Sermon for Sunday, May 11th, 2025 at First Presbyterian Church at Unionville, NY (BPC)
Old Testament Reading:
[2Sa 12:1-7 ESV] 1 And the LORD sent Nathan to David. He came to him and said to him, “There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had very many flocks and herds, 3 but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. And he brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children. It used to eat of his morsel and drink from his cup and lie in his arms, and it was like a daughter to him. 4 Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was unwilling to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the guest who had come to him, but he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.” 5 Then David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the LORD lives, the man who has done this deserves to die, 6 and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.” 7 Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul.
New Testament Reading:
[Rom 14:1-12 ESV] 1 As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. 2 One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. 3 Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. 4 Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. 5 One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7 For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. 8 For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. 10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; 11 for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” 12 So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.
Gospel Reading:
[Mar 4:21-25 ESV] 21 And he said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand? 22 For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light. 23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” 24 And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you. 25 For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”
Sermon Text:
[Mat 7:1-6 ESV] 1 “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. 3 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? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. 6 “Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.
Introduction
In written language, commas are very important.
There’s a big difference between
“No Parking here.”
and
“No, Parking here.”
Well, the title of the sermon today is NOT “Judging right and wrong”; that is is I’m not talking primarily about making right judgments (though that does have its place). The title is rather “Judging,[comma] Right and Wrong” which means that there is a right type (and time) of judging, and a wrong type (and time) of judging.
We’ll look today at these three points:
1) Right judging.
2) Wrong judging.
And
3) God’s gracious judging.
[REPEAT]
I. Right Judging
First, let us look at “right judging.”
And, to some, this might be a surprise.
“Right judging”? Can there be such a thing?
Doesn’t Jesus said “Judge not?”
This is a favorite verse of non-Christians.
And I think I know why. It is cover for sins. No matter what sin they commit, they shelter themselves against admitting any wrong by saying “judge not.” This, no doubt, is an abuse of Jesus’s teaching.
There is indeed a type of right judging. [REPEAT]
Now, when you think of famous judges who comes to mind?
Is it Judy and Aaron?
Or, do you remember there is a book in the Bible called Judges, with Jeptha, Gideon, and Samson?
Those are famous judges, and they were believers in God.
So Christians may be Legal Judges, and can decided cases.
And Christians can sit on a jury, and judge a case.
In a more general sense, you need to make judgments all the time.
When a deer jumps out in front of your vehicle, you better judge the situation and respond quickly.
And when deciding which way to go in life, you better judge correctly. Judge not to do drugs. Judge not to get involved in immoral circles of people.
In these various ways we are called to judge everyday. And we better judge well.
Then, on the moral side, there are matters in which God has already judged. So we are to follow His guidance. It is wrong to take the Lord’s name in vain, to kill, to steal, to commit adultery, to bear false witness, to covet. These right (and righteous) judgements have been made for us; provided to us, to make life easier for us. So Jesus is certainly not against our judging correctly; judging right to be right, and judging wrong to be wrong. That is essential; we must judge sin to be sin; evil to be evil; and good to be good.
Here are some Scriptures to consider on this point:
[Deu 16:18 ESV] 18 “You shall appoint judges and officers in all your towns that the LORD your God is giving you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment.
So the Lord commands legal judges and legal judging.
Then, Jesus says in John’s Gospel:
[Jhn 7:24 ESV] 24 Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”
Jesus is speaking about a specific case – whether it is right to heal on the Sabbath – but it is part of a larger principle – that we are to judge rightly.
Other relevant verse include:
[Act 4:19 ESV] 19 But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge,
[1Co 6:3 ESV] 3 Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life!
In general, we are called to discern darkness from light, and to call darkness darkness and light light.
II. Wrong Judging
So what then is Jesus referring to in our passage when he says “Judge not.”?
There is, clearly, a wrong type of judging.
This is, as one commentator notes, “the pronouncing of rash, unjust, and unloving judgments upon others.” We are being directed “how to conduct ourselves in reference to the faults of others.”
The context, like much of the Sermon on the Mount is in regards to those religious leaders, the Pharisees who are very keen on fault-finding. They were rigid in their application of the law, and severe in their pronouncements, quickly condemning all around them, and quickly justifying themselves in doing so, and ignoring their own sins of course.
This is non-Christian behavior. Without knowing the whole story, without knowing the facts or circumstances, to just blast people with judgment. It is not a good look. And not an effective way of encouraging their repentance if they are sinning.
Not only are such judgements not effective, they can downright bring a bad name to the faith. Of course, the unbeliever will always be finding a way to avoid the truth, but we shouldn’t make it easy for them. We shouldn’t turn them away from the Lord and from the Church with unjust and unloving judgments upon them.
Especially, the idea to understand — that Jesus speaks about in our text — is the problem of hypocrisy. And this is a great problem. One of the leading contentions of unbelievers is that they don’t go to church because it is full of hypocrites. Well, on the one side, I like to say to them, “Yes, that is true, and we want you (a hypocrite) to join us.” Not that I’m reveling in hypocrisy, but just saying “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” So we as Christians should be quick to admit sin. But we shouldn’t add to the problem with outright hypocrisy. We shouldn’t add to the reasons people avoid Church.
Judging others in an unfortunate, nasty way is hypocritical BECAUSE of the tendency, like the Pharisees to judge yourself on one standard (easy mode) and to judge others on the most difficult standard possible. It’s like you get Level 1 of Tetris, and they get the level 84 treatment.
I’ve heard numerous times, and I think its true, that the hypocrite, the meaning of the word is an actor on a stage with a mask. So you show yourself as one thing, but are actually another.
Jesus says, “5 You HYPOCRITE, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”
First he says, “3 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? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye?”
Judging others is often sinfully used to push attention away from oneself. “Look at HIS problems.” Look at that sinner! But the Pharisees are sinners themselves, even though they wouldn’t admit it.
So, you want to fix sin? You have a passion for judging? Well, there is a lot of work to do first with YOURSELF. That is something we should all be reminding of.
Ask “what I can work on?” before saying that someone else has something to work on.
Ask “what can I repent of” before asking others to repent.
Take the plank (or log) out of your own eye. And THEN, you can see to take the spec out of your brother’s eye.
In that very statement – let me take the speck out of your eye – we see SOME role for judging; in a helpful, encouraging, beneficial discipline sort of way. And Christians should willingly accept such advice, such admonition, when it is giving in love. We should want to strive for holiness, and correct our faults. And we should want to help out other Christians in the same way.
But — and this is where verse 6 comes into play — but we must use such moral guidance in the proper way. It should be “in love” as I’ve mentioned. And it should be to those whom are receptive, to Christians or those who are becoming Christians.
Verse 6 says we are not to “cast pearls before swine.” And it says we are not to “give what is holy to the dogs.”
What does this mean? I went back and forth whether to include verse 6 in this sermon. But I’ve kept it. I think it is connected.
Not casting pearl before swine is about judgment.
The idea is that telling a Christian that they are sinning should meet with a response of repentance, but telling an unbeliever that they are sinning, they will respond with anger.
The “holy” and the “pearls” are discipline, moral advice, spiritual truths.
The “dogs” and the “swine” are unbelievers who are unreceptive of such things. They are “those who have no other purpose than to trample the Gospel that is presented to them and to return to their evil ways.”
Repeatedly sharing the Gospel with a person who only ridicules it is like casting pearls before swine; it is like giving what is holy to the dogs.
We certainly are to preach to all people, but to those hardened in sin and unwilling to repent, we must learn to move on.
This was the instruction Jesus gave to his disciples in Matthew 10:14 – “And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town.” And we have record of this actually being carried out. In Acts 13, after Paul and Barnabas are persecuted by certain Jews in Antioch of Pisidia “they shook off the dust from their feet against them and went to Iconium.” They had other people to tell the Gospel too.
This reminds me of the one time I did some political canvassing back in 2008. You go house to house handing out flyers, talking for a bit, trying to persuade someone to your cause or to “your guy” to vote for. But I, along with another with me, spent too long I recall at one house, talking to a man who wasn’t going to change his mind no matter how long we talked. It was better that we moved on. And we finally did.
So we are to “not judge” in such cases as people would not be responsive anyways, but will just grow more enraged at us.
Christians on the other had are to accept reproof from others, especially those they respect in the Lord.
So, before we move on, I want to note a few applications.
Application 1: Don’t cast pearls before swine.
This is a bit like saying “pick your battles.” If the person is not going to respond well to your admonition, it is probably best not to tell them at all of your judgment of them.
Perhaps you have a boss that curses frequently. Does it do you good to chastise them, or merely risk your employment?
Application 2: Do not judge inward motives.
So often we judge someone else because, if the results are bad, their motives must have been as well, right?
So there’s a story I think about far too often. Back in my engineering office days. Before I even drank coffee. One day I saw that the coffee machine was on the fritz. I had never used it before, but it looked like it needed help. Perhaps the catch basin was full or some other issue. Well, I stopped, tried for a while to fix it, but I just didn’t know how to. I wasn’t a coffee drinker; I had no knowledge of this coffee maker. Well, just as I was given up and walking away … dun dun dun … a co-worker shows up and says something to the effect “You’re going to break the coffee machine and not try to fix it?” I’m sure that I sin frequently as well, judging others motives. But this time is one I always remember because my motives were judged 100% contrary to the reality. And my attempt to explain the situation didn’t get any traction. I was the bad guy for breaking the coffee machine and not trying fixing it, when the exact opposite was the truth. So my motives were judged. And I can’t hardly the blame the guy. It must have looked exactly as he thought. (Maybe a good lawyer could convince the jury and even ME that I did in fact break the coffee machine)
Well, let us not judge motives. Let us not say “you meant for this to happen” when an accident or injury occurs. This judging is not beneficial, and often is not true.
Application 3: Recognize Personal Hypocrisy and Repent
You know the story of David in 2nd Samuel.
He sins. He hears the story of a sinner. And he says “we need to put that man to death.” But then he is told “YOU are that man.”
The shock of hypocrisy that comes back upon David, is the same shock we have in judging others wrongly. How can we who are sinners be so harsh on others who have done the same? We need another way. We need another approach. We need the Lord Jesus.
III. God’s Gracious Judging
Well, we have seen that there is right judging, and there is wrong judging. And we, as sinners, are warned to stay away from wrong judging. “Judge not.”
However, there is one who is the perfect judge. And, even more, is gracious judge. The Lord himself.
The Lord’s judgements are always just.
He is never a hypocrite.
He never mistakes our motives, or calls out people erroneously.
But “the judgement of God” is often a scary thought.
If God is a perfect judge, then I’m in BIG Trouble. And you are as well.
However, we are blessed in that God is a gracious judge.
Indeed, ALL will be judged, but not all will be condemned. Why is that? Because of Grace. God’s grace to us holds back the punishment we deserve and puts it on Christ, God’s own sin. What wondrous love is this. God is a gracious judge.
We can learn from that. We too can be gracious. Not judging for any ulterior motives – to draw attention away from our sin, or harm the other person, but we can learn to give reproof graciously (in love) for the benefit of Christians, for their sanctification.
CONCLUSION
So let us thank the Lord for his forgiveness, and may we forgive the same, remembering the Lords’ Prayer “Forgive us our debt, as we forgive our debtors.”