Dogs and pigs and pearls??? What is Jesus talking about?
Matthew 7:6
Matthew 7:1–6 (ESV)
1 “Judge not, that you be not judged.
2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.
3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?
4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye?
5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye."
6 “Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you."
6 “Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you."
Michael Eaton considers that this is “the most searching, challenging and humbling part” of the Sermon on the Mount.
First of all, it’s a figure of speech!
· You know...
o You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink.
o Crooked as a dog's hind leg.
o This thing weighs a ton!
· Using a figure of speech (referring to dogs, pearls), Jesus shows we do need to discriminate.
So what is this all about?
First
· So we don’t take the previous section to extremes, and never offer any judgment.
· The assumption here is that we can, and must, make judgments.
· It is not a case of pointing the finger, but knowing when not to speak, when to speak, and to whom.
· This verse shows, moreover, that there is a place for Church discipline, and also a time when false teaching must be exposed.
Second
· It teaches us that we may be right in our judgment about a person, but wrong as to when and how we apply it.
· For example, we may see clearly that a person is dead wrong in what he or she does, says, or in his or her attitude. But if we don’t act with great caution, all we say will backfire on us.
· It would mean we violated this verse.
· This verse is primarily a call for wisdom.
Third
· As we proceed through the Sermon on the Mount, we all need to be reminded of the teaching how not to grieve the Holy Spirit.
· How many of us have grieved the Spirit accidentally, because we did not exercise the kind of wisdom implied in this most unusual verse?
Fourth
· It teaches us that we often must make a quick, but silent, judgment of the people we are with.
· It calls for shrewd, godly discernment.
· Jesus assumes we should be able to do this.
· It also means we must exercise control regarding our words and deeds.
· This verse is about controlling the tongue. As in the previous verses, it means we must be swift to hear, slow to speak. (James 1:19)
Matthew 7:6 is given to us so we will not misjudge the previous section on judging—and that we don’t misjudge people in our relationships. Although all people have sinned, not all people are the same. Actually, every single person we meet is, in a sense, unique.
So let's take this from here on in two parts.
· Part one “pearls to Pigs”, “trampled under foot”.
· Part two giving holy things to dogs “gets you attacked”.
Part one: “pearls to Pigs”, “trampled under foot”,
“the weak”
Biblical Verse of casting Pearls
This verse relates to what we reveal about ourselves in a testing situation—but don’t realize at first we are being tested.
1.
Take Hezekiah, a godly king, one of the undoubted best in the Old Testament. But he did something foolish. Hezekiah received envoys from Babylon and showed them what was in his storehouses—the silver, gold, spices, fine oil, indeed, “his entire armory and everything found among his treasures. There was nothing in his palace or in all his kingdom that Hezekiah did not show them”. (Isaiah 39:2)
2.
Solomon made a similar mistake, giving the queen of Sheba “all she desired and asked for”. (1 Kings 10:13) Keep in mind that Solomon’s greatest gift was his wisdom.
These are classic cases of casting your pearls to Pigs!
It shows how the wisest people on earth have weak and blind spots, that they can be trapped, and do stupid things!
Being all things to all people
1 Corinthians 9:21–23 (NLT)
21 When I am with the Gentiles who do not follow the Jewish law, I too live apart from that law so I can bring them to Christ. But I do not ignore the law of God; I obey the law of Christ.
22 When I am with those who are weak, I share their weakness, for I want to bring the weak to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some.
23 I do everything to spread the Good News and share in its blessings.
· We must never forget that people have feelings.
· Some have tender consciences.
· We don’t want to hurt them unnecessarily.
· Not all can cope with what is new and different to the same degree.
· We must reach people where they are, and not assume they should be stronger or more experienced than they are.
· “Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. One man’s faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables”. (Romans 14:1–2)
· There is no good reason to lead a weaker Christian to anger, not to mention discouragement.
· We have to be careful not to push a new follower away by being overzealous in our accountability of them.
· We must have discernment when dealing with folks.
Be careful not to cause anyone to stray because of your walk.
1 Corinthians 8:9 (NLT)
9 But you must be careful so that your freedom does not cause others with a weaker conscience to stumble.
· Never assume that all those Christians around you have the same maturity, background, knowledge or culture.
· Matthew 7:6 relates precisely to this sort of issue.
· We must not only accept people as they are, but avoid trying to change them by casting our pearls.
· They may not be “pigs” tomorrow, but they could well be today!
· The last thing we want to do is destroy them while they are unseasoned in doctrine or practice.
Be careful whom you confide in!
John 16:12 (NLT)
12 “There is so much more I want to tell you, but you can’t bear it now."
· This verse is also important with regard to whom you confide in.
· Many a deep hurt has taken place because we confided in someone who couldn’t cope with the information given to them.
· You must be sure that this person not only can be trusted with what you share, but also able to cope with it.
· Remember, too, that we have all been swine or dogs at one time or another.
· A verse such as Matthew 7:6 should help us not to judge people around us who are yet unable to bear what we can cope with.
· We need to be patient with them, watching carefully our words and actions.
· I myself have violated this verse more often than I care to think about.
We are talking about WEAK Christians.
· Weak Christians are those who must be treated like children.
· Perhaps they are like those in Corinth who never move beyond a diet of milk.
· But among the weak are those who are hypersensitive—easily hurt and unable to cope with needful criticism or suggestions.
· The weak can include those who are jealous—they can’t cope with your success or financial status.
· The weak could even include those who are not highly intelligent.
· They include those who are immature in their understanding.
· If you aren’t careful, they will turn on you.
Do not be angry with people like this. We will always have them. Some of us were once like that! We may still be like that in some ways. The irony of Matthew 7:6 is that Jesus is talking about all of us.
Part two giving holy things to dogs “gets you attacked”.
The Wicked!
Matthew Henry
“But the reference is to such as they found obstinate after the gospel was preached to them, such as blasphemed it, and persecuted the preachers of it; let them not spend much time among such, for it would be lost labour, but let them turn to others.”
· Sometimes we spend too much time with folks that just don’t want help.
· They want your labor.
· They want your money.
· But they are unwilling to change.
· We must be careful to not waste all of our time on folks who just don’t want your help.
· I have found myself in this position too often for my liking.
o Try and help only to get trampled! And attacked!
“As a rule to all in giving reproof. Our zeal against sin must be guided by discretion, and we must not go about to give instructions, counsels, and rebukes, much less comforts, to hardened scorners, to whom it will certainly do no good, but who will be exasperated and enraged at us. Throw a pearl to a swine, and he will resent it, as if you threw a stone at him!”
· We have to have discernment as to who we spend time and energy on.
· We have to consider their life, and if they are truly trying to change.
· We have consider if they only want what we can give, or are truly trying to become followers of Jesus.
· This goes back to my thinking that helping is good, enabling is bad, and spending time on folks who don’t, or won't, follow Jesus' teaching is a waste of our resources!
· And people who won't take direction or correction are those people!
“Among the generation of the wicked, there are some that have arrived at such a pitch of wickedness, that they are looked upon as dogs and swine; they are impudently and notoriously vile; they have so long walked in the way of sinners, that they have sat down in the seat of the scornful; they professedly hate and despise instruction, and set it at defiance, so that they are irrecoverably and irreclaimably wicked.”
· You know who they are, and we have all dealt with them.
· Every time you lovingly give them instruction or council, it's always someone else's fault.
· They are always angry with you for it.
One can expect nothing other than that they will trample the reproofs under their feet, in scorn of them, and rage against them; for they are impatient of control and contradiction; and they will turn again and attack the reprovers; tearing apart their good names with their accusations, return them wounding words for their healing ones; and attack them with persecution.
· Has this happened to you?
· Have you done this to someone that was just trying to help you see your sin?
The wicked are the lost who don’t want to know. They remain unteachable. There comes a time you may have to give up on certain people. Some folks (apostates) hang around to disturb, to draw attention to themselves, and cause division. Theses folks take your time, and sap your strength.
This verse is about people! Never forget that!
Yet we must be very cautious whom we condemn as dogs and swine, and not do it until after trial, and upon full evidence. Many a soul is lost, by being thought to be so, who, if means had been used, might have been saved.
· This verse does not mean we should not preach the Gospel to the lost.
· Neither does this verse mean that we should never offend people by what we teach.
· That there is a violent reaction to preaching or teaching does not necessarily mean you have violated this verse.
· This verse means that we should not persist when people are unteachable. It means we should not offend by being too persistent.
The principle is this:
· Do not waste what is valuable and precious.
· Pearls are precious.
· Don’t waste what is holy.
· Don’t waste truth.
· Don’t give out what will be unappreciated.
· Don’t share what is beyond one’s ability to take in.
· It means we should not try to change people by a challenge too great for them.
· We should not overestimate their maturity or ability to cope.
This verse is about prevention. The best way to deal with a crisis is to avoid it. Jesus wants to keep our words from being counterproductive. He appeals to our self-interest. Do you want people to turn on you and tear you into pieces? Then don’t give what is holy to dogs, don’t give your precious pearls to pigs.
As Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones put it, “Don’t be the cause of antagonism.”
Consider the peace you forfeit if you neglect this verse. The early verses of Matthew 7 show us how we forfeit peace by what we say. Matthew 7:6 shows how we can maintain peace by what we don’t say.
