Feast of Tabernacles 2015—Day 5

Judge Righteous Judgment #2

Fred R. Coulter—October 2, 2015

- Video | - PDF | Audio | [Up]

Track 1 or Download

Greetings, brethren! Welcome to day five of the Feast of Tabernacles! This has been really a wonderful Feast and understanding the things that we need to understand for the times that we are living in.

In these times we can learn what we need to be prepared for so that when Jesus returns and sets up the government of God and gives us our work and our assignments to do, we will understand even more once we are spirit beings. But:

• we have to develop the character now
• we have to develop the understanding now

We have the whole Word of God and we need:

• to apply as much of it to our lives as possible
• to grow in as much grace and knowledge as we can

between now and the time that Jesus returns.

Remember, this is so important because God is going to give the rule to the saints. This is why judging righteous judgment is so important.

In part one we concluded with Job, so let's review just a little bit of what Job was missing. It was all based upon his choices and his judgment.

• I suppose he thought he could save his own sons and daughters; didn't happen!
• He thought his righteousness was greater than God's; which can never be!

Both of those are very serious and flawed judgments. His three friends that came to comfort him were not very much as comforters. They couldn't see what the problem was. They understood that if you get into difficulties like Job was in, you have sinned some place and something has gone wrong.

But this sin of Job was hidden from them because they didn't understand that Job did not give God all the credit for everything that he did. In doing so, he made the judgment that he must have been as good as God. After all, look at 'how wonderful I was; look at how obedient I was; look at all the works that I did.' Can God do better? Yes! God can do much better! In His kindness and punishment, God led Job to repentance!

When are we to judge? We will see what kind of judgment we are to do. Here is quite a section in the New Testament that a lot of people like to turn to, to show that you should not judge.
Matt. 7:1, in many translations, is translated: 'Judge not,' or 'Do not judge others so that you yourself will not be judged.' The problem is that this judgment is judgment unto condemnation, which is judgmentalism. What is the difference between judgment and judgmentalism?

• Judgment is based upon the facts, a proper assessment of the circumstances
• Judgmentalism is judging the person's thoughts and heart, which no one can do

Also, reacting emotionally. When you react emotionally, you can't make a right judgment. You must get all the facts.

Let's see one of the first things that needs to be done, Matthew 7:2: "For with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged; and with what measure you mete out, it shall be measured again to you." That's a truism. Every time you condemn someone, look at the fingers pointing back to self.

Here is one of the greatest mistakes—and this was one of Job's mistakes, as well:

Verse 3: "Now, why do you look at the sliver that is in your brother's eye, but you do not perceive the beam in your own eye?" It's very interesting if you apply that to Job. He had this big beam coming out of both eyes. He couldn't see that the One he was accusing was God. So, he made the wrong judgment.

Likewise here: when you are helping people come to an understanding, or you need to make a judgment, you need to consider your own self. Let's see exactly what Job was doing, and how that the judgment of men against God does not change God.

Romans 3:3: "For what if some did not believe?…."—believe God; believe His Word. If you don't believe, what did you just do? You made a choice; a judgment! Remember, nothing is done in a vacuum. Everything works together.

"…Shall their unbelief nullify the faithfulness of God?" (v 3). NO! It doesn't change God! Would it change God because Job thought that he was as good as God? NO, it did not! So, Paul writes to that question:

Verse 4: "MAY IT NEVER BE! Rather, let God be true but every man a liar…" Lies can contain some truth, and a lie can cover a lot of truth by misapplication. That's what Job was doing; he was lying to himself!

"…exactly as it is written: 'That You might be justified in Your words, and might overcome when You are being judged by men'" (v 4). That's exactly what God did with Job. He corrected Job, corrected his three friends and gave credit to Elihu who spoke the Truth of God.

The same thing applies to us when we are in situations when we have to make judgments. What is our attitude and do we consider our mistakes first? Well, that's the important thing that Matt 7 is showing us.

This is a great lesson for us, Matthew 7:4: "Or how will you say to your brother, 'Allow me to remove the sliver from your eye'; and behold, the beam is in your own eye? You hypocrite…" (vs 4-5).

The most important thing when you are making judgments, we're told that if we judge ourselves—that is rightly do so with the Word of God—we won't be judged by God (1-Cor. 11:31). Look at all the trouble that Job could have saved himself if he had that one thing.

Verse 5: "You hypocrite, first cast out the beam from your own eye, and then you shall see clearly to remove the sliver from your brother's eye." This was the problem of the scribes and Pharisees.

Let's look at this and see what they were doing. They were doing exactly the same thing. Let's see what Jesus said to them. Notice what Jesus says, and what happens when you get all focused on physical things, being critical and making wrong judgments; exalting yourself in self-righteousness. All of these things together is what the scribes and Pharisees did. They were called 'hypocrites.' Jesus tells us that we're hypocrites if we are condemning people or trying to correct people when we ourselves are doing the same thing. Think about that for a minute!

Remember what happened to King David. Nathan came and gave him the parable of the rich man who took the poor man's little lamb from the ewe. David got all angry, and he was going to solve the problem. Nathan said, 'You are the man!' David was hypocritical—was he not? Yes, indeed!

The truth is, you can hide your sins for only so long. Because 'be sure your sins will find you out' (Num. 32:23).

Read all of Matt. 23, but let come to Matthew 23:23: "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!…."—sanctimonious pretenders. Look at what they were doing; exactly the same thing as Job:

"…For you pay tithes of mint and anise and cummin, but you have abandoned the more important matters of the law—judgment, and mercy and faith. These you were obligated to do, and not to leave the others undone" (v 23). An amazing thing!

Stop and think about it! Whenever you condemn—condemnation is judgment—another person and you yourself are doing it, then you put yourself in company with the scribes, Pharisees and Job.

Let's see what else Jesus told them. In Luke 11 He is explaining the same thing to them, again. It was a tremendous problem and they thought they were all righteous, indeed!

Luke 11:39: "Then the Lord said to him, 'Now, you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are full of greediness and wickedness" When that happens, when our lives are all messed up, we really can't make righteous judgment when we try and pretend that we're good—when we're not! So, Jesus said:

Verse 40: "Fools…" The Greek is the word in English: moron!] … did not He Who made the outside also make the inside? Rather, give alms from the things that are within; and behold, all things are clean to you. But woe to you, Pharisees! For you pay tithes of mint and rue and every herb, but you pass over the judgment and the love of God…." (vs 40-42).

How many times do these things come about where the love of God is completely ignored? Righteous judgment comes from God. God is perfect and God is love. Judgment also has to be based upon:

• truth
• righteousness
• goodness

so that the proper solution can come about. If we go out just willy-nilly living our lives look at some of the things that some of the politicians and known figures that are supposed to be community organizers and helpers and so forth. They are as corrupt as can be. They condemn everybody else for the things that they do, and yet, will not accept any criticism of themselves!

Rom. 14 is really a difficult one to understand in the King James Version of the Bible. They miss the whole point, which are the arguments and divisive things that were taking place because of meat-eaters and vegetarians. Vegetarians get very self-righteous. 'We don't eat any meat, aren't we good?' Some people need to be vegetarians. Meat-eaters look at it and say, 'Look at those people, man-'o-man, they don't know what they are missing.' That was a problem here in Rom. 14. It has nothing to do with Sabbath-keeping or Sunday-keeping or anything like that.
Romans 14:10: "Now then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you despise your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ… [none of us stand in the place of Christ] …because it is written, 'For as I live,' says the Lord, 'every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God.' So then, each one of us shall give account of himself to God. Therefore, we should no longer judge one another, but judge this instead: Do not put an occasion of stumbling or a cause of offense before your brother" (vs 10-13).

They were arguing about the food. They were arguing about what to eat, and it also included drink and everything like that.

Verse 15: "But if, because of meat, your brother is offended, you are no longer walking according to love. With your meat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died."

That's a source of a lot of bickering and fighting among church members. That's why we go back to where we began in the welcome message to the Feast. Let's make this a Feast of loving one another. Let's make that the judgment that each one of us judge to love one another instead of criticizing one another.

Verse 16: "Therefore, do not let your good be evil spoken of. For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking; rather, it is righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" (vs 16-17) Paul had the same problems that we have today because human nature hasn't changed.

Verse 18: "Because the one who serves Christ in these things is well pleasing to God and acceptable among men. So then, we should pursue the things of peace and the things that edify one another" (vs 18-19).

Notice Paul's warning because this has also happened between church members many, many times.

Verse 20: "Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of meat…." What work of God is Paul talking about? The work that God is doing in each one of us! With carnal wrangling and judging and condemning, you can destroy the work that God is doing within that person, because you're not expressing concern and love to that individual.

• So what if they don't eat?
• So what if they are vegetarians?
• So what if they are meat eaters?

It makes no difference! Those are things of personal choice that God wants us to make our own decisions concerning; we're accepted by God because of it.

"…All things that are lawful are indeed pure; but it is an evil thing for someone to cause an occasion of stumbling through his eating. It is better not to eat meat, or drink wine, or anything else by which your brother stumbles, or is offended, or is made weak. Do you have faith?…." (vs 20-22). Paul is saying, 'Don't be a braggadocio.'

"…Have it to yourself before God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself in what he approves" (v 22). But know this: Whatever you do in those physical things, it must be done by faith. If it's not done by faith it is sin.

Now let's look at a greater cause of what happens when we have this kind of judgment. Let's see what this can get into if we don't have righteous judgment based on love. Remember another thing that's very important, which helps keep us from doing stupid mistakes and things like this in what we do. Give forbearance! That means don't decide to correct someone. Pray and ask God to work it out for that individual. God will! Forbear! Give some space! Give some time! Lest you do what the Apostle James wrote of in James 4. For those who have the problems and difficulties and carnalities, they come from lust and carnality. If we have that in the Church, that's a problem.

James 4:6: "But He gives greater grace. This is the reason it says, 'God sets Himself against the proud, but He gives grace to the humble.'"

• Is that not what He did with Job?
• Did He not set Himself against Job?
• But in mercy correct him?
• Yes, indeed!

Who is the one who spoke for God? Elihu! That was by the grace of God! Where does this kind of thing come from?

Verse 7: "Therefore, submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded!" (vs 7-8).

That's what a hypocrite is: double-minded! See how important this is, not only now, but how important it is going to be when judgment is given to us, when the Kingdom of God is here and we have our assignments that God wants us to teach, judge and serve. Think on that!

Verse 9: "Be grieved and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into grieving, and your joy into mourning. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you" (vs 9-10).

Listen carefully to this, because this fully describes what Job—who was a hypocrite—and all the hypocrites of the scribes and Pharisees do:

Verse 11: "Brethren, do not talk against one another. The one who talks against a brother, and judges his brother, is speaking against the Law…" That's contrary to:

• love
• truth
• righteous judgment

because you're not getting all the facts.

In part three we'll cover the 17 points[transcriber's correction] of righteous judgment.

"...and is judging the Law…. [it doesn't stop there; here we have everything that Job did] …But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law; rather, you are a judge. But there is only one Lawgiver…" (v 11). God is the true Lawgiver. What happens when you:

• make a wrong judgment?
• you judge contrary to Scriptures?
• you condemn another person?
• talk about another person?
• you're not praying for that individual?

What are you doing? The same thing as Job! You are sitting in the seat of God!

Verse 12: "But there is only one Lawgiver Who has power to save and to destroy. Who are you that you presume to judge another?" That is with the judgment of God unto condemnation! The reason that this is so strong and so dramatic is because:

• How can we ever attain to eternal life IFwe don't learn the right judgment?
• IFwe're hypocritically talking about people, condemning people and things like this without knowing the facts?
• Without understanding thing?

Four Steps of Correcting a Problem within the Church:

• First pray about the situation. Don't run off immediately with your judgment and your correction.

John wrote that if you see a brother sin a sin not unto death, pray for him! (1-John 5). Don't run over and correct him in your self-righteousness. Pray that God would deal with him and bring him to repentance. So, pray about it first!

What if you have a problem with someone that really needs to be solved? When these things come about, there are wrong attitudes on both sides. Jesus told us what to do (Matt. 18).

• If you have something against someone go to them alone and work it out before God. Let there be peace one-to-one.

When that occurs, Jesus did not say if you have something against your brother, or he has something against you, go talk it over with your friends and don't go to the person. That's what too many people do. That's contrary to the Word of God. You go in person and settle it. When it's settled the issue is over. Let there be peace.

• If that won't work, then the next step is to take one or two with you so that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every words will be established.

When this is done, I would say that 90% of the problems are solved at step two:

• Step One: pray about it
• Step Two: go the person alone
• Step Three: take one or two with you; this should solve just about everything.

Notice how important this is.

• this keeps peace
• this keeps love
• this keeps self-examination of attitude and intent of heart

of the people involved. Christ will be in the midst of us, because He promised He would in any meeting like that so that things can be resolved.

• If it reaches this fourth thing and it comes before the Church,I have never seen this happen, but it could.

Let's see what Paul said to do so we can see how the Church solved a very grievous problem in Corinth. Isn't it interesting that it leads up to the Passover? Here is a terrible sin and everybody knew about it, but no one was willing to handle it. It got so out of hand no one there could make a right judgment. No one there could broach the subject, so Paul explained what the atmosphere was like because they didn't take care of this sin, and what they should do and how it should be handled if it gets to the fourth step, with the Church.

1-Corinthians 5:1[transcriber's correction]: "It is commonly reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles—allowing one to have his own father's wife." Apparently, a second wife, so it was his step-mother.

Verse 2: "You are puffed up and did not grieve instead…" That's what they should have done. They were "…puffed up…" 'We're loving, we can't judge that person and say anything against him.' Here is the passive way of not making a right judgment.

You can have an aggressive way of making a judgment, which is not right. And you can have a passive way of accepting things because you're afraid to make a judgment, and it only gets worse! You'll see that's true in how many circumstances.

"…so that he who did this deed might be taken out of your midst. For I indeed, being absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged concerning him who has so shamelessly committed this evil deed as if I were present" (vs 2-3).

Here is the solution: Whenever it has to go to the Church, the elder or minister in charge has to setup the meeting, bring all of those involved in it. There needs to be a discussion about it and then a decision made. They did not do that when they should have, so Paul had to do it to correct the situation.

Verse 4: "In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, and my spirit, together with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Your glorying is not good. Don't you know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?" (vs 4-6). Then we get into the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

You can take these things and apply them in many, many different ways. But that's how it should be done with the four steps of correcting a problem within the Church. Stop and think of your history in the Church of God:

• Were there great sins?
• sexual sins?
• monetary sins?
• hierarchical sins?
• Committed by various people and ministers?
• Did they all not end up being hypocrites like the scribes and Pharisees because they didn't resolve them?
• Yes, indeed!

What happened? God had to destroy that Church and scatter it! Still that didn't solve the problem because people did not make righteous judgment! That's how important that righteous judgment is!

The Church is to judge angels. Don't ask me how that's going to work, because we won't be able to judge angels until we are resurrected and spirit beings. I don't know what it means to judge the angels. The way to find out is to make it to the resurrection and then you'll know. That's the best way!
Here's what else the Corinthians were doing. Instead of solving the problems the way we just discussed:

1-Corinthians 6:1: "Does anyone among you who has a matter against another dare to go to a court of law before the unrighteous, and not before the saints? Don't you know that the saints shall judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you unworthy of the most trivial of judgments?" (vs 1-2).

What a state of affairs! You've heard a lot about the Church of the Laodiceans. Well, what about today? It's more like the Church of the Corinthians!

Verse 3: "Don't you know that we shall judge angels? How much more then the things of this life? So then, if you have judgments concerning the things of this life, why do you appoint as judges those who have no standing in the Church?" (vs 3-4).

What a terrible thing. You put the most unqualified person up to sit in judgment. That's nonsense! Remember where we started (part one) with this in  Prov. 2. You have to get:

• knowledge
• understanding
• discernment
• judgment
• wisdom

But they didn't apply it here.

Verse 5: "Now I say this to your shame. Is it because there is not a wise man among you, not even one, who is able to decide between his brothers? Instead, brother goes to a court of law with brother, and this before unbelievers. Now therefore, there is altogether an utter fault among you, that you have lawsuits with one another. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? Instead, you are doing wrong and defrauding, and you are doing these things to your brethren. Don't you know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God?…." (vs 5-9).

If you don't learn how to do righteous judgment, if you don't understand how to do that, guess where that puts us? Let's understand how God is looking at this, and let's see what He says. Let's understand that God is judging the Church now! We are qualifying for eternal life. We can be thankful that God is making the judgment, because He judges the heart and mind, and He knows the circumstances.

Remember how many times I've said that God is judging the whole world, all the time, every day! Don't you think He is judging our lives all the time every day? We have the Spirit of God and we are to choose the Truth. If we judge ourselves, repent, overcome and ask God for His Spirit of love and Truth, don't you think that will be pleasing to Him?

Notice that being a Christian is not an easy thing. Why? Because we are building the spiritual character for eternal life as much as possible before the resurrection!

1-Peter 4:17: "For the time has come for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it first begins with us, what will be the end of those who do not obey the Gospel of God?" Think about that! We think that applies to everybody outside of the Church.

• Are there people who do not obey the Gospel within the Church?
• If we are judging one another carnally, is that not disobeying the Gospel?

Jesus in the Gospel has told us how to solve these things!

"… if it first begins with us, what will be the end of those who do not obey the Gospel of God? And if the righteous are saved with much difficulty, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?" (vs 17-18). We need to think about that!

That's why it's so important that we judge righteous judgment!

Track 2 or Download

After the Feast we are going to send you a booklet: Judge Righteous Judgment! It will not be a transcript of what is given here, but it will cover all the things that we are covering now during the Feast of Tabernacles. Let's understand what a judgment is

from the booklet Judge Righteous Judgment:

"A judgment is a decision or a conclusion based on the spiritual intent of God's laws, statutes and judgments where the will of God may or may not be specifically stated." When official judgments are required, the one who is making such judgments must be qualified—according to the standards God has set forth—to clarify, decide, and resolve a controversy.

Issuing a judgment can be a crucial matter, at times having far-reaching and lasting consequences

Think about that in relationship to the things that have been judged in the United States through different courts and the Supreme Court. Look at what has happened with all of the laws that go against the Word of God. It's created God's judgment upon us because we didn't make the right judgment concerning God's laws and following the Bible in the first place.

Christ said, "Judge righteous judgment." Righteous, Godly judgment is really the very first extension of love. The Bible states, "God is love." It also says, "God is Judge," and that "all will appear before the judgment seat of Christ." Righteous judgment can only be based on LOVE FOR GOD and LOVE FOR NEIGHBOR. It is impossible to have love without judgment—or to have judgment without love! This is the basic and absolute foundation for judging righteous judgment.

Let's examine the system of judges that God setup in the Old Testament. Starting out with the qualifications for a judge. This will be very interesting, indeed!

Exo. 18 is where we see a situation where Moses was 'killing' himself because he was doing all the judging. His father-in-law gave some good instruction on how to setup judges and let them take care of the smaller matters. Then we will see that they had a system of judges that works pretty much like the system of judges that we have in the United States.

Exodus 18:17: "And Moses' father-in-law said to him, 'The thing that you do is not good. You will surely wear away, both you and this people that are with you, for this thing is too burdensome for you. You are not able to perform it alone. Hearken now to my voice. I will give you counsel, and God will be with you. You be for the people toward God that you may bring the causes to God. And you shall teach them ordinances and laws, and shall make them know the way in which they must walk, and the work that they must do. And you shall choose out of all the people able men… [notice the qualifications for a judge]: …such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness. And place them over the people to be leaders of thousands, and leaders of hundreds, leaders of fifties, and leaders of tens. And let them judge for the people at all times….'" (vs 17-22). 

This was very wise counsel and this was something that Moses did. It worked very well, but if the judges don't do right and the people don't do right, then the whole system collapses. That's what we are seeing today with all the lawlessness that's going on.

"'…And it shall be, every great matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they shall judge. And make it easier for yourself, and they shall bear the burden with you. If you will do this thing, and God command you so… [God did command him so] …then you shall be able to endure, and all this people shall also go to their place in peace'" (vs 22-23). Moses listened and chose different ones out. We'll see that, yes, God did approve this and it was put into effect.

Exodus 21:22: "If men strive and strike a pregnant woman, so that there is a miscarriage, and no harm follows, he shall surely be punished, according as the woman's husband will lay upon him. And he shall pay as the judges determine." All of these things in Exo. 21-24, etc., had to do with the judgments and statutes of God where He clarified what should be done, and then the judges would determine the penalty.

We see that there is a structure of judges. There has to be right understanding. I want you to notice what God says and how He is doing all of this because He loves Israel. Then we will see how this affects the judges.

Remember that righteous judgments can only come from the Word of God and the Truth of God. If you have righteous judges who are fair, impartial, not hypocritical, don't take bribes, etc., then you can have righteous judgment. If the judge is corrupt and the people are corrupt, then sooner or later lawlessness sets in.

Deuteronomy 7:6: "For you are a Holy people to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a special people to Himself above all people that are upon the face of the earth." Stop and think about that in relationship to the Church and in relationship to the fact that we are few indeed! We have the privilege and wonderful blessing of having access to God the Father and Jesus Christ:

• to know the Word of God
• to know the Law of God
• to be taught so we can qualify through the Father's teaching, through His Word and Spirit in our lives
• that we can be resurrected at the first resurrection and rule and reign as kings and priests

That is a fantastic thing, brethren! And we're going to help carry out God's government on the earth, God's spiritual teachings on the earth, as well. We are going to participate in bringing millions into the Kingdom of God. It's all going to be based on righteous judgment!

Verse 7: "The LORD did not set His love upon you nor choose you because you were more in number than any people, for you were the fewest of all people. But because the LORD loved you and because He would keep the oath, which He had sworn to your fathers, the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you out of the house of bondage from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Therefore, know that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God Who keeps covenant and mercy with them that love Him and keep His commandments, to a thousand generations" (vs 7-9). That's longer than all the generations of man from Adam to the return of Christ. That's a promise!

God also deals with those who are transgressors, v 10: "And he repays those who hate Him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slow to repay him who hates Him. He will repay him to his face." Automatic laws in motion! God takes care of it. That's His judgment!

Verse 11: "You shall, therefore, keep the commandments and the statutes and the judgments which I command you today to do them." Notice the blessings that will come. Just like with us, when we bring the judgment of God to the people during the Millennium, we're going to bring:

• peace
• love
• cooperation
• understanding
• truth

Verse 12: "And it shall… [that means it will] …come to pass, if you hearken to these judgments to keep and practice them, then the LORD your God shall keep with you the covenant and the mercy, which He swore to your fathers. And He will love you and bless you and multiply you. He will also bless the fruit of your womb, and the fruit of your land, your grain, and your wine, and your oil, the increase of your cattle and the flocks of your sheep, in the land, which He swore to your fathers to give you. You shall be blessed above all people…." (vs 12-14). We can apply that to us today.

Isn't being in the first resurrection a blessing above what all the people on the earth are going to have? Yes, indeed! That is tremendous! That is really quite a fantastic thing!

Isn't it interesting how you have a righteous God, righteous commandments, righteous laws, righteous statutes, all from a perfect God, and it is to bring peace. That's how peace is going to reign all during the Millennium when the Kingdom of God is ruling. This is why we must now develop the character, the love and everything we need to so that when the resurrection comes we will be ready. Then all that we have learned will be magnified with a spirit mind and spirit body.

Moses is reiterating what we already discussed in Exo. 18; Deuteronomy 1:16: "And I commanded your judges at that time saying, 'Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between a man and his brother, and the stranger with him. You shall not respect persons in judgment….'" (vs 16-17). What does it say of God? God is no respecter of persons!

"'…You shall hear the small as well as the great. You shall not be afraid of the face of man, for the judgment is God's….'" (v 17). If you base it on:

• the Word of God
• the Truth of God
• the statutes of God
• the judgments of God

then it is God's judgment. He has stated ahead of time what should be done in various cases. We'll get to what has to be done when it's not stated.

"'…And the cause that is too hard for you, bring to me, and I will hear it.' And I commanded you at that time all the things which you should do" (vs 17-18).

Let's see where it comes up to the high priest and the top judge. It's very much like the Supreme Court that we have today.

Deuteronomy 17:6: "At the mouth of two witnesses or three witnesses…" Where do we hear that in the New Testament? Matthew 18!

"…shall he that is worthy of death be put to death. At the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death" (v 6). To get rid of the hypocrisy among the witnesses—and if there's a jury, the jury—here's how the execution was carried out:

Verse 7: "The hands of the witnesses shall be the first on him to put him to death, and afterwards the hands of all the people. So you shall put the evil away from among you. If a matter is too hard for you in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, being matters of strife within your gates, then you shall arise and go up to the place which the LORD your God shall choose. And you shall come to the priests, the Levites, and to the judge… [you had all three there] …that shall be in those days, and ask. And they shall declare to you the sentence of judgment… [just like the Supreme Court] …and you shall do according to the sentence, which they declare to you from that place which the LORD shall choose. And you shall be careful to do according to all that they tell you" (vs 7-10). The law of the land. There it is right there!

Verse 11: "According to the sentence of the law, which they shall teach you and according to the judgment which they shall tell you, you shall do…." Think about us; that's what we're going to have to do all during the Millennium. We will be the officials of the Kingdom of God. We will be the judges, the priests, the rulers under the King Jesus Christ. That's really quite a thing, all that they do.

"…You shall not turn aside from the sentence which they shall show you, to the right hand or the left" (v 11). Notice what happens if it's not carried out:

Verse 12: "And the man that acts presumptuously… [the lawless one] …and will not hearken to the priest who stands to minister there before the LORD your God, or to the judge, even that man shall die. And you shall put away the evil from Israel. And all the people shall hear and fear, and do no more presumptuously" (vs 12-13). This will bring righteousness and truth, and of course, in the cases where there is repentance, then mercy, kindness, forgiveness, and all of those things combined. This was quite a system that was setup.

We already read what happened to the system when the scribes and Pharisees became hypocrites and didn't make the right judgments, and didn't do the right things.

Let's look at some verses that are hard to understand because of the translation in the King James Version; they did not understand what it actually meant. This will solve a problem because when they came before the judges—the scribes and Pharisees—and they gave a judgment from the Law, that was the judgment of God; they were to follow and do. But if they gave a judgment not from the Law of God, but from their own traditions that is their own works, they were not bound to follow them.

Matthew 23:1: "Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, saying, 'The scribes and the Pharisees have sat down on Moses' seat as judges'" (vs 1-2). Moses' seat was the official thing that when a judgment was made in a case then that became official. But sitting in the seat of Moses meant that it all had to be based on the Law of God.

Verse 3: "Therefore, every judgment… [based on the Law of Moses] … that they tell you to observe, observe and do. But do not do according to their works… [their traditions] …for they say and do not." There you have it! Whenever anything was given from the Word of God, the people were bound to do it. But the traditions they were not to follow, because they lay heavy burdens upon people, which are grievous and hard to bear.

We will see that the scribes and Pharisees, when they made improper judgments, were sinning against God, going against the laws that God had given to them.
Deuteronomy 16:18: "You shall appoint judges and officers for yourself in all your gates which the LORD your God gives you, tribe by tribe. And they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. You shall not pervert judgment; you shall not respect persons, nor take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and perverts the words of the righteous. You shall follow that which is altogether just so that you may live and inherit the land which the LORD your God gives you" (vs 18-20).

Let's see something else concerning this that has to do with judging. This is why we are to develop the character now. Why we have to learn to:

• love each other
• live with each other
• settle our problems
• make judgments and decisions in our lives
• make judgments and decisions in the Church

all in accord with the Word of God! If we do that we will have peace.

Leviticus 19:15: "You shall do no unrighteousness in judgment. You shall not respect the person of the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty, but you shall judge your neighbor in righteousness." That's what God wants.

Let's see that true judgment comes from God. God told Samuel to go the house of Jesse and select one of his sons to be the king to replace Saul. Let's see something very important here in judgment. God was there, spiritually, talking with him. No one could see God, but God was making it known to Samuel. Samuel went down to Bethlehem, which was the village of David, and God said:

1-Samuel 16:3: "And call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do. And you shall anoint for Me whomever I name to you.' And Samuel did what the LORD said and came to Bethlehem. And the elders of the town trembled at his coming and said, 'Do you come peaceably?' And he said, 'Peaceably. I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.' And he sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice. And it came to pass as they came in, he saw Eliab… [a son of Jesse] …and said, 'Surely the LORD'S anointed is before the LORD'" (vs 3-6). You don't judge after the sight of your eyes if it's not right.

Sidebar: Remember what happened in Ferguson—'Hands up! Don't shoot!—a lie! Everybody "…after the sight of your eyes…" and emotionally involved. That was a totally false judgment! We have the same things here.

Verse 7: "But the LORD said to Samuel, 'Do not look on his face, nor on his height because I have refused him, for the LORD does not see as man sees…'" That's why we need the laws of God! Here in this case to set up a king. God knew the hearts of everyone here. Samuel didn't! He needed the direct intervention of God to lead him and tell him which one would be king.

"'…for man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.' And Jesse called Abinadab, and he passed him before Samuel, but he said, 'Also the LORD has not chosen this one.' And Jesse passed Shammah by, but he said, 'Also the LORD has not chosen this one.' And Jesse passed seven of his sons before Samuel, but Samuel said to Jesse, 'The LORD has not chosen these.' And Samuel said to Jesse, 'Are all your children here?' And he said, 'There remains yet the youngest, and behold, he keeps the sheep.' And Samuel said to Jesse, 'Send and bring him, for we will not sit down until he comes here.' And he sent and brought him in. And he was ruddy with beautiful countenance and good form. And the LORD said, 'Arise, anoint him, for this is he.' Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him…" (vs 7-13). This was the future king.

Now let's understand something very important: We have to see things through the lens of Scripture, which is the Word of God. If we still can't figure out what it is then we are to pray about. First thing is to pray about it so you can have God's Spirit lead you in the right way so you can make a right decision. This is quite a thing that happened here.

John 8—this is a very interesting section. Remember, the first part of it is about a woman who was caught in adultery and brought before Jesus. They said that Moses says that 'such a one should die.' What do you say? A lot of people say that this is forgiveness. It's not! What did Moses say is the first question? How can you have adultery with only the woman? And not bring in the man? They were both to come and were both to be stoned!

The scribes and Pharisees knew this! So, they wanted to come and tempt Jesus to try and trick Him into making a wrong judgment. That's why He wrote down in the sand. He probably wrote:

• Who is the man?
• Where is he?
• Why didn't you bring him?

They all left! They got convicted! Jesus said, 'He who is without sin cast the first stone.' They knew they couldn't do it, because they knew they didn't have the man.

So, the woman is left standing there with Jesus, and He said, John 15:10: "…'Did anyone condemn you?' And she said, 'No one, Lord.' And Jesus said to her, 'Neither do I condemn you. Go, and sin no more'" (vs 10-11). He let her off the judgment—righteous judgment—because they didn't bring the man. He let her go.

Add to that: How many witnesses are necessary? Two or three! They all left; no one was there!

Speaking the scribes and Pharisees, Jesus says, v 15: "You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one… [that is according to the flesh] …Yet, if I do judge, My judgment is true, for I am not alone; but I and the Father Who sent Me. And it is written in your law that the testimony of two men is true. I AM One Who bears witness of Myself, and the Father, Who sent Me bears witness of Me" (vs 15-18).

After having the controversy of circumcision on the Sabbath, Jesus said, John 7:24: "Judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment." That's what God wants us to do.

What happens when you get into a church that has a political group here, a political group there, a hierarchy here, a 'lowerarchy' there? When we lived under that, when all the troubles were going on, it turned out that there are the equal—all the brethren; but the more equal—all those in the hierarchy—have given themselves excuses to sin. Well, how long did God put up with that? Long enough to where He had to destroy it! Judge righteous judgment:

• with love
• with truth
• in the right way

That's what God wants us to do. When we put all of these things together, we understand what God wants us to do. To make righteous judgment based on:

• love
• love for God
• love for the individual
• love for your neighbor
• love for the victims
• love for the perpetrators

But that doesn't mean that a sentence will not be carried out against the perpetrators, because that is part of the love of God, as well.

Remember this: There is always judgment first, and then mercy! You don't receive mercy unless there has already been a judgment!

In part three we're going to go through the 17 [transcriber's correction] things on how to make righteous judgments.

Scriptural references:

• Matthew 7:2-3
• Romans 3:3-5
• Matthew 7:4-5
• Matthew 23:23
• Luke 11:39-42
• Romans 14:10-13, 15-22
• James 4:6-12
• 1 Corinthians 5:1-6
• 1 Corinthians 6:1-9
• 1 Peter 4:17-18
• Exodus 18:17-23
• Exodus 21:22
• Deuteronomy 7:6-14
• Deuteronomy 1:16-18
• Deuteronomy 17:6-13
• Matthew 23:1-3
• Deuteronomy 16:18-20
• Leviticus 19:15
• 1 Samuel 16:3-13
• John 8:10-18
• John 7:24

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Matthew 7:1
• 1 Corinthians 11:31
• Number 32:23
• 1 John 5
• Matthew 18
• Exodus 21-24

Also referenced: Booklet: Judge Righteous Judgment

FRC:bo
Transcribed: 8/3/15

Copyright 2015—All rights reserved. Except for brief excerpts for review purposes, no part of this publication may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means without the written permission of the copyright owner. This includes electronic and mechanical photocopying or recording, as well as the use of information storage and retrieval systems.