Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction:

“They have a right to censure that have a heart to help.” ~William Penn [Bruce B. Barton, Matthew, Life Application Bible Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1996), 130.]

Illustration - F-14 Tomcat Canopy Malfunction, Squadron called in an expert; if the wrong thing was pushed, it would have damaged the fighter-jet beyond commission (Source - Veteran Tomcat Mechanic at Wings Over the Rockies).

There was a time when scarcely a person in the [Western] world would not have been able to cite John 3:16.

Doubtless it was the best known verse in the entire Bible.

It may still hold pride of place today—I am uncertain.

But if it does, the percentage of people who know it is considerably smaller, and continues to decline as biblical illiteracy rises in the West.

Meanwhile there is another verse that is (perhaps more) frequently quoted, almost as a defiant gesture, by some people who do not know their Bibles very well, but who think it authorizes their biases.

It is Matthew 7:1: “Judge not, that ye be not judged.”

In an age when philosophical pluralism is on the ascendancy, these [seven] words might almost be taken as the public confession.

[D. A. Carson, For the Love of God: A Daily Companion for Discovering the Riches of God’s Word., vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1998), 25.]

Did you know that Matthew 7:1 is quickly replacing John 3:16 as the most memorized and quoted verse in the Bible?

It is true!

For instance, I am going to make a few statements.

Let’s see if you agree with me.

1. Homosexuality is a sin.

Homosexuals need to repent of this sin in order to be right with God.

2. All pre-marital sex is wrong.

Two people living together out of wedlock are living in adultery.

[3.

Transgenderism is transgression against the God Who fearfully and wonderfully creates every individual human being in the beauty and destroys the sanctity of life.]

[4.] Abortion is murder.

It is the killing of a human being and those doctors who perform abortions [must deal seriously with the question of whether they are conscientiously guilty of taking innocent human life and violating their hippocratic oath.

5. Drug Abuse is wicked.

It is involvement with mind-altering substances that helps lead lost souls to hell.]

Now when those statements are made the world immediately trots out their favorite verse in the Bible: “Judge not, that ye be not judged.”

Then they will say something like this, “Well, who died and made you judge?”

That brings up this question: is it ever right to pass judgment on the actions of others?

Be careful how you answer that question!

You might think that Jesus would have said “No!

It is never right to judge another.”

Instead, Jesus said, [“Judge not…[until you can] see clearly.”] [Alan Carr, “Who Died and Made You My Judge?

(Matthew 7:1–5),” in The Sermon Notebook: New Testament (Lenoir, NC: Alan Carr, 2015), 117.]

Main Thought: Jesus taught His disciples how to have the proper discernment by keeping a proper perspective of:

Their individual accountability to God in light of their loving concern for each other (Matt.

7:1-5)

Their personal responsibility to give carefully His message to the lost (Matt.

7:6)

Sub-intro: Provide an overview of how these verses correspond to the rest of Matthew 5-7.

So what does this judgmental attitude connote?

It means looking down on a person with a superior attitude, criticizing or condemning them without a loving concern (the opposite of the second we-petition on forgiveness, 6:12).

The key component is the absence of love.

Admonition has a humility that says, “I love you enough to want to help you, and tomorrow you will need to correct me.”

There is no sense of superiority, no desire to make yourself look good at the expense of another.

Bruner says this prohibition is the flip side of the fifth beatitude (5:5, “God blesses those who are merciful”) as well as of the fifth petition of the Lord’s Prayer (6:12, “forgive us our sins”) and recapitulates the commands in ch. 5 against anger, revenge, and hate.

[Bruner, Christbook, 272.

G. S. Hendry, “Judge Not: A Critical Test of Faith,” ThTo 40 (1983): 113–29, says the issue is whether we have the faith to trust God’s judgment or have to take that judgment on ourselves.

Grant R. Osborne, Matthew, vol. 1, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010), 258.]

Body:

I. Exposing Hypocrisy: Discerning of Logs & Specks (Matt.

7:1-5)

A. The Prohibition - Judge Not… Until You Can (Matt.

7:1-2, 5)

1.

The Purpose for the Prohibition (Matt.

7:1)

Note - Pres.

COULD forbid what they are already doing (if not the Disciples, then certainly the Pharisees)

Note - Purpose clause

2. Respect the Recompense of Reward (Matt.

7:2)

Note - Explanatory “for”

Note - Divine Passives (x3)

Note - Impersonal Verb: avoidance of God’s name (speaks of reverence)

I read about an owner of a manufacturing plant who decided to make a surprise tour of the shop.

Walking through the warehouse he noticed a young man just lazily leaning up against some packing crates with his hands in his pocket doing nothing.

The boss walked up to him and angrily said, “Just how much are you paid a week?”

Well, the young man’s eyes got rather big, and he said, “Three hundred bucks.”

The boss pulled out his wallet, pealed off three one hundred bills, gave it to him, and said, “Here’s a week’s pay.

Now get out of here and don’t ever come back!”

Well, without a word the young man stuffed the money into his pocket and took off.

The warehouse manager was standing nearby staring in amazement.

The boss walked over to him and said, “Tell me, how long has that guy been working for us?”

The manager said, “He didn’t work here, he was just delivering a package.”

[Alan Carr, “Who Died and Made You My Judge?

(Matthew 7:1–5),” in The Sermon Notebook: New Testament (Lenoir, NC: Alan Carr, 2015), 119.]

God alone can make ultimate judgments about people, and he does so through his agent Jesus, the Son of Man (cf.

Matt.

7:21–23; 13:36–43, 47–50; 16:27–28; 19:28; 24:30; 25:31; 26:64).

[David L. Turner, Matthew, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008), 204–205.]

B. The Prescription - Secure Self Before Assisting Other Brethren (Matt.

7:3-5)

1.

The Dilemma - A Disqualified Ophthalmologist (Matt.

7:3-4)

a.

A Shocking Absurdity (Matt.

7:3)

Note - Repetition: Hebraistic Tautology RATHER THAN mere Digression

Note - “but” adversative (x2)

At the turn of the century, the world’s most distinguished astronomer, Sir Percival Lowell, was certain there were canals on Mars.

When he heard, in 1877, that an Italian astronomer had seen straight lines crisscrossing the Martian surface, Lowell spent the rest of his years squinting into the eyepiece of his giant telescope in Arizona, mapping the channels and canals he saw.

He was convinced the canals were proof of intelligent life on the Red Planet—possibly an older but wiser race than humanity.

His observations gained wide acceptance and none dared contradict him.

Since that time space probes have orbited Mars and landed on its surface.

The entire planet has been mapped and no one has seen a canal.

Today we know that Lowell suffered from a rare eye disease that made him see the blood vessels in his own eyes.

The Martian “canals” he saw were nothing more than the bulging veins of his eyeballs, a malady known as “Lowell’ s syndrome.”

When Jesus warns that “in the same way you judge others, you will be judged” (Matt.

7:1–3) and talks about seeing “the speck of sawdust” in another’s eye while missing the plank in our own, could he not be referring to the spiritual equivalent of Lowell’s syndrome?

Over and over, we “see” faults in others because we don’t want to believe anything better about them.

And so often we think we have a firsthand view of their shortcomings, when in fact our vision is distorted by our own disease.

[“Specks and Planks,” condensed from Leadership vol. 5, no. 4 (Carol Stream, Ill.: Christianity Today, Fall 1984), p. 47. Stephen F. Olford, Institutes of Biblical Preaching, Volume Seven (Memphis, TN: Olford Ministries International, 1988).]

Wife Going Deaf?

A man thinks his wife is losing her hearing.

A doctor suggests that he try a simple at-home test: Stand behind her, ask her a question from different distances, and see when she can hear it.

The man goes home, sees his wife in the kitchen facing the stove, and asks from the door, “What’s for dinner tonight?”

No answer.

Ten feet behind her, he repeats, “What’s for dinner tonight?”

Still no answer.

Finally, right behind her he says, “What’s for dinner tonight?”

His wife turns around and says, “For the third time—chicken.”

Jesus taught us to look at our own shortcomings before we blame others.