The Golden Rule
Judging, Asking and Serving
Matthew 7: 1 - 12
1 "Judge not, that you be not judged.
2 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.
3 And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?
4 Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye'; and look, a plank is in your own eye?
5 Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.
6 Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.
7 "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
9 Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?
10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?
11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!
12 Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
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Judging.
Matt 7: 1 "Judge not, that you be not judged.
2 For with what judgement you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.
Verse one is a very misunderstood verse. It seems to suggest that it is wrong to judge.
However, one must make judgements in life.
Matt 7:6a "Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs" . Jesus expects us to discern "dogs" and "pigs."
The Greek for Judge is (krinō) it means "to set apart so as to distinguish, separate."
Later in this passage vv15 and 16 Jesus said beware of false teachers, so we must be able to distinguish between teachers to know who is false and who is true. This means making a judgement, distinguishing between one and the other.
So this V1 mustn’t mean we can’t judge at all.
If we take this verse out of context, then that would be what it means, do not judge, full stop.
However in context it has a different meaning.
7:5, 5 Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.
If you look even more carefully, you see that we are not prohibited from discerning sin or problems in our brother, or even seeking to correct them. But we must first examine ourselves to make sure nothing in us prevents us from seeing clearly. Then, and then only, says Jesus, you can "see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye".
Verse 2 For with what judgement you judge, you will be judged
Judged by whom? Does it mean the person you are judging?
There are two views on this in the Commentaries.
Some say it refers to receiving the same judgement by men.
If its seen that if we judge others wrongly then people will see our wrong judgement and judge us by the same measure.
Others however, think that it refers to God’s judgement on us.
If we misjudge others then God will judge us rightly.
Unkind judgement of others will be judicially returned upon ourselves, in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ.
Even if men don’t see us misjudging others, God does and if we escape the judgement of men, we won’t escape the judgement of God.
Matt 7: 2b "As ye have judged me according to the balance of righteousness, God will judge you according to the balance of righteousness.''
So, in context, it is not wrong to make judgement, to distinguish between right or wrong or truth and error but it must be done in the right spirit.
There is a line in a song that comes to mind here. “Take a look at yourself and you will look at other differently, by putting your hand in the hand of the man from Gallilee”.
3 And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?
4 Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye'; and look, a plank is in your own eye?
5 Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.
This is quite comical if you use your imagination. Imagine a man with a plank of wood protruding from his eye and trying to take a speck out of his brother’s eye.
He wouldn’t be able to see the splinter let alone remove it.
This kind of action has caused men to make up adages that I am sure we all know.
“He who lives in a glass house should not throw stones”.
“Can the pot call the kettle black”
“For where you point your finger, there are three pointing back at you”
I am sure you could add your own to these.
It certainly behoves us to examine ourselves carefully before proceeding to make judgements on others.
Our next verse talks about making one of these correct judgements.
To be able to do what Jesus is saying here, we must be able to make a judgement and to distinguish who are dogs and pigs.
Matt 7: 6 Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.
What Jesus has in mind here is the Gospel, the pearl of wisdom.
This is one of those places where Jesus uses an allegory.
Allegory: a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one.
He knew the Jews referred to the Gentiles as dogs. He also knew that to the Jew, a pig was an unclean animal.
In Jesus time, dogs were scavengers and would not appreciate the difference between the food given to them.
The pig is an animal that wallows in the mud, it would be pointless giving a pearl of great price to a pig.
Both these animals have no appreciation for finer things.
The Apostle Peter alluded to this in 2 Peter 2:22 But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.
These animals are creatures of nature, they will always return to their natural state.
Jesus is referring to those have heard the Gospel but have rejected it and cast it aside for unbelief.
Jesus in Matthew 10:14 said: "If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town."
This is what the Apostle Paul did when preaching the Gospel in Corinth.
Acts 18:5-6 "When the Jews opposed Paul and became abusive, [Paul] shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, 'Your blood be on your own heads! I am clear of my responsibility. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.'"
Asking.
7 "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
9 Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?
10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?
11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!
First of all, we know that nothing is impossible with God and God does what pleases Him.
Second, we know that God knows what we need before we even ask Him.
Third, God know what is good a right for us.
Do these words in our text tell us that God will give us anything we ask for?
Well, the answer is in the text.
if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?
Neither would the father, if he child asked for a serpent, he wouldn’t give it to his child.
If a child asked for a real gun instead of a toy one, would the father give it to him?
Why? Because of love.
When we ask for things, there are three possible answers.
1. Yes
2. No
3. Wait.
We know from experience that we don’t always get what we ask for, does that mean that Jesus is not being straight with us.
If God answers our prayer, it is because He knows it is good for us.
If He says no, it is because He knows it is not good for us or He has some other plan.
If He says not yet, it is because maybe we are not ready for it.
God only gives what is good to his children. Full stop.
Another thing, we read in other scriptures that if our asking is not according to His will, He will not give it to us.
1 John 5:14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
The question is, according to which will?
There are three aspects to the will of God.
Read also: Three aspects of God’s Will.
https://jeffreyunsworth.wixsite.com/teleiosbibleblogs/three-aspects-of-god-s-will
His sovereign will.
His preferred will.
His permissive will.
His Sovereign will is not relevant to this question seeing that we are not privy to the secret counsel of His will.
Isaiah 46:10: “My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.”
Is it His preferred will?
Well for instance, we know that it is God’s preferred will, is that two people do not divorce.
So if we pray that a divorce does not happen, is that praying according to His will and if so would that divorce not take place?
Well! That may not be the case, the divorce may still go ahead. So why, if we prayed according to His preferred will would it go ahead. Why did He not answer our prayer?
It may be that in this situation, God’s permissive will came into play. He could allow that divorce to occur for a greater good and for His glory.
Whilst God hates divorce, He does permit it on grounds of adultery.
Praying according to God’s will is praying according to God’s intended action.
We can only pray, ask, seek or knock and leave it with God.
When Jesus prayed in the garden, “Father if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me, yet not My will but Thine”.
Jesus was praying according to His Fathers will. He was willing to submit to God’s intended action.
Our job, then, is to keep asking with sincerity and persistence—and let God decide about when and how he answers and which good gifts he delivers in response.
The Golden rule.
Matt 7: 12 Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
The "Golden Rule" of Leviticus 19:18 was quoted by Jesus of Nazareth (Matthew 7:12; see also Luke 6:31) and described by him as the second great commandment.
The common English phrasing is "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you".
There is a negative way of looking at this phrase, and some, especially the Jews did. They would say, “Don’t do to your neighbour what you don’t want him to do to you”.
However Jesus used the positive, we should do unto others what we want them to do unto us.
The Golden Rule is keeping the two greatest commandments.
Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul and mind and love your neighbour as yourself.
Spurgeon quote:
“Oh, that all men acted on it, and there would be no slavery, no war, no swearing, no striking, no lying, no robbing; but all would be justice and love! What a kingdom is this which has such a law!”
End of quote.
If we want love and respect from others, we first must show love and respect to them.
Our relationship with God must be a vertical and horizontal love.
Vertical towards God and horizontal towards our neighbour.
Galatians 6:10, KJV: "As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith."
