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Reading Luke 6:37-38 where Jesus tells His disciples not to judge, for with the standard and the measure they use to judge others, it will be measured back to them. Visit wwutt.com for all our videos!
Jesus said, judge not. It's one of the most abused verses in the Bible, is it not? But there's a context there, and Jesus tells us in what manner we are supposed to judge when we understand the text.
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Here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe.
Thank you, Becky. In our study of the gospel according to Luke, we're back in chapter six. We're here in this section that we're looking at this week. Jesus teaches his disciples about not judging others.
So let me begin reading in verse 37. We'll go through verse 42. Hear the word of the Lord. Judge not, and you will not be judged. Condemn not, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. He also told them a parable.
Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?
How can you say to your brother, brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye, when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye, you hypocrite. First, take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother's eye.
Very similar sort of a passage to Matthew chapter seven. Of course, Matthew 7, one begins with judge not, and you also have the same illustration there of the speck in your brother's eye. Why are you trying to remove that speck when you've got a log in your own eye?
There was somebody online on social media just a few days ago who was saying, is Romans 13, one not the most abused verse in the Bible? Romans 13, one is let every person be subject to the governing authorities, but for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.
I've seen that verse abused, but I do not see that verse abused nearly to the degree that I see Matthew 7, one abused. And you know, I'm right. You know that you've encountered people who have twisted Matthew 7, one.
Even when I wasn't very learned in the Bible, even when I was just standing on basic Christian principles and I would have religious debates or moral debates with friends of mine in high school and college, even they were pulling that one out.
They were going, judge not. You'd call something sin or say something that's happening in the culture is evil or wicked. Judge not. Judge not that you be not judged. You're judging other people. God is gonna judge you.
Oh my goodness. I've heard it growing up. I hear it. I hear it still. I'm gonna hear it for the rest of my life. There is not a verse in the Bible that is more twisted, I believe, than Matthew 7, one.
Then judge not. And here we have it in Luke 6, 37. Judge not and you will not be judged. And you don't often get that next line. The people who will use that verse don't say the next one. Condemn not and you will not be condemned.
Don't tell them about it though because they'll start using that one too. Let that one stay out of their view. They only go as far as Matthew 7, one. They haven't read all the way to the gospel of Luke to be able to find that one.
But anyway, all of this has a qualifier to it. Of course it does. With Jesus saying at the end of this sentence, of these couple of sentences here, at the end of these couple of sentences, end of verse 38, he says, for with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.
There's the qualifier. So he's not saying don't judge at all. What he's saying is the way you judge is the way you're going to be judged. The measure you use, it's going to be measured back to you. And in the law, as God gave it to Israel, you had a system of just weights and measures.
So that whenever you charged somebody for this much grain, you're going to charge the next person exactly the same amount, because you use just scales, just weights and measures. And so it was to be the case also when it came to judgment, when it came to sentencing somebody for doing a wrong, the punishment had to fit the crime.
So if you're dealing with one another in just weights and measures, in the way that you deal, trade, exchange money, things like that, you need to be doing that also when it comes to dealing out justice.
There also needs to be a system of just weights and measures when it comes to punishment. Punishment has to fit the crime. You cannot punish somebody excessively beyond the crime that they've committed.
So for somebody who's murdered someone, well, life for a life, so the penalty for a murderer should be death. But if somebody has robbed from someone else, you don't want the penalty to be death. That would be excessive.
Rather, that person has to pay back what it is that they stole, and there will probably be some extra on top of that for a penalty, for a punishment, for the person that had robbed for someone else. And even the law specified how much extra there would be depending on what it was that the person stole.
So what Jesus is saying here, when it comes to our basic general interactions with people, when it comes to the relationships that we have with others, not just in the brotherhood, not just among saints, believers, brothers and sisters in Christ, but with everybody, the way you judge somebody.
Do you want that same system of judgment used against you? Would you want yourself to be judged the way that you might judge someone else? I remember this illustration that was given by Francis Schaeffer, and I can't remember which one of his books it was.
I only have three of his books, but I know this illustration was in one of them. I'm going to be using it soon when I get to Romans chapter two. This illustration is going to come up there as well. For those of you who are listening to the sermons on Sunday morning, you'll hear me mention this again, but Francis Schaeffer had this great illustration.
Say you had some kind of a recorder around your neck, and any time that you made some sort of judgment, some sort of moral judgment, criticism, critique, whatever, of someone else. Every time you made a judgment of somebody, that recorder would kick on and record whatever it was you said.
Now let's say you've died, and you're standing before God in judgment. By what standard is God going to judge you? Of course, he's going to judge us by the law, by his law, and that's what Romans two points out.
So that's why this illustration is going to work again there whenever I get to Romans two. But all God would really have to do to show how unjust a person you are, to show how you are worthy of judgment, all God would have to do is take that recorder from around your neck and hit play.
And you would hear played back to you all of the times that you made these moral judgments against somebody else, and you yourself were guilty of the same judgments that you were making of others. He wouldn't even have to break open the 10 commandments, wouldn't even have to use his own law.
By your own standard, you don't even measure up. You have never even followed your own law, let alone kept the law of God. And I think that serves as a good illustration here too, considering what Jesus is saying to his disciples, the way you judge.
Do you want to be judged that same way? It'll be measured back to you like that. Judge not, and you will not be judged. Condemn not, and you will not be condemned. How is it that you are condemning others?
Are you somehow making declarations of whether a person is truly or actually saved? Do you have the authority to be able to do that? And when it comes down to it, we don't have any need to have to condemn anyone.
Jesus Christ himself did not condemn. Consider John 3 .16. Let me start there, since that is such a well-known verse. For God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Everybody likes that verse, right? They like the next one too, verse 17. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Boy, we like that one too.
That's another one that I hear abused. So even though people might not know the rest of Luke 6 .37, they won't use the condemn part. Condemn not, or you will not be condemned. But I do hear people take and twist John 3 .17.
God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world. So if Jesus is not condemning the world, then you can't condemn the world either. But what is the reason why Jesus did not condemn the world?
Verse 18. This verse is not as popular as John 3 .16 or 17. Verse 18 says, whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only son of God.
So why is it that Jesus did not condemn the world when he came in his earthly ministry? Because he did not have to. The world was already condemned. They already stood guilty before God because of their sin.
So really what's being pointed out here is that when Jesus came, he came to save. When he came for his earthly ministry, he came as a savior, not as the one who would condemn the world, at least not in his earthly ministry.
He will come back eventually and issue condemnation upon his next return. He comes with the armies of heaven with angels in flaming fire, and will, as said in 2 Thessalonians 1 .8, inflict vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
Oh yeah, condemnation is definitely coming. So don't think that that means Jesus never condemns. That just wasn't the purpose of his coming when God sent his son into the world to die on the cross for our sins.
And also Jesus didn't need to condemn the world because the world was already condemned. So Jesus came to seek and save the lost. He died on the cross for our sins as an atoning sacrifice. He rose again from the dead so that all who believe in him will not be condemned, but will be forgiven their transgressions, will be restored to fellowship with God, and will have everlasting life.
So sure, Jesus didn't come to condemn because people are already condemned. And so knowing that, it should be a relief to hear, condemn not. Good, I don't have to be condemning anybody because they're already condemned.
Rather, what we should be doing, not condemning another person, but what we should do is reveal to them. We should show them their sin. So we would use the law of God to show them you're a sinner in need of a savior.
And if when the law is given to them, they are able to see through the word of God, their own depravity, their rebellion against God, and realizing that what I deserve because of my rebellion against God is to be judged, to perish, that's what it is that I deserve.
Then the heart is conditioned to hear the good news of the gospel. God sent his son, Jesus, to die for you so you won't be condemned under this law, but you can be forgiven your sin and you can have everlasting life with God.
And so as Romans 8, one says, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. There's no reason for us to have to run around condemning everybody because they already stand condemned.
They need Christ in order to not be condemned. So you can have the pressure taken off of you. There's no pressure on you at all to run around condemning anybody. If you do not condemn, then you will not be condemned.
By whatever measure you're using to determine whether or not a person is condemned, do you want that same measure used against you? And so end of verse 37, forgive and you will be forgiven. Beginning of verse 38, give and it will be given to you.
So you see that we have two negative statements and two positive statements. Negative statements, judge not, you will not be judged. Condemn not, you will not be condemned. Positive statements, forgive and you will be forgiven.
Give and it will be given to you. Recently, someone on social media asked the question, if you're married and you've been married for so many number of years, what is a good piece of advice that you would give to someone else who wants to be married or to newlyweds or something like that?
And I simply cited Colossians 3, 12 and 13. Put on then as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness and patience, bearing with one another. And if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other as the Lord has forgiven you, you must also forgive.
The grace of God that you know he has shown you, man, bring that into your marriage. Show that to your spouse. You know that you are guilty before a holy God and you are undeserving and unworthy of his love, but he gives it to you anyway.
And you know what?
That should be your disposition toward your spouse as well. I know I am unworthy of my spouse's love, but my spouse loves me anyway. My spouse is a sinner, probably unworthy of my love, but I'm going to love her anyway because God loved me.
And there's nothing that she does that I hold against her as God has forgiven me. So I am going to be willing and ready to forgive. And kind of going along with that advice, one of the things I said was, if your spouse ever upsets you, take a breather, you know, 10 to 20 minutes, whatever it might happen to be.
Do not react immediately whenever you feel offended by your spouse. And then after 10 to 20 minutes, if you feel different about it, then it's done and you will be all the better for not bringing up an issue and turning into an argument, something that didn't need to be an argument.
But if after 10 to 20 minutes or however long, you know, use a good discernment there, I suppose, you still feel like it needs to be something that needs to be confronted, well, then confront it, but do so with a gracious heart.
Do so out of love for your spouse to want to help build them up with love and affection toward each other, not because you've got a chip on your shoulder or you need to make your peace. I don't even know why that expression would apply to, you know, using that expression is kind of silly sometimes, make your peace with somebody.
Because usually what they want to do is not make their peace, they want to fight. I'm going to bring this up and I'm going to win this argument. That's not the way to approach this, but we need to think of others with compassion.
Or as Paul said in Philippians chapter two, we need to consider the needs of others even greater than our own. And so how can you show love to somebody else who has offended you? Be forgiving. And if you forgive, you will be forgiven.
Now, this doesn't mean that forgiveness that we receive from God is merit-based. You go around forgiving all these people and then God is going to forgive you. Well, what's the number there? Like how many people do you have to forgive until God forgives you?
Just one. And then you can hold grudges against everybody else. Or do you have to forgive just absolutely everybody? And are you only forgiving the people that did things to you? Or are you forgiving people that did not do anything to you, but you feel like you need to be offended by them anyway, but no, I'm not, I've forgiven you.
And so now I'm just accumulating all this merit so God can show me forgiveness. That's not what Jesus is saying. If you are forgiving, if you have a heart that is forgiving, then you are demonstrating.
The same kind of grace that God has poured into your heart. How are you able to be that forgiving? Because God was that forgiving toward you. So you receive the forgiveness of God and become a forgiving person.
And as you forgive, you get God's forgiveness. But all of this begins with the grace and kindness that God shows us. We show that we're forgiven when we forgive. If you're a person who is constantly holding grudges and maybe even using unequal weights and measures, you're gonna retaliate with vengeance against this person even greater than the wrong that they did to you.
Do you really have God's forgiveness? Do you know what it means to be forgiven? You apparently don't have a lot of joy in that. You think like you need to be bringing misery to other people. But if you have the forgiveness of God, you will be a forgiving person.
So forgive and you will be forgiven. And verse 38, give and it will be given to you.
And verse 38, give and it will be given to you.
Now this goes back to the section we were looking at last week with regard to love your enemies. Whenever somebody takes something from you, give them your cloak as well. And if somebody asked to borrow from you, give to them, not expecting anything in return, not adding interest on top of the gift that you give to that other person.
If you give, it will be given back to you. If you are generous with others, you're demonstrating the generosity and kindness of God toward you. And what will you receive back? A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, it will be poured out into your lap.
For with the measure that you use, it will be measured back to you. If you're a constantly giving person, you do not hold tightly to the things of this world. You are ready and willing to bless others with the stuff that God has blessed you.
And if you are a blessing to others, God will bless you also. This reference to, it'll be a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, it will be put into your lap. There's a couple of ways that can be read or translated.
It could be put into your lap. It could also be put into your bosom. So it's a reference to like a large fold of the cloak that a person would have in their attire, in their Eastern dress of this particular time in the first century.
And they would use that fold to help carry things and also a measure of the goods that they would go to market and purchase. So I want this much of that, right? So they would pour it into that pocket.
Or it could be that they would sit down so that the fold of their garment would kind of create a basin. And then whatever they're buying would be poured into that basin. And then, and that would be what they would pay for.
So what's being said here is, if you are generous with other people, well, God is going to restore to you more than you can even hold. You won't even be able to carry it. It will be abundance beyond measure.
And of course the abundance that we have to look forward to is the glorious, wonderful kingdom of God, imperishable. No more death, no more dying, no more sin, no more suffering, no more pain, as said in the book of Revelation.
It's so, it's incomparable. I can't even find the words for it. You would not be able to describe what great measure it will be when we step into that kingdom and hear our savior say, well done, good and faithful slave.
Now great is your reward. That's the abundance that we look forward to, not holding onto or clinging to the stuff in this world, which we can't take with us anyway. But we look forward to that great and ultimate reward.
And heaven is not even the greatest reward. The greatest reward is Christ. We have Christ now. We will have him at even greater measure in glory. So because of the love of God that has been shown to us through Jesus Christ, our savior, let us be in our attitudes toward one another, someone who is forgiving and giving, and God will give us so much more.
Heavenly father, we thank you for what we've read here today and I pray that it is convicting of heart. We're checking our attitudes. We would not be these judgmental people that are running around, checking everybody else's behavior and thinking we know better than them.
We're not gonna be these condemning people running around and declaring this person's going to heaven and that person's going to hell as though we're standing right there at the judgment throne already and handing out go to hell and get out of hell free cards.
Who are we to say such a thing? Rather, let us be a people who are forgiving because we have been forgiven. Let us be a people who are giving because we have given much. And we know the words of our savior that he has said to us, our reward will be great in heaven.
So let us have minds and hearts that are seeking those things above. Where Christ is. It's in Jesus' name we pray, amen.
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