By Brother R. Michel Lankford
Just As It Is Written:
Matthew 7:1-6 "Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? 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? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. 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. (Matthew 7:1-6 NKJV)
Identifying the Specific Commands and Imperatives
#29 Do Not Judge#30. First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye
#31 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.
Contradictory Commands?
You may recall the principle illustrated in earlier studies (Guard Your Heart against Murder), that we discussed how critical it was that one studies the Scripture in paragraphs instead of studying a single verse. As you may remember we discussed the need to study the verse of Scripture within the context of its paragraph, its surrounding chapter, the book of Scripture containing our verse, and if necessary, we must consider it in the context of the entire Bible. Using the paragraph study method will save us from the cardinal error of taking the Scriptures out of context.The 29th, 30th and 31st Commands of the Messiah are perfect illustrations that we must be careful to take the Scripture in proper context. If we only did a surface reading of the 29th command (Matthew 7:1), and the 31st (Matthew 7:6), the two commands appear to be in direct contradiction with one another, but they really are not, if you take them in complete context with the whole chapter.
The apparent contradiction is the perfect gateway to introduce another teaching principle. Do not ignore scriptural difficulties, such as apparent Scriptural contradictions. Do not flippantly dismiss them, because these apparent contradictions create honest questions in some students. For others who are wicked and corrupt, they can use apparent contradictions in Scripture to try and dismiss the truth, and deny the validity of the Scriptures, in order to give themselves permission to do as they choose instead of honestly seeking, choosing and doing God's will. So if we, the honest and devout believers do not address apparent contradictions with integrity, then there will always be some perverse and wicked individuals who are eagerly willing to fill in the blanks left by our silence. So we must not shy away from difficult Scriptures or apparent contradictions. We must acknowledge them. We must honestly confront them. We must not be lazy, but diligently study to show ourselves approved rightly dividing God's word (2 Timothy 2:15). We must make ourselves ready to give an honest Scriptural answer to those who will question (1 Peter 3:15).
Using Scripture Lawlessly to Justify Remaining in Sin
Parenthetically speaking, it's worth noting that the temptation for wicked people to pervert doctrine and the Scriptures in an effort to rationalize their sinful behavior and justify themselves is always prevalent in our world. People did that in Christ's day (Luke 10:29), and people do it today. In my personal experience of witnessing, I have seen three examples of this repeatedly.For example, with rare exception I have never seen a drunkard who did not know that Jesus Christ turned water into wine (John 2:11). They may not know, believe, respect, or obey anything else that Jesus ever said or did, but they often believe and testify to that verse with absolute conviction. They completely ignore the fact that someone who retains and lives the lifestyle of drunkenness shall not inherit the kingdom of God (Galatians 5:19-21).
For another example, with rare exception, I have rarely seen a sex addict who did not know about King Solomon and his 700 wives and 300 concubines. In most cases they want to use this scriptural account as some sort of justification as though God must approve of their lascivious lifestyle. They completely ignore the rest of the story that King Solomon's lovers led him astray from God, they brought the worship of false gods into the palace and the kingdom was permanently torn asunder through civil war resulting in Israel becoming two nations; Israel, and Judah. They also completely ignore the fact that just like the drunkard, the adulterer, fornicator, and homosexuals will also not enter the kingdom of heaven (1 Corinthians 6:9).
In my experience, this next example of people using Scripture lawlessly is the most prevalent in our modern age. Countless people in our modern world both within and outside the church walls know and can recite Matthew 7:1 by heart:
Matthew 7:1 "Judge not, that you be Not judged. (Matthew 7:1 NKJV)
Many people both in and outside the walls of the church seem to use Matthew 7:1 as though it were a license to sin, and that they should be allowed to believe say or do any vile thing without being challenged or questioned in any way. They falsely believe and claim that with this verse, they are allowed to think anything, say anything and do anything vile or wicked, and the people who love God and His righteous standards can never object, or call any vile thing they may say or do into repentance. Such a conclusion is completely in error and a horrible misapplication of the verse, and we know that because the paragraph (Matthew 7:1-6), the chapter (Matthew chapter 7), the book (the Gospel according to Matthew), and indeed the whole text of Scripture, does not support such a horrible misapplication of Matthew 7:1.
• We know that Jesus Christ did not come to undermine the law or the prophets, but He came to fulfill them. We know that anyone who undermines the law and the prophets will be considered least in the kingdom of God (Matthew 5:17-20).
• We know that God cannot deny Himself (2 Timothy 2:13).
• We know that failing to make proper value distinctions between good and evil and between holy and common will actually bring a curse on the people of God (Isaiah 5:20-23). In fact, failing to value what is holy is actually an act of violence against God and His laws (Ezekiel 22:26). Such behavior is conduct thoroughly unbecoming to a Christian because we are the priests of God (1 Peter 2:9). We are supposed to make clear distinctions between good and evil, between light and darkness, and between common and holy. This is what Moses and the prophets did. It is what Jesus the Messiah did. It is what the apostles did. It is what every faithful preacher, teacher, missionary and martyr has done throughout history. Failing to do the same is a clear dereliction of our duty as Christians.
Beloved, I can tell you with virtually absolute certainty that no injunction in Scripture was ever intended to disguise, to conceal, to excuse, to promote or to indulge sin of any kind, and that includes the injunction against judging in Matthew 7:1. The verse was never intended to prevent faithful people from calling sinners into repentance so that they might hear the truth, repent and be saved. Anyone who misrepresents Scripture in such a manner needs to repent, because they are taking a great risk of twisting the Scriptures to their own destruction (2 Peter 3:16).
Is It Wrong to Point out Sin and Call People into Repentance?
That is clearly what many people are misled to believe by misapplying Matthew 7:1-2. Clearly the sinful people of the world who want to ignore and disobey God standards, combined with passive church leaders who seem more interested in coexisting with the sinful world instead of truly impacting it with God's Kingdom principles (Matthew 5:13-16), seem perfectly willing to let people think that this is what Scripture teaches, but it's clearly not. The context of the paragraph where Matthew 7:1-2 is found, clearly indicates it is NOT a sin, and it is not wrong to make a biblical value judgment about the righteousness and truth of what someone says or does. Please think about it.
How can you avoid casting pearls before swine, or how can you avoid throwing what is holy to the dogs which is also just as much of a commandment, unless you make some kind of value judgment about how someone speaks or behaves? You see, Matthew 7:6 is as much a commandment of Messiah as Matthew 7:1, and we are called to obey both. It is not wrong to notice that a brother has a speck or plank of debris of sin in his eye that is causing them pain and discomfort. It's not wrong or sinful to try to help a brother get a speck out of his eye. In fact, helping a brother to get a speck of sin out of his eye can be a very loving and caring thing to do, because if I truly love him, then I cannot rejoice or celebrate with him while he practices sin and iniquity (1 Corinthians 13:6; Psalm 97:10; Proverbs 8:13; Amos 5:15; Hebrews 1:8-9) God's true love cannot rejoice or celebrate sin and iniquity. If I truly love a person, I cannot rejoice, and I cannot celebrate with them while they practice things that God says are sinful or that He says He will condemn. There is actually greater sin in not helping a brother who is in danger of God's judgment. In the context of the whole paragraph, Messiah is trying to teach us that trying to help people get out of their sin can be good, so long as you are working just as hard to successfully overcome your own garbage, while you are mercifully helping other people deal with their junk. It's when we ignore our own garbage because it's more fun and looks more impressive to help other people deal with their stuff that this helping can become sinful.
A Clear example of Violating Matthew 7:1
So, how does the honest disciple obey Matthew 7:1, and still remain obedient to these other vital and true principles as well? That is a very good and fair question. It's critical to get it right. Before I get into methodologies however, I would like to give an illustration of a clear and true violation of Matthew 7:1. Bear in mind that I saw this with my own eyes on the TV news.I was watching the news one Sunday night and saw the story on an obscene daylight robbery. It seems that a thief came into a church and stole the jewel encrusted communion cup right off the communion table while services were underway. That was shocking and sad to see that people have lost all respect for God and the place where the people gathered to worship. In typical fashion, the media questioned some of the parishioners to get their reaction. My heart sank to my socks and my stomach turned, not only for what the thief had done, but even more so for what I heard one of the church attendees say. She looked straight into the camera and with vehement anger lashed out the words, "I hope he fries and hell!"
Immediately Matthew 7:1-2 came to mind. That was a clear violation. Momentarily I lost all concern for the thief and began praying ardently for this woman who was now in far greater danger than the thief she was condemning, and she didn't even realize it. I knew what God's standards were. She pronounced what the final outcome of that thief's immortal being ought to be, and in so doing she was putting her own immortal being in real jeopardy. Think about it. According to the Scriptures, if she ever failed to bring God a proper tithe and offering at any point in her entire life, then she would be guilty of robbing God Himself (Malachi 3:8-10). According to Matthew 7:2, the very punishment that she herself prescribed for thieving would be meted out to her as well if she steals, would it not? I was terrified. I cried out aloud in my apartment, "Lord, have mercy upon her and save her from herself, because she has no clue what she just did."
Learning to Evaluate Good from Evil and True from False without Condemning
At various times our Loving Heavenly Father has used this specific incident with me as a teachable moment. Incidentally, I treasure these moments where Almighty God our Heavenly Father teaches me how to think, believe, talk, and behave like a child of God. I'm so grateful that He does this, because I need it and crave it so desperately, but I digress.God would bring questions to my mind like, "Son, what could or should she have said that would not have been dangerous either for herself or for that thief?" I wrestled with that back and forth in prayer for a while. I sensed that God was speaking to my heart and gave me certain parameters to remember in the process of forming my answer to such a question: "You cannot deny that a wrong or sin has been committed." You cannot deny that a hurt, a wound or damage was done to others by a wrongdoer's actions. You cannot deny Biblical truth. You must still pray for the thief within those parameters."
1. I was not allowed to deny that a sin or wrong had been committed. For the sake of righteousness and truth, it had to be fully acknowledged for what it truly was. What the thief had done was sin. It was stealing. It violated the eighth Commandment given to Moses on the mountain (Exodus 20:15). I can say without fear of contradiction that the thief needed to repent, to turn away from stealing and do what was right before the Lord (Ephesians 4:28).
2. I was not allowed to deny that damage was done to the people. In truth, what the thief had done was very hurtful to those people. It's an awful thing to feel assaulted, violated and robbed in the place where you gather to meet with God. What the thief had done was very disrespectful to those people to say the least. Their hurt was real, and it was truly felt. I was not allowed to deny it.
At the same time, the woman who cursed the thief was thoroughly disrespectful herself. How so? Well, without realizing it, she was uplifting something that human beings had created with their own hands, (a communion set), and she was elevating it in value above a person (and his immortal being), whom God Himself had created. She was willing to curse something God made for the sake of losing something made by human hands. The poor soul, she was definitely losing some valuable perspective.
3. I was not allowed to deny Biblical truth. This incident confirmed the need for true and sound Biblical Doctrine. What we believe creates behaviors. In this case, the woman's own religious training betrayed her. Her own religious training fueled her desire to curse that thief, and her feeling that she was completely justified while doing so, while she was in reality putting her own immortal being at grave risk. You see, this whole scenario occurred during a Roman Catholic Mass. According to the woman's own religious tradition, supposedly whenever a Roman Catholic priest prays a blessing over the bread and wine at Communion, it is allegedly physically transformed into the actual physical body and blood of Jesus Christ. According to Roman Catholic religious tradition (un-biblical though it may be), taking communion blessed by a priest is one of the many, many religious acts that one must routinely perform in order to even have the possibility of going to heaven. So from the Roman Catholic point of view, that thief did not merely steal an expensive cup and saucer from the altar, but according to them, that thief was stealing Jesus, and possibly costing them their salvation. In her misguided point of view, the thief was putting her very eternal salvation in jeopardy. Now, nothing could be further from the truth, but you can certainly see why what the thief did would provoke such a strong reaction. The problem is that her beliefs, while long held by Roman Catholic tradition, are simply not true Biblically. As it is written:
Hebrews 9:24-28 For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another-- He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation. (Hebrews 9:24-28 NKJV)The bread at Communion is clearly physically fabricated and made by human hands. According to the Holy Scriptures, Jesus Christ does not enter by those means. The same holds true with the wine, the cup and saucer, the sacristy, the church and all the physical trappings of religion created by human hands. Jesus doesn't enter that way. Jesus enters a person when one is born again (John 3:3, 7; Ezekiel 36:25-27), and God re-creates the human being which He originally made, and He Re-Creates us into a fit sanctuary for Himself (1 Peter 2:1-5).
Unfortunately, the woman was not trained according to the Scriptures, so she does not know this from the heart. She has been trained to believe that Jesus comes to live inside her only by taking Roman Catholic Eucharist. However subconsciously, she had been trained to believe that her entire salvation depends on that bread and wine blessed by a priest, so she mistakenly thinks herself completely justified when she lashes out with a horrendous curse after the thief steals Communion set from the altar.
As you know, I very rarely give you any homework assignment, so please forgive me on the rare occasions that I do so, and please have the good grace to try and do the best you can, when I do give one. I'm giving you the same homework assignment that God gave me when I witnessed the situation. Using the parameters that Yahweh Almighty God gave me (which are listed above), how should the woman have responded to the thief and still been absolutely biblically right in doing so? Remember, that whatever answer you give, you must be able to defend the Biblically. Enjoy.
Brother R. Michel Lankford
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