Pearl Haters - Matthew 7:6 Series

That comes from a lack of humility. It has been so long since you have removed a log from your own eye that you are insensitive to the struggle. When you are stuck in a sin what you need is not a lecture of Bible verses telling you how sinful it is; you already know it is sinful. What you need is wisdom from Scripture about how to overcome it. And a counselor who has not had an excruciating, life and death struggle in their own lives against some sin in recent memory will tend to over-simply the issue and his advice will be decidedly shallow and unhelpful. And if you do not want to be one of those people who gives worthless, shallow, unhelpful “remedies,” the best way to avoid being that type of counselor is to have gone through some massive wrestling match with sin in your own life where you learned firsthand that those simplistic, shallow solutions do not work.

When I first started out as a preacher I had all kinds of easy solutions to people’s problems. They looked great on paper, and they sounded brilliant coming out of my mouth. And everyone in the room thought it was a great sermon – except for the people who were actually struggling with that problem who knew that what I was saying was no help at all. But now, after a couple decades of fighting this war and being on the losing end of attacks from the enemy many times, I have learned that the struggles of the Christian life are not as simple and easy as I thought when I was younger.

The most helpful comrades in this war are those who have some first-hand experience of being taken prisoner for a while by the enemy and then escaping. They are the ones who realize how serious and how hard this war really is. And you see that in Scripture. Who does God tend to use to help sinners? He uses men like David after his fall and his agonizing repentance. When David repented, this is what he wrote:

Psalms 51:1 Have mercy on me, O God, … blot out my transgressions. … 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation … 13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you.

“God, have mercy on me, forgive me, and when You do I will help restore other sinners to You.” And that is exactly what David did. He wrote about it in Psalm 32. That psalm starts out with David rejoicing over having been forgiven for his sin.

Psalm 32:6 Therefore let everyone who is godly pray to you while you may be found … 8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.

David became an excellent counselor. He knew how to restore a sinner to the Lord because he had walked that path. Same thing with Peter. We all know that horrible image of Peter going out into the night and weeping bitterly after his fall. Jesus had warned Peter that Satan was going to come after him big time.

Luke 22:31 "Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. 32 … when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers."

The Devil is going to work you over, Peter, and you will fall. But when you repent and are restored – strengthen your brothers. And when Jesus restored him in John 21 He tells him three times: Feed My sheep. The best shepherds are the ones who have recovered after a serious wolf attack. How about Paul? Other than Christ Himself no human being has helped more people in the fight against sin than the Apostle Paul. Why did Jesus choose Paul?