WEBVTT 00:00:00.760 --> 00:00:06.060 All right, we are picking up Jesus' teaching in the Sermon on the Mount in chapter 7, verses 00:00:06.060 --> 00:00:09.620 1 through 6. Let me read this for us. Jesus says this to His disciples, 00:00:10.439 --> 00:00:17.500 "'Judge not that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce, you will be judged, 00:00:18.199 --> 00:00:24.440 and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your 00:00:24.440 --> 00:00:30.740 brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 00:00:30.740 --> 00:00:36.880 let me take the speck out of your eye, when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, 00:00:37.660 --> 00:00:44.700 first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your 00:00:44.700 --> 00:00:54.340 brother's eye. Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they 00:00:54.340 --> 00:01:05.719 trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.'" Well, if there's one verse that maybe culturally we seem 00:01:05.719 --> 00:01:15.180 to love in the Sermon on the Mount, isn't it this one? Verse 1, "'Don't judge, judge not.'" Of course, 00:01:15.260 --> 00:01:21.520 we think we love this verse because we think maybe what Jesus is saying is that no one else can tell 00:01:21.519 --> 00:01:28.859 me how to live my life. It seems to align so perfectly with our expressive individualism. 00:01:29.719 --> 00:01:36.079 Jesus seems to be saying, judge not, that no one has the right to tell anyone else whether what 00:01:36.079 --> 00:01:40.340 they're doing is right or wrong, or whether how they're living their life is pleasing to God, or 00:01:40.340 --> 00:01:45.879 whether the path that we're on is the path of flourishing. Just let each other live. Don't judge. 00:01:45.879 --> 00:01:57.560 judge. But even a cursory glance at the rest of this passage, let alone the rest of the New Testament, 00:01:58.399 --> 00:02:05.859 it starts to unsettle our initial excitement that Jesus is here giving us a blanket approval to live 00:02:05.859 --> 00:02:11.599 however we want to live and to tell others to mind their own business. In the rest of the passage, 00:02:11.599 --> 00:02:21.319 Jesus is clearly calling us to be morally discerning toward one another, right? After all, verse 5 ends 00:02:21.319 --> 00:02:28.359 with a picture of fellow Christians genuinely helping one another to remove the specks in their eyes. 00:02:30.159 --> 00:02:36.439 And verse 6, well, verse 6, we're going to get to that. But let's just keep in mind, the same Jesus who 00:02:36.439 --> 00:02:44.960 uttered verse 1, judge not, also spoke verse 6, like four verses later, right? Don't throw your pearls to pigs. 00:02:46.960 --> 00:02:51.960 So, clearly, there's something more robust going on here than Jesus merely giving us fodder to cry, 00:02:52.439 --> 00:02:57.400 you're not the judge of me. So, what really is going on in this passage? 00:02:58.840 --> 00:03:05.419 Well, remember what Jesus is doing in the entire Sermon on the Mount. He's teaching His disciples how to live 00:03:05.419 --> 00:03:12.759 as members of a new kingdom, as members of God's kingdom. The kingdoms of this world, of course, 00:03:12.879 --> 00:03:19.459 operate according to certain values and principles. But God's kingdom is something new, breaking into the 00:03:19.459 --> 00:03:26.299 old, offering a new way to live. And this new way to live that's empowered by the Spirit of God, 00:03:26.299 --> 00:03:35.399 with Jesus as our King, will mean new relationships. New relationships not only to the stuff, 00:03:35.419 --> 00:03:43.280 of this world, but also to one another, to each other as fellow humans. This is where we're at in 00:03:43.280 --> 00:03:48.500 the Sermon on the Mount, how life in the kingdom changes our relationships. We've seen over the past 00:03:48.500 --> 00:03:54.859 two weeks at the end of chapter 6 how life in God's kingdom radically changes how we approach the material 00:03:54.859 --> 00:04:02.759 stuff of this world, where once we were dominated by greed on the one hand and anxiety on the other, 00:04:02.759 --> 00:04:11.959 now we live in the freedom of our heavenly Father's care, living for a treasure that no earthly wealth 00:04:11.959 --> 00:04:19.779 could amount to. We're no longer ruled by wealth, by money, by material possessions, either by the 00:04:19.779 --> 00:04:28.480 lack of it in anxiety or the abundance of it in greed. Okay, now here in chapter 7, Jesus turns from our 00:04:28.480 --> 00:04:35.600 relationship to the stuff of this world to our relationships with one another. And, you know, 00:04:35.720 --> 00:04:41.660 if outside of God's kingdom material stuff can have a ruling power over us, how much more so can other 00:04:41.660 --> 00:04:50.240 people? The opinions and actions of others can likewise exhort a sort of control over us. And just as our 00:04:50.240 --> 00:04:57.000 approach to material wealth seems to have two sides, greed for wanting more, anxiety for not having 00:04:57.000 --> 00:05:06.759 enough, so our relationship to others seems to have two sides. And we see those two sides here in verses 00:05:06.759 --> 00:05:16.660 1 through 6. On the one hand, we can live in constant judgment of others, a constant spirit of criticism and 00:05:16.660 --> 00:05:23.860 condemnation. That's what Jesus points out in verses 1 through 5. But on the other hand, we can live in 00:05:23.860 --> 00:05:31.600 constant approval of others, a constant spirit of affirmation and acceptance. And this is what Jesus 00:05:31.600 --> 00:05:39.500 alludes to in verse 6 with the proverbial saying about throwing our pearls to pigs. And isn't this the 00:05:39.500 --> 00:05:45.020 kind of back and forth, the pendulum swing that we too often live in in this world? On the one hand, 00:05:45.019 --> 00:05:50.019 people are all bad. On the other hand, people are all good. On the one hand, I can't help but judge 00:05:50.019 --> 00:05:55.779 people. On the other hand, I can't help but please people. And notice how both of those kind of 00:05:55.779 --> 00:06:00.899 responses can take on a sort of Christian-y veneer, right? Both can sound like we're being faithful to 00:06:00.899 --> 00:06:04.839 God. In the first case, we think, well, God cares about truth and righteousness, so we have to speak 00:06:04.839 --> 00:06:09.079 truth and bring prophetic words. On the other hand, we think, well, God is a God of love and patience 00:06:09.079 --> 00:06:13.560 and grace, so that means we have to accept everyone and accept everything and never say no and never be 00:06:13.560 --> 00:06:16.920 clear about who is and who isn't a genuine disciple of Jesus. 00:06:20.160 --> 00:06:24.759 But I think what Jesus is showing us here is that both of those ways of approaching others, 00:06:25.560 --> 00:06:32.720 they stem from a failure to understand the gospel rightly and a failure to understand ourselves 00:06:32.720 --> 00:06:40.759 rightly. In the kingdom of God, you see, we're actually freed from people judging and people 00:06:40.759 --> 00:06:46.379 pleasing. We're freed from the need to judge people and from the need to please people. 00:06:48.480 --> 00:06:53.800 So, let's look at the two halves of this passage then, where Jesus explores our relationships in 00:06:53.800 --> 00:06:59.719 light of God's kingdom. First, we're freed from the need to judge people. This is verses 1 through 5. 00:06:59.759 --> 00:07:07.019 Let's start back in verse 1. Judge not that you be not judged. As we said, to judge here means to be 00:07:07.019 --> 00:07:12.379 critical. It means to be condemning, to have a spirit that always looks for what's wrong with someone 00:07:12.379 --> 00:07:20.939 else. Now, how can you spot this judgmental attitude in yourself? Well, one way is if you find that you're 00:07:20.939 --> 00:07:28.779 often ascribing motives to others. If you assume you know why someone is doing what they do, 00:07:29.539 --> 00:07:34.439 well, so-and-so said that because they're looking for attention, or, well, you know so-and-so, 00:07:34.439 --> 00:07:39.199 they always do that because they think they're better than everyone else. But to presume to know 00:07:39.199 --> 00:07:45.879 why someone is doing something, to presume we know their motives without actually talking to them, 00:07:46.759 --> 00:07:50.740 that's a sure sign we're in the territory of a judgmental spirit. 00:07:52.319 --> 00:07:57.519 Of course, the spirit can show up in less subtle ways, like when we're just always talking about 00:07:57.519 --> 00:08:03.740 what's wrong with other people. This person thinks that, that person does this, right? Or when we 00:08:03.740 --> 00:08:12.780 major on the minors, did you see what so-and-so did? They actually went to the movies, and it was an 00:08:12.780 --> 00:08:18.540 R-rated movie. I know that because I was in the R-rated movie, but they were there too. 00:08:20.620 --> 00:08:26.220 And of course, that's a silly example, right? But how often do we judge and condemn each other for 00:08:26.220 --> 00:08:31.000 things about which God has given us freedom? We look at a brother or sister and think, 00:08:31.000 --> 00:08:37.159 if you were a Christian, you wouldn't drive that sort of car. If you were a Christian, 00:08:37.279 --> 00:08:43.500 you wouldn't send your kids to that sort of school, and on and on and on. Well, what does Jesus say? 00:08:44.840 --> 00:08:48.840 He says two things here, actually, to kind of shake us out of this judgmental mindset and put us back 00:08:48.840 --> 00:08:53.259 in the right frame of mind, the right kind of kingdom-centered frame of mind as His disciples. 00:08:53.259 --> 00:08:59.399 First thing He says is that there is a true judge, and your life will come under His scrutiny. 00:09:01.120 --> 00:09:07.539 Judge not that you be not judged, for with the judgment you pronounced, you will be judged, 00:09:07.960 --> 00:09:14.819 and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Now, Jesus is saying more in these first two 00:09:14.819 --> 00:09:19.899 verses than just what goes around comes around. Or, you know, if you're critical and condemning to 00:09:19.899 --> 00:09:24.519 others, they'll be critical and condemning right back. Now, of course, that is true, right? How many 00:09:24.519 --> 00:09:30.779 communities just devolve into constant criticism and complaint because of that? But I think Jesus 00:09:30.779 --> 00:09:34.659 is pointing out something more profound here than just that kind of what goes around comes around 00:09:34.659 --> 00:09:39.799 sort of thing. It's more likely that Jesus is pointing us here not to the kind of judgment of 00:09:39.799 --> 00:09:47.600 our fellow human beings, but to the judgment of God. God will be the one who ultimately assesses 00:09:47.600 --> 00:09:55.580 our lives. He created us, He sustains us, and it is to God that we are ultimately and rightly 00:09:55.580 --> 00:10:02.300 accountable. So, Jesus is pointing us to that divine judgment. Now, it's important to ask, 00:10:02.600 --> 00:10:08.519 what sort of divine judgment does Jesus have in view here? When He says, you will be judged, 00:10:08.560 --> 00:10:13.960 what judgment does He have in mind? Now, it's helpful to remember that in the New Testament, 00:10:13.960 --> 00:10:20.000 there are at least two kinds of judgment spoken of, and we're going to look at both of those. 00:10:20.440 --> 00:10:27.000 On the one hand, there's a judgment with respect to our sins and our ultimate standing before God, 00:10:27.800 --> 00:10:34.360 the sort of ultimate judgment. Has the chasm of our sins been forgiven or not? Have we been 00:10:34.360 --> 00:10:41.139 reconciled to God or not? Have we been adopted into God's family, or do we remain separated and at 00:10:41.139 --> 00:10:45.879 enmity with Him? That is the first sort of judgment that the New Testament speaks of. 00:10:46.779 --> 00:10:53.980 And friends, that judgment has no degrees. You're not more or less saved when it comes to that judgment. 00:10:54.139 --> 00:10:59.580 Either we have peace with God through faith in Jesus Christ, or we remain under God's just wrath 00:10:59.580 --> 00:11:09.080 for our sins. And the message of the gospel, the good news, is that all who admit their sin and turn 00:11:09.080 --> 00:11:17.220 from it and take hold of the risen Christ through faith are completely forgiven and reconciled to God 00:11:17.220 --> 00:11:23.680 as their Father. By receiving Jesus Christ through nothing more than faith, through no works of your own, 00:11:23.920 --> 00:11:29.639 you're given the right to be called a child of God. You've been brought from death to life, 00:11:29.759 --> 00:11:33.960 from condemnation in your sins to justification because of Christ's righteousness. 00:11:33.960 --> 00:11:41.340 And if that's true of you, if you've come to entrust yourself to Christ to rest in His everlasting love 00:11:41.340 --> 00:11:49.600 and mercy, then there's no going back. You can't fall out of that divine favor you've been given. 00:11:49.900 --> 00:11:56.700 You're His forevermore. Your sins are washed away. You're a child of God forever. And when God makes all 00:11:56.700 --> 00:12:01.220 things new in the fullness of His kingdom, you will spend eternity reigning with Him. 00:12:01.220 --> 00:12:05.660 So, this is the first sort of judgment that the New Testament speaks of. 00:12:06.920 --> 00:12:09.440 But there's a second judgment that the New Testament talks about, 00:12:10.259 --> 00:12:15.340 and this one applies to those who have come to faith in Jesus Christ. For those who are 00:12:15.340 --> 00:12:20.160 reconciled to God in Christ, who are now sons and daughters of God and dwelt by His Spirit, 00:12:21.240 --> 00:12:27.240 the New Testament is clear that there will be a final accounting of our lives, a final assessment 00:12:27.240 --> 00:12:33.980 of how we've lived our lives. In one place, the Apostle Paul likens it to building a building. 00:12:34.600 --> 00:12:37.740 Throughout our lives as Christians, through cooperation with the Holy Spirit, it's like 00:12:37.740 --> 00:12:42.200 we're building a house with our lives. And some of the things that we build with are like gold and 00:12:42.200 --> 00:12:49.100 silver and precious stones, but other things are like wood and hay and straw. And in the end, 00:12:49.100 --> 00:12:55.220 some of those things that we build with will last forever, but other things will be burned away. 00:12:57.040 --> 00:13:03.460 In other words, as Christians, what we do matters in this life, and what we do will have eternal value. 00:13:04.860 --> 00:13:09.460 Some of our works done in concert with the Spirit in obedience to Christ and love for Him 00:13:09.460 --> 00:13:11.700 will be like gold and silver that'll last forever. 00:13:11.700 --> 00:13:20.700 But some of our works done in that old self-centeredness, grieving the Spirit will be like straw that gets 00:13:20.700 --> 00:13:28.900 burned up. Now, to be clear, this second sort of judgment, this final assessment of our lives as 00:13:28.900 --> 00:13:33.980 Christians does not determine whether or not you will spend eternity with God. If you're in Christ, 00:13:34.060 --> 00:13:39.740 your sins are forgiven, and you need not fear separation from Him. Through faith in Christ, 00:13:39.740 --> 00:13:45.639 sin and death and hell hold no power over you. You're His forever. But the New Testament does give 00:13:45.639 --> 00:13:54.720 very clear indications that this second sort of judgment will determine the degree of your reward 00:13:54.720 --> 00:14:05.159 and joy in the life to come. If we reap, we will sow. If we sow to love, to mercy, to righteousness, 00:14:05.159 --> 00:14:10.740 to perseverance, we will reap an abundant measure in the fullness of the kingdom. 00:14:12.240 --> 00:14:19.699 But if we use our lives now to sow to judgmentalism, to criticism, the condemnation of our brothers and 00:14:19.699 --> 00:14:28.059 sisters, impatience, anger, hatred, suspicion, then our harvest will be very meager in the future God has 00:14:28.059 --> 00:14:34.579 in store. Jesus says very clear here, with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. 00:14:34.580 --> 00:14:40.580 If you're stingy and unmerciful towards your brothers and sisters in Christ, if you're always critical 00:14:40.580 --> 00:14:47.180 and condemning, if you never give them any amount of mercy or understanding, then that will be the 00:14:47.180 --> 00:14:54.160 sort of judgment you will face when you stand before God on the last day. The same measure you use to judge 00:14:54.159 --> 00:15:02.199 others will be measured back to you. So, Jesus wants us to lift our eyes to that final assessment on the 00:15:02.199 --> 00:15:08.000 last day of our lives. How would you like to be received on that last day by your heavenly Father? 00:15:08.480 --> 00:15:15.659 With mercy, with compassion, with understanding, with grace? Then treat your brothers and sisters in 00:15:15.659 --> 00:15:25.379 Christ now with that same sort of mercy. But of course, as Jesus lifts our eyes to the judgment seat, 00:15:25.439 --> 00:15:34.899 as it were, we remember standing there before the judgment seat that ultimately, apart from grace, 00:15:35.659 --> 00:15:43.039 we would have no standing at all. Right? This goes back to that first judgment. The banner that flies 00:15:43.039 --> 00:15:51.639 over our lives as Christians is a banner of sheer mercy, of judgment that has been stayed, 00:15:53.519 --> 00:15:59.959 of a holy God who has become our Father because He satisfied the law on our behalf. 00:16:00.839 --> 00:16:06.639 The rightful judge of all the world, the Lord Jesus Christ, was judged for us. 00:16:06.639 --> 00:16:16.259 So, how could we ever be judgmental towards others? And this brings us to the second way Jesus is shaking 00:16:16.259 --> 00:16:21.100 us out of our judgmental mindset here. In verses 3 through 4, Jesus reminds us how greatly we need 00:16:21.100 --> 00:16:29.659 mercy so that we might be merciful to others. This is a famous and memorable image. Jesus says, 00:16:29.659 --> 00:16:36.419 how can you be so outraged by the speck of dust, the little bit of sawdust in your brother's eye, 00:16:36.799 --> 00:16:42.659 in your sister's eye, when you fail to realize that you have a log swinging out of your own? 00:16:45.459 --> 00:16:53.879 Jesus wants us, of course, to be doing the delicate work of helping to remove the specks of sin 00:16:53.879 --> 00:17:01.799 from each other's eyes. We need that help from one another. But that work of spiritual eye surgery, 00:17:01.939 --> 00:17:08.859 as it were, it's delicate work, and it's careful work. It's not something to be done with hasty or 00:17:08.859 --> 00:17:16.779 angry or judgmental spirits. And certainly, we will not be able to do that work if we ignore the sin in 00:17:16.779 --> 00:17:25.240 our own lives. No, not until we recognize that any sin we see in others is nothing compared to the sin 00:17:25.240 --> 00:17:32.039 in our own lives. Not until then will we be able to be the sort of spiritual community of mutual care 00:17:32.039 --> 00:17:38.960 that Jesus calls us to be. This is one of the reasons why we take time every Sunday in our services 00:17:38.960 --> 00:17:45.139 to confess our sins to God. We confess our sins every Sunday not to wallow in guilt, 00:17:45.140 --> 00:17:52.180 but to again experience the forgiveness of Christ so that we might be humble, compassionate, 00:17:52.460 --> 00:17:58.800 and rightly gentle before Him and before each other. There's nothing more deadly than pride, 00:17:59.720 --> 00:18:09.900 and nothing will turn spiritually curious people away faster than a proud, self-righteous attitude 00:18:09.900 --> 00:18:18.820 in a church. Paul could say, I'm the chief of sinners. The tax collector in Jesus' parable could say, 00:18:18.900 --> 00:18:27.640 Lord, have mercy on me, the sinner. Only when we acknowledge the log in our own eye can we see 00:18:27.640 --> 00:18:32.240 clearly to do the spiritual work of caring for others in their failures and mistakes. 00:18:32.240 --> 00:18:44.660 So, brothers and sisters, do you see your own log, as it were? Have you spent time grieving your own sin? 00:18:45.940 --> 00:18:50.140 Have you confessed your sin to God and to others where appropriate? 00:18:52.279 --> 00:18:59.259 If you struggle to identify the log in your own eye, chances are you're probably swinging it around 00:18:59.259 --> 00:19:05.339 and hitting people with it. So, if you're ready to get serious with God 00:19:05.339 --> 00:19:13.039 and to get humble before God and others, then you might ask someone you trust, 00:19:13.599 --> 00:19:20.099 where am I missing my own sin? Can you help me take the log out of my eye? 00:19:20.099 --> 00:19:30.019 God. And the beautiful thing is, God will answer that sort of prayer. Isaiah tells us that God is 00:19:30.019 --> 00:19:36.799 near to the humble and contrite in heart. And in a community where that is true, we will not only be 00:19:36.799 --> 00:19:44.459 able to help one another grow in grace, but others will look in and say, surely God is in their midst. 00:19:44.460 --> 00:19:52.400 The world is so full of shrill judgment and criticism, but the church, the community of 00:19:52.400 --> 00:19:59.220 kingdom people is not meant to be a place of judgment, but of real discernment, where sinners 00:19:59.220 --> 00:20:06.259 aren't condemned or excused but helped. May we be that sort of community. 00:20:06.259 --> 00:20:14.220 Now, let's turn to the second part of our passage. We've seen in verses 1 through 5 how Jesus says 00:20:14.220 --> 00:20:19.019 that living in God's kingdom frees us from judging others. Now, in verse 6, He looks at the opposite 00:20:19.019 --> 00:20:25.180 tendency. If the kingdom frees us from people judging, it also frees us from people pleasing. 00:20:27.200 --> 00:20:32.299 So, what does it mean to give holy things to dogs or to throw pearls to pigs? Well, most people have 00:20:32.299 --> 00:20:37.740 read this statement of Jesus to mean that if you're sharing the gospel with someone and eventually you 00:20:37.740 --> 00:20:42.619 realize that they're just too recalcitrant and hard-hearted and combative to receive it, 00:20:43.059 --> 00:20:47.919 then in wisdom you should move on to others and entrust that person to God's hands. 00:20:49.299 --> 00:20:54.319 And there are examples where Jesus tells His disciples to do just that. When you enter a village, 00:20:54.440 --> 00:20:59.379 Jesus says, after sending the disciples out two by two, if they do not receive you, shake the dust from 00:20:59.380 --> 00:21:05.040 your feet and move on to the next town. And we see the Apostle Paul in Acts doing the same thing. 00:21:05.140 --> 00:21:10.460 He would arrive in a new city. First, He would preach in the synagogue to His fellow Jews, but there 00:21:10.460 --> 00:21:16.840 would come a point when, if they rejected the message, He would turn to the Gentiles. 00:21:18.780 --> 00:21:22.920 So, perhaps, perhaps that's what Jesus is getting at here in the Sermon on the Mount. 00:21:23.400 --> 00:21:26.660 Be discerning, be wise, be a good steward of your time and energy. 00:21:26.660 --> 00:21:32.460 And most Christians who've taken this reading have acknowledged that we need to be very careful 00:21:32.460 --> 00:21:37.660 when we apply this rule. One of the great evangelists of the 20th century, John Stott, 00:21:38.120 --> 00:21:42.980 said, you know, in my ministry I've only known one or two people for whom I could say that was true, 00:21:43.180 --> 00:21:50.300 where I needed to just move on. But I think there might be a slightly better way 00:21:50.299 --> 00:21:56.919 to understand what Jesus is getting at here in verse 6. The preceding verses, after all, 00:21:56.919 --> 00:22:02.399 are not about evangelism, but they're about rendering judgment, right? They're about not 00:22:02.399 --> 00:22:08.220 giving an uncritically harsh or judgmental verdict when you encounter others. But, you know, 00:22:08.259 --> 00:22:14.759 there's a flip side to that coin. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, I think, captured this best in his 00:22:14.759 --> 00:22:22.279 comments on this verse. He says, it's not only judging words which are forbidden to the disciples, 00:22:23.339 --> 00:22:30.000 but proclaiming salvific words of forgiveness to others also has its limits. 00:22:33.460 --> 00:22:37.359 What is the pearl that we have in the church of Jesus Christ? 00:22:37.359 --> 00:22:45.500 It is the gospel. It's the assurance that because of Jesus' death and resurrection, 00:22:46.259 --> 00:22:51.759 sins can be utterly forgiven, and humans can be made right with their Creator. 00:22:53.719 --> 00:23:03.179 That total peace with God, that is the pearl of great price. That is worth selling everything you 00:23:03.180 --> 00:23:09.880 own to get it. And the church has the astounding privilege of saying on the basis of the gospel 00:23:09.880 --> 00:23:14.519 to those who receive Christ, your sins are forgiven. 00:23:19.019 --> 00:23:27.279 But friends, it is not true that everyone has genuinely received Christ, 00:23:27.279 --> 00:23:36.139 and it's not true that everyone's sins have been forgiven. Not everyone is in Christ. 00:23:37.579 --> 00:23:44.720 Some people may be very moral. Some people may be very religious. Some people may do much good in 00:23:44.720 --> 00:23:53.579 society. But if they have not admitted their sin before a holy Creator and acknowledge their need for 00:23:53.579 --> 00:23:59.619 God, they are not a Redeemer. And if they have not trusted in Jesus Christ alone for salvation, 00:24:00.939 --> 00:24:07.139 then they are not reconciled to God, and they remain outside the kingdom of God. 00:24:09.119 --> 00:24:15.919 And when churches don't make this distinction, it causes all sorts of problems, Jesus says. 00:24:17.220 --> 00:24:21.399 If we give people the impression that they are Christians when they are not, 00:24:21.400 --> 00:24:27.259 no matter what our motives might be, Jesus says it's demeaning to the gospel, 00:24:27.640 --> 00:24:32.180 and it's damaging to the church. Look at the second half of verse 6, 00:24:33.019 --> 00:24:39.400 lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you. What is it that gets trampled underfoot? 00:24:39.940 --> 00:24:44.900 The holy things, the pearl, this priceless message of the forgiveness of sins, 00:24:44.900 --> 00:24:51.120 the forgiveness of our sins paid for willingly by Jesus' death on the cross, 00:24:51.120 --> 00:25:00.360 gets trampled underfoot. How could we treat this beautiful thing as something to just be bandied about? 00:25:00.359 --> 00:25:14.799 How eager we are at times as followers of Jesus to label celebrities or movements or nations as Christian. 00:25:17.139 --> 00:25:22.979 We think that if this or that famous person or this or that movement could be known as Christian, 00:25:23.299 --> 00:25:26.799 well, maybe the esteem of Christianity would grow in the public eye. 00:25:26.799 --> 00:25:40.960 But friends, God does not need the help of any celebrity or any nation or any movement to increase His fame and His glory. 00:25:43.200 --> 00:25:50.180 Yes, we should rejoice when men and women genuinely repent of their sins and trust in Jesus Christ. 00:25:51.099 --> 00:25:55.440 You may have read recently about the founder of Wikipedia who recently became a Christian. 00:25:55.440 --> 00:25:59.580 As far as I can tell from what he's written, it seems his faith is genuine. 00:26:00.279 --> 00:26:01.660 We should praise God for that. 00:26:02.920 --> 00:26:07.340 But friends, the gospel doesn't need celebrity endorsements. 00:26:09.700 --> 00:26:17.059 Let's treat the gospel like what it really is, the most valuable thing in the entire world. 00:26:17.059 --> 00:26:24.559 It's not a commodity to be bought and sold and advertised and thrown around at our whim. 00:26:28.279 --> 00:26:31.859 But, you know, if we give people the impression that they are Christians when they are not, 00:26:31.960 --> 00:26:34.839 it doesn't just demean the gospel, it also damages the church. 00:26:36.419 --> 00:26:40.599 Sadly, I've been to church services where the Lord's Supper is celebrated, 00:26:40.599 --> 00:26:43.059 and the pastor will say something like, 00:26:43.559 --> 00:26:45.519 it doesn't matter where you are in your spiritual journey. 00:26:45.639 --> 00:26:49.599 You can be a believer in Christ, or you can be an agnostic, or an atheist, or anywhere in between. 00:26:49.659 --> 00:26:50.319 It doesn't matter. 00:26:50.699 --> 00:26:54.299 Jesus welcomes everyone, so you should come and eat and drink the bread and cup with us. 00:26:58.000 --> 00:26:59.599 But don't you see what's wrong there? 00:26:59.599 --> 00:27:07.459 Yes, on the one hand, it is wonderfully true that Jesus welcomes everyone. 00:27:09.059 --> 00:27:14.599 Absolutely anyone and everyone who flees to Jesus for rescue will be saved. 00:27:15.459 --> 00:27:19.319 Come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest, Jesus said. 00:27:19.359 --> 00:27:21.059 That is wonderfully true. 00:27:22.299 --> 00:27:25.299 And if you are ready for the weight of your sin to be lifted, 00:27:25.299 --> 00:27:30.099 and for the peace of God to flood your soul, then come to Jesus and believe. 00:27:30.859 --> 00:27:32.960 Jesus welcomes everyone. 00:27:34.960 --> 00:27:40.619 But the reality is, not everyone has accepted the invitation. 00:27:42.379 --> 00:27:47.359 Yes, He stands at the door and knocks, but not everyone has opened and let Him come in. 00:27:49.339 --> 00:27:53.079 The Lord's Supper is for those who have surrendered their lives to Christ, 00:27:53.079 --> 00:27:58.799 who have said yes to His offer of salvation, who have obeyed His command to repent and believe. 00:28:00.159 --> 00:28:04.159 The Lord's Supper is the meal of assurance. 00:28:07.899 --> 00:28:13.099 The church serves this meal on behalf of Jesus as a way of saying to Christians, 00:28:14.099 --> 00:28:18.319 you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to you. 00:28:18.319 --> 00:28:22.460 As intimately as you eat this bread and drink this cup, 00:28:22.539 --> 00:28:25.839 that is how intimately is your union with your Savior through faith. 00:28:28.799 --> 00:28:34.299 And that means, friends, that we cannot serve this bread and cup to anyone and everyone, 00:28:34.740 --> 00:28:36.559 regardless of where they are spiritually. 00:28:36.559 --> 00:28:44.079 Interestingly, in the early church, one of the first ways in which Matthew 7, 6 is applied 00:28:44.079 --> 00:28:49.279 is in an ancient church manual called the Didache, and this is exactly how they applied it. 00:28:51.179 --> 00:28:53.839 Don't give these precious things to just anybody. 00:28:57.379 --> 00:28:58.339 We can't do it. 00:28:58.639 --> 00:29:01.980 Because in the first place, it's not loving to the person taking the bread and the cup. 00:29:01.980 --> 00:29:07.980 For then, they're led to believe that it doesn't really matter where one stands with Christ. 00:29:08.759 --> 00:29:09.079 Right? 00:29:09.700 --> 00:29:13.120 If anyone can just come and eat and drink, then what does it matter what I do with Jesus? 00:29:16.339 --> 00:29:18.660 In the second place, it's very damaging to the church. 00:29:19.680 --> 00:29:24.000 The church is meant to be a community that is bound together by the gospel. 00:29:24.000 --> 00:29:32.519 But if genuine belief in the gospel is not required for being welcomed as a visible member of the church, 00:29:33.059 --> 00:29:35.579 then something else is at the center. 00:29:36.799 --> 00:29:40.319 Now, of course, in our public gatherings, anyone is welcome to come and join us here. 00:29:40.700 --> 00:29:42.859 You might be anywhere on the spiritual map. 00:29:42.920 --> 00:29:43.819 We're glad you're here. 00:29:45.359 --> 00:29:49.660 But to be known visibly as a follower of Jesus to take this bread and this cup 00:29:49.660 --> 00:29:55.019 requires a belief in the gospel because that's what binds us together as a church. 00:29:56.360 --> 00:30:01.200 And if it's not the gospel that's binding us together, what is it? 00:30:04.779 --> 00:30:05.720 Social justice? 00:30:07.480 --> 00:30:08.580 Family values? 00:30:09.720 --> 00:30:10.720 Love and acceptance? 00:30:13.040 --> 00:30:17.759 Friends, if you replace the gospel with any of those things in the center of the life of the church, 00:30:17.759 --> 00:30:21.500 that church will soon become lifeless and hollow. 00:30:24.099 --> 00:30:25.799 Conflict will eventually arise. 00:30:27.640 --> 00:30:32.740 Conflicts will arise because what unites the church then isn't the living Lord Jesus, 00:30:33.660 --> 00:30:35.839 but your or my social program. 00:30:37.119 --> 00:30:41.220 And who's to say your social program or my social program is the better one? 00:30:41.220 --> 00:30:49.079 So churches devolve into conflict, schism, and judgmentalism because they're not willing to discern 00:30:49.079 --> 00:30:52.120 the gospel. 00:30:54.259 --> 00:30:55.240 So what's the point? 00:30:58.299 --> 00:31:01.940 Well, as we take stock of this passage as a whole, the point is this, friends. 00:31:02.759 --> 00:31:04.120 The message of the kingdom, 00:31:05.000 --> 00:31:08.420 the message of the cross that Jesus came not just to preach 00:31:08.420 --> 00:31:11.120 but to accomplish through His life, death, and resurrection. 00:31:12.240 --> 00:31:16.440 The gospel is a word of both judgment and acceptance. 00:31:17.900 --> 00:31:20.279 On the cross, our sins were judged, 00:31:20.920 --> 00:31:23.039 and on the cross, our sins were forgiven. 00:31:24.940 --> 00:31:28.259 And that means our relationships are put onto a whole new footing. 00:31:29.400 --> 00:31:34.480 On the one hand, we know that sins need to be forgiven through Christ alone. 00:31:34.860 --> 00:31:36.519 No one is naturally a good person. 00:31:36.519 --> 00:31:40.039 We are all of us like the prodigal son who wander far from our Father 00:31:40.039 --> 00:31:42.799 and who wake up in the midst of the mud and the pigs. 00:31:43.819 --> 00:31:46.420 The cross says we need to be forgiven, 00:31:46.900 --> 00:31:49.039 so don't just call everyone a Christian. 00:31:50.220 --> 00:31:54.119 We don't give people false assurance when they haven't trusted in Christ for themselves. 00:31:55.819 --> 00:31:57.180 We need to be forgiven. 00:31:59.339 --> 00:32:02.779 But the cross also says we can be forgiven. 00:32:03.740 --> 00:32:04.819 We can be forgiven. 00:32:04.819 --> 00:32:06.899 No one is a lost cause. 00:32:07.179 --> 00:32:08.819 No one is a helpless case. 00:32:09.539 --> 00:32:10.879 How do we know this? 00:32:12.919 --> 00:32:17.839 Because, friends, everyone who has genuinely met their Savior 00:32:17.839 --> 00:32:22.779 knows how big the logs in our own eyes are. 00:32:24.039 --> 00:32:25.859 And if God can forgive me, 00:32:25.980 --> 00:32:27.519 if God can forgive you, 00:32:27.519 --> 00:32:32.139 then surely He can forgive anything in your life. 00:32:34.700 --> 00:32:35.559 All right, let's pray. 00:32:39.839 --> 00:32:40.200 Father, 00:32:40.759 --> 00:32:46.680 some of us are more prone to one side of this passage than the other. 00:32:46.680 --> 00:32:51.360 Father, some of us are quick to judge, 00:32:52.299 --> 00:32:57.000 and some of us never want to make a distinction between being lost and found, 00:32:57.600 --> 00:32:58.500 between right and wrong. 00:33:01.039 --> 00:33:03.660 Father, help us to see that the cross is what we all need. 00:33:03.660 --> 00:33:06.100 By your Spirit, 00:33:06.100 --> 00:33:11.940 would the fact of Jesus' death for our sins cure our pride 00:33:11.940 --> 00:33:14.940 and make us compassionate towards sinners? 00:33:14.940 --> 00:33:21.360 But would the cross also cure our cowardice, 00:33:22.160 --> 00:33:23.180 our fear of man, 00:33:24.120 --> 00:33:25.580 and make us bold and confident? 00:33:25.579 --> 00:33:29.220 In other words, Father, 00:33:29.299 --> 00:33:32.539 make us people who really know what it means to love. 00:33:34.740 --> 00:33:36.839 Jesus, You can do this in us by Your Spirit 00:33:36.839 --> 00:33:38.119 because You lived perfectly 00:33:38.119 --> 00:33:41.480 and You promised to make us more like Yourself. 00:33:42.839 --> 00:33:44.439 So as we come to Your table now, 00:33:44.539 --> 00:33:46.919 work in us through this bread and cup 00:33:46.919 --> 00:33:49.779 to enrich our communion with You through faith. 00:33:51.240 --> 00:33:53.559 Soften our hearts where they need to be softened. 00:33:53.559 --> 00:33:58.240 Lord, strengthen our hearts where they need to be strengthened. 00:34:00.119 --> 00:34:03.799 And may the pearl of the gospel shine brightly 00:34:03.799 --> 00:34:07.440 in our souls and in our church. 00:34:08.579 --> 00:34:09.179 Amen.