Who Are You To Judge Me？ — Shane Idleman

Distinguishing Biblical Teaching from Popular Misconceptions

Doesn't say that. The Bible doesn't say that. And I don't know if you've came across over the years that you've been a Christian or the months maybe where you wonder, is that really in the Bible? Does God help those who help themselves?

Were there really three wise men in the Bible? Did you know there weren't? What? We don't know how many wise men there were, but I'm not against three wise men. There's Frankincense and myrrh and gold and the gifts.

We also, I'm assuming you know he wasn't born on December 25th, Christmas. Okay. So there's a lot of things that aren't necessarily in the Bible, but I'm not going to talk about those issues. The title this morning is, Who are you to judge me?

Biblical Illiteracy and the Misuse of “Judge Not”

Who are you to judge me? Now, unless you've lived on another planet for the last few years, you realize that this is the popular statement these days. This is how Hollywood and Washington get out of a conviction.

Who are you to judge me? I remember a famous athlete, pro basketball player who's considering running for public office, and they mentioned the big issues of the day and whatever, abortion, gay marriage, and different things.

And he said, doesn't the Bible say, judge not? Who are you to tell people what they can and cannot do? Isn't that a good point? Because the Bible says, judge not. Who are you to judge? So we're going to talk about a lot of those issues in this series.

Does the Bible really say this? And here is the problem up front. I'll tell you, biblical illiteracy. Biblical illiteracy. Most Americans, even those claiming to be Christians, really don't know what the Bible says.

They might have glanced through it. They might hear a sermon now and then. They might have a little daily devotional that has one little scripture and proverbs. And if you're not careful, you can take things out of context.

And even the best of us are guilty of picking and choosing certain scriptures. Like, oh, I like this, like a menu. You're going through a buffet, remember those? They still have those around? You know, I'll take this, I'll take this.

I don't like this. And if we're not careful, we can go through the Bible like that. I don't like this, but I'd really like this. And abusive husbands will say, well, I like this scripture. Submit it to your wives.

Well, that's out of context. And then others will use it for this. And biblical illiteracy is pretty rampant right now, especially in the church. I remember I just heard a story about a pastor who went to a couple's house for dinner, and she set out the nice silverware, the expensive silverware, actually real silver in the spoon.

And after he left, she noticed that the spoon was gone. He took the spoon. And this really bothered her. So for many months, many months, she was praying, and Lord, I don't know what to do. Months went by, I think almost a year went by, and she finally had the courage to say, did you take my spoon?

And he said, I did, I put it in your Bible. Funny, but not funny. And one of the difficulties with pastoring is you tell people, you know, you got to read the Bible, got to read the Bible. We all know that.

But you need to actually go a little deeper, make it a spiritual discipline. We'll go to the gym, we'll do things we don't, you know, feel like sometimes the flesh, but you have to make it a daily discipline so it actually becomes part of your life.

It becomes part of your morning or evening. It becomes part of something you look forward to. You start to spend time with God. Maybe you have a journal. I'm not, I've tried to journal a lot of times.

I'm not real effective at it. But you'll write down thoughts, you know, God, what about this, and prayers, and have it be a part of your life. And as you go through the scriptures, write down questions you have.

Get to know the Bible, and then let the Bible know you. Let it cut you deep. Let it begin to build as well. So it has to become a daily discipline, especially now in our culture, to know what the Bible really says.

Do you know it has something to say about a nation protecting borders? Following law? It speaks into all these issues. That's why everybody is saying that is against conservatives and biblical principles will say, you're not to judge.

The Bible just says, love your neighbor. In context, though, what does it say? And often the Bible will put the responsibility back on us to respond. That's where the word responsibility comes from. We have the ability and the responsibility to respond.

And Tony Evans said, truth takes the guesswork out of life. I love that statement. Knowing the truth takes the guesswork out of life. You don't have to, I wonder about this. I wonder about this. Should we be doing this?

Should I be dating that person? Should we be marrying this and marrying this person? Should I be? Truth takes all the guesswork out of life. You know how God wants you to live. So where do we find this famous, famous, famous scripture?

Judge not. Matthew 7, verse 1. I'll put it up on the screen for you so you can see it. Jesus is talking, obviously, and he says, judge not that you may, that you be not judged. So don't judge people unless you're going to be judged according to that same, same judgment.

For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged. And with what measure you use, it will be measured back to you. So just in that one verse, you could see where people maybe come up with this. Hey, don't judge.

Don't judge me. I won't judge you because however you judge me, it's going to come right back on you. But here's the irony. Very few people reference the context. They don't look at the context and they forget about other scriptures such as John 7, 24, where Jesus says judge with righteous judgment.

Wait a minute, isn't that a contradiction? Judge not, but then he says, judge with righteous judgment. Well, again, look at the context and we're going to do that in a minute. But in 1 Corinthians 2, 15, the apostle Paul said that those who are spiritual should judge and discern all things.

The Church’s Responsibility to Discern Cultural Issues

So here's the biblical mandate. Those who are mature, those who are spiritual, those who are seeking God, they should be the ones judging what's going on in our culture. That's why the pulpit should speak about issues in our culture and not be silenced.

That's why you'll hear separation of church and state. What does that mean, basically? Church, be quiet. Keep your faith to yourself. Keep it within your four walls. Don't talk about these issues. But God has given us a biblical mandate to discern all things, to say it's not okay to murder a child in the womb or outside the womb now, to say this is what God says about marriage, to say this is what our policy should look like.

We're actually called to do that. It shouldn't take up all of our time. The priority of the pulpit is to preach the gospel, but also to discern what is going on in our culture. Here's what John Calvin said about these words of Christ.

These words of Christ do not contain an absolute prohibition from judging, but they are intended to cure a disease. That disease is criticism. See, the context is Jesus is going after a critical heart.

Sin sniffers. Do you know those people? Maybe you're that person. You can sit and point out the sin in everybody out there, and you don't look in the mirror. You don't look in your own heart. So whatever you're using to judge, that's going to be thrown back on you, that same judgment.

It's a call against a critical spirit. I like what Martin Luther King Jr. said. The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state. We are the conscience of the state. The church is to be the conscience of the state, that light on a hill.

So how can you remove the church from politics or remove the church from Hollywood? We should be making a difference in media. We should be making a difference in all areas of life. Unless you read the scripture differently, you shall be a light upon a hill.

Go and be the salt of the world, but don't affect these areas. Stay out of those areas. See, the truth is to permeate, to saturate all areas of our culture. From the sex slave trade, we should be vocal.

From what they're trying to do, and the big thing, let's look at, if you think the church should be involved in some of these things, look at governmental spending. Look at what we're leaving for the next generation.

We've got this Hezekiah attitude, where at least it's not going to affect me. I'm out of here before God judges. So the church should be able to speak into all these issues. Think about this. Moses spoke to Pharaoh.

Nathan spoke to David. Samuel spoke to Saul. Prophets throughout the Old Testament and even into the New Testament. Paul went to King Agrippa. You would speak into the culture. So regarding moral issues that destroy lives and dishonor God, we are called to judge, which is basically to call into question behaviors, choices, and lifestyles that lead people in a dangerous direction, especially if these issues are to become social policy and legally sanctioned.

So when they say, judge not, we have to remind them, no, we're actually called to judge. However, we have to keep reading. It's pretty important here. Here's the context. Picking back up, and why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye?

Removing the Plank Before Correcting Others

We have some speck hunters maybe here. What is that in your eye? Well, what's that in your eye? Huge plank. So Jesus said, why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye? Basically going around. Do you know those people?

But boy, they can find fault in anything. Any public speaker, any of this thing. Wow. They just find anything. I've told you before, if you ever want criticism, start a church. If you ever want criticism, start a radio station.

As you know, we just launched the West Side Christian Fellowship Radio Network, and I'm getting emails from people, how can you have Greg Laurie and Alistair Begg and David Jeremiah? They're part of the One World Religion, and they're false teachers.

I'm like, what in the world are you smoking? What are you drinking? What Bible are you reading? See, little things. I think they had lunch with a Catholic priest two years ago. Oh, boy, I guess they're leading people.

See, pick that little speck. That little speck. That's all they do. And it drives me crazy. These armchair quarterbacks, heresy hunters with these negative websites just like to go and pull down everybody because they don't measure their standard.

And often, if you follow that person around, you'll see a lot of sin in their life. They're a pharisee. So Jesus said, how do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but you do not consider the plank in your own eye?

Or how can you say to your brother, let me remove the speck from your eye, and look, a plank is in your own eye. You hypocrite. First, first, here's the key. You want to judge others or speak into their lives?

You want to maybe have a ministry or some of you listening out there, I know a lot of pastors listen in and this as well. If you want to speak into this area of judging, you want to make spiritual judgments, here's the key.

First, remove the plank from your own eye. What's he talking about? You have to be completely broken. Humble before God. We shouldn't be excited about pointing out sin. We should be broken about the sin.

First, remove the plank from your own eye. Then you'll be able to see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. Do not give what is holy to the dogs, nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet and tear you in pieces.

Now we'll get to that in a minute, but I don't want to leave this one. First, remove the plank from your own eye, and then you'll be able to see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eyes, or eye.

Grace, Humility, and Righteous Correction

Now I'll just tell you up front, admittedly I failed in this area because I did not exercise grace at opportune times. I just told my wife this morning, it is so hard to go from like a John the Baptist, calling the nation to repentance, calling the political system out, being that voice in the wilderness, calling people back to God, and then when I step down from here I have to become Mr. Rogers.

Nice, gentle, meek, understanding, compassionate, listening, not overbearing. So you go from this type A preaching to, that's the balance, that's the struggle. So in order to do that, he says here, remove that speck from your eye, humble yourself.

We should not excuse sin in exchange for tolerance. Extending grace does not mean we approve of sinful behavior, but it does mean extending compassion. Not looking at the plank in your own eye. I'm sorry, removing the plank first from your own eye.

Romans 14 .4, who are you to judge another's servant? Who are you to judge another's servant? A judge hears the evidence and pronounces judgment. We are in no position to do this. We do not have all the facts.

So you have to look up this word judgment that Paul's talking about in Romans, but it's a different type of judgment. It's a judgment like saying, you're going to hell. You don't deserve God. You've always drifted.

You're a false this. And you're judging the person. We're in no position to do that. But we are called to make righteous judgment types of decisions. For example, I have told people, based on the fruit I see in your life, I would be very concerned.

Do you truly know Christ? Do you have a relationship with him? See, I'm not judging them and coming down hard on them. I'm bringing a reality to them that there's no fruit. There's no fruit in your life.

And it's interesting. One of the sure signs of someone who's been filled mightily with the Spirit of God is they're anxious to get that plank out. They're humble. They're broken. They're often just weeping in their own sins and looking in their own hearts.

And then when they go to someone, it's coming out of a spirit of love, not this, not the finger pointing. And what we sow, we do reap. What we sow, we reap. A judgmental attitude is often judged. I've seen this many times before.

These people, maybe their ministry gets big or they're heresy hunters or they're in the church and they're very critical. They're a critical type of person, always judging, always putting down, be careful, your day's coming, sir.

You will fall because pride comes before a fall. Those people often just fall flat on their face. And I can't tell you how many times, how many heresy hunters, how many arrogant, critical armchair quarterbacks and mean spirited websites there are under the banner of defending the truth.

That's how they hide. I'm just defending the truth. No, you're arrogant. You're mean spirited. And it has to be called out. We call out sin in carnal Christians. We have to call sin out in Pharisees as well.

Those who have not been humbled by God. But let me give you a test. Are you excited about critiquing others? Don't raise your hand because, but you see what I'm doing? I'm going after an attitude there.

There's an excitement about critiquing others. Are you argumentative and very opinionated? That's not always a good thing. Actually, the Bible talks about even leaders in the church should not be quarrelsome, should not be argumentative.

You've got to stand for the essentials, for sure. But when it comes to non-essentials, you have to allow people the freedom to believe what they want to believe. Because if you're always critiquing others, you're argumentative and you're very opinionated.

Also, do you leave churches because you disagree with someone on things that aren't important? See it's showing the heart. It's revealing what's in the heart. And are you excited about telling others that someone fell or someone's in sin?

I can't believe it. And you're excited. So see what I'm getting at here? It's a spirit of, I'm just so glad they fell. I can't wait to tell others. I'm pointing out that sin in their own life. And then if they disagree with me, if they challenge me, God forbid.

I'm opinionated. I'm the final authority. No, that's arrogance. That's spiritual arrogance. We forget that Jesus rebuked spiritual arrogance just as much as unbelievers. Can you imagine a row of nicely dressed Pharisees?

Dressed in whatever they were dressed in, their necklaces or whatever they wore, their phylacteries and things. And he said, you whitewashed tombs. You whitewashed tombs. You're going to be an example this morning, gay.

You whitewashed tombs. You are full of death inside. You look nice on the outside, but you're full of dead men's tombs. Well did our fathers who prophesied about you. You are dead and decaying. You draw nigh to me with your lips, but your hearts are far from me.

And he just rebukes these religious leaders. Hypocrisy, spiritual pride. Because spiritual pride says, right now, that sermon's not for me. Let me get this CD for Bill. And we try to defend. It's ironic.

Sometimes I'll go to people and say, listen, don't you see this in your own life? No, but I'm defending the truth. No, you're arrogant. Defenders of the truth are broken and humble, not perfect. But they don't want to point out the sin in others.

Speaking the Truth with Grace

Are your words seasoned with grace? Are your words seasoned? The Bible says seasoned. Do you put seasoning on anything? So the words, now I'm telling you, I could sit right there because I'm preaching to myself this morning.

This is my constant challenge, right? I've got to be bold against sin, but I've got to be passionate with others. I've got to be convicting and insured and then graceful and gentle with others. And then when you speak to others, seasoning your words with grace.

If you're going to go after someone, don't go after them. Season your words with grace and be gentle. Now, I'm not talking about sweeping corruption under the rug and hiding it. We are to confront. We are to confront.

If you know me, I confront. That's why it's hard to find that balance. And people are surprised. I mean, they'll sometimes come to my life and go, how do you live with that? He must be, no, no, who you are up here is not necessarily who you are at home laughing and joking and leading and loving and being compassionate and understanding.

I don't go and talk to the single mom like this. How could you repent and believe in the gospel? You sinner. But see, you can talk a lot different to the masses than you do individuals. That's what preaching really is.

I don't know where the Holy Spirit's arrows are going, but he does. And boy, does it go. And this might be a good time to remind you of a time I had. Let me ask one more question. Are you proud about your knowledge and eager to put others down?

Oh, it's quiet. Pin drop. Or is it a little pin I think they're talking about? But we have to be careful. I kind of like draw back a little bit when I see zealous young Christians. I love zealous young Christians.

Praise God for it. But when they start saying, you know, I'm reading the Bible. I'm also reading this book. I'm reading this book. And they start to, this knowledge starts to do something interesting.

It puffs them up. They memorize the five points of Calvinism. Now they think they're a scholar. They quote John Owen, the Puritan Calvinist, a famous Puritan and Calvinist, and now they think they know it all.

And they begin to, but have you read this book? Have you done this? And there's this building up of self. There's this knowledge. And so they can start to put other people down. They look forward to debating the Mormon before they cry for them.

See, they come with the wrong heart. And so I notice these people often. I was one. And I can slip back into that very easily if we don't stay broke. I would encourage you to come to the morning worship.

That's really where you get broken. Those types of things are where you're going to see the most transformation in your own heart. So anyway, proud about your knowledge and eager to put others down. So 2005, I think I've shared this before, my mom came to me and she goes, Shane, your family doesn't want to be around you anymore.

And I thought I was spiritual. No, I was critical. I could put down everybody. Yeah, I know this. You need to be very, very, very careful where you're getting your information from. Because there's a lot of negative heresy hunter websites out there who are not filled with love and compassion and broken.

They want to pull everybody down. There are groups out there that will go after anybody who's charismatic. And I tell them often, if this church keeps growing, watch out. I'm next on their hit list. Hour and a half of worship.

You guys are brainwashed. On the altar, weeping. Oh my Lord, you're emotional. No, that's God breaking a heart. That's biblical. Fasting? Oh, what's wrong with this group? Fasting, emotional worship. The Holy Spirit might be moving and convicting and drawing.

See, they'll just start nailing you with all that because you're not conservative like they are. And you begin to be one of their targets. So anyway, 2005, I could put down everybody. Beth Moore. I mean, you name it.

I had something critical to say. Why? Because I was listening to the wrong voices. To be honest with you, the Bible says, go directly to the source and hear what they have to say. We have to allow people, we have to give them the same grace that we would like.

The same grace that we would like, we need to show to others. So ask yourself those questions. Are you excited about critiquing others? Do you have a negative judgmental heart? Are you argumentative? Are you very opinionated?

Are you excited about your education and what you've learned and you're excited to tell someone off and excited to win an argument? We never should be excited about winning an argument and have that argumentative spirit.

And I can see them coming from a mile away. They'll start to ask, what's your view on this? They're not concerned about my view. What are they looking to do? Argument. They want to argue my position. They're not even listening to what we have to say.

They're just to show their pride and show their arrogance. So be careful. God does not approve of that. So that's what he's saying here. If you go back to the scripture we saw up there, remove the speck from your own eye.

I'm sorry, remove the blank from your eye. Humble yourself. So basically before critiquing others, you really need to spend time in the prayer closet. So if you want to go and critique others, spend time broken before God and saying, God, I humble myself before you.

I don't want to do that. So do not give what is holy to the dogs, nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet and turn and tear you in pieces. What is he talking about? Well, I like what GotQuestionsOrg said, so I'm just going to read what they said.

In his sermon, Jesus uses dogs and pigs as representatives of those who would ridicule, reject, and blasphemy the gospel. Is that not true? Most of you know that. We are not to expose the gospel of Jesus Christ to the those who have no other purpose than to trample it and return to their own evil ways.

Think about that. So there are groups out there, I'll tell you groups, I'm not going to name names or get too specific here, but there are people that I'm not even going to talk to. Locally, right over that hill.

Certain groups, I'm not even, they know where I stand, they know the gospel. What am I going to do? I'm going to back away and pray. That rhymes, you can remember it easy. I'm just going to back away and pray.

I'm not going to keep throwing the gospel to those who trample it under feet. And then it's actually, he says something interesting, lest they trample it under their feet and then they turn and they tear you in pieces.

So it's this image here of being a doormat, of being two, like a come on guys, come on guys, come on guys. And you keep bringing the gospel to these people. You keep trying to be that light. He says stop it.

At some point you need to say like Paul, I turn you over to Satan. Bye bye. I can't keep doing this. Now maybe many of you haven't encountered this, but the longer you become a Christian, the more you stand up for Jesus, you will encounter people where you need to just stop.

Because it's not productive anymore. They said repeatedly sharing the gospel with someone who continually scoffs and ridicules Christ is like casting pearls before swine. We can identify such people through discernment which is given to some measure to all Christians.

So be careful who you involve yourself with. Now I'm not telling you not to witness or spread the gospel, that's what we're called to do. But there are some people where you've tried, they know where you stand.

Should I say family members sometimes? Might fall in this camp. You've shared it, they know where you stand. And you just keep bringing it to them. It's not productive anymore. It's almost like you're arguing, you're coming with argumentative spirit.

It's unproductive. You just need to let that go. And then he said in verse 7 here, keep asking, seeking and knocking. So the context is being judgmental, humbling yourself, not throwing the gospel out to those who will keep demeaning it.

And then I don't know if he's talking about praying possibly or asking for discernment in this area, but it seems to flow together. Ask and it will be given to you. Some of you need to hear that this morning.

Ask and it will be given to you. But also seek and you will find. Knock and it will be opened to you. Sometimes we make these separate things. Okay, let me ask, that's separate. Let me seek, that's something different.

Let me continue in this, that's something different. It's all together. What are you asking God for in your life? God, remove this from my life. God, bring this into my life. God, open this door, whether it's marriage or work or whatever it is.

What are you asking God for? It says here to keep seeking that. Now this isn't just seeking with our heart, this is also lining up our life with what you believe God is doing. If you're saying, God, I need that job opportunity.

God, I need some employment. Well, don't sit at home and watch Netflix. Go fill out applications. Go be available. Seek and whatever you're praying for, God, restore my marriage. Husbands say all the time, God, restore my marriage.

And I say, stop being a jerk. Can you say that from the pulpit? Stop being a jerk. You see, you have to line up with Scripture as well. So asking, seeking, knocking. It says, knock and it will be opened to you.

For everyone who asks, receives, and who seeks, finds, and to him who knocks will be opened. Now this could be a whole new sermon on what's not in the Bible. Because whatever I ask, I receive. That's where the name it and claim it movement came from.

Asking According to God’s Will

You know what that is? Name it the new S-Class Mercedes. Is there an S-Class? I don't know. Whatever, that new Mercedes. And I've got that $85 ,000 luxury vehicle right there on my refrigerator. I'm going to put my Tony Robbins, Anthony Robbins CDs right next to it.

And I'm just going to, just that, I'm naming it and I'm claiming it. God, your word says, if I ask, if I seek, I'm going to work hard. Lord, that's my goal. Name it and claim it. And while I'm at it, I'm going to get this nice new house I just saw in the MLS.

That's the multiple listing service for the real estate agent. I've got this nice big, that's a 12 bedroom up there on the mountain. See how that pool, that pool, I like those pools. I've never had one.

But where they drop over the valley, I've got that and I've got that right there. I'm naming it and claiming it. That's where it comes from. This ministry, someday, someday, someway, somehow, is going to have its own private, personal jet golf stream.

I'm naming it. I'm claiming it. It's only $68 million. So on your way out, on your way out, we have an envelope here. We have an envelope. No, Phil, don't leave. I'm not sure. If we can start now, that will become a reality.

I don't have to fly coach anymore. And we can spread the gospel all around the world with this new golf stream. All three of those examples are examples of what is happening in the Christian community.

I mean, if anybody needed a golf stream, Billy Graham needed a golf stream and he didn't do that. So you don't take this, maybe I should do a whole sermon on this. You can't just say, it says, ask and receive.

Your word says it. Right, but if you look again, if you're reading the whole Bible, it says, whatever you ask, according to my will. Whatever you ask, according to my will. God's not going to hear that?

So whatever a person asks, they say, Lord, according to your will. I don't need that car. Lord, how about just a car that runs? And God might answer that and give you a car. According to my will. Lord, I need that to get to church.

I need that to get home. And a house I'd like to provide for my family. But let's downscale that. Let's just get a basic living. God, would you provide these living conditions? And as you commit your ways to the Lord, your thoughts become established according to Proverbs.

So your thinking actually changes if you're open for it. The golf stream, I don't know about. That could still be, you know. But that won't even be on the radar. So see, your prayer life starts to change.

It starts to line up. So when God puts something on your heart, for example, and I've talked about this before, when he put the radio stations on our heart, in the heart of the elders, we begin to ask and seek and continue, Lord, is this what you want to do?

Lord, you show me. And I say this often, I'll tell you, I'll publicly admit this. You ready? I don't trust my feelings, but I trust him. And I said, Lord, I fully trust you. If you're doing this, we'll just step out of the way.

But if you're not, please close the door. I don't trust my feelings. And one of the things I have to work on, this is confession morning, is, and I know you can relate to this, is sometimes we forget how big God is.

Because when I started really praying fast for the radio stations, for those of you who don't know, we just purchased four radio stations, and you can actually listen live now, online, and hear it all over the world.

So there's people turning in from all over, listening to it online. But I thought there's no way this can happen. There's no way this can happen. But then your mind, I know God can, but I don't think he's going to.

Do you ever fall into that? I mean, you know he can, but mmm. I tell Morgan, I catch myself, you know, that's impossible. They're not going to drop their price in half. They're not going to do that. I don't know anything about running a radio.

This is not, God can't handle this one. This is way too, this is too much. But God often likes to show who he is. And I'm learning to believe God for big things. Big things. Something else I'll tell you about on this topic.

I've probably heard this a lot over the last couple years, that people really see how West Side Christian Fellowship could really grow, and be in a church where there is a thousand people worshipping.

What do I say? I don't think that, there's no way. God's not going to open that door. I don't, I don't, that's too big. That's, God's not going to give us a campus somewhere else and have a couple campuses, and have enough people to oversee two, three campuses.

That's impossible. That's not going to happen. But people say, no, I can see God doing that. No, no, I can't. Why? Where's my, where's my thinking? Limited. It can be limited, because the flesh comes in, and it really limits.

Can God give your kids a dream and turn their hearts right back to Christ? Just ask Jim Cimbala. That's exactly what happened. No, he, that's too big. That's, I don't think God can do that. And we start to really limit our prayer life.

Now on the flip side, you don't just start believing God for the Mercedes, and for the this, and have, you get outside of his will. But when God gives you a glimpse, gives you a picture, I begin to even doubt what we're doing right now.

When he showed me glimpses 15, 20 years ago of what we would be doing, and I was not speaking to anybody, there's nothing on the radio, we'd have anything. I'd say, no, that's impossible. Don't they know I didn't go to seminary?

I can't speak as well as, I'd love to preach like Billy Graham and be articulate like Alistair Begg. And you hear these guys, you're like, I could never. I mean, that's incredible. That's impossible. And then God begins to slowly, see, sometimes we dumb down what God wants to do and what God can do.

It doesn't give us free license to believe all these crazy things, because there's a fine line between faith and presumption. You know what presumption is? I presume. And I've seen people fall flat on their face by presuming God is in something when he's not.

But they cloak it, they hide it with faith. I'm just having faith, brother. I don't know, have you sifted that through the filter of God's Word? Have you spent a lot of time in prayer and fasting? Is it really faith?