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Hi, this is Pastor Tom and I want to welcome you to the ninth week of our Look
to the Book of Matthew. We're in Matthew chapter 7 this week, the second part of
that chapter. So that means we're in the last part of the Sermon on the Mount.

In Matthew chapter 7, which we began to look at last week, Jesus gives us seven
specific commands in Matthew 7. There's a common theme behind them. We looked at
the first of those commands this last week, "Do not judge," and we're going to
look at the other six commands this week.

And those other six are, the second is "Do not give to dogs what is sacred," or
"Don't cast your pearls before swine. " The third command is "Ask," and it will
be given to you. The fourth is "Do to others what you would have them do for
you," the golden rule.

The fifth command is "Enter by the narrow gate. " The sixth command is "Watch
out for false prophets. " And the seventh command in this seventh chapter is
"Build on the rock.

" Now if you look at these seven commands, what they have in common is they all
have to do with decisions that you make that set the direction of your life. In
this, what we call a life management seminar that Jesus teaches us in the Sermon
on the Mount, this last chapter is, "How do you make good decisions that get
your life headed in the right direction? " And starting with last week, "Don't
judge.

" Instead of hypocrisy, which gets your life headed in the entirely wrong
direction, choose integrity and then mercy. That's the decision that sets the
right direction for your life. Well, this week we're going to start with this
second decision that Jesus talks about in these verses.

And really it's the one that's the most difficult for us to understand. He talks
about "Don't judge. " And then immediately in verse six, here's what he says,
"Do not give to dogs what is sacred, and do not throw your pearls to pigs.

If you do, they may trample them under their feet and then turn and tear you to
pieces. " Now, what is this about dogs and pearls and pigs? What does this mean
in the context of what Jesus has just taught us?

Well, he just talked to us about not judging others, about not being a hypocrite
but having the integrity to first look at your own life and then to help
somebody else. And then immediately he says, "By the way, don't give to dogs
what's sacred. Don't cast your pearls before pigs.

" What is he talking about? He's talking to us here about the difference between
judgment and discernment. We're commanded not to be judgmental, but here Jesus
commands us to be discerning.

If somebody is a dog, if they don't care about what you're giving to them, and
you're saying, "Well, that sounds judgmental, even to call them a dog. " Well,
remember Jesus lived in a different culture than we did. If that's the way that
they're acting, then don't cast good things before them.

Don't give them sacred things. A pearl is not going to be appreciated by a pig,
Jesus is saying. This is just honest talk about discernment.

And we began a brief talk about this last week. The truth is there's a
difference between judging a person's motives and responding to a person's
actions, discerning what's going on with a person's actions. There's a
difference between judging a person's eternity and acting on a current
situation.

So as we said last week, judgment is not recognizing, "Hey, there's something
wrong here," or, "This person doesn't want to hear what I'm saying. " Judgment
is condemning someone for that wrong, not recognizing the wrong. Being
biblically non-judgmental doesn't mean you pretend you don't see another
person's sin.

It means that you don't see them as outside of the circle of God's grace because
they've sinned. You don't see them as outside of the bounds of your forgiveness
because they've sinned. You don't see them as outside of the possibility of your
love because they've sinned.

We live in a society. You work with people every day. We only want to see half
of the truth of what Jesus taught about judgment.

Of course he said, "Let him who is without sin cast the first stone. " But then
he also said to the woman who was caught in adultery, "Now go and sin no more. "
Of course he said, "I didn't come to condemn the world.

" But then he also said, "I came to save the world. " He has to save us from
something. We do have a problem, a sin problem he needs to save us from.

Of course he said, "Do not judge. " But then he said, "Remove the speck. " He
said, "Don't be judgmental.

" But he also says, "Be discerning and act on that discernment. " Now the
Apostle Paul, he understood how to live both halves of this truth. He was
dealing with the church in Corinth about a problem in the church.

We don't know exactly what the problem was, but it seems to be that there was
some man in the church who was caught up in living with his, it seems like as we
read the story, with his mother-in-law or some kind of a stepmother. And the
church was accepting this very sinful practice. So Paul writes to the church and
says, I think you've misunderstood what Jesus taught us about judgment.

In First Corinthians 5, 12 to 13, he says to this church, "It isn't our job to
judge outsiders, but it certainly is our job to judge and deal strongly with
those who are members of the church and who are sinning in these ways. God alone
is the judge of those on the outside, but you yourselves must deal with this man
and put him out of the church. Don't you know that someday we Christians are
going to judge and govern the world?

So why can't you decide even these little things among yourselves? " Jesus said,
"Do not judge. " Paul here in these verses says, "It's our job to judge.

" Is there a conflict? Not when you understand the difference in the meaning of
the word judge in these two contexts. When Jesus said, "Don't judge," he's
talking about being judgmental.

When Paul says, "Don't judge," he's not saying be judgmental towards the person.
He's saying you need to decide and to realize that this sin is infecting the
entire church. Now, as you think through this, what does this mean?

There are three truths to remember in the attitude that we have towards others
and being discerning. Truth number one is we are commanded not to be judgmental
towards anyone. How could I be?

There's so much I need to be forgiven for, so much you need to be forgiven for.
So we're commanded not to be judgmental, not to think I've figured out where
you're headed for eternity or I've figured out your relationship with God. Only
God is the final judge.

I am not your judge. You are not my judge. We are all going to stand together
before God, so we're commanded not to be judgmental towards anyone.

But we are commanded to be discerning and out of that discernment to act in love
towards our fellow believers. By the way, these verses that we just read, over
in 2 Corinthians chapter 2, Paul commands the church to accept and to love
someone who has sinned, probably the same person that had sinned in the church.
So this wasn't the end of the story.

They acted in this way in order to bring the person back into the faith. They
acted in this way in order to let the person know what they were doing was
wrong. If you never say it's wrong, some people are never going to get the
message that what they're doing is wrong.

Not only the person who is sinning, but also people that are around them. It's
going to affect their lives as well. So we're commanded to be discerning and to
act towards fellow believers.

That's part of our relationship. We're family. And in that family, we are
accountable to one another.

And in that accountability, part of love is saying you saying to me that
something I'm doing is wrong and me saying to you that something you're doing
seems wrong. I'm not judging you in that. God's your judge.

But I am being your brother or you're being my sister in Christ by doing that.
But then there's a third truth, and that's the truth about discernment. We are
commanded to be discerning and act or to not act toward unbelievers depending on
how they would respond.

Be discerning and act or don't act depending on how somebody is going to
respond. Paul specifically says here, you're not commanded to judge outsiders.
So don't get involved in spending your whole life in condemning those who are
not yet followers of Jesus.

That's not your relationship with them. Your relationship with them is to let
them know the good news of Jesus Christ. Now Jesus even talked about this.

Do you remember when Jesus sent out the 70, those who were going to go witness
in towns? And he said to them, if you go into a town and the people don't want
to hear what you have to say, don't stay in that town and argue with them. Just
walk out of that town and go to another town.

In fact, he said, wipe the dust off of your feet. Just say no to them. I'm done
with you and go to the next place.

Recognize that there are some people who don't want to hear what you're saying,
who don't want to hear what you have to say. So be discerning in that. Don't
give what is holy to dogs.

Don't cast your pearls before swine because it's going to hurt both of you. As I
was writing about these verses in a quiet time a couple of years ago, I wrote
down, I understand the truth of this verse, yet I have to say that I struggle
sometimes with the situation to apply it to. I felt that it means that there are
sometimes when I need to just stop talking.

My hope is that someone would change, but they've decided not to change. So all
I'm saying is just making it worse, not only for them, but also for me. Notice
the verses say they'll trample the truth under their feet, and then they'll turn
and tear you to pieces.

So that's part of discerning. Now, what about I said you have to act in love
towards followers of Jesus. What about when followers of Jesus won't listen to
what you have to say?

Well, Jesus one time said if they won't listen, then you treat them like an
unbeliever. I don't believe that means that you treat them without love because
we treat even unbelievers with love. I think that it means that you do the same
thing you would do here.

You recognize they don't want to hear. I've got to stop talking. The truth is
you can actually push someone away if they're not ready to hear it.

And they end up attacking you because they're not ready to hear it. So taking
the speck out of somebody's eye, that's what Jesus has just talked about. And he
says there's some people who don't want to have the speck taken out of their
eye.

So what do you do when that happens? You give it to God. You wait on God's
timing.

You trust him with it because he is the one who is trustworthy in it. Some of
you are facing a very real situation about this right now. Someone in your
family, someone who was a follower of Christ.

They were in the church, but now they're outside the church. Someone that you
love and that you care about, but they won't listen. We need God's discernment.

We need God's wisdom. So let's pray for it right now. Would you pray with me?

And as you pray, just say, Lord, give me discernment. Jesus teaches me here not
to cast my pearls before a pig, but I don't want to call anyone a pig. I don't
want to discern that anyone doesn't want to listen, but I know you can.

You can tell Jesus as you walk this earth, you knew who to talk to and who not
to talk to, when to say the right thing and when to be silent. I need your
wisdom in that. So with every situation of life and maybe with this specific
situation I'm thinking of right now, Lord, would you give me wisdom?

Lord, would you give me wisdom? I'm going to keep praying for that person
because I love them. Give me wisdom to know when to say the right thing and give
me wisdom to know when to say nothing, to leave it to you.

Lord, I pray for this person that I love that there will come that day when they
do receive the truth, whether it's for me or someone else. I don't care who it
comes from when they hear the truth and it changes their heart and lives in
their heart and their life in a way that lets them know, Lord, that you are
real. You can be trusted.

I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Tomorrow we're going to talk together about
the life-changing decision to just ask.