Appropriating The Happiness That Is In You: Part 3

[Music] [Applause] [Music] praise forever [Music] of kids [Music] [Music] who am i that the highest king [Music] i was lost but he brought me in [Music] god yes i am [Music] yes [Music] [Applause] [Music] there's a place [Music] [Music] you are for me [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] me set us free there's a place [Music] there's a place of god yes i am [Music] so [Music] [Music] on behalf of the entire leadership of the church of the apostles and leading the way i welcome you to this very special worship time what an amazing gift god has given us in our musicians and in our prayer in our proclamation i am so glad you joined us from around the world welcome good morning church let's stand together worship the lord in spirit and in truth today [Music] i wasn't off and lost at the fall running away would not hear you call the father you were told [Music] i had no righteousness of my own i had no right to draw near your throne but father you loved me still and in love and in love before you laid the world's [Music] you have raised me up so high above my station i'm a child of god by praising grace [Music] alone [Music] [Music] jesus your face once said [Music] i work my fingers down to the point nothing i did could ever at all [Music] [Music] so [Music] i was in darkness all of my life i never knew the day from the night the spirits you made [Music] i swore i knew the way [Music] [Music] that cannot be shaken [Music] i will run [Music] i will reach the air by [Music] [Applause] [Music] good morning i love that lyric heart full of rocks because that's us isn't it but we come to worship in the word to have that rock busted up so that we can experience the grace of jesus christ amen amen good morning i am zach cardin i'm the director of family ministries here at the church of the apostles and we welcome all of you who are with us this morning but we want us to extend a special welcome uh to those who are watching online and to those of you who are our guests this morning if you're a guest with us we'd ask that you take this card and fill that out there'll be an opportunity to drop it in the offering bag on the way out however if you don't feel comfortable handling the the paper there's an online option you can go to apostles.org guest just lets us know that you worship with us so we can be praying for you and give you any information that you might need about our church if you're interested in what membership looks like here at the church of the apostles we have a one day first look class coming up on september 13th it will follow the worship service and there will be lunch served but you have to register now i've been told that there are 10 spots left so if you're interested in learning a little bit more about our church i'd go online in rsvp as soon as possible speaking of september 13th it is also our date where we're launching our new fall ministries and we've seen a little bit about the what the overall ministries are going to look like this morning we've got a follow-up video for what family ministries and age-based ministries look like so please turn your attention to the screen [Music] today we are here with a family ministry team answering some questions about the fall and you probably have a lot of questions about the fall our new fall launch will start on september 13th it's a sunday and let's start with probably the biggest question that people have and that's about children's ministries there will be child care hallelujah we will be so happy to see the little feet at nine o'clock it's a it's a bigger hour it's more of a teaching hour and so there will be child care for infant through fourth grade second hour is a family worship hour and there will be child care for infant through pre-k age four at nine o'clock you know going beyond the nursery years we have both preschool time and elementary school time can you talk a little bit about social distancing or safety i know parents probably have a lot of questions about safety so first of all i want to say that parents will need to register weekly to bring their children and when they register they will get a confirmation right back with the safety guidelines for children that they will have to confirm that they are going to agree to that classroom size will be smaller teachers will wear masks we have a very fun method for children to wear a face shield because we're going to launch into space and a space theme will help children to think this is fun when you walk in the building you your each child will be scanned with a thermometer if we need to update safety procedures we will let parents know we will keep you very apprised but we are praying about it we are working hard on it we have read everything we can read we are confident that the children will have a momentous experience and be glad to be back so for right now we are not requiring masks for for children or for sts we have a fun method of of a space helmet for the elementary school students that we're hoping to encourage them to wear and we really would like to encourage students to wear a mask but we will update those procedures uh weekly things are going to look a little bit different as we meet at nine o'clock groups are going to be moving around sts will be moving into maybe some different areas and in children's ministry we will be moving into different areas please stay tuned for detailed emails about those changes so check your inbox check the website for specific information about that now i want to move on to sts and i do want to ask what is sds going to be looking like this fall yeah so our primary concern in regards to safety is small groups and thinking about how we can do that well we're looking to utilize what space we have and to have middle schoolers break off from high schoolers and for both groups to have their own teaching time that will keep the group smaller and separated and and then also as the nine o'clock hour goes on having those groups break up even into more small groups and getting creative and where we meet and then that would allow us to still have those small group elements on sunday mornings that we know our students really enjoy but also being safe and having a meaningful conversation we aren't going to have worship for at least this semester right because of the small nature of the rooms talk about are there any other things that you're you're thinking about adding to that social times or whatnot we as uh sds staff are looking to do a couple of gatherings outside of our normal sunday mornings so bonfire nights a back to school event those kinds of things so we'll make sure we we keep students and families informed about when those dates are taking place thank you now moving on to college you've got a lot of college students who are really hoping that they get to go back to college so mark tell us a little bit more about how you're ministering to college students right now and this fall yeah well they're very eager to get back together and so we will resume gathering after church for a lunch time of fellowship and food we'll do that obviously for with social distancing in mind talking about some very difficult situations that they've had to deal with in the past several months we'll look to do some things outside of church during the fall and we're also planning on using the social media platforms that we have to stay creatively involved with them whether they're locally going to school or going to school away so we're planning on doing that all right sounds great moving up to a couple more ministries that we need to cover um 20s and 30s though it's not technically a you know family ministry is age based so we want to talk about that so i would like you kevin to talk about that we we took off in march like everybody else did and we've been back meeting actually we've moved out of the sts loft into the chapel so thursday night seven o'clock we we're not doing meals anymore but we started meeting probably a month and a half ago again and so most of our people are again masks are not mandated but most of our people are wearing them just kind of care well for one another over there and so we've been meeting back in there as far as young families goes we're following the family ministry calendar all together looking at it saying you know what most of our families will come if there is child care if there's a place for the children to go thank you for bearing with us during this time there are a lot of different things that are that are have been thrown at us over the last six months and we probably anticipate some bumps along the way that we just require your patience more information is coming you'll find that online at apostles.org or you can find that in your inbox it'll come via email if you want to talk to any one of these people here on the stage you can find their information at apostles.org on the staff link so thank you for joining us and we are looking forward to a wonderful fall well what an honor once again to gather together and as we come week after week we're seeing that the saints are starting to gather more and more every week i'd love to see it let's stand together the word says to greet each other with a holy kiss we're not going to do that i want even the manliest of men here to be low kisses to your brothers and sisters here everybody and wave to one another we're going to sing this together [Music] we're going to seek first the kingdom of god amen [Music] that's good [Music] eternal pleasure [Music] first [Music] your righteousness everything i need you will provide for me my heart is to seek first [Music] come on church [Music] peace [Music] there's joy unending today come on there's joy on ending [Music] eternal pleasure oh in your presence [Music] [Music] [Music] you will provide for me my heart is [Music] [Applause] [Music] here we go [Music] you're all [Music] here we go [Music] are you giving [Music] your righteousness [Music] my heart is [Music] amen amen rumors of [Music] stories of the savior [Music] holiness with human hands [Music] the image of the father he came until heaven came to live with me hallelujah a rescue like no other you are worthy you are worthy of your name [Music] jesus you did not speak you made no sound [Music] you died for your accusers [Music] sing it out [Music] the darkness ran for cover for the king of kings [Music] you are jesus [Music] my savior my refuge my hiding place you're my helper my healer my blessed redeemer my answer my saving grace will keep going [Music] [Music] [Music] jesus [Music] [Applause] you [Music] you are [Music] you [Applause] jesus [Music] this is jesus [Music] [Music] you were [Music] yes [Applause] [Music] let's just rest rest in that for a moment [Music] you know i would bet that [Music] there are a lot of people in this room who woke up this morning and said [Music] i'm glad to go to the house of the lord and worship right and we praise god for that that he has given us this opportunity to gather as his body the body of christ the community a place where we can belong to jesus and belong together but there are probably many who woke up this morning [Music] you're walking through a wilderness you're struggling you didn't feel like getting out of bed you didn't feel like coming to church this morning you didn't feel like watching online you didn't feel like it you know the lord meets us there moses went to pharaoh and he said and the lord had told him to do this he goes to pharaoh and he says let my people go into the wilderness so that they can worship and this morning on my heart that the wilderness is a place of worship it's a place where we meet god yes there are serpents but when the serpents bit the lord provided an answer and he said raise up a serpent and if you look on the serpent if you look on what was raised up in the wilderness you will be healed and this morning christ has been raised up for us we have said you are worthy and he's been raised up for us and we look on him to be healed when they were thirsty there was a rock and they looked to the rock moses spoke to the rock he struck the rock water flowed [Music] and this morning we looked to the rock who is christ if you were thirsty this morning there is water for your soul there's refreshment in christ so this morning brothers and sisters we sing the gospel over one another we come to behold christ in all his beauty the wondrous mystery come behold [Music] [Music] to conflash to [Music] mystery [Music] no stain of sin [Music] christ the great and sure for [Music] [Music] [Music] bringing many sons to glory grace [Music] but no good every stream praise the lord [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] as we will be [Music] christ in power [Music] [Music] you may be seated as you move into a time of prayer and i pray for some very important people [Music] our precious elementary school and preschool the teachers i want to ask you if you would stand up and we want you to know that we are grateful for you wherever you are you can be standing up where you are and then we have also like we have been doing with all the other age groups uh pictures for those who couldn't be with us for those who are here please go ahead and stand up i can see you teachers as well i want to tell you every psychology of child that says it's those early years are the most important the most formative and i am so thankful for the parents and for the sunday school teachers who are investing in these precious lives and i just thank god for you it doesn't matter whether you're first grade fourth grade or even preschool you can be a leader wherever you are and i'm going to pray for you right now that the lord will strengthen you and that he will overrule sometimes we don't know what's going on in your mind especially with all this social distancing and distance learning and all that stuff but we know that god can overrule that and he can bring good out of that in you and in your life amen join with me please father we are so grateful for these precious children i thank you for their parents i thank you for their commitment to bring up these children in the fear and admonition of the lord i thank you for the faithful teachers who invest in them but lord we also know that there is a battle going on out there for their minds we know that the evil forces that would love to confuse them they would love to take them away from the truth the life that is in jesus and so i pray for them that you will galvanize heart mind soul and body and father that you put a hedge of protection and a wall of fire around them whether they'll be doing some distant learning whether they're going to school wherever the circumstances this year may bring this academic year lord we know you're the god of the circumstances you're the lord of the circumstances nothing takes you by surprise so we pray for these precious minds i pray that you protect him and lord we pray against the evil ideologies and the evil teachings and the evil influence that will seek to invade their minds and we come against it in the name of jesus even now father i pray for their parents give them perseverance give them strength give them solace give them wisdom that can only come from heaven lord jesus your brother james said if you lack wisdom and you ask for it you'll give it to us so i pray for wisdom to for their parents and for their teachers and lord i thank you for this ministry of the children ministry here in this church i pray that you continue to lead them and guide them and that you would continue to bless the teachers and the volunteers and those who are giving so much of themselves lord you are the rewarder as nobody else can reward like you so you reward them father for their efforts reward them for their investment reward them for the time that they invest in children and lord i pray for this body of believers continue to strengthen us continue to protect us and continue to use us and make us a blessing not just to this city but to the whole world in jesus name amen and amen and amen amen amen well now is a special time in our church where we get to uh have an offertory to give and as you know many of you who have been here for a few weeks that we're not going to pass around a bag or basket or whatever you get a chance to give when we're when we're leaving after the service and let me say this do not miss out church hear me this do not miss out on the gift of giving it is a wonderful gift to us to be able to return to the lord to his ministry here at the church in this area and around the world what he has blessed us with amen there's so many great people who are joining us online whether it's on apostles.org or on facebook let's give them a hand for joining us give them a big hand everybody here's cheering for you guys thank you for joining us you have a chance as well i know it's not as easy as getting up and walking out and putting money in a plate or whatever but online you have a tab you can go on we encourage you online if you're listening and watching don't miss out on the gift of giving as well this is a song right now that talks about the amazing forgiveness of god has anybody here experienced the forgiveness of god here this morning let's stand together we're going to sing this together you've heard this song before it's a song that is a celebration and we have reason to celebrate this morning amen church can i get an amen from the church this morning reason to celebrate sing this list get on my knees again gotta make him please again i need you oh i need you [Music] walking down the stairs oh god i need you singing out now your forgiveness [Music] is like the sound of the symphony of my ears [Music] dead man walking sleep i wanna know about being born again [Music] is [Music] don't is to abuse your grace god i need it every day it's the only thing that ever really makes to me your grace god i need it every day it's the only thing that ever really makes me want you seeking our church [Music] it's the only thing that ever really makes me [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] if you're thankful for god's forgiveness [Music] [Applause] and all of god's people said thank you lord and thank you team i'm going to make a statement a startling statement will be startling to some of you i take that back i think it's going to be startling to most of you are you ready okay ready to be startled immorality is not the most dangerous problem that we're facing i told you immorality is not the most dangerous threat to our christian values immorality is not the most worrisome difficulty that we are facing today now that i got your attention i want to explain this because by definition immorality is the breaking of the moral standards by definition immorality is the breaking of the moral absolutes immorality by its very definition is the breaking of the moral code immorality is the breaking of the moral norms and please listen carefully everyone can see when there is something that is broken right if you have eyes you see something that is broke you recognize brokenness when you see it and that is why i'm saying immorality is not the most dangerous enemy that we are facing today but the most dangerous threat that we are facing from the school house to the big house is our morality our morality what is our morality our morality says nothing about breaking the moral absolutes our morality says there is no such thing as moral standards our morality says there is no such thing as moral absolutes and my beloved friends that is what we are seeing in the streets of our cities today that is what cancer culture is all about that is what walk is all about and that is what critical race theory is all about and that is what our education system the less many legislators and many of the courts are bringing about today today what kids are learning is this it is up to each one of you to decide his or her morality should be and so a precious little five-year-old gets shot in the streets a person beaten to death and hundreds of spectators and some of our politicians tell us that these crimes are just peaceful protesters it's a summer of love give me a break today there are numerous pressure groups listen to me there are numerous pressure groups who are hell-bent yeah you heard me right hell-bent on ramming our morality down our children's throat so what is the answer well the answer is not protesting like they do the answer is not forming a lobbying group our answer is what we launched earlier this year at leading the way and that is called awake america campaign the answer is for tens of thousands of god's people to pledge together and to to sign a covenant to say yes we will pray for america on a daily basis we will intercede for america that god might revisit us once again that is our only hope for deliverance today i come to the main course in the sermon in the mount you say michael do you mean all the beatitudes everything else or that just starter yep we're going to get the the main course this is the main course this is probably the heart and soul of what christianity or the christian faith is all about because the heart and the soul of the christian faith is christ so the beatitudes were stepping stones as i've been telling you for weeks these are the stepping stones to get into a point where becomes the salt and the light and here after this preparation leading us to the very heart of the christian faith get ready to turn with me to matthew chapter 5 verse 17 and 220. if you don't have your own bible it's page 1502 in the pew bible jesus said do not think can you say that with me do come on i want to hear it i know you got masks but it's okay do do not think that i have come to abolish the law and the prophets i have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them i'm going to come back to the whole passage in a minute we're going to read it in a minute but i immediately need to go and say only jesus could have known what they were thinking only jesus could have known what they were thinking many of you know that today even some traditional christian voices are crying out screaming out of the top of their voices let's get unhitched from the old testament and i'm going to show you i'm going to show you from the word of god what a fallacy that is they said the ten commandments they are outmoded they are irrelevant they are obsolete beloved here's the good news today you're not going to hear michael youssef speak i'm not going to tell you my opinion because i don't have one i'm going to tell you what jesus said okay it is not what i say it's not what they say is what jesus said and now i want you to stand up as we read this magnificent heart of the gospel together matthew 5 beginning at verse 17 to 20. do not think that i have come to abolish the law and the prophets i have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them i tell you the truth until heaven and earth disappear not the smallest letter not the least stroke of a pen will by any means disappear from my law until everything is accomplished anyone who breaks one of the least of these commands and teach others to do the same will be called the least in the kingdom of heaven but whosoever practices and teaches these commands will for i tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the pharisees and the teachers of the law you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven lord without the spiritual eyes without you opening our hearts without you opening our minds without you holy spirit take the words that you have authored to come and penetrate deep into our hearts all that i would say will mean nothing in fact will give people a headache but i pray in jesus name holy spirit take over for i your servant i'm listening just like everybody else in jesus name amen here's an outline to these verses and those of you i know so many people even online are watching they're taking notes if you're taking notes write them down i'm going to make them a lot easier for you you will never forget them there are four things in the outline of this passage first of all jesus is saying that god the father is the author of the old testament that's what they refer to as the law and the prophets secondly god the son is the authenticator of the old testament thirdly no one should abrogate the old testament fourthly god will only accept those whose righteousness exceeds or surpasses that of the pharisees and the scribes now every now and again i work a little harder on my message to make it particularly those outlines to kind of make you what really to be truthful i'm just trying to impress you that i can okay i i i have a little bit of knowledge uh so i have all those four words all starts with the letter a see put put the letter a four times and then fill in the space authorizing authenticating here you go you're getting it oh it's right up here okay abrogating sometimes i don't know what's up there and then accepting remember those first of all the law was authored by god the father it was authored by him the bible said in exodus chapter 20 god spoke all these words not some of these words not part of these words all these words let me give you a a a an interesting story that when i read it really kind of resonated with me i want to illustrate it it's from the world of baseball but it's not baseball it's a guy that i really love reading he's very articulate and he wrote a book called man at work his name is george will he tells of a true insect true story true incident that took place in a baseball game and i'm going to read it he says baseball umpires are carved from granite and stuffed with microchips they are professional dispensers of pure justice he said once when babe pinelli called babe ruth out on strikes ruth made a populist argument he reasoned fataciously from raw numbers to moral rights and he said to the umpire there are 40 000 people here who know that the last one was a ball tomato head he said pinelli replied with a measured statesman stateliness of a john marshall when he said maybe so but mine is the only opinion that counts now beloved let's go now from the ridiculous to the sublime from baseball umpires to the great umpire of the universe the great judge of the universe and you get very close to what jesus is saying here in this passage jesus is saying here listen carefully because i know christians and christian leaders are infatuated with numbers and and and just like babe ruth you know 40 000 said that you know the umpire couldn't care less but how many people 40 million could be they often are more concerned with that number and to please people than they are to please the umpire the only one that counts the judge of the universe try hard as they may in the final analysis is only one opinion that matters there is only one opinion and that is the opinion and authority of the beneficent umpire of the whole universe he's the author of the commandments which he gave to moses now in order to get to the depth of this part you need to understand that jews made a mess of the commandment so i'm going to show you actually examples they made a mess of them and and their their mess that they created they took it as authoritative as the word of god itself and one of the reasons jesus was trying to do is conf basically tell us what the original intent was as we talk about the the constitution and the original intent jesus was trying to tell them what the original intent of those commandments that they made a mess of but before i get to that mess i want to tell you that jews at the time of jesus when they used the word the law they had four things in mind and you have to understand it from the context so they refer to the ten commandments as the law sometimes they refer to the first five books of the bible as the law then there are other times when they talk about the law and the prophet meaning the whole old testament then there are some not all of them but some would use the word the law of god referring to the book of interpretation of the law of god by so many rabbis with that book called the mishnah and they refer to it as the law but not all of them some of them here's the bottom line you have to know when it's referred to the law from the context of what they're saying and of course referring to the mishnah or the book of interpretation by the rabbis as the law of god is totally false they made it equal to the word of god we made a lot of things equal to the word of god now now let me give you just some example to give you a taste of how these boys stressed the wrong thing when god gave a commandment one of the commandment is the sabbath rest why because god knew by nature we're going to be enslaved to our iphones and ipads and we're going to be workaholics and we're going to try to work hard make money and we'll work day and night day and night day and night so god said no there is one day a week in which you should stop working and focus on me see that is the very heart of the law for the sabbath and so the rabbis came in and said well what does that mean we need to really explain it to people so they say carrying any load is a breaking of the sabbath a bunch of lawyers came in and said no no you've got to define what the load is you understand what i mean it's like somebody who says you have to you have to define what what is is now some of you not old enough to remember that it depends on your definition of what is is that's what these that's what these lawyers were doing so they said well we need to define what a load is and so a bunch of them came in and said any load that is bigger than a fig is breaking of the sabbath and the other one says well any milk that is larger than a swallow just one swallow to which your tonsils is a breaking of the sabbath the other was come in and said no any honey that more than your place on a wound probably two drops of honey is a load at the breaking of the sabbath then another group come in and said no no no any oil that's more than enough to un anoint a small part of the body that's a load and my goodness it goes on and on and on i just don't i watch it for your time it's entertaining if it wasn't sad as far as the pharisees were concerned all of these opinions of these of these rabbis are as weighty as the word of god itself but when jesus was referring to the law here he specifically was talking about the 10 commandments why because god the father is the author of the ten commandments and that is why jesus said when he gave the ten commandments the lord said i am the lord your god who brought you out of egypt out of the land of slavery just in case i want to identify myself as the author secondly that is why jesus came to authenticate the commandments jesus came to fulfill the commandments jesus came to complete the commandments jesus is the only one the only one the only one who ever lived on the face of the earth he was able to keep all of the ten commandments all of the time none of us could do it and that is why he was sinless perfect son of man and son of god in fact he came to show us that the law actually pointed to him in fact the entire old testament is pointing to him from the time the law was announced with thunder and lightning all the way to the book of malachi the last book of the old testament that is all of them all of them all of them are pointing to jesus please hear me right this is very important to fulfill is the opposite of to destroy up to this point no one as i said no one was able to keep the commandments only jesus this is another way of saying that jesus is the fulfillment of the longing of all of the old testament look at it this way the old testament was like a house without a roof jesus is the roof the old testament the sketch jesus is gave a definition jesus not only uh bring about the the explanation and the fulfillment of the law but he did not bring about totally new teaching like some people would have us believe he came to authenticate the old testament he came to clarify its original intent original meaning how by perfectly obeying the law that god the father has authored and that is why listen carefully all the ceremonial laws all of the ceremonial laws ended with jesus can i get an amen because all of the ceremonies all of the sacrifices all fulfilled in jesus alone let me explain this let me explain this jesus and jesus alone became the great high priest jesus and jesus alone became the sacrifice for all of our sins jesus and jesus alone became the ultimate feast and celebration you see in the old testament in the old covenant the high priest entered into the holy of holies but jesus entered into the heavenly tabernacle the high priest in the old covenant entered once a year jesus entered once and for all the high priest in the old covenant went beyond the veil but jesus tore the veil into the high priest in the old covenant offered many sacrifices but jesus our great high priest offered only one sacrifice the high priest in the old covenant offered sacrifices for his own sin than the sin of others but jesus offered his body only for the sin of others the high priest in the old covenant offered the blood of bulls but our lord jesus christ our great high priest offered his own precious blood the high priest in the old covenant always was temporary but jesus our great high priest is the eternal and permanent high priest the high priest in the old covenant we're changeable but our great high priest jesus is unchangeable the high priests in the old covenant was continuous succession one after another but jesus is the great high priest who's forever the high priest high priest sacrifice for for sacrifice was imperfect but our jesus the great high priest had the only perfect sacrifice even the ceremonial offerings found for their fulfillment in the lord jesus christ that's why they all ended with jesus the burnt offering was a symbol of purity and perfection but jesus christ himself is perfection incarnate the meal offering was a symbol of dedication but jesus was the authentic picture of dedication to his father the peace offering was a symbol of peace with god but jesus christ now is our peace the sin offering was a symbol of substitution but christ jesus himself is our substitution even the feasts in the old testament found their fulfillment in the lord jesus christ passover which was the celebration of the physical salvation of israel from the land of the slavery in egypt jesus our passover gives us eternal salvation it's forever and ever and ever the feast of the unleavened bread was a symbol of purity and holiness jesus is our holiness the feast of the first fruit celebrated god's blessing and when jesus rose from the dead he became the first fruit for all who have fallen asleep in jesus the feast of the tabernacle meant for to represent their reunion with god but only jesus is our true uniting us with god the father you see jesus authenticated the old testament he authenticated it god the father authored it god the son authenticated it thirdly i want to say that god the holy spirit helps us empowers us strengthens us to not abrogate it did you get that same man i'm going to explain it because i want to tell you it is impossible you heard me right it is impossible to accept the authority of jesus as savior and lord without accepting the authority of the scripture they stand together anybody says to you ah jesus is my savior i just don't believe all the other parts in the bible that i don't like phony with the capital f i know how to spell funny but i just thought you you you'll kind of make sure you're you're alive see they stand together to accept jesus as your savior and lord is to accept all that he taught in the scripture listen to what jesus said not me thank god not a mega church pastor whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven but whoever practices and teaches these commandments will be called great in the kingdom of heaven i know it is fashionable these days i know i know i know because i listen i stay in touch with what's going on in the world it is fashionable with some evangelical preachers and teachers to say no the commandments are outmoded the commandments ought to be replaced by the sermon on the mount and all i want to do is scream from the top of my voice are you kidding me do you know that that the sermon on the mount demands more than the ten commandments in the sermon on the mind jesus up the ante not lower the bar i'll give you an example i said and the commandment said thou shalt not commit adultery who did jesus say yeah i know you heard that but let me tell you something the moment you're lust after somebody you already committed an adult huh he upped the annie didn't didn't lower the bar and he said oh we should replace the ten commandments with the sermon they probably hoping that people don't know what's in the sermon in the mouth he said thou shalt not kill thou shalt not murder jesus said i know you but here's what i tell you if you harbor anger and bitterness toward your brother or sister you already committed murder tell me that that is not a very high standards on and on and on i could go but listen carefully the burden of my life for the rest of my life is to equip you to discern the false teaching that goes on around us it's the burden of my heart what keeps me up at night nothing else and they come and say we no longer live under the law we live under grace well of course that's a true wisdom we know that that's true yeah but what the what they when they say that they mean grace is a license huh license that's what they mean by it please don't don't miss what i'm going to tell you don't miss what i'm going to tell you jesus is not is not is not is not how many of these is not saying that we're saved by keeping the ten commandments don't misunderstand me he's never said i and i'm not saying that no in a million knows the law is a mirror that tells me that i'm a sinner and heading for hell it tells me that i'm a sinner i'm in desperate need for the savior who kept the law perfectly who's invited me to hang on his coattail that's the only way i'm going to make it to heaven but nonetheless these heresies that keep popping their ugly head and they do every generation somehow somebody and he said oh this is very clever it's not that no this is all heresy from the third century and fourth century and the fifth century these are heresies they're old they just come up with new dresses throughout history there have been some famous heretics who have tried to get us to be unhitched from the old testament and they ended up in horror let me give you a couple of examples one a man named martian in the 300s martian actually re-wrought the new testament taking out all the old testament stuff out can you believe the gumption i don't know i call it gumption but whatever it is it's terrifying to me he naturally erased this passage from the new testament he took it out later one of his followers even went further and he exchanged the verbs in this text that i've just read to you and so it reads i have come not to fulfill the law and the prophets but to abolish them think about this think about this and therefore my beloved friends my beloved friends my beloved friends listen don't be surprised when you hear some modern preacher preaching this stuff nothing new under the sun or that wicked monk russian monk rasputin most of you probably heard the name rasputin this evil man who had a spell he literally cast a spell on the empress of russia if you ever seen any of the documentary read about it and therefore he was given a free hand to teach falsehood to the russian people and he shamelessly promoted sin and evil in in russia as a matter of fact his famous saying is this if russia sinned more she would experience more of god's grace that sound familiar we know what happened to that russia to the people bolshevik russia the pre-communist russia we know what happened to it beloved listen to me listen to me today we are in the same danger as pre-communist russia listen to me our morality will lead to the horrors of socialism and communism with with with its being shamelessly brought proclaimed and promoted by some called christians when our morality reigns supreme we are opening ourselves not only to confusion and chaos but actually dictatorship and listen i i am going to keep on saying this i'm at almost 72. i'm going to tell you i'm going to keep on saying this until the lord either close my eyes in death or i'll walk out of here in chains i'll never stop proclaiming the truth don't ever forget don't ever forget that god's moral laws are the reflection of the character of god don't even forget that listen to what paul said in romans 6 15 what then shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace god forbid may it never be so question what is grace what is grace listen to me grace removes the penalty of the law but only though for those who are in christ jesus praise god praise god the commandments reveal our sin to us but grace of god forgives us sins when we repent the commandments reveal our hopelessness in trying to obey god in our own strength but the holy spirit gives us the power and the strength to obey can i get an amen so let me summarize so far the father god the father is the author of the law jesus god the son is the authenticator thirdly god the holy spirit empowers us not to abrogate the law and the prophet for fourthly and finally finally i was speaking this last thursday it was just reminding me i said finally i remembered i was i'm speaking for two hours okay these hundreds of church leaders heads of denominations all over the middle east was first started in egypt but then many other leaders from around the arab world they all joined in and zoom and i spoke for two hours i was drenching by the time i finished but i said finally three times i said well paul did the same thing but boy they were so gracious they want me to go on another hour i'm done fourthly and finally god will only accept those whose righteousness exceeds supers goes over and above that of the pharisees and the scribes you know i remember when i was a young christian and i read this i said rots of rock there is no way i mean on the surface you read this impossible i mean these guys were so meticulous with the details these guys were was scrupulous about keeping the law i mean they wrote themselves sticky papers everywhere on the walls and even on their forehead don't forget don't forget don't forget don't forget who am i my my righteousness exceeds theirs there is no way i can't keep up with that but please please please i beg you if i lost you at any point of this system i don't want to lose you in this one because this is going to make you shout and if it doesn't then you're presbyterian which means you're going to shout internally listen if meticulousness and keeping of the religious rituals we take you to heaven i mean these guys will be at the front of the bus but the only righteousness that pleases the lord is a righteousness that no one no one no one no one can accomplish i am not discouraging you as i said i'm going to let you shout in a minute what is that righteousness that exceeds surpasses the righteousness of the pharisees it is the very first step of the beatitudes it's the first step declaring spiritual bankruptcy of coming to the lord lord i have no righteousness of my own i have nothing to stand on i have no righteousness that put me in the right standing with you there is no amount of good that i can do that will gain me right that righteousness and then and only then you hear the voice of jesus say welcome welcome you made it the first step welcome and then he continues only my righteousness that i give you is that righteousness that exceeds the righteousness of the pharisees and the scribes only when you cling to my righteousness will get you to heaven only taking upon you my righteousness that will make you acceptable to god the father all these religious hypocrites all those show-off religious people all these self-sufficient frauds they will never make it to my father's heaven only those who have nothing and declare that they have nothing to offer that's what poverty in spirit means that's why it's the first step of climbing the ladder blessed happy macharios are those who are poor in spirit please please trust me when i tell you that jesus is saying hypocrisy is not a substitute for holiness jesus is saying rituals is no substitute for righteousness i couldn't help but think some of you know this a handful of you now left still from those old days i used to be a volunteer in one of those ritualistic churches i strictly volunteer i i wouldn't refuse to go on their payroll i said no no i'm going to be a volunteer so i want to stay independent they were highly ritualistic and man if during the ceremony if i turned the wrong way or did the wrong thing or said the wrong word they look at me as if i've broken all of the commandments but if i would say i'm going to contradict jesus and say that he is not the only way they would clap and said hey what a courageous thing to do that that's how it is that's how it is now i'm talking to everybody here and everybody is watching millions of people on kingdom site watching live around the world and i want to i want i want to be honest with you in the last minute i'm going to be blunt actually now whether you are a person who has brought into this horror of our morality or you're a person who thinks that you're good enough and righteous enough to make it to heaven both opposites but both will end up in eternity of torment and that is why the invitation is now jesus is saying come to me now while you can because the time is going to come when the door was shut and nobody will be able to enter come to him hang on his coat tail enter heaven on his robe of righteousness not yours will you do that with me as we pray father i don't know everybody either here or even watching but you do the holy spirit brought them to this moment to this time to this message because father you want to save them because you love them just as you loved me and he saved me from my self-righteousness and from my endeavoring to do better every day and i failed miserably father i pray in the name of jesus bring all those elect to your kingdom right now in jesus name i pray and all of god's people said amen christ alone our cornerstone my hope my hope is built on nothing less than jesus blood and righteousness i dare not trust the sweetest phrase but holy christ in jesus my hope is built on nothing less than and jesus [Music] christ [Music] is [Music] when darkness seeks to hide his face [Music] is [Music] [Music] he is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] trust in his righteousness for us to stand before the throne [Music] in christ [Music] jesus [Applause] [Music] [Music] is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] amen church thank you so much for worshiping with us today go with the righteousness of christ and be filled with the spirit we'll see you next week [Music] thank you for being part of our worship today please contact us and tell us about what god in your life if you are in the atlanta area we hope that you can visit us in person god bless [Music] you

Channel: Leading The Way

Views: 2,175

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords:

Id: TkoQCrRZnpw

Length: 90min 58sec (5458 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 23 2020