Casting out the beam

1. Last Monday I was trying to examine some auto parts for dirt and damage.

2. Something was in my eye, it affected my sight, and it was painful.

3. Finally I had to leave the job, remove the contact, and cleanse the eye.

4. Jesus spoke about something in the eye in our Scripture reading (Mt. 7:3-4).

5. He gave a teaching concerning the removal of a “speck” from the eye of our brother.

6. If this is all He had said, we might consider it to be a good thing.

7. Something in the eye can be painful and even dangerous.

8. Here the emphasis is not on the eye; it is on the one doing the removing.

9. A person with a giant piece of lumber in his eye says he will try to remove a speck from another’s eye.

THERE IS A PARTIAL TRANSLATION OF THE BIBLE KNOWN AS THE “COTTON PATCH” VERSION. THE MAN WHO MADE THIS TRANSLATION ALSO AUTHORED A COMMENTARY ON SOME PARTS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, AND I WANT TO SHARE WITH YOU WHAT HE SAID ABOUT THESE VERSES:

“Though it is an extremely delicate operation, the first to volunteer his removal services is old Plank-Eye himself; gradually he gropes his way toward you. He has known all along that you had the splinter (natural for him, of course, because it probably came off his plank), but he just hasn’t been quite sure how to approach you about it. Of course, you know he’s an expert splinter-picker—he has been at it all his life. He doesn’t want to hurt you either. No hard feelings or anything like that, understand. He really hates to be so frank, but since it’s for your own good—wham! He bumps into you so hard that with the plank protruding from his eye, he well nigh puts out both your eyes! Your bleeding face and blinding pain cause him to believe that the operation is successfully over. Plank-Eye feels warm inside because he has been able to render such incalculable service.”

1) Mr. Jordan’s description does a pretty good job at expressing the thought.

2) Criticism, censure, and fault finding can abound in the lives of people, even the church.

a) At various times we have shown that extremes are almost always wrong.

b) When it comes to the subject in Mt. 7, we find extremes.

c) On the one hand there are those who say we should find fault with nothing.

d) Censure is always undeserved; love causes us to nullify any type of correction or problem.

e) On the other hand, we have those who whine and gripe about every little thing.

f) There are people who seem to live to complain.

g) We find people who can’t have a good day unless they have at least 4-5 petty gripes.

THIS MORNING WE WANT TO LOOK AT NEGATIVE, BITING CRITICISM (OFTEN SMALL THINGS) BEGINNIGN WITH A TEXT IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, THE BOOK OF EZEKIEL (EZEK. 16).

a) In Ezek. 15, the people of Jerusalem were compared to a useless vine.

b) God’s prophet asked which kind of wood is better: that of a grapevine or that of a tree.

c) Which one will burn the longest? We don’t need to be a Boy Scout to answer that question.

d) A grape vine will burn a lot faster than wood from a regular tree.

e) God said the people of Jerusalem were like grapevines growing in a forest.

f) They had been set aside for burning; if a branch happened to miss the fire, they would be put into another fire.

g) In Ezek. 16, the illustration involves marriage.

h) Let’s start with the second verse of this 16th chapter – READ.

i) The people’s sins in Jerusalem were so bad God called them “abominations.”

j) When Jews heard the information in this chapter they must have gotten really, really mad.

k) Not only did the prophet call them gross sinners, he basically said they were pagan to the core.

l) Verse 3 – READ.

m) Jews believed they were God’s special people; they were the elect; they were the chosen ones.

n) Because of their many sins, God compared them to people who had pagan parents.

o) He said it was as if the nation’s father was an “Amorite” and their mother had been a “Hittitite.”

p) God came along and rescued this nation (verse 6).

q) God brought this nation into a covenant relationship with Himself (verse 8).

r) Eventually Israel thought she was getting along pretty well all by herself (verse 15).

s) As the following verses show, the sin had become so bad blood would be shed (verse 38).

2) The people of Jerusalem were horrible. Let’s move down to verse 56.

3) This is a verse that has a thought that virtually no version fully conveys.

4) Here is how the ASV renders it – READ.

a) All translations communicate the idea of Jewish pride.

b) Not all, however, take the same approach on explaining the Jew’s attitude towards Sodom.

c) Some versions indicate Jerusalem didn’t want to mention anything about Sodom.

d) This is the ASV thought and it suggests deep down the people of Jerusalem knew they were just as bad as those in Sodom.

e) Because the Jews knew they were just as bad, they kept quiet about the Sodomites who had been destroyed.

f) Other translations say something like Sodom was held in contempt.

g) The RSV says Sodom was a “byword” (i.e. Jews looked at it in disgust).

5) Both elements are closely associated with the spirit in Mt. 7.

6) When we find nit-picky fault finders, they usually have contempt for the one(s) they are condemning.

a) It is a sad memory for me, but I remember a man who once tried to pick apart another Christian man.

b) The brother doing the judging had created a list against this second Christian.

c) He reminded me of the “expert-splinter-picker” already described.

d) While engaging in a scathing judgment another member of the church a Christian said, “I’m not perfect.”

e) Deep down he seemingly knew his faults and problems.

f) Like the Jews of Jerusalem, he did not let his own massive shortcomings stop him from a biting criticism.

7) As God’s people, judgment is not forbidden.

8) Jesus Himself said we are to judge and judge “righteously” (Jn. 7:24).

9) In the Old Testament this same principle was used.

10) Deut. 16:18 told people in the nation of Israel to “judge righteously.”

a) We judge righteously by following the information we find in the Bible.

b) Not only do these principles teach us how to judge, they tell us how not to judge.

11) If we are going to avoid the sin of unrighteous judgment in Mt. 7, there are some things to avoid.

12) These are small and simple items but they are often overlooked.

13) Let’s start with Lk. 6:37.

a) Many times the information from Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount is repeated elsewhere.

b) Luke often picks up and uses some of this information in his account.

c) In Lk. 6:37 we have the same basic information as in Mt. 7 but there is an addition.

d) Lk. 6:37 – READ.

14) When Matthew and Luke spoke about “judging,” they used the present tense.

15) We can all fall into a nit picky judgment mindset from time to time.

16) That is not good or right, but there is something that is a lot worse.

17) We can be a constant critic in the world and in the church.

18) We can go throughout our lives and always be looking for the small splinters.

a) Luke doesn’t stop with judging; he also spoke of “condemning.”

b) Luke then made a third point: “release.”

c) It is possible to judge, criticize, and really be hateful.

d) People can latch on to something small and keep it for days, months or even years.

e) There are those who become experts in finding and picking out splinters.

19) Paul claimed to be an apostle who was inspired by God (God helped him write Bible books).

20) Paul had a good education, but God helped him understand some additional things.

21) In another part of the New Testament, Rom. 2, Paul tells us something about human nature.

22) He noted how people were judging one another (Rom. 2:1-2).

23) In this case, what people were objecting to were legitimate problems.

a) People were stealing (Rom. 2:21) and this was being condemned.

b) References to idolatry, idol and robbing temples are all found in verse 22.

c) Those doing the condemning Paul said were guilty of all these same sins.

d) This fact gives us a basis to work from when it comes to critical judgment.

24) Sometimes those who are the most critical are guilty of the very things they criticize.

25) Not long ago I mentioned a member of the church who criticized another.

26) The one who did the judging was at every service while the other brother was sporadic.

a) While the one doing the judging was present for assembly, he missed other activities.

b) He decided that missing some activities for himself was okay, but such was not right for another.

c) James (1:25) says we are to look into the law of God (the New Testament) and use it like a mirror.

d) Too often people can be tempted to hold that mirror up to others and look for defects.

27) When Paul wrote the Roman letter he commented on a problem of judging.

28) There were Christians in Rome who decided to eat meat and others didn’t want to eat meat.

29) Some were only conscientiously comfortable with eating vegetables.

30) God has made “all meats clean” (Mk. 7:19b).

31) God has specifically said we are authorized to eat any type of food we choose.

a) There were Christians in Rome who didn’t follow this rule and that caused problems.

b) Imagine today if we had a congregation where brethren whine over food.

c) If a brother has a hamburger, sisters might complain about his eating beef.

d) If there is a potluck and some pork is brought, others may want to start disfellowship proceedings.

e) If Christians were to choose only fruit and vegetables, they might be judged as immature.

32) If we use Jesus’ standard for judgment, righteous judgment, we will be doing things correctly.

33) Making righteous judgments means we use the right standard – the Scriptures.

34) Using the Scriptures usually means we will need a little time for study.

35) Rash judgments are usually just that: rash conclusions and hasty words.

36) God has warned us about a very serious sin—a sin that will divide and destroy His people.