SEMESTER 6
284 – The Mote and Beam
BIBLE INSTITUTE OF CORRESPONDENCE
COURSE: SOTERIOLOGY VI LESSON # 84
SERMON ON THE MOUNT
THE MOTE AND THE BEAM
Read: Mat.7:1-5
and Luke 6:36-45
INTRODUCTION:
1. Remember that what we have before us is an illustration concerning verses 1 and 2.
2. Luke 6:39 tells us that it is a parable. Note Luke 6:38-41.
3. The idea here is that there is a relevant personal flaw that is being ignored.
4. Furthermore, this flaw is greater than the one in the object of judgment.
III:By John Dillenger sitting to judge a burglar.
5. Moreover, the flaw here prevents the judge from being able to judge the subject.
I. DEFINING THE MOTE AND THE BEAM
1. The context here pretty well explains the definitions of these words.
2. The Greek word translated mote means a withered twig or fragment of straw.
3. The Greek word for beam means a bearer up, implying a beam of wood.
4. The illustration is like a man dying of alcoholism, upbraiding another for eating sugar.
III:The pot cannot call the kettle black!
II. THE ONE MOST GUILTY IS THE QUICKEST TO JUDGE
1. It is usually not the spiritually clean who scream loudest about dirt on others.
2. Those who are forgiven usually are overtaken with the reality of their own sin, not others.
III: By Luke 7:36-50.
3. The stranger to grace sees himself falsely, others critically, and God’s forgiveness not at all.
III. THE AFFLICTION MAKES JUST JUDGMENT IMPOSSIBLE
1. The affliction is our own sin yet unconfessed or even unrealized.
2. These Pharisees thought themselves righteous. (Rom. 10:2-4)
3. This is the case of the blind wanting to lead the blind. (Luke 6:39)
4. Many “Good Fundamental Baptists” today are exactly like this.
5. They have taken very good care of the part of the outside they can see.
III: By little boys with dirty elbows.
6. The sad part is that there is a blind spot, and that is where we want to judge most quickly.
IV. SUCH AN EFFORT TO JUDGE IS HYPOCRISY (MAT. 7:5
)
1. We are prone to stare at others’ sins to take our minds off our own guilt.
2. If we allow ourselves to be thus engaged, we can never be:
i. A just judge,
ii. An able judge,
iii. A caring judge.
3. A just and caring judge desires to help, not just find fault.
V. THE ONLY FORMULA IS TO CLEAN OUT YOUR EYE
1. We must practice what we preach, and do so before we preach it.
2. The only way to do this is to stay before the throne, remembering how we came.