Wisdom for Discerning the times

Open: Several women’s college volleyball teams are forfeiting games against San Jose State. The forfeiting teams are citing violations of Title IX and safety concerns for their players. One player has even brought a lawsuit against the man on the team who currently identifies as a woman.

Transition: The careful way that I made that statement would trigger many on the left. I would be accused of hatred and bigotry because, in their opinion, I am disrespecting the transgender player by referring to him as a him instead of joining in with the moral insanity. It is very possible that I would be told that I don’t have the right to make that statement because Jesus said, “Don’t judge!”

Jesus did indeed discuss the issue of judging others, and we are going to examine that passage of Scripture in its context in today’s message.

READ the TEXT: Matthew 7:1-6

KC’s are to be involved in spiritual discernment

(hard to be salt and light w/o judging the darkness)

We are called to exercise caution in the area of judgment (Matt. 7:1)

Explanation: The words of Matthew 7:1 are counted by many to be among the top most twisted and mis-used verses in the NT, at least in this modern period. The words “judge not” have been taken out of context and abused in an effort to silence any type of moral restraint in our corrupted society. It is therefore, vital for those who follow Christ to understand what HE meant when He made that declaration.

This is a great example of the importance of context. The most accurate method of determining the meaning of a word or a sentence is to examine its surroundings. When a single statement is removed from its context it becomes much easier to twist or change its meaning.

The Sermon on the Mount (Chapters 5-7) is a complete message. The same Jesus who said “judge not” in 7:1 is the same Jesus who called His followers to be salt and light in 5:13-16, and He is the same Jesus who tells us not to “cast our pearls before swine” in 7:6, and He is the same Jesus who tells us to “beware of false prophets” in 7:15. Either Jesus is a crazy person or (and this is the correct understanding) He is commanding us to exercise judgments.

So what is it that Jesus is saying to us in this important area of judging? He is giving a warning to those who judge others with a mean, vindictive, and harsh spirit. John MacArthur states, “What Jesus here forbids is self-righteous, officious, hasty, unmerciful, prejudiced, and unwarranted condemnation based on human standards and human understanding.” (The MacArthur NT Commentary, Vol. 1, p. 433)

Argument: God has given us the Standard. We have the precious gift of His Word which contains His righteous and moral absolutes. The believer is equipped to confront the various situations of the day when we declare His settled positions, not our opinions. Not only are we equipped with His standard, we are called to proclaim it. Jesus is the One who told people “Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matt 4:17) To repent is to turn away from a previous course and to confess that the previous path was indeed wrong! How can there be repentance without the categories of right and wrong?

Application: KC’s are indeed called to stand firm on God’s Standard AND to proclaim His unchanging moral absolutes. Do not allow the opposition to steer you in the box of “well, that’s just your opinion.” No, it is NOT my opinion when I declare a “thus saith the LORD!”

We are to exercise humility, even when confronting the pagan culture of unbelief. As Sinclair Ferguson states it, “an awareness of God as Judge teaches us to be merciful, and gentle to others.” (The SOTM, Kingdom Life in a Fallen World, p. 150) This humility will enable us to accept the next major point:

We are to examine our own lives in light of God’s standards prior to sharing truth with others (Matt 7:2-5)

Explanation: Jesus gives further explanation to His words in verse 1 when He deals with the manner in which we are to judge others. Jesus states that the attitude we have in our judgment of others will be the same manner in which we will be judged. The spirit of judgment that Jesus opposes is found in the heart of a hypocrite. Though the definition of a hypocrite has previously been given, it is good to be reminded. A hypocrite originally referred to “one behind a mask,” a term that carries the basic meaning of being two-faced.

Jesus illustrates his teaching of hypocrisy with a word picture of a person who is trying to get a splinter out of another’s eye while he has a log in his!

In terms of judging others, the hypocrite will blast another for sin in his or her life while ignoring the sin in his own life. In short, the hypocrite is being self-righteous. John Stott describes the person in this way: “the critic is a fault-finder who is negative and destructive towards other people and enjoys actively seeking our their failings. He puts the worst possible construction on their motives, pours cold water on their schemes and is ungenerous toward their mistakes.” (The Message of the SOTM, p.150)

Argument: Before we confront another with the sin in their life we must deal with the sin in our own. This is not a call for perfection, otherwise no one would ever be able to say anything to anyone. We must willing to look at our own life objectively and deal with our own sin issues before we deal with the sin of others.

Application: As KC’s we are called to stand firm on God’s word and to live holy and righteous lives. Because we live in a fallen world we WILL encounter situations and persons who require rebuke or correction (cf 2 Tim 3:16). We are NOT licensed as fault-finders or heresy hunters.

We are to be good stewards of the valuable message with which we have been entrusted (Matt 7:6)

Explanation: Jesus then adds a startling admonition when He prohibits His followers from sharing His truths with a certain class of people. In a paraphrase, Jesus says, don’t waste truth on the dogs or hogs!

The dogs of ancient times were not the pets of today. They were vicious creatures that scavenged and attacked. Swine were unclean animals that the Jews detested and would have nothing to do with.

Jesus’ use of this this vivid word picture to describe people would have shocked His listeners! Imagine Jesus telling His people to avoid interacting with a certain group of people!

Argument: Two very important things to note about this verse. The first is that to do this requires judgment. How can you separate out a group of people (the dogs and the hogs) without discernment? You cannot. We MUST exercise judgment to fulfill this requirement.

The second thing to note is that some types of people are not willing to receive God’s truth. They are adamantly opposed to spiritual things and will even attack those who stand for what is holy and righteous.

Illustrate: Talking with Scotty about Jesus. He told me that he did NOT want to hear that from me. He was very clear that he was NOT interested in spiritual matters. So, I kept that topic off the table when I was around him

Application: Placing others in this category requires wisdom. We are commissioned to take God’s Word to all the world (Matt 28:19), so we cannot just avoid or ignore people or groups based on appearance or perceived expectations. When we discover the hostility however, we are called to shake the dust off (Luke 9:5) and move on to others who are more receptive.

Conclusion:

We who are IN Christ