Bible Teaching

Calvary Temple Teaching Library

You've Heard It Said Pt.16

Hallelujah! Amen! Let's turn to Matthew 7--we're going to continue along with the Lord's teaching on the Sermon on the Mount in light of the day that we're living in, the foundation on which He built His church, these principles. We're living in a day, of course, when that foundation is being eroded on every hand. Christianity virtually wouldn't be recognized by much of those that gave their lives to follow the Lord in the first century. If they came and sat in most churches today, they wouldn't understand the message that was going forth about "twelve-step programs" and bettering our image. You know, having this poor self-image. Realizing that in me, that is, in my flesh dwells no good thing--that kind of tells what we're like, doesn't it?

People don't like to hear that anymore. We're sinners, but we've been saved by God's grace. Amen? There's no good thing in us, and so we're living in a day when men are worshipping the creature instead of the Creator. We call it Secular Humanism, but it's creature worship--when it's the glory of man that's being sought and not the glory of God.

So it's very important that we establish in this day what we're contending for. We're to be contending for the faith. And in the last days, false prophets are going to arise, and they're going to bring men to themselves. We're supposed to bringing men to Jesus--Amen?--to the Word of God, to an eternal kingdom--not earth dwellers. You see, people are being called to institutions and organizations, movements. And we're to be called to the kingdom of God. We're to be being molded in and grafted in to the body of Christ, the church; and it's universal. It goes across denominations. It goes across cultures and nations. For in Jesus, there's not Jew, there's not Gentile, there's not male, there's not female. It's just us in the church, praise God!

When you find somebody that's a real believer, you have an instant union with them, don't you? That kindred spirit--you just start talking and when you find a brother or sister, you can tell. You can tell by the way they're faces light up when you start talking about the name of Jesus. When you mention the Word of God, they want to hear more, praise God.

So we need to bring this message out, and as Paul said, "I'm not ashamed of the gospel; it's the power of God to salvation..." (Romans 1:16). In this last day, when everybody's trying to water it down, we need to step it up a little bit and begin to be bolder in our proclamation of the resurrection of Jesus. We've got Easter coming next Sunday, of course. This is Palm Sunday, when Jesus rode triumphant into Jerusalem. They were laying out the palm leaves, crying, "Hosanna," which means save now. Is that the cry of your heart? It is mine--"Save now, Lord; come quickly, Lord Jesus"--Amen?--in the midst of this crooked and perverse generation. They said, "Keep the people quiet. Let's not go overboard with this talking about Jesus."

How about it this morning? Is it a fire in your bones, as the prophet said (a reference to Jeremiah 20:9)? Hey, if they keep us quiet, the rocks will cry out! Amen? I like what Andraé Crouch said, he said, "As long as Andraé is around, they ain't gonna need no rocks!" A people that worship and honor the Lord.

John McArthur was saying in a teaching he did last week on how to find a good church, he said, "The number one criteria for the church that you ought to be attending isn't how convenient it is to get there, the charisma of the pastor, the facilities--but is it God-centered?" Is the time and effort about glorifying God and not talking about men and the needs of men and making life easier for men, but talking about the glory of God? You see, we've lost--we've become a man-centered church in America.

So as we are contending with that spirit in these last days, we need to continually check ourselves and ask, "Are we jealous for the glory of God, or are we wanting to just become a part of the movement of what's going on and popular in the world today?" If we're going to choose the gospel, then it's going to have to be done in a way that Chapter 7 of His sermon starts off, and it's going to be that we have to choose and administer proper judgment in this era that we're living in.

And that's interesting, because in the day that we're living, the primary word that's being used in our society today is--what?--tolerance. Or let's say it another way: something that all professed Christians (and we've talked about this in the past) you could go into about any church, you can walk up and down Route 7 and go into just about any church that you choose, and very few people will be able to quote the Word of God to you beyond "Jesus wept"--you know--the Scripture memorization. It's the shortest Scripture in all the Bible. Virtually every person will be able to tell you, "Judge not, judge not. Bible says, judge not." They're basically saying, "Don't judge me!" "Stay out of my business!" "Who are you to speak into my life?" Well, I'll tell you who I am. I'm an ambassador of Jesus Christ. I'm not here to make life comfortable for you, I'm here to glorify God. I'm here to contend for the glory of God. If you're calling yourself a Christian, then you'd better live like one, or we're going to want to know why. People have trouble with that today.

Now, we're going to see that it can't be done in arrogance. It can't be done in self-righteousness, because Jesus goes on in Matthew 7 as you read down those first two verses--and He says--now, listen--"Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged..." (Verses 1-2). That gives us some good guidelines, doesn't it? Now, every one of us is going to be judged in the last day, and we're going to be judged not only righteously and justly by the Lord Jesus according to the Word of God, but we're going to be judged by the way we judged others. I try to be compassionate, don't you? I try to be merciful in my justice. I won't compromise the Word of God, but I want to be compassionate. I find it easy to be compassionate. I really do. You know why? Because I'm such a mess. I need all the help I can get. I have been forgiven so much by the Lord; how can I not forgive? Amen?

Now, see, it's harder on the rest of you because you all are so good and you don't do anything wrong. It has the tendency to think that everybody ought to be as good as you are. But those of us that are struggling--see--and warring with this flesh on a daily basis and living daily by the grace and mercy of God, it's pretty easy to have compassion for the rest that are struggling--because it's a war, isn't it?

As we're battling along, He says, Make sure you understand you're going to be judged with the same judgment that you mete. Then He says, And follow this policy: be very careful, don't be as the hypocrites, the self-righteous, but in fact apply this principle: remove first the log out of your own eye, so that you can see clearly to help your brother with the little speck or splinter that he has in his eye (Matthew 7:5).

The assumption is always to be, "I'm in worse shape than the guy I'm trying to help, but yet I'm called to help him." There's a need, and I'm going to minister even though the response may not be one of, "Thank you, brother." But it could even be one of, "What are you doing trying to help me? You're a bigger mess than I am. Who are you to speak to me?" I'm part of the body of Christ. I've been called to have the same care, Corinthians says, for you that I have for myself. I'm to lift up hands that are hanging down. I'm to comfort the feebleminded. I'm to be jealous for your holiness and your righteousness, so that when the trumpet sounds, you're going to be ready, praise God. I'm just trying to be an ambassador for this great kingdom that we're living in.

So that's the spirit of it, and we need to see then that we're living in a day when the church is heralding tolerance and we're being called to justice and judgment. So let's take a look at it for just a moment and see how it all shakes down according to the Word of God.

Chapter 7 of Matthew--that's enough of an introduction for us--"Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged; and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?" (Matthew 7:1-3) Now, see what He's saying. He said, "How is it that you're not considering yourself?" The first thing that He's talking about here is not just the comparison of the need in each of the lives of the individuals but the tendency to not consider ourselves first. The Bible says we're to love our neighbors as we... See, we've got to love ourselves. We've got to get ourselves right. If I don't love myself enough to get purified, purged by the blood of Jesus--if I don't love myself enough to be able to press in to the presence of God and cause that to allow me to be conformed to His image, then I have no capacity to help you. Why would I be going about trying to help others without a consideration of first coming into the presence of God, making sure that what I'm going to speak isn't my preference--and we all have preferences, don't we? This is not my opinion. We all have opinions. Well, most of us, some of us are not opinionated, but most of us have opinions--the way we think things ought to be--preferences. But what I'm speaking to you is the Word of God.

Turn with me for just a second to John, Chapter 5, and let me show you what I'm talking about here and what we need to do. How is it that you would speak to your brother and have not first considered yourself, your own motives, your own heart condition? John, Chapter 5, verse 26... or let's look at verse 22. "For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation [or the judgment]; but is passed from death unto life. [verse 26] For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself. And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth, they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge..." (John 5:22-30). Let's say it together: As I hear, I judge. See, the judgment doesn't come out of our own perception, our own evaluation, our own opinions. What we hear from the Father, from the Word of God, is the only thing that we can apply to the judgment of the body of Christ. As I hear, I judge. Not even as I see, but what the Spirit of God says toward this situation is what I'm going to apply. As I hear, I judge--and--look! "...my judgment is just; [It's right. Why? Motive, always motive] because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me." (John 5:30). Motive's always crucial. So when I'm bringing about any kind of correction or judgment to a brother or sister, to the body of Christ, I'm not trying to put my will on them, my opinion, my way of doing things. Listen! I'm not trying to put my conscience on you, because we all have different strengths in our conscience. Some have weak consciences. Some consciences are defiled; some are seared. Some of us are strong in our conscience. We're not talking about conscience. We're talking about the justice of God, the will of God, the biblical standard of holiness. That's what we're looking for in all of our lives, and we have to be very careful.

How many of you find yourself sometimes going back and forth, kind of across that line of my will, my conscience and what I think is right? We know that something's not right here, so we always want to apply what we do, the way I see it, the way I think. What He's saying is: step back, realize you're going to be judged as you judge. Step back and make sure that this is the will of God, the Word of God. Make sure that your own motives are pure. Make sure that your judgment is just and righteous and full of mercy and grace, and receive it for yourself first, Jesus goes on in Matthew 7, so that you can "see" clearly now to help your brother or sister. That clear "seeing" is not just being able to make the right evaluation but to have the right motives and purity and love and grace and mercy--and--proper "seeing" is: this isn't going to fix it once for all. We're going to be back here again. Maybe a different topic, maybe a different magnitude, but we're just going to continually be here to love one another and to cleanse one another with the washing of the water of the Word. It's very important. This is the maturity that we have to have.

Jesus Himself--get the magnitude of this! Look at your Bibles--red ink, Jesus talking--" I don't put forth my opinion." If He doesn't put forth His opinion, what right do you? Amen? I can't do anything of myself but only what Father has sent me to do. That tells me to back off of my way of doing things and make sure I'm representing Father properly. And I know that my judgment is right.

Over all the years, I've had to make a lot of judgments, and that's a scary thing to do in making these different type judgments. We had to make a judgment here. The reason I was so late last Sunday night coming into service--we were having to deal with a situation here--of that young man that was here--and I had to make a decision based upon where this was. I had to make a decision to send him down the road. I won't share with you all of the reasons why, but I do want to take just a moment and say, one of the things that we need to do if we're going to have this kind of a ministry--and we are, right?--at this time in reaching out, but to help you all understand: when these people come in here, we are not stamping endorsement "Christian, full-of-the-Holy-Ghost, trust them." Okay? These are people that are going to come in here at all degrees of either being baby Christians or con men, running a game. These guys are good at what they do. They were not in prison--almost everybody in prison is innocent, right? They're there for a reason. They're selfish. Okay--they're prideful just like all of us, but they got caught. Jailhouse religion can be a lot of things. You got to join some kind of a club in there; you can't hang alone. This club will get you out possibly, get you some consideration. When you come out, guess what? You get to come into a group that will kind of carry you around, give you free stuff, "This is pretty good!" Not everybody's that way; some are. All I'm saying is don't be gullible. Don't think because they come here that they are one hundred percent trustworthy. I told our guys that are working in the prison to make very clear to these guys--anything you did in prison means nothing. Your fruit starts the day you step into this building and from that day, by your fruit, we'll know you. Amen? See, that's what this chapter goes on to say in Matthew 7. All of the fruit was bad, and some folks weren't helping the situation. Part of that was our fault for not letting you know more [on] how this thing should be operating, but just to give you an idea--when these folks come in here, don't think this is an endorsement of us saying, "These guys are great, trust them." We're saying, "We're going to try to help these guys make a transition into the body of Christ." Very frankly, it's not real easy to do. We'll give you more information as we go along.

But what about the judgments? We get all the information. I have to make a judgment here in what to do with this guy. The first thing is--if I'm going to make a mistake, I'm going to make it--I told the men that were working with this guy, I said, "Listen, we can't make a mistake here. I am not going to have one of our lambs injured by a wolf that we're putting up." As a shepherd, the Scripture says that the shepherd has a rod and a staff. You know, the staff, many times--if [a sheep] gets injured or it gets in a place where it's caught, you can reach in and help and pull the sheep out and help it along with the crook and different things. But we shepherds carry rods also. Those are for wolves, and we'll beat the tar out of you. You're not going to prey on God's flock. In just watching different things, I have to make some judgments here. If I'm going to make them, I'm going to make my mistake erring on the side of being safe, protecting our innocent folks. But I can't make judgments whether it's a situation like that or in any other situation based upon my preferences, my opinion.

We've had to make judgements over the years on all kinds of things based on marital relationships and parents dealing with their children and people saying, "What should I do? What do you see here?" We have to speak the Word of God, and it doesn't have anything to do with how long you've known somebody. It doesn't have anything to do with the past accomplishments in their lives. It has to do whether this is right or not. When the Lord speaks, He says, "All the judgments have to be: ‘not my own will.'" Any time I'm in that back room and having to be confronted with one of these things, the first thing I'll do is say--step back and go, "Okay, I have probably twenty opinions." Some of you found out in all these years: I am fairly opinionated. I have an opinion on everything. So do you, but I'm very vocal. The one thing about me--I don't sneak up on anybody. People know where I am at all times. I don't guard my emotions real well. If I'm excited about something, I'm excited. If I'm ticked off, I'm ticked off. Nobody's doubting where I'm coming from. You can't allow that to be too extreme. I don't hide what I am. I walk in the light. I am a very opinionated person. Because of knowing that and making decisions that affect people's lives--listen!--we're talking about affecting people's lives and very souls. Possibly, if you make a mistake, it could cost somebody eternity in the presence of God. I've had to make decisions along those magnitudes. Would you like to make those? You sure don't want to throw your opinion in there. The first thing I do is say, "I'm not giving..." I want to know what God has to say about this, and all I'm going to say is what God said.

"So what do you think, Pastor? How should we interpret this?" You interpret it. I'm going to tell you what God says; you interpret it. I'm not interpreting it for you. This is the word of the Lord. When you go to your brothers and sisters, don't try to interpret it, don't put your little twist, don't put your little preference. Just speak the Word of God, and let the Holy Spirit bring to remembrance all things that the Lord has spoken. Amen? That's His ministry. So we find what the Lord's saying here, and it's very, very important.

Look over at John 12 since we're here in John, and see again the standard. Now, remember why we're teaching this. We're living in a day when the whole message is tolerance, tol-er-ance! Tolerate sin, tolerate non-Biblical living, tolerate unfruitful Christianity, tolerate Secular Humanism wrapped up in Christian jargon, tolerate the Muslims, tolerate the Bahá'í, tolerate the Mormons. No! No! It's a narrow, straight path. Amen? There's a broad way that leads to destruction. The straight and narrow--as it's opposed to the broad way--is not straight-and-narrow Christianity, broad way paganism, Secular Humanism. That's not what's being contrasted. The broad way is not the secular or the pagan. The broad way is professed Christendom that isn't living by Biblical standards--not the obvious [groups]. We're not talking about the drunk and the murderer, the homosexual, the drug addict. We're talking about the professed Christian who won't be jealous for and stand up for the Word of God, the standard of holiness. It's a broad path that leads to destruction. And very frankly, because of this doctrine of tolerance, there's a lot of folks on it. What about us?

Beloved, if we take the Biblical stand and you know it (we've been doing it), we're the odd man out. You're going to get mocked at work. You're going to have people calling you self-righteous. "You're so self-righteous." Let me tell you something. Jesus talks about the self-righteous in Matthew 7. He talks about the hypocrite, and He says they're the ones who don't consider themselves first. You are not a hypocrite if you're considering yourself first, if you're judging yourself first. Amen? Don't let them throw this label on you. "Oh, you're just so judgmental, and you're self-righteous, and you're a hypocrite." There is no play-acting in me, Jack. I'm telling you. I have judged myself first. I know what my problems are, and you and I share a lot of the same ones. And it happens to be--this is one that we share: you're wrong and I'm wrong, and Jesus is Lord. If we're going to call Him Lord, we have to keep His commandments. He said, don't call me Lord and not keep my commandments. So we need to get this area together in our lives.

What becomes the standard? We can't judge according to our will. Jesus said, but as we have--what? "As I hear, I judge..." (John 5:30). Let's say it together again--as I hear, I judge. What? John, Chapter 12, verses 47-50, "And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak". We realize that what He's saying here is: make sure that what you hear, you judge. It's the Word of God.

Now, it's interesting. He said, "I'm not judging them." We would think for just a moment, "Well, then, Jesus--He's not saying anything about the situation"? No, He had something to say about it. He's saying, "I'm not judging them. The word that they've rejected is going to judge them in the last day. I'm going to share the Word of God and leave it at that. If they accept it, they accept it. If they reject it, they reject it." Now, if they consistently reject it, what do we do? He tells us in another place, "Shake the dust off your feet and go away" (Matthew 10:14). Read Matthew, Chapter 7, as we're going to go on. He said, "Don't give that which is holy to the dogs. Don't cast your pearls before swine" (Matthew 7:6). See, some of us start bringing forth the judgment or the Word of God, people don't want to hear it, and so now we want to get in an argument and try to convince them. Very frankly, most of us are more interested about our own reputation in winning an argument than we are [about] representing God. The proper representation of God at a time like that is: just step back and walk away. "What will people think? They'll think he won the argument. They'll think that he..." There is no argument. I spoke the truth. You don't want it? Praise God, I'll go somewhere else. The Holy Spirit is the One [who] allows this thing to take root in the heart of an individual. No man can come except Father draws them by the Spirit (John 6:44), so I speak what God says about this situation. If they want to hear, they hear. If they don't, they don't. But regardless, Jesus says in Matthew 12--or in John 12 here--in the last day that same word is going to judge them. That's where our assurance is, beloved. It's not in our argument. The righteous judgment of Matthew 7:24 is the Word of God. Judge righteous judgment. Just speak the Word and leave it alone. It's powerful.

We were at our first race over the weekend. It's amazing. This division that we're in--we travel around the country--and it's interesting. You'll go to some of the chapels, and there will be hundreds of people. This division, northeastern division, is like... Eighty percent of the names end in a vowel. Okay--he said, "Are you going to get kind of like--is this going to get racial"? No, but Vito usually attends the Catholic Church. Most of these people are Catholics up there, so it's interesting, that chapel. We went out to [the] chapel. The wind was blowing like fifteen miles an hour. It was like thirty-eight degrees, and there are metal chairs out on the blacktop. So the other four people besides us (we were just attending) that were there--it's just not attended well at all--this particular division. I was just praying, Lord, what can we do to--because we'd been away for a few years--what can we do to really somehow affect these lives?

Then there was a testimony. I had just been praying about that, and a man came over and he was just glowing. "Oh, how are you doing? I haven't seen you and, man, you know." He was just sitting there and he goes, "You know, I was just telling some people." He said, "I saw you guys come in." He says, "I just feel better when you all are here." He said, "I told everybody those people know God. There's something about them. You got to come." He said, "They think I'm weird," but he said, "When you get around those people, they're different, man." He said, "There's something real there," and he said," It's just like..." He said, "I can't explain it." And he said, "They think I'm weird." His wife goes, "Yeah, they do." It's like, "No, you got to--this guy's something." I said, "Well, you know." I said, "It's the presence of God." I said, "The Scripture says in His presence there's fullness of joy and at His right hand pleasures evermore," and I said, "What you're sensing is just the presence of God, people that live in it." His response was--I can't remember what his response was, but he says something along the lines of like, "You must be soaking a lot of it in" or something--I can't remember how he said it. I was thinking, "Well, praise God. If he'll be that excited and keep telling people, then we're going to be able to get some of the literature back out." Like I said, it's been a while since we've been there.

The point that I'm making is this. I don't know of any time in a long time--every time--and we got in a prominent place. We got in a place [where] we weren't supposed to park. We're pulling in, and I ask this guy, I said, "The Bible says you have not because..." I said, "Can I park over there?" The guy said, "Well, it's not really a parking place." I said, "Yeah, but you know, we have three cars." I said, "The rig's eighty-four feet long and whatever." He said, "Yeah, that would probably be a good place for you." I said, "Okay." We go over there and we park. Another guy comes up and tries to throw us out. We said, "Well, Tony said we could park here." "If Tony said you could park here, you can park here." I'm minding my own business. Later this guy comes up and says, "Hey, did you say that Tony--something--something--vowel said you could park here"? I said, "No, I said Tony said we could park there." I said, "He was the guy that was sitting in the pickup by that light pole over there." This guy goes, "Well, he isn't going to be working here next year!" I think I was now talking to the real Tony. I'm not sure. But the fact that I didn't say, "Yeah, Tony, whatever," you just tell the truth to people. I said, "No, I don't... That's not what I said." I said, "Tony, I don't if--who--what Tony?" Tony the Tiger! It's Tony. Based upon that, the guy said, "Well, yeah, just go ahead and stay there and whatever." The point I'm making is: we were in a place--virtually everybody that was there had to pass our trailer and see, "Jesus Christ died for our sins, was raised again the third day according to the Scriptures." "If Christ be not risen, your faith is in vain; you are yet in your sins." Good message. Amen? 1 Corinthians 15 [verse 17]. I couldn't tell you a time that I didn't stand out there and people are going like... [Looking up as if at trailer with Scriptures.] And people are reading--everybody that came by. You can't not walk by there and not read that. We're passing out literature and I'm thinking, "The power of the Word of God." Amen? Not "God is love." That's a message that has been so distorted. The resurrection of Jesus, the power of the gospel, the judgment of God--people aren't being judged today, convicted today. You're convicted when you read that, and you know what? I've found that most people really want to hear that message. They know it's true, and yet most people aren't willing to stand up and speak the truth and defend the justice of God. This is what we're being called to in a day of tolerance, put up with mediocre Christianity. It's not what brings glory to God. It's not what sets men's lives free, and so here we are, called to this righteousness.

Let's go back to Matthew 7 for just a second. So we're just--needing to make sure. Now, remember, Jesus was just saying in John 12 what Paul said in Corinthians. We're not to go around judging the world. They're going to be judged. Jesus didn't come to condemn the world but to save it, to bring them the good news of the gospel. They're already condemned.

How many of you before you became a Christian knew you were a sinner? Let me see your hands. How many of you thought you were all right, there was no God, everything was all right? There's some that think that. Anybody like that? There's a few, but most of us know. Those that don't--usually just haven't heard, because they were being told. Romans says the knowledge of God is in all of us (a reference to Romans 1:19-20). We're aware of it to different degrees. We don't have to--all I'm saying is we don't have to tell sinners they're sinners; most of them know it. It's getting a little tougher in this hour, though, because now we've gone from generations, even though they're being convicted in their conscience and their spirit, we're dealing with generations now--generational, meaning more than one--where they're being taught they're not sinners. The gospel is being mocked, and so it makes it a little more necessary for us many times to share with them in Romans 3 that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God--to be able to share the Word of God, there is none righteous, no, not one (Romans 3:23 and 3:10). I'm not saying that we're not to do that. What I'm saying is: we don't try to bring them into the doctrine of sanctification or holiness. Don't judge them on their need to be more holy, their need to obey the Word of God. We bring judgment to them based upon their rejection of the lordship of Jesus, not the lifestyle they're living. Okay, does that help for some of us? Not the lifestyle they're living, not whether they're living holy lives, not that they're committing adultery, drinking, or whatever. That's not the issue. It's whether Jesus is Lord of their life or not. We bring about the judgment of their rejection of His lordship; but with Christians, we're responsible to bring judgment based upon our lifestyle, the way we conduct ourselves, our manner of living. We don't judge those that are without, Paul said, we judge those that are--say it--within (1 Corinthians 5:12). But it's to be godly judgment. Not of my own will, but as I hear.

When a brother or sister comes in loves you with the Word of God, don't get your nose all out of joint. "Who are you to speak into my--what do you think you... You do just as much." Grow up! Just take the judgment. Thank God for the love that somebody cares enough to tell you the truth. Thank God that somebody's bold enough to do what Jesus told them to do. You ought to commend them for it. "Thank you, man, praise God. You're the first one to say something to me about that, and I appreciate it, man, I know it's not easy." It's usually not one of your best friends, the ones who should be doing it.

We're at a place where Jesus says, Make sure that you're aware: with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged. Judge not according to your will, but as you hear. The Word itself is the standard for the judgment. Judge yourself first, verse 3. Don't say to your brother, verse 4, "Let me pull the mote out of your eye," and behold, the beam is your own eye. "Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye" (Matthew 7:5). We're only hypocritical when we haven't taken care of our own problems first. Don't say, "Let me help you get that thing squared away in your life". We've shared illustration of that before. Here's a guy and he's got this big beam coming out of his eye and, to help you get that little splinter out, he's going to have to get up close. He's up there trying to help you, and while you're trying to help that person get that little splinter, you're looking. You're beating the tar out of him with that beam coming out of your eye, and you're being critical and judgmental and harsh--zealous for God! Why don't you be zealous for God about you first? Amen? "Well, I just have that Phinehas spirit, man, sin just angers me! I just want to pick up that javelin!" [--a reference to Numbers 25:7] You ought to fall on it. Amen? Fall on the javelin and let's be zealous about us first, cleaning up our own lives, dealing with the sin that's in our lives, so that we can see clearly to help our brothers and sisters. Not tolerate--love as we've been loved. Love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Get our lives put into order. He goes on and he says this, "Don't be a hypocrite, but first take care of that that's in your own eye."

Now, based upon all of that, there's going to be some kind of response. How many of you have found out that when you go to people sometimes there's usually a response? When you go and confront somebody with sin in their life, you usually get one of two responses, don't you? "Yeah, praise God, I appreciate that, man. The Lord's been really dealing with me, and I am so sick of that thing in my life and hate it. Would you pray for me, man, and anytime you see it, just speak to it." I know what most of you are thinking. "I never had anybody do that before." It does happen. Sometimes, very rarely, we get something like, "Well, it's just a disputable matter, you know. You work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, and I'll just have my faith unto God alone, brother, and who are you anyway to speak to me, Mr. Log? I've only got like this one little problem, and I know a dozen things in your life that you need to get squared away. What about this in your life, and what about that in your life, and what about this in your life?"

Jesus said in verse 6, "Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you" (Matthew 7:6). What He's telling us here is those that don't readily love the Word of God and receive correction and chastening, those that try to justify themselves, let the Word, as we said earlier, bring the judgment. Leave them alone. There is no mandate for quoting the Scripture. "Well, bless God, I'm just not casting my pearls before pigs!" Just leave it alone, bless God. "Not giving that which is holy to dogs. You aren't going to hear it from me again, dog!" The spirit of it--you see, those of us that love the Word of God, how can we ever turn the Word of God away when somebody brings it to us in love?

I'm not saying it's like, "Oh, yeah, praise God, hit me again." But we see it as true, and we embrace it and we go, "Man, that's the truth." Don't get into contending with these people, because then what's going to happen is we're going to begin to cause strife and division and a schism in the body of Christ. Leave it up to the Holy Spirit when you've spoken the Word of God. The Holy Spirit wisdom of when to answer a fool according to his folly and when not to answer a fool according to their folly (compare Proverbs 26:4 and 5). That takes spiritual discernment; it takes maturity. You'll be a lot better off if you've spent this time, however, taking care of yourself.

Jesus, then, in speaking about all of these issues tells us the need of bringing about justice and judgment in the body of Christ. I don't have time this morning, but just for your notes very quickly--it's been a while since we've dealt with these subjects--but in 1 Corinthians Chapter 5, he talks about the purity within the church. When sin was there, he said it's to be done before the church. The judgment comes of the whole body, and whenever there's immorality that has to be addressed in the church, deliver such a one to Satan. Don't company, verses 11 through 13 of 1 Corinthians 5 says, with this person. Shame them. You don't hear about that in churches today--shaming people, marking people, judging people. "Oh, Lord, you know, we just have to be tolerant. We have to be loving." That is the love of God. The Lord chastens those that He loves. Amen? See, we can't bring a reproach on the name of Jesus. We can't be a people who say we believe in the holiness of God and tolerate sin in our midst that's known. We can't let people who say they're Christians be part of our company, Corinthians 5 says, when they're drunkards and they're adulterers, and they're railers, gossips. It doesn't just deal with some of the more popular sins. You know what that tells me as we read that list? There are sins of every type that have to be addressed. And if after being addressed--whether it's sin that has to do with the promiscuous lifestyle or those that have to do with preoccupation with self-righteousness, whether they're sins of strife, schism, seditions, whether they're doctrinal heresies--they must be approached and rebuked; and then based upon the response of the individual to the reproof, rebuke, the judgment--tells us how we react. If it‘s--"Your right, man, please help me," we forgive and we help them along. The next time they trespass, we rebuke them again. How many times do we forgive them? Seven times seventy, if there's a true repentance. If there's any justification, if there's any excuse being given, then we deal with that issue; and if they reject that, then we reject them as part of the company. That's how God keeps the church pure. It has to do with judgment over moral and secular behavior.

Titus 3, verse 10, and 2 John, verses 10 and 11--just for your notes very quickly--deal with doctrinal impurities that have to be judged. Jesus said in Matthew 7:15--this passage we're looking at--that false prophets are going to come, and we're to beware of them because they're going to spread false doctrine. They have to be judged. Today there are different teachers and it's--"Oh, don't judge, brother." Many of these ministries are going on. They're heresy! Call their name. Site the doctrine, bring the Word of God and say, "That's wrong. Don't listen to those people." "How can you say that?" Because God said it. I'm not judging my own will or my own opinion. Now, if somebody can come and prove that they're a better exegete than we are and that we're wrong, then we'll change. But most of these things don't even come down to exegesis; they come down to very clear biblical standards that are being abused.

Those the Scripture says that are doctrinal, moral issues have to be addressed. Doctrinal issues have to be addressed. 2 John says don't even bid God speed to one of these people, "God bless you" (2 John 1:10). "God bless you, brother." I'm not blessing you if you're living that kind of a life. I won't be found involved in that. The third category is functional, relational, social orders, and Roman 16 deals with that. Matthew 18 deals with that issue. That has to do with strife. Those that are causing strife and division because of haughtiness, or wanting to vaunt their own doctrines--or I should say, their own [intellects]--trying to promote those in our midst and say, "Here's how you ought to live," and they refuse to back off of that, as trying to set it for the standard of all of us. It begins to cause disorder and strife and confusion. He says very clearly in Thessalonians 3, Romans 16, and Matthew 18, how you deal with those, the weak and disobedient of Thessalonians, the strife of Matthew 18, the divisions of Romans 16--same spirit--you bring the Word of God. You make sure first that you've living and fulfilling the biblical mandates that you're representing on behalf of the Lord, and then you go and you say, "This is what the Word of God says in this situation." [In] most of this type judgment, of course, we deal with Matthew 18 individually until it comes to the place where it can't be resolved, and then it becomes an issue of the church or spiritual authority. Until that point, you're to work it out among yourselves. You go to your brother. We read it as we went earlier in the teaching. Leave your gift at the altar. Go and reconcile to your brother, and then come back and offer your gift (Matthew 5:24).

As we conclude for this morning, how ready are you for judgment? Do you embrace it? Are you jealous for the holiness of God in your life and everybody around you? Are we quick to judge others before we judge ourselves? You know, it takes maturity, and there are not a lot of people that can really know themselves. The heart is deceitful and it's desperately wicked; who can know it? We can, through the Word of God. If you spend a lot of time meditating and praying and asking God to show you your heart, and you're truthful with yourself and you get in here [the Bible], you'll see what you look like. And I'll tell you what it will do: it will humble you. It will give you compassion for your brothers and sisters. It will give you a spirit of meekness and grace that you've never known when you see what you are and how much God has loved you. Then we can judge as we've been judged and not be afraid of being judged as we judge because it's all by the justice of God, the mercies of God and the love of God.

Father, we thank you for your Word this morning. In this generation of tolerance, just wanting to overlook everything, help us to stand for righteousness, not in ourselves. Not that we're something; we're just ambassadors of Your kingdom. We're sons of God. It's not our holiness; it's Yours that we're jealous for, that we're judging. We're recipients of the grace of God. Our righteousness is of you. Anything outside of You is filthy rags. We can nothing of ourselves that is acceptable, but help us, Lord, to be accepted in the beloved. As we wait in Your presence for just a moment, as we hear, we judge. We judge ourselves first to see clearly. Help us not to fear the faces of men. Help us to love those that are around us more than we love ourselves, so that we can speak the truth. And for that, Father, we'll give you the praise in Jesus' name. Amen. Let's stand before the Lord.

As Gary plays for us and--we think about this hour that we're in. We're being lulled to sleep. You know there's the legalism of Christianity and the holiness movements that are sometimes mocked and a lot of times, of course, misapplied; and nobody's questioning that. But we're living in an hour of desensitizing. What used to bring embarrassment and shame is just common. Help us, Lord, to return to holiness, to purity, to innocence. Give us a hatred for sin and for this world system. Help us to contend not only with false doctrine but false living, a jealousy for Your righteousness, a love for the souls of our friends. Make it real, Father. Let's sing it together and just honor Him.

Hallelujah, Jesus! "We Worship You, Lord." Hallelujah!

We know that the word "worship" means worth-ship, how much worth we put upon God. He's a holy God, separate, unique, pure. In an era of tolerance, there is zero tolerance for sin in our midst, on our lives. It's no time to be lowering standards but to contend for the faith. Jesus is coming for a church that is without spot or wrinkle. Help us, Lord, to be a bride that's worthy of You, a chaste virgin, one that is not part of this world's system, one that has not defiled itself with the false religions, the false doctrines, the creature-worship, but just set apart for you alone. Our reason for living is to serve You, to make You big, a good wife. For that we give You all the praise, Lord, as You work it in us. Be glorified, we ask in Jesus' name; amen. Amen. Before you go, turn to somebody next to you and say, "Start with yourself!" Amen. Go in peace. God's love go with you.

Back to Top | Audio   |   Purchase Audio   |   Bible Teachings   |   Print