How to Judge Rightly

Introduction:

Connection:

Have you ever gone to lovingly point out sin in a brother or sister’s life, and they’ve responded, at the speed of lightning, ‘Jesus said not to judge!’ Been there? That is a pervasive misunderstanding of the Word of God. We often read that command of Christ totally out of context, and thus we give ourselves license to live private lives of sin free from brotherly rebuke and proper judgment. This must not be so! We need to know how to Judge Rightly…

Theme:

How to Judge Rightly

Need:

We need to know what Jesus actually means when he says: do not judge. And the first part of that is realizing that those words are only the first 3 words of an entire paragraph on right vs wrong judgment.

Purpose:

To refute a hypocritical-spirit of judgment; to remind about the coming justice of God against hypocrisy; to comfort us in the Gospel of God’s grace in Christ; to exhort toward a humble attitude of brotherly judgment; and to warn against giving away that which is holy and sacred to the profane world.

Recap:

Last Sunday we had the blessing of sitting at the feet of Jesus as he graciously warmed us with the promises of our Heavenly Father’s care and protection over his children, as well as the call for us to seek first the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness as our supreme pursuit in life. Jesus led us to not fear temporal concerns—but to be deeply concerned with eternal concerns; and only then can we properly face temporal concerns by faith! And now he switches gears toward exhorting his disciples on how to judge rightly, and how not to judge wrongly.

Text: Read Matt. 7:1-6 ESV

PRAY - PRAY - PRAY - PRAY - PRAY - PRAY - PRAY - PRAY

(1) Haughty Judgment is Wrong Judgment - v. 1-2.

Matthew 7:1–2 ESV

“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.

(1) Haughty Judgment is Wrong Judgment - v. 1-2.

1“Judge not, that you be not judged.

What’s going on here, Jesus. What does he mean? First of all we need to understand what the word, ‘judge’ means. In Greek it’s pronounced: ‘κρίνω’, and it means to pass judgment, to separate, to critically examine, to make a legal declaration… etc. It is to pronounce something to be right or wrong, with authority and power. And so that leads us to ask:

Is Jesus forbidding all judgment absolutely? Or forbidding a certain kind of judgment specifically? I firmly believe the latter. And my strongest proof of this is that Jesus elsewhere commands us to judge rightly (which we’ll see at the end of the sermon). And Paul expects us to judge the church. Paul writes:

1 Corinthians 5:12 (ESV)

Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge?

Therefore, there is a sinful way to judge, and there is a godly way to judge. There is a wrong way to judge, and there is a right way to judge. And wisdom knows the difference between the two.

And so with these additional verses that help to illumine the meaning of Jesus here, I conclude: Jesus is forbidding a haughty and prideful manner of judgment—or a rash and hyper-critical form of judging. Prideful and haughty judgment is to act as if you are the capital ‘J’ judge, the ultimate determiner of right and wrong. Rash and hyper-critical judgment is to always be pointing out where people go wrong, with no love or mercy.

Let me illustrate this for you:

An example of a haughty judgment would be declaring that something is wrong, and that someone is guilty of sin, when God hasn’t forbidden it. Let me give you an example that might hit close to home for many of us in the evangelical tradition. To declare with moral authority and judgment that alcohol is absolutely sinful would be to make a haughty judgment on something where God hasn’t. That would be to act as if you were the Judge. Haughty judgment assumes the position of the Lawgiver.

An example of a rash judgment would be to assume that someone who comes into church late has absolutely no excuse for strolling in late. You would assume that they just slept in or lost track of time and that it was their fault (and you’re pre-judging them before even talking to them). When in reality they had to change a dirty diaper last second, they got a flat tire on the side of the road…. etc. You get the point. Rash judgment assumes the worst.

When we act in pride or with a hyper-critical spirit, we are usurping the judgment-seat of God. This is the kind of wrong and sinful judgment that Jesus is forbidding. Judge not, that you be not judged…. JC Ryle helpfully summarizes:

Ryle: What our Lord means to condemn is a censorious and fault-finding spirit. A readiness to blame others for trifling offenses or matters of indifference, a habit of passing rash and hasty judgments, a disposition to magnify the errors and infirmities of our neighbors and make the worst of them—this is what our Lord forbids. It was common among the Pharisees. It has always been common from their day down to the present time. We must watch against it. We should “believe all things” and “hope all things” about others, and be very slow to find fault. This is Christian love.

And so with this prohibition, Jesus continues with a warning of justice that will come against the merciless and judgmental:

2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.

Does this principle sound familiar to you? We’ve already dealt with it in Matthew 5. It’s the lex talionis. Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, life for life, judgment for judgment, measure for measure. Justice will come against those who show no mercy—who act as if they are the Lawgiver Himself.

Jesus says that if we Judge with this kind of wrong and sinful judgment, then we must be warned—for we will be judged with the same measure. If we show no mercy—then we won’t receive mercy from God. James and Paul make the same point elsewhere:

James 2:12–13 ESV

So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

Romans 2:1–3 ESV

Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God?

The way in which we pridefully or critically judge others will come back to smoke us in the face if we are unrepentant. The measure that we use to measure against others will come back to condemn us if we are hypocrites. This is a solemn warning indeed. Justice is coming, and if we live in a manner of prideful and rash judgment with others, then we will received harsh and strict justice against us, without mercy from God on the last day. Jesus is returning, with perfect recompense, perfect justice, strict punishment for all those who make a practice of sinning, who reject the Gospel of God’s Saving and Transforming Grace in Christ. So let us examine our lives, our hearts, and actions, our words—are we living in this judgmental spirit? Or has the mercy of God gripped us, changed us, and renewed us from the inside out?

(1) Haughty Judgment is Wrong Judgment - v. 1-2.

And then Jesus uses a powerful illustration to bring home the point. Secondly, this morning:

(2) Hypocritical Judgment is Wrong Judgment - v. 3-5.

Matthew 7:3–5 ESV

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.

(2) Hypocritical Judgment is Wrong Judgment - v. 3-5.

Are we not all prone to this? Who can say that they are more speedy at pointing out their own sin than the sin of others? All have fallen short of the glory of God, all have become corrupt, there is none who does good, no not one. Jesus says:

3 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?

The picture here is a comparison between a speck of sawdust (which is absolutely tiny), and a log that is more literally translated as a beam of wood (like one in a roof of a house). A speck is miniscule in comparison to the beam! Do you see the point? Jesus is saying: why do you notice the small sin and fault in your brothers life, but you don’t notice the massive sin and fault in your own life?

Doriani: When Jesus says that we have a plank in our eye, he chooses a term that can refer to the main beam in the floor or roof of a building—a plank as much as forty feet long and five feet around. We tend to trivialize our sins and magnify the sins of others, but Jesus says that our sins should seem painfully large to us, while our neighbors’ should seem small. If we offer help in that spirit, it will carry more weight.

I realized at some point that a good barometer of my spiritual well-being is to apply this text to myself. Am I more convicted and sorrowful over my own sin and iniquity? Or that of others? … Am I more concerned with calling out the sin of the world? Or lamenting the corruption of my own heart? … Am I more set on judging those around me? …. Or on judging myself in humble repentance?

We are most holy and near to God when we are contrite in heart over our own sin—and we are most sinful and distant from God when we are acting like a referee in regard to the sin of those around us. Let each one of us examine our hearts in this matter.

James 4:6 (ESV)

Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

But in this illustration, Jesus doesn’t say that we simply notice the sin in others, he goes even farther, adding:

4 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?

It’s one thing to point out sin in someone’s eye, it’s another thing to strap them down to a table, get some gloves, and try to pluck the speck out of their eye! Do you see the point? Jesus is saying that this sinful attitude doesn’t just remain within us, silently harboring up pride, but we actually unleash it and with our words we call out the faults of others while being entirely oblivious to our own sins and iniquities (which are far worse, and much more plentiful then we could ever begin to imagine). Oh the deceitfulness of sin, and how it hardens and blinds the very heart and eyes (Heb. 3)! Oh to be able to say, sincerely with Paul, that we in our own eyes are the chief of sinners (1 Tim. 1)!

Let’s run this through a case study of the 10 Commandments, and what some specks and logs in our eyes might be for us today in the 21st Century. I’m going to read each commandment, and then point out a speck that we are quick to see, while missing the log that might be in our very own eyes and hearts.

1 - You shall have no other gods before me. You are quick to point out how pagans idolize sports and celebrity culture, but you get more excited about watching a sports game or TV show then worshipping at the house of God, and you don’t lead your house in regular family worship.

2 - You shall not make for yourself a carved image … and you shall not bow down to them or serve them. You are quick to point out how Catholics idolize images, but you are more concerned with making worship attractive to unbelievers and watering it down, than being concerned about it’s biblical purity before the holiness of God.

3 - You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain. You are quick to feel anger when people around you say ‘Oh my God’, or ‘Jesus’ as a curse word, but you say ‘Oh my gosh, oh my golly, and jeeze’ like it’s second nature, sanitizing the use of God’s name in vain so that you don’t feel guilty or the need to repent over it.

4 - Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. You are quick to tell people that we need to prioritize the worship of God at church, but you are also the one who sleeps in, skips church, takes your children to a sports game, or does work on Sundays, profaning the Lord’s Day yourself.

5 - Honor your father and your mother. You are quick to get upset when younger people in our culture fail to honour the elderly and wise among us, but if someone spoke to you about Mark Carney you would cuss him off and slander him for 15 minutes straight.

6 - You shall not murder. You are quick to agree that the the Holocaust was one of the worst slaughterings of history, but won’t invest any time, money, or effort into fighting against Abortion or MAID or IVF that slaughters WAY MORE people than Hitler ever killed in his lifetime.

7 - You shall not commit adultery. You are quick to call out marital unfaithfulness among those of your friends who have gotten divorced because of sexual immorality, but you are inwardly lusting after women who cross the street in front of you, engage in sex outside of marriage or watch pornography behind closed doors.

8 - You shall not steal. You can heartily agree that robbing a bank would be a moral atrocity as it steals the well-earned money of many human beings, but you don’t tithe or give offerings to the LORD from your weekly paycheck, which Scripture says is stealing from God.

9 - You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You could totally agree that public slander of your neighbour and destroying his reputation would be a terrible offense against him and God, but after the kids go to bed you speak evil of your neighbour to your spouse, and share how tired you are of the way they treat you.

10 - You shall not covet your neighbor’s house, wife, servants, ox, donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s. You can easily agree that it’s wrong to covet a Hollywood mansion and the millionaire lifestyle of luxury and ease, and yet you are never content with what the Lord has given you as your portion, and you are always striving for a bigger house, and a better reputation in the world.

So what shall we say to these things? What did Jesus say to these matters? He continues in verse 5:

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.

Only as we deal with our own sin first, only as we repent of our own offenses first, only as we lament our own hearts first, can we ever find the qualification to loving judge and call out sin in the life of a brother or sister. Hypocrisy disqualifies us from right judgment. Humility alone qualifies us for loving judgment. Only as we beat our own chests and cry out: God have mercy on me, a sinner—can we then graciously reprove others—as we’ve covenanted to do as members of Calvary Bible Church.

And as we do this, in meekness, then we can be freed from the snare of sinful judgment—and empowered to rightfully judge our brother. Speaking the truth in love. Pleading with him or her in sincerity and compassion. Not standing over them—but standing beside them. We’ve been there. We’re worse than they are. And yet we want to help them to fight against their sin and to walk with the Lord Jesus in grace, faith, love, and righteousness. In light of all of this…

Spurgeon: The judging faculty is best used at home.

Henry: Here is a good rule for reprovers; first reform thyself.

But if we’re being honest, we all fall short in this. We are all stained by pride and hypocrisy. I am condemned by this. You are condemned by this. We, together, fail to be consistently humble and meek. And so, our only hope is the Mercy of Jesus that triumphs over Divine Judgment.

HIT A GOSPEL NOTE!*********************************

Micah 7:18–20 ESV

Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love. He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. You will show faithfulness to Jacob and steadfast love to Abraham, as you have sworn to our fathers from the days of old.

The mercy and love of Jesus Christ is the only way to find forgiveness, peace with God, and heart-change in God’s eyes. Only by God’s covenant love and mercy in the blood of Jesus Christ, can we be saved and transformed forever!

(2) Hypocritical Judgment is Wrong Judgment - v. 3-5.

May God give us grace to reject both haughty and hypocritical judgment. May He turn our eyes to Christ our Saviour, that we might find mercy in His sight. And may He grant us humility and sincerity, in the depth of our hearts. And this leads us to our last main point:

(3) Humble Judgment needs Holy Discernment - v. 6.

Matthew 7:6 ESV

“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.

(3) Humble Judgment needs Holy Discernment - v. 6.

I must say, this is both an interesting and challenging verse. Not because it’s hard to understand—but because it’s hard to see how it connects to what Jesus has been saying. Calvin went so far to say that it has absolutely nothing to do with the preceding words of Christ. I don’t think so. I think it’s placed where it’s placed for a reason, and it is organically connected to what Jesus is saying.

If we think about it, Jesus is forbidding that haughty and hypocritical judgment that would be so quick to judge everybody around them … which might lead his disciples to think that they should never judge at all, that they should reject all discernment and wisdom and caution. And I think that’s where this saying comes in. Jesus is saying: don’t be quick to judge those around you, but don’t give up judgment entirely. How so? Becuase we still need to judge and discern the difference between dogs and that which is holy, between pearls and pigs. We still need to distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between the church and the world—and if we fail to do this, then we are swinging from one extreme (over-judging), to another extreme (lack of judgment). Does that make sense? I think that’s what Jesus is doing here—and se he says:

6 “Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs,

In the ancient world dog’s were not pets. They were dirty, ugly, and stinky street animals. And in the eyes of the Jews, pigs were an unclean animal by the ceremonial law of the OT.

That which is holy is set apart, it’s consecrated for God’s special use. And pearls are precious, costly, highly valued and esteemed.

And so Jesus is saying: on the one hand, don’t judge everyone as if they were all dogs and pigs—but on the other hand, don’t judge everyone as if they were all holy pearls. Don’t sinfully judge, but you still need to exercise righteous discernment and judgment.

HDK: Jesus is saying that whatever it is that stands in special relation to God and is accordingly very precious should be treated with reverence and not entrusted to those who, because of their utterly wicked, vicious, and despicable nature, can be compared to dogs (see also Phil. 3:2) and hogs. This means, for example, that Christ’s disciples must not endlessly continue to bring the gospel message to those who scorn it. To be sure, patience must be exercised, but there is a limit. A moment arrives when constant resistance to the gracious invitation must be punished by the departure of the messengers of good tidings.

In the Gospel of Matthew, the Kingdom of God is that Holy and Precious Pearl—the word of the Kingdom, the people of the Kingdom, the sacraments of the Kingdom, are those who are holy and set apart unto God, precious in His eyes as His very own people.

And so we can apply this to the preaching of the Gospel in evangelism: don’t shove the sacred things of God down someone throat if they don’t have an appetite for them.

And so we can apply this to the need for church membership: don’t allow known dogs and pigs to be treated as if they are children of God and born of the Spirit.

We can apply this to the sacraments: don’t allow baptism and the Lord’s Supper to be given to those who are outside of the covenant people of God, to unbelieving pagans. Why?

lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.

Lest unbelievers become exceedingly angry at you, unduly upset with you, and turn to trample underfoot the things of God, cause incredible damage and pain to the saints, persecute the church and attack them (either verbally, spiritually, bodily, or emotionally)… etc.

Proverbs 9:8 ESV

Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you; reprove a wise man, and he will love you.

Jesus is warning us—if we don’t protect the purity of God’s temple—if we allow the enemies of God to be treated as if they are friends of God—and then we realize it, and have to rebuke and reprove them, then they might turn to attack us. Jesus cares for us, for our safety, and for our protection. So he is warning us on the front end! Don’t give the holy things of God to the profane people of this world! Don’t be naïve in your judgment and lack of wisdom in your life.

But even more than this…. Jesus is concerned with the purity of the worship of God, the sanctity of the kingdom, and the right worship being ascribed to the LORD in the beauty of holiness. Who shall ascend the hill of God? Only let those who are holy, dwell in the presence of the Holy One of Israel. And so we must judge rightly, distinguishing that which is common, with that which is holy as unto the LORD.

(3) Humble Judgment needs Holy Discernment - v. 6.

We must flee from sinful judgment, cling to godly judgment, and be filled with the wisdom of God to know the difference. We must learn how to judge rightly by the Word of God:

(C) Right Judgment is not Haughty and Hypocritical, but Humble and Holy.

James 4:12 (ESV)

There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy.

Calvin: He who judges according to the word and law of the Lord, and forms his judgment by the rule of charity, always begins with subjecting himself to examination, and preserves a proper [method] and order in his judgments. [as Jesus himself said]:

John 7:24 (ESV)

Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.

(C) Right Judgment is not Haughty and Hypocritical, but Humble and Holy.

Amen? Let’s pray.

Discussion Questions:

(1) Have you ever heard someone abuse the words of Jesus: ‘Judge Not’? How so? Give personally examples.

(2) Is Jesus forbidding all judgment entirely? Or only a sinful kind of judgment specifically? What do you think? and Why?

(3) What is the point of the illustration with the speck and log in one’s eyes? How does this teach us to judge rightly?

(4) What in the world does Jesus mean in his illustration about dogs and pigs? How does this relate to judging?

(5) What are some practical examples of application from this text in the home, in the church, and in society at large? Shoot away.