Sweep Around Your Own Front Door…
Matthew 7:1-5
1 Do not judge so that you will not be judged.
2 For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.
3 Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?
4 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?
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.
We live in a world today that is very quick to judge or pass judgment on those without looking at themselves first. We are quick to judge people based on race, based on income level, based on where they live and even based on their past.
We find it very easy to judge others based on our own standard of measure. But when we measure ourselves up against God then we see how really low we are.
I have come to even understand that as we work in God’s church that the criticism and judging does not stop. In 20 years of ministry I have seen church folk judging each other, criticizing each other, running each other down, talking on the phone about each other and the list could go on and on. Just because we say we know the Lord, and put on a suit on Sunday, go to church, read Scripture, sing, and shout does not mean we are totally right with God. We will do all of those activities on Sunday then turn right around on Monday and judge and criticize one another.
You see the word judge means to: “Render a decision on someone or something based on either right information or wrong information.”
Survey: “How many in here this morning have been judged based on rumors and lies?”
“How many in here this morning have been judged because of your past?”
“How many in here this morning have been criticized for doing something different or even being different?”
Fault Finding Is Easy
Fault finding is not difficult. Isaac Murray illustrates this in his story on how a dog hitched to a lawn mower stopped pulling to bark at a passerby. The boy who was guiding the mower said, “Don’t mind the dog, he is just barking for an excuse to rest. It is easier to bark than to pull the mower.”
Now when I was in the regular work force I only thought that kind of stuff happened only in the world. But when I came to church I found out that it not only happens in the church but it takes on a whole different meaning and level.
See church folk criticize and find fault but then try to hid behind the bible or their own personal so called righteousness.
You see we try to dog others for what they are doing or not doing but then we forget about what we are doing behind closed doors at home.
You see there are two categories of church related people:
There are SAINTS and then there are CHURCH FOLK.
Saints identify with God while Church Folk identify with the Devil.
Saints have the characteristics of Love, Peace, Joy, Longsuffering, Mercy, Compassion and Forgiveness.
Church Folk have the characteristics of Hate, Annimosity, Jeoulousy, Vindictiveness, Criticism, Castigation and always trying to find fault in others.
Good Quotes
When you throw dirt at people you’re not doing a thing but losing ground. - Zig Ziglar
Lord, deliver me from the lust of vindicating myself. - St. Augustine
Let the man who says it cannot be done not disturb the man doing it. - Chinese proverb
To avoid criticism, do nothing, say nothing, be nothing. - Elbert Hubbard.
For every action, there is an equal and opposite criticism. - Harrison’s Postulate
It is much easier to be critical than to be correct. - Disraeli
He has the right to criticize who has the heart to help. - Lincoln
You can’t hold a man down without staying down with him. - Booker T. Washington
If you are a Christian, you can expect folks to criticize, but you ought to live so nobody will believe them.
Dr. Robert L. McKenzie
In Acts 28:3-6, we see how quick people were to judge Paul. First they said he was a murderer, later that he was a god.
The Bible strongly opposes the judging of one another. Judging is a dangerous practice -- it defiles and destroys.
I. Criticism and Judging -- vv.1-2
1 Do not judge so that you will not be judged.
2 For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.
A. Criticism shows a lack of Christianity
James 4:12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy; but who are you who judge your neighbor?
B. Criticism shows a lack of control.
1 Corinthians 9:27 But I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.
We must learn to be God controlled and not self-controlled.
C. Criticism shows a lack of consecration.
Ephesians 4:32 Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.
Don’t Find Fault
Don’t find fault with the man who limps
Or stumbles along life’s road,
Unless you have worn the shoes he wears,
Or struggled beneath his load.
There may be tacks in his shoes that hurt,
Though hidden away from our view,
The burden he bears, if placed on your back
Might cause you to stumble, too.
Don’t be too hard on the man who errs,
Or pelt him with wood or stone,
Unless you are sure—yea, double sure,
That you have no fault of your own.
II. Concerning Judging v.3
3 Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?
A. Seeing another’s sin: Paul told Timothy to “keep thyself pure”
You first need to see your own sins first; then the person that you are dogging shortcomings will fade and be a distant memory.
B. We are quick to see another persons slackness. We are quick to say who does not tithe or give, who does not come to Sunday School, who does not come to church, who does not come to Bible study, and who is not qualified to teach or lead.
Before you criticize or say something about someone else’s slackness you better make sure that yours is consistently tight.
But just because you are doing all of the right things does not give you the right or priviledge to put someone else down because they either have not arrived at your level of commitment yet. Jesus taught us to take people where they are and with love and compassion bring them to where they need to be.
You may even say in your own self-righteousness that, “I don’t say those things to a persons face.” You may not say them in a persons face, but you say them in meetings without that person there, you say them at home without that person in front of your impressionable children, you say them around other believers or you even think it in your mind.
How many of you know that God can read your mind? So even though you don’t verbally say it, God still holds your mind accountable for what you are thinking.
III. Condemnation and Judging v.4
4 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?
A. Cleanse yourself (3 Things this verse is saying)
II Corinthians 7:1 Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
B. Control Yourself
Psalms 34:13 Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit.
C. Consecrate Yourself
Psalms 139:23-24 Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.
IV. Cleansing from Judging v.5
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.
A. Personal -- “Thou hypocrite.” You must cleanse your own life before you can help others.
Notice I said help others and not tear them down. Judging is for building people up and not tearing people down.
B. Purging -- “First cast out the beam in thine own eye.”
Before you can get someone else right, you better be trying to get yourself right. How many of you know that some people either know what you are doing and sometimes who you are doing it to.
So when you come to them to tighten them up, they might just remind you of what you are doing and then you want to get mad.
C. Plan -- “And then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of they brother’s eye.” Note James 4:8 says, before we can help others, we must be right with God. One cannot live hypocritically and be able to help others spiritually.
Often those who judge others misconduct are guilty of the same sin, and criticizing another is an attempt to cover their own wrongdoing. Those who judge others are not living close to God, nor are they living successful Christian lives. Remember: we are to love people and let God judge them.
Shooting the Saints
It is said that when the British and French were fighting in Canada in the 1750s, Admiral Phipps, commander of the British fleet, was told to anchor outside Quebec.
He was given orders to wait for the British land forces to arrive, then support them when they attacked the city.
Phipps’ navy arrived early. As the admiral waited, he became annoyed by the statues of the saints that adorned the towers of a nearby cathedral, so he commanded his men to shoot at them with the ships’ cannons.
No one knows how many rounds were fired or how many statues were knocked out, but when the land forces arrived and the signal was given to attack, the admiral was of no help. He had used up all his ammunition shooting at the “saints.”
There are times each and every day that the devil tries to shoot in our lives. The Bible says, “he comes to steal, kill and destroy.”
The devil will attack your family
…attack your finances
…attack your job
…attack your marriage
…attack your ministry
…attack your church
…attack your joy
…attack your peace
But if you have spent all of your energy and ammunition shooting at Saints then you wont have any energy and ammunition to shoot at the devil.
You need to spend time lifting each other up. I have learned that it is easier for two to fight than one.
But if I have alienated others, who will help me fight?
If I have talking about others, who will help me fight?
If I have gossiped about others, who will help me fight?
If I have run others down, then who will help me fight?
I HAVE LEARNED THAT IF YOU WILL TALK ABOUT SOMEBODY TO ME, THAT YOU WILL TURN RIGHT AROUND AND TALK ABOUT ME TO THE SAME PERSON.
THE DOG THAT BRINGS A BONE WILL TAKE ONE BACK WITH THEM AS WELL.
