Matthew 7:1-6

Matthew chapter 7, we're going to look at the

Matthew 7 · chapter mention

first six verses this morning. The words of the

Lord Jesus Christ. Speaking, he says, Judge not,

so that you be not judged. For with what judgment

you judged, you will be judged. And with the

measure you used, it will be measured back to

you. And why do you look at the speck in your

brother's eye and do not consider the plank in

your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother,

let me remove the speck from your eye and look,

a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite. First

remove the plank from your own eye, and then

you will see clearly to remove the speck from

your brother's eye. Do not give what is holy

to the dogs, nor cast your pearls before swine.

lest they trample them under their feet and turn

and tear you into pieces. Let's pray. Father,

Lord, we understand this is your word. Lord,

it's for our profit, for our growth in the faith.

And God, I pray that you would give us understanding

this morning, Lord, spiritual understanding,

discernment, Lord. Father, open our eyes to behold

wondrous things out of your law. Lord, open our

eyes to behold even greater clarity the work

of our Lord and Savior Jesus, Lord. Show us Christ,

Lord, this morning, we pray in his blessed name.

Amen. There are probably two Bible verses that

I would say all Americans know, or most Americans

know, and if they don't know them, they're at

least familiar with them. Now, the first one

is John 3 .16. It seems as though everyone knows

that. If you look around at any stadium or football

game or any large venue, you're going to see

that verse posted on various signs. It seems

like all people are familiar with John 3 .16.

However, the second verse that I have in mind

is the one that is more often quoted. And that

is our text this morning. It's actually verse

1. Here's what we hear all the time. Judge not,

lest you be judged. And of course, when it is

quoted, most often it is done out of context.

A lot of times you have unbelievers quoting this

verse and they're wanting to prove something

that Christians are hypocrites. So they're going

to cite this verse to bolster their argument.

So when Christians rightly make a judgment call

on some ethical or moral matter, inevitably you're

going to hear protests such as, you're not supposed

to judge. Or you Christians, you're all so very

judgmental. You're hypocritical. You're supposed

to follow Christ and what did Jesus say? Judge

not. And that's really the mantra of our culture.

Who are you to tell me that what I am doing is

wrong? We love our independence. We love our

autonomy. Judge not. You're not to be the one

that's then passing judgment upon me. But is

that really what our Lord was driving at in this

text? Was he really just saying, hey, live and

let live. Don't judge anyone. Are we never to

make a judgment call? Are we never? To place

a verdict on what is right and wrong? Is that

our call as believers? Of course not. So then

what did our Lord mean here this morning when

he told his followers, when he's looking them

on that day and he tells them, you are not to

judge. What is the context? Well, remember where

we are in the scriptures. We're in Matthew 7

and we're ending now, coming to the end of this

great sermon known as the Sermon on the Mount.

Jesus was preaching to a great crowd that assembled

because they wanted to be near him. They wanted

to hear him speak. And in the crowd there were

some who were devoted followers. They were his

disciples. There were some in that crowd who

were curious and they wanted to be around the

popular teacher. But there were also some gathered

in that crowd who were antagonistic and even

hostile to him. And we know such as the leading

religious officials, the scribes and Pharisees.

So now in this sermon, the Lord is speaking about

what life in his kingdom looks like. That's really

Matthew 5, 6, and 7. What does life in the kingdom

of God look like? Study this text. In his kingdom,

he said, it is those who are poor in spirit and

who mourn are blessed. Doesn't make sense. Poor

in spirit and mourn? Yeah, you're blessed if

that is you. In the kingdom of Christ, he says,

it is the meek, not the powerful. It is the merciful,

not the ones who bring revenge. who are blessed

of God. The Lord was contrasting true righteousness,

which by the way is demanded by his kingdom.

He's contrasting that with the pseudo self -righteousness

of the religious leaders. Now you have to remember,

at this time, the scribes and Pharisees were

seen really as the ultimate height. They were

seen as the pinnacle of righteousness. If you

would have asked anyone on the street of that

day, scribes and Pharisees, they were it. They

were the ones closest to God. And the word Jesus,

he's talking to those people who gathered and

he says, you must rise above them. Matthew 5,

20. For I say to you that unless your righteousness

exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you

don't come into the kingdom. You will be excluded

if you don't rise above them. Now, the scribes

and Pharisees, we know, although they were religious

figures, they had badly misinterpreted and badly

misrepresented the word of God. In fact, they

had created their own traditions, man -made of

course, and they were elevating them to a status

that was at least on par, equal with or higher

to God's law. That's what they felt. So they

had laws on everything. Laws on how you should

dress. Laws on how and when you should pray.

Laws on how you should wash your hands before

eating or having come in contact with a Gentile.

So for the scribes and Pharisees, in particular

for the Pharisees, For them, righteousness was

not a gift received from God. Rather, righteousness

was earned what they presumably did for God.

This was their error. And so by elevating their

own rules and their own traditions, they began

to assume that if someone broke one of their

traditions, one of their interpretations of the

law, well, that was akin to breaking the law

of God. And because of that, These religious

leaders became very censorious. They were hypercritical.

They were finding fault with everyone, including

Jesus, the sinless son of God. That's how far

they had gone. They hypocritically condemned

others who did not somehow live up to their own

traditions. So if you didn't dress like them,

if you didn't eat like them, if you didn't pray

like them and observe the ceremonies that they

thought you should observe, then you were condemned

by them. And Jesus said they were self -righteous

hypocrites. The worst part of this is they were

blind to their own sin. They would really severely

condemn others without ever taking the time to

examine their own lives and see the sin that

was so very present there. Now what about us

today? Human nature has not really changed. The

Lord knows human nature. He knows our tendency

that each of us has. So to take the truth of

God and turn that into hypocrisy as well. See,

if not careful, you and I today easily become

just like the Pharisees, albeit not or unknowingly.

It is far easier to apply the truth to other

people than to apply the truth to ourselves.

It is far easier. Therefore, the Lord in this

passage, he's commanding his disciples, you must

first apply the truth to yourself. before you

ever seek to apply it to anyone else. He does

not want modern day Pharisees. He does not want

hypocritical disciples. Now therefore, he's using

the Pharisees and their hypocrisy as a backdrop

to teach his followers, how should you properly

relate to one another in his kingdom? In his

kingdom, he says, you are not to judge and condemn

your brother. Don't judge and condemn your brother.

Instead, and we're not there if you look down

at verse 12, you see the golden rule, chapter

7, verse 12. Instead, you are to do unto others

as you would have or want them to do unto you.

This is life in his kingdom. But now, if we're

looking at this, do not judge, the very first

thing I want to begin with is, let's start with

what these verses do not mean. Clearly, Christ

was not saying that we are never to pass judgment

on anything. And there are many different ways

this can be done. For example, judicially, we

know it is good for a judge to pass judgment.

Authority has been granted to the courts, to

the judicial system for this purpose. If not,

you have anarchy. But it's not just the courts.

Even you and I as individuals are called to make

judgment calls about people. Now that sounds

a little counterintuitive. But for example, take

Proverbs 13 .20. It says, He who walks with wise

men, Now, so what's that mean? You need to seek

out wise men and you need to avoid fools. But

how can you walk with wise men or steer clear

of the fools unless you first discern who the

wise are and who the fools are? You're called

to be discerning here. The church, it is also

called to then judge behavior and pass judgment.

authority has been granted to the church for

this purpose. There is some ecclesiastical authority

granted to her. Let me give an example. Let's

say a member of the church is found out to be

in an adulterous relationship and he then protests,

hey, don't judge me, only God can judge me. And

you will hear that at times. Friends, the scriptures

have already judged the sinfulness of the act.

We're not making a judgment on the act. God has

made a judgment call in the act. It is the responsibility

of the church, though, to go after that brother

and seek his repentance. This is what we must

do. Now, Paul dealt with this at Corinth. And

I think it's so instructive because it helps

us understand what the text does not say. Because

it's been badly misinterpreted. In 1 Corinthians

5, you have a unique situation there at the church

at Corinth. You have a man who's a member of

the church, and he's having an affair, it says,

with his father's wife. It's his stepmother,

not his mother. Look at verse 1. It is actually

reported that there is sexual immorality among

you and such sexual immorality as is not even

named among the Gentiles that a man has his father's

wife. And you, church, are puffed up and have

not rather mourned that he who has done this

deed might be taken away from among you. Look

at verse 3. For I indeed, as absent in body,

Present in spirit, now notice the next phrase,

have already judged, he said, as though I were

present, him who has so done this deed. Verse

4, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when

you are gathered together, that's what we're

doing this morning, along with my spirit, with

the power of the Lord Jesus Christ, deliver such

a one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh.

It seems harsh. Why? So that his spirit may be

saved in the day of the Lord. Your glorying church

is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven

leavens a whole lump? Therefore purge out the

old leaven, that you may be a new lump. Since

you truly are unleavened, for indeed Christ our

Passover was sacrificed for us. The eminent apostle

Paul said, notice, he had already judged this

sinning man. He used the word, by the way, judge.

And he's calling for him to be excommunicated

from the church. He says, let him be taken away

from among you. And not only that, turned over

to Satan. He's outside the kingdom of God. What's

the deal? The church cannot tolerate open, flagrant

sin. It is a stain upon the holy name of Christ.

Now, oftentimes, in attempt to argue and justify

symbol... sinful behavior, there are some immature

believers who will ask this question, and I've

been asked this before. Okay, so we're supposed

to get out the big sinners, right, Pastor? But

what about the other sinners? I mean, what about

the glutton? What about the man who overeats?

Are you going to kick him out as well? I mean,

after all, all sin is sin. Now, they're doing

this to justify their own behavior. But here's

a lie. And some of you may really have never

heard this before, but here's a lie that many

Christians, particularly today, have embraced,

and this is the lie, that all sin is the same.

You hear it all the time. Sin is sin, Pastor.

Yeah, you might have committed adultery, but

you overate. Sin is sin. Well, it is true that

all sin is breaking God's law. It is also true

that all sin comes short of God's glory. All

sin is an affront to the holiness of God. All

sin will be judged. However, the Bible clearly

shows that some sins are more consequential and

serious than others based upon their nature,

their consequence, and the intent behind them.

God clearly deals with different sins. And you

see this in the Old Testament, for example. The

adulterer, he died. He was stoned. The glutton

did not. We find this all throughout the scriptures.

Some sins such as idolatry, we read about it

in Isaiah 2. Murder. Again, I've been just using

adultery as an easy one here. They cost you your

life. But other sins were dealt with by bringing

an offering. You didn't die for them. Now Jesus

said in John 19, listen to the words of our Lord.

He's speaking to Pilate there on that fateful

day when he'd been arrested. He tells Pilate,

you can have no power at all against me unless

it had been given to you from above. Therefore,

the one who has delivered me to you has the greater

sin. There's more sin because I was turned over

than what you're doing to me. In Matthew 11,

Jesus speaking about these cities that had seen

his mighty acts. Then he began to rebuke the

cities in which most of his mighty works had

been done. Why? They didn't repent. They saw

the miraculous hand of God. The Messiah was sent.

He does the impossible. They would not repent,

and he says, I tell you, it will be more tolerable

for Tyre and Sidon, he later says, for Sodom

and Gomorrah, in the day of judgment than for

you. You will be judged more harshly because

you had greater light. All sin, as I said, is

an affront to God. And yes, it will be judged,

but not all sin is as equally consequential,

which is why not all sin requires church discipline.

That's why we don't go after the person who ate

seven pieces of pizza. Yes, it's gluttony. Yes,

they ought not to do it. But let's not try to

make a moral equivalency either. John 7, 24,

Jesus said this. He said, judge not according

to appearance, but judge righteous judgment.

What? Okay, Matthew 7 .1, don't judge. John 7

.24, he says, judge righteous judgment. From

that passage alone, it is very clear that God

does not forbid us from ever making a judgment

call. In fact, we are to judge. It just needs

to be done righteously. Well, how do you do that?

Let's look at the passage again. So what is our

Lord forbidding? What are you not to judge as

the people of God? First of all, you don't judge

motives. You can't. Only God can see the true

motives of someone's heart. Friend, let me say

this. You may think you know why they did it,

but you can never with assurance know why someone

did or did not do something regardless of how

much you think you know about them. You cannot

judge their motives. Instead, you and I as Christians

are called to walk in love and we are called

to give the benefit of the doubt. The Bible says

in 1 Corinthians 13, love believes all things.

That does not mean that love is naive, but it

means love believes the best about our brother

and sister and I'm not going to judge their motives.

I don't see the heart. Secondly we are not to

judge merely by appearance. That's what Jesus

said in John 7 24. For example those gathered

that day the most righteous looking people of

the day were the Pharisees. But Jesus said hey

don't judge by appearance. These people only

look righteous. In fact they're whitewashed tombs

that only look good on the outside. Third. Don't

judge those who have conscientious scruples about

matters that are not right or wrong. This is

the weaker brother, stronger brother. And we

looked at this in the book of Romans, so I'm

not going to spend a lot of time there. But friend,

let me just say this. Don't judge your brother

who has a different preference than you. What

do you mean? It may be which version of the Bible

you carry. Don't argue. Walk in love. It may

be what someone should wear to church. Don't

argue. Walk in love. It may be whether someone

can watch TV on Sunday afternoon or not. Don't

argue. Walk in love. It may be what their view

of eschatology in the end times may be. Don't

argue. Walk in love. Paul is saying in Romans,

Jesus saying in John 7, don't injure one another

about non -essential things. You are not to judge

your brothers in these matters. You are to walk

in charity. You are to walk in love. Lastly,

what it does not mean. You need to stop magnifying

the sins of others while minimizing your own.

And this is what the Lord is getting at. He is

condemning a hasty, fault -finding spirit that

the Pharisees possessed. He commanded his disciples

not to be censorious, not to be severely critical.

So in essence, don't be the person who finds

fault with everyone. Discerning? Yes. Hypercritical?

No. Now this word judge is interesting. Judge

not. The word is actually in Greek. It's krino.

And it has a variety of meanings, a variety of

nuances. It can mean to pronounce an opinion

concerning something right or wrong. But the

way it's being used here, it also has the idea

of condemning. Don't condemn. And the idea that

Jesus is getting at, because remember, who's

gathered? Scribes and Pharisees. The idea is

do not be like these Pharisees who condemned

those who did not follow their own way. So this

could literally be translated, and it would be

a fine translation, don't condemn so that you

be not condemned. That would be a good translation

as well. Now earlier in the sermon, Jesus has

already told us the one who shows no mercy receives

no mercy. The one who will not forgive others,

Jesus said this, not your pastor, Jesus said

the one who does not forgive, will not be forgiven.

The one who condemns you too will be condemned.

In fact he said the measure that you use to judge

someone else that very same standard that very

measure will be used against you in the day of

judgment. Robert Mount said this Jesus does not

ask us to lay aside our critical faculties but

rather to resist the urge to speak harshly of

others. The issue is serious in that God will

judge us by the same standard that we apply to

others. This rather frightening truth should

change the way in which we tend to view other

people's failings. Friends, we need to take seriously

the words of our Lord. Our Lord is very concerned

about the attitude that finds fault with others

while being oblivious and blind to your own.

That's the problem here. What really lies behind

this sin of judging others? It's self -righteousness.

You somehow think you're more righteous than

they. Martin Lloyd -Jones, he said, if we ever

know the feeling of being rather pleased when

we hear something unpleasant about another, that

is the wrong spirit. If we are jealous or envious

and then suddenly hear that the one of whom we

are jealous or envious has made a mistake and

find that there is an immediate sense of pleasure

with us, that's it. That's the condition which

leads to this spirit of judgment. It's when you're

happy that someone kind of just rubbed you the

wrong way, when you find out they're not doing

well, and you're like, ah, you kind of take joy

in that. Now there's a consequence to this. Look

at verse 2. For with the judgment you judge,

you will be judged. And with the measure you

use, it will be measured back to you. Can you

imagine saying it before the Almighty on the

day of judgment? What do you want from him on

that day? You want mercy. But he's going to use

a measure that you've used against other people?

See, you're not the final judge and you're not

in the final court. That's reserved for God alone.

James says, there is one lawgiver who is able

to save and to destroy. Who are you than to judge

another? Who are you? David Gusick in his commentary,

he says, we judge others by one standard and

ourselves by another standard, being far more

generous to ourselves than others. With the measure

you use, it will be measured back to you. This

is the person that when they're found out, they're

like, okay, yeah, I might have been wrong, but

I didn't really mean it that way. God knows my

heart. See, you want mercy. You want people to

be understanding of you. But you don't offer

that back to them. When we judge others, Jesus

said, God will judge us by the very standard

we used. And that's very serious to me. Weber

says, do not judge others until you are prepared

to be judged by the same standard. If you judge

harshly, you will be judged harshly. But if you

judge others generously, then the idea is God

will judge you generously. In James, that second

chapter, which is a thorn in the flesh for many,

James chapter 2, verse 13. Here we hear the words

James 2:13

coming from God through the writer. For judgment

is without mercy to the one who has shown no

mercy. Those who receive mercy from God show

mercy to others. Friends, it's all throughout

the New Testament. Matthew 5, 7, blessed are

the merciful. Why are the merciful blessed? He

said, for they shall obtain mercy. Now, does

that mean then that somehow we earn? Before God

merit by showing mercy? Does showing mercy gain

us an entrance into the kingdom of God? No. Of

course not. We're saved by grace through faith.

And that not of yourselves. It's a gift of God.

Not of works. So that no man may boast. But what

it does mean is those who have entered into the

kingdom by God's grace. They reveal their change

of nature. They reveal the new birth. How? By

being like their Lord in showing mercy. And those

who are not like that. have not been born again

of grace. Listen, this is to us. Jesus is saying,

this is life in my kingdom. Well, what do I do?

Consider yourself. Look at verses 3 and 4. Why

do you look at the speck in your brother's eye

and do not consider the plank in your own eye?

How can he say to your brother, let me remove

that speck from your eye, and yet the whole time

you have a plank in your own? The word speck

there, it means twig. The word plank, it's a

log. I mean, do you see, now obviously Jesus

is speaking in hyperbole, but can you see the

absurdity of the situation? You have a man with

a log protruding from his eye, and he sees a

man over here with a little splinter in his,

and he says, hey, let me help you with that.

Let me help you get that splinter out of your

eye. Jesus is saying, the obvious answer, if

you really want to help someone else, the best

thing you can do is get that big log protruding

from your own eye out. So then you're going to

see more clearly to be able to help your brother

with his problem. Here's what Jesus is saying,

and let's not miss it. The sin of the one who

judges is much larger than the sin of the one

being judged. The sin of the one who judges is

the one with the log. And the sin of the one

being judged is the one with the twig. Again,

what our Lord is aiming at, it's self -righteousness.

At the core, the self -righteous person will

always do this. Minimize their own sin and magnify

the sins of other people. They have to do that

because they have to look good in front of others.

And Jesus is saying, here's the key in my kingdom.

You have to deal first with your own sin before

trying to help someone else deal with theirs.

Only, it is only after you have dealt with your

sin that you will be sufficiently humble to be

able to help someone else with their sin. See,

the Pharisees were not. They looked good, but

they weren't really interested in helping others.

They were interested in condemning others. Why?

Because in condemning others, it made a comparison

point, and they looked so much brighter. They

looked all the better. And that's what their

goal was. Verse 5, hypocrites, Jesus said. First,

get the plank out of your own eye. That's what

these Pharisees were. They were just simply hypocrites,

pretending. Pseudo -righteousness is what they

had. The problem with the hypocrite is that he

fails to apply the same judgment to his own life

that he willingly applies to his brother's life.

That is wrong. Far more interested in finding

fault than actually helping. If these people

had been interested in righteousness, they would

have seen that they too had fallen so far short

of God's glory and would also have cried out

for mercy. But they didn't do that. This is what

I believe is the key to life in the kingdom.

It is only when you and I have been humbled before

a holy God, truly humbled, that we are in a position

to help other people with their sin. Because

you understand your own depravity. If you and

I could truly see what we are before God, apart

from Christ. Imagine standing before him apart

from Christ. I don't believe we would ever judge

anyone again realizing we have no foundation

on which to stand. Oswald Chambers wrote this,

and I love this quote. Here's a pious, godly

man. He said, I have never met the man that I

could despair of after discerning what lies in

me apart from the grace of God. He's not just

saying that, by the way. He feels that. He knows

that to be true. See, if you're going to remove

the log from your own eye, this is to realize,

friends, this is to realize you have the same

capacity to sin as your brother. It could be

you. So what's the answer? What's the conclusion?

Look at verse 6. Now this seems a little disjointed.

Don't give what is holy to dogs, and don't cast

your pearls before swine. How does that fit in?

Well, Jesus has told his followers, don't judge,

right? They are not to judge. But that did not

preclude them from being discerning. Although

you're not called to judge, you are called to

be discerning. The Lord commanded. Now notice

what he's commanding here. Don't give what is

holy to dogs and don't throw your pearls to pigs

is what he's saying. First of all, think about

this. How can you obey this command, just like

earlier, unless you discern who is a dog and

who is a pig? Because that's what he's talking

about. Now again, we have to learn to be discerning

of others without ever becoming hypercritical

or censorious. We don't want to do that. Now

the dogs that Jesus was referring to, these are

not domesticated pets like you and I have today,

but they were wild animals that terrorized towns

and villages. They were unclean to the Jews.

Pigs were also vile and unclean animals before

the Jews. They were off limits. And Jesus is

purposely using these two types of animals to

convey a point. But he speaks of holy things.

And pearls. He said don't throw holy things to

the dogs. Don't cast pearls to swine. What are

the holy things? What are the pearls he's referring

to? He's talking about life in his kingdom. And

he's really rebuking the Pharisees here. The

pearls and the holy things are the truth of the

gospel. It is the gospel of Christ's kingdom.

Those who persistently reject the gospel. Those

who mock the truth of Christ. are the dogs and

pigs Christ is speaking of. Now this does not

refer to all unbelievers. It's referring to the

active enemies of the gospel. In this case, the

self -righteous Pharisees, why were they there?

They just wanted to trip him up. They wanted

to catch him in something. They wanted to see

if he's going to make a mistake with his words.

They're his enemies here. How do you see the

Lord responding to them? In the scriptures, if

you read through the New Testament. When the

Lord Jesus had to deal with these self -righteous

leaders, he did so often with harsh denunciations

because they hated the truth and they did not

want it. He did not reveal truth to them. He

excluded them from it. We also, though, see the

very same Lord dealing with extreme compassion

with a scandalous woman at a well there in John

4. Why? She was open to the truth. To the self

-righteous? Harsh judgment. To the humble or

one seeking the truth, there was compassion and

mercy. You see the same thing in the book of

Acts. The apostle Paul, when he would take the

gospel, where did he go first? To the synagogues.

He would go to the synagogue and he would always

preach, he said, to the Jew first and then to

the Greek. He would always go take the gospel

to his own people first. But what happened? By

and large, they rejected his message and they

would often even beat Paul because of what he's

preaching. And what do you see Paul do? You see

him get up, shake the dust from his feet, and

turn around and proclaim, your blood be upon

your head. He doesn't go back. He would not cast

his pearls before swine. You don't want the truth,

you won't have the truth. Again, I want to quote

Lord Jones here. He says, here you see a people,

or people, to whom the truth has been presented.

It's not ignorant people. But they did the very

thing our Lord prophesied. Just as dogs and swine,

they turned again, they opposed, they blasphemed,

and they stamped the truth under their feet.

Friends, this is the saddest of all indictments

against these religious leaders. The ones who

are supposedly leading in the truth are the ones

whose truth is being hidden and excluded from.

The gospel is for all people. But there are some

who are so hardened in heart, so blinded by their

sin, that they hate the gospel, they hate the

Christ, they hate the truth, and they just use

it as an opportunity to blaspheme God. That's

all they do. It's a mockery. We don't keep casting

our pearls before them. We don't keep casting

our pearls before those who hate Christ and his

kingdom. We don't hate them. God forbid, absolutely

not. But we do not spend all of our time giving

them holy things that they will not appreciate.

Matthew 10. Notice what Jesus said. He sends

out his disciples. He said, now whatever city

or town you enter, inquire who in it is worthy

and stay there till you go out. And when you

go into a household, greet it. If the household

is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if

it's not worthy, let your peace or blessing return

to you. If it's not worthy, don't bless them.

But verse 14. Notice the words of Christ. This

may sound harsh, but it's the words of Jesus.

And whoever will not receive you, how are they

not receiving? They are not going to hear your

words. When you depart from that house or you

depart from that city, shake off the dust from

your feet. You're done. You did what you could.

Our job is we pray that God and his infinite

mercy and grace might bring them to repentance,

but we don't keep giving the enemies of God a

reason to blaspheme. Don't cast your pearls before

swine. Why? The pig has no ability to appreciate

the value of a pearl. They don't ever stop. And

a dog is not concerned with holy meat that only

priests should eat. What he's saying is don't

keep giving things to people who have no appreciation

for the truth that you're telling. Don't keep

doing it. God's gifts are not to be laid open

to abuse, R .T. Franson's commentary, or his

truth to mockery. Some people are just mockers.

They hate Christ, they hate his kingdom, they

hate his gospel. They're not interested in the

truth. So don't keep going. They have judged

themselves unworthy of the kingdom. And there's

not a thing you can do apart from the supernatural

work of God in their hearts. So what do we do

in light of this passage as we close? Now what?

Life in the kingdom seems to be very demanding.

It is. He said, unless you're righteous and succeed,

scribes and Pharisees, you don't come in. What

hope do you and I have? Now listen, just careful.

Listen to the demands of his kingdom. You must

be merciful or you don't receive mercy. You must

forgive or you will not be forgiven. You must

show proper judgment or you too will be condemned.

All of us right now, myself included, we all

feel, I know that I'm going to fail in this.

Lord, how can I do this? I'm going to fail. And

that's the whole point. You know you can't do

it. And my prayer is that it does lead you to

despair. But I want you to just turn back to

chapter 5 verse 3. And as we close. The very

first beatitude. The very first that the Lord

pronounced when he began this sermon. The very

first one. And it's the first one by design.

Jesus said this. Blessed are the poor in spirit.

For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. You know,

friend, you know, I hope you know, you can't

do this. You can't live up to the demands of

the kingdom. You fall short. So what do you and

I do today? We cast ourselves upon the mercy

of God and find salvation's rest. Blessed are

the poor in spirit, the ones who are bankrupt,

patakos, patokos. You know you don't have it.

Abject poverty of spirits, what he's saying.

That's a good place. Because the kingdom of God

is yours. This is life in the kingdom. It's to

the one who recognizes his own inability. And

I close with this text right here. This is our

last scripture here. Jesus told a parable and

it helps us. And I love this parable. May it

be stamped upon our minds and upon our hearts

forever. In Luke chapter 18. Two men went up

Luke 18 · chapter mention

to the temple to pray. One a Pharisee, a self

-respected leader of the people. The other a

tax collector, a publican, a despised person.

The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself.

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

I'm pretty good. I'm not an extortioner. I'm

not unjust. I'm not an adulterer. I'm not even

like this guy here. I fast twice a week. I give

tithes of all that I possess. And it could go

on. And all those things are probably true, by

the way. And here you have that tax collector

who's hated by his own people, standing afar

off knowing he's not worthy, he's poor in spirit.

He wouldn't even raise his eyes to heaven. Why?

Because he knows I don't have a right to even

look up to heaven. Instead, he beat upon his

breast saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner.

Listen to the words of Jesus. I tell you, this

man, that latter one, he went down to his house

justified rather than the other. For everyone

who exalts himself will be humbled, and everyone

who humbles himself will be exalted. You must

understand, friends, your own depravity and inability

before a holy God. You do not have what it takes.

Life in this kingdom is too demanding. You need

the grace of God to rescue you. You and I, the

ones who have seen our sin, and we've cast out...

our sin upon him and beg for the mercy of God.

Today, right now, you're invited. Jesus invites

us to go share a meal with him. We're invited

to come to the table and share a covenantal meal

with him. This is a family meal. It's those who

know their own depravity, who've come to Christ

for salvation, who've received the covenant sign

of baptism, testified before a dying world that

they are marked out for Christ. Jesus has come

today. In your weakness? Yeah. In your sin? Yes.

Because why? Today, at the table, you and I remember

our Lord's death, but we also proclaim something.

We're preaching something at this sacrament here.

The entrance into the covenant, entrance into

the kingdom, is blood bought. It came by the

broken body and shed blood of the Son of God.

Let's feast today, church. Not by your righteousness,

but that which is given to you as a gift of grace.

Let's pray. Father, thank you this morning, Lord.

What a wonderful God, richly kind and merciful

you are to us.