1 00:00:06,560 --> 00:00:11,440 Well, glad everybody both recovered from bleary eyes last 2 00:00:11,440 --> 00:00:13,880 night. Staying up to watch the Jays 3 00:00:13,880 --> 00:00:17,160 game and got the time right with time change. 4 00:00:17,720 --> 00:00:20,240 I was so thankful last night that I got an extra hour. 5 00:00:20,680 --> 00:00:24,600 Man, I don't know about you. Turn your Bibles to Luke chapter 6 00:00:24,600 --> 00:00:28,960 6, verses 37 to 42. If you're using some of the 7 00:00:28,960 --> 00:00:31,520 Bibles found around the auditorium underneath some of 8 00:00:31,520 --> 00:00:36,720 the seats, it's page #915 if you don't have a Bible, take that 9 00:00:36,720 --> 00:00:38,520 Bible. That's our gift to you. 10 00:00:38,520 --> 00:00:41,400 We would love to be able to give that to you as a gift today. 11 00:00:43,880 --> 00:00:46,800 If you're new here or this is your first time with us in a 12 00:00:46,800 --> 00:00:48,280 while, we're so glad that you're here. 13 00:00:48,280 --> 00:00:52,800 And we're walking through the book of Luke slowly, but we're 14 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:55,440 getting there. We broke it up into different 15 00:00:55,440 --> 00:00:58,000 chunks. We're in this part of Luke that 16 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:00,800 is called the Sermon on the plane. 17 00:01:01,160 --> 00:01:04,519 It's a corollary to the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew. 18 00:01:04,519 --> 00:01:08,920 And Luke is one of four accounts of the life of Jesus that we 19 00:01:08,920 --> 00:01:11,920 call the Gospels. So if you ever wondered what 20 00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:12,880 are, what are they talking about? 21 00:01:12,880 --> 00:01:14,840 Not when we talk about the Gospel. 22 00:01:15,120 --> 00:01:17,960 We talk about books of the Bible called the Gospels. 23 00:01:18,400 --> 00:01:21,960 It's Matthew, Mark, Luke, John. Those are the the four people 24 00:01:21,960 --> 00:01:26,320 who who set about to set an account of the life and dealings 25 00:01:26,320 --> 00:01:28,840 and death and resurrection of Jesus. 26 00:01:28,840 --> 00:01:34,080 And Luke says that he set about to do this because we read in 27 00:01:34,080 --> 00:01:36,440 verse 1 three-way back when we started this. 28 00:01:36,760 --> 00:01:40,680 He had carefully investigated everything from the first to 29 00:01:40,680 --> 00:01:44,840 write an orderly sequence to a guy by the name of Theophilus, 30 00:01:44,840 --> 00:01:49,000 which means the lover of God. He's setting about to to kind of 31 00:01:49,160 --> 00:01:54,160 set the account of Jesus's life. And so as we pick up here, we're 32 00:01:54,160 --> 00:01:58,440 getting the first kind of extended chunk of teaching that 33 00:01:58,440 --> 00:02:02,360 Jesus gives in the book of Luke. And we're right in the thick of 34 00:02:02,360 --> 00:02:06,640 it right now in verse 37 to 42. And I want to read that 35 00:02:06,640 --> 00:02:09,560 together. So I'm going to open up the Word 36 00:02:09,560 --> 00:02:14,200 of God and let's listen to the words of Jesus as He speaks to 37 00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:17,280 the audience in front of him, but also to us today. 38 00:02:18,960 --> 00:02:22,120 Do not judge and you will not be judged. 39 00:02:23,320 --> 00:02:25,680 Do not condemn and you will not be condemned. 40 00:02:25,680 --> 00:02:27,520 Forgive and you will be forgiven. 41 00:02:28,040 --> 00:02:30,240 Give and it will be given to you. 42 00:02:30,240 --> 00:02:34,640 A good measure pressed down, shaken together, and running 43 00:02:34,640 --> 00:02:39,680 over will be poured into your lap, for with the measure that 44 00:02:39,680 --> 00:02:42,160 you use, it will be measured back to you. 45 00:02:43,480 --> 00:02:48,280 And he also told them a parable. Can the blind guide guide the 46 00:02:48,280 --> 00:02:50,600 blind? Won't they fall both into a pit? 47 00:02:51,560 --> 00:02:56,040 A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is 48 00:02:56,040 --> 00:02:58,360 fully trained will be like his teacher. 49 00:02:59,440 --> 00:03:04,520 Why do you look at the splinter in your brother's eye, but don't 50 00:03:04,520 --> 00:03:07,000 notice the beam of wood in your own eye? 51 00:03:07,840 --> 00:03:11,280 Or how can you say to your brother, brother, let me take 52 00:03:11,280 --> 00:03:15,120 out the splinter that's in your eye when you yourself you don't 53 00:03:15,120 --> 00:03:20,160 see the beam of wood in your eye, hypocrite, First take the 54 00:03:20,160 --> 00:03:24,200 beam of wood out of your eye and then you will see clearly to 55 00:03:24,200 --> 00:03:27,440 take out the splinter in your brother's eye. 56 00:03:29,840 --> 00:03:36,280 Some of you know that I struggle with color blindness. 57 00:03:37,280 --> 00:03:41,560 So the doctor tells me that the average person sees 58 00:03:41,560 --> 00:03:45,960 approximately 1,000,000 colors, and I probably can differentiate 59 00:03:45,960 --> 00:03:49,440 about 10,000 colors. I've talked about that before. 60 00:03:50,120 --> 00:03:53,320 My vision is not as it ought to be, but a lot of you probably 61 00:03:53,320 --> 00:03:57,280 don't know that more than color blindness. 62 00:03:57,280 --> 00:04:02,240 I had terrible vision as a kid. I was born with severe myopia 63 00:04:02,240 --> 00:04:06,400 and astigmatism. I was nearsighted and everything 64 00:04:06,400 --> 00:04:08,440 was distorted beyond the near sightedness. 65 00:04:08,440 --> 00:04:13,120 So I've got a couple pictures to help you see how I saw the 66 00:04:13,120 --> 00:04:15,560 world. That would be kind of what I 67 00:04:15,560 --> 00:04:19,880 would see in the evening if I was out without glasses on or 68 00:04:19,880 --> 00:04:22,480 corrective lenses. Here's here's a picture is 69 00:04:22,480 --> 00:04:26,360 really helpful. I was somewhere between the -3 70 00:04:26,720 --> 00:04:29,560 in that bottom left hand corner in the -6. 71 00:04:30,680 --> 00:04:34,800 And so that's how I saw the world from the time I was born. 72 00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:38,440 My parents figured out very quickly I would not move off of 73 00:04:38,440 --> 00:04:41,160 the couch, even though it looked like I could walk carefully 74 00:04:41,400 --> 00:04:43,400 because I had no idea what was in front of me. 75 00:04:44,120 --> 00:04:49,480 And so at the age of 21, I had corrective eye surgery, LASIK 76 00:04:49,480 --> 00:04:55,200 surgery. I was, this was way back in 2001 77 00:04:55,200 --> 00:05:03,000 or 2002 and it was incredible. They, they put me on this table. 78 00:05:04,440 --> 00:05:08,720 They started burning my eyes. I don't know how else to, but 79 00:05:08,880 --> 00:05:12,200 I'm laying there and all I can smell is what smells like 80 00:05:12,200 --> 00:05:14,920 burning hair. And something dawns on me. 81 00:05:14,920 --> 00:05:18,880 That's my eyeball that's burning, but they had to to 82 00:05:18,920 --> 00:05:25,000 reshape my eyes because my cornea was was way too thick and 83 00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:27,560 peaked. And so the cornea is the lens 84 00:05:27,560 --> 00:05:29,680 through which you see and it was reflect. 85 00:05:29,680 --> 00:05:32,880 It was refracting the light in such a way that it distorted 86 00:05:32,880 --> 00:05:35,840 everything. And all the sudden after this 87 00:05:35,840 --> 00:05:39,040 corrective surgery, I could sit up and for the very first time 88 00:05:39,040 --> 00:05:41,480 in my life, this is not a big deal to some of you, but it was 89 00:05:41,480 --> 00:05:43,680 a huge deal to me. They had one of those giant 90 00:05:43,680 --> 00:05:46,680 clocks on the wall because your your vision still has a little 91 00:05:46,680 --> 00:05:49,200 bit of correcting to do as as you heal up. 92 00:05:49,200 --> 00:05:51,240 But I can see it with my own eyes. 93 00:05:51,240 --> 00:05:53,200 I didn't have to put any contact lenses in. 94 00:05:53,200 --> 00:05:54,200 I don't have to put any glasses on. 95 00:05:54,320 --> 00:05:57,800 I could read that giant clock on the wall And I thought, this is 96 00:05:57,800 --> 00:06:01,400 incredible. Why am I talking about this? 97 00:06:01,400 --> 00:06:04,760 Because you, we walked through that scripture today. 98 00:06:05,360 --> 00:06:09,600 Jesus is talking about vision. Notice there's a couple 99 00:06:09,600 --> 00:06:13,800 different illustrations about vision and, and, and the big 100 00:06:13,800 --> 00:06:18,760 idea that I want us to see this morning is this, that following 101 00:06:18,760 --> 00:06:24,320 Jesus requires looking at others and ourselves through a 102 00:06:24,320 --> 00:06:27,400 different lens. That if we're going to follow 103 00:06:27,400 --> 00:06:31,600 Jesus, Jesus is going to do some work on us, particularly in the 104 00:06:31,600 --> 00:06:34,360 area of how we see others. He's got to do some corrective 105 00:06:34,360 --> 00:06:39,760 surgery on us. Every single one of us in this 106 00:06:39,760 --> 00:06:45,240 room has lenses by which we look at the world and look at other 107 00:06:45,240 --> 00:06:47,880 people. We, we actually, we call this, 108 00:06:47,880 --> 00:06:49,600 there's a, there's a word for this. 109 00:06:49,600 --> 00:06:54,640 It's called a worldview. You have a worldview you you 110 00:06:54,640 --> 00:06:57,400 have presuppositions. You have ways that you think 111 00:06:57,400 --> 00:07:00,040 about the world, think about meaning in the world, think 112 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:02,400 about purpose in the world, think about the people in the 113 00:07:02,400 --> 00:07:04,480 world, think about the value of human life. 114 00:07:04,520 --> 00:07:07,240 All of these things are encompassed in something that's 115 00:07:07,240 --> 00:07:10,720 called a worldview. It's how you see the world. 116 00:07:11,560 --> 00:07:15,960 And to have a Christian worldview at its most basic 117 00:07:15,960 --> 00:07:20,000 level means seeing the world like Jesus sees the world. 118 00:07:21,120 --> 00:07:23,760 It means having our vision shaped by him. 119 00:07:23,760 --> 00:07:29,080 It means having our vision shaped by the word of God, by 120 00:07:29,080 --> 00:07:32,960 the fundamental truths of what the Bible teaches about what 121 00:07:32,960 --> 00:07:37,480 reality is, what God is like is the ultimate reality, who we 122 00:07:37,480 --> 00:07:40,040 are, what we're like, how he sees us. 123 00:07:41,160 --> 00:07:46,240 Growing as a disciple, then, means increasingly learning to 124 00:07:46,240 --> 00:07:50,960 see the world as we're meant to see it, as Jesus has called us 125 00:07:50,960 --> 00:07:54,520 to see it. And that means that you and I, 126 00:07:54,520 --> 00:07:59,320 as that happens, we're going to see the world very differently 127 00:07:59,840 --> 00:08:02,440 as we've been talking about, right as Jesus is teaching here. 128 00:08:02,440 --> 00:08:07,560 What is so obvious when you read through this teaching of Jesus 129 00:08:07,560 --> 00:08:12,200 that Jesus got a different way of seeing things than we're 130 00:08:12,200 --> 00:08:15,840 seeing things. The way of Jesus is a different 131 00:08:15,840 --> 00:08:19,960 way of of living and being and seeing the world. 132 00:08:19,960 --> 00:08:25,240 And this morning in particular, we need to see this reality that 133 00:08:25,240 --> 00:08:28,720 Jesus calls us to see others differently. 134 00:08:29,760 --> 00:08:34,960 So he starts in verse 37. He says do not judge and you 135 00:08:34,960 --> 00:08:39,720 will not be judged. Do not condemn and you will not 136 00:08:39,720 --> 00:08:43,320 be condemned. Forgive and you will be 137 00:08:43,320 --> 00:08:46,160 forgiven. I used to think that John 316 138 00:08:46,160 --> 00:08:48,000 was the most famous verse in the Bible. 139 00:08:49,160 --> 00:08:53,680 I've come to understand that the very most famous verse in the 140 00:08:53,680 --> 00:08:57,360 Bible is Luke 637, at least the very beginning of it. 141 00:08:58,400 --> 00:09:00,800 Because people who couldn't tell you anything else about the 142 00:09:00,800 --> 00:09:04,960 Bible, about Jesus, will say, hey, doesn't the Bible say don't 143 00:09:04,960 --> 00:09:08,920 judge, right? Like it's like everybody knows 144 00:09:08,920 --> 00:09:16,600 this verse and it does in fact, as we read here say do not 145 00:09:16,600 --> 00:09:20,320 judge. But like everything, context 146 00:09:20,320 --> 00:09:25,920 matters, right? So this same statement is given 147 00:09:25,920 --> 00:09:31,320 in Matthew 7 verse one. And as I said, this is a 148 00:09:31,320 --> 00:09:34,120 corollary to that teaching in Matthew. 149 00:09:34,280 --> 00:09:38,040 They're probably different times, but Jesus, Jesus had a 150 00:09:38,040 --> 00:09:41,160 certain things that he taught on frequently and he was like 1000 151 00:09:41,160 --> 00:09:42,440 preacher. He was teaching in different 152 00:09:42,440 --> 00:09:45,320 spots. And so he's teaching many of the 153 00:09:45,320 --> 00:09:47,880 same things here to this group of people as he taught on the 154 00:09:47,880 --> 00:09:54,160 Sermon on the Mount. And he says, don't judge, do not 155 00:09:54,160 --> 00:09:58,760 judge lest you be judged. But in Matthew, if you go down 156 00:09:58,760 --> 00:10:02,920 five more verses in that same section, Jesus continues on in 157 00:10:02,920 --> 00:10:07,480 his teaching and says, this, Don't give what is holy to dogs 158 00:10:07,480 --> 00:10:09,440 or toss your pearls before the swine. 159 00:10:09,440 --> 00:10:13,880 Then a few verses after that, he says be on your guard against 160 00:10:13,880 --> 00:10:16,720 false prophets. Guess what living out those 161 00:10:16,720 --> 00:10:21,520 verses require you to do? To judge, you have to have some 162 00:10:21,520 --> 00:10:23,040 judgment. You have to have some 163 00:10:23,040 --> 00:10:27,840 discernment, right? In fact, Jesus himself says in 164 00:10:27,840 --> 00:10:33,080 the Gospel of John, John 7/24, he says, yes, stop judging 165 00:10:33,080 --> 00:10:35,840 according to outward appearances. 166 00:10:36,720 --> 00:10:38,520 But there's a second part to the verse. 167 00:10:38,720 --> 00:10:42,720 Rather judge according to righteous judgment. 168 00:10:43,400 --> 00:10:47,760 So like, it's simply impossible to live life for any of us 169 00:10:48,480 --> 00:10:54,400 without judging, because even to judge that someone is judging 170 00:10:54,400 --> 00:11:00,720 requires judging, right? We all have to use judgment and 171 00:11:00,720 --> 00:11:02,960 discernment. So what is Jesus saying here to 172 00:11:02,960 --> 00:11:05,640 us? He's saying this. 173 00:11:06,160 --> 00:11:09,280 The issue isn't that you as a Christian can't judge. 174 00:11:09,280 --> 00:11:11,880 The issue that is that you as a Christian is 1 who's going to 175 00:11:11,880 --> 00:11:15,360 follow Jesus. You need to not be judgy, right? 176 00:11:15,360 --> 00:11:19,200 That's a big difference using judgment versus being judgy, 177 00:11:19,880 --> 00:11:22,640 right? Jesus speaking against 178 00:11:22,640 --> 00:11:27,720 judgmentalism, he's speaking against that critical heart, 179 00:11:27,720 --> 00:11:33,320 that critical spirit, a heart that's just ready to to view 180 00:11:33,320 --> 00:11:38,400 others through a lens of negativity, A posture that's 181 00:11:38,440 --> 00:11:43,480 puffed up, that's proud, that's quick to condemn other. 182 00:11:43,480 --> 00:11:45,680 But that's why he says don't condemn, right. 183 00:11:45,680 --> 00:11:48,560 He fills us out. Don't judge what I mean by that. 184 00:11:48,560 --> 00:11:53,280 Don't condemn. That's this, that same posture 185 00:11:53,280 --> 00:11:56,920 when we're quick to condemn that we're very slow to offer 186 00:11:57,120 --> 00:12:00,920 forgiveness and mercy and compassion and understanding and 187 00:12:00,920 --> 00:12:05,720 empathy towards others, Right. And so he says forgive. 188 00:12:08,720 --> 00:12:13,440 It's it's about asking this question, what's the natural 189 00:12:13,440 --> 00:12:18,440 leaning and posture of my heart? Where does my heart most 190 00:12:18,440 --> 00:12:21,840 naturally go? Are you, are you someone who 191 00:12:21,840 --> 00:12:28,240 walks through life quick to assume the worst in others, the 192 00:12:28,240 --> 00:12:33,240 worst about others? Are you someone who is quick in 193 00:12:33,240 --> 00:12:37,520 this life to, to, to size somebody up and to write them 194 00:12:37,520 --> 00:12:40,000 off? That that's what Jesus is 195 00:12:40,000 --> 00:12:43,000 talking about here. Jesus is saying I need you to 196 00:12:43,000 --> 00:12:45,600 see others through a different lens. 197 00:12:45,920 --> 00:12:50,680 I need you to see people through the lens of compassion rather 198 00:12:50,680 --> 00:12:55,560 than condemnation. See, we, we live in a world, I 199 00:12:55,560 --> 00:12:58,640 don't know if you'd noticed this, that that is not the 200 00:12:58,640 --> 00:13:04,160 natural way that most of us walk around. 201 00:13:05,160 --> 00:13:08,960 It's not the natural bent of our culture to be quick to 202 00:13:08,960 --> 00:13:13,720 compassion and slow to condemn. Now we live in a culture that is 203 00:13:13,720 --> 00:13:18,360 quick to cancel, right? And that is antithetical to the 204 00:13:18,360 --> 00:13:24,040 way of Jesus, right? And this is especially 205 00:13:24,320 --> 00:13:27,720 especially, especially especially true given the 206 00:13:27,720 --> 00:13:29,280 context of where we were last week. 207 00:13:29,280 --> 00:13:31,080 Remember last week we were talking about how are you 208 00:13:31,080 --> 00:13:33,920 supposed to treat your enemies? Jesus didn't extract. 209 00:13:33,920 --> 00:13:38,240 This is flowing right out of it. You want, you want a quick gauge 210 00:13:38,240 --> 00:13:43,240 of whether your heart is a critical heart, a judgy heart is 211 00:13:43,240 --> 00:13:46,160 how do you approach those who you most naturally disagree 212 00:13:46,160 --> 00:13:49,920 with? Do you immediately kind of jump 213 00:13:49,920 --> 00:13:56,320 to conclusions about them? Most of us do. 214 00:13:57,480 --> 00:14:02,040 Most of us run into this. Most of us are quick to condemn 215 00:14:02,040 --> 00:14:06,040 because we're puffed up and, and we assume the worst others. 216 00:14:06,040 --> 00:14:07,960 And there's two reasons for that. 217 00:14:08,640 --> 00:14:11,560 The first is this. I think part of it is, is self 218 00:14:11,560 --> 00:14:14,800 protection. I mean, we, we just think, well, 219 00:14:14,800 --> 00:14:19,040 if I assume the worst, I can't be let down that if I don't let 220 00:14:19,040 --> 00:14:26,080 somebody in, they can't hurt me. So there's self protection, but 221 00:14:26,080 --> 00:14:27,840 there's a, there's another self that's involved. 222 00:14:27,840 --> 00:14:35,280 It's called self righteousness. The, the deep down we love to 223 00:14:35,280 --> 00:14:41,480 feel superior to others. We like that feeling. 224 00:14:41,480 --> 00:14:45,880 We, we like feeling like we're better than somebody else. 225 00:14:47,960 --> 00:14:50,400 And remember, Jesus is speaking and there's a, there's a 226 00:14:50,400 --> 00:14:53,800 background history here, right? We, you might not remember, you 227 00:14:53,800 --> 00:14:56,440 might not have been with us, but we've been introduced to this 228 00:14:56,440 --> 00:15:02,000 cast of characters called the Pharisees who were known for 229 00:15:02,000 --> 00:15:06,920 their righteousness, for their following of the rules and for 230 00:15:06,920 --> 00:15:09,920 their catching of other people as they've already tried to 231 00:15:09,920 --> 00:15:12,400 catch Jesus not following the rules. 232 00:15:13,400 --> 00:15:18,120 There's a smugness and smarminess of self righteousness 233 00:15:18,120 --> 00:15:22,200 that we can so easily fall into. And I'm telling you that this is 234 00:15:22,200 --> 00:15:26,480 both religious and irreligious people who fall into smug self 235 00:15:26,480 --> 00:15:30,480 righteousness. I mean, like, let's be honest, 236 00:15:31,600 --> 00:15:37,520 this is not to get political, but the reason that the guy who 237 00:15:37,520 --> 00:15:41,400 was our Prime Minister before is no longer a Prime Minister, part 238 00:15:41,400 --> 00:15:45,160 of it has to do with the attitude that he carried the, 239 00:15:45,160 --> 00:15:47,800 the lens of condescension, right? 240 00:15:48,200 --> 00:15:50,200 And that can we can all fall into that. 241 00:15:50,480 --> 00:15:52,440 You don't have to be religious or irreligious. 242 00:15:52,440 --> 00:15:57,560 Is it easy to get sparmy and smug and feel like you have a 243 00:15:57,560 --> 00:16:00,680 higher way of seeing things than everybody else? 244 00:16:00,680 --> 00:16:06,640 Jesus is saying like, if you're going to follow me, you can't 245 00:16:06,640 --> 00:16:10,360 have that whiff of smugness and smarminess and self 246 00:16:10,360 --> 00:16:14,920 righteousness on you. You have to not just let go of 247 00:16:15,120 --> 00:16:19,200 yourself protection, but you have to let go of your 248 00:16:19,280 --> 00:16:25,120 pretensions, your pride. And if you don't, here's what 249 00:16:25,120 --> 00:16:28,480 happens. He says what you give is what 250 00:16:28,480 --> 00:16:33,160 you'll get that the way that you view others, the way that you 251 00:16:33,160 --> 00:16:35,880 come at others, the way you approach others, you can start 252 00:16:35,880 --> 00:16:40,800 to get some of that back at you. So if you come and, and you've 253 00:16:40,800 --> 00:16:44,640 got a sense of arrogance about you, a sense of smugness about 254 00:16:44,640 --> 00:16:47,400 you, a critical spirit about you, guess what people are going 255 00:16:47,400 --> 00:16:50,760 to have towards you. Those same things are coming 256 00:16:50,760 --> 00:16:55,240 right back at you and that's from others. 257 00:16:55,240 --> 00:17:01,240 But it's also a reality that like, hey, if you understand 258 00:17:01,240 --> 00:17:05,920 grace, then how can this even be? 259 00:17:07,040 --> 00:17:10,359 And it's a, it's a pretty key indicator that your heart maybe 260 00:17:10,359 --> 00:17:13,359 hasn't fully understood the grace of God. 261 00:17:14,160 --> 00:17:18,160 If you don't walk around extending grace to others. 262 00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:22,119 He says forgive and you will be forgiven. 263 00:17:23,400 --> 00:17:27,319 The extension of that is if you're a forgiven person, you 264 00:17:27,319 --> 00:17:31,600 should be one who forgives Jesus. 265 00:17:31,720 --> 00:17:36,840 Jesus is, he tells us, right? If we belong to him, we should 266 00:17:36,840 --> 00:17:38,480 bear fruit. We looked at that at the 267 00:17:38,480 --> 00:17:41,040 beginning of the fall. And part of the fruit of that 268 00:17:41,040 --> 00:17:44,760 should be people who have received grace extend grace, 269 00:17:45,400 --> 00:17:49,120 people who understand compassion, extend compassion 270 00:17:49,760 --> 00:17:58,200 and an unforgiving and an an unforgiving, a critical, a 271 00:17:58,200 --> 00:18:04,200 judgmental spirit is incompatible with being a 272 00:18:04,200 --> 00:18:06,640 Christian who is filled with the spirit. 273 00:18:07,480 --> 00:18:09,320 Those things they do not go together. 274 00:18:10,560 --> 00:18:12,960 They're counter. We got all sorts of things that 275 00:18:12,960 --> 00:18:16,600 we look at people and and and their external sins that 276 00:18:16,600 --> 00:18:19,480 sometimes we're like, man, I don't like that doesn't seem to 277 00:18:19,480 --> 00:18:22,400 match up with being Jesus. I think we give critical spirit. 278 00:18:22,680 --> 00:18:25,160 We don't we don't put enough attention on that. 279 00:18:25,160 --> 00:18:28,760 It is so counter to the gospel to walk around with a critical 280 00:18:28,760 --> 00:18:31,720 spirit. It's the it's the ultimate 281 00:18:31,720 --> 00:18:37,480 absence of grace. Give and it will be given to 282 00:18:37,480 --> 00:18:40,720 you. A good measure, he says, pressed 283 00:18:40,720 --> 00:18:45,280 down, shaken together, running over, will be poured out into 284 00:18:45,400 --> 00:18:48,800 your lap for the measure you use. 285 00:18:48,800 --> 00:18:52,640 It will be measured back to you. Now this picture of measurement 286 00:18:52,640 --> 00:18:56,720 that he's talking about here is a picture of being at the, the 287 00:18:56,720 --> 00:18:59,920 market in his time. And you're going, and you're 288 00:18:59,920 --> 00:19:02,560 going to buy some seed, you're going to buy some wheat. 289 00:19:03,560 --> 00:19:06,200 And, and if you've ever done this, maybe in like a, a bulk 290 00:19:06,200 --> 00:19:10,040 barn or something, you fill something up and, and it, it, 291 00:19:10,160 --> 00:19:14,240 it, it fills up, but it's, it's not, it's not even right. 292 00:19:14,240 --> 00:19:16,560 It fills up and there's a, there's a hump in the middle. 293 00:19:16,560 --> 00:19:19,960 And so you got to shake it down a little bit to get more room in 294 00:19:19,960 --> 00:19:21,720 the bag. And so that's the picture here 295 00:19:22,040 --> 00:19:26,880 of like, be the type of person who when you're selling 296 00:19:26,880 --> 00:19:31,680 something, you take that bag, you shake it up so you can pour 297 00:19:31,680 --> 00:19:35,120 more in, you shake it up so you can get it overfill. 298 00:19:35,120 --> 00:19:38,640 You want to get as much bag, you want to be as generous as 299 00:19:38,640 --> 00:19:42,040 possible. This is again, going back to 300 00:19:42,040 --> 00:19:44,320 last week. This is this call to us being 301 00:19:44,320 --> 00:19:47,800 people who have generous hearts and generous spirits, not just 302 00:19:47,800 --> 00:19:52,120 in in giving financially, but generosity of grace and 303 00:19:52,120 --> 00:19:55,120 forgiveness and kindness and empathy and compassion to 304 00:19:55,120 --> 00:20:01,080 people. As followers of Jesus, we should 305 00:20:01,080 --> 00:20:04,840 be in the place where if we are going to air with somebody, if 306 00:20:04,840 --> 00:20:07,840 we're going to get it wrong, let's get it wrong on the side 307 00:20:07,840 --> 00:20:12,560 of grace. Let's let's get it wrong on 308 00:20:12,560 --> 00:20:15,960 believing the best in people, not the worst in people. 309 00:20:19,160 --> 00:20:24,160 You make the decision to believe the best about someone until. 310 00:20:24,680 --> 00:20:26,520 They don't give you that option anymore. 311 00:20:29,080 --> 00:20:33,000 Don't start out believing that that the person that you 312 00:20:33,000 --> 00:20:37,200 disagree with that your enemy, that your opponent is wicked and 313 00:20:37,200 --> 00:20:41,600 evil. Allow for the the possibility 314 00:20:42,320 --> 00:20:45,920 that you might actually be at least in part in this situation 315 00:20:45,920 --> 00:20:50,480 in the wrong. And if you come to a point using 316 00:20:50,480 --> 00:20:56,480 your judgment, looking and and understanding through the lens 317 00:20:56,480 --> 00:20:58,720 of Jesus, no, they, they, they've got this wrong. 318 00:20:58,720 --> 00:21:02,640 They're not in truth, then here's what you do. 319 00:21:04,720 --> 00:21:08,400 You don't come at them from a position of assuming they are 320 00:21:08,400 --> 00:21:11,600 naturally malevolent. You come at them assuming 321 00:21:11,680 --> 00:21:16,120 they're in a spot where they're misguided and you try and lead 322 00:21:16,120 --> 00:21:20,600 them towards truth. You, you give the best, most 323 00:21:20,600 --> 00:21:24,040 generous interpretation of an opponent's argument. 324 00:21:24,200 --> 00:21:26,800 Nothing drives me more crazy in this world than this. 325 00:21:26,960 --> 00:21:29,880 Everybody straw man's the people that they're against or the 326 00:21:29,880 --> 00:21:34,360 arguments they're against. If you give an argument and it's 327 00:21:34,360 --> 00:21:37,960 not an argument, the person who you are disagreeing with would 328 00:21:37,960 --> 00:21:41,480 say, yeah, that's an accurate reflection of what I believe. 329 00:21:42,480 --> 00:21:45,840 Then you're not acting with integrity, you're acting like a 330 00:21:45,840 --> 00:21:49,120 liar. You need to steal man people's 331 00:21:49,120 --> 00:21:51,560 arguments, not straw man people's arguments. 332 00:21:53,480 --> 00:22:00,520 Listen, the critical spirit is incompatible with the spirit. 333 00:22:01,840 --> 00:22:06,960 This is cannot be the way that we see others Christians with 334 00:22:06,960 --> 00:22:08,760 this. This can't be what we're known 335 00:22:08,760 --> 00:22:12,280 for. Now Jesus is going to tell us 336 00:22:12,280 --> 00:22:15,840 two ways that two different things that blur our vision, 337 00:22:15,840 --> 00:22:19,160 that get us to this point of struggling to see things the way 338 00:22:19,160 --> 00:22:23,920 that Jesus sees them. First, he says this says he told 339 00:22:23,920 --> 00:22:27,800 them a parable. Can the blind guide the blind? 340 00:22:28,760 --> 00:22:33,040 Won't they both fall into a pit? A disciple is not above his 341 00:22:33,040 --> 00:22:37,000 teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his 342 00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:39,920 teacher. So I would say this first, Jesus 343 00:22:39,920 --> 00:22:44,280 telling us that seeing others differently requires following 344 00:22:44,280 --> 00:22:46,280 people who see the world differently. 345 00:22:48,680 --> 00:22:52,760 Our mission at Forward Church. If you've been here anytime at 346 00:22:52,760 --> 00:22:56,400 all, you should know this. We exist to make disciples of 347 00:22:56,400 --> 00:22:59,960 Jesus who love God, love others, and serve the world. 348 00:23:01,320 --> 00:23:04,560 What we sometimes neglect to mention is that everyone is a 349 00:23:04,560 --> 00:23:08,480 disciple. You're like, well, I don't even 350 00:23:08,480 --> 00:23:11,000 believe in Jesus. Well, you're still a disciple 351 00:23:11,000 --> 00:23:13,280 because the disciple is simply someone who is following 352 00:23:13,280 --> 00:23:17,600 somebody else, somebody who is being apprenticed by somebody 353 00:23:17,600 --> 00:23:20,160 else, somebody who's being shaped by somebody else. 354 00:23:21,280 --> 00:23:26,840 Every single person is being shaped and influenced and and 355 00:23:26,840 --> 00:23:32,720 trained into someone. The only question is this Who 356 00:23:33,200 --> 00:23:37,160 are you being discipled by and what are you being discipled 357 00:23:37,160 --> 00:23:41,080 into? Because you are being discipled 358 00:23:41,080 --> 00:23:45,280 every day in every way. Every one of us is being 359 00:23:45,280 --> 00:23:48,480 discipled. We're being taught, we're being 360 00:23:48,480 --> 00:23:53,240 formed. How's that happen? 361 00:23:54,880 --> 00:23:58,400 Well, we've all got voices who are speaking into our lives. 362 00:23:59,680 --> 00:24:03,120 Some of those voices are flesh and blood people that we 363 00:24:03,120 --> 00:24:10,120 surround ourselves with. Craig Rochelle says that if you 364 00:24:10,120 --> 00:24:11,960 show me your friends, I'll show you your future. 365 00:24:13,520 --> 00:24:16,120 It's a great line. Like the people you surround 366 00:24:16,120 --> 00:24:20,240 yourself with most closely, you will end up looking more and 367 00:24:20,240 --> 00:24:25,040 more like it's just true. You'll be discipled into that. 368 00:24:26,360 --> 00:24:31,760 What media are you listening to? We are in a media saturated 369 00:24:31,760 --> 00:24:35,080 world. Most of us are listening, 370 00:24:35,080 --> 00:24:39,080 viewing, seeing things all the time. 371 00:24:39,880 --> 00:24:43,280 Like how much screen time would your phone say that you had this 372 00:24:43,280 --> 00:24:45,800 past week on average a day? And that's just your phone. 373 00:24:47,880 --> 00:24:50,800 So what podcasts? What television shows? 374 00:24:51,240 --> 00:24:54,240 And yes, some people even read books still these days. 375 00:24:54,640 --> 00:25:05,120 I would encourage you to do so. If you spend 2.5 hours regularly 376 00:25:05,120 --> 00:25:09,600 with Joe Rogan, you can barely get 5 minutes into the Bible in 377 00:25:09,600 --> 00:25:12,560 a week. Who do you think's discipling 378 00:25:12,560 --> 00:25:18,240 you more? Listen, I, I, I don't, I don't 379 00:25:18,240 --> 00:25:21,600 care whether your information sources or your entertainment 380 00:25:21,600 --> 00:25:29,600 sources skew whatever direction politically tribe you want to 381 00:25:29,600 --> 00:25:33,000 associate with, left, right, center. 382 00:25:33,480 --> 00:25:38,600 Here's what I know. There's no tribe, there's no 383 00:25:38,600 --> 00:25:44,760 political party, there's no grouping in society that sees 384 00:25:44,760 --> 00:25:48,840 the world Jesus the way Jesus sees it, because you just find 385 00:25:48,840 --> 00:25:51,080 me a political party. I don't care what the political 386 00:25:51,080 --> 00:25:56,600 party is, That is teaching. Love your enemies, that is 387 00:25:56,600 --> 00:26:00,640 teaching. Blessed are the poor, the 388 00:26:00,640 --> 00:26:05,280 hungry, those who mourn, those who are poorly spoken of. 389 00:26:05,280 --> 00:26:07,240 That's just what we've covered in the last few weeks. 390 00:26:07,240 --> 00:26:10,920 I don't hear anybody shaping us that way other than Jesus and 391 00:26:13,560 --> 00:26:16,640 Christian. If you are following blind 392 00:26:16,640 --> 00:26:22,080 guides, if if the influences in your life aren't looking to 393 00:26:22,080 --> 00:26:26,200 Jesus as their ultimate source and example, and and you're only 394 00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:29,640 following them in so far as they follow Jesus, which means you 395 00:26:29,640 --> 00:26:31,840 got to know what Jesus is talking about, what Jesus looks 396 00:26:31,840 --> 00:26:34,120 like, then you'll fall into a pit. 397 00:26:34,320 --> 00:26:40,520 Jesus says because everyone who is fully formed looks like their 398 00:26:40,520 --> 00:26:45,040 teacher. Do you want to look like the 399 00:26:45,080 --> 00:26:48,280 influences that you are putting into your life? 400 00:26:49,480 --> 00:26:53,360 Listen, character matters. I, I know it seems like we live 401 00:26:53,360 --> 00:26:59,240 in this time where that's up for debate, but character matters 402 00:26:59,520 --> 00:27:05,120 all the time in everything. Tone matters. 403 00:27:05,120 --> 00:27:09,080 The way you speak of and speak to and speak about people 404 00:27:09,280 --> 00:27:13,200 matters. Fruit. 405 00:27:14,520 --> 00:27:18,680 Fruit matters. Are the people who are 406 00:27:18,680 --> 00:27:24,800 influencing you demonstrating the fruit of the Spirit or the 407 00:27:24,800 --> 00:27:28,800 works of the flesh? Paul lays it out really clearly. 408 00:27:29,200 --> 00:27:32,960 He says there's two ways. There's the works of the flesh. 409 00:27:32,960 --> 00:27:36,960 In Galatians 519, the works of the flesh are obvious. 410 00:27:37,800 --> 00:27:44,720 Sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, idolatry, 411 00:27:44,760 --> 00:27:52,000 sorcery, hatred, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, 412 00:27:52,000 --> 00:27:57,320 selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, 413 00:27:57,320 --> 00:28:02,640 carousing, and anything similar. You'll notice that that category 414 00:28:02,640 --> 00:28:06,080 of things covers things that seem to fall in all sorts of 415 00:28:06,080 --> 00:28:09,720 groups. But then there's the fruits of 416 00:28:09,720 --> 00:28:13,280 the spirit. But the fruit of the Spirit is 417 00:28:13,280 --> 00:28:19,480 Lovejoy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, 418 00:28:19,480 --> 00:28:22,640 faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. 419 00:28:24,760 --> 00:28:28,680 Are those the things that are most evident in the voices that 420 00:28:28,680 --> 00:28:31,200 are speaking into your life and shaping you? 421 00:28:34,000 --> 00:28:36,760 If you're going to follow Jesus, if you're going to see the world 422 00:28:36,960 --> 00:28:42,040 through the lens that He sees it through, you need to follow 423 00:28:42,040 --> 00:28:48,640 people who are following Him. You need to be led by people who 424 00:28:48,640 --> 00:28:55,080 are being led by Jesus. Only the teacher who who 425 00:28:55,080 --> 00:28:58,160 clearly, the only teacher who who sees clearly is Jesus 426 00:28:58,160 --> 00:28:59,560 himself. All the rest of us are just 427 00:28:59,560 --> 00:29:02,760 trying to do our best. So, so don't follow me and don't 428 00:29:02,760 --> 00:29:06,680 follow Kirk if we're not following Jesus, Follow Jesus. 429 00:29:06,680 --> 00:29:12,360 Above all, seeing others differently requires following 430 00:29:12,360 --> 00:29:15,240 people who see the world differently and and seeing 431 00:29:15,240 --> 00:29:18,640 others differently, Jesus says, requires seeing ourselves 432 00:29:18,640 --> 00:29:21,760 clearly. Verse 41 Why do you look at the 433 00:29:21,760 --> 00:29:24,160 splinter in your brother's eye, but you don't notice the beam of 434 00:29:24,160 --> 00:29:27,360 wood in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 435 00:29:27,360 --> 00:29:30,880 brother, let me take that splinter, Let me take out the 436 00:29:30,880 --> 00:29:33,960 splinter that's in your eye when you yourself don't see the beam 437 00:29:33,960 --> 00:29:37,200 of wood in your eye. Jesus using this really funny 438 00:29:37,200 --> 00:29:39,240 picture, right? Like people think Jesus isn't 439 00:29:39,240 --> 00:29:40,200 funny. This is funny. 440 00:29:41,200 --> 00:29:45,320 Like Can you imagine having this giant plank sticking out of your 441 00:29:45,320 --> 00:29:50,160 eye and you're trying to go in and grab the splinter out? 442 00:29:50,160 --> 00:29:55,480 It's ridiculous. But what what he's saying is 443 00:29:55,480 --> 00:29:58,680 this. Like, have you ever noticed how 444 00:29:58,680 --> 00:30:03,080 those who are most eager to find fault in others so often have 445 00:30:05,000 --> 00:30:06,600 some glaring flaws in their own life? 446 00:30:10,160 --> 00:30:14,480 That the things that we're so quick to notice from a negative 447 00:30:14,480 --> 00:30:20,280 sense that drive us crazy about somebody else are things that 448 00:30:20,280 --> 00:30:23,720 like, deep down inside, we kind of know are there in US? 449 00:30:25,120 --> 00:30:27,200 That's what every parent knows this, right? 450 00:30:27,960 --> 00:30:30,920 What's the thing that drives you craziest about your kids? 451 00:30:31,720 --> 00:30:35,120 Generally it's the thing that drives you deep down craziest 452 00:30:35,120 --> 00:30:42,440 about yourself. Kids have a, a, a phrase for 453 00:30:42,440 --> 00:30:44,720 this. It goes like this. 454 00:30:44,840 --> 00:30:49,960 It takes one to no one, right? We're so quick to notice things 455 00:30:49,960 --> 00:30:53,760 because they're actually in US. Psychologists have a term for 456 00:30:53,760 --> 00:30:55,320 this. It's called projection. 457 00:30:56,280 --> 00:30:59,680 We project things onto other people and the rest of the world 458 00:30:59,680 --> 00:31:01,920 has a term for this. It's called hypocrisy. 459 00:31:04,360 --> 00:31:07,880 So like, let me let me explain how this works its way out. 460 00:31:09,120 --> 00:31:12,560 If you've been sitting through this message and you've been 461 00:31:12,560 --> 00:31:15,360 thinking the whole time, well, I can't wait to send this message 462 00:31:15,360 --> 00:31:21,000 to blank. I guess we know where your issue 463 00:31:21,000 --> 00:31:25,480 is. That's that's our critical, 464 00:31:25,480 --> 00:31:29,200 that's our judgmental spirit refusing to look internally and 465 00:31:29,200 --> 00:31:32,240 seeing that it's our problem before we get worried about how 466 00:31:32,240 --> 00:31:34,320 we're going to fix somebody else's problem. 467 00:31:36,040 --> 00:31:39,280 Jesus says hypocrite, first take the beam of wood out of your 468 00:31:39,280 --> 00:31:42,760 eye. Then you can see clearly to help 469 00:31:42,760 --> 00:31:46,320 that other person out. The call is not to never help 470 00:31:46,360 --> 00:31:49,240 others. That's not what Jesus is saying. 471 00:31:49,600 --> 00:31:53,680 He's just saying get honest about yourself before you do it. 472 00:31:54,840 --> 00:31:57,120 Get real about your own stuff first. 473 00:31:57,240 --> 00:32:00,000 First take the beam out of your eye. 474 00:32:01,480 --> 00:32:05,720 Then you can work on helping your brother or sister who has 475 00:32:05,720 --> 00:32:11,280 the splinter in their eye. So so like, let me ask a few 476 00:32:11,280 --> 00:32:15,520 questions. When a Co worker messes up. 477 00:32:17,120 --> 00:32:22,560 When a family member frustrates you and drives you nuts? 478 00:32:22,560 --> 00:32:26,280 When when somebody posts something incredibly stupid 479 00:32:26,280 --> 00:32:33,240 online, do you first go to grace or go for the gavel to pronounce 480 00:32:33,240 --> 00:32:38,920 judgment? Do you find yourself in your 481 00:32:38,920 --> 00:32:45,920 life more eager to call people out for the the the flaws and 482 00:32:45,920 --> 00:32:50,760 the failings you see them in, or more desperate to call them to 483 00:32:50,760 --> 00:32:58,520 the grace of Jesus Christ? Do you deep down, maybe you 484 00:32:58,520 --> 00:33:03,520 wouldn't admit to anybody else, but you kind of, You really love 485 00:33:03,520 --> 00:33:11,400 the feeling of rebuking somebody else more than you actually 486 00:33:11,400 --> 00:33:15,720 truly long for them to come to repentance? 487 00:33:20,040 --> 00:33:31,080 Here's one when you don't like something, are you quick to 488 00:33:31,920 --> 00:33:35,560 criticize it and have a conversation with others before 489 00:33:35,560 --> 00:33:38,240 you ever have a conversation with the person whom you're 490 00:33:38,240 --> 00:33:45,360 holding in contempt? To see others clearly, you, you 491 00:33:45,360 --> 00:33:47,680 have to 1st see yourself clearly. 492 00:33:48,360 --> 00:33:51,280 And the only way that I know of to see yourself clearly is to 493 00:33:51,280 --> 00:34:01,640 see Jesus clearly, because Jesus alone is the one who clearly is 494 00:34:01,640 --> 00:34:06,280 qualified and the only one who is qualified to stand in 495 00:34:06,280 --> 00:34:11,920 judgment. In first, Peter 222 says he did 496 00:34:11,920 --> 00:34:16,440 not commit sin and no deceit was found in his mouth. 497 00:34:17,080 --> 00:34:23,159 Unless that's true of you, you don't qualify the way Jesus 498 00:34:23,159 --> 00:34:30,679 qualifies. He alone has the authority, the 499 00:34:30,679 --> 00:34:33,639 moral authority to stand in judgment. 500 00:34:34,960 --> 00:34:41,320 He alone is the one who would be in his rights to stand in 501 00:34:41,320 --> 00:34:43,960 condemnation. And someday he will stand in 502 00:34:43,960 --> 00:34:47,880 judgment over everyone. Whether you believe it or not, 503 00:34:47,880 --> 00:34:49,239 whether you believe in him or not. 504 00:34:49,239 --> 00:34:52,480 I'm just telling you, someday you will have to stand before 505 00:34:52,480 --> 00:34:57,200 Jesus and give an account. But here's the good news for all 506 00:34:57,200 --> 00:35:01,000 of us who have blurred vision and don't see things clearly. 507 00:35:01,920 --> 00:35:07,480 Jesus came not to condemn, but to heal our vision because the 508 00:35:07,520 --> 00:35:10,480 cross is the ultimate corrective lens. 509 00:35:10,520 --> 00:35:14,200 It's it's what changes how God sees us, right? 510 00:35:15,760 --> 00:35:19,160 No one stands before God on their merit. 511 00:35:19,160 --> 00:35:23,720 None of us get to stand before God on our own righteousness. 512 00:35:24,160 --> 00:35:30,400 You aren't good enough. The only way for us to escape 513 00:35:30,640 --> 00:35:34,480 the judgment and condemnation that we rightly deserve for our 514 00:35:34,480 --> 00:35:39,280 sins is that we would trust in Jesus Christ and place our faith 515 00:35:39,280 --> 00:35:44,320 in Him as the One who was the only true, perfect, sinless 516 00:35:44,320 --> 00:35:47,600 Savior. And when we place our faith in 517 00:35:47,600 --> 00:35:51,400 Him as the one who died on the cross to pay the penalty for our 518 00:35:51,400 --> 00:35:55,360 sins, that we deserve judgment and justice for, this incredible 519 00:35:55,360 --> 00:35:58,960 thing happens where all of a sudden God no longer sees our 520 00:35:58,960 --> 00:36:01,840 sin, but he sees Christ's perfection. 521 00:36:02,480 --> 00:36:07,040 He sees Christ's righteousness. Second Corinthians 521 Apostle 522 00:36:07,040 --> 00:36:10,320 Paul says this. He made the one who did not know 523 00:36:10,320 --> 00:36:16,080 sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the 524 00:36:16,080 --> 00:36:21,000 righteousness of God. Jesus takes our sin, and when we 525 00:36:21,000 --> 00:36:24,400 trust in Him, we receive His perfection and His 526 00:36:24,400 --> 00:36:26,440 righteousness. But it's not righteousness that 527 00:36:26,440 --> 00:36:29,520 I attained, it's Christ's righteousness. 528 00:36:30,520 --> 00:36:34,840 So now God sees me differently through the lens of the cross if 529 00:36:34,840 --> 00:36:37,040 and only if I place my faith in Him. 530 00:36:37,440 --> 00:36:40,560 But that then should change the way that I see and deal with 531 00:36:40,560 --> 00:36:42,960 others, right? Because there's a natural 532 00:36:42,960 --> 00:36:46,240 overflows. There's some logical conclusions 533 00:36:46,240 --> 00:36:50,040 that have to come out of this because there's no longer room 534 00:36:50,960 --> 00:36:53,840 for a judgmental spirit at the foot of the cross. 535 00:36:55,040 --> 00:36:58,880 Because I don't have any righteousness in and of myself. 536 00:36:59,640 --> 00:37:03,280 I don't stand on any different plane than anyone else in this 537 00:37:03,280 --> 00:37:05,480 room. Anyone else who will watch this 538 00:37:05,720 --> 00:37:10,000 online or listen to it later? I'm a Sinner and apart from 539 00:37:10,000 --> 00:37:14,400 Jesus I got nothing. And that's the same for every 540 00:37:14,400 --> 00:37:16,240 single one of us who have come to Christ. 541 00:37:16,240 --> 00:37:17,960 That's the confession we've made. 542 00:37:18,760 --> 00:37:23,160 So I don't get to correct you out of a spirit of standing 543 00:37:23,160 --> 00:37:25,400 above you. I'm standing shoulder to 544 00:37:25,400 --> 00:37:30,400 shoulder with you. And all the sudden now 545 00:37:31,000 --> 00:37:35,040 correction can begin to come out of a heart of compassion of of 546 00:37:35,040 --> 00:37:38,280 somebody else who knows what it looks like to stumble and to 547 00:37:38,280 --> 00:37:41,480 fall and to mess up and to receive God's grace. 548 00:37:42,840 --> 00:37:48,080 And not out of spirit of criticism, because I need grace 549 00:37:48,360 --> 00:37:56,440 as much as you need grace. So here's what I want to have 550 00:37:56,440 --> 00:37:58,360 you think about as we draw to a close here. 551 00:38:00,960 --> 00:38:07,800 Who are you currently judging the God is calling you to see 552 00:38:07,800 --> 00:38:10,040 through a lens of mercy and compassion? 553 00:38:12,960 --> 00:38:21,920 Are you being shaped to see the world by people who see Jesus 554 00:38:21,920 --> 00:38:25,920 clearly and it's clearly manifested in their character, 555 00:38:25,920 --> 00:38:30,360 in their behavior, or are you following some blind guides that 556 00:38:30,360 --> 00:38:31,920 are going to lead you into a ditch? 557 00:38:34,600 --> 00:38:39,880 Is there a beam in your eye right now that you're ignoring? 558 00:38:39,880 --> 00:38:43,040 And until you get to work on getting that beam removed, 559 00:38:43,040 --> 00:38:46,080 you're really not in a place in a position to be able to help 560 00:38:46,080 --> 00:38:49,360 out anyone else. And we need you to get that beam 561 00:38:49,360 --> 00:38:52,040 fixed because we need your help. I I need people who are going to 562 00:38:52,040 --> 00:38:55,440 be able to look into my life and call stuff out in me, But you 563 00:38:55,440 --> 00:38:57,280 can't do it. When you got a beam in your eye, 564 00:39:00,400 --> 00:39:05,520 what would it look like for you to let Jesus change the way that 565 00:39:05,520 --> 00:39:10,560 you see so that you could love others the way that Jesus loves 566 00:39:10,560 --> 00:39:13,760 others? Jesus came. 567 00:39:13,760 --> 00:39:17,200 He came to heal blind eyes. Physically, yes, but also 568 00:39:17,200 --> 00:39:22,120 spiritually. Maybe today he's wanting to 569 00:39:22,120 --> 00:39:25,920 adjust your vision. Maybe today he's opened your 570 00:39:25,920 --> 00:39:30,800 eyes to the fact that without him, you're sunk and he's 571 00:39:30,800 --> 00:39:34,520 calling on you to let him not just heal your blindness, but 572 00:39:34,520 --> 00:39:38,160 take you from death to life through the power of the cross 573 00:39:38,160 --> 00:39:42,960 and the resurrection. Maybe he wants to give you new 574 00:39:42,960 --> 00:39:49,120 eyes to see that person that you have written off, clarity for 575 00:39:49,120 --> 00:39:51,800 the sin you've ignored, or compassion for the one you've 576 00:39:51,800 --> 00:39:53,400 condemned. I don't know what it is, but I 577 00:39:53,400 --> 00:39:58,800 know this. When Jesus changes the way that 578 00:39:58,800 --> 00:40:02,560 we see, it changes the way that we live. 579 00:40:03,760 --> 00:40:11,710 Let's pray. Father God, I thank you that you 580 00:40:11,710 --> 00:40:20,910 are in the healing business. I thank you that well, you have 581 00:40:20,910 --> 00:40:25,160 every right. Stand in condemnation and 582 00:40:25,160 --> 00:40:28,320 judgment over us. Your Word tells us in John 316 583 00:40:28,320 --> 00:40:31,360 that Jesus didn't come into the world to condemn the world, but 584 00:40:31,360 --> 00:40:36,920 to save it. That you looked on us, us who 585 00:40:36,920 --> 00:40:40,160 are worthy of your condemnation, worthy of your judgment, 586 00:40:40,800 --> 00:40:45,880 imperfect, fallen, broken, traitors, and treasonous. 587 00:40:45,960 --> 00:40:50,680 The most holy God of gods and King of kings, You've had 588 00:40:50,680 --> 00:40:57,120 compassion on us in our sin. God, show us where we can better 589 00:40:57,120 --> 00:40:59,320 reflect you. If we're if we're followers of 590 00:40:59,320 --> 00:41:02,920 you, convict us of our critical spirits. 591 00:41:02,920 --> 00:41:06,720 Where we have attitudes towards groups of people or individuals, 592 00:41:06,720 --> 00:41:09,200 we have a hardness of heart that's quick to judge and quick 593 00:41:09,200 --> 00:41:12,240 to write off and slow to extend mercy and compassion. 594 00:41:13,920 --> 00:41:16,720 God, that's not compatible with the Holy Spirit you've placed in 595 00:41:16,720 --> 00:41:18,800 US. It's not the fruit you're 596 00:41:18,800 --> 00:41:22,080 looking for. Help us to be people who assume 597 00:41:22,080 --> 00:41:28,520 the best before jumping to the worst God. 598 00:41:28,520 --> 00:41:31,800 If there is those here today who don't know you, who have yet to 599 00:41:31,800 --> 00:41:34,920 come to a point where you have removed the blinders from their 600 00:41:34,920 --> 00:41:38,000 eyes about who Jesus truly is, I pray today would be the day 601 00:41:38,000 --> 00:41:42,880 where you would allow them to see clearly that Jesus alone is 602 00:41:42,880 --> 00:41:46,520 righteous, Jesus alone is sinless, and Jesus came to die 603 00:41:46,520 --> 00:41:49,680 to rescue and redeem and save them if they would only trust in 604 00:41:49,680 --> 00:41:52,440 Him. Got it. 605 00:41:52,480 --> 00:41:57,120 I thank you, thank you, thank you for your love for us, shown 606 00:41:57,120 --> 00:41:59,880 to us through the cross. Your grace poured out to us 607 00:41:59,880 --> 00:42:03,680 through the cross. And we pray in the name of the 608 00:42:03,680 --> 00:42:08,680 one who died to save us, to redeem us, and to pour out his 609 00:42:08,680 --> 00:42:10,480 grace on US, Jesus Christ. Amen.