Christian Relationships - The Father, Brothers / Sisters, False Prophets

 John wanted a wife. He brought several women home to meet his parents. Dad liked them all. But Mom criticized them all, harshly. He worried, "I'll never find a bride Mom likes." Worried, he talked to a friend. The counsel? "Find a woman just like your mom." He searched till found a clone. She looked like Mom. Talked like Mom. Walked like Mom. Even thought like Mom. One Friday, he told his friend he'd take her home to meet his parents. On Monday, his friend asked, "How'd it go?" "Great. Mom loved her. But Dad couldn't stand her." Today, Jesus speaks about worry, criticism, & judging to Mom, Dad, John, & us. Let's look at Mt 6:25-7:20. 25aDon't worry. 25bNot about our life. 25cWhat we'll eat or drink. 25aAbout our body. 25eOr what we'll wear. 25fIsn't life more important than those? 26aLook at the birds. 26bThey don't sow, reap, or store up seed. 26cYet our heavenly Father feeds them. If they work, they eat. 26dAren't we much more valuable? Would God remember them & forget us? Hah! 27Who by worrying can add a single hour to his life? What worries us most? Problems that never happen. Why waste today's energy worrying tomorrow's trouble? Stop! 28aAnd clothes... 28bSee how the lilies grow. 28cThey don't work for their clothes or make them. 29Yet not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one. 30aThat's how God clothes the grass of the field. 30bIt's here today, thrown in the fire tomorrow. 30bWon't He much more clothe us? When we worry, Jesus calls us 30cLittle Faith! 31aStop worrying: 31b'What'll we eat?' 31c'What'll we drink?' 31d'What'll we wear?' Stop it! 32aPagans chase all the things we need. We don't have to. 32bOur heavenly Father knows we need them. 33aSeek 1st His kingdom & His righteousness. Trust our Father to meet our need. Trust, & 33ball these things will be given to us as well. Jesus' point? 34aDon't worry about tomorrow. Just don't. It's a command. 34bTomorrow will worry about itself. No need to worry it today. 34cEach day has enough trouble of its own. So, don't borrow tomorrow's trouble. Stop being 'Little Faith.' We have a good Father. What do we say to Him when we worry? 'I don't trust You to meet my needs.' Here's the truth. Worry is a land mine in our relationship with the Father. Worry, & He'll call us Little Faith, too. There are also land mines to avoid in our relationships with others. One of the biggest? 1aDon't judge. Do so, & 1bwe'll be judged. By them. And by God. Worse? 2aIn the same way we judge others, we'll be judged. View others as untrustworthy? Guess how they'll see us! 2bWith the measure we use, it'll be measured to us. It's the Golden Rule's opposite. Don't treat others how we don't want to be treated. Don't judge them harshly, & they won't judge us harshly. If we don't have to judge, don't. If we do have to judge, let love, grace, & mercy guide us. If we judge others, there's another land mine. 3aWhy do we look at the speck of sawdust in our brother's eye & pay no attention to the plank in our own eye? What we judge in others is worse in us. Their speck, our log. Why do you think it bothers us so much? 4How can we say to our brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there's a plank in our own eye? 5aHypocrite, 5b1st take the plank out of our own eye. Whatever bothers us in them, judge it in us 1st. That'll prepare us with the mercy they need. 5cOnly then will we see clearly to remove the speck from our brother's eye. Helping others out of sin is like eye surgery. If someone does surgery on our eye, we want them very gentle, even tender! Just so, be gentle in helping others see their sin. Be tender & merciful in helping them. That's what we want. Another land mine with others? 6aDon't give dogs what's sacred. If someone refuses help, stop. 6bDon't throw your pearls to pigs. Don't waste our breath. 6cIf we do, they may trample what we said under their feet, & then turn & tear us to pieces. By word or deed. As we seek to help others, we need help. Guidance. We need the wisdom of the Holy Spirit. Jesus has good news for us. 7aKeep asking & it'll be given to us. Ask for wisdom to help others. To share God's truth, but tenderly with love, grace, & truth. God wants to help. So, ask. Keep asking. 7bKeep seeking & we'll find. Don't give up on those we pray for. God answers each prayer. Things move in the heavenly realm when we pray, even if we can't see it. Keep seeking. 7cKeep knocking & the door will be opened to us. Jesus promises. Never stop praying. Keep knocking until He opens the door. Jesus promises. 8aEveryone who asks receives. 8bHe who seeks finds. 8cTo him who knocks, the door will be opened. Never give up someone we pray for. 9Which of us, if his child asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11aThough we're evil, we know how to give good gifts to our children. 11bHow much more will our Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! 12aSo in everything, do to others what we'd have them do to us. 12bThis sums up the Law & the Prophets. It sums up all Jesus says today. Relate to others in love. Sound hard? It is. There are 2 roads. 13aEnter through the narrow (στενος: very narrow) gate. (Greek: so narrow hard for a small man to get through.) Not like the other. 13bWide is the gate & broad is the road that leads to destruction. Room for everyone. We're born on that road. To stay on it, do nothing. 13cMany enter through the easy road. It doesn't lead to eternal life. 14aBut small (στενος: narrow, strict) is the gate & narrow (θλίβω: hard, strict, exacting) is the road that leads to life. It's the road of loving others. 14bOnly a few find it. The path? Jesus. The Way. There's one relationship Christians are to avoid. 15aWatch out for false prophets. In every age, they outnumber true prophets. The problem? 15bThey come to us in sheep's clothing. They look like sheep. Members of God's flock. They might be pastors. Elders. Or even deacons. Doing all the right things. They look real. But 15cInwardly they're ferocious wolves. Like the enemy in 1 Pet 5:8. They're prowling for someone to devour. 16aBy their fruit you'll recognize them. How so? Where does their teaching lead? Christ? Or anywhere else? Who's glorified? God? Or them? Why look for fruit? 16bDo people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? No. We don't look for good fruit on bad plants. 17aLikewise every good tree bears good fruit. This is the key. What's the fruit of their ministry? If it's good, they're good. 17bBut a bad tree bears bad fruit. If their fruit is bad, so are they. This is God's law of "kinds." Like produces like. 18aA good tree can't bear bad fruit. Good preaching leads to peaceful relationships in a church. 18bA bad tree can't bear good fruit. With bad preaching, there's be conflict. We need not judge. God will. 19aEvery tree that doesn't bear good fruit is cut down & thrown into the fire. Whatever the fruit, God will make it visible. 20 Thus, by their fruit we'll recognize them. Want an example? Sir John Bowring. He wrote the lyrics to a beautiful hymn. In the Cross of Christ, I Glory.i It's emotional. Powerful. But who's glorified? The cross. Not Christ. He's Unitarian. They don't believe Christ is God or in His Atonement-that His death substitutes for ours. We aren't responsible for what others preach. But we are responsible for what we take in. Avoid relationships with false prophets. That's the most loving thing we can do. It avoids conflict. It protects us. And it protects others in relationship with us. Let's wrap up. Jesus warned us about landmines in our relationships with the Father, with other believers, & with false prophets. Worry blows up our relationship to the Father. He wants us to trust Him to meet our need. With others, we already saw that unforgiveness is a land mine. Today, Jesus adds judging others to that list. If we have to judge others, there are 3 landmines to avoid. Judging without mercy blows up a relationship. So does trying to correct someone if we're guilty of the same thing. Judge ourselves 1st. It'll give us the grace & mercy we need for them. 3rd, don't try to help someone who doesn't want it. Do any of those 3 things, & it'll blow up a relationship. On all relational issues, pray for God's will. Keep praying till He gives us what we're seeking. And false prophets? The land mine is having a relationship at all. It opens us to false teaching. Loving others in these ways is hard. But that's the narrow gate Jesus says leads to eternal life. The road without love is broad. Apart from Christ, we're stuck in it. He's the Way. 1 In the cross of Christ I glory, towering o'er the wrecks of time; all the light of sacred story gathers round its head sublime. 2 When the woes of life o'ertake me, hopes deceive, and fears annoy, never shall the cross forsake me. Lo! it glows with peace and joy. 3 When the sun of bliss is beaming light and love upon my way, from the cross the radiance streaming adds more luster to the day. 4 Bane and blessing, pain and pleasure, by the cross are sanctified; peace is there that knows no measure, joys that through all time abide. 5 In the cross of Christ I glory, towering o'er the wrecks of time; all the light of sacred story gathers round its head sublime. i United Methodist Hymnal, 1989 --------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ --------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ Christian Relationships: Father, Bro's / Sist's, & False Prophets - Matthew 6:25-7:20 Page 1 of 1