This is a short exposition on Matt 7:2-12 written by Watchman Nee. I pray it blesses you.
In the second half of verse 2 the Lord is recorded as saying: “with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured unto you.” The measure is the balance. In verse 12 He is recorded as saying: “All things therefore whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, even so do ye also unto them.” The meaning of both verses is the same. Verse 2 begins and verse 12 concludes. If these two verses deal with the same subject, it is logical to assume that all the verses in between must likewise treat the same subject. This is a principle in Bible study. Any other explanation is bound to be incorrect. Hence I believe these twelve verses comprise one integral section dealing with one single subject. They should not be treated as fragmentary words.
7.1 “Judge not, that ye be not judged.” Here the Lord cannot be referring to the realm of politics or government at whatever level. For Paul in Romans 13 distinctly states that God does indeed ordain on earth many judges and rulers, who obviously must judge. Hence the word here in Matthew 7 cannot have anything to do with earthly government. 1 Corinthians 5.12 states: “what have I to do with judging them that are without? Do not ye judge them that are within?” This treats of the judgment in the local church such as excommunication. But the word “judge” here in Matthew 7 means to not gossip, to not carelessly conclude as to people’s motives and intentions because one does not know. It would also convey the idea of not picking out flaws in others or criticizing them. Its meaning would include as well the idea of not considering one’s own opinion as fact, of not letting personal affection, interest, inclination or a spirit of revenge intrude into any discussion concerning others’ affairs.
To judge means that I and my word stand on the same side: it means that I speak according to my subjective sentiment, not according to an objective view. The person who judges is undoubtedly one who has not been delivered from self. Interestingly, later on in this passage we find the Lord saying, “Thou hypocrite .. ..” (v.5). But is this not an example of the Lord himself judging? Is He not contradicting himself? Not so, for the Lord speaks here according to objective fact. The one who inveighs most strongly against judging is James, yet he himself condemns many people. But he, like our Lord, speaks objectively; he does not speak according to his own whims, likes or dislikes. And hence, what he does is not what is being forbidden here by the Lord in Matthew 7. The judging which the Lord does forbid, however, is that kind in which one’s own personal feeling is involved. It may not be false or incorrect, and yet it is judging in the manner spoken against by the Lord Jesus. Let us clearly understand that even speaking truthfully may be a case of judging when one’s personal feeling is involved; for if your inward sense is joyful when it should be mournful, or if it is a judgment expressed for reproving when it should be for restoring—then that is judging.
“Judge not, that ye be not judged.” This is God’s government. This is the way He disciplines and educates His children. This way is administered along a fundamental rule, which is, that as you judge others, God will allow others to judge you too. When you are being criticized, do not be agitated, for you have also so criticized others. This is God’s government. “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Gal. 6.7). Such is the government of God.
The more advanced one grows, the stricter will be his judgment of himself and the less and more lenient he judges others.
7.2 Verse 1 speaks of the fact of judging; verse 2 emphasizes the “how”: “with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured unto you.” Oftentimes what a brother does becomes the talk of your mouth, and what you do becomes the talk of other people. In reprimanding others, you are fearful of not being strong enough. But in being reprimanded just a little yourself, you cannot tolerate it. Many believers are like that. The heart of God’s children should be full of love. Even your reproof should be filled with love. Without love, nothing is right.
7.3 From verse 3 onward, several things are mentioned. “And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?” We see fault in other people because we ourselves have fault. If you can see the mote, which is a tiny thing, in your brother’s eye, why can you not see the large beam in your own eye? The more unclean one is, the more he is able to see uncleanness in others. The holier one is, the less he will find fault in others. A good-natured person finds no fault whatsoever. But the more one knows his own faults, the easier it is for him to find faults in other people. Due to sin, human nature is.
especially interested in sin. Why is it we so easily have a deep impression about Abraham’s lie and David’s adultery, but it takes a great deal of time and effort for us to discover their good points? This is because our nature as sinners is close to sin. A person who approximates sin in his own life can recall immediately the shortcoming of another as soon as the latter’s name is mentioned. But a person who approaches holiness in his own life remembers the niceness of another when his name is heard. You can test this out yourself. The beam in your own eye, strangely enough, causes you to notice even the tiniest mote in your brother’s eye. What you have much of inside you, this you tend to comprehend and see more of the same in other people.
7.4,5 Verse 4 deals with seeing, verse 5, with casting out. The former verse tells us how the beam in your eye induces you to see the mote in your brother’s eye. The latter shows you that because of the beam in your eye you cannot cast out the mote in your brother’s eye—that is to say, you are not able to help him. To criticize is one thing, to help is another. Criticizing is costless, but helping is costly: “ye who are spiritual, restore such a one (Gal. 6.1). You need to be spiritual before you can restore others, and to become spiritual yourself is a costly affair to one’s self. It is easy to see a fault in others, but this is of no help. Judging in the sense which Jesus inveighs against here does not restore anything. You yourself must first be restored. If you have not cast the large beam out of your own eye, you are unable to cast the tiny mote out of your brother’s eye.
“Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye . . .” We ourselves must be judged strictly before God; and only then will we be able to help other people. The injunction to “judge not” which the Lord talks about here is concerned with judging without oneself having been legitimately judged and yet voicing one’s own opinion. But with the beam cast out, we are enlightened; and thus we may then be able to help our brothers to see light. Now this is no longer judging.
7.6 “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast your pearls before the swine, lest haply they trample them under their feet, and turn and rend you.” Here is an example of a cross-over construction in the Greek grammar, which can be diagrammed as follows:
Give not that which is holy
unto the dogs Neither cast your pearls
before the swine Lest haply they trample them under their feet And turn and rend you
Dogs and swine stand as definite types in the Scriptures. According to Leviticus 11, both are unclean animals. A dog is totally unclean, both within and without. A swine is unclean inside but clean outside, for it “parteth the hoof, and is clovenfooted, but cheweth not the cud” (Lev. 11.7). Dogs therefore typify the perishing; while swine typify the hypocrites or nominal Christians. (Some have taken the dogs to represent sinners and swine to represent church members.) Today if you cast the holy things to the dogs, they are unable to discern that these are holy. Hence, not being satisfied, and even being displeased, they will turn and rend you. And if you cast your pearls before the swine, they do not realize the preciousness of these objects; they will therefore trample them under their feet.
When you are judging people, remember that those living in the world around you not only include the brethren but also include dogs (sinners) and swine (nominal church members). In your eyes your judgments are most precious, and are like things which are most holy. But the dogs will bite and tear you apart, and the swine will trample them underfoot. You will speak in vain, for they have no understanding. If you base your judgment of the world on the higher teaching of the Mount, the world will turn and rend you. And if you take the teaching on the Mount as the moral standard to be observed by the false brethren (the nominal church members), they will trample it under their feet, because they have no affection for it. The world will use this as their ground of attack, and the nominal church members will not treasure it. There should therefore be a difference in the measure you use. Whatever measure you mete out to your true brethren, they will mete out the same to you. But with those of the world, they will either turn, bite and rend you, or else trample the measure under their feet.
7.12 When you look at this, section as a whole, you notice that everything mentioned is couched in pairs; such, for example, as: your measure versus others’ measure, your beam versus your brother’s mote, giving holy things to the dogs and being bitten versus casting
pearls before swine and they being trampled, earthly fathers giving good gifts to children versus the heavenly Father giving good things to us. In verse 12 we have the concluding word: “All things therefore whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, even so do ye also unto them.” The way to treat men is governed by how you want men to treat you rather than how men actually treat you. The Christian attitude and action towards men follow the highest principle. They are not affected by fact. All the Christian’s strength comes from within, not from his circumstances. This is because within the Christian is the life of Christ. I as a Christian must therefore act by this inner strength.
God will treat us in the way we treat others. So that (1) to the brethren, let us be liberal; and (2) to the unbelieving Gentiles and false brethren, let us not carelessly give spiritual things to them.

This has been a burden in my heart about the incessant rancour that
pervades this section amongst christians. I have decided to share this perhaps we will reconsider or perhaps I get attacked; a bite I'm prepared to bear.
Let me just pose these few questions and suggestions to us.
1. What do we stand to gain in calling ministers of God names? Several names like charlatans, false prophets, con man etc. I can't deny that today gospel has been watered and I can't deny that there are several false teachings amidst them but what do we stand to gain calling them perversed names? Can't we preach truths without resulting to name calling? Don't we think we bring the name of God into disrepute when we engage in house fights and the cohorts of the devil are laughing us to scorn? It is impossible to deny that some of these men have had serious and real converts over the years.
2. What happens to the principle of David and saul, ham and noah. David knew quite alright that saul was a bad man yet he refrain from calling him names even at his death. He said 'tell it not in gath, publish it not in the street of askelon less the daughters of philistine be glad and the daughters of the uncircumsied rejoice'. There is a need to cover these people unclothedness in public, call them to question in secret but keep quiet in public. No untiy can come from this kind of witchhunt from the body of Christ and when there is no unity, there is no glory. This men are as old as our fathers. What happens to the instruction of paul to timothy that entreat the older ones as ur fathers. That is even if they are ur church members let alone church leaders. Do not rebuke an elder. Its beyond u to do that regardless of how open to truth u think u are. If u can't pray for them, let them be.
3. A man that is yet to get to the top will not know how difficult it is at the top. Instead of demonstrating on nairaland, why not call for prayers and at the same time teach God's truth, teach people out of lies rather than attack the messenger, why not leave the messenger and attack the message. If u indeed want to attack the messenger, then nairaland to me isn't appropriate.
4. We take so many times attacking these men, what happens to the little assignment God has given us? If God will beam his searchlight on us, are we going to be justified? Why try to remove the specs in their eyes and having log of wood in urs? Let's for once question ourselves and be sincere with our selves in the assignment God hath given us. When someone else begin to crictise u, can u bear it or u retreat into self defence? Are u so pure in ur own eyes and others impure? Let the judgement start with ourselves before transfering it to others. I have seen several unnecessary self defence instead of evaluation; several show of supremacy yet we are bold to matchet others. Infact many boast of their perceived revelation forgetting that no revelation is new, someone else had known it. Its new to u but to some, its not. Forgetting also that nothing we have that we did not receive.
I just implore us by the mercies of God to bow in humility and not be guilty of the same crime we accuse people of. God bless us and His church. Amen

most of these "judgers" are just ignorant, if they're not cultists.