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(Matthew 7:1-5 KJV) Judge not, that ye be not judged. [2] For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. [3] And why beholdest thou the mote that is in THY BROTHER’S EYE, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? [4] Or how wilt thou say TO THY BROTHER, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam [is] in thine own eye? [5] Thou HYPOCRITE, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of THY BROTHER’S eye.

(Matthew 7:6 KJV) Give not that which is holy unto the DOGS, neither cast ye your pearls before SWINE, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.

The Church Battles The Darkness

The Church of Jesus Christ is in the midst of a battle against darkness, and has been in that battle from the moment Jesus ascended into Heaven. Just as Satan attacked Jesus from the start to the end of His earth ministry (Matthew 4:1-11; Matthew 16:21-23; Mark 3:20-30; Luke 22:53; Revelation 12:10-11), Jesus warned us that we would battle Satan as His Church. Our enemy is not humanity, but the forces of evil and darkness behind humanity. The Bible says:

(Ephesians 6:12-13 NKJV) For WE DO NOT WRESTLE AGAINST FLESH AND BLOOD, but against PRINCIPALITIES, against POWERS, against the RULERS OF THE DARKNESS of this age, against SPIRITUAL HOSTS OF WICKEDNESS in the heavenly [places]. [13] Therefore TAKE UP THE WHOLE ARMOR OF GOD, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

The fallen world, under the influence and snare of Satan, is constantly attacking the truths of the Bible and the glorious Gospel of Christ. The Apostle said,

1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because YOUR ADVERSARY THE DEVIL, as a roaring lion, walketh about, SEEKING WHOM HE MAY DEVOUR.

The solution for the Church – the only way we can survive – is to SUBMIT OURSELVES TO GOD while RESISTING SATAN (James 4:7).

Sadly, that’s not what happens in most cases. Instead of demanding that the world listen to Jesus, we as the church have begun to listen to the world. We begin to ask questions like, “How can we get more behinds in the pew”, rather than asking the right question “How can we glorify Jesus and honor our Heavenly Father?”. If we please Jesus, God will make sure the RIGHTEOUS are added to the Church. Look at the early Church testimony. When the Apostles preached:

Acts 2:40 … BE SAVED FROM THIS PERVERSE (skolios, crooked, wicked, surly) GENERATION

They made no apologies when preaching against the wickedness in the world. The early Preachers made no excuses for the darkness to hide in, but demanded that people REPENT – surrender their lives to Jesus so that He could save them. The Bible tells us that:

(Acts 2:41-42, 46-47 NKJV) Then those who GLADLY RECEIVED HIS WORD WERE BAPTIZED; and that day about three thousand souls were added [to them]. [42] And they CONTINUED STEADFASTLY in the apostles’ DOCTRINE and FELLOWSHIP, in the BREAKING OF BREAD, and in PRAYER. … [46] So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, [47] praising God and having favor with all the people. And THE LORD ADDED TO THE CHURCH DAILY THOSE WHO WERE BEING SAVED.

The early Church practiced judgment. It preached the Gospel to all, saying “BE SAVED FROM THIS PERVERSE (skolios, crooked, wicked, surly) GENERATION”. The preaching offended many, so much so that:

Preachers were arrested (Acts 4:1-3)
Religious leaders wanted to kill them (Acts 5:33)
Stephen was murdered for preaching repentance (Acts 7:54-58)
The Church was hated and persecuted (Acts 8:1)
Missionaries were beaten and imprisoned (Acts 13:50)
Whole cities came out to destroy Preachers (Acts 17:5-8)

And yet the Church grew, and prospered. Why? Because Christians were genuine, not apathetic. Christians knew that they were in a battle with Satan and the lost, and so believers took their faith seriously. The early Church had no buildings, but met house to house or in the Temple (at least, until the Temple was destroyed in 70 AD). The early Church was attacked, brutalized, scattered, but it grew because believers were serious about serving the Lord Jesus.

Then Satan had a brainstorm. He thought, “Let’s back off on the persecution, and blend Christianity with politics. Let’s make Christianity acceptable, and the law of the land”. In 313 AD Emperor Constantine legalized Christianity in the Edict of Milan. Though Constantine did not outlaw other religious belief, he made it fashionable to be a Christian. Then in 380 AD Emperor Theodosius I (Theodosius the Great) issued the Edict of Thessalonica, making Nicene Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire. As Pagan religions were banned, those who were pagans and without Christ were encouraged the join with the state Church. Many did so bringing their false, unbiblical beliefs with them. To maintain unity, a series of offices unknown to Scripture were brought into the Church, the chief office being that of “Pope”. It is the “Pope”, not the Lord Jesus Christ, who is said to have supreme legislative, executive, and judicial power for the state Church. Popes brought horrible things into the state Church. To name just a few:

Pope Innocent III (1198-1216) authorized the murder of thousands in southern France

Pope Innocent IV (1243-1254) authorized torture by the Inquisition against suspected heretics or unbelievers

Pope Urban VI (1378-1389) ordered the torture and execution of Pastors who opposed them. He complained when their screams were not loud

The devil crept into the Church when the Church left the Word of God. When God’s people become apathetic or hypocritical, it isn’t long before the Church isn’t the Church at all.

The Devil Is The Master Of Twisting Scripture

The devil is always twisting and quoting scripture, seeking to ensnare the people of God. The text we’re looking at today has been widely quoted by unbelievers, and adopted as twisted by several denominations to the demise of that denomination. The text is:

(Matthew 7:1-2 KJV) Judge not, that ye be not judged. [2] For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

Usually when this is quoted, people say “Jesus said you’re not to judge. The only one that can judge is God, not humans. Based on that, I can do thus and thus REGARDLESS as to what the Bible says, because the Bible is just an old outdated Book anyway”. And Beloved, this is not what the text is about.

Did Jesus Actually Tell Us Not To Judge Others?

As we look at our text, “Judge not, that ye be not judged”, is Jesus actually telling us not to judge the actions of others. For instance, if I see a child molester stalking a six year old, should I say “Judge not, that ye be not judged”, turn my back and walk away? If I see a man knock down a woman and begin to assault her, should I say “Judge not, that ye be not judged”, and mind my own business? Of if someone pulls a knife and attacks someone with the knife, should I not intervene because, after all, “Judge not, that ye be not judged”? I think most reasonable people would say, “No, you should get involved”. The Bible says:

Psalm 82:3-4 (NIV) Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed. Rescue the weak and the needy; DELIVER THEM FROM THE HAND OF THE WICKED.

In order to do what God said, you must make judgments. The Prophet Isaiah said, “Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the
6 fatherless, plead the widow’s cause”. You must

make judgments. You must be able to weigh good against evil, light against darkness.

I cannot judge that which is unseen, the contents of the human heart. But I can judge external actions as right or wrong based on the teaching of Scripture.

We judge FRUIT, the outward actions of the life. The FRUIT will tell us much about the tree that bears it. I personally cannot distinguish an orange tree from a pear tree or a apple tree by it’s bark or leaves. But once the tree bears fruit, the fruit will tell me the type of tree it is. Jesus told us to “Judge with righteous judgment” (John 7:24). Jesus told us:

(Matthew 7:15-18 KJV) BEWARE OF FALSE PROPHETS, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. [16] YOU SHALL KNOW THEM BY THEIR FRUITS. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? [17] Even so EVERY GOOD TREE BRINGETH FORTH GOOD FRUIT; but A CORRUPT TREE BRINGETH FORTH EVIL FRUIT. [18] A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither [can] a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

Preach! You may not be able to tell what’s in the heart of the tree – but you can judge the fruit. Does the fruit that which the tree produces bring honor to our heavenly Father? Does the fruit glorify the Lord Jesus by advancing the Gospel? Does the fruit encourage repentance from the flesh, and walking in the power of the Spirit? Can the fruit be seen in the Scripture as a fruit to be desired? Does the fruit magnify Jesus while minimizing me?

Jesus never said we should not judge. The light must judge darkness and light. We are light, and not darkness. So we must judge – not based on our opinion as to right or wrong – but based on what God has endorsed or rejected via the Scripture.

Jesus Was Not Telling Us Not To Judge Others. He Was Telling Us To Judge Ourselves FIRST.

(Matthew 7:1-3 KJV) Judge not, that ye be not judged. [2] For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. [3] And why BEHOLDEST THOU THE MOTE that is in THY BROTHER’S {adelphos} EYE, but CONSIDEREST NOT THE BEAM that is in thine own eye?

The words that you see above were not addressed to the lost, but to the assembled Church. In Matthew chapter 5 verse 1 we read:

Matthew 5:1 (Jesus) went up into a mountain: and WHEN HE WAS SET, HIS DISCIPLES CAME UNTO HIM

Word Study: When you come to the end of Matthew chapter 7 we read “when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine”. From the beginning of Matthew 5 to the end of Matthew 7 we are hearing a sermon Jesus preached to HIS FOLLOWERS. The sermon wasn’t preached to unbelievers, but to believers. It wasn’t to the world at large, but about judging what is in “THY BROTHER’S EYE”. The word rendered “BROTHER” is the Greek adelphos, which means “those of the same family or of the same Kingdom”. The word is used frequently in the New Testament for believers in the Lord Jesus Christ (see Romans 1:13; 7:1; 11:25; 1 Corinthians 1:10; 2:1; 3:1; 2 Corinthians 8:1, and so on).

So this verse has nothing to do with judging a lost or unchurched person. It has to do with making judgment against one another in the Church. Jesus said:

Judge not, that ye be not judged

When you are going to judge yourself, the first thing you need to do is ask yourself “Is what I am judging something the Scripture clearly supports?” Does the Bible say that what this fellow believer is doing is wrong? Or is this just my opinion? God is the One Who determines what is good or evil, not me. God told Israel,

Deuteronomy 6:18 (AP) Do that which is RIGHT AND GOOD IN THE SIGHT OF THE LORD, and you will be blessed …

Isaiah 33:22 (ESV) the LORD IS OUR JUDGE; the LORD IS OUR LAWGIVER

If I’m making a judgment based on what I think, then I may be judged by God as a false prophet.

For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

If I’m using the Word of God, and repeating what the Father has established as normal for His Kingdom, then I won’t be judged for that. But if I’m making up my rules and expecting others to live by them as if I am God, I will be judged harshly for that.

why BEHOLDEST THOU THE MOTE {karphos} that is in THY BROTHER’S {adelphos} EYE, but CONSIDEREST NOT THE BEAM {dokos} that is in thine own eye?

Word Study: The second thing the Christian should ask themselves is, “Have I examined MY LIFE before revealing this judgment to my brother or sister in Christ?” Jesus uses two words here – karphos and dokos. The word karphos means “a little chaff”. In the ancient world you made your own flour. You did so by tossing the head of the wheat plant into the air. The edible seed would fall back into the bowl, but the inedible chaff would fly up in the air, and sometimes get in your eye. It’s just a tiny thing that floats on the air. It would bother, but not blind. But the other word Jesus uses is dokos, which means “a stick of timber large enough to hold up a roof”. The word is found in the Septuagint in:

Song of Solomon 1:17 (Sept) The BEAMS {dokos} of our house are cedar

It’s not a tiny piece of chaff, but something along the line of a 2×8 construction grade board. If that were in your eye, you would be blinded by it. We are to judge ourselves first. When the Apostle Paul chastised the Church at Corinth he told the Church:

(1 Corinthians 11:31-32 NKJV) For IF WE WOULD JUDGE OURSELVES, WE WOULD NOT BE JUDGED. [32] But when we are judged, WE ARE CHASTENED BY THE LORD, that we may not be condemned with the world.

Christians are children of God, saved by faith in Christ. When we sin, the “wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). Sin corrupts. Sin destroys. A brother or a sister who points out sin to another brother or sister has done them a favor. For if you will not repent of sin, GOD WILL CHASTEN YOU, EVEN UNTO DEATH. This is what was happening at Corinth. They had let sin in their midst, and were running around saying without foundation:

“Judge not, that ye be not judged”

And people were dying. Beloved,

We as Christians need to stop treating sin as if it were a pet animal. Sin is a wild beast that, if not bound, will eat you and those you love alive! Judge yourself first. Then help your brother or sister out of the snare of sin.

(Matthew 7:5 KJV) Thou hypocrite, first cast out the BUILDER’S BEAM out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the CHAFF out of thy brother’s eye.

Jesus is not telling us to not judge. He is telling us to make sure we are in union with Him and His Word before we judge a fellow brother or sister. Christians MUST judge – but not based on what we feel or think, but based on what the Bible says.

You Cannot Obey What Jesus Says In The Very Next Verse If You Do Not Judge

Usually a lost person will trot Matthew 7:1-5 out an tell Christians that Jesus said not to judge anyone for any reason. As I’ve shown you, this is a twisting of God’s Word. But the lost have NEVER quoted this verse, because to do so would ruin their fabrication of truth. Jesus said:

(Matthew 7:6 KJV) Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.

It is impossible to obey Jesus in this verse if I don’t, as a Christian, make some judgments. Jesus said “Give not that which is holy”. I have to make a judgment as to what is HOLY, that which God has endorsed. I’m not supposed to give the holy “UNTO THE DOGS”. Is Jesus talking about Lassie? No. When the Bible speaks of “DOGS”, it is speaking of those who mock or reject the Kingdom of God, who endorse filthy things that God has rejected, who amplify and persist in what God has said is evil. The Bible says:

(Philippians 3:2 LSB) BEWARE OF THE DOGS! Beware of the EVIL WORKERS! Beware of the mutilation!

Dogs are people who twist the Gospel of salvation, who ignore repentance and reject the Cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Unrepentant evil doers are dogs. Dogs of that type will not be in Heaven, but will be locked out because they have rejected the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior.

(Revelation 22:14-15 LSB) Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the authority to the tree of life and may enter by the gates into the city. [15] OUTSIDE ARE THE DOGS and the sorcerers and the sexually immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying.

Dogs have no place in the Kingdom of God in Heaven, because dogs reject the Kingdom of Christ on this earth. Jesus said “Do not give what is holy to the DOGS”. Dogs aren’t going to Heaven (human dogs). Don’t share the Kingdom Truths with those who are unsaved. Give them the Gospel, but do not argue Kingdom truths with them. The Bible says:

1 Corinthians 2:14 (KJV) … the natural man RECEIVETH NOT THE THINGS OF THE SPIRIT OF GOD: for they are FOOLISHNESS UNTO HIM: neither can he know them, because THEY ARE SPIRITUALLY DISCERNED.

A spiritual Dog cannot understand the Trinity, nor the inspiration of the Scripture. A spiritual Dog invents 47 genders whereas God only created two. A spiritual Dog mocks the Cross of Christ, the sinlessness of Jesus. A spiritual Dog does not understand Biblical love. A Dog licks itself, and has no shame.

neither cast ye your PEARLS before SWINE

Among the Jews “SWINE” were considered unclean creatures. They were not to be eaten, or even touched (Leviticus 11:7-8). God lifted those restrictions in the Book of Acts (Acts 10:12-16) – but swine, hogs or pigs, are by nature dirty creatures.

God’s people are not to give the precious spiritual truths that He has given us to the lost world. The unsaved will not appreciate those truths, but will only trample them underfoot and mock them.

What is a “pearl” and how is it made? A pearl begins when something irritating and painful enters the life of a oyster. That thing comes into the soft tissue of the sea creature, and it can’t get rid of it. The oyster covers the irritant with calcium carbonate crystals, over and over again. The longer the process takes, the larger the pearl gets. In time, that which was an irritant is converted into something very valuable and desirable.

We don’t give pearls to the lost. We don’t promise them Heaven, nor share the promises that God has given to His people to them. What we share with the lost is the Gospel. The Gospel is not a pearl – but it makes pearls. Jesus talked about the Kingdom of Heaven as “a Pearl of Great Price”.

(Matthew 13:45-46 LSB) Again, the KINGDOM OF HEAVEN is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, [46] and upon FINDING ONE PEARL OF GREAT VALUE, he went and SOLD ALL THAT HE HAD AND BOUGHT IT.

This life is hard. We, like oysters, have irritants and miseries that enter our lives. How do we fix it? We try to do it through human means, through doctors, self help gurus, through psychology. Nothing seems to help. No one but Jesus can help us.

We repent and come to Jesus.

Jesus Christ came into His Creation, and laid down His life for us. The Bible says:

(1 Corinthians 1:18 LSB) For THE WORD OF THE CROSS IS FOOLISHNESS TO THOSE WHO ARE PERISHING, but TO US WHO ARE BEING SAVED, IT IS THE POWER OF GOD.

When people are tried. When they are suffering. When hospitalized. When in depression. When that irritant comes into their lives, and they realize that they are helpless against it, we share the Cross with them. We tell them about Jesus. And, “if God grants repentance that leads to life” (Acts 11:18; 2 Timothy 2:25; Romans 2:4), if that lost person will grab the hand of Jesus,

God will cover the hurt with Grace. He will bring that lost soul into the Family of God. “Of Jesus’ fullness we receive, grace upon grace” (John 1:16). He takes our broken lives, and makes us His workmanship (Ephesians 2:10). Jesus does what the Prophets said He would do:

(Isaiah 61:3 NKJV) To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.”

The pearl of great price belongs to those who have given
17 their lives to Jesus. Not to the dogs. Not to the swine

who mock and reject His mercy. But to those who will surrender their lives to Him, blessed be the name of Jesus.