Good morning, everyone. It's great to be with you this morning as we turn again to the Word of our Lord. We're looking this morning at Matthew chapter 7, the first six verses. A very familiar passage in many ways, like much of the Sermon on the Mount, of course, and, of course, also a misquoted part of the Scriptures. Let's turn there, Matthew chapter 7, the first six verses. We'll read those together. Judge not that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce, you will be judged. And with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, let me take the speck out of your eye when there is a log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye. Do not give dogs what is holy. Do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you. Well, as we begin together this morning, it's good for us, again, to remember the wider context of what we've covered together on the Sermon on the Mount. Our Lord Jesus has been proclaiming to us, beginning with the Beatitudes, the beauty of the character of the Christian, the blessed man, the blessed woman. He has been applying his law to the heart of man. He's been expounding the law of God, the Christian life. He's spoken to us of generosity. He's taught us how to pray. He's taught us to trust the Father and not to be anxious, not to be worried and fearful about the future or about the present. The life that our Lord Jesus proclaims to us here on the sermon, it's vastly different from both a life of self-centered hedonism and very different from the lives of the scribes and the Pharisees, or so many of them. Jesus is teaching us here what real Christianity looks like, the call into the Christian life. What moves a Christian? How should a Christian think? How should we see and understand the world around us? How should we live? Well, as Jesus has in other parts of the Sermon on the Mount, he opens this new section here in verse 1 with this strong imperative to us. Judge not that you be not judged. Now, this is maybe one of the most misquoted verses in all of the Bible. You can just hear the refrains. I'm sure many of you have encountered this yourself in various ways. You've heard people, you know, stop judging me. Don't be so judgmental. Doesn't the Bible say you shouldn't judge people? And it was interesting reading through Bible commentaries. I looked at some, like the time of Matthew, Henry, and others, 19th century England, Scottish commentaries, went back to some early church. And it seems that this has been a chronic problem throughout the history of the church, that believers have encountered this misquoting of the scriptures. And I think we sort of have a gut sense. We know people misquote this. But how do we know that it would be right to say that it's wrong to say that you should never judge when Jesus says here, judge not? Well, first of all, the immediate context. If we look at the Sermon on the Mount, what does Jesus say in the Sermon on the Mount more widely as he now comes to this imperative, judge not? It becomes very clear quickly if we just read through the Sermon on the Mount itself that Jesus is not prohibiting his children from making assessments from analyzing things biblically and from making what we would call judgments. In verse 8, which we're going to look at together, or sorry, verse 6, we're going to look at together in more depth. Our Lord tells us not to give dogs what is holy and not to cast pearls before swine or before pigs. Well, that's assessment. That's certainly judging. If we would view people in the categories of dogs or pigs and take that prohibition, we'll dig into that in a little while. In verse 15 of this chapter, of chapter 7, if you look down a little further, you see that Jesus warns us to beware of false prophets. And he tells us that in verse 16, we'll recognize false prophets by their fruits. Again, Jesus there calling his children, his people to assess things, to think about things, to make judgment calls, and to take action according to right judgment. And what our Lord says to us, the call to be wise, to be discerning, to make good choices, to beware of certain things, to make judgment calls, something that's consistent throughout the Scriptures, Think of the Old Testament ceremonies and laws. They required self-examination. We had to be judging ourselves, assessing ourselves. In the Old Testament, the believers had to do that as they knew what categories of different offerings needed to be given for particular sins and situations. Priests and elders were called to make judgments in the Old Testament about all kinds of things. About your masonry, if there was mold growing on it. There were many decisions that were made. And back in the Old Testament, what Jesus is citing about false prophets in verse 15 of chapter 7, Deuteronomy 18. The word of the Lord there gives a grid for assessing what's a true prophet, what's a false prophet. The judges were called to judge. The Psalms, there's often a clear line between those who love God's law and those who hate God's word. And the psalmist at times says, do I not hate those who hate you, O God? And the New Testament, 1 Thessalonians 5, we're to test all things, to hold fast to what is good. Titus has called to warn a divisive person in the church, and if after repeated warning there's no change, to have nothing to do with them, Titus 3, 10, and 11. Well, all of this is the Word of our same God and Savior, Jesus Christ, God the Son incarnate. He's the Word made flesh, the same yesterday, today, and forever. And so when we look at this passage here, judge not that you be not judged, We need to take all of that into account in understanding what Jesus is saying here. What is He pointing us to here? From the context, it seems very clear that our Lord is particularly calling His people to avoid a common pitfall in His day that was perhaps exemplified very strongly among some of the scribes and Pharisees. but that really is a pitfall that's common to the human heart. That is being very mild in judging ourselves and being quick and harsh in judging others. One Bible commentary helpfully compared this passage to the parable of the unforgiving servant. that our Lord tells later in his ministry. It's recorded in Matthew 18. You'll remember there in Matthew 18, Jesus tells this story, gives this parable. There's this man who had massive debts. He owed a vast amount of money and he was in trouble and he begs the man who he's indebted to, to forgive him. And this man does forgive him his debts. And then subsequently he turns around and he goes after a man who owes him some money, much less than what he owed. And we read there in Matthew 18, 23 and following, that this man seized the other man. He started to choke him. saying, pay what you owe. When this man begged for mercy, this man showed none and had him thrown into debtor's prison. Well, this is a good comparison passage with what our Lord is saying to us here, judge not that you be not judged. Our Lord is calling us to be aware of our own propensity in our own sin, our own self-centeredness, our own pride, to have a kind of a judgmental spirit that is harsh, that makes judgments that are not cohering with both the content of God's Word and the tenor, the spirit, the caricature of what's revealed in God's Word of both God Himself, but also what His people are to be characterized by. And so, this would be a kind of judging that doesn't fit together with a truly righteous justice that's found in God's people, that's mingled with appropriate sorrow, sadness over sin, that's marked by understanding grace and mercy. It's a kind of judgmentalism here that Jesus is directing our attention to that really reflects not God in His holy and just judgments, but rather reflects Satan, who's described as the accuser of the brethren. And that's why our Lord reminds us here, don't have this kind of a sinful, judging spirit. Judge not that you be not judged, in verse 2, for with the judgment you pronounce, you will be judged. And with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. And so, why do we need to be on alert, be watchful for our own hearts, how we engage different situations? Because when there is pride mingled in there and unrighteous anger, a lack of humility realizing what we are as sinners before God, then that kind of judgment really becomes a falsification of the good, holy, righteous, merciful character of our God. We're God's image bearers. And as His children, we're those who have been saved at such great cost from the evil of our own sin. And so it would be such a distortion. It really defaces the image of God in us. It suppresses the truth and unrighteousness when we act in a proud, selfish, and bitter judgment. And our Lord tells us, To walk in that kind of a judging and judgment is actually something that He will judge, because it's contrary to all that is good and all that is holy. And so that's the first section of the text that we're looking at here, as to judge not. The second section, Jesus gets into what we title here the speck versus the log that flows out of this first section. Knowing our hearts, our need to understand ourselves, so we'd actually repent of our own sin and come to Christ for forgiveness and for help to grow in the beauty of a right-minded and right-hearted Christian engagement with those around us. Our Lord now presses this application home further with this illustration, the speck versus the log, verses 3 and 4. Read with me there. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do you not notice the log that is in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, let me take the speck out of your eye when there is a log in your own eye? Now, perhaps we can think of scenarios where we've seen children sort of engage in this kind of thing. Maybe some of our kids are battling it out. They're fighting over something. And one is very outraged over what another has done. And from our vantage, we can see quite clearly this is sort of a speck in a log situation going on here. Our Lord, of course, is bringing this not only for our children's sake, but for our own as well. Jesus' illustration is very vivid, it's very direct. Why do you do this? How can you do this? How is it that we can so easily slide into a critical spirit? And we can, can't we? We all have situations in some way or other, I think, where somebody around us, maybe some co-worker or some situation we're dealing with, we become frustrated with it and what begins to come out is this proud criticism where we have forgotten we have forgotten about our own sin before the Lord, our own weakness. And boy, we have laser vision in assessing the sin and weakness of someone else. In fact, we're probably actually magnifying their weakness or their sin. And at the same time, Viewing our own sin as very small and distant, like looking through a pair of binoculars backwards, sort of view of our own sin while we've got the microscope out on someone else's sin. Our Lord tells us exactly what this really says about us. When we speak and think like this, we're actually hypocrites. This is the Lord's holy and accurate judgment, and we see this in the beginning of verse 5. In His grace and mercy, He doesn't leave us here, but He calls us from this to repentance. Verse 5, you hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye. Very direct words from our Savior. This is our loving Savior. He knows our hearts and He's calling here for very direct, this is spiritual surgery, putting this sin to death, being watchful for this sin. How could we put this into practice and apply it? I think, again, it's when frustration begins to build or irritation in our hearts or maybe our spouse says, you know, I think you're being a bit harsh on this. Sometimes someone else has a bit of view of ourselves. That's a little better than we have ourselves, a fellow believer. To really take stock and to step back when we feel that begin to rise in our hearts and minds, to step back, to think, and to pray before we speak, before we go on in this spirit, and to come with a spirit of humility before the Lord. Hey, Lord, please help me. As I have come into this situation where I see this frustration, where I see this problem, and it may well be a real sin that really needs to be addressed. But Lord, please help me. Help me to remember who I am. Help me to remember what you have done for me. Lord, please help me to assess and to think through what I see here in the light of what you say in your Word. And even to turn to the Bible and maybe take a pause to pull back, to think and pray before we go and speak to someone, to open the Word, maybe to seek counsel. from a godly spouse or a godly friend. How should I handle this? How should I deal with this? To take some time and to come with that spirit to the Lord. Speak, Lord, for your servant, your child is listening. And begin with the application of God's Word to ourselves. And so not to be hasty, to rush into judgment. By the grace of God, when that happens in our lives, it certainly bears much better fruit, doesn't it? And it really is vastly different. You know, then we'll have a beginning point, a mentality of ourselves like we see in Scripture, of those who the Lord saved by His grace and called to minister to others. I think of the Apostle Paul and 1 Timothy. Timothy's in a hard situation in Ephesus. He's called to minister there. He's called to minister to some people. He actually needs to rebuke and he's concerned about that. But what does Paul say about himself as he talks about ministering the gospel in hard situations? He begins with awareness of himself, 1 Timothy 1. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief. A right view of ourselves goes such a long ways. in helping us to have a wise and more gracious view of others, a right sorrow for our own sin, rather than having a proud, angry spirit, we'll maybe still have a right holy anger because sin is evil and it causes destruction and great harm. It's against God, but there will be sorrow mixed in. and a sadness and an awareness. Our Lord says elsewhere in the New Testament, just the call to, you think of rescue sinners, to be careful lest we ourselves are tempted, realizing if we see someone going astray that that could be us, that could be me, but for the grace of God. And so Paul saying, Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the foremost. And then he goes on in that opening passage, he's described to Timothy how the Lord has saved him, and if the Lord could save me, well, the Lord can work a gracious work in other sinners like the sinners that you're dealing with, Timothy. He can do the same there. He's the king of ages, the immortal, the invisible, the only God to whom be glory forever and ever. The Apostle Peter. As he talks to the dispersed church of Asia Minor in 1 Peter 2, he reminds them that they're called to proclaim the excellencies of the one who called them out of darkness, out of their darkness, into his marvelous light. So again, it really comes, doesn't it, in how do we live this out? Well, it's running to Jesus ourselves, as he is the great master teacher here in the Sermon on the Mount, the one who knows the hearts of men. through all these different paths, whether it's about worrying, whether it's about not being gripped by money, about laying up treasures in heaven, whether it's about a judgmental spirit. Our Lord is pulling back, probing our hearts and minds, and doing so as our great Savior, as the one who is the answer for us. So walking close to Jesus, in communion with Him, taking hold of the means of His grace, devotions. Isn't it so true? Sometimes the days where we suddenly find we actually have had a proud and judgmental spirit and we've been cruising into that, we look back and we realize, well, that morning, man, I was so busy, I really didn't spend much time in the Word or in prayer. I maybe look back on my whole week And it's been pretty thin spiritually. And why is it that I've come to this point? Or it may even be longer than that. And someone lovingly comes alongside us. Or the Lord uses His Word, maybe in a worship service. And our eyes are opened so graciously and He calls us back to Himself. Our Savior, who spoke this word, is still our Savior right now, who reigns in heaven. And we can see how He brings us from strength to strength in Zion. He uses His word. He uses means of grace to draw us to Himself, to shepherd our souls so that we would grow. And then what will be the results? Well, instead of being hypocrites, verse 5, we will actually be repenting of sin and be dealing with the logs in our own eyes. And we will begin to see more clearly. We'll start to see ourselves as we really are. We'll see others around us as we really are. And we will be marked more and more by the heart of Christ, who we desire to be conformed to, to be like. And there will be a godly wisdom And that's so good and beautiful. I can think of other believers that we've perhaps seen that in. Older saints, people more matured than us, a long life's journey. And we just see, wow. I was just amazed by the way that person handled that or dealt with that. Clear sight to take the speck out of your brother's eye to actually truly help others and bless them. will be equipped to love and courage, gain the wisdom from His Word to know the right time, the right measure in helping brothers and sisters in Christ, and of course, particularly those who we're entrusted to care for. A number of the commentators on this passage noted that as well. As we think about this whole passage, judge not that you be not judged, God has given us particular spheres of authority and responsibility where we are to make judgments. And there are other spheres where it's really not in our hands that maybe we grieve certain things. I don't know if any of you are judges who serve in a criminal court. I'm not aware. Perhaps there is somebody here who's a justice who serves in that capacity, but most of us aren't. We can pray for that. We can be concerned for that. We can vote for certain things. And the Lord gives us callings, but there are certain areas where we're not the ones to implement particular judgments. Parents are called to oversee their particular children. Elders are called to oversee the life of the church more widely. There are realms and spheres where we are called more immediately to judgment according to God's Word. And then other realms where that's more distant from us and we really need to be praying for and seeking that others would fulfill their callings there. Well, as our Lord Jesus lays out this passage to us, verses one through five, we then have the last verse of this passage, verse six. And there Jesus says, do not give dogs what is holy. Do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you. Even as we needed to examine our own hearts and have self-reflective care and humility in applying the word to others, we also, at the same time, need a wisdom and a discernment as we do so. And our Lord Jesus here is particularly speaking of those in the world around us. who, as we speak to them, we might start to realize they don't want to receive a loving and faithful gospel witness. In fact, they're so hateful and spiteful, they're actually inflamed with rage when a believer seeks to speak to them, and it sort of becomes like pouring gas on a fire. It just gets worse and worse. This is really what our Lord is addressing here. Now both dogs and pigs, we live in a world where dogs are quite beloved in our culture. It's not true in every culture in the world today. Some cultures are food and other cultures are actually seen as dirty animals. I don't know if you've traveled to the Middle East, a lot of stray dogs around. Some people do have guard dogs, but it's not quite as much the pet dog culture in parts of the Middle East as it is in North America where we have our beloved dog who lays by our side, just wonderful pets. In the time of our Lord and in the Middle East today still, dogs were often dangerous strays, disease-bearing garbage eaters. running around sort of in wild packs that could quickly turn on you and come after you. Pigs also, of course, we know in the context here are unclean, described in the scriptures as wallowing in their own waste. And so our Lord uses these two illustrations, both these sort of wild dogs and pigs here as well having a propensity to turn and attack. We're familiar with that, at least in parts of the south if you go hunting wild pig or peccaries, they can be very dangerous. They will turn and attack if they're in sufficient numbers. The context I think of in Africa, wild dogs are actually feared more than lions are by hikers. They're more dangerous. Just like wolves were once feared on the American frontiers, more than bears. But in all of these cases, what our Lord is drawing at here in this context is these are pictures of hard-hearted sinners. who, when the Word comes to them, there is just such an enmity and a hatred that comes when the believer speaks. They begin to realize that and sense that. And if we continue to speak, it simply is increasing. that evil and that rage against the Word. We could have that maybe if we're doing evangelism somewhere. Some we would encounter, maybe politely would say, no thanks. Some be interested, and then some get very heated and very angry. And so our Lord calls His people here to be wise, to be wise in their engagement. And ironically, in our Lord's context, who was it that actually, in His ministry, started to exemplify this more and more? It's actually the Pharisees. We're always trying to trip them up who are becoming angry and obstinate at the Word and being hardened in the midst of it. Our Lord's Word is living and active. It's sharper than any two-edged sword. It pierces to the division of soul and spirit. It calls us to God, to repentance, to life in Christ. It is the most marvelous message that we all need and that our world needs. Yet there are some who will respond with contempt. Now does that mean If we meet somebody, maybe it's a neighbor, and we try to have some conversation and things you can tell, this is not going well, I need to pull back. Well, what should we do? We should pray. Pray for them. We should realize that even as our Lord calls us to wisdom in our witness, It doesn't mean that our Lord is unable to save someone who is in that angry context. How many hasn't he saved who were once like that? Again, the Apostle Paul is a beautiful example of this. The Apostle Paul in the book of Acts, he was someone who exemplified, you know, do not give to the dogs what is holy, do not throw your probes before pigs. He was, as described in Acts 9, as breathing out threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord. And our Lord is powerful. He's able to save. He can save us. He can save anyone around us. And yet, he tells us as well, there are times where it is wise to cease to speak. And rather, then we should turn to prayer, and perhaps, if the Lord gives opportunity again later on, to seek to try again. Well, there is so much for us here, and the Lord's gracious word to us isn't there. And really, this whole passage, what is it about? It's about our life in relationship with people around us, how we think about them, how we communicate to them, having a right assessment of our own hearts, a right assessment of them. What a great comfort that our Lord Jesus walked this road ahead of us as the captain of our salvation. He dealt with all of these things. He was turned on by dogs and pigs, a right description of all of us in our own sin. He's the one who went to the cross so that all of our sinful judgments could be entirely covered and washed away. We could be declared righteous in His sight. And not only that, so that as he reigns in heavenly glory right now by his word and spirit, he has the grace and the power to help us through the days we've got left to keep growing, to be more beautiful, more holy, more gracious, more wise, to have the right faithful words at the right times. Let's pray together. Our Father in heaven, we thank you for this short portion of your word. We confess, Lord, that there are many times that we have ignored logs in our own eyes. We have thought small thoughts of our own sin and big thoughts of others. We pray that you would graciously forgive us for our own pride and graciously deliver us from it. We thank you that this morning you've come and brought your word to us again. Lord, we thank you for your great grace and kindness to people like us. We pray that you would give us great wisdom in our interactions with both fellow saints and with those who do not know you. that we would both truly be growing and building up the body of the Lord and being a light to those who are lost. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.