A. According to Lifeway Christian Resources, the most misused VERSE found in the Bible is: “DO NOT
JUDGE.”
1. The Bible talks a lot about JUDGING, but the verse they had in mind was what Jesus taught at the
close of His Sermon on the Mount: “Do not judge, or you too will be judged”- Matthew 7:1.
a. It sounds pretty straight forward, doesn’t it?
b. It must be, because we’re reminded of Jesus’ words all the time by Christians and non-Christians
alike.
ILLUSTRATION:
You talk to a co-worker about his excessive drinking and he says, “Don’t judge me!”
You approach a fellow-Christian about FLIRTING with another man’s WIFE and he says, “Do
not judge or you’ll be judged.”
The elders go to a church member committing ADULTERY urging her to repent and return to God and her family, and she quickly rebukes them, “Don’t judge me! Only God can judge.”
2. Now, it is true that God is the SUPREME JUDGE of all.
a. 2 Corinthians 5:10- “For we must ALL appear before the judgement seat of Christ, that each one
may receive what is due him (HER) for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”
b. Only God will make the final JUDGEMENT whether one will be SAVED or LOST—that is not
my JUDGEMENT CALL and it’s not yours.
3. However, this does mean that we cannot make JUDGMENT CALLS concerning one’s BEHAVIOR,
ATTITUDE, or TEACHING.
a. In fact, in this same chapter of Matthew 7 Jesus tells those gathered on the mountain side listening
to His sermon to “Watch out for false teachers”- v. 15.
b. And then He said, “You will recognize them by their fruit”- v. 20.
COMMENT:
Jesus said that we can determine if one is a FALSE TEACHER by their “FRUIT”—by their LIFE and TEACHING. You can’t do that without making MORAL JUDGEMENT.
B. We will be taking a DEEPER LOOK at this verse and the verses following to see what Jesus is actually
teaching about JUDGING others.
1. I realize that this MESSAGE is not well received by a SOCIETY that believes that one should NOT
IMPOSE any definition of RIGHT or WRONG on anyone else.
ILLUSTRATION:
If you say that it is WRONG for a MAN to LEAVE his WIFE for another WOMAN, there will be those who believe that you cannot make such a JUDGEMENT CALL. “Who are you to tell someone with whom he can or cannot fall in love?”
If you say PROTESTERS are WRONG to break into someone’s BUSINESS and LOOT from them, there will be those who will say, “It’s not WRONG if you are trying to bring to LIGHT the
INJUSTICES in America.”
Sadly, today’s CULTURE teaches that there are no ABSOLUTES—everything is RELATIVE.
2. But isn’t it interesting that those who often BELIEVE THAT, change their PHILOSOPHY rather
quickly when someone does them WRONG?
ILLUSTRATION:
There is a Christian philosopher named J.P. Moreland who goes to various college campuses to SPEAK. About 5 years ago he went to the University of Vermont, and was INVITED by a
Christian Men’s Group on CAMPUS to speak at one of the DORMS.
He talked about some of the MORAL TEACHINGS of Jesus and the Christian faith, but there was one young man who constantly DISRUPTED him with sarcastic COMMENTS and QUESTIONS. Finally, the young man said, “This might be RIGHT for you, but neither YOU nor JESUS can FORCE your BELIEFS of RIGHT or WRONG on my LIFE.”
As Dr. Moreland was leaving, he walked past this student and snatched his SMART PHONE out of hand and started walking out the DOOR. The young man protested saying, “You can’t take my phone!” Dr. Moreland replied, “You’re not going to FORCE on me the BELIEF that STEALING your PHONE is WRONG, are you?”
3. Now, obviously, it is TRUE that Jesus does say, “DO NOT JUDGE..”
a. However, this is not a BLANKET COMMAND that eliminates JUDGEMENT of any kind,
because that would CONTRADICT what the Bible teaches elsewhere and even in this very same
CHAPTER.
b. Always keep in mind that when you STUDY Scripture to do so within the CONTEXT it is
written—what came BEFORE it and what came AFTER it.
COMMENT:
Remember, in this CONTEXT Jesus is preaching His Sermon on the Mount. Throughout this sermon Jesus is addressing the HYPOCRISY of the Pharisees. They were SELF-RIGHTEOUS religious leaders who were QUICK to JUDGE others whom they felt did not LIVE UP to their
STANDARDS.
MESSAGE:
I. WHEN NOT TO JUDGE
A. When judgement is HYPERCRITICAL- Matthew 7:1-2 (READ).
1. The Pharisees had the tendency to JUDGE without getting all the FACTS.
a. They became FAULT-FINDERS and NIT-PICKERS, especially when it came to Jesus and His
FOLLOWERS.
b. On one occasion after, again, being JUDGED by the Pharisees for VIOLATING the Law of Moses for HEALING a man on the Sabbath, Jesus said to them in John 7:24- “Stop judging
by mere appearances, and make a right judgment.”
COMMENT:
Whoa! Did you notice that Jesus didn’t tell the Pharisees to NEVER make a JUDGMENT
CALL, but to make sure they were JUDGING properly? (Now, the word “appearances” does
not refer a person looks, but not to judge “SUPERFICIALLY”—to look below the surface.)
That was the PROBLEM with the Pharisees! They were not making PROPER JUDGEMENTS—they were making JUDGEMENTS and ACCUSATIONS that they perceived
to be WRONG and SINFUL, but weren’t.
In fact, they went around following Jesus just to see if they could find any reason to JUDGE Him. Luke 6:7- “The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched Him closely to see if He would heal on the Sabbath.”
c. When Jesus said, “Do not judge, and you will not be judged”, it is the HYPERCRITICAL,
FAULT-FINDING, JUDGMENTAL, CONDEMNING SPIRIT to which He is REFERRING.
COMMENT:
Sadly, like the Pharisees, there are those within our CHURCHES who go around NIT- PICKING and FAULT-FINDING just looking for something WRONG in their fellow brothers
and sisters.
And we don’t have to look FAR to find something WRONG in each other, DO WE? We all have our FAULTS. But instead of going around POINTING OUT all the WEAKNESSES and FAULTS of others, we need to be REACHING out to our fellow-Christians offering to HELP
each other GROW more into the LIKENESS of Christ.
d. Ohhh! Ironically, the Bible tells us that “FAULT-FINDERS will be JUDGED”- Jude 14-16.
2. Jesus goes on to say in v 2, “the measurement we use to judge others will be used against us.”
COMMENT:
Again, Jesus is not saying that we can NEVER JUDGE, but that we are to JUDGE properly—
using the proper MEASUREMENT. (We will look at what SCRIPTURE says about how to
JUDGE PROPERLY in just a moment.)
a. Jesus is addressing the HARSHNESS of the Pharisees as they went about JUDGING others.
b. The measurement they used was what Jesus described as “man-made rules”- Matthew 15:9.
COMMENT:
Along with the COMMANDMENTS given by God through Moses, the Teachers of the Law added 613 more RULES known as SCRIBAL LAW, which the Pharisees harshly
DEMANDED everyone adhere to including Jesus and His disciples.
c. It was these RULES and TRADITIONS that Jesus CHALLENGED and CONDEMNED.
3. Yet, over the years I have heard similar MAN-MADE RULES that some have used to JUDGE
their fellow Christians.
a. You cannot WORSHIP with an INSTRUMENT.
b. You can only use the King James Version of the Bible.
c. You cannot CLAP or RAISE your HANDS during worship.
d. Women cannot LEAD PRAYER in the presence of a man, ever.
e. You can’t play CARDS in the church building.
f. You cannot have a Praise Team.
ILLUSTRATION:
I had an ELDER to tell me that we could not have a PRAISE TEAM because there is NO Scripture in the New Testament that says you can have “MULTIPLE SONG LEADERS”. I told him that it’s the exact same SCRIPTURE that says you can have ONE. (It’s not there.)
4. Before you JUDGE anyone, be sure that you’re using God’s MEASUREMENT, not your own.
B. When judgment is HYPOCRITICAL- Matthew 7:3-5 (READ)
1. This section of Scripture is often misunderstood.
a. There are those who believe that Jesus is SAYING that you cannot POINT OUT any SIN in
others if you are DEALING with SIN in your own life.
ILLUSTRATION:
Well, if that was the CASE, we could not POINT OUT any SIN or WRONG DOING in
ANYONE . . . because we ALL struggle with SIN.
So, if your TEENAGER gets ANGRY with you and CURSES you out . . . sorry Mom and
Dad, you can’t SAY anything about it because you are a SINNER, too.
If your next-door neighbor BROKE into your HOUSE and stole your LAPTOP, TELEVISION, and GAME CONSOLE, you can’t CALL the POLICE to REPORT it because you have your own SINS to worry about.
b. Then there are those who believe that Jesus is TEACHING that you cannot POINT OUT a
LESSER SIN in someone (“speck in your brother’s eye”) if you are struggling with a
GREATER SIN (“plank or log in your own eye”).
COMMENT:
“Speck and Log” is not about LESSER SIN vs GREATER SIN. Who determines that? Is Jesus saying that we have to WEIGH our SINS to DETERMINE which are LESSER and
GREATER before we can decide WHO can approach WHO with a SIN PROBLEM?
ILLUSTRATION:
If one of you came up to me and said, “Pastor Fred, this is hard, but I need to talk to you
about how I saw you take a candy bar at the Walmart checkout the other day and didn’t pay
for it. .”
Do, I say, “Okay! But first can you tell me about your SINS to DETERMINE if STEALING a CANDY BAR is GREATER or LESSER so that we can KNOW for sure who has the “SPECK” and who has the “LOG”? (No, if you see me STEALING a candy bar, please confront me.”)
2. Jesus is merely condemning the SELF-RIGHTEOUS HYPOCRISY of the Pharisees (and
anyone else) who goes around JUDGING others for their SINS while overlooking their own SINS.
a. The greatest example of this is Jesus’ PARABLE of the “Pharisee and the Tax Collector”
-Luke 18:9-14 (READ and COMMENT)
b. Jesus not only wants us to ACKNOWLEDGE our SINS but STRIVE to OVERCOME them, and by doing so, we can be better able to HELP others in their STRUGGLE.
II. HOW TO JUDGE PROPERLY
A. SELF-EXAMINATION
1. That is the point of v. 5—recognizing our own sins and doing what we can to OVERCOME them.
2. But does this mean that we have to be “PERFECT” before confronting and helping another with a
SIN PROBLEM? Of course not.
a. In 2 Timothy 2:24a, Paul writes, “The Lord’s servant must not quarrel…”
COMMENT:
Yet, we have an EXAMPLE in Acts 15:39 of “Paul and Barnabas, his fellow missionary, having a SHARP ARGUMENT over Barnabas’ cousin John Mark that resulted in the BREAKUP of their missionary team and going their separate ways.”
b. Do you think Paul’s SELF-EXAMINATION of how he handled that situation with Barnabas, may have given him some INSIGHT to not only discourage QUARRELING among fellow Christians, but to HELP those who do QUARREL and ARGUE?
B. PRIVATELY
1. Matthew 18:15- “If your brother [sister] sins against you, go and show him his fault, just
between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over.”
a. Again, Jesus tells us that we can CONFRONT others who SIN against us (that takes a
JUDGEMENT CALL), but we are to do so PRIVATELY.
COMMENT:
No one else needs to KNOW anything about it. It’s between you and that person, and that’s
where should stay. So, don’t TELL anyone else or POST it on SOCIAL MEDIA.
b. Now, Jesus does go on to say that if the one who SINNED against you doesn’t REPENT, then bring others with you to help SETTLE the MATTER.
2. The reason that Jesus said to go to the person in PRIVATE is because our intent is to REDEEM, not DEMEAN.
C. GENTLY
1. Galatians 6:1- “…if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently.
But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.”
a. We are our BROTHERS’ KEEPERS.
COMMENT:
When we know that a brother or sister in Christ is caught up in some sin (ANY SIN), we are
to go to that person and make every effort to RESTORE him or her back to Jesus.
b. Yet while RESTORING an ERRING Christian, we are to do so with GENTLENESS!
COMMENT:
Often we go to the person with a “HOLIER-THAN-THOU” attitude. We RIP into him and REBUKE him sharply for allowing himself to be PERSUADED by Satan, while all along he is HURTING deeply and HATES the sin. What he needs is a CONCERNED brother or sister in
Christ to PATIENTLY and GENTLY help him overcome the SIN in his life.
2. If you cannot CONFRONT someone who is caught up SIN with GENTLENESS, then please SEND someone else—DO NOT GO!
D. CARINGLY
1. James 5:19-20 (READ and COMMENT)
a. The reason there are so many SCRIPTURES about confronting others caught up in SIN, is
because that person’s SOUL is in jeopardy of ETERNAL JUDGMENT.
b. We are to CARE for and LOVE each other enough that we will do EVERYTHING that we possibly can to ENSURE that we ALL get to HEAVEN.
2. Yes, that means making a JUDGMENT CALL when we see SOMEONE caught up in SIN and
refusing to REPENT.
ILLUSTRATION:
God forbid, but if I ever “get caught up in SIN and wander from the TRUTH”, I want one of you who LOVES and CARES for me enough to PLEASE come LOOKING for me and help to
gently BRING me back to God. AND I WILL DO THE SAME FOR YOU.
CONCLUSION:
