Specks and Logs

All right, this morning we are continuing on in our series Stories of the Kingdom.

! Man, we had all those kids and everybody sitting right down here and now we've just got this big empty space. That's all right.

If anybody wants to get a better seat, it's open right here. Now you are in the spit zone.

So, all right, we are going to look at Matthew chapter 7.

Matthew 7 · chapter mention

We have been in the Gospel of Matthew every week.

As we're looking at the parables of Jesus, the lessons that we can learn from them,

Matthew chapter 7, good job Preston, verses 1 through 5.

Matthew 7 · chapter mention

You know, it wasn't just you. It's not working for me either, Christopher.

Let me see if this got slid down on the wrong thing here.

There we go.

We got it going.

All right.

Matthew chapter 7, verses 1 through 5.

Matthew 7:1–5

As you're turning there, I want to remind you guys that there are hypocrites in church.

Is that surprising to anybody?

Were you all unaware?

How many of you would just had no idea that there were hypocrites in church?

That's a really nice young man over there.

He said, are you kidding me?

Yeah, unfortunately there are.

How many of you are also aware there are hypocrites outside of church?

You know there are hypocrites at Walmart?

Hypocrites at Spring Market?

It's not just grocery stores.

There are hypocrites on city council.

Hypocrites at Milano's.

Hypocrites at...

I don't know.

I'm thinking about the pecan shed.

I mean, probably not any hypocrites.

No, there are.

There are.

Hypocrites at the open table?

Hypocrites in your home?

Sorry about that.

Look, there are hypocrites everywhere.

Do you know why that's true?

Because we're all hypocrites.

The Bible tells us we are.

It says, let God be true and every man a liar.

And not just males.

That represents mankind.

All of us.

All of us, all right?

We're all liars.

It's part of it.

We can't help ourselves.

The closer we get to the truth,

the closer we become like Jesus.

Because he is only truth.

But why is it that people say,

I don't want to go to that church by a bunch of hypocrites?

But they'll go every other place.

There are a bunch of hypocrites.

Why do you think that is?

Well, maybe it's because as followers of Jesus,

we're supposed to be more like him.

So we're kind of setting ourselves up as,

hey, we follow Jesus.

He wasn't a hypocrite.

Why would we be one?

Well, because we struggle with the same things

that everyone else struggles with.

Sometimes, even though we try to follow Jesus,

sometimes we find ourselves being hypocritical.

Well, in the lead up in Matthew 6,

to what Jesus is talking about here in Matthew 7,

he talks about hypocrites.

Look at verse 1, Matthew 6.

You got to turn back a page.

Sorry about that.

Verse 1 and chapter 2.

What did I say?

Chapter 6, verse 1 and verse 2.

Here we go.

Do not, sorry, there we go.

Watch out.

Don't do your deeds, your good deeds publicly

to be admired by others,

for you'll lose your reward from your Father in heaven.

When you give to someone in need,

don't do as the what?

Hypocrites do.

Don't do as the hypocrites do.

Look down at verse 5.

When you pray,

don't be like the what?

Hypocrites,

who love to pray publicly on the street corners

and the synagogues,

where everyone can see them.

I tell you the truth,

that's all the reward they will ever get.

Look down at verse 16.

When you fast,

don't make it obvious like the hypocrites do.

They try to look miserable and disheveled

so people will admire them for their fasting.

Look at how long I've gone without food.

I've been on my knees praying that whole time.

Sure you have.

I tell you the truth,

that is the only reward they will ever get.

Listen.

The consistent command there

is don't be like the what?

Hypocrites.

We can do better.

Let's say it together.

Don't be like the hypocrites.

Hypocrites.

So we get this lesson from Jesus in chapter 6.

Then we move on to chapter 7.

And remember,

you always got to take the Bible in context.

If you pull an isolated verse

or little passage out of the Bible,

you can make it try to say

whatever you want it to say.

But if you read the Bible

in the larger context

of what it's teaching us,

then you can really understand

what Jesus was trying to communicate to us.

So we read it in this context,

and then we see in verse 1 of chapter 7.

Do not judge others

and you will not be judged.

Anybody ever heard that verse quoted to you?

Doesn't the Bible say something like,

don't judge lest ye be judged?

And they always use the King James Version

because they probably heard that as a kid

and they've never heard another verse since.

It's the favorite verse of unbelievers often,

non-Christians.

They love to throw that at us.

You can't tell me what to do

because the Bible says don't judge.

They probably couldn't quote

one other verse of the Bible,

but they got that one down.

Why is that?

Because none of us

want to be called out for anything.

None of us ever want to be put

under the magnifying glass

or the microscope

and have our lives put on trial.

Don't mess with me.

Let me do my thing.

Okay?

You do you, boo.

I've never had that said to me.

I probably have.

For you will be treated

as you treat others.

So again,

we got to read this verse in context.

What's he actually saying here?

Don't be a hypocrite.

Don't judge hypocritically.

Y'all, when I do research for sermons,

a lot of it comes directly from the Holy Spirit.

I'm reading the scripture.

He's putting thoughts into my head.

I'm putting them down.

Some of it, believe it or not,

comes from other books

that people have written,

theologians,

they'll go through and read the Bible.

They'll make these things

called commentaries

and they'll put down

all these thoughts

and a lot of those

are guided by the Holy Spirit

and so you can glean a lot from that.

It can be a real advantage to you

as you're putting together sermons.

I can also watch videos

of other pastors

preaching through a certain passage

that I'm going to preach through

and it's like,

hey, if they got something valuable from that,

maybe it could apply to us.

If their bullet fits my gun,

so to speak,

maybe I'll shoot it.

Anyway, I do that regularly

and throughout this passage,

there's a church in Georgia,

this passage, this series,

there's a church in Georgia

that also went through

a series on the parables of Jesus

and I've been getting a lot from that.

For this one,

I got one from a pastor in Oklahoma,

Craig Groeschel.

I've used him before.

Not putting a blanket stamp

on everything that he says

is exactly what I would say.

I can't say that.

I haven't watched everything

he'd ever says

but this was valuable

so I want to share a few of the thoughts

that I got from him

as well as some

that I got from you all

and he says this,

your harshest judgment

often reveals

your greatest weakness.

I thought that was really good.

Have you ever noticed

that when somebody

is calling out somebody else

for something,

you often find out later

that they were struggling

in the same area.

Anybody ever notice that?

Is it just me?

Yeah, me too.

So when Craig Groeschel

said that quote,

I wrote it down like,

man, that's good.

Now listen to the other things

he had to say on this passage

because there was a lot of gold in there

and I want to share some of that with you

but that's the first one.

Your harshest criticism

often reveals

your greatest or deepest weakness.

He actually shared this story

of a young man

that he had been counseling

and a guy came to him

and it was two roommates,

young men,

they were rooming together,

saved money

and the guy came to him

and said,

Pastor Craig,

I'm so mad at my roommate right now

and he was so just filled up with anger,

righteous indignation kind of thing,

you know,

and he's just angry.

He said,

I caught my roommate

looking at porn

on my computer.

How dare he?

And he was just,

I mean,

as hateful as he could be.

Not like,

hey,

let's try to get this guy some help.

He's struggling.

It was,

I cannot believe

that he would do

such a horrible thing.

I don't know all the story,

the circumstances

of how this happened

but he said

the very next day

it came out

that this guy

who was so mad

at his roommate

for doing this

had been having

a multi-year affair

with a married woman.

The very area

of sin

that he was so mad

at this guy

for,

he was having

an even way more

damaging issue

in his own life

and had been for years.

That's an extreme example

but there's a truth there.

Often,

the very thing

that you and I

get so mad

at others for

is something

that we struggle

with ourselves.

So what does he say

in verse 3?

Lead up to it.

Don't judge others.

You won't be judged

for you will be treated

as you treat others.

The standard you use

in judging

is the standard

by which you will be judged.

Verse 3.

And why worry

about a speck

in your friend's eye

when you have

a log

in your own?

How can you think

of saying to your friend,

let me help you

get rid of that speck

in your eye

when you can't see

past the log

in your own eye?

What does he say

in verse 5?

Hypocrite.

Hypocrite.

First,

get rid of the log

in your own eye

and then you will see

well enough

to deal with the speck

in your friend's eye.

Hypocrite.

Don't be a hypocrite.

Now y'all,

we know what hypocrites

look like in Texas.

Right?

All hat and no cattle.

Now look,

I was born in Fort Worth,

lived in Mahea

and Corsicana

and various parts

of the metroplex.

It's just a big conglomerate

of little towns anyway.

So I'm a Texan,

but I've lived

a lot of other places

in my life too.

Lived in Central America

as missionaries.

We've lived in,

I lived in California.

Look,

I was a missionary

to California

for a while,

okay?

Might have just been

living there at the time,

but I felt like

I was a missionary

because I was coming

from Texas,

you know?

Got to teach y'all

how to live out here.

And then we lived

in Nevada,

we lived in Oklahoma,

went to college

in Tennessee

for a little while.

We've lived a lot of places,

traveled a lot of places.

So I've never really

been a cowboy,

right?

I've never been a rancher.

My dad was that.

He grew up on ranches.

He was a cowboy.

His brother did rodeo.

My dad did a little

here and there.

But, you know,

they lived that life.

That wasn't me though.

I never had that

even opportunity

to live that life.

But I always had boots

and I always had a hat.

Always.

Always had a cowboy hat

and always had boots.

Why?

Because I'm from Texas

and that's what you do,

right?

You just have that.

Even if you don't even

wear it that often,

you still have it.

But there's a difference

in those of us

who have a pair of boots

and a hat

and those of us

who are actual ranchers,

actual cowboys,

who actually need

the shade

that the hat provides

and they need

the functionality

that cowboy boots

give you

when you're riding horses,

right?

There's a difference there.

We know what it means

when somebody's all hat

and no cattle.

If they don't admit that,

they try to pass themselves off

as something as they're not,

then they're a cowboy.

Call them dudes, right?

But listen,

they're not a real cowboy.

They're hypocrites.

What's that?

Drugstore cowboy.

That's right.

There you go.

Drugstore cowboys.

Pastor Craig Owens

said this,

a Christian

who carries the name

of Jesus Christ

but not the nature

of Jesus Christ

is a hypocrite.

Did you catch that?

A Christian

who carries his name

but not his nature

is a hypocrite.

I dare say

that if we took a poll

of all you in this room,

every one of you

would raise your hand

and say I'm a Christian.

I'm not going to speak

for all of you.

There might be a couple of you

who are feeling

especially honest

and you're like,

no, I'm not.

And that's all right.

Just glad you're here today.

Maybe you'll learn

something about Jesus

you didn't know

and be drawn to him.

But I think most of us

in this room

would say,

yeah, I'm a Christian.

So you carry his name,

Christ.

Christian Christ.

Follower of Jesus.

But you don't carry

his nature.

You might think

you carry a Christian nature.

You might think

you carry a church nature.

But you don't carry

the nature of the person

we read about

in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

That's the real Jesus.

So do you know

what you are

if you carry his name

but not his nature?

You're a drugstore cowboy.

You're all hat and no cattle.

You're a hypocrite.

In a very serious way.

And that's what Jesus

is warning against.

That's what he's warning against

in Matthew 6

and then into Matthew 7.

So he says,

don't be that.

Don't be a hypocrite.

Why?

Because number one,

you're carrying his name

without his nature.

That is the serious crime here.

We just read about

his warning against hypocrites

in Matthew 6.

Do you understand?

The examples he gave,

there were three.

Giving,

praying,

and fasting.

Those were the three

big religious expressions

you could do back then.

Not a whole lot has changed.

Now we don't fast

a whole lot

in America,

especially Baptist churches.

Right?

Look at me.

I don't fast a whole lot.

You could probably use

to fast maybe a little more.

But hey,

I'm working on a diet plan.

We're getting there.

Steadily working down.

Alright,

here we go.

Hypocrites

are somebody

who will do

all the religious things,

the religious stuff,

the religious exercises,

but there's no real heart

to support it.

They're missing

the nature of Jesus

while they put on

this religious show.

So,

Mark chapter 7

Mark 7 · chapter mention

and verse 6.

Mark chapter 7

Mark 7 · chapter mention

and verse 6.

While you're looking there,

it's one book over.

These people

honor me with their lips,

but their hearts

are far from me.

Here's the perspective.

A religious show

earns no favor

from God.

A religious show

earns no favor

from God.

You can do

all those good things,

but that's not

going to earn you

any brownie points

with God.

You can be in church

every Sunday.

You can sing the songs.

You can give your tithes.

But if your heart

is far from him,

what good is it?

It's no good.

That is the lesson

that Jesus is teaching us.

It doesn't accomplish anything

that you think

it's accomplishing

because there's no magic actions

that will win you

favor from God.

There's only a response

of the heart.

There's only a posture

of the heart

that will win you

favor from God.

So where's your heart sitting?

Where's your heart sitting today?

And that's what he's

trying to teach us

in Mark 7.

Look, we can honor him

with our lips all day,

but if our hearts

are not close to him,

let's talk about that

for a second.

Where is Jesus?

If our hearts aren't there,

then our hearts

aren't close to him.

Say, where is Jesus?

Well, where was he

when he was walking

around this earth?

Jesus was with

the least of these.

Jesus was with

the sinners.

Jesus was with

those who were

at the bottom

of society's

caste system,

society's order.

He didn't call

the greatest

and the best

and the coolest

and the most popular.

He didn't call those.

He called those

who didn't make the cut.

that's where Jesus was.

He went and hung out

with what they called

publicans and sinners,

the outcasts of society.

Jesus hung out

with the blind,

the poor,

the crippled,

and he helped them.

He healed them.

He showed them love.

He gave them something

that nobody else

in society

was giving them.

That's where he was.

So if your heart

is not going to be

far from Jesus,

then your heart's

got to be where

his was

and still is today.

And I'm living proof

of what the mercy

of God can do.

I'm living proof

that God

uses those

who aren't

at the top

of the class.

If you'd seen

my grades

in college,

I don't want you

to see my grades

in college.

You're going to say

that guy's not fit

to be our pastor,

okay?

Look,

I tried a lot harder

in seminary.

I was really engaged

and I had better grades

in seminary.

But listen,

you don't have to be

the best of the best.

Jesus is working

with those.

He's seeking those

who usually are not

the richest,

not the smartest,

not the best

in the world's eyes.

But he reaches out

to them.

So if your heart's

going to be with him,

that's where your heart's

got to be.

Carrying his name

without his nature.

A religious show

earns no favor

from God.

Secondly,

and there's only

two points,

by the way,

so I'm on the last

point already.

accusing others,

but excusing

ourselves.

Let's get back

into Matthew 7.

Why worry

about a speck

in your friend's eye

when you have

a log

in your own?

How can you think

of saying to your friend,

you got to get rid

of that speck

in your eye

when you can't see

past the log

in your own?

You understand

the difference here?

A log is

small or big?

Making sure

y'all are with me here.

Okay, good.

We got a big log.

How do you fit

a log in your eye?

That seems like

it would be something

you would notice.

Right?

Can you imagine

me walking up

to Harlan over here

and I've got a big log

that's in my eye

and I look at Harlan

and say,

hey Harlan,

you got something

in your eye, man?

He's like,

really?

Are you sure?

Because I'm not sure

how you could see it.

You might have

something in your own.

Do you see

how nonsensical

and silly

and ridiculous

that is?

But do you see

that that is

what we do

when we can't

get over

a problem

we see

in someone else?

And look,

don't make any mistake.

This is not

you going to

someone in love

and saying,

brother,

I know you're

struggling this area.

I want to help you.

You can't just

go on in this.

It's going to hurt

everyone around you.

It's going to hurt you.

It's going to tear us down.

Please let me

walk through this

with you.

How can I pray for you?

Who can we go to

to get some help?

There is a way

to do this, right?

And we'll get more

into that in a minute.

But that's not

what we're talking about.

We're talking about

what you and I do

which is seeing

somebody do something

we don't like

and often

we'll go to them

or sometimes

we'll go to

somebody else.

You see that

speck in his eye?

Can you believe

she did that?

I'm not saying

y'all ladies

ever do that

when you get around

each other.

I'm not saying.

Look, guys,

truth is,

we do it too.

How many of you

love hearing dirt

on somebody else?

Don't raise your hand.

They might be

sitting in this room,

okay?

Look, how many

of y'all love,

of course you do.

Your flesh loves it.

Your nature

eats that up.

Tell me

all the dirty details.

Spare nothing.

I've got to hear

what happened.

And the truth is,

we love that so much

because it helps us

ignore

our biggest weaknesses.

It helps us ignore

what's going on

in our life

that we hope

nobody ever

finds out about

because then we'll

be the subject

of the gossip.

We'll be the ones

that they're talking

about

in the community.

So how do we

avoid

accusing others

but excusing

ourselves?

Well,

problem number one,

we judge from a distance.

We've got to avoid

judging from a distance.

Y'all,

we could spend the rest

of our time here.

We all do this

and it's always damaging.

Even if we were right,

it's still wrong.

Do you understand that?

Judging from a distance,

what do we mean by that?

Making a judgment

on something,

making a snap judgment

without having

all the details,

without actually

knowing the situation.

Y'all,

like I said,

we could camp here

the rest of the day.

We could preach

an entire series

about this

and I pray

that God would

help us to change

but listen,

it is always

going to be something

we struggle with.

We are always prone

in our sinful flesh

to make snap judgments

without having

all the information

we're judging

from a distance.

We're not really

part of what's going on.

We may or may not

be even directly affected

by what's going on

but we still love

to sit back

on our high horse

and pass judgment.

And now that the advent

of social media

is here,

we have a beautiful

outlet to do that.

And we get on Facebook,

maybe it's a private group

or maybe it's just

your broad Facebook page

sending it out

to all your friends.

Whatever your preferred

social media outlet is

or maybe it's a little

text thread

that you get on

and text to your buddies.

Did you hear

what happened to,

I can't believe

they would,

what is wrong with them,

what are they thinking,

who do they think

they are,

fill in the blank.

We are judging

from a distance

and it's wrong.

It's hypocritical.

And it's accusing others

while wanting

to be excused

ourselves.

Secondly,

we judge unfairly.

we judge unfairly.

What do we mean by this?

Well,

we mean

holding others,

let's put it this way,

holding those

outside God's family

to His family standards.

This is another one

of the points

that Craig Groeschel

was making.

How can you expect

those who do not

belong to the family

of God

to live according

to God's family standards?

His Holy Spirit

is not guiding them.

His Holy Spirit

is not leading them.

He's not prompting them.

They don't have

the same moral compass

that the Holy Spirit

gives to His children.

So why would we expect

them to live

like they do?

But we do that.

And we get online

and we blast

those who are

clearly without Christ,

holding them,

expecting them

to live up to the standard

that Christ gives

to His children.

Paul actually had

something to say

about this in Romans.

In Romans chapter 1,

Romans 1 · chapter mention

he gives this horrible list

of all these bad people

out there.

Go look at it.

I mean, it's bad.

He didn't leave anything out.

He even included

disobedient to parents.

Just in case you thought

that wasn't that bad, kids.

He got you on that one.

He gives this big list

of all these horrible sins

and he throws disobedient

to parents in there.

And then he gets into

chapter 2 and verse 1

and he says,

you people probably think

you want to condemn

all those folks, right?

You may think

you can condemn those people,

but you,

speaking to the church in Rome,

you are just as bad

and you have no excuse.

The difference is

they have an excuse.

They are not children of light.

They are children of darkness

and they're walking

in the way of darkness

and they're producing

the fruits of darkness.

You don't have that excuse.

You're supposed to be

children of light,

walking in the light,

producing fruits of the light.

When you say

those people are wicked

and they should be punished,

you ever caught yourself

saying something like that?

Maybe about the political arena?

I can't believe

those people would do

those things.

They ought to be held accountable.

They ought to be punished.

I'm not saying

that the whole justice system

is wrong

and we shouldn't hold people

accountable for their crimes.

I'm saying

you can't expect

people who are not Christians

to act like Christians.

Okay?

It's not going to happen.

If it does happen,

it's usually accidental.

When you say

they're wicked

and they should be punished,

you're condemning yourself

because you who judge others

do these very same things.

Maybe you don't kill babies,

but maybe you don't have

the respect for human life

that you should.

Maybe you don't care

about those

who are less fortunate

and vulnerable

than you.

You'll have a standard.

Well, I hate abortion.

I want to get rid of it

and everybody

who does it

or supports it

in any way,

they ought to be

thrown in prison

and killed

and all that.

But you have

the same level

of disrespect

or lack of compassion

for others

who are less,

who are more vulnerable,

less able to care

for themselves.

There's a principle there.

Yes, it's wrong to murder.

Yes, it's horrible

to kill babies

who cannot defend themselves.

It's unthinkable.

But the principle is

we value human life.

We care about those

who can't care for themselves

and that goes

across the board.

So be careful

in your harsh judgment

of others.

Instead, say,

how can we

as children of God

help these people

who are clearly struggling?

We're going to oppose

the legislation

when it's there.

We're going to do

whatever we can

to help these people.

We're going to help

these women

who are in this situation.

We're going to try

to give them alternatives.

We're going to reach out

to people

with the life-changing message

of Jesus

because that is what

can actually help them.

Hatred will not.

So,

you may think

you can condemn

these people,

but you're just as bad.

And I think that brings us

all the way back

to that Craig Groeschel quote

I shared with you earlier.

Your harshest criticism

often reveals

your greatest weakness.

And you may not even

realize it at the time.

You ever

pointed out something,

man,

that's so annoying

when he does that

and somebody's looking

at you like,

you realize you do that?

Somebody I was talking to

just recently said,

man,

they talk so much.

I swear,

they just will never shut up.

They won't stop talking.

And I'm looking at the person like,

do you realize

you don't,

do you?

You talk quite a bit yourself,

man.

And look,

we all roll with it,

okay?

And that's a silly example.

But the truth is,

we often see in others

and point out

what we hate in ourselves.

So,

what do we do then?

We excuse ourselves.

Excusing our sin problems

as just part of our identity.

That's just who we are.

So you don't understand.

You don't know me.

I was raised that way.

I'm Irish, man.

I'm Italian.

I'm Latino.

Whatever it is.

You know,

we throw it on our heritage.

Well,

you should have met my dad.

You should have met my mom.

You would understand

why I am the way I am.

And we excuse ourselves

and we actually,

in doing that,

and that's not the only way

we do it.

Man,

well,

I was just tired.

Yeah,

I know I said something hateful.

I know I did something terrible.

But listen,

that's not who I am,

okay?

That was just,

it was a one-off thing.

It was an isolated incident.

That's not me.

Have you ever said,

that's not me?

You don't understand.

We're giving ourselves excuse.

We're looking at our sin nature

that God wants to change

and we're saying,

no,

that's not really a problem.

That's just part of me.

You just have to accept that

about me.

When in reality,

God wants to change you.

And when you excuse it,

he can't change it.

You are not who you say you are.

You are who he says you are.

If you have accepted the payment

of Jesus Christ on the cross

for your sins,

and you believe he rose from the dead

and he offered you eternal life,

you put your faith in him

and said,

God,

I want to be your child.

I can't save myself.

You need to save me.

Then you became the child of God.

He now sets the rules for your life.

He has regenerated you.

He's made you new.

He's given you a new nature.

And he's saying,

this new nature

has to replace your old sin nature.

So, we judge unfairly

because we excuse our sin problems

as part of our identity.

I'm just stubborn.

I'm just impatient.

I just get mad sometimes.

I run hot.

You ever heard that one?

I just have a hard time

forgiving others.

I have a hard time trusting others.

I'm just shy

when in reality,

we're self-absorbed.

We're full of fear.

And God wants to change us.

To do powerful things through us.

So,

what's the point?

Let's look back at Matthew 7.

We'll be done.

Matthew 7.

What does it say

about seeing clearly?

First,

verse 5,

hypocrite,

first get rid of the log

in your own eye.

Then you will see clearly.

You'll see well enough

to deal with the speck

in your friend's eye.

Do you understand

that it's never wrong?

Let me rephrase that.

It's not always wrong

to judge.

It's always wrong

to judge hypocritically.

It's not always wrong

to judge.

We have to judge

one another sometimes.

Recently,

something came out

about a pastor

in our general area.

Something terrible.

God,

his church,

his church,

had to pass judgment

at that time.

They had to make a judgment.

There are moments

when we have to judge

one another.

But we do it

from a posture

of our heart

that is trying

to be like Jesus.

Not trying to place

ourselves

as better

than anyone else.

Or as exempt

from any criticism

ourselves

or judgment

ourselves.

The Bible

has something

to say about this.

Ephesians chapter 4

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

and verse 15.

We will speak

the truth

in love

growing in every way

more and more

like Christ.

That's how you become

more like Jesus

when you speak

the truth

in love.

You know

what's not loving?

Going on social media

and bashing one another.

That's not loving.

You don't speak

the truth

in love

in front of a crowd

when you haven't

gone to that person

privately

and spoken

the truth

in love.

Another verse

Romans chapter 2

Romans 2 · chapter mention

and verse 16

the day is coming

when God will judge

everyone's secret life.

Is that enough

for you?

Is it enough

for you to know

that God is

coming to judge?

The wrong

that you see

that you have

such a hard time

accepting

that just gets

under your skin

and you can't

bear it

and you have

to just do

something about it?

Is it enough

for you to know

that God will judge it?

God will right

the wrongs

or is that not enough?

Do you have

to get involved?

Do you have

to stick your neck

into it?

There are times

when we will

have to judge.

Something is

directly involving us.

Something is

directly affecting us

and it's

we have to step in

and in the love

of Christ

with as small

a group

as possible

we have to say

we have to deal

with this.

Please let us

help you deal

with this.

But

we can see

clearly

when we judge

how Jesus

wants us to judge.

When we deal

with the issue

ourselves

and that's not

saying you have

to be sinless

or you can't

ever point out

anybody else's sin

but it's

my heart

has to be

pursuing God

for me

to be able

to go

and deal

with somebody

else.

That will

allow me

to see

clearly.

And you

know what

happens

when you

see clearly?

You see

the nature

of Jesus.

So when you

go to deal

with somebody

else's problem

you do it

how Jesus

would.

You do it

according to

his nature.

You're not

just carrying

his name

into this

conversation

you're also

carrying

his nature

into this

conversation.

This is the

truth that I

firmly believe

and will stand

on is being

taught in this

passage.

You want to

talk about it

with me?

You want to

dive further?

Let's meet

up and we'll

talk about it.

But listen

here's our

takeaway today.

See a problem

take it to

Jesus.

See a problem

tell it to

Jesus.

How many of

y'all remember

the song?

Tell it to

Jesus

tell it to

Jesus

there's no

other

such a

friend or

brother

tell it

to

Jesus

alone.

Yeah thank

you.

There's a

couple of

you.

Old song

been around

a long

time

probably

hadn't

sung a

whole lot

anymore

but there

is a

truth there

that you

and I

have to

wrap our

heads

around.

Do you

see a

problem?

Tell it

to

Jesus.

He'll

tell you

what to

do

next.

Don't

tell it

to your

buddy.

Don't

tell it

to your

girlfriend.

Don't

tell it

to your

little

friend group.

Don't

tell it

to your

Facebook

group.

Don't

tell it

to all

the people

that you

think will

give you

a sympathetic

ear.

Tell it

to Jesus.

He'll

give you

his nature

to deal

with it.

Would you

bow your

heads with

me now?

God

please get

this truth

across to

us.

You warn

us more

in the

New Testament.

You warn

us more

about the

dangers of

disunity

sinning.

God

more

than

anything

else.

This is

the kind

of thing

that can

tear

churches

apart

from the

inside.

We think

our biggest

threats are

on the

outside,

but God,

our biggest

threats is

each other.

We are

flawed,

sinful

people.

By your

spirit,

through your

grace,

we can

stop sinning

more and

more,

but we're

never ultimately

going to

stop sinning

until we

get to

heaven someday.

We're

still dealing

with this

flesh.

So it's

inevitable

that we're

going to

see problems.

It's

harder for

us to

see them

in ourselves.

It's

easier for

us to

see them

in others.

But God,

how we

deal with

this,

it's

everything.

It's

so important.

Let us

see your

nature,

not just

carry your

name.

Let us

carry your

nature.

Let it

infect us,

get deep

inside of

us,

so when we

see a

problem,

when we

see something

bad happen,

our response

is not,

ha,

I knew it.

Told you

so.

Our response

is grief.

Our response

is godly

sorrow,

and we take

it to you.

God,

there's got to

be a

difference

in how

your people

handle these

problems,

than how

those without

you handle

this stuff.

Let our

church be

the beacon,

let our

church be

the ones

who are

different.

Say,

I know

those First

Baptist

people,

I know

they're not

going to

get online,

talk about

each other.

I know

they're going

to keep

family business

private.

I know

they're not

just going

to bash

what's going

on in the

community,

or what's

going on

with something

they don't

like.

I know

they are

going to

take it

to Jesus

and they're

going to

leave it

there.

And if

it's

something

that Jesus

says,

you've got

to come

together and

deal with

this,

then they're

going to

do it

according to

how he

teaches them

in Scripture.

They're

going to

do it

according to

his nature

and not

ours.

God,

convict

us.

We'll give

you the glory

in Jesus'

name.

Amen.

Church,

there might

be somebody

that you need

to go to

and you need

while our

heads are

bowed for

you to

get up

and go to

somebody else

and say,

please forgive

me.

That's what

church is

about.

That's what

family is

about.

Forgiveness,

relationships.

She talked

about how

relationships are

important in

Bulgaria.

They're important

here too.

It's how it

works.

It's how we

relate to one

another.

Would you

bow your

heads with

me?

And we're

going to have

a moment of

quiet prayer.

Jared's going

to play.

He's going to

sing something

over us.

We're going

to have a

moment of

quiet prayer.

If you need

to come

down front,

talk to me

about something.

I'm here.

If you just

want to stay

in your seat,

do business

with God,

if you want

to boldly

get up and

go approach

someone,

ask for

prayer,

ask for

forgiveness,

whatever the

Holy Spirit's

doing in your

heart right now,

say yes to it.