We have such a religious country/society, people all over the world in and out of our communities, people that we work with, those that we go to school with, politicians, officers, government officials and so on all have a religious back ground, and this is a very dangerous place to be in our day and time. Religion, religion is a terrible way to describe Jesus Christ as being Lord and Savior of our lives. Religion is a destructive entity that many who do not have a close relationship with Jesus Christ agree to having or being a part of with such ignorant joy. Without a sincere close relationship with Jesus Christ all we have is a dead, nonproductive, non-changing, powerless, weak thing called religion. Beloved there are so many false teachers and false prophets within the church world today and unless you have a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ you too will be deceived, into believing their lies.
In Nigeria there is a false prophet whose name is not even worthy of me mentioning that has told his congregation that he has a holy pen, this holy pen will help you pass any test, but you would have to purchase this pen the more you pay for this holy pen the better the grade will be so they sell these pens from $1 - $20. When ever people lack a true and sincere relationship with Jesus Christ they will believe any and everything that tickles their fancy.
Luke 20:45-46
Then, in the hearing of all the people He said to His disciples, Beware of the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, love greetings in the market places the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts.
1st Point “Understanding the difference”
Jesus gave us the greatest example of what being a Christian was, there was no one better than Him, from the reason He decided to make Himself into frail humanity and join this fractured world, in how He dealt with sinners, till the very death He endured to saved many. Jesus understood the difference between religion and relationship and dealt with it very sternly and strongly.
Jesus’ way of dealing with sinners was normally marked by such extreme tenderness that He earned a derisive title from His critics: Friend of sinners in Matthew 11:19. When He encountered even the grossest of moral lepers, to the woman caught in adultery, even to the man infested with a whole legion of demons, Jesus always ministered to them with remarkable benevolence-without delivering any scolding lectures or sharp rebukes. See beloved when people came to Jesus they were already broken, humbled and fed up with the life of sin, and with these particular people, Jesus eagerly granted them forgiveness, healing and full fellowship with Him on the basis of their faith and their faith alone.
Luke 7:34
The Son of man has come eating and drinking and you say look a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!
So we have scripture the defines the heart of our Savior He was a friend of sinners, what people don’t understand that sinners were not always His friends, the bible tells us that Jesus came to seek that which is lost and bring them salvation, this was His mission, to love them into the kingdom, to help realize their state of sin and redeem them to a place of renewal of life and a life more abundant.
But many today would use this scripture as a means of doing ungodly things and finding themselves in positions they do not need to be in, Jesus was a friend of sinners but He didn’t do what sinners did, He encourage them to follow Him, He didn’t follow them.
Matthew 9:9
As Jesus passed on from there He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office, And He said to him “follow Me”, So he arose and followed Him.
Jesus by His love for the lost had the power to move people from their state of sin to a state of new life in Him, His desire to see others saved and born again bled into their hearts and they too were moved in such a way to follow Him. Paul stated to his disciple, “follow me as I follow Christ”, my question this morning is who is following you to Jesus?
Micah 7:18
Who is a God like you? Pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in mercy.
Remember Jesus dealt graciously with sinners, but He understood the difference between religion and relationship, see these sinners needed to have relationship with God through Jesus Christ, but the leaders of the religious world thought they just needed God with no Jesus.
These religious leaders were heartless and careless and had no interest in the saving men from eternal damnation, they willing brought the woman caught in adultery in hopes that she would get stoned with no chance of redemption, they looked upon the man who sat by the gate of the church who was crippled with contempt with no heart to pray from his healing, they took from the poor for their own selfish desires and gathered a mindset of power and rule over the people of God with no mercy. Jesus dealt with these religious people sternly.
2 Corinthians 11:13-15
13 for such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.
When you look at the life of Jesus even though He loved and dealt graciously with sinners that were fed up with their life of sin and gave them a hope through the repentance of sin, He rebuked and sternly challenged the religious leaders and did so with a righteous indignation. He would use words that would anger the leaders of that time and call them hypocrites, and even John the Baptist called them brood of vipers. And so this stands true today but people are so out of tune with Jesus Christ as being their Lord and Savior they are missing the whole concept of what salvation is and how to fully live for Jesus. Beware that you are not becoming of have become one of them.
2nd Point “He desires that you have His heart, a heart of service”
1 Kings 3:9-10
Therefore, give to your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of yours? This speech pleased the Lord
Jesus is the One that many say they love and many say they follow but not to the cross. Jesus the ultimate sacrifice for all humanity to come closer to God endured the abused of many yet for the salvation of all. In order for you and I this morning to do what God would desire for us to do we must first have a servants heart, we must first have His heart.
Jesus knelt down and washed the disciple’s feet, and of course I’m not saying at all that we must wash another’s feet, what this does symbolize is a someone that would have a heart of servant. People that we can serve, people that we can and should want to pray for, people that we should live an example of the righteousness of Jesus Christ for and remember that our salvation is not for us but for those who are looking at us.
These religious leaders were heartless, and so are many today that I do not give the title as leaders but religious. They want to be served but do not want to serve. You beloved need to understand the difference, you beloved need to be the difference. Paul said, "Follow me as I follow Christ", all that we do is first prayed for then executed by the very hand of God because without His approval nothing gets done, no one will get saved and no one will encounter the living God in their lives.
3rd Point “Repent from this perverse generation”
This is the cry of the Christian that has a relationship with Jesus Christ, crying out, "repent from this perverse generation." And this has been the cry of the Heart of God through Jesus Christ. Seeking for one that will be His representative, His ambassadors, for the purpose of souls getting saved.
Acts 2:40
And with many others words he testified and exhorted them, saying: “Be saved from this perverse generation.”
Beloved today we live in a world that is far from God, their hearts are not with God nor are their thoughts at all into following and pleasing God, everyone is in the mood of selfishness and arrogance and in this fractured world we have Jesus Christ that would come and die for us. Listen to me beloved the very bread of life hungered, the very living water while on the cross said I thirst, the very light of the world came into this dark room of ours and yet many say I love the Lord and do nothing but talk about the Lord.
What will the chapter of your life within the bible say about you? See beloved the book of Acts in our bible doesn’t have an ending because we are living it out what does your chapter say about you?
The religious leaders of the time of Jesus Christ were people that frowned upon the broken the needy and the lost yet they too were in need of salvation and today we have many religious people that do the same thing, they look at gang bangers, drunkards, addicts and snub their noses at them as oppose to stopping and praying for their healing, stopping and asking if they can pray for them, stopping and being broken for them. You know what's amazing to me if that addict, that gang member, that drunkard was someone you loved you would want someone to pray for them and extend hope to them.
See beloved I am so educated of this because I was a victim of this, I too was looked at with eyes of contempt and viewed as nothing from religious foes, false teachers of the word of God and this is why I have a desire to be the very voice of God through Jesus Christ for these people.(give testimony)
Would you consider where is your heart this morning and realize that you are not where you’re supposed to be in Christ and make it right? Today is the day of salvation, come to Jesus Christ and be a friend to sinners that they too would repent of their sin and be saved!
