Judge Not, Lest You Be Judged
Matthew: The King and His Kingdom • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 45:54
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· 12 viewsYour relationships must avoid the danger of judgmentalism and indiscretion, which is first received generosity and then shared.
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“Judge not, that you be not judged.
For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.
Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?
Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye?
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.
“Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.
We have seen Jesus focus on the new standard of life He came to bring (Matthew 5:17-48).
Then the inward life of the disciple (Matthew 6:1-34).
Jesus shifts again in the Sermon on the Mount.
How should a Christian act toward another BELIEVER?
It’s interesting that of everything Jesus said, “Judge not” are the best known.
Everyone seems to know and is able to quote from this text.
Nobody likes to be judged.
Anytime we feel judged by others, even if it is lesser things, we feel condemned.
I would argue that we hate the feeling of judgment from others because we know how guilty we are.
We already know as humans apart from God that we are condemned to death.
Death is a reminder to us all that the punishment for sin is coming on all of us.
It should not be surprising that a society that is grossly sinning against God knows a passage like this so well.
It almost becomes a conscious alleviator.
Anytime a person’s conscious is pricked by another person we can pull out that verse as though it removes the offense by the other person.
“We hate the sin but love the sinner.”
This maxim has been so characteristically used that I would argue some believe it is in the Bible itself.
But it’s not.
It’s not only NOT in the Bible, I would argue that it flat misunderstand the Bible.
It is not possible to hate the sin and love the sinner.
Mainly because we cannot separate the sin from the sinner.
It’s not possible separate the sinner from the sin they are committing.
How should a Christian act toward another BELIEVER?
You are endangered of being judgmental within our community.
You are endangered of being judgmental within our community.
“The person who loves their dream of community will destroy community, but the person who loves those around them will create community.” —Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together
“Judge not, that you be not judged.
You are not the judge of another.
You are not the judge of another.
“Judge not, that you be not judged.
You are not the judge of another.
You are not the judge of another.
Judge here could mean “to assess” (neutrally) (BDAG).
The word for “judgement” can more neutrally mean to assess according to a standard.
But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.”
Or it could mean “to condemn” (negatively) (BDAG).
It seems best to understand what Jesus is saying here as a condemnation upon others.
Jesus Himself would be shouted down in our own day.
Because of His seemingly breaking His own commandment in the next verse.
“Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.
Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.
So after Jesus tells us not to judge…
A few verses later, He is judging false teachers and instructing us to do the same.
So, what kind of judgement is Jesus prohibiting here?
For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.
Jesus is condemning a “harsh” attitude toward a brother.
Or a “contemptible” attitude toward others.
An attitude that is severely critical.
Jesus is NOT calling us to suspend our evaluations of others.
He is NOT telling us to detach our brains and not think critically.
A helpful equivalent in English is the term: EVALUATION.
When we make a judgment, we make an evaluation.
An evaluation is literally to make a judgment based upon the value perceived in the object in question.
It’s to assess what value is present in the given object.
A judgment is made according to a value being placed upon an object.
A measure is according to a standard much like a measure is used when calculating weight.
This command of forsaking judgement is not to pretend people don’t have problems.
It’s NOT to act as though we “love the sinner and hate the sin.”
It’s NOT a command for being blind but a plea for relational generosity.
Jesus commands that we learn to be GENEROUS toward one another.
To be relationally generous toward a brother.
Instead of presuming we know what a person is experiencing, when we clearly don’t.
Example of Giving to the Poor
In 1 Corinthians 4, Paul received much flack from the Corinthian believers.
But he’s NOT concerned with the “judgment” of others.
He’s NOT concerned with human courts.
He’s NOT even concerned with HIS OWN judgment.
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.
He doesn’t even trust his own judgment of himself!
Think of how confusing our own souls must be IF Paul can say he doesn’t even evaluate himself.
He doesn’t evaluate himself as a judge because his own evaluation is tainted.
For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me.
But he knows that God is his judge.
This prompts him to refuse judgment on motives and intentions because they are hidden for now.
But ONE day they will be revealed.
1 Corinthians 4:4–5 (ESV)
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.
We don’t pronounce ultimate judgement EVER.
We are NOT the judge.
That is NOT our role.
For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.
Your standards of others will be measured up to you.
Your standards of others will be measured up to you.
For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.
Your standards of others will be measured up to you.
Your standards of others will be measured up to you.
We do not have a standard apart from Scripture.
And Jesus is saying that we shouldn’t judge people by any standard apart from Scripture nor use the standard of Scripture in an unlawful way.
To use Scripture in an unlawful way would be to ignore it ourselves and then try to hold people to it.
Or to judge people according to Scripture that we ourselves are not in line with.
“Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven;
give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”
This is not a reward but the fruit of a heart that has received these things.
As we give to others, it will be measured back to us.
This has a double meaning,
(1) If we are wronged we should be quick to forgive since we would desire to be forgiven ourselves,
(2) In the act of forgiving we are declaring for the other person God’s kindness toward them.
We as humans are so quick to be critical of others motives and intentions.
Everyone has a tendency to look at themselves with rose colored glasses.
We impute the best motives.
We assume the best of intentions.
“We meant well!”
But with OTHERS with cold-calculated glasses.
We assume the worst.
Jesus is demanding that we rip off the rose colored glasses.
And that we look at ourselves with critical glasses.
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.
Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.
We shouldn’t pass judgment upon a brothers because we are NOT his judge.
Each of us will stand before the judgment seat of Jesus Christ.
Each person will bow the knee and give an account for himself and his actions.
Since this is the care, we must refuse to show contempt in condemnation of a brother.
Picture with me a man that has some saw dust in his eyes, it’s been irritated through getting dust in his eyes.
It really is irritating.
It hinders sight.
It impairs vision in an uncomfortable way.
This saw dust irritates his eyes in a way that he cannot see.
His eyes are blurry and he is unable to see correctly.
Now picture with me a man that has two twelves foot beams sticking out of his eyes coming to help him.
This is the picture that Jesus is picking up on here.
Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?
Your hypocrisy breeds judgmentalism.
Your hypocrisy breeds judgmentalism.
Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?
Your hypocrisy breeds judgmentalism.
Your hypocrisy breeds judgmentalism.
How foolish would this picture be?
The one guy can’t see correctly because of a “speck” or “piece of sawdust” in his eye.
But the guy who comes to help him has large beams in his eyes.
It’s not even that the guy has the two beams in his eyes.
It’s that he doesn’t even notice that he has them in his eyes!
He would be knocking over lamps and bumbling around the room because of the planks in his eyes and yet NOT know that they are present.
Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye?
How is it possible that you would say to your brother,
“Allow me to pluck the speck from your eye."
All the while, the log remains in your eye?
“How dare you try to remove a speck from your brother while you have a log in your own eye!”
“How dare you try to ‘fix’ your brother while you simultaneously have glaring ‘problems’ yourself!”
I want to give you another powerful example of this principle that Jesus is laying down.
They went each to his own house,
but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them.
The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst
they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery.
Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?”
Now they are trying to trap Jesus by trying to pit Him against the law of Moses.
But I want you to notice something even in the language of John 8:3.
It’s that they caught her “in the act of adultery…”
They only brought one person before Jesus to condemn.
But it takes two to tango.
So, where is the guy?
It was likely one of their own guys that was with her.
Which leads Jesus to write on the dirt before the people.
And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”
They all began to walk away.
From the oldest to the youngest.
These men were hypocrites.
They were hypocrites because they first didn’t bring the guy who was also committing the sin.
Likely because they knew who the guy was.
They were trying to protect him.
But also wanting to disgrace this woman at the same time.
John Guilty Accusers Exposed
He was not destroying the whole judicial system of the law of God. He was speaking to people who were hypocritically bloodthirsty in their desire to shame and punish a person who had fallen.
Jesus wasn’t trying to destroy the OT law.
Quite the opposite.
He had come to fulfill the OT by becoming a curse for us.
Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.” ]]
Jesus was condemning their hypocrisy.
But He also did not affirm what this woman was doing.
He instructs her to go and sin no more in this matter.
Jesus evaluates the person who does this as a “hypocrite.”
Matthew 7:5 (ESV)
You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye…
He’s not calling us to suspend judgement.
He is calling us to judge rightly.
All right judgment looks like what He goes on to explain.
Your hypocrisy blinds you from seeing correctly.
Your hypocrisy blinds you from seeing correctly.
Matthew 7:5 (ESV)
You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye…
Your hypocrisy blinds you from seeing correctly.
Your hypocrisy blinds you from seeing correctly.
As the powerful metaphor makes clear.
“If my sinfulness appears to me in any way smaller or less detestable in comparison with the sins of others, I am still not recognizing my sinfulness at all.” —Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together
Hypocrisy is the act of assessing another person by a standard that you yourself are not holding to.
Let me give you an example.
It has become common in our cultural moment to have woman pastors, which the Bible clearly condemns (1 Timothy 2:12).
But then people come along and go even further and have pastors who are outwardly homosexual or some other variety.
And then what happens is the church that has women pastors, which is ALSO condemned begin to feel better about themselves.
“At least we’re not as bad as…”
Anytime those words pour forth from your mouth, I can guarantee you we have a situation of hypocrisy.
Because hypocrisy doesn’t measure itself against the standard.
A hypocrite measures themselves against another.
And before we get all high and mighty on the churches that have women pastors…
We need to first take an evaluation of our own gathering’s leadership and if it reflects the Bible’s mandate.
And this is the equivalent of a person walking around with two gigantic 12” X 12” beams protruding from their eyes.
To measure oneself against another flawed image bearer is like jamming planks in your eyes and claiming to see.
Parents Dealing with Children.
Parents the way we discipline our children in this is equally important.
Asking the question,
“Am I disciplining them for what I am doing in the moment?”
If you’re disciplining for being “fussy”, you should ask first,
“Am I being fussy?”
The solution isn’t to NOT discipline them.
It’s to pull the LOG out of your own eye before correcting them.
Jesus is not giving us a command to “mind your own business.”
That’s not what He is expressing here and it makes sense that we live in a culture of “mind your own business” that has clung to the command “judge not.”
“People tell me judge not lest ye be judged. I always tell them, twist not scripture lest ye be like satan.” —Paul Washer
To the person who says,
“Who am I to assess someone else?”
“How dare I ever discern another person?”
“Any level of discernment is just judgment and we should always avoid it!”
Your brother needs you to remove the speck from his eye.
Your brother needs you to remove the speck from his eye.
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.
Your brother needs you to remove the speck from his eye.
Your brother needs you to remove the speck from his eye.
“Nothing can be more cruel than the leniency which abandons others to their sin. Nothing can be more compassionate than the severe reprimand which calls another Christian in one’s community back from the path of sin.” —Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together
He begins by first making sure we have examined ourselves before we have assessed a situation.
“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.
Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.
Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
There are two qualifications to address another person in sin.
(1) It must be done in a spirit of gentleness or “meekness.”
This is an attitude that first realized God has been generous toward us in Christ.
This is an attitude that is required of us in order to help another person.
(2) We must look at ourselves and be careful that we are not also tempted.
But what are we to do when people walk in outward sin and unbelief?
The Pre-Judging of Judgment
We should expect unbelievers to act like unbelievers and not be surprised when they act according to their nature.
I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people—
not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world.
Yet at the same time, we should expect believers to act in accord with their “new nature” that was evident in the new birth.
The “fruit” or evidence of the new birth is a person who is repentant.
Therefore we should “judge” or examine if a person is repentant.
The LOCAL CHURCH as a body at times is to pronounce judgment upon the unrepentant.
We will never remove anyone from this church body for SIN.
But the church of Jesus Christ is called to remove.
She is called to JUDGE those who sin in a way that is outward and blatantly UNREPENTANT.
For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge?
God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.”
Paul is NOT concerned about judging those outside of the body of believers.
He knows that God will judge those who are outside the body (1 Cor 5:13).
But his concern is that we judge the person inside the body for flagrant, outward, and observable sin that is UNREPENTANT.
“Whenever a local congregation of believers engages in church discipline, we rehearse this future promise by staging a small play that pictures in a small way the great judgment that is yet to come. In this process, we are participating together in God’s vision for judgeship and kingship. This proleptic participation in God’s future judgment is not merely symbolic; neither is it accomplished fully in the church’s present pursuits of justice. It is an actual—albeit incomplete—present participation in God’s future judgment, made possible through our union with the righteous Judge and King, Jesus Christ.” (Jones, Timothy Paul. The God Who Goes Before You, 74.)
Your relationships must avoid the danger of judgmentalism and indiscretion, which is first received generosity and then shared.
Your relationships must avoid the danger of judgmentalism and indiscretion, which is first received generosity and then shared.
How should a Christian act toward OUTSIDERS?