Overcoming a Critical Spirit
Griffith Baptist Church – 2/8/08
A.M. Service
Text: Matthew 7:1-6
Key verse:
The Introduction
As much as 77% of everything we think is negative and counterproductive and works against us. People who grow up in an average household hear “No” or are told what they can’t do more than 148,000 times by the time they reach age 18. Result: Unintentional negative programming.
Shad Helmstetter in Homemade, Jan., 1987
It is said that when the British and French were fighting in Canada in the 1750s, Admiral Phipps, commander of the British fleet, was told to anchor outside Quebec. He was given orders to wait for the British land forces to arrive, then support them when they attacked the city. Phipps’ navy arrived early. As the admiral waited, he became annoyed by the statues of the saints that adorned the towers of a nearby cathedral, so he commanded his men to shoot at them with the ships’ cannons. No one knows how many rounds were fired or how many statues were knocked out, but when the land forces arrived and the signal was given to attack, the admiral was of no help. He had used up all his ammunition shooting at the “saints.” Our Daily Bread, October 6
This portion of Scripture is often misused. It is not against all judgment and discernment:
1. Matthew 18 prescribes the church as having to judge sin in certain instances (see also 1st Cor. 5:1-13 and 2nd Cor. 2:6-7)
2. 1 Corinthians 2:15 - But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.
3. Romans 14:3 - Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him.
There are times when we are called upon to make judgments, but they are in the right context and the right spirit.
Here, Christ is talking about judging unfairly
He is talking about a critical spirit
We are going to look at this topic Jesus is talking about in three areas, caution about a critical spirit, cure for a critical spirit and lastly concerning a contemptuous spirit
Transitional Statement: Somebody said that warnings are like the red warning light on the dashboard of the car. You can either stop and deal with the trouble, or break out the light.
Jesus is very careful to warn us for our own good so we can deal with the trouble.
Body
1. Caution About A Critical Spirit – 7:1-4
A. The Peril of Spiritual Pride – 1:1
i. A little boy came to his mother, saying, "Mamma, I am as tall as Goliath; I am nine feet high." "What makes you say that?" asked the surprised mother. "Well, I made a little ruler of my own and measured myself with it, and I am just nine feet high!" There are many people who follow the little boy’s method, measuring themselves by some rule of their own.
ii. The same word used in John 3:17 - For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
iii. Condemnation, lifting oneself up over another in criticism
iv. This kind of judging only comes from pride; that one is better able to judge another
v. 1 Corinthians 10:12 - Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.
B. The Peril of an Unjust Scale – 1:2
i. An interesting thing happened one day in a church where the great American businessman Samuel Colgate was a member. During an evangelistic campaign a prostitute came forward and confessed her sins. She was broken-hearted and wept openly. she asked God to save her soul and expressed a desire to join the church. ’I’ll gladly sit in some back corner," she said. The preacher hesitated to call for a motion to accept her into membership, and for a few moments the silence was oppressive. Finally, a member stood up and suggested that action on her request be postponed. At that point Mr. Colgate arose and said with an undertone of sarcasm, ’I guess we blundered when we prayed that the Lord would save sinners. We forgot to specify what kind. We’d better ask Him to forgive us for this oversight. The Holy Spirit has touched this woman and made her truly repentant, but apparently the Lord doesn’t understand she isn’t the type we want Him to rescue." Many in the audience blushed with shame. They had been guilty of judging like the Pharisee in the temple who exclaimed self-righteously, ’God, I thank You that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers" (Luke 1811. Another motion was made and the woman was unanimously received into the fellowship. -H.G.G. Our Daily Bread, September 14
ii. You standard for judging another will be the same standard used to judge you
iii. Use the same criteria for yourself as you do for others.
C. The Peril of a Blind Eye – 1:3
i. “why beholdest thou”
ii. We should not look for the faults of others. We need to notice our own and deal with that
iii. Honesty to admit your problem
iv. Humility to deal with your problem
v. Galatians 6:1 - Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.
D. The Peril of a Quick Tongue – 1:4
i. While eating in a restaurant, I reprimanded my four-year-old son for speaking with his mouth full. ’Mump umn Kmpfhm," was all I heard.
’Drew," I scolded, ’no one can understand a word you’re saying."
’He says he wants some ketchup," my husband said calmly.
A woman sitting nearby leaned over and asked, ’How in the world did you understand him?"
’I’m a dentist," my husband explained. Contributed by Julia Denton, Reader’s Digest
ii. “how wilt thou say”
iii. Think before you speak
iv. Act upon yourself before you react to others
v. James 1:19-20 - 19Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: 20For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.
Transitional Statement: Jesus doesn’t leave us hanging there but gives us the fix to the problem.
2. Cure for A Critical Spirit – 7:5
A. Confront Your Self
i. We ought to examine ourselves first before anybody else can (1 Cor. 11:28)
ii. Lamentations 3:40 – Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the LORD., and again, Haggai 1:5 - Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.
B. Confess Your Sin
i. Alexander Pope said that a man should never be ashamed to own he has been wrong, which is but saying in other words, that he is wiser today than he was yesterday.
ii. Proverbs 28:13 – He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.
iii. 1 John 1:8-9 - 8If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
C. Correct Your Sight
i. Only then can we judge rightly
ii. We cannot truly see the needs of others when our view is blocked.
iii. It will also guarantee that we have the right motive
iv. It will ensure we act our of love and concern
v. It will be done in the right spirit
Transitional Statement: One additional thought Christ gives concerns the proper use of judgment in regard to those that have a disdain for God.
3. Concerning A Contemptuous Spirit – 7:6
A. This is not the same as persecution. Persecution is suffering because of or for the sake of Christ. This is directed at God and anything that is holy.
B. Another way of reading this might be, “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs lest they turn again and rend you neither cast ye your pearls before swine lest they trample them under their feet.”
i. Most people have respect for what you believe.
ii. Most people will in some way reverence the church, God, and the Bible.
iii. These are not those people
C. Ridicule of the Scorner
i. Dogs that Denigrate
a. Dogs in the ancient middle east were not household pets (except for those that tended sheep) but were scavengers and cruel, often biting the hand that fed them.
b. Hebrews 10:29 – Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?
c. They attack God and His Word
d. They tear down the preciousness of God’s moral absolutes
e. They don’t care who they hurt or what they say.
ii. Swine that Scoff
a. Pigs were the worst of the worst to a Jew. When pigs feed, they will eat slop. They don’t care what form it comes in. If you throw a valuable and costly pearl into the slop, the pig will do nothing but trample it underfoot. It is of no value to them.
b. They laugh at the gospel
c. They mock and ridicule the things of God
D. Response of the Spiritual
i. Psalms 1:1 - Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
ii. Those that scorn will:
a. try to lead you astray
b. try to discourage you
iii. Here, you have to judge (or discern) that you can do nothing for them and they must be left to the Holy Spirit.
Concluding Statement: Is there anybody in your life that you have judged wrongly?
