Now, back to Matthew, the book
of Matthew, back to your bookmark, chapter 7. Matthew chapter 7. And I'm taking the title from
what is said in verse 1. Judge not that you be not judged. Judge not that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge,
you shall be judged. And with what measure you meet
out or give out, that be measured to you again. So judge not that
you be not judged. Now, what does this really mean
to me and you as believers? Does that mean that we are never
to make any judgment about anything? Well, of course not. Of course not. We read just a
moment ago in John chapter seven, Our Lord said, judge not according
to appearance, but judge a righteous judgment. So we're to make judgment
based upon God's truth. Now remember, our Lord's Sermon
on the Mount was spoken with all power and with all authority
because of who He is, God Almighty. You remember, look at verse 28
in Matthew 7. And it came to pass when Jesus
had ended these sayings, the people were astonished and his
doctrine, for he taught them as one having authority and not
as the scribes. He had all power and all authority,
and what he says, he speaks as God our Savior. Now, because the very one who
was speaking these words is none other than God in human flesh,
We ought to take particular attention to everything that's written
in the Word of God. We should rightly read all the
Word of God with that in mind. These are not the words of just
a good man, but rather the Word of God that effectively works
in the hearts and lives of his people. All scripture we know
is given by inspiration of God and is profitable to us for doctrine,
for reproof, for correction, for instruction that we might
grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. We
desire the sincere milk of the word that we might grow thereby.
Now, I don't know, when you look at verse one in chapter seven,
I don't know of a verse of scripture that has been abused and twisted
and misapplied than these words that we just read in Matthew
seven, verse one. even by those who hate the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ, love to quote this verse. Ah, they
say, you're being judgmental. I remember years ago, used to
be on CNN at nine o'clock or so, a talk show, and the host's
name was Larry King. He was an atheist. He was an
extreme liberal. But whenever someone came on
his program and he interviewed them, he would always come up
with this, ah, you're being judgmental. Scripture said judge not. That
man hated God, hated the gospel, yet he referred to that scripture
to try to condemn the person he was interviewing. Now the
word judge here means to carefully weigh and form an opinion or
consideration based upon right information. Now, we do that
all the time, don't we? Tomorrow, over here in circuit
court, if there is a jury trial and the evidence is presented,
facts in the trial, and the jury goes back to the jury room and
they're going to deliberate, right? And they're going to come
to a judgment, right? Guilty or not guilty. So when they come back out and
the judge asks, what is your verdict? He wouldn't say to them,
well, you can't judge anybody. Well, that's their business,
to judge a righteous judgment based upon the facts presented
in the case. And that's what we're to do.
We do that all the time. All the decisions we make, we
make our decisions based upon facts and information that we
accumulate. So we are to use judgment. Judge
nothing according to appearance, we read a moment ago. but judge
a righteous judgment." Our Lord, when He was in the house of the
Pharisee, and He said to that Pharisee after He gave him this
parable, you remember the woman who came to the Lord? in the
Pharisee's house. And she was weeping because of
her sin. And she was anointing the Lord's
feet and washing His feet with her hair. And the Pharisee said,
if he really were a prophet, he wouldn't let this woman touch
him because she's a sinner. He had a big moat in his eye,
a big timber in his eye, didn't he? And our Lord said this. He
gave this Pharisee this parable. There was a certain creditor
which had two debtors. The one owed 500 pence, or we
could say $500, and the other owed 50, $50. When they had nothing
to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Now tell me, our Lord said,
which will love him the most? And the Pharisee answered, well,
to whom he forgave most. And the Lord said, you have rightly
judged. This woman, who is a great sinner,
I have freely forgiven her, and she loves me much. So even there,
that old Pharisee, the Lord said, well, you have rightly judged. So we are to make judgment. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 10,
when he writes, to the believers there, he said, Judge what I
say. Judge what I say. So then, is the Lord teaching
us that we should not judge anything at all? Does He forbid us to
make judgments on anything or anyone? Well, of course not.
We make judgments all the time. When Paul writes to the Thessalonians,
he says this, he said, Prove all things, chapter 5, verse
21, Prove all things, or judge all things, and hold fast to
that which is good. And then in 1 John chapter 4,
the Lord, through John, says, Judge those who preach to you.
Remember that scripture? Let me read it to you. Beloved,
believe not every spirit, every preacher, but try them, judge
them, whether they are of God, because many false prophets are
gone out into the world. Down in this same chapter, look
at verse 15. Our Lord says here, make a judgment. Beware of false prophets which
come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they're ravening
wolves. So, the Lord is not forbidding
us to make any judgments. We're to make judgments based
upon true facts. How would it be possible to judge
between truth and error if we were forbidden to judge anything
according to the standard which is the Word of God? We judge
what is true and what is to be believed by the standard of truth,
the measure of truth. What is the measure of truth?
Well, the Word of God. It's impossible for God to lie.
Let God be true and every man a liar. Paul writes to the Romans when
he writes that epistle there, he said, So we are to make judgments,
aren't we? You've made a judgment this morning
about coming here. You made a judgment. Why did you make that judgment?
You made a right judgment. I trust you have. So we can rightly
conclude that we are to make judgment based upon the truth
of the gospel. So then, what is meant here is
making judgments and condemnation of others based upon your standards,
not God's. Our Lord is condemning the self-righteous,
critical spirit of pride in seeing the fault of others and seeing
no fault in yourself, or seeing the sin in others and seeing
no sin in yourself. As it says in verse 3 and 4,
Why beholdest thou the splinter, and that's the word mote, that's
in your brother's eye? Now notice it's my brother. This
is not some stranger or some derelict on the street. This
is my brother. In his eye, consider not the
beam that's in your own eye. Or wilt thou say to your brother,
let me pull out that mote out of your eye. Let me just fix
you up and correct you. And you don't behold the timber
that's stuck in your own eye. So he's being critical here.
And he says in verse 5, he says, that's hypocrisy. That's just
hypocrisy. The Lord calls that self-righteous
hypocrisy. You remember in Luke 18, the
Pharisee prayed, Lord, I fast twice a week. I give tithes of
all that I possess. I'm not an adulterer. I'm not
an unjust. And thank God I'm not like that man over there.
That was a self-righteous, hypercritical judgment, wasn't it? Paul writes this in Romans 2,
therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that
judgest, for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself,
or that thou that judgest doeth the same thing. All guilty sinners. We should use judgment directed
at ourself first and foremost Take care of the big faults in
our own heart and be very cautious, very kind to love and forgive
others and overlook the others. Love beareth all things. The Apostle Paul writes this
in 1 Corinthians 11, for if we would judge ourselves We won't
have time to judge others. We should not be judged. If we
judge ourselves, we should not be judged. As it says, the golden
rule, down in verse 12, therefore all things whatsoever you would
that men should do to you, even so to them Do the same to them,
this is what the word of God teaches us. Treat others the
way you would be treated. Treat others, think about this,
treat others the way the Lord has treated you. How's the Lord
treated you? Well, he's treated me in mercy. That's why I remember back in
chapter five, turn over there, when we talked about the Beatitudes
in Matthew chapter five, verse seven, blessed are the merciful,
Those who are merciful to others, they shall obtain mercy. They
shall obtain, they'll have mercy. The Apostle Paul in Ephesians
chapter four writes this about, be you kind one to another, tender
hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake
has forgiven you. Be you therefore followers of
God as dear children and walk in love as Christ also had loved
us and had given himself for us in offering and sacrifice
to God for a sweet smelling savor unto God. Now, if you want to
turn to this, you can, but if not, I'll just read it to you.
But Galatians chapter six, In Galatians chapter 6, this is
familiar to you. But verse 1, brethren, if a man
be overtaken in a fault, you which are spiritual, restore
such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering yourself, lest you
also be tempted. You remember that old saying,
don't criticize that man who's limping down the road until you
walk a mile or ten or five or ten miles in his shoes. He probably
has a good reason that he's limping and hobbling down the road. Bear
ye one another's burdens and fulfill the law of Christ. For
if a man thinketh himself to be something when he's really
nothing, he deceives himself. So be careful, be careful. That's
just a good lesson for every believer. Yeah, we're to make
judgments based upon his standard, but let us not be overcritical
of one another, but walk in love and seek peace. As much as life
within you, live peaceably with all men. Now, if this world that
we live in, which is so chaotic and so brutal, and so ruthless
with murders and robbery and thieveries and all these things
we see. If they would just go by that rule, we wouldn't have any more courts.
We wouldn't have any more jails. But because we are sinners, we
need rules, regulation, different things. Now, here's the second
thing the Lord talks about here in verse 6, Matthew 7, verse
6. That is, don't give it away. Give not that which is holy to
dogs. He's talking about the holy word
of God. He's talking about the holy gospel of God. Neither cast
your pearls before the swine, lest they trample them under
their feet and turn again and rend you. That means they will
hurt you. Hurt you. Now, about preaching
the gospel and witnessing to others, we're to use wisdom and
judgment, especially when dealing with those who oppose the gospel
of the sovereign grace of God. Our Lord, before he left us and
ascended to glory, he told the church to go into all the world
and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and
is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be
damned. Paul, when he writes from prison to young Timothy,
he said, I charge you to preach the word of God. However, there
is a place and time when we should preach the word of God, and there
is a place and time when we should be silent and be careful not
to cast the precious pearls of the gospel to those who violently
and openly are set against the Lord Jesus Christ, who is called
the pearl of great price. Our Lord, on several occasions,
and we'll turn and read, turn to Matthew chapter 10. Our Lord,
on several occasions, told the disciples to leave the Pharisees,
the self-righteous, to leave them alone. He said, they're
blind, leaders of the blind, and they'll all fall in the ditch. I said Matthew chapter 10, didn't
I? I hope I've got the right verse
here. Matthew chapter 10. Look at verse 11, Matthew 10,
11. Into whatsoever city or town
you shall enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and there abide
till you go thence. And when you come into the house,
salute it. And if the house be worthy, let
your peace come upon it. But if it not be worthy, let
your peace return to you. And whosoever shall not receive
you nor hear your words when you depart out of that house
or city, shake off the dust of your feet. And then turn a couple
pages to Matthew 15. Matthew 15, look at verse 10. And he called the multitude and
said unto them, hear and understand. Matthew 10 verse 11, it's not
that which goes into the mouth that defiles a man, but that
which comes out of the mouth That defiles the man. The Pharisees
were so upset because the apostles, they ate something without washing
their hands. Then came his disciples, verse
12, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were
offended after they heard this? And our Lord said, Every plant
which my heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted up.
Leave them alone. Let them alone. They'd be blind leaders of the
blind, and if the blind lead the blind, they'd all wind up
in the ditch. So there's a time and place when
we're to preach the gospel, and those who will sit and listen,
we're to preach the gospel to them And maybe the Lord would
be pleased to grant them faith through the preaching of the
gospel. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing of the word of God.
We must not presume or suppose that men are dogs, swine, and
reprobates concerning the gospel. But when they trample under their
feet the precious good news of the gospel, we are to depart
from them and shake the dust of our feet off against them. Now I thought of a way to to help us understand that. And
I've been in the ministry a long time, and I try to help people
if they'll let me, if they'll listen, if they'll just hush
and listen. I can help you if you're interested.
If you're really interested, I can help you. I can tell you
what is right and where to go. But I'll give you this illustration.
When we were going to Kingsport, and we had rented a little storefront
on Sullivan Avenue. And it was a public place, and
it was a public meeting. And we'd go there most every
Sunday evening and preach the gospel to the folks there in
Kingsport. And oftentimes, we would get visitors. And people
would wander in there, and most of them were religious people,
because we'd put different advertisements in the paper, and they'd come
and listen. And we had many visitors come, and most of them came one
time and left, because I was very plain and straightforward
in preaching the gospel. But this one particular man came.
I remember it real distinctly. It was on a very cold, cold,
snowy winter day. And we had service, and I preached
the gospel of God's grace as I tried to each time. And I stood
at the door after the meeting, and people were coming out. And
this particular man, of course, I knew he was a visitor, had
never been there before. And he said, I want to take issue
with what you said. I said, OK. OK. Stand right out here. And when
I get through greeting the folks here, I'll talk to you. I'll
come out there and I'll meet with you." And he said, I oppose
what you said. He said, the God you preach is
a devil. I said, well. I said, if you
be quiet and listen to me, I can help you if you listen. He said, I'm not listening to
you anymore. I said, conversation over. I had nothing to say to the man.
If he says the gospel I preach is not the gospel of God, and
the God I preach is the devil, get ready to meet the devil,
because God is God, and beside Him there is no other. Needless
to say, that man never came back. You can go so far. Obvious to
me, I made a judgment. This man wasn't interested in
what I was saying. And I said, this conversation is done. If
you want to be quiet and listen, I'll help you. But if you want
to rail on the God that I love, goodbye. And I walked away. So, he that despised Moses' law
died without mercy under two or three witnesses. How much
more sore punishment suppose you shall be thought worthy who
have trodden underfoot the Son of God and have counted the blood
of the covenant where he was sanctified an unholy thing had
done despite the Spirit of grace. Now I'll give you a scriptural
example of the Apostle Paul, what he did. Turn to Acts chapter
13. Acts chapter 13. And Paul was one who was long-suffering
and compassionate. And this was his first sermon
on his first missionary journey. And Acts chapter 13 verse 44,
And the next Sabbath day came almost the whole city together
to hear the word of God. And when the Jews saw the multitude,
verse 45, Acts 13, they were filled with envy and spake against
those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. Then Paul and Barnabas whacked
bold and said it was necessary that the word of God should first
have been spoken to you, but seeing that you put it from yourselves,
and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, we turn
to the Gentiles." Paul walked away from them. Look what it
says in verse 47. For so hath the Lord commended
us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that
thou shouldest be for salvation to the ends of the earth. And
when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified
the word of the Lord. And as many was ordained to eternal
life believed." Those old Jews got mad and walked away. Somebody
wanted to hear. And those who were ordained to
eternal life, they heard the gospel and were saved. So, that's
the second thing. And then the third thing the
Lord says here in verse 7. Verse 7. The Lord teaches us
about praying for mercy and grace. About praying for salvation.
Verse 7, 8, 9, and verse 10, and verse 11. And it shall be given unto you,
seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened. For everyone
that asketh receiveth, he that seeketh findeth, and to him that
knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you,
whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he
ask for a fish, will he give him a snake? If then you being
evil, Know how to give good gifts unto your children. How much
more? Underscore those three words.
How much more shall your Father, which is in heaven, give good
things to them that ask Him? Now, He's a gracious Father. Loving, kindness, long-suffering. I'm going to ask Him for mercy.
Remember, our Lord taught us how to pray back in chapter 6,
verse 9 and 10. which are in heaven, hallowed
be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be
done, as it is in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day
our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we forgive
our debtors. Lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and
the power and the glory forever. Amen. So, he taught us how to
pray. Now the Lord is teaching us here
to keep on praying. Keep on praying to let our requests
be made known unto God. He's teaching us here about persistence
in praying, about perseverance in praying. Pray and then keep
on praying. Keep on asking. Keep on seeking
the Lord. Keep on knocking on the door
of mercy. And the door of mercy will open wide on the hinges
of His love. James, the apostle, writes this.
He says, you have not Because you don't ask. If God delights
to show mercy, wouldn't it be wise to ask Him for mercy? Ask
Him for salvation? And here's the promise that He
gives us, the gracious promise He gives us in verse 8. For everyone
that asks, receives. And he that seeketh, finds, findeth. And to him that knocketh, keep
on knocking, it will be opened. It'll be open, a gracious promise
from our God who says it's impossible for him to lie. Those that ask
for mercy find that the Lord delights for mercy. You remember
in Luke 18, the mercy beggar came to the Lord and said, Lord,
have mercy on me, the sinner. And the Lord said, come. He said,
therefore, come boldly unto the throne of grace that you may
obtain mercy and find grace to help in our time of need. The
Lord never turned the mercy beggar away. I'm going to ask for mercy. Those that are blessed to seek
salvation where it's found, where it's revealed, shall find that
salvation is of the Lord. Remember back in chapter 6, right
across the page there, verse 33. Seek ye first the kingdom
of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be
added unto you. So seek salvation where it's
revealed in Christ, and find that salvation is of the Lord.
He said, come unto me all you that labor and are heavy laden,
I'll give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn
of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart. Those that are blessed
to see Christ as the way of salvation, the way of righteousness, the
way of redemption, keep knocking on that door, for Christ is the
door of all spiritual blessings. There's an article in the bulletin
today, I think I'm right on this, Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. For everyone that asketh, receive
it. I'm a whosoever. I'm going to
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And then he gives
us this homely illustration about a father. A father to teach us
how gracious and loving and kind he truly is to his covenant children. Wise and loving parents give
their children things necessary that they need. Now, they may
not need a new sports car, but they do need food and shelter.
So you give those things to them that are needful, don't you?
If you then, verse 11, being evil, know how to give good gifts
to your children, how much more? Shall your Father, which is in
heaven, give good things to them that ask Him." Everything about
the gospel is good. Every good and perfect gift comes
down from God. Now this phrase much more, it
reminded me of this scripture. If you want to turn and read
this with me, I would encourage you to turn to Romans chapter
5. This statement about much more. Much more. Where sin abounded,
grace did much more abound. But in Romans 5, we begin reading
at verse 17. Romans 5, 17. For if by one man's
offense death reigned by one, much more they which receive
the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness shall reign
in life by one, Jesus Christ. Verse 18, Romans 5, Therefore
as by the offense of one, Adam's sin and judgment came upon all
men to condemnation, even so by the righteousness of one,
the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For
by one man's disobedience were many made sinners, so by the
obedience of another shall many be made righteous. Moreover,
the law entered that the offense might abound, but where sin abounded,
grace did much more abound." Much more abound. That as sin
has reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through
righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. So,
if you then being evil, and we are through and through sinners
by birth, by practice, by choice, Being evil, know how to give
good gifts to your children. How much more shall your Father,
which is in heaven, give good things to them that ask Him?"
Ask Him for mercy. Ask Him for grace to help in
our time of need. Ask the Lord. Ask Him. You need forgiveness from all
sin? He said, Everyone that asketh, receiveth. Then ask Him. The
blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all our
sin. You need righteousness to stand
before God? Ask Him. He is the Lord, our
righteousness. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord imputes righteousness without work. You need salvation revealed
in Christ? Then ask Him to reveal Himself
to you. He's hid these things from the
wise and prudent and revealed them unto babes. I'm going to
ask Him. Lord, have mercy on me, the sinner. Now listen, verse
12 in closing. Now whenever you see that word,
therefore, it looks back to everything the Lord has said in this sermon.
Therefore, all things whatsoever you would that men should do
to you, Do you even so to them, for this is the lesson of the
law and the prophets." Mercy. Let us live by this standard,
as it's known as the golden rule, of grace, love, and mercy among
all men. This is a summary of all the
Lord's words in this Sermon on the Mount. And really, it goes
back to what Paul says about the fruit of the Spirit, which
is love, joy, long-suffering, meekness, temperance, righteousness,
faith, and these things. Live by those things. Live by
the gospel. May God give us grace to do so. This is what is right for us
to do. May God give us grace and his
word in our heart, to burn it in our heart, to teach us the
way of salvation. This is a right royal principle. always at hand, always right,
always applies to us at all times. May the Lord teach us to do these
things and write it on our heart. Amen.