← The Church of Eleven22
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Amen. Amen. Amen. Morning, church. How are you, Pastor Britt? And you're welcome for that 22 extra minutes this morning. And, hey, we're going to be in the Gospel of Matthew. It is the first book in the New Testament. We've been there for a while, since the beginning of the year. Pastor Joby and others have done a masterful job walking us through it verse by verse, word by word. We're going to continue in that study. Matthew is a historically verified eyewitness account of the life, teachings, death, and glorious resurrection of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. And we have for the last few weeks been studying the Sermon on the Mount, which is Jesus most famous teaching. And in this teaching, Jesus paints a picture of reality for us. And he says that there are two opposing kingdoms at work in this world. There is a kingdom of light. There is a kingdom of dark. There is a kingdom of life. There is a kingdom of death and destruction. There is a kingdom that is holy. There is a kingdom that is unholy. There is a kingdom that the road is marked with grace. And there is another kingdom where the road is marked with works. And this is the truth that Jesus has been teaching us in the Sermon on the Mount. So we are going to pick up in Matthew, chapter seven, starting in verse one. If you've been tracking with us for the last few weeks, then you'd be like, hold on, Pastor Brett, we haven't finished chapter six yet. And you're right, but we're going to come back to that later in the year. And so go with me. Matthew 7, verse 1. Coming up on the end of the Sermon on the Mount. Here it is. This is what Jesus says, Judge not that you be not judged, for with the judgment you pronounce, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured. Have there been any times in your life where you've wanted to sit down with someone and do your best to be gracious, but to give them feedback in regards to how their behaviors were affecting other people or their choices were leading in the wrong direction. But you didn't want to have that conversation to come across as judgmental. Maybe you hesitated. Maybe you just backed completely away because of that feeling. Or maybe you've been on the other side of the table where someone was trying to share what they thought was helpful feedback with you, and you left that conversation feeling judged. This is a shared human experience that we've all had, whether it be hesitating or receiving the feelings none of us like to feel judged about. A Year ago, some friends of mine and I, we got to go on, like, a bucket list trip. We got to go golfing in Scotland, and it was epic. We played 13 rounds of golf in six and a half days. We walked more than 100 miles because it's walking only. And you would look at me and you would say, pastor Britt, did you really. Did you really walk 100 miles? I did. And don't judge me. This is the thing we're talking about. All right? I did. I think I had three birdies. So I'm not saying I played well in 13 rounds, but I gave it a good shot. In Scotland, every course you go to, they give you a caddy. And if you're not familiar with golf, a caddy is someone who carries your clubs so that you don't have to. It's fantastic. And inevitably, on the third or fourth hole, I'd be walking down the fairway, and the caddy would always ask me the question, what do you do for work? And whether it's on the golf course or in an airplane, this my answer. Generally, the conversation changes a little bit. And so I said, well, I'm a pastor, and you could just hear it, man. Tires screeching, record scratching, babies crying in the back. The. He throws a cigarette over his shoulder. He's texting all his buddies, put up the booze, and then he apologizes for the next 15 minutes about how much cussing he's been doing, right? And so what's he doing? He has a preconceived notion of what a pastor is like, and he is casting a judgment on me in that very moment, right? We've all been through this. And while I was in Scotland, one of the caddies, he was different, though. He was just different. He didn't give a rip, and I don't even think he knew to give a rip, which is totally fine. He asked me, what do you do for a living? I said, well, I'm a pastor. I don't even know how to tell you all this without getting in trouble, but his response was, flippin. A right man. But he didn't say flippin. You know what I mean? I was like, oh, okay. This is the conversation we're having. And a couple of holes later, he says. He says, so you work at a church? I'm like, yeah. And he goes, how busy is your church? And I'm like, well, I didn't really understand the question. I was like, it's kind of busy. Like, we got a lot going on all the time. It's kind of awesome. And he was like, no, no, no, no, no. How busy? Like, how many people attend? And it's kind of a strange question to answer if you. At 11:22, because we've all had a front row seat to this miracle that God has grown the footprint of this ministry. It's. We see it, but if you didn't see it every week, then it'd be hard for you to believe what God's done here, right? And so it's kind of a hard thing to answer. And so at that time, I think it was like 23,000 people regularly attended on the weekend. And so I just. I kind of dodged it. And he was like, how busy is your church? And I said. I said, well, that's like 23,000. And without even hesitating, he was so surprised with my answer, he replied back to me with the worst cuss word you could possibly imagine. I mean, he took the Lord's name in vain right in front of me. And I was like, oh, my God. I mean, it was like. Like a tear ran down my face and puppies are dying. And I was like, what is going on? And I didn't even have time to, like, formulate a response, certainly not a judgment, before he gets a pouch out of his back pocket, opens it up, and he offers me a funny cigarette right in the middle of the fairway. And I was like. At one hand, I was like, dude, this guy trees. Like, to him, I'm just another bro. And it's kind of awesome. And so we had a great time walking down the fairway. And you're wondering. You're wondering, I didn't smoke that man's funny cigarette. But we did have a good time. I even got to pray for him and pray for his sick mom by the time it was over. That said, we've all been in those conversations where someone cast a judgment in our direction, right? Let me ask you a question. Where are you tempted? Or where are you most prone in life to get a little judgy? Just to get a little judgy. You got some ideas, you got some thoughts, and all of a sudden you start projecting those things out into reality and holding other people to them. You know, my daughter, my youngest daughter plays fast pitch softball. And in a New York second, I will get judgy on an umpire. It doesn't take much for me to be hanging on the back of a fence behind home plate telling him what I think about the day he was born. Like, I'll get there quick. You Know what about people who put me on a group text? You put me on a group text, judged. How about people who reply all to emails? Let's just agree as a family this morning. If you reply all to emails, then it's probably true that you don't have any friends, right? So I'm just saying. But what about in areas that are more serious? Have you ever judged someone based on their appearance? Have you ever judged someone based on your perception of money? This is how you know money is one of the idols in your life, is when you treat people differently because of it. Have you ever perceived that someone was poor and made a snap judgment about their character? Have you ever perceived someone as rich and made a snap character about whether they're generous? A snap character about whether they're generous or not? What Jesus is doing here is he's getting right down in the heart. He says, judge not that you be not judged for the judgment you pronounce you will be judged. He says, the truth is that we live in a world where many have walked away from Christianity or at least from the church, not because they have a problem with Jesus. It's because they struggle with the way Jesus people make them feel. The stereotype by many is that Christians are people who are more interested in condemning others than they are in loving others. If you've been around 11:22 for five minutes, then you've heard the phrase, we are a movement for all people to discover and deepen a relationship with Jesus Christ. Which means here we take serious the Gospel, and we are a movement for all people because everybody matters to God, therefore everybody matters to us. Every person is created in the image of God, and they are worthy of dignity and honor and respect. And they have worth inherent to them because God made them. And we try to treat everyone that way as best as we possibly can. Everybody matters to God, everybody matters to us. And the most loving thing that we can do as a people is to teach and to point people to the truth of Jesus Christ, because it's the only thing that can really set people free. But to say we're a movement for all people, does that also mean that if we say something that is true or hard or difficult to hear from the Bible, does that mean that we're being judgmental? And how are Christians supposed to navigate this life and answer these questions? The conviction our culture wants us to have is that there are no universal truths and there are no moral standards. In other words, what it's saying is that two diametrically opposed viewpoints can simultaneously be true at the same time. This is what our popular culture prescribes. And it's not just that that's unbiblical, which it is. It's actually illogical. It's complete nonsense. If this is the prescription of the world that we live in, we have to ask the question, where does this kind of thinking come from? Where does this kind of thinking come from? Well, let me ask you a question. Does anyone here have bell bottoms? Raise your hand if you own bell bottoms. Okay. You won't wear them next week. Challenge. We'll see if you accept it or not. Okay. Anybody here in the 90s? I have a child of the 90s. Did anybody here ever wear jams in the 90s? Hammer pants. Anybody? Probably should. Put your hands down. Okay. How about a starter jacket? I heard they're making a comeback, but I had a starter jacket. I had a Buffalo Bills starter jacket. Four super bowls in the 90s. Lost all four of them. Respect, you know, respect. I had a Buffalo Bill. Don't judge me. I can feel it right now. Here's the thing. Fashion is not the only thing that can dictate culture. That culture can dictate. Culture also tries to dictate thinking. What our society will increasingly pressure us to do is to refuse to label things that Jesus calls sin sin. And in essence, if we do this, we are disagreeing with Jesus, not following him. Jesus never, ever, anywhere taught that to be loving is to refuse to say that something is right or wrong, good or evil, according to God, as revealed through the Scriptures. And that distinction is very important. I am not the arbiter of what is good or evil, and neither are you. The Scriptures hold the right to that truth. Jesus, however, did say the words judge not. And it wasn't a suggestion, it's a command. So what does he mean? There will be ideas and things we clearly disagree with as people of truth. This is what Jesus is teaching us here, that we can disagree. We can hold to God's truth and hold people accountable, including ourselves. We can stand firm on God's words and not be judgmental. He is showing us the right way to be about the kingdom's business. Jesus says this, for with the judgment you pronounce, you will be judged. And the measure you use, it will be measured to you. The command to judge not is not. Is not a prescription to be blind. However, it is a plea to God's people to be gracious. To be gracious. As followers of Jesus Christ, we are grace people and graced people grace people when you encounter the radical grace of God or get run over by the grace train, it changes everything about everything about everything, including how you see the world and see others. It is interesting that Jesus says, with the judgment you pronounce. To pronounce something is to declare an opinion authoritatively. It is to declare that we have cornered a market on what's right or real with an opinion. The genius of the Sermon on the Mount is that it sharpens the acts of our life on both sides. So we have our relationship with God and it teaches us what God's like and how God treats us. And then it also teaches us how to be godly in how we operate in our relationships with each other. When you hear the word judgment and you think about it in terms of our relationship with God, there are a few different ways the Bible talks about judgment. Two specific ones. One is a non believer's judgment, the judgment that will be faced before God by people who choose to reject the message of Jesus Christ. They choose to never trust and follow in Jesus Christ. But they go their own way, whether that be through religion or rebellion. They go their own way. They will stand before God and they will give an account for that choice. And then they will be handed over to the thing they always wanted, which is life without God. And God will remove his common grace and they will be sent into an eternal darkness, also known as hell. This is the judgment that's waiting non believers. And is it sobering? Absolutely. But is it also motivating for the church to preach the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Absolutely. And there's a second kind of judgment, the judgment for believers, which is known as the judgment seat of Christ. When believers will stand before Jesus Christ and they will be rewarded for their faithfulness. A few verses About Judgment Romans 14, verses 10 through 12 why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For it is written as I live, says the Lord. Every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God. 2nd Corinthians 5:10. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. Each each one's work will become manifest for the day that is the day of judgment. We'll disclose it because it will be revealed by fire. And the fire will test what sort of work each one has done first Corinthians 4, 5. Therefore, do not pronounce judgment before the time before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his condemnation. What Jesus is saying to his church is, listen, do you really want to play the judgment game? In Second Timothy, chapter 4, verse 8, it says that Jesus is the judge of the living and the dead, that he is the judge of all things, the rightful judge. And he's looking at his people saying, do you really want to play the judgment game? Do you really want to put yourself in a position by which you look down your nose on someone else based on your opinions, while simultaneously trying to look up at the cross? These things are completely incompatible. Do you really want to play the judgment game? You want to put yourself in a superior position? Or do you want to live from a place of grace? Which one sounds better? One of the beautiful parts of the Gospel is that Jesus did not judge us for our sins. He was judged because of our sins so that we could be forgiven and and become children of grace. This is a beautiful part of the gospel. And so as believers in Jesus Christ, he has taken all of our sin and cast it as far as the east is from the West. The Bible says that God chooses to remember our sins no more. So when we talk about judgment, we will stand, but however we will stand to be rewarded for that faithfulness. And are we living from a place of grace in the way of Jesus, or are we trying to make up our own rules and get everybody to live in our world? This is what Jesus is pointing at. You see, God's grace is not something that you consume. It's not like a product you grab off the shelf and you just add it to your life to help things go a little bit better. That's not what God's grace is. God's grace is not something you consume. It is something that consumes you. It is the overthrowing power of the kingdom of God, overtaking your heart and mind. That's what God's grace is. God's grace, a life that has been delivered by God's grace will then also be defined by that grace. God's grace is the most powerful force at work, and it says it changes everything about everything, including how we see the world. Jesus continues, why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, let me Take that speck out of your eye when there is a log in your own eye, you hypocrite. First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye. Before Jesus started his ministry as an adult, about 30 years of age, he was a carpenter. And so this brother knew quite a bit about sawdust and logs. There's no doubt about it that he calls some sawdust in the eye every now and then. And is there anything worse than getting a scratch on your eyeball? Is that not the worst? Like, it's terrible when it happens. You can't think about anything else. What about if it's worse than a scratch? What if you have a splinter in your eyeball? This sounds terrible, right? When I was a kid, I grew up on a farm, and my grandfather owned the farm. And whether it be because of a storm or because the animals got rowdy or whatever, every now and then a fence would go down. And when this happened, the whole crew had to roll out. Uncles and cousins and pop was always out there, and you had to put the fence back up. And so one time the fence is down and we're out working. And if you don't know how to fence work, there's like a fence post here, about 15 yards, and a fence post here. And we would pull the wire, and then across the top of the fence, we would pull a strand of barbed wire. And you secure the barbed wire on one side. On the other side, there's like a little crank. And you use it and you pull the barbed wire tight, and then you attach it. And that's how it holds. Well, this day, for whatever reason, somebody was cranking the barbed wire, and the barbed wire snaps. And the piece of barbed wire hits my pop in his eyeball. Boom. Right in his eye. And he took it out and he threw it on the ground. He said, get back to work. No, he didn't. He didn't do that. He is part of the World War II generation, so he different, but he didn't do that. What happened? He lost his sight in that eye for the rest of his life. He went blind. This is what Jesus is saying, because there's something coming out of your mind that shades your perspective. You're completely blind. That's what Jesus is saying. You're worried about everybody else's behavior. When you got plenty of stuff to worry about, what's going on in here and what's going on in here. You're worried about what everybody else is doing that you think that they shouldn't be doing, or what they're not doing that you think they should be doing, when, while you got plenty going on and in here and in here, and until you handle what's going on in here and in here, you're never gonna be able to be in a position to be helpful to somebody else. You gotta deal with your own stuff first in order to actually be helpful to anybody else. He's saying our thinking is off. We think we can fall into the trap of thinking we're someone we're not. We put ourselves in a position to hold judgment over others. We begin to assign motives and pre decide outcomes, create narratives in our mind and, and what we're doing is trying to protect our ego. But in order to do this, we have to make others feel small or wrong. This is the spirit of judgmentalism at work. Just a few breaths earlier. In Matthew 6, Jesus says, the eye is the lamp of the body. So if your eye or your perspective is healthy, your whole body will be full of light. When I've had a judgmental spirit at work in my life, which I have no doubt, when I've had something off in my perspective and how I see someone or see others, it's not like at that point in my life I just threw my hand up and said, hey, I'm being judgmental. Absolutely not. I thought I was right. That's what's so insidious about this, is that it shades us and convinces us we're right and that we are arbiters over truth. We feel justified in our words if we are quick to judge others while being slow to own our own mess. It is a biblical prescription for a joyless life. The bottom line is this. The more judgmental we are, the less joy we will have in this life. Jesus continues, and he says, do not give dogs what is holy and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you. He is clearly drawing a line between what it means to be judgmental and what it means to be discerning. What it means to be judgmental and discerning, these are different things. Discerning is objective. Judgmental is subjective. Jesus says, do not give to dogs what is holy. Holy is not a subjective idea. Humans opinions have no bearing whatsoever on the definition of holy. There is one person who decides who is holy, what is holy, and who will become holy. And it is God Almighty. God is holy. It's just who he is. It is more reasonable for us to think that we will find a string hanging in the air that we could pull and undo the fabric of the universe than it would be for us to consider for even one second that God would be anything less than absolutely, perfectly holy at all times. It's just who he is. God is holy. He. He has defined holy in his Word. He holds the rights over truth and has defined holy. And he chooses people and makes them holy for his own pleasure's sake. Holy is not subjective to humans. It is an objective truth. Jesus says, don't give to dogs. What is holy? What is he talking about? Judgmentalism is subjective. It happens when we come to a conclusion based on opinions or perceptions, and then we decide that it's a fact. It is this place that the Pharisees in the New Testament missed it over and over and over again. They tried to take holy out of God's hands, and they tried to put it in their own hands and apply it to other people. And it just will not work. Condemnation is the only thing that can grow on the tree of a judgmental mind. God never put defining holy into human hands. Think about it like this, in terms of relationships. All right, let's just say in your family, you've got an Uncle Earl. And if you do have an Uncle Earl, I'm sure he's a great guy. He's know who I'm talking about. But let's just say Uncle Earl, he's tough man. Now, I'm not talking like the good kind of tough. I'm talking about, like, he's just a tough person. He's condescending, he's angry, he disagrees with everybody all the time. He meets everybody with his opinions, and he holds them subjective to it all the time. Nothing's ever good enough. No one's ever good enough. Nobody can ever live up to the standard. Uncle Earl's. He's just a tough person to be around, and he's operating from a spirit of judgmentalism. And let's just say for whatever reason, you feel compelled to go and sit down with Earl, and you're gonna be like, hey, Earl, listen. Do you see that when you act angry that it is met with anger? Do you see that? Like, you're trying to be gracious like Earl, Earl. You see when you argue with everybody that it just pushes them away and it creates an environment where people on eggshells or they just want to avoid you altogether. Do you see this? Do you see that when you cast judgment on others, people feel judged by you? When you Tell them how they're supposed to be thinking. It makes them draw. Do you see this? Now, Earl could respond in one of two ways. One way Earl could be like, man, I didn't see it and I had no idea and I'm so sorry. And can you help me see it? Like, will you? That would be one way to respond. And if Earl responded that way, what do you do? You lean in. You be a brother, you be a sister. You try to help them grow and mature. Just like we need someone to help us grow and mature. But there's another way that Earl could respond. And Earl could respond with, no, they don't. They don't feel that way. They don't feel like that. Nobody thinks that. You're judging me. You're telling me what I'm trying to think. Who are you? You think you're smarter than me? That's how Erl responded. At that point in time, you just gotta back up. Jesus even tells his disciples, listen, if you go into a town and you're trying to do ministry, gospel ministry, and they receive you, then you bless their house with peace. But if they don't receive you, then you knock the dust off your sandals and you move on to another town to see if they'll receive you. Jesus, absolutely. Are Christians to be gracious people? No question. Are we to be patient people? No question. Are we to be doormats? Absolutely not. Absolutely not. Boundaries are a biblical concept. No question. That's what Jesus is saying here. Do not give to dogs what is holy and do not cast pearls before swine. You and I both know this, that human opinions, even our best ones, do not have the power to change someone's heart. Have you ever been successful at arguing someone into joy? Have you ever been able to talk somebody into happy? You may could talk them momentarily out of sad, but you're never going to be able to talk somebody in to being happy. We in and of ourselves, we don't have the power to change anybody. We don't. But God can. God can. God's grace can change even the hardest of hearts. And it can break even the most judgmental of spirits. God's grace can set people free from even the heaviest of chains and the deepest of bondage. God's grace can do it. This is why I think Jesus immediately goes to prayer. Because sometimes the most grace filled thing that we can do for others is to trust them into the hands of God. Jesus says this. Ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. And the one who seeks find, and the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone, or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him? Jesus says, if you want to see change, real change in you first. If you want to see real change, take hold. If you want to see real change, grab ahold of a human heart and change it. Then what you need to do is to pray. You need to pray to be people of prayer. And he gives us three words. He says ask, seek and not. The first is ask. When we go to God our Father and we ask, there's two things that I think we should be mindful of. Number one is we should keep in mind who we're asking. Do you ever think about what it means when you say, I'm going to pray about that? I'll pray for you, brother. I'll pray for you, sister. Do you actually ever think about what that actually means? It's as mind bending as the Trinity. God the Father, who is the God, who was and is and is to come, who is eternal. Before anything that was made, he was there. John, chapter one, Genesis, chapter one. In the beginning was before anything happened, there was God. He's before the beginning means he's eternal outside of time. The prophet Isaiah says, his ways are higher than our ways. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. It doesn't just mean that he's smarter than us. It means that he's completely other, which is what holy means. He's completely other than. And so he is outside of time. God the Son, who is Jesus Christ. Colossians chapter one says in him all things hold together. So time and gravity and chronology, which, which is our reality as we experience are currently being held together in God the Son, who is Jesus Christ. And then inside of time, as we experience it, God the Holy Spirit is at work bringing about the redemptive purposes of God, making all things new. One movement of grace, one moment of grace, one advancement of God's kingdom at a time, he is making all things new. And then right in the middle of this supernatural, transcendental, cosmic love and glory festival between Father, Son and Spirit, God reaches down through time and space and he reveals the gospel of Jesus Christ to a human heart. That human heart responds and trusts in Jesus. And then is indwelled with the Spirit of God. And the Spirit of God burdens people's hearts to pray for things. And then people ask, they ask God to do things, and then the Holy Spirit partners with them in that and brings those things about as he makes all things new. And then in the fullness of of time, Jesus the Son is going to wrap up all of God's redemptive work and he's going to give it back to the Father as a present for his glory's sake. That's what we mean when we say, I want to pray about that, I'll pray about it. Do you have any idea how much power is available to you? Do you have any idea how the relationship that grace has grabbed you and pulled you into? Do you have any idea the kind of power that is available to you? So when we're asking, we think about who we're asking, and number two, we think about what are we asking about. A huge part of prayer is accepting the reality that we aren't in control. We don't provide food for ourselves. On the most basic level is what Jesus is saying. Prayer is about trust. I think this is why a lot of times it's a struggle to stay committed to it, because in order to receive the good things, we have to be willing to let go of our delusion of control over anything. Prayer is the one spiritual practice that should scream over and over again, lord, I need you. I mean, go back to the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount. In the Beatitudes, the first thing Jesus says is, blessed are the poor in spirit, for they shall see God. Blessed are those who are aware of their deepest needs, for they will see that God is who they need. And in the kingdom of God, they have more than they ever dreamed. So he says, Ask. Second, he says, Seek. Jeremiah, chapter 29, verse 13. The Lord of hosts says through the prophet Jeremiah, search for me. And if you search for me with your whole heart, then you will find me. Mark, chapter 12. The scribes come to Jesus and they say, jesus, what's the greatest commandment that God ever gave? And what they're asking is, what is the most important words that God ever spoke? And Jesus responds and says, the Lord our God, the Lord is one, and you shall love. You shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, with all of your mind, and with all of your strength. Make no mistake about it, Church Jesus is not after habits. He's after hearts. Jesus came for hearts, and he knows that if he gets our hearts, that our habits will in time surely follow. Jesus says it like this, John 14. Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him. As you're praying this Lent season, let me challenge you to pray this. Pray for a radical encounter with God's grace in your life. Pray that God's grace would overthrow your mind and your imagination, that it would overthrow your capacities, that you would fall in love with Jesus again like it was the very first time. Pray for a radical encounter with God's grace. The things of this world would fall strangely dim compared to the presence of God, and that the things of this world would fall so way desperately short, and we would no longer pursue them, but we would pursue him, because we know that he is the highest and the best. Pray for that as you're praying this Lent season. And then he says, knock. Ask, seek and knock. Question, do you live as though God is near or far? If you're to do a functional audit of your life, do you live as though God is near or far? Psalm 145, 18 says, the Lord is near to all who call upon him. Who call upon him. In truth, the Lord is at hand is what Philippians 4 said when Jesus started his ministry. What did he say? He said, repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand. It's as close to you as your hand. The Lord is at hand. Do not be anxious about anything. But in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And then in the most unbelievable invitation, Jesus. Jesus. Brother James writes these. He says, draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Acts 17, verse 27. It says, he is actually not far from any one of us. And then at the end of Matthew 28, we'll get there. Jesus makes this promise where he says, behold, I am with you even until the end of the age. He is near. And the reason I ask this question is because when a stranger knocks at the door at my house, and when I knock on the door of my house, it's just two different knocks. When a stranger comes to my house and they knock on my door, it's like a little tap, tap, you know, let me get down here so y' all can hear it. Little tap, tap, right? And then you go and answer the door, and they're like, hello, sir. So sorry to interrupt your evening. Are you. Are you sorry? I'm sorry. I saw that no soliciting sign in your neighborhood, but I thought I would come and try to sell you some new windows and. Okay, I'll get judged, right? So when a stranger comes over, it's one thing if for whatever reason I'm on the outside of my house and I need to knock on the door. Do you know how I knock? Just like this. I'm not angry, I'm not upset. But I ain't stopping either. You know what I mean? It's my house. I'm gonna keep knocking. Why? Because I know who's home. I know who's on the other side of the door. This is the picture that Jesus is saying when he says, knock on the door. We just keep on knocking and we keep on knocking. It's not like God's up there with the door closed saying, I don't want you to come in. No, he is happy to open the door. When I go into my house, I know where the food is. I know where everybody sits in the living room. I know where the dogs are gonna be. I know where everything is in my house. And this is the picture of the secret place that God is painting for us. That this is exactly how the secret place can be the place of prayer. We can go in because we know who's home. We know that our dad is home and that our dad is a good dad who likes to give his kids good gifts. And we don't approach the presence of God as a stranger. No, we approach the presence of God as a blood bought son or daughter that has been redeemed and given a seat at the family table. And. And now we are indwelt with the Spirit of God. And the Spirit of God gives us boldness to approach our Father's throne of grace and to make petition to him, knowing that he hears us and he wants us near. We are not strangers in the presence of God. We are God's people that have been adopted in. Do not be a stranger to the presence of God, my friend. You have been saved and secured. You have been brought near. Jesus continues, and he says this. Ask, seek, and knock. And then verse 12, he says, so whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the law and the prophets. If you want people to judge your intentions, judge theirs. This is Matthew's synopsis of the Golden Rule. If you want people to judge your intentions, judge theirs. If you want people to treat you as an object, treat them as an object. If you want to be alone, push people away with your Words. If you want people to be angry with you, be angry with them. Or if you want people to have grace. When you mess up and are less than perfect, have grace. If you want people to pray for you, pray for them. If you want people to forgive you, forgive them. Do you see how it works? This is the law and the prophets is a way to say that God has designed life to work in a certain way. And Jesus came and lived that life exactly how it was supposed to be lived. And then he died to rescue us from what we deserve and he gives us his life. Now that is at work within us. Galatians, chapter 2, verse 20. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives within me. Verse 13. Jesus starts his conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount. I'm only going to cover this verse, but this is how we'll close today as well. He says, enter by the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the way is easy. That leads to destruction. And those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard. That leads to life and those who find it are few. He says there's two roads that we can walk on. One is narrow and one is broad. The narrow road is the relationship with Jesus, the life captivated by grace. The broad road is religion and rebellion and works and self centeredness. I mean, think back through the Sermon on the Mount. If we just look at the comparison picture that Jesus painted in the two different kingdoms, the two different ways of living, the two different roads to walk. On one. On one side you have judgmentalism, on the other side you have graciousness. On one side you have anger. On the other side you have forgiveness. On one side you have lustfulness and on the other side you have self control. On one side you have someone who's loose lipped. They break their promises, they don't keep their oaths. On the other side you have someone who is honest and integritable and their yes is yes and their no is no. On one side it's hate your enemy. On the other side it is pray for those who persecute you. On one side it's do good to be seen. On the other side it is do good because you are seen by God. Two roads. The broad road has many points of entry. There's lots of ways to get on the broad road that leads to destruction. There's only one way to get on the narrow path that leads to life. At no point in Jesus ministry did he Ever offer people a message that said, look, just be sincere, that the main thing about life is for you to think positively about God. And if you think positively about God, then any spirituality will do. He never said that. You just try your best and then when you get to the end of your life, when you die, God will smile at you. This was never something Jesus said, but what he did say is John chapter 10, verse 9, which is I am the gate. If anyone enters through me, he will be saved. He continues in verse 10 he says, I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Second Timothy says it like this. For there is one God and there is one mediator between God and man. And it is the man Jesus Christ. There are lots of ways to go down the broad road that leads to destruction. Many gates of entry. There is only one way to enter the narrow way that leads to life and that is through Jesus Christ. Have you ever trusted in Jesus Christ and surrendered your life to the lordship of Jesus? Are you on the narrow way that leads to life? Are you following after Jesus Christ? Have you surrendered your life to him? If you haven't today, I would invite you to do so. Romans, chapter 10, verse 9 says that if we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our heart that God raised him from the dead, then we shall be saved. It doesn't say that God will consider saving us. It doesn't say that he will think about saving us. It says that you shall be saved. Here at 11:22 we explain that there's three parts of surrendering our life to the lordship of Jesus Christ, of stepping in through the narrow gate by faith in and through Jesus Christ. And it is admitted that we're a sinner, that we have a problem we can't fix in of ourselves, that our own opinions can't change even our own hearts. But we need someone else to change our heart to get us going in a different direction, to forgive us and to set us free to live life the way that God intended us to live. Jesus Christ came and has done that for us and he is given us his grace so that our sins can be forgiven and we can walk the narrow way that leads to life. Jesus is the way. We admit that we're a sinner, that we have need. Two is that we believe that this book gives testimony to the power and the life of Jesus Christ. And he did what this book says he did and that he lived the perfect life and he died a sinner's. Death on a Roman cross. And while he was on that cross, he pushed up on those nail pierced hands and feet and he said finished. And that somehow, supernaturally, by faith, I believe that when he said those words, it counted for me too. And that I want to confess him as the Lord of my life. I want to confess that his way is the right way, that he is the arbiter of truth. That I want everything in my life to be subject to him, knowing that his way is better. I would invite you today to admit to believe and to confess at all our campuses. Would you bow your head and close, close your eyes and if you're here and you would say, I want to surrender my life to the lordship of Jesus Christ today. Would you just put your hand in the air so I can pray for you and we can know who you are? I want to surrender my life and be on the narrow path that leads to life through Jesus. Father, we love you and we thank you. We thank you for your word. We thank you for your truth. We thank you that you have not just opened the gate for us. You are the gate. And you opened a way for us to be on the narrow way that leads to life. But you also empower us to live that life and we get to follow after you. So Father, I pray that as we respond that you would meet with us, that our praises would bless your heart. That as we sing true words they would grab our minds, that we would have an encounter with grace. Father, I pray that we would not look out and try to see what's all the things that are wrong with others until we have first brought to you our humble and our needy hearts so that you can heal them and that you can do your work in only the way that you can do it. Father, we invite you to do your work in our lives. Holy Spirit, you are welcome. As we respond, we pray that you help us to do it with confidence and boldness. And we pray these things in Jesus name and all God's people said amen. Would you stand with me? We're going to respond like we always do. We're gonna sing true words about Jesus, believing that they'll grab our minds and our hearts and that they'll sit true in our hearts. We're gonna bring our first and our best through tithes and offerings by bringing back responding to God's goodness in our life because he gave his first and best ending through Jesus Christ. And we're going to pray. The altars are open. I would invite you to come and pray, Put your body in the posture you want your heart to be in and ask God for an encounter with his grace. Let's respond.