Dad Jokes and Gifts From Listeners

Emeal Zwane 1:04

Yeah , and you know that verse that I quoted from Romans preceding , that is verses one through four . In Romans it says receive one who is weak in the faith , but not to disputes over doubtful things , for one believes he may eat all things , but he who is weak eats only vegetables . Let not him who eats , despise him who does not eat . Let not him who does not eat , judge him who eats , for God has received him . Who are you to judge another servant To his own master ? He stands and falls . Indeed , he will be made to stand , for God is able to make him stand .

Oscar Navarro 1:31

I love that .

Emeal Zwane 1:32

So good , you guys , you're talking about heavy things going on , right . I mean , the dietary law was huge in that time and the whole world was split over it , even the pagans , and so it's like he's taking something that is of massive consequence and he's saying let him stand before his judge , who's God ? Don't go making a big issue out of this . Live your life for the Lord and love the believers and if they're straying into sin , that's objective and clear from the word . Point it out . No , friends , they are not Hallmark greeting cards . They are not playing cards . They are not my beautiful and destructible , waterproof and fireproof business cards . No , friends , they are dad jokes cards . Dad jokes cards , guys , given to us by Brother Jeremy Huh .

Ray Comfort 2:28

What .

Emeal Zwane 2:28

Guys , this lady's to us by Brother Jeremy Huh .

Ray Comfort 2:30

What Guys this lady's listening Y'all .

Emeal Zwane 2:32

Y'all , y'all Guys , given to us by Brother Jeremy from the recent Ambassadors Academy . He also gave us some coffee , which Oscar will not get , and he gave us worms .

Mark Spence 2:47

Some mealworms . Yeah , I didn't know they were for Ray and I took them . They're dead . What do they taste like ? No , they're for chickens . Did you eat them , mark ? No , I gave them to my birds . Yeah , they loved them , you have birds yeah .

Emeal Zwane 2:57

Do you have regulars now , mark that visit you ? Oh , I do . Yeah , I absolutely into birds . Ray , yeah , and Jeremy also gave us a nice discipleship book . Thank you , jeremy , we were blessed to have you at the Academy . But guys , these are cool . Do one Feel one Oscar , feel it Nice Slick . Hey , don't you dare Grab it and read it . All right , here we go . I picked ones I thought may fit Ray . Why did my dating service for chickens go out of business ? Because I was struggling to make hens meat .

Ray Comfort 3:31

That's so stupid .

Emeal Zwane 3:34

My landlord wanted to talk to me about my extremely high heating bills . I said , sure , my door is always open .

Oscar Navarro 3:41

I like that that's a good one .

Emeal Zwane 3:44

Oh man , I was wondering why the golf ball kept getting bigger and bigger .

Ray Comfort 3:48

Then it hit me . There's another one coming .

Emeal Zwane 3:54

Why should you never brush your teeth with your left hand ? Because a toothbrush works better . That's a Ray joke right there , for sure .

Ray Comfort 4:05

You've got to not crack up when you're given the answer , because you can hardly hear it . Okay , here we go Okay .

Emeal Zwane 4:10

Why did the woman get fired from the ?

Oscar Navarro 4:14

Have you guys ever seen the dad joke challenge From the calendar ?

Emeal Zwane 4:18

Yes , they could . We've done it on here . Why did the woman get fired from the calendar factory ? She took a day off . All right , that's funny , oh , jeremy . Thank you , brother , I ordered a chicken . Wait , I ordered a chicken and an egg online . I'll let you know which came first . That one I like . That's funny . See , I picked the cream of the crop . There's a lot more than these , but these are the good ones Side note you mentioned earlier in passing .

Oscar Navarro 4:59

I don't think people realize Easy's business cards . You are so proud of your business cards and because they cost like $80 a business card you very rarely they're not that cheap Like for you . To get a business card from Easy is an esteemed privilege .

Emeal Zwane 5:16

But , Ray , you know , hardly anyone gets one of those .

Ray Comfort 5:18

That doesn't go whoa Well , I was deep in thought about a dad joke track . Yeah , I thought .

Emeal Zwane 5:25

I'm like what is Ray doing ? He's totally zoning out , Can we ?

Ray Comfort 5:28

do it . We've got 101 of the world's funniest one-liners .

Emeal Zwane 5:29

Seriously , of course we need to do one yeah .

Ray Comfort 5:32

I was just trying to find a format .

Emeal Zwane 5:34

You heard it here , folks , Before it even exists . You heard about it .

Oscar Navarro 5:38

It'll be done by the time the episode is over . Inspired by brother Jeremy .

Emeal Zwane 5:41

All right , mark Spence got from someone who attended the academy . I have no idea what it is .

Oscar Navarro 5:47

I don't either , is it ticking ?

Emeal Zwane 5:49

And to open it on the podcast . I don't remember who it's from .

Oscar Navarro 5:51

I think their name is in there . Which is like a makeup place .

Emeal Zwane 5:56

I hope there's a card and a name in there Ananas and Sapphira .

Ray Comfort 5:59

That might be a letter Ray .

Mark Spence 6:01

what's that say they're ?

Oscar Navarro 6:03

socks .

Mark Spence 6:05

Oh , that's really nice . Socks , oh , that's , really nice .

Oscar Navarro 6:06

From Canada .

Mark Spence 6:09

Oh Canada .

Emeal Zwane 6:10

Canadian socks . Wow , how boot that A . I love socks . How boot that A . We know you love socks , Mark Wait can we read the letter ?

Ray Comfort 6:18

It's a weird addiction . It says I put the money in the account . This is the number . Who's it from ? Does it say the ?

Emeal Zwane 6:23

name on there . He swallowed it . Who's it from ? Does it say the name on there ?

Mark Spence 6:28

Swallowed it .

Emeal Zwane 6:29

Who's it from ?

Ray Comfort 6:30

Let me see , They've written the letter upside down . Oh sorry , Mark .

Mark Spence 6:35

Thank you for all your ministry that you have done . You've inspired many in my community , including my family . Cornelius , cornelius , cornelius .

Emeal Zwane 6:48

Oh yeah , Cornelius Schmidt . Oh yes , that's right , Brother Cornelius , Cornelius Cornelius . Oh yeah , Cornelius Schmidt , that's right .

Mark Spence 6:50

Brother Cornelius , that's right , cornelius Schmidt from Alberta , canada . Ps Mark , I hope you like the new socks . You are my favorite on the podcast . You're so handsome .

Emeal Zwane 6:58

Lies , lies , lies , lies , lies .

Mark Spence 7:00

Everyone is lying , cornelius .

Emeal Zwane 7:02

I remember you . We were blessed to see what they got and what an academy .

Mark Spence 7:05

I was trying to read it Seriously .

Emeal Zwane 7:07

It was wonderful . Yeah , it was very special , and I was blessed at the end of it just to hear heartfelt rejoicing from people .

Ray Comfort 7:16

So we reduced it from 100 to 60 . Was that a good move ?

Emeal Zwane 7:20

It sure seemed to be yeah .

Oscar Navarro 7:24

It was a lot more manageable , more intimate .

Emeal Zwane 7:25

It just seemed smaller than the last one , yeah , so more interesting , smaller than the last one , yeah . So anyway , keep a lookout for the Academy friends .

Mark Spence 7:31

there's another man today is gift day . It's give away . We like receiving gifts , but this is a unusually unusual gift this is for . Ray , it's a chicken chick-fil-a , right , you got to start at the top . Okay , thanks for with this one right here . Oh , start with that .

Emeal Zwane 7:51

Well , you're going to say who it's from Mark he's got to read it .

Mark Spence 7:54

Oh okay , okay .

Ray Comfort 7:58

It's too long to read . No , you've got to read it . I'm really thankful for what you do . Easy and Mark are useless compared to you . You read it , matt . There's too much to read ? All right , let me read it .

Mark Spence 8:08

All right , so this is from Thomas Purtill . Yay and don't go any further .

Emeal Zwane 8:13

Take a foot , late man .

Mark Spence 8:16

Ray , I'm so thankful for what you , easy , mark and Oscar , do weekly to welcome all of us listeners to pull up a seat at your table to talk about all the subjects of life through the lens of the Word of God . By such you brothers , as Ephesians 4.11 says , gifts to the church at large are equipping us , as saints in Christ , for the work of the ministry , and we love you all for it . However , there's one thing that must be remedied , as it pains me each time I hear you reference your gift cards to those who engage in street evangelism , whether in McDonald's or In-N-Out Starbucks , right . Therefore , to the banana man from the chicken man , may these be new gifts to be used to the glory of God , yours , because we're his Thomas . What is it ? I know what it is . Oh , what is it ? I know what it is .

Emeal Zwane 9:10

What is it Footballs ? My water Ray .

Oscar Navarro 9:15

Comfort . It literally landed in your water .

Emeal Zwane 9:18

Oh man , what is it ? Mark , keep going , he's gotta keep going .

Ray Comfort 9:25

These are Chocolate .

Mark Spence 9:26

These are footballs , chocolate .

Ray Comfort 9:28

These are footballs . Oh , these are footballs . Oh , what is this ?

Oscar Navarro 9:32

Open that up , ray . I know what that is . I'm guessing , hey , what ? Wow , that is a lot what You're kidding . What , what ? Three boxes ? What Ray is ?

Mark Spence 9:46

opening . Right now are three boxes filled to the rim with . Chick-fil-a gift cards . Whoa , I want those . It is , yes , it is an endless amount of gift cards to Chick-fil-A , so that Ray can hand these out to people who he shares the gospel with yeah , wow , who he shares the gospel with ? Yeah , now , bear in mind In-N-Out and Starbucks and McDonald's , or anybody else has never reached out to us , but now Chick-fil-A has .

Ray Comfort 10:16

Well , that is wonderful , that's right . How much are these cards ?

Oscar Navarro 10:20

$8 each $7.99 . Are they really ?

Emeal Zwane 10:24

Yeah , this is almost $6,000 .

Oscar Navarro 10:26

Worth of gift cards . Yeah , wow .

Emeal Zwane 10:29

Brought to you by Chick-fil-A Wow .

Ray Comfort 10:31

Thomas , thank you so much . That is so kind .

Emeal Zwane 10:33

I can't wait to give these out . Seriously , bro , isn't that amazing ?

Oscar Navarro 10:36

That is . So what's for lunch , guys ? Unbelievable .

Ray Comfort 10:40

I didn't expect that .

Emeal Zwane 10:41

That's crazy .

Ray Comfort 10:43

Thank you .

Emeal Zwane 10:43

Thomas , so much .

Ray Comfort 10:49

Oh , I was trying to hit ray with that football . Oh well , yeah , boy , we seriously threw a football in a studio . Yeah consequences .

Emeal Zwane 10:52

I threw it in the right place , ray , not at my water thomas uh , really , there are no words , brother . Honestly , this is speechless , this is above and beyond . Uh , we are speechless and uh down with in and out we hate in and out In-N-Out In .

Ray Comfort 11:08

Wintersmith's Hall . I just got another thousand In-N-Out cards . Yeah , someone's going to be happy .

Emeal Zwane 11:13

Well , thank you , Thomas . Really we are grateful brother , wow , so grateful for your generous heart , for your love for the Lord and a man who runs his business in a way that glorifies God . Amen , it's phenomenal .

Mark Spence 11:24

Eat more chicken .

Emeal Zwane 11:25

Yeah , comer mas pollo Pollo , is that right ? Did I say it right Pretty close Comer mas pollo .

Ray Comfort 11:31

I thought these were massive magnets . When you hand it , oh really , well , they feel so heavy .

Emeal Zwane 11:37

Ray , $6,000 worth of Chick-fil-A cards . Wow , that's insane , praise God . All right , friends , it's time for a cool , classy comment . This is from TS Augustine Augustine , from India . Hey , ray Ray , there's a doctor that you see . What's his name ? Jim August . Oh , thank you . Hey , I haven't finished August In . Yeah , augustine , thank you , thank you . All right , hello , easy , ray , mark and Oscar . A couple of things to tell you , guys . When oscar came back after a few weeks to the podcast and I heard him laugh in your introduction , my heart leapt with joy . When easy read about king josiah grinding the objects to ashes , I heard ray's noiseless laughter and my heart swelled . I'm a sucker for easy's fake arabic accent to the extent that I have sometimes even rewound to hear again .

Oscar Navarro 12:26

Thank you so much .

Emeal Zwane 12:27

I'm happy you do this or easies . And lastly , I respect Mark's matter-of-fact humor , wherein I sense him to be alongside Paul , who considered all things rubbish . But for Christ , with these , I realize listening to you guys through commuting three days a week is definitely going to have its effect . The four of you have this complete and sincere respect for each other , and that is making your camaraderie what it is . I believe there must be vulnerability and accountability to each other to reach this level of friendship . I'm humbled and sincerely grateful to God that he wrought this friendship between you guys , caused you to start a podcast and , of all the odds , that God has placed me in this timeline with access to your podcast . Thank you for what you guys are doing . I will keep you in my prayers .

Oscar Navarro 13:13

Wow , that's a really good one , isn't that really ? Good . I'm really impressed by how many people think we're friends .

Emeal Zwane 13:20

We have succeeded and to deceive them . I like it very much . Well , thank you , sister . That blesses us very , very much . All right , friends , Now a radically revolutionary resource . This podcast is brought to you by the Ten Commandments gift coin . Ray , I like the gold gift coin . I just gave it to someone , actually .

Ray Comfort 13:48

Yeah , it's got perceived value . Yeah , it looks cool it really has .

Oscar Navarro 13:51

My son loves giving these away .

Ray Comfort 13:52

He does the gold one ?

Emeal Zwane 13:54

Is it fake gold , Ray ?

Ray Comfort 13:55

No , it's real gold in color yeah .

Emeal Zwane 14:00

Yeah , it's cool because it's got the Ten Commandments on one side , and on the other side you have a full gospel message , Franz .

Ray Comfort 14:09

And side . You have a full gospel message , friends and does it come in a container .

Emeal Zwane 14:11

Yes , it's got a little plastic . Yeah , it's really nice , so it keeps it protected . Yeah , yeah , so check it out . Don't forget the Living Waters Mug and the Evidence Study Bible all at Living Waters . Way to roll those

Judging Others

Emeal Zwane 14:22

R's . All right friends . Today we are talking about All right friends . Today we are talking about what does the Bible say about not judging others . I'd have to say this is probably one of the most often repeated refrains Don't judge , don't judge , lest you be judged . Have you heard that before ? Ray Ray , what are you doing ?

Mark Spence 14:51

He's taking pictures .

Emeal Zwane 14:51

He can't get over the gift cards .

Ray Comfort 14:52

I've just sent a text to Thomas thanking him and taking pictures of you guys .

Emeal Zwane 14:57

You're doing like real time . Yeah , real time , because it's yeah .

Ray Comfort 15:01

Yeah , judge not least be judged . Judge , not least be judged is probably the most common Bible verse that non-Christians memorize . But when they say that , when they say you shouldn't judge , that is a moral judgment in itself . When they say you shouldn't judge , they're making a moral judgment .

Emeal Zwane 15:19

Yeah , that reminds me of you , Mark . Didn't we do a video once where you talked about that stuff ?

Mark Spence 15:23

I don't know what you guys are talking about . Are you judging ? I'm sending a text to Thomas .

Emeal Zwane 15:28

So is Oscar . Wait , you guys didn't know . I had Thomas on the phone this whole time . He beats you to it . Yeah , so this is often quoted . I might as well ask Oscar , because these two aren't paying attention . We're losers .

Emeal Zwane 15:40

Yeah , yeah , oscar , this is a biggie . And it comes obviously from Matthew 7 , 1 through 5 , where Jesus says judge not that you be not judged , for with what judgment you judge , you will be judged and with the measure you use it will be measured back to you . And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye ? 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 is in your own eye . Hypocrite . First remove the plank from your own eye and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye . That's the context there . What say ye , oscar ?

Oscar Navarro 16:17

As I look at Mark , matthew 7 is a really good place to start , because , before getting into this statement , jesus actually gives us criteria for judgment , which tells us there's something else going on here that we shouldn't just not judge . It's not what he's saying , and I think that the key is the word measure . That really helps us understand what Jesus is trying to say . And , as a matter of fact , in Mark 4 , we see something similar . Here's what Mark 4 says Pay attention to what you hear . With the measure you use , it will be measured to you and still more will be added to you , for to the one who has more will be given , and from the one who has not , even what he has will be taken away . So what's going on here ?

Oscar Navarro 17:03

You have to remember that at that time , the way that they measured the transfer of grains , when you're trading in the marketplace , is they would use measuring scales . The same kind of measuring scales when we think about justice , right , the scale that goes back and forth . But the way that it worked was your scale . You know your blacksmith would design your scale so that on one side it was 10 grams , let's say , and you would put measurements of the other person's grain on the one side it was 10 grams , let's say and you would put measurements of the other person's grain on the other side , right ? Well , what some people would do , especially tax collectors and Romans , is that they would shave off portions of the scale or add to it so that it would be mis-measured , so that when I measured your 10 grams , it was actually 9.9 . And for every 10 transactions I'm getting a free gram .

Oscar Navarro 17:53

And the Jewish people knew that tax collectors and Romans were doing this , except they could do nothing about it because they were being oppressed . They had no power or authority to do something about it , so they were being mistreated . And this is the context that Jesus uses that word measure . He is saying don't have an unbalanced scale when you judge others . The tax collector does this , the Romans do this , and you do this with God's law . You do this . You mismeasure other people and don't use the same weighted scale on your own moral lives . That's what God is talking about .

Emeal Zwane 18:34

Yeah , so in other words , an essence of hypocrisy Exactly being intermingled to making pronouncements on other people and not holding yourself to the same source of accountability .

Ray Comfort 18:44

Boy . I saw that epitomized just recently . Jimmy Kimmel showed his audience the whole Ten Commandments . They went through every one of the Ten Commandments but at the same time they put a certain famous politician's face up there for each commandment and it was really funny because this person had committed adultery . When they had the adultery , one Went right through the whole ten and the audience was in fits .

Ray Comfort 19:09

And they don't realize that that same law they're judging with is going to judge them on Judgment Day . Wow , for as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law , and you shall be judged by the perfect law of liberty . James says , james 2.12 . Romans 2, . Therefore , you are inexcusable on man , whoever you are who judge , and whatever you judge , another you condemn . Wow . And then it says we know the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things . Do you think this , o man , you who judge those practicing such things and doing the same , that you will escape the judgment of God ? That's exactly what Oscar was saying Whatever judgment you judge with , you're going to be judged by God on Jud day .

Emeal Zwane 19:50

Yeah , and I want us to do a couple of things . I want us to look at , yeah , what the Bible actually talks about when it says not to judge , and then I want us to examine , in light of , yeah , that right standard , how do we avoid judging other believers ? But I think MacArthur put it well . He said it should be noted that this passage has erroneously been used to suggest that believers should never evaluate or criticize anyone for anything . He said the entire thrust of the Sermon on the Mount is to show the complete distinction between true religion and false religion , between spiritual truth and spiritual hypocrisy .

Emeal Zwane 20:22

Jesus places God's perfect and holy standards beside the unholy and self-righteous standards of the scribes and Pharisees and declares that those who follow those unholy and self-righteous standards have no part in God's kingdom . No more controversial or judgmental sermon has ever been preached . So I mean his point there is like look , you know , it's impossible to be able to walk in discernment excuse me without making judgments , and those judgments are based on external things . He says if this greatest sermon of our Lord teaches anything , it teaches that his followers are to be discerning and perceptive in what they believe and in what they do , that they must make every effort to judge between truth and falsehood , between the internal and the external , between reality and sham , between true righteousness and false righteousness , in short , between God's way and all other ways .

Emeal Zwane 21:13

And then he breaks down the definition . He says Krino , to judge means basically to separate , choose , select or determine , and has a dozen or more shades of meaning . That must be decided from the context . In our present passage , jesus is referring to the judgment of motives which no mere human being , the judgment of motives which no mere human being can know of another , and to judgment of external forms . Paul says , therefore , let us not judge one another anymore , but rather determine this , not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother's way . So , mark , what MacArthur here is pointing out is that when we talk about judging , we're talking about the internal , about someone's heart , someone's motives that we can't see or discern .

Mark Spence 21:55

That's exactly right . We don't know what is going on inside someone's heart mind when something happens , right ? So Thomas just gave Ray thousands of dollars worth of Chick-fil-A gift cards ? Yeah , did he do it to get his name heard ? Nah , we doubt that . We know him too well with that . But , truth be told , maybe there's something there . We don't think so . That's what it means , right ? We don't know the motive behind it . It's certainly not saying that we can never judge , because judgment begins with the house of

Righteous Judgment and Hypocrisy

Mark Spence 22:21

the Lord .

Mark Spence 22:22

When you judge , use righteous judgment . Beware the scribes and the Pharisees . You have to make a judgment call , you have to be able to draw a line in the sand , and the only one who can truly do this is somebody who sets up a moral code , because when you set up a moral code , for example , you shall not murder . When somebody murders , you say , hey , that was wrong . Or you rape someone . That was wrong to rape someone . You made that moral judgment , you drew that line in the sand , and when somebody steps over that line , you're calling it out . I hope you call it out .

Mark Spence 22:51

But what happens today ? Right , we use this , we see this when we're out witnessing as one of the top objections against Christianity Judge not lest you be judged . And it says with such an accusatory finger . This accusation comes up against us , like people are allowed to do and say and behave any way that they want . No , that's not what this text is saying . So we use righteous judgment . When we judge , we guard ourselves , we check ourselves , search us and try us and see if there be any wicked way in us lead us in the way everlasting . When we judge , we want to use a right standing which is only found in God's word .

Emeal Zwane 23:26

Yeah , Amen , Ray , John 7 , 24, . Do not judge according to appearance , but judge with righteous judgment .

Ray Comfort 23:34

I mean yeah absolutely , mark is absolutely right . We can say it's wrong to rape , to lie , to steal , to kill . This is why I've made a habit for many years of saying to people after they've said I've said , um , taking them through the commandments , I'm not judging you , but you've just told me . So there's a double whammy there that releases me from the accusatory finger , coming back and saying you're judging me , you've told me and I'm not judging you because of that . Um , what we want to do is just say you're in big trouble with God . We don't put people down just for the sake of it . You know , I often say to people it's been uncomfortable for you to go through these commandments , but it's been just as uncomfortable for me . I want to get out of this law business into grace because it's uncomfortable . But it must be done , like a doctor's got to point out disease in a patient if he cares about them .

Emeal Zwane 24:25

Yeah , that's good , yeah , so again to clarify when the Bible talks about not judging , it's not talking about not making clear calls on things that are externally obvious , right ? Like you said , ray , if someone plunges a knife into someone , that person loses their pulse and their life . We can look and say you just committed murder . Someone is living in sexual immorality outside of marriage . We can say you are a fornicator and you need to repent and abortion too . You kill your baby in the womb . You have committed murder , exactly . But it seems like you know , and again we've talked about it , whenever someone is coming against a believer and saying you're judging , you're judgmental , they're usually really harsh and mean and where the Christian is typically just lovingly pointing things out . But they come back and there's that blindness to the fact that they have a judgmental attitude .

Mark Spence 25:15

Yeah , and somebody comes along and says you shall not judge . You know our typical quick , maybe , uh , mark Starkey snarky , snarky responses Um , are you judging my judgment ? Right , if it's wrong to judge , well then don't judge my judgment . I said , well , no , your Bible says you shall not judge . No , it doesn't say that . Right , paul Washer comes along and he says well , it also says twist not scripture . You know , so , twist not scripture lest you be like Satan . Right , because that's not what the text is saying . So you shall not judge . Well then , stop judging my judgment . That's your point of view . Your worldview says you shall not judge . Well , then , you're judging me . Stop judging me , Mr Skeptic . Oh right .

Oscar Navarro 25:57

I love the way that Jesus positions this in Matthew 7 , because you mentioned like the Christian often is coming to them with a loving heart . If they're doing it correctly , if they understand this passage correctly , that's exactly right . When we encourage people to reflect on their own lives and the ways that they've live , stolen , ultimately sinned against God , we're not doing it from a moral high ground . We're doing it based on the same measuring scales , knowing that I too have been measured according to the law of God and I too have fallen short , and I too , in my own power , deserve condemnation . But I've received grace , and now I'm inviting you to see your same need for grace . That is what God is trying to get at the disposition of our hearts . Is not this moral high ground ? I am morally superior than you and now you need to bow to that . Rather , I am in need of grace . I have been judged and found short , and look , here's the answer , here's the key to salvation that has been given to me , and I'm offering that to you as well .

Emeal Zwane 27:02

Yeah , you know , when I was open air preaching the other day , a girl , as I'm taking her through the commandments , tried to stop me kind of midstream and say , but haven't you done all those things ? And , Ray , you get that all the time and I love the answer you often give Ray . I think you say I've broken every commandment In spirit , not if in letter .

Ray Comfort 27:21

If not in letter .

Emeal Zwane 27:22

Right . Describe that Ray in spirit .

Ray Comfort 27:25

Yeah , and Jesus said of him Isaiah said the Messiah would magnify the law and make it honorable . So Jesus didn't take away from the law , he just brought out the spiritual nature of the law that God requires truth in the inward parts and that means that he considers lust to be adultery man . That was my big revelation on the night of my conversion . It was a horror that grabbed me . God saw my thought life and I thought well , he made my brain . It was a huge revelation and that's what brought me to the point of repentance , realizing that God required truth on the inward parts and he's a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart . As it says in Hebrews 4.12 , I think it is the word of God is quick and powerful , sharp and two-edged sword . And then it says and it's a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart . We have no idea what motive someone's doing something for , but God knows us through and through . There's not a word in our tongue that he doesn't know altogether .

Emeal Zwane 28:23

Wow , I think a good thing to be able to say to an unbeliever when we're witnessing to them is hey look , I'm trying to get you to judge yourself before you have to be judged by God . That's good , you know ? I just thought of that . It'd be a good thing to say , because that's really what you're doing for them I'm trying to help you judge yourself before God has to judge you , so you can repent I love that and come out from under the judgment that God has given us ?

Ray Comfort 28:45

Doesn't every criminal brought to that same point ? He's gonna be tried . What do you plead ? Innocent or guilty ? You judge yourself Right , that's good so we're doing the same thing with sinners .

Oscar Navarro 28:56

Yeah , we also need to do with each other . I mean , the scripture tells us to measure , to weigh , to judge good fruit from bad . And so when we're sitting across the table from you know , fellow members of our church Christians , you know , when I'm encouraging someone towards repentance , I'm not determining whether they're going to heaven or hell . I have no heaven or hell to send them to . That's up to the Lord . But what I can do is judge fruit , and I've heard it said before , like I know what an apple looks like . Right , I know what a good apple looks like . If you bring me a worn out , blackened banana and try to tell me that's an apple , I know that's not an apple . I know what an apple looks like . And so to judge the fruits in the lives of the people around us , we actually need that . We are all in desperate need of people who are open and honest , who can judge the fruits in our own lives , because sometimes we can't see when we're producing better .

Mark Spence 29:58

We're not sin sniffers , we're fruit inspectors . Right , they will know that we are his disciples by our love one for another , and that is exemplified as we forgive one another and bear with one another and just be there for each other . Yeah , amen .

Emeal Zwane 30:11

That's really good .

Ray Comfort 30:11

You know we're talking about . Really , in judging other people , we're talking about hypocrisy which is rooted in pride . A humble person won't judge another person because I've been there , I've got a multitude of sins , I've been forgiven and this person needs forgiveness too . So it's very important that we realize that hypocrisy is self-deceptive .

Emeal Zwane 30:30

Like the Pharisee and the publican Thank you God , I'm not like him Well yeah , I mean it's the 1 Corinthians 6 spirit of and such were some of you and Titus 3 , for we ourselves were also once , and it goes on to give that list . Yeah , it's

Fruitful Relationships

Emeal Zwane 30:49

that remembrance . And look , as far as what you said , oscar , about doing that with one another , specifically as believers , I mean 1 Corinthians 5 , 9 to 12 , says I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people . Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world , or with the covetous or extortioners or adulterers . Since then you would have to , you need to go out of the world . But now I've written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother who is sexually immoral or covetous or an idolater or a reviler or a drunkard or an extortioner , not even to eat with such a one .

Emeal Zwane 31:16

Then he says for what have I to do with judging those who are outside ? Do you not judge those who are inside ? And we've mentioned this before on the podcast . But Paul's asking this rhetorical question because the answer is yes , yes , you should , and that we as believers can make those external judgments about one another for the sake of love . I mean Paul's call here to put this person out is a loving emotion . It's saying , look , we care , so we can't allow the body to be leavened . And also , as he says later on . He says we give such a one over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh , so that their spirit may be saved .

Oscar Navarro 31:52

I can't help but wonder how many people are in the churches right now who are spiritually stunted in their sanctification because they have not enough people in their lives willing to separate the good fruit from the bad in their lives .

Oscar Navarro 32:06

And I can tell you it is good news when a brother lovingly comes to you and I mean , we all have blind spots , we all have areas of our lives in which something creeps up into our heart . And to have somebody come into your life and go , hey , man , I'm noticing this disposition in your life , that is a gift , an opportunity for you to go home and pray and reflect and discover some area of your heart that you didn't otherwise know was there . And if somebody wasn't put into your life at that moment , who knows how much worse that sin could have gotten . It could have given birth to death . In other words , having brothers in your life who are willing to separate good fruit from bad are ultimately people who desire to love you and desire for your good .

Oscar Navarro 32:49

I remember years ago , a friend of mine , eric , gave my son an avocado tree . I mean , it was I think I've talked about this in the podcast before it was like a stick when we got it , you know , and for like two or three years , just nothing was happening . It was basically just a stick with leaves on it . And one day he comes over and he looks at it and goes oh , you know , what you need to do is you need to go get some white paint , you need to paint this side of your stick , and I'm like why are you talking about white paint ? You know , but I do it . We go , we buy the paint , we paint like one side of the tree AKA stick and , sure enough , the next season it starts producing fruit .

Oscar Navarro 33:26

An avocado tree . What was happening was it was getting too much sun and apparently when you paint a side of it , it reduces the amount of sun it's getting , which is allows it to produce good fruit . But here's the point is that there are people in your life that the Lord is giving you that are intended to step in and go hey , here's something you need to do so the Lord can produce good fruit in your life , and if they weren't there to do that , you would be spiritually stunted . You would not be able to go on to produce that good fruit that the Lord desires to do in and through you .

Ray Comfort 34:00

Yeah , what a wonderful analogy , isn't that great . I don't think I've heard that before . Have you guys heard that ?

Emeal Zwane 34:04

No , he's talked about the avocado tree , but not that story . That story is great . It's really good , yeah , and what you don't want to do is you don't want to be the fool who puts up your walls because you have this perception . Oh , you're judging me , and then you shut out what's being said , right ? I've said it before .

Avoiding Self-Righteous Judgement

Emeal Zwane 34:18

Despite this messenger or the way they're conveying their message , you need to be listening to the message .

Ray Comfort 34:31

Lord , what are you trying to show me through this ? Hypocrisy is like bad breath and BO . You don't realize you've got it . Mark , please not this direction . You need an outside source to say hey , you stink . A wife is good at saying it without hurting you .

Emeal Zwane 34:42

Was it Job that said my breath is repulsive to my wife ?

Ray Comfort 34:44

Yeah , and what did she say at the beginning ?

Emeal Zwane 34:48

Kiss God and die .

Ray Comfort 34:49

Wait , why'd she have a New Zealand ?

Emeal Zwane 34:51

accent . All right , so let's get on to . Okay . What , then , is the wrong kind of judgment then between each other as believers ? Romans 10 , 14 , 10 to 13 . But why do you judge your brother or why do you show contempt for your brother ? For we all shall stand before the judgment seat of Christ , for it is written as I live , says the judgment that we need to be careful of , which is the intent , the motives of the heart , convictions that others have , where we begin to make judgments on them because they don't align with ours . What do you say is one of the best ways to help us avoid being like that , that judgmental spirit toward other believers ?

Mark Spence 35:47

Yeah , you know . Cs Lewis said don't judge a man for where he is , for you don't know how far he's come . You know we're all on different paths , different journeys . You think of all the things , right ? I mean , oscar's upbringing is a whole lot different than mine , right ? I can't expect his sanctification process to be the same as mine and you can't expect mine to be the same as yours , right ? And because somebody may have the license maybe to partake in something or not , partake in something doesn't mean somebody is more spiritual than the other person .

Mark Spence 36:21

We need to look at things as black and white . If they're sinful . If it's not sinful , let the person live his life . Right , we hear people go well , I homeschool .

Mark Spence 36:30

I cannot believe that somebody would put their child in a public school . That is absolutely horrific . Wow , slow down . You don't know their situation , you don't know their circumstance , you don't know their financial foundation for why they have to make the decisions that they're making . Are they making a sinful decision by doing that act ? Let them live their life . There's a reason why they are the parents or they are working over there , or they are living over in that direction . So if we stopped pointing that finger and realize there's three fingers pointing back at us when we point our finger at people . I think that we would do ourselves well right Not to be busy bodies . Now , as close friends living in a close proximity of each other and we earn the right to be able to speak inside of each other's lives we can maybe approach things by asking questions . Asking good questions leads to better answers instead of starting off with just coming down against someone .

Oscar Navarro 37:32

Yeah , that's really good , you know sorry , go ahead .

Emeal Zwane 37:34

Well , I was just going to say , mark , that's so good , and you know , you think about how grotesque it is , honestly , when we have that judgmental spirit and attitude . It's so ugly , and I'm saying this out of conviction , because I've , of course , had it at different points in my life , like about 40 minutes ago . Yeah , oh , when was that ? When ?

Oscar Navarro 37:51

you were late Oscar .

Emeal Zwane 37:53

When you were late . How dare you Now see that's an external judgment , because the clock said something and you were late . And then what happened ? What happened ? This ?

Mark Spence 38:00

is so good . No , no , no .

Emeal Zwane 38:02

I was here and and you disappeared and we were waiting for you .

Ray Comfort 38:05

No , it's about when you arrived .

Mark Spence 38:07

Guys are so judgmental . We have to explain this for the audience . You're so judgmental ? No , I think this is a really good time for Oscar to say something .

Emeal Zwane 38:15

I'm making a point . All right , take it away , hold on , I'm making a point .

Mark Spence 38:17

All right , let him finish the point , and then we'll rip him apart .

Emeal Zwane 38:19

So my point is you know you could think about this . See the pastor that you just saw at the church when you went there last week for a visit . You see him driving through town in a Mercedes or a BMW . Look at that guy . Well , you didn't know , right , that his car just died , and a nice friend let him use his car for the day . That's the kind of thing I'm talking about . You see someone oh , look at that big house they have . Oh , they're a really good missionary , right . Oh , you didn't know that their wealthy father gave them that house as a gift and they have zero house payments so that they could be able to serve the Lord freely . It's just so many things where we don't know . And maybe they do own that car , Maybe they do own that house . How about ? It's none of your business , right ?

Ray Comfort 39:09

So when I get judged for putting ice cream in the microwave , oh how ?

Mark Spence 39:13

wicked Ray . Yeah , I just get there's been a lot of comments that have come in and said that they agree with you .

Ray Comfort 39:18

Yes , I know , but I've not passed them on to you , I know easy's past a couple of them .

Emeal Zwane 39:22

We keep getting them know what I'm saying . Right , and that's what we have to stay away from . And I would say the best answer is , like we're told in 1 Thessalonians 4 , mind your own business , don't .

Ray Comfort 39:35

Busybody . I love the way you said that .

Emeal Zwane 39:37

Yeah , mind your own . And I'm speaking to myself , guys , look , I'm not saying this like I've attained . I'm saying I'm constantly tempted . Right , I have to deal with this guy's black coffee . I've got to deal with Ray's chickens , I've got to deal with Mark's , you don't realize the motive for me having chickens .

Ray Comfort 39:55

So we can give eggs to people .

Mark Spence 39:59

And throw eggs at pastor buys .

Ray Comfort 40:01

Hey , can I read James 1 , 11 to 12 in the Amplified Bible ? Believers do not speak against or slander one another . He who speaks self-righteously against a brother or judges his brother hypocritically speaks against the law and judges the law . In other words , you're setting yourself up as a judge when there's only one lawgiver . If you judge the law , you are not a doer of the law , but a judge of it . There is only one lawgiver and judge , the one who is able to save and to destroy , the one , god , who has the absolute power of life and death . But who are you to hypocritically or self-righteously pass judgment on your neighbor ? Wow , very powerful that is .

Oscar Navarro 40:41

You know , I think a lot of times what happens in our lives is that we , in our self-righteous state , in our assumption that we've got it put together , as we go about when we look at the sanctification process of others . I wanna get back to what you were saying earlier , mark . What we tend to do is expect people to be sanctified to our image .

Oscar Navarro 41:03

But the sanctification process is meant to sanctify us to the image of Christ . Say law , be more like Jesus . But when we look at other people and we go , well , they should think this way about alcohol , because that's the way I think they should think this way about this cultural issue , that cultural issue , et cetera , et cetera . Ultimately , what we do is we demand others to be in the image of self rather than being in the image of Christ . Wow , great word .

Emeal Zwane 41:30

Yeah , and alongside that , I love what Mark said .

Emeal Zwane 41:32

Chickens . I love what Mark said .

Wisdom, Grace, and Avoiding Judgment

Emeal Zwane 41:38

When we're in community , it provides opportunity for counsel in the areas of wisdom . There's nothing more beautiful than to be asked by someone hey , what do you think of this ? You know , I'm really struggling with whether or not to put my kids in school or to homeschool them , or to put them in a private school . You know , public versus private , whatever , what do you think I mean ? And that's where we can share our hearts . But even as we do that , we do that with humility , we do that with graciousness , we do that with the caveat of but whatever you guys believe is right for your family .

Mark Spence 42:10

And I've seen you do this well with a friend of ours , a young guy who came to you and said I wanna get a tattoo , and you said , all right , well , let me give you my reasonings why I'm not for tattoos personally , and then you make your decision if you wanna go and get that tattoo . He listened to what you had to say and he went ahead and went and got that tattoo and you celebrated with him and just , I mean , I don't know how would you respond ? How would you say your response was after he got that tattoo ?

Emeal Zwane 42:40

Well , I told him , and if you get it , I'll be the first to celebrate with you and give you a big hug . And you know , Neck piece .

Mark Spence 42:46

Teardrop Face and you know , but I but neck piece .

Emeal Zwane 42:48

But I but I fully and uncompromisingly shared my heart on it because I wanted to , you know , help , give them input and wisdom . But at the end of the day it's like , hey , whatever you decide , and then we have to live by that , like we've got to really let it go and say , hey , this is , this is not a sin issue , this is a choice this brother made . I can't get into the can't get into the intricacies of why or why not , or what might happen with it or what might not . Just leave it alone .

Mark Spence 43:13

Yeah , you didn't walk away coming into my office and say I can't believe he got that tattoo . What a jerk . I mean , you're in private who you were in public .

Emeal Zwane 43:23

Yeah , and I think it's important that we do that . But yeah , there's that opportunity where , look , if we're seeing something that may be an area of liberty in the life of another believer that is now beginning to cause sin in their lives , that thing in and of itself may not be sin , but now it's starting to cause sin or stunt the growth , or stunt their growth , or they're prioritizing it over spiritual things .

Ray Comfort 43:48

I'm getting a tattoo Of your face On your face . No , it just says tattoos are wrong .

Mark Spence 43:55

On your forehead right , I hate tattoos .

Emeal Zwane 43:58

Yes , it's sinful .

Oscar Navarro 44:01

No regerts , no regerts but you know what I'm saying .

Emeal Zwane 44:07

We need to be able to speak truth , share wisdom . We need to be able to , yeah , speak truth , share wisdom , we need to be open to receiving it , but at the end of the day , you know , we have to do what Paul said and just let people make their own decisions .

Emeal Zwane 44:18

Yeah , and you know that verse that I quoted from Romans preceding , that is , verses one through four . In Romans it says receive one who is weak in the faith , but not to disputes over doubtful things , for one believes he may eat all things , but he who is weak eats only vegetables . Let not him who eats , despise him who does not eat . Let not him who does not eat , judge him who eats , for God has received him . Who are you to judge another servant To his own master ? He stands and falls . Indeed , he will be made to stand , for God is able to make him stand , I love that so good , you guys you're talking about heavy things going on , right ?

Emeal Zwane 44:52

I mean , the dietary law was huge in that time and the whole world was split over it , even the pagans , and so it's like he's taking something that is of massive consequence and he's saying let him stand before his judge , who's God ? Don't go making a big issue out of this . Live your life for the Lord and love the believers and if they're straying in the sin . That's objective and clear from the word .

Oscar Navarro 45:16

Point it out .

Emeal Zwane 45:19

So yeah , I love this by Thomas Brooks . He says it is sad that saints should have many eyes to behold one another's infirmities and not one eye to see each other's graces .

Ray Comfort 45:30

Boy , that's a cyclops .

Emeal Zwane 45:32

Yeah , but I love that . I think another remedy is to try to look at the sweet attributes that other people have that's good , you know . To highlight those , to think on those , to talk about those . Tell me about mine .

Emeal Zwane 45:45

I can't think of any . I knew that was coming . That's the problem . But you know I often say that you know when we think of work , I talk about how you know work is a mission field . God doesn't put us at work where we'll spend literally 11 years of our life , 365 days made up of 24 hours , to just go to work . He uses it as a medium to fulfill the greatest commandment , so you're always looking to bless others . You hear about people gossiping about you , slandering . You go and intentionally say good things about them to other people , never mentioning anything negative or what they said . Just do it , man . You want to watch God free you up , set your heart soaring and be a light to people . Do stuff like that , amen .

Oscar Navarro 46:31

JC Ryle explains the idea of judgment really well when he says what our Lord means . To condemn is a fault-finding spirit , a readiness to blame others for trifling offenses or matters of indifference , a habit of passing rash and hasty judgment , a disposition to magnify the errors and infirmities of our neighbors and to make the worst of them .

Emeal Zwane 47:00

That's so good . Yeah , and this last quote here says it is easier to cry against 1,000 sins of others than to kill one of your own . Wow , that's really good . I forgot to put down who I think that might be Tim .

Oscar Navarro 47:13

I think I said that .

Emeal Zwane 47:14

Yeah , but yeah , I mean , and that's the thing , when we look at our own sin , our own weaknesses , our own struggles , our own shortcomings , there is enough there to preoccupy us without meddling in other people's business . It's hard , it's difficult . Our sinful nature has a bent to constantly judge , criticize . Guys , those listening , please , I plead with you . You have to determine to just get out of that business . Like I quoted that author last , time .

Ray Comfort 47:44

Ain't you tired yet ? Yeah , and it's the whole thing summed up in the story that Jesus told of the Pharisee and the .

Emeal Zwane 47:52

Republican the Republican . Oh boy , right , you're going to get a lot of judgmental mail for that one . All right , friends , it brings us to another end of another podcast . We're so glad you joined us today . Don't forget the Ten Commandments coin , the gift coin , that is the gold one . You can throw it in judgment at people's heads . Don't forget the Living Waters mug and the Evidence Study Bible , all at livingwaterscom . Remember podcast at Living Daughters , living Daughters , living Daughters .

Ray Comfort 48:23

As the new ministry will start up Podcast at livingwaterscom .

Emeal Zwane 48:29

Remember to go on the platform you listen and follow and like and give us comments and stuff like that . Thank you for joining us , friends . We'll see you here next time on the Living Waters podcast , where we have no idea what we're doing .