Regaining Lost Ground

Pastor Shane Idleman: You are full of death inside. You are dead and decaying. You draw nigh to me with your lips, but your hearts are far from me. And He just rebukes these religious leaders. Hypocrisy, spiritual pride. Because spiritual pride says right now that sermon's not for me. Let me get this CD for Bill. And we try to defend, and it's ironic. Sometimes I'll go to people and say, "Listen, don't you see this in your own life?" "No, but I'm defending the truth." No, you're arrogant. Defenders of the truth are broken and humble, not perfect. Are your words seasoned with grace?

Guest (Male): Thank you for joining us here at Westside Christian Fellowship, located in Leona Valley, California, one hour north of Los Angeles. Today's message on Regaining Lost Ground is titled "Who Are You to Judge Me?" and is from the sermon series "The Bible Doesn't Say That."

In this message, Pastor Shane confronts the excuses for man's rejection of God's biblical authority and uncovers the lies Satan constantly employs to keep the church powerless. A strong encouragement for prayer and petition for the Holy Spirit to use us unhindered by sin, all for the glory of our Savior King Jesus.

You can hear the whole message at Pastor Shane's YouTube and Rumble channels. Make sure to subscribe today. For more information, visit us online at westsidechristianfellowship.org. We also encourage you to hear more truth from Pastor Shane with the Idleman Unplugged weekly podcast. And now from Westside Christian Fellowship in Leona Valley, California, here is Pastor Shane Idleman.

Pastor Shane Idleman: We are starting a new series this morning and it is titled "The Bible Doesn't Say That." "The Bible Doesn't Say That." I don't know if you've come across over the years that you've been a Christian or the months, maybe, where you wonder, is that really in the Bible? Does God help those who help themselves? Was there really three wise men in the Bible? Did you know there weren't?

What? We don't know how many wise men there were. But I'm not against three wise men. There's frankincense and myrrh and gold and the gifts. We also, I'm assuming you know He wasn't born on December 25th. Christmas, okay. So there's a lot of things that aren't necessarily in the Bible, but I'm not going to talk about those issues. The title this morning is "Who Are You to Judge Me?" "Who Are You to Judge Me?"

Now, unless you've lived on another planet for the last few years, you realize that this is the popular statement these days. This is how Hollywood and Washington get out of a conviction. Who are you to judge me? I remember a famous athlete, a pro basketball player, who was considering running for public office and they mentioned the big issues of the day and whatever, abortion, gay marriage, and different things.

And he said, "Doesn't the Bible say judge not? Who are you to tell people what they can and cannot do?" Isn't that a good point? Because the Bible says judge not. Who are you to judge? So we're going to talk about a lot of those issues in this series. Does the Bible really say this? And here is the problem up front, I'll tell you. Biblical illiteracy. Most Americans, even those claiming to be Christians, really don't know what the Bible says.

They might have glanced through it. They might hear a sermon now and then. They might have a little daily devotional that has one little scripture in Proverbs. And if you're not careful, you can take things out of context. And even the best of us are guilty of picking and choosing certain scriptures. Like, oh, I like this. Like a menu, you're going through a buffet. Remember those? They still have those around?

I'll take this, I'll take this, I don't like this. And if we're not careful, we can go through the Bible like that. I don't like this, but I really like this. And abusive husbands will say, "Well, I like this scripture: submitting to your wives." Well, that's out of context. And then others will use it for this. And biblical illiteracy is pretty rampant right now, especially in the church.

I remember I just heard a story about a pastor who went to a couple's house for dinner. And she set out the nice silverware, the expensive silverware, actually real silver and the spoon. And after he left, she noticed that the spoon was gone. He took the spoon. And this really bothered her. So for many months, many months, she was praying and, "Lord, I don't know what to do." Months went by, I think almost a year went by.

And she finally had the courage to say, "Did you take my spoon?" And he said, "I did. I put it in your Bible." Funny, but not funny. And one of the difficulties with pastoring is you tell people, you know, you got to read the Bible, got to read the Bible. We all know that. But you need to actually go a little deeper. Make it a spiritual discipline.

We'll go to the gym, we'll do things we don't feel like sometimes, the flesh, but you have to make it a daily discipline so it actually becomes part of your life. It becomes part of your morning or evening, it becomes part of something you look forward to. You start to spend time with God. Maybe you have a journal. I've tried to journal a lot of times. I'm not really effective at it.

But you'll write down thoughts, God, what about this? And prayers and have it be a part of your life. And as you go through the scriptures, write down questions you have. Get to know the Bible and then let the Bible know you. Let it cut you deep. Let it begin to build as well. So it has to become a daily discipline, especially now in our culture, to know what the Bible really says.

Do you know it has something to say about a nation protecting borders, following law? It speaks into all these issues. That's why everybody is saying that is against conservatives and biblical principles will say, "You're not to judge. The Bible just says love your neighbor." In context though, what does it say? And often the Bible will put the responsibility back on us. We have the ability and the responsibility to respond.

And Tony Evans said, "Truth takes the guesswork out of life." I love that statement. Knowing the truth takes the guesswork out of life. You don't have to wonder about this, wonder about this. Should we be doing this? Should I be dating that person? Should we be marrying this person? Truth takes all the guesswork out of life. You know how God wants you to live.

So where do we find this famous, famous, famous scripture? Judge not. Matthew 7, verse 1. Jesus is talking, obviously, and He says, "Judge not that you be not judged." So don't judge people lest you're going to be judged according to that same judgment. "For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with what measure you use, it will be measured back to you."

So just in that one verse you could see where people maybe come up with this. Hey, don't judge. Don't judge me. I won't judge you because however you judge me, it's going to come right back on you. But here is the irony. Very few people reference the context. They don't look at the context and they forget about other scriptures such as John 7:24, where Jesus says, "Judge with righteous judgment."

Wait a minute. Isn't that a contradiction? Judge not, but then He says judge with righteous judgment. Well, again, look at the context and we're going to do that in a minute. But in 1 Corinthians 2:15, the Apostle Paul said that those who are spiritual should judge and discern all things. So here is the biblical mandate.

Those who are mature, those who are spiritual, those who are seeking God, they should be the ones judging what's going on in our culture. That's why the pulpit should speak about issues in our culture and not be silenced. That's why you'll hear separation of church and state. What does that mean basically? Church, be quiet. Keep your faith to yourself. Keep it within your four walls.

Don't talk about these issues. But God has given us a biblical mandate to discern all things. To say it's not okay to murder a child in the womb or outside the womb now. To say this is what God says about marriage. To say this is what our policy should look like. We're actually called to do that. It shouldn't take up all of our time. The priority of the pulpit is to preach the gospel, but also to discern what is going on in our culture.

Here is what John Calvin said about these words of Christ. "These words of Christ do not contain an absolute prohibition from judging, but they are intended to cure a disease." That disease is criticism. See, the context is Jesus is going after a critical heart. Sin sniffers. Do you know those people? Maybe you're that person.

You can sit and point out the sin in everybody out there and you don't look in the mirror. You don't look in your own heart. So whatever you're using to judge, that's going to be thrown back on you. That same judgment. It's a call against a critical spirit. I like what Martin Luther King Jr. said. "The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state. We are the conscience of the state."

The church is to be the conscience of the state. That light on a hill. So how can you remove the church from politics or remove the church from Hollywood? We should be making a difference in media. We should be making a difference in all areas of life. Unless you read the scripture differently, you shall be a light upon a hill. Go and be the salt of the world. But don't affect these areas. Stay out of those areas.

See, the truth is to permeate, saturate all areas of our culture. From the sex slave trade, we should be vocal. From what they're trying to do. And the big thing, let's look at governmental spending. Look at what we're leaving for the next generation. We've got this Hezekiah attitude where at least it's not going to affect me. I'm out of here before God judges. So the church should be able to speak into all these issues.

Think about this. Moses spoke to Pharaoh, Nathan spoke to David, Samuel spoke to Saul, prophets throughout the Old Testament and even into the New Testament. Paul went to King Agrippa. You would speak into the culture. So regarding moral issues that destroy lives and dishonor God, we are called to judge, which is basically to call into question behaviors, choices, and lifestyles that lead people in a dangerous direction.

Especially if these issues are to become social policy and legally sanctioned. So when they say, judge not, we have to remind them, no, we're actually called to judge. And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye? We have some speck hunters maybe here. Well, what's that in your eye? Huge plank. So Jesus says why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye?

Basically going around, do you know those people? Boy, they can find fault in anything. Any public speaker, anything. I've told you before, if you ever want criticism, start a church. If you ever want criticism, start a radio station. As you know, we just launched the Westside Christian Fellowship Radio Network. And I'm getting emails from people, "How can you have Greg Laurie and Alistair Begg and David Jeremiah? They're part of the one world religion and they're false teachers."

I'm like, what in the world are you smoking? What do you drinking? What Bible are you reading? "Well, I think they had lunch with a Catholic priest two years ago." Oh boy, I guess they're leading people. See, pick that little speck. That little speck. They're going, that's all they do. And it drives me crazy, these armchair quarterbacks, heresy hunters with these negative websites just like to go and pull down everybody because they don't measure their standard.

And often, if you follow that person around, you'll see a lot of sin in their life. They're a Pharisee. So Jesus said, "How do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but you 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? You hypocrite! First, first, here's the key. You want to judge others or speak into their lives?

You want to maybe have a ministry or some of you listening out there, I know a lot of pastors listen in, and this as well. If you want to speak into this area of judging, you want to make spiritual judgments, here's the key. First remove the plank from your own eye. What's He talking about? You have to be completely broken. Humble before God.

We shouldn't be excited about pointing out sin. We should be broken about the sin. First remove the plank from your own eye, then you'll be able to see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. Do not give what is holy to the dogs, nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet and tear you in pieces. Now we'll get to that in a minute, but I don't want to leave this one.

First remove the plank from your own eye and then you'll be able to see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. Now, I'll just tell you up front, admittedly, I've failed in this area because I did not exercise grace at opportune times. I just told my wife this morning. It is so hard to go from like a John the Baptist, right, you hear calling the nation to repentance, calling the political system out, calling that being that voice in the wilderness, calling people back to God.

And then when I step down from here, I have to become Mr. Rogers. Nice, gentle, meek, understanding, compassionate, listening. Not overbearing. See, you go from this type A preaching to that's the balance, that's the struggle. So in order to do that, he says here, remove that speck from your eye. Humble yourself.

We should not excuse sin in exchange for tolerance. Extending grace does not mean we approve of sinful behavior, but it does mean extending compassion. Romans 14:4, "Who are you to judge another servant? Who are you to judge another servant?" A judge hears the evidence and pronounces judgment. We are in no position to do that. We do not have all the facts.

So you'd have to look up this word "judgment" that Paul's talking about in Romans, but it's a different type of judgment. It's a judgment like saying you're going to hell. You don't deserve God. You've always drifted. You're a false this, you're a... and you're judging the person. We're in no position to do that. But we are called to make righteous judgment types of decisions.

For example, I have told people based on the fruit I see in your life, I would be very concerned. Do you truly know Christ? Do you have a relationship with Him? See, I'm not judging them and coming down hard on them. I'm bringing a reality to them that there's no fruit. There's no fruit in your life. And it's interesting, one of the sure signs of someone who's been filled mightily with the spirit of God is they're anxious to get that plank out.

They're humble, they're broken. They're often just weeping at their own sins and looking in their own hearts. And then when they go to someone, it's coming out of a spirit of love, not this, not the finger pointing. And what we sow, we do reap. What we sow, we reap. A judgmental attitude is often judged. I've seen this many times before. These people maybe their ministry gets big or they're heresy hunters or they're in the church and they're very critical.

They're a critical type of person always judging, always putting down. Be careful. Your day's coming, sir. You will fall because pride comes before a fall. Those people often just fall flat on their face. And I can't tell you how many heresy hunters, how many arrogant, critical armchair quarterbacks and mean-spirited websites there are under the banner of defending the truth. That's how they hide.

I'm just defending the truth. No, you're arrogant. You're mean-spirited. And it has to be called out. We call out sin in carnal Christians, we have to call sin out in Pharisees as well. Those who have not been humbled by God. But let me give you a test. Are you excited about critiquing others? But you see what I'm going after, an attitude there.

There's an excitement about critiquing others. Are you argumentative and very opinionated? That's not always a good thing. Actually the Bible talks about even leaders in the church should not be quarrelsome, should not be argumentative. You've got to stand for the essentials for sure. But when it comes to non-essentials, you have to allow people the freedom to believe what they want to believe.

Because if you're always critiquing others, you're argumentative and you're very opinionated. Do you leave churches because you disagree with someone on things that aren't important? See, it's showing the heart. It's revealing what's in the heart. And are you excited about telling others that someone failed or someone's in sin? I can't believe it. And you're excited.

So see, it's just spirit of I'm just so glad they failed. I can't wait to tell others. I'm pointing out that sin in their own life. And then if they disagree with me, if they challenge me, God forbid. I'm opinionated. I'm the final authority. No, that's arrogance. That's spiritual arrogance. We forget that Jesus rebuked spiritual arrogance just as much as unbelievers.

Can you imagine a row of nicely dressed Pharisees dressed in their whatever they were dressed in, their necklaces or whatever they wore their phylacteries and things, and He said, "You whitewashed tombs. You are full of death inside. You look nice on the outside, but you're full of dead men's bones." Well did our fathers who prophesied about you. You are dead and decaying. You draw nigh to me with your lips, but your hearts are far from me.

And He just rebukes these religious leaders. Hypocrisy, spiritual pride. Because spiritual pride says right now that sermon's not for me. Let me get this CD for Bill. And we try to defend, and it's ironic. Sometimes I'll go to people and say, "Listen, don't you see this in your own life?" "No, but I'm defending the truth." No, you're arrogant. Defenders of the truth are broken and humble, not perfect.

Are your words seasoned with grace? Are your words seasoned? The Bible says seasoned. Do you put seasoning on anything? So the words. Now I'm telling you, I could sit right there because I'm preaching to myself this morning. This is my constant challenge. I've got to be bold against sin, but I've got to be passionate with others. I've got to be convicting and assured and then graceful and gentle with others.

Season your words with grace and be gentle. Now I'm not talking about sweeping corruption under the rug and hiding it. We are to confront. We are to confront. If you know me, I confront. And that's why it's hard to find that balance. And people are surprised. Sometimes they'll come to my wife and go, "How do you live with that? He must be wow, just..." No, no, who you are up here is not necessarily who you are at home laughing and joking and leading and loving and being compassionate, understanding.

I don't go and talk to the single mom like this: "How could you? Repent and believe in the gospel, you sinner!" But see, you can talk a lot differently to the masses than you do individuals. That's what preaching really is. I don't know where the Holy Spirit's arrows are going, but He does. And boy, does it go. And this might be a good time to remind you of a time I had.

Let me ask one more question. Proud? Are you proud about your knowledge and eager to put others down? We have to be careful. And here's I kind of draw back a little bit when I see zealous young Christians. I love zealous young Christians. Praise God for it. But when they start saying, "I'm reading the Bible, I'm also reading this book, I'm reading this book, I'm reading this book," and they start to this knowledge starts to do something interesting.

It puffs them up. They memorize the five points of Calvinism, now they think they're a scholar. They quote John Owen the Puritan and now they think they know it all and they begin to... "But have you read this book? Have you done this?" and there's this building up of self. There's this knowledge and so they can start to put other people down. They look forward to debating the Mormon before they cry for them.

See, they come with the wrong heart. And so I notice these people often. I was one and I can slip right back into that very easily if we don't stay broken. I would encourage you to come to the morning worship. That's really where you get broken. Those types of things are where you're going to see the most transformation in your own heart.

Anyway, proud about your knowledge and eager to put others down. So 2005, I think I've shared this before, my mom came to me and she goes, "Shane, your family doesn't want to be around you anymore." I know this. You need to be very, very, very careful where you're getting your information from. Because there's a lot of negative heresy hunter websites out there who are not filled with love and compassion and broken.

To be honest with you, the Bible says go directly to the source and hear what they have to say. We have to allow people, we have to give them the same grace that we would like. The same grace that we would like, we need to show to others. So ask yourself those questions. Are you excited about critiquing others? Do you have a negative, judgmental heart?

Are you argumentative? Are you very opinionated? Are you excited about your education and what you've learned and excited to tell someone off and excited to win an argument? We never should be excited about winning an argument and have that argumentative spirit. And I can see them coming from a mile away. They'll start to ask, "What's your view on this?"

They're not concerned about my view. What are they looking to do? Argument. They want to argue my position. They're not even listening to what we have to say. They're just to show their pride and show their arrogance. So be careful. God does not approve of that. So that's what He's saying here. If you go back to the scripture we saw up there. So 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 He talking about? Well, I like what GotQuestions.org said, so I'm just going to read what they said.

Guest (Male): In his sermon, Jesus uses dogs and pigs as representatives of those who would ridicule, reject, and blaspheme the gospel. Is that not true? Most of you know that. We are not to expose the gospel of Jesus Christ to those who have no other purpose than to trample it and return to their own evil ways.

Guest (Male): You've been listening to Regaining Lost Ground with Pastor Shane Idleman. You can find more information at westsidechristianfellowship.org. That's westsidechristianfellowship.org. And for all the latest on what God is doing with His ministry here, please be sure to follow us on most social media platforms. Westside Christian Fellowship is located 60 miles north of Los Angeles in Leona Valley, California. Thank you again for listening to today's message of Regaining Lost Ground, where we are reminded daily: times change, truth does not.