Judgment and Judgmental-ism

Well, take your Bible, turn to Matthew chapter 7. We are moving along in our series through the Sermon on the Mount. This is all about the extraordinary Christian life. Now, I will ask you to turn to another verse a little later, Galatians chapter 6. So have your Bible turn to Matthew chapter 7. We're gonna be in verses 1 to 6. And then later we'll look at Galatians 2, excuse me, Galatians 6 verses 1 to 2. Now, since we didn't have a scripture reading earlier, let's read our scriptures together. And then we'll just jump right into the message and we'll refer to these scriptures as we break them down throughout the message.

So Matthew chapter 7 starting in verse 1. Jesus says, "Do not judge, "least you be judged, "for in the way you judge, "you will be judged. "And by the standard of measure, "it will be measured to you or back to you. "And why do you look at the speck "that is in your brother's eye? "But do not notice the log or the beam "that is in your own eye. "Or how can you say to your brother, "let me take the speck out of your eye "and behold, the log is in your own eye. "You hypocrite." First, take the log or the beam out of your own eye and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.

And then verse 6, "Do not give what is holy to dogs "and do not throw your pearls before swine." That would be pigs. "Least they trample them under their feet "and turn and tear you to pieces." Now, at this point in chapter 7, believe it or not, we are getting close to turning the corner in our study through the Sermon on the Mount. And what I mean by that is this, the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount is within sight. And that conclusion starts in verse 13. Now, starting in verse 13, Jesus begins to describe those who are truly in the kingdom and those who are not in the kingdom.

If you study ahead, if you're good about studying ahead, you will see that Jesus is talking about two paths. He's talking about two trees, two claims, and two houses. And Jesus is describing those who are in the kingdom and those who are not in the kingdom. Now, we'll get there soon. But before Jesus gets to the conclusion, he gives a series of individual lessons that in and of themselves are very, very valuable. But these lessons all relate to relationships. They all relate to interpersonal relationships, relationships between those who are in the kingdom, in the family of God.

These lessons start here in verse one, and they go on down to verse 12. With verse 12 being the high watermark, the pinnacle of the teaching, some of you know what verse 12 is, commonly called the golden rule. Now, starting in verse one, we have a very valuable lesson that focuses on judging others, judgments, making judgments, judgmentalism, and you know that term. And starting in verse seven, we have a very valuable lesson that focuses on prayer, asking, seeking, and knocking prayer. But then we have a couple of big lessons from two verses. These are very big lessons from two verses.

In verse six, we see the lesson on casting your pearls before pigs. And then in verse 12, we have a lesson on treating others the way you wanna be treated, that's the golden rule. And in some way, all of these lessons relate to relationships. In some way, this all speaks to interpersonal relationships, relationships between those who are in the kingdom, remember our language, body life? It all speaks about body life, folks.

Now, as we study these verses, I'm gonna point out the individual lessons, and then I will also speak to how this teaching relates to relationships, life in the kingdom, and this will help us seek to gain and to maintain healthy body life. Isn't that what we're doing, folks? We're working hard to gain healthy body life, and we're working hard to maintain healthy body life. So just make sure you know that we will see some much needed information. These are much needed valuable lessons, but it all relates to kingdom living. Now, before we dive into the verses, we need to see the context of the teaching. Of course, I have worn this out.

We know that Jesus is there on the mountainside. He has this vast crowd of individuals, men and women listening, mostly Jews. I really think the disciples were there on the front row. This was more like an ordination service for them. This was the beginning of their earthly ministry, and just in my mind, I have those scoffing, scouring Jewish leaders there in the back. Soon they would be scheming religious leaders because they sought to crucify Jesus. But Jesus is rebuking, and he is exposing the Jews there. These religious leaders in their sin and in their false religion, we've seen that so much.

And he was calling his people out of that life and out of that religion, you see. But primarily, Jesus is aiming to correct. He is aiming to equip his disciples and his followers. Jesus was teaching on particular subjects. He was dealing with struggles. He was dealing with sins that affected how they lived and how they related to each other, folks. And this is all about body life, how they relate to those in the kingdom, the family of God. Now, I think about an illustration that really fits well, and we can all relate to this. You know, we teach our children how they should live in the family, isn't that right?

We teach our children how they should live in our family. Now, what happens if we don't teach our children how to live in the family properly? Chaos. Those words like dysfunction and dysfunctionalism. I mean, if we don't teach our children how to live right in the family, it's just a mess, isn't that right? So we teach our children how they relate to each other, how they are to relate to their siblings, their brothers and sisters. And we correct them when they're not acting right towards each other, because what? We want them to live and act right in the family. Well, here in this teaching, Jesus relates this to life in the family, you see.

Now, notice specifically what we have here. Three times in these verses, Jesus says, "Your brother." Three times. See how relational it is? This is all about life in the family, you see. But also, this teaching is very bold. It is very, very direct. Two times, Jesus says, "Do not." He asked two questions that were aimed straight, straight into their lives, straight between their eyes, because he uses the personal pronoun "you" here. He even goes on to call them hypocrites. That's kind of personal. So this teaching was very bold. It was very direct and it was very personal. And Jesus was aiming at how they relate to their brothers and sisters.

I'm saying it over and over. He's aiming at how they relate to each other in the kingdom. Now, this morning, we're gonna look at these verses in three ways. I want us to divide the verses in three ways. But I want us to look at the title of the message first. The title of the theme of what we're studying. And notice the title. I'm calling this Judgment and Judgmentalism. And I've got an emphasis there at the end of that last word. It might be a little odd, and I think this will help you see what the Lord wants to teach us. So, I want us to progress in the message. I want us to dive right here into these verses.

Number one, I want us to see a command. We have here in verse one and two, a command concerning judgment. Let's go back and look at the verses. Do not judge, least you be judged. For in the same way you judge, you will be judged. And by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you or measured back to you. Now, honestly, if we are not careful here, these verses can lead us all over the place. The way some teach and explain these verses is a lot like a bucket of marbles. You take a bucket of marbles and you dump them out over the floor. They just go everywhere. They go everywhere and they trip people up.

So, before we get into the command here, and there is a command, and before we get into the warning here, because there is a warning here that's attached to the command, we need to clean up some of this faulty thinking, some of these misconceptions here. First of all, Jesus is not saying that we shouldn't make judgments. This really needs to be seen. He is not saying that we shouldn't make certain judgments. Judges in the civil courts, do they not make judgments? Think about it, law enforcement officers, they make judgments and they should make judgments.

School principals, coaches, businessmen, look, we could just go on and on and on about circumstances where men and women make judgments. And this is not a prohibition about making judgments in life. And this is also not a prohibition against making judgments in the church. Actually, we must make judgments in the area of church life. I'll list you a few. In 1 Corinthians 6, Paul calls the church there at Corinth to settle some disputes among those in the church. They had some fighting going on, see? They were taking those judgments out into the secular courts to have those matters taken care of. And he says, no, you deal with it in the church.

Make a judgment. And then Matthew 18 and 1 Corinthians 5, there's some other verses that could go along with this. We see that the church is to make judgment when it comes to sin in the church. That goes into and turns into church discipline in the church. See, church discipline is about judgments. And then in 1 Timothy 3, and then over in the book of Titus, the church was to make judgments when it comes to selecting leaders in the church. This would be deacons in the church and elders in the church. And listen, there are many more examples in the scripture about the church and the leaders in the church making judgments in church life.

So we can't make the mistake of thinking that Jesus is saying that we shouldn't make judgments in society, in our family life that I referenced earlier, and most certainly in the church. But also, Jesus is not saying we shouldn't be discriminating. He is not saying we shouldn't be discriminating and discerning. Now this is closely related to what we've just examined, but it is a little different. Now they are related, this goes together, but follow me. In 1 John 4, verses 1 to 6, the apostle John calls the church and believers to be very discerning. He calls them to be discerning.

So as to discriminate sound teaching from false teaching, sound teachers from false teachers. We see the same thing from Paul. We see Paul doing this all throughout his teaching and his influence. And his example, he was constantly calling men like Timothy and Titus in the church to be discerning and discriminating. We will cover this more when we get into verse six. So we can't make the mistake of believing that Jesus is saying that we shouldn't be discerning and we shouldn't be discriminating discerning people. And then also Jesus is not saying that we shouldn't be involved in the lives of other believers.

Now this is something the Lord has been doing in the work of our church, in the life of our church. Isn't that right? The Lord has been working in our church and building body life. We've been watching it and seeing it. And see, as a local church, Paul calls the body, the church to be connected to one another in a very personal and close way. And remember what we've learned here. Any independent attitude or lifestyle of independence from the body is sin. So we can't make the mistake of thinking that we shouldn't be involved in the lives of brothers and sisters. We will see the opposite is true as we continue to dig in the teaching.

Now this is not a complete list of mistakes and misconceptions. I'm sure there's some others that you could find, but those came to the surface for me in my study and in my prayer time. But notice on the flip side of these misconceptions and mistakes, as God's people, we are to make sound, godly judgments. Making sound, godly judgments. And we make sound judgments because we are discerning and discriminating people. But these must be godly discernments. These must be godly judgments. And this pertains to living our lives closely connected to the local body, the local church, kingdom living, brothers and sisters, you see?

Now a faulty idea or two might have come to your mind as I've been going through that. Now we need to see something here, folks. As we live the Christian life together, think about it as individuals, as families, and as a church. As we live the Christian life, we develop our own opinions about church life. We form our own convictions about how we live the Christian life as individuals and as a family and as a church. And listen, we form and we continue to form convictions about so many things in life. Our morality, our family, our children, jobs, career, and so on and so on.

And listen, it is inevitable that we will judge others based off of our own opinions, our own beliefs, and our own convictions. Even those who are a few seats away from us, right now. And listen, in time it's going to happen, and it already has happened. I've been honest with you about some of the divisions that we have faced in the life of our church. And listen, some of the divisions that we have faced and some of the difficulties we have faced is come from not handling verses in this teaching and judgments and discriminations properly. Now, Jesus knows this will happen not just to us, but to his people.

Remember those disciples, his followers, he knows. So right here he is aiming straight at the problem that he knew was in the hearts and the lives of those disciples. And he knew it would manifest itself in kingdom work as it progressed and as it went along. So he gives them an imperative here. He gives them an imperative and a warning. First, I want us to see this imperative. We're getting into the verses now. Look at verse one. He says, "Do not judge." That's obvious to see. "Least you be judged." Now, we've already seen that making judgments is our responsibility. We are expected to make judgments. So what is Jesus saying here?

Well, the meaning of the word here is key. To judge means to analyze, or it means to evaluate. It means to determine, it means to choose. That would be a good judgment. I think you see that. In selecting deacons, elders, and the life of the church, remember, we are to select men in the life of the church to serve in those roles. And one day that will come in the life of our church. We are to analyze. We are to evaluate. We are to determine. We are to choose. We are to make a judgment. But this word can also mean something negative. It could be a bad judgment. It can mean to condemn. It can even mean to avenge.

It can speak of a harsh, uncharitable judgment. It can speak of a rude, condemning, and unloving, and an unmerciful judgment. Really, there are many shades of meaning here that are determined by circumstances. And many times, this must be perceived. It must be determined. It must be discerned, understand. Now, with all of that said, notice the command. It's really obvious. Jesus says, do not judge. He is commanding his people not to fall into judgmental attitudes, judgmental thinking, and judgmental behavior. He is condemning harsh, uncharitable judgments that come out in attitudes, in word, and behavior.

He is calling his people from the sin of condemning even vengeful attitudes, in words, and behavior. But notice another layer to the command here. And this should be sobering. He says, do not judge, or you will be judged. Look back at the verse. Do not judge, least you be judged. He says, do not judge, or you will be judged. Jesus is saying, do not judge, or you will be judged as well. And you will be judged in the same way that you are judging. But a question must be asked here. Who will do this judging? Who will do the judging? Is this God or man? In many ways, it is both.

But most of the conservative, solid scholars here believe that this is God. This is God judging for the one who is making unfair and sinful judgments. But Jesus goes further here in verse 2. Notice the warning. Let's go back and read the verses. Do not judge, least you be judged. And I believe this judgment is from God. For in the same way you judge, you will be judged. And by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. Now actually, this warning is extremely thick. I use that word on purpose. In the original language here, Jesus uses a form of this word, judge, three times.

And he also uses a form of this word, measure, three times. Actually, the King James captures that better than any translation. I'm going to read it for you. Notice what the King James says. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged. Now I'm going to take the ye out. Notice. For with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged. And then notice the second part of the verse. And with what measure ye meet, it shall be measured to you again. Now let me make that a little more modern for us. He says, and with what measure you measure, it will be measured back to you again. You see how thick it is?

Now to me, Jesus is emphasizing the fact that there is this reciprocating work here. Several commentators use the word boomerang. This is the boomerang principle here. He is saying, be careful not to judge, because the measure you judge, it will be measured back to you. In other words, Jesus is saying that God will judge the one who makes sinful judgments in the same way they judge, it will be measured back out to them. You see? Now let's take a step back here. We might need to take a breath, because this is a lot. I know. What is Jesus saying here? He is looking straight into the face of his disciples and his followers.

And he is calling his people not to sinfully judge their brothers and their sisters in Christ, in their heart, in their thinking, in their attitudes, in their words, in their deeds. And he is saying, if you do the measure in which you judge others, your brothers and sisters, it will be measured back to you by God. Now I want to take this a little further. We need to see the depth and the breadth of what Jesus is teaching here, the depth and the breadth. Now we must get this, folks. This is all about healthy body life. First, we must realize that when we commit this sin, we are playing God. Let me repeat that.

Some of you need to hear it again. We need to realize that when we commit this sin, we are playing God. See, only God knows someone's attitudes. Only God knows someone's motives. Only God fully knows someone's circumstances, why they do what they do, who they are. See, only God knows. Only God fully knows. Only God fully knows. And when we sinfully judge someone, we are playing God. You see, when we sinfully judge someone, we are playing God. We are setting ourselves up as superior to another, and not just anyone. See, this is a brother and a sister, folks. Remember the context.

So we must fully realize what is happening when we sinfully judge a brother or a sister. We are playing God. We are playing God. Then second, we must remember the measure in which we judge will be measured back to us. Let me say that again. We must remember the measure in which we judge, it will be measured back to us. God will see to it. Jesus said it. It's a boomerang, folks. It's reciprocating. You throw that sinful judgment out there, and sooner or later, in the manner and time in which God ordains it, it comes back to us. It comes back on us, you see. Go back to the verse.

Because I think some of you might have struggled or really grasped what I've been sharing with you. Do not judge. Do not judge. Least you be judged. And now he explains, see, with the warning, for the way that you judge, you will be judged. And by the measure you measure, it will be measured to you. I like how John MacArthur summarizes it, and I'm using his quotation here. To be judgmental is dangerous to the victim because of the bias against him. Let that sink in. To be judgmental is dangerous to the victim because of the bias against him. Then he flips it.

It is even more dangerous to the judge because by the standard of measure with which he judges others, it will be measured to him. I thought about the Boomerang principle. That might be a little soft. It's a double-edged sword, folks. When we judge, we slice a brother and sister up. We carve 'em up, folks. I mean, it's like dice liver, but oh, it's a double-edged sword because what goes around comes around. The Scripture says you reap what you sow, and it might be hard for you to buy that, but that's what the text says. So we see this command, this command concerning judgment.

And we see that Jesus gives this imperative here, and he gives us a much needed warning. Now let's continue. I want us to see our second major truth, or the second way we're gonna break this down. Questions concerning sins. Out of verses three to five, we have what I'm calling questions concerning sins. Now it might appear that Jesus is changing the subject with these questions. Actually, he is illustrating. He is illustrating the sheer foolishness of sinful judgmental behavior. So he is continuing in this teaching, and he's using what is called hyperbole. He gives a very exaggerated picture story to continue the teaching.

Now I wanna get at this by examining the two questions and the sins. I want us to look at the two questions and the sins. We're just following the verses, folks. First, the first question. I call this wood specs and logs. It's right out of verse three. Wood specs, wood chips and logs. Look at the verse, verse three. And why do you look at the spec that is in your brother's eye but do not notice the log of the beam that is in your own eye? Now with this question, Jesus jumps with both feet right into the situation with this exaggerated word picture. And he talks about two people. Notice the first person has a speck in their eye.

Now this will be a small piece of wood, kinda like a twig or something that is blown into the air and into the eye. But the picture here is one with a speck of wood in their eye which represents sin. But then the second person, they have a log in their eye. Now this would be a large timber like what is used as a roof support. That is why the King James uses the word beam. And the picture here is one with a large timber in their eye protruding out of their eye and this represents sin as well. But notice how directed and exaggerated the question is. It's very exaggerated. Look back at the verse.

Why do you look at the speck, the little bitty speck in your brother's eye but do not notice this log, this beam that is protruding out of your own eye? This is very personal. 'Cause he says you. And it's very personal. Because he uses this term brother. You see? So this first question, wood specks and logs. Wood specks and logs. We have this exaggerated picture that portrays, really this seems to be a ridiculous circumstance. Isn't that right? This is a ridiculous situation and it's all about sin in the life. Now the second question, I call this a dumb thing to do. The second question, it is a dumb thing to do. Look at verse four.

How can you say to your brother, oh, let me take that speck out of your eye and behold a log is in your own eye. Now with that question, Jesus seeks to correct the situation. As one commentator said it, the first question deals with the discernment of sin while the second question here deals with the correction of that sin. And in continuing with this exaggerated picture, Jesus is saying something like this. How in the world can you take a speck from your brother's eye when you have this big beam, this big log in your own eye?

How can you try to correct a little sin in your brother's life when you have this giant protruding sin in your own life? So the second question, it's a dumb thing to do. Look, it's a dumb thing to do. Look back at the verse. How can you say to your brother, let me take that little sin out of your life when I got this big sin in my life. See, that's a dumb thing to do. But again, this is this exaggerated picture that portrays this seeming ridiculous but real situation. But then third, the two sins. This is in verse five, the two sins. What does he say? You hypocrite, you hypocrite.

You first take the log, the beam out of your own eye, and then you'll be able to clearly see to take the speck out of your brother's eye. Here in verse five, Jesus hits the high point of the teaching. He looks at them straight into the face and he calls them hypocrites. To borrow Jared's illustration that he used when he taught, this is a sniper rifle, folks. Right between their eyes, he calls them hypocrites. And he continues with this picture story. He says first, take the timber out of your own eye and then you'll be able to clearly see to help your brother take the speck out of their eye.

But logs and wood specks are not the issue, remember? This is all about sin. Jesus says first remove this great big sin in your life that is protruding everywhere and then you'll be able to get into your brother's life and help him deal with that small little sin in his life. So Jesus is dealing with two sins. I use the word sins on purpose. The sin of both, the one that is judging and the one that is being judged by a brother. And remember the context now, it's all in the family of God. Now, just like we did earlier, let's take a step back here. Let's take a breath. What is Jesus saying?

He's using this exaggerated picture to say that it is extremely hypocritical for one brother to judge the small sin in another brother's life when they have sin in their life as well. It is very hypocritical for one to try to correct another when they have the same sin or another sin or even a bigger sin in their life. And Jesus wasn't addressing one sin but both sins. He says you, you go and remove the sin in your life and then you can go over there and help your brother with the sin that you have identified in his life. You know, there's something I do in my preaching style that you might not have ever thought of.

I don't call names from the pulpit. Aren't you glad I don't call names from the pulpit? Preachers who call names from the pulpit make me nervous. They usually do. But you know, I do have a dear friend and a mentor that does call names from the pulpit and he does it in a good way, I promise. Brother John O. Sims of Shelbyville Mills Baptist Church, many of you have listened to his preaching and his teaching. He'll do that from time to time. I've been visiting in his church and he'd call my name. But you know, a lot of times when preachers do that, it's kind of theatrics.

I've seen preachers do that and really it can be all about the preacher, not really for the good of the sermon and for the good of those listening. But what if I called out names this morning? You know, what if I treated this like a high school graduation service, call out the name, they walked by. What if I were to call out names and instead of saying something nice, I called you a hypocrite right in front of everybody. Well, is it that what Jesus is doing for all of us? Is it that what Jesus is doing for every single one of us? How often do we criticize other people? How often do we criticize brothers and sisters for their struggles?

How often do we criticize them for their sins? Even when we have the same sins in our lives and even when we're committing other sins that others might not see, maybe we don't have the same struggles, maybe we don't have the same sin, but we're just like they are, we're a struggling sinner and sometimes the one we're judging is more victorious than we are. Now we need to go a little farther here as well. We need to see the depth and the breadth of what Jesus is teaching here as well. And this is all for healthy body life, folks.

We must realize that we are playing God here as well because we are seeking to correct a brother in a way that is contrary to God's way. Anytime we seek to do anything that is contrary to God's way, we are playing God because we're saying, "God, you don't know best, I know best." And we must realize our responsibility. Yes, our responsibility. Verse three deals with discerning sin in someone else's life, right? Verse four deals with correcting that sin. Oh, wrongly, yes. But verse five deals with correcting that sin in both lives correctly. So we must see our responsibility to first rid our own lives of sin.

And then we must see our responsibility to step into the lives of our brothers and our sisters and to help them repent of their sin as well. And you know what? Maybe we are not too good at helping brothers and sisters who struggle with sin or a particular sin because we don't struggle with our own sin. Therefore, our flesh takes over and we judge one another and we judge one another and we judge one another. You see, folks, only when we have allowed God to work in our own lives, will we be humble? Will we be gentle? Will we be loving? Will we be kind?

Will we be spiritual enough and kind enough and godly enough to get into the lives of a brother and sister and help them along and help them along? Here's why I'd like for you to turn over to Galatians. I really want you to put your eyes on these verses. Galatians chapter six. You will remember that we studied these verses back when we covered church discipline a few weeks ago. We'll read the verse and make a couple of comments. Brethren, even if a man is caught in any trespass, remember we learned that this is a sin that maybe can sneak up on a brother. This is a sin maybe that can haunt a brother. Maybe this isn't a willful sin.

They just trip up here, you see. Brethren, even if a man is caught in a trespass, you who are spiritual, remember we learned this isn't necessarily the spiritually mature, but they are spiritual in that they are controlled by the spirit. You who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. Each one looking to self, least you be tempted, bear one another's burdens and therefore fulfill the law of Christ. And what is Paul saying here? Those of us who are spiritual, who are spirit filled and we're dealing with our own sin, when we see a brother or a sister who is caught up in a sin, what do we do? We go help them along.

And sometimes they are carrying a burden that they can't carry along and they need our help to help them in that sin. You see? So we see these questions concerning sin. And we see Jesus give this proper plan to address sin in the lives of brothers and sisters in the church. But oh folks, it starts with us first. It starts with us first. And then moving along, number three. I want us to see number three, a command concerning discernment. This is out of verse six, a command concerning discernment. If you wanna get creative, you can call this dogs and pigs. Dogs and pigs. Look at the verse.

Do not give what is holy to dogs and do not throw your pearls before swine. That would be pigs. Least they trample them under their feet and turn and tear you to pieces. Now this can seem odd, even cryptic to some. Dogs, pigs, pearls, swine, holy things. Although this could be strange and maybe vague to us, it is very powerful and it was very, very clear to those who were listening. Now, what is the meaning of dogs and pearls here? For us, this would mean a pet, isn't that right? This would mean breakfast. I mean, for some of you, when I say pig, you automatically think about bacon and breakfast, isn't that right?

For some of you, when I mention a dog, you think about a pet. Because culturally, we are completely different. But not for these Jews listening folks, according to the Mosaic law, dogs and pigs were unclean animals. Jews did not keep dogs as pets. Now, there were times when they used them for tools. They used them sometimes to herd sheep. And they definitely did not keep pigs and they definitely did not eat poor. See, dogs and pigs were mostly wild animals in their day and they were scavengers. Dogs and pigs were unclean, especially a pig. And those words were used in harsh and derogatory ways against the Gentiles.

To call someone a dog or a pig was the worst of insults to a Jew. You didn't call a Jew a dog or a pig. So when Jesus says dogs and pigs, all those Jews, they looked up. In our language, it wouldn't make as much sense. But to them, it got their attention. Now, what about all these pearls here in these things that are called holy? Of course, a pearl was something of great value. We know that. It was something of great value. But that which is holy is something that is morally pure, something that is consecrated, that is set apart, that is sacred.

So pearls and holy things, this speaks about holy teaching, the word of God, the truth of God, the gospel. But Jesus isn't actually talking about dogs. He's actually not talking about pigs. He's not talking about pearls and jewelry, folks. He is talking about speaking the message of the word of God. He's talking about presenting the word of God and the truth of God in even the gospel to those who hate the truth and those who reject the word of God. Here, Jesus is giving a great lesson on discernment. Discernment.

He is speaking on being discriminant in giving the truth of God's word and the gospel to those who hate the truth and those who reject the truth. Now here in verse six, we have one of those individual lessons, one of those principles that can be applied really out of this context. It's okay. We can take this one verse and this can apply to many, many places. I think about evangelism. This can apply. Sometimes we run across folks, they reject us, they reject us, they reject us. And finally, we quit telling them the gospel because we don't wanna throw that pearl before swine.

But the context here demands that this lesson, verse six, this lesson be applied to what Jesus is teaching in the verses, verses one to five. This is all about possessing discernment. This is about being discriminant in correcting sin and the lives of brothers and sisters. This is all about right judgments, folks, in the life of the body. Now what is Jesus saying here in summary? He is calling his people to be discerning, to be discriminate when correcting a brother and sister in their sin. This is a part of making good and wise judgments. But oh, a warning here.

He says, "You do not, if you do not heed this command, "the dogs and the pigs will run over you. "They will tear you to pieces." What is he saying? If you don't heed the command, those who hate the truth and hate the gospel and hate the word, they're gonna tear you to pieces and they're gonna run over you. Now for us in application, I believe we need to remember three things here. First, we must be discerning. We must be discerning when correcting a brother or a sister. We may have sin that prevents us from doing this work. Remember, we can have sin in our life, so we must be discerning first to deal with our sin, then also timing.

Our timing might not be right. We need to pray that thing through so as to go to that brother or sister at the right time. And you know, it could be that God wants to use another brother or sister and not you and not me. Or it could be that they are resistant to that correction. See, there's so many things we need to pray here and we need to have discernment in how and when and what that would look like when we correct a brother. And second, we must pray. We must pray. We must seek God's will in the matter. We must trust the leading in the working of the spirit of God.

Again, you might have the desire to go see a brother, but another brother might step in before you and that's God's will. And third, we must remember the warning. We must remember the warning. Has anyone here ever been run over and torn to pieces when dealing with sin in the lives of others? I am. Sadly, many times this happens during church discipline. See, there's a brother or sister has sin in their life. You go to them according to the scripture. Oh, if they repent, you've won your brother over. You've won them to the truth, not to you. But you know, you keep going to that brother, keep going to that sister.

You follow the prescription of church discipline laid out in scripture. And if they reject and they reject and they reject, eventually you'll come to realize they're like pigs and dogs. And if you keep going to them with that truth, they'll run you over and they'll tear you apart. So we see this command concerning discernment. Now let's be honest with what we have here. I know this has been a lot. There's a lot of good stuff here, but we need to be honest with what we are seeing. There can be very, very difficult circumstances here. This can be very difficult for us to understand. This can be hard. This can be very personal.

This is very serious. So this can be hard for us to digest, folks. And you know, many of us have seen more abuses in the life of the church than we have seen this truly lived out in the church. Think about it. Many of us have seen this abused. Many of us have seen wrong judgments in the life of the church more than we've seen this lived out. You know, honestly, we have more jerk judges and dogs and pigs running in many churches than humble, loving, gracious, merciful brothers and sisters that just want to get the logs out of their eyes so they can help a brother and sister with a spag. Isn't that true?

Just like I don't ask for, just like I don't call names, I don't ask for a show of hands, but have you ever faced the jerk judge in the church? Yeah, we all have. They judge you. Maybe you have sin. Maybe you differ in an area of conviction. Maybe you have a struggle. I could go on. Have any of you ever been run over by dogs and pigs in the church? Listen, they just run you over. But you know, as I move towards concluding, a few questions here that I want us to ponder. Do you want a brother or a sister to judge you sinfully? Do you want that? Listen, this is about brothers and sisters. Life in the kingdom, people in these pews.

Do you want a brother or a sister to judge you sinfully? Do you want someone in this church to judge you sinfully? Even if it's someone who knows you and loves you? If you have sin in your life, would you not want a brother or a sister to approach you the right way? The biblical way? Making the right judgment? Having first dealt with their own sin and they come to you in great humility and they're led by the Spirit of God to speak the truth of God into your life? Which do you want? And do we want a church? And do we want a small group ministry?

Do we want relationships to come out of our small group ministry in the life of the church where we have one or two close brothers and sisters where this teaching is fleshed out? See folks, we need this. We need this far more than you know. Now I go back to the title of the message. This is about judgment, right judgments, discriminating judgments, loving biblical kind judgments, discerning judgments, you see? But this is also about judgmentalism. And I put it out before you. That's a word play there. Judgmentalism, because we don't want judgmentalism. And I think you see the difference.

So this is about right judgments, Christian discernment, making right judgments about sin in our lives and the life of the church. This is all about kingdom living, body life, and this is all about judgmentalism folks. And judgmentalism is a terrible, terrible sin that hurts so many. So let's pray. Let's take what we've studied and let's not just check the box and say, well, we got a sermon this morning. No, let's take this home with us into our lives and let's pray it through until God does this work in us just like Jesus did in the lives of those disciples that were listening to him on that day. Let's pray.