As we read the Gospel narratives we cannot fail to be impressed with a singular mingling of severity and kindness in the teachings of our Lord. His standard is lofty and he admits of no compromise, yet he deals gently with the erring, and he urges a similar line of conduct on his disciples. He came not to judge the world, but to save it. He bids us not judge one another, while we are to be severe in judging ourselves. Let us consider the evil of censoriousness.
I. IT IS DANGEROUS. In judging others we court judgment ourselves.
1. From men. The critic becomes unpopular. By his irritating conduct he excites animosity, and induces people to be on the look out for his offences. They will be ready to use the tu quoque argument in sheer self-defence. None of us is so perfect as to be able to stand the fire of adverse criticism without a defect being revealed. The fierce light that beats upon a critic should quiet his censoriousness.
2. From God. It is unpleasant for our faults to be exposed by men; it is far worse, it is fatal, for them to bring down upon us the judgment of God. Yet it is the repeated teaching of Christ that God will deal with us as we deal with our neighbours. If we do not forgive them, God will not forgive us. With the unmerciful he will show himself unmerciful. So long as we make it our business to point out the sins of other people there is no hope that our sins will be blotted out (Matthew 6:15).
II. IT IS HYPOCRITICAL. The censorious person is the last to perceive his own sin. It may be huge as a beam, yet he is quite unable to see it while he is busy in hunting for the speck of dust in his brother's eye. There is nothing which so hinders a person from heart-searching self-examination, nothing which so hardens him in self-complacent pride, as the habit of finding fault with other people. The prophet may be a greater sinner than the people whom he is denouncing; yet the very act of denunciation blinds him to his own great wickedness. The English bear a reputation of hypocrisy on the Continent, and are not popular there as a nation, because they are constantly denouncing "continental vices," while dishonesty in trade, self-seeking in politics, and immorality in life belie their exalted pretensions. It is a common habit of Churches to thunder against the heresies and wrong-doings of sister-communions; they would do better to look at home first. Religious people are horrified at the sight of publicans and sinners; but have they nothing to be ashamed of? Comparing their advantages with the temptations of the miserable drunkards and harlots whom they denounce, they might well ask whether their pride, uncharitableness, and covetousness may not be veritable beams in the eyes of God.
III. IT IS FUTILE. While there is a beam in his own eye the critic cannot remove the mote from his brother's eye. To do so is to perform a very delicate operation. Any obscurity of vision will allow only of a bungling attempt, that will give much pain and yet will not effect its purpose. The beam must go first. While a man is blinded to his sin, he cannot save his neighbour. Christ, the Saviour of the world, was sinless. Christians must seek deliverance from their own sins before they undertake a crusade for the saving of their brethren. The humility that confesses personal unworthiness is the spirit best fitted for seeking to save lost and degraded fellow-men and women. - W.F.A.
Judge not.
I. THE PROHIBITION. It refers to the conduct of private individuals, not to men in a public capacity; nor to hinder private persons from forming any opinion upon the misconduct of others. It forbids the indulgence of a censorious temper.
II. The METHODS BY WHICH HE REPROVES and condemns it.
1. He refers to the common principle of retribution.
2. As another corrective we are reminded of our own imperfections.(1) Men of this description have no right to sit in judgment on others, who are themselves guilty of the same crimes.(2) They have no moral qualification for its discharge.
3. Our Saviour directs us to reform our own conduct before we undertake to sit in judgment on that of others.
III. The CAUTION WHICH WE MUST OBSERVE IN ITS DISCHARGE — "Give not that which is holy unto the dogs," etc.
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I. JUDGMENTS.
1. We are warned against judgments that are prejudiced. Not to judge others by a sort of hasty inspiration, by their manner, or by their class or locality.
2. We are warned against judgments that are uncalled for. Sometimes our duty; but often not required of us to judge our neighbour's character.
3. We are warned against judgments that are one-sided. Must hear both sides.
4. We are warned against unmerciful judgments. Danger arises from attributing motives. We must beware lest we ignore the possibilities of good even in a bad man. Be as merciful as you can be to the sinner.
5. We are warned against blind judgment — "Why beholdest thou," etc. Evil men more suspicious of others.
II. RETRIBUTIVE judgments — who will inflict them (Luke 6:37, 38).
1. The first solution is that they are the judgments of men. This not practically true.
2. Consider the interpretation which attributes the retributive judgments to angels. It is not our Lord's wont to attribute judgment, forgiveness, etc., to angels.
3. God will inflict them. He judges men according to the state of mind in which they live.
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I. THE DUTY — "Judge not."
1. From the context it is evident that the Saviour here speaks only of those judgments that we form concerning our neighbour. Favourable judgments are not forbidden; unfavourable judgments allowed, when our station or clear evidence require. Judges, parents, teachers, must condemn and publicly censure. Our Lord condemns —
1. The inward disposition of the mind which inclines persons to judge the actions of their neighbours with
(1)precipitance,(2)malignity,(3)rigour.2. He condemns the habit of communicating to others the rash and severe judgments we have formed, when no necessity requires it. We multiply the injury in proportion to the number of persons to whom we communicate our unfavourable opinions.
II. THE MOTIVE. If we thus judge our brethren, there is more than one tribunal at which we shall be condemned.
1. We shall find for ourselves in society judges without pity.
2. The rigour at the last judgment. God will punish those who have encroached upon His rights, and who have trampled down the rules of justice and charity.
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1. Such judgment provokes retaliation.2. Such judgment is not becoming in us. Such a sinner has no right to sit in the judgment seat.
3. Such judgment shows incapacity for true judgment.
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There are divers sorts of judging which it is requisite to distinguish from the judging prohibited: —1. That exercising public judgment, or administering justice, is not here prohibited.
2. The trial and censure, although out of court, which any kind of superiors do exercise on their inferiors, committed to their care, such as masters and servants.
3. Neither is friendly reproof proceeding out of charitable design, on clear ground, in fit season, within reasonable compass, concerned in this prohibition.
4. All observing and reflecting on our neighbours' actions, all framing an opinion about them, and expressing our minds concerning them, are not forbidden.
5. We are not hence obliged to think so well of all men as without competent knowledge always to rely on their pretences, or to entrust our interests in their hands.
6. We are not obliged, in contradiction to plain sense, to judge all men well.We observe:
1. No judge should intrude himself into the office, or assume a judicial power, without competent authority, either by delegation from superior powers, or by voluntary reference to the parties concerned.
2. A judge should be free from all prejudices and all partial affections.
3. A judge should never proceed in judgment without careful examination of the cause, so as well to understand it.
4. A judge should never pronounce final sentence, but after certain proof and on full conviction.
5. Hence there are divers causes wholly exempt from our judgment, such as the secret thoughts of men.
6. Hence we should not judge the state of our neighbour in regard to God.
7. A judge should not proceed against any man without warning, and affording him opportunity to defend himself.
8. Moreover a judge is obliged to conform all his determinations to the settled rules of judgment.
9. He must be a person of good knowledge and ability.
10. It is proper for a judge not to make himself an accuser.
11. He should himself be innocent.
12. He should proceed with great moderation.Again:
1. Censuring is an impious practice in regard to God.
2. In respect to our neighbour it is an unjust practice.
3. It is an uncharitable practice.
4. It is a foolish and vain practice.
5. It will produce many inconveniences and mischiefs.
(1)We provoke others to requite us in the same kind.(2)We pass censure on ourselves, as we are seldom clear.(3)We aggravate our own faults and deprive them of excuse.(4)We forget to what a dreadful judgment we stand obnoxious to.(5)It causes us to leave our own faults uncorrected.(6)The best men are the most candid and gentle.(7)It signifies bad conscience; a vulturous nature smelleth out carrion.()
little boy once went home to his mother and said, "Mother, sister and I went out into the garden, and we were calling about, and there was some boy mocking us." "How do you mean, Johnny?" said his mother. "Why," said the child, "I was calling out, 'He!' and this boy said, 'He!' So I said to him, 'Who are you?' and he answered, 'Who are you?' I said, 'What is your name?' he said, 'What is your name?' And I said to him, 'Why don't you show yourself?' he said, ' Show yourself?' And I jumped over the ditch, and I went into the woods, and I could not find him, and I came back, and said, 'If you don't come out I will punch your head!' and he said, 'I will punch your head!' "So his mother said, "Ah, Johnny I if you had said, 'I love you,' he would have said, 'I love You.' If you had said, 'Your voice is sweet,' he would have said, 'Your voice is sweet.' Whatever you said to him, he would have said back to you." And the mother also said, "Now, Johnny, when you grow and get to be a man, whatever you say to others they will, by and by, say back to you." And his mother took him to that old text in the Scripture, "With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again."Censoriousness is a compound of many of the worst passions; latent pride, which discovers the mote in our brother's eye, but hides the beam in our own; malignant envy, which, wounded at the noble talents and superior prosperity of others, transforms them into the objects and food of its malice — if possible, obscuring the splendour it is too base to emulate; disguised hatred, which diffuses, in its perpetual mutterings, the irritable venom of the heart; servile duplicity, which fulsomely praises to the face and blackens behind the back; shameless levity, which sacrifices the peace and reputation of the absent, merely to give barbarous stings to a jocular conversation; altogether forming an aggregate the most desolating on earth, and nearest in character to the malice of hell.()
Pedley, who was a well-known natural simpleton, was wont to say, "God help the fool." None are more ready to pity the folly of others than those who have a small share of wit themselves. "There is no love among Christians," cries the man who is destitute of true charity. "Zeal has vanished," exclaims the idle talker. "O for more consistency," groans out the hypocrite. "We want more vital godliness," protests the false pretender. As in the old legend, the wolf preached against sheep-stealing, so very many hunt down those sins in others, which they gladly shelter in themselves.()
Avoid forming refined and romantic notions of human perfection in anything. For these are much apter to heighten our expectations from others, and our demands upon them, than to increase our watchfulness over ourselves; and so every failure provokes us more highly than it would have done else.
People
JesusPlaces
GalileeTopics
Judge, Judged, Judges, Won'tOutline
1. Do Not Judge
7. Ask, Seek, Knock
13. Enter through the Narrow Gate
15. A Tree and Its Fruit
24. The Wise and the Foolish Builders
28. Jesus ends his sermon, and the people are astonished.
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Matthew 7:1 5765 attitudes, to people
Matthew 7:1-2
8452 neighbours, duty to
8844 unforgiveness
Matthew 7:1-5
1660 Sermon on the Mount
2042 Christ, justice of
5821 criticism, among believers
5897 judging others
6026 sin, judgment on
6126 condemnation, human
6163 faults
Library
November 22. "Cast the Beam Out of Thine Own Eye" (Matt. vii. 5).
"Cast the beam out of thine own eye" (Matt. vii. 5). Greater than the fault you condemn and criticise is the sin of criticism and condemnation. There is no place we need such grace as in dealing with an erring one. A lady once called on us on her way to give an erring sister a piece of her mind. We advised her to wait until she could love her a little more. Only He who loved sinners well enough to die for them can deal with the erring. We never see all the heart. He does, and He can convict without …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth January 12. "Ask and it Shall be Given You" (Matt. vii. 7).
"Ask and it shall be given you" (Matt. vii. 7). We must receive, as well as ask. We must take the place of believing, and recognize ourselves as in it. A friend was saying, "I want to get into the will of God," and this was the answer: "Will you step into the will of God? And now, are you in the will of God?" The question aroused a thought that had not come before. The gentleman saw that he had been straining after, but not receiving the blessing he sought. Jesus has said, "Ask and ye shall receive." …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth
Judging, Asking, and Giving
'Judge not, that ye be not judged. 2. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. 3. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 4. Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye! 5. Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture
The Two Paths
'Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: 14. Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.'--MATT. vii. 13-14. A frank statement of the hardships and difficulties involved in a course of conduct does not seem a very likely way to induce men to adopt it, but it often proves so. There is something in human nature which responds to the bracing …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture
The Two Houses
'Therefore, whosoever heareth these sayings of Mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock.... 25. And every one that heareth these sayings of Mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand.'--Matt. vii. 24, 25. Our Lord closes the so-called Sermon on the Mount, which is really the King's proclamation of the law of His Kingdom, with three pairs of contrasts, all meant to sway us to obedience. The first …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture
The Christ of the Sermon on the Mount
'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.'--MATT. vii. 28-29. It appears, then, from these words, that the first impression made on the masses by the Sermon on the Mount was not so much an appreciation of its high morality, as a feeling of the personal authority with which Christ spoke. Had the scribes, then, no authority? They ruled the whole life of the nation with …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture
On the Words of the Gospel, Matt. vii. 7, "Ask, and it Shall be Given You;" Etc. An Exhortation to Alms-Deeds.
1. In the lesson of the Holy Gospel the Lord hath exhorted us to prayer. "Ask," saith He, "and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? [2135] Or if he ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? [2136] If ye then," …
Saint Augustine—sermons on selected lessons of the new testament
Known by their Fruits.
(Eighth Sunday after Trinity.) S. MATT. vii. 16. "Ye shall know them by their fruits." The religion of Jesus Christ is one of deeds, not words; a life of action, not of dreaming. Our Lord warns us to beware of any form of religion, in ourselves or others, which does not bring forth good fruit. God does not look for the leaves of profession, or the blossoms of promise, He looks for fruit unto holiness. We may profess to believe in Jesus Christ, we may say the Creed without a mistake, we may read …
H. J. Wilmot-Buxton—The Life of Duty, a Year's Plain Sermons, v. 2
Casting Blame.
8th Sunday after Trinity. S. Matt. vii. 15. "Inwardly they are ravening wolves." INTRODUCTION.--A Schoolmaster finds one day that several of his scholars are playing truant. The morning passes and they do not arrive. At last, in the afternoon, the truants turn up. The master has a strong suspicion where they have been: however, he asks, "Why were you not at school this morning?" "Please, sir, mother kept me at home to mind the baby." "Indeed--let me look at your mouth." He opens the mouth, …
S. Baring-Gould—The Village Pulpit, Volume II. Trinity to Advent
False Prophets
(Eighth Sunday after Trinity.) Matthew vii. 16. Ye shall know them by their fruits. People are apt to overlook, I think, the real meaning of these words. They do so, because they part them from the words which go just before them, about false prophets. They consider that 'fruit' means only a man's conduct,--that a man is known by his conduct. That professions are worth nothing, and practice worth everything. That the good man, after all, is the man who does right; and the bad man, the man who …
Charles Kingsley—Town and Country Sermons
A Man Expects to Reap the Same Kind as He Sows.
"Herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit . . . after his kind."--Gen. i: 12. "Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?"--Matt. vii: 16. "For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live." --Romans viii: 13. A Man Expects to Reap the Same Kind as He Sows. If I should tell you that I sowed ten acres of wheat last year and that watermelons came up, or that I sowed cucumbers and gathered …
Dwight L. Moody—Sowing and Reaping
The Mote and the Beam
That friend of ours has got something in his eye! Though it is only something tiny--what Jesus called a mote--how painful it is and how helpless he is until it is removed! It is surely our part as a friend to do all we can to remove it, and how grateful he is to us when we have succeeded in doing so. We should be equally grateful to him, if he did the same service for us. In the light of that, it seems clear that the real point of the well-known passage in Matthew 7:3-5 about the beam and the mote …
Roy Hession and Revel Hession—The Calvary Road
Doctrine of Non-Resistance to Evil by Force must Inevitably be Accepted by Men of the Present Day.
Christianity is Not a System of Rules, but a New Conception of Life, and therefore it was Not Obligatory and was Not Accepted in its True Significance by All, but only by a Few--Christianity is, Moreover, Prophetic of the Destruction of the Pagan Life, and therefore of Necessity of the Acceptance of the Christian Doctrines--Non-resistance of Evil by Force is One Aspect of the Christian Doctrine, which must Inevitably in Our Times be Accepted by Men--Two Methods of Deciding Every Quarrel--First Method …
Leo Tolstoy—The Kingdom of God is within you
Fifth Lesson. Ask, and it Shall be Given You;
Ask, and it shall be given you; Or, The Certainty of the Answer to Prayer. Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened,'--Matt. vii. 7, 8. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss.'--Jas. iv. 3. OUR Lord returns here in the Sermon on the Mount a second time to speak of prayer. The first time He had spoken of the Father who is …
Andrew Murray—With Christ in the School of Prayer
Sixth Lesson. How Much More?'
How much more?' Or, The Infinite Fatherliness of God. Or what man is there of you, who, if his son ask him for a loaf, will give him a stone; or if he shall ask for a fish, will give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask Him?'--Matt. vii. 9-11 IN these words our Lord proceeds further to confirm what He had said of the certainty of an answer to prayer. To remove …
Andrew Murray—With Christ in the School of Prayer
The Beggar. Mt 7:7-8
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John Newton—Olney Hymns
Here Again Arises a Very Difficult Question. For in what Way Shall we Fools...
28. Here again arises a very difficult question. For in what way shall we fools be able to find a wise man, whereas this name, although hardly any one dare openly, yet most men lay claim to indirectly: so disagreeing one with another in the very matters, in the knowledge of which wisdom consists, as that it must needs be that either none of them, or but some certain one be wise? But when the fool enquires, who is that wise man? I do not at all see, in what way he can be distinguished and perceived. …
St. Augustine—On the Profit of Believing.
Asking, Seeking, Finding. --Matt. vii. 7, 8
Asking, Seeking, Finding.--Matt. vii. 7, 8. Ask, and ye shall receive; On this my hope I build: I ask forgiveness, and believe My prayer shall be fulfill'd. Seek, and expect to find: Wounded to death in soul, I seek the Saviour of mankind; His touch can make me whole. Knock, and with patience wait, Faith shall free entrance win: I stand and knock at mercy's gate; Lord Jesus! let me in. How should I ask in vain? Seek, and not find Thee, Lord? Knock, and yet no admittance gain? Is it not in Thy …
James Montgomery—Sacred Poems and Hymns
Assurance and Encouragement. --Matt. vii. 7, 8
Assurance and Encouragement.--Matt. vii. 7, 8. While these commands endure, These promises are sure; And 'tis an easy task To knock, to seek, to ask: Sinner hast thou the willing mind? Saint, art thou thus inclined? Dost thou expect, desire, believe? Then knock and enter, seek and find, Ask and receive. …
James Montgomery—Sacred Poems and Hymns
The Strait Gate;
OR, GREAT DIFFICULTY OF GOING TO HEAVEN: PLAINLY PROVING, BY THE SCRIPTURES, THAT NOT ONLY THE RUDE AND PROFANE, BUT MANY GREAT PROFESSORS, WILL COME SHORT OF THAT KINGDOM. "Enter ye in at the strait gate; for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it."--Matthew 7:13, 14 ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. If any uninspired writer has been …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3
Parting Counsels
'And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there: 23. Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. 24. But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God. 25. And now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts
Author's Preface.
I did not write this little work with the thought of its being given to the public. It was prepared for the help of a few Christians who were desirous of loving God with the whole heart. But so many have requested copies of it, because of the benefit they have derived from its perusal, that I have been asked to publish it. I have left it in its natural simplicity. I do not condemn the opinions of any: on the contrary, I esteem those which are held by others, and submit all that I have written to …
Jeanne Marie Bouvières—A Short Method Of Prayer And Spiritual Torrents
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