Measure for Measure (Part 1 of 3)

The most of us it's easier to find fault than it is for us to examine our own laws. But Jesus calls on us to practice abundant mercy were more what he means today and what that looks like in practical terms, this is Truth for Life weekend with Alistair Begg. Alister's teaching in Luke chapter 6 verses 36 through 38 but he opens with the story of the prophet Nathan confronting King David about that time the gentleman appeared at the front door. It was a done deal.

The baby was asleep in the nursery and a woman was already the rich man's wife.

Of course she should never have been his wife.

He had allowed last to give way to immorality and as a result of his immorality, and the resultant pregnancy of the woman he decided to try and cover up as best he could in the cleanest way he could think off covering his tracks was to get rid of the husband.

So that's what happened. He had the husband killed.

I believe that time heals and if you put enough time between the events and his present circumstances that would be put in no sense of bondage. No lingering evidence of guilt matter. The door was welcome. Then they sat down to eat together and in the course of eating the gentleman decided that he would share with the homeowner. The rich man story that he had recently hair he said I want to tell you the story of two men in a certain town go on the homeowner while he said one was rich, blending of sheep and cattle that men have nothing at all save for one little you land that he had bought erase it from its infancy and grew up with his children and shared his food and drink from his cup and slept in his arms and it was regarded by him is actually a doctor.

The rich man had a traveler come to state his house and instead of doing what would be appropriate.

Namely, sending out into his fields to take one of his sheep and have it killed in order that he might be able to provide for the traveler who had arrived at his house.

He instead sent for this little you land that belonged to the poor man who had only one such creature, and he had killed and that was how he provided for the traveler. So the homeowner jumped up and said this is absolutely ridiculous. It is totally wrong. The man who did this deserves to die for such a pitiless action with the words hardly dying on his lips. It suddenly occurred to eyeing the man because what had been describing in a far less significant.

Men was the circumstances of the rich man who had invaded the privacy of the one man snatched away his wife.

Now the reason I mention this this morning is because it is an indication of something that I find as I can tendency in my own heart. I wonder if you share it, namely the ability to very quickly attacked the problem in somebody else, while ignoring the problem that I face myself or in the words of Jesus.

A little later on in the passage to see specks of sawdust in other people's eyes while at the same time, overlooking the five that we have planks in our own eyes. Note this brings is the very core of what Jesus is teaching here this morning confronting us with the fact that each of us. If we are honest, are inclined to discover and condemn the faults of others while passing lightly over our own Saudi sins and for those of us who are hoping that the turbulent times of the last couple of Sundays in these studies. In the sermon by Jesus giving way to very clear here. It was going to be possible for us to relax a little bit of the seatbelt sign was going off. We were going to build a get up and walk around the cabin and stretch our legs. I have news for you. Make sure your seatbelt is fastened low and tight across your lap and prepare for the duration of the flight to be equally if not more turbulent than all that we have faced so far. I believe that God in a unique way is speaking to my life, my heart, my perversity and I believe that since he is to me that is an even chance that he may well be doing so to you and that, in actual fact he is bringing to as at this very crucial time in our churches life instruction that is foundational and vital if it is to be any meaningful future for Parkside church in seeing unbelieving people become committed followers of Jesus Christ and I have not overstated my conviction in saying what I just said one iota were going to notice three things. One, the principal true the practice and three the promise. The principal is contained in verse 36 verse 36 be merciful, just as your Father is merciful, may be regarded as a fulcrum on which is balance the positive instruction which is preceded it, and the negative instruction which follows from at least in the early part of verse 37 verse 36 might equally be regarded as a summary statement. Principal lysing all that Jesus has previously said concerning love for your enemies and doing good to them and blending to them without expecting to get anything back. If somebody had listened to all of that instruction and said to Jesus, you suddenly put it in a principal floras he might have said well how about this being merciful, just as your Father is merciful and if someone had come in to begin listening to the sermon at that point and it hair Jesus a being merciful, as your father is merciful and there'd be intended to say and how will that actually work out, then the instruction which follows would unpack this principle God is trying as we've noticed in verse 35 even to the ungrateful and to the wicked, and since he is crying to the ungrateful and wicked. We had six children by faith through Christ are to be kind to the ungrateful and the wicked to as a basic premise here that we need to understand which we stated last time in which is important for us always to reiterate, namely, that if you look at verse 35 and it says your reward will be great, and you will be the sons of the most high.

This is not Jesus saying that if we do certain things or act in a particular way we will make ourselves the sons of God, no. In fact the reverse of that it is by our conducting ourselves in a certain manner that we prove ourselves to be the sons of God. In other words, the people look at us and they say mind you are so very like your father in the way that it is possible for us sometimes to detecting a child the traces of his dad either because of his witness, or because of his incorrigible nurse or because of his artistic capacity or just a glint in his eyes. Whatever might be.

We see this child and we say, you know, I think I know who's boy, that is what I think I know who's girl that is because the family resemblance is so strong now Jesus is saying that there is a demonstrable family resemblance and it is this marriage see towards those who regard us as crazy for exercising mousy to return evil for good is devilish to return good for the good is human to return good for evil is divine and that is what Jesus is saying I want you now to respond to evil by good, I want you to respond to being done down by exercising kindness. I want you to respond to the fact that people have cheated you by giving without regard for the interest rate in return.

In other words, I want you to imitates your father and you know just in passing boys do imitate their fathers. It is relevant that the way in which a boy walks is a learned walk largely from the influence of his dad the way he sits in a chair the way he crosses his legs the way he does certain things will be just like his father provided. His father has been there to model it all the time, not by saying this is how you walk on.

This is how you should cross your legs, but suddenly you find the child is doing the same thing.

An invitation is a vital part of life invitation is a vital part of learning, a golf swing and all of the stuff that is produced about muscle memory is based on the premise that there is a significance that is attached to imitation in the same way that it is attached to repetition in both of those characteristics are part and parcel of becoming like our father, we are to imitate him.

I am the Lord your God. Leviticus 11 says you shall therefore be holy as I am holy and I would be like your dad, Jesus says, as I have loved you, so you must also love each other, imitate me know what is he calling us to.

He's calling us to a sympathy and to a compassion which is extravagant is is extravagant.

Now the extravagance will probably never get to this morning when you see it in verse 38 it's it's a good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over is like you go to a store and the person says you cannot only of this but you can of this and listen listen listen listen. They fill the bag up for you to overflowing and you go in your segment and deserve any of that in the end you didn't deserve any of it but it was out of the kindness of the individual in this picture of the generous merchant is the picture that Jesus uses and he calls us then to work out this principle. Well, let's go to the practical implications of the principal because it we need say more than that. What what is it mean in practice, to be merciful is your father's merciful well it's worked out in the next verse 37 and for those of you who like orderly thought, I think you will agree this is orderly.

The principles there is verse 36. The practice then follows in verse 37 and it is developed by two negative commands followed by two positive commands negative command one. Do not judge to do not condemn positive command one forgive positive command to give so do not judge don't condemn, give, forgive, give simple so well then let's go home because you made it very clear. No I don't. Let's leave just yet. I think I can help a little beyond because I don't think most of us know what. Do not judge means as a force when do not judge me and do not judge if the royal law, namely, do unto others as you would have them do to yourself surrounded by confusion. It is more than matched by the confusion which surrounds this phrase judge not, and you will find the phrase judge.

Not that you be not judged trotted out by some the most unlikely people the most unlikely times and used in the most unlikely and unbelievable ways.

Therefore it is imperative for us since it is a clear command of the Bible that we understand exactly what Jesus is saying what he says do not judge, so let us try to understand what it does not mean what it does not mean that was it. What it does mean first of all, it does not mean that Jesus is prohibiting the exercise of justice in a court of law. If you read Tolstoy. He presses this phrase to the end that sets aside human courts. He's wrong because the Bible is you take it in its totality, upholds the rule of law set certain sets aside the place of the state, in the exercise of law and Christian people are to uphold the rule of law which is appointed for the punishment of those who do wrong and for the well-being of those who do right, Jesus is not here prohibiting the administration of justice and I for an eye and a tooth for a tooth is a principle of justice belonging to the law courts so the instruction is not about the institution of law, but about the matter of individual relationships and this is where most of the confusion comes about and that is why you see even in the exercise of justice, not in our culture that is the thing is collapsing at its core, because people have taken the notion of judge, not that you be not judged. And now they sit on the Judy and they say I can say anything I can do anything I can exercise judgment. I'm not even supposed to judge anyone. I don't really know over here for only may have killed his wife with a knife but you know what we've all done bad things appear on the Judy we've done different things you know so what are we supposed to say and it is crumbling. At that point so the upholding of the institution of law as we will see will become to other sections of Luke's gospel is vital and we need to realize that what Jesus is talking about here is that we are not to take the law into our own hand. Secondly, he is not calling for us to suspend our critical faculties in relationship to others.

He is not calling for us to suspend our critical faculties now is possible to use the word critical positively but we tend to think of someone is critical then who is immediate is a pejorative statement is immediately negative. Not so we have to have critical faculties in order to discriminate between truth and error between good and bad, between right and wrong and Jesus is not calling here for his followers to be a strange group of people who have taken if you like their brains out and set them on the site and are now living as hypocrites saying you know I have no opinion about this and I have no opinion about that. Like the man in the Paul Simon song you can call me out in her memory and he walks down the street and he is a short span of attention is I have no opinion about this and I'm hoping about that. He's the perfect end of the 20th century men and he thinks that he is actually working out this principle know he's just going. Let's not so Jesus is not teaching here that we are supposed to turn a blind eye to sin that we are to refuse to point out error, or that we are to neglect to discern between good and evil. I mean think about it.

He couldn't possibly be good because the way in which he gives the rest of his instruction demands the critical faculty demands the ability to adjudicate between a wise man of the foolish men to be able to discern between a good tree and a bad tree to be able to look and see if our righteousness is greater than that of the scribes and Pharisees to see if our love is over and I mentioned that is vaster than that which is merely meager on the part of others.

In other words, Jesus teaching calls Florida's to use our critical faculties.

So then let me summarize what it's not in this is not all that it is not what I want to keep here all day. Jesus is not in this phrase. Setting aside law courts, nor is he encouraging his followers to suspend their critical faculties will and what is he doing what is it that Jesus says we mustn't do if we are not to judge, the answer is he is condemning censorious nests.

Now that is in a major challenge for some of us because as English language and we have no clue what the word means.

So let me spell it for you and then define it for you CEN SOR as incense or I will US and EWS censorious notice what is censorious nests.

It is a spirit of self-righteous self exulting hypocritical harsh judge. Mentalism self-righteous self exulting hypocritical harsh judge. Mentalism is, why don't you freshen your belt low and tight across your lap.

This is uncomfortable I sent to somebody this morning.

You know I have the sin.

This is is is very hard to preach about the birds and will I have it too, but I just don't have it as bad as you thus proving that they have it worse than me actually not worse than me. I am no worse again because I told the story, so I am now in the lead in that in that it's now 3015 in the tennis match on who is most censorious between us. It's the kind of approach to people which seeks to avoid self-examination by highlighting and condemning the faults of others is a person who has this brings with him always. The flavor of bitterness.

It is negative, it is destructive, it actively seeks out the faults of others, and it is delighted when it finds other people's fault is not simply that it identifies faults when the trips over them, but it actually goes in search of them and seeks to produce them and having produce them to hold them up before the individual and say to them you see me see what you would like and you see how bad you are and you see this and you see that about yourself and all the time. It is in the spirit of harsh judge mentalism because like David in the story. Would you permit for your homework and second Samuel 11 and 12. David in seeing what was done to Aladdin managers through a spirit of censorious nests to disguise what he's done himself in relationship to the woman who was lying in the back bedroom. John Stott defines it with clinical helpfulness and individual who is on the wrong side of this exhortation from Jesus. Does this one puts the worst possible construction on other people's motives to porch cold water on their schemes and dreams three is on generous towards them when they make mistakes sent to you again because this nails it. One I know that I am on the wrong side of this equation. When I put the worst possible construction on other people's motives when I delight to pour cold water on their schemes. And when I am on generous in responding to their mistakes, do sense any other sin you dad towards your children wife towards her husband. Boss towards your employees, pastor, torture people. People towards your elders.

I thought last week was harder than the previous week but this week is even harder than last week. Look chapter 6 is proving to be a minefield for me and if you doubt that you should feel perfect liberty to ask my wife just how wonderfully loving and uncritical. I have been in the last five days I would be hard-pressed to have got myself so badly out of sync with the passage of Scripture.

If I had said to Billings listing to Truth for Life. We can Pallister brag with an uncomfortable and humbling message about Jesus challenge to his followers to reveal our spiritual family resemblance. How we love one another. The only way for any of us to truly understand how to love others like Jesus is to study our Bibles.

If you're a frequent listener to Truth for Life. You know that our pattern is to teach the Bible verse by verse, knowing that the Bible is without error. It is the authoritative word of God.

You'll often hear Alastair begin our program with the phrase, I invite you to open your Bible and that's right in line with our mission, which is to teach the Bible clearly in a way that is relevant to our daily life.

Most importantly we do this, knowing that God will work in the hearts of many who listen to bring them to know and trust the Lord Jesus, in addition to these daily messages we carefully select books that will supplement your study of the Bible and help you grow in faith. This is the last weekend will be offering the book name above all names. This is a book written by Alister along with his good friend Sinclair Ferguson. As you reflect on the character of Jesus Christ will be better prepared to respond to Scripture to focus your gaze upon Christ and to meditate on his greatness as you read name above all names you will discover how the whole Bible is a book about Jesus predicted revealed preached explained and expected. Learn more about the book name above all names when you visit our website at Truth for Life.I'm Bob Lapine.

Thanks for listing.

Join us again next week and for part two of today's message is will learn how we can look more like our heavenly father, your three practical ways for us to demonstrate love that reveals our membership as a part of God's family.

The Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life Learning is for Living