Marked by Mercy Luke 6:37-42

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May 14, 2023 - Sunday Worship Service Faith Bible Church - Sacramento, California Message "Marked by Merch" Luke 6:37-42

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Welcome to Faith Bible Church, it's great to have you here this morning, it's great to see some new faces, and we're glad you're here, and we pray that you'd be blessed by the warmth and the love that is only by Christ's giving, and we just try to be reflections of that, and so we hope that you can feel that and sense that as well.
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This is a big day, another day, it's the Lord's Day, I could break into song like we used to at the kids'
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Sunday school, this is the day, this is the day that the Lord has made, okay we're gonna end it right there, but it is the
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Lord's Day and we're glad you're here. It's also Mother's Day, and so it's a good time to reflect on the blessings that our mothers have been, and everyone was born by one, for a fact, and I'll stand on that one.
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And so it's just the impact that our mothers have had on us, that mothers that have been blessed with children also have the opportunity to share
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Christ with their children, and it's a tall order, but we thank the Lord for the moms that have gone before, and the moms that are here today, so thank you.
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For announcements, I want to mention Emma and Laura did an incredible job, even though Laura's not quite satisfied yet, with the mission board on the back right wall, my right, your left, so take a look at that.
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Those are the missionaries that we financially support, and prayer support, I like the way you've got them all just kind of summarized together there, it's good to, because we kind of get detached from our missionaries, you know, the church sends a check and monies to the different organizations and individuals, but we kind of lose track of them.
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So, reminded, you know, take a look at that, stop by and glance at it, just get refreshed on who's out there in the field and who we're supporting, okay?
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The Bible counseling course was yesterday, and the next one is on May 27th,
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Dexter led yesterday's class, and he did an excellent job, it's really good, meaty information, it's
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Bible, Christ -centered, and there's always something to learn, so even if you haven't been before, consider coming out again on that, and that's on May 27th.
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Our next ladies Bible study is Saturday, May 20th at 10 o 'clock, okay, so for you ladies, all are welcome to that.
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Okay, and just before we go to the Lord in prayer, I just wanted to mention a couple things, and this morning we were, pastors teaching through the
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Psalms, and talking about faith, and what
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God has, our dependence on Him, and the centrality of that, and I wanted to read a couple verses out of Hebrews, where, do we live by faith?
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Faith is a theme that goes throughout Scriptures, and in Hebrews 11, it's the faith of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, and then it talks about Moses, and by faith,
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Moses, when he became of age, refused to call the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy passing pleasures of sin.
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By faith, he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king. By faith, they passed through the
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Red Sea, as by dry land, whereas Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned. In the beginning of that, it's the passage of chapter, it says, now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen, for by it, the elders obtained a good testimony.
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By faith, we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.
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And isn't that really, I was gonna talk a little bit about fear, but having that faith, and trusting
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God to do things that we have not yet seen Him do, we can trust Him today to know
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He's gonna do what He's going to do, for our good, for His good pleasure. So, we don't need to fear, we don't need to be anxious, we just need to rejoice and praise
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Him for all of His goodness. So, we just reflect on if we have that kind of faith.
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Alright, please join with me in prayer. Lord God, we thank You, Father, that we can come before You as believers, as those seeking
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You, Father. Lord, this morning, may we just, with new vitality, embrace and desire to know
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You in a greater and a deeper way, Father. We pray for those that are not able to be here,
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Father, because of difficulty with health and other issues, some are out of town,
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Father. God, may You continue to heal them, continue to bless them, continue to be the center of their lives.
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We pray, Father, that they would not feel alone, even though they're alone in a room, they're not alone with the
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God and Creator of the universe. So, God, we ask for blessings for them. We thank You for Richard's continued recovery after his surgery a couple days ago, relieving pressure from his brain,
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Father. Thank You for that faithful man that is resting in You and is trusting
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You, Father, for his eternity. So, God, we thank You that You are working in his life.
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God, we ask this morning that You would bless Pastor as he brings his word to each one of us, that our hearts would be ready, that we would allow the
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Holy Spirit to guide and lead us in that worship, in our time of worship, as we lift our voices in song.
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Father, we thank You for the musicians that are helping to lead us. God, may each one of us sing out to You, Father, for we are here to have an audience of wine,
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Father. So, God, bless each one today as we focus on You and guide and lead us, we pray in Jesus' name.
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Amen. Good morning and happy Mother's Day to the moms out there. May the Lord reigneth, let the earth rejoice, let the multitude of isles be glad, and let us be glad in being able to rejoice together.
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And let, please stand. Sweet home to receive the food,
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A spake might be seen today,
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In our acts of love and our deeds of faith.
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Sweet home of Christmas for your blessed faith.
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All right, today
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I'm going to be reading from Matthew 7, 1 through 5.
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That's Matthew 7, 1 through 5. Judge not that you be not judged, for with the judgment you pronounce, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
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Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?
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Or how can you say to your brother, Let me take the speck out of your eye when there is the log in your own eye?
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You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.
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This is the word of the Lord. How delightful it is to be gathered together in Christ.
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Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.
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I once was lost, but was found by see.
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We've been lost and healed, but some, we know the state.
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To sing God's praise, and when we first begun.
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Thank you all for singing together. Please be seated. Children are now dismissed to Children's Church. And I hand it over to Pastor Ilgen.
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Please turn with me to Luke Chapter 6. Luke Chapter 6,
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Verses 37 -42.
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Luke Chapter 6, Verses 37 -42. Judge not, and you shall not be judged.
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Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you.
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Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom.
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For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you. And he spoke a parable to them.
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Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into the ditch? A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher.
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And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not perceive the plank in your own eye?
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Or how can you say to your brother, Brother, let me remove the speck that is in your eye, when you yourself do not see the plank that is in your own eye?
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Hypocrite, first remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother's eye.
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This is the word of the Lord. Let us pray. Father, we're thankful that Christ teaches us how his disciples have to live.
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Thankful that we worship a merciful God, that we may live mercifully.
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Work in all of our hearts to desire your will, and help us to understand and experience your mercy this morning.
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In Jesus' name, amen. Before I begin to preach,
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I would like to wish all the mothers out there a happy Mother's Day. Motherhood is one of the most noble callings in life.
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Despite what the world says, despite what academia says, when
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God has called you to be a mother, that is an opportunity to show the world, and also especially your child,
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God's tender love and compassion for that child.
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It's an ongoing form of discipleship that doesn't end.
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I know our society does not appreciate mothers that much, but I would still say that children, even when they're fully grown, still appreciate their moms.
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We don't have to go far other than to look on TV whenever the athletes, even the top athletes when they're interviewed, one of the first people they thank are their mothers.
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And you know that the mothers have a huge impact on their children.
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So we celebrate all the mothers today, knowing that they reflect
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God's tender care and loving compassion. Now, to the sermon.
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Last week, we got to see how Christ characterized his disciples.
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Jesus told us that the disciples, his disciples will be characterized by the type of love that they show.
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This selfless, sacrificial love. Today, Jesus teaches that mercy.
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Is the character that his disciples show. Now, mercy is a form of compassion.
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Mercy is not earned. Mercy is given freely to the one who needs it, not to the one who deserves it, to the one who needs it.
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And ultimately, mercy is given to us from God. Not because we've earned it, but because he's merciful.
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That's who he is. Now, this passage that I've just read is the famous judgment passage.
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Really, other than John 3 .16, judge not and you shall not be judged, may be the most quoted
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Bible verse in the world. And I would say that it's often quoted in the wrong context, and it's interpreted the wrong way.
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This passage is not a license to do whatever you want, right?
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This passage is not a pithy saying that you can say to someone, don't tell me how to live my life, right?
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Or mind your own business. This passage ultimately highlights
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God's people as merciful people. It's a form, it's a way of saying that God's people are characterized by their compassion and understanding rather than the condescension and criticism.
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Now, furthermore, this passage is not to say that you don't say anything that's going on that's wrong, right?
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It's not to say you don't speak truth to each other in love, right?
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It's not to say you hold your tongue when things are going wrong and you have, you can make corrections.
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You need to make corrections. It's for the other person's sake. The point of mercy is that it's other -focused.
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It's for the well -being of the other person. And this passage is about that because all too often we can say things to other people without considering how that will hurt them even if it's for their own good.
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All too often we can give advice that can actually cause more harm than good.
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And this passage is to show that for God's people we need to actually care about the well -being of that person in showing mercy.
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So the main point of this passage is that we mercifully live according to God's standard by humbly examining ourselves first.
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We mercifully live according to God's standard by humbly examining ourselves first.
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First, for verses 37 and 38, be compassionate in how we treat others because God will apply the same standard to us.
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Be compassionate in how we treat others because God will apply the same standard to us.
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From verses 37 to the first part of 38, Jesus gives four commands for his disciples regarding how they ought to treat one another.
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These are the marks that distinguish a Christian from the rest of the world. Each action is followed by a promise that God will treat them the same way the disciples treat others.
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First, judge not and you shall not be judged. As I've said, this probably is the most quoted out -of -context
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Bible verse in modern -day America. When someone quotes this verse, what he really means is, you don't get to tell me what to do.
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You don't get to correct me. It's another way of saying mind your own business because I'm entitled to do whatever
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I want to do. However, that's the wrong interpretation. First, Jesus himself rebukes others.
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Woe to you, Pharisees, for you love the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces, right?
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Luke 11 .43. I don't know about you. If Jesus had spoken like that, from the pulpit in most churches in America, many misguided people would quote him the verse.
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Jesus, judge not and you shall not be judged. Second, Jesus tells the
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Jews to make correct judgments. Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment, right?
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So, the text we have today cannot mean you don't judge ever, right?
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You don't evaluate ever. You don't correct people ever because Jesus himself said to judge according to the righteous judgment, right?
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That would be the wrong interpretation of never judging because that makes Jesus contradict himself.
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And Jesus never contradicts himself nor the scriptures. Third, Jesus' apostles taught
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Christians to make careful judgments, right?
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Galatians 1, 8 through 9, Paul says, but even if we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed, right?
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Or 1 Corinthians 5, 11, but now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother who is sexually immoral or covetous or an idolater or a reviler or a drunkard or an extortioner, not even to eat with such a person.
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Judgments have to be made to follow these commands. The church is to judge the content of the message taught and preached and the rest of the body according to God's own standard.
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Fourth, oftentimes the protest against these judgmentalism is hypocritical because a judgment, in fact, is made against people who make corrections.
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By telling another person not to correct you, you are correcting that person yourself. Now, now that we know what the verse is not saying, we need to go over what
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Jesus means. In this context, judgment relates to a self -righteous evaluation of others.
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This is the type of judgment that looks down upon others rather than looks after their well -being, their faith, their relationship with God.
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It is this quick -to -dismiss attitude toward others for their sin.
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Oh, he will never be saved. She's definitely going to hell for sure. This is the type of attitude that some of the
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Pharisees had toward the tax collectors. They're too far from God's saving touch.
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Ironically, they were the ones too far from God's deliverance because they hardened their hearts against God's compassionate presence.
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It is a judgment that comes from superiority rather than a genuine care for the sinner.
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Godly judgment and correction prioritize the life of the sinner over self.
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The correction is done to bring the sinner back to God or to encourage others to pursue a life of holiness rather than to make them feel horrible.
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However, the wicked judgment that Jesus bans here prioritizes the one who is judging.
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It's done to make the judge feel superior. Look how great
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I look compared to these dirty sinners. That's the type of judgment that Jesus is prohibiting.
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And the second command intensifies the first. Condemn not and you shall not be condemned. Condemning means to decide the guilt of the other person.
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The verdict is out and it is guilty. Similarly, a person who condemns, he condemns from his self -focused, self -elevated view, looking down from the judge's bench.
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And just from a brief look into another person's life, the judge finds him guilty.
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Just from a brief glimpse of this person's life, his eternity is set.
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And it's that of a condemnation. In the end, these judgments ultimately attempt to dethrone the true judge from his seat and enthrone a self -centered human judge full of errors.
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In that sense, Jesus says, judge not and you shall not be judged. Condemn not and you shall not be condemned.
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And for those who judge and condemn, they will be judged and condemned.
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And when the verbs are passive and the context allows for it, the subject of these passive verbs is
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God. This is called the divine passive. Hence, for the one who judges, for those who judge and for those who condemn self -righteously, the consequence is that God will judge and condemn those who judge and condemn self -righteously.
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They will be dealt with the same way in which they deal other people.
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God will give them a taste of their own medicine. The third and fourth commands give a positive angle to how we interact with others.
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Forgive and you will be forgiven. While the previous two commands prevented harsh, critical damnation, this command promotes mercy and compassion.
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Ultimately, we are only able to forgive because of the forgiveness accomplished for us on the cross by Jesus Christ.
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The command to forgive here does not mean approve of the wrong suffered.
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Oh, it's all right. I approve of it. That's not what it means. The command to forgive does not mean giving permission to abuse again.
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Okay, that was bad, but I guess you can do it again. The command to forgive means to surrender the outcome and any right to vengeance to God.
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Forgiveness is completely God -focused. Forgiveness, true forgiveness cannot happen without God.
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One cannot truly surrender the right to vengeance unless they know that there is a righteous judge up there who has not missed a single moment of injustice, and he will take care of everything.
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That's how you can forgive. When we take a look at that judge who's seated on the throne,
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I don't have to talk back. I don't have to slap back.
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I don't have to justify myself because I've already been justified by Christ alone.
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That's the source of true forgiveness. Let God take care of that person.
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You won't have to. He'll do it better. The last command emphasizes the generosity of Jesus' disciples.
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Give, and it will be given to you. And the rest of the verse illustrates
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God's abundant repayment for your generosity. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom.
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For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you. This is an agricultural illustration.
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When God generously repays the generous, it will not be just enough.
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God's blessing toward the compassionate will abundantly overflow.
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Imagine the countless grains pressed down into a container and the air bubbles.
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There's not enough space, even for air. But not only that, it's shaken vigorously so that any empty space will be filled up by the grains.
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And you would think it stops now. No, it's overflowing. God continues to pour despite the fully packed container.
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That is the illustration of God's generosity. Note that this verse cannot be used for prosperity gospel, which says that if you give money to your already millionaire pastors,
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God will increase your bank accounts. No, the context here is not material wealth, but mercy and compassion.
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It is about not judging self -righteously and showing compassion to those who do not deserve it.
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That's the context. And when you show mercy to those who do not deserve it,
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God will reward you with overflowing amount of mercy.
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And that's because that's who he is. God whom you worship is the father of all mercies and God of all comfort.
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He is not a stingy deity who gives you the bare minimum because he's kept a perfect record.
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Now, this is how much you'll get for today. He's not a stingy deity who has a limited amount of mercy for you because your sin is too great.
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Because... And he's not a stingy deity who only dispenses a certain amount of mercy just because he has to.
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I guess that's how much I owe you. When you go to him for more, he will not turn you away because he hasn't dispensed the daily dose for you.
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No. He richly lavishes his mercy and grace upon those who follow his son because that's who he is.
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He willingly saved the undeserving people from death and sin through Christ's death on the cross, not because you were righteous, not because you earned it, not because that's the limit to his mercy, but because he is merciful.
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He is full of mercy. There is no boundary to his mercy and compassion.
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From God's heart flows abundantly his mercies. That's why his followers dispense mercy to others, because the mercy overflows, because that's the
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God who showers compassion to his very people. And how does the world know who the
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Christians are? The ones who also generously give mercifully because they worship a
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God who generously gives abundantly. Now, how do
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Christ's disciples follow these commands? Because self -reliance has no place in Christ's disciples, we must humbly examine ourselves before passing any judgments.
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Because self -reliance has no place in Christ's disciples, we must humbly examine ourselves before passing any judgments.
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Verses 39 to 42 show short parables to illustrate the danger of self -righteousness when we interact with other people.
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First, verse 39 warns the danger of self -reliance, relying on self, depending on self.
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Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into the ditch? The ditch here is not a small hole that a gopher left behind in which you trip over it and you sprain your ankle for a week.
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The ditch here is a deep pit in which the consequence of falling would be dire.
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This parable shows us the danger of trusting in ourselves and guiding others.
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It is as dangerous as the blind guiding the blind. There is not only a huge harm to following your own standard and ignoring
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God's standard, but also there's a definite danger to implementing your standard on others to follow.
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The results are deadly. For both. And from leading others blindly,
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Jesus advises, and at verse 40, the importance of being led by the right teacher.
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A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher.
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The word for perfectly does not mean sinlessly, but rather completely.
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There's no lack. It's consistent. Right? The training is consistent.
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It doesn't contradict itself. Having the right teacher is how we develop the right standard that's from God.
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In ancient Jewish society, education was not a lecture series for eight hours a day.
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It revolved around a personal relationship with the teacher. They ate together.
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They discussed together. They traveled together. They did life together. And the student, over time, would adopt the lifestyle and teaching of the teacher because it rubbed off on them.
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And Jesus is telling his disciples to choose wisely the one you want to become. Choose wisely whose standards you're gonna live by.
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Don't just choose the one that sounds good to you. Don't just choose the one that the world approves of, the one who has the blue checkmark.
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Choose the one who will guide you to become more like Christ.
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Then verses 41 to 42 show us when judgment is inappropriate.
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This is not to say judgment never happens, but it's to show us this type of judgment should not happen.
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And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye but do not perceive the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, brother, let me remove the speck that is in your eye when you yourself do not see the plank that is in your own eye?
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Hypocrite. First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you'll see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother's eye.
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What we have here is what we call a hyperbole. Jesus uses an extreme exaggeration to emphasize his point about judgment.
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Obviously, it's a hyperbole because no one can just walk around with a plank in your eye, right?
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A plank can't stick out from your eye physically, physiologically, and logically, right?
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That's why it's a hyperbole. Now, the speck in your brother's eye is a little particle like a chaff or dust, right?
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And compared to that, there's a plank in the eye of the judge.
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The comparison of the size difference is the key point here.
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The absurdity of a plank sticking out of the person who wants to meddle with his brother's eye is the key drive.
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What Jesus is saying, evaluate your own life first before attempting to critique another person's life.
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Get your life in order before you try to fix another person's life. A humble look at one's own life is necessary before suggesting any corrections to others.
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And here, Jesus makes it clear that he's not opposed to his disciples correcting each other.
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That's often commanded over and over again in the New Testament and also the Old Testament, right?
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Proverbs. The wise, they love the rebuke.
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The wise appreciate advice and corrections, disciplines.
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Now, just like the blind leading the blind, we also have to apply our self -approved, we also have to not apply our self -approved standards on others when the
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Bible is silent on it. We cannot apply our self -approved standards on others when the
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Bible is silent on it. For example, there are churches that teach that any other
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Bible translations than KJV, King James Version, they're wicked. Now, it's okay to like the
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KJV over other translations. There are some verses that the KJV maintain the integrity of the passage better than other modern translations.
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I understand that. However, to become dogmatic over something that the
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Bible is silent on, even the KJV translation is silent on this, it's dangerous.
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It's like the blind guiding the blind. We cannot enforce our standards on others because to do that, we would be deifying ourselves and de -godding
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God. If God really wanted the KJV to be the official version of the church, then it would have been in the
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Bible to claim otherwise, to go beyond what the
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Bible sets the boundary of. It's to say that something is insufficient with what
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God has already given us. We must submit to God's standards in Scripture, not our standards outside of Scripture.
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And in order to have God's standard, we need to be taught by the right teacher. People you learn from, podcasts you listen to, preachers you admire have an impact on the adoption of godly standards.
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Learn from those who saturate their lives in Scripture. They need not have
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PhDs or any degree from the Bible schools. Find one who is living faithfully to what
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Scripture says and ask them to disciple you.
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You'd be surprised, some of the elderly in this church have more to say, wiser things to say than the pastor who is preaching in front of you.
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There are decades of experience, of faithfulness that my experience is only just a glimpse.
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But first and foremost, you must yourselves seek to learn from Scripture yourself.
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The Holy Spirit will teach you His Word. He's the author. Now it's great to enjoy
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Christian books. It's great to enjoy expository preaching. But your primary teacher must be
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Jesus Christ through Scripture by the presence of the Holy Spirit who resides in you the moment you believe.
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Even all my servants are just a sample of a feast that you could enjoy daily in communion with God.
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Let God show you what He means in Scripture.
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Don't just rely on teachers. Don't just rely on books. Ask God to make
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His Word alive in your heart. As Charles Spurgeon, the prince of preachers really, once said,
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Visit many good books, but live in the Bible. Lastly, we must humbly examine our own lives before evaluating someone else's.
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Even applying God's standard, right? This is not about applying our own standard.
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We covered that. Even applying God's standard, there's a way of doing it wrong.
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That's when it is seeped in hypocrisy. It's hypocritical to tell your spouse to stop lying when you yourself lie all the time.
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It's hypocritical to tell your kids to stop cursing when you curse at home.
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In fact, kids actually know hypocrisy from early on, and they will not listen to that rebuke.
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They know something is inconsistent and off. In fact, one great way to sabotage one's gospel witness is doing exactly that, telling sinners to stop sinning when you sin the same way.
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That's one of the hardest arguments to answer unbelievers who say,
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Well, how come the Christians do blank, blank, blank? You're absolutely right.
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Why aren't they different? Why aren't they holier?
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Why aren't they more compassionate? Sure, now, the standard is not that sinlessness, but it's a big problem when
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Christians abuse each other the same way that nonbelievers do in the world. That kills the witness.
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When there's no holiness in the life of a Christian, and this is true for your neighbors, but it's even truer for family members.
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Children know when their parents are hypocritical. Spouses know when their husbands are hypocritical.
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And this is why we bring our besetting sin to Christ so that He, the perfect one, can remove the log from our eyes, because we clearly cannot.
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Only when Christ has freed us, we can help others to find the cure.
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Only surrendering, only acknowledging that we ourselves cannot remove the log from our own eyes and go to Christ who has died so that you wouldn't be enslaved to that sin anymore.
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And when you live that truth, when you saturate on that truth, that glorious truth that your sin is nailed to the cross and you don't bear it anymore, and you don't have to live like that because your identity is in Christ, you're not a sinner, you're not a liar, you're a son of God, you're a daughter of God.
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Only when you're freed, you can tell other people, brother, that's not the correct way to live.
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Sister, that's not how Christ taught us. There's a better way to live.
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There's an actual cure. It is the testimony of finding freedom in Christ that has huge impact on our correction and advice.
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After all, it is not our good works that freed us from our sin, but Christ's perfect work on the cross.
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As Martin Luther once said, we are all mere beggars telling other beggars where to find bread.
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May we not let the source of bread be hidden by our own hypocrisy.
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Let us pray. Father, we are thankful that it is not up to us to be clean.
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It is not up to us to be freed from sin, but that it is only completely dependent on Christ's atoning death for my sin on the cross alone that frees me from the enslavement of sin.
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All the temptations, all the past sins, and all the future sins paid for by Christ dying on the cross, and God, I pray that we would all go to Him first before we dare to correct another person.
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Help us to correct and evaluate and judge according to God's standard and with the same heart that God has for the sinners with utter compassion and mercy that it would not be about us and our standing, but for the faithful outcome and the compassion and salvation of the lost.
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Help us to reflect Christ's merciful heart toward the sinners and work in our hearts as well.