Text: Matthew 7:1-6; Luke 6:37-42
Subject: Judging others
Theme: Christians are not to have a critical spirit
Prop: Jesus gives us ways to keep from having a critical spirit.
T.S. Let us consider the DEFENSES that Jesus gives to protect us from having a Critical Spirit.
INTRODUCTION
Can you tell me the one verse that it seems as though every non-Christian knows?
MATTHEW 7:1 "Do not judge so that you will not be judged.
A. What does it mean to judge?
1. There are three possible meanings of the word.
1. Judge as in a person who sits in a court room.
2. To discern.
3. To condemn.
2. In order to be able to do what Matthew 7:1 says, we must understand which of the meanings Jesus intends for this passage.
a. Judge as in a court?
1. Civil court judgments are not prohibited. Titus 3:1, Romans 13.
2. Church discipline. Matthew 18:16, Titus 3:10, 2 Thessalonians 3:6, @ John 10.
b. Discernment?
1. According to Matthew 7:16-20, Jesus tells us that by our fruits we will be known. Matthew 7:20 says, “So then, you will know them by their fruits.
2. MATTHEW 7:6 "Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.
c. Condemning judgment?
1. Luke 7:37, “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned.
2. READ ROMANS 14:1-4.
3. John Wesley Illustration.
1. For some reason, it is easier to jump to negative conclusions about people than it is to assume the best about them. When we do this, we ascribe to them bad intentions and evil purposes that may not be true. We also reveal something about ourselves, for the faults we see in others are actually a reflection of our own.
Personal struggle at times. Dodie Gadient, school teacher for 13 years, truck and towing a camper. I-5 near Sacramento California during rush hour.
As Christians we do want to be guilty of a Critical Spirit, or condemning judgments. JUDE1:9 But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!"
We need a way to defend ourselves from being critical of people. It is easy for Satan to get us to be critical, therefore loosing perspective of how Jesus wants us to deal with people.
Transitional Sentence: Let us consider the DEFENSES that Jesus gives to protect us from having a Critical Spirit.
SERMON
READ MATTHEW 7:1-6, LUKE 6:37-42
I. ONE DEFENSE AGAINST A CRITICAL SPIRIT IS, EVALUATION OF THE STANDARD THAT YOU USE TO JUDGE. Matthew 7:2, Luke 6:38
1. Read the passages and explain that Jesus is explaining that the standard we use, will be used against us!
a. Are we going to use bitterness. Woman at the well, or Mercy. Jesus to us?
b. Are we going to compare other people to us?
READ ROMANS 2:1-7
c. If we are able to use Jesus as our standard, then we find that we are not even that perfect!
d. LUKE 6:38 "Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return."
e. How many times do we just look at a person and make a judgment about them.
In 1884 a young man died, and after the funeral his grieving parents decided to establish a memorial to him. With that in mind, they met with Charles Eliot, president of Harvard university. Eliot received the modest looking couple into his office and asked what he could do. After they expressed their desire to fund a memorial, Eliot impatiently said, “Perhaps you have in mind a scholarship.”
We are thinking of something more substantial than that… perhaps a building.” The woman replied. In a patronizing tone, Eliot brushed aside the idea as being too expensive and the couple departed.
Then the next year, Eliot learned that this plain pair had gone elsewhere and established a $26 million memorial named Leland Stanford Junior University, better known today as Stanford.
II. ANOTHER DEFENSE AGAINST A CRITICAL SPIRIT IS EVALUATION OF YOUR OWN LIFE. Matthew 7:3-5.
1. READ MATTHEW 7:3-5.
a. Clean up your own act! This will help keep our motives pure.
1. GAL 6:1 Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted.
2. READ 2 SAMUEL 12:1-7! David’s sin blinded him to truth, and mercy.
b. If we are blind, then we will miss lead people.
1. LUKE 6:39-40 And He also spoke a parable to them: "A blind man cannot guide a blind man, can he? Will they not both fall into a pit? A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher.
2. Faults are like the headlights of a car; those of others seem more glaring than your own.
3. How often we overlook our own failures and sins while criticizing the faults in others! In fact, our judgment may reflect our own flaws, which usually are more serious than those we see in someone else.
4. A woman named Ruth Knowlton told how she came to see this truth. The building across the alley was only a few feet away, and she could easily look into her neighbor’s apartment. Ruth had never met the woman who lived there, but she could see her as she sewed and read each afternoon. After several months, she noticed that the figure by the window had become indistinct. She couldn’t understand why the woman didn’t wash her windows.
One sunny day Ruth decided to do some housecleaning, including washing her own windows. Later that day, she sat down to rest by the window. To her amazement, she could clearly and distinctly see her neighbor sitting by her window. Ruth said to herself, "Well, finally she washed her windows!" By now you’ve guessed what really happened: Ruth’s own windows were the ones that needed washing.
In Matthew 15:14, Jesus called the Pharisees blind guides because they thought that they were so holy, they could not properly discern things.
CONCLUSION
Don’t let people keep you from discerning. We are not to be critical in our spirit, but we are to be merciful toward other people. There will be times when we will have to make a judgment, but if we evaluate our standard, our life and motive, it will help keep us from making critical judgments against people. If we do not make judgments, then we will not be able to help people.
When you we try to lovingly tell people that if they do not change their life and give it over to Jesus, they will not go to heaven, don’t let them use this passage as a way to make you feel that you have no right to tell them that.
Jesus is warning us not to judge people with a critical or hypocritical spirit.
