The Village Church
The Way of Faith Pt 2 - Audio
Open them to Matthew chapter 7. Well, it's exclusively embraced in Christ alone. Relationally connected to Christ, and fellowship, and communion, practically lived out on the Christ's lordship. Those were the three items that we discussed last week in terms of the way of faith for believers. And that was just part one of the sermon. As I told you last week, it was two sermons. So we're going to finish up this week, know the way of faith part two. And we're also going to finish up our series on the sermon on the Mount today as well. So please join me as we pray before we open up God's Word. Father God, this is your truth, your very words, and we pray that your spirit has to come. If the spirit does not move, Lord, nothing happens. I mean, nothing happens apart from the spirit moving. And so we need Him to come. Take these words, take this truth, apply it to my heart, and apply it to the hearts of everyone that's here today. Because we all need a word from Christ. We all need encouragement. Some of us need a challenge. Some of us need to be reviewed. Some of us need to be encouraged. So spirit, you know what we need. You know we need to hear this morning. And so I pray that you take these words and apply it to the hearts of your people. I pray for this in Christ's name, amen. Several weeks ago, I started praying that the Lord would give me a greater passion and heart for evangelism. And evangelism is basically sharing the good news of the gospel with non-believers. And He has given me many occasions to do that. And on one occasion, a homeless guy came by the church seeking help because his tent and some of his personal belongings were stolen from him. So Mark and I, we served him and we helped him. And I also took the opportunity to share the gospel with this guy, to plant a gospel seed in his heart. And at the end of the conversation, the spirit moved because he prayed to send his prayer. And I believe it was a true profession of faith. And I tell you this, why? Because the way of faith, yes, it's exclusively embracing Christ alone. It's relational to him. It's practically lived out before him. But the way of faith is also inclusively extended to other people. We extend our faith to other people. At sons and daughters of the king, when you share the gospel, that's you extending your faith to others. You see, the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. That's Romans 1. For in it, the righteousness of God is revealed. The gospel offers hope. The gospel offers life. The gospel offers peace, security, forgiveness, mercy, grace, reconciliation and restoration. It offers good news. And we as believers, we're not gospel hoarders. But some of us live that way. But we are supposed to be gospel extenders. We give that gospel to others. We share it with others. We exclusively extend it to other people. Jesus says here in Romans 7 verse 12, so whatever you wish, the others would do to you, do also to them. For this is the law and the prophets. With these words, Jesus himself is telling us, you have to exclusively extend your faith to other people. The truth behind this is that in these words, it's to love your neighbor as yourself. That's the heart of the golden rule in verse 12 here. Love in your neighbor as yourself. That is why Jesus concluded that verse with this sums up the law and the prophets. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word. What is it? You should love your neighbor as yourself. That's the law and the prophets. So whatever you wish, whatever you want, whatever you desire for other people to do to you, you do to them, how do you want to be treated? That's the question you should ask yourself this morning. How do you want to be treated? Spouses. Treat your spouse how you want to be treated. How you want to be treated as a spouse, that's how you treat your spouse. Sisters and brothers, treat your brother and sister how you want to be treated. Neighbors. Treat your neighbor how you want to be treated as a neighbor. Children, treat your parents how you want to be treated because one day you're going to have kids. Because one day you will have kids. Then you'll understand. Who here wakes up in the morning with the desire to be treated like the scum of the earth? Do you wake up in the morning and say, "Man, it's my goal to be treated like crap today." Who wakes up that morning with that desire? Who wakes up in the morning with the desire for other people to look down upon you? To be the subject of classroom or workplace gossip and slander. No one wakes up with those desires. So you treat people how you want to be treated. All of us want to be treated with dignity, right? Respect, appreciation, equality and so on. We all want to be treated with those things. And with that in mind Jesus commands us here where you treat other people with dignity then. You treat other people with respect. You appreciate others. You treat other people with equality. And this is not a request. This is not him likely asking you to do it. He is commanding you to do it. He wants it to be the way you practice something you practice in your life. In your words, in your actions and even your nonverbal responses. And other people. People here is just not referring to people you get along with. It's not referring to people you're like-minded with. It's also talking about people that are different than you. People you bump heads with. People who think differently than you. Who look differently than you. Who supports another football team than you. Whether it's still logically, socially, racially, culturally, educationally, religiously, politically. We exclusively extend our faith to others without bias or without discrimination. We love our neighbor as ourselves. Now here's the thing. Just because you do that is not a guarantee that you're going to get that in return. Just because you treat others the way you want it to be treated does not guarantee they're going to treat you the same way that you treat them. It's a probability that they will, but it's never guaranteed. And this is what gets a person's blood pressure up. It's that. When I treat a person with dignity and respect, the common curses, they would do the same to me, right? But when they don't, then that's when the blood pressure goes on. As Tam said last week, people will let you down all the time. And guess what? That includes you. Have you been let down, but you also let other people down too. So that's you as well. The call to love your neighbor as yourself is not based upon you receiving that same thing from them, but it's based upon who you are in Christ. And what he has called you to as a believer. As you embrace his love for you, you extend that love to other people. That's the way of faith. We embrace his love and wisdom that love to others. Even to those that are hard to love. And some people are hard to love. That's why he can't do without the spirit. You got to have the spirit move. So the way of faith is in inclusively extended to others. We do unto others as we wish them to do unto us. Next, the way of faith is merciful. Look at verse 1 on chapter 7. The judge not that you not be judged. But with the judgment you pronounce, you will be judged. And with the measure you use, it will measure to you. Why do you see the speak that is in your brother's eye? But do not notice the law that is in your own eye. Or how can you say to your brother, let me take the speak out of your eye where there's a log in your own eye. You hypocrite. First take out the log in your own eye. Then you will see clearly to take out the speak in your brother's eye. Do not give dogs what is holy. Do not throw your pearls before the pigs. Least the trumple of them underfoot and turn to attack you. The way of faith is merciful as opposed to judge mental. Jesus says, judge not that you not be judged. He is prohibiting us as his people as his disciples for living with a judge mental spirit. He wants to restrain that sharp, unjust criticism that comes out of our mouth at times. Basically, stop condemning others. That's what he's telling you to do this morning. Judge not that you not be judged. This phrase that you not be judged is letting you know that judging other people will eventually come back to you. In verse 2 he explains what he means by that. You see the judgment you pronounce, you will be judged. The measure you use, it will measure it to you. You yourself will receive judgment and God is the agent here. He is the one who judges. Us as well as non-believers as well. What are some of the things that believers judge other believers about? The actions, words, their lifestyle, the company they keep, parenting styles. That's a big one, right? We think how they speak, how they dress, what they believe, their theology and so on. We all have these little standards that we put upon other people and we judge them accordingly. Jesus says, when you do that, there's going to be a use against you as well. The measure that they use, and of course when we judge people, we always say this is the standard we judge people accordingly. This is the standard and Jesus says again, that standard, that measure will be used against you as well. You see, believers who comfortably live with a judgmental spirit has not come to realize that they are not the instrument of God's judgment. You are not the instrument of God's judgment. The last time I checked, there was only one who was upon the judgment thrown, and it's not us. You see, judgmental believers are not very merciful believers. They're to be the condemning to extend grace and mercy. To be the condemning to extend grace and mercy. Do you have a judgmental spirit or a merciful spirit? Which one do you live in? Which one do you live in? It's the question, because we all struggle with judgmental, but do you live in it? And never repent of it. The hard issue for those who live with a judgmental spirit is this. They are blind and not mindful. That's why Jesus asked these questions in Verses 3 and 4. Why do you see the specters in your brother's eye? He's asking you that question. Why do you see it? Brother can be your wife, your kids, your in-laws, whatever. Why do you see the specters in your brother's eye? How can you say to your brother, let me take the speck out of your eye? How and why? A speck is a sawdust. A speck is like a splinter, a piece of wood. It's a small moral defect. And Jesus is calling us out for quickly, easily seeing the faults and flaws of other people. And yet blind to our own. And yet blind to our own. He says, you don't know this. The log is in your own eye. And you need to go to the Greek to know that a log is bigger than a splinter. A believer who condemns fellow brothers and sisters for their shortcomings has been blinded by their own spirit of self-righteousness. That's the log that is waged in their eye. One Christian said, what is the spirit that condemns? It's a self-righteous spirit. Self is always at the back of it. It is always a manifestation of self-righteousness. A feeling of superiority. A feeling that we are all right while others are not. A spirit that is always ready to express itself into our tutorial matter, to despise others, to regard others with contempt, and to be hyper-critical. Is that you? And so believers who have this spirit does not know this, their own sin. Don't even see it. And when you confront another person about their sin, you come at them in the position of, I'm better than you. So that gives me a right to fix you and correct you because I'm better than you. So now let me show you where you're wrong. Let me show you where you need more Jesus. And you don't even see where you need more Jesus yourself. Everyone else need more of them, but self for you. How can you say it to your brother? Let me take out the speckles of us in your eye when there's a log in yours. There is a tendency, as Lyle said in his resurrection story, to think that another person's sin is a little more heinous than their own. Well, I ain't like them, Pastor Alex. I know I'm messed up, but I ain't that messed up. But yeah, you still messed up. It's the point. You still messed up. We quickly label people. The person's flops and faults and flaws and failings. They become the hot topic of the week in Bible study. And they become the sinner of what I call CPW. You know what CPW is? Church pew whispers. I can't believe she came to church today. I know, girl, I can't believe that either. A nerve or some people. Look at her, look at all innocent. If this wasn't the Lord's house, I would tear her off. Yeah, that's what we do. And if you can't, if you say he'd never done that, you're lying. 'Cause we all have. We're all guilty or worshiped by other people's sin. But to know what, we never approached you in love with them. We never pulled them to a side, but we just tam down. We tam down. But we never lovingly go to them and say, "Brother, sister, I see this in your life. I have concerns. It's better to gossip about you. You know why I quite make you feel better about your own junk?" That's why we do it. And you know what Jesus says to you? You hypocrite. That should cut all of us. You hypocrite. First, take the log out of your own eye. Then you would clearly see to take the speck out your brother's eye. He calls us hypocrites because those who pass judgment and condemns them the perfect person, you practice the same thing. You do the same thing. And so you have no reason to look down on anyone else. Let him who was without sin throw the first judgmental stone. Let him. If you are without sin, you pick up your judgmental stone and throw it. You know, you can't throw it. You have to put it back in your pocket because you're just as guilty. All of us are just as guilty. You see, Jesus, he wants us to have a healthy self-awareness of our own stuff, of our own failings, of our own flaws. Because when you have that, when you're calling out another brother, you're calling out another brother gracefully and mercifully. You are still in grace that you've cowed them out because you know why? Because you realize you have received mercy too. Because you know you have issues too. And so it's all about doing the right thing for the right motives here. This will help you to see clearly to take out your own brother's spectals and your brother's eye when you are mindful of your own junk. You see, the Christian life is all about balance. You guys have heard me say that before. And it's important to have this balance perspective when you read in this part of Matthew 7. Because you can read judge not and to think that Jesus never wants us to call anyone out for anything or to give just correction. And many people, even believers, will throw this verse in your face when you try to do it. When you try to call them out, even in a graceful manner, in a loving way, they'll still say to you, "Who will you judge me? Who put you in the judgment seat?" Well forgive me for not being perfect like his holiness. That's Jesus' point in verse 7 when he says, "Do not give dogs what is holy or throw your pearls before the pigs." Because not everyone is going to receive correction rightly. They're just not. They're just not. And they ain't going to hear it. Even when you're loving them, even when you pull them to the side, they ain't going to hear it. And Jesus says, "If that happens, just be silent, because there's nothing you can do." One pastor says, "Jesus does not want us to actually call anyone a pig or a dog, but he's teaching us that it may be necessary to assess our audience. There are times when the words are truth, such as Jesus is here, but not get a fair hand. People just don't want to hear it, and then we must be silent." You can have the best intentions when confronting a family member, a fellow brother, sister and the Lord. You can do an intervention, but not everyone is going to want to hear it. Not everyone is going to want correction. But if you are a believer who is growing in their faith, you should welcome correction. You should welcome fellow brothers and sisters approaching you in the right way when they see things in your life that could be harming you or your family. You should welcome that. You should want that. Because Jesus does not want us to continue to live and unrepent the sin, but he does want us to confront each other with an awareness of our own issues. So I want you to turn to the person next to you. I want you to say this. You know what's coming. Neighbor? All God's people got issues. You got issues? I got issues. And when I forget that, that's the issue. If you live by that, we get them in the issue of conflict in this church. Well, I got to repeat that. I'm sorry. You can start repeating me now. But if you believe and practice that in our relationships, you will get through all the conflict that we're going to have. Because they're going to come. But you got to know we all bring issues to the table. Every last one of us. Every last one of us. Proverbs 27 says, "Faithful, all the wounds of a friend." Minitate on that. Faithful, all the wounds of a friend. Wounds from a friend are intended to help you. It hurts, but you know what? It's for all good. And you all have the right to wound me. If you see something in my life, challenge me. Pull me to the side. You know, in a loving way, do it. Do it for one another. There is a place in the Christian life for just criticism, just correction, and just rebuking. We all need accountability. None of us are above it. The pastor down. We all need it. The way of faith. Inclusively extended to others. It's a merciful. As opposed to judgmental. And next, the way of faith is fruitful. Turn to verse 15. "The well-frost prophets who come to you in sheath clothing, but inwardly, are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Our grapes gathered from thorn bushes or bees from thistles. So every healthy tree bears good fruit. But the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit. Nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruit." The way of faith is also fruitful as opposed to fruitless. Jesus says the well-frost prophets. This means he wants you to pay attention. To keep on the lookout, to be alert, to be on your guard. Could choose to leave a false prophet. Where is a false prophet you may ask yourself? One author says false prophets makes mistakes in the fundamentals of the faith. They misrepresent God. They misrepresent the gospel. They deny that we are saved by grace through faith in Christ alone. They oppose God's message and his messengers and they resist correction. And yet they present themselves as a true prophet, teacher, preacher, evangelist, whatever. They dress in cheap clothing. They dress as a sheep, but inwardly in the hearts, the wolf, praying upon the sheep. And that's the dangerous thing. Why? Because they leave people straight. These wolves pretend to be sheep and seem to be sheep because they speak the Christian language. They know the stories. They don't even know theology. They know the truth and they twist it and they bend it and it seems like truth. That's successful. They have college degrees, seminary degrees, PhD in front of their name. They know how to preach and teach. And Jesus is telling us don't fall in love with the outward clothing. Don't fall in love with it. But you got to look beneath the surface. Look beneath the appearance. You will recognize them by their fruit. Does their life match up with what they preach? That's what he's saying. Looks are always deceiving. Are they not? Jesus says false prophets, false sheep, will not bear good fruit. It won't do it. A healthy, sorry, grapes are not gathered from throwing bushes, figs are not from thistles. If you are a true sheep, a true prophet, a true preacher, a teacher, in the Lord, then you're going to bear good and healthy fruit. You're not going to bear bad fruit. Now that doesn't mean you're going to struggle. That means there'll be something in your life that shows that you are who you say you are. Why? Because those who are bad and good fruit are rooted and grounded in Christ through saving faith. And if you have that, then fruit is going to be produced in your life. It's just going to happen because of you're grounded in the true source of it. And what are these fruits? It's Christ-like character. I mean, the beatitudes that crown out loud. Those are fruits that are produced in us. The fruit is spirit, faith and repentance. All those things are things that are produced in us. And here's the thing. If you're not producing fruit, how can you recognize the false prophet? Can you? If you're not, if you're not producing your life like this, how do you know what is true or how do you know if a guy is telling you the truth or telling you something else alive? You can't if you're not in the world yourself. If you never open up the Bible yourself, you can't know. When the fruit is produced in us as believers, it gives us what one of my friends called a godly swagger. What do I mean by that? It means you're going to watch your life and you're going to watch what you believe. You're going to know what is true and what is not true. And you're going to strive to live the way Jesus wants you to live because you have that swagger about you. Now I believe it's lived that way. Because some of us are spirits are naive and gullible. We believe anything. Someone said because they got something in front of their name. Spirits are naive and gullible questions. You're going to be dazzled about the celebrity of a preacher. Ah, he's famous. Well, he writes books or everything he says must be true. We're in love with the outer appearance of a teacher. And we spoke of everywhere they say. And my recommendation to you that if you're going to be a sponge, at least be a sponge in clean water and not dirty water. Being clean water. False prophets are giving you dirty water. And some people drink it up by the gallon. Some sheep who claim to be sheep enjoy the dirty water. That's what Peter Paul tells Timothy and Timothy for. For time is coming when people were not in duer sound teaching. But having ancient ears, they were accumulate for themselves. Teachers that suit their own passions and would turn away from listening to the truth. They weren't all intimates. So it ain't just the false teachers. It's even a sheep. As well. Put people in front of them and tell them what they want to hear. To assume that each itching ears. You will produce fruit in your life if you truly know Jesus. And you will recognize those who are selling you lives. If you're in Christ and if you're in the Word. The way of faith produces good and healthy fruit as opposed to bad and diseased fruit. The way of faith is six things. Six. Exclusively embracing Christ alone. Relationally connected to him. It's practically lived out for him. It's inclusively extended to others and it's merciful and it's fruitful. And the question that should be run through your mind is how can this be a reality in my life. How? Pastor Alex. Well you gotta ask for it. You gotta seek for it and you gotta knock for it. Through persistent prayer. And that's what Jesus is telling us in verses 7 and it's 7-3-11. Ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find knock and it will be open to you. For everyone who has received and the one who seeks finds and the one who knocks it will be open to him. Or which of you who asks if his son asked you for bread would give him a stone. Or if he has for a fish will give him a serpent. If you then who are able know how to give good gifts to your children. How much more will your Heavenly Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask of him. Those six things we've been talking about are good things. Have you ever asked for them? Have you ever asked for it? Have you ever sought for it? Have you ever knocked for it? Because he says he, if you ask for that I'll give it to him. Because you can't take that thing he's, that's talking about, he's gonna give me all my cravings and my lusts. We've already dealt with that in this Lord's Prayer. No, this is him giving you the things that are gonna draw you closer to his heart. Him taking care of you. See we need God's provision, we need God's counsel and we need his direction. Those three things make the way of faith the reality in our life. And you get his counsel and his direction and his provisions through who? The Spirit. Jesus gets us into the kingdom. There's the Spirit who applies everything in the kingdom to our hearts. Everything that we've talked about in this summer on the Mount is made applicable to you only through the Spirit. He has to produce it in you. And if you're not saying it, what do I need to do? Do I need to do violence, repent and pray, Spirit, make it a reality? For me, in my heart, and he will. Because in Luke's version of this passage it says how much more would the Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him? When was the last time you asked for more of the Spirit's power in your life? When was the last time and for Christians in our country, we care less about that. We care less about that. But you've got to ask for it. The Spirit that come into your marriage, the Spirit that come into where you're dealing with, and he'll come. A friend of mine I met with last week, he has a friend who's in the ministry. The marriage has fallen apart but his ministry is great. And this pastor asked him, "Do you expect God to do great things in your marriage?" And he said, "No." That's a lot of Christians in our country. We don't expect God to do nothing. And he told me, "This is my friend," so he said, "I want you to pray. And I want you to pray that Spirit give you heart that you expect God to do something in your marriage." He called me a few months later and said, "Brother, the Lord wrote the miracle." He wrote the miracle in my marriage. And we've got to expect the Lord to show up. Do you expect it in your marriage and whatever you're dealing with in this church? Because if he don't show up, it ain't nothing happening. So you take from this sermon, you ask for it, you knock for it, and you seek for it. For him to show up in the middle. And when he shows up baby, things happen. Let us pray. Father God, I don't always expect you to show up. And that's the weakness in my own faith. A man with a little faith. But Lord, I pray that this Spirit of expectation, I would expect you to show up. Even when things seem to be falling apart, I know that my God is still in the midst of all this. And so I pray for all of us here that we would expect with great expectations for our Father to show up in whatever we're dealing with, in whatever's going on. And Lord, you do show up. Through your Spirit, you will come. So give us patience, give us perseverance to wait upon you. No one has seen or I has heard a God who acts on those who wait for him. Give us the Spirit to wait for our God to move, and you do move in your time. And craft him up right in there.