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Published: Jan. 31, 2023, 8 a.m.

Welcome to Day 2111 of  Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom Sermon on the Mount 9 – A Christian’s Relationships: Judging Others and Effective Prayer – Daily Wisdom Putnam Church Message – 07/11/2021 Sermon on the Mount – A Christian’s Relationships: Judging Others and Effective Prayer Matthew 7:1-12 Today’s Scripture is found on page 1505 of the pew Bible. “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.  For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.   “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.    “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!    So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. Matthew 7 consists of several self-contained paragraphs. Their link with each other is not apparent. Nor does the chapter as a whole follow on from the previous chapter with any precise sequence of thought. However, the connecting thread which runs through chapter 7, however loosely, is that of relationships. It would seem quite logical that having described a Christian’s character, influence, righteousness, holiness, and ambition, Jesus should concentrate finally on our relationships. The Christian counter-culture is not individualistic but a community event. Relations within the community between the citizens of God’s kingdom and those who are not yet citizens are of overriding importance. Matthew 7 deals with the network of 7 relationships into which we are drawn as the followers of Jesus. We will focus on the first four this week, and the remainder over the next week or two. The seven relationships include:

1. To our fellow citizens of God’s Kingdom (1–5).
2. To a group startlingly designated ‘dogs’ and ‘pigs.’ (6).
3. To our heavenly Father (7–11).
4. To everybody in general: the Golden Rule (12).
5. To our fellow citizens of God’s kingdom (13, 14).
6. To false prophets (15–20).
7. To Jesus our Lord (21–27).

 

1. Our attitude to our fellow citizens of God’s kingdom (1–5)

Jesus does not anticipate that the Christian community will be perfect.

1. The Christian is not to be a judge (1, 2)

Jesus’ words, Do not judge others, and you will not be judged, are well-known but often misunderstood....