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Sermon on the Mount: "Imitation or Intimate?" (Matthew 7:21-23) · Clifford Baptist

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  Speaker A: Welcome to Truth for the Journey from Clifford Baptist Church, 635 Fletcher's Level Road in Amherst. Please join us today as Pastor Jeffrey Campbell leads us in an in depth study of the Sermon on the Mount. Today's Scripture is Matthew, chapter 7, verses 21 through 23. And the sermon is entitled Imitation or Intimate.
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  Speaker B: Grateful tonight to continue our study. Let's go to Matthew, chapter number seven. We are on the countdown. There are only two messages counting tonight, two messages left in this series as we work through the Sermon on the Mount. Now I will share this with you, the Wednesday night group on my Sunday morning study in Luke. Guess where I am. I'm on the Sermon on the plane there, so I'm covering the same material. I figured it up. It's going to be 21 sermons in these three chapters that I've preached on the Sermon on the Mount and I'm going to try to cover them on Sunday morning in three. So y' all just continue to pray as we look at God's Word and we are thankful for it. Probably the most impactful sermon. It's got a lot of stuff that we can unpack. Like I said, I preached 21 sermons, but there's a lot more sermon left in there. There's a lot more message left in this sermon that Jesus is preaching. And so tonight we come off of understanding the warning that we heard a couple of weeks ago that Jesus is talking to some of his disciples and followers and they are just following him along as he winds this sermon down. We have just learned about false teachers and they are dressed in sheep's clothing. You remember that it was a warning for you and I that we need to be discerners, we need to be fruit inspectors of those that teach the word of God and that we must realize that good trees produce good fruit. That's where we left off this Sermon on the Mount. And so we understand those good trees are called to produce good fruit. If the tree produces bad fruit or if the tree produces no fruit, the tree is cut down. And not only cut down, it is thrown in the fire. And we understand that is an eternal warning for false teachers. And but tonight there is an eternal warning for false believers. And so we've looked at the teaching side. Now we have to do a very hard thing. And scripture often does this to us. It makes us look at ourselves. It makes us look in the mirror. It makes us look at our own faith, walk with the Lord and what that looks like. And so tonight these three verses carry a very serious and Stern warning to the false, fake, fabricated Christian. And so tonight, it's a steep warning, probably could be argued some of the most direct words of warning in all of your Bible. And so in three verses tonight, I'm grateful that we have something to look forward to, look, look at, and even look within ourselves. What is the definition of imitation? It is something made to look like something else. Maybe you have experienced this in some sort of products before. Maybe you have bought something thinking it was wood. And when you realize that it was just some kind of pressed board that was just pressed together and not made of nothing, it wasn't real wood. And so you are disappointed and you need a new dresser very soon because it's going to fall and break apart. Maybe you have sat down to eat and you are craving a burger and they bring you out something that they call now the impossible burger that has no nothing meat whatsoever in it. Or maybe some of you have had imitation crab meat. Any of y' all have that? It's not the real thing, is it? Maybe you bought a set of pearls, something that you thought was a set of pearls and it was just imitation. My youngest son has. He's all things outdoors. If you know Ethan, he's been trying to imitate a turkey for the past month. A female turkey, to be exact. Okay. And he's trying to get those gobblers to come in. And my house has sounded terrible. I've threatened to kick his butt if he doesn't get outside with a turkey call. But he's just an imitation. He is trying to fool an animal. Well, tonight we understand what an imitation is. But what does an imitation Christian look like? More importantly, the question for you tonight. The question for me tonight, is your relationship with Jesus an imitation or is it intimate? That's the question. Imitation or intimate? And it comes with four areas that we're going to look into out of these three verses. As Jesus has already said, you've got to be careful of the ones that are teaching you. But tonight he says this. Now you better look within to see if your faith is genuine. And so with that, we read three verses. I'm gonna read all three of them, 21 through 23, tonight. Matthew, chapter seven, verses 21 through 23. Not every one that saith unto me, lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. But he that doeth the will of my Father, which is in heaven, many will say to me in that day, lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils? And in Thy name done many wonderful works. And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Let's pray. Father, thank you for the night, Lord. We thank you for your word, Lord. Many of us coming off of a long day, whether that is school or work or with our families, God, we just thank you for the blessing of the day. But Lord, as we gather tonight, Lord, we gather in a very holy moment, Lord. We gather under your direction and under your leading. And so tonight, Lord, Holy Spirit, we just invite you to lead our hearts, Lord, as we look within and we look at our own lives. God, I pray, Lord, that you will bring to light what needs to be brought, Lord. And if there are any doubts or any questions, God, that you will take care of that. God, I pray tonight that you will lead us in the study of your word. And tonight that as we look at what real faith looks like, Lord, that anything that is an imitation will be weeded out. And so, God, tonight I pray, Lord, that we will be focused on your word, Lord, that you will use your word tonight, Lord, just to instruct and grow us in our walk with you, Lord, we love you and we thank you. In Jesus name, Amen. The first point tonight comes from verse number 21. I'm going to read that again. It says this. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father, who which is in heaven. There are four warnings tonight that we need to look at about this imitation Christian number one. The warning of empty words. The warning of empty words. As we think about Jesus uses the stern warning. Not everyone that says to me, Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven. Here's what I quickly understand. As much as I want everybody to go to heaven, this verse tells me this. Everybody will not make it there. There will be some that think that they're good, that think they're okay, that think everything is all right. But deep down inside it's not. Those people call on Jesus. They even call him Lord. And so when we understand that, we understand Luke chapter six, I told you, I've been studying there as well for Sunday. Luke chapter 6, verse 46 says this. This is the summation of this point. And why call me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say, why do you call me Lord? But your life isn't matching up to what you say. And so there are some people who will profess the Lord with their mouth, but everything else about their Life doesn't show Jesus being their Lord, particularly obeying the Lord's will for their life. There will be people who say the right thing, but righteousness carries with it more than just being able to speak what I call Christianese. You know, you say the right things, you can communicate the right things. But deep down inside, the word of God has not taken root. So tonight, when we see this stern warning from Jesus, he says this. Not everyone that says to me, lord, Lord will make it into heaven. That's a hard pill to swallow. And it's easy for the church to look outside and say, there's a lot of people, if they don't change their ways, they're not going to make it. But if we open the doors of the church and look within, there may be people that sit in the church pew that if they don't change their ways, will not make it to heaven. And that's what Jesus is talking about. The ones that know him intellectually, they have heard the truth. They maybe even speak the truth. They call him Lord. Lord. You know, in your Bible, anything that is used repetitively is a point that Jesus is trying to drive home. These people actually think they know him as Lord. They call him Lord, Lord. But still, still, even though their mouth is speaking, their hearts are far from the Lord. Tonight it's important to take notice not just what you say, but for the believer. We must be careful to recognize that there is a war that is raging between the old and the new. And we have to acknowledge that I don't care how long you've been saved. The old man still rears his head every now and then, or the old woman still rears its head every now and then. And that war is raging even years after you are saved. And so we must be careful. I want you to clearly understand me when I say this. We have to be careful that just praying a prayer doesn't mean anything if your life is unchanged. I'm guilty of getting people to try to pray a prayer, and then their life goes back to the same old thing. And so we've got to be careful. We want people to sincerely give their lives and their hearts to Jesus. And when you pray that prayer and you mean it and your life is changed, I believe God has done a wonderful and marvelous work in your life. But I feel certain there have been people that have prayed a prayer and they have left the service thinking they are all right and nothing has changed. And so we have to be careful. Maybe tonight the words of your life are not matching up. To the way that you are living. Maybe you are realizing that somebody else's life is like that. Maybe you know that somebody that has confessed or professed Jesus as Lord, but their life is far from it. You know the best thing to do? Here's what I find the best thing to do. If you're able to come in beside those people and walk with them, don't be the judge. You're not called to be the judge. Only the Lord can judge. But if you know somebody is a new Christian or a new believer, the best thing that you can do if the Lord leads you, is to pull him beside and walk with him. And it's called discipleship. It's called discipleship. Walk that road with them for just a little while, man. That's a great thing. 1. One of the hardest things as a pastor is getting people to commit to the Lord. We can get them to say a prayer, but what does it look like for a life to show that Jesus is truly Lord? And so tonight, the first word of warning, if something is an imitation or if it's intimate, is this. It's gotta be more than just empty words. Words that are spoken, that don't carry meaning, that don't have commitment to make Jesus Christ, Lord, lead to trouble. So tonight, it's gotta be more than empty words. Look at verse number 22. Many will say to me in that day, lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in Thy name have we cast out devils, and in Thy name done many wonderful works. Point number two is there's a warning of the exciting works. Works do not lead you into heaven. Adrian Rogers says they follow you there. They don't lead you there. And I agree with that. When we understand the importance of doing God's work and God's will, we want to be people that do that. But we understand through God's word that we are not saved by works. Write these scriptures down for your study, okay? You look at them tonight or tomorrow when you have time. Ephesians 2, 8 and 9 tell us that we are saved by grace through faith. It is the gift of God, not of works. Write down Titus, chapter number three, verses four through six. And I'm going to read these verses because I love them. Titus 3, verses 4 through 6. It says this, but after that the kindness and love of God, our Savior toward man appeared not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy. He saved us by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit, which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior. Those are wonderful words. Write down galatians chapter number two, verse number 16. All of these scriptures point that we are not saved by works. It is by the grace of God that we are saved. And it is our faith placed in him. But works are evidence of God's work in us. And that's where we have to be careful. So I believe if God has saved you, you should be doing godly things and godly work. I will say this in a personal moment of testimony. Without God's work in my life, I would be a hard hearted self serving man. I would be trying to live in this world to benefit Jeffrey because that's what the old man wants to do. But our lives should produce the fruit of the lordship of Jesus. And we should be someone who does call on the Lord, who does serve the Lord. But here the warning in verse number 22 is the one that calls Jesus Lord, Lord. And they have done remarkable things. They have prophesied and they have cast out demons and they have done marvelous and wonderful works. And if you read verse number 22, all of these things, all of these works, all of are done in Jesus name. So they're done under the umbrella of the church or under the umbrella of religion or under the umbrella of Jesus. I don't know about you, but I don't think that I've ever cast out a devil from anybody. And I'm looking at that and I'm like, somebody can do that in the name of Jesus and still not belong to Him. Let your mind wrap around that. That's what Jesus is saying here. They're doing wonderful, marvelous, miraculous things in my name. And here's what Jesus will soon say in verse number 23. I don't know who these people are. I never knew you. Let me make this clear. Success doesn't promise eternal security. The issue isn't work related. The issue is did Jesus have a relationship with the folks doing those works? Do you have a relationship with the Lord that you can call Him Lord and that you can serve him and serve him well? And so Jesus will reject those who call on his name and those who serve in his name. If he doesn't know them personally, if there's no relationship there, Jesus just simply says, I don't know you. There are many good people, there are many good church members, there are many gifted people. There are many people that do good things in other organizations for people. But none of those good things guarantee eternity with Jesus. Just because you've been baptized Just because your name's on a church roll, just because you do good community work, it doesn't matter. That doesn't matter. What matters is this is you must have more than empty words, and you must do more than have exciting works. You must do more than good things to make it to heaven. What Jesus is saying is even the things we do can be imitation. But some of the people that are serving the Lord and serving it well have an intimate relationship with me. There's another point. Go back to verse number 21. Not everyone that saith unto me, lord, Lord shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father, which is in heaven. Point number three is the warning of executing God's will, the person that enters heaven. How many of y' all want to go to heaven tonight? Not tonight. Not tonight. But that was phrased way wrong. I'm sorry. How many of you want to go to heaven? Eventually, tonight would be okay, but we do. So the question is this. Who's the person that makes it there? One of the things that I've learned in ministry is there are people that live their life, and when they know that final breath is on its way, they get very nervous. And rightfully so. I can't say that I wouldn't. But there are some people, some good people, that need to just make sure one more time. But here's what I want you to know tonight. I don't care how old or how young you are. I believe you can know that heaven is your home. I believe in the security of the believer. And one of the best ways that you can know that heaven is your home is Jesus says in verse number 21, the person that just calls me Lord doesn't make it to heaven, but the one that does the will of my Father, which is in heaven. So by faith, you follow Jesus as your Lord and you seek out God's will for your life. The person that makes it to heaven is the person that does his Father's. The Father's will does the entirety of their life. James, chapter number one. I want to share this verse with you. James, chapter one has a lot of good verses in it, but James calls us not to only be ye doers of the Word and not hearers only. But in verse number 25, listen to this. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. When you look at God's Word. And you look at what God's Word says, and you live your life according to this Word. And you serve the Lord by faith, day in and day out. Friends, that's a promise of heaven. That's the hope of heaven that you and I have. As we follow the Lord, we understand that works do not lead us there. But we understand that faith in Jesus Christ not only leads our life, but it leads every day of our life. And as believers, we must be obedient to that relationship with God our Father through our faith in Jesus Christ. So we may have words or we may have amazing works, but. But if we don't carry out the Father's will, we are in trouble. Saving faith is not alone. It is obedient to the Lord. And throughout this sermon, Jesus is calling his followers, the believers, to do things like this, go the extra mile to love their enemies, to let their light shine before men. In one part, Jesus says that their righteousness must exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees if they desire to get to heaven. Matthew, chapter 5, verse number 20. That's what it says. For I say unto you that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you. You shall in no case enter the kingdom of heaven. Heaven's the topic, isn't it? Here's the truth what this little passage, this little verse teaches us. Not everyone's going to make it. I believe that the Lord desires a relationship with every man and every woman. But the heartbreaking truth is this. Not everyone desires a relationship with God through Jesus Christ His Son. On the topic of heaven, the second thing is saying the right things and being a good person. It looks legit, but it's simply imitation. Some people can say it, some people can do it, but some people, it is just imitation. Jesus desires intimate relationship with people who will carry out his will for their life. And if you are faithful to do that, I believe heaven will will be your home. A life that is dependent on God and His Word. A life that is lived in honor and obedience of a relationship with the Holy God. A life that seeks to bring glory to the Lord. Faith must be demonstrated throughout our lives as we set out to do his will. There's one more warning tonight. Look at verse number 23. And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Point number four tonight is the warning of expelling iniquity. Verse 23 records the verdict the people have put in their argument. In verse number 22, they have said, lord, Lord, we have prophesied in your name. And have we not cast out devils? And in thy name? We've done many wonderful works. That is their defense as they stand before the Lord. And in verse number 23, the judge simply says this. I will profess unto them, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work iniquity. I don't know how many of you have ever sat in a courtroom. The last time I was in the court was for both my boys, driver's license for a good reason. I've been there to be part of jury duty before. Thankfully, I didn't have to pull that duty. Shortly after I took over pastor of Clifford Baptist Church, I went to a courtroom with a lot of. Let me just say this. Jeffrey was way out of his league. Judges from across the state, many of them filled that courtroom. As one of our local judges was sworn in by invitation, I was invited to come and say the prayer for that proceeding. Way out of my league. But in this room, this courtroom, you could just feel the presence of people that had power. There's no courtroom in this world, no matter how many judges are in it, like the courtroom that we're reading about right now. Because there's only one person that stands before the Lord, and that's you. You have no lawyer. You have nobody on your side. You must stand and you must represent yourself and before the Lord. You've got to answer those questions of what you did with your life, how you spent the years the Lord gave you. And there are going to be people in that courtroom that say, I spent those years doing good things. And the righteous judge is going to say, I didn't know you. There are going to be people that stand before the Lord, and that as they stand before the Lord, they. The Lord knows them. Can I tell you something that stood off the pages of me in this one verse? It's one thing that we use that verbiage, you need to know the Lord, but in reality, the Lord needs to know you. And as you stand before that great and holy judge, the only thing that's gonna matter is if the Lord knew you in that personal relationship. We see in verse number 23 that he simply says this. Some people are going to hear that he never knew them. I shuddered to even the hair on the back of my neck standing up. That's frightening. That's scary. That's horrific. Words in this courtroom, not just for one incident. This will be the courtroom of eternity. Jesus says this, I never knew you. There was never an attempt at a relationship. And the one that knows it all doesn't know you. That's horrifying to me. Verse number 23. Not only do we see that he doesn't know you, he gives three words. Depart from me. This isn't just a command for a moment, but in judgment that lasts for all eternity. Get away. Just like we read a couple weeks ago. That great tree that bears no fruit gets cut down and thrown into the fire. As we're going to look at next week, a house that's built on the wrong foundation. The Bible says this great was the fall of it. And tonight we see this. These words, I never knew you. Depart from me. There was no earthly relationship and there will be no eternal relationship. Get away from me. Some of you have had temporary separations. Maybe a loved one has gone on a trip. Some of you go on vacations and stuff. I miss you while you're gone. But you know what? Barring a tragic event, I know something's you gonna return. But this departure, there is no return. There is no second chance. There is no do over. Because there was no desire for relationship while you were alive. There will be no need for an internal relationship. Depart from me. The warning of expelling has a third part. And that third part is this. Ye, that work iniquity. Those words carry with it a plan of evil. Iniquity is evil that is carried out. An example of iniquity that I could give you from God's word is David as he saw Bathsheba. He planned that sin. Does that make sense? He planned that out. That is iniquity. When you willfully do something you know you shouldn't do, that is iniquity. And so what Jesus is saying here, you carried out your plan. You never wanted a relationship. You never desired me to be Lord of your life. You wanted to look the part, but you never wanted me as your Lord. And you carried out that plan very well. You've done amazing works and you used my name. You bowed your head and you even said my name. You fooled others and you fooled yourself. But you won't fool me. Imitations fool. They fool people around you, they fool the church. But there's one person that an imitation Christian won't fool. And that's a holy God, as he says, you have worked iniquity. You have made a plan, you have carried it out. You have used amazing works and you've used my holy name. But you never, never ever had a relationship with me. And for that reason, in this holy courtroom, a holy and righteous God says, depart from me tonight. These are hard words to preach. These are hard words to hear. And the point of tonight is not to send you home questioning your faith. No. Tonight as you leave, all you need to do is look to your holy God. Look to him as your Lord, and live your life accordingly each day. Live for the Father's will. Love the word of God, live it out in your life. My prayer, as we understand what's real and what's imitation, what's intimate and what's imitation, ultimately God's got to sort that out. That's not my job, it's the Lord's. But what, what is our job tonight is to make sure you have that genuine personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Do that before you leave here tonight. Let's pray, Lord, tonight. Thank you for your word, Lord. Thank you. That it rightly divides, Lord, tonight, even in this church setting sanctuary. God, I pray, Lord, that your Holy Spirit will be at work, Lord, not condemning anybody tonight, but my prayer is they see the seriousness of a righteous and holy God that desires relationship with the ones he created. I believe every person in this room is a prized creation of a holy God. And as the Lord desires that relationship with each one, oh God, I pray your Holy Spirit will just call and convict those tonight that need you as Savior. For those that are saved, God, I just pray for that peace and that reassurance, Lord, that they are walking with their Lord. But maybe there's one tonight that just looks at their life and says something's not right. Maybe tonight they just need somebody to walk with them for just a little while, God, I pray, Lord, that you will allow Christians to walk beside those who need Jesus, Lord, tonight, if there's an invitation in this room, God, I pray, Lord, that you will just speak to that one heart tonight that before a holy God, that they can submit their life to the will of their Father, who sent Jesus to a cross to forgive sin and to give life and hope to the one that needs Jesus. Oh God, tonight, work in that one heart. But I pray that you work in every heart. Those of us that are believers, Lord, I pray, Lord, that you will give us this stern warning to share, Lord, to look at our own lives, to evaluate our own faith or that we may be found faithful when we stand before you. Father, may we be about your business. That's my prayer. And I make it in Jesus name. Amen. As we respond, these disciples were hungry. And as they take up off that grain or that corn, whatever your Bible says, and they begin to Peel it back and begin to eat it. The Pharisees and the religious leaders are there to question them. They are now working on the Sabbath. What does that mean? Well, they harvested the piece of corn and then they began to thresh it. As they took the kernels off the cob, in the eyes of the religious leaders, they were nitpicking the law to make them guilty of breaking the law. And here's what I want you to know. If I take this Bible, I can nitpick all of you and you can nitpick me. But thank God we fall under grace. Under God's marvelous grace, in which we found out about, sang about earlier. But listen, they're guilty. And these religious leaders start tightening down the screws. As they now have been working on the Sabbath, they have not kept it holy. And so the Sabbath day, where does it go back? It goes back to your Old Testament. It goes back to the Ten Commandments. We understand that, but it actually goes further than that. It goes back to creation. And what we need to understand is that six days God worked. And on the seventh day, he rested. And so he instituted the rest on the seventh day. And that was the purpose of. Of the Sabbath. But here in biblical days, the Sabbath was on the seventh day, which was Saturday. Now, I'm going to jog you a little bit here. Why do we today celebrate the day of rest, the day of worship on the first day of the week? Because that's the day that Jesus was resurrected on. That's the day that he fulfilled the great Sabbath and given rest as he. As he rose on the third day. That's why we worship on Sunday and not Saturday. So, and understanding that we are identifying with that rest that only Jesus Christ could give as a resurrected Lord and as a resurrected savior. But the early church instituted that as they gathered on the first day of the week. You can read about that in your book of Acts. So Jesus has been watched. In my opinion, he's been set up. But his compassion doesn't change. And he answers the question of the Pharisees. And that question is this. Why do you that which is not lawful to do on the Sabbath days? Why are you doing what you're not supposed to do? Have you ever ran across somebody that questioned that? You know, growing up, I had grandparents that honored Sunday. Amen. There's nothing wrong. I like honoring Sundays. I like coming to worship the Lord. And I think that's what Sundays are for. But I also know that when the horse is in the mire, when things need to be done. When it was calling for rain on Monday and hay was on the ground on the weekend, guess what we did on Sundays? We gotta pay. This is the man that taught me what it mean to take a break on Saturday. But in certain situations, it's okay when it's necessary. Well, these disciples, they were hungry. And it was on the Sabbath day. They walked through the fields, they picked their corn, they began to eat. And all the religious leaders can do is start to question why they are doing what they are doing. In verse number three, Jesus gives them an answer. And he references David. He says, this David did when himself was hungered. And they which were with him, he went to the house of God and took and eat the shewbread. And gave also to them were with him, which is not lawful to eat, but for the priest only. He said, since you're so religious, don't you remember what David did? David was hungry. He and his men, they were hungry. And guess what they did? They went to the temple. They went to the priest. And on the altar in the temple, there was showbread. There was the bread of presents. And what that looked like. It was 12 loaves of bread that was put on the altar of the temple every week. And that bread was changed out every Sabbath day. Twelve fresh loaves would go on the altar. They would sit there a week. It is a coronation with the 12 tribes of Isra. But what did they do with all the leftover bread? Isn't that the question? The priest would eat it. And the law says this. Only the priest could eat the showbread. But what Jesus says is this. You forgot what David did when David went to Ahimelech, he's hungry. And the showbread was available. And David took that showbread that was unlawful to eat for anybody else other than the priest. And he ate it, and his men ate it. And God did not destroy them. Why did they eat it? Because they were hungry. Because they hungered. But there's another Sabbath day that happens. And the second Sabbath day is found in verse number six. He enters the synagogue and he teaches. And there was a man whose hand was withered. And I believe he staged. Personally, I believe he staged there. But notice that the Pharisees and scribes are watching his every move. Jesus knows what is going on. And he asks a question. Is it lawful to do good or evil on the Sabbath day? What do you do if it's something good, Should I do good or should I do evil? The law. Here's what the law said. The law said this you can save someone's life on the Sabbath, but you can't do any more than that. So Jesus is asking, according to your law, according to your rules, what can I do with this withered hand man? But as he knows their thoughts, he asks that man to rise up and stand forth in the midst of Jesus said to him, I will ask you one thing. Is it lawful on the Sabbath day to do good or evil to save a life or destroy it? Looking around upon them all, he said to the man, stretch forth thy hand. And he did so. And his hand was restored whole as the other. Here's what I'm trying to tell you today. Church, there are certain things that we can do. There are certain limitations and rules that you might have in your mind. But when it comes to working on the Sabbath, when it comes to Sabbath work, that was the concern here. And what Jesus says is simply this. There is a need. And the day is not going to dictate if I'm going to take care of it or not. I'm going to heal and I'm going to give to those who are hungry out of a heart of compassion. James chapter two says this. Listen to this. If a brother or sister be naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, depart in peace. Be you warmed and filled, notwithstanding you give them not those things which are needful to the body, what does it profit? If you see somebody in need and you can help meet that need, and you don't meet the need, what. What good are you? Let's say we're all leaving church today and someone from the church breaks down on the side of the road, has a flat tire. What are you going to do? Now listen, I'm not saying stop for every person that has a flat tire. We live in a crazy world. The Lord has to discern you. Now, I may stop for every person because I'm crazy, okay? I'm not telling you to do that. But if you know the person and you can help them, God forbid you have your Sunday best on, get a little grease or dirt on you. But if you know what you're doing and you can do it out of compassion, you must do it. That's the lesson here. And Jesus is trying to teach these religious leaders that their laws are. And their rules are not that he does not fall underneath of them. And we're going to get to that in a minute, because he is Lord of the Sabbath. But if faith doesn't have works, what does the Bible say? It's Dead. And I'm afraid today that churches lack the compassion of a Christ that loves and ministered to people. And so here's my challenge before I move on from this point this week, I just want you to open up your eyes to the place that God has put you to, the needs that are around you. And if there's a place where you can serve in the name of Jesus, do it and do it well. Not out of a Facebook post, a social media pat on the back, out of the glory for your risen Lord. We need to be people of compassion. And compassion should lead us to do ministry from these doors out into the world and church. If we cannot do that, we might as well shut the doors because the church is not being a church. Compassion will always lead ministry here, and it's demonstrated by our Savior, Jesus. Lesson number two, graduates. Before I move on, graduates, look for those opportunities. Learn what it means to be compassionate. Have eyes to see needs that are around you. Be pray for the ability to help, the wisdom to help in those situations. Lesson number two, you need to learn a lesson on critics. The third thing that Jesus has done that has gotten under the skin of the religious folks is to heal on the Sabbath. Remember, he has already claimed authority as he taught on the Sabbath. He read from Isaiah and he claimed that the Scripture had been fulfilled from through his coming. That was number one, because after that, in Luke chapter number four, they wanted to kill him. The second thing that he did is he ate with sinners. He called them to repentance. He shared a meal and the religious people were furious. And now he is breaking the Sabbath law. Notice in verse number 11. Look at verse number 11. It says this. They were filled with madness and communed with one with another. What they might do to Jesus. Matthew's account, it says that they plan to destroy him. They began to make plans to get rid of Jesus. And so these religious leaders are threatened. They feel threatened by what Jesus is doing. And even Jesus who does the right thing has critics in four years. Listen, I've only been your pastor, senior pastor, less than four years. Here's what I've learned. There's some critics. You can do good things with the right intentions, trying to do the right things and people will despise you for it. And one of the things that we need to learn as Christians is this. We must have tough skin. Jesus, as he demonstrates and he hears what they are saying, notice that the hungry are filled and a man's life is healed and changed. He is no longer suffering. But the religious Leaders, all they cared about is what day it fell on, when it happened, it happened on the Sabbath. Critics will try to run you away from Jesus. Now what's the difference in somebody criticizing you and somebody trying to help you? One, the one that helps you is trying to push you to Jesus. You can ask my two boys. My home isn't always fuzzy. Does he lovey, huggy, all that good stuff. There are days that I need to correct my children. And that happens for, for the sole purpose of running them and moving them to Jesus. And so when somebody's trying to push you toward Jesus, that's not a critic, but a critic is the one that's trying to run you away from the Lord. And so today what we understand is that they're criticizing Jesus in everything that he does. And sometimes critics look the part of religion, and I'm gonna talk to some people today in this little aspect for a couple of minutes. Sometimes it looks the part of religion. Good people, well meaning people can run people away from church. And if you understand this with a heart of compassion, if I come to you in a heart of compassion, I try to share the truth with you. I'm trying to run you to Jesus. That's the difference. These religious leaders have critical attitudes. They have nothing good to say. Their laws and their rules are a burden instead of a blessing. And so we see this externally. It is hard. And it became hard that Jesus says this. This is no longer the intended way. How many of you know that critical attitudes still exist in church? Just nod your head yes so I know you're still listening. Listen. My lone goal as your pastor, as your shepherd, as your leader, is yes, I preach truth and I say it sometimes, maybe too bluntly. But my goal is to push you to Jesus. And as I steer you to Jesus, and you help steer me to Jesus, it's amazing what we learn together. Our faith then grows. So today I pray that we as a church, and even those that are graduating, desire truth and allow humility to lead and others will understand the love that Jesus has for them. Lesson number two. There's always going to be somebody that tell you to criticize you, to tell you you're not worth it, you're not right. Got to have thick skin. There's one more lesson, and that's the lesson about Christ being Lord. Look at verse number five. And he said unto them that the Son of man is Lord, also of the Sabbath. Now, I could spend a couple of weeks just probably talking about that one verse. But here's what I Want you to understand, Jesus is referencing two things. Number one, that he is the Son of Man. That is his favorite title for himself. But he reaches back to Daniel chapter number seven. Now here's what I want to tell you really quickly. In Daniel chapter number seven, there's a vision of four beasts that represent four different kingdoms. And in Daniel chapter number seven, it even that little horn of the Antichrist is represented there. And also the Ancient of Days is represented. But I want to share these words from Daniel chapter number seven. As these four leaders come, or these four nations come, kingdoms come. Here's what it says in Daniel Chapter number seven of verses 13 and 14. And I saw in the night visions. And behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven and came to the Ancient of Days. And they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion and glory and a kingdom that all people, nations, languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and his kingdom, that which shall not be destroyed. So what Jesus is saying is this. I am that Son of Man. God is the Ancient of Days, and I am the Son of Man sent to be the leader and to establish an everlasting kingdom. He also says this, that he's Lord of the Sabbath. Now, as I thought about that, here's what he's saying. I'm the one that created it in the very beginning. Jesus was there in creation. I am the one that created the the Sabbath. I am the one that defined it. I am the Lord of the Sabbath. Now, Jesus in person, standing before these religious leaders, saying simply this. Who are you to tell me what my day means and what my day represents? I am Lord of the Sabbath. What does your Sabbath look like? What does your worship of God look like? Here's what I want to tell you. I think Sundays are important, and I think Sundays should be honored. I think Sundays, families should get together and families should go worship God in the morning time and give their time to the Lord in worship in the evening time. It's a good day for a Sunday nap. But here's my question. The Sabbath was intended for rest. Who gives the rest? Jesus. Jesus gives rest. And rest is not simply one day or one part of a day. Rest is a lifestyle that Jesus can give anyone who trusts him as their savior. And so that's what Jesus is calling us to, a lesson about him being Lord of the Sabbath. He doesn't want to be Lord over one day. He wants to be Lord over your life. He wants to give you rest. As I see that Jesus knows thoughts in verse number eight before he even approaches the religious leaders. He knows what they're thinking. And as he ministers to this man with the withered hand, he knows that they're trying to use it to take the opportunity to get him. And they're missing the message. Today, as I close this Bible, here's all I want to ask you. Is there anybody hungry today? Is there anybody hurting today? Is there anybody that needs rest today? And if you're hungry and if you're hurting or if you need rest today, here's your answer. It's not a meal after 12 o' clock when you go, and that's not going to give you what you need. The answer to a hungered soul and a hurting soul is Jesus. It's not some law, it's not some rule, it's not some day. It's making Jesus your Lord. I'm grateful today as we close this book, that we have a Lord, we have an advocate that intercedes on our behalf today. Don't make this like any other day. Don't get up and leave and say it's been okay. We recognize graduates today and we gave them a charge. No, I want to give this church a charge. And that charge is simply this. We need to be people of compassion, number one. We need to be people that understand that they're going to be critics in this old world. And we need to be people that understand this, that Christ needs to be Lord, not of one day, but of our life. And we need to live like that. That's our challenge. And so as I give an invitation, very simple, It's Sunday. I know there's hungry people. I know there's hurting people. I know you need Jesus today. He's here. Come today. If you never accepted the Lord as your Savior, Jesus as your Savior, here's my plea for you. Don't leave this room without saying yes. Jesus was beginning to put together his team, and now he's instituting the rules that those who will follow him will live their life by. If you have never submitted your life to Jesus as your Savior, today you come. My prayer today is that he will meet you here. Let's pray. God, today, as we think about a message and a challenge. Lord, there's so much that are in our hearts and in our lives and in our minds. Maybe today there's something or somebody leading someone's life in this room other than you. Lord, today you want to be Lord of their life. God, I pray, Lord, that you will work in such a way, Lord, that you will begin to draw that person to you, Lord, for graduates taking that next step. Oh God, I pray that you protect them. But I pray that you give them a heart of compassion, Lord. A life that has lived for you in this world, God, that they could share your love with others, that they come in contact with. God. I pray that you raise up this church, Lord. Give us your eyes, give us your hands. Allow us to be people of compassion, to meet physical needs. But God, I pray that we are people that meet the spiritual need with the one and only one that can take and heal that broken heart, that hurting heart. And that's Jesus, God, today I pray, Lord, that you will allow us to share that gospel message every part of our day, every part of our life, as we give it to you, oh God, as we submit this to you now, God, we pray that you work in our lives as we look to you. In Jesus name. Amen.
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  Speaker A: You've been listening to Truth for the Journey from Clifford Baptist Church. You're always welcome to visit Clifford Baptist Church for Sunday School at 9:45 worship at 11:00am and Wednesday evening worship at 7:00pm Join us again for Truth for the Journey.