WEBVTT 00:00:00.920 --> 00:00:04.839 Please turn in your Bibles to Matthew 7, the passage that was read for us. 00:00:04.839 --> 00:00:07.839 We'll look together at verses 1 to 12. 00:00:15.480 --> 00:00:23.620 The endless cycle of idea and action, endless invention, endless experiment, brings knowledge 00:00:23.620 --> 00:00:30.140 of motion but not of stillness, knowledge of speech but not of silence, knowledge of 00:00:30.140 --> 00:00:35.280 words and ignorance of the Word. 00:00:35.280 --> 00:00:39.140 Where is the life we have lost in living? 00:00:39.140 --> 00:00:44.020 Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? 00:00:44.020 --> 00:00:48.579 Where is the knowledge we have lost in information? 00:00:48.579 --> 00:00:49.579 T.S. 00:00:49.579 --> 00:00:56.200 Eliot writing in 1934 in a play called The Rock questioning whether the advances in technology 00:00:56.200 --> 00:01:05.420 and communication that he saw going on around him in 1934 were actually improving things. 00:01:05.420 --> 00:01:11.240 And here we are, the best part of a hundred years later, the best part of a century since 00:01:11.240 --> 00:01:16.859 those words were written and these questions sound more reasonable than ever. 00:01:16.859 --> 00:01:23.700 We have access to facts about just about everything with a click. 00:01:23.700 --> 00:01:26.319 But are we any wiser? 00:01:26.319 --> 00:01:28.680 I doubt it. 00:01:28.680 --> 00:01:33.480 We may have more knowledge but do we know how to live well in the world? 00:01:33.480 --> 00:01:39.680 Have the technological advances, the progress of society made us better people? 00:01:39.680 --> 00:01:47.620 Kinder friends, better husbands and wives, more thoughtful parents, more selfless citizens? 00:01:47.620 --> 00:01:50.480 Probably not. 00:01:50.480 --> 00:01:54.920 Stronger marriages, better families, healthier communities because of all of this information 00:01:54.920 --> 00:01:58.100 that we have at a click? 00:01:58.100 --> 00:01:59.100 No. 00:01:59.100 --> 00:02:00.920 That's not what we see around us. 00:02:00.920 --> 00:02:02.460 I don't need to code the statistics. 00:02:02.460 --> 00:02:05.300 We know it's the case. 00:02:05.299 --> 00:02:13.240 Having knowledge as a thing in itself doesn't lead people inevitably to live well. 00:02:13.240 --> 00:02:20.120 You will know of terribly smart people who may indeed be terrible people and make terribly 00:02:20.120 --> 00:02:24.060 foolish decisions with their lives. 00:02:24.060 --> 00:02:29.620 What we need to live well in the world is wisdom. 00:02:29.620 --> 00:02:34.860 That's why Eliot asked the question, where is the wisdom that we have lost in knowledge? 00:02:34.860 --> 00:02:41.060 When you come across someone who is wise, there's a quality about them that is profoundly attractive. 00:02:41.060 --> 00:02:43.040 They usually have a poise. 00:02:43.040 --> 00:02:45.840 They know how to handle tricky situations. 00:02:45.840 --> 00:02:51.440 They know how to deal with that complicated person or answer that perplexing question. 00:02:51.440 --> 00:02:54.940 And they come into their own, don't they, wise people, when there are no clear yes or 00:02:54.940 --> 00:02:56.200 no answers. 00:02:56.200 --> 00:02:59.220 When there's no rule book to follow. 00:02:59.219 --> 00:03:04.039 And that is why wise people usually aren't young. 00:03:04.039 --> 00:03:05.419 Wisdom comes with experience. 00:03:05.419 --> 00:03:10.599 The Bible expects us to honor older people because they are usually, not always, but usually, 00:03:10.599 --> 00:03:15.699 the source of this invaluable but somewhat elusive good, wisdom. 00:03:15.699 --> 00:03:18.539 So why do I say all of that? 00:03:18.539 --> 00:03:23.340 Well, I want us to think about our passage this evening through the lens of wisdom. 00:03:23.340 --> 00:03:27.460 Throughout the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus has been holding out this vision of the good life, 00:03:27.460 --> 00:03:29.439 the way of human flourishing. 00:03:29.439 --> 00:03:31.300 He's been laying down the principles. 00:03:31.300 --> 00:03:38.159 He's been establishing a vision of what it means to live the blessed life, the life of 00:03:38.159 --> 00:03:42.840 the kingdom, the life that we should live as those who belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:03:42.840 --> 00:03:46.939 And what we found is that it's a life that is actually shot through with wisdom. 00:03:46.939 --> 00:03:53.400 So Jesus' followers don't just not murder people, they root out anger from their heart. 00:03:53.400 --> 00:03:58.699 They don't just not cheat on their spouse, they deal with the root cause of lust. 00:03:58.699 --> 00:04:01.939 In each case, they take away the desire at source. 00:04:01.939 --> 00:04:03.879 Very wise. 00:04:03.879 --> 00:04:08.079 We saw last week that when it comes to the Christians' engagement with the world around 00:04:08.079 --> 00:04:10.979 them, they don't run after the world's treasure. 00:04:10.979 --> 00:04:15.740 They don't calibrate their joy and happiness to the things that the world calibrates its joy 00:04:15.740 --> 00:04:16.740 and happiness too. 00:04:16.740 --> 00:04:17.740 Why? 00:04:17.740 --> 00:04:22.960 Because that kind of materialism, Jesus was very clear, ultimately leads to anxiety. 00:04:22.960 --> 00:04:25.920 So we don't do that so that we don't end up anxious. 00:04:25.920 --> 00:04:28.400 Again, very wise. 00:04:28.400 --> 00:04:32.079 To embrace the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount, I hope we've been able to see as we've 00:04:32.079 --> 00:04:37.540 gone through it over these Sunday evenings, is to embrace wisdom for life. 00:04:37.540 --> 00:04:41.980 It is to embrace a vision for life that helps us to live well and wisely in the world that 00:04:41.980 --> 00:04:43.540 God has made. 00:04:43.540 --> 00:04:49.500 But this evening, we see that there is a specific need for wisdom in the regular run of life for 00:04:49.500 --> 00:04:51.000 Christians. 00:04:51.000 --> 00:04:56.220 Because did you notice Jesus presents us with two competing commands? 00:04:56.220 --> 00:05:01.540 Verse 1, Jesus says, judge not that you be not judged. 00:05:01.540 --> 00:05:07.920 And then verse 6, he asks us to make a judgment about who we do and don't give the holy perils 00:05:07.920 --> 00:05:09.540 of the gospel to. 00:05:09.540 --> 00:05:10.540 Do you see that? 00:05:10.540 --> 00:05:13.000 Judge not that you be not judged, verse 1. 00:05:13.000 --> 00:05:18.000 Verse 6, essentially he's saying, make the right judgment. 00:05:18.000 --> 00:05:22.180 To get this right, we need wisdom. 00:05:22.180 --> 00:05:22.959 So how does this work? 00:05:22.959 --> 00:05:27.319 Well, what I want to do is look first at the substance of the two commands and then we'll 00:05:27.319 --> 00:05:31.560 see how we can get the wisdom that we need. 00:05:31.560 --> 00:05:34.459 Sometimes I have two point sermons, sometimes three, sometimes one. 00:05:34.459 --> 00:05:35.459 Tonight it's four. 00:05:35.459 --> 00:05:37.459 Four points. 00:05:37.459 --> 00:05:40.779 The first command is one of the best known phrases in the sermon. 00:05:40.779 --> 00:05:42.419 Judge not that you be not judged. 00:05:42.419 --> 00:05:50.779 Now far and wide from the river to the ends of the earth, this verse is used as Jesus' 00:05:50.779 --> 00:05:52.919 validation for mind your own business. 00:05:52.919 --> 00:05:53.919 Isn't it? 00:05:53.919 --> 00:05:56.459 A mind your own business approach to life. 00:05:56.459 --> 00:06:01.519 I can do whatever I want and I can say if I say the words from Jesus' lips, judge not. 00:06:01.519 --> 00:06:03.219 You're not allowed to say anymore. 00:06:03.219 --> 00:06:05.500 Well that's not what he's saying. 00:06:05.500 --> 00:06:06.839 But they are strong words. 00:06:06.839 --> 00:06:07.939 So what is he saying? 00:06:07.939 --> 00:06:13.139 Point number one, he's saying don't judge unfairly. 00:06:13.139 --> 00:06:14.279 Don't judge unfairly. 00:06:14.279 --> 00:06:16.079 Judge not that you be not judged. 00:06:16.079 --> 00:06:18.779 For with the judgment you pronounce, you will be judged. 00:06:18.779 --> 00:06:23.259 And with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. 00:06:23.259 --> 00:06:27.459 Now we know that Jesus isn't ruling out all kinds of critique or judgment because as I've 00:06:27.459 --> 00:06:31.779 said, verse 6, his hearers have to judge who is a dog and who is a pig. 00:06:31.779 --> 00:06:33.699 We'll come to that in a moment. 00:06:33.699 --> 00:06:39.099 For you to read on, verse 15, they're told to judge who is a false prophet and who is a 00:06:39.099 --> 00:06:40.479 true one. 00:06:40.479 --> 00:06:45.579 And this is the task that's given to the church in Matthew 18 as we're expected to judge whether 00:06:45.579 --> 00:06:49.699 or not someone's profession of faith is credible. 00:06:49.699 --> 00:06:55.639 What Jesus is referring to is speaking about others in the church. 00:06:55.639 --> 00:06:57.639 Do you notice? 00:06:57.639 --> 00:07:01.000 Verses 3 to 5, the reference to brother. 00:07:01.000 --> 00:07:03.519 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye? 00:07:03.519 --> 00:07:05.419 Or how can you say to your brother? 00:07:05.419 --> 00:07:07.120 This is our attitude to people in the church. 00:07:07.120 --> 00:07:14.579 He's saying don't have this attitude towards people in the church as if you have the authority 00:07:14.579 --> 00:07:18.680 to condemn them. 00:07:18.680 --> 00:07:24.219 What he's doing is forbidding the attitude that puts us as individuals in the judgment 00:07:24.220 --> 00:07:28.220 seat that belongs only to God. 00:07:28.220 --> 00:07:33.760 Now, what we realize is he's continuing to press the point that we've been actually considering 00:07:33.760 --> 00:07:36.340 for a while in the sermon. 00:07:36.340 --> 00:07:39.980 So the heart of the Sermon on the Mount is the Lord's Prayer. 00:07:39.980 --> 00:07:44.220 And do you remember that world-changing reality that opens the whole Lord's Prayer? 00:07:44.220 --> 00:07:48.260 Those words, our Father in heaven. 00:07:48.259 --> 00:07:53.060 The Christian lives under the fatherly care of God. 00:07:53.060 --> 00:07:58.199 We can call him our Father and therefore we receive all of the love and protection and 00:07:58.199 --> 00:08:00.379 care that a Father gives. 00:08:00.379 --> 00:08:03.039 And not only any Father but our Heavenly Father. 00:08:03.039 --> 00:08:08.420 Our Father who has all power and authority and majesty. 00:08:08.420 --> 00:08:14.220 So we have, we saw back in chapter 6 verse 15, his forgiveness. 00:08:14.220 --> 00:08:17.840 And we have his provision, we saw last week. 00:08:17.840 --> 00:08:23.860 What that means is we are completely in right standing with God and he will meet all of our 00:08:23.860 --> 00:08:27.720 needs. 00:08:27.720 --> 00:08:34.420 If you know that God is your Father entirely by grace, so you've done nothing to earn that. 00:08:34.419 --> 00:08:36.459 You've done nothing to earn the forgiveness. 00:08:36.459 --> 00:08:39.500 It was purchased for you through Christ's death and resurrection. 00:08:39.500 --> 00:08:41.519 You've done nothing to earn the provision. 00:08:41.519 --> 00:08:44.539 It all just flows from God's Fatherly generosity. 00:08:44.539 --> 00:08:48.620 Well, if you know that, what happens? 00:08:48.620 --> 00:08:52.179 You rest in his acceptance and love. 00:08:52.179 --> 00:08:57.459 That's what we've been seeing. 00:08:57.459 --> 00:09:02.480 When you know that your salvation is completely undeserved, you rest in your Father's acceptance 00:09:02.480 --> 00:09:05.379 and love and you don't look down on others. 00:09:05.379 --> 00:09:07.980 You did nothing to achieve it yourself. 00:09:07.980 --> 00:09:10.980 Therefore you're no better than anyone else. 00:09:10.980 --> 00:09:19.820 However, if you are insecure about your Father's love, well, you've got to outdo others. 00:09:19.820 --> 00:09:26.680 You've got to outperform them so that this love you can earn it. 00:09:26.680 --> 00:09:32.420 Of course, one of the ways that we do that is by cutting other people down. 00:09:32.419 --> 00:09:35.319 One of the ways that you can outdo people is outperform them. 00:09:35.319 --> 00:09:42.179 The other way that you can outdo them is criticize them and tear them down. 00:09:42.179 --> 00:09:45.879 I noticed that you did this or that. 00:09:45.879 --> 00:09:47.899 You shouldn't do that. 00:09:47.899 --> 00:09:49.719 That's pretty bad. 00:09:49.719 --> 00:09:56.360 You should probably consider whether or not you're a Christian, actually. 00:09:56.360 --> 00:10:02.659 Or worse, you say to someone else, John did this, you know, don't you? 00:10:02.659 --> 00:10:07.120 Which means he had this motive in his heart. 00:10:07.120 --> 00:10:12.419 Probably a sign he's not converted. 00:10:12.419 --> 00:10:15.259 Insecure people are critical people. 00:10:15.259 --> 00:10:16.259 And vice versa. 00:10:16.259 --> 00:10:19.919 Critical people are critical because they're insecure. 00:10:19.919 --> 00:10:27.599 They judge others as a way of saying, at least I'm better than them. 00:10:27.599 --> 00:10:32.179 Well Jesus explains that this is both unwise and unfair. 00:10:32.179 --> 00:10:35.879 First of all, it's unwise because verse 2, can you see, if you insist on treating others 00:10:35.879 --> 00:10:43.720 with this kind of graceless pride, God will apply the same metric to you when he comes to judge. 00:10:43.720 --> 00:10:48.379 For with the judgment you pronounce, you will be judged. 00:10:49.120 --> 00:10:52.820 And with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. 00:10:53.320 --> 00:10:55.460 That's the way that you want to treat other people. 00:10:55.460 --> 00:11:00.320 That's the way God will treat you in the end. 00:11:00.320 --> 00:11:03.519 He will pour over your life in the same unforgiving way. 00:11:05.100 --> 00:11:06.920 None of us want that, just to be clear. 00:11:07.019 --> 00:11:08.560 None of us want that. 00:11:10.100 --> 00:11:12.940 It's unwise, but it's also unfair because it's hypocritical. 00:11:13.040 --> 00:11:18.660 Verse 3, why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 00:11:19.400 --> 00:11:24.080 Or how can you say to your brother, let me take the speck out of your eye when there's a log in your own eye, you hypocrite? 00:11:24.080 --> 00:11:29.080 First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye. 00:11:30.860 --> 00:11:35.620 Now those are well-known verses, and we could park here and we could have a sermon on the sin of hypocrisy, 00:11:35.800 --> 00:11:38.980 but Jesus is talking about the specific kind of hypocrisy. 00:11:39.840 --> 00:11:46.160 The kind of hypocrisy that judges other people's sin, that writes them off before God because of something they've said or done, 00:11:46.420 --> 00:11:48.300 despite the fact that we are equally sinful. 00:11:48.299 --> 00:11:55.099 And in order to get our attention, Jesus describes it in absurd terms. 00:11:55.819 --> 00:11:59.679 You're like somebody walking around with a huge plank jammed in your eye, 00:12:00.199 --> 00:12:04.099 picking up people about the great evil of sawdust in theirs. 00:12:04.100 --> 00:12:09.120 You've got a tree, you've got a massive tree sticking out of your eye. 00:12:09.220 --> 00:12:12.259 Every room you walk into, that tree goes in ahead of you. 00:12:14.759 --> 00:12:17.159 And yet you spend your time going around saying, 00:12:17.540 --> 00:12:19.840 I need to turn this way, sorry. 00:12:20.379 --> 00:12:24.060 I think there's a bit of sawdust in there. 00:12:24.180 --> 00:12:25.500 Can I just speak to you about that? 00:12:25.500 --> 00:12:27.139 That's very, very wicked. 00:12:31.779 --> 00:12:36.840 Jesus has been hot on the hypocrisy of the religious leaders of the day all the way through. 00:12:37.360 --> 00:12:40.980 Those who put on a religious performance, you remember, with their showy prayers 00:12:40.980 --> 00:12:45.320 and their fasting so that people can see and all that kind of fuss. 00:12:45.799 --> 00:12:48.220 And despite all of that, their hearts are far from God. 00:12:49.120 --> 00:12:51.720 They're one person on the outside, they're another person on the inside. 00:12:51.960 --> 00:12:54.299 They speak against stealing while stealing themselves. 00:12:54.299 --> 00:12:56.559 They teach about love while exploiting others. 00:12:56.799 --> 00:12:57.899 It's rank hypocrisy. 00:12:58.259 --> 00:13:04.039 And Jesus says that this kind of judgmental spirit towards others is just as bad. 00:13:07.419 --> 00:13:09.500 Condemning someone for their sin. 00:13:09.559 --> 00:13:12.500 Now, I've already said Jesus isn't talking about being uncritical 00:13:12.500 --> 00:13:16.120 and watching on any kind of behavior and saying, you know, well, you do you, that's fine. 00:13:17.319 --> 00:13:22.279 Condemning someone for their sin in light of the sin in our own hearts. 00:13:22.279 --> 00:13:27.939 It's like campaigning for free speech and then refusing to allow people who don't agree with you to be heard. 00:13:29.240 --> 00:13:32.299 It's like promoting family values while cheating on your spouse. 00:13:32.379 --> 00:13:33.199 It's that twisted. 00:13:33.339 --> 00:13:34.079 It's hypocrisy. 00:13:34.240 --> 00:13:34.799 It's unfair. 00:13:34.799 --> 00:13:44.219 Before we move on, I think it's worth saying that whilst this judgmental attitude is toxic and it's condemned by Jesus here, 00:13:44.279 --> 00:13:51.759 the idea that we should be involved in seeking to help and encourage one another to see our sin and repent of it in our lives, 00:13:51.839 --> 00:13:53.319 it's all over the New Testament. 00:13:54.319 --> 00:14:00.659 Giving and receiving godly correction should be a normal part of healthy church life. 00:14:00.659 --> 00:14:06.120 You'll often hear it said Christianity isn't a self-help movement. 00:14:06.740 --> 00:14:07.360 And that's right. 00:14:07.419 --> 00:14:10.639 We can't get right with God by our own moral or religious efforts. 00:14:11.139 --> 00:14:16.100 We get right with God only by the grace that he offers in the death and resurrection of Jesus. 00:14:16.519 --> 00:14:20.600 However, our growth in holiness depends on the involvement of others in our lives. 00:14:20.600 --> 00:14:27.340 In that sense, Christianity, it's not a self-help movement, but it is a you-help movement. 00:14:28.139 --> 00:14:29.300 We need each other. 00:14:29.639 --> 00:14:33.379 We need each other to help us see our sin and to repent of it and to grow. 00:14:34.360 --> 00:14:39.540 So let me say, if someone musters the courage to speak to you, we're not defensive. 00:14:40.340 --> 00:14:42.740 We don't think, well, how very dare you. 00:14:44.580 --> 00:14:45.980 We're open to correction. 00:14:45.980 --> 00:14:52.180 We can be open to correction, remember, because we are secure in our Father's love. 00:14:52.879 --> 00:14:58.440 Even if that person is wrong, even if they got their tone wrong in the way they sought to do it, 00:14:58.639 --> 00:15:01.279 they're well motivated but they got their tone wrong, it doesn't matter. 00:15:02.100 --> 00:15:05.440 Because ultimately there's only one opinion that matters, and that is the Father's. 00:15:05.460 --> 00:15:08.300 And he is already clear that he loves us. 00:15:10.000 --> 00:15:11.279 We're secure in his love. 00:15:12.379 --> 00:15:13.980 So don't judge unfairly. 00:15:14.379 --> 00:15:15.480 Don't judge unfairly. 00:15:15.480 --> 00:15:19.180 But then, verse 6, do judge discerningly. 00:15:19.659 --> 00:15:20.720 Judge discerningly. 00:15:20.820 --> 00:15:23.980 Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, 00:15:24.060 --> 00:15:27.200 lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you. 00:15:28.300 --> 00:15:35.779 So, verse 1, it can't be a blanket ban on any kind of judgments because Jesus is calling for it here. 00:15:36.480 --> 00:15:42.120 He's describing how we should interact or not interact with those who are hostile to the things of God. 00:15:42.120 --> 00:15:48.320 Dogs and pigs were terms that were used to describe those who were outside the people of God. 00:15:48.360 --> 00:15:54.940 They were pejorative language that was used in the culture to describe unclean Gentile people. 00:15:54.940 --> 00:15:59.780 So in this case, he has in view those who are stubbornly rejecting the gospel. 00:15:59.779 --> 00:16:07.319 He's taking the language that was used, and he's applying it to their language, and he's applying it to this group, and he's saying, 00:16:07.980 --> 00:16:10.059 don't give it to them. 00:16:11.720 --> 00:16:12.959 Don't give them the gospel. 00:16:12.960 --> 00:16:16.440 Now, that's quite a thing to say. 00:16:17.960 --> 00:16:22.680 That's quite a thing to say, and it sounds alien to any evangelistically minded church culture. 00:16:23.580 --> 00:16:26.280 Surely we should go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 00:16:26.660 --> 00:16:30.120 Surely we should proclaim Christ indiscriminately to all people. 00:16:31.280 --> 00:16:32.040 Yes, we should. 00:16:32.700 --> 00:16:36.440 And we should probably do it a lot more courageously than we do. 00:16:36.440 --> 00:16:43.140 But just as when Jesus sent out his first apostles telling them that if people didn't receive the message, 00:16:43.520 --> 00:16:49.580 they should shake the dust off their feet as a sign of God's judgment on their hard hearts and move on to the next town. 00:16:50.520 --> 00:16:59.180 So here he's saying we should be discerning about how and how often we hold out the gospel to those who persist in rejecting it. 00:16:59.179 --> 00:17:02.819 Those who disparage what we say. 00:17:04.379 --> 00:17:07.619 Those who cheapen what we're offering them. 00:17:09.259 --> 00:17:10.960 Sinclair Ferguson puts it like this. 00:17:11.019 --> 00:17:14.399 He says, men and women everywhere must be urged to repent and believe the gospel. 00:17:15.819 --> 00:17:19.000 That is not a command to engage mindlessly in evangelism. 00:17:19.440 --> 00:17:22.619 There are those who obviously and stubbornly reject the gospel. 00:17:23.000 --> 00:17:28.200 They trample the pearls of the message like pigs, Jesus says, and may do the same to you. 00:17:28.200 --> 00:17:31.299 You must be sensitive to that kind of response. 00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:33.220 You could say discerning. 00:17:34.480 --> 00:17:39.500 And recognize the indications that the time has come to offer the gospel to others elsewhere. 00:17:39.779 --> 00:17:42.460 We don't stop evangelizing. 00:17:42.680 --> 00:17:47.480 We're discerning about who we give this beautiful message to. 00:17:49.160 --> 00:17:53.819 I've been thinking about this looks like and how this strange metaphor applies in my evangelism. 00:17:53.819 --> 00:17:59.179 And I think that the sort of behavior that he has in mind is very common today in our culture. 00:18:01.059 --> 00:18:05.960 People just don't see the worth of the gospel that you're holding out to them. 00:18:07.179 --> 00:18:13.980 As far as they're concerned, there is no difference between the pearls that you are offering and the promises of the good life that the culture makes. 00:18:13.980 --> 00:18:18.259 You're offering them good news through Jesus Christ. 00:18:18.360 --> 00:18:29.200 They hear the good news of the culture that says if you have this thing, or you choose to get to this level in life, or you go this direction, you'll be able to find happiness, joy, peace, and fulfillment. 00:18:29.200 --> 00:18:32.700 No difference. 00:18:33.259 --> 00:18:39.120 They treat what you're saying as if it's just another way to find personal happiness that works for you. 00:18:39.720 --> 00:18:46.039 If that works for you, that's fine, but it's no more precious than the mindfulness that I use, for example. 00:18:48.200 --> 00:18:54.720 We don't need to be reminded that our message, and even ourselves, will be rejected in our culture. 00:18:54.720 --> 00:19:08.660 We're seeing plenty of the sort of trembling that Jesus talks about here in our day, but we do need to be reminded to be discerning about how much we persist with people who see nothing special in the gospel, rejecting it and rejecting us. 00:19:10.360 --> 00:19:13.980 The question is, how do we decide? 00:19:14.940 --> 00:19:15.660 How do we know? 00:19:17.259 --> 00:19:20.000 How do we know who to judge and who we don't? 00:19:20.000 --> 00:19:28.420 And when we persisted for long enough as somebody, there's no chapter or verse that answers those questions for us, which is where wisdom comes in. 00:19:29.940 --> 00:19:32.359 And that is why Jesus says what he says next. 00:19:32.660 --> 00:19:34.779 The wisdom we need comes only from God. 00:19:34.980 --> 00:19:38.000 So, don't judge unfairly. 00:19:39.000 --> 00:19:40.000 Two, judge discerningly. 00:19:40.660 --> 00:19:44.339 Number three, in order to do that, we need to depend faithfully. 00:19:45.220 --> 00:19:46.099 Depend faithfully. 00:19:46.240 --> 00:19:47.900 Seven, ask and it will be given to you. 00:19:47.900 --> 00:19:49.220 Seven, seek and you will find. 00:19:49.360 --> 00:19:50.820 Knock and it will be opened to you. 00:19:51.060 --> 00:19:52.460 For everyone who asks receives. 00:19:52.620 --> 00:19:53.660 The one who seeks finds. 00:19:53.759 --> 00:19:56.560 And to the one who knocks, it will be opened. 00:19:57.220 --> 00:20:00.560 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 00:20:00.880 --> 00:20:02.740 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 00:20:03.300 --> 00:20:08.180 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, 00:20:08.620 --> 00:20:12.560 how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him? 00:20:12.559 --> 00:20:18.240 Here we have more verses that are often very badly handled. 00:20:19.339 --> 00:20:23.700 Taken by prosperity preachers is a blanket promise that God will give you anything you want 00:20:23.700 --> 00:20:28.579 if you simply ask often enough, seek diligently enough, and knock hard enough. 00:20:29.480 --> 00:20:35.960 These verses are not talking about God giving you anything with the certain promise that he will give it to you. 00:20:35.960 --> 00:20:42.279 Sorry, that you can ask God for anything and the certain promise that he will give it to you. 00:20:42.519 --> 00:20:46.620 However, did you notice there is certainty in what he says? 00:20:47.259 --> 00:20:48.900 Ask and it will be given. 00:20:49.259 --> 00:20:50.539 So what is he promising? 00:20:50.539 --> 00:20:56.759 Well, again, I think in the context of what Jesus has been saying, I think he's talking about wisdom. 00:20:58.740 --> 00:21:03.460 The wisdom that we need to not be hypocrites and to be discerning in our evangelism. 00:21:04.000 --> 00:21:07.899 These are good things that our Father will give to us if we ask him. 00:21:09.119 --> 00:21:11.659 How else can we explain the certainty of the promise? 00:21:13.180 --> 00:21:16.879 Seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you. 00:21:17.680 --> 00:21:18.879 God is generous. 00:21:20.539 --> 00:21:24.940 It's the same thing that James says in James chapter 1. 00:21:25.039 --> 00:21:29.579 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God who gives generously to all without reproach, 00:21:30.039 --> 00:21:32.259 and it will be given him. 00:21:33.639 --> 00:21:38.079 We can't navigate the path of wise discernment if we trust in our own abilities. 00:21:40.359 --> 00:21:44.159 But if we faithfully depend on our Father, if we ask, seek, and knock, 00:21:44.799 --> 00:21:47.639 he will give us the wisdom we ask for. 00:21:47.640 --> 00:21:53.320 And again, God's fatherly care here is what drives this. 00:21:53.720 --> 00:21:58.820 When we forget that God gives better gifts than evil fathers who know how to give great gifts in lots of ways, 00:21:59.240 --> 00:22:00.600 we start to trust in ourselves. 00:22:01.240 --> 00:22:06.000 We start to depend on our own wisdom and make our own decisions about how to do life. 00:22:06.200 --> 00:22:07.259 We don't need to do that. 00:22:07.759 --> 00:22:09.759 That's a huge burden for us to have to carry. 00:22:09.759 --> 00:22:19.980 I've got to know how best to navigate this situation on the strength of what I kind of have managed to discern over how many years I've been alive to live in this world. 00:22:19.980 --> 00:22:22.620 We don't need to do that. 00:22:23.279 --> 00:22:30.079 We have a generous Father who gives wisdom to any who come to him in faith without doubting his fatherly care. 00:22:33.360 --> 00:22:35.920 When my children need something and they ask for it, 00:22:36.960 --> 00:22:40.420 I will give it to them, and I will probably give it to them, 00:22:40.799 --> 00:22:43.400 in the best version that I can actually manage. 00:22:43.400 --> 00:22:46.000 I will. I do. 00:22:47.240 --> 00:22:48.320 And I'm selfish. 00:22:49.000 --> 00:22:51.759 And I'm wicked or evil, it says here. 00:22:53.980 --> 00:22:58.480 How much more will our perfect heavenly Father give us exactly what we need? 00:22:58.480 --> 00:23:05.779 So the way that we get the wisdom we need to avoid unfair judgments of others 00:23:05.779 --> 00:23:10.299 and to be equipped with the discernment we need for mission is to depend faithfully on our Father. 00:23:14.640 --> 00:23:16.880 When that situation feels beyond us, 00:23:18.240 --> 00:23:19.220 let's go to him. 00:23:20.860 --> 00:23:22.000 Ask him for wisdom. 00:23:22.000 --> 00:23:27.119 When we just don't know what to do, 00:23:27.660 --> 00:23:29.000 what next step to take, 00:23:29.079 --> 00:23:30.880 go to him and ask for wisdom. 00:23:31.539 --> 00:23:32.960 He promises to give it. 00:23:33.779 --> 00:23:37.119 When you're trying to navigate that difficult situation in the workplace, 00:23:37.720 --> 00:23:40.059 when there is pressure from different sides 00:23:40.059 --> 00:23:42.039 to compromise on your Christian faith, 00:23:42.880 --> 00:23:46.059 you don't have the ability to discern what's right and what's wrong. 00:23:46.420 --> 00:23:47.240 You need to go to him. 00:23:48.160 --> 00:23:50.220 Ask, seek, and knock. 00:23:50.220 --> 00:23:52.620 He will give you wisdom. 00:23:54.980 --> 00:23:57.420 And when we depend faithfully on our Father, 00:23:59.120 --> 00:24:03.579 this in turn enables us to follow Christ's concluding instruction, 00:24:04.100 --> 00:24:08.500 which is that we must then go and love biblically. 00:24:10.680 --> 00:24:12.240 Number three, depend faithfully, 00:24:12.440 --> 00:24:14.839 which enables us, number four, to love biblically. 00:24:14.940 --> 00:24:15.500 Verse 12. 00:24:15.500 --> 00:24:19.380 This is probably the conclusion, actually, 00:24:19.480 --> 00:24:23.160 to the wider section going all the way back to 5 verse 17, 00:24:23.279 --> 00:24:25.519 where the topic of the law and the prophets was introduced. 00:24:25.640 --> 00:24:26.460 As Jesus says, 00:24:26.559 --> 00:24:29.920 So whatever you wish that others would do to you, 00:24:30.720 --> 00:24:31.819 do also to them, 00:24:32.640 --> 00:24:34.480 for this is the law and the prophets. 00:24:34.480 --> 00:24:39.599 It's the so-called golden rule, 00:24:39.599 --> 00:24:48.319 which we should actually see as a pregnant summary of the wisdom-saturated life of the kingdom. 00:24:48.319 --> 00:24:53.379 As you would wish to be treated, 00:24:54.379 --> 00:24:55.879 so treat others. 00:24:57.679 --> 00:25:01.559 As you would wish to be treated in your interaction with other people, 00:25:02.119 --> 00:25:03.859 so treat others. 00:25:04.939 --> 00:25:07.279 It doesn't come naturally, does it? 00:25:07.279 --> 00:25:12.359 When you think about the way that we do relationships, 00:25:12.599 --> 00:25:13.599 we have what we could, 00:25:14.019 --> 00:25:16.599 one example is what we could call the tin rule. 00:25:17.399 --> 00:25:18.119 The tin rule. 00:25:18.879 --> 00:25:20.500 I will treat you the way you treat me. 00:25:21.440 --> 00:25:22.379 If you're nice to me, 00:25:22.639 --> 00:25:23.379 if you're kind to me, 00:25:23.440 --> 00:25:24.000 I'll be nice, 00:25:24.039 --> 00:25:24.920 I'll be kind back. 00:25:25.460 --> 00:25:26.220 If you're nasty, 00:25:26.339 --> 00:25:27.279 I'll be nasty back. 00:25:28.720 --> 00:25:31.319 Our culture actually broadly operates by that rule. 00:25:32.579 --> 00:25:33.440 You think it's fair. 00:25:33.440 --> 00:25:37.100 You treat me a certain way, 00:25:37.140 --> 00:25:37.860 I'll treat you the same. 00:25:39.519 --> 00:25:41.539 Well then there is the silver rule, 00:25:41.620 --> 00:25:42.880 what we might call the silver rule. 00:25:43.480 --> 00:25:44.160 It's a bit better. 00:25:44.600 --> 00:25:47.559 I wouldn't do anything to you that I wouldn't want done to me. 00:25:49.559 --> 00:25:51.279 So I'll avoid wronging you. 00:25:53.680 --> 00:25:53.980 I'll, 00:25:54.259 --> 00:25:55.680 yeah, 00:25:55.980 --> 00:25:57.000 I'll just, 00:25:57.120 --> 00:25:58.840 I'll just not be bad to you. 00:26:00.140 --> 00:26:00.860 It's better. 00:26:00.859 --> 00:26:03.899 It's not quite so transactional. 00:26:06.099 --> 00:26:06.959 The tin rule, 00:26:07.039 --> 00:26:07.619 the silver rule, 00:26:07.740 --> 00:26:08.819 Jesus demands more. 00:26:10.219 --> 00:26:13.179 He demands an approach that is driven by the other person. 00:26:13.599 --> 00:26:15.099 If I was in their shoes, 00:26:15.179 --> 00:26:15.899 this is what we're asking, 00:26:16.000 --> 00:26:17.319 if I was in their shoes, 00:26:17.539 --> 00:26:19.019 how would I like to be treated? 00:26:19.439 --> 00:26:20.339 That's what I'll do. 00:26:22.859 --> 00:26:23.659 Jesus says, 00:26:23.740 --> 00:26:27.339 this is what it means to fulfill the teachings of the whole Bible, 00:26:27.679 --> 00:26:29.179 Old and New Testaments, 00:26:29.439 --> 00:26:30.740 regarding our relationship. 00:26:30.859 --> 00:26:36.919 It's actually what it means to love one another. 00:26:38.659 --> 00:26:39.399 And it's, 00:26:39.539 --> 00:26:40.719 when you stop to think about it, 00:26:40.819 --> 00:26:42.659 a simple vision for life. 00:26:43.779 --> 00:26:45.000 One commentator has said, 00:26:45.099 --> 00:26:45.479 for Jesus, 00:26:45.619 --> 00:26:48.759 the word of God is not an impossible complex of rules and regulations 00:26:48.759 --> 00:26:50.699 placed on men's shoulders as a heavy burden. 00:26:51.419 --> 00:26:51.859 Rather, 00:26:52.539 --> 00:26:54.639 it is an outworking of this principle. 00:26:55.779 --> 00:26:56.539 Grasp this, 00:26:56.539 --> 00:27:00.000 and everything falls into place. 00:27:00.599 --> 00:27:02.920 Whatever you wish that others would do to you, 00:27:03.720 --> 00:27:05.599 do also to them. 00:27:05.599 --> 00:27:08.279 And, 00:27:08.399 --> 00:27:10.319 we grasp, 00:27:11.019 --> 00:27:12.879 it's not just that we grasp the idea, 00:27:13.879 --> 00:27:15.599 but, 00:27:15.879 --> 00:27:17.539 we grasp the posture, 00:27:18.839 --> 00:27:19.359 as we see. 00:27:19.439 --> 00:27:19.579 See, 00:27:19.980 --> 00:27:20.719 you grasp this, 00:27:21.240 --> 00:27:21.659 he says, 00:27:21.740 --> 00:27:22.379 how do you do that? 00:27:22.459 --> 00:27:22.639 Well, 00:27:23.459 --> 00:27:24.839 it's not just that we grasp the idea, 00:27:25.500 --> 00:27:27.939 we grasp the whole kind of way of being, 00:27:27.940 --> 00:27:29.660 by resting, 00:27:30.279 --> 00:27:31.700 in our Father's love and provision. 00:27:36.000 --> 00:27:36.799 You see, 00:27:36.940 --> 00:27:37.299 when, 00:27:37.299 --> 00:27:38.779 when we recognize, 00:27:40.360 --> 00:27:43.140 that in our Father's love and provision, 00:27:44.140 --> 00:27:46.299 we live in a place of security, 00:27:46.299 --> 00:27:51.879 that enables us to depend on him for the wisdom, 00:27:52.119 --> 00:27:52.619 that doesn't, 00:27:52.619 --> 00:27:56.720 simply help us to navigate the complexity of life in this world, 00:27:57.519 --> 00:27:59.339 but it's from there that, 00:28:00.220 --> 00:28:02.960 it also turns us into the kind of selfless, 00:28:03.579 --> 00:28:04.700 servant-hearted people, 00:28:05.259 --> 00:28:07.220 that embody the wholehearted righteousness, 00:28:08.980 --> 00:28:11.519 that Jesus calls for all the way through the sermon. 00:28:12.559 --> 00:28:14.079 Kind of wholehearted righteousness, 00:28:14.079 --> 00:28:17.059 that is the embodiment of wisdom, 00:28:18.359 --> 00:28:23.240 the wholehearted righteousness that befits citizens of Christ's kingdom. 00:28:25.359 --> 00:28:26.419 May God help us, 00:28:26.519 --> 00:28:26.980 let's pray.