14th December 2025 - Trevor Saggers

Let's pray. Father, we thank you that you very

clearly tell us how to live lives pleasing to

you. We also thank you that when we don't, you

pull us up through hearing your word or convicting

us through your spirit. And that when we truly

confess what we've done, you forgive us and help

us through the power of your spirit to live lives

pleasing to you. Please teach us today through

the power of your Holy Spirit as we encounter

your holy word. as to what it means when you

say, do not judge, and to therefore stop passing

judgment on one another. In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen. Friends, at Bible College, we, I, we were

taught to be super discerning. We critiqued one

another. We critiqued each other's sermons. We

evaluated other people's views in our essays,

other scholars' views of doctrine, and the list

went on. And so whenever I went to a church,

I found myself evaluating the preacher, the leader

of the service, the service structure, and when

and how they do the notices. pastor, whatever,

wave his hand over the bread and wine. Am I the

only one who finds themselves doing things like

this? Yeah, Brendan knows what I mean. And then

when I came to Edge Hill in 2000, that's 25 years

ago now, almost 26, some people kept telling

me, this very verse. Trevor, do not judge or

you will be judged. I found myself regularly

getting into trouble with some people because

I made judgements on various matters and it was

then that I realised how super discerning Bible

College had made me, rightly or wrongly. But

also, aren't we to make judgements and especially

So in leadership, part of leadership involves

making decisions. And good leadership usually

makes wise decisions and makes decisions all

the time. So what does this verse therefore mean

when Jesus says, do not judge or you will be

judged? I can still clearly remember the first

time I led a Sunday service. It shows how some

things leave a lasting impression, good or bad,

on you. Yes, I can still remember the first time

I led a Sunday service. It was a new family -style

service, and so there were many things that needed

to be planned and organised beforehand, so it

was a little stressful. And the only feedback

afterwards, yes, the only feedback that I got

from the rector was... You shouldn't say thank

you to the Bible readers because you are taking

away the glory from God. And my response wasn't

verbal, but I was thinking, what on earth has

happened to simply being encouraging rather than

supercritical? And maybe, maybe not even correct.

Well, hopefully as we look at Matthew 7, 1 to

6 this morning, it will shed some light on the

whole area of judging or evaluating one another

as to what's okay and what's not okay. Firstly,

up front, the Holy Scriptures, including these

very words of Jesus in Matthew 7, do not teach

that we are to never evaluate, criticise or even

condemn the actions or teachings of another person.

The entire thrust of the Sermon on the Mount

is to show the complete distinction between spiritual

truth and spiritual hypocrisy. If this, perhaps

the greatest sermon by our Lord, teaches us anything,

it teaches that his followers are to be discerning

and perceptive in what they hear, in what they

therefore believe and do. A follower of Jesus,

therefore, must discern what is truth and what

is hypocrisy. So these words of Jesus in Matthew

7 do not mean that one is to be an undiscerning

blob and not think at all. Although at times

that would be nice, wouldn't it? Just to sit

there and veg. But to be undiscerning means you

let anything go. And in the end, because we are

in a fallen world, you give licence to being

amoral. Actually, immoral. Yes, we are told to

pay attention to the plank in your own eye before

trying to treat the speck in your brother or

sister's eye. That requires discernment, doesn't

it? Of course it does. We are also told in verse

6 not to give to dogs and pigs what is sacred

and treasured. That requires discernment, doesn't

it? Of course it does. We are told in a few verses

later in verse 15 to watch out for false prophets

who appear to be a shepherd but aren't. That

requires discernment, doesn't it? Of course it

does. Elsewhere, John 7, 24, Jesus says stop

judging by mere appearances but instead judge

correctly. That requires discernment, doesn't

it? Of course it does. And still elsewhere we

are told to expel the wicked brother or sister

from among you and not even eat with them. 1

Corinthians 5. Test the spirits to see if they

are really from God. 1 John 4. And then the whole

book of Galatians is pretty much about watching

out for those who peddle a false gospel. And

all of these commands require discernment. Don't

they? Of course they do. So obviously wrong teaching,

wrong doctrine is to be opposed. So obviously

we aren't to become undiscriminating and undiscerning,

wishy -washy and not discerning between good

and evil, truth and error. It's obviously the

scriptures are imploring us to use one's judgment

and to refuse it to warn a person about serious

ongoing sin in their life is actually unloving.

But what does Jesus mean when he says, do not

judge or you too will be judged? And for those

who are scholars, it's the same Greek word. In

all cases. Now to judge can mean to judge judicially,

to condemn, to discern or to be judgmental. The

context here suggests do not be judgmental. That

is, don't have a judgmental attitude like many

of the church leaders back then did. Yes, what

Jesus is talking about here is the self -righteous,

egotistical, unmerciful, judgmental attitude.

such as that practiced by the Pharisees and teachers

of the law, Matthew 5 .20. And he calls it hypocrisy,

by trying to make oneself look good. But if you

only look at yourself, well, if you only look

at others and make yourself look good, You don't

discern the plank in your own eye. And so when

we are making a judgment in thought or in words,

are we doing so out of a desire to build the

other person up, out of a desire to love them,

out of a concern for them, as we want to see

our brother or sister in Christ restored to where

they should be? Galatians 6 .1. And if these

aren't the reasons for my thoughts or words,

then I'm being judgmental, aren't I? And I will

be judged for it by God directly or through others.

Jesus says that this type of judgment is like

a boomerang. It will return to you. We do reap

what we sow. I don't know about you, but I think

we can easily fall into being judgmental. and

usually by being too quick to judge. For example,

we can be too quick to judge that people who

attend other denominations or another church

mustn't be a Christian at all. The funny thing

is that sometimes they suggest the same thing

to me about us. Yes, we can be so quick to judge.

Quick to judge that someone lying in the gutter

or across the footpath must be a druggie or a

blind drunk. And so don't even consider stopping

and helping them. That was actually my wife one

day. She went to St Vincent de Paul in Sutherland.

Remember Troy? I can't believe such behaviour

would even... Ever happened in the Shire, but

it did. This was many years ago now. She went

there to purchase a pair of shoes for Troy, who's

here today, our eldest son, who was a little

fellow at the time so that he could be the page

boy at a wedding. She was carrying Glenn, our

second son, in her arms as he was a toddler at

the time. And Sue slipped on their quarry -tiled

foyer as she left the store. She came crashing

down and to protect Glen from the fall, took

her whole weight on her arm and hurt it big time.

She laid there for ages, well it seemed ages

for her. Right across the entrance to St Vincent

de Paul at Sutherland. And no one helped her.

People had to walk over her and Glen and they

all did to get into the store. In the end she

crawled to the car, put Glenn in his baby seat

and drove home with one arm. Thankfully it was

an automatic. We were about 20 minutes away and

when she pulled up in the driveway I looked at

her, I was home at the time, and she was grey

from the pain and shock and could barely get

out of the car. She had broken her elbow. And

no one helped her. And yes, she was much younger

back then. All they did was walk over the top

of her. I'm guessing that perhaps they were too

quick to judge her and thought she might have

been off her face or drunk again. Jesus says

in verse 2 here, you might like to look at it

for yourself. We're on page 1475 in our church

-provided Bibles or in the bulletin. For in the

same way you judge others, verse 2, you will

be judged. And with the measure you use, it will

be measured to you. That boomerang will return,

no doubt, either by God directly or by someone

else indirectly. So the first of two points today

is this, friends. Please be aware of a natural

tendency to be judgmental. And I think it is

a natural tendency that we all have and it's

expressed in many ways. It is not just expressed

in walking over the top of someone who might

be in need. It simply can be the conversations

we have about others. It's called gossip. It's

called commenting on something that you probably

don't know all the details about and giving your

confidence slant on it all. Well, that brings

us to these verses just written for optometrists.

Any optometrists here? And those who work in

ED. Lucy does. In verses 3 to 5, we are told

by Jesus a little story to help us understand

what he's just said. Verse 3. Why do you look

at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye

and pay no attention to the plank in your own

eye? How can you say to your brother, let me

take the speck out of your eye, when all the

time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite.

First take the plank out of your own eye and

then you will see clearly to remove the speck

from your brother's eye. Plank and speck are

used as an exaggeration to get across the point.

We do need to be hit by a brick at times. But

it's also true, isn't it? Sometimes we can be

so blind to our own sin, and obviously sin is

what Jesus is talking about here, that we need,

therefore, to hear it in exaggerated terms. Take,

for example, when David, King David, as we read,

as Johanna read to us in 2 Samuel 12, how David

himself hadn't realised when Nathan the prophet

was telling him a story about how a rich man

who had everything stole a man's only possession,

his one and only little ewe lamb that was his

pet, and just like a daughter to him, and had

it killed for food to be served up. For a guest.

Yes, even though David couldn't believe someone

would ever do something like that and was furious

about it, he hadn't realised that he himself

was the actual man that Nathan was talking about.

Until Nathan said those very cutting words. You

are the man. Imagine being told that. He was

the man who stole the wife of Uriah Bathsheba

and had Uriah killed to try and cover up Bathsheba's

pregnancy to him, to David. Yes, David hadn't

seen the plank in his own eye until then. He

was incredibly blind. Incredibly blind, but so

too can we. And so first things first, we need

to first examine ourselves and confess our own

sin. Then we'll see everything much clearer.

We'll see God much clearer and others much clearer

also. It's no wonder after this that King David

wrote in Psalm 51, create in me a pure heart,

O God, before he's able to say, then I will teach

transgressors your way. Yes, in saying all of

this, ultimately it might still be necessary

to help remove the speck from your brother or

sister's eye. There is a verse 5. But first things

first, examine yourself before you even consider

someone else. Would you believe that one commentary

I looked at, I do have some commentaries left,

I labelled these verses, mind your own business.

Is this what we are to always do? No. Sometimes

a foreign body needs the help of someone else

for it to be removed. But only after we have

looked at ourselves first. To leave a foreign

body in someone's eye, if it is a serious ongoing

sin in your fellow believer's life, is not consistent.

with love matthew 18 15. it really isn't so what

is jesus saying here he's saying don't be judgmental

and self -righteous don't be a hypocrite blind

to your own self examine yourself first and then

if necessary be that loving brother or sister

in christ willing to rescue and restore last

verse verse 6. Please have a look at it with

me. Do not give dogs what is sacred. Do not throw

your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample

them under their feet and turn and tear you to

pieces. I'm beginning to think that, Jane, you

should give this sermon. Near the beginning of

this sermon by Jesus, He says that we are to

love our enemies, to mirror God's graciousness

who sends rain to the righteous and to the unrighteous.

Matthew 5 .45. And we've just been told not to

be judgmental, yet now this. Although we've been

told not to be judgmental, we are told to be

discriminating. Now that's a naughty word today,

isn't it? Yes, we are told by Jesus to... Discriminate.

Shock horror. And in what way? We need to identify

the pigs and dogs and not give them what is sacred

or treasured. That is, don't give them pearls.

And why? Because if you do so, they won't recognise

how valuable they are and will trample all over

it. And as it doesn't satisfy them in any way,

needlessly attack you. In biblical times, bad

choice of words there, in the time of the Old

Testament and New Testament, dogs were seldom

kept as household pets like today. Except for

those used to herd sheep. The dogs were mainly

mongrels, dirty, greedy, snarling, vicious and

diseased. Just like the dogs that usually greet

me whenever I or Jane. Go door knocking. Yes,

they were dangerous and despised. It would have

been unthinkable for a Jew to have thrown to

those dogs a piece of holy meat that has been

consecrated as a sacrifice in the temple. Unthinkable.

And pigs, well, pigs were regarded, still regarded

by Jews, to be the epitome of uncleanliness.

The epitome. And so just as Jesus uses a plank

and speck to highlight, his point. So he also

does here with dogs and pigs. I don't think dogs

and pigs are references to Jews and Gentiles

or unbelievers. I think Jesus is referring here

to certain people who utterly and who outrightly

and utterly reject the gospel. And through the

term dogs and pigs, Jesus let us know how they'll

respond. They will either trample the pearl,

that is the gospel, under their feet. Total and

brutal stupidity is their response. Or they will

turn and tear you to pieces. Attack the messenger.

Jesus' point here is that there will be times

when the wonderful treasures of the gospel, 2

Corinthians 4, 7, are so absolutely rejected

and ridiculed that we must make the judgment

to turn away and speak no more. To shake the

dust off our feet. Matthew 10, 14. And try elsewhere,

as did Paul in Acts 18, 6, when the Jews opposed

him. and became very abusive. For me, that has

only happened three times in my life, when I've

either had to just walk away from someone or

had to stop taking a person's bait, knowing that

they were only interested in mocking Jesus. Friends,

it's a serious step to take that action. but

nonetheless commanded by our Lord Jesus for his

holy word, for such a pearl as his good news.

Yes, the gospel, the good news all about Jesus,

the forgiveness of sins that he offers, the promise

of eternal life that he brings and the help of

his Holy Spirit that he gives is far, far too

valuable to bring it out or keep bringing it

out. to an audience that is not in the slightest

bit interested and would prefer to rubbish it

and rubbish you. Sadly, I feel that some Q &A

programs on the ABC were a bit like that to the

gospel in past years. It is our second point

this morning and one I will finish on. We must

be prepared to discriminate. It's hard. Just

as Jesus tells his followers in the previous

verses to be aware of our tendency to be judgmental,

and don't do it, don't be judgmental, so too

does he say here not to do something. Be prepared

to discriminate. And can I finish by saying that

both of these actions require humility. Great,

a great humility. To be prepared to walk away

from a fight. I in the flesh, in the flesh, would

like to fight. Yes, humility is required. A humility

that will guard, look after, care for, keep holy,

both yourself and the glorious gospel of Jesus.

In the name of our glorious Holy Father, who

sent his glorious Holy Son and gives all who

receive him. His glorious Holy Spirit. Amen.

Thank you all.