[0:01] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfredo, Georgia. It is our prayer that you will be blessed by the preaching of God's Word. Take your Bibles and open them with me, if you would, to the book of Mark.
[0:12] And so, hold on one second. This is terrible, but I'm in the middle of something here. Just the internet, don't worry about it. Actually, I'm making sure they had a copy of the notes.
[0:24] I sent them, but they somehow got lost in transition. Turn with me, if you would, to Mark chapter 2. You have just finished the Levi's Luau passage where we are right now.
[0:36] And so, they've just finished that passage of Scripture. And as they are leaving the banquet, these Pharisees, they start talking to Jesus. They are the legalistic religious leaders of the day.
[0:49] And they start talking to Jesus. And they are saying to him, hey, you've been with sinners. You've been breaking religious tradition. Somehow, Christian people or religious people tend to think we're the goody-two-shoes and everybody else is the bad guy.
[1:05] And so, we ought to hang around our crowd. And we ought not hang around this crowd. And Jesus was breaking that tradition. It's a tradition that lives on to today in a lot of ways. The religious leaders, they want an explanation.
[1:17] Jesus says, you guys are missing the whole point of my book. You're missing the whole point of my life. You're missing the whole point of my ministry. You're missing everything.
[1:28] He just got through telling them in the verses prior to this. He said, I came into the world to save sinners. And if you're well, you don't need a doctor. And so, I'm here to get with the people that really need me and need something to happen.
[1:39] And here's the story. They are feasting instead of fasting. They are enjoying being with Jesus. And they just got through eating with Matthew. And they say, how can you be doing that?
[1:52] John the Baptist's boys, they're fasting. And the Pharisees are fasting. And John the Baptist, he's a good guy. Maybe you don't like the Pharisees, but John the Baptist is a good guy. And Jesus said, well, I'll tell you how it works.
[2:03] I'm here. I'm God in the flesh. I am the bridegroom. And so, you should be partying. And if you knew who I was, you'd be having a party too. Because I'm here, and I am everything.
[2:14] Their old ways, their rules, their traditions would do nothing now but hinder what God wanted to do. No way the religious people of that day could handle the truth of grace.
[2:24] Since they had grace all along, but they never understood. Now, don't think the Old Testament's law and the New Testament's grace. Grace has always been the story. But in the Old Testament, they didn't understand grace.
[2:37] Rules weren't made for man to do, but to get man to know he needed God. The law had been so messed up by Israel that it was time for something new. The church is on its way in the book of Mark.
[2:51] The church would be able to understand grace and not rules. The church would understand relationship and not ritual. The church would understand to relax in grace and not regulate by rules.
[3:03] The sad thing is that the church of today and religious leaders have not understood grace and more often than not fall into the same trap as Israel and the Pharisees. So go with me to Mark 2.18.
[3:15] This is like one of the most wonderful passages of Scripture. You should go home today just having a blast in the fact that you know Jesus. How many of you know Jesus? Say amen. Amen. And so the question has been asked about the fasting.
[3:28] Look, if you would, at Mark 2.18. There's a stark contrast between the disciples of Jesus and the disciples of John the Baptist. Mark 2.18. And the disciples of John and the Pharisees used to fast.
[3:41] And they come and say, And then why do the disciples of John and the Pharisees fast? But your disciples, they don't fast. They fast not. And John's fasted. So did all the religious leaders and the strict people.
[3:54] They went without food. They went without water. They had this fasting time. But they just caught Jesus at a banquet. They just caught Jesus at a party. Matthew had thrown a party, invited a whole bunch of lost people.
[4:05] He had all the food and all the treatments and all the music you can imagine. And they came and they caught him at this banquet. They said, You're eating and drinking with sinners. The disciples of Jesus are doing the opposite of what John the Baptist's guys had done.
[4:19] What they taught. You see, John the Baptist is still in that Old Testament thing. He's a good guy. And he's pointing the need to Jesus. But he's still following that Old Testament. He's pointing the way to Jesus.
[4:30] He's getting everybody prepared. But you can't fast at a marriage feast. How many of you have ever been to a wedding? I know we don't have many here. And I know you're not used to weddings.
[4:41] But you know, when they have a wedding here, they put on the dog. That's what we said in Tennessee Hillbilly. They put on the feast. You come in the door. You walk in because the way the building's built, there's food here and there.
[4:52] And nobody's in here fasting. Nobody's been going without food. And even the keto guys are figuring out what they can eat. The ketos. Is that what y'all call yourself? Keto. The ketos.
[5:05] You know, that religious cult in this church. That's a joke. Inside joke. Look, if you would, at Mark 2.19. And Jesus said to them, can the children of the bride chamber fast while the bridegroom's with them?
[5:18] So basically that's saying, what do you think's going on with the bridegroom, the boy that's about to get married, and all his buddies? You think they're all off fasting and praying? No, they're out partying. They just had a bachelor's party.
[5:30] They're eating food. They're drinking. They're getting ready for the wedding. And he said, when they got the bridegroom with them, verse 19, they cannot fast. Jesus said, the bridegroom's here.
[5:42] He said, I am the bridegroom. He said, being with me is like being at a wedding party. I am the bridegroom. This is not a time of sadness, but a time of joy.
[5:53] You know why it was such a time of joy? Because all the promises of the Bible are, bam, coming true right now. In Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15. I hope they'll put it up.
[6:03] I want you to look at it. In Genesis chapter 3, verse 15, when the people messed up at the very beginning, Adam and his wife messed up at the very beginning of creation, God made a promise.
[6:13] And he said, hey, a day is coming when I'm going to let a woman give birth to a baby. And that baby's going to stomp the head of the devil. And God's going to come down here and do a work amongst you. And that's Genesis chapter 3, verse 15.
[6:25] I will put enmity. I'll make enmity. There will be an enmity. That's Spanish. I can't translate it in English right now. I will put a war, a fight, enemies between you and the woman, between your seed, your child and her child.
[6:40] And he will bruise your heel and you'll bruise his head. Say Jesus is going to win. So all of a sudden Jesus is like, you know what they told Adam and Eve? It's happening. I'm here. Time for the party.
[6:51] I have arrived. And so they ought to have gotten happy. Not only did that happen. Look, if you would, in Matthew chapter 1. In Matthew chapter 1 and verse 21, when Jesus is being born, the rejoicing is going on when he's being born.
[7:03] In Matthew chapter 1 and verse 21, she shall bring forth a son. They shall call his name Jesus. For he shall save his people from their sins. Matthew chapter 1 and verse 23, a virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a son.
[7:18] And they shall call his name Emmanuel, God with us. Do you see what's happening? When Jesus is here, it's like, it's all here, man. Everything the Old Testament's talked about.
[7:28] Every promise God's given. I'm here. It's party time. Jesus is here. He said, I'm here to help. Matthew, look at Mark chapter 2 and verse 20.
[7:39] But there will be some sad days coming, he says. Jesus said, they will get some sad days. Look at Mark 2 and verse 20. The day will come when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them and they shall fast in those days.
[7:52] Right now, me and the disciples are running around this country telling everybody about salvation. We're going around telling everybody that the price is about to be paid. I'm about to die on the cross and everybody's going to have salvation.
[8:03] And I'm letting everybody know that this is a great time. It won't be long until they'll be sad because I'll be gone. They'll take me away. I'll be crucified. I'll be dead for three days and three nights and there'll be a sadness.
[8:15] That's a strong hint to the crucifixion that's coming. They'll be fastened. It's going to be dark days. Old Peter's going to go fishing. Jesus will be dead for three long days.
[8:26] But he will rise again from the dead and the joy will come back because the bridegroom will overcome death and the grave and live forevermore.
[8:37] Seated at the right hand of the Father. Amen. But not only that, before I leave this time of rejoicing, I want you to look at John chapter 16 and verse 7. Jesus said, guys, I'm going to leave.
[8:48] But that's good. I'm going to leave and I'm going to go on to heaven. But I'm going to do something really special for you. I'm going to send the Holy Spirit. I'm going to send the comforter. And he is going to live in you and abide in you and you're going to be his temple.
[9:01] And great things are going to happen. So look at John chapter 16 and verse 7. He said, nevertheless, I tell you the truth, it's expedient for you. It's better for you that I go away. For if I don't go away, the comforter will not come unto you.
[9:12] But if I depart, I will send him to you. That comforter is the Holy Spirit. By the way, if Jesus were alive in the flesh or on the earth today, I don't know where he would be in the United States or Israel or Jerusalem.
[9:24] Or if he'd be in Africa or Asia or I don't know where he'd be, but he couldn't be everywhere. He never was. When he was in the body, he wasn't everywhere. This morning, the Holy Spirit's everywhere. If you're saved, he lives in you.
[9:35] You're the temple of the Holy Spirit. When you go home in a little bit, you're going to take the temple of the Holy Spirit home. This is great days. We live in the days of the power of the Holy Spirit of God.
[9:45] We live in days of rejoicing. And so they said to Jesus, why do John and his boys fast? And the Pharisees fast, but you don't. And here's Jesus' answer.
[9:57] Because I am everything y'all been dreaming about. Because I am God in human flesh. And let me just tell you, it's really hard to get sad when you're around joy himself.
[10:10] It's really hard to be hungry when you're around the bread of life. It's really hard not to enjoy it when you've got Jesus here. It ought to be a time of rejoicing. Amen?
[10:21] By the way, he's here right now. He's here right now. By the way, when you go home, he's going to go home with you. When you get on an airplane, Hannah and Gretchen and y'all are heading home, he's going to go with you because he will never leave you nor forsake you.
[10:33] This is a time of rejoicing. We're not going to be doing any fasting, boys. I ain't got time for it. We're partying. That's what he said. It's like a thing. Go with me if you would to Mark 2, verse 21.
[10:45] Now all this goes together. This is beautiful. All this goes together. He said it's time for a change. Time of rejoicing. It's a time for a change. And so he gives them an illustration. Now I think the guys are going to have one of the illustrations, just a picture in a minute.
[10:58] But look at Mark 2, verse 21. He says, Now, for you Alpharetta people, some people used to patch clothes.
[11:19] I know you rich people didn't. You just bought new clothes. Or you bought them all messed up so you could walk around and act like you was poor. You know, you went and bought you a pair of blue jeans all messed up. You came down and said, Look, I'm poor just like you.
[11:29] These cost me $300, but am I a little poor yet? Well, when I was a boy, when I was a boy, we used to have these iron-on patches. And I had them on both knees. That wasn't cool.
[11:41] That was poor. And so here's what he said. He said, You know, if you've got an old piece of cloth and it's already shrunk because you've washed it. This got dingy and it's gotten old.
[11:52] And you had a hole in it and you put a new piece of cloth on it. And you sewed it up and made it look nice and pretty with that new piece of cloth. As soon as you wash it, it will shrink. When you wash it, it will shrink. And when it shrinks, it's going to pucker up the thing, going to tear the other cloth.
[12:05] It's not going to look good because you can't put new with old. Here's a hint. Old Testament, New Testament. Here's a hint. Israel Church. Here's a hint. You guys have messed up on all the things I said about the truth.
[12:18] And now I'm here with the truth. And so I'm going to need a new group to carry the gospel that's going to be the church. Then he's going to give us another one. See, Israel had become harsh and they had totally misunderstood the law.
[12:34] They saw the law as a goal to be attained. They thought God gave us all these rules so we'd know how to live up to them. That was never the purpose. That was never the purpose.
[12:46] It was never like, I am keeping nine of the Ten Commandments. How about you? Oh, I've only got eight. Well, see there? I'm a nine striper and you're an eight striper.
[12:57] I'm a lot better off. That's never the goal. They used the law to judge themselves before God and amongst each other. They weren't ready to reach out to lost people and needy people because they were too focused on themselves.
[13:11] And their purity. Churches get that way sometimes. Arrogant. Better than poor people. Better than dirty people. Better than sinful people.
[13:23] Better than people that have messed up their lives. They would never please Jesus. Can I get an amen or an oh me? Next verse. Mark 2.22. In Mark 2.22 he said, And no man puts new wine into old bottles.
[13:39] Also new wine doth burst the bottles. And the wine is spilled. The bottles will be mired. But new wine must be put into new bottles. So I've got a picture for you, I think. Do you all have a picture? This is a wine bottle.
[13:52] Now if you can tell, it's skin. You see them four legs sticking up and that neck sticking down? I had a picture of the backside, but I didn't figure you'd need to see that tied up. So every hole in that body got all sewed up.
[14:03] I actually got a picture of a Bedouin as he was churning milk in something like this. But what ended up happening, when you got that skin and you put that wine in there, the wine, as it fermented and changed and moved, it stretched that hide and got that hide just right.
[14:17] But the hide, over time, it just reached all it could. You put new wine in it, it's going to burst the thing open. And Jesus said, you don't put new wine or your burst the skins, it'll still be expanding.
[14:28] The old wine skins had a capacity, it couldn't be able to stretch. Israelites were too hung up on the law and rituals to see what it was really about.
[14:39] You know that the law was really about helping hurting people? And somehow religious people lost the meaning of everything God was doing?
[14:55] They had missed the point. They had become focused on the law and punishment. And Jesus said, I need to show you you're wrong. You can flip with me if you want to Matthew chapter 5 and verse 17.
[15:07] Now, in no way did Jesus ever say, I don't like the law and the law is no good. But what he did say was, you religious people have messed it up real bad. Kind of like church people.
[15:19] Read a verse, take it out of context, twist it and manipulate and guilt people and do whatever they want them to do. And that's what he said that's been going on. So in Matthew chapter 5, verse 17, Jesus said, think not that I'm come to destroy the law or the prophets.
[15:31] I'm come to destroy, not come to destroy but to fulfill. I'm not here to get rid of it. I'm here to fulfill it, to prove it, to bring it to pass. Now, I really wish you'd open your Bible there so you'd mark this in your Bible.
[15:43] Because Jesus begins preaching in the Sermon on the Mount and he does this thing that is just so anti-Baptist. He says, this is what y'all been saying, but this is what it really means.
[15:57] This is what y'all been saying, but this is what it really means. You say, I don't believe that. Watch. Watch. Matthew chapter 5 and verse 21. He said, you have heard that it was said by them of old time.
[16:10] You see, what happened is people didn't read the Bible. They read commentaries. People didn't read the Bible. They read theology books. And so the Old Testament people didn't read the Old Testament.
[16:22] They read the mission and the word just slipped my mind. But they read those other books, the Talmud. And they read these other books that were written about the Bible, but they didn't read the Bible. Some of y'all are guilty of that.
[16:34] Sometimes I say to a guy who's a theology guy, I say, how many times have you read the Bible cover to cover? Oh, I haven't yet, but I have read all these theology books. I mean, you make a good Jew. A lost Jew.
[16:45] Say amen. See? So Jesus said, you have heard it said of them of old time, thou shalt not kill, and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of judgment.
[16:56] Verse 22. But I say unto you. And then Jesus clarifies what was meant. See, they were kind of dumbing down the law. But anyway, verse 27, Matthew chapter 5 and verse 27.
[17:07] The Bible says, you have heard that it was said by them of old time. So the teachers, y'all, had said this to you. But verse 28, but I say unto you. Chapter 5 and verse 31.
[17:19] It has been said, verse 32, but I say unto you. Verse 33. Again, you have heard that it had been said by them of old time. I know what your mama told you.
[17:30] I know what your daddy told you. I know you grew up in church hearing it all your life. I know you read it in all the books. But you didn't read the book. Jesus wasn't saying the law was wrong. He was saying what they said was wrong.
[17:43] It was amazing. I grew up scared to death to die. Even though I saved. Because I knew I'd have to go to Baptist purgatory. If you haven't been a good Baptist, you know that. When you die, you get to heaven.
[17:54] They're going to pull out everything you ever said wrong and remind you of it. And they're going to show your life. This was your life, Austin Gardner. Here you are at three already disobeying your mother.
[18:06] You were a bad kid from the get-go. And here you are at six. And here you are at eight. And I was going to, Lord, help me. And they're going to take me all the way through. Man, don't live long because the video gets longer. Amen. And instead of that, I didn't want that to happen.
[18:18] I was like, I'm going to enjoy heaven once I get past the bad stuff. Ain't no bad stuff, guys. No bad stuff. Jesus already took care of the bad stuff. He doesn't even remember my bad stuff.
[18:28] It won't be brought up my bad stuff. Everybody says, you'll face that at the judgment. No, Jesus faced that for me on the cross at Calvary. Matthew chapter 5, verse 33. You have heard it have been said, verse 44.
[18:40] But I say unto you, the point was never to dumb down the law so you could pass it. So what the Israelites had done was, even the Sabbath day rules, they made up a whole bunch of rules to help you not break the Sabbath day rules.
[18:52] So people didn't even know what the real Bible said. But they knew there's like 50 things you had to be careful about doing so you wouldn't break the one rule. Jesus said it in one simple sentence. And they had a whole bunch of junk going with it.
[19:02] They said, well, I had never killed anybody. Of course you had never killed anybody. That's a pretty easy thing to say. Jesus said, well, you got mad and angry and wished them dead in your heart and you killed them. Well, I had never committed a dog.
[19:13] She said, well, you looked at it and thought it, so you did. He was saying, hey, it was never meant for you to be able to keep. It was meant for you to see you were a sinner. The point was never to judge or rank yourself by keeping rules.
[19:26] The law was there to get you ready to hear from God. Say, when did that happen? Well, go to Exodus 25, 21. This is a great verse. You should mark this. Put a star by it.
[19:37] Write it in front of your Bible so you'll find it later. You're going to love this verse. In Exodus, they're building the tabernacle. And they're going to build the Holy of Holies.
[19:47] They're going to build the ark. The ark that will represent the very presence of God. And inside the ark, they're going to put the Ten Commandments, the testimony of what God had said to them.
[19:58] It's going to be put in there. And above the ark, they're going to build a mercy seat where the blood will be shed of that lamb. It will be sprinkled up there. And there will be two cherubims on each side, two big angels looking down on that.
[20:09] And I want you to notice what the Word of God says. And thou shalt put the mercy seat above the ark. Underline that. Above the ark. And in the ark, you'll put the testimony that I'll give you.
[20:21] Next verse, verse 22. The Bible says, and there will I meet with you. And I will commune with you from above the mercy seat. When I read that, it just blew me away.
[20:33] I thought God was going to be like a lawyer and a big old stern judge that would come. You'd come in there and he'd say, court coming to order? Court coming to order? Open up my books. All my rule books.
[20:44] Open them up. I need to talk to Austin. We're going to see what he's done. Tell me the rules. Tell me the rules he broke. Got to talk to him about that. But look at what the verse says. I'll meet with you. And I'll commune with you from above the, help me, from above the mercy seat.
[20:58] That's what I need. I need him to forgive me. I need his grace to wash away my sin. I need him to give me what I don't deserve and to not give me what I do deserve.
[21:09] That's grace and mercy. That's what I need. He said, and I'll commune with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims upon the ark. And I'll give you the commandments. Look at this. Jesus said, guys, from the very beginning, I haven't been the guy y'all made me out to be.
[21:24] Y'all remember Adam and Eve's story? Do you remember Adam and Eve's story? When Adam and Eve messed up, was I there in judgment or was I there with a sacrifice? Come on. Learn about me. Jesus said, it's party time.
[21:36] I'm here. Even the day of atonement was a day of joy because it was a day of deliverance. He said, guys, y'all messing up all the time. So I'm going to give you a day when I'll just wash your sin away.
[21:47] I'm going to give you a bunch of sacrifices. The Old Testament wasn't about law. It was about lawmaking. You know you need a sacrifice. Go offer a sacrifice. Third thing Jesus said. Go with me if you went to Mark chapter 2 and verse 23.
[21:58] Next thing, folks, they said, Jesus, why are you not fasting? And he said, oh, you don't understand. This isn't a time of fasting.
[22:08] This is a time of feasting. This isn't a time of being sad. We're at a wedding party. At a wedding party, you have a lot of fun. Which ain't the funeral home. This is the wedding party. He said, there'll be a time when there'll be a funeral.
[22:21] It'll be mine. And they'll weep. Don't worry. I'm coming back. And now I'll give you the Holy Spirit. And he said, things got to change, boys. Jews, you got it all wrong.
[22:32] You're all messed up. That's why I can't use the nation of Israel anymore. I'm going to replace that nation of Israel. Romans chapter 9, 10, 11. Talk about this. He's going to put them to the side. He's going to bring in another branch.
[22:43] He's going to graft it in. And that branch is going to be us telling the gospel. But we can't be real braggadocious because he's bringing them back. But that's another day's message. Look, if you went to Mark chapter 2, verse 23. And it came to pass as he went through the cornfields on the Sabbath day.
[22:56] His disciples began as they went to pluck the ears of corn. So they're walking. It's the Sabbath day. First off, you ain't really even supposed to walk on the Sabbath day. I mean, you can walk about, you can walk less than a half a mile.
[23:08] You're not supposed to go anywhere. Because if you do, you're working. The Bible didn't say any of that. But that's what they said. Jesus said, you've heard it said. He said, I never said that. But they said that. It's not in my book.
[23:18] It's in their book. Like a lot of John Keller reading. I mean, we ought to become students of the book. Thank you, Jeff. Read a bunch of the Bible. Look at verse 24 if you would.
[23:30] They said, that's against the rules. And the Pharisee said, behold, why do they on the Sabbath day that which is not lawful? Here's what Jesus wanted to say. Who made that a rule? I didn't.
[23:42] Who made that a rule? I didn't put that in there. Y'all did. And so he said, y'all don't know your Bibles. You don't know your own country's history. Did you know that when David needed something to eat? I'm not going to take the time because my time's really almost gone.
[23:54] But he said, when David there in chapter, verse 25, he said, have you never read what David did? I love that. Jesus is like, I thought y'all was the erudites. I thought y'all were the smart guys. So y'all ain't read your Bibles?
[24:06] I love that. Jesus is like, I am the Bible. I know the Bible. And you guys are telling me it's against rules. But have you never read the book? My book. And he said, they went in the house of God and ate the showbread.
[24:17] That wasn't lawful. So in verse 27, he said this. You boys got it backwards. I love this. By the way, I had it backwards for a long time, even though I was preaching.
[24:29] I was a rule-centered guy and didn't see the grace. Look at Mark 2, 27. And he said to them, the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.
[24:43] You boys got it backwards. Look at that crazy sentence. See, God gave the Sabbath day as a day off. And he promised them blessings if they took the day off.
[24:56] If the Sabbath was God's gift to Israel, the nation of Israel, it was a day of rest and worship. They turned it from relaxed to regulation. And Jesus said, wait a minute, wait a minute.
[25:11] My guys are just coming in here and going to do something for God. They're eating a little food on the way. And you guys are trying to beat them up with the Sabbath day rule? He goes, I never made that rule. I didn't make that rule.
[25:21] You made that rule. He said, I didn't make rules. I didn't make the Sabbath day so I could beat you up. I didn't make the Sabbath day so I could beat you up. I made the Sabbath day so you ought to have a day off.
[25:32] A day to worship me. Everybody else might have to work seven days a week. But not you guys. I want y'all to have a day off. Why don't you have a day for me? The rules were meant to break us, not burden us.
[25:46] I need you to get that. You see, when you read the Ten Commandments, not a one of you in this room should think to yourself, I'm doing pretty good. Every one of us should think, I'm doing a lousy job.
[25:58] You should look at it and say, I don't think I measure up. I don't think I'm good enough. We shouldn't be walking around the room and say, how many Sunday school pens you got hanging on your coat because you hadn't missed Sunday school in 342 years.
[26:12] You don't know about that. Back in the old days when I was a kid, people would have this little Sunday school pen and chains. Man, some of them had it down to their waist. Never missed a day of Sunday school. And he said, that's not what this is about.
[26:23] He said, I never made those rules for that. He said, it wasn't what it was about. He said, I wanted you to see you'd sin. You see, Adam and Eve, they knew, or Adam and his woman, they knew they'd sin.
[26:35] And when I came, they said, I'm naked. I'm ashamed. I'm embarrassed. He said, so I brought a sacrifice for them. And so when you face the Ten Commandments, when you face all the law and the Bible, it'll make you say, oh, oh, oh, I am a sinner and I am wicked.
[26:49] For all have sinned and come through the glory of God. And there's none righteous, no not one. And everybody ought to go to hell. And I deserve to go to hell. And then when you do that, you can take and receive my free gift.
[27:00] The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. But God commended his love toward us while we were yet sinners.
[27:12] Christ died for us. And that's what he's saying. That's what he's saying. Look, if you went to Mark chapter 2 and verse 28. He said, guys, I'm in charge.
[27:24] Your religion's not in charge. I am. In Mark 2, 28, he said, therefore, the Lord of the Son of Man is Lord also of the Sabbath. Jesus is saying that laws and rules were never meant to hurt you, but to bring you to him.
[27:39] I could have showed you. I think I probably did in my notes here, but I've been flying. In Galatians, he said the law is a schoolmaster. So take you to Jesus.
[27:51] See, the law was never meant for you to keep. It was meant to show you you couldn't keep it and only Jesus could keep it. The law is like the x-ray machine.
[28:03] It's like the MRI. It's like all those things they do. And when they look in there and the technician goes, you see their eyes get big.
[28:14] You say, anything wrong? They say, oh, no, no, no. I just threw the machine. But you know, because you just saw them. And they gave it away. And you're like, ooh, must be something wrong. And then when you leave, you go outside.
[28:26] They say, you need to get in touch with your doctor real quick. What's wrong? Oh, I can't tell you nothing. I'm not saying that. I'm just saying it would be really expedient if you called your doctor quick. Is there something wrong?
[28:37] No, no, no, no, no. I just take the scans. I don't get to read the scans. But I suggest you call your doctor real quick. That's law. You're out there and the law is going, I see the cancer and it's bad.
[28:49] You are a goner. I can't help you. I just read the thing and tell you where you are. You have bad shape. You better get over to Grace and see if he can't help you. And then you go over to Grace. And Grace said, oh, yeah, you've got a real bad case of it.
[29:00] But I can do surgery here. I can change you and save you and make you a new creature. And that's what he does for us. So they just left Levi's luau. They just left Matthew's banquet.
[29:12] And as they walked out the door of the religious crowd, the fundamentalists all came out and said, What you doing? You're a disciple maker. You're Jesus. He's in there with the sinners and the publicans and the bad people.
[29:24] And he's eating and drinking and having fun. And we are austere religious people suffering because we know God wants us to live under a burden of a thumb.
[29:36] And Jesus said, let me just handle that, boy. Step aside. Step aside. I didn't come here for you, kind, because you already think you're good enough. I came for the sick ones. I came for the ones that need a doctor.
[29:47] And by the way, just let me go ahead and tell you, this is not a fasting time. This is a feasting time. Because you see, God himself has come in human flesh and you are looking at him. You say, he didn't really say that. He did in John chapter 14.
[29:59] Thomas said, we'd like to see the father of Jesus. And if I've been with you so long time and you do not know, if you have seen me, you have seen the father. And so, Jesus said, how could you fast at a wedding party?
[30:12] And then he said, guys, I'm just going to be honest with you. You guys are too tight, too wound up, too interested in your own purity and your own holiness to see the need of grace. See, they've become lost people.
[30:25] They've become very religious, very clean, very pure, very moral. But they didn't know Jesus. They didn't know grace. They didn't know God. And nobody gets to heaven because they're moral. And everybody in America says, we need more morality.
[30:39] The truth is, we don't need more morality. Morality just makes you like the Pharisees. We need salvation. We need to be saved and changed. And that's what happened. He said, so there's going to have to be a time of change.
[30:50] Getting rid of the old cloth and getting a new cloth. Getting rid of the old wines and getting new wines, kids. That's what we're going to have to do. And they said, well, you guys ain't doing too good on the Sabbath day. He said, oh, my goodness, you guys don't get it, do you?
[31:02] I never meant the Sabbath to be a rule for me to beat you up with. I meant it to be a blessing to you. We got a wonderful God. If you're here today and you're dirty and messed up and you think, I don't think church people ever accept me.
[31:13] Don't worry about it. He came to save those that are weak and sick and dead. The Bible says, but God committed his love toward us. And while we were still sinners, yet sinners, Christ died for us. He died for the ungodly. He died for those without strength.
[31:25] He will save you today. Amen. Christian, what a time of rejoicing. I know Jesus. How many of you know Jesus? If you know Jesus, you know the bridegroom.
[31:39] You know the one that lives above and beyond the law. The one that lives in you and will live out the spiritual life that he intended for you to have. So today, if you're not saved, I'd invite you to be saved.
[31:50] And if you are saved, I'd like you to get a hold of something. We're not going to win anybody to Christ if we keep up with the Pharisees and making rules and judging people. We're going to have to get a right heart attitude about that.
[32:01] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfredo, Georgia. For more information, log on to www.visionbaptist.com where you can find our service times, location, contact information, and more audio and video recordings.
[32:19] Thanks.