All right, let's look at Matthew
chapter 7. And like I said, I've preached several messages on
this. I know, Randy, you preached through the Sermon on the Mount.
You dealt with this. Others have. I don't know if
you've ever preached from this, Jim, but you understand it. We've
all heard this before. So I'm not going to say anything
new, but that's OK, because if I said anything new, it wouldn't
be true. So let's consider that. But you know the issue of true
Christian judgment is so important in the lives of God's people.
And passages like this where people take a little bit of a
verse or just one verse out of context and they mangle it and
try to make it say what it's not saying. Look at verse one,
judge not that you be not judged. How many times have you heard
that repeated over your life? And most of the time, a lot of
people interpret this verse as if the Lord is using it to forbid
all judgment. And that's so far from the truth. What's forbidden here is not
all judgment, but sinful, self-righteous judgment, which all of us are
part of by nature. The way we judge naturally is
sinful judgment. Self-righteous judgment. And
it has to do, I've got here in your lesson, what's forbidden
here is self-righteous judgment, now listen to this, by which
people condemn others for being sinners and absolve themselves
as if they themselves were not sinners or not as sinful. And it has to do with comparing
ourselves with ourselves. Somebody might say, well, I heard
a man say this to me. He said, I'm not perfect, but
I'm not as bad as some. That's the kind of judgment that's
being forbidden here. Because he felt like the fact
that he wasn't as bad as some people, that meant that he had
a right to heaven, and they didn't. And so they condemn other people
in that way. And so Christ forbids this. And
I've got some examples in the lesson here. Think about Luke
18, the parable of the Pharisee and the publican. You remember
that? And in Luke 18, nine, it says, he spoke this parable unto
certain, certain people, which trusted in themselves that they
were righteous and despised others. That's the kind of judgment he's
forbidding here. A person who judges themself
to be righteous because of their works, their morality, their
decision. I know I'm saved because I did
this or I chose this or I got baptized, that kind of thing.
And I know they're lost because they didn't do that. So counting
themselves righteous and despising others, meaning that they judged
them to be lost. And that's the kind of, the Pharisee
judged himself to be righteous, and he judged that old publican
to be a sinner, and thus condemned for his sins. I'm saved, but
you, that old publican, oh no. He's a sinner. Well, first of
all, let me deal with this, and I'll put this in your lesson.
Was it wrong for people to judge this publican to be a sinner?
Well, no, that's not wrong. He is a sinner. And to say that
he deserves nothing but condemnation and death, is that wrong to say
that? No. But here's the point. If we judge righteously, we'd
have to look at ourselves and say, I'm no better than that
publican. You understand that? You say,
well, I'm not doing what that publican's doing. Maybe not.
But all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. There's
none righteous, no, not one. There's none that doeth good.
When it comes to being saved, when it comes to being justified
before God, when it comes to having a right relationship with
God, none of us, Pharisee, publican, and everybody in between, none
of us deserve nothing but condemnation and death based on our works. But when we look at other people,
I don't care who it is and how bad they have been in the eyes
of men or in our own eyes, and say, I know they're lost because
they're sinners, we condemn ourselves. And those that he's talking about
here who use this self-righteous judgment, they don't understand
that. They've not yet been convinced of sin, but we all deserve condemnation
and death based on our best works. And the only hope of salvation
for any of us is what? The sovereign, free, unlimited
grace of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why the Bible
tells us that when the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin, it's because
we believe not on Christ. In other words, without Christ,
without being found washed in his blood and clothed in his
righteousness, we're nothing but sin. and deserve nothing
but condemnation. The Lord showed this truth in
John chapter eight. You remember when they brought
the woman, the adulterous woman, to be judged? And they were gonna
pick up stones and stoner using the law. They said Moses says
she ought to be stoned. Remember what Christ did? Let
he who is without sin first cast the stone. And they dropped their
stones and went away. That was self-righteous judgment.
Of course, that was Ventigliani justice too, which was forbidden.
There are all kinds of things we can talk about there. But
that's the kind of judgment he's forbidding here. I put in here
Galatians chapter six. That's such an important verse
when it comes to our relationship with one another. Paul instructed
the believers at Galatia to be very careful in judgment of another,
even a fallen brother or sister. Even when a true believer messes
up, and we do, don't we? We fall, we do wrong, we're selfish,
we still have the flesh, we gotta deal with. And so when one falls
into some scandalous sin, or some sin like that, he says in
Galatians 6.3, he says, for if a man think himself to be something,
Now what that means is when you see a brother or sister fall,
if you think you're above that or you're better than that, it
says when you are nothing, you deceive yourself. Now think about
that as a believer, a true Christian, not an unbeliever. and you see
a brother or sister get caught up into some scandalous sin,
or do something wrong, treat you wrong, or you treat, and
you think that you judge them to be not worthy of your time,
not worthy of your greeting, and you think you're better than
that? When you're nothing too, you're just as sinful as they
are? Think about it. That's a convicting message,
isn't it? And he says, you deceive yourself. And he says, but let
every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing
in himself alone and not in another. In other words, if you're gonna
find any comfort about yourself, then prove yourself. Don't go
around comparing yourself to somebody else. Say, well, he
did this, she did this, and I'm not, I would never do that. I'm
above that. Is that the way you find your
comfort? You're deceiving yourself. But prove your own self. And
I'll tell you the best way to prove yourself. Compare yourself
to the Lord Jesus Christ. How am I compared to him? Am
I loving others? Am I forgiving others? Am I helping
others? I don't compare at all. But where's
the comfort then? Thank God for his grace. I'm
a sinner, we're gonna sing a song beginning at the service, only
a sinner saved by grace. That's my story, to God be the
glory. And I can honestly tell you,
I do have a righteousness that answers the demands of God's
law and justice. And that's my comfort because
it's not in me, it's not done by me, it's in Christ and him
alone. You remember, turn over to Luke
chapter 13. This portion of scripture is such a profound truth. And it's a great example of the
kind of judgment that Christ is forbidding. And look here
in Luke chapter 13 verse 1. It says, there were present at
that season some that told him of the Galileans whose blood
Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. Now this was a historical
event where Pilate sent soldiers to slaughter people who were
on their way to bring the sacrifices that were required under the
old covenant. In verse two, and Jesus answering said to them,
suppose ye that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans
because they suffered such things? You think that they were slaughtered
because they were greater sinners than others? And he says in verse
three, listen to this, I tell you nay, but except you repent,
you shall all likewise perish. If you look at those who were
slaughtered and say, well, they got God's judgment. They got
what they deserve. They were greater sinners. Christ
looks at them and says, you're in the same boat that they are.
And except you repent, you'll likewise perish. That's all you
deserve. That's all I deserve. Can we say that from our hearts? Right now, I'm up here preaching
the gospel. Do I deserve God's wrath based upon my best works
right now? And the answer is yes. Now that's an eye-opening truth. I'm not up here looking for God
to save me or judge me based upon my works, not even my preaching. Remember, Lord, Lord, haven't
we preached in your name? And he said, depart from me.
And people look at that and they say, well, they weren't sincere.
Oh, you're sincere though, aren't you? Yeah, your sincerity will
get you across the line. Is that right? Judge not that
you be not judged. That's what he's saying. Go on
and it's verse four. He says, or those 18, 18 people, upon whom the tower of Siloam
fell. That's what we call a natural
disaster. That's what the insurance company
calls an act of God. And it was an act of God. And
slew them, think ye that they were sinners. And Frank, there's
the word debtors, literally. They were debtors. Did they owe
more? Above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem. I say that because Frank and
I were talking about that, the words for sin, trespass, transgress,
and debt. And he said, well, you suppose
they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell
you nay, but except you repent, you shall likewise perish. Now
there's the standard right there. Go back to Matthew 7 now. Now
here's the thing that we need to understand. For with what
judgment you judge, you shall be judged. If you judge that
way, unrighteously, comparing yourselves to others, thinking
you're better, then God's going to judge you the same way. And
the reason is because you don't believe. You don't have Christ. In the end, you'll be like those
who stand before God in their works. And he says, And with
what measure you meet, it shall be measured to you again. Whatever
standard you set for them will be set for you. And my friend,
listen, this is why that whenever we speak of righteousness and
of judgment and of issues of sin, we must keep our eyes on
Christ. What does God require? He requires
the perfection of righteousness that I as a sinner can only find
in Christ. I can't find that in myself.
Can you? There are people who preach that.
They say God puts it, you either form it in you or you work up
to it, or God puts it in you. He doesn't put that in me, that's
in Christ. That's the power of His blood. of his righteousness,
that's exclusively in him, and God has imputed it to me. And
the only way I know God has imputed it to me is because I believe
in Christ by the power of God, faith is the gift of God, and
I have a desire to do what he says to do. Now I'm never gonna
do what he says to do perfectly. And that's not what saves me.
But I stand washed in the blood of Christ. So what is your standard? What standard do I hold you to?
To call you my brother or my sister in Christ. To say that
I should treat you right. That I should respect you and
that I should forgive you. Do I always have it within me?
Is there any part of my flesh that desires to forgive you?
No. But God has put his spirit within
us. He's given us a new heart. So
what should I, what standard should I hold for you? Peter asked the question one
time, how many times should we forgive one another? And basically
Christ said infinitely, 70 times seven, that's what he's talking
about. How many hoops should I require you to jump through
for me to forgive you and to love you and to treat you with
respect and the love that I should. How many hoops? How many you
got? And however, whatever you say,
where do you find that in scripture? You see what I'm saying? These
are issues of judgment. And he says, look here, he says
in verse three, now listen to this. He says, why beholdest
thou that the moat, now the moat is like a little cinder. You
ever get a cinder in your eye? a moat that is in thy brother's
eye, but considerest not the beam, that's a rafter, that's
in thine own eye. Verse four, or how wilt thou
say to thy brother, let me pull out the moat out of thine eye,
let me fix your sin. And behold, a beam is in thine
own eye. How you gonna pull that little sliver out of your brother
or sister's eye when you got a rafter in your own? And then he says in verse five,
thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye,
and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy
brother's eye. Now that right there is basically
a hypothetical. meant to make a point. He's not
commanding you to go around, he's not commanding you to remove
the beam in your own eye, because you can't do it, in order that
you're qualified to cast, to pull the sin out of your brother.
It's a hypothetical making this point, and here's what the point
that's made. All you can see experientially
is some part of the depths of your own sinfulness. What you
see in a brother or sisters is just a small part of what the
reality is. They know the reality about themselves. You know the reality about yourself. I know my sinful thoughts. And
based upon my sinful thoughts, I could look at all of you and
say you're everyone better than me. You can't have the same ugly
thoughts that I have. I know you do, because the scripture
says you do. But I can't see it. But boy,
I know my thoughts, I know my dreams, I know my plans, and
I know what I go through. I see them. And as most preachers would tell
you, and I'll tell you this too, we don't even see the real ugliest
depths of our own sin. But we know more about our own
sin than you know about our sins, about my thoughts. So the point that he's making
hypothetically here is look, you can't even take care of the
problem of your own sin. What in the world makes you think
you can take care of the problem of somebody else's? You understand that? You can't
take the beam out of your own eye. Now, if you could, you would
be qualified to go around helping others get the cinder out of
their eye. But you can't. We know this is true, don't we?
Don't you know that's true by your experience? But you know
it by the word of God. Only a sinner saved by grace. Where would we be if we acted
only in the flesh, without any struggle, without any desire
to believe God. You understand that? And that's
why he says, look, to look at this any other way is so hypocritical. And you can close your ears and
shut your eyes to it if you want. But I'm gonna tell you, if the
spirit of God's there, he won't allow you to do that. Oh, how we thank God for his
grace. In Christ. How we can have any
confidence of assurance, of salvation. How, in ourselves? No, in Christ. Looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith. That ought to be enough to humble
us all. Put us in the dust. Well, I wanted
to show you at the end of this lesson. We often hear people
say in light of these verses, we don't judge others. I've heard
people say, well, I don't judge. This makes this verse one of
the most misunderstood and misused verses, we've said that. But
here's two points. Number one, we can't avoid judging. Judging ourselves and judging
others because judging is just a part of our nature. Even unbelievers, even the natural
man has some sense of right and wrong. Paul dealt with that in
Romans chapter two. I'll read it to you. I think
it's around verse 14, 15, somewhere around there in Romans. And of
course, you know the whole point of what he's saying in Romans
1 and 2 is how the whole world is brought in guilty before God. But he says in Romans 2 and verse
13, now he's talking about the Jews who had the law of Moses.
They had a standard, didn't they? They had the law, they had the
Ten Commandments, and the Gentiles didn't have those commandments
written in that form. Now, they had laws. It says in
verse 13, for not the hearers of the law are just before God,
but the doers of the law shall be justified. And you know what
it is to be justified. It's to be forgiven of all our
sins, past, present, and future, thought, word, and deed, all
our sins, And it's to be declared righteous before holy God, who
knows our thoughts, our motives, our goals. When I hate someone, God knows
well that hatred and he knows how sinful it is. And that ought
to stir us up to say, hey, that's not right. I can't justify that. And so, We're forgiven on the
basis of the blood of Jesus Christ. We're righteous on the ground
of his righteousness imputed. So he says in verse 14, for when
the Gentiles, which have not the law, the law of Moses, do
by nature the things contained in the law, these having not
the law are a law unto themselves. They have a law. He says, which
show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience
also bearing witness and their thoughts the mean while accusing
or else excusing one another. My point is this, it's our nature
to judge, but now by nature we're fallen. Our conscience is fallen,
guilty, defiled, and we judge wrongly when it comes to issues
of salvation. when it comes to issues of righteousness,
when it comes to issues of forgiveness and a right relationship with
God. Even the natural man can judge
righteously according to the civil law. That's why we have
courts, prosecutors, police forces, all of that. Defense lawyers,
that's why we have that. Because we're seeking good judgment
in those areas. But when it comes to salvation
and a right relationship with God, our judgment is wrong, naturally. And that's why the conscience
has to be cleansed. And how is it cleansed? By the
Spirit's application of the power of the blood of Jesus Christ.
And so, we all judge. For example, I put in your lesson,
if you claim to be a Christian, You either judge that Christianity
is the best religion or the only religion and all other religions
are either inferior or wrong. That's a judgment right there. But then here's the second thing.
And of course, naturally our judgment is always wrong. But
the second point is Christ commands his disciples to make right judgments. John 7, 7, judge righteous judgment. And what is righteous judgment?
It's simply this, it's judgment based on God's revealed word. Whatever God says is true, and
anything that goes against that is a lie. Do you believe that?
It's gospel judgment. Somebody says, well, I'm a Christian,
I'm your brother, I'm your sister in Christ. Well, what do I have
to know? I have to know the gospel. What gospel do you believe? because
I can't receive you as a brother or sister or reject you until
I know what gospel you believe. That's gospel judgment. Now he
says don't judge according to appearance. Somebody said, well,
you don't look like a Christian. Well, what does a Christian look
like? Could look like a thief hanging on a cross. Or he could look like Elijah
being taken up. Both of them are Christians. So you can't judge by outward
appearance. What did Christ say to the Pharisees? You do indeed
appear righteous unto men, but inwardly, you're full of dead
men's bones. And what is gospel judgment?
It's judging by the doctrine of Christ. Remember what he says
in 2 John 9. He that goes too far, transgresses,
and abides not in the doctrine of Christ, The doctrine of his
glorious person, the doctrine of his finished work, his righteousness,
his blood, they don't have God. They're not in fellowship with
God. They neither know the Father nor the Son. But he that abideth
in the doctrine of Christ hath both the Father and the Son.
You see that? So that's the issues of righteous
judgment. I hope that's helpful to all
of us.