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Welcome back to the Read, Do, and Tell Podcast.
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My name is Becky.
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I'm Amy.
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Thank you all for joining us again.
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In previous episodes, um, I have written down here episode 17 and episode 20.
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We talked about reading God's word in context.
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And really, this is a concept that cannot be said too much.
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We just we have to constantly remind ourselves that every verse in the Bible is in a paragraph, it's in a passage, it's in a book of the Bible, and it's in the Bible.
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We have to constantly remind ourselves of that.
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So if someone else's understanding and application, or if our understanding or application of a verse contradicts the paragraph, the passage, the book, and the Bible, what's taught in the Bible, it's that person or it's us that's off.
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It's not God's word.
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So I would encourage you when you find yourself saying, oh, this contradicts this in the Bible or whatever, go back and read the context.
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You'll often hear that a text without context is pretext.
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You just kind of put your own meaning into it.
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But I recently heard a podcast where he said, context without text is just a con.
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And I really liked that.
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I thought that was kind of cool.
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Today we're gonna look at Matthew chapter seven.
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We're gonna look at the whole entire chapter.
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It begins with the verse that believers and non-believers alike pull out of context and use.
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And really it's come to mean let me live my life any way I please.
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Oh, and by the way, you can't hold me accountable for how I live my life because you know what Jesus said, Amy?
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He said, do not judge.
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That's right.
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Years ago, I was listening to a podcast where they said people understand this verse like this.
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Do not judge.
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And then the rest of the chapter is blacked out.
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In order to get this meaning or this understanding from Matthew chapter seven, you have to ignore the rest of Jesus' words in that same chapter in order to conclude that it means we're not supposed to hold others accountable for their sin, and others are not supposed to hold us accountable for our sin.
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Now, before Amy jumps in to verse one, I want to zoom out and just give us the greater context.
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So Matthew 5 through 7 is where Jesus is teaching the Sermon on the Mount, his famous sermon.
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And in this teaching, Jesus has driven home the fact that following man-made rules to gain righteousness before God is impossible.
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Um, you must follow God's law perfectly, God's law perfectly to be declared righteous before God.
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And guess what?
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I have bad news.
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None of us can do that.
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Scripture says, no, not one.
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This all points us to the fact that we need a perfecter.
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We all need Jesus.
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Amen.
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Okay, so as Becky said, chapter seven is in the context of chapter five, six, and seven.
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And so I'm gonna touch a little bit on what's in chapter five and chapter six before I jump into verse one because context matters.
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So if you go back to the beginning of chapter five, there's a big crowd.
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Jesus withdraws and he starts to teach his disciples.
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The beginning of his teaching is about what those, what the heart attitude is and what the godly character is of someone who looks to please the Lord, what their behaviors are.
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And then he tells them, You're the salt and light.
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We have to preserve the truth.
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So we have to know what true righteousness is, which is seeking after what God says is right.
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And then we have to take that teaching out to others and be the light because we have the true light, which is we have the Holy Spirit in us because we believe in Jesus, who is the light of the world.
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And then Jesus addresses, right after that, he addresses the false teachers and he says, he basically warns those who are breaking the law and teaching others to do the same.
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And at the end of addressing them, he he says to them that, well, he says to everyone, unless your righteousness righteousness surpasses that of the teachers of the law, then you will inherit the kingdom of heaven.
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And that's basically telling them that after he does that comparison, that their righteousness is not true righteousness.
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It's God's righteousness that you need to seek after.
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So he takes the Pharisaic doctrine and he begins to tell them, you have heard it said.
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So the Pharisaic doctrine was called the Mishnah.
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It's Becky and I talked about this in one of our episodes.
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You had the Mosaic law, and what the teachers of the law did was they kind of created these boundaries where you couldn't get close enough to break the law.
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And so basically what that did was it put a burden on the people.
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Um and so he says, You've heard it said, but I say.
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And so he's doing that compare.
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Well, he's doing the contrast of what the Pharisees say versus what God actually says.
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Um, and then in, well, some of those examples would be murder, adultery, divorce.
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He talks about the importance of loving your enemies.
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And then in chapter six, he goes into what behaviors of a godly person are, what the prayer of a godly person looks like versus one who just prays for people to look at them and go, Oh, they're so spiritual, I want to be like that.
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Um, or we should be like that.
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And then in chapter seven, he continues with the contrasting of what the Pharisees teach versus what God says.
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So I'm gonna read verse one through two of chapter seven.
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It says, Do not judge, or you too will be judged.
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For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
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So it doesn't mean don't judge, because judging is to be able to rightly divide truth, what's false, what's true.
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And in this context, the judge in Becky and I were doing some research about what the Greek word means.
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It's actually um to judge others almost with the intent to create uh, I would say, drama or conflict, to look at the bad that others are doing.
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Um, but you're not really looking at that on your own account.
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So if you do it, it's you know, you can't say anything.
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Well, how would you say that?
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If you if you do it, it's it's not that bad, but yeah, you can you can point it out.
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So it's a harsh critical Yes.
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I'm just nitpicking to find something you're doing.
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Right, right.
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Because you want to make yourself look better than everybody else.
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So the Pharisees would use their own standard of measurement to prove um their spiritual maturity, basically.
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So God's law, again, is the proper standard of judgment.
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You don't judge by the standard of a man-made law, which is a lot of what the Mishnah entailed.
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So I'm gonna read verses three through five now.
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Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?
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How can you say to your brother, let me take out the speck out of your eye, when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?
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You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.
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So sawdust is like an irritant in your eye, right?
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It's a little piece, it irritates you.
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And a plank would be like a big plank of wood.
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So that plank blinds you.
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So you can't see, actually, what he's trying to say is you can't see what is wrong with what the other person is doing because you have a big old plank in your eye.
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So you're looking at something that's false.
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It's not you can't see the truth.
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I'm gonna read Matthew 23, verse 15.
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Jesus says, Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites.
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You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.
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So they are following a false righteousness and taking people to hell with them, basically.
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So if they can't see the truth, they cannot properly judge.
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That makes them a hypocrite.
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And I also want to read Romans 2 because it talks about the same thing, about that standard of judgment that we use.
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Okay, Romans 2, verse 1 through 3 says, You therefore have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else.
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For at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.
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Now we know that God's judgment against those who do such things is based on truth.
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So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God's judgment?
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And this is what the Pharisees did.
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They would pass judgment on these people, but they would do the same thing, and they thought, We'll be fine, because we're the teachers of the law.
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They're above it.
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Are you finished?
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I'm done.
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Wow, that was a lot.
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I just got verse six.
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So verse six, and I'm reading from the CSB.
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You're reading from Amplet.
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No, you're reading from I have the NIV today.
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You have NIV today.
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Why you're a chameleon of translations.
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All right, so verse six says, Don't give what is holy to dogs, or toss your pearls before pigs, or they will trample them under their feet, turn and tear you to pieces.
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So here, Jesus, this is what John MacArthur says.
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These are his words.
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He says, Jesus is talking about the dogs and the hogs, and I like that that rhymes there.
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Some Bible commentators will say that these references are to people outside of the faith, to unbelievers, to people who are hard-hearted to the gospel.
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So the good news, the gospel being the pearl that's being preached.
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It really makes me think of Frank Turek.
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So when he goes and dialogues with people, and if he can tell that their heart is very hard, he'll just ask a very simple question.
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He'll say, if I was able to prove to you without a doubt that Christianity is true, would you believe it?
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And if they say, there's no way I would believe it, he says, Okay, thanks for your time.
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Next person in line for the question, because it's kind of a waste of time for both of them if that person's hard-hearted.
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Other Bible commentators will say that the dogs and the hogs in verse 6 may be referring back to the Pharisees, because after all, Jesus did just call them hypocrites.
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They're hard-hearted to Jesus, they're hard-hearted to the gospel message here.
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And we also see in 2 Peter 2, 22 that false teachers are referred to as dogs and hogs as well.
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So here it could be both.
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The dogs and hogs could be representative of both kinds of people, but either way, you slice it, it requires discernment and judgment to know who the dogs and hogs are when it comes to giving the pearls.
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I'm gonna read verses 7 through 11.
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It says, Ask and it will be given to you.
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Seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you.
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For everyone who asks receives, he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks the door will be opened.
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Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone, or if he asks for fish, will give him a snake.
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If you, then though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him?
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Okay, so the ask, seek, and the knock, that is all in the present.
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So here Jesus is telling them that and us as well, be consistent in prayer and your petitions to the Lord.
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And if you were to go to Luke in chapter 11, 13, that same teaching he ends like this He says, If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?
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So this again is when you are searching for God's righteousness, you're seeking him daily, you're asking him to reveal to you the decisions you need to make by being in his word and you want to know more.
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He gives you he gives you the Holy Spirit upon belief, but that Holy Spirit also helps to transform your mind by being in the word so that you can rightly divide what is true when you're being taught and um listening to other people as well as what is not.
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This goes back to what Jesus teaches when he tells them that he is the true vine and we are the branches.
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Branches, we need to remain in him and he remains in us.
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And then verse 12 says, So in everything do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the law and the prophets.
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This is what we know as the golden rule do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
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This is not a verse that says, This is how you get saved.
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This is simply the attitude or the behavior that a believer would portray.
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And then it goes all the way back to how Jesus opened up the sermon when he's teaching them to love your enemies.
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Everyone is your neighbor, love your neighbor as yourself.
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All the people around you are those that um those that follow the Lord and encourage you and build you up in your faith, as well as those who come against you because of what you believe.
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Love them, pray for them, even though you're persecuted.
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And then in verse 13 and 14 it says, Enter through the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction.
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There are many who go through it.
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How narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life, and few find it.
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When I was doing my study, I was looking at it, and if you go back to Jesus is again comparing and contrasting what true righteousness is versus false righteousness.
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And so the Pharisees would teach that if you're Jew, you are going to be with the Lord because you're his chosen people.
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So that's a broad way into the kingdom of heaven.
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Um, and then really Jesus here is saying, I, and he said many times, I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life, I am the door.
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It is through him that you get to the Father.
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And so that is another contrast of what the Pharisees would say versus what God says in his word.
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And it's another place in this passage where we see we have to discern and judge which one is wide, which one is narrow.
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Um, we also, I think I go back to high school when we had the t-shirt that said go against the flow, and it had all the big fish going one way and the little fish going the other way.
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Really, when you're on that narrow path, you're going against the grain, you're going against culture, really, and it's hard.
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Romans 12, 2 is very encouraging.
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It reminds us to not be conformed to the world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds.
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And in John 17, we see that when we're we are sanctified by being in his word because his word is truth.
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Okay, I've got 15 through 20.
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A good chunk.
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Well, I've got 15 through 23, but I'm going to read 15 through 20 first.
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Be on your guard against false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but an inwardly are ravaging wolves.
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You will recognize them by their fruit.
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Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes or figs from thistles?
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In the same way, every good tree produces good fruit, but a bad tree produces bad fruit.
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A good tree can't produce bad fruit.
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Where am I?
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Here I am.
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Neither can a bad tree produce good fruit.
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Every tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
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So you will recognize them by their fruit.
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So in this passage, fruit is used a lot.
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He we've said that word quite a bit.
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Um, it represents, I would say, the teacher's words or the teacher's works.
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So are they teaching falsely?
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Are they leading others to understand or misunderstand on purpose even God's word incorrectly?
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Are they living in habitual sin?
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Are they encouraging others to live in habitual sin?
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So Jesus uses an illustration here about the fruit.
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We can understand this today.
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We we still have grapes and figs.
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We might even say, can thorns and thistles give us apples and oranges?
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We can hear a teacher's words and what they speak, and we need to compare that to scripture.
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What does God's word say in context?
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Again, because they like to take things out of context.
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We can also see their deeds.
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Are they evil deeds?
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Or are they deeds of righteousness?
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Are they obedient to God's word?
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Are they disobedient to God's word?
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Again, all of this requires judgment and it requires discernment.
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In verse 21 through 23, I'll read, Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.
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On that day many will say to me, Lord, Lord, didn't we prophesy in your name?
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Drive out demons in your name, and do mirac do many miracles in your name.
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Then I will announce to them, I never knew you.
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Depart from me, you lawbreakers.
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This is a really serious part of this chapter.
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But what it reminds me of is that we might be able to judge a person's words and their works, but we cannot perfectly judge a person's motives or see their heart.
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Only God can.
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They even do good works.
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They're doing miracles, they're driving out demons in Jesus' name.
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But in these verses, we see what God will say to someone who has bad fruit in their heart.
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He will tell them, Depart from me.
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He will say, I never knew you.
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And that kind of know you there is where it's that Greek word is that he didn't have a unique relationship with them.
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They weren't in relationship with him.
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It was all for show.
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And we may not always be able to discern that, but God certainly can.
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And their work was really lawlessness.
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So when we come to God's word and when we are doing good works and we're saying things, we need to always ask God to reveal our heart to us, to walk in humility as we read his word and as we obey his word.
00:19:41.599 --> 00:19:42.319
It's important.
00:19:43.200 --> 00:19:53.039
Verse 24 through 27 says, Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
00:19:53.279 --> 00:19:59.839
The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, yet it did not fall.
00:20:00.720 --> 00:20:03.359
Because it had its foundations on the rock.
00:20:03.759 --> 00:20:11.839
But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.
00:20:12.079 --> 00:20:20.319
The rain came down, the streams rose, the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.
00:20:20.799 --> 00:20:32.240
And so here again you have a comparison between a wise man, one who is able to discern and judge properly what God's word says, what's in the scriptures.
00:20:32.720 --> 00:20:36.079
That the foundation of rock is Jesus.
00:20:36.559 --> 00:20:37.680
It is his truth.
00:20:37.839 --> 00:20:48.240
If he says, I am the truth, then it's upon his truth that you build your faith, your um what you study, what you even teach to other people.
00:20:48.880 --> 00:21:06.000
The one that is the other man that is not wise that builds upon sand, those are it could be man-made traditions, what man says is right, and then you're building what you believe to be okay upon those false, um upon that false foundation.
00:21:06.240 --> 00:21:09.279
And so it says it comes down with a crash.
00:21:09.759 --> 00:21:13.279
So really he ends all of these teachings with something quite drastic.
00:21:13.359 --> 00:21:15.519
It's not, oh, it just falls and it gets back up.
00:21:15.759 --> 00:21:16.880
No, it crashes.
00:21:17.440 --> 00:21:20.880
And then it ends with verse 28.
00:21:21.039 --> 00:21:32.400
It says, When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching because he taught as one who had authority and not as their teachers of the law.
00:21:32.720 --> 00:21:35.039
Here the people are rightly judging.
00:21:35.200 --> 00:21:38.880
They are able to see, wow, what Jesus is saying.
00:21:38.960 --> 00:21:40.880
It he teaches with authority.
00:21:41.119 --> 00:21:44.799
They know the scriptures and they see that what he's saying is true.
00:21:45.039 --> 00:21:53.599
And then they're able to take what Jesus is saying and compare it to what they have heard, as Jesus said, and they can see the difference between what is right and what is wrong.
00:21:54.640 --> 00:22:12.880
So to wrap it all up, this chapter, the do not judge chapter, really is not about not judging because there's plenty of times we've seen in this chapter where we have to discern, we have to judge between two things good fruit, bad fruit, good teachers, bad teachers, narrow road, wide road.
00:22:13.039 --> 00:22:14.559
There's a lot of discernment there.
00:22:14.720 --> 00:22:18.319
So it's not about don't judge, it's about how to judge.
00:22:18.559 --> 00:22:20.880
So we really want to be as that wise man.
00:22:20.960 --> 00:22:22.160
We want to read God's word.
00:22:22.400 --> 00:22:25.200
We want to study God's word in its context.
00:22:25.440 --> 00:22:30.960
We want to obey God's word with humility, and we want to tell others what God's word says.
00:22:31.119 --> 00:22:34.880
So let's read, do, and tell the word of the Lord.
00:22:35.119 --> 00:22:35.759
Amen.
00:00:10.240 --> 00:00:14.240
Welcome back to the Read, Do, and Tell Podcast.
00:00:14.400 --> 00:00:15.439
My name is Becky.
00:00:15.679 --> 00:00:16.399
I'm Amy.
00:00:16.480 --> 00:00:18.399
Thank you all for joining us again.
00:00:18.719 --> 00:00:24.399
In previous episodes, um, I have written down here episode 17 and episode 20.
00:00:24.559 --> 00:00:27.600
We talked about reading God's word in context.
00:00:27.679 --> 00:00:31.920
And really, this is a concept that cannot be said too much.
00:00:32.159 --> 00:00:43.359
We just we have to constantly remind ourselves that every verse in the Bible is in a paragraph, it's in a passage, it's in a book of the Bible, and it's in the Bible.
00:00:43.520 --> 00:00:46.000
We have to constantly remind ourselves of that.
00:00:46.320 --> 00:01:02.479
So if someone else's understanding and application, or if our understanding or application of a verse contradicts the paragraph, the passage, the book, and the Bible, what's taught in the Bible, it's that person or it's us that's off.
00:01:02.560 --> 00:01:03.439
It's not God's word.
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So I would encourage you when you find yourself saying, oh, this contradicts this in the Bible or whatever, go back and read the context.
00:01:11.840 --> 00:01:16.239
You'll often hear that a text without context is pretext.
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You just kind of put your own meaning into it.
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But I recently heard a podcast where he said, context without text is just a con.
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And I really liked that.
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I thought that was kind of cool.
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Today we're gonna look at Matthew chapter seven.
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We're gonna look at the whole entire chapter.
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It begins with the verse that believers and non-believers alike pull out of context and use.
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And really it's come to mean let me live my life any way I please.
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Oh, and by the way, you can't hold me accountable for how I live my life because you know what Jesus said, Amy?
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He said, do not judge.
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That's right.
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Years ago, I was listening to a podcast where they said people understand this verse like this.
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Do not judge.
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And then the rest of the chapter is blacked out.
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In order to get this meaning or this understanding from Matthew chapter seven, you have to ignore the rest of Jesus' words in that same chapter in order to conclude that it means we're not supposed to hold others accountable for their sin, and others are not supposed to hold us accountable for our sin.
00:02:24.159 --> 00:02:30.639
Now, before Amy jumps in to verse one, I want to zoom out and just give us the greater context.
00:02:30.800 --> 00:02:37.680
So Matthew 5 through 7 is where Jesus is teaching the Sermon on the Mount, his famous sermon.
00:02:37.840 --> 00:02:46.719
And in this teaching, Jesus has driven home the fact that following man-made rules to gain righteousness before God is impossible.
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Um, you must follow God's law perfectly, God's law perfectly to be declared righteous before God.
00:02:54.080 --> 00:02:54.800
And guess what?
00:02:54.960 --> 00:02:55.840
I have bad news.
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None of us can do that.
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Scripture says, no, not one.
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This all points us to the fact that we need a perfecter.
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We all need Jesus.
00:03:06.159 --> 00:03:06.800
Amen.
00:03:08.400 --> 00:03:14.800
Okay, so as Becky said, chapter seven is in the context of chapter five, six, and seven.
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And so I'm gonna touch a little bit on what's in chapter five and chapter six before I jump into verse one because context matters.
00:03:23.599 --> 00:03:28.319
So if you go back to the beginning of chapter five, there's a big crowd.
00:03:28.479 --> 00:03:31.280
Jesus withdraws and he starts to teach his disciples.
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The beginning of his teaching is about what those, what the heart attitude is and what the godly character is of someone who looks to please the Lord, what their behaviors are.
00:03:42.960 --> 00:03:45.919
And then he tells them, You're the salt and light.
00:03:46.240 --> 00:03:48.479
We have to preserve the truth.
00:03:48.719 --> 00:03:53.840
So we have to know what true righteousness is, which is seeking after what God says is right.
00:03:54.080 --> 00:04:05.039
And then we have to take that teaching out to others and be the light because we have the true light, which is we have the Holy Spirit in us because we believe in Jesus, who is the light of the world.
00:04:05.439 --> 00:04:16.160
And then Jesus addresses, right after that, he addresses the false teachers and he says, he basically warns those who are breaking the law and teaching others to do the same.
00:04:16.399 --> 00:04:30.639
And at the end of addressing them, he he says to them that, well, he says to everyone, unless your righteousness righteousness surpasses that of the teachers of the law, then you will inherit the kingdom of heaven.
00:04:30.800 --> 00:04:39.360
And that's basically telling them that after he does that comparison, that their righteousness is not true righteousness.
00:04:39.519 --> 00:04:42.399
It's God's righteousness that you need to seek after.
00:04:42.720 --> 00:04:48.879
So he takes the Pharisaic doctrine and he begins to tell them, you have heard it said.
00:04:49.279 --> 00:04:52.319
So the Pharisaic doctrine was called the Mishnah.
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It's Becky and I talked about this in one of our episodes.
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You had the Mosaic law, and what the teachers of the law did was they kind of created these boundaries where you couldn't get close enough to break the law.
00:05:03.519 --> 00:05:06.480
And so basically what that did was it put a burden on the people.
00:05:06.720 --> 00:05:10.879
Um and so he says, You've heard it said, but I say.
00:05:11.120 --> 00:05:12.720
And so he's doing that compare.
00:05:12.959 --> 00:05:17.839
Well, he's doing the contrast of what the Pharisees say versus what God actually says.
00:05:18.079 --> 00:05:25.120
Um, and then in, well, some of those examples would be murder, adultery, divorce.
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He talks about the importance of loving your enemies.
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And then in chapter six, he goes into what behaviors of a godly person are, what the prayer of a godly person looks like versus one who just prays for people to look at them and go, Oh, they're so spiritual, I want to be like that.
00:05:43.439 --> 00:05:45.279
Um, or we should be like that.
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And then in chapter seven, he continues with the contrasting of what the Pharisees teach versus what God says.
00:05:53.360 --> 00:05:56.800
So I'm gonna read verse one through two of chapter seven.
00:05:56.959 --> 00:06:00.800
It says, Do not judge, or you too will be judged.
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For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
00:06:08.800 --> 00:06:17.759
So it doesn't mean don't judge, because judging is to be able to rightly divide truth, what's false, what's true.
00:06:18.079 --> 00:06:24.480
And in this context, the judge in Becky and I were doing some research about what the Greek word means.
00:06:24.800 --> 00:06:36.959
It's actually um to judge others almost with the intent to create uh, I would say, drama or conflict, to look at the bad that others are doing.
00:06:37.040 --> 00:06:40.319
Um, but you're not really looking at that on your own account.
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So if you do it, it's you know, you can't say anything.
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Well, how would you say that?
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If you if you do it, it's it's not that bad, but yeah, you can you can point it out.
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So it's a harsh critical Yes.
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I'm just nitpicking to find something you're doing.
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Right, right.
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Because you want to make yourself look better than everybody else.
00:06:58.720 --> 00:07:05.600
So the Pharisees would use their own standard of measurement to prove um their spiritual maturity, basically.
00:07:05.839 --> 00:07:08.800
So God's law, again, is the proper standard of judgment.
00:07:08.959 --> 00:07:13.920
You don't judge by the standard of a man-made law, which is a lot of what the Mishnah entailed.
00:07:14.240 --> 00:07:16.560
So I'm gonna read verses three through five now.
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Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?
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How can you say to your brother, let me take out the speck out of your eye, when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?
00:07:32.480 --> 00:07:40.720
You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.
00:07:41.040 --> 00:07:44.399
So sawdust is like an irritant in your eye, right?
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It's a little piece, it irritates you.
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And a plank would be like a big plank of wood.
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So that plank blinds you.
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So you can't see, actually, what he's trying to say is you can't see what is wrong with what the other person is doing because you have a big old plank in your eye.
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So you're looking at something that's false.
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It's not you can't see the truth.
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I'm gonna read Matthew 23, verse 15.
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Jesus says, Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites.
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You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.
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So they are following a false righteousness and taking people to hell with them, basically.
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So if they can't see the truth, they cannot properly judge.
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That makes them a hypocrite.
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And I also want to read Romans 2 because it talks about the same thing, about that standard of judgment that we use.
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Okay, Romans 2, verse 1 through 3 says, You therefore have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else.
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For at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.
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Now we know that God's judgment against those who do such things is based on truth.
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So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God's judgment?
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And this is what the Pharisees did.
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They would pass judgment on these people, but they would do the same thing, and they thought, We'll be fine, because we're the teachers of the law.
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They're above it.
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Are you finished?
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I'm done.
00:09:32.720 --> 00:09:33.519
Wow, that was a lot.
00:09:34.080 --> 00:09:35.600
I just got verse six.
00:09:35.759 --> 00:09:38.320
So verse six, and I'm reading from the CSB.
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You're reading from Amplet.
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No, you're reading from I have the NIV today.
00:09:41.279 --> 00:09:42.320
You have NIV today.
00:09:42.399 --> 00:09:44.960
Why you're a chameleon of translations.
00:09:45.360 --> 00:09:59.519
All right, so verse six says, Don't give what is holy to dogs, or toss your pearls before pigs, or they will trample them under their feet, turn and tear you to pieces.
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So here, Jesus, this is what John MacArthur says.
00:10:03.440 --> 00:10:04.080
These are his words.
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He says, Jesus is talking about the dogs and the hogs, and I like that that rhymes there.
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Some Bible commentators will say that these references are to people outside of the faith, to unbelievers, to people who are hard-hearted to the gospel.
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So the good news, the gospel being the pearl that's being preached.
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It really makes me think of Frank Turek.
00:10:26.159 --> 00:10:33.039
So when he goes and dialogues with people, and if he can tell that their heart is very hard, he'll just ask a very simple question.
00:10:33.120 --> 00:10:38.720
He'll say, if I was able to prove to you without a doubt that Christianity is true, would you believe it?
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And if they say, there's no way I would believe it, he says, Okay, thanks for your time.
00:10:43.360 --> 00:10:49.600
Next person in line for the question, because it's kind of a waste of time for both of them if that person's hard-hearted.
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Other Bible commentators will say that the dogs and the hogs in verse 6 may be referring back to the Pharisees, because after all, Jesus did just call them hypocrites.
00:11:01.200 --> 00:11:05.360
They're hard-hearted to Jesus, they're hard-hearted to the gospel message here.
00:11:05.600 --> 00:11:13.600
And we also see in 2 Peter 2, 22 that false teachers are referred to as dogs and hogs as well.
00:11:13.840 --> 00:11:15.360
So here it could be both.
00:11:15.440 --> 00:11:29.840
The dogs and hogs could be representative of both kinds of people, but either way, you slice it, it requires discernment and judgment to know who the dogs and hogs are when it comes to giving the pearls.
00:11:30.080 --> 00:11:32.720
I'm gonna read verses 7 through 11.
00:11:32.960 --> 00:11:35.200
It says, Ask and it will be given to you.
00:11:35.440 --> 00:11:39.120
Seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you.
00:11:39.360 --> 00:11:45.360
For everyone who asks receives, he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks the door will be opened.
00:11:45.600 --> 00:11:52.240
Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone, or if he asks for fish, will give him a snake.
00:11:52.720 --> 00:12:02.399
If you, then though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him?
00:12:04.080 --> 00:12:07.600
Okay, so the ask, seek, and the knock, that is all in the present.
00:12:07.919 --> 00:12:14.960
So here Jesus is telling them that and us as well, be consistent in prayer and your petitions to the Lord.
00:12:15.200 --> 00:12:32.559
And if you were to go to Luke in chapter 11, 13, that same teaching he ends like this He says, If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?
00:12:33.039 --> 00:12:48.000
So this again is when you are searching for God's righteousness, you're seeking him daily, you're asking him to reveal to you the decisions you need to make by being in his word and you want to know more.
00:12:48.240 --> 00:13:04.320
He gives you he gives you the Holy Spirit upon belief, but that Holy Spirit also helps to transform your mind by being in the word so that you can rightly divide what is true when you're being taught and um listening to other people as well as what is not.
00:13:05.759 --> 00:13:11.279
This goes back to what Jesus teaches when he tells them that he is the true vine and we are the branches.
00:13:11.519 --> 00:13:14.399
Branches, we need to remain in him and he remains in us.
00:13:14.879 --> 00:13:23.759
And then verse 12 says, So in everything do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the law and the prophets.
00:13:24.080 --> 00:13:29.279
This is what we know as the golden rule do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
00:13:29.840 --> 00:13:33.519
This is not a verse that says, This is how you get saved.
00:13:33.840 --> 00:13:38.799
This is simply the attitude or the behavior that a believer would portray.
00:13:38.960 --> 00:13:44.480
And then it goes all the way back to how Jesus opened up the sermon when he's teaching them to love your enemies.
00:13:44.639 --> 00:13:47.600
Everyone is your neighbor, love your neighbor as yourself.
00:13:48.159 --> 00:13:59.600
All the people around you are those that um those that follow the Lord and encourage you and build you up in your faith, as well as those who come against you because of what you believe.
00:13:59.759 --> 00:14:02.879
Love them, pray for them, even though you're persecuted.
00:14:03.200 --> 00:14:13.600
And then in verse 13 and 14 it says, Enter through the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction.
00:14:13.919 --> 00:14:16.159
There are many who go through it.
00:14:16.480 --> 00:14:22.799
How narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life, and few find it.
00:14:23.200 --> 00:14:33.759
When I was doing my study, I was looking at it, and if you go back to Jesus is again comparing and contrasting what true righteousness is versus false righteousness.
00:14:33.919 --> 00:14:41.840
And so the Pharisees would teach that if you're Jew, you are going to be with the Lord because you're his chosen people.
00:14:42.000 --> 00:14:45.519
So that's a broad way into the kingdom of heaven.
00:14:45.679 --> 00:14:53.120
Um, and then really Jesus here is saying, I, and he said many times, I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life, I am the door.
00:14:53.600 --> 00:14:56.399
It is through him that you get to the Father.
00:14:56.559 --> 00:15:02.639
And so that is another contrast of what the Pharisees would say versus what God says in his word.
00:15:03.039 --> 00:15:11.039
And it's another place in this passage where we see we have to discern and judge which one is wide, which one is narrow.
00:15:11.279 --> 00:15:20.720
Um, we also, I think I go back to high school when we had the t-shirt that said go against the flow, and it had all the big fish going one way and the little fish going the other way.
00:15:20.960 --> 00:15:26.799
Really, when you're on that narrow path, you're going against the grain, you're going against culture, really, and it's hard.
00:15:26.960 --> 00:15:29.679
Romans 12, 2 is very encouraging.
00:15:29.759 --> 00:15:36.399
It reminds us to not be conformed to the world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds.
00:15:36.559 --> 00:15:43.759
And in John 17, we see that when we're we are sanctified by being in his word because his word is truth.
00:15:45.039 --> 00:15:47.200
Okay, I've got 15 through 20.
00:15:47.440 --> 00:15:48.480
A good chunk.
00:15:48.799 --> 00:15:52.960
Well, I've got 15 through 23, but I'm going to read 15 through 20 first.
00:15:53.360 --> 00:16:01.120
Be on your guard against false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but an inwardly are ravaging wolves.
00:16:01.279 --> 00:16:03.759
You will recognize them by their fruit.
00:16:04.080 --> 00:16:08.639
Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes or figs from thistles?
00:16:08.879 --> 00:16:16.480
In the same way, every good tree produces good fruit, but a bad tree produces bad fruit.
00:16:16.720 --> 00:16:19.840
A good tree can't produce bad fruit.
00:16:20.320 --> 00:16:21.039
Where am I?
00:16:21.120 --> 00:16:21.679
Here I am.
00:16:21.840 --> 00:16:24.960
Neither can a bad tree produce good fruit.
00:16:25.120 --> 00:16:30.960
Every tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
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So you will recognize them by their fruit.
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So in this passage, fruit is used a lot.
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He we've said that word quite a bit.
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Um, it represents, I would say, the teacher's words or the teacher's works.
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So are they teaching falsely?
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Are they leading others to understand or misunderstand on purpose even God's word incorrectly?
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Are they living in habitual sin?
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Are they encouraging others to live in habitual sin?
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So Jesus uses an illustration here about the fruit.
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We can understand this today.
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We we still have grapes and figs.
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We might even say, can thorns and thistles give us apples and oranges?
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We can hear a teacher's words and what they speak, and we need to compare that to scripture.
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What does God's word say in context?
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Again, because they like to take things out of context.
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We can also see their deeds.
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Are they evil deeds?
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Or are they deeds of righteousness?
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Are they obedient to God's word?
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Are they disobedient to God's word?
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Again, all of this requires judgment and it requires discernment.
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In verse 21 through 23, I'll read, Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.
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On that day many will say to me, Lord, Lord, didn't we prophesy in your name?
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Drive out demons in your name, and do mirac do many miracles in your name.
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Then I will announce to them, I never knew you.
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Depart from me, you lawbreakers.
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This is a really serious part of this chapter.
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But what it reminds me of is that we might be able to judge a person's words and their works, but we cannot perfectly judge a person's motives or see their heart.
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Only God can.
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They even do good works.
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They're doing miracles, they're driving out demons in Jesus' name.
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But in these verses, we see what God will say to someone who has bad fruit in their heart.
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He will tell them, Depart from me.
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He will say, I never knew you.
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And that kind of know you there is where it's that Greek word is that he didn't have a unique relationship with them.
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They weren't in relationship with him.
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It was all for show.
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And we may not always be able to discern that, but God certainly can.
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And their work was really lawlessness.
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So when we come to God's word and when we are doing good works and we're saying things, we need to always ask God to reveal our heart to us, to walk in humility as we read his word and as we obey his word.
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It's important.
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Verse 24 through 27 says, Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
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The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, yet it did not fall.
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Because it had its foundations on the rock.
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But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.
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The rain came down, the streams rose, the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.
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And so here again you have a comparison between a wise man, one who is able to discern and judge properly what God's word says, what's in the scriptures.
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That the foundation of rock is Jesus.
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It is his truth.
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If he says, I am the truth, then it's upon his truth that you build your faith, your um what you study, what you even teach to other people.
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The one that is the other man that is not wise that builds upon sand, those are it could be man-made traditions, what man says is right, and then you're building what you believe to be okay upon those false, um upon that false foundation.
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And so it says it comes down with a crash.
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So really he ends all of these teachings with something quite drastic.
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It's not, oh, it just falls and it gets back up.
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No, it crashes.
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And then it ends with verse 28.
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It says, When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching because he taught as one who had authority and not as their teachers of the law.
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Here the people are rightly judging.
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They are able to see, wow, what Jesus is saying.
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It he teaches with authority.
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They know the scriptures and they see that what he's saying is true.
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And then they're able to take what Jesus is saying and compare it to what they have heard, as Jesus said, and they can see the difference between what is right and what is wrong.
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So to wrap it all up, this chapter, the do not judge chapter, really is not about not judging because there's plenty of times we've seen in this chapter where we have to discern, we have to judge between two things good fruit, bad fruit, good teachers, bad teachers, narrow road, wide road.
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There's a lot of discernment there.
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So it's not about don't judge, it's about how to judge.
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So we really want to be as that wise man.
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We want to read God's word.
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We want to study God's word in its context.
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We want to obey God's word with humility, and we want to tell others what God's word says.
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So let's read, do, and tell the word of the Lord.
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Amen.
