Matthew 7:1-6

Scripture Reading: 2 Samuel 12:1-14

Last Time

In Chapter 6, Jesus Began Addressing How Christians are to Practice Our Righteousness

We Are Not to Practice Our Righteousness For the Purpose of Being Seen By Others

We Are Not to Store Up Earthly Wealth But Heavenly Wealth

We Are Not to Worry About Our Daily Necessities But Rather to Focus On the Kingdom and Righteous Living

Matthew 7:1-6

Illustration:

There Was a Man Who, After Hearing What the Preacher Was Going to Be Preaching About…

Would Always Turn to His Wife and Say, “I Sure Hope So and So is Here to Hear This One!”

Topic: Drinking - “I sure Hope Brad is Here to Hear This One!”

Topic: Cussing - “I Sure Hope Janice is Here to Hear This One!”

Topic: Humility - “I Sure Hope the Johnsons are Here to Hear This One!”

But One Day the Preacher Got Up, Looked Straight at the Man and Said, “Today, I’m Going to Be Preaching On Judging Others!”

The Man Seemed to Sink Down in His Seat a Little Bit

He Turned to His Wife and Gave a Nervous Sort of Grin, and Said

“Honey, I Think He’s Talking About You.”

In This Lesson, Jesus is Going to Be Teaching Us About Judging Others

This is a Text That I Would Have Added to Our Sunday Night Series On Twisted Scripture if We Hadn’t Already Been Looking at the Semon on the Mount

Matthew 7:1 is One of the Most Twisted Scriptures in the Entire Bible

Christianity is All About Realizing We are Wrong/Sinful and Seeking to Change

But People of the World Don’t Like to Be Told They are Wrong or That They Need to Change

So They Will Site Matthew 7:1 and Claim That Jesus Tells His People Not to Judge Others

Let’s Look at the Passage and See What Jesus Was Actually Saying

Matthew 7:1 (NASB)

“Do not judge so that you will not be judged.

“Do Not Judge” in Greek is in the Present Tense

Possibly a Better Translation Would Be “Stop Judging”

If You Don’t Want to Be Judged, Then Stop Judging!

The Sermon On the Mount is Focused On How Citizens of Jesus’ Kingdom Behave

And if You Want to Be in His Kingdom, You Have to Have Greater Righteousness Than the Scribes and Pharisees

We’ll Notice Throughout the Rest of Jesus’ Dealings With These Jewish Leaders…

That They Are Very Judgemental People

In Order to Be a Citizen of Jesus’ Kingdom, You Can’t Be a Judgemental Person

The World Would Like For Me to Stop Right There, But Jesus Doesn’t

Matthew 7:2 (NASB)

For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.

The Way You Judge Others Now is the Way You Will Be Judged in the Future

And God Will Use the Same Standard of Measurement That You Use

If You Judge By the Teaspoon-Fulls, God Will Judge You By the Teaspoon-Fulls

But if You Judge By the Bucket-Fulls, Then God Will Judge You By the Bucket-Fulls

I’ll Tell You This, I Don’t Even Want a Teaspoon Full of God’s Judgement!

Jesus’ Brother Repeats a Lot of the Teachings of Jesus in His Book

He Repeats This Teaching as Well, But From the Opposite Side

James 2:13 (NASB)

For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.

Showing Mercy to Others is Better Than Showing Them Judgement

And if We Show Mercy to Others, Instead of Judgement…

God Will Show Us Mercy in the Day of His Judgement

John Chrysostom (349-407) Said it This Way:

“For with what judgment ye judge,” saith He, “ye shall be judged.” That is, “it is not the other,” saith Christ, “that thou condemnest, but thyself, and thou art making the judgment-seat dreadful to thyself, and the account strict.”

You Aren’t Condemning Someone Else When You Judge Them

You Are Condemning Yourself

When You Judge Others, You Are Only Making the Judgement Seat of God More Dreadful For Yourself

Matthew 7:3 (NASB)

Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?

One Thing We Need to Notice Right Off the Bat is the Word “Brother”

Jesus is Talking About Our Relationship to Those in Our Family Community

He Could Be Referring to His Jewish Audience’s Jewish Community

Or, He Could Be Referring to the Kingdom Community

Since This Sermon is All About How to Live Within His Kingdom, I’m Going to Go With the Latter

The Principles Jesus is Laying Out For Us Are Dealing With How to Treat Our Brothers and Sisters in Christ

Jesus Asks, “Why Do You See the Tiny Piece of Sawdust in Your Brother’s Eye…”

“But You Don’t Pay Any Attention to the Giant Beam of Wood Sticking Out of Your Own Eye?”

I Wonder if This Illustration Was More Personal to Jesus, Having Grown Up the Son of a Carpenter

This Hyperbolic Visual Was Likely Pretty Humorous to His Listeners

It’s Hard Not to Imagine a Person With a Long 2X4 Hanging Out of Their Head

Though His Illustration is Funny…

The Principle it Teaches is Very Serious

We Find it Very Easy to Notice the Tiniest Weaknesses, Short-Comings, and Failings of Others

And We Find it Very Easy to Ignore Our Very Large Weaknesses, Short-Comings, and Failings

Those Who Aren’t Concerned With Comparing Themselves to the Teachings of Jesus…

Because They are Too Busy Comparing Others to His Teachings

In Romans Chapter 1, Paul Talks About How God’s Judgement is Against Those Who Live in Sin

Then Immediately After Listing Off Many Sins That are Worthy of Death, Paul Says:

Romans 2:1 (NASB)

Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.

Those Who Pass Judgement Upon Others While Also Living in Sin Condemn Themselves

Matthew 7:4 (NASB)

Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye?

You Are in No Position to Help Someone Fix the Minor Issues in Their Life…

When You are Unwilling to Even See the Major Issues in Yours

Imagine an Alcoholic Father Telling His Teenage Son Not to Drink

Imagine a Potty-Mouthed Mother Telling Her Children Not to Say Bad Words

Imagine Parents Who’ve Lived Off the Government Their Entire Adult Lives Telling Their Children to Get a Job

You Don’t Have to Imagine These Scenarios Because We See Them Happen All the Time

And Before We Start Thinking of People in Our Lives Who Fit This Description…

We Better Start Paying Attention to Jesus, and Look at Ourselves

We Have the Solution to Everyone Else’s Problems…

But So Often We Refuse to Acknowledge Our Own

Matthew 7:5 (NASB)

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.

Hypocrites See the Sins of Others Without Seeing Their Own

Hypocrites Tell Others How to Be More Like Jesus When They Themselves are Nothing Like Him

Jesus Tells Us the Simple Remedy to This Hypocritical Practice

Fix Yourself Before You Start Trying to Fix Others

Examine Yourself Before You Examine Others

Repent Yourself Before Telling Others to Repent

Make Jesus Your Master Before Telling Others to Submit to Him

We See From This Verse That Jesus Wasn’t Saying What the World Wants to Believe He was Saying

He Wasn’t Telling His People Not to Judge Each Others’ Actions

He Was Telling Us Not to Judge Each Other Harshly and Hypocritically

After We Examine Ourselves and Fix Our Own Problems…

Then We Are to Help Our Siblings in Christ Fix Their Problems

John Chrysostom Also Said:

‘Correct him, but not as a foe, nor as an adversary exacting a penalty, but as a physician providing medicines,’

And Also:

You see, we ought not to upbraid (scold) nor trample upon them, but to admonish; not to revile, but to advise; not to assail (criticize) with pride, but to correct with tenderness.

Paul Told the Galatians:

Galatians 6:1 (NASB)

Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted.

We are Commanded to Judge Our Brothers and Sisters

Making Judgements is Necessary to Help Each Other Faithfully Follow Jesus

Whenever We See a Brother or Sister Living in a Way That is Not Helpful in Their Walk With Jesus

We are to Help Restore Them

But We are to Do it With Gentleness

And We are to Look to Ourselves

Making Sure We Are Doing What is Right Before Trying to Correct Them

Matthew 7:6 (NASB)

Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.

This Verse Has Always Seemed Random and Out of Place in This Context

Upon First Reading it, it Seems Jesus Immediately Switches to Another Topic

But That’s Not the Case

Dogs Were Not Like the Domesticated Pets That We Have Today

They Were Wild Scavengers

And Pigs Were the Symbol of Uncleanness to the Jewish People

That Which is Holy is Something Special, Sacred, Set Apart, and Otherly

Jesus May Be Referring to Meat That Has Been Sacrificed to God

And Pearls Were Something That Was Very Costly and of Great Value

Dogs and Pigs Were the Opposite of Holy and Costly

If You Give Holy Meat to Dogs, They Will Devour it Without Even Recognizing it’s Sacredness

And After They’ve Finished it, They Might Turn On You and Rip You to Shreds

And if You Toss Pearls to Pigs, They’ll Just Stomp Them into the Mud and Not Think Twice About Their Cost

So What Do These Things Refer to?

That Which is Holy and Costly is the Gospel That Grants Entrance into the Kingdom and Eternal Life

The Dogs and Pigs Are Those People Who Care Nothing About the Good News

Those Who Would Rather Rip it Up and Stomp On it Than Obey it

Those Who, if Confronted With the Message, Might Even Decide to Act Violently Toward the Messenger

So How Does This Verse Connect to the First 5?

Jesus First Tells Us Not to Judge Others Harshly or Hypocritically

But Now He is Showing Us That There is a Time For Judgements to Be Made

When Spreading the Gospel to the Lost or Trying to Restore/Correct a Sibling…

There Will Be Times When We Come Across People Who Care Nothing For it

Those Who Have Shown Themselves to Be Dogs/Pigs

Those Who Have Made it Abundantly Clear That They Have No Interest in the Gospel…

Or the Righteous Standards of the Kingdom

Jesus Says, “When You Come Across Those Who Have Persistently Rejected the Gospel/Correction…”

“It’s Time to Move On.”

We Can’t Force People to Love and Serve Jesus

Many Times the Harder We Push, the Worse the Situation Will Become

We Might Turn People Away From Jesus Entirely

We Might Sever Friendships That Might Have Proved Fruitful in the Future

We Might Push Them to Act Hatefully or Violently Towards Us

According to Jesus, When They Have Proven Uninterested, It’s Time to Move On

Application

In Order to Have Greater Righteousness Than the Scribes and Pharisees and Be Citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven:

We Cannot Be Judgemental People

We Must Judge the Actions of Our Siblings in Christ…

But Only After Examining and Correcting Ourselves First

And When We Make Those Judgements…

We Must Do it With Mercy, Gentleness, and Wisdom

When a Person Refuses to Accept the Gospel or a Sibling Refused to Accept Correction, It’s Time to Move On

As Christians, We Have to Judge

But We Don’t Have to Do it Harshly or Hypocritically

We Need to Always Remember:

We Are Not the Judge

Whenever We Judge Others, Even When We Do it Rightly, Are Not Saving Nor Condemning Them

Only God Can Save and Condemn

That’s None of Our Business

Our Business is to Show Mercy, Gentleness, and Love By Living Faithfully to Jesus and Helping Others Do the Same

Jesus Tells Us to Judge Ourselves and Show Mercy to Others

When We Do That, We Will Be Shown Mercy