Hello and welcome to our broadcast again. Today we call it plain and simple. We're going to be looking at that verse that says judgment must begin at the house of God. Stay tuned for our broadcast today. 1 Peter 4, verse 17 says, for the time has come that judgment must begin at the house of God. This verse is, I think, one of the most misunderstood verses in the Bible. It's not talking about judgment in the sense that God is complaining but rather that judgment in the sense that we need to have discernment about what is going on around us. At first glance this verse appears to be out of context. Peter wrote to sincere Christians who were scattered, verse 1, because of their tremendous suffering that they were enduring, they scattered. Now in chapter 1 and verse 6 it says they were in heaviness. Verse 6 says they were in manifold temptations. Seven, the trial of your faith. Chapter one and eleven, he spoke of the sufferings. And again, they speak against you. They were having a lot of opposition. Three and fourteen, they suffered for righteousness sake. Three and fourteen also says, be not afraid of their terror. Three sixteen says they were falsely accused. Four and twelve talks about their fiery trial. And they suffered as a Christian. Four and sixteen. 4.14 talks about the reproached. They were reproached for the name of Christ. And so Peter was not rebuking these faithful Christians. Peter was telling them that they needed to have the ability to judge concerning what was happening in their lives. God wanted his people to be able to discern the times and the seasons. Malachi 3.18, we read, they shall return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not. The Greek word translated judgment in 1 Peter 4 and 17 is krema. It comes from the root word krino, which means to judge. Now making judgment obviously requires understanding, and we're talking about understanding the times in which we are living. Proverbs 4, 5 says, get understanding. 4, 7 says, get understanding. Proverbs 16, verse 16 says, get understanding. Proverbs 2 and 11, understanding shall keep thee. Matthew 15 and 10, Jesus said, hear and understand. In 15 and 17, he said, do you not yet understand? In 16 and 9, he said, do you not yet understand? Mark 7 and 14, hearken unto me, every one of you, and understand. Mark 7 and 18, are ye yet so without understanding also? Mark 8 and 17, perceive ye not yet, neither understand? Mark 13, 23, how is it that ye do not understand? Matthew 15 and 16, are ye also yet without understanding? Matthew 16 and 11, how is it that ye do not understand? Matthew 24, 15, whoso readeth, let him understand. Do we maybe get the idea that the Lord thought it was important that we understand what's going on around us? I think so. A lack of understanding will result in failure. The Bible says, and Jesus said it in Matthew 13, verse number 19, He said, When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one and catches away that which was sown in his heart. Matthew 13, 19. Then in Matthew 13 and 23, Jesus said, He that hears the word and understandeth it bears fruit. Jesus commanded us in John 7 and 24, judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment. And so we need to be able to understand in order to make proper judgments. He that understandeth not the wicked one catches the way that which was sown in his heart. Obviously understanding is necessary if we're going to judge righteous judgment. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 14 and 20, Brethren, be not children in understanding, in understanding be ye men. In Ephesians 5, 17, Paul said, Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. Colossians 1, 9, Desire that ye may be filled with understanding of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. Spiritual understanding is not mental understanding. 2 Timothy 2.7, Consider what I say, and the Lord give thee understanding in all things. Paul said, This know, translated understand eight times, in the last days perilous times shall come. 2 Timothy 3 and number 1. Paul said, I would that thou mayest understand. Philippians 1 and 12. Peter and Paul both referred to the local church as the house of God. Paul wrote concerning how pastors are to behave in the house of God, 1 Timothy 3.15, and Peter wrote concerning the congregation understanding and making proper judgments in the house of God, 1 Peter 4.17. Now again, Peter wrote concerning the congregation understanding and making proper judgments. Well, if a pastor doesn't know how to understand and make proper judgments, he's certainly not going to teach it to his people, but the lesson here is that we need to be teaching our people as pastors how to understand what is going on at this age in which we are living because if we do not understand that will lead to confusion, confusion will lead to discouragement and at that point it usually leads to compromise. Now the congregation will only be able to judge righteous judgment if we are obedient as pastors concerning our God-given responsibility by declaring all the counsel of God, not just the smooth things, all the counsel of God. Everything that Paul said in his instructions to the pastors centered around the entire truth being foremost in everything done or preached in the local church. 1 Timothy 2, for the knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2.7, I speak the truth. 1 Timothy 3.15, the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. 1 Timothy 4.3, believe and know the truth. 1 Timothy 6.5, men of corrupt minds and destitute of truth is what he spoke of there. The problem with preaching all the truth we are responsible to preach is that it has a tendency to decrease the attendance. At Ephesus, Paul was deserted by many because he preached the truth. However, God recorded the fact that he was a faithful preacher and did not record the weekly attendance. He did tell us that some 1 Timothy 1.6 turned aside. Some 1 Timothy 1.19 made shipwreck. Some 1 Timothy 4.7 departed from the faith. Some turned after Satan, 1 Timothy 5.17. Some sinned openly, 1 Timothy 5.24. Some sinned secretly, 5.25. Some coveted after money, 1 Timothy 6.10. Some erred concerning the faith, 1 Timothy 6.21. Some, 2 Timothy 2.18, had their faith overthrown Second Timothy 2.20 tells us, some were vessels to dishonor. And First Timothy 2.20 tells us that some were vessels to honor. Not too many made it. Not too many, even back in that church, were interested in listening to the truth. But thank God, some, some were vessels to honor. And God always has a remnant. He had a remnant who would listen then. And He has a remnant who would listen now. and a remnant is always a small, small group. And so let me repeat that list again. Some turned aside, some made shipwrecks, some departed from the faith, some turned after Satan, some sinned openly, some sinned secretly, some coveted after money, some erred concerning the faith, some had their faith overthrown, some were vessels to dishonor, and some were vessels to honor. I call it when God sums it up, S-O-M-E-S, There's not a lot of people who are going to listen to the kind of preaching that Paul the Apostle preached. The defectors outnumber the faithful ten to one. The quitter Christians at the local church at Ephesus could not handle the pressure of being a sincere Christian, nor could they understand the preaching of someone who preached all the counsel of God. If Paul had preached only part of the word of God, he pleased his listeners, he could have built a large church at Ephesus. However, he would not have been able to say before God, I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. Well, the Bible says they went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they might no doubt have continued with us. But they went out that they might be made manifest that they were not of us. 1 John 2, 19. purifying process becomes a reality, the sincere are always separated from the phonies. It is what God called here in 1 Peter 4.12, the fiery trial, which is to try you. So the people, when they quit because of persecution, or when they leave the church because the pastor is preaching all the counsel of God, it is God's way of keeping the church pure. We are commanded as pastors to keep the church pure, not to keep it full. When a pastor refuses to preach the whole counsel of God so that he can keep a crowd, he can expect to lose his young people to the influence of that carnal crowd, those disobedient worldly Christians that are members of his church. When God was purifying the city in Ezekiel 9 verse 6, he told the one carrying out the purification process to begin at my sanctuary. When Jesus came to Jerusalem, the Jews, including his disciples, wanted him to clear out the Romans. However, Jesus began his ministry clearing out the phonies in the temple. He also ended his ministry doing the same thing. He took a whip in the temple when he started, and he took one in there just before he was crucified. The people Peter wrote to in 1 Peter were sincere Christians who were strengthened as they suffered for righteousness' sake. As noted in 1 and 2 Timothy, it is always a small minority that are vessels of honor unto God, 2 Timothy 2.20. The church is a place to exhort the sincere Christians to live for the Lord, not a safe haven for disobedient worldly Christians who refuse to do what God says to do and influence our young people to a life of disobedience. While we have no shortage of instructions, 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus give us God's standards for the pastor and deacons. There are at least 20 other books in the Word of God concerning the responsibility of all church members. When the enemy comes in like a flood, we need to lift up a standard against him not make it easier for the enemy to infiltrate. 1 Corinthians 5, 6 says, Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? This is not a time for generic preaching. Something that is generic is something that is not specific. Much of what passes for preaching in many of our so-called fundamental churches is anything but specific. It is not necessarily false preaching, it's just not specific. We may preach the truth while refusing to be specific concerning what the Word of God says about separation from Christians who are promoting apostasy. We may preach the truth while refusing to be specific concerning what the Word of God says about women dressing modestly. Some of our fundamental independent Baptist churches is just a fashion show where women are seeing how tight a skirt they can put on and how tight a top they can wear while they would never dream of wearing pants. We need to get specific about what modesty is all about. The seeds of apostasy will not grow without fertile ground. The seeds of apostasy will sprout like weeds when pastors refuse to preach the whole counsel of God. As pastors, we have an awesome responsibility because we are not dealing with programs, we are dealing with people. This is extremely, extremely important. We're living in a day in our so-called fundamental churches where we're going to give everybody a comfortable pew. Let's not upset anybody that might not put the money in the offering plate. Well, let's get back to preaching the whole truth. We're out of time. Tune in again tomorrow. We'll try to make the message plain and simple. so