Thou shall not judge. Seriously? S31e87 Matt7:1

For non-believers, this is the most popular verse quoted from the Bible..."Don't judge me.  I want to do what I want to do." In other words, I'm going to (try to) act as my own judge.

It's a bit more complicated than that. 

We've already failed at not judging.  So now what. Listen for a few minutes to hear of a friend that understands MERCY, and then is able to gift it to the World. 

Please subscribe and follow and comment. Have some mercy. 

https://youtu.be/euppDRkLXFs

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Good morning, my brothers and sisters. Thou shalt not judge. Are you serious? So let me just tell a little story. So recently I asked a person what their spiritual good gift was, and she told me that she thought it was mercy. So that is her first inclination when viewing the world, and specifically other humans in that world, was compassion. And I think that's very rare and very non-judgmental, which is why we're going to talk about it today. I think it might be a person that's kind of mastered the truths of our passage today. And I think they are that they realize the grace that God has given them for all the wood fragments, specks, and logs that are in their own eye. They get their own position right, sinner, forgiven. And I think they get God's position right, which is this hyper holy God, pure holiness, who tones it down enough to come down, join the likes of us, and save us. I think she gets that right. And then finally, how should I treat the world? They get this position that they should be first inclined, not towards judgment. The words of Jesus are enough for that. The law of the Old Testament is enough for that. The coming final judgment is enough for that. So my friend leaves room for the accurate vengeance of God. So let's look with her eyes to our passage today, Matthew chapter 7, verse 1. Judge not that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce, you will be judged. And with the measure you use it, it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, Let me take the speck out of your eye when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite. First take the log out of your own eye, then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye. Okay, so doesn't everybody judge, assess, and discern? This passage literally says we're already in this process of pronouncing judgment on our others. But the measurement stick is going to be flipped around and turned towards us. So think about logs and specks. What the passage is about is seeing wood fragments with perfect accuracy apart from you, and not seeing with perfect accuracy towards yourself. So we have gaps in our vision because our own eye has a log in it. And it's really one of the great pictures of scripture, which is you know, you get your own eye impaled with this plank, and you're doing surgery, microsurgery on the specks in another life. And then it goes on to this remedy, more than just having a log, but kind of doing this assessing and recommending to your neighbor or spouse or whoever that other person is, and saying, Hey, let me take that out for you. Basically, the passage is saying, wait, you hypocrite, and you knucklehead. So the teaching point is not necessarily that we do not judge, the reality is that we already are doing it. The passage says so. So there's plenty of judgment and discernment and mental separation in truth and wisdom and application of it in the Bible. In a sense, every page of it has some judgment in it. And haven't we done thousands of podcasts saying, hey, carefully consider this, uh, which is this daily judgment or discerning and assessing and log assessment and hopefully self-removal. And we ask the Holy Spirit to come help us with this process. So I so respect anybody who shows up to this and can and considers two things, showing up and then considering the podcast, and what it asks. So back to our passage, thou shalt not judge. Now, for non-believers, this is the most quoted passage in the Bible. And what they're saying is, don't judge me. I I want to do what I want, and I'm using my own criteria. So you not want your criteria. So I'm using my own criteria to cut myself some slack, probably. Um, so what does this passage mean though? Judge not that you be not judged. Leave the judgment to the codes of the Lord ultimately. So, rightly interpreted, scripture has something to say about practically every area of life and morality: sexuality, marriage, child rearing, church membership, attendance, Sabbath activities, giving money, volunteerism, sickness. Even more so now, we have an excellent code of conduct because of the example of Jesus in the handbook of the word that he has left for us. So, what then about my judgment? Well, in the passage, notice this that you will be measured. Period. Big stopping point there. Uh, we all are gonna be judged ultimately. And the passage also adds that we probably have some influence as to the severity of the judgment applied to us because of the light bulbs that may go on in our head. Now, that judgment is going to be 100% accurate. Nobody's gonna argue standing before the judgment seat. And this degree of mercy is dependent upon, or at least related to, the mercy that's been given to us. So this necessitates us being aware of and appreciative of the holiness of God, awareness of our own sin, the mercy given to us, and then the application to our fellow world. Okay, let's make some conclusion. Well, the first thing is that nobody survives this scripture. Judge not that you will not be judged. You haven't survived it, and you have already judged. So, what can I do going forward to be obedient to the passage? Well, the passage says, you hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, then you will see clearly, and the speck, and then to take the speck out of your brother's eye. So, first, take the log out of your own eye. Second, clear your own vision to see clearly. Third, help others. So the first priority is log inspection. And it's asking us the golden mirror, look in the mirror and see if we have any logs. And if we don't see any, maybe even ask them the most courageous prayer, which is show me my logs. Show me where I miss your holiness, show my offense to you, and then be ready for some log surgery. So today, go do some log surgery. Thanks for listening.