Would you turn back to Matthew
chapter 7? I've entitled this message, If
I Were Judged. Now this is one of the most famous,
I guess you would call it, statements of the Lord Jesus Christ. People
who don't believe on Christ use this statement. It's been used
so many times. Judge not that you be not judged. Just what would happen to me
if I were judged by God? I tremble at the thought of such
a thing. God is holy. God is the judge. God is the
law giver. And only God sees the truth about
me and you. He's the only one who really
knows us. I never will forget hearing brother Mahan make this
statement many years ago. And it's always stuck with me.
We're all three different people. We're the ones we think we are. We're the one others think we
are. And we're the one God knows we are. Now here's what God says of me,
whether I acknowledge it or not. This is what he said about my
heart. This is what he says about my heart. The heart is desperately
wicked, deceitful above all things who can know it. Here's what
God sees when He sees every man. Would you turn with me to Psalm
53? Verse 2, God looked down from
heaven upon the children of men, and He's looking down upon us
right now to see if there were any that did understand, that
did seek God. Every one of them is gone back. They are all together become
filthy. There's none that do with good.
No, not one. Now this is what God sees when
he sees me. This is what God sees when he
sees you. I have not Let's talk about the
10 commandments. I have not kept one commandment
one time. You believe that about yourself?
I have not kept, and I'm talking about right now. I'm not talking
about the way I was before I was saved. I'm talking about the
way I am right now in and of myself. I have not kept one commandment
one time. And let me back this up from
scripture. Turn to first John chapter one. Verse 8. If we say that we have no sin. And there the word is a noun.
At all times I have sin. A sinful nature. If we say that
we have no sin. We deceive ourselves. And the
truth. is not in us. The moment I make
a statement like that, I lose all credibility. Truth's not
even in me. Look in verse 10, same chapter. If we say we've not sinned, now
there the word is a verb. It's what we do regarding anything
I do, including this sermon that I'm preaching to you, including
the best thought that I've ever thought. If we say we have not
sinned in that, whatever it may be, We make him a liar because
he says we have. And his word is not in us. I have not kept one commandment
one time. Everything I do has self-promotion,
has self-righteousness, has selfishness behind it. What if I were judged? David said, enter not into judgment
with thy servant, for in thy sight shall no man living be
justified. And he also said, if thou, O
Lord, shouldst mark iniquities, O Lord, who should stand? Now, am I being overly sensitive
when I say these things about myself? Am I being too hard upon
myself? Am I beating myself up too much? No, this is what the
Word of God says regarding me and you. We've not kept one commandment
one time. And someone who cannot see this
about themself right now, if you don't see this about yourself
right now, either you're unsaved or you're in such a hardened
condition, backslidden condition that the Word of God no longer
penetrates your heart. Now, what I've said is true with
regard to every single one of us. And the Lord said, judge
not that you be not judged. What would happen to you if you
were judged by God? What would happen to me? Now,
what does the Lord mean when he says, judge not that you be
not judged? Does that mean we're to make
no judgments at all? Somebody who stands for some
principle in the Word of God, and they're dogmatic about it,
and they stand for it. Somebody says, well, they're
just being judgmental. They're condemning people who
don't believe the way they do. They're just being judgmental. Is that
being judgmental? No. There's some judgments we're
called upon to make. You know, the Lord said, judge not according
to appearance, but judge righteous judgment. Or somebody, perhaps,
is living in some way that's so contrary to the Word of God
in rebellion, and you say, the Word of God condemns that, and
you say, don't judge me. Don't judge me. You have no right
to judge me. That's not what the Lord means. You know, when
John the Baptist said to Herod, Herod, it's not lawful for you
to have her. Was he being judgmental and harsh?
No. He was called upon to make this
kind of judgment. You know, a man told me not that
long ago that his pastor was a woman. And I said to him, doesn't
the Bible condemn that? And he said, you're being judgmental.
You're being critical. No, not at all. That's the wrong
use of judge not that you be not judges. As a matter of fact,
in this context, look what he says next in verse six of Matthew
chapter seven. Give not that which is holy,
unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine." Now,
you and I are called upon to make a judgment concerning who's
a dog and who's a swine and not to cast our pearls before them. Look in verse 15 of the same
chapter. Beware of false prophets, which
come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly They're ravening
wolves, ravening wolves. You shall know them by their
fruits. See, there's some judgments you're called upon to make. You're
to listen to them. You'll know them by their fruits.
Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles? Even so,
every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree
brings forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth
evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not
forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. Wherefore,
by their fruits you shall know them. There's some judgments
you're making by what you hear, whether or not it's the word
of God. Hold your finger there in Matthew 7 and turn to 1 John
chapter 4. Beloved, believe not every spirit,
and that's talking about a preacher. Believe not every spirit, preacher,
but try the spirits, test them, whether they are of God. I'm
called upon to make some judgments, aren't I? I'm to listen to what
they're saying and make a judgment as to whether or not they are
of God. Because many false prophets are
gone out into the world, hereby know ye the Spirit of God, every
spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh
is of God and every spirit that
confesseth not that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not
of God. This is that spirit of Antichrist where if you've heard
that it should come and even now already it's in the world. Now, we're called upon to judge
what we're hearing by this standard. Do they preach that Jesus Christ
has come in the flesh? Now, when I hear a man preach,
here's what I'm listening for. Does he believe that Jesus Christ
was before he came the eternal Son of God? Does he believe that
he came in the flesh? God was manifest in the flesh,
and he did what he came to do. He came to save his people from
their sins, and that's exactly what he did. Now, I judge what
I'm hearing according to that. You and I are called upon by
God to make many judgments. John said, if any bring not this
doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him Godspeed. For him that bids him Godspeed
is a partaker of his evil deeds. We have Scriptures like one that's
a heretic after the first and second admonition reject. I'm
called upon to make a judgment. We're told regarding the disorderly
brother was such a one no not to eat. I'm called upon to make
a judgment. Remember when Paul spoke of Hymenaeus
and Philetus, who concerning the truth have erred. He made
a judgment concerning them. Remember what he said about Alexander
the coppersmith. He has done me much evil. The
Lord reward him according to his deeds. You think of what
the Lord said there in Matthew chapter 18, when they said, if
the church, if this man doesn't hear the church, let him be counted
as a heathen man and a publican. Those are judgments that you
and I are called upon to make. Now, should we, judge not, should
we not have police? Aaron, you know better than that,
don't you? Yeah, we need police. Should we not have a judicial
system to make judgments against criminals? Of course we should. It's necessary to have judgments. Judge not, if, should we have
our government not have laws and powers to enforce them? Should
criminals be let go? Judge not. What if your kid disobeys
you? And you're getting ready to punish
me. You say, you shouldn't judge me. That won't work, will it? If a preacher was raised up in
this place and preached salvation by works, shouldn't we say, well,
let the brother, you know, we ought to be tolerant of him.
We shouldn't judge him. Let's, let's just stay. No, we're called
upon to make judgments, aren't we? Many judgments. The Lord said, judge not according
to appearance, but judge righteous judgment. So what does the Lord
mean when he says to us, judge not, that you be not judged? The Lord is talking about a self-righteous,
hyper-critical attitude. Turn with me to Luke chapter
18, verse 9. And he spake this parable unto
certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous. Now that's, you want to know
what self-righteousness is? Right here. If you find any righteousness
in self, that's self-righteousness. He spake this parable unto certain
which trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised
others. Now this is what our Lord is
condemning, this hypercritical, judgmental attitude that is born
of self-righteousness and it causes you to despise others. Hypercriticism. Now, criticism. is very important and very necessary. I need criticism. You need criticism. It's good and we should welcome
it. Anybody that's ever any good
at anything is always their own greatest critic, aren't they?
Somebody that's not their own greatest critic never achieves
anything. You ought to be critical of yourself. I remember a reading of this
great artist who had made all these great paintings and so
on. And finally, he put down his paintbrush and said, I'm
never going to paint again. Somebody said, why? He said,
because I was satisfied with what I did. And I know I've lost
my inspiration. We're always to be our own critic. And constructive criticism is
good. You know, didn't Paul say, if
we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. Criticism is good. I want criticism,
loving criticism. Somebody says, well, I'll oblige
on that. Well, hold on. Maybe I'm speaking hypothetically. That being said, hypercriticism
is destructive, and hypercriticism is evil. And that's what the
Lord is talking about. When you see yourself as better
than the person you're judging, and you've begun to judge their
motives, You have entered in the realm of hypercriticism and
it is so ugly. May the Lord deliver us from
this. Now the Lord in our text, turn
back to Matthew chapter seven, he gives us three reasons as
to why we should not judge. Verse one, Matthew chapter seven,
he says, judge not, that you be not judged. That's a mighty
powerful reason to not judge, isn't it? Judge not that you
be not judged. Now, does that mean if I judge
somebody, I'll be condemned on judgment day? If it does mean that, I will
be condemned on judgment day because I'm as judgmental as
anybody ever lived and you are too. All of us are grotesquely
guilty of this great sin of judging and prejudging and showing prejudice. That's all prejudice is, is prejudging. If that means that somebody that
judges will be damned, I'll be damned. But thank God the scripture
says there is therefore now no condemnation. to them that are
in Christ Jesus. Aren't you thankful for that?
Well, what does the Lord mean? Judge not that you be not judged.
Well, hold your finger there in Matthew 7 and turn to 1 Corinthians
11. Beginning in verse 26. He's talking
about taking the Lord's table, verse 26. For as often as you
eat this bread and drink this cup, You do show the Lord's death
till he come. That's one of the reasons the
Lord's table is so important. We're preaching the gospel. We're
showing the Lord's death till he come. When we observe the
Lord's table, all should observe the Lord's table. It's not something
that somebody say, well, I'm not gonna show up. Why? This
is the Lord's table. He said, this do as often you
do it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this
bread and drink this cup, you do show the Lord's death till
he come. Wherefore, whosoever shall eat this bread and drink
this cup of the Lord unworthily shall be guilty of the body and
blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself.
You don't need to examine somebody else. Well, you know, I don't
know. I don't know. So-and-so ought to be taking the Lord's table there.
Oh, that's judging. That's judging. Let a man examine
himself. And so let him eat that bread
and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh
unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning
the Lord's body. For this cause, many are weak
and sickly among you. And some have even died because
of this unworthy taking of the Lord's table. And that doesn't
mean they were sent to hell, but it means the Lord chastened them
in this life. Verse 31, for if we would judge
ourselves, we should not be judged. Now, do you hear that? If we
judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we're judged,
we're chastened of the Lord. There it is. That's what he's
talking about. Judge not that you be not judged.
But when we're judged, we're chastened of the Lord that we
should not be condemned with the world. Now, judge not that
you be not judged. Now, I hope, here's what we'll
do. I know this from, I know me.
That means we'll think, when somebody gets sick, wonder what
they did. on what they did to deserve this. Don't think that
way. Don't think that way. Judge not
that you be not judged. That's the first reason. And
here's the second reason to not judge. Look in verse 2. For with what judgment you judge. Matthew 7 verse 2. For with what
judgment you judge you shall be judged. And with what measure
you meet, it shall be measured to you again. Now this is a principle. God is going to deal with us
the way we deal with others. Let me repeat that. And I want
it to sink in with all of us. God is going to deal with us.
the way we deal with others. You put people under the law,
you're going to be put under the law. What goes around comes
around. If you judge harshly, you'll
be judged harshly. If you're hypocritical, you'll
be criticized. If you're lenient and merciful
and you overlook things, you will find leniency and mercy
and you will be overlooked. If you put the best construction
on things, You will be treated that way. If you forgive, you'll
be forgiven. If you refuse to give, forgive.
You will not be forgiven. We will be blessed in accordance
with the basket we bring and with the measure we use. That's
how the Lord is going to deal out our blessings. Now that's
what the scripture teaches. With what measure you meet, it
shall be measured to you again. Turn to Luke chapter six. Hold
your finger there in Matthew chapter seven, because we're
going right back there, but turn to Luke chapter six. Verse 36, be ye therefore merciful
as your father also is merciful. Judge not, and you shall not
be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not
be condemned. Forgive, and you shall be forgiven. Give, and it shall be given unto
you. Good measure, pressed down and shaken together and running
over shall men give unto your bosom. For with the same measure
that you meet with all, it shall be measured to you again. Now
this is just a great principle of the scripture. The Lord is
gonna deal with us as we deal with others. Judge not that you
be not judged. Now, then we read in verse three
and the Lord uses such sarcasm here. The sarcasm and the irony
is striking in this passage of scripture. Now look what the
Lord says. And verse 3, Matthew chapter 7 verse 3, why beholdest
thou the mote that's in thy brother's eye, but considereth not the
beam that's in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother,
let me pull out the mote out of thine, and behold a beam is
in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out
the beam out of thine own eye, then shalt thou see clearly to
cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye. Now I think of
the look at the picture. I've got a ceiling timber coming
out of my eye. There's no way I can see. But
I say, hey brother, let me let me get that moat out of your
eye. Now this is not denying the reality of the moats in your
brother's eye. Your brother has moats. He has
multiple moats. He has irritating moats. No doubt
about it. But what are those in comparison
to the beams in your own eye. How in the world do you think
you can see to help your brother get the mote out of his eye when
you have a beam sticking out of your own? And as far as that
goes, your brother's motes are minor in comparison to the beams
in your own eye. Now that's what our Lord is saying. You can't possibly see to pull
the moat out of your brother's eye, as long as you have a beam
sticking in your own eye. And I like what the Lord says.
Verse five, thou hypocrite. Now the Lord is speaking to his
people at this time. This is who this is addressed
to. And he says, thou hypocrite. You know, I've heard people say,
well, there's just too many hypocrites in the church. Well, you ought
to be right at home then. You'd fit in just perfect. There's
nobody that doesn't fit this description. An actor. An actor. Thou hypocrite. That's what the
Lord says. 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, Lord tells
us that this is hypocrisy. This is hypocrisy. Turn to Romans chapter 14. Paul asked this question, he
asked it to me and you. Verse 10. Why does thou judge thy brother? Or why does thou set it not thy
brother? You know, when I judge my brother,
what I'm doing, I'm setting it not. That's what I'm doing. I'm
making him to be nothing. Then he says, for we shall all
stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Now that's not talking
about, I'm going to have to stand before him in judgment, therefore
I better watch out. No, that brother that you're
judging and you, we're all going to stand justified before the
judgment seat of Christ. You condemn him when God says
he's justified. You judge him when God says he's
without guilt. We shall all stand before the
judgment seat of Christ, for as it's written, as I live, saith
the Lord, every knee shall bow to me and every tongue shall
confess to God. So then every one of us should
give an account of himself to God. Let us not therefore judge
one another anymore, but judge this rather that no man put a
stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother's way. Turn to James chapter three. Verse 1. My brethren, be not
many masters. You know what a master is? A
moat remover. A moat remover. My brethren,
be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater
condemnation in being one of these many masters. For in many
things we offend all. Don't you know that so? In many
ways, beginning right here, we offend all. I've never known
a man that didn't have glaring weaknesses, contradictions and
inconsistencies and insecurities. I've never known anybody that
is without those things. We all have a past that we can't
get past. We all have a yesterday that's
affecting us today. Now, until my own beams are removed,
I am unqualified to be a moat remover. Unqualified. I hope that's the
way I feel, that I'm completely unqualified to be a moat remover. I want to give you in closing
10 reasons why we should not judge. First, because the Lord said
not to. So anytime I judge my brother,
I'm sinning against the Lord. It is sin when I judge my brother. The Lord said not to. Second, Because when I judge
you, or when you judge me, we are practicing hypocrisy. Let me show you that in Romans
chapter two. Romans chapter two. Verse one, therefore. Thou art inexcusable, O man,
whosoever thou art that judgest, for wherein thou judgest another,
you condemn yourself, for you that judge do the same things."
Now that's hypocrisy. To judge someone and condemn
someone for the very things that I do. That is the practice of
Hypocrisy. Turn to James chapter 4. Verse 11. Speak not evil one of another,
brethren. He that speaketh evil of his
brother, and judgeth his brother, speaks evil of the law. Here's
who you're speaking evil of. When you speak evil of your brother,
you're all of a sudden become a critic of God's law. You know,
it amazes me that men actually, what we do, we become God's judge. That's what we do. And that's
a place you and I can't bear to go. Look, he says, he that
speaketh evil of his brother and judges his brother, speaketh
evil of the law and judges the law. For if thou judge the law,
thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. There's one lawgiver
who's able to save and destroy, but who are you to judge another? You've all of a sudden taken
God's place. There's only one judge. He's the only one who
knows to judge it. He's the only one who knows the
facts. So he says, don't confuse me with the facts. He knows the
facts. And he's the only one capable
of rendering accurate judgment. And anytime I judge, anytime
I judge, all of a sudden I start trying to take God's place. And
that shall not be. The reason we are not to judge
forth is because we are incapable of rendering a right judgment. We don't know the whole story. That brother with a limp in his
walk has a rocking issue that I don't know anything about.
It could be that if I knew the facts, I'd admire him rather
than criticize him. Now that is the facts of the
matter. You know, Paul said, judge nothing
before the time when the Lord will bring to light the hidden
things of darkness. You see, you and I can't make a judgment
about anything, really, because we don't know all the facts behind
it. We just don't know. Just accept it. We don't know.
We don't know. Judge nothing before the time. Here's another reason not to
judge, not only because we're incapable of rendering a right
judgment regarding anything, Who are you to judge another
man's servant? That's what Paul said. He said,
who are you to judge another man's servant? That person you're
judging is the Lord's servant to his own master. He stands
with all, he doesn't answer to you. He doesn't answer to you. You're getting, you're entering
into a realm that's really none of your business. Who are you
to judge another man's servant? Here's another reason not to
judge. I love this. It's so unlike the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, without doubt, the Lord
was hard on the religious, wasn't he? Somebody, the Pharisee, he
said, oh, you generation of vipers, how can you escape the damnation
of hell? That's what he said to the religious.
That's what he said to the Pharisees. He was, he was hard on them.
And well, he should have been, but you know, the scripture says
he was the friend. of publicans and sinners. Now,
every one of us knows what it is to be under somebody's scrutiny
and to have someone having a judgmental attitude toward us. It feels
bad, doesn't it? I'm sure I've done you that way, but probably
everybody in here at some time you thought, that's me. I mean, it's bad, it's evil,
but all of us know what it is to feel under somebody's scrutiny. But you know, sinful men and
women never felt that way around the Lord. They never felt threatened. He was the friend. He is the
friend of publicans and sinners. And this thing of a judgmental
attitude is contrary to love. Paul said in Romans chapter 14,
when he was dealing with this subject, he says, now walkest
thou not charitably toward thy brother. It's contrary to love. And it's clean contrary to the
law of Christ. Galatians chapter 6, Brethren,
if a man be overtaken in a fault. Now let's stop right there for
just a moment. Can't you understand how your brother can be overtaken
in a fault? Can't you understand how your
brother could be overcome in any kind of sin? You understand
it because you know yourself and you know how easy it would
be for you to be completely overtaken in a fault. Now he said, brethren,
if a man be overtaken with a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore
such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering yourself, lest you
also be tempted. Now, I know this about temptation.
I know this. If I'm tempted, I will fall. If you're tempted, you will fall. And if you're tempted with the
same temptation that your brother is tempted with, you'll do the
same thing he did. That's why we're taught to pray,
Lord, lead us not into temptation. Lord, don't let me be tempted,
because I know if I'm tempted, I'll fall. So put a hedge around
me. Put a wall around me where I
can't even be tempted, because I know what will happen if I
am. You which are spiritual, restore
such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering yourself, lest you
also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens,
put up with one another and so fulfill the law of Christ. I love the, this is the law of
Christ. The law of Christ is to bear
one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. Ninth, if you judge somebody, you only
make things harder on yourself. Because the Lord said, with what
measure you meet, it shall be measured to you again. And here's
my last reason, and I love this reason. Judging our brother is
the practice of the religion of the Pharisee. You know, we
all have Pharisee in us, don't we? I mean, I know, you know,
Pharisees weren't those guys back there in the Old Testament.
The Pharisees are here, right? If you want to know what a Pharisee
is, I'll give you two places to look. In here and the person
beside you. You'll find out what a Pharisee
is. That's the religion of the natural man. They believe that
there's something that separates them from somebody else, something
they do. And they look down upon others. That's the religion,
that's the practice of the religion of the Pharisee. It's contrary
to the religion of grace. Turn with me to Ephesians chapter
2. Verse 1. And you hath he quickened who were dead
in trespasses and sins, wherein in times past you walked according
to the course of this world. According to the prince of the
power of the air, you are under the direction of Satan, the spirit
that now work within the children of disobedience, among whom also
we all had our conversation in times past in the loss of our
flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh into the mind. And
we're by nature, the children of wrath, even as others, but God there's our gospel. Isn't it?
but God. That's the difference. Not but
you, but God. Who is rich in mercy for his
great love wherewith he loved us even when we were dead in
sins hath quickened us together with Christ by grace you are
saved. And that's what we call sovereign
grace. Here we were dead in sins. What can a dead man do? Only
one thing I know a dead man can do is stink. That's it. He can stink. He can smell real
bad, as a matter of fact. But he can't do anything to save
himself. But God, who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith
he loved us when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us. He
didn't simply say, Here's salvation, take it or leave it. No. He gave
life. He quickened us. He made us alive
in Christ. Sovereign grace. Don't you love
sovereign grace? I love this. But God. who is rich in mercy, for his
great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in
sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace ye are saved, and hath
raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places
in Christ Jesus. I'm in heaven right now, united
to him. that in the ages to come he might
show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward
us through Christ Jesus for by grace are you saved through faith
and that not of yourselves at faith you have it's the gift
of God it didn't come from you not of works lest any man should
boast for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto
good works which God hath before ordained that we should walk
in them. Now regarding this thing of judging, if I'm dealing with my own beings, I'm not going to be able to even
have the time for your moats, if I'm dealing with my own beings.
And if we must judge, And you know, we must, that's just part
of our nature. If we must judge, let's judge
ourselves. That's what Paul said. For if
we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. May God give us grace to judge
not in this hyper critical attitude. That doesn't mean we don't make
judgments all the time. I've shown you that. There's
all kinds of judgment we're called upon to make. But as far as this
self-righteous, hypercritical attitude that we all possess,
beginning right here, the Lord said, judge not that you be not
judged. Let's pray together.