WWUTT 2285 Q&A It's Over, Christians Suing Christians, What is Diwali, Post Election Thoughts

Proverbs on the Sudden Fall of the Wicked

Are there any allowances for a Christian to sue another Christian? Can a Christian partake in the festival Diwali? And now that the election is over, how should Christians be thinking about it? The answers to these questions and others, when we understand the text.

This is When We Understand The Text, a daily Bible commentary to help encourage your time in the Word, so that we may be conformed to the image of Christ. Tell your friends about our ministry at www .wutt .com.

Here once again is Pastor Gabe.

Thank you, Becky.

You're welcome.

Just to let everybody know how much Becky loves you. She woke up for this.

I did.

She got up and texted me and said, hey, do you want to record? I was like, I figured the night was done.

No.

It wasn't going to happen.

I woke up because I hadn't gotten ready for bed. I just like fell asleep.

Oh, I saw.

I was still in my jeans and everything.

I just let you be.

And then, yeah, my body just woke me up, and I was like, well, okay.

Let's go record now.

Let's do this.

And I hadn't started anything yet. So that works.

And I was going to be up for a while.

There you go.

Might as well.

So here she is.

Yeah.

And you look lovely.

Oh, thank you.

It doesn't even look like you just woke up. You look like you're supposed to be here.

You could say that because it's radio.

It's okay.

Proverbs chapter six is where we left off last week. Verses 12 to 15. A worthless person, a wicked man goes about with crooked speech, winks his eyes, signals with his feet, points with his finger. With perverted heart devises evil, continually sowing discord, therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly.

In a moment, he will be broken beyond healing. That's very timely in this political season that we're in right now. And I'm not even thinking so much about the candidates. I'm thinking about where people have kind of drawn their loyalties and have divided.

We've seen Christians divide from one another because of political lines that they've decided to draw. Some reasonable, some lines that need to be drawn, and then others where we're being divisive for no reason.

We're probably even on the same side, but we're still finding a reason to divide. But that statement there at the end, calamity will come upon him suddenly. In a moment, he will be broken beyond healing.

I've said this many times. You will dabble in sin thinking that it's not a big deal. Eventually it kind of takes you over to the point where you think that even the small things, you've reasoned it as being small, so therefore it's not a big deal, not realizing that it's drawing you into deeper and deeper stuff.

And God is very likely just turning you over to your own depravity, to the point that where all of a sudden, calamity has come upon you in a moment you're broken beyond healing, as if there could be an event horizon in the sin that you're choosing to entertain.

And once you've crossed that event horizon, there's no coming back from it. And calamity has overtaken you, and now you're broken beyond healing.

I look at that as if many times in the Bible, especially Old Testament, where God lifts his hands from someone, so he's no longer protecting them. He's no longer with them.

Or yeah, taking his spirit from them.

Yeah.

And then all of a sudden, they don't even know. And yet, boom, calamity.

Samson is one that I think of.

I was thinking of the one who went to war. They were like, yes, we have God on our side. But they didn't.

And they didn't know.

Oh, yeah.

That was when some of the Israelites were deciding, well, we're going to go into the promised land anyway. Even though God has said, we're not going to take it, we're going to go anyway. And they lost.

And Moses warned them, God is not with you. You had your chance. Now you're going to try to do it on your own. And they suffered massive losses. So that sort of thing as well. They're not realizing that the spirit is not with them anymore.

Hence why David prays in Psalm 51, take not your Holy Spirit from me, restore unto me the joy of your salvation. So you continue in sin, you tiptoe in it, you throw your whole body into it eventually.

How far do you go before God has finally said, you're on your own then and takes his spirit.

From you?

Didn't that happen to Saul too?

Saul, yes.

Not Saul who became Paul, but Saul.

Oh, I know.

Old Testament Saul.

Because Samuel said that to Saul, that God has taken his favor from you. The Lord said to Samuel, I regret that I have made him king. And so now his blessing was going to be upon his neighbor, was what Samuel said, a man after his own heart, who was David.

That was foreshadowing of David. And so it's almost as if kind of in Psalm 51, I wonder if David's going through that same thing in his mind. Have I become like Saul? Is God going to take his spirit from me?

That's true.

And so pleading with the Lord, take not your Holy Spirit from me, create in me a clean heart, oh God, and renew a right spirit within me. So all of this to say, don't continue, don't dabble in sin and think that you're going to be all right.

I can give this up whenever I want. It's kind of like the...

That's like the ways to trick your mind. You're trying to convince yourself.

Or the person who wants to deny that they're addicted to anything, I can give it up whenever I want to. And every once in a while, you'll hear these stories of persons who are living sinful lifestyles and they will say something to the effect of, oh, before I die, I'll get right with God.

How do you know that? How do you know you'll even want to when you get to that day? So don't be so confident in yourself. Turn from your sin to Christ.

Yeah.

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.

I remember saying it when I was younger, like, oh, I can do that. I can give it up whenever. And then it was just like, no, I couldn't.

Wasn't as strong as I thought I was.

Yeah, right. Like, I believed I could, but then whenever I tried, it was like, nope.

I've been there. I understand that. Well, let's come back to this passage again next week, because I also want to examine the different parts of this. A worthless person, a wicked man goes about with crooked speech.

Let's come back to that section next week. In the meantime, we've mentioned politics. We can say here, it's over.

Yeah.

The election is over.

Lord willing.

Yeah.

Unless somebody finds a bag of ballots.

Yeah. Right.

Hey, wait a second. We didn't count these.

Surprise. No.

Just kidding.

But no, it's over. And also, babe.

Yes.

It's over.

It is.

Yes.

The house is sold.

Amen.

So, we have two it's overs for this broadcast. The election is over. We know who's going to be president in 2025, and also our house has been sold. Actually, last week when we recorded, did we record on Thursday?

It was Thursday night.

Okay. Yes.

So, when we were talking about how the house was supposed to sell, we were going to close on Wednesday. I think we were still talking about that then.

I think so.

We knew when we were recording the program that the house was closing the next day. So, we actually closed on Friday. We had already filled out the paperwork. We air-mailed it to the title company so that the buyers would be there.

All they had to do was walk in and sign. We had the paperwork all done. We had to bring money to closing, so we got nothing out of the sale of the house. All of our equity is gone. But praise God.

Amen.

It's gone.

It's gone.

It's over. So, we knew that. We knew that the house was sold, and we were still saying on the broadcast that we had a few more days because we wanted to tell our church family first before we told the podcast listeners that the house had been sold.

So, we let everybody know Sunday morning at church that the house was sold, and then we started spreading it out to everybody else.

Yes.

But they've been with us every step of the way. They have prayed with us, cried with us, have given so much support to us financially and other things. So, we wanted to share that with them first, but also wanted to let you know because we have some listeners out there.

Yeah.

I mean, dozens and dozens of you.

Yes.

It's not just five or six.

Right. Right.

That kind of gave us something. There was a lot of you that gave something. And a lot of you gave a lot.

Yes.

Some of you gave a little. Some of you gave a lot. But every dollar still was extremely meaningful because if you gave 10 bucks, it probably bought us a couple sandwiches that week or something like, you know, it was helpful in some way, shape, or form, or it bought us, yeah, a couple of cartons of eggs, which, by the way, we have so many eggs in our fridge right now.

It was a mistake, but it's okay.

I'm looking at that going, well, we're going to eat some eggs this week. I got to come up with some egg recipes.

We can have an egg salad, you know, do some French toast.

We cannot thank you enough.

Yes.

For what you have been through with us this year.

Yes.

We thank God for you.

We did not know how God was going to show us this year how many people loved us and in what ways.

Amen.

And it's been amazing. And I can't thank you enough. We have thanked God for you with tears. Becky and I have laid in bed and held hands and looked at the budget and thought, how are we going to do this?

In two weeks, we're going to have to decide which bill we can't pay.

Yeah.

That's the point that we were at. This happened two times where we hit two months where we were like, we're at zero, we can't do anything.

Yeah.

And then suddenly, it would just be this flood of giving that would happen all at once. And we didn't do much to ask.

No.

It would just be, guys, we need some help. And then suddenly, boom.

It just came. It was such a blessing.

It was such a blessing. There was one fellow I remember having a conversation with and he told me, there was something in your voice that I just knew it was hard.

Yeah.

And I'm not that kind of person. I'm just not the kind of person that wants to show my hand, you know. And yet he heard it and knew I've got to help. And that was amazing. I don't know what kind of insight God gave you in that moment.

Yeah.

But the gift that he gave was exactly what we needed at exactly that time.

Oh, amen.

And it was just incredible. I can't begin to thank you enough.

Yes.

The church had approved for us a certain amount of money in February. And it was right when those gifts had come in, in February. We also got our tax return then in February. So those things had helped us out a lot.

So I told the church I was very, very thankful for their gift. But as much as I could possibly help it, I was not going to touch it until we absolutely.

Needed it.

Right.

It was six months. And July, we finally had to say, okay.

Now's the time.

Now's the time.

Yeah.

I was hoping the house was going to sell in that amount of time.

I know.

So I managed to hold off for that long. But I think that it was still in God's providence. He wanted me to accept that gift. You're at this church now. You're with these people. You're invested in their lives.

They're invested in yours. So they've promised you this money and you're going to take it.

Yeah.

And now you're going to be that much closer because of it.

Yes.

And you're going to have to rely on them. That's really what the lesson that we were learning in that season.

Yes.

And so anyway.

And we thank you for your prayers.

Oh, yes.

Oh, my goodness. It has been felt. It has been heartfelt. I can't even begin to tell you. Our children, they knew the situation was rough.

Yeah.

But they didn't

Because they weren't getting their allowance anymore.

Yeah.

There was that, but they didn't I don't know how to explain it. It didn't affect their spirit.

We found fun things to do even if that was free. That wouldn't cost us money.

But the thing of sacrificing for them or with them, they just rolled with it. And that would not have happened without prayer and without the Lord and without all you guys just helping us out. So it's just been all around such a blessing.

I'll tell you a mistake I made, and you can kind of take this for what it's worth.

Okay.

You can say this was a mistake, but no, no, no. You did what a dad should do.

Okay.

Back at Christmas time, it was right after we moved. So we had only been here a little over a month.

Right.

And I just decided I'm going to give my kids a good Christmas. And so we really spoiled our kids this past Christmas. And then when January hit, I was going, oh man, I should not have done that.

Well, we were thinking within the first two months, we would sell the house.

We thought the house was going to sell. And so it was with that in mind. It was like, oh, how long is it going to take us to sell this house? Where the house was located was such a prized neighborhood.

Everybody else was selling their houses. The price that we were putting on that square footage, you couldn't get any better. And yet it just wouldn't sell. We could not get it to sell.

And yet it got better.

Yeah.

Because we lowered that price.

We lowered the price. Lowered it a lot.

It is sold.

Yes.

So we are so thankful.

I'm not complaining about that.

It is an answer to prayer.

Yup.

Huge answer to prayer. So thank you all so much.

So we are immensely grateful to you for the kindness that you've shown to us. We have no equity. We are in a rented house. The prices of homes around here are going to have to come down if we're going to be able to buy anything.

This house is great. I hate the idea of renting where we're just giving somebody else money when I could be putting into a mortgage. And then that money stays with us. But the house is great. The ability that we have to do this podcast, because we have a room to be able to do this.

In.

And I didn't realize until we moved to Texas how hard it was to find a room where you can record a podcast.

Yup.

Then we found this one moving to Arizona. It was like, it's got a room to record a podcast.

It does.

We got to stay here unless something

We don't have to build you one.

Really convenient. Yeah, yeah. We got to build something, which is what we did in Texas. And then I only had it for a few months and then we moved.

It was very helpful during those few months.

It was. It's like, why didn't I do this in the very beginning? This is what I wanted to do from the start, but kept talking myself out of it. No, it can't go here. It's got to go here. Yeah, I should have built it from the very first when we got there.

I should have just gone ahead and built the room. Anyway, here we are. So election's over. House is over.

Yes.

Amen. And amen.

Let's get to some questions.

Yes, let's.

So this question comes from Virginia. Actually, it's a comment about last week's broadcast. Hey there, Pastor Gabe and Becky, just wanted to let you know that on this podcast, which was last week around 50 minutes, when you were referencing Trump and abortion issues, you said Trump and his wife Kamala came out with a book instead of Melania, and you did it twice.

Oh no.

The book that Kamala came out with. Of course I did. But if you go back and listen to that episode now, you won't find it, because I have edited both of those mistakes out.

Well done, babe.

Thank you for alerting us to that, Virginia. I appreciate it. Thanks for the broadcast, she says. I so appreciate all you guys do, and I'm praying wholeheartedly. That's your Texas house sells.

Oh, thank you.

This is what we're talking about. We thank you so much for praying for us. Now she says, your sister in Christ, Virginia, formerly of Kenai, Alaska, now in Coeur d 'Alene,.

Idaho.

Oh, interesting. So, from cold to cold.

Yeah, that's right. From really cold to cold.

Cold.

Pretty cold.

And we've had somebody else that wrote to us from that city.

Oh, really?

Yes, because I remember we had the conversation about how you pronounce that.

Oh, right.

Yes.

Coeur d 'Alene, I think is how you pronounce it. But somebody can

I don't remember.

It's been too long.

Correct me again. Right, exactly. It's been too long, and I don't remember how we pronounced it before.

Yeah.

But, Virginia, you're going to have to share the story with us now. So send us an email.

Yeah, why'd you move?

Why'd you move?

That's awesome.

I would not be surprised if it's climate, but let us know. This next one is from Chris. Hello, Pastor Hughes. Recently, the whole issue with McLean Bible Church has made its way into the news cycle with David Platt and a documentary that was released on YouTube.

I don't know if you've seen this documentary. I don't know if it's on YouTube. Maybe it is. I'm sure it is. It's got to be spread there eventually. But it was on a website that was David Platt documentary.

Hang on.

Let me see if I can find it.

The Real David Platt?

The guy that wrote Radical.

No, no, no. Isn't that what it was on?

Oh, you're saying that the website was called The Real David Platt. You're right. That is it. You got it.

The Real David Platt.

Oh, okay.

The RealDavidPlatt .com. That's where it is.

I remember seeing that tagline everywhere.

Yeah.

I mean, not everywhere, but whenever I saw it.

People were sharing the link because that was where the documentary was.

Yes.

So part one and part two is right there, and I believe it may also be on YouTube by this.

Point.

But anyway, Chris goes on to say, I'm not asking your opinion on David Platt or what is going on with that particular church, but I am interested in understanding how what is taking place squares with what is written in 1 Corinthians 6.

I have seen several takes on what is happening and who each particular commentator ascribes fault to, but I've yet to see anyone address the fact that there are church members suing their church leaders in court and whether that is an action that is disobeying what Paul wrote.

Am I incorrectly applying 1 Corinthians 6 when I say that this lawsuit should not have been brought? Talking about the members of McLean Bible Church who sued the church leaders of McLean. I'd appreciate your thoughts on this prayers that the house in Texas sells soon.

Oh, that's so sweet.

Thank you so much. So, yeah, let's go to 1 Corinthians 6 and read this once again, where Paul talks about lawsuits brought against believers. When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous instead of the saints?

Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world and if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life?

So, if you have such cases, why do you lay them down before those who have no standing in the church? I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers?

But brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers? To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? But you yourselves wrong and defraud, even your own brothers.

So it's from this passage, 1 Corinthians 6, 1 through 8, that we've come to an understanding that we as Christians should not be suing each other. A brother should not be taking brother to court. But even when it comes down to handling these things between brothers, we're not supposed to have lawsuits at all with one another, even if you could keep it in the context of being in the brotherhood.

Because consider the line, to have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather be defrauded? Do you not realize how much this kind of thing divides brothers more? And then when you go into worldly courts, when you go into the world and try to get an unbeliever to settle this matter for you, you're subjecting yourself to their judgment when the reality is that we who are in Christ will be sitting on thrones and judging the world, talked about in Revelation 3.

It also is a scourge on the church. It brings a reproach against the gospel. Because the world sees us suing one another and going, where's the love of Christ among you guys? You people who say that you have the love of God, and here you are taking one another to court.

It's a terrible thing to do in the eyes of the world. And it's a terrible thing to happen in the context of the church. So what is my opinion with regard to McLean? I think the lawsuit is horrible. And it would have been better for them to have just been defrauded.

It would have been a terrible thing. There would have been a lot of losses. There would have been a lot of heartbreaks, certainly. But the lawsuit does nothing. And I know the way people will try to rationalize this, they'll say something to the effect of, well, David Platt and all these guys that did that crooked thing, they're not even Christians.

Anyway.

Guys, I'm sorry, but no.

It's still within the church.

It's still in the church. And I don't think that you have the judgment call to say that David Platt is hellbound. What they did was crooked. Everything that you see going on, I'm used to that kind of politics, because I've been Southern Baptist for a decade and a half.

I know exactly, none of that stuff was surprising to me. But it's still a horrible thing to try to rationalize in that way, well, I can sue a fellow believer, because you might even try to say something like, well, I wasn't suing an individual, I was suing an entity.

Doesn't matter in the eyes of the world. It's Christians suing Christians. There's no loophole here in 1 Corinthians 6. Christians should not be suing Christians, period. And when Paul says, I say this to your shame, it is a shameful thing.

And I want you to hear where I'm coming from. Becky and I have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars in our time of ministry. And I'm talking by believers who have defrauded us to some degree. I'm not going to say when and where, in what context all of this stuff happened.

We keep that private, because we don't want the church to be divided over this, and we don't want to bring that stuff out before the world. God has still taken care of us, even though we've been through stuff where we've been defrauded.

Amen.

And we're still provided for. So there's no reason for us to make a case out of it, no pun intended, but we continue on in the love of Christ, trusting God. God is going to sort all of that out, and anybody who had done evil toward us, that's going to be between them and God.

But we continue on with ministry. I'm just letting you know that. I'm not trying to gloat or anything like that. I just share that with you because this is coming from somebody who's experienced in.

This. Yes.

Well, and when we were going through it, you know, I've got a little bit of a temper at times.

You're German.

It's okay.

I am.

And Irish. And it's just, you know, it's hard to battle that. And if we would have taken any sort of action against it, it would have just fueled my anger. And I would have just been angry longer and more angry than what I was.

And instead, it was like snuffing out the flame, you know, it was just...

It would have made you bitter.

Yes, totally.

There would have been resentment. Every once in a while, it will come up between you and I, and there will be one of us has to get on the other one and like, it's over, right? We're not bringing it up anymore.

I know, but it's still a thing, no?

But the Lord provided, and he has answered. And in the most glorious way possible, that we can give him the glory. But in a case, you know, in the courtroom against, you know, brother against brother kind of thing or whatever, it just, it wouldn't, it would not glorify God.

Yeah.

And I've been in situations before too where, I mean, I've lost friends over this because they wanted to sue. And I opposed them, and that became a conflict between us. I can't believe you would stop me from doing this.

First Corinthians six is really clear.

It's very clear and very strongly worded.

Very strongly worded.

I mean, like, yeah.

This is one of those, there's no ambiguity here.