Rightly Divide the Word - Part 3
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Greetings to Guest
three families out of town
guest who have been invited
my personal guest, brothers of the BTL chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha
Review of past sermons
In this month of September, I have been called to preach about matters that many Christians are confused by.
I have been called to point out the truth about what the Bible actually teaches about these matters . . . because the truth will make us free
Part 1 - can we/should we speak things into existence, decree and declare, name it and claim it?
Part 2- turn the other cheek
Part 3 - today I will preach on judging . . .
Judging
Judging
Attention Grabber
There are some popular sayings when it comes to judging that Christians and non-Christians use:
Most obvious, the Bible says don’t judge
You can’t judge me
Who are you to judge?
When offering advice, we apologize first and say, “Now, I’m not trying to judge”
I don’t go to church because the people at church are so judgmental
Only God can judge me
What does the Bible actually teach about judging
our focal verse for today
1 “Do not judge so that you will not be judged.
What is Jesus saying/teaching?
As we have said all month long, we cannot take one verse, like these 10 words, and build a whole belief system . . . . no, we must use context . . .
the context other verses surrounding the focal verse
the context of this chapter
the context Bible as a whole
the context of the setting, the situation, the circumstances in which the words were said
context of his original audience
For example, you don’t know what “Ice Cold” means unless I give you context
if I say the beverage is ice cold - you know I am speaking on the temperature of a drink
if I say, “the way she treated him, that was ice cold” - a person treated another person badly
if I say the brothers of Alpha Phi Alpha are ice cold - those brothers are upstanding and doing great things
context is important, especially when seeking the truth from the word of God
Context of the whole Bible
let’s start out using the context of the whole Bible to determine what this verse doesn’t mean
Unlike what many think, this verse does not mean that you can’t tell people that they are wrong
First, in the context of the Old Testament, The Bible is full of examples of people telling other people, “you’re wrong”
Samuel told Saul,
Nathan told David
Mordecai told Esther
Nehemiah told several people
one of the biggest themes of the bible is, repent
repent means that you’re wrong, and turn around from doing that wrong
there are even whole books in the Old Testament dedicated to prophets telling people, “stop doing this, stop doing that, God is not pleased with you, stop lying, stop cheating, stop worshipping false gods, stop mistreating the helpless
that’s telling people, “you’re wrong”
that’s old testament, so let me give you a New Testament example,
1 I can hardly believe the report about the sexual immorality going on among you—something that even pagans don’t do. I am told that a man in your church is living in sin with his stepmother.
2 You are so proud of yourselves, but you should be mourning in sorrow and shame. And you should remove this man from your fellowship.
a church member took his father’s wife as HIS girlfriend and they moved in together . . . not just sin, but blatant sin
Paul said that’s so wrong, that I can hardly believe it. He tell this church in Corinth, “Instead of supporting their union, you should kick that man out of the church”
that’s definitely telling someone . . . you’re wrong
Paul goes on to say, that if you kick him out, and remove him from the spiritual protection of the church , the devil will make his life so miserable that maybe he will come to his senses and repent
anyway you slice it, that’s telling someone, “you’re wrong”
this man is wrong for what he is doing
this church is wrong with putting up with it
Jesus did give instruction in Matthew 18 on the method of kicking someone out of the church . . . . that’s instructions from Jesus on telling someone, you’re wrong
that’s a big lesson: We live in a day where no one wants to be told they’re wrong, no one wants to feel guilt, or shame . . . . no one wants to be corrected
hence, you can’t judge me
hence, I am just living my truth
but there is only one truth, that truth is Jesus, I am the way, the truth, and the life . . . and if we do something contrary to his teachings, we are wrong
let’s go back to our focal verse, and get some more context
Matthew 7:1 (NASB95)
1 “Do not judge so that you will not be judged.
KJV says, “Judge not, that ye be not judged”
context of the Bible already shows that this does not mean you can’t tell someone, “what you are doing is wrong
so what IS Jesus saying?
let’s continue to look at context
Context of the Sermon on the Mount
These words are a part of Jesus’s sermon on the mount
and this whole sermon is focused on how we relate to God AND how we relate to each other
in relating to God - Jesus teaches that we should hunger and thirst after righteousness, be pure in heart, gives the Lord’s prayer as an example of how to pray, seeking God first
in relating to people - Jesus teaches about about being a the salt of the earth, the light of the world, hatred and murder, lust and adultery, dealing with evil people and enemies, forgiveness
this sermon is about relating to God and to each other . . . and this verse “Do not judge so that you will not be judged” is about relating to God and to each other
Next, Jesus is speaking to an audience that relates to others by looking down on them
the Jews were God’s chosen people . . . but they mistook that for a sign that they were better than others, so . . .
they would not go into a home of a non-Jew
they called non-Jews dogs
they couldn’t EVEN stand half Jews - the Samaritans
some would spit tree times after being in the presence of a non-Jew (REMOVE THE impurities)
even if you were fully Jewish, but were considered a sinner, a low life . . . it was expected that they would have nothing to do with you
they would not come to your house
nor even want to be seen with you
in fact many Jews gave Jesus a hard time because he went into the homes and shared meals with these so called “sinners and low-lifes”
So we must keep those elements in mind when looking at this verse:
it is about relating to God and each other
and when Jesus says these words, he is speaking to people who like to relate by look down on others
let’s look at the word judge
A judge sits in a place of authority over the one being judged
there is a sense of I am up here, and you are down there
a judge also has a standard they they use
and they decided what you deserve based on how you measure up to their standard
a judge always speaks on someone else’s life
And we will see by the context of the following verses, that when Jesus says do not judge, He is talking about the negative, overly critical, high and mighty, I’m better than you, type of judging that we sometimes do to each other
“you don’t measure up to my standard,” type of judging
“I feel I can say what you deserve” type of judging
always speaking on someone else’s life, type of judging
always have something to say about what they need to do, what they ought to do, what they should have done
and Jesus says, “don’t relate to others that way”
or it will come back to you” . . . you need to chill with that
and gives a good reason why we need to chill with that
2 “For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.
Here’s the relation part - in the way you judge others, God will use your standard of judging to determine how critical he should be of you
if you expect people to be perfect - God will hold you to perfection
if you are the type that gives people one chance - as God deals with you, you will be given once chance
married people, if you expect your spouse to be at a certain level - God expects you to be on that same level
Parents, if you expect your child to reach a certain level - God expects your parenting to reach a certain level
This is not a new teaching, this is a consistent theme in the Bible, God uses your standard for you or against you
Jesus has already taught they if you don’t forgive others, God will not forgive you (your standard)
Jesus also taught how ever you give, the same measure/same standard will be given back to you . . . but pressed down, shaken together, and running over . . . . . .?????
and now we see that however you judge others, God will use that same standard, and it is likely that it too will be pressed down, shaken together, and running over
if I treat people with mercy, I can expect to be treated with mercy, for God will use that same standard with me . . . except it will be pressed down . . . they forgave me, they gave me multiple chances, they were so gracious
if I don’t cut anybody any slack, I can expect that no slack will be given to me, for God will use that same standard with me . . . except it will to be pressed down . . “I only got a half of a chance”
the Bible says this another way . . . you reap what you sow (you get back what you planted, just more of it)
sow second chances, reap second chances
sow looking down on others, reap being looked down on
some of you have received some breaks, because you gave someone else a break
Some of you received no mercy in certain situations because you don’t like to extend mercy
in other words, Jesus says we better judge folks like we would like to be judged
next Jesus teaches some more about this high and mighty judging
3 “Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?
When you have that high and mighty, overly critical type of judging . . . you become overly concerned about the faults of others
just looking and going mmm....that’s a shame
you become so distracted with their faults, that you do not notice your own faults . . .
you are so focused on the fact they have a problem with this and that
that you fail to see that you have a problem with that and this
and Jesus says that when you are focused on the faults, weaknesses, and shortcomings of someone else, so much that you miss your own . . God sees it as they have a tiny little speck in their eye, but you have a whole log in you eye
and Jesus asks “Why?”
why would you do that
4 “Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye?
not only do some focus on the faults of others while they have enough issues of their own, they have the nerve to speak on it . . . . .
some of us are pulling people to the side, when we are the ones who need to be pulled to the side
some of us are openly trying to straighten someone else up, when we need a whole intervention
and Jesus asks, “How”
how could you let yourself get to the point where you think they need your help when you’re just as bad off
then Jesus answers his own questions
5 “You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.
why? how? Cause you are a hypocrite.
your actions don’t match your words
your walk does not match your talk
God doesn’t like it when ugly tries to call someone else unattractive
Before we step to anyone: spouse, brother, sister, child, church member, co-worker about their shortcoming . . . we need to humbly examine ourselves to see if there is a log in our own eye
only then, you should approach your brother/sister to help them (notice the verse says and then you will see clearly to remove the speck out of your brother’s eye)
so you can call out wrong (like we said at the beginning), but God wants us seeing clearly when we do
with the right attitude, humbly
call out wrong with empathy and understanding
with the understanding that if it was not for the grace of God, I might be doing the same thing
with mercy because you remember that you are not perfect either
The thing is, it’s hard to examine ourselves remove stuff from our own eyes, it’s hard to see the logs
let me share some two common logs (in our eyes)
I have the same fault, just under a different name log . . . those can be hard to see
they are always late for work . . . but you’re late for church . . . both late
They stole from Walmart . . .you stole from your job . . . both stealing
she’s a prostitute on the streets . . . but you have a sugar daddy/sugar momma, only fans . . . both selling your bodies
they’re addicted to drugs . . . you’re addicted to alcohol
they’re addicted to alcohol . . . . you’re addicted to food . . . loss of self control
always check to see if you have the same fault, but under a different name
I would never log
we like to say, I would never (How could somebody), and can’t believe anyone would do that
you first need to examine to see if you have ever been in their situation . . . because until you’ve been in their situation, you really don’t know
Example. I see some of these entertainers and professional athletes do the craziest of things
but I can’t say, I would never . . . . . because I don’t know what I would do if I were in my 20’s, good looking, in shape, rich, and popular . . .
the closest I got was in my 20’s, ok looking, and broke, and that brought all of the temptation I could handle . . . . . so I can’t be all high and mighty towards the young entertainer or athlete
I might have been worse
make sure to check for the “I would never” log
don;t think more highly of yourself than you should
Jesus gave the example of two men praying
a priest, and one of those low life sinners
priest prayed and said, thank you God that I am not like that sinner over there
the so called sinner just said, have mercy on me a sinner
and Jesus said the so called sinner is the one who went home justified - right in the eyes of God
we are so critical of our neighbor that we have got to get back to more of “it’s me, it’s me, it’s me o Lord . . .standing in the need of prayer”
not my brother, not my sister, but it’s me
work on me, mold me, clean me
don’t be affected by the world - the world has a bad attitude
the world has this, “I’m right and everyone else is an idiot” type culture
cancel everyone else culture
look down on other groups culture
the problem is not me, it’s them
the problem is not the women, but the men
not the men, but the women
not the blacks, but the whites
not the whites, but the blacks
bunch of folks with logs in their eyes
ugly trying to make fun of the unattractive . . .and setting themselves up for failure
we just witnessed it . . . Colorado state Coach judged Deon and got judged back . . . worried about Deon’s glasses and hat? . . . that’s a speck . . why not worried about your players keeping their poise in the game (log)
but I want be too hard on him, because I have never been a college football dealing with all the attention that comes with coaching against deon . . . let me make sure that I am not hating on anyone
when it comes to others, judging others, God wants you to see clearly
we all need Jesus
we all need mercy
we all need grace
so let me sow some mercy and grace
we all need to focus on ourselves first
if I try to correct you, it comes from a place of love
let me sow some mercy in my lifeI say anything to co