Open up those Bibles to Matthew chapter 7.
So let's just bow our heads for a second,
and I'm going to ask that you would pray for me
as we get to God's word,
that I would preach it as I should,
and I will pray for you to have a heart open
to receive what it is the Lord wants to teach us today.
Father in heaven,
give us wisdom to apply your word.
It does us no good if we just hear some facts,
and it never transforms our lives.
So Father, I pray that you, by the power of your Spirit,
would let the wisdom of your word
just permeate our hearts and minds.
You'd grant repentance,
and we would leave here different people
than we were when we came in God.
We ask in Jesus' name.
All of God's people said,
"Amen."
Matthew chapter 7,
I got to tell you,
I have really been personally blessed
through studying the Sermon on the Mount,
but I can't think of any of these sermons
I've been more excited for than this one,
because today,
we are going to be talking about
the most quoted verse in the Bible.
Look at Matthew chapter 7, verse 1.
Here it is.
"Judge not that you be not judged.
The most quoted verse in the Bible.
If you've been a Christian for more than five minutes,
somebody has said that to you.
Don't judge me.
You know the Bible says you're not supposed to judge.
Right?
Maybe, maybe you've said that to someone.
Someone makes a comment to you.
"Ah, no, no, no, you're judging me.
You're not supposed to judge me."
When do people say that?
People say that when you tell them
something they are doing is wrong.
True or false?
True.
It's like,
"Hey, you should not have spoken to her that way.
You were very rude in the way that you spoke to her.
You're judging me!
You know the Bible says not to judge,
and you're judging me.
You're not going to judge that church anymore
because they judge me."
Is that what Jesus is talking about?
Or my favorite,
I've had this conversation, Pastor Taylor,
we've had this conversation a billion times with people
where people are living together as husband and wife,
but they are not husband and wife.
We say, you know, the Bible says that,
you know, this is an acceptable way to live.
That you should get married.
You know God's thing, God's way.
And you know what the response usually is?
"Oh, you're judging me!
You're judging me!
That church is so judgmental!"
You can't judge.
The Bible says that you shouldn't judge,
so you're violating the Bible
when you tell me that I shouldn't be doing that.
What they're saying,
when somebody says that,
what they're saying is,
you should never call me out on sin.
Because when you point out
that I am sinning,
you are judging me.
That's what people are saying.
Don't ever tell me that I'm doing something on biblical
or you are judging me,
and then you're doing something on biblical
and I'm judging you for judging me.
Is that what Jesus is talking about here?
Is it?
I can tell you that's what most people think He means.
But that's not it at all.
Listen, we are commanded biblically to confront sin.
Did you know that?
Look at 1 Corinthians 5.
You have the guy that was committing sexual immorality.
Paul says, "Throw him out
by the seat of his pants
and by the scruff of his neck.
Throw him through a stained glass window."
You can't have a guy like that
who calls himself a Christian
living in unrepentant sin in a church.
You can't have it.
"Show him the door."
How do you do that
without exercising some form of judging?
Or Titus 3 says,
"Warm the divisive person."
Romans 16 says to avoid the divisive person.
How do we do those things
unless we are making some kind of a judgment?
The Bible says, "Test of Spirit."
The Bible says, "Beware of false prophets,"
et cetera, et cetera.
How do we do these things
that the Bible tells us to do
if there's not some kind of judging?
Right?
Right?
Then you get to chapter 7 and verse 1,
and Jesus says, "Judge not
that you be not judged."
You're like, "So what are we not judging?"
Well, biblically,
we are commanded to judge action.
Commanded to judge action.
What are we not judging?
Rate this down.
What you're not judging,
first of all, somebody's heart.
That's what Jesus is condemning.
You're going to see it very clearly.
You're forbidden to judge somebody's heart.
That's not talking about their action,
talking about the person.
You're a bad person.
You know what your problem is?
You're jealous.
Now I'm judging your heart.
I'm making an assessment of things
that I couldn't possibly see.
I can't see what is actually in your heart.
That's judging.
Not calling out action.
Okay?
So we're forbidden to judge someone's heart.
Also in the same vein,
write this down,
we're forbidden to judge someone's motive.
We're forbidden to judge somebody's motive.
Say, "Look, I know why you did that."
That was rotten what you did,
but listen, I know why you did that.
No, you don't.
That's judging.
You know, when you're like,
"Look, you know what your problem is?
All you care about is money.
That's all you care about is money."
We're judging their heart.
See, the judging that Jesus forbids
is not about conduct,
it's about the inner person.
What Jesus is condemning here
is self-righteous,
hypocritical condemnation
on others.
Maybe to help us understand
to illustrate it,
Jesus was really going after the Pharisees
and a lot of this content
and the Sermon on the Mount.
When you study the Pharisees,
they were so proud of their religion.
And the Pharisees were notorious
for condemning everyone else.
Luke chapter 18, Jesus tells the parable
of the Pharisee and the tax collector.
And in that parable,
"How does the Pharisee pray?"
"Oh God, I thank You.
I'm not like that guy."
Constantly looking down.
"I'm better.
I'm more righteous.
I'm not scum like that guy."
That's the Pharisees condemning everyone else
because they were so religious.
And if the Sermon on the Mount
has taught us anything,
there's some Pharisee in all of us.
So are you a judgmental, condemning person?
I know.
We would all like to say,
"No, no, no, no.
I'm not judgmental.
I'm not judgmental."
But let me ask you a few questions.
Are you judgmental in the sense
that Jesus is condemning here?
Here's a couple questions
that you can only answer this for yourself, right?
Let me ask you these questions.
First of all, do you enjoy fault finding?
Oh, we wouldn't say that in Bible study,
your small group.
But some of us secretly, deep down,
love to point out and discuss
what you think is wrong with people.
You're not likely to sit down and say,
"Here's what's great about this guy.
Here's what I love about this guy."
You're more likely to say,
"You know what his problem is?
Do you know what her problem is?
Do you like doing that?"
If you do, you're judging
in the way that Jesus forbids.
Oh, here's another one.
Am I a judgmental person?
Do you have a strong opinion
about something that isn't your business?
That's another clue.
Do you have a strong opinion
about something that is not your business?
That you're like,
"Can you believe?
Can you believe she put her kids
in public school?"
Can you believe she put her kids
in public school?
Can you believe that?
Just send them right to the devil.
Hey, that's not your business.
Your kids are your business, okay?
If you have strong convictions,
yes, do that with your kids.
But you can't go around judging
the convictions that other people
have about their kids, okay?
Not your business.
But if you kind of think it is,
then you're kind of judging.
Just saying.
Right?
Also, am I a judgmental person?
You're like, "Can this sermon be over?
Next, am I a judgmental person?
How about this one?
Do you like to express your opinion
without having all the facts?"
If you do, then you're a judgmental person.
For example, you know somebody in the church.
They've been having some money troubles,
and you see them pulling up the church,
and they're driving Alexis.
And you're like,
"I thought he was having money trouble."
And he's driving Alexis?
He's lying.
He's not having money trouble.
Hang on, hang on.
You don't have all the facts there.
How do you know that that car
wasn't given to him by somebody?
That happens, you know.
How do you know that somebody
didn't sell him that Lexus for a nickel?
You have no idea.
But already, your mind is going to,
"How irresponsibly he spent it?"
You have no idea.
You're judging.
My judgmental person, how about this one?
Do you tend to never give the benefit of the doubt?
In other words, do you tend to always
assume the worst about people?
If so, then you are a judgmental person.
Here's what I mean.
Let's pretend you're leaving church today,
and I'm standing back in guest reception,
and there's a couple from our church
that's talking to me.
And as you're walking past,
you hear the couple say,
"I knew they were having marriage problems.
I knew they were having marriage problems.
I knew they were having marriage problems.
I knew they were having marriage problems.
I knew they were having marriage problems.
I knew they were having marriage problems.
I knew he was back on the sauce.
I knew it.
I knew it."
No, you don't.
Do you realize people come to me
for counseling for all kinds of things?
Sometimes people come to me for counseling to say,
"I want to reach my neighbor with the gospel.
Can you help me figure that out?"
Some people are like, "Hey,
I'm having a hard time with my kid.
Can you help me figure out
some parenting disciple things?"
People come to me for all kinds of things.
You have no idea.
But you're not going to assume
it's for something good.
You're going to assume it's for something bad.
You're a judgmental person.
Well, as we've been going through the sermon
and we've been talking about the amount,
especially the beatitudes
that our Lord has told us
what kind of person to be
here
in this section
we're looking at Jesus
is telling us what kind of person not to be.
All right?
So on your outline, dealing with people,
don't be that guy.
Don't be that guy.
And if you're like,
"Well, Pastor Jeff,
that's not very politically correct."
What about, "Don't be that gal?"
Okay.
Then I would say, "Don't be that guy either, all right?"
Whatever.
Don't be that human.
Is that okay?
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
This cracker barrel logo catastrophe,
[laughter]
I haven't slept.
I toss and turn.
[laughter]
Sweating.
Sweating.
What happened to the man
in the barrel?
[laughter]
Don't be that guy.
Okay.
All right? What guy?
Number one.
Do not be a critic.
Verse one.
Let's see what our Lord was actually saying.
Judge not that you be not judged.
Okay, judge.
Here's a better word
that we use, because that word "judge,"
we use it in so many different ways.
Here's a word that we use that really is
how Jesus was using the word "judge" in this context.
It's the word "criticize."
Criticize. You're critic.
You're just criticizing everything.
You're the expert on everything.
We're going to criticize everything.
Criticize other people's lives.
He's obviously not a believer
because he doesn't match
my convictions.
We criticize ministries.
You know that church?
That church doesn't share the gospel.
All that church cares about is drawing a crowd.
That's all that church cares about is filling seats.
Now we're...
Now we're judging.
We're criticizing.
What's our Lord say about that?
Judge not that you be not judged.
Do you think you're God?
Because you're acting like you think you're God.
Romans 14.4 says,
"Who are you to pass judgment
on the servant of another?"
This is before his own master
that he stands or falls.
Judge not.
Why? Jesus says that you be not judged.
You know, by the way,
by the way, you will be judged.
You're like, "Wait, wait, wait. Hang on a second."
Hang on a second.
I thought if you were a Christian
then you wouldn't face God's judgment.
Well, listen.
If you have received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior,
all your sin has been taken away,
your guilt has been taken away,
you are...
they're no longer condemned.
That's true.
But you realize the Bible talks about
different kinds of judgment.
Right?
And that's the judgment for the people of God.
That can be a whole other sermon,
but let me just say this.
You will be judged.
You won't lose your salvation,
but you're going to lose something.
If you're a critical judgmental person,
Jesus goes on to explain verse 2,
"For with the judgment
that you pronounce, you will be judged.
And with the measure you use,
it will be measured to you."
Jesus here is just simply saying,
"Look, if you're this critic,
you're going around, you're the expert,
you're criticizing everybody, you're judging everybody."
Jesus says,
"You're going to get what you give."
You're setting the standard
for your own judgment.
Some people say,
"This is about human relationships."
That's what Jesus is talking about.
What Jesus is saying is,
"People judge you
by the way that you judge them."
And listen, while
there is truth in that statement
that people typically judge you how you judge them,
that's not what Jesus is focusing on here.
That's not his point.
Because what people think about me
is not my primary concern.
Should it matter? Yes, it should matter.
But my primary concern is what God thinks.
And God evaluates you
based on your knowledge
and on what you do with that knowledge.
The Apostle Paul was talking about this whole concept.
I like how under inspiration of the Holy Spirit,
he words this in Romans 2,
where he says,
"Therefore you have no excuse,
O man,
every one of you who judges
for impassing judgment on another,
you condemn yourself
because you, the judge,
practice the very same things."
See, that's what Jesus is saying.
That's what Paul is echoing.
It's this, listen,
if you know enough to judge somebody on something,
then you prove that you know enough
to be judged on it yourself.
You've set your own standard.
Do you criticize and judge people
harshly?
You're going to be judged harshly.
Right?
So you better pump the brakes
when you're tempted to criticize someone
because
it's coming back to you.
So, look,
don't be a critic.
Don't be a critic.
Number two, write this down.
Don't be a hypocrite.
Don't be a hypocrite.
Jesus says,
"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.
Or how can you say to your brother,
"Let me take the speck out of your eye
when there is a log in your own eye?"
This is really a funny picture
because when Jesus here says,
"Speck,
speck,"
literally the word could be translated
"twig."
It's kind of a funny illustration
that Jesus is using.
It's like, here you have this guy walking around
and he's got a twig
sticking out his eye.
And you walk up to him
and sticking out of your eye
is this.
And you're like,
"Look, don't want to be rude,
but you've got something in your eye."
I'm sorry, what?
You shouldn't be walking around
with wood in your eye.
What?
Well,
some people say
some people say
that the speck
will go with that word.
That's the word in our Bibles here.
Some people say,
"Well, speck."
"Speck."
Some people say,
"Speck refers to a minor sin
and like the plank
or the log refers to a major sin."
I'm not really convinced of that.
You know why?
You know why I'm not convinced of that?
That the speck is a minor sin.
Have you ever had something in your eye?
Has it ever happened to you?
Yeah, it happens to everybody. Yeah.
There's nothing worse than having something
in your eye that you cannot get out.
So I would suggest to you
that it's not a minor thing
if you have a twig in your eye.
If you're still not convinced,
just come on up here.
We'll jam this in there right now
and you tell me how minor of a thing it is.
Maybe your
brother or sister does
have a legit problem.
They do have a speck in their eye.
Maybe they really do.
The speck could be
they know they need to be serving the Lord
in His church and they're just not doing it.
Maybe it's gossip.
Maybe their home is out of order.
Whatever. Maybe they do have a problem.
And your problem
is that you have a log in your eye.
You have
sin of your own
that you haven't dealt with.
And when you have sin of your own
you haven't dealt with,
you're of no help getting
blessed you. You are of no help
getting this taken care of.
Sin
is really deceptive that way, isn't it?
Sin
is really deceptive that way.
That we walk around
and we look at people
and we're like
everybody has a problem but me.
Everybody's life
is so messed up but mine
are self-deceived.
It's a problem.
We're so
focused on other people's
sin that we are
completely
ignoring our own.
It's a problem.
Recently a famous pastor
was condemned,
was judged by other pastors.
I'm looking to mention names.
I'm sure some of you know exactly what I'm talking about.
But this
famous pastor was asked
by this
older lady.
She said, "My grandson
is gay and is having a wedding
and should I go to the wedding?"
And this pastor answered the question
from the perspective of a
grandfather who loves his grandkids.
And he was blasted for his response.
A bunch of other famous pastors
real quick to
publicly refute, publicly judge.
Shame on him.
Shame on him in his liberal stance.
Shame on him
for not holding the stand
or shame on him.
And then it was revealed
not long after that one of
this man's harshest critics,
another pastor, was having
a long time affair.
This is exactly what Jesus is talking about.
You got a problem with your twig?
I got a log in my eye.
But I'm oblivious to this
because I'm so fixated
and you're fixing your thing.
You discredited yourself.
Powell, that's what you've done.
You think
you're the expert on morality.
And you're having an affair.
How are you in a position
to help anyone?
And look, before you, amen that.
Listen, we,
yes, we, can be
just as self-deceived
and just as hypocritical.
We do it all the time, right?
Parents in your home.
Your kid says a
non-cermony word,
right? Of the four letter variety.
Hey, hey, we don't talk like that.
And then they hear you
talking like that five minutes later.
Or you say, hey,
speak respectfully to your mother,
but they don't hear you speaking
respectfully to their mother.
You say, look, you need to
have your quiet time with the Lord.
Are you?
Do you see how self-deceived
and hypocritical we are?
Look, I've been in ministry a long time
and I see it in the church
all the time. People are so quick
to criticize
church leaders for not
doing something that they
themselves are unwilling to do.
So you're like, okay, Jeff, so what do I do?
I just, when I see somebody
with a twig in their eye, you're saying
I should just ignore it, right?
I should ignore the specs, right?
If I see somebody
who's genuinely struggling with something,
I should never get engaged in a sin struggle.
That's not what our Lord is saying at all.
Look at verse 5.
Look at verse 5. Very carefully here.
Jesus says, you hypocrite,
first,
take the log out of your own eye.
And then
you will see clearly
to take the spec out of your brother's eye.
So yeah, you do have to help
people that have specs in their eye.
But there's two things that you have to do
in order to do that.
So write this down.
First of all, you need to
evaluate yourself first.
Do you see that? Evaluate yourself first.
Look.
If you're walking around
with a log in your eye,
believe it or not,
the log in your eye
isn't your biggest problem.
Do you know what your biggest problem is?
Not noticing
that you have a log in your eye.
That's the problem.
Your eye is the biggest problem.
You're not noticing
that's the problem.
You're oblivious
to your massive problem.
You're blind to it
because obviously,
obviously if you recognized
that this was going on,
you'd be doing something about that.
Second Corinthians 13.5
says examine yourselves
to see whether you're in the faith.
And church,
we are so
interested in how other people
are doing in their faith.
And yes, there's a time and a place for that.
And our Lord's making that clear
that who is the first person
that we should be examining. Point to that person.
Who should you examine?
This guy.
This is the guy that I need to examine
before I look at anybody else.
And you would say, "Well, I hear what you're saying.
I hear what you're saying, Pastor Jeff,
but they're in sin.
And that sin dishonors God.
And someone has to set them straight."
So that our Lord is saying,
"Look,
if righteousness is truly
what you're interested in,
then the first person
that you're going to go after
is the person in the mirror.
If righteousness is
really
what's driving what you're doing,
then you're going to prioritize
going after righteousness in your own life
before you're concerned about going after
righteousness in somebody else's life.
So until you get your own thing
figured out,
bearing fruit in keeping
with repentance,
you're not going to be able to help anybody.
You're not going to be able to help anybody.
So evaluate yourself first.
All right?
Also in verse 5,
write this down.
"Remove specs gently."
"Remove specs
gently."
"Gently."
Now I realize I'm kind of old fashioned this way.
I'm old fashioned this way.
And you might not share this opinion,
but here we go.
If you're going to take
something out of my eye,
I have two requirements for you.
You have to be able to see,
and you have to be gentle.
Right?
Galatians 6-1
says, "Brothers,
if anyone is caught
in any transgression,
you who are spiritual
should restore him
in a spirit of
gentleness."
Right?
In a spirit of gentleness.
Keep watching yourself,
let's you two be tempted.
Yes, we should be helping each other out,
but it must be done
in a spirit of gentleness.
And you'll be gentle
when you approach with sympathy,
not criticism,
and you will approach with sympathy
when you're keenly aware
of the struggles that you have had.
When you're keenly aware of the fact
that you are not perfect,
you're keenly aware of the fact
that you and I
and every single other person
that we have ever met,
we are all a work in progress.
You know, you can
you can criticize
someone foolishly caught up
in sin, but when it happens
to you and it will, you're going to
learn sympathy real quick.
Gentle, sympathetic help.
It's like, "Look, let me help you.
Look, man, I've been there.
I've been there. It's not a great place to be.
Let me help you."
I'll talk about
talking about ministering the word
at this point, you might say,
"Okay, makes sense, right?
Deal with my own thing.
Be gentle."
But is there ever a time
that I shouldn't
minister the word?
Is there ever a time that I sort of refrain
from trying to do the work
of the ministry
to someone?
Yeah.
Shockingly, there is.
Number three,
write this down.
Do not be a dog feeder.
Do not be a dog feeder.
Look at verse 6.
Jesus says,
"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."
You know,
when Jesus talks about
dogs, I'm a dog person.
And where my mind immediately goes,
you know, you get your dog, your dog
wears a little pink bow and rides around
in your purse and stuff,
and take your dog, get a groomer,
and
my dog only eats keto.
Only eats keto.
That's not the kind of dog
that they would have had in mind.
And I've shared with you before
one time on a mission trip
in Thailand,
a wild dog came after me
like running at me, snarling,
drooling, and I'm like, this is it.
Tell my family I love them.
And some little Thai kid, Zing De Rock,
hit the dog, he ran off,
and that kid got a lifetime supply candy.
That is a true story.
That's the kind of dog that Jesus
and his
culture here
would have been more accustomed to.
We're talking about
savage garbage eaters.
And Jesus says here
with these savage garbage eaters,
He goes, "Do not give dogs what is holy."
Do you see that picture? It would be like
they're eating at the temple
and they offer the sacrifice unto the Lord
and you just walk up
and you take meat from the altar
and give it
to one of these savage garbage eaters.
Would you do that?
Would you do that?
No.
Like, no.
No.
I feel like bringing your dog up
to receive communion here.
Like, no.
How wrong that is?
Jesus says, "Don't give dogs what is holy."
Then He says,
"Do you not throw your pearls
before pigs?" What a picture
our Lord paints here.
Because again, pigs also
savage.
But you see the picture, it's like somebody's coming up
pretending to feed the pigs,
but instead of giving them food,
they throw down
billions of dollars worth
of pearls.
And the pig sees these
pellets looking thing going down
and the pig's like, "Well, time to eat."
And the pig's like,
"That ain't food."
Now they're hungry and mad
and they turn and attack you.
What a picture.
So when Jesus talks
about giving
what is holy,
what do you think it is
that we have
that we can give
that we would be considered
priceless and holy?
What do you think that is?
It can only be
one thing.
Right?
The Word of God.
And here our Lord is showing us that just as pigs
don't appreciate pearls,
some people are not going
to appreciate
the things of God.
Some people are not going to appreciate
the Word of God.
Jesus tells us
don't be hypocritical,
but Jesus never says
don't be discerning.
Some people
with respect to the truth
are dogs and hogs
and they should not
be given what is holy.
And you're like, "Wow."
So you're saying that there is a time
that I shouldn't minister the Word to someone.
That's what Jesus is saying.
Right?
And you're like, "Well, how do I know
how do I know when to
share the gospel with someone,
share the Word of God with someone
and when to
obey what our Lord is saying to do here?
How do I know when I should shut up?
How do I know
dogs and hogs?
And the answer is
discernment.
It's discernment.
But here's a couple of clues
that we get from the Word of God.
How can you spot
dogs and hogs
number one
or are they mocking the Word of God?
Are they
mocking the Word of God?
If you're trying to minister the Word to somebody
and they are mocking
it and mocking you,
they're proving to be a dog and a hog.
Listen, I did prison ministry
for many, many years
and I love
there would be men that would come
and the Bible's ready
and so eager to learn.
I love that.
But you know, we had guys that came
just because there was nothing else going on
and they were bored and they came
just to mock.
I would say horrible things
about me, which who cares, I'm nothing,
but horrible things about the Word of God.
That's a problem.
Hogs and dogs.
As a much younger pastor
I thought, well,
I'll just, I'll persuade them.
I'm just going to keep laying out the Word.
I'll keep giving them the Word. I'll keep giving them the Word.
And they would just keep mocking
and mocking and mocking and mocking.
It's pearls and pigs.
Some people are not going to see
the value of the Word of God,
the value of the gospel.
No matter how genuinely
you try to give it, they're going to end up
attacking you.
And Jesus here is saying, do not give the truth
to people who would have
such a disdain
for the Word of God.
And a disdain for you.
Because you're trying to give it.
Jesus says don't
don't be a dog feeder.
There's a clue.
Here's another clue.
Number two,
are they more committed to sin
than to seeking the Lord?
Because sometimes it's hard to tell.
Sometimes
dogs and hogs are hard to spot
because sometimes it's hard to tell
somebody's really getting it.
But there's another clue
biblically.
And that's when you, if you share
the gospel, share the Word of God with someone
and they keep going
right back
into their mess.
Persistently committed
to sin.
Peter talks about this.
Peter talks about
committed sin. Our second Peter chapter 2 is all about this.
When you get to the end of the chapter, look at this verse.
Peter says what the true proverb
says has happened to them.
The dog returns to its own vomit
and the sow after washing herself
returns to wallow in the mire.
Do you see that?
What's Peter talking about?
Dogs and hogs.
And what are dogs and hogs like according to Peter?
They just keep going back
to the mess.
They just keep going back to the mess.
They just keep going back to the mess.
They just keep going back to it.
Now I don't have hogs at home
but I have dogs.
And my wife Erin and I
have this conversation
way too often.
But Erin will say
the dogs don't like the new food
that I got them.
I'm like they're garbage eaters.
Erin is like, "Yeah,
the dogs won't eat this new food
that we got them."
And I'm like
they eat each other's vomit
and they drink out of the toilet.
But lamb and rice, ooh!
That's gross.
What?
But that's what Peter's telling us.
That's a sign of dogs and hogs.
He's ministering to someone,
sharing the word, sharing the gospel.
And they're like, "I see
what God is calling me to turn from
and I see how gracious God is
and I'm acknowledging
before you that God's ways are right."
But I'm just going back
to my filth.
I'd rather have that.
I'd rather eat out of the dumpster
than at the table of the Lord.
Dogs and hogs.
Jesus Christ is the master,
obviously,
of everything,
but this specifically.
Look, just look at,
write this down. Look at Luke 23.
Just write that down.
And note the difference
between Jesus' interaction
with Pilate,
who was listening to Jesus,
and Jesus' interaction with Herod,
who the Bible says was mocking Jesus,
and Jesus did not say a word
to Herod.
And you would think, Jesus has
audience with the king?
Opportunity! Give it to Him!
Jesus said nothing to Him.
Why?
Dogs and hogs.
Did not answer
Him a word.
So there's a difference
in how you handle
someone who will listen to you
versus how you're going to handle somebody
who will mock the Word of God,
who is more committed
to sin
than seeking repentance.
If our worship team would make their way back up,
yes, the Bible says,
"Judge not
that you be not judged."
That is absolutely true.
Judging people
is God's job.
So let's stay in our lane.
Our lane
is discernment
that has to start
by looking at ourselves
before we look at anyone else
and watching out for three things.
Logs, dogs, and hogs.
Let's pray.
Father in heaven,
this passage in your Word
has been so hijacked
and misquoted and misused
and misapplied.
I just pray, Father,
that your Spirit would
just illuminate our hearts
to what you're actually saying here.
I think, Father,
sometimes we
in the church can be so
against the wrong interpretation
that we've neglected the right one,
even applying what Jesus actually did say.
Father, I pray
that we would be a people who are discerning,
not afraid to call out action,
but always avoiding
judging people's hearts.
Father, give us much wisdom.
Give us the ability to recognize
someone who would trample down
what is holy and attack us.
Father, thank you for the example
that you've given us in your Word,
demonstrated so clearly by your Son.
Father, search our hearts.
Search our motives, Father,
and let us serve you.
Let us love you,
and let us serve others
with pure motives.
We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
We pray in Jesus' name, amen.
