(Through the Bible) Matthew 7 — Chuck Smith

Jesus’ Teaching Method and the Principle of Judgment

I believe that it goes without saying that Jesus Christ was certainly the greatest teacher who ever lived. And it is interesting to study his teaching habits. And he used the method of declaring a principle, amplifying it, and then illustrating it.

You declare the truth. It is important that we have certain principles established within our lives by which we live. We need to know why we live by these principles, and that's best understood by having them illustrated for us.

And so he follows this method consistently in the Sermon on the Mount, declaring the principle, and then amplify the principle by illustration. So, as we begin chapter 7, we begin a new principle, as Jesus declares now a new principle to us.

And he declares, For with what, that's the principle, just judge not that you be not judged. And then he goes on to amplify it. For with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged. And with what measure you meet, it shall be measured to you again.

And then he illustrates it. Why do you behold the sliver that is in your brother's eye, but you don't consider the beam that is in your own eye? Or how will you say to your brother, let me take the sliver out of your eye, and behold the beam is in your own eye?

The hypocrite. First take the beam out of your own eye, and then you'll be able to see clearly to cast or to take the sliver out of your brother's eye. Give not that which is holy unto dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.

Judgment, Discernment, and the Pearls Before Swine

Now, this passage has created difficulty in the minds of a lot of people, because it seems like Jesus just tells you not to do one thing, and then right around it, he turns right around and tells you, don't cast your pearls before swine, or give that which is holy to dogs.

And immediately, that does entail a certain judgment of people. Who can I share the holy things with? Who can I share the pearls of God's wisdom with? And I have to make some kind of a judgment, because I'm not to share them with the dogs or with the swine.

Jesus is saying, basically, that we are not to condemn, but we are to discriminate. Condemnation is something that God has reserved for himself. God is the final judge. It's not up to me to say that a brother is condemned or a brother is damned.

That's something that is in God's hands. God reserves final judgment for himself, but it is something that I'm not to enter into. Paul the Apostle, in writing to the Romans, talks about the horrible things that people in the world do.

He talks how terrible the world had become. People were fierce. They were incontinent. They were blasphemers. They were adulterers. They did all of these horrible things. And having declared these terrible things that people were doing in the world, he then said, And thou art inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judges another.

For in the same time that you're judging another, you're doing the same things yourself. Inexcusable if you judge another. Now, if I look at something that someone is doing, and I say, Oh, that's terrible.

Oh, that's wrong. That's evil. I am acknowledging the fact that I know that that is wrong and that is evil. But if I'm going ahead and if I'm doing the same thing, only in a little different shade of color, I am really condemning myself in that I am acknowledging that I know what is right, but I am doing what is wrong, and I could really be in worse shape than the guy that's doing it.

You see, my judging another shows that I know better. And yet, if I'm doing the same thing, change the situation slightly. Change the names. Change the scene. And so often those things which we are so readily willing and judging someone else for, by turning it slightly, I'm really guilty of doing that very same thing myself.

You remember when Nathan came to David and told him about a man in his kingdom. Oh, this man was wealthy. He had everything he desired. He had servants and maids and everything he could hope for. Everything he could desire.

Great flocks and herds. And next door to him there lived a very poor man who had only one little ewe lamb. All he had. And this man loved that one little ewe lamb. He took it to bed with him. It ate with him.

It lived in the house with him. It was the only thing he had. And this wealthy man had visitors come, and so he ordered his servants to go next door and by force take the one little ewe lamb from his neighbor and slaughter it and barbecue it for his guest.

David got angry. He judged the man. And he said to Nathan, that man shall surely be put to death. Nathan said, David, you are the man. Change the situation just a bit now. Here's David with all of his wines, ruling as the king over Israel.

And next door to him was Uriah. And David took Uriah's wife and had Uriah put to death. And by turning the situation slightly, by the prophet coming to David and putting it in a little different light, David immediately judges the man, condemns him to death.

But then as the scene is turned slightly, David then sees himself. Hey David, you are the man. Circumstances were slightly different, but David, you're it. And this is so true with us. We are so often ready to condemn someone for doing those things that basically we're guilty of doing ourselves.

If you just turn it slightly, look at it from a little different angle, that's me. It to me is always surprising and interesting how horrible our sins look when someone else is committing them. They don't look so bad when I do it.

I always have a way of looking at myself through the rose-colored glasses and I look pretty good. And I can tell you exactly why I did it. But oh, he's terrible. And it's often our own failings that we despise most in others.

We come down hardest on others. And so the Lord just says, judge not, lest you be judged. I'm not to condemn. That isn't my place. That's God's place. For with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged with the standard that I am judging others.

That is the standard by which I will be judged. I am setting the standard for judgment when I'm judging others. I'm setting the standard for my own judgment. When I measure out, that's the same ruler that's going to be used for me.

With whatever measure you are meeting it out, that is the same measurement that will be used for you. The standards that you set are the standards that will be required. So it's best to just leave that area alone.

Leave that in God's hands. And then the Lord sort of points out how ludicrous it is for me to be seeking to correct the flaws in my brother. I said, did you see the sliver in his eye? Oh, look at that.

The Lord says, you seem to be able to see the sliver in your brother's eye, but you don't notice that you've got a 12 by 16 in your own, you know. You've got a beam in your own eye. Now he said, look, first of all, take the beam out of your own eye and then you'll be able to see clearly to take the sliver out of your brother's eye.

In other words, who am I to really judge someone else for what they are doing wrong? When there are so many flaws in my own life. There's so much wrong with me. Now, if I am guilty of judging others, then people are going to start looking for the faults in me.

And it's just human nature. If you are that kind of person that is constantly going around condemning and judging other people, then they are going to be watching you very, very closely for the flaws that are in you.

Because they are going to have to try and put themselves back up by pulling you down. So, the principle, judge not that you be not judged. Yet, the Lord has given us reason and wisdom and he doesn't expect us to just set it on the shelf.

And so he tells us, don't give that which is holy to the dogs. Neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet and they turn again and rend you. There are some people with which you just cannot share the things of God.

You just shouldn't even try to share the things of God with them. They will not respect them, they'll just make fun of them. They will just trample them under their feet and then they will turn to tear you.

Now, how am I to know then who I can share and who I should not be sharing the truths of God with? Unless I make some kind of a judgment. Now, Peter was there listening to the Lord and it is interesting that he picks this up in his epistle, in his second epistle of Peter, he talks about as it has happened according, he's talking about the false teachers and the wicked people and the false prophets and all.

And he said, and it has happened to them according to the true proverb, the dog has returned to his vomit and the pig to his wallowing in the mire. They've turned back to their old natures and he uses the same dog and pig kind of a concept.

There are some people that just mock and ridicule the things of the Spirit and for me to take the precious things of God, those beautiful things that God has done in my life and start relating them to them, it's just, you're just taking pearls and casting them before swine.

You're not to do that. Oh, but how in the world can I know? How can I walk that narrow without judging and yet not being a fool in taking the pearls and giving them to the swine? How in the world can I walk that?

Asking, Seeking, and Knocking in Prayer

Well, the Lord tells us in the next verse, ask and it shall be given you. Now, this word ask is a word that Jesus uses for prayer when he's talking about our prayer. He never uses this word when he talks about his own prayer life.

The word means to beg, to implore, to beseech. When he talked about his own prayer life, he said, I will inquire of the Father. When he talks about our prayer, he talks about our beseeching, begging God.

He could inquire of the Father because when he came, he came on an equal level. But when we come, we come as really beggars in a sense because we have nothing really to offer God. But ask and it shall be given you.

James said you ask and you receive not because you ask amiss that you might consume it upon your own desires. Seek a little bit stronger and you shall find. Knock and it shall be open unto you. Now, someone has pointed out that these Greek words ask, seek and knock are in the present perfect tense, which to be properly translated in English would be keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking.

Not just a once complete action, but a continuing action. So the continual prayer life, asking, seeking, knocking. Now, if we ask, it will be given. If we seek, we shall find. If we knock, it shall be open.

For everyone that ask, receives. And he that seeks, finds. And to him that knocks, it shall be open. And now he's going to illustrate that a bit. For what man is there of you? Whom if his son ask for bread, will he give him a stone?

Or if he ask for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children. How much more shall your Father, which is in heaven, give good things to them that ask him?

Notice again that as in our last study, as Jesus was talking about prayer, he was dealing with relationship and always in prayer, we need to consider relationship that's vital for prayer. It is your father.

As a child, you have every right to come to your father whenever you are in need. And again, as he is speaking of prayer, he speaks of this relationship. How much more shall your father, which is in heaven, give good things to them that ask him?

Now he is again pointing out that as earthly fathers, when our children come to us, we recognize that they have certain basic needs. If my son comes to me and says, Dad, I'm hungry, can I have a peanut butter sandwich?

I don't hand him a rock and say, Chew on that kid, you know. I know that he has certain basic needs. And so when he comes and he asks for bread and peanut butter, we say, sure, go help yourself. If he says, can we have fish for dinner?

Can I have a tuna sandwich? If he asks for fish, will you give him a snake? No, the thought is just reprehensible. Of course not. I love my children. I respect their needs. If they ask for bread, we'll give them bread.

If they ask for tuna, we'll give them tuna. Now, if I, being evil, that is on this lower level of humankind, if I, with all of my failings and with all of my flaws, would not be so cruel and inhumane to my children as to give them a stone when they're asking for bread or to give them a serpent when they're asking for fish.

If I would not do that, then how about my Heavenly Father? If you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more? The argument there is from the lesser to the greater. You wouldn't do that.

How much more will your Heavenly Father, which is in Heaven, give good things to those that ask Him? Now, in Luke's Gospel, as he records this, he declares how much more will your Father, which is in Heaven, give the Holy Spirit to those that ask Him.

It is interesting that there are some people who seek to spread the boogeyman concept of God. In regards to coming to God and seeking God for the work of His Spirit within that person's life. And I've heard people say, now, you've got to be careful as you just, you know, open up yourself, because there were people who were seeking to be baptized with the Holy Spirit and they became possessed by demons.

That is about the most blasphemous concept of God I have ever heard uttered. And totally foreign to what Jesus said. Now, there are a lot of people that have, as a result of these boogeyman stories, become fearful of God.

Well, I want to be careful, you know, how I open up to God, because, you know, you sure don't want, you know, some kind of a horrible experience like that. You don't have to worry. You can come to God with every confidence.

And I open, my worry is not what God might do to me if I open up to Him completely. My worry is what I will miss if I don't open up to Him completely. I have no, absolutely no fear or no qualms in just opening my life totally to God.

That doesn't bother me in the least. I'm not at all worried about what God is going to do or what God is going to allow or where God is going to send me or what God might require of me. But these old boogeyman stories, you know, oh, now, you be careful what you say you're not going to do.

That's just what God will make you do, you know. So that we begin to be apprehensive of the will of God. We're almost fearful of the will of God. I hate snakes and bugs and rats. And if I say, God, Thy will be done, oh, look out.

You're going to end up a missionary in deep dark Africa, you know, trembling all night under your net as the rats are running through the thatched roof, you know. No, no, no. Totally false concept of God.

Your Heavenly Father loves you. And His plan for your life is so far superior to your own plan. The best thing that could ever happen to anybody would be to chuck his own plan for his life and just yield to God's plan completely.

Nothing better could ever happen to you than to be right in the center of what God wants for your life. That's the kind of Father I have. He has my best interest at His heart. And He only gets upset with me when I interfere with His accomplishing His best interest in my life.

He does get upset with me because sometimes I get in the way. I think I know better. I think I know what's best for me. And I sometimes get a little pushy as I'm trying to get what I have envisioned and dreamed.

And I think this is the very best for me. And I sometimes get pushy and then He wraps me on the knuckles. But not because He doesn't love me, It's just that I am getting in the way of His better plan for me.

What God has planned for you is the greatest thing that could ever happen to you. And the wisest thing any man could ever do is just to fully submit his life into the hands of God. Because God loves you.

And your Heavenly Father is concerned with your best welfare. Therefore... Now, notice that therefore is never the beginning of a thought. But it is a word of summary or conclusion. Because of... Like Dr. McGee declares, whenever you find a therefore, you must ask wherefore.

So here's a therefore, so you must ask wherefore. So, this which is often called the golden rule does not really stand by itself. And this is the mistake that so many people make in quoting the golden rule is that they leave out the therefore and they just quote the rule whatever you would that men should do to you, do ye also unto them.

That's not the golden rule. And to quote it that way is wrong and it leaves you totally helpless. If you don't have the therefore in it, there is no way that you're ever going to fulfill it. Therefore...

All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them, for this is the law and the prophets. Now, this is the final verse of this section. Judge not that ye be not judged. Remember, He told you with whatever measure you meet, it's going to be measured to you again.

The measure by which you measure others is the measurement by which you're going to be measured. The judgment by which you judge others, that's the judgment wherewith you will be judged. And so in the conclusion of that judge not, because you're setting the standard in the measurement, He concludes it by declaring, therefore, all things whatsoever that you would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.

The Positive Demands of the Golden Rule

Now, there are many people who will tell you that Christ did not declare anything new. That this was a very common saying among the great teachers and philosophers of the past. That Confucius said, Don't do to men what you don't want done to you.

Confucius say. Some of you older folks pick up on that one. When we were kids, there were all kinds of Confucius say. You know, many men smoke fuminchu. Remember that one? Confucius say, He who throws mud loses ground.

Aristotle said much the same. What you don't want done to you, don't do to others. Socrates said, Whatever is displeasing to you, then don't do that to others. So, they say the basic thought has already been expressed.

Wrong. You read Socrates, Aristotle and Confucius and all. And you see that they all of them put this in a negative thing. In other words, I don't want you to kill me. So, I won't kill you. I don't want you to rob from me.

Therefore, I shouldn't rob you. All negative. Jesus put it in the positive. Whatever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them. In a positive sense. In other words, following Confucius, I would not hate you.

But following Jesus, I would love you. It's not just the absence. Just not a negative, it's a positive. Following Confucius, I would not steal from you. But following Jesus, I would give to you. Can you see the difference?

One is stated in a negative sense, so that you are passive in your relationship with the others. But the other is stated, Jesus states it in a positive way. That causes me to initiate positive actions towards you for good.

For kindness. For love. For giving. For, as I would that men should do to me, I should be doing to them. Now, the therefore. You see, again, it would be impossible for me to fulfill this command of Jesus Christ apart from the power of God in my life.

And the therefore takes you back to ask, and you shall receive. Seek, and ye shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For whoever asks, receives. Whoever seeks, finds. And to him that knocks, it shall be opened.

It takes you back to that. I cannot do this in myself. I don't have the capacity or power to do this in myself. Therefore, I must ask God to work in my life by His Holy Spirit. I must seek that power of God's love working in me.

Because apart from that, I cannot live up to the requirements that are made of me here in the Sermon on the Mount. Now, Jesus begins to make application to the message. He has stated the principles, amplified the principles, illustrated the principles.

And now, finally, there comes, as must always be within any embodiment of any sermon, that place of exhortation to action upon what you have learned. And thus, Jesus now gets into that exhortation, first of all with warnings, and then with positive statements.

The Narrow Gate and the Way to Life

Now, enter in at the straight gate. For wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leads to destruction. And many there be which go in thereat. Because straight is the gate, and narrow is the way that leads unto life, and few there be that find it.

So, Jesus, first of all, tells us, look, it's a straight gate. It's a narrow path. It's going to take commitment. It's going to take consecration. And this is true of any endeavor that one might seek to succeed in in life.

You don't succeed in anything without entering into a straight gate and a narrow way. You've got to be committed. You've got to be consecrated to your cause. And so, this is not just exclusive for the Christian way.

This is just for success in life in any endeavor, but especially in the Christian endeavor. It's a straight gate. It's a narrow way. It takes real commitment. It takes real consecration to win. Now, as we read this, enter in at the straight gate, we are reminded of John 14 where Jesus said, and Thomas had just said, Lord, we don't know where you're going.

How can we know the way? And Jesus answered and said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. Notice he first of all talks about the straight gate, the way. Then he says, be careful of false prophets. I am the truth.

And he's talking about entering in to life, the gate that leads to life. I am the life. I am the way, the truth, and the life. So, enter in at the straight gate. There are people who are constantly accusing me of being too narrow.

Have you noticed the tremendous emphasis today upon broadness? There are people who would like to make the way so broad that ultimately everybody is walking in that way. Ultimately, every path will lead to God.

Ultimately, everybody will be alright. And they like to make the way so broad that it includes all of mankind just so He expresses some kind of a religious fervor in His life. Because surely if you're religious, the Lord will accept you.

No, Jesus said not so. It's a straight gate. It's a narrow path that leads to life. There aren't many who walk it. It's a broad gate. It's a broad path that leads to destruction and it's full of people.

So, if people are accusing you of being too narrow, praise the Lord, you're on the right path. It's a broad path, a popular way that goes to destruction. Straight is the gate. Narrow is the way that leads to life.

Identifying False Prophets by Their Message and Fruit

There are few who find it. Now, the next is a warning of false prophets which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Now, there are many warnings in the Scriptures concerning false prophets and again, this entails a judgment on my part.

If I'm to be aware of false prophets, I have to, when I see someone or hear someone who is not right on, I have to be able to judge. Hey, that man's a false prophet. I've got to be aware of him. Now, there is tremendous difficulty in this warning to be aware of false prophets because they don't look like wolves.

They don't have little signs hanging on them. I am a false prophet. But they are in sheep's clothing. They're disguised to look like sheep. And I've got to be aware of the false prophets. Now, how can I know a false prophet?

Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no man comes to the Father but by Me. And if any man tells you there is another way, then that straight way, or straight gate and narrow way, and someone tells you there is another way to life, he is a false prophet.

You see the context in which the warning comes. And today, there are so many people who are trying to tell you that just think good thoughts. Just live a positive life. And you're responding to all that God requires.

No way. So, we are told to be aware of the false prophets because they will come in sheep's clothing. Now, let me also say, one of the dangers of the false prophets is that they do tell the truth the majority of the time.

You know, if a false prophet told nothing but ridiculous, absurd things, there would be no danger at all. The first time he spoke, the first sentence he uttered would be so ridiculous as, you know, that guy's off the wall.

He's a false prophet. So, they usually come on with truth. They have all of the markings and all of the earmarks of a true prophet and much of what they say is truth. Now, much of what Herbert Armstrong says is truth.

Much of what the Jehovah Witnesses say is truth. Much of what Joseph Smith said was truth. So, you cannot immediately always discern a man who is a false prophet. For he oftentimes is leading people with the truth and is drawing people by the truth.

But when it comes down to the bottom line, when it comes to that basic truth that deals with your eternal salvation, is he bringing you to the straight gate with a narrow path? Is he bringing you to a reliance and a trust in Jesus Christ and Him only?

Or is he bringing you to trust in a religious system? Is he bringing you to trust in a religious ritual? Is he bringing you to trust in a church? And if a man will seek to cause you to trust in anything other than Jesus Christ and a complete reliance upon Jesus Christ for your eternal life, that man is a false prophet.

But a lot of times you've got to hear quite a bit before they get to their bottom line. And they lead you through a maze of deception as they are saying a lot of things that are true. But the real issue is when they point to the path.

What path are they pointing you to and leading you to for your eternal life? A false prophet also seeks to fleece the sheep ultimately rather than feed the sheep. And so as you get into the program, you'll find that they will begin to emphasize more and more your giving to support their program.

And though Herbert W. Armstrong does not ask for any offering, send for the free booklet. Send for the free magazines. Once he has you hooked, then he begins to demand double tithes and triple tithes.

And there comes a real push to get you into financial bondage to them. Now, Peter, as he warns of false prophets, and this is an earmark of those false prophets, their emphasis upon money. Ultimately, they'll get around to it and they'll really begin to emphasize the money aspect.

So, 2 Peter 2, as he is warning about the false prophets, but there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you who privately shall bring in damnable heresies even denying the Lord.

You see, there you get to the ultimate thing is the denial of Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation. They deny the Lord that bought them and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.

And notice, here comes the bite. It's always there. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you. They'll have you selling magazines on the street corner or from door to door.

Or they'll have you selling flowers or peanuts in the parking lot. Ultimately, they will seek to make merchandise of you. They will seek to profit off of you because down underneath, that's the bottom line.

They are covetous. They are after the money and they'll get you with the money gimmicks. And they'll make you feel guilty in a cheapskate if you don't give everything.

And they'll put out pots.

And ask you to drop your jewelry in. They seek to make merchandise of people. So, watch the emphasis that a person puts upon money because number one, God is not broke. Nor is He even bent. God is not depending upon man's support for His program.

God is perfectly capable of providing for His program. And God doesn't put the pressure upon people to give because God doesn't want people to give under pressure. And if someone is pressuring you to give to God, He is actually seeking to motivate you by wrong motivations because Paul said you should never give under pressure.

Not by constraint. Not by pressure. And so, watch the emphasis that they put on money. The big money drives. The big money programs. Beware, Jesus said, of false prophets which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly, they're wanting to devour you.

They are ravening wolves. You shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles? Even so, every good tree brings forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree brings forth evil fruit.

A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. Wherefore, by their fruits ye shall know them.

Now, not by the fruit of what they say because much of what they say is truth and if people follow the truth, good fruit can come from the truth. But the ultimate fruit that you're to look at is the fruit in their own lives.

Judge the fruit of their own lives. You will know them by their fruits. Now, having warned us of false teachers, He also warns us of false professions. For He said, Not everyone that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.

But he that doeth the will of My Father, which is in heaven. Now, first of all, no one will enter heaven who doesn't say, Lord, Lord. Paul said that the confession of Jesus as Lord was essential to salvation.

If thou shalt confess with thy mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. It's a part of the essential for salvation. The confession of Jesus Christ as Lord.

But, Jesus is saying, not everyone who says, Lord, Lord, is going to enter. Though it is a requirement to entering, there will be those who are saying, Lord, Lord, who will not enter. Jesus on another occasion said, Why do you call Me, Lord, and yet you don't do the things that I command you?

You see, our problem is that we've come to think of the term Lord as a name. And so we say, the Lord Jesus Christ. And we think of Lord as His first name. Jesus is middle name and Christ is last name.

He's the Lord Jesus Christ. But in reality, when I say, the Lord, you should put a comma there. For Lord is not His name, it's His title. The title that signifies my relationship to Him. He is my Lord.

I am His slave. I am His servant. He is my Lord. Now, as my Lord, He has the right of total control of my life. When He asks me to do something, it isn't mine to ask Him why. It's only mine to obey. I am His servant.

He is the Lord. And that's what the whole title is indicating. And that is why Jesus pointed out inconsistency. He said, people are calling Me, Lord, Lord, and yet they're not doing the things I command them.

That's inconsistent. And if you are calling Him Lord and yet you're disobeying, you're rebelling at His commands, you're a part of that inconsistency. So not everyone who says Lord, Lord is going to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.

He is pointing out that saying the right thing is not enough. Many people are saying the right things. John points out things that people are saying. They're right things to say. I have fellowship with God.

What a glorious thing to say. But John said, if you say, I have fellowship with God and you're walking in darkness, you lie. You're not keeping the truth. I may say, oh, I love God. But John said, if you say you love God and you hate your brother, you're a liar.