Sermon
The Son of Man // The Optics [Luke 5:33-6:11] (Peter Sun)
Publisher transcript
Transcript
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Give me Father, we thank you for this time of worship.
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We thank you for what a blessing it is to be able to come and
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worship the Almighty God. We thank you for all that you
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provide for us Lord, and we thank you for the offering
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that's been given. And in many different ways.
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We thank you that you're the God who's blessed us in many, many
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ways. And we thank you that we can
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give our offering back to you. We pray it will be used in a way
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that will give you honour and glory your wisdom to those that
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distribute that, that you will be honoured through it.
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We thank you for our Sunday School kids.
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We thank you for the blessing of family.
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We thank you for our parents of our Sunday School kids as they
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seek to raise you up in your ways.
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And Lord, we pray for them now our Sunday School and our ten
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classes say go out and they are taught your word.
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They challenged by it Lord and we pray that it will sink deep
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into their heart. And Lord, we pray for each one
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that they will come to know you as their own.
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Lord and Saviour, we thank you for our Sunday School teachers
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and those that that teach our children thank you for their
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willingness to teach into the hearts of our young ones.
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Lord, give them the words to say and with clarity for them we
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ask. And father, we pray for Peter as
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he brings the word of God to us this morning.
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Lord, we thank you for the message that you've laid on his
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hand. We thank you for the truth that
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is your word. And Lord, we just pray that as
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Peter shears that message and you'll give him clarity of
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thought and, and bringing that message across.
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And Father, we pray that our hearts will be open to hear what
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you want to say to us, that it will challenge us, it will stir
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us and Lord, it will grow us and bring us closer to you.
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So this we pray and ask in Jesus name, Amen.
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Good morning, everyone. And as Gavin Gav just mentioned,
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I won't reiterate again, especially for those who are
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here for the first time, that we're actually going through the
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Gospel of Luke. And as Gav mentioned, we are in
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Chapter 5 today and that's chapter 5, verse 33 to chapter
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6, verse 11. And that's what we are going
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through. This is the passage for today,
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right? So just begin, just before we
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begin the study today on the passage that I just mentioned,
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I'd like to share a story of Jack and Jill right now.
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Remember one thing, this Jack and Jill were a elderly couple
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in their 70s. It's not the Jack and Jill went
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up the hill to fetch a pail of water because this couple are
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more likely to tumble down the hill and walk up the hill,
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right? So it's about Jack and Jill are
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elderly couple in their 70s. And of course, Jill was very
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inquisitive, very inquisitive old lady who really wanted to
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know or get to know and understand who this young
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married couple that just moved in next door to her.
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So, yeah, they're clothes properly.
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So she would say every morning, just look at that, Jack, that
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sheets are pretty dull. Their shirts look stained.
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Someone should teach this young lady how to wash clothes and how
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to wash them clean. So week after week after week
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she was complaining and saying the same commands to Jack.
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So then one morning when she got up, she looked as usual out of
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the window, peered through the fence and to her surprise she
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mentioned to Jack. Ohh, their laundry looks clean.
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Finally. Clothes look really really
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clean. She must have learned how to
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wash her clothes. So what did Jack said?
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Well, the husband replied quite gently, saying I woke up early
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in the morning and I just cleaned out our windows, right?
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And that's what he said. OK, Now the principle of the
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story is about optics, right? It's about optics, the lens
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through which we perceive and look at things.
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So that is why I have Hitler. Today's message about the
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optics, right? What is our optics?
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Let's look at our passage. So keep that view in mind about
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the optics. So let's look at Luke chapter 5
Luke 5 chapter mention
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was 33 to chapter 6 verse 11, right?
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Luke chapter 5 verse 33 to chapter 6 verse 11 and I'll read
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this passage and it says here. Then they said to him, Why do
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the disciples of John fast often and made prayers?
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And likewise those are the Pharisees, but yours eat and
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drink. And he said to them, Can you
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make the friends or the bridegroom fast while the
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bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the
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bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will
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fast in those days. Then he spoke a parable to them.
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No one puts a piece from a new garment on an old one.
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Otherwise the new makes a tear and also the peace that was
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taken out of the new does not match the old.
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And no one puts new wine into all wine skin, or else a new
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wine will burst the wine skin and be spilled, and the wine
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skin will be ruined. But the new wine must be put
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into new wine skin, and both are preserved.
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And no one, having drunk all wine, immediately desires new,
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for he says the old is better. Chapter 6 Now it happened on the
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2nd, 7th after the first that he went through the grain fields
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and his disciples plucked the heads of grain and ate them,
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rubbing them in their hands. And one of the Pharisees said to
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them, Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the 7th?
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But Jesus answering them said have you not even read this?
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What David did when he was hungry, he and those who were
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with him, how he went into the House of God, took an aid the
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showbread, and also gave some to those with him, which is not
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lawful for any but the priests to eat, and is said to them, The
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Son of man is also the Lord of the Sabbath.
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Now it happened on another Sabbath also, that he entered
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the synagogues and taught, and the man was there whose right
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hand was withered. So the scribes and Pharisees
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watched him closely whether he would heal on the Sabbath, and
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they might find that they might find an accusation against him.
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But he knew their thoughts. And he said to the man who had
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the withered hand, Arise and stand here.
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And he arose and stood. Then Jesus said to him, I will
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ask you one thing. Is it lawful on the Sabbath to
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do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy?
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And when he had looked around at them all, he said to the man,
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Stretch out your hand. And he did so, and his hand was
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restored as whole as the other. But they were filled with rage
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and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.
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So in today's message, we will be considering just two major
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themes from this section. 1st, we will be examining or looking
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at the lens of the Pharisees or the optics of the Pharisees.
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And that's what we'll be looking at, right?
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How did they view Jesus? What optics and what lens
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through which they viewed alone? And 2nd, of course, the counter
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lens that reveals who Christ is because Christ our Lord offered
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that counter lens. So those are the two major
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themes that we would be dealing with today.
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So the first theme is the lens of the Pharisees and the lens of
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the scribes. What is the optics or the lens
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through which the Pharisees viewed the Lord?
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Well, they're actually viewed the Lord through the lens of
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conformity, and that's what I refer to, the lens of conformity
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conforming to their treasured religious traditions.
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Now, there are actually 3 incidents that are recorded or
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mentioned in this particular passage, and we'll be looking at
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those 3 incidents. One, of course, is fasting, and
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the other two are about the 7th. And through these incidents, you
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can see that the lens of the Pharisees come into play, The
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optics of the Pharisees, the lens of conformity.
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Let us consider fasting first, right?
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So fasting was only commanded. By the way, if you look at the
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Mosaic law in the Torah, it was only commanded at the Day of
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Atonement. Of course, this is known as
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young kippur, if you know the Jewish feast, the young kippur,
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which happens after the the trumpet feast, the Feast of the
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Trumpet. However, you can see that
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fasting is recorded in the Scripture at other times where
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people do faster Other times, at times of morning, they're fast.
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At times of repentance, they're also fast.
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And also in times of crisis or national emergency, the people
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of Israel do fast. And of course harms records that
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people do fast as a means of personal devotion.
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But by the time that we come to the Lord's ministry on earth,
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the fallacies actually started developing A structured fasting
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practise. And that's what they did, a
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structured fasting practise. So it became almost like a very
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pious customs to the Pharisees and all the religious Jews and
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those who embraced Judaism becomes a a pious custom where
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they have to fast twice a week and usually on a Monday and on a
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Thursday. So if you really look at loop,
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for example in Luke chapter 18 verse 12, where you have this
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proud Pharisees loudly proclaiming public saying I fast
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twice a week. Now that was their custom
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fasting twice a week, usually on Monday and Thursday.
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So therefore the Pharisees view the actions of Christ through
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this particular lens, the lens of conformity.
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Why? Well, here is this man Christ
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the Lord, right? He's a rabbi, but still he did
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not require his disciples, nor did he himself follow these
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religious practises that we have that has been passed down from
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fathers to fathers in terms of his traditions.
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And therefore hence he cannot be God.
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He just cannot be God. And look at the question that
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the fallacies asked in chapter 5 verse 2033.
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Why do the disciples of John fast often and make prayers?
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And likewise, those are the ferries, but yours eat and
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drink. And it is through this lens of
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conformity, as I said earlier, that they perceived the Lord.
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And hence a common perception that arose amongst the Pharisees
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is that the Lord is A1A glutton and a wine bibber.
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Have you heard of that term in the Gospels?
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Return to Matthew Chapter 11, verse 19, you can see that's a
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term that arose. Ohh, he's a glutton, He's a wine
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bibber. That is because the Law did not
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practise this fasting that the Pharisees did.
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Now let me deviate here to reconcile some of the accounts
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that we see of the same thing in Matthew Chapter 9 verse 14, as
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well as in the Gospel of Mark. Both in the Gospel of Matthew
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and Mark you could see that the same incident is recorded in
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Matthew Chapter 9. Verse 14 tells us.
Matthew 9 chapter mention
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This particular portion in Matthew tells us that the
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disciples of John came to Jesus asking why do we and the
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Pharisees fast often but you're disables do not fast.
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So it was a disciples of John that came that isn't Mark.
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Matthew Chapter 9 was 14 in March of the 12 was 8.
Matthew 9 chapter mention
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We can see that Mark recalls that both groups explicitly.
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Both groups, the disciples as well as the Pharisees, were
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involved in asking the question. So therefore it is plausible
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that the disciples of John are the ones who raised the question
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and the Pharisees reinforced it. But when you look at the book of
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Luke, looks intention was to show the optics from the side of
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the fallacies of the parasite side.
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And that's the looks. That's what looks intention was.
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Let's look at several observation which is another
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practise amongst the Jews, the fallacies, the religious Jews.
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Chapter 6, verses 1 to 11, gives us 2 incidents concerning the
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Sabbath observation. Now Sabbath, by the way, was a
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cultural script for the Jews. The Torah, which contains the
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Mosaic Law, of course commands the Israelites to keep the
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Sabbath day holy. However, it was not prescriptive
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enough for the religious leaders.
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So what they did was they came up with a list of prescriptive
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list of things that are lawful and unlawful during the day of
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the Sabbath. So for example, in the
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traditions or in the Mishna, you could see that in the oral
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traditions there were 39 categories of prohibited work,
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all listed down, which of course included reaping and threshing.
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So what did the Pharisees do? Well, they interpreted the
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disciples plucking the grain and then drumming into their hands
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in in order to eat it as reaping and threshing and hence
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prohibited actions on Sabbath. There will also similar
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prohibited work with regards to health treatment in the mist.
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Now in the traditions you can see that life saving treatment
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was permitted on 7 right and any other form of treatment was
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prohibited if it's not life threatening.
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And that was what they did at one as part of practise that was
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prohibited or not. Now according to the Pharisees,
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the man with the withered hand did not meet that threshold of
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life, life threatening health issues and hence it was unlawful
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to heal that man on the Sabbath day.
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So because of such a lens that they had, such optics that they
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had, they completely ignored A notable miracle that took place
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that we read, of course, in chapter 6 from verses 1 to 11
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right now. Let me therefore offer the
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counter links. As I said earlier,
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unfortunately, the lens of conformity through which the
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Pharisees viewed the Lord blinded them to the reality of
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who Christ is. So therefore the Lord offered a
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countenance that reveals who He is.
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He presents 2 realities of Himself.
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And that's what we want to, or I want to talk about today, the
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two realities that Christ presented, the counter realities
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of who He is. The first real reality is that
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He is the bridegroom and Luke chapter 5 verse 34 says this.
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Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while the
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bridegroom is with them now? The Lord chose an imagery of joy
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in the presence of the Bible group.
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That is the majority that He chose.
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There's a countenance that He chose, and it's not a time of
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fasting, but a time of joy. Now such a description of who he
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is was actually was not lost on the disciples of John the
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Baptist who was actually involved in asking the question,
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why do we fast? Why do the Pharisees fast but
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your disciples do not? So they, it was not lost on them
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because they are Rabbi John the Baptist testified to his
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disciples of who Christ is, right?
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And that is what John said to his disciples in John chapter 3
John 3 chapter mention
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versus 28 to 29. You yourself bear with, bear me
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witness that I said I am not the Christ, I'm not the Messiah, but
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I have been sent before him. He who has the bride is the
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bridegroom. But the friend of the bridegroom
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who stands and hears him rejoices greatly because of the
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bridegroom's voice. Therefore, this joy of mine is
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fulfilled. He must increase, but I must
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decrease. So John himself told his
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disciple who the bridegroom is. So the Lord using the imagery of
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the bedroom was not lost on the disciples of John who asked that
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particular question. Now, when you look at this
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imagery that the Lord used, the imagery of the bridegroom was
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intentionally chosen by the Lord because it actually portrays the
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reality of who He is. It speaks of a special
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relationship. Right now, there is no
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bridegroom without a bride. That'd be all right.
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And there's no celebration without the friends of the bride
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groom. Now, there are so many truths,
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of course, that we can unpack, especially when you consider the
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friends of the bridegroom, but that's not the intention.
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Today, however, I like us to focus on the special
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relationship between the bridegroom and the bride.
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As I said, there's no imagery of the bridegroom without the
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bride. And inverse 35 of Chapter 35 of
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Chapter 5, the Lord was pointing to His imminent death or
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impending death on the cross. Now it is through the finished
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work of Rice on the Cross that this special relationship
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between the bridegroom and the bride was birth right.
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And through his death, we who have believed in Christ are
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reckoned to have died with him. And through His resurrection we
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have now been raised to a new life in Christ and withdrawn or
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married to him. And that is what Romans Chapter
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7 verse 14 says. I'll read that portion.
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It says, therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the
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law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to
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another, to him who was raised from the dead, that we should
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bear fruit to God. So we who have trusted Christ as
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our Saviour and our Lord, collectively we form the Church,
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the body of Christ, and the church is pictured as the Bride
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of Christ. So hence we are reckoned married
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to him. So that's the imagery that the
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Lord chose just to show the special relationship that the
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Lord has with His bride. So through this imagery, the
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Lord pointed to a new reality of who he is.
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He is a bridegroom, has said he has a special relationship with
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the bride. Now it is not therefore a
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transactional relationship. It's not as transactional
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relation. It's not about a quid quo pro
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relationship based on a set of dos and set of Donuts.
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And that was the problem of the lens of the fallacies.
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Now just imagine a marriage. Just imagine a marriage where
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the husband sets out a list of dos and donts for the wife.
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Just imagine that, right? You shall bring breakfast to my
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bed every morning and make sure that you make the cup of tea
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exactly as I want, neither hot, not too hot, not too cold, but
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exactly about 8 to 3.5°C. Every morning you shall pack a
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meal for me to take to work and when I come back from work at
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5:30, you shall be at the doorstep with a cup of tea to
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welcome me. Now just imagine such a
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relationship in marriage, a quick quid pro transactional
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relationship. And if you do all of these
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things, I will therefore accept you as my wife.
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Now, that's not the relationship that we have with Christ, and
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that's not what he was that he portrayed to the Pharisees and
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the disciples of John. Rather, it's a transformational
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relationship and that's what it is.
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So efficient chapter 5, verse 25 actually elaborates on this
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transforming relationship, a relationship built on love and
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grace. So I'll read that portion to
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you. Efficient Chapter 5 versus 25 to
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27. Paul says this, husbands, love
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your wife, just as Christ also loved the church and gave
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himself for her, that he might sanctify and cleanser with the
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washing of water by the word, that he might present her to
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himself. A glorious church, a transformed
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glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing,
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but that she should be wholly and without blemish.
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Now this is the reality of who Christ is, and this reality,
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unfortunately, cannot be understood through the lens of
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conformity, the lens that the Pharisees head, the lens right.
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The Pharisees viewed the Lord through all the religious
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structures and practises, and because the law did not meet
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those expectations, they concluded therefore He cannot be
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of God. Now let me pause for a moment
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and consider what all of these things actually mean for us
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today. Now there may be seated here
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some who are really seeking Christ, seeking to know the
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Lord. You're not Christians yet, but
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you're seeking. You're interested to know who
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Christ is now. Through what lens or optics are
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you seeking Christ? Do you seeking?
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Do you seek Christ as a religious figure with a set of
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commandments that you have to follow, with a set of practises
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that you have to do in order to become a Christian?
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Is that the lens through which you are seeking Christ?
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There are others who actually call themselves Christians
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seated here, but unfortunately you are not because you think
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that your faith and you look at your faith actually through this
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lens of conformity. Why?
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Well, I come to church regularly.
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I try not to miss every Sunday. I read the Bible.
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I win the time permits. I shoot the prayer upwards.
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I try my best not to sin. I speak the jargon of a
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Christian and therefore I must be a Christian.
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Surely God is pleased with me now.
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Becoming Christian is not about conforming to a set of dos and
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set of Donuts. Is not a such a transactional
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relationship if if you think that that is the case, it's only
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religion. It's not transactional.
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Becoming a Christian is, as I mentioned earlier,
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transformational, a new relationship between the bridge
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and the bridegroom. It is accepting what Christ has
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already done. There's nothing we can do.
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It's accepting what He has done. The fact that he has died on the
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cross, that he has paid the penalty for our sin and the sin
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that has separated us from God. And when you believe that and
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accepting him as your Saviour and Lord, then he translates
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your, transforms you from darkness to life to newness of
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life in Christ. Now this is the reality of who
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Christ is, what He has done. So don't let the lens of
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conformity cloud this reality. Now there are many here who have
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actually genuinely trusted in Christ as their Saviour.
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I can see the majority of you have done so.
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You have been saved for many years and believe me, I have
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been in this category. So I'm actually speaking through
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experience, right? I'm speaking through experience.
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However, what has happened is due to the business of life, you
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have slipped into a a routine, what I call spiritual habits.
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Right? Like clockwork, you get up in
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the morning and you read the Bible and you said the time for
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that, I read the Bible and I pray you attend church, you even
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get involved in ministry. But over time these becomes
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habitual practises and what has happened is you have developed
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that implicit mindset or an optic that these are activities
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of what pleases God and what puts you in proper standing with
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him. And your relationship with God
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unfortunately has slipped into being quite transactional.
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A set of dos and a set of don't remember what the Lord told the
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Church of Ephesus in Revelations.
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Well, the Lord said your works are good, right?
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You do all of these tremendous work.
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However, I have one thing against you.
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What is it? You have lost your first love.
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Your relationship with me has become quite transactional.
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Now, one thing you must understand and recognise when
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you read through this passage that such an optics, a lens of
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conformity cannot coexist with the transforming relationship
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that we have with the Lord. And the Lord actually reiterates
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this through two parables that he mentions in Luke chapter 5
Luke 5 chapter mention
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versus 36 to 38, two parallels. So in verse 36, he talks about
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the old garment, which is the religious system with all of its
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traditions and practises. Then he talks about a new piece
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of cloth, which is a new reality that we have in Christ, a
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reality that is a transforming relationship.
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Now, in this particular parable, these two things cannot coexist.
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The Lord is not an addon or a patch, right?
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And that's what the parable really means.
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They cannot coexist. For example, it says that you
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cannot take this new piece of cloth right and cut a piece to
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it and then try to patch an old garment.
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Because what happens is when this new cloth shrinks, it just
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tears it away. It's not compatible, right?
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That's compared well at all, and that is what the Lord is saying
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here and Inverse 37 The new wine here depicts the life of a
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transformed relationship that we have in Christ, the life of joy,
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of power, of hope that we have in a transformed relationship
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with Christ. Now such a life cannot be
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contained within the fragile old wine skin of rigid rules,
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regulations and traditions, right?
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And when the new wine ferments, it just burst and destroys the
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old wine skin. That's what it is.
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These two things are not compatible.
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They cannot Co exist. So are you.
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Am I trying to fit Christ into our framework?
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Are you allowing Christ our Lord to reshape, to reshape our lens,
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to reshape our optics so that we understand that we have a
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transformed relationship with him?
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So that's the first reality that our Lord prisons to the
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fantasies, right? A counter lens through through
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whom? Or through through the lens that
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they previously viewed, which is the lens of conformity.
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The second reality is this, that he is the Son of man.
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That's a second reality that Christ presence.
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Now when asked by the Pharisees why his disciples are fucking
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rubbing and then eating the grain on the Sabbath, this is
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what the Lord said. This is the counter lens that it
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presents a reality of who he is. He says in Luke chapter 6 verse
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5, the Son of Man is also the Lord of the 7th.
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The Son of Man is also the Lord of the Sabbath.
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Now this statement, the Son of Man appears quite a few times in
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the gospel. It appears in Matthew chapter 12
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verse 8 and Mark chapter 2 verse 28.
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And this claim is quite extraordinary because it has
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many layers to it. The statement the Son of Man is
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also the author of seven has many layers.
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So it's quite an extraordinary statement made by the Lord.
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It unveils who cries his which the fallacies could not see
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because of their optics. So the first statement, the Son
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of Man. Now, how was this statement
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interpreted by people? Perhaps to the ordinary Jews,
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the statement may mean he's a human one, the Son of man.
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However, to the Pharisees, to the religious Jews, this is
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where the the Lord was having this conversation with the
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religious Jews and he that's what he was intending.
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So to the religious Jews, the Pharisees, the statement may
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mean that a claim of Messiah ship.
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And that is why it can be associated with Daniel Chapter 7
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verses 13 to 14. Because in Daniel Chapter 7
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verse 13, Daniel says, I was watching in the night vision and
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behold one like the Son of man humming with the clouds of
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heaven. Now that statement actually
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refers to the Messiah. So to the Jews, to the religious
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Jews, to the Pharisees, this statement, Son of Man, may mean
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a claim to Masashi. Now to drive home the point that
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he is indeed claiming Messiahship, the Lord adds
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another layer to the state. When the Son of Man, and he says
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this, the Son of Man, is also the Lord of the Sabbath, he adds
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another statement. Now, by claiming lordship over
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the Sabbath, he's actually claiming authority over Sabbath.
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He's claiming the right to determine the meaning of the
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Sabbath, is claiming the right to interpret the Sabbath, the
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purpose of the Sabbath, and the proper use of the Sabbath.
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That's what Lord of the Sabbath really means.
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Now when you consider that the 7th was instituted by God in
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creation, a claim of lordship over the seven is a claim of
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deity. And so that is what the Lord
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said. I am the Messiah, I am the
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Christ, and I am God. The Son of Man is therefore the
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Lord of the seven. No, that's a new reality of who
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crisis, right? And that would have incensed the
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Jews, incense or sorry, the Pharisees.
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On another occasion where the conflict over the Sabbath
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happen, it happened at the healing of the man with the
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withered hand, and that we read in chapter 6.
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And in that particular incident the Lord completely reorientated
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the meaning of the 7th right. So we see an example of how He
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claims lordship over the Sabbath, and He does so by
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asking this question in chapter 6, verse 9.
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Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save
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or to save life, or to destroy it?
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Now this statement by the Lord brings to 4 the moral nature and
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the character of who God is. God desires mercy, He desires
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good over all of the religious practises of the law.
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We see for example in Josiah chapter 6 verse 6, as in the Old
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Testament. For I desire mercy is what God
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says, for I desire mercy and not sacrifice.
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Not all of your religious practises and the knowledge of
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God more than all of these burnt offerings and the optics of the
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Pharisees blurred them from seeing the reality of who Christ
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is. That he by nature is a loving
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God. He by nature is a merciful God
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desiring to do good and to save lives.
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Whether it be the lives of the tax collectors that of course
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Andrew Linton spoke about last week, right?
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And whether it be the lives or the Samaritans who were
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considered as half cast by the Jews, or whether it be the lives
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or the Gentiles who considered or regarded as unclean, or even
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the lives of the Pharisees who had this lens of conformity, He
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looks on the leper with compassion.
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I think Billy mentioned that two weeks before where he reached
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out and touched the untouchable. Now that is our Lord.
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As the lyrics of the song goes, He is a good, good God that who
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are who are Lord is. Now let us pause and consider
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the goodness of God the the lens, the counter lens that the
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Lord wants to portray to the Pharisees.
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First, the law is inherently good, as as Army says in Psalm
Psalms 100 chapter mention
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chapter 100 was 5 For the Lord is good, His steadfast love
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endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.
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Second, the Lord is universally good.
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That's a common grace of God, universally good as seen in His
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Providence for His creation and the created world.
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In fact, the apostle Paul speaking to the people Listra
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next chapter 14 verse 17 says this.
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Nevertheless, He did not leave himself without witness in that
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He did good. He gave us reign from heaven and
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fruitful season, fulfilling our hearts with food and gladness.
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That's a common good. The Lord is universally good.
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Thirdly, the Lord is sacrificially good, and we see
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that in His redemptive work. Lord himself says in John
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chapter 10 verse 11, I am the Good Shepherd.
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The Good Shepherd gives his life for the sheep and finally the
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law is experientially good. And then Sam chapter 34, verse
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8, the psalmist says this all. Taste and see that the Lord is
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good. Taste and see that the Lord is
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good. Blessed is the man who takes
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refuge in him. Finally, let me conclude with
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this question. What is the lens through which
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you look at the Lord? What is the lens like the
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Pharisees? Are you looking at the Lord
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through the lens of your religious structures, the lens
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of conformity? Remember the Pharisees looked at
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the law through such a lens, the lens of conformity, seeing the
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Lord as a rule blaker, not conforming to their traditions,
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the value traditions of the fathers and Luke.
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Chapter 6 verse 11 is probably the saddest verse in the Gospel
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of Luke where it says it was chapter 6 verse 11.
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But they were filled with rage. They were filled with rage and
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discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.
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They still did not see beyond their lens of conformity and
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understand the reality that Christ presents as a bridegroom,
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the one who transformed relationship, and as the Son of
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Man, the Lord of the Sabbath, who is good and merciful.
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They just did not see beyond their lens of conformity.
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So are we able to look beyond the lens that blur who the Lord
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is and see Him for who He is? Remember one thing, through His
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death and resurrection, He is the bride group offering us a
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transforming relationship. Do you have a relationship as
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such with Him? He is the Son of man, and his
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goodness endures forever. And as the word of the song
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goes, Jesus, what a beautiful name.
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Son of God, Son of Man, a lamb that was slain, let us play.
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Father, we thank you for this time that we can come together,
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a time of remembrance of the sacrifice that your son made on
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the process of Calgary. Father Bobby, thank you.
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Then, in front of us, we see who our Lord is, the Bridegroom, the
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one who has a transformative relationship with each and
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everyone who have come to trust in Him.
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But we also see Him as the Son of Man, not only as a Messiah
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who would come for us, but as the One who lives for us.
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And we thank and praise you for this, for His goodness and for
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His kindness. And we commit this time once
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again into your hands and in the Saviours precious, and in his
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worthy day. And we pray, I mean.