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Scripture Reading: Matt. 7:1-12
In this chapter we will consider the sixth section of the Lord’s teaching in Matthew 5 through 7, which concerns the principles of the kingdom people in dealing with others. In the previous chapters we looked at the key points in the first five sections of the Lord’s teaching. The Lord’s word is concise, but every point touches our specific condition. Hence, the ruling of the kingdom of the heavens is not a theory or doctrine. The Lord examines our inward and outward condition, and He requires us to bring every detail of our living under His ruling by forsaking and denying the self and by living according to the life of God. God wants to rule in our heart in matters related to our attitude toward God, our attitude toward others, and our attitude toward ourselves. In order to do this, our flesh must be terminated. This is the way to practically live in the kingdom of the heavens as kingdom people.
The way that we deal with others and contact them is also important. We need to know the principles of the kingdom of the heavens that are involved in dealing with others. Hence, after speaking concerning material riches, the Lord unveiled the principles of the kingdom people in dealing with others.
Concerning the principles of the kingdom people in dealing with others, the Lord first spoke of how the kingdom people should view others. In Matthew 7:1 the Lord said, “Do not judge.” Our judgment of others is the expression of our view of others. Our view is inward, but our judgment is outward. If we have a certain view inwardly, we will spontaneously judge outwardly. The Lord does not want us to judge others; He does not want us to have opinions concerning others.
Most people share a common problem; they automatically form an opinion of others. This leads them to evaluate and criticize others. This common weakness is not allowed by the ruling of the heavens. Isaiah 42:19 says, “Who is blind except My servant, / And as deaf as My messenger, whom I will send? / Who is as blind as the one at peace with Me, / And as blind as the servant of Jehovah?” This describes the Lord when He was on the earth. Like a blind and deaf man, He was not sensitive to the things around Him. Those who are under the ruling of the heavens do not like to touch the affairs of others. The kingdom people are deaf and blind to persons, matters, and things that they encounter. It is hard for them to form an opinion of others.
In order for us not to judge others, we must not have an opinion of them. If we do not form opinions about the people we contact, we have learned a lesson before God. Those who are fleshly and live according to their temper form opinions of the people they contact, and this inevitably leads to judging. However, if we live in the Lord’s presence and are restricted by the Spirit, we will not want to observe or to know the affairs of others. We will not form an opinion or have a feeling about those whom we contact; we will have a feeling only concerning someone who is under our care. Without opinions, it is hard for us to judge others.
Not judging others is not merely a matter of wanting to be delivered from the self. Those who are under the ruling of the heavens cannot judge others, because they want to avoid God’s judgment. In Matthew 7:2 the Lord said, “With what judgment you judge, you shall be judged.” This reveals that in the future God will judge us according to how we judge others today. If we judge others harshly, God will judge us harshly.
Whenever we judge others, we need to be reminded that the judgment with which we judge others today will be the judgment with which the Lord will judge us in the future. If we want to avoid judgment in the future, we must not judge others today. If we do not want to fall under God’s judgment in the future, we must not pass judgment on others today.
In verse 3 the Lord said, “Why do you look at the splinter which is in your brother’s eye, but the beam in your eye you do not consider?” In other words, when we see others’ wrongdoings, we should realize that there are greater wrongdoings in us. Only when we remove our wrongdoings can we see others’ wrongdoings clearly. Hence, before we judge and condemn others, we must first judge and condemn ourselves. When we judge ourselves, our view will be clear.
Verses 1 through 5 reveal that we should not criticize or judge others carelessly. If we judge others carelessly, we will fall into two dangerous situations. The first danger is that we will bring judgment upon ourselves. The second danger is that our judgment may be incorrect and inaccurate. In order to avoid these two dangerous situations, we must be under the heavenly ruling in order to be delivered from the self.
In verse 6 the Lord brings up another matter: “Do not give that which is holy to the dogs, neither cast your pearls before the hogs, lest they trample them with their feet, and turn and tear you.” In order to understand this verse, we need to consider the background in the Old Testament.
According to Leviticus 11, the animals of the earth are either clean or unclean. Animals that have a divided hoof and chew the cud are clean and may be eaten by God’s people. Animals that do not have a divided hoof or that do not chew the cud are unclean and may not be eaten by God’s people (vv. 1-8). For example, dogs do not have a divided hoof, nor do they chew the cud. Hogs have a divided hoof but do not chew the cud. Hence, both dogs and hogs are unclean and may not be partaken of by God’s people.
Spiritually speaking, God’s intention in Leviticus 11 is to show principles for His people in their dealing with others. Chewing the cud signifies receiving God’s word and pondering over it. A divided hoof signifies being separated in our living and walk by receiving the word of God. Those who receive and ponder over the word of God are separated in their living and walk before God. God’s people are allowed to contact and deal only with such ones.
The Gentiles do not receive the word of God, and nominal Christians can be no different from the Gentiles in their living and walk, even though they seem to receive the word of God. In the eyes of God, such ones are unclean like the dogs and hogs in Matthew 7:6. God’s people should not have dealings with them.
That which is holy in verse 6 refers to the truth of God, the word of the Lord. In particular, it refers to the Lord’s teaching on the mountain, which belongs to God. Your pearls refers to our experiences of life. If we receive the Lord’s word, obey the truth of God, and live according to the life of God, we will have pearl-like experiences. We should not speak carelessly about the Lord’s word and His truth to those who do not receive the Lord’s word and who have no separation in their conduct. Nor should we speak with such ones concerning our experiences of life. People who do not receive the Lord’s word and have no separation in their being neither know that which is holy nor treasure pearls. Hence, they are likely to trample God’s truths and our experiences and will cause us to suffer loss.
For example, a brother may testify to an evil man, saying, “Whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also, and to him who wishes to take your tunic, yield to him your cloak also.” The evil man, however, may not treasure or appreciate such a testimony. Instead, he may take advantage of the brother by slapping his face and taking his clothes. This is to turn and tear the brother.
We often encounter such situations in our practical living. Therefore, we need to be careful when speaking to others. When we preach the gospel, we should not carelessly speak the words in the Bible, lest they are presented to people who are like dogs or hogs, and we suffer loss. Whether we should speak to others about God’s truths and the extent to which we should speak depend on the kind of person we are speaking to.
Matthew 7:1-6 reveals that we need to exercise caution and should not be careless in dealing with others. We should not judge others carelessly. We also should not speak of the truth and our experiences of life in a careless way. Just as we need to be careful in our views of others, we also need to be careful when speaking the truth to others. If we are not careful, we will bring judgment upon ourselves and suffer loss.
In verses 7 through 12 the Lord turned to the matter of prayer. It seems as if He was speaking about how God deals with us, but He was speaking about how we deal with others. If we read these verses carefully, we will realize that they are related to how we deal with others, because at the end of this section the Lord said, “Therefore all that you wish men would do to you, so also you do to them; for this is the law and the prophets” (v. 12). According to the context, this is a concluding word. In this section the Lord seemed to be saying that we should do to people what we wish God to do to us. We often pray and hope that God would be good to us. Therefore, the Lord was saying that we should treat others in this way as well.
According to the principles in our dealings with others, we should do to others what we wish God to do to us. If we want God to be generous to us, we need to be generous to others. If we want God to be gracious to us, we need to be gracious to others. If we want God to give good things to us, we need to give good things to others. God never gives us inferior things. Even when we ask for the wrong things, God still gives us good things. We should also deal with others in this way. This is the principle of the kingdom people in their dealing with others.
How does God deal with us? In verse 7 the Lord said, “Ask and it shall be given to you; seek and you shall find; knock and it shall be opened to you.” Asking, seeking, and knocking all refer to prayer, but each step is deeper and more advanced than the previous step. For some matters we need only to ask, and God will give them to us. For other matters it is not sufficient to ask; we also need to seek. For yet other matters we cannot stop with seeking; we also need to knock. There is a distinction between these three steps of prayer. With asking, the emphasis is on asking God for blessings; with seeking, the emphasis is on gaining God; but with knocking, the emphasis is on gaining God’s presence. However, whether we are asking for blessings, seeking God, or gaining His presence, God will always give us something good.
Even when we ask for the wrong thing, God gives the right thing to us, because He knows the difference between a loaf and a stone. He knows what is profitable and what is harmful. For example, a sister, who wants to study abroad after graduating from college, may ask God about going abroad every day in her prayer. In the eyes of God this matter may be a stone, not a loaf, in relation to this sister. He may consider it to be a serpent instead of a fish (vv. 9-10). Hence, God does not give her what she asks; rather, He gives her a different future. Although the sister may not initially understand God’s arrangement, she will eventually realize that God has given her the best.
We need such wisdom when dealing with others. For example, a young brother may want to borrow three thousand dollars from us, but we know that if we lend him this money, we will be doing him harm. Hence, we need to exercise wisdom and help him. The brother is asking for a stone, thinking that it is a loaf. If we give him the stone, we will harm him.
There are two implications in the Lord’s word in Matthew 7:1 through 12. The first implication is that we should do to others what we wish God to do to us. The second implication is that God will do to us what we do to others. These are the principles of the kingdom people in dealing with others.
