GOING DEEPER

The Holy Spirit is calling us into a deeper relationship with Himself and with one another.

1. JUDGE NOT

Matthew 7:1 – “Judge not, that you be not judged.

Matthew 7:2 – “For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.”

Judge not, means to turn away from a spirit of fault-finding, a critical spirit always looking for the worst, a condemning spirit, and a self-righteous spirit which places itself above others.

Romans 14:4 – “Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand.”

“If we ever know the feeling of being rather pleased when we hear something unpleasant about another, that is this wrong spirit.” – Martyn Lloyd-Jones

“It is a self-righteous spirit. Self is always at the back of it, and it is always a manifestation of self-righteousness, a feeling of superiority, and a feeling that we are all right while others are not.” – Martyn Lloyd-Jones

We are called to be generous, gracious, and merciful.

We are, however, called to speak the truth in love.

Matthew 7:3 – “And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?”

Matthew 7:4 – “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?”

Matthew 7:5 – “Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

Galatians 6:1 – “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.”

“We have a fatal tendency to exaggerate the faults of others and minimize the gravity of our own.” – John Stott

Our calling as brothers and sisters in Christ is to go first to the cross. We ask Jesus to show us the plank in our own eyes, and then go to our brother or sister, and speak the truth in love and humility.

2. CASTING OUR PEARLS BEFORE SWINE

Matthew 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.”

“Dogs” and “swine” are Jewish metaphors which refer to totally unreceptive people.

“They must rather be those who have had ample opportunity to hear and receive he Good News but have decisively – even defiantly – rejected it.” – John Stott

Acts 13:46 – “Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, ‘It was necessary that the Word of God should be spoken to you first; but since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles.’”

3. ASKING, SEEKING, AND KNOCKING

Matthew 7:7 – “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”

Matthew 7:8 – “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”

Father God has tied His giving to our asking.

James 4:2b – “Yet you do not have because you do not ask.”

James 4:3 – “You ask and do not receive because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.”

When we ask, we are humbling ourselves before Him and acknowledging He is God.

Matthew 7:9 – “Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?”

Matthew 7:10 – “Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?”

Matthew 7:11 – “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!”

Father God is a good God and can only give good things.

He loves to give the Holy Spirit to those who ask.

Luke 11:13 – “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

4. THE GOLDEN RULE

Matthew 7:12 – “Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”

5. THE NARROW GATE

Matthew 7:13 – “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.”

Matthew 7:14 – “Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

Jesus is the Narrow Gate. He is the only Way to Heaven.

John 10:9 – “I am the Door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.”

John 14:6 – “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’”