Ps 25:4 says, “Shew me thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths.” The Lord has paths that we must follow. We can find the Lord’s paths in the Bible. These are the paths upon which you and I should walk through this life. Thus far, we have studied the paths of life, the paths of light, the paths of righteousness, and the paths of wisdom.
Today, we are going to discuss the paths of judgment. Prov 2:8 says, “He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints.” The paths of judgment are:
The path of Calvary, where sinners are justified. When we come to Jesus at Calvary and receive what he has already done for us as our propitiation for sin, we are judged “not guilty.” Rom 5:8-9, we are now justified by his blood. Rom 5:16, 18, “the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.” Jn 3:18-19, 36, you are either condemned or justified based upon what you do with what Jesus did for you at Calvary. If you believe on him, you are not condemned; you are justified. If you don’t believe on him, you are condemned already.
The path of personal examination, where we judge our own sins. 1 Cor 11: 28, 31 we must examine ourselves and judge the sins in our lives. 2 Cor 5:10 we are going to appear at the judgment seat of Christ, and give account of the things done in our body. According to 1 Jn 1:9, we can take care of that now by judging our sins and confessing them. 2 Cor 7:1, the purpose is to cleanse us from that filthiness. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us and keeps us in good fellowship with God, 1 Jn 1:7.
The path of justice and judgment, where we judge all things by the word of God. Gen 18:19, of Abraham and his seed, God said, “they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment.” Whereas judging ourselves cleanses sins we have committed, doing judgment keeps sin out. Ps 19:9, the judgments of God are true and righteous altogether. Phil 1:9-10 we are to abound in judgment that we may approve things that are excellent. This judgment should not only affect what we do in our lives, it should also affect what we do in our churches, as well. 1 Pet 4:17 judgment must begin at the house of God. 1 Cor 1:10 we are to be be of the same mind and of the same judgment. The way to avoid strife is to judge all things according to the judgments of God. 1 Cor 6:4, the judgments of God should guide us even in legal matters among brethren.
The path of temporal judgment, where men judge according to the law. Prov 16:10, a divine sentence is in the lips of the king. Rom 13:1-5 we are to submit ourselves to the higher powers because they are ordained of God; they are ministers of God. 1 Pet 2:13-16 we are submit to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake. This is the Lord’s will.
Conclusion: these are the paths of the Lord for judgment. Make sure that you are walking on these paths and not on the paths of the crooked, which we’ll discuss in an upcoming broadcast.