And Jesus is continuing to teach his followers there near the Sea of Galilee. And again, he is describing for them the conduct of kingdom citizens. The Jewish people have waited hundreds of years for the Messiah to come and usher in the new kingdom. Now Jesus has come and he's come to provide salvation for sin and death for his people. One day he will usher in the new kingdom. But his focus is the kingdom is coming. My presence here reminds you as he's teaching them on the hill that the kingdom is coming and that my followers must conduct themselves in this manner. And so it is when we talk about the topic of judging and judging others that the topic of this message this morning is judging others. It's very simple. So this is actually a passage. Again, it's so simplistic, the teaching, but sometimes it's so simplistic that we've misunderstood over the years. from when Jesus presented this, and so many come to this as, if I can be a little tongue-in-cheek here, as thinking, really, some almost act this way, as if this is their favorite passage in the whole Bible. And it's a good passage, don't get me wrong. But people use this to say, see, you can't judge me. Don't you judge me. Jesus said not to judge. So whatever it is you think about me, whatever rebuke you're going to send my way, you can't judge me. Matthew chapter seven says so. So as we get into this, really the first question we want to ask is, is it right to judge others? In fact, let's read the passage and then we'll get back to that question. So Matthew chapter seven verse one, judge not that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce, you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? And how can you say to your brother, let me take the speck out of your eye, when there is a log in your own eye? 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. And do not give dogs what is holy. Do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you." And so we hear that and say, see, we shouldn't judge other people. And that really, for a lot of us, it kind of lets us off the hook. I don't have to say anything at all about anybody else's life because I don't have to judge. Well, I think we have to have a correct understanding of this passage, but this may go from one of your favorite passages to one of the ones that may convict you the most. And we need to be ready for that. Again, the pastor included. But don't we in Christianity, isn't there become kind of an accepted notion that judging others is always wrong, except in situations where people have been really bad? Like obvious evil has occurred, like murder and theft and adultery. And sometimes we might hedge a little bit on the adultery part. But those people need to be judged, obviously, but the rest, Jesus says, shouldn't do that. Well, if you've heard that or you've thought that in the past, folks, as you read this passage, it's probably a part of you that says, well, is that really true according to what all the Bible teaches? Is that really what Jesus is saying here? Would it ever be right then to judge someone else? And what does it mean to judge another person? And really, that's the reality of this that we need to understand. What does Jesus mean? What is he talking about when he says not to judge others? Now to first of all answer the question, is it right to judge others, we're going to do something that I rarely do when I exposit scripture, and that is we're going to jump ahead of the passage to verse six, one that I just read there at the end. And this will give the answer, along with a couple other passages, to the question, is it right to judge others? And what we're going to see here in verse six is that actually Jesus commands us to judge, or I will use this word, evaluate other people's lives. We're actually commanded to do that. And so he says, go to verse six here again, do not give dogs what is holy and do not throw your pearls before pigs lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you. Now this really may sound strange and it may sound a little mysterious because what is it that we're not supposed to give? Is this just kind of a statement of, you know, we shouldn't feed our animals from the table scraps? Or I think we all understand that can't be what's going on here. It's a picture. So what is the picture? And I think that Jesus is making an important point, but he's using very general terms here. What is it that is holy that we're not supposed to give to dogs? What is it that we're not, what is the pearls that we're not supposed to throw into the pigsty and have them get dirty and contaminated? What is this? That is the question. And I believe in context of all of this, in the context of the verses that we've just read from verses one to five, that it's talking about sharing wisdom that you have gained from scripture to help someone else. So in context then, I think verse six is talking about biblical insight, spiritual insight that we have gained from God's word that we're giving to others. And ultimately, because of the high value of whatever this is that it's talking about here, I think the best representation is even the gospel. The gospel, God's word, biblical insight, is what we should not just give to dogs or to throw before pigs because they won't appreciate it. What is holy refers to this, whatever this is, as pearls. And it's saying this is something truly of great value. And we know that Jesus is speaking spiritual truths here. So what is of greater value than God's word applied to people's lives? And certainly the gospel of Jesus Christ that points people to him, that they can be saved and have his righteousness and be reconciled to God. These are the greatest values of God's followers of the kingdom citizens lives and are living our lives. The greatest value is Christ, the word. but his teaching, God's word, and the gospel. So I think in context here, that's what's referring to. We must not miss this. We might think, well, pearls are nice, but actually in our society, in our culture, diamonds are even better. But remember, in this culture, the pearls really were the diamonds of that day. In fact, if there were such things, they couldn't carve, they couldn't cut them like they do today. And so pearls were like the diamonds or the gold of that. It's like the most valuable resource, the grandest luxury that you would have would be pearls. I don't know if they put them into a necklace or not, but somehow they were used and they were shown to others. And so Jesus is saying here, the thing that is of highest worth, that's of most value. So again, our greatest treasure is the gospel, the word, the teachings of the kingdom. And so Jesus is calling us then to evaluate our distribution of it to others. Who we give it to. Yes, in fact, you could use the word judge. Judge within yourselves who we give these teachings and these most valuable things to. That still may sound a little concerning to you. But that's what he's saying when he says we must be careful who you give it to. We must evaluate who we give this great treasure to others. Well, don't give it to dogs. Well, I guess that goes without saying. Now, maybe you are a really full out, fully supportive dog lover. And you buy your dog that really expensive food, and you have to pull open the little can, and it's meat. It's not the kibble. It's not the dry stuff, but it's the really expensive stuff. And maybe you do feed your dog off of the table because you love that dog or that cat so much. Cats, are cats even ever mentioned in scripture? Hmm. That ought to tell us something. But dogs are. We love cats. We have a cat in our home. But don't think that Jesus is saying, don't feed your dog table scraps. That's not what he's saying here. Because remember, what were dogs referred to, what were they considered back then? Dogs in new times were not pets, but they were more like coyotes or jackals, they were scavengers. You don't mess with these dogs. And therefore, you don't certainly give to these wild animals that are scavengers, you don't give to them things that you value more than anything else. because they're not going to appreciate it and you might get hurt in the process of trying to give it to them, right? As well, pearls before pigs. Now again, we tend to think in our culture today, we think of Charlotte's Web and cute little Wilbur and how, oh, I can't remember her name now, but the girl raised him and he won the award. you know all the milk baths and everything and this beautiful pink pig and yeah you know we shouldn't probably give our highest valued things to them but they are kind of cute. Well don't think that in this regard. The picture here is not domesticated pigs but actually more like wild boars. So I will give you another cultural reference that will help. How many of you have ever seen the movie Old Yeller and cried at the very end, right, with the dog? Okay, it's okay to admit that, but do you remember in the middle where the young boy climbed the tree because the wild boars were coming after him and Old Yeller came in and saved the day, but he got totally mauled by the pigs, and I think that was the beginning of the end for him, actually. But he sacrificed his life so that the boy could be saved from the pigs. And those pigs were the scariest pigs I still remember to this day ever seeing in a movie, right? Wild boars. That is the picture that Jesus is giving here. So you don't play nice with wild boars because you're going to get hurt. And that's what he says at the end. They're going to trample underfoot and then they're going to turn to attack you. Unfortunately old yeller didn't get the message on that and he was hurt in a in a serious way But we understand that picture So Jesus is saying be careful who you give your greatest spiritual treasures to Well still though who could Jesus be referring to here? He's obviously referring to people What kind of people In context here, it must be those who have obviously hardened themselves against the gospel or against hearing God's word and to the point where they scorn God's word and they desire to hurt and oppress the saints. Those are the types of people that are in view here. And so we still, with that understanding, would logically say, but Pastor Brock, isn't the gospel for all? Isn't God's word for all? Don't they need to hear this? And yes, that is true. And we don't want to de-emphasize that or make that illegitimate. Again, we just heard from Mike Erickson, who came back from the Ukraine and was visiting suffering people who were in the midst of war and these folks needed to hear the gospel. They were in terrible conditions. So is it ever right to say that we should never cast our pearls, the instruction of God's word and the gospel before others? Well, Jesus is making a general condition here, folks, and a general statement, but he is saying this, that he is calling us to judge our audience. And that there may be times that after you have faithfully shared God's Word and they have utterly rejected that and they are becoming violent towards you. Now, even Apostle Paul faced those that were violent towards him and was stoned for the gospel. But there was at one point, do you remember, when Paul was stoned, he got back up by the amazing, miraculous power of God, walked through the town and he wiped the dust off his feet with those people. There does seem to come a point where God may move us at times to say, you have given them the gospel enough. You have given them my teaching enough. They're not responding. It's time for you to move on. for me to use you in other people's hearts who value and want to hear the truth. Maybe God will send someone else to that person at some point. But God's word does have sober warnings for those that constantly reject his word that at some point he may take away the opportunity to hear his word altogether. And so Jesus certainly is calling us to prayerfully judge those situations in our own lives. Now I will say most of the time our problem is that we're not really sharing the gospel at all rather than we're sharing it too much. Wouldn't you not agree? And we need to do better at that. But Jesus is saying to be discerning. There's other passages too. In fact, we're going to come upon another one very soon in Matthew 7. Just look quickly at verse 15 through 20. It says, beware of false prophets. who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inward are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. And he continues on. Jesus is calling for a judging and a discerning to see the wolves among the flock and those that are acting like they're believers. But they're really their real cause is to cause destruction and harm within the body. And Jesus says, you need to be wise. And I could even use the word a little judgmental. To make sure that the sheep are protected from the wolves. One more, Titus 2.11, this is one book of the pastoral epistles. You don't need to turn there, but I know a number of situations where pastoral leadership has tried to get involved in people's lives and tried to encourage them in something that they were doing wrong and they were in grievous sin. and tried to admonish and exhort them, and they pulled out these verses that you shouldn't judge me. And yet Paul in the pastoral epistles and in Titus 2.15 says this to Timothy, declare these things, exhort and rebuke with all authority, let no one disregard you. So he's calling for Timothy to show judgment and discernment and evaluation towards others. And if you sense that they are going in a wrong way, that he's saying to Timothy and to pastoral leadership, you must exhort, you must confront. Judgment leads you to move you to present God's truth in someone's life, corrective truth that may turn them the right way. So yes, so the answer to the question, is it right to judge others, is an affirmative yes, folks. It is right at times and it's commanded by scripture. And I've just given you an example of where scripture commands us to do so. We might think as well, well, what about a court trial today? Jesus saying I shouldn't be judged for that maybe somebody gets a speeding ticket Maybe one of you gets a speeding ticket you read this passage, and you say you know I'm gonna contest that speeding ticket and you go before the judge and the judge has all the evidence and you know the video of you speeding past the police officer or whatever and Yet you pull out well judge. I just want you to read this passage from Matthew judge not that you will not be judged. So my Bible says you can't judge me. Well, I think we know that's ludicrous, right? Jesus also is not referring to a court trial or to someone's correct evaluation of right or wrong. We must do these things. Justice demands that trials take place. So then what is Jesus referring to? That's the question. What is he saying in this very important set of verses from verses one to five? And this is where we need to have much understanding and discernment because he's very adamant about this. And what he's really saying here is that it is not our job to pronounce condemnation upon another individual. that Jesus commands us not to condemn others, to evaluate, to discern, to rebuke, to correct, but to say, I condemn you or I call upon you the judgment that only God can give. Jesus says that's a step too far. Because we are not the ultimate judge. There are many in this room today that you may recognize the Lord has given you the gift of discernment. that people may pull the wool over other people's eyes, but you're usually able to discern, and you know what's going on, and you warn, and you get sometimes very passionate that this is what's really going on, and we need to be careful. But folks, no matter how much discernment you have in your life, you have to humble yourself before this truth. You are not the ultimate judge of the universe. There's only one of those, and he's doing his job 100% well. You can count on that. You are not the ultimate judge in another person's life. But too often, we get so angry and worked up, we try to take the place of the cosmic judge, our heavenly father. And Jesus says that is not appropriate. Judge not that you be not judged. But with the judgment you pronounce, you will be judged. And with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. This judgment that Jesus is thus referring to is really a critical fault-finding mentality that comes out in our words. But before it ever comes out in our words, folks, it's in our hearts. that we tend to condemn as soon as we see someone doing something that we don't understand and we pass judgment on what's going on, sometimes before we have hardly any details at all. And we say, this is what must be happening. And it's because it's a heart that's thinking that way. And sometimes if we're honest, we just don't like the personality involved. We all have people that we really get along with well. And others, not so much. And if we're not careful, sometimes we can have this judgmental spirit, it can creep in without, it can cloud and color our judgment. We're human. We are weak, we are frail. Without seeking the help of Jesus Christ, let's be honest folks, we are very poor judges indeed. We just are. And many times we operate with a judgmentalism that God has not called us to exhibit to others. And really, this critical fault-finding mentality If we find ourselves looking out across our church and across our neighborhood, and everything is almost always, well, that person did this, and this person did this wrong, and everything's cynical, and we're always finding the fault in everything that everyone does, this is the type of attitude that Jesus is talking about. Would you not agree with me that that type of fault-finding attitude totally negates the love of God in our lives? That type of judgmental attitude does not show the love of God. Because the love of God knows all mankind and knows each of our hearts. And even with that knowledge, he was willing to send his only begotten son in his grace to provide salvation for us. So many times we get judgmental and we don't have any concern about grace. We just want justice for what we perceive is wrong. And there's no love. And it also lacks humility. I would encourage you and encourage all of us folks that before we double down on our judgment of another person, that we make sure that we have humbled ourselves and recognize I could be wrong. I don't know his heart. I don't know her heart. And so I have to tread this ground very carefully. Because Jesus gives us a sober warning here with the judgment you pronounce, you will be judged. And with the measure you use, it will be measured to others. See, God is the ultimate judge. And we must recognize that it's not us. And God, another important point in this is that God has not asked us to help him exercise his ultimate authority. God calls us to discern and to evaluate and help correct others, but he doesn't give his ultimate judging authority and condemnation to us to use as we will. That's his purview alone. And we must understand that. And if we then judge in this way, always fault finding, always jumping to conclusions, not even looking into getting the data correct and talking to people and making sure that we understand things correctly, God says be careful. Jesus says, be careful, because in the same way, if you're going to judge others that way, then God is going to judge you that way as well. So here comes a question. It's very poignant. Do we want to be judged in the same way that we judge others? The same way that we tend to go into fault finding and judging. and being angry with others, we forget to turn that around many times and say, you know, if this were me right now, would I want to be judged in that way? That's a good question. That could alleviate a lot of the problem. Folks, ultimately, the only thing that any of us deserve, right, I hope this is no surprise to you, is eternal punishment in hell, forever. That's what we deserve in judgment. And when ultimately if we reject the love of Christ and we judge others, that will be one of the sins that God judges us for. And we will spend an eternity apart from him for that very sin. And yet he provided the way through Jesus Christ, the judge that knows all of us and knows our sins and knows all the things that we've committed against his law. He provided in his love a way through his son so that we didn't have to face final judgment. And so those of us who through faith in Jesus have reached out and cried out and repented to say, oh, Lord, don't judge me in the way that I need to be judged. You've already judged your son in that way. Give me his righteousness and let me go free. Because you've promised that in your word. When we have reached out and we have a faith relationship with Jesus Christ, then folks, would you not agree that we need to be very careful about having a condemning spirit toward anybody? Because we deserve condemnation too. And yet our Heavenly Father provided a way of escape. Legal. All of the punishment came on his son. And now we can have the righteousness of Christ and we're about ready to celebrate communion this morning as a reminder of all that Jesus did so that we don't face the eternal judgment of separation from God and eternity in hell. But we can, through faith in Christ, through the work of Christ, celebrate the freedom that we have. freedom from the eternal judgment of sin. And so certainly those that have experienced this freedom in Christ, we want to be careful to be gracious and express that same grace to others. Love is patient. Love is kind. Skip ahead. Love hopeth all things. We don't immediately rush to condemnation because we're not the ultimate judge. And yet, as we said before, we are commanded to judge and evaluate. So what do we do with that? That's why Jesus gives a second well-known part here. We must examine our own lives first. So in recognition of the love of Christ in our life and our humility before the one true judge, When we get ready to address someone else's sins, the very first step is making sure that we have examined our own lives, right? And that's what Jesus says here. And he gives a ridiculous, really, illustration. But verse three, why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye and do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, let me take the speck out of your eye, when there is a log in your own eye? Really, if you think about it, it's ridiculous. Here is a picture of someone with, I mean, how do they get a log in their eye in the first place, but they're swinging around this log. You know, everybody's having to duck or they're going to get hit by the log in this person's eye, and then they look to the other person and say, oh, you have a small speck in your eye. Let me help you get that out. It's supposed to be ridiculous, folks. Why? Because it really is ridiculous to judge others if you haven't examined yourself. We are just as ridiculous when we refuse to do that. So we need to be careful. And in a very real way, have you ever had someone close to you or a friend see something that was near your eye, maybe your mom, say, oh, let me help you get that. There's something there. Oh, and what do we do? We tend to flinch. for a second at least. Why is that? Because we all understand, folks, we're very sensitive toward anyone that wants to get even near our eyes. None of us enjoys, really enjoys, I've never met someone that enjoys an eye exam. They're necessary, but you know, you have those instruments and that doctor and the things that they're doing, and you're just like, this is just weirding me out, because I don't like people getting close to my eyeballs. And that's why this is such a great illustration because we have to be sensitive. A good loving mom says, look, I'll be careful, but I'm going to try to help you with this. Or the doctor says, gives you an explanation. This is what I'm going to do. This is what the surgery is going to be with your cataract surgery or whatever. And they explain everything. They're very sensitive because they know that having people get close to your eyes is a very traumatic thing. Why then are we so many times apt to just barge right into someone else's life without any preparation or any concern and try to point out things in their life? Of course, they're going to be upset and they're going to be defensive because without preparation, nobody wants you that close to their eyes. And then we marvel, well, I can't believe that person had that response to my, I thought it was loving, my loving judgment or whatever. No. We can all understand this. So the point is always, always, always be sure to deal with your own great shortcomings that we all have before we deal with the flaws of others. You see, Jesus isn't saying don't judge and because you have this log in your own eye, then you are not capable of rendering and helping others and providing discernment and judgment in their life. That's not what Jesus is saying. What is he saying? He's saying, get rid of the log in your own eye so that you can then better help the person who needs your help. You get right with God and deal with your own sin, and then you are a much better instrument, better eye doctor, whatever, to help the other person. It's so simple, and we miss that. Can you just imagine with me? You're going to an important eye surgery. Now, I'm thankful I haven't had to go through eye surgery yet, but some of you have told me things about it, and I've heard even stories about people having to have needles near their eyes and things, and it's like, Freaks me out. Some of you have experienced that, though. And you know it's a very, it can be a very traumatic time. Can you imagine if you're sitting in the chair, and they say the surgeon is now going to come in, the eye doctor, whatever, ophthalmologist. And the guy comes in, and he's in his hunting clothes, and he pulls off some hunting gloves. He's got dirt caked in there. He's got some excess blood. Hey, I got a big one today. But that's okay, it's over, you know, it's over being dealt with, and we're going to have venison sausage tonight, and I'm ready to do this thing. Let's get into it." And his hair is all draggled and everything, and he is dirty, and he's not ready to do any sort of surgery anywhere near you. I think we would all understand, we wouldn't want that doctor at that point anywhere near our eye, because he's not clean. He's not prepared. He's dirty. There's an old illustration that an old preacher gave a long time ago talking about, you know, the redwood trees and their beauty and some of those redwood trees in California on the Pacific Coast can get over 300 feet. The illustration was a redwood one time looking down and admonishing a small shrub next to him that that shrub was being too prominent and was sticking out too much and that he needed to be pruned. Well, the point is here's this huge tree telling this almost imperceptible shrub or bush that they have a problem. All of these are making the point, aren't they? Folks, don't be surprised. If you are harboring great sin, maybe it's just an attitude. Maybe in your attitude, you need to be a little bit more careful and humble and have a doctor's approach, a doctor's manner, so that you can effectively put people at ease before you ever deal with a sin that God has called you to deal with. Don't be surprised if you're brash and angry and judgmental that people aren't going to handle that very well. You're coming to a very sensitive issue in their life. You have to prove that you're prepared, that you're purified, and that you're capable of helping them. And yet all of us at one point or another have had the wrong attitude when we've come to trying to help other people. And so, verse five, he says, you're a hypocrite. You are not acting in a right way. So 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. You see, the expectation is still there, isn't it? That we will help that brother, but that we prepare ourselves for that eye surgery first. And so we're not excused from a humble helping of one another by judging what is wrong in their lives. Jesus still admonishes us to help the other person, but we just need clear sight ourselves so that we can effectively help them. How do we remove the beam out of our own eye then? We go to God and say, Lord, I see something in someone else's life that I think I need to address. But first of all, I know I have sin in my own life. Lord, prepare my heart. Prepare me to be humble and loving. And Father, I repent of my own sin. You'll get a lot farther if you go to someone and say, hey, I just want you to know the Lord's been working in my own heart, and I've had to repent of some things. And now I'd just like to share with you what he's doing in my life, and I think it might help you as well. That's a prepared eye surgeon for the task at hand. God doesn't clear us from ever having to judge people. Sorry to say that, but we are responsible to do that. But he does expect us to be prepared, to be ready, to be purified, repentant in our own lives so that we can see effectively to help that other person. And so what is Jesus calling us to do then in this matter of judging? Well, he's calling us to have careful evaluation, to be careful in our evaluation of others. It is appropriate and at times necessary to raise concerns about others and to evaluate their behavior. But folks, more often than not, we need to be more ready to give the benefit of the doubt. So many times, we really do give the benefit of the doubt and not have a constant attitude of judgmentalism and cynicism towards each other. Love hopeth all things. That way. When the time does come for us to pronounce judgment or not pronounced, that's only God's responsibility. But to bring correction or rebuke. Or concerned someone else's life. Will be prepared. And we're reminded. That if we don't do this in a loving way. That our Heavenly Father will deal with us at some point. For those of us that are believers and you are constantly misjudging others and acting like you're the ultimate judge, folks, at some point God's going to deal with that. He can't let that stand. You're trying to take over his job. And he does that job perfectly. For those of us that are here, for those of you that are here and you may not yet be a follower of Jesus through faith in him, folks, I must tell you, you do face the ultimate judge and the judgment will be severe and it will be eternal. And it will be far worse than any judgmental attitude that you've ever experienced here. And so I would call for you this morning and plead with you. Come talk to me. Come as Leslie gets ready to play this morning in preparation for communion. That you would come and talk to me and you could hear about how to have a faith relationship with Jesus Christ and trust him and know for certain that you your judgment has been dealt with, that you are pronounced forgiven. And that you can be with God forever.