God's Judgment about Judging Other People
The Gospel of Matthew
Matthew 7:1-6
Sermon by Rick Crandall
Grayson Baptist Church - October 28, 2018
(Revised April 22, 2021)
MESSAGE:
*Rich Atchley said, "If you went to the average university campus today, and asked students if they know a verse of Scripture, many would say that they do. Thirty years ago, most would have quoted John 3:16, 'For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.'
*Most everybody knew John 3:16 back then, but today, most would reply with Matthew 7:1, 'Judge not that you be not judged.'" (1)
*In our mixed-up, messed-up, deceived society, the only thing many people consider to be wrong is having the audacity to stand up and say that some things are wrong. "Judge not" is being misused to prop up a lot of things that are as wrong as they can be, so we need to know what the Lord is talking about here.
*"Judge not" does not mean anything goes. It does not mean we put man's wishes over God's Word. Jesus is not telling us here that we should approve or allow sin. Some people do try to use these words to support an anything-goes morality, but God always takes a firm stand against sin.
*God does want us to judge, but only in the right way. And there is a right way to judge. This same chapter in the Sermon on the Mount teaches us to recognize that some people are like vicious animals. We see this first in vs. 6 where Jesus said, "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."
*Steve Shepherd helped us understand this verse when he said, "The dogs of Jesus' time were mostly not the same as we think of today. They weren't the nice, domesticated puppies many of us have at home. They were wild dogs, feeding on garbage and dead animals. Pigs were considered to be unclean, and ancient Jews were forbidden to eat them. No self-respecting Jew would go anywhere near a pig. Wild pigs can also be very dangerous. And the animals in vs. 6 were symbolic of people who treat God and His gospel with total contempt." (2)
*Some people's hearts are so hard against the Gospel that sharing with them is a mistake, unless that is, we have clear leadership from the Lord to go ahead. And thank God, sometimes we do get to see Christ change even the hardest hearts. But we can't begin to know who the "dog" and "pig" people are, unless we can make some judgments about their lives. There is a time and place for the right kind of judging.
*Unfortunately, we tend to go overboard the other way and judge people in ways that are wrong. That's why Jesus said, "Judge not, that you be not judged." When Jesus said that, He was talking about having a harsh and critical spirit.
*Albert Barnes said that "the Lord meant rash and unjust judgment. He meant the habit of forming a judgment hastily, harshly, and without an allowance for mitigating circumstances." John Phillips said, "What the Lord forbids here is a critical, faultfinding spirit that moves us to condemn people without the facts, and without remembering our own weaknesses."
*William MacDonald said, "This command to not judge others includes things like not judging their motives since only God can see them. As Jesus said in John 7:24, 'Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.'
*God's Word also warns us about judging the service of other Christians. In 1 Corinthians 4:5 Paul said, "Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts; and then each one's praise will come from God." (3)
*God never wants us to judge other people in the wrong ways, but sometimes we do. One reason why is because we like to play the blame game. When something goes wrong, we often look around for someone else to blame.
*I used to have a PhD in blaming others, especially my wife. Somehow, some way, I would find a way to blame Mary for our problems. And this is nothing new. It started in the Garden of Eden, back in Genesis 3. There, Adam basically said, "God it's not my fault. The woman You gave me made me do it." Then Eve said, "It's not my fault. The devil tricked me!"
*The blame game is still going strong today. Bill Sullivan gave these examples that went to court:
-The University of Michigan was sued for $853,000 by an unhappy student who got an "F" in German.
-One convict who escaped from prison later sued the sheriff for negligence in allowing him to escape.
-And one surfer sued another surfer, because that guy stole his wave. (4)
*It's all a part of the blame game, but the blame game can be dangerous to relationships. And God never wants us to judge other people in the wrong ways, but sometimes we do. That's why Jesus said: "Judge not, that you be not judged." And then He gave us some good reasons why.
1. FIRST: JESUS TELLS US NOT TO JUDGE BECAUSE OF THE BOOMERANG EFFECT.
*When we judge others in the wrong ways, then just like a boomerang, our harsh, unmerciful judgment is coming back on us. And we see this boomerang effect in vs. 1-2 where again, Jesus said, "Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the same measure you use, it will be measured back to you."
*The problem is that all of us have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We all need mercy, so we all need to give mercy. As Jesus already said in Matthew 5:7, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy."
*Then in Matthew 9:10-13, Jesus went to Matthew's house, and:
10. . . many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples.
11. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?''
12. But when Jesus heard that, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.
13. But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.' For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.''
*Also remember what Paul said to all Christians in Ephesians 2:4-5: "But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)."
*The bottom line is that since we all need the rich mercy of God, we all need to be merciful. That's why author Max Lucado said, "We aren't good enough to judge. Can the hungry accuse the beggar? Can the sick mock the ill? Can the blind judge the deaf? In the same way, can the sinner condemn the sinner? Absolutely not!"
*Max went on to say, "Be careful! -- The Peter who denies Jesus at tonight's fire may proclaim Him with fire at tomorrow's Pentecost. The Samson who is blind and weak today may use his final strength to level the pillars of godlessness. And a murderer on the run may turn out to be a 'Moses' for the next generation." (5)
*We aren't good enough to judge other people. This is also one reason why James 4:10-12 tells us to "humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up. Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another?"
*The truth is that all of us need a lot of mercy, so we need to judge other people with a lot of mercy. And Jesus tells us not to judge others because of the boomerang effect.
2. HE ALSO TELLS US NOT TO JUDGE BECAUSE OF OUR SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS.
*The Lord talked about our spiritual blindness in vs. 3-5, and here Jesus said:
3. . . "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 out of 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 out of your brother's eye."
*That "speck" or "mote" in the KJV was a dry twig, or a piece of straw or a splinter. And the "plank" or "beam" was a log used in the construction of a house! Jesus is reminding us here that it is usually a whole lot easier to notice other people's sins than our own. We can see the little splinter in our brother's eye, or at least we think we can, when at the same time we are clueless about the huge log in our own eye.
*The truth is that we never have the whole story about what's going on in someone else's life. Chuck Swindoll got a painful reminder of this truth when he was speaking at a Christian retreat in California. The first day, a man came up and told Dr. Swindoll how much he had looked forward to hearing him speak.
*That evening Swindoll noticed man sitting near the front, but a few minutes into the message, the man was sound asleep. That's not too encouraging for a preacher, but Chuck thought maybe the man was tired after a long drive and couldn't help himself.
*Then, the same thing happened the next night, and every other night, so Chuck got annoyed with this man who said he really wanted to hear him teach. But then, on the last night, the man's wife came up and apologized for her husband's lack of attention. She explained that he had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer, and the pain medication he was taking made him extremely sleepy. But it had been one of his lifelong ambitions to hear Dr. Swindoll speak in person before he died, and now her husband had fulfilled that goal. (6)
*Imagine how Chuck Swindoll felt when he learned the whole truth. We must be careful about judging others because we can never see the whole picture in someone else's life. On top of that, we are blinded by our own sin. We are spiritually blind, both about ourselves and other people. This is one of the main reasons why Jesus tells us not to judge others.
3. HE ALSO TELLS US NOT TO JUDGE BECAUSE GOD WANTS US TO BLESS OTHER PEOPLE.
*The Lord showed us this truth in vs. 5 when He said, "Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck out of your brother's eye."
*We can be a blessing to other people. We can help other people. And they need help. Remember that sinful people are often hurting people. Jesus said they are like people with a splinter in their eye, and that hurts a lot!
*We can help other people, -- but not if we get side-tracked by judging them, and not if we refuse to take care of our own sin problems. Jesus said that this is the first step for us: "Remove the plank from (our) own eye, and then (we) will see clearly to remove the speck out of (our) brother's eye." We need to take care of our own sin problems first.
*Back when our daughter Katie was in high school, their English class studied Hawthorne's classic novel, "The Scarlet Letter." As part of Katie's project, she wanted a way to show the hypocrisy of the Puritans who judged Hester. And Katie had a great idea: She got a handheld mirror and painted a big scarlet "A" on it.
*You get the idea: If you want to look at someone who needs to be forgiven, just take a look in the mirror. Of course, we don't all need scarlet "A's," but there is a whole alphabet of other sins we might be guilty of.
*We all needed forgiveness, and Jesus met that need when He died on the cross for our sins. The Lord took all of the punishment for our sins. And now the risen Son of God, Jesus Christ, offers salvation to anyone who will open their heart to receive Him as their Lord and Savior.
*Any time we are aware of sin after we begin to follow Jesus, we need to repent of our sins and confess them to God. Then we will be able to help other people as Christ wants us to, not by judging them, but by looking on them with God's mercy and grace.
*In Psalm 51, King David confessed his great sin to God. And David did this with the awareness that his confession could make him more of a blessing to other people, especially to the lost.
*So, David began in Psalm 51:1-3 by saying, "Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your lovingkindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is ever before me."
*Then in Psalm 51:12-15, David prayed this prayer, "Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me with Your generous Spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners shall be converted to You. Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, The God of my salvation, And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, And my mouth shall show forth Your praise."
*David knew that God wants our lives to bless other people. And this is partly why the Lord spoke so strongly to us in vs. 5: "Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck out of your brother's eye."
*We need to take care of our own sin problems first. Then God can use our lives to bless other people. And verse 6 reminds us how we can help them. There Jesus tells us, "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."
*Yes, some people's hearts are so hard they are not ready to receive the gospel. But many other people are ready to receive the pearls that God has given to His people! And God gives us His holy pearls to pass on to other people. What are these pearls? They are the priceless truths we find in the Word of God: Love, grace, mercy, faith, purity, love, goodness, and the good news about Jesus Christ! The good news about His life, His death on the cross, His resurrection, and His salvation to everyone who will believe in the Lord.
*Nothing can help people more than the Word of God, and we can help by getting God's Word to them.
*Back in the 1930s in Stavropol, Russia, that monstrous dictator, Stalin ordered all Bibles to be confiscated. He also ordered all Christians to be sent to prison camps. Miraculously, most of those Bibles were not destroyed, but many of those Christians died as enemies of the state.
*In the early 1990s Communism collapsed in the nations of the Soviet Union, and in 1994, a mission team went to Stavropol. Sadly, the new Bibles they had ordered were held up in shipping. But someone told them about a warehouse outside of town where the confiscated Bibles were still stored. Amazingly, the team got permission to pass them out.
*They hired several local men to help load the trucks. One of those young men was very hostile to the gospel, but he came for the money. Not long after they started working, he disappeared. They found him crying in the corner of the warehouse, with a Bible in his hands.
*The young man had decided to steal one for himself. And as God would have it, he picked up his own grandmother's Bible from off the shelf! Her signature was on the front page. And God used that miraculous discovery to begin transforming that man's life. (7)
CONCLUSION:
*He may have been the last person they thought would get saved that day. But God had a plan for that young Russian's life, and God has a plan for you!
*There is mercy and forgiveness for everyone who will receive it. There is mercy in the cross of Jesus Christ! Jesus took our judgment when He died on the cross for us. Now we simply have to trust in the Risen Christ as our Lord and Savior. Then begin living with the mercy we have received.
*Let's ask the Lord to help us.
(1) Adapted from SermonCentral illustration contributed by Melvin Newland
(2) Adapted from SermonCentral sermon "Judging or Discerning?" by Steve Shepherd - Matthew 7:1-11
(3) Sources:
-ALBERT BARNES' NOTES ON THE BIBLE by Albert Barnes - Published in 1847-85 - Matthew 7:1 - Downloaded to e-Sword by Rick Meyers - Copyright 2000-2019
-Adapted from EXPLORING MATTHEW by John Phillips, Kregal Publications, Grand Rapids - "A Word of Reason" - Matthew 7:1-2
-Adapted from BELIEVER'S BIBLE COMMENTARY by William MacDonald - Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville - Copyright 1995 - William MacDonald - "Do Not Judge" - Matthew 7:1-6
(4) SermonCentral sermon "My Other Life" by Bill Sullivan - Matthew 7:1-5 - 02/07/1999
(5) Adapted from SermonCentral illustration contributed by Aaron Burgess
(6) SermonCentral sermon "Culture’s Favorite Biblical Misunderstanding" by Jerry Watts - Matthew 7:1-6
(7) Ken Taylor, Christian Reader, Vol. 33, no. 5. - Source: "Bible Illustrator for Windows" - Topic: Bible - Subtopic: Powerful in its Influence - Index: 421 - Date: 7/1998.1196 - Title: Incredible Find
