JUDGING Matthew 7:1-2 I. INTRODUCTION- a. It used to be that in America the best-known verse in the Bible was John 3:16 but that is no longer case. b. There is little doubt that the best-known Bible verse in America today is Matthew 7:1 Judge not that you be not judged. c. Today when Christians stand on the Word of God and when the Word of God that we share, teach and proclaim exposes sinful behaviors, actions, attitudes and conduct when we warn others of the dangers and consequences of sin. d. Many in the unsaved world will quote Matthew 7:1 to us and accuse us of being judgmental and intolerant. e. So what did Jesus mean in Matthew 7:1?... today we are going to closely study this passage to find its meaning and truth. f. First, let s understand what Jesus was not saying in this passage. II. IN THIS PASSAGE, JESUS DOES NOT FORBID CHRISTIANS FROM EVER MAKING ANY KIND OF JUDGMENT- a. It is clear from the gospels that in Matthew 7:1, Jesus is not forbidding Christians from ever making any kind of judgment. b. For instance in John 7:24 Jesus gave this command to those who follow Him Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment. c. In Matthew 7:1 Jesus is forbidding Christians from making certain kind of judgments. d. But the truth is that there are decisions and judgments that Christians have to make every day.
e. In fact for every person life is a constant series of decisions and judgments. f. Today you decided to come to church you could have decided to stay home. g. The judgments that Christians make are not to be based on the socalled wisdom of the world which is almost always contrary to the Bible. h. Our judgments and decisions are not to be based on what is expedient or what is convenient comfortable or acceptable to the world. i. The judgments and decisions that Christians make are to be righteous judgments that is they are to be based on the Word of God. j. For the Christian the Bible is the guide the rule the standard the final authority for what is right and what is wrong for what is good and what is evil. k. For the Christian the judgments and the decisions that we make are to be based on the Word of God not on what the world says. III. CHRISTIANS ARE TO MAKE JUDGMENTS IN POLITICS- a. When our nation votes on leaders for our country like everyone has to do Christians have to make a judgment on who they will vote for. b. No political candidate will ever be perfect unless Jesus Himself is on the ballot we will always be voting for the lesser of two evils. c. Every candidate we will ever vote for will be flawed but that is not to keep us from voting. d. As Christian citizens of this nation it is important that we are involved in the political process and yes it is important that we bring our Christian faith with us in the ballot box.
e. As a Christian my decision and my judgment on who to vote for is not to be based on political party or popularity. f. My decision on who to vote for is to be based on the Word of God. g. The question is this which candidate in an election comes closest to supporting policies, positions and moral principles that are consistent with the Word of God. h. This is why I will never vote for a candidate who supports abortion on demand I will never support a candidate who favors the taking of a pre-born human being s life for convenience sake. IV. i. I will never support a candidate who embraces, promotes, and celebrates what the Bible calls immoral and perversion. (Politics) CHRISTIANS ARE TO MAKE JUDGMENTS IN THEIR OWN PERSONAL BEHAVIOR- a. Christians are to make judgments in their own personal behavior and those judgments are to be based on the Word of God. b. News flash Christians are not supposed to live like the lost world around us our lives are to be guided by the Word of God. c. People in your family those you work with your friends and neighbors should not be surprised to learn that you are a Christian they should be able to tell it by your language, actions, behavior and lifestyle. d. For the Christian the Bible the Word of God is the final authority for what is right and wrong for what is good and evil. e. And no matter how much pressure the world puts on us Christians are not to accept, embrace, practice or participate in all of the evil that the lost culture around us accepts and celebrates.
f. The lives of Christians are to be different and distinctive our lives are to be lead and guided by the Word of God. g. The decision to live according to God s Word will bring believers into conflict with the world. h. In 1 Peter 4:2-5 the Bible says that Christians who live a distinctive Christian life can expect to be slandered, attacked and ridiculed by the lost world around us. i. The lost world interprets the refusal of Christians to join in and participate in the evil that it loves and promotes as being judgmental and intolerant. j. One reason many in the lost world hates Christians is that we are hindrances to all the evil they want to do and our presence in the world is a constant and living reminder that there is a God who will one day hold them accountable for how they live. k. For Christians to live their lives based on the Word of God then we must constantly be growing in our knowledge and understanding of the Word of God. l. We must be constantly reading, studying and pursuing a greater understanding of the Word of God. m. God has called Pastors like me to the ministry to proclaim and teach the Word of God to God s people so that we can all live the kind of life that God wants us to live. (Politics Live different lives) V. CHRISTIANS ARE TO MAKE JUDGMENTS TO PROTECT THE CHURCH- a. The Bible says that Christians and church members are members of the same body.
b. What a Christian does good or bad reflects on and has an effect on the church the church as a whole and on the local church of which they are a member. c. There may be those times when Christians are required to judge the actions, behaviors and beliefs of other Christians to discipline a fellow church member in order to protect the unity and the witness of the local church to which they belong. d. In 1 Corinthians the Apostle Paul reprimanded the church in Corinth for failing to discipline and take action against a fellow Christians and church member who was unrepentantly involved in an immoral situation that was public knowledge and harming the unity and the witness of the church. e. Such times of discipline are never easy and they are never pleasant but at times they are necessary to protect the witness and integrity of the church. f. The Bible makes it clear that the goal of church discipline is never simply to punish or throw away a fellow believer. VI. g. But to lead them to repentance to restore their Christian witness as much as is possible and to restore them to Christian fellowship and service. (Politics live different lives judge fellow Christians) CHRISTIANS ARE TO FAITHFULLY PROCLAIM THE WORD OF GOD WHICH JUDGES SIN AND SINFUL BEHAVIOR- a. Unbelievers don t understand when Christians faithfully and rightly proclaim and teach the Word of God it is God who is exposing and judging sin not us. b. Listen to me adultery is wrong because God said so fornication is wrong because God said so sodomy is wrong because God says so stealing is wrong because God says so lying is wrong because God says so drunkenness is wrong because God said so.
c. When unbelievers accuse Christians of judging them when we proclaim God s Word they are wrong it is not we who are judging them and their behavior it is God. VII. d. It is we who are warning them of the danger of sin and it is God who will forgive sin and save sinners if they will repent and trust in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. (politics live different lives judge fellow Christians proclaim the Word of God) THE JUDGING GOD FORBIDS- a. What kind of judgment is Jesus forbidding in Matthew 7? b. He is forbidding the sin of prejudice the sin of judging others the sin of looking down on others the sin of rejecting others and treating others with disdain, contempt and disrespect based on the color of their skin or on their economic status their social status or for any other such reason. c. The Bible makes it clear that that kind of judging is a sin and it must never be found among the people of God. d. James 2:1-4; 8-9 (CSBBible) My brothers and sisters, do not show favoritism as you hold on to the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. For if someone comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and a poor person dressed in filthy clothes also comes in, if you look with favor on the one wearing the fine clothes and say, "Sit here in a good place," and yet you say to the poor person, "Stand over there," or "Sit here on the floor by my footstool," haven't you made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?... Indeed, if you fulfill the royal law prescribed in the Scripture, Love your neighbor as yourself, you are doing well. If, however, you show favoritism, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. e. Matthew 7 also condemns the sin of a judging, negative, critical spirit.
f. The sin of fault-finding the sin of attacking, cutting up and tearing down others because we don t like them or because they disagree with us or because they fail to meet our standards or they fail to act or do as we think they ought to do. g. Instead of praying for these people instead of asking God to help us love them Jesus condemns the sin of cutting them up and tearing them down. h. Galatians 5:15 carries this warning But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another! VIII. CONCLUSION- a. There are judgments that Christians are to make but there are judgments that we are not to make and God will hold us accountable if we do. b. Ecclesiastes 3:17 (NLT) In due season God will judge everyone, both good and bad, for all their deeds. c. God will judge the saved for how we lived for the Lord after we were saved at stake will not be our salvation but the degree and type of our rewards in Heaven. d. God will judge the lost on one question What did you do with Jesus the degree of their sins will determine the degree of their punishment in Hell. e. Give your life to Christ.