Ignorance has never buttoned the lips of the foolish; it has always loosened them.

[This sermon is one of a series entitled "Sermon on the Mount, Concentrating on the Beatitudes," which is being preached on Sunday mornings by Pastor Tim Senter.  You may access previous messages from this chapter, which may be referenced in this message by clicking here.]

In opening this message, we should recognize we are moving from one concept in our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount to another. Most commentators agree that the separation at verse 13 represents a shift in proposition. We just finished a section concerning judgmentalism and judgment. There is probably no better summation than the one provided by Lloyd Jones:

“His [Jesus’] object of this sermon, as we have seen, is to bring Christian people to realize first of all their nature, their character as a people, and then to show them how they are to manifest that nature and character in their daily life. Our Lord, the Son of God, has come from heaven to earth in order to found and establish a new kingdom, the kingdom of heaven. He comes into the midst of the kingdoms of this world, and His purpose is to call out a people unto Himself from the world and to form them into a kingdom. Therefore it is essential that He should make it quite plain and clear that this kingdom He has come to establish is entirely different from anything that the world has ever known, that it is to be the kingdom of God, the kingdom of light, the kingdom of heaven. His people must realize that it is something unique and separate; so He gives them a description of it. We have been working through that description. We have looked at His general portrait of the Christian in the Beatitudes. We have listened to Him telling these people that, because they are that kind of person, the world will react to them in a particular way; it will probably dislike them and persecute them. Nevertheless they are not to segregate themselves from the world and become monks or hermits; they are to remain in society as salt and light. They are to keep society from putrefaction and from falling to pieces, and they are to be its light; that light, apart from which the world remains in a state of gross darkness.”[i]

Now our Lord tells us to apply what we have learned. This is not just, “Have you heard me?” It is instead, “Now, get on with the Lord’s business.” We should ask ourselves if we, who call ourselves intellectual, or commonsensical or just plain moral people, supposed to just hear how scripture describes the people in the Kingdom of God? Or are we supposed to act upon what we hear? Are we supposed to do something? Are we just supposed to sit here in the pews and be in church to put our time in? Or are we called to be “transformed by the renewing of your mind”(Rom 12:2)? Our hearts are supposed to exhibit “the fruit of the Spirit [which] is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance” (Gal 5:22). Christians exhibit these things because we are not “conformed to this world,” because “they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” (Rom 12:2; Gal 5:24). We are Christlike because we are Christians. We are not Christians because we act Christlike.

Matthew 7:13-14 is our focus for today. I am very mindful of the double-mindedness of man as I read this passage. It is one thing to say, “I’ll do it my way” and actually try to do that. It is wholly another to say, “I’ll do it my way….uh what are the rules again?” This second phrase is what man always defaults to. Interesting as it may seem, as we open to this passage we are again reminded that man always has rules to follow, even if he says he does not want to live by the rules. Further, man knows he must abide by the rules to get what he wants. He knows this and believes it is true of everything – except eternal life.

The Sermon on the Mount is not about the details, but about the big picture. Being poor in spirit is not talking about every minute decision and thought you have, it is about the overall attitude toward your spirit. Mourning is not about crying every day for your decrepit soul, or for that of others; it is about a general attitude concerning the lost soul and the salvation it needs. Being meek is not describing specific instances of gentleness, but a heart growing more and more gentle and loving as it grows in the Spirit of God in becoming a Kingdom saint. This same “big picture attitude” is true for hungering and thirsting after righteousness, being pure, being merciful, and being a peacemaker. You must see that these are practical principles and guidelines that mark the changes in the heart of a Kingdom saint – that a Kingdom saint gradually exhibits these things more and more in their lives. These are practical changes that drive new principles in our lives. Principles are the minutia with respect to a livelihood of one who has a poor spirit, is mournful, meek, craves righteousness, seeks to purify the heart and is a peacemaker. Though the legalist of the day would argue the details, the true Kingdom saint just wants to emulate the Beatitudes.

As one commentator recently stated,

“Christ’s words in this sermon are designed to shake a nation, to disrupt established life patterns, to dislodge entrenched ideas, and to force people to choose between two ways of life.”[ii]

Those two ways are either submission to God or rebellion against Him. People live in society by society rules, or they do not live in society. We either submit to the laws of the land (society’s rules) or we are put in jail. We see many people in the world that think they can live life the way they want to. The attitude that “No one is going to tell me what to do” is as childish a statement as the four-year-old saying, “No!” to the parent. In both cases, once we find out there are really rules to follow to get what we desire, we usually submit to those rules. Not so with the things of God.

You would think that people who think they are smart enough to try to control every aspect of their personal destiny would figure this out. If you want groceries, you have to go to the grocery store and purchase them. To get what you want, you have to play by the rules. We do this every day in life. Even the unbeliever exercises this to a greater degree. Most people who want to drive a car to work normally go through all the steps to submit to the laws of the land. They apply for, and pass the tests to get a driver’s license. They purchase or borrow a vehicle. They drive the vehicle on the right side of the road, and obey most, if not all, of the traffic laws. Normally they will use roads, and not just drive helter-skelter over the countryside. You would not get far in a car driving through the desert and scrub brush. It is just better to follow the rules than wreck your car.

Yet, when it comes to eternal things, living in God’s kingdom, living in a world wholly different than this one, living in a world no human can control – only to God Himself does man steadfastly say, “I’ll get to Heaven in whatever fashion I desire.” The simple answer is, “No you won’t.” People are quite foolish in talking about God and the things of God when they do not know the scriptures, His plan for man or His plan for man’s redemption. Ignorance has never buttoned the lips of the foolish; it has always loosened them.

There is only one way to Heaven and it has very specific requirements. There is only one route and it has a very well established path. There is only one form or application, and it must be filled out exactly and to the letter. There is only one gate, and it is narrow.

I. Where is our entrance (Verse 13a)?

Christ is where you find the entrance. Christians enter at the narrow gate. The first word in this verse – “enter” – is an imperative. This command is issued as a directive to the Kingdom saints present before the Lord. Quite simply Jesus tells those who desire to be in Heaven with Him to enter via the narrow gate. “Enter ye in at the strait gate” is probably best translated “Enter by the narrow gate,” for the word translated “straight” more directly means “narrow.” It implies restricted or controlled access.

This passage into Heaven is immediately narrow. We cannot enter like a funnel into a wide area and then be herded into a narrower passage. We live a narrow life focused upon a specific path that leads to a unique and small gate. The path, right now, is narrow. Do not misconstrue the image as a funnel where people are put through turnstiles or something. The way begins narrow. The gate for entrance is narrow. Many are outside the gate trying to get in other ways by jumping over the fence. Many wait in the throng for their turn. Neither of these is acceptable. The gate itself is the entryway. You must get through the gate to enter.

There are problems with the world’s thoughts with respect to the entrance. Many believe that being a moral person in the world is not much different than or is even synonymous with being a Christian. It is all the difference in eternity. Morality does not get you through the gate. There is a qualification for entrance and it is not being a good person, following the golden rule (sermon here) or never breaking a law (which is impossible for any single person to do anyway, and everyone readily admits this fact).

Another aspect of worldly thinking concerning the gate is that Christianity is not a narrow life. The gate does not indicate the narrow and restricted life of the believer. There is no indication in life that it is supremely confined. Many would say the Christian life is full of liberty, living, freedom and excitement. The stronger brother can try different worldly things such as social drinking, listening to wicked music or watching movies with profanity and nakedness in them. The weaker brother cannot watch these things. Rubbish. It is the stronger that rejects these things for Christ. The stronger stays on the narrow path toward the narrow gate to enter therein. Both of these ideas fail to convey the narrow path is a dedication to Christ and to serve Him in all things. It has nothing to do with restricting activity. It is instead a focused dedication to serve God in all capacities.

There is no way to enter the gate except by believing in the gospel which is four fold:

1. Recognize and admit that you are a sinner. Everyone has done one thing in life that broke God’s law. There are two ways that every living individual is permanently disqualified from heaven. First, we are born disqualified; we are born as sin filled creatures. Second, one single sin disqualifies you, any sin. (Ps 51:5; Rom 6:23; Jas 2:10).
2. Because of our sins we are disqualified to enter Heaven. In order to be qualified for entrance into Heaven, an appropriate sacrifice and atonement as well as a satisfaction of God’s wrath (propitiation) must be made for your sins (Heb 9:22). That atonement, the price paid, the satisfaction of God’s wrath came through the redemption provided by Christ because He, as God, submitted to man’s torture on the cross and God’s judgment for our sins placed upon His account (Is 53:5; 1 Pet 2:24).
3. We must believe that, upon submitting to death for our salvation, Christ was buried and three days later arose again, resurrected to live again, no longer slave to the grave, but free of death’s sting (1 Cor 15:4; 1 Pet 1:3-11; 3:18).
4. Christ, transformed into a resurrection body, ascended into Heaven, is now at the right hand of God (Lk 20:35-36; 1 Cor 15:52).

We need to accept Christ as our personal Savior in His full glory. This is the only ticket that admits us into the narrow gate. If we do not accept Christ for who He is, change for what He wants and seek the things of His Kingdom, we show no evidence that we possess an admissions ticket to get through the narrow gate.

Many believe that this view of God is too narrow – that God would never condemn people wholesale just because they made one mistake or they do not know of the redeemer. They would say that this view is too intolerant. That it would be cruel and unfair, according to the world, to deny people entrance just because they do not accept the Redeemer’s atonement. One good thing about this is that God does not report to the world and He is not accountable to the worldly. The worldly try to define a kingdom they have no right to be in, have no real concept of and certainly have no moral justification for their entry.

II. Is there another entrance? (Verse 13b)

No. There is no other entrance into Heaven. Yes, there is another gate – but that is an entrance into eternal torment, to destruction. There are only those two choices, the narrow gate or the wide gate, no others. People are either on the narrow path, or they are not. You will not find in the scriptures any discussion that indicates a place where one works off sins – a gate in-between the wide and the narrow gates. There are two places. One is a place of pure, unmitigated and utterly agonizing torment. The other is a place of wonderful comfort. Further, between them is a gulf that is fixed where none can pass from Abraham and Lazarus to the Rich Man, and none can pass from the Rich Man to Abraham and Lazarus (Lk 16:19-35).

A key word in this part of Matthew 7:13 is the word we find translated “broad.” It indicates a pleasant, agreeable, spacious, broad opening that will permit anyone and anything to pass through. There is no entrance exam. There is no ticket checking. You can do anything you want to walk through this gate. I fashion this gate to be the same lure that Pleasure Island had for Pinocchio and the young boys. It is easy, you can do what you want; but there is a horrid consequence that awaits you.[iii]

We could call the people outside the wide gate “crowd” people. The world is full of the crowd people, blindly headed in one direction. Following the crowd has never been a good concept, and this is the case here. You do not need to go against the flow; the object is to not be in the crowd in the first place. As believers we not only shun the crowd (the people), we shun their attitudes, lifestyles, behaviors, thoughts, and everything about them. The broad gate includes all of these things in the world. It includes tolerance of deviant lifestyles such as homosexuality. The broad gate accepts people who murder the unborn. The broad gate permits people to use illegal drugs under the auspices of medicine. The broad way accepts all religions as equals. The broad way confuses the one true God of Christianity with the false demonic influence of Islam, Buddhism, Atheism and Humanism. The broad way says all Christians honor God in their own way. It says we can develop our own traditions to honor Him. The broad path says we can take the ideas of evolution and mix them with creation, or that we must harmonize the scriptures with science.

The narrow gate on the other hand only admits those who are dedicated to honoring God the way He desires and with what He has prescribed in the scriptures. Nadab and Abihu in Leviticus 10 learned this lesson when they were consumed by fire. The broad way says we can worship God how we want, including strange fire – or in this day and age, strange music, traditions and weird super-spiritual gifts such as tongues and healings. The narrow gate only admits those who worship Him as He has directed in His word – with the utmost reverence and with nothing oriented toward this world or man’s sensationalism. Everything we do in worship is alien to the world because God is alien to the world. The broad gate leads to destruction.

The crowd goes through the wide gate to destruction because they enjoy what they do. They worship themselves, not God. The narrow gate on the other hand is a unique gate that recognizes those who are different, who worship God as God, who know that their worship is being given to an omnipotent being of unimaginable power. God has set forth His requirements for worship; it is not entertainment. We do not go to church to like what we hear and to enjoy a concert in our favorite music genre and watch a nice theatrical skit. Those who enter the wide gate worship that way and there are many who enter there.

Almost everyone says they want to get into Heaven. Many of them say they hope to get into Heaven; however, only those who have the admission ticket at the narrow gate will enter therein. The admission ticket is a forfeiture of your life for Christ in whatever form or fashion He determines you take. He only asks what He has given of Himself. The admission ticket for the narrow gate is complete dependence upon Christ for life on Earth and life eternal. Admission to the wide gate is simple. Just do nothing; live life in the world for yourself. You can do whatever you feel you desire; just enjoy whatever good or bad the world has to offer. Indiscriminant sex, drug use, Unitarian theology – just experience all the things this world has to offer and you enter the wide gate. You determine what is best, you seek God for nothing or pretend to seek Him. Worship how you want, the way you want whenever you feel you should. Listen to the music you want. Only go to church in places where you hear what you want to hear from the pulpit. None of these things seek God or the path through the narrow gate.

If you consider worship and offering things to the Lord something that you have to enjoy doing, you are sorely mistaken. Your whole life must change. Your whole heart must change. Every desire in you must change. What is in you naturally gets you through the wide gate. The soul changed with the life of Christ and the Spirit of God is your admission ticket through the narrow gate. Accept the simple, free gift of the atonement of Christ and take upon yourself all of His desires. The gift changes you. Leave the crowd at the wide gate; come to the narrow gate where few enter therein.

Jesus certainly wants all of us to enter via the narrow gate. It is His first statement – “Enter through the narrow gate.” Then we find an entire verse on the narrow gate. The greater encouragement for us is to focus on what is needed to enter the narrow gate. How do we go in that way and what is back there?

III. What does the narrow entrance lead to? (Verse 14a)

Life eternal is on the other side of the narrow gate. The narrow gate leads to a life with God instead of a death separated from God. Hearkening back to a discussion on death (sermon here) we recognize that death is a separation. We live every day on Earth in a dead state with respect to God. When we receive Christ as our Savior and the Holy Spirit indwells us, we are enlivened spiritually because God is in us. The narrow gate is the passage from life temporal to life eternal. Those on the narrow path that leads to the narrow gate live spiritually on Earth. Those on the narrow path pass through the narrow gate entering a kingdom that is spiritually alive.

The gate and path are straight and narrow for a number of reasons. First, one on the narrow path, living a life characterized by the Beatitudes, is a very narrowly focused person. They are not intolerant of anything except sin. All the positive attributes listed (poor in spirit, mournful, meek, hungering and thirsting for righteousness, merciful, pure in heart and a peacemaker) are ever growing in the life of the believer. Those behind the gate are others who embody and manifest these attributes. What is behind the gate is a kingdom whose inhabitants personify the Beatitudes and reify their existence.

One challenge the believer has is that they are still on this side of the gate while Christ is implementing the Beatitudes in their lives. We are warned: “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me” (Matt 5:11). The world outside of that narrow gate still has the crowd attempting to mingle there and pull us off the narrow path. They will do anything to deny the requirements for the narrow path and entry to the gate because they do not want to submit. The crowd will also try to convince others that submission is not required. If this does not convince believers, the crowd will vilify them, accuse them, call them intolerant, ostracize or exclude and reject them in any way they can. The crowd will do all it can to convince believers that God does not exist or that “if He is loving, He would not condemn you for this or that little sin.” Satan too will introduce things into this mix that accuse, tempt or otherwise entice you to leave the narrow path. People, things, passions and desires are Satan’s favorite ploys. In Matthew 5:11, Jesus warns of these wide path people who are trying to mingle with those on the narrow path. Those who do not subscribe to the things at the entrance to the narrow gate will not be admitted but turned away with one comment: “I never knew you” (Matt 7:23). These people will not enter into comfort with Abraham, paradise with Jesus or God’s heavenly Kingdom.

Seek Christ where He may be found and you will enter the narrow gate to paradise. Seek the ways and things of God in your life and you will take the narrow path to comfort. Seek Christ to grow the characteristics of a Kingdom saint in you, and you will find yourself admitted into the Kingdom of God. Those are the activities of a believer.

Jesus goes further than to just say there are two gates – one leads to good things, one leads to bad – follow the narrow one, for the wide one leads to destruction. In the second part of verse 14 we find another piece of information that is interesting. Who will use the narrow entrance?

IV. Who will use the narrow entrance? (Verse 14b)

Not many. There are few who will find it. People who truly want Christ in their lives, seek to change for Him, look continually at their hearts and gradually develop more and more of the Beatitudes in their lives, will enter in the narrow gate. People who break with the things of the world and seek only the things of God; who seek to use the things of the world as tools to further the will of God in life and the lives of others; who change because of Christ, will find their way through the entrance at the narrow gate. People will enter the narrow gate who seek the word of God being preached and taught in churches, fellowship with others in church, and submit to the whole counsel of God in the scriptures. People will enter the narrow gate who regularly subject themselves to and submit under a local body of Christ and do not instead seek their own freedom from the assembly. The question is, are you making the break with the world? Is your life exemplifying a change in your demeanor that always grows in Christ? Is your life more Christlike? Do you desire to be here among these saints more than out there among the worldly?

I am chancing that I may step on some toes, but the facts have to be made clear. The scripture says “narrow is the way which leadeth to life and few there be that find it.” There is a worldly trend in today’s society that says we do not have to belong to a church as a member because the scriptures do not have the word “member” in them. There are other arguments as well. They all amount to denying accountability to the saints in the assembly. These individuals do not desire accountability with anyone and will not submit to that accountability. That is a crowd oriented thought process. That is an attitude that leans toward the wide gate.

Those who will be readily accepted at the narrow gate understand that scripture requires we be accountable in many ways to one another. We are not supposed to lie to one another (Lev 19:11) or oppress one another (25:17). Christ commands that we love one another (Jn 13:34). We are to be kind and affectionate toward and to prefer one another (Rom 12:10). We are not supposed to judge one another (Rom 14:13). We are commanded to show hospitality one to another (Rom 15:7). We should admonish one another (Rom 15:14). We should serve, be forbearing and carrying one another’s burdens (Gal 5:13, 6:2; Eph 4:2). We are kind, tenderhearted and forgiving toward one another (Eph 4:32). Ultimately, we are to submit ourselves to one another in the fear of God (Eph 5:21). These are just a few one another directives we find in scripture. There is obviously a principle involved here regardless of the lack of a word we might want to see. The people who enter in the narrow gate look at the teachings in scripture and submit to those principles. An honest question is then, how can one who claims they seek the narrow gate and walk the narrow path really do so without being submitted to an assembly in membership for accountability?

As I read this passage over and over it also occurred to me that most of the time, especially in smaller settings such as this, God is bringing to this sheepfold mostly those who are on the narrow path already. This pulpit is not easy on the Christian spirit. This pulpit challenges the Christian to change every Sunday. I am convicted by the Lord to have a ministry that seeks the things in the Word of God that would guide us to change to become more Christlike, more like a Kingdom saint. Teaching you the scriptures and how to implement them in your life is a sobering responsibility. I believe this church has few people because the path is narrow. Those who dedicate themselves to Christ will come regularly and subject themselves to the teaching of the word. You hunger and thirst for righteousness, praise God. Those who may not come may not seek those things but instead seek a broader path. However, that path leads to destruction. I am not saying that this pulpit is the only one capable of guiding others to the narrow path in Lander. I am saying that popularity does not breed righteousness.

Conversely, are you just plodding along through life thinking you got it all planned out or that you’re at least “covered” because you said a prayer at one time, you claim Christ, or you have even been a devout believer all your life? Are you gathering about you the things of the world, taking upon your attitude the demeanor of the worldly and treating others with a worldly disdain for honesty, love, forgiveness, tenderheartedness and fellowship?

These are intense personal changes for some to make. We should note that they are no more challenging than the smoker that realizes in the Lord, that they must stop smoking because they are hurting the temple of God. Christian changes are deep, abiding, personal and life altering. That is what Christianity and transforming into a Kingdom saint is all about – changing us from the sin-filled rebellious creatures that we are to saints worthy of entrance through the narrow gate into God’s Kingdom.

Who will use the narrow entrance? Those who choose Christ and the things of Christ over the world and the things of the world. Who will enter God’s Kingdom? People who have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. This acceptance is evinced by life changing events in a believer. Individuals turning wholesale from sin, sinful events, sin related happenings, sin-oriented activities and anything that does not therefore glorify God. People who hunger and thirst for righteousness and develop a pure heart in God. Those individuals will enter in the narrow gate.

Look at the wide gate through the prism of the Beatitudes. Wide is the gate to destruction for the haughty. Wide is the gate for the rich in spirit (as opposed to being “poor in spirit”) – those with strong wills. Wide is the gate for those who do not mourn, but instead celebrate their depravity. Wide is the gate for those who are haughty instead of meek. Those who are non-committal concerning righteousness instead of starving for it will find their way into the wide gate. The cruel find their way easily into the wide gate. Impurity marks all those who enter the wide gate as they delve into all the world’s devices to sample them. The heart of the worldly crowd is always divided between the things and devices of the world, and simply submitting to God. Which path are you on?

[ii] Sam Horn, Kingdom Living Here and Hereafter, Integrity of Heart, The Beatitudes Part 1, Vol. 2, No. 1 Spring 1997, Northland Baptist Bible College, Dunbar, WI.

[iii] Carlo Collodi, The Adventures of Pinocchio, 1940 film produced by Walt Disney, released by RKO Radio Pictures February 7, 1940. In the movie the boys were turned into donkeys and sold.

Last week we considered bread and stones. We looked at fish and serpents. We thought about eggs and scorpions. The conclusion we came to was that our heavenly Father will provide us good things to give to others that need them. He will give us these good things because we ask for them. In turn, we are to give these same good things to others who ask us for them.

We probably should mention something here that I am not confident we covered at all last week. Although in dealing with individuals and their problems we may truly desire to help, we tend to often look at them in comparison to ourselves, and our success or failures. We tend to see things only through our own eyes, our own perspective. What we should understand is that a consistent theme in all of the passages from Matthew 7:1 through 11 and even (especially) in today’s verse is to look at things from a biblical perspective, not a personal one. Many times we are encouraged to see things from another person’s perspective. In this case, we are encouraged to consider our personal perspective first as compared to scripture. We need to be careful that this is not a haughty legalism, but a loving compassion. This personal consideration, though, is not a filter, but more of a sensor that opens and shuts two valves. It should not be something we run things through to purify them. There should be a valve that releases the good things and re-routes all the bad stuff. We are given this sensor when we are saved. The sensor is the Holy Spirit who lives within us. If we seek His face, look for His guidance, and ask Him how we can best testify of Christ in us He will tell us.

Matthew 7 and verse 12 is a very commonsensical summation of Jesus teachings in this section. This is that “golden rule”: Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you. We have applied the scriptures in this chapter very specifically in context as we studied through them. We will endeavor to apply this scripture in the same fashion.

This is a small tidbit of history that I thought you would appreciate. A gentleman named James Cash Penney (1875-1971) was a preacher’s kid born in Hamilton, Missouri. His father was a Baptist pastor of a small church in his hometown. Failing in health, Penney moved to Colorado, where for a short time he established a butcher store. Though this venture failed, his next business did not. After the butcher shop failed, he bought a partnership in a store in Wyoming. Soon, the store was doing well and he decided to expand establishing other stores in the state. He based his philosophy off of our verse today, Matthew 7:12, and called them the “Golden Rule Stores.” This store chain was so popular that it was one of the world’s largest merchants of its time, having over 1,700 stores. J. C. Penney was a humble servant who poured his heart out upon those around him, always seeking to do unto the customer as he would have done unto him.

We often look at people’s motives for the things they do and run them through a filter. This filter can be any number of things. Christians run them through the filter of the scriptures, and prayer hopefully. The world runs things through the filter of their own experiences, attitudes and desires. The world’s filter is very subjective. Depending upon the wants of any individual, this filter can be black with wickedness and deception. Either way, people look at others, decide about others motives, and ascribe motive and treat others in a fashion that is normally consistent with one of these two filters.

Some Christians become overly critical in their filter. They know Christ was perfect and they are called to perfection as they become more like Christ. They begin to expect things of unbelievers, (behaviors, aptitudes, attitudes and expectations) that are only given to believers. Some Christians also make the mistake of assigning blame to the sinful heart that may not necessarily be there. A verse I often quote – Jeremiah 17:9 - makes the point that deception goes both ways. Not only is the heart deceitful toward fellow man, it is deceitful within ourselves. This is where the Christian must be wary. Just because we know how wicked the world can be does not give us license to immediately ascribe wickedness to every endeavor in the world. We cannot immediately judge others as deceitful, wicked, unfaithful, dishonest and hateful just because we know they are worldly. Yes, all those things are a natural propensity in the unbelieving heart; but how many of us desire to be stereotyped? We must be wary of the world, but wary of our own heart too.

Let’s take a few wonderful historical examples of stereotypical responses based upon observation. These are not exact quotes.

• “The white man’s only desire is to keep the black man under his thumb.” This comment was actually made to me many years ago. This is racist in character and essentially says all people with white skin scheme to suppress the success of any black person. Nonsense.
• “The negro is a savage and only good for hard labor.” This racist comment was made many years ago by slave traders and echoed throughout our horrid period of slavery in this nation. It was repeated throughout history until the middle of the last century when man finally matured to see other men as equals. It basically states that black people have no intellectual capacity and therefore are only good for manual labor. Again, complete nonsense.
• “Christians who believe in the six-day creation account ignore the body of scientific evidence against it.” This comment is equally judgmental and attempts, as the racist comment above does, to say Christians lack intellectuality, are brain washed or gullible. This too is nonsense.

How many believers are appalled that many in the world attribute our faith in Christ as the basis for the Crusades? How many are equally appalled that an individual would claim their motive for murdering a person was based in their Christian faith? True Christians are also spiritually hurt and know their testimony is tainted by organizations that display hate in their public rhetoric and demonstrations against certain national activities. Christians know that un-Christlike or un-Christian behavior does nothing but hurt real Christians who daily strive to show others that Christ lives in them. We’ve all had questions such as, “Wasn’t Hitler a Christian? He claimed Christianity.” We also cringe when we hear, “Germany was a Christian nation and in the name of Christianity they persecuted the Jews and perpetrated the Holocaust.”

One last nonsensical judgment that we see in the world is to say that, because we know all lost souls are sinners, they are all dishonest. The truth is that the world without Christ has the possibility of being just plain evil in all things, but it does not mean that every unbeliever is dishonest, or a cheat in business. Treat others as scripture directs and you treat them as Christ does. We are to love one another. We are commanded to love our enemies. These two commands have great and glorious application for the believer. The main thing is that we are, as Christians, supposed to treat others and think of others far and away differently than the world does. First and foremost, we treat others as we would like to be treated – without stereotypical judgmentalism ascribing motive where none is clearly indicated. We should remember that the saint is still a sinner too.

I. What you Prefer (Verse 12a)

We must endeavor to wrap up our discussion on judgmentalism, arrogance and the call to be priests one to another, to love one another, to bear one another’s burdens (1 Pet 2:5; Jn 13:34; Gal 6:2). We do this by not being judgmental (Matt 7:1-2). We are not supposed to inappropriately concentrate on other people’s problems and ignore the instruction in our own issues (Matt 7:3-5). In Matthew 7:6, we assess appropriate times of witness and testimony based upon real evidence, not subjective conjecture. In verses 7 and 8, we seek God for guidance and approach gently when trying to help. Verses 9 through 11 just point out the commonsense of all that which was before – everyone knows to do what is good even if they do not practice goodness. It follows then that we want to be treated a certain way, which is intrinsically considered good, right, just or civilized. We want people to look at us and not make snap decisions about us based on some arbitrary thoughts, tainted information or misapplied historical facts. We want people to regard us based upon our own merits. We want the benefit of the doubt.

We want others to see us as respectable, honest, caring, concerned, normal people. Here is a news flash folks – even the most heinous individual on the planet wants this basic recognition – that they are respectable, honest, caring, concerned and normal. Serial killers have to be caught and it has to be proven that they in fact, did kill. Most of them function well in society. Contrary to some silver screen theatrics, serial killers do not want to be caught, they are not all dysfunctional loners and they are not all white males. They make mistakes over time which leads to their capture. Some have a family with children and full time jobs. They come from all types of backgrounds.[i] Truthfully, just like “normal” people, even serial murderers want others to see them as they desire to be seen. No sensibly “civilized” person wants everyone to know their worst side. Honestly, any negative aspect of our personal life is judged by the world, whether Christian or not.

I know people who put up a front at work that makes them look hospitable, congenial and even understanding; but when they get home, they treat their family and everyone they supposedly love like garbage. These people think less of their families than they do those with whom they work. We act certain ways because we prefer others to think of us in certain ways. We hide certain behaviors from others because we know they are unacceptable. When we exhibit those behaviors around others who we know will forgive us, we actually abuse the privilege of forgiveness. We do not want to be treated with wickedness and judgmentalism.

Folks, what you say, how you act, how you want to be treated is how you will be seen and what you are telling others you expect from them. This is why we act civilly in public. Many times our challenge is in the home, around people we expect to understand us. Practice treating people the way you prefer to be treated at home as well as at work. Just as we prefer others to obey verses 1-11, we should be willing to do so as well.

If we are not supposed to engage in these activities, what are we supposed to do? What activities do we engage in to remove the negative ones such as anger, hate, conjecture and elitism (mote and beam issues)?

II. What you Do (Verse 12b)

“Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to be the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers” (Eph 4:29). We are not just supposed to live a life before others with a testimony of love and caring; we are supposed to communicate that in all ways. Ephesians 4:31 tells us that we are to take all bitterness, wrath, anger, and clamor as well as evil speaking away from ourselves along with any malice we may hold for others. Christians are not supposed to live a life of love and caring, they are supposed to be loving and caring so their lives will reflect who they are. To take the negative qualities away takes effort. It means you act to remove them. Once again folks, Christians are supposed to be the most understanding, loving, caring and ultimately forgiving individuals on the face of the planet. We are supposed to push away all the natural bents of our heart that would unjustly accuse another person, or inappropriately assign guilt to another. It is directly behind these verses in Ephesians that we have Ephesians 4:32 which commands us to be kind, tender hearted, and forgiving to one another. We discussed in a Wednesday night service how these are attributes of the Christian, not activities in which they participate. The words “kind,” “tenderhearted” and “forgiving” are all nouns not verbs. They are substantive words. They are characteristics that produce actions, not actions that allude to characteristics. Christians are kind, tenderhearted and forgiving, or they are supposed to be anyway. We are to be like Christ who is like the Father so much so that if you see Christ, you see the Father (Jn 14:9). God was kind enough to plan for our salvation before the foundations of the world. God was tenderhearted enough to give His Son as an atonement for our sins. God was forgiving enough to accept His Son’s atonement. His Son loved us so much that He gave himself as atonement for our sins. If we are Christlike then, we exhibit forgiveness as the Father exhibits it for Christ’s sake, in that He died for us and gave Himself for us as an atonement for our sins.

What we do then is…we choose not to accuse. We go to people, talk to them, discuss issues with them and open ourselves to others for a different point of view. Christians do not treat others rudely. We are not crass. We do not use foul or crude language because Christ did not. We do not lay blame because, unlike Christ, we do not know. Think about this – we forgive others not knowing the truth of their wickedness, because Christ forgave everyone knowing the truth of our wickedness. What we do is strive to be like Christ who depicted the Father (Jn 14:9). The Father forgave us, was kind to us, exhibited a tender heart to us even in our depravity. We Christians are supposed to do these very things too, and for others as well. We should never accuse another person especially when we do not have first hand and specific proof or knowledge. That goes for believer as well as unbeliever. We must bite our tongues, especially when we really do not know. We do not gossip because it leads us to speculate upon someone’s guilt or innocence (saying someone “could be innocent” when gossiping is a positive way of saying they could be guilty and lays that skeptical foundation). Gossip only poisons others and leads you to judgmentalism (2 Cor 12:20).

III. What Scripture Says (Verse 12c)

“How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?” (Jn 5:44) First, by seeking the truth from God’s Word (the Law and the Prophets) we eliminate many of the sins we could and probably would commit against others. We should not first seek the opinion of people.

We are to wash one another’s feet (Jn 13:14). We should be helping one another be clean for the feast of the lamb of God. We should not encourage sin or have a poor opinion of anyone or anything even when they do sin. We should especially not act to encourage a poor opinion of Christ or Christianity.

Ultimately, we are to love one another (Jn 13:34; 15:12, 17…). This is a unique love we should have for one another, such that Christ is seen within us. We love one another so that we are known as disciples of Christ (Jn 13:35). The love we have one for another should mark us as loving Christians. If we backbite one another, gossip or “discuss” people’s problems behind their back, how can we garner love one for another and in the body of Christ? The person we are talking to certainly is not going to want you to gossip about them. Are they next on the list? We often wonder what keeps people away from Christianity.  It is this very issue – talking of people’s sins or what we perceive as their sin behind their back. Is that how we want to be treated?

In our love one for another, we are to give preference to one another in honor (Rom 12:10-11). We are to default to an honorable status even when we see a brother or sister doing wrong. We must approach things and consider first that a brother or sister in Christ is not dishonorable, but we are to give them the benefit of the doubt and ascribe honorability to them first, not deplorability.

We are to live in harmony with one another (Rom 12:16). We should seek as glorious and loving results to conflicts as we can. This can only take place when we appropriately seek the very person with whom we have a conflict. Talking to Bob about a conflicting issue you have with Jane is not going to help. We must go to Jane first. This verse also states we are not to be haughty, but have associations with the lowly. We are not supposed to be conceited. Though the inference here is to lower social classes, it more indicates an individual who lacks hope – is emotionally low. These negative emotions can result in challenging relationships, but we are supposed to cultivate them in the Lord.

We must grant that most of these “one another” scriptures are directly applicable to believers’ relationships between one another. The challenge is, are you treating other Christians with these attitudes?

• Are you seeking the word of God for answers on how you should deal with others and in your relationships with others?
• Are you treating people the loving way you want to be treated?
• Men, are you treating your wives the loving way you expect them to treat you?
• Are you taking for granted their forgiving heart and abusing their hospitality and tender spirits?
• Are you encouraging them through love to be more Christlike in their testimony?
• Ladies, are you challenging your husband in a loving way to be more Christlike in his testimony? Yes, men, I asked your wives to challenge your testimony when it needs a little correction. You married a helpmeet – not just to help you get things done in the house. You were supposed to be put together because you can better glorify God together than you can apart.
• Ladies, equally, the scripture expects you to make these challenges in a loving caring fashion just as you desire your husband to treat you. Do you address your husband’s rough edges with loving and gentle encouragement?
• Believers, do you treat every believer with the honorability due a soul quickened by the Spirit of God?
• Believers, do you avoid conversations with others that may bring another person’s testimony into question?

It matters what you desire. It matters what you do. It matters what the scripture says concerning both your desires and your testimony. Your communication, attitude and actions all make up your testimony. Do all the things that you do speak of pure dedication to Him? Do your actions make people see Christ in you? Christ treated people the same way He would want to be treated because it says to do that in the Law and the Prophets, and we know Christ was obedient because God was well pleased in Him. Will God say, “well done thou good and faithful servant” to you?

Last week we talked about asking, seeking and knocking. We saw “asking” in Matthew 7:7 (sermon here) tied to the changes our hearts must make to glorify the Lord in our lives and in our spirits. We found “seeking” to be a Christian’s desire to change for Christ where he would actively and purposefully pursue purity. Finally, when we looked at “knocking” we found that the door on which we knock may not be ready for us to enter. This develops for a number of reasons. First we may need to go back to ask and seek again – we need to change. Second, we may need to be patient on the Lord and wait for His timing and preparation. Third, we may find we walk through the door not only to help others, but also to further sanctify ourselves. We should recognize that there is no promise to change what is on the other side of the door. The promise is that the door will be opened. There is no promise tied to what will be revealed.

On the heels of this direction and hope for change, we find specific examples as to why asking results in receiving, seeking results in finding and knocking results in opening. Jesus tells us of the motivation of the Father in dealing with the changes we must undergo. We are encouraged that we too should have this motivation – to change and to care for others in their need to change.

In Matthew 7:9 we find Jesus using a little irony to make his point. This is not the only time this is used in scripture by our Savior. We find other examples of this in Luke 6:39 where Jesus makes the point that the blind cannot lead the blind. We also find this in a rather convicting passage, later in Luke 6, verse 46. Jesus says, “And why call me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” Ironically, many of us refer to Jesus as “the Lord” Jesus Christ but we struggle to implement His teachings in our lives. Jesus uses irony, therefore, to depict many of the most serious tenets of Christianity – namely submission, obedience to Him and to the Word of God.

I found the following illustration very interesting. Although it applies somewhat to last week, and probably more specifically to another message, its application is universal enough to apply even here.

Wallace E. Johnson once said,

“I always keep on a card in my billfold the following verses and refer to them frequently: Ask and it shall be given you: seek and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you: for everyone that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened (Matt 7:7-8).

“These verses are among God’s greatest promises. Yet, they are a little one-sided. They indicate a philosophy of receiving but not of giving. One day as my wife, Alma, and I were seeking God’s guidance for a personal problem, I came across the following verse which has since been a daily reminder to me of what my responsibility as a business is to God: Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth (2 Tim 2:15).

“Since then I have measured my actions against the phrase: A workman that needeth not be ashamed.”

Mr. Johnson was the President of Holiday Inns from its inception (began in his plumbing shed in 1953), until he became Vice President Emeritus in 1979.

I find this applicable today because without proper application, the verses from last week do appear to be one sided. We are looking for things for ourselves, even though they are changes in the heart. We also appear to be looking for these changes only so we can knock on a door of opportunity. When we look at our scriptures for this week, we find an illustration of why we have these great promises. In Mr. Johnson’s case, he found a dedication to properly understand and divide the word of God to address a personal problem. In our case, we should find a dedication to properly apply the changes in our hearts such that we can give others the best that Christ in us has to offer.

Looking therefore at our scriptures today, we first find a focus upon fatherhood that gives life-sustaining bread to a beloved son. We then find meat given to nourish us for growth and sanctification. Finally, we look at good gifts. These are gifts that even the sinner knows are truly good. They also know what would be considered evil. First, consider bread.

I. Bread not Stones (Verse 9)

One aspect of this message we must first address is the metaphors. We should define them. What does the man represent, who is the son, what is the bread and what is the stone? There are commentaries that explain the father in our passage today as our Father in Heaven. The problem is that the first verse directly addresses the men present at the time of the teaching. It states, “what man is there among you” where the word for “man” is specifically “anthropos” in the nominative. The subject of the verse, the focus of the action is the very men that Jesus addresses before him. We might try to assign Jesus’ comments directly to the Pharisees present, but that too seems too specific for the context here. It seems more appropriately applicable to those present in general. I could say to you here, which of you men in this sanctuary would give your son a rock if he requested bread?

This is clearly an illustration in commonsense to show us how we must go about asking, seeking and knocking. This illustration is meant to show us how commonsensical it is to ask God for help when helping other people. It is based upon the teaching we have just heard dealing with our hearts and the change needed in them to give to others. If we look at this scripture, then through the eyes of our teacher as He looks upon the multitude, we find the man is you and me having been given wisdom from our Father in heaven, after we asked Him and sought His counsel in the process of helping another. This is a Christian who can and will give loving assistance from the word of God when the door is opened that is being knocked upon. Therefore, man is a believer. Which one of you Christians would issue cold cruelty in answer to a request for life-sustaining counsel when someone’s heart is hurt, broken, torn or confused?

Who is the son, the one asking for bread? We could say it is the one asking for sustenance or life giving spiritual food or assistance. Whether beam or mote, this person has an issue that we are not supposed to judge, but to help solve. This is the son, a believer, asking for the bread of life and enlightenment or nourishment. Therefore, the bread is the life sustaining Word of God and a stone represents a hardened response to a needy request.

Christ tells us that, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matt 4:4). Scripture also says that Jesus is the living Word of God (Jn 1:14). When Jesus quoted this scripture to Satan at the temptation, He did so knowing how hateful Satan would be not only to Him, but to all who might trust in Christ for salvation. Satan regularly gives us stones instead of bread. This hateful and temptuous act of Satan has a parallel to what Christ is teaching us here. Jesus needed bread. He hungered. Satan gave Him stones. What man would do that? A man controlled by the wickedness of Satan bent upon destroying the Kingdom of God. A man attacking the very image of God (Gen 9:6). What man would give bread to feed when nourishment is needed? A loving and caring one who wants to help a fellow Christian gives bread, not stones.

If we ask for our hearts to change and seek that change, then we knock on the door and are invited in, we have been given bread to feed those on the other side when they ask for sustenance. Many times this bread is the change our own hearts have gone through before we go through the opened door. If you fathers will give bread and not stones to your children to eat, how much more life giving sustenance do you think your heavenly Father will give you? If your children come to you with questions concerning life, do you throw them away or dismiss them and their questions as a nuisance to you? On the other hand, do you try to answer their questions? Do you seek answers to their questions in the scripture and share that with them?

The eternal bread of life that resides in you is far more nourishing to a spiritually suffering individual than any stone the world has to offer their soul. This is how important asking, seeking and knocking is. We must ask for enlightenment and seek it in the Word – the bread to give to others. The bread that exists in Christians can be shared. We often do not know how to share the wisdom of Christ, and we often do not know the actual wisdom that He gives to us for others. The answers to those things come in asking and seeking. Regardless, the loaves of bread we have give new hope and life to the soul that is in need. Custer makes this point as well:

“Every normal father will provide food for his hungry children. Is God something less than a good father? No, He is a supremely great heavenly Father, who can provide all things for His dear children. But the timing and the nature of the gifts must be left in His hands. Sometimes His children ask for cake when they really need spinach! The vitamins are more important that the flavor.”[i]

If a loved one asks for food to feed their bodies, we give them food. What mother does not say, “Eat your vegetables”? The most loving mothers make sure their children eat those foods that are best for them and shun as much junk food as possible. Regardless, the most careless mother knows what is best for their child whether they force the child to do what is right or not. Equally, fathers know what is good for children, whether they provide it or not. If our God is a God of love, He will always do the most perfect and loving thing for us even if it is to give us spinach when we do not like it. This bread is not a morsel, not just a piece, not a slice, or any such thing – but a whole loaf. God gives what our lives need in abundance, not piecemeal.

It may be appropriate now to point out the continuing effect of asking, seeking and knocking. We mentioned this briefly last week but only in conjunction with the door not opening. Scripture uses words that indicate persistence. We continue to ask, seek and knock until the door is opened to us. Where we do see Christian brothers or sisters in need, we must ask for and seek a resolution. We continue to gently (meekly, humbly) knock on the door and wait for it to open.

What loving believer among you, when asked for bread, would give a stone? Christians are always ready to help other Christians. We should go the extra mile for one another. We should seek to give what we can, when we can, to the one who asks for it. In some cases, we Christians being ready to help other Christians should not pursue those opportunities, but wait for them to come to us because brothers and sisters in Christ will ask. This is effectively knocking on the door and not forcing our way in. This can be the beam and the mote issue as well. We should not be so eager as to grab at that speck in another’s eye while we do not consider our own heart first. True believers know they have failures and faults and they will ask for help. Loving believers will be patient and longsuffering. We must wait upon these folks and not judge their actions inappropriately. Be ready with the bread of the word of God, not the stones of judgmentalism and rushing to help when not welcomed. Ask, seek and knock – and when the door is opened to you, be ready with good nourishing bread.

Though we see this commonsensical illustration repeated, there are some significant differences. Where bread provides many nutrients for the body, it does not provide protein for continued strong muscle use. What is the fish and the serpent?

II. Protein not Poison (Verse 10)

Jesus, being God, would know everything there is to know about the body’s proper nourishment. He would also know everything there is to know about a serpent’s poison and disposition. Again, we have to define the metaphors. What does the fish represent? What does the serpent represent?

In many languages, there are specific distinctions between kinds of fish. Certain words are used to indicate fish with scales, fish without scales, fish prepared to eat, fish still alive, etc. In attempts to understand this scripture, some commentators have pointed out that some fish look like serpents (long and slender). We might find this in Barracuda or locally in Wyoming, we find Musky and Pike. Both of these fish have very sharp and large teeth like the serpent’s fangs. Unfortunately, none of these fish exists in the Sea of Galilee. Some fish exist there such as a certain catfish that may appear serpent like, except it has a fin running the length of its body, top and bottom. They also have no teeth. Their dorsal and pectoral fin spines can sting you, though. Still, this fish is not easily substituted or confused for a snake. The fish would also have small scales which are considered unclean. Only fish with large scales were permitted to be eaten or considered “clean” by Jewish Kosher standards. Yet, other commentators have attempted to compare the fish in this verse to an eel. Once again there is a problem of acceptability for consumption. Eels have very tiny or no scales. Fish without scales (eels for instance) are not considered Kosher and would never be requested. The answer must lie elsewhere.

The word used for fish here indicates something far different than a type of fish. It more represents a fish at a certain stage. The word “ichthus” more indicates a fish that is ready and prepared for consumption than it does a type of fish such as a bluegill, sunfish or bass. This fish may already be skinned, filleted and may even be cooked but certainly it is intended for immediate nourishment. The indication here is that the fish is good and intended as such. The opposite is true of the snake, it is bad and intended as an insult or injurious thing.

The snake on the other hand has always represented as cunning and crafty, sly, not at all representative of godly wisdom. Hypocrites are called snakes. The serpent is regarded by the Jews as the devil. Though it could reference poisonous snakes as well, the indication is the same – it is deceitful that one would request something they could readily eat to relieve hunger and receive instead something that is wickedly and thoughtlessly dangerous such as a poisonous viper or asp.

Once again continuing in our instruction, if a loved one requests counsel, they need good nourishment. Give them this good counsel or even loving comfort. Prepare them protein rich fish and serve it to them. Be a loving brother or sister in Christ. We must not shy from these opportunities. Our Father will give us all that is needed to feed our brothers and sisters in Christ. We can give only what we are given; however that is always sufficient and abundant. The counsel that feeds the soul must be practical and applicable as well as directly usable for the individual. This counsel should be ready to consume. We are to give this good counsel, protein like nourishment for the mind and soul to those who seek it.

The serpent therefore is deceptive counsel focused upon guiding someone to destruction or even poisoning and hurting them in some way. A Christian counselor who may recommend reading secular book is a perfect example. Only the Word of God promises not to return void, but to do that which it is intended (Is 55:11). We are not supposed to give false guidance or personal thoughts that could lead a believer down a false road to destruction. We are not to bite back at them for their problem either. The asp and viper bite simply when annoyed.  We should not treat our brothers and sisters to the biting comments of the viper or asp, but give them good nourishing food from the very word of God to digest in their souls.

III. Common sense and good gifts (Verse 11)

The Lord moves to directly involve all of the people present on the mount. The “you” indicating “you and me” is a nominative. You people, being evil as you are, know how to give good gifts. “Good” here refers back to the bread and fish. We provide our children good, healthy food because we want the best for them. This is simply a statement expecting affirmation. We can almost hear the crowd mumble to themselves, “that just makes sense, we all do that.” There are other things in this verse too that point to basic commonsensical knowledge.

A very interesting word used here is the word we find translated “know.” Once again, this is not head knowledge or school taught wisdom. This is our word “oida” or our heart, our spiritual knowledge and intuition. You know in your heart how to give good gifts, even though you are evil to the core.

The capacity for good gifts is within you just as much as the evil that dominates there. We know what is right inherently, just as we are inherently evil in our being. We know what is good, just as we know what is bad and have a predisposition to do that bad thing.

If we know what good gifts we are supposed to give to our children, even though we are inclined to do evil, how much more is our heavenly Father, who is only inclined to do good, going to give good things to us when we request them? What a wonderful promise this presents then, when we place these things into perspective.

Our Father in Heaven can only give good things to us for His service. He will never give us a serpent’s tongue, or the poisonous, venomous words of a viper or asp. Our Father in Heaven will never give stones to those who need bread. He would never attempt to deceive us or trick us into doing His will, but would always lead us to the truths in His word for our lives to fulfill His will.

If we ask, seek and knock, God will always give us what we need, even if it is broccoli when we want potatoes and gravy. Ladies and gentlemen, God is good as much as He is light and love (Ps 73:1; 1 Jn 1:5; 4:8). God loves to give us good things that enlighten our hearts to His understanding. In Matthew 15:16-20 Jesus is explaining the parable of the blind leading the blind and falling into the pit. He tells Peter that it is not what goes in man’s mouth and heart that is the problem, but what comes out again that creates problems. God can give you all the wisdom of the world, but if you do not ask His assistance and truly seek His truth to implement that wisdom, then when you knock on the door you will give stones and snakes to those that open to you.

Knowing this now, it should not surprise us to know that the parallel passage in Luke (11:13) talks not of “good gifts,” which we might easily misconstrue as some material possession, be it food, clothing or Hot Wheels cars. Instead, Luke uses the words “Holy Spirit.” How much more will the children of God receive from your heavenly Father the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him in support of children in need on earth? It is not a gift of food that is discussed here, any more than it was simple prayer in last week’s study. This is a serious spiritual change that is going to be imparted upon the believer for a specific purpose, to a specific end and to help another believer also engage in a serious spiritual change.

The parallel passage in Luke also uses an egg and scorpion in a parallel to verse 10 above. Again, the best way to understand this is that one is plainly acceptable, while the other (wholly different) is simply wicked, evil, poisonous and quite thoughtless in application. One provides for being fed well and is reasonable – it is the egg of a hen. The word specifically means this type of egg not an egg of a snake or any other, but one which is edible. The other is not only inedible, but without credibility, likeness or function to that which is requested. One might say, “Can I have some food,” to which the evil one responds, “Here is toxic waste, but it will work.”

Give your loved ones in Christ the best you can by first seeking God’s strength and guidance in providing counsel, assistance or just Christian love and support. Regardless of what is requested, ask, seek and knock on the door and use the bread and fish you have been given to feed the soul of your brothers and sisters in Christ.

For what, my Christ,
Was Godhead rent?
You–one of three–
His own blood spent
On Calvary.

What paradox!
Most glorious made
When by One owed
A debt was paid
And life endowed.

Such satisfaction,
Dearly bought–
Oh may my erring heart
Be taught a more
Obedient part.

For not a lifetime
Could have earned–
No, not ten lifetimes
Could have learned–
REDEMPTION!

Yet you, dear Christ,
In moments knew
My total shame;
The nails passed through
My debt by name.

~Sarah Jinright

(used by permission)

Last week we discussed the dog and the swine. Before that, we talked of the beam in one eye compared to the speck in another. We identified a speck as possibly being the remnants of a beam. There is one spiritual application of this that we should all understand. Any unbeliever that tells a believer how to live has a beam in their eye. The believer may very well have beams too, but unbeliever’s lost condition is a beam that regularly beats the believer in the face. Whether dog, swine or just needing the gospel to be converted, the unbeliever has a beam that regularly disrupts the life of the believer.

Another aspect of this analogy that we did not cover is that Jesus is talking about a singular beam and speck focused upon a specific challenge. Truly, if we looked at our lives objectively and compared them to scripture, we would have enough Douglas fir sticking out of our face to build a new three-story log cabin. None of us has just one beam or even one type of beam. Further, none of us has just one speck, if we have a speck. Many misconstrue their personal beams as specks. Only in the spiritual world can a bit of saw dust become a 2x12x16 pressure treated (to make it long lasting, we would not want it to deteriorate in our eye now would we, that would be annoying) floor joist. We so often find this happens though when dealing with our worldliness. We can make a mountain out of a molehill without really trying at all.

Today we move to a solution to these problems. We find ourselves faced with several questions:

• How do we judge not?
• How do we deal properly with others?
• How do we not make that speck into a beam?
• How do we identify the dog and swine?
• How do we distinguish them from the rest of the world?

The answer to all of these things, in a nutshell, is something so simple that no one ever does it in earnest. Everyone fails at it. No one really has a prayer life like Polycarp who is said to have had deep calluses on his knees. We pray.

Please look at Matthew 7, verses 7 and 8. The simplest things elude us so frequently we must often wonder how we make it through this life. The baseball player when, found to be making some fundamental mistakes, is urged to “go back to the basics.” The Christian likewise, must be urged to do the same. When we fail in our testimony to others, we automatically attribute it to their heart. What about our prayer life? A lack of prayer may very well be a symptom of a far greater heart issue. Still, we need to go back to the basics. How were you saved in the first place? Every one of us who is saved has at one point bowed to the Lord Jesus and begged Him to save us from our sins. Every Christian has, at one point, prayed for salvation, calling upon the name of the Lord to be saved (Rom 10:13).

Once again we come to a piece of scripture that many say is detached from the subject of all that was before. I have seen this passage depicted in movies, where Jesus speaks as He is walking among the crowd on the mount. Alert, He is supposed to be sitting (Matt 5:1). Further, it is depicted as a loving, caring and sensitive moment of encouragement to pray for things in life, and God will provide them. Theatrically Jesus is always speaking to the depraved, indicating they just need faith for survival. This passage has been used pejoratively by the atheist for millennia. The subject has not changed – help others properly but first look at yourself.

Many see this passage as a golden promise for answered prayer. It is that; however, it is much more as well. If we limit this passage to things which we might think we want to ask God for, we remove the whole point in Jesus’ sermon. I am going to take a little different direction with respect to what we should be praying about according to His Sermon on the Mount.

Once again, review of a few ideas is in order to encourage our understanding.

1. Chapter and verse divisions are not divinely appointed. Many believe they are, but they are not. For instance, many suspect that the first to introduce this type of division for the Old Testament was the Babylonians during the captivity in 586BC. The five books of Moses were divided into 154 sections. It was later grouped into 54 sections with over 600 subdivisions for reading. For the New Testament, the Council of Nicea in AD 325 divided it into paragraphs. However, it was not until after Jerome (347-420 AD), an Antiochian priest, translated the entire Bible (Old and New Testaments, Hebrew and Greek texts), into Latin (language of the Roman Empire), did we have one large book in a single language. Then, the Archbishop Stephen Langton (1150-1228 AD) actually divided the text into the scheme we use today. The numbering system used for your scriptures was developed only 800 years ago.
2. Manuscript writing was not done in paragraph and sentence form all the time. Manuscripts were solid masses of words that were many times just continuously written without breaks or spaces. Many times, they were in all capital letters.[i] I have taken the liberty of posting some images of those manuscripts. As you can see, they can be very difficult to read.[ii]

Epistle of Paul ca. AD 180-200, BP II (P46) bifolia 15v and 90v - Letter to the Romans 1:13-22 and letter to the Colossians 1:5-12.

The first example, an epistle of Paul dated 180-200 AD, you can see, seems to come from a book. This is the Chester Beatty Papyrus codex of the Pauline Epistles,which is the earliest book of Saint Paul’s letters in existence. It bifolds and has a center line. It also looks like the margins line up as well. You notice that all the edges are severely tattered. Look at the writing though. It is all block letters and runs continuously. This was from a codex, which was the first book or bound form of putting pages together. These pages are from completely different books. One is from Romans 11 and the other is from Colossians 1. It is rather like taking a page out of the middle of a book where that page is one sheet of paper but was printed page numbers 12 on one side and 25 on the other. Our Lander Journal, as are most newspapers is printed this way with large contiguous sheets.

A single page of what is known as P66 (papyrus 66). Bodmer Papyrus (P66, P72-75).

The second picture is a single sheet of another manuscript. The Bodmer Papyrus is a collection of approximately fifty Greek and Coptic manuscripts was purchased by M. Martin Bodmer of Switzerland in 1955-56, and has been dated around 200 A.D   This is part of the gospel of John. This has much the same characteristics as the letter of Paul and clearly displays the all capital letter printing of the time as well as the large block of continuous printing. There is also little or no punctuation involved. Most punctuation is the same in Greek as it is in English. Periods are periods, commas are commas but colons and semi-colons are a dot raised to the middle of the line and a question mark is a semicolon instead of our traditional “?.”

A Greek Papyrus Manuscript fragment Egypt, Roman Period c. 1st century AD Homer - Glossary to book IX of the Iliad.

In the third example, we see a very worn specimen. This is not part of scripture though we have fragments like it that are copies of many epistles. This is a Greek papyrus that is a part of a legal document provided to Sarapion, governor of the southern nome of Sebennytos. It is from the first century and really is only a piece of a glossary. This was a citizen’s grievance filed with the Governor. Again, it is somewhat clear that mostly caps were used to write and depending upon penmanship, it was somewhat legible.

A single page CODEX Vaticanus - columnar hand printed copying. Whole Bible except for Genesis 1:1-46:2 and ends abruptly at Hebrews 9:14 lacking also 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon and Revelation.

The final example is from a very famous Codex, Codex Vaticanus. It contains a complete copy of the scriptures except the first part of Genesis, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon and Revelation. This is obviously a more organized book and even here we note some corrections in the margins. It still displays the capitol block lettering as normality during the day. There are more spaces for sentence structure apparent, but still no divisions of paragraphs, chapters or verses.

When we come to a passage then, we have to make some decisions concerning the breaks in the words for paragraphs and understand that some of those breaks, and especially the chapter and verse breaks, are quite subjective. In Sunday services an additional handout was given to the congregation. These two sheets are from the same book essentially. One is electronic, one is hardback. They both have different paragraph separations.[iii] This is caused by one of two things. First, the paragraph separations can be subjective even within the same versions. We can see this in the examples of manuscripts we have passed out that are simply blocks of text. The writers did write with cohesion, thought and organization. There is sentence structure and paragraph thought division, but the separation of these exact thoughts is still determined by the translator who is human and therefore somewhat subjective. Second, it could simply be a mistake in the transference of the edition from one form to another – printed to automated. Whatever the case may be, it shows man makes mistakes or judgments that may change appearance, but should not change the original intent.

Asking, seeking and knocking is not just about prayer for things, it is about prayer to change the heart. We may think we have been brow beaten into submission to change for Christ. Many in fact say this is the problem with Christianity – that it concentrates too much on what horrible people we are, and on prohibitions or restrictions if you will. That is why we frequently see promises in scripture such as, “ask and it shall be given to you, seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” and we run with it like a gleeful child with a new toy. The truth is, great scriptural promises are truths we should lean on, but this is still about changing your heart not your social status, level of success or checkbook balance. Many have struggled to balance the promises in this very scripture with the truths of life. Pray for a million dollars and see if it comes. It probably won’t. Like the whining child we say, “But the Scripture says,” and we go through contortions to justify it, as if to say, “Well, that was just not God’s will for you.” If we take the promise and twist it, it certainly will not fit God’s will either.

Some questions we could ask (and this will not be an exhaustive study) are:

1. Is this context driven?
2. Is there a change in subject?
3. Does there appear to be some reason Jesus is moving from one focus to another.
4. Is there solid evidence for His movement?
5. Could this be a transitional point where Jesus is moving from an introspective focus to a more general discussion about our spiritual life?

The answers to these questions are found in studying the scriptures before and after verses 7-8 to see if there is any connection.

Having already reviewed verses 1-6, we need only look at the scriptures which follow. Looking briefly at verse nine, we find that Jesus is again pointing to the heart of man. In verse nine He asks the rhetorical question, “What man is there of you, who if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?” Verse 10 is of the same illustrative material. It addresses the heart of a man who will love his family and not treat them with evil, but rather give them the things that are good for them. This is still a challenge: to look at our hearts and see others with a level of understanding correlated to our own propensities. If this is the case, there is no reason that our Savior would jump to a new subject amid the oration He is giving. We will look at verses seven and eight in this light – we are still considering our own hearts in light of the issues being discussed. We first ask, seek and knock on doors that address the issues in our hearts before we look at others with judgmental eyes bulging with beams that may browbeat people.

I. Ask, seek, knock (Verse 7)

Many times we look at things, read things and re-read things and they seem to say, clearly, what every one else says they say. For instance, I agree with everyone who reads this passage that it is about prayer, talking to God, asking things of Him, seeking the answers to questions and knocking on doors of opportunity. However, in those general terms, man frequently branches out from there to be all inclusive, and I have to disagree based on our brief analysis of verses 1-6 and 9-10, as well as the overall tenor of the Sermon on the Mount that begins with “Blessed are the poor in spirit…” First some scriptural basics.

The words “ask,” “seek” and “knock” in verse seven are all imperatives. These are commands. It is good, generally, to ask for, seek and knock on the doors of opportunity for Christ. This scripture commands us to ask for, seek and knock on the doors that will change our hearts, help others through testimony or just develop us into better servants of God. This is the focus of this passage.

We mentioned before the idea of going back to the basics. That has been the focus of the entire introduction – back to the basics of salvation and back to the basics of the Word of God. When we go back to our salvific basics, we first asked God to save us, we sought His Son for salvation, we knocked on the door to heaven and asked to be let in through the shed blood of Christ. It is in and through this shed blood that our dead works are cleansed and we may serve the living God (Heb 9:14). We ask for our sins to be cleaned white as snow (Is 1:18). Jesus here is saying we should do this again, and again, and again. This is not asking and seeking Jesus for salvation, but for Christian living – to change us into Christians more and more. The prayer Jesus refers to here asks God’s forgiveness for our sins, seeks His great grace and love for everyday spiritual and physical existence, and knocks on the door for opportunities to witness of Him.  This is the focus of this passage and what Jesus is encouraging.

The passage is obviously talking about prayer. The passage is imperatival in nature, commanding us to pray. It does not say specifically what to pray for; context demands that prayer here is for our Christian heart to change. We are to ask to not be judgmental, to seek the beam in our own eye, and to knock on the door to help others, not shove it open. It could for instance say, “Ask for God to change your heart, seek the removal of the beam from your eye and knock on the door of opportunity to help others, and that door will open to you” but it does not say that. However, in context where we are discussing introspective spiritual self-assessment, we must conclude that this is exactly what Jesus is encouraging us to do.

We must ask God to give us a new heart (Psalm 51:10). We have established in prior studies that a new heart exists within the believer that is alive and able to hear the Holy Spirit urging change within (Jn 7:38; 16:8-11), and He sanctifies or changes us to become Christlike (Rom 15:16; 1 Cor 6:11). Even the saved soul falls to temptation, and commits sin. The change we ask for and seek to implement is the same repentance that David seeks in Psalm 51. We too should seek this clean heart to change us. We must tap into His power in our lives for the balance of boldness, love and self-discipline (2 Tim 1:7). Properly attuned to the Holy Spirit in prayer, asking specifically for our hearts to change, we can seek opportunities to be bold in witness and testimony, therefore knocking on the doors of opportunity in Christ, for Christ.

Ask God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit to reach into your heart and change you. Seek that change at every opportunity. Knock on the doors of opportunity but do not barge through them with wild abandon. There is a rather unique thing about large, long boards. If you have ever carried one on your shoulder, you will understand where I am going. If you try to go through a doorway with a long board on your shoulder, unless you do it carefully and are very mindful of that board the entire time, you will hit the wall either in front or behind or both. I am sure many of you have experienced running right into a door before too. It stops you, and sometimes it hurts. Knock gently, lovingly and carefully on those doors of opportunity.

We learn again a very interesting truth now in verse eight. If we are first to ask for God’s help with our own heart, then we are to seek the true change that is needed in our heart (this is the really tough part by the way). Finally, we look to love others with the things we learn though our changed heart.

II. Having asked, sought, and knocked (Verse 8)

Once we have asked, sought and knocked, we have to wait. Doors do not immediately open to our calling. There are things on the other side that need preparation.

Have you ever visited someone and, when you arrived and knocked on the door, you heard major hustling and bustling behind it? That is because although you knocked, the environment on the other side of the door was not ready for you. You might even stand there and think, “I wonder what they are doing in there?” How often has your mind wondered to the negative? “Are they doing something in there they would be ashamed of?” In the extreme, there is this one, “Are they axe murders and are trying to get rid of the evidence real quick?” The bottom line folks is that the space on the other side of the door is not ready for you, so stop all the imagination and get with the program of asking, seeking and knocking. God does the same thing. We can be all ready to walk up to that door and apply our knuckles to the wood, or rap the door knocker or whatever is there; but God may not have finished preparing what is on the other side so, back off! Be patient. You may hear all kinds of strange noises going on, even some chainsaws running wild, but don’t let your imagination get the best of you.  Just let God do the work. In fact, it may be a good time to “go back to the basics” again and ask for more heart adjustments. Seek again that change because it may not have properly taken to your heart the first time. The change you requested may very well not have taken root.

By the way, at this point when you are knocking, you should already have asked and sought. The beam in the eye is the individual running up to the door and rushing through it without the appropriate preparation. Jesus is talking of other things now, not just our over zealous attitude to fix others. He is telling us there is not just looking at yourself, but downright preparation in yourself that needs to take place, and He has to have time to work. Yes, God is sovereign and could affect the change with a spoken word. However, the testimony of God’s word is that He prefers to work though the will of man. What a glorious God we have that can work with something so messed up, confused and ever changing as man’s will to affect His perfect end. Though He can complete His work whether you barge in through the door or not, God here gives you the opportunity to first ask about yourself, seek to change yourself and politely knock on the door to help others.

Equally, after having asked and sought, the door does not have to be about others. How many have thought of this possibility? Consider a beam’s-worth of problems that is in your own eye. That beam can be chopped off right at the base, no problem. However, we normally grow gradually, we normally mature gradually, and we normally change gradually for Christ. That is how we are sanctified. Sanctification is a process by which God the Holy Spirit makes us pure, holy and more separated unto Him on earth in preparation for heaven (Rom 15:16). If we ask in truth and seek Christ in truth, then we admit knocking on the door truthfully can be just as much about us than it can be about someone else.

The question for everyone here today is, are you truly asking God to change you. Jesus’ sermon begins with the promise of contentment with a poor spirit because of a promised inheritance in the Kingdom of Heaven (Rom 6:23b). This is done first at salvation where we ask God to save us, seeking His Son for salvation and knocking on the door to heaven. There is contentment in mourning as we receive comfort from the Holy Spirit concerning our empty condition (Jn 14:16-18).  Contentment in meekness originates from knowledge that there is earthly inheritance (Ps 37:11). Those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, will be satisfied and experience great contentment (Gal 5:16-23). Christians seek the pure righteousness of God; their souls crave it as a great delicacy in the feasts of heaven. The merciful will receive the mercy they request. Exercising forgiveness (Matt 6:14) in life provides for this mercy and results in reciprocation. Seeking the mercies of God becomes a byproduct of giving mercy. Knocking on the door of mercy may not always result in merciful situations, but when one begins with the mercy of a poor spirit, they have great potential to receive mercy from even the haughtiest of spirits. Asking for a pure heart as David did in Psalm 51 provides for the revelation of God. God is revealed in purity, and in activities that encourage purity. Finally, asking for the strength to encourage peace gives contentment as we seek peaceful ends to all situations in our lives. Our hearts are humbled to produce these ends and the doors to the ends are opened as our hearts are changed for Christ.

Ladies and gentlemen let me encourage you to ask for heart change regularly and always before you approach a door of opportunity to witness or testify to another about heart changes you recognize that they need. Let me encourage you to first seek the heart change in yourself that you suspect they need by seeking God in prayer about these very things. Finally, when you have sought the humility of God’s purity and righteousness in your own heart, knock on the door of opportunity for change either for you, or for the brother or sister in Christ about whom you are so concerned. You never know, the Lord may have you both in mind. The scripture says, “For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” We might say, for every one that honestly asks for heart change, receives it; and he that seeks those things that will change his heart will find them; and to him that knocks on the door to change hearts, it will be opened.

[ii] The preface from the translators to the readers of an early 1611 version reads, “A man may be counted a virtuous man, though he have mad many slips in his life, (else there were no virtuous, for in many things we offend all,) also a comely man and lovely, though he have some warts upon his hand, yea, not only freckles upon his face, but also scars. No cause therefore why the word translated should be denied to be the word, or forbidden to be current, notwithstanding that some imperfections and blemishes may be noted in the setting forth of it. For whatever was perfect under the sun, where Apostles or apostolick men, that is, men endued with an extraordinary measure of God’s Spirit, and privileged with the privilege of infallibility, had not their hand?” The 1611 translators admit their human frailties can affect a translation, but it will not change the Word of God.

[iii] Note to the web reader: in services, this paper was passed in a protective cover. There was one blue and one white page in a single sleeve. The blue page was a copy of the Nestle-Aland 27^th edition Novum Testamentum Graece (New Testament in Greek) hardback book form showing chapter seven verses 1 through 19. On the reverse side was a white page. It was an excerpt from the Nestle-Aland 27^th edition Novum Testamentum Graece from Matthew much the same except it was taken from an automated copy with morphological tagging by William D. Mounce as it comes in Accordance® software for Mac®. This excerpt shows verses 7:1-11. Concentrating on the break at chapter seven verse seven, the hard back shows a paragraph separation, the automated copy does not. This could be a simple error in transposition from hardcopy to automated format. It also displays the decisions translators have to make to present material in a more readable fashion.

"Christians are spiritual beings. The rest of the world is not."

Introspection is a great thing when applied in a Christlike manner. When we look at ourselves through the prism of our Savior, we find that any light beam that emanates from us is tainted with black specks. Some of the light beams in fact may only emit dark hues of barely distinguishable color. That is why we need Jesus. If we see light beams from other believers that tend toward the darker side, we must approach this knowing the darkness we emanate as well.

We last discussed the issues dealing with introspection and identifying sins within ourselves before attempting to help others deal with theirs. Let me just say that the best way to help a beloved Christian brother or sister is through a testimony on how you yourself overcame a specific sin with the Lord. I pray you realize that when you have come through a difficult time your brother or sister can benefit from that – but only when it is conveyed in love. If you have come through a trying time, or a time of great sinful behavior where through the Lord you were delivered and not destroyed, that is a very comforting thing for others to know. However, it may just be a small speck or splinter and if you approach the situation inappropriately, you run the risk of making it a beam in the eye of another. You have a testimony, that is wonderful, and testimonies normally help others. The best testimony given to others in the wrong attitude or with an improper heart can hurt more than help. When a testimony is not desired, one should not give it. This is the road Jesus takes us down today.

Look at Matthew 7:6 please. Many wonder how this verse is connected to those above. Redactors[i] would say this is a break in the traditional recounting that was modified. However, with careful and proper application of the teachings in verses 1 through 5 we begin to understand the connection in verse six.

At first this scripture seems completely disconnected from the previous discussion. However, considering carefully what came before, this is further warning to be discerning, make the most of your witness and testimony. Trust your spirit which is under the influence of the Holy Spirit within you.

You may not have an opportunity to witness to someone as you think you should. I know I have waited with baited breath to say something to an individual and could not steer the conversation in the proper direction to save my life. I have purposefully gone to places and begun a conversation on spiritual things only to find that the individual was antagonistic, un-teachable or just as negative as they might possibly be. I have stood in doorways, on street corners and side walks talking to people with a clear and focused mind only to find that when the opportunity came about, the words left my mind without ever reaching my lips. I have also met stern and almost virulent criticism or ridicule for sharing Christ with people. All we have to say is, “Jesus died for your sins” and sometimes we cannot even get that out without a profane diatribe in retort.

As mentioned above, one must discern when their testimony will be beneficial or when it will be mocked, derided and ignored. There are times still when our testimony may fall prey to one of these wicked things by some, but others in the crowd may see it for what it is, purely of Christ (this assumes that the testimony is exactly that – of Christ).

I say all this because it is okay to both keep quiet and speak aloud. We are not talking about missing witnessing opportunities because you deny the Spirit as He tells you to go witness to this or that person. We are discussing turning down opportunities to share the gospel because the Spirit of God specifically tells you it is not worth your time.

I have described this to you before but it is the best example I can think of. My son Sean and I visited a Satanist once. He invited us back regularly. We talked, he listened, we debated and opened scripture and talked more. We went there for seven or eight weeks, I do not exactly remember. These folks were not changing their position or opinion, but they were not rude or destructive in their behavior. Regardless, as we continued to visit and communicate with this individual he would tell us about his continued participation in rituals. As I prayed about the situation more and more it occurred to me that we were being kept from other visits. In permitting this individual to consume all our time each week, we were not visiting others who may need just an encouraging visit, a prospective church member, or some person who needs the Savior. After talking about our time spent with them to our pastor, we agreed that we would cut off visits and go to visiting others. On the last week, we informed the individual of these facts and even discussed Satan’s using him to keep us from those other visits.

Our first order of business is to dismiss the indiscriminate manner in which we are often tempted to exhibit when giving the gospel. We have spoken many times during these passages of a Christian’s need to be discerning. None of the discussion of judgmentalism, none of the discussion concerning your own sin and being introspective, none of those things in any way should lend itself to an air of gullibility. Christians are spiritual beings. The rest of the world is not. Our spirits are enlivened, quickened to life by the Holy Spirit of God (Eph 2:1). You have a living spirit within you, both yours and the Holy Spirit of God (Rom 8:9). It is a discerning Spirit. This discerning Spirit can tell the difference between one who may be receptive and one who is not. For instance, you should never witness Christ to an individual who is inebriated or in a drug induced stupor. Their mind is wallowing in the mire of artificial influence. They cannot think straight and would likely have no comprehension of the conversation. Even if they had enough faculties to remember, they could, in their sinfulness, argue later that they were taken advantage of. They would be right. With that said, what are the main pieces of this passage? As we look at our scripture, we find dogs and swine, holy things and pearls and the wicked ones turning against you. First, dogs and swine and how they apply to this message.

I. Dogs and Swine

In the Levitical books, dogs and swine are unclean animals (Lev 11:1-8). Dogs in the time of Jesus were normally wild and ran in packs like our wolves here. They were not as dangerous, but they often ate carrion and other things. It is rather common knowledge in the west that coyotes will follow close to herds of cows and eat a nursing calf’s feces because it is full of the milk proteins of the cow. I know, gross, but it displays the “unclean” label given to dogs quite well. Phillips notes:

“Dogs are ready to devour anything, be it the choicest morsel or the filthiest offal.”[ii]

How true. If we relate this attitude to the spiritual world, the worldly are ready to intellectually consume anything, thinking that anything they take in can be beneficial regardless the content, intent or effect. This means they can go anywhere to be educated, just as much as they can view any amount of pornography or violence for entertainment. Like the dog in the time of Jesus, people of the world without His life changing salvation will “devour anything, be it the choicest morsel or the filthiest offal.” This individual would, in public desire to be seen as one who just wants to scrape out an existence while in private he enjoys all the sin this world has to offer. The dog is an individual who will patiently listen to your testimony for Christ, and even discuss things with you about your faith. Meanwhile, they are not personally interested in hearing of God, about His Son or the salvation available to them in Jesus. If you catch these people off guard, you will hear them telling other unbelievers (with whom they can really relate) how they had such a great time at a party getting drunk, indulging in immorality, or their plans to do so. They may ask you what scripture says about divorce and marriage, then once separation is official or the divorce papers are filed or completed they are immediately involved in another relationship regardless of your counsel. Their justification is that their spouse did so, or they finally have enjoyment in life. It is an opportunity to enjoy physical pleasure like the dog following the nursing calf to feed on feces. You should be aware that most of the world operates as the dog – they do not want you to know their true private life, while they want to appear civilized in public. These dogs believe you are the same way – Christian in public (and especially at church) but your private life is separate and ungodly. Dogs judge you based upon their own existence – as a twofaced hypocrite.

The swine is much the same, except where the dog operates on opportunity for consumption and will at times consume healthy things, the swine prefers to exist in the mire. Where the dog may appear somewhat kempt in their appearance, the swine could care less what they look like, they love the mire and wallow in it with wild abandon as it is their preferred lifestyle. Worldly folks in this category work, live, exist and bathe themselves in the corruption, slime, immorality, decadence and depravity of the world. They regularly share pornographic pictures and texts on their phones with others at work – especially if you are a Christian or may be offended because they like to shock you and seek, “that look on your face.” They not only take advantage of every vice, but do so without shame, without concern and plainly encourage others to imbibe as they publicly enjoy displaying their depraved minds. The swine may be that one individual you know for a fact is antagonistic toward Christ or the things of God. That one individual may never want to hear the name “Jesus” spoken from the lips of anyone. In our society today we have to be keenly aware of our work environment for witnessing and testimony. Where the dog may not only listen to a spiritual discussion, but may even seek one out just to be accepted or seen as a spiritual individual, the swine is not only uninterested but can be antagonistic. This individual would run immediately to management to report a religious infraction or breech of professional protocol. This would take place if a believer simply wanted to tell of their time at a men’s or woman’s retreat or even a special event at church where the gospel was presented and a soul saved for Christ. At the same time, they would have no qualms about reciting verbatim their sexual or drinking escapades over the weekend in the office whether it offended you or not. The hypocrisy of this is blatant to the believer. It is acceptable to testify of a degenerate lifestyle, but a holy lifestyle for Christ is personal and not supposed to be shared.

Dogs and swine are unbelievers who have no interest in the things of God. One may very well deride the other. The dog may very well call the swine uncivilized. The swine may call the dog dishonest and two-faced. Both are simply evil, lost and bound for destruction. We are admonished to make sure that we waste no time dealing with these folks. How do we discern this? It is not simple; in fact, it can be down right complex. I believe it boils down to the attitude an unbeliever has toward a believer’s testimony or witness. One has to admit that at a level the swine is right, no one can be that good. However, they do not see that the true Christian has an escape from his wickedness through Christ. They only see that, and quip, “we’re all sinners aren’t we…” which gives them license to indulge in their mire, and judge everyone else as disingenuous because they will not embrace their true self.

It is challenging but we have to remember that the unbeliever does not see their lifestyle as their faith, whereas the believer sees their faith depicted in our lifestyle. We must be aware of those around us that are the dog, simply wanting to be seen as tame in public, yet they regularly feed off of any carrion or refuse in private to nourish the flesh. If you witness to an individual and they seem truly to begin to or want to change their life, yet they are still feeding off the world’s filth, continue to give them hope but be on guard.

Be attuned to the swine who not only enjoys the world’s filth, but wears it on their clothes, on their body, and demands their rights to display their mire everywhere in an “accept me as I am” attitude. These same people will judge you quicker than a snake will bite. The swine wears worldly clothes, boldly displays the world’s marks upon their body, speaks worldly language, watches the best and the worst the world can offer and expects others to enjoy everything about this mire just as much as the swine himself does. They, in fact, think they are normal people, that they are better than others (like the dog) because they hide nothing of their debauchery. They justify that at least with them “what you see is what you get.” They would even call themselves moral, more so than the dog or especially the Christian, who would hide this evil part of themselves or seemingly deny what is truly in them.

The Christian knows the dog and swine within, but he also knows Christ and the Holy Spirit are within fighting off the wicked wretched heart that is naturally ours. The difference between the dog, swine and the Christian is that the first two will be condemned to eternal torment, while the third will be in eternal glory. Another glaring difference, and I pray you all grasp this, is that the capacity to be doggish or swinish remains inside you. Where the dog or swine have no capacity to deny their wretchedness, the Christian not only can deny it, but is keenly aware of this poor spirit and sees only the great humility they must have in their life. The poor spirit and humility are part of the holy pearls we can give.

II. Holy Pearls

Many feel that this passage deals specifically with the sacraments (see Clark’s Commentary).[iii] This misses the point of the discussion completely. There is no reference to sacraments, either the Lord’s Supper or Baptism, in this passage. This section of scripture deals first with introspection and looking at your heart. Later we discuss this attitude with respect to prayer. What are the dogs and swine of the world that we should not give what is holy to them?

Are these pearls salvation? Are pearls spiritual things? Are the pearls things we would hold in great value to us in our Christian life? Are the holy pearls life counsel that leads to godly living? The answer is yes to all questions. When we run into one of the two types of individuals, we can politely answer any questions they may have and relate to them the things they ask, but we guard carefully the deepest spiritual things such as our convictions. Many times, our unique convictions can be turned right back against us and used as vicious ridicule. These convictions, if properly born from a deep and abiding relationship with God, are forms of worship (for instance, if we fast on a regular basis, or if we avoid or dislike certain television shows or movies). These decisions in our lives will find ridicule with the dog and the swine whether in private (the dog would gossip and judge in private) or in public (the swine would denigrate publicly) mocking any such conviction.

In the public sphere today it is quite common for Christians be labeled because they do not accept homosexual activity. Satan’s influence in the world is training the spiritually depraved to be more ungodly by ignoring passages such as Romans 1:26 and 27 as well as Leviticus 18:22. They call these homosexual-prohibitive passages out of date, out of the mainstream. The scriptures have not changed, people just want them to. Note, we are no longer called upon to accept the homosexual as a person, but the homosexual activity as a normal function of life. If we do not accept the activity, we are either bigoted or homophobic. Politically we call this tolerance doctrine, biblically we call this sin and the world’s acceptance, promotion, embracing and celebration of it. Spiritually speaking it is the swine saying accept my mire as normal or do not seek to accept me at all. How do we handle these things?

First, check your attitude. You can, as Paul so keenly reminds us, do evil easily as it is your natural bent to do so (Rom 7:15-18). We do that which is unnatural to us only because Christ is within us to inspire the activity. We are wretched creatures saved by grace. This is our first consideration. How does this apply to testimony? Is there a beam in your eye?

Even when you know you might do the same as a sinner, we should not be tempted to give in to doing sinful things or things we know would not honor God. Wesley notes:

“Yet even then, when the beam is cast out of thine own eye, Give not—That is, talk not of the deep things of God to those whom you know to be wallowing in sin. Neither declare the great things God hath done for your soul to the profane, furious, persecuting wretches. Talk not of perfection, for instance, to the former; not of your experience to the latter. But our Lord does in nowise forbid us to reprove, as occasion is, both the one and the other.”[iv]

Proverbs 25:12 is clear that wise counsel is a precious, valuable and holy thing. [v] Our salvation is an equally precious, valuable and holy thing. Neither of these should be handed out indiscriminately, but through a discerning spirit that seeks opportunities for witness and testimony, but also seeks wisdom and discernment in doing so.

III. Turning against you

In Jamieson Fausset and Brown, we find a more contemporary understanding of the scripture:

“Religion is brought into contempt, and its professors insulted, when it is forced upon those who cannot value it and will not have it.”[vi]

I have seen debates between atheists and believers where the atheist will, in the course of the debate, blaspheme God. If the believer were to attack the atheist, they would be labeled intolerant, hateful or just mean. We would do well to remember the complete reprobate will not heed your warning of their doom after this life. That individual is lost and may never be found. Of course, this is not our decision and we must obey the living Word of God’s commands to “go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mk 16:15). For the gospel is an antidote to the darkness of Satan’s power of death and condemnation (Rom 1:16). Equally Paul reinforces Christ’s teaching here in 1 Corinthians 1:18, where to those not elected by God, the gospel is a fool’s game. These poor souls do not believe in the power of God because God has chosen to delay their judgment. Because they either believe in nothing, claim to have nothing to believe in or choose only to believe in themselves. These individuals mock meek believers calling them weak. They mock those who appear timid (merciful). They mock a pure heart and a hunger or thirst for righteousness as foolish limitations, unwillingness, or fear of enjoying life to the fullest. When the lost are so steeped in their sin that they enjoy it, they call it “living every day as if it were your last” (Eccl 8:15; Is 22:13). They would prefer to drag others down into their pit of filth in order to justify their own existence. Their hearts are seldom capable of understanding the need for redemption. They are doing fine in their mind’s eye, and the more they can take with them, the better. The more that participate, the more proof that they are doing just fine. These folks regularly push their “morality” upon others, yet they cry foul like the spoiled child on the play ground if you mention your convictions to them.

The gospel of Christ will meet with stiff opposition from Satan’s little puppets. We have looked at some of those who are metaphorically described as dogs and swine in the scriptures. We also identified some of the holy pearls we possess that the fallen man cannot comprehend. Finally, as many of us have probably experienced, we looked at how the overtly wicked can turn the truth of the gospel of Christ against us, ridicule us, deride us and abuse us.

We do well to remember Colossians 1:5-6,

“5 For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel;  6 Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth:”

To the believer, these are sweet words of hope in Christ and His salvation. Do not waste time giving such holy hope to the dog or the swine of the world that prefers their temporal wretchedness on earth to heavenly eternity. Your continued efforts will simply infuriate them, and could be keeping you from a more profitable appointment.

Witness to the lost, but do so with spiritual discernment.

[ii] John Phillips, Exploring the Gospel of Matthew, An Expository Commentary, (Kregel: Grand Rapids, 1999), 124.

[iii] Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Whole Bible, Public Domain, text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library http://www.ccel.org Formatted and corrected by OakTree Software, Inc. ver 1.0 – link to Matthew 7:6. “As a general meaning of this passage, we may just say: “The sacrament of the Lord’s supper, and other holy ordinances which are only instituted for the genuine followers of Christ, are not to be dispensed to those who are continually returning like the snarling ill-natured dog to their easily predominant sins of rash judgment, barking at and tearing the characters of others by evil speaking, back biting and slandering; nor to him who, like the swine, is frequently returning to wallow in the mud of sensual gratifications and impurities.”

[iv] John Wesley, John Wesley’s Notes on the Whole Bible, Public Domain Derived from an electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library http://www.ccel.org Formatted by OakTree Software, Inc. Version 1.0

[v] Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Hole Bible Complete and Unabridged in one volume, (USA: Hendrickson, 1991), 1643. Note, [1.] Good counsel and reproof are a holy thing, and a pearl: they are ordinances of God, they are precious; as an ear-ring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, so is the wise reprover (Prov. xxv. 12)…

[vi] Jamieson Robert, Fausset, A. R., Brown, David. A Commentary Critical, Experimental, and Practical on the Old and New Testaments, Vol III. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Pub Co., 1973), 47. JFB goes further to discuss the proposed paradoxical confrontation in Mk 16:15 and 2 Cor 2:16. Plainly, we are to discern our opportunities to preach, teach and reprove. This is where the Proverbs 25 reference is specifically encouraging – to provide gold nuggets of wisdom to the fellow believer is to disburse pearls of holiness. However, the wicked of the world simply treat this wisdom with brute stupidity and blatant ignorance of the things of the spirit. As JFB goes further to say, “Whatever is taught in Scripture, for instance, about the corrupt nature of man, free justification, and eternal election, is turned by many into an encouragement to sloth and to carnal indulgence. Such persons are fitly and justly pronounced to be swine. Others, again, tear the pure doctrine, and its ministers, with sacrilegious reproaches, as if they threw away all desire to do well, all fear of God, and all care for their salvation.”

"This speck may be all that remains from a beam that once was there."

In opening this section of scripture last week we found our Lord being very pointed and specific in His chastisement of Pharisees and their judgmentalism. We should never take this as a discussion focused upon church leadership though. The Lord is pointing His comments to anyone who compares themselves to others especially when the first words are, “Well at least I didn’t…” Another famous one is, “I don’t see why they had to…” Another one is “I would not do it that way…” These attitudes display an air of arrogance and superiority. It is another form of comparing yourself with the Joneses. Instead of material possessions, the comparison is intellect or aptitude.

Take a look at Matthew 7:3-6 please. Truly, we could discuss this subject for Sunday after Sunday listing the multitudes of personal, social, behavioral and familial problems we all have. Every one of them is attributable to a sinful heart. In this case, it is a sinful heart inappropriately concentrating upon others to give themselves validity or boost their own personally perceived credibility. This is as if to say, “I may have some problems, but look at you.”

Christ, first spoke of our judgmental hearts, and the challenge we would have, attempting to measure up to even our own standard – let alone God’s. We would do well to remember that self deception rarely if ever exists without hypocrisy.[i] Now Jesus begins giving us more illustrative material to work with as we make decisions about what we think about people. The Jews themselves are a proud race. They have reason to be, as they are the chosen of God. In the military, I have seen first hand some of what they are capable of. It was well known that they would buy our most advanced aircraft and enlist a fleet of engineers to improve them. The Jewish people operate the same way now as they did then. These people were a proud race that improved much of what they dealt with for their own benefit.

The Pharisees were well known for their demand for exactness and perfection in worship and living. Again, we find Christ addressing them specifically, but the Jew in general is included in this teaching. The challenge given by Jesus here was one of first addressing personal heart issues within before being qualified to deal with heart issues of others. We are considering these verses in context with verses one and two – not being judgmental. What we have to face, and what the Pharisees would not face, is that our judgmentalism is normally based in personal knowledge. We know we do these things. Therefore, we are overly sensitive about others committing these same sins or exhibiting these same character flaws.

There is an old saying: “a skunk smells his own hole first.” The reason this was coined is because skunks stink, and they know they stink. They stink so much that their bodies and their dwelling are laced with the odor. Their homes reek of their scent. They smell the scent of their own stinky home first and, quite frankly, they prefer it.

This same thought process applies to behavior. Liars hate to be lied to because they smell their own lies in it. They know that if they lie that they can be lied to. They want the truth from people and demand it because they know why they themselves lie. Liars lie because they think it benefits them somehow. Therefore, if someone seems more credible, they must be lying. Those who seem more sensitive to lying are more likely liars but they prefer their own types of lies.

The arrogant despise arrogance. Many are just blatantly egotistic and cannot tolerate anyone challenging their own bumptiousness. Others do not like their arrogance and know it gets them into trouble. In either case, the arrogant one is looking out for themselves in their response to arrogance in others. Either they will not submit to any other authority that does not directly benefit their ego, or they know they have made mistakes and cannot trust those who seem confident in their own abilities. The arrogant believe that those who seem haughty must be egotistic and cannot be simply confident in themselves. The arrogant prefer their own flavor of pride.

Our Lord saw judgmental people who hated and spoke against judgmentalism. He also saw a group of people who were so in-tune with their own flaws, but too prideful or ashamed to admit them, that they overtly projected their flaws upon others. People tend to see their own flaws in others and attempt to correct them. The reason they do this is they know they are wrong and think they need to fix others. The problem is that people cannot fix something from which they are presently struggling. To succeed you should study the successful. Pharisees preferred their own judgmentalism.

The Pharisees should have been the most humble and understanding people around. They knew how wicked man’s heart can be and they regularly studied how gracious and loving God is. Unfortunately, they thought themselves better than everyone else because they had the time to regularly practice their self-imposed righteousness. A healthy perspective involves first looking at one’s self. That is the first mistake the Pharisees made – not giving themselves a heart checkup before judging others. Our sinful heart naturally compares us to others to provide some credibility in life. This is one aspect of our sinfulness that the Pharisees lost track of and with which they failed to credit their own heart.

Let us look at the way the Lord brings these issues to light. This section of scripture is mostly a section that brings awareness. In the following weeks we will discover how our Savior advises we react to the judgmental attitude in the “I can fix it,” or “You just need to do it my way” crowds of the world. Many call them elitists. Where this week we see the clear problem with the sin filled heart that is untamed by the Holy Spirit, and how that heart is hindered from helping the soul; in the next few weeks, we will look at the Christian response to the worldly and arrogant. First, we have to look at ourselves. Christianity is very much about introspection; mirror time if you will.

I. Look at yourself first (Verse 3)

The main words that concern us in this passage are “karphos” and “katanoeō.” The first word is a noun and means a very small piece of wood. This is not sawdust, but an irritating piece of wood like a splinter. The word can also mean a speck but most of the uses are indicative of an irritant. I had a karphos the other day. When we were camping this last week and I was cutting up some firewood, I grabbed the end of a log that had been cut down. This end was the end that appeared to be directly connected to what was now the stump of the tree. It had been cut in a “V” to fall in a specific direction. When you cut a tree down that way there is always a small portion of the tree in the middle that breaks off. As I grabbed the end of the tree, I felt a little stab in my hand. I thought nothing of it at the time, but the next morning I found that I had ripped the skin and that it was irritated. When we got home and I dug out the splinter, I was amazed to find how tiny it really was. I had a splinter that was but a speck of wood in my hand. The speck was no larger than a single piece of sawdust. It was but a speck, but the wound had already grown to be aggravated even just over night. The “mote” that is being discussed here is extremely tiny and one would need to look very closely to find it. It is, however, an irritant to the individual who has it. It is only slightly noticeable to those around them. Just as the sliver in my hand was only an irritant to me, but others can see the red spot on my hand clearly. Others may have wanted to fix my problem, but it was my problem to fix. The only reason someone thinks they can fix it is because they see there is an irritation there. They do not know what it was from or the circumstances under which it was developed; but they think it is an easy thing to pluck out so, they dive in and push to correct the issue.

People do this all the time with personal issues. Overlooking the grossest faults in ourselves and identifying the slightest fault in others is a regular habit for people.[ii] Karphos takes on other forms such as disobedience, pride, not regularly worshiping, rude behavior, even financial mismanagement. One might argue that these things can affect others, but the true victim is the perpetrator. Disobedient children suffer in punishment. Disobedience at work can result in termination of employment. Not regularly worshiping brings God’s chastisement upon an individual. Rude behavior results in loneliness as people shun the perpetrator’s company. Financial mismanagement results in long-term emotional distress and a level of servitude. When a brother or sister jumps into the middle of something private in the life of another believer, they had better do so carefully and lovingly and first look to make sure their own karphos is removed or in the process of being removed.

Asking people if something is wrong or if you can help is one thing. That leads to a request for advice. That request can be met with careful experiential counsel based in how a brother or sister removed their own personal karphos, irritant, splinter or mote. Although there is a loving way to confront people with very visible irritants in their lives, if we presume to want to tell others how to fix their problems by pushing yourself upon others, we often do more damage than good.

Our second word is a verb. The word “katanoeō” we see as “considerest” and has four different flavors. First, it can mean we discover something while we think about and observe a series of events or things. This is easily illustrated in building a model train track. We can see where the two trains are going to collide and which one reaches there first by their speed and relative location. Second, katanoeō can mean contemplation. This is when someone gives careful thought or considers many angles to a specific matter. Third, it can mean that a decision is made about these considerations. One concludes then, when thinking about a certain subject, idea or theory. Finally, it can mean we come to a proper, accurate, clear and definite understanding of something. The “light bulb” comes on.

When we put these two things together (karphos and katanoeō), then we have a tiny speck that others can see, but only irritates the person with the speck. This speck is noticeable, but only understood when carefully considered. Also, removing the irritating speck is not a simple operation, but one that must be done carefully and thoughtfully.

The second part of our verse is focused upon the individual who sees another with this irritating speck. They seem to be moved to help remove the splinter somehow. Unfortunately, compared to the “beam” they have protruding from their eye, this tiny speck is nothing. Since the speck requires careful thought and observation to remove, the question is, how can one even entertain helping another when the magnitude of their own problems creates a hindrance to their view.

In life today we find the psychologist, sociologist or secular counselor who has been divorced any number of times giving advice on how to have and maintain a successful marriage. These same kind of trained professionals with no children or with completely rebellious children give child-rearing advice. Homosexual counselors advising heterosexual individuals on how they should live is another blatant illustration of those who have beams in their eyes. Spiritually speaking, families with children who have walked away from the faith pushing their “experienced advice” on those with children is a challenge. A great disparity exists when a Christian seeks counsel from a secular institution about spiritual issues. When it comes to requirements for services, that is one issue; but to think that a lost individual can advise the Christian about how to improve their life is altogether another issue. In this case we see the Pharisees.  These individuals are not walking in faith themselves, yet they give advice to the masses about their relationship with God.

There are many news reports today about “mainstream churches” (that word is misunderstood because it is often associated with a level of legitimacy or acceptance when “mainstream churches” or “religion” is simply the wide gate and the broad way that leadeth to destruction) that are increasingly accepting liberal theologies and accepting, not just tolerating, abhorrent behaviors such as homosexuality. Mainstream religion in this case simply indicates that which is the dominant opinion in our society or that which is fashionable – a trend or in vogue. None of these attitudes actually implies a valid operation – only one which is accepted. For instance, it was “in vogue” or “mainstream” to have slaves before a brave conservative republican President fought to free them and paid for it with his life. Okay, enough of the rabbit trail.

The point here is that people today do not look at this scripture with any concern for the authority or truth therein. This passage is in no way comparing the severity of certain sins. Instead, it addresses people’s judgmental attitudes concerning fault comparison.[iii] Many see this as, “if you have problems, don’t be telling me of mine.” It actually teaches us that we should not push our personal agendas upon others to satisfy our need to fix what we perceive as their problems. We should first look at our own hearts because what we see in others is a reflection of what is in us.

Normally, that reflection is small in comparison to what is truly in our own sinful hearts. What we see as a small and almost insignificant irritant to others personally is more likely a huge problem with our own heart that actually protrudes from us to such a point that we cannot turn our head without hitting someone with our own “beam.”

For instance, if you happen to be a miser or unusually frugal and see others whom you do not consider prudent with their spending, you are tempted to be judgmental concerning their spending habits. It only bothers them, why should it bother you? Your own attitude on money may be a beam that beats others around you. You do not know other’s true financial situation in every instance, nor do you know the specifics of every given transaction they make. If you push your financial philosophy upon another, you are violating the scriptures from last week and ignoring the damage your own attitude has on others – which is the lesson this week.

What about relationships and children as we have mentioned just moments ago? If we presume to tell others how to raise children, run relationships or deal with the world when we have not done so successfully in the Lord, we again are looking at what we perceive are problems in others lives. They are purely irritants to them and we think we need to fix them. We tend to ignore our own family experiences or problems that compare and refuse to exercise prudence in assessing our own failures. If we begin to, even quietly, and surreptitiously, discuss other people’s suspected “issues,” this quickly becomes judgmental gossip. If we do not have the perfect family in which all are serving Christ in their lives, how can we expect to walk up to someone and say, “You need my remedy.” Worse yet, discuss these supposed problems with others and come to some sort of consensus concerning the problems of others. That is gossip coupled with “krima” (judgmentalism). Jesus later teaches the three levels of confrontation in scripture and none of them involve going behind the backs of others to discuss a supposed wrong. The closest you get to that in Matthew 18 is when you describe the sin before the body of Christ. In fact, at the point when you “take two or more with you” there is no indication that the problem is discussed with anyone until the personal confrontation.

This instruction says that we must first look at ourselves, our motivation, our own person and eliminate the influence of our sinful hearts in our decision to confront someone. Whether you have problems in your life or not, we are brothers and sisters in Christ. We are supposed to encourage and admonish one another. This instruction by our Lord does not eliminate what Peter teaches, it clarifies the attitude we should have in the teaching.[iv] Our attitude should be first introspective:

• What have I done?
• What am I doing?
• Who am I offending?
• Am I equally guilty of this irritating thing?
• Do I have a beam in my eye!?

Then we can approach others and talk things over with them in a loving, caring, careful and thoughtful fashion. We should not be quick to judge.

This brings us to our next point. We need first to look at and correct our hearts. This is not done in a vacuum, but is done with the Lord. Husbands, seek your wives for assistance. Wives, seek your husbands. Friends seek one another for the proper course correction in life that brings everyone closer to the Lord.

II. Fix first yourself (Verse 4)

Let us look at some more words from the original texts. The Greek words used here “ekballō“ and “aphiēmi” are strong words that indicate a very aggressive action. “Ekballō”or “pull” is actually better translated “take.” It is a subjunctive or provides for a probability (might, should, could, would). This is tied to the word that indicates an aggressive action is being taken which causes a significant and decisive change. This word is used to communicate the use of force for change. This forced change is perpetrated for some presumed reason or has a perceived purpose.

Aphiēmi that we see translated “let” is an imperative meaning “permit” or “allow.” This is a command. When we put these two words together they form a phrase that has a subjunctive and an imperative connected to give the connotation that you are being nice, but you are still directing. We might word it, “Might I pull that speck out of your eye” while implying that it is a necessity and the tone of voice indicates you certainly are not requesting. You make the request while moving to take the specific action you propose.

In the meantime, this person is looking at you and thinking, are you nuts! Look at what is in your eye! How can you possibly see that tiny speck in my eye! The word “behold” we see here is the most common translation of the word. However it can also be translated “pay attention” or simply as an exclamation point.

Putting all this together we discover that we have a situation where one individual is, quite frankly, practicing a level of judgmentalism and presuming that another person’s incorrect behavior needs to be “fixed.” Equally, the person who supposedly needs fixing sees a very clear and injurious attitude or behavior of the same type in the fixer. The one who supposedly needs fixing is only currently irritating themselves while the one proposing the fixing is the one who really needs help because they are unable to even see their own fault and failure – and this fault hurts others. Our government does this all the time with our tax dollars. President Bill Clinton said one time, “Sure, we could give you a tax cut, but how would we know you’d spend it properly?”[v]

This is tied to the previous scripture in that we should certainly be first introspective and attempt to inspect ourselves to discover first if we have a problem. From this standpoint, we can move forward to a more productive end. Examine yourselves first, and then seek to help others. One of the most disarming things we can do as brothers and sisters in Christ is to ask another, “Have I wronged you or offended you in some way?” In this initial statement, when truthful, honestly seeking reparation and given to repentance where required, a believer first recognizes their own sinful heart. Christian, you must know the complete truth in Jeremiah 17:9 where scripture says “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” There is nothing in that verse that says we even know the wickedness of which we are personally capable. You do not know the extent of wickedness in your own heart. If you approach things first with your own propensity for wickedness in mind, you begin any discussion in a far better position. The haughty who sees the speck you have compared to the beam they own never considers their heart first.

Because of Jeremiah 17:9, and our propensity to bolster our own personal position, we must first look at ourselves and be critical, but let God do the healing, changing, molding and shaping. If He uses us as a tool for that purpose, we must face this humbly. Nothing places you in a position worthy of God’s glory or blessing except God’s grace. We must be interested in our own Christlikeness first, which is always lacking, even in the most humble Christian.

III.  Criticize yourself first (Verse 5)

The first word in this sentence is “hupokrita” or “hypocrite” in the vocative case which is a direct address. It is almost as though Jesus spits the word out at these false, pompous, self-legitimizing pseudo-spiritualists. Jesus steps out of the illustration and simply calls the ophthalmologically challenged or beam wielding individual a hypocrite. He is no longer being soft spoken or easy going in His rhetoric.

We then find our word, “ekballō” in the imperative here. A clear command of God to first get rid of the sin in our lives. It does not say first deal with it, but rather to cast it out, to throw it away. This is a forceful and deliberate act. This does not mean be cured of it, but it does mean, “but if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged” (1 Cor 11:31). It also means,

“Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates” (2 Cor 13:5)?

The bottom line, examine yourself before (prōton) you make a determination about another. Look first at yourself to “diablepō,” see clearly or “through seeing” (a literal rendition of the compound word). By clearly seeing oneself first, you can then help others. We must first see ourselves clearly, honestly, circumspectly and truthfully. In this way we take actions upon ourselves or in our best interests to cast our burdens upon the Lord (Ps 55:22). Take your petitions to Him and lay them at His feet. Cast all our worries and concerns on the one who has already taken them upon Himself (Is 53:4-5). Once we do this, our testimony helps others.

Look first at yourself, fix first yourself and criticize first yourself. Those are the three things we should do regularly before we attempt to remove a speck from someone else’s eye. That speck you see is indicative, normally, of a beam protruding from your person. The fixer is not you. The fixer is the Lord God and His righteousness. The indication here is that the speck is known by the Lord and the person who has it. This speck may be all that remains from a beam that once was there. Equally, the beam is representative of what the Lord knows is in that person and, as huge as it is, the individual in possession of the beam has no idea it even exists, or worse yet refuses to acknowledge the existence of the plank. Unfortunately, everyone else around them knows it is there.

There is a movie called “The Rookie.”[vi] It is a good story, and based on a true story. A man wanted to be a professional baseball pitcher from a very young age. He played ball all his life. However, he suffered many injuries to his pitching arm and finally had to give up that desire. After being out of baseball for nearly 15 years, he was challenged by his young high school baseball team – that if they won a district championship, he had to find a major league baseball tryout and pitch for them. He did, and found an amazing thing: he threw 12 straight 98 mile per hour fastballs to qualify for the team. The challenge by the youngsters is important. In the movie, the team had just been summarily trounced by the best team in their league. During the game, the coach saw the dejection setting in. The team had quit. The lines go something like:

Coach: “You quit. You quit out there. You quit on me and you quit on yourself…the sad part is that I see it and you don’t. Most of you will finish school and stay right here…raise families…nothing wrong with that…I’m doing that. But if you are looking for something more you better consider how you will play the rest of this season.”

One of the boys: “We’re not getting scholarships.”

Coach: “I’m not talking about college, I’m talking about wanting things in life. I’m talking about dreams…”

Another boy: “What about you coach…everytime you throw, I gotta ice my hand – every time.”

Coach: “This is not about me…”

Same boy: “You’re the one who should be wanting something.”

Another boy: “Yea, and the sad part is that we see it and you don’t.”

The coach had a heart problem. His problem was that he could not see the potential in himself to perform. He closed off opportunities because he refused to believe in his abilities. Though this is not the same thing we are discussing, the observation has a parallel. The young boys saw potential, saw something, saw a capability. The coach was right. The boys had a problem with their attitude. However, the boys had a valid point too. They saw great potential in their coach for greater things. His giving up made them think they could just give up and move on too. The coach’s concentration on the speck in the eye of the boys limited his ability to see the beam in his own eye and how that beam was affecting the boys. The beam in the coach’s eye limited his ability to see and remove the speck from the boys’.

Do not be the hypocrite and attempt to fix others with problems that you yourself are unwilling to address within your own heart. Have a more healthy perspective, which first considers your own heart before the Lord and turns that heart over to Him. Then consider others in the love of Christ, not the contempt of the Pharisee.

[ii] Stewart Custer, The Gospel of the King: A Commentary on Matthew (Greenville: BJU Press, 2005), 108.

[iii] Leon Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew, (Eerdmans: Grand Rapids, 1992), 166.

[iv] 1 Peter 2:5 and 2:9 clearly indicate we are part of a priesthood one to another that is sanctified. We minister to one another from this position but we should do so in love and with an eye always considering our own heart first – what is our personal motive? Once we determine this, and it is honestly determined to be godly, we can go forward carefully and lovingly dealing with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

[v] Montgomery Brothers, Inc. Fourth Quarter 1999 Investment Handbook, (1730 Rhode Island Ave. NW Suite 206, Washington, DC 20036, p3. Quote from a speech in January 1999 made in Buffalo New York where, sadly enough he received a standing ovation.

[vi] John Lee Hancock, “The Rookie.” Mike Rich (writer), (Walt Disney Pictures, 2002). Starring Dennis Quaid, Rachel Griffiths, Jay Hernandez, Brian Cox.

"We relish forgiveness because we know we are imperfect."

Materialism has been a focus of our Lord in His sermon from verses 25 through 34. Clearly, we have a problem with materialism, anxiety and good old paranoia otherwise the Lord would not spend nine verses on the subject. These emotions are focused upon people, places, things and even events – all of which are seldom, if ever, within our control. In the days that our Lord ministered, there was a great strain on people to simply survive. There was no Family Services Center; there were no welfare programs, and any extra money people had was hidden for fear the tax collector would take it, whether legitimately or not. All governments did then was take and take, promise and promise. It was a form of Chicago, or gangster-style shakedown for protection. “You give us money and we won’t rough you up. We’ll even protect you from other governments.” That was the Roman way. Jesus tells His audience, all of which are in bondage, to not worry about that stuff. What Jesus addresses in these verses is the exact opposite of what religious authorities of the day practiced. A short review is in order to provide a better understanding about Christ’s illustrations.

In Matthew 5:21-48, Jesus contrasts the Pharisees righteousness with true righteousness. Where the Pharisees want nothing to do with divine intent and everything to do with outward appearance, Jesus says it is the heart that is the root of the matter; your heart defines who you are. Personal relationships, how to deal with people, sensitivities to their needs and a real love for others are at the core of “thou shalt not commit adultery” and “thou shalt not murder.” Inside this construct of sensitivity and love, we are admonished not to even call someone an idiot because we could injure them. Jesus tells us that our relationships one with another are so important that unless your heart is right with others, you cannot properly worship God (Matt 15:3-6)

In chapter six verses 1-18 Jesus then goes on to describe what we look like to God – how our righteousness looks before God. The specific examples given (giving, praying, forgiveness, fasting) deal with personal worship practices between you and God. No one else needs to see your piety. It is not what you do or appear to do, but what drives you to do it. What drives you to appear godly – your own attempt to be noticed as such, or a true change of heart by the Holy Spirit? The Pharisees tended to be existential – showing piety, but possessing no true righteousness (Matt 15:7-8).

In the last section of verses (6:19-34), Jesus addresses our righteousness as it relates to possessions. The Pharisees had a tendency to be greedy (Matt 15:5). They collected precious and valuable items for the purpose of wealth, not for their feigned piety. In Matthew 15:14 Jesus sums up the ministry of the false prophets of His day (the Pharisees and scribes), when He says “they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.” The Lord is teaching with authority. When He convicted people for their sins, He did so at the risk of persecution. It is no different from you today. No one likes to hear the truth, especially if it is contrary to their personal life or what they want to believe. It means admitting they can be wrong. If people can be wrong about one thing, they can be wrong about many others. That introduces a very messy and complex possibility.

With Christians, we have already admitted our error and that, in fact, we can and will commit more wrongs, introduce more errors and fail in life with others even more in the future. We relish forgiveness because we know we are imperfect. We also issue forgiveness freely because we know how imperfect we are. What a huge difference between a Christian operating from a convicted soul and the unsaved desirous of nothing but elevating their own ego.

With that background, we come to our scriptures for today, Matthew 7:1-2. Pharisees were judgmental. Truthfully, they knew the capabilities of man’s sinful heart. They knew that being friends with the world means we are at enmity with God (Jas 4:4). They knew that man’s heart is sick (Jer 17:9). Simply sighting the hundreds of extra rules they instituted to legislate purity in Jerusalem shows the Pharisees knew people would sin. The problem is that the hearts of the Pharisees were not angry about sin, but angry with the people of Israel. Their anger turned to judgmentalism and elitism. They did not trust the people and they did not love the people. In fact, they thought they needed to lord over them because the people were incapable of making proper decisions themselves. They had forgotten their place as ministers and had become judges instead. Pharisees no longer discerned between good and bad, but judged everyone guilty without evidence.

Chris and I were watching a show the other night. A couple of young kids set out to find their friend in some high mountainous country. The two kids were only 10 or 11. Their friend was a mid- 20’s guy who had been seen in their town when he visited. When the kids went missing, the whole town assumed this young man had something to do with the kids’ disappearance. When the young man went into town to notify them that the kids were just fine, he was pounced upon by police officers, arrested and finger printed. One elder lady had stirred up such a mess that the whole town followed the officers into the police station. They demanded justice. They demanded from the young man to know where the kids were. They wanted him held accountable. Throughout the whole ordeal, he told them the truth, that they were safe at his cabin in the mountains. In truth, these two young kids had made this 19-mile wilderness trek on their own with a full-grown lion as a companion, and found their friend tending his herd of sheep. The young man had nothing to do with it but was guilty in their eyes of something heinous.

Many movie plots use these types of false assumptions that seem to get innocent people into trouble. Unfortunately, they tell a very sad truth about our society – that people believe that whatever the individual was accused of could actually happen. Worse yet, that man is capable of the evil that is assumed. People know the capacity for wickedness in man. They also know that looks are deceiving.

Christian, I pray you understand that “in judging others, you judge yourself.” Very often Christians get very cynical as well. Many get very legalistic or pressing with their ideas of how another Christian’s life should be led. Christians are sinful beings just like the rest of the world and sin in their thoughts just like the rest of the world. Christians believe in obeying the rules and that others should obey rules too, but legalism can be judgmental and your rules, if not scriptural, are judgmental.

Though the movies present interesting examples in fiction, there are a number of actual examples in real life that have resulted in people’s lives being destroyed or distorted or their character impugned.

I. Condemn Not (Verse 1)

This scripture carries a command from the Lord to not be judgmental. We are not to be harsh, rash, unloving and thinking evil of others where no evil seems to be implied. This thought process, to not be judgmental, is associated with a promise that we, in turn, will not be judged in the same way. The word used here, “krinō” translates to the idea that one concludes after thinking, makes a decision and takes a position. There are basically three forms of “krinō:”

• First, a decision or conclusion to take a position based upon arbitrary information or thought.
• Second, a decision that one person is better than another in such a way as to show preference for one over another or to shun one to covet another’s companionship.
• Third, krinō means to place greater value in someone purely for personal gain.

For instance, one might make the incorrect assumption that a child would or would not do something. We recently experienced this in our family. One child told us that the other had excluded them from playing – literally told them they could not play with the group. Initially, the accusation was discounted as impossible because this child is known to have a sensitive heart. Then when the other child was confronted, she confessed. The thought was that this child is always sensitive to her sister, therefore her sister had to be lying about this incident, therefore resulting in our improperly accusing her sister. The sister accused of lying was actually punished for the lie until the confession took place. There was a tremendous round of forgiveness and love requested from and given to the falsely accused child.

In a more horrendous example, we have Richard Jewell who was erroneously charged in the 1996 Olympic bombing. The events surrounding his accusation resulted in the phrase, “person of interest” or “alleged” with respect to investigations, especially high profile ones. Mr. Jewell was actually a hero who discovered the bomb and moved many to safety. FBI profiling labeled him as a prime “person of interest,” and he suffered public humiliation as his name was plastered throughout the news media, his home searched, background intimately investigated and life completely disrupted as swarms of media assaulted him even going to the grocery store. He filed suit against a number of people including CNN, NBC, Piedmont College, New York Post and Cox Enterprises (owner of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution). He received settlements in all cases. The actual bomber, Eric Rudolph, confessed in 2005.

The word “krinō” is also used to indicate a preference – to determine something to be better than something else is. We can find this in the workaholic who regularly forsakes time with their family because work is “too important.” Individuals working on Christmas or other holidays exemplify this judgmentalism. People actually develop a sense that they are most comfortable in the office instead of home among their family.

Another destructive form of this judgmentalism is when individuals affiliate themselves with organizations purely for their benefit. Some even come to church or get involved with a certain church to further their personal goals. Certain ministries are high profile. Therefore, saying or having evidence that you are affiliated with that ministry bolsters your resume’. People also seek positions of leadership in a church for the same reasons.

The word “krinō” also indicates an imposed higher value or correctness in the decision. This is where we dump one friend in favor of another simply for advantage. The friend of choice may have more money, they may be better politically connected, there may be a job in the future. Regardless, choosing friends purely out of benefit for yourself is being judgmental against one, in favor of the other. Once again, this is typified in the individual aspiring for some high level office that wants to be associated with the “right people” or go to the “right church” or be seen in the “right circles.” Those who seek the “right” places, people and environments for their own gain will soon discover just how shallow that life truly is. Many at those events are thinking the same thing and when a need truly arises, those “right” people will vanish like food from your fingers when offered to Sweet Pea, our dog.

Regardless of the occasion, any form of this judgmentalism results in injury to those being judged as evil, unworthy or of lesser value. If we really boil this down we can use the word “krinō” for racism and anti-Semitism. Krinō also describes why people murder children. The child in their womb is judged less important than their freedom, their ego, their fears or their societal status. Krinō describes why people in some churches want to cultivate relationships with wealthy individuals and ignore the needy of their community.

Krinō has a cause and effect. It is a decision to exclude some for an arbitrary reason. A person manifesting krinō results in ignoring others because they are of no benefit. He or she also accuses individuals purely from supposition and without any real evidence. These actions directly affect the victim by either falsely accusing them or in extreme cases assassinating their character – in essence murdering them publicly or socially.

What does this scripture NOT say? This scripture does not say that you cannot make a decision about association and a possible impact to your testimony. In other words, you do not have to go into bars and witness to the sinner in a sin filled environment to prove that you are not judgmental. You do not have to use foul language to be accepted. You can speak up when foul language is used in your presence and express your distaste. You can disassociate yourself from certain music, events, even people and other things without being judgmental. The Christian has to make decisions on who and what they are going to be affiliated with, based upon their relationship with God and the commandments in the Word of God. This is not krinō. Krinō is directly related to labeling and victimizing people for no other reason than a personal idiosyncrasy, fictitious thought or some arbitrary but indeterminate reason.

A number of unbelievers have attempted to quote this verse to me when I stated my family or I would not be affiliated with a certain activity because it was just wrong. Their response was, “Ah Ah Ah!  Judge not or you’ll be judged.” Far too often the infidel, like their master Satan, attempts to use scripture against the believer. Unfortunately, just like their master, they misuse it, distort it and misquote it in an effort to tempt the believer into sin. By the way, that in itself is krinō. The tempter is being judgmental and saying, essentially, “See, I’m better than you because I can associate with anyone or anything I want.” That is accusatory and indicts the Christian from a position of supposition without real facts or the acceptance of facts to support the accusation.

Do not make judgments about people. The worst violation of this command, I believe, is when a church makes a decision not to reach out to people and minister to them because they are not “worth it.” We see very heart sickening rationalizations from those violating this command. Here are some examples.

• Those people do not come to services; they only attend the Bible study.
• Those people do not tithe, why does the pastor spend so much time on them?
• Those people don’t have a dime, why does the church expend so many resources to help them?
• Those people …

That is right folks – those people. We would all do well to remember that we are “those people” to some people… just as some people are “those people” to us.

For the ones who consider others unworthy, unvalued or outside our social comfort zones, there is also a consequence associated with their krinō.

II. Or Be Condemned (Verse 2)

The key word in this verse is “krima” which is a noun indicating “judgment, decision, evaluation.”[i] It is a legal word used to describe the action taken in a case or lawsuit. This judgment is a decision concerning a question of legal right or wrong. It determines the innocence or guilt of the perpetrator. It is not an accusation; in the case of guilt, this word is used to describe the actual punishment or retribution that will be levied upon the perpetrator of the crime. Andrew Pixley[ii] was “krinō” (judged) guilty of murder and his “krima” (judgment) was the gas chamber.

What this means to us as sinners and believers is equally condemning. Barnes notes:

“This was a proverb among the Jews. It expressed a truth; and Christ did not hesitate to adopt it as conveying his own sentiments. It refers no less to the way in which men will judge of us, than to the rule by which God will judge us. See 2 Sam. 22:27; Mark 4:24; James 2:13… Mete. Measure. You shall be judged by the same rule which you apply to others.”[iii]

Judgmental people, because of their lack of forgiveness, meekness, mercy and their propensity to incite argument (our natural response to judgmentalism is to argue our worth or innocence) shows little love in their social activity. According to Carson, this “testifies to his own arrogance and impenitence, by which he shuts himself out from God’s forgiveness.”[iv]

Custer makes an excellent point in his commentary concerning the word “mete” meaning measure. The wording here indicates someone who is measuring out grain and fills the cup to the top, then swipes off any extra. There is no abundance, no heaping amount – only exactly what is given and nothing more. Where God wants to give to us in abundance, and have our cup overflow, our judgmentalism scrapes off any extra blessing that we could otherwise receive.[v] We suffer because of our own judgmentalism here on earth, only to face divine judgment in the future.

Another issue we must contend with here is forgiveness. We are supposed to love one another as Christ loves us, giving of ourselves for one another. We are not supposed to be given over to comparing our personal preferences to those of others. That is judgmentalism. Nor are we supposed to impose our personal preferences upon others and judge them based on our own desires. This is judgmentalism as well. We are supposed to love one another unreservedly, even as Christ loved us and gave Himself for us (Gal 2:20). We are supposed to be the most understanding individuals that this world can know (Matt 5:9).

Understanding, meekness and forgiveness do not lend themselves to gullibility, but are exercised out of wisdom. This wisdom is first born in our understanding of the personal worth we possess for the Lord without His first saving us; fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. We are understanding, meek and forgiving because He was first all of those things. He understood our inability to reconcile ourselves with the Father. He lowered Himself to man’s level in meekness to affect the reconciliation we could not accomplish. He died on the cross at Calvary for the forgiveness of our sins. One who truly understands this cannot be judgmental, or they should expect judgmentalism from our Lord in return.

What are you worth to the Lord? Have you considered that your worth is only equal to your submission? In this instance, we are pointing more toward our utilitarian value to God. However, worth is still a valid statement on a universal plane. Everyone, dead in trespasses and sins and lost to the world, is worth the life of Christ. He died for all. That is the beginning level of worth. After that, our worth increases with each act of submission. It is a blessing that our value to God never drops below a certain point, it never digresses past Christ’s salvation. However, we can take joy in knowing that worth increases with each level of submission. As one submits more to God through His Son, one is worth more and can be used more of God for His Son, and the Holy Spirit has more effect upon that broken and contrite heart. Our worth to God is tied directly to our level of submission. If we do not submit at all, we are at the lowest level of worth we can ever be to God. If others could see that we are worth the life of His Son even at our lowest!

Have you also considered that your value to God exists in direct proportion to your faith in Him? We are often too stuck on ourselves. In many cases, Christians are stuck on the “I’m saved” kick and think that is all that counts. “I believe in Jesus Christ as my Savior; I’m good.” That short sightedness says that God is not worth their time to worship on Sunday as they exclude themselves from the gathering of the saints. It sets that individual in direct violation of Matthew 7:1 – AND THE SIN IS DIRECTED AT GOD! What a sad commentary for an individual who can think of nothing but themselves, even in salvation.

What will happen to those folks who treat others only with self-interest in mind? They will receive what they give in reciprocation. You reap what you sow (Job 4:8).

If you attempt to impose your lifestyle, to judge others by your personal desires, or to impose your personal attitudes upon others, your judgmentalism (krinō) will receive its reward in judgment (krima). Your krima will either be at the Great White Throne if you do not know the Savior, or at the Judgment (bēma – a place where the judge sits) Seat of Christ. At either place, you will receive the judgment that you first gave in judgmentalism. For your wicked krinō (judgmentalism), you will receive your just krima (judgment or punishment).

[ii] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Pixley Andrew Pixley was a convicted murderer from Dallas, Oregon. He was executed in Wyoming for the murder of two young girls.

[iii] Albert Barnes’, Notes on the New Testament, Public Domain Derived from an electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library http://www.ccel.org, Formatted and corrected by OakTree Software, Inc. ver 1.0

[iv] D. A. Carson, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, with the New International Version, Matthew, vol 8. Frank E. Gæbelein, gen. ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervon, 1984, 184.

[v] Stewart Custer, The Gospel of the King: A Commentary on Matthew (Greenville: BJU Press, 2005), 108.

As lightning threaded over
The canvas of the sky
And striking through the storm clouds
With heaven’s battle cray,
So comes the Son of Heaven,
His enemies to bind–
The days of darkness over–

Praise His Name!–Now left behind!
We’ll leave it when the trumpet
Tramples oe’r the eastern sky,
When the saved surpass the summits
Of the mountains as they fly!
And Satan’s final plummet
From his lie will be drawn nigh–
Yes, we’ll leave it all behind us
When Christ calls us by and by.

by Sarah Jinright

Used by permission.

We will look at two passages today from the same author. The Holy Spirit used Paul to write two glorious epistles – one to the Romans, and one to a young preacher named Timothy. That seems rather coincidental doesn’t it? We find in Romans 13:11 a call to fulfill the law of love to one another, to our neighbors, friends and family. In 2 Timothy 3:13 we see rewards given by the world for our godly living, sharing the law of a loving God with others. In one verse we find a command to give the truth. In the next verse we find the consequence of obedience in a sin filled world. Let us together explore these two truths, find the promises within them and renew our commitment to Christ today as a soldier in His army.

Is this a message for all Christians?  Yes, it is. Is it a message specifically for men because it is Fathers Day?  You bet. Leaders need to lead and the question must be asked: If the world has been led astray, whose fault is it? It is certainly not the Lord’s fault. Nor can we set it at the feet of the Father. The Holy Spirit resides within us, convicting those who are saved and working to change our sinful hearts. The fault lies at our feet, the feet of feeble, failing, faltering – and often weak – men. Do not misunderstand me folks, I count myself among those whom I have just described. I am no better than you. We have made our share of mistakes. Men, we need to change. We men have failed God on a number of occasions. I propose to you that we are doing that right now, failing God and falling far short of His expectations for us. How can we expect to lead a family, guide our young ones and provide leadership to our home when we cannot properly follow? Simply put, we cannot.

Not only are we as fathers responsible for leading our families to witness Christ to all the Lord puts before our path, we are also mindful of the dangers that face our families. Fathers, we are to prepare our families for this fight and then lead them into the hedgerows of the world. Be mindful though: evil lurks there.

I. Wicked enemy (2 Timothy 3:13)

In Paul’s second epistle to Timothy, a young pastor, Paul writes to warn him of many things taking place in the world and the various obstacles Timothy will face. He writes of trials and the responsibilities Timothy has as a pastor in those trials (2 Tim 1:3-2:26). Then, beginning in chapter three, Paul describes things that will happen in the future. He paints a bleak picture that seems almost defeatist. After all, with all the work Timothy will do for the Lord, it just seems to get worse and worse.

Move back a little bit to verse one of chapter three, so we can gather context and properly identify the discussion in verse 13. There will be tremendous and almost wholesale rejection of God. Apostasy will run rampant. People will be so self-absorbed they could care less for others, and especially for God. Everyone will be out for money in some way or another. They will all look for an angle to increase their wealth. No amount of money will satisfy them. These people will have inflated egos, thinking that they are the only important thing in the whole world. Then as if they are on some team with mankind, they take man’s side regardless of his failures and foibles. They begin to claim that man is the ultimate authority and no one but mankind matters. Third, they will display this arrogance and pride to God in a most shameful way, in being “unholy” (2 Tim 3:2). The family unit will deteriorate as children rebel more and more against their parents. People will be vicious in their backbiting and gossip. They will talk of others behind their backs as if they themselves were perfect and untarnished by sin, making judgments about others in a most unloving manner (2 Tim 3:3-5). They will also claim godliness or piety but deny the power of faith in their lives, looking only to the pragmatism of the bottom line or the numbers in the church. These are vicious, evil people who see nothing of God. They see only things of the world that they want to see. Paul warns that Timothy, a minister of the word, will be buffeted and stricken by these people and that they should be avoided.

These evil seducers take advantage of weak women by entering their homes where they are already weighed down with the very sins that the seducer brings. The seducer brings juicy gossip, or a tidbit of complaint or some speculation that is tasty, and both feed from the morsel until it poisons their whole system.

This is subtle evil at its utmost – destroying not only those involved in the discussion, but potentially assassinating the character of the subject of discussion. Paul calls these seducers, essentially morons. In my computer dictionary a moron is, “a stupid person.”[i] These people sit in pews in church always listening but never really learning (ginoskō – knowing) anything. The seducers are never able to know the truth and they spread their black sin of ignorance to all they influence.

With that as background, we come to our target verse – verse 13. The people described in this verse are those described before, only they get worse. These are evil men, growing more and more evil as time goes on. They are imposters. They pretend to know God, but continue in their sins as we have described them. Not only do they continue, they get worse and deceive more people, as they continue to deceive themselves. There is nothing new to their wickedness. Regardless of the attempts at religion, they are simply replays of old records. Polish up the pig all you want, you still have something that wants to wallow in the mire.

“Satan threw everything he had at the early church. He tried warping and twisting Christian doctrine only to be countered by a string of apostolic epistles that gave the lie to his deceptions [Gnosticism is just one of many such deceptions]. He has no new deceptions. Modern cults are simply old heresies in new guises.”[ii]

The word seducer is unique in the passage and refers to a juggler, a cheat or an enchanter who would, through trickery, achieve gains. It also referred to a wailer or howler. These individuals make their discontent voices heard. They will do anything they can to convince everyone that their personal discomfort must be assuaged. You hear them call or cry,

• “What about me?”
• “That was mine.”
• “What about my rights?”
• “What about what I want?”
• “I must be paid attention too.”
• “I must be heard.”
• “That is the way I want to do it.”
• “My toys were taken.”
• “I want someone else’s toys, and you have to take them from that other person and give them to me!”
• “You will feel my pain!”

They will cry, whine, whimper and make a scene, like the baby running to mommy to get his way. Even when they are not truly bothered by the circumstance, event or occurrence they still make a fuss. Ultimately, they are forever stuck in the world of the two year old, where seemingly nothing goes their way, so they wail or howl about the slightest discomfort as if no one has anything better to do than to hear their personal plea. No one in the world should care for anything except this wicked person’s individual happiness and well being. Simply put, they are spoiled brats out to get their way regardless of the cost or consequence to others. After all, it is their “right.”

We would be wise to remember that Paul lived in such a world, with evil Nero as Emperor. Morally bankrupt, without character and empty of compassion, Nero was evil incarnate, and a tremendous tool of Satan.

Here we find our position and place, men. We are to understand the things of history, and apply this wisdom to the future – in our homes and in our lives. In this way we see the evil perpetrated by Satan’s puppets, the destruction they wrought and their utter disdain for human life. Satan is keenly interested in destroying the family by encouraging people to be lovers of self (2 Tim 3:1), unthankful and insubordinate to parents (v2), and the list of sinful activity in verses 2 through 4. He has convinced most of mankind that marriage is simply a matter of convenience. Now Satan specifically targets the young by calling the disjointed family of divorcees, single mothers and stepparents (a construct I came from) normal. This is not to say that good things cannot happen in these family units, but it is to say that men who have left their rightful place and given up their position have failed society. Satan encourages this behavior. He further poisons our society and family structure by supporting the un-natural family of homosexuals as “normal.” Men, we must take the lessons of this unmitigated hate and teach our families to steel themselves against it with the shield of truth, the Word of God.

Both Isaiah’s and Daniel’s prophesies had current and future impact. This too applies to Paul’s prophecy. There were evil men then, and this prophecy says that there will be evil men of the caliber of Nero again. Our educational system is producing more young people that are “ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (v7). Public schools are becoming government daycare centers. Inherent in this daycare is indoctrination into the anti-Christian dogma of humanism, evolution, atheism and a “tolerance” that is intolerant of the things of Christ or of biblical morality. The churches of America are more and more buying into the New Age foolishness. They conform more and more to the intolerant homosexual and pro-abortion agendas. The media epitomizes “without natural affection” and “false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good” (v3). Although, supposedly the bastion and protector of the first amendment of our Constitution, the media sees no problem in destroying a person’s character, and in fact appears to take great pleasure in doing so if the individual is even called “Christian.” Why do they do this? Because it sells.

Secular humanists control the greater portion of our society and the world’s influence as they spread their disdain for Christ. Scriptures and prayer are outlawed in schools. Any reference to God in our public buildings is being viciously attacked. Promiscuity, paganism, drug abuse and pornographically exhibitionistic clothing are not just accepted, but promoted and celebrated. Men, can there be any doubt that evil men and seducers (and seductresses) are waxing worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived?

“There is a real battle for the hearts and minds of our people. With entertainment, education and other venues under their control, the enemies of God have already captured multitudes of people out in the world.

Now they are aggressively going after the Christian crowd, the conservative crowd, the values crowd, the common sense crowd, the pro-American crowd, etc.

They are aggressively destroying institutions bought and paid for with Christian money. They are baiting the hook and reeling in entire denominations of people.

Dear friend, the world scene, including your little town, is no longer a playground – it is a battlefield!”[iii]

Men, today I am calling you to the spiritual battle lines as fathers of godly families. This is not just to prepare your families and to keep them protected from the things of the world. That is inherent in your duties as leader of the home. You are to be involved in gathering the wayward souls from among the wicked throngs. You must get involved, get to witnessing, get busy bringing people to the Lord, and lead your families to know how to do these same things. Men, you are to fight against the evil tide, regardless of the size of the wave that comes at you. They are all Satan’s doings that attack you, and we know that in the end we will win. Take a victory walk now and seek those around you.  Tell them about Jesus Christ and His salvation! Men – get busy for Christ!

Many times when we witness, we rather absentmindedly speak of the end times. In discussions with unbelievers, we approach this subject from an “everybody knows that” attitude. We use terms that speak of Christ’s return as “imminent.” We quip that “every day that goes by is a day closer to His appearing.” Seldom do we realize that the wish we have for this event is lost in a veiled attempt to escape our responsibilities to witness Christ.

II. Christian Duty (Romans 13:11)

A theologian once wrote concerning this verse,

“And all the duties of a virtuous and holy life we should the more carefully and zealously perform, considering the nature and shortness of the present season of life; which will convince us that it is now high time to rouse and shake off sleep, and apply with vigilance and vigour to the duties of our Christian life; for that eternal salvation, which is the object of our Christian faith and hope, and the great motive of our religion, is every day nearer to us than when we first entered into the profession of Christianity.”[iv]

The truth is that this scripture talks about our relationship with society. In verse eight of this chapter, Paul opens a discussion on our duties and responsibilities in society generally. Love is a direct and specific call to the Christian. Loving your neighbor is the first and direct association one should have in the world. This love “hath fulfilled the law.” Loving one another involves honoring the sanctity of marriage, holding the rage of man in check, holding our tongue to be truthful about people and not being desirous of others possessions. We are to love one another and especially those we might call our “neighbors.” The most loving and caring gift you can give your neighbor is eternal life.

Did you know that sleep is probably the most frequent form of apathy? We can sleep a day away not caring about what we might do. We can sleep a morning, an afternoon or an evening away in apathy. Depression develops apathy in this form. One who is depressed frequently sleeps later and could care less of the things that need to be done. Their depression develops apathetic tendencies that are coincident with the depression. The more one is depressed, the more apathetic one gets.

The fact is, this is “knowing” (oida) God we are talking about. The sentence says, besides loving your fellow man as Christ does, and gave Himself for them, introduce them to the Savior! Show your neighbor salvation, for now is the time (Is 53:6). If you have a heart felt, soul changing and life testifying faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior, why are you still sleeping? Awaken from your slumbering testimony and give the loving gift of Christ to all you meet.

The words “it is high time” comprise a phrase developed from the literal Greek, “because it is now (the) hour.” There is urgency here folks. Now is the time. If you are reading this scripture for the first time, you may have reason for pause; but act now that you have read it. If you have read Romans before, you have read this verse and are guilty of apathy. Get on with a life in Christ NOW! There is no more waiting. No more reason to pause.

“Faith is indeed nothing but living in the light of what is to come.” It is that kind of living which Paul calls for. Slumber will denote a lethargic Christian life; it “suggests the thought of forgetfulness of God.”[v]

The salvation referenced in this verse is not the second coming of Christ, though certain commentators see evidence of this event.[vi] Context dictates that Paul is talking about our temporal existence. Love one another, love your neighbor, do not perpetrate hate against another man (commit adultery), or hate another person at all (do not murder). Do not deprive one another of possessions through greed (do not steal). In fact, you should be content for others to have things (do not covet). Ultimately, love your neighbor as yourself. You would not want others to perpetrate these evil things against you, would you? Why, therefore, would you consider them against another person? These passages are all about horizontal living.

Referring again to verse eight, we are encouraged to love one another, love our neighbors. There is clear inference that we are to love both the saved and the unsaved. The reference for the believer is Salvation, (it is our Greek word for salvation which references our personal salvation), or the time we accepted Christ as our Savior. However, context pushes this salvation to a future event. It is being saved from eternal torment, but it is also something we look forward to in that salvation. This salvation is the freedom we anticipate as we are removed from this evil influence and ushered into a perfect sinless environment. Salvation in these passages then references the time the Christian is ushered into the presence of Jesus. This is not the end of the world at His return, but the end of one’s life in this world. This is not the second coming, but the realization of our salvation and the beginning of the new life in eternity with Christ, which may happen at any time. It is the end of this life and the beginning of a life in the presence of Christ (2 Cor 5:8).

We are responsible for continually putting forth love to show God’s love exists within us. This is crucial when we understand that presently man cannot see God in the darkness of the world around us. We must have “spiritual vigilance and industriousness.”[vii] If we keep our focus upon things eternal, we can look forward to the end of this temptuous and evil world. In doing so, we keep our eyes on the prize and do not lament the path to get there. Men, this is your duty – to keep your family focused upon the prize. In your eternal view, you also recognize you are tasked with inviting others to join you on the journey. You are to lead your family to give the most loving gift anyone can ever give: salvation in Christ Jesus. The satanic attack you receive at times for your efforts is proof of your effectiveness and Satan’s fear of your testimony.

We should ask this question: What about salvation? Put yourself in the place of the rich man when he pleads with Abraham to send someone to warn his brothers of his torturous fate. If you have a gift available to you like salvation and were not told by someone who was knowledgeable about it, that is a travesty. Whether you accepted the gift or not, is wholly a different issue.

Men, this is a call to you. Train up your families to witness Christ to all they see and meet. Admittedly, I fail the Lord frequently because I was not reared this way. Fathers in young families, let me encourage you to not fail as I have my family in years past. Be forthright, aggressive and loving by giving the gospel to all who cross your path. It is yours to give and theirs to reject.

A week ago last Friday, I was privileged to hear a 15 year old young man preach the gospel. This young man had been going out on visitation with his father from age 8. He had seven years’ experience visiting people, knocking on doors and giving the gospel to others. This young man had been cursed down, had doors slammed in his face, had tracts thrown back at his face, been ridiculed and most everything you can think of by the age of 15. Now, at 15, this young heart cultivated in the Lord is preaching the gospel to change lives. Praise God for faithful servants who lead their families in the ways of spiritual tenderness. That, men, is your challenge today. Times will be bad; they are now, and are getting worse. However, you have salvation and a great gift to look forward to in the Savior. You know these times, you know the wickedness of man, you know the world’s tendencies. Use this wisdom to rear your family as soul winners.

Happy Father’s Day, men.

[ii] John Phillips, Exploring the Pastoral Epistles, An Expository Commentary, (Kregel: Grand Rapids, 2004), 415.

[iii] Sheldon Smith, New Atheists Aggressive, Demanding and Intolerant, Sword of the Lord Newspaper, Vol. 76, No. 12, June 11, 2010.

[iv] Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Whole Bible, Public Domain Derived from an electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library, http://www.ccel.org Formatted and corrected by OakTree Software, Inc.Ver. 1.0 – in reference to Romans 13:11 this is Clarke’s quote of a Dr. Taylor who is unspecified.

[v] Leon Morris, The Epistle to the Romans, The Pillar New Testament Commentary, (Eerdmans: Grand Rapids, 1988), 471.

[vi] Stewart Custer, The Righteousness Of God, A Commentary on Romans, (BJU Press: Greenville, 2007), 240. Phillips Commentaries as well as Expositors Bible Commentaries carry this sentiment.

[vii] John A. Witmer, The Bible Knowledge Commentary, Bible Knowledge Series, Romans John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck, ed, (Cook Communications: Colorado Springs, 2004), 491.