JUDGING GOD
1. Preachers have often stood before groups of people and affirmed that God is the judge of all mankind.
2. This is right because the Bible says so in both testaments.
3. While God will judge all mankind, what about mankind judging God?
THIS PAST WEEK MY ATTENTION WAS DRAWN TO THE OPENING VERSES IN ROMANS 3.
1) We have heard the first five verses read; let’s return to this chapter and zero in on verse 4.
2)
READ
Rom. 3:4.
3)
Paul quoted
from the Old Testament (“as it is written”).
4)
His quotation
is from the book of Psalms, Ps. 51:4.
5)
Ps. 51 is one
of the better known psalms in the Old Testament, perhaps because of its
background.
6)
While David
was king he had Bathsehba come to his residence.
7)
He and she
committed adultery.
8)
David was
finally confronted with this sin and he acknowledged his sin.
9)
David’s
acknowledgement of adultery, in many respects, justified God.
10)
Before David
came along God had spoken to His people about adultery.
11)
He said sexual
sin is wrong and thus a matter to be avoided.
12)
God promised
that adultery would result in terrible consequences.
13)
David did what
God had warned him not to do, and God’s word was proven correct.
14)
As Paul said
in Rom. 3:4, God was “justified in His words.”
15)
At the end of
Rom. 3:4 we find something else that is intriguing:
16)
And mightest
prevail when thou comest into judgment.
17)
These words
are also applied to God.
18)
Paul spoke of
God “coming into judgment.”
19)
What does this
mean?
20)
In this
context the image is that of a man (a human being) judging God.
21)
Perhaps at
first glance this sounds unusual.
22)
How can human
beings—the created—judge the creator?
23)
Some might
even say this never happens.
24)
I am ready to
argue that it not only can happen, it happens with great frequency.
25)
It is done by
both Christians and non-Christians.
26)
How many of us
have heard someone say to or about God,
27)
“God has not
been fair”?
28)
“God has
mistreated me.”
29)
“God should
have done this or that.”
30)
Have we not
heard someone say that God has not helped them or given them enough?
31)
Each of these
statements is a judgment against God.
32)
Furthermore,
God is often faulted for evil and tragedies in the world.
33)
Faulting God
is judging God.
34)
God is faulted
and thus judged when people die.
IN PREVIOUS
LESSONS WE HAVE BEEN CONSIDERING THE LIFE AND WORK OF THE PROPHET JONAH.
a)
Jonah was a
prophet who judged God.
b)
In the first
chapter of this book he was told to go to Nineveh and preach.
c)
Instead of
heading towards Assyria, he went the opposite way.
d)
He judged the
available options and decided that God’s plan was not the one to follow.
2)
The last
chapter again shows that Jonah judged the Almighty.
3)
God’s prophet
should have learned some things while in the belly of the great fish.
4)
The fourth
chapter, however, starts with these words:
5)
But it
displeased Jonah exceedingly.
a)
God had a plan
(He spared Ninevah) but the prophet didn’t like it.
b)
Because Jonah
didn’t care for God’s way of doing things, he get angry (4:4).
c)
God asked if
the prophet had a right to be mad and Jonah said “yes.”
6)
Other events
happened at God’s direction in the final chapter of Jonah.
7)
Again and
again the prophet was angry with and judged the God of heaven.
8)
What Jonah did
is still being done.
9)
We live in a
time when it is immensely popular to judge God.
10)
Consider some
additional examples.
11)
God is judged
when people speak about His word.
a)
Heaven’s instructions
about marriage are ridiculed. This is
judging God.
b)
God’s
instructions about morality and often received with mockery.
c)
His
information about Christianity and worship are often seen as misguided and
unloving.
d)
Saying that
there is only one way—a message straight from God—is judged as offensive.
12)
These are the
kinds of things that can be related to Rom. 3:4
13)
The word judged
at the end of Rom. 3:4 is a present tense verb (on-going action).
14)
For a long
time people have been judging God.
15)
When we hear about
this same practice in our day and time we should not be surprised.
16)
All kinds of
people—even members of the church—have judged and even railed at God.
17)
How many of us
have heard someone judge God’s goodness, mercy, or justice in ways like these:
a)
“How could God not save him/her?”
b)
Perhaps the
conversation involved the death of a small child or loved one.
c)
“How could God
let this person die?”
d)
Perhaps it
involved the preservation of an evil person but the death of a good man or
woman.
e)
“Why did God
allow the evil man to live but the good woman to die?”
18)
Wrath and
judgments are frequently cast against God.
19)
As we think
about this matter we can have a better perspective of Job 1:10.
20)
This is the
final verse in the opening chapter of Job.
21)
It occurs
after Job has had several bad experiences.
22)
The writer
said, “Job did not foolishly charge God.”
23)
Way back when
the writer realized that men often try to judge God.
24)
Even one of
our songs reflects this (see the first two stanzas in “Follow Me”).
BEARING ALL
THIS IN MIND LET’S TAKE ONE MORE LOOK AT WHAT WE FIND IN ROMANS 3:4.
a)
We want to
again consider an amazing statement from the pen of Paul and the Holy Spirit.
b)
That is, God
is “justified by His words.”
2)
Today we see
examples of people retracting their words.
3)
Even we sometimes
must say, “I need to take that back.”
4)
God promised
that He will not need to take back anything He has said.
5)
Whatever God
has said will always prove true.
6)
It may take a
while for this to occur. That is, a
result may not be immediately visible.
7)
At one point
or another, God’s words will vindicate Him.
8)
This
information should be combined with another thought at the end of verse 4.
a)
Paul said God
would “overcome” (KJV).
b)
In the ASV
this is translated “prevail.”
c)
One source
that defines Biblical words defines this as “divine victory.”
d)
This term is
associated with the word “judgment.”
9)
Here is a
promise. A time is coming when all
people will one day agree with God.
10)
Perhaps the
point can be better understood by putting it into secular terms.
a)
Suppose a man
were charged with a crime.
b)
He goes before
a judge and the case is tried.
c)
The man wants
to get off scott free; he believes he can justify his actions.
d)
All the
evidence is presented and the defendant is then allowed to speak.
e)
Imagine a
defendant—who thought he deserved to be let go—saying these words:
f)
“Your
honor, I am guilty of the charges presented. I have no basis for mercy.
g)
I
deserve to be punished. I deserve to face every form of
punishment prescribed by law.
h)
“I must
be punished and I accept the penalty for my crime.”
11)
Such a
confession is virtually unheard of in our judicial system.
12)
When one day
appearing before God, this is the kind of admission that people will make.
13)
God will so
persuasively set forth information that there will be only one possible verdict:
14)
God was
exactly right. Everyone will agree with
His verdict.
15)
There will
also be another verdict.
16)
God will be
vindicated of every charge that has been made against Him.
17)
Earlier I
alluded to Job. For a time he made no
charges against God.
18)
Eventually Job
felt like he had enough so he began to make accusations.
19)
This man got
his day in court and God showed that He was guilty of no wrongdoing.
a)
It is still
true that God is willing to stand up to His accusers.
b)
For those who
thought God was unfair, unkind, and guilty of inactivity, He will answer them.
c)
Not only will
He answer them, Paul said He will overcome.
20)
The right
response to God is found in a little story (find it at the bottom of the
outline).
21)
God will
always be just.
22)
This means
salvation for those who are faithful members of His body.
23)
Condemnation
awaits the unsaved.
24)
Which group
are we in?
“Thirty-five years ago I was a young second lieutenant just graduated from the Naval Academy. I went down to Quantico, Virginia, home of the basic school where officers learn about honor, courage, and commitment. I shared a room with another officer named John Listerman. John was a wonderful human. He exuded goodness. John was a Christian. That meant nothing to me other than Gee, what a nice guy. I guess this Christian stuff must be pretty good. Upon graduating from basic school, John and I went to Camp Pendleton, California, where we joined the same battalion preparing to go to Vietnam. And I saw another side of John Listerman: He was a tremendous leader--aggressive and technically proficient. was a Marine’s Marine.
On a December morning in 1965 John and I went to war. John Listerman’s war
lasted one day. We were on patrol moving down a trail through the jungle. We
came around a corner in that trail, and we ran into an ambush. John took the
first round, a 50-caliber round right in his kneecap. As his kneecap burst, the
crack was so loud it sounded like a mortar exploding. It threw him up in the
air. As he was dropping, the second round hit him right below the heart and exited
out his side.
“I was wounded also but nowhere near as badly. I saw John about 30 meters away
on his back, his leg blown off. I crawled up to him, and I wanted to say,
"Are you okay? Can I do anything?" but before I could do that, his
head turned to me and he said, "How are you doing, Chucker? Are you
okay?" I said, "Yes, John. I’m okay." He said, "Are my men
safe?" I said, "John, your people are okay." At that point he
turned his head and looked to the sky and repeated over and over, "Thank
you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Thank you for caring for my people. Thank you for
caring for me."