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Note: Transcripts are unedited. Please forgive any errors.
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THE ACTIVE WORD
TITLE OF
Message: Just Judging TAPE NUMBER: 1452
MESSAGE DATE: 08-03-03
TRANSCRIBER: Elisabeth Richardson
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE FOR MESSAGE: Revelation 15
Timecode:
Opening Praye
Father, today we pray our love for You is evident. We choose to display in study form, singing songs, ready to serve, wanting to put a smile on Your heart. So, you see Your church gather. We now invite you, equip us, prepare us, that in everything we do, You are glorified and You are honored as God. For we ask it now in Jesus' name, Amen.
Message - TIMECODE:
Judge not, lest you be judged. Judge not? Completely, entirely, is that what Scripture says? Judge not, lest you be judged. You've heard it. You may have said it and when you did, that sentence, well, I'm kind of curious. Was it said with a spirit or with a tone that was cold and callous? You know, judge not lest you be judged. Or was it said in a tone or with a spirit of concern and consideration. Heh, heh, heh, don't judge, you'll be judged in return.
Now, there is a definite difference, and if you're hoping to make a connection or enjoy a reception, it matters most in ministry. You see, I am, you are, we, together, ambassadors of Christ. And as an ambassador of Christ, we, together have the responsibility of telling truth, sharing Scripture, getting Gospel. Now, when we do that, the only way we'll truly be successful is if and when the world, the society apart from God admits that they are wrong. And the only way we can rightfully accomplish that is to tell them that He, that we, are right. Now, the problem. I'm right. The world's wrong. If you're in the world and you're doing something wrong, how do you want to be told that? Do you want me to tell you you're doing something wrong with confrontation and criticism? No, what you're doing, you shouldn't be doing. Or would you rather I told you you're doing something wrong with a sense of compliment and commendation. Heh, you're really doing wrong in a really right way. No, if I am, if you are willfully sinning. You telling me, quite honestly, I just want you to leave me alone. Just leave me alone. I don't want any input from you. I don't know who you are that you think that right now my life ... would you just let me sin? And sometimes I hear the world scream that. Just let me sin, Christian. I can't. I won't. And He won't let me. Do you know why? Let me tell you why.
If you as a church stay silent, if I don't tell you that you're sinning, you might, number one, assume that it's okay to sin. Listen again. You might think it's okay. You're living together with your girlfriend, you're playing house, you're sleeping together. But I don't want you, of course, offend you. So, I don't say a word. If I don't say a word for a long period of time, do you actually think now that I think it's okay? You're struggling with an addiction. You continue to drink too much and I don't say a world because, again, I just want to stay your friend and I don't want to be too heavy, pushing Jesus on anyone. So, do you think that it's okay for you to continue to drink like that? No, no, no , no, no, I can't stay silent.
You might think it's okay, number two, you might think that nobody cares. If I don't say anything to you about your sin, you might think that when you are struggling with that sin because sin is so destructive because sin is so deceitful, because sin is a damnable offense, you might think, that now, that you have a need that I'm not interested in meeting that need because, quite honestly, I don't care because I never said anything. So, you won't come to me to have me help you because you don't think I care. No, should you sin, it's not okay, and I do care.
But if I haven't been heard, you might, number three, erroneously assume that it's right. That what you're doing is now right. Maybe it used to be wrong, but, come on, hasn't God finally gotten with it. I mean, weren't those Old Testament commandments, the big ten, by now, hasn't He realized that society's changing? He really only needs four important ones. He can forget all ten. Come on, make it easy, God. Get hip. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Right, if it's really right, is always right. Do you know that? God doesn't need to change with society's ways or whims or will. It's God's Word; it's unchangeable. It's immutable.
God changes not, so, if in fact you think that now it's right, not just okay or that I don't care, I still make the mistake by not saying anything and if that's the case, number four, if I don't say something about your sin, you might not know that you can change. You see, we continue to find in this world, what is wrong being made legal. And just because the Supreme Court says it's legal, doesn't mean God says it's right. Do you understand? Abortion in the United States of America is legal. That doesn't make it right. And while ???, the wisest minds, the deepest thinkers on the entire face of the planet debated the heavier issue of, should a man take that part of his body and have the legal right to place it in this part of another man's body? And because I pastor a large church, I will typically, when something like that happens, get a phone call from the Herald of the Sun-Sentinel, what does Pastor Bob think about this new law? And I said, I'm embarrassed to say so, I'm embarrassed that that issue made it's way to the smartest, the wisest, are you serious? Ought we not be ashamed? Shouldn't we be quiet? If you want to do that, you can do that, but don't ask me to make it right. Oh, no, no, no, we're just asking to make it legal. No, no, no, understand, by saying it's legal, doesn't necessarily mean that it's right. Who are you to ... judge, is that what you were about to say?
Listen, I am about to judge because we all need a judge. We all are judges. Think it through and think hard. Are you a parent. If you're a parent, you're a judge. Now, you may not put on the big black robe, but you're a judge everyday because your kids, if you're got a five-year-old and a seven-year-old will come to you. Katie will say, "He said. He'll say. She did." And now, I'm judge. I've got to discern. Who's saying what? Right? Wrong? Indifferent? Bias? And then I declare my verdict. I'm daddy judge. And, of course, your parents were judges. Aghhhh Remember, he showed up at the door to take you out. Did your dad not judge him before he let you leave the house? You bet. In fact, that was one of the times your dad did wear a black robe. [laughter]
If not as a parent, how about as a pastor? I'm way for how long and who takes my place? Who enjoys that space? How did they get there? Well, I shared that authority, I shared that responsibility. You see, God gave it to me and I gave it to someone else. And I did so by judging. I looked at the lives of these men, and said, you know what, your lips match what I know what is happening in your heart and I'd love you to share the honor of .... Oh, I can't believe, thank you so much. I know you'd behave that way. That's part of the reason why you're enjoying that place of judging.
How about a policeman? Do they not judge. Let me tell you something. A police car screams judgment. A gun in a holster speaks judgment. And they have a little gun that they hide behind a tree on Banks Road between Copans and Atlantic. Right there. And if you're not careful, that little radar gun is going to judge ya. Cause we hire, we pay, we spend, they're called peace officers. They keep us free from chaos as they judge.
What about politicians? It's a politician's job - judgment, government, there's a connection, he establishes, he enacts laws for our land, for our liberty. Well, I think and that this corporation should and that these people ought and I'm going to make sure that this and that does or doesn't happen. That's all judgment.
And as a person, you're always judging. You're judging the meal you ate if you already ate it or it's judging you or ... excuse me... You're judging the movie you saw last week. Well, I didn't think, now, you know, I just didn't think that, well, I was think ... You might be judging this message right now. I thought he'd come back with a little bit more passion. I don't know why. And the lights don't seem as bright as they used to and I like that song with the fiddle. Man, I love a fiddle for worship. You know. What are you doing? You're judging. You are judging.
Now, help me out. Judge not, lest you be judged. Did He say not to judge? Judge not, lest you be judged. Is that, don't judge at all? No, no, no. Judge not lest ... it's not whether or not you are going to judge. We will judge. It's how you judge. For that reason, with the Word, our study starts with the first of seven specific somethings. You want be the judge? You have the opportunity. But if you want to judge justly, uprightly. If you want to judge like God judges. Matthew 7, verse 1 we read, "Judge not that you be not judged. For what judgment you judge, you will be judged. And with what measure you use, it will be measured back to you. Why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye and do not consider the plank in your own eye. Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye and look, a plank's in your own eye.' Hypocrite. First remove the plank from your own eye and then, you'll see clearly to remove the speck from your other brother's eye." Now watch verse six, "And do give what is holy to the dogs or cast your pearls before swine lest they trample them under their feet and turn and tear you to pieces."
Your attention, please. Same segment and an apparent contradiction. The first verse says, "Judge not lest you judge." The last verse in the section says there are some that are swine, some that are dogs. Swine, dogs, people. Isn't He judging? Well, certainly He is. In fact, so much so, there are some people that when it comes to telling truth, sharing Scripture, giving the Gospel, well, you just might want to save your breath. Why? Well, we predetermined with judgment that right now, they may not necessarily be interested in hearing anything that has to do with God. And you for that reason, then, are called to judge that. So, if I am to judge but be careful how I judge, I judge ... first two words, you judge without finally. Without finality. It's the first word of the first verse we studied. You see the word judge? Circle that word, first word and next to it right the Greek equivalent for our English word judge, it's the word Krino. K R I N O Krino means, listen to this, to decree as damned, damned. It's to imply that your judgment of somebody else's life is one where in which you are suggesting, you are saying, you are submitting, they're incorrigible. They're unreformable. There is no hope. They're a lost cause. That's it. Finata. Final. Over. Nada. No more hope for you. No, no, no, no, no, you can't do that. Don't you dare do that lest you want God to Krino you. Well, I don't want God to Krino me. Well, if you don't want God to Krino you, you don't Krino anyone else. Do you understand? Krino. Here's why. Jot it down. 1 John 4:8, "God is love." I Corinthians 13:7. Love looks like. Well, there we have meat and muscle put on this term for love and it says, "Love bears all things. Love believes all things. Love hopes all things. Love endures things." And then it says, "Love never fails." God never fails? God not going to give up. ???? God's going to continue to hope. Exactly. Now, if God's going to continue to hope, you have to continue to hope. Why do you continue to hope? Because no one is a lost cause to God.
I mean, think about it. Don't you agree, He gets greater glory based upon betting on the long shot? The person who everyone else says, "They'll never make it. He's a lost cause. Man, he's heavily addicted. Man, there's no way, he's going to crawl out of that pit." God look on and says, "Oh, this is classic. Does everyone really believe there is not hope?" [hums music] And now, we see by the mercy and grace and love of God. And people are going, "How'd that happen? How did that happen?" And somebody says, "Well, he must have just picked himself up from his own bootstraps." And somebody else says, "He didn't have any boots." What? There's no way he could have done that in his own head ??? It had to have been God. Because he was such a lost cause only God would pay attention to him. Do you understand? And when that happens. Let me tell you something. When that happens, you're reminded of what we have to have reinforced. I've never ever in all the years of ministry I've been in, been able to turn to somebody and say, "Heh, let me, can I tell you what your problem is? God doesn't love you anymore. No, not you. In fact, He woke me up last night, and I was praying, and He said, 'Can you do me a favor and tell him that I don't love him anymore. In fact, I'm even changing the Bible because of him. For now on, John 3:16 is gonna read, 'For God So loved the world except him.' So he just doesn't love him anymore. Okay. It's just him." I've never been able to say that or do that. He loves us all. He loves us all and there's always hope. For whatever hardhearted heathen there might be because God is greatly glorified when He takes the person that you would cast away and declares, "I will bring beauty for ashes." Do you understand? Treasure for what the world called trash. So, be careful that if you do feel that need to judge that you're judging without finality.
Number two, when you judge, please with a merciful measure. You see that in verse two. "Look, for with what judgment you judge, you will be judged. And with what measure you use, it will be measured back to you." I, I love this clause. It's as if He's got this contract for judging He's giving to His children and He says, "I've got to ensure that they'll be merciful disciples. Ah ha. I know how. I'll put this clause in the contract. You're free to judge, but how you judge others will be the way that I judge you. Alright? Is that a deal?" I don't know if that's a deal. Why? Here's why. Because once we becomes Christians, sometimes we become .... Well, we have this reputation for being nitpickers, faultfinders, and sin-sniffers. [sniffing noise] There's a sinner in the house of God, and I'm going to track him down. [sniffing noise] I smell smoke. What are you doing? I know exactly what you're doing. You're right and you love now declaring you're right by telling other people that they're wrong. Without any measure of mercy, you've predetermined that the best way to get truth out is to tell everybody else how in error they are without any measure of mercy. He says, "Don't do that." Why? Let me give you a reference. You write it down. I'll read it. It's Romans, chapter 3 and in verse 21 and 22 we read, "But now the righteousness of God apart from the Law is revealed being witnessed by the Law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ to all and on all who believe for there is no difference." What's that? My righteousness, what makes me right is not from me in the first place, it's from Him and of Him. So, if my righteousness if of Him and from Him, when I carry His righteousness in an arrogant way and make you feel small and make me feel tall because it's His righteousness, let me tell you something, I, in attempting to be right am now more wrong than I was before He made me right because I'm not behaving in a way that's right at all.
Understanding. Do you remember when you had no part of this thing called the Body of Christ? And do you remember coming in here for the very first time? Can I tell you that my first few months of a Christian at church were very hard. I was such a serious sinner that I was convinced that everybody in the church was really really holy and that they all knew what a background, what a past I had. And so I'd come to the room and I'd sit in the far back and people would reach out to me as a great loving church. "Heh, Bob, we've got this going on and we have this going on." "Oh, no, no, no. Oh, no, no, no." And I would actually sweat. Literally. I would actually have my heart palpitate greatly because I was so afraid that somebody would still find out and then choose not to accept because how sordid my past was. I really needed, needed, needed a lot of grace and a lot of mercy and a lot of love because I knew I as a sinner. I don't know if you're here today for the first or second time, but I want you to know, we ought to understand sinners because we are. We're the same. Strange thing about this is I still sin. Now, I may not sin as much as you. [laughter] But I still sin. And because I still sin, I know that I still must be made right through Him. Mercy. Large measure.
Number three, without hypocrisy. Hypocrisy. Look at verse three of chapter seven: "And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but not consider the plank in your own eye? Hypocrisy in the body of Christ is even more damaging than in any other industry, business, or workplace. And I'll tell ya why. Because here in the ministry, it undermines and it erodes the very authority I enjoy to speak in Jesus' name. You see, if you can find some part of my life where what I'm telling you to do, I myself am not doing do, I am able to then a misrepresentation of God, give you an opportunity not to do as He's already told you to do. Why? Well, because I've got this position and look, I'm not doing it. And if I'm Pastor Bob, certainly you don't have to do it because I'm not even doing it.
Do you understand that you want to go to a dentist that has clean, white teeth? Hypocrisy doesn't work in the dentist's chair. Some guy leaning over to you and the minute he says, "Let me take a look in your mouth," you can smell his breath and you can see the stuff on his gums. It's sick. Get, get away from me. You're not living what you're ... "Now, here's how you floss. And while he's doing it, showing you, there's junk falling out the ground. That's sick. Is this the first time you've ever flossed. "Hang on." Gums are bleeding. Junk flying. Bob's that's sick. Exactly.
You want to go to an orthodontist that's got straight teeth. ... going to an orthodontist and again, he bends over to kind of start working on yours and he's got this, hu
. You don't want to go to broker that has a serious financial need. "I'll help you with your money, but could I borrow ten bucks?" No. So, you don't want to go to a church if the pastor's not holy. What does that mean? That means I have to live this because I don't have the privilege or the right to tell you to do something that I'm not doing because the day you find out that I have not been doing it is the day that I just might shipwreck your faith. So, I need to. I've got to. Before I come up here, get on my knees and ask God to keep me clean cause I do not want to misrepresent Him.
Why? How is it I could possibly misrepresent Him? Well, you jot it down, it's Romans chapter two this time and in the first verse we read, "Therefore, you are inexcusable, oh man, whoever you are who judge. For whenever you judge another, you condemn yourself. For you who judge actually practice the same things." You see, there is this contrast that lies between the heathen heart that doesn't even know to do what's right and the hypocrite heart that knows to do right and is choosing not to do it. The heather is actually in a better position than the hypocrite. Why? He can plead ignorance. You know better. So, every time you judge someone else, the minute you judge them, you're basically saying, in essence, I know the right thing to do and I'm telling you, you better be doing it. Remember, you got one pointing out and you got three pointing in. You may want to look at the mirror. Why? Well, because you shouldn't be pointing until we've cleaned up what's happened in here. You've lose the authority. There is no integrity. You're not doing what you say you ought to do.
Number four. Clear understanding. Leaving Matthew seven, go with me to John seven and you'll find this in the forty-ninth verse. John chapter seven, verse forty-nine reads this way, "But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed. Nicodemus, he who came to Jesus by night, being one of them, said to them, 'Wait, wait, wait, wait guys, heh, does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he's doing.' They answered and said to him, 'Are you also from Galilee? Search and look. For no prophet's arisen out of Galilee.' And everyone went to his house." Wait a minute. What did they just say? The religious leaders of that day reprove Nicodemus because they were rebuking Jesus and he didn't believe that they had a right to rebuke Jesus because they really didn't know what He was saying or were they perfectly aware of what He doing? So, you don't know what somebody's saying. You don't know what somebody's doing. Yet, at the same time, you've found great place in providing your opinion without having all the facts.
You know what happens here from time to time. Someone will formulate an opinion without having all the facts. When somebody is hired specifically in the Accounting Department, I will most of those employees sit down and say, "Heh, listen, I want you to know something. You've in a very sensitive area of the ministry. You're going to see check requests come in. You're going to see us spend God's money. If ever you see something and you're concerned about it, I said, here's what I want you to know, information without explanation can lead to speculation and you might find frustration because you think, you'd do it a different way. Happens all the time. Your information leads to your own frustration because your speculation is due to the fact that you never got an explanation. So, how? Well, so, here's why.
Here at Calvary Chapel, we will with our child policy try to do our very best explaining it to people. Why? Information without explanation is going to lead to speculation and frustration. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. I came with my kids. I want them to sit next to me, and you tell me no kids allowed in the Sanctuary. What is that about? And here's many times how their letter will begin: Dear Pastor Bob, I brought some friends to the church. They had their kids with them, a three-year-old and a five-year-old. They started to come in the Sanctuary and then someone stopped them and said they're not allowed in the church. Well, here's what I know that Jesus said, 'Suffer not the children to come unto me for such is the Kingdom of God.' Why is it you're keeping kids away from Jesus?" Let me try it this way. I have a message to share. I'm not doing sermonettes. Sermonettes are for Christianettes. I have messages from God. They're for disciples. Now, I've got a message from God, and I have been given the responsibility and the charge to give it, to provide, to present it. I want to free this atmosphere from any unnecessary, even well-intentioned distraction. Children. I have two. I love them, but I love them in the right place at the right time.
You see, we have a board meeting coming up and I would never think about bringing my kids to the board meeting. "Hey guys, you don't mind if they sit here and color while we talk. I want them to see a real board meeting. Do you mind?" "Well, Bob, that seems kind of strange. Isn't it going to be over their head? Are they going to have anything to do with it? I mean, aren't they going to ..." And here's what they do. And here's the way it works. Your kids. You can easily disengage. It happens all the time.
My wife and I were out eating. There was a daughter sitting next to her mother. She wanted her attention. "Mom, mom, mom, mom." The mom had pre-determined not to pay attention to here daughter because she was paying attention to her son. So, while the daughter is saying in a louder tone, "Mom, mom, mom, mom." Mom's saying at the table, "I'm not listening to you. I'm paying attention to your brother." But I know, her daughter wants her. So, finally, I in a louder tone than normal say, "Will you find out what your daughter wants, please. We all know she wants you." Now, I didn't say it loud enough to be heard. I'm more tactful than that, but ...
Here's the way it happens in the church. You come and say, "No, he's five, but he wants to be here with me, and we want to worship together as a family, pastor. So, I'm just going to give him a bulletin and a pencil. He'll be fine." And now, you [sound] you're able to, here comes that wall, disengage from your kids. You trust, they're there. They must be fine. And you are transfixed on the Bible study. But over here, little Johnny has turned the bulletin into an airplane, and he's turned the pencil into a cannon. [bullet noise] Now, you're still, "Yah, preach it, brother." But here's the kid over here. [bullet noise] And, everyone around your entire area. What is that kid doing? I can't pay attention. What is the problem? Don't the parents know? No, they don't. They don't know. That's the funny thing about it. They just don't have a clue. But I do. Because I see it happen. Even if it's an infant. Brand new baby in the church. You think, how innocent can they possibly be. No, they're sent. And while you have them turned facing backward and you're just patting their back, loving the fact that your baby's in the Sanctuary, they've got a face that's smooshed up, making goo goo eyes and making everyone behind you pay attention to them and not me. While you're paying attention to me, I see the entire row behind you laughing ... oh, look it, he's got ... it looks like he's staring to spit up there. Better get that, get that, get that ....where's it excuse me. They tap you. Give me towel. Do you got anything? Oh, and now all the things going on all around the baby ... I got a message from God, and I've got a two-month-old that will stop it from being heard. Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
Now, listen. There is another reason. This is an adult atmosphere, and every one in a while, I'll have to touch on a very sensitive subject. Procreation, fornication, masterb... I can't. Don't say that. [laughter] No, every one in a while, I will touch on sensitive subjects. In fact, it was just a few weeks ago, I talked about Moses being irresponsible. His wife being mad enough at him to actually circumcise her own son and then thrown in the foreskin at his feet. Now, you explain that to your eight-year-old.
I had a dad e-mail me just after my Father's Day message. He was upset because he brought his kids in and they were young and I continued to tell how good dads behave and how good dads should act, I was giving his kids ammo. "You don't do that. He doesn't do that, either. Preach it, pastor. Tell him he's got to be doing more." Stop. He thought it was going to be one of those Father's Day message that's like, heh, isn't the Father God good, and isn't He wonderful and shouldn't we? And instead, I'm dealing with how to be a good dad. And he was offended by it. Again, if you came to Calvary Chapel for sermonettes, you should leave. Messages from God, pal. And what that means is it's not going to be the 20-minute study that you might been accustomed to at your old fellowship. "Where we used to go, all the kids sat together, and he only talked for twenty minutes." And, didn't you discover that you had to have a very long arm if you had a family of five to knock 'em all on the head, making sure they paid attention to a guy that they didn't understand? I know. I came from a family of five and on Sunday morning ... get going, get going. And now we're sitting there. Don't have a clue. We all got, not a bulletin, but a offering envelope that we're seriously defacing as we draw pictures and slowly but surely discovering just how long my dad's right arm is. He's knocking us on the head, one at a time, and now, we're done thinking we gotta come back next week? I don't want that. So, here at Calvary Chapel, we've got 500 volunteers, and they're singing and they're dancing. They've got skits and balloons, and you're kids learn at their level. And you say, I hate kids? No, but that's what was said in the days we didn't kids and we enacted the policy not to have kids in the Sanctuary. "He just hates, kids, that's the problem. He doesn't have any. Wishes he did. Cause he hates them, he keeps them away Jesus." No, listen, here's the truth of the matter. I love your kids maybe more than you do. Because I'd love to have their moms and dads with undivided attention for 45 minutes on a Sunday afternoon to make sure they know how to care and love for their kids. You get it? Clear understanding. How can judge without knowing all the facts, without having all the information, without understanding the pastor's heart, or why he does what he does? Reserve your judgment. Why? Get to know more of the information. If you don't, you'll make the mistake and once you've concluded that now you have a grasp or an understanding of the principles you employ, biblical principles rather than human standards, because that's number five.
If you're going to judge, use biblical standards. Look with me at John chapter eight, in the fifteenth verse. John chapter eight, just a few verse away in the fifteenth verse, Jesus Christ declares, "You judge according to the flesh and I judge no one. Yet, if I do judge, my judgment is true for I am not alone, pardon me, but I am with the Father who sent Me." Now, look at verse fifteen again. "You judge according to the flesh." In another translation, you could circle the word flesh. It says, "You judge according to human standards, according to human standards." Now, what is a human standard? A human standard is a philosophy or a principle that's based upon humanistic thinking. For instance, and I can think of a couple right off the top of my head. One of them would be: Good guys finish last. Have you ever heard that? Well, of course you have. Now, is that true? Good guys finish last? No, that's a human principles based upon a human standard. Good guys finishing last? Where? Oh, I mean, here. Yah, but according to a biblical standard, this is not the end. There's another side. No good guy ever finished last. At least from an eternal perspective.
How about that other one? Early birds get the worm. Have you ever heard that? So, it makes us all get up extra early in the morning. Now, is that a biblical principle? Early birds get the worm? Well, think it through. Early birds just might get the worm. But the second mouse got the cheese. Meditate on that. That's extra. Now, that's also not biblical but you think about it for a while and you go, "Early birds get the worm." But what if the worm was poison? They're dead. Maybe I should wait a little while.
Biblical standards. Well, now let's get a little more serious. The wisest minds in the land say that sodomy is legal. Doesn't make it right. So, when the newspaper calls and says, "Pastor Bob, how do you feel?" I say, "Well, it's just kind of strange. I got to explain to my seven-year-old son why these men are so happy." Cause they get to do what? Now, apart from the humorous side, cause it's not so funny. The homosexual community is screaming for love. So, do we say that their sexual behavior is legal and right or do we say you can do whatever you want to do with your body, but the Bible says it's wrong. And do we say that the Bible says it wrong so that they can understand that although I'm telling the trust, I'm telling the truth with love because I have seen in our church, there's not a month that doesn't go by that somebody comes out of the homosexual life says that this is not who they are and they joy in the glorious change that God is able to bring about because they are willing to be conformed into His image and have their mind renewed. But, if I simply assume, that because the quote-unquote wisest minds of the land say that it's legal that it implies it's also right. I will never provide the chance for change. Biblical standards? Homosexual sex will always be a sin. So will be heterosexual sex apart from marriage. You see, I have said in the past and I'll say it again, I'm an equal opportunity offender. I'm not going to jump on the homosexual sex bandwagon. "Heh, you gays!" No, no, no, no, no. Why? Because the need is still the same. Somebody's looking for love. They're looking for acceptance. They're looking for care. They're looking for compassion. They're looking for ... what we say we can provide. So, why the law? Why not just say what sin is and say, "Heh, I sin. You sin. You want help. I got help. I used to struggle sexual sin and you know I used struggle with this and I used to struggle with that, I used to struggle with that. And guess what? God made me a pure man. I'm in love with my life. I'm in love with my wife and it's an amazing thing what God can do. Love them. Biblical standard. Some of us, I'm afraid, if we were thinking more religiously might have the woman who was caught in adultery still stuck in her adultery. We would have gotten some signs, begun to march around her and invited the Roman government to enact a law so that this would never happen again. Jesus stooped down with his finger in the sand, made everyone admit that we are all fallen and faulted and told the woman to go sin no more. You see the biblical standards at work?
Jesus loves and I think when we judge without finality, with a merciful measure, without hypocrisy, with clear understanding, using biblical standards we would also be wise number six to judge not by human appearance. Look at chapter seven in verse 24, Gospel of John, for there we read, "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment." Now, we proceed verse 24 of course with verse 23, why? Something's happened in the synagogue setting. "If a man receives circumcism on the Sabbath," Jesus declares, "so that the law of Moses should not be broken, are you angry with me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath?" Let's think this through logically. You, in an act of making a man holy, cut his body and afflict his skin. Now, I choose in an act of wholeness make him well and you're judging me. You've become so religious that you're religiously wrong. Religiously wrong? Yah, it's called personal piety. It's where your sin doesn't smell anymore. No, you're right and everyone else is ... I can't believe this, God would accept them in church today. Look at them ...Hmmm. It's a Pharisee and a tax collector that went to the house of worship to pray. Do you remember the story? One beat his breast and cried out to God? "Oh, God forgive me?" That was the tax collect. The Pharisee said, "I'm so glad I'm not like the stinkin' tax collector. No, I tithe. I'm right. I'm good." And God said when they went home, who do you think went home justified? Who do you went ... Who do you think went home condemned? The one who thought he was right or the one who admitted he was wrong?
Judging by mere appearance. Appearances can be so ... Well, it's a strange kind of thing because every once in a while, I'll find that what I think is happening is not what's happening at all. It's just what I saw. But in reality, you dig a little deeper and you find out that what you saw was what you saw, but there was explanation attached.
For instance, there's a fella in the church, he and wife, precious people, been coming here for fifteen years. He's one of our board of directors. He owns several luxury car dealerships. He sells the finest cars. And because we've known each other for so long, he's one of the few folks I'll actually accept a gift from and when it is my birthday week, he has and he did last year, really bless me. He dropped off a Maserati GT Spyder convertible and let me drive it for a week. Now, listen guys. A Maserati Spyder GT. This is 0 to 60 in 4.6 seconds. But not on Banks Road. Now, I'm in a car that I could never afford. It's a luxury racecar. It eats Porsche Carreras for lunch. You understand what I'm saying. It's a fast, expensive car. And I, during that week, well I'm at the light of life and I've got guys that pull up and they look out the car, they see the Maserati insignia, it's like, dude, whew, cool. I got women paying attention to me that don't pay the same attention to me when I'm on my Ford Explorer. You understand? And I realize that suddenly my stocks gone up because I'm in someone's borrowed car. You judge that way, don't you? Now, it got a little worse than that cause it was kind of strange, it was the same week that Franklin Graham was in town and I had asked Franklin to speak on Saturday night, but he didn't know I wanted him to speak on Sunday morning. And I said to him, "Couldn't you stick around and do Sunday morning?" And he said, "Sure, but I didn't bring any overnight kit. Could we go to a local store?" And I said, "Sure, in fact, let me take you for a ride?" Now, Franklin Graham and I are on Federal Highway, we're at the Target store over there at Oakland Park Boulevard and we're grabbing tooth brushes and deodorant and the gal at the cash register recognizes me and him. "Ahhh," she screams, "It's Pastor Bob and Franklin Graham." Now, even people who don't know who we are are paying attention as we leave, hop in a red Maserati and drive away. And I'm thinking, "How is this going to play back when she tells this story to her mom?" It's late on a Saturday night. It's Target. Who comes in? Bob and Franklin. They drive away [laughs] That's his sports car. No, here's why. It's the month of November and I'm asking to cough it up to help me build my youth building. So, you can look on an erroneously assume. "I don't believe that guy. Help us build out youth building, but he's driving an expensive sports car with Franklin Graham, cruising on Saturday night Federal Highway. No, you're judging by human appearance. It's not my car. We've not cruising Federal Highway looking for anything other than deodorant, toothbrushes. We did end up at the local McDonald's for a hot fudge sundae. That was about it. I dropped him off at the hotel.
Christian, if you start to judge this way, here's what's going to happen. You won't judge. You know why. ??? Think about it. Judge without any [end of side one]
[side two]
judge with lots of mercy, without hypocrisy, clear understanding, biblical standards, not by appearance and finally seven, judging with authority from God and for God because of His grace. ??? jot it down and you need to write it down although I'm not going to ask you to turn there. It's Romans chapter fourteen in verse four. Listen to this: "Who are you to judge another servant. To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he won't make him stand for God's able to make him stand." What's that? The context of Romans chapter fourteen has everything to do with what they were supposed to worship on and there was great debate. It's the Sabbath Saturday? Is the Sabbath Sunday? It's still a debate we hear today and the apostle Paul in addressing this debate, stops the presses and says, "Heh, heh, heh, heh, before I even begin to discuss this, here's what I want to know, who made you judge over someone else's life?" And that's an important question to ask. Why? Well, because those of us, like me, with a management mind and with supervisory skills, we can go into most any place and start finding out what's wrong. I found out this last weekend, Disney needs another Dumbo ride. Help me out on this. How long's that park been there? You got an eight-man Dumbo, you got a ninety-minute wait for a two-minute ride. Could you guys cough up the dough for another Dumbo set? I think so. Now, that sounds very judgmental, and I was. And it got worse. You're charging seven bucks for parking? Isn't it enough to get me for 52 bucks at the gate? I can't believe, it's your proper ... I'm, I'm, I'm on a rampage. The kids are really enjoying themselves. So, God starts to knock on my heart. "Bob, what are you bothered about?" "Well, you get in this car, you drive to the lot and pick up in a tram and them you go over here and then ..." A little like Calvary, right? "Well, it's different, Lord. We don't charge seven bucks. And how about those long lines?" "Bob, you got long lines at the church? You ever had to drop off your kid there at Sunday school at 10:15?" "Well, um, I was, you see, I, well, ah, you see, it's a whole easier to judge Magic Kingdom than Calvary Chapel, see, cuz, I'm the one responsible here, I'm not over there. Exactly. What I've found is that there's enough stuff in my life that needs to be judged than when if I judge this way, I really don't have any time to judge you at all. I'm busy with me. I'm really messed up. You say, but Bob, I'm still curious, and this is the part that's puzzling me now, you're in Revelation 15 and we haven't gotten there yet. So, what does Revelation 15 have to do with Matthew 7 and Romans 14 in the last three minutes of your study? Everything.
Go there now, you'll see. Read it with me. "Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels having the seven last," circle the word for plagues, judgment, "For in them the wrath of God is complete. And I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire and those who have the victory over the beast, over the image, over the mark, over the number of his name standing in the sea of glass having harps of God, they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, the song of the lamb sing." Now, watch this song and check out the lyrics, "Great and marvelous are your works, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, oh, King of the Saints. Who shall not fear You, Oh, Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. For all nations shall come and worship before You, for Your judgments have been manifested. After these things, I looked and behold, the temple of the tabernacle and the testimony in heaven was opened and out of the temple came the seven angels having the seven plagues or judgments, clothed in pure, bright linen and having their chests girded with golden bands. And one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels the seven bowls full of the wrath of God who lives forever and ever. The temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from His temple."
Your attention, please. What do I want to draw in the way of connection as we conclude? Three phrases: glory of God, wrath of God, and angelic plagues or judgments. You see, the book of Revelation is all about judgment. There are seal judgments in chapter six. There's trumpet judgments in eight in nine. And this week and next week, we see the bowl judgments. It's fifteen and sixteen. It's judgment after judgment after judgment after judgment. And on the subject of judgment, the beings that stand and watch this judgment, they have a praise, they have a point, they have a problem, they have a prediction. And the praise is: You are so great, and You are so marvelous the way You're judging. Great and marvelous are your works, your judgments? Exactly. Now, stay tuned. There's not probably a month or a couple of months that doesn't go by that somebody doesn't come to me and say, "It's so unfair." "What's unfair?" "Well, he said and then she did and then they left me and then they. And I can't believe because now it looks like." And what it seems to you is that somebody has gotten away with something. Let me tell you something. According to Acts chapter ten, verse forty-two, Jesus is the ordained judge, listen to this, of both the living and the dead. Jesus doesn't just judge the living, He judges the dead. "I've kind of assumed that if you're dead, you don't need judgment. I mean, wouldn't that be judgment?" No, that's not enough for some people. You see, dead is only the beginning for some people. They die to be resurrected, then to be judged and then face punishment. Listen, nobody gets away with anything. And that's why those who are now enjoying the holy, heavenly habitation look on and go, "God, this is such an amazing thing. I thought I'd got ripped off." But there's no way, I got ripped off because look what's happening now. "You are so great and marvelous in the way you judge because do you deliver, You also destroy. You delivered those that are Yours, and You destroyed those who came against them. That's why in Revelation chapter six in verse ten, they cried out and said, "How long until You judge that You might avenge our blood?" And Jesus said, "Just a little while longer. I will judge, but you've got to wait just a little longer." Yah, but you'd think that dead's a little too long, Bob? No, no, no, no, no, again, we're talking eternity, gang. "Well, then that concerns me all the more because, I mean, what if He's going to judge so severely and so harshly." The praise is great and marvelous. The point is, look at this, second half of verse three, "Just and true are Your ways or Your judgments, Oh, God. Just and true. Just and true. Another way to write this would be: fair and honest. God's fair and honest. I have people from time to time that assume that they would be more magnanimous and more benevolent than God in caring for those who need Jesus. It's as if Jesus is up there going, "I want to have at 'em. Let me just beat on them." Or instead, it's God that wants to have at 'em, and we have a picture of Jesus saying, "Oh, no, don't God. My blood paid for them, please. No, no, no, here. Hit me some more. I'll be the One who'll ...." Will ya stop it? You will never be more forgiving, more merciful, more graceful, or more loving than God. Never. So, when you come to me and say, "Well, I'm concerned about my friend because he, I'm not sure, was a real believer and I'm thinking that on the other side ..." God's the perfect judge. He knows everything. He knows everything. And because He knows everything, you can't assume for a moment that you would come up with a way where the hardest heathen heart could get to heaven, but He wouldn't. No, He did come up with a way where the hardest heathen heart could get to heaven. That's why it is such Good News. The problem. "Who shall not fear You or glorify Your Name." Who would actually look at Your Son hanging on the cross and blow Him off? Who would actually shine on your Son's blood and not give the attention that He deserves when in light of the fact they are going to be judged and if they don't take that judgment and place it upon them, it remains on them. Why would they let that happen? It's a problem, Lord. Therefore, the answer to the question. Those who don't go, won't go. And we'll see that even more so in our next study.
And then finally, the prediction. But all nations will come and worship You. Did you see that? That's the prediction. It's prophetic. All nations will come and worship, worship, circle the word in conclusion, all nations will come and they will bow down an confess that Jesus is, in fact, who He claimed to be. That's what the Bible says in Romans chapter fourteen, verses eleven and twelve. Listen to this: "As surely as I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow and tongue confess. As surely as I live." Jesus is saying, "As surely as I am, who I am and that I exist every knee will bow and every tongue confess so that, and here's how the next verse goes, "So that everyone will be judged according to what they've done." So, if you like judging, if you do, I hope only your own life. And that when your life is at that place where you go, "You know what, whew, God's done such an amazing life work in my life." Now watch how this works. You judge you and leave everyone else alone and they will see such a glorious change in you that they will come to you and say, "How did ya do it?" Why? Because if you want to have an affect in someone else's life, the link to having the right to correct them is with the authority that God gives in friendship. The one person on this planet that I admire and respect more so than any other when it comes to what I do and how I do it is my wife cause she loves me. So, after a Bible study, I come to her and I go, "Heh, honey, do me a favor. Tell me what'd you think?" And then she'll share with me some things. And when I pay attention to what she has to say, it's because I know and you're aware, not only does she love me, she also loves you. And sometimes she'll be in your defense. " I thought you were a little harsh." "Really?" "Yah, you sounded kind of heavy." "Oh, well, let me pray about that. Thanks, hon." I love my wife's judgments in my life. I love that fact that she tells me what I'd probably like to eat. You know, she knows my stomach that well? We'll go to a restaurant and maybe you have the same thing in your life. We'll go look at the menu and she'll say, "Oh, you'd like that." And I look at her and I go, "I would. Ah, thank you very much for telling me what I'm going to eat. How'd you do that?" "I cook for your belly. What do you mean?" She knows me. She knows my clothes. I mean, there's not a week that doesn't go by I don't come out of my closet and she says, "I'd try this instead." In fact, it wasn't too long ago, she away for the weekend. I came to church and one of the pastors said, "Diane's out of town, isn't she? [laughter] "Yah." You see, she enjoys the right and she has the privilege because she loves me. That's why I get away with doing this. Do you realize what just happened? You came in and I , kind of, told ya how to live for the last hour. And you might just come back next week and hear me again. Why? Because I think deep inside your heart, you know that I really want what's best for you. I'm trying to do it and I think you're trying to do it, and I think that's why you come here - cause you really believe that I care about you, that I care about your spiritual growth, and I'll do whatever I can to help you in my own power, in my own ability. And beyond that, I'm praying for ya. I care. You see, I get letters from folks from time to time, they want to come and have this pulpit, and if I do feel that they have a message from God, I say, "Heh, heh, let's talk about it. How will you present this? Do you know who this body is?" Cause sometimes, they just want to shake up the church and leave. "No, you're not going to do that. I have that right, but you don't. I've determined to stay here and to live here and die here and be here. I'm going to marry and bury these people, so please, you don't have that privilege. I won't give you the right." I have that. So, as you feel friendship and love, you come back and go, "Heh, beat me up again spiritually, Bob, I like it." And I say, "What are you doing? How are you doing? What's the matter with you." You. "I needed to hear that. I'll be back. Ahhh." You know what you sense? I pray that you sense in me the Spirit of a loving God that brought you here today to be reminded. "If you will judge yourself," Paul writes, "you won't come under judgment." You won't. Cause if you judge you, and you clean it up, you will be the bride of the church. And we've got over a thousand commands in His Word. That ought to keep us busy. Amen? Let's pray.
Closing Praye
Father, we thank You so much for our time together. And as we conclude and close, God, help us cause we have this strange and sad reputation in some circles of the world rather than living and doing what's right, we like to tell what's wrong. And we pray that if we do know the difference, judgment might begin at the house of God first. And as it begins with us, You would find a pure, a holy church, ready and willing to change the world. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Shall we stand?
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