Seeking once again the help of
God, I'd like you to turn with me to the chapter that we read
together, the Gospel according to Matthew chapter 7, and the
text you'll find in verses 1 and 2. Judge not that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge,
ye shall be judged. and with what measure ye meet
it shall be measured to you again. Really following on from this
morning as we looked at the Pharisees and the way that they sought
to bring accusation to the Lord Jesus Christ and his apostles
by causing them to, or accusing them of breaking the law of the
Sabbath first by taking of the corn as they walked through the
fields. and rubbing it between their
hands and then by seeking to set up the Lord Jesus as to whether
he would heal on the Sabbath day, probably knowing that he
would. Knowing that being a kind and
compassionate man presented with someone who was in great need,
they knew that he would heal. Their desire was not to have
the man healed. Their desire was to bring accusation
to the Lord Jesus Christ. And we saw in the Gospel of Mark
that Jesus, perceiving their hypocrisy filled with anger against
them, with their hardness of heart, he heals the man. And so really... Jesus is speaking
to those who are of a similar mindset, a similar persuasion. He's speaking to the Pharisee,
he's speaking to the legalist who judges based upon their own
understanding of what they deem to be right and not out of compassion
and not out of love for the law of God but out of self-righteousness
and self-satisfaction that they are better and therefore they
are filled with pride and desire to pass judgment upon others
rather than looking to themselves. In Romans chapter 14, there's a whole chapter
there really on judging others. There are degrees of faith, there
are degrees by which a person has walked the Christian life,
there are degrees by which a person understands the scriptures and
everybody is not on the same level. And the apostle, as I
mentioned a few months ago, I think the apostle seeks to reason this,
to bring this point across, that there are those who are weak
in faith. There are those who are of a
doubtful disposition. There are those who are still
babes in the Lord Jesus Christ. And they may do things that are
not deemed right for a believer. the elder more experienced Christian
may have walked the pathway for a long long time, may have passed
through many different experiences in life and they may have grown
in strength, may have grown in faith, may have grown in experience,
may have grown in knowledge of the Word of God. And the apostle
says that there are those who are weak in faith but we are
to receive them He says some people they may only eat herbs,
they may not eat meat, they may think that it's sinful or unclean
to eat meat but he says receive them. They still belong to the
body of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ has died for them. Although
they are babes in Christ, although they are weak and immature, believers
do not pass judgment upon them because they belong to the Lord
Jesus Christ. They haven't grown in grace and
in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus. You don't know their background,
you don't know where they have come from, have they been sitting
under a sound ministry, have they come right out from the
world and therefore they're not going to fully understand or
fully grasp the way of life for a Christian,
a believer. And so the writer says, who art
thou to judge another man's servant? to his own master he stands or
falls. Yea, he shall be holden up, for
God also is able to make him stand. He continues on about
the different days, about there were Jews who had been converted,
some maybe still held to the various feasts that the Jews
had. but they were still immature
believers, still hadn't grown in experience and in the walk
with the Lord, come to the knowledge of the truth, sat under sound
ministry and been led by the Spirit. And so Paul says, don't
judge them, they belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. In verse 10
it says, but why dost thou judge thy brother? Or why dost thou
set at naught thy brother? For we all shall stand before
the judgment seat of Christ. That is going to be the ultimate
judgment. Everything will be put straight on that great and
that terrible day when yes the whole world will stand before
the Lord Jesus Christ. Every nation, every person that
has ever been born shall stand before the Lord Jesus Christ
and believers will stand before the Lord Jesus Christ. and Christ
will put all matters straight as we stand before him. Let us
not therefore judge one another any more but judge this rather
that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion in his brother's
way. And so there is this way of looking
at others as the Pharisees failed to look at themselves and always
were looking out at the faults of other people, taking pleasure
in exposing other people's sin, taking pleasure in exposing the
various laws that the Pharisees had placed there, that they broke
them. They took great delight in witnessing
the downfall of other people. the apostle says do not let us
therefore judge one another anymore but judge this rather that not
to put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother's
way. But our delight should be for
the edification and the building up of the church rather than
the pulling down of the weaker brethren Those who are weak in
the faith should have somebody come alongside them and lead
them and guide them in the truth to establish them in the ways
of Christ rather than sitting back and pulling them down, finding
fault in the things that they do. Don't put a stumbling block
or an occasion to fall in thy brother's way. Judge not that you be not judged. This is probably one of the verses
that is always twisted out of context. Many people who live
an ungodly life, vile sinners, quite happily would quote this
when confronted about their sin. They would quote, judge not,
the Bible says don't judge. Who are you to judge me? Who
are you to tell me that I'm outside of Christ, that I'm a sinner?
Do you think you are greater than me? I remember once years
ago I was in Brighton at a gay pride thing and we were preaching. there and they're delighted in
shouting, judge not, don't judge us, who are you to come and tell
us, preach to us. They're twisting the scriptures
out of context. The Bible doesn't say don't judge
at all. The Bible tells us to examine
ourselves and then see how we are going to judge. Our judgment
is based solely on the word of God. That is the foundation for
us passing judgment. It doesn't come from our experience
or our knowledge. Our knowledge must be grounded
in the scriptures and it's only then that we can come and lay
claim and to pass and to preach. of sin. Judge not that you be not judged. God has provided degrees of authority
in the world. There is the government authority,
where there is the court system, the laws of the land, And if
he were to go to the judge and say, judge not, he has the authority, he has
the right to judge. It's his job to examine the law
and to see whether those who are brought before him stand
guilty or not. There is in the home, there is
the father, the head of the home. He has the authority. He has
the authority from God to lay down the rules of his household
and is able to discipline his children, to pass judgment upon
them, to examine them. Yes, he must judge fairly, grounded
in the truth of Scripture, but also there's the Church, the
Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. She has been given those in authority.
pastors and deacons and church members by which we are to examine
those brought before us who have committed within the church committed
external sin and we're able to pass judgment and to put them
out of the church not for their destruction but for their self-examination
to be brought to that conviction that they have sinned and are
in need of repentance. So it doesn't mean we are never
ever to judge. God has placed those authorities
and given that ability and that authority to pass judgment. but it is speaking about the
way by which we do it. To Pharisees it was their delight
to find fault. And as they looked at the Lord
Jesus Christ, that is what they were searching for. They wanted
to find something. He so made them irate. They wanted to find something
on him to bring him to the judgment seat, to pass judgment upon him. They didn't examine themselves
at all. And Jesus says the right way
to judge, the right way to pass judgment is first to examine
yourself. You may wonder why the Lord Jesus
Christ was so hard on these Pharisees. Often People say, don't they,
judge not, judge not. And when Jesus came, he had so
much to say to the religious people of the day. And they use
it as an excuse, that going to church makes you religious. And
Jesus, he wouldn't have anything to do with the church if he was
to come back here to earth. He would deal with the people
outside. But Jesus only rebuked the Pharisees
because of their hypocritical behavior. that they viewed themselves as
perfect, as righteous before the law of God and who stood
as false and corrupt judges before the people that they were meant
to be guiding and directing and teaching in the ways of the Lord. And so why he was so annoyed
with them was because first of all they were trying to find
fault with him the spotless Lamb of God in whom there was no sin. Nothing that he ever did was
contrary to the ceremonial law, the civil law. He lived perfect before God. So when he came to the Pharisees
and saw a people that were perfect on the outside, he had something
to say. He saw their hypocrisy. And so a whole chapter, chapter
23 is dedicated to exposing the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, the
scribes and Pharisees. He said of blessings as he speaks
in the Sermon on the Mount, He speaks of the woes that will
be brought upon those who are the Pharisees and the hypocrites. They devour widows' houses. They make long prayers. Not that there's anything wrong
in long prayers but it was the motive by which they made the
long prayers. They wanted to be seen by men.
They wanted people to say, well, what a good prayer he is, how
long he can pray. Look at how good and how smart
his clothes are. In verse 23, just as the Lord
Jesus said this morning, as he looked at them, He says they
were so concerned about the tiny details of the law that they
forgot the essence of the law, the spirit of the law. That God
gave this law, the law of the Sabbath especially, as a benefit
for the people of the world. And he says, you've omitted the
weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy and faith. These ought ye to have done and
not to leave the other undone. Ye blind guides which strain
at a gnat and swallow a camel. One of the rules that they had
made. so they were not to eat or drink
anything that was unclean. And so they would strain their
drink to remove any small insects that were there in order that
they could drink without making themselves unclean by having
any insects in their drink. And so they strained out, they
took so much effort in these finer details of the law, the
things that they had added and added, that they neglected the
weightier matters. The things that they ought to
have done. Judgment and mercy and faith. They spent their time arguing. They spent their time looking
at everybody else rather than what Jesus says. Look at yourself. First of all Examine yourself. How can you judge somebody rightly
when you have a beam in your eye? Why beholdest thou the mote,
the speck, that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the
beam that is in thine own eye? If you think of it, if somebody
has a beam in their eye, you'd think they would be dead. These
Pharisees, they were dead. They were dead in sin. They were unable, they had no
right to judge others because they were still in their sins.
They're still separated and outside of God, still seeking to obtain
a righteousness by themselves. They had failed to see the essence
of the law and the need of the perfect sacrifice. They had a
beam in their eye and they were dead. They had no right to judge
and to look at the speck in the eye of somebody else. Thou hypocrite,
Jesus says, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye. then thou shalt see clearly to
cast the mote out of thy brother's eye. First come to salvation
yourself. Come to know the Lord Jesus Christ
yourself. And then you're in a position
to be able to look at others. And as you look at others first
you will be examining yourself. What you find often that those
people who are most hypocritical Those people who are most outspoken
are those people who have never known the Lord Jesus Christ. Unbaptised, nominal Christians, just like the Pharisee, have
a lot to say, but they don't know anything
of the Saviour. don't truly know what it is to understand their
own sin and their own weakness. They believe themselves to be
good, acceptable in the sight of God, that they're the one
that God has chosen to pass judgment on everybody else. But the fact
is they've got a beam in their own eye, they're still dead in
their own sin and they still can't fully grasp the concept
of needing Christ as their saviour. They believe that they are worthy
of God's choice because they're so good, because they're so obedient,
they're so holy. Yet they're trying to make themselves
holy from the outside in. Like the Pharisee, Jesus says
you're a whitewashed tomb. You may look nice on the outside,
but that niceness on the outside is having nothing to do with
the condition of your heart. The heart must change. The inside
must change the outside. Get rid of the beam. that is
in your eye and then you will see clearly for the specks that
are in your brother's eye. It's easy to look at the lives
of other people and to find fault in everybody else. But it takes a lot of humility
to turn your eyes within and to see fault with self. It needs grace. It needs the
Spirit of God to first examine yourself and to see clearly all
that is going on within your own heart, within your own mind. None of us are perfect. All of us, no doubt, look at
the lives of other people and we say, well, why do they do
this? Why do they do that? But we forget
to realise that everybody else is looking at our life and they're
probably thinking the same about you. Well, why do you do this?
And why do you do that? And why do you say this? And
why do you do all these different things? And we are constantly
looking at each other. but forgetting that everybody
is looking also at us. It's easy to look out and find
fault in the lives of other people but first of all Jesus says,
cast the beam out of thine own eye and then thou shalt see clearly
to cast the mote, the speck, out of thy brother's eye. Galatians, that tells us there, Galatians
chapter one, sorry, Galatians six, verse one. Brethren, if
a man be overtaken in fault, ye which are spiritual, restore
such a one in the spirit of meekness. Considering thyself, lest thou
also be tempted, bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil
the law of Christ. For man think himself to be something,
when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. So the apostle tells
us there, if a man be overtaken in fault, which is common, we
are sinful people we are not perfect and therefore our lives
are not going to be 100% holy all of the time we are going
to do things which are sinful which are not right which may
bring shame on the Lord Jesus Christ. But in But the Apostle
says don't judge that person, don't just cast them off and
pass judgment upon them but go to them with the spirit of meekness
examining yourself because you also are a sinner and liable
to sin and to bring shame on the Lord Jesus Christ. and to go to them with the spirit
of meekness not the spirit of judgment like the Pharisees seeking
to accuse seeking to bring them down seeking to expose but a
spirit of meekness considering thyself lest thou also be tempted It's very difficult to confront
somebody. It's very difficult to go to
somebody and to speak to that person about a sin that they
may have committed. It is very easy to talk about
that person and to gossip and busybody about that person behind
that person's back so that person has no idea whatsoever that they
have done anything wrong. Everybody else is talking, everybody
else knows apparently what they've done wrong yet they are in the
dark. But the scriptural way is to
examine yourself first. Go to them in the spirit of meekness
and speak to them. and bear their burden, and in
so doing fulfilling the law of Christ which we spoke of this
morning. Love God, love your neighbour as yourself, and as
Jesus says, Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men
should do unto you, do ye even so to them. For this is the law
and the prophets. Treat others as you also would
like to be treated. Would you like your sin to be
spoken about behind your back? Everybody else knows about it
but you are in the dark. How would you like it to be dealt
with? Surely you would like it to be dealt with in the Christ-like
way. somebody coming to you in the
spirit of meekness who have self-examined themselves who have examined
themselves torn open their own hearts ransacked their own minds
and seen their own sin and then approach you with humility and
meekness coming alongside you seeking to assist you to carry
you rather than to pull you down Often people talk behind other people's
backs as a smokescreen for their own sin They can't bring themselves to
confront that person because they know that deep down in their
heart they're guilty of the same sins. And so it's easier to talk
about it to everybody else as a cover rather than going with
that humble attitude to that person. So the Christian way is not to pull down but for building up. The Pharisees experienced the
harsh judgment of the Lord Jesus Christ because that was how they
treated other people. with the same with what judgment
you meet with you judge ye shall be judged and with what measure
you give it it shall be given unto you again. They received
we could say they're just desserts Christ dealt with them as how
they dealt with others but true Christian judgment or correction
is not meant to pull down but to restore. It's not meant to
cast off a true believer maybe for a little while but that then
they could come to that self-examination and repentance. O for grace our hearts to soften
How easy it is to rise up in judgment. How easy it is to find
fault instead of looking at ourselves. First of all, if we need to go
and see somebody, Look at yourself. If you feel that someone is in
a path of sin, if you feel that somebody needs some correction,
if you feel that somebody has backslidden or is in a lukewarm
state, then don't say, they're not a
Christian. How could they be a Christian?
Look at them. What does Jesus say? He says,
go to them. First of all, examine yourself. And then you will see
that you don't really have the right to judge. But seeing them in that condition
and the love that is in your heart knowing that if you were
in that condition also you would desire that somebody would come
alongside and speak to you. You examine yourself and you
go to them. Jesus tells us in Matthew 18 moreover verse 15 moreover if
thy brother because they or sister shall trespass against thee,
go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone. And if he
shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. Examine yourself, then go. What would be your motive for
going? To show how much you know? To
show how holy you are? Or would it be love? Would it
be that you love that person so much that you desire that
that person be restored? Go to them and talk to them. And Jesus says, then you will
have gained your brother. You see, rather than gossiping
about everything, Jesus says go directly to that person. Then
the thing is dealt with. It doesn't have to even go beyond
you two. It's dealt with. Man on man,
woman on woman. And if that person admits their
sin or is able even to put things straight, then you've gained
your brother. You've gained your sister. And
the matter is done and dusted and forgotten. You move on. Just as the love of Christ does
not continually resurface sin. It's done, it's dealt with. The
sin is cast behind the back and remembered no more. How do these
gossipers and busybodies love to bring sin to the surface? It's the topic of conversation. Jesus says go talk to them deal
with it and if they listen then you've gained your brother if
not then take somebody else with you but if you will not hear
thee then take with thee one or two more that at the mouth
of two or three witnesses every word may be established. That's
the next step. If they are adamant and unrepentant
then go and get another person or another two people and go
and speak to that person. Now there will be witnesses and
that person will be more accountable. But if they fail to hear them
then Jesus says bring it to the church. he shall neglect to hear
them tell it to the church but if he neglects to hear the church
let him be unto thee a heathen man and a publican in other words
put them out of the church there is that process by which someone
is to be judged by which someone is to be examined and not just
to be cast off at the whim of a hat but there is to be a detailed
and a precise way by which sin is to be dealt with in the hope
that that person is brought to godly sorrow and repentance not gossiped about but dealt
with And if they fail then they are cast out of the church. This is one of the benefits of
being a church member that you are accountable to a body of
people. You are accountable to the authority
that God has placed. We have no authority over a congregation. Anybody can come in here. We cannot stop them from coming
through the door. We can restrict people, cast them and turn them
out of the body of the Lord Jesus Christ because of sin. In Corinthians
you remember there the apostle rebukes them for them allowing
an external sinful person to continue in the church. This
person had committed a grievous sin. And the church was so pleased
it seems that they had just continued to allow him, showed him some
mercy. Yet the apostle says he should
have been put out. 1 Corinthians 5. It is reported that there is
fornication among you and such fornication as is not so much
as named among the Gentiles that one should have his father's
wife. And you are puffed up and have not rather mourned that
he has done this deed that might be taken away from you. So the apostle says he should
have been dealt with. He should have been taken out
of the church. He says, your glorying is not good. Know you
not that a little leaven leavens a whole lump? A little sin, someone
committing sin in the church, affects the whole body. He says, purge out therefore
the old leaven, that you may be a new lump as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover
is sacrificed for us. And so there is to be that discipline
administered by the church and so people say but judge not you
can't judge me Jesus says don't judge yes he says don't judge
but he says don't judge in a rash un-self-examined way judge according
to scripture Examine yourself, pull the beam
out of your own eye and then you will be able to see clearly
what speck is in your brother's eye. Go to them, speak to them
calmly with meekness and humility, saying your concerns. If they
take it, well. If not, go to them with two more.
Deal with it. they fail to receive that then
bring it to the church bring it to the pastor and let him
and them deal with it that they may be put out. But the reason
why the Pharisees were so harshly judged by the Lord Jesus Christ
was because they so harshly judged everybody else and so with the
same measure that you pass judgment So Christ will in the same measure
judge you. And ultimately on that last day we will all stand before the
judgment seat of Christ. At the end of the chapter there
we have the illustration or the parable of the wise and the foolish
men. Both built houses. Both listened to the teachings
of the Lord Jesus Christ as they built their houses and a storm came. Jesus tells
us that one house stood firm and the other one crumbled and
fell and great was the fall of it. Here is the nominal Pharisee
legalist and the one who is grounded on the Lord Jesus Christ. One
has digged down to the rock and planted his faith on the Lord
Jesus Christ. The other is only for external
shallow nominal Christianity and that storm comes. The storm
came in Noah's day a storm of judgement to flood the earth
and one day another storm will come the storm of the coming
of the Lord Jesus Christ when this earth will be burnt up the
nominal believer he will crumble and fall but those that are grounded upon
the rock the Lord Jesus Christ they will stand They will stand,
not in their own strength, but they will stand in Christ. And they will be with him for
all eternity. Judge not that you be not judged. And may the Lord grant us that
true humble attitude, that true Christ-like attitude. of the mind of the Lord Jesus
Christ to be able to examine ourselves to cast out the beam
out of our own eye to do as we would desire to be
done unto us and then should we need to to speak to others
Do it with a humble attitude of meekness. Acknowledging that
we also could fall into the same sins that that person is in. For with the same judgment we
judge, we will also be judged. It's horrible sometimes you see
people who have been so judgmental through their lives and then
you see what the Lord does to them. Examine yourself first before
accusing others. Examine yourself to see whether
you are in Christ to see whether you have the authority even to
judge those who are in the church And if you are, don't gossip,
but go to them and speak to them and you will gain your brother.
Not to pull them down, but to build them up and to establish
them in the truth. And Jesus says, you will gain
a brother. May the Lord add his blessing. Amen. Let's sing our final hymn together
from Hymns for Worship number 175. Who is on the Lord's side? Who will serve the King? Who
will be his helpers, are the lives to bring? who will leave
the world's side, who will face the foe, who is on the Lord's
side, who for him will go. By thy call of mercy, by thy
grace divine, we are on the Lord's side, Saviour, we are thine. Hymns for Worship 175. Who will be the wild side? Who will face the foe? Who is on the Lord's side? divine. We are of the cross,
O Savior, we are Thine. Jesus, Thou hast brought us,
not with thought or dream, but with Thine own With thy blessed living, it do
comes to thee. Thou hast laid us where big mountains
lay. Peace may be her confidence,
strong may be her form, of the kings of glory, of the noble
throne. Thou, dear Sander, bright and
free, divine. We are all the Lord's
side, Savior, we are Thine. Chosen to be soldiers in heaven
and earth, chosen for the ? In the service royal ? ? Let
us not perform ? ? Let us be bright, loyal, purple, true,
and bold ? ? Master, Lord, forgive us ? Almighty God, we do give thee
thanks for the warnings that are given to us in thy holy word.
We pray that thou keep us from that pharisaical, outward-looking
spirit. Keep us, Lord, from passing judgement
and do enable us to walk through the process which has been laid
down by our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. Do give us, Lord,
that meek spirit and that attitude of humility
and that desire for the perfecting of the saints. We ask Lord that
we may be dismissed with thy blessing to be with each one
as they travel home and as they continue on in the path of life.
We pray that we may know thy strength and thy blessing and
thy provision day by day. And now may the grace of the
Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father, with the fellowship
and the communion of the Holy Spirit, to be with us each now
and for evermore. Amen.