Mark 2:1-3:6 || The Book of Mark || Pastor Diego Mesa

Welcome to the ALSC podcast. Here at ALC, we seek the loss,

teach the found, and send the disciples. We truly hope you're encouraged by

this week's message. Father, Thank you for blessing our time and the word.

May we get through everything that you have on your heart, maybe not

on my paper agenda, God, but on your heart, and speak something

to every single person here God that they're gonna leave changed and this time will

really really be an investment of impartation to them. In Jesus' name, Amen,

I'm gonna ask that you stand on your feet again. I told you

that we're reading through a whole. You know, I have a chapter and

six verses, but I'm not gonna read through all that. I'm just gonna

highlight five stories that you this is surrounded by. I call them five controversies,

five conflicts, five contempts. That's the way you'll remember them. There

are five episodes that I'm going to preach to you very quickly, but here

are the essence of the five. We're going to work through them. Now.

Some of the scribes, which you could basically say religious leaders of the

day, were sitting there questioning in their hearts Why does this man speak like

that, speaking of Jesus, he's blaspheming who can forgive sins but God alone.

That's the first story. Now we move to the second story, and

the scribes and the Pharisees, the religious leaders of the time made up of

about seven hundred people that made up the priesthood. They were Pharisees, they

were Sadducees, they were scribes, but they were the gatekeeper of the Jewish

religion. And that's who he's speaking about. When they saw that he was

eating with sinners. Who's the heat, that's Jesus. He ate with ranked

polluted, wicked, ungodly, perverse, nasty sinners and tax collectors, people

that were sinners, but they were more didified and dignified people with them with

an edumacation and a Marcedes been and lived. How many of you know on

the heel, that's who they are. See, it's the utmost and to

the uttermost. There are people who are highly educated, who are very wealthy,

but they're just as much as a sinner as somebody that you know hurts

children or murders people, or whatever it might be. It says this,

why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners. Then it says, now

John the third story, third episode of conflict. Now John's disciples and the

Pharisees were fasting. And Peter came and said to him, why do John's

disciples these were disciples that still stood with John the Baptist, where some of

the other ones follow Jesus, he said, and the disciples of the Pharisees

fast, But your disciples do not fast. Now, how would they know

that? Because they're in your business. Do you ever know people that are

in your business trying to dot every eye catch you in something you call yourself

a Christian. Well that's what it was. And it says, but your

disciples do not fast. And Jesus said to them, can the wedding guest

fast while the bridegroom is with them? Another? Weddings are places of celebration,

time of going seven days back in the Jewish days seven days of a

wedding feast. As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they're not

gonna fast. It's a time of celebration. It's a party in a feast.

Okay, next one the fourth story, And look, Pharisees were saying

to him, Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the

Sabbath. Then the fourth story, the Pharisees went out, how many of

you are seeing this word pharisee all the time? Pharisee, Pharisee. Remember

that, because that's the essence of what I'm going to drive home today.

Because Pharisees tried to bring traditions that bind you, and oftentimes we are not

even aware that I am bound by tradition. Why do I do what I

do? Did Jesus put this on me? Or did I put this upon

myself that has now restricted me and limited me? And so it goes on,

And the Pharisees went out and immediately had counsel with the Herodians against him

how to destroy him. You may be seated. You just read through five

stories, and we'll come back and visit them in a few moments. But

I wanted to drive the essence of Jesus being in the picture, but also

the Pharisees being in the picture. When I was a little boy, when

you go to my grandma's house, maybe like you, if you're about my

generation, you would see plastic on the sofas, and you would see what

they call a plastic runner on the floor. Now it's one thing on the

rug, it'd be on the tile brick ground, they'd have runners. And

then if you went to the dinner table, we were not allowed to put

our elbows on the table, and you could not slouch in your chair.

You had to sit upright in your chair. Now, let me ask you

something. Where did these rules come from? Where did these regulations come from?

Are they in the Bible? Did Jesus said that shall put plastic upon

thy sofa? And where runners on the floor? Now shall never slatch and

slouch, and you never put your elbows on But why do some people practice

that? Do some people believe that they are more righteous if they do that?

Do some people believe they're better off if they do that? I'm going

to challenge you right now, where do we form our beliefs? Is it

really the Bible? Or is it an association, an experience, an idea

that has been passed on to you and it governs your life, it controls

your life. That's what we're talking about today as we talk about these five

episodes that we talk about the first three questions I want to ask you today

as we navigate through this is Number one, how do you interpret your life

and come up with your beliefs and come up with your behaviors and come up

with you belong How do you come up with the rights versus the wrongs,

acceptable versus non acceptable in your life? Or the yeses and no's in your

life? Where do these rules come from, these ideas come from, these

styles come from. You need to decide. When we were young, the

kind of clothing you see on the back of a tag of a shirt,

it would say this. I don't think they say it anymore. It would

say man made materials. I don't think they use that tag anymore. But

they would say that that is man made materials, which separated it from a

natural material like silk or leather or cotton. And that's what the Pharisees followed.

And that's what tradition is. It's a man made law, a man

made law, a man made regulation that often points p people to religion.

Christianity is not a religion. It is a relationship. All other beliefs are

religions based upon dos and don't. It's based upon your righteousness and earning something

so that you could get up to heaven. And it's you trying to reach

God, where Christianity is based upon. You're a sinner and you can never

do right. But so God came down to you. You can't get up

to him. He came down to you. Let it soak in. There'll

be more that we're going to define in a few more minutes. Is it

possible that something that was once unriginal could be altered? Something that was once

pure and true and a blessing has now become corrupt, defiled, and a

burden. Yes, that's what we're talking about today. When we navigate through

the Sabbath, and we navigate through fasting, and we navigate through healings that

are in this story. Something that was once unoriginal, meaning that it was

pure and it was truth, man has now corrupted it and man has now

defiled it. It's like sex. Sex is beautiful between a married man and

a married woman, but take it outside of holy matrimony and is perverted.

I could see that didn't go over very well. The Internet is good by

nature, but it also can be used pervertedly. AI will soon to become

very good, but AI could be used for a negative situation. When I

have a female robot who's got boobs and everything else. Who talks to me?

Who I can touch with physical sin skin, and she smells good and

I take her into the bedroom. Oh, you don't know that exists already.

Go to Europe, it already exists, and as soon to come to

America. I'm just trying to tell you that's the nature of what things may

look like. That's something that is original can also be altered. And last

of all, what happens when someone loses and forgets the purpose and the motive

and the reason for something's existent. It will deviate, It will stray,

and it will veer off kind of thing. What is the purpose for food?

Food is to give energy to your body. Food is not to soothe

the hurt and the pain in your life that has been altered from its use.

So that's beginning to lay out this amazing story that we just read in

these five stories. But let me give you a quote, and it's a

little bit of a long quote, but it reads like this. Christianity is

not driven by set of rules to obey or dos and don'ts. Instead,

it is driven by a loving, joyful relationship with Jesus and our devotions.

You can add disciplines, to that are an expression of that. They're an

expression of our loving joy toward him, not for earning or not for proving,

but ingratitude of his person and the presence in our lives. That's the

difference between religion and relationship with Christ. Vastly too different. Few more things

and then we'll launch. Here's what I love about these five stories. We

see that Jesus is in complete control and unaffected in all situations. We see

Jesus here in these stories, who cannot be fooled, never can be fooled.

Aren't you grateful that Jesus can never be fooled. Jesus can never be

bullied, can never be intimidated. He has never daunted in any form or

any fashion. I love the fact that Jesus doesn't need acceptance, approval,

or attention. He just weaves and moves in these stories and doing what God

told him to do. He doesn't look at people say, you know what,

do you like me? Do you think it's okay? Do you accept

me? Do you believe in me? Well, that's because I'm preaching real

good. That's why Jesus is absolutely unthreatened, unintimidated, and undaunted. Absolutely,

And I love how deliberately he is aware of everything in these stories that's

going on. Last of all, we get introduced the Pharisee. The Pharisee

was the gatekeeper and the interpreter of the religious and ruling laws. But they

felt that they were nitpickers, absolutely nitpickers. Do you know anybody that's a

nitpicker in your life? Don't look at your neighbor and prided themselves on religious

practices nitpicking. Let me give you some nitpicking that exists in twenty twenty four

that probably would have existed back then, to show you how the Pharisees existed

today. There are a lot of people that don't believe that you could be

a Christian and have tattoos. Some people to believe that you can't be a

Christian and have piercings. Some people believe that you have to dress a certain

way to be a Christian. Some people believe that your hairstyle needs to reflect

that. And somebody is the religious police that stands at the door of our

churches and says what it's susceptible and what isn't acceptable. Those are some of

the things that often exist when even in our churches, our Christian churches where

people are nitpicking about things. They want to tell you that to be a

Christian, you can't drink alcohol. Well, the Bible tells us to prohibit

from you and I getting drunk with alcohol or getting high with alcohol, but

there's not clearly there. But there's some people that believe. And I'm not

advocating that I don't drink alcohol, but I'm not going to put my convictions

on you that I cannot validate with scriptures. You believe what you want to

believe. If you believe that Jesus changed water in the wine and somehow he

created non alcoholic wine, then you need to go study Jewish history and find

out if they ever created non out alcoholic wine for a feast or a wedding

party of seven days. I could see that went over really well because I

could feel some of your religiosity and your ritualism and your piousness and your tradition

rising up. Now, I'm not making myself better than you, because I

have on myself and they have to be confronted in my life because they can

make you, and they can make me very very critical and very judgmental toward

people. See how quieted God, let the earth shake again in Jesus' name.

People want to debate about holidays, nitpicking, nitpicking about which he's really

born on December twenty fifth? What should we do on Halloween? Should we

just stay in our houses and hold prayer meetings? What day should we go

to church? The Old Testament went to church on Saturday. We are more

holy because we go to church on Saturday. You Christians go to church on

Sunday. Oh you're sounding like some people I'm reading about in the Bible.

Hey, I don't mind you practicing that, But take off those nikes.

You know where Nike money goes. Oh no, you wear your Jordan's proudly

and you practice your Sabbath on Saturday. Do you know all those movies that

you watch with those little cartoon characters, find out where they give their money

to see. If you're gonna obey the law, then you gotta obey the

law across the board. You can't pick and shoes. Thank you. Three

people clap. People want to get involved in nitpicking. Well, look at

that guy. He's sixty years old. He married a thirty year old woman.

That's not God or opposite. Look at that thirty year old girl.

Man married a sixty year old woman or whatever it is. Listen, they're

single, they're Christian, they could choose whoever they want to marry. I

ain't getting involved and dick picking. But see, we could get real religious

about that. If it doesn't fit our ideals and our agendas, then we

get very very very traditional about Look at that person. They've had plastic surgery.

God didn't create them like they didn't didn't. What's up with that?

That's not Christian. Okay, let's move on now that I woke you up,

that's what this chapter is all about. That's what this was all about.

They didn't like it, so let's move quickly. Let's move quickly.

I got twenty minutes. Now, we gotta move quickly. I told you

not to breathe, or don't do your breathing. Stop breathing. Okay.

So we're gonna read a couple of stories. Let's go here, okay,

and they can't. This is the first story. And they came bringing to

him a paralytic carried by four friends. And when they could not get near

him because of the crowd. The room was so packed, they removed the

roof, They tore off the roof, I mean literally right through the roof.

And when they had made an opening and disturbed and interrupted Jesus, they

let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. And when Jesus saw their

faith, all of them, the man on the that was paralyzed and the

four friends, he said to the paralytic son, your sins are forgiven.

That's the first story. And here's the lessons that you and I can learn

from this. The first one is this, who are your friends that are

dependable? You better make sure that you got some friends that can carry you

to Jesus, not away from Jesus, because sometimes you're lame, and sometimes

you're broken, and sometimes you're hurting and you're paralyzed, and you need to

make sure that you have friends that don't keep you in that state but bring

you to Jesus to get delivered. Watch your friends, how persistent are you

to break in through? They didn't let the limitations of not being able to

get through the front door, the window, or not even to get through

the room. You gotta be persistent in your faith. It may not come

the first day, it may not come the next day. It takes some

time, but you need to be persistent to break through, to get your

victory in life. I am saying I will be a faithful husband, I

will be a faithful father, I will turn away from the ways of this

world, and I'm gonna be persistent. The next point is this, do

you believe that it's easier for Jesus to do one thing and harder for him

to do something else in your life? And it's time for you to get

up, take up your back, and go home. That's what it's about.

It's time. It's just simply time now thinks that I need to I'm

when I have more time, I'll tell you the story about Zach and his

Amen. But anyways, here's the amazing thing. The amazing thing is we

pride ourselves on how well we look on the outside, and we forsake the

inside. Jesus doesn't care as much about the outside of you as much as

he cares about your soul. And that's what he cared about. Yes,

this man was gonna get physically heal, but he says, you know what

greater than you beginning to walk again and physically heal, you need to be

delivered from your sins. So I'm gonna speak to those sins first, this

sin issue first. And so you could be glamorous, and you can be

beautiful, and you can smell good, but how many of you know you

can look beautiful on the outside but ugly on the inside. And I don't

just want to be beautiful on the outside. I want to be beautiful on

the inside. And that's the first story that Jesus begins to address. Next

scripture, please move quickly, move quickly. And he reclined at the table

in a house, and many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and

his disciples, For there were many who followed him. And when Jesus heard

it, he said to them, those who are well have no need of

a physician, but those who are sick I came to call. I came

not to call the righteous, but the sinners. The second story that we

read is about the calling of Levi, or would turn his name to Matthew,

who was a tax collector who embezzled money. Basically, he worked for

Rome, and he could charge as much as he wanted to Jewish people,

and then he gave Rome their part, but he pocketed a lot of money,

so he went It's amazing that he went after this. It's amazing where

Jesus did, Minister, And I'll come back to that. But number one

is this, whose invitation will you accept or not accept? Do you take

invitations based upon how they make you feel and comfortable you are? Jesus accepted

this invitation. And if a blown rank sinner and you describe what that sinner

is, because I'm I'm not gonna put words in your mouth or describe them.

If they invited you to their party, would you show up or would

you be sacriligious? Oh? I don't do those. I don't associate with

your kind. No, then you might find Jesus there and never make it

there. It would blow you away to see because Jesus was a revolutionist.

He was a non conformist, but absolutely pure and godly, and he was

jeeus. It was God by manifested, so everything he did was righteous and

pure. But it goes against our traditions because we think we're gonna they're gonna

rub off on us. What about us rubbing off on them? Now,

I'm just didn't engage in their sin. You're not gonna have an orgy with

them, You're not gonna get drunk with them, You're not gonna smoke weed

with them. He's not gonna watch dirty, drting movies with them, but

he's gonna be there in their presence and enjoy the connection and the relationship.

That's what the story of Matthew is. Who do you interact with and hang

out with that are unsaved? Think about that. I want you to think

about that right now. Who do you interact with that are unsaved? Don't

be hanging around Christians all the time alone, That's what I mean alone.

You need to be hanging around unsaved friends or who's going to get saved?

Somebody hung around you and your nasty, perverted self that you used to be.

Who is sick that you want to see healed? Who is sick in

sin right now that you want to see healed? And Jesus could save anybody.

He could save anybody, doesn't matter. And I know we believe and

somebody out of tradition believes that some people should not be saved or have a

right to be saved, whether they are child molesters or murderer or rapist or

the worst of worst society and some people, but well, I believe that

drunkard and that drug addiction saying, but not that child molester? Why not?

Why not? That is your tradition and not Jesus's tradition. He came

to seek and to save that which is lost. All right? Sorry,

So the reality is, where do you do ministry? Where do you do

gospel? Where ministry is people? Where do you do people, influencing them,

witnessing to them, interacting with them, serving them, touching, having

conversations with them, and connecting with them. In these stories, we see

that he did it by a lakeside. We see he did it in a

marketplace. He did it in houses and homes, He did it in a

synagogue, He did it in orchard and fields and outdoors. Ministry is not

limited to church. Jesus went everywhere. He was the Mobo church. And

too much of us think that we are only righteous and holy when ministry is

done inside this building, and see all the places. Jesus went to minister

next door very quickly, come on, come on, come on, stop

breathing. And Jesus said to them, can this wedding guess fast? Well,

the bridegroom is with them. As long as the bridegroom is with them,

they cannot fast. The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away.

That's at Jesus at his crucifixion. John says, behold the bridegroom.

He was the bridegroom. Okay. And it goes on, and it says,

no one sows a piece of unshrunked cloth on the old garment. He

does. If he does, the patch tears away, and the new from

the old, and the worst tear is made. And this is all describing

fasting, he's saying, right now, this is all describing fasting right now.

And no one puts new wine into old wine skins. If he does,

the wine will burst the skins and the wine is destroyed, and so

are the skins. But the new wine is for fresh wine skins. That's

the next one. Let me go to this one, now, let me

go to this one. So Jesus now is talking about fasting, and when

he talks about the old and the new, he's talking about the old Testament

versus the New Testament, now, which is good. The New Testament is

good. And then he goes on he talks about when he talks about fasting

and the old and the new, he's talking about the laws and the old

Testament, but now grace that we are under through the New Testament. He's

talking about the old man in his habits, is thinking his ways and his

sin versus the new man in Christ that has transformed and changed, and now

he's delivered, healed, and forgiven. All of those are a testament of

what fasting is. He talks about in Revelations that he's going to give us

a new name, he's going to give us a new garment, that we're

going to enter into a wedding feast, and there is now new wine at

that wedding feast. All of that is a picture of the future. Fasting

was not fasting. What fasting was not trying to earn something. During the

Old test Of people fast because they were in pain, they were in suffering,

they were in hardship. Now Jesus is saying, I paid for your

sins kind of thing, and there's no more suffering, So you don't have

to fast for suffering anymore. You fast to get to deny the flesh and

to get more in tune with me. But it's not a rule and a

regulation that makes you more sanctified and more holy and more righteous. And you're

trying to earn something from me. So when he talked about fasting, it's

important to understand that because the Pharisees would use it as them being more self

righteous and more holier than ever before. So now we get into Mark two,

in verse two seven and verse number twenty eight, it goes on to

say, and he said to them, the Sabbath was made for man,

not man. For the Sabbath. The son of Man is lord. This

is very important. He's lord over the Sabbath, which means he's the completerer

of the Sabbath. He's the finisher of the Sabbath. Okay, when Jesus

died on the cross, he said, it is finished. It is finished

now through Christ Jesus, and you're accepting him, you enter into a place

of rest, which the Sabbath is. It's a place of rest in God

rest. So they made it as a day of observation rules and regulations.

The Pharisees. God told us in the word that we are to honor the

Sabbath. They created thirty nine additional rules that govern what you should do on

the Sabbath. And that's why he came came out with this teaching and said,

you hypocrites. If you had a mule or a horse that fell into

a ditch on the Sabbath, would you not go and rescue that horse in

their time and need? And he said, have you not read that David?

When he was hungry, he went through the grain fields and he ate

of the wheat of the grain. And so they didn't have an understanding in

the nitpick. They blew it out of proportion. It was all legalistic when

it talked about the Sabbath. So here's what you need to understand when we

talk about the Sabbath. The Sabbath was a time for us to stop depending

on self and a time to stop and depend really upon God. The Sabbath

was a time to rest and revive and to restore ourselves. The Sabbath was

a place where we don't do business, but we eat the fruit of the

bla. The Sabbath was not made. It was made to be a blessing

to us, not a burden to us. And again it's it's a day

for us to benefit from this day of rest rather than controlling and governing our

lives. So when they walked through the grain fields and they ate, they're

saying, I'm not laboring to work and earn something for business. I need

to eat and I'm enjoying the fruit of it. And so it became a

lot of rules, and it came a lot of regulations. And last of

all was the man with the withered hand that was healed. The man with

the withered hand that was healed, and he said, stretch forth thy hand.

That's what he told him, and then he told him to stand before

him. So you need to recognize that sometimes Jesus will require something of you.

It's not just done sovereignly. He may tell you to stand up and

that's embarrassing in front of all those people. And he may tell you to

stretch out your hand here saying, don't you know that I'm crippled and I'm

withered. How can I stretch out my hand? He said, well,

stretch it to the best of your ability. And as you stretch it,

by faith, you're gonna get healed. And so a lot of people expect

God to do everything and won't do what God's asked them to do or obey

God in whatever he's challenging you to do. But I want to show this

verse here now in mark three. I think it's verse five, Hobby mark

three and verse five, and he looked around at them and with anger.

Do you believe that Jesus ever gets angry? What do you do with that

scripture? And grieved? He was grieved, angry and greed. Jesus is

upset right now. He's upset at the Pharisees because of the hardness of their

hearts. They care more about their ritualism, they care more about keeping their

ceremonialism, They care more about their legalism than this man. Get he healed

and he ain't going away and him having now freedom, enjoying his life.

But it's amazing to me that how Jesus was angry and he got grieved.

He got grieved because of the hardness of their heart where they lacked compassion,

sensitivity toward this man. This is my story. I don't know if it's

anyone else's story. But I grew up as a Catholic. I went to

eight years of Catholic school. I was an altar boy, and there were

a lot of traditions that I had at that particular time. I believe that

I had to do my confirmation. It was told to me that I had

to do my confirmation that would make me more righteous, and God would be

pleased and I be a better person. I don't know where in the Bible

it said that, but tradition told me that I was to do that.

Tradition told me that I was to do this all the time, whenever I

was scared, whenever I was fearful, whenever I felt religious, whenever I

felt holy, I was to do this. Where in the Bible does it

say make the sign of the cross on your head, your chest, and

the size of the ear. Where does it say that in the Bible?

Where did that come from? Who invented that? But I believe that that

made me more righteous, and I believe that that made me more pure.

I was taught to pray Hail Mary prayers and Our Father prayers. Where is

that in the Bible that I am to pray Hail Mary full of grace the

Lord is with thee. Where does it say that I'm supposed to do that

seven times or eight times based upon my sins. That was a way of

remitting my sins. That I was to go into this little closet and talk

to this man with a caller, and he would remit my sins. Where

in the Bible is that, But tradition told me that I was supposed to

do that. Religion told me that I was taken to Eucharist, which was

this piece of cracker that they believed is actually Jesus's body, and through me

partaking of it, then purification would take place. Where in the Bible does

it say that, but tradition said that I was to do that. I

don't know where we come up with things, but we need to start searching

our Bible and really making sure that it's found in the Bible and it's not

the pharaceutical way of adding things that bind us and make us more traditional.

These are what I call and I don't mean to be irreligious, but there

are a lot of dumb laws, just dumb regulations and dumb laws. As

I begin to close this out with five more minutes, I'm going to show

you some dumb laws that you aren't even aware of that are in California.

Right now, watch the screen, Look at the screen right now. Let

me show you some dumb laws that are in California. Dumb laws in California,

laws that are in California. Okay, looks like I'm not getting no

dumb laws that are in California. There we go. In Balwyn Park,

no one is allowed to ride a bicycle in a swimming pool, So law,

you're gonna get a ticket. In blythe you are not permitted to wear

cowboy boots unless you already own at least two cows. What the heck Burlin

game? It is illegal to spit except on a baseball diamond. Carmel ice

cream may not be eaten while standing on a sidewalk, repealed when Clesey Eastwood

was mayor. Women may not wear high heels. Well in city limits,

you bunch of legal law breakers. You want godly women community leaders? Pass

in order that makes it illegal for anyone to try and stop a child from

playfully jumping on puddles of water. Well, you better arrest my kids.

Come on now. It is illegal to cry on the witness Dad. In

Lodi, it is illegal to own or sell silly strangan It is illegal to

set a mouse trap without a honting lit what high like? Women may not

drive in a housecoat? Can you all agree that those are silly rules?

In the In the Pharisees held to silly rules, and that's why they hated

Jesus so much because he broke the traditions and said, these are not found

in my word, and you're putting this burden on mankind. And so I

want to end with this, as you recognize three scriptures, and then I'm

done the way of the Pharisee. Three scriptures stand out in the meantime,

when an in numeral multitude of people gathered together so that they trampled one another,

he began to say to his disciples, first of all, beware of

the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. The Pharisees were hypocrites.

Next scripture. But all their works they did to men. They make philanthrosts

abroad and enlarge the borders of their garment. It was all about appearance.

Well to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you pay your tithe

in mint and this and coming, and have neglected the weightier matters of the

law, justice, mercy, and faith. These ought to have been done

without leaving the other laws. So we see here, We see here when

he says hypocrite. The word hypocrite is the word actor. An actor is

found on a stage, the actor is found on a movie theater, and

he says, you Pharisees are a bunch of actors. Just didn't talk nize

did. He said? Your a bunch of pretenders and you're a bunch of

hypocrites because I know what's really going on in your life with all your judging

and all your styling and profiling to impress men. Now here we go.

I'm gonna just show you on the screen. This is all not all.

I had to stop. This was the way of the Pharisee, and you

could take a picture of it. Their prayers weren't sincere, but for show

they prayed long prayers, very articulate prayers, but they had no relationship with

the One and they were not sincere. So you got to watch your prayer

life. What am I trying to tell you? We've got to learn from

these stories. Is it possible that diego and you can be a little bit

pharaceutical sometimes caught up in tradition, ritualism, and religion. Yes, so

watch it. They brag about their own goodness. Do I ever do that?

They love money, status, stature and positions entitled? Do I ever

do that? They're boastful about their accomplishments and resume? Do I do that

they can't be taught by anyone. Do I do that? They're highly jealous,

envious, greedy, and full of hatred. Don't care about the lost

hold to their traditions at the expensive scriptures hard to rip t in. Are

more justice driven than mercy driven. Public life doesn't match their private life.

Very knowledgeable, but not equally obedient. I know the Bible, but I

don't practice it. Easily offended, Oh dary An upset. Honor men more

than honor God, see everyone else's air, but are blind to their own.

Can I be like that? Can you be like yes? Think loud

praises are unnecessary. Church is too loud all day, all that dancing stuff

like we need to be very pious and respectful, and they take advantage of

the vulnerable, the widows, the poor. They care more about how they

are perceived or validated, and they always need another sign from God before they'll

believe. I think there are some things that you and I need to look

at that are in our lives. And I'm gonna ask God as I pray

to break the traditions that maybe maybe binding you today. And I know that's

hard, because you're good people today and you might be saved, but you

may be bound by tradition today, and these traditions are hindering and influencing and

affecting your relationship with Christ. Traditions are like this, I can't own that.

Who told you? You can't own that? I can't be that,

I can't become that. I can't be a faithful to one woman, I

can't be faithful to my children. I don't know how to become holy and

righteous. Who's saying that? Your tradition is saying that, And we need

to break that tradition off of you. We need to break the tradition of

selfishness in your life or self sabotaging beliefs that are in you. The fears,

the worries, the jealousies, the isolations, all these things are forms

of tradition that you may not even be aware of. For years, I

drived an inexpensive car in this church for years because I was afraid of what

the members would think about me. And they're not even members of the church

anymore. Where did that tradition come from that I am not worthy to drive

something that is already in the parking lot. Where did it come from that

I'm not just as good as every other preacher. But I'm less than and

they're better than me. Where did that come from? That self sabotaging belief?

Today you might be having them. Father, we lift people up tonight.

We break off any phariseceutical spirit, attitude or tendency that's in our lives.

As we saw the list. Maybe not all nineteen of them, God,

but there might just be one that's there where I am like a pharisee.

I judge who can be saved and who can't be saved. I'm a

pharisee. I don't care for the lost. I could be a pharisee.

Oh God, that I boast too much and I'm too arrogant, and I'm

very jealous and greeds God, I could be a pharisee. God. Or

the traditions God, I don't know where they came from. God. That

bind me, God, that self sabotage me, that limit me, that

restrict me, O God, and I'm not free. My relationship with you

is hindered. Oh God. I see what I do as a burden.

I see what I do as duty. I see what I do as drudgery.

Oh God, I'm trying to prove something I'm trying to merite something.

I'm trying to earn something that's not what you've asked me to do. Oh

God. I'm free, and I'm free and you, O God, and

all you want is a loving, joyful relationship with me. Oh God.

You're not counting things and keeping score of things the way I think you are

in my mind. God, You're not mad at me. You don't have

a bat in your hand, ready to slap me down and curse me and

beat me every time I do wrong. Your arms are reaching out and say,

run to me, you sinner. I love you, and I will

heal you and I will deliver. What is it, God, that keeps

me? What is it that limits my mind my attitude? What is it

that binds me, O God, from really believing that I'm loved by you,

accepted by you, called by you, chosen by you, blessed by

you, Oh God. And you don't want anything from me other than me

to enjoy you, Oh God. I pray today for freedom over every people

today, Oh God, that we break the religious spirit off of them God,

in the name of Jesus, O God, every form of religious spirit,

we break it off of them. God, And may they walk in

a sense of freedom. Now and not curse, and not judgment, and

not regulations and not ritualisms, and not guilt and not condemnation. Be free

now in the name of Jesus. Amen, come on, lest thank God,

right now, Come on, thank God, right now, Come on.

I'm free. I'm free. In the name of Jesus. I'm free.

I'm free. I'm free. I'm free. I'm free. No more

guilt, no more shame, no more condemnation. I'm free. I don't

have to be religious, no more before we dismiss. If you don't know

Jesus is your personal Lord and savior, you could be like these pharisees.

You could be like me, very very familiar with religion, the Bible,

the things of God. But it's not in your heart. It's not in

your heart. During that period of time, you would have seen Diego.

He was dressed in the wardrobe. He wore a little altar. Boy.

It looked like a little priest. But when he left that church, Oh,

you don't want to see the way Diego acted. And Diego believed,

as long as he had more good works and bad works, if there was

a heaven, he go there. If there was a hell. He wouldn't

go there because they'll look at how all these things he's doing. There are

a lot of people like me, your spiritual out people are very spiritual today,

very spiritual. They believe in theories, gurus, philosophies, wooing and

wowing candles, crystals, beads. They're very spiritual. But they put everything

into one container. You know what you have to decide today. My spirituality,

being ritual is not gonna save me. The only one that can save

me is Jesus Christ. I'm a sinner and I need Jesus to forgive me

of my sins to save me from the judgment of my sin. Where you

say I'm a Christian, but I writing defensive compromise, in and out,

up and down. God never left me, but I left God to go

back into the way of the world. Like the Bible says the pig returning

back to its MIRI pit, would you come back home now? Or he

said? I love God and everything's going great. I'm born of his spirit,

but I'm not filled with the spirit, with the evidence of speaking in

tongue, and I want everything that God has for me. When I count

to three, I'm gonna ask you to raise your hand as high as I'm

raising my hand, and we're gonna pray for you today. Be the best

decision you've ever made. Come to faith in Jesus Christ. You may have

your outside together, let's work on your inside now. One two, don't

be a shame. Your hand won't be the only end. Give your life

to Jesus. Rededicate or you want to be filled. One two, three,

Raise your hand wherever you are all across this auditorium. God love you,

God bless you. I see those hands. Let's say a prayer and

let's meet it from our heart. Say, dear Lord Jesus, you know

my name, you know my blood type, you know my SOULI security,

you know everything about me, and nothing is hidden from you. Today I

acknowledge that you're the only one that can change me. You're the only one

that could deliver me, and you're the only one that could save me.

And I ask you now to come and live in my heart and to be

my lord and savior. And now give me the courage for this not to

be a moment, but for the rest of my life. In Jesus' name.

Come on, you invited them. God saved them. Let's put our

hands together. We really hope you enjoyed the message, and if you said

yes to Jesus, we just want to say congratulations and give you a free

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