Stop Criticizing

The Pharisees were so convinced of their own superiority that they became totally condemning and judgmental of everybody else. I mean any time person invents a system of morality. They then become the judge sits on the throne of that system and determines whether anybody else qualifies or not. And that's exactly what happened. Matthew seven verse one judge not that you be not judged. Perhaps you've heard people use that verse to defend an un-biblical lifestyle. Or maybe someone has quoted that verse. After you spoke to him about sin and his need for salvation and the question is what does that verse mean well today.

John MacArthur helps you understand Matthew 71. In its proper context. It's part of a series that can help you avoid many of the common mistakes people make in understanding and applying God's word.

The study is titled mishandled, and with today's lesson. Here's John want to encourage you if you will with me to turn your Bible to Matthew chapter 7 Matthew seven beginning at verse one. Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged, and with what measure you measure, it shall be measured to you again and why we hold as thou the mote that is in our brother's eye, but consider is not the beam that is in 909 or how will thou say to thy brother, let me pull the mote out of thine eye, and behold, a beam is in thine own eye, thou hypocrite, first cast the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to cast the mote out of thy brother's eye. Give not that which is holy under the dogs neither cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet and turn again lacerate you now this is a fascinating portion of Scripture Scripture that is freakishly referred to an oft quoted and yet sometimes not really put together in a total package as the Lord, I believe, intended for it to be maybe a little background as we approach it in the sermon on the Mount, our Lord is touched with has touched on all of the areas of a believer's life in a wonderful and marvelous summation of all of the areas of truth related to living within the kingdom with seen Christ meet us at every point he began with our perspective on self and the Beatitudes with our perspective on the world and the statements on salt and light with our perspectives on the word of God as he talked about the law and the fact it was immutable and unchanging. Our perspective on the moral law or holiness as he discussed the fact that we are to have an inward commitment as well as an external one. He discussed our religious activity, giving, praying, fasting. He discussed our perspective as we have just recently seen on money and possessions, material goods, and now he comes to a text that deals with our relations with other people talked about our relation to ourselves to God to his word to the world our relations to religious activity are relations to the morality of the time, and what God wants and now to human relationship right relationships and this is a tremendous passage that you be looking now, as in all the other elements of the sermon on the Mount. The perspective here is given.

In contrast to the view of the scribes and the Pharisees. They were the existing religious influence of the time and against the background of their perspective. The Lord presents the truth.

They came along in their view of life was to be proud and the Beatitudes were to be humble. They were a part of the system. Christ said that we are to be salt and light to the system, they denied the word of God and establish their own, Christ reestablished the affirmation of his word and his word alone.

They believed only in external morality.

Christ brought about an internal morality. They acted out there religious activities of giving, praying and fasting and hypocritical superficial way. And the Lord said it has to be from the heart. They were preoccupied with money and possessions, and the Lord says you are not so to be, but with the kingdom and they were very involved in wrongful human relationships, and the Lord sets it right here and install contrasting himself with them. He is unmasking the inadequacy of human religion and reaffirming the fact that true religion comes only from God.

The last area than of his comparison is this area in chapter 7 of human relations and then from there he goes to some up and finalize his message. Now the area of human relations goes all the way through verse 12, but suffice it to say at this point that the Pharisees were so proud and so self-styled and so self-righteous and so smug and so convinced of their own superiority that one of the natural results of that was that they became totally condemning and judgmental of everybody else.

I mean any time, person a man or a woman invents a system of morality. They then become the judge that sits on the throne of that system and determines whether anybody else qualifies or not. And that's exactly what happened in the Pharisees case so they became oppressively judgmental of other people. They condemned and criticized. They were censorious they were unmerciful and forgiving, unkind, lacking grace in their constant carping criticism of everybody. You didn't come up to their their own standard.

Jesus said to them, in John chapter 7 verse 24. Judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment because it was their habit to judge in a very superficial manner.

Also in Luke 16. The Bible tells us in verses 14 and 15 at the Pharisees were covetous and they heard all these things and were scoffing at him. That is it Christ and he said to them, you are they who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts, and that which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination to God.

In other words, you think you've got the answers you think you've got the system.

You think you're the judges, but you're wrong there judgment was inevitably the reverse of God's judgment. For example, in the classic illustration of this problem in Luke 18 it says in verse nine and Jesus spoke this parable unto certain who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despise the other. Now that's the Pharisee, they trusted in themselves. They put all their confidence in their own self-righteousness and because they had set their own standard and they were the standard and because of their pride and egotism. Everybody else they look down upon the despise they hated and so the Lord confronts them with this parable. Two men went to the temple to pray the want to Pharisee the other a tax collector now from a Pharisees viewpoint, a tax collector was the most wretched rotten vile person and human society because he would be a traitor among the Jewish people who had aligned himself with the Romans to collect taxes on the behalf of Rome and for all intents and purposes to rip off the Jewish population in doing. He was a traitor of the first order. And these two enter the temple to pray, the Pharisee stood and prayed to themselves. God, I thank you that I'm not as other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. In others the Pharisee prayed with himself.

The Pharisee was not interested in associating with anybody because nobody came up to his level.

So he went off to a place where he stood alone in a part demonstrate his self-righteousness as being on a team by any other person, and he said I'm so thankful I'm not like that vile tax collector.

I fast twice in the week I give tithes of all that I possess in the tax collector over in the corner was beating upon his breast, and saying God be merciful to me as soon Jesus said that tax collector went home justified and not that Pharisee. In other words they made judgments, but their judgments were wrong. They sat as condemning critical judges of other people. This is the one thing that marked their relations with others. A judge mental condemning attitude and frankly folks, it belied their claim to be citizens of God's kingdom. They couldn't be and be that kind of person, so the Lord in recognizing this particular problem speaks to this issue now. In Matthew chapter 7 verses 1 to 12. You have the sum of teaching in the sermon on the mount relative to human relation.

You might not think you could sum up all or is on human relations at 12 verses. I suppose a man couldn't.

But Jesus can and has an amazing way of summing up the whole world of human relationships in very simple terms, because he sees the whole come together now in this 12 verse section you have. First of all, in terms of how we article act with one another how we are to deal with one another. What we are not to do. That's verses 1 to 6 and then what we are to do verses 7 to 12. First, a negative and in a positive in the sum of the two is enough to govern all our human relation if you want to know how to act in your family or on your job or in your neighborhood or in your recreation or you want to know how to deal with people in business.

This is the sum of it all.

The negative and then deposited now overlook the negative, what not to do verses 1 to 6 and the principal appears in verse one noted judge not, I can stop there. That's the principle.

Don't judge. They say we can't reduce all of human relations down of that all you can from the negative, as we shall see as we move along.

Don't just now that sounds so simplistic, don't judge you your people throw that around judge not, is to be guides.

I've heard it.

Who are you to judge now. There are many people who misunderstood this Tolstoy, for example, the Russian novelist said Christ here totally forbids the human institution of any law court.

Now that is a gross misunderstanding of this, but there are other people who equally misunderstanding only with another aberration. They say we should never criticize. We should never condemn anybody for anything we should never evaluate anything at all. We don't want to judge lest we should just be Jared and that phrase sorta fits our time. I think because we live in an age when the wrong use of judge not, would find a ready audience. Our time hates theology our time hates dogma. Our time resists doctrine our time doesn't like convictions. People speak about love and is being about compromise is big about ecumenism. They speak about unity anything to get everybody together and somebody who talks about Dr. and her dog more convictions is generally unpopular in many circles.

I know we received a phone call from a church they wanted to to know if we had a young man who might be interested in Kennedy for their pulpit and they said we want someone who will teach holiness, not doctrine holiness and not doctrine. There is a resistance to any conviction. Our time dislikes strongmen even though I think were waking up to the fact that we could use if you are time dislikes men with convictions who who speak up who confront society who disturb the status quo. Men who know what they believe and why they believe it or not intimidated about saying it. Such men today are branded as troublemakers there branded as controversial. Someone was writing in the book you want me to review the manuscript evidence. Basically, the book says that one thing we got to eliminated Christianity is doctrine and would gotta go all out for love and fellowship, because doctrine is dividing us and people who want to always talk about doctrine are the dividing ones in the body of Christ. That was the thesis of the whole book you know is you go back and have any sense of perspective in church history, you know there have been times in history. The history of the church when men were praised for being men of conviction. They were praised for being men of principle men of standards men of dogma. Frankly, there wouldn't of even been a Reformation if there hadn't been men like that.

But today, such men are difficult, noncooperative, self-styled, unloving, and the man was praises the compromise or so.

Some people taken judge not just fitted into the mentality of the time, but the Lord is not condemning law court summing the Bible instituted that the principle of an eye for latitude. Further to this based upon a Law Ct. in Romans 13 affirms the right for a nation to rule its people in the Bible is not condemning any kind of judging or discriminating. The Bible tells us as believers, that we must deserve right that we must know the truth from the from the falsehood and the whole of the sermon on the Mount is predicated on a clear understanding of the distinction between true religion and false between hypocrisy and reality were not to be on discriminating were not to be blind were not to be flabby sentimentalists. For example look at verse six it says give not that which is wholly out of the dogs neither cast your pearls before swine. Not you're not going to do that you going to find out after find out who the hogs and dogs are so you know not to give the there must be discrimination verse 15 beware of false prophets, who come in sheep's clothing. Now if you only perceive things superficially, you'll see the sheep's clothing and never know the wolf that's under their there must be discernment there must be judging what we don't know the false prophets we don't know the dogs we don't know the swine that were to avoid so in the very passage itself. We are told to test discriminating evaluate between the true and the falls we have law courts to do that, the church, for example, in the same Gospel of Matthew is told to confront a sinning brother in chapter 18, and to confront that rather boldly forthrightly about his sinfulness to make it a matter of public knowledge.

If he doesn't repent.

So we are not flabby and soft in obedience to Scripture, Scripture calls us to discern pulses in Glace is one of somebody comes and preaches another gospel but to be accursed.

John says if anybody comes and talks about Christ other than the Christ of the Bible don't receive them in your house don't even bid him God speed or you're a partaker of his evil deed. We are told to remove from our midst.

Those who are sinning as leaven that, leavens the lump in first Corinthians 5 Hymenaeus and Alexander were put out of the church because of the corruptive influence they had upon it. So all throughout the Bible we are commanded to discern to try the spirits to have our senses exercised to know the difference between good and evil, says Hebrews 514 now having said that, then we look at judge not, we know it doesn't mean that were not to discriminate between truth and error mean that's infantile is a child. According to Ephesians 4, the doesn't know the difference between good and evil that becomes victimized and pray to Satan's cunning craftiness because of an inability to discern. We must discern. We must discriminate we must evaluate. There are things we must judge that's not what the Lord's talking, what is he talking what is talking about is the critical judge mental condemning self righteous egotism of the Pharisee they were criticizing people because of sin they were criticizing them because of their personality, their character, their weaknesses, their frailties, perhaps the way they look to the way they dressed are the faculty didn't do the things the way they did. There were criticizing their motives which they couldn't see or perceive any way in their humanness.

You don't know why a person does what he does to go around say well we should love everybody and never judge anybody. That is what the Lord is saying. In fact, in Leviticus 1917. It says this, thou shalt not hate thy brother shall not hate thy brother what you mean thou shalt in any case, review thy neighbor, and not allow sin on him. In other words, to allow him to sin is to hate you not to love him so if you see sin is love that makes a change. It is live at the man's a repent sale.

I don't see anything. We just love everybody know when you find sin and you tolerated. You are hating your brother not loving.

It is love that confronts it is hate that ignores a fault in the sooner let's a person going that path. Jesus expressed such evaluation. He condemned repeatedly. He judged he evaluated. He criticized the unmasked and stripped naked. The Pharisees in Matthew 23 were not talking about that were talking about the, the ugly self righteous judge mental critical spirit of the Pharisees, not only the Pharisees but a lot of other folks had the same problem and we fight it is well even today were not shirking church discipline. We are talking about that personal critical spirit. So if you want an easy translation of what it says in verse one it says stop criticizing stop criticizing. Who were you to criticize other people. That's the issue we must judge.

We must evaluate Romans 1617 says we must mark them that cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which we learn and avoid them.

We must make doctrinal distinctions and we must mark the people who offend that doctrine and we must avoid those people. We can all get together. We must make distinctions and that judgment must begin. Says Peter at the house of God we have the right to judge righteous judgment. John 724 but not the carping criticism of the Pharisees and that is essentially what you say you see the word judge hears the word criminal and admits transit at least 15 different ways, potentially, or even 20 different ways it has such a broad meaning and so we must see the context to get its meaning. As we look at the context it's a contrast with the Pharisees all through the sermon as look at the biblical context we know is not forbidding all judgment because he talks in so many other places of the necessity of that kind of judgment but were not to judge people's motives were not to condemn them because they don't look like we think that a looker they don't act or talk like we think they are to talk correct. They don't come up to our suppose itself righteous standard. You have no business doing that is forbidden.

Romans 1413 succinctly puts it, when it says let us not therefore judge one another anymore stop criticizing the Bible is very clear about the kind of judging were not to do in the first place were not to do some official kind of judging that's for the law courts and you have no right to carry those things out. There's no place in the Bible for personal vengeance. We cannot make official or vengeful judgment.

Secondly, the Bible forbids hasty judgments he that answer of the matter before he hears it is folly and shame on the hymns is Proverbs 1813. The Bible forbids us from making great judgments on less than full knowledge and facts to make some hasty judgment. We are not to make an official judgment.

We are not to make a hasty judgment were not to make unwarranted judgments or undeserved judgment, such as in Colossians when they were judging the believers for not keeping a new moon or a feast or a Sabbath day. In those things it already been abolished were not to set up some human standards, some of our own little codes and then of people to live up to our little nonbiblical codes put them in another category spiritually were not to make unjust judgments like the judges in the northern kingdom of Israel made their unjust judges who took bribes right to make those kind of judgments were not to make unmerciful judgments where we are unrelenting and persistent and we never let up, we just keep criticizing, criticizing, criticizing, that's even more than God does for God is rich in what mercy and what the Lord here is forbidding is that fishes hasty, unwarranted, unjust, unmerciful condemnation that is spawned by self righteous pride not to do that and then worst of all, after we've made that judgment in our heart we go tell people about it, we become a talebearer or a gossiper. So were not to do gives three reasons why not number one. To make that kind of a judgment manifests an erroneous view of God. Verse one. An erroneous view of God judge not, that ye be not judged. And he simply reminds them that they are not the final court. You do this and you will be judged.

Have you forgotten that you are not God. That is precisely the bottom line in this sin to judge other people their motives and so forth is to playing God is to usurp the divine position. John five tells us that judgment belongs to God and is committed that judgment to the son, and that's the extent of it. Folks, we are not at this particular time to sit in judgment, there will be a time linearly when there will be a joining together with the Lord as he reigns, and we will carry out some of his rule and judgment.

The Bible says, but at this time, and for now we have no right to judge. We literally blaspheme God by usurping his proper place. Think of it that way every time you sit in judgment something somewhat every time you criticize their motives every time you think you have a right to make an evaluation you are playing God. Every time you carry out vengeance or a vendetta or you get even on your own, you are playing God. Every time you pass sentence on someone arbitrarily you're playing God. Now, it isn't true. If there's an obvious sin is a true if you follow the principle of biblical judgment, which is always with two or three. What witnesses is when you set yourself up as the authority in your call the shots and you're going to determine who fits and who makes the standard and so doing you have taken God's seat in Romans 14 forces who are you to do that you think you are. Listen to what Paul said who are you judges another manservant.

In other words, that person is God's servant.

That's the analogy to his own master he will stand or fall, God is able to make that determination. Every time you criticize somebody because they don't do some the way you think it ought to be done or because you think you figured out their motive, you pass judgment and set yourself up as God is and what one writer said judge not the workings of his brain and of his heart valve cannot see what looks to the idea Mize is staying in God's pure light may only be a scar brought from some well one field where thou wouldst only fade and yield plague you're listening to Grace to you with Bible teacher John MacArthur. He is also Chancellor of the Masters University in seminary. John is helping you discover the right interpretation of some verses that people often get wrong in his current study called mishandled well to shift gears here for a minute John it's a joy for us to hear how Grace to use Bible teaching is reaching people right when and where they needed and week after week. We get notes along those lines, including three that you have in front of you and so what you read and share those letters with our listeners.

That's always a joy to do that, fill letter number one comes from Rachel in Ridgeway, South Carolina. She says I listened your teaching every day. My husband, who never listens to sermons unless they are alive has even put the GT Y app on his phone. I am so happy.

We thank God for you reminding us that not all of California is crazy, but more than that, we thank God for using your powerful teaching in our lives. Well, thank you so much Rachel and then a second letter comes from Harvey in the Galilee.

In Israel, just wanted you to know that I faithfully follow your daily radio programs here in Israel use both your Alpine podcast to listen.

Your teaching is helpful in mightily encouraging, by the way, there is a very strong growing evangelical church in Israel starting to flourish there. Having pastors conferences. There is even. There's even a college.

Therefore, Bible students Lord is doing some great things in Israel.

1/3 letter from Milana the past few months have been extremely difficult.

I lost my dear mother to co-vivid. She was only 48 years young.

My world is entirely upside down. God is using Grace to you to clarify some questions and ease my sorrow.

I found your sermon called what happens when a Christian dies, Pastor John, thank you so much for preaching on this subject. I am grateful beyond words for every single person in your ministry.

I don't deserve any of you. I will pray for God to continue strengthening you all. She signs her name. Milana will bless you, my dear, were glad to be there to provide the comfort that the word of God brings you and Justin the big picture we receive notes and letters like this every week from people in the widest possible range of circumstances in God's word is universally the vital factor in bringing about people. Spiritual growth and spiritual health, what you pray with us that God would use this truth to strengthen hearts and minds for his glory.

And if you're able to stand with us financially at this time.

We thank you for your part in making verse by verse Bible teaching available through Grace to you and all the ways people access. It apps books, CDs, television, the Internet, and even this radio broadcast, that's right. Unfriend it your support that makes it possible for us to minister to people like Rachel and Harvey and Milana in your community and in communities like them all around the world to make a donation get in touch today mail your gift to Grace to you.

Box 4000 panorama city, CA 91412 or you can express your support by calling 855 race or when you visit TTY.org and thanks for remembering to pray for John and the staff and the people were reaching again to partner with us. Call 855 Grace or go to our website at TTY.also if you been thinking about purchasing one of our resources now is a great time. Nearly all of our books, including the glory of heaven and saved without a doubt the Gospel according to Jesus, all of them are available for 25% off the regular price. You can also get our flagship resource MacArthur study Bible or stock up on any of John's New Testament commentaries to take advantage of the sale.

TTY.org or place your order when you call 855 and to keep up-to-date on our newest resources. Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook now for John MacArthur on Phil Johnson be here when John shows you the biblical way to confront sin as his series on mishandled Bible verses continues with 30 minutes of unleashing God's truth one verse at a time on tomorrow's wasting