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00:00:01
Who Will You Follow? (Luke 6:37-42)
18 Plays1 month ago
Sunday Message recorded 02 March 2025
by Associate Pastor Josh Shell
First Baptist Church - Columbus, TX, USA
1700 Milam St.
Columbus, TX, USA 78934
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Scripture Passage
00:00:06
Speaker
It's good to be with you guys again. If you have your Bibles, go ahead and get those out and open them up to the book of Luke, to the book of Luke, the gospel of Luke. We're gonna be looking at the same passage that we looked at last week. So we'll be Luke chapter 6, verses 37 through 42.
00:00:22
Speaker
And I'm excited about being able to do part two of this of this message.
Personal Reflections on Judging
00:00:28
Speaker
I promise I won't make a habit of taking a message or turning it into two parts. But this particular topic of discussion of this passage, as I mentioned last week, is one that I told you guys, I confessed you guys last week that was super nervous about talking to or talking about. Just because of all people, I myself feel like I am the least qualified to talk to you guys about what and are on on not judging others.
00:00:56
Speaker
Right. I'm pretty sure we'd all stay. i appreciate we always say that in this position. Right. That we we feel like we none of us are qualified to be able to teach one another on how to accurately judge or not judge one another. But that's exactly what Jesus is doing here with the
Living Like Jesus: Light and Judgement
00:01:12
Speaker
disciples. As we look at this passage in Luke six with the sermon on the plane, he is teaching his disciples how to become more like him in his character, in his nature, in his disposition.
00:01:24
Speaker
And so what we looked at last week was this whole idea of, in verses 37 and 38, is how Jesus is addressing not only just his disciples' spiritual disposition, but also how it's going to be addressing our spiritual disposition today and how we choose to view not only one another as brothers and sisters in Christ, but also those around us in our community, the lost, the non-believer,
00:01:51
Speaker
You see, the the way that Christ calls us to live is not just for our own beneficial good among like-minded believers, but rather, if anything, it's actually more important for us to live like Christ because of who we get to witness to outside of the family of Christ, to those who are lost.
00:02:09
Speaker
After all, when you go back to Matthew 5, Jesus says that we're to be a light into the world. A city on a hill that cannot be hidden, that we're to be the salt of the earth. But if we lose our saltiness, what is it good for? It's not to be good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.
00:02:25
Speaker
And so if we're not truly living a life of Christ in this spiritual disposition of Christ, then what are we doing? Are we truly fulfilling the our purpose as image bearers and and and children of God?
00:02:38
Speaker
and So we're going to continuing this, though, because Jesus doesn't just stop there in verse 37 and 38 with this whole idea of not judging and not condemning, but rather he even flips it on his head. As we go into verse 38, he says, hey, you're not only just a judge, but you're to forgive and you are to give.
00:02:58
Speaker
Talk about something that's really hard and countercultural. Yeah. You're not supposed to judge one another, you're not supposed tod condemn one another, but rather you're called to forgive and you are called to give generously. so those are the things that to be looking at today.
00:03:12
Speaker
so I'm going to stop and pray for this time and then we'll jump back into this passage together. So let's pray. Father God, we just come before you and Lord, I just echo what Terry just prayed. Father God, as we go through your word, that it would not be my words,
00:03:27
Speaker
That would not be Josh's wisdom or our own wisdom that we that we take out of the scriptures, but Father, that what we take from this passage and from your word is your wisdom, is your truth, your life that is sustaining. And so God, please prepare our hearts for what you have in store today. May your word penetrate it in everything we do. It's in Jesus' name, amen.
00:03:52
Speaker
All right, so to reread this passage, this section of scripture for us You don't have to stand this morning, but I want to reread it for us so that way we get, again, the whole context of what Jesus is talking about here with his disciples and the audience in which he's speaking to.
00:04:06
Speaker
So picking up verse 37, it says this.
Judging with Mercy and Accountability
00:04:10
Speaker
Judge not and you will not be judged. Condemn not and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven.
00:04:18
Speaker
Give and you will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. for the measure you the For the measure you use it will be measured back to you.
00:04:33
Speaker
He also told them a parable. Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.
00:04:47
Speaker
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? How can you say to your brother, brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye, when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye?
00:05:00
Speaker
You hypocrite. First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother's eye. So again, last week, this whole idea of judge not, condemn not, right? this is This is hard for us because our natural tendency, when we see something that is not something that we approve of or is something that we don't like, whether it's our hobbies or whether it's the way we look or way somebody else looks, you know, this whole idea even crossed my mind this morning and when I was, went to Donald's Donut to get some donuts for the students.
00:05:37
Speaker
And when I got out of my car, I noticed this is really bad of me. going confess it to you. I noticed that there was some people walking around that I was like, yeah, i don't feel comfortable leaving my car unlocked.
00:05:48
Speaker
So what did I do? Lock my car.
00:05:52
Speaker
As innocent as that is, why did I lock my car? Because I looked at somebody and I judged them based off their outward appearance. Because I
Self-Assessment and Humility in Judgement
00:06:01
Speaker
wasn't comfortable leaving my car unlocked.
00:06:04
Speaker
Now, I get it in the sense that we need to protect the things that we own, but at the same time, it's the heart condition there. We need to be very careful about this heart condition. and yeah And last also said that how this is, when we look at this verse, it's probably one those miss one of the most misunderstood, misapplied verses in scriptures because of how we have a tendency taking out of context.
00:06:28
Speaker
You see, we take verses like this and we think that just because Jesus says, judge not, lest you be judged, that we're like, hey, we're not allowed to judge at all. right When we look at something, whether it's out of a righteous manner unrighteous manner, there's there's no reason or no there's no point of judgment that we're not allowed to do that. But that's not what Jesus is saying here. We're to look at that here just a little bit more too.
00:06:50
Speaker
Because what Jesus is actually addressing here when it talks about judging others is that we are not to judge sin in a harsh, critical, compassionless, or vengeful manner.
00:07:04
Speaker
When we are judging out of that heart condition, that's where we need to be very mindful and very careful. Because in the same manner that you judge that sin and that heart condition, it's going to come back to you.
00:07:18
Speaker
That's what Jesus is saying here. And then I'm just going make side note this. And the reason why i say that is this is not saying that we can't judge at all. It's because we do see in scripture elsewhere that we as Christians are actually called to judge one another.
00:07:33
Speaker
We talked about that last week. We see that in 1 Corinthians 5, verses 5, 11 through 13, where Paul is addressing sexual immorality and how it defiles the church. And we also see in Colossians 4, chapter 5, where Paul is in instructing the church of Colossae to walk in wisdom towards outsiders.
00:07:51
Speaker
So when you, this whole idea of judgment, judgment, As believers, when we look and judge, we should be doing it out of wisdom and out of discernment through the Holy Spirit.
00:08:04
Speaker
Not our own understanding, not our own emotion, right? Because when we do it out of our own understanding, our own emotion, how are we doing it? We're doing critically or critically. We're doing it harshly. We're doing it out of spite.
00:08:14
Speaker
But when we're doing it out of the holy out out of the Holy Spirit, it's through discernment, through wisdom. 1 Timothy 5.20 says, Paul is instructing Timothy and his church to rebuke those who persist in sin in the presence of all the congregation.
00:08:29
Speaker
And I can go on and on and on and and and reference different passages of Scripture where the Holy Spirit is telling us, hey, It's okay to hold each other accountable. It's okay to use wisdom and discernment in how you guys hold each other to a standard of holiness and Christ-likeness.
00:08:48
Speaker
So again, we have to be careful with how we take these passages and interpret them and apply them to our life. Because if you actually go back to Matthew chapter 7, verses 1 and 2, and you go back to his interpretation of the Sermon on the Mount, listen to how Jesus says this same passage, this same ah thought, but he's speaking to a different eye. Listen to this. says, judge not that you not be judged but with the judgment you pronoun you will be judged So is that Jesus just saying, hey, you don't need to judge at all?
00:09:23
Speaker
No, he's saying, hey, you just need very careful. Because the judgment in which you pronounce towards another individual, it's going to come back to you. So what Jesus here, and he goes on, he says, for the judgment you pronounce will be measured, or you will be judged, and with the measure you use it, we measure back to you. So what Jesus is actually saying here is that that we shouldn't judge. It's not that we shouldn't judge, but rather he says that we should judge mercifully. mercifully We should be gracious with our judgment.
00:09:57
Speaker
Because again, how are we as believers to grow in Christlikeness if we're not holding each other accountable? How are people who are non-believers going to come to the righteous truth of God if they are not held to a standard but in mercy?
00:10:16
Speaker
So again, Jesus is not saying not to judge in total. He's saying when you do judge, do it mercifully. Because the reality is is that even in this same chapter, the next section of verses after verse 47, what we see here is Jesus actually commands his disciples to judge the fruit of the tree.
00:10:38
Speaker
Right? In the same manner that we judge the fruit of the tree, we are to judge one another in the fruit of the Spirit in our own lives.
00:10:46
Speaker
So this is a common theme throughout the scriptures.
00:10:50
Speaker
But what Jesus, another thing Jesus was trying to communicate, we talked on this a little bit last week as well, is this heart condition of judgmentalism. And I wanted to bring this back up because I think this is a really critical point.
00:11:01
Speaker
This whole idea judgmentalism. and And again, I loved how Kent Hughes said it. Judgmentalism is an unwitting revelation of one's own soul because people rush to condemn their own sins and others.
00:11:15
Speaker
So when you find yourself in a position where you're actually judging somebody out of out of harshness or out of critical nature, you actually need to stop and assess your heart. Because what's actually happening is that there's something deep inside of you that is making you feel uncomfortable to the point to where you're having to call it out to somebody else.
00:11:36
Speaker
Whether it's the same sin or a similar sin. That's a harsh reality. We don't oftentimes like to think that way because and elsewhere it said that, and I appreciated this so much because when we judge, and the the the reason why we like to judge others is because it makes us feel better about ourselves.
00:11:58
Speaker
As if like we are more worthy than the other person to to to to not be judged. But the reality is like, no, that's not the case. It's actually more wicked of us to cast judgment on somebody else and their sin rather than doing a self-analysis of our own heart.
00:12:15
Speaker
So we have to be very careful this. And we saw this in the example of David in 2 Samuel
The Story of David: Repentance and Responsibility
00:12:20
Speaker
12. So what we talked about this last week in the sense that there is this account where David, he's king, he is out on his rooftop and he sees this woman Bathsheba.
00:12:28
Speaker
And he calls her into his house. He has this ah this affair with her, gets her pregnant. And he comes up with this scheme to try to hide his sin. And then he gets Uriah, Bathsheba's husband, in ah in a weird situation where he tries to convince him, or he tries to get to where the blame is cast on Uriah for the pregnancy, but yet it doesn't work. So he sends him out and he kills him in a battle, right? He he sends him out the front line. And while he's out there on battle, Uriah dies.
00:12:57
Speaker
Later on in 2 Samuel chapter 12, Nathan the prophet comes, and he or Nathaniel, he comes to David. He says, hey man, can tell you this story? And he shares this really powerful story of how there's this rich man who has a lot of flock, and then there's this poor man who has one little ewe lamb that is precious to him.
00:13:14
Speaker
And when this traveler comes and tries to find a sacrificial lamb, he goes to the rich man. The rich man says, no, I don't want to give you one. So he goes and takes the poor man's ewe. And all the while, David is hearing this story, and what's David doing?
00:13:28
Speaker
His blood starts to boil, right? He's like, so as Nathan tells him the story, he's like, this is this is crazy. The man that His life should be demanded of him for what he just did by taking this poor man's euland.
00:13:48
Speaker
And Nathan looks at him and says, David, you're that man.
00:13:55
Speaker
Crazy. A man, David, this is David, a man after God's own heart is being called out and condemned for his behavior and judgment when he himself did the very same thing.
00:14:09
Speaker
But yet, how did David respond to it? Did David just go and cower away and and and and and stop following God? No, he repented of it.
00:14:21
Speaker
he repent He repented of his behavior And he turned back to God to press into him even more to where he would not do that again. But let me ask you this. david Was the consequences of David's actions taken away from him as a result?
00:14:38
Speaker
No. No, he still had to face his consequences. He still had to own up for it. Time and time again, believe it or not David, a man after God's own heart, when you go back and reread his story, he has failed over and over and over again. And guess what? He had to pay the consequences for every action that he did, but he never wavered in the sight of God to with his faithfulness.
00:15:03
Speaker
And so the same heart that David has is the same heart that you and I need to be stirring to have today. That when we find ourselves in situations like that, that we will stop and assess our own situation, take full responsibility for what we did and understand that there is a that there is a consequence for our sin.
00:15:23
Speaker
Though Christ paid the ultimate sacrifice for us where we no longer have to experience the full wrath of God as a result of our sin, there's still a consequence today that we have to ah that we have to understand. There are consequences for our actions.
00:15:38
Speaker
But the beauty of it is that God's grace and mercy is sufficient to cover all of the all of our sins. So though we may feel the the temporary weight of our consequences, in the end, God's glory and his mercy and his grace is gonna be sufficient to carry us through each day and into eternity.
00:15:59
Speaker
Talk about good news. That's absolutely incredible. So how do we avoid this,
Grace and Mercy in Treatment of Others
00:16:07
Speaker
right? So how do we avoid this mindset? How do we avoid this concept of judgmentalism?
00:16:13
Speaker
Well, Jesus talks about it back in verse 31 of the same chapter where he says, and as you wish that others would do unto you, do so to them. The golden rule.
00:16:27
Speaker
How you choose or how you would like to be perceived by others, how you would like to be encountered by others. I mean, let's be honest. None of us really like when someone comes up to us pretty harshly and screams in our face or anything like that, right? Or it condemns us for something that we did
00:16:45
Speaker
We actually like to be on the receiving end of the grace, the mercy, the joy of others. So if we want to be on the receiving end of that, what do we have to do? We have to extend it this whole concept, right?
00:17:01
Speaker
When you choose to extend grace, mercy, joy, and compassion, and love, and all these different things, people have a tendency of wanting to extend that back to you. This is what Jesus is trying to and to to nail down in the hearts of his disciples and in their mind.
00:17:19
Speaker
Jesus was not unaware of the sin nature of people. He knew that people were gonna fail, that he was gonna have, I mean, that's the whole purpose of why he came.
00:17:29
Speaker
But what he came to address within that sin nature was like, hey, in order for you to overcome it, you have to believe in me. And when you believe in me, you have to take it a step further. You have to abide in me I abide in you.
00:17:41
Speaker
You have to put on the character and nature, my nature of Christ, of Jesus. And then you have to put it out there and share it with others. So that way others can come to know it as well and receive the same grace.
00:17:53
Speaker
So we must humble ourselves. Later in Luke 14, verse 11, it says, for anyone who for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.
00:18:05
Speaker
James 4.10, in warning against this idea of worldliness, James says, humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you. Peter talks about 1 Peter 5, 5 and 6, clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility towards one another. For God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble.
00:18:21
Speaker
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that at the proper time, He may exalt you. God, not you.
00:18:32
Speaker
It is accepting of yourself as sinful, in need of saving grace and extend of of need to that saving grace, and extending that saving grace to others, that's where the character and nature of Christ is is displayed.
00:18:46
Speaker
So since God is kind and merciful to us, we should also be kind of merciful to one another, which leads us to the next aspect of what we saw the end of verse 37, 38 of having a forgiving disposition and also a very generous disposition.
00:19:03
Speaker
Because if we're truly judging others the way that we would like to be judged, the reality is is that we're also forgiving others the way that we want to be forgiven. There's just an overflow of it.
00:19:16
Speaker
And the same manner as we choose to forgive, we also are choosing to take it a step further to be generous with our giving to them. Not just forgiving them, but also extending a helping hand, extending whatever the need is to them and ah and to be able to bring them back into a restorative relationship with Jesus. Or if they have a relationship with Jesus, extending a loving care to them to help them to come to know Jesus.
00:19:43
Speaker
After all, that's the great commission. Go and make disciples of all nations. Well, how do you go make disciples? First, you've got to lay the foundation of sharing the good news with them.
00:19:55
Speaker
And then build upon it. Build relationship. Build relational equity with them. To where they can have trust. And when they will have, the walls will be torn out Where you can start asking the harder questions and asking the life's giving questions about the gospel.
00:20:13
Speaker
So forgiveness is at the heart of discipleship. So short and sweet, if we truly claim to be disciples and followers of Jesus, we must forgive as Jesus has forgiven us. bre i mean After all, Jesus came to the world to save those who are sick, to save those who are lost, and to call us into repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
00:20:34
Speaker
And who are we to not extend that to others?
00:20:39
Speaker
That should be our first disposition. That should be our first posture is to go and to extend forgiveness as Jesus has forgiven us.
00:20:48
Speaker
But let me ask you this. What exactly is this forgiveness that we're talking about? It's the release of consequences of wrongdoing. So it doesn't matter what this individual, what this person may have done to you.
00:21:00
Speaker
It's not your burden to carry that pain. It's not your burden to carry that hardship. Whose burden is it to carry? Jesus.
00:21:11
Speaker
Because Jesus came to take away the burden off of our shoulders so that he could carry it and take it and nail it to the cross. So that way we don't have to experience that hardship anymore or that pain.
00:21:23
Speaker
But again, please hear me say this, this whole idea of releasing consequences of wrongdoing does not mean that it's also releasing the consequences of their actions. So this is the beauty about it we choose to forgive, we're releasing ourselves of the following through of condemnation. Have you ever thought about that?
00:21:43
Speaker
when we When we judge others and we choose not to forgive, we are also choosing to cast condemnation on them. That's why Jesus also talks about condemn not lest you be condemned.
00:21:56
Speaker
You may not necessarily follow through on an action, but at the same time, in your heart, when you choose to um to be unforgiving, you are condemning them in your heart, which is no different than condemning them in physical manner.
00:22:11
Speaker
Your spiritual heart and and disposition is just as dangerous as if you were to physically act upon it.
00:22:21
Speaker
Because when you choose to unforive to be unforgiving, You are choosing to say that that person is undeserving of the gospel of Jesus. That person is undeserving of the grace and mercy that Jesus has bestowed upon me.
00:22:35
Speaker
If I'm a believer in Jesus and I have that in my heart to think that somebody is undeserving of the grace and mercy in which i that I received, woe to me.
00:22:46
Speaker
Woe to me.
00:22:51
Speaker
And this whole idea, though, of giving, it's going to come back to us. Like, so when he says here in verse 38, give and it will be given to you. a Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over. Will it be will be put into your lap? This whole idea of you will not.
00:23:07
Speaker
oh What's the hell want to say this?
00:23:16
Speaker
you'll be in amazed at how beautiful a thing it is when you choose to give out of a forgiving heart. Because when we choose to give out of forgiving heart, that same giving will come back to us fourfold.
00:23:33
Speaker
That's what this picture is talking about. when you When you choose to forgive somebody who is undeserving of forgiveness, they're going so amazed by your forgiveness that they're to want to give back to you.
00:23:46
Speaker
In a surprising manner. This is the whole concept of what God has done for us from the from the beginning until now. We are undeserving of his grace, his mercy, and his forgiveness. But yet, every time we come running back to him as a result of our sin, what does he do? He extends his mercy, his grace, and his forgiveness because of the blood of Christ.
00:24:05
Speaker
In an overflowing manner.
00:24:09
Speaker
It's an absolutely beautiful picture that we see.
00:24:16
Speaker
But let's jump down to verses 39 through 40 because I want to try to get the rest of this in because these are just beautiful pictures here. So verses 37, 38 talks about the spiritual disposition of the disciple.
00:24:27
Speaker
Verses 39 through 40, it switches from the spiritual disposition to how we now lead out in our spiritual disposition. It switches to our leadership. And verse 40 is the actual crux of this entire message.
Imitating Jesus: Following His Teachings
00:24:42
Speaker
Because verse 4, he says, a disciple is not above his teacher, but anyone but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher. So again, if we are confessing that Jesus is our teacher, that he is our Messiah, then why are we not displaying his attributes? Why are we not displaying his character to those around us?
00:25:04
Speaker
Because as genuine believers in Jesus, we must be imitators of Jesus in every way. And this is in the disciples would understand this in a way better context than we would today. Because for us, when we learn, we have an an inexhaustible amount of resources around us that we can learn from.
00:25:23
Speaker
Whereas for them, as as students under a teacher, it was the teacher's word. They didn't have this massive library where they can go and just look at all kinds of different texts.
00:25:35
Speaker
They didn't have the internet. They didn't have YouTube. Right? So that what the teacher said, they took it and they learned it and they followed it.
00:25:46
Speaker
Which is goes back to the example there in verse 39 when he said, he told in his parable, can a blind man lead a blind man when they not both fall into a pit? So for them, they would understood this parable very personally because when they followed a teacher, they chose to submit themselves to them in every way.
00:26:05
Speaker
And they they hung on every word that teacher said and they applied it to their life. And for Jesus, when you saw about this blind man, this was something that was hitting home because of the Pharisees, the religious leaders of that time.
00:26:18
Speaker
They were speaking on their own authority. They were speaking on their own ah disposition. They were trying to make themselves look better than everybody else. And so what Jesus is saying, hey, can a blind man lead a blind man?
00:26:32
Speaker
Will they not both fall into a pit? So for those the religious leaders who were listening to this at the time, they probably would took it offensively.
00:26:41
Speaker
But again, in context of what Jesus is talking about, he's he's telling his disciples, hey, follow me. Abide in me.
00:26:52
Speaker
Be an example of me to those around you, to the lost, to the sick, to the hurting, so that when they too can come to know me in a very real personal saving way.
00:27:04
Speaker
Don't be like the blind men who are leading others into a falling pit, but rather follow me and lead people into the light
00:27:16
Speaker
where they can experience the fullness of God's glory.
00:27:22
Speaker
Then he goes on and he gives these other two examples here in verses 41 and 42, where he says, why do you see the speck that's in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye when you yourself do not see the log that's in your own eye?
00:27:41
Speaker
So again, he's he's trying to bring the disciples back into realization of this. of like hey First off, you have to understand that you are no different or better than any other believer or any other non-believer out there.
00:27:58
Speaker
The grace, the mercy, the forgiveness, the love, the compassion, whatever that other person needs that's in your sight right now, you need it just as much as they do. Because the reality is is that you're just as sinful.
00:28:13
Speaker
That's what this picture is displaying here. How can you take the speck out of your brother's eye when you have a log in your own eye? This is actually a pretty comical picture. Because reality is if you have a log in your eye, you probably can't really see the speck in your brother's eye.
00:28:29
Speaker
But yet we have a tendency of acting like of trying to cover it up.
00:28:35
Speaker
You know, you just have this big old log. Hey, man, come here so I can tell you what you're doing wrong when you're like actually hitting everything you can cause you have the log in your eye. Like it's just like, come on, man, be real. Humble yourself.
00:28:50
Speaker
Understand, as we as believers, we are no better than our brother and sister in Christ who is in sin. Or we are definitely no better than the non-believer who's out there who is walking in darkness. If anything, we should be extending way more compassion and empathy for the non-believer.
00:29:08
Speaker
Because they don't know any better. They haven't experienced the transformational power of the gospel. They don't have the spirit of Christ dwelling within them. Whereas for those of us who confess and believe that Jesus is Lord, we at least have the spirit who is inside our hearts, who this feel the seal, the guarantor of our soul.
00:29:28
Speaker
So again, we should actually be held to a higher standard among one another. So we shouldn't be as offended when we when our brother does come up to us and say, hey man, I saw you the other day and I heard that you did not say some nice things to this individual.
00:29:45
Speaker
Instead of being like, who are you to tell me this? like You should be like, a man, you know what? I'm absolutely, you know what? You're right. But was not honoring to the Lord.
00:29:56
Speaker
But it's hard, right? It's hard. It's hard for us to actually stop and realize, man, I'm wrong. Or man, i need I need the gospel grace more today than I needed it yesterday.
00:30:10
Speaker
But that's what Jesus calls us to do. Every day you wake up and you have breath in your lungs, you need to first stop and analyze your heart condition before the Lord. Before you even go out into your day.
00:30:22
Speaker
And it doesn't even just need to stop there in the morning. It needs to be every second of every day. Every time you encounter somebody, you need to you need to analyze your heart before you even so try to speak truth or life into another person.
00:30:37
Speaker
Because again, go back to the Pharisees, for example, right? We talked about this before. In their eyes, they were actually, they they were trying to live a righteous life. They were trying to uphold the law of God in which they were commanded to uphold.
00:30:53
Speaker
But what they were forgetting to or for what what they were failing to acknowledge is is that they weren't just trying to uphold the word of God to a standard for others. But rather they were they were adding to the word of God and making it harder for people to to come to know it.
00:31:11
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So they were being self-righteous.
00:31:17
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They weren't aware of it. Which is why Jesus says, ah why can the blind lead the blind? They're just going both fall into a pit.
00:31:27
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Woe to us if we if we choose to not recognize our own pride, our own self-righteousness, our own fill in the blank, and we lead somebody into a falling pit.
00:31:41
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Because we refuse to humble ourselves under the full submission and authority of the Holy Spirit in our life.
00:31:51
Speaker
So I know we talked about this whole idea of judgment and and condemnation a lot. But what the whole premise of this extends to every aspect of our life. So my question that want to ask before we close is, who are you going to follow?
00:32:10
Speaker
who are you going to follow? Are you going to continue to follow your own self-righteous way in this world? Are you going to follow Pastor Victor? Are you going to follow another teacher out there who's sharing the gospel? Are you going to submit to their ways? or are you actually going to submit to the one and only true God who came to set an example for us as believers to follow imp perfection, right?
00:32:35
Speaker
Who are you going to follow? Because Victor will fail us. I will fail you. Every other pastor out there will fail you. If you follow us, odds are we'll probably lead you into a pit.
00:32:51
Speaker
on our own understanding, within our own understanding.
Submission to Christ and the Holy Spirit
00:32:55
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But if you submit to the fullness of who Christ is and to his Holy Spirit,
00:33:04
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that's a very safe and powerful place to be.
00:33:09
Speaker
And this is where you guys come in, right? So for you as believers, for us as pastors, we need y'all be praying for us that way we don't turn into the blind guy.
00:33:22
Speaker
I know Victor. victor i mean like and trump I don't think I've ever met a more genuine man in faith than Victor Morrison, everybody. okay like i just want to say this We are very blessed to have him as our senior pastor. If y'all don't recognize that, then y'all blind. okay
00:33:38
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He's incredible.
00:33:40
Speaker
But pray for us that we, as well as you, submit fully to the Spirit so that way the Spirit is what's guiding this congregation, not Victor and Josh.
00:33:58
Speaker
So as we go into this time of invitation, though, as we wrap up and conclude this time, I'm just going to ask you this.
00:34:07
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I mean, it can be a very simple question of who are you following right now? Have you fully surrendered your life to the authority and grace and mercy of Jesus?
00:34:20
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If you haven't, I pray that you do that today.
00:34:27
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Because if you don't do that, you're going to be wandering around in darkness for your entire life. it's going to a very lonely place to be.
00:34:43
Speaker
However, if you're in this room and you've been, and you are a believer, and I even talked about this last week, and you've been hurt by another believer, you've been hindered by somebody who proclaims to be a Christian, one, I pray that you will surrender that to the Lord.
00:35:01
Speaker
Allow him to take that from you so that way you don't carry that burden, that weight. And two, pray for an opportunity of resolution.
00:35:11
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To extend that forgiveness, to extend that mercy and that grace so that way this whole idea of judgment and condemnation will not be a temptation on your heart to cast on another individual.
00:35:26
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So again, who will you follow?
00:35:29
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will follow the Lord.
00:35:33
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in his disposition, are you going to follow your own your own way or the world's way? Will you pray with me? God, we thank you for your word.
00:35:46
Speaker
Lord, we thank you for the fact that it is sharper than any two-edged sword, that it does pierce our hearts to the core. And pray, God, if there's anyone in this room who has unconfessed sin And Father, that they will surrender it and confess it to you. So that way that way they can be renewed today.
00:36:08
Speaker
And God, if there's anyone in this room who has unrepented or unconfessed sins towards another believer, Lord God, I pray that you will weigh heavy on their heart to where they can bring that before that person and they they can confess it.
00:36:24
Speaker
and forgive and go through the process of reconciliation with that believer. For we are called to be unified under the spirit of Christ.
00:36:36
Speaker
But God, I i mean, um'm I'm just as guilty as everyone in this room. there's i have I have judgment me in my heart at times. So God, I pray that you will humble myself, that you'll humble all of us in this room, that we will recognize that we are no better than another that we are in just as much of need of your grace and of your mercy and of the gospel message today as much as we did yesterday.
00:37:04
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and as a result of that we that, we will strive to submit ourselves to your humility to be an example for those around us.
00:37:15
Speaker
God, please don't stop working in us.
00:37:20
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Please break us down.
00:37:24
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May we truly follow you in every aspect of our life to go and fulfill the great commission of sharing the good news to all those who need it.
00:37:35
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Again, Lord, we thank you for your grace. we thank you for your mercy,
00:37:45
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We pray all these things in your son's holy and precious name. Amen.
00:37:55
Speaker
This is a ministry of First Baptist Church located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas.