Adrian Rogers was a motivator, an encourager, and a leader of the faith. He was also passionate about presenting scriptural application to everyday life circumstances. And you'll hear that in today's message.
Now, let's join Adrian Rogers. The new religion in America is tolerance. Tolerance. It used to be That the best known verse was John 3.16. But no longer.
The verse that people will quote to you almost more than any other verse is Matthew 7:1. Judge not. That you be not judged. And today The only sin in America is to call sin Sin. I'm going to be speaking today on this subject, tolerance.
The good. The bad. and the ugly.
Now tolerance as we learned it. as we grew up with it, is a good word. I'll call it the old. Let me tell you what Webster said that tolerance was. And what tolerance is.
Webster said. to recognize and respect others' beliefs. practices, etcetera, without sharing them. and to bear or put up with someone or something. Not especially liked.
That's what tolerance is, and that's a good virtue. The children were studying the Ten Commandments. They said, now ply these, boys and girls. uh to living at home. What commandment would apply to living with brothers and sisters.
The little boy lifted his hand and said, Thou shalt not kill. Things at home we have to tolerate. We don't always like them. They're things at work we have to tolerate. There are many things in society that we do not approve of, believe in, but we tolerate.
than many other kinds of beliefs. that we do not share. But we tolerate And we ought to tolerate. That is good tolerance. But there is a different kind of tolerance that's come today that has become.
The new religion in America. And it does not simply mean that we put up with. We bear or we forbear. It is an uncritical tolerance. that accepts all truth.
as equal. That is, you cannot say today This is right. And that is wrong. If you do that. You.
are intolerant. And to be intolerant is the great sin in America today.
Now obviously. We should respect all people. And if we disagree with them, we should live with them as much as possible, peaceably. We must hold true to our faith. I would not force my faith on anybody if I could, and I couldn't if I would.
I believe in absolute, total freedom to choose in religious things. But there is an uncritical tolerance that our boys and girls are being taught in school, and you need to understand this. There's uncritical tolerance. Listen. that accepts all truths.
As equal. There used to be a time when you preached and You would preach on the announcement of the Word of God or the virgin birth or the bodily resurrection.
Someone would say, I don't agree with that. And you could argue. And you could discuss. and you could philosophize. And you could take the Word of God and other sources and go back and forth.
Trying to determine What is true? And what is not true? But that's not so today. If you tell somebody today, I believe in the virgin birth. I believe in the absolute sinless deity of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I believe in his vicarious death upon the cross. Today, with a new tolerance, You would not be argued with. They would say that's wonderful. That's your truth.
Now let me tell you my truth. And when you get down to it, there is no fixed standard for anybody's truth. All truths today are considered equal.
Now, The old tolerance says that people have a right to their opinions. The new tolerance says Oh Opinions All right. And so if you say Jesus Christ is the only way. You're in trouble. If you say that there is a fixed standard of right And wrong.
Then today you're going to be looked down as an ogre. Our senior and intolerant. The new tolerance says we're not merely to allow, listen. We're not merely to allow We are to endorse all truths as morally equivalent. The new tolerance doesn't say we're to forbear.
The New Talent says we are to prove. And therefore, your children, our children, are being put into classes today, and I'm not exaggerating. Sensitivity classes. Where they're taught that sexual preference, one sexual preference, As over against another sexual preference, It's just a matter. of equality and we'd approve all sexual preference.
One form of marriage As over against another so-called form of marriage, for example, two people of the same sex. All of these things are to be looked upon as morally equivalent. And we're taught now to accept. Under the guise of tolerance These things.
Now let's look at the Word of God. Matthew chapter 7, verse 1. I told you that Matthew... Chapter 7, verse 1 is perhaps the most quoted verse today. And if you were to say this is right or this is wrong, Someone would say, uh-uh-at.
Jesus said. Thou shalt not judge.
Well, let's read it. Read it in context. Judge not. That ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged.
And with what measure ye meet? It shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the moat that is in thy brother's eye, and considereth not the beam. That is in thine own eye. Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the moat out of thine eye.
And the moat here means like a speck of sawdust And behold, a beam that is a log. is in thine own eye, thou hypocrite. First, cast out the beam out of thine own eye, and then thou shalt see clearly. to cast the moat. Out of thy brother's eye.
Give not that which is holy unto the dogs. Neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet. and turn again and rend you. The three words I want you to keep in your heart and in your mind as we Study the Word of God this morning. The first word is the word discriminate.
The second is the word Tolerate. And the last word. is the word to examine.
So These three words. Discrimination. Toleration. Examination. are the backbone.
the spine of what I want to say today. As I talk to you about tolerance, the good. The bad. and the ugly.
Now there should be number one There should be a time of discrimination.
Now discrimination has become an ugly word. But it's not always ugly. If you don't teach your children to discriminate, You have failed as a father or a mother. To discriminate means to see what is good. and to see what is bad.
So discrimination is simply evaluation. Elimination. Appropriation. I evaluate. This is good and this is bad.
I eliminate. I turn from that which is bad. I appropriate. I choose that. Which is good.
Now people say that Jesus said We're not to judge. May I tell you frankly, clearly, plainly, that is not so. Jesus taught us. to judge. Let me give you some scripture now.
where Jesus very clearly and very plainly teaches us. Uh to judge. John chapter 7. And verse 24. Judge not according to the appearance.
But judge Righteous. Judgment. Don't tell me that Jesus said not to judge. He says Judge. Righteous.
Judgment. And then in Matthew chapter 7, this same chapter again, verses 15 and following. Beware of false prophets. which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits.
Do men gather grapes? Our thorns, our figs, are thistles. What's he saying? You can't gather grapes. from thorns and figs from thistles.
You just can't do that.
Now what he is saying is you have to learn that there is a difference. between right and wrong. In the same context, Where our Lord says Judge not that you be not judged. He said, Don't Give that which is holy to dogs. Don't Cast your pearls.
before swine.
Sounds to me like you have to discriminate to find out where the dogs and the hogs are. Who they are. What they are. The Bible clearly and plainly teaches discrimination. Let me give you some verses outside of the context.
1 Corinthians 2 verse 15. He that is spiritual judgeth Oh Things. Are you spiritual? Then you're going to learn to judge. Oh.
Things The word here, judge, comes from the word crino. And it has a number of different meanings. It can mean to separate. It can mean to choose. It can mean to select.
It can mean to determine It can mean to condemn. And the meaning must be determined by the context. And so when the Bible says he that is spiritual judges all things. The word here is he discerns. He understands.
He sees through. He makes an evaluation. He makes a discrimination. He judges all things. 1 John 4, again, the same idea beloved believe not every spirit But try the spirits.
Test the spirits. whether they are of God. Don't go around with pudding between your ears saying, Well, I'm not going to say anything is right or anything is wrong because Jesus said not to judge. To the contrary. Jesus said, Judge Righteous.
Judgment. He that is spiritual judgeth. all things.
Now, you see There's a difference between your personal evaluation of things And the word of God. For example, if I were to say From myself to Kim. There is 15 feet. Right now. That'd be about right, but it wouldn't be exact.
But if I were to take a tape measure, and measure from here to there. and says 15 feet and 6 inches. Then that's not an evaluation and a judgment. that it comes out of my own heart and mind, that is a measurement.
Now, there are certain things that are right, and there are certain things that are wrong.
Now, listen to me very carefully. I know they're right and wrong because of God's yardstick, the Bible. It's not my own opinion. Listen to me. Adultery is wrong.
Because God says so. Fornication is wrong. Because God said so.
Sodomy is wrong. Because God says so. Stealing is wrong because God says so. Lying is wrong because God says so. Drunkenness is wrong.
Because God said so.
We have God's Ten Commandments. These are measurements. Today Our world hates moral absolutes. Our world hates for anybody to say, this is right and this is wrong. And if you confront society with the kind of preaching I'm doing today.
People will call me. And believe it or not, they do, bigoted. Can you imagine that? Sweet as I am. Bigotive.
Merrim! Prejudicial. Arrogant. Self-centered. Never mind it.
It's what we'd be called. I'm telling you, ladies and gentlemen, we need to teach our boys and girls. There is a right and there is a wrong.
Now some people call that kind of talk unloving. But contrary To fail. to lift up your voice like a trumpet. And show my people their sin is unloving. Put in your margin Leviticus 19, verse 17.
Listen. Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart. Rebuke thy neighbor. and not suffer sin upon him.
Now what's he saying? He's saying that to rebuke sin. is loving. To fail to rebuke sin. is hate.
Love says. that we must speak clearly. The preacher who loves. is not the preacher who glosses over sin. The preacher who loves.
is one who speaks clearly.
So the first point is simply this. There is a time.
Well we have a discrimination. That is, we look at life. And we discriminate according to the word of God. This is right. And this is wrong.
We make that discrimination. And after that discrimination, Then there's an appropriation, we choose that which is right, there is an elimination, we refuse that which is wrong.
Now here, let's shift gears. And not only is there time for Uh discrimination. But there is a time for toleration. I'm talking about good old-fashioned Toleration.
Now, when our Lord here says, judge not, that you be not judged. He's talking about a person being intolerant. of faults in other people. He's not saying that we deny faults in other people. As a matter of fact, he said, once we get the log out of our own eye, we'll see more clearly how to get the speck out of our brother's eye.
He's not saying there's no speck. He's not saying it doesn't need to be taken away. But what he is saying is You are forbidden. You are forbidden to exercise unmerciful Self-righteous condemnation of another person. Hypocritical judgment.
Especially when you yourself are guilty of doing the same thing. Let me give you another verse that I think is a good commentary on Matthew 7, verse 1, also from the Gospels, Luke chapter 6. Verses 36 and 37. Be ye therefore merciful. as your Father also is merciful.
Judge not. And you shall not be judged. Condemn not. and ye shall not be condemned. Forgive.
And you should be forgiven.
Now this is simply an extrapolation of Matthew 7 verse 1. What he's saying is If I have some problems... Notice the if. I do. I've got some big ones.
I need your mercy. I need your help. I need your forgiveness. I need your love. I need your support.
I don't need your judgment. I don't need your condemnation. That doesn't mean I expect you to say, oh, whatever you're doing is all right, if what I'm doing is not all right. If it is sin, You need to lovingly rebuke me, but you have no right to judge me. Number one, because you haven't got what it takes to judge me.
I don't have what it takes to judge you. Even the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment. to the sun. When you judge other people, without mercy. Not whether or not what they're doing is right or wrong.
But when you judge them in a condemning way. in an unmerciful way. What you're doing is usurping The rights and the prerogatives of the Lord Jesus Christ. And what you're also doing is, you are acting like. The devil.
The Bible tells us that it is the devil who is the accuser. of the brethren. Don't go around. judging other people. condemning other people, examining their motive.
There is no one big enough, no one just enough, no one loving enough to judge us but God Himself. and surely the judge of all heaven and earth. will do right.
Now why is it? that we tend to have this Merciless judgment. Why is it that we tend to be intolerable when we ought to tolerate. other people lovingly.
Well, one of the reasons, very frankly, is The sin that's in our own hearts and in our lives. That's what Jesus Christ is talking about here. He said, You're looking. for a speck of sawdust. in your brother's eye, and you've got a saw log in your own eye.
You are a hypocrite. Why do we see fault in other people? It's a form of projection many times. Because of the sin that's in our own lives. We hope somehow to make ourselves better by condemning somebody else.
that if we pull them down, we've pulled ourselves up just a little bit. And therefore A person to see a speck of dust. In somebody's eye. has to be looking pretty close, wouldn't you agree? Especially if he's got a saw log.
in his own eye. What he is seeing is what he is looking for. hoping to find It's amazing what people Fine. You will get what you look for. You remember the little nursery rhyme, pussycat, pussycat, where have you been?
I've been to London to see the Queen. Pussycat, pussycat, what saw you there? I spied a little mouse under her chair. Here's Westminster Abbey with the sainted dead and the spires and the glorious accoutrements of that. place and there's The Queen of England.
In all of her royalty. And the cab. Sees a mouse. Because that's what they're looking for. If you wanted somebody to give you a view of the landscape and report back.
Say fly over. the fruited plain and come back. Don't send a buzzer. Because a buzzard Would come back, and his report would not be on the fluffy clouds and the green meadows and the sparkling brooks and the magnificent snow-capped mountains. He would come back and he would report and this is what he would say.
I saw a dead cow with maggots in it. That's what a buzzer's looking for. You see, there are people who are just simply looking for a speck in somebody else's eye because they have a log. in their own eye. And we need to examine ourselves.
That's the reason. Uh the Lord uh tells us so much. that we're to be merciful. Because we are the ones That need mercy. They tell a story of grandmother who was always going around dusting, dusting, dusting everything.
She saw that everything had dust. Finally, Somebody said, grandma, give me your glasses and looked at them. They were covered with dust. And so that's what happens. Uh sometimes another reason that we uh are so judgmental is because of our own insecurity.
And we think somehow if we pull somebody else down, We can make ourselves better if we can just make them conform to our opinion of what they ought to be. and make them like us. Then somehow we feel that we are All right. Procrustes. was an ancient Chieftain.
in mythology. And what Procrustes would do is, he would capture those who invaded his kingdom. And would bring them into his Cave. And there in his cave he had an iron bedstead. And according to mythology, Procrustes would put his captors on that Iron bed.
Now, if they did not fit the bed exactly, if they were too short, He would put them on the rack and stretch them. until they would fit the bed. If they were too long. He would cut part of them off. until they would fit the bed.
Well, Procrustes' bed is still with us today. We have those who measure other people by themselves, and the reason for that is. Our own insecurity, not only our iniquity and our insecurity, but I'll tell you another reason. that we failed to love people. and be merciful to people.
And it is because of our ignorance. We judge people when we Don't know enough to judge them. We don't know their hearts. We don't know their problems. We don't know the background.
We don't know their temptations. We don't have all the facts.
Some years ago I told you a story that's worth repeating right now of a woman. who was waiting for an airplane.
So she went to the Little concession stand then bought a bag full of cookies. and sat down in the waiting room. And another man sat down beside her. The cookies were between the two of them. Unopen.
This man reached over and opened the cookies. and took one out and began to eat it. She thought, what unmitigated gall and nerve. That he would do that. And so she just reached in and got one and ate it.
herself. M gave him a dirty look. He just smiled. reached in and got another. They traded back and forth till there was one cookie left in the bottom.
And with a smile he broke it in half. I took one half and left her the other half. She thought as she got on the airplane, I've never seen a person as arrogant as that man was. But when she opened her purse, there was her bag of cookies unopened. You see, look.
Sometimes we judge other people because of our sheer ignorance. Male Speaker 2. Romans chapter 14 verse 4 says, Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? To his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holding up, for God is able to make him Stan.
Another reason. That we unmercifully judge other people and fail to tolerate them is because we are insensitive. We just don't love as we are. Jesus did not come. To condemn?
He came to save. The Son of Man has come to seek and to save. that which is lost. John chapter 3 verse 17, for God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world. But that the world through him might be saved.
You see. When you judge other people. That's not what they need. They don't need for you to point your finger at them and tell them what they're doing wrong. When Jesus saw Zacchaeus up in that tree.
You remember the story of Zacchaeus climbed a tree, he was a little tax collector? Short of stature. climbed up in a sycamore tree down at Jericho so he could see Jesus pass by. What did Jesus do? Jesus did not point his finger up in that tree and say, Zacchaeus.
You black-hearted son of the devil. You thieving, conniving, dishonest tax collector. Get down out of that tree. I've got a thing or two I want to tell you about your sin. And Jesus said lovingly, Zacchaeus.
Come down. I want to go to your house with you. I want to eat with you. I want to have fellowship. With you.
Now friend, I want to tell you very clearly. If you have a judgmental spirit, you are living dangerously. Put this verse down, James 2 verse 13. for he shall have judgment without mercy. that showed no mercy.
And mercy rejoiceth against Judgment. Put this verse down, Matthew chapter 6 verse 15. For if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither shall your Father forgive you your trespasses.
So you need to get out of the FBI, the Fundamentalist Bureau of Investigation. Get off the Sin Seeker Committee. And show mercy. They're people in this city who are hurting. in the church and out of the church.
They don't need your condemnation. They need your mercy.
Now last of all. There is a time.
for discrimination. There is a fixed standard. between right and wrong. Don't let that be blurred. There is also a time for toleration.
It is not to deny that there is right. It is not to deny that there is wrong. But it is to say I myself am a sinner. And I know you are. But I love you.
Let me help you. Let me help get this speck out of your eye. The Bible doesn't say we're not to get it out. To the contrary, we are to help get it out. But not with a log.
in our own eye.
Now the third thing, and very quickly. There's a time for examination. Examine yourself. That's what our Lord is teaching us here. In Matthew chapter 7.
Look in verse 3. And why beholdest thou the moat that is in thy brother's eye? But considerest not. The beam. That is in thine own eye.
Examine. Get your heart right with God. The person that you need to be the hardest on is you. The person that you need to be the most merciful to is me. And the person sitting next to you.
and the people in your family. But consider Is there a log in your eye today? Is this sin unconfessed, unrepented of, be done with it?
Now I'm light years from perfection. But there's no sin that I harbor. I would be a sheer unmitigated fool to stand up here and try to preach. with a heart that's not clean. And not pure.
But daily I examine my heart, my life. Mass the Lord. To help me to examine. Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my ways, and see if there be some wicked way in me.
And lead me. in the way. Everlasting.
Now I want to tell you some good news. I'm finished with The body of the sermon. But the Bible says, judge not that you be not judged. Let me talk to you a little bit about judgment. Our judgment.
was taken by the Lord Jesus Christ. On the cross. at Calvary. Therefore, you and I do not need To endure judgment. Because Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
In agony and blood. Died for us. And therefore Romans 8.1, there is therefore now no condemnation. No judgment to those. who are in Christ Jesus.
Father God, Help me today to examine my own heart. Don't let me, dear Lord, be a hypocrite. Preaching to others, trying to get sawdust from their eye when there's a log in mind. Help us, dear Lord. to know how to discriminate between right and wrong and teach our children.
Help us, dear Lord, to know how to tolerate. Those who are not perfect. as we're not perfect. But to show love to them, Lord. And to help them.
and to gently remove the speck that may be in their eye. And Heavenly Father, Help us all. to see ourselves as we really are. If there may be indeed.
Some sin in our own lives that needs to be dealt with. The most important thing is not to be a church member, not to be a nice person. not to be religious. The most important thing is to have a personal relationship with God. Through the Lord Jesus Christ.
To have your sins forgiven. put under the blood of Christ. To have the Holy Spirit in your life to give you comfort and peace and joy. and to know that when you die. You're going straight to heaven.
Now, all of this is in the Lord Jesus Christ. When you receive Him by faith as your Lord and Savior, the Bible calls that condition that I described as being saved. Being saved, and the Bible says, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.
So let me help you to believe on him right now. I didn't say believe about him. Facts about Jesus don't save anyone. To believe on him. You can believe an airplane can fly, but you don't believe on it until you get on it.
You don't really trust it. Trigger on it. May I lead you in a prayer? And pray silently and fervently, something like this: Lord Jesus. I need you.
And I want you. I believe you're the Son of God. I believe you paid for all of my sins on the cross. Thank you for such suffering. Thank you for doing that for me.
I believe that you were raised from the dead. I believe you can save me and will save me if I trust you. And I do. Right now, at this moment, right now. I receive you into my life.
as my Lord and Savior. Forgive my sin. Cleanse me? Save me. And begin now to make me the person you want me to be.
I belong to you and you belong to me. I love you, Jesus. And give me the courage to make this public. In your name I pray. Amen.
If you would like to learn more about how you can know Jesus or deepen your relationship with him, simply click the Discover Jesus link on our website, lwf.org. For a copy of this message or additional resources, visit our online store at lwf.org. or call 1-800-274-5683. Thank you.
