Three Non-Politically Correct Warnings, Part 1

Today from Chuck Swindoll.

God wanted to express himself.

Most clearly he incarnate he came in person Jesus. The image of the invisible God came in the flesh in order to show us the invisible God in our country and around the lawmakers are proposing regulations that greatly inhibit the freedom of speech process. Bible teachers are under scrutiny teaching the truth of the Bible when it seems to infringe on personal feelings and yet Jesus in his famous sermon on the Mount spoke fearlessly and without a filter today on Insight for living. Chuck Swindoll invites us to open our Bibles to Matthew chapter 7 in this passage we discover the Refreshing Way, Jesus addressed highly sensitive issue with courage and clarity.

Chuck titled today's message three non-politically correct warning. Somehow I think in deepest part of my heart that there was a treasured love for music with the apostle Paul, on occasion, he will write that as he blends the thought of the power of music with the power of the word of God. For example, what he wrote the Colossians he exhorted them in the third chapter to let the word of Christ dwell in you richly with all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your heart to the Lord. Pressure never thought of it before, but when you sing, you admonish one another. You teach one another, putting together the same words from a page and were lifting those words in those notes and returning them into life.

As you grow in your walk. Cultivate a deep respect for the arts. Let the color and the beauty of that part of our world wrap itself around you are God who created all truth is the one who gives individuals to do what they do, it is easy for us to become myopic or so verbal that that is the limit of our appreciation for what God is saying and doing so when you are with those who are creative realize they are special gifts along the journey given to add color and beauty to our world. There was none like Jesus the best of all, and in his magnificent sermon on the mountain he'd really does deliver his soul to those who have gathered to listen. We don't know their names who came to listen.

We don't know the number who were there, but it is interesting that these words live on. To this day, touching our lives as directly and perhaps as convicting Lee as his audience when he first spoke the full sermon is in chapters 5, six and seven of Matthew's gospel and we come now in our study of Matthew to the seventh chapter were looking at verses 13 through 23. We have entered now. The finale of the sermon, and in this part.

He applies it directly in words that are not politically correct.

This weather so great and all the way through. He leaves us with choices and you can only make one in each case, you have to to choose from. See if you can pick those out as we see them verses 13 through 23 Matthew 713 enter through the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life and there are few who find it. Beware of the false prophets to come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Rights are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles or the so every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then you will know them by their fruits.

Not everyone who says to me Lord Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name cast out demons, and in your name perform many miracles and then I will say I will declare to them, I never knew you depart from the you who practice lawlessness study the book of Matthew with Chuck Swindoll. Be sure to download his searching the Scriptures. Studies going to inside world.org/study another message from Chuck titled three non-politically correct warnings, but one things for sure. Jesus did not get his sermon off the website and I'll tell you another one. He did not get government approval to say what he had to say because that government would've never approved it would never allow him to make such claims as he made and call things good or bad when that such an politically incorrect thing to say. And furthermore, he never listened to one of the rabbis or Pharisees pretended still one of the sermon say one more thing. He didn't just come to the hill and suddenly hit from the hip it with thinking about it for a long time. Think about Italy for 30 years as a carpenter's helper alongside Joseph and then after Joseph died. It was his shop and he remained there in Nazareth for a long period of time. Think of all those synagogue services. He went to and all the sermons you listen to and all of the dust off the board out of the mouths of scribes and all the legalistic stuff that came from the Pharisees. He's all the time taking this in. He's not a spokesman they don't even know what his future is but all the while in the back of his mind. He's putting it together and during this period of time he's thinking about that day when he will be on that little mound called the mountain in the colloquialism of the Christian thought, the sermon on the Mount, which is a little like out here in Frisco highest thing here. The tollways come up and down. That's the kind of amount but he put it all together and think of it, and then when he sat down and it was his moment to deliver. He had thought it through. I mean, it would've been wonderful to have been one of those people sitting there as he sat down to teach. Having given all this thought before he delivered his message. I read somewhere or not loaded role of a preacher that lived in the parsonage, which was only about a block away from the church and the church wasn't growing much he told his elders.

On one occasion, you know, I found a way I prepare my servant between the house and the church know they did they bother parsonage 10 miles away. Give him a little more time, I was running all of this by Cynthia as we were talking about the sermon.

I said to her, think of any of 30 years to prepare cheese and honey he had sensory to prepare.

I thought that's my line 1 and I think that she's right. All through the eons of the past.

All through the year. As of the Old Testament all the way through the in between the testament era all the way to when he came in the when he grew up and became a man, until finally he had his moment, he sat down to deliver this immortal message what it must've been like with your love to have heard his voice would've been great to know what his voice sounded like how he would pause and look at different individuals may be point to one or another it's it's like jaw-dropping relevant when you read it in an amazing first century stuff still linking up with 21st century people to do any mental gymnastics to realize this is convicting and courageous and compelling stuff this is the kind of thing you want I can take with us to our work in the morning to our homes when we go there this the kind of thing we could draw from to make tough decisions or deal with things like sickness or disappointment or criticism or facing the reality of death. It's all here in this great sermon whoever reads these words and understand how they are in touch with where we live. I think could outline them in 12 words given to chapter 5 I would give the title out with hypocrisy out with hypocrisy give the Beatitudes, and it tells you, there needs to be character deep character real life character. You are salt your light and you therefore make a difference in the places where you go in the life you live in as he finishes chapter 5 he talks about modeling purity in a world of impurity so out with hypocrisy. No more phoniness which brings you to chapter 6 down with performance down with performance.

Whether you're giving or praying are fasting your you're doing it for an audience of one. You not doing it to impress anybody else with eloquent words or a sad look as if you been fasting for hours or maybe even days you don't put on the show stay off the stage. Your you're not showing off your literally giving yourself to the joy of giving praying and fasting and you're doing it for the glory of God.

So down with performance when you get to the first five verses of chapter 7 which we saw last time we learned up with acceptance member.

The law that's in your eye, as opposed to the spec that's in your brothers. I remember that. Take care the log in your own eye, then you will be able to help your sister or brother with the tiny little splinter or spec that's in there so up with acceptance must be ready to accept, rather than have this judgmental spirit about us as he says as he starts at seven, chapter and begins to move toward the finale finally comes to the wrapping up time and I think he says in verse six to the end, all with commitment on with commitment stay true to the fate regardless. Be alert to the dogs and all member that message you got those who were dogs and holdings. Be aware of it when you're around and don't try to push this great truth into the lives of those who don't want it member the moon little vignette I gave you never try to teach a pig to sing and waste your time and annoys the pig so you find yourself around those who are annoyed with spiritual things saying it louder talking longer pushing your message would do no good. Wait till the time is right. And you know what, for some it may never be right. So you need to be discerning as you are dealing with the hearts and lives of other people stay on your needs. Remember what he said about that no matter what. Keep on asking. Keep on seeking keep on knocking on with commitment treat others like you would want to be treated anybody board. Anybody realize how relevant this is and is there a soul listening I could say this is irrelevant you the best part of all to teach you a new way of thinking about his preaching what he did was incarnational communication, incarnational communication.

That's what makes the live message so memorable we could hear something recorded, but it's not the same as seeing and hearing it live when God wanted to express himself. Most clearly he incarnate he came in person Jesus. The image of the invisible God came in the flesh in order to show us the invisible God, I'll tell you if we could have heard him preach this message. We would never forgotten. No one could deliver it as he delivered when he gets toward the end he dares you to remain neutral. He says to you in so many words you cannot remain on the fence you gotta get off one side or the not, you're not going like that if you're politically correct. You know I don't like that. If you have a broad-minded thought life and you were trained in the higher educational world and you were exposed to those who said you cut off your head and commit intellectual suicide when it comes to truth. Who knows what truth it still does work bad thoughts and good starts. So relative and along comes Jesus to say there is a wide and there's a narrow gate. There's a good and there's a bad tree. There's a right response in the wrong response shocking in a world like ours were the majority would scoff at that slick. Give me a break. Live isn't that simplistic really then why did he say what he said they suddenly start lying to us. If he is the God man and if he came to deliver truth, since he said on the way the truth and the life. This must be included in truth, so you have to come to terms with it, whether we like it or not what we were taught to think like that are not in trust me, your kids in school are not being taught to think like that and it is tough on him when their teenagers whittle to get to the University and there are profs who were there to take delight in demolishing simplistic faith. So let's get a dose of what he said and let the application speak for itself. Okay, I see three paired alternatives in this part. Ultimately, for when you get to the house is built on sand or rock, but let's take the first three we got a J it's narrow or a gate that's wide paired alternatives. One of the other. So take off your people pleasing Put on your thinking cap and let the words mean what they say enter through the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction.

There are many who enter through it. For the gate is small or and he says the gate is narrow that leads to life and there are few who find what I take it literally.

There will always be more unbelievers and believers. There will always be more non-Christians than Christians. There will always be left to think of the narrow way, and far more who take a broad way he says it wide is the gate and there are many who enter through it. Is that where you are.

I can't tell by looking. I may be able to tell if a listen long enough to what your saying but just for a moment you examine your own gait is that where you are narrow or wide. The evangelical scholar CS Lewis for the longest time, lived at the broad world of intellectualism where people were impressed with the letters behind the name and academic achievement and intellectual excellence.

He ran in the crowd and was one of the group. He writes of it in his excellent autobiography as he talks about being surprised by Joy he was 13 years old, as a schoolboy he can pinpoint the time when the wide gate opened up to him.

The Broadway attracted him quote I was soon altering I believe to one does feel and although the relief of it from the Taranto's new revelation I pass into the cool evening twilight of higher thought. Further was nothing to be obeyed and nothing to be believed except what was either comforting or excite this appealing though don't come down too hard there. No, you can't say this is wrong on that note don't don't go there, please delete think what you think I gave you a mind but narrow and along comes Jesus who says the gate is narrow and the way leads to life eternal and the gate is broad and leads to a path that most take leads to destruction. Remember Proverbs 1412 there is a way that seems right to a man but the end thereof are the ways of death wrote Solomon. The wise it seems right, but it's death makes you think this Jesus says only entrance here. The only entrance to life eternal. He also said I'm the way and the truth and the life.

No one comes to the father but through me. It's refreshing, even somewhat shocking to see how Jesus spoke the truth without fear of retribution.

You're listening to Insight for living in a message from Chuck Swindoll titled three non-politically correct warnings to learn more about this ministry. Please visit us online@insightworld.org. Although Jesus sermon on the mount comprises only three chapters in the Gospel of Matthew in many respects it represents the core of Jesus earthly ministry.

Chuck wrote a book on Jesus sermon and it's become a long-standing classic is book is called simple faith. If you been cynical about religion because of the hypocrisy you've experienced or you become jaded by a lack of authenticity you've witnessed in religious circles then you'll appreciate this wakeup call from Jesus. It's the foundation of Chuck's book simple faith and to purchase a copy right now. Call us if you're listening in the United States dial 1-800-772-8888 or it might be more convenient for you. If you go directly to Insight.org/offer and then as God leads you. Please remember the influence of your donation to Insight for living our website in our email inbox are filled with affirming notes from grateful listeners. People from all walks of life are benefiting from the gifts you send to thank you for your donation go Chuck delivers the sermons. Our staff puts together this program, but it's people like you who give flight Insight for living. So to give a donation right now Collis listening in the US dial 1-800-772-8888 can also go online to Insight.org and then as we enter into the weekend. Remember, you're invited to join us online for the Sunday morning worship service at Stone Breyer Community Church. In addition to hearing Chuck sermon participate in the congregational singing as well. Find all the instructions for screaming the live worship service Insight.org/some things travelers who want to take a tour to Israel have lots of choices, but if you measure up to the thoughtful journey prepared by Insight for living ministries with the proper mix of historical information and biblical context. We provide ample opportunities to pause and let the wonder in our goal is to create special moment when you deepen your love for the Bible and draw closer to your ward experience an unforgettable 12 day tour to Israel Chuck Swindoll Insight for living ministries March 6-17, 2022.

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