Matthew 7:1-6, 15-23

“Judge not, that ye be not judged,” said Jesus. His often-quoted words here are almost as often misapplied.

Before we ever make the first move to judge another person, we must first honestly judge ourselves. He was certainly not saying we should never judge the actions and opinions of people since that would be contrary to Scripture.

In the Old Testament, God told His people to “discern between the righteous and the wicked, beteween him that serveth God and him that serveth him not” (Mal. 3:18). So, what did the Savior mean when He said, “Judge not?” We should not be so quick and so harsh in our opinions of other people. When we find fault in a person, it would be well for us to consider that if we lived in his circumstances, we might do even worse.

If we first judge ourselves, it puts us in a better position to help someone rather than doing nothing more than judging. First, we should get the timber out of our own eye so we can see clearly, said Jesus. With clear vision, will be able to remove the speck from the other person’s eye. We ought to be useful to our fellow man.

Evidence that Christ Jesus was not saying to never judge anyone is found in the sixth verse when He said, “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine.” It is useless to attempt introducing the holy things of the Gospel to some people. We have the duty of telling everyone about Christ Jesus, but He wants us to use common sense when taking the good news into the world.

Some people are dogs, others are hogs, and still others are wolves in sheep’s clothing. From the beginning of the church, there have been false prophets, and a multitude of people ready to listen and believe everything they say simply because they are preachers.

How do we safeguard ourselves and our churches against the wolves in sheep’s clothing? Weigh carefully what they teach using God’s Word as the standard. If they depart from the Word, we might consider our own departure. They are, Jesus said, known by their fruit, whether it be good or evil.

Finally, Jesus said, “Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” What an awful thing it would be to hear Him say, “I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”

It is one thing to profess Christ as our Savior, but it is an entirely different matter to practice Christianity. We have been warned. May we not miss heaven.