All right, now turn with me to
Mark chapter 3. Mark chapter 3, let's begin reading
in verse 1. And he entered again into the
synagogue and there was a man there which had a withered hand
or a withered arm. And the Pharisees watched our
Lord. They watched him whether he would
heal this man on the Sabbath day. And last week we looked at the
Sabbath day. Our Lord just finished telling
them something about the Sabbath day. But they watched him, whether
he would heal this man on the Sabbath day that they might accuse
him. They accused the disciples in
chapter two. Remember that? They were plucking
the corn and they're pointing the finger at the disciples.
Now they want to accuse him. Verse three, and he said unto
the man which had the withered hand, stand forth. And he said unto those Pharisees,
is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath days or to do evil, to
save life or to kill? But they held their peace. And I want to urge every person
who's here, every single person who's here,
it does not matter how young you are. Now, the older people,
the closer we get to the end of life, the more we realize
we need to start listening. But it does not matter how young
you are. I want to urge every person here
to listen very carefully for the next few minutes. Very carefully. What I'm about to declare from
God's word is too important to not give it our undivided attention. It's just too important. Yesterday
morning, my next door neighbor met God. He met God face-to-face, the
God. He met him face-to-face. About eight or nine months ago,
he went into a nursing home. And they scheduled months ago,
two months ago, for his house to be auctioned yesterday and
all of his stuff. And he died about two hours before
that auction. Yesterday was his day over. And he met God yesterday, face
to face. Very soon, each one of us will
do the same. And if we don't put much thought
into that now and much weight on that now, we will very soon. We are going to very soon. This
morning, I want us to see and hear the truth about the God
we're going to go meet. That's what I want us to do.
We are going to look at this story. I'm going to close this
message by looking at this story. But I want us to, through this
story, see and hear about the God that we are going to go meet. I'm not going to dwell on what
false religion is saying. It does not matter what they're
saying. I want us to see the truth. I just want to show us
the truth. That's all. In seeing that, we're going to
see the truth about God. We're going to see the truth
about man. We're going to see the truth about salvation. The
truth. The truth. This account that
we just heard read, is recorded three times in the four Gospels. Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Three
times. They basically say the same thing. But there is something specific
in each one, something very specific in each one, that reveals to
us the God that we're going to go meet. The God who made us, the God
who controls us, the God who is going to do with us whatever
He will. I pray the Lord will let us see
the truth right now, hear the truth. I pray He'll make us ready
right now. If I'm not ready, make me ready right now. All
right, I want to begin by showing you what Luke's account specifically
says. Go with me to Luke chapter 6. Luke chapter 6 verse 6 says,
And it came to pass also on another Sabbath that he entered into
the synagogue and talked, and there was a man whose right hand
was withered. And the scribes and Pharisees
watched him, whether he would heal on the Sabbath day, that
they might find an accusation against him. But He knew their
thoughts. That struck me. When I go through
this in the Gospels, I like to read all of the accounts that
are given. And when I read that, man, that hit me. He knew their
thoughts. Here is the truth about God. He knows your thoughts and He
knows mine. Is that not terrible? Is that
not terrible? He knows our thoughts just like
he did those Pharisees. He is going to judge us based
on our thoughts. Forget about the deeds. I mean,
the deeds are going to be judged too, but we're not even going
to make it that far. Well, I haven't done and I have done. Let's not
talk about done. Let's start with thoughts. He sees our thoughts. We may
try as hard as we can to make everything look good on the outside.
Good on the outside. But Christ the Word is a discerner
of the thoughts and intents of the heart. He's a discerner.
He sees the heart. He sees the motive of this heart.
And he knows the thoughts of this mind. And I don't need to
ask any of us. I'm just going to tell us it's not good. It's
just not good. Go with me over to Genesis six. Genesis 6, look at verse 5. And God saw that the wickedness
of man was great in the earth and that every imagination of
the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. God saw that. God saw that. Only evil mixed with good. No, it doesn't say that. Only
evil continually. God saw that then and he sees
it now. He sees it now. Here's the truth
about God. We cannot fool him into believing
that we're better than we are. That's the truth. We cannot fool
him into believing that we're better than we are. In our withered
flesh, we cannot hide from the all-knowing, all-seeing eye of
God. He sees it all. He knows it all. Now go with me back to Mark chapter
3. We're going to see what is specifically pointed out in Mark's
account. Luke said he knew their thoughts. Mark 3 verse 1 says, He entered
again into the synagogue, and there was a man there which had
a withered hand. And they watched him, whether
he would heal him on the Sabbath day, that they might accuse him. And he said unto the man which
had the withered hand, Stand forth. And he said unto them,
Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath days, or to do evil?
to save life or to kill, but they held their peace. And when
he had looked round about on them with anger, he was mad. You know, people think of Jesus
walking around on this earth, smiling Jesus, loving Jesus like
the Pope. He was angry. Here is the truth
about God. He's an angry God. He's an angry God. So many times
throughout this word it says, the anger of the Lord was kindled,
doesn't it? So many times. Psalm 7 says,
God is angry with the wicked every day. Every day. The truth about God is He is
a God of wrath. He's a God of wrath. People so
desperately need to know this. In droves we're going to meet
God. In droves we're going to meet
God. And people need to know that
He sees every sin and He's a God of wrath. Wouldn't it be wise
for people to know that? Oh, I'll be fine. Yeah, I'm going
to go meet God. I'm ready. I'm ready to go. I've
got my things in order. I bought my plot. I don't want
to put any burden on my children. I'm ready to go. Are you? He sees it all, and he's a God
of wrath. He said in Isaiah 63, Vengeance
is mine. Exodus 15 says the Lord is a
man of war. In Deuteronomy 32, he said, I
kill, I wound. In Revelation 1, he said, I hold
the keys of hell and death. He sees all of our sin and he's
a God of wrath, but here's the truth about God. I'm about to
tell the truth about God. Thank God. All right, let's see
Matthew's account. Go with me to Matthew chapter
12. And our Lord said something very specific to these Pharisees. Matthew chapter 12 verse 10 says, And behold, there was a man which
had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is
it lawful to heal on the Sabbath days that they might accuse him? And he said unto them, What man
shall there be among you if he shall have one sheep? And if
it fall into a pit on the Sabbath day, will he not lay hold on
it and lift it out? Here's the truth about God. He's
a God of mercy. Is He the all-knowing, holy God?
Yes, He is. Is He a God of wrath? Yes, He
is. But He's a God of mercy. I didn't
decide for Him to be. I didn't just want Him to be.
He says He is. The truth about God. This verse
right here tells us that the true and living God has some
sheep. And there's something different
about those sheep. Now all have sinned, every single
one of us. There's nobody that he has not
seen their sin. And every person here deserves
the anger and the wrath of God. But this verse of scripture says
he has some sheep and something's different. Something's different. He feels something different.
He was angry at the Pharisees, but that's not the only emotion
he feels. I love knowing that my God is not the Lincoln Memorial. I love knowing that. He's a God
of emotion in his heart. I just want to show you a few
scriptures that reveal the emotion of the true God, the true and
living God. Turn with me over to Ezekiel 39. Ezekiel 39 verse 25 says, Therefore,
thus saith the Lord God, Now will I bring again the captivity
of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and
will be jealous. I love that. He said, I'm going
to be jealous for my holy name. Who is he jealous for? He just
said, it's for the captivity of Jacob, Jacob, the whole house
of Israel, my people, my chosen. God is holy and he's just, and
he's angry with the wicked, but he chose some people. It's just
the truth. I don't believe in election.
Doesn't matter. I don't believe election. It
doesn't matter. When you hear the truth about God, God chose
some people. He chose some centers and verse
27. He said, when I have brought
them again from the people and gathered them out of their enemies,
lands. and am sanctified in them in
the sight of many nations, then shall they know that I am the
Lord their God, which caused them to be led into captivity
among the heathen, but I have gathered them unto their own
land and have left none of them anymore there. Neither will I
hide my face anymore from them, for I have poured out my spirit
upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord God. I didn't leave
one of them there. Not one of them. I'm jealous
for every single one of them. Go with me over to Luke 19. Luke 19, I've always loved this.
Look at verse 33. And as they were loosing the
colt, the owners thereof said unto them, Why loose ye the colt?
And they said, The Lord hath need of him. And they brought
him to Jesus, and they cast their garments upon the colt, and they
set Jesus their own. And as he went, they spread their
clothes in the way. And when he was come nigh, even
now at the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude
of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice
for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, Blessed
be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord, peace in heaven,
and glory in the highest. And some of the Pharisees from
among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples. It's annoying. And he answered and said unto
them, I tell you that if these should hold their peace, the
stones would immediately cry out. And when he was come near,
he beheld the city and he wept over it. He wept over it. The truth about
God is God is holy, and He must punish sin, but He takes no pleasure
in the death of the wicked. None whatsoever. He is a God
of compassion. Just listen to this one. This
is Matthew 9 verse 36. It says, When he saw the multitudes, he
was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted and
were scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd." He's a God
of compassion. He's a God of mercy. He's a God
of compassion. Now, turn with me over to 1 Corinthians
11. I want to show you one more in
1 Corinthians 11. Verse 23, 1 Corinthians 11, 23
says, For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered
unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was
betrayed, took bread. And when he had given thanks,
he gave thanks. He'd break that bread and he
said, take, eat, this is my body which is broken for you, this
do in remembrance of me. I couldn't help but enter into
his thanks. Do you believe that his giving
thanks was just formality? So often I feel like it's formality
with me. He was giving thanks. He was
giving thanks. What was He giving thanks for?
He was giving thanks for a way being made to save some sinners
from their sin. He was giving thanks to God Almighty,
the only one who could create a way. to spare the ones
he loved from this wrath. He said, Jacob have I loved. Jacob have I loved. I love him. So it says in Hebrews 12, he
endured the cross for the joy set before him. I can't wait to see the joy on
his face. Every time our loved ones come
in, it's exciting. We anticipate it. And then there they are. They're
pulling up. And it smiles. It's going to be joyful. You
know the only way that was ever possible? He had to endure the
cross. You see, God sees it all, and
God's a holy God, and God's a God of anger, and God's a God of
wrath, and you cannot sweep that under the rug. So he had to do something to
allow this joy to take place. And what he told those Pharisees
was, which one of you having one sheep, if it fall into a
pit on the Sabbath, on Christ the Sabbath, if it falls on Christ
the Sabbath, He's going to be lifted out. Here's the truth about God. Outside
of Christ, sinners are going to go meet a God of wrath. We
all just need to know that. Outside of Christ, sinners are
going to go meet a God of wrath. But inside the Lord Jesus Christ,
we're going to meet a God of mercy and a God of love. Everything
hinges on Jesus Christ. Every single thing. And the only
reason any of us have any hope is because He came to seek and
to save that which was lost. He came to help the helpless.
Now I'm going to close this up. Go with me back to Mark chapter
3. And our story here This is what our Lord is showing
us. He came from glory to this place to help the helpless. He
came to seek and to save sinners, and that's what He's showing
us in our story here. The Lord told those Pharisees
who accused His disciples of not resting on the Sabbath. He
told them in chapter 2, verse 28, the Son of Man is Lord also
of the Sabbath. And you know why He's Lord of
the Sabbath? It's because he is the Sabbath. The Sabbath is
not a day. It's a person. We rest on a person,
the shepherd of the sheep, and he's seeking his own right here.
Chapter 3, verse 1, He entered again into the synagogue, and
there was a man there which had a withered hand, and they watched
him, whether he would heal him on the Sabbath day, that they
might accuse him. Trying to hold to that law. Trying
to hold on to that law. Like so many people in religion,
they did not see Christ in His Word. They didn't see Christ
in His Word. Every word is pointing us to
Christ. Every single word. And here's
the truth of the matter. If any sinner is going to be
healed, he's going to be healed on the Sabbath. That's the only
way a sinner can be healed. He must be healed on Christ.
Now this withered hand, this withered arm, have you ever seen
somebody with a withered arm? is smaller than the other arm.
And the reason is because it doesn't get used. And the reason
it doesn't get used is because it's dead. It's dead. There's no life in it. He cannot
move it. He cannot lay hold on anything. He can't. That withered arm is
me. In all of my sin, that withered
arm is you. We're dead, useless, worthless. The Lord doesn't need us for
anything. We're useless. Verse 3, though, he did something.
He said unto the man which had the withered hand, stand forth.
I can hear him shutting out all those Pharisees, turning to the
one he loves, one on one, eye to eye, stand forth. This man here, he has a disease.
He's in this temple because he was brought to that temple. That's
why he was there. We're not here today on a whim.
We're not here on accident. God brought us here, didn't he?
He brought us here. God brought this man to this
place at this time on purpose. And this man didn't have any
clue. He didn't get up that morning and think, I'm going to be healed
today. He had no clue that this was
about to happen. It does not say he even knew the Lord. He
walked into that temple and this man didn't get up and run to
him for a healing. This man was ignorant of the
mercy and the grace that was about to come to him. He's just
sitting there. Our Lord said, I am sought of
them. I'm found of them that sought
me not. That's what he said. I'm found of them that sought
me not. I said, behold me. I said, behold
me. And if God is going to save someone,
that's exactly what he's going to do. He's going to come to
that person through his word, and he is going to say to their
heart, behold me. And I love it when it happens.
I love it when it happens. This man, he was not seeking
the Lord. His Lord sought him. And that's
the case for every one of us, every single one of us. Now here's
the truth. It is God which worketh in us
both to will and to do, isn't it? If we do anything and if
we respond in any way, it's the work of the Lord. And if the
Lord works, we will respond. We will. This man, he was completely
helpless. And he couldn't do anything until
Christ came and spoke the word. Verse 4 says, Our Lord said,
is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath days or to do evil? To
save life or to kill, but they held their peace. And when he
had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for
the hardness of their heart, he said unto the man, stretch
forth thy hand. Sometimes he touched the one. That leper came to him and he
said, Lord, if you will. And our Lord touched him and
he said, I will. You know what he did right here?
He just spoke the word. That's all he did. He spoke the
word. Even though our Lord is right
now seated in the heavens on his throne, and even though we're
down here, waiting on his return. Here's my hope. I have little
ones here. I have loved ones here. I have
friends and family here. I have relatives and family here.
Here's my hope. It's that God's going to speak
the word. All he has to do is speak the word. And something's going to happen.
A healing will take place. The end of verse 5. He said unto
the man, stretch forth thy hand, and he stretched it out, and
his hand was restored, whole as the other. Life was given.
Strength was given. He was restored perfectly. Just like the other. What was
dead is now alive. Who gets the glory for all that?
God does. You know how people go around
saying, I got saved? I guarantee you this man didn't
go around saying, I got healed. He said, that man right there
healed me. I didn't even know he was coming
today. He walked straight up to me, and he said, behold me. You stretch forth your hand.
The man didn't even have time to say, I can't, Lord. It's dead.
You see, I was born this way, and I've tried to go to doctors
and all that. Life was given. Strength was given. And that's
what Christ does for every one of his people. Every dead soul. He said, Father, forgive them.
He said, Father, I know you see the sin. I know you're a God
of wrath, but judge me instead of them. He spoke the word and
life was given. And all of his people, they were
restored just like their elder brother, conformed back to his
image. That's the truth. Outside of
Christ, we have nowhere to hide. Inside Christ, we have no need
to hide. That's the point. No need. We're brand new creatures,
restored whole back to God. We're going to go meet God. All
right? We're going to go meet God. We're
about to all go meet God. We got to get to Jesus Christ.
It's not a joke. We're not playing games. We must get to Jesus Christ.
If we go meet God outside of Jesus Christ, we're going to
meet a God of wrath. We're going to meet a God of anger. We're
going to meet a God who has no option but punish sin because
he's holy. We've got to get to Jesus Christ.
Inside Jesus Christ, there's rest, there's peace, there's
mercy, there's love. Run to Jesus Christ. All right,
let's stand together.