# Casting pearls before swine?



## Puritan Sailor (Sep 11, 2005)

Matt. 7


> 1 "œJudge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. 3 And why do you look at the speck in your brother´s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, "˜Let me remove the speck from your eye´; and look, a plank is in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother´s eye.
> *
> 6 "œDo not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces. *
> 
> 7 "œAsk, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! 12 Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.



What does verse 6 mean? Particlularly, in light of the surrounding context? And how does it apply in relation to evangelism?


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## SmokingFlax (Sep 11, 2005)

Boy, now there's a question that I've often asked of myself considering these verses.

How does one determine who is the dog or swine? Or what kind of cultural considerations these names meant at the time of Christ?

[Edited on 9-12-2005 by SmokingFlax]


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## Contra_Mundum (Sep 12, 2005)

Jesus just before says that we have to be very careful in exercising judgment, because we will receive the same judgment that we mete out (vv. 1-2). We are prone to hypocrisy (vv. 3-5). But we cannot escape the responsibility to exercise discretion in what we say, and consider to whom we are offering counsel, and our ability to handle confrontation. All this _requires_ us to judge, and good judgment is a product of maturity and a learning spirit. "Be swift to listen, slow to speak, slow to become angry."

Paul tells Titus he must be able to convict the gainsayers, shut their mouths (1:9, 11). But a factious man is to be refused after one or two admonitions (3:10).


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## BlackCalvinist (Sep 12, 2005)

I've got 3 pages of notes on this passage on my laptop. I'll post them later today. My pastor is preaching through this right now. I'm waiting for him to upload last week's sermon (which dealt with 7:1-6) to the church's website.

In context, the verse actually does not have anything to do with evangelism, per se (it has applicability, but it's not primarily dealing with evangelism). It's dealing with the relationship between professed believers in the covenant community.

Notes coming later today, Lord willing.


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## DTK (Sep 12, 2005)

> What does verse 6 mean? Particlularly, in light of the surrounding context? And how does it apply in relation to evangelism?


Dear Patrick,

I have answered this question for myself. But rather than simply repeat it here, I'm wondering if I could *begin* by offering to answer your question with a question to provoke our thinking together on this matter. Let me pose it in another context, by way of analogy, that I have found helpful.

Throughout the various national parks here in the United States, we are all familiar with the various signs in them that read: *Don't feed the bears!"* Now we can feed the squirrels, the raccoons, the deer and other animals, but not the bears? Why is that? Well, surely one reason is that if the bears aren't satisfied with what you offer them, they're liable to turn on you and tear you to pieces.

Perhaps this analogy helps us to think about what our Blessed Lord is teaching us in Matthew 7:6.

Blessings,
DTK


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## wsw201 (Sep 12, 2005)

Here are Calvin's comments on this verse taht may be helpful:




> 6. Give not that which is holy. It is unnecessary to repeat oftener, that Matthew gives us here detached sentences, which ought not to be viewed as a continued discourse. The present instruction is not at all connected with what came immediately before, but is entirely separate from it. Christ reminds the Apostles, and, through them, all the teachers of the Gospel, to reserve the treasure of heavenly wisdom for the children of God alone, and not to expose it to unworthy and profane despisers of his word.
> 
> But here a question arises: for he afterwards commanded to preach the Gospel to every creature, (Mark 16:15; ) and Paul says, that the preaching of it is a deadly savor to wicked men, (2 Corinthians 2:16; ) and nothing is more certain than that it is every day held out to unbelievers, by the command of God, for a testimony, that they may be rendered the more inexcusable. I reply: As the ministers of the Gospel, and those who are called to the office of teaching, cannot distinguish between the children of God and swine, it is their duty to present the doctrine of salvation indiscriminately to all. Though many may appear to them, at first, to be hardened and unyielding, yet charity forbids that such persons should be immediately pronounced to be desperate. It ought to be understood, that dogs and swine are names given not to every kind of debauched men, or to those who are destitute of the fear of God and of true godliness, but to those who, by clear evidences, have manifested a hardened contempt of God, so that their disease appears to be incurable. In another passage, Christ places the dogs in contrast with the elect people of God and the household of faith, It is not proper to take the children's bread, and give it to dogs, (Matthew 15:27.) But by dogs and swine he means here those who are so thoroughly imbued with a wicked contempt of God, that they refuse to accept any remedy.
> 
> ...


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## Puritan Sailor (Sep 12, 2005)

Thanks David. How do we identify the bear though?

Would this text have something to do with it? 

Prov 9:
7 "œ He who corrects a scoffer gets shame for himself, 
And he who rebukes a wicked man only harms himself. 
8 Do not correct a scoffer, lest he hate you; 
Rebuke a wise man, and he will love you. 
9 Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; 
Teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.


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## DTK (Sep 12, 2005)

> _Originally posted by puritansailor_
> Thanks David. How do we identify the bear though?
> 
> Would this text have something to do with it?
> ...


Patrick, I'm sure this passage in Proverbs is very germane to that. But this passage in Proverbs sorta presupposes the response I was going to offer to your question, and it is this - Bears tend to have this amazing ability to identify themselves. 

Blessings my brother,
DTK


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## BlackCalvinist (Sep 12, 2005)

Here ya go. These are MY notes and reflect MY summary of the sermon given by my pastor (he knows I'm posting them here.... I'm waiting for him to upload the full sermon, but he's been busy getting ready for a conference we're having as well as a missions trip to Africa in a week or so).

Handling our Relationships
9/4/05
Tony Arnold
Matthew 7:1-6

What is meant by judging here ? Are we supposed to allow Christians to simply live any old way, never being challenged by anyone or to receive any type of correction ?

-	This passage is concerned with the nature of a person finding fault in other people (specifically Christians with other Christians) and the heart of the individual who FIRST looks to find fault in others rather than see their own sinful heart.
-	Look at yourself FIRST. It´s not saying do not examine others. The understanding here is established earlier in Matthew 6:14-15 and 6:9-10 "“ regarding the forgiveness of sins and trespasses. 
-	This passage points out that the treatment of folks had to do with folks not being able to forgive because they FIRST decided they were going to judge each other and constantly look for something to condemn their brother with. 

In v. 2, we deal with the reason why we are not to judge or have the attitude of self-righteousness. Judgment that a person pronounces on another person will bounce back on the individual. The same standard by which we choose to judge others will be placed back on us. 

Back in the late 80´s, when the whole scandal with Jim Bakker came down and it was shown he was having an affair, Jimmy Swaggart bashed him in the pulpit. Those who might remember the time period, know that both Bakker and Swaggart were competing ministries against oneanother. Swaggart was an opportunist and simply sought to take advantage of the fall of Bakker and get the proceeds and fame that would come from his former parishioners. Months later, Swaggart fell into the same condemnation on a worse level.

The word for "˜measure´ here is the same word describing a serving of food. In other words, the same serving of food you hand out, will be the same food given back to you. Judge self-righteously, and you may fall into the same condemnation later. Additional to this is also the fact that the same manner in which you present correction, you can expect the same type of response back from believers. 

Now there are places in scripture where believers are called to warn others (believers specifically). The point is not to set yourself up as the judge on the issue, but to warn brothers and sisters of The Judge. 

Now folk say things like "œyou´re not the judge. Don´t judge me." But we forget that even as American citizens, we have the right to tell our neighbors and family members when they are going wrong. And we have the right to warn them that if they continue on that path, there is a judgment waiting for them "“ human or otherwise. You are or have been warning them. Now if the person continues on and they get arrested, the person arresting them is not the judge, but he´s been given the authority to arrest the person breaking the law. When the person then faces the judge, they have several options "“ plead for mercy before the judge or claim they don´t need mercy. 

In things like church discipline (see 1 Cor. 5:1-5), there is a bit of judgment that the entire local body of Christ (the local church) is supposed to engage in. So there is a degree of righteous judgment that believers are called to engage in. In the passage and subsequent verses (esp. beginning at v. 9), we see that the church is charged with judging its membership and how they are to handle things. Yes, we are to warn and pray for folk and if necessary, kick them out of the local fellowship "“ that they turn back to faith in God and that they abandon their sin. This is judgment in an act of love, not self-righteousness. Further, this is not just "˜the pastor´s´ duty, but the duty of the entire gathered local assembly. 

In v. 3 of Matthew 7, Christ uses a funny word-picture. A speck was a splinter. The log or plank was the equivalent of a plank in our standard today. Very noticeable, you can walk on them, etc"¦ they were used in building the floors of houses. So it´s kinda funny to see a speck, but miss the log. You´re so close up in the individual´s life to see the speck in their eye that you miss the plank in your own. Hypocrisy (v. 5) "“ the word means to "˜play act´ or "˜false face´. The heart is the issue. Jesus addresses hypocrisy repeatedly in the gospel of Matthew and Luke. 

Now, if we´re not to judge self-righteously and we´re judging and warning folk in the right way, how do we handle those who don´t react positively or receive what they are being warned about ? We head to verse 6 for the answer. 

V. 6 "“ Pigs and Dogs. Keep in mind that in the covenant community (the visible church), you have both saved and non-saved. The dogs here are not the nice, domesticated dogs we know, but rather the rabid packs of street dogs that roamed the streets commonly in Palestine, fighting over food amongst themselves and would ransack your home looking for food if you let them in. Their whole life is spent sneaking around (Prov. 26:11 describes the same type of dog) self-serving. In Rev. 22:15, these same type of dogs are used to describe those outside the kingdom of God. In Psalm 22:6, 20, Isaiah 56:11, they are used to describe a certain type of person"¦. And it ain´t positive.

Pigs love dirty. They are filthy creatures. They are strong, they are powerful and they love to wallow in dirt. Nothing good is mentioned about pigs "“ when Jesus cast out Legion, he cast them into pigs. 

The pearls mentioned here were exotic and precious "“ you´d have to spend your life savings´ and present possessions to purchase them. They were common to rich folk in the Persian Gulf area and prized for their beauty. They represented the Word of God. The early church fathers viewed "˜what is holy´ as the sacraments (specifically the love feast that accompanied communion). 

The person cast out (1 Cor. 5) was not allowed (in the early church and even during the reformation) to partake of the sacraments or listen to the Word of God - The only word he was allowed to hear was continued correction to straighten up his life and repent. Thus, he was allowed to hear the gospel, but not further.

So in Matthew 7:6, Jesus refers folk who, like dogs, are unable to discern between good food or bad food. A pig can´t tell pearls from peas and will trample it all. They will walk and defecate in what they eat. And Jesus says we are not to spend time here with folk who don´t wanna hear. They will not only be unable to receive what you´ve told them in love, but they will turn on you and attack you (i.e.- you´re wrong, you´re judging, etc"¦.). 

This is why He tells the disciples to shake the dust from their feet at one point during his sending out of the twelve and of the seventy. You´re dealing with pigs and dogs here who are unable to discern between truth and error. Pray for them, stop sharing and move on. 

Share your faith, but beware of those who are unwilling and unable to receive the truth. 

If their hearts resist sound doctrine, stop giving it to them. It will simply show that they are pigs and dogs more clearly. But let us (believers) allow the Word of God to search us (as David said) and bring forth any unclean thing we don´t even know about, turn from them and turn to Christ so that we may be able to judge rightly and continue growing in the grace and knowledge of Christ.


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## Richard King (Sep 12, 2005)

> _Originally posted by puritansailor_
> Matt. 7
> 
> 
> ...


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## BlackCalvinist (Sep 13, 2005)

verses 7-12 are linked directly to the previous section (v. 1-6). It's not a 'new sermon'. The praying (asking, seeking and knocking) are related to how we deal with the swine and dogs of verse 6.

I've got 3 pages of notes on that one too.  and the CD from the morning - so I might be able to MP3 it.


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## andreas (Sep 13, 2005)

*Or what kind of cultural considerations these names meant at the time of Christ?*


Some people are dogs and some people are swine. Dogs were "unclean" because they neither chew the cud nor have cloven hooves Leviticus 11:1-8. They also eat carcasses 2 Kings 9:36. the word dog applied to Humans, are those who neither ruminate upon spiritual things (chew the cud) nor profess a holy walk (have cloven hooves), and prefer to eat dead doctrine rather than Christ the living bread John 6:51.
Swine were also "unclean" even though they have cloven hooves, because they do not chew the cud Leviticus 11:7. the term applied to humans implies hypocrites who claim a holy walk (have cloven hooves), but they do not ruminate upon spiritual things (chew the cud). 

What dogs and swine have in common, is that they can not change, "But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: 'A dog returns to his own vomit,' and, 'a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire"2 Peter 2:22.

So despite the fact that you present the gospel to these people, they always return to their old habbits.They are beyond correction or reform.


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