I still see prejudice in the synagogue on the Sabbath in Mark 3 and this
prejudice is not directed at the man they are prejudice toward Jesus I see
you you look like you want to believe me but you confusing let's take the word
apart prejudice the definition is in the word pre judge
that's what prejudice is and it doesn't just happen racially or socio-economically
prejudice is when you put yourself in the judges seat or the jury box these
men had the opportunity to witness a miracle but rather than be a witness
they wanted to be a judge and every day that you and I wake up we have an
opportunity to witness resurrection power all around us we get to witness it
in the lives of others and we get to witness it on our own behalf we get to
be a witness but you can't be a witness if you insist on being a judge what I'm
trying to say is this have you already made up your mind how God can bless and
who God can bless and when God can bless have you already made up your mind about
how God can do it to the extent that you miss that the very author of life is
right in front of you and they are trying to kill the very thing that God
sent to save them why because they've already made up their minds
we pray for wisdom and God tries to send it through our wives but we are
prejudice we prejudge the people that God sends to help us so rather than
accept the wisdom since we don't like the truck that it came in we'll send back
the wisdom because well she's always like that well she's the one that God
might use to show you your system He might this whole chapter is worth
preaching I wish we had all week all right touch your neighbor say fix the
system fix the system they were looking I see it sometimes I see people who look
like they came to church as a favor or like a last resort or something like we
just stop asking me if I come once and then they are looking for something not
to like I just sometimes you can you can feel the energy of somebody where it's
just like mmm and they will miss a revelation because
one of the worship leaders had a rip in his jeans I just don't know if and God
was trying to show you how holy he is and God was you missed it
looking for a reason looking for reason He was a threat to them so they already
made up their mind they already had their verdict and now they just needed
to collect the evidence it's called confirmation bias when you wake up
believing goddess for me you look for evidence to support that verdict when
you wake up believing that all things work together for my good and that
nothing can separate me from the love of God here's how good it is when you
believe that when you are looking for a reason to rejoice rather than a reason
to accuse it causes you to weigh things differently so you say like Paul said in
Corinthians he said on one hand we're pressed but on the other hand we're not
crushed on one hand we're persecuted but on the other hand w'ere not abandoned on
one hand we're struck down but on the other hand we're not destroyed in other
words what I'm trying to say is that if you would get out of the judges seat and
get a get a get a witness mentality God I want to see the good in people I
want to see the best in people I want to believe the best about people
I want to see the opportunity in opposition
somebody shout I'm looking for it I'm not looking for a reason to be offended
I'm looking for a way to forgive how many are glad that God looked beyond
your faults and saw your needs He could have accused you He could have
condemned you He could have cast you down but He didn't how many are grateful
for what He didn't do for what He overlooked but they got it
twisted we get it twisted instead of looking for an opportunity to meet a
need they were looking for a reason to accuse sometimes God puts you in
difficult situations and you get it twisted He puts you there to change it
not to complain about it and you're out of order you're out of order I wish I
had a gavel this isn't working the man can't work because his right hand Luke
tells us it's his right hand it must mean is his dominant hand it must mean
it's the hand of blessing in Jewish culture they used the right hand to
bless so he needs a blessing to be a blessing sometimes we try to be
something that we have not received from God and it never works Jesus stands the
man up and he picks a fight I'm sorry to disrupt your your Mr. Rogers Jesus
relationship with the Lord you know the one where Jesus is going
come on guys stop it
we're not finding that Jesus so far in Mark maybe He'll come later you know the
exasperated mom guys be nice He hasn't made an appearance so far and we're in Mark
chapter 3 and He's still He's challenging their their whole system
because number one two things I noticed He could have taken the man to the side
He didn't He could have easily been like Peter Peter was always ready to do
something grab that guy with the bad hand you want me throw him out no no
Peter is he distracting you no Peter I want to talk to him after I want to fix his hand
but it's the Sabbath and we're not supposed to work on the Sabbath and I
don't want to offend anybody so just pull him over to the side I'll talk to him later
when I wrap it up just make sure he doesn't leave I want to see him cuz on
the Sabbath remember it was the day of rest six days God created one day God rested
it was the order of creation the Sabbath is the only one of the Ten Commandments
that reflects the order of creation it's like a chance for us to be like God how
He rested okay but but notice work work work work work work why am I sounding like
Rihanna on this stage I didn't mean to rest work work work
work work work rest work work work work work rest okay so for everybody who
wants to just pray not rest rest rest rest rest rest work that's out of order
but after you have worked rest like God rested from His labor it's a it's a
shadow it's not the substance because the the real Sabbath is Jesus
himself it's his work that enables us to rest from ours love the gospel so they
are so consumed with their Sabbath that they are missing God's Sabbath it's a
perversion I know we usually use the word prejudice for racial reasons and we
use the word perversion for sexual reasons but this is a perversion a
perversion is any time that a gift is used against its intention that's the
perversion and Jesus heals him not only does He stand him up publicly and call
him out publicly but He does it on the Sabbath which is understandable if the
guy has a gunshot wound because the Sabbath had okay here's what the
teachers of the law did God gave them this gift called the Sabbath He said I
want you to rest one day when you rest like that it is a picture of how I
rested it is a gift to you and it is a shadow of a rest that is to come for the
people of God where you can cease from your works and receive by grace what you
could not attain by labor so I want you to rest to get into the rhythm of
resting from your works but they did what we tend to do with the gifts that
God gives us when we don't understand the intention of the gift we get it
twisted we get it twisted so Jesus shows up on the day where they're not
supposed to work little rules like this they made they had over 600 of them
there was one command and they made 600 rules around it
they had like a system for every possible situation that could come up
okay so if you need to take a journey you can go 1999 paces but if you take a
2000th step then that's technically work so you had
to count your steps okay if somebody has a dislocated foot or a dislocated hand you
can't set it back into place on the Sabbath
that's from Friday sundown to Saturday sundown observant Jews still celebrate
the Sabbath in the same way today Shabbat and you can't set the bones back
in place on the Sabbath but there's an exception if the person is about to die
you can do it well that's awfully nice of the Pastor's to make that exception
if you see someone about to die and you can save their lives you can do it on
the Sabbath it sounds crazy to us that they would that they would take a gift
that God gave like a day off like a day to rest from their labor and twist it to
the point where they forgot what Jesus said in Mark 2:27 when His disciples
were working one day on the Sabbath they were actually walking and and they did
something that was considered work they took some heads of grain and they were
hungry so they they rubbed the what-do-you-call-it
on the grain the membrane I'm gonna call it it's not called that but I'm gonna
call it that they rubbed that hard part off and ate the stuff they could eat and
the Pharisee said ah they're working on the Sabbath Jesus said you missed the
entire point of the Sabbath which was a gift because you were so caught up in
your system that you perverted and twisted the gift watch what He says this
is this is very very strategic that the Son of God would say to the people that
He came to save the Sabbath is made for man not man for the Sabbath
I know it's a little difficult for us to get much meaning out of that because we
don't celebrate the Sabbath in the same way so let me try this stuff was made
for man not man for stuff the essence of the lesson is this when you take a good
gift and turn it into a God it becomes destructive let me try
another one sex was made for man not man for sex and
what the enemy loves to do is to take a good gift that God gave you and twist it
and disfigure it like this man's hand was disfigured that's what had happened
to the people's hearts so that they had taken a gift and turned it into a prison
they were serving something that was supposed to be serving them when God
sees you chasing material possessions He says that stuff is meant to serve you
why are you serving what I gave to serve you it's out of order
we've got one man who can't work because he has a condition a situation we've got
a system of religion that won't work why it's the Sabbath we can't do it on the
Sabbath Jesus said the Sabbath is for you not you for the Sabbath I gave it as
a gift why would you twist the gift and it causes me to wonder how many gifts
has God given me in my life that I have twisted God gives you people
in your life so you can encourage them and then you become so needy
you twist the gift and ruin the friendship now y'all are quiet how many
gifts has God given us how many how many people will you sleep with before you
realize that sex is a gift it's a wonderful gift but it's a terrible
master within a certain context it's a wonderful gift but if you get it twisted
it begins to take over your life you're out of order you put the Sabbath before
people God puts people before the Sabbath
religion always gets it twisted though and we always tell you ten things you
got to do to be a good Christian but God taught me that I don't change so He will
love me I changed because He has loved me this is the revelation of the cross
we love Him because He first loved us and when you get that out of order you
will twist great gifts that God gives you in your life hey thanks for watching
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