Matthew 7:1-6 Stop Criticzing

Intro

As with all the other elements of the Sermon on the Mount, the perspective of this passage is given in contrast to that of the scribes and Pharisees, whose hypocritical self-righteousness was in direct opposition to the true righteousness of God

Over the previous several centuries they had gradually modified God’s revealed Word to suit their own thinking, inclinations, and abilities.

By Jesus’ time their tradition had taken such a hold on Judaism that it had actually replaced the authority of Scripture in the minds of many Jews.

Along with the many other sins spawned by their self-righteousness, the scribes and Pharisees had become oppressively judgmental.

They proudly looked down on everyone who was not a part of their elite system.

They were unmerciful, unforgiving, unkind, and totally lacking in compassion and grace.

Think the Woman Caught in Adultery

Jesus speaks to the issue of self-righteous judging and tells us to stop criticizing

Read Matthew 7:1-5

Transition:

We get to a transition in the sermon on the mount

In the first two chapters of the Sermon on the Mount the issues dealt with were internal

Now he starts to deal with the external

A big part of being a disciple is relationships with others

Here the comparison is in the area of human relations.

Six verses (1–6) focus on the negative aspect of a self-righteous, judgmental spirit, and the following six verses (7–12) focus on the contrasting positive aspect of a spirit that is humble, trusting, and loving.

These twelve verses form the divine summation of all the principles of right human relations.

Jesus gives us several reasons why we should stop criticizing

First, God is the ultimate judge

Second, when we judge, we invite judgment in return from both God and others

Third, we are biased so why should we criticize others

Judge Not vs. 1

The ESV is very clunky in this passage

I like how the NASB states it

NASB: Do not judge so that you will not be judged.

When Jesus says “Do not judge” he does not mean we must never criticize anything

There is nothing wrong with saying a certain movie is a waste of time or that something tastes bad

Jesus does not forbid the evaluation of others, but he does forbid the condemnation of them

Unrighteous and unmerciful judgment is forbidden

“What Jesus forbids is self-righteous, hasty, unmerciful, prejudiced, and unwarranted condemnation based on human standards and human understanding.” John MacArthur

The way this verse is written in the Greek, the grammar implies that a disciple should refrain from continual judgment

It is easy to fall into the trap of being critical of everything

The key is to make sure that we don’t have a critical spirit

Are you quick to point out other people’s problems

Do you find fault in everything?

When you first see something do see what’s wrong first?

When it turns towards others and attacks their character it becomes a sin

There is a danger that can come back on us

Luke 6:37 ESV

“Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven;

Matthew 7:1 is the most misquoted verse in the Bible

People site this as if Jesus never wanted us to disapprove of anything

They throw this first part of the verse at you without a thought or even knowledge of the rest of the passage

Judge Not Meme

NonChristians love to quote this to Christians

Jesus is not saying that we should never judge

John 7:24 ESV

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

Later in this chapter we are told to watch our for false prophets

Disciples must discern

1 John 4:1 ESV

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.

The world judges by what they can see

As Christians we are to judge by the heart

You can’t see a persons heart so you look for the fruit

The worst mistake we can make with this passage is to use it on others

Jesus does not want his disciples to use his teachings to condemn others

You can be so moved by this message that you want to apply them to someone else

This is the no elbow zone

Think about this: Who would attend a marriage seminar by themselves?

The person comes home and says to their spouse “You should’ve been there honey. The speaker suggested three way for me to be a better husband and nineteen ways for you to be a better wife.”

We need to use this for self introspection

Why Not Judge? vs. 2-5

Why are we are we not supposed to judge?

The next four verses give us three reasons

Reason #1 You will be judged

Jesus tells says that we will be judged with the same judgment

We have to ask what judgment should we avoid?

Who will judge us, if we judge others?

Jesus means that you will be judged by God

Romans 14:10 ESV

Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God;

There will be a day that we stand before God and give an answer for everything we have done

Our life will flash before our eyes and we will be humbled by the things we have done

Look at what James says

James 5:9 ESV

Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door.

The judge is standing at the door

That is ominous

But look at what else James says

He adds facet to criticism

He says “Do not grumble.”

This includes complaining, passive agressive comments, and the like

It is so easy to rationalize our behavior

The principle of reaping and sowing applies here

You criticize or complain, people are going to do it about you

Reason #2 Measure will be used on you

The second reason that you need to stop criticizing is that you will get the same measure used on you

Romans 2:1 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.

If you condemn those who are late, are you ever late?

If you condemn lying, are you always honest?

If we hope to receive mercy from the Lord, we ought to show mercy

Mark 4:24 ESV

And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you.

Anyone who judges a brother appoints himself to a superior position

To judge is to deny that he is your peer

Although there may be some truth in the criticism, who has given you the right to judge

While a judge thinks he is enforcing the law, actually he is violating one of the primary laws, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

The critic judges the law because he picks and chooses among its commands. He enforces one, by judging his neighbor, but ignores another by failing to love his neighbor

The sad thing is that we often level the harshest accusations against those closest to us

Jesus says that the same standard will be used to judge us

Reason #3 We should attend ourselves first

Jesus wants us to Remove the log

They key is to focus on yourself when it comes to criticism

Jesus wants us to consider our problems to be large and our neighbors small

The picture of a plank is in reference to the ridge beam in a roof

These planks can be as long as forty feet

The point is that we tend to trivialize our sins and magnify the sins of others

Jesus says that our sins should be painfully large to us

When we offer help in that spirit, it will carry more weight

We don’t want to be blinded by our own sins

Our sins blind us to our true appearance

We can recognize the posture of our children from a hundred yards away, but we don’t see our own

We often don’t even know what our voice sounds like

Pearls Before Swine vs. 6

The final

The dogs and swine here are often understood as those who are hostile to the Kingdom of God and the message that announces it.

Our love for others must not blind us to their hardened rejection of the good news of the kingdom.

There was a refined older lady that was walking into a building

She was an author known for her quick wit

As she approached the door and young attractive lady stepped in front on her and grabbed the handle

She looked at the older lady and said “Age before beauty”

To which the quick witted older lady replied, “Pearls before swine.”

Now this is the wrong application on this passage but it proves a valuable point

Be careful to

Proverbs 23:9 ESV

Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, for he will despise the good sense of your words.

Closing: Altar Call