Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you, MAT 7:6.

Our text is teaching that if we place that which is holy before dogs or cast our pearls before swine, we not only bring reproach upon ourselves, but we cause God's name to be blasphemed.

Jesus says that when you find that men will not receive His Word, you must withdraw yourself from them. When you try to testify to a person, give them a loving rebuke or reproof, and you immediately see the rising of a scornful spirit, you must withdraw.

MAT 10:13-14 says, "And if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it: but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you. And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet." You must not try to impose God's Word upon anyone.

The first five verses of our chapter do not forbid judging between right and wrong, nor do they teach that we are not to exhort one another, but the principle taught is that we cannot do so with a hypocritical beam of self-righteousness in our eye.

A person cannot reprove effectively without the sacrifice of a broken and a contrite spirit. If you come to a person in any other manner, for the purpose of reproof, even one of the brethren with whom you have close fellowship, you are not a proper reprover. "A broken and a contrite heart" in the reprover over his own sins becomes an excellent oil on the head of those being reproved.

PSA 141:5, "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." The righteous are those who have the right attitude toward their fellow man.

It is necessary that we not only know how to give exhortation, but how to receive exhortation. God's Word commands us to exhort each other daily! That is God's command. HEB 3:12-14 says, "Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end."

In other words, we are to take notice, take heed, observe, keep our eye on any spirit of unbelief in our neighbours. We must be shepherds to each other; every one of us must watch and exhort daily, but also receive exhortation daily. The purpose of exhortation is to keep us from falling away. The Lord wants us to exhort and help each other identify the sins in our life. We need the help of each other to identify unbelief that creeps into our lives.

We must redeem the time, "...because the days are evil..." EPH 5:17-21 says, "Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God."

If we are to exhort one another, we must come to the light; we must love His appearing. We must know that when we come together, He is there. MAT 18:20 says, "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."

We are to come together for the purpose of exhorting, to examine our heart, to look at each other's credentials, and to help each other identify areas we must bring to the light so our deeds can be made manifest.

We must realize this so much the more as we see the day approaching. The Apostle Paul says the crown of righteousness will be given "and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing."