SPECKS AND PLANKS AND PIGS
(Matthew 7:1-6)
(Judging Others)
The Scripture reading for tonight is from Matthew chapter 7, verses 1 through 6. The message is entitled “Specks and Planks and Pigs,” and we’ll be talking on the subject of judging others.
If you have a red letter edition of the Bible, you will notice that all the words from Matthew 5:3 through Matthew 7:27 are written in red. These are words spoken by Jesus in His “Sermon on the Mount.”
The basic message of the Sermon on the Mount can be found in Matthew 5:48, “ 48“Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”
By “perfect”, Jesus is not saying that we will be without sin and morally flawless. He is telling us to be complete, whole, and spiritually mature. He is saying to be all that God wants us to be.
He set the goal, and it is up to you and me to do our best to reach that goal. Jesus challenges us to strive for greater service for the Lord.
As we press toward the goal of perfection, we are to be careful not to judge others harshly or carelessly.
Look at verse 1 of Matthew chapter 7, “ 1“Judge not, that you be not judged.”
You don’t have to raise your hands, but let me ask you this question – have any of you ever been judged by someone else?
Maybe because of something that happened in your past?
Have you ever been criticized for being a little different or maybe doing something different from everyone else? Have you ever been unfairly judged or criticized by someone who didn’t even know you?
I think most of us could answer yes to these questions. Being criticized or harshly judged by someone isn’t fun, is it?
There’s a story about little Jimmy who was showing a picture of his kindergarten class to his grandmother. He began describing some of his classmates. “ This is Bubba. He hits everybody.”
“This is Johnny. He never listens to the teacher, and this is Arthur. He is always chasing the girls.” Then he pointed to his own picture, and said, “ This is me. I’m just sitting there minding my own business.”
A lot of us, even Christians, are like little Jimmy. We are quick to see the faults in everyone else, but we have a blind eye when it comes to our own faults.
Sometimes we sit up high in our righteous “lookout tower” and use our special “character judging” binoculars. Have you ever said, or heard anyone say, “ I’m a pretty good judge of character?”
I feel that first impressions are important in certain situations. I like to make a good impression when I meet someone for the first time. But most of the time first impressions are only skin deep.
The first impression we get of someone because of how they look, or talk or how they dress, can be very incomplete.
If we aren’t careful, we can prejudge a person in a negative way before we get to know them.
Steve Martin said, “ Never judge a man unless you’ve walked a mile in his shoes. Then you’ll be a mile away, and you’ll have his shoes.”
Matthew 7:1-5 is probably one of the most popular and one of the most misunderstood and misused passages in the Bible. Twenty years ago John 3:16 was the most quoted verse in the Bible.
But in this era of political correctness and tolerance, Matthew 7:1 has become the most quoted verse. Of course, most of the people who quote it don’t know the full meaning of it, and don’t even know where it is in the Bible.
In fact most of them wouldn’t even know it is in the Bible if someone hadn’t told them. This is a very popular verse to quote when someone gets caught in sin.
They say, “ Hey, the Bible says you’re not supposed to judge me. If you judge me, you’ll also be judged.” Or in so many words, “ Get off my case!”
People try to use this verse to justify their sinful deeds. “You can’t tell me I’m a sinner. Don’t tell me that I can’t do drugs, or get drunk or live in sin.
The Bible says to judge not.” “ You don’t have a right to judge me!”
There are even a lot of Christians who use this verse as an excuse not to get involved.
They don’t want to do their part. Sometimes they just don’t want to deal with an unpleasant situation.
“No. I’m not going to talk to my best friend about the affair he is having. He’s a member of the church and he knows he’s doing wrong. And besides, the Bible says to judge not.”
Why is Matthew 7:1 so popular today? Why is it so widely misused and quoted out of context? It is because our nation has gotten so far away from the Christian principles that it was founded upon.
We have become a society of moral relativists. Moral relativism is the belief that there is no absolute right or wrong.
If this were true - if there was no right or wrong, then we would have no reason to judge the actions of others.
If there was no absolute right or wrong, then every sinful act could be justified. This is the flawed reasoning that many lost people use to justify their lost condition.
They will tell you, “ Oh, Christianity may be right for you, but it isn’t right for everyone.
I don’t believe in Christ, and I’m doing okay. I’m a good person. I don’t steal or cheat or kill.”
Dr. James Dobson was explaining moral relativism on his radio program.
He said that he had a conversation with a man who didn’t believe in absolute right and wrong.
Dr. Dobson said that he couldn’t get the man to see things his way no matter how he explained it. Finally, Dr. Dobson became frustrated and tried to make his point by using a graphic illustration.
He asked the man, “ If I were to stand here before you, and deliberately murder a two-year-old child right in front of your eyes – is that right or wrong?”
Dr. Dobson said the answer the man gave him really scared him. The man looked at him and said, “ I wouldn’t particularly like what you had done, and I wouldn’t necessarily agree with what you had done, but I couldn’t absolutely say that it was wrong for you to do it.”
With this sort of thinking becoming more popular day by day, is it any wonder that our nation’s moral fiber has sunk to the level that we see today? Political correctness and moral relativism go hand in hand.
When there are no absolutes for us to judge our character by, then everyone can make their own rules. Folks, we have to be able to judge right from wrong, and good from evil.
To do this, we have to have a standard by which we live, and that standard is the Word of God.
The Scriptures tell us that there is absolute right and absolute wrong, and you’d better believe it because it is the absolute truth.
What was Jesus really teaching in this passage? Let’s read Matthew 7:1-6, and maybe we’ll gain a little more understanding of the “judge not” passage:
Matthew 7:1-6, “ 1“Judge not, that you be not judged. 2“For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. 3“And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? 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? 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. 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.”
PLANKS
Are we truly never supposed to judge anything? Is this what Jesus was saying? We can’t take verse 1 out of context just to make it fit into our “anything goes” society.
We can’t take the Word of God and conveniently make it suit our worldly purposes. When Jesus used the word “judge” in verse 1, He meant that we are not to go around all the time with a condemning and judgmental spirit.
We can’t judge the motives of another person. We don’t know what is in each other’s heart. And we don’t know why another is doing what he is doing. Only God knows this.
When Jesus said these words, He was referring to the Pharisees. The Pharisees were a sector of the Jews who held themselves above everyone else. They closely followed to the Mosaic Laws.
They considered themselves to be the only righteous people and they looked down upon the other Jews and the Gentiles.
They thought they came up to God’s standards, but no one else did. The Pharisees were very condemning and judgmental of others.
Have you ever known anyone who felt like they had to judge and complain about others in order to justify themselves? This was the Pharisees.
The Pharisees didn’t like Jesus, because He associated with Gentiles and non-Pharisees. They had already condemned Jesus because they had decided He was not the Messiah.
Their Messiah, the Christ, whom they had been waiting for. The One whose coming had been anticipated and longed for was standing right in front of them, and they didn’t recognize Him. Instead they rejected Him and condemned Him.
Because of their judgmental spirit, they missed all the blessings and the joy of the presence of God. Jesus knew the hearts of the Pharisees. He knew that they were harshly condemning Him.
He told them that they would be judged with the measure that they used to judge others. The Pharisees didn’t really know Jesus.
They prejudged Him based upon their rigid religious laws.
They insisted on the strict observance of Jewish ritual laws as they interpreted them. According to the Pharisees, there were 613 laws in all, and they had to be followed to the “T.”
They often looked down on the “sinners” and they were always ready to criticize others for not keeping the laws as they saw them.
Did Jesus ever judge anyone else? Let’s see how He judged the Pharisees. In Matthew 12: 34 He called them a “Brood of vipers.” In Matthew 15:14, He said they were blind leader of the blind.
And He really let them have it in Matthew chapter 23. Listen to a little part of what He told them: “ 27“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. 28“Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”
I would say that Jesus was judging them with the same measure that they used to judge others. The Pharisees had a planks in their eyes. Jesus called them whitewashed tombs.
They looked all religious and proper and pious on the outside. They went through all the right motions in their rituals and their religious ceremonies.
They observed all the feast days and performed all the sacrifices in the appropriate manner.
They wore the required robes and vests and said the right words at the prescribed time. They looked great on the outside, but on the inside they were filthy and dead.
And the sad thing was, they felt that they were righteous before God. They were going through the motions with the wrong motivations.
They weren’t following the Law because of a deep abiding love for God and their fellow man. They were keeping up appearances for appearance sake.
Pride and self-righteousness was the plank in their eyes. Because of their overwhelming pride, they readily observed the faults of others.
They had no problem seeing the speck in their brothers’ eye.
SPECKS
They quickly judged and condemned the mistakes of the other Jews and the Gentiles, but they wouldn’t acknowledge that they had an even larger problem.
Jesus admonished them to, 5“. . . First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”
You’ve heard the term, “ I wish I could buy him for what he’s worth and sell him for what he thinks he’s worth.” We could apply that to the Pharisees.
If we could buy them for what they were worth and sell them for the value they placed on themselves, we’d all be very rich. Their self-righteousness made them blind to their own faults and to the value of others.
Aren’t we all guilty of this from time to time? Isn’t it a lot easier for us to see the faults of others than it is to see our own shortcomings?
As we look at ourselves in the mirror, if we would picture Jesus on the cross in the background, we will see just how lowly and unrighteous we really are.
In the same way, as we look at our neighbor, if we will picture Jesus on the cross in the background, we will see how precious our neighbor is.
The image of Jesus on the cross has a way of bringing the mighty to their knees and raising up the meek and humble.
We’ve talked a little about removing the planks from our own eyes before we attempt to remove the speck from someone else’s eye. Now let’s discuss the matter of:
PIGS
Jesus said in verse 6 of our text, “ 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.”
This is the rest of the story to Jesus’ admonition to “judge not.” In verse 6 it sounds as if Jesus is telling us to do what He told us not to do in verse 1.
If we can’t make judgments, how are we going to know who the dogs and pigs are?
Jesus wasn’t talking about four-legged animals here when He tells us not to give what is holy to the dogs or cast our pearls before swine. There is a judgment call that we must make.
It’s true. We are not to try and judge the motives of another. We are not supposed to try and judge their heart, but we would be foolish and naïve if we closed our eyes to the blatant and open sinful acts of others.
Matthew 7:17-20 says, “ 17“Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18“A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19“Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20“Therefore by their fruits you will know them.”
We are not to harshly judge others, but we are to be fruit inspectors, and we can plainly see if a Christian is bearing fruit.
If I see the need to speak with a member of the church who is openly committing some sinful act, that is not judging him.
Matthew 18: 15-17 says, “ 15“Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. 16“But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’
17“And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.”
That is not judging a person’s heart. It is judging their outward actions. If you see me committing some blatant sinful act, you should speak to me about it.
That does not mean you should condemn me or disrespect me or harshly judge me, but you should pull me aside and speak to me about it so that I can make it right with God.
But Jesus says to make sure your house is in order before you try to clean someone else’s house. Don’t be a hypocrite like the Pharisees.
Jesus is telling us in this passage not to have a judgmental or condemning spirit. If you feel the need to confront someone else about their faults, be sure to do it lovingly and be sure to remove the plank from your eye before you try to remove the speck from your neighbor’s eye.
Word Count – 2849
Grace Memorial Baptist Church
January 21, 2007
A couple of ideas and illustrations were borrowed from Matthew Parker’s sermon “Right Back At Cha”. Also an illustration and a few ideas were borrowed from Thomas Baird’s sermon “Judge Not”. (Matthew 7:1-5)
