Matthew 7: 1 – 15
Fruit Inspectors
“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. 7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! 12 Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Becaus narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. 15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 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.
The disciple Luke also reported on this teaching of our Lord. Let’s see what he recorded.
Luke 6: 37 – 49, “37 “Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.” 39 And He spoke a parable to them: “Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into the ditch? 40 A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher. 41 And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the plank in your own eye? 42 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the plank that is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother’s eye. 43 “For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44 For every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush. 45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. 46 “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say? 47 Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: 48 He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. 49 But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.”
I do not know about you but I have difficulty judging people. Should we judge people or not is the question. Today we are going to see what our Precious Holy Spirit teaches regarding how we should conduct our lives in regards to this vital situation.
I think that we can all agree that our opinions mean nothing. We therefore have only one standard in thinking about judging others. What does our Lord say in His word?
“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.
We can see right off the bat that our Lord speaks about this issue like it is a court session. For one thing we are not the judge. Do you see our Lord’s direct instruction to us – ‘Judge not!’. We are not to render a verdict against anyone. I know that many times my flesh cries out for people to get the ultimate sentence. However, He always stops me with this one which I think we are all familiar with in the book of Deuteronomy chapter 32 verse 35, “Vengeance is Mine, and recompense; Their foot shall slip in due time; For the day of their calamity is at hand, And the things to come hasten upon them.’ We often just respond with our memory of this verse, ‘vengeance is Mine, I shall repay.’
Our Lord here also reminds us that in addition to not being the judge we are also not in the jury. We are instructed to ‘condemn not!’. We are not to decide anyone’s case - Are they guilty or not.
What is terrible hard for us sinners is to do these two things – give and forgive. However, if we follow the advice from our Lord as given in 2 Corinthians chapter 9 verse 6 we will greatly benefit, “6 But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.’ In other words, if we respond greatly in love by giving and forgiving when our desire is a pound of flesh, we shall greatly receive rewards from our Great God.
Now there are also situations in which we are to judge. Here are the reasons and purposes in which to do so;
John 7: 24 says, “24 Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.’
1 Corinthians 2: 13 – 16, “13 These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. 16 For “who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.”
1 Corinthians 6: 1 – 11, “1 Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unrighteous, and not before the saints? 2 Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? 3 Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life? 4 If then you have judgments concerning things pertaining to this life, do you appoint those who are least esteemed by the church to judge? 5 I say this to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you, not even one, who will be able to judge between his brethren? 6 But brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers! 7 Now therefore, it is already an utter failure for you that you go to law against one another. Why do you not rather accept wrong? Why do you not rather let yourselves be cheated? 8 No, you yourselves do wrong and cheat, and you do these things to your brethren! 9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.
1 Corinthians 11: 31, “31 For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged.”
We are to carefully here both sides of issues before commenting. In addition we are always willing to offer mediation to any problem or situation. And lastly, we need to remember to judge ourselves.
In addition in receiving instruction on how we should think about others we are taught that the real success or failure in love is reflected in our behavior and speech.
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.
Here is a little reminder. You are under constant surveillance. People are watching your every movement. What you say and do is scrutinized to see if you are really who you claim to be – God’s child.
There is important reality regarding our behaviors in public - 39 And He spoke a parable to them: “Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into the ditch? 40 A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher. 41 And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the plank in your own eye? 42 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the plank that is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother’s eye.
We do not see our own faults clearly. If you have a wife, she does. Check with her. This will keep you humble.
Our Lord used a great startling comparison. A key point to remember in these verses is that we need to deal with our own problems before we can go and help others. For example, if you have marriage problems. Then you are not in a position to give advice to someone else in their marriage problems.
Now in addition to our actions our Lord remarks about our speech.
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.
In each of the preceding passages and ‘sections’ our Lord and Master Jesus has been revealing something of the inner ‘secrets’ of the Kingly Rule of Heaven. These have included the contents of the Lord’s Prayer, with special emphasis on their pleas in it for God’s Name to be hallowed, for His Kingly Rule to come, and His will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven; His teaching concerning laying up treasure in Heaven, the need for singleness of eye, and the call to serve God and not mammon; the call to seek first the Kingly Rule of God and His righteousness; and the approach they are to adopt towards fellow believers in the matter of judgment on failure. All these are ‘holy’ matters. They are for the disciples. They refer to something that is more valuable than pearls). So He now gives warning to them against their taking these holy things and offering them to those who will treat them lightly. For He points out that all that will happen if they do is that these holy things will be trodden underfoot, and unnecessary persecution may result.
They are to beware therefore of treating ‘outsiders’ in quite the same way as they treat fellow-believers, and especially outsiders who are not amenable to the Good News they bring. It is one thing to offer these things to ‘sheep’ who love the Shepherd, and of whom they can therefore be required, it is quite another to offer them to packs of dogs and herds of swine. Thus dogs and pigs must be approached differently, and they must show careful discernment in what they reveal to them and offer to them. They must not give them what is holy, they must not offer them pearls of spiritual wisdom or of spiritual guidance for insiders, which is only for those who are spiritual as we read in 1 Corinthians 2, “11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. 13 These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. 16 For “who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ. They must not profane holy things.
So Jesus warning is that what is to be holy and precious to the disciples, the words that He has been teaching them, was not to be introduced to such people, for it would arouse wrong reactions within them. They would treat it with contempt, and reject it, and trample it under foot, and would even retaliate violently against it because of the sinfulness in their hearts.
‘That which is holy.’ The thought here is of teachings such as those that He has been giving them, which are dear to the hearts of God’s people but which yet might seem strange to indifferent or antagonistic non-believers, especially if similar requirements were being laid on them. Such teachings were therefore best kept ‘within the fold’. His point is that there are many such spiritual truths, and many kinds of behavior requirement, which are only for those ‘within’, those who can compare spiritual things with spiritual, and should not be revealed to, or expected of, those ‘without’, and The Lord Jesus Is saying that we must thus use discernment in our witnessing. For those ‘without’, the central message must be that of the saving message of Christ, ‘repent for the Kingly Rule of Heaven is at hand’. It must be the message of the Gospel. But we should not meanwhile seek to press on them other types of spiritual experience, nor call on them to conform to other spiritual requirements, nor expect them to understand other spiritual truths, for if we do the effect may well be off-putting, and even worse.
Having outlined in some depths the Messianic interpretation of the Law and some of the ‘holy teachings’ connected with it, our Lord Jesus now explains to His disciples how they can obtain the means by which to fulfill it.
7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
As we have seen these words connect back to their dealings with ‘what is holy’. While His disciples are not to degrade what is holy by offering it to those not ready to receive it, they are to make the greatest of efforts to obtain it for themselves. The tense of the verbs indicates persistence. They are to ‘Ask and go on asking, seek and go on seeking, knock and go on knocking.’ And in response they are to know that what they ask for will be given to them, that what they seek they will find, and that as they knock on their Father’s door it will be opened to them. In other words they are to have an absolute assurance that He will give them what is holy, that is, will give them all that The Lord Jesus has been speaking about.
We should note that the thought here is that they can, as it were, enter Heaven itself. Asking might be accomplished by a call from afar, but seeking, and especially knocking, indicate making an approach right into His presence. They are taking to heart the words of Isaiah 57.15, ‘For thus says the high and lofty One Who inhabits eternity, Whose name is Holy, “I dwell in the high and holy place with him also who is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones”.’ ‘So’, says our Lord Jesus, ‘He is waiting for you. Go and ask, go and seek Him, go and knock until He responds, and go on doing it again and again.’
And as our Lord Jesus has previously given a pattern of prayer they are not left in any doubt as to what they are to ask for and what it is that they are to seek. They are to ask for and seek the hallowing of His Name, the coming of His Kingly Rule and the bringing about of His will on earth. These are the ‘good things’ that they are to ‘seek first before anything else on earth’
We should note here that the reason that we have to pray is not in order to persuade God to do what He is unwilling to do, but so that we might rather have a part in it, and so that we might come to know Him better as we work together with Him. It is so that we might have the privilege of having a share in the fulfillment of His eternal purposes, so that in the ages to come great glory might be brought to His Name because of what He has accomplished through His people. God intends to do it with or without us, but He also intends to do it through the loving and earnest participation of those who love Him. That has always been His way. That is the story of the Scriptures. He uses earthen vessels through the greatness of His power so that the glory might be His. Ours is the privilege to share in it with Him, and if we refuse to have our part in it, ours alone will be the loss.
8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
And as they persevere in prayer for the coming of His Kingly Rule and the power of His Holy Spirit, along with all His other precious gifts, they will ask and will receive, they will seek and find His presence and all that He has promised them, they will knock and His door will be opened to welcome them and to give them His provision. It should be noted that this is not a suggestion that they may receive whatever they ask for regardless of what it is. There is nothing selfish about what they are to seek here. For the context limits its significance to ‘what is holy’, to what His own prayer provided for them as the basis for their asking, and to the other gifts offered throughout His Sermon. But what could be greater than those? Indeed what is requested there should be our chief concern. That is why He taught them the Lord’s Prayer, and that is why He promised them gifts and rewards. For the whole aim behind all this is that they might come to know the Father more really and intensely, might carry forward His will, and might have real confidence in Him.
9 Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?
He then gives them examples in order to strengthen their faith and confidence in their Father. God is their heavenly Father, so let them first consider what an earthly father would do. What earthly father, if asked for bread would give a stone to his son? What a callous father it would be who would give a stone to his hungry son, pretending that it was bread. Or what earthly father, if asked for a fish would give him a snake that looks at first sight like an edible fish. The answer in both cases is that such a thing is totally beyond belief. Even more so is it then beyond belief with their heavenly Father.
It may be significant that both the false gifts can be associated with Satan. Perhaps our Lord Jesus had in mind here what had been offered to Him when He was praying. It was Satan who offered stones to Jesus instead of bread, and it was as the Serpent of old that he came to Him on the high mountain offering Him good things, such gifts as honor, and prestige and power. Such gifts come from Satan not the Father. The Father has only good things to give to His children, not the worldly items.
11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!
And thus they are to recognize that if they, with all their imperfections, can behave so faithfully towards their sons, how much more certain it is that their heavenly Father will give the good things of the Messianic age to those who are truly His sons when they ask Him persistently, seek Him earnestly, and knock confidently and continually on His door because they are so eager to meet with Him. And by this means they will be provided with all the strength and ability that they will need in order to successfully ‘seek first the Kingly Rule of God’, and to ‘seek His righteousness’, and in order to be able to fulfill His commandments in the way that The Messiah, our Lord Jesus has outlined, for in verse 12 He summarizes all those commandments in one sentence.
12 Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
Note that the ‘therefore’ indicates that it is precisely because they can expect to receive God’s good things that they can consider living such a life, and by doing so fulfill all that the Lord Jesus has been commanding them, just as it is because we have received the crucified and risen Christ that we also can do so.
To Consider these words as your guide, then almost always it will solve any moral dilemma that we may have when facing difficult decisions. For while we certainly have to remember the differences between ourselves and others, if our aim is to behave towards them in the same spirit as we would wish them to behave towards us we will not go far wrong.
This final passage opens and closes with choices to be made between two options, the first example in verses 13-14 demanding a choice of which gate to enter and which path to tread, and the final one demanding that they consider which foundation they will build on. And the stern warning is given in each case that while one of those choices will lead to life and security, the other will lead to final death and destruction. And the central thesis of the whole passage is that men will be judged by the fruits that they reveal, whether in ministry or in life.
13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
The emphasis on the narrowness of the gate indicates that it is for the comparatively few, and that those who choose it must expect to find themselves with relatively few companions. It is not a gate to which men will be flocking. Being narrow it must be entered one at a time. Nor is it easy to find, only those who seek will find it, and only those who are in earnest and determined, and responsive to His words will do so. But if they wish to find life it is that gate by which they must enter.
The alternative is the wide gate and the broad way. That is where they will find the crowds. It is the popular way and does not have to be found. It is obvious to all. It is the way most people have chosen, for it is totally unrestricted, and on it you can think what you like, believe what you like, and do what you like, and there is plenty of room on it for all. But there is one problem connected with it. It leads to ‘destruction’.
The narrow gate and hemmed in (restricted) way on the other hand leads to life. It is narrow, and demanding, and ‘hemmed in’ because of the troubles that they will face on it, and because those in it are not free to do just whatever they like. Their choice is restricted. They must do the will of the Father. But it is the only way that leads to life. Thus they must choose which way they will take.
15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits.
‘Beware of false prophets.’ The false prophets come ‘as though in sheep’s clothing’. That is, they somehow linked themselves with the Name of Jesus and professed to be teaching what He taught. But really their teaching was false and they came with false motives. ‘In sheep’s clothing’ may signify that while they came with false motives, and therefore as wolves, they did so as wolves ‘clothed in sheepskin’, that is, seeking to give the impression that they were sheep among the flock, and at one with the flock, even though underneath their disguise they were wolves.
Thus He would want His listeners to note the danger that, while some of these men might be genuine and acceptable, others of these ‘prophets’ might really be ‘ravening wolves’. Their message might appear to be orthodox, but they would really be coming to ‘devour them’ and lead them astray. That probably included obtaining money from them, or sponging on them by becoming guests in their houses and taking advantage of their hospitality.
Such people could disturb the flock, use up their possessions, and might even bring harm to them spiritually. So our Lord Jesus stresses, that they had tested, and if necessary avoided, these phonies. These false representatives of our Great Messiah, could be identified from their ‘fruits’. In other words He had no doubt that the teachers to be avoided would manifest themselves in some way by what they did and what they said. He is thus pointing out that they will be recognizable, either from their behavior, or from what results from their preaching. For once they arrive, any who think about it carefully will soon recognize whether they are taking advantage of the people’s needs for their own gain, and whether their teaching is in line with His.
It is a warning to us today. We have to learn to say with Isaiah, ‘to the Law and to the Testimony, if they speak not according to this word (the Scriptures) it is because there is no light in them’ as the prophet Isaiah reveals in chapter 8 verse 20. For many false prophets still prevail today.
Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 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.
Our Lord Jesus emphasizes the kind of false prophets that He is speaking about. They reveal their falseness by their lives and by their teaching. Thus they are not only like wolves dressed up as sheep, they are like thorns which give the impression of bearing grapes, or thistles which give the impression of bearing figs. They put up a great pretence and make a great show and seem to be offering so much. But on a closer look it is seen to be a sham. They offer much, only in the end to bring disappointment and even discomfort. From a distance the small black berries can look like grapes, and certain spiky bushes can give the impression of bearing figs. But our Lord Jesus’ point is that once people get closer instead of gathering fruit, all they gather is thorns in their hands. The fruit of the bushes will reveal them for what they are. The same description of thorns and thistles is found in Genesis chapter 3, “18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field.
Possibly our Lord Jesus therefore expects His hearers here to remember the Garden of Eden and gather from it whose influence lies behind these false teachers. The apostle Paul picks up on this idea in 2 Corinthians chapter 11, ”13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.”
Our Lord Jesus then turns their attention to trees. All agriculturalists know the difference between a good and a bad tree. One produces good, healthy fruit. The other produces fruit of a kind, but it is not pleasant to eat, because there is something wrong with the tree. However carefully nurtured it has been, it has turned out to be ‘corrupt’. And it will never produce good fruit. So the sensible tree farmer cuts it down so that it will cease taking the goodness from the ground, and then he burns it. He uses it for what it is good for, fuel. And then it is gone. In the same way false teachers will be known by their fruit, whether it be the fruit of false doctrine or the fruit of false motives. And they must recognize that one day they too will be ‘burned’.
There are a lot of professions one can do. People who attempt to rip off God’s own do not realize what terrible consequences await them.
I would suggest this fact to you. If you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, then He has given you His Holy Spirit. A tremendous gift of our Precious Holy Ghost is ‘discernment’. This gift warns you when you come across false teachings. You do not know exactly what the correct teaching might be but your spirit is troubled. If this happens to you in your present church on more than one occasion, then I would suggest you go and find another church. If not, you will suffer.
