Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / Attention, All Speck Inspectors Msg 21 24

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Attention, All Speck Inspectors Msg 21 24 · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: Such a peaceful music to quiet our spirit and remind
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Speaker 1: us to rest and not be afraid. The prophet Isaiah
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Speaker 1: was the one who wrote words that relate to this
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Speaker 1: very same thought, referring to the Lord God. He will
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Speaker 1: keep me in perfect peace, because my mind has stayed
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Speaker 1: on you. The Hebrew interestingly says, he will keep me
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Speaker 1: in shalom, shalom, peace, peace, And the repetition of the
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Speaker 1: word intensifies the significance of the thought. He will intensify
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Speaker 1: my peace. He will surround me with an atmosphere and
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Speaker 1: a confidence of peace. Because I trust in Him, I
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Speaker 1: rest in him. We at this church believe firmly in
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Speaker 1: the power of the Word of God, that what it
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Speaker 1: says is far more important than the opinion of any
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Speaker 1: woman or man, any teacher or professor. This is God's word,
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Speaker 1: and when we open it, and when we read it,
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Speaker 1: and when we hear it as the basis of instruction,
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Speaker 1: we take it seriously. It is designed not to satisfy
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Speaker 1: idle curiosity. It's designed to change our lives. But the
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Speaker 1: heart must be right, As is true in all communication.
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Speaker 1: There is the giving of the information, then there must
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Speaker 1: be the receiver of it, and the applying of it.
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Speaker 1: That's never more true than this seventh chapter of the
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Speaker 1: Gospel by Matthew, or I'd like to have you turn.
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Speaker 1: We're in the middle of our study through Matthew, and
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Speaker 1: we've come to this Sermon on the Mount that is
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Speaker 1: contained in the fifth, sixth, and seventh chapters. If you
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Speaker 1: were to read it alone, you could make your way
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Speaker 1: through the sermon in less than fifteen minutes. And when
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Speaker 1: we come to this last chapter of the sermon, it
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Speaker 1: seems as though the Lord is putting his finger on
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Speaker 1: sensitive areas. Last time it was on worrying, and he says,
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Speaker 1: stop that, just stop it. Now we come to the
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Speaker 1: subject of judging, and the same word stop that the
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Speaker 1: way the Imperative has written suggest it was going on,
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Speaker 1: and he's commanding his hearer, in our case, the reader,
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Speaker 1: to stop doing what we've been doing. Judging can be
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Speaker 1: an addiction, a habit that we don't break, and that's
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Speaker 1: what he is addressing here. And we take his words
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Speaker 1: seriously as a result of our commitment to the scriptures
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Speaker 1: and their importance. We stand when God's word is read,
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Speaker 1: So please with others stand for the first five verses
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Speaker 1: of Matthew seven do not judge so that you will
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Speaker 1: not be judged. For in the way you judge, you
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Speaker 1: will be judged, and by your standard of measure it
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Speaker 1: will be measured to you. Why do you look at
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Speaker 1: the spec that is in your brother's eye, but do
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Speaker 1: not notice the log that is in your own eye?
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Speaker 1: Or how can you say to your brother, let me
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Speaker 1: take the speck out of your eye, and behold, the
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Speaker 1: log is in your own eye, You hypocrite, First take
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Speaker 1: the log out of your own eye, and then you
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Speaker 1: will see clearly to take the speck out of your
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Speaker 1: brother's eye. Jesus cannot be criticized for making things confusing. Kenny,
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Speaker 1: this is straight talk, so the sermon will be made
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Speaker 1: up of straight talk. Please be seated. A very unusual
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Speaker 1: week here at Stonebrier. This past week not one if
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Speaker 1: you enroll our memorial service, but four death was a
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Speaker 1: constant reminder toward the end of the week. And since
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Speaker 1: we all will face that it is one of those
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Speaker 1: inescapable realities, it's necessary that we be ready for it.
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Speaker 1: In a moment, our orchestra will play an ancient hymn
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Speaker 1: really that comes to us through the years in the church.
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Speaker 1: Nearer my God, to thee. I've read somewhere that this
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Speaker 1: was the piece that was played by the band as
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Speaker 1: the Titanic was sinking and there were people scrambling for
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Speaker 1: their life to get into the lifeboats. One resource I
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Speaker 1: checked said that there was a woman who, after coming
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Speaker 1: to and almost getting in the lifeboats, said to the
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Speaker 1: one leading the group, wait just a minute, I need
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Speaker 1: to go to my stateroom. She ran back to her
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Speaker 1: stateroom and reached over on her shelf and picked up
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Speaker 1: two small oranges, and then came back and jumped quickly
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Speaker 1: in the lifeboat. Two hours before, it would not have
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Speaker 1: dawned on her. I mean, what are two small oranges
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Speaker 1: in light of all things being enjoyed on the ship.
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Speaker 1: But of course Death had now boarded the Titanic and run.
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Speaker 1: One blast of his awful breath was a reminder that
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Speaker 1: two small oranges meant more to her now than a
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Speaker 1: crate of oranges two hours earlier. Death does that because
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Speaker 1: we all let's pay that debt. It's important you understand
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Speaker 1: how to prepare for it. And the secret, of course,
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Speaker 1: is that you trust in Jesus Christ. Sounds like a
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Speaker 1: cliche you expect a preacher to say that, But I
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Speaker 1: mean every word of that. If you live your life
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Speaker 1: and then die your death without trusting in Christ, you
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Speaker 1: are not prepared for debt. So really, you prepare yourself
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Speaker 1: to live by preparing yourself to die. Trust in Christ,
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Speaker 1: come to know Him in a way by faith can
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Speaker 1: happen right where you're sitting today. If you're without Christ,
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Speaker 1: don't give during this offering that only confuses things for you.
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Speaker 1: No amount of money will in any way ingratiate you
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Speaker 1: to God. Let the believers in Christ around you give.
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Speaker 1: It's an act of our worship. But for you, who
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Speaker 1: find yourself distant from God, this offering time can be
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Speaker 1: an occasion for you to make the most important decision
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Speaker 1: in the world, where you take His offer to you
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Speaker 1: rather than you're giving an offering to Him. And when
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Speaker 1: you do that, well, I think Lewis Ferry Chaffer said
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Speaker 1: it best as he addressed the song will hear in
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Speaker 1: a moment nearer still nearer, nearer I cannot be, for
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Speaker 1: in the person of God's Son, I am as near
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Speaker 1: as he. Let's a bowl together. What a privilege it
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Speaker 1: is our Father, as your children, to give to your work,
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Speaker 1: and we do it not to grow nearer to you.
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Speaker 1: We're already as near as he, but we do it
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Speaker 1: because of the nearness and the closeness and the intimate
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Speaker 1: relationship we've established with you, which you have made possible
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Speaker 1: through Christ. We worship him to day. We adore him
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Speaker 1: as we adore no other. We acknowledge that he, and
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Speaker 1: he alone is the way to you, and you alone
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Speaker 1: hold the keys to heaven. Thank you for handing them
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Speaker 1: to to us through faith in your son. And thank
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Speaker 1: you for all you accomplished through his death that has
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Speaker 1: made us as close to you as he. Make this
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Speaker 1: time meaningful for us. As we hear and as we
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Speaker 1: give through Christ, we pray. Everyone said amen. Some Christians
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Speaker 1: love to play indoor games. It's interesting how they go
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Speaker 1: on and on doing so and seem always to find
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Speaker 1: a reason to keep playing the games. One of the
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Speaker 1: favorites is what I would call let's label. Let's label.
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Speaker 1: Here are the ground rules. You find someone who is different.
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Speaker 1: The person thinks and sounds and maybe even looks different
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Speaker 1: than those you hang out with. It's best if you
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Speaker 1: can find an individual who has different strong opinions than
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Speaker 1: you and your click and your strong opinions. Ideally, if
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Speaker 1: the person has a dark mark in his or her
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Speaker 1: past record. Oh that's just that's just food for the fire.
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Speaker 1: That'll make it even more juicy. Maybe it happened a
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Speaker 1: long time ago. Maybe it's all over and done with.
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Speaker 1: The person may have made everything right and it's no
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Speaker 1: longer an issue. But you know about it. You can
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Speaker 1: use it when you label that person. Here's how you
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Speaker 1: play it, or about six steps you go through. First,
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Speaker 1: you find someone and there's something about that person you
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Speaker 1: don't like. So Second, you quickly examine the external evidence.
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Speaker 1: You have to do that because there's no way you
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Speaker 1: can know the internal truth. But you look at the
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Speaker 1: external because you are now Third, forming a critical and
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Speaker 1: negative opinion about that individual. Fourth, you jump to several conclusions,
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Speaker 1: which will be inaccurate, of course, since you don't know
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Speaker 1: all the facts, only what's tangible, only what you can
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Speaker 1: see and hear. But nevertheless, five, you stick a label
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Speaker 1: on that person. This saves your time. It also makes
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Speaker 1: you look like you know a lot of things that
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Speaker 1: you don't know. Finally, you share your inaccurate conclusions and
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Speaker 1: openly and freely, so that others may quote, pray more
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Speaker 1: intelligently for that individual. Actually there's another name for that
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Speaker 1: ugly game. It doesn't sound nearly as clever or enjoyable
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Speaker 1: as less label. Jesus used the name in his sermon.
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Speaker 1: He called it judging judging. If worrying is our favorite sin,
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Speaker 1: as we learned last time, then judging is our favorite pastime.
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Speaker 1: Worry represents a lack of faith and trust in God,
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Speaker 1: but judging is a lack of love and acceptance and
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Speaker 1: forgiveness toward others. What is interesting is that even though
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Speaker 1: Jesus spoke firmly against it, Christians went right on. Then,
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Speaker 1: unto the very date, we live playing the same game.
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Speaker 1: How we love to judge. Oh, we don't call it that,
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Speaker 1: but that's what it is. We know it went on
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Speaker 1: because years after Jesus spoke this sermon on the Mount, Paul,
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Speaker 1: who came on the scene and began to write letters,
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Speaker 1: wrote a letter to the Romans. And by the time
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Speaker 1: he got to the fourteenth chapter, as we know it,
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Speaker 1: that's toward the end of the letter, he mentioned it
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Speaker 1: in other terms, no need to turn. I'm reading from
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Speaker 1: the message Romans fourteen. Several excerpts. Eugene Peterson writes Paul's
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Speaker 1: words welcome with open arms fellow believers who don't see
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Speaker 1: things the way you do, and don't jump all over
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Speaker 1: them every time they do or say something you don't
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Speaker 1: agree with, Even though when it seems that they are
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Speaker 1: strong on opinion but weak in the faith department, remember
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Speaker 1: they have their own history to deal with. Treat them gently.
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Speaker 1: A little later, he writes, do you have any business
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Speaker 1: crossing people off the guest list or interfering with God's welcome?
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Speaker 1: If there are corrections to be made or manners to
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Speaker 1: be learned, God can handle that without your help. And finally,
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Speaker 1: Jesus lived and died and then lived again so that
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Speaker 1: he could be our master across the entire range of
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Speaker 1: life and death and free us from the petty tyrannies
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Speaker 1: of each other of each other. That's the result of
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Speaker 1: playing the game and perfecting it. Judging how do you
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Speaker 1: play the game? I pretty well described it, and we
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Speaker 1: hardly need the reminder of how to play it, since
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Speaker 1: we're good at it. But we need to hear exactly
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Speaker 1: what Jesus says about it, and we need to stop it.
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Speaker 1: You and I both we need to stop doing it.
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Speaker 1: The opening lines of Matthew seven do not represent a
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Speaker 1: suggestion there were a direct command. It's called an imperative.
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Speaker 1: It is imperative that you're not judge. Pretty clear, is it?
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Speaker 1: If he will say verse twenty five of chapter six,
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Speaker 1: do not be worried, and turns around to say in
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Speaker 1: chapter seven, verse one, do not judge. He is putting
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Speaker 1: his finger on issues that are real issues in our lives.
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Speaker 1: So we need to pay close attention. Now, why is
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Speaker 1: it wrong? Several reasons come to mind. Number One, we
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Speaker 1: never know all the facts about other people. We certainly
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Speaker 1: don't know their motives, so that disqualifies us from coming
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Speaker 1: down strong or hard on individuals regarding things we don't
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Speaker 1: agree with. We don't know enough to say anything. Second,
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Speaker 1: we are prejudice people by nature. That's what's wrong with it.
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Speaker 1: It means we're never able to be completely objective. I'm
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Speaker 1: not completely objective. I have a whole background of training
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Speaker 1: and learning process and growing up years reared by certain
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Speaker 1: parents in a certain family. I've got all those prejudices
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Speaker 1: that have come along with me in my growing up,
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Speaker 1: just like you do. And so we're prejudiced. That means
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Speaker 1: we're not qualified to be judges. Third, we place ourselves
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Speaker 1: in a position we're not qualified to fill. It's called
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Speaker 1: playing God. When we judge others, we put ourselves in
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Speaker 1: the place only God fits, because He alone qualifies as
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Speaker 1: a judge. I want to urge you, especially you who
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Speaker 1: have fallen into this habit to the point of addiction,
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Speaker 1: to hear the Master's voice. In Matthew seven, not my voice.
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Speaker 1: Hear the Master's voice, he says, do not keep doing that.
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Speaker 1: Now I need to clarify what he is not saying,
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Speaker 1: just to be fair. He's not saying, do not have discernment.
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Speaker 1: Now hear this, well, this is important. He's not saying,
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Speaker 1: do not be discerning. The reason I say that is
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Speaker 1: because shortly after making the command, he says in verse six,
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Speaker 1: don't give what is holy to dogs. That's a judgment call.
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Speaker 1: He sees some people as dogs. And a little later,
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Speaker 1: and don't throw your pearls before swine. Even worse, But Jesus,
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Speaker 1: who does no sin, is not sinning when he discerns
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Speaker 1: some are dogs and some are swine. He refers in
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Speaker 1: verse fifteen to false teachers, beware of the false prophets.
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Speaker 1: That's a judgment call. It represents discernment. You show your
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Speaker 1: maturity when you sense that's false. That's a teacher I
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Speaker 1: don't want to follow. He does not base or she
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Speaker 1: does not base that teaching on the scriptures. That's his
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Speaker 1: or her own opinion. So that's a false teacher. So
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Speaker 1: he's not saying don't be discerning. In fact, first John
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Speaker 1: four to one says, don't believe every spirit, but try this,
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Speaker 1: In other words, check them out. Some judging is not
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Speaker 1: only acceptable, it's commendable. It's a mark of maturity. Everyone
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Speaker 1: who has mentored me over the years has been a
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Speaker 1: person of maturity, and I've learned from them. The difference
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Speaker 1: between a judgmental spirit and a discerning mind is a
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Speaker 1: real difference. You teach your children not to get into
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Speaker 1: the car of a stranger. That's discernment. That's not judging
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Speaker 1: the stranger. That's discernment. That's a wise warning, and that's
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Speaker 1: the role of a parent, and ultimately the child learns
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Speaker 1: as he or she grows up. I need to be
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Speaker 1: careful when I'm in the public because some people have
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Speaker 1: my harm in mind. It isn't judging in the sense
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Speaker 1: of censoring. Earning truth from error, faults from truth. So
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Speaker 1: we're not to suspend our critical faculties or turn a
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Speaker 1: deaf or blind ear to those in error. You understand
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Speaker 1: the difference. Now, what does it mean? What is he saying?
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Speaker 1: He's saying by these words? Do not judge, Do not
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Speaker 1: be censorious, Do not be condemning. Do not conduct every
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Speaker 1: waking moment of your life with a judgmental or negative attitude.
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Speaker 1: Stop being suspicious of everyone. Don't find petty faults and
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Speaker 1: then point them out. Periodic failures and flaws, that's all
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Speaker 1: part of human nature. We're all weak, we all fail.
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Speaker 1: It's the idea of cultivating a condemning attitude toward others.
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Speaker 1: I like the way Earl Palmer puts it in his
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Speaker 1: book on the Sermon of the Mount. The right to
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Speaker 1: say the last word about our neighbor has been denied us.
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Speaker 1: You don't have the last word. You're not God. Be
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Speaker 1: careful about that. There's an appropriate place for judging when
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Speaker 1: you stop to think about it. So stop and think
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Speaker 1: where would judging be appropriate? A courtroom? Who would be
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Speaker 1: an appropriate authority? A judge? A group of people who
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Speaker 1: make up a jury. They are in the courtroom. Evidence
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Speaker 1: is presented, sometime embarrassing, often painful. Witnesses are frequently in tears.
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Speaker 1: You feel awkward in a courtroom because everything is raw
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Speaker 1: out in the open, because the purpose is to find
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Speaker 1: out the true facts as best we can, and then
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Speaker 1: to judge what is an appropriate response to the accused.
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Speaker 1: But the Christian family is not a courtroom, and you
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Speaker 1: don't wear a robe. You're not a judge or a jury.
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Speaker 1: After making the statement, do not judge, he goes on
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Speaker 1: right away, albeit succinctly, to take us to the next step.
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Speaker 1: He explains his reason in verses one through four, and
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Speaker 1: does this very vividly, in a way we'll never forget
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Speaker 1: if we really listen. Do not judge closely so that
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Speaker 1: you will not be judged. In other words, the attitude
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Speaker 1: you demonstrate toward others will be demonstrated back to you.
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Speaker 1: You'll be known as a judgmental individual, and others will
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Speaker 1: judge you for that. We have a saying what goes
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Speaker 1: around comes around. You come to be known as a
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Speaker 1: suspicious individual. People become suspicious of you. You question virtually
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Speaker 1: everything another individual may do or say that is in
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Speaker 1: disagreement with what you do or say. You're going to
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Speaker 1: be questioned as well. Look at Luke chapter six for
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Speaker 1: a little clearer illustration or example of this. Jesus goes
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Speaker 1: into it a little more deeply as Luke writes his account.
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Speaker 1: Please turn Luke six, verses thirty six through thirty eight. Yeah,
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Speaker 1: there it is verse thirty six of Luke six, just
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Speaker 1: as your father is merciful. Next verse, do not judge,
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Speaker 1: and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, You
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Speaker 1: will not be condemned. You will not be condemned. Or
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Speaker 1: he goes on pardon and you will be pardon. What
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Speaker 1: goes around here it is comes around. He goes further,
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Speaker 1: Give and it will be given to you. They will
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Speaker 1: pour into your lap a good measure, pressed down, shaken together,
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Speaker 1: and running over for by your standard of measure. It
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Speaker 1: will be measured to you in return. Pretty clear. So
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Speaker 1: in light of that, back to Matthew seven, we don't
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Speaker 1: want to judge someone else because we'll get that in return.
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Speaker 1: And that's no way to live trying to out judge
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Speaker 1: one another. That's not a happy life style or mental attitude.
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Speaker 1: The second reason is because it is hypocritical. Look at
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Speaker 1: verse three. Why do you look at the spec that
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Speaker 1: is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the
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Speaker 1: log that is in your own eye? Or how can
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Speaker 1: you say to your brother. Please notice, as a fellow
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Speaker 1: believer your sister, let me take the speck out of
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Speaker 1: your eye, and behold, the log is in your own eye.
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Speaker 1: I know you're familiar with it, so for that reason,
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Speaker 1: I've brought along a reminder. Here we have it. Now
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Speaker 1: we've got the picture. This is what Jesus had in mind. However,
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Speaker 1: this is a much smaller log than he had in mind.
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Speaker 1: The one he had in mind was the long rafter
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Speaker 1: that is a part of underneath the roof in the
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Speaker 1: building of a house. It was a plank, sometimes forty
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Speaker 1: feet long. Sometime the log was five feet around. We're
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Speaker 1: talking big log. So that's in your eye. I now
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Speaker 1: have it in mind. And here I am looking for
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Speaker 1: the spec. I brought a spec with me. Hold on
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Speaker 1: just a second, Oh I lost you. Wait a minute,
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Speaker 1: there it is, got it? See that? No you can't,
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Speaker 1: can't see it. And you know that's even larger than
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Speaker 1: the spec Jesus had in mind. Ever gotten something in
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Speaker 1: your eye? You know how you'll you think it was
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Speaker 1: an eyelash? How small is that? Or something? Maybe a
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Speaker 1: little piece of debris that blew on a windy day
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Speaker 1: and you. Oh, wait a minute, hold on, it's tiny
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Speaker 1: and you're looking you think it's going to be that big,
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Speaker 1: and you can't even see it. You look in the mirror.
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Speaker 1: Where in the world is that spect tiny? Now think
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Speaker 1: of the guy that wants to judge you. So we
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Speaker 1: asked you to come up closer we can look at
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Speaker 1: your spec. Boom boom. It's ludicrous on purpose, so you
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Speaker 1: will never ever forget mind making a fool of myself
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Speaker 1: or Jesus using an illustration that is extreme so that
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Speaker 1: it will never be forgotten. This is us. There's our
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Speaker 1: brother right there. Now, let's read it. Why do you
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Speaker 1: look at the spec that is in your brother's eye.
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Speaker 1: I do not even notice the log in your own eye.
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Speaker 1: How can you say to your brother, let me take
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Speaker 1: the spec out of your eye. That's judging. Come here,
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Speaker 1: don't run into my log. No, you don't even think
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Speaker 1: about your log because you're a speck inspector. You know
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Speaker 1: what Jesus thinks of that Hippocrateah, that's the beginning of
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Speaker 1: verse five. Hypocrite. You know what, that's a strong word.
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Speaker 1: I would guess I may be wrong, but I would
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Speaker 1: guess there's not a person listening to me right now,
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Speaker 1: who this last week called anybody to his face a hypocrite.
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Speaker 1: That's a strong Jesus is sitting on the slope delivering
31:20
Speaker 1: his sermon, and he pauses and looks over the group
31:24
Speaker 1: that's gathered, and he says to them, hypocrites, you're not
31:34
Speaker 1: a judge. You don't know the facts. Stop convincing yourself.
31:42
Speaker 1: You know enough to say those things and to give
31:46
Speaker 1: that person a label, so that now they've got to
31:50
Speaker 1: live with that in the minds of all the people
31:52
Speaker 1: you poured your trash on. And may I point out
32:00
Speaker 1: something you may have overlooked. We're dealing with your brother's eye,
32:07
Speaker 1: not his hands, not his feet, not an armor leg
32:15
Speaker 1: I I've had surgery on both my eyes cataracts. Now,
32:25
Speaker 1: when I was a kid, people had cataracts and they
32:28
Speaker 1: went in surgery. You stayed in for several days. It
32:31
Speaker 1: was pretty pretty bloody, pretty iffy, wasn't perfected, done usually
32:39
Speaker 1: by a general surgeon back then. Sometime I ear nose
32:44
Speaker 1: and throat, unheard of today because we now have a
32:48
Speaker 1: specialist and very detailed part of the anatomy. And so
32:54
Speaker 1: I was afraid I was uneasy. My alphalmologist said to
32:58
Speaker 1: me as he examined my eyes. He looked at me
33:01
Speaker 1: through that funny looking thing and he said, well, hmmm,
33:06
Speaker 1: not cataracts. I could see the blood running already, tearing
33:15
Speaker 1: my corne away and dealing with my cataract. And he said,
33:21
Speaker 1: what's the matter. First of all, you have to understand
33:24
Speaker 1: my althalmologist. He is really good, but he is really young.
33:33
Speaker 1: When he first walked in, I want to say, does
33:35
Speaker 1: your mother know where you are today? But he is
33:41
Speaker 1: an award winning althhalmologist in the city and in this area.
33:48
Speaker 1: I would recommend him to anyone. Superb articulate fingers, like
33:55
Speaker 1: an artist, brilliant mind experience. He's done thousands of these surgeries.
34:04
Speaker 1: So he says to me, Chuck, have you nothing to
34:07
Speaker 1: worry about, Well, set a date you'll come in. No,
34:12
Speaker 1: it's interesting. I didn't meet my buddy in the garage
34:14
Speaker 1: with a screwdriver, long electric drill pliers. I went to
34:21
Speaker 1: a very special place. Clean. Everybody is in scrubbed gowns, gloves.
34:35
Speaker 1: Anesthesiologists right there, superb anesthesiologist, a nurse. They've done they'll
34:41
Speaker 1: do that day, ten of them that morning. So he
34:45
Speaker 1: does this all the time, He's as calm as he
34:48
Speaker 1: can be. He says, my lie. So before I know it,
34:55
Speaker 1: I'm kind of feeling great. They give you stuff that
34:58
Speaker 1: you wish you could take home with you. This is great,
35:04
Speaker 1: makes you want to compliment everybody. How are you doc?
35:08
Speaker 1: How's things going to it? And before I knew it
35:10
Speaker 1: was in my eyeball. And so I'm starting to talk
35:14
Speaker 1: and they're not talking, and he's working through a scoope
35:18
Speaker 1: very carefully, very delicately, getting rid of this cataract. And
35:22
Speaker 1: I'm going I'm jabbering all about things. And I said,
35:24
Speaker 1: what are you doing right now? I'll tell you what, Chuck,
35:26
Speaker 1: let us talk. You just sit there nice and quietly, okay,
35:31
Speaker 1: which is hard for me to do because they pay
35:33
Speaker 1: me to talk. So I said, okay, I'll be quiet.
35:36
Speaker 1: And you know what ZIP done called not one second
35:41
Speaker 1: of pain, not one, not one? And I go, okay,
35:46
Speaker 1: when are we going to get this done? He said, oh,
35:48
Speaker 1: it's done. I said, well, do the other one. He
35:51
Speaker 1: said no, we can't do them both at the same time.
35:53
Speaker 1: You dodo Well he didn't say dodo, but he was
35:55
Speaker 1: probably thinking that. He says, you got to do one.
35:57
Speaker 1: Make sure it's okay, then we do the You only
35:59
Speaker 1: have two, so I let him do my work. I
36:03
Speaker 1: do all the drops and all that stuff that goes
36:05
Speaker 1: with it, and I go back and get the other
36:06
Speaker 1: one done. Now I can see you perfectly. Before you
36:10
Speaker 1: were all a blur. I couldn't read the words on
36:14
Speaker 1: our screen when we sang songs choruses. I even one
36:20
Speaker 1: of my glasses I had squint because I had the cataracts.
36:28
Speaker 1: He was very, very careful, even though it seemed pretty
36:34
Speaker 1: innocuous and rather fast. I didn't even have to stay
36:39
Speaker 1: in the clinic. I went home, no pain, marvelous results
36:50
Speaker 1: because he cared. He handled it very gently, very professionally,
37:02
Speaker 1: because he was qualified to take out the cataract. Hold
37:14
Speaker 1: your place here, don't lose don't don't don't lose interest
37:16
Speaker 1: here this is crucial. Hold your place here and go
37:20
Speaker 1: to Galatians six. Here we go Galatians chapter six, first Corinthians.
37:39
Speaker 1: Tewod Corinthians. There. Look at verse one, brethren, you know
37:46
Speaker 1: right away it's to Christians. So this is Christian family talk, everybody.
37:52
Speaker 1: This is for believers, brothers and sisters, fellow members of
37:57
Speaker 1: the family. Look, if anyone is caught in any trespass.
38:08
Speaker 1: That's a spec. That's the spec if anyone is caught
38:16
Speaker 1: in any trespass. You who have taken the log out
38:27
Speaker 1: of your own eye, I'll talk about how to do
38:32
Speaker 1: that in a minute. You who have removed your own log, which,
38:39
Speaker 1: by the way, gives you real compassion for those struggling respects,
38:46
Speaker 1: You who are spiritual, look at the goal. Rebuke no, no, no, no, no,
38:56
Speaker 1: restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. Wow,
39:06
Speaker 1: like my physician, this whole real steal right now, chuck,
39:12
Speaker 1: and he takes out that cataract in a spirit of gentleness.
39:19
Speaker 1: Each one looking to yourself, so you'll not be timpted.
39:23
Speaker 1: You don't go into this barging into this thing proud
39:25
Speaker 1: and arrogant. You're not the judge. You're not wearing a robe.
39:30
Speaker 1: You too have failed, maybe not like he did or
39:33
Speaker 1: she did, but you too have failed. You got a
39:35
Speaker 1: soil record. You've got a bunch of logs in your history.
39:42
Speaker 1: You understand logs. That's your stuff because you remember what
39:53
Speaker 1: it was like to deal with the real stuff in
39:56
Speaker 1: your life. You want to restore this person in a
40:00
Speaker 1: spirit of gentleness. Verse two. You want to bear another's
40:05
Speaker 1: burden and thereby fulfill the law of Christ. Anyone who
40:14
Speaker 1: thinks he's something when he's nothing deceiving himself. Look at
40:16
Speaker 1: that verse. You know who does that? People who look
40:22
Speaker 1: for specs when they got logs in their own eye.
40:26
Speaker 1: Come on, you know what this tells me. Tells me
40:33
Speaker 1: people qualified to help another with specs. They're rare, they're spiritual,
40:44
Speaker 1: they're gentle, they're careful. In fact, verse four, each one
40:52
Speaker 1: must examine his own work, which brings me to the
40:58
Speaker 1: application of all of this back to Matthew. Seven. I
41:04
Speaker 1: don't want you to miss something that I missed the
41:06
Speaker 1: first several times I read the passage. Look at what
41:10
Speaker 1: it says verse five, You hypocrite, here's what you ought
41:18
Speaker 1: to do. Please notice the order first, it says a
41:23
Speaker 1: little later then those are words telling you step by step. First,
41:30
Speaker 1: then and then last, Take you, hypocrite, First, take the
41:39
Speaker 1: log out of your own eye. Deal with your own stuff. Honestly,
41:47
Speaker 1: face the fact that you got the filth in your
41:50
Speaker 1: own life, and you're gonna deal with it. You're gonna
41:54
Speaker 1: acknowledge it, you're gonna address it. You're gonna seek God's
42:00
Speaker 1: race and forgiving you of it. You're not gonna strut
42:04
Speaker 1: around as though you're the authority speck inspecting not your
42:11
Speaker 1: role how inappropriate. First take care of the log in
42:18
Speaker 1: your own eye. Then look closely. You will see clearly
42:25
Speaker 1: after the log is out as amazing what it does
42:28
Speaker 1: clean your life up, clean the things in your life
42:30
Speaker 1: and ought to be dealt with. It's amazing how it
42:33
Speaker 1: gives you incredible ability with others with wisdom gentleness to
42:41
Speaker 1: restore them. And then let bygones be bygones. Let him
42:50
Speaker 1: go about his business case, notarasida, let's go right on.
42:55
Speaker 1: No no, no, no, we miss That's the whole point.
43:02
Speaker 1: Then you will see clearly to take the spec out
43:06
Speaker 1: of your brother's meaning what he needs you. I couldn't
43:15
Speaker 1: do my own cataract surgery. I needed someone to do that.
43:21
Speaker 1: Your brother, who is struggling with things that are real struggles,
43:26
Speaker 1: your sister who has fallen and is doing what she
43:30
Speaker 1: ought not to be doing, may not even realize it.
43:36
Speaker 1: Delicate work, this matter of helping other people, But it's
43:41
Speaker 1: a part of accountability. We don't operate in a world
43:44
Speaker 1: all our own seat. We're believers, we're fellow Christians. We
43:51
Speaker 1: don't run our own ship. We live our own lives
43:55
Speaker 1: regardless of what people may say or think. Wait a minute,
43:58
Speaker 1: we're family members. That's how family members live. So because
44:03
Speaker 1: we're family members, we care about each other and then
44:07
Speaker 1: we take time very delicately to get rid of that
44:17
Speaker 1: spec and that brother or sister will thank you the
44:23
Speaker 1: rest of their life when you do it right. I
44:28
Speaker 1: know I've had people help me with stuff in my life,
44:34
Speaker 1: and I've helped others by the grace of God, and
44:36
Speaker 1: they're still saying thank you. So four thoughts, and I'll
44:43
Speaker 1: tell you a story you'll never forget. Number One, examine
44:49
Speaker 1: yourself before inspecting anyone else. Start with self examination. You
44:57
Speaker 1: got a lug. Call it what it is. Name it
45:06
Speaker 1: before the living God, seek his forgiveness, Come to terms
45:13
Speaker 1: with what has caused it, find ways to get yourself
45:18
Speaker 1: beyond it, and know the forgiveness that comes with His
45:22
Speaker 1: grace and mercy because you're able to now go on
45:25
Speaker 1: having dealt with it. Great, Examine yourself before inspecting anyone else. Second,
45:34
Speaker 1: acknowledge Acknowledge your own faults, weaknesses, and failures before even
45:41
Speaker 1: addressing someone else's. Acknowledge your own. Start with I tell
45:48
Speaker 1: you anybody knew the whole truth about my entire life.
45:53
Speaker 1: Oh my, I acknowledge the fact that this and this
45:58
Speaker 1: is true, and that and that we're or failures. I've
46:01
Speaker 1: gone through this, and that's been true in my life.
46:03
Speaker 1: I've emerged from that. I struggled with this and the
46:07
Speaker 1: list go. You acknowledge it. That keeps you humble, makes
46:11
Speaker 1: your contrite, makes you a good physician when working with
46:18
Speaker 1: other specs. Third, understand understand that person's struggle. By that,
46:26
Speaker 1: you put yourself in that person's shoes, and you deal
46:31
Speaker 1: with that individual gently rather than harsh and hurried. While
46:37
Speaker 1: my physician was efficient, he wasn't in a hurry. He
46:41
Speaker 1: wasn't harsh. He was delicate. Even though I'd done it
46:46
Speaker 1: thousands of times, mine was the only eye at that moment,
46:50
Speaker 1: and he gave it his undivided attention and worked only
46:55
Speaker 1: with that eye, making sure he did it right. Understand
47:02
Speaker 1: the person's struggle and be gentle rather than harsh and hurried.
47:06
Speaker 1: Here's the fourth. Remember the goal is restoration and recovery,
47:17
Speaker 1: not probation and condemnation. The goal is to help the
47:26
Speaker 1: person get back on her feet. The goal is to
47:30
Speaker 1: help that person feel a sense of self dignity and
47:34
Speaker 1: forgiveness and the joy of merciful forgiveness and relief. That's
47:41
Speaker 1: the word I want, merciful relief. Now, the story, it's
47:53
Speaker 1: hard to tell you, but I'm going to tell you.
47:57
Speaker 1: A number of years ago, I was a speaker at
47:59
Speaker 1: a Bible conference another state, another time of year. The
48:08
Speaker 1: conference started on a Sunday evening and ran through Saturday morning.
48:12
Speaker 1: The last meeting for me was a Friday night, so
48:15
Speaker 1: I spoke Sunday night through Friday night, each night of
48:18
Speaker 1: the week. It actually began with a dinner where we
48:22
Speaker 1: met each other, and it was a neat time and
48:26
Speaker 1: happened to be at another table, but near ours. There
48:29
Speaker 1: was a couple I had not known before, and she
48:32
Speaker 1: came over and he kind of walked in her shadow
48:35
Speaker 1: a little and didn't have much eye contact and smile
48:39
Speaker 1: was very gracious, but she was the one that was effervescent, saying, oh,
48:43
Speaker 1: we just so look forward to this time and we
48:48
Speaker 1: anticipate a great series of meetings. We're praying for you
48:53
Speaker 1: and my husband and I are so pleased to be here.
48:56
Speaker 1: And he shook my hand, but there wasn't Charles that
49:02
Speaker 1: that evening I began, and I got started, and I'd
49:06
Speaker 1: been under way about five minutes and he went sound asleep.
49:11
Speaker 1: And normally that doesn't bother me. I've talked in people's
49:14
Speaker 1: sleep for years, and so I overlook it. For all
49:20
Speaker 1: I know, it had a hard night, and it worked late,
49:23
Speaker 1: and got there at the last minute, and may have
49:26
Speaker 1: been weary, and that's all right. But for some reason,
49:29
Speaker 1: by Wednesday and his sleeping through every one of my messages,
49:32
Speaker 1: every single one of them, all the way through each one,
49:37
Speaker 1: I began to resent him and I judged him. In fact,
49:42
Speaker 1: I thought, what a shame, this great lady, so friendly
49:47
Speaker 1: and gracious, married to this guy who obviously didn't want
49:52
Speaker 1: to be here, and here she is stuck in a
49:55
Speaker 1: marriage that must be unhappy. And I had that's kind
49:58
Speaker 1: of verified in my mind. Went on Friday, before the
50:01
Speaker 1: meeting started, she said to me, confidentially, alone for a moment.
50:05
Speaker 1: Her husband was sitting over in the seat. She said
50:09
Speaker 1: to me, could I talk to you when the meeting
50:12
Speaker 1: is over? I said sure. I knew she's got a
50:16
Speaker 1: bad marriage, and I knew she wanted to talk about
50:20
Speaker 1: how do I go on with a guy like this?
50:24
Speaker 1: Insensitive to spiritual things. How wrong I was. The lights
50:34
Speaker 1: dimmed and most of the people had left, and she
50:37
Speaker 1: walked down slowly. He had left, and she said, Chuck,
50:46
Speaker 1: we've loved this week. I said, really, thank you. I
50:51
Speaker 1: said it's great. She said, you don't know how much
50:55
Speaker 1: my husband admires you. But you see, he has terminal
51:01
Speaker 1: cancer and the medicine he takes makes him sleepy. And
51:07
Speaker 1: one of his last wishes was that we go to
51:09
Speaker 1: a conference where you speak. But he's too embarrassed because
51:13
Speaker 1: he knows he's been asleep and he can't stay awake.
51:20
Speaker 1: But he wants me to tell you how much he
51:24
Speaker 1: loves you and admires you. The lights dimmed and she left.
51:35
Speaker 1: I was all alone, ashamed of myself. I had no
51:43
Speaker 1: right whatsoever to jump to a conclusion or to label
51:47
Speaker 1: that man uncaring. But I played the game. I judged
51:53
Speaker 1: the externals. I didn't have enough sense to realize, maybe
51:57
Speaker 1: there's another reason he's fighting sleep. Learn from my terrible mistake.
52:11
Speaker 1: He since died, by the way, with the memory of
52:17
Speaker 1: our conference, thankfully, not knowing what I was thinking. Do
52:31
Speaker 1: not judge you are not qualified. Neither am I dear
52:46
Speaker 1: father thank you for your son, Jesus, who knows us,
52:50
Speaker 1: who loves us, understands us, forgives us. Thank you for
52:58
Speaker 1: the things you teach us, often the hard way. Today,
53:03
Speaker 1: as our minds whirl around our own stories and we
53:10
Speaker 1: deal with our own acrid tongue appropriately, rebuke us. It
53:20
Speaker 1: will help stop us from playing this game. Mean we
53:27
Speaker 1: learn to be people who are easy to be with,
53:32
Speaker 1: who take others for who they are, who leave all
53:35
Speaker 1: judgment to you. Forgive us our father for the stinking
53:42
Speaker 1: pride that grows out of the logs that we live with,
53:49
Speaker 1: and having rebuked us, guide us to ways that we
53:53
Speaker 1: can deal appropriately with what has disqualified us from eating.
54:01
Speaker 1: Helping another person start with me. This I pray in
54:11
Speaker 1: Jesus' name. Everyone said Amen.
54:19
Speaker 2: The preceding message, Attention All spec Inspectors was copyrighted in
54:24
Speaker 2: twenty fifteen and twenty twenty one, and the sound recording
54:28
Speaker 2: was copyrighted in twenty twenty one by Charles R. Swindall, Inc.
54:33
Speaker 2: All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for
54:37
Speaker 2: commercial use is strictly prohibited