Judgment That Is Not Judgmental Pt. 2 | Matthew 7:1-6

Scripture

• Matthew 7:1–6

About this sermon

Introduction: This morning we began looking at FOUR CHARACTERISTICS OF A JUDGMENT THAT IS NOT JUDGMENTAL. The first characteristic we saw was this: GODLY JUDGMENT IS GENEROUS (vs.1-2) THERE IS A KIND OF JUDGMENT TO AVOID (vs.1) THERE IS A KIND OF JUDGMENT TO BE AVOIDED (vs.2) And now, beginning in verse 3, we see what is necessary to avoid those judgments. GODLY JUDGMENT IS HUMBLE (vs.3-4) The reason godly people are generous in their judgments is because they are very much aware of God’s mercy to their own lives. Our dealings with other people will manifest how we think about our own relationship to God. If we think our relationship to God is explained by the uprightness of our own performance, we will look DOWN upon others. If we know that our relationship to God is explained by AMAZING GRACE AND MERCY, then we will have COMPASSION upon others. The illustrations here are taken from the world of the carpenter. What is pictured is simple, but it is powerfully instructive. The person who is censorious, who is critical of their brother in a way that lacks generosity, also lacks humility. This lack of humility shows up in two ways. THE ABSENCE OF HUMILITY ON DISPLAY BY WHAT WE SEE (vs.3) Pride is characterized by exaggerating what is wrong in someone else’s life, and ignoring, denying, minimizing what is wrong in my own life. What is in my brother’s eye, in this illustration, is a speck. κάρφος, ους, τό (Aeschyl., Hdt. et al.; Gen 8:11) a small piece of straw, chaff, or wood, to denote someth. quite insignificant, speck, splinter, chip What is in the accuser’s eye is a log. δοκός, οῦ, ἡ (s. δέχομαι) (Hom. et al.; ins, pap, LXX; Jos., Bell. 3, 214f, Ant. 14, 106; loanw. in rabb.) a piece of heavy timber such as a beam used in roof construction or to bar a door, beam of wood AND WHAT OUR LORD DESCRIBES IS A BLINDNESS. The ONLY SIGHT WE POSSESS has to do with what is wrong in SOMEONE ELSE’S LIFE. The BLINDNESS WE KNOW has to do with what is wrong in OUR OWN LIFE. IN WHAT SENSE ARE TALKING ABOUT SPECKS AND BEAMS? WE ARE TALKING ABOUT SIN ISSUES. We take a sin issue in someone else’s life (at least according to our estimation), and we treat it like a major issue, when it is in fact LESS SERIOUS than an issue we are unwilling to deal with in our own life. THE SPECK IS A LESS SIGNIFICANT ISSUE OF SIN, AND THE BEAM IS A MORE SIGNIFICANT ISSUE OF SIN. NOTE: This is one thing that often characterizes legalism. It acts as if all sin is the same, and then picks and chooses what it wants to enforce. ESV Matthew 23:23 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. All sin is serious. All matters for obedience matter. But there ARE weightier matters in the law.

Topics

• Hell & Judgment