John 3:16 has been the most
used Scripture verse for many, many years.
“For God so loved the world,
that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not
perish, but have everlasting life.”
At least twice in the past
few months, I have heard others state that this is no longer the case.
Supposedly, another has taken its place; i.e. Matthew 7:1.
“Judge not, that ye be not
judged.”
I immediately realize that
only a Christian would be quoting John 3:16. Thousands and thousands of
Christians have read or quoted this verse to others while sharing the Gospel to
a lost soul.
It has been proclaimed from
the pulpits for hundreds of years by many pastors, missionaries and evangelists
while preaching God’s message of salvation through His Son.
It has been used while
sitting in the living room or at the kitchen table witnessing for Christ.
It has been read on the
prairies, the river banks, in the jungles, in prison cells; anywhere a
Christian is sharing the Good News of Jesus.
Sermons and books have been
written solely on this one verse, John 3:16, and now it is second place? What
happened? John 3:16 is the greatest news mankind could ever receive. Millions
have bowed before the Savior it introduces and put their faith in Him. Millions
have been given eternal life because of this verse. How could it possibly no
longer be the most used Scripture verse of God’s Word, the Bible? Obviously,
there are two reasons.
Assuming this is true; the
most obvious reason is that Christians have stopped witnessing as they once
did. Ask yourself, when was the last time you used this passage to witness to
someone? Has our witnessing subsided over the years? Has the world changed so
much we are now “timid” about spreading the Good News?
Most Christians have always
been shy about witnessing. Why? I don’t know, but they have been.
The Apostle Paul said, “For I
am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto
salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
For in it is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith; as it is
written, The just shall live by faith.” Romans 1:16-17
The Gospel message contained
in John 3:16 is nothing to be ashamed of. To the contrary, it is something so
wonderful, it must be shared.
Jesus said, “For whosoever
shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed,
when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy
angels.” Luke 9:26
I have known far, far more
Christians who thought, and even openly stated, that “it’s the preacher’s job”
to witness, whether face-to-face or from the pulpit. Does this attitude
originate from shyness or laziness? My guess is; both.
Look folks, read Luke 9:26
(above) again. If you’re ashamed of Jesus Christ, He will be ashamed of you. If
you have to be prodded and pushed to witness to others about Jesus, you have a
serious problem.
If John 3:16 has fallen so
much in usage that it now falls below Matthew 7:1, that tells me that Christians
are witnessing even less than they once did. Maybe this is why Satan and his
message are so rapidly overtaking our society. Those who profess Christ
privately have quit professing Him openly.
I assure you that Satan’s message
is very popular, always has been, and his followers are not ashamed to say so.
Now why is that? Satan’s message tells us how good we are and no matter how we
live, everything will be alright. Satan’s message is “Let’s party.” Our message
is, “Let’s pray.” They don’t want to pray, they want to party, and they resent
any confines to their “having a good time.” Therefore, we timidly back-peddle
lest we offend anyone.
The second reason I see, would
be that those without Christ have found a Bible verse they can use to keep us
mean-ole Christians off their backs. They can indulge in their sins and mis-represent
this verse to keep us quiet.
Matthew 7:1 contains
wonderful words of Jesus that should be taken seriously. After all, He commands
it; “Judge not, that ye be not judged.” Funny thing though, Jesus also said, in
the very same chapter, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s
clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their
fruits…” He said these words in verses 15-16.
Someone once said, “I don’t
judge anyone. That’s God’s business. I’m just a fruit inspector.” Now you may
not think that’s funny, and may even be offended by it, but I think it makes
perfect sense.
It is true that it isn’t up
to us to judge another, but a Christian cannot just turn a blind eye to sin.
One certainly can recognize sin and point it out without being confrontational
or judgmental. Why would God give us the Ten Commandments if we weren’t
expected to know what to avoid and what to embrace?
God is the one who will judge
us all. He has identified sin so clearly in His Word a child should know what
sin is. So what is the real issue?
When we peel away all the
camouflage the message is quite clear. People like to sin. That’s what we do.
We are a fallen creature. Prior to being born-again in Jesus Christ we are
spiritually dead but very much alive in the shenanigans of our father the
Devil.
Satan, the Devil, hides in
the darkness. He loves it. Until we come to Christ we love the darkness too. Until
the light of Jesus floods our soul, we hate the light.
“Ye are all the children of
light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.”
1 Thessalonians 5:5
“Then spake Jesus again unto
them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk
in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” John 8:12
“As long as I am in the
world, I am the light of the world.” John 9:5
“I am come a light into the
world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.” John 12:46
The lost world has discovered
that they can defend themselves by saying, “Judge not, that ye be not judged.”
Why do they do this? I never thought you would ask. I’ll give you two examples.
1.
God says that
homosexuality is a sin against Him. So we warn those practicing this perverted
lifestyle.
2.
God says that
abortion is murder. So we warn those with bloody hands.
The Church’s text book of
instructions from God is the Bible. The world reasons that if they use a verse
from our own text book against us, it will shut us up and they can continue in
their sins without our annoying interruptions. But there’s a problem. Any
Christian “worth their salt” is not judging anyone. God is the one doing the
judging. It is God who is saying “You have sinned against me.” We are just the
messenger (and you know what often happens to the messenger).
So Christians normally use
John 3:16, but now non-Christians are using Matthew 7:1 in an attempt to shut
the mouths of God’s people. Guess what? To my horror I have been noticing
Christians also using Matthew 7:1, not as intended, but to assist those who
want to keep their sins and still claim they know Christ as Savior.
Christians will sometimes
fall into the pig pen, but they don’t want to stay there. They’re unclean and
they feel unclean. They have no peace until, as His child, they seek
forgiveness from their Father in Heaven.
If you like the pig pen,
don’t say you are a child of God. God doesn’t raise pigs. He raises sheep.
Don’t use God’s holy Word to defend your sins. No, we won’t judge you. That
isn’t our place, but we will warn you, that God will judge sin. We will also
tell you, if you would like to listen, that He loves you and says so in John
3:16.
You Christians who are
supporting those who are trying to use God’s Word to defend their actions and
shut the mouths of those who identify sin as sin, need to get in the Word and
grow up. You are immature and causing much harm to the Christian community. It
would be better if you just kept silent until you actually know what you are
talking about.
Listen folks, thousands of
people in our country are going straight to hell because they think they can continue
in an on-going lifestyle of sin and still be a Christian. That is not the
attitude of a true Christian. It is lip service only.
The Christian community needs
to love them, pray for them, and tell them the Truth, not tell them “It’s okay.
God is love. We don’t judge. Let’s all love each other.” The mature Christian
will notice that three of these sentences are true, but the first one is a lie.
1.
It is okay to
“straddle the fence.” No it isn't. There can only be one master, either we serve Jesus, or
we serve the world, but we can’t do both.h
2.
God is love,
that’s why He came and died for us, to save us from our sins.
3.
God will judge
those who refuse His Son.
4.
Yes, let us love
one another by being truthful to each other.
So is Matthew 7:1 being used
now more often than John 3:16? I really don’t know, but I have been hearing
Matthew 7:1 used on several occasions by people who obviously don’t want to be
reminded that sin is sin and God judges sin.
Grant Phillips
Email: grantphillips@windstream.net
Pre-Rapture Commentary: http://grant-phillips.blogspot.com
