Matthew 7:1-6

Please take out your copy of God's Word and join me in Matthew chapter 7.

Matthew 7 · chapter mention

! Our text for this morning is Matthew chapter 7 verses 1 through 6.

Matthew 7:1–6

! Thank you for that prayer, Reese.

I started to preach the text in that prayer.

I used to say, just take it, man. Just go with it.

Matthew chapter 7 and verse 1 is one of the most misused verses in the Bible.

Matthew 7 · chapter mention

Previously mentioned book that I'm going to give out.

This is the first chapter.

This is the first verse that he decides to tackle in that book of misused verses in the Bible.

Judge not that you be not judged.

People love to quote this verse.

Most often in an attempt to quiet those who would speak about the sin in their lives or in the lives of others.

What is meant by judge?

People make judgments all the time.

Right?

Decisions about things.

Deciding one thing better than another thing.

If we isolate this verse and take it at its face,

as many would attempt to do,

we can't have courts.

I can't determine one food item better than another food item.

We make judgments.

This is a thing we do.

Right?

This verse is never cited to quiet our opinions

concerning how a particular athlete or team is performing.

Ever watch the game with a friend and call a bad call?

A friend says,

Judge not that you be not judged.

It's never cited to quiet your view of a particular movie or show.

I just didn't like it.

It was just to judge not that you be not judged.

So people make decisions about how they want to use this verse, don't they?

It doesn't apply unilaterally.

When people misuse this verse,

they are most often saying,

I like the way that I am living.

And who do you think you are to tell me I am wrong?

The Greek word here translated judge means to separate, choose, select, or determine.

It's a complex word with a dozen or more shades of meaning

that have to be determined by the context.

We have to determine from the context.

What did Jesus mean when he said,

Judge not that you be not judged?

How do we understand what it is he's driving at?

And so that's why we'll labor today

to rightly understand what Jesus meant

by looking at the teaching accompanying this

most misused of verses.

Matthew 7, verses 1-6.

Matthew 7:1–6

This is God's word to us.

It was written for his glory and our good.

And we would all do well to listen to it

in order to believe its promises

and obey its commands.

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.

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.

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.

By following verse 1 with a reading through verse 6,

we can see already

that Jesus cannot possibly mean

that we are not ever to judge anything

as He, in this text alone,

passes judgment on the type of people

who judge wrongly.

At the beginning of verse 5,

He says,

you hypocrite.

This is a statement of judgment.

He's separating out.

He's categorizing a person

who doesn't judge appropriately

and declaring them hypocritical.

Further, we will see in the coming weeks

more judgment in chapter 7.

We are warned away from false prophets

who evidence themselves by their fruit

in verses 15 through 20.

How are we to judge

whether a person is a true prophet

or a false prophet?

By their fruit.

Jesus declares,

in a day of judgment,

those He never knew

workers of lawlessness

in verses 21 through 23.

They say to Him,

but Lord, Lord, we did this

and we did this.

And He says,

depart from Me

for I never knew you.

And He declares them,

He judges them,

workers of lawlessness.

And finally,

in chapter 7,

verses 24 through 27,

we see a man

who built his house on the rock

and a man who built his house

on the sand.

And the storm that comes

is the storm of judgment.

One man's house stands

and the other falls.

In fact,

the entirety of the Sermon on the Mount

is meant to distinguish

what citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven

will look like.

It is meant to instruct

and to judge

those claiming to be

worshipers of God.

And we have seen this

as we have worked our way through.

How are people

who belong to God's Kingdom

characterized?

True worshipers

versus false worshipers.

Much of chapter 6

of the Sermon on the Mount

is an indictment

against the Pharisees.

Jesus has in mind,

don't be like those

who claim to be worshipers

of God in this way.

And He's constantly correcting.

He's constantly changing

the way they think.

John MacArthur

in his commentary

on this text said,

the entire thrust

of the Sermon on the Mount

is to show

the complete distinction

between true religion

and false religion,

between spiritual truth

and spiritual hypocrisy.

Jesus places

God's perfect

and holy standards

beside the unholy

and self-righteous standards

of the scribes

and Pharisees

and declares

that those who follow

those unholy

and righteous standards

have no part

in God's Kingdom.

No more controversial

or judgmental sermon

has ever been preached.

And how dare anybody

say to Jesus,

judge not,

lest you be judged.

So Jesus was a judge

and Jesus will be

the final judge,

the ultimate judge.

And so you may say to me

at this point,

well, he's Jesus.

He was and is

God incarnate

and so it's okay

that he judges

but not okay

for us

to judge.

And I would respond,

that's fair,

but let's look elsewhere

for a moment

and then

we will take a hard look

at Jesus' teaching

in Matthew 7,

Matthew 7:1–6

verses 1-6.

What Paul said

in Galatians,

Galatians 1:8

chapter 1,

verse 8,

says,

but even if we

or an angel from heaven

should preach to you

a gospel contrary

to the one

we preach to you,

let him be

accursed.

Judge the teaching

of those who will

come to you

and teach

against the pure gospel,

the gospel that we've

already proclaimed to you.

Judge whether or not

it's consistent with that

and if it's not,

let them be

kicked out of the church.

That's what he's saying.

Paul says this.

John said in 2 John,

verses 10 and 11,

not chapter 10,

excuse me,

2 John,

verses 10 and 11,

if anyone comes to you

and does not bring

this teaching,

do not receive him

into your house

or give him

any greeting

for whoever greets him

takes part

in his wicked works.

Once again,

judge his teaching

against the teaching

that you have received.

And another place,

the author of Hebrews

said in Hebrews 5

and verse 14,

but solid food

is for the mature,

for those who have

their powers of discernment

trained by constant practice

to distinguish,

to judge,

good from evil.

So we are instructed

as the church

to be about

the work

of judgment,

but a particular kind

of judgment.

We can see

in our text today

three types

of judging.

One is condemned,

the other two

are commended,

and they'll form

our outline

for today.

So the first

type of judging

that we see

is unloving,

hypocritical judgment.

Unloving,

hypocritical judgment.

Much of the text

this morning

is concerned with this.

Verse 1

through the very beginning

of verse 5.

I'll read it to you

one more time.

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.

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.

The type of judgment

that Jesus speaks

against

is self-righteous,

unloving,

hypocritical judgment.

The Pharisees

were so full

of this type

of judgment.

And let's call it

for our purposes

this morning,

judgmentalism.

Judgmentalism

is characterized

by an eagerness

to find

and point out

others' faults.

The Pharisees

loved to do

this work.

They loved

to show themselves

to be more

righteous

than those

who were

around them.

Judgmentalism

is characterized

by this.

And we are guilty

of this at times.

Looking at others

and rather than

seeing their strengths,

trying to identify

their weaknesses

as quickly as possible

and to point

those things

out.

Seeking that we

would look

better in front

of other people

and feel better

about ourselves

than others.

Comparison,

beloved,

is the death

of holiness.

Judgmentalism

is characterized

by this eagerness

to find

and point out

others' faults.

Judgmentalism

is also characterized

by an assumption

of motives.

The Pharisees

were,

and we can be

so very quick

to see an action

and assume

what lies behind

that action.

Not know anything

about the person

or what's driving

the decision

that they're making,

but to cast

a quick

and immediate

judgment

upon the thing

that they are doing.

And we do this

with so many

gray area issues.

Things that we can't

clearly point to

and say,

this is clearly sin,

the Bible

prohibits this activity,

or this is clearly sin

because they're not

participating in the things

that the Bible

commands,

but that's gray

and we're very quick

to apply

our judgment

to it

by assuming

the motives

of it.

Judgmentalism

is also characterized

by an unhealthy

desire

to share

those faults

with others.

Having noted

the faults,

we're very quick

to run around

telling everybody else

the fault,

not for the edification

of the person,

but for the tearing

down of that person.

And this is the kind

of judging

that Jesus is speaking

against.

The log pictured

here in this text

was likely

the main beam

that was used

to support the roof

in the typical house

of Jesus' day.

You may not

be aware of this,

but in the Middle East,

there wasn't just

wood lying around.

So these logs

would have been

imported in

and would have been

these big pieces

of wood.

So probably

what's going on here

when he's referring

to this log

or beam

or moat,

some of your

texts may say,

is this massive

piece of wood

that was meant

to hold up

the roof

of the house.

It was huge,

typically about

40 feet

in length.

the person

with a log

like this

in their eye

cannot see

anything,

much less

even get close

enough to another

to remove

the speck

in their eye.

And Jesus here

is not trying

to weigh out

one sin

over another sin.

What he's trying

to give us

is this perspective

we should have

on our own sin

before we ever

think we could

go to another

and help them

with theirs.

Consider your sin

to be a log.

Consider everybody

else's sin

to be

a speck.

This type

of judgmentalism

was the activity

of the Pharisees

doing eye

operations

as blinded

men.

They could not

see

to do the work

they were claiming

to do.

And sadly,

this is the activity

of many

in our day

and we are not

above correction

this morning.

Listen to some

of the woes

that Jesus

declares

in Matthew

Matthew 23 · chapter mention

chapter 23.

This is beginning

in verse 13

and following.

Jesus says,

Woe to you

scribes

and Pharisees,

hypocrites.

Once again,

this is a judgment

he's making.

For you shut

the kingdom

of heaven

in people's faces

for you

neither

enter yourselves

nor allow

those

who would

enter

to go in.

Declaring

people

unrighteous.

Declaring

people

outside

the grace

of God.

Judgmental.

Woe

to you

scribes

and Pharisees,

hypocrites,

for you

travel across

sea and land

to make a

single proselyte,

a convert

to Judaism,

and when

he becomes

a proselyte,

you make

him twice

as much

a child

of hell

as yourselves.

Building

up self-righteousness

in people.

Building

up this

idea

of self-defense.

Bearing

gladly

the logs

in our own

eyes

and pointing

out all

the time

the specks

in others.

Jesus

tells a

parable

of a

scribe,

a Pharisee,

in Luke

Luke 18:9

chapter 18,

verse 9

and following.

Luke

records this,

he also

told this

parable

to some

who trusted

in themselves

that they

were righteous,

self-righteous,

and treated

others

with contempt.

Judgmentalism.

Jesus

said,

two men

up to the

temple to

pray,

one a

Pharisee

and the

other

a tax

collector.

The

Pharisee,

standing

by himself,

prayed

thus,

God,

I thank

you that

I am

not like

other

men,

extortioners,

unjust,

adulterers,

or even

like this

tax collector.

I fast

twice a

week,

I give

tithes

of all

that I

get.

But the

tax collector,

standing

far off,

would not

even lift

up his

eyes

to heaven.

An act

of shame.

But he

beat his

breast,

saying,

God,

be merciful

to me,

a sinner.

I tell

you,

this man

went down

to his

house

justified

rather than

the other.

For everyone

who exalts

himself will

be humbled,

but the

one who

humbles

himself

will be

exalted.

This type

of judgment

should not

characterize

us,

beloved.

It is

informed

by an

improper

view of

God

and the

gospel.

God has

given to

us a

holy

standard

by which

we

should

live.

It's

found in

the moral

law of the

Old Testament.

It's

repeated

for us

again in

the New

Testament.

It's

taught to

us here

in the

Sermon on

the Mount.

this is

what you

need to

look like

to be

pleasing

to God.

And then

he tells

us at

every turn

that we

are incapable

of doing

this work.

And he

doesn't

stand

judgmental

over us

for it,

but he

comes to

us with

graciousness.

He comes

to us

kindly.

He loves

us and

makes for

us a

way to

be

righteous

in

Christ.

He sends

his very

son to

come and

to live

a perfect

life.

Fulfilling,

crossing every

T and

dotting every

I of the

law of God

that we

might have

his

righteousness

and that

he would

take away

all of

our

sinfulness.

We have

no space

to be

judgmental

towards

others.

There is

no reason

for us

if we

rightly

have a

view

of God

and this

gospel

that has

come to

us.

It should

bring about

great

measures of

humility

and loving

kindness

towards

others.

But often

this type of

judgmentalism,

this improper

judgmentalism

is informed

by an

improper view

of ourselves.

But we

think far

too much

of ourselves.

we

need to

stop

and think

for a

moment

how

very,

very

deep

your

sin

really

is.

What a

self-worshipper

you are.

If you

haven't

already

done that

this morning,

I hope

by the

end of

this sermon

you will

have.

Maybe

already

you're

starting

to see

how

very

judgmental

you can

be

at

times.

this

is

because

of

your

great

sinfulness.

We

ought

to

always

view

our

sin

as

a

great

beam

in

our

eye.

We

ought

to

always

be

humbled

by

that.

And

that

should

flavor

how

we

relate

to

others

who

also

find

themselves

in

this

position.

And

often

it's

informed

by

this

improper

judgmentalism

is

informed

by

an

improper

view

of

others.

Improper

view

of

others.

I

find

far

too

often

when

I

pick

up

this

sin

of

judgmentalism

it's

because

I

don't

really

consider

the

eternal

souls

of

other

people.

I'm

more

concerned

about

the

immediacy

of

their

action

and

how

it

offends

me

and

my

sensibilities

than

their

eternal

state

and

their

worship

of

God.

So we

need to

have a

proper

view of

God

and the

gospel

and

ourselves

and

our

others

if

we're

to

pick up

the

practice

of

judging

as

we

should.

So we

want to

avoid

this.

This

type of

judgmentalism

should

not

characterize

the

church.

This

unloving

hypocritical

judgment.

And this

is the

judge

not

lest

you

be

judged

that

Jesus

here

is

talking

about.

Much

like

back

in

the

Lord's

prayer

when

Jesus

in

verse

12

teaches

us

to

pray

and

forgive

us

our

debts

as

we

also

have

forgiven

our

debtors.

Our

lack

of this

type

of

judgmentalism

our

proper

understanding

of God

and the

gospel

and

ourselves

and

others

is an

evidence

of

the

type

of

working

that

God

has

done

in

our

life.

It's

the

guaranteeing

that we

will not

be held

to

the

same

standard

that the

Pharisees

would be

held to

in their

day.

The

second

type

of

judging

we see

in our

text

is

loving

careful

sin

removal.

Loving

careful

sin

removal.

And I

don't mean

to say

here that

we have

the power

to remove

sins

from

others.

But what

I mean

to say

is that

God

uses

us

as

the

means

to

that

end

that

we

would

help

others

to

see

clearly

repent

of

their

sins.

Notice

first

most

of

verse

five

here

that

our

brother

does

have

something

in

his

eye

that

needs

removal.

After

declaring

this

type

of

wrong

judgmental

person

a

hypocrite

Jesus

says

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.

He

needs

help

to

see

clearly

and

it

is

the

loving

careful

work

of

those

who

call

him

brother

to

help

him.

Note

that

it's

your

brother

someone

who

we

have

committed

to

care

for

deeply.

When

Jesus

is asked

what the

greatest

commandment

is

in

Matthew

Matthew 22 · chapter mention

chapter

22

he

responds

by

citing

Deuteronomy

6

5

you shall

love

the

Lord

your

God

with

all

your

heart

with

all

your

soul

with

all

your

mind

this

is

the

great

and

first

commandment

he

then

cites

Leviticus

Leviticus 19 · chapter mention

chapter

19

and

verse

18

and

the

second

is

like

it

you

shall

love

your

neighbor

as

yourself

on

these

two

commandments

depend

all

the

law

and

the

prophets

so

Leviticus

19

18

says

you

shall

love

your

neighbor

as

yourself

just

before

this

statement

in

Leviticus

Leviticus 19 · chapter mention

chapter

19

you

shall

love

your

neighbor

as

yourself

what

love

to

neighbor

looks

like

is

defined

in

Leviticus

Leviticus 19:17

chapter

19

verse

17

listen

to

this

you

shall

not

hate

your

brother

in

your

heart

but

you

shall

reason

frankly

with

your

neighbor

lest

you

incur

sin

because

of

him

you

shall

not

hate

your

brother

by

ignoring

his

sinfulness

but

you

should

love

your

brother

instead

by

reasoning

with

your

brother

pointing

out

the

air

helping

him

to

see

the

place

that

he's

gone

wrong

if

we

desire

to

help

others

well

then

we

must

first

start

with

our

own

examination

we

must

ready

ourselves

by

removing

the

glaring

sin

in

our

own

lives

before

we

are

qualified

to

help

our

brother

with

the

sin

in

his

we

must

first

have

a

right

view

of

God

and

the

gospel

ourselves

and

our

brother

if

we

are

to

help

him

we

must

remember

who

we

once

were

and

what

we've

been

delivered

from

and

how

even

having

been

delivered

from

it

how

often

we

still

go

back

to

our

sinful

ways

how

readily

we

betray

the

one

who

we

call

Lord

we

must

remember

these

things

repent

and

believe

afresh

before

we

can

be

of

any

help

to

our

brother

we

must

put

on

the

love

of

Christ

in

order

to

fulfill

the

law

of

Christ

to

love

one

another

Dr.

H.A.

Ironside

which is a

great

preacher's

name

the

20th

century

pastor

of

Moody

Church

in

Chicago

once

said

when our

hearts

are

occupied

with

his

wondrous

love

we

remember

that

he

loved

us

when we

were

unlovely

and

some

of

us

are

not

very

lovely

now

we

remember

that

he

loved

us

when

we

were

unlovable

and

some

of

us

are

not

very

lovable

yet

if

he

could

do

that

when

we

were

rebellious

and

if

that

same

love

is

now

shed

abroad

in

our

hearts

we

ought

to

be

able

to

love

those

who

are

sinful

and

unkind

and

selfish

love

is

the

motivating

factor

for

the

right

kind

of

judgment

calling

sin

sin

in

another's

life

and

going

to

them

out

of

concern

for

them

having

the

difficult

conversation

right

at

my

expense

to

come

to

someone

and

say

I

think

you're

erring

in

this

way

I

want

to

show

you

from

the

text

and

I

want

to

pray

for

you

and

I

want

to

help

you

be

delivered

from

the

snaring

place

that

you

found

yourself

it's

love

that

motivates

!

this

1

1 Corinthians 13:4–7

Corinthians

chapter

13

verses

4

through

7

not

just

a text

for

weddings

Paul

writes

love

is

patient

and

kind

love

does

not

envy

or

boast

it

is

not

arrogant

or

rude

it

does

not

insist

on

its

own

way

it

is

not

irritable

or

resentful

it

does

not

rejoice

at

wrong

doing

but

rejoices

with

the

truth

this

is

flavoring

the

right

kind

of

judgment

not

the

improper

judgmentalism

verse

7

love

bears

all

things

believes

all

things

hopes

all

things

endures

all

things

this

is

the

attitude

by

which

we

want

to

come

to

others

we

don't

want

to be

a

people

who

are

seeking

correction

for

our

gain

uplifting

ourselves

we

want

to

be

a

people

who

as

Peter

says

in

1

Peter

4

8

keep

loving

one

another

earnestly

since

love

covers

a multitude

of

sins

right

bearing

with

people

believing

in

people

hoping

for

people

enduring

people

and

all

of

the

specks

that

are

in

our

eyes

Paul

helps

us

with

this

helps

instruct

us

in

this

in

Galatians

Galatians 6:1

chapter

6

verse

1

where

he

writes

brothers

if anyone

is caught

in any

transgression

you who are

spiritual

should restore

him

in a

spirit

of

gentleness

right