SPEAKER_00: This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota.
SPEAKER_01: This is our time to open the Word of God together.
SPEAKER_01: So if you have a Bible, I encourage you to open it to Matthew chapter 7.
SPEAKER_01: It's been a while since we've been in Matthew, working our way through the Gospel of Matthew, specifically most recently in the Sermon on the Mount.
SPEAKER_01: But that's been on purpose.
SPEAKER_01: Because we've been working our way through, we got to the end of chapter 6, talking about worry and anxiety, right before all of this COVID-19 stuff hit us, preparing us and God's providence for that.
SPEAKER_01: And then we went from there to understand and to consider that it is the truth of God's word that keeps our hearts and minds settled.
SPEAKER_01: That's what keeps us from going into places of worry and anxiety.
SPEAKER_01: But that can get off balance a little bit.
SPEAKER_01: And so we've spent time in March in the book of Revelation, in Revelation chapter 2, considering a couple of churches that the Lord Jesus spoke to to maintain that balance.
SPEAKER_01: One of those churches was off balance in its doctrine, in its teaching.
SPEAKER_01: It was a church that had lost its first love.
SPEAKER_01: Then the second church that we looked at was the reverse of that.
SPEAKER_01: It was a church that had lost its doctrine but maintained its love.
SPEAKER_01: So we've understood then that we need to pursue truth, we need to pursue teaching, we need to pursue doctrine while at the same time loving.
SPEAKER_01: And that's what we found in 1 Timothy chapter 1, where the Apostle Paul told Timothy that in the local church we proclaim truth, we teach doctrine, and the goal, the aim of that instruction is love from a pure heart.
SPEAKER_01: And then we saw from Romans chapter 12 what that love must look like.
SPEAKER_01: That it must look like Christian love, that is agape love, that is without hypocrisy, that doesn't have a mask on.
SPEAKER_01: And now we come, then, returning to Matthew chapter 7, we come to a passage of Scripture that not only fits in that progression of love and truth, but does so in a way that speaks quite particularly to our current circumstances in our world.
SPEAKER_01: Matthew chapter 7, beginning in verse 1, the Lord Jesus says, Judge not that you be not judged.
SPEAKER_01: For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.
SPEAKER_01: Why, then, do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?
SPEAKER_01: Or how can you say to your brother, let me take the speck out of your eye when there is a log in your own eye?
SPEAKER_01: You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.
SPEAKER_01: Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Have you ever felt judged?
SPEAKER_01: Have you felt judged by your response to the coronavirus?
SPEAKER_01: Have you felt others look down on you?
SPEAKER_01: Perhaps because of your lack of concern?
SPEAKER_01: Have you thought, you know, this whole thing is just overblown, it's just it's a media thing, and then felt judged by those who have extreme concern?
SPEAKER_01: What about the reverse?
SPEAKER_01: Have you felt judged because you are very concerned about this situation?
SPEAKER_01: Maybe because you have a personal uh issue, a health issue going on that you have to protect yourself, and you have felt uh a need to take extreme caution, and so you appreciate others who do the same, but have felt judgment by those who think that it's just overblown.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if you are aware of it, but there are Christians who are judging churches for closing public services.
SPEAKER_01: And there are Christians judging churches for not closing public services.
SPEAKER_01: Have you felt judged by other Christians for your politics?
SPEAKER_01: Have you felt judgment from other Christians for not voting for President Trump?
SPEAKER_01: Have you felt judgment from others for voting for President Trump?
SPEAKER_01: Have you looked down your nose with contempt at those who who have supported or or who have not given support to our president?
SPEAKER_01: Have you felt judged in church for the clothes you wear?
SPEAKER_01: That might be most applicably applicable to teenagers, but nevertheless it happens.
SPEAKER_01: Have you felt judged for your views on alcohol?
SPEAKER_01: Or essential oils.
SPEAKER_01: What about vaccinations?
SPEAKER_01: It's not a stretch to say that everyone has felt judged by other Christians.
SPEAKER_01: If you follow Christ, you have most likely felt judged by other Christians, and if I may be so bold, you have judged others.
SPEAKER_01: John Broadis in his commentary on Matthew describes some of the judgments that take place in the local church.
SPEAKER_01: He talked about new believers fresh into following Christ, being judged by those who have followed Christ for decades.
SPEAKER_01: That happens.
SPEAKER_01: He talked about judgment that takes place between church leaders and church members.
SPEAKER_01: That happens.
SPEAKER_01: Judgment takes place between those of kind of rival groups in the local church.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe it's one group versus another who wants the same space for their program.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe it's one group being granted the ability to do something while another is not.
SPEAKER_01: And so there's rivalry and there's judgment that takes place.
SPEAKER_01: Of course, we know that judgment takes place when unbelievers come into the local church.
SPEAKER_01: And there are Christians who look down their nose at them saying, What are you doing here?
SPEAKER_01: In their November 2019 study on the connected generation, Barna Research noted that of all of their folks between 18 and 25, sorry, pardon me, 18 and 35, 18 to 35-year-old Christians, 50% of them believe that people at church are judgmental.
SPEAKER_01: It gets worse.
SPEAKER_01: The website, RedeemingGod.com, states, and I quote, Christians are notorious for bad behavior.
SPEAKER_01: Some Christians and church people are just downright mean.
SPEAKER_01: Why is this?
SPEAKER_01: Why are Christians so mean?
SPEAKER_01: It's a fair question.
SPEAKER_01: Common perception is that churches are only loving and non-judgmental when they accept anything.
SPEAKER_01: So love then comes by encouraging and promoting a self-focused individual spirituality with no boundaries and no absolutes.
SPEAKER_01: And of course, if we do not pander to the demands of a particular generation or demographic, then we are labeled as narrow-minded or even bigoted.
SPEAKER_01: We live in a world where we can no longer have helpful, kind dialogue about differences, and come out of that dialogue still loving one another.
SPEAKER_01: That's because the only absolute in today's world is self.
SPEAKER_01: Absolutes no longer hold sway, and tolerance for opposing positions has ceased to exist.
SPEAKER_01: Everyone does what is right in his own eyes, and everyone else is wrong.
SPEAKER_01: If that sounds familiar to you, it's because it comes from the book of Judges, where everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
SPEAKER_01: Don't judge me is a common refrain.
SPEAKER_01: We're told, we're taught that we should not judge others.
SPEAKER_01: We just need to keep our nose out of other people's business and work on being more accepting.
SPEAKER_01: I think it's somewhat ironic that this passage of Scripture may be one of the most familiar to both unbelievers and believers in Christ.
SPEAKER_01: And both of them use it for their purposes.
SPEAKER_01: But the problem, the problem is that many misunderstand and as a result, misuse this passage of Scripture.
SPEAKER_01: The popular interpretation of this text is that we're not to engage in any form of analysis or evaluation of others.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, it's wrong to conclude that a person's beliefs, a person's thinking or behavior or lifestyle is wrong, because if you conclude that, then you are being judgmental.
SPEAKER_01: Those who endeavor to justify all kinds of evil use this commandment of our Lord to chasten anyone who would take a stand for righteousness.
SPEAKER_01: There's nothing wrong with tolerance and acceptance.
SPEAKER_01: Those are good qualities to be developed in our relationships to one another.
SPEAKER_01: They're just extensions of 1 Corinthians 13.
SPEAKER_01: But what many mean by those words is that we must accept any lifestyle, any act, any belief without careful critical evaluation.
SPEAKER_01: Because if you are critical of me, then that means you don't accept me and you're judging me.
SPEAKER_01: Some go even further to argue that I don't accept you unless I agree with you.
SPEAKER_01: So love has been redefined as acceptance and even agreement.
SPEAKER_01: Is Jesus telling us to remove any form of careful critique?
SPEAKER_01: Is Jesus telling us to not be discerning in our spiritual lives?
SPEAKER_01: Is he telling us that we all have to agree?
SPEAKER_01: Well, let's start with what is clear.
SPEAKER_01: That's the easiest place to begin here, I think, is what do we see that is clear?
SPEAKER_01: Well, it is clear, first of all, that Jesus is speaking about our attitude toward other people.
SPEAKER_01: Judgment takes place between individuals, between groups, between people.
SPEAKER_01: That's what he talks about, your brother, so often in this passage.
SPEAKER_01: He's talking about our connection, our relationships with one another.
SPEAKER_01: Now, maybe in this time of separation, maybe we have less judgment, except for when you're with your family and they're driving you insane.
SPEAKER_01: Then we have judgment, don't we?
SPEAKER_01: Since Jesus is addressing disciples in the Sermon on the Mount, you can see that going all the way back to chapter 5 and verse 1.
SPEAKER_01: Since Jesus is addressing disciples and he references your brother here, it could be that the direct application is towards Christians.
SPEAKER_01: That he's talking about our relationships with brothers and sisters in Christ.
SPEAKER_01: But what is clear is that Jesus is speaking about our attitudes toward other people.
SPEAKER_01: It's also clear that Jesus is speaking about our sinful human tendencies that reside within us to condemn other people.
SPEAKER_01: And we do that through our own self-righteousness.
SPEAKER_01: We set ourselves up as the ones who are right, who determine what is right and what is wrong based on our own opinions.
SPEAKER_01: Those two truths are pretty clear and self-evident, I think, from these few verses.
SPEAKER_01: What I hope will become clear is that Jesus commands us to not allow ourselves to develop and to maintain an unfairly, or maybe the better word is unbiblical, critical, and judgmental spirit.
SPEAKER_01: Now let's think for a few moments about the context of these few verses.
SPEAKER_01: This is one of those passages that is so easy to twist and use it for our own purposes if we lift it out of its context.
SPEAKER_01: For an entire chapter, chapter six, Jesus has been telling us to not be like the hypocrites.
SPEAKER_01: Now the Pharisees were the typical stand-ins for the hypocrites, weren't they?
SPEAKER_01: Don't be like the Pharisees, Jesus said.
SPEAKER_01: Your righteousness must be greater than the Pharisees.
SPEAKER_01: If you belong to the kingdom of heaven, if Christ is your Lord, then your righteousness must be greater than that of the Pharisees.
SPEAKER_01: Your righteousness must be more than an outward display that doesn't match what's on the inside.
SPEAKER_01: God's people are not motivated by appearances.
SPEAKER_01: Hypocrites, however, look at others and conclude, you're not as good as me.
SPEAKER_01: You don't live up to my standards.
SPEAKER_01: You are wrong, because I am the sole standard of what is right.
SPEAKER_01: Now before we before we relax and give thanks for not being hypocrites, we need to realize that at some level, at some level, we are all hypocrites.
SPEAKER_01: Just let that sink in for a moment.
SPEAKER_01: At some level, every single one of us is a hypocrite.
SPEAKER_01: Have you ever helped someone but did it in a condescending way?
SPEAKER_01: Have you ever pretended to have an interest in helping someone out with a problem in their life and gone away detesting them because of it?
SPEAKER_01: Have you ever been inwardly glad to find out a dirty little secret about another person?
SPEAKER_01: Dr.
SPEAKER_01: Martin Lloyd Jones wrote, It is hypocrisy.
SPEAKER_01: One person goes to another as a would-be friend and says, It's such a shame that this defect is in you.
SPEAKER_01: But oh the malice that often displayed by such action and the pleasure that such a person often enjoys.
SPEAKER_01: End quote.
SPEAKER_01: We are all hypocrites.
SPEAKER_01: At some place, at some level in our hearts, we are all hypocrites.
SPEAKER_01: But Jesus commands us.
SPEAKER_01: He says, My people are not like that.
SPEAKER_01: Judge not that you be not judged.
SPEAKER_01: Notice there is the expectation of judgment if we judge.
SPEAKER_01: What exactly does that mean?
SPEAKER_01: Well, first, we're able to grasp what it does not mean.
SPEAKER_01: It does not mean that we are to cease evaluation.
SPEAKER_01: It does not mean that we are to never critique, to never have a judgment concerning a belief or an action or an individual.
SPEAKER_01: Now you might say, but that sounds contradictory.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus said, don't judge, but but it sounds like you're saying that it's still okay to judge.
SPEAKER_01: Well, this is a perfect illustration of needing to interpret a passage in its context.
SPEAKER_01: Look at verse 6.
SPEAKER_01: Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs.
SPEAKER_01: We're going to speak of what that means in a little bit.
SPEAKER_01: But for now, notice what's happening.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus says that we are to avoid two actions, giving and throwing.
SPEAKER_01: Two creatures, dogs and pigs, right?
SPEAKER_01: Jesus used an object lesson to of sorts to teach us something.
SPEAKER_01: And in order to do what he wants us to do, in order to follow his command, we need to be able to discern what is a dog and what is a pig.
SPEAKER_01: That's a judgment that we are called to make.
SPEAKER_01: Notice also verse 15.
SPEAKER_01: Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
SPEAKER_01: You will recognize them by their fruits.
SPEAKER_01: Friends, that's making a judgment.
SPEAKER_01: That's looking at people's attitudes and actions and being discerning.
SPEAKER_01: It's coming away with a discerning determination that says this person's attitudes, this person's actions demonstrate it shows they are not a sheep, they just have sheep clothes.
SPEAKER_01: But on the inside, they're waiting to devour.
SPEAKER_01: In the same context in which Jesus says, judge not, he also then tells us to be a discerning judge.
SPEAKER_01: That shows us that the issue here is not the ultimate removal of all discernment and evaluation and decision.
SPEAKER_01: It shows us instead the focus is on hypocrisy.
SPEAKER_01: You hypocrite.
SPEAKER_01: We are not to be unfairly and unrighteously judgmental as hypocrites tend to be.
SPEAKER_01: No, this is a command instead to look at others the way God looks at them.
SPEAKER_01: We are to act responsibly and righteously and appropriately in our relationships to others.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, that's what God Himself does.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus Himself says in John chapter 7 and verse 24 do not judge by appearances, but judge with righteousness.
SPEAKER_01: Judgment.
SPEAKER_01: So John chapter seven and Matthew chapter seven teach the same truth.
SPEAKER_01: Superficial, self-righteous judgment of another is condemned.
SPEAKER_01: It's forbidden.
SPEAKER_01: While godly discernment, godly critique and determination is even commanded and commended.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus doesn't say stop all critical analysis.
SPEAKER_01: He says, no, just do it properly.
SPEAKER_01: And he explains what that means in verse 2.
SPEAKER_01: And he begins with for.
SPEAKER_01: Here's the reason.
SPEAKER_01: For with the judgment you pronounce, you will be judged.
SPEAKER_01: And with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
SPEAKER_01: So our Lord explains with two pictures.
SPEAKER_01: One is from the court of law, and the other is from the marketplace.
SPEAKER_01: The one points to an unfair versus a righteous ruling in a courtroom.
SPEAKER_01: And the other imagines the pouring out to measure a purchased good.
SPEAKER_01: Flour or grain or something of that sort, that you are pouring out and measuring how much is there.
SPEAKER_01: You either get what you paid for, or you get less than what you paid for because someone cheats you.
SPEAKER_01: And Jesus really wants to make a point here.
SPEAKER_01: And he does so with a word play.
SPEAKER_01: He literally says, For with the judgment that you judge, you will be judged.
SPEAKER_01: And with the measure that you measure, it will be measured to you.
SPEAKER_01: He emphasizes again and again this idea of getting what you give.
SPEAKER_01: If you judge this way, you're going to be judged in the same way.
SPEAKER_01: If you measure out this way, don't be surprised when it comes back.
SPEAKER_01: If we are hypocritical in our relationships to others and we judge them unfairly or unrighteously apart from the Word of God, then we can expect no less in return.
SPEAKER_01: If we have a judgmental attitude toward others, then we should not be surprised when others have the same kind of attitude toward us.
SPEAKER_01: When we treat others sinfully, we should not be surprised to be treated sinfully.
SPEAKER_01: If you are condescending to someone who makes a choice that you would never make, then be ready to expect the same condescension in return.
SPEAKER_01: If you're going to be sinful in your evaluation of others, then expect others to be sinful in their evaluations of you.
SPEAKER_01: And beloved, this applies not only to actual condescension or judgments, but to perceived ones as well.
SPEAKER_01: If your tone or your body language suggests condescension to another, then you may get the same thing in return.
SPEAKER_01: With the judgment that you judge, you will be judged.
SPEAKER_01: And notice, down in verse 12, that Jesus connects this to the golden rule.
SPEAKER_01: So whatever you do, whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them.
SPEAKER_01: And it's in that way that you fulfill the law and the prophets.
SPEAKER_01: This goes all the way back to the beginning of the Sermon of the Mount in chapter 5, where Jesus says he comes to fulfill the law and the prophets.
SPEAKER_01: So we're getting to the end of his sermon.
SPEAKER_01: And at the end of his sermon, he's saying how you treat one another in your judgments, in your critiques, and your evaluations, in your discernments will reflect your relationship to the Word of God.
SPEAKER_01: Hypocritical judgment of others never fulfills the greatest commandments.
SPEAKER_01: What are the greatest commandments?
SPEAKER_01: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.
SPEAKER_01: Hypocritical judgment of others never fulfills the greatest commandments.
SPEAKER_01: The point, though, is to not act in that way, right?
SPEAKER_01: So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do that to them.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 3 now begins the illustration that almost everyone who's familiar with the Bible knows.
SPEAKER_01: This is an illustration from the carpenter's workshop.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus had probably experienced something very similar to this growing up in his father's household, working with him in the shop.
SPEAKER_01: In the carpenter's workshop, there's work going on to remove wood, to fashion wood, and along the way there's probably some sawdust that is blown up in the air.
SPEAKER_01: And the word speck here speaks of something small, like a piece of sawdust that might get into the eye to bother it.
SPEAKER_01: You know, might make you blink.
SPEAKER_01: Try to figure out what how can I get that out?
SPEAKER_01: Maybe we could put it in a different picture and consider it like a piece of grass that's blown by the wind, and you're out mowing the lawn, it finds its way into your eye.
SPEAKER_01: It's a problem in a nuisance kind of way.
SPEAKER_01: It's not going to destroy anything.
SPEAKER_01: It's not going to kill you.
SPEAKER_01: It's bothersome.
SPEAKER_01: And so you want to get it out.
SPEAKER_01: It's a bother and a minor hindrance.
SPEAKER_01: And then we have the friend, the brother of the carpenter, noticing that his friend has a problem with his eye.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe the carpenter's rubbing his eye, and his friend notices it, and he reaches out to help his friend see clearly again.
SPEAKER_01: He's trying to be helpful and gracious and gentle.
SPEAKER_01: He wants to help.
SPEAKER_01: The problem, Jesus says, is that there's a log in his own eye.
SPEAKER_01: This word for log is one that refers to a beam.
SPEAKER_01: The kind of beam that you would find in an ancient roof of a house.
SPEAKER_01: It's for framing up a roof.
SPEAKER_01: Imagine that for a moment.
SPEAKER_01: A massive roof beam stuck in someone's eye.
SPEAKER_01: The image is a physical impossibility.
SPEAKER_01: But imagine for a moment that it is possible.
SPEAKER_01: Use your imagination.
SPEAKER_01: Imagine the friend with a roof beam sticking out of his eye.
SPEAKER_01: And he sees his friend rubbing his eye because there's a speck of dust, and he says, friend, let me help you with that.
SPEAKER_01: There's no way he could get even close enough to the carpenter to help with the piece of sawdust in his eye.
SPEAKER_01: It's a silly, humorous illustration.
SPEAKER_01: He would clobber him with the beam before he ever got close enough to look at his eye.
SPEAKER_01: This is a person who is who is so self-centered, so self-focused, that they are blind to their own faults.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, they see the sins and the faults and the problems in everyone else's life.
SPEAKER_01: But the attitude that they present is that everyone else is wrong and I'm right.
SPEAKER_01: Let me help you with your problem.
SPEAKER_01: Because I know the right way.
SPEAKER_01: Let me help you with that.
SPEAKER_01: You don't believe in vaccinations?
SPEAKER_01: What kind of person are you?
SPEAKER_01: Now we may not actually give voice to those words.
SPEAKER_01: But friends, do you think them?
SPEAKER_01: Do you harbor them in your heart?
SPEAKER_01: Do you allow your heart to entertain those kinds of thoughts about others?
SPEAKER_01: Do you have that roof beam stuck in your own eye?
SPEAKER_01: We miss something in our English translations of verse four.
SPEAKER_01: Most translations have something something to the effect of, how can you say to your brother, let me take the speck out of your own eye, when there is a log in your own eye?
SPEAKER_01: But there's an exclamatory element that is left out of our translations to help make the English sound a little smoother.
SPEAKER_01: It says quite literally, how can you say to your brother, let me take the speck out of your own eye, when behold, there's a tree in your own eye?
SPEAKER_01: How in the world can you consider taking a piece of dust out of somebody else's eye when you have a tree in your own eye?
SPEAKER_01: The log, the the beam is the elephant in the room that no one's talking about.
SPEAKER_01: Everyone knows that they're critical and then they have a log in their own eye, but let's just ignore the roof beam.
SPEAKER_01: Every time they swing around, duck, so it doesn't hit you.
SPEAKER_01: You have a tree sticking out of your own eye, and yet you think you can do intricate eye surgery on me.
SPEAKER_01: No thanks.
SPEAKER_01: You believe that you can see well enough to do eye surgery when you yourself are blind?
SPEAKER_01: I don't like the way you think.
SPEAKER_01: You think you are being kind and gracious when in reality you're operating heavy machinery under the influence.
SPEAKER_01: Problem is you don't even realize you have a tree in your eye.
SPEAKER_01: I read an account a few weeks ago of a surgeon who, in the early days of our COVID-19 surge, was still performing surgeries while he was infected with COVID-19.
SPEAKER_01: He didn't realize that he was infected.
SPEAKER_01: He didn't know that.
SPEAKER_01: He couldn't see that.
SPEAKER_01: But how many people were impacted?
SPEAKER_01: I don't know about you, but I kind of recoil at that.
SPEAKER_01: I want my doctors to be healthy and clean when they operate.
SPEAKER_01: And yet we do the exact same thing when we look at others and think of others and talk to others in a hypocritical way.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus says people who have self-righteous elements motivating them are hypocrites.
SPEAKER_01: You hypocrite, you actor, you're acting one way, but the reality is you're somebody completely different.
SPEAKER_01: You're not out to help me, you're out to condemn me.
SPEAKER_01: You're not out to help me get the dust out of my eye.
SPEAKER_01: You don't want me to see better, you want to condemn me.
SPEAKER_01: You want to know more about me so that you can think more poorly of me, so that you can talk about me to your neighbor, so that you can spread gossip about me.
SPEAKER_01: You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly.
SPEAKER_01: The religious leaders of Jesus' day were all walking around with roof beams sticking out of their eyes while they're attempting spiritual surgery on their people.
SPEAKER_01: This is sensitive surgery.
SPEAKER_01: That's the this is the eyes.
SPEAKER_01: A little over ten years ago, I had LASIK eye surgery.
SPEAKER_01: That was one of the most frightening things I've ever endured.
SPEAKER_01: You're strapped down, you can't move, your head is immobilized.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if maybe I shouldn't say this to somebody who's considering it.
SPEAKER_01: So I was laying there on my back, and you know, I I had I had researched everything, I knew what was going on, I knew what to expect.
SPEAKER_01: But in that moment when they peel back the the lens of your eye and everything goes black.
SPEAKER_01: That's scary.
SPEAKER_01: They're operating on your eye.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus says, when you when you act in a hypocritical way towards one another, it's as though you're doing that to their soul.
SPEAKER_01: Is that really what you want to be doing?
SPEAKER_01: Jesus says, My people shouldn't be like that.
SPEAKER_01: Those who are part of the Lord's kingdom should not be like this.
SPEAKER_01: Before we ever think, feel, or act in judgment, we must have the word of God perform surgery on us.
SPEAKER_01: Be cut open and laid bare before the king by his words so that he can remove the trees embedded in your eyes.
SPEAKER_01: Be taught his ways before you ever attempt to do surgery on somebody else.
SPEAKER_01: Now all of this comes with a caution.
SPEAKER_01: Do not give dogs what is holy.
SPEAKER_01: Do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you, quite literally, tear you to pieces.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus describes a situation in which someone is overcome by nasty response, so much so that it's illustrated by physically being torn into pieces.
SPEAKER_01: This is a difficult and shocking message.
SPEAKER_01: It's difficult because it's hard to see how it really fits into the passage.
SPEAKER_01: It's shocking in part because of the language of being torn to pieces, but also because Jesus is actually forbidding us to do something.
SPEAKER_01: Don't give something valuable to somebody else.
SPEAKER_01: What?
SPEAKER_01: Really?
SPEAKER_01: We need to understand a little bit of cultural history here.
SPEAKER_01: The dogs here are not the gentle, loving, domesticated creatures that we have today.
SPEAKER_01: They were wild, scavenging dogs that roamed the streets of ancient communities looking for handouts, looking for scraps of food.
SPEAKER_01: They fed off scraps off the cast-offs of civilization.
SPEAKER_01: Pigs were the wild, unclean animals that were representative of all that was disgusting to God.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus says not to feed the wild dogs what is holy in the eyes of God.
SPEAKER_01: That's probably a picture of the bread of the presence that was put in the temple every day.
SPEAKER_01: Don't take what is given and offered to God in holiness that is set apart for him and give it as dog food.
SPEAKER_01: And don't give your precious, beautiful pearls to the unclean, unholy pigs.
SPEAKER_01: So when Jesus is talking about what is holy and what is valuable, those are two ways of saying the same thing.
SPEAKER_01: There are times when you should not give something precious and of great value to another.
SPEAKER_01: Now I believe that the reference here is to the gospel of Christ, the message of the kingdom.
SPEAKER_01: Going all the way back to the end of chapter 4, where Jesus says, I'm here to proclaim that the kingdom is here, repent and believe the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: It goes all the way through then to Matthew chapter 10, where Jesus sends out his disciples and he says to them, if you're not accepted in a community after sharing the gospel, then leave that community, shake off the dust off your feet and walk away.
SPEAKER_01: When they reject you.
SPEAKER_01: When there is rejection that is that is persistent and vicious and just saying, I don't want what you have to offer, shake off the dust off your feet and walk away.
SPEAKER_01: It's another way of saying if somebody is just wanting to tear you to pieces because of the gospel, don't give them the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: Now, this is the application of the teaching on judging.
SPEAKER_01: It fits with the judgment.
SPEAKER_01: Here's the application of do not judge.
SPEAKER_01: When you are telling others that God has a kingdom and he has his king, and his king has come, and it's Jesus, you must exercise proper judgment of others.
SPEAKER_01: You must have a proper determination about other people when sharing the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: Some people will receive the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: They will see that it is like a pearl of great price, and they will see it as something that is precious and holy that leads you to God, and they will wrap their arms around you and say, Thank you for sharing this with me.
SPEAKER_01: But there will be others who are like pigs that will turn around and tear you to pieces.
SPEAKER_01: Be ready then to take your bread of the Word of God and the valuable gospel elsewhere.
SPEAKER_01: But be careful.
SPEAKER_01: If you do so selfishly or condescendingly, or sinfully because you make an improper judgment, you are not doing unto others as to how you would have them treat you.
SPEAKER_01: Now that means that Jesus expects us to be in tune with him.
SPEAKER_01: He expects us to have gone through our own spiritual eye surgery to remove the roof beams from our eyes.
SPEAKER_01: He expects us to be out in the world declaring the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: He expects us to be firm in our stance on proclaiming the message of the King and His kingdom.
SPEAKER_01: He expects us to be doing that with love from a pure heart that is not hypocritical, that displays the love of Christ in us.
SPEAKER_01: But sometimes we will come across those who are antagonistic to Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Those who persistently reject the message in a vicious, unholy way.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus says, let them go.
SPEAKER_01: Let them go with their their way.
SPEAKER_01: Don't waste your time on those who don't care.
SPEAKER_01: One of two things will happen.
SPEAKER_01: Either over the course of time God will soften their hearts and convict them of that sin.
SPEAKER_01: Or Jesus will ultimately judge them.
SPEAKER_01: You can see down in verses 21, 22, and 23, where this chapter, the Sermon on the Mount, ends with this judgment of hypocrites.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus says, the day will come when everyone will stand before me and the hypocrites will say, Lord, Lord, look what we done down in your name, and Jesus will say, See ya.
SPEAKER_01: Now we cannot we cannot know whether someone fits Jesus' characterization of a dog or a pig immediately.
SPEAKER_01: We cannot determine that until they've demonstrated a repeated disregard for the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: It's only after the gospel has been sufficiently rejected and rejection of Christ has taken place in a vicious and unappreciated way that they reveal themselves to be the dogs or the pigs.
SPEAKER_01: So Jesus says, yes, give them the gospel of grace.
SPEAKER_01: Give them the message of the kingdom.
SPEAKER_01: Proclaim Christ and the cross.
SPEAKER_01: It's their only hope.
SPEAKER_01: If they then turn on you and begin to tear you to pieces, take what is holy, and take your pearls and go to someone else.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus is teaching us to have his heart.
SPEAKER_01: To have his heart, to be gracious and understanding and loving in our relationships to one another.
SPEAKER_01: If we are to fulfill the second greatest commandment, love your neighbor as yourself, or in verse 12, do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
SPEAKER_01: If we are to fulfill that, we cannot be unfairly criticism.
SPEAKER_01: Or harsh or judgmental in a way that disregards Scripture.
SPEAKER_01: There may come a point, though, when decisions need to be made that the gospel pursuit must end.
SPEAKER_01: But that's not where we begin.
SPEAKER_01: We begin with an unhypocritical love that believes the best about others, seeking to give them the best by leading them to Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: And it all begins with genuine righteousness in us.
SPEAKER_01: Isn't that what this all comes back to in the Sermon on the Mount?
SPEAKER_01: Your righteousness must go beyond that of the scribes and the Pharisees.
SPEAKER_01: We should be constantly opening ourselves up to the Word of God so that we become aware of the roof beams in our lives.
SPEAKER_01: And then we should seek out the Lord's work of spiritual surgery to remove them.
SPEAKER_01: That can be scary and painful.
SPEAKER_01: But if we don't go through the process of spiritual surgery to remove the roof beams, we're going to be knocking people's heads off as a result.
SPEAKER_01: Because we don't have them removed.
SPEAKER_01: Love without hypocrisy means having the roof beams removed.
SPEAKER_01: I love what Martin Lloyd Jones has written about this.
SPEAKER_01: If you'll pardon a long quotation.
SPEAKER_01: If you really do want to help others and to help to rid them of these blemishes and faults and frailties and imperfections, first of all, he says, realize that your spirit and your whole attitude has been wrong.
SPEAKER_01: This spirit of judging and hypercriticism and censoriousness, to be a censor, that is in you is really like a beam, contrasted with the little speck in the other person's eye.
SPEAKER_01: You know, says our Lord, in effect, there's no more terrible form of sin than this judging spirit of which you are guilty.
SPEAKER_01: It's like a beam.
SPEAKER_01: The other person may have fallen into immorality, some sin of the flesh, or may be guilty of some little error here or there.
SPEAKER_01: But that is nothing but a little speck in the eye when compared with the spirit that is in you.
SPEAKER_01: It's like a beam.
SPEAKER_01: Start with your own spirit, Jesus says.
SPEAKER_01: In other words, face yourself quite honestly and squarely and admit to yourself the truth about yourself.
SPEAKER_01: He goes on.
SPEAKER_01: How are we all to do this in practice?
SPEAKER_01: Great, great recommendation here.
SPEAKER_01: Read 1 Corinthians 13 every day.
SPEAKER_01: Read this statement of our Lord's every day from Matthew 7.
SPEAKER_01: Examine your attitude toward other people, Lloyd Jones says.
SPEAKER_01: Take the statements you make about another person.
SPEAKER_01: Sit down and analyze them.
SPEAKER_01: And ask yourself what you really mean.
SPEAKER_01: It's a very painful and distressing process.
SPEAKER_01: But if we examine ourselves and our judgments and our pronouncements honestly and truly, we are on the road to getting the beams out of our eye.
SPEAKER_01: And then, having done that, we shall be so humbled that we shall be quite free from the spirit of censoriousness and hypercriticism.
SPEAKER_01: What a wonderful piece of logic this is, Lloyd Jones continues.
SPEAKER_01: When a person has truly seen himself, he never judges anyone else in the wrong way.
SPEAKER_01: Because all he has time for is taken up in condemning himself, in washing his hands, and trying to purify himself.
SPEAKER_01: There is only one way of getting rid of this spirit, and that is to judge and condemn yourself.
SPEAKER_01: Now listen to what he says at the end.
SPEAKER_01: It humbles us to the dust.
SPEAKER_01: And then it follows out of necessity that having gotten rid of the beam out of our own eyes, we will then be in a fit condition to help the other person who has that little speck in his eye.
SPEAKER_01: If I may rephrase just one part of that that is applicable to us in our moment.
SPEAKER_01: I can't find a disinfectant anywhere in town.
SPEAKER_01: It's gone.
SPEAKER_01: Everywhere.
SPEAKER_01: Everybody's so caught up in disinfecting things, and and everybody's everybody's coming up with a new song to wash your hands for 20 seconds.
SPEAKER_01: How about we wash our spirits?
SPEAKER_01: How about we we focus on cleansing, on disinfecting our own spirits, not just our skin.
SPEAKER_01: So that we might be right with God first.
SPEAKER_01: And then be able to treat our brothers and sisters the way we would want to be treated.
SPEAKER_01: We've we've received that grace ourselves from the Lord Jesus, have we not?
SPEAKER_01: We can do no less than to follow in his steps.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, we confess to you that we we are guilty.
SPEAKER_01: We are guilty of being hypocrites.
SPEAKER_01: We are actors in our own little world, putting ourselves out there as judges of what is right.
SPEAKER_01: When all along we are the ones that need cleansing.
SPEAKER_01: Cleanse us, Lord Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: We come to you like David, asking that you would purify our hearts, that you would cleanse our hearts, give us clean hearts, new hearts that long to love you and to walk in your ways and to obey you, so that others might know that we are your disciples because of our love for one another.
SPEAKER_01: Enable us to pursue you, not to look down on other people.
SPEAKER_01: We know that that comes first by a genuine heart that has your righteousness because of your salvation.
SPEAKER_01: For many of us who have received that salvation, we ask for a renewal, a washing that takes place by your word to purify us again, so that we might walk in your ways with purity of heart, of soul, and of mind.
SPEAKER_01: In your name we pray these things, Lord Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: That concludes this sermon from Faith Evangelical Free Church.
SPEAKER_00: Our mission is to declare the Word of God and disciple believers into mature, devoted followers of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: You can learn more by visiting our website at faithfree.com.