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 Sermon > Official Service |
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Title |
Let us take the plank out of our own eye |
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Speaker |
Rev. Jaerock Lee |
Bible |
Mt 7:1-5 |
Date |
2004-03-14 |
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Introduction
They say that eyes are the windows of the heart. Our eyes play the role of lens of a camera that can catch the world. And eyes are the windows through which he reveals his mind. Through each one's eyes, we can know his nature, temper, and goodness because they show them. So, people say, "His eye light is good and soft. Her eyes are merciful. Or his eyes are full of malice and stinging." The eyes of little children are clear and pure because they are not stained with the world and have pure heart.
This way eyes have much to do with heart. And the deeds of each one are different according to how they are looking at the world. It is said in , "He who has a generous eye will be blessed, For he gives of his bread to the poor," and in , "A man with an evil eye hastens after riches, And does not consider that poverty will come upon him."
I hope that through this message you will check whether you have proper eyes and look at things properly with them in the sight of God and change yourself to look at things with the eyes of God.
Body
It is said in < Matthew 7: 1>, "Do not judge so that you will not be judged." Judging is to tell what is right from what is wrong, and we usually say that judging others happen when mentioning others' wrong or defective aspects. So, there are few people who love being judged by others. You may not naturally want to be judged by someone. It is the same that others do not like to be judged. After you have judged someone, you may wonder how he can guess you judged him and judge you.
Whether he noticed it or not, it is true that you have disobeyed the word of God because you judged him. Even though he cannot find it until the end, God the Father and the enemy Satan also knows your sin. The enemy Satan will accuse you of the sin and take actions to drag you into being judged by others. And God will inevitably let him accuse you of it because God knows that you disobeyed the Word of truth.
For that reason, it is said in , ""For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you." The English dictionary refers to the word "measure" as "Dimensions, quantity, or capacity as ascertained by comparison with a standard" or "To ascertain or appraise by comparing to a standard."
Many people guess and measure others, saying that he did this or she did that. Also, they consider their own guess and measure as right. But in too many cases, their guess does not agree with real fact.
Let us have a biblical example. In , Jesus and His disciples met a man blind since his birth as they passed by. The disciples asked Him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?" They tried to measure the blind man with their own spiritual knowledge. They had the knowledge that diseases and disabilities mainly result from sins, and tried to understand whose sins caused him to be blind.
But Jesus' answer was out of their expectation. He replied, "It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him." As in this case, it is sometimes wrong to measure something even with spiritual knowledge. Therefore, you had better avoid from every kind of judging and measuring others because God commands us not to measure others and we have the responsibility of obeying His commands.
It is said in , "In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets." It is the spiritual law that you will surely be treated the same way you treat them.
says, "Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions." Our Father wants us to accept anyone in love rather than to judge him no matter how much he is wrong. And you should remember that your opinion often turns out to be wrong although it is usually considered right.
In particular, when you try to distinguish between right and wrong about two persons' dispute, you cannot do it only after you have heard of just one man's opinion. You should listen to the opinions of the both men. If you judge one man and condemn him after you have heard from only the other, you are building a wall of sin before God.
In fact, most of people want to obey the word of God and not to judge or measure others. But what is the fundamental reason that they judge or measure others?
It is because they have a plank in their eyes the way it is said in Matthew 7:3, "Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?"
Speck and plank here indicate the sinful nature within them. According to the size of the sinful nature, one is expressed as speck and the other as plank. A speck is blown off only by puff, but plank is very big compared with the speck.
Those who have thick-rooted sinful nature in hearts will gossip about and point out others' transgressions small as a little speck. It is because they do not have spiritual love.
So, it is said in , "Hatred stirs up strife, But love covers all transgressions," and in , "He who conceals a transgression seeks love, But he who repeats a matter separates intimate friends." If you have spiritual love in yourself, you will not reveal the mistakes or errors of your brothers but cover them even though you find specks in their eyes.
Of course, it would be better for you to point out to your brother when you want to correct him in truth. But if you have a plank in your eyes and rebuke others' speck, you must understand that it is not a loving correction made in truth but just from your evil.
Such evil rebuke cannot awaken them in spirit. Rather, it inflicts pains on the hearts of others and makes them lose joy and fullness. Furthermore, it may have them lose faith and stumble.
Usually those who have planks in their eyes do not realize their evil although they have committed those sins. Even when the word of God prohibits from doing that, they think they do not do something wrong. They think they love God and they live by the word.
They think that have faith, but they cannot understand the Word and speak out the judging or condemning words because they close the door of heart. You should check you have done such a thing. You should reflect yourself whether your improper words had others stumble, feel painful, suffer, or feel sorry or ashamed?
The Lord says, "3And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?" If you look at the speck in your brother's eye, want to pint it out or try to gossip about it, you have the plank in your eye. Those who like judging or measuring others have the plank bigger than the speck in others' eye.
The errorless word of God indicates that you look at the speck in the eye of others because you have the plank in your eye. If you have no speck in your eye, namely if you have no evil in your heart, you will not hate but cover the plank of others with love even though they put on airs or show arrogant and unpleasant actions.
Because you have no speck or plank in your eye, you can look at the good things of others and understand them according to the measure of their faith. If you find a speck in your brother's eye, you will pray for him with love, and then you will hate nobody. In brief, only because you have the plank in your eye, you find the speck in your brother's eye and hate him.
It is said in , "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? 5Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." When you remove the plank from your eye, you can clearly see others with the word of truth.
What does it mean by removing the plank from your eye?
The plank symbolizes the great sinful nature hidden in the heart. Usually if you take out the great sinful nature like the plank, it will become easier to remove little sinful natures. It is the same as when you take out a big root of a tree, little roots clung to it will be uprooted easily.
So, we should find what is the sinful nature that is the most difficult to remove and concentrate on getting rid of it. For example, if you removed the sinful nature of hatred and fill your heart with love, other sinful natures like envy or complaint disappear naturally. Then, you will never judge or gossip about anyone because you love everyone. Still less you will never condemn anyone.
You don't have to worry, saying, "When can I remove every sinful nature because there are so many things the Bible tells me to get rid of?" If you removed the plank from a house, the house will fall down easily. In the same manner, it is the way to take out the strongest sinful nature like plank from your heart with fervent prayer and even fasting.
Once you succeed in taking out the plank, you can enter the dimension of spirit quickly. He who has removed the plank from his eye lives in the word of God and has spiritual love in his heart. He hates no one and loves even his enemy because his heart is full of spiritual love. He can have peace with his enemy and sacrifice himself for others' sake.
If you become the person of spirit, even if you look at a speck in the eye of someone, you will never judge or condemn and have no desire to gossip about it. When you point out something wrong, you will advise him in true love and his heart be moved and changed. He will find his error and change it.
It says in <1Corinthians 2: 15>, "But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one." In other words, he who has removed the plank from his eye becomes spiritual and can judge all things. He has no evil because he has got rid of the plank, namely, big sinful nature. He judges anything not with his own thought and knowledge, but with the word of truth. He differentiates everything with goodness and spiritual love. Likewise he who has removed the plank from his eye can judge everything in spirit but is not judged by anyone.
Sometimes seriously wicked people hate and judge that spiritual person just as it is said in , "For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed." Those wicked people sometimes hate the spiritual person but he has no evil to be accused by Satan. But the wicked people build up the higher wall of sin before God.
It says in "Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge."
We men are not the Judge or Lawgiver but only a doer of the law. Nonetheless, if you judge or slander anyone, you are becoming the judge rather than a person to obey the law. continuously warns us, "There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy; but who are you who judge your neighbor?"
It is the One the God who judges with justice and the Law. If anyone judges or estimates others with his own measure, he is becoming the judge. God the Father can see the heart of each one, but men cannot know it because they see the appearances of others. It is said in <1 Samuel 16:7>, "But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God {sees} not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."
If you want to see the heart of men, you should receive the help of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit searches and knows the deepest things of God. When you are filled with and inspired by the Holy Spirit, you can look at the heart of men.
The story of Prophet Elisha in 2Kings 4 teaches that even a spiritual person must be careful in judging others. A woman in Shunem was blessed to conceive a son because she served the man of God earnestly. The son grew up well, but one day he was dead after he came back from the field. The woman laid the child on the bed of the man of God, and rushed to the prophet in Mt. Carmel.
When she came to the man of God at the hill, she caught him by the feet, but Gehazi came near to push her away. But the man of God said, "Let her alone; for her soul is in deep distress, and the LORD has hidden it from me, and has not told me."
Elisha received a double portion of the spirit of his teacher Elijah, but could not measure her situation when God didn't let him know it. Elisha waited until she came and told her problem, and then taught her how to solve it.
I hope you will be careful in everything for fear you should judge or measure in your own thought. Jesus said in , "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment." You should remember this word and not judge according to appearance. If you do not judge, you will not naturally condemn. At the same time, you should not forget that God the Father dislikes your gossiping and measuring.
Conclusion
It says in , "the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power."
When you take out the plank from your eyes, the eyes of the understanding will be enlightened and know everything in spirit and body. I hope your spiritual eyes will be opened more clearly in the year of the unhindered work of the Father. And then you will understand spiritually what is happening in His providence and partake in the ministry. |
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