July 27, 2025 • 38 mins
“Judge not…” We quote it, meme it, even weaponize it—but do we live it? In this week’s installment of Red Letters, Neil unpacks Jesus’ often-misunderstood directive and shows how it can revolutionize our relationships.
Neil starts by dismantling the myth that Christians must never make moral evaluations. Jesus Himself commands us to “judge with right judgment” (John 7:24). The real issue is hypocrisy—holding others to a microscope while gazing at ourselves through rose-tinted glasses. Using the unforgettable “speck and log” metaphor, Neil exposes how selective vision poisons marriages, friendships, and churches.
From there he explores three biblical judgments: the Great White Throne for unbelievers, the loving discipline believers experience now, and the future judgment of rewards. Knowing God is Judge frees us from playing the role badly ourselves.
Neil then walks through three common pitfalls of fault-finding: acting on partial information, assuming motives, and dredging up sins that Jesus already buried beneath His blood. He challenges us to replace a critical spirit with humble self-examination, gracious speech, and Spirit-directed timing—recognizing that not every heart is ready to receive “pearls.”
Along the way you’ll hear practical stories, clarifying Scriptures, and a call to action: identify one area where you’re quick to criticize and ask the Holy Spirit to transform it into compassion. Whether you’re a long-time believer or exploring faith, this message will help you cultivate relationships marked by authenticity and grace.
Watch the full teaching, dive into the discussion questions, and share the message with someone who could use freedom from both giving and receiving judgment. Subscribe for more content from Trinity Community Church as we continue walking through Jesus’ own words in Red Letters.
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Neil Silverberg (00:03):
I've been interacting with the verses that
we're teaching this morning forseveral weeks.
I don't know if you understandthat you have the ability or the
responsibility to teach theWord of God.
The Word of God messes with youbefore you get to mess with the
people.
Someone came up to me justbefore worship this morning and
(00:23):
said Pastor, you have a healingministry.
I said really.
He said, yeah, I have insomniawhen you preach.
I sleep through the whole thing.
I think that was meant toencourage people, to encourage
me, but it didn't work.
Turn in your Bibles to the bookof Matthew, chapter 7.
(00:46):
And if you'd stand with me,I'll read the word of God this
morning.
Matthew 7, the first six versesI'm reading from the New
American Standard, americanstandard.
(01:10):
These verses are probably themost familiar verses to people
who aren't believers.
They may not be saved, but theyknow this verse.
We want to explore that thismorning.
Chapter 7 of Matthew's Gospel,verse 1, judge not that you be
not judged, for with thejudgment you pronounce you will
be judged and with the measureyou use it will be measured to
(01:32):
you.
Why do you see the speck thatis in your brother's eye but do
not notice the log that is inyour own eye.
How can you say to your brotherlet me take the speck out of
your own eye when there is a login your own eye?
You, hypocrite, first take thelog out of your own eye and then
(01:54):
you will see clearly to takethe speck out of your brother's
eye.
Do not give dogs what is holyand do not throw your pearls
before pigs, lest they tramplethem under their foot and turn
and attack you.
Let's pray, lord, god, I thankyou for this study, which we're
(02:15):
calling Red Letters, and howit's already impacting our lives
.
Lord, prepare our hearts toreceive the truth contained in
the seventh chapter as we enterthis chapter this morning.
This morning, we thank youspecifically for those verses we
just read and the challengethey present to us.
We thank you for the truth theycontain and the practical way
(02:38):
you've designed that these wordsserve us.
Help us today to take seriouslythe import of these words as we
attempt to live together as thecommunity of God.
Lord, remove from us everyvestige of a harsh critical
spirit.
Take it away from us.
Grant us the wisdom to knowthat we shall be judged in the
(03:02):
exact manner in which we judgeothers and, finally, lord,
deliver us from treating withcontempt the treasures of the
kingdom which you have entrustedto us.
We ask these things in Jesus'name and everyone said amen.
You may be seated If you'rehere for the first time or
(03:27):
you've not been following us.
We are in a series right now ofteaching called Red Letters.
We're walking through the mostfamous portion of Jesus'
teaching, probably he ever gave,which is the Sermon on the
Mount, and this message isentitled the Law of Judgment.
The Law of Judgment, the Law ofJudgment.
And it starts with a newchapter, chapter 7.
(03:48):
I don't know if you're aware ofit, but many scholars and Bible
teachers see this chapter asconsisting of independent
statements having little or norelationship to one another.
But if you review it further,we see that this chapter is held
together by a common theme, andthat theme is judgment.
(04:09):
Everything Jesus says in chapter7 deals with judgment and as
such, it deals with the wholematter of relationships in the
body of Christ.
Jesus, in his teaching, waspreparing his disciples for the
time when they would be livingin the community of God.
That's really when they'regoing to need this teaching.
(04:30):
He's teaching them these thingsbecause he knows how easy it is
for fallen human beings to passjudgment on one another.
So he opens a chapter byestablishing a principle that we
must know if we're going tolive together in loving
relationships in the body ofChrist.
What is that principle thatmust govern all our
(04:51):
relationships?
It is that we should make surethat in all our relationships we
are not judging others.
Jesus laid this down as a vitalprinciple.
He said judge not, that you benot judged For the measure.
With the measure you pronounceyou will be judged and with the
measure you use, it will bemeasured to you.
(05:12):
So it's critical that we have aright understanding of what is
meant by this instruction Do notjudge, or you too will be
judged.
Misunderstanding the meaning ofthis has caused grave damage to
relationships in the body ofChrist.
(05:32):
Many of you might have had thefollowing experience you have
observed a person in the bodyacting in a way which is
contrary to the gospel and youdetermine that you are going to
have to confront that person ina loving way.
You determine it's yourChristian duty to do so.
You pray much before you go tothe person and you're going,
(05:54):
make sure you're going with theright attitude and you've
checked off all the boxes.
You're convinced that you'redoing this according to
scripture.
You go to that person and speakto them, hoping they will
receive your words and repent.
And how do they respond?
They respond by saying you'rejudging me, stop it, you cannot
(06:15):
judge me.
How many have had that happen?
It's true, and according totheir view, no one has the right
to pass judgment on any onanother.
According to them, no oneshould ever make any judgment of
any kind.
But we'll see this morning.
The opening statement is not aprohibition against making
judgments of any kind, butavoiding certain types of
(06:37):
judgment.
Jesus clearly teaches that'simpossible to live with others
without making certain kinds ofjudgment.
We'll see this later in thischapter when Jesus says Beware
of false prophets who come toyou in sheep's clothing but
inwardly they're raven and wolf.
How can you determine ifsomeone's a false prophet unless
(06:59):
you judge them in some manner?
So Jesus isn't forbidding allkinds of judgment, but he's
condemning, assessing peoplecritically and judging them
harshly.
The truth is, these first twostatements in verses one and two
help us to make what areproperly called value judgments.
(07:22):
Thank you, you see, jesusdoesn't expect us to go through
life without having opinionsabout things right.
The important thing is that wemake sure we're willing to be
measured by the same standardswe apply to others.
That's the key.
(07:42):
Here are some scriptures thattell us how to make value
judgments.
John 7, 24, jesus says do notjudge by appearance, but judge
right judgment with rightjudgment.
What may seem wrong to us mustbe taken before the Lord to help
in reaching a conclusion.
He says don't depend onyourself, take it to the judge,
(08:02):
take it to the judge.
In 1 Corinthians 2.15, he saysthe spiritual person, paul
speaking, judges all things butis himself judged by no one.
He says make sure you'rejudging, discerning, evaluating
things as they really are, notas they appear to be.
And then in 1 Timothy, 5, 24and 25, he says the sins of some
(08:26):
people this is Paul again areconspicuous, going before them
to judgment, but the sins ofothers appear later.
So also good works areconspicuous, and even those that
are not cannot remain hidden.
And here we are told that somemen's sins are out in the open,
while other are conspicuous, andeven those that are not cannot
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remain hidden.
This is so important.
Here we are told that men'ssins are out in the open, while
other men's sins are a hiddennature.
They're more sneaky if youwould.
And we are warned to discernthe true situation.
The follower of Jesus is acritic in the sense of using his
powers of discernment, but nota judge in the sense of being
(09:12):
censorious or a harsh critic.
The harsh critic is a faultfinder who is constantly looking
to blame others.
We must remember that thestandard by which we judge
others is the exact way we willbe judged by others.
And he says why do you see thespeck that is in your brother's
eye but do not notice the logthat is in your own eye?
(09:35):
Or how can you say to yourbrother let me take the speck
out of your eye when there is alog in your own eye?
I want to tell you about a giftI've received from the Father.
I didn't know I had it untilrecently, and apparently a lot
of people receive the same gift.
It's the ability to see clearlyall your faults and be totally
(09:58):
blind to my own.
What a gift.
I can tell by your reactionthat you have that gift too, and
apparently, again, it's a giftthat Father has lavished on the
body, because so many peoplehave this gift and don't know it
.
But Jesus actually resorts tohumor here to make his point.
(10:19):
He says you're looking at thespeck of sawdust in your
brother's eye while ignoring theplank in your own eye If you
don't get it.
We're concerned about gettingthe speck out of our brother's
eye while ignoring the telephonepole which is in your own eye.
(10:42):
But these verses prove thatwe're not really interested in
judgment, because if we were, wewould deal with it in ourselves
first.
There are many people in thecommunity who've set themselves
up as judges, sadly, but theydon't want anyone to judge them.
By the way, the statement donot judge or you will be judged
(11:06):
does not necessarily mean thatwe will be judged by others.
We will be judged by them.
That's true, but it isn'tnecessarily limited to men, but
includes God as well.
Let's take a moment and look atthree types of judgment we all
are facing presently and willface in the future.
Number one there is the judgmentof unbelievers that is
(11:29):
appearing, and the Bible speaksvery often of this.
It is a judgment that is finaland eternal.
This is a basic judgment whichall men and women will face.
It's called the great whitethrone judgment.
Let me read it in the NIV, inRevelation 20.
(11:50):
Then I saw a great white throneand him who was seated on it.
Earth and sky fled from hispresence and there was no place
for them, and I saw the dead,great and small, standing before
the throne and the books wereopen.
Another book was open, which isthe book of life.
The dead were judged accordingto what they had done, as
(12:12):
recorded in the books.
The sea gave up the dead thatwere in it, and death and Hades
gave up the dead that were in it, and each person was judged
according to what he has done.
Then death and Hades werethrown into the lake of fire.
The lake of fire is the seconddeath.
If anyone's name was not foundwritten in the book of life, he
(12:35):
was thrown into the lake of fire.
Therefore it's called the greatwhite throne judgment, because
that's exactly it.
Every soul will stand beforeGod and give an account of his
life.
The good news is, if you're inChrist, you won't go to the
great white throne judgment,thank God.
(12:58):
But then there's the second kindof judgment.
It's a judgment that believersface as they walk through this
life, and one example of that isPaul's instructions, which you
often read when we do communion,in 1 Corinthians 11, his
instructions that he gives tothe Corinthian church regarding
taking the Lord's supper and hesays therefore, whoever eats the
(13:20):
bread and drinks the cup of theLord in an unworthy manner will
be guilty of sinning againstthe body and blood of the Lord.
A man ought to examine himself.
By the way, this verse is oftenused to instruct us to examine
our lives when we're taking theLord's Supper.
I totally believe that'sappropriate, but that's really
(13:42):
not the focus.
They were taking the Lord'sSupper improperly and his
instruction is not to do thatand how they can.
They'll be judged if they dothat.
Some of those were already sickand some that actually perished
because they took the Lord'sSupper.
So the Lord's Supper is aserious matter.
We need to take it in thatmanner.
(14:03):
A man ought to examine himselfbefore he eats of the bread and
drinks of the cup, for anyonewho eats and drinks without
recognizing the body of the Lordeats and drinks judgment on
himself.
That's why many among you areweak and sick.
I just mentioned that a numberof you have fallen asleep.
But if we judged ourselves, wewould not come under judgment.
(14:26):
When we are judged by the Lord,we are being disciplined so
that we will not be condemnedwith the world.
So that's a serious matter, andjudgment awaits those who don't
take the Lord's Supper withreverence.
Is it right to look at ourlives and examine our lives?
Sure, it's right to do thatbefore you take the Lord's
(14:46):
Supper, but we should be doingthat all the time.
Then there's a judgment that'scalled the discipline of the
Lord.
In this second type of judgmentbelievers face, here's an
example in Hebrews 12, 7 through11.
Endure hardship as discipline.
God is treating you as sons.
For what son is not disciplinedby his father?
(15:09):
If you're not disciplined, andeveryone undergoes discipline,
then you are illegitimatechildren and not true sons.
Moreover, if we've all had ourhuman fathers who disciplined us
and we respected them, how muchmore shall we submit to the
Father of our spirits and live?
Our fathers disciplined us forgood while as they thought best,
(15:30):
but God disciplines us for ourgood that we may share in his
holiness.
No discipline seems pleasant atthe time, but painful.
Say amen.
You know it's the famous wordsyour parents said before you got
spanked.
This is going to hurt me morethan you.
I never bought into that, justdidn't seem reasonable.
(15:51):
No discipline seems pleasant atthe time, but painful Later on.
However, it produces a harvestof unrighteousness, of
righteousness and peace forthose who have been trained by
it.
And finally, there's a judgmentthat the body of Christ will
receive.
It's not the judgment of beingsaved or not saved because we're
(16:12):
in Christ, but it's thejudgment of rewards saved or not
saved because we're in Christ,but it's the judgment of rewards
.
And Paul speaks of thisjudgment in 1 Corinthians, 3, 10
through 15.
By the grace of God has givenme, I laid a foundation this is
in the NIV as an expert builder,which is also the word master
builder, and someone else isbuilding on it.
By the way, that word masterbuilder or expert builder this
(16:37):
is a Greek word, architect, non,from which we get what word
architect?
So Paul says he's an expertarchitect building the house of
God, but each one should becareful how he builds, for no
one can lay any foundation otherthan the one already laid,
which is Jesus Christ.
If any man builds on thisfoundation, using gold, silver,
(17:00):
costly stones, wood, hay orstraw, his work will show for
what it is, because the day willbring it to light.
It will be revealed with fire,and the fire will test the
quality of each man's work.
If what he has built survives,he will receive his reward.
If it is burned up, he willsuffer loss.
He himself will be saved, butonly as one escaping through the
(17:24):
flames.
So apparently our works, ourlife's work, will be evaluated
by the fire of God and ifanything remains after the fire
does its burning work, then wehave a reward.
But if not, we can end up savedby having all of our work
burned up.
(17:45):
A dear friend of mine who's goneon to be with the Lord, duverne
Frumke, written some classicbooks.
Duverne was a brilliant Bibleteacher but back in the 1950s he
was a very well-knownevangelist and he built a
ministry.
He had a ministry with, I think, 12 buildings on the property
(18:06):
and he was a very well-knownevangelist at the time.
And he came back from a tripand was driving up the driveway
into his ministry complex whenhe saw I think it was 11 of the
12 buildings that stood weregoing up in flames and he stood
there and watched his life workburning and he heard the Holy
(18:28):
Spirit say Be thankful that Idid this on this side of
eternity, thankful that I didthis on this side of eternity.
And from that moment on hislife changed and his ministry
changed, you get what he wasrealizing.
His life work was being burnedup because it was wood, hay and
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straw, but thankfully God gaveit to him, allowed him to see
that on this side of eternity.
Then the Lord gives us a reasonin these verses why we can't
judge, and it is we areincapable of properly judging.
Since we cannot do so, we mustnot try at all.
(19:14):
He says you hypocrite, whichone of the brothers pointed out
is the greek word hypocritas,from which we get our word play
actor, that's roman plays.
Greek actors would wear masksto just to hide their self as
they acted out on stage, andthat's the word that's used for
(19:34):
hypocrite.
He says first take the log outof your own eye and then you'll
see clearly to take the speckout of your brother's eye.
So we are called to judgeothers properly, but we can only
do so when we've made sure toremove the log in our own eye.
This is serious business.
So value judgments, as we'veseen, are necessary.
(19:56):
Never let someone say to youyou can't judge me.
Your reply should be my brother, my sister, I am required to
make a value judgment on how youline up with the word of God.
We must make value judgmentsand we should seek to judge with
(20:20):
righteous judgment.
I believe God will exposeanything needful and truth will
prevail.
Here's three pitfalls to beaware of in making value
judgments.
Number one our knowledge isincomplete.
Our knowledge is incompletewhen we judge.
We do not have all the facts.
Only God has all the facts.
Only he knows the condition ofa man's heart.
I was once judged by a friendof mine years ago who
(20:42):
misunderstood something that hadhappened and was telling people
around the nation regardingthat.
I had done something which Ihad absolutely not, and I
started to defend myself, pickup the phone and talk and the
Holy Spirit clearly said to meif you raise a hand to defend
yourself, I won't be there todefend you.
(21:03):
I said thank you, lord, andeventually that man came to the
right conclusion that he hadbeen misunderstood.
Some facts and my relationshipwith him was restored.
So that's important that weknow all the facts.
Number two make sure to obtainas many facts as possible if
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you're required to make a valuejudgment, if you're going to
judge, you need to have rightinformation.
Always remember we judge othersfrom our own heart Most of the
time.
We judge others by the way wewould act if we were in that
particular situation.
It may seem strange, but oftenthe people we have the most
trouble with are those who aremost like us.
(21:50):
Have you noticed that?
Have you noticed that, numberthree, we may be going behind
the blood of the atonement?
There's something we canrightly be called kingdom
alignment.
I want to call kingdomalignment.
The actions we are judging orquestioning in another may have
(22:10):
been confessed forgiven and nowin the process of alignment.
Make sure we give our brothersand sisters, therefore,
breathing room.
Give them breathing room.
Are you convicted?
Yet?
I'll stop.
If you are.
We can see clearly that we havea critical, fault-finding
(22:33):
attitude.
If we examine ourselvescarefully, you know, if our
conversations are filled withstatements like this the
government stinks, the churchstinks, my neighbors are
unfriendly, children are gettingworse every day and the coffee
isn't good this morning, we cansort of detect a critical,
fault-finding attitude.
Right, a critical,fault-finding attitude right.
(22:57):
And here are some of the stepsdownward to this attitude.
First, self-righteousnessthat's the attitude which says
others are wrong and I am right.
If you're like that, I praythis morning you have the
courage to ask God to smash theattitude right now.
It isn't easy to do.
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But if you acknowledge it andask God for help, he will
respond.
Then next and by the way, thebody of Christ needs to hear
this If we're going to judgethose living a gay lifestyle,
those living a gay lifestyle weneed to apply the same thing to
those who are in a heterosexuallifestyle as well.
(23:42):
We don't get a pass.
Then the attitude is revealed inour speech, and so it starts
with self-righteousness.
A self-righteous attitude makesyou despise others.
In other words, a despisingtendency develops.
And then next, the attitude isrevealed in our speech.
Jesus said it clearly out ofthe heart, the mouth speaks.
(24:04):
This is not philosophy, idlephilosophy, but fact.
The words come out and youcan't stop them until you
recognize the source and go toGod for cleansing.
Until you recognize the sourceand go to God for cleansing, you
start dealing with thisattitude at the first sign of
trouble and spare yourselves astep downward.
Look at this statement in theAmplified Romans 14.
(24:26):
It says as for the man who is aweak believer, welcome him into
your fellowship, not tocriticize his opinions or pass
judgment on his scruples orperplex him with discussion.
I'd like to word that lastphrase, but not to straighten
him out.
One person believes he may eatanything, while the weak person
(24:48):
eats only vegetables.
Watch the way they're going tojudge each other.
Let not the one who eatsdespise the one who abstains.
Let not the one who abstainspass judgment on the one who
eats, for God has welcomed him.
See, this is the attitude ofgrace we should have towards the
other members of the body whodon't see things the way I do.
And we can be delivered fromthat attitude that says if
(25:14):
everybody was serious and didwhat I did do, then God would be
blessing them.
That attitude stinketh.
Who are you to pass judgment on?
The servant of another?
Roman 14.
It is before his own masterthat he stands or falls, and he
(25:35):
will be upheld, for the Lord isable to make him stand.
One person esteems one day asbetter than another, while
another esteems all days alike.
By the way, paul's dealing herein Romans with a congregation of
Jews and non-Jews Gentiles whowere both working out their
(25:57):
salvation, and some believe inkeeping certain holidays, others
believe you didn't have to, andPaul is weighing in on how to
wade through those difficultwaters.
He says each one should befully convinced in his own mind.
The one who observes the dayobserves it in honor of the Lord
.
And then we've jumped down toRomans 14.10.
(26:18):
He says why do you passjudgment on your brother?
So easy to fall into thispattern.
(26:38):
Have that subtle attitude.
Everybody would be doing whatI'm doing if they really
understood God or his word.
The one who eats eats in honorof the Lord, since he gives
thanks to God, while the one whoabstains in honor and gives
thanks to God, why do you passjudgment on your brother?
Or you?
Why do you despise your brother?
(26:59):
For we will all stand beforethe judgment seat of God.
For it is written as I live,the Lord's, every knee shall bow
and every tongue shall confessto God.
So then each of us will give anaccount of himself to God.
And there's so many otherthings he deals here with the
Sabbath and other reasons Romans14 deals with.
(27:19):
But there's other things therapture, the millennium Lord's
Supper we differ in with ourbrothers and sisters.
It's easy to become judgmentalof those who have differing
views, isn't it?
It really is.
So what's the key, youhypocrite?
First take the log out of yourown eye and then you will see
clearly.
(27:39):
To take the speck out of yourbrother's eye.
Now Jesus isn't saying we can'tbe used by God to help our
brothers and sisters to seeclearly, but we have to make
sure we are first seeing clearlyabout ourselves.
The only way that can happen isto remove the telephone pole
from our own eyes.
(28:02):
The final statement I want tofocus in for the next hour is I
woke you up now, didn't I?
The final statement teaches usthe importance of certain
(28:24):
disciplines before we safeguardourselves from being hurt
whenever we share God's word.
It helps us to learn how tohandle the truth of God revealed
to us.
It instructs us to approach newtruth with a new appreciation
for the privilege andresponsibilities involved.
Do not give dogs what is holyand do not throw your pearls
(28:45):
before pigs lest they tramplethem underfoot and turn and
attack you.
He's saying in sharing theriches of the kingdom, make sure
you discern your hearers.
Not everybody you're speakingto appreciates the great pearl
(29:06):
of treasures you have.
Some are dogs and pigs.
Remember when Jesus spoke inparables in Matthew 13,?
He spoke of the pearl of greatprice was one of the parables.
In verse 45 of chapter 13 ofMatthew he says again the
kingdom of heaven is like amerchant in search of fine
(29:29):
pearls.
Who, on finding one pearl ofgreat value, went and sold all
that he had and bought it.
Do you understand how a pearl isformed within an oyster?
I revisited this.
It's fascinating.
The oyster a grain of sandworks its way into the oyster,
causing an oyster.
I revisited this.
It's fascinating.
The oyster.
A grain of sand works its wayinto the oyster, causing an
(29:50):
irritation, and the oysterstarts to cover the grain of
sand with layer after layer ofmucus in order to alleviate the
irritation.
Finally, the pearl is formed bytribulation.
Do you want the pearls of thekingdom?
There's only one way they'reformed.
And the pearl is formed bytribulation.
(30:14):
That's what happens wheneverGod forms within us an
understanding of new truth.
What is our first inclinationwhen we get new truth?
It is to run out and telleveryone and anyone who will
listen to your newfound truth.
And that's where the need, thetruth of this verse, is so
(30:34):
important.
We must learn how, what, whenand with whom to share our
treasure.
Our natural tendency, again, isto fling holy things to dogs
and pigs.
We must learn how to beresponsible to steward the truth
he shows us.
Have you ever had the followingsituation?
(30:55):
God shows you some incrediblerevelation of his word that's
life-changing and you're justdying to share it with someone
and you run out and tell afriend, expecting him to be as
excited about it as you are, andhe just grunts what's the
problem?
God was showing you that truth.
(31:16):
It was for you alone.
At that point we must learnthat when the Lord shares
something with us, it's best tofirst keep it to ourselves and
weigh it and really come tounderstand it.
We must learn the wisdom ofwhen, how and with whom we are
to share.
(31:36):
Isaiah said something.
I want to read it from the KingJames, chapter 50 of Isaiah.
Verse 14 said it this way theLord God, verse one through four
I'm sorry, isaiah, 51 throughfour, I'm sorry, isaiah 50, one
through four.
The Lord God has given me thetongue of the learned that I
should know how to speak a word,that's what to speak in season,
when to speak to him that isweary, to whom to speak?
(31:59):
He waketh morning by morning.
He waketh my ear to hear as thelearned.
Do you see, the one who teachesus the how, what and when, the
right thing to the right person,at the right time in the right
way.
So important that we get thatright and again, it's vital that
(32:22):
we learn how to handle sharingspiritual truth, because some of
those we're sharing with aredogs and pigs and don't value
the treasures we have.
Sometimes we need to stopspeaking and walk away.
Remember the Lord's instructionregarding sharing the gospel
with unbelievers that he gavethem before they went out on
(32:43):
their first mission trip.
With unbelievers.
That he gave them before theywent out on their first mission
trip.
He said whatever town orvillage you enter, share, search
for some person, worthy personthere and stay at his house
until you leave.
As you enter the home, give ityour greeting.
If the home is deserving, letyour peace rest on it.
If it is not, let your peacereturn.
If anyone will not welcome youor listen to your words, shake
(33:07):
the dust off your feet when youleave that home or town.
I tell you, the truth will bemore bearable for Sodom and
Gomorrah on that day of judgmentthan for that town I'm sending
you out like sheep among wolves.
Therefore, be shrewd as snakesand as innocent as doves.
Look carefully at hisinstruction about those who will
(33:28):
not listen.
If anyone will not welcome youor listen, shake the dust off
your feet when you leave thathome or town.
The apostles who heard thesewords of commission did exactly
that at times, for instance atAntioch, did exactly that at
times, for instance at Antioch,when they were rejected.
(33:48):
It says and when the Gentilesheard this, they began rejoicing
and the Jewish synagogue hadrejected them.
And Luke says Paul and Barnabas, when they heard this, they
began rejoicing and glorifyingthe word of the Lord and as many
as were appointed to eternallife believed.
Notice, it doesn't say as manyas believed were appointed to
(34:08):
eternal life, but as many aswere appointed to eternal life
believe.
But the Jews incited the devoutwomen of high standing and the
leading men of the city, stirredup persecution against Paul and
Barnabas and drove them out oftheir district, but they shook
off the dust from their feetagainst them and went to Iconium
(34:28):
.
This is something that shouldcontinue to be practiced in our
day.
Can I be honest with you?
For many years of serving inpastoral ministry, I was in
violation of this instruction.
Instead of shaking the dust offthe feet after years of working
with people, I continued tospeak to them, not realizing
(34:52):
they were weighing what I wastelling them in the same scale
as what their bartender wastelling them.
It's a general policy that whenpeople stop listening we should
stop speaking.
So let's close by calling tomind what this passage has had
to say to us.
(35:12):
There's so much jammed in hereand we haven't done it justice,
but I hope it's been meaningfuland it says.
I want to close by sayingreminding you that we said we
were forbidden to judge others,why at times we are called to
discern where others are at.
But there's only one way we caneffectively do that, and that
(35:34):
is by making sure we are judgingourselves by the same measure
we judge others.
We saw it's easy to be blind toour own spiritual condition
while we continue to makejudgments about others.
And at the end we saw that wemust be careful about who we are
speaking to.
Some do not value what we haveand will trample them under
(35:55):
their feet how important thesewords are for living
successfully in the community ofGod, of God.
I would close this message bymaking an appeal to you to ask
the Lord to take out of yourheart that judgmental, harsh,
critical spirit.
Ask yourself this question Areyou judging yourself by the same
(36:19):
standard you're judging others,or are you ignoring the
telephone pole protruding fromyour eye while you set yourself
up as the God-appointed judge ofothers, stand with me.
I'm going to ask the prayerteam to come down.
(36:39):
I think the most fitting way toconclude this and these are
sobering things, I realize, butis to take a moment and pray
together.
And then I want to invite youto this morning to come up and
get prayer from one of theprayer team members.
If you discover especially thatyou've been harsh or critical,
(37:02):
judgmental attitude, then comeand confess it to the Lord and
ask someone to pray for you.
We'll be glad to do it.
Father, thank you for thisteaching this morning.
Thank you for the reality ofthese words.
Lord, we thank you that you'vecalled us to not be critical,
(37:23):
judgmental, but you called us todiscern.
Help us to recognize thedifference and, lord, we repent
right now for a critical,fault-finding spirit.
We ask you to forgive us, lord,for having that attitude for
judging others.
Let Trinity, let it be banishedfrom Trinity Community Church
completely.
Lord, let us not be judgmentaland harsh, but help us, lord, at
(37:52):
the same time, to discern whenwe need to speak to our brother
or sister and exhort them tomake changes.
Don't let us run from ourresponsibility to do that
because of this teaching Help usto live a balanced life with
both.
In the name of the Lord Jesus,and everyone said Amen.
I've been interacting with the verses that
we're teaching this morning forseveral weeks.
I don't know if you understandthat you have the ability or the
responsibility to teach theWord of God.
The Word of God messes with youbefore you get to mess with the
people.
Someone came up to me justbefore worship this morning and
(00:23):
said Pastor, you have a healingministry.
I said really.
He said, yeah, I have insomniawhen you preach.
I sleep through the whole thing.
I think that was meant toencourage people, to encourage
me, but it didn't work.
Turn in your Bibles to the bookof Matthew, chapter 7.
(00:46):
And if you'd stand with me,I'll read the word of God this
morning.
Matthew 7, the first six versesI'm reading from the New
American Standard, americanstandard.
(01:10):
These verses are probably themost familiar verses to people
who aren't believers.
They may not be saved, but theyknow this verse.
We want to explore that thismorning.
Chapter 7 of Matthew's Gospel,verse 1, judge not that you be
not judged, for with thejudgment you pronounce you will
be judged and with the measureyou use it will be measured to
(01:32):
you.
Why do you see the speck thatis in your brother's eye but do
not notice the log that is inyour own eye.
How can you say to your brotherlet me take the speck out of
your own eye when there is a login your own eye?
You, hypocrite, first take thelog out of your own eye and then
(01:54):
you will see clearly to takethe speck out of your brother's
eye.
Do not give dogs what is holyand do not throw your pearls
before pigs, lest they tramplethem under their foot and turn
and attack you.
Let's pray, lord, god, I thankyou for this study, which we're
(02:15):
calling Red Letters, and howit's already impacting our lives
.
Lord, prepare our hearts toreceive the truth contained in
the seventh chapter as we enterthis chapter this morning.
This morning, we thank youspecifically for those verses we
just read and the challengethey present to us.
We thank you for the truth theycontain and the practical way
(02:38):
you've designed that these wordsserve us.
Help us today to take seriouslythe import of these words as we
attempt to live together as thecommunity of God.
Lord, remove from us everyvestige of a harsh critical
spirit.
Take it away from us.
Grant us the wisdom to knowthat we shall be judged in the
(03:02):
exact manner in which we judgeothers and, finally, lord,
deliver us from treating withcontempt the treasures of the
kingdom which you have entrustedto us.
We ask these things in Jesus'name and everyone said amen.
You may be seated If you'rehere for the first time or
(03:27):
you've not been following us.
We are in a series right now ofteaching called Red Letters.
We're walking through the mostfamous portion of Jesus'
teaching, probably he ever gave,which is the Sermon on the
Mount, and this message isentitled the Law of Judgment.
The Law of Judgment, the Law ofJudgment.
And it starts with a newchapter, chapter 7.
(03:48):
I don't know if you're aware ofit, but many scholars and Bible
teachers see this chapter asconsisting of independent
statements having little or norelationship to one another.
But if you review it further,we see that this chapter is held
together by a common theme, andthat theme is judgment.
(04:09):
Everything Jesus says in chapter7 deals with judgment and as
such, it deals with the wholematter of relationships in the
body of Christ.
Jesus, in his teaching, waspreparing his disciples for the
time when they would be livingin the community of God.
That's really when they'regoing to need this teaching.
(04:30):
He's teaching them these thingsbecause he knows how easy it is
for fallen human beings to passjudgment on one another.
So he opens a chapter byestablishing a principle that we
must know if we're going tolive together in loving
relationships in the body ofChrist.
What is that principle thatmust govern all our
(04:51):
relationships?
It is that we should make surethat in all our relationships we
are not judging others.
Jesus laid this down as a vitalprinciple.
He said judge not, that you benot judged For the measure.
With the measure you pronounceyou will be judged and with the
measure you use, it will bemeasured to you.
(05:12):
So it's critical that we have aright understanding of what is
meant by this instruction Do notjudge, or you too will be
judged.
Misunderstanding the meaning ofthis has caused grave damage to
relationships in the body ofChrist.
(05:32):
Many of you might have had thefollowing experience you have
observed a person in the bodyacting in a way which is
contrary to the gospel and youdetermine that you are going to
have to confront that person ina loving way.
You determine it's yourChristian duty to do so.
You pray much before you go tothe person and you're going,
(05:54):
make sure you're going with theright attitude and you've
checked off all the boxes.
You're convinced that you'redoing this according to
scripture.
You go to that person and speakto them, hoping they will
receive your words and repent.
And how do they respond?
They respond by saying you'rejudging me, stop it, you cannot
(06:15):
judge me.
How many have had that happen?
It's true, and according totheir view, no one has the right
to pass judgment on any onanother.
According to them, no oneshould ever make any judgment of
any kind.
But we'll see this morning.
The opening statement is not aprohibition against making
judgments of any kind, butavoiding certain types of
(06:37):
judgment.
Jesus clearly teaches that'simpossible to live with others
without making certain kinds ofjudgment.
We'll see this later in thischapter when Jesus says Beware
of false prophets who come toyou in sheep's clothing but
inwardly they're raven and wolf.
How can you determine ifsomeone's a false prophet unless
(06:59):
you judge them in some manner?
So Jesus isn't forbidding allkinds of judgment, but he's
condemning, assessing peoplecritically and judging them
harshly.
The truth is, these first twostatements in verses one and two
help us to make what areproperly called value judgments.
(07:22):
Thank you, you see, jesusdoesn't expect us to go through
life without having opinionsabout things right.
The important thing is that wemake sure we're willing to be
measured by the same standardswe apply to others.
That's the key.
(07:42):
Here are some scriptures thattell us how to make value
judgments.
John 7, 24, jesus says do notjudge by appearance, but judge
right judgment with rightjudgment.
What may seem wrong to us mustbe taken before the Lord to help
in reaching a conclusion.
He says don't depend onyourself, take it to the judge,
(08:02):
take it to the judge.
In 1 Corinthians 2.15, he saysthe spiritual person, paul
speaking, judges all things butis himself judged by no one.
He says make sure you'rejudging, discerning, evaluating
things as they really are, notas they appear to be.
And then in 1 Timothy, 5, 24and 25, he says the sins of some
(08:26):
people this is Paul again areconspicuous, going before them
to judgment, but the sins ofothers appear later.
So also good works areconspicuous, and even those that
are not cannot remain hidden.
And here we are told that somemen's sins are out in the open,
while other are conspicuous, andeven those that are not cannot
(08:49):
remain hidden.
This is so important.
Here we are told that men'ssins are out in the open, while
other men's sins are a hiddennature.
They're more sneaky if youwould.
And we are warned to discernthe true situation.
The follower of Jesus is acritic in the sense of using his
powers of discernment, but nota judge in the sense of being
(09:12):
censorious or a harsh critic.
The harsh critic is a faultfinder who is constantly looking
to blame others.
We must remember that thestandard by which we judge
others is the exact way we willbe judged by others.
And he says why do you see thespeck that is in your brother's
eye but do not notice the logthat is in your own eye?
(09:35):
Or how can you say to yourbrother let me take the speck
out of your eye when there is alog in your own eye?
I want to tell you about a giftI've received from the Father.
I didn't know I had it untilrecently, and apparently a lot
of people receive the same gift.
It's the ability to see clearlyall your faults and be totally
(09:58):
blind to my own.
What a gift.
I can tell by your reactionthat you have that gift too, and
apparently, again, it's a giftthat Father has lavished on the
body, because so many peoplehave this gift and don't know it
.
But Jesus actually resorts tohumor here to make his point.
(10:19):
He says you're looking at thespeck of sawdust in your
brother's eye while ignoring theplank in your own eye If you
don't get it.
We're concerned about gettingthe speck out of our brother's
eye while ignoring the telephonepole which is in your own eye.
(10:42):
But these verses prove thatwe're not really interested in
judgment, because if we were, wewould deal with it in ourselves
first.
There are many people in thecommunity who've set themselves
up as judges, sadly, but theydon't want anyone to judge them.
By the way, the statement donot judge or you will be judged
(11:06):
does not necessarily mean thatwe will be judged by others.
We will be judged by them.
That's true, but it isn'tnecessarily limited to men, but
includes God as well.
Let's take a moment and look atthree types of judgment we all
are facing presently and willface in the future.
Number one there is the judgmentof unbelievers that is
(11:29):
appearing, and the Bible speaksvery often of this.
It is a judgment that is finaland eternal.
This is a basic judgment whichall men and women will face.
It's called the great whitethrone judgment.
Let me read it in the NIV, inRevelation 20.
(11:50):
Then I saw a great white throneand him who was seated on it.
Earth and sky fled from hispresence and there was no place
for them, and I saw the dead,great and small, standing before
the throne and the books wereopen.
Another book was open, which isthe book of life.
The dead were judged accordingto what they had done, as
(12:12):
recorded in the books.
The sea gave up the dead thatwere in it, and death and Hades
gave up the dead that were in it, and each person was judged
according to what he has done.
Then death and Hades werethrown into the lake of fire.
The lake of fire is the seconddeath.
If anyone's name was not foundwritten in the book of life, he
(12:35):
was thrown into the lake of fire.
Therefore it's called the greatwhite throne judgment, because
that's exactly it.
Every soul will stand beforeGod and give an account of his
life.
The good news is, if you're inChrist, you won't go to the
great white throne judgment,thank God.
(12:58):
But then there's the second kindof judgment.
It's a judgment that believersface as they walk through this
life, and one example of that isPaul's instructions, which you
often read when we do communion,in 1 Corinthians 11, his
instructions that he gives tothe Corinthian church regarding
taking the Lord's supper and hesays therefore, whoever eats the
(13:20):
bread and drinks the cup of theLord in an unworthy manner will
be guilty of sinning againstthe body and blood of the Lord.
A man ought to examine himself.
By the way, this verse is oftenused to instruct us to examine
our lives when we're taking theLord's Supper.
I totally believe that'sappropriate, but that's really
(13:42):
not the focus.
They were taking the Lord'sSupper improperly and his
instruction is not to do thatand how they can.
They'll be judged if they dothat.
Some of those were already sickand some that actually perished
because they took the Lord'sSupper.
So the Lord's Supper is aserious matter.
We need to take it in thatmanner.
(14:03):
A man ought to examine himselfbefore he eats of the bread and
drinks of the cup, for anyonewho eats and drinks without
recognizing the body of the Lordeats and drinks judgment on
himself.
That's why many among you areweak and sick.
I just mentioned that a numberof you have fallen asleep.
But if we judged ourselves, wewould not come under judgment.
(14:26):
When we are judged by the Lord,we are being disciplined so
that we will not be condemnedwith the world.
So that's a serious matter, andjudgment awaits those who don't
take the Lord's Supper withreverence.
Is it right to look at ourlives and examine our lives?
Sure, it's right to do thatbefore you take the Lord's
(14:46):
Supper, but we should be doingthat all the time.
Then there's a judgment that'scalled the discipline of the
Lord.
In this second type of judgmentbelievers face, here's an
example in Hebrews 12, 7 through11.
Endure hardship as discipline.
God is treating you as sons.
For what son is not disciplinedby his father?
(15:09):
If you're not disciplined, andeveryone undergoes discipline,
then you are illegitimatechildren and not true sons.
Moreover, if we've all had ourhuman fathers who disciplined us
and we respected them, how muchmore shall we submit to the
Father of our spirits and live?
Our fathers disciplined us forgood while as they thought best,
(15:30):
but God disciplines us for ourgood that we may share in his
holiness.
No discipline seems pleasant atthe time, but painful.
Say amen.
You know it's the famous wordsyour parents said before you got
spanked.
This is going to hurt me morethan you.
I never bought into that, justdidn't seem reasonable.
(15:51):
No discipline seems pleasant atthe time, but painful Later on.
However, it produces a harvestof unrighteousness, of
righteousness and peace forthose who have been trained by
it.
And finally, there's a judgmentthat the body of Christ will
receive.
It's not the judgment of beingsaved or not saved because we're
(16:12):
in Christ, but it's thejudgment of rewards saved or not
saved because we're in Christ,but it's the judgment of rewards
.
And Paul speaks of thisjudgment in 1 Corinthians, 3, 10
through 15.
By the grace of God has givenme, I laid a foundation this is
in the NIV as an expert builder,which is also the word master
builder, and someone else isbuilding on it.
By the way, that word masterbuilder or expert builder this
(16:37):
is a Greek word, architect, non,from which we get what word
architect?
So Paul says he's an expertarchitect building the house of
God, but each one should becareful how he builds, for no
one can lay any foundation otherthan the one already laid,
which is Jesus Christ.
If any man builds on thisfoundation, using gold, silver,
(17:00):
costly stones, wood, hay orstraw, his work will show for
what it is, because the day willbring it to light.
It will be revealed with fire,and the fire will test the
quality of each man's work.
If what he has built survives,he will receive his reward.
If it is burned up, he willsuffer loss.
He himself will be saved, butonly as one escaping through the
(17:24):
flames.
So apparently our works, ourlife's work, will be evaluated
by the fire of God and ifanything remains after the fire
does its burning work, then wehave a reward.
But if not, we can end up savedby having all of our work
burned up.
(17:45):
A dear friend of mine who's goneon to be with the Lord, duverne
Frumke, written some classicbooks.
Duverne was a brilliant Bibleteacher but back in the 1950s he
was a very well-knownevangelist and he built a
ministry.
He had a ministry with, I think, 12 buildings on the property
(18:06):
and he was a very well-knownevangelist at the time.
And he came back from a tripand was driving up the driveway
into his ministry complex whenhe saw I think it was 11 of the
12 buildings that stood weregoing up in flames and he stood
there and watched his life workburning and he heard the Holy
(18:28):
Spirit say Be thankful that Idid this on this side of
eternity, thankful that I didthis on this side of eternity.
And from that moment on hislife changed and his ministry
changed, you get what he wasrealizing.
His life work was being burnedup because it was wood, hay and
(18:49):
straw, but thankfully God gaveit to him, allowed him to see
that on this side of eternity.
Then the Lord gives us a reasonin these verses why we can't
judge, and it is we areincapable of properly judging.
Since we cannot do so, we mustnot try at all.
(19:14):
He says you hypocrite, whichone of the brothers pointed out
is the greek word hypocritas,from which we get our word play
actor, that's roman plays.
Greek actors would wear masksto just to hide their self as
they acted out on stage, andthat's the word that's used for
(19:34):
hypocrite.
He says first take the log outof your own eye and then you'll
see clearly to take the speckout of your brother's eye.
So we are called to judgeothers properly, but we can only
do so when we've made sure toremove the log in our own eye.
This is serious business.
So value judgments, as we'veseen, are necessary.
(19:56):
Never let someone say to youyou can't judge me.
Your reply should be my brother, my sister, I am required to
make a value judgment on how youline up with the word of God.
We must make value judgmentsand we should seek to judge with
(20:20):
righteous judgment.
I believe God will exposeanything needful and truth will
prevail.
Here's three pitfalls to beaware of in making value
judgments.
Number one our knowledge isincomplete.
Our knowledge is incompletewhen we judge.
We do not have all the facts.
Only God has all the facts.
Only he knows the condition ofa man's heart.
I was once judged by a friendof mine years ago who
(20:42):
misunderstood something that hadhappened and was telling people
around the nation regardingthat.
I had done something which Ihad absolutely not, and I
started to defend myself, pickup the phone and talk and the
Holy Spirit clearly said to meif you raise a hand to defend
yourself, I won't be there todefend you.
(21:03):
I said thank you, lord, andeventually that man came to the
right conclusion that he hadbeen misunderstood.
Some facts and my relationshipwith him was restored.
So that's important that weknow all the facts.
Number two make sure to obtainas many facts as possible if
(21:29):
you're required to make a valuejudgment, if you're going to
judge, you need to have rightinformation.
Always remember we judge othersfrom our own heart Most of the
time.
We judge others by the way wewould act if we were in that
particular situation.
It may seem strange, but oftenthe people we have the most
trouble with are those who aremost like us.
(21:50):
Have you noticed that?
Have you noticed that, numberthree, we may be going behind
the blood of the atonement?
There's something we canrightly be called kingdom
alignment.
I want to call kingdomalignment.
The actions we are judging orquestioning in another may have
(22:10):
been confessed forgiven and nowin the process of alignment.
Make sure we give our brothersand sisters, therefore,
breathing room.
Give them breathing room.
Are you convicted?
Yet?
I'll stop.
If you are.
We can see clearly that we havea critical, fault-finding
(22:33):
attitude.
If we examine ourselvescarefully, you know, if our
conversations are filled withstatements like this the
government stinks, the churchstinks, my neighbors are
unfriendly, children are gettingworse every day and the coffee
isn't good this morning, we cansort of detect a critical,
fault-finding attitude.
Right, a critical,fault-finding attitude right.
(22:57):
And here are some of the stepsdownward to this attitude.
First, self-righteousnessthat's the attitude which says
others are wrong and I am right.
If you're like that, I praythis morning you have the
courage to ask God to smash theattitude right now.
It isn't easy to do.
(23:18):
But if you acknowledge it andask God for help, he will
respond.
Then next and by the way, thebody of Christ needs to hear
this If we're going to judgethose living a gay lifestyle,
those living a gay lifestyle weneed to apply the same thing to
those who are in a heterosexuallifestyle as well.
(23:42):
We don't get a pass.
Then the attitude is revealed inour speech, and so it starts
with self-righteousness.
A self-righteous attitude makesyou despise others.
In other words, a despisingtendency develops.
And then next, the attitude isrevealed in our speech.
Jesus said it clearly out ofthe heart, the mouth speaks.
(24:04):
This is not philosophy, idlephilosophy, but fact.
The words come out and youcan't stop them until you
recognize the source and go toGod for cleansing.
Until you recognize the sourceand go to God for cleansing, you
start dealing with thisattitude at the first sign of
trouble and spare yourselves astep downward.
Look at this statement in theAmplified Romans 14.
(24:26):
It says as for the man who is aweak believer, welcome him into
your fellowship, not tocriticize his opinions or pass
judgment on his scruples orperplex him with discussion.
I'd like to word that lastphrase, but not to straighten
him out.
One person believes he may eatanything, while the weak person
(24:48):
eats only vegetables.
Watch the way they're going tojudge each other.
Let not the one who eatsdespise the one who abstains.
Let not the one who abstainspass judgment on the one who
eats, for God has welcomed him.
See, this is the attitude ofgrace we should have towards the
other members of the body whodon't see things the way I do.
And we can be delivered fromthat attitude that says if
(25:14):
everybody was serious and didwhat I did do, then God would be
blessing them.
That attitude stinketh.
Who are you to pass judgment on?
The servant of another?
Roman 14.
It is before his own masterthat he stands or falls, and he
(25:35):
will be upheld, for the Lord isable to make him stand.
One person esteems one day asbetter than another, while
another esteems all days alike.
By the way, paul's dealing herein Romans with a congregation of
Jews and non-Jews Gentiles whowere both working out their
(25:57):
salvation, and some believe inkeeping certain holidays, others
believe you didn't have to, andPaul is weighing in on how to
wade through those difficultwaters.
He says each one should befully convinced in his own mind.
The one who observes the dayobserves it in honor of the Lord
.
And then we've jumped down toRomans 14.10.
(26:18):
He says why do you passjudgment on your brother?
So easy to fall into thispattern.
(26:38):
Have that subtle attitude.
Everybody would be doing whatI'm doing if they really
understood God or his word.
The one who eats eats in honorof the Lord, since he gives
thanks to God, while the one whoabstains in honor and gives
thanks to God, why do you passjudgment on your brother?
Or you?
Why do you despise your brother?
(26:59):
For we will all stand beforethe judgment seat of God.
For it is written as I live,the Lord's, every knee shall bow
and every tongue shall confessto God.
So then each of us will give anaccount of himself to God.
And there's so many otherthings he deals here with the
Sabbath and other reasons Romans14 deals with.
(27:19):
But there's other things therapture, the millennium Lord's
Supper we differ in with ourbrothers and sisters.
It's easy to become judgmentalof those who have differing
views, isn't it?
It really is.
So what's the key, youhypocrite?
First take the log out of yourown eye and then you will see
clearly.
(27:39):
To take the speck out of yourbrother's eye.
Now Jesus isn't saying we can'tbe used by God to help our
brothers and sisters to seeclearly, but we have to make
sure we are first seeing clearlyabout ourselves.
The only way that can happen isto remove the telephone pole
from our own eyes.
(28:02):
The final statement I want tofocus in for the next hour is I
woke you up now, didn't I?
The final statement teaches usthe importance of certain
(28:24):
disciplines before we safeguardourselves from being hurt
whenever we share God's word.
It helps us to learn how tohandle the truth of God revealed
to us.
It instructs us to approach newtruth with a new appreciation
for the privilege andresponsibilities involved.
Do not give dogs what is holyand do not throw your pearls
(28:45):
before pigs lest they tramplethem underfoot and turn and
attack you.
He's saying in sharing theriches of the kingdom, make sure
you discern your hearers.
Not everybody you're speakingto appreciates the great pearl
(29:06):
of treasures you have.
Some are dogs and pigs.
Remember when Jesus spoke inparables in Matthew 13,?
He spoke of the pearl of greatprice was one of the parables.
In verse 45 of chapter 13 ofMatthew he says again the
kingdom of heaven is like amerchant in search of fine
(29:29):
pearls.
Who, on finding one pearl ofgreat value, went and sold all
that he had and bought it.
Do you understand how a pearl isformed within an oyster?
I revisited this.
It's fascinating.
The oyster a grain of sandworks its way into the oyster,
causing an oyster.
I revisited this.
It's fascinating.
The oyster.
A grain of sand works its wayinto the oyster, causing an
(29:50):
irritation, and the oysterstarts to cover the grain of
sand with layer after layer ofmucus in order to alleviate the
irritation.
Finally, the pearl is formed bytribulation.
Do you want the pearls of thekingdom?
There's only one way they'reformed.
And the pearl is formed bytribulation.
(30:14):
That's what happens wheneverGod forms within us an
understanding of new truth.
What is our first inclinationwhen we get new truth?
It is to run out and telleveryone and anyone who will
listen to your newfound truth.
And that's where the need, thetruth of this verse, is so
(30:34):
important.
We must learn how, what, whenand with whom to share our
treasure.
Our natural tendency, again, isto fling holy things to dogs
and pigs.
We must learn how to beresponsible to steward the truth
he shows us.
Have you ever had the followingsituation?
(30:55):
God shows you some incrediblerevelation of his word that's
life-changing and you're justdying to share it with someone
and you run out and tell afriend, expecting him to be as
excited about it as you are, andhe just grunts what's the
problem?
God was showing you that truth.
(31:16):
It was for you alone.
At that point we must learnthat when the Lord shares
something with us, it's best tofirst keep it to ourselves and
weigh it and really come tounderstand it.
We must learn the wisdom ofwhen, how and with whom we are
to share.
(31:36):
Isaiah said something.
I want to read it from the KingJames, chapter 50 of Isaiah.
Verse 14 said it this way theLord God, verse one through four
I'm sorry, isaiah, 51 throughfour, I'm sorry, isaiah 50, one
through four.
The Lord God has given me thetongue of the learned that I
should know how to speak a word,that's what to speak in season,
when to speak to him that isweary, to whom to speak?
(31:59):
He waketh morning by morning.
He waketh my ear to hear as thelearned.
Do you see, the one who teachesus the how, what and when, the
right thing to the right person,at the right time in the right
way.
So important that we get thatright and again, it's vital that
(32:22):
we learn how to handle sharingspiritual truth, because some of
those we're sharing with aredogs and pigs and don't value
the treasures we have.
Sometimes we need to stopspeaking and walk away.
Remember the Lord's instructionregarding sharing the gospel
with unbelievers that he gavethem before they went out on
(32:43):
their first mission trip.
With unbelievers.
That he gave them before theywent out on their first mission
trip.
He said whatever town orvillage you enter, share, search
for some person, worthy personthere and stay at his house
until you leave.
As you enter the home, give ityour greeting.
If the home is deserving, letyour peace rest on it.
If it is not, let your peacereturn.
If anyone will not welcome youor listen to your words, shake
(33:07):
the dust off your feet when youleave that home or town.
I tell you, the truth will bemore bearable for Sodom and
Gomorrah on that day of judgmentthan for that town I'm sending
you out like sheep among wolves.
Therefore, be shrewd as snakesand as innocent as doves.
Look carefully at hisinstruction about those who will
(33:28):
not listen.
If anyone will not welcome youor listen, shake the dust off
your feet when you leave thathome or town.
The apostles who heard thesewords of commission did exactly
that at times, for instance atAntioch, did exactly that at
times, for instance at Antioch,when they were rejected.
(33:48):
It says and when the Gentilesheard this, they began rejoicing
and the Jewish synagogue hadrejected them.
And Luke says Paul and Barnabas, when they heard this, they
began rejoicing and glorifyingthe word of the Lord and as many
as were appointed to eternallife believed.
Notice, it doesn't say as manyas believed were appointed to
(34:08):
eternal life, but as many aswere appointed to eternal life
believe.
But the Jews incited the devoutwomen of high standing and the
leading men of the city, stirredup persecution against Paul and
Barnabas and drove them out oftheir district, but they shook
off the dust from their feetagainst them and went to Iconium
(34:28):
.
This is something that shouldcontinue to be practiced in our
day.
Can I be honest with you?
For many years of serving inpastoral ministry, I was in
violation of this instruction.
Instead of shaking the dust offthe feet after years of working
with people, I continued tospeak to them, not realizing
(34:52):
they were weighing what I wastelling them in the same scale
as what their bartender wastelling them.
It's a general policy that whenpeople stop listening we should
stop speaking.
So let's close by calling tomind what this passage has had
to say to us.
(35:12):
There's so much jammed in hereand we haven't done it justice,
but I hope it's been meaningfuland it says.
I want to close by sayingreminding you that we said we
were forbidden to judge others,why at times we are called to
discern where others are at.
But there's only one way we caneffectively do that, and that
(35:34):
is by making sure we are judgingourselves by the same measure
we judge others.
We saw it's easy to be blind toour own spiritual condition
while we continue to makejudgments about others.
And at the end we saw that wemust be careful about who we are
speaking to.
Some do not value what we haveand will trample them under
(35:55):
their feet how important thesewords are for living
successfully in the community ofGod, of God.
I would close this message bymaking an appeal to you to ask
the Lord to take out of yourheart that judgmental, harsh,
critical spirit.
Ask yourself this question Areyou judging yourself by the same
(36:19):
standard you're judging others,or are you ignoring the
telephone pole protruding fromyour eye while you set yourself
up as the God-appointed judge ofothers, stand with me.
I'm going to ask the prayerteam to come down.
(36:39):
I think the most fitting way toconclude this and these are
sobering things, I realize, butis to take a moment and pray
together.
And then I want to invite youto this morning to come up and
get prayer from one of theprayer team members.
If you discover especially thatyou've been harsh or critical,
(37:02):
judgmental attitude, then comeand confess it to the Lord and
ask someone to pray for you.
We'll be glad to do it.
Father, thank you for thisteaching this morning.
Thank you for the reality ofthese words.
Lord, we thank you that you'vecalled us to not be critical,
(37:23):
judgmental, but you called us todiscern.
Help us to recognize thedifference and, lord, we repent
right now for a critical,fault-finding spirit.
We ask you to forgive us, lord,for having that attitude for
judging others.
Let Trinity, let it be banishedfrom Trinity Community Church
completely.
Lord, let us not be judgmentaland harsh, but help us, lord, at
(37:52):
the same time, to discern whenwe need to speak to our brother
or sister and exhort them tomake changes.
Don't let us run from ourresponsibility to do that
because of this teaching Help usto live a balanced life with
both.
In the name of the Lord Jesus,and everyone said Amen.
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