Why Do You Not Analyze This Present Time?

I want to begin this morning by asking you a question to get you thinking. So here's the question. How do you know if you're a Christian? How do you know if you're a Christian? Can you know if you're a Christian? Yeah? Okay. Well, then the question is, well, how do you know? And I want you to know there's not one way, because Scripture doesn't give us one way. Scripture gives us many litmus tests or indicators. to show us if we're Christians. And so I want to go through a couple of them. And this is not an exhaustive list, but I want to go through a couple of them so you realize there are many things that Scripture has to say. We're not left in the dark with regard to whether we're Christians. Because if we believe that we're left in the dark as to whether we're Christians, God's glory will suffer. Because we won't pursue it. Because we may wander around, but we won't know where we're going or what we're doing.

And so we won't go as quickly. And so it's helpful for us to know that we can know if we're a Christian or not. So what are some of the biblical litmus tests? Well, the first is belief. Do you believe in Jesus Christ? And it seems like a simple thing to say. Well, you know, do you believe? It's an easy thing to say, yes, I believe. And it's easy for someone to lie about whether they believe. And yet we can't get rid of that. that marker because scripture gives it to us. In Acts 8, verse 37, when Philip is ministering to the Ethiopian eunuch and the eunuch wants to be baptized after Philip's climbed up in his chariot and explained the book of Isaiah to him. And he says, I, I want to, there's water. What prevents me from being baptized? And Philip says, I just have a question. Do you believe, this is the question, do you believe that Jesus is the son of God? And the eunuch says, yes.

And they stop, and he gets out, and he baptizes him. He marks him with the sign of the covenant. He marks him as one of God's people because he believes that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Again, in Romans 10, verses 9 and 10, we read, If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. If you say these things and believe these things, you will be saved. For with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. And so belief is an indication of salvation. Is it a perfect measure? No, because people can lie and people can be self-deceived. But it is a marker and it is an indicator. And can't you tell when someone believes that Jesus Christ is who he says he is? Isn't that apparent to you? It is.

What other indicators do we have? Well, love. And love is similar to belief in that it's kind of, it doesn't have very clear boundaries of what it means to love God. But love for God is an indicator of genuine Christian faith. 1 John 4, verse 7 says, Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God. And everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. And so love is an indication, it's a marker of whether someone has true Christian faith. You could come to someone and say, as Philip did to the Ethiopian eunuch, do you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God? And depending on how they answer that question, you have an indication of whether they have genuine Christian faith. You could also come to them and say, do you love God? Do you love your neighbor? And based on how they answer that, you have information.

to make a judgment. Finally, this morning, you have obedience as an indicator of Christian faith. In Luke chapter 6, verses 43 and 44, we read, There is no good tree which produces bad fruit, nor, on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit. For each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush. the analogy is we can look at a tree or a bush or a plant and we can make judgments about that plant based on what it produces. If it has thorns coming out of it, we know we aren't going to get figs from it because fig plants don't, or trees, I don't know how figs grow, don't have thorns on them. We can look at what's produced and say that even if there's no fruit on it, at the time, it's out of season, we can say, that's not a fig tree because it has thorns on it. And I know that I can never come to this tree and get figs off of it because it's not a fig tree. It's some other thing. We could go on and we could list other passages that help us know if we're a Christian or not. But I want to stop with that and answer a question. If you had to choose between these three indicators, belief, love, and obedience,

Which one was the best indicator? That's what you had to choose. If you can only pick one, they're all indicators, but if you can only pick one, belief, love, or obedience, which one's the best indicator of Christian faith? One for love. One for obedience. Two for love. Okay. One of you is right and two of you are wrong, I think. How many of you don't want to pick obedience? How many of you, as you were thinking but unwilling to answer, were really debating between belief and love but not obedience? Was your heart ever inclined towards obedience? And say, that's an important one. Levi's was. Mandy's was. My contention this morning is that you should be inclined toward that marker. And the reason is because that marker, over time, for any of these, there has to be time. That marker is the most objective. Concrete. You can measure it. Did you do this or did you not do this?

What I'm convinced of is that we don't want to choose obedience precisely because it's the most objective. There's not as much wiggle room with it. Love? What's love? What does it mean to love someone? What does it mean to believe something? How strongly do you have to believe it? How often do you have to believe it? What does believing it look like? There's a lot of questions to bring clarity to the question of belief. The same is true of love. Were you really loving them or were you doing it because you're selfish? Or were you doing it because you're afraid? Or were you doing it because you were trying to manipulate them? Were you doing it because they did something for you? There's all kinds of questions to bring clarity to the question of love. But obedience, you have some of that too. But you have at the beginning, what did you do? Did you do it or not? And that's objective. Now maybe you did it for the wrong reason, but you have the option of not doing it. And there's no excuse for not doing it.

And so it's the most objective indicator. So if we want to know the answer to the question, am I a Christian or how do I know if I'm a Christian, we should want the best indicator possible, right? You want the test with the least margin of error. For our own sakes, for our soul's sakes, we should want the best test. And whether it's true of us that we prefer obedience, largely in our culture and in our society and the church today, that is the one that's brushed aside. It's not an indicator. No one wants it to be the indicator. Why? Well, it may be because the truth hurts or it's sad. It may be because, you know what, I'm already working on it and I don't need you to come point out my failures. You know, I did or I didn't do. I want to talk about my intentions, not my actions. It may be because you're prone to discouragement or despair. You're afraid that the truth will, you know, the clearer picture we can get of the truth,

the more likely you are to despair or be discouraged. It may be because your past sins are a factor in your thinking. You can't get over what you have already done. You have struggled to believe God's grace and Jesus' blood is sufficient for that. So you don't want sort of objective, quantifiable, what have you done sort of questioning because you don't like your track record. It may be because you're overly scrupulous of yourself. You're your own best critic. You actually think you're terrible. the most terrible, awful, no good person you've ever met. It could also be that you don't want to know the truth or that you already have a suspicion about what the truth is with regard to whether you're a Christian or not and you don't want to face that reality down. Sort of like an ostrich sticking his head back in the sand. Something ugly is coming, something miserable, I'm going to ignore it. I don't want to see it. And then to some of you, it may seem like an inappropriate question altogether. Why would you even ask that question, man?

All you're going to do is upset people and frustrate them and turn them inward and make them think about themselves. And how is that helpful? If that's what you think or if you're inclined that way, I want to warn you that to think that this answer to this question and its answer are not important is dangerous. Because there's a set amount of time for each one of us where the answer can be determined. And then that time's over and the answer is established. and it cannot be changed for all eternity. And so it's an important question to address in our hearts and in our lives. So we must ask this question, and we must also work to answer it. Now, with all of that, we're going to come back to this at the end. When we get to application, we're going to come back to this question. But we're going to go around now, and I'm going to show you why we don't like the question.

That's what our text this morning is about, why we struggle with the question or don't like the question. Would you please stand for the reading of God's word now? From Luke chapter 12, verses 54 through 59. This is the word of the Lord and it is eternally true. And he, Jesus, was also saying to the crowds, when you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, a shower is coming. And so it turns out. And when you see a south wind blowing, you say, it will be a hot day. And it turns out that way. You hypocrites, you know how to analyze the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why do you not analyze this present time? And why do you not even on your own initiative judge what is right? For while you are going with your opponent to appear before the magistrate, on your way there, make an effort to settle with him so that he may not drag you before the judge and the judge turn you over to the officer and the officer throw you into prison. I say to you,

You will not get out of there until you have paid the very last cent. This is the word of the Lord. You may be seated. So thus far, with relationship to the question of whether you're a Christian or not, I've been talking about the front side of the discussion, sort of the public-facing, outward-facing part of the discussion. But underneath of that, if we were to go into the back of the house, what's happening when We try to answer that question. What's required of us is that we make judgments. And the question I asked at the beginning was, on what basis do we judge? Whether we're Christians or not. Belief, love, obedience. There are others. How do we make judgments? But there's a difficulty even with that. And the difficulty is that we don't like to make judgments. We don't like to make them. We don't want to definitively answer yes, Or no. You ever listen to politicians talk? And they get asked simple questions. Yes or no questions, even. And what do they do? Refuse to answer the question. They refuse. They talk. They don't sit there and they're not silent. They talk, but they do not answer the question. And the questions they refuse to answer are the ones that require them to take a side or to make a judgment. They won't do it.

Because they don't want to alienate a contingent of their audience. So they refuse to do it. They won't make judgments. And if you listen to them, it makes you crazy. You were asked a yes or no question, and you talked for five minutes, but not one of those words was yes or no. It's infuriating. And yet, are you so dissimilar to them? When someone asks you a question, asks you to make a judgment about something, don't you beat around the bush and hem-haw and well this and then on the other hand and I don't know and meh. What do you think? Don't we do this? We won't make judgments. Why don't we make judgments? You don't want to be wrong. What happens if you go out on a limb and you say, here's what it is and this is what I believe and this is what's right. But you're wrong.

Well, then you got pie in your face. You look like an idiot. Everyone loses respect for you and your pride takes a big slug to the gut. Well, who wants that? So we say, I don't know. It's above my pay grade. Not sure. You realize that if we make judgments, if you think of the political realm, why won't they answer questions? Well, because as soon as they answer a question or make a judgment or a statement that can be interpreted as a judgment, they get labels. You're racist. You're sexist. You're misogynistic. You're xenophobic. You're homophobic. The list goes on. As soon as they say something that can be interpreted as a judgment, labels come. Derogatory labels. Inflammatory labels. Who wants that? So they won't answer the question. I want you to see that the threat of accusation against you prevents you from making judgments. It prevents you from saying yes and no because you don't want to be labeled unloving, ungracious.

impatient, a legalist. What is it? What's the label you don't want? And so instead of the culture that we live in, instead of cultivating righteous judgments, because there are unrighteous judgments, right? Instead of cultivating righteous judgments, we cultivate naivety. It's now what should be a virtue in someone. is that they make righteous judgments, that what they say is true. That's what should be virtuous. But in our culture, what's virtuous is wondering about everything forever. Oh, he's a very humble man. He doesn't know anything. I need to be like him because he's dumb. I hope I didn't just teach him a word. So will you agree with me that we live in a culture that doesn't like just judgments?

We don't want a judgment-free zone. And we also live in a culture that because we won't make judgments, can't figure out what bathroom we should use. As an example, we're not sure. Really? You're not sure? I'm sure. And I didn't have to go to college to figure it out. But what labels do I get if I say that? You're proud. You're arrogant. You're homophobic. You're unloving. You're oppressive. I mean, we could just go on. Just for saying, could the men use the men's bathroom and can the women use the women's bathroom? Please, please. This is how God made us. Can we acknowledge it in the bathrooms we use? And you want to set off a firestorm? Just say something like that on Facebook and watch what happens. Clear your schedule and just watch. You agree with me. We live in a culture, you can't make judgments. You can't do it. You have to be naive. Here's the problem.

be taught not to make judgments. You cannot be taught to not make judgments. What you're taught is to hide your judgments, to keep them private. My own personal truths, okay? The example Jesus gives us at the very beginning is he says to the crowds, when you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, a shower is coming. If we all went outside and we looked out to the west and it was a blue night sky outside and we looked out there and there was dark clouds in the west, we'd say, we can't have church picnic today because the rain's coming and we would be right. Right? I'm looking to the west. I feel the wind in my face. Rains are coming. And I tell you, there's rain coming. Guys, we're going to cancel the picnic. Just as an example. And you all affirm with a hearty amen. You're right, Dave. We saw the cloud too.

We all are capable of making the judgment. The rain is a coming. The same is true with wind. Here comes the wind. Oh, it's coming from the south. We live in the northern hemisphere. Further south you go, the hotter it gets. So it follows that if the wind's coming out of the south, it's going to get warm, right? Generally speaking, being a hunter, I know this. Our wind comes out of the southwest year round. Generally speaking, the wind comes out of the west almost everywhere. unless there's some weird topography making it swirl. Our wind comes out of the southwest. And so if I'm going to go hunting, and I'm concerned about wind direction and whether deer are going to smell me, I pay attention. Which way is the wind going to come? It's going to blow this way. Okay, what do I know, though, as I'm going to go hunting, as I'm studying the wind, if the wind's going to come out of the northwest? I know it's going to be cold in the stand. I don't even have to look at what they tell me the hour-by-hour temperature is going to be. What I know is...

The higher the wind coming from the north, the colder it's going to be. And if you were to watch the weather, you can just look at which direction the wind blows. Forget whether the sun's out, and you can know whether it's going to be warm or cold outside. And you don't have to work hard to figure it out. Is it coming from the north? It's cold up north. They get more snow and ice and all the rest up there. If the wind comes that way, it's going to be cold. If it comes from the south, it's warmer, it's nicer. It's going to be warm. You make a judgment. And we're all confident in that. Does anyone want to argue with me and tell me I'm wrong? That if the wind comes from the north, it's going to be warm outside? No, because you'd be a knucklehead to do it. It's obviously universally true. And so we can make those judgments. And don't we all make those judgments about stuff? We look at things. We gather some level of data, some amount of information, and we make a judgment about it.

Here's what's going to happen. And so Jesus says to us, you see a cloud rising in the west and you immediately say, which, did you notice, they immediately say. It's out loud. It's verbal. They don't keep it to themselves. Oh, I know it's going to rain. We're going to go to the picnic. You guys are all going to get wet. No, they say, hey, it's going to rain. And so what do we learn? Well, we learn that judgments should be shared. That's incidentally. That's how you teach someone to make a wise judgment. Being a hunter, I've studied the wind. I've learned that northern winds mean cold and southern winds mean warm. Some of you might not have necessarily put that together until just now. And that's okay. It's fine. But it makes sense to you. And so I just taught you something inconsequential about temperature, right? You just look at the wind and know if it's going to be warm or cold. We all make these kinds of judgments. We all see data. We observe it. We make judgments. And our culture tells us,

You can't do that. You can't make judgments. You can't do it because it'll hurt people's feelings because it's not inclusive. It's not nice. You might be wrong. And so we all have to wonder about how wrong we are about everything. And inevitably, we're wrong about stuff. One of my favorite quotes, recent quotes, is that I always think I'm right, but I don't think I'm always right. And you have to think about it, okay? The first half of it is, I always think I'm right. So in a particular situation, when I'm making judgments, I always think I'm right. Because I wouldn't be making the judgment or the case or whatever if I didn't think I was right. And yet, I'm not dumb enough to think I am always right when I make judgments. I recognize that I'm wrong, even though I thought I was right. So what do you learn when you make a judgment? You go out on a limb and you say, I think or I believe.

fill in the blank, and someone goes, what a wicked person you are for thinking that. You shush. What do you learn? You learn, I'm not supposed to talk about my judgments. I'm supposed to be naive. I'm supposed to be foolish. I'm not supposed to look at the clouds and say, I think it's going to rain. I'm supposed to look at the clouds and go, hmm, I wonder what that means. It's been said that rain comes out of those sometimes, but I'm not convinced. You understand how... asinine this is. It'd be so much more helpful if you just say, pack your raincoat today. There's a cloud. It might rain. Just bring your poncho. Let's go. And so if we live in a culture that despises making judgments, it follows that we don't like making judgments. We cultivate naivety. Just in case, not to beat a dead horse, but just in case there's any blood pumping in it yet, children will teach you.

how often you make judgments. Kids don't have any trouble making judgments about stuff because they haven't learned the lesson that they're supposed to not make judgments yet. And so have you ever been surprised by the insight of children? Wow, that child is, how did he figure that out? How did he know that? I can't figure, the reason is because he hasn't been programmed yet. to not make judgments. So they make them. And surprisingly, they make good ones. Sometimes. Sometimes kids make really bad judgments. But if you ever are impressed by the judgment of a child, wow, just think, he hasn't been trained like me to be stupid. I need to learn from him. Of such are the kingdom of heaven. Unless we come to the Father as children, we will not come at all. They make judgments. They look. They collect data.

They process it in their little brains, and then out comes the judgment. Daddy, there's a cloud in the sky. You think it's going to rain today? Well, I don't know, son. So how does one make a judgment? What we're taught is that judgments are just your opinion. They're not based on anything other than you and what you think. That's not true. It shouldn't be true anyway. Our judgments should not just be guesses and I wonders. Our judgments should be based on something. And when those men made judgments about rain and hot days, they were based on something. They were based on clouds in the sky or wind in their face. And so to make judgments, you collect data. You observe what's going on. Hebrews 5.14 says that solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained not to be naive, but to discern good and evil.

They have to be trained to make righteous judgments. That's what Christians are supposed to do. We're supposed to be learning discernment. All discernment is, if discernment is like a scary word and you're like, I don't know, that's a special gift or something that I don't have any of. I say, no, you have some of it because you can look at a cloud and say it's going to rain. You have some level of discernment. It's a common gift. Some people have more of it than others, but it goes by other titles. What is discernment? It's critical thinking. It's problem solving. It's observation and analysis. This is discernment. You get some information, and it's all laying there on the table like a thousand-piece puzzle, and you start grouping. If I do puzzles, what do I do? The first thing I do is separate all the edges from the centers. I'm starting to discern. I'm starting to observe. I'm starting to divide. Why? So I can put it together.

You ever watch little kids try to, you know, they're making the puzzle and you're trying to teach them this concept. You can't put one with a big ear on it sticking out past the straight side. You can't do that. And kids, little kids, they can't, they have to learn that lesson. That piece will never go there. Ever. Ever. You need to learn that or you're never going to be able to do a puzzle. So you separate the pieces. And then what do you do? Then you go to the outline. And you go, where are the corners? I know there's only four of them because puzzles are rectangular most of the time, unless you know differently. I'm going to find the corners, right? And I'm going to set the corners out. And then I'm going to go into that list and I'm going to go, okay, similar colors. Put my browns and my blacks and my blue skies and whatever else. I'm going to put them together because generally this is a picture of something and these pieces go together, right? The puzzle is a picture of something particular.

I'm observing. I'm thinking critically. And you get the outside done. And now comes the hard part, the inside, where there's more than one space of red and more than one space of green, and some of it's in focus and some of it's blurry. So what do you do? The same thing. You start sorting the pieces for the purpose of putting them together the way they should be put together. We don't put puzzles together by going, It fits. Look. No, it doesn't. A machine cut that, and machines are better at making pieces fit than what you just did. This is what it means to have discernment. It means to say, I see something. I see unorganized information. My job is to bring order to the disorder. And to do that, I have to make judgments. And to make judgments, I have to discern differences.

Absolutely necessary. If you don't do puzzles the way I've just described, then you don't do them right. And you'll never finish them. You'll lose the pieces. You'll get frustrated. It'll never work. You have to do puzzles the way I'm talking about doing puzzles. And it's fun. It's fun to do puzzles the way I do. Because you know what I end up with? A finished puzzle. And isn't that the point? So to make judgments, we have to exercise discernment. We have to observe information. And then we have to look for the connections. Where and how does this fit into the broader picture? That's our work. And Jesus says to them, you hypocrites, you know how to do this with the earth and with the sky. Why do you not analyze the present time? Why don't you do the same thing now? Their culture is very different than ours. It's not postmodern. And yet they have the same problem we do. They can't make judgments that are necessary.

And Jesus rebukes them. How else can you understand him calling them hypocrites other than to say, hey, something's wrong with you. You have this skill and this ability and you're good at it over here, but somewhere it got lost in translation and you don't do it over here. And let me tell you, it's important over here. This is where you should apply that wisdom. And so we have to ask, what was it about their time that they didn't know? What was the heap of puzzle pieces that they weren't putting together? We'll answer the question by asking you another question. If you were there in the crowd, what would you have known at that time? If I put you with the knowledge you have right now, back then, time machine, back, you know, here you are. Jump out of the little bullet and there you are. Jesus is teaching, you're listening. What would you know?

You'd know who Jesus was. You'd say, you're the promised one. You're the Messiah. You're the one we've been waiting for. And that means something for me. That's important stuff to know. So do you think some of the people knew? I think some of them knew. I don't know how many. A majority? Minority? I don't know. That's complete speculation. I don't know. But I do believe that some of them knew who Jesus was. And then he restates his question. If you read in verse 56, it says, you know how to analyze the earth and the sky. Why do you not analyze this present time? Turn the page. And then he restates his question. And more clearly, why do you not even on your own initiative judge what is right? How often do you not make judgments because it's unpopular and because the people around you aren't willing to go with you and make the judgment? Or you'd have to distinguish yourself by making a judgment.

You wouldn't be a part of the status quo. You wouldn't be a part of the crowds. All of a sudden, you'd be saying, he's Jesus. He's the one we've been waiting for. We need to serve him and love him and obey him because if we don't, we're going to die. Why do you not even on your own initiative judge what is right? Was it hidden? Were they incapable of knowing who he was at that time? No, they weren't. Did they have the benefit of 2,000 years of... The time going by, as we do, no, they don't. And they wouldn't have known everything we know, but they could have known enough and should have known enough to love him. Stating his question another way, he'd say, why do you stick so close to those who hate me? The conflict's open now between he and the Pharisees. The people are in play. The battle's been engaged. Why do you stick so closely to those who hate me? Choose this day whom you will serve.

Why don't you analyze the times? Why don't you know who I am? Why don't you love me? And when there is a watershed moment when they all leave, what does Jesus say to his disciples? Are you going to leave me too? The battle's engaged. The choices are being made. The judgments are happening. And Jesus is acutely aware of it. And so he warns them, you hypocrites, why do you analyze all this inconsequential stuff and neglect what's important? I'm right here right now. The poor you'll always have with you. I'm important. And then he goes into an explanation, a parable of sorts. He starts talking about having a problem with your brother and going to a judge to have it adjudicated, straightened out, fix what's wrong. While you're going with your opponent, What in the world does that have to do with the wind and the earth and making judgments? I don't follow. Well, I want to start by explaining this by asking, okay, who are the major players in this parable that he's describing?

The two most prominent people are the offender, whom Jesus is addressing, and the offended. And he's talking to the crowds, and who does he teach them to identify with in this parable? There's other people. There's a judge. There's an officer. But who does he teach them to identify with? He teaches them to identify with the offender, the one who's done wrong, the one who's being brought in for judgment. The offender and the offended have been unable to settle their difference up to this point. They're going to have their conflict resolved. And what's he doing? He's warning them. And what's he warning them? And he says, do everything you can in your power to keep from getting before the judge because you are guilty. And if you get before the judge and you haven't straightened this out, it's going to go very, very poorly for you. So what does the offender lack?

This is a helpful warning, right? If you were in their shoes and you were guilty and someone come and said, you're guilty, you need to settle before you get out of court because they're going to make your life miserable if you let it go that far. Do everything you can to make it right. Is that a nasty thing to be said to you? That's a loving thing to be said to you because the consequence is being in prison until you pay the very last cent. Which we can understand to be saying, you're never going to get out. Ever. So what didn't, what was wrong with the offender? What was wrong with the offender is that he lacked discernment and he didn't make righteous judgments concerning himself. If you knew you were guilty, if you knew that you were guilty and you knew that the wages of your guilt were death, were life sentence in prison, wouldn't you do everything to change that judgment? So how is it that someone could end up in front of the judge unless the only way someone could end up in front of that judge is to say, I didn't know I was guilty. I missed it. And Jesus warns him and says, don't be that man. Don't be that man. Don't be ignorant like that. Don't be naive. Don't be unwilling to make judgments, to observe what's right in front of you and act accordingly before it's too late. Don't be that man.

If you're able to read the weather, why don't you know who I am? And furthermore, why don't you follow me like you need to? I'm only going to be here for a short time. He's saying to them, you've offended a holy God. You are guilty. And you live as though you have no idea who he is and what he's going to require of you when you come before him. It's not Jesus' desire that anyone would make it to that place in ignorance. And so out of love, he warns the crowds. Do not be a hypocrite. You have the ability to read the clouds, to read the times. Take that gift, that grace that I've given you, my Father and Spirit and I have given you, and apply it to your soul. Make righteous judgments about your soul. Can you know if you're a Christian? I don't know. That's not a good answer. It's not a safe answer. This parable is sweet to us because it reveals to us the urgency of our position.

and our need to answer their question. Each one of us must be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ now. Now. Not later. Not when you get older. Not when you've had your fun. Not late. Not then. Because you're not promised that. Now. But our senses have become so dull given the culture that we live in and our participation and our love for it. Our senses have become so dull that we struggle to understand how we've even failed to love and serve God. If someone asked you, what are your sins? How have you offended God? How long would it take you to answer? Would it be a short answer? Would you kind of be like, well, I don't know. I know I do bad things because the Bible tells me I do bad things, but I'm not sure. Okay, well, how about last week? How have you sinned against the holy God? Well, I didn't get out of bed on time. No, two days this week. The answers would just be completely,

devoid of grief, sorrow, conviction, repentance, because we've cultivated naivety with regard to the consequences of our sin. We don't even know what our sin is. We're scared to know what our sin is. It's overwhelming to us. And that's true. I would lie to you if I told you that your sin would not completely overwhelm you. It absolutely will. It'll terrify you when you see what it deserves. It's absolutely terrifying. And your flesh is going to push with everything in you to bury your head in the sand and hide it, cover it, ignore it, try to change it even though it's futile. And Jesus says, you fool. You fool. Why don't you analyze the time? Here I am. I'm here now, says Jesus Christ. Why don't you know who I am? You have that problem. That's why I'm here. If you didn't have that problem, I wouldn't be here. He came to save the sick.

He didn't come to save the healthy. He came to save those who were dead. And so if that's you, and it is, you're not left there. You're not left in that condition. We wouldn't be here. Jesus wouldn't have come to earth if his intention was to leave mankind in that position without any hope in this world or the world to come. And so he came and he said, you need to know who I am. You need to discern who I am. And you need to come to me. Because if you don't come to me, you'll be in hell forever. forever. So we have to have our senses trained. They're dull. They're weak. They're calloused. They're fat. They're not strong. And we have to have our senses trained to discern and to see who we are. We have to make righteous judgments. Much easier to make judgments about other people, isn't it? We have to make righteous judgments about ourself. Then we have to act accordingly. How do you know if you're a Christian? Do you love God?

Do you love God when no one's looking and do you love God when no one's going to praise you for it? How do you know if you're a Christian? Do you believe that what he says is right and true and good? Though all men be liars and they'll speak much louder than he does and more often. That's what it seems like, doesn't it? Do you believe that what he says is true and good and right? And the reason obedience is the most clear indicator of this is because You'll only obey God if you love him and believe what he says. It's the outworking. It's the fruit of Christian faith. That's why it's the most helpful indicator. We could all talk about how we don't love perfectly and don't believe like we should. You know, I believe, help my unbelief. And that's true. But in the end, what's your belief look like? Does it look like obedience? In some way, somewhere, somehow, with some cost or not? Don't be deceived. Don't be lied to.

Don't conspire with Satan against yourself to your own condemnation. Answer the question. Seek it out. Jesus came to save the sick. He didn't come to convince them they were sick alone. He did come to convince them they were sick, and then he came to say, and I'm the cure. I fix it. All through the Gospels, he's healing those who are sick and broken and lame, can't see, can't walk, can't anything. He makes them right. So come to him. Teach your children to come to him. Teach your coworkers what it means to come to him. Expect them to. Trust God that he'll be at work through you in those sorts of situations. But first, you come to him. I'll end with this. You have portions of Scripture based on your work that sort of jump out to you. Guys who work in finance can tell you all about what the Bible says about money. Guys who are into agriculture or farming can tell you all about what the Scripture says about that. Well, I'm a pastor, so...

The thing that stands out to me is when Paul says in 1 Corinthians, he says, I'm supposed to run in such a way so that after I've preached to others, I myself am not disqualified. That I haven't told other people the truth, hoped for them that they would believe it and that they would serve God, all the while I'm not doing it myself. That's what stands out to me because my work is to do that to a greater extent, at least publicly, than you. But you have obligation to speak. You have obligation to make righteous judgments, to not be afraid of the labels, but to love God and to serve him with all of your heart and soul and mind and strength and to trust him to bear the fruit that he chooses to bear when he chooses to bear it. That's his prerogative. Paul says, I planted a pile of water, but God was causing the growth. Our place isn't to make Christians. Our place is to love God and to proclaim in everything that we do.

that he is God and there is no other, and that there is salvation only through his Son, and that it's the sweetest, most bestest thing you'll ever find. That's our place. And that's good work to have. And it's nice to have a Savior and a Lord who will tell you, you're being a hypocrite and a fool, and I wish that you wouldn't. Oh, it's sweet. Painful, but sweet. So be that to one another and to those who aren't here yet. Let's pray. Father in heaven, we love you. Not with perfect love, not the way we should. So often we feel in our bones the conflict of what we should do versus what we want to do. And too often we do what we want to do. Far too often. We don't do it in ignorance. We do it willfully. We do it on purpose. We do it presuming on your grace and having tomorrow to fix what we break today.

We pray, Father, that you'd be merciful to us, that you'd help us to make wise judgments about our souls, about our culture, about good and evil. Help us, Father, not to keep those judgments to ourselves, but to benefit others through shedding your gospel light into a dark land. We ask for increase and for fruit in this work, that you build up your kingdom and your church through us. And we look forward to meeting you face to face, with no more veil and no more distance, but face to face, because you sent your son to save sinners. We love you. We thank you. In Jesus' name, amen.