WEBVTT 00:00:01.199 --> 00:00:08.720 This podcast is a ministry of Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people know, enjoy, and glorify God. 00:00:08.960 --> 00:00:13.759 For more information about Grand Parkway, visit GrandParkway.org. 00:00:17.280 --> 00:00:18.719 Let's pray together. 00:00:19.039 --> 00:00:27.600 Lord, we come together today to acknowledge your greatness, to bow down anything in us, anything in our head or in our heart that competes with your greatness. 00:00:27.760 --> 00:00:32.079 We have a tendency to raise ourselves up uh higher than you. 00:00:32.240 --> 00:00:42.560 We would never just be that honest and say it, but in our in our attention and in our affection, sometimes we get a little sideways and we start exalting what we think above what you clearly have already said. 00:00:42.719 --> 00:00:44.560 And what we feel becomes dominant. 00:00:44.640 --> 00:00:47.359 And when we're led by our feelings, Lord, we're in a bad place. 00:00:47.520 --> 00:00:52.320 That's why the Bible says, trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. 00:00:52.479 --> 00:00:56.000 In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths. 00:00:56.079 --> 00:00:57.359 He'll make your paths straight. 00:00:57.439 --> 00:01:01.600 So if there's any crooked paths in us today, straighten them out, we pray. 00:01:01.759 --> 00:01:04.319 We'll use your word to do what it can only it can do. 00:01:04.560 --> 00:01:08.719 It never goes out and comes back void, but it accomplishes the purpose for which you send it. 00:01:08.879 --> 00:01:13.840 So accomplish your purposes in our lives this morning with your word and by your spirit. 00:01:13.920 --> 00:01:15.280 We pray this in Jesus' name. 00:01:15.359 --> 00:01:16.959 And everyone said, Amen. 00:01:17.280 --> 00:01:18.480 Before you sit down, look at me. 00:01:18.560 --> 00:01:21.120 If there's room on your row, I want you just to scoot in. 00:01:21.200 --> 00:01:24.879 We have some uh backslidden baptists will show up here in about five minutes. 00:01:25.200 --> 00:01:25.760 All right? 00:01:26.239 --> 00:01:28.400 And once you're scooted in, you can have a seat. 00:01:28.560 --> 00:01:30.719 And while you're having a seat, let me introduce myself. 00:01:30.879 --> 00:01:33.439 My name is Neil, and I am your pastor. 00:01:34.719 --> 00:01:38.560 If you're if you're our guest, I walked in this morning, somebody said, Who's that? 00:01:38.799 --> 00:01:42.799 Uh if you're our guest today, uh I don't preach of the month of July. 00:01:42.879 --> 00:01:44.239 Uh because here's why. 00:01:44.400 --> 00:01:47.120 We have uh uh a staff of gifted men and women. 00:01:47.200 --> 00:01:50.959 And so this past month you heard from our connections and teaching pastor, Rick Callahan. 00:01:51.120 --> 00:01:52.879 You'll continue to hear from Rick in the future. 00:01:53.040 --> 00:01:59.040 Uh I love his gifts and the way uh he teaches and preaches, so he will always be a continual part of the preaching rotation. 00:01:59.120 --> 00:02:05.200 Uh we're in a series entitled The Jesus Way uh from the Sermon on the Mount, which is found in Matthew chapter 5, 6, and 7. 00:02:05.359 --> 00:02:07.760 And uh Rick got us through chapters 5 and 6. 00:02:07.840 --> 00:02:10.800 In the month of August, I'll be preaching through Matthew chapter 7. 00:02:10.960 --> 00:02:19.039 We'll just take a little section at a time, and each Sunday we'll talk about a different uh what it means to kind of uh because the Sermon on the Mount is the words and the ways of Jesus. 00:02:19.199 --> 00:02:31.439 It's Jesus saying, Hey, you've heard of old, but verily, verily I say unto you, it's kind of like Jesus is kind of reframing for people, hey, this is what life in the kingdom looks like, and this is the way Christians think, and this is how they live. 00:02:31.599 --> 00:02:40.400 And so this morning I want to talk to you about the Jesus way, and and and the topic for today, the talk today, the sermon is intentionality in our relationships. 00:02:40.639 --> 00:02:53.680 Intentionality in our relationships, because uh if you've got more than three friends, uh you realize this, that there's your friends do things that not only it's not a matter of do I agree or disagree with that, but that's right or that's wrong. 00:02:53.759 --> 00:02:57.120 And so a lot of times when our friends get caught up, the Bible calls it sin. 00:02:57.280 --> 00:02:59.039 And so I'm comfortable using that language. 00:02:59.280 --> 00:03:08.240 I've got friends, like right now, I have a friend of mine uh that that that is separated from his wife, and he just can't make up his mind if he wants to go back to his wife or or get with this other woman. 00:03:08.400 --> 00:03:10.639 And so I drove to his town because I love him. 00:03:10.719 --> 00:03:12.319 I did his wedding 18 years ago. 00:03:12.479 --> 00:03:15.120 You can't just marry him, you gotta walk him through the hard part. 00:03:15.280 --> 00:03:18.319 So I drove to the town he lives in to have dinner with him. 00:03:18.479 --> 00:03:25.439 And and and I realized that intentionality in relationships is a rare thing because we're having dinner, and and and I said, Hey, I'll buy dinner. 00:03:25.520 --> 00:03:26.639 And he goes, You don't have to do that. 00:03:26.719 --> 00:03:30.479 No, I'm gonna buy dinner because I may say I gotta say some things to you you don't want to hear. 00:03:30.639 --> 00:03:33.439 And and I want to have dessert, so I'm gonna pay. 00:03:33.599 --> 00:03:55.360 Uh and so I it wasn't that, but the our waitress is what made me realize the world's not used to intentionality in relationships because I was drinking coffee, imagine that, and and she would come over and she'd be like, uh-oh, uh, because the one point in the conversation I said to him, Hey, listen, we're gonna find out because you don't have the right to determine what parts of Christianity you agree or disagree with. 00:03:55.439 --> 00:04:03.520 So here's what's gonna happen: you're gonna either be disciplined by God, because God says in Hebrews, the book of Hebrews, very clearly, every son I receive, I discipline. 00:04:03.680 --> 00:04:06.639 And he goes on to say, if I don't discipline you, you're not my child. 00:04:06.800 --> 00:04:12.960 I said, So you're gonna you're gonna be disciplined by God if you don't repent, or if you're not disciplined, it just means you're not really a Christian. 00:04:13.039 --> 00:04:15.199 And about that time she walked up, she goes, Oh, never mind. 00:04:15.280 --> 00:04:16.079 I said, No, no, no. 00:04:16.160 --> 00:04:17.120 Pour me some coffee. 00:04:17.199 --> 00:04:18.240 We're gonna be here a while. 00:04:18.399 --> 00:04:19.360 I love this man. 00:04:19.439 --> 00:04:21.120 And she's like, Okay, yeah, whatever. 00:04:21.199 --> 00:04:22.160 Sure, sure, sure. 00:04:22.399 --> 00:04:23.279 And I said, No. 00:04:23.360 --> 00:04:26.000 And he looked at her and said, Yeah, he loves me. 00:04:26.560 --> 00:04:27.839 Yes, I love him. 00:04:28.079 --> 00:04:31.680 I didn't raise my voice, I didn't call him names, I didn't tell him you're gonna go to hell. 00:04:31.759 --> 00:04:33.040 I just said, This is sin. 00:04:33.360 --> 00:04:34.079 This is sin. 00:04:34.160 --> 00:04:38.399 This is what intentionality in relationships looks like, and it's a lost art. 00:04:38.720 --> 00:04:46.959 We we what we do is if we got to talk to somebody, we talk to three other people that are mutual friends and ask their opinion and what do they think about this person's behavior? 00:04:47.120 --> 00:04:49.360 The Bible says, be intentional. 00:04:49.600 --> 00:04:52.160 Now that's what the Bible wants to talk to us about this morning. 00:04:52.319 --> 00:04:54.879 From Matthew chapter 7, I'll read the first six verses. 00:04:55.040 --> 00:04:58.079 Jesus says this judge not that you be not judged. 00:04:58.160 --> 00:05:03.120 For with the judgment you pronounce, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. 00:05:03.360 --> 00:05:07.600 There's not a drunk on a bar stool in Texas that doesn't know this verse of the Bible. 00:05:08.319 --> 00:05:10.720 It is tattooed on their chest somewhere. 00:05:11.040 --> 00:05:13.680 Doesn't the Bible say, judge not lest you also be judged? 00:05:13.920 --> 00:05:14.800 But it doesn't stop there. 00:05:14.959 --> 00:05:21.519 He goes on and says, This, why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 00:05:21.680 --> 00:05:27.040 Or how can you say to your brother, let me take the speck out of your eye when there's a log in your own eye? 00:05:27.279 --> 00:05:28.240 You hypocrite. 00:05:28.399 --> 00:05:33.040 First take the log out of your own eye, and then you'll see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye. 00:05:33.199 --> 00:05:40.319 Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you. 00:05:40.560 --> 00:05:44.639 Now the Bible says four things to us about being intentional in our relationships. 00:05:44.800 --> 00:05:50.879 Number one, the first thing the Bible teaches us this morning is this is that not being judgmental will not get you to heaven. 00:05:51.279 --> 00:05:53.759 Not being judgmental will not get you to heaven. 00:05:53.839 --> 00:05:55.519 Now, here uh you say, what do you mean? 00:05:55.600 --> 00:06:06.240 Uh people read verse one and two, and they take these verses and we consume them upon our lust, and we convince ourselves that if I'm blindly tolerant and I'm accepting of everything around me, that I won't have to experience judgment. 00:06:06.399 --> 00:06:12.079 Yesterday I was going to the hospital to see a friend of mine, and the car at the red light in front of me had two big bumper stickers on the back of it. 00:06:12.160 --> 00:06:17.519 One of them said tolerance and had all the religious symbols spelled out, and the other one said coexist. 00:06:18.079 --> 00:06:25.360 And I just thought, this is the culture that Jesus sends us into and says, I want you to be tolerant, I want you to be intentional in your relationships. 00:06:25.519 --> 00:06:28.800 That doesn't mean you're not patient, you're not loving, you're not compassionate. 00:06:28.959 --> 00:06:38.160 But when the Bible says, judge not, that you be not judged, he is not saying, hey, do really what he's called us to is not condemnation, but care. 00:06:39.279 --> 00:06:40.240 Let me say that again. 00:06:40.399 --> 00:06:41.360 It's not condemnation. 00:06:41.439 --> 00:06:43.680 We're not passing final judgment on somebody. 00:06:43.920 --> 00:06:46.959 I I said to my friend, I said, Do you you know I love you. 00:06:47.040 --> 00:06:48.240 I'm here because I love you. 00:06:48.399 --> 00:06:50.000 And he said, Yeah, I know that. 00:06:50.079 --> 00:06:52.160 I don't know what my deal is, I just don't feel it. 00:06:52.240 --> 00:06:53.439 I'm just dead spiritually. 00:06:53.519 --> 00:06:57.680 I said, I understand that, but I would be remiss if I didn't love you enough to tell you the truth. 00:06:57.920 --> 00:07:00.480 He goes, Oh, I I want you to tell me the truth. 00:07:00.639 --> 00:07:00.959 Okay. 00:07:01.120 --> 00:07:06.000 And hey, if you decide to go home to your wife tonight, or you just could continue to live in sin. 00:07:06.160 --> 00:07:08.319 And he kind of, and I said, That's what it is. 00:07:08.560 --> 00:07:10.639 What you're doing is not okay. 00:07:10.959 --> 00:07:14.959 And then the poor waitress, she she was across the restaurant and she couldn't stop staring at our table. 00:07:15.120 --> 00:07:17.519 And finally, I just felt you can feel people staring at you. 00:07:17.600 --> 00:07:18.079 You know that, right? 00:07:18.160 --> 00:07:19.839 And I just looked over and said, You getting this? 00:07:20.000 --> 00:07:21.920 And she's like, Oh, I'm not eavesdropping. 00:07:22.160 --> 00:07:22.800 Yeah. 00:07:23.120 --> 00:07:24.879 This is like a wreck on the highway. 00:07:25.040 --> 00:07:27.839 We got some onlooker slowdown going on over here. 00:07:29.040 --> 00:07:33.839 But again, the world is crying out for us to be intentional towards each other. 00:07:34.079 --> 00:07:37.360 You said, What do I mean when I say not being judgmental will not get you in the habit of? 00:07:37.519 --> 00:07:46.240 I've had so many conversations I can't count, where people said, Well, you know, the Bible says judge not, so you won't be judged, so I'm not gonna be a judgmental person, and that way I'm not gonna be judged. 00:07:46.319 --> 00:07:49.439 And I'm like, You really think that's gonna work for you? 00:07:49.600 --> 00:07:50.959 Well, you know what the Bible says? 00:07:51.120 --> 00:07:58.879 Yep, that's part of the conversation, but you're like watching a movie and pulling one line out of the movie and trying to build a whole belief system around that. 00:07:59.120 --> 00:08:01.920 Jesus goes on, matter of fact, and says, you know what? 00:08:02.000 --> 00:08:05.439 It's not about passing condemnation, final say on somebody. 00:08:05.519 --> 00:08:09.920 It's about loving somebody enough to deal with your own junk so you can get the speck out of their eye. 00:08:10.079 --> 00:08:11.120 Well, I don't know what you mean. 00:08:11.279 --> 00:08:13.680 And so again, this conversation about judgment. 00:08:13.759 --> 00:08:17.199 This I've had this conversation so many times with so many different people. 00:08:17.360 --> 00:08:19.199 But basically, it goes something like this. 00:08:19.360 --> 00:08:25.759 So people quote this, which is their self-defined karma by which I'm gonna escape judgment because I'm an accepting, tolerant person. 00:08:25.839 --> 00:08:27.759 And I always ask this question right here. 00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:32.960 Hey, what okay, if you think by not being judgmental, how are you going to get out of judgment? 00:08:33.039 --> 00:08:41.120 And they're like, I don't know, then I say to them, I like to say crazy random stuff that seems like it has no bearing whatsoever on the conversation. 00:08:41.360 --> 00:08:49.440 So a lot of times I'll just say, so explain to me, if by not being judgmental, you're not going to be judged, then explain to me the resurrection. 00:08:50.159 --> 00:08:53.840 And they without fail go, what's that got to do with anything? 00:08:54.080 --> 00:08:55.440 Well, that's a great question. 00:08:55.519 --> 00:08:58.639 But the Bible, see, Paul is in Acts chapter 17. 00:08:58.799 --> 00:09:07.120 Paul is talking, he's walking around the city of Athens, and he he's out touring the city, and he saw these idols, and they had different, you know, this is to this God and this God and this God. 00:09:07.279 --> 00:09:12.240 And he saw one idol, and there was a statue, and it had a it had a plaque on it and said, To an unknown God. 00:09:12.399 --> 00:09:14.320 In other words, hey, we're superstitious. 00:09:14.399 --> 00:09:16.799 If there's another God out there, this is for you, buddy. 00:09:16.879 --> 00:09:17.840 This bud's for you. 00:09:17.919 --> 00:09:24.399 And so Paul says to these people, these very smart men, he says, Hey, uh, I want you to know what you worship is unknown. 00:09:24.480 --> 00:09:25.519 I want to make known to you. 00:09:25.679 --> 00:09:28.480 I want to describe to you what the real God is really like. 00:09:28.639 --> 00:09:29.759 And he starts talking there. 00:09:29.840 --> 00:09:37.679 In Acts chapter 17, he gets down to verse 29 and he says, This, because he just said, Hey, as some of your own poets have said, we are God's offspring. 00:09:37.919 --> 00:09:47.120 Verse 29, being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being, God, is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and the imagination of man. 00:09:47.279 --> 00:09:48.080 Stop right there. 00:09:48.240 --> 00:09:51.840 You should ask yourself today, where did you get your beliefs about God? 00:09:53.039 --> 00:09:56.000 Is it formed by the art and the imagination of man? 00:09:56.720 --> 00:09:59.600 If this is as far as it goes, well, my God's a God of love. 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:02.559 Your God is formed by the art and the imagination of man. 00:10:02.720 --> 00:10:04.080 Really truth in your imagination. 00:10:04.159 --> 00:10:05.200 This is what I need God to be. 00:10:05.279 --> 00:10:08.960 I need God to be really forgiving and really patient and really just loving. 00:10:09.039 --> 00:10:10.480 And so my God's a God of love. 00:10:10.559 --> 00:10:12.080 You're obligated to say that. 00:10:13.039 --> 00:10:14.320 Your lifestyle obligates you. 00:10:14.399 --> 00:10:16.080 You can't say anything else. 00:10:16.480 --> 00:10:20.559 Paul says, hey, you shouldn't think that God, you think wrongly about God. 00:10:20.639 --> 00:10:23.279 He's not formed by the art and imagination of man. 00:10:23.440 --> 00:10:37.279 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent because he's fixed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man, Jesus, whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead. 00:10:37.519 --> 00:10:38.399 Now you're smart people. 00:10:38.559 --> 00:10:40.399 Hear the last part of that last sentence again. 00:10:40.559 --> 00:10:48.879 He says, because he's fixed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead. 00:10:48.960 --> 00:10:53.279 So when I ask people, hey, why there, if there's no judgment, how do you explain the resurrection? 00:10:53.440 --> 00:11:08.080 Because what Paul says to these people, what the Bible clearly teaches all throughout, is the standard by which we're gonna be judged is this resurrected, perfect Jesus who lived a sinless life, died on the cross for our sins, was buried, and rose again, and God raised him from the dead. 00:11:08.159 --> 00:11:10.559 That's what he's talking about when he says the end of this. 00:11:11.200 --> 00:11:12.080 End of this. 00:11:12.240 --> 00:11:15.440 He's not talking about the resurrection, he's talking about the certainty of judgment. 00:11:15.600 --> 00:11:22.639 He says, Hey, he's gonna judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he appointed, and of this fact, he's given assurance to all. 00:11:22.799 --> 00:11:23.519 What did he do? 00:11:23.679 --> 00:11:26.720 He rose him from he raised Jesus from the dead. 00:11:26.960 --> 00:11:33.039 And so I'm in a conversation with a man, and he's like, Well, you know, I'm I judge not less you all, you know, I'm not judgmental. 00:11:33.200 --> 00:11:34.879 The Bible says, judge not, you won't be judged. 00:11:35.039 --> 00:11:36.480 I said, You're not getting out of judgment. 00:11:36.559 --> 00:11:37.759 Everybody's gonna incur judgment. 00:11:38.000 --> 00:11:38.559 Well, what about you? 00:11:38.720 --> 00:11:44.399 Well, I'm gonna be judged too, but I'm gonna be judged according to a different standard because I place my faith in Jesus. 00:11:44.559 --> 00:11:48.399 And so I don't my sins of past, present, and future have been forgiven. 00:11:48.639 --> 00:11:49.919 Sin no longer has power over me. 00:11:50.000 --> 00:11:51.600 It doesn't mean I'm perfect or better than you. 00:11:51.759 --> 00:11:54.000 It's just that I have a relationship with Christ and you don't. 00:11:54.080 --> 00:11:55.039 I believe in God. 00:11:55.279 --> 00:11:58.240 Believing in God and having a relationship with God are two different things. 00:11:58.320 --> 00:11:59.759 Can we agree on that? 00:12:00.159 --> 00:12:01.200 I don't know. 00:12:01.600 --> 00:12:02.720 They're two different things. 00:12:02.879 --> 00:12:07.440 The Bible says that the demons in hell believe and tremble, so believing in God will not get you to heaven. 00:12:07.519 --> 00:12:13.039 You can believe that there's a higher power every day of your life and not have a relationship with God. 00:12:13.279 --> 00:12:14.720 You're tripping, man. 00:12:14.960 --> 00:12:16.480 My kids say the same thing. 00:12:16.639 --> 00:12:20.320 Like they told me on vacation I should get more into social media, and I said, I'm on my space. 00:12:20.720 --> 00:12:22.080 What's the big deal? 00:12:24.080 --> 00:12:25.360 I'm into all that stuff. 00:12:25.519 --> 00:12:27.600 My space and chat snap and all that. 00:12:27.679 --> 00:12:30.080 And I'm like, really, Dad? 00:12:30.320 --> 00:12:30.960 Really? 00:12:31.519 --> 00:12:34.000 Yeah, I'm just wait- where where is everybody? 00:12:34.240 --> 00:12:35.759 And I'm on AOL, too. 00:12:35.840 --> 00:12:36.639 Come on. 00:12:38.080 --> 00:12:38.559 What? 00:12:39.039 --> 00:12:41.039 Dad, you're just like an old man. 00:12:41.200 --> 00:12:42.639 Yeah, it's because I am old. 00:12:42.799 --> 00:12:44.080 That's uh that's exactly it. 00:12:44.159 --> 00:12:49.759 But back to this conversation with the guy, and I could tell he was, and by the way, being intentional is not being hateful. 00:12:50.000 --> 00:12:57.120 Being intentional is engaging people with where they are, and just kind of just follow the flow of their logic to its logical conclusion. 00:12:57.200 --> 00:12:59.759 So he's like, you know, uh judge not, you won't get judged. 00:12:59.840 --> 00:13:01.360 And I'm like, hey, here's the deal. 00:13:01.440 --> 00:13:02.559 We're all gonna experience judgment. 00:13:02.799 --> 00:13:06.720 Matter of fact, the standard, I said, what what tell me about the God you think is gonna judge you. 00:13:06.799 --> 00:13:07.919 Well, my God's a God of love. 00:13:08.080 --> 00:13:11.919 I said, well, the standard by which we're all gonna be judged is a perfect resurrected Jesus. 00:13:12.000 --> 00:13:14.639 And so no one's gonna get a uh a raw deal. 00:13:15.840 --> 00:13:17.600 Well, what do you mean? 00:13:17.759 --> 00:13:23.200 We're all gonna be the standard by which we're all gonna be judged is a perfect Jesus who lived a sinless life. 00:13:23.440 --> 00:13:25.600 And so when you think about judgment, don't think about me. 00:13:25.679 --> 00:13:26.399 I'm not the standard. 00:13:26.480 --> 00:13:27.679 That's why I'm not comparing you to me. 00:13:27.759 --> 00:13:29.120 I'm not saying I'm better than you. 00:13:29.279 --> 00:13:30.480 Heck no, not at all. 00:13:30.639 --> 00:13:34.240 The only difference in us is I have a relationship with Christ, you believe in God. 00:13:35.120 --> 00:13:38.240 Well, yeah, I believe believing won't get you there, my man. 00:13:39.039 --> 00:13:42.399 And so when we all of a sudden, see, we look around, we compare ourselves to everybody else. 00:13:42.480 --> 00:13:45.679 I'm just as good as that person, church is full of hypocrites, blah, blah, blah. 00:13:45.840 --> 00:13:55.759 But when you stand next to the perfect resurrected Jesus, which the Bible says we're all gonna do, God's given evidence, He's given proof of this by raising Jesus from the dead. 00:13:56.159 --> 00:14:04.240 See, here's what I'm trying to get this guy to understand, and what I want you to understand, is that God intends the reality of judgment to drive us to the mercy of God. 00:14:04.879 --> 00:14:06.000 Let me say that again. 00:14:06.159 --> 00:14:14.399 God intends, so if you're here today and you're not a Christian, you're just exploring Christianity, you're thinking about this, or you're just, hey, my friends invited me, shut up, okay? 00:14:14.559 --> 00:14:20.000 Uh don't walk out today and kind of go, I went to church and boogeyman Jesus got up and tried to scare me. 00:14:20.559 --> 00:14:21.840 No, not at all. 00:14:22.000 --> 00:14:24.080 It's this, it's just that that reality. 00:14:24.240 --> 00:14:26.320 I I don't apologize for the fact that's true. 00:14:26.399 --> 00:14:30.960 So I said to the guy, I try to leave him on a positive note because he's like, I gotta tell, he was kind of losing interest. 00:14:31.039 --> 00:14:33.279 And I said, Hey, uh, can I just tell you one last thing? 00:14:33.360 --> 00:14:34.320 He's yeah, one last thing. 00:14:34.399 --> 00:14:39.120 I said, Okay, here's the deal: the judgment of God is intended to drive you to the mercy of God. 00:14:39.200 --> 00:14:41.039 And the Bible says this about God's mercy. 00:14:41.200 --> 00:14:42.240 He's rich in it. 00:14:42.480 --> 00:14:43.840 I said, You know what rich is? 00:14:44.000 --> 00:14:44.960 Yeah, I know what rich is. 00:14:45.039 --> 00:14:46.240 It means you got a lot of money. 00:14:46.559 --> 00:14:49.519 When the Bible says God's rich in mercy, it means he's got a lot of mercy. 00:14:49.759 --> 00:14:52.159 God has more mercy than you and I have sinned. 00:14:52.879 --> 00:14:54.159 That's all that means. 00:14:54.799 --> 00:14:56.159 All right, that's straight up. 00:14:56.240 --> 00:14:56.960 I get that. 00:14:57.360 --> 00:14:57.679 Okay. 00:14:58.080 --> 00:14:59.279 Can we shake on that? 00:14:59.840 --> 00:15:03.120 Total strangers will shake my hand and agree on stuff like that. 00:15:03.519 --> 00:15:03.919 Why? 00:15:04.159 --> 00:15:07.600 Because deep inside we all want someone to love us enough to tell us the truth. 00:15:07.840 --> 00:15:11.919 But we live in a culture that believes that by not being judgmental, they're not going to be judged. 00:15:12.080 --> 00:15:17.840 And I just want to love you and the truth enough to say not being judgmental will not get you into heaven. 00:15:18.080 --> 00:15:20.879 Second thing the text tells us is that always start with yourself. 00:15:21.039 --> 00:15:22.000 Look at verse 3. 00:15:22.639 --> 00:15:27.039 After we get and we understand in its proper context, judge not that you be not judged. 00:15:27.279 --> 00:15:30.480 Verse 3, Jesus says, Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye? 00:15:30.559 --> 00:15:33.039 But do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 00:15:33.279 --> 00:15:38.720 Or how can you say to your brother, let me take the speck out of your eye when there's a log in your own eye? 00:15:38.879 --> 00:15:39.919 You hypocrite. 00:15:40.080 --> 00:15:44.480 First take the log out of your own eye, and then you'll see clearly take the speck out of your brother's eye. 00:15:44.639 --> 00:15:50.399 When I say always start with yourself, that's what Jesus, that's what the Bible teaches. 00:15:50.480 --> 00:15:54.080 Uh, one of the greatest examples of starting with yourself is the apostle Paul. 00:15:54.240 --> 00:15:57.679 One of the greatest men in the Bible, wrote 13 books of the New Testament. 00:15:57.919 --> 00:16:00.720 Incredible man of God, and he always started with himself. 00:16:01.039 --> 00:16:03.600 He always said, He said, I'm the chief of sinners. 00:16:03.759 --> 00:16:05.759 There's nobody that sinned more than I am. 00:16:05.919 --> 00:16:17.840 He he's describing the resurrection, and he says, Hey, he he rose from the dead, and he appeared to these the disciples and then the apostles, and then he appeared to 500 people, and last of all, he appeared to me as to one untimely born. 00:16:18.000 --> 00:16:21.200 He's always putting himself down there at the bottom of the food chain. 00:16:21.519 --> 00:16:22.799 He starts with himself. 00:16:23.360 --> 00:16:25.519 Probably the best example since it's the Olympics. 00:16:25.600 --> 00:16:27.840 I don't know if you know this or not, but the Olympics are going on. 00:16:28.480 --> 00:16:30.559 Things like fencing. 00:16:31.519 --> 00:16:32.720 I'm like, that's a sport. 00:16:32.879 --> 00:16:33.600 Okay, great. 00:16:33.759 --> 00:16:38.799 Uh but we have to watch the Olympics at my house because my wife sees like a human intro story about one of the swimmers. 00:16:38.960 --> 00:16:40.879 And then, oh, I want to watch when does she swim? 00:16:41.120 --> 00:16:42.080 Okay, she's swimming. 00:16:42.159 --> 00:16:44.080 She's a mama on a mission, she's swimming on Tuesday night. 00:16:44.159 --> 00:16:44.960 We got a DVR that. 00:16:45.120 --> 00:16:48.639 I'm like, Do you do you ever been to a swim meet in your life? 00:16:48.799 --> 00:16:50.159 No, I need closure. 00:16:52.399 --> 00:16:53.200 Oh, okay. 00:16:53.360 --> 00:17:00.000 So I'm all out of D VR space at my house because we have to record the Olympics, which comes on four channels at the same time, by the way. 00:17:00.399 --> 00:17:02.799 Just so you can see that women's field hockey. 00:17:03.600 --> 00:17:05.599 Yesterday, ping pong was on. 00:17:06.960 --> 00:17:08.319 Now, why do I tell you that? 00:17:08.480 --> 00:17:14.799 Because when Paul writes in 1 Corinthians chapter 9, he has in mind this forerunner to the Olympic Games called the Isthmus Games. 00:17:15.119 --> 00:17:16.559 It was an athletic competition. 00:17:16.640 --> 00:17:17.519 And this is what Paul says. 00:17:17.599 --> 00:17:19.200 This is what I mean by starting with yourself. 00:17:19.359 --> 00:17:22.319 Hear this from the Bible, 1 Corinthians chapter 9, verse 24. 00:17:22.480 --> 00:17:25.279 He says, Do you not know that in a race all the runners run? 00:17:25.440 --> 00:17:27.039 But only one receives the prize. 00:17:27.200 --> 00:17:28.960 So run that you may obtain it. 00:17:29.119 --> 00:17:31.920 Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. 00:17:32.079 --> 00:17:35.839 They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 00:17:36.079 --> 00:17:37.920 So I do not run aimlessly. 00:17:38.079 --> 00:17:40.160 I do not box as one beating the air. 00:17:40.319 --> 00:17:44.559 No one dove in the pool last night and it's kind of just kind of treaded water with spitting water. 00:17:46.319 --> 00:17:46.640 No. 00:17:47.359 --> 00:17:52.160 Men shave their body like hairless cats up there in speedoes. 00:17:54.000 --> 00:17:59.759 And Paul basically says, hey, men shave the hair, all the hair off of their body like hairless cats. 00:17:59.920 --> 00:18:00.319 Why? 00:18:00.480 --> 00:18:06.079 Because they do it to get this imperative, this perishable wreath, this little gold, silver, or bronze medal. 00:18:06.559 --> 00:18:11.359 He says, hey, we do it to receive this imperishable reality. 00:18:11.680 --> 00:18:13.359 So I do not run aimlessly. 00:18:13.440 --> 00:18:17.839 I do not box as one beating the air, but I discipline my body and keep it under control. 00:18:18.160 --> 00:18:20.799 What part of your body feels out of control today? 00:18:22.240 --> 00:18:25.680 The literal translation, Paul says, I beat my body and I make it my slave. 00:18:25.920 --> 00:18:28.079 In other words, I'm not going to be ruled by my appetites. 00:18:28.160 --> 00:18:30.319 I'm going to be led by my understanding. 00:18:30.640 --> 00:18:35.039 Are you ruled by your appetites today, or are you led by your understanding? 00:18:35.359 --> 00:18:36.960 He says, I do not run aimlessly. 00:18:37.039 --> 00:18:39.359 I do not box as one just beating the air. 00:18:39.519 --> 00:18:44.960 I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others, I myself should be disqualified. 00:18:45.200 --> 00:18:47.039 Paul starts with himself. 00:18:47.279 --> 00:18:50.079 You always start with yourself, otherwise you're a hypocrite. 00:18:50.240 --> 00:18:56.079 And when you go to be intentionally redemptive towards somebody, the first thing they're going to do is say, Well, what about you? 00:18:56.559 --> 00:19:04.480 They need to not say that they shouldn't be able to tell you anything about yourself that you're not aware of and haven't dealt with or are currently dealing with. 00:19:05.200 --> 00:19:06.160 And so what do you mean? 00:19:06.319 --> 00:19:12.720 If we don't start with ourselves and we won't be able to stand our own hypocrisy when it comes time to be intentional towards those around us. 00:19:12.880 --> 00:19:13.759 Let me say that again. 00:19:13.920 --> 00:19:18.000 If we don't start with ourselves, we won't be able to stand our own hypocrisy. 00:19:18.079 --> 00:19:20.079 The voice in our head will go, Well, who are you to say anything? 00:19:20.160 --> 00:19:21.680 I mean, come on, who are we kidding? 00:19:22.480 --> 00:19:23.200 Are you serious? 00:19:23.519 --> 00:19:24.559 You're just a hypocrite. 00:19:24.640 --> 00:19:25.680 Just keep your mouth shut. 00:19:25.839 --> 00:19:35.680 Which my concern is that in America, Christians are so bogged down with their own junk that we can't be redemptively intentional towards each other. 00:19:35.920 --> 00:19:42.000 We can't have conversations where we just kind of say, Hey, I I see something in you that's not good. 00:19:42.160 --> 00:19:43.440 Can we talk about that? 00:19:43.680 --> 00:19:45.599 But Jesus says, hey, start with yourself. 00:19:45.680 --> 00:19:50.079 And so to help us start with a self, I brought you some uh self-diagnostic questions. 00:19:50.240 --> 00:19:54.799 Uh five of these are from a man named Paul Goines that I use to kind of uh start with myself. 00:19:54.880 --> 00:19:56.559 And five of these I wrote myself. 00:19:56.720 --> 00:20:01.519 And so uh you don't have to try to write all these down, I'll email them to you, but let me just read them off to you briefly. 00:20:01.680 --> 00:20:03.920 He says, number one, am I solid in the faith? 00:20:04.160 --> 00:20:07.680 Now uh just circle in your attention in your mind's attention that word the faith. 00:20:07.759 --> 00:20:08.720 It's not my faith. 00:20:08.880 --> 00:20:10.400 You do not own Christianity. 00:20:10.640 --> 00:20:14.720 Christianity, look at me, beloved, it is historical before it's personal. 00:20:14.960 --> 00:20:21.359 Because we got a lot of people now that say, I'm a Christian, but I don't like what the Bible says about morality, so I'm just gonna shun all of that. 00:20:21.759 --> 00:20:23.279 You don't get to do that. 00:20:23.680 --> 00:20:25.279 Am I solid in the faith? 00:20:25.440 --> 00:20:29.599 Christianity was here long before I got here, and it'll be here long after I'm gone. 00:20:29.680 --> 00:20:36.319 And so either I submit to the teachings of Christ and the ways of Jesus, or I just renounce that and say, you know what? 00:20:36.480 --> 00:20:37.599 I don't want to do that. 00:20:37.759 --> 00:20:39.920 I want to live according to my appetites. 00:20:40.160 --> 00:20:42.720 So that's what we mean when we say, Am I solid in the faith? 00:20:42.960 --> 00:20:45.920 Secondly, is my lifestyle in obedience to Jesus Christ? 00:20:46.559 --> 00:20:49.200 Third question, am I committed to following God's word? 00:20:49.599 --> 00:20:52.480 Are there parts of the Bible that you just kind of read and avoid? 00:20:53.119 --> 00:20:56.400 Fourthly, do I talk openly of spiritual truths? 00:20:57.839 --> 00:21:00.960 Fifth, am I prayerfully optimistic about the people around me? 00:21:01.119 --> 00:21:03.599 That one slays me every time I ask myself that question. 00:21:03.920 --> 00:21:04.960 Because let me just be honest. 00:21:05.279 --> 00:21:09.920 Sometimes I look around and I just think, does anybody care about the truth anymore? 00:21:10.720 --> 00:21:13.200 I mean, I just God, does this even matter? 00:21:13.440 --> 00:21:14.000 Hello. 00:21:15.920 --> 00:21:17.680 Number six, am I joyful? 00:21:18.000 --> 00:21:20.160 Number seven, does sin still bother me? 00:21:20.720 --> 00:21:23.759 The Bible says this in Ephesians chapter 4, about verse 17. 00:21:23.920 --> 00:21:29.759 Having lost all sensitivity, they've given themselves over to sensuality with a continual lust for more. 00:21:29.920 --> 00:21:34.160 Beloved, when you and I lose sensitivity, there's no limit to what we will do. 00:21:34.720 --> 00:21:38.079 And with a continual appetite to do more of it. 00:21:38.400 --> 00:21:40.640 Number eight, am I growing spiritually? 00:21:41.039 --> 00:21:43.519 Number nine, do I find comfort in the gospel? 00:21:43.759 --> 00:21:46.640 Number ten, slayed me Thursday night. 00:21:47.279 --> 00:21:49.200 Number ten is is my faith sharing me? 00:21:49.279 --> 00:21:50.480 We always talk about sharing our faith. 00:21:50.640 --> 00:21:53.200 I just think your faith should share you. 00:21:53.279 --> 00:21:58.000 You you you should find yourself compelled to do things that you wouldn't normally naturally do. 00:21:58.240 --> 00:21:59.839 Thursday night we we got back from vacation. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:06.160 Vacation drove in from the airport about 7 15, and because I'm an old man, I was excited because the sun wasn't up. 00:22:06.240 --> 00:22:07.920 I mean, excuse me, the sun wasn't down. 00:22:08.000 --> 00:22:12.720 And I got back, I was gonna be able to mow my yard because I was just thinking, we left on Saturday, got back Thursday. 00:22:12.880 --> 00:22:14.319 I bit my grass, and it was. 00:22:14.400 --> 00:22:16.160 I mean, you could bail hay off that bad boy. 00:22:16.319 --> 00:22:19.359 I fan excited about one of my neighbors coming over and mowing my grass. 00:22:19.599 --> 00:22:20.799 Didn't happen. 00:22:21.599 --> 00:22:24.000 So I have fresh hate for all those people. 00:22:24.079 --> 00:22:27.839 Uh and so I came in, dropped the suitcases, changed clothes immediately. 00:22:27.920 --> 00:22:29.279 My wife's like, I know where he's going. 00:22:29.359 --> 00:22:30.880 He's going to mow because he's a man. 00:22:31.119 --> 00:22:34.559 I'm like, I gotta subdue creation, I gotta rule over creation and subdue it. 00:22:34.720 --> 00:22:35.920 So I'm out there mowing. 00:22:36.000 --> 00:22:37.759 And I looked over and the thought dawned on me. 00:22:37.839 --> 00:22:41.680 Right next to me, my neighbors, I'm gone for five days, they're gone for two weeks. 00:22:41.839 --> 00:22:43.279 Their grass is as tall as mine. 00:22:43.359 --> 00:22:46.480 I thought in two weeks you could hide a small child in that thing. 00:22:46.720 --> 00:22:48.720 And here's how depraved I am. 00:22:48.880 --> 00:22:50.960 I took pleasure in that thought. 00:22:51.359 --> 00:22:53.599 I thought, they're gonna get a letter. 00:22:57.039 --> 00:22:59.039 You live in one of those neighborhoods too, huh? 00:22:59.359 --> 00:23:01.359 You know the neighborhood Nazis drive around at night. 00:23:01.519 --> 00:23:03.119 Oh, you left your trash can out. 00:23:03.279 --> 00:23:05.359 Hey, why didn't you wheel it up to my garage? 00:23:05.440 --> 00:23:06.319 You were here. 00:23:07.920 --> 00:23:09.599 Take the time to write me a letter. 00:23:09.759 --> 00:23:11.519