Removing Specks and Casting Pearls
Matthew 7:3-6
OKAY – let’s do this... MGCC – this morning we are wrapping up our study of Matthew 7:1-6...
Six verses that kind of sit right in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus’ Kingdom Manifesto about how things are done and how lives are to be lived in His Kingdom.
UNDERSTAND – 2000 years ago on a grassy hillside overlooking the Sea of Galilee... Jesus told those gathered that the lives that they will be empowered to live are distinct and different than the world around them and the religious leaders over them. Distinct and different in regard to such things as...
Lust, anger, marriage, divorce, truth telling, keeping our word, responding when wronged, how we treat our enemies, where to store up treasure... distinct and different from how the world handles worry and anxiety, AND... as we began unpacking last week, distinct and different in regard to making judgments about other people.
YEAH – last week we did a deep dive on these 2 verses...
Do not judge, or you too will be judged (KJV).
For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. – Matthew 7:1,2
AND MGCC – as we said last week...
Both non-Christians and Christians have weaponized this verse to prevent anyone from making a moral judgment on their life. “You can’t tell me how to live. Who are you to tell me that this behavior is wrong or sinful. After all your very own Jesus said, ‘judge not, lest you be judged.’
AND LISTEN – where we landed last week after looking at this verse in its context, and after looking at other Scriptures.
IS THAT – in Matthew 7:1-6, Jesus is not telling us that...
• we are to live our lives without any discernment
• we never have the right to speak into the life of another Jesus-follower about sinful and ungodly behavior, or
• that we must hide and remain silent about certain Biblical truths, because the world we be offended and label our words hateful
INSTEAD – Jesus is telling us that we should be very, very careful about ‘how’ we judge. Get It?
UNDERSTAND – what Jesus is calling out is not exercising judgment but being judgmental.
Any there is a huge difference between the two.
YOU SEE...
Judging someone is about discerning truth based on facts.
Being judgmental is about being censorious and finding fault with people without cause based on personal feelings or assumptions.
AND LISTEN - the issue is not really about whether or not we are to judge, but rather ‘how’ and ‘who’ we are to judge.
After all Jesus said...
Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly. – John 7:24
Literally in the Greek, ‘but judge with righteous judgement.’
SO YES – we are actually called ‘to judge other’ but to do it correctly, rightly, with righteous judgment.
AGAIN – it is so very important that we get this one right?
BECAUSE – the misunderstanding, the misapplying and the abuse of these verses, and of the entire issue of judging others for that matter.
HAS - led Jesus-followers down some wrong and destructive paths, LIKE...
• becoming so self-righteous, hateful and judgmental towards others, that they really earned that label of... ‘Christians are so mean, narrow minded, hateful and judgmental”
• believing that they have no right to confront another brother or sister who is caught up in a destructive sin and behavior... ‘who am I to judge’
• Hiding their light of biblical moral truth under a basket in order to avoid being labeled by culture as being judgmental and promoting hate.
NOW – if you missed the conversation last week, I really want to encourage you to check it out online...
AGAIN – it is so important that we get this right, AMEN?!
(Website, Spotify, Apple Podcast, TuneIn)
OKAY – a quick review of how we are not to judge.
Judging Not...
Don’t judge superficially
In other words don’t judge by appearance or without having all the facts... You know, making a judgment when you only have part of the story. Because things are not always as they appear... another fast pic
Don’t judge hypocritically
Don’t judge without considering your own sin. Like don’t be like the Pharisee in the parable Jesus told in Luke 18...
I thank God that I am not like...
Don’t judge unwarily
For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
Matthew 7:2
UNDERSTAND MGCC - the way we judge others is how God will judge us...
NOW – we have seen this same idea already in the SM
• If you forgive, God will forgive you
• If you show mercy, God will show mercy to you
AND LISTEN - the way we judge others is also how others will more than likely judge us.
The measure we use, will be measured to us.
What goes around.... comes around.
In other words if we judge others – superficially, harshly, angerly, ungraciously
THEN – do not be surprised when they judge you the same way...
Don’t judge outsidely
What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. – 1 Corinthians 5:12,13
UNDERSTAND - if someone is outside the family of God, we don't hold them accountable to Christian family rules.
LIKE - we don’t expect them to act like Jesus, before they surrender to Him.
NOW MGCC – this does not mean that we never speak up for biblical truth. I am not saying that at all (Salt and Light).
I’m just saying that...
Don’t preferentially
In other words – don’t judge by your own preferences, likes and dislikes. BECAUSE...
Our preferences are just that... ‘our’ preferences.
AND LISTEN – as we read the NT we see that this was a problem in the early church... I only eat this kind of food,
I celebrate these special days and feasts; I have had this medical procedure...
Great... good for you.
Don’t judge enjoyably
UNDERSTND...
IF - judging others is one of your favorite pastimes
IF - it makes you feel happy and alive inside.
That is a problem... that is not good.
Don’t judge condemningly
UNDERSTAND – the goal, the end game in ‘judging correctly’ is not condemnation (John 8)...
BUT RATHER – restoration...
GET IT?
This Morning we are going to look at...
• Removing Specks (3-5) and
• Knowing When To Not (6)
Prayer
OKAY – let’s do this...
NOW – we are going to look at Matthew 7:6 first, and the statement knowing when to not...
Because I want to wrap up today with verse 3-5 and removing specks...
I. Knowing When To Not...
Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces. – Matthew 7:6
QUESTION – have you’ve ever heard of the expression, “don’t cast your pearls before swine?”
NOW – in my studies a came across a story about a lady (I can’t remember her name) but she was an author who lived in England. And one day as she was entering a building,
a much younger lady held the door for her and said, “age before beauty” and she responded “pearls before swine”
NOW – that is not at all what this verse means, but that was really a great come back.
OKAY – so what is Jesus teaching us in this verse...
Let’s try to define some words.
“Do not give dogs who is sacred”
NOW - dogs in those days, apart from the dogs that worked with the flocks – were not like the dogs that we have in our homes today. Domesticated pets that we house and feed and who can actually seem like part of the family.
Instead they were scavengers that roamed the streets in packs, eating garbage, causing trouble... and who were foten vicious and dangerous.
I MEAN - in 2 Kings 9, when Jezebel fell out of the window the dogs came and eat her up.
So don’t think this... (cute dog pic)
Think this (ferocious dog pic)
AND - what is the thing that is sacred?
Well, when you came to the temple to make a sacrifice, the sacrifice would be presented to the Lord. You’d keep a part to take home, a part would go to the priest for his meal, and a part would go on the altar.
No one would even consider throwing that to a dog...
I mean after you give them the meat there is a good chance that they may turn on you and attack you...
literally ‘biting the hand that fed them’
and turn and tear you to pieces.
do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet...
NOW – pigs were unclean animals for the Jewish people,
Like they are never spoken of positively in Scripture.
No one would think about throwing a pearl to a pig.
A pig would try to eat it, and then once he realized that it was not food, trample it under His feet.
Sacred thing and pearls =
the gospel, the message of the Kingdom.
And so, who are the pigs and the dogs?
Understand, Jesus is talking about certain kinds of people...
NOW – referring to someone as a dog or a pig, is extremely language and can it be troubling to our modern, politically correct ears...
However, John Stott is writes:
Jesus always called a spade a spade. His outspokenness led him to call Herod Antipas “that fox” and hypocritical scribes and Pharisees “whitewashed tombs” and a “brood of vipers.” Here he affirms that there are certain human beings who act like animals and may therefore be accurately designated “dogs” and “pigs.” END Q
These are people...
• who attack the messenger pigs trample the message.
• who cannot recognize the beauty and value of the pearls of biblical truth. They see it, ascribe it no value, trample it under their feet, and drag it through the mud. They not only reject it; they seek to destroy it.
One of my commentators wrote:
Just as dogs will fail to show proper reverence for sacrificial meat, and pigs will fail to value precious pearls, the wicked will fail to value and show reverence for the message about the kingdom...
Again, Jesus is his own best commentary regarding what he means. In Matthew 10:11-15 he says,
Whatever town or village you enter, search there for some worthy person and stay at their house until you leave. As you enter the home, give it your greeting. If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet. Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.
NOTICE – that Jesus tells us not to judge in advance who will receive or reject the gospel. Only God knows the human heart. We offer the good news to all without discrimination. However, when it is rejected with hostility and force, we must move on. Others will listen, and they will believe.
It is our calling to go and find them.
NOW - we see Paul doing the very same thing in the book of Acts, In chapters 13 and 18...
In Pisidian Antioch... when the Jews incited the city leaders to drive them out....
So they shook the dust off their feet as a warning to them and went to Iconium. – Acts 13:51
And during Paul’s 2nd missionary journey while in Corinth when the Jews opposed Paul and became abusive...
he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent of it. From now on I will go to the Gentiles. – Acts 18:6
John Stott (sermon on the mount) writes...
We cannot possibly deduce from this, however, that Jesus was forbidding us to preach the gospel, to unbelievers. To suppose this would stand the whole New Testament on its head and contradict the Great Commission to ‘go and make disciples of all nations...
However, we are not to cheapen God’s Gospel by letting them trample it under foot. Can anything be more depraved than to mistake God’s precious pearl for a thing of no worth and actually to tread it into the mud.
At the same time it is a very serious step to take to give up on people. I can only think of only one or two occasions in my experience when I have felt it was right.
This teaching of Jesus is for exceptional situations only; our normal Christian duty is to be patient and persevered with others, as God has patiently persevered with us.
Removing Specks
Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye but don’t notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and look, there’s a log in your eye? Hypocrite! First take the log out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. – Matthew 6:3-5
NOW – Jesus is using hyperbole, exaggeration here to make a point. OKAY – let’s take note of a few things...
1. That this is taking about 2 people who are in the Christian Family.
2. That Jesus is wanting the guy, to help his brother who has a speck in his eye, but only after he has first dealt with the plank in his own eye.
NOW – some people think that the speck in the eye represents some little sin, and that the plank represents some really huge and massive sin.
For what it’s worth, I do not think that this is Jesus point at all...
Instead I think that the plank is being a self-righteous hypocrite.
SO – how do you remove the speck in your brothers eye...
FIRST – by not coming at them with a self-righteous, judgmental I am so much better than you attitude.
UNDERSTAND – when we remove the speck from a brothers eye... it is to be with a humble spirit, with the goal of restoration.
AND MGCC – the reason why this is so important for all of us to get right, and please listen,
IS BECAUSE – one day the one with the speck will be you and one day it will be me... and when that day comes we are not going to want someone with the plank of self-righteousness stick out of their eye to come at is...
IN FACT – just a verse down the road from our text is Matthew 7:12 we find the ‘Golden... Rule...’ which is that we are to do to others, as we would them to do for... us’
UNDERSTAND – in the family of God, when someone strays, family members come and in great humility say,
"We love you too much to let you go down that road. Let's get back on the path of righteousness."
OKAY – here’s the deal...
We all need to be willing to help others and we all need to be open to correction from others.
AND - this is what Paul is talking about Galatians 6...
Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted.
(I think the temptation is to be self-righteous)
Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. – Galatians 6:1,2
MGCC - don't miss this. He said, "Brothers and sisters."
SO - who is he talking to? To someone who inside the family. "Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a," what?
Say it with me.
"If someone is caught in a sin." Wait a minute.
Who are you to say that's a sin?
Who are you to judge that's a sin?
AGAIN - who are we talking to? People in the family.
AND LISTEN – in God’s Family, we all agree that God's word is truth, His word is the authority in all things.
In other words, when the Bible is clear about something then we're going to live according to that.
QUESTION - if someone in God’s Family is living in a way that is contrary to God's word, what do we call that?
We call it a sin. Is that politically correct? Not so much.
Who are you to say it's a sin? WELL - this is our family rules.
AGAIN - we don't hold those outside the family to our family rules, BUT – for those inside these are our these are our rules. AND IF - someone that we love is living contrary to God's word, it's called a sin.
AND – according to our family rule book, those who live by the spirit should do what to that person?
Gossip about them? Throw them out of the church? Kick them while they're down? LIKE – do we
• shoot our own wounded?
• tell them, "You're a sinner and going to hell where the worm never dies and where there's weeping and gnashing of teeth. Unless you repent.
Is that what we do... of course not.
THEN – what do we do?
You who live by the spirit should do what? You should restore that person how? Gently.
• With the same grace that you would like to be shown, you show to them.
• With the same understanding that you would like to be shown, you show them.
• With the same mercy that God gave to you, you give to them.
You who are spiritual... restore them, help get them back on the right path. You do it with love, you do it with compassion, and you do it with grace. Then Paul says this,
"But watch yourselves or you also may be tempted."
UNDERSTAND - the moment we start correcting others, we become vulnerable to pride, to self-righteousness.
Pride comes before a fall. We don't want to fall as well.
SO - the moment we start down the removing speck road, We have to be wise. We have to have discernment.
We have to have tons of wisdom, or we too may be tempted with pride and self-righteousness.
THEN - Paul says here is what we do, in the family of God, this is what we do, we carry each other's burdens.
When some person is down, we take the burden off them. We love them back.... We carry each other's burdens.
In this way, we fulfill the law of Christ.
UNDERSTAND MGCC – removing specks is always about restoring fallen believers. We don't shoot our wounded.
• We love them... We pray for them, and
• We do everything we can to help restore their lives.
YES...
THIS - is who we are as Jesus followers.
THIS - is how we do it.
The same grace that forgives us is the same grace that we use to restore others.
We don't pretend like it didn't happen and we don't kick people out and shun them away.
We love them back into the fellowship.
If someone is caught in a sin, we call it a sin.
It may not be popular in the world today, but that's what we call it. We don't kick the person when they are down because guess what? We sin, too. We love them back gently, praying that they will be restored and to greater service in His kingdom, because that is the kind of God we serve.
AND HOW - do we do this?
NOW - this is so important. When Jesus came, John 1, 14. He came full of grace and truth. This is what the text says. When Jesus came, he was full of grace and truth.
AND - I think grace comes first because without grace,
• truth is harder to digest
• truth tends to just drives people away.
AND LISTEN – hen we flip onto the other side, when it's all grace and no truth,
"Oh, God loves you. You can do whatever you want. God loves everybody. You can do whatever you want. Who am I to judge you? All behavior is equal. All beliefs are equal. You can do whatever you want."
When there's all grace and no truth.
That leads to people feeling and believing that behave any way they want.
When Jesus came, He came full of grace. It's the loving kindness that draws people to repentance.
AND - He came full of truth. You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.
AND - that is how we, as Jesus followers are to do when it comes to removing specks.
AGAIN - if someone strays inside the family, we love them enough to tell them the truth. You're going down a path that's going to hurt you. It's going to hurt other people.
It’s hurting your relationship with God.
AND - we always do it with grace because we are equally in need of the grace of God.
That's how we do it the church.
Because we know that when someone falls, by the grace and truth of God, they can be restored.
Removing Specks...
• Do it plank-lessly
• Do it biblically
• Do it gently
• Do it compassionately
• Do it restoringly
• Do it full of grace and truth
AGAIN - those outside the family of God, we don't judge them.
We show them grace and we proclaim truth.
HEY MGCC - would you join me in praying and asking God to help us get this right. To do it in a way that honors him, doesn't turn people away, but actually draws them to the loving kindness of God.
