Title Let's live with praise.
(Judge not, lest you be judged, for with the judgment with which you judge, you will be judged, and with the measure that you measure, it will be measured to you. Why can you see the speck in your brother's eye and see the log that is in your own eye? Behold, there is a log in your eye, why do you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye?’ Hypocrites, first take the plank out of your eye, and then see clearly and remove the speck from your brother’s eye. I will subtract)
(Matthew 7:1-5)
Then a young man went to the pastor and asked.
Then the pastor replied:
"When I see people really put what they said last week into their lives, I'll start a new sermon."
This story also speaks to all of us today.
This is a story that suggests how much God's Word is actually being ignored by the saints today.
Strictly speaking, Christianity is not a ceremonial religion, nor a knowledge religion, nor an organized religion.
It is a 'religion of the Word'.
When the word of God is proclaimed, a wonderful change must occur in the hearts of the saints.
Beautiful fruits must appear in the lives of the saints. Only then will the meaning of the word be restored.
In the 8th century B.C., the prophet, who prophesied, cried out to the nation of Israel, saying, “Thus saith the LORD to the people of Judea and Jerusalem: Plow up your old ground and do not sow among the thorns” (Ex. 4:3). I did.
It's an abandoned field overgrown with Iranian weeds.
It means that no matter how much you sow the seeds of the Word in the stagnant field, you cannot bear fruit.
That is why he said, “Circumcise yourselves, cut off the skins of your hearts, and belong to the Lord” (Jeremiah 4:4).
Cutting off the skin of your heart means to stop performing formal sacrifices and sincerely obey God's Word.
In that sense, we should be the ones who listen to the word of God we hear today so as not to sow it on the old field and obey it.
1. There are people in the world who live by criticizing others.
No matter where I go or what groups I see, there are people who criticize others.
There are people who criticize others.
What they have in common is always pointing out the faults of others.
A person who criticizes others always sees others negatively.
A person who criticizes others blames others for their mistakes and faults.
People with such a personality have a hard time succeeding in social life.
I hope you take a look around.
Who is more successful than someone who likes to criticize others?
If you look at successful people, they are all people who live by praising and encouraging others.
This is also true in the life of faith and the life of the church.
There are people who always criticize the church even after leaving the church.
There are people who only point out the mistakes of the church members and speak only negatively.
There are people who, without realizing it, are engrossed in criticism.
They criticize politics, economy, society, culture, art, religion, any field.
I see people in the newspaper every day and everyone criticizes them.
These people only criticize the clergy.
He criticizes the elders of the church and only criticizes the church officers.
Criticism brightens the day and criticism sets it dark.
Such people existed even in the days of the Lord.
To these people our Lord said: "Judge not, lest you be judged. With the judgment you judge, you will be judged, and with the measure with which you measure, it will be measured to you."
It's such a simple statement.
If you criticize, you will also be criticized.
When you praise, the praise returns to you, and when you criticize, the criticism returns to you.
Still, people prefer to criticize others rather than praise them.
We brothers of faith should refrain from judging for one another.
Criticism and advice are different things from the start.
As Christians, we ought to refrain from criticizing one another, even if we give praise for our brothers. Because by criticizing, you will also be criticized. He told us to strive to keep the unity of the Holy Spirit.
2. It is the duty of saints to live with praise rather than criticism.
Why should we live praising rather than criticizing?
Because we were all sinners.
All of them were sinners.
There is a saying in our country that a dog with dung hates a dog with chaff.
Today's text also says, "Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not understand the log that is in your own eye?
It's a very natural statement.
It is like saying that there is a log in your own eye and you only see the speck in your brother's eye and ask him to remove it.
He said, "Hypocrite! First take the log out of your own eye. Then you will see clearly and remove the speck from your brother's eye."
Because of God's love, we have the privilege of becoming God's children.
All our saints have become brothers and sisters through the blood of Christ.
Brothers and sisters who share the same blood can only count on each other, there can be no criticism.
It is the duty of the saints to encourage one another and to give for one another.
That is the work of forming the church, which is the body of the Lord.
That's why I told them to strive hard to keep the unity of the Holy Spirit.
If so, what does the church look like today?
Why do you get discouraged and go out into the world when you first come to church and try to live a Christian life?
Because I saw the lack of understanding, concession, and love.
We need to change the appearance and impression of coming to worship.
My body, which had been tormented in the world all week, came out to my father's house on Sunday.
Laughter dries up.
While shaking hands, I push out my hand as a form.
There is no genuine smile that comes from within.
We have to fix this from the beginning.
We need to change the way we greet each other and the way we shake hands.
The critics criticized even Jesus.
A Pharisee named Simon invited Jesus to his house, but he could not receive him in his heart and criticized him.
If the Lord were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman the woman anointed with perfume was... How can she tolerate such a woman? criticized.
At this time, we must keep in mind what our Lord said to Simon.
Luke 7:44-46 "He turned to the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? When I came into your house, you gave me no water to wash my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair." I washed, and you did not kiss me, but I have not ceased to kiss my feet from the time I entered.
You have not poured olive oil on my head, but he has poured perfume on my feet."
I know how to read the heart of our Lord who says this.
Are we not living the same life of faith as this Simon today?
We must reflect deeply.
All year round, there is no such thing as criticizing others for serving others without buying a meal or even knowing how to treat them for the service of the Lord.
I don't know... Looking at the life of giving to the Lord while only saying that we love the Lord, we are not the ones who say that even a few hundredths of our entertainment expenses are rudely donated...
Why are people being so stingy about church members and church work even though they spend a lot of time with people in the world... We need to reflect deeply.
The attitudes of the heart toward the Lord must be changed.
If you do not have the strength to serve yourself, you will have to stop arguing and criticizing others for serving.
Such people should heed the words of Jesus.
Matthew 7:12 “Therefore, in whatever way you would like others to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”
3. You should know that if you praise, that praise will come back to you.
Praise your children rather than criticize them.
Instead of criticizing the church, I want you to boast.
That is what opens the way for evangelism.
Evangelism, evangelism, evangelism, evangelism is impossible, isn't it something that should not be blocked?
When you praise the church, it opens the way for evangelism.
Because compliments beget other compliments.
Praise saves others.
Praise evokes the work of the Holy Spirit.
Praise makes miracles happen.
Cows that are praised are said to produce more milk.
Those who live a life of faith while praising them will have abundant conditions to be thankful for.
Among the many characters in the Bible, those who lived while praising than those who lived while criticizing them enjoyed more blessings.
The blessing of a Christian is not only to receive blessings that others cannot receive, but to make others receive blessings because of me.
God said to Abraham, "In you all nations will be blessed."
It was.
From now on, let's all become Christians who live by praising others rather than criticizing them.
By doing so, we should become the ones who expand the kingdom of God. ♣