Amen. Well, what is the most well-known Scripture both inside and outside of the church? John
3 16, right? Right? John John, whether it's a football game, it's written on some football
players, you know, I make up there or stickers, right? It's on a sign on the side of the road
or even here. If you're, if you're a sacrum, if you're from Sacramento, then you may know
of a guy who wears an orange shirt that says John 3 16 on it. And he's often on an overpass
on highway 50 as I'm driving into town, waving at everyone, right? The John 3 16 guy. And
you'll know that he, he visited your neighborhood because he also takes with him chalk and wherever
he goes, he writes on the sidewalk, John 3 16. A couple months back, he came through
this neighborhood and we, we found it on every corner. John 3 16. I would definitely say
probably the most well-known Scripture both inside and outside of the church. But while
that's the most well-known and, and I will say at least the scripture references known,
right? I don't know how many people could quote the scripture, but they know John 3
16 as a reference. Well, the possible runner up or, or maybe the most quoted scripture
both inside and outside of the church, both with believers and atheists is the first verse
of the passage that we're going to look at today. And I'm going to, I'm going to say
that and the old King James judge not that ye be not judged. Judge not that ye be not
judged. Now, if you go online at all, or you go out into the, uh, the interwebs, you will
find this quoted all over the place. Everyone knows this scripture, right? And it's usually
in some thread where someone has called something out and the rebuttal is judge not, right?
A Christian has called something out or said something is wrong and the rebuttal is judge
not that ye be not judged. And the problem is that most people who quote it, they take
it as if Jesus is commanding a universal acceptance of all things, a universal acceptance of everything.
There's nothing wrong with a, a short of, um, a sort of a shut up to anyone who would
say something is wrong, not rights, not moral. And ironically, if you actually think about
it and pulling this out and saying, you can't judge me, they are doing the very thing they
condemn. Right? Right. They're, they're saying, you're judging me. You're judgmental. And
I want you to stop doing that. They're doing the very same thing. They're judging someone's
actions and telling them they're wrong. And I'm excited today because we'll explore Matthew
chapter seven, verse one through six. We're going to be looking at that passage in the
CSB version of the Bible. It'll be up on the screen. If you have your Bibles, you're welcome
to turn there. Matthew chapter seven, verse one through six. Do not judge so that you
won't be judged for you will be judged by the same standard with which you judge others.
And you will be measured by the same measure you use. Why do you look at the splinter in
your brother's eye, but don't notice the beam of wood in your own eye? Or how can you say
to your brother, let me take the splinter out of your eye and look, there's a beam of
wood in your own eye. Hypocrite first take the beam of wood out of your eye. And then
you will see clearly to take the splinter out of your brother's eye. Don't give what
is holy to dogs or toss your pearls before pigs, or they will trample them under their
feet turn and tear you to pieces. This is God's word.
Chapter seven of Matthew is the final chapter of a section called the Sermon on the Mount.
And in this sermon, Jesus is teaching his disciples and revealing the kingdom of God
to them. And he's showing them what kingdom life looks like. What kingdom life lived out
looks like. And it, you might think of it as a sort of citizenship class. Like what's
it, what's it like to be a new citizen in the kingdom? Here's what it's like. Here's
what you should be doing. Here's what you shouldn't be doing. Here's how you should
act. Here's the attitude of your heart. That's the sermon on the Mount. One scholar put
it that he is laying out a new way to be human, a new way to be human. And here Jesus is teaching
us what kingdom relationships will look like. What will kingdom relationships look like
in this new citizenship, in this new humanity, but not just within the kingdom, it will begin
to bleed out into the world. And the way that we interact with one another, the way we treat
each other, the way we judge or don't judge will matter as a witness to the world. Because
who is attracted to a kingdom or a citizenship that looks like everyone else? Every other
bickering, every, all the fighting, all the dissension, all the division, if it's out
there and it's in here, what's appealing. But didn't Jesus say that they'll know we
are his disciples by what? The love we have for one another. And here Jesus is going to
teach on kingdom relationships and what they will look like in the new humanity he's creating
with his people.
So if you're taking notes, the first thing I'll have you write down is two types of judgment.
Two types of judgment. Do not judge so that you won't be judged for you will be judged
by the same standard with which you judge others and you will be measured by the same
measure you use. Now you guys probably know this in English and any language. Most words
have a range of meaning. They don't just mean one thing, but there's a range of meaning
and based on their context and based on their usage, we can discern which meaning fits the
scenario, right? So the word judge is no different. At its most basic level, the word judge means
to consider whether something is right or wrong, to consider whether it is good or bad,
to consider whether it's wise or unwise or helpful or not helpful, a sort of determining
or discriminating one from the other, just determining which is good, which is bad, judging,
weighing two things, right? That's at its basic level. And if we come to this passage
in Matthew chapter seven, with that definition, then Matthew chapter seven says something
like this. Don't determine what is right or wrong. Don't determine what is good or bad.
Don't determine what is wise or unwise. If you try to do that, it'll be measured against
you. And I think the problem with that definition, the most basic definition of the word is that
A, it leaves us in a kind of subjective, nebulous world that there is no right or wrong. Right
or wrong is whatever you say it is. But it also, on the other side, contradicts Scripture.
In Thessalonians chapter five, we are told to test everything and hold fast to what is
good. So we're to test everything and only what is good is what we're to hold fast to.
Or in Proverbs, it was part of my reading program this week for the Bible reading, and
I came across Proverbs chapter 24, and I was just chuckling because the wisdom writer,
man, he tells me that he goes out for this walk, right? And as he's going on his walk,
he walks past a field of a sluggard. Oh, oh my gosh. Like, don't you dare judge. Judge
not, oh, wisdom writer. How dare you call him a sluggard. How dare you call him lazy.
And then he goes on to say, he passes a vineyard of someone who has no sense. Well, that's
rude. How that's really rude. Who are you to say I have no sense? He says, thorns had
come up everywhere. The ground was covered with weeds. The stone wall was in ruin. I
applied my heart to what I observed and I learned a lesson from what I saw. A little
sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest and poverty will come
on you like a thief and scarcity, like an armed man.
What did the wisdom writer just do? He discerns. He sees one property that's well tended. Someone
who rises in the morning and goes out and does their work and works hard. And he sees
the prosperity that brings and he sees another field of a sluggard and he sees it's overgrown
and nothing there. And he goes, Hey, I learned a lesson here. I judged between the two. We
know that to learn wisdom, we must observe, we must weigh the goodness or badness of innumerable
situations and actions in our lives. It would be impossible to live and to not judge in
this way. So whatever chapter seven, verse one is saying, it can't be this most basic
meaning. As a John Stott, the theologian says, don't judge does not mean don't think. We
have to think, we have to weigh, we have to consider.
But there is another meaning on the other end of the range of meanings of the word judge.
And it is the idea of judgment in a final sense. The Bible tells us that God's judgments
are final and absolute. That he has the power to judge and condemn. He has the kind of judgment
that has no appeals process because it's always right. He gets it right every time. It's a
kind of righteous judgment that has the power and is good and right to separate and condemn.
It is the kind of judging that is only appropriate for the one who created the standard of good
and right and who executes on that standard perfectly. And it's this kind of judging,
I believe that Matthew seven is talking about. A kind of judging that is proud, that is a
haughty that assumes a position that is not your privy. And so you might read chapter
seven, verse one and two as saying, don't be proud. Don't be rude or self exalting or
exacting in your judgments. These are above your pay grade. Don't be nitpicky and fault
finding looking for ways that you can boost your self righteousness over someone else.
But instead be generous in your judgments, be humble, be charitable, be measured. Some
want to use parts of this standard, the standard of good and right, this moral standard that
God has. They want to use parts of those that you don't measure up to against you. And you
know what they want to do with those other parts of that same standard that they don't
measure up to? They want mercy, mercy, please. But over you, I'm going to hold it as if I
want exact judgment right now. I want condemnation. I want it to fall on you. People do that.
And that's what the Bible is saying is hypocritical. That's a hypocrite because it's the same standard
and you want it applied to the other person different than applied to you.
Another way that we might use that is we might create our own standard, especially as it
comes to issues of salvation. Things that prick our conscience, things that guide us
according to the spirit, we might then take and make into salvation level issues and hold
it over other people.
Years ago, when I was a kid, if these were played in church, these were from the devil.
I'm quoting these are from the devil. And if they're played in church, whoever wants
to do that can't have the spirit, can't be a child of God. They must be a child of the
devil. What did we just do in worship then? Right? They made it a salvation issue. They
elevated, they created their own standard and then they held it over people.
This also is hypocritical. It puts them in the seat of judge. We should recognize that
instead of putting ourselves in the seat of judge, instead of creating a standard of our
own or using the standard that is provided by the perfect judge and nitpicking which
ones will apply to you and which ones will apply to me, instead we should recognize we're
both under the same standard. And we are both judged by that standard. And we both failed
to measure up to it. And so we are both in need of great mercy. Amen.
What does this result in? This results in not judgment that pushes away, not judgment
that writes off or condemns, but one that draws in a kind of judgment. We see the wrong.
We know there's something not right. We don't call something that is sin, not sin. But what
we do in response to that is instead of pushing away or drawing a line or say separating,
we draw in, we say, Hey, we desire mercy and I want to show mercy and I want you to, I
want to help you to see what you cannot see. And I desire a good for you. And I desire
wholeness for you because whatever that is, is not bringing about the life God has for
you.
The difference between the two ways to judge is all about the attitude of our heart. And
verse two warns us that you will be judged with the kind of judgment you choose to use.
You will be judged with a kind of judgment you choose to use on others. And the, you
will be judged, quote, you will be judged. This is in the passive voice in the Greek.
And what that means is that who's doing the judging and the, you will be judged. God is
doing the judging. You will fall under the judgment of God with the kind of judgment
you choose to use against your brother or sister.
Another way to say this is the quickness to judge in a way that separates and condemns
is an invitation for God to judge with equal harshness and with equal expediency. If you
choose a form of judgment that is harsh and that is exacting and immediate, Matthew seven
says you've chosen how you want to be judged by God. Or as Christostom, a church father,
wrote when you judge this way, you are making the judgment seat dreadful for yourself and
the accounting strict.
I don't know about you, but when I get to heaven, I want God to fudge the numbers a
little bit. Hey, just a little bit. The way you judge others will be the way you are judged.
Number two, the law, the log, the law, the log and the spec. Verse three and five, they
have this comedic illustration that Jesus is used.
And if I guarantee that if you were there on that Mount, as Jesus is giving that you
would have been caught up in an uproarious laughter at just how ludicrous the sight of
this illustration is that Jesus gives. If you've ever had something in your eye, you
can also feel the pain of it, right? I remember as a child going to the beach and it's like,
I don't know what it was, but the beach is probably beautiful whenever you go there.
But when I go there, the winds kick up and shoot the sand right into my eyes. Like, well,
especially if you're playing in the ground and you're throwing the sand in the air. But
I was a little kid. This happened last week. Getting something in your eye is painful.
The eye blinking, the watering of the eyes, the desperation to get it out, get it out.
It's not a way to live, is it? It's not a way to live, to have something caught in your
eye. In fact, it can affect the way you see everything or don't see anything, right? And
that's in the real physical sense. But Jesus is also through this illustration, alluding
to the spiritual sense. Do we have something caught in our spiritual eye? Do we have a
speck in our spiritual eye? Do we have a beam in our spiritual eye? Do we have a besetting
sin or a hang up in our life or a pattern of behavior that is not life-giving and that
colors the way that we see everything? And Jesus says that the right thing to do is to
help our brothers and sisters get that thing out.
That's what I love about this passage is it doesn't say, leave it alone. Your brother
has a speck in his eye, your sister has a speck, leave it alone to each their own. The
ultimate result is you've got to be in a position to be able to help them get it out of their
eye. But you're likely not right on the front end. You're not in a good position. But at
the same time, you can't let them live with it. It's crippling their entire life. It's
not helping them to flourish. It is not the way it should be. But you also know that if
you have something caught in your eye, there is a way of removing it that is very important.
And that is to be delicate. If I show up to help you get the speck out of your eye and
I've got a chisel and a hammer, like run, right? Or if you're like, man, I need water
to flush out my eye and I go get the 2000 PSI pressure washer and I'm like, hold still,
right? I'll blow a hole right through your face. Right? Even a pair of tweezers, like
if my wife is coming at me with a pair of metal tweezers to get something out of my
eye, it's like, no, not at all. It's a delicate process. You might gently flush out your eye.
You might use the soft part of your fingertip or a tissue. And the delicate work of helping
your brother or sister address sin in their life will not be possible with a beam of self-righteousness
in your own eye. The delicate work that is necessary to help your brother through or
the process of your sister is not possible with a beam of condemning, writing off or
separating judgmental attitude from your brother. Imagine even the illustration of my wife is
going to help me get this thing out of my eye and she's going to use a 10-foot pole
to do it. That's not going to work. Especially my wife. That's not going to work. She can
barely see as it is. It's me, sweetie. Come to my voice.
But when we have that judgmental attitude, when we get up on our high horse of self-righteousness
and we don't recognize the shared mercy necessary between us, then it's like trying to get something
out of someone's eye with a 10-foot pole. The only way to get something out of someone's
eye is to draw them in near, not push them away, not draw a line between you and I, but
to draw in and near. And then up close in a delicate process, you can help them rid
them of their life of that thing that is making their life not flourish.
True discernment in this process begins with self-examination. Before addressing sin in
others, we must face the areas in our own life where we are falling short of what is
good and what is right. We must hold the standard that applies to all of us, to ourselves. And
anywhere that we're not measuring up, we are to repent, which means to turn away from it
and turn toward the right, toward God and his ways to acknowledge. It's not simply saying
sorry. It's saying, hey, I'm turning away from that which is not causing life, and I'm
turning toward the life-giving word of God and to allow it to change us inside and out.
We have to come to the place where the blood of Christ has fully been understood as necessary
in order for us to be clean. Without the blood of Christ, I am not clean. Without the blood
of Christ, I am not whole. And when we get to the place of overwhelmed gratitude for
God's mercy shown to us through repentance and confession and self-examination, then
we finally got to the right place of mind and attitude where we can help a brother or
sister. And until we've done that, we are not any good or help.
You cannot see clearly when you are blind to your own condition. The third thing I'll
have you write down is wise discernment. The final turn in the passage that we're looking
at today out of Matthew chapter seven is verse six. And it sounds a little bit out of place
because he throws in this word picture. This, I mean, we got dogs, we got pearls, we got
pigs, and then we got pigs and dogs turning on us and tearing us to pieces. What's going
on here? Don't give what is holy to dogs or toss your pearls before pigs, or they will
trample them under their feet, turn and tear you to pieces.
What you have here is a classic Jewish wisdom saying. And with all wisdom sayings, if you
spend some time in Proverbs, wisdom sayings are intended to require thoughtfulness, contemplation,
and consideration. You carry them around and you start to go, I can see how that saying
applies to this, or I can see how it applies to that. And you gain wisdom by that. Oh,
it's like tossing pearls to pigs. And I think in this context, as Jesus is writing, it's
something like this. What do you do when you have the right heart and you have the right
attitude and you go to a brother or sister and you point out what is obviously in their
eye and you offer to wash them in the water of the word and to help point them to Christ
and they refuse? What do you do? What do you do? What do they do when they double down
on where they're at or they deflect? What do you do when they harden their hearts to
the truth and they deny the word of God as true or the standard of God as true? What
do you do when they turn and accuse you of being judgmental?
And I'll say this, the gospel of forgiveness, the good news of overcoming and crucifying
sin is for everyone. There is no amount of prejudgment over someone's worthiness to hear
the good news that is acceptable. You and I don't have the right to sit in judgment and
say this person should hear about Christ. This person should hear about the good news
of Jesus and salvation. This person should hear about how they can overcome the sin in
their life and be free, but that person shouldn't. I'm going to withhold it from them. We don't
have that prerogative. But once the gospel, the good news, the truth has been shared,
there is a limit to the time that is to be given to an obstinate rejecter of truth. This
is what he calls giving what is holy to dogs and tossing pearls before pigs. Because in
the same way that it is important and necessary and vital that they hear the truth and respond
to it, if they reject it, the gospel of Jesus Christ is more precious than anything. And
the holiness of God and his standard is more precious than anything. And the call from
God to come near to him is more precious than anything. And if you're chasing after someone
who rejects it over and over again, trying to keep offering it to them and they keep
rejecting it, you are tossing something precious to, in the metaphor, in the example, what
is holy to dogs, what is precious to pigs.
Dogs and pigs are blind to the value of pearls. My dogs wouldn't have a clue. They'd eat
them and play with them. They'd choke on them. They wouldn't have a clue. And there is value
in proper judgment from the right attitude that includes knowing when to speak and when
to remain silent and move on. And we have to learn the difference. But I will say this,
if you're going to err on the side of caution, err on the side of grace, err on the side
that maybe one more time. But when you began to feel like you're tossing pearls to pigs,
go to prayer. Rattle with it. If this is, hey, I've got a formula, three strikes and
you're out. You weren't given that formula from the Bible. The formula should be three
times and then I plead with God to give me another chance. But I know at some point,
pearls to pigs. But I cry out to God and I pray that maybe, maybe just one more, maybe
they need to hear it in a different way. Maybe send someone else. But I pray and pray it
should be an agonizing process to ever move on from someone and say, I'm casting what
is holy before dogs.
But that doesn't mean it doesn't ever present itself. And that doesn't mean that we don't
need wisdom to know when that time has come. And invite the worship team come as we conclude
this morning. In the end, Jesus isn't telling us never to judge, but he's calling us to
judge rightly. When we stand under the same standard of God's holiness, then we realize
just how much mercy we ourselves need. And that humble awareness changes the way we see
others and how we address sin in their lives.
We are to first humble ourselves. We're to remove the beam out of our own eye, that through
honest confession and repentance and gratitude for God's grace, before you ever try to help
another person, true discernment always begins by letting God search your own heart. But
then second, we are to help others with a gentle hand. Once our eyes have been cleared
by God's mercy, we're free to help others gently.
We don't come with a hammer or some harsh condemnation. Instead, we come alongside with
compassion. We want to draw them in and we want to draw them near, not push them away.
But at the same time, we must practice godly discernment because Jesus also calls us to
be wise. And sometimes, despite our best and most loving efforts, people will reject truth
and they will dismiss correction.
And even then, we don't respond with pride. We don't respond with despair. We remain prayerful
and we trust that God knows every heart and can change even the hardest of hearts.
And this is what it looks like, my friends, to be kingdom people. This is Jesus's invitation
in the Sermon on the Mount for us to enter the kingdom and reveal the kingdom through
the way that we live. Not excusing sin. I love that about this. He did not let sin off
the hook. That's how the world wants to use this passage, isn't it? You can't judge me.
But he doesn't let sin off the hook. Sin must still be dealt with. And this side of eternity,
it can be dealt with gently through bringing the Word and washing and pointing people to
Christ for their salvation. But there is a time and place where that will be done. And
the judge of all judges, Big Capital J, will ultimately judge all sin and evil.
And so, in the meantime, we are at a place of not writing people off, but drawing them
in and praying and hopeful to restore them to this King, this judge, so that when they
stand before that judge, he doesn't say, What merit do you want me to judge you by? What
you did or what you accomplished or how good you lived or what standard you lived by? Or
do you want me to judge you by the blood of Jesus Christ covering your sins? That you
turned from your sin. You repented. You picked sides. You didn't partner with your sin or
ally with your sin. You picked sides and you said, My sin is over there. I'm at war with
my sin. I choose Christ. And sure, maybe I warred with that sin my whole life, but we
weren't allies or friends. It's over there. It's an enemy. The blood of Christ covers
me. We don't get to judge. It's above our pay grade, that kind of judge. But there is
a judge who will judge according to his good, perfect and holy standard. And God save us
if we are found outside of that, not covered by the blood of Christ, not under the mercy
of God. Our hearts should burn for that and for our fellow mankind, our brothers and sisters,
both in the church and outside. And we should exercise godly judgment that's marked by humility
and mercy and a true, genuine desire attitude for wholeness in their life. And I'll tell
you, friends, we need the Holy Spirit to empower us. I don't know about you, this doesn't come
natural. At least not the very first thing that I wake up wanting to do. Our world says
like get on that digital computer there and be a keyboard warrior and destroy…I mean,
that's like one of the most watched videos on YouTube is, right? So-and-so destroys such
and such. They destroyed them. They took them down. They wiped the floor with them. Yeah.
Really? I'm all for debating ideas. I'm all for the best idea wins. Let's go to town over
ideas. But should we be destroying people? Should we be destroying people or should we
be drawing near, drawing them in, drawing them with the same mercy that we've received
so that we can preach the same gospel that we received unto life? That's what marks
a kingdom fellowship. And that's what we're trying to build here at Village. Will you
join me in praying? Father, thank you for your word. And I pray that we would all submit
to it. We would all allow it to change our hearts and whatever it is in our particular
situation, circumstance, or life, that we would allow it to transform us, that we would
walk out of here different than when we walked in. I pray your grace and mercy. May we recognize
the grace and mercy we have so been lavished with and may we freely give it to others,
drawing them in, not with a judgmental attitude, not with drawing lines or pushing away, but
instead drawing them in, speaking truth and pointing them to Christ.
And I pray that the world would be turned upside down around us. Our neighborhood would
be turned upside down. People would go, what is going on? I want to be a part of that place.
I want to be in a community that treats one another that way. I want to be in a place
where people love in that radical upside down way. Could you make us into those people,
I ask in Jesus' name. Amen.