Participants: Pr. Dwight K. Nelson
Series Code: NP
Program Code: NP020307
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00:27 That we may be saved
00:34 That we may have life 00:41 To find our way 00:45 In the darkest night 00:49 Let your light shine on us 00:59 Lord, let your grace 01:06 Grace from Your hand fall on us 01:15 Lord, let your grace 01:22 Grace from Your hand 01:26 Fall on us 01:30 That we may be saved 01:38 That we may have life 01:46 To find our way 01:50 In the darkest night 01:54 Let Your grace shine on us 02:04 Lord, let Your love 02:10 Love with no end 02:14 Come over us 02:20 Lord, let Your love 02:26 Love with no end 02:31 Come over us 02:35 That we 02:39 May be saved 02:43 That we 02:47 may have life 02:50 To find our way 02:54 in the darkest night 02:59 Let Your love 03:02 Come over us 03:07 Let Your light 03:10 Shine on us 03:27 How lovely 03:30 Is thy Dwelling place 03:35 O Lord of Hosts, 03:40 O Lord of hosts 03:49 Thy dwelling place 03:54 O Lord of hosts 04:06 How lovely 04:12 Is thy dwelling place 04:18 O Lord of Hosts, 04:37 O Lord of hosts 04:48 For my soul 04:53 It longeth yea fainteth, 04:57 It longeth yea fainteth, 05:04 It longeth yea fainteth, 05:10 For the courts 05:16 Of the Lord 05:25 My soul and body 05:29 Crieth out 05:33 Yea for the living God 05:39 My soul and body 05:44 Crieth out 05:48 Yea for the living God 06:10 How lovely 06:13 Is thy dwelling place 06:18 O Lord of Hosts, 06:24 O Lord of hosts 06:33 Thy dwelling place 07:00 O blest are they 07:07 That dwell 07:10 With in Thy house 07:16 They praise Thy name ever more 07:20 They praise Thy name 07:24 They praise Thy name ever more 07:30 They praise Thy name ever more 07:35 They praise Thy name ever more 07:38 They praise Thy name ever more 08:12 How lovely, 08:20 How lovely, 08:28 How lovely, 08:45 Is thy dwelling place 09:10 Happy Sabbath, PMC family. 09:12 Happy Sabbath. 09:13 I have a few questions for you. 09:16 How would you like it if I slapped you in the face? 09:19 If I talked bad, walked and bragged about my race. 09:23 How about if I breach the proximity limit 09:25 of your personal space? 09:27 Or if one day I decide to bleach 09:29 your colorful speech on Jesus and grace 09:31 then teach the opposite 09:33 of what you preached to colleague at the workplace? 09:37 How would you feel if I treated you like dirt this week? 09:40 If I precede you as being lower than the soil 09:43 we used to grow food to eat? 09:46 Would it hurt that I saw as dirt 09:47 and therefore useless? 09:50 Couldn't produce anything planted 09:51 so it granite. 09:52 Your viewed is only a dust creating nuisance. 09:56 How about I make you cry? 09:58 I build your emotional state to a high 10:01 than with one swoop reduce your esteem to nothing 10:03 and leave you dry. 10:08 But what if I make you cry again? 10:10 But now it's because in your time of need 10:12 I was a true available friend. 10:15 What if treating you like dirt this week 10:17 was still my aim but now I viewed you as clay 10:20 Jesus made and later became 10:22 to proclaim salvation in His name. 10:25 What if I again invaded your personal private space 10:28 but this time to show your affection 10:31 through a warm embrace? 10:34 What if I still bragged about my race, 10:36 the race of humanity being redeemed by Christ saving grace? 10:40 Do to others what you'd have them do to you, 10:44 Chapter 6:31 in the Book of Luke. 10:46 Your relationship with God reflects 10:48 and thus affects the relations with others. 10:51 If you worship or harsh on forgiving God 10:53 you'll find it hard to forgive your sisters and brothers. 10:56 We recite, Lord, please have mercy on us 11:00 as we have mercy for other souls. 11:02 We recite therefore give us our sins 11:05 as we forgive line in Lord's Prayer 11:06 but in reality it's something we uphold. 11:09 I find it interesting that it comes right after us 11:12 asking God to provide us with food for the day. 11:15 Thus next in line to your physical nourishment 11:18 are the social relationships, 11:19 humanities also nourish on the way. 11:22 As daily as God provides you with food 11:24 is as daily you love for others should shine through. 11:28 So do to others as you would have them do to you. 11:31 Your vertical relationship reflects the horizontal too. 11:50 Once there was a holy place 11:55 Evidence of God's embrace 12:00 And I can almost see mercy's face 12:05 Pressed against the veil 12:12 Looking down with longing eyes 12:17 Mercy must have realized 12:23 That once His blood was sacrificed 12:27 Freedom would prevail 12:32 And as the sky grew dark 12:35 As the earth began to shake 12:38 With justice no longer in the way 12:45 Mercy came running 12:47 Like a prisoner set free 12:50 Past all my failures 12:53 To the point of my need 12:56 When the sin that I carried 12:59 Was all I could see 13:02 And when I could not reach mercy 13:06 Mercy came running to me 13:15 Once there was a broken heart 13:20 Way too human from the start 13:25 And all the years left you torn apart 13:30 Hopeless and afraid 13:36 Walls I never meant to build 13:41 They left this prisoner unfulfilled 13:47 Freedom called but even still 13:51 It seemed so far away 13:56 I was bound by the chains 13:59 From the wages of my sin 14:02 Just when I felt like giving in 14:09 Mercy came running 14:11 Like a prisoner set free 14:15 Past all my failures 14:17 To the point of my need 14:20 When the sin that I carried 14:23 Was all I could see 14:26 And when I could not reach mercy 14:30 Mercy came running to me 14:36 Sometimes I still feel so far 14:42 So far from where I really should be 14:46 He gently calls to my heart 14:52 Just to remind me 14:55 Mercy came running 14:57 Like a prisoner set free 15:00 Past all my failures 15:03 To the point of my need 15:06 When the sin that I carried 15:08 Was all I could see 15:12 And when I could not reach mercy 15:15 Mercy came running to me 15:19 Like a prisoner set free 15:22 Past all my failures 15:24 To the point of my need 15:27 When the sin that I carried 15:30 Was all I could see 15:33 When I could not reach mercy 15:37 Mercy came running 15:41 When I could not reach mercy 15:45 Mercy came running to me 15:53 When I could not reach mercy 15:56 Mercy came running to me 16:14 When I could not reach mercy, 16:16 I just love it. 16:19 Mercy, says okay, 16:21 stay right there I'll come to you. 16:23 Hallelujah. 16:24 What you say to that, uh? 16:25 Amen and amen. 16:27 And Chris, dynamite. 16:30 Thank you for composing that. 16:31 That is just the Lord knew we needed today. 16:37 Let's pray together. 16:39 Oh God, it's the truth of who You are. 16:42 Your name is mercy. 16:45 And when we could not reach You, 16:49 mercy came running to us. 16:53 Holy Father, we are not worthy of that mercy. 16:58 Mercy is been running at us all morning in this worship. 17:00 It has not let us go and now with mercy here 17:06 show us, teach us how mercy can run through us too. 17:13 We pray in Jesus name, amen, amen. 17:20 There is an invariable law of human nature 17:29 that if we choose to live by it, 17:36 if we chose to direct our lives by it, 17:40 it will revolutionize 17:42 every relationship that we have. 17:50 One law, human nature. 17:53 Now that I have my carpenter apron nicely in place. 17:59 This is from my friend, Garren Dense, 18:02 hardware store in town, village hardware. 18:05 Do it Best, hallelujah. 18:09 I need to tell you now that I got this on, 18:10 a handyman I am not. 18:13 You can ask my wife, you can ask my kids 18:15 everybody that tell you. 18:17 I have a few tools, a few tools in my garage, 18:20 so I brought a tool today. 18:21 I want to give that tool and get it right up here. 18:23 Oh, it's already here. 18:25 How you do that? 18:29 I have this, this tool hangs in my garage. 18:31 Speaking of my garage, by the way, 18:32 I got a deal for you today. 18:34 We've been collecting stuffs since history begin, 18:38 and so-- No, no, seriously. 18:42 If you'll will make a donation to the Pioneer Memorial Church, 18:47 I'll give you sight on seen everything in that garage. 18:49 You don't talk to my wife about it, 18:51 just you come straight to me and we'll work that out. 18:54 All right, so this is one of the tools 18:57 along with my carpenter apron here 18:59 and this is a board. 19:02 Just a nice little board from the garage as well. 19:07 All right. No. 19:10 I told you, I'm not a handyman. 19:11 I just... 19:14 What I do with this thing? 19:16 All right, okay. 19:18 So you know how to use these saws? 19:20 It's an old fashion saw, that's what I used to do it. 19:23 You know you got these circular saws now. 19:26 But you go like this. 19:28 I want to show you something. 19:34 Is it cold outside or something, is this... 19:38 I get it. 19:41 Because you know with the saw, 19:44 if you have wood and you have a saw let me tell you, 19:46 you can make, you can make stuff. 19:52 Now I am not going to go ahead and do this whole board. 19:56 You got to just trust me 19:58 and know that I really I could have finished it, 19:59 all right. 20:01 But I want to show this, 20:02 I want to show you something here. 20:03 You see this stuff here? You see this? 20:07 Do you know what they call this? 20:11 Saw dust. You are handy person too. 20:15 This is saw dust. Now look, look. 20:19 This is universally, so its quiz time, 20:21 question. 20:23 Which would you rather have stuck in your eye? 20:26 Uh? 20:27 Which would you rather have stuck in your eye? 20:30 Just one little piece of this, all right? 20:33 That's a choice. Quiz, its multiple choice. 20:35 This or, or would you rather have this 20:42 janum into your eye? 20:44 Which would you rather have? 20:49 Once up a time, there was a carpenter named Jesus, 20:53 and He said that is a no-brainer. 20:57 I want you to notice how Jesus puts it. 21:00 Sermon on the Mount, open your Bible please 21:01 to Matthew Chapter 7 21:02 in our continuous series mercy came running. 21:06 This is part three. 21:07 Remember now, 21:08 we are looking for powerful law about human nature 21:11 that can revolutionist the way you live. 21:14 So let's find out, 21:16 the Gospel of Matthew Chapter 7. 21:21 I am in the New King James version. 21:23 If you didn't bring a Bible just reach right into that pew 21:27 and grab the pew Bible. 21:30 Page number in a pew Bible, 653, page 653. 21:35 And by the way, if you have red letter edition of the Bible, 21:38 these words better be in red or you take that back 21:41 because this is solid, solid Jesus, all right. 21:45 Matthew Chapter 7, Sermon on the Mount. 21:47 Verse 1, "Judge not, that you be not judged. 21:54 For with what judgment 21:55 you judge, you will be judged, 21:59 and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. 22:05 And why do you look at the speck," 22:07 and there it is, that saw dust, all right. 22:10 One little piece of sawdust. 22:11 "Why do you look at that sawdust in your brother's eye, 22:14 but do not consider the plank in your own eye?" 22:18 Verse 4, "Or how can you say to your sister, 22:21 'Let me remove the speck from your eye' 22:23 and look, a plank is in your own eye? 22:26 Hypocrite!" Verse 5. 22:29 "First remove the plank from your own eye, 22:32 and then you will see 22:33 clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." 22:41 Did you see what the divine carpenter 22:43 has just reviewed in this red letter box 22:46 that He has constructed for us? 22:49 Jesus says, Jesus says, 22:50 hey guys come here, come here. 22:52 I want to tell you something. 22:53 Followers of mine, I want to tell you something. 22:55 I am gonna let you in on a little secret 22:59 about human nature. 23:02 Now it's going to be real comfortable 23:04 but if you get this secret, your every relationship 23:09 you have will be revolutionized. 23:13 And I don't know about you, 23:14 but I would love to have every relationship 23:16 that I enjoyed revolutionized, would you? 23:19 So I want you to write it down. 23:21 Pull up your study guide, please. 23:22 In your worship bullet in this morning 23:24 there should be a study guide in there. 23:26 Yeah, you're coming in out of the blizzard 23:28 and you had to gloves on 23:30 so you didn't get a worship book, 23:31 that's okay. 23:32 Ushers are gonna make sure right now 23:34 that you have the same study guy. 23:36 Hold your hand up I will get that to you. 23:38 Those of you, who are watching on television right now, 23:40 let me put our website on the screen for you. 23:42 There it is on your television screen, 23:44 www.pmchurch.tv. 23:48 Go to that website, our still very new series, 23:52 Mercy Came running. 23:54 Click on that series and this will be part three, 23:56 Solid Gold. All right. 23:58 You see right there beside Solid Gold 24:00 the word study guide. 24:01 You click that study guide word 24:03 and you will have on your screen 24:04 the very same one 24:07 that we're going to fill in right now. 24:09 All right, we got to cut to the chase. 24:10 Let's do it. 24:11 Filling that very top sentence, 24:14 what you, here come now, watch out. 24:16 What you criticize in others 24:21 is invariably true about you. 24:28 Eugene Peterson in his masterful 24:31 rendition of the bible called The Message. 24:33 Here's how Eugene Peterson 24:34 puts his first two versus in Matthew 7. 24:38 In fact you need to fill this in. 24:40 Peterson has Jesus saying, "Don't pick on people, 24:42 Don't jump on their failures, 24:44 don't criticize their faults unless, 24:46 of course, you want the same treatment. 24:48 That critical, write it down, 24:50 "That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging," 24:58 as we're about to see but not before we admit. 25:02 Okay, we got to do this, 25:03 we must admit these are hard words 25:07 for an academic community like ours. 25:10 Judge not that you be not judged, 25:11 what's that suppose to mean? 25:12 Critique not that you be not critique. 25:15 Criticize not that you be not criticize. 25:17 I mean come on the very nature of the intellectual community 25:21 is that it thrives on criticism. 25:25 We have whole branches of knowledge call criticism. 25:27 We have higher criticism, we have textual criticism, 25:30 we have literally criticism, we have historical criticism. 25:33 Come on, we pride ourselves in the mental acuity 25:37 that enables us to challenge theories, 25:39 critique ideas, scrutinize evidence 25:42 and criticize our conclusions. 25:44 In fact, I know the faculty on this campus, 25:47 we like to pride ourselves 25:48 that we're training our students to thank critically. 25:53 I mean, come on, you don't have to take anybody's word for it. 25:56 Not-- no matter who the authority is 25:58 hook line and seek it you check it out first, right? 26:03 That's good. That's not bad. 26:04 That's why universities exist. 26:07 Doctoral communities, 26:09 oh, that little team of critics can hardly 26:12 wait for the next victim to come walking in. 26:15 Doctoral students research critics, criticized. 26:19 Hey, I got good news for you, 26:21 as far as Jesus in us 26:25 is concerned-- and in fact jot this down please, 26:27 "The good news for us 26:28 is that Jesus is not challenging critical thinking." 26:34 Write that down. 26:35 But the bad news for us 26:37 is that Jesus is condemning critical acting, 26:42 write that down too, please. 26:46 You see, the Greek word for hypocrite, 26:48 the Jesus has just used there in verse 5 26:50 that this is on there in you study guide 26:53 and you need to fill it in. 26:54 Greek word for hypocrite, hupokrites. 26:57 Hupokrites, it refers to the actor. 27:00 Write it in, "the actor on a Greek stage, 27:02 one who pretends to be what he is not. 27:06 She wears a mask and fools her audience." 27:11 Which is precisely what a hypocrite does, 27:12 isn't that right? 27:13 Come on when I pretend, 27:15 when I fool everybody by pretending to be 27:16 what I am not, I am a hupokrites, a hypocrite. 27:22 Apparently it's a favorite word of Jesus. 27:24 that word is used only-- get this, 27:26 it's used only 17 times in the New Testament, 27:29 13 of those 17, all by Matthew 27:31 and all those times Matthew puts it on the lips of Jesus, 27:34 "You hypocrite." 27:38 The job hazard for an academic community like ours, 27:43 and by the way, the danger for all of us, 27:45 academic or not academic the danger for all of us 27:48 is that there is a very thin line 27:51 between critical thinking and critical acting. 27:56 You say, not. Yeah, yeah, yeah. 27:59 Jot it down, when you develop the skill, 28:01 write this down, when you develop the skill of critiquing, 28:05 you then become more susceptible to the sin of criticizing. 28:11 You say, come on, Dwight, it's not a sin. 28:14 Oh, I beg sir, to differ with you. 28:17 It is a sin. 28:20 You don't have to fill this in but I put it in your study guide 28:22 because I want you to see this, 28:23 look at this, we put it on the screen. 28:24 The English word "critic-ize" 28:25 you see the first part of the word its "critic." 28:28 The English word critic is from the Greek word krites 28:31 which is the word for "a judge." 28:33 A judge is a krites. 28:37 But get this, according to James 4:12 28:40 and you have to fill this in, the apostle declares that 28:43 "There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, 28:47 so who are you who judge your neighbor?" 28:50 So ladies and gentlemen, 28:51 when I critic, when I krites, 28:56 when I criticize you I become your judge 28:58 and I take on the sole prerogative of all mighty God 29:01 and in anybody's book that's a sin, 29:03 is it not, playing God? 29:05 Playing God to judge you, please. 29:11 Wow, this is serious. 29:14 Verse 1, "Judge not, that you be not judged. 29:18 For with what judgment you judge, 29:21 you will be judged, 29:23 and with the measure you use it will be measured back to you. 29:25 And why do you look at the speck in your sister's eye, 29:27 but do not consider the plank in your own? 29:29 Or how can you say to your brother, 29:31 'Let me remove the speck, that sawdust from your eye' 29:33 and, look, you got the board jammed in your own eye?" 29:35 Verse 5, "Hypocrite! 29:39 First remove the plank from your own eye, 29:41 and then you will see clearly to remove the speck 29:44 from your brother's eye." 29:46 Because, ladies and gentlemen, 29:48 this is the stunning law of human nature, 29:52 that little speck of sawdust 29:56 in his or her life is nothing in comparison 30:00 to the huge board you have jammed into yours. 30:06 You see, it's a law of human nature. 30:09 Invariably it is true 30:12 when what you criticize in others 30:15 is invariably true about you. 30:18 And by the way our whole nations 30:20 saw this potent law of human nature, 30:23 our whole nations saw this come true 30:24 just a few weeks ago, you remember the story. 30:27 One of the bright and shining stars 30:30 of evangelical America, 30:33 a pastor of 13,000 member church 30:36 that he had raised up from scratch, 30:39 president of the National Evangelical Association 30:43 visited frequent to the White House, 30:45 a women preacher against homo-sexuality 30:48 and sexual immorality. 30:49 Just a few weeks ago 30:50 was outed by a homosexual prostitute 30:53 that the pastor had frequented for the past two years. 31:00 Beware follower of Christ, beware. 31:04 Watch you criticize in others is invariably true about you. 31:13 "Judge not, that you be not judged. 31:16 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged, 31:19 and with the measure you use, 31:21 it will be measured back to you." 31:23 The pastor was defrocked, banished from his pulpit. 31:29 The measure he had used against other sinners 31:32 was now used against him and now is a sinner exposed 31:37 he is seeking healing. 31:38 And I need to say, I am praying to God 31:41 because I pray for him by name. 31:43 I am praying to God that he and his dear little family 31:46 will find the healing they are seeking 31:49 because you know why, 31:50 there but for the grace of God, go I. 31:54 Judge not, don't you judge 31:59 that you be not judged. 32:03 For what you criticize in others is invariably true about you. 32:07 And by the way, not only does Jesus drive 32:09 the point home very graphically but so does Paul the apostle. 32:14 Now jot this down in your study guide, 32:15 we'll put it on the screen, Romans 2:1. 32:18 This is something, isn't it? 32:19 Paul writing, "You, therefore, have no excuse, 32:22 you who pass judgment on someone else, 32:25 for at whatever point you judge the another, 32:27 you are condemning yourself, 32:29 because you who pass judgment do the same things." 32:34 Write it in the word same. 32:36 Judge not, that you be not judged. 32:41 Some years ago I came across 32:44 these words of Oswald Chambers 32:46 and they have just stuck in my heart 32:49 and I had to share them with you. 32:51 You got in there in your study guide. 32:53 You have to fill it in. 32:54 In his classic book, My Utmost for His Highest, 32:56 Chamber is writing now, 32:57 "Every wrong thing that I see in you, God locates in me. 33:03 Every time I judge, I condemn myself," 33:06 write it in, "I condemn myself." 33:10 Remember the kids, remember when we were the kids, 33:13 did your generation do this too, 33:14 when you point at somebody and say, "you," 33:16 and they all laughed, ha-ha-ha. 33:18 Two fingers pointing my way, three fingers pointing back. 33:20 You remember that? It's true. 33:23 Every time I judge you, I condemn myself, 33:25 three fingers are pointing back. 33:30 I've never met a man, no, no, no, 33:33 let me back track here, 33:34 "Every time I judge, I condemn myself. 33:35 Stop having a measuring rod for other people," 33:38 then I put the emphasis here. 33:40 "There is always one fact more in every man's case 33:45 about which we know nothing." 33:46 You know, we are so hard on each other. 33:48 Do you understand you and I do not know 33:50 everything about that human being? 33:51 You know no, you have no knowledge about his wife. 33:54 You know nothing about her husband, 33:55 you know nothing about the children, 33:57 you know nothing about the home she grew up in. 33:58 You know nothing about the fact 34:00 she's fighting a disease for her life. 34:01 You know nothing about the pressures he bears, 34:03 you know nothing. 34:05 There's one fact, always one fact left 34:07 you know nothing of and yet you and I shred, 34:13 shred in our self-righteous 34:18 hearted spirit we shred. 34:21 You don't know. 34:23 The only one who knows everything is God 34:24 and that's' why he's the only one 34:25 who can judge, only one. 34:28 Chambers goes on, "I have never met the man 34:29 I could despair of after discerning what lies in me 34:32 apart from the grace of God. 34:33 If you have been shrewd 34:34 in finding out the defects in others, 34:36 remember that will be exactly the measure given to you. 34:39 Life serves back in the coin you pay." 34:42 What you give is what you get. 34:46 Wow. 34:47 Judge not, judge not that you be not judged. 34:51 Hey, come on, I am just going to talk 34:52 little heart to heart now. 34:54 You suppose that's' why we have such a hard time, 35:00 spending time with critical people? 35:04 I am gonna be honest with you. 35:06 I don't like being around here for long. 35:07 I can handle it for a bit but not for long. 35:11 Have you notice there's something grating 35:12 about their spirit on your words. 35:16 That critical spirit, those little innuendos, 35:19 the judgmental twist they put on leader's mistake, 35:22 they are sly but sugary sweet way of injecting 35:24 their pharisaical judgment into the conversation. 35:27 I tell you what, let me just-- I'll lead this with you too. 35:31 These aren't in the study guide. 35:32 But the moment, the next time you are with somebody 35:34 and that somebody begins to criticize someone 35:37 and by the way always that someone is not present, 35:40 you'll notice, all right. 35:41 The next time that begins to happen, 35:43 there are two realities you can know 35:44 about the person doing the criticizing, 35:46 I want you to never forget these 35:47 because it exposes the raw truth of our human nature. 35:50 Remember these two, reality number one, 35:52 as Jesus and Paul and Chambers 35:54 have just made clear to us this morning, 35:55 the individual is struggling. 35:57 The one doing the criticizing 35:58 is struggling with the very same weakness 36:00 he or she has identified in somebody else. 36:05 And by the way, truth and fairness in advertising. 36:12 The reason I know that this is the law of human nature 36:15 is because of my own critical spirit. 36:19 I worked very hard at trying not to ever talk 36:23 in a critical way about another person not present. 36:27 And I think if you talk to my staff 36:28 and you talk to my family you would find 36:30 that I at least make an effort. 36:33 I am so ashamed of the times 36:37 I've broken my own rule. 36:40 And I want you to stop me if you ever hear me 36:42 talking about somebody who is not there, 36:45 why we're talking about him or her. 36:47 Now in a positive way talk to you, blew in the face, 36:49 I don't mind it, but if I start critiquing, judging, 36:52 you stop me, all right. 36:54 But-- so I try not to do it out loud. 36:57 But I can be very critical of another person 37:00 right here in my mind. 37:04 And I've learned, I've just shredded people here. 37:09 And I learned over the years 37:10 that the reason I am able to spot another man's weakness 37:13 so quickly is because I have that same weakness 37:16 and I've developed a proclivity towards it and I see it. 37:19 It's like when you drive a Ford Taurus, 37:20 they are everywhere. 37:27 So the next time, 37:28 now I'm giving you a little bit of council, 37:30 it's not in the study guide. 37:31 But the next time you hear somebody criticizing 37:34 another person who of course is not present 37:36 you can know immediately that he or she is struggling 37:39 with that same weakness, 37:41 that same sin, that same failure. 37:44 I tell you what, 37:45 if those of us who enjoy criticizing people in public 37:48 would realize what we're actually saying about ourselves, 37:51 we would keep our mouth shut. 37:53 And this would be a whole lot happier place to live in. 38:00 Judge not as you be not judged. 38:05 But I promised two, there are two realities 38:07 that you can know about a criticizer. 38:10 Reality number one, he reveals his own weakness to you 38:13 and reality number two, you can not trust 38:16 your own confidential information with him 38:20 which is why Judas 38:23 was not a part of Jesus' inner circle. 38:26 He wanted to be, 38:28 because a judgmental spirit can turn on you in an incident. 38:31 Jesus can not afford to share 38:32 His deepest confidences with Judas. 38:35 I mean, because if he's talking about 38:36 so and so in my presence, 38:38 what do you suppose he's saying about me 38:39 in someone else's presence. 38:42 I tell you what, never, sometimes you feels little good 38:44 to somebody's come to you to tell some. 38:46 Never flatter yourself that a critic takes you 38:48 into her confidence about someone else 38:51 because she is doing the very same thing to you 38:53 behind your back, trust me, trust Jesus. 38:57 That's why ladies and gentlemen, 39:00 critics had many informants but few friends. 39:09 You think about that for a moment. 39:15 A century ago, these penetrating words were written, 39:18 that's why I want you to have the study guide. 39:20 Look at this, you have to fill it in. 39:22 "The atmosphere of selfishness and narrow criticism 39:24 stifles the noble and generous emotions, 39:27 and causes men and women to become 39:28 self-centered judges and petty spies." 39:32 Picky, picky, picky, picky, picky, picky. 39:36 Why? 39:37 Because I just thrive on this. 39:41 By the way, the reason I am so hard on you 39:43 is because I am trying to cover up me. 39:46 If I weren't worry about me, I would be-- 39:48 I won't give two plain nickels for your problem, 39:52 that's because I have the same problem 39:55 that I deflect the attention, just deflect it. 40:00 Next sentence, "The sin that leads to the most--" 40:02 by the way, not the next and the most, not the third, 40:04 not the fourth from the most, 40:06 "The sin that leads to the most unhappy results 40:09 is the cold, critical, unforgiving spirit 40:12 that characterizes Pharisaism. 40:14 He, she who is guilty of wrong is the first to suspect wrong. 40:19 By condemning another 40:20 he is trying to conceal or excuse 40:22 the evil of his own heart. 40:24 According to the figure that our Savior uses," 40:26 according to the board and the sawdust. 40:33 "He who indulges a censorious 40:35 or critical spirit is guilty of--" 40:37 is blows you out of the water 40:38 but write it down, "is guilty of greater, 40:41 greater sin than is the one he accuses, 40:44 for he not only commits the same sin, 40:47 but adds to it conceit and censoriousness" 40:49 which is an old word for the spirit of criticism. 40:51 He sits on the seat of a judge and that's a double sin 40:54 because there's only one judge 40:56 and when you play God you're lost 40:59 because the only one that can save you is you. 41:02 Not God mad at you, you play God, save yourself 41:05 and you can't, that's' why you are lost. 41:08 It's a sin, it is a sin. Oh mercy. 41:14 Is there any mercy 41:15 for the judgmental likes of you and me? 41:18 Hallelujah. Hallelujah there is. 41:23 You see, ever carpenter 41:24 in his nice carpenter apron carries one of these. 41:32 This is a rule, 41:37 this is a ruler. 41:40 A carpenter knows that you have to have a standard 41:44 by which you live as a carpenter. 41:46 You can't keep changing your standard 41:47 because then you'd produce defective construction. 41:52 You have to have a rule, you have to have a ruler 41:56 and you must use this ruler 41:57 with every bit of construction you undertake. 42:01 If you ignored in one that's gonna be messed up, 42:03 that one will be messed up. 42:05 The divine carpenter is making a point to you and me, 42:07 you have to have a rule. 42:09 We call it the golden rule. 42:14 That's' the only way you can survive. 42:16 Look at this, drop down to verse 12, 42:17 isn't this some, carpenter didn't leave us hanging. 42:20 Thank you, Jesus. 42:21 Verse 12, "Therefore," Jesus says, 42:22 "Whatever you want men and women to do to you, 42:25 do also to them, for this is the law and the prophets." 42:30 All of God's teachings, Jesus says, 42:31 you want to reduce the entire bible into one, 42:33 here it is, one golden rule, 42:36 one single standard for God 42:39 and everyone else in the universe 42:41 the same standard. 42:43 Jot it down, will you in your study guide, 42:45 "Do to others what you would have them do to you." 42:50 In other words, won't you to get that down? 42:53 In other words, 42:54 "Treat others the way you want to be treated." 43:00 And if we took a poll right now, 43:02 it would be hands down unanimous. 43:04 How do we want to be treated? 43:05 Two words, I want to be treated with mercy. 43:09 When you stand in front of that traffic judge 43:11 with a trembling ticket, speeding ticket in your hand, 43:13 you have two words on your mind, your honor, with mercy. 43:18 When you stand in front of your professor 43:19 and your paper is four days late 43:21 you have two words on your mind, please, with mercy. 43:26 When you stand and your room-mate walks into the room 43:28 and you have just dropped 43:30 her laptop and broken it, with mercy. 43:34 Have you done that? 43:37 With mercy, treat me with mercy. 43:41 When you stand before your spouse 43:43 and confess a little unfaithfulness 43:45 or a big unfaithfulness 43:46 you have two words on your mind, 43:48 treat me with mercy. With mercy. 43:52 There isn't a human being 43:53 that doesn't want to be treated with mercy. 43:55 It's the one standard word, it's universal. 43:58 Every culture, every nation, every era of time, 44:01 I want mercy and so do you. 44:04 Which by the way, let me ask you this, 44:07 would you want anybody to be talking about you, 44:10 criticizing you, condemning you 44:13 and you are not there to defend yourself? 44:15 Would you ever want that to be the case? 44:17 Would you rather say, okay, you want to talk, let' talk. 44:19 We're big boys, we can talk 44:21 but let me be there when we talk. 44:23 Let me answer, let me tell you what you don't know. 44:26 Help me out as a loving brother, 44:28 if I am doing something wrong, help me out. 44:30 I need your help. 44:31 You can't shred me behind my back 44:33 and expect me to ever grow from it now, can you? 44:37 You are ripping my life apart, 44:38 you are using it as a little stepping stone 44:39 to be higher than everybody. 44:41 Get off. 44:43 Come on, wouldn't you want to be present? 44:45 Then ladies and gentlemen, never-- 44:48 I am just going to be very pointed with you, 44:50 for life on this campus or wherever it is, 44:53 wherever else it is that you live, 44:54 never ever criticize someone 44:59 in his or her absence. 45:03 If they are not there, if she's not there, 45:06 if he's not there, shut up. 45:09 Matthew 18 says, you go straight to him and talk, 45:11 you got to talk you go to him. 45:13 Never ever criticize someone who is not present. 45:20 And you now have permission, 45:21 if somebody does that in your presence 45:23 you now have biblical permission to say, 45:26 hey, time now, I don't know what it is 45:28 you are just gonna get-- you just get ready to share 45:29 but you know what, it doesn't feel good. 45:33 I think if you really got something to say, 45:35 yeah, go talk to her, go talk to him. 45:38 Don't, please, I just assume not knowing. 45:40 You know what, five conversations like that 45:42 and the critic gets it. The critic gets it. 45:45 He says, I guess, 45:48 I guess that kind of make sense, doesn't it. 45:51 Jesus is giving us permission to never, never 45:56 criticize someone, our enemy even. 46:00 Which by the way is why Jesus who had every right in the Book 46:04 to cast invictus on this sorry wretch of a betrayer name Judas. 46:09 When Judas comes to Jesus that early Friday morning, 46:12 when Judas shows up, Jesus looks into the face 46:15 of the man who has betrayed him behind his back 46:17 and Jesus says, friend. 46:20 He calls his enemy friend. You know why? 46:24 Because Jesus lives-- 46:26 the divine carpenter lives by His own rule. 46:30 He lives by His own ruler. 46:31 If the tables were turned 46:33 I want you to do the same thing to me, 46:35 keep calling me your friend. 46:39 So when you have been betrayed 46:41 behind your back by somebody's tongue 46:45 still call her, still call him friend. 46:49 Jesus, with his torturous executioners, 46:54 look how He treats them. 46:56 I mean this is the judge of all the universe 46:59 and they've taken the divine carpenter, 47:00 they have His arms stretched out 47:02 upon the very wood He himself crafted 47:05 and as they are nailing His palms to the core, 47:09 the mighty core of that cross. 47:11 What is Jesus do? What is Jesus do? 47:15 He says, hey, father, father, father, please I beg of you, 47:21 forgive them, they don't know what they are doing. 47:25 And when he prayed mercy came running 47:29 at that instant for His executioners. 47:35 Jesus lived, He practiced what he preached. 47:42 And by the way you just saw in Jesus 47:46 what is probably the shortest and simplest antidote 47:49 to the spirit of criticism anywhere on earth today. 47:52 When you attempt to the criticize somebody 47:53 and they are not present, 47:54 the moment that temptation comes into your mind, 47:56 instead of criticizing 47:58 you immediately pray for that person. 48:00 Would you write it down please? 48:01 Intercede instead of criticize, pray instead of judge. 48:06 What would happen if we pray for everybody 48:09 we used to criticize? 48:11 What would happen on this campus 48:15 if we pray for each other instead? 48:19 Pray instead of judge, intercede instead of criticize. 48:23 And by the way, in pleading for mercy for her, 48:26 whoever she is you are praying for mercy for yourself. 48:29 When you pray for mercy for that man 48:33 you are pleading for mercy for yourself. 48:35 And the good news is when you do that, 48:36 mercy comes running to both of you at the same time. 48:40 You win, you win with mercy. You'll always win with mercy. 48:46 Treat others the way you wanted them to treat you. 48:50 And then Hallelujah, like the Amish 48:53 this too will become a community, 48:54 a world starve for mercy will come seeking. 48:58 I want to end with a story of the Amish 48:59 but before I do there's one more quotation 49:02 that you need you, that end your study guide, 49:04 you need to fill in. 49:05 same book, hundred years ago, 49:07 "Search heaven and earth," this is dynamite. 49:11 "Search heaven and earth, and there is no truth revealed 49:15 more powerful than that which is made manifest 49:17 in works of mercy," 49:19 prayers of mercy, works of mercy. 49:22 There's no greater truth in this, 49:24 in heaven and earth no more powerful truth than mercy. 49:27 This is the truth as it is in Jesus. 49:29 Now listen to this, "When those who profess the name of Christ," 49:32 like you and me, 49:33 "shall practice the principles of the golden rule," 49:36 hold on to your pew, 49:37 "the same power will attend the gospel" 49:40 today "as in apostolic times." Hallelujah. 49:45 Do you understand what that means? 49:46 A lot of you getting little worried 49:48 about the revival of the Holy Spirit 49:49 and oh boy, we need revival, we need revival. 49:51 You want to have revival like the early church had it, 49:53 you practice the golden rule. 49:55 When you practice the golden rule, 49:57 that brings the revival 49:58 because it's the spirit of Jesus. 50:00 What's a hot pouring of the Holy Spirit 50:02 if it's not the Spirit of Jesus? 50:03 Its Jesus made fresh through you and me. 50:06 And the power of the Book of Acts 50:09 will be the power of the village of Berrien Springs. 50:13 Thank you, Jesus. 50:15 I want to end with a story, 50:18 appeared in the latest Willow magazine. 50:20 It's about that tragic morning last fall, 50:22 the whole nation knew this one. 50:25 A little Amish school in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania. 50:31 Remember that gunman entered, 50:32 barricaded that little school house 50:36 and when the carnage was over 50:37 seven of the students were wounded, 50:38 three little girls were dead and the gunman had died, 50:41 died at his own hands. 50:44 The nation in shock watch the unfolding 50:49 for the drama was not through. 50:51 The religious news service came to this celebrated 50:55 Mennonite philosopher and author. 50:59 One of his books, The Upside Down Kingdom, 51:01 I think is one of the greatest books I've read. 51:04 The Mennonite author and philosopher 51:06 is Donald Kraybill and he wrote an essay 51:10 for the religious news service. 51:13 As it turn out it's on the back of this picture 51:15 so I hold the picture. 51:16 You look at the three Amish women, 51:18 looking at the place of that carnage. 51:20 And let me read this to you, you see the title don't you. 51:23 All about forgiveness. 51:25 "The blood was hardly dry on the bare, board floor 51:28 of the West Nickel Mines School when Amish parents said 51:32 words of forgiveness to the family of the man 51:35 who had killed their children." 51:38 Forgiveness? 51:40 So quickly and for such a heinous crime. 51:42 Why and how could the Amish do such a thing so quickly? 51:48 "Make no mistake, the pain of death is sharp, 51:52 searing the hearts of Amish mothers and fathers 51:54 like it would any other parents. 51:56 But why forgiveness? 51:57 Surely some anger, at least some grudge is justifiable 52:00 in the face of such a slaughter. 52:03 A frequent phrase in Amish life is 'forgive and forget.' 52:08 That's the recipe for responding to Amish members 52:10 who transgress Amish rules, if they confess their failures. 52:13 Amish forgiveness also reaches to outsiders, 52:17 even to killers of their children. 52:19 For you see, their model is the suffering Jesus, 52:23 who carried his cross without complaint, 52:26 and who, hanging on the cross, " 52:27 extended forgiveness to his tormentors. 52:31 Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. 52:35 Beyond his example, the Amish try to practice 52:38 Jesus' admonitions to turn the other cheek, 52:41 to love one's enemies, to forgive 70 times 7, 52:44 and to leave vengeance to the Lord. 52:45 Retaliation and revenge 52:47 are not part of their vocabulary. 52:50 As pragmatic as they are about other things, 52:53 the Amish do not ask if forgiveness works 52:56 they simply seek to practice it 52:59 as the Jesus way of responding 53:02 to adversaries, even enemies. 53:05 Final lines, "Such courage to forgive has jolted 53:10 the watching world as much as the killing itself. 53:13 The transforming power of forgiveness 53:15 may be one redeeming thing that flows from the blood 53:19 that was shed in Nickel Mines. 53:25 If they can love like Jesus with mercy and forgiveness, 53:32 I ask you in the name of Christ, 53:35 can we not do the same? 53:41 Be like Jesus, I would be like Jesus. 53:46 It seems the right prayer to pray. 53:49 And so I am gonna ask you to grab that hymn note 53:51 that's' in front of you and turn to hymn 492. 53:56 Just the first and the last stanzas. 53:58 Pray it with me will you? 53:59 Pray that chorus especially when you get to the chorus, 54:03 I would be like Jesus. 54:37 Teach, me, Father, what to say 54:43 Teach me, Father, how to pray 54:50 Teach me all along the way 54:58 How to be like Jesus 55:05 I would be like Jesus 55:12 I would be like Jesus 55:20 Help me, Lord, 55:22 To daily grow 55:28 More and more 55:31 Like Jesus 55:38 Teach me how we may be one 55:44 Like the Father and the Son 55:51 And when all is overcome 55:59 I will be like Jesus 56:07 I would be like Jesus 56:14 I would be like Jesus 56:22 Help me, Lord, 56:25 To daily grow 56:31 More and more like Jesus 56:43 Oh Father, please, I beg of You. 56:54 Help me grow 56:58 more and more, 57:02 please, like Jesus. 57:08 Amen. 57:10 Before you go I wanted to take one more moment 57:12 to let you know, how glad I am 57:13 you share this hour worshiping Bible teachings with us. 57:17 Living in the world that we do now, 57:18 a civilization surviving on the edge` 57:20 of constant upheaval change 57:22 and pray for that we have 57:24 the bedrock hope of Jesus, aren't you? 57:26 And I am thankful that you and I can partner together 57:28 to reach this generation, the world over 57:31 through the satellite telecast. 57:32 So please know that I thank God and you 57:35 for the generous way you're partner with us. 57:38 The tax deductible gifts are being multiplied 57:40 all across the earth where such a time is this. 57:43 If you'd like to order a DVD 57:44 or a video tape copy of this teaching today 57:46 or make a donation on your credit card 57:49 please call our friendly operators 57:50 at the number on your screen. 57:51 There it is 877-HIS-WILL, 57:54 just the two words, 877-HIS-WILL 57:57 and I promise you we will invest every penny of your generosity 58:00 in God's mission to reach this final generation now. 58:04 Thank you for that partnership 58:06 and I will see you hear again next time. |
Revised 2014-12-17