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October 4, 2007
Matthew 7-8
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Matthew
Chapter 7
Judge not, that ye be not judged.
For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.
Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.
Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?
Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?
If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?
Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.
Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine:
For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
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Matthew
Chapter 8
When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him.
And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.
And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.
And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him,
And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.
And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him.
The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.
For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.
When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.
And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.
But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.
And when Jesus was come into Peter's house, he saw his wife's mother laid, and sick of a fever.
And he touched her hand, and the fever left her: and she arose, and ministered unto them.
When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick:
That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.
Now when Jesus saw great multitudes about him, he gave commandment to depart unto the other side.
And a certain scribe came, and said unto him, Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.
And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.
And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.
But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.
And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him.
And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep.
And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish.
And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.
But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!
And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way.
And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?
And there was a good way off from them an herd of many swine feeding.
So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine.
And he said unto them, Go. And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine: and, behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters.
And they that kept them fled, and went their ways into the city, and told every thing, and what was befallen to the possessed of the devils.
And, behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus: and when they saw him, they besought him that he would depart out of their coasts.
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Thought for the day:
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Matthew 7:1,
"Judge not, that ye be not judged."
, seems to be the only verse of Scripture that some people know. They are quick to quote it whenever someone comes along and informs them that something about their lifestyle is inappropriate for a child of God. Even unsaved people will quote it when their sinful behavior is revealed to them. Because this verse is so widely used, and misunderstood, let's take a moment and look at what it is really saying.
First of all, it must be noted that the verse does not say "Judge not." If the passage ended there, then perhaps the libertines would have some basis for their belief. However, the verse concludes, "that ye be not judged". Some have interpreted this verse to mean: "you had better not judge anyone else or God will condemn you for judging them." This is not what the verse means at all, and this is clearly revealed by the contents of the following verse. Christ is saying here, "You had better be careful how you judge others, for you will be judged by using the same criteria that you used to judge others. If you aren't willing to clean up your own life, then you should not judge someone else." Look at the explanation in verse 2,
"For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again."
God is not going to use a standard for you that is different than the one that you applied to someone else. If you are going to criticize someone's behavior, you should not be doing the same thing yourself. If you condemn someone else for his speech, you had better use gracious words yourself. If you measure out to others in small doses, then God will measure out to you in similar fashion. Remember Galatians 6:7,
"God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."
It is plain from other parts of Scripture that Christians have an obligation to go to their brethren that are living in sin and attempt to bring them to repentance. II Thessalonians 3:14-15 states,
"And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother."
Obviously some sort of judgment is taking place here. In Galatians 6:1 the command is given,
" Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness."
This, too, requires making a judgment. John 7:24 specifically tells believers to
"Judge righteous judgment."
Thus, the problem is not in the actual judging of someone else, it is in the attitude and hypocrisy of the one who is confronting his brother. Verses 3-4 of our text show this:
"And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?"
The Lord is telling us that before we can deal with our brother's sin, we must first deal with our own sin. I can not hypocritically condemn someone else for doing the very thing that I do myself. Not only am I not helping him, but I am bringing condemnation upon my own life. According to verse 5, I must "first cast the beam out of thine own eye." I must repent and turn from my sin and confess it before the Lord. Once I have done that, am I supposed to let my brother continue down the wrong path? Certainly not. Verse 5 concludes by saying,
"then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye."
I am supposed to judge my brother; but I need to get my own life in order first.
Christians have an obligation to assist others in a having a closer walk with the Lord. Before we can do that effectively, we must honestly evaluate our own spiritual condition, and remove all which displeases God. Then, and only then, are we spiritually equipped to aid others.
Pastor Mark J Montgomery
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