(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Now this is a pretty familiar passage in the Bible about David being confronted by Nathan the prophet about his sin with Bathsheba and the fact that he had also caused Uriah the Hittite to be killed in order to cover up for his sin in committing adultery with Bathsheba. Now this story illustrates a principle that is present all throughout the Bible. There's something that comes up a lot in the Old Testament and it comes up a lot in Jesus' preaching and really just all throughout the Bible you'll see this over and over again where some man of God or maybe Jesus Christ himself presents someone with a story that seems like it's about someone else. But then it's revealed that the story's not really about someone else, it's actually about the person that they're talking to. And it's always amazing how whenever this happens, the person who's hearing the story, they're always very quick to give the correct answer about what should happen to the guilty party in the story or about what should be done in the situation that's described in the story, but for some reason when it comes to themselves, they have not applied those same principles. You see, often we're very quick to condemn others for things that we are guilty of ourselves. Or very often when other people have problems or situations, it's really easy for us to know the right answer of what that person should do and what our advice to that person would be. But yet for ourselves it seems that our vision is clouded and we can't quite come to the same conclusions. Now in this story, David had committed adultery with Bathsheba and Nathan comes to him with a story about a man who has many flocks and herds, he's a very wealthy man. Another neighbor of his has nothing but just one little lamb that's not even so much property to him, it's like a family pet. I mean the thing lives in the house with him, it sleeps in bed with him. And I'm not one of these that has animals sleeping in bed with me, but honestly some people their dog sleeps in their bed with them. I think we have a cat that sleeps in our kids' beds with them sometimes and they like that. But in the story, this man who just has an abundance of sheep, all kinds of herds, he steals the lamb from this guy who just has that one lamb, steals it so that he can conserve it to his guests. And I mean this just illustrates just complete greed, it's just like pure evil that somebody would do that when they have so much to just take from somebody, the one little thing that they have. And yet then when David hears the story, he's enraged by the story, it angers him. And he pronounces punishment on this man. Look at verse 5, it says, David's anger was greatly kindled against the man and he said to Nathan, as the Lord liveth, the man that had done this thing shall surely die. And he shall restore the lamb fourfold because he did this thing and because he had no pity. And Nathan said to David, thou art the man. So you see how clear David sees the story when he thinks it's about someone else? See when it's about someone else, it's crystal clear. But in his own situation, he had multiple wives, he had concubines, he had great wealth, and then he takes away Uriah's wife. Uriah was a man who only had one wife, as the Bible commands us to have only one wife. And the Bible teaches that from the beginning God made them male and female and God said that these twain or these two shall become one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. And so we see that David is very quick to condemn someone who did something that was much more minor than what he did. That guy took his lamb, he took someone's wife, much worse. Now go to Matthew chapter 7, Matthew chapter 7. This isn't the only time in the Bible where God uses methods like that, where he sends somebody a prophet to tell them a story that seems like it's about someone else but it's really about them. But look at Matthew chapter 7 and verse 1, the Bible reads, judge not that ye be not judged. This verse is often misquoted as just judge not, period. And they try to teach, oh man, just don't ever judge anybody, it's not right to judge. When in reality there are multitudes of verse in the New Testament commanding us to judge, telling us to judge righteous judgment, rebuking people for not judging. But people will take this out of context, this is talking about hypocrites, people who will condemn others for things that they are guilty of themselves. He said, judge not that ye be not judged, for with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged. And with what measure ye meet, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but consider'st not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, let me pull out the mote out of thine eye, and behold a beam is in thine own eye, thou hypocrite. First cast out the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye. So we can often be like David, where we have this beam in our eye, I mean David had a beam in his eye, he committed adultery with another man's wife. And yet he's just so quick to become enraged and put the death penalty on someone for stealing a lamb, for stealing an animal, a much more minor offense. I mean would you rather have someone steal your lamb or steal your wife? But the Bible is showing us here that human nature is such that we often are quick to condemn others of things that we're guilty of ourselves, or many times we're guilty of something much worse. This isn't telling us never to judge, it's telling us not to be hypocrites. It's telling us to practice what we preach. It's telling us to apply the same standards to ourselves that we apply to other people. Go if you would to 2 Samuel chapter 14. We saw 2 Samuel 12 where Nathan confronted David, now we're going to see where another prophet confronts someone with this... actually I'm sorry, I'm having you turn to the wrong place. Go to 1 Kings 20, 2 Samuel 14 is a different story. Go to 1 Kings 20, this is where another prophet is confronting Ahab about his sin and he pretty much uses the exact same tactic that Nathan used with David. Now while you're turning there, let me read this for you from Nehemiah. Nehemiah chapter 5 verse 7 reads, Then I consulted with myself, and I rebuked the nobles and the rulers and said unto them, Ye exact usury, every one of his brother, and I set a great assembly against them. And I love those words that Nehemiah says there, I consulted with myself. Now when we think of the word consult or consultation, you'd probably think of maybe someone going to a counselor and getting a consultation. Someone going to a psychiatrist, getting a consultation. Someone going to a lawyer, getting a consultation. And when people get a consultation, they're usually trying to get advice in some area of life, whether it's just self-help or whether it's a financial or a legal issue. They go and they get a consultation to figure out what the right thing to do is, what the right course of action is. Now often as a pastor, people come to me for advice. They want to consult with me and they want to ask me what I think that they should do in a particular situation, or how to fix a particular problem that they have in their life. And often pastors do a lot of counseling, right? And counseling comes from the same root word as consult, counsel, right? And what happens is, they go to the pastor and they say, here's my situation. What do I do? What's your advice to me? Now I do a lot less counseling than the average pastor, and I think that part of the reason for that is because I preach a lot of doctrine and a lot of truth that's pretty easy for people to apply. I don't think people in our church usually need a lot of counseling because I'm trying to do my counseling from the pulpit just by preaching the Bible. Now I am one that strongly believes that pretty much everybody needs the same advice. You know, I don't think there's anything new under the sun, and everybody thinks their situation's totally unique. Everybody thinks that their marriage problem, their financial problem, their health problem, man, nobody's ever been, you don't understand my situation, you just don't get it. Look, there's nothing new under the sun. And the Bible tells us there hath no temptation taken you but such as is what? Common to man. Any temptation, any struggle, any problem that you're going through, there have been tons of other people who have gone through something almost exactly the same because there hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man. And so therefore, my philosophy is that I don't necessarily need to know every detail of someone's problems or every detail of what's going on in their marriage or every detail of what the problem is with the children because honestly, the same advice works for everybody. And what's good for the goose is good for the gander. And people will often think that, you know, well let me just explain to you my situation. No, Ephesians 5 works for every marriage. Proverbs works for every child-rearing problem. You know, the Bible has the answers and the answers are the same for everybody. It's just not often the answer that people want to hear. Now often when someone, and I don't mind when people ask me for advice, and look, if people need advice, if people are having problems, if people need, you know, some biblical guidance, you know, I don't mind answering questions. Nothing shocks me. I'm not worried about it. I'm not going to look down on you. But let me say this though, usually the first thing I say, remember what Nehemiah said, I consulted with myself? Usually the first thing I say to anyone who asks me for advice is this, what do you think you should do? Or better yet, here's a better way of phrasing that question. Well if I came to you with the exact problem or situation that you're coming to me with, what would you tell me to do? And then all of a sudden the answer just becomes crystal clear to them. See when it's them, they're all emotional about it, they're all tied up in the situation, and they can't look at it objectively. They can't just take a step back and just rationally, logically, biblically look at the situation and say, what does the Bible say is right? Because it's their situation, so they're very emotional about it. It's hard for them to just stop and look at it and just think about it and say, what does the Bible say? And so often people will come to you, I don't know what to do, you know, and then I just say to them, well okay, what if someone else came to you with your exact situation? What would you tell that person to do? And sometimes I'll even name a specific person. What if so and so came to you and asked you this question? What would you tell them to do? Or what would you tell me to do if I came, and then, oh yeah, well I'd tell them. Well there you go, there's your answer. See often we already know what the right answer is. And look, if you're going to a Bible preaching church that's actually teaching you the Bible, we're actually getting doctrine, we're actually being fed, not just the repetitive same thing every week but you're getting Bible stories, Bible doctrine, the Word of God being preached, you probably have a lot of Bible knowledge after a few years of going to a church like that. And if you're reading your Bible every day as God commands you to do, and if you're reading through the Bible cover to cover repeatedly, you've taken in a lot of knowledge. You've taken in a lot of preaching. It's time to start applying that knowledge to yourself and applying that preaching to yourself. And sometimes the most prideful, arrogant people who love to just tell everybody else what to do, criticize everybody else, you know, they know everything that everybody else is doing wrong and how to fix it, they don't apply those same things to themselves and fix their own problems and live their own life the right way. It's this David mentality that says, you know what, oh that guy did that? Well let's take him out and kill him. Well you've done something, you did the same thing except worse. Oh man, and you know what, to David's credit though, you know what the next words out of his mouth were, I've sinned. No arguing, no excuses, when he was confronted with it he just said, I have sinned. Instead of saying, yeah but that was different, okay, let me explain my situation. No, your situation's the same. It's all the same. And the same principles that work for one person's marriage, that work for one person's child rank, that works for one person's financial problems, that works for one person, look, it's all the same. Because God's word is so deep and God's laws and his statutes are so perfect they can solve all problems. They can fix all situations. But often we're blind to it because we don't apply them to ourselves. Look at 2 Samuel 14, here's a, why do I keep telling you to go to 2 Samuel 14? First Kings 20, right? First Kings 20, God just wants us in chapter 14. But anyway, 1 Kings 20, here's another story that's almost the same. It says, and his servant said unto him, these are the king of Syria, his servant said unto him, behold now, we've heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings. Let us, I pray thee, put sackcloth on our loins and ropes upon our heads and go out to the king of Israel, peradventure he will save thy life. So they girded sackcloth on their loins and put ropes on their heads and came to the king of Israel and said, thy servant Benhaddad saith, I pray thee, let me live. And he said, is he yet alive? He is my brother. Now the man did diligently observe whether anything would come from him and did hastily catch it and they said, thy brother Benhaddad. Then he said, go ye, bring him. Then Benhaddad came forth to him and he caused him to come up into the chariot. And Benhaddad said unto him, the cities which my father took from thy father I will restore and thou shall make streets for thee in Damascus as my father made in Samaria. Then said Ahab, I will send thee away with this covenant. So he made a covenant with him and sent him away. And a certain man, this story always cracks me up, but a certain man of the sons of the prophets said unto his neighbor in the word of the Lord, smite me I pray thee. Now have you ever had somebody just walk up to you and ask you that? Smite me. Hit me. Smite me means basically punch me or hit me, okay. So this man of the sons of the prophets in the word of the Lord, basically he's telling this guy, look God is commanding you to do this, he says smite me I pray thee. And the man refused to smite him. Then said he unto him, because thou hast not obeyed the voice of the Lord, behold as soon as thou art departed from me a lion shall slay thee. And as soon as he was departed from him, a lion found him and slew him. Now look this shows us that we need to obey God's word even if we don't always understand God's word. You know there might be certain things in the Bible that we don't necessarily understand, but if God's telling us to do something we better just do it. You know and if the Bible says it we need to follow that commandment. So then he has to find somebody else, he says then he found another man, verse 37, and said smite me I pray thee, and the man smote him so that in smiting he wounded him. So this guy really took God's command seriously and smote this guy pretty hard and wounded him. So the prophet departed and waited for the king by the way and disguised himself with ashes upon his face. So here we've got a prophet now, he's been smitten. He basically has been hit, he's been wounded. You know maybe he's got a black eye or a bloody nose or a fat lip, whatever. Well on top of that injury he puts on ashes and basically just makes himself look dirty and disheveled. It says in verse 39, as the king passed by he cried to the king and he said, thy servant went out into the midst of the battle, and behold a man turned aside and brought a man unto me and said, keep this man. If by any means he be missing, then shall thy life be for his life or else thou shalt pay a talent of silver. And as thy servant was busy here and there, he was gone. And the king of Israel said unto him, so shall thy judgment be, thyself has decided it. And he hasted and took the ashes away from his face, and the king of Israel discerned him that he was of the prophets. And he said unto him, thus saith the Lord, because thou hast let go out of thy hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction, therefore thy life shall go for his life and thy people for his people. And the king of Israel went to his house heavy and displeased and came to Samaria. So let me explain the story. King Ahab was commanded by God to defeat the Assyrians and Ben-Hadad, the wicked, murderous, evil king of the Assyrians was to be killed. He was not to be allowed to go free. Yet because Ben-Hadad made supplication unto him and said, you're my brother, I love you, I'm going to be a good subject to you, we're going to pay taxes to you. Basically Ben-Hadad gets mercy from Ahab and Ahab sends him away in peace. Now we might look at this and say, well, you know, Ahab's just being a nice guy. I mean, Ahab is showing mercy and, you know, mercy is a virtue that the Bible talks a lot about. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. And so we see this and we can look at this as saying, well, you know, Ahab was just a really nice guy, he's very loving, he's very kind to allow this man Ben-Hadad to have mercy. But wait a minute, God had commanded judgment to be carried out on Ben-Hadad. It's not for us to pardon those whom God has condemned. You know, when you're more merciful than God, you're too merciful. You know what I mean? Just think that, well, let's just always err on the side of compassion. Let's just always err on the side of mercy. And you know what? It's better to err on the side of mercy, but you know what? When God has specifically told us that certain people are condemned, the Bible says they that forsake the law praise the wicked, but such as keep the law, contend with them. It says in Malachi, turn to Malachi if you would, I want to show you what it says, because there's a great passage on this subject in Malachi, Malachi, this isn't in my notes so I'm going off the top of my head, I believe it's at the very end of chapter 2. Here we go, Malachi chapter 2 verse 17 says this, you have wearied the Lord with your words, yet you say wherein have we wearied him? This is Malachi 2.17. When ye say everyone that doeth evil is good in the sight of the Lord and he delighteth in them, well where is the God of judgment? So look, the Bible is saying that we're making God upset, we're making God angry when we say good things about a bad person. I mean right here there's someone that is evil in the sight of the Lord, he's doing evil, and then we're saying to that person he's good, or we're delighting in that person. And we might say, oh that's just being kind, that's just being respectful. Oh that's just being merciful. But you know what, when the Bible condemns sin and then we go soft on sin and soft on sinners, you know what, God's not impressed with that. He's not impressed with how kind and loving you are when you are pardoning those whom he has condemned. Let me tell you something, there are people in this world who are on their way to hell and let me tell you who they are. Everyone that does not believe on the name of the only begotten Son of God is condemned to hell. Did you hear that? Anyone who does not believe on the name of the only begotten Son of God. And what is that name? Jesus. And you know, for example, we were, I took my son hiking for his birthday. And at the trailhead of the hiking trail there was a guy and he was selling hats and t-shirts and stuff like that. This is up Sedona. And you know, we were looking at some of the hats and t-shirts, looking at his souvenir for Solomon and you know, just checking them out. And I ended up buying a hat for myself because I didn't have the right hat. So I figured, oh cool, I'll just get this hat and wear it on the hike. Well this guy, he said, oh wait a minute, I almost forgot to give you your free book. So he hands me a book that says The Perfection of Yoga, okay, and it had like this weird hermaphrodite looking creature on the front of it. I don't know if it was a man or a woman or what it was, you know, in the East Indian tradition. And he says, you know, we are the Hare Krishnas, he said, okay. And I said, well, you know, I opened the book and leafed through it, I said, you know what, I said, we're staunch Christians, so we're not interested in this. And he said, well so are we. He said, we're Christians too. Because he said, you know, the central teaching of Christ is to love one another and that's what we believe in. So the central teaching of Christ was to die on the cross for our sins and to be buried and rise again. You know, if you're reading a King James Bible that actually contains the verse that says, the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost, you know, a verse that's completely eliminated from the NIV, what is it, Matthew 17, 21, Matthew 18, 11, I don't have it off the top of my head. But anyway, Jesus Christ came to seek and to save that which was lost. He came to minister and to give his life a ransom for many. He came to die and be buried and rise again. And I told this guy, I said, no. I said, the central message of Jesus Christ, the death, burial, and resurrection. That's the Gospel. And he, because he said, well, we take it further, reincarnation, he said. I said, and as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment. I said, the Bible teaches heaven and hell, not reincarnation, you know what I mean. He said, okay, that's, you know, all right. And that was it. You know, he didn't want to hear any more of the Gospel, but I gave him a few Scriptures and you know, he was the Hare Krishna. Now look, I could just say, well, you know what, Hare Krishna, you're my brother, Hare Krishna. And you know what, I'm so glad you respect the teachings of Jesus Christ because you know what, that makes us both Christian, you know, because we're both following Christ. I mean, I'm following Christ through the Bible, you're following Christ through the perfection of yoga, you know, but we're both going to get there. You know what, that sounds really loving. And a lot of times people will say things like, well, you know, my truth could be different than your truth. You know, and people just have this desire to get along, to not condemn anybody. You look at the popular preachers, the preachers that the world loves, Billy Graham, Joel Osteen, you know, and whenever they're interviewed, it's like, well, Muslims, yeah, they're probably going to heaven, Hindus, they love God. Which one? They have like a thousand Gods. I mean, Joel Osteen said that Hindus really love God. Is it that one that has four arms? Like Goro on Mortal Kombat? You know, is that who you think, is that who you love when you say I love God? Seriously. I mean, they literally worship over a thousand Gods, and Joel Osteen says they love God. And people are like, wow, that's so great, that's so loving, that's so inclusive. No, because you know what, when you love someone, you speak the truth in love. And sometimes that truth is a condemnation. You know, no one wants to be told, you're not a Christian, you're not saved, you're not going to heaven, you're on your way to hell. But you know what, if someone is on their way to hell, they need to be warned about that. And it should be done gently, it should be done lovingly, but they should get a warning. Not just a confirmation or an affirmation of something that is wrong, okay? We ought not pardon the guilty or condemn the innocent, okay? You know, I've heard people say this, you know, well, just to be safe, they say, I'm just going to love everybody, just to be safe. I'm just going to just be good to everybody, because you know, that's just always the safest way to go. But yet the Bible says in 2 Chronicles 19, too, shouldest thou help the ungodly and love them that hate the Lord, therefore is wrath upon thee from the Lord thy God. So look, God's wrath could be upon you when you love those that hate the Lord, when you delight in those who hate the Lord. And let me tell you something, the Bible's clear in Romans 1 about men with men, women and women, men who burn and lust one toward another, it tells you their attributes. I don't have time to go verse by verse through Romans 1, it says they're haters of God. So let me ask you this, when you have Elton John in your CD player, does Elton John hate the Lord according to the Bible? Yes he does, because Romans 1 teaches that men who burn and lust one toward another are reprobates and it lists that they are haters of God, and so Elton John is a hater of God if you are listening to his music, you're delighting in him. You're delighting in those that are evil. You're delighting in those who hate the Lord. You know, some of your favorite politicians hate the Lord. Some of your favorite musicians, some of the actors and actresses of Hollywood, they hate the Lord. We shouldn't delight in them. We shouldn't just delight in them, take pleasure in them, just love them, no. We should realize, wait a minute, these people are enemies of the cross of Christ. We need to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. And so look, in this Old Testament story, where Ahab was specifically told, look, Ben Hadad is a murderer, he's wicked, he's ungodly, he needs to be punished, he needs to be destroyed, he needs to be killed. Ahab shows mercy on him. And this prophet comes to him and he uses an illustration about someone else, just like Nathan did. And he says, well okay, there's a guy that I was supposed to keep as a prisoner, and the man who told me to keep him as a prisoner, you know, his commanding officer or whatever told him, look, if this guy gets away, your life is going to go for his life, or you're going to pay, what was it, a talent of silver? And then basically this guy's going to the king saying, man, I got busy by and by, I got distracted, the guy escaped. Can you help me? Can you pardon me? And the king says, I'm not going to pardon you. You've said it with your own mouth what your punishment should be. Then he undisguises himself and says, no, it's you. You're the man. It's just like Nathan. Thou art the man. You're the one. Okay, go if you would to Matthew 21. Let's see Jesus use the same methodology when he's teaching of telling a story that seems like it's about someone else, but really it's about you. Why did Nathan use that? Why did this man of God who spoke to Ahab, why did he use that method? Why in 2 Samuel 14 that we keep almost turning to and haven't turned to yet, why did the wise woman who came and spoke to King David about Absalom, why did she use that exact same method? Telling a made up story about one brother killing another brother, getting David's opinion on it, and then turning around and saying to David, okay, well that's exactly what happened between Absalom and Amnon. And now all of a sudden, okay, David sees it. Because it's easier for us to have a clear picture of what the right thing to do is when we're talking about someone else. But when it's about us, we don't always see it. Look at Matthew 21. And here's Jesus using the exact same method. He says in verse 28, and this is Jesus speaking unto the Jews, and he was speaking unto Jews that did not believe on him. Speaking unto the Pharisees. He says in verse 28, but what think ye, a certain man had two sons. And he came to the first and said, Son, go work today in my vineyard. He answered and said, I will not. But afterward he repented and went. So first he says he's not going to do it, then he changes his mind, decides to do it. And he came to the second and said, likewise, and he answered and said, I go, sir, and when not. He said, but why would he say he's going and then not do it? Well, do you have children? You ever give them chores? Right? Son, go clean your room. Okay. You know? Go take out the trash, son. He goes and plays. You know, this is a very realistic parable, okay? And so it says, he answered and said, I go, sir, and went not. Whether of them twain did the will of his father. They say unto him, the first. Jesus saith unto them, verily I say unto you that the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. Now look, that's a pretty strong statement. That's pretty hard preaching. I mean, how, you look, people get upset if you just tell them they're not going to heaven. But what happens if you tell them, you know what, prostitutes are going to heaven before you. I mean, that's pretty offensive. He said, the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of heaven before you. For John came unto you in the way of righteousness and you believed him not. But the publicans and the harlots believed him and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward that ye might believe him. He's saying, look, you Pharisees are like the child that says to their father, yup, I'm going to do my chores, and then they don't do it. Because he said, this people draw nigh unto me with their mouth and with their lips, but he said their heart is far from me. In vain they do worship me, teaching for commandments the doctrines of men. So Jesus is showing how the Pharisees pay lip service to obeying the Lord, but in reality they're not obeying him at all. They're not doing his will whatsoever. They're just saying and doing not. They're hypocrites and he exposes that. Whereas the publicans and the harlots are like the one who said, I'm not going to do it, because initially they started out ignoring the Lord, ignoring his commandments, and then when Jesus Christ came and they heard the preaching of God's word, they believed on him. They did the will of the Father, because the Bible says this is the will of the Father that everyone that seeth the Son and believeth on him might have everlasting life and I'll raise him up at the last day. I'm quoting that loosely. Look at the next verse, verse 33. Here another parable. There was a certain householder which planted a vineyard and hedged it round about and digged a winepress in it and built a tower and led it out to husbandmen and went into a far country. And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen that they might receive the fruits of it. And the husbandmen took his servants and beat one and killed another and stoned another. Again he sent other servants more than the first and they did unto them likewise. And last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son. But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir, come let us kill him and let us seize on his inheritance. And they caught him and cast him out of the vineyard and slew him. When the Lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen? They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen which shall render him the fruits in their seasons. They don't realize he's talking about them. They are the husbandmen. He says in verse 42, and look how much they're willing to condemn these guys. He'll miserably destroy those wicked men. I mean they're using strong language. But really they're condemning themselves. It says, Jesus saith unto them, Did you never read in the scriptures? By the way, that's always the problem with people who have false doctrine, either one of two things. They didn't read or they're not saved. Because if you're not saved, you can read all day long and it's spiritually discerned, you don't understand it. Did you not read in the scriptures the stone which the builders rejected? The same has become the head of the corner. This is the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes. Therefore say I unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof and whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken, but on whosoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, watch this, they perceived that he spake of them. And then what's their reaction? Like David, did they say I've sinned? No once they realized he's talking about them, they sought to lay hands on him. They want him arrested, okay? But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude because they took him for a profit. So what we see here is Jesus twice in a row telling a story that seems to be about someone else, two sons who are told to go work in the vineyard. One says no and then changes their mind and does it, one who says yes and refuses to do what they're told. It's really applying unto who he's speaking to. The next parable, same thing. He's talking about sending messengers to gather the fruit from the vineyard that he had let out or rented out to these husbandmen and they beat one, they kill another. That's talking about Jesus, I'm sorry, that's talking about God sending prophets throughout the Old Testament and the Jews killed the prophets. The Jews beat them and killed them. And then last of all, he sent them his son saying they'll reverence my son. And watch this, this is what, you know what's interesting about this, look at verse 38. But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, this is the heir, come let us kill him and let us seize on his inheritance and they caught him and cast him out of the vineyard and slew him. This is before Jesus died on the cross. So if they're really paying attention, he's basically prophesying unto them that he's going to be killed. Because this is something that he didn't reveal to the disciples right away. You know, if you remember, it was only a few chapters earlier in Matthew where he takes Peter, I'm sorry, he takes the disciples and tells them that he's going to be killed. He's going to be betrayed and crucified. And then remember, Peter takes them aside and rebukes him and he says, get thee behind me Satan. So this is something that really they should have been listening, they should have been paying attention. Wait a minute, you know, wicked people are going to kill Jesus Christ, he's going to be crucified. He's predicting that, he's prophesying that, but that part just goes right over their head. And they continue on their course and they do slay him. They do kill him, just as Jesus predicted that they would. And later on, you know, if you compare this with the book of John where Jesus is talking about how they're seeking to kill him and they keep denying it, no, we're not trying to kill you. We're trying to kill the devil, you know, we don't want you dead. But in reality here, Jesus already knew that and they should have known it, that that's how things were going to end up. So what we see here is another example, and again, if I went through all the examples, it would take the whole sermon. I mean it would take more than a sermon, it would take days to just go through all the examples in the Bible where someone is confronted with a story about someone else and they always get the answer right. Even these people who had totally messed up doctrine, didn't believe on Christ, they still always got the right answer when it was about someone else. But when it's about them, they just can't see it. The blinders are up. And you know, we need to be careful of this in our lives, because a lot of times people, when they look at other people's kids, they see all the warning signs, oh man, these kids are going to turn out wrong. You know, they see the teenagers and they see their habits, they see the music, they see the movies, they see the dress, they see what they're acting like. And they look at that and they say, oh man, these kids are going to go off the deep end. These kids are going to be just going to the world, they're going to the devil. But then their own kid starts to do the same stuff, and suddenly they make excuses for it. Because a lot of parents don't have the guts to stand up to their own children, unfortunately. And honestly, there are so many parents who disapprove of their children's behavior. They disapprove of their teenager's behavior and they just... and they're weak. They're afraid. Look, I think the worst attribute you can have as a parent is fear. God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Don't be afraid of your children. And a lot of people, they'll let their children do all kinds of ungodly things and have all this freedom to just sin and get into all this iniquity. And then this is what they'll say, well I'm just afraid that if I make rules, if I rein in their behavior, I'm afraid they're just going to move out. I'm just afraid they're just going to completely go off the deep end. Look, when you start compromising and when you let your children run amuck and when you let your children hang with an ungodly crowd and participate in ungodly entertainment constantly, let me tell you something, they're already going to be gone anyway. They're already going off the deep end. You know what? You might as well just go for the gusto and take the belt off and fix the problem. It's time to... and you know what I'm talking about, a spanking. The Bible says, he that spareth his rod hateth his son, that he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes. The Bible says, withhold not correction from the child, for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die, thou shalt beat him with the rod and shall deliver his soul from hell. That's what the Bible says. But many parents are afraid to stand up to their children. They're afraid. I mean, their son walks out of the bedroom, dressed for the day, and he looks like a queer little sissy. He's got his little skinny jeans on, his underwear showing, his little bird leg pants on, he's got his Abercrombie and Fitch shirt on, and he just looks all girly and queer and sissy, and it's just like, they're just nervous to even confront him. You say, what would you do if your son dressed like that? I'd make him go change his clothes, and I'd take the clothes that I don't like and burn them. Because as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. But you know what? That takes some boldness. Well, try walking in the Spirit, get some boldness, okay? And you know what? People today, they won't stand up for what's right, because they don't have the guts to do it. But other people, it's like, oh man, those people need to get their kids under control. Oh man, you know, and then their own house is not in order. You know? I mean, this could go for so many different areas, but honestly, instead of worrying so much about what everybody else, you know, we need to take inventory of ourself, and you know what? We all have issues that we deal with, we all have problems in our life, none of us is perfect, we're all sinners, we all have struggles that we go through. And you know what? Let me just give you a great tip, okay? When you are at a point where you don't know what to do, when you're at a point where you honestly are struggling with what the right answer is, I'm not saying not to come ask me, I'll be glad to answer your question, but let me say this though. You might not need to come ask me. You may be able to just consult with yourself. And honestly, I think that if you'll ask this question, what would I say to someone else who came to me and asked me this, what would I tell them to do? You probably have your right answer right there. That's probably the answer. We know what the right answer is. If we've read the Bible at all, if we've been in church at all, we know what the Bible says about marriage, we know what the Bible teaches about child rearing, we know what the Bible teaches about work and finances, we know what the Bible teaches about church, but it's just so often we make excuses for ourself, we think we're unique, we think we're special, we think that nobody else has the same issue. You know what? We need to just get in a place where we say, you know what? What does the Bible say? What would I tell someone else? But often the answer is just something that's hard to do. That's why we don't want to apply it to ourself. We love to lay burdens upon men that are grievous to be born, but we ourselves don't want to touch them with a little finger. Because it's easy to tell some husband, hey, you need to stand up to your wife, or to tell some parent, you need to stand up to your children, or to tell some pastor, you need to stand up to your congregation, or to tell some boss, you need to stand up to your employees. It's easy to say that, right? But it's easier said than done. So we always want to tell that to other people, but then when it comes to us, we don't want to do what needs to be done. You know, we tell other people have marriage problems. We're not going to tell them to get a divorce. We're not going to tell them to separate. We're not going to tell them to be bitter and angry from day to day. We're going to tell them, look, you know, love one another, forgive each other as Christ also has forgiven you. We're going to tell them that it's till death do us part. We're going to tell them that the Lord God of Israel hateth putting away, putting away means divorce. You know, we're going to have all the biblical answers, but our marriage problems are different. It's irreconcilable, right? Wrong. And it's so funny because sometimes I've had people bring marriage problems to me, and they, I've literally had people say to me, like, you don't understand. This is what happened in my marriage. And I'm thinking to myself, like, that has happened in my marriage, that exact thing in my marriage. And they're just acting like, no, you don't understand, you know, she said this, or he said this. I'm thinking like, I've said that. You know what I mean? I'm thinking like, my wife has said that, you know what I mean? And they're just acting like, can you believe that? I mean, I know you're against divorce, but I mean, can you believe that? And I'm like, uh, that's called being married. That's something that probably everybody has said or thought or done. I mean, it's like, good night. I mean, we're not even talking, I mean, look, obviously there are major things that can happen in a marriage, like adultery, that obviously has never happened in my marriage, that I can't understand. But look, I still know what the Bible says. You know, it doesn't change what the Bible teaches. But you know what? People will come to you with these problems that are not even that big of a deal, that are way smaller problems than that, that are just typical bumps in the road of just being married, and they just swear that it's the most catastrophic thing in the world and they just don't know how they're ever going to get past it. And you're just thinking to yourself, that is another day at the office, my friend. Get over it. Man up. You know, just, I mean, and look, we need to get to the place where we realize the Bible's principles work for everybody, and if we know the Bible, Pastor Anderson is not a magician. I don't have some special connection with God where I can get new special revelations for your situation. All I'm going to tell you is what the Bible already says. If you come to me and ask me for advice, and if you try to give me too much detail, I'm just going to be like, nope, not interested, doesn't matter. Take two of these and call me in the morning. You know, I don't need to hear every detail because it's the same advice for everybody. I mean, do you have marriage problems? Have you listened to all my sermons on marriage? Because honestly, everything I know about marriage I've pretty much preached. I mean, 99% of it, you know what I mean? So there you go. I mean, there's the answer. Yeah, but it didn't answer my situation. No, you probably just didn't want it to answer your situation, because it probably did. Guy came to me and said, oh, counsel my marriage, this and that. I said, well, you know, you hardly ever even come church. That's your problem. You know what I mean? Right? You don't do any soul winning. That's another problem. You know, and I just, you know, do you read your Bible every day? No. There's another problem. So I said, why don't you do this? Why don't you and your wife just read the Bible every day, pray every day, come to church every week, you know, do some soul winning, and then let's talk about your problem. But they don't want to do that, well then, you know, you're not really interested in fixing things. You're not really interested in a biblical approach. Because God blesses obedience and he curses disobedience. So if you're just going to live a life filled with disobedience, just live a life where you just disregard a whole bunch of God's commandments, like reading the Bible, praying, going to church, doing soul winning. You just disobey all these commandments and it's like, God bless my marriage. It's not going to happen. Draw an eye to God and he'll draw an eye to you. And so we need to apply the principles of the Bible to ourselves and consult with ourselves. It's okay to ask other people for advice, but first, go to yourself first. And do some real soul searching and examine yourself with spiroids and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for your word. Please help us not to be hypocrites, Lord. Help us not to condemn others and be quick to judge others and to know the right answer for everybody else. But then when it comes to ourselves, we make excuses, Lord. Help us to own up to our problems, own up to our weaknesses, own up to our faults and apply the Bible. Let it correct us and chastise us. And in Jesus' name we pray.