Love Worth Finding

Guest (Male): What does the Bible really say about judging others? Listen to Adrian Rogers.

Adrian Rogers: Now people say that Jesus said we're not to judge. May I tell you frankly, clearly, plainly that is not so. Jesus taught us to judge. He said don't give that which is holy to dogs. Don't cast your pearls before swine. Sounds to me like you have to discriminate to find out where the dogs and hogs are.

The Bible clearly and plainly teaches discrimination. To discriminate means to see what is good and to see what is bad. If you don't teach your children to discriminate, you've failed as a father or mother.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Love Worth Finding, featuring the dynamic teaching and biblical lessons of acclaimed pastor and author Adrian Rogers. The new religion of the day is tolerance. What used to be a beautiful concept of recognizing and respecting others' beliefs without sharing them is now a toxic practice.

Tolerance was once a good virtue—everyone's entitlement to their own opinion. Now, tolerance is the insistence that all opinions are correct. How are we to respond to a world that abides by this practice? If you have your Bible, turn to Matthew chapter 7 as Adrian Rogers gives insight on tolerance: the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Adrian Rogers: The new religion in America is tolerance. Tolerance. It used to be that the best known verse was John 3:16, but no longer. The verse that people will quote to you almost more than any other verse is Matthew 7:1: "Judge not, that ye be not judged." Today, the only sin in America is to call sin sin.

I'm going to be speaking today on this subject: tolerance—the good, the bad, and the ugly. Now, tolerance as we learned it, as we grew up with it, is a good word. I'll call it the old tolerance. Let me tell you what Webster said that tolerance was and what tolerance is. Webster said to recognize and respect others' beliefs, practices, etc., without sharing them, and to bear or put up with someone or something not especially liked.

That's what tolerance is, and that's a good virtue. The children were studying the Ten Commandments, and they said, "Now, apply these, boys and girls, to living at home. What commandment would apply to living with brothers and sisters?" A little boy lifted his hand and said, "Thou shalt not kill." There are things at home we have to tolerate. We don't always like them. There are things at work we have to tolerate.

There are many things in society that we do not approve of or believe in, but we tolerate. There are many other kinds of beliefs that we do not share, but we tolerate, and we ought to tolerate. That is good tolerance. But there is a different kind of tolerance that has come today that has become the new religion in America. It does not simply mean that we put up with, we bear, or we forbear. It is an uncritical tolerance that accepts all truth as equal.

That is, you cannot say today, "This is right and that is wrong." If you do that, you are intolerant. And to be intolerant is the great sin in America today. Now, obviously, we should respect all people. If we disagree with them, we should live with them as much as possible peaceably. We must hold true to our faith. I would not force my faith on anybody if I could, and I couldn't if I would. I believe in absolute, total freedom to choose in religious things.

But there is an uncritical tolerance that our boys and girls are being taught in school, and you need to understand this. This uncritical tolerance accepts all truths as equal. There used to be a time when you preached, and you would preach on the inerrancy of the Word of God, or the virgin birth, or the bodily resurrection. Someone would say, "I don't agree with that." You could argue, and you could discuss, and you could philosophize.

You could take the Word of God and other sources and go back and forth, trying to determine what is true and what is not true. But that's not so today. If you were to tell somebody today, "I believe in the virgin birth. I believe in the absolute, sinless deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe in His vicarious death upon the cross," today with the new tolerance, you would not be argued with.

They would say, "That's wonderful. That's your truth. Now let me tell you my truth." When you get down to it, there is no fixed standard for anybody's truth. All truths today are considered equal. The old tolerance says that people have a right to their opinions. The new tolerance says all opinions are right. So if you say, "Jesus Christ is the only way," you're in trouble.

If you say that there is a fixed standard of right and wrong, then today you're going to be looked down upon as an ogre, a sinner, and intolerant. The new tolerance says we're not merely to allow, we are to endorse all truths as morally equivalent. The new tolerance doesn't say we are to forbear; the new tolerance says we are to approve.

Therefore, your children and our children are being put into classes today—and I'm not exaggerating—sensitivity classes where they're taught that sexual preference, one sexual preference as over against another sexual preference, is just a matter of equality, and we're to approve all sexual preference. One form of marriage as over against another so-called form of marriage—for example, two people of the same sex—all of these things are to be looked upon as morally equivalent.

We are taught now to accept under the guise of tolerance these things. Now let's look at the Word of God. Matthew chapter 7, verse 1. I told you that Matthew chapter 7, verse 1 is perhaps the most quoted verse today. If you were to say "this is right" or "this is wrong," someone would say, "Uh-uh-uh, Jesus said thou shalt not judge." Well, let's read it. Read it in context.

"Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye."

"Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you." There are three words I want you to keep in your heart and in your mind as we study the Word of God this morning. The first word is the word discriminate. The second is the word tolerate. And the last word is the word to examine.

Discrimination, toleration, examination are the backbone, the spine of what I want to say today as I talk to you about tolerance: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Number one, there should be a time of discrimination. Discrimination has become an ugly word, but it's not always ugly. If you don't teach your children to discriminate, you've failed as a father or mother. To discriminate means to see what is good and to see what is bad.

Discrimination is simply evaluation, elimination, appropriation. I evaluate: this is good and this is bad. I eliminate: I turn from that which is bad. I appropriate: I choose that which is good. Now people say that Jesus said we're not to judge. May I tell you frankly, clearly, plainly that is not so. Jesus taught us to judge. Let me give you some scripture now where Jesus very clearly and very plainly teaches us to judge.

John chapter 7 and verse 24: "Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment." Don't tell me that Jesus said not to judge. He says, "Judge righteous judgment." And then in Matthew chapter 7, this same chapter again, verses 15 and following: "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?"

What's he saying? You can't gather grapes from thorns and figs from thistles. You just can't do that. What he is saying is you have to learn that there is a difference between right and wrong. In this same context where our Lord says, "Judge not, that ye be not judged," he said, "Don't give that which is holy unto dogs. Don't cast your pearls before swine." Sounds to me like you have to discriminate to find out where the dogs and hogs are, who they are, and what they are.

The Bible clearly and plainly teaches discrimination. Let me give you some verses outside of the context. 1 Corinthians 2, verse 15: "He that is spiritual judgeth all things." Are you spiritual? Then you're going to learn to judge all things. The word here judge comes from the word 'krino,' and it has a number of different meanings. It can mean to separate, it can mean to choose, it can mean to select, it can mean to determine, it can mean to condemn.

The meaning must be determined by the context. When the Bible says he that is spiritual judges all things, the word here is he discerns. He understands. He sees through. He makes an evaluation. He makes a discrimination. He judges all things. 1 John 4, again the same idea: "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits," test the spirits, "whether they are of God."

Don't go around with pudding between your ears saying, "Well, I'm not going to say anything is right or anything is wrong because Jesus said not to judge." To the contrary, Jesus said, "Judge righteous judgment." He that is spiritual judgeth all things. Now, you see, there's a difference between your personal evaluation of things and the Word of God. For example, if I were to say from myself to Ken, there is 15 feet right now.

That would be about right, but it wouldn't be exact. If I were to take a tape measure and measure from here to there and say it's 15 feet and 6 inches, then that's not an evaluation and a judgment that comes out of my own heart and mind—that is a measurement. There are certain things that are right and there are certain things that are wrong. Listen to me very carefully. I know they're right and wrong because of God's yardstick: the Bible.

It's not my own opinion. Listen to me: adultery is wrong because God says so. Fornication is wrong because God said so. Sodomy is wrong because God says so. Stealing is wrong because God says so. Lying is wrong because God says so. Drunkenness is wrong because God said so. We have God's Ten Commandments. These are measurements.

Today our world hates moral absolutes. Our world hates for anybody to say "this is right" and "this is wrong." And if you confront society with the kind of preaching I'm doing today, people will call me—and believe it or not they do—bigoted. Can you imagine that, sweet as I am? Bigoted, narrow, prejudicial, arrogant, self-centered, narrow-minded—that's what we'll be called.

But I'm telling you, ladies and gentlemen, we need to teach our boys and girls there is a right and there is a wrong. Now some people call that kind of talk unloving. But contrary, to fail to lift up your voice like a trumpet and show my people their sin is unloving. Put in your margin Leviticus 19, verse 17. Listen: "Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: rebuke thy neighbor, and not suffer sin upon him."

What's he saying? He's saying that to rebuke sin is loving. To fail to rebuke sin is hate. Love says that we must speak clearly. The preacher who loves is not the preacher who glosses over sin. The preacher who loves is one who speaks clearly. So the first point is simply this: there is a time where we have a discrimination. That is, we look at life and we discriminate according to the Word of God. This is right and this is wrong.

We make that discrimination, and after that discrimination, then there's an appropriation: we choose that which is right. There is an elimination: we refuse that which is wrong. Now here, let's shift gears. Not only is there a time for discrimination, but there is a time for toleration. I'm talking about good old-fashioned tolerance. When our Lord here says judge not, that ye be not judged, he's talking about a person being intolerant of faults in other people.

He's not saying that we deny faults in other people. As a matter of fact, he said once we get the log out of our own eye, we'll see more clearly how to get the speck out of our brother's eye. He's not saying there's no speck. He's not saying it doesn't need to be taken away. But what he is saying is you are forbidden to exercise unmerciful, self-righteous condemnation of another person—hypocritical judgment, especially when you yourself are guilty of doing the same thing.

Let me give you another verse that I think is a good commentary on Matthew 7, verse 1, also from the Gospels, Luke chapter 6, verses 36 and 37: "Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven." This is simply an extrapolation of Matthew 7, verse 1.

What he is saying is if I have some problems—notice the if—I do. I've got some big ones. I need your mercy. I need your help. I need your forgiveness. I need your love. I need your support. I don't need your judgment. I don't need your condemnation. That doesn't mean I expect you to say, "Oh, whatever you're doing is all right," if what I'm doing is not all right. If it is sin, you need to lovingly rebuke me, but you have no right to judge me.

Number one, because you haven't got what it takes to judge me. I don't have what it takes to judge you. Even the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment to the Son. When you judge other people without mercy, not whether or not what they're doing is right or wrong, but when you judge them in a condemning way, in an unmerciful way, what you're doing is usurping the rights and the prerogatives of the Lord Jesus Christ.

What you're also doing is you are acting like the devil. The Bible tells us that it is the devil who is the accuser of the brethren. Don't go around judging other people, condemning other people, examining their motive. There is no one big enough, no one just enough, no one loving enough to judge us but God Himself. Surely the Judge of all heaven and earth will do right.

Now why is it that we tend to have this merciless judgment? Why is it that we tend to be intolerable when we ought to tolerate other people lovingly? Well, one of the reasons, very frankly, is the sin that's in our own hearts and in our own lives. That's what Jesus Christ is talking about here. He said you're looking for a speck of sawdust in your brother's eye, and you've got a sawlog in your own eye. You are a hypocrite.

Now why do we see fault in other people? It's a form of projection many times because of the sin that's in our own lives. We hope somehow to make ourselves better by condemning somebody else. If we pull them down, we pull ourselves up just a little bit. Therefore, a person to see a speck of dust in somebody's eye has to be looking pretty close, wouldn't you agree? Especially if he's got a sawlog in his own eye.

What he is seeing is what he is looking for, hoping to find. It's amazing what people find. You will get what you look for. You see, there are people who are just simply looking for a speck in somebody else's eye because they have a log in their own eye. We need to examine ourselves. That's the reason the Lord tells us so much that we're to be merciful: because we are the ones that need mercy.

Guest (Male): Coming up tomorrow, we'll hear part two of this insightful lesson from God's Word. But maybe today you have questions regarding how to place your faith fully in what Jesus did for you. Go to our website—there's a Find Answers page where you'll find resources and materials that will answer questions you may have. We also invite you to check out our Grow Your Faith page. You can get grounded and dig deeper in the scriptures right there. Go to lwf.org/radio and click the tab that says Find Answers or Grow Your Faith. We can't wait to hear from you today.

Cary Vaughn: Hi, this is Cary Vaughn, and this program has been brought to you by Love Worth Finding, a non-profit ministry showcasing the powerful preaching and teaching of Pastor Adrian Rogers. We operate solely through the generous gifts of individual supporters just like you. To give a gift today, call 1-877-LOVEGOD. That's 1-877-LOVEGOD. You can also connect with us online by going to lwf.org/radio. There we offer helpful resources inspired by the timely teachings of Pastor Rogers. Or even write to us at Love Worth Finding, Box 38600, Memphis, Tennessee 38183. Thank you for listening today, and be sure to join us next time for more profound truth, simply stated, right here on Love Worth Finding.

Guest (Male): We loved reading a note from a teacher in New Zealand who shared this: "During devotions this term, I am teaching the students about God's names. I've just come across the pictures of God's names on your website. I just wanted to let you know that I plan to print and hang them up in the classroom, and I really appreciate that they are readily available."

At Love Worth Finding, we are honored to be able to share these timeless teachings and the exciting new resources we develop to help you flourish in your faith, no matter your age. That's why when you donate to the ministry right now, we want to send you our 30-day devotional, Calling God's Names. Do you know God is Jehovah Jireh, your provider, or Jehovah Rapha, your healer? This devotional guides you through the names of God and what they reveal about His character. Request it when you call with a gift at 1-877-LOVEGOD. And thank you for your generous support of Love Worth Finding.