Truth Bomb - Part 5

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God

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and the power of the

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uh Jesus who is the personification of

Truth has a lot to say to us in

scripture in some of the verses love to

read because they're really easy to read

and they're inspiring and they make

great little quotes but then there's

other passages of scripture that a lot

of us tend to avoid because it's God

dropping a truth balm in our life to

help us see that maybe just maybe what

we think is right what we feel is right

is not actually right so these are

corrective scriptures and I really

thought that March would be a low

attendance month because of this sermon

series and it has been the exact

opposites that just tells me y'all need

Jesus that's all I can say um I'm just

kidding but uh thank you for uh

supporting this this series that God

laid on my heart way back in December uh

truth bomb number one was just because

you believe it doesn't make it true just

because you believe it doesn't make it

true truth bomb number two was putting

ourselves first is one of the most

natural things that we do number three

was when we talked about how we are not

enough and then number four last week we

talked about how God Delights in our

happiness but not at the expense of our

Holiness and so if you'd like to go back

and hear those four sermons they're

available on our podcast and also on all

all of our social media feeds YouTube

channels all that stuff all right truth

bomb number five we'll save the best for

last you are

commanded to be

perfect don't leave you are commanded

Lynn to be perfect she likes this verse

probably she's like I am um

anyway now see the world around you

would have you believe that we are all

just Sinners we're all humans we all

make mistakes and so since that is the

case we don't actually need to be

perfect because we can't be and I would

tend to agree with that sentiment this

would be a very easy Truth for me to

believe however there was one perfect

person and his name was Jesus and in the

greatest sermon that has ever been

preached The Sermon on the Mount in

Matthew he says the following words

Matthew 5 verse

Matthew 5:48

48 be

what be perfect therefore as your

heavenly father is perfect some of you

just heard that verse for the very first

time in your life and you are like dead

on the inside now you're like wait a

minute God just told me to be perfect

like this is soul crushing news to you

because you realize that you are not

perfect now there's others of you like

Lynn that hear this verse and you're

like wow y'all just sit back and take

notes and I'll show you how to live out

this command so for both groups for both

I got her permission to pick one her

today so for for both groups I have one

statement for you and it is this

Perfection is not a prize to achieve it

is a promise to receive Perfection is

not a prize to achieve it is a PR

promise to receive all right so when

Jesus speaks he speaks with authority

and since he speaks with authority

things change Jesus is not an influencer

because influencers they have to be seen

but people that speak with authority

they are felt influencers might draw a

crowd but people with authority they

draw the power of God influencers have

to announce themselves but somebody with

real Authority they are just known like

they walk in the room and you're like

boom they have authority so Jesus words

are are filled with truth that help us

understand what is good but he's also

filled with the authority to literally

transform your life by the words that he

speaks to help you become something that

you could never become on your own so

when Jesus speaks things change when

Jesus says be clean the leper is healed

when Jesus says Be Still

the winds and the waves obey their

Master when Jesus says be gone the

demons go running when Jesus says let

there be light boom there is light when

Jesus says Lazarus come out of that

grave a dead man walks out of a tomb and

when Jesus says be perfect that means

that your life is going to change so

don't be bummed out that Jesus tells you

to be perfect because we know that when

Jesus starts a good work in you he will

see it to completion so he's got

resources available for you to actually

be able to accomplish this command but

let's talk first of all about what

Perfection actually is and the way to

know Perfection is to know Jesus because

the Bible says that he was perfect in

every single way he loved the Lord his

God with all his heart and soul and

strength he never spent one moment away

from his father God he loved other

people with a sacrificial love and so

when God commands us to be perfect he's

telling us to be like Jesus because

Jesus is the standard of

perfection this is a horrifying

sentiment on its own right this is scary

when Jesus When God says Be Like Jesus

look I took the Ten Commandment quiz you

might want to do this sometime there are

hundreds of commands in the Bible but

just take the Big 10 okay take the Ten

Commandments out of Exodus and take the

quiz put yes or no have you done this

have you not done this at took the quiz

and I got a 60% you know what that is

that's an f and I guarantee none of you

are going to get any better than that

that's that's just the Big 10 that's an

F in my senior year of high school in my

freshman year of college I went through

three straight Church splits leading

into those two years of my life three

straight Church splits that's why I want

everybody that comes to this church to

enjoy coming to church I want you to be

able to roll out of bed on a Sunday

morning and be like cool I get to go to

church because I didn't have that

privilege when I was a high schooler our

churches were fussing and they were

fighting and they were splitting and

there was sin and I hated it and so my

senior year even though I was in a

Christian School I said you know what

I'm done with church and so I ran for

God from God for two years I ran from

the church and I ran from

God I was at the crosswalk in Elizabeth

City uh right there on Water Street and

there was a car in front of me I was

behind that car the car in front of me

stopped

for no reason just stopped and it sat

there and it sat there and it sat there

and you know what I did I honked I don't

do this often because I hate it when

people do it to me but I was just in a

bad mood and I was rushing and I honked

my horn like why are we stopping at the

cross walking right when I hit that horn

this super sweet 194 year old

woman started walking across the cross

she was behind a car and she was like

this big and I didn't see her but the

car in front of me did and that's why

that car stopped it stopped for the

sweet little old lady so she could cross

the street so she's crossing the street

at like half a mile per hour so you know

what I got the privilege of doing

sitting there while everybody was

looking at me the guy that honked at the

car in front of me for stopping for the

sweet little old lady talk about a

humbling experience I bring that up to

tell you that I I am not

perfect look how could I ever live up to

the standard of Jesus when I can't even

stop long enough for a little old lady

to cross the street I have times in my

life where I wasn't in church and I

wasn't following the Lord like how I

don't all always love God with all my

heart soul and strength but then Jesus

says Hey be perfect like your heavenly

father is perfect how could I ever do

this if perfection is the process of

becoming like Jesus and all that I say

and all that I do and all that I think

how could I ever be perfect well that's

what we're talking about today that's

why we're talking about this because the

Bible says that you are made perfect see

it's not about me it's not about my

ability to be perfect it's about God's

ability to make me perfect so God

commands us to be perfect but then he

gives us all the resources that we need

to actually be able to live out this

command I I taught high school for one

year yeah High School teacher I was a

novanet teacher which was like early

online classes and I was in a school

system that was pretty rough as a matter

of fact the school that I was working in

was eventually taken over by the state

because all the stuff that was going on

in the school was really rough place to

be so they gave me novanet which is like

the last chance class for students that

can't like function in a normal classro

room because of their behavior problems

they put them in this class and they

allow them to do all their work online

in the school with the teacher there me

to help them out and so I thought you

know what a great opportunity to give

back to my community and so my very

first day uh there was no training no

orientation nothing no Mentor nothing

they're just like here's your room

there's the computers here's your log on

code have fun bye and they left and then

the students start coming in and they're

like all older than me like one kid

introduced me to his wife that's how the

school kids so I'm like I'm I'm teaching

this class and there's I'm making no

progress with anyone they don't care

what I have to say but there's this one

boy named Travis really sweet young man

uh I wasn't really sure why he was even

in the class because he was so good to

me and he would come up and he'd be like

man I'm learning so much thank you so

much real complimentary and sometimes he

would come and sat by me at my desk and

we would just chitchat and I was like

cool you know I'm making a difference

well it turns out uh Travis was actually

a really good con man um Travis was up

there at at the desk CU he was trying to

get my login code for novanet and one

day he actually did I didn't know so I

show up for class one morning and

there's no one in my class I'm like this

is weird there should be 30 people here

nobody is here is it Saturday did I mess

up I don't know so I'm in class and I'm

waiting for the students to come in

nobody comes in so I log onto my

computer and you know what I see every

single one of those kids had straight A

and had passed all their classes because

Travis had taken my login credentials

and went and put the grades in for

everybody in the class so they didn't

have to come back to school the rest of

the year at least that's what he thought

look I went to the assistant principal

and I was like assistant principal This

Is Not Great this is what happened and

he looked at me and he said have they

set the trash can on fire

yet I'm like no and he's like well then

you're doing better than the last guy so

keep up the good work

Buddy

really without partnership you can't win

that's why I started this sermon by

thanking you for partnering pulling in

the same direction as what we feel like

God wants for this church when you

partner with people you win and when you

partner especially with God you win

because partnership here leads to

Perfection check this out Matthew

Matthew 11:28

11:28 says Jesus talking he says come to

me all of you who are weary and burdened

and I will give you rest take my yoke

upon you and learn from me because I am

lowly and humble in heart and you will

find rest for your souls for my yoke is

easy and my burden is light so Jesus the

one who commands you to be perfect tells

you how to be perfect he says come to me

partner with me and you will find

perfection he says come to me all you

are weary and burdened we talked about

this that that whole truth balm about

how we believe that we're enough that we

can do this ourselves and I told you

don't listen to half-truths that say

things like you're perfect just the way

you are because you're not you need help

you need Jesus and what this perfect

little lie does is it causes you to take

your eyes off of God and to think more

highly of yourself than you should and

so what happens is you become weary and

burdened because of your failure you're

like well God says to be perfect so I'm

going to do a good job this week I'm not

going to cuss I'm not going to like be

late for anything I'm going to like go

to church and pray and do all the stuff

and then you mess up and then you're

like well I tried to be perfect and I

couldn't do it and then after you mess

up a few more times you're like this is

impossible and so what do you do you

give up because you're wor you're weary

and you're burdened for trying to live

up to an expectation that you never can

and then there's other people that are

burdened and weary because of their

actual success they're just good rule

following law abiding citizens they're a

lot like the Pharisees in scripture they

they do it right but what often happens

with them is they become self-righteous

which is in itself itself it's very

exhausting there's a story in scripture

it's called the the parable of the good

or actually it's the um The Prodigal Son

uh you may have heard it if you haven't

go Google it read it it's an incredible

story it's a a parable that Jesus told

and we like to focus on the the son who

went away from his father and squandered

all this estate and then he comes back

and the father welcomes him back into

the house we like to talk about that but

it's not just the story of the prodigal

son it's also the story of the

self-righteous son because the climax of

that story is not that the prodigal is

back into the father's household having

a good time the climax of that story is

actually the one son that looked at his

father and said hey I never left you I

followed all the rules this guy he took

his inheritance and he ran away and he

squandered your money but I didn't do it

I'm the good son I'm the perfect son and

at the end of that story it's the

self-righteous son that is outside the

house where the party is going on

friends you can become we and burdened

of trying to be good and actually being

good at it so Jesus says if you want to

please God if you want to really be

perfect and if you don't want to be

weary and burdened what you need to do

is you need to come to him and when you

come to Jesus it activates God's grace

says I will give you rest rest is

another like symbol of God's grace 2

2 Corinthians 12:9

Corinthians 12:9 says my grace is

sufficient for you for you will find

power is perfected in your weakness so

what Jesus is saying is it's okay to

come to Jesus and admit that you're weak

it's okay to come to Jesus and say hey I

can't live up to this standard I will I

will fail or I will become

self-righteous but either way I'm going

to be weary and I'm going to be burdened

and so when you acknowledge that you

can't do it on your own that you've

fallen short of God's standard of

perfection when you come to Jesus he

will give you rest he will give you

Grace and this is how he does it in

verse 29 of Matthew 11 he says take my

yoke upon you and learn from me because

I lowly in heart and you will find rest

for your souls a yoke is an instrument

of getting work done so we have these

these people that don't really want to

partner with Jesus we have people that

they love Jesus miracles but they don't

love his commands they they value

Supernatural outcomes but they don't

like the concept of submission to God's

Authority they want this eternal life

but they've rejected the process of

sanctification they want Deliverance

without repentance they want blessing

with no regard for Holiness they want

this savior to come and rescue them from

their problems but they don't want to

submit themselves to the king of kings

and Lord of lords that controls their

Destiny see partnership with Jesus

fights against that natural inclination

that we have for Independence and full

autonomy when we try to be perfect

ourselves it leads us into this false

confidence what what I call the hold my

Dr Pepper moments you know so for

example this week uh Lynn and I had the

distinct privilege of being the people

that connected the HDMI inputs to the

TVs and then the box in the ceiling it

was the last step of this process and

they trusted us actually they trusted me

to do it but I didn't want to go up on

that 18t ladder by myself with no one

here on Friday and so I called Lynn and

I'm like hey I'm going to go up and if I

don't call you back in 30 minutes that

means I'm in trouble and you need to

call the EMS okay and she's like well I

can't get any work done thinking about

you falling off the ladder so she

graciously came up here to help me do

the final steps of this process so we

got it all wired up and you know I can't

build things I'm not David idet I'm not

Mike I'm not that's not me but I am

pretty decent with technology and wiring

and stuff I know how to put HDMI1 into a

source box in the ceiling basically is

what I'm trying to tell you so I felt

confident with this and everything was

going great so we got it all wired up we

got the TVs up updated I went up under

the by the way there's three stories to

this building I don't know if you know

that or not we have an attic um and the

Holy Ghost lives up there by the

way so so I'm up I'm up in the attic

kind of around in there is somewhere

trying not to fall through the ceiling

uh get everything wired up I come back

down here I turn the TVs on and I go to

HDMI 1 and it's not showing up on either

TV and I am frustrated because I know I

did it right so I I I I go back up into

the third floor mind you which is like

3,000 steps um and as soon as I walk up

there Lynn says it's working and I'm

like yeah but I didn't do anything I

just walked into the attic I didn't

touch anything so I walk back down here

and as soon as I get in this room guess

what it's not working anymore so I'm

like I'll go back up so I walk up the

stairs again after two heart attacks I

make it to the

top and Lynn says it's working and I'm

like great but I didn't touch anything

so I walk back down the stairs and when

I get down here guess what it's not

working so I'm getting mad at her

because I don't think she knows what

working

is I'm like Lenn are you sure that you

saw that stuff on the screen and she's

like yes so I go back up on the third

floor and she says hooray it's

working and I'm like

Lyn and she said I guess you're just

going to have to stay up there for the

rest of your life

so I come back downstairs and it's not

working and it's at that point I

realized that I had plugged those little

boxes into an outlet that also connects

to the attic

lights so being a good Steward of God

don't laugh at me

David so being a good Steward of God's

money and finances I was cutting off the

lights to the attic and also cutting off

the boxes every time I came back down

here

I felt so confident in my ability to do

this but I felt miserably and I'm ly I'm

not I'm not going to spend much time on

this one but we had to run a cable

through that wall right there where this

little screen is to go to the back of

that TV and I'm on a ladder right here

and Lynn is on the other side of that

mesh we are literally six inches from

each other and there's a hole that's

already been cut so it should have been

so easy for miss Lynn to just slide the

little cable through the little hole and

I would grab it on this end plug it

we're good

right so she's pushing cable through and

I got my flashlight I'm like I'm not

seeing any cable what're we're like head

to-head right here with a wall between

us I'm like Lyn I'm not seeing any cable

she's like I pushed like five feet of

cable through I don't know what you're

looking at so she's screaming at me

through the it wasn't that

bad guess what David what do you think

the problem

was six

Ines you don't know either hey I feel

better now there's two walls there yeah

there's two walls uh-huh yeah no there's

a wall between that wall mhm so the

cable was hitting the second wall and

not showing up on my wall and it was

this optical illusion and my point is

sorry to bore you all with all that

but this is therapy for

me life is not meant to be lived

autonomously it is meant to be lived in

partnership with Jesus because even when

you feel that you're an expert in some

area of life what you will find

eventually is that you are not capable

of living up to the standards that God

has set for you you will fail apart from

Jesus so when we take Jesus yoke upon

our shoulders we are not strapped in by

ourselves at the front of the cart we

are strapped in beside of Jesus so he

does the heavy lifting in Matthew

Matthew 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4 we see an illustration of this

Verse 18 as Jesus was walking along the

Sea of Galilee he saw two brothers Simon

and Peter and Simon Peter his brother

Andrew as well they were casting Nets

into the sea for they were fishermen and

he says follow me and I will make you

Fisher for PE fish for people

immediately they left their Nets and

they followed him and then going from

there he saw two other brothers James

the son of Zebedee and John they were in

a boat was zebede their father and they

were preparing their Nets they hadn't

started fishing yet they were mending

their Nets and he called them and

immediately they left the boat and and

their father and they followed him

friends this is because Jesus is not an

influencer Jesus speaks with authority

get this at this point in his ministry

this is the earliest part of Jesus

ministry when he's 30 years old he is a

30-year-old Carpenter who hasn't

performed one miracle in public yet he

he's coming off a 40-day fast in the

wilderness where he's been tempted by

the devil he he doesn't have any

Ministry merch like he doesn't even have

a t-shirt he's not an influencer yet

when he speaks to these men he speaks

with such incredible Authority that they

lay it all down and they follow him

Jesus says in scripture of himself he

says I have the authority to pick up my

life and to lay it down anytime I choose

Jesus says before he go back to Heaven

he says all authority has been given to

me from my father to go and make

disciples of men Jesus has Authority so

you got these men Peter and Andrew

Brothers James and John brothers that

are out and they're working hard they're

doing their job and Jesus rolls up and

says hey follow me and they're willing

to leave it all behind to follow him

there was no Rewards program there was

no benefit package there was no reason

for them to leave their livelihood and

follow Jesus other than the fact that

when Jesus speaks he speaks with

authority and things change it it's like

this two-edged sword that that Hebrews

calls it and it cuts to the bone in the

marrow what it means is it reveals who

you are in those moments when Jesus

spoke these men realized that they were

sinners in need of a savior and they saw

that that savior was Jesus he didn't

have to explain the gospel he just spoke

the words and these men were willing to

follow when Jesus speaks strongholds are

pulled down and priorities change when

we are convicted of our sin and our

imperfection in just 10 words in two

sentences these gainfully employed men

leave it all behind to follow Jesus

because they are comp compelled by his

authority these men they leave their

Nets they abandon their boats and they

commit to becoming Fishers of Men Peter

becomes the head of the church in Rome

eventually and John oversees a bunch of

churches in Asia Minor why because they

heard the voice of authority it's like

we used to have a babysitter for my son

and one time the babysitter called and

said hey your your son Eli he's acting a

fool and I'm like get him on the phone

so I grabbed the phone and I hand it to

my

wife that's so smart and she speaks and

she speaks with such Authority that his

life changes and he becomes a model

citizen why because Susan speaks with

authority you can laugh it's

fine you saw her hat though

right Jesus is speaking by the shore of

Galilee this is a love this because 84%

of Jesus ministry happens around this

the the Sea of Galilee which is really

cool because back in Genesis 1 it says

that Jesus formed all the Waters of the

earth so Jesus actually made the sea

that he is now standing beside teaching

these men about the the gospel and the

sea is probably like hey we've heard

that voice before the water is like yeah

we've heard that before that's the

Creator that's the god that speaks with

authority that's the one that made us

and you know what the disciples here

heard the same voice and they had the

same response they're like this man

speaks with authority he must be who he

says that he is and I love the fact that

Andrew and Peter are actually out

fishing and then you got James and John

who are over here and they are um

they're mending their Nets which means

that they are done fishing so it's like

two completely different seasons of life

but both men receive the exact same call

from Jesus and they both respond see the

Lord is knocking at the door of your

heart and these it doesn't matter what

season of life you're in you you could

be fishing right now or you could be

mending your nets it doesn't matter

because the same call is going out to

all people he says be perfect as god is

perfect and come to me and I'll show you

how to do

that you can't be perfect on your

own you can't be

perfect on your own so what do you have

to do you have to come to him because he

will do the heavy lifting I love verse

30 because it says for my yoke is easy

and the burden is light so for those of

you that are trying to be perfect on

your own he's reminding you here that

Perfection is not a prize to achieve it

is a promise to receive so when you read

that verse I want you to read it like a

promise this is a promise where God is

saying be perfect as your heavenly

father is perfect what he's saying is I

promise that I will make you perfect the

same way God and Jesus are perfect so

stop overthinking this call and just

listen to the words that God is saying

to you today it doesn't matter if you're

casting or mending Jesus is meeting you

right now wherever you are and he's

saying come to me all of you who are

weary and burdened stop trying to do

life on your own stop trying to find

Salvation on your own he says come to me

place your faith in me give me your

sinfulness and take my righteousness and

Friends that's what that cross is all

about that's why we want to highlight

the cross because it was on the cross

where the greatest substitution took

place it's where Jesus took our

sinfulness our lack of perfection he put

it on himself like a robe and he nailed

it to the Cross he took all the

punishment for our sin to that cross

with him but he didn't just take

something from us he gave something to

us on that Easter Sunday day when he

rose from the dead proving that he was

God's son he rose to give us new life

and it was in those moments through our

faith in him that he not only takes our

sin to the cross and pays the price he's

substituting himself from where we

should be he also gives us his

righteousness so if you think of it as a

a cloak or a robe you took off your like

The Prodigal Son you took off your your

sin stained robe and you gave it to

Jesus and he took it to the Cross but

then he hands you back another robe and

that robe is perfect not a blemish on it

a spotless lamb and he gives it to you

so that when God looks at you he no

longer sees you and your sinful self he

sees his son Jesus he sees his son's

righteousness and he loves you with the

same unconditional grace-filled Mercy

filled love that he sent for his son

Jesus you are a son and a daughter of

the king and so maybe this morning you

need to accept that free gift of

Salvation maybe this morning you you see

that you can't do this on your own the

truth is you're called to be perfect and

if you're not you don't get to go to

heaven but the other truth is that thank

God he says there's a way that I can do

this for you I can make you perfect you

don't have to do a thing other than yoke

yourself to me come to me place your

faith and trust and me but maybe for

some of you you've forgotten the voice

of Jesus you've forgotten what it sounds

like you you trusted him back then and

you received that salvation and maybe

for a moment everything was okay with

your faith but slowly and steadily you

started believing the lies of the

culture around you and maybe you started

putting yourself first or maybe you

started thinking that you were enough or

maybe you started to chase happiness at

the at expense of your Holiness maybe

you thought that that you could be

perfect on your own so today just listen

to God's word come to Jesus re

rededicate your life and if you need to

slip out from where you're seated during

this last song Just As I Am and and come

to the altar just as you are father it's

our prayer today as

we wind down this study that you have

impacted us

to the point where we see the lies that

we've been fed all these years and we

now know that you are truth absolute

truth that's for everyone at all times

and in that truth you tell us

that sinfulness has no place with a holy

God that's the bad news we were

separated from God and there's nothing

on this side of the earth that we can do

no no amount of money we can spend no

good deeds that we can do Lord that

would ever make us perfect enough to be

in the presence of God so I thank you

for sending your son Jesus to this earth

to take our sins to the Cross to be a

spotless lamb for us Lord that was

slaughtered on our behalf to substitute

himself for us so that we could receive

righteousness as you deal with our

sinfulness I thank you Lord that on

those day on that day where we placed

our faith in you that you no longer see

us in our sinful selves but you see us

perfect the way that you see your son

Jesus for those that haven't ever

accepted that free gift I pray that

today would be the day where they would

just confess their sin and say something

like God I I know I'm a sinner I need a

savior and I believe that savior's name

is Jesus I believe he was perfect I

believe he died on the cross I believe

he rose from the dead and I'm going to

give my life to him and in those moments

the Bible says you are saved God no

longer sees you as a sinner he sees you

as a son or a daughter but for others of

us Lord maybe we've been living this

this life this Christian Life for so

long that we've Fallen back into some of

the the traps that the world has for us

we've let our guard down and we've just

distanced oursel from you so I I pray

Lord as you spoke with authority today

through your word that we would see that

we need to correct that Lord we need to

come back to you we need to yoke

ourselves to you again we need to

rededicate our lives to you and I pray

Lord As we sing this last song just as I

them that if you so compelled that

people would maybe even just leave their

their seats and come up to this stage

which we call an altar maybe just kneel

before you and do some business maybe

they need to pray for themselves and

rededicate maybe they need to pray for a

loved one but God we're just going to

set aside this time for you to do

whatever you want to do in our lives we

pray