We Need Each Other
Notes
Transcript
Doxology:
This is my Bible. It is God’s Holy Word. It is a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my path, and I will hide its words within my heart, that I might not sin against God. Amen!
Good morning, Church! I want to welcome all of our visitors today, those here in person as well as those watching online. We are so glad that you chose to worship with us today!
Scripture Reference: Matthew 7:1-12
Context
Context
I am going to be completely honest with you. I have struggled greatly with this text over the years. It is has always been somewhat puzzling to me, and it has always just seemed a little out of place.
But I want to give thanks to God, for as I studied it yet again this week, I feel as if I understand this text more now than I ever have. I still feel that there are some things in this text that I am missing … matter of fact, I feel quiet confident there are, but it makes more sense to me now than it ever has before and I am excited to share with you today what I believe this text to mean and how it fits within the greater context of the Sermon on the Mount.
Any time you are studying the Word of God, you have to make sure that whatever it is you are looking at fits within the context of the entire section, chapter, book, and even the Bible as a whole.
How do we do that?
Frist, we look at the Sermon on the Mount as a whole. What is the overarching theme?
Jesus is comparing and contrasting true spirituality with false religion.
Next, we have to ask, what were the verses directly before this talking about and what are the verses directly after this talking about?
Last week, we looked at the last half of Chapter 6, which spoke on two masters:
24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
According to Jesus, one will either love heavenly things and despise worldly things, or they will love worldly things and despise heavenly things, but they cannot do both. They cannot serve God and the world at the same time.
One who loves the heavenly things will look at this world through a heavenly lens and lay up their treasures in heavenly places. They will also not fret about worldly things, knowing that God has promised to provide the needs of this life unto us. With that being said, He ends that section with a word of warning not to think too far ahead, for then worry will stack up for sure:
34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
In other words, going through life is hard. It is very hard. If you try to put too much on your plate at once, you will get overwhelmed, you will get stressed out beyond measure, and you will struggle to maintain a positive outlook on your life and others’.
When we look at the verses that come after this section on judging, we see that they speak to the need for God in life because only He can provide the answers we seek:
7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
9 Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?
10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?
11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!
We will dig into these verses more a little later on, but for now, I want you to see that these verses speak about how God will provide the things that you need in this life if you but ask Him for those things.
So the verses before this text speak of having a Godly focus and trusting in God for our worldly needs, and the text afterwards speak of how the world cannot provide what you need, but God can. So this text in the middle must fall somewhere within the framework of that context.
Some have used this text as a prooftext to say that any and all types of judgment are sinful and hypocritical. According to the way they understand this text, we should never confront sin in another person’s life, and we should never judge another person based upon the sin in their life.
I cannot agree with this teaching. Matter of fact, I think it is completely unbiblical.
Just a few verses later in vs. 15, Jesus says:
15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.
If I am unable to judge the words of another individual, and compare them to the truths of God’s Word, how could I ever know that one was a false prophet. By doing what Jesus commands me to do in this verse, I am making a judgment call as to whether an individual speaks on behalf of God or whether he does not.
In Matthew 18, Jesus gives us instructions on how to handle a brother or sister within the church who is living in open, blatant sin. We are first to go to them privately and address the matter out of love. If this does not work, we are to take two or three witnesses from the church with us and go try again. If this still does not work, we to bring them before the church as a whole. If this individual still does not repent, they are to be put out of the church (Mat. 18:15-17). I don’t know about you, but that sounds an awful lot like confronting sin to me.
So when we look at this text, we know from several … several other Scriptures that Jesus is not teaching that we should have zero discernment, or that we should never make a judgment call, or even that we should never confront sin. If that were the case here in this text, then it would directly contradict several other passages from the New Testament.
We now can deduce that these verses are not forbidding judgment, but rather are teaching us how to accurately make judgment calls concerning others and why it is so important that we do so in a Godly manner.
So what we have here in the first twelve verses of Chapter 7, is Jesus showing us how desperately we need one another to make it through this life, and the parameters in which we are to operate in concerning our spiritual relationships with one another.
In other words, “We Need Each Other”!!!!
Content
Content
The Spirit Of Our Relationships
The Spirit Of Our Relationships
1 “Judge not, that you be not judged.
2 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.
3 And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?
4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye?
5 Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
The Spiritual Nature of Our Relationships
Notice first that the judgment spoken of here by Jesus is in the context of a brother:
Brother’s eye (vs. 3)
Say to your brother (vs. 4)
Remove the speck from your brother’s eye (vs. 5)
The context is clear that the judgment Jesus speaks of is in the context of judging our brothers and sisters in Christ. As Christians, we have no business judging the sinfulness of the world … That is God’s domain.
12 For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside?
13 But those who are outside God judges. Therefore “put away from yourselves the evil person.”
We are to make judgment calls concerning whether someone is a child of God or not, and we will talk more about that in a moment, but when it comes to judging the actions of another individual, we are not to spend time judging the actions of those outside of the family of God.
We should not be surprised when those who are outside of the family of God operate in a sinful manner. That is who they are. They operate in sin because that is all they know. They will continue to operate in sin unless they come to know Christ. It truly is as simple as that.
I hear some people sometimes, “I wonder why they did that? / I wonder what would drive a person to act in such a way? / I wonder why that person is so ugly, mean, or rude all the time?
It is easy… When someone does not know the Lord, they will operate in a manner of worldliness.
But Jesus is not speaking of that here. He is rather speaking to the judgment calls that we are to make amongst the brethren, amongst the family of believers that sits across the aisle from us.
Notice also, that even when it comes to judgment within the family, this too is to be spiritual in nature.
We must determine what Jesus means here by “speck” and “plank”. Obviously, Jesus is not teaching about literal splinters of wood and literal planks of wood. This is hyperbolic language of something else. Both the splinter and the plank here represent sinfulness in our lives.
We must understand that we are not to walk about judging every single detail of each others lives. To do so is to have a critical spirit about ourselves, and that is not healthy for anyone.
If someone has a critical spirit, they walk about critiquing every little thing about everyone’s life. They want to know every detail about every person. When someone makes a decision, they want to know why they made that decision, and how they possibly could have come to that conclusion. This mentality is sinful, unnecessary, and its unhealthy. It hinders some relationships from being formed and destroys other relationships even once they have been established.
Jesus warns against this type of critical spirit when He says, “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.”
Jesus is not teaching here that we should be critical, but we should be helpful. When we see a brother or sister struggling in sin, or maybe even oblivious to a certain sin in their lives, we are to come alongside them in a spirit of love and help guide them into truth. The judgment Jesus speaks of here is completely spiritual in nature and should be done only out of love.
Its purpose is not to condemn, but rather to encourage. Its motive is the spiritual advancement of a brother or sister in Christ.
The Spiritual Need of Our Relationships
Life is hard. At our very best, each and every one of us still struggle in our walk with the Lord. The verses we covered last week spoke to that.
When we lose focus, we worry about the most basic needs in our lives, such as food and clothing. We have a tendency to slip into sin during these moments of weakness as well. It is not intentional that we do such things, it just kind of happens as a result of being distant from God.
Sadly, we often end up in these moments without even realizing it. Whether we are not spending enough time with our families, not spending enough time with God, not showing up or checking on others who are in need, or even drifting into other areas of sin, many times we do not even realize how bad things have gotten unless someone comes along and tells us.
1 Then the Lord sent Nathan to David. And he came to him, and said to him: “There were two men in one city, one rich and the other poor.
2 The rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds.
3 But the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb which he had bought and nourished; and it grew up together with him and with his children. It ate of his own food and drank from his own cup and lay in his bosom; and it was like a daughter to him.
4 And a traveler came to the rich man, who refused to take from his own flock and from his own herd to prepare one for the wayfaring man who had come to him; but he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.”
5 So David’s anger was greatly aroused against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this shall surely die!
6 And he shall restore fourfold for the lamb, because he did this thing and because he had no pity.”
7 Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul.
8 I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your keeping, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more!
9 Why have you despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in His sight? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon.
21 From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.
22 Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!”
23 But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”
When we are in a moment of weakness, the last thing we need is someone pointing their finger in our face telling us how sorry of a person we are. But we do need a brother or sister in Christ to come along in love, remind us of who we are in Christ, speak truth into our lives, and lovingly, encouragingly, and spiritually help us back to our feet.
2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
17 As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.
16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works,
25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
You and I need each other. God knew how hard it was going to be to walk through this world of woe as someone who had been called out of it. We are pilgrims in this world. We don’t fit in here, and we shouldn’t want to. But that means we need each other in this life. We need the friendship of our brothers and sisters in Christ to come alongside us, love on us, support us, encourage us, pick us up when we are down, guide us to the light when we find ourselves in darkness, be understanding to our shortcomings, and love us enough to be honest with us, even when we don’t want to hear it.
So let us be true in our judgments of one another and enact those judgments in a way that it moves others forward. We don’t need to be kicking others when they are already down, we need to give them a hand up.
But here is the thing, if you want to have true friends in your life who are going to treat you this way, you are going to have to let them. Many times we want to get upset when others try to talk to us about something that we may be doing wrong. We tell them to mind their own business. You can’t have it both ways. When a brother or sister comes to you and tries to help you, even if you disagree with them, you better hear them out. They may be seeing something in you that you are failing to see in yourself. Listen to what they have to say, thank them for loving you enough to come talk to you in the first place, and then seriously consider what they have said. We are accountable to one another in the name of Jesus!!!
The Sacredness Of Our Relationships
The Sacredness Of Our Relationships
6 “Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.
This verse has confused me for years, but I think now, that I am finally starting to get a grasp on it. I still don’t think I fully understand it, but I am starting to.
When we take the current context into consideration, this verse adds a level of importance that is unfathomable.
You and I and every other child of God share a bond that is unbreakable. We are bound together by the blood of Christ. Nothing in this world can ever take that away… Nothing. We will be brothers and sisters in Christ for the rest of eternity.
We hear people say all the time that blood is thicker than water. I could not agree more. The new birth that we have undergone through the blood of Jesus far outweighs the physical birth that binds us to certain individuals in this world.
Look at the person sitting on your left… and now to your right. Whether you like it or not, you will spend an eternity with that person if they have been washed by the blood of the Lamb. You are forever connected with them.
It absolutely breaks my heart when I hear of churches splitting apart, or even just individual Christians being at odds with one another. That goes against every single fiber of what the family of God is supposed to be about. We are told to lean in to one another, love one another, support one another, trust one another, believe in one another, sacrifice for one another, and confide in one another.
We share a bond with one another that this world can never understand.
I believe that is exactly what Jesus is emphasizing here in this verse:
“Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before the swine…”
The term dogs was often used to refer to the Gentiles. A Gentile was anyone who was not a Jew. The Jews were the “People of God”.
A pig was unclean animal. It was considered to be the most unclean animal a person could eat and was forbidden for Jewish people.
The dog and swine here both represent the unclean, or unsaved individual who is outside of the family of God.
When we are in need of help, we should not be going to the world for answers. We should be turning to our brothers and sisters in Christ. The world does not understand you, but your church family does. The world cannot give you spiritual guidance, but your church family can.
Notice that it says when we give what is holy to worldly people, we will end up worse off than where we started. It says that they will “turn and tear you in pieces.”
Everything in this life is spiritual in nature when you boil it down. Every decision you make, every word you speak, every action you take has spiritual significance to either yourself or to those around you.
Even if the unsaved individual you are seeking guidance from is a good moral person according to the world’s standards, they cannot provide the answers you need, because they are simply incapable to do so. They have no spiritual nature, no spiritual perception, no spiritual barometer if you will, and no spiritual discernment. Everything to them comes from a worldly perspective and worldly wisdom. That is not the type of guidance you need.
Listen to what Jesus says, “Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine...”
What you have is holy and as valuable as pearls. Do not give that away to the world. It is worth so much more than that. It is worth so much that Jesus had to give every last drop of blood so that you might have it. Keep it amongst the family. Protect it with your life, guard it from the world.
How do I do that? How do I know who is of God and who is of the world?
The Substance Of Our Relationships
The Substance Of Our Relationships
7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
9 Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?
10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?
11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!
Those who are of the Father will be bound to the Father. They will be the ones who are asking, seeking and knocking. They know from where their help comes from:
1 I will lift up my eyes to the hills—From whence comes my help?
2 My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.
They will not be seeking out the things of this world, but rather the things of God. They will be the ones bent in prayer regularly talking with the Father. They are the ones who understand that anything accomplished in life without God is useless and in vain:
1 Unless the Lord builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the Lord guards the city, The watchman stays awake in vain.
Their relationship in the Lord is strong and they are in communication with Him regularly. They don’t approach an issue from a worldly perspective, but they are looking through the spiritual lens of the Father. They are asking God for answers, seeking God for guidance, and knocking down the doors of heaven so that they might spend some time with the Father.
It is so important that we get this, because this is the very substance that binds us together. We all come from different backgrounds; we all have different stories to tell; we all have been afflicted in different ways; we all have different strengths that we bring to the table; and we all have different weaknesses that plague us in this life; but we are all washed by the blood of the Lamb.
When we all cry out to the Maker of the universe, seeking guidance on the same issue, we are unified in Christ. God isn’t going to tell me one thing and you another. If we are praying to the same God about the same thing, we will come away with the same convictions. This proves our steps moving forward.
When we are doing the same with those of the world, we should not be surprised that we come away with differing viewpoints. Of course we are going to be on a different page.
That is what is so special about being together in Christ. It fosters unity amongst the brethren and strengthens our relationships with one another as we go to God in times of need. Christ will reveal Himself to us in these most challenging times and He will provide the answers we seek.
He does this by filling us with the Holy Spirit, who leads and guides each of us according to the will of God.
11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!
13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
The Holy Spirit creates a bond amongst the brethren that cannot be mimicked or understood by the world. It is because of this that we should lean into one another, support one another, help one another, and pray with one another. We are bound together in Christ and this bond of the brethren is otherworldly.
The Secret Of Our Relationships
The Secret Of Our Relationships
12 Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
Jesus now sums up the passage by reiterating what He said in Mat 7.1-2
1 “Judge not, that you be not judged.
2 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.
12 Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
Over the years, this has come to be known as “The Golden Rule”. We are to treat each other the way we want to be treated by each other.
If we want to be loved, then we should show love. If we want to be told the truth, then we should tell others the truth. If we want to be able to trust others with information, then we should be trustworthy to others with their information. If we want to be able to depend on others, then we need to be dependable to others. If we want others to pray for us, we should be praying for them. If we want others to support us, then we should support them.
Jesus says that this is the Law and the Prophets. In other words, you can hang every single civil command on this one statement, Treat others the way you want to be treated.
This bond we share is too strong to be broken, but it can be strengthened. As we move and operate with one another in the love of Christ, our bond will be strengthened in Christ.
Commitment
Commitment
