Well, when you came in, I hope you got one of the yellow sheets, one of the handouts. I do have a handout for tonight. Didn't have one this morning. Just could not make it work, okay. But tonight we have one. It'll be a help to you, I believe. Because we're looking at quite a bit of scripture, and it'll help you to go back and look at those things. Psalm 141. Psalm 141. Psalm 141 in verse number 5 is what we're going to look at. I want to read the verses leading up to this, but we're going to focus on verse number 5 tonight. Lord, I cry unto thee. See, this is King David. He's the psalmist David writing this. Lord, I cry unto thee. Make haste unto me. Give ear unto my voice when I cry unto thee. Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice. Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth. keep the door of my lips. That's a good verse right there for us to remember. Amen. I ask the Lord to guard our mouths and watch what comes out of our lips. It says in verse four, incline not my heart to any evil thing, to practice wicked works with men that work iniquity, and let me not eat of their dainties. Let the righteous smite me. It shall be a kindness. and let him reprove me, it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head, for yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities." I believe that David here envisions himself as being approached by a godly man, a friend even. He says that it would be a blessing for him to be rebuked by such a man. We don't usually take rebuke that well, do we? You ever had a friend like that, though? A friend that would just level with you and tell you the truth? You know? And one that speaks honestly with you about something that you need to hear. You may not want to hear it, but you need to hear it. And we need to realize that true friendship does not flatter. That's what he's talking about here. True friend speaks words of truth to be of help, even though the words might sting. Solomon, his son, wrote these words in Proverbs 27 verse 6. He said, fateful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. Faithful are the wounds of a friend. If a friend's wounding you, he's doing it for a good purpose. That's basically the idea there. Now, sometimes we may feel like we are a bullseye for criticism. I know when you're in the ministry that can be the case. It seems like you're in the bull's eye all the time. I imagine most of us have probably been in those shoes before. No doubt there are times when some of the criticism that comes our way may be justified, while other criticism may not be justified. And can I tell you that it really matters, it matters very much how we respond to criticism that comes our way. And understand that we all are apt to react to criticism the wrong way. You know where that comes from, right? Pride. It just does. It usually happens because it goes against our ego. It goes against our personal pride. But we need to realize that sometimes criticism is warranted. And we need to take it the way that the Lord would be pleased in how we receive that. So tonight I want us to look at how should we respond to criticism or responding to criticism tonight. First of all, we need to understand who our critics can be. Criticism can come our way from centers. That's not surprising, is it? We need to realize that the nature of those who are not saved is ungodly. They're ungodly, and it's going to naturally run against the grain of both what we are and what we stand for. I mean, you know, they see us, and we're making them look bad. A lot of times they'll start tearing us down. We'll try to bring us down to their level, and we'll talk about that in a minute. 1 Corinthians 2.14 says, but the natural man, that's the man that's unregenerated, he's not born again. The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. I couldn't even number the times that people outside of the church, people that are outside of Christ, would have wanted to criticize me for some stand that I take or something that I have said. Moses and Aaron faced criticism. Whenever the Lord sent them to Pharaoh, remember that? They went before Pharaoh in Exodus 5 and verse 2, and Pharaoh said, Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go. He was very critical against Moses and Aaron and critical against the Lord. That's really where the criticism was going at. It was toward the Lord, but he took it out on Moses and Aaron. We need to realize that, too. A lot of times the criticism comes our way, but it's directed to the one that they don't agree with, and that's the Lord. So Moses and Aaron faced the criticism. Nehemiah faced some criticism from Sanballat and Tobiah. They're in Nehemiah chapter number 4. Of course, Nehemiah and the ones that are with him trying to build the wall and trying to be obedient to what the Lord would have him to do. And it says in Nehemiah 4 verse number 1, it says, But it came to pass that when Sanballat heard that we built the wall, he was wroth and took great indignation and mocked the Jews. And he spake before his brethren and the army of Samaria and said, what do these feeble Jews? Will they fortify themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they make an end in a day? Will they revive the stones out of heaps of the rubbish which are burned? You can feel that criticism coming there, can't you? Look at verse 3. Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall. That was silly. But anyway, it was a criticism against Nehemiah and the workers that the Lord had given him to take and build the wall. Again, criticism can come our way from sinners. Second of all, criticism can come our way from saints. I understand that Saint might be a brother, a baby brother or sister, maybe a young believer who hasn't grown in the Lord to know better. We ought to be careful about criticizing one another. Maybe it's a carnal believer who hasn't grown in the Lord but should know better. Paul faced such a dilemma in the Corinthian church. If you look at 1 Corinthians chapter number three, in the Corinthian church, there were folks who should have grown in the Lord, but they had not grown in the Lord, and what they were doing, they were causing envy, strife, and divisions within the church against one another. Look at 1 Corinthians 3, verse number one. says, and I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk and not with meat, for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able, for ye are yet carnal. For whereas there is among you envying strife and divisions, are ye not carnal and walk as men? So sometimes believers may give us a hard time when they're not walking the way they ought to walk. The Lord wants us to walk in truth, amen. He wants us to walk the way that we should as grown-up believers in the Lord. That saint could be a backsliding brother or sister. You know, when people get away from God, it's easy for them to develop a critical spirit. I've noticed that, you know. And we can get the same way. We need to caution ourselves that we don't develop critical spirit. That saying could be, it might be a band of backsliders. There's a saying that goes, birds of a feather flock together. You've heard that. Critics usually run with critics. More than one critical spirit is in a church. It usually doesn't take very long for them to find one another. They'll find one another. And then sometimes one critic can develop into a whole band of critics, just one critic at a time. Sometimes the critical talk surfaces and you can trace the trail of that criticism back to the point of its origin. So it might be a baby brother, a backsliding brother, a band of backsliders, or that saint could be really a beleaguered brother or sister, somebody who's been maybe beat down by Satan. You know, when we're going through a tough time, Sometimes our outlook is clouded. It just really is. Sometimes someone has been beat down by Satan and his forces, and the person really doesn't mean to be critical. They don't mean to be critical, but nevertheless they can become that way because of satanic oppression. Their situation may be making them bitter that they find themselves in. They get critical of others because they perceive others have it better than themselves, and whether that be true or not is neither here nor there, but sometimes the things that we perceive are not so, are they? But to make themselves look better, they begin to criticize and tear down others, and they may not even realize what they're doing or why they're doing it. But I want you to also realize that when criticism comes from a saint, that saint could be a beloved brother. A beloved brother, really? Pastor? Yeah. You know, sometimes people mean well, but they're just simply wrong. I like people that mean well by what they do, but people are not always right. You take Job's three friends. Did they mean well when they came to him? They did. They wanted to help. They didn't help the situation very much. We know that they were on the wrong side of things. They had it all wrong when they were looking at what was happening to Job. Sometimes we need rebuke, but we interpret it as criticism. Think about when David sinned, the great sin of Bathsheba. And Uriah the Hittite committed adultery, committed murder. And here comes Nathan. Nathan the prophet was a friend. And Nathan just pointed his bony finger in his face and said, Thou art the man. He rebuked him when he sinned there in 2 Samuel 12, verse number 7. Peter needed Paul's rebuke. Look at Galatians chapter number two. Galatians chapter number two. This is when it gets tough. You've got two apostles, both of them dear brothers. They really are. Peter, he was in the wrong in this. And he needed Paul's rebuke when he dissembled over the matter of breaking bread with Gentiles in their homes because of his fear of Jewish believers who held other beliefs. Look at Galatians 2 and verse number 11. It says, But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed. For before that certain came from James, he did eat with Gentiles, but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision. And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him, insomuch that Barnabas was carried away with their dissimulation. And so that's what we see there in verse 14. But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all. And he rebuked Peter before the rest of them. Peter had it coming in this instance, but I think Peter probably took it well. It's difficult to take criticism sometimes, but criticism can come our way from sinners. Criticism can come our way from saints. But you know who I find to be one of my worst critics? Myself, yeah. Criticism can come our way from self. We can sometimes be our worst critic. You ever beat yourself up over something? I do it all the time. You come by my office outside and if I don't know that you're around, you'll hear me in there beating up on myself a little bit. Talking to myself. Sometimes it's over something in our past. Sometimes it's over something maybe we said that we shouldn't have said, over something we did, or something we didn't do that we should have done. or when something doesn't go the way that we expect it. A lot of times, we find ourselves in situations such as that, and I am real quick to be critical of myself in those instances. Jerry, I can't believe that you've done that. And I'll just beat myself up, but that's better than me beating somebody else up, right? Okay, but criticism can also come our way from Satan. We know that Satan is the accuser of our brethren. That's what he's called in Revelation 12, 10. He's called the accuser of our brethren, which accused them before our God day and night. And we see the example of this in scripture. One of the best examples is in the book of Job, when Satan accused Job before the Lord of being a paid lover. Of course Job loves you. You treat him well. You quit treating him well, and he'll curse you to your face. You just watch and see. That's really what Satan did. Satan will use whatever is at his disposal, especially criticism, to attack us and to try to beat us down. Ephesians 6 verse 12 says, For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Satan's not opposed to using a lost sinner. If he can get the best of us, he'll use that. He'll use a saint if he can. He'll use self. He'll use you against yourself. He'll use your life before you got saved if he can use that. to try to get you. He'll use sins that you've already made right. You ever made things right with the Lord and Satan just brought those things back up into your memory, you know, all over again? What I'm saying is that Satan will use whatever he can to try to get to you and to criticize you and to get you down. So we understand here who our critics can be. Second thing I want us to see tonight is let's understand why we are criticized. Why we are criticized? We might be criticized because some people just hate the work of the Lord. We know that's the case, don't we? We're living in a wicked world and there's people... Can you imagine we were talking about Noah this morning? Can you imagine the abuse that that man and his family took as he would try to preach in such a wicked setting that he was in? They hated the Lord. They hated what he was doing. They probably laughed him to scorn. We're not given all the dirty details, but you can just imagine because some people hate the work of the Lord. Sinners hate the work of the Lord. Satan hates the work of the Lord, and he'll come against us any way they might do. We might be criticized because some people desire to pull us down to their level. Lost sinners, you know, try to make themselves look better by pulling us down. Satan wants to pull us down. Those who are backslidden would love for us to get in the same condition so that we don't make them look bad. Might be because some are jealous of us. Might be because some just plain hate us. I think the quicker that we realize that Satan hates our guts, the better off we'll be. He hates us and that's really the true source of most of the criticism that comes our way. It comes because of him. Satan and most of the wicked crowd that he runs with hate the work of the Lord and those associated with it. We shouldn't be surprised when they are critical. Now, we might also be criticized because some just want to justify their own wicked ways. And so, let's understand why we are criticized. We might be criticized because some people don't have the facts. This happens a lot. Some people make judgments based on other than firsthand information. Right? Yeah. Somebody said, well, I heard. Well, the last time I checked, that was called gossip. I mean, it just is. We need to be careful about basing, basing our judgments on what we hear. other than first-hand information. Some make judgments based on their feelings. The facts could be worlds apart from folks' feelings. Amen? Feelings are not good to base one's faith on, and they're certainly not good to judge what the facts are. Well, I just felt that they were treating me this way because of this and so. Well, you don't know. If you don't know that, you ought not to assume that. But you know, understand also that some criticism may actually be justified. As much as we'd like to think that we're above being criticized, none of us are. We all can stand to be criticized at times in our life. And so let's understand tonight how we should respond to criticism. Well, I can tell you what the wrong way to respond is. We can get angry or hostile. Usually folks that do this, they like to think of it as righteous indignation. Even when there might not be much righteous about what they're doing. We can retaliate. This is when we respond to the critic rather than the criticism. Ever want revenge? It's not good to take revenge. Revenge belongs to the Lord. What's the right way to respond? We have to lean on the Lord's strength, don't we? Yeah, we must be strong in the Lord. I like Ephesians 6, 10. And if you're talking about Ephesians 6, there the Apostle Paul is talking about spiritual battle. And he says, if only my brethren be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. One of those wiles of the devil is to use criticism to just tear us down, tear us apart, and get us out of God's work. Now sometimes the best offense is a good defense, isn't it? Go into the battle whole armored. That's the reason why we have the whole armor of God. Ephesians 6, 13, Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. I think a lot of times we get into a day and we're not armored properly the way we should be and we wind up in trouble because of that. We need to go into the battle whole armored and go into the battle with our shield of faith, amen? Ephesians 6, 16, above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. So when that criticism comes in the form of the fiery darts of the wicked, if we'll have our shield of faith, we can withstand that. Look at Philippians chapter number four. Philippians chapter number four. Philippians chapter 4, here's the next thing. We must handle the matter with prayer and the Word of God. You know, it's easy for us to just get anxious about things, get upset, get all stirred up inside about what's going on. But look at verse number 6 of Philippians 4 verse 6. Be careful for nothing. But in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Prayer and the Word of God. Look at verse number 8. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, Whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things. Unfortunately, sometimes we get possessed with stinking thinking, don't we? I mean, we don't think the way that we ought to. We need to make sure that we guard our thoughts. Guard our thoughts. We must handle the matter with prayer and the Word of God. Look at Romans chapter number 12, and this is very important. You know, we talked about not not to retaliating, and that's what this point, we must give place to wrath. If we don't give place to wrath, wrath will take over. Romans 12, look at verse number, let's begin with verse number 17. This is recompense to no man evil for evil. If somebody come at you with criticism, don't go right back at them with criticism. Recompense no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. Think about what you're saying. Is what you're saying, is it true? Is it honest? Is it, you know, these things, we need to think about those things, don't we? Verse 18, if it be possible, that means sometimes it's not possible, right? If it be possible, as much as life in you, you can't do anything about how the other person handles it. All you can do is what lies in you. As much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. That's a good thing to do, isn't it? To try to live peaceably. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath. For it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. He says, therefore, if thine enemy hunger, feed him if he thirsts, give him drink, for in so doing shall heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. Whenever you're going through a difficult time, somebody's giving you a hard time of criticism, take time to step back and think about it and pray about it and don't just react to it. That's basically what he's talking about here. You've got to give place to wrath because wrath will hop on you. like white on rice. It just will. Just before quick. We need to slow down sometimes the situation that we find ourselves in. Make sure that we're responding in a proper way. I know sometimes it comes my way and some of my first thoughts are not some of my best thoughts. But I get to thinking about that, and I get to thinking, hey, this is not the way I'm supposed to be, and give it a second thought, and a third thought, until my thoughts come around to what the Lord would have me to think about those things, amen? Look at 1 Peter, chapter number two. 1 Peter, chapter number two. Somebody's having a rough time back there. 1 Peter. In chapter number two, we must take things patiently. That's a tall task, isn't it? Taking criticism patiently, especially when we know the criticism is not warranted. when the things that's coming against us is not justified. Look at 1 Peter 2 verse number 19. It says, For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. Did you get that? Read that again. This is thankworthy. If a man for conscience toward God, okay, you got your mind on what is best for the Lord. If a man with conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully, for what glory is it if when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? But if when ye do well and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. For even here unto were ye called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that ye should follow in his steps. who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth, who when he was reviled, reviled not again. When he suffered, he threatened not, but committed himself to him that judges righteously." Now, I'm not saying that's easy to do. I'm just telling you that's the right thing to do, right? And we know we need to keep that in mind as criticism comes our way. Now, if the criticism that we receive is justified, we should adjust our lives as needed, right? If it's justified, I mean, let's think about it. If it's coming my way, if it's warranted, I need to respond in a positive way to that. But if the criticism is unjustified, what do we do then? Colossians. Colossians chapter number three and verse 12 through 14 pretty much gives us our attitude, what should come forth, how our actions ought to be. Colossians three, look at verse number 12. Says, put on, therefore, as the elect of God, okay, now think about who you are, whose you are, okay, we're God's children, right? Put on, therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies. Now if we show mercy, if we expect to receive mercy, we ought to show mercy. Bowels of mercy, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering, forbearing one another, And forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things, put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. Now, several things here. Of course, he talks there about forbearing. We must reconcile as needed. If somebody's offended us, with their criticism, whatever. We need to try to work to reconcile that and not leave a festering sore, right? I mean, it's not good to leave things like that. Matthew 18 tells us how to do that. And I want you to turn to Hebrews 12. Hebrews 12, because this talks about if we don't get things reconciled. Hebrews 12, verse number 14 and 15. It tells us to follow peace with all men. and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. We're to follow after peace, okay? Verse 15, looking diligently. Diligence takes work, right? looking diligently, lest any man fail of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness," there's the caution right there, "...root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled." You know, sometimes we can react wrongly and we wind up doing more damage. We do damage to other people that are not even involved in that first criticism. We must reconcile as needed. And again, Matthew 18 tells us how to do that. But we must forbear as needed. That word forbear means put up with. Put up with it for Jesus' sake. The Lord will give you grace to be able to forbear some things. And then we must forgive. Let's go ahead and turn to Matthew 18 and we'll take a look at the reconciliation and we'll take a look at the forgiving there at the same time. Matthew 18. And we see the reconciliation is talked about up in verse number 15 through 17. Moreover, if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone. That means, you know, it's not to be broadcast. This is to be kept as quiet as possible. The thing is not to prove that you're right. The thing is to be reconciled. That's what it's about. He said, If he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if ye shall neglect to hear them, tell it to the church. But if ye neglect to hear the church, let it be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican." You know, sadly, what happens a lot of times, somebody gets offended and they raise their voice, and the hearing of whole congregation and make their point known, and they do damage to the cause of Christ. They do damage to the brother, they do damage to themselves, and they do damage to the cause of Christ. And all of that because they did not take time to go about things in a scriptural way. Look there at verses 21 and 22. After the Lord was talking about this reconciliation, we see in verse 21, Peter came unto him and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him, till seven times? Jesus said unto him, I say not unto thee until seven times, but until seventy times seven, which is basically an unlimited number of times. We must forgive as needed. We've been forgiven so much. We must forgive. And then we must love as needed. That passage that we read in Colossians 3 talked about above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. Well, that charity, that agape love, Looking out for the highest interest of another person, not yourself. That's what that type of love is. It's looking out for the other. It's the type of love that's described there in 1 Corinthians 13. Let me encourage you to read that. Brethren, these things that we've gone over tonight, these things are not easy. If they were easy, we'd be doing them, right? But what I'm telling you is that this is the right way to handle it. For Christ's sake, we need to make sure that we are handling things in a biblical way, in a way that would glorify the Lord Jesus Christ and not bring damage to His holy name. Amen. All right, let's pray. Father, we just thank you so much for