Judge Not

an agenda of mercy

Hosea 6:6

For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

Luke 6:36–43 ESV

Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.” He also told them a parable: “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher. 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? How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye. “For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit,

Luke 6:37-43

shaped by spirit of the world, spirit of this age, by the experiences in the world or by the Spirit of God

God's agenda is an agenda of mercy.

But why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do the things which I say

1. (Luk 6:36-38) The principles to follow.

"Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful. Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you."

a. Judge not, and you shall not be judged: Despite the way this passage is quoted by many of those who are not Christians (who seem to have memorized it faithfully), and even by many Christians, Jesus is not calling to a universal acceptance of any lifestyle or teaching.

i. Note what Jesus says in Luke 6:43-45 in this same message. There, Jesus calls us to know people by their fruits, and some sort of assessment is necessary for that.

ii. The Christian is called to unconditional love, but he is not called to unconditional approval. We really can love people who do things we do not approve of.

Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned

b. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned:

Instead, Jesus is speaks against being judgmental, that is, judging motives and the inner man, which only God can know. Jesus calls us to have the same kind of mercy God has towards us.

We can judge the fruit of others, but we can rarely judge their motives with accuracy.

i. We can judge the fruit of others, but We can judge the fruit of others, but we can rarely judge their motives with accuracy..

For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you

c. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you: In addition, Jesus does not prohibit judgment of others. He only requires that our judgment be completely fair, and that we only judge others by a standard we would also like to be judged by.

i. Most of our judgment in regard to others is wrong, not because we are judging according to a standard, but because we are being hypocritical in the application of that standard. We ignore it in our own lives.

2. (Luk 6:39-42) Illustrations centered around the idea of seeing.

And He spoke a parable to them: "Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into the ditch? A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher. And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not perceive the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me remove the speck that is in your eye,' when you yourself do not see the plank that is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother's eye."

a. Can the blind lead the blind? We shouldn't look to other blind men to lead us. We can go no further than they themselves have. Instead, we should make Jesus our leader, our teacher, who sees and knows all things.

b. And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not perceive the plank in your own eye? The figures of a speck and a plank are real figures used humorously. Jesus shows that we are generally far more tolerant to our own sin than we are to the sin of others. We need to show to others the mercy God shows to us.

c. You yourself do not see the plank that is in your own eye: Our hypocrisy in these matters is always more evident to others than to ourselves. We somehow find a way to ignore the plank in our own eye, but others notice it immediately.

i. A good example of this kind of hypocrisy was David's reaction to Nathan's story about a man who unjustly stole and killed another man's lamb. David quickly condemned the man, but was blind to his own sin, which was far greater.

d. It is a good thing to help your brother with his speck, but not before dealing with the plank in your own eye.

3. (Luk 6:43-45) We can only follow Jesus this way if we have been radically changed by Him. If Jesus has touched us, it will show in our lives.

"For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. For every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks."

a. A good tree does not bear bad fruit: To live this way, to produce this fruit with your life, you must be good at the root, at the heart. The kind of love and mercy Jesus talks about is only possible if we are bearing fruit for God.

b. Every tree is known by its own fruit: This fruit is the inevitable result of who we are; eventually (though it may take a time for the harvest to come) the good or bad fruit is evident, revealing what sort of "tree" we are.

c. Jesus wants to perform a radical change on heart in us. We need the transforming work of God to do it in our lives from the inside out.

4. (Luk 6:46-49) Concluding exhortation: doing what Jesus commanded is our foundation.

"But why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do the things which I say?

When you judge others, you do not define them, you define yourself.”

“Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly” (John 7:24).

Only God can see the whole picture and truly know the heart, motive, and intent of a person

Ever notice that people who judge almost never help and people who help almost never judge?

We usually judge others in the areas where we feel the weakest.

judgment is often rooted in insecurity and pride.

Judgment is never grounded in humility

Judgment is grounded in arrogance. That’s because a judgmental person almost always carries with them a sense of condescension

Repeat the phrase, “Just like me.

POINT YOUR FINGER AT ME

Remain in curiosity and stay out of judgment.

Jesus Is the Good Judge Who Redeems

Gal 6:1 Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.