Matthew Chapter 7 Part 1

shalom and welcome to via israel a hebrew phrase which means you shall love israel we hope you'll stay with us for the next 30 minutes as our teacher dr baruch shares his expository teaching from the bible dr baruch is the senior lecturer at the zehra avraham institute based in israel although all courses are taught in hebrew at the institute dr baruch is pleased to share this weekly address in english to find out more about our work in israel please visit us on the web at love israel.org that's one word loveisreal.org now here's baruch with today's lesson what verse of scripture does almost everyone know even those who are not believers in messiah yeshua well that's the verse that we're going to begin with today from the book of matthew and chapter 7. and not only is it a familiar verse but also it's one that is frequently misunderstood and what do i mean by that well let's look at it take out your bible and look with me still learning from the sermon on the mount chapter 7 of matthew and verse 1. we all know the scripture matthew 7 verse 1 where yeshua is teaching and he says do not judge in order that you will not be judged now pay attention to this word judge because you know what it does not mean it does not mean to evaluate something we are constantly called to evaluate things both in our lives and in the lives of others and why do we evaluate things to see if they're pleasing to god and therefore what this is is a word of condemnation when it says don't judge what it means is don't condemn someone don't punish someone that's not your role or my role that is reserved for god in fact the bible says that all judgment in the sense of condemnation has been given to the son he knows how to do it we do not but oftentimes people will say this they'll say don't judge me meaning don't tell me what i'm doing is wrong well it's not wrong in our eyes we don't set the standards as we'll see in a moment it is the word of god that does so and there's been many times in my life that people friends fellow believers and sometimes other people they'll come up and they'll challenge me they'll say i don't know if this is right and oftentimes i am very grateful that i have been set in order we need to reprove one another with love so it's always acceptable to to in love in the interest of someone else to say what you're doing is not in line with god's word let me give an example of what i'm talking about we know that in the court system there is a jury and the jury determines based upon the information the standards of law if someone is guilty or not meaning whether they have broken the law they have done something that is a crime something that is unjust unrighteous but it's the judge that sentences that being it's the judge that punishes so this scripture when it says do not judge it means do not punish an individual we don't have the right to punish one another now sometimes in the congregation there is congregation discipline so a board a group of leadership oftentimes they have to reprove and punish someone if they will not repent if they do not acknowledge their sin so be very careful when we look at this scripture once more matthew 7 verse 1 yeshua's teaching he says do not judge that you will not be judged and then he warns us he continues and says for in what measurement or judgment now this is the standard so for what in judgment you judge you will be judged so if i have this this view of judgment what's right or what's wrong and i apply that to a situation god is saying he's going to apply that same standard back to us likewise if we keep reading and in what measure you measure with it will be measured against you so what does this tell us it tells us that we need to be gracious people yes speaking the truth standing up for god's principles god's commandments god's ways but doing so in love and grace extending mercy showing people that god is always willing to receive one who repents acknowledges their heir so he warns us when we act in a condemning way when we want to punish someone or treat someone unkindly because we don't like what they're doing god says beware because that standard of judgment that measurement that we use it is going to be measured back to us now next verse notice what he says and he's going to give an example of why we should not come down so hard in a condemning way to others now here again it doesn't mean that we cannot in love say someone is violating that standard that someone is outside the will of god we're allowed we're called to do that that's part of exhorting someone but notice what he says here he gets to the problem of whereby oftentimes we can be in a very unkind way emphasizing the errors the mistakes the sins of others and ignoring our own sins and that's why the first part of this verse is so important where he cautions us about the standard the measurement that we use notice what he says but why do you see the splitter now this is a a small chip and in modern hebrew when we look at it we're studying greek but the counterpart in hebrew is a word for like a toothpick and in a moment we're going to be dealing with another word who is like a large 2x4 a large plank or board of word wood so he says here why do you look at the splinter in the eyes of your brother you see this you notice that but he says the big board that is in your eyes you do not pay attention and this is just a human characteristic trait the same things that we do when other people do them we see them as worse and we see our sin our heirs our behavior outside of the will of god as well it's not so bad and this is the exact opposite of what we should so he says why are you paying such close attention to this speck in the eyes of your brother but in your own eyes you don't see you're not paying attention to the big board that's there and he says move on to verse verse 4 and how do you say to your brother allow me to cast out the splinter from your eyes and behold this board is in your eyes he says look to verse 5 here's the problem he points out a word that yeshua used frequently and that is that word hypocrite and that is when we use one standard for ourselves and another standard for someone else and naturally in the flesh there is a human tendency to do just that to see these other people's actions even when we do the same thing that there is more offensive it is more more wrong it is more displeasing to god and we give ourselves kind of a pass well that's not what we should do the opposite should be true and that's why he says hypocrite cast out first this board this plank that is in your eye and then and he's been using the word blepo which means to see or perceive and here he uses that same word with a prefix dia which means through or in this sense thoroughly he says you know first of all you need to get rid of that board that is in your eyes then you will be able to see or perceive things clearly more thoroughly you'll see thoroughly so that the speck of your brother that you can cast out so it all has to do with a right perspective now he's going to continue this same thought of having a right perspective in regard to our prayer life and don't miss the con connection there's a correlation there's an important truth that he's sharing here and that's this how i deal with others is going to affect my prayer life and now he wants to give us a proper perspective for prayer in understanding how generous how good and how wonderful of a provider god is and what's the key to receiving his provision well one thing that we should never underestimate that is the power of prayer prayer believe me prayer brings about change and when we pray properly and prayer leads to as we'll see in a moment prayer leads to a change in those who pray it brings about a change in their behavior prayer makes us an active and active participant in the things of god notice what he says let's move on to verse 7 we read ass and it will be given to you so god is saying when we ask he's going to respond now how is he going to respond well he's going to respond according to that which is good and we're going to see how he relates that that biblical principle to us but you need to realize that god he responds to our prayer according to that which is good that which is a reflection of his righteous will so we are commanded ass and it will be given to you but just because it's been given does not mean and don't miss out on this it does not mean that i'm in the possession of it right now i've asked god is given and i have that's not what the scripture says it just says that god has released it but that doesn't mean that i have received it because there's another part remember what i said prayer makes us an active participant and the things that god is up to so we ask and then what does he say he goes on and continues seek and you will find now here this word fine it's the normal word for the finding something but it's simply in this context a word of locating something once more it does not mean that i'm in the possession of it it means that i have located that because there's a third very important aspect he writes at the end of verse 7 he says knock and it will be open to you so three things that we need to do in order to be a recipient of the result of prayer we begin by asking as the scripture says in other places make your request known before god james says you have not because you asked not so we ask god's going to move and he is going to provide now sometimes what we ask for is inappropriate meaning this we're asking for something it may be a very appropriate uh need that we have but we focus in we ask on something that's not the godly solution and that's why frequently i tell people you know you need not pray all too specifically and what i mean by that is this we have a need in our life be specific about that need that's fine but don't be so specific about how that need should be met by god god he may acknowledge that need but he may answer that respond to that provide something different something obviously that's going to be better for us something that is going to have a a more beneficial outcome in our life and here's the problem if we simply focus in we get so-called tunnel vision on how we think god should respond how he should respond and provide here's the problem that we get so focused on that one way that we believe it should be answered and when god provides something else we don't even see it we stumble over it we ignore it because it's not what we're expecting so that's why we don't need to be real specific on how that need how that request is met be requesting specifically but do not expect something so specific god may have something very different and he's going to give an answer to us he says verse verse 8 for everyone i'd underscore that for all no exceptions for everyone who asks receives and the one who seeks and this is an important part of of uh being a person who is going to be a beholder a receiver in his hand of what god has provided we need to learn how to seek and then there's a third aspect and this actually brings it about into our possessions this knocking acting behaving in a way so that we can receive it let me give an example someone is in need of money and and god moves someone to this deposit and that person's bank account some sum of money so the person's ass god's provided it but that person doesn't know it he doesn't know it until he begins to seek and he finds it and then again even though he knows it's located in that bank account of his until he fills out the the check or the withdrawal slip he's not in a possessor of it so these three things ass seek and knock and it says here when we do that we are going to find it open up to us for notice verse 9 or a a certain man from among you now he wants to give an example of of god how god responds his nature and one of the things we need to remember is that we as children or disciples of messiah yeshua we become and hear this we become the children of god only by faith there is a major difference between being a creation of god every human being is a creation of god not every human being is a child of god why well we become children of god by means of adoption and that adoption it requires something and that adoption requires faith in specifically that gospel message and it's only when we receive messiah yeshua that is jesus of nazareth into our life acknowledging our sin acknowledging his payment on that cross in full for all sin it's only when an individual does that that he or she becomes a child of god and he becomes not just god but our heavenly father and notice the example that he gives here in verse 9 he says what man is there among you whom his son should ask for bread and he says would he give him he wouldn't give him a stone and that's just just common sense so much of the scripture when we hear it it speaks to the rational mind as well so if you have a son and he's hungry and he asks for bread we're not going to respond to that need by giving him a stone that wouldn't meet that need and he says likewise keep reading he says verse 10 and if he should ask a fish he says he wouldn't give to him a a snake a fish you can eat that find benefit but a snake is dangerous so god's not going to provide when we pray to him something that is not usable like a stone or something dangerous in our life and many times and here's something you need to realize many times when we pray we ask for something that is not going to have any effect in our life we may want it we may covet it we may think we can't live without it but understand it is not going to have any beneficial outcome in our life and god's not going to provide it many times we ask for things that we ought not likewise god's not going to give to us something that is is dangerous remember a boy wants a fish and is he going to get a snake absolutely not god doesn't behave in that way verse 11 therefore if you being evil and and i would underscore that we compare to god evil now what's evil here well it's speaking about this this tendency for us by nature when we think of things according to our perspective we we don't get it right this word evil has to do with that which is contrary to or that which misses the will of god and it is natural for us to be thinking in this wrong way he knows that so that's why and here again as believers we have such an advantage because when we pray you know who assists us you know who intercedes in our behalf to the son that son messiah who sits at the right hand of god this this place of of preference it is yeshua so the holy spirit and messiah they work together when we pray the holy spirit takes sometimes the foolishness of our requests and he interprets it into that which will be pleasing pleasing to god and messiah intercedes in our behalf and we receive that which is good so if we should ask for let's just flip it around if we're foolish and many times i'll speak about myself i'm foolish spiritually i may be dumb and ask for a stone god's going to provide bread i may want a serpent but he's going to provide a fish so he's going to take what is incorrect and he's going to make it correct in order that his will is is available that we are people who submit to that which is good so notice what he says look once more at verse 11 therefore you being evil if you know good gifts to give to your children and then we have a wonderful expression which means in hebrew which means how much more so if we who by nature the tendency of us is to not get things right not to see things from god's perspective so if that's us but nevertheless to our children we give good things we want to bless them we want to respond and that which is of their best interest that's going to be truly good in their life if we can do that being evil how much more so who notice what he says how much more so your father which is in heaven that he will give do you see that it's a promise he will give good good things to those who ask from him verse 12. now in verse 12 we come to again a very familiar verse of scripture many times we call this the golden law and it's a wonderful testimony of of truth notice what it says verse 12. therefore all what you desire that it should be done to you by men so everything that you want men to do to you he says thus also you do to them now it it presupposes something and what is that it presupposes that we we want what's in our best interest in the in even though that we may be sometimes deceived we may be confused ultimately we want that which is good we we tend to behave in a way that puts our self-interest first and what he's saying is we need to refocus redirect that so he says if you being evil if you say to yourself this is is good this is what i want done to me he says look again therefore everyone that that what you want men to do for you thus also you do to them then look at the end of verse 12. he says for thus is the law and the prophets now how do we understand that and how ought we not to understand it see many people think well that's it i don't have to look at the commandments of god those commandments that that god gave to moses in the tanakh the hebrew bible what commonly referred to the old testament i can just set those aside what the prophet says i don't need to read the prophets because all i need to do is is get down verse 12. well here's the problem with that what verse 12 this golden rule what it's teaching us is this it's underscoring a foundational principle in the law via which means love your neighbor as yourself this is what both the law and the prophets teach that we should not be self-centered but we should be individuals that want to be a blessing to others why because that is the nature the character of god and that's how we ought to behave we need to be like him so this scripture it's telling us that we should be individuals that take that natural love that natural preference for self and we need to repackage it redirect it focus it upon others and when we do that we are walking in regard to the message of the law and the prophets god's revelation but here's the important point it is the commandments of god it is the words of the prophets that give us a ripe perspective for this this is a general statement love your neighbor put others before yourself don't do to others what you wouldn't done want done to you rather do to others what you would want done to you but to have the right perspective on how to do that naturally the commandments of god they sharpen they instruct they give us a clear revelation of and here's the key our responsibilities to others you have as a believer you have as a child of god responsibilities to others and that should be foundational in your prayer life well i'm out of time until next week shalom from israel well we hope you will benefit from today's message and share it with others please plan to join us each week at this time and on this channel for our broadcast of love israel.org again to find out more about us please visit our website love israel.org there you will find articles in numerous other lectures by baruch these teachings are in video form may download them or watch them in streaming video until next week may the lord bless you in our messiah yeshua that is jesus as you walk with him shalom from israel

Channel: LoveIsrael.org

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Keywords: Book of Matthew, loveisrael.org

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Length: 28min 30sec (1710 seconds)

Published: Fri May 08 2020