Continuing a study of the Gospels:
(Matthew 7:1) "Judge not, that you be not judged."
Jesus continued with His Sermon on the Mount. He warned against judging other people, as we all can be easily judged for our actions. We cannot judge the heart; only God knows that and can righteously judge. We can judge actions, as the law obviously does, but I believe this refers to the harsh criticism of another person when we cannot know the heart that motivates their actions. I can't help but think of the time during the Obama administration when so many prominent and famous blacks (and others) said that the only reason any of us would be against his presidency would have to be because we were racists. For me, personally, nothing could have been further from the truth! It was his policies that I was against. Had he been pro-life, pro-God, pro-family, and pro-Constitution as it was originally intended, I would have voted for him and been proud to call him my president! Likewise, for those who so hated President Trump, they judged all his supporters to be bigoted white supremacists. Again, nothing could be further from the truth! He was the best president in my lifetime on the issues I care most about--life, God and religious liberties, and Israel. It's the policies I care about, but there are those who want to judge my motives, my heart, if you will. Only God knows that.
I can't help but think that this is Satan's favorite passage in the entire Bible. For if we cannot judge at all, then anything goes! That obviously cannot be what Jesus meant. Illegal actions must be judged. Paul talked about judging one's brother's actions gently and lovingly to restore him to righteousness, so that he be not judged by an ungodly world (Galatians 6:1-6, 1 Corinthians 6:1-6). However, he did caution that one must do that carefully, as one could so easily fall into the sin of pride and judgment. We are all sinners and are all subject to judgment, so only with a genuine heart of love for another should we ever attempt to correct him. Love is the opposite of judgment. Do for others as we would like for them to do for us (Matthew 7:12), and carry each other's burdens (Galatians 6:2). We should test our own actions (Galatians 6:4) and with a heart of love, not judgment, only help as we would like to be helped in such a situation.
(2) "For with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged; and with what measure you use, it shall be measured to you in return."
Jesus warned that the severity of judgment that we use against another, will in turn be used against us, by God and man. We certainly know this to be true with regard to man. One who is severe in his judgment against another naturally excites the defensiveness and severe judgment of the recipient. With regard to God, Jesus told us on countless occasions to do good to others, including our enemies, to forgive others as we wish to be forgiven, to love others as we love ourselves; this reciprocal type of judgment is certainly in keeping with the commands of Jesus.
(3) "And why do you behold the splinter that is in your brother's eye, but do not consider the beam that is in your own eye?"
The original word "karphos" was translated in the KJV as "mote". Our present dictionary defines "mote" as "speck". However, "karphos" was more properly defined by Strong's as a dry twig or straw, and a small speck of that would be a splinter or perhaps a piece of saw dust. Jesus's purpose in using the word was to be the exact opposite of a large wooden beam. Why does one look at the small fault of another while ignoring the much greater faults of himself?
(4) "Or how will you say to your brother, 'Let me pull the splinter out of your eye,' and behold, a beam is in your own eye?"
Jesus presented the question of how one could presume to correct the small fault of another when he was guilty of so much more.
(5) "You hypocrite; first cast the beam out of your own eye, and then you shall see clearly to remove the splinter out of your brother's eye."
Jesus called a man who would presume to correct another while ignoring his own guilt, a hypocrite. One should look honestly to his own self first, take notice of his own sins, reprove himself, and reform himself, before he can see clearly to help another. I don't believe this means we have to be perfect before we can help another (as that will never happen). By humbling ourselves and recognizing our own faults, and our desires to reform and be more Christ-like, we can more lovingly attempt to help our brothers with no judgment in our hearts.
(6) "Do not give that which is holy to the dogs; neither cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces."
Dogs were unclean creatures according to the law; unclean and profane things, such as flesh torn to pieces by beasts, were to be given to the dogs. However, nothing that was holy, anything that was consecrated to holy uses, was ever to be given to them. The idea here is that even after the beam is cast from one's own eye and he can see clearly to help a brother with his faults, he should not offer the holy word of God to savage haters of Him and His followers, those who would growl and curse him and God, and viciously attack and persecute him. Obviously, swine were unclean animals, and pearls were fine treasures here representing the precious heavenly doctrine. Again, one was not to offer God's precious gift to those who would despise and trample it. I don't believe the Lord's purpose in this was to prevent one from reproving a vicious sinner; it could certainly become necessary to step in and stop a heinous crime. However, that is not the time to present God's precious word as a reason for doing so. That should be reserved for a brother who is genuinely receptive to salvation in the Lord.
(7) "Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. (8) For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it shall be opened."
This is the asking and seeking of the Lord, of course, in prayer. Obviously, the things one asks for must be aligned with God's will. James 4:3 tells us that we ask and don't receive, because we ask amiss; we ask only for what will give us personal pleasure. But for those who ask for aid in the things of God will be given that for which they ask. Those who seek after God in any situation will find Him, provided they truly seek Him and His will with all their hearts (Jeremiah 29:13, Deuteronomy 4:29). He who knocks persistently at the door of mercy will surely have it opened to him. How wonderful we can have this assurance from our Lord when we know we ask according to His will!
(9) "Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, he will give him a stone?"
Jesus compared God's loving act of giving what was asked to that of a father who loves his son and would certainly give him that for which he asked. He would not cruelly mock him with a smooth stone that looked like bread; he would give him the bread he needed. He would not necessarily give him his wants and desires that he did not consider in his best interests, but he would never deny what he needed, if it was within his power to provide it.
(10) "Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?"
Neither would a loving father purposely give something to his son that would hurt him, when his son had asked for a need.
(11) "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!"
Jesus's conclusion to this thought was that if evil men, who were born in sin and selfishness, could find it in their hearts to give good provisions to their children when they asked, how much more could they expect their perfect loving and merciful Father in Heaven to give good things to those who asked of Him. Note, the good things of God may not be exactly what we picture them to be. However, we can have confidence that our Father will answer and give us our heart's desire in His perfect timing and in His perfect way. A perfect righteous and just God will give only good; we can trust in that. He works all things together for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purposes (Romans 8:28).
(12) Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets."
Here Christ presented "The Golden Rule," that summed up the substance of the Law and the doctrine of the Prophets. If one always did what he would wish done to him, he wouldn't steal, he wouldn't maim or kill, he wouldn't lie, he wouldn't commit adultery, and he would respect others and their property. If we loved everyone as we loved ourselves, we would never wish for or do any harm to them. Even people who think they do not like themselves, really do, for they are self-centered and self-absorbed. If they think they are lacking, they wish better for themselves, and if we always wished better for others, and esteemed others better than ourselves (Philippians 2:3), or at least as well as ourselves, what a beautiful world this would be! And because God is love (1 John 4:8), and we who abide in love, abide in God, and God is in us (1 John 4:16), and the fact that we are only able to love because God first loved us (1 John 4:18), we would therefore love the Lord and seek to follow Him and all His commandments regarding Himself--having no idols, respecting His name and His Sabbath, etc. Indeed, this Golden Rule is a most amazing concise summary of all scripture in a nutshell!
(13) "Enter in at the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in at it."
Jesus compared the way to life as an entrance through a gate. He exhorted His followers to enter at the narrow gate, that is, the way that seems more difficult, not as natural and easily entered, one that requires repenting and triumphing over natural sinful inclinations. Wide is the gate and way of the world. It is easily entered and trodden, but leads to destruction; and Jesus said there were many who went that route.
(14) "Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it."
The narrow way to life is a difficult one for the flesh, as the natural inclination is to go through the broad easy path. There will be trials and tribulations in the narrow way, and sadly, Jesus said there are few who find that narrow gate.
(15) "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves."
Jesus told them to beware of false prophets, those who would come to them pretending to be something they weren't. People can easily be prevented from finding the narrow gate to life and righteousness by the carnal and flattering false doctrines that are pleasant to their worldly ears that allow pursuit of their lusts. Not only are these false prophets not what they profess to be, but they are dangerous to the souls of men. They have a form of godliness and love that attracts people, but they destroy souls, feeding themselves by the destruction of their flocks.
(16) "You shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorns or figs from thistles?"
Jesus presented a test to know true prophets from false. You will know them by their fruits. People do not judge a fruit tree by its leaves, or bark, or flowers, but by the fruit it bears. Neither should people judge a prophet by his beautiful words and external actions. But what is the fruit of his words and actions? Are souls converted to Christ? Is God glorified in the teachings? Or is God's grace diminished and men exalted with notions of purity and ability in human nature? Are they told the old lie of the serpent that they can be as God? How about the lie that God didn't really say what they have heard or been taught; would a loving God really have His children die? Is the actual word of God taught? For one to know that, he must actually read the word of God. In Acts 17, the Bereans were said to be more noble because they searched the scriptures to see if what Paul and Silas taught them was true.
(17) "Even so, every good tree brings forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree brings forth evil fruit."
Men do not gather good fruit from thorns and thistles, but from good fruit trees. The original word translated as "corrupt" is "sapros" meaning "rotten, worthless". A rotten, worthless tree will bring forth rotten and bad fruit, if any fruit at all.
(18) "A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit; neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit."
A truly good tree will bring forth good fruit, as a truly good heart will produce good works. A heart that truly loves God and seeks after His righteousness can only produce good fruit. A corrupt heart that seeks to enrich and glorify itself is not able to produce the good works of God.
(19) "Every tree that does not bring forth good fruit is cut down and cast into the fire."
As every rotten tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and cast into the fire, so will a corrupt prophet and preacher who preaches false doctrines and produces no good fruit, be cut down and cast into hellfire.
(20) "Therefore, by their fruits, you shall know them."
In summation, Jesus again declared that one would know a false prophet or teacher by the fruits he produced, that is, whether it be salvation in the one true way, Jesus Christ, or whether it led people astray from the truth.
(21) "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven."
Jesus declared that not everyone who called Him Lord would enter heaven. The false prophets described above surely called Him Lord. Merely professing His name and His religion, Christianity, is not enough. Those who profess Him to be Lord and follow Him to do the will of His Father in heaven, are the only ones who will be saved and enter into the kingdom of heaven.
(22) "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name? And in your name have cast out devils? And in Your name done many wonderful works?'"
"That day" would be Judgment Day, the day when it is to be decided who will enter the kingdom of heaven. False prophets surely used Jesus's name to falsely prophesy. It was possible to even cast out demons, but not truly be a follower of Christ; Judas Iscariot proved that to be true. There would be people who externally called on Jesus's name as they made a great show of doing many wonderful things in His name, but whose hearts never truly accepted Him to do the will of His Father in heaven.
(23) "And then I will profess to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who work iniquity!'"
On that day, Jesus would say to those that He never knew them. Obviously, as omniscient God in human form, He knew all about these people; but He would declare that He never knew them as His own. He would banish them from His presence, and call out their wickedness, as Jesus knew the hearts of men.
(24) "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on a rock. (25) And the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on a rock."
Jesus said that whoever heard His teachings and actually did them, He would compare to a wise man who built his house on a rock. Of course, that was a metaphor for building a life on The Rock, that is, Jesus Christ. When the rains and floods of life came, metaphors for temptations of Satan, persecutions and false teaching of the world, and the lusts of one's own sinful heart, that life would stand firm and not fall, for it had been built on a firm foundation in Christ.
(26) "And everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, shall be likened to a foolish man who built his house on the sand. (27) And the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat on that house; and it fell, and great was its fall."
Conversely, those who heard the teachings of Jesus and did not do them, He likened to a foolish man who built his house in the sand, that is to say on a very shallow foundation, or no foundation at all. When the floods of life came, that house could not stand and it came crashing down. This was Jesus's closing remarks to His Sermon on the Mount. It was not enough to just hear His words, but His followers must DO them to be saved from a terrible ruin.
(28) And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at His doctrine; (29) For He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
When Jesus ended His sermon, the people were amazed at His teaching. This Jesus spoke as one with authority, with a personal knowledge of God's truth, coming in the power of the Spirit, demonstrating the true sense of the law. It was unlike anything they had ever heard from the scribes who only put forth the law in a lifeless and ineffectual manner, or who put too much emphasis on trivial matters, disregarding the true spirit of the law.
Here ends the Sermon on the Mount. However, this was so much more than a mere sermon! I love the way the Expositor's Bible Commentary put it, that it seemed almost heresy to object to the designation of "Sermon on the Mount," but that it was so much more than a sermon. How many sermons could be made in each single sentence of this great discourse! It seemed belittling to call it just a sermon. "No mere sermon is this...distinguished from others...by its reach and sweep and power: it stands alone as the grand charter of the commonwealth of heaven," or as Matthew himself wrote in Matthew 4:23, this was "the gospel of the kingdom" that Jesus preached.
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