Jesus continues His teaching. In this chapter we learn from Him that what we say and do is a result of what we are inside. Man sees the outside, but God sees and tests what is in the heart, the inside. The first subject is judging. We are told that we will be judged by the way in which we judge others. We are told to “first” cast the beam out of our own eye; that is, self-judgment comes first. If we have not done this, we will not see clearly to judge what others do. (We may have to judge actions, but never the heart. Only God knows what is in someone’s heart.)
We are to ask, seek and knock. But of whom? We are to ask God, our Father. God’s heart is good, and He gives from the goodness of His own heart. If God is our Father, we are to have the heart of our Father and give as He gives.
As a boy, our yard had 14 fruit trees. We knew a tree by the fruit it produced. Six trees were good apple trees; one tree was a crab apple tree. Good trees bring good fruit, but corrupt (spoiled) trees give bad fruit. Our lives are like trees. What kind of fruit is coming from them?
Again, what is in the heart comes out in what we say and do. But saying good things and even doing things in the name of the Lord is not accepted if the heart is not right. We are told we must do “the will of [God] My Father.” Doing His will shows if the heart is right.
Finally, the Lord tells us what is needed as the foundation of our lives. Our “house” (that is, our lives) needs to be built upon a “rock,” and the Bible teaches us that Christ is the “rock.”
1. What must be cast out of our own eye before we can see and judge other eyes? __________ Matthew 7:___
2. Your Father will give good things to those who __________ Him. Matthew 7:___
3. A good tree brings forth __________ fruit. A corrupt tree brings forth __________ fruit. Matthew 7:___
4. He who does “the __________ of My Father” enters the kingdom. Matthew 7:___
5. A wise man builds the house of his life on a __________. Matthew 7:___