This is the manuscript of the eighth sermon in the "Listening To Heaven's Infallible Teacher" series from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount in Matthew Chapters 5-7.
Matthew 7:6 NKJV “Do 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.
Matthew 7:6 on the surface seems to be in direct conflict with last week's sermon where Jesus said
Matthew 7:1 NIV “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.
Matthew 7:6 is possibly the hardest saying of Jesus ever recorded. Jesus Christ, who came in love to give his life as a ransom for many, is quoted as calling some of these people “dogs” and “swine.” If you or I used such words in addressing others, people would be shocked by our attitude, and those addressed would feel insulted and offended.
This verse, “Do 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" divides itself into four segments, which we are going to discuss today—a restriction, a reason, a response, and a repercussion. 4 Rs.
1 Peter 1:13-23 NIV Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God. Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.
Text:
Matthew 7:6 NKJV “Do 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.
Introduction
Matthew 7:6 on the surface seems to be in direct conflict with last week's sermon where Jesus said
Matthew 7:1 NIV “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.
This statement also appears to conflict with other statements attributed to Jesus, such as,
Luke 6:29 NKJV To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either.
And
Matthew 5:44 NKJV But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,
However, remember what I said. Jesus was not prohibiting the rule of law nor was he prohibiting making moral judgements. He did warn however that if we made those judgements that we check ourselves first because we would be judged by the same measure we judged. We were not to nit-pick, fault find or cut people down to our size. That is a sin.
Matthew 7:6 is possibly the hardest saying of Jesus ever recorded. Jesus Christ, who came in love to give his life as a ransom for many, is quoted as calling some of these people “dogs” and “swine.” If you or I used such words in addressing others, people would be shocked by our attitude, and those addressed would feel insulted and offended.
Jesus went on to say that such people are unworthy of God’s holy truths and that we are wasting our time trying to persuade them. In fact, he said that if we persist in our efforts in trying to win such people, we are running the risk of being assaulted and torn to shreds by the very ones we are trying to help.
So, let’s see if we can reconcile Jesus’ statement in Matthew 7:6 with what I said last week and the other scriptures I just read of Jesus' statements and many other of his teachings about loving others. What is the purpose of such a shocking statement being interjected in the middle of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount? What was Jesus really saying?
This verse,“Do 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" divides itself into four segments, which we are going to discuss today—a restriction, a reason, a response, and a repercussion. 4 Rs.
I. First let’s look at the restriction.
“Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, ….
On the surface this command seems to call for an exclusiveness that is foreign to the spirit of our Lord, which is love. However, remember that in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus was talking to His followers, His disciples He wasn’t talking to everyone.
Matthew 5:1 NKJV And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him.
His teaching was very radical at a time where there was rampant immorality and paganism. There was an ever present danger that His followers would be infected with these things. It is not that Jesus didn’t want others to follow Him. In fact, He and His followers were consumed with a burning desire to win everyone to faith and His radical teaching that God loves everybody. On the other hand, He was very aware of the necessity of keeping their morals pure and doctrines unpolluted. Otherwise this new radical teaching would eventually be swallowed up by the ever prevalent immorality and pagan worship.
The key to understanding this statement “Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine" is found in the word holy.
Holy has four distinct meanings.
First is “to be set apart.”
Next, it means to be “perfect, transcendent, or spiritually pure, evoking adoration and reverence.”
Next, it means something or someone who evokes “veneration or awe, being frightening beyond belief.”
The last definition is, “filled with superhuman and potential fatal power.” A saint is a holy person, and scripture tells us says that all believers are saints meaning that believers are “set apart”
Ephesians 2:19-22 NKJV Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
To be sanctified is to be set aside or to be made holy.
Hebrews 10:10 NKJV By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
When Jesus spoke of that which is holy, he was surely referring to truth (set apart “perfect, transcendent, or spiritually pure, evoking adoration and reverence.”)
A. He was talking about the truth of the gospel which Is holy.
Paul spoke of “the truth of the gospel” in Galatians 2:14.
Galatians 2:14 NKJV But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter before them all, “If you, being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews?
And in John 8:32 Jesus said that “the truth shall make you free.”
John 8:32 NKJV And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
Since the gospel can do such wonderful things like making you free, why then does Jesus place a restriction on offering such truth to “dogs” and “swine”?
Jesus spent a great deal of his time preaching to the poor and those who were outcasts but He also spent a lot of time talking to people who were religious yet lost, the Scribes and Pharisees for example. But He spent most of His time with those who had embraced him as Lord and Savior. You will find that the vast majority of his parables and teachings were directed to those who had become his followers. His purpose for doing this was to equip them to carry the gospel to the rest of the world.
John 14:25-26 NKJV “These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.
Here's why.
Matthew 28:16-20 NKJV Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
Jesus never turned down an opportunity to share the good news.
Yet in this particular statement, “ “Do 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”, Jesus had in mind religious people who show no real interest in him and who, in fact, are openly hostile toward him and do everything to oppose him. As you read the many incidents found in the gospel accounts where the Pharisees antagonized him, you won’t find a single incident where Jesus turned and preached the simplicity of the gospel to them.
Mark 3:1-6 NKJV And He entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a withered hand. So they watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. And He said to the man who had the withered hand, “Step forward.” Then He said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they kept silent. And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other. Then the Pharisees went out and immediately plotted with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him.
Here's another one
Matthew 9:10-13 NKJV Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”
He knew that they had no desire to really hear what He had to say and that they were just looking for a way to trick or discredit Him so He really kind of ignored them.
He refused to cast his pearls before swine.
There will always be those to whom the preaching of the cross of Christ is foolishness.
I Corinthians 1:18 NKJV For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
These people respond to an offer of God’s grace with hate and hostility. It is to this group that Jesus restricts our sharing of the truth of the gospel. In fact, the implication is that to disobey his restriction is to do more harm than good.
B. Jesus not only spoke about the truth of the gospel He also spoke about the truth in general.
John 3:19-21 NKJV And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”
Where he talked about the light coming into the world. He said that people love the darkness of sin rather than light because they desire to do evil. The truth we offer on behalf of Christ is not to be thrown out indiscriminately. Our enthusiasm to reach others for Christ must be tempered with knowledge. If we attempt to force the truth of Christ on others, we should not be surprised when we are met with hatred and insults.
We had a long discussion about this in Bible Study on Wednesday and we went through 5 dos and 5 don’ts about sharing our faith with non-Christians.
If you're interested in them let me know and I'll have them for you next week.
There will always be those who say in words and attitude, “Don’t confuse me with the facts; my mind is made up!” After you have done your best to share with others the truth of the gospel and that truth is neither welcome nor accepted, then, in essence, Jesus said, you have done all you can do.
Ezekiel 3:17-19 (NLT)17 “Son of man, I have appointed you as a watchman for Israel. Whenever you receive a message from me, warn people immediately.18 If I warn the wicked, saying, ‘You are under the penalty of death,’ but you fail to deliver the warning, they will die in their sins. And I will hold you responsible for their deaths.19 If you warn them and they refuse to repent and keep on sinning, they will die in their sins. But you will have saved yourself because you obeyed me.
II. We just looked at the restriction now let’s look at the reason for the restriction.
Jesus described those who refuse to accept the truth and revere the gospel, as swine or pigs, or in other translations dogs. In the Jewish culture that was a tremendous insult. Now as we learned last week we are not to be censorious or judgmental toward others.
So the question is, who are the “dogs” and “swine”? There a good description in;
II Peter 2:17-22 NKJV These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage. For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. 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.”
Now we know that people are not born with the nature of a dog or pig. A person must choose of his or her own volition to assume this depraved nature. Christ used the analogy of a pig to illustrate a nature that has lost all sense of values. To offer “the pearl of great price” to such a person is to have that pearl trampled underfoot.
We must remember that ours is not to judge others. Our responsibility is to avoid needlessly exposing the truth of Christ to those who are completely lacking in appreciation and are sure to reject it.
III. We looked at the restriction and the reason for it because here’s the response we get when we cast our pearls before those who reject and ridicule it.
“They trample them under their feet.”
Solomon captured this same truth in Proverbs 23:9
Proverbs 23:9 NKJV Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, For he will despise the wisdom of your words.
There have always been those people who are repelled by the gospel and even stirred into hostile antagonism.
To attempt to argue with such people is to do more harm than good. To try to force the gospel on them and twist a profession of faith from them is perhaps to close the door forever.
Before they can grasp the truth of the gospel and allow it to take root, the Holy Spirit must have time to work with them. To run ahead of God and attempt to do this is to violate God’s restriction, and to be met with an unfavorable response.
IV. Here's the possible repercussion.
Jesus said that if we choose to ignore his command, we run the risk that those who reject him will “turn and tear [us] to pieces” (NIV). Christian history verifies this truth. Acts 7:51–60 recounts the story of Stephen, who steadfastly and honestly proclaimed the truths of Christ. He laid the guilt of people at their feet where it belonged. But the end result was that he lost his life.
John the Baptist, in Mark 6, confronted Herod with his sin. He was speaking the truth to a man who desperately needed to hear it, but the end result was that John the Baptist lost his head and did not convert Herod.
Jesus Christ at his trial (Matt. 26:59–68) held his peace for quite some time. Then, when asked if he was the Son of God, he replied, “Yes, it is as you say” (v. 64 NIV). The result was that the high priest tore his clothes, accused Jesus of blaspheming, and pronounced him worthy of death. Those in the crowd joined in with this spirit of hostility by spitting in Jesus’ face and hitting him.
Conclusion
Let me clear this up. There should be no compromise for the Christian, and the Christian should make no judgment of the non-Christian. God calls His people to holiness, and He calls the world to Jesus.
It is not our responsibility to judge the behavior of the world; God will judge them. Non-Christians will act like non-Christians. Their thinking, attitudes, and actions will reflect that of the world. We cannot expect them to share our values or our behavior. That won’t be possible without them first having a saving relationship with Jesus
I Corinthians 5:12-13 NKJV For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? But those who are outside God judges. Therefore “put away from yourselves the evil person.”
What then are we to do what’s the remedy? How are we to relate to those who reject Christ? Are we to walk off and leave them as hopeless spiritual derelicts? Is the message of Christ simply for those who seem willing to embrace it?
Absolutely not.
There’s no better example of how to do evangelism than Jesus Christ Himself. He is the master communicator and the master evangelist. We see this beautifully illustrated in John 4, when Jesus encountered the woman at the well in Samaria.
You can read the entire encounter in John chapter 4.
Now, no orthodox Jew in Jesus’s day would ever go to Galilee through Samaria even though it was a shortcut. There was deep-seated bigotry and prejudice between Jews and Samaritans. Jews hated Samaritans. And Samaritans hated Jews.
Jesus went through Samaria anyway.
Why did He do that? Because there was a burned-out, empty, searching, immoral woman who had an appointment with God. This serves as a reminder that the love of God knows no racial, economic, or even sinful boundaries. It also reminds us that we have to go to where people are.
So often Christians try to isolate themselves from nonbelievers. But God has not called us to isolate; He has called us to infiltrate. That grumpy neighbor, that inquisitive co-worker, those people you’re around in your day-to-day living—they’re your mission field. God wants you to reach out to them.
We need to get out of our comfort zones. Yes, it’s challenging to reach out to someone who might look different than you do. But we need to go where people are.
Jesus did not say that the whole world should go to church, but He did say that the Church should go to the whole world. We want to invade their world with the gospel.
Matthew 28:19-20 NKJV Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
Let’s say, for the sake of illustration, that yesterday you told someone about Jesus, and they blew you off. But then last night, your words suddenly came back to them like a little explosion. It was a delayed reaction.
The seeds of the gospel that you sow today may break ground tomorrow. You just want to be faithful in getting those seeds out there.
What our words cannot do, our lives can do. Some people may not want to hear anything that you say, but they are open to a real life demonstration of what the gospel of Christ can do in the life of someone else.
The challenge that is ours in light of Christ’s warning to handle the holy with care is found in some other words spoken by Christ and was the text of the second sermon in this series
Matthew 5:16 NKJV Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
That's the answer.
Heavenly Father, thank You for Your guidance. Forgive me for getting ahead of Your plans, and help me know when to stop and listen for Your direction. Your ways are perfect, Lord.
We are recipients of your great love and the good news of your gospel in our salvation. Enlighten the eyes of our heart that we may see, that we may know what is the hope to which you have called us: the hope of eternal life. May our hearts burn with the words of the Great Commission — so that we make disciples of all nations.
We pray that you open doors in all areas which our lives intersect. May you pave the way for the conversations we will have. Make us aware of opportunities to bear witness to the greatness, the glory, and the goodness of our Savior. Give us a boldness to walk through these doors and proclaim the hope of redemption in Christ and the promise of eternal life, for the glory of Your name and for our good.
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