Judging Others
“Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. 3 And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
One of our common faults is that we are often critical of others. We sometimes gossip and are willing to judge others for what they do or don’t do. The Lord warns us about doing that. He says that He will judge us by the same standard we use to judge others. We are entering dangerous territory when we judge others, especially when we do it unfairly. God wants us to look inward before we judge others. We first need to remove those same faults from our own lives so we won’t be hypocritical.
We have all thought negative thoughts about someone else. Sometimes we realize that we have also been guilty of either the same thing or something like it. We then feel hypocritical and are glad we never judged that person openly about it. We must be so careful not to judge people unfairly.
However, if we see a brother or sister in sin, we should go to them privately and try to persuade them to leave that sin and follow the Lord and His commandments. That is not judging a person if they are involved in open sin against God.
Don’t Cast Your Pearls Before Swine
6 “Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.
This verse seems to be a hard one to understand. Who are the dogs and swine referring to? What are our pearls or that which is holy? It would seem that the holy things or pearls are referring to the Word of God. The Bible is referred to as the Holy Bible. The main resource we have about holiness in Christ is the Holy Bible. Later in the gospel of Matthew Jesus gives us the parable of the pearl of great price.
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, 46 who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
Jesus likens the kingdom of heaven to a pearl of great price. How do you enter the kingdom of heaven? It is only by believing and following Jesus who is the Way (John 14:6) and the Word (John 1:1,14). Jesus in the Great Commission commands us to make disciples of all nations. We are to spread the news of the gospel and salvation though Christ. We are to witness to others on behalf of Him. How do we reconcile the Lord’s Great Commission with this verse?
I believe the dogs and swine that are referred to are those who have committed blasphemy against God and His Christ. They curse God and all things holy. They commit blasphemy against the Holy Spirit by attributing the works of God to demons. These people who have a hatred for God and His Word are not worthy of the pearls of the gospel. They would just stomp all over the precious Word. Their eternal end is the lake of fire. Jesus warns us not to give these dogs or swine the gospel because they will turn on us and try to destroy us.
Ask, Seek, and Knock
7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! 12 Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
Jesus commands us to ask Him for the things we need. He commands us to seek them. He wants us to knock on His door and actively pursue the things we need. Why? When we do this, it shows our faith in Him. We often don’t have something we want because we didn’t ask. If we go to God in prayer asking and seeking these things, then God will give them to us. Jesus gives us an example of the goodness of God. If we, who are sinful, always give good things to our children, how much more will the perfect God give good things to those who ask Him? We must learn to ask for things we need not just for things we want. We also must accept the fact that if what we are asking for is not for our good He won’t give it to us. We must be willing to accept a no from Him recognizing He knows what is best for us.
Jesus then shares the golden rule. We are to treat others just like we want them to treat us. This is one of the main themes written in the Old Testament by Moses and the prophets. Another way to say it is to love our neighbor as our self. The Christian life is all about looking out for the interests of others just like we look out for our own best interests. However, this is no easy task. Sin is ever present and causes us to have pride and self-satisfaction. We are selfish and love ourselves more than others. This is something we must work on constantly and pray for God’s help. Jesus’ whole life was based on how He could help others.
Two Gates
13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
Jesus said that there are two gates before us and we must choose one or the other. One gate is very narrow which means that it is hard to pass through. This is the gate that Jesus tells us to enter because if we do we will obtain eternal life and happiness. Sadly, few people will go through this gate. He warns us about the broad gate which is the easy one to enter. That is why most people go through this gate. The broad gate leads to destruction and damnation in the lake of fire. What does this all mean?
The broad gate represents the world and all its enticements to sin. The gate keeper is Satan who will try to lure as many people as he can to come to their destruction. He is very successful as he deceives most people to trust in riches, fame, power, sex, and pride. These people fall victim to all kinds of sins. These sins are their idols and they have no desire to worship God or His Christ. Their destruction is certain.
The narrow gate represents holiness and a love for God and others. This gate keeper is Jesus Christ. The people who enter through this gate are those who have trusted in Jesus Christ, believing that He died and was resurrected by God for them. Few people will believe and enter through this narrow gate.
“For many are called, but few are chosen.” (Matt. 22:14)
Those who do believe in Christ will seek after Him and try to live a holy life. Due to their faith in the Savior who died for them, they will inherit everlasting life.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)
Although few will be saved, the word “few” is relative. The few are a great number of people from the beginning of creation and heaven will be full of all those who believed in the Lord.
False Prophets
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.
Jesus warns us about false prophets. Who are these false prophets? They are people who lie to us. They try to deceive us by getting us to sin against God. Their father is Satan who is the great deceiver. These people are demonically inspired. Jesus wants us to know about these liars and to not succumb to their temptations. Speaking of them He said:
“You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.” (John 8:44)
Jesus tells us how we can spot these evil persons. We will be able to look at their lives and see what kind of fruit they produce. If their lives are full of sin and evil, we know they are false prophets. If their lives are full of goodness and love for others, we know they are true prophets of God. We need to be careful though. Jesus tells us on the outside they look very good but on the inside, they are like wolves that are hungry to devour us.
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
Here Christ tells us more about these false prophets. Standing before the Lord Jesus on judgment day, they proclaim the words “Lord, Lord.” Now they appeal to Him as Lord even though they didn’t truly believe in Him in life. Jesus tells us that these false prophets will say to Him that they had prophesied and cast out demons in His name, and did many wonders in His name.
Many people on judgment day will try to convince Christ that they should be able to enter heaven because of their good works. The Pharisees, the Jewish religious leaders of His day, had good works but their heart was far from God. The Bible says that all of us have sinned and come short of the glory of God. There is no one who does good in the sight of God. The following is what the Bible says about man’s good works:
But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. (Isa. 64:6)
…not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, (Titus 3:5)
The Scripture is very clear. We cannot earn our way into heaven by good works for no one is good enough. Our so-called good works in the eyes of God are like filthy rags. Salvation comes to us as a gift from God and it is based only on our faith in Jesus Christ. That is why we can’t boast or take credit for our salvation.
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. (Eph. 2:8-9)
31 So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” (Acts 16:31)
However, once we have been saved by our faith then good works will certainly follow that faith and we will produce good fruit for the kingdom of Christ.
These false prophets will plead their case before the Lord Jesus Christ, the Judge. He will tell them to depart from Him as He never knew them. He knew in eternity past they would never trust in Him, only in their good works. They were never one of His people so He said He never knew them. The Lord will cast them into the lake of fire on that last day.
Are You a Wise or Foolish Builder?
24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the 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 the rock.
26 “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like 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.”
Jesus states that the person who hears Him and does what He says is a wise individual. He is like a person who builds his house on a rock or firm foundation. That house will withstand great rains and wind. Notice that we must hear what Jesus says to do. We hear by reading His holy word, the Bible, and by listening to biblical teaching and preaching. However, hearing is only the first part. We then must act on what we have heard from Him. Jesus is the rock of our salvation. It is essential for our house or lives to be firmly grounded on the teachings of Christ. When times of great trouble come our way, we are ready to handle them. We are protected by the grace of God because we are anchored to Him. This make us very wise because we will be saved by Christ and will inherit both earthly and heavenly blessings.
However, those who fail to listen and follow the words of Jesus will see their house or lives destroyed. Whenever trials come their way in life they are not prepared or protected by the Lord. They have no firm foundation supporting them. Their lives will crumble because they were secured by sinking sand rather than the rock of our Savior. These people are truly foolish. Their end is eternal suffering in the lake of fire.
The People’s Response
28 And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, 29 for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
When Jesus had concluded His sermon, the Bible records that the people were astonished. They were amazed at His teaching. Jesus teaching was mighty. He spoke with great authority as a prophet from God. The people were mesmerized by His words. This kind of teaching was very different than what they were used to by the religious leaders of that day. Their words seemed empty compared to the words of Jesus.