Only God Can Judge Me
Ministry Update July 26, 2020
Toward the end of the message on Friday night a guy was yelling from behind me, walking down the sidewalk. As I finished up, he reached the corner I was at and he said, “Judge not lest ye be judged. Only God can judge me.” Instead of stopping and having a real conversation he, continued across the street. So I affirmed that only God can judge him and that God will judge him one day. Is he ready for Judgment Day? I also pointed out that I was merely quoting Scripture, so if he felt judged, maybe God was the one convicting him.
Then he said the f word and said I must have sinned as a child. To be clear, I have never claimed to be a sinless perfectionist. I’m not perfect nor sinless now, so I’m not quite sure why he felt the need to bring my childhood into the conversation unless he mistakenly thinks that I am a sinless perfectionist. Then he said that Jesus hung out with drunkards and prostitutes (which is true), but then he said Jesus got drunk. Obviously, this is not true. Jesus never sinned. The Bible clearly says that getting drunk is wrong (Romans 13:13, 1 Peter 4:3, Galatians 5:21, Proverbs 20:1).
Pet Sin
I’ve noticed over the years of street witnessing that if people talk long enough (even if it is from a distance), they get to their pet sin. The man was trying to justify getting drunk because he wrongly assumed Jesus got drunk. I pointed out to the man that Jesus never condoned sin. Yes, He hung out with sinners, but not to encourage or agree with their sinful lifestyles. He hung out with sinners because that is who He came for. Jesus said that He came not to call the righteous, but to call sinners to repentance (Luke 5:32). He came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). I pleaded with the man to repent and believe the Gospel. He kept telling me not to judge and claimed that he knows the Bible better than I do. That may be so, but that just proves that you can know the Bible and still not know God. You can know the Bible and still miss salvation.
The man kept talking as he walked away, so I started open-air preaching again, this time without amplification. I wanted others around to hear the truth and not just hear this guy trying to justify his sins. I pointed out that in 1 Corinthians 9-11, the Apostle Paul lists a slew of sins common to mankind, including being drunk. Paul says be not deceived, the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God and he specifically states the sin of being a drunkard. I pointed out to the man that I love verse 11 where it says such were some of you. Paul isn’t saying that we clean ourselves up in order to be saved. No, he’s saying that when you become a new creature in Christ, old things pass away (2 Corinthians 5:17). When Jesus is your Lord and Savior, He helps you to overcome alcoholism.
Couple Of Encouragers And An Additional Mocker
There was one encourager during the first message. A woman and her daughter walked past me while I was open-air preaching and the woman said “Amen.” There was also a man that talked to me while I was handing out tracts. We talked a little bit and then he thanked me for being out there. I gave him tract and he took it. If you are a believer and a fellow Christian hands you a Gospel tract, please take it. You may find a better one than you are already using. If it is a good, biblical tract, hand it to someone else. If not, then simply toss it in the trash. I always take tracts when offered one. I want to see what the tract says and I’m always happy to hand the good ones on to someone else.
Toward the end of the time of handing out tracts, someone from the Sky Eleven Apartments yelled down “Hey preacher man, you are a b____.” May God bless the message that was given and may He bless the tracts that were handed out. I pray the Lord saves lost souls, including the mocker who gets drunk and the man who yelled from the apartment building. May God open blind spiritual eyes and may He unharden hard hearts.
(These messages are given to encourage Christians to share the Gospel with others)