Sermon Notes
I. The need for ___________ judgment (v. 1-2)
II. Our ___________ v. 3-12)
A. Toward our ___________ and ___________ v. 3-5)
Our attitude toward brothers and sisters should be ___________ .
B. Toward ___________ unbelievers (v. 6)
Our attitude toward hostile unbelievers should be ___________ .
C. Toward our Heavenly ___________ (v. 7-11)
Our attitude toward our Heavenly Father should be ___________ .
D. Toward ___________ v. 12)
Our attitude toward everyone should be ___________ .
Going Deeper
- There is a connection between the end of Matthew 6 and beginning of Matthew 7. Leon Morris says: “Jesus turns from a negative attitude in one’s own affairs (worry) to a negative attitude…to others.”
- Is Jesus saying we should never judge anyone? Why or why not?
- Read Gal. 6:1-5. How should we go about confronting someone in sin? (right judgment)
- Douglas O’Donnell says: “In Matt. 7:1-12 our Lord Jesus is not teaching us not to judge (period), but rather how to make true, wise, and (most importantly) loving judgments.” -Douglas O’Donnell
- John Stott says:“Christians must make judgments (John 7:24), but they must do so humbly, mindful of their own sins (Gal. 6:1). They shun the censorious spirit (Rom. 14:3–4, 10–13; 15:7) that uses laws to condemn others, and they renounce the ambition to take God’s role as judge.”
- Dan Doriani: “Moses and the apostles agree that leaders of thecovenant community must assess and confront false teachers or prophets (Deut. 13:1–11; 1 John 4:1; cf. Gal. 2:11) and remove
them from the assembly if necessary (Acts 20:28–29; 1 Tim. 1:3–4; 6:3–5).” - Read Matt. 7:3-5. Douglas O’Donnell: “It is unloving to judge your brother when you have a log in your own eye. But it is also unloving to leave a speck in your brother’s eye.”
- Read Matt. 7:6. Who are the dogs and pigs? Read Matt. 15:26; Phil. 3:2; Rev. 22:15. Do you know any dogs in your life? How do you interact with them?
- Read Prov. 9:7, 8a; 23:9. Dan Doriani says: “As Proverbs 23:9 says, fools ‘despise’ sensible instruction; why expose God’s truth to mockery?”
- Read Matt. 7:7-8 Terms grow in urgency: ask (implies petition), seek (implies it is elusive), knock (implies an obstacle). How have these verses been misapplied in churches? Have you ever misapplied this verse? How?
- The parallel passage to Matt. 7:9-10 is Luke 11:13. Compare and contrast. What does Jesus promise to those who ask in Luke 11? How does this apply to your life?
- Read Jer. 29:13; Luke 18:1–8; John 14:13–14. What do we see in these passages? How will you apply this in your life this week?
- Read Matt. 7:12. William Larkin says: “One who observes this basic principle [the Golden Rule] will fulfill all the basic principles the way God intended them.”
- Martyn Lloyd-Jones says: “The natural man does not care about his eternal future; to him this is the only world. It is the only world he thinks about; he lives for it and it controls him. But the Christian is a man who should walk through this life as conscious that it is but transient and passing, a kind of preparatory school. He should always know that he is walking in the presence of God, and that he is going on to meet God; and that thought should determine and control the whole of his life.” Are you like the natural man or the Christian? What will you do to change your attitude and behavior?
- The attitudes we are challenged to adopt are:
- Humility toward brothers and sisters in Christ
- Wisdom toward hostile unbelievers
- Trust toward our Heavenly Father
- Selfless toward everyone
- Servant like Jesus
- Which of these attitudes are the hardest for you to adopt?
- What will you do to grow in this attitude this week?
