OUTLINE:
THE COMMAND
THE CRIME
THE CONSEQUENCE
THE QUESTION
Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil
of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law.
But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There
is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge
another?
The Command:
Do not speak evil of one
another...
Clear enough. Speak no evil.
Ephesians puts it like this:
Ephesians
4:29-32
Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary
edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. 30 And do not
grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of
redemption. 31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil
speaking be put away from you, with all malice.
32
And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God
in Christ forgave you.
My dad put it like this:
“If you don’t have something good to say,
don’t say anything at all.”
Three times we read, “speak evil”.
It is one word in the original text: katalaleó. Meaning to speak
against, to slander, to speak evil of.
Jesus puts it like this:
Luke 6:45
A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good;
and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings
forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth
speaks.
Anyone speaking evil against someone reveals more
about the evil in their own heart than in the person they’re speaking about.
What’s in our heart?
How many American seniors take medication daily? 89%.
How many American seniors read their Bible daily? 27%.
Who do we trust more, the doc, or the Great Physician?
The statistic confirms Jesus’ parable of the Sower. Only 25% fell on good soil and produced good fruit. Matthew 13:1-23, Mark 4:1-20, Luke 8:4-15.
Only 1 out of 4 fill their heart with good treasure
to bring forth good fruit.
It’s not that the Treasure isn’t available, they just
don’t dig for it.
That’s why the Lord, through James, must give the
command, “Do not speak evil...”
That’s why He warned us previously about taming the
tongue:
James
3:5-10
Even so the tongue is a little member
and boasts great things. See how great a forest a
little fire kindles! 6 And the
tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set
among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets
on fire the course of nature; and it is set
on fire by hell. 7 For every kind of beast
and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by
mankind. 8 But no man can tame the tongue. It
is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With
it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men,
who have been made in the similitude of God. 10 Out
of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My
brethren, these things ought not to be so.
How do I know if I’m speaking evil?
Have a heart check.
Remember Jesus said it’s a heart issue. Out of the
abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.
Test what I’m saying, (especially, how and why,
I’m saying it) by Jesus “Golden Rule.”
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
Matthew 7:12, Luke 6:31.
Do I want folks talking about me, like I'm talking about them?
Do I want people repeating what I’m speaking?
The Command: speak no evil.
Now, let’s look at the Crime.
He who speaks evil of a
brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But
if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.
The words, “doer of the law” builds upon what’s
already been established in James 1:22-26.
But
be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23
For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man
observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself,
goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But
he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is
not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed
in what he does.
26
If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but
deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless.
We are called to be doers of the law, not just
talkers. Enforcers, not makers (judges take heed!).
What, law, are we talking about?
Jesus puts it like this...
Matthew
22:37-40
Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the
Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’
38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the
second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On
these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
If
we speak evil of another, we break the law of love.
The
crime: lucifer’s pride. Instead of loving God and
loving others, we’re lovers of self, setting ourselves as judge where God is
supposed to be.
Isaiah 14:13-18
For
you have said in your heart:
‘I will ascend
into heaven,
I will exalt
my throne above the stars of God;
I will also
sit on the mount of the congregation
On the farthest sides of the north;
14 I
will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
I will be like
the Most High.’
15 yet you shall be brought down to Sheol,
to the lowest depths of the pit.
Revelation 12:9-11
And the great dragon was hurled down—that ancient
serpent called the devil and satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was
hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. 10 And I heard a loud
voice in heaven saying: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom
of our God, and the Authority of His Christ. For the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down— he who accuses them day and night before
our God. 11 They have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by
the word of their testimony. And they did not love their lives so as to shy
away from death.
Accusing, slander, gossip, insult, judging
is not a victimless crime, it’s not a simple slip of the tongue, but an unruly
evil, a tool of satan that comes only to kill, steal and destroy. Do not let
him have your tongue!
That's the crime.
Now for the Consequence.
There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy.
Matthew
10:28
And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather
fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Romans
14:10
But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your
brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
2
Corinthians 5:10
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may
receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done,
whether good or bad.
Galatians
6:7-8
Do not be deceived, God is not mocked;
for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. 8 For
he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to
the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.
The Consequence: Judgement
Now for the Question
Who are you to judge
another?
Matthew
7:1-5
“Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with what judgment you
judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured
back to you. 3 And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s
eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? 4 Or how can you
say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank
is in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your
own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s
eye.
Notice, the speck in the brother’s eye wasn’t ignored.
Judge not,
does not mean never addressing any issues with our neighbors.
After removing the log so
we can see clearly, then we can and should help others with the specks in
their eyes. Judgement must begin in the house of God—but it doesn’t end
there. 1 Peter 4:17.
Jesus details the steps to address the specks.
Matthew
18:15-18
“Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault
between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. 16 But
if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of
two or three witnesses every word may be established.’ 17 And
if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses
even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax
collector.
NOTE: Tax collectors are lumped into the sinner/heathen
group because they were known for being greedy traitors and cheats. To treat
someone like a heathen and a tax collector, does not mean
to speak evil against them, to cast them aside, to never have anything to do with them.
How did Jesus treat tax collectors and sinners?
He called Matthew the tax collector to be one of His
disciples, then ate at Matthew’s with many tax collectors and sinners. The
religious folks spoke evil against Jesus for that, but Jesus said, “I’ve
not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” Matthew 9:9-13.
Jesus was called, “a friend to tax collectors and
sinners.” Matthew 11:19, Luke 7:34.
He invited Himself to eat with Zacchaeus, a tax
collector, who had gotten rich cheating others. Luke 19:1-10.
He told the woman allegedly caught in the act of
adultery, “Neither do I condemn you—” But don’t forget, He also added “–go
and sin no more.” John 8:11.
Judging the thoughts and intents of a person’s heart,
and pronouncing judgement on eternal souls, is God’s job.
But as children of God, there is a proper time and
place to judge.
1
Corinthians 6:2-3
Do you not know that the saints will judge the
world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the
smallest matters? 3 Do you not know that we
shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life?
The Corinthians were suing one another in ungodly
court systems over stupid temporal matters of this life. Sound familiar?
The apostle Paul dropped a bombshell saying something
like: “Grow up you big babies, don’t you know you’re going to help govern the
world and angels? Surely you should be able to handle minor matters of this
life!”
He wasn’t judging, he was correcting bad behavior.
Proverbs
27:5
Open rebuke is better Than love carefully concealed.
If your brother's fly is down, tell him.
If your friend has broccoli in their teeth tell them.
If your friend is drinking too much, lovingly share
your concern, and offer to help them be accountable.
That’s not judging. That’s loving.
Now we close with an eye-popping passage you've probably never heard, but may want to rush out and perform.
Leviticus
19:17-18
‘You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall
surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him. 18 You
shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your
people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.
Maybe that’s what we should’ve titled this message.
Maybe we better stop and pray.
Let’s pray.
Lord Jesus, You are so awesome,
wonderfully loving us by telling us the Truth, even the ugly, painful parts.
Thank You for showing us our wretchedness, and the Way to Your amazing grace.
Please put a guard on our lips, or help us bite our tongue when we climb upon
Your throne and think we’re the judge of our neighbor. Help us instead, to
judge ourselves, remove the plank, hear from You, and speak the Truth, in love,
leading all those You’ve given us, straight to You.
Thank You.
We love You, forever.
Amen.
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James 4:11-12
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Judge, James 4:11-12
This was feed for you to read. Now it’s
Seed for you to sow.
Thank you for sharing.
