Daily Practice of the Way
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
if you have your Bibles please turn to
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
As we continue the theme from the last couple of sermons in which we are exploring ways that we can get closer to God, we need to examine our own lives and our daily walks. To many times we look at Jesus as the Savior and understand what He did on the cross but we miss our daily walk with Jesus. The first followers of Jesus were not called Christians. As a matter fact the world Christian was a slur used to make fun of the early Christians. The early converts of Jesus were called followers of the way. Because they followed the way that Jesus lived. Jesus talks more about the kingdom of God than anyone else in the Bible. When you accept Jesus in your hearts you become citizens of that Kingdom. We are but sojourners on this earth as we wait for Jesus to return.
So as we look at these verse of Matthew Jesus tells us some important things to understand and some important things that the modern day church has missed. In an effort to conform to society the progressive Christianity has labeled most of the practices of early Christians as “ Legalism”. I want to spend just a minute to dispel this notion completely
Here is a good definition of legalism
Legalism: Having a strict outward conformity to moral and religious practices and an expectation that others have the same.
Let us look at the key parts of this definition. First it is an outward conformity to moral and religious practices. Outward is the key word. You appear to have a solid moral or religious life. It is all about the outward look that you give people. It has nothing to do with your heart or your transformation in Jesus. It only deals with the ability to look like something that you are not
The second big issue is that you have the expectation that other people are going to do the same thing that you are doing. Misery loves company right? If I am going to fast 3 times a week, then you better do the same thing. This what legalism really is. The practices that are laid out in the Bible that help us get closer to Jesus are not legalism. It isn’t legalism for example to follow the Biblical model for marriage. You aren’t being legalistic when you follow the Biblical model for accountability that Jesus lays out in Matthew. Biblical practices are being labeled as legalistic so people can have a free pass to not do them.
Now legalism does exist. If we look at the ministry of Jesus, He came to sinners, He came to people that needed help. He came to the people that were broken and ready to give their sinful lives up. But who did Jesus preach against? Who did he constantly warn people about? The Pharisees right ? Let me tell you , if you are looking to start a religion you want to follow the example of the Pharisees. They were experts at setting up religious structure and they were experts at making sure you knew how religious they were. For all their religious knowledge and for all the extra rules they placed upon people , they completely missed the boat when the Son of God, the Messiah was right next to them in the flesh and blood.
I am going to make a prediction that we are headed right back down that same path where we miss the Son of God , the Messiah right next to us. You have probably already heard things like “You can interpret the Bible anyway you like” or things like “that what that verse means to you” All that any of this is a different form of legalism. The pharisees added to the Word of God. Modern Christianity is going to say that we can interpret and choose what we follow and don’t follow. Now that becomes an outward conformity. It isn’t about transforming who you are anymore. It is about appearances. Let’s see what Jesus says
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.
I love when Jesus is direct with His teachings. This is one of those times that He is direct. He doesn’t come to abolish the law of God. He is the second Adam. He is the one who gets it all right and then sets it all right with the cross. With His life He shows us how to live in the Kingdom of God. All of the Bible is there until God brings about New Jerusalem.
Now here is the really cool part of this passage
Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
First off, just like we were discussing before we aren’t to set aside any of the Bible. We were talking the other night at men’s group about hills to die on. I have had to had God work on my heart over the years to understand which hills are the right ones. When I was younger , it was every hill. I never wanted to be wrong. As I have gotten older, I have learned to be a more careful on which fights I pick. Being married also helps you learn this. The integrity of the Bible and how you teach the scriptures, is a hill to die on. Jesus confirms that right here.
With that aside, let us look at the good news. Focus on the this word “practice” whoever practices these commands. if you take anything from this message today, please go home and think about this part.
What is the point of practicing anything? It is so you can get better at something right? People practice and you make mistakes in practices, so that when it is time to be serious you limit those mistakes. Jesus tells us to go practice the way. We are going to stumble, we are human, we are going to fall flat on our faces. Simply point we are going to sin. But here is the kicker, so many times I hear well we all sin, and people will take this as a free pass to do whatever they want. You will hear all kinds of excuses, people are born a certain way, or you are being legalistic or you see that verse that way.
Here is what matters when you sin. How do you react to that sin? Do you run to the Father for help? Do you run to Jesus? Do you have a brother or sister in Christ you can talk to ? That is what matters when you sin. You see Jesus gave us this great thing called repentance, which is a fancy word that means to turn away from something. Do you learn from that sin, learn from that mistake so that you can grow as a person? or do you rationalize it away, because humans are great a justifying anything and everything.
“The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”
Repent and believe the good news. Jesus is here the Kingdom of God is near. That is what we are preparing for. Practice that life, each and every day. Here is the other thing about practice. It doesn’t work for one hour a week. If you really want to be what God is calling you to be, it is an everyday life. You will stumble and you will fall. I always like when someone says, you need to fall forward. That is a great attitude. And all of this practice is done with the leading of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is our guide to navigate this world. We would be wise to listen to Him.
So let us look at a few things we can do on a daily practice to help us grow closer
1.
P raise
R epent
A sk
Y ield
this is how I like to pray and how I teach people to pray. We always start praising God for who He is. We need to repent of our sins, if you ever take any advice from me, please understand this. You need to keep short accounts with God. Do not let sin fester and go without talking to the Father about it. Then we Ask for whatever it is we need.
Finally we get to the yield part. This is the most important part. We need to stop and listen. So many times we can cut our prayer life short by not simply listening and being with the Father. I explain it like this. Imagine if I called you on the phone, and I told you all my problems and then just hung up on you. Please stop and listen
2. Romans 12:2
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
This is one of the scriptures that I use to guide my life. Do not conform to the pattern of this world. It is so easy to let the world beat us down and wear us down. It can be exhausting, I get that. However we have two things that can stop that. The first is the Holy Spirit and the second is the Bible. Transform and renew your mind with these two things.
I know that I am not usually very nice about modern Christianity but I have to say that the amount of Christian movies, TV shows and what not that are coming out all the time is really exciting. It gives you more options to listen or watch something with a Godly message. I love Christian Rock for example, it is what I like to listen to at the gym. I love worship music, if you are hear during the week you probably hear it blasting out of my office. Be careful with what you allow to renew your mind and what you allow to transform your mind. You can go down uplifting roads or you can do down destructive roads
3. Mark 2:16
When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
I love this from the scriptures. What did Jesus do so very often, He sat down and ate with people. All kinds of people. He fellowshipped with people. What do you think they talked about while they were eating? Christianity isn’t an individual quest, it takes all of us to do it. Find a spiritual mentor, or join a group if you haven’t. Fellowship with your fellow believers. It will make such a huge difference in your spiritual life. Take a step to do this, it can be nerve wrecking but take a step and say you need help or you want to learn more or you want to see what it is to be part of a group of believers.
As we close I want to leave you with this
Mark 7:6–8 (NIV)
He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:
“ ‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human rules.’
You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.”
It takes two parts of you to follow Jesus. It takes your brain and it takes your heart. It has to be both of those things.
Let us pray.