Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / Look Who Jesus Hung Out With!, Part 2
Transcript
- 0:08Speaker 1: Yesterday on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindoll showed us a
- 0:11Speaker 1: savior who scandalized the religious elite by embracing the very
- 0:15Speaker 1: people they'd condemned. On today's program, Chuck brings this truth home,
- 0:20Speaker 1: right where we live. If you've ever felt bullied by
- 0:23Speaker 1: someone else's rules, or if you've quietly made God into
- 0:27Speaker 1: a frowning, finger-pointing judge... this message is for you. Chuck
- 0:32Speaker 1: offers four practical freeing guidelines for standing up to the
- 0:36Speaker 1: legalists in our lives, and then points us to a
- 0:39Speaker 1: God who may be very different from the one you've imagined.
- 0:50Speaker 2: Now, when we get to Mark chapter 2, 13 to 17,
- 0:53Speaker 2: we come to a great place where Jesus shakes up
- 0:55Speaker 2: the neighborhood. Jesus stoops over, steps into the tax booth,
- 1:01Speaker 2: and invites Matthew to follow him. Verse 15, it happened
- 1:06Speaker 2: that he was reclining at the table in his house.
- 1:09Speaker 2: Many tax collectors and sinners were dining with Jesus and
- 1:12Speaker 2: his disciples, for there were many of them. Don't stop reading.
- 1:17Speaker 2: And they were following him. They, tax collectors and sinners,
- 1:25Speaker 2: were following Jesus. They were curious. You know what else?
- 1:30Speaker 2: They were accepted. Their lives haven't been transformed yet, but
- 1:35Speaker 2: there's something about him.
- 1:48Speaker 2: Sinners aren't going to do all of that.
- 1:51Speaker 2: Are you kidding? But Jesus came and said, come to me,
- 1:57Speaker 2: all of you who are weak and heavy laden and
- 2:00Speaker 2: bruised and broken, and I will give you rest. My
- 2:04Speaker 2: yoke is easy and my burden is light. Well, so
- 2:10Speaker 2: they're following him. So they're all in Matthew's house. This
- 2:16Speaker 2: is so good. There's tables all around. You know, there's
- 2:20Speaker 2: bottles of wine all around and there's all kinds of
- 2:23Speaker 2: food all around. And Jesus is sitting there and they're
- 2:26Speaker 2: all having a great time. And the Pharisees are looking in.
- 2:34Speaker 2: What on earth would you come over here, Zach, and
- 2:38Speaker 2: look at this? You're not. You cannot believe. Look at
- 2:42Speaker 2: who he's sitting next to. Look at that. Good night.
- 2:47Speaker 2: Or you can just look through one little toilet paper
- 2:49Speaker 2: roll and you see it like this, okay? There he is.
- 2:52Speaker 2: There he is. I knew it all the time. I
- 2:55Speaker 2: knew it. Forgive a little preacher's imagination here, okay? But
- 3:00Speaker 2: that's the gist of it. That's why the scribes and
- 3:05Speaker 2: Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax
- 3:08Speaker 2: collectors as if there's something wrong with eating with them.
- 3:13Speaker 2: I mean, there is if you're a Pharisee. You don't
- 3:16Speaker 2: get near them because they don't fall in line. Sinners
- 3:21Speaker 2: don't like all those rules and regulations. And Jesus loves
- 3:26Speaker 2: people like that because he knows that there is down
- 3:30Speaker 2: deep within them the ability to be taught and to
- 3:34Speaker 2: be transformed and to become writers of a gospel named Matthew.
- 3:41Speaker 2: Never forget when Jesus calls his followers to He calls
- 3:45Speaker 2: us not because of what we are, but for what
- 3:47Speaker 2: we are to become. Never forget that. Here are these sinners.
- 3:54Speaker 2: And so the Pharisees, I want you to notice this, 16,
- 4:02Speaker 2: they said to his disciples, why is he eating and
- 4:07Speaker 2: drinking with tax collectors and sinners? Isn't it interesting who
- 4:13Speaker 2: they said that to? Jesus has ears. Legalists never go
- 4:19Speaker 2: to the person they gossip. They cause unrest. They build
- 4:26Speaker 2: questions in the minds of people who would not otherwise
- 4:29Speaker 2: question the disciples. You're not questioning. So the Pharisees say, hey, hey, Peter,
- 4:37Speaker 2: what's going on over there? I like the way Eugene
- 4:41Speaker 2: Peterson renders this in the message. What kind of example
- 4:45Speaker 2: is this? Acting cozy with the riffraff. What is this?
- 4:52Speaker 2: You know the thing I love about Jesus? He is omniscient.
- 4:57Speaker 2: So I don't care if you're two blocks away, he
- 4:58Speaker 2: can hear you. Hey! Well, he didn't quite say it
- 5:03Speaker 2: like that, but you know, it's that idea. Come here.
- 5:08Speaker 1: 17.
- 5:08Speaker 2: Hearing this, I thought they said it to the disciples.
- 5:11Speaker 2: He hears everything. Hey, Never doubted. There's no secrets with God.
- 5:19Speaker 2: He knows your heart. He knows what you're thinking right now.
- 5:22Speaker 2: In fact, I'm going to put it on the screen. Okay,
- 5:24Speaker 2: go ahead. Just kidding. Just kidding. Everything to him is
- 5:29Speaker 2: on the screen. Jesus said to them, it's not those
- 5:33Speaker 2: who are healthy who need a physician, but those who
- 5:36Speaker 2: are sick. I did not come to call the righteous,
- 5:41Speaker 2: but sinners. Of course. You get it? Of course you
- 5:48Speaker 2: get it. How good is that? When I'm feeling great,
- 5:53Speaker 2: do I need a physician? No. It's when I'm sick.
- 5:58Speaker 2: I can't make it. When I'm broken, when I'm bruised,
- 6:03Speaker 2: I need somebody to talk to. There's a balm in
- 6:06Speaker 2: Gilead to make the wounded whole. There's a balm in
- 6:10Speaker 2: Gilead to heal the sin sick. soul. And his name
- 6:16Speaker 2: is Jesus. I love this. Those legalists did not manipulate him.
- 6:24Speaker 2: They did not bully him. He called them to task.
- 6:28Speaker 2: What is this you're saying? You think the sinners don't
- 6:32Speaker 2: need the message? Why do you think I came? So
- 6:36Speaker 2: he dialogues with these judgmental legalists and And he confronts
- 6:41Speaker 2: them in their proud, super-critical, super-spiritual, squint-eyed stare as if
- 6:48Speaker 2: they were righteous. What they were is self-righteous. Jesus, sitting
- 6:55Speaker 2: among them, ministering to those who would not otherwise have heard,
- 7:01Speaker 2: is in this magnificent place of opportunity. You know what
- 7:07Speaker 2: is tragic among the ranks of Christians is how short
- 7:10Speaker 2: a period of time it passes before we get every
- 7:13Speaker 2: unsaved person out of our life. How many close unsaved
- 7:19Speaker 2: friends do you have? You answer under your own breath.
- 7:24Speaker 2: Not many, is it? I learned when I was in
- 7:27Speaker 2: the Marine Corps that if I really wanted to touch lives,
- 7:29Speaker 2: I needed to spend some time in the slop chute.
- 7:33Speaker 2: Funny thing, everybody else who went there got drunk. I
- 7:37Speaker 2: had a chance to talk to people who had nothing
- 7:39Speaker 2: to hide. I don't know how many I led to
- 7:42Speaker 2: Christ down there. What a privilege. What an opportunity to
- 7:48Speaker 2: be with those that I would not otherwise have a
- 7:51Speaker 2: chance to be with. People don't go to bars because
- 7:55Speaker 2: they're drunks. They go to bars because they're lonely. I
- 7:59Speaker 2: got a good friend named Ron Ritchie who has had
- 8:01Speaker 2: the most significant years of his ministry in bars. I'm
- 8:06Speaker 2: not saying Ron drinks. I'm just, first of all, it's
- 8:09Speaker 2: none of my business. But second, I'm saying Ron Ritchie
- 8:12Speaker 2: touches lives I will never reach. So I don't spend
- 8:15Speaker 2: much time in bars. Ron knows how to do it.
- 8:18Speaker 2: In fact, he started a church in a bar. Part
- 8:22Speaker 2: of the reason he told me was that they've got
- 8:24Speaker 2: nothing to hide. And there are not many gossips running
- 8:28Speaker 2: around bars. You're kind of able to be who you are,
- 8:32Speaker 2: where you are. So Jesus calls them in And he
- 8:36Speaker 2: says to them, didn't I come to call those who
- 8:39Speaker 2: were sick? Which being translated means from the Greek, in
- 8:44Speaker 2: your face, face, or something like that. Do you notice
- 8:49Speaker 2: there's no answer? Pharisees and scribes didn't know what on
- 8:54Speaker 2: earth to do with him. They spent half their time
- 8:56Speaker 2: standing and staring with their mouth open thinking, how do
- 9:00Speaker 2: I answer that? You know why? Because they didn't think.
- 9:04Speaker 2: They just thought. laid out rules that doesn't require anybody
- 9:09Speaker 2: to think you have to think we have a little
- 9:14Speaker 2: radio ministry called insight for living and every once in
- 9:16Speaker 2: a while we'll have somebody call us up and they'll
- 9:19Speaker 2: say what's chuck's position on so and so and very
- 9:23Speaker 2: wise listener services people will answer well chuck doesn't take
- 9:27Speaker 2: a position on that and so he hasn't declared it
- 9:30Speaker 2: and if he has he's not made it a part
- 9:32Speaker 2: of his ministry well how are we to know what
- 9:34Speaker 2: we're supposed to do if he doesn't tell us If
- 9:38Speaker 2: I were working for listener services, I would go, think. Think.
- 9:46Speaker 2: You're an adult. Most everyone listening to me is an adult.
- 9:49Speaker 2: There are a few teenagers who are tolerating it right now,
- 9:52Speaker 2: but there are mainly adults. You're able to think. You
- 9:55Speaker 2: make your own decision about what you wear. Where you
- 9:58Speaker 2: work is pretty much your choice. the way you work
- 10:01Speaker 2: you your attitude is up to you your response to
- 10:03Speaker 2: people your choice of friends your level of income is
- 10:07Speaker 2: known to you and it's nobody else's business you are
- 10:10Speaker 2: who you are you're an adult you're making it but
- 10:12Speaker 2: when it comes to christianity why in the world do
- 10:16Speaker 2: we look for a ring to put in our nose
- 10:19Speaker 2: for somebody to lead us as if we are cattle.
- 10:25Speaker 2: But you see, that's the way many circles are. Pastor
- 10:29Speaker 2: becomes the, not just the shepherd, but the rules giver.
- 10:37Speaker 2: If it isn't found in the scriptures, you will never
- 10:39Speaker 2: hear me emphasizing it as a rule of life. I'm
- 10:43Speaker 2: not here to give you rules. I'm here to help
- 10:45Speaker 2: you learn how to think on your own using the
- 10:47Speaker 2: scriptures as your guide And when you do, you know what?
- 10:52Speaker 2: You will be free. Scary, isn't it? You know, there's
- 11:00Speaker 2: risk in this, Chuck. Really. There's risk in having babies.
- 11:05Speaker 2: There's risk in raising a family. There's risk in moving
- 11:09Speaker 2: across the country. There's risk in getting in your car
- 11:12Speaker 2: and driving on these streets. There's risk in being an adult.
- 11:18Speaker 2: There's risk in getting married. Certainly there's risk in preaching
- 11:22Speaker 2: like this. Well, you know what? Some people are going
- 11:24Speaker 2: to take this to an extreme. You think? They will.
- 11:30Speaker 2: Some of you are saying, boy, you're going a long ways, Chuck.
- 11:32Speaker 2: If you knew how much I'm holding back, you'd be
- 11:34Speaker 2: proud of me right now. Let me level with you
- 11:39Speaker 2: as if I haven't already. Let me level with you.
- 11:42Speaker 2: What are my resistance to starting a church? Back when
- 11:47Speaker 2: we started this one, as I knew legalists would finally infiltrate,
- 11:51Speaker 2: I couldn't keep them out because they feed on churches
- 11:55Speaker 2: like ours. We have so much fun. We have such
- 11:59Speaker 2: a great congregation. You are so generous. I'm not blowing
- 12:02Speaker 2: smoke on you. You are. Every time we announce a need,
- 12:05Speaker 2: you meet the need. It's remarkable. When things are funny,
- 12:09Speaker 2: you laugh. When you're asked to meet each other, you
- 12:12Speaker 2: meet each other. There isn't this stiff kind of Look
- 12:18Speaker 2: about us. We have fun. You know, the first 10
- 12:23Speaker 2: years of my ministry wasn't fun. I was hard to
- 12:26Speaker 2: listen to. And I was preaching and driving the sheep.
- 12:30Speaker 2: And you know who got my attention? My wife. She said,
- 12:36Speaker 2: I said to her, you know what, honey, this isn't fun.
- 12:38Speaker 2: She said, no, it's not easy to listen to you. Well.
- 12:47Speaker 2: She said, why are you so different when you get
- 12:49Speaker 2: in a pulpit? Why do you get so mean? She said,
- 12:54Speaker 2: you're fun to be with at home. How come you're
- 12:56Speaker 2: not fun? Because that's who you are. Just be who
- 12:59Speaker 2: you are. Scared the shorts off of me when I
- 13:03Speaker 2: first heard her say that. I'm like, be who I am?
- 13:05Speaker 2: Let me tell you something. For the next 40 years,
- 13:09Speaker 2: I've been urging preachers to do that. It scares every
- 13:13Speaker 2: one of them. Because they're so afraid of what you're
- 13:16Speaker 2: going to think. If you knew how little I cared
- 13:18Speaker 2: of what you think, be shocked. You know, Chuck, some
- 13:24Speaker 2: people may walk out on you. Hey, they already started.
- 13:29Speaker 2: I don't care. I'm not here to tell you what
- 13:34Speaker 2: you like to listen to. I'm here to tell you
- 13:36Speaker 2: not ought not be a legalist. And if you are,
- 13:39Speaker 2: you're hurting the church. And if you're hurting the church,
- 13:42Speaker 2: we all get concerned about it. You need to knock
- 13:45Speaker 2: it off. Why am I yelling? Okay, I know. Get serious, Chuck.
- 13:57Speaker 2: You got to get this done. Let me tell you
- 14:00Speaker 2: some ways to deal with a modern day legalist. You
- 14:03Speaker 2: can take them or leave them. They're not rules that
- 14:06Speaker 2: are inspired by God. They are just suggestions, okay? Number one,
- 14:11Speaker 2: be aware of them. They'll get you in their grip
- 14:15Speaker 2: if you're not aware of the fact that it's legalism
- 14:18Speaker 2: coming out of their mouth. And I'm not referring to
- 14:21Speaker 2: the wise counsel of a parent. I'm not referring to
- 14:26Speaker 2: some mentor who is correcting you because you're accountable to
- 14:29Speaker 2: him or her. I'm not referring to that. I'm referring
- 14:32Speaker 2: to people who make your business their business and start
- 14:35Speaker 2: telling you what to put in your refrigerator or how
- 14:39Speaker 2: to lead your private life or who your friends ought
- 14:41Speaker 2: to be or who you ought to have dinner with
- 14:45Speaker 2: It's nobody else's business, including mine. You answer to the
- 14:51Speaker 2: Lord Jesus Christ. And until you do, you're not free.
- 14:56Speaker 2: You're not free. So spot them. Be aware of them. Second,
- 15:01Speaker 2: don't fall for it. You need to be, back to
- 15:05Speaker 2: my friend, the Doberman Pinscher. Remember? Remember the little ears?
- 15:11Speaker 2: When you're around, there those ears go up.
- 15:14Speaker 1: Legalist.
- 15:16Speaker 2: It's another legalist telling me what to do. Don't let
- 15:20Speaker 2: that happen. Don't fall for it. They love it when
- 15:23Speaker 2: you fall under their spell. Let me give you a
- 15:28Speaker 2: great principle. The Holy Spirit does not waste his time
- 15:32Speaker 2: revealing to one person another person's sins. That's a good principle.
- 15:39Speaker 2: The Holy Spirit doesn't waste his time telling you somebody
- 15:42Speaker 2: else's sins. If you know those sins, you're omniscient. Furthermore,
- 15:48Speaker 2: it may not be a sin. You think it's a
- 15:52Speaker 2: sin because of the way you were raised, and to you,
- 15:54Speaker 2: your God is that severe. Their God isn't. And by
- 16:00Speaker 2: the way, for them, he is a holy God. He's
- 16:03Speaker 2: a righteous God, but he doesn't march to the drumbeat
- 16:06Speaker 2: your God marches to. Be careful about playing the role
- 16:10Speaker 2: of somebody else's conscience. So don't fall for it. Three,
- 16:14Speaker 2: deliberately stand against it. Deliberately stand against it. It was
- 16:19Speaker 2: a great day in my ministry when I decided I
- 16:22Speaker 2: would not be a welcome mat, or a doormat is
- 16:24Speaker 2: a better word, for the whims of every person in
- 16:28Speaker 2: the congregation. That is not my task. My task is
- 16:33Speaker 2: to answer to God, to live a life that honors
- 16:35Speaker 2: Him and doesn't necessarily please you, where I carry out
- 16:39Speaker 2: my responsibilities for His glory and under His power. End
- 16:43Speaker 2: of responsibilities. And that is yours as well. If we
- 16:48Speaker 2: live like that, we'd be transformed people. So deliberately stand
- 16:51Speaker 2: against those. And by the way, when you do, expect
- 16:54Speaker 2: to fight. Legalists are fighters. And by the way, they
- 16:57Speaker 2: fight dirty. Because they run out of logic. So that
- 17:02Speaker 2: when you do that, you start fighting dirty. Expect to fight.
- 17:07Speaker 2: I love it in Galatians chapter two, verse five, Paul
- 17:10Speaker 2: describes the legalists who showed up in Galatia. And he says,
- 17:14Speaker 2: we did not pay attention to them for one hour.
- 17:16Speaker 2: I like Eugene Peterson's. We didn't give them the time
- 17:20Speaker 2: of day. Great way to deal with a legalist is
- 17:23Speaker 2: just totally ignore them. Not saying they'll go away, but
- 17:27Speaker 2: it helps them to be ignored. Deliberately stand against. Number four,
- 17:31Speaker 2: enjoy your freedom in spite of them.
- 17:34Speaker 1: Okay.
- 17:34Speaker 2: Okay. Enjoy your freedom in spite of them. You have
- 17:38Speaker 2: an enormous amount of freedom in Christ. You're just scared
- 17:41Speaker 2: to go there. Because somebody may not like the way
- 17:45Speaker 2: you are or the way you are becoming or the
- 17:47Speaker 2: things you're now doing or saying. I began this message
- 17:51Speaker 2: by talking about legalists, those who are living under bondage,
- 17:54Speaker 2: afraid of freedom. I want to close it by talking
- 18:00Speaker 2: to you directly about your God. Okay.
- 18:03Speaker 1: Okay.
- 18:04Speaker 2: I want you to listen. Don't fish for your keys.
- 18:06Speaker 2: I'm fully aware of the time. Just wait a minute
- 18:08Speaker 2: because you'll be thinking about that. And I want you
- 18:11Speaker 2: to think about this. This is some of the best
- 18:12Speaker 2: thing you're going to hear all through this message. Truth
- 18:16Speaker 2: be told, some of you have made your God into
- 18:19Speaker 2: some kind of heavenly legalist. He's angry. He's condemning. He's
- 18:24Speaker 2: staring down on you. He's frowning. He's shouting, don't stop.
- 18:29Speaker 2: You ought to be ashamed of yourself. By the way,
- 18:31Speaker 2: that last line never comes from heaven. Shame is man-made.
- 18:36Speaker 2: If you've created in your mind this kind of a
- 18:39Speaker 2: judgmental God, you've created him out of your own guilt
- 18:44Speaker 2: and your own neurotic need for punishment. And I can't
- 18:47Speaker 2: explain that. Can't explain why you do that. You've never
- 18:52Speaker 2: allowed yourself to meet the one true God who in
- 18:55Speaker 2: Christ has set you free. He isn't angry. All of
- 19:01Speaker 2: his anger was poured out on the cross, all of it.
- 19:09Speaker 2: He's not mad. I love the way Mike Mason writes
- 19:13Speaker 2: of this in his book, Practicing the Presence of People.
- 19:16Speaker 2: Isn't that a good title? How much freedom do you want?
- 19:20Speaker 2: Do you want to be completely free of shame and
- 19:24Speaker 2: guilt and know that you're respected, cherished, and loved without limit?
- 19:28Speaker 2: Do you want to To be free, to be fully
- 19:31Speaker 2: outrageously yourself? Do you want to be exactly who you are,
- 19:35Speaker 2: no strings attached? If this is what you want, then
- 19:39Speaker 2: begin by setting your God free. Don't condemn the awesome
- 19:45Speaker 2: king of the universe to a dull existence in a box.
- 19:48Speaker 2: Let God be God. He'll let you be you. Reminds
- 19:54Speaker 2: me of the story that Steve Brown tells better than anybody.
- 19:58Speaker 2: He talks about a convent school where a basket of
- 20:01Speaker 2: apples are sitting at the dining room table on one end.
- 20:05Speaker 2: Basket of apples. And there's a note next to the
- 20:09Speaker 2: basket that says, take only one. God is watching. At
- 20:16Speaker 2: the other end of the dining room sits another basket
- 20:18Speaker 2: filled with warm chocolate chip cookies. And a child's handwriting,
- 20:24Speaker 2: this note appears there. Take all the cookies you want.
- 20:28Speaker 2: God is watching the apples. Let me set the record straight.
- 20:40Speaker 2: God's watching both of them and smiling, saying, take all
- 20:43Speaker 2: you want. Is that many good for you? You got
- 20:47Speaker 2: to decide. Should you be eating that many? Then gobble
- 20:52Speaker 2: them up. Would it be best not to eat that many?
- 20:55Speaker 2: Is your call. No verse in here about apples or
- 21:01Speaker 2: about cookies. I've looked. Eat all you want. He made
- 21:10Speaker 2: them all. And may I add, as he said to
- 21:13Speaker 2: Timothy through Paul's words, he gave you all things richly
- 21:18Speaker 2: to enjoy. Enjoy. That's why I think the greatest memory
- 21:24Speaker 2: I'll leave in the minds of my children and my
- 21:26Speaker 2: grandchildren is the laughter in the hallways and rooms of
- 21:31Speaker 2: my home. Because they learned their daddy and granddaddy was
- 21:35Speaker 2: easy to live with. I live to throw their mother
- 21:41Speaker 2: in the pool and tell the story. Throwing her in
- 21:47Speaker 2: the pool is no big thing. Living to tell the
- 21:50Speaker 2: story is a big thing. Why is it that all
- 21:56Speaker 2: the laughter winds up in the bar and has left
- 22:00Speaker 2: the church? See, I was afraid of that when we
- 22:03Speaker 2: began this ministry. I was afraid we'd stop laughing. When
- 22:08Speaker 2: I became president of Dallas Seminary, I noticed the absence
- 22:10Speaker 2: of laughter. So I said to one of the ladies
- 22:13Speaker 2: who had been there a long time, where's all the laughter?
- 22:16Speaker 2: She says, what? I said, where's all the laughter? And
- 22:22Speaker 2: she said, well, this is a seminary, you know. Yeah,
- 22:31Speaker 2: I know. The question's the same. Where's all the laughter?
- 22:35Speaker 2: She said, uh. We don't hear a lot of that.
- 22:39Speaker 2: I said, let me tell you something. I haven't been
- 22:41Speaker 2: here long, but I'm not going to be around long
- 22:43Speaker 2: if there's no longer laughter. When you take away the fun,
- 22:47Speaker 2: I'm gone. I'm gone. Please understand you got a lot
- 22:52Speaker 2: of room. And most of you are scared to death
- 22:55Speaker 2: to go there. I'm sorry. I'm sorry you do because
- 23:00Speaker 2: there's such a great life to be lived and you're
- 23:03Speaker 2: going to miss it because you're counting the apples. out
- 23:07Speaker 2: of fear. Well, I am not. Thank you, Father, for
- 23:13Speaker 2: loving us just like we are. Sorry, failing, ugly sinners
- 23:21Speaker 2: that have somehow found a way like Matthew who stumbled
- 23:26Speaker 2: out of that tight tax booth and fell into the
- 23:31Speaker 2: arms of the Master who cultivated him Into a man
- 23:37Speaker 2: of God. Be patient with us Lord. As we learn
- 23:40Speaker 2: our way. Because we've been taught wrong. By so many.
- 23:46Speaker 2: Even some well-meaning parents. Even some former teachers. They didn't
- 23:54Speaker 2: know any better either. So we're back to the rule book.
- 23:58Speaker 2: Of your book called the scriptures. And we're amazed to find.
- 24:02Speaker 2: There aren't many rules. There are some. We take all
- 24:06Speaker 2: of them seriously. But most of the rules we've been
- 24:10Speaker 2: given aren't here. So help us to know the difference.
- 24:15Speaker 2: And free us, Lord. Free us. So that we're free indeed.
- 24:23Speaker 2: In Jesus Christ. I ask this.
- 24:26Speaker 1: Amen. If you've grown weary of counting apples, worn down
- 24:44Speaker 1: by someone else's rules, remember that Jesus came for the sick,
- 24:48Speaker 1: not the self-righteous. How much better to choose freedom over fear?
- 24:54Speaker 1: You're listening to Insight for Living. Our Bible teacher Chuck
- 24:57Speaker 1: Swindoll titled today's message, Look Who Jesus Hung Out With.
- 25:01Speaker 1: It's just one of many sermons included in Chuck's comprehensive
- 25:04Speaker 1: study through the Gospel of Mark. He titled this series, Jesus,
- 25:09Speaker 1: the Servant at Work. You can find a bundle of
- 25:12Speaker 1: Bible study resources for the series at insight.org slash offer.
- 25:17Speaker 1: What if you could carry a little of Chuck Swindoll's
- 25:20Speaker 1: wisdom into every day of your year? Well, now you
- 25:23Speaker 1: can with Swindoll's Living Insights for Every Day. It's a
- 25:27Speaker 1: perpetual flip calendar from Insight for Living. Each day features
- 25:31Speaker 1: a key passage from the New Testament paired with one
- 25:34Speaker 1: of Chuck's insights drawn straight from his Living Insights commentary series.
- 25:38Speaker 1: That's 365 daily moments to keep God's Word at the
- 25:42Speaker 1: forefront of your mind. And because it's perpetual, you'll return
- 25:46Speaker 1: to it season after season, year after year. Set it
- 25:50Speaker 1: somewhere you'll see it often, your desk, your kitchen, your
- 25:53Speaker 1: bedside table. Then let one glance refresh your spirit and
- 25:57Speaker 1: steady your steps. We'd love to send you the flip
- 26:00Speaker 1: calendar today when you go to insight.org slash offer. And
- 26:05Speaker 1: then we're especially pleased to offer a once-in-a-lifetime book written
- 26:08Speaker 1: by our teacher. I'm referring to Chuck's personal memoir called
- 26:12Speaker 1: Awakened by Grace. In this transparent account, Chuck shares for
- 26:17Speaker 1: the first time how God grew a small, insecure boy
- 26:20Speaker 1: into a man who delights in speaking grace and truth
- 26:23Speaker 1: to millions. You can purchase your copy right now by
- 26:27Speaker 1: calling 800- You'll love reading about the wisdom Chuck gleaned
- 26:34Speaker 1: from over 60 years in ministry, the words he'd like
- 26:37Speaker 1: to speak to his younger self, and the encouragement for
- 26:40Speaker 1: anyone going through tough times. To purchase a copy, go
- 26:43Speaker 1: to insight.org slash memoir. Don't surrender your freedom to a legalist.
- 26:57Speaker 1: I'm Bill Meyer, urging you to hear Chuck Swindoll describe
- 27:00Speaker 1: Battles Worth Fighting, Friday on Insight for Living. The preceding message,
- 27:08Speaker 1: Look Who Jesus Hung Out With, was copyrighted in 2010
- 27:11Speaker 1: and 2026, and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2026
- 27:16Speaker 1: by Charles R.
- 27:17Speaker 2: Swindoll, Inc.
- 27:18Speaker 1: All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for
- 27:23Speaker 1: commercial use is strictly prohibited.