[8:00 a.m.] Judgment and the Judge (Matthew 7:1-6)

Well, it's now direct our attention to the word of God.

We're still in The Sermon on the Mount.

Although we have moved forward. We're in chapter 7, now chapter

7 of Matthew, The Sermon on the Mount.

And I want us to look at the five versus not the sixth.

It's there. I feel like the sixth is a whole

different story. Shall I tell them, Tommy?

You don't think I should? Okay.

Okay, it was a weak attempt at humor I shared with Tommy but

some things are kept confidential to the pastures.

Many things, I hope. Listen.

Now to the word of God, 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 seek the speck? That is in your brother's eye

and 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, the word of the Lord, you may be

seated. Now we're still in The Sermon on

the Mount. And Jesus is still teaching this

elongated sermon this message with many, many topics.

But the general things to remember and we've talked about

this almost each and every time is that he speaking to his

disciples, others are there in auditing this he's talking about

their behavior, he's talking about their heart, he's talking

about his disciples worldview and their treasure and their

loyalties and own. On and on.

And a lot of the things that Jesus says are those things that

are always addressed with, do not, do not do this, do not do

that. And he has the context in mind

of the men who've been the spiritual leaders of these

Judean people for many, many years.

That is the scribes and the Pharisees.

The doctors of the law, the Pharisees were that party.

That that consider themselves to be experts, at Holiness, affect

us. What the word means, it means to

separate the separated ones and in Jesus contrast do not

interpret the law like they do. Do not pray like they do

ostentatiously do not give alms. Like they do do not fast as

that. You can be seen of men like they

do and on and on he's saying do not do not do not in the very

next passage. He's going to say do not cast

your Pearls Before Swine. And in this particular passage

it's do not judge, do not judge in the people that the Lord has

in mind to contrast his kingdom behaviors.

Earth are the Pharisees. And we see this Spirit of the

Pharisees in the scriptures. Very familiar passage.

I'll just read it just a few verses.

Two men went up to the temple. To pray.

One was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector.

The Pharisee standing by himself prayed.

Thus God, I thank you that. I'm not like other men,

extortioners unjust adulterers or even like this tax collector.

I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all I get, but

the tax collector standing far off would not even lift up his

eyes to heaven, but beat his breast saying, God, be merciful

to me a Inner. Once again, Jesus is contrasting

that of this self-righteous Pharisees with those who receive

Grace, those who come by way of humble Contrition and repentance

to receive forgiveness for their sins.

Lord, have mercy upon me a sinner and who received from the

hand of the Lord, the gift of forgiveness and grace, and mercy

and the gift of eternal life. All Wrapped and packaged in

Jesus Christ himself. So here he is Christ.

The very sacrifice for sins is dealing with the sins of the

heart. And so he tells these Pharisees

not and he's telling his people not to be like the Pharisees and

to not judge. Now, what is meant by that?

Let me Define two or three words here that will be helpful.

I think in understanding what we're what we're talking about.

The first one is a word kirino and it means to judge and that's

the word that used here. In fact, that's the only root

word that used hear the word Credo means to judge principally

but it's used over 20 times in the New Testament and it has

about 22 or 23 different usage and and it depends on what

prefix is put on the word or what word is combined with it to

make a compound word as to what it may mean.

But I will suggest to you that here judging is the whole

judicial process of judgment. Let me spell out what I mean by

that. Edward.

The word means to judge, but it refers to the Judgment itself.

It refers to the decision that is made in judging.

Sometimes it means to discriminate or discern.

Sometimes it means to condemn. Listen to all this because I

think the Lord incorporates all of this when he says, do not do

this. And so these meanings are all

bound up in this route. It means interestingly enough to

investigate. To answer.

To probe. And noticed in the text when he

talks about seeking. Diligently seeking the speck

that is in your brother's eye as opposed to noticing.

The beam that's in your own eye. There's a lot of Rich subtlety

here in the Lord's words. And these words I think sort of

really focus that in frame it the way it needs to be.

So that's what the Lord is saying telling them not to do.

It's this whole judicial process now, there is good judgment, the

Judgment of God, the Messiah fought in the Old Testament over

and over and over the word judgment is used.

There's a lot of scripture about God being a righteous judge.

Judge and a faithful judge and we'll talk a little bit more

about that in just a minute as we come to quickly apply this.

But what the Lord is talking about here is that that critical

Probing, investigating curious Mal valent judging.

That is done. Among Brothers.

Now, Jesus is telling his disciples not to do this among

themselves to each other. It was apparently very, very

common for the Jewish people and especially the leadership of the

Jewish people, to have this mindset because they had such a

finely tuned and excellent, good and acceptable law written by

the Lord himself. They had a fine-tuned sense of

justice and equity in righteousness, and so, it was

easy for them to look at someone else and notice how they that

other person doesn't quite measure up.

And to be critical and to detect and discern, all sorts of little

weaknesses and failures in gaps, and shortcomings, and sins.

Peccadilloes as well as as gross, Miss behaviors in others.

Now, this particular mindset to judge is what the Lord is

referencing against. When he speaks of the speck that

is in your brother's eye, versus the log, that's in your eye.

He's using. Obviously hyperbole is using the

extremes of a tree. The spec is the little tiniest

of twig. It's that little part of the

tree that the bird uses to make his nest The log are the beam is

the trunk of the tree. So obviously the contrast is his

real Vivid you. You notice that little tiny twig

that little tiny Speck. That mote that is in the in the,

your brother. But you can't see the whole tree

trunk, the whole gamut of unrighteousness and seeing in

your own life. And so, the Lord is introducing

to his disciples, a measure of discernment and discipline that

cause as for balance, To start recognizing her own sins, and

not being so quick to find. Judge condemn indict.

Our brother I this this notion of really being able to see

someone else's sin and not to see your own sin, apparently was

kind of a feature of Jewish life and Paul deals with it in

Romans, Chapter 2. And I want to read good long

Romans 2 · chapter mention

passage. I'll try not to, I'll try not to

comment on it and listen to how Paul when he's dealing with

these. Very same types of people these

These Jewish self-righteous people in chapter 1 of Romans,

he's already dealt with the with the unbeliever.

The Pagan that goes to the reprobate.

Now, he's dealing with the self righteous Jew and this is some

of the admonitions he gives, and this is really our message.

This morning is this passage in one more that I'll read.

It's not what I say it's what the scriptures say.

So hear the word of the Lord therefore you have no excuse old

man every one of you who judges For in the passing, judgment on

another, you condemn yourself because you the judge practice

the very same thing. We know that the Judgment of God

rightly falls on those who do such things.

Do you suppose old man? You who judge those?

Who does such things that yet, do them yourself that you will

escape the Judgment of God. Or do you presume on the riches

of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that

God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance.

That verse cannot go uncommented, on verse 4.

Do you presume on the riches of the kindness, the forbearance

and the patients that cluster of the long-suffering Lord with

centers such as I not knowing that God's kindness is meant to

lead you to repentance, but because of your hard and

impenitent heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself on

the day of Wrath. When God's righteous judgment

will be revealed, he will render to each one according to his

Works to those who by patients and well doing seek for Glory

and Honor and immortality, he will give eternal life.

But for those who are self-seeking and do not obey,

Obey the truth but obey unrighteousness, there will be

wrath and fury, there will be tribulation and distress for

every human being who does evil the Jew first.

And also, the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for

everyone, who does good the Jew first and also the Greek for God

shows no partiality. That's where the conviction of

our own Hearts should come. When we realize that it's not

just others. It is we ourselves?

Who are guilty? This particular sin.

I think escapes. No one.

In fact, sometimes the people that really work hard to be

righteous in themselves or harsh and judgmental toward others who

struggle and fail and how things wrong in their life.

And the Lord is calling us to a self inspection and a

self-awareness. And a self-consciousness

concerning our sins and telling us to avoid that, self-righteous

stance that causes us to judge others.

It's a it's a teaching that will lead to the sweetest Spirit,

possibly imagined in the life of the Believers, the life of the

church. Jealousy's, the bitterness.

The conflicts, the quibbling, the corals the skulls that come

will be minimized when God's people learn to follow the

teaching of the Lord here on The Sermon, on the Mount.

As a couple other words will Define quickly.

The word measure. It means not only the means but

the extent. To which you set up the

Criterion and the extent to which you judge others, that

will be borne in mind when he comes time to judge, you.

If it's a strict in a harsh standard, it will be laid

against you several times already in The Sermon on the

Mount. The Lord has referred to a final

judgment. He will conclude The Sermon on

the Mount with a pretty thorough Exposition about that judgment.

That comes to all one way or the other before, it's all over

with. We all are judged but the word

there is the word Met tour which means m It's a metric metric.

Whereby we are spiritually discerned and measured.

And then one other word in this one.

I think you're all very familiar with and it is the word

hypocrite. The Lord I think has in mind the

Pharisees, the scribes, when he uses this word, hypocrite, I

know that cuz he actually called them that to their face on other

occasion. But he also I think has a

sincere desire, that his own disciples.

Are not like that at all. Of course, I've known most of,

you know, that to comes. It's a compound word.

It has that word kirino in it crit, which means to judge to

discern in all that. We've talked about a moment ago,

but it has also the compound of the hypo, which means underneath

it in before it. And, and sets forth, the, the

burden that it Bears and the word has quite a history

actually in the Greek language and carrying over into other

cultures, it literally means To say something to answer to

explain. And he comes from one who would

read poetry, and then they would stand up and read poetry and

most of the portrait that would be read in a public forum for

the edification and the entertainment of people in the

ancient Greek World. They would be a lot of

platitudes and a lot of ethics and a lot of lecture and a lot

of things that need to be said in the poem and the person would

read the poem and they would be standing out front a reading and

Explaining and eloquently setting forth this beautiful

moral poem. But they themselves may be a

liar and a drunk, and who knows? What they are off stage and

behind the scenes, but up there in front of everybody there, as

you were there wearing this, this facade this mask, and it's

talks about how that this is the role.

It's the pretense that a person has in that particular role and

later, it became routine to think of life.

As that, which is an the conduct that's played out in in real

life is manifested on a stage. That's the whole point of drama.

It takes the activities and the experiences and the attitudes of

vocabulary, all of these things of life and puts it out there on

display. I wonder Shakespeare thought

when he said all the world's a stage and all of us are merely

players. He had this kind of character in

mind and it thinks about those that separate precept from

practice. Are those that separate talk

from walk? And I think this is what the

admonition is pushing us toward getting rid of all.

False pretenses. And so this term that Jesus uses

as a name and a designation, you Hypocrites, had a lot of meaning

to it. And the thing that was most

notable to me, is the realization that Jesus is

telling us not to judge. He's telling us.

That we are not to be like the Pharisees.

He's telling us. How we are to live our lives.

And he is telling us about the expectation.

And all the world all the time. Jesus knows he is the judge.

The very one admonishing. They're very one encouraging, a

very one instructing. and as we find, as we end this to Sermon

on the Mount, the one teaching with great Authority, the reason

he had great Authority was who he is.

He himself is the judge. So finally as I wind up let me

just hear John's gospel. The teaching of John's gospel

around this subject. The father judges no one but has

given all judgment to the son. That all may honor the son just

as they honor the father, whoever does not honor the son

does not honor, the father who sent him.

Truly truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and

believes him who sent me has eternal life.

He does not come into judgment but has passed from Death To

Life. John is giving us now the very

words of Jesus. For as the father has life in

himself. So he has granted the son also

to have life in himself and he has given him authority to

execute judgment because he is the son of man.

Do not Marvel at this for an hour is coming, when all who are

in the tombs, will hear his voice and come out those who

have done, good to the resurrection of life.

And those who have done evil to the resurrection of Judgment.

Judgment.