Criticized for Joy

In your Bibles with you today turn with Maida Mark chapter 2 can be looking in verses 19 through 22 at John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting people came and said to him while he John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast but your disciples do not fast. Jesus said to them, can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them as long as I have the bridegroom with them. I cannot fast the days will come in the bridegroom is taken away from them. Then they will fast in that day no one says a piece of unstrung cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch cares away from it. The new from the old and the worst tires made. No one puts new wine into old wineskins.

The does the wind will burst askance in the wine is destroyed and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins that with me as we get our Lord in prayer.

Heavenly father I pray for our world this morning. Russia's declared war on Ukraine needlessly killing me and women and children in order that they might increase power in the world. Lord let you protect the people of Ukraine there's a church. They are a people he loved Jesus, hear their prayers Lord and bring this wickedness. The time when our nation was a bright shining light of this world. Many in our nation were in love with Christ and were being salt and light that numbers dwindled, but I pray that you will hear the prayer of the remnant to convict our nation of corruption. She'd once again bring revival to America. Lord have mercy on Ukraine especially protect your people. Father I pray for our sick this morning. Pray for Scott Knox on the Starcher pray for Nancy Linley pray for TM and Donna lying Jason and Beth Crossman pray for Doug call will I for Cynthia Phillips, Nicole, Lois and so many others. Father, help me this morning to preacher truth make it live in our hearts, and may Jesus be exalted.

40 is in the precious holy name of Jesus that we pray. Amen.

You may be seated. When Oliver Cromwell ruled over England. There is a crisis that popped up in the nation the nation had run out of silver.

I didn't have the precious metal that they needed to make callings so Cromwell decided to send his army out and he sent them out to the Cathedral.

He said go and see if you could find any silver there. They came back with a report and they said only silver we can find is a silver statues of the saints, and Cromwell said that's great going melt down the saints and put them back into circulation, but that's where God wants us. That's where he wants to church. They want us in circulation. They want us out there, meeting people, sharing our faith. He wants us evangelizing and being in the salt and the light that's a huge message to the church. You know the Lord hates just absolutely despises spiritual elitism. This idea that because I have an ecclesiastical title or because I have gained a little bit of theological knowledge because I've been very involved in church activities that somehow that makes me better or more spiritual than others.

It does not remember the last sermon that I preached on Mark a few weeks back. Now that that last sermon was about God's call to Matthew. Matthew was a tax collector. Jesus went to him and said to Matthew follow me. Matthew left everything to gay turned away from a prestigious job. They turned away from a boatload of money they gave up all of his earthly security.

Any Whitney follow Jesus with no reservation and no turning back. That very same day decided to throw a party and he threw out a big festival a feast for Jesus and for all his friends who were his friends. His friends were tax collectors and prostitutes, thugs and criminals. Jesus sat down he ate with them and they begin to talk in Jesus talk to them about their souls talk to them about God in ways that they never heard about God before all of a sudden, these friends of of Matthews got excited about God I got excited about the possibility of a relationship with Christ. The Pharisees decided to follow Jesus.

They went down to the house of Matthew. They peered into the window they saw Jesus and what he was doing.

He was aching with Liam and not only that he was encouraging them and giving them hope that enrage the Pharisees did not like it.

So why did to most of the friends had left and they went right to the disciples they got in their faces and they said what is your master Jesus eat with tax collectors and sinners.

Jesus overheard this so Jesus addressed the question himself. This is what he said he said to them, both are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners that Jesus is not saying that the Pharisees have no need of him.

He is not saying that only the blatant obvious sinners are the ones that really need Christ know he saying that these Pharisees were so spiritually blind if they just didn't realize their need for Christ but shorter we say and hear. Are we saying that Jesus is refuting the Old Testament are always saying that the yacht that the gospel is diametrically opposed the Old Testament covenant theology absolutely not for true Old Testament covenant theology points us to the Messiah and it points us to the Messiah and who is he is Jesus Christ himself, but so spiritually spiritually elitist Pharisees are not examples of true Old Testament followers, they represent a religion of man-made tradition and limitation something that religion was just as damning as bail-ism or Islam or Buddhism or Hinduism because I use Old Testament theological language. It just sounded good. Know that that's like oh yeah they are saying the right words so that means their hearts in the right condition.

Not necessarily what they said and what they did was two different things.

There was conformity to tradition, but there was no change in the heart, but they will really irk these Pharisees was this dilemma. If Jesus was right. That meant they were wrong and that's true, then it's still true today.

Folks absolute exclusivity of the gospel runs completely contrary to the pluralistic mindset of contemporary religion, our world and hate religion retail what our world hates it. Hates Christianity you say religious diversity and ecumenism and relativism are celebrated by a world I like that it's Christianity they hate, and whether they hated because of its exclusivity. Listen carefully. There is one God. There is one word of God and there is one way of salvation. Now it really don't want to hear this today, but the the Orthodox Jew does not have a ticket to heaven. All that surprises a lot of us don't you notice truth, but see if if a person rejects Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior that his destination is a priceless eternity.

Inhale. It doesn't matter if these memorize the the Psalms. It doesn't matter if he's been faithful to be in the synagogue every Sabbath for a 100 years. That doesn't matter if he said the God I don't need a substitutionary atonement. I don't need a Savior.

I don't need Christ that he is lost forever. John chapter 14 verse six Jesus said I am the way the truth and the life no man comes to the father but by me and in acts chapter 4 verse 12 it was Peter who said there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved with the name of Jesus. That's when Jesus said to the Pharisees the second of the ones who need a physician what he was trying to get the Pharisees to see is that they were the sick, so this encounter between Jesus and the religious leaders gets heated. That's interesting that all the synoptic gospel writers Matthew, Mark, and Luke all of them record this encounter between the Pharisees and and Jesus on every single one of them record that encounter, what does that mean it means that this matters. It means that this is of great importance. The Holy Spirit of God is determined to force us to see the difference between external religion and inward change of the heart through the power of the gospel got three points only share with you this morning. Number one is a critical accusation look with neighbors 18 that John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting people came and said to him while he John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast but your disciples do not know Matthews gospel were told that not only were the Pharisees asking this question to Jesus about them not fasting, but the there were some disciples of John the Baptist that were asking the question to. Why is it that the Pharisees fast the disciples of John the Baptist by asked Jesus, you and your disciples don't fast only say something about fasting in the Old Testament there was only one day of year where fasting was mandatory and that was on the day of atonement, Yom Kippur war. It was a day that the high priest went out to kill the goat.

He took the blood of the goat. He put into a basin he took the base in the blood to plan a branch in hyssop. He went into the tabernacle.

He went through the first drink of the holy place and went to the veil of the temple.

He went back behind the veil into the second room called the holy of holies there was the ark of the covenant of the leading of the ark on the top of the ark of the covenant was deleted because the mercy seat. He went over to the ark of the covenant.

He took the branch of hyssop.

He dipped down into the basin of blood he sprinkled it on the mercy seat.

When he did the Shekinah glory of God came and hovered between the wings of the cherubim and what that did was that assured the priest and ensure the people of Israel that for that year, God had covered over their sin and God said on that day everybody fast everybody fast on that day. He said because I don't want you thinking about anything else that sacrifice everybody fast this day because that sacrifice is a picture of what is a picture of Jesus dying on the cross tremendously important and there were times in the old covenant times where sin had been committed and the sooner that it committed the sin needed to fasting. He realized he did and so we fasted as a way of saying to God I repent. I am sorry I'm asking your forgiveness. I am broken over what I have done Lord honor my fast and please forgive me of my sin.

Now there's nothing wrong with that. That's a beautiful thing as something that we do today. Is it so don't think there's anything wrong with that but the Pharisees fasted for another reason. They fasted for showed they fasted twice a week every Tuesday and every Thursday they were parading their piety at generally surprises. Doesn't that sound like Pharisees asked what they did there was another group who also fasted a lot and that was some of the disciples of John the Baptist. John the Baptist is in prison at this time.

John the Baptist is one who always showed great respect to Jesus he never questioned Jesus. Hey, never denied Jesus. Hey, look at what Jesus was doing and he always went along with it because he believed that Jesus was God. They believe that Jesus was the son of God is the one who said I must decrease that Jesus might imprints. He is the one who pointed up the heel to Jesus and said, behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. There were many of these people who were following John the Baptist. They were his disciples. John the Baptist was an ascetic which man means that he fasted a lot and so they took his example and they fasted a lot right along with him. They did that immunities disciples of John actually got frustrated and got jealous when the popularity of Jesus begin to grow because I felt like John was now being mistreated John chapter 3 verse 26. The Scripture says this and I came to John and said to him rabbi.

He was with you across the Jordan, whom he bore witness like he is baptizing in all are going to him. I think there's something else is interesting. John pointed everybody to Jesus as the son of God and yet there were so many of his disciples that when Jesus died and was resurrected. They just didn't get it.

They didn't understand that Jesus death was a substitutionary atonement that he was dying to redeem his people that he was dying to pay a ransom for their sin that he was dying so that he could forgive their sin and impute to them is righteousness. They just didn't get that in way over in the book of acts chapter 19 verses 135 says the following, and remember this took place way. Many years after Pentecost says this and it happened that while a policy was that car.

Paul passed to the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. He said that them, did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed.

I said no we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit descended into what then were you baptized said in the John's baptism also John baptized with the baptism of repentance telling the people to believe in the one who came after him, that is Jesus, on hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus sees I just did not get what Christ did on the cross so the Pharisees were fast and often the disciples of John the Baptist were fasting often. But Jesus and his disciples. At this point were fasting and all. And so they said we must be much more spiritual than you last month I did a funeral service for alighting on Faye Evans say was the organist at Olive Grove Baptist Church in Creekmore North Carolina and she was organist when I went there.

She had an upright pastor. They are that she had been an organist for a long time.

I'll share with you in a minute. How long but she had requested that preacher funeral service and I was very honored to do so. Back in 1970, 10 years before I went into the ministry. Scott Harkey was the chairman of the deacons that at Olive Grove Baptist bottom-up organ for the church and he bought it, brought it and had it placed in the church still there today and started asking around and play the organ. Nobody in the church could answer. There was a man that stood up and went over to Faye who is 18 years old at the time and said Faye I'll pay for your lessons for you if you will be the church organist. She agreed. She was the church organist for 50 years. Olive Grove was the first church I pastored I was in my late 20s when Matteo made a bunch of mistakes and at church. I remember the first wedding that I officiated at that church. I looked down at the bride and we were going to get ready go through the files I said no repeat after me Bob, and she looked at me she said no I'm not Bob Sarah, boy, I felt like a dummy is another time one of the first Lord's supper is that I was ministering all of a sudden started given at the great juice before I gave out the bread and I thought all my goodness I could just gone through the floor. I felt like such a dummy after the service I would just beat myself up over it and Faye came up to me she put her arm around my shoulder and she said Doug you think Jesus is really concerned about whether or not you got the order right. She said let me tell you what is concerned about. He's concerned about your heart. That's what matters. Your heart and I can remember just feeling uplifted with her encouragement. I can remember how I ally it just hit me that I needed to remember that is not the external activities that bring me closer to Christ is the motivation of my heart. And the question that I need to ask myself in the question you need to ask yourself today is this, do you love Jesus. That's the question do you love Jesus enough to obtain. You love Jesus enough to trusting you love Jesus enough to die for senior read article in the Friday it was article. It was written by two missionaries, a missionary couple is over in the Ukraine and they were asked are you going back to to to the United States where you're from or Yahoo going back now so that you can protect yourself is to dangerous over here and they said no and I were staying here because our churches never needed just as much, and if we die, the here and that's okay because if we die we can be with Jesus brothers and sisters. Ask yourself that question today is more important than if you were baptized is more important that is. If you're a faithful member in attendance. It's this. Do you love Jesus.

I think the question of the Pharisees and the disciples of John ask about fasting was not so much a question about fasting is it was a question about joy they were criticizing the joy that Jesus and his disciples. Kant Hughes had a great statement on this. He said the following are the bomb back tales.

As she was sitting church one Sunday when a small child turned around and began to smile at the people behind her. She was just smiling, not making a sound when her mother noticed.

She said the stage whisper stop that green and you're in church and gave her a slot and said that's better. Irma concluded that some people come to church looking as they are just like they just ran the will of their rich aunt and learned that she had given everything to her pet hamster I once knew a man who believe that Christian should be solemn. He was a young believer full of zeal, but without the ability to keep things in perspective. So you go off on self-righteous tents.

On one particular occasion, he concluded that never once in the Scripture doesn't say that Jesus smiled or laughed.

Therefore, good Christians do not smile, nevermind the arguments from silence are patently dangerous. Nevermind the repeated smiling wit of Christ. Good Christians do not smile. I can still see him sitting with his wife and a few like-minded friends to church righteous but sober holy but unsmiling absolutely absurd. Some of us have met clergy like this formal speaking and sepulcher turnings with their neckties twisted around their souls. The Pharisees were like this to they actually widen their faces put ashes on their heads were there close and shoddy disarray refused to wash and looked as forlorn as possible you could not be spiritual unless you were uncomfortable. They thought spirituality makes you do things you do not want to do and keeps you from doing the things you want Texas to point to and point to is Christ answer.

Look at verse 19 through 20.

Jesus said to them, can the winningest gas if I asked while the bridegroom is with them as long as they have the bridegroom with them. They cannot fast the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them and they will fast in that day the Pharisees had ask a very scathing question and they were expecting an apology from Jesus more. They did not get an apology. What they got was an answer that hit him right between the eyes. Jesus starts talking about a wedding sin wedding you got the green you got the bride you got the best man you got the maid of honor. He said that's not the time to fast know we call a wedding situation. The day we call that the wedding date only because that you go to the wedding and the celebration starts the service itself. It might last 20 to 30 minutes and then I take pictures. Everybody goes to the reception usually last 2 to 3 hours and then after that's over the couple goes out.

They get in their car they had off for the honeymoon destination. Everybody else, looks at each other soon will we better clean up and leave. That's a wedding day when Jesus time when the wedding date was a wedding week and when they had a wedding week. It was one huge meal after another after another after another.

Let me take something it was not a time to fast. There was no time to fast to fast at a wedding would be inappropriate and it would actually be an insult. In fact, they finally put in a rabbinic tradition that said you cannot fast during the wedding week that the disciples of John and the cocky Pharisees. They looked at each other so we asked Jesus a question about fasting and all of a sudden he starts talking about about a wedding. Where's the wedding was he talking about here. RC Sproul said it will. The Old Testament never refers to the Messiah as the bridegroom, the bridegroom in the Old Testament is God and the bride is Israel, but in the New Testament, the bridegroom is the son of God and the bride is a church given the Old Testament context of the metaphor is clear.

Jesus was claiming even more than Messiah ship when he referred to himself as the bridegroom so Jesus uses this question on fasting to force these people to see who he really is and you say under them. Listen, I'm not just a teacher. I'm not just a healer. I'm not just the Messiah I'm God I am the son of God. I'm the second person of the Trinity. I am the bridegroom. I a.m. God.

Jesus didn't stop there. He also points them to the cross.

He says this. The day will come when the bridegroom will be taken away then will be the time of fasting. The Greek word for taken away is a Greek word apart and it means of violent and sudden removal very interesting.

There's a prophecy of the S over in Isaiah chapter 53 verse eight and if you read that in the Septuagint, which is a Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament you will see and see that same word that Jesus uses in Mark chapter 2 verse 22nd record of Bharata taken away of violence. Sudden removal. It says this my oppression and judgment he was taken away and asked for his generation who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken with a transgression of his people. Jesus was without a doubt they are referring to his crucifixion.

Let me ask you something anybody grieve at his crucifixion, man goodness all the people he knew Jesus and love Jesus were just absolutely overcome with sorrow and with grief, for it looked to them like Satan must've apparently won the day for all these people who hated Jesus have gotten exactly what they wanted. They have taken him and they've nailed to a cross a love for the apostle Paul says in in first Corinthians chapter 2 verse eight he said of the princes of this world had known what they were doing they would never crucified the sun the glory for what happened three days later, three days after that crucifixion. It was a resurrection. Jesus came out of that tuning.

And when Jesus walked out of that tomb alive perfectly well in his view glorified resurrected body. It proved that everything that he had said everything that he did was absolute truth, and the demon shuddered and the people in nailed into across shuddered the people who left rejoiced after Jesus ascension into heaven.

His disciples did fast they can do it for show but only as a voluntary act of humble humble dependence on God folks fasting for the Pharisees was nothing but a shown John MacArthur said some great stuff you're not gonna take just a second share this with you is a Jesus. Jesus point to the questions was simply this Judaism at its most devout level is exemplified by the scribes and Pharisees was completely out of touch with God's plan of salvation. They were morning when they should have been rejoicing because they had rejected rejected Jesus the Savior and clung to their own rules and regulations to earn salvation. Consequently, they had nothing in common with him.

They were consumer self-righteousness. He preached divine grace.

They deny they were sinners. They preach repentance from sin. They were proud of their religiosity. They preach humility. They embraced external ceremony and tradition pay preach a transform heart. They love the applause of million PR for the approval of God.

They had dead ritual PR for the dynamic relationship they promoted to system. He provided salvation that takes us to .3 clarifying analogies verse 4021 to 22 Jesus said no one sews a piece of unstrung cloth on all garment if he does, the patch tears away from it.

The new from the old and a worse tear is made and no one puts new wine in old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins and the wind is destroyed and so are the scans, but you want is for fresh wineskins. So Jesus makes this point by sharing to parables or to analogies that have the same purpose of the same meaning he is sharing with us here. The uniqueness of the gospel and he is telling us that you cannot mix the gospel with legalistic Judaism Jesus said this, no one sews a patch of unstrung cloth on all garment otherwise the patch pulls away from it and a worse tear.

Results. So if you got all garment not only is it faded this been washed over and over again and it's it's shrunk and it it's going when it shrinks it loses its elasticity and flexibility so if there is a tear in that garment and you place a piece of fresh new cloth on it and so it up unit. Then when you wash it that you place a call shrinks up and it causes a bigger tire in the old cloth then you had to begin with, but it's a positive Judaism of rituals were burdensome and they were unnecessary and they were like filthy rags. They were beyond repair.

So what is Jesus. Jesus goes right back to the word of God and what is the word of God implying here what is Jesus implied by going back to the Old Testament. He goes back in his mind. I believe to the truth from Isaiah chapter 64 verse six that says this, but we are all like an unclean thing in all of our righteousness are like filthy rags. We all fade as a leaf in our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. Notice here.

He does not say all of our intentional sins are like filthy rags. He said our attempts at being good.

Our attempts at pleasing God like filthy rags knew the word filthy rags means in the Hebrew means menstrual cloths. That's what it means those filthy rags cannot be patched up and made cleaner. They have to be thrown away and they have to be replaced.

Jesus did not come with the message to patch up the old legalistic system did not come for that purpose. He came to replaced it out when I talk about the old legalistic system. I'm not talking about the Mosaic law. I'm not talking about the true Old Testament. Jesus did not come to replace it. He came to fulfill the Mosaic law in the Old Testament and Old Testament trues he came to fulfill that any did any did folks the old garment is the man-made rabbinic tradition is all the rules and the regulations that blurted out the truth of the gospel, the good news of salvation by grace is the new cloth. Jesus said it cannot be combined with the works righteousness Judaism and use another illustration use illustration of the of the wind in all wineskins of the wineskins that Hughes whirly goatskin and they take a fresh goatskin they cut it up and then they would sew it together make a wine bottle out of it and they take the great juice that poured into that wine bottle. After a few days the great juice would begin to ferment and then gas would be produced, and it would begin to expand if it was a new wineskin it would expand right along with it. No one would be lost if those no wineskin had no elasticity and it would just burst and all that wine would be lost, but different illustration with the very same meaning the gospel of grace. Judea stick legalism. Do not mix you go over to the sermon on the layout. This is one of the primary teachings of Jesus is telling us in the Old Testament. I mean, in the in the sermon on the layout he is saying this to us.

Don't go and follow man-made traditions go back to the true word of God go back to the study through the sermon on the Mount was Jesus say over and over and over again.

He said he heard it said by them of old, but I say into you.

You've heard it said by them of all. But I say into you is letting us know letting us know you cannot merit salvation we are saved by grace through faith plus nothing.

So who does that give hope to that yes hug every single one of us that gives hope to the very vilest of sinners. Once again we are dealing with the exclusivity of the gospel. The difference between true Christianity and every other religion is simply this, every other religion is built on the foundation of what we do for God. Christianity is built on the foundation of what God has done for us in the work of Jesus on the cross, true Christianity are true Christian says this I I am a hopeless, helpless condemn center. I'm not trusting in my goodness I'm trusting the work of Jesus on the cross of Calvary and the power of his resurrection. If anything is added to that, but it ceases to be the true gospel. This is why the, the friends of Matthew were so happy because they were trusting in their righteousness they were trusting in what they could do for God. They were trusting in what Jesus was going to do for them.

The world criticize the joy of the followers of Christ world criticizes our joy today know what I gotta save about that. I gotta say this take the whole world and give me Jesus a man, a man is pray. Heavenly father's day we saw a group of people who actually criticize the joy of true people of God, the believers true joyfully right in the face the sadness and the salinity of the religious charlatans.

Please help us to say that it's all about Jesus. May we humble ourselves acknowledge RCN rejoice in the crucifixion and resurrection and run to Christ in repentance and faith may would be serious but joyful convicted and passionate.

May we spend the rest of our days making much of Jesus words.

In Jesus name I pray a man