To Save Life or Destroy Life
Notes
Transcript
Opening Illustration
Opening Illustration
For many, the tradition of men has been placed above the vital and growing relationship with Jesus Christ.
Far too often, mindless rituals make up the essence of a man’s religion...
Habits that have absolutely nothing to do with being a Christian.
Author Leith Anderson reminds us of this very thing:
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An outsider watched with fascination as the Danish village people filed into a local Protestant church building for worship.
Each one walked up the center aisle to the place where there was a break between the pews and a plain white wall.
Every worshiper paused, turned, and knelt with bowed head and knee facing the blank wall, and then went to sit in their usual pews.
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Since the observer couldn’t figure out the meaning of this ritual, he asked both the pastor and the congregation for an explanation, but no one knew.
“We’ve always done it that way” was the sincere but uninformed answer.
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Further research revealed that there was an elaborate painting of the Virgin Mary behind the white paint on the blank wall.
The painting dated back hundreds of years, before the Protestant Reformation when the church was Roman Catholic.
The village people had bowed to the Virgin for generations as Catholics.
When the church became Protestant and the Virgin was painted over, the worshipers just kept on bowing.
Generations later the bows continued, even though the reason had long since been forgotten.
It was man’s tradition.
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The tradition of man do not benefit the true follower of Christ...
In fact, many times they completely contradict the very Word of God...
We must always remember that repetition of religious practices can never save a person...
Only Jesus can save us...
Only if we repent and believe...
Only if we surrender and put our trust in his Lordship can we experience eternal life...
So, let us turn our back on all mindless man-made rituals...
And build our faith on the solid rock of the Word of God.
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So, please turn your Bibles to the Gospel of Luke.
We will conduct our study in Chapter 6 and focus on verses 6 through 11.
Our message this morning is titled, “To Save Life or Destroy Life”
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This message today will focus once again on the evils of the tradition of men...
For the past few weeks Luke has recorded event after event of the growing conflict with Jesus and the religious leaders of the day...
And in each of these events we are seeing how the doctrine of men cannot coincide with the pure doctrine of God.
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Today we will explore how the commands of God leads to saving life...
While the doctrine of men destroy life.
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So, this morning we will cover three main points:
The Need...
Meeting the Need...
And...
Ignoring the Need.
Opening Prayer
Opening Prayer
Before we consider our text, please join me in prayer...
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Heavenly Father...
We can only turn to you with all our requests and praise...
You are the one true God...
Worthy are You of all praise and glory and honor!
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Protect us from this evil world and the schemes of men...
Protect us from the spiritual warfare we are constantly engaged in...
May Your truth shine even more brightly in this community...
And may You use us...
You servants...
As tools to do Your will and desire...
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Watch over our brothers and sisters all around the world...
Some in very hostile places...
Some under severe persecution...
May they too be a light within their communities...
So, that You may receive more glory...
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And it is in Jesus’s name we pray all these things...
Amen.
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Let’s turn to our text for today:
Reading of the Text
Reading of the Text
6 On another Sabbath, he entered the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was withered.
7 And the scribes and the Pharisees watched him, to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they might find a reason to accuse him.
8 But he knew their thoughts, and he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come and stand here.” And he rose and stood there.
9 And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?”
10 And after looking around at them all he said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” And he did so, and his hand was restored.
11 But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.
So, let’s look at our first point...
1) The Need
1) The Need
Verses 6-7: On another Sabbath, he entered the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was withered. And the scribes and the Pharisees watched him, to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they might find a reason to accuse him.
Let’s start our study by clarifying a few terms and phrases..
The term “withered” means paralyzed or atrophied...
So this man’s hand was not functional...
And his condition was visible to all...
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Additionally, please note in our text that Luke...
Being the physician he is...
Provides specific details not found in the other parallel accounts found in Mark 3 and Matthew 12...
That detail is that it is the man’s “right hand” that is withered...
The significance of this is that the right hand is generally the dominant hand...
Meaning that in addition to having only one functioning hand...
The hand that is withered may have been this man’s dominant hand meaning he would be severely handicapped...
Especially, in the 1st century with the kind of work that was required to do to have a living.
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Next, let us look at the phrase “watched him” which in the Greek carries the meaning of spying on or watching out of the corner of one’s eye...
The phrase takes on a very sinister tone in the original language and can be rendered “to lurk,” “to watch for an opportunity,” or “to lie in wait.”
So, the religious elite were not watching him to learn from him...
They were spying him out with devilish and sinister motives.
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As we see throughout the Gospel accounts...
Many of the Pharisees already had the attitude that Jesus did not keep the Sabbath...
Our study over the last few weeks has revealed this...
Likewise, passages like John 9:16 echo that same truth...
That verse says:
16 Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them.
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Last week we talked extensively about some of the ridiculous Sabbath rituals the religious leaders created...
A true heavy burden for the people.
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New Testament Theologian, James R. Edwards provides us with some more insight as he says:
“Sabbath regulations could be overridden only in cases of endangerment to life.
Otherwise, the various schools of Judaism were agreed that Sabbath must be fully upheld.
First aid was deemed permissible to prevent an injury from worsening, but efforts toward a cure were regarded as work that must await the passing of Sabbath.
A withered hand was not life threatening and thus did not qualify as an exception to Sabbath rules.
Rabbinic tradition, in fact, forbade ‘straightening a deformed body or setting a broken limb [on the Sabbath].’”
So, in general, healing or medical work was not to be done on the Sabbath...
That is...
Unless a life was in danger...
A baby was being born...
Or a circumcision needed to be performed.
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However, this was man’s restriction on the Sabbath...
The reality is that those that saw the act of healing as being some form of work was to corrupt the very point of the Sabbath...
For to forbid such works was a perversion of God’s original design of the Sabbath...
As we talked about at great lengths last week...
People’s needs trump any ceremonial observance of the law...
Although no Sabbath law was even broken...
Only man-made laws that contradict the laws of God!
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Now let’s look at what happens when Jesus enters the picture...
Let’s take a look at our second point.
2) Meeting the Need
2) Meeting the Need
Verses 8-10: But he knew their thoughts, and he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come and stand here.” And he rose and stood there. And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?” And after looking around at them all he said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” And he did so, and his hand was restored.
As we have just read...
Jesus knows that the religious elite want to get Him to heal a none life threatening ailment on the Sabbath so they can trap Him...
However, our Lord and Savior does not back down...
He is no coward!
His opponents may be sneaky and secretive...
But Jesus is completely transparent and open.
So, Jesus fearlessly and publicly rebukes the calloused hearts of the Pharisees.
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The New International Commentary on the New Testament on Luke puts it this way:
“The Lord was fully aware of their evil disposition.
But instead of being afraid and proceeding carefully so as to avoid any act of healing, He actually commands the man to arise and to stand in the midst so that all may see him.
In the sharpest contrast to the secretiveness of the spies, Jesus acts perfectly openly so that all may know His attitude in the matter...
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Accordingly Jesus, who rejects all man-made Sabbath regulations, regards it as sinful to leave such a man any longer in his pitiable condition while the opportunity is there to heal him.
It is in agreement with the will of God that he should be healed even though it be on the Sabbath...
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Christian believers should on the Lord’s day not simply avoid dead formalism and rigid lack of freedom, nor should they merely devote it to rest.
Jesus’ words and actions teach us quite plainly that we should every Lord’s day (and indeed on every other day) place ourselves wholly at His disposal to perform works of love and mercy wherever and in whatever way it may be possible.
We may not consecrate the day of rest in a merely passive manner, but must be active in His service and thus through Him be of use to those who suffer and need help, spiritually as well as physically.”
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In Matthew’s parallel account Jesus says a statement to really drive home this truth and call out the hypocrisy of the religious leaders...
He says this before performing the miracle as recorded in Matthew 12:11-12:
11 He said to them, “Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out?
12 Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”
Although, the Pharisees and Scribes had countless regulations that they made up themselves to honor the Sabbath...
Jesus points out that they are hypocrites for they would break their precious Sabbath rules to save one of their sheep if it fell into a pit...
So, how much more valuable is human life...
Of how much greater value is mankind who is made in the image of God...
Are we to be more loving to animals than to our own neighbors?
Every human life...
Whether they are in right standing with God or not is made in God’s image...
They are to be loved...
Yet, in the worldview of the Pharisees and Scribes...
Human life is kicked to the curb to make room for their man-made laws that embody hate, not love!
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When Jesus asks His question...
Asking, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?”...
The Pharisees and Scribes provide no response...
They are caught in their evil thinking...
No able to otter a word back to Christ...
And in Mark’s account he explicitly says the religious elite stayed silent as it says in Mark 3:4:
4 And he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent.
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They were silent!
Really, what could they say?
Jesus as Lord of the Sabbath...
Proved that His understanding of the Sabbath was far superior to the religious elite.
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Now, beloved I want to make this point very clear...
The refusal to do good is tantamount to doing evil...
Scripture makes this clear in passages like James 4:17 which says:
17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
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Furthermore, the Reformation Study Bible puts it this way:
“Jesus presents a choice between doing good and doing evil on the Sabbath, not between doing good and doing nothing.
He sees the failure to do good as in itself evil and refusal to save life as destructive of life.”
The intent of the Sabbath was to prevent people from working several consecutive days without rest...
The intent of the Sabbath was to provide time for rejuvenation...
And the intent of the Sabbath was to give time to contemplate and worship God...
By all means, it was never intended to prevent one from doing good...
To come to that conclusions is to twist Scripture...
And to create a tradition of man.
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So, Jesus’ question challenges the Scribes and Pharisees for trusting in the tradition of their elders...
As theologian Darrell L. Bock puts in:
“The question puts the Pharisees in a dilemma, since the answer is so clear.
In effect, Jesus says, ‘Why delay a healing when good can be done now?’
Having laid the groundwork, Jesus turns to demonstrate God’s endorsement for doing good on the Sabbath.
The endorsement comes with the healing, since God does not respond in such situations to a sinner.
If Jesus is right, God will heal the man through him, even though it is the Sabbath.
Again, the miracle serves as an audiovisual pointing to truth and its agent.”
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Likewise, pastor John MacArthur says:
“As was often the case, the Lord’s question impaled His opponents on the horns of a dilemma.
On the one hand, answering that it was lawful to do good on the Sabbath would officially authorize Jesus to heal the man.
They could not then indict Him for breaking the Sabbath.
On the other hand, answering that it was not lawful to do good would reveal their wicked, merciless hearts.
That would tear down their veneer of self-righteousness and…expose them as the hypocrites they were.”
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Additionally, from Mark’s account we learn that Jesus was angered and grieved by the hardness of heart of the religious elite...
We know this from Mark 3:5 which says:
5 And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored.
To withhold the act of good in honor of man-made tradition is despicable to the Lord...
Jesus was filled with both righteous anger and grief in His heart...
For He clearly saw the hardness of heart these individuals had...
They were supposed to lead the people...
To reveal God’s love by expounding and sharing the truth found in the Word of God...
Instead they men created an exclusive clubhouse...
And claiming to speak for God...
They created grotesque requisitions that broke the bake of the people they were supposed to be serving...
Claiming to be wise they were exposed as fools!
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Luke 13:10–17 records another Sabbath conflict...
We will dive deeper into this passage in a future study as we work through the Gospel of Luke...
But it is worth quickly visiting this passage now as it relates to our main passage today...
Luke records:
10 Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath.
11 And behold, there was a woman who had had a disabling spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself.
12 When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your disability.”
13 And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she glorified God.
14 But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the people, “There are six days in which work ought to be done. Come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.”
15 Then the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it?
16 And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?”
17 As he said these things, all his adversaries were put to shame, and all the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by him.
Do you see that, Beloved?
How the ruler of the synagogue wanted Jesus to wait to heal on another day and not on the Sabbath...
Yet, what better day is there to to good...
What better day is there to take away a burden off someone’s back..
As the Faithlife Study Bible says:
“A local synagogue leader even entreated the people to seek out healing on the other six days of the week, but not on the Sabbath.
Jesus rejects all attempts by the authorities to force Him into their interpretation of Scripture, teaching instead that love and compassion trump legalism.
In later Jewish law, it was permissible to provide medical care on the Sabbath in case of life-threatening illness or injury.
Chronic illnesses should not be treated on the Sabbath since their treatment could also occur before or after the Sabbath.
It was not necessary to break the Sabbath for those illnesses, so it was not permitted.”
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Likewise, theologian Darrell L. Bock has again some great insight we can chew on:
“The passage’s major interest is Jesus’ person.
However, out of the text comes an approach for understanding what the law about the Sabbath was designed to do.
It was not to restrict one’s ability to love people and meet their basic needs.
The healing could have been put off; but it was not.
The man had the right to be healed—and as soon as possible.
Such considerations are not a violation of the concept of Sabbath rest.
Thus, Jesus highlights the importance of acts of love.”
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Beloved we need to keep in mind and take heart Isaiah 1:11–17 in which God says:
11 “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats.
12 “When you come to appear before me, who has required of you this trampling of my courts?
13 Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations— I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly.
14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them.
15 When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood.
16 Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil,
17 learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.
God clearly in both the Old and New Testament rejected all religious rituals divorced from compassion, mercy, and doing good...
The Sabbath above all days was a day to express goodness...
So it was a day to show mercy and kindness to the needy.
However, as we have seen throughout our study on the Gospel of Luke...
Rabbinic restrictions had so strangled the Sabbath as to render compassion, mercy, and kindness as a forbidden.
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Before we move on to the next point...
We need to make sure we cover the fact that Jesus’ healing on the Sabbath is evidence that he is indeed Lord of the Sabbath...
This supports His claim make back in Luke 6:5 that we covered last week...
That verse said:
5 And he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”
Jesus did not just make bold claims that lacked proof like the myriad of false teachers have done throughout history and continue to do in our day...
Jesus on a whole other level...
He made claims and backed them up, Church!
He not only said He was the Lord of the Sabbath...
He preformed miracles that backed up that claim...
And that only made the Pharisees and Scribes that much more determined to put a stop to Jesus and His ministry...
And it is with that that we come to our third and final point.
3) Ignoring the Need
3) Ignoring the Need
Verse 11: But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.
Let’s start by defining a phrase in our closing verse...
The phrase “filled with fury” literally means filled with madness or folly...
It also has the meaning of “madness” and to “take leave of one’s senses” and “to be swept up in irrational anger.”
The phrase can also be properly rendered as “mindless rage” or “pathological rage.”
As the Baker Exegetical Commentary on Luke says:
“The reaction was caused by the frustration that God does not hear sinners or Sabbath violators like Jesus, and yet right there in front of them was a Sabbath healing!
It also would be difficult to say that Jesus labored on the Sabbath, since he only spoke to the man.
They had been confounded by Jesus’ action.
What could they do?
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They are at their wits’ end and are not exactly sure what to do, but they have the conviction that something must be done.
This challenge to their approach to religion and the faith of the fathers is too great to ignore...
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They begin to think about how they might destroy him.
A turning point has come, since official Judaism registers a negative vote against Jesus....
By choosing rejection, they have missed the point of what has taken place.
The opposition’s solidification has come, but Jesus’ ministry will continue, because the new way he brings does not rest on the authority of religious officials.
They may have voted against Jesus, but the restoration of the withered hand reflects a divine vote of confidence for Jesus.
The reader is to note the crucial difference.”
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Furthermore, the MacArthur Study Bible contains this helpful note on this verse:
“A curious response in the face of so glorious a miracle.
Such irrational hatred was their response to having been publicly humiliated—something they hated worse than anything.
For example Matthew 23:6-7 says:
6 and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues
7 and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others.
They were unable to answer His reasoning.
And furthermore, by healing the man only with a command, He had performed no actual ‘work’ that they could charge Him with.
Desperately seeking a reason to accuse Him, they could find none.
Their response was blind fury.”
Jesus pointedly did not do anything in this situation that could be called “work.”
He did not even touch the man...
He simply spoke a word and that is not prohibited on the Sabbath...
Additionally, the disabled man did not do any forbidden “work.”
He simply stretched out his hand...
So, Jesus’ accusers were silenced and that made them filled with blind rage.
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In Mark’s parallel account we get a little more detail on the intention of the Pharisees and Scribes as recorded in Mark 3:6 which says:
6 The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.
The Herodians were a party of influential Jewish supporters of the Herodian dynasty...
Such an alliance was highly unusual...
The only thing the two parties had in common was their hatred of Jesus...
And that shows us how great their hatred for Jesus truly was.
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This should not come as a total shock...
Even for the people of the 1st century...
The suffering and rejection of the Messiah was prophesied long ago in Isaiah 53:3:
3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
The truth was there all along...
Jesus, the long-promised Messiah would not be embraced by most...
He would be rejected although He did no wrong...
He would be a Man of Sorrows although He was the Son of God...
He was acquainted with grief although He deserved to be praised...
He was despised although He should have been worshipped...
We esteemed Him not although He has the name that is above every other name...
He was treated as nothing more than a wicked criminal...
Although, He was and is and will forever be the Lord of Lords and King of Kings!
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Yet, the love men have for their traditions will drive them to protect their false strongholds at all costs...
Even to the point of bloodshed...
As Matthew 26:3–4:
3 Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas,
4 and plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him.
Why arrest and kill Jesus?
He is God in the flesh!
He never commited a single sin!
But as John 5:18 says:
18 This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
All Jesus did was speak the truth!
All He did was rebuke the one’s who broke God’s law and enacted their own regulations...
Instead of the Pharisees and Scribes repenting of their evil ways...
Instead of seeing how they got it wrong...
Most of them ignored God’s warning!
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I can’t sugar coat this...
I can’t soften the truth of the matter...
To soften the language of Scripture is to mislead...
So, I am under compulsion to share with you...
That you too...
If you follow Christ...
You will suffer for His name sake!
For the followers of Jesus will walk the same paths...
Although your level of persecution will vary...
Every born again believer will suffer for the name of Christ as it says in 1 Peter 2:21–24:
21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.
22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.
23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.
24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.
Although the reality of suffering is a hard pill to swallow...
It is worth it!
As Peter shared the reality of suffering he did not leave his hearers with out hope...
Although we suffer for Christ...
Christ bore our sins!
He dies so that we might live!
And by His wounds!
By His wounds we are healed!
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You see Beloved...
To walk with Christ is to walk contrary to the whole world...
Men and women concerned about man-made traditions are narrow minded...
They only see one aspect and a re blind to the greater truth...
For example, circumcision to the religious leaders of Jesus day was considered an acceptable practice on the Sabbath...
Yet, healing non-life threading illnesses was not...
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In their narrow minded lens they only say the honor of the Sabbath...
Yet the Law of Love was not their...
In fact, the whole purpose of the Sabbath was lost on them...
As John 7:21–24 says:
21 Jesus answered them, “I did one work, and you all marvel at it.
22 Moses gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath.
23 If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man’s whole body well?
24 Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”
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Jesus came to bring healing...
And not just physical healing...
But spiritual healing!
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That is why the yoke Jesus offers is far lighter than the heavy yoke of work-righteousness offered by religions that trust in the wisdom and innovations mere men!
The difference between Jesus and the religious leaders who build their faith on tradition is as clear as day and night...
Pastor John MacArthur puts it this way:
“The stark contrast between Jesus and the Jewish religious leaders...
Is the contrast between the representative of God’s truth, and the representatives of false religion;
Between divine truth and human tradition;
Between profound knowledge and madness;
Between goodness and wickedness;
Between compassion and cruelty;
Between open honesty and hidden deception;
between divine power and human impotence;
Between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan.”
Closing Illustration
Closing Illustration
So, as this message comes to a close...
I would like to share this that I came across in my study this week:
In November, 1987, a large group of anti-government rebels in Soroti, Uganda, had targeted a rural army post and airstrip for take over.
A company numbering in the hundreds gathered in the dense surrounding brush for the attack.
But this was to be no ordinary invasion.
The task force would use some strikingly unconventional tactics.
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According to the Associated Press, the rebels attacked half naked. A few wore old army trousers, a few more army boots, and all of them had their pants rolled up above their knees.
Curiously, all of the attackers were smeared with oil.
As they advanced on the air strip, they marched boldly, even fearlessly toward government defending forces.
In unison they chanted, “God is there! God is there!”
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When the hour-long attack was over, the rebels were routed. Out of seven hundred men, two hundred were killed, many more were taken prisoner.
One of the prisoners, a man named Obone, explained the bizarre event.
The rebels were members of a disgruntled religious/political group called the “Holy Spirit Movement.”
The founder of the movement, a witch doctor named Alice Lakwena, convinced her forces that she had concocted magic oil that would protect them from bullets.
She instructed them to take off their shirts, roll up their pant legs, and smear their bodies with the oil.
She promised that rocks would explode like hand grenades for the faithful.
The rag tag militia went then went to take the airstrip and wait for foreign assistance.
The troops never took the airstrip, and foreign assistance never came.
The battle was lost before it had begun.
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No one could fault the “Holy Spirit Movement” for a lack of sincerity.
One must be a true believer to face live bullets half naked.
Sincere?
Yes.
But wrong, dead wrong.
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Likewise, many Pharisees and Scribes were very sincere...
They truly trusted that their man-made traditions were true.
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Today Catholics, Orthodox, Jehovah's Witness, Mormons, Muslims, Jews and the like...
Many of them whole heartily believe in the traditions of their elders...
They believe this truth to be God’s truth...
They are totally sincere...
But like the rebels of the “Holy Spirit Movement”...
They are dead wrong.
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Jesus only instructed us to put our faith in the Word of God as our ultimate and final authority...
He clearly rebuked the following of traditions of man-made origins...
He clearly rebuked those who appealed to oral tradition...
He clearly rebuked a works-righteous attitude and worldview.
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God’s laws and commands are already perfect and complete the way they are...
They are truly the Law of Love!
And any addition is a perversion...
Any addition to His law is to make God’s command and laws void.
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So, surrender to Him...
Repent of your sins...
Believe in your mind...
And believe in your heart...
That Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior...
He needs no assistance from the fallible minds of men...
For He is infinitely wiser and greater.
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If you have already done this...
May you be encouraged to continue to run the race with endurance...
If you have evaluated yourself and find that you never really surrendered to Him...
Then today is the day for Salvation...
Beg Him to change your heart...
And make you into a brand new creation...
Someone who is no longer a slave to sin...
Some one who is no longer under the heavy yoke of men’s traditions and folly.
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As our Lord and Savior said in Matthew 11:28-30:
28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
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To God be all the glory.
Amen.
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Please join us for one more song from the Praise Band.