REVIEW
FLIP CHART: SOM’S KEY VERSE, GOAL, MOTTO
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness ….” (Mt. 6:33a).
The law sends us to Christ for justification; Christ sends us back to the law for sanctification.
FLIP CHART: Show new “Perfect Righteousness” chart explaining steps to coming to Christ (As a worm, mourning, meek, spiritual hunger/thirst with the result of legal righteousness). Explain: moral righteousness, immediate moral change at conversion, gradual change through life’s challenges and speeding up moral change via CCRC (Concentration, Choice, Reflection and Confession/Thanksgiving). Key verse, “By one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy” (Heb. 10:14).
FLIP CHART: John Stott’s outline of SOM.
“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. (Matthew 7:1-5)
HYMN: When I Survey the Wondrous Cross
REVIEW:
OUTLINE FOR TODAY:
THE CHRISTIAN MUST JUDGE
I. Defining the word “judge”
II. The Christian is Commanded to Judge
III. The Christian is not Commanded to Abandon His Critical Faculty
AVOIDING JUDGMENTALISM
I. Definition of Judgmentalism
II. Marks of a Judgmental, Censorious Spirit
THE CHRISTIAN WILL BE JUDGED
I. God is the Only True and Righteous Judge
II. God’s Judgment is Both Present & Future
A. The Great White Throne Judgment
B. Judgment While in the Body
C. The Judgment Seat of Christ
GOD’S “STANDARDS” OF JUDGMENT
I. The Divine Law of Love
II. Lists of Ethical Guidelines in the NT
III. The Life of Christ, the Way He Lived
IV. Our Conscience
V. The Measure We Use to Judge Others
THE FINE ART OF SPECK REMOVAL
I. With Self Criticism First
II. With Humility
III. Without Bias / Not According to Appearance
IV. With Mercy
V. With Gentleness
OF DOGS, HOGS AND THE TOUGH WORK
OF DISCERNMENT
I. Defining Key Nouns in Mt. 7:6
II. Discernment in Sharing Divine Truth
OF DOGS, HOGS & THE TOUGH WORK OF DISCERNMENT (II)
DEFINING KEY NOUNS IN MT. 7:6
1. Dogs – Not lapdogs but junkyard dogs indicating those hardened by sin, vicious and strongly opposed to divine truth.
2. What is Sacred – Meat offering made in the temple and a referring to the Kingdom’s Message – the Gospel.
3. Pigs – The most offensive of all animals to the Jewish people, referring to those who are incapable of discriminating between what is holy and unholy, stupidly obstinate (pig-headed) and vicious towards the Kingdom and Kingdom’s Message.
4. Pearl – An item of great value and superb beauty – referring to the value and beauty of the message of the kingdom
He breaks the power of cancelled sin,
He sets the prisoner free;
His blood can make the foulest clean;
His blood availed for me. (O For a Thousand Tongues)
Forbid it Lord that I should boast
Save in the death of Christ, my God;
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood. (When I Survey Wondrous Cross)
Do we value the Gospel Message as a Pearl of Great Value?
5. Our Lord is saying that those people who have had ample opportunity to hear the truth but remain ‘defiantly opposed’ with a ‘hardened contempt’ for God and the Message of the Kingdom are like junkyard dogs and undiscriminating pigs. They are haters of God and all that is holy and showing their scorn for Divine Truth with cynical and sarcastic mockery.
DISCERNMENT IN SHARING DIVINE TRUTH
What is unique here is that after our Lord spoke so clearly about not being judgmental and about removing specks from other’s eyes he speaks with great force that we Christians are not to be “judgment-less”!!! We need to make judgments on who we should pursue with the Gospel message.
1. SOME PEOPLE ARE NOT OPEN TO SPECK REMOVAL
We studied carefully the Fine Art of Speck Removal several weeks ago and noted that those who want to remove specks from the eyes of others, e.g. help others see blind spots concerning moral flaws must first be self-critical. They must also approach this task with great humility, without bias, and with mercy and gentleness.
A person with these qualities is qualified for helping others remove specks from their eyes / lives. But in the same way that not everyone is qualified for speck removal, not everyone is a good candidate for speck removal.
Some feel that the reference to dogs and pigs in 7:6 is in direct reference to who we should seek to help. In other words if we are qualified at speck removal we need to make judgment calls on candidates we may want to help. Not all are worthy clients. Some will tear us apart like dogs or trample our advice, the truth we share, underfoot like pigs.
Charles Spurgeon said that although the saints are not judges of the motives and inner workings of another’s heart and thus must avoid judgmentalism and censoriousness, the saints are not simpletons either and are able to discern those who will defiantly oppose speck removal.
In other words not everyone is qualified to reprove but then also not everyone is safe to reprove.
All Bible teachers feel Matthew 7:6 is about more than just speck removal.
2. JESUS DISCRIMINATED ON WHO WOULD HEAR THE GOSPEL MESSAGE.
“To most persons this verse (Mt. 7:6) implies the worst kind of intolerance and prejudice. And, while it is true that it does not actually teach prejudice, it is also true that it does teach the need for the utmost spiritual discernment and true discrimination on the part of Christians. It the simplest terms it means there are some persons with whom Christ’s followers must not share some part of spiritual truth.” (Boice, 231).
Most people who speak so highly of the Sermon on the Mount find this verse shocking and ugly. How could it be that Jesus would refer to a certain group of people as junkyard dogs and undiscriminating pigs?
Our Lord referred to Herod as a fox (Lk. 13:32) and the Pharisees as a brood of vipers (Mt. 12:34) and “whitewashed tombs” (Mt. 23:27). Here he is saying that there are certain people who act like junkyard dogs and swine.
It is important to note that Jesus did not share Divine Truth and the Message of the Gospel with everyone.
QUESTION: Can you think of times when Jesus refused to share His message with others?
ILL: Remember the movie “The Passion” and the scenes of Jesus with Pilate and also with Herod. Jesus held a conversation with Pilate and answered his questions (John 18:33-38) but said nothing to Herod. “Herod … plied him with questions, but Jesus gave him no answer.” (Luke 23:6-12)
Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. What goes into a man’s mouth does not make him ‘unclean,’ but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him ‘unclean.’” Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?” He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. Leave them (alone); they are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.” (Mt. 15:10-14)
Jesus did not give all of His teaching to everyone who happened to be listening. On one occasion He prayed, “I praise Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou didst hide these things from the wise and intelligent and didst reveal them to babes” (Mt. 11:25). On another occasion He said to His disciples, in answer to their question about why He spoke to the multitudes in parables: “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted . . . Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand” (Mt. 13:11, 13). And after Jesus rose from the dead He showed Himself to no one who was not a believer. (MacArthur, 438)
3. BIBLE WRITERS ALSO DISCRIMINATED WHEN DETERMINING WHO WOULD HEAR DIVINE TRUTH
QUESTION: Can you think of instances in the Bible when God’s people refused to share divine truth, and/or the message of the Gospel with others?
“Whoever corrects a mocker invites insult; whoever rebukes a wicked man incurs abuse. Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you . . . . “ (Proverbs 9:7-8a).
“Do not speak to a fool, for he will scorn the wisdom of your words.” (Proverbs 23:9)
“Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: ‘We had to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles.’” (Acts 13:46)
“But when the Jews opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, ‘Your blood be on your own heads! I am clear of my responsibility. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” (Acts 18:6)
Don’t be naive. There are difficult times ahead. As the end approaches, people are going to be self-absorbed, money-hungry, self-promoting, stuck-up, profane, contemptuous of parents, crude, coarse, dog-eat-dog, unbending, slanderers, impulsively wild, savage, cynical, treacherous, ruthless, bloated windbags, addicted to lust, and allergic to God. They’ll make a show of religion, but behind the scenes they’re animals. Stay clear of these people. (II Timothy 3:1-5, The Message)
Do not get involved in foolish discussions about spiritual pedigrees or in quarrels and fights about obedience to Jewish laws. These things are useless and a waste of time. If people are causing divisions among you, give a first and second warning. After that, have nothing more to do with them. For people like that have turned away from the truth, and their own sins condemn them. (Titus 3:9-11)
4. RELATING TO PEOPLE WHO VICIOUSLY OPPOSE THE GOSPEL
Dogs/Pigs: Those people who have had ample opportunity to hear the truth but remain ‘defiantly opposed’ with a ‘hardened contempt’ for God and the Message of the Kingdom. They hate God and all that is holy showing scorn for Divine Truth with continual cynical and sarcastic mockery.
“The fact is that to persist beyond a certain point in offering the Gospel to such people is to invite rejection with contempt and even blasphemy.” (Stott, 182)
READING: Nickled and Dimed – On (Not) Getting by in America, Barbara Ehrenreich, pages 66-69. Ridiculing a Pentecostal tent ministry in Maine.
ILL: I read somewhere, some years ago, that John MacArthur was invited to go on the Phil Donahue Show in the past but refused because he felt that the faith would be ridiculed. Nevertheless he has been on Larry King Live.
J.M. Boice considers the ridicule, cynicism, sarcasm of those that have “hardened contempt” for the Gospel message to be the barking of dogs and the grunting of swine.
ILL: Once while visiting with a person, he was cursing and blaspheming God’s name. I could have risen up and told him to stop swearing, but then who would be the authority? The Lord or me? I prayerfully laid it before the Lord to give me an opportunity to speak a word to him in season. About fifteen minutes later, the Lord gave me an opportunity that I could use a passage of Scripture to answer a question he had asked. Instantly he rose up defensively saying he was as religious as I was. I didn’t argue with him, but I did say, “But there is still a difference between you and me; the distinction is that I fear God, and you do not.” After I explained what it meant to fear God, i.e., to have a holy reverence for God’s name and His will, the Lord gave me a chance to speak a word in season. We were together for three days after this encounter, and I never heard him use another profane word. (From the Web)
Sometimes the very best and strongest reproof to a person who has a ‘hardened contempt’ for the Gospel and is being sarcastic and cynical about the Gospel message is just to walk away.
“Our Christian witness and evangelistic preaching are not to be entirely indiscriminate, therefore. If people have had plenty of opportunity to hear the truth but do not respond to it, if they stubbornly turn their backs on Christ, if (in other words) they cast themselves in the role of ‘dogs’ and ‘pigs’, we are not to go on and one with them, for then we cheapen God’s gospel by letting them trample it under foot.” (Stott, 183)
The best way to relate to those who have a “hardened contempt” for the Gospel would be by our testimony.
READING: Nickled and Dimed – On (Not) Getting by in America, Barbara Ehrenreich, pages 154, 163. Melissa, the Christian employee of Walmart in Minneapolis.
5. SHOULD WE SHARE NO MORE THAN THE GOSPEL WITH THE UNSAVED?
Obviously we are not to share “what is holy” and our “pearls” with dogs and pigs, and yet we are commanded to share the Gospel with the world.
Mt. 7:6 makes it clear that there are times when we are to share no truth at all with some people. That fact leads us to ask ourselves to just what we should share with the unsaved.
QUESTION: What do you think of the following statement from James M. Boice? Is it correct?
“The first thing (Mt. 7:6) means …. Is that all the truth of the Bible is not for the unbeliever. In fact, the only truth that is for him is the truth of his own sinfulness coupled with the offer of salvation through the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. I know that some will answer, ‘Do you mean to tell me that the ethics of Christianity are not for unbelievers, that we are not to preach love, sacrifice, mercy, and other things to everyone?’ That is exactly what I mean.” (Boice, 231)
We saw at the beginning of these studies that it was for the poor in spirit (not the proud), those who mourn for their sin (not the carefree), the ones whom God has made meek (not the boastful) to whom these teachings are given. You must have the Spirit of Christ within before you can take up his ethics.” (Boice, 231-232)
“Someone else will say, ‘But what about prayer? Can’t we teach the non-Christian about prayer?’ Again the answer is No. There is not a line in the bible to support the idea of the value of prayer for any unbeliever. In fact, the Bible explicitly states that God will not hear the prayer of unbelievers. In fact, ‘When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen’ (Isa. 1:15). The only prayer that God will ever hear from an unbelievers in the prayer that asks for salvation on the basis of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this doctrines in the only one that we have authority to preach to anyone who has not already become a child of God by believer it.” (Boice, 232)
“This means that in the case of an unbeliever we should never present to him anything but the doctrine of justification by faith. We should never discuss any other doctrines with an unbeliever” (MLJ, 189)
QUESTION: In our Lord’s discussion with the Samaritan woman, to what topics did she seek to direct Him?
ILL: The Samaritan woman in John 4 wanted to discuss the doctrine of the Being of God, where to worship, the difference that separated the Jews from the Samaritans but Jesus always brought her back to her sinful life and need for salvation.
ILL: As a young missionary in Madura working with Muslims, Muslim high school students day after day would come and sit on my porch and get into theological discussions (arguments) with me. They wanted me to prove the trinity, the incarnation, the deity of Christ. I would bring out paper, pencil and the Bible and discuss these doctrines for hours drawing sketches and trying to convince them about the soundness of these great doctrines. I got nowhere. Finally one day the lights went on and I started unwittingly turning their questions into opportunities to share the Gospel. They would ask, “How is it possible that God could come to earth, born of a virgin, and live in a human body?” I would turn the question back by saying, “That is an excellent question. I don’t know exactly how that happened but I have a tougher question for you. Why did Isa Al-Masih come from heaven and incarnate in the womb of a virgin? Do you know why?” And of course they would say, no, they did not know. I would reply, “But I do know. Let me explain it to you.” And then I would give them a detailed explanation of salvation. Thus, unwittingly, I was obeying the principle of sharing only the Gospel. Now, it also needs to be said that these students did not have a ‘hardened contempt’ for the Gospel.
Francis Shaeffer built his ministry at “La’Abri” around giving honest answers to honest questions. I am sure some of these questions related to theology. But I think the key here is using all questions to point the questioner to the message of the Good News.
6. MT. 7:6 IS A CORRECTIVE FOR BELIEVERS
“Then comes this saying (Mt. 7:6) which is a further amplification of the principle, or rather a corrective of it: you must not sit in judgment on others and pass censorious sentences on them, but you ought to exercise discrimination. Judgment is an ambiguous word in English as in Greek: it may mean sitting in judgment on people (or even condemning them), or it may mean exercising a proper discrimination. In the former sense judgment is deprecated; in the latter sense it is recommended. (FF Bruce, 87).
The admonition concerning sharing ‘what is holy, and ‘pearls’ with dogs and pigs helps us keep in balance – avoid being judgmental-less.
Christians have to avoid being wishy-washy, gutless, spineless.
It is clear that love must discriminate. A false charity allows evil to override holiness. There are not only ‘sheep’ that Christians relate to but also ‘dogs’ and ‘swine’ that we must contend with. A false charity makes us treat all as equals and the church ends up being like the mystical Babylon, ‘a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.’
Can anything be more depraved than to mistake God’s precious pearl for a thing of no worth and actually to tread it into the mud? At the same time to give people up is a very serious step to take. I can think of only one or two occasions in my experience when I have felt it was right. This teaching of Jesus is for exceptional situation only; our normal Christian duty is to be patient and persevere with others, as God has patiently persevered with us. (Stott, 183)
Mt. 7:12-5 tells us not to be judgmental. Mt. 7:6 tells us not to share the Gospel Pearl with those hardened with contempt who defiantly oppose and mock the Gospel with cynicism and sarcasm. In most cases we are to limit what we share with other non-Christians to the Gospel only. We are not to let a false charity override our need to discriminate in this matter and thus force us into a false holiness.
SO WHAT???
1. For me, this lesson has given me a new appreciation of the value of the Gospel message, the Pearl our Lord has given us to share with the lost. Do we hold it lightly or as a message of great, supreme value?
2. We need to realize that besides the ‘meek and mild Jesus’ we often hear about there is also the Jesus who bold and outspoken who is not afraid to be forthright concerning what is true.
3. I have seen that I need to be more discriminating in what I share with the unsaved. I need to focus less on Christian doctrine and more on the message of salvation.