Should We Judge Or Not?

SERMON OUTLINE

• 💭 Consider this: Can you recall a time when you judged someone? Looking back, was it done with a spirit of love and discernment—or with a hypocritical heart? What needs to change to ensure love directs your judgements?
• I. What It Does Not Mean
• II. What It Does Mean

TRANSCRIPT

Our text for tonight's message is taken from Matthew 7:1–6. Are we judgmental as a church, as a family, as an individual? Are we judgmental? Once someone gave a list of the things that most pastors would often be judged of. The list of things goes something like this - If the pastor is young, they say he lacks experience. If his hair is grey, he's too old for the young people. If he has five or six children, he is irresponsible. If he has no children, he does not understand anything about parenting. If he uses a lot of illustrations, he neglects the Bible. If he does not use enough illustrations, he is not relevant. If he condemns wrong deeds, he is cranky. If he does not, he is compromising. If he drives an old car, he shames his congregation. If he drives a new one, he is setting his affection on earthly things.

Being critical and judgmental is not just a part and parcel of life in the ministry. In fact, it is part of living—because by nature, sinful men and women are judgmental, critical and condemning. You almost cannot do anything without being criticised or judged by someone else. But does it mean that we are not to evaluate or judge anyone or anything at all? Are we to accept everything we hear and see as true and factual? Most certainly not. So what was Jesus teaching here?

This passage was part of the Sermon on the Mount, and the main thrust was to show the difference between true religion and false religion, between spiritual truth and spiritual hypocrisy, between God's perfect and holy standards and the ungodly standards of the scribes and Pharisees. The scribes and Pharisees had developed their own standards of morality, and they judged everyone according to those self-made standards. They looked down on everyone else, especially those who did not belong to their elite system. Their biggest problem was their self-righteousness. They were unmerciful, unforgiving, unkind, and totally lacking in compassion and love.

One classic example is the illustration of the Pharisee and the publican in the Gospel of Luke 18:10–14, "Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.” Jesus said, “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."

Are there scribes and Pharisees in our church? Are there husbands and wives or parents in the families who are Pharisees and scribes, who only judge others but not themselves? May the Lord forgive us if there are, and turn our hearts unto Him in repentance and in faith. The title of our message is: Should We Judge or Not? There are two things we want to learn from this passage—firstly, what it does not mean; and secondly, what it does mean.

I. What It Does Not Mean

Beginning with Matthew 7:1, "Judge not, that ye be not judged." Today, we are living in a time whereby people tend to hate absolutes—especially doctrinal and moral absolutes. People tend to hate those who have strong convictions about right and wrong. In the name of love and unity, they would rather embrace ecumenism, which in reality is a wicked compromise.

Sometimes they would misquote this verse and say, ‘See, even Jesus Himself also said, Judge not, that ye be not judged.’ This is one of the most abused verses in the Bible, and it is often quoted by those people who are living in sin and their sins are being exposed. They do not like their sins to be exposed, and so they say, ‘Judge not, that ye be not judged.’

Obviously, this verse does not mean that we are not to judge at all, because in verse 6 Jesus immediately said, "Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you."

Here, we cannot obey the Lord's command unless we are able to judge who are the dogs and who are the pigs. It does not mean that we do not preach against sin. The central part of preaching the Word of God is to preach against sin, and we cannot do that unless we are able to judge between sin and righteousness. 2 Timothy 3:16 says, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works." 2 Timothy 4:2 says, "Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine."

When we preach God's Word, that is what we do. We reprove and rebuke sin, and then exhort the sinning brother or sister to repent and walk in the path of righteousness. We must preach against sin, so that sinners would understand the need of a Saviour. Please do not ever think that you are kind and loving when you keep quiet about sin. When you refuse to warn a person of his sins and the subsequent consequence he has to face, you are just as unloving as someone who refuses to warn a person who has a serious terminal disease. In fact, you are worse—because the sinner is facing the prospect of eternal hell, and yet you keep quiet. How can we ever equate that with love?

It does not mean that we do not judge doctrinally. Jesus said in verse 15, "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves." (Matthew 7:15) How can we know that they are wolves in sheep’s clothing unless we judge? And oftentimes we have to judge their doctrines.

The Apostle John also taught us in 1 John 4:1, "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world." How can we test the true and false prophets unless we judge?

It does not mean that we do not judge our brother—even in church discipline. We need to confront a sinning brother by following the biblical principles given to us in Matthew 18:15–17: to speak to that brother privately about his sin. If he does not repent, we take one or two other brethren with us to speak to him. If he does not repent, we bring him before the church. If he still does not repent, he has to be put out of the church and be regarded as a heathen man and a publican—which means excommunication. It does not mean that we do not counsel our brother and give Godly advice. What is forbidden here is unrighteous judgment, hypocritical judgment.

When Jesus said, "Judge not, that ye be not judged," or, ‘Lest ye be judged,’ He was reminding us that we are not the final court. Who is the ultimate judge? God. In other words, do not try to play God. Whenever you and I judge and condemn someone unrighteously, without mercy and hypocritically, just because he does not do something according to the way we think it ought to be done, or because we think his motives are wrong. Can we really know a person's motives? No, we don't. And yet, we want to pass judgments on his motives.

We are actually passing judgments that only God alone is qualified to make. We are playing the role of God, aren't we? Do we think we can get away with it? Surely not. Because Jesus said in verse two, "For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again." (Matthew 7:2) Most people will judge others because they think they are somehow superior to others. They think they are qualified to judge. They think they know and understand all the facts, all the circumstances, and all the motives involved. Why do people gossip? They gossip because they think of themselves as better. They think they know better. And oftentimes, they are living under the delusion that the people whom they gossip about and judge are somehow inferior to them.

Dear friend, it will come back to us. When we assume the right to judge, we will be judged according to the same judgment and measurement we mete out to others. Actually, we are setting the standard for our own judgment by our judgmental treatment of others. Because whenever we judge someone, we are assuming that we know what is right. So if we do not do what is right, we condemn ourselves.

Perhaps the clearest example or application of this principle is found in James 3:1, "My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.” If we want to be a master or a teacher, we are setting ourselves as an example, as a standard, and as a spiritual authority. We will be judged by the authority we claim. We claim to know the Bible. We claim to be qualified to teach the Bible. We will be judged on a stricter basis than others, because as teachers we have greater responsibilities, understanding, authority and influence.

In ancient Persia, a certain corrupt judge who accepted a bribe to render a false verdict was ordered to be executed by King Cambyses. It was said that the skin of the judge was then used to cover the judgment seat. Subsequently, all future judges were forced to render their judgments while sitting on that chair, as a reminder of the severe consequence of perverting justice. If a human judge is expected to hold such a high standard, how much more the Almighty God, whose standards are perfect.

To be judgmental is dangerous, not only to the victim but even more so to the critic himself—because he will not be judged by anyone else but by the Almighty God Himself. So, this passage does not mean that we do not evaluate and judge at all. We must reprove sin. We need to exercise church discipline. We need to judge between truth and error, between sin and righteousness. But we must judge righteously. As John 7:24 says, "Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment."

II. What It Does Mean

This brings us to our second point: What It Does Mean. Look at verses 3 to 5, "And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye." (Matthew 7:3–5)

The word ‘beam’ refers to a huge piece of wood. The word ‘mote’ refers to a tiny speck of sawdust. With such a massive log in the man's eyes, his vision would not only be impaired—he would be absolutely blinded. For him to have the idea of lending a helping hand to someone who has a speck in his eye is not only comical but impossible. The main point is that the sin of the critic is greater than the sin of the person he is judging.

Allow me to give you the classic example in the life of King David. When King David was at the lowest point of his life morally speaking, he had just taken the wife of Uriah and committed adultery with her. And after he discovered that she was pregnant, he sent Uriah into the battlefield to be killed. Does God not know? Surely He knows. God sent the prophet Nathan to David. And Nathan told him a story of a rich man with a huge flock of sheep living next door to a poor man. The poor man had only one little ewe lamb that he loved like a daughter. One day, the rich man had some visiting guests, but he did not want to take a lamb out of his own flock to serve his visiting guests. Instead, he took the poor man’s only ewe and slaughtered it.

David exploded like a righteous man with great indignation. He said, ‘That man deserves to die. He must repay everything fourfold.’ Then Nathan pointed his finger at David and pronounced, “Thou art the man.” (2 Samuel 12:7) ‘David, forget about someone else’s speck—look at the beam in your own eye.’

It is so easy for you and I to turn a microscope on another person’s sin, while we look at our own sins through the wrong end of the telescope. We magnify and amplify the faults of others while we shrink our own faults. Take note of the word ‘considerest’, which conveys the idea of serious, continuous meditation. In other words, Jesus was saying, ‘Will you not stop and think of your own sins? Until you do that, how can you ever confront another person about his shortcomings?’

Have you ever been approached by a brother or sister in Christ who complained about another believer, but he has exactly the same problem—and even worse? And yet he cannot see it. You are amazed how clearly it is there—and yet he cannot see. Why? Because he only considers others’ sins but never his own. He only judges others, but not himself.

Jesus did not say, ‘Do not ever try to help your brother even if he truly has a little speck in his eye.’ Jesus wants us to help our brother. He wants us to discern the sins and shortcomings of our brothers. But He wants us to see them through our clear eyes—eyes that are tender and compassionate. We must examine ourselves first. We must judge ourselves first, "first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye." (Matthew 7:5)

When we begin to judge ourselves first, we will then be able to see ourselves as we are, and we see others as they are. When we deal with ourselves first, and when our sins are cleansed—when the beam is taken out of our eyes—then we will be able to see our brother’s sin, and we will be able to help him. Instead of being critical and judgmental, we will weep for ourselves, and we will weep for him as well.

When a man begins to consider his own sins, and the amount of wicked things he has said and done, and how he needs the grace of God—and the grace of God has come into his life—he has turned and embraced the gospel of Jesus Christ. And when he has done all that, here comes someone who has his own shortcomings and sins. Do you think he will deal with him with a critical and judgmental spirit? Most certainly not. Jesus ends this section with verse six, "Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you." (Matthew 7:6)

In Bible times, dogs were seldom kept at home as pets like the way we do today. They were dirty and smelly scavengers, roaming the streets for food. And the swine or pigs were considered by the Jews as unclean. They were references to people who were perverse and ungodly. No one would ever take the meat offered as holy sacrifices in the temple and throw it to the dogs. Nor would they throw pearls—which were considered precious—to the swine. They were wild animals, and they would not appreciate those things as you and I consider holy, righteous, and precious.

Sometimes when we share the gospel and the Word of God, we would be rejected and ridiculed. Because the perverse, ungodly and wicked would not appreciate the things of God which are very precious to us. It is one thing when we are being ridiculed. But what is more devastating is that they blaspheme our God and mock at the gospel of Jesus Christ.

At some point, we may need to turn away and speak no more—just as Jesus commanded His disciples to shake the dust off their feet when the people rejected the Word and move on to minister somewhere else. Even then, we must not have a judgmental spirit, but to humble ourselves and leave them to the Lord—trusting that only the Spirit of God can penetrate their hearts. So, we walk away not with a haughty spirit, but with a humble spirit—considering ourselves, that if not for the grace and mercy of God, we will be just like them or even worse than them.

Dear friend, we have seen enough hypocritical judgments in this world—in our workplaces, in our schools, in the media, in our social relationships—but it should never be a part of the church. The church is made up of the body of believers—people who have experienced the grace of God and received the forgiveness of sins. The church is the place where love can be exercised in a most godly way. It is the place where sinners can be helped to turn to God. It is not easy to restore a sinner. To reach out to a sinner, we have to be very gentle. That is why Galatians 6:1 said, "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted."

Perhaps some of us want to help our brothers and sisters and Christ. We want to give godly advice and counsel. We want to preach against sin, we want to stand for God’s truth and be a defender of His word. But we cannot effective do that. Why? Because we have a beam in our own eyes. And unless we first take this beam out of our eyes, we cannot pull the mote out of our brother’s eye. Should we judge or not? Yes, we should judge, but we must judge righteously.

Have you ever considered the procedure of removing a speck from an eye? It is very difficult and delicate; there is nothing in the human body that is more sensitive than the eye. The moment we touch it, it closes up. What is required in clearing the speck in the human eye is gentleness, carefulness, patience and sympathy for the other person. In the spiritual realm, how much more gentle you and I should be when we are handling the soul, which is the most sensitive, precious and valuable part of a human body.

We are dealing with the souls of men, we must be humble, compassionate, sympathetic, patient, always considering our own sins. We need God’s mercy, we need to be people who will speak the truth in love, who will judge righteously, not hypocritical judgment. We need to be people who have experienced the love, grace and mercy of God in our lives and we always consider that, dwelling on that, as we reach out to help our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. This is the way you and I should live our lives, to the glory of God. Let us pray.

Father in Heaven, indeed we have come before Thee to consider the words of our Lord Jesus, who taught us in this passage about unrighteous and hypocritical judgment. Indeed, we have seen enough hypocritical judgments in this world. As we live our days in this world, in the places where Thou hast put us, we have seen how sinful men and women are so judgmental, critical and condemning. But that should never be a part of us who are believers of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

We are people who have experienced Thy grace and received the forgiveness of sin. And as we consider how we ought to help others, we first examine ourselves. We first judge ourselves. We deal with ourselves first. And as we consider the amount of wicked things we have said and done, and how the grace of God has come into our lives, and we have turned and embraced the gospel of Jesus Christ and are saved—then we reach out and help others. How then can we be critical and judgmental?

O Lord, help us. That as we understand what this passage means and what it does not mean, may we also put into rightful application whatever we have learned, to the glory of Thy precious name. We pray all this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

THE BOOK OF MATTHEW

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Matthew 1:23

Where is He that is Born King of the Jews?

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Matthew 2:1-12

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Matthew 3:15

Simply Speak The Truth

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James 5:12; Matthew 5:33-37

Do Not Blow Your Trumpet In Charity

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Matthew 6:1-4

Message 2: The Preface of the Lord’s Prayer

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Matthew 6:5-8

Hallowed Be Thy Name

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Matthew 6:9-23

Message 3: The Pattern from the Lord’s Prayer

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Luke 11:2-4, Matthew 6:9-13

The Folly Of Worry And Anxiety

The Folly Of Worry And Anxiety

Matthew 6:25-34

Christian Parenting

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Psalm 127:3-5; Matthew 10:37; Matthew 6:32; Psalm 113:9; Psalm 128:3

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Matthew 7:1-6

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Matthew 7:7-12

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Matthew 7:21-23

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Matthew 9:35-38

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Psalm 127:3-5; Matthew 10:37; Matthew 6:32; Psalm 113:9; Psalm 128:3

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Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

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Matthew 16:18-19

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Matthew 18:1-6

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Matthew 18:21-35

Message 6: The Parable of the Labourers

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Matthew 20:1-16

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Matthew 21:1-11

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Matthew 21:33-46

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Matthew 22:15-22

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Matthew 25:1-13

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Matthew 25:14-30

The Parable of the Talents

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Matthew 25:14-30

Message 7: The Parable of the Talents

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Matthew 25:14-30

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Matthew 26:36-46

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Matthew 27:45-54

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Matthew 27:50-56

He Is Not Here, He Is Risen!

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Matthew 28:1-7

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Matthew 28:18-20