WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:29.980 So I had an extra week to prepare. Awesome. Well, with this particular scripture, I had not only an extra week to prepare, but I had an extra week to fall and be broken on this scripture. 00:00:29.980 --> 00:00:47.140 And we, as we all get to, the guys are cycling through and getting to preach and those things, one of the best things possible, I think, is that the scripture that we meditate on to bring to you, we're living. 00:00:47.600 --> 00:00:56.359 And it is just, the Lord just lays things on our hearts. So I want to translate some of that to you today, if I can. 00:00:56.359 --> 00:01:13.239 So James chapter 4, 11 through 17 is my text, but I want to look at a couple of prerequisites, if you will, prerequisite thoughts here. 00:01:13.239 --> 00:01:26.619 The first one, the first one is what I think maybe is the theme of James, at least one of them. 00:01:26.959 --> 00:01:28.839 It would be James 4, 6. 00:01:28.840 --> 00:01:35.760 And part of that verse says, God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. 00:01:36.079 --> 00:01:42.880 If you look at a lot of what James is talking about, and this chapter in particular, that is the core. 00:01:43.060 --> 00:01:47.320 That is the theme that comes up over and over and over. 00:01:47.319 --> 00:01:51.779 And so I want to have that in our minds as we go down through these verses. 00:01:52.319 --> 00:02:01.839 The second thing is basically a definition of judge. 00:02:02.679 --> 00:02:03.599 Of judge. 00:02:03.859 --> 00:02:09.659 So like as we potentially can judge each other. 00:02:10.039 --> 00:02:11.959 Well, what does judge mean? 00:02:11.960 --> 00:02:19.640 Judge is, that word is I decide or I determine. 00:02:20.640 --> 00:02:23.980 I decide or I determine. 00:02:24.500 --> 00:02:34.120 So when you think about judgment like that, it's me looking at a situation, a person, an action, a thought. 00:02:34.120 --> 00:02:38.599 And I decide and I determine. 00:02:39.819 --> 00:02:44.900 So let's keep that definition in our mind as we go through this. 00:02:47.700 --> 00:02:49.780 Judgment, there's a lie believed. 00:02:50.000 --> 00:02:51.900 I am greater than God. 00:02:52.080 --> 00:02:54.140 I apply his law better. 00:02:54.340 --> 00:02:56.340 I assess situations better. 00:02:56.759 --> 00:02:59.860 I have a better handle on my future. 00:02:59.860 --> 00:03:11.240 This chapter and my verses in particular, 11 through 17, centers on the idea of boasting. 00:03:11.800 --> 00:03:22.440 So boasting in my law, boasting in my decisions, boasting in my planning. 00:03:22.700 --> 00:03:25.800 Those are the three areas that we're going to look at and kind of take apart. 00:03:25.800 --> 00:03:34.560 So if you would turn to chapter 4 and start with verse 11. 00:03:43.920 --> 00:03:45.880 Don't criticize one another, brothers. 00:03:45.980 --> 00:03:47.000 This is out of CSB. 00:03:47.160 --> 00:03:49.100 My phone just switched over on me. 00:03:49.260 --> 00:03:51.640 I had an ESV, but here we go. 00:03:51.780 --> 00:03:52.660 CSB is fine. 00:03:52.660 --> 00:03:55.160 I got one in the back. 00:03:55.300 --> 00:03:55.640 All right. 00:03:55.800 --> 00:03:59.840 Don't criticize one another, brothers and sisters. 00:04:00.200 --> 00:04:05.680 Anyone who defames or judges a fellow believer defames and judges the law. 00:04:06.200 --> 00:04:10.540 If you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge. 00:04:10.980 --> 00:04:16.139 There is one lawgiver and judge who is able to save and to destroy. 00:04:16.740 --> 00:04:19.040 But who are you to judge your neighbor? 00:04:19.040 --> 00:04:27.160 Come now, you who say, today or tomorrow we will travel to such and such a city and spend a year there and do business and make a profit. 00:04:27.560 --> 00:04:32.000 Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring, what your life will be. 00:04:32.240 --> 00:04:35.620 For you are like a vapor that appears for a little while then vanishes. 00:04:35.620 --> 00:04:42.759 Instead, you should say, if the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that. 00:04:42.840 --> 00:04:45.459 But as it is, you boast in your arrogance. 00:04:45.459 --> 00:04:48.439 All such boasting is evil. 00:04:48.439 --> 00:04:52.819 So it is sin to know the good and yet not do it. 00:04:52.819 --> 00:04:53.339 Wow. 00:04:53.339 --> 00:04:58.719 So the first thing I want to look at is boasting in my law. 00:04:58.819 --> 00:04:59.879 Now, this is a negative. 00:05:00.079 --> 00:05:01.139 I just want to be clear. 00:05:01.299 --> 00:05:02.079 This is not good. 00:05:03.039 --> 00:05:05.379 This is just what he's talking about. 00:05:05.459 --> 00:05:06.859 Boasting in my law. 00:05:07.239 --> 00:05:10.459 So the first area that he talks about is speaking. 00:05:11.059 --> 00:05:13.279 Don't criticize one another, brothers and sisters. 00:05:14.059 --> 00:05:15.559 Or speak evil. 00:05:15.679 --> 00:05:17.439 ESVS uses speak evil. 00:05:17.439 --> 00:05:20.620 Don't speak evil or criticize one another. 00:05:22.100 --> 00:05:29.240 So the context for what he means by criticize or speak evil is right after that. 00:05:29.680 --> 00:05:37.259 Anyone who defames or speaks against or judges a fellow believer is what we're talking about. 00:05:37.600 --> 00:05:38.860 And they defame and judge the law. 00:05:38.920 --> 00:05:40.000 We'll talk about that in a second. 00:05:40.139 --> 00:05:41.560 But that's what he's talking about. 00:05:41.620 --> 00:05:44.159 So if we're wondering, okay, what does it mean to speak evil? 00:05:44.160 --> 00:05:48.240 What does it mean to criticize my brother or my sister? 00:05:48.860 --> 00:05:50.640 Well, it's right there. 00:05:51.640 --> 00:05:54.840 Defames or judges a fellow believer. 00:05:56.760 --> 00:06:06.200 Speaking against basically is speaking something that is slanderous, hurtful, basically not in love. 00:06:06.920 --> 00:06:08.340 Not in love. 00:06:08.460 --> 00:06:09.200 And that's key. 00:06:09.340 --> 00:06:13.200 And that will be key over this whole bit of this chapter. 00:06:14.160 --> 00:06:15.820 Psalm 34, 13. 00:06:16.300 --> 00:06:19.980 Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. 00:06:20.180 --> 00:06:23.660 There's another good way to describe it. 00:06:24.180 --> 00:06:27.340 Now, you know when you're speaking evil against someone. 00:06:28.180 --> 00:06:28.600 Don't you? 00:06:29.460 --> 00:06:32.640 Even as the words go out. 00:06:32.740 --> 00:06:34.680 I was talking with somebody the other day. 00:06:34.860 --> 00:06:37.960 And they said, even as they went, I wish I could grab them back. 00:06:38.800 --> 00:06:40.200 You know, there's those times. 00:06:40.200 --> 00:06:43.920 And you realize, I am not speaking the way I should. 00:06:44.160 --> 00:06:45.700 Maybe that person is there. 00:06:45.800 --> 00:06:46.900 Maybe they're not there. 00:06:47.500 --> 00:06:48.820 And you're with somebody else. 00:06:48.980 --> 00:06:50.720 And you're sharing those words. 00:06:50.840 --> 00:06:52.840 And man, you would like them back. 00:06:52.939 --> 00:06:57.760 Because as soon as you say them, you recognize, I'm in a wrong spot. 00:06:57.940 --> 00:06:58.820 And you sense it. 00:06:59.240 --> 00:06:59.620 Spirit. 00:07:00.200 --> 00:07:00.340 Right. 00:07:00.339 --> 00:07:03.459 You may want to stop yourself. 00:07:03.599 --> 00:07:04.379 Take those back. 00:07:04.899 --> 00:07:06.859 Or justify. 00:07:08.119 --> 00:07:09.939 Justify what it is that you're saying. 00:07:10.899 --> 00:07:13.399 Now we're really getting into judgment. 00:07:14.060 --> 00:07:15.079 The judgment side. 00:07:15.079 --> 00:07:22.000 Once we start to say something bad about somebody, we criticize or we speak against them. 00:07:22.479 --> 00:07:25.579 And then we start to justify that. 00:07:26.079 --> 00:07:26.800 That's judgment. 00:07:27.159 --> 00:07:32.759 Now we've crossed lines that we ought not to cross in what we're saying and what we're speaking. 00:07:32.759 --> 00:07:39.920 Some ways in which we speak against someone, we might assign motives. 00:07:41.259 --> 00:07:49.240 How many times have you kind of looked into somebody's heart, so to speak, and thought you knew what was going on in there? 00:07:49.579 --> 00:07:52.079 I think I know what they're thinking or what they're not thinking. 00:07:52.459 --> 00:07:53.459 Why they do something. 00:07:53.459 --> 00:07:59.419 Another way we speak against someone is we delight in exposing their faults. 00:08:00.379 --> 00:08:09.060 There's something within us that maybe feels a little bit justified or good about pointing out a fault in somebody else. 00:08:10.079 --> 00:08:11.259 We'll talk about that in a second. 00:08:12.039 --> 00:08:16.759 What about talking about a brother or sister behind their back and not to them? 00:08:17.659 --> 00:08:23.000 Speaking to somebody else about a problem you have with a brother or sister, but not to them. 00:08:24.180 --> 00:08:25.620 That's speaking against. 00:08:25.899 --> 00:08:26.299 You're speaking. 00:08:26.759 --> 00:08:28.159 Matthew 20, 18. 00:08:28.259 --> 00:08:28.839 What does he say? 00:08:29.079 --> 00:08:31.439 If you've got a problem with your brother, go to them. 00:08:32.000 --> 00:08:33.039 Not to somebody else. 00:08:33.639 --> 00:08:34.500 Not to someone else. 00:08:35.720 --> 00:08:45.100 Or we criticize from a place of hypocrisy or the log in our own eye and the speck in our neighbor's eye. 00:08:49.100 --> 00:08:53.100 Judges his brother when he says that. 00:08:53.460 --> 00:08:55.500 So don't criticize one another, brothers and sisters. 00:08:55.500 --> 00:09:00.200 Anyone who defames or judges a fellow believer or a brother or sister. 00:09:00.200 --> 00:09:06.220 There is a clarity here that we have to draw. 00:09:06.220 --> 00:09:10.860 And that is there is ways in which we judge sin. 00:09:11.660 --> 00:09:17.000 There's ways that that boundary can be crossed and go into another place. 00:09:17.000 --> 00:09:19.659 If you would turn to Galatians 6. 00:09:20.659 --> 00:09:22.419 And we'll look at verses 1 and 2. 00:09:22.860 --> 00:09:24.620 Galatians 6, verse 1 and 2. 00:09:25.379 --> 00:09:27.899 If you have your paper Bibles, you can turn. 00:09:27.899 --> 00:09:35.740 It says, 00:09:35.740 --> 00:09:44.299 Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. 00:09:44.759 --> 00:09:45.899 Of gentleness. 00:09:46.279 --> 00:09:49.179 Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. 00:09:50.179 --> 00:09:53.100 Bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. 00:09:53.100 --> 00:09:57.620 The right way to judge. 00:09:57.700 --> 00:09:58.720 Let's talk about that first. 00:09:58.879 --> 00:10:03.180 The right way to speak to a brother or sister. 00:10:03.759 --> 00:10:09.720 Number one, from that passage we see, we must keep watch and accountable for our brothers and sisters. 00:10:10.420 --> 00:10:12.700 That's something that we're tasked to do. 00:10:12.700 --> 00:10:23.060 As partners, as people who come to church together, as people who are following Christ together, we should look out for one another. 00:10:23.520 --> 00:10:23.640 Right? 00:10:24.300 --> 00:10:35.220 If there's something that we catch somebody in a transgression, that's something that's important to judge and discern rightfully that that's sin. 00:10:35.680 --> 00:10:37.660 And that needs to be confronted. 00:10:37.659 --> 00:10:37.980 Okay. 00:10:38.879 --> 00:10:39.159 Okay. 00:10:40.159 --> 00:10:45.860 So, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. 00:10:46.240 --> 00:10:47.860 So, that's the second part. 00:10:48.399 --> 00:10:52.079 Number one is the spiritualness or the right place of your heart. 00:10:52.699 --> 00:10:55.959 And then, in gentleness, restore him. 00:10:58.959 --> 00:10:59.899 In love. 00:11:01.240 --> 00:11:02.679 In love at that point. 00:11:02.679 --> 00:11:05.859 Watch yourself. 00:11:06.179 --> 00:11:09.319 The gravity of what is going on here. 00:11:09.819 --> 00:11:12.679 He says, keep watch on yourself, lest you be tempted. 00:11:13.159 --> 00:11:14.379 That's the gravity of it. 00:11:14.839 --> 00:11:17.699 Because we are all sinners. 00:11:18.099 --> 00:11:21.719 And it's easy for us all to fall into the same thing. 00:11:22.079 --> 00:11:27.519 The whole point of taking the log out of your eye before you deal with the speck in somebody else's. 00:11:28.579 --> 00:11:30.740 That's what he's getting at there. 00:11:30.740 --> 00:11:34.159 And then, this is interesting. 00:11:34.480 --> 00:11:35.019 Verse 2. 00:11:35.159 --> 00:11:38.259 Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. 00:11:40.019 --> 00:11:46.419 So, if we discern something, we catch somebody, a brother or sister, in a transgression. 00:11:46.779 --> 00:11:48.860 It's important that we speak to them about it. 00:11:49.100 --> 00:11:50.759 It's important that we bring that up. 00:11:51.120 --> 00:11:54.320 It's ultimately important we do that in love. 00:11:54.320 --> 00:11:57.879 If it's not in love, it's a noisy gong. 00:11:58.100 --> 00:11:59.220 It's not good. 00:12:01.300 --> 00:12:04.400 That's not how we go about this, and he's specific there. 00:12:05.900 --> 00:12:08.160 And then, we watch ourself. 00:12:08.300 --> 00:12:11.480 And then the last thing, bear one another's burdens right after that. 00:12:11.480 --> 00:12:24.899 So, when you share, when you see that, when you restore, as a spiritual person, you walk with them afterwards. 00:12:24.899 --> 00:12:30.860 You share that, you speak to them, but then you invest in them. 00:12:31.919 --> 00:12:33.959 Love does not invest. 00:12:35.459 --> 00:12:44.559 Love does not, it's not, what he's talking about here is not like a drive-by shot at your brother, and then you truck on. 00:12:44.559 --> 00:12:44.959 Right? 00:12:45.879 --> 00:12:48.439 We are partners. 00:12:48.759 --> 00:12:53.779 We are partners in the gospel, and others of us are partners of a church. 00:12:54.479 --> 00:13:05.579 And the accountability there, and the importance there, is that not only do we see these things, and talk to one another about it, and be clear about it, and vulnerable about it, both ways. 00:13:05.580 --> 00:13:13.420 But that we love one another, and invest in one another, to bear that burden together, as we go. 00:13:15.460 --> 00:13:17.720 You have to invest. 00:13:17.840 --> 00:13:18.300 Love invest. 00:13:19.139 --> 00:13:27.300 So, now we see, okay, that's the right way to judge something, to discern something, to see sin and deal with sin. 00:13:27.740 --> 00:13:28.920 But there's a wrong way. 00:13:28.919 --> 00:13:38.539 Wrong way creates an atmosphere that results in disagreements, in fighting, in biting one another. 00:13:40.219 --> 00:13:45.699 When it's just sort of that drive-by shot. 00:13:45.819 --> 00:13:48.939 Hey, you know, this is a real problem in your life. 00:13:49.620 --> 00:13:50.240 And that's it. 00:13:50.479 --> 00:13:51.139 And move on. 00:13:52.620 --> 00:13:53.719 Is that in love? 00:13:54.299 --> 00:13:55.500 Is that investing? 00:13:55.500 --> 00:14:02.100 Is that somebody who loves somebody else enough to stick with them, and bear that burden, and walk with them in it? 00:14:02.960 --> 00:14:04.360 That creates trouble. 00:14:04.720 --> 00:14:06.139 It creates a bad atmosphere. 00:14:07.759 --> 00:14:10.379 Confession of sin cleanses us of this. 00:14:12.899 --> 00:14:19.940 Jesus taking our sin, and us making those confessions, and repentance. 00:14:20.080 --> 00:14:21.259 That's what clears the air. 00:14:21.259 --> 00:14:25.340 When I say that, Doug Wilson had a great analogy for this. 00:14:25.340 --> 00:14:39.980 Like, in the church, if we aren't clearing the air through confession, through openness, and the things that we strive for to do, 00:14:40.539 --> 00:14:45.759 then what starts to happen is a charge gets created. 00:14:45.759 --> 00:14:50.679 Imagine, like, clouds as they, right before a storm. 00:14:50.840 --> 00:14:54.139 It creates a charge, and then, you know, lightning. 00:14:55.299 --> 00:14:57.639 Well, the church is kind of the same way. 00:14:58.419 --> 00:15:01.600 And this is, in his analogy, I think, was great. 00:15:02.120 --> 00:15:06.980 So the charge gets, starts to pick up, and starts to pick up. 00:15:06.980 --> 00:15:17.300 If nothing is ever confessed, if nothing is ever worked through, if people aren't talking about transgressions, and these kind of things, 00:15:17.399 --> 00:15:24.920 then as the charge builds, boom, it's going to, lightning, and problems, and things like that. 00:15:25.420 --> 00:15:27.060 We've all experienced it, I'm sure. 00:15:27.399 --> 00:15:28.500 We've all felt that. 00:15:28.879 --> 00:15:31.899 In small groups, in larger groups, it happens. 00:15:31.899 --> 00:15:37.259 And so the way that we have to counter that is through confession. 00:15:37.860 --> 00:15:48.059 It's through the confession of sin, and carrying that burden with one another, and speaking to one another, and investing in one another. 00:15:48.500 --> 00:15:51.419 Not judging one another. 00:15:51.840 --> 00:15:56.819 Because the judgment does nothing but increase the charge in the air. 00:15:56.820 --> 00:16:02.080 That's all that will happen, until finally someone's going to get electrocuted. 00:16:03.460 --> 00:16:03.580 Right? 00:16:04.220 --> 00:16:06.900 So, great analogy there. 00:16:07.860 --> 00:16:21.020 The end of verse 11, looking back at our, verse 11 is just huge and powerful in this, in James 4. 00:16:21.019 --> 00:16:22.980 Don't criticize one another, brothers and sisters. 00:16:23.120 --> 00:16:27.720 Anyone who defames or judges a fellow believer defames and judges the law. 00:16:28.079 --> 00:16:31.340 If you judge the law, you are not a doer alone. 00:16:31.840 --> 00:16:33.799 Okay, so he sort of switches there. 00:16:33.919 --> 00:16:40.899 Anyone who defames or judges a fellow believer defames and judges the law. 00:16:41.179 --> 00:16:42.559 What do we mean, judge the law? 00:16:43.519 --> 00:16:48.519 I really had to hang in this thought for a long time. 00:16:48.519 --> 00:16:52.699 Um, speaks evil against the law. 00:16:53.019 --> 00:16:56.240 ESV says, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. 00:16:56.299 --> 00:17:02.279 If I judge my brother, then I'm speaking evil of the law and judging that. 00:17:02.799 --> 00:17:05.859 So, uh, what do we mean here? 00:17:05.940 --> 00:17:07.859 Well, how about God's law? 00:17:08.500 --> 00:17:12.099 Judge not that you be not judged. 00:17:12.180 --> 00:17:13.119 Matthew 7, 1. 00:17:14.200 --> 00:17:14.980 God's law. 00:17:15.339 --> 00:17:16.680 Love your neighbor as yourself. 00:17:16.680 --> 00:17:18.820 Matthew 22, 39. 00:17:19.299 --> 00:17:19.820 God's law. 00:17:19.940 --> 00:17:21.840 Speak the truth in love. 00:17:22.640 --> 00:17:24.120 Ephesians 4, 15. 00:17:24.240 --> 00:17:27.100 God's law, our core for this chapter. 00:17:27.880 --> 00:17:31.240 God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. 00:17:32.100 --> 00:17:33.100 James 4, 6. 00:17:34.460 --> 00:17:42.180 The truth is, when we judge our neighbor, when we judge somebody else, 00:17:42.180 --> 00:17:46.320 we are actually judging God's law. 00:17:46.320 --> 00:17:55.880 And that is a twisting and a distorting of these truths for your own purposes. 00:17:57.320 --> 00:18:00.340 That this is very, very important. 00:18:00.339 --> 00:18:10.619 He's saying here that when we set up against somebody else, we are setting up against God. 00:18:10.619 --> 00:18:22.179 When we speak against someone else, when we criticize somebody else, when we do that in that wrong way, 00:18:22.179 --> 00:18:26.479 what we're doing is we are basically defining our own law. 00:18:26.480 --> 00:18:32.539 And we are disregarding God's law and saying, God, you don't have this right. 00:18:33.160 --> 00:18:33.720 I do. 00:18:34.920 --> 00:18:36.440 And we judge his. 00:18:37.579 --> 00:18:39.420 That's him. 00:18:40.140 --> 00:18:43.960 That's he breathed his law. 00:18:43.960 --> 00:18:46.860 And we are setting up against him. 00:18:49.140 --> 00:18:54.559 Going back to our judge definition. 00:18:55.440 --> 00:18:56.799 I decide. 00:18:57.100 --> 00:18:59.880 I decide on God's purposes. 00:19:02.400 --> 00:19:04.019 On his nature. 00:19:04.640 --> 00:19:05.900 On his perfection. 00:19:06.840 --> 00:19:07.980 Doesn't this sound so arrogant? 00:19:08.900 --> 00:19:10.360 Just as you think about it. 00:19:10.700 --> 00:19:13.500 As this unpacks here. 00:19:13.960 --> 00:19:16.240 Like, I can't get past the arrogance. 00:19:17.240 --> 00:19:18.279 Of me. 00:19:18.519 --> 00:19:19.059 This week. 00:19:20.059 --> 00:19:20.319 You know? 00:19:23.660 --> 00:19:30.640 Judging is when you determine the right and wrong of somebody's actions apart from God and his word. 00:19:31.400 --> 00:19:33.299 When you decide. 00:19:33.440 --> 00:19:34.799 When you judge. 00:19:35.220 --> 00:19:43.519 When you determine somebody else's faults and their issues apart from God. 00:19:43.519 --> 00:19:46.279 When you decide how someone should be treated. 00:19:46.539 --> 00:19:48.759 According to your own ideas. 00:19:49.579 --> 00:19:51.940 According to the way you think life should go. 00:19:52.339 --> 00:19:55.379 The way you think that people should do things. 00:19:56.799 --> 00:19:58.180 I decide. 00:20:00.359 --> 00:20:05.059 Judging is when you put forth your own standard and expect another to comply with it. 00:20:05.059 --> 00:20:07.960 John Calvin. 00:20:07.960 --> 00:20:11.480 I found this really great quote from him. 00:20:12.379 --> 00:20:12.720 He said, 00:20:12.720 --> 00:20:16.039 There is also another disease innate in human nature. 00:20:16.039 --> 00:20:23.220 That everyone would have all others to live according to his own will or fancy. 00:20:23.900 --> 00:20:27.200 This presumption James suitably condemns in this passage. 00:20:27.200 --> 00:20:34.580 That is, because we dare to impose on our brethren our rule of life. 00:20:37.360 --> 00:20:45.000 A disease in human nature that we would have everyone else live according to my fancy. 00:20:45.000 --> 00:20:50.539 That is judgment. 00:20:51.019 --> 00:20:57.740 Like, let's just agree here that this is an incredibly arrogant, ugly thing. 00:20:58.960 --> 00:21:06.619 And, let's also agree here that this is something that goes on in our life probably daily. 00:21:07.900 --> 00:21:09.079 Probably daily. 00:21:09.980 --> 00:21:11.279 Sometimes worse than others. 00:21:11.279 --> 00:21:16.379 Imagine judging God's law. 00:21:16.539 --> 00:21:19.980 Imagine standing up to God as if he doesn't know what he's doing. 00:21:21.319 --> 00:21:23.379 Or saying in any way, 00:21:23.480 --> 00:21:25.099 God, your law is not perfect. 00:21:25.899 --> 00:21:26.759 I know better. 00:21:27.639 --> 00:21:30.599 And I will now impose it on this poor soul. 00:21:35.000 --> 00:21:38.859 Mark, really happy he's here. 00:21:39.680 --> 00:21:40.879 He came over for dinner. 00:21:40.880 --> 00:21:41.740 The other day. 00:21:42.440 --> 00:21:45.120 And we were down. 00:21:45.200 --> 00:21:47.240 I was showing him the basement and things like that. 00:21:47.320 --> 00:21:48.860 And the basement's not finished. 00:21:49.420 --> 00:21:50.940 Many of you probably remember. 00:21:51.240 --> 00:21:54.160 But, and the air conditioner and all that stuff. 00:21:54.220 --> 00:21:58.780 And the things that, you know, I just kind of barely know what they're called are down there. 00:21:58.779 --> 00:22:01.660 And, and, and so we're looking at it. 00:22:01.660 --> 00:22:04.019 And, and he asked a question about it. 00:22:04.099 --> 00:22:07.980 And, and so I, I answered the question to the best of my ability, you know. 00:22:07.980 --> 00:22:16.079 And, and then I kind of went on and, and showed him the humidifier on the air, on the air unit and these kind of things. 00:22:16.079 --> 00:22:19.619 And very kindly, he's, he's like, yeah, yeah. 00:22:19.619 --> 00:22:21.819 I, I, I know about those things, you know. 00:22:22.199 --> 00:22:23.119 And I, and I, so, yeah. 00:22:23.199 --> 00:22:25.079 So I kind of explain it, whatever. 00:22:25.559 --> 00:22:26.799 Very gracious to me. 00:22:26.799 --> 00:22:30.659 And so we went up and, and sat down to have dinner and everything. 00:22:31.619 --> 00:22:35.460 And at some point, Stacy asked about his job and his work. 00:22:35.659 --> 00:22:40.980 And, and he says, oh, well, yeah, I've, I've been doing HVAC for over 40 years. 00:22:43.119 --> 00:22:43.940 And I stopped. 00:22:44.019 --> 00:22:46.139 I was like, brother, you're so gracious to me. 00:22:47.579 --> 00:22:49.279 I'm sitting here telling you about something. 00:22:49.279 --> 00:22:49.819 That's, you know. 00:22:49.819 --> 00:23:00.139 But, you know, in that sense, is there any way that you would stand up to God and even insinuate that you knew better than him? 00:23:03.220 --> 00:23:13.700 The arrogance we possess to judge God's law by expecting another to comply with our evil intentions. 00:23:14.099 --> 00:23:15.480 These are evil intentions. 00:23:15.480 --> 00:23:27.500 When, when, when you fight or when you squirm, skirmish and go against each other or, or say things about one another to their face or not. 00:23:28.380 --> 00:23:29.440 That's what's happening. 00:23:30.220 --> 00:23:34.480 It's the arrogance that we possess to think we could judge God's law. 00:23:37.240 --> 00:23:39.960 Like someone else should comply with what we think. 00:23:40.940 --> 00:23:41.500 Man. 00:23:41.500 --> 00:23:45.519 Romans 2.1 00:23:45.519 --> 00:23:55.140 Therefore, you have no excuse, oh man, every one of you who judges. 00:23:55.359 --> 00:23:59.500 For in passing judgment on another, you condemn yourself. 00:24:00.220 --> 00:24:04.819 Because you, the judge, practice the very same things. 00:24:04.819 --> 00:24:10.759 We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. 00:24:10.759 --> 00:24:20.439 Do you suppose, oh man, you who judge those who practice such things, and yet do them yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God? 00:24:20.440 --> 00:24:31.480 If we look back at verse 11, the end of it there, says you are not a doer, if you judge this way. 00:24:32.160 --> 00:24:35.980 That you are not a doer of the law, but a judge of it. 00:24:35.980 --> 00:24:55.440 Sometimes there is a feeble attempt at justifying our words or justifying our thoughts about what somebody else should or shouldn't do, apart from God. 00:24:55.440 --> 00:25:05.180 But in this judgment, we want somebody else to do things the way we want them to do it, or how we see fit. 00:25:05.660 --> 00:25:07.440 But yet, there's no love. 00:25:07.580 --> 00:25:08.480 There's no investment. 00:25:09.559 --> 00:25:11.299 God's word is not employed. 00:25:11.299 --> 00:25:41.279 God's word is not employed. 00:25:41.299 --> 00:25:44.099 Only one lawgiver and judge, he says. 00:25:45.859 --> 00:25:53.200 And for humankind, the bad thing is judgment will actually fall on you. 00:25:55.419 --> 00:25:59.819 Judging your brother will not escape the judgment of God. 00:25:59.819 --> 00:26:20.799 So, we can, we can, I think that the gravity of this, and when he uses these words, that we will be judged with the judgment that we passed out, which is junk. 00:26:21.119 --> 00:26:21.879 It's worthless. 00:26:21.880 --> 00:26:28.140 So, it's important to differentiate between judgment and speaking and love. 00:26:28.220 --> 00:26:31.180 We talked a little bit about it, but how do you know the difference? 00:26:31.580 --> 00:26:36.960 So, you say, well, I think I'm, I think I'm launching the right way with somebody. 00:26:37.519 --> 00:26:40.279 And I, I see that there's an issue. 00:26:40.360 --> 00:26:40.880 And you may. 00:26:41.500 --> 00:26:42.519 And should we confront it? 00:26:42.579 --> 00:26:43.299 Yes, you should. 00:26:43.860 --> 00:26:45.180 Are there ways to do that? 00:26:45.340 --> 00:26:45.660 Absolutely. 00:26:46.299 --> 00:26:46.519 Right? 00:26:46.920 --> 00:26:54.640 Maybe you see something, and you say, and, and even the spirit inside is like, hey, talk to that person about this. 00:26:54.840 --> 00:26:56.860 Maybe it is sin. 00:26:56.940 --> 00:26:58.240 Maybe something they need to deal with. 00:26:58.360 --> 00:26:58.820 That's great. 00:26:59.020 --> 00:26:59.700 Let's do that. 00:27:00.080 --> 00:27:04.180 So, okay, well, I want to be careful how I launch out and do that. 00:27:04.340 --> 00:27:07.259 I want to make sure I'm not judging wrongly. 00:27:07.259 --> 00:27:11.700 I want to make sure that I'm acting in the spirit and discerning rightly. 00:27:12.560 --> 00:27:12.680 Okay? 00:27:13.300 --> 00:27:14.400 That's, that's where we want to be. 00:27:14.780 --> 00:27:16.560 So, I need to know the difference between. 00:27:17.220 --> 00:27:18.380 So, how do you know? 00:27:18.680 --> 00:27:23.360 Number one, sin surrounds evil speaking and judgment. 00:27:23.359 --> 00:27:27.699 Sin surrounds evil speaking and judgment. 00:27:28.279 --> 00:27:38.759 So, look for sinful thoughts, words, and actions that go along with what you want to say or what you are feeling like you should say in some way. 00:27:39.899 --> 00:27:45.599 Things like jealousy, anger, dissension, conceit, frustration. 00:27:46.740 --> 00:27:48.419 Frustration can be a big one. 00:27:49.519 --> 00:27:50.799 What does frustration say? 00:27:50.799 --> 00:27:54.139 They're not doing what I want them to do. 00:27:55.220 --> 00:27:55.700 Judgment. 00:27:56.220 --> 00:27:57.599 I'm already in the wrong column. 00:27:58.180 --> 00:27:59.359 I'm already in the wrong space. 00:28:00.240 --> 00:28:00.399 Right? 00:28:01.279 --> 00:28:03.159 Actions like fighting. 00:28:04.659 --> 00:28:08.919 Have you ever tried to share truth in a fight? 00:28:09.579 --> 00:28:11.859 Not a good time. 00:28:12.440 --> 00:28:13.159 Not a good time. 00:28:13.779 --> 00:28:15.899 The heart, is that out of love? 00:28:15.900 --> 00:28:18.259 Or is that in you're not doing what I want you to do? 00:28:20.759 --> 00:28:22.000 How about no listening? 00:28:22.720 --> 00:28:23.980 These, these are all sins. 00:28:24.120 --> 00:28:30.740 If, if I'm not even listening to that person, again, that, that'll tell me that I'm on the wrong track. 00:28:31.280 --> 00:28:33.380 I'm, I'm, I'm on the judgment side. 00:28:33.580 --> 00:28:34.800 I'm not on the love side. 00:28:34.799 --> 00:28:42.799 Another difference would be no love. 00:28:43.519 --> 00:28:45.940 And this is really the crux of it. 00:28:46.539 --> 00:28:48.059 This is really the crux of it. 00:28:48.059 --> 00:28:57.659 And a lack of love is evident when all the sinful flags are there. 00:28:57.660 --> 00:29:16.259 When, when you talk to somebody and they're left, not with a love for God or a conviction or a sense of the spirit, but they're left with a yucky kind of what just happened here sort of feeling. 00:29:16.480 --> 00:29:17.000 Right? 00:29:17.000 --> 00:29:27.680 Now, part of that, if they're dealing with sin, if they're, if they're walking through something, but the thing is, you invest, you go with them, you love them in that. 00:29:28.099 --> 00:29:33.099 And if the spirit is speaking to a believer, it will, it will register. 00:29:33.440 --> 00:29:34.619 These things will register. 00:29:34.980 --> 00:29:37.400 Maybe not right away, but it will. 00:29:37.720 --> 00:29:38.079 It will. 00:29:40.460 --> 00:29:44.819 Your judgment is not helpful, but your love is. 00:29:44.819 --> 00:29:46.799 And you will see that. 00:29:47.019 --> 00:29:48.500 You will see that bear out. 00:29:51.259 --> 00:29:56.279 Also, a lack of love is evident if God is not in it. 00:29:56.939 --> 00:30:08.119 If God is not in this conversation, if God is not in you approaching somebody else, then the lack of love will be evident in that. 00:30:08.119 --> 00:30:08.159 Yeah. 00:30:09.319 --> 00:30:13.539 And matter of fact, we'll be launching out from the enemy's perspective. 00:30:14.399 --> 00:30:20.659 Because we've already, if, if my brother, I feel strongly about talking to him about something. 00:30:20.660 --> 00:30:21.300 Okay. 00:30:21.820 --> 00:30:28.980 If it's all about me to my brother, then the enemy has already worked in me. 00:30:29.820 --> 00:30:36.300 That is going to translate because I'm not passing along what God wants me to pass along. 00:30:36.740 --> 00:30:40.700 I'm, I'm sharing what Chris wants to pass along. 00:30:40.860 --> 00:30:42.200 So I've judged the law. 00:30:42.400 --> 00:30:44.259 I'm doing the enemy's work right there. 00:30:44.259 --> 00:30:58.000 Um, and, uh, the third thing is there are selfish reasons, uh, that, uh, so basically, um, to scratch an itch. 00:30:58.299 --> 00:31:00.440 Uh, I see that this is going on. 00:31:00.559 --> 00:31:01.759 I don't like that. 00:31:01.859 --> 00:31:04.720 And so I'm going to tell them, I'm going to tell them I don't like it. 00:31:05.160 --> 00:31:09.000 I'm going to tell them they should change because should they? 00:31:09.220 --> 00:31:09.619 Maybe. 00:31:09.619 --> 00:31:12.219 But is that in love? 00:31:12.599 --> 00:31:16.539 Is that the way that we, or are you judging to get there? 00:31:17.039 --> 00:31:17.139 Right? 00:31:17.799 --> 00:31:26.819 Investing would, would talk and work with them and love them to that understanding that maybe God's trying to get across. 00:31:26.819 --> 00:31:27.259 Uh. 00:31:27.259 --> 00:31:39.740 God is the one who is able to save and destroy. 00:31:39.839 --> 00:31:41.420 Look back at James 4 there. 00:31:44.480 --> 00:31:45.299 Verse 12. 00:31:45.379 --> 00:31:49.599 There's one lawgiver and judge who is able to save and to destroy. 00:31:49.799 --> 00:31:55.200 Man, it feels like we just took this whole argument, like escalated to 11, you know. 00:31:55.200 --> 00:31:56.259 Uh, what do you mean? 00:31:56.620 --> 00:31:57.660 Save and destroy? 00:31:58.019 --> 00:32:03.180 Man, now we're talking about some real, uh, life or death things here. 00:32:03.380 --> 00:32:03.660 Right? 00:32:04.360 --> 00:32:05.799 Well, in fact, he is. 00:32:06.160 --> 00:32:09.660 That's, um, that's the point with what he's saying here. 00:32:09.740 --> 00:32:12.779 Why, why that dichotomy is there. 00:32:13.299 --> 00:32:15.259 Um, why he juxtaposes this. 00:32:15.900 --> 00:32:18.860 Um, he sets this truth as a reminder. 00:32:19.400 --> 00:32:22.539 I might be in danger of being destroyed. 00:32:22.539 --> 00:32:33.039 If I oppose God and continuously oppose God, I'm, I'm not believing. 00:32:33.420 --> 00:32:34.379 I'm not trusting. 00:32:34.920 --> 00:32:38.279 I'm putting myself above him, trying to. 00:32:39.819 --> 00:32:41.059 Where does that end? 00:32:41.319 --> 00:32:42.200 It ends in judgment. 00:32:43.379 --> 00:32:44.379 Matthew 7, 2. 00:32:44.380 --> 00:32:48.220 For with the judgment you pronounce, you will be judged. 00:32:48.220 --> 00:32:53.980 And with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. 00:32:55.100 --> 00:33:00.940 Ultimately twisting and taking God's spot, you will be judged. 00:33:01.760 --> 00:33:03.200 It's, it's a principle. 00:33:03.740 --> 00:33:06.360 It's his truth that that will happen. 00:33:06.359 --> 00:33:12.379 This speaks to our very soul's condition. 00:33:15.000 --> 00:33:18.179 And James remind us how dire these sins can be. 00:33:18.519 --> 00:33:23.119 A redeemed heart will not be interested in trying to take God's place. 00:33:23.559 --> 00:33:31.179 A redeemed heart is going to listen and be, uh, tender to, to hearing this, to hearing what 00:33:31.180 --> 00:33:32.580 James is saying here. 00:33:37.920 --> 00:33:38.840 Verse 12. 00:33:39.480 --> 00:33:40.799 Who are you to judge your neighbor? 00:33:41.779 --> 00:33:42.259 He says. 00:33:42.320 --> 00:33:45.220 That's how he kind of closes this, these couple of verses. 00:33:45.360 --> 00:33:46.160 Who are you? 00:33:47.120 --> 00:33:49.720 Who are you to judge your neighbor? 00:33:49.720 --> 00:34:01.779 Well, that's, that's, uh, definitely a, a, uh, boasting in my own law. 00:34:02.220 --> 00:34:09.900 And, uh, and one thing I really want to say about this, um, is we are a group of people 00:34:09.900 --> 00:34:16.760 that believes in speaking to one another and being very open with one another. 00:34:16.760 --> 00:34:19.039 And we must, we must. 00:34:19.039 --> 00:34:26.019 Um, not, not only, uh, should we be on that offering side, but on the receiving side and, 00:34:26.019 --> 00:34:32.440 and making that, uh, a two-way thing that that's, that's how we should live and strive for that. 00:34:32.820 --> 00:34:37.279 Um, and, and this is a warning there. 00:34:37.440 --> 00:34:39.940 There's a right way and a wrong way to do that. 00:34:39.940 --> 00:34:44.860 There are ways that, that send us down into a spiral of our own purposes. 00:34:45.420 --> 00:34:46.639 That's what he's saying. 00:34:47.340 --> 00:34:48.559 Be careful of that. 00:34:48.559 --> 00:34:49.960 Look out for that. 00:34:49.960 --> 00:34:59.039 But continue to be open and talk about sin and, uh, uh, restore brothers and sisters and 00:34:59.039 --> 00:34:59.840 those kinds of things. 00:34:59.900 --> 00:35:02.480 So we have to be super clear about that. 00:35:02.840 --> 00:35:09.000 Um, but, uh, remember that it's all done in love and that there's things that go with that. 00:35:09.000 --> 00:35:12.239 And so I think that's my encouragement to us. 00:35:12.739 --> 00:35:18.000 Um, like I said, I have had extra week to work on this and that was a huge encouragement for me. 00:35:18.000 --> 00:35:22.360 Um, that, that part of it, I think is just so, so important. 00:35:22.360 --> 00:35:25.519 The second area is boasting in my plans. 00:35:25.640 --> 00:35:29.559 Now this is a set of verses that we're familiar with. 00:35:29.640 --> 00:35:36.140 Come now, you say today or tomorrow we'll travel to such and such a city and spend a year there and do business and make a profit. 00:35:36.139 --> 00:35:36.940 Sounds great. 00:35:36.940 --> 00:35:48.480 So there's a difference here. 00:35:48.480 --> 00:35:53.619 And we have another thing that, uh, can be good and it can be bad. 00:35:53.699 --> 00:35:55.000 We can warp anything, can't we? 00:35:55.280 --> 00:35:56.599 It's, it's really easy. 00:35:57.300 --> 00:36:00.420 Um, so here there's, there's the idea of planning. 00:36:01.059 --> 00:36:03.960 Planning in and of itself is not a bad thing. 00:36:04.460 --> 00:36:05.380 That's not a bad thing. 00:36:05.380 --> 00:36:08.820 Um, even here in these verses, he comes back again. 00:36:09.340 --> 00:36:11.200 He adds something to the plan. 00:36:11.880 --> 00:36:15.539 He adds a heart issue to the plan, but planning itself. 00:36:15.700 --> 00:36:22.780 Proverbs 21, 5, the plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty. 00:36:23.059 --> 00:36:30.519 So there's a responsibility that we have to provide, to look out for things as best we can. 00:36:30.519 --> 00:36:35.639 Uh, now there's a caveat to that and, uh, uh, that, that we'll look at. 00:36:36.219 --> 00:36:49.519 Um, but planning out of my own heart, out of my own way, out of my own boastfulness and ideas that this will or will not happen is arrogance. 00:36:50.300 --> 00:36:52.259 That is arrogance. 00:36:53.159 --> 00:36:59.960 Proverbs 16, 9, the heart of a man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps. 00:37:00.519 --> 00:37:09.840 Um, when our plans are only ours and we depend on that and we boast in that, that's what we're talking about. 00:37:09.980 --> 00:37:10.920 That's arrogant. 00:37:11.519 --> 00:37:13.360 That is the sin. 00:37:13.619 --> 00:37:14.599 So it's a heart issue. 00:37:15.500 --> 00:37:22.219 Um, so, uh, I am Stacy's hamster. 00:37:23.659 --> 00:37:24.619 There you go. 00:37:25.539 --> 00:37:27.139 Um, so let me explain. 00:37:27.519 --> 00:37:29.659 Um, I don't know where we came up with this. 00:37:29.659 --> 00:37:30.420 I don't know how this is. 00:37:30.420 --> 00:37:32.779 It's not necessarily a pet name or something. 00:37:33.339 --> 00:37:37.940 Um, but it's a more of a behavioral thing on my part. 00:37:38.659 --> 00:37:44.879 Uh, and so, uh, but what, what goes on here is kind of like a hamster. 00:37:45.159 --> 00:37:50.579 Um, I have sometimes a hard time when things change on me. 00:37:50.859 --> 00:37:54.500 Um, I have a hard time rolling with it, you know? 00:37:54.500 --> 00:37:59.260 And so we have to keep the, the pet calm, you know, and those kinds of things. 00:37:59.260 --> 00:38:04.480 And so, uh, anyway, uh, the other day, uh, we were, uh, as yesterday. 00:38:05.219 --> 00:38:09.400 And we, we got to go spend some time with kids and enjoyed that. 00:38:09.400 --> 00:38:11.940 And then we had a couple other plans after that. 00:38:11.940 --> 00:38:15.980 Um, and of course, since I had an extra week, I procrastinated till last night to finish this. 00:38:16.700 --> 00:38:24.700 And, uh, uh, and so I, in my mind from the morning time, I thought we need to get, you 00:38:24.700 --> 00:38:30.619 know, this, this needs to kind of move along so I can get my study done, uh, at some point, 00:38:30.700 --> 00:38:34.019 you know, late afternoon, evening, something like that and finish it up. 00:38:34.019 --> 00:38:35.639 So that's on my mind. 00:38:35.699 --> 00:38:36.539 That's on my agenda. 00:38:36.719 --> 00:38:41.199 Well, uh, so I, I knew we were going to the Kennes for a while and that's, you know, I 00:38:41.199 --> 00:38:42.139 was looking forward to that. 00:38:42.380 --> 00:38:49.420 And then we had a couple of items, uh, that Stacy found to, for the marketplace things that, 00:38:49.920 --> 00:38:52.579 and so I was like, okay, you know, hopefully that's like Lee's Summit or something. 00:38:52.639 --> 00:38:53.920 We can just knock that out. 00:38:55.759 --> 00:38:56.559 152 highway. 00:38:56.800 --> 00:38:58.679 And then the second one was in Shawnee. 00:38:58.679 --> 00:39:00.539 So I hear this. 00:39:00.659 --> 00:39:04.000 I'm immediately, uh, you know, my, uh, I'm going to, uh, I'm going to, uh, I'm going to, 00:39:04.000 --> 00:39:08.619 I, my, I jump on my hamster wheel and I start running, you know, thinking, thinking, thinking 00:39:08.619 --> 00:39:09.559 about the whole deal. 00:39:09.559 --> 00:39:12.579 And, uh, I'm, I'm like, well, that's not what I thought. 00:39:12.579 --> 00:39:15.719 And, and so I just kind of, uh, dealt with this for a minute. 00:39:16.159 --> 00:39:21.500 She's like talking soothingly, you know, and things like, so I got off the wheel and I was 00:39:21.500 --> 00:39:24.139 able to live with it and kind of roll on. 00:39:24.139 --> 00:39:29.780 Um, but my plan didn't accommodate for these little changes. 00:39:30.140 --> 00:39:34.900 Now, this is a small thing compared to, we're going to go to such and such, and we're going 00:39:34.900 --> 00:39:37.840 to make a lot of money, and we're going to do this kind of with the example that's given 00:39:37.840 --> 00:39:38.160 here. 00:39:38.580 --> 00:39:45.940 But in that day to day, uh, God can interrupt us at any time, can't he? 00:39:46.260 --> 00:39:49.240 He can throw something in the mix at any time. 00:39:49.239 --> 00:39:56.699 And, and that was a moment where I'm like, I have to be able to roll with what the Lord 00:39:56.699 --> 00:40:00.539 wants to do and the important things and our time together. 00:40:00.639 --> 00:40:03.039 And it turned out to be a fantastic day. 00:40:03.519 --> 00:40:06.139 Um, just what we needed a good car ride. 00:40:06.239 --> 00:40:08.699 We had great talks in, you know, cause you're sitting there with each other. 00:40:08.839 --> 00:40:11.000 And instead of just a wonderful day. 00:40:11.000 --> 00:40:17.980 But those kinds of things, uh, if, if I hold to my own plan and I think this should happen 00:40:17.980 --> 00:40:19.019 certain ways. 00:40:20.280 --> 00:40:28.320 Now I'm boasting in my thoughts and my organization, and I'm not open to what God wants to do in 00:40:28.320 --> 00:40:29.559 any particular situation. 00:40:29.559 --> 00:40:37.480 Now that's a small example, but that same example can get really big fast. 00:40:38.199 --> 00:40:45.199 Um, it can get really big with, uh, financial things, with relationship things, with grief 00:40:45.199 --> 00:40:45.779 things. 00:40:45.880 --> 00:40:48.619 I mean, you see like God has a plan. 00:40:49.279 --> 00:40:56.299 And when I try to put myself or my plan above that, I'm boasting. 00:40:56.559 --> 00:40:57.440 It's prideful. 00:40:57.440 --> 00:40:58.480 It's not right. 00:40:59.559 --> 00:41:06.059 The truth is that I don't know about my future. 00:41:06.579 --> 00:41:08.559 I don't know what he has. 00:41:09.019 --> 00:41:09.799 I'm a mist. 00:41:10.460 --> 00:41:14.480 I'm a vapor that's here right now and gone later. 00:41:15.480 --> 00:41:20.659 Uh, sometimes this life feels kind of long, but it's not, is it? 00:41:21.519 --> 00:41:24.599 And I think the older we get, I'm, I'm looking at a lot of old people here. 00:41:25.340 --> 00:41:29.000 And, uh, I think the older we get, the more we realize that, don't we? 00:41:29.559 --> 00:41:32.179 You know, time goes by so fast. 00:41:32.440 --> 00:41:33.659 It goes by so fast. 00:41:34.900 --> 00:41:38.739 So the caveat is in that second part of that verse, you see it. 00:41:39.279 --> 00:41:41.559 It's what he, uh, opens up with. 00:41:42.059 --> 00:41:47.820 Instead, you should say, if the Lord wills, if the Lord wills. 00:41:47.820 --> 00:41:52.799 Well, that is a complete heart issue change from, I'm going to do this. 00:41:52.800 --> 00:41:53.760 I'm going to do that. 00:41:53.860 --> 00:41:54.760 This is how it's going to happen. 00:41:54.840 --> 00:41:59.360 If anything disrupts it, you know, everyone's got some problems because I'm going to be tough 00:41:59.360 --> 00:42:00.060 about it. 00:42:01.060 --> 00:42:01.320 No. 00:42:01.960 --> 00:42:04.080 Instead, you should say, if the Lord wills. 00:42:04.460 --> 00:42:10.080 There's a, there's a tenderness and a listening and a, uh, a heart that's open to what God wants 00:42:10.080 --> 00:42:10.720 to do there. 00:42:10.719 --> 00:42:13.059 Very, very different. 00:42:13.519 --> 00:42:14.119 Very different. 00:42:14.779 --> 00:42:15.699 In that planet. 00:42:17.799 --> 00:42:20.559 The third thing is boasting in my decisions. 00:42:21.639 --> 00:42:27.659 Going back to our, our core, uh, verse today is, uh, God gives grace to the humble. 00:42:27.659 --> 00:42:34.539 And, uh, God portions more grace to those who are not opposing him. 00:42:35.259 --> 00:42:41.000 And once you walk in humility, he, he meets you there and supports you in that, uh, because 00:42:41.000 --> 00:42:47.480 he, uh, is not opposed, but for you in that, to see you do that. 00:42:48.159 --> 00:42:52.799 Um, and open to seeing sin as a result of humility. 00:42:56.239 --> 00:42:57.299 Verse 17. 00:42:57.659 --> 00:43:03.480 So it is, uh, so it is sin to know the good and yet not do it. 00:43:04.399 --> 00:43:09.059 Uh, for those who know the right thing to do. 00:43:10.960 --> 00:43:13.359 Well, how do you hear or come to know? 00:43:14.219 --> 00:43:18.460 How do you hear or how do you, how do you come to know the right thing to do? 00:43:18.719 --> 00:43:20.779 What, whatever that might be? 00:43:21.059 --> 00:43:24.559 Well, number one, seek the spirit's guidance and counsel on that. 00:43:25.139 --> 00:43:26.839 Uh, listen to God's word. 00:43:26.840 --> 00:43:27.840 Listen to others. 00:43:27.840 --> 00:43:27.840 00:43:27.840 --> 00:43:30.440 And have a heart of humility that's willing to hear. 00:43:30.940 --> 00:43:39.340 So we have to be in a, in a, uh, uh, tender spot with the Lord to even receive these things. 00:43:39.340 --> 00:43:44.780 To even receive what it is that, uh, to know the sin. 00:43:44.780 --> 00:43:51.240 We can't, we can't, we can't, and you hear the, the opposite of that or the converse of it is, is true. 00:43:51.320 --> 00:43:57.080 If we set up against him and are boasting in ourselves, then we're not going to hear the sin. 00:43:57.600 --> 00:44:01.260 We're not going to listen to it because our pride will override it. 00:44:01.260 --> 00:44:03.600 It's a, it's a fact. 00:44:03.720 --> 00:44:04.860 It's, it's how that works. 00:44:09.240 --> 00:44:10.400 Obedience is righteous. 00:44:11.200 --> 00:44:12.400 Disobedience is sin. 00:44:12.400 --> 00:44:20.840 Um, and, uh, it's, this is not like, sometimes there's some of these verses, this is not like a catch-all phrase. 00:44:21.000 --> 00:44:22.639 It's not like a, like a catch-all. 00:44:23.000 --> 00:44:23.240 Okay. 00:44:23.239 --> 00:44:28.859 Well, if you know, uh, what's sin then, um, and you don't do it, then it's sin. 00:44:29.659 --> 00:44:34.239 Um, but, uh, Philippians 3, 14 through 16 says, 00:44:34.339 --> 00:44:39.819 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call in God, in Christ Jesus. 00:44:40.239 --> 00:44:43.699 Let those of us who are mature think this way. 00:44:43.699 --> 00:44:52.699 And if anyone, uh, if anything, if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. 00:44:52.960 --> 00:44:57.919 Only let us hold true to what we have attained. 00:44:59.739 --> 00:45:02.519 The reality is God is sanctifying you. 00:45:03.399 --> 00:45:08.179 He is always showing us where the sin is. 00:45:08.539 --> 00:45:13.199 He's showing us where these things crop up, where we don't expect them. 00:45:13.199 --> 00:45:21.279 Because maybe we've protected and we've kind of built a justification around it for years and years and years. 00:45:21.500 --> 00:45:23.839 Some of these things go back a long way. 00:45:24.199 --> 00:45:24.899 It just does. 00:45:25.259 --> 00:45:27.279 And we've, we've lived with it. 00:45:27.539 --> 00:45:30.899 But, uh, he's sanctifying you. 00:45:30.980 --> 00:45:37.679 And then when he shows you these things, when you, uh, when your heart is open to it and he shows you these things, 00:45:37.679 --> 00:45:44.399 then, uh, hold true to what you have attained as he reveals it. 00:45:46.079 --> 00:45:51.239 Sin exists in us and tons of simple things exist in us that we have no clue about. 00:45:51.419 --> 00:45:53.659 Right now, if, uh, maybe we should do this. 00:45:53.699 --> 00:45:55.359 Everyone get out a piece of paper and write down all your sins. 00:45:55.360 --> 00:46:01.340 Uh, but, uh, the thing is we know a bunch of them, right? 00:46:01.420 --> 00:46:04.420 We could all just say, yeah, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. 00:46:04.820 --> 00:46:05.420 Well, you know what? 00:46:05.680 --> 00:46:12.840 There's about a billion below that that you don't know about because it's our nature through and through. 00:46:12.960 --> 00:46:13.820 That's who we are. 00:46:13.820 --> 00:46:23.340 And, uh, little by little, as God sanctifies, he reveals more and more and more. 00:46:23.740 --> 00:46:27.800 We couldn't handle the whole thing at once. 00:46:28.080 --> 00:46:36.280 We can barely deal with what he shows us and, and struggle with that on a, on a routine basis. 00:46:36.280 --> 00:46:44.420 But as he shows us those things, God will reveal where, uh, you're not thinking in that mature way. 00:46:44.519 --> 00:46:48.280 Philippians says, only let us hold true to what we have attained. 00:46:48.620 --> 00:46:53.280 Am I responsible for this, uh, for sin number 1,343,000? 00:46:54.220 --> 00:46:54.760 No. 00:46:54.760 --> 00:47:06.019 What about what he showed me this morning that I am responsible for, uh, uh, uh, holding true to? 00:47:07.060 --> 00:47:11.120 If you know the right thing to do and don't do it, you are sinning. 00:47:11.640 --> 00:47:14.100 And he shows us and he walks us through that. 00:47:14.620 --> 00:47:17.040 Don't walk away as if you've never looked in the mirror. 00:47:17.900 --> 00:47:19.580 To use another illustration. 00:47:20.880 --> 00:47:23.160 Once you know it becomes a point of faith. 00:47:24.040 --> 00:47:25.240 And then the questions. 00:47:26.180 --> 00:47:32.019 So once the sin is there, once he reveals it to you, now it becomes a point of faith. 00:47:32.820 --> 00:47:33.820 And what do you do with it? 00:47:34.380 --> 00:47:35.340 What do you do with that? 00:47:35.340 --> 00:47:38.940 Do you believe that you are sinning against God? 00:47:39.940 --> 00:47:43.320 Not just like a boo-boo or mistake or oops, you know, that kind of thing. 00:47:43.620 --> 00:47:48.480 But do you believe that when it's revealed to you, you are sinning against God? 00:47:49.120 --> 00:47:50.039 In this judgment. 00:47:50.740 --> 00:47:52.300 In what you've said about somebody. 00:47:52.960 --> 00:47:54.460 In how you're treating somebody. 00:47:54.460 --> 00:47:58.059 Do you believe that is a sin? 00:47:58.059 --> 00:48:02.380 That you have set yourself up against God by judging his law? 00:48:04.460 --> 00:48:05.500 He says it. 00:48:05.500 --> 00:48:13.340 Do you believe that he does not coexist with that sin? 00:48:13.340 --> 00:48:17.820 My sin separates me from God. 00:48:17.940 --> 00:48:18.980 It stands in the way. 00:48:20.320 --> 00:48:26.980 I cannot be judging his law and simultaneously be walking with him. 00:48:26.980 --> 00:48:34.460 I can't be looking at God and opposing him and be walking with him at the same time. 00:48:34.460 --> 00:48:36.099 I can't do it. 00:48:36.099 --> 00:48:38.599 He doesn't coexist with it. 00:48:40.840 --> 00:48:45.280 Do you understand something must be done about that sin? 00:48:46.159 --> 00:48:47.579 Something must be done. 00:48:50.119 --> 00:48:51.960 He reveals this sin to me. 00:48:52.019 --> 00:48:52.900 Now it's on the table. 00:48:54.019 --> 00:48:54.699 Now it's there. 00:48:54.699 --> 00:48:58.759 What do you do? 00:48:59.819 --> 00:49:01.399 Something's got to be done with it. 00:49:03.919 --> 00:49:08.339 Do you see that continuing in the sin is arrogant and opposes God? 00:49:10.739 --> 00:49:15.439 My question to you, and this is what I've been ruminating on, 00:49:16.739 --> 00:49:23.019 is do you realize that you are opposing God? 00:49:23.019 --> 00:49:27.500 That you are going against him. 00:49:30.000 --> 00:49:32.880 Willfully choosing to hold on to your judgment. 00:49:34.079 --> 00:49:36.820 Willfully choosing to hold on to your boastfulness. 00:49:37.500 --> 00:49:39.119 To your own plans. 00:49:39.340 --> 00:49:44.199 To your own determining and deciding apart from him 00:49:44.199 --> 00:49:50.800 and anything that he has said or has revealed to you. 00:49:50.800 --> 00:49:58.300 Do you realize that you're willfully setting yourself against the one who can save or destroy? 00:50:00.360 --> 00:50:03.000 James took that all the way to that place. 00:50:03.460 --> 00:50:04.519 Because it's right. 00:50:05.380 --> 00:50:09.019 Because when we oppose God, that's the question. 00:50:09.580 --> 00:50:10.620 Save and destroy. 00:50:11.280 --> 00:50:12.160 That's where we're at. 00:50:12.159 --> 00:50:19.399 Maybe you're saying to yourself, I've never dealt with that sin that I see on my table. 00:50:20.599 --> 00:50:25.359 Like the things that have come up, I've never confessed it or I've never dealt with it. 00:50:25.639 --> 00:50:26.980 Maybe I need to go to somebody. 00:50:27.059 --> 00:50:28.559 Like we're talking about judgment here. 00:50:28.799 --> 00:50:30.899 We're talking about things that happen in the dark. 00:50:30.900 --> 00:50:35.680 Or with just a couple of people and judging another. 00:50:36.160 --> 00:50:37.519 Maybe I need to go to that person. 00:50:38.420 --> 00:50:39.440 Maybe I need to talk to them. 00:50:39.519 --> 00:50:40.539 Maybe I need to confess. 00:50:40.539 --> 00:50:41.539 Maybe I need to go to that person. 00:50:46.079 --> 00:50:49.659 Well, how can that sin ever be completely dealt with? 00:50:50.099 --> 00:50:51.279 Man, we have an answer, don't we? 00:50:51.940 --> 00:50:52.820 We have an answer. 00:50:52.940 --> 00:50:53.340 It's Jesus. 00:50:54.179 --> 00:50:59.259 He took mine and your sin and nailed it to the cross to be gone forever. 00:51:00.159 --> 00:51:01.500 To cleanse us. 00:51:03.539 --> 00:51:05.019 He paid our debt. 00:51:05.019 --> 00:51:09.780 Believe on him today. 00:51:09.900 --> 00:51:10.980 He can wash you clean. 00:51:11.980 --> 00:51:12.800 And make you new. 00:51:13.840 --> 00:51:15.679 And take these things away. 00:51:16.639 --> 00:51:24.759 Give us this revelation that we can hold true to as he teaches us and brings us along in sanctification. 00:51:24.760 --> 00:51:45.300 Well, I encourage you to, if these verses, my friend, if these verses, if the stark reality of these verses have spoken to you, grab somebody and talk to them. 00:51:45.420 --> 00:51:46.000 Pray with them. 00:51:47.200 --> 00:51:48.340 Consider it further. 00:51:48.940 --> 00:51:49.660 Don't let it go. 00:51:49.880 --> 00:51:52.240 Don't look in the mirror and then walk away and forget. 00:51:52.840 --> 00:51:54.240 This is so important. 00:51:54.760 --> 00:51:55.820 It's so important. 00:51:56.420 --> 00:52:07.880 And our air that needs to be without charge, it needs to be neutralized through the confession and through the work between us. 00:52:08.780 --> 00:52:09.860 That's what will do it. 00:52:10.620 --> 00:52:14.880 That's what will neutralize that bad charge that can exist. 00:52:15.680 --> 00:52:19.360 So, let me pray. 00:52:19.360 --> 00:52:20.080 Let me pray real quick.