welcome to real Christianity mission is to bring the church back to the Bible my name is Dale Partridge and I'm the president of relearn. Org and Reformation Seminary the premise of the show is simple the culture is growing darker the church is in need of sound Doctrine and many Christians are hungry for the truth join me here each week as we look to scripture and discover what it really means to be a Christian
 welcome to the show over the last few weeks I have been walking through scripture passages that are commonly misinterpreted and as a result misused and misapplied so far I've covered two of the four passages that I plan to examine in the short series the first passage was the 2nd Peter 3 9 which many people use it properly to refute the doctrine of election the second passage I covered was 1st Peter 2:24 which Prosperity teachers in the Bethel Hillsong and even the greater Prosperity movement have perverted in an attempt to turn the cross into the solution not only for our sin but also for our physical health today I'm going to be talking about a passage that might be the most misused and abused passage of scripture in this series and potentially the most
 used passage of scripture ever but I want to just make one critical observation before the game the people who misuse this passage of scripture the most are often not Christians know this passage is used by the world to refute the moral Corrections and instructions given by Christians so before we can I'm excited to talk to you about this but I want to mention this episode sponsor
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 on all that chm can do and help you with a healthcare costs just again you can go to CH Ministries. Org to learn more about Christian Healthcare Ministries all right today is passive guys is Matthew 7:1 which states do not judge so that you will not be judged this is a classic passage of scripture just to give you a few examples a Christian may call out some form of immoral behavior that adultery or lying or cheating and the alleged party might respond by saying something like I don't pass judgment on me or they might say the Bible says not to judge people or not to judge others or Only God can judge me
 hitting all these responses are derived from a misinterpretation in the misapplication of Jesus's words in the KJV they say judge not lest you be judged so the next question we have to ask is what does Jesus mean when he says do not judge so that you will not be judged it is Jesus restricting all Judgment at all times if so how is a court supposed to bring Justice in the matter of the law how are Christians to obey the command to correct exhorter even rebuke one another our parents to discipline their children in condemned sinful Behavior if his words are this kind of carte blanche command to never judge that how is the church to ever purify itself through the church discipline process in math
 chapter 18 until we have to remember people that we live in a time where we've been trained to speak in short tweet size absolutes
 Our Generation we overuse superlatives and extremes were emotional and lack patience critical thinking and contextual investigation and laboring to understand something Have Become increasingly foreign to our generation and I say this because Christians we cannot be this way we cannot be this way the Bible is a complex and demanding the book The Gospel it's simple but Doctrine and theology or not simple exegesis is not simple tax position is not simple closet layouts and grammar are not simple essentially we we have to learn to analyze and observe properly before we interpret and apply and so let's just do that just for a quick moment
 obviously I don't have time to do a full background but our passage in Matthew here in 7:1 it sits in the last third of what's called The Sermon on the Mount which begins in Matthew Chapter 5 and concludes at the end of chapter 7 in Jesus in the sermon is addressing proper Kingdom living Herman Ridder boss I want said The Sermon on the Mount is only to be understood when there was a full recognition of the frame in which it appears namely the gospel of the kingdom of God and of God's Mighty deeds in his son Jesus Christ Jesus is telling people in this sermon how Christians should live and how they will live if they are members of his kingdom if they are citizens of his kingdom in chapter 5 he delivers the Beatitudes right the blessed are the poor in spirit
 for theirs is the kingdom of God or blessed is the meek for they shall inherit the earth at the end of the chapter he upholds the law he shows are in a bility that keep it closes by hitting back-to-back topics like anger and lust divorce Oates loving your enemies and then chapter 6 he shares the Lord's Prayer speaks on anxiety he talks about the fruit of the spirit you'll know you'll know actually that's in chapter 7 chapter 7 talks about the fruit of the spirit then in chapter 7 really he hits the Golden Rule false convert he closes the sermon with this famous store that we all know about about the man who built his house on the rock so our passage 71
 really sit in that last third I'm going to read it one more time just so we can grasp the immediate contacts and then just allow me to exposito the meaning a little bit for you guys so it says do not be Jenna are do not judge so that you will not be judged for in the way you judge you will be judged and by your standard of measure it'll be measured to you he goes on and talks about the plank you know why you talk about the plank are the speck in someone else's eyes and I have the address to plank in your own eye you hypocrite first pull out to the speck in your own eye before you start correcting some you know where the plank in your own eye before you start the truck is someone with a speck in there I so he's really challenging this issue here
 of judgment and so we need to get some clarification what does he mean as a message earlier we know this passage can't mean a sweeping prohibition of judgment because a few chapters later in 18 Jesus commands his followers to make moral judgments upon those who claim to be members of the kingdom and so what I believe Jesus is teaching after my study and after looking at several different commentaries and doing a grammatical Exposition and looking at the closet looking at The Sermon on the Mount in understanding the context of The Sermon on the Mount in looking at judgement as a whole a Biblical theological understanding of judgement
 I'm kind of strapped to the handful of things it's a first I believe he's laying down and essential Kingdom characteristic and that is do not nurture a judgment Hollister are judgmental posture toward others do not nurture a judgmental posture toward others Proverbs 16:18 says Pride goes before destruction and an arrogant spirit before stumbling get the primary posture Christians must nurture is a posture of Love toward others a Christian 13-5 in the KJV says quote love thinks no evil
 what you just ponder that for a second love thinks no evil
 Universe 7 it says love bears all things believes all things hopes all things endures all things now I'm going to explain that in a second but I want to cut it back up for a second here and give you a little bit of context I believe this passage in some sent was a poking or prodding of the Pharisees who were surely present and were criminal as it pertains to having a judgmental posture toward people they were pillars of judgment in society and their judgment was severe in Jesus is sternly warning these people
 against their prideful heart and if you ever been in a legalistic church we have we have been in several years in legalism where it's heavy based on Behavior Little Grace little bit of compassion but heavy based on obedience in in in this
 produces and nurtures a posture of judgment judgmental Hearts toward one another constantly keeping each other in check this is very fair Circle very religious the next versus I said in in Matthew chapter 7 after our passage this why do you look at the spec that is in your brother's eye but you do not notice the log is in your that is in your own eye he then calls these people are hypocrites
 and again this is a Hallmark posture that Jesus had toward the Pharisees they were whitewashed tombs beautiful on the outside and ugly on the inside hypocrite and so I just along with many people in many theologians structure just for I believe this is a prod and poke specifically at the religious culture of the day which is still present today in various lickable today but I just want to make that side note
 now as it pertains to the idea of Love thinks no evil I think this is an important posture when we love people we're not to cultivate a heart of Suspicion
 where we seek to elevate ourselves as the appraiser of other people's hearts and motives that's not we don't want to think that we want to actually think the best of somebody until proven otherwise we don't want to have this posture of Suspicion and judgment on somebody it's so now we are putting the scripture permitted to make moral judgments upon clear actions that violate God's moral law or pervert Christian doctrine a cell 9710 says you who love the Lord hate evil! 1st Corinthians 5:12 to 13 Paul instructs the church
 who is harboring a man who calls himself a Christian yet is walking in blatant unrepentant sin and Paul says quote for what have I to do with judging Outsiders is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge God judges those who are outside Purge the evil person from among you and that first evil person is at is an Old Testament reference reference of purifying the God's people at these the nation of Israel and so
 yes we are to make judgments in their proper space and we'll talk about that as tight as 19 said Elders in The Church Must hold fast to the faithful word which isn't the coordinates with the teachings so that purpose Claus right there he will be able both to exhort in sound Doctrine and to refute those who contradict it's okay he's making a moral judgment on the on Doctrine and correcting so there's all types of references throughout the the Old and New Testament on Judge whether there is a place for God's people to exercise judgment however our default position toward one another is to be loved and grace and mercy and compassion it and why will because
 we are to love because he first loved us where the show Grace because he first showed us Grace to our default posture must be there and are places of judgment must be supported by scripture
 which leads me to my second point and there's going to be four points that I'm going to cover for you here today and so the second point that I have here
 I do believe Jesus is teaching that we must not put ourselves in the position of Judge where were not called to exercise just it's a God has designed three Authority structures in the world and we have the Family Church in the civil government and is going to give you an example here in my role as a parent in the family I'm called by scripture to exercise my authority in producing moral judgment and Justice regarding my children's Behavior but I don't have that same authority over my neighbor's children across the street
 give me another example in my role as a pastor I'm called by scripture to exercise my authority and producing moral judgments and ecclesiastical easy obstacle Justice regarding doctor and the people in our church but I don't have that same authority over the church at Grace Community Church of the John MacArthur okay if I was a police officer or a civil magistrate appointed by the government
 I am called by scripture to exercise my authority and producing moral judgments Injustice regarding the people's civil behavior in my jurisdiction but I would not have that same Authority in another state or city or country have to remember that even Christ during his Earthly Ministry restrained his own authority to pronounce judgment and John 1247 Jesus says if you want here's my sayings and does not keep them I do not judge him for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world in other words Jesus withheld his judgmental Authority his condemnation for what date for the day of judgment that will occur upon his second coming so even at this dispensation of time Jesus is not
 the place of judgment but there is a day of judgement coming and if you die in your sins you will fit the next thing you will face is judgement that one of the Peters Epistles disappointed one time for a man to die and then the judgement and so this leads me to my my final point
 we are never granted the ability actually this is not my phone appointment at 4 Points sorry we are never granted the ability to judge the Eternal state of the heart and soul of others in other words
 we're never to pronounce
 Eternal condemnation upon a person this is solely the work of the Lord of 1st Samuel 16:7 says for God sees not as man sees for man looks at the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart declaring Eternal condemnation actually not foreign to church history in January 15-21 the Catholic Church excommunicated and condemned Martin Luther among many other Protestants and the ecclesiastical word for this is called anathema he was anathema tized which means to formally curse a person and was a practice actually in place in the Catholic church all the way until January 1983 it so this is
 I said that some people the Catholic Church will argue that that's not what they're saying but it is what they mean especially in a historical context in the you know 15th 16th centuries
 so now this is not mean we are to neglect
 the Judgment of ourselves this is my fourth and final Point here so
 personal judgment when Jesus says judge not lest you be judged he's not saying don't judge yourself get personal judgment is an important spiritual discipline to measure ourselves against the scriptures 2nd Corinthians 13:5 instructs us to quote examine ourselves examine yourself to see whether you are in the faith test yourselves to make a judgment call look at your heart what kind of fruit is on your tree do you have love joy peace patience kindness gentleness you no self-control and missing one of them they're thankful this maybe and self-control do you have the fruits of the spirit
 are the evident in your life examine yourself and look at your heart test yourselves 1st Corinthians 11:28 says in preparation for communion let a person examine himself then and so eat the bread and drink of the cup don't walk into the Lord's table without looking at your heart and making sure that there are no Shadows between you and the Lord
 so that you can sit and and commune with Christ or commune with God through Christ without having some sort of unrepentant sin between you and the Lord
 inside out that's 1st Corinthians 11 1st Corinthians 9 and there's just tons of 1st Corinthians stuff here in 2nd Corinthians it says but I discipline my body and keep it under control less after preaching to others I should I should myself be disqualified
 is it good to contact controlling and making judgments and examinations in valuations in and you know measuring yourself against what the scripture say against the convictions of the holy spirit in your life against
 just ensuring that you are in the face this is something that we always must do Lamentations 3:40 says let us test and examine our ways and return to the Lord and so there are more scriptures that talk about this specific topic but judge not does not mean to avoid self-examination it is essential part of the Christian mature Christian life so ultimately I think what we learn here from this passage of scripture
 is the Judgment has boundaries and when we judge within our God appointed boundaries within the family within the church within the civil government when we do that and we do it within those boundaries and we do it with a humble posture
 we're righteous that's a righteous judgement and we're called to do those things according to scripture when we judge outside of our God appointed boundaries we go into territory that is not under our Authority or in our jurisdiction and we do so harshly or rashly or severely
 these are boundaries that have been crossed and we are acting in sin and that's sinful
 I would also add is it judgment should never be
 a condition we seek to employ it's not something that we are eager to jump at judgment is never to be a pleasant or savored activity is not something that we should
 be excited about
 judgment is simply the disciplinary means to restore a person to the truth or it's worse or person to Christ or the restore person to Justice which is again another synonym for truth
 it's a this is important heart posture stuff
 to understand the context about what I believe Jesus is saying hear The Sermon on the Mount so couple questions
 what about you do you have a judgmental and condemning posture toward the world or toward others or do you desire to extend compassion through the gospel do you desire to see people saved or are you a condemning and judgmental heart wounded and bitter toward the world
 something I think that we should all examine do you humbly carry out your judgments in your god-given spheres of authority
 when you make judgments on your children are in your family or
 in your church or in your civil duties if you have those
 do you do so in a way that's humble and loving
 do you cross boundaries and attempted to judge those outside of your god-given Authority
 and I think we all do this and it's something that we should
 really
 stand against
 we should really pray that the Lord would convicted us of having a judgmental heart toward
 areas of influence that are not
 in our Spears authority figures of authority now again remember that verse I said in Proverbs 13 KJV says the fear of the Lord is the hatred of evil we're allowed to Hattieville to condemn things that stand against the moral law of God
 but our heart should be for restoration and Reconciliation for that individual committing such moral actions that they would know the Lord that they would come back and then come back to him or that there would be compassion and mercy shown by God to save that person that that should be the posture it shouldn't be condemnation and hoping that person Burns in hell
 the last question is do you judge your own life against the scriptures do you examine your own heart
 against what is right
 self-love is blinding
 and we have to be willing to employ faithful judgments evaluations examination upon ourselves to maintain that standard of Holiness expected from God's children and we don't do this from the heart of Duty that we must do this because if we don't we'll lose our Salvation no we do this out of gratitude because of what Christ has done for us we love because Christ has loved us
 we do this because it is a reaction
 of our Salvation it's not the means of our salvation
 we evaluate ourselves because we want to walk holy as he is Holy
 and so as for the born again Christian
 and the judgments of God
 listen to close with an encouragement from John MacArthur and this is talking about
 how we have through Christ escaped the judgment and condemnation of God
 is commentary on 2nd Corinthians he writes
 Believers will not be judged for sin at the judgement seat of Christ
 every sin of every believer was judged at the cross when God quote made him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf so that we might become the righteousness of God in him that second Corinthians 5:21
 at the cross quote Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law have you become a curse for us that's Galatians 3:13
 Hazard substitute quote he himself bore our sins in his body on the cross so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness that's 1st Peter 2:24
 in quote he having offered one sacrifice for sins for all-time sat down at the right hand of God that's Hebrews 10 12
 it because of
 his atoning sacrifice on our behalf quote there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus
 this
 is amazing news
 we have escape the Judgment of God through the mercy of God to The Compassion of God for the love of God in Christ Jesus that should be the foundation for how we extend our own judgments
 we must remember what God has done for us
 I hope it's appisode was helpful and edifying for your walk with the Lord thank you for listening to this episode of real Christianity if you are a regular listener would you be willing to leave a review reviews are very helpful for our show you don't have to even write anything you could just tap the stars in your podcast app but if you do write something I will read it they have been very encouraging to me one last thing I'd like to mention we are enrolling for our Reformation Seminary house church planting program so if you're interested in planting a Biblical House Church in your area we are looking for men who are called and qualify to pastor and preach at a Biblical house church and we have right now that we have almost 40 or 50 students in the program now but we are enrolling for June 2022 and we have some space left and we would love to have you come and
 learn biblical hermeneutics and exegesis in biblical Theology and Systematic Theology and church history in homiletics and preaching processes and understand grammar and clauses and understand planting in the retained ecclesiology and teach you how to do all these things that you could plan and Pastor a house Church in your area and you could join our new biblical house church planting Network so there's lots going on over here if you're interested just go to Reformation Seminary, all right guys thank you so much for listening to this episode my name is Dale Partridge this is real Christianity and I'll see you next week
 thank you for joining me on this episode of real Christianity real Christianity is a listener supported audio Ministry of relearn. Org our mission a tree there. Or days to bring the church back to the Bible we achieve this through strengthen and Christians in biblical and Theological literacy find biblical articles podcast sermons and videos at our website at relearn. Org our team is small but our mission is large and we need your help if you'd like to support our ministry financially you can always do so at relearn. Org forward slash donate thank you again for joining me today and I hope to see you next week for another episode of real Christianity