"Pearls Before Swine"

Hello, and thank you for listening to the Testing the Spirits podcast. The title of this episode is,

Pearls Before Swine. This expression comes from a statement that Jesus made in the

Gospel of Matthew, chapter 7, verse 6. This is the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus said,

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 Jesus saying? Basically, don't bother preaching the gospel. Don't bother preaching the truth of God's word to those who despise it.

Recently, I was invited to attend a local interfaith service.

The Muslims were there. The Unitarians were going to be there. The Buddhists were there. And this service was being held at a

UCC Congregationalist church with the rainbow out front. And as I explained in a previous podcast,

I declined the invitation for several reasons. But one reason,

I want to obey Christ. I don't want to cast my pearls before swine.

I take what Jesus said seriously. Now, I want to be careful to point a few things out just so that nobody gets the wrong idea about what

I'm saying. There are people out there, they listen to my videos, my podcasts, and they just assume the absolute worst.

So, I'm not going to allow anyone to do that. So, let me say this. First of all, Jesus, I'm not insulting people.

Oh, you're calling people pigs and dogs. No, Jesus isn't doing that either.

This isn't about name calling. But it was understood in that first century

Jewish culture that these animals, dogs and pigs, they were unclean.

So, people would have had a context to understand what Jesus meant. So, again, this isn't name calling.

And I want to be careful to point something else out. I am not saying, nor is

Jesus saying, that unbelievers are dogs and swine and don't preach the gospel to them.

That's not what we're saying either. Yes, it's true. Many of the Jews, especially the

Jewish leaders, the Pharisees and whatnot, yeah, they did consider the Gentiles, the heathen nations, to be dogs.

So, to them, yeah, unbelievers were dogs. You think of the prophet

Jonah. Even Jonah, he really despised the people of Nineveh. He didn't want to go there.

He didn't want to preach. He wanted God to destroy them. But God had to change his heart.

God had to correct Jonah and teach him a lesson. And obviously, with the ministry of Christ and his apostles,

God's grace was extended to the unbelieving Gentile nation.

So, all of that to say this, when I say, and of course, Jesus is the one who said it first, but when

I say, don't cast your pearls before swine, do not give what is holy to the dogs,

I am not calling unbelievers dogs. It's not about name -calling, and we're not calling unbelievers dogs.

So, what are we saying? Well, first, preach the gospel to every creature.

That's the Great Commission, right? Preach the gospel, basically, to anyone who is willing to listen.

But here is where you need to pay attention, because really, this is an exception to the rule.

There is usually an exception to just about every rule. So, here is the exception.

Jesus gives us a clear instruction, if not a command here. He said, do not give what is holy to the dogs.

Do not cast your pearls before swine. In other words, do not preach the gospel.

Do not present God's truth to these people. So, who are the swine?

Who are the dogs? They are people who have heard the truth, but they reject the truth.

They know the truth, but they are hostile to the truth. So, don't preach to people who are hostile.

If you know they're hostile to what you're saying, if they're hostile to God's truth, don't cast your pearls before swine.

It's really that simple. So, going back to that interfaith service, this isn't, again,

I'll say it again, it's not about calling people names, the people. And I don't even want to make it about that one church or that one event, because this just applies across the board.

People who are hostile to the gospel, they've rejected it, they hate it, don't waste your breath.

Don't give what is holy to the dogs. So, again, going back to that interfaith service, and I don't want to make it just about that one church, but apostates in general.

It's not like they don't know what the Bible says about hell. It's just they don't believe it. It's not as if they don't know that Jesus is the only way of salvation.

They just reject that concept. It's not as if they've never heard the word abomination.

Remember that Bible study I did a week or two ago, podcast, I just uploaded it the other day. And 1

Kings 11, very clear, the Lord himself refers to the worship of false gods as an abomination.

And he says that about other things. You know, the thing which that rainbow out front represents.

It's not as if they don't know this. So progressive Christians, apostate groups, it's not as if they don't know, it's that they reject the truth.

They're hostile towards the truth. So if you go in there and you start preaching to them, which again,

I already gave you what I thought about that. And I did the Bible study to show you from the

Bible why nobody should participate. But if you were to just encounter these people, even in the community, if you knew who they were, if you share the truth with them, what are they going to do?

They're going to call you names. You're homophobic, racist, xenophobic, Islamophobic.

You're a deplorable person. You're a bigot. They'll give you dirty looks.

And I'll tell you what, some of these people, if they could get away with hurting you, they would probably do it. So these are people, especially the leaders, but these are people, the dogs and the swine, right?

These are people who know the truth. They hate the truth. And they are the ones who are actively opposing the gospel ministry.

And there are people like this all over the world. And they were there in Jesus's day.

He's addressing it. And they're still around today. There's nothing new under the sun. So long story short,

I'm not going to enter into some agreement and partake in a religious service with people like that with the hopes of maybe sharing the gospel just so they can react in disgust.

I'm not going to do that because I believe, I believe Jesus when he said, do not cast your pearls before swine.

So if I know the crowd is hostile, I'm just not going to do it. Again, these are the words of Christ.

What's the title of the podcast? Pearls Before Swine. This is what Jesus said. Matthew 7 verse 6.

Do not give what is holy to the dogs, nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet.

Okay, trample the pearls. That is, you know, start to blaspheme the word of Christ, to mock

God's word. And then maybe they might even turn and tear you in pieces.

Now, today we live in an orderly society. I mean, less and less as time goes on.

But people today really can't get away with tearing you into pieces. But some people, if they could, they would.

Speaking of this anti -God, apostate, progressive crowd, I've had some experience with these people.

You know, I preached something unpopular back in 2020. It was totally biblical, but it was unpopular.

And I got death threats. People who claim, some of them even who claim to be Christian were out there promoting all kinds of sinful ideologies.

They were vandalizing the community. And some of them, a group of them tried to get me canceled.

It didn't work, but they tried. And I have no doubt in my mind that there were a few people, if they could get away with doing physical harm to me.

And again, some people threaten that, but if they could do me physical harm and get away with it, they would absolutely do it.

Don't we see this in the Bible? Remember the time Paul was preaching and they tried to kill him, that time where Paul was stoned multiple occasions?

Seemed that wherever Paul would preach, he would either cause a revival or a riot, right?

This happened to the apostles. They were martyred for their faith. So many people out there just hostile.

So the strategy or what is just the common practice we preach again, we preach the truth to those who have never heard.

Amen. Okay. Preach the gospel. But if we, and this is just, you know, for practical application for your daily life, because this does apply to you.

If you know somebody who doesn't want to hear it, let's say you have shared the gospel but they've made it clear.

They don't want to hear it. You know what? You need to shake the dust off your feet and move on.

See, a lot of people make the mistake. They keep banging their head against the wall, trying to evangelize the same person or the same people over and over.

And what they get in return is hostility and scorn. And some people blaspheme.

God's like, why are you doing that? Take that time and effort. And listen, I, you know, you have good motivations, but take that time and effort and invest it in someone who might actually listen to what you're saying, but do not cast your pearls before a swine.

One commentator says this about Christ's words. He says the meaning of this proverb then is do not offer your doctrine to those who are violent or to those who are abusive, who would growl and curse you.

And it's not that they're just cursing you. Some people, and I've seen this, maybe an atheist hears something from the

Bible and they start cursing God. They start blaspheming God, using his name in vain.

Here's the thing, and here is a very good reason why you don't want to cast your pearls before a swine.

If you know that a person is going to start blaspheming God, as soon as you mention Christ or the gospel, if you know that's going to happen in a sense by sharing the gospel with them anyway, in a sense, you're almost creating the blasphemy because you know how they're going to respond.

Just don't do it. Jesus says, don't do it. So again, to put this in real practical terms, you can understand, let's say you have a friend or family member you're witnessing to.

This isn't just about an interfaith service where a pastor is invited or elders and this and that.

No, this is for you and your daily life. If there's somebody, a family member, co -worker you're witnessing to, and you know they don't want to hear it, they told you they don't want to hear it, stop telling them.

If they respond negatively, then if you keep at it, you're probably just going to push them further and further away and you really don't want to do that.

I totally get it. You don't want to give up on people and that's fine. Don't give up.

Keep praying. Pray and pray some more. But as far as talking to them about the Lord, again, do not cast your pearls before swine.

Pray for them that God over time might soften their heart or maybe they will go through something where in the future they might be willing to listen.

And if they know that you're a true believer, they can come to you. But realize, Matthew 7,

Jesus isn't just giving advice. I mean, this is Jesus giving us instructions to follow.

You could even call it a commandment. Jesus is saying, don't do this.

Thou shalt not cast your pearls before swine, right? So this really isn't optional.

You know, like, well, you know, I know that's what Jesus says, but, and this is the problem we have today.

It's nothing new. It's the same as it was back then. But this is the problem we have.

We have a generation of Christians, even pastors, even elders. We have a generation of Christians who think that they know better than God.

Now, everyone claims, just like the Pharisees did, everyone claims to believe the scripture, but are you actually following it?

Instead, a lot of people will just come up with their own reasons and their own rationale of why they should do something that Jesus said, don't do it.

One more thing before I end the podcast. The previous verses in Matthew 7, this is the famous judge not passage.

If there was ever a passage in the Bible that was misunderstood and taken out of context, it's this one.

Here's what Jesus says, starting in verse one of Matthew 7. He says, judge not, and most people just stop there.

And it's amazing how many people will hear a pastor or a Christian say something biblical, and then they'll accuse him of judging.

And then they proceed to judge him, say all sorts of terrible things about him.

Whoa, I thought you were against judging. Isn't it amazing the people who claim to be the most tolerant and the most open -minded, as soon as they're confronted with opinions they don't like, they become the most intolerant people you will ever meet.

But that's another podcast for another day, because everyone judges. You have to judge.

We're told to judge. Jesus, in John 7, 24, tells us that we should make righteous judgments.

1 Corinthians 2, 15 says that the spiritual man judges all things, but he himself is rightly judged by no one.

So, Jesus isn't saying don't ever judge. You need to keep reading, take it in context.

He's saying do not judge hypocritically. So, keep reading. Matthew 7, 1, he says,

Judge not that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged.

And with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but 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.

Hypocrite, first remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

So, Jesus is saying before you judge, he's not saying don't ever judge. He's saying you should judge, but just make sure before you judge your brother, make sure you're not guilty of the same thing or something worse.

The word Jesus uses is hypocrite. And then the pearls before swine statement is the very next thing he says.

So, based on the context, if you follow the logic, who were the religious hypocrites of Jesus's day?

It was the scribes and Pharisees. It was the scribes and Pharisees. So, if you disagree with me, okay, if you disagree with what

I'm saying in this podcast, and I know some do, you know, I took the position it was wrong to take part in the interfaith service.

And from what I hear, there are some people now saying that, no, Pastor Grant was wrong. Going was the right thing to do.

Okay, if you think that, just do me this favor, okay? Go and read

Matthew chapter three. Okay, remember, who are the religious hypocrites of Jesus's day?

Scribes, Pharisees, okay. With that in mind, go and read Matthew chapter three. If you think

I'm off base, read Matthew three. When John the Baptist is preaching the gospel, the gospel of the kingdom, he's preaching to the people.

But as soon as he notices the scribes and Pharisees, as soon as he notices they're there, as soon as he sees them, he stops.

He changes direction. And we see Jesus doing the same thing. So after you read

Matthew three, read what Jesus said to these people in Matthew 23. But as soon as John the

Baptist saw the scribes and Pharisees, the hypocrites, right, the false teachers and the apostates, what did

John the Baptist do? He stopped preaching the gospel, and he started ripping into these people big time.

He called them snakes, and he made it very clear to them, they were under the wrath of God.

Why did John the Baptist do that? Well, he understood. You don't cast your pearls before a swine.

You see, if a pastor today stood up and did what John the Baptist did, most evangelical ministers today, pastors, oh, they would moan and complain.

And oh, John the Baptist, he's such a terrible person. He just goes straight for the throat.

See, that's what they would do. And listen, I've had some experience in this.

I had to deal personally, face to face on one occasion with a false teacher, a clear wolf in sheep's clothing.

And to be honest with you, I was too soft. I really was. I was actually very polite.

I knew he was teaching heresy, and I was still polite to the guy. But even though I was polite, even in my podcast about that, whatever

I talked about, I struck a polite tone and all the rest. But I still have people saying,

I had an elder say to me, an elder of a church a week or two ago, he told me that, oh,

I was just so wrong and how I handled it, and just a bad spirit and all the rest.

Like, seriously? But there was another guy who actually, I'm almost done here, but there was another guy who actually confronted, a guy from our church who confronted that same false teacher.

So I was polite, and I got nowhere. But this other guy confronted him, and he was stern.

And he told him, I'm afraid for your soul. And he wasn't polite about it. Now, neither one of us got anywhere, okay?

But I was polite. I caught a bunch of grief. This other guy wasn't polite.

Did his fellow Christians back him up? No. See, you don't get backed up at all.

Because there is this idea, you call it the 11th commandment, call it whatever you want.

People are not really all that concerned about God's truth. I mean, they say they are.

But what they're most concerned about is that you act nice and polite, and you're just polite all the time about everything.

And even when a controversy happens, a difficult situation, a wolf in sheep's clothing who is coming in to devour the flock, well, you just need to be nice to the wolf.

And I actually had another guy, a leader in another church, come and say that we should allow the wolf into our church.

Because you need to be nice. God isn't giving up on the wolf. Neither should you. Preach the gospel to the wolf.

I was actually told that. Now, the guy didn't call him a wolf, but he did tell me, preach the gospel to the heretic.

Preach the gospel. We need to preach the gospel to the heretical false teacher.

Blah, blah, blah. You know what, is that what Jesus said to do? No. Jesus said, do not give what is holy to the dogs.

Do not cast your pearls before swine. With all due respect, am

I going to follow advice from these other people? No, I'm going to listen to what Jesus said.

Thank you very much. In conclusion, don't cast your pearls before swine.

If someone is hostile to the word of God, avoid them. And this is certainly true when it comes to false prophets and false teachers.

We are specifically called to mark and avoid them. Romans 16 verses 17 and 18.

If you say you believe the Bible, do you believe Romans 16, 17 and 18?

Are you applying? Here's the test of whether or not you really believe it. Do you practice it?

So we are called to mark and avoid false teachers, have no dealings with them. And I'll close with the words of the apostle

Peter, because remember the dogs and the swine are not unbelievers. Unbelievers are the mission field.

That's why Paul preached to unbelievers at the Areopagus. The dogs and the swine, remember they are the apostates.

They are the ones who know the truth and they despise the truth. Here is what Peter said about them in 2

Peter 2 verse 22. I'll close with this. The apostle says, but it has happened to them according to the true proverb, a dog returns to his vomit and a sow having washed to her wallowing in the mire.

So preach the gospel to every creature. Amen. Yes, that's the rule. Absolutely.

But there is an exception to the rule. Do not cast your pearls before swine.