Hinckley EFC

Judgment On Those Who Judge. Matthew 7:1-6

Judgment on those who judge

September 16, 2018

Matthew 7:1-6

The root idea of the Greek word “Judge” here means “to sunder, to part, to sift, to divide out.”  And, as with many Biblical words, there are many different shades and meanings.

 

One can “judge” by being c____________, carping and c________________; in short that is being judgmental.

 

• This was the particular issue with the P___________ of Jesus day,
  • "The Pharisee stood and was praying thus to himself, 'God, I thank Thee that I am not like other people; swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax-gatherer. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.' But the tax-gatherer, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, the sinner!"'
  • "I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, but he who humbles himself shall be exalted" (L 18:11-14).

 

Or, on the other hand, by a judgment one can form an o__________, d________, or arrive at an accurate verdict.

 

“if the devil is not able to destroy a Christian’s witness by making him apathetic, he will try to do it by making him a fanatic”......

 

 What is the spirit that condemns... it is a self-c_________, self r______________ spirit....

• Self is always at the bottom of this.... it is always a manifestation of self-righteousness, a feeling of superiority, and a feeling that we are all right while others are not. An inseparable corollary of justifying oneself is condemning others. When anyone e___________ himself, everyone else is lowered accordingly.
• a spirit that seems always ready to express itself in a d_______________ manner.

 

“...for in the same way that you judge others, you will be judged... and with the measure that you use, it will be measured to you.”

• how many of us would want to be judged by the Lord, in the way that we judge others??? Imagine if we were to be judged by:

-the c______________________....

-or by g__________________....

-or by the g________ that has been spread by others...

-or what I “think” is true....

Perhaps the real problem is that of assigning v________ to others based upon me, myself and I. 

“….we are but beggars showing other beggars where to find bread!”

 

Why Worry. Matthew 6:25-34

Why Worry

Matthew 6:25-34

September 9, 2018

 

 “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness....”  Have one single focus...  Serve God!!! 

 

a definition of the word worry here.

• "Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?“ KJV
• “take no thought” = “being anxious” or “tending to worry”.
• So the real meaning of the word here is “be not anxious,” or because this is in the imperative tense, “...stop being anxious”.

 

• it is the word that is used to indicate something that d_________, s___________, or d__________ us….
• it means a mind that is divided into sections and compartments, and which does not f__________ as a whole.

 

the balance point...

• It is important to point out here that the Lord is not telling us that we are not to think about these things at all....
• While it is true that the birds of the air don’t worry about where their next meal is going to come from, they do busily s_________ for it. They do not just sit up on a limb and wait for God to somehow mechanically d_____________ it to them.

 

• We cannot be serving God and worrying about His ability to c_____ for us.... and since we have chosen to follow God, relax, -- don’t worry!!!

 

• the second reason that we are not to worry is found in vs 26-30.... The fact that God is both w_________ and a_____ to care for all those who will place their trust in Him.

 

• the final reason not to worry is in vs 33.... “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
  • What Christ is saying is that we are to “make it our business to seek God’s interest and follow Him and we will see that all of our n____ are met without that e___________ of worry!

 

So, how do we avoid worry???

 

• First we must acknowledge that Christ’s p_________ are for believers. And in that, God knows what is best for us....
• Second, as a believer, you need to add to your initial salvation experience all you can learn about the n____ and c_________ of God! As you grow in your understanding of Him, you will find that you don’t worry about a lot of things that you used to.
• Third, we need to build into o___________ a kind of conditioned r________... when we see problems our conditioned response should be to flee to God.... not to worry about it.... and that is a learned reaction.

Return on Investments 9-2-18

Return on Investments

September 2, 2018

Matthew 6:19-24

Where are your treasures???

Examples of those who tried to “lay up treasures for themselves upon the earth”, ….and the c___________ that brought.

A_______ who stumbled upon a nice suit of clothes, two hundred pieces of silver and an ingot of Gold. ..... the result was the great defeat at Ai, and a great judgment on this mans family!

• Another illustration is S__________.... he let the love of money and women ruin his spiritual life.
• and let’s don’t forget about A_____________ and S__________,who lied to the Holy Spirit about the sum of money that they had to give to the church.
• Then Paul wrote about a young man named “D________” who “had forsaken me, having loved this present world.”!

It is no wonder that Paul wrote to young Timothy to remind him that, “the love of money is the root of all evil.”  (I Tim 6:10)

 

If you have been afforded this worlds goods, use them here and now it this world in such a way that they are building up a balance in the next world.

The solution to the problem is not to give it all away, not to withdraw from society....We are n____ called upon to relinquish our possessions.... BUT we are called upon to use them u_______ the d__________ of God’s divine wisdom.

Jesus’ words here are designed to point out this terrible pre-occupation with possessions and how foolish and dangerous it is for us as Christians.

• In the first place, it is foolish because one day all earthly things will p_________.... they will be gone forever....
  • I Corinthians3:12-15…In other words, ONLY as a person uses his/her possessions for s__________ ends is he/she able to accumulate real treasures....
• The second reason that this attitude is dangerous is pointed out in vs 21....
  • Because where your treasures are... that is where your h______ will be.
• The third reason is found in verses 22-23 "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!“
  • .... is our vision of God and His will for our lives clouded and distorted by an unhealthy p________________ with things???

 

Who owns the possessions that are in your possession???  YOU??? or GOD???  The bottom line is that either God owns them AND you, (and thus you serve Him), or your possessions own you, and you serve them!  There is no other alternative!

Fasting-A Biblical Perspective. Matthew 6:16-18

Fasting – A Biblical perspective

Matthew 6:16-18

August 26, 2018

 

What really is the place of “fasting” in the Christian life???

• Fasting is something that is taught in the Old Testament!
• the only fast c_______________ in Scripture is the one connected with the Day of Atonement. On that day all the people were to "humble [their] souls" ( 16:29; cf. 23:27), a Hebrew expression that included forsaking food as an act of self-denial.
• Then we find that in certain national e__________ the people themselves appointed certain additional fasts.

 

• When we come to the New Testament we see that the Pharisees had gotten to the place that they were fasting twice a week...(Luke 18:11-12)...

• In Jesus’ teaching we find that although He never taught fasting d_______, He certainly taught it i___________...

In Matthew 9:14-15, it is quite clear that He is advocating fasting....."Then John's disciples came and asked him, "How is it that we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?" Jesus answered, "How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast."

 

And the text here  “when you fast”, makes it clear that He e____________ His followers to do it, as it was a n____________ part of one’s spiritual life.

 

In our Lords own life He fasted, the most notable was the 40 days and 40 nights as He went through the preparation and testing of the wilderness.

 

• As we look at the early church we find that the church at Antioch was “fasting and praying” before they sent Paul and Barnabas out on their p_____________ tours.

 

It seems that on any i____________ occasion, when they were faced with any vital decision, the early church gave themselves to prayer and fasting.

• Paul tells us in II Corinthians 11, that He was in “fastings often”!
• In the history of the church we find that Christians of all ages and places have b__________ in and p__________ fasting....

 

“It is an act of self-denial, and mortification of the flesh, a holy revenge upon ourselves, and humiliation under the hand of God. The most grown Christians must hereby own, they are so far from having anything to be proud of, that they are unworthy of their daily bread. It is a means to curb the flesh and the desires of it, and to make us more lively in religious exercises, as fullness of bread is apt to make us drowsy.” 

Matthew Henry

 

• the definition of most of the Biblical fasting would be, “a____________ from food for spiritual purposes.”...
  • Nēsteia (fast) literally means not to eat, to abstain from food. Fasts were sometimes total and sometimes partial, and ordinarily only water was drunk.

 

• “In every scriptural account genuine fasting is linked with prayer. You can pray without fasting, but you cannot fast biblically without praying. Fasting is an affirmation of intense prayer, a corollary of deep spiritual struggle before God. It is never an isolated act or a ceremony or ritual that has some inherent efficacy or merit. It has no value at all—in fact becomes a spiritual hindrance and a sin—when done for any reason apart from knowing and following the Lord's will.
• Fasting is also always linked with a pure heart and must be associated with obedient, godly living.” John MacArthur

A Plea For Prayer. Matthew 6:5-15

A plea for prayer

Matthew 6:5-15

August 19, 2018

 

• The instructions for prayer
  • The pretense of prayer.....
    • “they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on street corners, to be seen of men....” H__________ in prayer

 

• for many today, prayer is simply a h__________....
• Let me ask you a question, do your prayers bring you into the presents of the Lord, or do they just fulfill your d_______????

 

• “And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words”. avoid “b__________”...

         

• when we concentrate on the f________ of our prayers, or on the amount or length of time spent in prayer
• Question: What is i______________ when you pray, the words you use, or the amount of time that you pray, or the place that you pray?

 

1. the practice of prayer …

• First of all, it is important to understand that even by the sentence structure, we are e_____________ to pray. ... notice the wording... “when”... vs 5, vs 6, vs 7, vs 9, We never see it as “I___” .....
• What is called for is an intense, intimate time with G_____... you are to enter into your “very private place” and enjoy that communion

 

• How are we to pray??
  • True prayer is prayer offered to God the Father on the basis of the d_______ of J________ C__________.!!!
    • “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,... Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith,...(H_____________ 10:19&22a)
    • "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.“ J________ 14:6,

 

The Reward of prayer;

 

• vs 6, “then your Father, who sees what is done in secret will reward you”,
• notice that the key is in vs 8.... “He knows our needs before we ask....”
• Since He already knows my n______, He is already actively involved in meeting these n__________....
• that is the basic idea behind R_________ 8:28!

Matthew 6:1-4

Matthew 6:1-4

August 12, 2018

 

The foundational principle.....  “Be careful not to do your acts of righteousness before men, to be seen by them.”

 

• “let our light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your father which is in heaven.”

 

The believer is to so live that when outsiders look at him/her they will see the quality and character of that life and it should bring _______ _       ________.

 

• the ultimate choice for the Christian is always between pleasing self, or pleasing God.

 

• ultimately the only reason that we want to please o__________ is that we want to please o_____________.

 

• man, by nature desires the praise of m_____ more than the praise of G_____, because in the final analysis we are really more concerned about o_______________.

 

• .... The supreme matter in this life for all of us is that we should realize our r________________ with God.

 

“One almost apologizes for making such a statement, and yet I suggest that the greatest cause of all of our failures is that we constantly forget our relationship to God!”

 

• .... "Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no r____________ from your Father in heaven.“

 

• God knows our heart.

 

“For that which is highly esteemed amongst men is a____________ in the sight of God.” Luke 16:15 

 

to we need to be constantly reminding ourselves of that....WE ARE IN THE PRESENTS OF GOD!!!!!

 

Jesus Himself is indicating that it is not only right to seek r_____________, it is almost expected.

 

There is no reward from God for those who seek it from men!

 

It is not our a____________... it is our h_________ that is important.  No matter how much we pray, or how much we fast or give or any other activity...if the heart is wrong...we are wrong.

 

Matthew 5:43-48

Matthew 5:43-48

August 05, 2018  

First of all, lets take a look at what the Pharisees were saying....

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’

 

The Pharisees were teaching this in order to put the w_________ of the S___________ behind what they were teaching

 

‘n__________’ meant only an Israelite; so they taught the Jews to love Jews...but at the same time they told them to regard everyone else not only as an alien, but as an actual e_________.

 

there is a j____________ element in life. 

While we are on this earth God does indeed make the sun to shine on us and the rain to fall upon us, both the good and the evil.

 

But, at the same time, He announces to them that unless they r_________, they shall finally be destroyed.

 

When we look at this subject in the light of Jesus Words we find that He sheds more light on it.... 

He says “but I say unto you, love your e_____________”.....  

 

And then He gives us an illustration that we can apply ..

“Bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you.’ 

 

So, what does this mean in our lives today?? 

It means that our t___________ of others must never depend upon what they are, or upon what they d___ to us! 

It must be entirely controlled and governed by our view of them and their c______________!

 

Application:

 

• First of all, “Bless them that curse you” which in ordinary language would be something like, ‘reply to bitter, unkind words with words of k_______ and g________.  (we all know that when people say harsh unkind things to us we tend to reply in kind)

 

• Secondly, “Do good to them that hate you” ... which means b_____________ actions for s________ actions..... Though the farmer may hate God, and is an unjust, spiteful sinner, constantly rebelling against God, He still causes His sun to shine upon him and gives him rain for his crops.... good for evil...

 

• Lastly, “Pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you.” We need to learn to respond to the e_______ in others toward us with the energies of P_______... because it is through the avenue of prayer that God changes us... and changes how we think about the problem.

Matthew 5:38-42

Matthew 5:38-42

July 29, 2018

  

principles of interpretation:

 

• We must never regard the Sermon on the Mount as a code of e________, or a set of r______ to cover our conduct in detail.
• These teachings are never to be applied m_______________ as a kind of rule of thumb.
• If our interpretations ever make the teaching appear to be ridiculous or leads us to a ridiculous position, it is patently a w______ interpretation.
• If our interpretation makes the teaching to appear to be i______________, it is also wrong.

5. finally, we must remember that if our interpretation of any one of these things c__________ the plain and obvious teachings of Scripture at another point, again it is obvious that our interpretation is has gone astray.

 

The main intent of the Mosaic Legislation was to control e___________.  In this case particularly, it was to control anger and violence and the desire to get revenge.

 

• This whole tendency to wrath, and anger, to retribution and retaliation is there at the very core of the human soul. From the very earliest days as children we have this desire for revenge; it is one of the most hideous and ugly results of the fall of man, and the r_____________ of original sin.

 

• the principle of Justice must come into play, and Justice is never e___________ in its demands. There is a correspondence between the crime and the punishment.... the thing done and that which is done about it.

 

the scribes and Pharisees, in typical legalistic fashion, deduced that in every case this “eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth” philosophy was to be the norm. 

• Thus they taught that if someone did something to you, you were to do it back to him and insist upon your “r____________”

They ignored the fact that Moses had also said, “"Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself: I am the LORD."

 

This passage is not to be taken outside of the context that it is found in... Remember that it was to the same people that have been addressed in the beatitudes.... those who were poor in spirit, ect.

 

The New Testament teaches that, until a man comes under grace, he must be kept u________ the law.

 

Vengeful r______________ has no place in society at large, and even less place among those who belong to Christ. We are called to overcome someone's evil toward us by doing g___________ to them (Rom. 12:21

 

This is the spirit that led Stephen to pray for those who were stoning him to death. It is the spirit of every believer who, by the Holy Spirit's power, seeks to be perfect even as our heavenly Father is perfect (v. 48).

Deuteronomy 5:11 (ESV)

July 22, 2018

 

Deuteronomy 5:11 (ESV)
¹¹  “ ‘You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain…

Deuteronomy 6:13 (ESV)
¹³  It is the LORD your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear.

Leviticus 19:12 (ESV)
¹²   You shall not swear by my name falsely, and so profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.

 

• the idea was to c____________ them to the seriousness of their whole life before God...
  • It was designed to remind the nation of Israel of their r________________________ with God,
  • to stress that everything that they did was under the e_____ of God.
  • That e________ part of their life was to be lived unto Him.

 

• .... He is saying that we need to be careful of how we use oaths....
• First of all He wants to think about the b_______ of our oaths.... We must not swear by heaven or earth or Jerusalem etc.... because these are not ours to f__________ even if we do go back on our word....
• I think that what He is forbidding is that common kind of oath taking that goes on in order to win an argument, or to convince someone that we are sincere....
• As Christians we need to be people of our W______. E____ the right to be taken seriously when you speak.
• .... how often do we “stretch the truth”... or bend it just a little??? Someone has said, “E___________, thy name is legion!”
• As Christians we need to be men and women of our word!!! And this takes a concerted e_______ on our part…. We must not lie.... (and make no mistake, we are all given to it, if not always in a bare-faced way).
• We must do what we say we are going to do,

 

• Jesus point here is that, as believers, we need to realize that no matter what we say, we are speaking that in the very p_______________ of God.
• We bring Him to the conversation by our very presents. We should always speak with the c_______ a________ of His presents. We are His people and a lie that we may tell to someone in a private conversation may just come between that one and the Lord in the issue of Salvation....
• E__________ that we do is of the utmost importance. 

 

 

 

 

• "And don't say anything you don't mean. This counsel is embedded deep in our traditions.
   You only make things worse when you lay down a smoke screen of pious talk, saying, 'I'll pray for you,' and never doing it, or saying, 'God be with you,' and not meaning it. You don't make your words true by embellishing them with religious lace. In making your speech sound more religious, it becomes less true.
  Just say 'yes' and 'no.' When you manipulate words to get your own way, you go wrong.”

    Matthew 5:33-37 The Message

 

Jesus On Divorce-The Delicate Dilemma

 Jesus on Divorce – the delicate dilemma

Matthew 5:31-32

July 15, 2018

³¹   “It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’
³²   But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

 

 The purpose: or why divorce?

1. It brought c________l to a situation that was out of control.
2. It was a protection for w__________ of the time.

 

The word that is translated here “divorce” is the Greek word apoluo”, 

“luo” = to loose;  

“apo” = away from.

It is the same word that is used for being set free from bonds.... the idea of a p________ ...

 

Moses laid down three basic principles:

• First of all, divorce was to be l_________ to certain causes.

1. Martyn Lloyd Jones states, “It was only to be permitted henceforth when there was some natural, moral or physical defect in the wife.”

• Principle number two was that a man who had so divorced his wife, had to give her a w____________ of divorcement.
• The third control was that a man who divorced his wife is not allowed to m_______ her again.
  • The idea is to show that marriage is not something that is open to walk into and out of at leave! Divorce was a p________ enactment.

 

What the Pharisees taught:

• Their basic idea was that the Law of Moses c__________ that a man divorce his wife under certain conditions. (Matthew 19...)
• They actually taught that if a man ceased to l_____ his wife, or for any reason found her to be unsatisfactory to him, that, in a sense, was ‘uncleanness’!.... and as such, grounds for divorce...

 

Genesis 2:24:  the Biblical idea for marriage:

 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh!

 

Cleave= to glue, or connect, to literally “grow into”…. (Think, grafting a tree)

 

why did God allow Moses to make the idea of divorce available??

• “Because of the h________ of men’s h_____.”!!
  • The permission for divorce in the O.T. economy was designed to meet the unique, practical problems of an i____________ s_________ people!

There was utter chaos -- these rules brought at least a semblance of order... but in no way was he advocating divorce