Thank you, John, Sherry, Mack. Go now to the Gospel of Matthew
chapter 7. Matthew 7. We've been looking at the Sermon
on the Mount. We finished it up and are in
chapter 8 now. But I never forgot these last
two verses. They've stayed with me. what
was said of our Lord after He finished the Sermon on the Mount.
And it has been with me ever since. I wanted to just deal
with these two verses. Read with me verses 28 and 29.
It came to pass when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people
were astonished at His doctrine. Shocked. He taught them as one having
authority and not as the scribes. And this is not the only time
that it says that the people were astonished. A little while
later it says it again. They were astonished at his wisdom. They said, where did he get this
wisdom? This is the carpenter. Where
did he get such wisdom? They were astonished several
times, it says here. They were shocked. Astonished
means taken back by something you see or hear. You're shocked
by it. They'd never heard the like. They'd never seen anybody
like Him. They'd never heard anybody like
Him. Shocked. They were in disbelief. Astonished means, I can't believe
it. Have you ever said, I can't believe what I just heard. I
can't believe. What I just saw, I can't believe it. They were
offended. They were offended. They couldn't believe what all He
said. They couldn't believe. They were
offended by it. And our Lord in another place
said, blessed are you, whoever is not offended in me. And it's no different today.
He let a man stand up and just declare boldly, dogmatically,
what God's Word really says, what Christ said. Emphatically,
dogmatically let him declare what Christ said, really said,
who he is, what he did. And people will be astonished
today, too. In fact, if we're not preaching
it clear, And if someone's not being astonished, we're not preaching
it clear enough. My pastor told us young preachers
years ago, don't try to offend people. The Gospel is offensive
enough. You don't have to try to offend
people. You don't have to say things to try to shock people
in our own words. You just preach the truth. You
just say what God's Word says. And that will shock them enough.
Don't you be an offense. Let us not be the offense. But
if you preach the truth clearly enough, it will be offensive.
It will offend. It will shock people. Like Paul,
when he came to Mars Hill, to Greece, and it was full of learning,
and the modern society, and they've gotten so far away from the truth
that when Paul, they said, let's hear the strange doctrine. You're
a setter forth of a strange God. And there's never been a time
more estranged from the truth than now. More Bibles, but less
people know the living and true God. But he said this, he said,
don't try and offend, but he said, don't try not to. He told
us young preachers, don't try not to offend. If you preach
the truth, you will offend. Don't take the offense away.
You know it's going to offend. Say it louder and clearer. Martin
Luther used to say, if we're not declaring loudly that very
point at which all the world is rebelling against, that the
world doesn't believe, like free will, God's sovereignty, if we're
not declaring loudly, then we're not in the battle. We need to
declare it, not try to keep from being an offense. If I yet to
please men, Paul said, if I yet please men, if I seek to please
men, I am not to serve in Christ. I want you to notice with me
who it is that spoke and how he spoke and what he said that
astonished people. And you know, when we say we
preach Christ, we really do, don't we? I ask you to bear witness
of the preaching that goes forth from here. Is it Christ? Every
time we try to declare who God is and who Christ is, man as He really is, who Christ
is, the reason being is because this is life eternal. We keep
declaring who Christ is. Why? Because this is life eternal
that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ
whom thou hast seen. We keep declaring Christ. We
can't make anybody see who He is. We can't make anybody believe
Him. We can't. I was looking out this morning
thinking about someone that just had no interest whatsoever. And
I'm thinking, Lord, I can't make them interested. I'm just praying,
Lord, please grab hold of them. Make them interested. I can't
do it, he can. So what do we do? We keep declaring. This gospel is called the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's all about Jesus Christ.
This whole book is all about Jesus Christ. God created the
universe for Jesus Christ. Salvation is all about Jesus
Christ. This is life eternal. We might know Him. So we keep
declaring who He is in hope that God will reveal Christ to somebody. That's life. And for those, these
things are written unto you that believe that you may know and
that you may believe more fully. Keep declaring who He is that
we might believe Him more fully. More fully. The one who spoke,
and I keep saying this, that this was no ordinary sermon because
it was no ordinary man that gave it, no ordinary preacher. You're
looking at a very ordinary fellow today. I'm bringing my little
sermon this morning. But all I'm going to try to do
is tell you what he said. And if he's pleased, if the voice
of the Lord, if the Lord is pleased, he can make a hind calf. He can
break a cedar. The voice of the Lord. But the
one who spoke was himself astonishing. He was astonishing. Shocking in his person. Everything about him. Astonishing. Astonishing. His appearance on
this earth, unlike any human being ever who ever came. Born
of a virgin. Not many people believe that
anymore. But he was. You know, if people really believe
that, they have to stop and think, hey, this is not the ordinary
human being it is. He's born of a virgin. He's not
born like us. This is an eternal spiritual
person who existed before he came. He entered into a woman. This is a story that God was
manifested in the flesh and entered into it. That's impossible. That's
astonishing. He was astonishing in His appearance
on earth, born of the Virgin. He was astonishing in His person,
in His power. Everything about Him, unlike
any human being ever lived, in His person. I can't even imagine
what His bearing must have been like, what His countenance must
have been like, His eyes. to see into the depth of your
soul. He could just grab your heart
with a look. Then if His countenance was good
towards you, He could just give you peace that passes understanding. His person, His character, how
He must have carried Himself in that Sin, as we get older,
sin causes us to stoop, and sin causes us to get ugly. He has
a dual youth on his brow. He was not beautiful to look
at, but if you kept looking, you'd see altogether lovely beauty. No sin. Sin did not mar his visage. Beautiful. I can't describe him, but he's
so marvelous in his person, in his power, over men, over angels,
over devils, over elements, over animals, over whatever it was.
Astonishing. His enemies had to say, no man
can do what you do except God be with him. There's never been
anybody like him. Astonishing. Astonishing in his
wisdom. They said, where did he learn
this? We've never heard anything like
this. Everything he said was a revelation. Everything he said. I love the thought of those disciples,
John walking with him for three and a half years. Everything
he said was there. Did you hear that? James? This is the one that made the
planet. If the things he said and did were recorded, the world
couldn't contain the books. And they were with him for three
and a half years, and he showed them things. He talked of things
like Solomon, who's a picture of Christ. It says everybody
came from far away, and he told them everything. And he did that
for them. And they were astonished. Everything
he said was astonishing. Why? Because he's not a mere
man, that's why. He was astonishing in his word,
the way he spoke. He was astonishing in the people
that he associated with. The ones he chose, the king and
his motley crew, the crew that he chose to turn the world upside
down. That's not who we would have
chosen, but he did at the excellency of the powerful. that they all
might see, these fellows have been with that Jesus Christ.
It's obvious. They're nothings and nobody,
but now listen to them. His life, everything about his
life, his death, astonishing. When he died on that tree, the
Roman soldier had seen a lot of fellows hanging on trees.
who helped crucify a lot of fellows, that one centurion who had seen
Pilate before that. Pilate had seen a lot of powerful
men reduced to sniveling crybabies before him, before the pain that
they endured at his hand. Pilate had seen men begging him,
leaders begging him for mercy, but not this man. And he was astonished. He said,
behold the man. And the centurion witnessing
him hanging on that cross and doing all that he did, after
it was all over, he said, surely this was the Son of God. I've
never seen anything like it. I've never seen anybody like
this. Why? Because there never has been
anybody like that. And never will be again. Astonishing. Astonishing person. Sitting on
that mountain that day. Sitting on that mountain teaching
was a common, ordinary man. A young man. Thirty years old. A young man. That's young, isn't
it? It is young, isn't it, Sherry? Davis doesn't think it's young.
Thirty. He thinks that's old. But he
is young. He's very young. This young man. 30 years old, an ordinary looking
man, a carpenter. Everybody knew that he worked
in a carpenter's shop, an artisan. Worked with his hand. He had
blue collar. He's not white collar, he's blue collar. He's a worker.
He helped his dad, they thought, work in his carpenter's. That's
all he's ever done. They'd seen him grow up in Nazareth
of all places. It was a despicable town in Nazareth.
Anything good come out of there? No. worked his cart in a shop. They'd seen that. They knew he
didn't attend any schools anywhere. They didn't see him at the feet
of Gamaliel. He wasn't in Jerusalem going
to school like all the scribes and the Pharisees. This young
man, now one day, all of a sudden he appears on the scene. He's
sitting on top of a mountain. Twelve men sitting around him. And before you know it, that
whole mountain is full of people. And they said, what's going on
here? And they were all drawn up there. Thousands of people
were drawn up there. And here sits this carpenter,
this lowly, young, thirty years old carpenter with no learning,
holds a whole mountain in his sway with his words, saying things
they'd never heard before, and saying them like he was God. They were astonished. Astonished. This young man, this
young man is not young at all. He's eternal. This is the eternal
God. This ordinary looking carpenter,
oh, he's built some things all right. He didn't make any of
them. See, this is why. What he said
and how he said it was so astonishing because of who he is. Because
of who he is. This uneducated man. Uneducated? Uneducated? Yeah, by man. With whom took he counsel? Isn't
that what Isaiah says over and over? With whom took he counsel?
Who instructed him? This is wisdom personified. This
is the omniscient God who knows all things, who made man's mind,
who is wisdom in the flesh. They said He spoke as one having
authority. They were astonished at it because
He spoke as one having authority, as if He was the authority on
the subject. He is. Why did He speak like
that? Scripture says, "...by him were
all things created that are in the heavens and the earth, visible
and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities
and powers, all things were created by him and for him. And he is
before all things, and by him all things consist, and he is
the head." He is head over it all. He is the authority. One time he went into the temple. which Malachi said that he would,
the Lord shall suddenly come to his temple. It's his. He owned everything. The earth
is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. Everything in it belonged
to him. He came to his temple one day. He just walked right
in like he owned the place. He did. And when a Pharisee and
a scribe came and said, they came, and while he was teased,
he said, by whose authority? See, they were these little peanut
hirelings and this was their little place of business. They
came and they saw this young rabbi sitting there like he owned
the place, teaching the people. Wait a minute here, that's our
place. And they came in and said, by whose authority do you do
these things? Whose authority? Whose word?
Who told you you could do this? He's a learned man. He said,
I'll answer you if you can answer me this one question. And he
asked them a question and they couldn't answer him. They knew
the answer, but wouldn't answer it. And he said, neither do I
tell you about whose authority. I don't have to tell you. Whose
authority, John? His own. He spoke as one having authority.
Let me tell you how he spoke, or I try to. How he spoke. As far as having authority, listen
to what he said. This is one of the many things
he said. He said, heaven and earth will pass away, but not
one word that I've said will pass. Who could say that? He said,
heaven and earth will pass away, but not one thing that I have
said won't come to pass. How he spoke. They said he spoke
as one having authority, not as the scribes. I'll tell you
how he did not speak. He did not speak as the scribes.
I love that. I've heard a lot of scribes speak.
I've heard scribes preach. Scribes were educated men, they
thought. They fancied themselves to be,
professed themselves to be wise, but they were other fools, weren't
they? But they were educated nonetheless. You read the article
in the bulletin this morning, you know? They were scholars
on many subjects, and they didn't know anything. And our Lord,
a man with no earthly education, He could ask them a few questions,
and they'd be blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. They
couldn't answer him until they finally, don't ask him any more
questions unless you want to be made to be a fool. These scribes were educated men.
They studied the law. They fancied, Ty, that they knew
the law. Paul was the most brilliant man
to live. Paul. He was a doctor of the
law. He was a Pharisee. He studied
the law. He said he knew the law, and he did. It shows God
gave him that knowledge, at least the letter of the law, before
he saved him for a reason. And then he revealed the truth
of the law, the spirituality of the law, revealed the depths
of the law like he revealed to no other man. And so Paul wrote
the book of Romans and Galatians to tell us what the law is about.
He said, and you think, and Paul later said, you think you know
the law? You don't know it. He said, I thought I did, but
I didn't. Now I do. And he sums it all up by saying
this, the law can't give life. Nobody is justified by the law.
We don't preach the law as a rule of life. We preach the law as
something that will convict us of our sin. That's the purpose
of the law. It's lawful, it's useful if you
use it lawfully. What purpose serveth the law?
That sin might appear exceedingly sinful. That it is a schoolmaster
to bring us to Christ. That's all the law does. That's
the only way we use it. But Paul, they studied the law. They studied the precepts of
the law, the construction of the law, the ceremonies, the
ordinances. They quoted it. They memorized it. Phylacteries,
you know what phylacteries were? That's scripture verses that
they memorized. Christ is the Word. And these men, I've got all these
scripture verses I remember. They quoted it and quoted others. Scribes were, they liked to quote
other men. They liked to quote dead men.
They quoted other men. They gave their dissertations,
their homilies, the reading of papers written by men on the
law, moral ethics and essays, scribes. And they put on heirs,
their voices. Any man that changes his voice
when he gets mad in the pulpit is a phony. And I've heard men do this. They
start talking in a way that sounds ministerial. And that's scribes.
That's the way they preach. And nobody was paying a bit of
attention to them. And here the Lord came and He
spoke. And they said even His enemy... One time the scribes
and the Pharisees sent a man to apprehend Christ. He was in
the temple preaching. They said, go get Him. They were
afraid of him. They said, somebody else, go
get him. And they went to get him, and they came back, and
the fellow said, well, where is he? They said, no man speaks like
this man. They went to get him, and instead,
he stopped them in their tracks. Just with his words. Astonishing. He didn't speak like the scribes.
They said he spoke as one having a fire attack. He never quoted
any man. He never quoted any man. Why should he? He's the author. Authority. You know what the
root word is? Author. He's the author, John,
and the finisher. He wrote the book. It's His salvation. It's His Word. It's His Gospel.
It's His world. He's the author. He's the authority
on every subject. subject of every subject. He's
the sum and substance of it. He never quoted any man. He never
read a paper. He didn't use any notes. When he came to Nazareth, I love
this, it says they delivered him the book to read. He didn't
need a copy of that book. He wrote it. It says he opened
the word, Isaiah 61, and he began to quote it. He said, This day
is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. I wrote this book. It's all about me. Astonished. Those were in his hometown. What's he talking about? It's
just a man. They spake, those scribes, you
know, spoke to the head. They tried to convince people
of this. Tried to educate people in the
kingdom. Convince them into the kingdom.
Not him. He wasn't trying to get anybody to believe anything
he said. He wasn't trying to do anything. He wasn't trying
to convince anybody. He wasn't trying to change anybody's mind.
But if he was so pleased with the Word, he could change the
heart. Speak from his heart to the heart. Break the heart. Break a heart. He spoke not as
the scribes who studied the law. He spoke as one having authority,
as if he wrote the law. He did. I've got to tell this again.
I love it. It's my favorite story. That woman caught in the act
of adultery. Like all of us, we're all guilty. We're all guilty. We've all got
to take our place like that woman. If we do, we'll hear Him say
to us what He said to her. If we don't, we'll go out guilty. But they brought her to Christ
and cast her at His feet. And they said, Moses... I can
hear them now. Moses says to the Lord, But she's
to be saved. We got you now. What can you
say? He came to the one that wrote
it. They came to the one that wrote it. They cast this woman. She wasn't lucky. This was the
mercy of God in bringing her to the feet. Her very enemies
were the ones that brought her to the feet of Christ. They brought
her to the only one that could say concerning the law, I'm not
guilty. What do you say? He said, I say,
all of you all are guilty as charged. And her sins, there
are many, are gone. I just did. And you can't say
anything about it. Steve, this is our God and our
Savior. You see? This is who I'm believing.
Satan condemns us. The law condemns us. Christ said,
come unto me. I'll give you rest. With a word. With a word. Astonishing. Listen to what he said. Listen
to what he said. In his sermon on the Mount, to
paraphrase much of what he said, And he said so much. And it's
not a code of ethics. The Sermon on the Mount wasn't
written as a moral precept that if we'll keep them, we'll be
good little boys and girls. That is not the Sermon on the
Mount. Not at all. Not at all. It doesn't apply
to everybody. It applies to his people. That
is, it condemns everybody. But talking about the salt and
the light and so forth, That's God's people. He spoke this to
his disciples. But listen to some of the things
he said. He said this, except your righteousness shall exceed
the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. Now hear this
young man sitting up there with no learning. They thought this
young carpenter. And he says, with boldness and
with authority that thousands can hear, except your righteousness
shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees,
you're not going to get into heaven. Except you're better
than the best man on earth, you'll not get into heaven. Shut them. What? Shut them. He said, if you be an evil, Know
how to give good gifts to your evil. What Christ is saying is
that man is evil. Man is depraved. Man is corrupt. Man is a sinner. How can he be
clean that's born of a woman? Man is lost. That's what he's
saying. He's dead in trespassing sin.
That's what he said then, and if you say it now, it will shock
people. I'm not dead. I'm not evil. What do you mean?
I'm not as good as the next fellow. I'm not good enough. He said things like this. There is a way that seems right
unto men. Many think it's the right way.
And it's all wrong. that the vast majority of people
are going this broad road. Most people think they know the
way, but it's leading to destruction. They're all going to perish. And he said, straight is the
gate and narrow is the way. It's exceedingly narrow and it's
exceedingly straight, and few there be that find it. Shocking. He said, you've heard it said
by them of old time, thou shalt not kill, I say unto you. Now, he was quoting Moses. He
was quoting the old fathers and all. He said, you've heard them
say, well, you listen to me. I say, that's one having authority. This is what I say, that you're
guilty as charged. He looked in that whole crowd
and he says, you're all guilty as charged. You know, when he
came down from the mountain, they didn't believe him. They
didn't believe him. There were twelve men that did.
Eleven. You know that? Everywhere he
went, he astonished people. They didn't believe him. Not
until after he hung on that cross and he prayed that prayer. And
then thousands. And then through the disciple
preaching. It says they wanted to make him king. It says they
believed on him. They say he didn't commit himself
to it. He knew what was in it. But he said things like this.
He said, you're hypocrites. Hypocrites. What's a hypocrite? You can't see the glaring faults
in yourself, but you look for minor faults in everyone else. What's a hypocrite? He could
say that, couldn't he? Well, he was no hypocrite. One
time he stood up and said, who convinces me of sin? Anybody? Anybody find one fault with me.
One fault. Astonished him. He said, anything
done to be seen by men, any kind of religious act done to be seen
by men, God doesn't see it. God hates it. Despised it. Shocked him. Astonished him.
He said, you cannot serve God in this world. You can't do it. Any man does. You love this world.
God doesn't love you. It can't be both. He said things
like this, blessed are the poor, not the rich, the poor in spirit. Those that are poor in spirit.
Those that think they're nothing, have nothing, know nothing, are
really rich. What? What are you talking about? He
said, blessed are they that mourn. Those that mourn over their sin.
Those that mourn over what they are. Those that mourn before
God, repent before God, and ask God for mercy. They shall be
comforted. He said, blessed are the meek,
not the proud, not the somebodies, but the nobodies, the humble.
Blessed. They are blessed. Not shall be.
They are blessed. Not the proud. And I listened
this, and I closed this. This whole sermon, he spoke of
himself. This whole sermon pointed to
himself. He said in one verse, he said,
Think not that I am come to destroy the law. I am come. He didn't
say, I was born into this world. He said, I am come. Think not
that I am come. John said this, He that cometh
from above is above all. He said this several times in
the Gospel of John. He said, I am come. That means
he existed before he got here. I am come. What do you mean he
came? That's what they said when he
said they were offended by him when he said, I came down from
heaven. What do you mean? You came from Nazareth. No, I
didn't either. I am come. I am come, not born, come down
from heaven to fulfill the law. Don't think I am come to destroy
the law, but I came to fulfill the law. He said, that's why
I'm here. to fulfill the law, that if you're righteous, if
you're accepted by God, it won't be because of anything you do.
It will be because I did it for you. This is the whole of His
message. He convicted of the law. Everybody's
guilty. Everybody's guilty but me. I've come to fulfill the law. He came to fulfill the love. He spoke of himself as if he
were God. Look over there at chapter 7.
I've only let you look at one verse. There are two verses. But look at chapter 7, verse
21. He says, Not everyone that saith
unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. Verse
22. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord. They heard him. What he's saying
is, I'm God. That under me, every knee will
bow and every tongue will confess that I'm the Lord of the universe.
You remember the story of Joseph? Joseph, how that he had a dream
and he told his brethren that they were all going to bow down
and worship him. Remember that? Remember what they did? He said,
I don't like it. And they hated him for it. Joseph
is a picture of Christ. I can't wait to get to that.
Joseph is a picture of Christ. He said, yeah, you're going to
bow down and worship me. We will not. And they got angry
and mad and sold him for 20 pieces of silver. That's what happened. How did it end up? Joseph's seat
on the throne. High and lifted up. Brethren,
I hear these sons of Jacob come in before you. They didn't even
know him. They didn't even know him until he revealed himself
to them. They didn't know him. And they
were bowing and scraping and begging for a little corn. From
who? Joseph, of all people. And Christ is saying here, every
knee will bow to me. And every tongue will confess
that I am Lord to the glory of God the Father. And many will
say unto me, Lord, Lord. And I will say, I never knew
you. I'm going to be seated on the
throne someday. Do you know how shocked some people are going
to be that have come to see a land to make proselyte? Who have gathered
together against the Lord and against His anointed like we
read there? To try to disprove that Jesus Christ is God. You
know how many people do that? Still do it. Meeting together
right now to try to disprove He's God and will someday stand
before His presence and His throne, seated on the throne. Who's that?
That's God. No, that's Jesus. That's right.
That's God. And He'll say, you know, Lord,
this can't be. You're a carpenter. You're just
a man. You make yourself to be God. He got it backwards. Shocked. Not everyone that saith
unto me. They were shocked. They were
astonished. They were offended. He says, I'm God. Here's the
sound and substance of his preaching. He said, I'm God. I came to earth
to save a people. that God has chosen and given
to me. They cannot save themselves. They cannot do anything for themselves.
I must do it all. I can't do it all. You are nothing
at all, but I am all and in all." This is what he said. He is God
and Savior. I am the authority of it all. I am the author. I am the finisher. Come unto me. And who came? All that the Father chose. All
that gave Him. All that He came for. They were
astounded. They were astonished. Why, He
speaks as one having authority. He does. Not like the scribes. No. Astounding. Astonishing. This is life eternal,
to know Him. And we only know Him by Him revealing
Himself to us. And amazingly, astonishingly,
He does it through poor vessels like this and poor preaching
like this. That's how he did it.