Matthew 56 1/2
Chapter 13: Jesus and the parables
A break for some clarity!
Hosea 4:6 (ESV)
6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge;
because you have rejected knowledge,
I reject you from being a priest to me.
And since you have forgotten the law of your God,
I also will forget your children.
Isaiah 5:13 (ESV)
13Therefore my people go into exile for lack of knowledge; their honored men go hungry, and their multitude is parched with thirst.
Knowledge is the key!
I have been extremely disturbed the last few weeks. The political mudslinging, the mass shootings, the violence in our major cities across the country (Chicago 47 shot, 7 killed), the infighting and calls for violence from the left and the right.
The Mainstream news media doesn’t help at all, in fact, I believe they are fueling it all. They push their agendas and slant things to fit their narratives.
And we are all stuck in a sea of misinformation, lies, and half-truths.
Throughout history we, as Christians have been the voice of reason, the peacekeepers, the truth seekers, the side that brings unity and hope. But sadly, I believe we are as caught up in the madness as the rest of the world. And the reason for that is, the reason we allow ourselves to be manipulated is the fact that we are getting more worldly knowledge ( and right now it’s all tainted) than we are biblical knowledge!
We spend too much time on CNN and Fox News, on Facebook and Twitter, then we do in the one place, the Bible, that will provide the knowledge we so desperately need today!
So, let’s take a look and what good old-fashioned bible knowledge can do for us!
Biblical Knowledge helps to keep us on the narrow path!
Matthew 7:13 (ESV)
13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.
· Having biblical knowledge helps us discern good from evil, right from wrong
· Remember we were not born good!!
Psalm 51:5 (NIV)
5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
Ephesians 2:3 (ESV)
3among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
· It takes knowledge to change the way we are naturally set up by the fall to think
· It takes knowledge and wisdom to change from who are to who God wants us to be
· And we can’t get that knowledge from CNN or Fox or Facebook! We can only get it in God's word and learning with God's people!
Proverbs 2:6 (NLT)
6For the Lord grants wisdom! From his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
Biblical Knowledge Keeps us out of fights we don’t belong in!
Proverbs 1:22 (NLT)
22 “How long, you simpletons, will you insist on being simpleminded? How long will you mockers relish your mocking? How long will you fools hate knowledge?
· THE EARLY CHURCH NEVER LOOKED TO THE GOVERNMENT FOR GUIDANCE
· Having a government that doesn’t embrace the church’s values line for line actually puts Christians in some great company—the company of the earliest followers of Jesus.
· Jesus spent about zero time asking the government to change during His ministry. In fact, people asked Him to become the government, and He replied that His Kingdom is not of this world.
· The Apostle Paul appeared before government officials regularly. Not once did he ask them to change the laws of the land.
o He did, however, invite government officials to have Jesus personally change them.
o Paul constantly suffered at the hands of the authorities, ultimately dying under their power, but like Jesus, didn’t look to them for change.
o Rather than asking the government to release him from prison, he wrote letters from prison talking about the love of Jesus Christ.
o Instead of looking to the government for help, Paul and Jesus looked to God.
o None of us are suffering nearly as radically as Jesus and Paul suffered at the hands of a government. In fact, our government protects our freedom to assemble and even disagree with others.
· We need to learn to stay out of the fight for government rule, we should vote our conscious, but not fight for it!
o When we do, we separate ourselves for others
o We turn people away from the love of Jesus by our actions
o Jesus loves people and stayed out of politics, and frankly so should we!
We honestly don’t have it that hard.
· Maybe we should be more like the early church, rising early, before dawn, to pray, to encourage, to break bread together.
· Maybe we will pool our possessions to help each other, and the poor!
· Maybe we will start to see the image of God in EVERYONE.
· Maybe we will all learn to love our wives and husbands so radically and deeply that we'll shock the world.
· Maybe we will treat our neighbors with self-giving unconditional love, showing love to people that don’t look like us and act like us, maybe we will see past the sins of others and see them with the eyes of our savior.
· Maybe we’ll be willing to lose our jobs, our homes, our families and even our lives because we follow Jesus.
· That might just touch off a revolution like it did two millennia ago.
· Perhaps the government, even the world, might take notice, amazed by the love that radical Jesus followers display.
Biblical Knowledge teaches us it's not our Job to judge the world!
1 Corinthians 5:12–13 (NIV)
12 What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside?
13God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.”
2. IT’S ACTUALLY STRANGE TO ASK NON-CHRISTIANS TO HOLD CHRISTIAN VALUES
Why would we expect non-Christians to behave like Christians?
· If you believe sex is a gift given by God to be experienced between a man and a woman within marriage, why would you expect people who don’t follow Christ to embrace that?
· Why would we expect people who don’t profess to be Christians to:
o Wait until marriage to have sex?
o Clean up their language?
o Stop smoking weed?
o Be faithful to one person for life?
o Pass laws like the entire nation were Christian?
o Seriously? Why?
· Most people today are not pretending to be Christians. So why would they adopt Christian values or morals?
Don’t get me wrong.
· I believe
· When you follow biblical teachings about how to live life, your life simply goes better. It just does. I 100 percent agree.
· I do everything I personally can to align my life with the teachings of scripture, and I’m passionate about helping every follower of Christ do the same.
· But what’s the logic behind judging people who don’t follow Jesus for behaving like people who don’t follow Jesus?
Why would you hold the world to the same standard you hold the church?
· First, non-Christians usually act more consistently with their value system than you do.
· It’s difficult for a non-Christian to be a hypocrite because they tend to live out what they believe.
· Chances are they are better at living out their values than you or I are.
· Jesus never blamed pagans for acting like pagans.
· But he did speak out against religious people for acting hypocritically. Think about that. (true)
True biblical knowledge will always lead us to love!
We are to love our neighbors, not run them off!
Luke 10:27 (NIV)
27 He answered, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
What does love look like? (Marylyn’s funeral)
The way to receive unconditional love is to give it away. Unconditional love doesn't come with any expectations or strings attached. It is present whether or not we succeed or fail and isn't attached to what we do but to who we are.
That kind of love is unconditional. When we see it, experience it, or give it away, people take notice. And we have the capacity to show this love toward others because God has loved us in the same way!
What does the Bible say about love?
1 John 4:8
“He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”
John 15:13
“Greater love has no man than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”
1 John 4:10
“In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son.”
Matthew 5:44-45
“But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.”
1 John 4:20-21.
“If someone says, ‘I love God’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother who he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him. That he who loves God must love his brother.”
1 Corinthians 13:1–8 (NIV)
1 If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.
Our love of others should draw people in like a moth to a flame!
Everyone we meet should sense a drawing to Christ through each of us. Love is what draws people. Goodness, kindness, meekness of heart, patience, understanding. How can someone feel drawn if their experience is impatience, haughtiness, rudeness, hate, etc.?
I need to be willing to give up my own wants and desires and think of the others before myself.
1 Corinthians 13:13
“And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”
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