Judge Not

Life of Christ Recap

This morning, we jump back into our series The Way, the Truth and the Life: Studying Jesus through the Gospels. And we are going to recap a little what we have seen throughout this series that has taken us, so far, 56 sermons to get through. As we go through this recap you will see some of the title slides for some of the major topics that we have covered so far.

We have covered approximately the first half of Jesus’ earthly ministry. He was baptized by John the Baptist and witnessed of by God the Father and the Holy Spirit as the Son of God. John the Baptist has proclaimed that Jesus is the Son of God, and Jesus has declared that He is the Messiah, sometimes very obviously and other times more cryptically. More than just saying hose things though, Jesus is backing up his words with miracles. In fact, Jesus is performing miracles that many prophets of the Old Testament had said the Messiah would perform.

Jesus has gone through Galilee and Judea preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven to multitudes. Jews are present, but so are Samaritans, Greeks, and even some Romans in many of his discourses. Jesus has sat down with Pharisees and Scribes that have been curious as to what Jesus was teaching, as it seemed to them that he was preaching a new law or an abolishment to the Old Testament laws. In one particular discussion with the Pharisees, Jesus is brought a man who is paralyzed. He is brought by four friends who believe what Jesus is teaching and believe him not only capable of healing their friend, but believe that Jesus is in fact the Lamb of God that has come to take away the sins of the world.

If you can remember back to November of 2023, we read that these four men could not get in the house where Jesus was talking with the Scribes and Pharisees because of the crowd that had gathered outside. So instead of going through the door, they decide to go through the roof. They cut a hole in the roof and let their friend down by tying his bed roll to some rope. Jesus looks at this man, but instead of healing him, he says, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

This phrase drives the Scribes and Pharisees wild and their inner dialogue goes nuts! None of them say it, but they are all thinking, “Who does this guy think he is?! Only God can forgive sins!” So Jesus, being God in the flesh, looks at them and responds out loud to their inner thoughts, “What is harder to say ti this man - Your sins are forgiven, or rise up and walk?” Since no one can see the heart, just saying ‘Your sins are forgiven,” is pretty easy. However, Jesus continues. He says, “So that you can see that I have the power to forgive sins in heaven and here on earth,” then he turns to the man and says, “Rise up, take up your bed, and walk.”

And the man does! He walks away and many believe in Jesus as the Messiah that day after witnessing that, but many others still do not believe in Jesus. The Pharisees and Scribes that were there are in that group. They instead focus on the fact that Jesus practically just called himself God, what blasphemy! Never mind the fact that he proved his point by healing this man...

But from that day forward, Jesus ceased to be a curiosity for the Pharisees. Now he has become a target. From that day forward, the Pharisees start to look for reason that would justify Jesus being put to death. This would have been sometime at the end of his first year of ministry or at the start of his second year.

Now, a year and a half into His ministry, Jesus is once again being followed by a very large, mixed group or people. So Jesus goes up a hill a little ways and sits down. This seated position let everyone following Jesus that He was about to give a lecture. It was a position of authority. So Jesus takes a seat, and though he is surrounded by people that do believe in him, people that are on the fence, people that are curious, and people that do not believe in him, Jesus begins to address His disciples only.

Now, Jesus is not just addressing the twelve disciples, he is addressing all those who believe in him and are following him, not just to different locations, but they are following his teachings on repentance and the kingdom of God.

It is to this group of people that that Jesus directs his longest recorded discourse: The Sermon on the Mount.

The Sermon on the Mount Recap (Ch5)

We find the Sermon on the Mount recorded in Matthew 5, 6, and 7. It is important to always remember that this sermon is for Christians, for disciples only. And it become apparent almost immediately that this is true as Jesus starts the sermon.

He begins it with the Beatitudes.

The Beatitudes

We know the first 12 verses in Matthew as the Beatitudes because the first word of these verses in the Latin translation of the Bible is the word Beati, which means Blessed. We also learned that that word means happy, but not just any happiness, it is a deep happiness that does not depend on the circumstances that we are in. This is super happiness.

As Jesus starts going through these Beatitudes, we quickly see that this is in fact a message for his disciples, because none of these Beatitudes make sense.

How should one be happy if they are poor in spirit? How can you be happy if you are mourning? If you are meek; if you’re hungry and thirsty; if you are merciful to those that don’t deserve it? How can being pure in heart and being a peacemaker make you happy? And how is it possible to be happy if you are suffering?

The answer to this, in short, is that it can only be done through the Holy Spirit’s power. Remember, this sermon is only for those who have been born again and are following Jesus.

These beatitudes are the defining character traits of all Christians that are led by the Spirit. When we live these characteristics out by allowing the Holy Spirit to control us, we do, in fact, experience a joy that is completely illogical to the world. But also, we become salt and light to the world.

Salt and Light

By salt and light, Jesus means that the simple fact of us living out our lives led by the Holy Spirit, we become like salt to the world around us. Salt preserves, it stops putrification, it adds flavor, and it melts ice. God wants to use us to preserve holiness in this world, to slow and stop the corruption and influence of sin in our circles, to give a good flavor to the world around us through our interactions, and to help cold hearts become warm to the message of the Gospel.

Jesus also instructs us to be light. We are, as individuals, to be lights to those around us, spreading the good news, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As a church, we are to be like a city set up on a hill, a beacon of light for the world to see Jesus. Just like Jesus came to show us the Father and His character, we are to show Jesus to the world.

Jesus continued the Sermon on the Mount clarifying that He had come, not to preach additional laws or a new set of laws or to abolish the law.

Jesus, the Law, and Us

He came to fulfill the law. We saw that Jesus did fulfill the law in His time here on earth. But the after going through this, Jesus begins to tells his disciples how we should relate to the law.

We studied through the rest of chapter 5 that all the law and all the teachings of the prophets hang on two laws, the most important of all of them: Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength; and love others as yourself.

Jesus then goes through individual scenarios to express that it is not the obedience of the letter of the law that is so important, it is the obedience to the spirit of the law.

E.G.: It is not enough that we do not go through the day killing people, but we need to understand that the spirit of the law that says ‘thou shalt not kill’ is understanding that we should not even harbor anger and hatred toward others. Those that do commit sin already in their hearts.

We are not to seek vengeance, we are to honor our marriage vows, we are to strive daily and earnestly to eliminate the influence of sin in our lives. We are to keep our word and we are to die to self. However, the focus of our lives should not be to check off a bunch of boxes at the end of the day. I didn’t kill anyone; I didn’t get a divorce or cheat on my spouse; I didn’t lie today; and I didn’t hit people back that hit me. Check, check, check, check, check. I’m good for the day.

No, no, no! if we start looking at the Sermon on the Mount like a list of things to do, then we’ve lost the whole point of everything. The point for us is to focus all of our strength and concentration and will on walking with Jesus. We need to be developing that relationship. And as we do, we naturally stop lying, we naturally love others, we naturally will not be able to harbor any hatred or bitterness to those who have offended us.

Jesus finishes this section of the Sermon with challenge for us:

Remember Who You Are

Jesus, who is very concerned that His disciples do not treat this as a checklist, reminds us of our relationship to our Father. Why do we seek to do what is right? Why do we seek happiness in the unlikely places? Why should we treat people with love as we love God? Because we are children of our heavenly Father. All Christians are children of God, and when we allow God to lead us in our lives, it becomes evident to others too.

We need to constantly remember our identity as children of God. I believe this needs to be the number one driving factor of every disciple of Jesus. Remember who you are, who God says you are. We belong to God, and when we understand that, it changes our approach to everything.

That is how we ended chapter five. But nothing slowed down as we entered into the next chapter.

The Sermon on the Mount Recap (Ch6)

Here at GNBC we started this chapter with a new background, which turned out to be perfect, because we began this part of our study as things started to cool down. We progressed with chapter 6 all the way through fall and winter.

Jesus begins this section with a statement that makes us face the reality of why we do what we do.

Why Do We Serve?

Why do we serve? Why do we do what is right? Is it for others to see and be impressed with us? Or is it truly because we want to be pleasing to our Father in heaven? For the first part of this chapter, Jesus deals with the issue of our spiritual disciplines and in doing so, covers everything about us. As Jesus teaches on these things, he continues to repeat that our heavenly Father sees us. It is driving home the point that we are His children.

He covers our how we relate to others in the area of giving to the needs of others. How are we supposed to give? Not in a showy fashion, but in secret. We are to give to others and even to the Lord out of love, and not so that others can applaud us. We do it in secret knowing that we will receive a reward of our Father who sees us in secret.

After discussing that, we took a long look at the Model Prayer, commonly known as the Lord’s Prayer.

As Jesus teaches His disciples to pray, He takes us on this strategically laid out format. The format is not there as a strategy to get my prayers answered, the strategy is there to make us more like Jesus and to bring us closer to God.

Again, Jesus drives home that fact that our focus needs to be on our identity as children of God as He teaches us to start our prayer addressing God as Father.

After dealing with prayer, which speaks to how we relate to God, Jesus jumps into the practice of fasting. Fasting is the example that Jesus uses to address how we need to be seeking our own spiritual growth. These private disciplines that we do that would help us deny ourselves and draw close to God need not be mechanical, but led by the Holy Spirit and done in response to His prompting.

After covering spiritual disciplines and how they relate to our interaction with others, with God, and with our fight against sin, Jesus begins to lay out some of the hardest truths in the whole sermon.

Hard Truths to Swallow

In verses 19-24, Jesus addresses themes that are difficult.

the Christian life is a constant battle

nothing in this world will ever give lasting satisfaction

therefore we are not to store up treasures on earth

and on that note, we saw how easy it is to get sucked into building up treasures on earth

we should be storing up treasure in heaven

the way we do that is by truly living our life for God. Using everything he has given us for His glory and for His kingdom

But the hard truth is that we cannot serve two masters. God will not play co-captain of your life with the world. God is totalitarian. He demands all of us because he deserves all of us. The world, however, will lie to you and tell you that it does not want all of you, but we learned that worldly philosophies are pervasive and will absolutely take over your life if you give them an inch.

But the good to all these hard truths to swallow is knowing that when we fully give in to God, every difficulty, every trial, every discomfort, and every sacrifice can be made knowing that we have a loving God, a caring Father who seeks our good.

Jesus then dealt with the issue of anxiety.

Worry Free

We learn from Jesus that, because God is our Father, we have no reason to worry. Worry is a sign of little faith. Worry is a worldly way of going about things. The world worries because they have nobody that cares about them that has the power of our Father, but we have a heavenly Father who loves and sees and cares about us deeply.

Then, to close out chapter 6, Jesus tells us that above all, we are to Seek First the Kingdom of God.

Seek First

We looked at the characteristics and philosophies of the heathen and the philosophies of Christianity.

We Christians are certain of who God is and certain of who we are in Christ. That means that we do not waste time worrying about things of this world, instead, we seek actively and earnestly what is good for the Kingdom of Heaven, of which every Christian is a part.

There is no room for selfishness, there is no room for anything or anyone else at the top of our priorities other than God.

This then, brings us into chapter 7 of the Sermon on the Mount, and for that, we have one more change to our theme slide.

Chapter 7 Intro

The reason I wanted to take the time going through this recap of the Sermon on the Mount is that we must always remember that even though this sermon is divided into three chapters, we must understand each section as part of the whole. No one section of the Sermon on the Mount stands alone, and interpretations can be very wrong if we look at each section individually without consideration for the context of the whole.

Today we look will look at the first phrase of Matthew 7. Matthew 7:1

Matthew 7:1 KJV 1900

1 Judge not, that ye be not judged.

Following the pattern that He has set before, Jesus first makes a pronouncement and then gives reason for it. So first, let’s look at this very deliberate pronouncement by our Lord: Judge Not.

Judge Not

This statement has led to a lot of confusion, both within the church and outside the church. This subject is one that can be easily misunderstood and then applied at one’s own discretion so that it benefits the speaker of these words.

So when we come to passages like this, we must ask, “What does Jesus mean when He says ‘Don’t judge’?”

One way to seek the answer is to simply look up the word “judge” in a dictionary and then not do what that definition says that judging is. If you’re curious, the first definition that shows up for the verb judge is: to form a an opinion or conclusion about something.

Well, if we are to never form an opinion or reach a conclusion about things or people, then we would have trouble obeying what the Bible tells us to do as Christians. Later in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells us not to give things that are holy unto dogs nor to cast pearls before swine. Without exercising judgement, how would we determine who is a dog and who qualifies as swine? Even further we are warned to watch out for false prophets. This means, of course, that we will need to take the words that people speak and judge them, form opinions about them and reach conclusions. We are to take those same people and judge them according to the fruit that they bear in their lives.

What It Doesn’t Mean

So no, this command, judge not, does not mean we are not to analyze things or form opinions or conclusions.

But in this age of appeasement, this age of acceptance and tolerance, this verse has come to mean something that was never intended by Jesus. Too many churches and Christians have adopted the mentality of ‘go along to get along.’ The world is now accepting that which is wicked, well, we must go along with it if we are ever to get along with the world. There are fewer and fewer Christians who are standing up for Biblical doctrine and theology. And much of it has to do with a misinterpretation of the words, judge not.

Scripture itself teaches that judgement must be used when it comes to affairs of State. The Bible teaches us that God ordains and appoints those that hold the positions of magistrate and judge. These are called to pronounce judgement upon the actions of those that would break the law. It is God’s way of restraining evil and sin and their effects in this world.

The Bible teaches us that judgement is to be used in the context of the church as well. When we talk to people who want to be members, we ask that they give their testimony of salvation. We assess, as best as we can, whether they understand what it means to be saved. We make a judgement about that. We explain what it means to be a member of a church, and that it means to be a serving part of this local body, joined together to obey the Great Commission, but that it also means to be subject to one another. it means that we become accountable for our lives to one another. It means that when we join, we give permission for sin to be dealt with among one another. Over the last 2 years, there have been those who are living in open and public sin, unrepentant, who have expressed a desire to join the church. I and our deacons have had to explain that if we were to allow them to be members, the first conversation we would have would be a conversation concerning church discipline. Because the Bible tells us that when there is unrepentant sin within the members of the church, that it must be dealt with, and the Bible gives a whole process of how it must be dealt with. Good judgement must exist within the church.

We must judge in the matters of doctrine. Just because someone says, “Hey, I have a word from God,” doesn’t mean that we should readily accept it. Paul exhorts the Galatians in Galatians 1:8

Galatians 1:8 KJV 1900

8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.

Paul writes to Titus and tells him this Titus3:10

Titus 3:10 KJV 1900

10 A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject;

A heretick was someone that was divisive. Someone causing divisions within the church whether that be through false doctrine or any other means.

We must exercise good judgement when we hear spiritual teaching.

What It Does Mean

So what is it that Jesus is saying when He says, “Judge not”? What Jesus is concerned with is the matter of condemning. We are not they that cast final judgement, condemnation on others.

The best way to illustrate this is to think of the Pharisees. Throughout much of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus has been concerned with the Pharisees and their mindset, their philosophies, their approach to life and what they think is righteousness. Jesus has been calling us, His disciples, to not be like the Pharisees.

Remember the picture that Jesus gave to us in Luke 18:10-12

Luke 18:10–12 KJV 1900

10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. 12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.

This Pharisee had a judgmental and condemning spirit about him that was wrong. He judged the publican and misjudged himself. The Pharisee thought that only he would be able to have God listen to him, but Jesus proclaimed that it was the publican, not the Pharisee, who walked away from the altar actually justified.

This judgmental spirit was something that plagued the early church and still plagues churches today.

To the church at Corinth, Paul writes to them to not judge and be divided among themselves based on who won them to the Lord. To the Ephesians he writes an encouragement to no longer see themselves as Jews or Gentiles but one in the Lord.

One simple way to put it is to look at 1 Corinthians 13 where we read about true love. There, we find the phrase, “ Charity/Love hopeth all things.” But a judgmental spirit hopes for the worst of things. Those with a judgmental spirit get an evil satisfaction in finding fault with things. They expect to find faults with things. In fact, to those so given to this judgmental spirit, they even fell a bit disappointed when they attend a service or an event and there was nothing to criticize. I think of that food critic in the movie Ratatouille. This judgmental aspect can be called a hyper-critical spirit.

The thing about the hypercritical spirit is that it tends to focus on matters that are unimportant and make them something of utmost importance.

Take, for example, the Roman Christians to whom Paul writes in Romans 14 that they need to stop judging each other based on what they eat or drink o based on what day the hold as more important that another. The Christians there had elevated these things to a level of supreme importance. We don’t get to decide if a person is Christian or not, furthermore, we don’t get to decide if a person is a better or worse Christian based off the food they eat, the clothes they wear, the music they worship God with, or whether their church has 50 members or 500 members.

There do exist essential matters of faith, but there exist a great many more that are purely preferential matters.

If we ever get to a point where we feel pleased when something bad happens to someone who holds different preferences that we do, we are holding onto the wrong spirit.

If we hold jealousy or envy toward others and see them make a mistaken and it causes us some sense of twisted joy, we have been overcome by a judgmental attitude. It leads us to think, “Well, serves them right. It’s about time they get what is coming to them.” But that is not the hope that love has. The hope that true love has is a hope for their betterment.

Judgmental attitudes thrive when we place preferences over principle.

How can I tell if I am judging others in an unrighteous way? Well, when we judge preferences instead of principles, when we hope to find mistakes and faults in others, and when we judge without knowing all the facts. Proverbs 18:13

Proverbs 18:13 KJV 1900

13 He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, It is folly and shame unto him.

To not be interested in the facts of a matter in which we judge is to fall into this Pharisaical spirit.

Another indication is when we do not take the time or trouble to understand the circumstances. Judgment is never ready to exercise mercy. But a man that possesses true love is ready to exercise charity and mercy. He is prepared to listen and see if there is an explanation. Those who judge unrighteously will dismiss any opportunity to hear argument or reason.

But this spirit is mostly noted when there is a tendency to pronounce final judgment on others. The Pharisaical spirit would pronounce judgment on the person not the action or the words. There is a difference.

We can confidently call sin “sin” because the Bible declares to us what is sin. We should confidently and boldly tell those that are in sin that there are consequences for that sin. We should publicly condemn sin. But we do not condemn the sinners. That is God’s job.

I take you back to an event we have referenced quite a bit. We find it in Luke 9:51-56

Luke 9:51–56 KJV 1900

51 And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem, 52 And sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him. 53 And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem. 54 And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? 55 But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. 56 For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.

You know not what manner of spirit you are of...

John and James were guilty of passing final judgment on the people of that town and proposing that they be destroyed. It is right and it is acceptable to say, “Those Samaritans were wrong in not receiving Jesus.” It is right even to point out that the motivation that they had to not receive Jesus was wrong and prejudicial. But the moment we condemn and write off the person, then we are taking on a responsibility that belongs solely to God.

So what should we remember of all this?

We do not pass final judgement on others because “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Why? Because He is a God of love, love that truly hopes and waits. We do not pass final judgment on other because we do not stand in our own righteousness, but in the righteousness that was imputed to us by Jesus Christ.

We must understand that we are not the final judges, but Jesus is the Final Judge. The Bible tells us many times throughout that Jesus is the judge, not only of those that are Christian, but the judge of those who are not.

Christians, we will appear before Jesus who will judge us. 2 Corinthians 5:9-10

2 Corinthians 5:9–10 KJV 1900

9 Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted [acceptable, well-pleasing] of him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

That word bad is not dealing necessarily with sin, as Jesus was judged for our sin already. Warren Wiersbe probably explains it best this way:

The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Five: Motives for Ministry (2 Corinthians 5:9–21)

The Judgment Seat of Christ will be a place of revelation; for the word appear means “be revealed.” As we live and work here on earth, it is relatively easy for us to hide things and pretend; but the true character of our works will be exposed before the searching eyes of the Saviour. He will reveal whether our works have been good or bad (“worthless”). The character of our service will be revealed (

Jesus is the righteous judge. We cannot judge the hidden motives of others - that is God’s place.

For the unbelievers, Jesus is also their judge. The Bible says that all those without a personal relationship with Jesus Christ will appear before Him. He will judge them according to their works (and remember, there is no amount of good works that can erase or atone for the sins we commit), and they will be cast into the lake of fire, eternally separated from the Lord.

This is a condemnation that rests already upon them, according to John 3:18

John 3:18 KJV 1900

18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

The judgment is pronounced already. This is why Christians who truly understand what the Bible says about those without Christ will boldly tell unbelievers that they are on their way to hell. This is not us pronouncing judgment, this is us announcing a judgment that has already been declared by God Himself.

Christians, we should never give this news with hatred, smugness, or indifference. We should give this news with love. We should take the words of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 5:20 as our example:

2 Corinthians 5:20 KJV 1900

20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.

If you are here and do not know Jesus as your savior, I say the same thing to you. I ask you, being an ambassador of Jesus Christ, as if speaking in His stead, I beg you, be reconciled to Christ. Why? Because he suffered the judgment and punishment so that you would not have to.

2 Corinthians 5:21 KJV 1900

21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Invitation