Judgment & Judgmentalism Pt.1 | Matthew 7:1-6

Scripture

• Matthew 7:1–6

About this sermon

Introduction: We now come to the end of the main body of the Sermon on the Mount. That is what we have in Chapter 7, verses 1-12. When we get to verses 13-28, we will meet with a great invitation, a great exhortation, a great demand, a great decision set before us. But first, the main ideas are brought to a close. What is the logical connection between what we’ve seen so far and these closing statements? I WOULD DESCRIBE IT LIKE THIS. THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT CLOSES WITH WARNINGS AND GUIDANCE AGAINST HYPOCRISY IN THE REALM OF JUDGMENT (See verse 5). AND THE WARNINGS AND GUIDANCE THAT OUR LORD GIVES US WILL SERVE US WELL FOR THE APPLICATION OF THIS TEACHING. What do we do with these truths that we have been hearing? What kinds of judgments do we form as a result of what we’ve been taught? WE DO FORM JUDGMENTS AS WE ARE TAUGHT GOD’S WORD. The sermon on the mount forces us not just to think about ourselves, but to think about everyone else. GOD’S WORD FORCES ME TO THINK ABOUT MY OWN SPIRITUAL CONDITION, BUT I’M ALSO FORCED TO THINK ABOUT YOUR SPIRITUAL CONDITION. THIS ACTUALLY POINTS US TO ANOTHER WAY IN WHICH GOD’S PEOPLE ARE DISTINCT. GOD’S PEOPLE CARE ABOUT THE SPIRITUAL CONDITION OF OTHER PEOPLE. BUT we care about others in a way that is LOVING. It is not examination for the purpose of self-exaltation. It is an examination for the purpose of exhortation and investment. How can I encourage you, how can I help you? We are concerned that other people know the true God, know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, are doing well spiritually, are in the truth. THIS MATTERS TO US. SO, THIS IS THE QUESTION: How do we examine ourselves and how do we examine other people IN A WAY THAT PLEASES GOD? How do we do that well? How do we do that wisely, faithfully, lovingly, discerningly? And to whom will we look for the wisdom necessary to accomplish that? THAT, I BELIEVE, IS WHERE THIS FINAL SECTION FITS. THE MAIN TEACHING OF THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT ENDS WITH MATTERS OF JUDGMENT AND WISDOM. Today, from verses 1-6, I want us to see four characteristics of a judgment that is not judgmental. Four characteristics of an evaluation of self and others that is God-honoring. This morning we will take our time to deal with the first point (it is foundational), tonight we will return and deal with the other three. • GODLY JUDGMENT IS GENEROUS (vs.1) To understand this in its context, we must remember what Jesus has most emphasized in the series of contrasts that He has given throughout the sermon. Jesus, again and again, contrasted what He was teaching with what the people had heard from “the hypocrites.” And the point that He IS MAKING NOW would be especially applicable to the Pharisees, for example. It is impossible to miss the fact that one of the great characteristics of the kind of false religion represented by the Pharisees is that it was vicious. It was absent the love of God. It was kind of judgment that DELIGHTED IN JUDGMENT. It was heartless, proud, contemptuous, condemnatory, in its view of other people. AND THAT HAS NEVER CHANGED. To the self-righteous religious hypocrite, everyone else is inferior. THE LEGALIST IS ALWAYS THE STANDARD. The religious leaders of the Jews, at the time of Christ, thought of themselves as the standard by which everyone else was measured. IF YOU AGREED WITH THEM, you were on safe ground. IF YOU DISAGREED WITH THEM, you were ignorant and knew nothing. ESV John 7:45 The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, "Why did you not bring him?" 46 The officers answered, "No one ever spoke like this man!" 47 The Pharisees answered them, "Have you also been deceived? 48 Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? 49 But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed." 50 Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, 51 "Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?" 52 They replied, "Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee." ESV John 9:34 They answered him, "You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?" And they cast him out. ESV Luke 18:9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10 "Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.' 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!'

Topics

• Hell & Judgment