Matt 7:1 "Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged;
and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. 3 And why do you look at the speck in your brother's
eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? 4
Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye';
and look, a plank is in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite!
First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to
remove the speck from your brother's eye. 6 Do not
give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they
trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces. 7 "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you
will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8
For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks
it will be opened. 9 Or what man is there among
you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?
11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good
gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give
good things to those who ask Him! 12 Therefore,
whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the
Prophets. 13 "Enter by the narrow gate; for
wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are
many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow
is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who
find it. 15 "Beware of false prophets, who
come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather
grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17
Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree
bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear
good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20
Therefore by their fruits you will know them. 21
"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of
heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22
Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your
name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' 23 And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you;
depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'
After teaching us of God’s perspective on our lives,
Jesus goes on to show us ourselves for ourselves, in ways that even we
ourselves cannot deny. (Unless we lie.)
Just as there is no denying what we see of ourselves in a
mirror, there is also no denying what the mirror of God’s Word and His Holy
Spirit reveal to us about ourselves.
Sometimes we may imagine what we may be looking like, but
when confronted by the truth of the mirror we are left with the whole truth and
nothing but the truth. God’s Word, and in this case Jesus’ teaching, provide
that invaluable truth-service for our lives.
One of our greatest blind-spots is how judgmental we are
about others, and how forgiving we are of ourselves. This kind of behavior
cannot continue in the church, because it will not continue in the kingdom of
heaven.
In order to discourage judgmental behavior or thinking,
Jesus informs us we will ourselves be judged by the measure we employ to judge
others. If we judge according to mercy, we will be judged in mercy. If we judge
according to righteousness, we will be judged according to righteousness.
Since we ourselves are so patently and obviously
unrighteous, Jesus is making it plain that He discourages such behavior in the
strongest possible way. Treat people in the way you yourself to be treated.
This is radical, life-changing, and eternal.
-Pastor Bill
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