Motes and Beams and Suchlike

[00:00:00] This audio sermon is provided by AnabaptistSermons.com and may be freely copied and distributed. You may not sell or edit this sermon. Our prayer is that you would be blessed by this ministry. A good morning and a greeting to all of you in the name of Jesus this morning. So this morning I'd like to turn to the book of Matthew in the Sermon of the Mount, chosen to title, Motes and Beams and Such Like. [00:00:31] That's motes, M-O-T-E-S, and beams and such like. First five verses. Judge not that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged. With what measure you meet, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 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? [00:01:03] Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye Then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye Now Jesus used another term or it's interpreted by another word in the book of Luke When he speaks about this For the word judge he says in one of those sentences, phrases He uses the word condemn He tells us that we should not condemn one another. [00:01:35] Here he says, don't judge so that you won't be judged. Because the way you judge, that's the way you're going to be judged. That's somewhat similar to what Jesus said early in the Sermon on the Mount when he said, the way we forgive, that's the way we're going to be forgiven. There's a direct relationship on how we relate to each other as to how we'll be related to I'd like to also read in Romans, the 14th chapter, from verse 10, the next several verses. [00:02:09] Why dost thou judge thy brother? Why dost thou set at naught thy brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, every tongue shall confess to God. So then, every one of you shall give account of himself to God. Let us not, therefore, judge one another any more, but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother's way. [00:02:42] I don't know how apprehensive that makes you feel just now. Don't judge so that you won't be judged. Let me clarify that the burden of this message is not, you let me go and I'll let you go. Let's get that clear. So that's not the burden of this message. I'm not sure if I can clarify exactly to you what was on my mind. I'll confess to you my thoughts rambled from one end to the other as I was thinking about some of the experiences of life that we face [00:03:19] that are a very real part of church life, of interaction with people. Now, we could ask a few questions about this passage here in Matthew 7. He says, well, let me first refer to Romans 14 where he says there is something we should judge. We should judge this that we don't put an obstacle in our brother's way. That's okay to judge, he's saying. In fact, it's more in the imperative sense, I believe, than just the way I said it. [00:03:51] We could ask a couple questions. Do you think this brother that he's talking about actually had a splinter in his eye? Did he really even have a splinter in his eye? He says, don't go to your brother and say, let me help you get that splinter out of your eye When you have a beam in your own eye, did he have a splinter? Another question we could ask, should we be concerned about splinters? Should we be concerned if somebody has just a mote in his eye, not a beam? [00:04:22] Another question we could ask, if he does, who should help him get it out? There would be various options, I suppose. One thing you could call the preacher, but that's not what he says here. Another question we could ask, who really is in a position to help him get it out? I wonder if that's not the real burden of this message. How can we help our brothers see clearly? The real burden is not so much should we or shouldn't we, [00:04:57] or is it okay to just leave it there, or to explain it away and say it's a small one. No, that didn't fare very well with Lot. Lot said when he asked, when he was told to leave Sodom, he said, Well, just let me go over here to this little town. It's just a little one, he said. Jesus was not putting the importance or the emphasis on the size of something. But for some reason, Jesus gave us this message. It's a vital message for our day. [00:05:28] Motes and beams and such light. That's to make room for the rambling part of this message. Who can help a brother with, I underline in my notes the word, who can help a brother find relief? Who is able to do that? What does it take? Let's kind of shift gears and think about this matter of judging ourselves. In 1 Corinthians, the 11th chapter, he tells us that we should examine ourselves. [00:06:00] In another scripture he says, examine yourselves whether you be in the faith. Who is in a position to examine himself? The scripture says, nobody knows what's in a man except the man himself and God, the Spirit. Sometimes I'm not sure I know myself what's in me. I don't know if you ever have that problem or not. But I'm not sure that we're always the best judge of ourselves, the best evaluator. Do we really understand who we are, where we are, why we do the things that we do? [00:06:40] Seems to me Jesus is saying one of the primary conditions here is dealing with the beam issue. Dealing with the beam issue. What is the beam? What is a splinter? Or maybe the primary issue is dealing with what's in my eye, whether it be a beam or a splinter. because you really can't see very well either with a splinter or a beam. It doesn't take much to distort our vision, does it? And when our vision is distorted, we may see things differently altogether from what they really are. [00:07:15] Maybe we could learn a few things from the publican and the Pharisee when they went to pray. You remember what the publican said. We learn from that that dealing with our issues is not helped, is not assisted very well by doing a comparison with other people. The Pharisee said, God, I thank you that I'm not like other people. I don't do this, but I do this and I do that. [00:07:47] I pray, I fast. I thank you, God, that I'm not like a cheat like this publican. who defrauds people. The Bible says he spoke with himself. Apparently God didn't even hear him. Or didn't give heed to what he was saying. It didn't really mean much to God that he said thank you that I'm not like this man or others. That is not a very good way to evaluate whether we're in a position where we can help our brother find [00:08:17] help or relief in his life. Corinthians Paul said that it's not wise to compare ourselves among ourselves you can always find someone that does something that you think is worse than what you did but isn't it just as well true you could always find someone else that is doing a better job than you're doing if you would really look for that but even that isn't wise [00:08:48] The standard is not to find the norm amongst people or what a society accepts. The standard is what God says. And the scripture says it like this in Romans 3.23 We've all come short of the glory of God. Next time we have a little, what do you call these things? Next time we are tempted to think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think Let's just think a little bit about stepping right up in the very presence of our Lord Jesus Christ [00:09:20] and look at the glory that's there. And then when we look over ourselves, what do we see? There's just not much left to boast about if we do that. We have come short of that glory. We would all admit to that, I believe. In the book of Proverbs, there's an indication that we have blind spots. He says there, there is a way which seems right unto a man. It seems right. It seems ever so right. [00:09:51] It seems like we have legitimate reason and cause to really be concerned about things. And it says the end thereof are the ways of death. Does that mean then that we should just not be concerned? Or since I'm no better than you are, we'll just forget about it. That's another blind spot. It's a spot that people sometimes try to hide behind. I'd like to say this morning something I don't remember who told me this years going by, [00:10:23] but it's something that has stuck with me always since. When he said that the only person that can hide behind the hypocrite is somebody that's smaller than the hypocrite. How do you hide behind something that's smaller than you? People do that all the time. They say, since you do this, it's okay for me to do this. Since some people don't live up to their faith, they don't live up to what they profess, that seems to somehow justify me doing the same. [00:10:56] If we're going to hide behind a hypocrite, we are in essence judging ourselves. By what measure we measure, we'll be measured. By what measure we judge, we'll be judged. This man is not doing, not living the way he ought to. Therefore, I'll excuse myself. You have just taken and made yourself smaller yet than a hippocrite. Well, that's logic. I didn't really find it in the Bible except the way we judge, that's the way we'll be judged. [00:11:31] So maybe it's not just logic. There's a principle here. We have blind spots. Revelation, the third chapter, you find, where is it? Yes, chapter three, I believe it is, about the Laodicean church. You find a people, they went around saying, we are rich, we are increased with goods, we have need of nothing. We just don't have any need. We've got our thing together. All things are going the right direction. We've got a good-sized group. We get together. We have fellowship dinners. We even pray together sometimes. And we just do a lot of things quite right. [00:12:14] But Jesus said and you don't know that you're naked, you're wretched, you're poor, you're blind Now who is that? I'd like to ask this question this morning I believe everybody's together as far as we've gone Let me go on to the next point That is our people So, we like to talk about being the people that teach the all things. [00:12:45] The all things. What are the all things? What are the all things? Do you know that just about every denomination thinks kind of the same about themselves? For the Church of Christ, the all things is baptism by immersion. You need to be baptized in the name of Christ. He that believeth and is baptized. The emphasis is on baptized. They're pretty straight about you need to be baptized. But we are the people that believe the all things. Are we? [00:13:16] Well, I hope so. I think we ought to shoot for that. We ought to aim for that. And if we're not, we ought to become that. But the thing is, that the tendency is to pick out a few things and that's the all things. We are this morning agreed that these are the things that are important. That we do well to evaluate things according to God's word. And we are agreed that no man should judge wrongly. [00:13:48] Now which man are we talking about? Let's get the focus this morning on what Jesus was saying in Matthew 7, 1-5. Seems to me what Jesus was saying, that we should not have the focus on the man with the splinter, but on the man with the beam. Who is the man with the beam? Was Jesus right when he said we should be careful how we judge? Certainly he was. But who was he talking about? [00:14:19] The tendency is that we can see out there much better. I can see that way much better than I can see right in here. But I don't think I can help a man, a person, to really find relief for his life unless something has happened in my life, first of all. And I need to be more than just born again. It is not just a one-time experience. It is a walk, a position, a condition in Christ. [00:14:54] Jesus is not just talking about being sound in doctrine. I hear people talking, you hear people talking about the truth. We've talked a lot about the truth. And that is ever so important. Without truth, we cannot enter where we want to enter. We cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven without truth. That is the only standard there really is. But, which part of the truth are we talking about when we talk about truth? [00:15:28] Jesus said, if we want to be missionaries, no, he didn't say it that way. He said we ought to be missionaries. We ought to be a people with a mission, go into where? All the world and preach the gospel to every creature, teaching them to observe what? All things. whatsoever I have commanded you. Not selective truth, but all truth. All truth. Over 200 times the scriptures use the phrase in the King James translation, [00:16:02] all things. All things. If you want an encouraging study, an inspirational study, get out your concordance and your Bible and just go through it and read all the scriptures, all 203 or whatever there are of them, and find where it says all things, all things, all things. Like a preacher over Napanee used to say, all means all and that's all that all means. It is inclusive. [00:16:34] It is not a selective thing. I look out this way and I see deficiencies in people's lives. But there's one thing I've been discovering. It takes more than seeing deficiencies. It takes more than seeing error or heresy. There are people that are experts in detecting error. They are experts in detecting heresy. I've already preached in places where I almost trembled for fear that I wasn't going to be able to say it just right [00:17:07] because I might have somehow given a little bit of a wrong twist to a phrase that would have been heresy in some people's minds. but they were experts in detecting heresy but I've also noticed that many times people that are very straight very dogmatic on truth they may have been ever so correct were often not very effective in ministry why could it be? [00:17:39] I'm wondering if it has something to do with splinters and beams Do I make myself clear this morning? It takes more than being sound in doctrine. It takes more than being zealous in activity. It seems like the Laodicean churches, they were quite zealous in their activities. They did a lot of things right. But Jesus said to the Laodicean church, You don't know that you're wretched, miserable, naked, poor, blind. [00:18:13] It was a rather unglamorous conclusion to their statement that we have need of nothing. We sing just right. Let me say this morning, I appreciated the singing very much this morning. And we're not suggesting that we become more spiritual by singing worse. That's not the point at all this morning. Jesus, most of the things, if not all of the things that we're saying this morning, bear living out in our lives. [00:18:46] They need to be lived out. They will be lived out if we are a godly people. We will have concern for one another. We will approach one another. We won't just run to the preacher and tell him so and so has this need. But the very first thing in dealing with that beam, I believe, is getting down on our knees before God. And I'd like to read that to you in a conclusion. What I just read or received from CLP not long ago. [00:19:17] Maybe some of you did as well. The question could be asked this morning. Do we still have the first love? See, how does that song go? Something about do you still have the first love, right? Do you still have the first love? As I was meditating, This phrase kept going through my mind No man has a heart big enough to have two first loves [00:19:47] We can't have two first loves We will either serve this master or this master Something has to give way If something else is our first love Otherwise, the other thing is no longer a first love first love does not necessarily just speak about time what I first experienced when I came to the Lord I wonder if it doesn't have more to do with what Jesus said again when he said [00:20:18] thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart all thy soul, all thy mind, and all thy strength that's a man's first love if he has it but if his love is his money Then the other is not his first love. If a man's first love in his life focuses on people, circumstances, whatever. What are you obsessed with this morning? What is it that comes out of your mouth? [00:20:50] It's what's in your heart. According to the scriptures. Whatever a man thinks is so easy. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth, speaketh Let's just kind of memorize that phrase and roll it over time and again No man has a heart big enough to have two first loves Because one will no longer be One or the other will no longer be the first love The scripture says in Colossians the third chapter [00:21:22] Set your affection on things above Set it, place it Grasp it. Set your affection on things above. Then he points out the reverse. And if we add a couple words, I don't think we're changing the meaning by doing this, but we're getting the meaning he is saying as well. Don't set your affection on things on the earth. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth, Paul said to the Colossians. [00:21:55] Should we then not have sound doctrine by all means? Should we then not be active in service for the Lord? Many times I ask myself the question, Lord, I'm getting close to the end of the journey. I've been doing some things. Have any of them really counted for you? That's the cry of my heart. Does what we do count with God? [00:22:27] It's not how active we are. It's not how accurate we are. But it has to do with our heart being set on God. I wonder if that's not what he's talking about when he talks about the beam. Some people, we said, are experts in pointing out error. But somehow, oftentimes, those people that are experts in spotting the wrong in others Can pass over a multitude of needs in their own life [00:22:58] They struggle, they're defeated We can ask ourselves this morning Can God work through my life so other people are helped? Our people minister to you The focus, is the focus on exposing error or is the focus on bringing resolution? Helping a person find answers to his needs. It is more than being experts in spotting wrong. [00:23:30] Are we saying then that we should overlook wrong? You know that the answer is no. That's not at all the point. But the point is that we have a heart that is in a condition that God can work through to minister to people's lives and to bring glory and honor to Him. What are our motives? Consistency is an issue. Many people are very vocal, very strong on certain things. Things may not be, but then there are things of a similar nature in their lives that are okay that also may not be. [00:24:12] Do you know what that does to a person's life? You can be ever so accurate on your theology. You can be ever so accurate, or maybe you can't. Maybe your theology is wrong if you do what I was just going to say. but you can be ever so emphasizing truth and overlooking other truths in our own life and when that happens you know what happens that's why the Bible says that one of the qualifications for leadership is that a person have a good report among those without [00:24:45] because our testimony, our ever so accurate message It goes right down the tube if we don't live what we preach. And one thing I know, young people can tell that very accurately. And we give you all the right to do it. We owe you a life that supports what we profess. But remember, you are still accountable for your own decisions too. [00:25:16] Even if we don't do our part. I challenge young people, show us the way if we don't see it the way in us. Show us the way, and there are young people that do that. May God bless them. Let's let God help us to have a pure heart. Let's discern when we see needs in people's lives. Does this come out of a concern from my heart because I see a person losing out the blessings of God? [00:25:47] He's missing the blessings of God. One way perhaps that we could test ourselves quite well is when we see the wrongs in other people, we see where they err and they're out on a limb somewhere. It seems to me Paul speaks to this issue by his own example. So did our Lord. When those things are in the forefront in our mind and what we're focusing on, let me ask this question this morning. How many tears have you shed? out of concern for that soul's eternal destination. [00:26:22] Is our concern, is our purpose in proving somebody wrong or helping somebody find the answer for his life? It is doubtful, maybe impossible, that we can really help someone find resolution to his needs if we don't have that concern for his heart and his soul. Do we weep? The reason I believe the Apostle Paul and our Lord himself could talk strongly like they did sometimes [00:26:55] is because the Bible says they didn't stop weeping day and night. They wept. They cried out to God. They were burdened, not just because of the inconvenience caused them, not just because of the things that were happening, But they were burdened in their heart for a man's eternal destination. Out of that kind of concern, not all people are going to respond right. We know that this morning. We're not saying that we need to carry the guilt of all people's wrong decisions. [00:27:31] But if I understand Matthew 7 right, he is saying that we cannot really help a person until we are clear before God ourselves. The right motives, the right heart condition. Our purpose is not in criticizing people. Anybody can do that. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see what all might be wrong in life. But the people of God are those that point us to the answer, not just to the problem. [00:28:06] And that's imperative. How many times do people come with a lot of criticism and a lot of bad things they have observed? Then, if you turn the table and you say, do you have any suggestions? We become hopelessly dumb. Was it Abraham Lincoln? Somebody said, he has no right to criticize who has no heart to help. I don't know if this is a good definition of Matthew 7, 1 through 5 or not. that it's the message that stands out and speaks to me. [00:28:41] No, the broader message here is not let me alone and I'll let you alone. The broader message is how am I in the presence of my God? Can he really work through me through his spirit? It has something to do with that message on being born again. If we would carry that further, and maybe we will sometime, If I want to help, I must first be revived. I must first be transformed. I must first be reformed. [00:29:13] More than just reformed, but also reformed. Changed. Then I can bless my brethren. I'd like to read to you. Some of you may have gotten a little flyer from CLP advertising some new publications. I don't know. I don't remember them ever doing this before, but maybe they have. This is what they had written on that flyer. Stepping down the basement stairway, you catch a voice and freeze for a moment to listen. It sounds unusual, different from an ordinary conversation. [00:29:48] You descend the stairs, peek through the doorway, and spot a dozen prostrate forms scattered across the cold, hard floor. It's a prayer meeting. you're gripped by the realization that you're not hearing the dull listless prayers of the uncaring these words are laden with emotion and fill the cool air with urgency like a flag kept in a steady state or waving the prayers move from man to man all different yet all the same [00:30:18] for they seek the same thing and they pray in earnest knowing that the effectual fervent prayer avails much And thus they pray, late into the evening, asking for one thing And that one thing is revival But, will they get it? In Mark 10 we read of a man who knelt before Jesus with a similar request Eternal life Jesus gazed upon the earnest seeker with tender love Wanting to satisfy his request [00:30:49] But the rich man turned away, disappointed Why? The answer was clear You lack something. Meet the condition and you will receive eternal life. Did he lack zeal? No. Scripture says he came running. It's the same today. We may seek revival. We may even express zeal like the rich young ruler. But return to our home disappointed. Why? What is lacking? What is God's loving word for Christians seeking revival? [00:31:25] The condition is clear. If we truly want to change from defeat and barrenness to victory and fruitfulness, we must humble ourselves. We must humble ourselves. We must move from begging and pleading to confessing and submitting. We must forsake prestige and position for modesty and meekness. we must take the low road and keep it [00:31:57] if you're seeking a closer walk with God or if you're part of a brotherhood seeking revival don't give up ask God to reveal pride in your life and humble yourself a broken and a contrite heart Jesus will not despise let's kneel and pray