Careful Now Series

HE WAS A GODLY MAN. EVEN HIS CRITICS ACKNOWLEDGE THAT, THEY MAY HAVE DISAGREED WITH HIS TECHNIQUES AND THOUGHT HE WAS A LITTLE FLASHY BUT HE WAS DEFINITELY A MAN OF GOD. HIS MESSAGE FROM GOD WAS ONE OF NO COMPROMISE, AND HIS MORAL STANDARDS WERE THE HIGHEST AROUND. AND NOT ONLY DID HE UPHOLD THE VERY HIGHEST STANDARDS BUT

HE EXPECTED THAT FROM EVERYONE ELSE AS WELL. FEW PREACHERS HAVE MATCHED HIM FOR HIS CONDEMNATION OF SIN, HIS OUTRIGHT REJECTION OF IMMORALITY. HE CALLED A SPADE A SPADE AND DIDN’T SHIRK THE DIFFICULT DUTIES THAT CAME HIS WAY. AND HIS MUSIC, WOW IF ANYTHING THAT WAS THE THING THAT MADE HIS MINISTRY DIFFERENT THEN ALL THE OTHERS, MUSIC THAT ONLY GOD COULD GIVE, EVEN THOSE WHO SAW DIFFERENTLY

THEN HIM ON OTHER THINGS LOVED HIS MUSIC. HE PRACTICALLY BECAME A HOUSEHOLD NAME. HIS SUPPORTERS WERE ALMOST FANATICAL IN THEIR LOYALTY WHILE HIS ENEMIES WERE EQUALLY DOGMATIC WHEN THEY SPOKE AGAINST HIM.

AS A MAN YOU EITHER LOVED HIM OR HATED HIM THERE DIDN’T SEEM TO BE MUCH MIDDLE GROUND. AND THEN IT HAPPENED. WELL YOU ALL KNOW THE STORY DON’T YOU, BUT HAVE YOU EVER ASKED YOURSELF HOW IN THE WORLD COULD IT HAPPEN TO HIM. HE TOOK SUCH A STRONG STAND AGAINST SIN. ADULTERY, WHO WOULD HAVE BELIEVED THAT HE WAS CAPABLE OF ADULTERY, AND THE WORSE PART WAS, THAT ALL THE TIME HE WAS IN SIN HE JUST CARRIED ON AS IF EVERYTHING WAS ALRIGHT. HE NEVER EVEN ACKNOWLEDGED THAT WHAT HE WAS DOING MIGHT BE WRONG. IT WASN’T UNTIL ANOTHER MAN OF GOD CONFRONTED HIM THAT HE SEEMED TO OPEN HIS EYES TO WHAT WAS HAPPENING. HIS TEARFUL PLEAS FOR FORGIVENESS ARE

PROBABLY AS WELL KNOWN AS HIS SIN.

WHAT WAS YOUR REACTION WHEN YOU HEARD, HOW HARSHLY DID YOU JUDGE HIM, DID YOUR OPINION OF HIM CHANGE, DID YOU THINK LESS OF HIM WHEN YOU HEARD THE STORY, BECAUSE YOU ALL HEARD THE STORIES. I MEAN

EVERYONE IN THE CHURCH, REGARDLESS OF DENOMINATION KNOWS THE STORY AND A LOT OF PEOPLE OUTSIDE THE CHURCH AS WELL.

EVEN THE WOMAN HE WAS CAUGHT WITH BECAME KNOWN, SHE WAS A NOBODY AND YET MOST EVERYONE CAN NAME HER NOW. HOW HARSHLY

DID YOU JUDGE HIM, OR DID YOU JUST FEEL DISAPPOINTED AND LET DOWN. DID YOU CRITICIZE HIM AND CALL HIM A HYPOCRITE OR DID YOU DEFEND HIM AS BEING A MAN WHO MADE A MISTAKE.

I DON’T KNOW WHAT YOUR REACTION WAS, BUT I DO KNOW THAT JESUS SAID IN MATTHEW 7:1-6 DO NOT JUDGE, OR YOU TOO WILL BE JUDGED. FOR IN THE SAME WAY YOU JUDGE OTHERS, YOU WILL BE JUDGED, AND WITH THE MEASURE YOU USE, IT WILL BE MEASURED TO YOU. WHY DO YOU LOOK AT THE SPECK OF SAWDUST IN YOUR BROTHER’S EYE AND PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE PLANK IN YOUR OWN EYE? HOW CAN YOU SAY TO YOUR BROTHER, LET ME TAKE THE SPEAK OUT OF YOUR EYE, WHEN ALL THE TIME THERE IS A

PLANK IN YOUR EYE? YOU HYPOCRITE, FIRST TAKE THE PLANK OUT OF YOUR OWN EYE, AND THEN YOU WILL SEE CLEARLY TO REMOVE THE SPECK FROM YOUR BROTHER’S EYE. DO NOT GIVE DOGS WHAT IS SACRED; DO NOT THROW

YOUR PEARLS TO PIGS. IF YOU DO, THEY MAY TRAMPLE THEM UNDER THEIR FEET, AND THEN TURN AND TEAR YOU TO PIECES.

NOT THE EASIEST PORTION OF SCRIPTURE IN THE WORLD TO FIGURE OUT IS IT? I MEAN HE SPENDS FIVE VERSES TELLING US NOT TO JUDGE AND THEN IN THE SIXTH VERSE HE TELLS US NOT TO THROW OUR PEARLS TO PIGS, OR TO GIVE DOGS THE THINGS THAT ARE SACRED. WELL WHOSE GOING TO DETERMINE WHO THE PIGS AND DOGS ARE IF WE DON’T JUDGE. WELL IN MOST CASES I THINK THAT IT’S FAIRLY OBVIOUS, AND CHRIST DOES TELL US THAT WE NEED TO PAY CAREFUL ATTENTION TO THE FRUIT THAT A CHRISTIAN BEARS. AND I KNOW THE OLD ARGUMENT, "BROTHER I’M NOT A JUDGE, I’M JUST A FRUIT INSPECTOR."

WELL I GOT A FEELING THAT A GOOD DEAL OF WHAT CHRIST IS TALKING ABOUT HERE HAS TO DO WITH ATTITUDE. NOT WHAT WE DO, NEARLY AS MUCH AS HOW WE DO IT. WHEN YOU LOOK AT A PERSON AND HIS LIFE WHAT DO YOU FEEL, CAN YOU IN FACT SEPARATE THE SIN FROM THE SINNER? THAT’S WHAT’S REQUIRED.

THE EARLY CHURCH USED VS.6 TO DETERMINE WHO SHOULD AND WHO SHOULDN’T PARTAKE IN COMMUNION. AND THEY HAD A VERY STRONG

STAND, THEY FELT THAT THE LORD’S SUPPER WAS THE MOST SACRED SACRAMENT IN THE CHURCH, AND THERE WAS NO WAY THAT THEY

WERE GOING TO OPEN IT TO JUST ANYONE.

THERE’S A LOT TO BE SAID FOR THAT, I THINK WE NEED TO MAKE IT CLEAR THAT COMMUNION IS NOT FOR THE UNSAVED, AND IT’S NOT FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE OUT OF FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD, NICE WAY OF SAYING PEOPLE IN A BACKSLIDEN STATE. BUT WHILE I THINK I HAVE AN OBLIGATION TO MAKE IT CLEAR WHO SHOULD OR SHOULD NOT PARTAKE OF COMMUNION THEY HAVE