WWUTT 2328 Take the Log Out of Your Eye (Luke 6:41-42)

Jesus said, why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye when you have a log in your own eye?

First take care of the log in your eye and then you will see clearly to take care of your brother when we understand the text.

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Here once again is Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. In our study of the Sermon on the

Plain, Luke chapter 6, we've been in that section where Jesus is teaching his disciples about judging.

Not that we shouldn't judge at all, but do not judge hypocritically. Let's look at the section again, reading from verses 37 to 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 the speck, take out the speck that is in your brother's eye.

And it's there, that last statement, where Jesus shows he's not saying we shouldn't be judging at all, but that when we judge, we need to be consistent in our judgment.

We have taken care of the sin that is in our own lives before we see ourselves as capable of taking care of the sin in someone else's life.

And it is necessary for us as brothers and sisters in the body of Christ to be looking out for one another in such ways.

But if we're going to admonish, which means to correct with goodwill, if we're going to correct someone else's behavior, we have to be consistent.

Otherwise, what's it going to look like when we're guilty of the same sins, but we're trying to point out someone else's guilt for those sins.

So let's come back to verse 41. We're in 41 and 42 today.

Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but you do not notice the log that is in your own eye?

Now the statement right before that, I kind of rushed through yesterday, but in verse 40, it says a disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone, when he is fully trained, will be like his teacher.

So you have a statement here about being fully trained. And so when Jesus says that you have a log in your eye, it's to a person that has not yet been fully trained.

Like they're trying to step out as an expert in everybody else's sins when they haven't yet understood their own sin and been cleansed by Christ.

So a person needs to submit to their teacher. In this respect, it's Christ. He is our ultimate teacher.

And in submission to Christ, in obedience to his word, in desiring to do what he says and imitate him even as our great example, then when fully trained, we are like Christ, being

Christ -like, growing in holiness, growing in sanctification. When we have been trained and when we have taken care of those sins in our lives that need to be taken care of, then we are able to help our brothers and sisters in the

Lord with their sins, but doing so in a charitable way, doing so in a way that is in their best interest.

It's because we care about them and we want to see them grow in their faith. It's not because we want to be a know -it -all running around pointing out everybody else's sins so we can feel high and mighty and more righteous than thee, but we desire to see the body of Christ purified.

Hence why Paul says in places like Romans 12, 14, and also 15, where he talks about how the mature have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, helping to pick them up for their good, improving, purifying, growing the body of Christ.

Ephesians 4, find the same instructions there, 1 Corinthians 12 through 14. So when we are helping one another grow in the body of Christ, it helps us as well.

That's not the motivation. It's not that we're trying to improve ourselves. We want to help our brothers and sisters in the

Lord draw closer to the Lord. But when we do that, it strengthens the whole body.

And when you're part of the body, then you benefit from that also. Ephesians 4 kind of gives that illustration that we build one another up in love, holding fast to the head who is

Christ, so that the whole body, when it is joined and knit together in love, grows with a growth that is from God.

And so everybody who is part of the body, when everyone is maturing, everybody is growing in Christ, then everybody benefits.

Now that doesn't mean that you're going to have a church where there's no one immature. In fact, you should have some immature people in your church.

Otherwise, you're at risk of dying. You're probably aging out, right? Too many people getting older, not enough people coming in who are young and immature and needing to be grown, submitting to the wisdom of their elders and being guided by them.

This is the multi -generational church that's depicted throughout the New Testament, but especially we see these instructions in Titus 2 about older men mentoring younger men, older women mentoring younger women.

And when we do these kinds of mentorships, when we're growing each other in doctrine and holiness, it's going to require some judgment.

We actually have to be able to look at somebody's life and see that there is need of correction.

So if we're just going by verse 37 and isolating that and taking it into a vacuum, then we're going to miss the point.

Verse 37 again, judge not and you will not be judged. So if we're not making right judgments, discerning and recognizing where a person needs to grow, then we're not going to be able to help them grow.

But we need to be consistent in our judgment, not hypocritical. And that's where Jesus ultimately gets to at the end of this section where he says, first, take the log out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother's eye.

So verse 41 again, why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but you do not notice the log that is in your own eye?

Now notice that in the difference between the two, Jesus describes your sin, your problem, your weak areas as a log.

And you're trying to correct your brother's faults and compared to what's in your eye, that's like a speck.

It's like a little bitty splinter. Sure he's blinking and rubbing his eye or whatever, you got this giant plank coming out of your eye.

And by the way, the word for log can also be translated plank. I think that's in the, it might be in the

King James that way, the NIV, you might have a couple of translations that say plank. There was a

Christian rock band back in the 90s called Plank Eye, and that's where they got their name from, the plank that is coming from your eye.

I met those guys. In fact, they did a concert in Garden City, Kansas. And I drove them around that day before the show.

We went to, we went out to eat at Golden Corral as random fact about me, you didn't even think you needed today.

What I'll give you that one for free. So anyway, the, the problem that you have is like a log because it should be so plain to you.

It's your problem. It's your issue. You know, your heart, you probably don't know your brother's heart.

You don't know his intentions. You might be able to identify a sin, but it is bigger in your own life.

If you're guilty of the same sin, it's bigger for you than it is for him. You should be able to identify it clearly, but you don't.

And you're just swinging a log around every time you turn your head, knocking people over while you're trying to correct your brother for the speck that is in his eye.

Another reason why Jesus illustrates your issue as being a log is because you're the hypocrite.

So your problem is actually bigger than his problem. He just has a sin that he hasn't corrected.

You not only have that sin, but you're trying to correct everybody else when you are not taking care of the matters that you need to take before God.

So that, that just compounds your problem. And so the sin that you need to be taking care of more like a log that is in your eye.

And you've probably heard some people say, and I've, I've taught the same way before that you will not be as familiar with anybody else's sins as much as you are familiar with your own.

And so in that respect, your sins are like logs, whereas everybody else's from your vantage point are going to be like specks or splinters.

You 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,

Jesus says. Now the Greek word for this is Hippocrates, which is the same word that they would use for an actor.

And the actor would wear a mask. A lot of times in these, in these Greek dramas, they would wear masks because people are further away from the actor and having to be able to see their facial expression.

They can't see the human expression, but they would wear a mask. So you would see the expression of the character that they are attempting to convey.

If you've ever seen the, the tragedy and comedy masks that depict drama, that's where it comes from.

The Greek actors, the Hippocrates. Now Jesus is not thinking of a Greek play when he uses this word, he would have had a different word because he would have been speaking in Aramaic.

But as this was written in Greek, the gospel of Luke was originally written in Greek. That's the word that's used here for this person who is inconsistent in their words and in their actions.

They will say one thing, but they do something else. They are showing a righteousness, which is actually a faux righteousness.

It's not real. It's it's impure. It's inconsistent. Meanwhile, they have sins that they're hiding behind their mask.

So in writing the gospel of Luke, Hippocrates is the best word to describe this person who considers themselves morally above everybody else.

What is most important is your relationship with God. And if you have a relationship with God, then he has cleansed you.

As we read about in 1 John 1, 9, if we ask forgiveness for our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

David praying in Psalm 51, create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

So if you have that close kind of relationship with God, again, going back to Luke 6, 40, a disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.

So if you have that kind of relationship with your teacher, with Jesus, and you're being fully trained by him, you should become like him, becoming

Christlike, having your sins forgiven, being made righteous, so that you can then go to your brother who is in sin and help him in his blind spots, in his weak areas.

But when you have not taken care of those sins, when you think what's really important is pointing out everybody else's unrighteousness, you're not taking care of your own problems, you're trying to take care of everybody else's problem, then the relationship you have with God is not the most important thing in your life.

It's just looking like you have a relationship with God while you correct everybody else's problems.

So again, that word hypocrite becomes the most fitting here. You're wearing a mask. Behind that mask, a completely different person.

First take the log out of your own eye, Jesus says, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother's eye.

I just made a comment on social media the other day warning Christians about copycats.

There are a lot of people out there who are going to try to show themselves as being smarter than they really are.

This is in light of the fact that apologetics is getting really popular again. There's even some apologists that are appearing on secular host podcasts, and they're able to share

Christ and give a defense for the hope that is within them, which is where we get that word apologetics from.

It's in 1 Peter 3 .15. And so since this is getting popular again, this is kind of hitting big platforms and big podcasts.

To be an apologist, there's going to be a lot of people that are going to step up, and they're going to think that they can be just as good an apologist, and they're copycats.

They're really not trained. They're not ready to step into this realm and are at great risk of making fools out of themselves and out of the

Christian faith as well. So I was warning against copycats. Beware of those who think that they can do it too, but they're really like the sons of Sceva in Acts 19 .11

-17. Remember when the apostle Paul was doing so much in spreading the gospel, and he was performing all these miracles, and he's casting out demons?

And there are these sons of an itinerant Jewish priest who think to themselves, well, we can do the same thing that Paul is doing.

And it's fakery. It's completely fake. They're not healing anybody. They're not casting out any demons.

And when they actually encounter a real demon, they get whooped. So that's the account that you have in Acts 19.

So I'm warning people, beware of those copycats who are not trained.

They're not ready. They don't have that expertise to even step into this realm. And there was a fellow that commented on my warning who is a

Catholic priest. He's a Roman Catholic priest. He even has father in his name. I'm never going to address a man like that as father, because they are not my father.

They are of the father of lies. But anyway, this fellow commented on my warning, and he showed pictures of Mormons.

So there were Mormon elders with their name tags on and their bikes, and he had a picture of some—I don't know what kind of church it was, maybe a

Unitarian church, but it was like some women priests and members of that church standing outside the church doors.

And they all had their rainbow pride flags on. And he made the comment that there are lots of copycats out there.

Well, I responded to him, and I said, dude, you have a log in your eye.

He's Roman Catholic. He's trying to point out everybody else's sins. And he's been known to comment on my stuff and talk about how wrong

Protestants are. So he's pointing out all this other stuff. All these other copycats, all these other fakers out there, you're

Roman Catholic. You teach people to pray to Mary, that you cannot be justified by faith alone, that the written

Word of God is not our highest authority, that there's all these things that you must do in order to cleanse yourself and make yourself right with God, all these rituals that are not in the

Bible. You're committed to the doctrines of man, not to the doctrines of Christ. And you're going to be calling out everybody else because of their gross doctrines.

I don't know that I've ever seen a Mormon call out a Jehovah's Witness, but would that not be supremely ironic and hypocritical that one from a false teacher,

Joseph Smith, calling out another from a false teacher, Charles Taze Russell. Oh, yeah, there was that one time years ago where Benny Hinn called out

Joel Osteen and was calling Joel Osteen a hypocrite and a false teacher and telling people not to follow after him.

Benny Hinn, who does all the fake miracles and has taken millions and millions and millions of dollars from people who wanted healing and Benny Hinn conned them out of their money.

You pay me and I'll give you your healing. And he's never healed anybody at all. So these are examples of hypocrites out there.

They will say one thing and do something else. They will try to correct everybody else's unrighteousness.

Meanwhile, they're hiding their own sins. I've been in this place myself.

I was trying to correct everybody else's sexual immorality. And in the meantime, I'm hiding my own sexual immorality that nobody knows

I'm even having a problem with. I don't even want to acknowledge it myself that I have a problem with it.

I don't think that it's sin, which is why I continue to do it, thinking as long as I can hide it from everybody else, then

I must be fine. I must be innocent. I must be cleansed. My friends, we have to hate our own sin, hate your sin more than you hate anyone else's.

You can be just as burdened by the sin that you see going on in this world as I am.

Sometimes it's even hard to step out the door in the morning, because I've started my day by reading news, and I know what kinds of things are going on today, and I'm so vexed.

It's like, how do I go and change the world when it's so much bad stuff going on?

How can I even go out and evangelize anybody? What difference is it going to make to all the evil that is happening in the world?

I can't let that stop me, of course. I still have to go individually, talk to people, share the gospel with them, but I understand the burden of looking at the world and feeling like it's going to hell, and you want to get out there and correct everybody else's sin.

But if I'm not taking care of my own, if I'm not coming to God with my own faults, the same faults that I'm going to be calling out in everybody else, if I don't come before God and lay those things down, well, behind the scenes,

I'm just as quickly going to hell as the rest of them. And so we must recognize our sin and need for a savior first and most of all.

Now, if you are a follower of Christ, you don't have any fear of the judgment of God that will come upon you in the last day, but you still need to be cleansed.

We still need to be consistent in our message. And as Jesus said to his disciples in John chapter 13, you have no need to be washed again except for your feet.

As we're walking in this world, we're kicking up dust. We're getting a little bit dirty. We've already been washed in the baptism that we share with Christ, but now let him cleanse you.

Let him continue to rinse off those dirty spots when the world starts clinging to you so that you can be blameless and innocent children of God, shining as lights in the world in the midst of a crooked and depraved generation.

This is in Philippians 2 .14 that tells us to do this. We must be cleansed by Christ.

We must help one another with their sins and helping them walk in righteousness, but we have to take care of it in our own lives first.

You know, it's not a terrible thing to go up to a brother that you see struggling with sin and say to him, brother,

I'm struggling with the same sin. Why don't we help each other? That would be honest, but don't be looking at everybody else's sin and pointing it out when you have the same sin you've not yet taken care of.

You've not yet taken to the Lord and asked him to make you new.

Hate your own sin first before you hate the sin in others to help them work through that with Christ.

They need Christ too and to be cleansed by him, but we have to be consistent in our message and our witness when we do that.

You've probably heard the quote, love the sinner, hate your own sin. There's love the sinner, hate the sin, hate the sin, love the sinner.

Okay, there's that one. That's not the one I'm talking about. I think it was Tony Campolo that made popular the saying, love the sinner, hate your own sin.

You do need to hate your own sin. You also need to hate the sin in your brother, but you need to hate the sin in your life first and then help your brother to see his sin so that he will hate that sin and want to come to Christ and have it cleansed.

Let us desire holiness first in your life and then help a brother or sister draw closer to Christ as God expects the body of Christ to do for one another.

Heavenly father, we thank you for this conviction, for giving us this word that we would recognize our faults and need for a savior and our need to be cleansed by Christ.

We've been converted into Christ, but if we are in Christ and we'll continue to walk in him in all of our ways, leaving no stone unturned when it comes to the sin that is in our lives, but bringing it before the

Lord and asking you to cleanse us and make us new. Create clean hearts in us.

Help us to not be as hypocrites, but be consistent in our witness that we may help one another to grow in holiness as well.

It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. You've been listening to When We Understand the

Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, Gabe will be going through a New Testament study.

Then on Thursday, we look at an Old Testament book. On Friday, we take questions from the listeners and viewers.