Pearls Before Swine

Let me begin then this morning by putting the verse of our text in its context.
The context is Jesus' instruction to remove the log out of our own eye.
Verse 5 of Matthew chapter 7 puts it this way, "You hypocrite first take the plank out
of your own eye and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your
brother's eye." And some weeks ago when we looked at that verse in some detail we
know that there are two things here Jesus is pointing out two reasons for
dealing with our own sin and with our own issues before we try to take
somebody else on. The first is a refusal to deal with our own stuff while we
are trying to fix up somebody else makes us hypocrites. We cannot condemn in
somebody else's life but we're not prepared to condemn in our own life first.
And then second leg Jesus points out on this particular passage. The reason it's
so important to remove the log from our own eye is then we can see clearly what
the speck is in our brother's eye and so having underscored for us the
importance of clear spiritual vision. Jesus now goes on in this passage to give
us a practical application of what this might look like in the real world and
that brings us then to the verse of our text. Do not give dogs what is sacred.
Do not throw your pearls to pigs if you do. They may trample them under their
feet and then turn and tear you to pieces. As we take a look at that verse
together in the time that remains this morning I want us to know two things and
then draw from that some practical implications for your life and my life.
First thing I want us to notice is that there are some people in the world says
Jesus who have no appreciation for the things of God. In fact Jesus in this
passage calls them what? Dogs and pigs do not give dogs what is sacred do not
throw your pearls to pigs. Now dogs in scripture are often euphemistically
used to describe people that are outside of the family. I mean today dogs are
valued household pets in many houses but that was not true historically. They
were wild animals who you had to try to avoid all the time and most instances
dogs are another way of saying you're not part of the family. Pigs of course
throughout scripture particularly in the Old Testament but also in the New
are unclean animals. And so when Jesus talks here about dogs and pigs he is
really talking about people who are outside of God's flock. In other words
people who are unbelievers and people who are worldly in their behavior. Now
an unbeliever as you know as a person who doesn't have faith in God doesn't
trust him. Doesn't bow before his authority and doesn't submit to his will. A
worldly person is a person who resonates with the here and now. Shares in the
characteristics of the world which the New Testament tells us are the pride of
life, the lust of the eye and the lust of the flesh. And so this category of
people that Jesus is talking about is a category of people who are not in
relationship with God. They don't bow before his authority. They have no use for
him and their outstanding characteristic is that they are spiritually
insensitive. Paul puts it this way, "The man without the Spirit does not accept
the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him and
he cannot understand them because they are spiritually discerned." There is a
category of people says Jesus that does not appreciate the things of God. Very
important to understand because the tendency for all of us is to think that if
only we could explain it better, if only we could preach louder and longer and
take somebody by the hand and give their head a shake than somehow or another
their eyes would be opened and they would see the glory of God and the
importance of our relationship with God. It's not true. Not true. Unless you're
born again, unless the Holy Spirit comes to live in your heart and you learn
to yield to the authority of Jesus, you cannot see the kingdom of God.
Understand with me this morning there's a whole category of people in the
world who are insensitive. They are dead to the things of God. That's the
first thing that Jesus teaches us here. The second thing that he teaches us
then is that because they have no appreciation for the things of God, we by
definition need to be very circumspect in how we deal with them. In other
words, we need to be very careful in our relationship with them because again
notice how Jesus puts it. Do not give dogs what is sacred. Do not throw your
pearls to pigs. Now the word sacred means holy. It means dedicated to God. The
opposite of sacred is one. It is secular. To be sacred then or to be holy means
that one has a relationship with God and you value that relationship and so we
talk about a holy Bible. We talk about holy communion. The sacred includes the
whole realm of God. So our relationship with God, our reflection upon his
character, our walk with God, it's all part of what is sacred and pearls of
course in this passage represent the values of God's kingdom, pearls by
definition. Our valuable objects because their rare, at least the natural
pearls are rare and therefore their valuable later on Jesus talks about the
pearl of great price selling everything that you have just to lay hold of God's
kingdom and God's kingdom promises. And so when you read Scripture and God
speaks to you, that's a pearl. When God answers a prayer, that's a pearl. When
you have a moment of deep intimacy with God or a moment of deep intimacy with a
fellow believer when you have their heart to heart connection, those are all
pearls, those are those are the valuable things of God's kingdom. And here's
what Jesus says. Don't give dogs what is holy and don't throw your pearls to
pigs that is to say, don't take the valuable things of the kingdom of God and
share them indiscriminately with those who have no appreciation for what they
are. And then Jesus gives us in this text two reasons why this is important.
Here's the first because they lack appreciation for the things of God. Notice
again how he goes on in the text. Do not give dogs what is sacred. Do not throw
your pearls to pigs if you do what's going to happen. They may trample them under
foot. What a powerful word picture. They'll trample them under foot. Why? Because
they don't appreciate them. They live by worldly appetites. They have hungry
needs. All they care about is feeding their bellies. Their God is their
stomach, their pleasure, their personal satisfaction. And so there's a
category of people that has no appreciation for the valuable things of God.
You give them a Bible. A Bible that God says is his inspired record to show us
how to live wisely in the world. What do they do with it? They throw it in a
cupboard. I mean the Bible may continue to be the best seller in North America but
probably one of the least red best sellers. You give them a religious symbol and
they throw it out of the trash or maybe hang it out of the back porch somewhere.
You share an answer to prayer or talk about Jesus or you tell them you go to
church. They roll their eyes and they you know exchange these knowing glances
with their buddies. And they have no understanding. They have no
appreciation for what the Bible calls the pearl of great prize. Now understand
not all unbelievers are like that. And not every worldly person is like that but
there is a category of persons who has no understanding or appreciation of the
valuable things of God and they will trample underfoot that which is holy and
that which is valuable. That's one reason the Lord Jesus gives us for not
giving dogs what is holy and pearls to pig and then he is a second reason it's
this. They'll turn on you. For notice again how the passage goes on do not give
dogs what is sacred do not throw your pearls to pigs if you do. They may
trample them under their feet not only but then what will they do? They will turn
and tear you to pieces. They will turn and tear you to pieces now. Now why would
they do that? Two reasons. Number one you're not giving them what they want and
what they think they need. So now they're unhappy with you because you're not
valuing their hunger and their need and number two you are giving them what they
don't want and what they don't think they need. And so when you tell them
about Jesus when you try to point him to scripture or when you try to share an
answer to your own prayers you're not only not giving them what they want they
think it's unrelated to their marriage struggles or to their struggle with
their children or their struggles at work you're giving them what they do not
want. You're now getting under their skin and the more you press eat home the
more annoyed and the more irritating they become. And so Jesus says don't do
it. Don't give dogs what is holy. Don't throw your pearl before swine. If you're
gonna get persecuted get persecuted for righteousness sake but don't drive
it home to the point where you are eliciting that kind of response. It's one
thing to suffer for Jesus it's another to suffer because of our own foolishness
and our own stupidity. The Apostle Paul by the way later on in the New Testament
is exactly the same kind of teaching he says writing to Timothy and second
Timothy chapter three but mark this he says there will be terrible times in
the last days people will be lovers of themselves lovers of money boastful
proud abusive disobedient to their parents and grateful unholy without love
unforgiving slanderous without self-control brutal not lovers of the good
treacherous rash conceited lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God Paul
always likes to make sure he gets his plea to cross doesn't want to leave
anybody out and then he goes on to say this they have a form of godliness but
they deny it's power and he ends that passage with these words have nothing to
do with him. The biblical teaching generally speaking is you
admonish a person once or twice if after that they are not responding to your
admonishment then scripture says leave them alone we'll talk more about that
in just a moment or two. Now if you're with me on this and this is clear
what Jesus is teaching in this passage to you and to me as his disciples then
of course this has some very practical implications and in the time that
remains I want to try to spell those out for you implication number one we
should never speak lightly or indiscriminately about our spiritual
experiences. Now there are some church traditions where as soon as a person
becomes a Christian he's encouraged to go out there and share his testimony with
all his family and all his friends and there's a place for that because some
of the best evangelists in church are typically people who were recently
converted they are the most excited about their faith they also have the most
non-Christian connections and so there is a place for sharing our faith but I
find it interesting that when you look at the ministry of Jesus who after all is
our model and who models his own teaching with 100% integrity as you could
imagine. If you look at the ministry of Jesus then when he heals people while
there is the occasional person whom he sends home to tell others what God has
done for him what does he do in most instances he says don't go and talk about
what has just happened to you now they never listen to him because they want
to brag and they want to boast and they're so excited and so are we so are
new Christians and so are we when we have a new spiritual experience but you
see when we run off at the mouth prematurely we often do more damage than good
because in that initial enthusiasm it's often not about God and it's often not
about what's really good for the other person we're just so full of it that
it's all about us and that can do a lot of damage and it can in fact set people
up against the things of God because our zeal has exceeded our wisdom and so
Jesus says don't throw your pearls before swine and don't give dogs what is
holy now understand that doesn't mean we don't share our faith doesn't mean we
don't share with one another or with the world our spiritual experiences but
we do it wisely as we are led by the Holy Spirit on behalf of God for the
well-being of the other person so don't speak lightly or indiscriminately
about the valuable things of God because there's a category of people who
won't understand who won't be interested who will walk all over it and then
he'll turn around and they'll take it out on you secondly it means that we need
to correct or challenge people wisely Paul writing to the Galatians in the
context of Christian community admittedly says brothers if someone is called
in sin you who are spiritual should restore him gently but watch yourself or
you also maybe temtit there is the temptation for all of us is there not when we
see something in a spouse or in a kid or in a friend or in a neighbor and we
know that it's it's out of whack and it is hurtful and harmful not only to them
but also to other people then there's the two-fold temptation either on the one
hand to withdraw and to say I'm not going to step in there you know until our
frustration finally reaches such a level that we can avoid speaking or else we
jump in there both feet first and we just hammer it home and hammer it home
and hammer it home and demand and expect that person to change don't give
dogs what is holy and don't throw your pearl before swine as I said a few
moments ago if a person is fundamentally an unbeliever and if a person is
fundamentally in love and in tune with the world then our obligation as
believers is to warn them once or twice so they can ever plead ignorance
beyond that we are to leave them in the hands of God because to keep on pushing
the issue is simply to provoke anger and frustration the book of Proverbs puts
it this way as churning the milk produces butter and as twisting the nose
produces blood so stirring up anger produces strife and one of the arguments
that Paul uses in one Corinthians chapter 7 when he talks about marriage in
the dissolution of marriage is that God has called us to peace and so if in a
given relationship there is a constant ongoing conflict in turmoil then
rather than fighting that out all the time and Paul is one who defends the
sanctity of marriage understand this and Paul is not one who says that we ought
to lightly or easily walk away but the context there is that of an unbeliever
and a believer living together and if the unbeliever continues to resist the
gospel and wants nothing to do with it then there comes a point where you say
God has called us to peace and not to conflict and so I cannot stay in this
relationship very complex and complicated teaching and it has all kinds of
nuances that we need to be careful with the point that I'm trying to make is
that God is very concerned about correcting one another wisely now that doesn't
mean that you just give up in the context of family or in the context of
Christian community the context here is dogs and pigs that is to say people who
are outside of the family of God and who have no interest in our
understanding of spiritual things in the context of the family of God we need
to engage each other as long and as hard as we need until we're in the same
page and experience the grace and the forgiveness of God so don't speak
lightly about spiritual things don't correct or challenge unwisely and then
we need to pray for discernment and I'll tell you why if every dog looked
like a dog and if every pig clearly looked like a pig there would be no
issue with them but you know just as well as I do that in the world and in the
kingdom of God not everything that looks like a pig is actually a pig not
everything that looks like a dog is actually a dog and the converse of that I
got to tell you is also true not everything that doesn't look like a dog is not
a dog and not everything that doesn't look like a hog is not a hog if you go
on in the rest of this passage Jesus talks about false prophets who are wolves
in sheep's clothing and one of the hardest things for us to get a head around in
relating to the world and in understanding how things work is that things are
not always what they seem because God looks on the heart and you can look very
worldly on the outside and have a heart that is very much interested in the
things of God and you can look on the outside like you've got it all together
in the household of God and yet have a heart that is far removed from God I'll
never forget number years ago I got a call to a church and in considering that
call as the friend of mine who was part of that congregation what kind of
leadership potential was present in that congregation and he said he thought
there was some really good leadership there and I accepted the call and then
many many years later after I had been there for a number of years he confided
to me that when I had asked him that question there were two people that had
come to mind and not to offend any of you freezians here but they were both
from Freeslot and he said one of them he thought would give me a lot of
trouble if I came to that congregation and the other he thought would be a
great support and encouragement and so I came and I preached Jesus as best I
know how and God began to work in the lives of that congregation and by the
time I stay there was finished guess what had happened the man that he thought
would give me the most trouble because he had a temper to beat the band and
was legendary with his stubbornness had bent his knee before Jesus had his life
totally and radically transformed and became one of the closest friends I have
ever had a man who would give his life for me and I would give my life for him
the other man whom he had always thought was the epitome of spirituality turned
out to have a heart that was extremely resistant to the gospel and turned away
from things of God and in fact gave me in my ministry in that congregation a
considerably difficult time and I'm not commenting on his spiritual state
or saying that that he was wrong and I was right but I'm simply trying to tell
you this morning that not every dog is a dog and not every pig is a pig man
Scripture looks in the outward appearance but God looks on the heart and so how
do we know what to give to whom when and how we need to pray for spiritual
discernment we need to not only remove the log out of our own eye so that we
can see clearly what is really there but we need to say Lord show me your truth
and your wisdom and that's why Jesus then goes on in the next verse in this
passage to talk this way ask and it will be giving you seek and you will find
knock and the door will be open to you and then he goes on to say everyone who
asks receives he who seeks finds and to him who knocks the door will be opened
[Music]
Lord I come to you let my heart be shaped renew flowing from the grace that I found in you
and Lord I come to know the weaknesses that I see in me will be stripped away by the power of your love
Lord be close let your loves surround me bring me near I shall reach to your side
and as I wave I rise up like the eagle and I will serve with you your spirit leads me
on like the power of your love Lord I come to you let my eyes let me see your face
to face for the knowledge of your love is to live in me
and don't bring me near my mind as your will unfolds in my life in living every day
by the power of your love Lord be close let your loves surround me bring me near
I shall reach to your side and as I wave I rise up like the eagle and I will serve with you
and Lord I come to you let my heart be shaped renew flowing from the grace that I found in you
and as I wave I rise up like the eagle and I will serve with you your spirit leads me
on like the eagle and I will serve with you your spirit leads me on like the power of your love
and I will serve with you your spirit leads me on in the power of your love