The Gospel of Mark: Mark 2:23-3:6

E for super l well good morning good morning good morning testing one12 I am on testing 112 can you hear me I am [Music] oh man G to have to whisper in this thing hey Larry help okay good morning man that'll get your attention won't it hey it's good seeing y'all this morning here at First Baptist Church my name my name is Cody I'm the pastor here we are so excited to be here gathered on this beautiful Lord's day amen am we are here to love God supremely and love each other hey I wanted to tell you know take a look at the bulletin there's a lot of different things that are happening we got Operation Christmas Child that's we're regularly taking collections for so that way in November when everything's coming in you can just run by and grab some of that stuff and we can send out even more stuff around the world to go and help missionaries to share the Gospel in places where Christmas just doesn't happen and so this month they're looking at things that go in the hair so hair bands toothbrushes I guess that doesn't go in your hair caps I don't know if you're my kids it might so hairbrushes Combs bows ribbons all that kind of stuff The Collection bin is found right over here be sure to bring those in also if you want to do Easter lies in honor of someone or in memory of someone those are due today it's $17 you can call the church office as well and bring your money there if you would like to do that we got our Men's Ministry Beast Feast that's coming up this Friday at March 15th at 6 PM so bring meet guys there you go that's the

Announcement also on Saturday we have our John 316 dinner that our Weare puts on where we do chili and noodles and soup and all that kind of stuff but it's also a time of fellowship and of connection and also there's going to be a testimony of someone that recently received Christ as well and so I hope that you will be a part of that a couple of other things here so far our hbac unit offering has been almost $14,000 so praise the Lord for that and also in your bulletin there is this little little insert here it's a year in review I make up these just for myself every year and I thought I need to make these for you because why not I think it's important to see where the church is and for you guys to see what I see and so be sure to take that and have a look at it this number it says Mission highlights on the back page in 2023 we gave 98,5 to missions amen now that's for that's for Cooperative program giving that's for special offerings that's for all of the missionaries and Ministries that we support around the world it doesn't include things like we care that we do or anything like that and so you know we are a missions minded church amen and you can read all this you can check it all out the numbers were made by you know the recordings that the AV team does and also from Thomas and Austin Thomas is up in Canada he's visiting his mom which as many of you know is sick and battling cancer and so he's up there visiting her and so we pray for him also remember to pray for his mom and also for Deanna and the kids as they make their way back this weekend also Austin is out he has gone for spring break this week and so he's living it up he's going to be a Myrtle Beach so I expect a nice Tan on that guy when we see him next so just kidding Austin I love you hey why don't you just take a moment find a neighbor or

A friend shake their hand say welcome to First Baptist Church e get minut all right well it's it is good to gather together in the name of the Lord amen you can go ahead and have a seat we're going to do something a little bit different today because Austin's gone and I can haa we are going to do a time of testimony to start out our service about the loving kindness of God Austin's the song of the month that he's picked out for us is about loving kindness and so I wanted to share with you guys a passage and then open it up to you guys to share a short short testimony I will cut you off if need so no I'm just kidding depends on how good it is joking I'm joking Psalm 365 it says this your steadfast love O Lord extends to the heavens your faithfulness to the clouds your righteousness is like the mountains of God your judgments are like the great deep man and Beast you save oh Lord how precious is your steadfast love oh God the children of mankind take refuge in The Shadow of Your Wings amen and his loving kindness is good does anybody have a testimony that they want to share just about God's loving kindness on you I want to thank you all for the prayers that you all brought forth for my wife she's doing remarkably well the vial therapist said she's doing a lot more than she expected the effective fervent prayers of a righteous person avails much and we thank the Lord for that and who don't like the dress that the pastor has on another one have you seen God's loveing kindness

There you go well how short short as me all so you read a verse so I thought of Psalm 633 it says because your loving kindness is better than life my lips shall praise you that's why we're here today is to praise God because his loving kindness is also Beyond description of what he's done for us and the things we just take for granted you know he's our Savior he died for us and we need to recognize that every day and just worship Him amen another one before Craig jumps up here I will we just had a wonderful two- week Ministry trip to North Carolina got back Thursday night and we've always told our kids and ourselves that loving kindness is everything that God gives us and then sometimes he just gives us extra well my extra this weekend was I did a ladies Retreat on the beach last weekend and we went up on Thursday with the ladies of one of our supporting churches and waiting to go to dinner and we looked out the window right on the beach and there was a school of dolphins swimming by and that was for me that was God's loving kindness to me because I love dolphins and I don't get to see them very much so that was God's loving kindness for me I got to see dolphins last weekend all [Applause] right I don't mean to draw attention to myself when I say this but I've had so many people tell me how are you feeling ARA and I just want to let you know that in God's loving kindness he is taking care of me really good and I for those of you who don't know had a major lung surgery quite some time ago and people are still asking me how I feel and how you know how am I doing and then sometimes they say we thought you were a goner and so I'm gonna say God's loving

Kindness only got me through [Applause] it last one anyone all right well at this time we're going to take a moment and thank the Lord for his loving kindness and then we're going to stand together and sing about it so but would y'all bow your heads and join with me in prayer Lord we are just so thankful for your loving kindness we thank you for how it was displayed for us most clearly on the cross and we ask Lord that you would help us to worship you today we greet you we say hallelujah thank you Almighty God for waking us up this morning and allowing us the privilege of just making your name greater here in camton and around the world thank you for the ministry that's taken place and we pray that today as we sing even more that you would be blessed by it we love you Lord in Jesus name amen let's all stand and let's worship together Dawn we'll greet your mercy with a song your people stand and sing for all your Ling kindness you carried us in faithfulness upon the paths of righteousness our gracious King you crowned us with your Ling kindness how great is your Ling kindness oh God of goodness our joy forever to sing the Glad refr of Grace that saved us of sweet forgiveness oh how great is your loving kindness you lift us with a father's hand you shelter us with your commands what heart could fully comprehend your merci endless you lead us through the Shadows deep where down Stace every it seems but as the darkness breaks will sing the morning promise how

Great is your Ling kindness oh God of goodness our joy forever to sing the Glad refrain of Grace that saved us of sweet forgiveness oh how great is your loving [Music] [Applause] [Music] kindness life laid down to resue us with arms outstretched upon the cross the greatest gift there ever was of Ling kindness life laid down to resue us with arms outstretched upon the cross the greatest gift there ever was of loving kindness your loving kindness how great is your loving kindness oh God of goodness our joy forever to see the Glad of Grace the saved us of sweet forgiveness oh how great is your Ling kind is your loveing kindness oh God of goodness our joy forever to sing the Glad refra of Grace that saved us of sweet forgiveness oh how great is your loving kindness your loving [Applause] [Music] kindness who has held the oans in his hands who has numbered every grain of sand kings and Nations tremble at his voice oh creation Rises to rejoice Behold our God Seated on his throne come let us adore him Behold our

King nothing can compare come let us adore [Music] for who has GI counsel to the Lord who can question any of his words who can teach the one who knows all things who can faom all his wondrous Deeds Behold our God Seated on his throne come let us adore him Behold our King nothing can come let us [Music] adore [Music] him who has felt the nails upon his hands B all the guilt of sinful men God Eternal humble to the Grave Jesus Savior risen now to [Music] rain behold God Seated on his throne come let us adore him Behold our King nothing can compare come let us [Music] Adore You Will Rain your GL Glory F will let your glory will let your GL F you will rain

Forever you will R your GL you will R Your Glory F me you will your glory you will R GL Behold our God Seated on his throne come let us him Behold our King nothing can compare come let us [Music] adore amen why don't youall have a seat as our ushers come forward to receive offering for those of you paying attention to your bulletin I am not Steve bis I am Craig castle one of the deacons here and he took my place and I would never Proclaim to be as good-looking as he is let's pray Father in Heaven Our God who is Seated on your throne Lord we come before you in the midst of our worship time and continue our worship father through a time of giving a part of what you have just placed on us as your children with willing Hearts God we pray that whatever is received today in the offerings would be used of you and the Outreach Of The Gospel message here in our area and also abroad in other places father it would also be a help in A discipleship of reaching and teaching and Lord just as we learned last week about you changing our world view to a Biblical world view father God we lift this to you and the rest of our service in Jesus name amen so on Wednesday nights we've been talking about in Romans we've been talking about what the use of boasting would be for Christians we really have nothing to boast in it's not like those of us who follow Christ are the best or

Coolest or most awesome or even relatively decent people when you know you look at our hearts often times our hearts are filled with greed filled lust hate anger whatever insert whatever your Vice is there but the one thing we do get to boast in as Believers is the cross of Jesus Christ Galatians 6:14 it says far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world please stand with me as we sing When I Survey the Wondrous [Music] Cross [Music] When I Survey the wonderous cross on which the prince of Glory [Music] Die My I riches G I count but Lord and for contemp on All My Pride forbid it Lord that I should Bo save in the death of Christ my God all the great things that CH me most I sacrifice them to his blood see from his head his hands his feet sorrow and love flow me down did such love and sorrow meet oh th compos so rich [Music] C where the whole realm of

Nature my that were an offering for to small love so amazing So Divine demons my soul my life my [Music] are as morning Dawn and day awakes to you I bring my need oh gracious God my source of strength in you I live and breathe each is yours by wisdom plan each de inow my sovereign hand renew my spirit help me stand be glorified [Music] today as day unfolds I seek your will in all of life demons and though the temp tries me still I cling to your commands let every effort of my life display the matchless wor of Christ make me h Living Sacrifice be glorified [Music] today as Sun gives way to Darkest Night your spirit still is here and though my strength F like the light new mercies will I you who abide with me until our trials and suffering give way to fight all Victory be glorified today I rest in you abide with me until our Tri and suffering give way to final Victory be glorified [Music] today [Applause] and Lord we do just pray that you

Would be with us today as we open up your word now we ask that you would lead us in your loving kindness God we do rest in you and we do ask that you would abide with us as we abide in you that we would be one with you more with the father we ask today that you would open up our minds and our hearts to what your word has to say let it divide us to the very essence of our being God may your wounds be faithful like a surgeons cutting expertly in the places that needs to be cut that we would be conformed into the image of your son Jesus Christ we love you very much in Jesus name amen looks like Tangled okay well if you have your Bible and I hope that you do please turn with me to Mark chapter 20 chapter 2 we're going to be in verses 23 through chapter 3: 6 I could have broken these up and I was really tempted on doing that when I was planning this sermon series back in the summer but through after reading this just the subject matter about Jesus being the Lord of the Sabbath and the healing on the Sabbath really belong together as just one cohesive narrative this is where we're going to see this direct conflict with the religious establishment establishment kind of hit its Crescendo then it's going to kind of taper off as Jesus goes out and does more Ministry before we talk about Christ being Lord of the Sabbath though which is our topic today we should probably discuss what the Sabbath is the Sabbath in the Old Testament was on Saturday okay that's just the day that was on that is the last day of the week and it was on this day that God after he had created all things in six literal 24-hour days he took time and rested on this sabbath

Day and this was the day they looked and be behold everything and he saw that everything was very good and he delighted in it the fourth Commandment in the Ten Commandments is also the longest commandment it's the only one that's founded in creation order so why don't Christians observe the sabbath on Saturdays well a couple of things one we do observe the sabbath not exactly on Saturday but secondly the day of the Sabbath changed did it's on what we call the Lord's day now we call it the Lord's day because it's on Sunday that our Lord was raised from the dead we see in the book of Acts in chapter 20:7 that the Christians were gathered together on the first day of the week the Lord's day we see in 1 Corinthians chap 16: 1 and 2 as Paul is taking up collections for believers that are impoverished that as they gathered together on the first day of the week the Lord's day they were to gather the offering so that way it wouldn't have to be taken while he's there we also see in Revelation chapter 1 how John the Revelator the apostle that Jesus loved he was on the island of Patmos caught up on the Lord's day that is on Sunday we see that it is a time for believers to be gathered together in worship and in prayer and in preaching and in fellowship and it's when they would just get together and have church right so a few years ago we had a protester outside he believed that our church was in abhorent sin because we have a building because I don't wear a tunic because we worship on Sunday I bring that fellow up to you because Dogwood Festival is coming up and he'll be back with his bullhorn when that happens please allow for the elders to handle that situation you guys just go on your Merry way and we'll handle the rest of that but it this whole idea of

The Sabbath has actually been a challenging thing in our local community there have been people that are caught up into What's called the Hebrew Roots movement that they believe that Christians are compelled and under obligation to keep all of the Old Testament commands including the dietary laws including all the Civil laws all the ceremonial laws and all of that kind of stuff it's you know it leads down the road to apostasy and we've lost families because of them holding to that view as well okay there's all sorts of fun things that deal that you deal with as a preacher so let's talk about what the Bible says about the Sabbath let's talk about specifically what Jesus says about it if you would stand with me in honor of God's word as we read Mark 2: 23 through chapter 3: 6 the word of God says this one Sabbath he was going through the grain Fields And as they made their way the his disciples began to pluck heads of grain and the Pharisees were saying to himl why are you doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath and he said to them have you never read what David did when he was in need and was hungry he and those who were with him how he entered the house of God in the time of ab abiathar the high priest and ate the bread of the presence which is not lawful for any but the priest to eat and also gave it to those who were with him and he said to them the Sabbath was made for man not man for the Sabbath so the son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath again he entered the synagogue and a man was there with a withered hand they watched Jesus to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath so that they might accuse him and he said to the man with a withered hand come here and he said to them is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm to save life or kill but they were

Silent 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 the Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the herodians against him how to destroy him and so God we do thank you for this great day we thank you for your word help us to conduct ourselves according to it if there's areas that we need to adjust our beliefs I pray that's what we would do as an act of repentance and Lord I pray that you would continually just work in our church conform us into the image that you have for us God and may we Delight in you and glorify you this day in Jesus precious name amen well in Mark chapter 2 we've seen Christ forgive and heal a paralytic which caused the Pharisees to accuse Christ of blasphemy which would be true if Jesus weren't God we also saw Jesus eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners which just mollified the Pharisees they were really upset about that and then they began demanding through innocent questions for Christ to conform to their preconceived traditions and laws Jesus he described the Pharisees in terms of old worn out clothing in brittle stretched out wine skins and here Christ he goes on the offensive he does this in several ways first Christ was always doing the father's will and so none of this ever happens by mere chance or anything like that it was God's will for this to happen and it was also God's will for Christ to teach and to do these things secondly he is going to teach and he is going to ask some very interesting questions the teaching in these questions are designed in such a way to point the Pharisees to the truth in the heart of the matter and also Christ thirdly is going to heal the man to display his power and you would think

That such a visible Miracle would Silence the Critics but it only served to harden them this is the nature of man on full display that when the grace of God is shown it softens the repentant and it hardens the resistance that's a exactly what happens we see this in Exodus where all those plagues come through and the entirety of Egypt wants to let the Israelites go for several plagues and even Pharaoh promises to let him go but he hardens his heart and the Lord also hardens his heart this encounter at the end of chapter 2 it takes place on What's called the Sabbath day and Jesus he was walking through the grainfields and in the mishna that is a collection of Rabbi writings that have been collected from like 200 BC to 50 ad they're collected together and it was it was traditional laws on how to keep God's law so you had God's law and then you had the traditions of men and it was so thorough that they had rules for like okay you cannot tie or loosen a knot on the Sabbath day that would be considered work so if you had your shoes on Friday evening you kept them on all day until sundown on Saturday likewise if let's say that you tore your tunic oh I got this huge tear in my tunic you could put in one stitch that's it one stitch any more stitches than that is considered work you could walk 1,999 steps any more than that is work if a building collapses and someone is in it and you're not sure if they're alive or dead you could go in and if they are alive you can save them if they're dead you have to leave them there until the Sabbath ends all sorts of different rules it was so thorough and so filled with tradition of keeping man's laws and the problem was that those Traditions became

Just as authoritative as God's word itself thankfully that doesn't happen in today's world does it I've heard of churches that have crazy rules too you know there's one Church they said all right if you want to remain a member then you have to give at least one penny to be a member of our church every year okay that would probably cut our membership down by half that's a good idea right some of y'all booed me it's okay I love you so oh here was one if men are serving communion they have to wear a jacket and tie so pants apparently are optional there praise the Lord we do not have that rule One Church no Glitter is allowed on the church property at all so that was made by a custodian I think some Churches and we know some of these King James only that's the only translation of God's word right I bring these up because I want to show you that the spirit of adding to God's law is Alive and Well in churches even our own church the spirit of phariseeism is still at work and the reason why we add so much to God's laws because we have such a hard time keeping the ones that he's given it's much easier to keep our own rules than God's rules ouch the Scripture says that the disciples they were plucking heads of grain this is actually expressly permitted in God's in God's word Deuteronomy 23:25 if you go into your neighbor standing grain you may pluck the ears with your hand but you shall not put a sickle to your neighbor standing grain expressly permitted in God's word and yet these guys are just walking through and they're doing it and

The issue is timing that's the whole issue it's on this day that you're not allowed to do that but they're hungry look at what your disciples are doing Jesus why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath who said that was unlawful to eat a couple of grains as you're walking through the field on the Sabbath it wasn't God it was man that said that and as Christ teaches this guess what he's doing is he's declaring his authority over the Sabbath he is declaring his authority Jesus he teaches him nextly about David when why because if there was anyone who was considered to be the great king of Israel it was David it was through David that he received the promise that from you would come the Messiah the true king let's look at what Christ's teachings are on this passage he says have you never read this is a traditional Rabbi way of saying you don't know your word do you don't know what the Bible says and then Jesus he points to David's need for food let's see what the situation is in 1st Samuel chapter 21 I'll have it up on the screen but if you want to go there too you can the context there is that David is on the Run for his life King Saul has resolved in his heart that he is going to put David to death doesn't matter what happens he is willing to do whatever it takes to kill David and David's been on the run and here's what happens David he came to Knob to ahc and ahc came to meet David trembling ahc was the high priest at that time and he came trembling and said to him why are you alone and no one with you this is one of D this is one of Israel's highest officials King David Saul's right-hand man why is why doesn't he have other officials around him why does he just have a few other men David said to a him the priest the King has charged me with a matter and

Said to me let no one know anything of the matter about which I send you and with which I have charged you that's a lie by the way in case you didn't pick up on that I have made an appointment with the young men for such and such a place now then what do you have on hand give me five loaves of bread or whatever is here and the priest answered David I have no common Bread on hand but there is Holy bread if the young men have kept themselves from women and David answered the priest truly women have been kept from us as always when I go on an expedition the vessels of the young men are holy even when it is an ordinary Journey how much more today will their vessels be holy so the priest gave him the holy bread for there was no bread there but the bread of the presence which is removed from before the Lord to be replaced by hot bread on the day it is taken away and so here you have exactly what happened this is what Christ is referencing he was not allowed to actually take the bread of the presence because he wasn't a priest not King David and in this David he eats the loaves of bread and what happens well Jesus he tells us he identifies a couple of principles that why even though David he broke the law he wasn't guilty of breaking the law and the reason is that there was a legitimate need the bi this teaches the principle that human need supersedes the law in specific areas like acts of mercy so like feeding the hungry Healing The Sick rescuing those in danger those are all permissible Works according to Christ which do not violate the Sabbath now some people they might say well hold on all right there's a himc here and there's a bthar that Jesus is referencing does Jesus get it wrong there no it's because a himc was relatively U unimportant in the Old Testament but abiathar who's very important in the Old Testament so he

Talks about the time of abiathar there so just a little apologetic for you but Jesus he is specifically teaching that this General principle that someone's hungry they should eat we should feed them and in saying this he makes the conclusion that the Sabbath was made for man not man for the Sabbath and that is true we do not serve the Sabbath day but the Sabbath day Sabbath day serves Believers in a lot of different ways for Spiritual renewal that's why we gather together on this day we are commanded to do that we are instructed to do that in the book of Hebrews to not neglect gathering together and meeting together as is the habit of some we are also to have physical rest on the Sabbath day I know that many of you are tired from losing that hour's sleep last night it feels like the life was sucked out of me with those five kids this morning let me tell you but guess what you know we're we can take a nap this afternoon to the glory of God it's also for mental reinvigoration some of you have very high stress jobs and sometimes Sunday is just a great day to be with family and to enjoy his creation together and that's a good and that's a right thing to do and so the Sabbath it was created and since it was created it is always submissive to God and so the son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath look at Christ's claim here okay that's the next point if you're taking notes you can write that down who could ever be over God's special day God that's it's his day and by declaring authority over the Sabbath Jesus is once again declaring himself to be God look at what some additional teaching that Jesus gives in Matthew chap 12 look at what he says or have you not read in the law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are Guiltless

You want to know how I can do my job because this is this is work for me okay it is how can I do it's because God allows it I can work to the glory of God and not be held guilt guilty I am Guiltless and I tell you something greater than the temple is here and if you had known what this means I desire mercy and not sacrifice you would not have condemned the Guiltless now is that still true today that God still desires mercy and not sacrifice absolutely God still desires Mercy and not sac and not sacrifice because God never changes God's Wrath was Satisfied by Christ but now as we love God supremely and we love others genuinely we do that through acts of Mercy it fulfills the law Christ he has taught and he has claimed that the Sabbath is to be a day of rest and worship amongst God's people for the soul and Christ made it in no way permissible to you know just sleep in because you want to it's true will not find that anywhere Scripture if you're tempted to do that it could be the flesh rising up saying do not fellowship with the Believers and you're like man I'm just tired I just don't want to do it's it's a spiritual discipline it's a spiritual habit that we get into because it's good for us it's right for us to do it and the Sabbath is supposed to be a time of renewal not a burden for you to just perform if church is a burden then there's a bigger spiritual issue there than you attending church amen you see the Sabbath it's not it's not wasn't intended to be a time where if someone was hungry or thirsty they couldn't eat or drink that's what Christ is driving me at is that it's not a burden it's a delight that we get to have for our good in the next part of our passage in Mark chapter 3:1 it doesn't occur immediately

After this teaching in the Book of Luke 6: 6 which is the parallel passage we see that it takes place on another Sabbath maybe the following week or so we don't know but in here we learn that Christ is going to demonstrate his authority over the Sabbath Jesus he entered the synagogue where he would have attended to listen to the scribes teach the law and a man is there with a withered hand that's a accident I guess I suspect that the Pharisees brought him in but this is in the Greek that withered hand it's actually a perfect participle which means that this man was very likely born with this handicap with this defect so he had no never known anything else different in Christ he comes into the synagogue and he sets this up to show that Christ is about to heal this man but there's also going to be a testing that takes place with the Pharisees why else are they watching Jesus well don't forget that Christ has a habit of healing on the Sabbath we've already seen it twice in The Book of Mark with the demon-possessed man and Peter's mother-in-law being healed and now the Pharisees they are closely watching after this encounter on the Sabbath and that teaching well if he believes that they can do this then he must be breaking the Sabbath himself and so they are watching to set a trap for our Lord and they are angry and they want to get rid of this uneducated Rabbi From Galilee and they were watching to accuse trying to get him to slip up mess up trip up and the word here in accuse is categoria which is means to bring charges against they wanted to make a legal case against Jesus but Jesus knew the motives of their heart he knew exactly what they were thinking before he even walked in and he displayed this when he healed the paralytic he knew their hearts and listen Church Christ knows the hidden

Motives of our own Hearts too he knows how selfish we might be he knows what are our even the hidden motives that we don't even understand who can understand our hearts not me but he knows them and we should ask the Lord to help us see motives that we may not see but Christ knowing their heart hearts he told the man come here come closer and Jesus looked at them and he asked a simple question it's it's a dichotomy one or the other black and white he's it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm to save life or to kill now how would you answer that question how' you answer that save life duh right like for us that's such a duh thing of course but what is happening with those Pharisees it's just silence and why did Jesus ask this question he asked this question to show them that their laws are not God's laws it's clear from the Mosaic law that God was concerned for the Widow for the orphan for the poor for the hungry for the sick he is concerned about them but the laws that the Pharisees and scribes have made had created an environment of fear of unhelpfulness of hatred towards their neighbor and Christ he's going to readdress this very issue when we get there in a few months in Mark chapter 7 he says and he said to the Pharisees you have a fine way of rejecting the Commandment of God in order to establish your tradition for Moses said honor your father and your mother and whosoever reviles father or mother must surely die but you say if a man tells his father or his mother whatever you would have gained from me is Corbin that is given to God then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down and many such things you do and that's what happens with

Believers they try to justify their actions their behavior their lack of spiritual discipline on the grounds of something that sounds spiritual but is physical at best the spirit of pH phariseeism is filled with self-righteousness and hypocrisy and judgment I mean if you believe that your obedience is what makes you good with God there's an issue there if you believe that you don't have sin that you need to repent of or you believe that I need to read the Bible to prove my beliefs rather than allowing Scripture to change me to morph me into the image of Christ there is an issue there and you may be dealing with phariseeism and you need to repent of it you have to turn from it secondly this question exposes how hard their heart was to suffering I mean these people are more concerned about getting at Jesus than helping someone and that's a sad place for a person to be Jesus he isn't worried about what anyone but the father thought and so he with the knowledge of their hard Hearts he asked this question what is lawful to do to do to do good or to do evil to heal or to kill and he's not intimidated he chose to make this a deliberately public confrontation remember that Christ Jesus is not interested in our Traditions he is concerned about keeping God's law what are the two greatest Commandments love God love others we can put it that simply and the Pharisees forgot that most basic law and they got caught up in all the rueping and thirdly the question is easy but it's made Difficult by expertise which is lawful good or evil saving life for killing it's so obvious but there's deafening silence on the part of the Pharisees and it's ironic like don't you see the irony here is that the authorities who are denying

Jesus the right to do good on the Sabbath are they themselves conspiring to do evil on the Sabbath remember that Christ he doesn't ask what is lawful for us to do on the Sabbath according to the rabbis but is it okay to do good and so his point is that we can do good seven days a week not just six that's why it's lawful for a doctor to treat a sick person on a Sunday it's why it's lawful for a police officer to protect the innocent and enforce the law on a Sunday that's why it's okay for Christians to visit shut-ins and do ministry on a Sunday notice Christ's anger here in verse five he looked around with them at them with anger that word is understood as a righteous Fury and here is their creator and they are pretending to be very zealous for his laws in his holy day and yet they're fighting against God himself and this is a satanic strategy this is straight from the pit of Hell to fight against True Religion with false religion to battle godliness in the name of tradition the hard heart cannot cannot be taken by anyone except for Jesus Christ the hard heart has been fortified by Satan it is immovable it is staunch it is steadfast in its religiosity and it resists that which is spiritually good and I want you to notice also Christ's sorrow here why was Christ grieved it's because well he's been dealing with this for a long time not just in his Earthly Ministry but as the pre-incarnate Christ the one who delivered Israel from Egypt listen to God's Own word and testimony in Psalm 78 this is a longer passage I would highly encourage you to study this in Psalm 78 it says they did not keep God's covenant talking about Israel but refused to walk according to

His law they forgot his works and the Wonders that he had shown them in the sight of their fathers he perform wonders in the land of Egypt in the fields of zoan he divided the sea and let them pass through it and made the water stand like a heap in the daytime he led them with a cloud and all the night with a fiery light he split rocks in the wilderness and gave them drink a and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep he made streams come out of the Rock and caused Waters to flow down like Rivers yet they sinned still more against him rebelling against the most high in the desert they tested God in their heart by demanding the food they craved on to verse 21 therefore when the Lord heard he was full of Wrath a fire was kindled against Jacob his anger Rose against Israel because they did not believe in God and did not trust his saving power yet he commanded the skies above and opened the doors of heaven and he ran down Mana to eat and gave them the grain of Heaven you see the goodness of God here constantly in the midst of rebellion he's meeting their needs and man ate of the bread of the angels He sent them food in abundance moving on to verse 32 in spite of all this they still sinned despite his wonders they did not believe and so he made their days vanish like a breath and their years in Terror when he killed them they sought him they repented and sought God earnestly they remembered that God was their Rock the most high their Redeemer but they flattered him with their mouths they lied to him with their tongues their heart was not steadfast toward him they were not faithful to his Covenant yet he being compassionate atoned for their iniquity and did not destroy them he restrained his anger often and did not stir up all his wrath he remembered that they were but flesh a wind that passes and comes not again how

Often they rebelled against him in the wilderness and grieved him in the desert desert they tested God again and again and provoked the Holy One of Israel it's the same song different tune Christ he is grieved because there is still love for his chosen people and professing Believers that have hard Hearts they can be in this place too they can profess Christ but deny his power we got too many professing Christ Christians and not enough people that love Jesus brother sister if you want the benefit of Salvation without the submission that God has ordained then you are a Pharisee and if that's you then repent then turn away from that ask the Lord to soften your heart say God I see some hard areas in my life can you please soften my heart I love you I want you I need you God help me and he will hear you God's compassion it will reach a point where the hard-hearted will be judged we look in Genesis chapter 6 verses 5-7 we know that there were generations and generations before this nearly 2,000 years of human history and the Lord saw the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually and the Lord regretted that he had made man on Earth and it grieved him to his heart so the Lord said I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens for I am sorry that I have made them and that is of course the past but one day Christ he will come again and he will judge the Earth and this time it will be by fire and the only way to escape is by faith alone in Jesus Christ Christ's anger and grief it turned to the needs of this crippled man that was there and he said to that man

Stretch out your hand and this man he was healed instantly like that his useless limb was restored and made whole and perfect and everyone celebrated right no last point the Pharisees defied Christ's authority over the Sabbath they defied Christ's authority over the Sabbath the hard-hearted self-righteous and violent they will resist the authority of Jesus they went out and what did they do they immediately began plotting about how do we get rid of this guy and let's align ourselves with other like really bad guys the herodians on how to destroy Jesus and how sad is that they saw a miracle and then sought to destroy Christ and I want you to notice this I don't think I wrote this down but I want you to notice this they implicitly anticipated for Christ to do miracle they wanted to catch Jesus in act they knew that Jesus had some type of power that they didn't have and they still sought to destroy him they were more concerned with Traditions rather than what God's word says when we are tempted to hold to our Traditions regardless of what God's word says or doesn't say then we are in danger of grieving the heart of God as well believer you and I we should be seeking out what God's word says about all the situ ations that we face in our lives and we should be when Scripture speaks plainly we need to say I believe that and when Scripture is vain we are vague we need to say you know I could go either way on that and appeal to the Christian conscience open-handed closh handed according to God's word when it comes to the Sabbath it is clear that Jesus Christ is Lord of the Sabbath and it is it's lawful to do good so what did we learn couple of big points positive and

Negative okay positive point that Christ has given us an eternal rest where we can come and be in his loving presence by entering by faith through his death that is our Sabbath he is our Sabbath and we rest in him when we abide in Christ we find joy Everlasting we find peace we find hope we find all of those things that we try to seek out in the world but they're ultimately only found in Christ praise the Lord amen we don't have to wait for one day of the week we get it negative if we neglect God good works on the Sabbath then we are in danger of being phasical okay the best works are to love God truly and follow his commands but always keep in the spirit of the law first and foremost in our hearts so you know if you have a Christian brother or sister that has to do good work on the Sabbath Delight in that and thank the Lord for it don't look down on them or anything like that head heart hand let's wrap this up for you head I want you to know that the Sabbath is a gift from God for our benefit to rest in the Lord and enjoy him according to his word so let's get in line with what the Holy Spirit says okay through God's word and say let's be let's be willing to put to death unbiblical traditions for the sake of min Ministry for the sake of his abiding presence let's let God's word win and everything else be laid aside from a heart of love for the Lord heart I want you to believe that Christ is the Lord of your Sabbath as well and he deserves Supremacy in our time and our thoughts and our Deeds not just on Sundays he's the Lord Monday through Saturday too amen and so I want you to ask I guess this last question what would that look like what would it look like to honor Christ supremely as our Sabbath every

Day what would it look like for you to abide in Christ so I want you to consider this then make those changes in keeping with repentance that would conform you into His Image let's all stand together and let's pray and then we'll sing a song of response and so God we do thank you for your word today we pray that you would just help us to get in line with what you had what you've said that you are the Lord of the Sabbath and it's lawful to do good Lord let us not be so concerned about keeping laws as much as we are Christ I just pray that you would move Among Us help us to adjust our lives according to your word we love you Lord in Jesus name amen am When I Survey the wonderous cross on which the prin is of Glory died my riches G I [Music] count and po content on All My Pride were the whole realm of nature M that were an alling far too small love so amazing so oh Divine de my soul my life my [Music] all Lord we do thank you just for what you've been doing in our hearts we pray that you would continue that in our personal walks all throughout this week we now leave as your ambassadors to go into this world and to share

The Gospel and Make Disciples of all the Nations help us to do it well in your name by your power in Jesus name amen