Matthew chapter 7, we're going to look at the
first six verses this morning. The words of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Speaking, he says, Judge not,
so that you be not judged. For with what judgment
you judged, you will be judged. And with the
measure you used, it will be measured back to
you. And why do you look at the speck in your
brother's eye and do not consider the plank in
your own eye? 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? Hypocrite. First
remove the plank from your own eye, and then
you will see clearly to remove the speck from
your brother's eye. 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 into pieces. Let's pray. Father,
Lord, we understand this is your word. Lord,
it's for our profit, for our growth in the faith.
And God, I pray that you would give us understanding
this morning, Lord, spiritual understanding,
discernment, Lord. Father, open our eyes to behold
wondrous things out of your law. Lord, open our
eyes to behold even greater clarity the work
of our Lord and Savior Jesus, Lord. Show us Christ,
Lord, this morning, we pray in his blessed name.
Amen. There are probably two Bible verses that
I would say all Americans know, or most Americans
know, and if they don't know them, they're at
least familiar with them. Now, the first one
is John 3 .16. It seems as though everyone knows
that. If you look around at any stadium or football
game or any large venue, you're going to see
that verse posted on various signs. It seems
like all people are familiar with John 3 .16.
However, the second verse that I have in mind
is the one that is more often quoted. And that
is our text this morning. It's actually verse
1. Here's what we hear all the time. Judge not,
lest you be judged. And of course, when it is
quoted, most often it is done out of context.
A lot of times you have unbelievers quoting this
verse and they're wanting to prove something
that Christians are hypocrites. So they're going
to cite this verse to bolster their argument.
So when Christians rightly make a judgment call
on some ethical or moral matter, inevitably you're
going to hear protests such as, you're not supposed
to judge. Or you Christians, you're all so very
judgmental. You're hypocritical. You're supposed
to follow Christ and what did Jesus say? Judge
not. And that's really the mantra of our culture.
Who are you to tell me that what I am doing is
wrong? We love our independence. We love our
autonomy. Judge not. You're not to be the one
that's then passing judgment upon me. But is
that really what our Lord was driving at in this
text? Was he really just saying, hey, live and
let live. Don't judge anyone. Are we never to
make a judgment call? Are we never? To place
a verdict on what is right and wrong? Is that
our call as believers? Of course not. So then
what did our Lord mean here this morning when
he told his followers, when he's looking them
on that day and he tells them, you are not to
judge. What is the context? Well, remember where
we are in the scriptures. We're in Matthew 7
and we're ending now, coming to the end of this
great sermon known as the Sermon on the Mount.
Jesus was preaching to a great crowd that assembled
because they wanted to be near him. They wanted
to hear him speak. And in the crowd there were
some who were devoted followers. They were his
disciples. There were some in that crowd who
were curious and they wanted to be around the
popular teacher. But there were also some gathered
in that crowd who were antagonistic and even
hostile to him. And we know such as the leading
religious officials, the scribes and Pharisees.
So now in this sermon, the Lord is speaking about
what life in his kingdom looks like. That's really
Matthew 5, 6, and 7. What does life in the kingdom
of God look like? Study this text. In his kingdom,
he said, it is those who are poor in spirit and
who mourn are blessed. Doesn't make sense. Poor
in spirit and mourn? Yeah, you're blessed if
that is you. In the kingdom of Christ, he says,
it is the meek, not the powerful. It is the merciful,
not the ones who bring revenge. who are blessed
of God. The Lord was contrasting true righteousness,
which by the way is demanded by his kingdom.
He's contrasting that with the pseudo self -righteousness
of the religious leaders. Now you have to remember,
at this time, the scribes and Pharisees were
seen really as the ultimate height. They were
seen as the pinnacle of righteousness. If you
would have asked anyone on the street of that
day, scribes and Pharisees, they were it. They
were the ones closest to God. And the word Jesus,
he's talking to those people who gathered and
he says, you must rise above them. Matthew 5,
20. For I say to you that unless your righteousness
exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you
don't come into the kingdom. You will be excluded
if you don't rise above them. Now, the scribes
and Pharisees, we know, although they were religious
figures, they had badly misinterpreted and badly
misrepresented the word of God. In fact, they
had created their own traditions, man -made of
course, and they were elevating them to a status
that was at least on par, equal with or higher
to God's law. That's what they felt. So they
had laws on everything. Laws on how you should
dress. Laws on how and when you should pray.
Laws on how you should wash your hands before
eating or having come in contact with a Gentile.
So for the scribes and Pharisees, in particular
for the Pharisees, For them, righteousness was
not a gift received from God. Rather, righteousness
was earned what they presumably did for God.
This was their error. And so by elevating their
own rules and their own traditions, they began
to assume that if someone broke one of their
traditions, one of their interpretations of the
law, well, that was akin to breaking the law
of God. And because of that, These religious
leaders became very censorious. They were hypercritical.
They were finding fault with everyone, including
Jesus, the sinless son of God. That's how far
they had gone. They hypocritically condemned
others who did not somehow live up to their own
traditions. So if you didn't dress like them,
if you didn't eat like them, if you didn't pray
like them and observe the ceremonies that they
thought you should observe, then you were condemned
by them. And Jesus said they were self -righteous
hypocrites. The worst part of this is they were
blind to their own sin. They would really severely
condemn others without ever taking the time to
examine their own lives and see the sin that
was so very present there. Now what about us
today? Human nature has not really changed. The
Lord knows human nature. He knows our tendency
that each of us has. So to take the truth of
God and turn that into hypocrisy as well. See,
if not careful, you and I today easily become
just like the Pharisees, albeit not or unknowingly.
It is far easier to apply the truth to other
people than to apply the truth to ourselves.
It is far easier. Therefore, the Lord in this
passage, he's commanding his disciples, you must
first apply the truth to yourself. before you
ever seek to apply it to anyone else. He does
not want modern day Pharisees. He does not want
hypocritical disciples. Now therefore, he's using
the Pharisees and their hypocrisy as a backdrop
to teach his followers, how should you properly
relate to one another in his kingdom? In his
kingdom, he says, you are not to judge and condemn
your brother. Don't judge and condemn your brother.
Instead, and we're not there if you look down
at verse 12, you see the golden rule, chapter
7, verse 12. Instead, you are to do unto others
as you would have or want them to do unto you.
This is life in his kingdom. But now, if we're
looking at this, do not judge, the very first
thing I want to begin with is, let's start with
what these verses do not mean. Clearly, Christ
was not saying that we are never to pass judgment
on anything. And there are many different ways
this can be done. For example, judicially, we
know it is good for a judge to pass judgment.
Authority has been granted to the courts, to
the judicial system for this purpose. If not,
you have anarchy. But it's not just the courts.
Even you and I as individuals are called to make
judgment calls about people. Now that sounds
a little counterintuitive. But for example, take
Proverbs 13 .20. It says, He who walks with wise
men, Now, so what's that mean? You need to seek
out wise men and you need to avoid fools. But
how can you walk with wise men or steer clear
of the fools unless you first discern who the
wise are and who the fools are? You're called
to be discerning here. The church, it is also
called to then judge behavior and pass judgment.
authority has been granted to the church for
this purpose. There is some ecclesiastical authority
granted to her. Let me give an example. Let's
say a member of the church is found out to be
in an adulterous relationship and he then protests,
hey, don't judge me, only God can judge me. And
you will hear that at times. Friends, the scriptures
have already judged the sinfulness of the act.
We're not making a judgment on the act. God has
made a judgment call in the act. It is the responsibility
of the church, though, to go after that brother
and seek his repentance. This is what we must
do. Now, Paul dealt with this at Corinth. And
I think it's so instructive because it helps
us understand what the text does not say. Because
it's been badly misinterpreted. In 1 Corinthians
5, you have a unique situation there at the church
at Corinth. You have a man who's a member of
the church, and he's having an affair, it says,
with his father's wife. It's his stepmother,
not his mother. Look at verse 1. It is actually
reported that there is sexual immorality among
you and such sexual immorality as is not even
named among the Gentiles that a man has his father's
wife. And you, church, are puffed up and have
not rather mourned that he who has done this
deed might be taken away from among you. Look
at verse 3. For I indeed, as absent in body,
Present in spirit, now notice the next phrase,
have already judged, he said, as though I were
present, him who has so done this deed. Verse
4, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when
you are gathered together, that's what we're
doing this morning, along with my spirit, with
the power of the Lord Jesus Christ, deliver such
a one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh.
It seems harsh. Why? So that his spirit may be
saved in the day of the Lord. Your glorying church
is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven
leavens a whole lump? Therefore purge out the
old leaven, that you may be a new lump. Since
you truly are unleavened, for indeed Christ our
Passover was sacrificed for us. The eminent apostle
Paul said, notice, he had already judged this
sinning man. He used the word, by the way, judge.
And he's calling for him to be excommunicated
from the church. He says, let him be taken away
from among you. And not only that, turned over
to Satan. He's outside the kingdom of God. What's
the deal? The church cannot tolerate open, flagrant
sin. It is a stain upon the holy name of Christ.
Now, oftentimes, in attempt to argue and justify
symbol... sinful behavior, there are some immature
believers who will ask this question, and I've
been asked this before. Okay, so we're supposed
to get out the big sinners, right, Pastor? But
what about the other sinners? I mean, what about
the glutton? What about the man who overeats?
Are you going to kick him out as well? I mean,
after all, all sin is sin. Now, they're doing
this to justify their own behavior. But here's
a lie. And some of you may really have never
heard this before, but here's a lie that many
Christians, particularly today, have embraced,
and this is the lie, that all sin is the same.
You hear it all the time. Sin is sin, Pastor.
Yeah, you might have committed adultery, but
you overate. Sin is sin. Well, it is true that
all sin is breaking God's law. It is also true
that all sin comes short of God's glory. All
sin is an affront to the holiness of God. All
sin will be judged. However, the Bible clearly
shows that some sins are more consequential and
serious than others based upon their nature,
their consequence, and the intent behind them.
God clearly deals with different sins. And you
see this in the Old Testament, for example. The
adulterer, he died. He was stoned. The glutton
did not. We find this all throughout the scriptures.
Some sins such as idolatry, we read about it
in Isaiah 2. Murder. Again, I've been just using
adultery as an easy one here. They cost you your
life. But other sins were dealt with by bringing
an offering. You didn't die for them. Now Jesus
said in John 19, listen to the words of our Lord.
He's speaking to Pilate there on that fateful
day when he'd been arrested. He tells Pilate,
you can have no power at all against me unless
it had been given to you from above. Therefore,
the one who has delivered me to you has the greater
sin. There's more sin because I was turned over
than what you're doing to me. In Matthew 11,
Jesus speaking about these cities that had seen
his mighty acts. Then he began to rebuke the
cities in which most of his mighty works had
been done. Why? They didn't repent. They saw
the miraculous hand of God. The Messiah was sent.
He does the impossible. They would not repent,
and he says, I tell you, it will be more tolerable
for Tyre and Sidon, he later says, for Sodom
and Gomorrah, in the day of judgment than for
you. You will be judged more harshly because
you had greater light. All sin, as I said, is
an affront to God. And yes, it will be judged,
but not all sin is as equally consequential,
which is why not all sin requires church discipline.
That's why we don't go after the person who ate
seven pieces of pizza. Yes, it's gluttony. Yes,
they ought not to do it. But let's not try to
make a moral equivalency either. John 7, 24,
Jesus said this. He said, judge not according
to appearance, but judge righteous judgment.
What? Okay, Matthew 7 .1, don't judge. John 7
.24, he says, judge righteous judgment. From
that passage alone, it is very clear that God
does not forbid us from ever making a judgment
call. In fact, we are to judge. It just needs
to be done righteously. Well, how do you do that?
Let's look at the passage again. So what is our
Lord forbidding? What are you not to judge as
the people of God? First of all, you don't judge
motives. You can't. Only God can see the true
motives of someone's heart. Friend, let me say
this. You may think you know why they did it,
but you can never with assurance know why someone
did or did not do something regardless of how
much you think you know about them. You cannot
judge their motives. Instead, you and I as Christians
are called to walk in love and we are called
to give the benefit of the doubt. The Bible says
in 1 Corinthians 13, love believes all things.
That does not mean that love is naive, but it
means love believes the best about our brother
and sister and I'm not going to judge their motives.
I don't see the heart. Secondly we are not to
judge merely by appearance. That's what Jesus
said in John 7 24. For example those gathered
that day the most righteous looking people of
the day were the Pharisees. But Jesus said hey
don't judge by appearance. These people only
look righteous. In fact they're whitewashed tombs
that only look good on the outside. Third. Don't
judge those who have conscientious scruples about
matters that are not right or wrong. This is
the weaker brother, stronger brother. And we
looked at this in the book of Romans, so I'm
not going to spend a lot of time there. But friend,
let me just say this. Don't judge your brother
who has a different preference than you. What
do you mean? It may be which version of the Bible
you carry. Don't argue. Walk in love. It may
be what someone should wear to church. Don't
argue. Walk in love. It may be whether someone
can watch TV on Sunday afternoon or not. Don't
argue. Walk in love. It may be what their view
of eschatology in the end times may be. Don't
argue. Walk in love. Paul is saying in Romans,
Jesus saying in John 7, don't injure one another
about non -essential things. You are not to judge
your brothers in these matters. You are to walk
in charity. You are to walk in love. Lastly,
what it does not mean. You need to stop magnifying
the sins of others while minimizing your own.
And this is what the Lord is getting at. He is
condemning a hasty, fault -finding spirit that
the Pharisees possessed. He commanded his disciples
not to be censorious, not to be severely critical.
So in essence, don't be the person who finds
fault with everyone. Discerning? Yes. Hypercritical?
No. Now this word judge is interesting. Judge
not. The word is actually in Greek. It's krino.
And it has a variety of meanings, a variety of
nuances. It can mean to pronounce an opinion
concerning something right or wrong. But the
way it's being used here, it also has the idea
of condemning. Don't condemn. And the idea that
Jesus is getting at, because remember, who's
gathered? Scribes and Pharisees. The idea is
do not be like these Pharisees who condemned
those who did not follow their own way. So this
could literally be translated, and it would be
a fine translation, don't condemn so that you
be not condemned. That would be a good translation
as well. Now earlier in the sermon, Jesus has
already told us the one who shows no mercy receives
no mercy. The one who will not forgive others,
Jesus said this, not your pastor, Jesus said
the one who does not forgive, will not be forgiven.
The one who condemns you too will be condemned.
In fact he said the measure that you use to judge
someone else that very same standard that very
measure will be used against you in the day of
judgment. Robert Mount said this Jesus does not
ask us to lay aside our critical faculties but
rather to resist the urge to speak harshly of
others. The issue is serious in that God will
judge us by the same standard that we apply to
others. This rather frightening truth should
change the way in which we tend to view other
people's failings. Friends, we need to take seriously
the words of our Lord. Our Lord is very concerned
about the attitude that finds fault with others
while being oblivious and blind to your own.
That's the problem here. What really lies behind
this sin of judging others? It's self -righteousness.
You somehow think you're more righteous than
they. Martin Lloyd -Jones, he said, if we ever
know the feeling of being rather pleased when
we hear something unpleasant about another, that
is the wrong spirit. If we are jealous or envious
and then suddenly hear that the one of whom we
are jealous or envious has made a mistake and
find that there is an immediate sense of pleasure
with us, that's it. That's the condition which
leads to this spirit of judgment. It's when you're
happy that someone kind of just rubbed you the
wrong way, when you find out they're not doing
well, and you're like, ah, you kind of take joy
in that. Now there's a consequence to this. Look
at verse 2. For with the judgment you judge,
you will be judged. And with the measure you
use, it will be measured back to you. Can you
imagine saying it before the Almighty on the
day of judgment? What do you want from him on
that day? You want mercy. But he's going to use
a measure that you've used against other people?
See, you're not the final judge and you're not
in the final court. That's reserved for God alone.
James says, there is one lawgiver who is able
to save and to destroy. Who are you than to judge
another? Who are you? David Gusick in his commentary,
he says, we judge others by one standard and
ourselves by another standard, being far more
generous to ourselves than others. With the measure
you use, it will be measured back to you. This
is the person that when they're found out, they're
like, okay, yeah, I might have been wrong, but
I didn't really mean it that way. God knows my
heart. See, you want mercy. You want people to
be understanding of you. But you don't offer
that back to them. When we judge others, Jesus
said, God will judge us by the very standard
we used. And that's very serious to me. Weber
says, do not judge others until you are prepared
to be judged by the same standard. If you judge
harshly, you will be judged harshly. But if you
judge others generously, then the idea is God
will judge you generously. In James, that second
chapter, which is a thorn in the flesh for many,
James chapter 2, verse 13. Here we hear the words
coming from God through the writer. For judgment
is without mercy to the one who has shown no
mercy. Those who receive mercy from God show
mercy to others. Friends, it's all throughout
the New Testament. Matthew 5, 7, blessed are
the merciful. Why are the merciful blessed? He
said, for they shall obtain mercy. Now, does
that mean then that somehow we earn? Before God
merit by showing mercy? Does showing mercy gain
us an entrance into the kingdom of God? No. Of
course not. We're saved by grace through faith.
And that not of yourselves. It's a gift of God.
Not of works. So that no man may boast. But what
it does mean is those who have entered into the
kingdom by God's grace. They reveal their change
of nature. They reveal the new birth. How? By
being like their Lord in showing mercy. And those
who are not like that. have not been born again
of grace. Listen, this is to us. Jesus is saying,
this is life in my kingdom. Well, what do I do?
Consider yourself. Look at verses 3 and 4. Why
do you look at the speck in your brother's eye
and do not consider the plank in your own eye?
How can he say to your brother, let me remove
that speck from your eye, and yet the whole time
you have a plank in your own? The word speck
there, it means twig. The word plank, it's a
log. I mean, do you see, now obviously Jesus
is speaking in hyperbole, but can you see the
absurdity of the situation? You have a man with
a log protruding from his eye, and he sees a
man over here with a little splinter in his,
and he says, hey, let me help you with that.
Let me help you get that splinter out of your
eye. Jesus is saying, the obvious answer, if
you really want to help someone else, the best
thing you can do is get that big log protruding
from your own eye out. So then you're going to
see more clearly to be able to help your brother
with his problem. Here's what Jesus is saying,
and let's not miss it. The sin of the one who
judges is much larger than the sin of the one
being judged. The sin of the one who judges is
the one with the log. And the sin of the one
being judged is the one with the twig. Again,
what our Lord is aiming at, it's self -righteousness.
At the core, the self -righteous person will
always do this. Minimize their own sin and magnify
the sins of other people. They have to do that
because they have to look good in front of others.
And Jesus is saying, here's the key in my kingdom.
You have to deal first with your own sin before
trying to help someone else deal with theirs.
Only, it is only after you have dealt with your
sin that you will be sufficiently humble to be
able to help someone else with their sin. See,
the Pharisees were not. They looked good, but
they weren't really interested in helping others.
They were interested in condemning others. Why?
Because in condemning others, it made a comparison
point, and they looked so much brighter. They
looked all the better. And that's what their
goal was. Verse 5, hypocrites, Jesus said. First,
get the plank out of your own eye. That's what
these Pharisees were. They were just simply hypocrites,
pretending. Pseudo -righteousness is what they
had. The problem with the hypocrite is that he
fails to apply the same judgment to his own life
that he willingly applies to his brother's life.
That is wrong. Far more interested in finding
fault than actually helping. If these people
had been interested in righteousness, they would
have seen that they too had fallen so far short
of God's glory and would also have cried out
for mercy. But they didn't do that. This is what
I believe is the key to life in the kingdom.
It is only when you and I have been humbled before
a holy God, truly humbled, that we are in a position
to help other people with their sin. Because
you understand your own depravity. If you and
I could truly see what we are before God, apart
from Christ. Imagine standing before him apart
from Christ. I don't believe we would ever judge
anyone again realizing we have no foundation
on which to stand. Oswald Chambers wrote this,
and I love this quote. Here's a pious, godly
man. He said, I have never met the man that I
could despair of after discerning what lies in
me apart from the grace of God. He's not just
saying that, by the way. He feels that. He knows
that to be true. See, if you're going to remove
the log from your own eye, this is to realize,
friends, this is to realize you have the same
capacity to sin as your brother. It could be
you. So what's the answer? What's the conclusion?
Look at verse 6. Now this seems a little disjointed.
Don't give what is holy to dogs, and don't cast
your pearls before swine. How does that fit in?
Well, Jesus has told his followers, don't judge,
right? They are not to judge. But that did not
preclude them from being discerning. Although
you're not called to judge, you are called to
be discerning. The Lord commanded. Now notice
what he's commanding here. Don't give what is
holy to dogs and don't throw your pearls to pigs
is what he's saying. First of all, think about
this. How can you obey this command, just like
earlier, unless you discern who is a dog and
who is a pig? Because that's what he's talking
about. Now again, we have to learn to be discerning
of others without ever becoming hypercritical
or censorious. We don't want to do that. Now
the dogs that Jesus was referring to, these are
not domesticated pets like you and I have today,
but they were wild animals that terrorized towns
and villages. They were unclean to the Jews.
Pigs were also vile and unclean animals before
the Jews. They were off limits. And Jesus is
purposely using these two types of animals to
convey a point. But he speaks of holy things.
And pearls. He said don't throw holy things to
the dogs. Don't cast pearls to swine. What are
the holy things? What are the pearls he's referring
to? He's talking about life in his kingdom. And
he's really rebuking the Pharisees here. The
pearls and the holy things are the truth of the
gospel. It is the gospel of Christ's kingdom.
Those who persistently reject the gospel. Those
who mock the truth of Christ. are the dogs and
pigs Christ is speaking of. Now this does not
refer to all unbelievers. It's referring to the
active enemies of the gospel. In this case, the
self -righteous Pharisees, why were they there?
They just wanted to trip him up. They wanted
to catch him in something. They wanted to see
if he's going to make a mistake with his words.
They're his enemies here. How do you see the
Lord responding to them? In the scriptures, if
you read through the New Testament. When the
Lord Jesus had to deal with these self -righteous
leaders, he did so often with harsh denunciations
because they hated the truth and they did not
want it. He did not reveal truth to them. He
excluded them from it. We also, though, see the
very same Lord dealing with extreme compassion
with a scandalous woman at a well there in John
4. Why? She was open to the truth. To the self
-righteous? Harsh judgment. To the humble or
one seeking the truth, there was compassion and
mercy. You see the same thing in the book of
Acts. The apostle Paul, when he would take the
gospel, where did he go first? To the synagogues.
He would go to the synagogue and he would always
preach, he said, to the Jew first and then to
the Greek. He would always go take the gospel
to his own people first. But what happened? By
and large, they rejected his message and they
would often even beat Paul because of what he's
preaching. And what do you see Paul do? You see
him get up, shake the dust from his feet, and
turn around and proclaim, your blood be upon
your head. He doesn't go back. He would not cast
his pearls before swine. You don't want the truth,
you won't have the truth. Again, I want to quote
Lord Jones here. He says, here you see a people,
or people, to whom the truth has been presented.
It's not ignorant people. But they did the very
thing our Lord prophesied. Just as dogs and swine,
they turned again, they opposed, they blasphemed,
and they stamped the truth under their feet.
Friends, this is the saddest of all indictments
against these religious leaders. The ones who
are supposedly leading in the truth are the ones
whose truth is being hidden and excluded from.
The gospel is for all people. But there are some
who are so hardened in heart, so blinded by their
sin, that they hate the gospel, they hate the
Christ, they hate the truth, and they just use
it as an opportunity to blaspheme God. That's
all they do. It's a mockery. We don't keep casting
our pearls before them. We don't keep casting
our pearls before those who hate Christ and his
kingdom. We don't hate them. God forbid, absolutely
not. But we do not spend all of our time giving
them holy things that they will not appreciate.
Matthew 10. Notice what Jesus said. He sends
out his disciples. He said, now whatever city
or town you enter, inquire who in it is worthy
and stay there till you go out. And when you
go into a household, greet it. If the household
is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if
it's not worthy, let your peace or blessing return
to you. If it's not worthy, don't bless them.
But verse 14. Notice the words of Christ. This
may sound harsh, but it's the words of Jesus.
And whoever will not receive you, how are they
not receiving? They are not going to hear your
words. When you depart from that house or you
depart from that city, shake off the dust from
your feet. You're done. You did what you could.
Our job is we pray that God and his infinite
mercy and grace might bring them to repentance,
but we don't keep giving the enemies of God a
reason to blaspheme. Don't cast your pearls before
swine. Why? The pig has no ability to appreciate
the value of a pearl. They don't ever stop. And
a dog is not concerned with holy meat that only
priests should eat. What he's saying is don't
keep giving things to people who have no appreciation
for the truth that you're telling. Don't keep
doing it. God's gifts are not to be laid open
to abuse, R .T. Franson's commentary, or his
truth to mockery. Some people are just mockers.
They hate Christ, they hate his kingdom, they
hate his gospel. They're not interested in the
truth. So don't keep going. They have judged
themselves unworthy of the kingdom. And there's
not a thing you can do apart from the supernatural
work of God in their hearts. So what do we do
in light of this passage as we close? Now what?
Life in the kingdom seems to be very demanding.
It is. He said, unless you're righteous and succeed,
scribes and Pharisees, you don't come in. What
hope do you and I have? Now listen, just careful.
Listen to the demands of his kingdom. You must
be merciful or you don't receive mercy. You must
forgive or you will not be forgiven. You must
show proper judgment or you too will be condemned.
All of us right now, myself included, we all
feel, I know that I'm going to fail in this.
Lord, how can I do this? I'm going to fail. And
that's the whole point. You know you can't do
it. And my prayer is that it does lead you to
despair. But I want you to just turn back to
chapter 5 verse 3. And as we close. The very
first beatitude. The very first that the Lord
pronounced when he began this sermon. The very
first one. And it's the first one by design.
Jesus said this. Blessed are the poor in spirit.
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. You know,
friend, you know, I hope you know, you can't
do this. You can't live up to the demands of
the kingdom. You fall short. So what do you and
I do today? We cast ourselves upon the mercy
of God and find salvation's rest. Blessed are
the poor in spirit, the ones who are bankrupt,
patakos, patokos. You know you don't have it.
Abject poverty of spirits, what he's saying.
That's a good place. Because the kingdom of God
is yours. This is life in the kingdom. It's to
the one who recognizes his own inability. And
I close with this text right here. This is our
last scripture here. Jesus told a parable and
it helps us. And I love this parable. May it
be stamped upon our minds and upon our hearts
forever. In Luke chapter 18. Two men went up
to the temple to pray. One a Pharisee, a self
-respected leader of the people. The other a
tax collector, a publican, a despised person.
The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself.
God, I thank you that I'm not like other men.
I'm pretty good. I'm not an extortioner. I'm
not unjust. I'm not an adulterer. I'm not even
like this guy here. I fast twice a week. I give
tithes of all that I possess. And it could go
on. And all those things are probably true, by
the way. And here you have that tax collector
who's hated by his own people, standing afar
off knowing he's not worthy, he's poor in spirit.
He wouldn't even raise his eyes to heaven. Why?
Because he knows I don't have a right to even
look up to heaven. Instead, he beat upon his
breast saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner.
Listen to the words of Jesus. I tell you, this
man, that latter one, he went down to his house
justified rather than the other. For everyone
who exalts himself will be humbled, and everyone
who humbles himself will be exalted. You must
understand, friends, your own depravity and inability
before a holy God. You do not have what it takes.
Life in this kingdom is too demanding. You need
the grace of God to rescue you. You and I, the
ones who have seen our sin, and we've cast out...
our sin upon him and beg for the mercy of God.
Today, right now, you're invited. Jesus invites
us to go share a meal with him. We're invited
to come to the table and share a covenantal meal
with him. This is a family meal. It's those who
know their own depravity, who've come to Christ
for salvation, who've received the covenant sign
of baptism, testified before a dying world that
they are marked out for Christ. Jesus has come
today. In your weakness? Yeah. In your sin? Yes.
Because why? Today, at the table, you and I remember
our Lord's death, but we also proclaim something.
We're preaching something at this sacrament here.
The entrance into the covenant, entrance into
the kingdom, is blood bought. It came by the
broken body and shed blood of the Son of God.
Let's feast today, church. Not by your righteousness,
but that which is given to you as a gift of grace.
Let's pray. Father, thank you this morning, Lord.
What a wonderful God, richly kind and merciful
you are to us.