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welcome to everyone just a reminder that the him sing at the lynnwood will take place at 7pm for those who are going to participate right after the service tonight we'll pray and there is some snacks up their sandwiches and cookies and soup to have something to eat prior to going to the lynnwood again all are invited and encouraged to come it's a good time to sing hymns of praise to God and it's an encouragement to the older folk there and then there is a paper on the back table with reference to the church directory so please update your information there if it hasn't changed just initial your number and your email address well for our call to worship this evening you can turn with me in your Bibles to psalm 141 Psalm 141 Psalm 141 beginning in verse 1 a psalm of David Lord I cry out to you make haste to me give ear to my voice when I cry out to you let my prayer be set before you as incense the lifting up of my hands is the evening sacrifice set a guard o Lord over my mouth keep watch over the door of my lips do not incline my heart to any evil thing to practice wicked works with men who work iniquity and do not let me eat of their delicacies let the righteous strike me it shall be a kindness and let him rebuke me and it shall it shall be as excellent oil let my head not refuse it we're still my prayer is against the deeds of the wicked their judges are overthrown by the sides of the cliff and they hear my words for they are sweet our bones are scattered at the mouth of the grave as when one plows and breaks up the earth but my eyes are upon you O God the Lord in you I take refuge do not leave my soul destitute keep me from the snares they have laid for me and from the traps of the workers of iniquity let the wicked fall into their own Nets while I escape safely amen well please turn in your Trinity hymnal to him number 12 hymn number 12 you can stand with me and we'll sing together hymn number 12 [Music] you Oh [Music] well let us pray our blessed God in our Holy Father we gather again on the Sabbath day to come and appraise you to exalt in you are great and glorious God from everlasting to everlasting you are God and you are most high and and worthy of all praise and worship and adoration from your creatures how we thank you Father that you chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world not because we were holy and blameless but that we would become holy and blameless we thank you that in the fullness of the time you sent forth your son who was born under born of a woman and born under the law to redeem those under the law how we praise you for the life and the death and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ and how we praise you that through him we have redemption of redemption through his blood we have the the imputed righteousness of Christ given to us freely and how we praise you for that we thank you as well for the Ministry of the Holy Spirit that one who has made us alive that one who has granted us the ability to see the glory of Christ and to close with Christ through faith and repentance so tonight on this Sabbath day we pray that Father Son and Holy Spirit would be exalted and glorified in this glad our we would ask that you would rend the heavens that you would come down that you would be found among your people here she would encourage our hearts and strengthen us with might and the inner man she would cause us to be more and more conformed under the image of your beloved son and may we indeed leave from this place having met with our God and may we go into this new week desirous to bring glory and honor to you the Apostle says we ought to let our conduct be worthy of the gospel so we saw this morning the response of those saved by grace through faith is love for the Lord God most high so would you draw that out of us would you cause it to increase and may we see and behold the Lord Jesus Christ as that altogether lovely want as that chief among 10,000 may he be the chief object of art desire and may we indeed strive by the power of the Holy Spirit to please and to glorify and to honor you Lord God we ask that you would forgive us now for all of our sins whenever we come into the presence of of the holy and righteous God of heaven and earth we are mindful of our own waywardness so we confess our transgressions against your holy law God we have not lived in light of that as we ought we confess the sin that is said that so easily entangles us and we plead now the merit and the mercy and the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ we thank you for the promise of scripture that if we confess our sins you are faithful and just to forgive us and declines us from all unrighteousness how we praise you for this most excellent blessing that we have in the Savior we pray for any and all who have come here tonight that have yet to come to God through the Lord Jesus that are that are in their sins we pray that today would be the day of salvation that you would open eyes and ears and hearts to the truth of Holy Scripture and that your Holy Spirit would draw them out of darkness into marvelous light that they may indeed taste and see that the Lord is good we ask that you would look with favor upon our local body with reference to the various physical trials and difficulties that so many of our brothers and sisters go through Lord we just commit our brothers to you and to the word of your grace and pray you would look with favor upon each and every one here and our God we know that all of us have spiritual struggles and trials and difficulties all of us God have those issues in our own hearts and in our own lives that that are only known by you so we would pray that you would cause us to to deal with you and in righteousness and in honesty we pray that you would supply what is lacking in our lives we know ultimately God we need the power of the Holy Spirit to live as you would have us to do in this world so we pray that you would encourage us with the scriptures that you would encourage us in our and our times of prayer and that you would help us Lord God to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ we pray our Father for the persecuted Church we know as we were reminded this morning there are so many severals several people that do not have the liberty and the blessing that we enjoy here in canada we ask God that you would look with favor on those Saints in prison those Saints who are suffering those who have been dispossessed from homes and businesses we know that this in many respects is it an epidemic level and we pray that you would just grant grace to your suffering ones to firmly and and earnestly testify concerning the Lord of glory we pray specifically for Muslim nations we know they are particularly at enmity with the people of God we would pray for gospel preachers to go forth in those lands and that a multitude would turn from their useless idols to the true and the Living God that they would see that Christ alone is the way of salvation do this for your glory and do this for the good of souls we pray and look with favor as well upon the governing authorities we see the men and women that are in high places and oftentimes it grieves us to hear and to see the things that are done instead of being forces for good more often than not they're forces for evil we would pray God in heaven that you would put the fear of the Lord in their hearts David said to the nations around him the Kings and the judges that they should kiss the son that they should bow before Jesus Christ that they should know him as Lord and Savior and we would pray that for our prime minister we pray that for local and provincial and federal leaders that they would bend the knee to the king of kings and the Lord of lords and they would govern and rule according to righteousness and justice these are the things that are the foundation of the throne of god most high and we know that righteousness exalts a nation but sin is a reproach to any people we live in a land where babies are murdered we're the infirm and the elderly are murdered we live in a land where perversity and and wickedness is openly exalted and we can only cry out to you with the prophet in your wrath remember mercy send forth your holy gospel cause that word to run swiftly and be glorified may many turn by your grace to the Lord of glory and may they find salvation through faith in Jesus Christ continue with us now we pray and we ask in Jesus name Amen well please turn with me and your Trinity hymnals to number 416 will stand as we sing no we'll use a different tune but one I think we're familiar with number 416 [Music] I [Music] Oh Oh [Music] well please turn in your Bibles to the prophet Ezekiel chapter 34 for our scripture reading this evening zekiel chapter 34 so we move from the prophecies of judgment pronounced against Israel and the nations and here we come to prophecies considering a concerning restoration God will indeed bring Judah back to her land after the captivity from that people the Lord Christ will arise and it is he who will save his people from their sins Ezekiel 34 beginning in verse 1 and the word of the Lord came to me again or came to me saying son of man prophesy against the Shepherd's of Israel prophecy and say to them thus says the Lord God to the shepherds woe to the Shepherd's of Israel who feed themselves should not the Shepherd's feed the flocks you eat the fat and clothe yourselves with with the wool you slaughter the fat legs but you do not feed the flock the week you have not strengthened nor have you healed those who were sick nor bound up the broken nor brought back what was driven away nor sought what was lost but with force and cruelty you have ruled them so they were scattered because there was no Shepherd and they became food for all the beasts of the field when they were scattered my sheep wandered through all the mountains and on every high hill yes my flock was scattered over the whole face of the earth and no one was seeking or searching for them therefore you Shepherds hear the word of the Lord as I live says the Lord God surely because my flock became a prey and my flock became food for every beast of the field because there was no Shepherd nor did my shepherd search for my flock but the Shepherd's fed themselves and did not feed my flawed therefore o Shepherds hear the word of the Lord thus says the Lord God behold i am against the shepherds and i will require my flock at their hand I will cause them to cease feeding the sheep and the shepherd shall feed themselves no more for I will deliver my flock from their mouths that they may no longer be food for them for thus says the Lord God indeed I myself will search for my sheep and seek them out as a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep so will I seek out my sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day and I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries and will bring them to their own land I will feed them on the mountains of Israel in the valleys and in all the inhabited places of the country I will feed them in good pasture and their fold shall be on the high mountains of Israel there they shall lie down in a good fold and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel I will feed my flock and I will make them lie down says the Lord God I will seek what was lost and bring back what was driven away bind up the broken and strengthen what was sick but I will destroy the fat and the strong and feed them in judgment and as for you oh my flock thus says the Lord God behold I shall judge between sheep and sheep between rams and goats is it too little for you to have eaten up the good pasture that you must tread down with your feet the residue of your pasture and to have drunk of the clear waters that you must foul the residue with your feet and as for my flock they eat what you have trampled with your feet and they drink what you have filed with your feet therefore thus says the Lord God to them behold I myself will judge between the fat and the lean sheep because you have pushed with side and shoulder but it all the weak ones with your horns and scattered them abroad therefore I will save my flock and they shall no longer be a prey and I will judge between sheep and sheep i will establish one Shepherd over them and he shall feed that my servant David he shall feed them and be their Shepherd and I the Lord will be their God and my servant David a prince among them I the LORD have spoken I will make a covenant of peace with them and cause wild beasts to cease from the land and they will dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods I will make them and the place is all around my Hill a blessing and I will cause showers to come down in their season excuse me there shall be showers of blessing then the trees of the field shall yield yield their fruit and B and the earth shall yield her increase they shall be safe in their land and they shall know that I am the lord when I have broken the bands of their yoke and delivered them from the hand of those who enslave them and they shall no longer be a pray for the nations nor shall beasts of the land devour them but they shall dwell safely and no one shall make them afraid I will raise up for them a garden of renown and they shall no longer be consumed with hunger in the land nor bear the shame of the Gentiles anymore thus they shall know that I the Lord their God and with them and they the house of Israel are my people says the Lord God you are my flock the flock of my pasture you were men and I am your God says the Lord God amen well certainly the movement and the Prophet highlights conspicuously the grace of God he certainly does bring judgment to bear he certainly does bring the execution of the Covenant curses upon the people that have gone astray from him but there are these nevertheless 'as there are these demonstrations of God's goodness speaking specifically of regathering as I mentioned earlier the people of Judah the David in this particular text is Jesus it is a reference to the Davidic covenant that God made with David in 2nd Samuel 7 that from David's line a shepherd would rise up and one who would sit upon the throne of David and he would rule forever and ever world without end amen and as we understand passages like these it helps us to understand the Ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ when he says I came to seek and to save that which was lost when he identifies himself as the Good Shepherd that lays down his life for the Sheep he certainly has prophecies like these in his mind he is the fulfillment of what is written Ezekiel 34 well let us pray our God we thank you for our Shepherd the Lord Jesus Christ we thank you for his excellence as the King of Kings and the Lord of lords we thank you for his eternal Kingdom we thank you that by grace we have been made partakers of this we have been transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of the son of your love and not not because of our good works or our good decisions but because of the mighty grace of Almighty God we praise you and how we bless you and how we would ask that that that Kingdom would extend and grow and expand that more and more centers would be converted through the preaching of the gospel send forth your Holy Spirit send forth your glorious word and awaken men and women and boys and girls to the reality of a holy God and of the sinfulness that is in each and every one of our hearts and of the only remedy that is to be found in that in Jesus Christ our Lord and we pray in his Most Blessed name amen well please turn with me to him number 239 again in your Trinity hymnal will stand as we sing together [Music] we can turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 7 Matthew chapter seven this morning we looked at the woman which was a sinner that's converted by the grace of God she comes to the Lord Jesus she shows demonstrates her love and her worship and adoration for Christ and we meet with the judgmental attitude of the Pharisee both judges the woman and the Lord Christ and so I thought we would develop that idea of judgmentalism it's an unfortunate reality that judgmentalism is probably not confined to Pharisees in the first century but judgmentalism can indeed infest our own Souls our own hearts it can affect our relationships with wives with husbands with children with parents it can affect our relationship with in the chubb relationships within the church it's one of those subjects that we ought to often address and search our own hearts so that we do not fall prey to that mindset demonstrated by that Pharisee his was a bit conspicuous it wasn't so overt like say the Pharisee and Luke 18 that thank God that he wasn't like other men thanked God that he wasn't like that that tax collector there so it can be somewhat hidden at times other times it can be a lot more open and invisibly demonstrated but it's good for us to see what scripture says concerning this and seek by the grace of God to guard our tongue to guard our minds and our hearts I love that song so I'm 141 that we began worship with what does David say set a guard over my mouth we need sentries we need sentinels we need armed guards watching diligently over our mouths so that we don't use them as a means by which we sin well let's look at Matthew 7 i'll read the verses verses 1 to 12 but our focus is on 125 this evening 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 to pieces ask and it will be given to you seek and you will find knock and it will be open to you for everyone who asks receives and he who seeks finds and to him who knocks it will be open or what man is there among you who if his son asks for bread will give him a stone or if he asks for a fish will he give him a serpent 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 therefore whatever you want men to do to you do also to them for this is the law and the prophets amen well let us pray father we thank you for the written word we pray for the Ministry of the Holy Spirit we pray that he would help us to understand this passage help us to apply this passage and may you by your grace keep us from from sinning the sin of this passage grant us the grace God to deal with people in a righteous way grant us the grace God in our in our families and in our church and wherever we find ourselves to to exercise self-control and to exercise selflessness and to to judge with righteous judgment not according to our own wicked and preconceived notions we ask now that you would guide our study and we pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ amen well as we look at chapter 7 verses 1 to 5 there is as I said a prohibition against judgmentalism this is in the larger context of the Sermon on the Mount the Lord Jesus went up he sat down and he to speak authoritative Lee declaratively he spoke the truth as it concerned the kingdom of God most high so we might suggest that this is a kingdom ethic this is the way we are to conduct ourselves ask Kingdom citizens we say by God's grace we have entered into the kingdom we say by God's grace we are washed in the blood of the Lamb we say by God's grace we have believed on him we have repented from our sin well we must live like that we must live consistently and that empowered by the spirit not suggesting that we can just dig down deep and do what God says concerning his kingdom we need the spirit every step of the way but we need this written word to define for us to conduct that we are to imitate the conduct that we are to demonstrate with reference to life in God's kingdom so this prohibition against judgmentalism there are three particulars that we ought to notice in the first place there is a prohibition verse 1 secondly some explanation in verse 2 and then thirdly an illustration in verses 3 to 5 but note first the prohibition judge not that you be not judged now this text unfortunately is oftentimes used as a weapon when Christians speak out against any sort of evil non-christians show their biblical literacy by quoting Matthew 7 1 and throwing it in the faces of Christian people saying but you're not supposed to judge you're not supposed to engage in judgment because Jesus says that in Matthew chapter 7 and verse 1 I submit that this is a very abused tax in our generation but I don't think it's only been in our generation for JC ryle writing in the 1800s said this concerning the abuse of Matthew 71 he said the first portion of these verses is one of those passages of Scripture which we must be careful not to strain beyond its proper meaning it is frequently abused and misapplied by the enemies of true religion it is possible to press the words of the Bible so far that they yield not medicine then but poison you see if we took that interpretation that we are never ever to exercise any sort of judgment whatsoever it would put us in antithesis with the Bible itself there are several instances where God's people are called to judge and interestingly enough in this very context notice in verse 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 into pieces now that's an odd suggestion recommendation commandment by our Lord if he means we are universally forbidden from ever exercising judgment isn't there a degree of judgment involved in identifying who's a pig and who's a dog Jesus isn't name-calling here he's talking about the enemies of True Religion he's talking about the enemies of the cross of Christ there comes a point in time in our evangelism there comes a point in time in our lives there comes a point in time where our own safety or the safety safety of others that we that we love comes into jeopardy and we are not to give what is holy to the dogs we are not to cast pearls before swine lest they trample them under their feet and turn and tear you in pieces that demands judgment that demands discernment that demands the exercise of identifying what a dog in a pig are and how we are not to deal with them as well we are called to judge and matters of doctrinal orthodoxy notice in verse 15 beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly they are ravenous wolves it would be hoped that the church would practice this more diligently we are to beware of false prophets doesn't that demand discernment doesn't that demand discrimination doesn't that demand a certain degree of judgment so 71 cannot be a universal prohibition as well we are called to judge in matters of church discipline if we continue in Matthew's Gospel we get to Matthew chapter 18 where Jesus says if your brother sins against you go to him if he hears you if he repents then you have won your brother if he doesn't listen to you then take two or three witnesses if he doesn't listen to them then tell it to the church if he still refuses to hear the church then let him be treated as a tax collector and as a he that that's judgment that's discernment that's discrimination as well in the New Testament we are called to judge and matters concerning sins in the eldership first Timothy 519 there is a process do not receive an accusation against an elder without two or three witnesses but the very man date itself identifies the reality that discernment discrimination and judgment are pronounced as well we are called to judge in civil disputes in the church first Corinthians chapter 6 the Apostle Paul recognizes that the people of God have the collective wisdom to adjudicate in matters concerning the people in the body as well Romans 13 society government civil rulers are to exercise judgment can a Christian never occupy a position of authority in civil government can a Christian because of Matthew 71 not be a judge in a court can a Christian in light of 71 not be a prosecuting attorney to get attorney because after all you're not supposed to judge no there is a lawful place for the exercising of judgment it is not an unqualified and universal prohibition to never engage in judgment it is rather a prohibition against a particular activity that we're all often prone to in dealing with our brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ Calvin defines it thus these words of Christ do not contain an absolute prohibition from judging everybody sees that right Matthew 7 1 i'm sure you've heard it judge not lest you be judged if i were to say hey homosexuality is not well you who are you to judge abortion is wrong who are you to judge the Bible says you're not supposed to judge we are most certainly supposed to judge in those matters we're most certainly supposed to press the law of God most I not only in our private lives but family and church and society these words of Christ do not contain an absolute prohibition from judging but are intended to cure a disease which appears to be natural to us all we see how all flatter themselves and every man passes a severe censure on others this vice is attended by some strange enjoyment towards the judgmental person that Jesus is contempt condemning here is petty is censorious is fault-finding is nitpicking and there is as Calvin says some strange enjoyment to it he says for there is hardly any person who is not tickled with the desire of inquiring into other people's faults now you might say well I know people like that I know there are certain people like that you have to admit brethren that that's probably in all of our hearts to some degree or other somebody were to come into church and say wow I had a great week everything was wonderful and and I got a promotion at work and my wife made me eggs and brought it to me and back you'd probably you know start to zone out and you know just go elsewhere because that's not really that interesting when you happen to come in and say you know I got picked up in the park for engaging in some sort of immoral behavior for whatever reason that demands or grabs our attention the same reason that on the news they don't show people that are faithful people that work hard people that do what they're supposed to do they pay their taxes they shovel their driveways with this of the snow they do it what we're drawn to those things unfortunately which are base and which are dart and that's what the prohibition has to do with the meaning of the text specifically it forbids a nitpicking fault-finding petty approach to our brothers short comings as Calvin said it is often attended by some strange enjoyment now I must suggest at this point if there's some strange enjoyment in our hearts concerning something wrong with our brothers and sisters we need to get a handle on that there ought not to be some strange enjoyment about such things we ought to love our brethren we ought to esteem our brethren we ought to want to promote our brethren we want to weep with those who weep we want to rejoice with those who rejoice we don't get mad at the guy who had a great week because we didn't have one no there ought not to be some strange enjoyment attached to this particular this involves an utter disregard for that principle of love indicated in first Corinthians 13 7 love bears all things believes all things hopes all things endures all things you see this nitpicking fault-finding petty censorious attitude is contrary to first Corinthians 13 7 as well it's contrary to Colossians 3 13 we were told there to bear with one another and forgiving one another royal again he says what our Lord means to condemn is a censorious and fault-finding spirit a readiness to blame others for trifling offenses or matters of indifference a habit of passing rash and hasty judgments a disposition to magnify the errors and infirmities of our neighbor neighbors and make the worst of that this is what our Lord forbids it was common among the Pharisees the grant Osborn adds the key component here is the absence of luv you see Jesus is not saying never exercise judgment never exercise discernment never exercised discrimination but he is saying that when you do with reference to the people around you do it in a biblical way do it in a godly way don't do it in a way that is demonstrated by or displayed by these Pharisees that man this morning and in Luke chapter 7 is that pathetic hope that's not us oh we would never say this man if he were a prophet would know what manner of woman this is she's a sinner guess what Simon were all sinners we're all in this boat together we've all got problems we've all offended God we've all raised our at the most I we have all breached his Commandments we've all wanted lacked conformity onto his law we have transgressed it we have done every evil thing under the Sun so it's not the case that we with our sort of self-righteousness and our high-mindedness look down upon others that's what Christ is condemning in the passage and note the reason for the prohibition notice specifically that you be not judged now the judgment here is most likely God's judgment upon you it's most likely the danger the reality that if you live a life like a Pharisee if you live a life of nitpicky Ness if you live a life of fault-finding Ness then you are not going to do well at the throne of god most high doesn't James tell us so speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of Liberty for judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy mercy triumphs over judgment if you have shown no mercy if you have not been kind if you have not been a man a woman a boy or girl of love you're not going to find that at the throne I saw an article recently posted on a blog with reference to pornography and it was seven reasons you should not indulge in pornography now i just skimmed the article i can't vouch for every jot and tittle of it but the first one was striking the first reason why you should not indulge in pornography indulging in pornography will send you to hell it's a pretty candid way to treat that particular subject isn't it you get the gist you get the drift you get the understanding a man or a woman who engages in a regular indulgent in pornography unrepentantly is in danger of Hell fire well if we look at our passage and we understand what Jesus is saying we might also suggest that this thing condemned by Christ this self-righteous attitude this judge mentalism do not indulge in it because you will end up inhale this is something that the people of God need to take to heart we are quick to judge pornography and rightly so but we're not always so quick to judge judgmentalism as I mentioned this morning we condemn the crack dealers and we condemn though the prostitutes but we don't condemn ourselves for what bridges calls saw respectable sins not charles bridge is the author of Proverbs but Jerry bridges who recently passed and went to be with the Lord it's a book called respectable sins the idea behind the book is that within the life of the church there are respectable sins not really but at least theoretically we preach against abortion we preach against sodomy we preach against euthanasia and while we should but our self righteousness or gossip are slander are judgmental is on our sins that don't seem to be so severe their sins that don't seem to be so Grievous to God well Christ on the Mount certainly dealt with this particular scent do not be judgmental do not be fair a circle do not be nitpicky do not be censorious do not be a fault finder do not go against first Corinthians 13 7 and Colossians 3 bear with one another be ready to forgive one another don't always be so quick to pounce upon a person but rather exercise love this is the point of our saviors words in this very passage now note the second place the explanation that he gives prohibition verse 1 judge not that you be not judged secondly the explanation for with what judgment you judge you will be judged and with the measure you use it will be measured back to you the idea being that if we judge persons according to our winds according to our feelings according to our standards according to what we conceive is the best way to operate then we will find ourselves at the bar of God in a very bad situation we will understand what James said I meant when he said judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy mercy triumphs over judgment Christ spoke elsewhere concerning the righteousness of judgment we are to exercise judgment as I hope we've already demonstrated but in John 724 he says do not judge according to appearance but judge with righteous judgment and if somebody flings 71 in your face fling 729 from 24 from John back in there so I'm just kidding you know want to get in a fleeing match but the Christ who prohibits in 71 in Matthew's Gospel is the Christ who defines how we are to judge in John 724 for with what judgment you judge you will be judged and the measure you use it will be measured back to you if you engage in life as a petty person if you engage in life as a merciless person if you engage in life is a fault finding person then you will stand before before the throne of God and have to give an account for such things mercy charity love graciousness kindness gentleness faithfulness self-control the fruits of the spirit those are the sorts of things that ought to characterize our interpersonal relationships certainly in our church has put in our homes brethren isn't this what Solomon spoke to concerning the man who'd rather you know it's better for him to live in the wilderness or better live on his rooftop then with a nagging woman probably that woman was nitpicky probably that woman was fault-finding probably nothing that men ever did was good enough for her that's so wretched and a terrible way to live and Christ condemns it and Christ says don't do it you are Kingdom citizens you have received grace you have received mercy you know what the love of God is all about you are to exercise discernment discrimination judgment all those things but you're supposed to do it in a proper way do not judge according to appearance but judge with righteous judgment and then notice thirdly and finally the illustration that Christ uses the illustration the speck in the plank versus 325 now sometimes people object to humor in preaching I don't think there's a place for telling jokes in the pulpit but i don't think the pulpit ought to be devoid of humor a woman once came to CH spurgeon and said mr. spurgeon in your preaching you say you know many funny things and this was a complaint on her part and he said woman if you knew how much I held back you'd be proud of me you can't read a Spurgeon sermon or a lecture without laughing I mean one of the most excellent things in print dealing with the subject of depression outside of the Bible is Spurgeon's the ministers fainting fits now while it's called The ministers it is applicable to each and every one of us but in that you'll go from you know the hilltop of sadness and and gloom and what are probably the valley and then you're laughing because he just says funny stuff Christ said some funny stuff brethren he wasn't a stuffed shirt he spoke the language of his day now he wasn't vulgar he wasn't godless he wasn't unholy he didn't sin but just think about it you've got this log sticking out of your eye and you're going after to police the speck in your brother's eye that's funny the picture that exceeded suggests is it's like what Jesus does in Matthew 23 they strain out the gnats and they swallow the camel there was a kid had to be standing that it laughed out loud at that particular time they would have texted back then he said something i loled because it was funny think about it he uses these sort of illustrations to highlight the wickedness of this manner of life look at what he says in verse 3 and why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye but do not consider the plank in your own eye he says 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 now this type of fault finding takes effort on the part of the judge I think we have to appreciate this this fellow has got a plank hanging out of his eye and he's going after the spec and his brothers I that takes effort brethren just to navigate that plank so that you don't bang it against a wall and try to find the spec who's got that kind of time the people condemned in this passage fault-finding nitpicky censorious people that always go after the faults of others just back it down listen to Solomon proverbs 4 keep your heart with all diligence for out of its spring the issues of life don't you love the fact that God through Solomon told us to keep our own hearts he didn't tell us to keep everybody else's heart he didn't tell us to be the rcmp of people's hearts in chilliwack he didn't tell us to go knocking on people's doors to look for specs just mind your business mind your ways this type of fault finding is a betrayal of that law of Liberty that James speaks off so speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of Liberty this type of fault finding is a rejection of biblical procedure he got this plank he's got this speck you are not to go after those sorts of things now in some instances and ask Christ continues deal with the plank then go after the spec the remedy of the brother is in view you ought to want to help and to correct but D a Christ is dealing with the procedure that is used deal with your issue get your house in order then you'll be better poised to deal with the plot of the specs and other people's eyes because happiness joy harmony charity love all those things are in view and this type of fault finding is a failure to come to grips with one's own shortcomings failures and sins you do see the the ridiculousness of this I got a you know a log hanging out on my I go over to Donna so you got this spec and you're on what's her first response you log hang it out of your odd isn't it now beware of this I mean that's an issue to somebody comes to correct you reprove you rebuke you in the name of Christ they want to do so lovingly and righteously well you know what what about you you've got all these issues yeah I do have all these issues but insofar as I'm trying I've withdrawn this log so that we can deal with the speck let's not be hyper defensive when people try to correct us praise God if there's people in your life that are honest enough to tell you what's what if you don't have anybody in your life that's honest you don't have a wife or a husband that will actually say you're acting like a fool then you're in trouble brethren we are not at the place where we ought to just float to heaven without any help whatsoever from anybody else the point is procedurally tend to the plank that's in your eye before you go and do spec surgery on your brother John Stott says we have a fatal tendency to exaggerate the faults of others and minimize the gravity of our own in Lewis's screwtape letters he has this letter three screwtape to wormwood aggravate that most useful human characteristic the horror and neglect of the obvious you must bring him to a condition in which he can practice self examination for an hour without discovering any of those facts about himself which are perfectly clear to anyone who has ever lived in the same house with him or worked in the same office let him examine himself for an hour he's not going to be able to discern what everybody around him already sees this type of fault finding may as well be a means of hiding one's own sin remember that planks and specs come from the same place note the indictment that is pronounced here in our tax verse 5 Jesus says hypocrite now this is a word that is used concerning the unbelievers in Matthew's Gospel Matthew 6 25 and 16 but it's not confined to them there are times when the people of God engage in hypocrisy there are times and the people of God swing their planks in an attempt to try and get the specs out of the eyes of others Spurgeon says Jesus is gentle but he calls that man a hypocrite who fusses about small things and others and pays no attention to great matters at home in his own person and the note finally with reference to this illustration he gives an exhortation in verse 5 first removed the plank from your own eye and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eyes now there's two ways we can go here that mean we have to be devoid of any sin whatsoever I'm a plank less man so I'm coming after your spec now that's probably not what's in view what's in view is the thing condemned in this very passage lloyd-jones explains it this way if you do really if you really do want to help others and again that's the end view it's all good that a brother has a speck in his eye and you don't know what that's like you get something in your eye it's quite irritating it isn't it it's nice to get that speck out well spiritually speaking you got a speck in your life it's nice to rid yourself of it it's nice to have a brother who comes along and helps you you and your wife your husband might you know put their finger on your eye and pull out the shard or the whatever that's in it it's good to have that assistance the end game in view is to help your brethren but there's a proper procedure in helping your brethren lloyd-jones says if you really do want to help others and to help to rid them of these blemishes and faults and frailties and imperfections first of all realize that your spirit and your whole attitude has been wrong if you are doing what this passage condemns if your fault finding if you're nitpicky if you're patty if you're censorious the first method of spec removal is to realize that you've been wrong in the way you've gone about it deal with the d plank yourself and then you can help him he says this spirit of judging and hyper criticism and since aureus pneus that is in you is really like a bean contrasted with the little moat and the other person's I France comments while it is possible that the critic here is to be understood as aware of his own failings but concealing them it is more likely that he has criticized for failing to apply the same standards to himself that he applies to others and thus being unaware of the inconsistency of his behavior so brethren the reality is is that in our interpersonal relationships people are going to sin against us people are going to do things against us that are wrong or inaccurate or unkind or untoward they might not do something against us but they do something against God and we because we love them want to go to that we need to check our spirits we need to guard our hearts and we need to imbibe the ethic of the kingdom and we need to do so in a manner that is consistent with the law of God most high we do not judge according to appearance but we judge with righteous judgment we do not judge devoid of love and kindness and gentleness and and all those things that are evidenced by the people of God throughout history we are to imbibe the ethic that Jesus and joins upon us in this particular passage in conclusion the first place the manifestation of this particular scent we've already covered this pettiness pettiness there's a sense brethren we can't fix the world case you haven't realized that you cannot fix the world if you know I'm getting to the point where people aren't actually assaulting me I'm okay with that maybe I'm lowering the bar to some degree but if they're not hurting me and you know putting knives in me that then I'm okay with that alright it's a pettiness that oftentimes settles upon the hearts of God's people we're not the police we're not God's police we gotta leave room for the Holy Spirit of God and again brethren I'm not saying we don't go to brethren we do go to brethren we go in the way that Jesus by suffice but pettiness as well fault-finding it's tough to live under that kind of regime that everything you do is wrong again I got to think that man who'd rather live on the rooftop read rather live in the wilderness as a wife that's condemned by this particular tax then it can be husbands to that are this way to their wives as well being hyper critical hyper critical the Steve mentioned this morning it's easier to complain about political leaders than it is to pray for political leaders yep guilty right here I need that admonition all the time I need that reminder all the time I need first Timothy too you know on my forehead pray for kings and those who are an authority because it's easy to complain they give us lots of reasons to make it easy to complain to be sure but that doesn't get us off the hook but this hyper critical attitude or an excessive eagerness you know when you have to deal with somebody who's in sin there's an excessive eagerness that's not really good person who's going to deal with sin effectively in the life of somebody else praise about it they agonize about it it's tough to go and say brother you got a speck in your eye and I want to try to help you help you get it out if you're you know running to him to grab stock just back it down excessive eagerness is not a good thing curiosity peevishness these are some of the words suggested by John Calvin as well we ought to appreciate the gravity of this particular scent in a certain sense it is an arrogant assertion of our authority over others I don't mean that in some charismatic Pentecostal spiritual authority thing I just mean we assume the role of lawgiver and we stand in judgment over brethren that's not a good place to be as well it is certainly an expression of self-righteousness I mean going back to the illustration if my plank is about to hit Don in the head when I go after her back she's going to say well what about the plank in your hi my self righteousness is such that it clouds my vision I don't even see it all I see are specs and I'm on a mission I'm SEAL Team six when it comes to specs doesn't matter i got a log hanging out of my eye it is a demonstration of a lack of charity and it is a practical denial of the doctrine of remaining corruption at least to the reality of remaining corruption in our own hearts and lives if you recognize that every one of God's people has remaining corruption except you you've got big problems you've got remaining corruption like the rest of us thirdly the prevention of judgmentalism now I didn't ask for these this is my list and how I've mastered judgment no no no but just musing upon reflecting upon certain scriptures i think these can at least be helpful certainly not an exhaustive list in the first place seek the gracious influence of the Holy Spirit in your life I mean shouldn't that be where a God God's people start with every sin with every issue with every problem with every trial we ought to seat the gracious influence of the Holy Spirit God I want to be faithful to my wife I want to be faithful to my husband I want to be faithful in my church and I want to deal with people righteously I need the spirit because apart from the spirit I just make a mess of things apart from the wisdom of God on from on high I just ruin things and I don't want to do that secondly seek to apply biblical law in all Matt to all matters of judgment an amazing thing again we see the law of God violate an abortion we all condemn with reference to the six commander we see the law of God violated with reference to homosexuality Sam come in but we don't see this violation of the law of God when it comes to our own practice you've probably heard me say many many times and if it's becoming ad nauseam I'm sorry I don't know how else to say it but proverbs 18 is absolutely crucial there are two passages and proverbs 18 that every Christian ought to commit to memory who answers a matter before he hears it's sin or shame and folly to him do we ever do that we hear one side of a store and we would just flip out before we've heard the matter before we've heard the situation before we we understand the facts of the case imagine going to court and your your prosecutor you're the defendant and the prosecutor comes and sets forth this case the judge slams down the hammer and says that's it we've heard enough wait a minute what about my defense what about the other side and you know how many times as Christians do we get one side of a story and we jump we run we fly the judgment proverbs 18 17 the first to plead his cause seems right until his neighbor comes in examines him I know that was you that robbed that Bank I'm alibi'd man I was in Hawaii on vacation oh you just never know this in it a scenario until you hear both sides how many times our church is destroyed not by a denial of the deity of Christ though they can't be destroyed by that not by a denial of justification by faith but because of gossip because of slander because of things that arise and then persons give ear to one side of the story and it causes a rift and it ruptures and it splits the people of God we need to pursue humility and kill pride a judgmental attitude is descriptive or demonstrative rather of pride of arrogance who are you to stand in judgment over other persons according to your whims according to your feelings according to what you think we need to judge with righteous judgment according to God's law we need to understand the biblical doctrine of sin and how it is true of us remaining corruption I know we ought to know we ought to be able to say I know it's in me to make a false assessment I know it's in me to be wrong this right am I making sense if you think that you're never wrong or you're always right you got bigger problems than this passage addresses Spurgeon said instead of beholding with gratified gaze the small fault of another we should act reasonably if we penitently considered the greater fault of ourselves so that's understanding the doctrine of remaining corruption in us but remember the doctrine of remaining corruption in others do we expect too much out of people now we ought to expect perfect exact entire and perpetual obedience to the law that's really what we ought to expect because that's what God commands it's never been relaxed it's never been reneged it's never been pulled back so on the one hand we should expect that but when we're dealing with blood-bought children of God and we know their weaknesses and we know their remaining corruptions i'm not saying excuse their sins I'm not saying pretend they don't sin but I am it I am saying exercise charity compassion love kindness you can rebuke someone and then hug them you can rebuke someone and then go have coffee with them you ought to be able to do this this is what greases the wheels of the kingdom of God of kindness gentleness graciousness love to one another we ought to value a steam and love our brethren do you realize to one another we ought not to be judges and hypocrites we ought to be brethren this is absolutely crucial and then interestingly enough the final observation in terms of prevention is found in our passage that golden rule in 712 therefore whatever you want men to do to you do also to them for this is the law and the prophets right imagine if 7 12 was actually in practice in our homes in our churches in society imagine if people actually looked out for the well-being of others I mean it's a very simple rule whatever you want men to do to you do also to them you don't want them to swing their planks and to hit you in the side of the head while they fetch the speck out of your eye well don't do that to them you want them to deal with you in kindness with charity would love with with with graciousness then that's what you ought to do with them you see it's a very simple rule but it does require great grace and it requires the presence of the Holy Spirit in the lives of God's people and certainly finally the way by which we get these things under control is that the cross we don't get them under control at the cross God gets it under control by means of the cross in other words what's the Beth de Basque death knell to self righteousness in the heart of the person it's the cross it's the crucified Savior it's the Lord of glory it's the gospel we understand the gospel if by the grace of God we believe the gospel if we have come to Christ we have the ability we have the the empowerment by the spirit to actually follow what God's Word says and if you are not a believer here tonight the only means by which self-righteousness will ever ever vanish in your life is through the cross you need Christ you need is righteousness you need that forgiveness you are in sin and in rebellion against God Almighty pettiness and fault-finding and nitpicking and censorious pneus might not be your issues particularly but if we look at that law of God idolatry or blasphemy or insubordination to Authority or Sabbath breaking or murder adultery or theft or lying or or covetousness those things will find you out the only remedy and the only hope for salvation is through Jesus Christ the Lord belief and by God's grace you will be saved well let us pray our Father we thank you for your word and we thank you that Christ does address such things in this sermon on the mount and I pray that we'd have ears to hear and heart to receive and that the Word of God would have a positive effect not only in our lives as individuals but in our families and in our church help us as the people of God here to endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace keep us from these sorts of things that evidence a carnal heart rather than a spiritual heart give us grace God to put into practice these things so that we may honor you that we may glorify you and that we may legitimately show love for our brothers & our sisters we have been saved to love God we have been saved to love one another help us to do this we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord amen well why don't we stand and sing the doxology it can be found on page Roman numeral 16 [Music] Oh [Music] the Lord bless you and keep you the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace you