Good Judgment

Listen to sermon here.

Sermon Outline

Do not Judge? (v1-2)

• Jesus is Qualifying a kind of judgement that is wrong
• Jesus is not blankly telling us not to judge. He is telling us to judge properly.
• The issue of the text is not judgement per-say, it’s judgementalism. At the core of improper judgement is the lack of love and care for others.
• In the Sermon on the mount we see that Jesus speaks about specific things (Lust, Divorce, Anger, Fasting, Prayer, etc.) but he ultimately has an issue with what lies within our heart in all these areas.

Judge Yourself: Dust & the Plank (v3-5)

• Hyperbole: This pictures improper judgement where we see a tiny flaw in another person and conveniently forget the great shortcomings in ourselves.
• Judge as Jesus judges you, with grace!

Use Good Judgement (v6)

• Pigs/dogs: those adamantly opposed to the gospel.
• We have to make judgement calls with people who continually reject Jesus and trample on the good news of the gospel
• Pray for them, present Christ accurately but if they continually reject Him put your energy into someone else.
• Meditate on this verse and pray how God would have you live it out.

Application Questions to Consider

1. Judgement is a matter of the heart. So What lies at the core of your judgement of others? Is it self serving? Is it full of grace and mercy?
2. We must first take care of our great problems before we can correct another small difficulty. What are some areas in your life that need addressed?
3. What does grace centered judgement look like? Do you find it easy to be humble, honest, and loving through the process of judging others?