The God Man (Part 4)

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts. Morse Corner is a non-denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.

If you'd like more information, visit our website morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message. There are many people who claim to believe in God, to believe in Jesus, and they think that they are righteous because they superficially keep a set of rules.

I do this and I do that. I don't do that and I don't do that. Therefore, I am righteous before God. This is reflected anytime you ask a stranger, you know, do you think you're going to heaven? Most people, if they believe in God and they believe in heaven and hell, they would say yes.

And you ask them, why do you believe that you are going to heaven? What's the almost universal response? The most common response people say, I'm going to heaven because what? Because I'm a good person.

And that's basically what the Jews thought. We have a covenant with God. We're good. We follow the rules. Therefore, we're right before God. Jesus is trying to show them that is not the case. But, you know, if you tell somebody that, how does that work?

That doesn't go over too well. You confront someone with their sin. That almost never goes well. So Jesus is trying to help them to realize it for themselves. Look at Matthew chapter 5, starting in verse 20.

Jesus says, for I say to you that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Do you realize how significant this is?

Jesus is pointing to the most religious people in the nation. Men who made it their mission in life to learn and to teach the faith. And at least on the surface, these people were obeying the law on the surface.

And Jesus turns to the religious leaders, the holy men, and he says, what they are doing is not enough. Look at verse 21. You have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not murder. And whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.

But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, raka, which basically means you're worthless, shall be in danger of the council.

But whoever says you fool shall be in danger of hellfire. And incidentally, it wasn't Jonathan Edwards or some modern fundamentalist preacher who came up with the term hellfire. It was Jesus who coined the phrase.

So the Jews believe they were righteous because after all, we don't commit murder. We don't do these things. Jesus is pointing out that no, you actually have violated the sixth commandment. You actually have.

Maybe you've never killed anybody, but you've wanted to. See, people don't want to admit that. Have you ever been angry at someone without a cause? So this is a holy perfect group here. You've never done that.

Now, you know better. So Jesus, what's he doing? He's trying to get down to the heart of the matter. Literally, what's in your heart? Because that's where sin begins. Look at verse 27. You have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not commit adultery.

But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Adultery, unfortunately, is a very common sin. It's very common. But adultery of the heart is universal.

It's universal. So while maybe we can appear righteous and the Jews could have appeared righteous on the outside, as far as how other people saw it, God sees the unrighteousness that is in the heart. So what's the point of the Sermon on the Mount?

To show them and to show us, to show everybody all have sinned and have come short of the glory of God. You think you're a good person? Look at verse 48. Therefore, you shall be what? Perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

How are you doing with that? The Jews fell short. All people, we fall short. We fall far short. Now, when it comes to some of these things, a person might think to themselves, well, but God sees my heart.

Yeah, that's the problem.

He does see your heart. Look at Matthew chapter 6. See, you can fool other people. The Jews maybe thought they were putting on a good show.

They didn't fool God.

Look at Matthew chapter 6. This is where the Lord gives the model of how to pray. We call this the Lord's Prayer. It should be called probably the Disciples' Prayer. But whatever the case, it starts in verse 9.

Jesus says, in this manner, therefore, pray. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. You need to keep the name of God holy. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.

So the true faith is about glorifying God, seeking the will of God. But the true faith, Christianity, is about forgiveness. Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. It has been said, we are most like beasts when we kill.

We are most like men when we judge. We are most like God when we forgive. You want to be like God? Forgive. So Christianity is about forgiveness. So Jesus is telling the children of Israel, and by extension, all people today, no, you're not righteous before God.

You need the grace of God. So when you pray, pray, Lord, forgive me of my sin. As I forgive those who have sinned against me. Verse 13, and do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.

Amen.

So the common temptation for man, instead of serving and glorifying God, trusting him by faith, what do we do? What's another problem? Just our sin in general is a problem. What's another problem that's common to all of us?

Well, we tend to worry, don't we? Instead of focusing on God and his provision, we worry. We get anxious and, you know, what if this happens? What about this fall? What's going to happen? What's going to take place tomorrow?

What shall we drink?

What shall we eat?

What shall we wear? Look at verses 32 through 34. The Lord has an answer for this. He says, for all these things, the children of God seek. Is that what it says?

No.

For after all these things, the Gentiles seek. You know, when we worry, we're acting like an unbeliever. I'm saying you are. But when we worry and we get anxious about, oh, no. What about this? What about that?

When we worry, we're acting like an unbeliever. For after all these things, the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.

And all these things shall be added to you. God's going to take care of it. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow. For tomorrow will worry about its own thing. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Why does Jesus go through this? Because he knows everyone struggles with it. Flip over to chapter seven. Matthew chapter seven. Look at verses 13 and 14. Jesus now is getting to some more controversial statements.

He says, enter by the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction. And there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life.

And there are few who find it. So Jesus understands and he's declaring that the majority of people are not going to believe and accept his teaching. It will be the chosen few. It will be the chosen few who are given eternal life to enter the kingdom of God.

And what made the Jews really upset was that Jesus was claiming that he had the authority to say who is in and who is out. You can just imagine the response. Who does this man think that he is? Remember what Jesus started out preaching?

He picked up the message of John the Baptist. The kingdom of God was at hand.

Why?

Because the king was at hand. Jesus has that authority as king and judge over the souls of men. Verse 21 of Matthew 7. Jesus says, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven.

But he who does the will of my father in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your name? And then, what does he say?

I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.

That's a heavy statement.

And then, of course, in John chapter 3, the big issue of repentance and being saved. Jesus says in John 3, most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. And the whole message of the gospel of John, Jesus is saying, you must believe in me.

That's what it's all about. If you hear nothing else this morning, that's the teaching of Christ. Believe in him. Now, turn to Matthew 11. So, based on all of that, you can just imagine the response of the people.

Again, who does he think that he is? He believes he's Lord. He's declaring that he is Lord. And, of course, isn't this the ultimate question today? Who is Jesus Christ? People say all sorts of things about Jesus, don't they?

Everyone has some answer to this question. Who does he think he is? Who is Jesus of Nazareth? You know what people say, that he's a good man, a wise and moral teacher, maybe even a prophet. I like what C .S. Lewis said.

I think C .S. Lewis had it right when he posted or posited his trilemma. Lewis gave three options.

What were they?

Jesus is either a liar, he is a lunatic, or he is Lord. It is one of the three. If Jesus made all these claims, then if he said them and they're not true, that would make him a liar. Or maybe you say he really believed it, he was just delusional, that would make him a lunatic.

Or, the third option is that everything he says is true, and that would make Jesus Lord. So, the final option, if it's true, if it's all true, it makes Jesus Lord. And again, the Jews, upon hearing these claims, would have wondered, who is this man claiming to be?

Going back to the beginning of the message, who is he? He's the God man. Jesus was making a claim to deity. How could any man say that it's up to him who is going to heaven or hell? See, that's the wonderful thing.

We don't have to judge that. You don't have to come to me and don't do this, because I'm not going to answer it. Who's going to heaven? Is this person going to heaven? Is that person going to heaven? You're not the judge of that.

I'm not the judge of that. We can maybe determine something based on what people say and how they live, but ultimately it's not your call. It's not my call. You know what, I'm glad it's not your call.

There are some people out there that don't like me. I'd be in big trouble if it was their call. It's the Lord's job to judge, and we need to leave it to him. Thanks for listening. I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Morris Cornick Church.

If you'd like to listen to the complete message, or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website, MorrisCornickChurch .com. We'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett.

Until next time, with the grace of God be with you.