Matthew 7:1-6
Righteous Judgment
Read…
Matt. 7:1 “Judge not, that you be not judged.
Matt. 7:2 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.
Matt. 7:3 And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?
Matt. 7:4 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?
Matt. 7:5 Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
Matt. 7:6 “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 in pieces.
Pray
Intro
√ A new chapter
The first 6 verses of Matthew 7 should really be part of chapter 6 because the Lord is still speaking about what the Pharisees did.
That is, in chapter 6 He reveals their hypocrisy and false righteousness by demonstrating that what they did was all a show ~ pretending to be righteous.
Jesus called them hypocrites! (ref. Matt. 6: 2, 5 & 16)
Notice in this opening section of chapter 7 that Jesus comments are directed to the…
“Hypocrite!” ~ vs. 5
That is, He is still addressing the Pharisees and what they did!
√ Righteous judgment
The last area of hypocrisy that the Lord deals with is how the Pharisees implemented judgment.
They were given the mantle by God to shepherd the people and to administer the Law.
The Law, specifically Numbers & Deuteronomy, are filled with admonitions from the Lord on how to judge the people.
While the religious leaders were accurate in their application of the Law to others…
…they were unrighteous in their judgment because they didn’t apply the same standard in their own lives.
Ex. Jesus’ rebuke
Matt. 23:1 Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples,
Matt. 23:2 saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat.
Matt. 23:3 Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do.
In addition to revealing the hypocrisy of Pharisees as it relates to their judgment…
…Jesus is also going to teach us how to judge righteously.
Ap. Judgment
Very important for Christians to know what the Bible teaches regarding judgment because too many Christians find themselves in quandary…
Not wanting to be judgmental or self-righteous (like the ultra conservative crazies shouting at people)
Not comfortable overlooking sin (like the ultraliberal people who excuse every behavior)
Thankfully there is a Biblical balance!
Judgment ~ His job (vs. 1-2)
Matt. 7:1 “Judge not, that you be not judged.
Matt. 7:2 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.
√ Judgment ~ His job
If there is one verse that people know, who don’t know anything else about the Bible…
…it’s Matthew 7:1!
These folks like to throw it in the face of Christians believing that it somehow gives them the moral high ground.
Usually quoting it when they are confronted with the truth that what they’re involved in is sinful.
They wrongly believe that Jesus meant that it is somehow unspiritual, or even immoral, to identify and rebuke sinful behavior.
Nothing could be further from the truth!
We know that Jesus didn’t mean that we are not to ever judge anyone, or any behavior because He tells us how to make righteous judgments in this same section of His sermon!
√ Context
As with any part of the Bible (or any other communication) we have to look at the context of a statement to come to right conclusions about what is meant.
1) Jesus tells us to judge between the righteous and the wicked
Vs. 6…
“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 in pieces.”
Discerning between those who are dogs and hogs, and those who are holy requires us to make judgments.
2) Jesus gives us tools to discern sin and sinners
In Matt. 7:15-20 Jesus tells us how to judge between true and false prophets.
3) The apostles exhort us to discern sin and sinners
Peter and John’s letters are filled with warnings and instruction on how to judge between true and false teachers.
Paul gives specific instructions for judging sinners within the Church and how to deal with them.
So, if we look at the Lord’s comments in verses 1-2 in context with the rest of what He says here, and with the whole of scripture…
…we understand that Jesus isn’t telling us that we are never to judge people and their behavior.
So, what is Jesus saying?
√ Condemnation
The word, “judge” is from the Greek word “Krino”, which means…
“To distinguish, i.e. decide (mentally or judicially); by implication, to try, condemn, punish, avenge, conclude, condemn, damn.”
That is, we are not to come to conclusions or judgments about a person’s motives or heart because we can’t know why a person does what they do, or what is in their heart.
Only God knows what is in our hearts and what our motives are.
Ex. Judging motives
As we’ve already seen in the Sermon on the Mount the Pharisees did lots of good works…
…but with bad motives which made them unrighteous.
On the other hand, people can do things that appear to be bad…
…but with good motives!
Ex. Mary’s anointing of Jesus with the expensive perfume
The disciples judged her as being wasteful…
“Why wasn’t it sold and the money given to the poor”
Sounds spiritual, but they were dead wrong!
Rather, her motives were pure and Jesus knew her heart and that it was done for Him in anticipation of His death.
Therefore, Jesus tells us that it is God’s job to judge the hearts and motives of Men, not ours.
Ap. A warning
Jesus gives us a warning in vs. 2 against practicing the kind of judgment that the Pharisees did.
You’ll find that if you are harsh and judgmental toward people and what you believe are their motives…
…they’ll treat you the same way!
On the other hand, if you are gracious and give people the benefit of the doubt…
…you’ll find that they treat you in like manner.
So, leave the judgment of people’s hearts to God.
Discernment ~ Our job (vs. 3-6)
√ Discernment ~ our job
While we are not to judge other’s motives, Jesus tells us that we are to use discernment in life…
…both toward ourselves and others.
Ap. Danger to those who aren’t discerning
The person who believes everything they hear, and accepts everyone who claims to be spiritual…
…is going to get hurt!
Ex. The followers of David Koresh
So, while we aren’t to judge motives we need to have a Biblical standard to judge…
…actions and attitudes.
1) Discerning ourselves ~ vs. 3-5a
Matt. 7:3 And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?
Matt. 7:4 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?
Matt. 7:5 Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
Before we can be of any help to another person who is involved in sinful behavior, or who has an ungodly attitude…
…we have to make sure that we’re not guilty of something worse!
Ex. The woman caught in adultery (ref. John 8)
She was guilty, but so were the ones who dragged her before Jesus!
So, before we head off to…
Give someone a piece of our mind
Rebuke someone for the sin in their life
…Jesus tells us that we must first take a long look in the mirror of God’s Word to make sure that we’re not guilty too!
Once we’ve been honest with ourselves about our own sinfulness, and then sought the Lord’s forgiveness…
…then we’re ready to help someone else caught in sin.
2) Discerning others ~ vs. 5b-6
Matt. 7:5b …and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
I like the Lord’s illustration of having something stuck in our eye to help us understand how to deal with sin in another person’s life.
That is, the eye is very sensitive. If you’ve had anything stuck in your eye…
…then you know how you want someone to handle you as they remove that object!
Very carefully and with great tenderness!
The same is true when dealing with a brother or sister who is involved in sin.
We must deal with them with…
…carefully and with tenderness.
Paul wrote about this in his letter to the Christians in
Gal. 6:1 Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.
The idea communicated is that the most effective person for helping free another from sin…
…is that person who understands how weak and sinful they are themselves.
Not arrogant like the Pharisee who saw themselves as sinless.
Rather, broken like Paul (the ex-Pharisee) recognizing that separate from the Grace of God they are capable of any sin.
So, we see that Jesus does tell us to be discerning of sin in other’s lives so that we can help them.
Therefore, it is not Biblical or spiritual to pretend that Jesus’ comments in vs. 1-2 mean that we’re never to judge behavior or attitudes as sinful.
Furthermore, note in vs. 6 that we’re to use even greater discernment regarding sharing spiritual truth with unbelievers.
√ Dogs & Hogs
Matt. 7:6 “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 in pieces.
Both dogs and hogs are used in scripture to symbolize unbelievers.
But not just any unbeliever, unbelievers who are hostile to the message of the Gospel.
Paul wrote to the Christians at
Phil. 3:2 Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation!
In Paul’s day the “dogs” he was speaking of where the Jewish religious leaders (i.e. Pharisees etc.) who were teaching that you couldn’t be saved unless you practiced the Law.
Jesus’ warning to His disciples (including you and me) is that we must be very discerning about whom we share our faith with.
Why?
Because not everyone is open to the Gospel and if we aren’t following the leading of the Holy Spirit we can find ourselves in real danger.
In Paul’s experience he found that his greatest enemies were
the Jews around the
…so they beat him and even planned to kill him!
Ap. There’s nothing spiritual about getting beat up for being stupid!
Ex. Witnessing in
If you to
…you’re speaking the truth (casting your pearls), but you’re going to get trampled.
That’s different than the experience of Jim Elliot and his four buddies who tried to share the Gospel with the Auccas.
They invested time and effort to open a door with the Aucca before they went in to make contact.
So, don’t go looking for a fight. Be discerning of people, listen to the Holy Spirit and heed His warnings so that you don’t waste your time or even your life sharing with those who aren’t open to the Gospel.
Close
√ Righteous Judgment
Righteous judgment is practiced when we let God do His job…
Judge hearts and motive
And we do our job…
Discern ourselves and others by examining the actions and attitudes displayed.
So, we can…
Avoid being judgmental or self-righteous like the Pharisees
While being faithful to deal Biblically with sin, in our own life and in others by practicing discernment.