Good Morning my beloved,
We welcome you to worship today in the name of God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you all for joining us, we are truly blessed by your presence. And, as always I am exceedingly grateful to each and every one of you for your steadfast prayers for this ministry, my family, and myself. I depend on every one of them, they are very important to me. Please know that you are in my daily prayers also. It is my honor and privilege to be with you today, to be a servant of God, and I am so incredibly blessed to be able to share the very Word of God with all of you, and it is my desire to be faithful to that end.Those of you who know me, know how I love the church, I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Lord is the very heart and soul of my life. And, for as long as I've been doing it, in many ways, it feels like I've just begun, so I ask you to hang in there, because I don't plan on going anywhere anytime soon. Should the Lord allow, I'm going to steadfastly persist for the foreseeable future with every bit of remaining strength and energy that I have left, with joy and anticipation as well as continue to embrace every opportunity that comes my way to proclaim the Gospel, as the Lord reveals them to me.
All false teachers are liras and deceivers, they are religious hypocrites who claim to speak for God but they do not, they speak for Satan, telling people what they want to hear, instead of what they need to hear, the TRUTH about sin and its consequences. I believe that it's more important to be told the truth about salvation than anything else in the world, that said, false teachers are the most dangerous people on the planet. Your pastor has more of an impact of your life than your doctor, follow the wrong spiritual leader and you could be damned forever.
I believe the way a pastor loves and cares for the flock is to point them to the Christ in the Scriptures, not invent a new one. In other words, a pastor must choose between being faithful to Christ or being popular, he cannot be both. That's why Jesus took every opportunity to expose the lies of the religious hypocrites of the day, addressing them directly, establishing the gold standard for what has become the benchmark of my teaching. You must confront sin with love, not judgement and point people to the One who can offer forgiveness and redeem them from it. Righteousness in Christ is not an instaneous self-gratifying experience, it’s an ongoing process of pursuing purity and holiness.
Sadly, society has abandoned the idea there is actually such a thing as absolute truth. You have your truth and I have mine, and although both views completely disagree with each other, they're both considered to be true. And, so we celebrate feeling, experience and opinion as truth. The problem with that is, there's nothing true about that perspective. The truth is true regardless of what you or I may think or feel, there can only be one truth, not two or three, or however many opinions we can come up with, they can't all be true.
Let me offer a truth that some of you may not like, you are either stand with Christ or you stand against Him, there is no half way mark, it's one or the other. According to Matthew 12:30, "He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters" if you're not working to advance the kingdom of God, you're working against it, those are the only two categories. John tells us in 1 John 3:10, "By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother." There's no neutrality, "anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God."
I would like you all to know, that I really do prepare a sermon as a sermon, and I have every intention of preaching it as a sermon, however, the problem is, I confess that there are times when once I get started, what actually comes out of my mouth takes me to unexpected places, somewhere I didn't necessarily anticipate going, it's kind of like being on a unique preaching adventure week after week. More often than not, I'm just as surprised by what I say as you are, quite frankly, it doesn't matter to me as long as it aligns with what God wants me to say, because many of you are most likely going to forget a lot of it anyway. As I've stated on numerous occasions, I preach to please God, whether or not anyone else is happy is inconsequential, if I can say it that way. If I was preoccupied with what everyone else thought of my preaching, I'd probably never open my mouth. Believe me, I got a lot to say, things that aren't necessarily planned, but I trust are always guided by the Holy Spirit. I'm far more concerned with what He has to say than what I have to say, leaving the spiritual work that needs to be done in your heart to Him.
Let's pray together and then we'll get to our text.
Heavenly Father,
Father, thank You for Your Word, I am always grateful for the way in which Your Word always becomes clear when it's delivered to our souls. Lord, we confess that we really have no excuse for being led astray, we pray that You would increase our love for Your Truth, and our hatred of all those attitudes and actions that violate it. Deliver those who are Hell-bound, and bring them to the knowledge of the Truth as only You can and grant them repentance. May we be faithful to discharge our responsibility to proclaim Your Word in love, with boldness and courage, even if some will hate us for it. Grant us those opportunities to warn those who desperately need to understand where they're headed, open blind eyes to see how desperate they are for salvation. For Your glory and Christ's sake.
In His Name we ask and pray
Amen
Today's Message: A Call to Kingdom Conduct
This is an absolutely outstanding portion of Scripture in the Gospel of Luke, and in all of the Word of God, for that matter. Jesus, throughout His sermon, has been warning His disciples about the various aspects of truth as it relates to life within the kingdom. Touching on every facet of the believers life, with a focus on a genuine inward commitment rather than just external appearances. This stands in contrast to the superficial approach of the scribes and the Pharisees, who misinterpreted the Word of God and established their own standards of righteousness. Kingdom love is not self-serving, it's about serving others, that's the way we manifest our sonship.
This kind of preaching can be challenging, not only in a culture that strongly opposes Christian values, but it has become increasingly difficult even within the evangelical church itself, where many believers have hypocritically prioritized secular values over kingdom living. Jesus is not only emphasizing the importance of living out genuine faith but the significance of an authentic commitment to embody our Christian values in a world where such values are rare or non-existent. At its core, I believe that Jesus' teaching is inviting us as Christians to remain steadfast in our convictions and beliefs, despite the increasing external pressures of a godless society where opinions and criticism flows freely rather than empty displays of traditional religious practices.
Open your Bibles with me, if you would and turn them to the Gospel of Luke chapter 6. Luke 6:37-38. I trust that you will follow along with me as I read, to set the text in our minds, while we open up our hearts and listen for what the Spirit of God has to say to each of us today.
"Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned. Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return."
Let's look at verse 37, "Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned."
Surely, this is one of the most misunderstood and misapplied verses in the Bible. In fact, people who do not know a another single Bible verse, know this one. They are quick to recite this verse should they begin to feel even the slightest disapproval of their behavior in a society holds "tolerance" as it's highest virtue.
I suppose we could summarize this verse by saying we will reap what we sow and the outcome we experience is directly proportional to the amount that we sow. While judging others may be a natural human instinct, that often stems from a desire to protect ourselves or to feel a sense of superiority over others, as Christians, we're called to rise above societal norms. Just as we seek forgiveness for our own missteps and short comings, we must refrain from judging others, and be willing to extend the same offer of forgiveness to others.
When we choose to hold onto bitterness and resentment, we are shackled by our judgments, held captive by our inability to forgive; an act that can transform lives, the grace and mercy we extend to others will be returned to us ten-fold. Bearing in mind, none of us are perfect and all fall short of God's perfect standard, (cf. Romans 3:23) I believe that Jesus is saying it important to recognize the significance of our actions. When we resist the impulse to conform to the world and embrace and practice kingdom conduct, we will cultivate a spirit of grace and kindness, rather than criticism and judgment, and we'll not only make the world a better place, but we will also enrich our own lives, influencing the outcomes of our experiences as well.
Every person we encounter in this life is struggling with something, trying to navigate their own unique set of challenges, I would encourage each one of us to examine our own hearts, to reassess our lives to see where judgment may have crept in, and consider shifting our perspective to those we need to forgive; whether its a co-worker, striving to get ahead, a family member who may have unknowingly hurt us or a friend, that is dealing with personal issues they're uncomfortable sharing, for fear of being judged.
Jesus no doubt spoke this message to an arrogant and indifferent audience, ignorant of the Truth and of the high standards, set by the God of the Bible, frankly, like of some of you to whom I'm speaking today. By the way, not judging or condemning doesn’t forbid discernment, conviction, rightly assessing someone's sinful condition, and confronting their sin. Don’t become their judge, passing judgment on them, love them with kindness, and mercy, and compassion, telling them the truth, offering them salvation and forgiveness, the way God loves sinners. In other words, don't do anything that’s going to shut the door of evangelizing them.
If we give begrudgingly, or with hidden motives, we shouldn't expect that our cup will overflow, actually, quite the opposite. True generosity is a selfless act, that comes from a heart of love, without the expectation of receiving anything in return. It's that kind of selfless giving that God generously blesses the measure of our giving with overflowing abundance. Rarely, do we as Christians approach giving to the church using this same method. I have discovered that people will often use giving as a tool to manipulate others into complying with our desires,
when they dislike the sermon or the pastor doesn't cater to their personal perspectives or the church doesn't align with our preferences, then, people tend to penalize the congregation by constraining their benevolence giving, at least in part. Interestingly enough, those same people seem to expect that God will continue to bless them out of the abundance of His grace. Someone once rightly said, "If you want to know whom someone worships, look at their calendar and their bank statement."
All of this sounds simple enough doesn't it? Love others, even our enemies, do good to those who mistreat you. Don't judge and you won't be judged, don't condemn and you won't be condemned, pardon others and you will be pardoned, but even in most Christian circles, such teaching is not typically applied. There seems to be kind of a very troubling pattern occurring in the church, a downward spiral. There's an indifference to sound doctrine, and an intolerance for Truth. They may agree with the Word of God when they are spoken, maybe even giving a smile and a nod in affirmation, but when it comes to confronting sin, they fail to embrace these teachings and apply them to their daily lives. People just want to be entertained, they want to leave church feeling good about sinning. That frightens me. When Jesus commands us to love our enemies, do good to those who mistreat you, bless those who curse you, He isn't suggesting that we merely tolerate them, I believe He's ushering us towards a much deeper understanding of grace, mercy and forgiveness, a love that transcends our differences and aligns with the Kingdom of God.
My beloved brothers and sister, I urge you to reflect and meditate on these teachings, considering how you might apply them to you own lives, then, ask yourself, "Who do I need to love differently today?"
May it be so..
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
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