Judgment

parables-of-the-kingdom

The Wheat and the Tares

The Wheat and the Tares

Matthew 13:24-43

In our study of the Gospel of Matthew, we are in Matthew 13 where Jesus teaches the parables of the kingdom. Matthew has shown us that Jesus is the Messiah King who came to bring everlasting righteousness by saving His people from their sins. Now, the King teaches the mysteries of the kingdom (Matt. 13:11) in parables. First was the parable of the sower, which taught us how the kingdom begins. The message of the kingdom is sown like seed, and how people hear it, receive it, and bear fruit from it reveals the condition of their hearts.  That’s how Christ’s Kingdom began on this earth—through the sowing of His gospel and by its reception by those in whom it produces fruit. That’s how it continues to grow even today—through preaching and proclaiming the message of who Jesus is and what He has done.

In our passage today, Jesus teaches a parable that answers one of the most basic and perplexing questions people can have about His kingdom. If the kingdom of heaven has indeed come, why is evil still present? If, as Jesus said, “surely the kingdom of God has come upon you” (Matt. 12:28), why was it that Jesus was meeting with such great opposition from the Jewish religious leaders? Why were they plotting to kill Him? Why was there so much resistance to Him as “King”?

And for us, as we look at the condition of our world today, why does it seem that evil is stronger than ever? If it’s true that Jesus’ kingdom has begun on this earth, then why does it seem as if evil has such a powerful sway over the hearts and lives of so many? Why is sin and wickedness so prevalent, and the gospel message so resisted?

Jesus’ parable of the wheat and the tares answers that question. It teaches us that Jesus was fully aware that evil would seem to prevail in this world. In this parable, Jesus teaches us that, though evil will be found mixed into His kingdom for the present, it will be fully separated from His kingdom at the end of the age. The Lord and His people will be victorious in the end. Righteousness will rule this earth. His kingdom will prevail.

With that introduction, let’s look first at…

1. The Parable (Matt. 13:24-30).

Like the parable of the sower, Jesus spoke this parable to the multitudes of people on the shore of the sea of Galilee as He sat in the boat to teach (Matt. 13:1-3). After this parable, Jesus taught two more (the parables of the mustard seed and the leaven) then He sent the crowds away and explained the meaning of it privately to His disciples.

Matthew 13:24 tells us that Jesus “put forth” a parable to the people. The word means “to place beside” or “to place near”. It suggests deliberate and thoughtful care. Jesus taught what “the kingdom of heaven is like”. The whole story is designed to teach something about God’s kingdom.

It is, He said, “like a man who sowed good seed in his field” (Matt. 13:24). Notice how this is similar to the parable of the sower but also different. In the parable of the sower, there was just one sower, and it was all good seed but four different types of soil. Here there is one field or soil, but two sowers and two different types of seeds.

The man “sowed good seed in his field,” suggesting that he was careful to select just the right seeds, good seeds that would take root, and sprout up, and would produce a productive crop in his field.

Then Jesus tells us that something very evil happened. While the man and his servants slept, under the cover of night, an enemy crept into his field and sowed “tares” in the very field where the man had sowed good seed (Matt. 13:25).

Scholars tell us that “tares” refer to ‘darnel’, a weed that was prevalent in those days. It looked very much like wheat when it sprouted up, and it even appeared to have an ear that looked like an ear of wheat as it developed. If the kernels from the tares became mixed up with kernels of wheat, the bread that would be made could make whoever ate it dizzy and sick. It was difficult to tell the difference between them until they both became ripe. Then it became clear that the tares were most definitely not wheat. Matthew 13:26 says, “But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared.”

The one who sowed the tares in the other man’s field was “his enemy” (Matt. 13:25). He was seeking to sabotage and destroy the other man’s crop. It’s an evil thing to do to someone.

Eventually, the man’s servants notice the tares growing in the field and wonder about the source of the problem. “So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’” (Matt. 13:27).

I think they asked a question that was very much like a question you and I may ask. If Jesus’ kingdom has come into this world, then how is it that evil is found to have sprouted up in it? Why is there so much opposition to the kingdom of Jesus today? Why is there so much harm done to people in its name? Why are there so many governments in the world that are hostile to the spread of the gospel, and that oppress their people in disregard to the message of Jesus’ kingdom? How did so much wickedness seem to grow along with the spread of His kingdom on earth? “Jesus,” we may ask; “didn’t You sow a good kingdom in this world? How then does it have tares?”

The owner immediately identifies the source of the problem. The tares are there not by accident or by natural causes. No, this is intentional harm. “He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’” (Matt. 13:28).

The servants suggest a simple strategy for dealing with the problem. “The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’” “Should we go pull the weeds?” It sounds sensible but the owner exposes the problem with that strategy. “But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them.’” (Matt. 13:29). By that time, their root systems had become so intermingled together that you couldn’t pull one out without destroying the other.

Instead, he told his servants, basically, to ‘put up’ with the weeds for a while. He said, “Let both grow together until the harvest” (Matt. 13:30). At harvest time, he would send out his reapers into the harvest and tell them, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.” (Matt. 13:30). The harvest will be the right time for separating the wheat from the tares.

But now, notice . . .

2. The Explanation (Matt. 13:36-39).

For the explanation, we need to jump ahead a few verses because Jesus told two more parables to the multitude in between this parable and its explanation that He gave privately to His disciples. We will look at these parables next time. Matthew 13:36 says, “Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house”. And that’s when the disciples sought greater insight into their Master’s teaching. And so, we read, “And His disciples came to Him, saying, ‘Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.’”

Jesus is always glad to give insight to those who genuinely seek it from Him. And look at how He begins! He gives them a point-by-point explanation of the details of His parable!

He answered and said to them: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels” (Matt. 13:37-39).

Here, we have the key to understanding this parable from the Lord’s own lips. He presents Himself as the sower, “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.” As with the parable of the sower, the problem is not with the sower or the seed. Jesus sows good seed. The message of the gospel and the fruit that comes from it are good.

Then Jesus explains “the field is the world.” This is a parable about the kingdom’s spread in the world. Many people have mistakenly made the “field” out to be the church; and have used this parable to explain why there are sinful people found in the church. It’s certainly is a problem that sinful people make their way into the church; but that is not what this parable is really about. Rather, we’re told that the field is the world—the realm of human life and activity.

This is in accord with other passages in the gospel of Matthew where Jesus expresses the world-wide mission of the kingdom. Jesus is a Savior for everyone. Therefore, the gospel is to be sown in the whole world. God’s kingdom is to encompass the whole world (Matthew 28:19-20).

Jesus then says that the good and bad seeds represent two kinds of people who have two kinds of destinies. “The good seeds are the sons of the kingdom”—that is, those who hear the word of the Savior, and respond to it by believing in Him and following Him. “But the tares are the sons of the wicked one”—that is, those who are still under the devil’s regime. Like their evil father, they openly oppose God and fight against His kingdom. So the two seeds and the plants that come from them refer to believers and unbelievers.

Jesus told the people of his day who did not believe in him: “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God…. You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do” (John 8:42, 44). The letter of 1 John says this about believers: “We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one” (1 John 5:19).

Jesus tells us clearly who the enemy is: “The enemy who sowed them is the devil” (Matt 13:39). He sows the “sons of the wicked one” into the Lord’s field. The tares grow in the same field as the wheat. They may look, to the careless eye, as if they were “wheat”. But in time, they will be revealed for what they truly are—“tares”, “sons of the wicked one”.

Then, notice who the reapers are: “the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels” (Matt. 13:39). The reapers, who are sent out authoritatively by the Lord Himself to gather up the tares and separate them from His wheat, are His angels. And they do their reaping at “the harvest”. The Old Testament often uses the image of the harvest for the last judgment at the end of the age. (Jeremiah 51:33; Hosea 6:11). Jesus says the harvest is “the end of the age”. This speaks of the time of judgment at Jesus’ return—that time He described when He said, “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats” (Matt. 25:31-32).

3. The Application (Matt. 13:40-43).

Jesus has explained the various elements in the parable. Next, He goes on to apply the truth of the parable, showing that it describes the fate of believers and unbelievers.

Here we learn three very important things about the fate of believers and unbelievers at the end of the age. Frist…

A. God will weed out of his kingdom all evil and sin

40 “Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. 41 “The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness,” (Matt. 13:40-41).

That’s good news! Remember the question we asked at the beginning of today’s message? Why doesn’t God do something about all the evil in the world? Part of the answer is He will do something about it. God will weed out all evil and sin at the end of the age.

This is exactly what we find when we come to the book of Revelation at the end of the New Testament. We read in John describes the glory of the New Jerusalem in Revelation 21:

23 The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. 24 And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. 25 Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there). 26 And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. 27 But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. (Rev. 21:23-27).

One day, there will be an end to all evil and sin. The new heaven and new earth will be perfect in every way. That’s the first thing Jesus says about the fate of believers and unbelievers. God will weed out of His kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. Secondly…

B. Unbelievers will be punished for their sin

42 “and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” (Matt. 13:42).

Jesus says just as the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. All those who cause sin or do evil will be weeded out of the kingdom, and God’s angels will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

This is also exactly what we find in the book of Revelation. We read John’s words in Revelation 20:

11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. 14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. (Rev. 20:11-15).

What will be the fate of believers and unbelievers at the end of the age? 1) God will weed out of his kingdom all evil and sin. 2) Unbelievers will be punished for their sin. And then finally…

C. The righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father

43 “Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” (Matt. 13:43).

This language comes from the Old Testament book of Daniel which also speaks of the fate of believers and unbelievers at the end of the age. We read in Daniel 12: “2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, Some to everlasting life, Some to shame and everlasting contempt. 3 Those who are wise shall shine Like the brightness of the firmament, And those who turn many to righteousness Like the stars forever and ever.” (Daniel 12:2-3).

Once again, this is exactly what we find when we come to the end of the book of Revelation. We read in Revelation 22: “3 And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. 4 They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. 5 There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.” (Rev, 22:3-5). The righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of heaven. All evil and sin will be removed from our lives. We will be glorified and perfected in Christ.

Now, all of this teaches us that we should not be surprised by the fact of evil. But neither should we despair! Jesus lets us know that evil will be permitted by Him to grow with His kingdom until ‘the harvest’ at the end of the age. And then—and only then—will it will be fully removed. At that time, when the great angelic announcement of Revelation 11:15 is finally made—that “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!”—then, with all things that offend taken away, and those who practice lawlessness completely removed, the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father!

In closing, let me suggest some practical lessons we should draw from this parable, and from our Lord’s explanation of it.

First, I we need to understand that it is the Lord’s plan that His kingdom citizens be sown in this world and bear His influence on it. You see this from Matthew 13:24, “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field.” And in His explanation of this parable, He tells us, that “the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom”, and that “the field is the world” (Matt. 13:38).

Our Lord has chosen to leave His redeemed people to live in this world—the great “field”—to bring His influence upon it. Before He went to the cross for us, He prayed for believers and said,

“I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth” (John 17:14-19).

That’s Jesus’ great plan for this lost world—to sanctify a people unto Himself from out of it, and to send them back out into the world to bring His influence upon it. You remember His closing ‘marching orders’ to us, don’t you?

“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20).

If you have heard the message of the gospel, and have believed on Jesus Christ, you are that “good seed” that He has sown upon this earth. And I hope you are thrilled with a sense of the greatness of your vital purpose! You bear the life-changing message of Jesus Christ to the lost people of this world; and Jesus has left you here in this world—for a time—in order to bring His influence to bear in it.

Another sobering principle we draw from this parable is that, so long as Jesus’ kingdom grows in this world, the devil will ensure that evil will also be present. You and I need to realize that the devil does everything in his power to frustrate and destroy the kingdom of Jesus Christ. The consummation of God’s kingdom means Satan’s eternal doom. And so, the devil seeks to sow his own wicked influences in the Lord’s field—sometimes even in the very places in which the good seed was sown.

I think we can get a good sense of the kind of evil that he seeks to plant next to the good seed by what Jesus says He will one day tell His reapers to remove. He calls them to gather out of His field “all things that offend”. Literally, He speaks of “stumbling blocks”—that which causes His people to stumble in their faith or fall into temptations to sin; and “those who practice lawlessness”—that is, those who practice and advocate actions that violate God’s standards of holiness in His law.

There are malicious people who, under the inspiration of the devil, seek to cause professing believers to doubt their faith, or persuade them to sin. This is no small problem. Jesus warned that “whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea” (Matthew 18:6). But for now, so long as the kingdom is being spread in this world, the devil will seek to sow tares where God seeks to sow wheat.

A third principle we draw from this parable is that, as Jesus’ followers, it is not our role to remove evil doers from the presence of this world. The owner of the field answered those who wanted to pull up the tares immediately, “No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them.” He left that important work to the reapers, the angels, at the time of harvest. This teaches us that it is not our role to take out the evil doers from the world. We are not here to root out all the unbelievers by force and rid the world of them by violence. That is not our mission. We are not qualified to do it. We do not know a person’s heart. Only the Lord knows so only the Lord is able to ultimately judge. Our role is not to pull out the weeds, our role is to continue the work of Jesus in sowing the seed of the gospel, making disciples of all the nations, baptizing and teaching them. That’s it.

Now, I hasten to add that we must keep this in balance with other passages of Scripture. It is, for example, a very important part of our duty in this world to serve as “salt” and “light”. Jesus told us in the Sermon on The Mount, “You are the salt of the earth . . . You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:13-16). We are to let our light so shine in this world that men will see our good works and glorify our Father. And we are to serve as the preservative in this world that will keep the corruption of sin from overwhelming everything around it. And when it comes to the church itself, it is our duty to lovingly confront sin in our midst and call one another to repentance (Mathew 18:15-20; 1 Corinthians 5:12). The Bible tells us to “have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them” (Ephesians 5:11).

But we need to remember that evil will always be present in this world all the way to the day of judgment; and it is not our role to make heaven on earth—nor is it even in our ability to do so. Historically, whenever the church has established some movement to purify the world of evil, or come campaign to forcibly remove sin from the culture, it ended up harming everyone—including the good people of Christ’s kingdom. We end up uprooting the wheat!

The removal of evil from this world is a job for the angels at the time of judgment. It is not the job of the seeds to pull the weeds. We are to patiently persevere in faith and obedience until the day that Jesus Himself orders the complete removal of all evil from the presence of the world. We are to trust that “the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment” (2 Peter 2:9).

Finally, look at how Jesus ends His interpretation in Matthew 13:43, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” The warning of this parable is a dreadful one. It tells us that, if a man or woman is not one of “the sons of the kingdom”—that is, someone who has heard the message of the gospel, has placed their faith in Jesus Christ, and now trust Him and follow Him and obey Him—then they are among the tares who will be gathered up by the angels on the day of judgment at the end of the age; and will be cast into the furnace of fire, where there will be eternal “wailing and gnashing of teeth”.

If you fear that you are one of the tares, let me tell you the good news. You don’t have to remain a tare. The miracle of the gospel is that God takes sons of the wicked one and turns them into sons of the kingdom. Paul wrote to the Colossians, “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” (Col. 1:13-14).

If you will repent—change your mind about your unbelief—and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you will be saved. Repent and believe. And let me clear up something today. Repentance is not saying, “I am sorry for my sins. I can do better. I can please you, God.” No, repentance is not “I can”. It is realizing that “I can’t.” It’s to realize that I am lost without Christ. I am a sinner, condemned to hell. I need a Savior—and Jesus Christ is the Savior. Believe on Him. Trust in Him. Rely completely on His finished work of redemption for your salvation. He will rescue you from the domain of darkness and bring you safely into His Kingdom of light. God will forgive your sin because Christ paid your ransom by His death on the cross. He will raise you to a new life because Jesus Christ is risen from the dead.

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matthew-the-kingdom-of-heaven

Fruit, Words, and Hearts

Fruit, Words, and Hearts

Matthew 12:33-37

The Bible has much to say about our words. The book of Proverbs repeatedly warns us about the dangers of our tongues. For instance, “In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, But he who restrains his lips is wise.” (Pro. 10:19). One man said, “As you go through life you are going to have many opportunities to keep your mouth shut. Take advantage of all of them.”[1] Proverbs  12:19 says, “The truthful lip shall be established forever, But a lying tongue is but for a moment.” Proverbs 21:23 says, “Whoever guards his mouth and tongue Keeps his soul from troubles.” And Proverbs 18:21 says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.”

In the New Testament, James also warns of the destructive power of the tongue, calling it “a fire, a world of iniquity” (James 3:6). He says, “… no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison” (James 3:8).

Yet, the real problem lies not in our words or the tongue that speaks them. The real problem is the evil heart that lies beneath the evil words because everything that springs forth from our mouths comes from what is in our hearts. Our words indicate the condition of our hearts. Jesus will teach His disciples in Matthew 15,

18 “… those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. 19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. 20 These are the things which defile a man …” (Mat 15:18-20 NKJV)

If you want to check the oil in your car, you pull the dip-stick, because that is the gauge that reveals how much oil your engine has. If you want to check the spiritual condition of your heart, where do you look? Your mouth. When a man opens his mouth and sinful things come out, this reveals him to be a sinner from the heart.

James writes, “11 Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? 12 Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh.” (James 3:11-12). The mouth is the bucket that draws from the well of the heart. Proverbs 4:23 says, “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it springs the issues of life.”

The context of Matthew 12 demonstrates this principle for us today. The Pharisees had just thrown a blasphemous accusation at Jesus. The Lord had mercifully cast a demon out of a blind and mute man so that he was healed and could now see and speak (Matt. 12:22). Those who saw it were astonished; and asked, “Could this be the Son of David?” (Matt. 12:23). But the Pharisees said, “This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons” (Matt. 12:24). In other words, they saw the power of the Holy Spirit demonstrated through Jesus doing the works of the Messiah. And yet, their hearts were so hardened against Him that they attributed His power to cast out demons to the devil himself.

As we saw last time, it wasn’t that the Pharisees merely misunderstood Him. It was because they hated Him and resisted the testimony of the Holy Spirit concerning Him. When they made this blasphemous accusation against Him, they revealed the profoundly hardened, evil condition of their hearts. Jesus warned them that they were in danger of committing an unpardonable sin—blaspheming the Holy Spirit. Words matter because they have a source. The source is the heart.

That brings us to our text today in Matthew 12:33-37 where we see a threefold progression: 1) Your fruit displays the character of your life (Matt. 12:33); 2) Your words display the condition of your heart (Matt. 12:34-35); and 3) Your heart determines the verdict of your soul (Matt. 12:36-37).

First, Jesus teaches …

1. Your fruit displays the character of your life (Matt. 12:33)

In Matthew 12:33, Jesus says, “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit.” Jesus used this same metaphor of a tree and its fruit in Matthew 7 to refer to the works of false prophets who were wolves in sheep’s clothing. Now Jesus applies this principle in proverbial style to words. This brief parable has a very simple message. If a tree is good, the fruit is good. If a tree is bad, the fruit is bad.

How does this principle apply in the context of Matthew 12? First, it applies to what the Pharisees were saying about Jesus. Everyone, including the Pharisees, saw Jesus do good. He healed the sick, raised the dead, gave sight to the blind, set demoniacs free, and preached righteousness. No one would say that fruit was evil. Not even the Pharisees could deny the good works and words of Jesus.

The Pharisees were saying that Jesus’ fruit was good but the tree is bad. They were making Jesus out to be evil at the root, but good in the fruit. They knew sickness, disease, demonic possession, and sin came from Satan. They knew healing, casting out demons, and forgiveness came from God. So, if good trees produce good fruit, and bad trees produce bad fruit, then how can you conclude that Jesus is an emissary of Satan?

So Jesus tells them to drop the double standard. If they make the tree out to be bad, then they would have to say the fruit is bad also. If they look at the fruit and say it’s good, then they have to admit that the tree is good also.

Jesus is calling them to a decision. “Either say that, in casting out demons, I do evil and am evil at the root; or say that, in casting out demons, I do the work of God through the power of the Holy Spirit, and I am of God!”

Jesus is calling all of us to make a decision about Him as well. Will we receive Jesus for who the Spirit shows Him to be? Or will we try to ride the fence and say that Jesus did good, but He was not who the Spirit was showing Him to be. If Jesus’ fruit is good, He must be good. He must be the Christ, the Son of God.

A second application of this verse is that it our fruit also reveals the good or evil in our hearts. Jesus goes on to reveal what sort of tree the Pharisees were proving themselves to be by their words.

So we see first, your fruit displays the character of your life and …

2. Your words display the condition of your heart (Matt. 12:34-35)

The Pharisees were making an evaluation. They were seeing the good things that our Lord did, and they were saying something evil about it. They refused to say that Jesus was the Christ from God. Even though it was obvious, they still wouldn’t admit it. So in Matthew 12:34 Jesus reveals why. They have an evil heart. He says, “Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” (Matt. 12:34).

He calls them “Brood of vipers!” or, “O generation of vipers . . .” (KJV). A viper is a particularly deadly and venomous snake. When Jesus calls them “vipers”, He highlights their deadly and dangerous character.

Think about the dangerous words that came out of their mouths at that time. Jesus performed good works—miracles done in the power of the Holy Spirit—and many of the people were beginning to believe on Him. But the Pharisees—who were jealous of Him and had already committed themselves to killing Him (Matt. 12:14)—they dared to attribute His miracles to the devil in an effort to dissuade people from believing on Jesus. The Pharisees had the outward appearance of being holy and pious, like poisonous snakes that look beautiful to the eye, but are deceivingly deadly.

The word translated as “brood” or “generation” means “offspring”, speaking both of their evil character and their evil source. They are “offspring of vipers”—vipers who come from a family of vipers! It’s the same description that John the Baptist used, saying, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” (Matt. 3:7). Jesus would later say to them in Matthew 23,

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’ Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers’ guilt” (Matt. 23:29-32).

They were the sons of those who killed the prophets. And now they were plotting to kill the One those prophets prophesied about! They truly were a “brood of vipers”. The Pharisees wouldn’t confess Christ because they had a wicked carnal heart that was not capable of doing so.

The Pharisees said what they said about Jesus because they were evil at heart. What came out of their mouths was simply drawn up from the well sin that was in them. Thus, Jesus says, “How can you, being evil, speak good things?” (Matt. 12:34). They could not speak anything else but evil. It was impossible for them to do otherwise, “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” The mouth overflows with what is in the heart.

Jesus then illustrates this principle in Matthew 12:35, “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.” A mouth that speaks cursing and bitterness is from a heart that is bitter and full of cursing. A mouth that speaks hatred or gossip is from a heart that is full of hatred and gossip. A lying tongue is from a deceptive heart. If your mind and heart are full of murder, sooner or later, that will come out of your mouth in hateful murderous words.

But words that bless and love and encourage come from a loving heart. Hopeful words come from a hopeful heart. Kind words come from a kind heart. If your mind and heart are full of grace, sooner or later, gracious words will come from your mouth.

It’s wise to ask yourself; “When I get rattled and shaken deep within, what is it that comes spilling out? When I’m in a time of trial and testing and pressure deep in my inner being, what comes out of my mouth? When good things happen to others instead of me, what do I say?” If someone walked along behind you and listened to your words, what kind of tree would you prove to be? What kind of heart does your mouth reveal to be within you? What kind of treasure is deep within?

This is why the Pharisees said what they did. They had a heart problem. And this is still the main problem of humanity. Man’s problem is not bad influences, bad parents, or ignorance. Man’s problem is an evil heart. Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?”

The only possible way for anyone to confess Christ is to have his or her heart redeemed. If the heart isn’t right, the confession won’t be either. Listen to what Paul writes about salvation:

9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Rom. 10:9-10).

 A person first believes in their heart, and then the confession comes out of their mouth. The point is that the heart must change. And only God can do that. It is a work of His Holy Spirit when He convicts of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8). It is the work of the Holy Spirit causing you to repent of sin and turn to the Savior. It is the work of Father drawing you to Christ when you hear the gospel that Jesus died for your sins and was raised for your justification.

The Pharisees needed to acknowledge that their hearts were sinful and to turn in repentance and faith to the Savior, Jesus Christ. They needed a new heart.

And that is important for us today because …

3. Your heart determines the verdict of your soul (Matt. 12:36-37)

Jesus says, “But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” (Matt. 12:36-37).

The word translated “idle” means “lazy, useless, or unprofitable”. Some translations (NASB and ESV for example) translate it “every careless word”. This is a careless or thoughtless utterance that we might excuse by saying, “Oh; I didn’t mean what I said. I was just kidding anyway. Don’t take things so seriously.”

Jesus warns us that He takes such “careless” or “idle” words very seriously. And there’s a good reason why. Such words tend to indicate what’s in our hearts more truthfully than a carefully thought-out and prepared set of words ever could.

You see, we can control our mouths at least part of the time, but eventually what is in the heart will come out of the mouth. And when it does, we can’t claim that it was just “careless” words, just idle talk. For even the careless words have weight and will be judged. If even careless words will be brought forward for judgment, how much more the deliberate, wrongful, hurtful words we have spoken.

Our words prove what is in our hearts. Based upon that truth, the Pharisees stood condemned. Their words were wicked because their heart was wicked. And Jesus lets them know that based upon their words, their judgment is both certain and just.

This is why Jesus then says, “For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned”. He who will judge our words will also prove to be the One who knows the true condition of our hearts. And it will be our words that will, on judgment day, stand as the evidence of the true nature of our hearts.

Let’s be brutally honest with ourselves and with God about this. If the pattern my speech is evil, then it reveals an evil heart. The mouth pulls up nothing from the well except what’s truly there.

So first, let’s be very sure we have trusted Jesus as our Savior and have been washed of our sins. The point of this passage is not merely that we try to clean up our dirty mouths. That should happen, but that’s not what needs to happen first. If the well itself is dirty, it doesn’t do any good to clean the bucket that draws out the water. And if the heart itself is still evil, it doesn’t do any good to try to merely clean up the mouth.

If we come to Christ—confessing that we are sinners who need to be saved, repenting, and placing our trust in the cleansing power of His blood—then He is “faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Let’s be sure that we have first trusted in Him; and then, our heart—the wellspring of our words—will be clean.

This is where it starts, with God giving us a new heart. Even with a renewed heart, we can, at times, sin with our words. We have habits of the flesh, the allurement of the world, and the temptations of the devil to contend with. We constantly need the Holy Spirit to be producing in us the fruit of righteousness in our lives. He does this as we yield in submission to His will. And we know and love His will by the renewing of our minds with the word of God. The more of the truth of God’s holy word we put into our minds and obey in our hearts, the more our words will reflect the character of our Lord Jesus Christ. We will begin to sound more like Jesus. Give yourself to Jesus Christ. Present your whole body as a living sacrifice to Him. Dedicate all that you are—including your lips—to His service.

Your fruit displays the character of your life. Your words display the condition of your heart. And your heart determines the verdict of your soul. By the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit in Christ, may we prove that He has placed a good treasure in our hearts by bringing forth what is good from our lips.

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[1] Steven Cole, https://bible.org/seriespage/lesson-12-taming-terrible-tongue-james-31-12 accessed 4/13/2024. (Cole’s source is quoted by James Dent, Reader’s Digest [12/82]).

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Jesus On Judging, Part 1

Jesus On Judging, Part 1

Matthew 7:1-6

Over the past few months in our verse-by-verse exposition of the Gospel of Matthew, we have been studying our Lord’s Sermon on The Mount. There has never been a sermon preached on earth like this one, because there has never been a preacher on earth like Jesus. No one else knows God the Father like Jesus and so, no one else could teach us any better about a relationship with God. It’s also true that no one else knows us as thoroughly as Jesus does and so, no one else could preach a more searching sermon than the one that Jesus has preached. Martin Lloyd Jones says that the Sermon on the Mount “finds us all somehow, somewhere. There is no possibility of escape; it searches us out in all our hiding places and brings us out into the light of God.”[1] 

And this morning as we open the third chapter of this sermon, we come to a very sobering passage. Matthew 7 begins with a verse that has been misinterpreted, misquoted, and misapplied more than almost any other in the Bible. In a society that calls for tolerance and acceptance and inclusion of all, Matthew 7:1 has become the quick reply to anyone who would suggest moral boundaries. They scold us, “Judge not, that you be not judged.” (Matt. 7:1). This verse is often wielded to silence anyone who would dare to advocate for biblical standards of right and wrong.

That said, as we come to Matthew 7:1, it’s important that we see how it’s been misused and abused–but that’s not the most important thing. The most important thing is that we hear what Jesus is saying, understand it rightly, and commit ourselves to obeying His command.[2]

It’s important to remember that this well-known passage lives within a context. Jesus has been telling His disciples what it means to live as citizens of the Kingdom of God. While there were many who claimed to be the people of God, religious hypocrisy was rampant. In this sermon, Jesus has been teaching how the righteousness of His disciples must be radically different from and superior to the righteousness claimed by even the most religious Jews in their day—the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus taught, “For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt. 5:20).

In Matthew 5, we saw true righteousness examined. In Matthew 6, we saw false righteousness exposed. And now in Matthew 7, we see self-righteousness expelled. In Matthew 5 we saw how we do not measure up to God’s perfect righteousness. In Matthew 6 we saw that even when we do good, our acts of righteousness are tainted by selfish motives. Now in Matthew 7 Jesus goes right to the heart of the matter and expels all self-righteousness. Jesus is preaching to people who were certain that they were righteous, and here, He reiterates that their self-assessment, their judgment, is flawed.

The theme of judgment underlies every part of Matthew 7. You will be judged as you have judged others. You will be rewarded according to how wisely you shared holy things with others. You will receive according to what you asked for and sought. You will be treated as you treated others. Your destiny will be determined by the road you have chosen to walk. You will share the same fate as the prophet you chose to believe. You will be judged by whether you have done God’s will or man’s lawlessness.[3]

Let’s look at these words from our Savior a little more closely. And let’s begin first, by considering . . .

1. A Command Against Judging Others (Matt. 7:1)[4].

Jesus says, “Judge not . . .” Those two words constitute a command from Him who is the authoritative Judge of all the earth. If we don’t understand what He means by these two words, we won’t understand anything else in the rest of this passage.

Many people insist that this verse is forbidding us from making any judgment calls of any kind when it comes to morality. For example, they say that no one has the authority to confront wrong behavior. We’re never to call anything sin, they say. And if you dare to call something sin, especially someone’s pet sin, that’s when they hit you with this verse. Many seek to excuse themselves from criticism by saying, “Judge not, that you be not judged!”

As believers, it’s not our duty to create the standards for right and wrong. That’s already been done by our Father who is the Lawgiver. But it is our duty to evaluate the rightness or wrongness of things on the basis of God’s word and to call sin “sin” when the Bible does so. In that case, we’re not “judging”; but are simply pointing to a judgment that has already been made by One who is qualified to make it. The Bible commands us, saying, “Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil” (2 Thess. 5:21-22). It says, “. . . Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them” (Eph. 5:11). It says, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1). Clearly, then, Jesus’ words shouldn’t be taken to mean that we are forbidden from judging things on the basis of God’s word, and calling sin “sin”, or falsehood “falsehood”.

To find what it does mean, let’s go back to Matthew 7:1. The verb that is translated “judge” (krinõ) is one that basically means “to separate”, or “to make a distinction” between things. Figuratively, it refers to the act of evaluating something in terms of its rightness or wrongness and then making a judgment on the basis of that evaluation. The word is used 114 times in 98 verses in the New Testament and refers to many kinds of judging. Since this word is translated in some ten different ways in the New Testament, context is an important factor in determining the word’s significance in a particular passage.[5]

The context of Jesus’ words here in Matthew 7 shows us that they can’t be made out to mean that we must never evaluate other people’s conduct. Look at Matthew 7:6 for example. Jesus said, “Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine . . .” How could we obey Jesus’ command in Matthew 7:6 if His command in Matthew 7:1 meant that we may never evaluate people? Otherwise, how would we be able to recognize the “dogs” or “hogs” of the world?

And then, look down to Matthew 7:15-20. How could we obey what Jesus says there if we cannot evaluate other people’s actions? Jesus said,

15 “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 thornbushes 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.”  (Matt. 7:15-20).

Jesus tells us to beware of false prophets. Just as in Matthew 7:1, this is an authoritative command. And yet, how could we obey what Jesus commands in these verses if we take verse one to mean that we may never make judgment calls about whether or not a self-professing prophet’s “fruits“, that is, his or her works, proves them to be false prophets? If we may not “evaluate” and “discriminate”, how then can we “beware“?

I believe that the verse that follows these words teaches us what is being forbidden in the phrase “Judge not“. Look at Matthew 7:2, “For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.” Jesus doesn’t speak here of a judgment based on God’s standards revealed in His word. He speaks of a judgment made on the bases of a standard that we come up with on our own – that is, “with what judgment you judge”, or of a measuring being made “with the measure you use”.

Jesus is speaking of those times when we use our own standard of judgment, and then evaluate someone, discriminate against someone, or condemn someone on the basis of the standard of our own making. A word for this is “judgmentalism”. Any sensible person knows that there’s a difference between exercising good judgment and acting ‘judgmentally’. And what Jesus is forbidding in this command is an attitude of judgmentalism. The Bible gives some very clear examples of what this sinful “judgmentalism” would look like. The apostle James, for example, wrote:

1 My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. 2 For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, 3 and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, “You sit here in a good place,” and say to the poor man, “You stand there,” or, “Sit here at my footstool,” 4 have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? (James 2:1-4).

Jesus’ command to “judge not” means that we are not to show partiality to people based on external things. Jesus said to those who condemned Him for healing on the Sabbath, “Do not judge according to appearances, but judge with righteous judgment” (John 7:24).

James also wrote about another kind of judgment that we are not to do. James says:

11 Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another? (Jas 4:11-12 NKJV) (James 4:11-12).

James tells them to stop speaking against one another; stop accusing; stop criticizing. We’re all guilty of this sort of judgmentalism at times, aren’t we? Jesus’ command is a call to stop gossiping about one another or slandering one another. We’re not to hold someone’s faults to disparage them or criticize them.

When we “speak evil” of someone in a judgmental way, what we’re actually doing in that case is setting up a standard that is different from that which God has established. We’re not speaking of things as they truly are in God’s sight, but as we would like them to be understood from the standpoint of our own prejudices. We’re in effect saying that God’s judgments are not “thorough enough” for our tastes. If you condemn a brother for something that Scripture doesn’t condemn him for, not only are you condemning your brother but you are also saying that Scripture is incomplete. You think you can judge God’s law. James later says, “Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door!” (James 5:9).

The apostle Paul points out another sense in which we are to “judge not“. It’s in the area of what I like to call “grey areas”, those things about which the Bible doesn’t speak clearly, but about which we may have disagreements among ourselves in the body of Christ. In Paul’s day, one of those issues was that of eating meat that had been forbidden to the Jews in the Old Testament times or meat sacrificed to idols. Were these foods now “clean” to eat in Christ? Some sincere believers felt that it was still wrong; and so, because of their ‘weaker’ faith, they were afraid to eat. But other equally sincere believers felt strong and confident in their liberties in Christ; and as a result, they felt the freedom to eat anything they wanted. Paul wrote;

1 Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things. 2 For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables. 3 Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him. 4 Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand. (Rom. 14:1-4)

Paul shows that those who have this judgmental attitude are actually usurping the true judge, Jesus Christ. He writes,

10 But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. 11 For it is written: “As I live, says the LORD, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God.” 12 So then each of us shall give account of himself to God. (Rom. 14:10-12).

Paul then sums it up in Romans 14:13 saying, “Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way.” (Rom. 14:13). Rather than criticizing our brother we are to not cause them to stumble, love them (Rom. 14:15), and edify them (Rom. 14:19).

Jesus teaches in Luke 6:37, “Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” (Luke 6:37). Instead of condemnation, Jesus commands forgiveness. Don’t be eager to destroy your brother, instead be eager to forgive him.

So, let’s be very clear about all this. Jesus is not forbidding us from exercising legitimate judgment in the sense that we rightly evaluate things on the basis of the judgments God has already given in His word. We’re not commanded to suspend all discernment. What Jesus is forbidding us from doing is to set up our own criteria by which we judge one another, and then condemn one another on the basis of our own criteria.

Now, look next at . . .

2. The Warning Behind the Command (Matt. 7:1).

Jesus tells us, “Judge not“; and the reason He gives is “that you be not judged.” When we judge one another in the way that Jesus forbids us from judging, we actually put ourselves in danger of being judged ourselves.

There are sincere differences in the ways this has been interpreted. For example, some have taken this to mean that if we judge others on the basis of our own improper standards, we place ourselves in the position of being judged by others in the same way. That is certainly true. After all, look at what Jesus says in Matthew 7:12, “Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”

Whenever we prejudge someone, condemn others unfairly, or go around criticizing others, we really don’t have any right to complain when it happens to us. Paul wrote, “For the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!” (Gal. 5:14-15).

However, I believe Jesus meant more than to say “Judge not, so that you will not be judged by other people.” The judgment that Jesus has already taught about in this sermon has been God’s judgment. Look back to Matthew 5:21-22:

21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. 22 And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire” (Matthew 5:21-22).

Now Jesus warns, “For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.” Clearly, this isn’t speaking of just receiving the same treatment from other people that we dished out to them. It’s talking about a judgment before God. It’s teaching us that we will be judged by God as we have judged others. In James 2:12-13, James said, “So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.”

But you might be thinking, “Aren’t those who have placed their trust in Jesus delivered from the judgment of sin? Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.” (John 5:24). John 3:18 says, “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” It’s true that by God’s grace in Christ, we do not need to fear that we will face condemnation for our sin or the ‘ultimate’ judgment that will be experienced by those who reject the Savior.

But still, the fact is that the Bible does talk about a “judgment” for believers. The apostle Paul writes, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” (2 Cor. 5:10).

The Bible tells us that, as the Son of God in human flesh, Jesus Christ is the Judge of all. He discriminates between right and wrong, good and evil. He is not “tolerant” of sin; but promises to judge it in an ultimate and final sense. Jesus said of Himself, “For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son” (John 5:22) and that the Father “has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man” (John 5:27). Peter says Jesus “was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead” (Acts 10:42). Paul preached to the people of Athens, that God “now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead” (Acts 17:30-31).

Knowing that Jesus is our judge is a great motivating factor in our lives as Christians and in our work of preaching the gospel. Because Jesus is our judge, Paul wrote, ” Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him.” (2 Cor. 5:9) and, “Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men …”  (2 Cor. 5:11). No one else is qualified to be the judge of all the earth but Jesus. He came the first time to be the Savior, but He will come the second time as the Judge; and no one who rejected Him as Savior will be able to stand before Him as Judge! (Rev. 6:17).

Jesus is the judge. All will stand before Him to give account to Him. But here is the good news: He is a Judge who is immeasurably merciful. To those who cry out to the Lord Jesus and seek Him as Savior, no other judge is as full of compassion, mercy, tenderness, grace, and forgiveness as He is. He never condemns anyone who genuinely turns to Him for mercy. He said, “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out” (John 6:37). The Bible teaches us that when it came to the most despised and forsaken people in this world—the kind of people that the scribes and Pharisees turned their nose up to and condemned to judgment—Jesus showed Himself to be their greatest Friend.

Christ Jesus is certainly the Judge; and woe to those who experience this Judge’s wrath! But praise God! There is now “no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1)! This greatest of all judges is also our greatest Friend, our Savior, our advocate! You cannot understand what Jesus is teaching us in Matthew 7 if you don’t first understand how He exemplifies for us what He commands in it.

Jesus judges with righteous judgment because He is the Righteous One who has mercy on us. He forgives our sins and rewards our faithfulness. If you recognize today that you are under the judgment of God for your sin, then turn to Jesus. He saves us from sin. You will never be able to stand in the judgment apart from the covering of His atonement. Repent of your sin. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ—that He died for your sin and was raised from the dead. He redeems, He saves, He forgives, He gives eternal life—no one else can.

This is why we worship at the Lord’s table. Our Judge is our Savior. He suffered and died upon the cross and shed His blood for the forgiveness of our sins (Matt. 26:28). He was made a sin offering for us so that we could become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor. 5:21).

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[1] D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Studies in The Sermon on The Mount (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1979), Vol. 2, p. 160. Quoted by Greg Allen, https://www.bethanybible.org/archive/2005/031305.htm#f1

[2] Matthew Breeden, https://www.southernhillslife.org/get-connected/resources/sermons-and-podcasts/sermon/2022-08-14/don-t-judge-the-danger-of-judgmentalism-matthew-71-6-part-1

[3] Ron Graham, https://www.simplybible.com/f567-mount-overview-matthew7.htm

[4] Greg Allen, Judge Not, https://www.bethanybible.org/archive/2005/031305.htm#f1 I adapted Allen’s outline and drew from several of his points in this sermon.

[5] John Phillips, Exploring the Gospel of Matthew: An Expository Commentary, The John Phillips Commentary Series (Kregel Publications; WORDsearch, 2014), Mt 7:1–2.

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