John 5:30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.

In the devotional Order of Faith I said the order of faith might be defined as hearing, judging, right conclusions, and to act on those conclusions. Then I spoke to the issues of hearing for some time and never got back to the second point, judging.

Now in this season of witnessing to the lost judging is vital and it isn’t what we typically think of in calling one another judgement. It is not that at all. It is a righteous judgement. It is not however about being right. In order to have a proper understanding of what Jesus meant by saying “judge righteous judgement” we need to read that statement in context.

John 7:24 Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.

These verses place context in order. Verses 22 and 23 “Moses therefore gave unto you circumcision; (not because it is of Moses, but of the fathers;) and ye on the sabbath day circumcise a man. If a man on the sabbath day receive circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken; are ye angry at me, because I have made a man every whit whole on the sabbath day?”

The point being that only God can perform miracles and is God at work here?

Micah 6:8 He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

Judge this, having mercy and humility, is God at work in our witness?

We cannot know this if we are in charge. We must submit to the order of faith. Are we hearing God, is God at work here?

Isaiah 53:1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?

John 12:38 That the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?

Early on in this effort I began with a devotional called My Witness. In it I described a miracle. I also said scoffers would not believe me to be a creditable witness. I can speak to all that Lord has done in me that are miracles to believers and seem creditable. That is because God has already done miraculous things in their lives.

What of the lost? How can we be a creditable witness to the lost? It isn’t going to be accomplished by raising speculation about our own sanity. It has to unfold in two forms.

We must show them love. They have to feel like we have their best interests at heart or anything we may say will roll of their backs like water off a duck. This takes an investment. Even in street evangelism we must show an interest in what they think and believe. The second part is vital.

We need to know what we are talking about. We need to counter lies with creditable truth, one that stands up to reason and does not simply decry the speaker as a liar. In order for one to lie, they must first know the truth. Being convinced of a lie does not make them a liar, it makes them a victim of Satan’s lies.

Where do we begin? We begin with bring the Kingdom of God into this earthly realm. It is a spiritual kingdom and the spirit must be at work in this world in order for us to be creditable witnesses. He is the spirit of truth and as such must be heard and allowed to speak.