LESSON XI.--SEPTEMBER 11.

GOLDEN PRECEPTS.- MATT. 7:1-12.

      GOLDEN TEXT.--Therefore, all things that ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so to them.--MATT. 7:12.
      TIME AND PLACE.--As in last four lessons.
      HELPFUL READINGS.--Rom. 2:1-4; I. Cor. 4:1-5; James 4:10-12; Luke 11:9-13.
      LESSON ANALYSIS.--1. Motes and Beams; 2. Bread and Stones; 3. The Golden Rule.

INTRODUCTION.

      This passage, from verses 1 to 12, grouped as a whole, refers to our conduct towards our fellow-men. The line of thought seems to be that in this evil world there is much to provoke censoriousness. We must not indulge it, since it exposes us to judgment. The folly and hypocrisy of this is shown by an illustration (vs. 3-5). A disregard of character is equally foolish (v. 6). God's kind and wise dealings toward us should to remembered, and we should act in the same spirit toward others.

      I. MOTES AND BEAMS.--1. Judge not, that you be not judged. As the term "judge" is used in more than one sense, we must take that one here which is in harmony with the teaching of Christ elsewhere. 1. It is plain that he does not prohibit the civil judgment of the courts upon evil doers, for this is approved throughout the whole Bible; 2. It is plain that he does not prohibit the judgment of the church through its officers upon those who walk disorderly, for both he and the apostles have enjoined this; 3. It is also certain that he does not forbid those private judgments that we are compelled to form of wrong-doers, for he himself tells us that we are to judge men by their fruits. (See vs. 15-20 below.) What he designs to prohibit is rash, uncharitable judgments, a fault-finding spirit, a disposition to condemn without examination of charges. The Pharisees were universal fault-finders, and condemned everybody but themselves. Too many still have the same spirit. They are guilty of "evil surmising," ready to "think evil," put the worst construction upon conduct, hold people guilty until they are proved innocent, rather than innocent till they are proved guilty. Such uncharitable judgment is due to the absence of love in the heart.

      2. With what judgment ye judge ye shall be judged. Not by men, but by God. He takes note of the unkind, harsh, censorious spirit, and deals with the man [253] according to his own spirit. There is declared here a great principle that runs through the moral government of God: Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. He shall be paid for his conduct in kind. If he sows to unkindness, he will reap it; if harsh and unloving, he will reap it; if unforgiving, he will not be forgiven. If, on the other hand, he is kind, merciful, loving, he will reap these things. God permits each one to choose just what kind of treatment he shall have, and what kind of an eternity he will experience.

      3. Why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye? The Lord uses a figure to show the absurdity of judging severely the faults of others, while we have greater ones. The term translated "mote" means a little splinter. The figure is that of a man who has a great stick of wood in his own eye, one too that interferes with sight, who yet forgets all about his own misfortune, and is searching diligently for the imperceptible mote that is in the eye of a neighbor, or spiritual brother. He is blind to his own misfortune, but has a sharp eye for the faults of others.

      4, 5. Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye. The man who finds fault with another for a sin of which he is more guilty is a hypocrite, as if a thief should rail out against the poor woman who took a loaf of bread to keep her children from starving, or the libertine should condemn a possible lapse from purity. The Lord enjoins that we should rid ourselves of a fault before we seek to cure others of it. Yet this is not by any means always done, even by professing Christians. We have known men whose mouths were stained with the weed scold their children for using tobacco; we have known those who were the slaves of one appetite blaming people for being under the dominion of another, or profane swearers whip their children for swearing. Christ forbids all this. He says, First reform yourself, and then reform others. The true way to reform mankind is for each one to look at home, and to begin by reforming himself. A great many are very zealous to convert the world who are themselves unconverted. [254]

      6. Give not that which is holy unto dogs. I cannot see the immediate connection of this command with what precedes, unless the Lord proposes to warn against another extreme. He has just forbidden the unholy to preach holiness, the impure purity, the vicious virtue, &c. He demands that the preacher shall be free from the faults he labors to correct, and shall illustrate in his own life the virtues he enforces. He must be a better man than his hearers. At the same time he must consider the character of those he seeks to address. They may be such reprobates that he can do nothing for them. He must determine whether his labors will be wasted, and even harm rather than good be done. The forcible metaphor which presents this lesson is, "Give not that which is holy unto dogs." The dogs of the East are outcasts, living in troops about the cities and towns upon garbage, and without ownership. They are a much more repulsive animal than the dogs of our country. Besides, the dog, according to the law, was an unclean animal. "That which is holy is a designation of what was placed upon the altar, the sacrificial meat, the provision for the priests. To give it to an unclean animal would be sacrilege. Dogs probably represent snarling, scoffing opposers, enemies of the truth. The characteristic of dogs is brutality. To try to instil holy things into such low, unclean and sordid, brutal minds is useless. Neither cast pearls before swine. The swine were also unclean. The Eastern swine are more savage than ours, and they are everywhere sluggish and low. They would have no use for pearls, and would trample them under foot, and perhaps would rush upon those who scattered the pearls. So, too, there are men so dull, imbruted and senseless, as to reject the pearls of truth. They might not only treat the truth with contempt, but destroy those who sought to preach it. Those "whose gods are their belly," who are the slaves of passion, can hardly appreciate the most sacred truths until they have been led by degrees to love something besides the husks upon which the swine are fed. It is our duty to help and to try to save others, but we must use common sense. We must not foolishly give rebuke and advice when it will do no good, but rather harm. It is a characteristic of Pharisaism to cast the pearls before swine. It has been, in every age, prone to both faults condemned by the Savior. It will seek to cast out motes from the eyes of others, regardless of its own beams, and will engage in unwise rebukes, appeals and preaching, or cast pearls before swine.

      II. BREAD AND STONES.--7. Ask, and it shall be given you. The citizens of the kingdom of heaven are children of a Heavenly Father. One of the [255] highest privileges of the kingdom is that they may go to the Father with an assurance that he will hear them. The terms are here used with reference to prayer, and these constitute a climax. Ask implies a simple petition, the want of an object that can only be obtained by a free gift. Seek indicates earnest desire, and a search for something that may have been lost. Knock shows earnest perseverance in spite of hindrances, and supplication for that which has been shut up, and can only be obtained by the opening of the doors. Prayer that pushes its petitions through all its stages is earnest, persevering and effectual. It is a proof of spiritual life, and the means by which a fuller, more vigorous life is secured.

      8. For every one that asketh, receiveth, &c. Every one of the class concerning whom the Savior speaks. That class is those who can say, "Our Father in heaven; Hallowed be thy name; Thy will be done." Those who have brought themselves into such a relation to God that they can pray the prayer Christ taught will have their petitions granted. God will not always give just what they ask, for they may ask unwisely; but he will hear them and give them a blessing. God always answers the right kind of prayer, but in his own way and at his own time. We must always ask in submission to the will of God. If our children were to ask us for things that would injure them, if we are wise parents, we would not grant them what they ask. So our Heavenly Father, who is both kind and wise, when we make mistakes in what we ask for, will not give us what we ask, but if he does not, will give us that which is better for us.

      9, 10. If his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? The assurance of an answer to prayer is based on the fact that God is our Father. He treats his children on the same principles that a good and wise earthly parent would employ. No kind parent would mock his child by answering his cry for bread with stones. The Revision correctly renders the Greek "a loaf" instead of bread. The loaf of Palestine was in shape and appearance much like a smooth, flat, round stone. If a son should cry for a loaf and the parent should hand him a cobble stone instead, the act would be worthy of a demon. The two chief articles of the common people around the Sea of Galilee were bread and fish. Hence these two are singled out. It would be still more wicked if the child should ask for a fish to give him a serpent. The serpent is similar in appearance to some kinds of fish, as eel and perch. Such responses to prayer would be both deceptive and injurious. [256]

      11. If ye then, being evil. Men, who have the natural affection of parents, even though sinful men, will not do such things. If men, belonging to a sinful race, will hear and kindly answer their children's requests, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven? Whoever believes that the term Father, as applied to God, is more than a figure of speech, must believe in prayer. If we are children we cannot help but pray, for it is natural for children to make requests of their parents. If God is our Father he cannot help but hear us when we pray, for this is a characteristic of a Father. Give good things. He will not give a stone when we ask for bread, nor husks when we ask for the bread of life. Even when we ask for things that would be evil he will refuse to give them, for he gives only what will bless them. Luke 11:13, in the parallel passage, says instead of "good things," "the Holy Spirit," as though this is heaven's greatest blessing. He who receives the Holy Spirit may expect with it all things that would really bless.

      III. THE GOLDEN RULE.--12. Therefore. This term indicates a connection, and that what follows is based upon what goes before. The idea is that those who are children of God must rise up out of a narrow and selfish life. He is benevolent and kind, and gives good gifts to those that ask him. If we are his children we must be benevolent like him, "Therefore." Whatsoever . . . . do ye even so to them. This does not imply that we are always to do to others as they wish, but what we would like to have done to ourselves if we were placed in their condition and they in ours. We might injure them by complying with their foolish wishes. It is unwise and unkind to an able-bodied beggar to give to him what will encourage him to continue his mendicant life. What ought to be done with the poor is to help them to ways of making a living. We must always do to others in such a way as to be a benefit to them. Every man must perceive that this rule would lead to universal justice, goodness, compassion, forgiveness and candor, and exclude everything of an opposite character. If we proceed in this way, we readily know how we ought to act in all circumstances.--Adam Clarke. A maxim somewhat similar to the Golden Rule is found in the teachings of various heathen sages; Socrates among the Greeks, Buddha and Confucius among the Orientals, and Hillel among the Jews. But the other teachers do not come up to Christ's standard. 1. They do not base the duty on the obligation we owe as the children of God. 2. With them the maxim is negative [257] instead of positive, passive instead of active, and runs in substance: "Do not do to others what you would not wish them to do to you." Christ's Golden Rule is active, working, never resting benevolence and beneficence. This is the law and the prophets. The summing up of this teaching. It is the summary of the second great command--Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself--one of the two commandments on which hang all the law and the prophets (Matt. 22:40). Everything said in them about our duty to our neighbor may be reduced to this rule.

PRACTICAL AND SUGGESTIVE.

      JUDGING.--It behooves to ever bear in mind that while actions must be judged by the immutable standard of right and wrong, the judgments which we pass upon men must be qualified by the considerations of age, country, situation, and other incidental circumstances. And it will be found that he who is most charitable in judgment is least unjust.--Southey.

      MOTES AND BEAMS.--Why are you so quick to see a small fault in a brother who have one so much greater yourself? Get rid of your own fault, which partially blinds you, and then you shall see clearly, not to stand staring at your brother's faults, but to help him overcome them. There is always a hypocrisy in professing a horror of other people's sins while we tolerate all our own. Some quaint writer says most men carry a wallet on their shoulders, putting other people's fault in the front end where they can be seen, and their own behind where they are out of sight.--Eggleston.

      PEARLS BEFORE SWINE.--If a herd of hungry and ferocious hogs are called up to be fed, and instead of grain you throw before them a basket of pearls, they will not only trample the pearls under their feet, but in their eagerness for the expected food they may rush upon you and tear you to pieces. Likewise, some men, when you press the claims of truth on their attention, will not only despise the truth, but persecute you for annoying them with it. When such men are known they should be avoided. Jesus acted on this principle when he refused, often, to answer the Pharisees.--McGarvey.

      THE GOLDEN RULE.--Before the days of Christ there was a great Jewish teacher named Hillel. An inquirer once came to him with the strange question: "Can you teach the whole law during the time I stand on one foot?" "Yes," said Hillel, "it is contained in this one rule: 'Whatsoever you would not wish that your neighbor do to you, do it not to him.'" This has been quoted to detract from the originality of Christ's moral teaching. But even here, while there is a resemblance, there is a vast difference. Christ translates the negative into the positive.--Hanna. I would add that not a line of Hillel's teaching was put in writing until a century or two after Christ, and no one can tell bow much that is really due to Christ was credited up by the Christ-hating Rabbis, who compiled from tradition his teachings, to Hillel. [258]

      In this rule a man's desire of good from others is set up as the measure of his good performances to others. The more selfish and unbounded his desires are, the larger are those performances with the obligation of which be is burdened. Whatsoever he would that others should do unto him he is bound to do to them. Therefore the more he gives way to ungenerous and extravagant wishes of service from those who are around him, the heavier and more insupportable is the burden of duty that he brings upon himself.--Chalmers.

POINTS FOR TEACHERS.

      1. Bring out the lesson that we determine the standard by which we will be judged by our standard for judging others. If we axe merciful we will get mercy; if charitable, will receive charity; if severe and exacting we will receive the same. 2. Draw out the figure of one with his eye filled with a beam looking for a mote in another's eye; show the application of the figure, the folly and hypocrisy of such a course, and the right way. 3. Bring out the absurdity of a man making presents of pearls and jewels to hogs, and make the application. Show who are guilty of such folly. 4. Point out the solid basis on which prayer rests, the relation of those in the kingdom to God, the blessed promise and why we may rely upon it. 5. Bring out the course that earthly parents pursue towards children, care for them, hear every cry, seek their welfare, give good things to them, and make the application to the heavenly Father. 6. Point out the oppositeness of a stone instead of a loaf, and a serpent instead of a fish. 7. Bring out the significance of the Golden Rule, what it means, what would be the effect of its universal application, how it is "the law and the prophets." 8. Show the difference between Christ's Golden Rule and that of other teachers. 9. Bring out and apply the points in this lesson which have a personal application. Ask your pupils what lessons they find for themselves.

Source: Barton Warren Johnson. The Christian International Lesson Commentary for 1887. Des Moines, IA: