From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it. (Matthew 11:12)
Extending the Kingdom One of the emphases of my teaching ministry is to call followers of Christ to “extend the Kingdom of God into every sphere of life.” The word “extend” means to stretch, lengthen, prolong, continue, expand, enlarge, offer, put forth, give, impart, and present, just to name a few. While each of those words is similar, each represents a slightly different emphasis which is key in understanding our Christian mission. However, in our text today, Jesus focuses on his Kingdom “advancing.” This has a military ring to it. Jesus adds that forceful men lay hold of this forcefully advancing Kingdom. My NIV footnote says, “They enter the kingdom and become Christ’s disciples. To do this takes spiritual courage, vigor, power, and determination because of ever-increasing persecution.” Our Battle John Piper says advancing the Kingdom of God in such a way requires a “wartime mentality.” The kingdom of heaven is forcefully advancing yet the kingdom of darkness actively resists it. As people seeking godliness, we are daily fighting for our lives and for the lives of those we love and who’ve been entrusted to our care. The world, the flesh, and the devil are formidable adversaries. If we do not maintain a wartime mentality, being ever vigilant and standing firm in our faith, then we, and those we love, will suffer the ravages of war, the consequences of our poor preparation. Standing Firm Therefore, we must fight the good fight of faith. We must enter the battle through the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life and only a few find it (Matthew 7:13-14). This narrow gate is Jesus himself. Living life as his disciple means entering into new life through him and traveling the “Kingdom road” he has set before us, regardless of how narrow and hard it is. Peter says many will leave this Kingdom road and wander off because they love the wages of wickedness (2 Peter 2:15), which results in death (Romans 6:23). The battle rages all around us, but we must stand firm in our faith, or we will not stand at all (Isaiah 7:9). Standing firm takes a wartime mentality. We cannot assume we are ever safe from attack. We must be ever watchful and on our guard. We are called, commanded, and expected to fight, persevere, press on, and stand firm. But we are never asked to do this in our strength, but the Lord’s. Our Hope The wonderful paradox of Scripture is that while we persevere, our hope is not in ourselves. Our hope is in the Lord. The battle is ultimately his. Forceful men lay hold of the Kingdom of God, which our Lord causes to advance in and through his power. Therefore, we work through his power (Colossians 1:29). God’s Kingdom advances as faithful men represent their King in every sphere of their lives, even in enemy-occupied territory. Such faithful witness will not be easy. After all, it is a war. There will be a cost which we’re commanded to consider before we enter the fray. The enemy shoots his fiery darts at us daily (Ephesians 6:16). He hides and waits to devour us (1 Peter 5:8). The world sends out its false teachers to lead us astray (2 Peter 2:1ff). In John 17, Jesus does not pray to take us out of such a world, but all throughout Scripture our Lord promises to never leave us nor forsake us. More than that, he fights on our behalf. And in so doing, he advances his Kingdom. Don’t you want to be a part of such a glorious Kingdom? Don’t you want to know such a glorious King? Walking Points
Prayer All-powerful and sovereign God, I praise you for promising never to leave me nor forsake me. I thank you for fighting my battles, taking my worries, and giving me your gracious Spirit. Only by the power of your Spirit can I resist the kingdoms of the world, the flesh, and the devil. Please help me stand firm for you each and every day and to be an active part of your mission to advance your Kingdom in this world. To be a part of such a movement requires me to cultivate a different perspective from the one I have. I must see people and things as you do. I can’t do this on my own, but with you, all things are possible. For that good news, I give you my thanks and praise. Amen. This Week’s Prayer Guide [You can use this prayer guide in your own personal prayer time. However, I encourage you to use it with a group of Christian men. Each week you should spend time praising God for who he is, confessing your sin to him (be specific) as well as expressing gratitude to him for his gracious forgiveness. Also, don’t forget to thank God for the many ways he has poured out his goodness in your life. Then, focus on the following areas of supplication, which will change from week to week.] Petitions – prayers for yourself · Spiritual Warfare · Growth in Christlikeness · Increasing faithfulness in the spiritual disciplines · My health · For my ordinary appointments and activities to become divine appointments and activities. · Other needs Intercession – prayers for others · My Family · Mercy for those who are poor and hungry · Justice for those who are oppressed and persecuted · Love for those who oppress and persecute others · Peace for those in the midst of war, crime, and violence · Other needs
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Luke 12:1 – “Be on guard against the yeast of the Pharisees…”
Luke 12:15 – “Watch out! Be on guard against all kinds of greed…” Luke 12:40 – “You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” Don’t Miss the Warning Whether Jesus was talking about the false teachings and practices of religious leaders, temptation and sin in our own lives, or the consummation of all things at his return, he commands us to be on guard, watch out, and be ready. This theme of preparation appears and reappears throughout much of Jesus’ teachings. Repetition for rabbis in the first century was a teaching tool or technique to ensure a vital point was made and received, so we do well to pay careful attention here. It would be akin to a school teacher in our day writing a point on a chalkboard and saying, “If I’m taking the time to write this out, you can bet it will appear on your exam.” We ignore such warnings to our peril. What is important to understand about our Lord’s words is the call on our part for disciplined intentionality. For you cannot casually or lazily “be on guard,” “watch out,” or “be ready.” Many of us could cite analogies from the world of sports or the military to show just how essential such intense, intentional, and disciplined preparation is. Without it, the game is lost, the city taken, the soul forfeited. The Accumulation of Unguardedness If I let my guard down today, it is true that Jesus may not return… this day. But that’s not the main point Jesus is making here. Instead, we must consider what the accumulation of days with a lowered guard would do to a person. In such a scenario, the spiritual atrophy that would set in could prove catastrophic to an individual. The dominion of the world, the flesh, and the devil would enlarge in that person’s life with detrimental results. In his book, Pilgrim’s Progress, John Bunyan painted a vivid picture of this unguardedness in his characters, Simple, Sloth, and Presumption. All three had fallen asleep on their way to the Celestial City and had become shackled. When they were offered freedom from their bondage to continue their journey and avoid being devoured by the enemy, they responded by declaring they saw no danger and needed just a little more sleep. How tragic for a person to never awaken from his slumber and thus become a prisoner in occupied territory unaware. Without a work of divine grace, the battle is lost, and perhaps even the war. Take Heed We do well to heed our Master’s words today – to be on guard continually, always be ready, and constantly watch out. For our foes are nearer to us and subtler than we can imagine. Only an intentional and disciplined watchman on the high wall of the soul’s citadel can and will be properly prepared. Let us, therefore, be ready. For I can think of nothing worse than to fall in battle, knowing I could have easily seen the attack coming and been ready for it, if only I had listened to and obeyed my King. Walking Points
Prayer Heavenly Father, I confess that I am not nearly as alert and intentional in my faith as I ought to be. Far too often I resemble Simple, Sloth, and Presumption. I don’t take my faith seriously, I am lazy, and I presume upon your grace. Please forgive me and grant me grace to genuinely repent from these attitudes and behaviors and move more faithfully in your direction. May I seek more and more to be like my Lord, in my thinking, speaking, and living. I thank and praise you that your grace is always sufficient, when I am on guard and when I’m not. Yet, please do not let me use that wonderful truth as an excuse for laziness and disobedience. Instead, fill me with your Spirit that I might continually hunger and thirst for righteousness and be ever vigilant. In the name of Christ I pray. Amen. This Week’s Prayer Guide [You can use this prayer guide in your own personal prayer time. However, I encourage you to use it with a group of Christian men. Each week you should spend time praising God for who he is, confessing your sin to him (be specific) as well as expressing gratitude to him for his gracious forgiveness. Also, don’t forget to thank God for the many ways he has poured out his goodness in your life. Then, focus on the following areas of supplication, which will change from week to week.] Petitions – prayers for yourself · My personal mission field Ø Help me to identify those people who make up my personal mission field. Ø Enable me to begin sharing the gospel with those who do not yet know you. Ø Empower me to disciple those who are young in their faith. Ø Allow me to encourage those who are struggling in their faith. Ø Please give me perseverance in all areas of ministry. · Today’s events and interactions with others, planned and unplanned · Other needs Intercession – prayers for others · My family · For missionaries throughout the world · For those seeking to faithfully minister to loved ones at home · For those who share the gospel in the inner city · For those who bear witness to Christ in places of power · Other needs Joshua 1:8 - May I not let Your word depart from my mouth, but meditate on it day and night, so that I may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then I will make my way prosperous, and I will act wisely. (Ken Boa paraphrase)
This Verse is for You This verse, from the first chapter of Joshua, has been paraphrased in the first person to remind us that God’s Word has application in our lives. It is, in a manner of speaking, addressed to us. That’s relevant in light of the fact that this single verse is exhorting and instructing us to saturate ourselves in God’s Word. Why? Because that’s where we meet God, hear God, are confronted and instructed by God. In short, it is where we learn to “act wisely.” But It’s Not Magic Scripture encourages us to pursue wisdom on a daily basis. James puts it bluntly in the first chapter of the book that bears his name. Verse five reads, If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. It doesn’t get any plainer than that. Ask for wisdom and God will give it, generously. That seems simple enough. Yet what I have learned over the years of my spiritual pilgrimage is that this “formula” does not work like a magic genie in a lamp. You don’t rub the lamp and make a wish. It doesn’t operate like taking an aspirin for a headache. You don’t take two tablets and get wisdom in the morning. Instead, our text from Joshua gives us a pretty good understanding about how to attain wisdom. If the wisdom we want is God’s wisdom, and God has revealed his wisdom to us in and through his Word, then it would behoove us to read, study, mediate upon, pray over, and apply that source of wisdom. If we want God’s wisdom to rub off on us and get into our spiritual bloodstreams – into our hearts and minds – then we have to do the hard work of “not letting it depart from us.” We will want to “meditate on it day and night.” We will “be careful to do according to all that is written in it.” Only then will we become prosperous and begin to act wisely. That’s the cost to this component of faithful discipleship. It’s not easy and it certainly does not come instantly. This is not for the lazy or the faint of heart. But wisdom is a pearl of great price that is worth more than we can possibly imagine. Walking Points · Read through the Book of Proverbs and write down all the descriptions of wisdom you find. · What is it about wisdom that makes it so important to acquire? · How is wisdom different than knowledge? · What are three things you can start doing today that will help you grow in wisdom? Write them down and then share your list with a friend. Prayer All-wise and loving God, you have graciously revealed your wisdom to us in and through your written Word, and most especially, through the Word, Incarnate. I pray for wisdom. I desire it. I need it. I’m lost without it. And yet, O Lord, I have been guilty far too often of not doing what it takes to have such wisdom. I have expected you to dispense it like cheap grace. I know you desire to give it generously to those who ask, but please forgive me for neglecting your treasure chest of wisdom found in Scripture. Please, fill and lead me with your Holy Spirit so that I will turn to your Word, and then read, pray over, meditate upon, study, and apply it. Only then can I expect to truly act wisely. In Christ’s name I pray. Amen. This Week’s Prayer Guide [You can use this prayer guide in your own personal prayer time. However, I encourage you to use it with a group of Christian men. Each week you should spend time praising God for who he is, confessing your sin to him (be specific) as well as expressing gratitude to him for his gracious forgiveness. Also, don’t forget to thank God for the many ways he has poured out his goodness in your life. Then, focus on the following areas of supplication, which will change from week to week.] Petitions – prayers for yourself · Lord, help me to faithfully participate in the life of my congregation and for the sake of my community… Ø By my prayers Ø By my presence Ø By my gifts Ø By my service Ø By my witness · Today’s events and interactions with others, planned and unplanned · Other needs Intercession – prayers for others · My family · For those who serve in government, at the national, state, and local levels · For those who serve in law-enforcement · For those who serve in fire and rescue · For those who serve in our nation’s military · Other needs A Tale of Two Ditches
Not too long ago a friend shared with me his struggle to faithfully teach “grace” to the folks he disciples. I certainly share that struggle. Faithful discipleship is a narrow path between the two ditches of legalism and licentiousness. I didn’t come up with that distinction. The Apostle Paul dealt with the same issues. On the one hand he had to warn the Galatian Christians about the ditch of legalism espoused by the Judaizers. These were folks who claimed Jesus was great, but you still had to obey the Law of Moses to be saved. On the other hand, he had to give an emphatic “NO” to those in the other ditch whose philosophy was, “Let’s sin up a storm so we can experience more of God’s grace.” In their view, Christians don’t have to worry about obeying God, because they’re under God’s grace. The path between the two ditches is hard and narrow indeed and Christian history is littered with examples of how individuals, (as well as groups of people), have fallen into one ditch or the other. Regardless of which ditch you fall into, you still end up dirty and smelly. Dangerous Grace To my struggling friend, and as a reminder to myself, I offer some counsel I once heard. Take comfort in the struggle of the narrow path because the Apostle Paul experienced the same. Grace is a dangerous thing. If we faithfully and accurately teach the biblical doctrine of grace, there will always be the risk someone might distort it in a libertine direction, just as a faithful and accurate teaching of obedience might lead some into the legalistic ditch. We are called to be faithful in our message of grace, even though we can’t control what people will do with it. Those who take the ministry of discipleship seriously will always struggle with this. However, we can use this struggle between the two ditches, the journey of the narrow path, to motivate us to be careful, loving, grace-filled, and faithful in our teaching, discipling, counseling, correcting, etc. Remembering My Own Struggle I know that walking the narrow path is hard for me, and I’ve been at it for some time now. I can still remember the early days of my walk with Christ. I often caught myself walking a little too closely to one side of the path or the other. Sadly, I sometimes found myself having to climb out of one ditch or the other. But in God’s goodness, he cleaned me up, disciplined me, and sent me along my way. This reminder of my own history will hopefully encourage me (and you) to be patient with those whom we disciple, especially those who are just beginning their own way down the narrow path. Thank God for his ever-present grace! Walking Points
Prayer Lord of the one true path, we enter life with you through a narrow gate and walk along a hard path. It’s not easy or comfortable, but you tell us that up front. You command us to count the cost before we pick up our crosses and follow you. You grace is a gift we do not deserve, but can and will change our lives when we receive it and live into it. And yet, O Lord how often do we take it for granted by assuming it allows us to live any way we want? Or, on the other hand, how often do we not trust your grace and seek to justify ourselves before you with our own attempts at righteousness? Please forgive us, O God of grace and mercy. Enable us to take you at your word and live according to your grace. It will require your precious Spirit to help us faithfully navigate it, but it leads to life. In the name of the One who has already walked the path and now waits to embrace us at the end. Amen. This Week’s Prayer Guide [You can use this prayer guide in your own personal prayer time. However, I encourage you to use it with a group of Christian men. Each week you should spend time praising God for who he is, confessing your sin to him (be specific) as well as expressing gratitude to him for his gracious forgiveness. Also, don’t forget to thank God for the many ways he has poured out his goodness in your life. Then, focus on the following areas of supplication, which will change from week to week.] Petitions – prayers for yourself · Give me greater love for those who are hard to love. · Help me to be compassionate and kind to those in need, even when it’s inconvenient. · Pour out upon me your courage and boldness to love those who do not know you and to share with them your Gospel, in word and deed. · Today’s events and interactions with others, planned and unplanned · Other needs Intercession – prayers for others · My family · My family and friends who do not have a saving relationship with Christ · For those in my other spheres of influence who do not know Christ · For evangelists around our city, country, and world who risk much in sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with those who are lost · Other needs James 1:8 – he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.
How Wide are the Gaps? Let me ask you a few questions that relate to this issue of being double-minded. · Are you the same person at home with your family as you are at church? · Are you the same person at church as you are work? · Are you the same person when you’re out with your friends that you are in your small group or Bible study? · Are you the same person with your family as you are sitting alone in front of the computer or television screen? · Are you the same person away on a business trip as you are at home? · How radically different is your thought-life from your public persona? Those are some pretty tough questions. And while none of us moves from sphere to sphere – from group to group – with perfect consistency, we still need to ask the question: How wide are the gaps? Whole, Entire, Undiminished Part, maybe even most, of that consistency will come from how “integrated” our lives are regarding our relationship with God. The words “integrated” and “integrity” come from the same root word. One of the dictionary’s definitions for integrity is, “the state of being whole, entire, or undiminished.” The double-minded man, however, is not known for his integrity, but his duplicity. Duplicity means, “deceitfulness in speech or conduct; speaking or acting in two different ways concerning the same matter with intent to deceive.” Duplicitous men do not have integrity. They are not whole, entire, or undiminished. They have no unifying factor that keeps them whole. The Unifying Factor But the Christian, the man of God, does have such a unifying factor. The question is: Do he make use of it? Is he related or connected to it? This unifying factor isn’t an “it” at all. It’s God. We’re called to be God-centered men who live God-centered lives. Such a man will not speak, think, and act differently and deceptively with different people and in different settings. Why? Because the man of God will be vitally connected to the same God in every sphere of his life. God doesn’t change. Because the godly man’s life will have God as his unifying center, he will not change, from place to place, from circumstance to circumstance. God-centeredness will make and keep him whole instead of fragmented and compartmentalized. Loving and Glorifying God Think for a minute about what the Great Commandment says. Jesus says in Mark 12:30, we are commanded to, Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ That’s all of our heart, soul, mind and strength. In other words, with all that we are. Our whole being. Every aspect of our lives. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 10:31, So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. You’re not glorifying God in the big or small details of your life if you’re double-minded. God’s Expectation A couple of Old Testament texts that really hit home are,
God expects us to walk with integrity before him and others. How Are You Doing? How are you doing in the various spheres of your life? I don’t know about you, but I want to be the same man in every sphere of my life: In private, at home with my family, work, church, or with my friends. I want to be the same man regardless of who I’m with or where I am. How about you? Let’s pray God will form and shape us into the God-centered men of integrity he’s called us to be. Walking Points
· Mental Integrity · Sexual Integrity · Behavioral Integrity · Verbal Integrity · Moral Integrity · Relational Integrity Prayer Holy and gracious Lord of heaven and earth, you are the Creator and King of all there is. There is no area in human existence about which you are unconcerned. Forgive me for not surrendering all of my life to you… for trying to keep back even a small portion for myself and my own agenda. Please remind me daily that you want my whole life to be lived with integrity, no matter where I am, what I am doing, or who I am with. Please empower me with your Spirit to live a consistent life that continually and faithfully points others to you – by my words, my thoughts, my values, my beliefs, my attitudes, my desires, and my actions. In Christ I pray. Amen. This Week’s Prayer Guide [You can use this prayer guide in your own personal prayer time. However, I encourage you to use it with a group of Christian men. Each week you should spend time praising God for who he is, confessing your sin to him (be specific) as well as expressing gratitude to him for his gracious forgiveness. Also, don’t forget to thank God for the many ways he has poured out his goodness in your life. Then, focus on the following areas of supplication, which will change from week to week.] Petitions – prayers for yourself · Give me greater knowledge, depth of insight, and understanding of God’s Word. · Remind me daily of who I am in Christ. Let me be defined by who God says I am, not the world around me. · Guide me into greater understanding and faithfulness of God’s call in my life. · This week’s events and interactions with others, planned and unplanned · Other needs Intercession – prayers for others · My family · My pastor(s), church staff, and missionaries · Those struggling with anger, anxiety, or the overwhelming desire to please people at all costs · Other needs 1 Thessalonians 4:3a – It is God’s will that you should be sanctified…
Not What You Were Thinking… Yet Today’s devotion will no doubt disappoint you if you came to it with the hope and expectation of learning how to decide what job to take, whom to marry, or where to move. That’s often what we really mean when we say we want to know God’s will for our lives, isn’t it? I am no different. But quite often those desires turn to despair when it is discovered that God doesn’t tell us in Paul’s letter to the Romans or the Gospel of Matthew that you should indeed take that job, marry that person, or move to that place. And because it doesn’t give us the specifics we want, we sometimes end up frustrated over the apparent “inaccessibility” of knowing God’s will for our lives. My usual counsel to such troubled souls is to encourage them by letting them know God’s will can be found on virtually every page of the Bible. God is not trying to hide his will from them or playing some sort of shell game with his children. Today’s text gives us an example of what I’m talking about. Paul teaches us in our verse: It is God’s will that you should be sanctified. From and For “Sanctified” is a biblical word which simply means, “to be set apart.” But what does that mean? Set apart from what? Set apart for what? Well first, it means to be set apart from something – specifically, from the world, the flesh, and the devil. It means the fallen, rebellious, autonomous, sinful, patterns of living and idolatry we once practiced are to be repented of, put off, died to, and left behind. “Sanctified” also means that we are set apart for God. In Christ, God has made us his own. He is now molding us into the image of his dear Son. Thus, he calls us to love, trust, obey, and walk with him daily, that we might become increasingly like him. The Apostle Peter, in his first epistle, quotes Leviticus and reminds us of God’s command to be holy as God is holy. Just a few verses from today’s text, in 1 Thessalonians 4:7, Paul declares, “…God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.” When we hear and receive Christ’s redeeming call and are born anew by the power of his Spirit, we immediately (though imperfectly) begin the process of becoming what God says we already are. God, in a manner of speaking, says to us: You are holy. Now go and be holy. Go and be who you already are. To die to yourself, pick up your cross, and follow Christ is what it means to live a sanctified life, one that jettisons the old, fallen self, and instead, puts on Christ as of first importance. It’s a life that immediately seeks his righteousness. This is God’s will for you. The better you know God, and the more you know of God – his person, work, ways, and word – and the more you pursue them daily and whole-heartedly in your life – the more likely you will be able to discern his particular will for your life: that job to take, that person to marry, that place to move. Seek first God and his righteousness, and the answers to those other questions will be revealed to you in time (Matt. 6:33). Walking Points
Prayer Holy Father, you have called me to be holy as you are holy. But more than that, you have recreated me in your image and given me your Holy Spirit. Your very holiness dwells within me and I am truly a new creature in Christ. For that I give you my eternal thanks and praise. And yet, I do not always see your holiness in myself – the thoughts I think, the words I speak, the life I live. Please forgive me. I know the reason for my sin and shortcomings are not because you have withheld your resources from me, but because I have neglected to make use of them. I cannot be holy apart from your power and guidance, but you will not cause me to live a holy life without my participation. Please help me Father to pursue a holy life that seeks to know you better with each and every passing day. And as I grow closer to you, know you better, and become more like you, I pray I will better discern your particular will for my life. In Christ I pray. Amen. This Week’s Prayer Guide [You can use this prayer guide in your own personal prayer time. However, I encourage you to use it with a group of Christian men. Each week you should spend time praising God for who he is, confessing your sin to him (be specific) as well as expressing gratitude to him for his gracious forgiveness. Also, don’t forget to thank God for the many ways he has poured out his goodness in your life. Then, focus on the following areas of supplication, which will change from week to week.] Petitions – prayers for yourself · Spiritual Warfare · Growth in Christlikeness · Increasing faithfulness in the spiritual disciplines · My health · For my ordinary appointments and activities to become divine appointments and activities. · Other needs Intercession – prayers for others · My Family · Mercy for those who are poor and hungry · Justice for those who are oppressed and persecuted · Love for those who oppress and persecute others · Peace for those in the midst of war, crime, and violence · Other needs 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 - Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil.
Satan’s Advertising Campaign One of the most successful advertising campaigns perpetrated by Satan in our day is the idea that Christians are forbidden to judge anything or anyone for any reason. Even unbelievers know the Bible verse that teaches, so they think, that Christians are not to judge others in any circumstance. In this twisting of our Lord’s words, Satan has led many down an awfully slippery slope. But is that what Christ, Paul, and the rest of the Bible teach? No. What Christ and his chosen spokesmen spoke against was having a censorious or judgmental spirit or attitude. They taught us to resist the temptation of signing up to serve as God’s official fruit-inspectors. These are the folks who believe it is their spiritual gift to criticize everyone else. Instead, the exhortation of Jesus (Matthew 7:1-5), was for his followers to remove the giant telephone-pole-sized sin in their own lives first. Unfortunately, that’s where unbelievers, and many Christians, stop with Christ’s words. But Jesus had not yet finished his thought. The Rest of the Story Jesus actually taught we are to remove the beam or plank from our own eye first, and then (or, so that) we would be able to see clearly enough to remove the speck from our neighbor’s eye. Jesus wasn’t calling for the abolition of judgment, but for a godly attitude while exercising helpful discernment. We know this because less than ten verses later, our Lord said we must watch out for false teachers. Why? Because they are false teachers. Something isn’t right about what they teach or how they live. How do you “watch out” for false teachers? By judging the fruit they produce – their works – not their hearts. And yet, according to our Lord, their fruit does tell us something about what’s going on inside of them. He says a good tree produces good fruit while a bad tree produces bad fruit. In both cases, being precedes doing. We aren’t privy to all that goes on inside a person’s heart, so our Lord tells us to judge their fruit, whether it be good or bad. By What Standard? How can we make such a judgment? How can we know the difference between good and bad? By using the only sure measuring stick we have, God’s Word. The Apostle Paul said we are called to test everything. A word like “everything” pretty much says it all. Every idea, suggestion, worldview, moral teaching, news story, political platform, attitude, television program, and on and on and on, is to be tested. But how do you test these things? With Holy Scripture. God’s Word is sufficient to teach, reprove, correct, and train us for all of life (2 Timothy 3:16-17), whether by explicit teaching, command, law, or rule – or by implicit principles and implications. After you have tested something by God’s Word, you then must judge or discern whether that thing is good or evil. If it’s good you cling to it. If it’s evil you avoid or shun it. But you have to make a judgment. How else can you pursue holiness instead of sin? How else can you choose the hard and narrow road that leads to life rather than the wide and comfortable road that leads to destruction? You must exercise your faculties of discernment. The Heart is the Heart of the Matter Have Christians ever been guilty of having judgmental attitudes? Absolutely. And they should repent for it. But unbelievers have also been guilty of having judgmental attitudes. The difference is that followers of Christ have an objective and binding standard that tells them it’s wrong to have such an attitude. Every time an unbeliever tells a Christian not to be judgmental, they have to borrow from the Christian worldview to say so. The key point is this: Christians are commanded by Christ to judge good from evil, sin from righteousness, without being judgmental. We are to practice such discernment so we may lovingly correct and/or restore another person. That is why we must first deal with the sin in our own lives. It humbles us, reminds us of what Christ has done on our behalf, and enables us to better see how to help others. It’s a razor’s edge to walk, but we must not give up walking along that edge simply because it’s hard to do. Instead, we must pray for the power and guidance of God’s Spirit, his gifts of discernment, and for his Word to dwell in us richly so we may walk that edge faithfully, consistently, and lovingly. Walking Points
Prayer Great and awesome God, you are the Judge of heaven and earth. You alone are righteous enough to judge without an unrighteous attitude. You alone are wise enough to see all the angles of every situation. And you alone know a person’s heart through and through. Please help me faithfully discern good fruit from bad. Yet, let me do so with the goal of helping another person who may be struggling with temptation and sin, and not so I may point my finger at them (or talk about them behind their back) with a “holier-than-thou” attitude. Remind me of the giant log of sin in my own eye first. Help me remove it. By doing so I will better be able to approach others with greater humility and I’ll be able to see their situation more clearly. In Christ I pray. Amen. This Week’s Prayer Guide [You can use this prayer guide in your own personal prayer time. However, I encourage you to use it with a group of Christian men. Each week you should spend time praising God for who he is, confessing your sin to him (be specific) as well as expressing gratitude to him for his gracious forgiveness. Also, don’t forget to thank God for the many ways he has poured out his goodness in your life. Then, focus on the following areas of supplication, which will change from week to week.] Petitions – prayers for yourself · Lord, help me to faithfully participate in the life of my congregation and for the sake of my community… Ø By my prayers Ø By my presence Ø By my gifts Ø By my service Ø By my witness · Today’s events and interactions with others, planned and unplanned · Other needs Intercession – prayers for others · My family · For those who serve in government, at the national, state, and local levels · For those who serve in law-enforcement · For those who serve in fire and rescue · For those who serve in our nation’s military · Other needs |
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