Only God knows the Heart An excerpt from Bob’s sermon on August 22, 2021, Leave Judgment to God Alone, on Romans 14:10-12
When Jesus says, “Judge not that you be not judged,” in Matthew 7:1, He does not forbid believers from making spiritual judgments. In fact, later in this chapter He will tell us that “by their fruits you will know them.” Rather, the Lord is warning us about sinful judgments against our brother. True spiritual judgment always begins with confession of our own sins, humility, and compassion to help others with their sin.
I’ve been preparing for a new series on Wednesday evenings on the life of David. One of the first events in David’s history is when Samuel anoints him as king at his home in Bethlehem.
You may remember that when Samuel enters Jesse’s house, he begins to evaluate his sons in order to perceive the Lord’s anointed. Now Samuel is a mature godly prophet, but he still looks on the outward appearance. When he sees Jesse's eldest son, Eliab, he thought to himself, "Surely this is the Lord’s anointed."
“But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7).
For all his insight and experience, Samuel could not look into the heart of any of Jesse’s sons. Only God can look upon the heart and know us for what we truly are.
The first thing we need to understand about making spiritual judgments is that we need to be cautious about our assessments. We can be totally mistaken regarding what actually goes on in the heart of a person. Do you imagine that body language reveals the heart? Do you think that because a person crosses their arms or cries buckets of tears or remains silent that you know what’s going on inside. We make ourselves a fool by such assumptions, because only God knows the motives of the heart.
Whatever you believe that you perceive about others should have a big question mark after it, because only God understands the heart. I mentioned earlier that we don’t even know ourselves, as Jeremiah reminds us: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? ‘I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.’” (Jeremiah 17:9–10, ESV).
Paul says,.“But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God,” (1 Corinthians 4:3–5, ESV).
Brothers and sisters, we need to be very cautious in our judgments about others. Those who believe they have a gift for discerning the condition of another person’s heart will consistently sin against other people. Only God knows the heart. Say that with me: “Only God knows the heart.”
This is why we search the Scriptures for the objective qualifications for pastors, elders, and deacons, because our judgments are very limited. This is why we have asked you to pray and fast as our church affirms the decision of the elders and deacons to call Bryan Sullivan as an associate pastor.
How often have we, as leaders, sat down with those who requested membership in our congregation and listened to their confession of faith and the story of their walk with God and imagined that we knew what was in their heart. Often we are doubtful about some people who prove to be the most faithful, and just as often we are certain about others who ultimately exhaust the elders and do real harm to our church. We cannot look upon the heart.
Let’s read our passage one more time. Romans 14:10–12, “Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.”
Paul asked two questions in verse 10: “Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother?” Paul asks, “Why?” to underscore how absurd it is for us to assume the position of judge over our brother. God alone is Judge, for only He can perceive the heart's motivations.
Paul quotes Isaiah 45:23 to humble us and convict us: “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” He is calling us away from pride in our own opinions. He is warning us about being wise in our own eyes. Rather, we need to fall down and worship before the One who judges all things and who knows our hearts.
This is Paul’s big reason for us to forsake the absurdity of judging our brother, because we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.