Speaker 1: 0:18

Hi, my name is Bella Bachman. I'm a junior and I go to Benicia High School. Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples.

Speaker 1: 0:25

The scribes and the Pharisees are seated in the chair of Moses. Therefore, do whatever they tell you and observe it, but don't do what they do, because they don't practice what they teach. They tie up heavy loads that are hard to carry and put them on people's shoulders, but they themselves aren't willing to lift a finger to move them. They do everything to be seen by others. They enlarge their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels. They love the place of honor at banquets, the front seats in the synagogues, greeting in the places of marketplaces and to be called rabbi by the people. But you are not to be called rabbi because you have one teacher and you are all brothers and sisters. Do not call anyone on earth your father, because you have one father who is in heaven. You are not to be called instructors either because you have one instructor the Messiah. The greatest among you will be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. This is the word of the Lord, thank you.

Speaker 2: 1:16

Thanks be to God. Thank you, good job. All right, it's awesome. So we are jumping into chapter 23. Congratulations, we've been walking through Matthew in this slow, methodical pace. It's called expository teaching verse by verse. So we're going to hit every single verse and unpack it today. Chapter 23, actually, through 25, if you've got that old school lead letter Bible, it's also in your phone. If you use U version, it's all Jesus.

Speaker 2: 1:45

This is one of his five discourses. This is one of his largest teaching moments, discourses that we are now going to begin and unpacking, where he's just talking and talking and teaching, and teaching and teaching. This is also the final one before we start the passion moment. This is called the Olivet Discourse. This is where Jesus is literally taking on the role of Jeremiah and Ezekiel. These were like thunderous Old Testament prophets and, as Jeremiah, jesus is verbally being very clear and coming in to the priests and the Sadducees and the Pharisees and talking about their hypocritical behavior in chapter 23. And we're going to get into it, not today, but he's going to call out specific woes that we're going to see, and he's going to call out things against the temple until eventually we see he actually leaves the temple for this last time and then does some teaching up in the Mount of Olives. So that's what we're Mount of Olives, so that's what we're kind of jumping into. There's five big blocks in the book of Matthew. We're now starting this last big block, so let's get into chapter 23. You guys all know what a loophole is right. We love loopholes. It's like our way of getting around things, like getting around the law right, and this comes actually naturally to most, all of us. I don't think anybody actually has to teach us to try to find a technicality in a rule Like it begins.

Speaker 2: 3:07

Young, like I mean young, young, right, those of you who have young children. I remember when I was in college I had a balcony and I had a dorm room on the fourth floor and I was launching water balloons at people secretly and I had a great. And I had a dorm room on the fourth floor and I was launching water balloons at people secretly and I had a great time right. And I was about to get in a lot of trouble because the dorm police showed up at my dorm room and said hey, were you launching water balloons off of your balcony about an hour ago? And my response was I was not launching water balloons an hour ago from that balcony, right, what I didn't tell him. It was actually more like 47 minutes ago, right, you remember those conversations, right, with your parents when you got in tons of trouble because you like went to your friend's house or that party and your mom was like, are their parents going to be home? And then you got back and they were like I asked you if their parents are going to be home and you were like, yeah, you did ask me if their parents were going to be home and I knew eventually the parents would return to their home, right? So when I said yes, their parents are going to be home, I meant like eventually you didn't say are their parents going to be home during the party? So technically I didn't lie. You remember that Christians, we love loopholes.

Speaker 2: 4:27

It's not just Christians, it's really all religious people, it's everybody really, but it's all religious people. Every religion has a book or a document or a list where you have something to kind of gather around and talk about. And when it gets really, really difficult, you find a loophole, right, you're like man, I'm not sure about that. And if you don't, actually you know to where you don't actually have to do what the book or the document says and this is true of all religions. You know, like, when it says don't lie, we're like, well, like. But if it's a baby lie, right, a white lie, right, it depends on what's taking place. And you go to like the Catholic church and you have to give penance to be forgiven by the church and you only a priest can make up. This is how many our fathers and how many Marys you have to say and you have to do, and then you'll be in right with the church, but only they get to decide that. That's like this cool little rule of like. Oh, okay, cool. I just got to say these couple of things, like five of those and three of those.

Speaker 2: 5:25

Or, you know, it's like these super liberal Christians and they have this great system too, this great loophole like, where they run into something they don't like and they go like well, I don't really believe Jesus said that. We think it's just a result of oral tradition and you know this is hundreds and hundreds and even thousands of years old, and so we just disregard this altogether. Or one of the things that I hear all of the time is you know like, oh, yeah, you know the Old Testament, it's old, right, it's old, and you know the Old Testament teaches like things like this word tithing, right, but we're New Testament, like, we're New Testament people and so we're not accountable to Old Testament stuff and therefore I don't have to tithe. And that's kind of like a cool theological workaround, isn't it Right, see, now I get to say I'm free from what the Old Testament tells me that I should do because I'm in the New Testament and it's like cool and technically true. But that's the point of a loophole. A loophole is that you're technically correct. Technically, I didn't say the parents weren't going to be home during the party, but I think you knew what I meant, right? And there's a whole bunch of them. There's a whole bunch of those things. And it's dangerous to be a loophole, to be a loophole Christian or follower, because really at that point you can get away with anything, can't you? Like you can land on both sides of the issue if you need to.

Speaker 2: 6:55

And people have hated other people with a verse. People have persecuted Jews with a verse. People have enslaved black people with a verse. People have persecuted homosexuals with a verse. People have shunned women from leadership with a verse or a tattoo with a verse, or a kid out of wedlock with a verse, or you're not allowed in this church anymore because you got a divorce with a verse, or that is sinning because you married interracially with a verse. And when someone confronts them with a verse, they actually had a verse from the and they found a way to do this. They found a way to disregard and to mistreat people from whom Jesus died using his Father's words. And that's crazy. It's crazy that we do that and some have used this as a weapon and some have been harmed by this. You know, just give me a minute and I'll find justification for about whatever behavior that I want. And that's what loophole Christians do. I love the way Pastor Andy Stanley said this. He says if your belief allows you to mistreat people, you are misbelieving as well as misbehaving.

Speaker 2: 8:17

They ask questions like this, you know, like how close can I actually get to sin without actually sinning? Like where's the line right? Like how bad can I be? Like what's the edge right here? And let me tell you, I worked for 11 years. My first 11 years was just with students in student ministry and let me tell you, the purity talks were bright. I mean it was all the things like can you define what sex is or is not right? Or like what bases can I round right? Like what is this? Like where is the edge? Those are just the things we think and we're like what's the edge right here?

Speaker 2: 8:53

Now Jesus ran into this all the time, not exactly that conversation, I'm sure, but conversations like this right. And so by the time where people were kind of poking at it, like what does this look like? And we've unpacked some of that over the last couple weeks, but by the time Jesus showed up, the religious leaders, the Pharisees in particular, were so in love with the commands they'd sort of forgotten the intent of the commander. That happens in all religions, like you kind of fall in love with the commands and you forget what the commander had in mind with these commands. And so they'd fallen so in love with these commands so much they actually came up with extra commands to keep you from accidentally violating the actual real commands, rules to keep people from breaking the rules. Right, the rule before the rule before the rule. And we do that as well. We do the same exact thing.

Speaker 2: 9:44

You remember growing up, you know, sitting in the living room with your girlfriend or your boyfriend and you're sitting on the couch and then you go and you turn the lights off, right, and everybody freaks out. They're like no, no, no, no, the lights need to stay back on. And you're like I didn't know we had a rule that thou shall not turn off lights. Like you're like, wait a minute, since when do we not turn off the lights? Like we turn off the lights all the time in the house. Like, in fact, you usually yell at me turn off the lights, turn off the lights. Why is your light still on? Like, keep the lights on, right. What is that? Well, it's to keep you from messing around, right, like we don't want pink and blue, no, purple. Like we're making sure. So the issue of the lights really is the issue of messing around. That's the rule before the rule, and we're going to have to have the rule to keep you from breaking the rule. So when Jesus showed up, there's literally hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of these rules over time that they had begun to equate with the rule from breaking the rule. Which were the actual rules? And what it was is. It was just weighty, like it was so much. And you know what else Loophole.

Speaker 2: 10:46

Christians quickly, easily become hypocrites. We love that word. That's what keeps a lot of us from church, right, I'm sure many of you have stayed away, or even online. You're staying away right now, just kind of like watching in right now, just checking this place out, being like, is this safe or not? Because the church is full of this, and surely you have asked this question why are Christians hypocrites? And it's a serious question. It's a really important one, because hypocrisy is literally destroying our witness, like how we represent that big old word out there. That's our vision, which is why Jesus speaks, I think, so clearly and even harshly about it in today's passage, and he's loving enough to actually talk about it. You ever had one of those friends who they're just loving enough to say the thing that you need to hear. Those are real friends, people who care about you.

Speaker 2: 11:41

The entire chapter in Matthew 23,. He goes off about this specifically because it matters, and I hope that this morning it's gonna matter to you and I too, and I hope that God will do a work in us this morning as we open up our heart to the truth that this might not be just something out there or them or they, but it might be in here too, amongst us, amongst myself. So here's what Jesus has to say. Matthew, chapter 3, verse 1. Then Jesus said to the crowd so what's the then there? For Then is because he has been in a conversation now with a handful of the religious leaders, the political leaders, over the entire last chapter, engaging their questions. Now it's switched, they're done asking the questions. Now he's going to begin this discourse, this address, and he says it to the crowds. Others say it says first he's talking to his disciples, but there was large crowds gathered to hear, because they wanted to hear this as well.

Speaker 2: 12:47

The teachers of the law and the Pharisees, he said, sit in Moses's seat. We use the NIV translation around here. First off, I'm going to show you this is a picture of Moses's seat. This was found back in the 1920s. Archaeologists found this and this was a seat of authority. They would sit in this seat, like before. They would teach. This was a representative of. They have the authority to speak on behalf of the scriptures or sharing the scriptures. This is an honorable spot.

Speaker 2: 13:15

So Jesus is saying the teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. Another translation, the NASB. This is a much more intellectual like, probably more accurate. You use this for study. That's the NASB. It says the scribes and the Pharisees, he said, have seated themselves Fascinating that word. They have seated themselves in, fascinating that word. They have seated themselves in the chair of Moses.

Speaker 2: 13:37

It's interesting how Jesus remarked how the Pharisees and the Sadducees come into their position of authority, that they grab this power for themselves, but nevertheless they're in the chair of Moses. And so then, what does Jesus do? He bids his disciples to do and observe as they tell you. You should do what they say and observe what they do, or do what they say. So, he says, must be careful to do everything that they tell you to, but do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. Have you heard that line before? Did you know that was actually from Jesus? Right Practice what you preach. Quoted by Jesus of Nazareth, it came right there from then.

Speaker 2: 14:19

Then, even though the scribes and the Pharisees seem to have these different rules, like these rules for thee, but not for me right Attitude, jesus didn't want his disciples to follow their bad example. Have you ever been fed this line before? Do as I say, not as I do. Right, I can tell you my own confession. We're just going to do a public confession right now. I have noticed I do the same thing when it comes to the speed limit versus my kids' expected speed limit. Right, you're like, yeah, I can go that fast. You're not allowed to. You need to follow the speed limit. My 17-year-old. There is no promise and I'm just literally like let's just call a duck a duck, right. What I'm saying is like hello, I'm a hypocrite, right, literally. In that moment.

Speaker 2: 15:04

And Jesus continues, says they tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. This is all these extra rules, and I think maybe even at this time, it would be good to pause and just let's be honest, it's way easier to say they right. As we're reading this and as we're unpacking this, they referencing the Pharisees they right, the Pharisees, they right. But today, could we just allow God to use this passage as a mirror and have me go within myself instead of thinking about and calling out others for their hypocrisy. And here's why Because if I stood up here and I just started calling things out and calling others out, I would be doing exactly what the hypocrites were doing that Jesus was calling them out for in Matthew, chapter 23. So, okay, verse five. So maybe it's up to you, but maybe from now on, maybe replace that word they with we to understand it a little differently.

Speaker 2: 16:12

Verse five everything they do is done for people to see you with me. So now he fleshes this out Everything they do is done for people to see. They make their phylacteries wide and their tassels on their garments long. They love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues. They love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called rabbi by others.

Speaker 2: 16:39

So here Jesus told his disciples and the listening crowds the ways that the scribes and the Pharisees dressed, like what they wore in order to draw attention to their fake righteousness right Kind of that outside image persona, that they broaden their phylacteries and that they lengthen the tassels of their garments. And see, scribes and Pharisees wore religious garments and accessories to make themselves identifiable as religious figures. Many people who are part of religion do the exact same thing, but it wasn't as big and as bold and grandy, and there's nothing that's inherently wrong with this. Jesus doesn't chastise the Pharisees for wearing phylacteries or having tassels. It's actually likely that Jesus wore similar garments and we actually see this when the woman touched his tassels and reached out for his garment. But he called them out because the purpose of wearing these garments was to be noticed by men, to draw attention to them.

Speaker 2: 17:39

And so some of you are asking what's a phylactery right? Phylacteries were these small box and containers that had, like these tiny scrolls of scriptures inside. Same sort of deal with the mezuzah on a doorpost. This is you can see in this picture. They would wear it on their forehead and then it would be like attached by a leather band on their left arm and or forehead at the same time.

Speaker 2: 18:02

And the phylacteries. This idea came from this literal interpretation from Moses' exhortations on how to live and how to teach God's commandments. This comes from the Torah, back in Exodus Deuteronomy. He says you shall therefore impress these words of mine on your heart and in your soul and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. So the core concern of this, as it pertains to what is his intent right here again, it pertains to the heart. The heart is what God actually cares about the most, not our appearance. And so the reason Moses was saying hey, bind these words on your hand and on the frontals of your forehead was so that it would be this ever-present reminder as a sign for your heart.

Speaker 2: 18:56

But the Pharisees broadened their phylacteries and made them bigger, showing off all this scripture Look at all this stuff, I know right as a sign to actually make themselves look more impressive in the eyes of people and even others less. They were twisting God's command about reminding their hearts to love God and to love people and others into the sign of the Pharisees' righteousness for the purpose of exploiting these people. The scriptures and the Pharisees also did the same thing with the tassels of their garments. They lengthened them to be noticed by men, and religious authorities often wore shawls with tassels on them and they would make a fuss over how big and how long their tassels were. The longer the tassels were, the more righteous they appeared. They would have worn them in undergarments Most of all that's still kind of what takes place today. They would hang down.

Speaker 2: 19:53

From under these four corners you can kind of see what a tassel looks like. You can see that it would be under your normal clothes like a special shirt. They'd have these tassels down here, or they would even be in a prayer shawl like this, or a tallit, and they would have worn these in different ways. Jesus, probably mostly, would have worn this and it would be worn worn a couple different ways. It could be worn like this it could be over your shoulder or in prayer. They would literally cover their head and pray like this, or hold the tassels, and on the tassels you have these different knots and these threads and they represent the 613 laws from the Torah, and so they would go through that and they would wear it, and this is how they appeared, and it would be even bolder and more grandiose and they're hypocrites and that's what Jesus is dressing.

Speaker 2: 20:42

So what's a hypocrite? Well, we've talked about this before, that the word hypocrite, its original form, is a Greek word. That's not even a negative word. It was a word that meant actor, like a play actor or someone who could act and become this other character or put on a fake mask or a fake self.

Speaker 2: 21:01

And during the Sermon on the Mount, which is Jesus's first discourse we see back in Matthew 5 through chapter 7, he outed specifically such people as hypocrites, as righteous pretenders, and Jesus presented three ways in that sermon of how these hypocrites displayed their fake righteousness for others. Specifically in this time we see that he talks about those who are giving to the poor, those who are praying and fasting. We'll see in the coming weeks the woes. He identifies some other ways as well. But if you were to go back in Matthew, chapter six, it says Jesus is saying so when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do, in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Or in verse five when you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the streets, so others, so that they may be seen by men.

Speaker 2: 22:06

Or in verse 16, whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face, as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men that they are fasting. So you see he's saying come on. Like I see this. Like stop putting on the show. Like I can see you're an actor and you look for the loopholes to build yourself up. Everything they do is done for people to see. They make their phylacteries wide, their tassels on their garments long. They love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues. They love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called Rabbi Baruch by others.

Speaker 2: 22:47

Now Jesus then tells them three things they should not do, and these commands are likely hyperbole, but it's in order to make a very specific point. So then he says but you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth father, for you have one father and he is in heaven. Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one instructor the Messiah. So three things that Jesus forbids in this scripture were don't be called rabbi, don't call anyone your father and don't be called leaders or instructors. And these statements one is our teacher, one is our father and one is our leader is in this fascinating combination. There's this explicit reference to the opening statement of this Jewish prayer called the Shema, which is how it starts Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one In the trio of these statements made by Jesus one is your teacher, one is your father, one is your leader are also this allusion to the Trinity.

Speaker 2: 23:59

It's this oneness that he speaks of, the unity and the simplicity of God. And the declaration of these three speaks to God in his triune nature, and each of these phrases likely reference to a respective member of the Trinity. So you have the Holy Spirit, one teacher. And then he says and you are all brothers, we are all brothers. Nehemiah says you gave your good spirit to instruct us, and John in the New Testament, but the helper, the Holy Spirit, for whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and bring to remembrance all that I have said to you. And Luke, for the Holy Spirit will teach you in the very hour what you ought to say. In this phrase, you are all brothers can allude to how God's spirit actually unites us in this bond of peace.

Speaker 2: 24:56

Ephesians talks about how being diligent to preserve the unity of the spirit that we all share in the bond of peace. Then you have the other one, god, the Father. The one Father says who is in heaven. So just as the Father has compassion on his children, in Psalms 103, it says, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him. Or from Matthew, when Jesus is talking about prayer but when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father, who is in secret, and your Father, who sees what you have done in secret, will reward you. In 1 John, the apostle John says see how great the love of the father has bestowed on us that we would be called children of God. So you have the teacher, the Holy Spirit who instructs, you have the father who is in heaven, and then you have God. The Son is our leader, that is Christ, the Messiah. Simon Peter answered when he was asked who am I? He says you are the Christ, the Son of the living God. In Revelation, the apostle John says and on his robe and on his thigh he has a name written King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and as the Christ, jesus is the King and the King is our leader. So verse 11, the greatest, then he says, among you, will be your servant, for those who exalt themselves will be humbled, but those who humble themselves will be exalted, so the greatest among you shall be your servant.

Speaker 2: 26:32

In the Bible many recorded conversations that Jesus had with his disciples. He had about greatness. This was not a new thing and Jesus never discouraged their ambition to become great Rather. He consistently encouraged them to be great. How he did that on practically all of these occasions, direct them or redirect them in their desire to be the greatest, away from the world's fallen perception and towards the good and beautiful truth about the reality of true greatness, as done through an act of service, servant leadership. Jesus taught his disciples how to become the greatest among you by his words, what he would say, and then his actions, what he would do. And he lived this out. And may we too continue to strive to follow his great example, instead of, you know, lording our position over others and our authority over people, as the world promotes. May we live in this true greatness by actually serving the imago Dei, those who are made in his image, and may we do the work that actually lifts people up, helping others to be successful. And doing that requires living a life of faith, believing God's promise that we will actually gain great benefit from humbling ourselves and serving in ways that bring no earthly reward to us living in this way when it brings us grief oftentimes, that the world then disposes onto us.

Speaker 2: 28:17

And the apostle Paul gives us some beautiful insight into this in the book of Romans, in chapter three. It says in verse 21,. But now, apart from the law, the righteousness. Let me pause for a second. So righteous this word. Righteousness is living in right relationship with God and others. It's like the opposite of hypocrisy. It's being in right relationship with God, others and really all of creation. So he says now the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the law of the prophets have testified, and that this righteousness is given, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all who believe. Did you catch that? The right relationship, in other words, the opposite of hypocrisy, is not something that you attain, it's actually something that is given in faith. How? Faith in Jesus Christ To who? Well, he's very specific here To all who believe, that are in Christ.

Speaker 2: 29:22

He continues on there is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned, hello, and all fall short of the glory of God, amen, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. We all fall short, we know this. So what do we do with this gap that we've created, of falling short between where we're supposed to be and then who we are? Well, honestly, a lot of us fill that by trying to pretend to be something or someone else, and that's hypocrisy. So now I'm talking to everybody in the room hey, hypocrite, what's hiding in your gap, like what's in the I'm sorry really actually to tell you this, but everybody probably actually sees right through it, sees through the show, the image, and then I mean, I think, the question most of us ask and I sat there with it this week too what the heck do I do with this and is there anything that I can actually do? And here's the beautiful gospel truth for all who believe Are you ready for this?

Speaker 2: 30:57

Christians, followers of Jesus, those who are in Christ, are not defined by what they have done with the gap, their hypocrisy, their mistakes, how much that they actually fall short, how little they fall short. Christians, followers of Jesus, the essence of what it means to become and be a Christ follower is not defined what you and I have done with a gap. We are defined by what Jesus has done with a gap. So here's my question for you have you received that gift? Have you received that gift of love? Or are you still trying on your own to just shrink the gap and pretend to be someone else, or maybe even just given up completely? And Jesus in love has responded to that gap for us. So why are Christians hypocrites? Because we've all fallen short and we don't want anyone to know. So what do we do about it?

Speaker 2: 32:03

This is my favorite part you can actually open up your heart, all of your bad behavior, all of your hypocrisy, to the Holy Spirit, the instructor, teacher, because you don't have to actually be afraid when you then turn and look into yourself. If you are in Christ Jesus. If you are in Christ, you are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came through Christ Jesus. And how is this done? I'm going to tell you the really complicated yet very simple answer Confession. It's done through confession. Your character will always be compromised by known, unconfessed sin. Let me say that again your character will always be compromised by known, unconfessed sin. What I should have said is actually I was throwing water balloons like 47 minutes ago. Confession is where this starts. It then moves to repentance, which is away from. I'm going to call that out and say that that is not me, who I want to be, that is not the character in which I want to embody. And I'm going to begin the process, the difficult process of changing my actions, and I want to tell you that this can all happen in a shame-free space. How? Because of grace. Because of grace. You see, that word grace, sometimes I think we're confused about, and it is so powerful and yet I don't think we give it the weightiness it should.

Speaker 2: 33:49

Pastor Eugene Cho he wrote a book back in 2014, had this beautiful analogy of grace. Talked about a speeding ticket. You get pulled over by a police officer You've been going way too fast Comes and says you know how long you been going and what are you all hoping for? I'm gonna let you off with a yeah, that's what we want. We're like the Lord is good. Right, that's what we want. That's not grace, that's mercy. Grace is hey, you did your speeding ticket, lawrence, here is your ticket. And then they give it to you. You deserve this, you have earned this. You didn't meet the expectations that were clearly put in front of you and you're messed up. And here you go Now. Grace is this. Grace is I've given you this ticket, hold on, but now I'm going to give you the money to pay for the fine. And not only am I going to give you money to pay for the fine which you've received and you do deserve, I'm actually going to continue to give you money for future ones. I'm going to pay that forward.

Speaker 2: 34:48

That's this beautiful picture of what grace is, and with that there is grace that is powerful enough to redeem your relationships and the people that you have harmed. It is a grace that is powerful enough to redeem those relationships if you let it change you in Christ, and some of you today need to receive the grace that Jesus offers, that today may you be found in Christ, justified. Justified and made righteous by his grace. And if that's you, it's not time to be a play actor or hide. You don't have to be tough and try to figure out how to close the gap yourself. It's a time to be bold and to be proud and to say like I need that, I actually need that and I want it.

Speaker 2: 35:45

So I'm gonna ask actually all of you to participate for just a moment. I'm gonna ask would you stand if you are a human in need of receiving the grace of God? It's all of us. I really believe it's all of us. We want this, we need this Now. This is a gift of grace. Let's not play around. This is a gift of grace and it says very clearly this is a gift of grace, and this is very clearly for those who believe in, who are found in Christ, believe in Christ.

Speaker 2: 36:18

So some of you maybe you've not made that confession of believing in Christ to be found in Christ, and that can change literally in an instant. It's a proclamation. It's not just done in your heart, it's done physically, with your body. And so I'm going to ask those of you who are not yet there, who are ready to say I want to be found in Christ today and receive the grace that only he can give, by physically raising of your hand, saying I want to receive that gift today and participate. I got y'all in the back. Yeah, there's a handful of you, there's a lot of you. This is maybe for the first time. Literally you're saying hey, I'm confessing, I believe in you and I'm ready to be found in him.

Speaker 2: 37:00

Now let me just tell you this All of you who stand and those of you who have just raised your hand or still actually have your hand up, many have been hurt by Christians acting badly. You will continue to be hurt by Christians acting poorly. And let me finish with this I am so sorry. People have hurt you and I'm just going to warn you, people will hurt you that have claimed the name of Jesus. But the truth is this you can either hate them or you can hate it, and the enemy wants you to hate them and just add to the problem.

Speaker 2: 37:42

And many people have been hurt by the church. Maybe that's why some of you have kept your distance from God. But let me just clarify God did not hurt you. His people might have. Now, that's not an excuse for people in our actions, it's just reality, and I want you to know that they're where the blame lies, and it is not on God himself but man. We're broken. Hypocrisy is not a God problem, it's a follower problem. And think God in heaven. Hallowed be his name for his grace, and may we give it away as we receive it. And so, friends, let's represent this to those around us and let's close the loophole, the loophole.