What worries you as you think about life in the kingdom, as you think about your walk and even in your church? In this section, we will consider Jesus’ own words of warning for His disciples.
(A) God’s holiness spurs godly discernment, not self-righteousness or naivety (Matt 7:1-6)
The first of Jesus’ warnings go: “judge not, that you be not judged” (Matt 7:1). What is the assumption in this verse? Matthew 7:2 hints that there is a point when all will be judged and measured. Jesus will give us penetrating insights into why we shouldn’t judge. But here, we see that there is a Judge and Measurer, and it is not in our place to assume His role.
Now, it also does not mean that we are to suspend discernment and not make any conclusions, because He tells them to do this very thing in Matthew 7:6. Rather, remember that we are poor in spirit (c.f. Matt 5:3). This is how we enter the kingdom, thus, how dare we assume role of judge. There is one who will expose and judge us. Judgement belongs to the Lord. Those who are poor in spirit dare not claim what their Lord has not given to them. There will come a time for judgment to be made. There is one who sees rightly. Until that day comes, far be it for us to assume His role.
What does Jesus expose about our natural tendency? We have a natural tendency to first spot what is in someone else’s eye, while being blind to what’s in our own (Matt 7:3-5). The language here is meant to be hyperbolic, when he compares the log in our own to the speck in others. Also notice that there really is something in someone else’s eye — it is not a hallucination.
Some of us may be familiar with theories of social behaviour, such as the Iceberg Theory of Behaviour, which explains that what we see is just the tip of the iceberg and therefore, what’s behind someone’s behaviour is a complicated mixture of their background, experiences etc. These theories have been around for a long time and have been created to help us understand human behaviour.
But Jesus’ words here help us understand something about human nature, and therefore our behaviour. Sin so curves our heart inward that we are so calculative and sees the sin of another so clearly, but are so blind to our own. What do you see when you see your own sin? Why are we so happy with spotting other peoples’ sins? Perhaps it is because we are content with just a little bit of holiness. However, true holiness burns against sin! Holiness seeks to completely destroy and snuff out sin. This is what Jesus is calling us to here in Matthew 7:3-5. He is calling us to first deal with our sins before we help someone else.
This also means that our repentance is not just a private matter! Our personal repentance is also for the good of the community. There are huge corporate implications for how we are able to help another when we repent of our own sins. Is this the sort of identity and role that you see in yourself when you show up in church, or come for a Bible study, or when you enter a conversation about spiritual matters. Do you see yourself as a log remover, who has also dealt with the speck in your own eye? Do you also have those around you who can help you to remove these “logs”?
Friends, pray that your churches will be places where this can be done. Pray that your church and your leaders will be so desirous of God’s holiness that they’ll take their own sin seriously, and also seek to show others the God who is holy. Pray that we will be people that desires God’s holiness to the point that we will take sin seriously. Begin by praying this tonight.
Jesus appears to pivot to a ‘different’ topic. Matthew 7:6 can sound a bit jarring, but it is perfectly consistent with His teaching. Later, in Matthew 10:5-14, He says something similar. In Matthew 7, Jesus is saying that God’s people are to be marked by discernment. Our hatred of self-righteousness is not to produce naiveté. We are to have the correct estimation of the gospel that we are holding out to people.
Notice also the order. The person that does Matthew 7:6 well is one who has processed Matthew 7:1-5. We can be discerning people only when we have dealt with our own sins. This section is about discerning what is holy. Do we love God and pursue holiness to the extent that we deal with our own sins first, and also seek to guard what is holy? See how Christ models it. He was patient in His teaching, but also dealt with the hypocrisy of the religious leaders. We are to do both too, not adopt an either or approach.
(B) God’s generosity shatters self-sufficiency to grow joyful dependence and communion (Matt 7:7-11)
The big idea in Matthew 7:7-8 is that there is an ordinary and also extraordinary perseverance in asking. Ask, and it is given; seek and we find; knock and it is opened — this is a deeply radical statement because it is unqualified. There is not indication of how many times, or whether it is granted after we have achieved a standard. We are just told to ask! And this is radical.
Jesus uses an analogy in Matthew 7:9-11a. He asks, “If your son asks for bread, will you give him a stone? If he asks for a fish, will you give him a serpent?”. We who struggle with logs in our eyes are able to give good gifts, how much more so our good and Heavenly Father (Matt 7:11b). This is an argument from the lesser to the greater.
This is for us to behold the generosity of God as our Father! This encourages us to pray. And, perhaps if we don’t pray, it may be because we do not know the Father. How else will we know the Father’s heart and provision for us?
At the start of this study, we spent time thinking about our worries. Maybe some of us are worried about persecution, either here or elsewhere. Or maybe we are worried about declining biblical literacy or how theology is increasingly watered down, or creeping liberalism in our culture? Whatever it is, consider this: prayerlessness is our biggest threat. If we are prayerless, we could be functionally atheist.
The principle here: persist in prayer because He is our good Father. We can share in communion in this way.
Maybe you have been praying and asking for good, godly things but still don’t find an answer and wonder if Jesus hears. This is a fair question. There are times when we ask and we don’t get what we ask for. The Bible’s call to us is to trust that God does His best work even in unseen circumstances.
Only Jesus is qualified to tell us these things. This is the Jesus who spent the night i nn the Garden of Gethsemane, who asked for righteousness to be done and not to be abandoned. But Jesus has such a trust in the Father’s “much more” that He was able to pray “not my will but yours”. Jesus received comfort, and the angels ministered to Him. And today, let this be our comfort, because we have something better than angels — the comfort of Jesus.
Consider also the earlier words of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:1-6:34– what would be the content of your petitions if you regarded Jesus’ words? The Sermon on the Mount also show us how people in the Kingdom have their prayer priorities sorted out. Look at the table. What Jesus is saying in these verses is also a prayer list.
Jesus teaches us to pray, asking that we would:
Discern our poverty of spirit and so find help, comfort, and a place in His kingdom (Matt 5:2-5).
Hunger and thirst for righteousness, mercy, purity, and peace in our relationships (Matt 5:6-9).
Rejoice amidst persecution (Matt 5:10-11).
Live as salt and light before a watching world (Matt 5:13-16).
Possess a righteousness that exceeds that of the Scribes and Pharisees (Matt 5:17-20).
Have the Law so written on our hearts, issuing for in all manner of thought, word, and deed (Matt 5:21-42).
Love our enemies (Matt 5:43-47).
Seek the reward of our Father who sees in secret rather than the public praise of man (Matt 6:1-18).
Have our hearts set on godly treasure and our Father’s provision – killing anxiety (Matt 6:19-34)
God’s word also accounts for why we ask and not receive. James, in James 4:1-4 points to the worldliness and sinfulness in us that hinders us from receiving what we pray for: “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.“
So how are we to respond to all that we have read in these verses. Isaiah 65:1-2 shows us the One who calls us to ask, seek and knock was the one who first went out to call us when we did not seek Him. Jesus embodied the words of Isaiah 65. See also the warning, for the goodness of God is not to be taken lightly, Isaiah 65 also looks to a time when people neglect what has been said. Read Isaiah 65:12 and see how there is great tenderness in the words of Jesus and who He is, but there is also judgment. We cannot presume on His grace.
The God in Isaiah 55:6-9 is the God who seeks us today: “Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Why do we not turn to Him? How will Jesus’ teaching change your prayer habits in the future? What does your attitude towards yourself or others reveal about your view of God’s holiness?