Today on Fellowship in the Word, Pastor Bill Gebhardt challenges you to become a fully functioning follower of Jesus Christ. It's love. It always comes down to that.
It's just love. It's the way that Paul sees them, the way that this operates. He admonishes with tears. It reveals his heart.
If you admonish people or you're very critical of people and there are no tears, I can tell you that's probably not of the Spirit of God. That's of your own flesh. And your motive isn't love. Your motive is often to feel better about yourself. Because if I keep pointing out what everybody else is doing wrong, I can feel better about me.
I'm not as bad as them. Paul didn't take that at all. Grace has no conditions. It's undeserved, unearned, and unearnable favor of God. Thank you for joining us today on this edition of Fellowship in the Word with Pastor Bill Gebhardt. Fellowship in the Word is the radio ministry of Fellowship Bible Church located in Metairie, Louisiana. Let's join Pastor Bill Gebhardt now as once again he shows us how God's Word meets our world. Paul, he stood against the immorality of Corinth over and over again in 1 Corinthians. He told them they were immoral. He stood for that. He told Timothy the same thing in Ephesus.
Timothy, you need to take a stand against such things. He's not talking about we shouldn't stand on judged moral or doctrinal issues. And lastly, he's not saying that it's always wrong to correct any error.
It's not. In Matthew 15, same book, he gives us the outline of church discipline. He tells us that if somebody is sinning, you find out about it, how you should act, what you should do, what are the steps that we take. So clearly, he's not talking about that. In Galatians 6 and verse 1, Paul says, you who are spiritual in a church should be involved in the restoration of those who are in sin. There's no doubt that he's talking about something else.
In fact, even Paul confronted Peter in the front of the Church of Antioch. He's not talking about that either. But what's he talking about? He's talking about something that comes really natural to you and I. A critical spirit. We draw judgments on all kinds of things.
He's not talking about overture. He said some of us have these critical spirits. He said you can't do that. And the inference here is pretty clear. You can't have a critical spirit and bestow grace to other people.
You can't. And Jesus says, look, I don't want you to do that. He said you don't do that. And he gives good reasons. He said, look, it's only judgment is a divine prerogative.
It belongs only to God. Secondly, he also says, though, when you do it, you invite judgment from God on you. God views that as sinful. So he then says this.
You know the verses. He says, why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but you do not notice the log that's in your own? He says, or how can you say to your brother, let me take the speck out of your eye and behold, the log is in your own eye. This is unbelievable hyperbole.
He's taken these extremes to tell us what we're really like when we do this. Now, you think about this. You see the image in your own mind. You ever have someone you're trying to get a speck out of their eye? Get a little Kleenex, right? You pull the lid on. OK, you're right. That's what you're doing, right? Now, how would it work? How would it work if I were doing it like this?
This came in the toddler room between services, by the way. It wasn't my idea, but how would that work? I mean, do you see the absurdity of this? This is absurd.
And that's why Jesus is trying to make his point. He's saying, when you act like that, you're absurd. Why do you do this? Why do you do it? Now, I know what some of you say. It's not a speck.
I mean, after all, he's a Democrat. Sometimes it's really personal. I was hurt deeply. I had a father that deserted us with all the kids. My mother had to raise all the kids and then late in life, my father got ill and came back and wanted all of us to take care of him. I'll never forgive him for that.
Look what he did to us. You see, it's personal. Jesus says, look, no matter how you cut it, though, it's a speck. You're going to see in a moment as this plays out, the recipients of grace have to be those who bestow grace on someone else. Hold your place here and go with me to Ephesians, Chapter four.
The first three chapters of Ephesians, Paul was teaching theology. He's telling us how great it is to be a believer in Jesus Christ. He says your sins are forgiven, you're heaven bound. God has blessed you with every blessing in the heavenly places is yours. It's all a gift.
It's all grace. Now, he says, how do you behave? How should a Christian act?
You see, that's an interesting thought. How should we act as people? So he says in Chapter four, verse one and verse two, he says, Therefore, I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling in which you've been called. There is a worthy way in which a Christian should live their lives in gratitude to what the Lord has done through grace for us. Notice the next thing he says, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love.
Oh, what do you mean by that? Grace. Show them grace. You be patient. He said, you be patient. You show tolerance.
You be gentle. They don't deserve that. Neither did you.
They haven't earned that. Neither of you. He said, that's what you should do. He goes on in the chapter as you get near the end of the chapter. Starting in verse 25, he says, All these things are our responsibility. Now, as Christians lay aside falsehoods, speak truth to each other. He said, each one of you to your neighbor, we're all members. He said, Be angry, but don't sin.
Don't let the sun go down in your anger. He said, don't give the devil an opportunity. If you still stop stealing, he says in verse 28 and verse 29, let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only a word that is good for edification according to the need of the moment. He said, so that it will give grace to those who hear. You need to speak grace. No unwholesome, no unkind word. You need to speak grace to people.
It gets worse. He says, verse 31, Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Don't talk about people.
That's how we talk about people. Notice with wrath, anger, clamor, slander. And then he says, Be kind to one another, tender hearted. And then these words, forgiving each other, just as God also forgave you, Christ. How has God forgiven you? What sins have you committed?
How big were they? How many do you commit? How many are you continuing committing? Today, tomorrow, you just continue and they're all forgiven. Because of grace and pulses, and that means that as a recipient of grace, you should be one of bestows grace on someone else.
That's what you should be. That's what we are known for. We bestow grace on people. Well.
Back to. Matthew, seven. He said, How can you say to your brother, Let me take the speck out of your eye? Behold, the log is in your own eye. He said, You overestimate yourselves. When you're critical of other people, you overestimate you. You completely overestimate yourself. Look, you're not that good. The truth is, you're not good at all. There's nothing about you that's good.
Why are you pretending you are the standard? I'm not like him. That's Pharisee is. Remember the Pharisee went to the temple and said, God, I thank you.
I'm not like other men like this tax gather. You see, that's not grace. He says, Don't do that.
He said, You overestimate yourself completely. In the Luke passage in Luke six, there's a parallel passage to this. And there Jesus says, A blind man cannot guide the blind, Kenny. Of course not.
Won't they both fall into the pit together? You can't help take the speck out of someone's eye with a plank in yours. You can't.
And if you have an attitude that is critical, you have a plank in your eye. You see, that's his point. He says, You can't do it. It won't work that way. Now, is there a way we do it? He said, Yes.
He said, You hypocrite. First, take the log out of your own eye. Then you'll be able to see clearly and take the speck out of someone else's. It has to begin with you. You always have to start with yourself. That's the way this has to work. By the way, that's exactly the way Paul did it. That was exactly how Paul acted.
Taking the plank out of his own eye. These are the words of the Apostle Paul. I am the chief of sinners. Not I was.
Not I used to be. I am the chief of sinners. Paul understood who he was. You see, Paul understood that completely. And the other thing that Paul said was, I am what I am by the grace of God. On the basis of who I really am, my flesh, I'm the chief of sinners. Now, as this great apostle, I am who I am by the grace of God. Paul took the plank out of his own eye. It had changed everything when Paul tried to help someone.
I'm going to give you an illustration of that. Turn with me now to Acts chapter 20, the book of Acts chapter 20. Verse 16, Paul wants to have one more meeting with the elders, the leaders of the church of Ephesus.
He knows he's probably never going to see them again. Ephesus is an extremely important church. It's the church that really has all the ministry that goes into Asia Minor or what we call modern day Turkey. It's a very important church. Paul spent more time in Ephesus than he did anywhere.
He knows these men well. And he says in verse 16, Paul decided to sail past Ephesus so that he would have to spend would not have to spend time in Asia, which is Turkey. He said, For he is hurrying to go to Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost.
That's the context. Now, verse 27, Paul said he's talking to the elders. He said, For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God. He said, Be on guard yourselves for all the flock among, he said, which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers.
To shepherd the Church of God, which he purchased with his own blood. I know that after me, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. And from among your own selves, men will rise, speaking perverse things and draw away disciples after them. Therefore, be on the alert. And then he says this, remembering that night and day for a period of three years, I did not cease to admonish each one of you. What's admonition? I took specks out of your eyes.
For three years, I did not cease from it. But here's the difference between what Jesus is warning about and what we should be. Notice the last two words of the verse with tears.
When Paul admonished a believer in Ephesus, he cried. You see, he is admonishing out of love, not a critical spirit at all. It's love. It's always comes down to that.
It's just love. It's the way that Paul sees them, the way that this operates. He admonishes with tears. It reveals his heart. If you admonish people or you're very critical people and they're no tears, I can tell you that's probably not of the spirit of God. That's of your own flesh and your motive isn't love. Your motive is often to feel better about yourself. Because if I said keep pointing out what everybody else is doing wrong, I can feel better about me.
I'm not as bad as them. Paul didn't take that at all. Grace has no conditions. It's undeserved, unearned and unearnable favor of God.
Motivated by love. Turn with me to Romans five for a moment. Romans Chapter five in verse six. Romans five and verse six. Verse six says, For while we were still helpless at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. There's the two definitions he gives of us.
Helpless, can't do anything to save ourselves, and ungodly. And that's when Christ died. He said, For one will hardly die for a righteous man, though perhaps for a good man someone would dare even to die. He said, But God demonstrates his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Wow, that's grace.
I never thought about that until this week. When Paul wrote this, there's something different in his experience than yours and mine. He was sinning when Jesus was dying. He was actually sinning when Jesus was dying. And, more than likely, he's very much applauding the fact that Jesus is dying. He's happy that Jesus is dying. He wanted Jesus to die. He's a Pharisee of Pharisees. And he said, While I was sinning, while I was doing that, he died for me.
While I was doing that. How undeserved is that? You see, how unearned or unearnable was that? He said, That's when he died for me. Why? Because he loved me. Motivated by love, grace bears the pain to reconcile the sinner. Grace will bear the pain.
Back to Matthew. Just want to make some comments now about if you have a critical spirit. Some things I'd like to remind you of in these verses.
The first one is this. I said it before, a critical spirit is wrong because it usurps the divine prerogative of judgment. And it invites being judged. James said, There's only one law giver and judge the one who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge? He says your neighbor. Paul wrote to the Romans and said, Who are you to judge the servant of another to his own master?
He stands or falls. Judging is a divine prerogative. It's not yours.
It's not mine. Secondly, a critical spirit is wrong because it always comes out of impure motives. It's not motivated by love. You see, it's motivated by some bad form of self-righteousness. It's the wrong way to judge.
It's not out of love. Let me just read one passage to you. Go with me now to 1 Corinthians 13. I want to read you the marriage passage. It never was written for marriage, but it's basically in every wedding.
It's the only thing Christians know about this verse is about the wedding. We're going to say this at the wedding. Now, I'm not against saying it wedding.
I say it at the wedding myself. But it's not about the wedding. This is about love.
This is about the grace of God. This is about love. This is about a copy, the willful choice to love.
Notice what he says about it. Verse four. Love is patient. Love is kind. It's not jealous. Love does not brag. It's not arrogant. Love does not act unbecomingly. Love does not seek its own. It is not provoked.
Next one. It does not take into an account a wrong suffered. Wow, you ever do that? You ever take into account a wrong suffered? He said that's not love. That's not biblical love. He said love does not rejoice in unrighteousness.
It rejoices in the truth. He said love bears all things. Love believes all things. Love hopes all things. Love endures all things. He said love never fails. You could say grace never fails.
You see, the motivation that we should have to live out our lives on the horizontal plane is love. I'm not so sure we do. I'm amazed at how many Christians are upset and angry because people out there are sinning. And it just makes me mad.
What do you expect them to do? You know what the Bible calls them? Sinners.
What do you think a sinner does? It just makes me mad. What should make you mad is your sin.
Mine. That's what should make us mad. Not what they're doing. They should hear words of grace from us. Not the words of criticism and judgment. That's what Jesus is talking about.
Critical spirit is wrong because it focuses our attention outwardly on others rather than inwardly on ourselves. You've got to take the plank out of your eye. You've got to. That's what you should be.
You should be so consumed with removal. And by the way, if I really had this plank in my eye, do you think it would consume me? You'd say, hey, Bill, you have a plank in your eye. It doesn't bother me at all. No, you know what I mean.
He says, well, why wouldn't this be your priority? No, I think I see a speck in yours. I'm going to go after that. You see, it's an absurd illustration, but it works.
Critical spirit is wrong also because we always have only limited knowledge. That's why I used that story in the beginning. You see, what if you were best friends or he was your brother-in-law? The man with the tattered clothes and only had a dollar in his pocket and he paid a dollar for a plaster of Paris Turkey. How would you judge the young man who sold him that? Be honest. How would you judge him? That rat.
Right? You don't know anything. You see, only God knows everything.
You and I have limited knowledge to draw any kind of judgments. And a critical spirit is wrong because Jesus said when you have it, you're a hypocrite. Wow, it's a terrible word, isn't it? Jesus calling us hypocrites, just like he called the scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrite. Why is he calling me a hypocrite?
Tell you why. I gladly received the grace of God, but I don't want to bestow the grace of God. He said, you hypocrite. That's why it's wrong. The reason for this mourning is shouldn't we be known as people of grace? Shouldn't that be what everyone thinks about us? No one does because we don't bestow grace on anyone.
We criticize everybody. We never get the plank out of our own eye. We're commanded to show grace. And please, don't say after the sermon, you know, I think I'm going to work harder than this. I'll still think the same thoughts, but I won't talk about it as much.
Save yourself. You see, that would tell you you still have a lot of plank work to do, a lot of log work to do. That's what you should be consumed about. Because the point is when you see other people the way Jesus sees other people, you see them as the mission field. You see them as those who need the grace of God.
You see them as a spiritual opportunity no matter what it is they're doing. God extended grace to me and to you in spite of me and in spite of you. Not because of you, but in spite of you. Graceless religion can't bestow grace on anyone because it can't get the plank or the log out of its own eye. It can't.
It can't see it. But you and I are the recipients of grace. It should make a difference to us. Grace stoops the first week. Grace seeks and grace saves the second week. And now grace should be spread by us. It should be spread by us. John wrote that when Jesus came to earth, he was full of grace and truth.
What are you full of? We're spread. Father, these words of Jesus are so vivid. The analogy is so profound, but he says it for shock value because he understands the human heart. We gladly receive the grace of God and we sing about it and we're thankful for it, but we're not likely to bestow it on others, especially certain kinds of people. Father, may we learn this lesson over and over again that you use us in this world to be light and to be salt, to be those who forgive, to those who bestow grace, to those who offer people hope, not people who become their judges and their critics. Father, I pray that you would touch our hearts in such a way that we would decide to live differently, to live for your glory and for our good.
In Christ's name, Amen. You've been listening to Pastor Bill Gebhardt on the Radio Ministry of Fellowship in the Word. If you ever miss one of our broadcasts or maybe you would just like to listen to the message one more time, remember that you can go to a great website called oneplace.com. That's oneplace.com and you can listen to Fellowship in the Word online.
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That's fbcnola.org. At our website, you will find hundreds of Pastor Bill's sermons. You can browse through our sermon archives to find the sermon series you are looking for or you can search by title. Once you find the message you are looking for, you can listen online. Or if you prefer, you can download the sermon and listen at your own convenience. And remember, you can do all of this absolutely free of charge. Once again, our website is fbcnola.org. For Pastor Bill Gebhardt, I'm Jason Gebhardt thanking you for listening to Fellowship in the Word.
