Grading on a Cross: The End of Self-Righteousness

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:00:00] Hey guys, if you don't know, my name is Derwin. I'm one of the pastors here. And I want to thank you so much. Let's take a moment to welcome our guests who are tuning in from around the world, our guests who are here physically at Transformation Church Indianland and Transformation Church Lake Wiley. Let's give it up to them. Thank you so much for being here with us. Now, let's give a big welcome to the incredible men, the incredible women in our over 1,300 correctional facility partnerships around the United States of America.
[00:00:30] Welcome, welcome, welcome. And to the TC family, it is so, so good to see you. Before I dive into the message, I want to give you a little update. So, Vicki and I had the honor and privilege of going to Norway and then on to Berlin. Now, part of this trip was about building connections with what's happening in Europe. Some of you may or may not know this, and I think it's important for you to understand this, that you are blessing people to come to know Jesus Christ.
[00:00:59] That you will never meet until you see them in a new heavens and new earth. Do you know that you are helping to plant churches in Europe? Do you know that you have financially given, and we've helped plant a church in Potsdam, which is right outside of Berlin. And so, we have connections with people there. So, the first part of the trip was being in Norway. It was awesome, incredibly beautiful. We were with a guy by the name of Oivin Oglen is his name.
[00:01:29] He's the CEO of Exponential Europe, a church planting organization. Had a chance to preach at his home church, which is really cool. The translator did really, really good, especially telling the naked preacher story. It was awesome. Let's see, what else? Okay. So, we did that. That was great. Then we headed to Berlin, and it was a conference called Exponential Europe. 29 countries represented and over 600 European church planters.
[00:01:59] Why is that important? You need to understand this. God is moving in Europe and has been for years. A part of my role was to teach these pastors how to do Jesus-centered, multi-ethnic ministry. Why? 47%, almost one in two, of migrants that come to our country, as well as all throughout Europe, are Christian.
[00:02:23] And these people are bringing a vibrant faith to dead churches.
[00:02:29] And so, they're like, hey, we heard about Indian land and what God is doing to transform the church. We don't really know where Indian land is. We know you. So, will you come and teach us the theology and the practices because God is moving powerfully.
[00:02:44] So, what's the whole point of this? First of all, I want to thank you for blessing us to be able to go. Second of all, you are impacting people in the gospel around the globe. You are making an impact.
[00:02:56] And so, when you financially give, when you pray, you are making an impact.
[00:02:59] And so, when you financially give, when you pray, you are literally changing the lives of people you will not know until the new heavens and the new earth.
[00:03:08] So, listen, to the 52.4% of households that give, great job. To the other 48%, it's time for you to live and give by faith to make an impact. Do not miss what is happening.
[00:03:24] Also, I had to kidnap and bring Vicki back because I think she wanted to stay with her Viking people.
[00:03:29] She was like, I want to go to Norway. She liked Christendom. She was like, I feel it. I want to throw a javelin at something. I want to go raid something.
[00:03:38] I was like, no, babe, we have to come back. So, thank you for your financial generosity. Thank you for making an impact for the kingdom. It's exciting.
[00:03:46] Let's pray and then we're going to dive into this message.
[00:03:49] Holy Spirit, in the name of Jesus, the one who is life, our forgiver, our redeemer, our friend, our savior, and to the glory of his father.
[00:03:57] Open our hearts and open our minds.
[00:03:59] Move our hands so that we can glorify you. In Jesus' name. Amen.
[00:04:06] So, we're walking through our series called The Five Solas.
[00:04:09] The Five Solas comes out of a time of what's called the Reformation.
[00:04:14] So, several hundred years ago, the Holy Spirit was reforming the church to get back to the Bible.
[00:04:21] Now, when I say the church, I don't mean buildings.
[00:04:23] Church means people who have been blood-bought, forgiven by Jesus.
[00:04:29] Who now follow him.
[00:04:30] And so, it has various expressions.
[00:04:32] But the Reformation was about sola scriptura.
[00:04:35] That the Bible alone points us to Jesus for salvation alone.
[00:04:38] We want to be a Bible people.
[00:04:40] Last week, Joel preached on solus Christus.
[00:04:43] That Christ alone is the mediator that brings us to the Father.
[00:04:48] And today, we're going to talk about sola fide.
[00:04:51] Faith alone.
[00:04:53] So, teenagers and young adults, preteens.
[00:04:56] Here is my thesis for the entire sermon.
[00:04:59] So, we're going to lay the foundation, and we're going to walk through it.
[00:05:04] So, sola fide, which is Latin for faith alone, means our reconciliation with God is not based on a moral record.
[00:05:13] So, let's pause here.
[00:05:14] We are not, if you're new here, we are not, if you're old here, we are not going to be a church that speaks Christianese but don't know what it actually means.
[00:05:24] We're going to know what these words mean.
[00:05:26] But more importantly, allow the truth of these words to shape.
[00:05:29] Shape our reality.
[00:05:30] The word reconciliation is a beautiful, deeply biblical word.
[00:05:36] It's a Jesus word.
[00:05:37] What does it mean?
[00:05:38] It means this.
[00:05:39] Reconciliation means this.
[00:05:41] That God, out of love unlimited, that God, out of mercy unlimited, that God, out of grace unlimited, said, I'm going to go and reach humanity because they're separated from me because of this thing called sin.
[00:05:55] And the way God reaches us, it's not by our effort.
[00:05:58] It's not.
[00:05:59] It's not by our doing.
[00:06:00] It is surely by his love.
[00:06:02] And reconciliation means enemies become friends.
[00:06:05] A divorce party gets remarried.
[00:06:07] So, God, and I don't mean the universe, the universe isn't God, the universe is created.
[00:06:11] The universe is an inanimate object.
[00:06:14] We worship the creator of the universe who revealed himself in Jesus, who wants to reconcile us to himself.
[00:06:22] And it's not based on your moral record.
[00:06:26] In other words, God doesn't go, what did you score?
[00:06:28] An exam of life 74.
[00:06:30] Hey, you got in with a C.
[00:06:32] It's not like Islam.
[00:06:33] You got to be 5149 to get in.
[00:06:37] No, no.
[00:06:38] God requires a perfect score and he doesn't grade on a curve.
[00:06:43] He grades on a cross.
[00:06:45] And Jesus scored a perfect score for us.
[00:06:47] And all those who trust in his perfect score alone are the ones who are reconciled to God.
[00:06:53] It's not based on a moral record.
[00:06:56] Reconciliation family is based.
[00:06:58] It's based exclusively on the perfect obedience and righteousness of Jesus Christ.
[00:07:03] Why is this important?
[00:07:05] So often we as Christians only talk about the cross, but the cross doesn't make sense or matter unless Jesus lived a sinless perfect life.
[00:07:14] And resurrection doesn't matter if Jesus wasn't our sinless sacrifice.
[00:07:19] But not only did he live a perfect life, not only did he die our death, not only did he raise again, but he ascended to the right hand of the father to do what?
[00:07:26] To send the Holy Spirit to live in us.
[00:07:28] Without the Holy Spirit, we couldn't live it.
[00:07:31] So here's the thing.
[00:07:33] We don't want to just be Friday Christians.
[00:07:35] Thank you for the blood.
[00:07:37] We want to thank Jesus for the perfect life that he lived that we could live.
[00:07:41] He was perfectly obedient because you and I could not be.
[00:07:46] He was perfectly righteous because you and I couldn't be.
[00:07:50] The word righteousness is a beautiful word.
[00:07:52] And the simple way to say it is this way.
[00:07:54] Teenagers to do what God requires.
[00:07:57] And what does God require?
[00:07:59] All day, every day for all of your life to perfectly love him.
[00:08:03] Love your neighbors.
[00:08:04] You love yourself.
[00:08:04] No one could do it.
[00:08:06] So Jesus had to do it for us.
[00:08:09] In order to be reconciled to God, reconciliation is based on the perfect obedience and righteousness of Jesus Christ.
[00:08:17] His perfect obedience and righteousness are credited to us by faith.
[00:08:23] I don't know about you.
[00:08:26] But that's...
[00:08:26] That's so unfair.
[00:08:28] That is so unfair.
[00:08:29] So you mean to tell me that Jesus' perfect life, his righteousness is given to me as a free gift and I can't do nothing for it.
[00:08:40] That's correct.
[00:08:41] Why is that correct?
[00:08:43] Because if you could do something for it, Jesus wouldn't be enough.
[00:08:49] One of the reasons why people are so into self-help is because they want to be their self-God.
[00:08:56] They want to be their self-god.
[00:08:57] They want to be their self-god.
[00:08:58] And so they're doing it for the sake of themselves.
[00:08:58] And so they're doing it for the sake of themselves.
[00:08:59] And so they're doing it for the sake of themselves.
[00:08:59] And so they're doing it for the sake of themselves.
[00:08:59] They're doing it for the sake of themselves.
[00:09:00] It's his perfect obedience that God accredits to us.
[00:09:05] So watch this.
[00:09:07] Faith is not us climbing a ladder of religious obedience to reach God.
[00:09:12] Faith is empty hands receiving what Christ has accomplished for us.
[00:09:18] Now, I need you to reel you in for a moment.
[00:09:20] This is a little bit technical, but I want to make it simple.
[00:09:24] Okay, a part of being smart.
[00:09:26] is making things that are complex simple. If you can't understand it, that means the person teaching it don't know what they're talking about either. So, simplicity doesn't mean ignorance or easy. It just means you understand the topic. So, the word faith in the ancient world of Jesus means this, allegiance. We tend to think faith is simply, I believe, cognitively. In the ancient world, belief meant action upon that which you believe. So, the word faith means allegiance.
[00:09:55] In other words, I'm not putting any allegiance in what I do or anything I've accomplished to be reconciled to God. My full allegiance is to what Jesus and Jesus alone has done. So, what happens when we live sola fide in faith in Christ alone through his reconciling work? We are free from the deception of self-righteousness.
[00:10:24] Have you ever met a self-righteous Christian? Have you? Don't be one, please. If you are, just be like, no, I'm Buddhist or Hindu or atheist. Don't tell people you follow Jesus, please. No, no, no.
[00:10:38] Seriously, like, have you ever walked in a big metropolitan city and there's smells that you go, ooh, they need to clean that? That's what self-righteousness is. It is stenched to the nostrils of God and it repels people. But this begs the question, teenagers, young adults and preteens, what is self-righteousness? Here it is. Here's a definition. Self-righteousness is what happens when we trust our own goodness instead of Christ's grace to reconcile us to God. So, before we come to Christ, self-righteousness is, this is what I've got to do to reach God. When you are in Christ, self-righteousness is, yes, Jesus, thank you for dying for me, but here's my resume of all that I've accomplished. For example, a person who's filled with self-righteousness talks more about what they do than what Christ has done.
[00:11:25] You ever been around those Christians where they talk more about, well, I do this, I do this, I don't do this, I don't do this? Well, what do you need Jesus for? It should be, whatever your name is, that's what it should be. Instead of Christianity, it should be you-anity.
[00:11:38] Now, here's what happens, though, when we live with self-righteousness, whether in Christ or outside of Christ. Two things. And friends, I'm for therapy. I think it's great. But I'm also for discipleship. I'm for self-righteousness. I'm for self-righteousness. I'm for self-righteousness.
[00:11:55] Which is therapy. Okay? Not either or. In other words, what I'm saying is, listen to what I'm saying. And then practice it. And then think about it all week. Here's what happens when you live self-righteously. Number one, shame and self-loathing. Why shame and self-loathing?
[00:12:15] Because self-righteousness means I have built my life upon that which I do or haven't done.
[00:12:21] And if that's your attention and your focus, who are you always focused?
[00:12:25] you and shame says I am what I did I didn't do this and I haven't done this and you're still on yourself self-loathing is I can never do it and then that leads to a false pride of hiding your sin you ever met those Christians like don't drink and then you go to the house and they got a bourbon cabinet now ain't nothing wrong with drinking getting drunk is a problem I don't have a problem I just drink a glass of wine every night it's it's like self-righteous people always find ways to navigate and everybody's always below them here's what else happens with self-loathing and self-righteousness is you cannot take positive criticism at all husbands I'm talking to you right now for some of you right now you stonewall your wife you stonewall your children you withheld love because you've been rightly criticized but you can't admit you're wrong you know why don't you admit you're wrong you know why don't you admit you're wrong because if you admit you're wrong it's an identity crisis because you've built your life or what you do and so you can't even admit that you're wrong one of the freedoms of being righteous in Christ as you can go you know what I'm wrong thank you for helping me by the way if you're never wrong in your house you're either Jesus incarnate or you're faking and we know which one is true also what happens is family psychologically now let me preface what I'm about to say because of the fallen world that we live in there are genetic tendencies for mental health I'm not talking about that in this instance I'm talking about self-induced mental health issues because of poor mental hygiene when you live with self-righteousness that leads to depression because all your thinking about is yourself and all you think about is yourself and here's what happens biochemically all dopamine sir all this stuff is going off in your mind you're flooding your life with cortisol you're creating new pathways that cause you to ruminate on I haven't done this I'm not good enough for this you have low self-esteem well I'm not good enough for this notice who the focus is on always you one of the ways you know you're growing in Christ you think less about your self and more about Jesus because he's the one who's made us righteous and so what happens is is not only do we have that but we also have harsh self-criticism if I could listen to how you talk to yourself do you talk to yourself as someone who Jesus has given his perfect obedience to you and I'm going to talk to you about that in just a minute okay but in a minute we're going to go to God you know what I'm talking about this is a spiritual mindset this is a spiritual mindset and I'm going to talk to you about that in just a minute because I believe that God loves us not to be just gentle and not to be no this is a spiritual mindset a spiritual mindset that we're going to take on a track and we're going to take on a practice of taking on a expressing our faith and our faith in Jesus we're going to take on a spiritual mindset that's what I call passion and that's what I believe in school. By the way, you don't want to know Dr. Gray's grades in high school. I scored a 16 on my ACT, and I teach your children. So my point is, don't give up too early. My point is, maybe they ain't met the Lord in that kind of way yet. My point is, don't beat them up. My point is, spend more time on the grades that they did good. My point is, they may not be as smart as you, but they got other attributes that you don't have. My point is, stop trying to live through your kids to prove that you're a good parent.
[00:16:30] Because here's the deal. If you take credit for when they do good, guess what you're going to do when they do bad? Take credit. And who's the focus on once again? You. It's not your entity.
[00:16:42] It's Christianity because Christ. And then what happens next is perfectionism erodes.
[00:16:50] It erodes joy and peace. Some of you are tangled up with mental health issues because you're tangled up in self-righteousness. When we understand that the righteousness I have is a gift, we begin to focus more on Christ, and that changes neurologically. That changes.
[00:17:11] It's called neuroplasticity. Paul calls it the transforming and renewing of our minds.
[00:17:16] As a matter of fact, look what the Apostle Paul says here in Philippians.
[00:17:20] He says, though I could have confidence in my own effort, if anyone could, indeed, if others have reason for confidence in their own efforts, I have even more. I was circumcised when I was eight days old. You're like, uh. He's proving his Jewish ethnicity, his Jewish pride.
[00:17:39] I'm a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin. He's like, I'm a super Jew.
[00:17:47] A real Hebrew.
[00:17:50] If there was ever one, really quickly here, if people tell you, hey, why y'all talk about race so much at Trans Made Church? Because the Bible does. I can't exegete the Scriptures unless I teach you this.
[00:18:03] We're not colorblind here. We're color-blessed. Your color, your culture, where you're from is a gift from God.
[00:18:10] Don't tell somebody, I don't see your color. What you're saying is, I don't think God was creative enough with you.
[00:18:16] No, no. We're color-blessed. Like when Vicki was over there in Scandinavia, and they were like, oh, God, we're color-blessed.
[00:18:17] Like when Vicki was over there in Scandinavia, and they were like, oh, God, we're color-blessed.
[00:18:17] Like when Vicki was over there in Scandinavia, and they were like, oh, God, we're color-blessed.
[00:18:18] Like when Vicki was over there in Scandinavia, and they were like, oh, God, we're color-blessed.
[00:18:21] Like when Vicki was over there in Scandinavia, and they were like, oh, God, we're color-blessed.
[00:18:21] Like when Vicki was over there in Scandinavia, and they were like, oh, God, we're color-blessed.
[00:18:21] Like when Vicki was over there in Scandinavia, and they were like, oh, God, we're color-blessed. A few generations ago, her people got on the boat freely and came over here from Denmark.
[00:18:26] Like when Vicki was over there in Scandinavia, and they were like, oh, God, we're color-blessed. A few generations ago, her people got on the boat freely and came over here from Denmark.
[00:18:26] unless you were born here in native american your people did the same thing too that's a good story to know i need to know where you're from like i just popped up and i'm an american no no we all came from somewhere some of us unwillingly some of us willingly i don't know why people laugh at that part like i'm a comedian they'd be like let's continue come on i was a member of the pharisees he's like man i got reason to boast who demanded the strictest obedience to jewish law i was so zealous that i harshly persecuted the church and as far as righteousness i obeyed the law without fault i once thought these things were valuable but now i consider them as worthless because of what christ has done question when you get up in the morning do you present god a resume are you thanking for the cross all right now let's unpeel the layers a little bit more one of the ways that you know you're living in god's righteousness is how do you respond when things don't go your way god you owe me i read the bible i do my devotions i i i tithe and and i do this and i do god you owe me that's how you know you're living by self-righteousness is that when disappointment happens is that when disappointment happens all of a sudden god is on the hook oh my goodness but when you know that all things are worthless compared to christ on a good day and on a bad day his grace is enough yes everything is worthless when compared to the infinite value of knowing christ jesus my lord for his sake i have discarded everything else everything else is worthless when compared to the infinite value of knowing christ jesus my lord i am counting it all as garbage okay now teenagers and preteens i need to trust you with this don't be going home like pastor derwin said this i did but don't use it the way i know you're going to try to if you want to have some fun look up this word garbage and coiney greek that paul uses the word is scuba not scooby doo scuba That's literally what it says, literally.
[00:21:00] Like, I didn't write it, the Holy Spirit, I didn't.
[00:21:05] Can you imagine to get to that point of being so immersed in the grace of God that you go, everything compared to him is scubala.
[00:21:17] So that I could gain Christ and be one with him.
[00:21:21] I no longer count my own righteousness through obeying the law.
[00:21:24] Rather, I become, I become, I become.
[00:21:27] This is for you, put your name there.
[00:21:29] I become Derwin became righteous through faith in Christ for God's way of making us right with himself depends on faith.
[00:21:40] Friends, believe it, it's true.
[00:21:44] When we live by sola fide in Christ and his reconciling work, we are free from the deception of ethnic pride.
[00:21:52] Now as Bible people, there's one race, the human race.
[00:21:57] And in a human race, there's different ethnicities.
[00:22:00] And ethnicity means people of the same geography, language, culture, and such.
[00:22:06] So case in point, if you say Asian, there are 34 different Asian ethnicities.
[00:22:12] For example, if you say Latino, I learned growing up in San Antonio around my Mexican friends that I spoke Mexican Spanish.
[00:22:21] My Cuban friends, let me know that.
[00:22:23] And my friends from Spain were like, Pastor Derwin, we don't speak like that.
[00:22:27] You say , we don't say it like.
[00:22:29] I'm like, oh, you snooty with your Spanish.
[00:22:32] Let's, and then if you know me, once I see a little window, I go, so let's talk about that.
[00:22:37] How do you feel about the Mexicans?
[00:22:40] And then I'm like, okay, now we can do some real work.
[00:22:43] So be careful when you're talking to me because I always feel like somebody's watching me.
[00:22:49] Thank you, thank you.
[00:22:51] Okay, let's get back to the Mexican.
[00:22:52] Let's get back to the Mexican message.
[00:22:53] Ethnic pride is my group is better than your group.
[00:22:58] So here's what took place.
[00:23:00] Here's the apostle Paul, a former fair sale called Jew who persecuted Jesus's church.
[00:23:06] He meets Jesus and then he has this revelation.
[00:23:09] Oh my goodness.
[00:23:11] Jesus died because God made a covenant with Abraham to give him a family of every nation, tribe and tongue.
[00:23:18] And as his family loves God and loves each other, the world will know they're my disciples.
[00:23:23] And then Paul spends the rest of his life building these multi-ethnic churches.
[00:23:28] So in Rome, check this out, AD 49, emperor Claudius kicks all the Jewish people out of Rome.
[00:23:35] Here's why.
[00:23:36] Because there were Jewish people going into the synagogue saying, hey, the Messiah has come.
[00:23:41] He is Jesus of Nazareth.
[00:23:42] So there would be battles.
[00:23:44] And Claudius said, look, y'all messing with my money.
[00:23:46] I'm about to get funny.
[00:23:48] Get to stepping.
[00:23:49] He kicks them all out.
[00:23:50] He kicks all the Jews out of Rome.
[00:23:52] He dies.
[00:23:54] And then Nero who eventually persecuted Christians becomes emperor.
[00:23:57] And he's like, hey, y'all Jews can come back.
[00:24:00] So the Jews come back and they come back to their house churches.
[00:24:04] Rome had about a million people.
[00:24:06] And there was only a couple of hundred Christians, these loose house churches all around the empire.
[00:24:10] And the Jewish people come back, follow Messiah and guess who they meet?
[00:24:15] Rufus.
[00:24:17] Of course you read Romans 16, 33, where it says, greet Rufus with a kiss.
[00:24:23] You thought that was just in there.
[00:24:24] By the way, when you sign people a card, put Romans 16, 33, like greet Rufus with a kiss.
[00:24:30] Rufus.
[00:24:33] You think Paul just put that in there just to put it in there.
[00:24:38] Rufus is a Gentile slave name.
[00:24:44] Rufus was from the lower caste class, was a Gentile, had no birth.
[00:24:50] He had no political power, no money power, but he was the multi-site campus pastor.
[00:24:56] Jews were like, wait, Rufus, hey, thanks for filling in for us.
[00:24:59] But we, the Jews are back.
[00:25:01] So you guys just get in your little old corner and we'll take over.
[00:25:05] And Paul's like, no, no, no, no, no.
[00:25:06] At the foot of the cross, all of us come to God one way, as sinners.
[00:25:11] And all of us raised to new life as redeemed saints.
[00:25:14] Our ethnic distinctions are not obliterated.
[00:25:17] They are celebrated.
[00:25:19] So, but how did Paul get them?
[00:25:20] He went to Rome to do this.
[00:25:22] Guys, it's right here.
[00:25:23] It's been here for 2000 years.
[00:25:24] This is why our church is the way it is.
[00:25:26] Paul says this in Romans 3, 22 and 24, he says, this righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.
[00:25:36] There's no difference between Jew and Gentile.
[00:25:40] Let's pause here.
[00:25:41] If Paul was alive today in America, this is what he would say.
[00:25:45] This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.
[00:25:50] There's no difference between MAGA, Republican, Democrat.
[00:25:58] Uh-huh.
[00:25:59] How y'all like that?
[00:26:00] I ain't gonna let you be mad up in here.
[00:26:03] Being mad ain't the fruit of the spirit.
[00:26:05] Love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and goodness and faithfulness and gentleness and self-control is.
[00:26:13] Uh-huh.
[00:26:14] Nope, ain't gonna be mad up in here, y'all.
[00:26:16] This is a house of joy.
[00:26:18] So whoever comes to Jesus with their sin, regardless of their classification, he says, righteous.
[00:26:26] And if I look at you other than any way that God looks at you, it is an offense to God.
[00:26:32] Mm hm.
[00:26:38] For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
[00:26:43] And all are declared righteous, justified freely by his grace through the redemption came by Christ Jesus. Now, people will say, well, pastor, yeah, yeah, whatever. But if you do that, man, people are going to take advantage of you. And I go, I'd rather be taken advantage of telling the truth. Well, people aren't going to listen. Well, regardless of people listening, that doesn't determine if I'm going to speak the truth or not. My convictions are not based on what people think or what people will do. They have to be based on the eternal word of God.
[00:27:15] Then it's up to you to obey it. And it's not my job to manipulate, to control you. People go, pastor, I get what you're saying. It's not going to work. People like their corners. They like their politics. And I go, I still believe that there is a God who can win hearts. I still believe that love is the greatest force. I still believe that there is a remnant among us who wants to reflect the kingdom of God. I still believe. You know what's going to be sad?
[00:27:45] In about 10 years, when this political season passes, how many people are going to have their heads down because they lost conviction and set their sails in the way that the wind blows the culture? I got one of the best compliments I ever got the other day. Someone said, man, I heard you preach in 2014. You're saying the same thing. Yep. That was 11 years ago. Yep.
[00:28:15] We are free from becoming a Pharisee. Now, this isn't a boast section. What I'm going to share with you comes out of the soil of doctoral work for four years. My doctoral work was in the first century, second temple Jewish world of Jesus. I had to study the Pharisees immensely. So what I'm going to share with you comes out of that. And it's important for you to grab a hold on it because all of us have a tendency to become Pharisees.
[00:28:45] A Pharisee came out of what's called the Maccabean revolt. You don't need to know about that other than this. The priestly line was, quote, unquote, broken, and these regular people in all society became a group called the Pharisees, which meant separate ones. They took the Ten Commandments, and they read the Torah, first five books of the Bible, and said there's another 603 commandments.
[00:29:13] So there's 613 commandments.
[00:29:15] And if we get all of Israel to follow these commandments, guess what's going to happen?
[00:29:20] The Hamashiach, the Messiah, will come, not to save the Romans, but to enact vengeance on the Romans, to kick them out. So Jesus shows up, and he messes up their dream. He's like, I don't want to kick out the Romans. I want to bring them in the kingdom.
[00:29:43] Hence, Mark 2, 15 through 17. While Jesus was having dinner at Levi's house, that's Matthew, the tax collector. Many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. Quickly, a tax collector was involved in deep political corruption. I am so glad that neither political party in America has any political corruption whatsoever. I'm so glad there's so many.
[00:30:15] Godly people. By the way, some of you teenagers, you're going to have a chance to go into politics.
[00:30:22] Do not sell your soul for corporate lobby money. Hold on. Stop, stop, stop. I don't have time.
[00:30:27] I don't have time. Stop. No one gives you money unless they want something from you.
[00:30:38] Understand the game that's being played. That's why I'm a kingdom man. I'm not an elephant man.
[00:30:44] I'm not a donkey man. I'm a lion. I'm a lion. I'm a lion. I'm a lion. I'm a lion. I'm a lion. I'm a lion.
[00:30:45] I'm a lamb man. Okay, so some of you young ones are going to have a chance. Do not sell your soul for power. It will corrode you. It will eat you. It will destroy you. It'll have you saying one thing one week and changing it the next week. And then you try to gaslight people. I didn't say that.
[00:31:00] It's right here on the video. The tax collectors bought a tax booth from the Romans, highest bidder.
[00:31:14] Then they took...
[00:31:15] They took money from the Jewish people and gave to the enemy. It would be equivalent to like slavery days in America where someone that was black worked with the slave master to oppress other enslaved people.
[00:31:30] So they had no access, tax collectors, to the synagogues. No rabbi would ever ask a tax... A Jewish rabbi asking a tax collector to follow them? That's unheard of.
[00:31:43] But they didn't know.
[00:31:45] Jesus, though.
[00:31:47] So Matthew's like, look, I ain't got no religious friends. So he got on his T-Mobile. Hey, yo, listen, the Messiah is here and he likes people like us. So come to the crib, pull up.
[00:32:00] That's what it says in the original language.
[00:32:03] When the tax collectors of the law, who are Pharisees, saw him eating with sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples, why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?
[00:32:14] Can you imagine?
[00:32:15] Can you imagine having all of that religious knowledge and there are people in need of God's grace and you're mad at somebody else who's trying to give it to them?
[00:32:29] On hearing this, Jesus said to them, is it not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick? I have come not to call the righteous, but to call sinners.
[00:32:42] Isn't it sad?
[00:32:44] Isn't it sad?
[00:32:46] Friends, don't be a Pharisee.
[00:32:48] Well, look at those people.
[00:32:51] Friend, you are those people.
[00:32:54] I am those people.
[00:32:56] Never forget that God saved you.
[00:32:58] Your sin might not be their sin, but he saved you from some kind of sin.
[00:33:04] It boggles my mind how harsh some Christians can be.
[00:33:09] Oh, we're just telling the truth.
[00:33:12] Well, you can speak the truth in love.
[00:33:14] My question is, are you telling the truth?
[00:33:15] Or do you want people to experience the truth?
[00:33:19] There's a big difference.
[00:33:21] Look what Jesus says about the Pharisees.
[00:33:25] Woe to you.
[00:33:26] Teenagers, young adults, the word woe here isn't like, whoa.
[00:33:29] No, this is like, woe as in bad.
[00:33:32] Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees.
[00:33:34] You hypocrites.
[00:33:37] You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people's faces.
[00:33:40] You yourselves don't enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying.
[00:33:45] Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees.
[00:33:48] You hypocrites.
[00:33:49] You travel over land and sea to win a single convert.
[00:33:52] And when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.
[00:34:01] Look what else he says about the Pharisees.
[00:34:04] You snakes.
[00:34:05] You brood of vipers.
[00:34:07] How will you accept escape being condemned to hell?
[00:34:10] Isn't it interesting that the people that Jesus talks to about hell the most, are the Pharisees, the religious ones?
[00:34:21] At this point, stay on the cross.
[00:34:25] The far left, yeah, Jesus, you love us sinners.
[00:34:31] Yeah, he loves you.
[00:34:32] But when you touch his love, you won't stay the same and keep on sinning.
[00:34:37] Don't go away over here.
[00:34:39] Look at those people over there.
[00:34:40] Look at their lifestyles.
[00:34:42] Hey, I got a question.
[00:34:44] Did you know?
[00:34:45] Did you know in the last few years, just one year, corporate fraud, that's corporations fraud, all types of things, cost America $526 billion?
[00:34:56] Why don't I ever hear about, well, they must not have any dads at home.
[00:35:00] Did they learn it from their dad?
[00:35:04] Why are we quiet, church?
[00:35:06] That's four to five times as much as the street crime that we talk about people not having dads for.
[00:35:13] Is there some other sin that's better?
[00:35:15] Oh, yeah, that's exactly what we do.
[00:35:17] Isn't it amazing how people can get their sentences communed when they've committed fraud?
[00:35:22] But if your name is Pookie or Jose or Tyrone and you got $20 worth of weed, you in jail, you under the jail, I think Jesus will want us to say something about that.
[00:35:32] Why is it just some sin we talk about?
[00:35:35] Now, listen.
[00:35:36] Go look it up.
[00:35:38] Go look up corporate fraud.
[00:35:40] No one goes to jail.
[00:35:42] But if you're poor and you can't afford an attorney, you know what happens?
[00:35:46] Let's make a plea deal.
[00:35:48] Your lawyer's overworked, and you're like, if I go to trial, I'm going to get 20 years.
[00:35:53] Through this, I'm going to get three years.
[00:35:54] And guess what?
[00:35:55] That prison is probably for profit in the mutual funds that you and I own.
[00:35:59] So it is business to keep those prisons filled.
[00:36:03] Oh, and by the way, you know who the most provider of mental health services is in America?
[00:36:09] Prisons.
[00:36:10] You know who makes money on mental health medication?
[00:36:13] Pharmaceutical companies.
[00:36:14] Yes.
[00:36:15] I'm trying to help us.
[00:36:16] It ain't just about me and my little old salvation.
[00:36:20] Some of you can make a difference.
[00:36:23] Don't be a Pharisee.
[00:36:25] That sucks.
[00:36:27] It says that in Hebrew.
[00:36:32] Shoes, I'm done.
[00:36:33] Let's pray.
[00:36:39] Lord, we want to be free from self-righteousness.
[00:36:44] And the only way we can do that is to be free from self-righteousness.
[00:36:45] And the only way we can be free is to be caught up in your perfect obedience and your perfect righteousness for us.
[00:36:51] Give us open hearts to receive and believe.
[00:36:55] Hey, right now, if you're saying, hey, pastor, I thought my righteousness or what I did makes me acceptable to God.
[00:37:06] But today you heard that it's only what Jesus has done and you're ready to give your allegiance to him as the one who brings you to God forgiven and righteous.
[00:37:15] Hey, today's the day.
[00:37:17] Listen, we don't need any fluff.
[00:37:20] Believe it and receive it.
[00:37:21] Are you ready to believe it and receive it?
[00:37:22] If you are, say this in the silence of your heart.
[00:37:24] Today, King Jesus, by faith, I believe that you are my righteousness.
[00:37:27] By faith, I believe you died for me on the cross.
[00:37:29] By faith, I believe you rose again from the dead.
[00:37:31] And I give you my allegiance and I choose to follow you.
[00:37:34] Amen, amen, and amen.
[00:37:36] Let's give God a round of applause.
[00:37:41] All right, check this out.
[00:37:45] You have a connection card in the seat in front of you.
[00:37:48] If you pray with me to receive Christ or renew your faith in Christ, fill that out and turn that in because we want to encourage you in your faith, okay?
[00:37:57] Here's our soul tattoo family.
[00:37:59] What do we take from this?
[00:38:00] You are saved by grace through faith and is not of yourselves.
[00:38:05] Lean on Christ and his righteousness alone.
[00:38:08] Here's your action step.
[00:38:09] Live in and from the perfect righteousness of Jesus.
[00:38:12] Here's some examples.
[00:38:14] On the way to work.
[00:38:15] Listen to this message.
[00:38:17] When you're working out, listen to this message.
[00:38:19] Work through the study questions.
[00:38:21] Spread on like a good fragrance.