we keep our months shut when we see wrongs being done.

It doesn't mean we just ignore sin because we might be guilty ourselves, but it does mean we better be careful to let God examine our hearts to make sure we are in the proper position to actually speak up.

Trans.

I have a few more thoughts I want to share with you about this unrighteous judge before we move on to the other verses here, so let's explore those points.

I. THE UNRIGHTEOUS JUDGE.

Again, last week we talked about who he is, now I want you to note that:

B. He Will Be Judged.

1. Look at V.1 again.

"You may think you can condemn such people, but you are just as bad, and you have no excuse!

When you say they are wicked and should be punished, you are condemning yourself, for you who judge others do these very same things."

V.1

2. What we see here is that this unrighteous judge actually condemns himself.

Paul is direct and blunt in this condemnation of the sins he spoke of in chapter one.

But now here in chapter two Paul says to these self-righteous Jews, "You have no excuse."

Now this doesn't mean that the Gentiles he addresses in chapter one did have an excuse.

In fact, look at what he said later in this same chapter.

"Even Gentiles, who do not have God's written law, show that they know his law when they instinctively obey it, even without having heard it.

15 They demonstrate that God's law is written in their hearts, for their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they are doing right."

V.14-15 What we learn here is that if we judge and criticize others without making sure our hearts are right, we are just as guilt as the one we condemn.

Remember, sin is not merely an action it is also an inaction.

That means there are sins of omission and sins of commission.

James told us that to know the right thing to do and not do it is sin.

That means if I know what I am supposed to do but do nothing it is sin, but it also means if I know what I am supposed to do and do the opposite, that too is sin.

Write this down; "Sin is an issue of the heart as much as it is an issue of the hand."

Listen to what Jesus said, "You have heard the commandment that says, 'You must not commit adultery.'

28 But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

29 So if your eye-even your good eye-causes you to lust, gouge it out and throw it away.

It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell."

Matthew 5:27-29 (NLT) If you are watching The Chosen you know that in the last episode of season two Matthew is helping Jesus get the Sermon on the Mount written down.

Jesus asks Matthew what he thinks about some of what he has given to him.

Matthew speaks up about these words I just read.

He wonders if this won't mean there will be an awful lot of people walking around with one eye.

What Jesus meant by lust was the attitude of the heart.

He wasn't saying if we look at man or women who we think is handsome of beautiful that we have lusted.

What Jesus is addressing here is the attitude that says, "I would if I could."

If the opportunity presented itself, I would commit adultery.

So, we see again sin is not just in an action, but in an attitude of the heart as well.

3. Now I want to emphasis here again that Paul is not saying to us that we never have the right to speak out about things that the Bible teaches us are wrong.

We are not to close our eyes to sin, whether that sin is in me or others.

Once again, the emphasis here is on the attitude of our hearts.

Our desire is not to be the moral police who run around trying to point out the faults and failings of others.

Our desire, our attitude must be to rescue and redeem.

I think Paul expressed this very well in the book of Galatians.

"Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path.

And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself.

2 Share each other's burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ.

3 If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself.

You are not that important.

4 Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won't need to compare yourself to anyone else. 5 For we are each responsible for our own conduct.: Galatians 6:1-5 (NLT)

Trans.

Now I am going to ask you to indulge me a little here.

I could make this message three parts, but I am going to finish it up today, so I need to go just a little longer than usual.

So, I hope you won't fall asleep on my or hurry off to a restaurant.

I want to finish up today, as you can see in your outline but speaking to you of God's Just Judgement.

II.

GOD'S JUST JUDGEMENT.

Let me read to you again V.2-4. 2 And we know that God, in his justice, will punish anyone who does such things.

3 Since you judge others for doing these things, why do you think you can avoid God's judgment when you do the same things?

4 Don't you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you?

Does this mean nothing to you? Can't you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?"

The first thing we see here is this:

A. Only God's Judgment Is Perfect.

1.

I like how I heard a pastor many years ago express this.

"We are not to judge but we are fruit inspectors."

As I have repeatedly said, we are not to remain silent when we see sin and wrong being done.

I can't see what is in a person heart, but I can see what they do.

If you say you are a follower of Christ, but your values reflect the values of this world, more than they do the values of God's word I can safely say that things are not adding up.

If you call yourself a Christ Follower, but you never darken the doors of the church accept Christmas and Easter, I can clearly see that the apple is actually an orange.

2. In the KJV in V.2 it says this, "But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth..." V.2 (KJV) The word "truth" that is used here is critical, because the word means, "The opposite of what is false."

It means, this is what really is, not what we might "think" is real.

Now here is why this word is so important.

What Paul shows us here is that our judgment may not be true.

Do you know what is in my heart right now?