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Turn back in your Bible to Matthew 
chapter seven. Matthew seven, I'll read verses 
one to five. 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. 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, the 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. Amen. Well, let us pray. 
Father, thank you for this, your word. We thank you for this. 
passage of Scripture, we know it speaks to each one of us, 
and we pray that you would guide us tonight in our study, that 
you would help us, God, to learn a good way to prevent this attitude 
from taking root in our hearts. Dispel it if it is there. We 
just pray, God in heaven, that you would be glorified in the 
conduct of your saints in this church. We just ask that you 
would give us grace, not only in the church, but in our homes 
as individuals, those with whom we come into contact. May we 
truly demonstrate the ethic of this passage. And we pray these 
things in the name and for the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Well, this morning we looked 
at verses 1 to 5. We noticed the prohibition against 
judgmentalism. Jesus is not making a universal 
statement banning all judgment. In other words, he is not saying 
we are to never judge. In the very passage before us, 
in verse 6, we are to judge. We are to determine who is a 
dog and who is a pig, and we're not to put holy things before 
that. Chapter 7, verse 15, Jesus says, 
we are to beware of false prophets. Matthew chapter 18, the church 
is to exercise judgment and discernment with reference to matters of 
church discipline. As well, we see the emphasis 
on civil disputes in 1 Corinthians 6. Church people are to handle 
it in-house. But if we are dealing with non-church 
people and we are called before the law courts, that is another 
area where judgment must be rendered. So Jesus is not banning all judgment, 
but rather what he is banning here is that petty, fault-finding, 
critical spirit that doesn't acknowledge the reality of a 
beam in its own eye while looking at the speck of sawdust in someone 
else's eye. So Jesus makes the prohibition 
in verse 1, judge not. He gives the reason for that 
at the end of verse 1, that you be not judged. And what's in 
view there is not that they don't treat you in a good way, but 
rather that you do not be judged by God himself, whether temporally 
in this world or with reference to reward in the world to come. He explains, or he elaborates 
in verse 2, for with what judgment you judge, you will be judged, 
and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. 
In other words, if you reject the law of liberty and you judge 
people according to appearance, then God will bring chastisement 
upon your own head. And then he gives this wonderful 
illustration in verses 3 to 5. That log hanging out of the eye 
of the one man while he busies himself to try and get the speck 
of sawdust out of someone else's eye. Jesus says, why do you do 
this? Why do you engage in such a practice? 
How can you say to your brother, let me remove the speck from 
your eye? And look, a plank is in your 
own eye. Jesus uses the term hypocrite. Remember that in chapter 
6, at the very beginning, when He is teaching us about our religious 
observance, He is showing or He is saying that we are to not 
be like the hypocrites. There, they are unbelievers, 
obviously. It is unfortunate, though, that 
hypocrisy isn't confined simply to unbelievers. Believers can 
manifest a hypocritical spirit vis-à-vis when they engage in 
the sort of a mindset that Jesus is condemning in this particular 
passage. He says, hypocrite, first remove 
the plank from your own eye and then you will see clearly to 
remove the speck from your brother's eye. We made a couple of lines 
of application. We saw the manifestation. Again, 
it's pettiness, fault-finding, hypercritical, excessive eagerness 
about someone else's faults, a curiosity, and Calvin as well 
says, a peevishness with reference to the sins of others. The gravity 
of this particular sin. It is an arrogant assertion of 
authority. Romans chapter 14 in verse four, 
Paul says, Who are you to judge another servant to his own master? He stands or falls. Indeed, he 
will be made to stand for God is able to make him stand. And 
then later on in verse 10, he says, But why do you judge your 
brother? Again, he's not speaking about 
a matter of confirmed sin. This is a matter of preference, 
whether we eat things or whether we don't eat things. Both positions 
are lawful. Both positions are riddled with 
trial and difficulty. The man who thinks he has the 
prerogative to eat meat looks down in judgment and says that 
the one who doesn't eat is a weak brother. But the weaker brother 
who does not eat stands in judgment of the other one and says that 
what he is doing is wrong. It's not the emphasis of the 
passage to say this is right in terms of whether you eat. 
What Paul is addressing is the reality that in matters of preference, 
two different people may come at something two different ways. 
It's not a matter of biblical law. You are not to judge your 
brother. But why do you judge your brother, 
or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all 
stand before the judgment seat of Christ. And then in James 
chapter 4, again an arrogant assertion of authority over another 
person. James chapter 4 verse 11, Do 
not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil 
of a brother and judges his brother speaks evil of the law and judges 
the law. But if you judge the law, you 
are not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one lawgiver 
who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another? So when we engage in this particular 
sin, there is an arrogant assertion of authority over others. As 
well, it is an expression of self-righteousness. We look at 
people's specks, neglecting our beans. What we are asserting 
is that we are righteous. We are holy. We are godly. We are in a posture, in a position 
to be able to speak to ethical matters and make pronouncements 
and judgments. Not because we are righteous 
in Christ, but because somehow we're better than the poor slob 
who has the speck in his eye. And then the third area is that 
it's an obvious lack of charity. It is an obvious lack of love 
with reference to the brother and sister in Jesus Christ. So I mentioned this morning, 
tonight, we take up the prevention of judgmentalism. This is application. This is not the corner. on the 
market. When I say the prevention of 
judgmentalism, it's simply to balance out sermon titles. There's 
other things you could add to this list. There's things obviously 
you could take away. These are some suggestive helps 
for us as the people of God to try and resist the tendency toward 
this sin. Certain basic biblical Christian 
responsibilities and duties so that by God's grace, Putting 
these things into practice, we will not engage in the sort of 
thing condemned here by our Lord Jesus Christ. I have seven of 
them. The first is this. We are to 
seek the gracious influence of the Holy Spirit. Now, if you 
are looking for an encounter group tonight, you are looking 
for a way to deal with your el guapo of whatever your problem 
is with reference to how you treat people, You need the spirit. Sometimes we can just kind of 
run roughshod over things that are so biblically common. We 
are not in the business of having encounter groups. We don't beat 
up pillows to deal with our transgression. We don't need therapy in the 
sense of how to deal with my brother and sister. We need the 
Holy Spirit from on high. When we have the Holy Spirit, 
richly dwelling in us. Now, I'm supposing that we are 
Christians. We have that deposit. We have 
the Spirit as seal and guarantee. What I'm speaking of is that 
Ephesians 5 in dwelling, where Paul says, do not be drunk with 
wine, in which is dissipation, but rather be filled with the 
Spirit. He is talking to Christians, 
Christians who have been chosen by God, according to Ephesians 
1. Christians who have been redeemed by the blood of Christ, according 
to Ephesians 1. Christians who have received 
the Holy Spirit as a seal and guarantee of their final redemption, 
according to chapter 1, verses 13 and 14. He gets to chapter 
5 and he tells them, do not be drunk with wine in which is dissipation, 
but rather be filled to overflowing with the Holy Spirit. as intoxicating 
beverages overtakes a man and absolutely and thoroughly influences 
him, so you ought to pursue the filling of the Holy Spirit. Not 
so you're staggering, not so you're bumbling and mumbling, 
but rather that the Spirit of God is so in you that you are 
able to engage in the Christian life in a manner that is consistent 
with God's Word. Notice in Ephesians 5. Ephesians 
5 already mentioned the command, Do not be drunk with wine, in 
which is dissipation, be filled with the Spirit. He then says, 
verse 19, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual 
songs. You see, it's very difficult 
for us to judge in a hypercritical, very difficult for us to judge 
in a petty and in a fault-finding and censorious manner when we 
are filled with the Spirit and we are speaking to one another 
in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. We are singing and making 
melody in your heart to the Lord. We are giving thanks always for 
all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. And then verse 21, submitting to one another in the fear of 
God. You see, it is completely contrary to what Jesus is speaking 
about in Matthew chapter seven. You are not judging your brother 
in a godless manner when you are filled with the spirit and 
living in this particular manner toward him or her. So instead 
of just saying, well, you know, we need we know we ought to seek 
the gracious influence of the Holy Spirit. We really do. We 
really need to pursue that. We really need to ask and seek 
and knock that God the Lord would send the Spirit in a powerful 
measure so that we can live our lives in a manner that is consistent 
with God's Holy Word. Galatians chapter 5, the Apostle 
Paul speaking to this very issue, he says in Galatians 5.22, But 
the fruit of the Spirit is love. You see, one of the key components 
missing from that judgmental spirit of Matthew 7, 1 is love. Jesus is not against a brother 
helping another brother getting the speck out of his eye. In 
fact, that's the end or goal in chapter 7, verse 5. But Jesus is against the attitude, 
the critical nature, The hypocritical nature of the man seeking to 
do this, not out of love, but rather out of joy, happiness, 
and a desire to expose his brother. But the fruit of the Spirit is 
love, is joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 
gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law, 
and those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its 
passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let 
us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, 
provoking one another, envying one another. Certainly, to judge 
in an ungodly manner provokes one another. So you see, it is 
absolutely crucial that we be filled with the Spirit if we 
are to prevent this censorious attitude that Jesus condemns 
in Matthew chapter 7 at verse 1. Secondly, number two, we are 
to seek to apply biblical law to all matters of judgment. How 
does the Spirit lead us? Contrary to much evangelical 
thought, the Spirit leads us according to, get this, his law. The Spirit governs, guides, and 
directs us, not based on our feelings, not based on our preferences, 
not based on our desires, but based on the written Word of 
the living and true God. The Spirit does not guide His 
people in an esoteric, existential, experiential, emotional manner, 
but He guides them by that blessed standard of God's holy law. Our confession of faith in chapter 
19, paragraph 6, it says, although true believers are not under 
the law as a covenant of works to be thereby justified or condemned, 
yet the law is of great use to them as well as to others in 
that as a rule of life informing them of the will of God and their 
duty, it directs and binds them to walk accordingly. How do we 
know a man is filled with the Spirit? He obeys God's law. How do we know a man is walking 
in the Spirit? We can quantify it. We can qualify 
it. We can see it because he's obedient 
to the will and the Word of Jesus Christ our Lord. Francis Turretin 
said this, Before it, the law, was an instrument of the spirit 
of bondage. Speaking about before conversion, 
before salvation, he says, before the law was an instrument of 
the spirit of bondage to throw down and bruise man. But afterwards, it becomes the 
instrument of the spirit of adoption to promote sanctification. Thus, the law leads to Christ 
and Christ leads back to the law. It leads to Christ as the 
Redeemer, and Christ leads to the law as the leader and director 
of life. So if you want to guard against 
Matthew 7.1 in your own heart and in your own life, Pray that 
God, the Holy Spirit, would so influence you, would so fill 
you, would so move you, that you would be obedient to God's 
holy law. Remember Jesus. I quoted this 
morning in John 7, 24. He says, Do not judge according 
to appearance, but rather judge righteous judgment. Well, what's 
righteous judgment? It is to the law and the testimony 
that we appeal. Back in Leviticus chapter 19. 
You can turn there. to see how the law speaks to 
our interpersonal social relationships or relationships with others. Leviticus chapter 19 comes up 
a lot in the New Testament. We oftentimes hear it repeated 
over and over again. You shall love your neighbor 
as yourself. I am the Lord. That's what Leviticus 
19 verse 18 says. But prior to that, there are 
concrete expressions of how we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. Don't you love that about the 
Bible? It doesn't just say, do this. 
It shows you how it looks when it's being done. The Spirit doesn't 
just lead you in some nebulous way. The Spirit leads you according 
to the written word of the living and true God. Notice back in 
Leviticus 19, 9. When you reap the harvest of 
your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, 
nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest, and you shall 
not glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather every grape 
of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the 
poor and the stranger. I am the Lord, your God. What 
is that but to love with our possessions, isn't it? But don't 
hoard everything you have. Don't grab every apple, every 
grain, every fruit, every fig, every grape and bring it and 
leave some of it for the poor among you. That's what it means 
to love your neighbor as yourself. Notice in verse eleven, you shall 
not steal. Here comes nor deal falsely, 
nor lie to one another. And you shall not swear by my 
name falsely, nor shall you profane the name of your God. I am the 
Lord. You are to love with your words. You are to tell the truth. You 
see, biblical law speaks to all of these areas. Notice the next 
section in verse 13. You shall not cheat your neighbor, 
nor rob him. The wages of him who is hired 
shall not remain with you all night until morning. You shall 
not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind, but shall 
fear your God. I am the Lord. Do not take advantage 
of weak people. Do not make mockery of weak people. Do not exploit the weak, but 
rather love them. You see, biblical law is concretely 
expressed in the way that we deal with one another. Verse 
15, you shall do no injustice in judgment. You shall not be 
partial to the poor nor honor the person of the mighty. In 
righteousness, you shall judge your neighbor. You shall not 
go about as a tailbearer among your people, nor shall you take 
a stand against the life of your neighbor. I am the Lord. Now, 
this speaks specifically to Matthew chapter 7 and verse 1. What is 
involved in this judge not attitude? It is being false. It is being 
wrong. It is being unjust. It is showing 
partiality. It is tipping the scales. It 
involves tail bearing. It involves taking a stand against 
the life of your neighbor. You see, the Spirit guides us 
by His law. So as Christians, we value the 
presence and the power and the filling of the Spirit, but not 
to the neglect of God's Holy Word. We see that they work hand 
in hand. We need both elements, both aspects. And then verse 17 summarizes, 
You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely 
rebuke your neighbor and not bear sin because of him. You 
shall not take vengeance nor bear any grudge against the children 
of your people. But you shall love your neighbor 
as yourself. I am the Lord. We are to seek 
to apply biblical law in all matters of judgment. I alluded 
to Proverbs 18 this morning, a couple of passages. I am convinced 
that the church had it in their minds and actually did what they 
said. We can avoid so many problems, 
so many problems. Not just churches, families. 
If families operated according to these two verses in Proverbs 
chapter 18, they'd be happy places. Proverbs 18, verse 13. He who answers a matter before 
he hears it, it is folly and shame to him. He who answers 
a matter before he hears it, it is folly and shame to him. goes right along with Matthew 
chapter 7. How many times have you heard 
that much of a news story, and as judge and jury, you've condemned 
someone? How many times have you heard 
just a partial amount of someone's circumstance or situation? You've 
got it all figured out. You've got it all worked out. 
You know why they were guilty. You know the motives behind them. 
You know everything. And then, lo and behold, a piece 
of data comes along and you say, wait a minute, I was completely 
wrong. Does it ever enter into our minds 
that we could be completely wrong? It really does need to. It really 
needs to be the case that we are patient. Back in Proverbs 
10, Solomon says, the heart of the righteous studies how to 
answer, but the mouth of the wicked pours forth evil. There's 
nothing wrong with waiting until you hear the data, with waiting 
until you hear the material, to give a verdict. In fact, it's 
not only nothing wrong with it, that is the biblical mandate. And then in chapter 18, verse 
17, the first one, to plead his cause seems right until his neighbor 
comes and examines him. You hear one side of the story, 
brother so-and-so comes to you and tells you what brother whoever 
did to him. And all of a sudden, you're appalled, 
and you now hate brother whoever just the way brother so-and-so 
does. And then you talk to brother whoever, and there's a whole 
different story that he puts on it. You know what the responsible 
thing to do at that point is? Repent. Forgive me. I responded 
rashly. The first to plead his cause 
seemed right until his neighbor came and examined him. Brethren, 
it is this sort of a thing that destroys relationships. It is 
this sort of a thing where we no longer have relationship at 
all. We need to deal biblically. We need to deal lawfully. We 
need to deal righteously with reference to the people of God 
most high. We need to understand the difference 
between a preference and biblical law. Again, Romans 14 is a classic 
example of that particular principle. Do not elevate your preferences 
to the status of biblical law. God commands someone to do something 
or he forbids them to do something. It is written. I can't command 
you to do something that I prefer. I would prefer to sing more songs. 
I would prefer to sing lots of songs. It's a preference. You can't force that on everybody. 
That's probably not the best illustration. I prefer steak. I prefer meat. You may think 
there's something wrong with that, morally, ethically wrong. 
No, there isn't. 1 Timothy chapter 4 tells us 
that no creature given by God is to be rejected if it is received 
with thanksgiving. It is sanctified by prayer. There's 
nothing wrong with eating a big fat steak. But if somebody thinks 
there is morally something wrong with that, to the law and to 
the testimony. You see, those matters of preference 
ought not to ruin relationship. You might want to do something 
this way. He might want to do something that way. If there's 
not a violation of biblical law in either one, they're both OK. 
This whole doctrine of Christian liberty, I think, freaks people 
out. God doesn't micromanage every aspect and every element 
of our life. In fact, if you look at our confession 
of faith, One of the chapters that received great emphasis 
was the doctrine of liberty, not liberty so that we could 
go out and do this or liberty to go out and do that, but liberty 
so that we're free against the encroachments and against the 
twisting by ecclesiastical institutions or by civil authority. God has 
given his creatures a measure of liberty, and we are not in 
the position to take those things away from them. So, seek to apply 
biblical law to all matters of judgment. Now, the final ones, 
the last four, flow from this. You study the Bible, you study 
the law by the power of the Holy Spirit. These are some things 
we ought to be inculcating in our desire to prevent this attitude 
of a censorious spirit envisioned here in Matthew 7.1. The third thing, we need to pursue 
humility and kill pride. Right? Everybody with me? Everybody 
kind of feels a bit tired tonight. Wake up. We need to pursue humility. And we need to kill pride. Pride 
is terrible. Pride is horrible. Pride is God's 
enemy. God opposes the proud. And you know what's amazing? 
We are such that we are proud of our piety. We're proud of 
our accomplishment. We're proud of just about anything 
and everything. God is the sworn enemy of pride. 1 Peter chapter 5 highlights 
this very vividly. 5.5 says, Likewise, you younger 
people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you 
be submissive to one another and be clothed with humility. Interesting word that Peter uses. Now, I can't jump into the mind 
of an apostle, but Peter was present and in the upper room 
when Jesus girded himself or clothed himself with a towel, 
took a basin of water and stooped down and washed the feet of the 
disciples. Peter's using the same imagery 
here. Peter's using the same language, 
the same terminology. Be clothed with humility. If that's true, that he has the 
upper room in his mind, what is his pattern or his paradigm 
or his example for humility? It is Christ the Lord, the God 
of absolute sovereignty, the God praised by the cherubim, 
the God praised by the seraphim. The God who is from everlasting 
to everlasting, the God who in the fullness of the time came 
forth, born of a woman, born under the law. That God takes 
a towel, girds it about his waist, bows down to the feet of disciples 
who are sinful, and he washes them. You see how wicked pride is? 
You see how wretched it is when we are boastful and arrogant 
and, you know, we're just so full of ourselves. And, you know, 
when we talk to people, it's just a monologue. No exchange. There's no, you know, back and 
forth. It's just you got to hear what I got to say, because I'm 
the most important person on the face of the earth. Just listen 
to me. Maybe you all don't do that ever. 
Praise God, good for you. Some people live that way, though. 
You ever get that vibe, people really don't want to hear what 
you have to say, that they just want you to hear what they have 
to say. What is that? It's pride. It's selfishness, 
arrogance. It's a spirit of superiority. 
Judge not, Jesus says. We need to pursue humility. We 
need to kill pride. Yes, all of you be submissive 
notice to one another. And be clothed with humility, 
for God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Therefore, 
humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt 
you in due time, casting all your care upon him, for he cares 
for you. Be sober, be vigilant, because 
your adversary, the devil, walks about like a roaring lion, seeking 
whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the 
faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by 
your brotherhood in the world. But may the God of all grace, 
who called us to his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after 
you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle 
you, to him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. All of you be submissive to one 
another and be clothed with humility. That is absolutely crucial if 
we should prevent that censorious spirit that Jesus condemns in 
Matthew chapter 7 verse 1. We are to pursue humility. We 
are to kill pride. A fourth prevention or a preventative 
method is understand the biblical doctrine of sin and how it is 
true of you. Understand the biblical doctrine 
of sin and how it is true of you. Most of the people I spoke 
to after the sermon this morning said that was convicted. Not 
because I preached it, it's the word, seven, five, one to five. 
How can you read that as a Christian and not be convicted? I mean, 
really? The person who wasn't convicted, 
the person who says, oh, I don't struggle at all. I don't have 
any problem with Matthew seven, one to five. I'm not challenging 
you, but I am asking you, have you considered the totality of 
God's Holy Word? Have you considered the prophet 
Isaiah, who said, All our righteousnesses are like filthy rags before your 
sight? Have you considered that you 
are a sinner? Have you considered that as a 
Christian, you remain a sinner? It would be wonderful if the 
moment we believed the gospel, we were wafted up into heaven, 
we were seated down at the marriage supper of the Lamb, and we never 
had to live in this world with remaining corruption. But that 
doesn't happen. It's going to happen to one man 
someday. You ever realize that? The last 
guy to get converted. Right? Isn't this what Peter 
says in 2 Peter chapter 3? He's talking about the mockers 
who scoff, and the mockers and scorners who call into question 
the coming of the Lord. What does Peter say? Consider 
the longsuffering of our Lord. The fact that he has not returned. 
Consider the longsuffering of our Lord to be salvation. But 
when that final elect sinner believes the gospel, that's it. 
The age is consummated. Jesus will waft him up into heaven. 
That's a happy brother right there. I've often thought about 
that guy. Or it could be a girl. Put a 
blessing, believe the gospel, go right to heaven. Of course, 
you could believe the gospel, get run over by a truck, in which 
case you don't have to deal with the Monday morning, whatever, 
the Tuesday and Wednesday deal where you're struggling with 
remaining corruption and all that. For the most of us, we 
will have remaining corruption in this world. You have to understand 
that. You are not immune to this spirit. 
You are not immune to a hypercritical nature. Now, it may be more It 
may be more defined in some of us other people, but you're not 
immune to it. It's a reality. It is something 
that affects the church. Why in the world would Jesus 
in the greatest sermon of all time deal with this if it was 
not a potential problem? Why would he use that grammatical 
construction which indicates you are to stop doing it? which assumes that they were 
engaging in it. This is something you and I need 
to desperately understand, that the flesh lusts against the spirit 
and the spirit lusts against the flesh. These are contrary 
to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. Understanding our proneness. Understanding our vulnerability, 
understanding our tendency goes a long way to promoting prevention. In other words, when I see that 
this back half of my property is vulnerable to attack, I am 
more inclined to go out there and to strengthen it and to fortify 
it. The man who's puffed up with 
pride, who says, I don't have this tendency. I don't have this 
temptation. It's not a part of my life to 
be censorious, to be hypercritical, to be petty, or to be a fault 
finder. He is going to be vulnerable 
in that very place. He thinks he's not. So you see, 
it's very important for us, not just in this particular battle, 
but in every battle that we face against sin, is to realize the 
biblical doctrine of sin about ourselves. We are not what we 
think we are most of the time. Spurgeon said, instead of beholding 
with gratified gaze the small fault of another, we should act 
reasonably if we penitently consider the greater fault of ourselves. Instead of beholding with gratified 
gaze That's something you find in these old writers that I think 
Jesus has in mind. Remember, Calvin refers to it 
as being tickled with it, having a curiosity. Virgin speaks of 
a gratified gaze, seeing someone else's folly, seeing someone 
else's sin, instead of agonizing for them, instead of weeping 
with them, instead of entering in with them, instead of saying, 
let's pray and fast together, instead of saying, let's sing 
songs together, let's read scripture together. There's this gratified 
gaze at their condition. He says, instead of beholding 
with gratified gaze the small fault of another, we should act 
reasonably if we penitently considered the greater fault of ourselves. 
The fifth is just like this. I mentioned it this morning. 
We need to understand the biblical doctrine of sin and how it is 
true of others as well. It's true of others. You know, 
the same struggles that you have. Can I just fill you in on something? 
Your brethren struggle that way too. Right? Well, why do we expect 
everybody to be, you know, perfect when they deal with us? And yet, we're the first ones 
to say, but I'm not perfect. How come you don't understand 
why I messed up with you? Right, you're not perfect either. Brethren, people are going to 
let you down. People that you love the most. And it's unfortunate, 
within the closest, most intimate circles, that's who we tend to 
let down the most. Oftentimes we're much more respectful 
to people far removed from us than we are to those within our 
own household. Jesus said, a prophet is without 
honor in his own house. There's something about that 
familiarity. There's something about that 
intimacy. There's something about that closeness where and we actually 
begin to think it's okay to sin against. I mean, husbands, who 
have you sinned against the most in your life? Except for the 
newlyweds sitting there with his arm around his bride. Who 
have you sent against them up? Probably your wife. Wives, who 
have you sent against them up? Probably your husbands. Children, 
who do you think is sinned against them? It's that close, intimate 
circle. But the point that I want us 
to understand is that when Paul says Galatians 517 is true of 
us, the flesh lusts against the spirit, the spirit lusts against 
the flesh. These two are contrary to one another so that you do 
not do the things you wish. That is true in my heart. It's 
also true in your heart. And hopefully I can empathize. Hopefully I can sympathize. Hopefully 
I can understand why in the world you would sin against me. Do not be shocked when people 
sit against you. It's going to happen. I don't 
know where people live sometimes. I can't believe it. Why can't 
you believe this? How often do you sit against 
people? How often have you said these 
things? Solomon says this. Do not take to heart everything 
people say against you. What is his reason? You know 
in your own heart, you too have cursed the king. Right? Don't be shocked in a sinful 
world when people sin against you. That's again, I mean, a 
few things we should have in our mind. We're not God. We sin. People sin. And that's just the 
way it is. Right? If we get those lessons 
down, we'll be happy. We'll be healthy. We'll be holy. And we'll be joyful. Lo and behold, 
tomorrow morning, someone's going to irritate someone else, and 
you're going, I can't believe you're doing it against me. Why? Why can't you believe that? Especially 
as a Calvinist. Especially as someone who is 
reformed. Especially as someone who can 
start in Genesis chapter 2 and 3, and develop the doctrine of 
depravity all throughout the Scriptures. That knows the proof 
texts in Genesis 6. that knows the proof text in 
Genesis 8, that knows the proof text in the prophet Jeremiah. You know, can the Ethiopian change 
his skin or the leopard change its spots? How then can you, 
who are accustomed to doing evil, change? You know, we know those 
texts. We understand those texts. We 
affirm those texts. And lo and behold, someone sins 
against us and we are just, wow, how could you do that? It's because 
I'm what you know in those texts. I think this will go a long way 
to help us to guard against this censorious spirit. We expect 
way too much perfection from others while allowing for such 
imperfection in ourselves. It's the whole speck and plank 
thing. How dare you manifest that speck toward me. Years and years ago, my wife 
used to say, you're swinging a log. That meant, you know, 
and usually it was applied to me. I guess it could have been 
applied to the children. I just remember the times it 
was applied to me. That meant you got a log hanging out of 
your eye and you're swinging it as you're going after the 
specks in the home. I mean, it's an outlandish example, 
isn't it? Jesus wants you to think that 
way. It is crazy, ridiculous and strange to have a pole hanging 
out of your eye and you wanting to do surgery on someone else's 
speck. Understand the doctrine of sin, 
how it is true of you. Understand the doctrine of sin, 
how it is true of others. Sixthly, this should go without 
saying, value, esteem, and love your brethren. Value, esteem, 
and love your brethren. If you are lacking, if you are 
struggling, Pray to God the Lord by His Spirit, through His Word, 
to affect you in such a way that you would value, esteem, and 
love your brethren. Understand 1 Corinthians 13, 
1-7. Understand Galatians 6, verse 
1. Understand 1 Peter 4, 8. 1 Peter 
4, 8 is one of those other texts that if we had it in our mind, 
it would probably deal with a lot of the issues that we have. What 
does Peter say? He says, love covers a multitude 
of sins. You have love, you can bear with 
one another, you can forbear with one another and you can 
forgive one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. In 
our passage in Matthew 7, Jesus says, do not be a judge. He says, 
do not be a hypocrite, but rather be a brother. Be one who loves, 
be one who values, be one who esteems, be one who cares for, 
be one who is like the Lord Jesus Christ. And then seventhly and 
finally, continually look to Christ and his gospel. The Christian 
life is about Jesus. The Christian life is about Christ. We are not moralists, we are 
not seeking to just eat out an existence that's a little bit 
better than the rest of the world around us. Paul sets forth this 
ethic as we close in Philippians chapter 2. Therefore, if there 
is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any 
fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill 
my joy by being like-minded. having the same love, being of 
one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish 
ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others 
better than himself. Let each of you look out not 
only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others." 
You see, if we're actually applying those verses, we're not judging 
one another. We're not hypocritical to one another. We're not fault 
finding with one another. And we're certainly not petty 
toward one another. How in the world could those 
things be true of someone who is esteeming others better than 
himself? How could it be true if we are 
looking out not only for our own interests, but also for the 
interests of others? And then notice where Paul goes. 
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who 
being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be 
equal with God. but made himself of no reputation, 
taking the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of 
men. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself 
and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the 
cross. Therefore, God also has highly 
exalted him and given him the name which is above every name, 
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in 
heaven and of those on earth and of those under the earth, 
and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is 
Lord to the glory of God the Father. So we are to continually 
look to Christ and his gospel. In other words, he serves as 
the example to be sure, but also we need to look to Christ and 
his gospel because we do miserably fail. When you perfect Matthew 
7, 1 to 5, it'll be on that day when you've crossed the threshold 
into Emmanuel's plan. Yes, you ought to pursue it now. 
Yes, you ought to go after it. Yes, you ought to implement these 
other strategies. Yes, you ought to pursue these 
things with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. But brethren, 
perfection will never be had on this side of glory. So when 
we sin, when we fall, we need Christ and his gospel. We need 
the blood, we need the gospel, we need the cleansing that he 
alone provides. And I think that is one of the 
grand designs of the Sermon on the Mount. As I read from Lloyd-Jones 
this morning, as I read from Machen, the Sermon on the Mount 
casts us back into the mercy of God through Jesus Christ. It puts us back to the foot of 
the cross. And when we live, interestingly 
enough, at the foot of the cross, that's wherein we kill things 
like judgmental spirits toward others. Well, may God indeed 
grant us grace to take this section of scripture, put it into practice, 
not only in our church lives, but in our families as well, 
because we ought to be places or we ought to demonstrate truly 
what Christ and his bride look like in terms of the way that 
we relate to one another. Well, let us pray. Our Father, 
we thank you for your word. We thank you for this section 
of Matthew 7. God, in many ways we have been found out, and yet 
we thank you that there is forgiveness. We thank you there is power from 
on high. We thank you that you have prescribed 
prayer. In the next section, we are to 
ask and seek and not. We are to come to you, Lord God, 
for the power of the Holy Spirit. We have your written word to 
guide us and direct us. It is that blessed rule and pattern 
and standard for our lives. We pray that you would increase 
in us love for you and love for one another, and give us grace 
to understand the doctrine of sin and how it applies to us 
and to those around us. We pray, Father, that you would 
just grant us grace to put to death this spirit, put to death 
this attitude, and to live in a manner that is consistent with 
the citizens of the kingdom of Jesus Christ. And it's in his 
name that we pray. Amen.